Pepper was aggressively awakened by an onslaught of kisses. “Okay, okay. I’m awake.” He muttered. But his statement did little to stop Andrea who continued to smother him relentlessly with the affectionate act. She finally stopped and lifted her head. A beaming smile and her passionate gaze enriched his soul.

  “Good morning.” She said and then added another quick kiss.

  Pepper laughed, “Good morning. What’s got into you this morning.”

  “Oh, I dunno. I fell asleep next to this pretty amazing guy. Woke up and couldn’t help but admire how cute and adorable he was.”

  Pepper arched an eye brow, “So instead of letting me sleep in peace I get a love bombardment awakening?”

  “What’s the wording the use? Shock and awe I think.” She giggled. “Let’s just say I was reverse, I saw you and thought, awe, and then went in with an electrify shock!” She lunged her head forward, trying to give him another kiss. Pepper quickly reared his head off to the side and the two accidentally head butted.

  They both let out groans of pain, mixed with comical laughter. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I just didn’t want to make it too easy for you.”

  Andrea rubbed her head and let out another low moan. “I’m trying to smother my boyfriend in affection and what do I get? A mixed martial art match. Go figure, that is just my luck.”

  Pepper rolled her over and started to kiss all over her forehead and face where he had left an impact. The two twisted around and intertwined like pretzels until Andrea finally stopped him, “Okay I’m hungry and then you’re showing me your golem.”

  “I am?” He said with a surprised chuckled.

  “Uhh, yeah babe. I want to know all the nerdy technical detail spec things. Just… all the things, you have to tell me all the things about it.”

  “Are you sure you want to know all the nerdy things?”

  “All… the nerdy things.”

  Pepper let out a long sigh and rolled his eyes. “Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  They danced in the kitchen to some pop music while Pepper made them breakfast. The latest hit single from Andrea Parsneau came on and she started to jab his ribs, demanding he turn the volume up. “This song is awesome!” She exclaimed while quickly clearing her throat and sang along to the lyrics.

  Pepper couldn’t help but admire her. She had closed her eyes and appeared to be mentally and emotionally connected to the music. He was transported back to the picnic table when he had first heard her sing. But now, hearing her and seeing her in action, all he could imagine was her standing on a stage in front of thousands of fans.

  The song ended at the same time when he had finished plating their meal. She opened her eyes and smiled at him when she noticed how fixated he was with his gaze directed at her. They sat down at the counter and started to dive into their breakfast.

  “It would be so awesome to go on tour with Andrea.” She said in between bites. “I mean, the way she connects with fans. Her songs and the depth of her lyrics. They’re just at a totally different level.”

  “I’d say your one song you sang for me would be right up there.”

  “You’re just saying that to make me feel good about it.”

  Pepper reared his head back and formed a frustrated expression. “Oh, no. I’m serious Andrea. Your song was amazing and it’s going to be a smash hit once everyone else hears it.”

  She smiled once she saw the sincerity in his eyes. “Thanks.”

  “There’s honestly only one thing you need would need to be worried about.”

  She fell for the bait and asked. “Oh really, and what’s that?”

  “You’re both named Andrea!” She laughed and almost choked on her bite of food while Pepper continued. “I mean, seriously. How in the world are you even going to market that. Come see Andrea and Andrea as they perform live.”

  She chuckled. “What if we did it like a battery. The AA Show! Nothing but electric!”

  “What if the music company says you have to change your name?”

  “Oh gawd, I never have thought about that. What should I use as a stage name? What about Sofia South?”

  “I don’t know… what if they say you have to go by Andy instead of Andrea?”

  Her face immediately distorted with disgust. “Eww!”

  Pepper laughed at her reaction and continued. “Alright Atlanta, it’s time to get loud and welcome your favorite pop star… give it up, for Andy B!” Pepper then made a fake crowd cheering noise, only to be greeted by Andrea holding her knife firmly in her hand.

  “Call me Andy one more time, and I’m removing your kidneys with this butter knife.”

