Chapter 8
PIPER
Iwas supposed to be in Distributed Systems by eight. Instead, I’m in my pajama shorts, hunched over my laptop, nose inches from the screen while violet particle effects shimmer across a ruined tower.
Six straight hours later, I’ve skipped class, ignored three increasingly panicked texts from my study group, and max-leveled the apprentice’s staff through rune-carving, crystal-harvesting, and one frankly genius stealth puzzle.
Riya finally emerges from her bedroom, dark hair in a messy braid, Spirited Away hoodie half-zipped. She peers over her steaming mug of green tea.
“Skip-day?” she asks, eyebrow raised.
“Beta testing,” I mutter, fingers still glued to WASD. “Senior thesis project. Due today.”
“Remind me what that is again?” She flops on the couch arm, watching my apprentice climb the tower stairs.
“Every year the seniors submit their thesis projects—games, apps, whatever—and underclassmen beta test them. It’s all anonymous, so we don’t know whose we’re testing.
” I dodge a fireball, fingers flying. “Our feedback impacts their final grade, plus we get to see what we’ll be capable of making in the end. ”
“So this could be anyone’s?”
“It’s definitely Zarah Kim’s. Has to be.” My character reaches the final chamber. “She’s obsessed with wizard stuff—plays D the dungeon soundtrack is clue enough.”
Riya’s grin turns mischievous. “You’re a saint.”
I take a sigh.
“I’m going to submit it.”
Decision made, I smash SEND.
A tiny Discord confetti burst pops in the corner of my screen. Too late for take-backs.
“The weird thing is, I can’t stop thinking about it. That final line, the way everything burned... It’s like she wanted us to feel something specific, but I can’t figure out what.”
“So you’re going to play it again?”
“I...” I look at the title screen. “Probably. Just to see if I missed any clues. Zarah’s too smart to make that ending random—there has to be something I’m not seeing.”
“Want breakfast first?”
“In a bit.” I’m already clicking New Game, drawn back despite the disappointment. “I need to understand what she was trying to say. Even if it makes me sad all over again.”
Riya heads to the kitchen. “I’ll make extra coffee.”
But I’m already back in the game, looking for breadcrumbs in the dialog, searching for meaning in a story that refuses to give easy answers.
There has to be more to this.
I just need to find it.
Fourteen minutes morph into nine by the time I yank on black leggings, jam my feet into Converse, and shoulder a backpack that feels like it’s hauling my entire GPA. I grab a chocolate-protein bar—breakfast of code gremlins—and sprint out the door.
Cold air nips my cheeks as I half-jog the four blocks to Luther Hall.
Campus is in that weird almost-spring phase.
Plants poking through dead grass, students debating if 9°C counts as shorts weather (it doesn’t).
I pass a flock of first-years with flash cards and feel a pang of nostalgia—back when my biggest worry was whether the laundry app would eat my last ￡3.
Distributed Systems is held in a cavernous lecture theater that still smells like ancient whiteboard markers. I slip into the back row and crack open my laptop. No sooner have I pulled up the lecture slides than a Discord notification appears.
I try to resist—I should be focusing on the lecture, but...
GuildMaster42: thanks for the quick turnaround! diving into notes after Econ. —GM42
ButterBoi69: Comp Sci student who takes Econ? Brave.
GuildMaster42: pain builds character. or student debt. jury’s out.
Then, a minute later.
GuildMaster42: So let me get this straight. You played for SIX HOURS. Said it was “one of the best games you’ve ever played.” Then gave me 2/5 because the ending made you sad?
Oh. She’s pissed.
ButterBoi69: I thought you were waiting until after Econ.
GuildMaster42: I couldn’t resist peeking.
ButterBoi69: I gave you 2/5 because the ending felt unearned, not because it made me sad.
GuildMaster42: You literally said the gameplay was “addictive” and you “wanted to be friends with every character”
GuildMaster42: But sure, 3 stars. Same as I’d get for a buggy mess that barely runs.
ButterBoi69: A buggy mess wouldn’t have disappointed me like yours did
GuildMaster42: ...
