2 Days Later

“You’re really going to help the dweeb with his RPG thing, huh?”

“Hey, c’mon, it sounds fun,” Conrad replied. “You should give it a shot.”

“No fuckin’ thanks,” Pierce retorted. “I have better things to do with my time than playing make-believe.”

Conrad responded with a sigh and a shrug as he and Pierce stepped outside of the WCU dorms. Bright, midday sun shone down on them, heralding a warm weekend day — made warmer still by the complete lack of clouds in the blue skies above. Nevertheless, Pierce and Conrad both still wore their Tresédian desert robes, so as to protect their skin from the unrelenting sun.

“…It has more structure than ‘make-believe’, you know,” Conrad eventually remarked. “We aren’t just trying to one-up each other all the time. There’s actual rules and game mechanics and stuff.”

“Yeah huh. Sure,” Pierce deadpanned.

“C’mon, man. You like playing video games, right? Imagine that, but with more freedom to do stuff that the ‘developers’ didn’t account for.”

Pierce passed Conrad a brief glance before shaking his head. “No thanks. I don’t play games that much, anyways. Not as much as you, that’s for sure.”

“Always with the excuses,” Conrad replied with a sigh. “Oh well, your loss.”

“Hardly a loss,” Pierce refuted as the two continued walking down the WCU grounds toward the campus gate. “I was never interested from the start.”

“You never say that when it’s actually true,” Conrad countered, and then adopted a cheeky smirk. “Ah, I bet you actually are interested, but you feel awkward admitting it because that would mean that Austin was right!”

“Now you’re just making shit up,” Pierce retorted. “I don’t care what the dweeb does, I just don’t want any part of it.”

“Yeah huh. Sure,” Conrad deadpanned. He then passed Pierce a questioning look. “What are you planning to do on Creators’ Day, then? Just walk around?”

“That’s what most people do at festivals and stuff. After all, if there isn’t anyone walking around and enjoying the stalls and sights and everything, then is there even any point to making stuff?”

“Ah, taking on the role of the benevolent consumer, I see. How gracious of you.”

“Oh shut up, you smartass. Like you weren’t ready to do the same, before the dweeb roped you into this RPG shit.”

“Heh, got me there. I kinda wonder, now, what kinds of stuff the Tresédians create, though, or exactly how many of them do it.” A sour look soon crossed Conrad’s face. “Aw man, this is gonna be one of those holidays where the crowds are huge and everywhere, isn’t it?”

“Are you really only just realizing that?” Pierce retorted with a smirk.

“…Well, even more reason to hang with Austin’s plan, I guess. Only a handful of people can play at a time, so crowds are right out.”

“Sure thing, you fucking dweeb. Though I’m surprised you aren’t planning to just spend the day sleeping in your room.”

“Hey, I don’t sleep all the time, you know.”

“Yeah huh. Sure,” Pierce drawled, just as the two passed the far end of the campus buildings. Before them laid the training fields, occupied with a handful of students engaged in exercise or practice with their abilities. But most notably, off to the left, a small group of students appeared to have gathered around something in the shade of WCU’s classroom building.

Upon noticing this, Pierce nodded in the direction of the small crowd. “What’s going on over there?”

“…I think they’re watching something?” Conrad suggested as he turned his ear toward the crowd. “…Some kind of fight?”

“Are you doing that eavesdropping thing?” Pierce questioned flatly.

“Hey, they’re gathering in public, this is fair game,” Conrad countered. “…There’s commentary, like it’s a sport. And I think it’s between Chaotics? …Hey, they’re talking about Karísah!”

“Oh, they must be watching that Chaotic tournament!” Pierce readily turned toward the group. “I’ve been meaning to check that out. Let’s go take a look!”

“What—? …Aw…” Conrad sighed in resignation as he followed after Pierce. “I shouldn’t’ve said anything…”

The two quickly crossed the courtyard to reach the shaded gathering. On a closer look, everyone seemed to be gathered around a small television screen, featuring a camera feed of some kind of stadium. Glistening white marble, accented with silver and accompanied by grandiose water features, made clear the stadium’s presence within Anika, the capital city of Riverana. A trough of water surrounded the actual play area within the stadium, as well as the actual focus of the cameras: two Chaotics duking it out while thousands of people in the stands watched on, awed by the impressive displays of force below.

Flashes of light blasted outward from one of the Chaotics as they bobbed and weaved around the arena, all while firing off laser after laser at their opponent — who, once the cameras focused on her, was clearly Karísah. The brawny Tresédian simply charged forward through the lasers, allowing her protective energy shielding to soak up the hits as she rapidly closed the distance between her and her opponent. Another blinding flash of light momentarily obscured the action, and the loud sound of crumbling stone made clear that some devastating blow had been dealt to the arena. By the time the light subsided, the light-controlling Chaotic could be seen careening through the air towards the edge of the play area, while Karísah readily tore massive chucks of stone out of the ground and chucked them at her opponent.

