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"Wow, Astra, you're really good at this!" Wise smiled to hide his fluttering heart as he reclined in his chair, watching the computer screen.
"Awww, thank you, Wise, you're the sweetest cheerleader a girl could ask for!" she gushed through the voice chat as she finished the latest Hollow Zero run with a score high enough to reach the leaderboards.
"Hey, Wise!" Belle whined softly, shaking her brother's arm. Then she pushed his chair out of the way to lean over the mic.
"You could be a proxy too, Astra!" she grinned. Wise, meanwhile, shot her a look torn between envy, annoyance, and amusement. He quietly wheeled himself back over to their dual-monitor setup, Astra's stream on one screen, and Zenless Zone Zero on the other.
"If only! Eve says I spend too much time playing this game already!" Astra sighed ruefully.
"You do." The Proxies overheard Astra's bodyguard's low, amused, deadpanning tone.
"Eve!" Wise and Belle flinched as Astra shrieked into her mic, ripping off her headset only afterward.
"Don't worry, Ms. Yao." They heard Evelyn's voice again, sultry and soft. "You have time in your schedule for this." She took a seat beside Astra, watching the screen, unwittingly mirroring Belle and Wise on the other end of the voice call.
"So, Evelyn, do you play Zenless Zone Zero?" asked Wise conversationally. They heard her chuckle.
"I have played it a couple times, because Astra showed me, but I admit, I haven't played it often, I just don't have the time."
"Oh, come on, Eve, it's a really cool game! I mean, it's as close as I'm gonna get to being a real Hollow Investigator!" Although the singer had snuck into Hollows before, that was different than being someone who explored Hollows for a living. In that way, even the Proxies were closer to that life than her, even though they also played a support role rather than being on the frontlines.
In fact, it was that commonality that Wise and Belle used to find an excuse to call Astra about the game.
Hehehe! It's cute! Don't they know I consider them friends now? They could've just asked! No excuses necessary.
But instead, after fighting over who got to call Astra, the siblings told the singer of something new one of their friends had created…
ooo
"Ayooo! Ya girl got game! Don't she?" Nicole flashed the camera with two peace signs as she stepped back and pulled a red cloth off her computer screen, revealing her grand design to her other computer screen, upon which the Proxies watched.
"A game based on our adventures in the Hollows, huh…?" Wise rubbed his chin.
"Seriously, Nicole?" Belle frowned at the same time. "Isn't it a little… insensitive and tone deaf?"
"Not at all!" Nicole grinned, waving a dismissive hand. "On the contrary, I'm trying to make a scary experience fun!"
"More like make a quick buck!" The Proxies heard Nekomata scoff under her breath just offscreen.
"Hey! This was anything BUT quick!" Nicole complained, gesturing to her first computer more forcefully.
"Pfft, yeah! Nicole barely even left to eat or go to the bathroom for how long?" Billy's voice could be heard off the other side of the screen. "Although to be fair, she was definitely using Anby's labor a LOT of the time."
"BILLY!"
"It's ok. I didn't mind. Nicole paid me in burgers, and I got to pick the epic boss music."
"ANBY!"
Wise and Belle shared a look, chuckling and shaking their heads.
"PROXIES!"
But despite the… rough start, Nicole's game caught traction within their community. She had come to the Proxies not just to show off her game, and how they inspired the concept, but to ask them to help her promote it alongside their movies.
"Come on! It was so nice of me to make a game inspired by you guys! Couldn't you help a girl out?" she had pleaded.
"Well, it would pair well with our movies…" Belle thought slowly.
"Only if you promise to give us a discount on the next job we need you for," Wise said at the same time, partly teasing and partly serious.
"H-how about I agree to share some of the profits of the game?" Nicole smiled nervously. I never said how much!
"Knowing you, it would be pennies," Wise chuckled again, rolling his eyes. Nicole had wilted then, but in the end, the Proxies agreed to promote her game. Before long, their entire friend network was playing. Soon, it became common for the various New Eridu factions to host Interknot online game nights, sitting in voice chats with each other, competing in the digital world rather than the Hollows. It felt like a strange concept at first. Wouldn't they want an escape from the Ethereals that plagued their world? And yet it was strangely addictive, a safe way to battle and compare strengths without actually going into a Hollow and risking corruption.
