4. Hard-Light Hero, part 4

  “Are you sure you want me to stick around when your friends get here?” I asked as we neared our house. “I mean, I am kind of glowy, what if they figure out something’s up?”

  “Worst case we tell them it’s sparkle makeup and that you’re pretending to be a vampire,” she teased.

  “I’m just saying, I won’t be offended. I already had a great time, and if you’re really going to be playing soon, then we can start hanging out in game more often. I totally get if you want to have time with your friends on your birthday.”

  “Time with my friends but not my big bro?” she teased. “It’s fine, Luke. Er, Simon. We should start practicing that now, shouldn’t we? Will it be a problem in game if your real name slips out?”

  “Not really. We can set up filters so that whenever we say a real name by mistake it turns into our screen name. So you can say either Simon or Luke, but I’ll hear Luke and your friends will hear Simon. Except for Sam, since she knows,” I explained. “But it will be confusing if you discuss me in real life, so maybe just call me cousin or something? I don’t know, whatever you want to do in real life is fine with me. You have to live here, I’ve just got a day pass.”

  “Well, it’s been pretty great so far,” She admitted. “Thanks for coming. And I kind of like the glow thingy, actually. I can pretend that you’re actually my brother visiting from heaven. Which is kind of true in a weird sort of way.”

  I chuckled, but couldn’t fault her logic.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Have you two been having a good time?” Uncle Tommy asked, coming outside to check on us.

  “She took me to my grave,” I informed him. “Kind of weirdo thing to do, but she’s my weirdo sister so I kinda get it.”

  She slapped my arm. Which, again, I didn’t feel on account of being a Hard Light hologram. It didn’t even move me, really, but she winced at the sensation.

  “That actually really stings,” she confessed. “I think I pushed into the hologram for a second.”

  “Yeah, don’t do that,” Uncle Tommy suggested. “Hard light is perfectly safe to be around and even touch. He’s not radioactive or anything! But technically, the projector that’s broadcasting him could punch through six inches of steel if we programmed it right.”

  “Really? That’s awesome! Do we have anything I can punch? Something that’s okay to break?” I asked, growing excited.

  “You have safety settings on at the moment, Luke,” he explained. “Paula only hurt herself a little because your projector is set to a low setting, she pushed inside of your hologram for a fraction of a second, and then was ejected. If it was on a higher setting, she probably wouldn’t have pushed through at all.”

  “Huh,” I said. “So then I can’t put my fist through our front door?”

  “You most certainly can not!” My mother called from the other room. I grinned as we went inside. Hugs and kisses were passed around, and even though I had no physical sensation of the events, being hugged by my family after years of being stuck in the digital lifestyle was pretty great.

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