Feyland: The Bright Court

Chapter Three

School the next day was a repeat of the Roy Lassiter show - with one severe exception. Instead of joining them for lunch, Marny sat at the head table, with Roy. Granted, there were a lot of other kids there too, but something was wrong if even Marny had fallen under Roy Lassiter’s spell. Whatever kind of spell it was.

Jennet swallowed, shards of fear scraping her throat. There was only one place she knew of where magic was real - and Roy had access to it.

“I asked my Dad a bunch of questions last night,” she said to Tam as he set his lunch tray on the table.

“And?” He sat across from her and rested his chin on his fist, as though his head was too heavy to hold up.

“And… Roy’s mom has three models of the Full-D system at home.”

“Crap.” He straightened and glanced at the front of the cafeteria. “Is Lassiter a gamer?”

“I don’t know.”

“We need to find out.”

“I don’t think we can just go up and ask him about his gaming experience, do you? At least, not if we want a real answer.”

She followed Tam’s gaze to the table, which was packed with students listening to Roy talk. Whatever he was saying, it looked like everyone thought it was fascinating. Why were she and Tam unaffected by the new student’s charm?

“Anyway,” she continued, “we have more serious problems. Dad said VirtuMax is pushing for the Full-D system - with Feyland - to launch in two months.”

“What? They can’t do that!” Tam’s face tightened with worry. “Especially after the terrible stuff that’s happened.”

Exasperation sharpened her words. “Apparently the company can’t let little things like death and comas stand in the way of profit.”

“Your dad must have something to say about this.” Tam leaned forward, his voice urgent. “He’s seen the damage, up close. He has to stop VirtuMax from releasing the game.”

She clasped her hands together under the table. It had been nearly three weeks, but the skin of her palms was still tender. The doctors said she might not get her fingerprints back.

“Dad’s doing what he can,” she said. “He comes home from work every day, frustrated beyond words. But Dr. Lassiter is convinced the Full-D is safe to use. And the company techs inspected each wire and element of the prototype systems we used, Tam. They didn’t find a single thing wrong.”

“Because there’s nothing wrong with the hardware, Jennet!”

“I know that. But I can’t convince Dad the game itself is at fault, and there’s no proof. Of anything.”

“Damn.” Tam raked a hand through his hair.

She caught the haunted look in his eyes, and knew it mirrored hers. Feyland was dangerous, and they were powerless to stop it.

The bell blared, and she frowned down at her half-eaten lunch.

“Meet me after school,” Tam said. “I have an idea.”

 ***

 Tam waited for Jennet outside, leaning against the eroded brick wall and trying not to act like it was holding him up. He was tired - but he couldn’t give in to his exhaustion. As soon as Jennet walked out of the building, he straightened. The narrowing of her eyes showed she wasn’t fooled.

“Maybe we should talk another time,” she said.

 “Meaning?” He slanted her a glance from under his hair.