  The look in her eyes warned him she was serious enough that… she just might do it. He pressed his lips together and gave it a second before a cautious nod of his head. “You know, now that I think about it, there’s really no reason why you two can’t just do Andrea and Andrea. I think fans will happily rally behind that.” He smiled and then took a large gulp of milk.

  She raised her eyebrow. “MMhmm. Smart move there, babe.”

  It was only a moment before her scowl turned back into a smile and she thanked him for making their breakfast. They cleaned up the kitchen and then started to slowly make their way over to the workshop. He flicked the light on and Andrea’s eyes widened at the sight of his golem.

  “Wow… it’s so big.”

  Pepper giggled at her comment. “Meet, Nightmare Mala.” He then shuffled over to the work bench and started to power on his golem. It was only a few seconds later that Mala was alive and the deep purple color of the power core emitted itself out.

  “Oh… I love that!” Andrea exclaimed with a beaming smile. She walked over and started to admire the details of his golem. “I love how you changed his facial expression. It has this feeling of power, confidence, dominance. A total power play.”

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  Her eyes continued to scan downward and she pointed. “You did such a great job on that chest peace. They look identical and have a natural, yet, constructed appearance. As if every single cut and line has a purpose.”

  He smiled and felt his cheeks flush. “Thanks. Yeah, I was a little worried about the chest. Wanted to make sure I got it just right, you know.” Her nod of agreement and approval left a strong reassurance deep within him.

  She was about to ask him a question but when she turned around, her attention was taken away to the box placed back and in the corner. “What is that?” She had a playfully curious look on her face while her finger pointed over to the wooden container. Pepper had repurposed one of the large wooden shipping crates and had written her name across the side panel. He finished it off with a giant red bow and a small handmade card that took him almost an hour to create.

  “Oh, well… surprise! I uhh, wanted to give you something special.”

  Her eyes blinked and she smiled. “Well, what kind of special is it?

  “The kind you’re going to have to find out when you open it, goofball.”

  She walked over and pulled the card down from the small tac which pinned it to the wood. Her finger slowly opening it up and she retrieved the hand written message. ‘Babe… I love the fact that I am able to chase after my dream. But, though I can’t give you your dream, hopefully this gift will help you get started with chasing yours.’

  She looked up at him and her eyes were starting to fill with tears. A quick turn around and she reached for the closest thing she could find to pry open the box. Pepper was about to reach forward to help her pry the panels apart, but her hand reached out to stop him. A firm thrust on the crowbar, then a forward lunge, backwards lean, and a twist. The wood creaked with life and finally separated.

  Her eyes then caught site of the guitar case and the tears started to flow down her cheeks. Her hand covered her mouth but she still turned and rushed over to him. She slammed into him like a football player, but her soft lips quickly followed with whispers of, ‘Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!’

  She squeezed him tight and then went back to unpacking everything he had shoved inside the crate. Pepper cleared his throat. “The guy at the guitar shop told me that everything here is what you’d need to get started with recording your own music at home. He said you should be able to take it and upload it directly to Golem Chat and share your amazing talent with the world.”

  She leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, Pepper Walker.”

  At first he didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the same connection to Andrea. The timing of the statement just took him off guard. He couldn’t help but look in her eyes and know that she meant every word she had said. “I love you too.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on for a solid minute. A deep breath and then she reached for the guitar case and started to undo the latches. Her hands gently pulled the guitar out and she slowly took a seat on the workshop couch and let her fingers softly glide over the strings. Her voice started to hum and he couldn’t help but enjoy hearing her be herself within the safety of his presence.

  Pepper then turned and looked over to his holocube sitting at the end of the workshop counter. He walked over, turned it on and decided he would try to get in a quick practice session. A quick press on the activate option and he watched as the cube projected a large holoscreen above where it sat.

  The digitized version of nightmare mala appeared on the screen. It didn’t have a high degree of details when compared to the real version. But it was still close enough that he could practice and see how specifically everything would function.

  He grabbed his 7 Seas command interface and shifted the sync option over to connect to the holocube, rather than to the real version of Mala. He titled his neck from side to side and rolled his shoulders before placing his two hands slightly in front of him.

