Chapter 1 - Integration successfully completed

  "Are we almost there?" Andy asked, pushing a tripod higher up his shoulder.

  "Just up that hill. See the flat viewpoint behind the bushes?"

  Andy huffed and continued looking under his feet. He didn't look up to see how much longer we needed to walk, just like the last time he had asked me the same question.

  There were sweat stains on his faded black hoodie, and he had to wipe his forehead and neck constantly. If he were to spend more time outside of his almost certainly Action Figure-infested basement, this short hike would have been much easier on him.

  I kept that opinion to myself, though. I had to act nicely. I wasn't paying a man. He was doing it for exposure. Becoming a cameraman in California was only a good plan if it was your backup plan. As the road to success was covered with wanna be influencers. Can't complain, though. I was one of them.

  The dry Californian soil crumbled under my feet, and red clay misted my purple leggings. I had a spare in my backpack, so that was ok. My hopes for this video were high. Workouts and meditations in nature were a rising trend.

  I sipped some water and fixed the straps of my backpack. It was heavy with a mat, bands and other workout props. There undoubtedly would be red marks on my shoulders. Should I cover them with concealer or wear a crop-top with covered shoulders?

  The rustling of the bushes interrupted my musing.

  "What was that?" Andy asked.

  "Probably a chipmunk."

  "There are no bears here, right?"

  "Andy, you have seen the sign at the beginning of the trail. We'll be lucky if we see a rabbit."

  "If there are rabbits, there might be coyotes…"

  "We are not in Looney Tunes!" I exclaimed, before I reined in my temper again. "Andy, this close to the city, we have nothing to worry about. I have a bear spray, and coyotes don't attack people. Trust me, we'll be fine. I hike here every week… And, here we are…" I finally said, stepping out of the trees onto a clearing.

  The wind rustled my windbreaker and cooled my cheeks. The view here was magnificent. The valley underneath was full of pines and cedars. Yellow flowers peppered the open meadows. And you could even see the ocean behind the highway. The highway was a bummer, actually. I hoped we could find an angle to make it less visible somehow.

  "Ok, I will let you do your setup, while I warm up and change, ok?" I asked Andy.

  He was already sitting on a boulder at the edge of the clearing, taking in the view. Yeah, even a game chair dweller should appreciate this scenery.

  I dropped my backpack and began to warm up my joints. It would make more sense to change right before filming. Dynamic stretching was a labour-intensive practice.

  Starting with the upper body, I rolled the kinks out of my traps.

  Something rushed past my feet, and I jumped back.

  It was bright and yellow. I caught a long tail and a reptilian crawl. Lizard, it must have been a lizard.

  My hand was on my chest, and I could feel my heart drumming hard against it.

  "What was that?" Andy asked again, from his spot on the rock.

  I lowered my hand and plastered a polite smile. There was no reason to be scared, and I didn't want to make him jumpy, too.

  "Just a lizard," I said calmly. "You can set up there?" I pointed to a flatter spot by the edge. "I think it has a better light position for the camera. Don't you think?"

  "It was neon yellow. Aren't lizards supposed to be camouflaging?"

  "That's chameleons," I said, starting on some walking lunges.

  But he was right. Neon yellow was a very unusual colour for local wildlife. I looked back at the fresh green grass, where the weird lizard disappeared. It must have been poisonous. Bright snakes were usually poisonous, right?

  My foot rolled on a small stone, and I sucked in a breath. I needed to focus, or I would be filming with an injury today. I looked back at Andy, who was stomping all over the spot I indicated.

  I froze, mid-lunge. Behind Andy was a tree. And peeking on the left of that tree was something that I could only describe as a miniature dinosaur. A legit, upright lizard with a row of sharp teeth protruding out of its chalky-coloured snout.

  And its eyes were fixated on a man.

  "Andy," I said slowly. Lizar's vertical pupils moved to me, and I held my breath.

  "Yep."

  Its eyes moved back to Andy, bony head tilted forward, like it was getting ready to jump.

  Andy was testing if the stand was stable enough, without a care in the world.

  "Come here?! And… Grab the tripod."

  "What? Why?" Small clawed paws drew in, and I took a step back. Andy looked at me and screamed. "Lizzard!"

  I was almost too slow. But a shadow over my shoulder helped me to put two and two together. I fell on the ground faster than a pin at a bowling alley.

