I am interrupted from my train of thought about Button with a message on my computer that is, ironically, about Button Mash. It is a reminder notice that he will be starting his live YouTube recording of himself doing a “Let's Play” of one of his favorite video games of late, a first-person shooter game called “Bullet Hell.”

When I first heard that, I rolled my eyes at the title as I sarcastically thought to myself, “Ha-ha! Real clever, guys! I'm sure a bunch of religious groups were all up in arms about that title.”

Button Mash is a moderately successful YouTuber who I think may honestly have a shot doing this as a career. He has enough subscribers on his channel, especially for his “Let's Play” videos, to go professional with this path. He seems quite enthusiastic about it, too. It's pretty much a solid fact that Button Mash loves playing video games, and he already is getting paid for it.

When I first learned about this, I was merely content to watch some of his videos just to get the inside scoop on his thought process. After all, the more I know him, the better I can manipulate him.

It turns out that he actually did something like this since he was a young kid, too. Back then he used to play with Sweetie Belle off and on but, for some reason, she suddenly stopped. I don't know why she backed off and it seems a shame to me. I personally shipped those two. They seemed like a cute couple together and they really did have a lot of fun online. It didn't matter if they played on the same team or were against each other. The banter they made at each other was nothing short of adorable.

But then I caught wind of the fact that Sunset Shimmer also is a YouTuber hobbyist. She may not have as many subscribers as Button, and I really doubt she'd be willing to go career with this (nor does she have to considering her day job), but Sunset really seems to have a lot of fun sharing her hobby with the rest of the world, and the world loves her for it in return. She only started her channel four months ago. Since then, her popularity skyrocketed from a few hundred subscribers to well over a thousand.

Then I found out a really interesting twist. Sunset Shimmer plays “Bullet Hell” too, and she's even on the same team as Button Mash, and yet neither of them are aware of that. I am astonished that nobody in real life tipped either of them off to that fact. It might be because no one in the local vicinity happened to notice both of them doing the same thing.

I hope neither of them finds out, either. I have a feeling that certain legal problems may come up if people found out they, a teacher and her student at the same High School, are also socializing with each other unknowingly online.

Despite the fact that they are also speaking with each other online, apparently their voice recording software distorts their voices enough so that they don't recognize each other.

The longer this charade continues, the more I grow amused.

Recently I even started to participate in their little reindeer games, albeit a little reluctantly. First-person shooter games are not really my thing. Personally, I'm more into puzzle games, romance games, real-time strategy games, fantasy MMORPG games (I always play the caster whenever I can), and world-building games where I literally play God over anything from a small civilization to entire worlds. Sim games also have a soft spot in my heart. That's like a digital doll-house and a game where I can construct something and showcase my own creativity.

But first-person shooters like “Bullet Hell” are a total yawn fest for me. The only reason I even considered it was to get in on the action between both Sunset Shimmer and Button Mash.

As an additional precaution, I also modulated my voice with a voice synthesizer just to make sure neither of them recognized me in the game.

While normally the online antics of Button and Sunny merely amuse me, tonight I feel especially curious about Button's mindset. I just got offline with him as my Shadow Queen persona. He sounded angry but otherwise cooperative in that conversation. I am wondering if a peek at his personality online might provide me additional insight to see if he will really cooperate with my request, and this time I can approach him as a friend rather than an antagonist. He might reveal valuable insight to me as my own “Bullet Hell” avatar.

Sometimes I can draw in more information using honey rather than vinegar.

I log onto the game and sign up as my own character I named Kitty Sparks.

Kitty is a Katarian, or anime-style cat person, in other words. She has heterochromia eyes. The left being purple and the right being deep blue. Her hair is pink and short. She wears a white blouse with a red vest. She wears red shorts and a large tool belt on her hips.

Kitty is an Engineer type character rather than a straight shooter. Her role is more to build stuff rather than going toe to toe with other fighter type characters. She only has a few proficiency points in combat skills so I dumped most of it in two weapon types, the shotgun and the sniper rifle. I did this because I like the idea of being able to do heavy damage with just a few shots. Running out of ammo is rarely an issue in “Bullet Hell”, hence the name, but it's just a personal preference of mine to do a lot with as few resources as possible.

Instead of combat skills, most of my character's talent points are devoted to less direct combat skills like tool use, computer proficiency (just like me in real life), building stuff like bombs, drones, and turrets. I also built some customized gadgets like grenade launchers which shoot a magnetic bomb that also has a camera on it to feed me visual information before allowing me the option to blow up the camera. That same launcher also has another mode to become a magnetic grapple hook with enough metal cable to stretch up to fifty meters.

I may not really be into this game that much, but the archetype I picked comes as close to being a “caster” type character as this game can get. Plus, it compliments my personality as it offers a variety of options for strategy, versatile construction, usage of gadgets, and reconnaissance.