  His thumbs rotated around and controlled how his virtual golem would move forwards, backwards and side to side. Additionally, the opposite side would control things like jumping, ducking, kneeling, or even laying prone. A rotation of his hand in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion would instruct the golem to lean right or left, and if he moved his hand palm face down, or palm facing forward, it would bend the golem forward, or lean it backwards.

  Pepper had designed his index finger and middle finger to be the direct control points that would control the golems arms. His opposite hand index and middle fingers would control its legs. The precise dedicated control features allowed him to incorporate his martial arts moves and gave him a high degree of agility and mobility.

  When he had first incorporated the controls to this degree of high tuning, he had searched the online forums. What he soon discovered, was that he was amongst a rare group of gladiators who chose this level of connection to their golem.

  It was then he discovered that many of the gladiators had forum groups, all dedicated to command combinations or attack sequences. Pepper felt the gladiators who took this path were more like pilots who only knew how to use the auto-pilot function. He could normally peg which gladiators they were within the matches as all their movements looked rigid and robotic.

  There was even a complete sub industry where coders spent countless hours coding complicated algorithms and sensory response modules. The result was software applications that would take 75% of the operations out of the hands of the gladiators, and be activated through a simple hot-key combination. Back when he first researched the option, he saw many of the upper tier gladiators being mentioned, or having video clips of them being shared where they openly admitted to purchasing and using the software within competition.

  It wasn’t illegal or banned by any means. However, it was certainly frowned upon and looked down on as people started to wrack up more wins. The message was then clear, if you use this tool, you don’t mention this tool. Additionally, the software was installed within a gladiators command interface, so it was never required to be added to ones status sheet.

  Pepper went through his usual warm up routine and instructed his golem to move all around. The same way an athlete would prepare for whatever competition they were about to embark on. He finished his sequence and felt the altered connection to the digital replica. It was nowhere near the same as the real thing, but it was better than nothing.

  Pepper then shifted his ring fingers inward towards his palms. He held his fingers there to see his available runes populate in transparent orbs. Each of his fingers could activate runes, and he specifically configured this setup so he had better mobility while simultaneously making a rune selection.

  He realized that his power and cool down timer configuration had either been reset or had been fragmented at some point and needed to be redone. A quick flick of his pinky and the options menu opened up and he navigated to the specific graphic interface. The rune selection was a small semi-transparent circle with the rune symbol depressed in the center. If there was not enough power available from the power core to activate the rune, the circle would be a pastel red color. If there was enough power available, the circle would be a pastel green.

  The configuration could be confusing at first, however, he found it more beneficial. An intense combat sequence could easily cause him to forget what runes he could or could not power at any given moment. The small addition of the color shift had been a benefit once he became accustomed to it. In addition, Pepper added an additional semi-circle which ran along the top edge of the rune selection. A small thin line which acted as his rune cool down timer and would inform him once the rune was ready for use. He added this feature after a match where he kept getting confused because the rune was colored green because he had the power ready and available, but kept forgetting where he was in the cooldown period.

  He looked over the four options available to him. Force Blast, Energy Strike, Gravity, Elemental Expansion. His thumbed shifted over the Energy Strike option, and he saw a sub-panel immediately expand. From here, Pepper could direct the rune to act as an imbued option that would strike within his hands and feet, or he could direct it out, similar to that of a force blast, but with far more precision. The difference was like a wall representing a force blast, whereas the energy strike was a sledgehammer.

  A quick glide of his thumb over to his latest addition. The Elemental Expansion rune. Pepper had already spent a few hours configuring pre-aligned options. Pepper went with a chest plate, back plate, right shoulder and arms, left shoulder and arms, and then left leg and right leg armament option. The six defensive options he color coded in a pastel purple shading. He also configured options for left shield, right shield, left and right spear, and left and right sword. These options were color coded in a golden yellow coloration.

  When Pepper moved his thumb to the newest rune option, the sub-set options appeared in the same was as his force strike. The six purple and six yellow circular options were a lot t take in at first, and he sighed. Well, this is why we train. This is going to take some getting used to… but, let’s do this!