Chapter 28: Fun and Games

Sara knocked on her door softly, waiting until she heard Diana’s “Come in!” She opened the door slightly and peeked in. “Diana…can Darren come in?” Darren winced as an ear-piercing shriek blasted out of the slightly open door. “I’m not ready to meet him yet! I haven’t mentally prepared myself! Keep him out!” Darren laughed and gently pushed the door open. “Coming in.”

Diana sat in one of four chairs at the small table in the center of the room, barely moving. Darren leaned over to Sara and whispered loudly, “If I take another step closer, she’ll explode. You’re going to have to interpret the language she uses.” Diana giggled nervously and breathed in deeply. “Sorry, it’s just been a long time since I’ve met a man genuinely interested in another person…and not just their body.”

Darren frowned. “That happens a lot around here?” Diana nodded. “Not a single guy here appreciates inner beauty.” Darren glanced at Sara. Diana caught the look and sighed. “We need more men like you here. I don’t suppose you can smuggle some aboard…” Darren grinned. “I know a couple people who would absolutely love the chance…but it looks like I’m stuck here and can’t get them.”

Sara grabbed her laptop from her desk and set it down on the table. Darren pulled his out and sat down as well, classical music playing in the background. Diana looked from person to person. “What is there, some kind of electronic conspiracy going on?” Sara smiled. “Nah, we thought we’d just explore the laptops and network.” Diana went and got hers. “I can’t just sit here and stare at you two all day…”

After about an hour, Darren glanced at the clock on the wall. “Oh yeah, I was going to go to dinner. Want to come, or do you still want to tinker around?” Sara stood up. “No…I’m not that hungry. For food, anyways…” Diana turned away and coughed loudly. Darren grinned and moved closer for a long, slow, passionate embrace that Sara wished would never end.

When Sara opened her eyes again, Darren was leaving and Diana was on Sara’s bed staring at the wall. Sara sat down at the table and scanned her laptop as Diana turned around. “Well, that goodbye took a while.” Sara blushed. “Yeah…he’s really sweet.”

Diana twirled a short strand of her brown hair absentmindedly as she sat cross-legged on Sara’s bed. “So…how is he?” Sara glanced up from her screen at her roommate. “What?” Diana grinned. “You know…how ‘is’ he?” Sara’s mouth dropped open. “We’re…not married.”

Diana shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to matter to people here. What’s stopping you two?” Sara felt her face grow hot. “Well…we both have morals…and he’s not going to push me farther than I want to go.” Diana sighed deeply and dropped her head back onto a pillow. “I’d give anything for a guy like that…you’re so lucky.” Sara smiled slightly. “Trust me, I know. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for him.”
~
Darren ambled aimlessly down the hallway. There was no hurry to go eat. From what he’d read on the “Web of Destiny,” the space station’s intra-network, the food was lacking, especially in the ‘taste’ category. It was served buffet-style in a large room, tables of various shapes around the room.

Darren glanced around, taking care notice the different groups of people. Fluorescent tubes lit the room, occasionally flickering. He spooned what he assumed to be soup into a bowl, grabbed a drink, walked down an aisle between two long tables, and sat across from a smaller kid eating by himself at one end.

The kid looked up from his laptop, looked back and kept typing and eating. “Leave.” Darren shrugged. “If it’s all the same, I’d rather sit here than over by anyone else.” The kid looked up again. “Just leave.” Darren raised an eyebrow. “Or?” “Or I’ll ruin your life here.” The kid was obviously not above making threats.

Understanding dawned on Darren. “So you’re Venom. The one they’ve never caught.” Venom looked around and leaned forward. “Yes. Now shut up and leave.” Darren shook his head. “Ease up. I’m only making casual conversation. Not like I’m asking you for trade secrets or anything.” Venom didn’t smile. “That’s good. Because you wouldn’t get them. I’m already watching your files.”

Darren smiled. The first thing he’d done was set up fake accounts and aliases. He’d never needed them before, but there was always a first time for everything. “You do that. In the meantime, watch your own.” Venom smiled for the first time. “You’re not the first to say that.” Darren matched the smile with a slight smirk. “But I’m the first to get onboard without clearance.”

Venom narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe you.” Darren shrugged. “Check for yourself. I’m sure you have access to the commander’s files, as do I. And don’t bother trying to trace me. I’ve already routed my path through the network at random.” Venom nodded. “A good start. But given time, it’s inevitable that I’ll have access.”

