Chapter 211
Messing with my sister had become one of my favorite past times recently. I’m not exactly sure why this was, but I seemed to be doing it at every opportunity. So, when she sat down with me to show me how to use my IAC, I had to give her a hard time. I’d basically already figured everything out within the first minute and a half of her telling me the commands, but whenever she asked me to demonstrate something for her, I had to play dumb. It was entertaining.
“Okay, just go ahead and think, ‘Cadence Full On,’ and you should see my name pop up in the corner of your line of sight.”
“Okay,” I said, making a face like I was really concentrating. Brandon was sitting in a chair across the room while my parents were out for an after-dinner stroll around the campus, and I think Aaron was working on something as usual.
“You got it?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Is it working?”
“No. Try it again,” Cadence insisted. “Think exactly this, ‘Cadence Full On.’”
“All right.” I made a face that probably resembled a constipated grizzly bear. “How about now?” I heard Brandon start sputtering, like he was trying not to laugh, so I opened one eye and glared at him, which didn’t help him.
“No, Cass. Seriously, are you really trying?”
“Yes,” I insisted. In the meantime, I turned my IAC on and said to Brandon, “If you don’t stop laughing, she’s going to kick you out.”
“Can’t help it,” was all he said in return.
“Well, that’s odd,” Cadence muttered. “I can see that you’re on. It’s just not connected to me.”
I hadn’t realized she would be able to see that I was on if I wasn’t talking to her. “Oh, I think it was connecting to someone named Candice. Is there a Candice?”
“I suppose there is somewhere,” she shrugged. Leave it to my sister not to know the answer to that. “Try it again.”
Brandon had his hand over his mouth, and I noticed Cadence giving him the stink eye as well.
“Okay. Maybe if I say it out loud?” I asked, staring at my sister, and she nodded, so I did as well, and then, closing my eyes again and concentrating with all of my effort, I said, “Cadence On Fully.”
“No, Cass!” she exclaimed, swatting at me with the back of her hand. “It’s ‘Full On.’”
“Oh, sorry,” I muttered.
“You are killing me,” Brandon said, looking the other direction. “Maybe I should go.”
“Before you pee your pants?”
“Too late.”
I cleared my throat. “Cadence Full On.” There was no keeping it from coming on now. “Oh, there we go,” I said. “Look at that.”
“Good job!” Cadence said, patting me on the back like I was a little kid who’d sung her ABCs for the first time. “Okay, now, give the order, ‘Cadence Request Visuals,’ and you’ll be able to see through my IAC.”
“Why would I need to do that?” I asked. “I can see exactly what you can see.”
“No, I know. It’s just to practice.”
“Well, that’s dumb. I should request visuals from someone where I can’t see them. Let me ask Candice.”
“No, Cass. Stop!” Cadence said, glowering at me. “I need you to do what I said so I can check and make sure you know what you’re doing.”
“But you’re right here!”
“Why don’t you go outside?” Brandon asked, and I tried not to laugh.
“Why don’t you go outside?” I knew Cadence was making a threat, but I jumped on the opportunity.
“That’s a great idea. Brandon, go outside, and I’ll request visuals from you. Then, I’ll be able to see something different.”
“No, I need you to request them from me, so I can check to make sure you’ve got the command,” Cadence said, clearly frustrated.
“Well, then you should go outside,” I countered.
“I’m not going outside! Just send the request!”
“But if I see myself on the IAC, isn’t it seven years bad luck or something? Will Marty McFly appear? Will I be forced to write letters to Keanu Reeves?”
“Cassidy! Stop messing around!” Cadence demanded.
“Okay. Sorry.” I cleared my throat and tried to make a serious face again, but Brandon looked like he might need Jamie’s help for a ruptured spleen soon. “Cadence Visualize!” I said, overly dramatically, flourishing with my arm in a grand vibrato. Brandon fell out of his chair.
“Cassidy! You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?” My sister stood and turned around and stared at me, her hands on her hips.
“What? No!” I protested, feigning innocence until the end. “Why are you so angry?”
“Why are you such a punk? You know that’s not the command!”
“You know, I really don’t like the word ‘command.’ It sort of makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s a little demeaning. I would rather call them requests.”
“All right. That’s it. You and Castillo over here can figure it out for yourselves. If Aaron asks me why I didn’t teach you, I’ll be happy to replay the video for him.”
“You were recording me without my knowledge?” I asked, my hand to my chest, my mouth agape. “That’s shocking!”
She just shook her head at me. “I’ll see you two clowns tomorrow,” she said, storming out. By then Brandon was back in his chair, barely.
As soon as Cadence was out the door, Brandon’s laughter filled the room completely, and I couldn’t help but laugh right along with him. “Did… you… see… her face?” he asked, fighting to breathe.
Our laughter was short lived when I got a request from Aaron to talk to me on the IAC. I tried to keep from laughing as I granted his request.
“Cassidy, why?”
It was a legitimate question, and I really had no answer. She must’ve told him what I was doing, though I didn’t think she actually showed him a recording, and he had to know for certain I was screwing with her. “Sorry,” was about all I could say in response.
“Seriously, child, she was trying to help you.”
“I know, but… she’s my sister. She would’ve done the same thing to me.” I really sort of felt bad now. They didn’t have to let me get the IAC or agree to train me. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”
“You better not. No screwing around during training. I take it you don’t need any help with the IAC then?”
“No, sir,” I replied, not at all being snide when I added the sir at the end. I would’ve said it to my dad or the principal if they were the ones scolding me.
“All right. Just for that, Cadence is training you tomorrow. Better be sure to bring a towel for all the sweat that’s gonna be pouring off of you.”
“Okay.” I had it coming, I guess. He turned the conversation off, and I realized Brandon was looking at me expectantly. “I’m sorry. Did you say something? I don’t know how anyone talks to people in real life and on the IAC at the same time.”
“I asked if Aaron was talking to you,” he replied, still smirking at me but much more straight-faced than before.
“Yes. I’m in trouble.”
“She told on you?” he asked. “That’s kinda lame.”
I shrugged. “I hope she didn’t tell my parents.”
He shook his head and got up and came over to the couch, taking Cadence’s previous spot. “It was all in fun. Surely, she must know that.”
“I think she’s sort of forgotten how to have fun.”
“Nah, she just wants it on her own terms. It’s fine, Cass. It’s not a big deal.”
“I guess we’ll find out in the gym tomorrow when she puts me through my paces,” I said, letting him take my hand in both of his. It didn’t scare me, though. I knew she’d try to wear me out, and that was fine. I really did think if it didn’t kill me it would make me stronger, and since no one seemed to know what could kill me at this point, I didn’t fear my sister.
