Leveled Up Love

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Quest!

Hold a conversation with a woman face-to-face!

Restrictions: In-person. Non-VR generated. Unpaid interaction.

Difficulty: Variable

Reward: Access to electronics and internet

Zack studied the notification as he rode down the elevator. After a few moments’ thought, he had decided to find a woman at the building’s fitness center. That should be easy enough. Find someone. Talk about the weather or something. Get back to his life.

He pushed the door open and scanned the fitness room. Men and women of all ages were scattered around the gym, using the various types of fitness equipment. Most of them wore sleek workout outfits along with customized armbands to measure their performance and offer suggestions for improvements.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then DaEvo flashed a few pink hearts across his OptiGlasses, and numbers appeared above the women’s heads. Data populated first for those he could see fully or glimpse via the mirrors around the room, then for those hidden from view who had open social connections via their wearable tech. Zack grinned. More stats. Maybe this app would be useful after all.

Please choose difficulty:

Easy / Medium / Hard

Zack considered this. The app didn’t go into details on what rewards he would earn for each level, but he assumed he would get something better for completing more difficult quests. He selected Hard from the menu and watched the quest parameters expand.

Quest!

Hold a significant conversation with a woman face-to-face!

Restrictions: In-person. Non-VR generated. Unpaid interaction.

Difficulty: Hard

Requirements: Select a female with an overall level of 75 or higher

Bonus Points: Use a sexy growl

Bonus Points: Make her laugh

Bonus Points: Make physical contact

Zack winced, recalling his own Level of eight. But he knew the app was buggy. There was no way he was a noob. So obviously, Level Seventy-Five would be wrong too. Anyway, he just needed to have a minute of conversation with one of these women. He looked around the room for the best option. His OptiGlasses highlighted all the level Seventy-Five and above women by superimposing a pink heart above their heads. Augmented Reality at its finest. Unfortunately, everyone was focused on their workouts and didn’t look to be in a chatty mood.

Maybe he should have started off with easy mode to get an understanding of the baseline difficulty levels. Jumping into a game without understanding the basics was such a noob move. But he wasn’t willing to admit defeat now, and he didn’t have time to waste figuring out how to change the difficulty level.

“Hey,” Zack whispered, trying to figure out how to produce a sexy growl so he could get the bonus points.

His OptiGlass screen remained blank, but Zack couldn’t shake the feeling that the app was laughing at him. A pink heart flashed on his screen.

Quest tip: Try “Hey, babe.”

“Hey, babe.”

A man built like a bodybuilder walked past and gave Zack a questioning look.

Zack grimaced and tapped his OptiGlasses. “Sorry. Talking to my girlfriend.”

The bodybuilder rolled his eyes and kept walking. Zack looked at the clock. Ten minutes had passed already. He needed to pick a woman and make this happen.

Zack looked around to make sure no one was within earshot and tried again, looking in a mirror this time to test out facial expressions. His crumpled, overweight reflection stared back at him. “Hey, babe.”

He couldn’t remember ever saying that to a woman, but then again, he had never been particularly successful in relationships. Maybe this app would actually prove useful. A sort of tutorial for life. Did it have save points? Save points would be great.

It had been a while since Zack had dated. He’d had several girlfriends in college, even if none of the relationships had lasted more than a few months. They were always looking for couple time and never agreed that gaming together counted.

The growl wasn’t quite right. Zack searched his memory for some sort of reference point and settled on those old Batman movies. Who didn’t like Batman? He smoothed his tangled mop of brown hair to the side and once again faced the mirror.

“Hey, babe. I’m Batman.” His growl was more of a rasp and tickled the back of his throat. He coughed to clear it.

Would you like to complete a tutorial level to prepare for this quest?

Zack glared at the screen and dismissed the prompt. Now it offered help? No, he didn’t want to complete a damn tutorial level. He had eight minutes to find a woman, speak to her with his best sexy growl, and spend the rest of the day competing with his team and pretending this had never happened.