Darren nodded with him. “Yes, that’s true. But it works the other way as well. I propose a truce. The second I detect your presence in my stuff, I ruin you. And you do the same.”

Venom bit off a piece of bread. “Sounds good. Keep in mind I don’t know you, we never met, and so forth.” Darren smiled. “Of course. Oh, pardon me.” He reached over and lifted Venom’s bowl along with his own, just as the table began to shake. The people at the other end liked to play tricks, so it seemed.

One of them stood up and walked casually over. Darren sized him up quickly. Slightly bigger than average, muscles noticeable, swagger to his walk, flat-topped haircut…some kid who can push others around because he’s been in the military and knows how to yell. He glanced back at Venom. “You sticking around? Might be a food fight…”

Venom shrugged and switched off his laptop. “I’ll watch on the security cams later.” Darren grinned. “Spoken like a true computer master. Oh, so far…” Darren hesitated. Should he, or shouldn't he? “…I haven’t been able to find your real name.”

The other boy smiled. Darren was tipping his hand and Venom knew it, but felt generous enough to do the same. “I have no real name. All I’ve ever been called is Venom.” He grabbed the laptop and sauntered away.

Darren looked up at the smirking person standing beside him. “Can I help you?” The boy sat down with his back against the table, arm propped up. “Actually, yeah, you can.” Darren recognized the foreshadowing instantly. “I’m listening.” “Well, I’ve been hearing talk about a really hot chick that came onboard yesterday…and the word is you know her.”

Darren smiled inwardly. This could be fun. “You’re right. I know her. You’re not the only guy who wants her, though. There’s quite a long line. But give me your name and I’ll mention you to her.” “Thomas.” Darren waited for a last name. He didn’t get one. “Just Thomas. I’m the only Thomas here.”

Darren nodded. “Thomas, right. And why should she choose you out of all the others going after her?” Thomas grinned. “Let her know that she can drop by my room and see for herself.” Darren fought the urge to deck him. “And what if she’s not interested in that sort of thing?”

Thomas laughed. “What? You can’t be serious.” Darren stood. “I’m totally serious. She’s not single either. She’s already chosen somebody. So your efforts would be better spent chasing after someone easier.” Thomas smiled politely. “And I suppose that somebody she’s chosen would be you, then?”

Darren nodded, smiling only a bit to show he was serious. At least he’s not stupid. “That’s right.” Thomas stepped forward. “Here on Destiny we have a tradition…if somebody wants a girl that belongs to somebody else…they have to fight.” Darren’s smile disappeared. The fun ended now. “Traditions were made to be broken…Thomas.”

Thomas grabbed Darren by the shoulders. “There’s no avoiding it. You’re going to have to fight me for her. Right now.” Darren briefly considered threatening Thomas further. But only briefly. He threw his hands up in between Thomas’ arms and spread his arms apart, knocking them away.

Power or style? Large crowd, kid with a bully complex…definitely style. He jumped straight up, avoiding the use of magic, spinning clockwise in the air and bringing his right leg hard in a mid-air roundhouse against Thomas’ right shoulder, knocking him over the table and to the floor on the other side.

Darren sat down and finished his drink. “Fight’s over, I win.” To his surprise, the other got up and rotated his arm. “That wasn’t a kick. That was a lame attempt at show business.” Thomas cracked his knuckles. “Ready for round two?” Darren shrugged and walked to the center of the room, where there were no tables. “Sure. You realize, of course, that even if you do beat me, you can never own her.”

Thomas grimaced. “You act like I care about her feelings.” Darren closed his eyes. If he keeps that up, he loses an organ. About that time, Sara walked in. She was in her white jumpsuit, which did less to hide her figure than her Shirnish traveling clothes. Darren opened his eyes and promptly closed them again, groaning. Perfect timing. But she can handle herself.

He motioned to Thomas. “Shall we begin?”

Thomas nodded, his eyes on Sara. “Yeah, yeah…one second…” Darren sighed and grabbed a roll from the ground. He tossed straight up and down a few times, and then hit Thomas in the head with it. “Hey! Thomas! Fighting! Now!” Thomas didn’t move. Darren shrugged and walked past him towards Sara.

Sara glanced around as she neared Darren, leaning in to whisper. “Darren…why do they keep staring at me, and why are you about to fight that guy?” Darren grinned. “It’ll all be explained.” He stopped talking aloud and spoke through the link. Sara stared at him in shock, and then grinned. {Sure, why not?}

They embraced, Sara watching over Darren’s shoulder. As expected, Thomas took the moment to aim a savage chop at Darren’s neck. Darren ducked and Sara caught the blow with a hand, staring at Thomas. “No concept of fairness? And here I was thinking chivalry existed outside of Darren.”

