“Wait...did something happen?” I feel flush all over, having prattled about my problems all afternoon as opposed to talking with my best friend.
“Everything is fine. I’m messing with you.” Ryan grins and pops the white stick back in his mouth, moving it back and forth. “Should this be my new look?” he asks. “Maybe get a toothpick? Be one of those people?”
“No,” I say. “Absolutely not.”
* * *
The Gamezone isn’t terribly far away. While our homes might feel like they aren’t in the city, as Philadelphia is really great at providing the illusion of suburban life in an actual city, it only takes a fifteen-minute stroll in any direction to start seeing signs of city life. Proper downtown areas, and all that. Stores, high-rises, condos with downstairs shops, all just a quick powerwalk away on the busier streets, all mostly named after trees. Chestnut. Walnut. No matter how many cute row houses are nearby, you can almost always look up and spot skyscrapers in the distance.
Tucked between a comic book shop and a nail salon sits the local Gamezone. It’s a lot like those popular Gamestop stores, which you can find in just about every mall and city everywhere, and even goes so far as to rip off the logo and color scheme. It’s an indie game shop, so everything is a bit more expensive, but they throw some decent gaming events, which makes up for it. Community and all.
I push open the front door, Ryan following me inside. A large cardboard cutout of the Master Chief from Halo stands near the entrance, advertising the next game in the never-ending series. I jerk my elbow at it in silent question, but Ryan shakes his head, pointing over at the old PlayStation titles across the way, and a very tempting five-dollar bin that mostly looks full of aging Call of Duty titles.
I follow him over, my eyes scanning the used games for something that’ll keep us busy, and I wince at the big advertisement for Reclaim the Sun. The game’s logo, accompanied by the critical reviews and scores from different video game sites, is big and bold, hanging next to the newer games.
“I feel you,” a Gamezone employee says, sauntering over. He’s a little taller than me, and maybe a year or two older, if that. A college-aged guy is working in the shop as well, fussing with the computer behind the counter. “It’s not even that great a game.” He tips his head at the Reclaim the Sun ad and shrugs. “But you know, people buy into the hype.”
“Yeah, that and all the drama,” the other employee says, not even looking up from the register. “I’m telling you, they engineer that shit just to get publicity.”
“Oh my God, Chad, not again with this,” the younger employee says, turning away from me and Ryan.
“What?” Chad humphs. “I bet it is. That streamer chick isn’t even that hot.”
That streamer chick? I glance at Ryan, feeling a flare of rage building up. He’s talking about D1V. It can’t possibly be anyone else.
“Here’s how it works. They get some model to pretend they care about a video game, give her a bunch of fake subscribers, and then get these so-called trolls to attack her.” Chad makes a dismissive noise. “There’s no way any of that is real.”
“Explain the GamesCon appearance then, huh?” the younger guy says, crossing his arms. “There would be a huge lawsuit if that was all fake.”
“Why do you think she disappeared?” Chad asks, holding his arms out. “All staged. And now that panel at GamesCon is going to be massive. All this attention. Just you watch. People will write about it, game sales will spike, all because it’s a big machine. Bunch of fake geek girls and all that.”
“She’s...” I step toward the counter, anger and hope warring inside me. “She’s still doing that panel? Even after everything that happened?”
“Supposedly,” the non-Chad employee says, handing me a flyer. “I heard rumors that GamesCon is going to be her first and last public appearance. That other girl on the stream with her said it in some interview I read this morning.”
“Rebekah?” I venture.
“Yeah, you watch that stream? You a Glitcher?” He smiles, crossing his arms. “I’m super into it.”
“I do,” I say, trying to avoid looking at Chad, who’s rolling his eyes behind the register. “Not much of a live-streaming gamer myself, but I check it out sometimes.”
“Rebekah.” Chad inclines his head, a smug smile spreading across his face. “Now, I hope she’s the real deal. I’d sure love to get a piece of that.”
Before I realize what I’m doing, I’m stalking toward Chad, my fists balled up. Ryan runs up and grabs me from behind, pulling me back, and a flare of heat blooms inside my chest.
“Shut the fuck up!” I shout at Chad. Chad. Fucking Chad. Of course, his goddamn name is Chad. “You don’t get to talk about her that way!”
“Whoa-ho-ho!” Chad says, grinning broadly. He strolls around the counter slowly, tauntingly. “Looks like we got us a mega fan here.” He stops in front of me and leans down to whisper menacingly, “You know what? If any of that nonsense that happened was real... I think those chicks deserve it.”
I scream at him, wrestling against Ryan.
“Chad, come on,” protests the other employee.
“Dude, knock it off,” Ryan grunts as I keep trying to lunge away from him. He’s dragging me back toward the door, and I’m baffled by how strong he is.
“It’s true!” Chad calls as we get closer to the exit. “If it’s real, GamesCon is going to be really interesting. I heard the Populi are gonna put on quite the show.”
The door closes behind us, and I spin around to glare at Ryan.
“What?” he says. “What were you going to do, punch that guy?”
“Maybe!” I exclaim.
“Yeah, that would have ended well. ‘Sorry, Officer, he was defending his online friend that he’s never met and why are you handcuffing him why is he in jail now what’s assault—”
“Okay, okay,” I say, waving him off. “I get it. Let’s just go buy a digital game. Fuck those guys.” I look back at the store and notice the GamesCon flyer hanging on the front door. I storm over and tear it off, and the two of us head back toward our neighborhood.
I study the flyer as we walk. There’s a large Reclaim the Sun logo next to GamesCon’s, with some details about D1V’s panel, “Harassment in Video Game Culture & Women: A Conversation.” There are a few other streamers on the panel with her, and it’s in the morning on the Friday of the convention. I can’t help but scowl at the list of panelists, considering it’s supposed to be a discussion about women in games and it looks like D1V is the only woman on the thing.