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  He chuckled. "Not biting that hook, just - "

  "Lay off," Ice said, his tone serious. "Lith, they're just joking, it's how they blow off steam."

  "Oh," Psycho said. "She's in here? Uh, hi."

  Kate was shocked but kinda amused. "Hi. Don't know about cute, but I'm a redhead if that helps."

  The guys all laughed, relaxing just a bit. "I'll let my outfit know," Psycho said. "Have fun on the battlefield, newbie. Welcome to Eternal Combat."

  "User has left the channel."

  "You just opened a can of worms," QQ warned playfully. "Have fun with that, Lith. Ice, don't you dare let her die."

  "Yes, ma'am," he replied.

  The dropship lifted off, controlled by one of the many players. They soared across the map, and the guys explained what QQ had just done. Basically, she'd pulled in the best outfits from each team and organized a three-way fight to show the "new girl" what the excitement was all about. A group was assigned to guard Kate's character, and she was expected to kill as many as she could - but there was a very good chance the enemy would be shooting back.

  When the ship flew over the assigned point, the pilot called the drop, explaining the key to eject her from the vehicle, and Kate fell toward the roof. Ten others glided down with her. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she started running, following the crowd into cover. Dots were moving all across her mini-map. Blue for her team, red and yellow for the others. Each one centered around a point.

  "Command," QQ said, "Paradox is in place."

  "Command," a man's voice replied, "Executive Pain is in place. You're gonna have to share the women soon, baby."

  "Command," a second man chimed in, sounding like PsychoCut. "PsychoDreads is in place. She's a redhead, Void, and you're fucking taken. Whoever captures the base gets dibs on asking her out."

  The guys of Paradox laughed at that, and Kate could feel herself blushing. At least they couldn't see.

  "Guys," Ice said, sounding as calm as his name implied, "don't let me down?"

  "Oh!" Synjd piped in. "Guess Ice finally found a girl that can't drink him under the table."

  "Why does Ice get dibs?" Knock asked.

  Ice replied, "Because she's too old for you, little boy. Go find your own gamer girl."

  Kate was laughing. The teasing was good for her ego, but she wasn't really sure how to respond. Since it seemed like none of them were taking it too seriously, she decided to at least try to join in.

  "They just earned the right to ask," she reminded them. "Doesn't mean I have to accept."

  "I like her already," QQ said. "We've got incoming. Hold the point."

  Shots began to ring out from the lower floor, a stream of yellow dots encircling their building. Paradox moved like they'd done this a million times, two men flanking the top of each staircase, two men holding the bottom. It didn't take long for things to heat up. From what Kate could see, bullets were flying in from every direction. She tried to dodge and took a few hits, but Ice was always right there to repair the damage.

  The best part was that she actually connected a few times. When she finally managed to kill a guy, she forgot voice chat activated when she talked. "I got one!"

  Everyone congratulated her. The strangest thing was that none of them sounded patronizing. More bodies poured in, and more fell, until the line of yellow slowed. That was when QQ called the next move.

  "Push Alpha point. PD's trying to spawn. I need Bravo Squad to hold Charlie. Light 'em up, keep the sensors up. Lith, follow me."

  A neon blue character hopped in front of her twice before heading down the stairs. Kate followed, doing her best to mimic the professional's moves. It didn't take long before checking the corners became automatic. It took even less time to figure out why QQ took the route she did toward the next point, spiraling around the outside of the buildings, never taking a straight and predictable path.

  They were almost there when movement caught her eye. Pushing the right mouse button, she turned and strafed, struggling to kill the enemy rushing toward them. QQ crossed before her, taking damage from both Kate's weapon and the enemy's. The red guy dropped, QQ following a second later, then Ice began firing at a man to their right. As soon as Kate sighted the opponent, Ice turned his attention to his healing abilities.

  "Executive Pain's all over us," QQ said, reviving. "I need backup."

  "Command," came Void's voice. "We win, I'm asking her out."

  "Command," Psycho replied, Kate realizing it was a hint that all three groups could hear the communication. "Murder says that's called foreplay."