Thomas tilted his head to one side. “Darren? Ah, that’s him. Right. The wimp with the weak kicks.” Sara dropped his hand. “Big talk works on groupies, but not me. You’re full of it.” Thomas grinned. “Maybe. Maybe not.” He turned to Darren. “Small fry! You gonna let your woman fight for you?”

Darren sat down at a table and leaned back. “I think I’ll watch this one. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her hurt anybody badly. And it’s always good to take a break now and then.” He nodded at Sara. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Sara stared into Thomas’ eyes and stepped back. She bowed, saying “May you live.” Thomas stared at her, perplexed, and then looked at Darren. “I can’t fight her!” Darren glanced at the combatants. “But you just said you don’t care about her. So how does that work out?”

Thomas made a low rumbling noise in his throat and ignored Sara, running for Darren. Sara hopped onto a bench and jumped between the two, knocking Thomas off his feet with a sweeping kick. He regained his balance and landed softly. The punch he threw when he got up was aimed at Darren, but Darren didn’t move. Sara caught the punch and slammed her fist into his gut, sending him back a few steps.

Still he came on. Darren sighed and waved Sara aside. He stood up and waited for the punch, dodging it as he moved away from the table. Instead of fighting, he waited until Thomas threw a weak punch and absorbed it into his chest, pulling himself closer to the pugilist.

Thomas couldn’t move his hands; Darren’s grip on his arms was too strong. He couldn’t move his legs without opening himself up for a kick. He was at Darren’s mercy, and Darren had something to say to him. The change in his tone was unmistakable.

“Listen up, little man, because I’ll only say this once. Stay away from Sara and don’t bother her. We can end this one of two ways. I can leave you for the janitor to find the next morning, or you can walk away and end this silly little ‘tradition’ of yours, not to mention saving a little more face than with option one. Your choice.”

Thomas stared stone-faced at Darren, acting like he hadn’t heard either choice. Darren let go of his arms and walked out with Sara, glancing over his shoulder at the sea of stunned faces. Nothing quite like leaving an entire room in wonder and confusion…

They walked the hallway in silence, Darren lost in thought and Sara continually glancing at him. When they passed his room, Sara nudged him. “What’s your room like?” Darren smiled down at her. Thanks. “Exactly like yours, but smaller and without a roommate.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “You got lucky. You don’t have somebody asking you how often you sleep with your partner, or how good they are.” Darren chuckled. “Yes, I’ve noticed people here tend to be very…forward in their speech.”

They reached the door and Darren opened it. “I’m guessing from your constant attempts to block my path that you’re inviting me in.” Sara grinned. “Was it that obvious?” “Only a little.”

Sara walked in and made sure her roommate was decent before letting Darren in. Diana pointed to the table and resumed typing at her desk. “Someone came by earlier with a message for you, Sara. Said it was important.” Sara picked up the letter and scanned it. She sat down and read it again, then quietly handed it to Darren and rubbed her temples.

Darren picked it up and read parts aloud. “Dear Miss Sara, we are delighted blah blah blah you have garnered favor blah blah blah going to move you to another more private location, unknown to all but a few.” He stopped skipping parts and finished up, frowning. “I wonder where they’re going to send you.”

Sara looked up at him. “I won’t leave. I’m sick of leaving.” Darren sat down in a chair beside her. “No-one understands that more than me, Sara. But this isn’t as bad as it seems. You’ll still be in the same station, and I’ll still be able to visit you.” Sara walked over to her bed and sat down facing the wall.

“I’m sick of people telling us what we can and can’t do.” Darren stood and watched her. “I know. I feel the same way. The rules don’t apply to us, though. We can bend them, and if we need to we can break them. We are in control here, not them.”

He jumped and landed in front of her on the bed, cross-legged. She dipped her head to avoid seeing his face. Darren let his eyes unfocus as he stared off into the distance. “You want things to clear up. You want all the problems to sort themselves out, and leave you out of it.”

Sara didn’t move her head. Darren reached out and placed his hands over hers. “The only way it’ll sort out is if you let it go completely. You have to stop caring. Nobody else matters but us now.” Diana coughed. Darren glanced over with a small smile. “Diana, of course, might matter a tiny bit.” She nodded, satisfied, and went back to her work.

Darren stood up suddenly. “Sara, when was the last time you checked your messages?” Sara looked at him, confused. “Right before I went to dinner, or rather what I thought would be dinner. Why?” Darren shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe they left an important message about the move.”

