Game Over Read Online Free Page B

time he saw her, his heart filled up—but with what? Was it love? Could you even love a computer-world water spirit? Could he ever bring her back with him into RL?
    So he’d met Mariel . . . and then he saw Molly again . . . and some of his old feelings for her had started coming back . . . and now, he saw her with Victor One, smiling down at Victor One, him smiling back up at her . . .
    Confusing, confusing, confusing . . . especially after what he’d discovered in the hidden room in the underground corridors of the compound . . . the two glass coffins down there . . . the weirdest thing . . .
    Rick put something like an easygoing expression on his face and strolled into the hospital room looking as if Victor One and Molly could get married on the spot without causing him a care in the world.
    â€œHey,” said Victor One, his voice hoarse. He lifted a hand weakly in greeting. “There’s the hero of the hour.”
    Molly stood up from the bed quickly, as if Rick had caught her doing something wrong. Her cheeks flushed red.
    Rick thought, Hey, no worries. If you’re into Victor One, you’re into him, no big deal, no reason to get all blushy about it.
    That’s what he thought, not what he felt. What he felt was . . . confusing . . .
    â€œHey, Mol,” he said casually—and then he quickly looked away from her to give her a chance to recover her composure. “How you feeling, V-One?”
    â€œLike some clown shot me in the chest. How ’bout you? How’re you feeling?”
    â€œLike some gigantic flying octopus chased me through space while enemy fighters tried to ray-gun me to death. Otherwise, great.”
    â€œWe can compare scars,” said Victor One with something between a cough and a laugh.
    Molly now spoke up. “Victor has been using his downtime to do some really interesting research.”
    She sounded proud of him. Rick didn’t like the sound. “Oh yeah?” he said as cheerfully as he could. “What’ve you found out?”
    â€œWell, lying around bleeding all day gave me a lot of time to think,” V-One said softly. “I’ve been worried that there may be a traitor in the MindWar Project.”
    Rick nodded. They were all worried about that.
    Victor One continued, “So it occurred to me to wonder: that house in the woods where the kidnappers imprisoned Molly . . . that barn where Kurodar hid the Breach into the Realm . . . all those acres of swamp and forest where everything was so well hidden . . . Who owned that land?”
    Rick tilted his head. He had to admit it was a good question. Victor One wasn’t just tough and brave (and ruggedly handsome), he was also smart.
    So what? he thought. If she’s into him, she’s into him . . . I’ll always have my computerized dream girl who’s probably not even real . . .
    â€œI linked up with some of my military intelligence pals,” the bodyguard continued. “The land ownership was well hidden behind a lot of dummy companies, but we finally traced it to a dude named Theodore Moros. Greek-American businessman in his seventies. Made, like, a gazillion dollars in the aerospace industry. Now gives it away to a lot of supposedly good causes.”
    â€œLike Kurodar trying to blow up America?” Rick said.
    â€œYeah, that didn’t strike me as such a good cause either. I’m thinking if my intelligence pal can help me get inside Mr. Moros’s computers, I might be able to find out what else he’s been spending his money on. I might even make a little unexpected visit to Mr. Moros’s mansion on this Caribbean island he owns . . .”
    â€œThere is no way you are getting out of that bed until you’re completely better,” said Molly.
    And the way she said it—like a tender, caring girlfriend—made Rick glad that his hair couldn’t actually spontaneously burst into flames—because if it could have, it