  A heavy thud landed inches from my face, and I got a face full of dust. The back of the clawed legs blocked out the view, and I instinctively rolled away. Striving to be as far as possible from anything with claws must be somewhere in our DNA.

  A scream pierced the clearing, and I glanced towards Andy.

  The dino clung to his shoulder now, claws hooked into fabric and skin. It was smaller than Andy, and the man managed to stay upright.

  The creature bit down on his shoulder and shook its head, like it was trying to take out a chunk. Andy screamed again. But if I wanted to help him, I had to help myself first.

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  I turned back to the mini-dinosaur that was after me. Its claw got caught on a tree root. And that was the only reason I didn't pay with injuries for my gawking.

  I scrambled up to my feet and frantically looked around. There was a bear spray in my backpack, about two feet away. I had no idea if it would work against these creatures. The tripod was on the other side of the overlook clearing. Nothing else came to mind.

  In one swift motion, the mini-dinosaur whipped his head up, leg finally free.

  I had no more time to think. I jumped towards my backpack, grabbing the whole thing. A serrated maw was already flying my way, so I just brought the entire pack towards its jaws. A hissing sound reached my ears, and the bag jerked in my hands so badly that I dropped it.

  The dino stumbled away and released a high-pitched roar. It would have been adorable if its mouth wasn't bristling with teeth. My backpack was jerking all over the place, releasing an orange mist in its way.

  The dino clawed at its face, and I held my breath. He must have punctured the bear spray, and I didn't want to inhale any.

  Andy was already on the ground, rolling around, and trying to pull his dino off. His movements were leaving bloody marks on the dry, rocky soil. The dino was bucking its lower legs against Andy's body. His thin T-shirt was a poor protection against sharp claws, and I saw something dark bubbling up in the deep scratch on his stomach.

  I rushed towards his writhing body, grabbing the only other weapon that came to mind - the tripod, which was still somehow standing upright. I swung the thing at the dino, putting my whole weight behind it.

  The sturdy metal connected, the reverberations making my palms burn. Both Dino and Andy made a sound, and I winced. It was hard to hit one without impacting the other.

  The wailing behind me went quiet, and I turned to see the dino stomping towards me again. Its eyes were red and swollen, and it was moving much slower. Its nostrils were actively moving, and its head was swaying side to side. I almost missed the moment it launched itself at me.

  It repeated the strategy of going in jaw-first, and I shoved the tripod's end into it. The camera mount wasn't the sharpest possible spearing point, and the dino chomped on it. The sound of crumbling plastic broke my heart. This was my most recent investment in the channel, a whole $219.95.

  That, combined with the fact that it was my only weapon, helped me to keep the grip tight. And it was well worth the money, as the thing held together. Well, except the mount.

  I stepped back, a tripod in hand, now with a much sharper end.

  The dino's paws pulled up, and it spat out all the plasticky bits. I could tell it was going for lunge number two.

  I took a step back and stumbled over something soft. Andy and the other dino must have rolled under me in their struggle. I tried to recover my balance, but a sharp pain pierced my calf, and I went down like a sack of potatoes.

  I kept my hold on a tripod, and the sharp metal side of an open stand hit me on my side, knocking the breath out of me. Somehow, I maintained the focus on my opponent. All three legs of the tripod landed on the ground. I tilted it slightly, so the now-shaper opposite side met the lunging dino in the neck.

  Warm red blood poured out of the wound, and I swiftly moved my head to avoid being baptized in it. Something kicked my temple, and a sharp pain scraped my forehead. I released my hold on a tripod, now firmly embedded in the dino's neck and rolled away to reorient myself.

  I was climbing to my feet when my vision was flooded with bright flashing words.

  Integration successfully completed. Deck has been generated. Deal hand.

  Three large rectangles covered the space, like an unavoidable pop-up on a free news website. I rubbed my eyes to will it out of existence. Then tried to swipe it away, or find a close button like I would on the screen. But it wasn't working.

  If this were my brain's hallucination after a stressful event, why would it not obey by the brain's logic!?

  I scooted backwards away from the fight. I could barely see what was going on around me. My back prickled with the sharp thorns of the shrub surrounding the overlook. Something warm was running down the side of my face, and I swiped at it with my right hand. Was it blood? I couldn't distinguish behind the three rectangles blocking my view.

  I needed to get rid of them. And maybe save Andy. I could still hear the sound of rolling and groaning from where they were on the ground.

