Chapter 19
CAMPFIRE
[TheRealAriadne has entered the house]
TheRealAriadne: Sorry I’m late. Day job’s been hell…
MamaBear: We were just getting an update on new members.
CodeBitch: We’re up to thirteen, and it’s only been four days.
GirlWithGlasses: It would be higher, but some of us are really focusing on extending the Lab’s corridors.
MamaBear: I saw that CrazyCatLady created a Frostcat Café.
GirlWithGlasses: She’s one of my best friends from elementary school.
It’s always bothered her that frostcats are threats in the game.
Now she’s looking for frostkittens to bring in after their parents are killed.
She’s bottle-feeding them and socializing them with the help of anyone who stops into the café for a cup of hot tea.
TheRealAriadne: I was impressed with the points she’s earned. She’s got an amazing grasp of sigma algebras and measurable sets.
GirlWithGlasses: Wait until you see what she can do with monotone functions and differentiability!
CodeBitch: I really like what SarahWithAnH did, building a library in the Lab. At first, I thought she was just buying armor decorations to cover the walls. But every book she’s put up there opens!
MamaBear: Not to sound too much like a professor, but it sounds like we could have a copyright problem…
CodeBitch: Not yet. She’s putting up classics. Pride and Prejudice. Little Women.
MamaBear: Sounds okay for now.
GirlWithGlasses: Have you seen the bakery? It opened around midnight last night.
CodeBitch: Haven’t seen it yet. I’m taking three credits this summer session. Probability and Stochastic Systems is kicking my ass.
GirlWithGlasses: Ouch. CupcakeQueen launched it, three turns in the Lab past Frostcat Café. She’s got muffins and cakes and handpies that she’s giving away. I can’t figure out how she got the game credit to put all of that out there so fast.
TheRealAriadne: She worked an Ice Nova.
GirlWithGlasses: What’s that?
TheRealAriadne: A new weapon in the game. Players have to write workable code that harnesses AI before a countdown runs out.
CodeBitch: So it’s worth more than a Snow Star if you win?
TheRealAriadne: Worth twice as much. But you have to have enough weapon points to launch it in the first place.
CodeBitch: Gotta go. Gotta get me some weapon points.
GirlWithGlasses: LOL
MamaBear: So? What do you think Ari? How are we doing?
TheRealAriadne: I think the Labyrinth is working exactly the way I want it to. I’m very pleased at what’s been done in such a short time. And I can’t wait to see what the NEXT four days bring!