Pilgrims

"Uh-huh," Jill said like a doctor. Her entrancing green eyes showed no surprise. "So she was hot-as-sun and you got burned."

"Yeah, I got burned all right, but everybody's going to get burned real soon." The weight of the future clouded Rick's mind again.

"Who was the guy screaming on the ground?" Chin asked.

"He was a transgenic, a satyr. He tried to jump her when we got out of the car, but she has a special high-voltage stun gun that put him on his back quick."

"Oooh, a sexy satyr; hold me back, Chin!" Jill laughed.

"Teratos are a syndrome," Chin replied. "A satyr, how pathetic."

"You're not afraid of them?" Rick asked.

"We're both black belts in tae-kwan-do and three other martial arts," Jill said. "We're cousins, our mothers are sisters. They run a martial arts school that teaches self-defense to women."

"You both out of high school?"

"Graduated three weeks ago," Chin said. "How about you?"

"No." Rick changed the subject. "What brought you two out so early? You going to work?"

" We're on the way to the Lancelot Arcade," Chin said.

"We're gamer-girls," Jill said. "We get the guaranteed min-wage because we're classified as artists now. It's not much but it'll cover the car and fuel and food, and most importantly the arcades. We're creative so why work? We've got better things to do."

"Here we are," Chin said.

The black domed building was massive. Chin parked the car relatively close in the parking lot but it was still a three block walk to the arched, sixty-foot-tall doorway and there was already a line to get in. Rick had never been inside a holographic arcade before. He knew some of the popular games from hearing the secular kids talk about them. He decided to go inside. This part of the culture wouldn't be around a few weeks from now, he knew. He figured that took away whatever sinful allure the experience might have. He needed time to think about what he was going to do next and this place seemed as likely as any to keep him anonymous.