“Bugz?” Feng asked, locking eyes with her. He sounded like a monk blessed by a visit from the Almighty. He shuddered as he exhaled.

“Don’t get all kissy-faced on me now. You’re making this awkward.” Bugz’s sword had already plunged through the top of Feng’s virtual skull before she finished speaking.

“You have been eliminated by Bugz. You cannot respawn at this time.”

The words flashed across Feng’s display. He watched helplessly as Bugz ran off and dispatched another five of his clanmates at close range. In this moment Feng lost everything invested in his virtual life—years of his personal time and all of his money. But he felt neither rage nor frustration. He couldn’t help but admire how perfectly Bugz leapt from technique to technique, effortlessly thinning the ranks of Clan:LESS soldiers.

CHAPTER 5

Bugz ran back up the steep mountain in pursuit of the escaping members of Clan:LESS. But now, the forest creatures ran at her side. Moose, elk, and bears trampled and mauled the Clan:LESS soldiers. Smaller animals teamed up to take down enemies in their own almost-cartoonish fashion. A particularly embarrassing replay would show one clanmate taken down by a pack of rabbits and squirrels. Even the roots and vines grew speedily up the hill and enveloped the slowest of the retreating warriors, trapping them and suffocating them, turning their ’Versonas into plant food. Mishi-pizhiw transformed into his land form, that of a giant panther with diamondback plates running down his spine. He joined the chase for a moment but soon turned back to the lake, the battle already decided.

Bugz was hunting the last fifty or so Clan:LESS soldiers when a spaceship landing on the far side of the summit captured her attention. Clan:LESS planned to evacuate. They wanted to live to fight another day.

“I guess the bot can handle it from here,” she said to her online followers. She addressed her virtual assistant: “Shoot to kill, but don’t pursue them into space. Guard Lake of the Torches until I return.”

As the artificial intelligence system took over and gifts of gold and diamonds flooded her chat screen, Bugz pulled her VR headset off and shook her hair back to the way she liked it, with a side part framing one eye. She’d returned to the real world.

Bugz’s bedroom doorway framed the figure of her brother, Waawaate, who stood there grinning.

“Hey, nerd. Come and eat.” His invitation hung in the air as he turned to leave.

Bugz grabbed a half-empty bag of chips from her messy bedroom floor and chased him up the stairs to join her family for supper.

One Year Later

CHAPTER 6