“There’s something interesting happening,” Melody said. She walked into the office of her boss, Dana Sharp, and immediately tuned the large wall display to what she wanted her boss to see.
A young girl in a dark blue and purple full body leotard skated towards a crowd of ogres and trolls. Her glowing roller blades left matching trails of blue light behind her as she barreled towards the crowd. The camera appeared to be following directly behind her.
“Who is she?” Dana asked Melody. She touched the display to switch the view. It showed the girl skating from a different angle, as well as a drone flying behind her; Dana guessed it was the camera from the first view.
“She’s a Zero,” Melody said. Dana did not take her eyes off the screen. The girl threw something at the crowd of enemies, then a brilliant flash of light blinded the camera for a second. When the view returned the girl was skating a circle around the mob while the drone that followed her attacked the ogres and trolls with machine guns. Melody switched views again and the screen showed the drone’s viewpoint as it fired into the crowd.
They tried lifting their shields and hiding behind each other, but the machine guns chewed through them. A dozen ogres and trolls fell to the ground. Their corpses disintegrated to dust.
After they all disappeared the girl skated to where the center of the crowd was. The drone followed her and continued to record. A large golden treasure chest appeared in front of her, and she touched it. The lid opened, and a young princess climbed out of the chest. Melody turned the display off.
“That quest isn’t supposed to be solo-able,” Melody reminded Dana. She was an amazing businesswoman, but sometimes the details of her product escaped her.
“Do we know how she did it?” Dana asked. Melody shook her head.
“She’s a Human Engineer with a Cyber soul. That would explain the camera drones easily enough, but we have no idea how she moved so fast. We didn’t detect any Inanimates either.”
“Are you sure she’s a Zero?” Dana asked. Melody moved to Dana’s desk and handed her a manila folder.
“Yes. We know one of her Zeroes.” Dana opened the file and glanced through the information. She picked out the relevant bits, closed the folder and winked at Melody.
“This is fantastic. Tell the test server to start pushing out camera drones for the engineer class, let’s get on this live streaming idea. Tell P.R. that I’m going to put together a derby team. Try-outs are for Uniques only. I want it promoted on her server,” Dana pointed to the blank display.
“But why are you making it Uniques only?” Melody asked. “She won’t show up if she can’t try out.” Dana shook her head and gave a soft chuckle.
“A girl like her? She’ll probably look at it from the other end. She’ll be there because she can’t try out if she doesn’t show up.” Dana said. “After that, take the rest of the day off, you’ve earned it. And I’m taking you to dinner tonight, so be ready.” A light blush caressed Melody’s cheeks, it had been months since she and Dana had a date night.
“Where to?” Melody asked.
“Anywhere you like, except Donna Chang’s,” Dana said. “I don’t feel like relying on Janet for a ride.” Melody smiled.
“But she’s here now!” Melody said with her voice full of excitement. Donna Chang’s was her favorite restaurant, unfortunately, it was often on a different Earth. “I just granted her a permit last week.”
“Really? This day just keeps getting better. Alright, make the reservations, and I’ll see you tonight.” Melody nodded and smiled as she walked out the door.
“Yes, Ms. Sharp.”