Sara climbed off the bed and moved unenthusiastically to her laptop. She flipped up the top and turned it on, logging in and resting her head in one hand. Instantly the screen was covered with text. Through some kind of projection technology, in bold black letters on every wall it read “Sara Williams, will you marry me?” Diana glanced up and stared openmouthed at the wall. Sara turned and looked at Darren, who still sat cross-legged on the bed, watching her reaction.

He smiled. “Wish I had a camera.” Sara strode to the foot of the bed and crossed her arms. “Darren, are you serious about this?” Darren held her gaze steadily. “As serious as I can be.” She leaped on the bed and threw her arms around his neck, knocking him backwards as he laughed. “Of course I will!”

After a few moments, she pulled back and stared at him. "But doesn’t it seem a bit…soon?" Darren turned serious again. “We don’t know how much time we have or what’s happening next. And judging by your initial reaction, it’s something you’ve been giving thought to as well.”

Sara assumed a look of panic. “Well yes, but mostly on Shirn. How are we going to do the wedding now? Where? And who?” Diana turned in her chair. “There’s a chapel on level 2. I imagine you could persuade one of the ministers to do it.”

Darren nodded. “I’ll talk to him in the morning. In the meantime…there was no other way to make the projection than to do some more digging into their system. Most likely, the commander knows about the proposal.”

Sara kept staring. “Won’t that ruin it? Seeing as he seems to be dead set against you and everything…” Darren grinned. “As far as I know, the most he can do is make snide remarks and ask me why I look so tired or if I slept well.”

A knock stopped his next sentence. Darren glanced at Diana and Sara, but both of them weren’t expecting anybody. He put a finger to his lips and stood behind the door.

Sara walked over and opened it slowly, closing it almost all the way instantly, Thomas’ foot in the doorway. “No, wait! I’ve come to apologize.” Sara opened it all the way, still hiding Darren, and stepped back with her arms crossed. “Apologize for what?”

Thomas lifted a hand to his hair and looked at the ground, speaking quickly out of nervousness. “I was much too…forward. Not to mention violent. I guess it’s the way they train us to be. Us pilots, that is. You’re being transferred with some of us. I figured if I was working with you, I might as well make it less awkward. They’ve got a list sent out on our laptops.”

He glanced around the room at the walls. “Although, from what it looks like, you haven’t gotten that far.” He ventured a smile. Sara returned it with a little more warmth. “No, I haven’t.” Thomas looked around. “He left already? Shame…I was hoping to apologize to him too. Well, let him know I was looking to talk, not fight. And give him my congratulations. He’s a lucky man.”

Thomas turned and left, closing the door behind him. Darren leaned against the wall and spoke without looking at anything in particular. “I like him. He’s good, just misguided. And apologizing…that must’ve taken a lot of humility.” Thomas’ voice came through the door. “Don’t forget to add ‘observant’ and ‘not deaf!’”

Darren grinned and opened the door. “Apology accepted, congratulations appreciated.” Thomas nodded. “There was one more thing. A bunch of us guys and a couple of the more…competitive women get together on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights and take the ISP room for whatever we want. We link all the terminals and have miniature-scale wars, recreations of scenarios, anything we’re in the mood for.”

Noticing Sara’s concerned look, he quickly added “But the room doesn’t actually allow you to ‘hurt’ somebody.” He checked his watch. “You’ll see. Tonight’s a Wednesday night, so we’re heading out soon. You want to come?” Darren nodded. “Sure, I’ll come. Diana? Sara?”

“I’m game.” “Sounds like fun.” They waited for Diana to finish up the paragraph she was writing and walked to the elevator. Darren glanced at Thomas occasionally, still impressed with his apology. They made the trip to the ISP room in silence, each with their own ideas of what it would be like.

Thomas opened the door and let everybody else enter in front of him. They each nodded politely as they passed him. Darren walked in and looked around at the sea of white jumpsuits. Diana turned to Thomas in awe. “There’s gotta be over a hundred people here!” Thomas’ voice contained a note of pride. “Yep. Took me a long time to get them all organized like this, but I was here from the very beginning.”

He waved his hands and the room quieted. “Okay, terminals!” The people fanned out and each picked a station to stand at. Thomas led the three over to terminals directly across from the door. Two were slightly larger than all the others. Thomas took one and waved Darren forward. “These are the commander terminals. What say we get some friendly rivalry going?”