He scanned the gym and settled on the highest level woman there. Might as well get as many points as possible, whatever that meant in this context. He selected the heart above her head by staring at it for a few seconds, and DaEvo popped up a notification with the woman’s stats.

Kayla Taylor (Social Level 86)

Physique: 89

Style: 82

Reputation: 89

Occupation: 85

A flood of social media posts followed the stats. Mostly pictures from Kayla’s career as a model. Advertisement spreads, red carpet events, and selfies with an endless stream of celebrities, including a few with Zoe Cross. All of them showed “KayTay,” as her fans called her, in gorgeous gowns on the runway or swimsuits on exotic beaches. She was always perfectly styled, with just the right amount of makeup to highlight her blue eyes and strawberry-blond hair.

She looked significantly less polished now, with a dusting of freckles not visible in her modeling portfolio and her hair pulled back into a messy bun. But she was still hot, her tight workout gear showing off her body just as much as the formal gowns did.

Zack pushed aside his nerves and forced himself to smile as he walked over to Kayla’s elliptical. Maybe DaEvo wouldn’t be so bad. Kayla was no Zoe, but she was still a hot model. And thanks to the game, he was going to talk to her.

“Hey, babe.”

The sexy growl was more of a wheeze, and Kayla didn’t seem to hear him over the whir of the machine and whatever she was listening to with her earbuds. She stared straight ahead, running on her elliptical with an intensity that Zack found a little intimidating. Apparently, that body required some maintenance to stay swimsuit-ready.

“Kayla?” Zack tried again.

Kayla looked down at him, frowned a little, and redoubled her efforts on the elliptical as if she were actually moving and could run away from him.

If she did decide to run, Zack would have no chance of catching her. DaEvo now displayed a sixty-second timer in the corner of his OptiGlasses, but it hadn’t started yet.

“Hey! Kayla!”

“Can’t. Stop. Now.”

She said the words on an exhale, breathing deeply between them. Sweat poured down her face as she ran even faster. DaEvo chimed and started the timer. Success! Apparently, he just had to get her to respond. Now he could stand there for a minute and let the timer run down.

But when Kayla said nothing else for ten seconds, the timer flashed red and reset.

Crap.

“Hey.”

Zack whirled around and found himself face to face with the bodybuilder from earlier. He swallowed. “Yeah?”

“You’re interrupting our workouts.”

The muscled man gestured to the gym, and Zack realized that everyone but Kayla had stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

Reputation -0.1

“What the hell?”

Had DaEvo really docked his reputation just because some muscled jocks were annoyed?

DaEvo calculates user Reputation using an in-person, real-time algorithm as well as other proprietary calculations for baseline information.

“What did you say to me?” The bodybuilder leaned closer, looming over Zack.

Behind them, Kayla Taylor was still sprinting on the elliptical, seemingly oblivious to it all.

“Oh, I wasn’t talking to you,” Zack said. “I, uh⁠—”

“Maybe you should leave,” the bodybuilder said. “You don’t look like you belong here anyway.”

He laughed, looking at Zack from head to toe and apparently finding his flab amusing. Zack felt his cheeks burning red. Who cared about muscles? It wasn’t as if they helped you win game tournaments or get a job. Not that he had a job himself, but most manual jobs these days were done by machines. What was the point of putting so much effort into physical activity?

“Look, I’m not causing any trouble. I just need to talk to⁠—”

“And I think you’re done here. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Zack and the bodybuilder looked back at Kayla, who was still ignoring their conversation.

“Is there a problem over here?” Another muscled gym user came over. This one was even bigger than the first, which Zack would not have thought possible.

DaEvo flashed again.

Reputation -0.1

“Fine. Whatever,” Zack said, raising his hands in surrender as he backed away and made a hurried exit from the gym, checking the clock as he did so.

Damn. He was two minutes late for the rendezvous with his team and no closer to getting back his electronics privileges. If this kept up, he would miss warmups entirely. And that was unacceptable.

