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“Everything worth having—today. Did you catch all the bad guys?”
“Made my quota. I thought I’d sweat out some theories, suppositions, and probabilities, then shower before scooping up another load of bad guys.”
“Good plan. Nice to see you.” He clicked the weights on their safety, sat up, and reached for his water bottle. “After a run?”
“Initially.”
“I wouldn’t mind one. Where are you going?”
“Hadn’t decided.”
“I’ve got a new VR program, and two can play.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not after sex sweat.”
He tipped back the water, eyes amused. He’d tied his hair back, and his skin gleamed.
He could probably change her mind on the sweaty activity, she decided.
“Strange, isn’t it, how often your mind leaps straight to sex?”
“Maybe because you’re always nailing me.”
“Maybe. But for now.” He pushed off the bench, walked to a built-in cabinet for the VR gear. “It’s more than a run. There are various obstacles, choices in directions, all of which have their own consequences or rewards. Different scenarios. We have urban, rural, suburban, seemingly deserted landscapes of myriad types. Night, day, a combination. Whatever you like, basically.”
“Is it a game or a workout?”
“It’s both. Why not have fun at it? Where would you like to go?”
She started to pick an urban background—it’s what she knew. But if it was a game, too, that meant competition.
“Let’s go rural.”
“You surprise me.”
“We’ll both be off our turf. Mix up day and night.”
He passed her a set of goggles, began to program. “The goal is to reach the destination that will be shown on the map in the insert at the bottom of your play screen. If you fail to navigate an obstacle or you’re injured, you lose points and distance. Clear one, gain them. Clear so many, you’re rewarded with something useful.”
“How many times have you played this?”
“A few, but not the scenario I’m putting on. We’ll start even on this. Thirty minutes do you?”
“Yeah, that should do it.” Eve fit on the goggles, studied the landscape that surrounded her, checked the insert, and saw the snaking, winding paths, intersections, blocks, and the pulsing light that indicated the goal.
Thick woods, dim light, a rough track and a lot of undergrowth. The sort of place strange animals wandered. Animals with teeth.
She’d be more comfortable running through a dark warehouse full of homicidal chemi-heads.
Which was exactly why she’d gone against type. She’d work harder.
“Watch for pulses on the map, they’ll indicate obstacles or some element of trouble. Ready?”
“Okay.”
The roar of wind came up, whipped the trees as the scene came to life around her. She heard crashing—branches falling, and a kind of whoosh and pound that might have been a waterfall.
But what did she know?
