Luz walked over to the Guitar Hero machine and took one of the plastic guitars off its stand. She rested it on her shoulder as if she had played hundreds of times before and smiled confidently. Then she pointed at the other guitar. "Come on, don't keep me waiting."
Ren examined the controller curiously before picking it up. It was much lighter than a real guitar and had five colored buttons. "So... what do I do now?" he asked while inspecting it. He had heard about the game before, but he had never actually played it.
Luz raised her left hand. "You press the buttons with this one. You strum with the other. Don't overthink it, just follow the notes on the screen." Oriol happened to walk by behind them carrying a bag of popcorn and, of course, couldn't resist commenting. "It's kind of like playing a real guitar. You'll do fine... and if you don't, at least I'll get to laugh."
Ren chuckled softly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Luz completely ignored the comment and selected The Metal by Tenacious D.
The first notes rushed down the screen. Ren pressed the green button, then the red... but when two notes appeared back-to-back, his left hand froze. He tried to reposition his fingers too late, and his strum was completely off-beat. "Huh...? Wait..." The next notes came even faster, and his fingers quickly became tangled.
Luz barely glanced away from her own screen. "Don't look at your hands. Watch the notes." Ren tried following her advice, but it only made him miss even more. His performance meter dropped into the red, though fortunately they were playing co-op, so the song didn't end just because Ren had already failed.
Oriol gave them both a thumbs-up with a grin. "I'm not saying I knew it... but I knew it."
Ren let out a sigh while still trying to hit the notes. "It's not the rhythm..." He glanced down at the colored buttons. "...it's these cursed buttons."
Luz laughed. "That's the problem. You're trying to play it like it's a real guitar. Here, you have to think in colors." Ren nodded slowly as he looked back at the buttons. "Oh... that actually makes a lot more sense."
The second song began. This time, he stopped looking at his hands and focused entirely on the screen. Little by little, his fingers stopped searching for the buttons and began moving through pure muscle memory. He still made mistakes, but there were fewer with every passing measure.
Luz glanced sideways at him without missing a single note. She knew the song by heart. "He learns way too fast..."
When the song ended, the machine displayed a huge B, accompanied by a thunderous burst of electronic applause. Ren lowered the guitar with a satisfied smile. Luz had earned a perfect score and won the match, and the two exchanged a quick highfive.
Before Luz could pick another song, a small hand tugged gently on Ren's sleeve again. Hannah pointed toward a nearby machine where a tiny chicken hopped across roads filled with cars, rivers, and floating logs. At the top of the screen, a flashing message repeated over and over.
Reach 55 steps and win 1,000 Tickets.
Hannah's eyes sparkled. "Want to play?"
Ren smiled without hesitation. "Sure."
As they walked toward the machine, Daniel and Oriol stopped in front of another cabinet glowing with red lights. Two plastic pistols rested on steel cables, and on the screen, several zombies slowly wandered through ruined streets. Daniel grabbed one of the guns with a grin. "House of the Dead?"
Oriol picked up the other one almost at the same time. "It's been years since I played this. Whoever has the worst accuracy buys the drinks."
The game started, and the first zombies emerged from the fog. Daniel aimed calmly, taking them down with one precise shot after another, while Oriol emptied his magazine into anything that moved. One stray bullet shattered a window, another hit an explosive barrel, and a third accidentally struck a civilian.
The screen flashed a giant DON'T SHOOT THE CIVILIANS!
Daniel burst into laughter without stopping his shooting. "You've hit more civilians than zombies!"
Oriol snorted while reloading. "Whose idea was it to have them running around out there? They should stay hidden."
A few meters away, Hannah already had both hands on the controls of the chicken game. Ren watched the screen curiously while the counter displayed Goal: 55 Steps. Each attempt cost about the same as a 500 ml soda.
Hannah placed both hands on the controls with an unusually serious expression. "Me first."
Ren stepped aside with a smile. "Go ahead, little one."
Before Hannah could swipe the card, she suddenly stopped moving. She slowly turned her head toward him and took a couple of steps forward without breaking eye contact. Ren felt a slight chill run down his spine. "Hannah...?"
Without saying a word, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down until they were face to face. Then she smiled in an unsettlingly sweet way. "Don't call me that." Her voice remained perfectly calm. "You're cute... don't ruin it."
Ren stood completely still for a few seconds before slowly raising both hands in surrender. "Understood... Hannah."
She nodded with complete satisfaction, let go of his shirt as though nothing had happened, swiped the card through the reader, returned to being her usual adorable self, and pressed the Start button.
The game began. The tiny chicken took one step... then another... then crossed a highway packed with speeding cars. Hannah nudged the joystick with tiny, precise movements, weaving between cars, logs, and trains without blinking.
"Twenty..." Christina murmured as she watched the counter.
The chicken kept moving. Thirty-five. Thirty-eight. Forty-two.
Suddenly, Hannah hesitated for just a fraction of a second in front of a river. She moved when she shouldn't have, and the chicken fell straight into the water.
GAME OVER
Result: 43 Steps.
Hannah puffed out her cheeks slightly. "So close..."
Ren gently patted her on the head. "Not bad. Now let me try."
He swiped his card, and the game began.
Ren lost on step six. "Huh...?"
He tried again. The first twenty steps were easy enough. He didn't rush. He watched the movement of the cars, waited for the right moment, and only advanced whenever he found a safe opening. But he mistimed one move and ended up getting left behind. "Dang it!"
Daniel smiled helplessly. "Come on, Ren. With all the money you're spending... we could just play something else."
Hannah looked up at Ren. She could tell he was about to give up. Without saying a word, she swiped her card through the reader and looked back at him. "One last time?"
Ren smiled, grabbed the big button, and started another game. This time, he noticed something strange. The vehicles followed a pattern. It wasn't completely random; several lanes repeated the same rhythm with slight variations. "...Interesting."
He waited half a second. Soon he reached the forties, crossed the logs, and approached fifty. Everyone around him stopped talking.
"Fifty-two..." Christina murmured.
"Fifty-three..." Luz added.
Eduardo began pumping his fists like he was watching the championship finals. "Come on! You're almost there!"
Ren took a slow breath. One car passed in front of him. Then another...
"Fifty-four..." No one spoke anymore. Even the sounds of the arcade seemed to fade away. Everyone watched the tiny chicken move forward one square at a time.
Everyone held their breath. Ren waited until the very last moment before taking another step.
But he moved just a little too soon.
A speeding truck slammed into the chicken.
Oriol, without making fun of him for once, sighed. "Oh man... that's a shame."
----
Author Notes.
It's time for the Dinner and finally the Bar scene.
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