Spark - ARC Read Online Free

“This is the first model I’ve seen in person. It’s prime.”
    She kept walking, coming right into his personal space, close enough to read his badge. He didn’t back off, just gave her a half smile in return. His eyes were slightly tilted, as if one of his parents was Asian, and he was good looking, despite the clunky black glasses obscuring half his face.
    “I can’t wait to see you play,” he said.
    There was the usual admiration in his voice—she was tired of being adored by people who didn’t even know her—but there was sincerity, too. He really did want to see her show off the system.
    “You’re a simmer.” She didn’t need to make it a question.
    It was obvious in the way the guy (Aran, according to his badge) had been looking at the FullD. She felt that same pull herself; the lure of immersing herself in a fabulous world, of testing her formidable skills and beating anything the programmers could dream up.
    Although the Realm of Faerie was a whole other challenge. Luckily, only a few gamers would ever stumble into that world. When they did, she and the rest of the Feyguard would be there to pull them back out.
    “I sim,” Aran said. “Hey, could I get your autograph?”
    “Of course. Got a pen?”
    He fished around in his jeans pockets, coming up with a folded map of the convention center and a pen with the VirtuMax logo printed on the side.
    “Thanks,” he said, handing them to her. “Make it out to Bix. B-I-X.”
    “Your name isn’t Aran?” She shot another look at his badge.
    “It’s for a friend. He’s a big fan.”
    “I’ll be in the VirtuMax area tomorrow. He could meet me then.” She wrote out the name and signed her autograph, then handed the pen and paper back to Aran.
    “Maybe. But he’s shy—and there’ll be about a thousand other people who’ll want your autograph. This way, your hand will be spared from signing one more.”
    She laughed a little. “I like your logic. You know, there’ll be demo models of the FullD for people to try.”
    “I know.” His dark brown eyes sparked with interest. “Although there’s still that problem of the thousand other people.”
    She tilted her head and studied him a moment. There was something appealing about this guy, beyond the fact he wasn’t a complete mess of fannish drool at her feet. And he was cute. Rebounding from your almost-crush on Roy? a voice inside her needled. But there was no such thing as a not-falling-in-love rebound.
    “Listen,” she said. “You’ve got a badge. Come in early tomorrow. I’ll clear you with security, and make sure you get some system time. Say, around nine? Con opens at ten.”
    He gave her a surprised look, quickly overtaken by a grin. “That’d be great.”
    “Miss Jaxley,” the stage manager called. “All done with your little meet-n-greet up there? We need to check the feed to the screens.”
    “See you tomorrow,” she said. “Nice meeting you, Aran.”
    “You too, Miss Jax—”
    “Call me Spark. Not nearly enough people do.”
    His smile emphasized his high cheekbones. “All right, Spark. Later.”
    The stage manager cleared his throat. Aran tucked the paper and pen in his back pocket, then jumped down off the stage, lean and agile.
    “Miss Jaxley,” the tech said, “here’s your gear.”
    Spark took the gleaming helm and visor and pulled on the LED-studded gaming gloves. Just before she slid into the sim chair to begin running the interface, she saw Aran in the back of the theater. He lifted his hand in farewell, then slipped out, leaving only shadows behind.

CHAPTER THREE

     
    “N o way!” Bix snatched the folded paper with Spark’s autograph out of Aran’s fingers and pressed it theatrically over his heart. “Now I really hate you, man.”
    “Give that back.” Aran held out his hand. “I’m sure someone around here would show a little appreciation for a custom autograph.”
    “Seriously—I owe you,” Bix said.
    “Not really.” Aran shifted his