As it turns out, Button Mash and Sunset Shimmer not only ended up on the same game, same hobby, and same server, but they also joined the same guild, The Renegade Personal Gunners, or RPG for short (very cute). The RPG's got a pretty good thing going on their server. For example, they managed to build up their own base of operations and have it pretty well stocked. Supposedly they built this up over years of effort. I'll take their word for it.

Considering all that, I thought it would be hard to join up with a team that has been working with each other for so long. Longer, even, than Sunset's new YouTube channel, and that by far. This seemed like a close-knit social group so I was surprised how easily I was able to walk in on their operation.

My Engineer type character was part of it. They were desperate to have more of those. They said they used to focus more on combat missions so, at the time, they needed more gunner, tank, stealth, and medic type characters.

Now that they actually have a base of operations to work with, however, it needs maintenance and upgrades. They could hire NPC's for that, but a player engineer character is far cheaper and more versatile.

When I asked to join and they saw what I could do, they didn't even care that I was a noob at this game. They were desperately grateful that I tried to sign with them with an apparently unpopular role that nobody else wanted to play.

Back then, I blinked to myself and thought, “Why? The Engineer is awesome if you know how to properly allocate their talents skills and figure out the best inventions to build!”

But, I suppose, it is a more cerebral archetype than most players are comfortable with, but I'm perfectly fine with that. That just means I have less competition for my build.

I guess I can see why they'd think that way about the other roles in the game. Soldiers are the ones on the front lines. When playing a video game where one can pretend to be any role they want, players tend to favor the one that puts them in the thick of the action, but where would they be without the tools and supplies to back them up? An engineer's role may not be as glorious, but it's no less important.

Sometimes I love being the center of attention, but there is something that feels deviously sneaky about playing a background role that's vital but often ignored. In that strategic position, I can pull the strings from the shadows. Very few consciously realize that everything is proceeding accordingly to my carefully calculated design.

Or at least that is what I would have said if I really gave a damn about this game.

Instead of that, I'm honestly here to surreptitiously get closer to some of the guild's players in order to have an advantage over them in real life, for that is the only game that truly matters in this world.

While my character loads in the game, I connect my augmented reality glasses to my computer then open up two more virtual windows to the sides of my actual computer monitor. In one of them I bring up Sunset Shimmers YouTube channel (called Girl_Gamer_Rocks), and, in the other, I upload Button Mash's live channel (simply called Button Plays).

Good. Now I can visually track them both while they play the game. At this point I don't even need them to speak. I can gauge their mood from their facial expressions alone.

That is how I am quickly able to tell that Button Mash is in a very sour mood. He looks like he has a chip on his shoulder and he's ready to take it out on some bad guys online.

Sunset Shimmer, on the other hand, seems to be in a remarkably good mood, as usual.

“Good evening to you all, my loyal subscribers! This is Girl_Gamer_Rocks speaking, coming at you live on this wonderful medium that we call YouTube! You love me, and I love you, and we all know it so let's get that shit out of the way so we can start kicking some ass!” Sunset cries out excitedly, then compounds it by asking, “Are you all excited? Because I am excited! Excited to play some 'Bullet Hell'! Let the bullets fly!”

“Hey there, my loyal subscribers. It's Button Mash here, coming at you live on Button Plays, and I'm about to log onto 'Bullet Hell' again.” Button pauses a moment as he starts sipping on a Slurpee he has to his side. When he sets it down, he wipes his lips with the back of his sleeve and eagerly picks up his controller high enough to just barely be visible at the bottom edge of his camera, then he says, “As some of you might be able to tell, I'm not exactly in the best mood right now because of . . . some real life stuff.”

I narrow my eyes at him and grow a sly look.

“But none of that matters right now. You didn't come here to see me mope around, you came to see me play some video games, and that's exactly what you're going to get, so let's do this thing!”

Button now looks focused.

“In case any of you were worried that I did not come prepared for my night of bad-assary,” Sunset resumes on her channel, “behold. I got my ever critical Funyuns, some Cheetos, a chocolate brownie made by a good friend of mine who happens to be a skilled pastry chef, and my soda pop.” She shows each to the camera. “So I'm good to go.”

Ooo! That reminds me! Maybe I should get more jasmine tea.

Thanks, Sunset!

I get up and head into the kitchen to refill my cup of jasmine tea while the game keeps loading during my absence. By the time I return, the game says, “Hit any key to continue.” That's simple enough. I press “return” on the keyboard to get this party to start.

As I anticipate, shortly after my character loads, I get my traditional “Hello Kitty” greeting from dozens of my guildmates.

After that, however, it's business as usual.

I am told that there are several issues that need to be fixed in the base, so I figuratively roll up my sleeves and start setting to work.