  "Ouch. I mean Command, ouch," Void laughed back.

  "Just keep shooting," Ice said in the regular chat. "Doing good, Lith."

  "I've killed two!"

  He chuckled. "Yes, darlin', you have. Kill two more."

  "Fuck, kill four more," Knock teased. "When we get a break, someone show her how to check her stats."

  "Tab," QQ said. "Don't do it unless things are quiet. You'll be standing there like a neon target."

  "Gotcha." Kate was looking for the next bad guy.

  "Press on to A," Ice said. "Hit your ability to get extra protection. I'll keep you up. We should be able to take up to three easily."

  "Can do."

  The three of them kept going, but this time Kate was in the lead. QQ watched their backs, and Ice covered the flanks. Just before she went to rush in the door, QQ stopped her, explaining how to throw a grenade. On the count of three, both of them pitched one in - QQ's aimed with much more skill - then ducked out of the line of fire. As soon as the bangs went off, the ladies flooded the room, Ice on their heels. Three men moved around sluggishly, and Kate easily picked them off, racking up the kills while the control point began to flash then slowly turn blue.

  One by one, the red team ran up the stairs, and one by one, Kate mowed them down. Green grenades exploded, making their characters sit up in place, and one by one they revived, resuming combat. It didn't take long to figure out that they were giving her the advantage by taking turns instead of simply crushing her.

  "Can someone tell them to make the babysitting a little less obvious?" she asked.

  QQ giggled. "Command, the noob can see through your tactics. She wants a bit of a challenge."

  "Command," Psycho replied, "her wish is my command."

  All hell broke loose. Metal bangs came from above, explosions from below, and gunfire rang out on all sides. The three dot colors began to converge on them, all coming from different directions. It was too much, too fast, and more than her mind could track at once - but she was willing to try. Kate fired, accidentally shooting one of her own team in her enthusiasm, but he just laughed it off.

  She died, Ice revived her, and she died again. Kate killed man after man, tossed grenades, listened to the chime of the kill count in her headset, and laughed. It was crazy. It was chaotic. It was also the most fun she could remember.

  The guys called out tips and tricks, everything from using rockets to kill a mech unit to how to live by ducking behind a friend - what QQ had done for her earlier. They explained the idea of keeping the medics alive at all costs, the roles of the class, and the whole time, they killed each other. The sky turned dark, but she didn't notice, her attention focused on her monitor - and still, the fight raged on. It wasn't until the rest of the gamers on the server realized there was a three-way battle that things began to fall apart.

  Blue had nearly captured the third point when a platoon - that was four squads, Kate learned - dropped in for the yellow team. After that, three drop ships of red joined them. Eventually, Paradox, being a smaller outfit, had to fall back to Alpha point, the most defensible of the three. QQ called orders, Kate kept firing, but they were simply overwhelmed.

  "Command," QQ said, exhaustion in her voice, "I call that a draw. Looks like you boys have to pick up the gamer girl on your own merits."

  A private message dinged on her screen.

  [IceMan] Hope you had a little fun.
/>   [Lithium] Yes! I haven't laughed that hard in forever! Thank you so much.

  [IceMan] You're very welcome. Interested in playing with us regularly?

  [Lithium] Me?

  Was it just because she was a girl? They all seemed to be making a pretty big deal about that. From what she could tell, Paradox was filled with players so much better than her. She was thankful they'd gone out of their way to help, but it was unexpected, and she certainly wasn't about to take it for granted.

  [IceMan] Yes, you. You learn fast, you have fun, and you fit in. We'd love to have you in the outfit. Ok, I'd love it, but I wasn't sure if you'd be interested.

  [Lithium] Yeah. I think I like everyone I've met so far.

  "QQ?" Ice asked in voice chat. "With Ryno out right now, you're the pro-tem leader, right?"

  "That's what you all voted," she replied.

  "So, I'd like to nominate Lithium to the outfit."

  "Seconded," Knock chimed in.

  "I'm in," Synjd said.

