Page 66 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

“And you're saying we’ve had this technology all along?”

“Yes, Mason, that's exactly what I'm saying. And we need to copyright it today—like, five minutes ago.”

“That’s Great.” He falls back into his seat as if he’s out of breath after carrying two sacks of potatoes for miles. I’m sure I just added another weighty task to his long list of other weighty tasks.

When Lake walks into the pod, her face drops, but I wave at her. Wearing a frail smile, she waves back. It’s too soon for her to know for certain that I would never make a play for my friend’s crush. But all she has to do is read the look on Mason’s face to know I would have no chance with him even if I wanted one.

His cellphone rings, and he’s jolted out of his haze of watching Lake. “This is Mason.” He blinks at me until he thrusts himself forward in his seat. “What?” He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “You know where to meet me.” After Mason hangs up, he stands and snatches his keys and cellphone off his desk. “Package the compression and then send it to Julie for copyright. We’ll talk more later,” he says before rushing out the door.

After Lake watches him leave, she looks at me and raises her eyebrows. I shrug, letting her know I have no idea what made him have to rush out of her life for the moment. I’m pretty sure she’s beyond disappointed, though. I would be if I were in her shoes and if Mason were Hercules.

Last night, he left with Lilith.I groan before walking out of Mason’s office. The memory actually makes my whole body hurt. But as soon as I sit down at my desk, I get an idea of how to exponentially boost product sales right away.

“What was that about?” Lake asks.

I’m a bit distracted because the plan is still building in my mind, so I raise a finger, asking her to give me a few seconds to finish visualizing lines of symbols, codes, and commands. Suddenly, I stand back up. “I’ve got it.”

“Got what?”

I flex my eyebrows twice. “The answer.”

Twelve Hours Later

My team is swamped. Everyone can barely keep their eyes open. I should be sleepier than all of them, but I’m not. I’m on a coding high. I’ll crash later tonight, at bedtime.

Mason hasn’t returned since he left the office earlier in the day. But I did as he asked—I packaged their compression technology and sent it to Julie—and I’ve just skimmed through an email from her, saying that the legal department is beginning the copyright process.

Good job,I reply.

However, it’s nighttime. The snow is piling up on the city streets and sidewalks. Since it’s cold as hell outside and we’ve been running hot, hot, hot creating the video game that will slay all other games in our pod, we worked through lunch. Other than multiple coffee runs, a box of Angel Anne’s Homemade Cookies, and a large container of red and black licorice, we haven’t consumed any substantial food. But the moment of truth has finally arrived.

The team stands in front of the eighty-two-inch monitors. The room is dusky, and the light of the screen draws us into it like a hypnotist’s swinging pendulum. Rina and Lake are up first. Harv fashions them both with an earpiece to digitally track their movements six feet below the reception chip at the bottom of the earpiece, three feet above the chip at the top of the earpiece, and within a four-foot circumference of where they stand.

Once fully outfitted, their personal players pop up on the screen. Their images trigger an outburst of applause. The real-life versions of Rina and Lake mirror their movements as both women stretch and dance around.

“Get ready,” I say, laughing with everyone else. Suddenly, it’s silent enough to hear a pin drop. I choose the video game’s world, which is an average high-end department store. “In the future, we’ll give real retail outlets the ability to create their own stores.”

The game’s home page pops up. There are three choices—Shop Big, Shop Smarter, Race to Shop.

“Let’s race,” Jonah says with his arms crossed, studying the screen intently.

I select that game. A screen that saysInsert Video and Audio Herepops up along with our inserted notes about adding an instructions option and sample play.

“Are you ladies ready?” I ask.

“Ready,” Lake and Rina say at the same time.

I select Start. Music plays, and Jonah’s voice impersonation of a game-show host says, “Follow the clues, and I’ll meet the winner at the finish line.”

Rob pats Jonah on the back. “You missed your calling, bro.”

We laugh.

“Note that players should be able to choose their host,” Lake says bouncing on her feet, readying herself for the activity that’s to come.

“Noted.” I write her suggestion in the log.

“Choose your category,” the host says.