“…It’s a lot flashier than I expected,” Conrad commented as he and Pierce continued watching the bout.

“That’s just because Karísah’s up against a Solartechnic, it looks like,” Pierce said. “Just look at that light control. And they’re still losing against dumb, brute strength? Ha!”

“Eh, I dunno,” Conrad replied. “They both have energy shielding, see? And I doubt this tournament allows deadly or incapacitating force. So maybe that Solartechnic is just holding back.”

“Nah, that’s just how strong Karísah is.”

“…Liask!” Pierce exclaimed, turning to the side as Liask, followed by Obra and Minilas, approached. “I didn’t expect to see you, here. I thought we were going to meet in the city?”

“She said she was going to leave a little bit ago,” Minilas stated, and then offered a wry smirk as she elbowed Liask in the side. “But then Karísah’s matches started, and she’s been glued to the screen since.”

“Looks like the fight caught y’all, too,” Obra remarked while staring levelly at Pierce and Conrad.

“Just wanted to see what was going on,” Pierce replied. “I’ve been interested in the ACT from the start, you know.”

“Well you picked a great time to watch! Just look at Karísah go!” Liask exclaimed excitedly, her attention turned back to the screen in front of them. Sure enough, Karísah appeared to have her opponent on the defensive with a fierce barrage of stone and debris. Flashes of light frequently obscured laser blasts that obliterated many of the incoming boulders, but Karísah continued tearing into the ground and hurling forward the debris as she pressed steadily onwards herself. The Solartechnic was backing away just as quickly in a clear attempt to make some space, but a moment later, they found themselves at the edge of the water surrounding the play area; as soon as they felt their foot touch the water, they stumbled uneasily, as if unsure of how to proceed.

But that moment of weakness was all that Karísah needed. In an instant, she bounded forward, the incredible strength in her legs allowing her to clear the several dozen meters between her and her opponent in a single leap. The Solartechnic spotted her and dived to the side in an attempt to evade, with Karísah crashing down to the ground right where they had previously stood — but Karísah’s arm was already outstretched, managing to grab the Solartechnic’s leg just before they could escape. Karísah then followed by whipping the Solartechnic around and slamming them into the water trough surrounding the play area, holding them down with her superior strength while ensuring that her own body remained in the play area.

“Six… Five… Four…!” counted down an announcer, all while the Solartechnic attempted to free themselves from Karísah’s grasp — by struggling, by blasting her with light, by attempting to blind her with incredibly bright flashes. But Karísah remained unyielding. “Three… two… one…! Riiiiing out!! That’s a victory for one Karísah Lekai! And with that, the Tresédian favorite — Team Tresnon, led by Treséd’s very own member of the Elite Six — advances to the next round!!”

“Woooo!!” Liask cheered, along with the rest of the students crowded around the screen. “I knew she could do it!”

“She is WCU’s member of the Elite Six,” Obra pointed out. “If she couldn’t do this much, then it’d be embarrassin’ as hell for the rest of us.”

“Oh c’mon, that was so straightforward,” Pierce declared. “I could’ve defeated that Solartechnic just as easily.”

“Yeah, but could you have done it after fightin’ two other Chaotics, all on your own?” Obra challenged.

“Sure I could. Probably.”

“Says the guy who failed to even qualify for the ACT,” Minilas deadpanned.

“Hey!” Pierce looked down at her indignantly. “That’s just because we weren’t properly ready!”

“C’mon, Pierce, let it go,” Conrad interjected. “We showed up in the middle of that fight, anyways. There was probably a bunch of stuff that we missed.”

“Oh man, you sure did!” Liask remarked. “Like Obra said, Karísah had to fight three Chaotics in a row, and she still pulled it off! An Aerotechnic first — they almost managed to time out Karísah, but she tired ‘em out over the whole match and then forced an opening right at the end, where she grabbed ‘em to force a ring out! And then there was a Velocitechnic that seemed really fast, but Karísah read them like an open book! They barely lasted at all!”

“She trains with Dean Wrikax a ton, of course she’d be used to fightin’ Velocitechnics,” Obra stated.

“Sure, but it was still impressive,” Liask insisted. “And then there was this Solartechnic fight — you saw the end of that. None of them stood a chance against her!”

“Those flashing lights must’ve been hell to watch in person,” Conrad remarked. “Let alone fight against…”

“…Can’t really argue with that,” Pierce mused. “…But you say that Karísah fought three different people? Why? Isn’t the ACT a team-based tournament?”

“It would figure that you don’t even know how this shit works,” Obra drawled.

