“So, Mari, how is work going?” Mom had decided to take Mari to the mall today, mentioning that she had all day to pal around with David, especially since they were coworkers now. “It’s fun!” Mari said. “We have to locate the em interference, and put up the sensors,” and avoid getting killed, “but that means we don’t have to sit around an office all day.”

“You mean like your parents do?”

Oops. “Well, I mean, sort…” Mari looked over at her mom. “You’re having fun with me, right?”

“Guilty, but I’m happy that you’re having fun with your job. Don’t forget, though, every job gets boring eventually. It’s how you work then that is important.”

Not likely. “I know, Mom.”

“But, you’ve earned your day off,” Mom said. “Nice that they’re letting you go while they update their software.” She glanced over at Mari. “I know some places that would have made you come in, even if you were just sitting around and doing nothing.”

“Nah, Wilma and Antonio are a lot better than that.”

“And on the first name basis with the bosses already.” Mom turned into the mall’s lot and pulled into a parking place. Then she turned and ruffled Mari’s hair. “Soon, you’ll be running a huge business, and I’ll be reduced to telling people that I had a role in that…”

“Mom!” Mari giggled and tried to pull back. “I just got it done!”

“Right, sorry.” Kyoko smiled. “Have fun.”

“I will,” Mari said as she got out of the car and adjusted her skirt.

“And don’t forget that we’re all eating dinner together tonight, so don’t fill yourself up!” That was after she was out of the car. Mari looked around, but thankfully nobody was around.

“Okay, Mom,” Mari said, “But did you have to say that when I was out of the car?”

“No.”

Mari sighed. “Fine—bye Mom, and I’ll be back on time.”

“Good. Don’t forget, tomorrow is when you have to go and register for your electives.”

“Right…” Mari said. Because of course, the school won’t let us do that online…

But that was in the future. Right now, it was time to have fun. Mari looked up at the big glass entryway to Allendale Central Plaza and grinned. It had been a while since she’d done this with David! She walked in through the automatic doors, sighing in pleasure as the cool air of the mall replaced the hot, dry air of another summer day. Even this early in the day, the place was crowded with shoppers, or just people getting out of the heat. There were mothers running around, pushing strollers, or trying to keep control of a gaggle of children who seemed to want to go everywhere but where they were supposed to, while some old folks just sat on the benches and watched the crowds go by.

Mari figured that it wasn’t like they had any other place to be.

What if the Man With the Bags appeared here… Mari looked around and imagined the panic.

It wasn’t a good image. Mari had a feeling that a cop’s gun wouldn’t do much better than the knife she’d tried to cut the bags with had, and it’d just…

Yeah…

“Hey, Mari!”

Mari squeaked and spun around to see David.

“So,” David asked. “What were you thinking about? Also, isn’t a WIB supposed to be more aware of her surroundings?”

“Ha. Ha.” Mari rolled her eyes. “I was thinking.”

“Oh. So, what do you think we should do first?” David asked.

Mari looked up at her friend and grabbed his hand. “Well, since you love arcades…”

“Yeah, we could do that, then eat, and then…” David glanced at Mari. “What about Star Defenders?”

“That?” Mari put her finger to her nose. “It is a poorly done remake of the German movie Kampf um Die Kinder der Erde or Battle for the Children of Earth. Remember?”

“Yes. I remember you calling me at 6:00AM when you got the delivery.” David said. “So, that means you don’t want to see the movie?”

“I didn’t say that!” Mari replied, flipping an errant strand of dark hair back in place. “I have to see it so I can tell you where they did it wrong, and that also gives us another reason to see the original again.”

“Oh God,” David put his hand to his head and let loose with a theatrical groan. “And you’ll take notes for your criticism blog, won’t you.”

“Yes,” Mari replied in a prim tone. “Yes, I will, but since you’re so nice, I’ll pay for the first couple of games.” With that, she started for the arcade, David still chuckling as he walked alongside her.

Alan’s Game Paradise had been around forever. David’s dad had gone there, but unlike other arcades that had come and (mostly) gone, Alan had kept up with the times. It was a three-story structure, replacing a fashion store that had gone bankrupt in 2008. David barely remembered the old arcade, where he’d gone for his fifth birthday.

