Chapter 3 - The café (1/2)

~ Fairfield, The café ~

Sarah and Vivian got their coffee and selected few pastries. They found seats at the long table next to the window in a café crowded with students.

Location of the café is convenient, close to the University campus, and besides coffee and pastries it provides free Wi-Fi as well as 10% discount to any patron who shows student ID from Tesla University. That is more than enough to attract plenty of students. Everyone loves free things and discounts, no matter how much money they have.

Because most of the customers are students, café tables are packed with laptops, tablets and books. Who can't handle the noisy environment, uses a headset. It's very lively.

When Sarah and Vivian get together, Vivian is the chatty one, while Sarah mostly listens. Sarah is not the one who talks about herself, no matter how friendly the other party is.

Vivian was full of pride while talking about various young men who made advances toward her recently. She described their appearance, outfits, family background and their financial status.

”That is a lot of information.” Sarah was surprised that Vivian can be so detailed.

”Of course!”, Vivian proudly lifted her chin. ”If there is a chance to hook up with someone, you should know who that person is.”

Sarah noticed that Vivian puts a lot of importance of family and finances when describing men of interest. ”What will you do if a guy is good looking and charming, but broke? Or his family is not prominent? Will that disqualify him?”

”Come on.” Vivian rolled her eyes. ”My approach is to first filter out the ones who are not real men. When did you see a real man who is broke? Even if his family is not rich, a good man will make a fortune for himself!”

Sarah helplessly shook her head. She could not understand this logic. But it's not something that she should concern herself with.

Vivian started talking about Gabriel, the young man who caught her attention some time ago. Gabriel is taking Artificial Intelligence course with them. Vivian is making advances, but Gabriel is not responding how she expects. She used her best techniques to get his attention, but they were not successful. Vivian's conclusion is that he could be blind, taken or gay, or some combination of those three. This made Sarah break down in laughter.

Sarah is in the same AI course, but she can't put name and face together. But no use spending braincells on that, Vivian will make sure to point him out anyway. As Vivian went on and on about Gabriel, Sarah lost interest and her mind wondered to last night's event and how Omega took her first prize. Unknowingly, Sarah's expression dropped, and Vivian caught that.

”Is something on your mind?”, Vivian asked Sarah curiously.

”Something is bothering me…” Sarah started and paused.

Vivian was excited that Sarah finally decided to share something and was curiously probing for more. ”Tell me. What is bothering you?”

”Well, last night there was an online event. A competition. I was in the lead for most of the time, and then in last few minutes a person with alias Omega swooped in and took my prize.” Sarah was careful not to reveal any details. No one should know that she operates under alias Sigma.

”Competition? Prize? Do tell more!” Vivian's interest was awakened.

Sarah paused for a second and carefully chose her words. ”Think of it as a competition of knowledge in computer science where you get to find mistakes someone made. The more you find, the more points you get. The prize is money and bragging rights.” Sarah was smiling, pleased with her explanation.

”You do this for money? Why bother with competitions when you can earn money by doing project for other students, as usual?” Vivian didn't see the point of struggling through stress of competition if you can do get it leisurely.

”Yes, I do projects for students who are willing to pay.” Sarah confirmed, ”But that is mostly to fill up my time. The competitions are where big money is.”

Vivian shook her head and frowned. ”I never heard of such competitions.”

”They are not really advertised to general public.” Sarah's gaze went to the window overlooking the street.

”I see…” Vivian noticed that she is losing Sarah's attention. ”And what is that Omega you mentioned?”

”It's an alias, like a nickname.” Sarah mumbled.

Seeing that Sarah will not tell her more than this, Vivian started a different route. ”It seems that Omega caught your attention?”

”How can that be? I don't even know him.” Sarah looked at Vivian, shocked by her assumption.