Ready Player One

“You got it, amigo.”
He waved good-bye and was about to end the call when I spoke up. “Hey, Aech?”
“Yeah?”
“You might want to brush up on your jousting skills,” I said. “You know, between now and midnight.”
He looked puzzled for a moment; then a smile of understanding spread across his face. “I got ya,” he said. “Thanks, pal.”
“Good luck.”

As his vidfeed window winked out, I found myself wondering how Aech and I would remain friends through everything that lay ahead. Neither of us wanted to work as a team, so from here on out we would be in direct competition with each other. Would I eventually regret helping him today? Or come to resent that I’d unwittingly led him to the Copper Key’s hiding place?
I pushed these thoughts aside and opened the e-mail from Art3mis. It was an old-fashioned text message.
Dear Parzival,

Congrats! See? You’re famous now, just like I said. Although it looks like we’ve both been thrust into the limelight. Kinda scary, eh?
Thanks for the tip about playing on the left side. You were right. Somehow, that did the trick. But don’t go thinking I owe you any favors, mister. :-)
The First Gate was pretty wild, wasn’t it? Not at all what I expected. It would have been cool if Halliday had given me the option to play Ally Sheedy instead, but what can you do?

This new riddle is a real head-scratcher, isn’t it? I hope it doesn’t take us another five years to decipher it.
Anyhow, I just wanted to say that it was an honor to meet you. I hope our paths cross again soon.
Sincerely,
Art3mis
ps—Enjoy being #1 while you can, pal. It won’t last for long.
I reread her message several times, grinning like a dopey schoolboy. Then I typed out my reply:
Dear Art3mis,
Congratulations to you, too. You weren’t kidding. Competition clearly brings out the best in you.

You’re welcome for the tip about playing on the left. You totally owe me a favor now. ;-)
The new riddle is a cinch. I think I’ve already got it figured out, actually. What’s the hold-up on your end?
It was an honor to meet you, too. If you ever feel like hanging out in a chat room, let me know.
MTFBWYA,
Parzival
ps—Are you challenging me? Bring the pain, woman.

After rewriting it a few dozen times, I tapped the Send button. Then I pulled up my screenshot of the Jade Key riddle and began to study it, syllable by syllable. But I couldn’t seem to concentrate. No matter how hard I tried to focus, my mind kept drifting back to Art3mis.

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