Codename: Snow Queen

Chapter One

Liberty's feline eyes scanned the computer screen, searching for the next tool she needed for her project. Just as she was about to click on the icon for the tool that she needed, an icon popped up saying that someone had requested to chat with her. She read the username, which was simply "Snow Queen", and decided to check the invite message.

Snow Queen: Hey Liberty Skye! I'd love to get the chance to work on a project with you sometime! I'd also love to get to know you better! Let me know if you're interested!

Liberty was intrigued by the message and decided to reply to the mystery user.

Liberty Skye: I'd love to get some help on the project I'm working on right now, actually. It's really complicated, and if you have a lot of experience, I'd love to work with you and get to know you better.

She sat and waited for the other user to reply. After a few minutes, during which she was able to make a bit of progress, she got a response.

Snow Queen: I've been doing this since I was thirteen years old, so about ten years now. Thank you for the opportunity to help you out! Maybe we could do one of those Zoom meetings or something, that way we can talk to each other face to face.

Liberty Skye: Sure, I'm in. I'll send you the link when I get it set up. See you soon!

Liberty got the Zoom meeting set up and sent Snow Queen a message with the link. After a few minutes of just her in the room, she was joined by Snow Queen. "Hey!" She said, waving excitedly with both paws. "Hi. You must be Snow Queen," Liberty replied. "Yeah. My real name's Ashley Lovelace. It's so nice to meet you," she said. "Likewise, Ashley," Liberty replied with a smile. She sounds familiar from somewhere. Why do I feel like I should already know who she is? She looks good, though. Like, appearance wise. Actually, she looks pretty hot. Liberty thought to herself, unknowingly saying it out loud as well. "You think I look hot?" Ashley asked her, and she froze. "I didn't mean to say that aloud," Liberty replied. "Is it true? Like, do you actually think that I'm hot?" Ashley asked. "Yeah, it is. I mean, I do," Liberty replied, her cheeks a dark shade of pink. "Well, thanks. It's a bit soon to think about being anything more than friends, though. Don't you think?" She asked. "Yeah, you're right. So, do you have some experience setting up basic game mechanics?" Liberty asked. "Puh-lease! I could do that in my sleep!" Ashley said confidently. "One of the first things that I want you to remember, it's not a good thing to get too confident about your abilities. That could hold you back in the future," Liberty said. "Thanks for the tip! I really appreciate it!" She replied energetically. She's eager to learn. I like that. Liberty thought to herself. They continued their work for several hours before deciding to stop for the day. "I wish we could get together over coffee or something tonight, but I live in California," Ashley said. "Yeah, that would be a little hard to make happen. Maybe sometime in the near future," Liberty replied with a smile. "Yeah, maybe. Quick question, how do you handle the crazy weather over there?" Ashley asked her kindly. "Well, the fur helps me out a lot. Except for when it gets soaking wet. Then it's more of a hindrance than anything. What about you? You hardly have any weather besides warm, hot, and hotter," Liberty said. "Well, having thick fur like I do definitely doesn't help me keep cool, that's for sure," Ashley said, making both of them laugh. "You know, I really think we're going to be great friends," she said. "Me too. You seem like a good person to me," Liberty said. "Well, see you tomorrow?" Ashley asked. "You got it! See you tomorrow," Liberty said, and they both went offline for the day.

When she woke up the next day, Liberty felt refreshed but confused. She didn't understand why she had been dreaming about Ashley Lovelace all night, not that she had a problem with it. She grabbed her glasses off her nightstand, put together an outfit for the day, then went to take a shower. She let the water soak her fur, then started putting soap on her body. When she reached her legs, she was reminded of her deep, royal purple streaks running the entire length of her legs, bringing back some difficult memories of her childhood. In elementary school, everyone was fascinated by the streaks in her fur, and she was very popular and well-liked. Then middle school arrived, and she was teased for the purple streaks on her legs, so she had hidden them ever since. She wished she didn't have to hide the streaks anymore, but she knew that no one liked people who were different. She wished the world would move on and worry about more important things than criticizing what makes people special, but she was pretty much certain that it wouldn't happen in her lifetime. While she was in the shower, she came to the sudden realization that it was Friday, which meant that she had practice for an upcoming iRacing event at Road America for the NASCAR Cup Series virtual championship. She logged on to the programming site to let Ashley know that she couldn't work on the project for the next few days because of the races, for she also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series virtual championship as well. She discovered that Ashley had already messaged her saying that she wouldn't be able to work on the project for the next few days either, because she was in the same two races as Liberty. She messaged her back to let her know that she was just about to message her and say the same thing. Ashley replied saying that she would see her on iRacing soon.

Ashley, meanwhile, had been busy thinking about Liberty, how she remembered the first time that she raced against her. She was a rookie at the time, and didn't really know what she was doing at first. She recalled that Liberty had won that race, and they had shown her live reaction to winning the race. Ashley had always known she'd been into girls, but something felt different about Liberty Skye. She couldn't figure out what it was, but she didn't care if she knew or not. For several days, Liberty was all she could think about, and she couldn't get her out of her head. Eventually, though, she managed to pretty much forget all about her, until the day before, when she decided to join a new programming site and found that Liberty was the most popular user on the site. Now, they had been reunited, in a way, and they would be meeting on Sunday for the Cup Series race, as they always took place at the location of whatever track was on the schedule. She put on her headset and logged on to iRacing, getting set up for practice.

Liberty, meanwhile, was already set up and waiting for the other drivers to join the practice session so that it could start. She pulled out onto pit road, stopping near the end, and to her surprise, Ashley pulled up beside her. "Hey Liberty. Mind if I follow you for a few laps?" She asked. "Sure, I don't mind," Liberty replied, pulling off of pit road, with Ashley behind her. They went around the track for three or four laps, and then Ashley took advantage of Liberty getting loose off of a corner, pulling to her inside for the next corner, then outbraked her into the corner. They ran a few more laps before returning to the pit road. "Wow, that was a really good move you made into turn five. I didn't see it coming at all. That's a great way to make moves late in Sunday's race. How'd you learn that?" Liberty asked. "I've raced here a few times in the Xfinity Series virtual championship. I also like watching the actual races and analyzing what the professional drivers do at the track," Ashley replied casually. "That's a really good strategy. I like to do the same thing, especially with a track that's new to the Cup Series, like Road America," Liberty said. "I think I'm gonna head out and do a few laps in qualifying trim. See you in a bit!" Ashley said, heading back out on track. Liberty smiled to herself, glad to see her new friend was just as dedicated to learning about the tracks as she was.