"FWLS37" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

his arms back in a Why-Me position.

"Look, sorry, but these two guys were challenging my rank in
the arcade and I needed a partner... look, I already promised
them you'd play. You're good enough to whip all three of our
butts, but I REALLY need you to help me here..."

"No! Look, Chuck, you're a frood and all, but forget it. I
hate games, especially VR ones."

I paused for a minute. I tried to figure out what the
trigger was that would trick Twinkie into helping him. I had
found it a week or two back, it was just a matter of remembering
it... Twinkie was pretty predictable, really. It was a fun sort
of predictable, on the whole.

"They said you were a sub-moron, you know," I muttered, in a
low, matter-of-fact voice.

"Eh?"

"Yeah. Said a pocket calculator could out think you."

"A calculator?"

"Something about how you were all talk and no action. Just
this guy with a 4.0 grade average and an ego the size of Yttia."

Yeah, that did it.

*

"You owe me. BIG," Twinkie said, climbing into the four-
player module and slipping on his trode helmet.

"I'll buy you an ice cream, how about that?"

"Triple moca almond fudge."

"WITH sprinkles," I topped.

He flashed me one of his patented looks of disgust and
gratitude, and the 'trodes flicked on.

I was very familiar with the layout of the first level.
We'd be in the blue room with four pillars first, with three
shotgun guys on the left. There were only three other places in
the game that the other two jerks could touch down, and I had
them memorized.