  The guys talked over each other in agreement, all of them wanting her to play with them more often. It was someone named Fizz that shocked her the most. She didn't even really remember playing with him.

  "Any of you see how fast she's improving?" he asked. "I mean, with a few tweaks to her settings, alter a few key binds, and she'll be pulling a 2.0 K/D in days. She's smart, she's nice, and I have a feeling she's not quite as polite as she's pretending."

  Kate giggled to herself, hoping it didn't come across her mic. "That's possible," she admitted. "I just didn't want to upset people any more than my stupid questions already were. I don't even know what half that stuff means!"

  "Ask away," Ice assured her. "That's how we all learned."

  "So," QQ said, silencing the rest of the guys with her tone. "You want to wear a Paradox outfit tag and be one of us?"

  "I'd love to!" Kate couldn't believe she'd already found friends. It hadn't taken nearly as long as she'd thought, and these were good players! "I'm having a lot of fun, and I like playing with you all."

  "Kinky," Knock muttered. The sound of a smack could be heard through his headset.

  "Be nice, QQ," Synjd teased. "He'll cut your water cooling when you aren't looking.

  That's when a box popped up in the center of her screen. "QQ has invited you to join the outfit PARADOX. Would you like to accept? Y/N?"

  She pressed Y, and the screen hung for a millisecond before orange text appeared in her chat box. Obviously, the voice chat wasn't the only way they had to communicate. She could barely keep up with moving and shooting. Typing and talking were extra credit as far as she was concerned.

  "Command," Void said, "Executive Pain offers their congratulations to Lithium for acceptance into Paradox. We'll fuck your shit up on the field."

  Psycho couldn't be left out. "Command, PsychoDreads will convert you to the best color eventually Lithium, but grats on joining Paradox. Good people, good fights. Call me, we'll hook up."

  "Command," QQ replied, her voice a cross between amusement and disgust. "Jack off or something Psych. And Void, fuck off for stealing my thunder."

  "He's sitting next to her," Ice explained.

  "Across the room," Knock clarified. "Kitty and Void by the window, Q and I on the opposite wall, so we can't cheat. Doesn't always work, though."

  "Wait." Kate was confused. "QQ is your sister and Void..."

  Knock laughed. "Not exactly. QQ owns the place, Kitty is her roommate and almost a sister. They've known each other since grade school. She and Void have been dating since like March, and when my dad kicked me out, they gave me a place and kinda pseudo-adopted me. We're building on a basement addition so it won't be too crowded, but it's cool as fuck. Basically, we're just a big dysfunctional family now, with horses and lots of gaming."

  Ice chuckled. "And they're all paid gamers, which I'm sure helps."

  "That's cool." Kate couldn't even imagine. She'd never had anyone willing to go out of their way to help her. Her husband certainly hadn't.

  "That's what a good outfit does," someone named Swish said. "I may not have a clue what half of these guys look like, but I wouldn't hesitate to PayPal over money for rent if someone was hard up, or buy hardware for a birthday present. We're tight. We don't take just anyone, unless they have the right personality."

  "Oh."

  "Don't worry," QQ said. "It isn't just because you're a woman, either. Oh, they'll flirt, but they respect you for your skills and your personality, not your tits. Took me a while to figure that out."

  "So," Ice asked, his tone a bit too friendly. "You're really a redhead?"

  "Yes," Kate assured him. "Freckles and all."

  "Green eyes?" He sounded excited.

  "No, kinda blue-grey. And it's frizzy orange hair. Sorry."

  "Mm. I do have a weakness for gingers."

  "Take it private!" Knock moaned. "QQ, move 'em."

  "You were moved."

  Chapter 4

  Ice joined the channel a second later, laughing. "I didn't expect them to do that!"

  "You were kinda asking for it," Kate pointed out.

  "A little. I just was wondering if you were giving us shit, or serious."

  She leaned back, ignoring her character standing in the safe zone. "Serious. About that at least, although it's not as big of a deal as people think. It's just hair color."

  "No, that's a good point." He paused, the silence feeling slightly awkward. "Did I give you the outfit forum website yet? You should register. I'm online so can approve it."

