Page 71 of Ghostly
By the time he returned, Perry had exited the game and unhooked the jungle of cables spreading through the living room, and Ida was out of the TV.
“Oh, Gabriel, that was splendid!” she said. “I can communicate with Perry through the in-game chat.” She shrugged. “The fact that I totally owned him didn’t hurt, either.”
“Where is she? Is she saying something?” Perry’s eyes flicked around the room. “That bit where I fell off the map wasn’t my fault. Don’t believe what she tells you.”
Gabriel sat down, and the good old conveying-what-Ida-says started again. Eventually, Gabriel got a feeling for what kind of questions Ida wanted to ask Perry, and asked them himself; her approving glances let him know he was on the right track.
“And you like video games?”
“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.” Perry spread his arms on the backrest like an eagle. “I design them, too. I mean, just small things for now. Not even games. Animation projects. Concept art.”
“Is that what you want to study?”
“Eh, I dunno if I’ll go to college yet. Costs so much. Besides, BechTech has a program for finding new talent, and you don’t need a college education.”
“What’s BechTech?” Ida asked.
“It’s a famous gaming company,” Gabriel said.
“The best.” Perry slammed a hand down. “I’ve been going around the last year, taking on experience, freelancing, building a portfolio, to see if they’d take me.”
“XP is important,” Ida wisely remarked.
“That’s great for you,” Gabriel said. “I’m sure your foster parents will be proud.”
“Yeah…” Perry looked to the side. “We’ll see about it. BechTech’s got a brutal vetting process. Easier to get in if you’ve got someone to vouch for you. Me, I’m just some random kid to them.”
I’ve been that random kid, too.
Gabriel swished his coffee. “What if I could help you?”
“You? How?”
He hesitated. He wasn’t sure he could still use his connections. No, he had to believe in what he’d earned. His lifewouldreturn to normal.
Even if he had trouble remembering what normal used to be.
“I know someone at the company. A former client. With a bit of nudging from me, he could help you get an interview, at least. Obviously, I can’t promise anything after that, and I’d have my”—he swallowed—“reputation attached to this, so you’d have to convince me of your skills first, but—”
“Hold on. Who are you, exactly?”
Gabriel shifted in the chair and rolled his shoulders. “Who do you think I am?”
“A hipster living on his parents’ money, or a retired Latin Pop singer.”
“Retired?” Gabriel looked at Ida, while pointing his hand at Perry. “Would you believe that? Like I’m seventy, not thirty-two.”
“I think he thinks thirty-twoisold,” Ida mused.
Then his brain caught up with the rest. “Why would you think me any of these things?”
“Hello?” Perry waved at Gabriel’s figure. “Man bun. Perfectly maintained stubble that’s almost a beard, but not really. The colorful printed shirts?”
Gabriel gave Ida a dead serious,would-you-believe-this-kidstare.
And she dared to giggle.
“I,” he said, inflating all the self-importance he could gather into his words, “am Gabriel Vane.”
