My Virtual Darcy 🏆 2021 Wattys Shortlister

13 - Get Help

Now it was my turn to flush.

We sat in companionable silence for a couple of minutes, both pretending to be fascinated by the leaves swirling on the deck while we put a lid on our respective blush.

"Why did you contact me?" I studied the creases and folds of his hooded sweatshirt, asserting the possibility of a wrench or lead pipe under it.

Theo bit the interior of his lower lip, then whispered, his voice so faint I had to lean forward to catch his answer, "You're amazing."

He tilted his head back, his stare fixed on the pinkish blanket of clouds. "I was assigned to your profile a month ago, when you asked the Bridge to play Beautiful on the pianoforte. You know you put me on a hot seat? I had to find the partition and add it to the game data, but I first downloaded the wrong song. You came this close to Eminem's version."

Uh? I let out a snort so powerful that Theo's eyes widened like saucers. His chuckle grew timidly, rumbling low in his throat, then sparked to a boisterous guffaw when I started rapping.

Just as soon as I walk in
It's like all eyes on me, so I try to avoid any eye contact
Cause if I do that then it opens a door to conversation, like I want that

"What?" I giggled, tears glistening in the corner of my eyes. "These lyrics totally fit Darcy. He would've gone mad, raising his hands up in the air and hollering, 'Yeah, boo, that's my thang.'"

For a moment, I thought Theo had controlled his hilarity, but a single glance at my disheveled and exuberant imitation of Darcy was enough to send him back into fits of laughter. While he held his stomach and hiccupped, I decided he was not carrying any weapon other than his killer smile.

He wiped away the rivers streaming down his feverish cheekbones. "I don't know if I could've kept my cool hearing you rapping. I couldn't even refrain from clapping at your passionate interpretation."

"Thank you." Then, after a split second, "Wait, you were listening to me?"

"Yeah. I had to dive into Darcy to keep him out of your field of vision and stall while I scrambled to find Christina Aguilera's song."

"Dive? As in jump into his body?"

"Yup. When we don't have enough time to write the NPC's instructions, when the expected behaviour doesn't exist yet, or when it's too subtle for the engine to process, we take control of a character to help the plot moving on."

A nagging suspicion took form in my mind. All merriness gone, I glowered at Theo. He perceived the mood shift and gaped at me, like a deer in headlights. Before I could formulate my accusation, he yelped, "It wasn't me. It was the Bridge."

"It was the Bridge that did what?" I detached each word, my voice tense and dripping with boiling anger.

Theo inched away from me, sensing the danger looming under my preppy appearance. "It was the Bridge that found faults in your... your... cleavage."

"Did it?"

"Yes. As I mentioned earlier, I was only assigned to you at Lucas Lodge." His statement, seconded by his earnest expression and unwavering eyes, rang true.

After a few moments of deliberation, I rendered my verdict. "I believe you."

Theo practically deflated himself, holding his head between his hands and sucking in long, shaky breaths. I hesitated, then patted his back. "It's all good now. I said I accepted your explanation."

He glanced in my direction, sandy hair strands veiling his gaze. "You're scary."

"I thought I was amazing."