The first floor was mainly filled with new games, from arcade games, both local and imported, to games for little kids, a snack bar, and a big ball-pit/jungle gym set up by the front where parents could put their kids while they took a break from shopping.

David grinned as he saw an annoyed mother demanding that her kid surface from the ball pit.

“You know, I’m so happy we have our current job,” Mari said as she stared at the ball pit. “Stacy works here.”

“What’s wrong with it? Doesn’t she get free tokens, in addition to getting paid?” David gestured at the machines. “Seems like a pretty sweet deal.”

“Not when it includes, ‘oh young lady, my kid lost her diaper in the ball pit!’ it isn’t.”

“Wow,” David glanced back at the ball pit and shuddered. “Okay, never considered that part.”

“Stacy did. At length. You know…” Mari glanced around. “That’s gonna be a problem.”

“What?”

“Everyone else has terrible job stories, but we could top them, only we can’t, because they’re secret!” Mari looked aggrieved. “Do you know how awful that is?”

David stared at Mari, then put his arm around her. “Mari, you don’t understand how good that is.”

“Oh, why?” Mari looked up at him. “How is that good?”

“Because we can smile and tell them that if we did talk about it, we’d have to kill them. Or just start quoting the parts of the manual that nobody understands.”

“You know…” Mari grinned. “I like that. You’re right! C’mon, I wanna try the dance machines.” She pulled away and started heading for the stairs.

“You mean you’ll try to beat me again?”

“Yes!” Mari said over her shoulder as she went up the stairs.

David grinned and followed her.

The second story was for the more “serious” gamers. There were console games set up in front of big monitors that you could rent by the minute or hour, and the stand up physical games, including the dance games and… David glanced over at Alien Destruction. “Certain you don’t want to try that game again?”

Mari stopped, looked at the VR game, and folded her arms. “Remember, at some point in our job, I will be in a position to save your life.”

“So you don’t want me to remind you about when we played it, and then we hit the spider level?”

“No. You do not need to remind me of the time I almost broke a VR headset because I was running for my life.”

David chuckled. “Well, I still think it was you attempting to find an excuse for losing.”

“Lo—I was winning that game. At least until we hit the…eugh… spiders.” Mari shuddered. “But this time, you’re going to lose for certain—there’s a free unit, let’s go!”

David followed Mari as she stuck her card into the machine and readied himself on his dance pad.

“Ready… Go!” the machine launched into its sequence, the cheery tune echoing through the room.

Mari immediately went into the routine with enthusiasm, while David focused on getting the moves right.

Mari just liked to have fun with games, while David preferred to win. It’s not like I’m a competitive gamer or anything, but…

David kept up with the moves as the pace started picking up. Mari was shaking her head and waving her arms in time with the beat, moving faster and faster. David glanced at her. Win or lose, it was always fun to do this with Mari. Mainly because, win or lose, she never got annoyed. Even the spider level had had her laughing about it—well, after the screaming and flailing ended, that was.

But then they started hitting the hardest part, and David focused on the steps and the game. David lost himself in the rhythm, Mari dancing alongside until the song series ended, and…

“Victory!” the machine informed David.

He stopped, breathing a little hard. Mari was standing beside him, looking at her score. “Once again, you have defeated me at the dance machine,” she said. “So, wanna try again?” Mari took a step forward and winced.

“You okay?” David asked.

“Just a little sore from yesterday,” Mari said. “But we can—”

“Nah, let’s take a look to see what Alan has in the attic.”

“Graveyard, you mean,” Mari said.

“Mari, some of those are classics!” David protested.

“And there are famous people buried in the graveyard,” Mari replied. “It’s still a graveyard.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I mean, like those aged movies that are black and white, or use stop motion, they’re—”

“Oh, now it’s on!” Mari said. “C’mon and show me a game that is the equal of the classics!”

“Fine, up we go!” David said, taking Mari by her arm and pulling her up the stairs.

