the keyboard," Logan said. "I mean, even through attrition, he'd have to get at least decent, right?"
"One would think," Riley agreed. "Anything interesting with you?"
"Nothing," Logan said as they reached the bowl. "Ladies first?"
"No, this time I'm making you take the risk." She gestured to the bowl.
But the guy from Smash Games stepped up. "Um, we're not drawing yet, actually. I believe we're just about to make an announcement."
"Ok," Riley said, turning back toward her seat.
Logan followed, but when the pair sat down and neither had a server for their team, pretty much the entire table was looking at them. Riley glanced back to the front, not surprised to see the team from Smash Games all huddled together. Logan decided to explain to their friends.
"No servers yet. They're going to announce something."
The words were barely out of his mouth before a tall, lanky guy stepped up to the microphone and tapped on it. Feedback and the booming surged through the room, making everyone look.
"Excuse me," the man said, his voice just a little too high to be easy to listen to. Then he cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, it appears that there has been a technical error with the servers. Sadly, none of the match data has been recorded for the rounds. Because of this, and per the standard Professional League of Gamers rules, we will be ending all matches now, resetting completely, and the tournament will start over. Please give us one hour." He paused to look at his watch. "So, take a break, get some more coffee, and we will meet back here at ten. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Rhaven asked.
Braden reached over to rub her arm. "It's not that bad, and I'm sure a lot of people will be thrilled to get a second chance. I'm going to get a coffee. Want one?"
"Actually," Kate said, leaning forward to look at Rhaven. "We need girl time, because I have a lot to catch up on."
"Yes, we do!" Rhaven agreed.
"Count me in," Zara said, pushing her chair back. "Riley? Wanna pretend to be a girl for a bit and gossip about boys? I am dying to finally hear about this surprise wedding, and how Void managed to pull that off."
Logan groaned. "My dick is twelve inches long, with fifteen piercings, and as thick as a coke can. There, now you don't need to talk about me."
"That small?" Zara asked. "Damn, Cyn's is fourteen and like a python."
Logan tossed up his hands in defeat. "Go, baby. Have fun."
"Stick together!" Knock told them.
Riley just pointed at Void. "Stay with your brother, because that teamwork thing works both ways."
"Yes, dear," Logan said, grinning to show he both meant it and enjoyed sounding whipped at the same time.
Together, the girls went. One hour? That meant plenty of coffee, maybe even a little tequila - it was a tournament weekend, after all - and time for Riley to hear just what the hell Rhaven was doing with her love life. In other words, a win all the way around, even if this new company was not impressing anyone. Hell, the maps weren't even that good.
Chapter 52
Jason tapped furiously at his keyboard. In her corner, Dez was doing the same. Alerts were going off all over the network. Unauthorized access of the server, prohibited programs, illegal scripts, and more. Dez was doing her best to shut them down, but they were both losing. This wasn't the kind of thing that two people could do alone, not with that many computers on the network.
Bradley was downstairs with Alex, the pair of them loitering just outside the gaming hall in case they were needed. All the gamers were at the tournament. The developers were working Deviant's booth or holding down Braden's Eternal Combat booth until he was out of the match. Right now, it was just them, and Jason couldn't even pull his hands away to text for help.
And then he found it.
"I got an IP address!" he yelled.
"Well, that only does so much good right now," Dez said. "There are six hundred computers in there, and finding the right one is going to be just about impossible, unless you let him know we're coming. I can't fucking back-hack him if I don't know who this asshole is and what he's after."
"Shit," Jason breathed. "Dez, you're looking in the wrong place. It's the match server. The results are gone. Well, fucked. The .xml file is gibberish. Someone destroyed the team tournament results."