GuildMaster42: Okay that’s actually fair. But I still don’t agree with your rating.
Then Professor Wycliff dims the lights and launches into two-phase commit protocols.
I force myself to close Discord. Priorities. But I can’t focus. They’re right to be upset. I did love 99% of their game.
Wycliff drones on about distributed locks. My gaze drifts to the clock: 51 minutes of this.
Fuck it. I reopen Discord.
ButterBoi69: Look, you want honest feedback? Your game is brilliant. brILLIANT. Which is why the ending pissed me off so much.
GuildMaster42: Because you wanted a happy ending?
ButterBoi69: Because you made me care. Really care. Then ripped it away for shock value.
GuildMaster42: It wasn’t for shock value
ButterBoi69: Then what was it for?
GuildMaster42: ...processing some stuff. Maybe got too personal.
Oh. Well, now I feel like an asshole.
ButterBoi69: I didn’t mean—
GuildMaster42: No, you’re right. Can’t expect players to read my mind. Been reworking based on your notes.
ButterBoi69: Really?
GuildMaster42: “Shock ≠ satisfaction” has been haunting me all morning. You’re not wrong.
Someone in the front row asks about Byzantine fault tolerance. I should be taking notes.
GuildMaster42: Question tho—what’s a game ending that does both well? Shock AND satisfaction?
ButterBoi69: Easy. Galaxynth.
GuildMaster42: ...
ButterBoi69: Castle collapses but during credits you see them rebuilding. Hope AND heartbreak. Perfect balance.
GuildMaster42: Holy shit Galaxynth mention. Marry me.
GuildMaster42: I mean. Good example. Very normal response.
I bite back a laugh. The anger’s completely gone now.
ButterBoi69: You’ve played it?
GuildMaster42: Only about seventeen times. That credits sequence destroyed me
ButterBoi69: The music when the first stone gets placed? Incredible.
GuildMaster42: Stop, I’m getting emotional in Econ
I’m grinning like an idiot at my laptop screen. This stranger went from pissed to marriage proposals over an obscure indie game. And honestly? Valid.
The thing is, I know games. Or I used to. Freshman year, I was that girl with three monitors and RPGs, indies, puzzle games—I played everything. I’d stay up until 4 AM just to see how they ended.
Then Miles happened.
“Games are such a waste of time,” he’d said one night, watching me play Galaxynth in the common room. “All those hours you could be coding something real.”
And because I was eighteen and stupid and thought his attention was worth more than my hobbies, I agreed.
Just... stopped. Told myself he was being practical, that he made sense.
Packed away my controller, deleted everything, became the girl who was too focused on “real” work for silly distractions.
Looking back, that was just the first thing I changed.
What else did I give up trying to fit into his narrow definition of worthwhile? How many pieces of myself did I reshape for him?
Wycliff’s voice cuts through: “Miss Renner, perhaps you’d like to explain the difference between 2PC and 3PC?”
Shit.
“Two-phase has a blocking problem that three-phase solves with an extra round of communication,” I answer on autopilot, silently thanking past-Piper for actually reading the textbook.
He nods, moving on. I glance back at Discord.
GuildMaster42: Gtg, Econ prof giving me death glares. Thanks for caring enough to destroy me with that review
ButterBoi69: Thanks for making something worth destroying me over
ButterBoi69: For what it’s worth, your ending has potential. Just needs refinement.
GuildMaster42: Working on it. Your review helped. Even if it bruised my ego, and my gpa.
ButterBoi69: Sorry about the harsh scoring
GuildMaster42: Just... maybe next time lead with “this game is brilliant” before destroying my will to live? And give me at least a 3?
ButterBoi69: Deal. Next time I’ll cushion the blow.
GuildMaster42: Next time?
ButterBoi69: When you fix that ending, I’m playing again
GuildMaster42: That’s not part of the requirement
ButterBoi69: ...maybe a little bit because I miss your characters already
And maybe because talking to someone who gets excited about games makes me remember why I loved them. Makes me want to dig out my old controller and see what I’ve been missing. Makes me wonder what else I could reclaim from the pile of things I thought I had to sacrifice.