Zack gritted his teeth as he steeled his resolve. Find a woman. Have a conversation. He had to do this for Star Fury and his team.

Maybe he should have made an effort to get to know his neighbors when he moved in. He didn’t know a single person in the building, male or female. He had toured the facilities when purchasing the condo, then promptly forgotten about them. Knowing his neighbors wasn’t exactly a priority—not like the new triple redundancy fiber optic cable they had laid during the condo’s development. It was one of the fastest networks in the nation, perfect for gaming.

But not even lightning fast internet would save him now. He needed a woman.

Zack took the elevator to the ground floor. Maybe he could catch someone in the lobby.

No luck. The lobby was empty. He would have to take this outside if he wanted to get his gaming system back.

That was just unfair. Firing Phil moved up Zack’s list of priorities as he took a deep breath and walked out of the apartment building for the first time in weeks. Heat wafted up from the sidewalk and washed over him in waves. Apparently, his decision to stay inside had been a good one. Walking into the Oklahoma summer was like walking into an oven. But weather had been low on his priorities when he moved from New York. He had been far more interested in fiber optic lines, the innovative green tech in the apartment building, and the new Star Fury main servers located downtown.

The building stretched above him, tall, sleek, and blinding in the afternoon sun. Solar energy panels covered every bit of the surface that wasn’t a window, and small wind turbines sat on the roof. Supposedly there was even a rooftop garden up there. Wind gusted past, nearly knocking Zack over, and he gritted his teeth. No wonder they had decided to put a green building here. The sun and wind were strong enough to power a tier-two server center, so providing light to the apartment should be a piece of cake.

Zack ducked into a small patch of shade under a nearby tree and dismissed the idle thought. Renewable energy was the least of his concerns right now. He opened the calling app. It showed three missed calls from his teammates, as well as a number of texts, but DaEvo had blocked his ability to do anything other than see that the calls had come in. He couldn’t even read the messages.

Zack dialed Phil again. The call went to voicemail. “Look, you’ve had your laugh. I’m outside in literal hell trying to find a woman while my team probably thinks I’m dead or ditching them. The tournament starts today! You’re ruining my life, man!”

As Zack hung up, a text message from Phil opened.

A little sunshine never hurt anyone.

A little sunshine? That was the understatement of the century. The afternoon sun was blinding and giving him a headache. Zack opened the settings for his OptiGlasses and tinted the lenses to reduce the glare. Normally that would happen automatically, but apparently, that feature required an internet connection or had been blocked by DaEvo as non-essential.

Zack took a deep breath and stomped away from the building. He was officially late for warmups. If he hurried, maybe he could still make it in time to discuss the Armada drones he had encountered before they began the tournament. He just had to play along until he satisfied DaEvo or until the freaking heat killed him. He was already sweating and undoing all the good from his shower.

He scrolled through DaEvo’s menu as he paced the sidewalk, which was annoyingly empty of people and offering no options for a conversation. The app cared about his hygiene and public decency. Maybe there were other ways to get points that didn’t require interacting with another human. Some quick poking around showed that there were other rewards available, but they were all locked out at this time.

He had one quest available. Talk to a woman.

Damn dating sim.

Zack swore and walked, staying in the shade whenever possible to minimize exposure to the heat. There was a park nearby. Maybe he would have better luck there. When he finally reached the park, he winced. Whoever thought a park should be made up of flat ground, sparse trees, an unmanned basketball court, and a jogging track really needed to be forced to stand outside in the Oklahoma sun as punishment. At least the lack of trees let the breeze through, though the hot air did little to cool his sweating body.

On the other hand, sure enough, a woman was jogging along the track. She looked a little older than him but based on what he had seen in the gym, she should still be fairly high level. Zack waited for DaEvo to populate her stats, but instead received a different notification.

Social network scan unable to complete. Please provide a complete facial view to activate facial recognition.