To his surprise, Darren shook his head. “I’d rather not. If it’s all the same, I’d like to be just another person.” Thomas smiled reassuringly. “It’s alright, Darren. I’m not trying to show you up in front of your girlfriend or anything.” Diana piped up. “She’s his fiancé now.” Thomas smiled apologetically. “Fiancé, sorry.” Darren still shook his head. “I have my reasons. Diana would probably do a good job, though.” Diana grinned evilly and stepped up.

Thomas shrugged. “If you can learn quickly, you might stand a chance.” Diana glared at him. “Skip the training. I’ve done this before.” Darren and Sara took the terminals nearest them. Darren chose to sit in the chair that came out from the floor, while Sara opted to stand.

They watched as Thomas placed both hands on a large well-let pad, following his example. Sara looked down and felt the air-cooled room melt away into a warm breeze. She opened her eyes, shaded them from the setting sun, and looked around.

They were standing on top of a grassy hill, facing another hill with a gently sloping valley in between. There seemed to be an equal amount of people on each side. Darren looked behind him and saw Thomas, apparently his commander of the miniature war. He looked around for Sara, but didn’t find her.

He squinted across the valley. Well…this should be interesting. Diana’s smile was visible even from the distance, and Sara was standing close to her. {You already know this, but powering ourselves up would probably not be a good idea, Sara.} {What would happen if magic met science?} Darren shuddered. {Nothing good, that’s for sure. But even without our power, we still have our skill with this type of combat.}

Thomas lifted his arm and waited for Diana to do the same. “Well Darren, tonight seems to be medieval war. Behind me is the armory. Sara appears to be on the other side…” Darren headed for the pile of weapons. “We’ve already discussed it. We’re not going to hold back, but we know it’s all a game.”

Thomas nodded. “Good. I’ve heard of many a relationship broken up by this room. Don’t let that happen. Did I explain the damage system? No? Well, obviously you can’t die in the real world. But the ISP room ‘remembers’ where, when, and how hard someone ‘hit’ your virtual body with a weapon.”

“It’s already calculated your stamina and such. There’s no ‘pain,’ per se, but your brain stores the information in your head. So you’ll know how much pain you would have felt, but you won’t actually feel it.”

Another soldier elbowed Darren in the side. “Sweet, eh?” Thomas nodded. “When the damage to your virtual body is calculated as too much, you ‘die’. At that point, you float above the field in a ghost-like form, able to watch but unable to do anything until everyone on one side is dead.”

Darren grinned. “Sounds like fun.” He hefted a large spear, twirling it several times. “When do we start?” Thomas squinted across at Diana’s silhouette. “Right…about…now. CHARGE!”

Both armies ran down into the valley as the commanders waved and shouted them onwards. Darren chanced a quick look over his shoulder at his leader. The change in Thomas from an obnoxious pilot to a heroic captain was strange, but not implausible.

Darren turned back to the opposing side as he reached the bottom of the valley, just in time to duck a hatchet thrown at his head. The two sides met in an explosion of metal and war cries. Darren hurled his spear through several people, noticing Sara’s wake of carnage out of the corner of his eye.

The white jumpsuits they all wore on the space station were still with them in the ISP simulation for some reason. The virtual bodies of the dead lay on the ground while the ghostly outlines of the slain could be seen when looking up.

Darren focused back on the battle. There was never much time for thought in war. He threw himself backwards to avoid a huge man with a double-bladed axe. With his spear, he was faster than most of the other warriors, and was able to dodge their blows easier.

Darren finished off a wild attacker with a flail and looked around. He, Sara, and both commanders were still alive, along with about a dozen others. Thomas and Diana started towards the valley, reaching the bottom as Darren and Sara finished off the last of the other team and turned to each other.

A moment of calm followed as the four looked around, noting the condition they were in. Darren leaned against his spear and watched as Sara and Diana moved closer together, making good use of their longswords.

Sara lunged forward and Thomas blocked her slash with the shaft of his mace. He pulled back as she slid her blade off his mace and downwards to block Darren’s thrust. Thomas aimed a blow towards Sara, but was stopped by Diana’s sword. Darren moved the point of his spear towards Diana’s throat, but couldn’t fully extend it because of Sara’s sword.

They stood that way for a while, each with a weapon aimed at them, unable to move because of imminent death. Sweat began to form on their faces as their arms began to tremble from the strain of holding heavy weapons.

