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“Fuck fuck fuuuuck!”
My heart was pounding so hard and fast I could barely breathe. As usual, my eyes were darting everywhere. The sudden appearance of the real world made me so dizzy I flopped back to the couch.
What the hell went wrong?
I didn’t know, but the whole thing had been finally working. The haptic patches I’d developed over the past eighteen months were transferring heat and vibration, force and feedback. And they were doing it in all new ways too; ones that were both revolutionary and sophisticated.
Up until a minute ago, anyway.
I waited until the room stopped spinning, and my pupils adjusted to the new levels of light. Then I got up, slid into my computer chair, and punched up the code in question.
It hadn’t been easy, working solely for myself. Since quitting two jobs working as a software engineer at two different companies, I’d had to find other ways to make ends meet. There were short-term contracts, debugging gigs, and small, quick projects I could take on through internet sites like Freelancer and Upwork. But that was all just bottom-feeding, really. Making a living from scraps so I could be free to pursue my own projects of my own design.
Either I’d create the greatest VR haptic system ever invented, or I’d fail and go back to writing subroutines and database queries for a placeholder boss at some mega-corporation. But if I somehow pulled off the former, and sold that technology to Sony, Meta, and more?
Well, that’s when life would get very, very uncomplicated.
I put on my headphones, cranked up the music, and started to debug. There were podcasts I loved that I could write code to, and more modern music that went perfectly with system design. But when I was scouring thousands of lines of code for a stubborn, embedded error that was driving me absolutely crazy? Heavy metal was the only way to go.
And in a case like this, the heavier the better.
Ten minutes flew by, then twenty, then more. I looked up at the time, and realized that more than an hour had passed. Somehow, I hadn’t found a single thing out of place. An entire Manowar album later, I was no closer to getting answers.
“I need food.”
I pushed back, and realized I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. Usually my growling stomach gave me a few not-so-subtle reminders. But today, well…
Maybe it did, but you’re too distracted.
I folded my arms behind my head and stared at the ceiling. Sometimes the answers were up there. Other times, like right now, they simply weren’t. The big empty canvas that was my living room ceiling cleared my head though, at least partially. It gave me time to reflect. Time to realize just why I was so distracted.
And shit, I didn’t like the answer one bit.
Jax.
An image of the big asshole barbarian floated to mind. Every encounter with Jax pissed me off, and this time was no exception. But there was something else, though. Something that didn’t sit right after our encounter, and it took me a while to figure out what it was:
Adrian was still upset with me.
I stood up and crossed the room, pacing back and forth a few times as the blood returned to my legs. Honestly, I’d thought we’d left on semi-good terms. Adrian and I had been best friends growing up, and then somewhat even more than that. The whole situation had gotten very complicated, very quickly. And then just as suddenly it was over… he was seeing someone else.
For that reason, I figured all was right between us. In fact, I was happy for him — or at least, I convinced myself that I was. In reality my feelings had gone much deeper. I felt slighted, much more than he should’ve. Which is why, even after all these years, I couldn’t believe he was still holding a grudge.
Maybe he’s not, though.
I frowned in confusion. Jax wasn’t exactly notorious for being right. And as Adrian’s other best friend throughout high school, he was implicitly biased. I couldn’t count on his opinion of the way things had gone. And if the demon queen was already ancient history…
I slid back into my chair and punched up a browser. Not two minutes later I had Adrian’s full information, including the street address of the aforementioned apartment 3C.
Seeing Adrian again after all these years would be wholly cathartic. At the very least, it would clear my head. I’d find out for sure why my old friend was still carrying a grudge, or even if he was.
All that was left to do was grab my coat.
~ 4 ~
HARPER
I’d spent half my life as an introvert, agonizing over the pros and cons of every choice. The other half, I spent taking immediate action. I’m not sure when the switch got flipped, or if there was a specific event that flipped it. All I knew was that my new outlook on life had pretty much stomped out the old one.