She must have her social network privacy features turned to maximum. Damn luddites and privacy enthusiasts. Zack watched her jog and tried to get his overheated brain to form a plan. Providing a complete facial view was easier said than done. The only way to get a good view of her face was to get on the track and jog in the opposite direction. Jogging was the last thing he wanted to do, but she was the only woman around. Zack had no choice.

“Stupid buggy app.”

Your alpha test bug report has been logged.

Thank you for your help in making DaEvo a success!

Zack swore softly and stepped onto the track. He jogged, his feet pounding against the pavement. The wind grew stronger and rushed through his still-damp hair. Ten steps in, the light sweat he’d worked up became a flood. Zack felt sweat beads popping out of his face as he panted for breath.

Detected increased heart rate and low oxygen level.

Fitness quests not yet available.

Scanning status.

Attempted exercise…

Please reduce physical exertion levels to achieve optimal results.

Complete current quest before attempting others.

Current Quest!

Hold a conversation with a woman face-to-face!

Restrictions: In-person. Non-VR generated. Unpaid interaction.

Difficulty: Variable

Reward: Access to electronics and internet

Zack swiped away the notifications as fast as they came. He could barely read them anyway since sweat was pouring into his eyes.

Maybe he should walk instead. Walking would give the app a better view of the woman’s face. That was why he was slowing down. He just needed the program to work if he was going to complete this quest and get back to his team.

Zack walked at a brisk pace so he could pass the woman on the track sooner and get this whole nonsense quest over with. He was hyper-aware of every second that passed. How long would his team wait for him before they decided he had bailed?

The track seemed a lot longer once you were actually on it. Heat radiated off the concrete and burned his feet. He might as well exercise in an oven.

Halfway around the track, Zack stopped and leaned against a lamppost to catch his breath. He looked at the woman, who had rounded the corner and was jogging toward him. How did she keep moving so quickly? A light sheen of sweat covered her tanned skin, but she didn’t seem to be putting out much effort. Her long black hair was pulled into a ponytail that swished behind her as she ran, and her dark eyes showed no signs of exhaustion or even heavy exertion.

She noticed Zack and nodded a greeting as she passed him. DaEvo chimed.

Facial view acquired. Beginning facial recognition and importing stats.

Target does not meet current difficulty requirements (Hard, over level 75)

Would you like to downgrade difficulty to medium?

Zack selected yes, and a stream of data filled his vision as DaEvo calculated the woman’s level. In short order, Zack had a glimpse of her life as she had shown it to the world. Admittedly, that wasn’t much. Her social media profiles showed her job as a pediatrician, links to her blog, and a blog in which she posted about her latest meal recipe for a chicken salad. DaEvo seemed to be pulling more information, maybe bypassing her privacy settings, but most of it flashed by too quickly for Zack to read. A moment later, the data consolidated.

Cassie Jones (Social Level 65)

Physique: 81

Style: 59

Reputation: 34

Occupation: 87

Zack glanced through the stats. She wasn’t anywhere near Kayla’s level, but maybe it would work better to start off easier. He just had to talk to her. Bonus points for the sexy growl, laughter, and physical contact.

By the time Zack had read the stats, Cassie was nearly around the track again. Honestly, how did she move so quickly? He pushed away from the lamppost and continued walking along the track.

Target acquired. Moving in for the kill. This was easy, just a milk run like the first missions in Star Fury, where you had to do a delivery quest to prove you had what it took to be a Corsair.

Talk to Cassie for one minute and get his life back. Simple.

Zack cleared his throat and wondered if he should have brushed his teeth. Just in case this went well and he moved in for the physical contact bonus. Maybe he should have picked up after himself in his apartment too.

He shook his head. He couldn’t let this stupid app distract him. He just needed to complete the quest and get back to his real mission: playing Star Fury. Every second he spent out here was a second away from preparing for the tournament. The first round would be easy. A simple outpost destruction timed event to w**d out noobs before the real fun began. But if he didn’t compete, the team would be down one ship with the corresponding lower damage per second.

