Feyland: The Dark Realm

Chapter Seventeen

Jennet kept hoping to see Tam at school. If only she could talk to him again and say she was sorry for coming over. She shouldn’t have gotten up in his space like that, but she had needed to make sure he was all right. Needed to try and make him understand.

Each day crawled by, the hours oozing past like old ketchup, and there was no sign of Tam. Marny couldn’t tell her much, either. She just said that it was his life, his business, and that he’d be back. Eventually.

Every afternoon Jennet went home, turned on the jammer, and snuck onto the Full-D, trying to get back into Feyland. Every afternoon, she was stuck again at the starting lands, unable to find a faerie ring to take her deeper in. It was no use - she was locked out. Without a companion, the game wouldn’t let her through. She could feel the extra energy she’d gotten back trickling out again, like a slow leak from a faucet. Pretty soon she’d start getting dizzy again - and how long would she last after that?

 It was better for Tam if he were done with her, done with Feyland. She knew that, but panic still crawled up her throat at night, choking her, and her dreams were full of the Dark Queen’s mocking laughter.

Then at dinner on Friday, Dad decided to get all parental.

“I hear you had a guest over,” he said, setting down his fork. “A young man.”

He seemed pretty calm. Maybe he was just glad that she’d made a friend. “His name’s Tam. He’s in some of my classes.”

“Oh?” Her dad lifted his eyebrows. His voice was carefully neutral, in that way parents had of trying to get you to confide.

She let out a sigh. No doubt George and Marie had already given him their biased opinion. “He’s nice. And he’s a gamer. A good one. I thought he might like to take a look at the prototype system.”

“Young lady.” Dad’s voice was suddenly hard. “I’ve told you Feyland is off-limits. That’s not going to change.”

“I know that, Dad.” She pasted a smile on her face, trying to look like she had a major crush. “But the Full-D systems are cool to see, and I just wanted to show Tam…”

“Impress him, you mean?”

She didn’t have to fake the blush heating her cheeks. “I guess. He’s kind of sweet.” And messed-up. And still a hero in every way that counted.

“I expect you to behave yourself.” He picked his fork back up and took another bite of meat. A good sign that the interrogation was about over. “Does this Tam have a last name?”

“It’s Linn. And don’t worry. I mean, I like him, but we’re just friends.” Or had been.

“If you continue seeing him, I’d like to meet Mr. Linn. And Marie is insisting on a clearance check.” His tone said there was no arguing around this one.

Luckily, it wouldn’t be a problem. She wasn’t seeing Tam at all - not even in the most basic sense of the word.

“All right.” It was way past time to change the subject. “How’s work going?”

He finished chewing. “We need to find a new lead programmer.”

For Thomas. His death had been strange; even VirtuMax acknowledged that. They thought it had been some kind of corporate espionage, though. Suddenly the push was on to get the whole project relocated here, to Crestview, where the security was tight as clenched teeth. And where the buried cables of the ‘net ran right through - ready and waiting for when the company was ready to market their new release.

“Maybe you should start something new,” she said. She tried to keep it casual, though she wanted to grab Dad by the shoulders and start yelling that they must never, ever, release that game. “There has to be another way to showcase the system without finishing Feyland. What about a different kind of game?”