100 Systems Invasion

13. Cheat Sheet

A vase of blue and purple flowers was on the table, complementing the pink tablecloth of the kitchen they were in. Besides that, only a little decoration was in sight.

Unless, of course, Seth didn’t count the whiteboard displayed there.

“Ah, that’s the mind map for my WIPs.” The Asian girl, who introduced herself as Izuka, said after noticing Seth’s odd look towards her prized possession. “I should have hide it first.”

Seth looked critically, “Yes, maybe you should.” The sales girl kicked his shin under the table. “What? It looks like a murder plot to me.”

Amy sent an apologetic face to Izuka, “I’m sorry. He’s very rude when he’s hungry.”

“Understandable,” the Asian girl motioned towards the eggs and bacon she just brought from the pan. “I’m an aspiring author writing a fantasy sci-fi novel, you see. Being called freak is nothing new to me.”

Seth didn’t know what to say, but he understood what the Asian girl meant by that. No one ever called him a freak in front of his face, but he knew some people thought so of him behind his back. “What’s the title?”

Izuka faltered, “Sorry?”

Picking his fork, Seth started to munch on the piece of bacon without waiting for the homeowner’s permission. “Your novel, what is it? Maybe I’ll buy one when I pass a bookstore.”

From the whiteboard beside the kitchen table, the novel Izuka was writing probably had an apocalypse somewhere in there. He picked up some words like ‘zombie,’ ‘Earth elimination,’ and ‘genocide’ in there, so maybe it was a man-made end of the world.

Pink hues warmed on her cheek, Izuka fixed her eyeglasses to perch perfectly on her slightly upturned nose. “Ah, it’s not published in a paperback format actually.”

“You mean, you only imagining it in your head and call it a day?”

“Seth!” the kick to his shin returned twice as hurt. “Be nice to our provider.”

He pouted but shoved another mouthful of bacon. “I was just asking her question. We’ll spend a few days with nothing but trees and stones. I could die in boredom, you know.”

“Ah, you’re going camping?”

“Not exactly, but …” Seth flicked his eyes to Amy, seeing hesitation and something he couldn’t name there. “You could say that. We just want to be in the nature and away from people. Maybe for a week.”

“Ah, I know the feeling,” the Asian girl commented, excitedly continuing. “In fact, I will also head out to the airport and catch my flight to Maldives today!”

“Wow, you’re going on a holiday?” The excitement spread to Amy, but her face soon clouded in sadness. She turned her head to Seth and whispered in his ear. “Should we tell her?”

Seth frowned, wondering what she was talking about.

“The zombie, I mean, infectores and whatever first wave of invasion is, dummy.”

“Oh.” He hummed, thinking about what could possibly happen if he told her. “No?”

“No?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Huffing an annoyed breath, Seth once again eyed the Asian girl, “She won’t believe it.”

“She have a fucking white board and plots like criminal, what makes you think that she won’t endulge us and imagine herself as the protagonist of her own novel?”

“Umm … are you guys talking about my novel again?” Izuka interrupted them, though she didn’t appear offended by the hopeful smile on her lips.

“Oh, it’s a … ugh, how do I say it?” Amy stumbled for words. “What would you do if you find yourself in that situation? I mean, your novels is about an apocalypse, right?”

“You can say that, but maybe the term invasion is the correct one.”

Seth’s heart skipped a beat. “Invasion?”

“Alien invasion,” Izuka nodded, humming lightly as the beacon hit her tongue. “They come to Earth and forced humans to enter a tournament. They fight against an alien race from a faraway planet, who is actually also being drove by the unknown being to participate too.”

“Who win?”

“The alien, at first. But my editor said people won’t like it, so we’re changing things around and make human come on top. Of course, human use a cheat to end as the winner, but that’s nothing new right?”

“Huh.” It was only a coincidence, but Seth got a bad feeling at this. Some of what Izuka told him struck dangerously similar to what was happening to him. “What kind of cheat?”

The Asian girl fiddled with her fork, looking uncomfortable all of a sudden. “You must know the stuff, it’s nothing unique, just some childish thing like what you’ll find in a game.”

“I like games, so tell me more about it.”

Ring! Ring! Ring!

They turned to the old-fashioned alarm clock sitting on top of the refrigerator. “Ah, I must get ready, my flight is in three hours.” She looked ruefully at them, “I don’t want to rush you guys, but …”

“It’s fine, you’ve been very generous to us, we can’t complain.” Amy gave a sweet smile, like those of a fake telegram who just got their teeth fixed. They wolved down their free breakfast and let the Asian girl resume her preparation for the flight.

Seth picked up his half-sibling, sleeping soundly in Izuka’s living room. Apparently, a six-year-old slept as long as he after a weekly bender of N*****x combined with end-of-semester exams. When they were at the front door, Izuka stopped them with a paperback in her hand.

“For your little sister,” she trusted it to him.

Seth took it, trying hard not to drop Marnie off his arms. Amy had already gone to the car to check if Wade, the infectore was still safely locked in the trunk. “Thank you.”

“Let me open the store. I’ll go prepare while you guys take whatever you may need.”

“Oh, right. Thank you.”

“And if I’m not done after you do, you can just go to your camp. No need to pay.”

“Huh? Why?”

Izuka shrugged, “Just think of it as me treating you guys. I just got my payment from last month’s writing. It’s more than enough to last me to next year. Besides, I open up a store for hobby.”

That was foolish, but he wouldn’t pass up a chance like this. It wasn’t like he had a dollar in his pocket anyway.

“Seth!” Amy ran up to him, and he feared that Wade the infectore had escaped and run a rampage in the little town. Something must have happened.

Seeing that, Izuka excused herself. “It sounds important, so I wouldn’t bother.” She returned inside, “Ah, remember what I said, feel free to take whatever you need from the store, okay?”

Once alone, the blonde sales girl hurriedly said, “It’s out in the news. NYC has fallen, and it won’t be long before the infection spreads here.”

“Then we have to move fast.”