Lucy's p.o.v

"Think of the money..think of the glory..There's no one else as talented as you.." Ace was practically begging at this point considering the flattery. We had gone through fifty different potential players and we were down to the last good gamer Ace knew.

The guy sighed. "I'm sorry I can't. You know I'd give a leg to help you guys out, but I promised to take my girlfriend on a vacation to Tuscany and I can't cancel the trip. I'm turning 30 and if I lose this girlfriend I'll never find another one that understands the importance of buying things in games."

Ace sunk in his seat. "We're screwed."

"We can say goodbye to our futures." I dropped my head down on the table.

The guy sighed. "I'm sorry guys."

"It's not your fault." Ace shrugged. "I had a feeling it would come down to this."

The guy scratched his head. "There is one more person you could ask."

"Who? Ace and I both jumped from our seats.

"Wait wait.." The guy raised his hands. " I'm not sure how good she is. My friend has a younger sister and he constantly complains about her gaming all the time.."

We sunk back in our seats again with a heavy sigh. That didn't mean she was good.

"But.. He did say she was ranked first. He doesn't play at all so he couldn't tell me which game it was, but rank one is still pretty good."

"Call your friend right now." Ace said with a glint of hope in his eyes. "At this point, we have nothing to lose."

***

We rang the bell of the apartment. The door opened and a tall skinny guy in his 30's with greasy hair and giant glasses was standing there smiling at us.

"You must be the ones looking for my sister." He gestured for us to come in.

Despite his shabby appearance, the place didn't look too bad. We walked in the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Anything to drink?" He asked.

"Just water is fine." I replied.

He opened the fridge, took out the water bottle and poured us two tall glasses.

"You have to wait a bit, she went out to buy snacks, but she'll be back soon."

We sat there awkwardly in silence. He sat down across from us and crossed his legs pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "You smoke?"

"No." We both replied.

"Do you mind?" He said as he pulled out a zippo and lit the cigarettes before we answered.

"It's for the nervousness. I don't do well in front of strangers." He said with a smile.

Nervous? He looked as calm as a criminal in front of the police who had nothing on him. He leisurely sat there and took a smoke after smoke.

"Do you go to school?" He asked.

"We just graduated highschool." Ace answered calmly.

"Do you plan to go to university?"

"Yes. Computer science and engineering." I answered.

"Right.." He leaned his elbow on his knee and stared at his cigarette completely out of it for a second.

"What do you do for a living?" Ace tried to make conversation.

"I write poetry." He answered with a smile. "Do you read?"

Must be a hell of poetry considering the apartment he was living in.

"We don't. But we'd read yours." Ace was always quick on his feet.

The door opened and a girl our age walked in carrying groceries. She had the same vibe as her brother. Loose jeans, a white stained shirt and she was chewing gum.

"I'm home." She said and then saw us. "Umm hi."

"They're here for you." He said pointing at us.

"I don't know them." She told him. "I told you not to let cult people in the apartment again." She turned towards us. "You should go now.."

"You got this all wrong. We're here for your gaming skills." Ace approached her in a second and put his hand out. "I'm Ace."

She shook his hand still wary. She looked at her brother and then handed him the bags.

"Let's talk in my room." She told us.

We followed her into her room.

It was a normal room except for the giant computer that even I was surprised to see. I looked around at all the equipment around her.

She was a gamer all right.

She sat on her chair and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. "What do you need my skills for? You're not sponsors, you're not scouts..are you looking for someone for games in teams cause I'm not..."

Ace cut her right in the middle of the sentence. "We need a decent gamer. Are you decent?"

She leaned back in her chair observing us for a second. She was hesitating if this was worth the conversation.

It was a basic show off of who got the upper hand and Ace and I were experienced enough in this to hold our front.

She eventually cracked under pressure. "I can be more than decent. I'll show you if you don't trust me."

I smiled. "Go ahead."

She picked a game on her pc and started playing.

Damn she was faster than our best player.

Ace followed her gaming style like he did with our players. "You got fast fingers."

She smiled and continued playing until she won the round.

"Now..What do you need me for.." she turned her chair to face me.. "What was your name again?"

"Lucy." I said and then pointed at Ace. "Ace."

"Lucy.." She raised a brow. "The hacker Lucy?"

I nodded. Fuck..She knew me. This could go either of two ways.

"Shiit." She laughed out loud and covered her mouth. "You're Lucy the hacker. Oh my god. Lucy the hacker is in my room."

Ace instantly took over. "Yes he's Lucy. And he needs your talent. You'll help the most feared hacker in the country right?"

"I'm all ears." She smiled.

"We want to compete at the underground gaming competition. We need a gamer." Ace explained.

"Do you have a strategist?" She asked.

"You know about the gaming competition?" I asked.

"Yeah. But I never competed. My friends are good at hacking, but not great at it. I wanted to compete, they give out great money prizes, but I needed a hacker and they only let in the best."

"So you're in?" Ace asked.

"I'm in." She popped a balloon with her chewing gum. "But I take it you guys both do coding and not strategizing."

"We can do fine without a strategist," I told her. "We just need great gaming skills. The rest is covered."

She pulled out her phone. "Give me your numbers."

She wrote them down and then called us so we could memorize hers.

"You never told us your name." Ace said. "How should I write you in as?"

"I go by Halo."

"Funny." Ace smiled. "As the game or an angel's halo?"

She just smiled. "Does it matter? You got yourself a gamer."

New character hm.. how do we feel about Halo?

Another update will be up tomorrow. ❤