Untouchable

“This is Ditbert. Pursuing the targets.”

Instead of another horde- Frankie had been shown to escape those- the marketing team split into a widespread unit, a loose pack of hounds hot on the girls’ trail before they could even notice. Wilton dashed through the open street. Julie took to the alleys. Go went up and around, loving the young athleticism VR returned to him. Above them all, Anti leaped from rooftop to rooftop, eyes firmly locked on the evil sisters.

“So, how do we… leave?” Frankie asked Katie, the two not even running yet, oblivious to the coming swarm.

“There was some kind of exit portal behind us when we entered, we probably walk through that.”

“Ugh. Wish I could just exit out through the menu…”

“Maybe they wanted more immersion than that. But why leave already? We’re way ahead. I just wanna see one more ride before we go.”

“Okay…” the pushover sighed, perusing what attractions were nearby. At last she was forced to reckon with the veritable assault squad headed towards them, most of its members notably familiar.

“Uh- KATIE? RUN!”

Without a second thought she listened, the two both dashing forward in retreat.

“WHAT IS IT?”

“MARKETING TEAM! THEY’RE AFTER US!”

They ran as fast as they could. The funny thing about the VR world was that nobody had much physical advantage over another. Besides a slight edge granted by height, each person moved at the exact same maximum speed. This benefitted those in the lead for the most part, with them unable to get all that tired or run out of stamina, as all but the most clever of their chasers struggled to catch up.

Katie had a sudden realization.

“They’ve probably got the same cheats that other guy did! They’ll force us into bets, waste our time! Or worse, take our tokens!”

“Shit! Keep running!” Frankie ordered, but try as she might she couldn’t increase her speed. At last, the exit came into view, but something far more terrifying was also on the horizon. A black dot atop one of the buildings- one of the ones ahead of them.

Anti had finally made his way in front of them, jumping down to stand in front of the tall green exit arch that looked like it was made out of something in between plastic and metal. A lot of people just coming in gave him weird looks, but were all much too afraid to say anything. All the while, Katie’s head spun. They couldn’t approach the exit without getting close to him, and if even one of them forced the sisters into battle, they’d have to fight them all. Statistically, their tokens wouldn’t survive it- especially not if every single one of those bastards were cheating like Inio. She saw no reason why they wouldn’t be.

“What now?!” She panicked, looking to Frankie.

“We PUSH THROUGH!”

“HOW?!”

“WE FIGHT!”

As Anti just barely drew within earshot, Frankie used the same exploit to their chests her big sister once had already.

“HEY YOU IN THE BLACK! WE HEREBY CHALLENGE YOU TO A RACE TO THE EXIT SIGN!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. “WE BET ONE TOKEN!”

Anti only kind of heard what she said, but officially, the game had started, and the sisters weren’t eligible to enter other bets, even if you forced them. With Anti’s cheats, the same as Inio’s, falling to the same faults- he couldn’t say no to the challenge, and was unable to lock her into his own as they swiftly passed him.

“Hey!” He cried out at the fugitives, grabbing their collars as they darted past- but of course, his hands only faded right through their clothes.

“Goddammit!”

The sisters looked at each other as they crossed the finish line, both smiling as if they were having the time of their life… stealing an extra token to boot.

Anti collapsed, failing his master once again.

“I’ll get you… I will…! Just you wait…”