The Attic was where Alan stored the old games. They were all in good condition, mainly because Alan was a tinkerer at heart, but there were games here that David had never seen anywhere else. Battlezone and Computer Space sat next to The Amazing Maze and Armor Attack with dozens of other games from every time period, including a rank of pinball machines. Unlike the other two floors, the light was dim, the flashing displays of the ranked machines playing over the two teens’ faces.

“You know, some of these games are older than our parents,” Mari said.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe what Alan went through to keep some of them working,” David said.

“Yeah… Okay, you dragged me up here, I get to pick.”

“And?”

“Something in line with our new job!” Mari said, pointing to Defender.

“A classic,” David said. “I thought you said this place was a graveyard.”

“Yes, but… okay, they can still be fun,” Mari said. “Now prepare to watch as I show the people of Earth that I am their only true defender!”

“Just don’t tell them you’re not allowed to have passengers in your vehicle,” David said.

“That’s a car. I’m flying a spaceship, so it doesn’t apply,” Mari said. “Now hush and let me take the first turn.”

“Right.” David leaned against the cabinet. “Just remember, unlike last time, that when the aliens are kidnapping the people, shoot the alien, not the human.”

“Eh, they’ll understand it’s for the greater good,“ Mari said. “Now, alien monsters, prepare to die!”

Mari snuggled into the seat at the lights in the theater dimmed. She’d finished killing aliens, along with David, then they’d eaten at the food court, and now, here they were just in time to see the Star Defenders. There weren’t a lot of people in the theater, mainly kids who were there because their parents were doing shopping and wanted them out of the way, or because it was something to do that didn’t involve staying at home on the weekend or being out in the heat.

Mari didn’t mind that. There were times you wanted to be in a full theater, with the crowd cheering or jeering at the film, with the audience almost being a part of the film. Then there were times you just wanted to be in a half-empty theater, with the lights going down and your friend sitting next to you.

Mari knew she’d have to grump at the movie, because it was never going to be as good as the original, except maybe the special effects, but anyone could do special effects today. That wasn’t the point!

She leaned into David a little bit. The theater was chilly, and she was just a little tired after everything that had happened yesterday. It felt nice.

“So,” David whispered. “Are you going to go to sleep?”

“No!” Mari said. “But, I’m getting ready to put my annoyed face on.”

“Ah.” Some kids in front of them started giggling and pointing as the “Star Angel of Protection” floated past the screen. “You know, is it me, or is that effect a little more…”

“Cheesy than the original?” Mari got into a more comfortable position and nodded. “Yeah. Her just walking through a garden with a photo-filter was a lot better.”

“So,” David said softly. “How would you do the Man With the Bags?”

Mari glanced over at her friend. There was nobody around them, and talking softly wouldn’t disturb anyone else, especially the band of kids in the front. “Dunno… Maybe a lot of shadows. Just voice and a dim figure…” She frowned. “I mean, you’d have to show him at some point, but you need to sell everyone being afraid of him…”

“Good point. We sure were.”

“Yeah, but we were there.” Mari shook her head. “It wouldn’t have the same effect in a theater.”

“Mmm…” David paused. “You know, I was thinking…”

“Oh, no,” Mari said.

“Thank you,” David replied. “But why don’t we both try for the school paper. We’ve got the credits and GPA…”

“But we’ve got jobs after…Oh. Oh…”

“Right. It gives us an excuse to talk to people.”

Mari thought about it. He’s right. And Wilma and Antonio aren’t from around here so… So we might be able to find out things they don’t know, like about the other side.

Okay, granted, they’d told them not to seek them out, but they wouldn’t be. It’d just be that they might have… other people talk to them about strange things…

“I like that,” Mari said. “But—oh wait, the space battle!” She looked back up to the screen where the battlefleet chasing the children was about to battle the angels rising up from Earth.

Okay, Mari had to agree. Sometimes, modern CGI did improve things. She snuggled down next to David and smiled as she watched the movie.

It’s even better since we’re almost in a movie of our own… Mari grinned at that, then suddenly lost her smile. I just hope we’re the heroes and not the plucky teens who die to let everyone know how dangerous everything is…