"Hmmm… New side hustle idea incoming…" Nicole murmured one day as she rested at the Cunning Hares' hideout, laptop on her lap. "I could start doing competitions with financial incentives…"
"Nicole. That's gambling." Nekomata deadpanned.
"Like you wouldn't do it?" Nicole scoffed back at her.
"Sure I would. But I wouldn't dress it up in the corporate speak like you do!"
"Hey, maybe I'm hoping to go global with this game one day! Translations and everything! Who says I can't make money both ways?"
ooo
And so it began, Interknot leadership boards where players could brag about their highest scores clearing the digital Hollows, playing as themselves and each other. That was how and why Wise and Belle ended up telling Astra about this new "Zenless Zone Zero" game of theirs. And like the singer had just told her bodyguard, she found the action truly addictive. As a singer—and the most famous in all of New Eridu, no less—putting her life on the line was absolutely out of the question. Maybe ZZZ was only a video game, but it was her way of living out her vicarious dreams of being a real action hero, and not just pretending to be one for the cameras and films.
Oh, make no mistake, I love acting! But I also love—
"Woah! Astra!" Belle and Wise cried out in awe as she defeated the latest endgame boss with a satisfying, final chain attack.
"Yes!" On the other side of the screen, Astra fist-pumped while Evelyn chuckled, bemused.
"Nice job, well done!" Wise laughed.
Not to be outdone, Belle came in quick with a compliment of her own. "By the way, Astra, great work on setting the latest record, too!"
"Huh?" Astra paused in her little celebration, confused. "Oh! That wasn't me, actually."
"It wasn't?!" Both Proxies were taken off guard. They were referring to an impressive solo-run, where the player entered Hollow Zero using only Astra. Astra laughed gently.
"I understand the confusion. I saw them on the scoreboard too. But I promise, that's not me! Though I wish it was." They could hear from the rueful tone in her voice that she wasn't lying. Whoever it was that set the record using only Astra was not… Astra herself.
"Probably some devoted fan," Wise whispered, glancing at Belle as he leaned back in his chair.
"Ah, yeah, that makes sense," Belle sighed, slightly disappointed. But it didn't take long for them to cheer up again, swept away by the thrill of getting a private voice call with Astra and Evelyn.
Only when the hour grew late did Evelyn finally take over, gently prying Astra away from the computer. "I'm sorry, Proxies, but we do still have a relatively busy schedule tomorrow, even though she isn't currently performing."
"Don't worry, we understand," Wise chuckled.
"It was great just getting to hang out with you two this evening! I won't complain if we have to hang up now!" Belle chimed in.
"You're sweet, Proxies," Astra yawned, even though she'd tried to deny moments before that she was tired. She allowed Evelyn to help her up from her chair, and she waved at the computer, even though the Proxies wouldn't be able to see her.
"Goodnight, Astra!" they chorused right before Evelyn ended the call. The bodyguard chuckled to herself.
I can hear them swooning from here. Had it been anyone else, Evelyn may not have found it so endearing. But she was smiling as she ended the call with the Proxies, guiding Astra to her bedroom. Once the singer was safely tucked in, Evelyn returned to the quiet and dark solitude of her bedroom, but rather than go to bed, she booted up her laptop…
M6W5… Her purple eyes narrowed as they skimmed her Astra Yao build. Should I keep trying for better disc sets? She bit her lip. There were already some pretty incredible stats on the ones she currently had. It was how she managed to set the most recent record with the solo Astra run. Evelyn felt self-conscious, even though Astra and the Proxies were fast asleep by then. It would be too embarrassing to admit this to them, but…
Evelyn opened up a build guide for Astra Yao. Nothing is too good for her! The build must be PERFECT! Anything less would be the true embarrassment, in Evelyn's opinion. Setting the record was only the beginning. Now she had to defend the title. And so, while her friends slept, she played late into the night, Astra's voice filling her ears every time she used the ultimate.