  "Nope, but I can do that."

  The address dinged in the TeamSpeak box. Kate tabbed out of the game and clicked the link, pleased to see an active and professional looking page. Whoever kept up with it had some real talent, and obviously a little money to burn.

  She found the button to register and filled in the requested information, not even hesitating at giving out her real name or personal email address. These didn't seem like the type of people to stalk her or anything, and only the administrators should be able to see that stuff. She wasn't even sure they could until she hit enter.

  In a few seconds, Ice spoke up again. "Katelyn Gaskill. That sounds really familiar for some reason."

  She giggled. "Keeping tabs on me now?"

  "Maybe a little. But seriously, I feel like I've seen that name before. Maybe you have a doppelganger somewhere?"

  "I guess it's possible. I mean Katelyn isn't that uncommon of a name, but Gaskill?" He was probably just remembering something close.

  "Could be." He sighed. "But at least you're in the eastern time zone, makes gaming with you a little easier."

  "Yep. Ohio."

  Silence hung for a moment. "Didn't expect that," he finally said. "Seems you're almost local. Anyway, you've now met the infamous QQ. She's kinda the star attraction of the outfit."

  "She's really confident." That was what had impressed Kate the most, how QQ always sounded so sure of herself. "I just don't understand why she made a big deal out of me being a new player."

  "New female gamer," Ice corrected. "Q's got some history with discrimination in the industry. Like eight years ago she was good enough to go pro, but couldn't get a contract because of slut shaming. Rumors started flying - false ones - and she got blackballed. Last year at the Dallas convention called Gamer's Live, she tried again, but this time she kept her gender a secret for as long as she could." He chuckled. "Introduced herself to me on Friday as one of her alternate characters. Didn't have a clue until the tournament, and we were seated side by side."

  Things were starting to fall into place. "So that's why they were giving you a hard time about finding the girls?"

  "Yeah. I'll be honest, I tried to pick Q up. She kicked my ass at both the game and the drinks. Well, she ended up with Void, which is pretty much gamer history. He's the son of the man who started the PLG. Basically, the reason a professional gamer's league even exists."

  "No shit?"

  Ice laughed. "No shit, darlin'.
Void's gamer royalty. Maybe when the Columbus expo is on, I can talk you into attending with me? Then you can meet most of us. Q, Knock, and Void will all be there."

  "I don't even know what that is," she admitted.

  "Big convention. They have vendors selling all sorts of things, from hardware to software, and just about every new game is on display. This year, Deviant's hosting the tournament, so it's not an official PLG thing, but should still be fun. Costs a few bucks to enter, but always worth it. Half the outfit will be there - QQ has to go because of her contract. We always use it as an excuse to get together."

  "When is it?" In truth, it sounded like fun. If she managed to get a job, she'd love to go, and Columbus was close.

  "August, the second weekend."

  Kate sighed, letting him hear it. "Not sure I'll make it, then. I'm between jobs, and unless something happens, I'll be worrying about utility bills, not gaming."

  "That sucks. Well, if you manage..." he trailed off. "Hey, what are you doing Friday?"

  "Nothing that evening, why?"

  "Earlier?"

  "I have an interview, but that's pretty much it. Probably won't take long."

  "Are you serious?" He sounded just a little too shocked. "Well, I was going to ask you to game, but that's more important. Is it something you want to do?"

  She made a noncommittal noise. "Kinda. It's an entry-level position, but I haven't really worked for a while. Getting it would give me the chance to move into something a lot more interesting. The company is amazing. The type of place I'd be lucky to work for."

  "Well, then I really hope you get it."

  "Me too." She wasn't lying. If she could get hired at Degrass Plaza, she could move up into advertising or maybe even sales. She'd even have the option of working her way into management. What was strange was that she was talking about this with someone she barely knew. "I'm sorry, Ice. I'm sure you don't want to hear about this crap."

  "I kinda do. It's just that much more I know about you. Helps me understand why you needed something to take your mind off real life. Plus, lending an ear is pretty much all I have, and getting divorced, being broke, that's gotta be tough."