Make It Hurt

[00:00:01] Thursday, by Jake Kerr. Season 1, The Order of Days. Episode 9, Make It Hurt. The next day, Gabby sat at the bar of the Paradise Hotel, a cheap place far from the Vegas server strip. There were no bottomless fountains or windows into other worlds, just tacky lights, exotic animals, and similar low-rent virtual theatrics.

[00:00:30] The clientele were similar. Most of the people were in inexpensive stock skins with no money spent on accessories like clothes and outlandish hairstyles. Gabby wore the same outfit, with a leather miniskirt and red high heels, which in hindsight seemed a mistake as she appeared out of place in the seedy joint. A man in a large, stout skin with an exaggerated, bushy mustache walked up next to her. Hey, darling, how much? Not this again, Gabby thought. It wasn't at all charming this time.

[00:00:59] The price is fuck off. Aren't you a lively little thing? Well, if I'm not buying, I guess that means I'm taken. The man reached for Gabby's arm. With a slight shift of her wrist, Gabby grabbed his arm and her hand and twisted it painfully into the air. With her other hand, she grabbed a bottle, broke it on the edge of the bar, and slammed the jagged edge into the man's forehead. His body convulsed in a flash of static and then disappeared.

[00:01:26] Enjoy the headache. Gabby returned to her drink. Hey, that's going to be locked. The bartender waved a towel at her from a bit further down the bar. Gabby nodded. Will anyone care? The bartender shrugged. Only if he files a complaint. Will he? Him? Nah. While the bartender went back to serving the other customers, none of whom seemed particularly surprised at the violence, a man in what looked like a custom skin slid in next to Gabby.

[00:01:56] He was all muscle, with jet black hair slicked back and tied in a knot. The facial scars added to the skin were a nice effect, she thought. He looked Gabby up and down and squinted disapprovingly. So you call me. I don't know you, but you got the right references. Clearly you're in way over your head, but what the fuck? The price is right, and how bad could it go? The man waved for the bartender and continued. So tell me, princess. How bad is this going to go? I take it you're Gomez.

[00:02:25] Stop fucking around. What do you want? Gabby returned Gomez's stare. Fine. I had a, shall we call it, poor experience at a private poker room. And I want to take it down. No, not just take it down. I want to burn the fucker to the ground. The bartender returned with Gomez's drink. Gomez ignored him. I don't need the sob story, just the ask and the money. I need something military strength.

[00:02:52] A worm designed for Vegas code that will leave a rotting corpse behind. Gomez nodded his head, grabbed the glass and took a long drink. Private room, Vegas server code, got it. Well, I have what you want, but you have to manage your expectations. It will kill the room, but there's probably a backup, so don't expect lives to be ruined. The room doesn't have a backup. Gomez smiled for the first time. Damn, girl. Burning a private Vegas room with no backup? You're one spiteful bitch.

[00:03:22] Gabby reached out, grabbed Gomez's arm, and touched the disc embedded in his forearm. Red digital lights flashed on her skin for a moment and then disappeared. Gomez's eyes went wide. 50K? Let me rephrase that. You're one vengeful lady. Gabby smiled sweetly. Make it hurt. As Gabby sat in the plastic VR chair, diligently removing the pins from her skull and placing them in the antiseptic basin,

[00:03:49] she noticed a blinking light at the bottom of the touch screen by the bed. Room, check my messages. You have one message. New. Today at 2.34 p.m. This is an automated message from NetServices. Your access to the VR net was successfully pinged from an external source at 2.34 p.m. If this was unexpected, we recommend you contact the front desk to change your connection address. Damn it, Gomez. What did you do to me? Gabby swiftly pulled the rest of the pins out.

[00:04:20] Room, what time is it? The time is 2.42 p.m. A squeal of tires from the parking lot caught Gabby's attention. She jumped up, ran over to the window, and glanced out from between a slit in the curtains. A black sedan was parked near the office. Rushing into the bathroom, Gabby grabbed the toiletries and returned to the bed. Tossing them into one of the department store bags, she picked up underwear off the floor and the rest of her clothes and tossed them into the other bags. She listened as she slid her shoes on. Nothing.

[00:04:49] With her shoes on and the bags in her left hand, Gabby walked over and pressed her ear against the door to her room. Nothing. Opening it up, she looked left and right. It was an old school motel with the rooms opening to the parking lot. The office was off to her right, and as she looked in that direction, she saw men in dark suits exiting through the door and looking around. Closing the door and crouching, Gabby made her way down the hall, then stood up and walked briskly away from the hotel. Glancing back, she saw two men in suits walking toward her room.

[00:05:19] The moment she walked around a large dumpster between her and the motel, she broke into a run. A podcast alchemy production.