“Because, for all intents and purposes, it is. Utopia is like standing in the middle of a real life-size video game, but it’s wired to measure things like player speed or accuracy so we can test our associates on their fighting abilities. You’ll see.”
Brooke blew out a deep breath when they finally reached the entrance to Utopia. “Jesus, Blake, this entire place is huge.”
“That it is. Providing protection and security services for women at the level we do at APS is not a joke, tigress.” Blake punched a code into the keypad set in the doorframe. “We have the reputation we do because of how well we provide those services to women in need. I may fuck around a lot with my teammates, but I’m deadly serious when it comes to the protection of women. So is the rest of the management team.”
After entering the lab, Brooke was surprised at first at the very large but exceedingly plain room, illuminated only by dim nighttime lights. Then she noticed the extensive and sophisticated lighting system that ran over the ceiling and around the perimeter of the room.
“There are little lockers set into the walls that you can barely see, for weaponry storage. Utopia is the one place at APS where associates are not permitted to be armed. Instead, we use visually identical but clearly marked weapons that shoot beams of laser light while we’re in the lab.” Taking Brooke’s hand again, she walked with her across the room toward a large, unlit booth in the back. They went up the stairs into the control booth, where Blake flipped on the lights, disarmed herself, then stored her gun and shoulder holster in another locker.
With a grin, Blake pulled Brooke next to her, then picked up a remote control lying on the small control center at the front of the booth. “Watch,” she instructed, gesturing at the darkened lab as she pressed a few buttons. Unable to help herself, Brooke squealed and automatically backed up a step, her eyes all but bugging out of her head, as the entire room blazed to life with a menacing, rain-soaked city street scene at night, the virtual enemies dotting the ominous landscape holding a variety of weapons. “Holyshit! Blake!”
“Isn’t that fucking cool?” A new voice came from behind them. Tearing her eyes away from the scene in front of her for just a moment, Brooke glanced over her shoulder to see a group of associates clustered in front of a now-open doorway in the back corner. The speaker—whom Brooke recognized as Blake’s second, Blair Hightower—grinned at her.
“I am absolutely speechless. JesusChrist.” Brooke turned back to the lab, her eyes still enormous as she drank in every detail of the scene in front of her. “How in thehelldid you manage to create something like this? I mean, I get that this isbasically an RPG on a massive scale, but…fuckinghell, you guys. My brain is exploding.”
Blake set the remote down on the console. “Let’s go talk about all of that, baby. You already know Blair and Tracey, but we can have a seat, you can meet Quinn, Kat, and Parker properly, then we can tell you everything you should understand about Utopia, how it came into existence, and what our role within APS is.”
With one last disbelieving look over her shoulder, Brooke followed Blake’s team through the door into the tiny conference room, a small desk and low file cabinet sitting in the rear. It was obvious, however, that the main part of the action took place in the control booth or out in the lab.
After everyone took a seat around the table, Blake introduced her team and Brooke to each other. Then she said to the Utopia associates, “Our friend here is having an issue with some lowlife motherfuckers who think embezzling from a mutual client of theirs—a man whose wife has been battling breast cancer, which is what caused his inattention to his business—was a good idea.” Five pairs of brows lowered as Blake quickly filled them in on the situation.
“Because Brooke has known the entire APS management team since we were all little kids in grade school, she’s asked us to look into the problem…although she was hesitant to come to us at first because she said this doesn’t have anything to do with the APS charter.”
“Fuck that shit!” Blair burst out, as angry as the rest of them. “Little sis, you better believe we know what you did for Casey and Sabine and that sweet little girl they saved from that piece of shit pimp. You’refamily,and we don’t turn our backs on family, no matter what’s involved. Notever.”
Tracey, her dark eyes glowering, added, “You’re important to the Armstrongs and the Seven—you’re important toBlake—and the hell we’re not going to help you bury these sons of bitches. What a bunch of fucking assholes. Chief, what can we do?” The rest of Blake’s team murmured assent immediately.
“At the moment, nothing. Trill and the Geek Crew are digging into their backgrounds—there are four of them altogether—while Drew and Dara are sniffing around Purgatory to see what bubbles up. Teagan and her team are scouting around from a telecommunications perspective.
