The Leveller by Julia Durango Page B

raises his eyebrows at me. “I thought you were the expert in retrieval? Surely you can convince—or trick him.”
    Touché, big guy
, I think, but then I look at Mama Beti and say, “I’ll do my best.”
    â€œWe’ve also given you unlimited credit in the Landing to equip yourself with any supplies and weaponry you feel you may need,” Kora says.
    â€œThey’ve doubled your working inventory capacity as well,” Dad says, “so you’ll have a total of ten slots to carry what you need.”
    I whistle. Those are some decent perks. I hope I get to keep them once the job is done.
    â€œNow if you’ll please just lie down,” says Kora, “we can get started.”
    I look at the hospital bed and shrug. Whatever. I feel my phone vibrate as I sit on the bed. Chang and Moose, certainly. They’ll have to wait. I pull out the phone and power it down, then put it back in my pocket. I kick my shoes off and stretch out on the bed.
    Kora gives me an ear trans.
    Mama Beti reaches up and holds my hand.
    Dad leans over to kiss me on the forehead. He looks like he’s just put me on a train to Siberia to serve a life sentence.
    I laugh. “It’s just a game, Dad, no worries,” I say, smiling up at him. “‘Nixy Bauer, home in an hour,’ remember?” I hear myself saying as the frequency starts beeping.
    Christmas in the Landing is in full swing. The choir is belting out some jolly tune and a dance troupe of sugarplum fairiesleaps around the Christmas tree. A forest elf tries to hand me a sales flyer and a sample potion for hot pink eyelash extensions. It’s way too distracting and I don’t need samples or discounts today. I’ve got unlimited credit, oh yeah! I walk straight to the Information Desk and look through my options on the main control panel. I press the W INTER S OLSTICE button, figuring that will be the least annoying backdrop to the mad dash I’m about to make through the mall.
    There. Much better. No more tinsel and Christmas carols, just some boring new age music, snow-laden fir trees, and a few silver-clad druids drifting among the Meeple. I’m about to start shopping when another button on the panel lights up; apparently, Wyn has MEEP Mail. I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should be reading his private messages, but then I decide he gave up all rights to common courtesy once he left his family behind. I quickly scan the mail, only to find it’s for me.
    NIXY, ABORT MISSION! TOO DANGEROUS!—CHANG
    Unbelievable.
    I know Chang’s got some mad hacking skills, but this is crazy. Is there no code he can’t unravel? I don’t have time to ponder my friend’s resourcefulness right now. I’ve got work to do.
    I purse my lips and type a quick response:
    NO .
    That should do it.
    I take a moment to review what’s already in my working inventory. I’ve got the ultra crossbow, which I intend to keep, but I need to stock more arrows. I decide to keep my mage staff as well, but everything else I place in my storage locker to clear up space for new goods.
    The MEEP M AIL button lights up again. “What part of NO do you not understand, Chang?” I grumble, pressing the button.
    This time it’s from Moose.
    NIX, HERE’S THE DATA CHANG RECORDED FROM OUR MINI-GAMES.
    I could hug Jackson Mooser right now. Attached to the message is a list of all the enemies we’ve fought in our mini-game sessions and the most effective weapons to defeat them. The perfect shopping list. I copy it to my inventory, laughing at Moose’s last line:
    SENDING YOU MY LUCKY POTATO GUN VIA POST.
    I make a beeline to World of WarToys on the second floor, where I’ll be making the majority of my purchases. I buy the best of everything, running through the list as fast as I can. Within minutes I’ve filled my storage locker with a decent variety of weapons and all the ammo I can pack.
    Next I