Fair Play, Part 1

“God damn!” Zee exclaimed. He shook his virtual fists in the air, a minor new addition courtesy of Dee. “Did you all see that? How can you even think that fast, Dee, let alone move? We should've been goners!”

“I'm happy you're happy,” Dee said. Her voice sounded perfectly natural these days. Ace might have thought she'd turned the synth off, except the voice was still very much like when they'd first run together. “I do my best.”

“And your best is frakking awesome!” Ex crowed. “We are so far beyond the other crews they don't even talk to us anymore! Rankings just ignore us, like we're not here. 'Cause they know they can't compete!” Virtual high fives were exchanged all around.

“What was that?” Ace asked. “The last boss was a a T4, right? And we almost took him down! First try!”

“Sorry about that,” Dee said. “I think I know what went wrong. I'll try to fix it for next time.”

“I have to say,” said Gee. “I didn't believe how they were talking about you at first. But you are a damn miracle. And pay no mind to the frakks who say we're cheating.”

“Cheating?” Dee asked.

“Well,” Zee said. His voice stumbled awkwardly. “Yeah, some trolls are saying that. Saying it's no fair race if one of has a hacked sim. Saying we're nothing special.”

“Oh,” Dee said. “So the playing field isn't level. That invalidates their sense of fair play. I suppose I see their point.”

“Don't let it get to you,” Ace said. “There's always whiners.”

Dee paused for several long moments. Again, the logout timer appeared abruptly above her head. “It is something I must consider.”