“They’re going to give us a call when they have something to report, probably in a day or two. While we’re waiting, I wanted to bring Brooke up here to meet you, let her know the background of Utopia and why it came into existence, and make arrangements for her to take the sim for a spin.” Then Blake smirked.
“I’m going to warn you, though: Brooke is akillergamer. She’s going to own Utopia before you know it. If you think Kelly is lethal, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Kat Krause pumped her fists in the air. “It is so on, little sis!” Her light blue eyes sparkled. “Seriously, let the chief here explain how Utopia came to be and how we use it for training. As far as we are aware, nothing like this exists anywhere else. The training we deliver in Utopia is a very big reason why the APS associates have the reputation they do.”
Starting from when the idea for Utopia had been born in Drew’s parents’ backyard when the management team was still in high school, Blake gave Brooke a high-level overview of how Utopia had been created. “After we bought the APS headquarters complex, we built our teams, then offered regular protection and bodyguard services while we focused on creating the bells and whistles that fueled our services. These five,” Blake flipped off her crew, who stuck their middle fingers up at her in response with a grin, “have been with APS since the day we opened the doors. Each one of them is a master-level gamer, inaddition to being a kick-ass bodyguard. When they found out the plans for Utopia, they were all in, three hundred percent committed.”
Quinn Abbott nodded. “Even when our bodyguard shifts were over, we were with the game designers and programmers, doing whatever we could to make Utopia a reality. You game, Brooke, so I know you completely get how the dream of having a full-size virtual RPG as a testing facility was, well,Utopia.”
“I do,” Brooke said softly, understanding written all over her face.
“It took a little over two years of 24-hour research and development to build and atonof money, which we borrowed from our parents, to supplement what we were earning as bodyguards,” continued Blake. “Like Quinn mentioned, we hired video game designers and the top IT programming professionals we could find, then turned them loose. The APS associates were our testers.” She gave a short laugh. “Those days were fuckingnuts.”
“What we ended up with,” said Parker Lyons with a slight smile, “was pretty much what you see today. Blake and Blair are tweaking, adjusting, and altering the fight scenarios constantly, with our input. We keep a close eye on how we measure and evaluate associate performance. Our ultimate goal is to reach our maximum potential as the greatest fighters and defenders we can be.” The room was quiet so Brooke could have a moment to absorb.
As serious as Brooke had ever seen her, Blake then said quietly, “We aren’t a run-of-the-mill protection and security services company, tigress. Far more goes on under the hood than we let on to outsiders.” The forbidding faces at the conference table stirred the hair on Brooke’s nape. “Drew and her team spend a lot of their time in the underbelly of society, whereshe has the reputation of being one of the scariest, most lethal motherfuckers in existence.” Brooke’s gray eyes widened.
“APS has been approached by every law enforcement agency you can think of and recruited for jobs. Criminal organizations like Percutio do whatever it takes to keep out of our crosshairs. We have far more work offered to us than we would ever be willing or able to accept. We have one hard and fast rule: anything we get involved in must fall under our oath to keep women safe and protected, because that is the essence of everything we are.” The room went silent again.
Brooke’s voice was small. “And my situation deals with a group of scum who are looking to rob everything from a breast cancer survivor. A woman who could have her entire life stolen from her because her husband cares more about her than his business, and these bastards are taking advantage of that.”
Leaning forward and capturing Brooke’s hand, Blake said, “That’s a huge part of it, baby.” Then her sunlit light green eyes darkened with a malice that left Brooke stunned.
“But an APS femme—one of the most precious creatures in the world to us—is also under threat from those dickless wonders and may take a hit to her own business and reputation from simply trying to help someone in need because of the kind of woman she is.” Growls echoed through the room. “Oh,fuck no, baby. Not if we have anything to say about it.”
Stammering, Brooke whispered, “You know how much I love you all for feeling like this. I do. But I don’t understand what you can do to stop them, though. Especially if there’s not any proof of wrongdoing.”
Blake squeezed her hand. “This is where we come in. Like I’ve already said, let Trill, Drew, and Teagan do what it is they do and we’ll regroup when we have more information.” That chilling, malicious smile appeared again. “Because I will be goddamned if the fierce, fearless woman who has captured myimagination since grade school is going to be hurt by a group of soon-to-be-dead trash if they don’t back the fuck off.”