Diana looked at Thomas. “Surrender?” Thomas smiled as best he could while gasping for breath. “Funny…I was just about…to ask you the same thing.” Sara glanced at each one. “There’s no way to call a truce?” Thomas didn’t move his gaze from the sword pointed at his throat. “I don’t know. I never imagined we’d have to call one.”

Darren lowered his spear and leaped backwards out of weapon range. “Better learn quick.” Thomas stared at him. “What’s the problem?” Darren shook his head. “Don’t ask; it’s too complicated.”

Thomas shrugged and backed away from Diana. “Alright.” He closed his eyes. After a minute of carefully watching the others for threatening movements, Sara felt the landscape change from the soft grass to the hard floor of the ISP room. Darren lifted his hands from the lit pad and walked through the crowd out of the room. Sara looked at Diana and shrugged, making her way after him.

Thomas reached over and shook Diana’s hand. “Excellent job out there. I haven’t seen a good commander opposite me for a long time. I hope you can do this again…” Diana smiled coyly. “I suppose I could. You said Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, right?” Thomas nodded and yelled to the room as Diana turned and left. “Friday night we’re doing the bike race!” An enthusiastic roar came back from the crowd.
~
Sara caught up with Darren in front of the elevator. When it got there, he stepped inside and pushed the button to close the door quickly. He leaned against the back wall and stared straight ahead, avoiding her stare.

Darren walked Sara back to her room in silence. She opened the door and hesitated before going in, then turned to him. “Darren, I know you hold a lot inside. But you don’t have to.” He smiled gently. “Sara, I didn’t lie. I don’t want to burden you with my problems and faults. It’s far too complicated to explain.” He thought for a second and shrugged tiredly. “But I could try anyways.”

Sara led the way into her room and sat at the table across from Darren. “You mean the war in the ISP room was too complicated?” Darren nodded slightly. “They say the medieval war is a game and that it’s all in fun. I don’t believe that for a second.”

He held up his hand as Sara started to speak. “I didn’t say the ISP room, I said the medieval war. There’s a difference between running a footrace through a city and running your fiancé through with a spear. It’s designed to harden whoever fights in that war to everything and everyone else. Thomas and Diana don’t seem as affected as the rest, fortunately. Probably because they’ve got commander positions.”

Sara interrupted. “Darren, it doesn’t seem possible.” “I know. And now come the complications.” He paused to gain control of his voice. “It’s almost impossible to distinguish ISP from reality in there. How would we know if it was real or not? When will we stop distinguishing ISP from reality?”

He buried his face in his hands. “I couldn’t kill you or Diana. Even knowing full well it was fake, I couldn’t.” Sara leaned over and spoke quietly. “I don’t think any of us could.”

Darren jerked his head up suddenly. “But don’t you see? I’ve been here less than three full days and already I’ve shown weakness three times to three different people…and all having to do with you.”

A burning knot formed in Sara’s stomach. “What do you mean?” Darren shook his head and let his eyes unfocus as he stared off into the distance. “If I knew, I would tell you. But it’s so…strange. Every day I think about you. I can’t concentrate to the same extent as before I met you.”

Sara felt the knot cool and melt away. “That’s sweet. It’s not uncommon when you’re in love.” Darren shook his head again. “It’s weak.” Sara shrugged. “Do you think you were stronger by yourself before we met, or are we stronger now together?”

Darren grinned. “Well, I’d have to think about that one for a while.” Sara narrowed her eyes. “Would you rather keep all your organs or should I take the lesser used ones off your hands while you think?” He reached over and put a hand on her knee. “That won’t be necessary. We both know the answer to the first question.”

The door opened and Diana walked in. Sara jumped up and turned around. “Doesn’t anyone knock anymore?” Diana shrugged. “Why would I need to? It’s not like you’d be holding the honeymoon early in here.”

Darren stood. “Oh, I should probably look into a place for that too.” He leaned over and kissed Sara on the cheek. “I’ll be by tomorrow around noon for lunch.” The door closed behind him as he left for his room.

Diana started to change out of her jumpsuit and glanced at Sara. “You guys alright? He seemed pretty shaken by the room.” Sara shook her head. “He’s afraid of becoming a cold killer, and he thinks ISP is made for that sort of thing.” Diana stopped and looked at Sara again. “Do you believe him?”

Sara finished undressing and pulled a blanket over herself. “He’s not wrong about much. I don’t think he’s wrong now. My question is: what can we do about it?” Diana shrugged. “Not do medieval wars, I guess.” She got into her bed and turned off the lamp. “Goodnight.” “Night.”

- posted by Nick @ 6/02/2004 10:39:00 PM