But that isn't my real objective tonight. I am hoping to fish for more information from two of my guildmates about their mood, and one in particular.

Button Mash has already surprised me earlier tonight. I'm not as confident I have a hold on him as much as I used to. I desire a way to open up that conversation without sounding too suspicious.

In an attempt to fish for that information, I ask the whole guild how their day has gone. As they respond, I monitor Button's YouTube channel especially carefully. Sometimes what is not said can be just as important, if not more so, than what is said.

I tune the others out as I stare at Button's virtual screen. From it, I see him frown at the camera just slightly, but he otherwise said nothing. He just maintains this determined, focused look. It's a look of resolve, which I partially take as a positive sign.

Button may not trust the one who assigned him his mission, but he clearly still cares for Sweetie Belle.

Plus, I might not be the only one on his mind right now. I calculate at least a seventy-seven percent chance that his thoughts are circulating around Diamond Tiara as well, and not in a good way.

Well, good. As long as this puppy is obedient, I don't care how else he feels unless his emotions show signs of possible treachery.

That's the real reason I signed on tonight, to confirm or deny those signs.

I get both surprised and very annoyed when our base suddenly gets attacked because this is an interruption to my true mission. With a sigh of frustration, I take my post at the computer monitoring station of our base. From there, I can monitor everything from the multitude of cameras we have set up throughout the base. I can also coordinate the settings of the multitude of turrets we have set up.

From this tactical position, I very quickly deduce that this is a player raid, not monster npcs. This attack is just too well organized to believe it's some random programming. Whomever is attacking the base is sniping the cameras we got from a distance while heavier vehicles pound at our front gate.

The chatter from our own guild rises to hysterics. Most of the guild is panicking under this unexpected assault. Of them, Sunny is the calmest. She tries to reassure and organize her guildmates, but her voice got mostly lost in the frequent shouting of her comm channels.

I growl in irritation as I lean back in my seat. I twist my wrist to activate muscle tracking in my bracelet. Once that happens, I have a virtual hand scroll fly across my computer screen. From there, I cut the volume of the entire game down by fifty percent.

Great! Just what I need! I'm busy gathering intel on a psych profile of one of my guildmates and some fucking pvp raiders attack our base.

Rather well, I should add.

I pull off my glasses then rub my face in frustration.

I don't even care about the goddamn game! I just want to finish my mission so I can go to bed. It's right there behind me, all cozy and snuggly. Why did this have to happen tonight?

I look up at my computer screen as I replace my glasses and debate something. It does not seem useful to complain or organize the other guildmates while they are busy shouting at each other.

I call up the guild spec window real quick and discover over half of my guildmates have been killed in action already.

I am studying that window for only four seconds when my character is suddenly killed as well. Kitty falls on the ground. Closing the guild spec window, I notice a new player wiggle into view. He, himself, is clearly wearing a stealth suit generator. After he walks past my corpse, he starts operating the controls of our central computer.

Great! I'm dead! At least this means I don't have to do anything, nor can I until the next re-spawn timer at the conclusion of this match.

I minimize the gaming window for a moment as I open a music program on my computer. From there, I play the device. Classical music fills my ears. The music resumes from where I last left off. In particular, the best of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, resuming with String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590: I. Allegro moderato.

After that, I open up a new window to a romance fanfic I've been reading online. I reach up with my right hand that still has muscle tracking on it. A hand simple rises to the center of the screen of the fanfic. I clench my hand which makes my virtual hand do the same. I then pull the screen off my computer monitor and float as a virtual screen which I can only see because of my glasses. After I place the screen where I want it, I stab into it with fingers together then spread them. That expands the size of the virtual screen in order to make it easier to read.

That done, I pull my cup of jasmine tea close to me as I lean back in my seat. I blow into the hot liquid while listening to classical music, the desperate screams of my guildmates (albeit reduced to fifty percent volume for them), and read the fanfic. I also twist my right wrist sharply to disable the muscle tracking function.

Now this is the life! A good story, good music, and the screams of the dying. Heaven!

Using my mouse, I bring up “Bullet Hell” from a minimized state but, by then, I'm barely interested in it. I'm dead in it anyway, so there's not much I can do to help.

I do, however, call up the guild specs window again. I watch with a bit of fascination how quickly the rest of my guildmates are picked off one by one. There is something surgically precise about this operation that I can't help but admire.

Whoever these guys are, they are good at this game. Military level good. This might actually be a training exercise for them for some real life spec operation, but it seems like severe overkill to attack a bunch of “civilian” targets like this.

Oh well.

I shrug carelessly, look back at the fanfic, and resume reading until the conclusion of the match.

Next Chapter: Chapter Seventeen: Shadow Play, Part 3, A Hero's Resolve Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 13 Minutes