  The rectangles looked like they were from an association card game my college roommate loved to play. Two cards had blue outside borders, and one was green. In the middle of the first one was a foot stepping on the ground. [Steady step] - was writing on the bottom of it. The second one was a springing spiral with [Leap] on the bottom. The third, green one had a long, pointed stick and a word [Spear] on the bottom. I traced the spiral of the spring on the middle card with my fingertips. My hand just passed through it, meeting absolutely no resistance, but the card came forward and enlarged, covering two other images. New words: "Draw into your deck? Yes/No". Appeared in front of me. I hovered my hand over "Yes" just to see what would happen. My fingers passed through it all the same, but the image changed again.

  Deck stack 1/10.

  And there, under the new words, was this card. I touched it again, and the card turned, revealing the writing on its back.

  Instantly leap forward up to 6 feet. Beware of obstacles. Cooldown 30 minutes.

  Was it a fucking game? This sounded just like one of the games a YouTuber we collabed with streamed about. If this were the game, there should be some way to close this screen. I had to be able to see what was going on around me.

  The sounds of fighting were getting quieter with every passing second. The repulsive smell of blood and the pit toilet reached me, and I winced.

  I was impressed Andy lasted this long, to be honest. But I didn't want to be his dino's next target. I swiped my hands over the card and words in different directions, this time intentionally focusing on the image.

  Just close already, damn you!

  And finally, a downward swipe over the words helped. My vision cleared, and I was able to see what was in front of me.

  The dino was on top of Andy, gnawing on the arm, protecting man's face and neck. It was bad...

  I swiped at the wet sensation tickling my neck again, and the bile rose in my throat.

  It was blood. I was fucking bleeding!

  I breathed in, held the putrid air in for a second, then released it. I needed to collect myself. I needed to save Andy from being eaten alive.

  I looked around, trying to find something that could help. A large jagged rock was covered with a layer of orange dust, a little to my right. I cleared the edges with my right hand, leaving bloody handprints all over its surface and squeezed my hand around the edges. It was heavy and solid.

  I pushed off the ground with my left hand, raising to unsteady feet. My calf shot with pain, and I almost collapsed back down. But years of training my way up to unilateral squats helped me to find my balance again.

  I looked over the dino, searching for weak spots. It was something out of Jurassic Park, with a thick skull and leathery skin peppered with short dusky feathers. Strong hind legs transitioned into a muscular tail. I was sure it could swat me off my feet if I even attempted to approach it from behind.

  The only weak spot I already knew of was the neck. My rock wasn't sharp enough to cut through the skin, but if I damaged the spine badly enough, it wouldn't be as spry anymore.

  I weighed the rock in my hand. A simple throw won't do a thing. I needed to gain momentum. But just running forward was not an option. My calf gave me too much pain to pull that off.

  The description from my "Deck" came to mind. "Instantly leap up to 6 feet forward". If this were real, and it would really, somehow physically move me forward... It was worth a try.

  I took a few steps backward as quietly as I could and tuned out Andy's moans of pain. I pulled back my hand with the stone, pushed off my good leg with all the strength I could muster and said, "Leap" under my breath.

  I willed it into existence with my entire being. Praying for it to work, imagining myself soaring through the space, just past this extinct Jurassic relic. I have had extensive experience in praying. Never before had God actually answered. But this card, whatever it was, worked.

  In the blink of an eye, I was on the left side of the dino, sending my entire weight with a swing and [Leap] momentum onto the dino's neck. The free edge of the stone connected with a feather-covered neck and continued moving, catching the soft spot on my palm in between the jagged stone and a bony spine. Something cracked, but whether it was my hand or dino's spine, I couldn't tell. My hand was hurting like hell, though.

  I sucked in a breath and continued forward, tumbling over the thing and sending it flying off Andy. Everything happened so fast that I had a hard time re-orienting myself in the space.

  We collided, we rolled, and somehow I ended up on my knees, both hands on the stone, bludgeoning the dino's meaty neck, like a cavewoman.

  I screamed in fear and pain. There was blood all over my hands. And there must have been cuts on my palms, because the stinging pain was all too familiar.

  It took me ages to realize that the body under me was no longer moving. I didn't even stop on my own. My vision got blocked by the shining screen again.

  With a familiar downward swipe and a wish to make it go away, my vision cleared.