How was Cassie still jogging? She was coming in fast. He would only get one shot at this.

Zack leaned against another lamppost. Partly for support and partly because he had once read that leaning against things made you look like a bad boy. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that walking halfway around the track had left him winded and shaking.

Definitely not.

“Hey, babe.”

It came out as more of a gasp than a growl. Cassie looked at him, as if unsure that he was speaking to her. Zack nodded to show that he was.

“Um, hi?”

The heart-shaped timer flashed and counted down. Zack watched the seconds tick by. Only sixty of them. He just needed to keep Cassie talking for sixty seconds.

“Do you need help?” Cassie said. “I’m a doctor. I can check your vitals if you think you’re having a heart attack.”

As if a pediatrician could do anything for a heart attack. Zack smiled. Cassie was already making excuses to move closer. He definitely should have brushed his teeth.

“No, I’m fine,” Zack wheezed. “How you doing?”

He punctuated this with a nod and single eyebrow raise. Classic move. It had worked like a charm in college.

Cassie’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“I’m Zack.” Zack extended a very sweaty hand.

Cassie eyed it but didn’t take it. So much for physical contact. “If you don’t need help, I need to go. I’ll be late for work.”

She turned to jog away. No! She couldn’t leave yet! They had only been talking for thirty seconds, and he hadn’t earned bonus points for the sexy growl, laugh, or physical contact.

“Do you want to hear a joke?”

It was far from his best line, but Cassie turned back around. “What?”

“A joke! I heard a good one the other day.”

Only twenty seconds left. He could do this.

Cassie rolled her eyes but gestured for him to continue. Zack opened his mouth to tell the joke, but his mind had gone completely blank. A joke. What was a good joke?

“Um, knock, knock?”

“I don’t have time for this.”

She turned to jog away. Zack gritted his teeth. Fifteen seconds remaining. He was so close!

“Cassie, wait!”

She turned around, her posture defensive. “How do you know my name?”

Zack’s mind raced for an explanation. “It showed up through my social app. You know how these wearables like to share information.” He tapped his OptiGlasses.

Cassie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not wearing any tech.”

“And we went to school together! You really don’t remember?”

Zack expected this to make her relax, but her scowl only deepened. “What was the name of the school?”

“Oh. It was—you know what, I must be thinking of someone else.”

“Because I seriously doubt you went to the Chickasaw Nation School for Girls.”

“Um, nope. Definitely thinking of someone else.”

Zack hoped that would be the end of it, but Cassie stayed put.

“So how do you know my name? Are you stalking me?”

“What? No. Definitely not. I—um, I saw you last time I was at the hospital. I⁠—”

“Leave me alone, you creep. If I see you again, I’m calling the cops.”

Cassie sprinted away. She really did have some kind of superhuman strength, sprinting after all that jogging. Zack was still huffing from his brisk walk. DaEvo definitely should have given her stronger physique stats.

DaEvo’s cheerful theme music sounded through the conduction headphones, and a notification flashed across his screen.

Quest Complete! You spoke with a woman for 1:15!

Rewards: Electronics and internet privileges!

Bonus: None

Score! Zack pumped a fist in the air and opened his settings menu. Most of the pink hearts blocking out the apps had disappeared. Hopefully that meant the ban on his gaming system had been lifted as well. The app said it had restored his electronics privileges. Surely that included Star Fury.

It was over. He had won.

Reputation update: -0.5

What? How had he lost reputation points even though he completed the quest? His conversation with Cassie hadn’t gone that badly!

Whatever. He didn’t care about this stupid app and its stupid stats. His team was waiting. If he hurried, he would make it back just in time for the start of the qualifier round. He sent a quick text saying he was on his way and sprinted toward his building as fast as he could, ignoring the app’s warnings that he should slow down and rest. Sweat poured down his body, and the increased pace left him wheezing. DaEvo played somber music and flashed another stat.

Physique update: -0.1