“The ACT is team-based, yeah, but the whole team doesn’t fight at once,” Liask explained. “They take turns fightin’ 1-on-1. Each team chooses an order to fight in at the beginning of the round, and the winner of each match goes on to start the next match. The round ends once all of one team’s members have been defeated.”

“Okay, let me get this straight…” Pierce mused. “…So, let’s say that me, Conrad, and Phoenix go up against you and your two friends. We each pick an order to fight in, so, I dunno, Conrad, then Phoenix, then me. And you put Minilas first, then Obra, then you.”

“There’s no way I’m winnin’ a fight,” Minilas remarked. “I just make food. Remember?”

“And I don’t have any way of taking someone out,” Conrad added. “Wouldn’t a ‘fight’ between me and Minilas just be a draw?”

“You’re still bigger than her,” Pierce pointed out. “…Although, you aren’t exactly in the best athletic shape, either.”

“Let’s just say it’d end in a time out,” Liask said. “Then you’d both be ‘defeated’, so the next match would start with the next two people on the list.”

“So, Phoenix vs. Obra,” Pierce replied. “Now, let’s say that Phoenix wins.”

“What? Hey!” Obra protested. “Why do I lose?!”

“It’s just a hypothetical,” Pierce countered. “Let’s just say that Phoenix wins. By a… ring out?”

“Either a ring out or a shield out,” Liask answered. “A ring out is when you force someone to be outside of the ring for more than ten seconds across the whole match. And shield out means that you drop their energy shields to below fifty percent.”

“Okay. So let’s say that Phoenix wins by shield out. So Obra would be out, and then the next match would be… between Phoenix and you, Liask?”

“That’s right. And then, if I beat Phoenix, I’d go on to the final match against you.”

“Huh, I see. Interesting. So when you say that Karísah had to go against three Chaotics in a row — does that mean the rest of her team was defeated by the opposing team’s second Chaotic? Since the teams have four people?”

“Pretty much,” Minilas answered.

“Kind of sounds like her team sucks, then,” Pierce remarked.

“I mean, they aren’t as strong as her, sure,” Liask replied, “but I think they still outplayed the other team. See, the other team’s first Chaotic was a Duratechnic, like Karísah. I think they were hoping that Karísah would go first, so that their Duratechnic could stall her out and the rest of their team would sweep Karísah’s. But instead, Karísah had a Visitechnic on her team, and they went first against the Duratechnic — and stalled to get a time out. So the enemy team lost their only counter to Karísah, while Karísah herself hadn’t even gone, yet!”

“Wait, so the teams don’t know the order that the enemy team is going in?” Conrad questioned.

“Now that’s interesting!” Pierce declared. “So the tournament isn’t just about the fights, but also about predicting the enemy team’s actions and outplaying them, huh? Damn, I can’t wait to play in this tournament, one day!”

“Still as over-confident as ever…” Obra muttered.

“It really is excitin’ though, ain’t it?” Liask replied with an enthusiastic grin. “I hope I can play in the ACT one day, too!”

“Sheesh, you guys and your competitive streaks…” Conrad remarked. “Glad to hear Karísah won this round, though. Who’s she up against, next? Will that be later today?”

“No, the ACT only runs one round a week,” Liask explained. “To let everyone recover, you know? Although… the next round might be really hard for Karísah’s team to win…”

“Why’s that?” Pierce questioned.

“She’ll be up against that asshole, Sméthan Leta,” Obra answered. “He’s the Elite Six member from the school in East Nimaliaka, KCC. He has a really offensive way of fightin’ that I don’t think Karísah can match.”

“’Offensive’ as in, he pisses people off?” Conrad questioned. “Or as in, he fights really hard?”

“Both,” Minilas replied.

“He does try to piss off his enemies, to make ‘em lose their cool and fight less effectively,” Liask said. “But he has the skill and the powers to back it up. He’s a dual-type Chaotic, like Karísah, really — but he has Pyro- and Geotechnism. What he usually does is just turn the entire field into lava to drain his enemies’ shields — he’s done it in every single match of his, so far.”

“That’s a lot of damage,” Conrad said. “Actually, Karísah just ripped up the field a ton, too. How’s the stadium still standing?”

“They have Geotechnics and other Chaotics around who fix up the battle damage after every match,” Obra explained.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Liask nodded. “Which means that people like Sméthan are free to wreck the field as much as they want. And with how he does it, he’s pretty much guaranteed a win by shield out against any opponent who can’t fly… like Karísah.”

“Well that’s bullshit,” Pierce replied. “Isn’t Karísah a Duratechnic? Doesn’t that mean that she’s super durable? How can she lose when lava wouldn’t even do anything to her?”

“I dunno if she’s that durable. It’s just kinda one of those things you have to accept about the tournament, though. You can’t have people actually killin’ each other, so you need energy shields, which changes the strategy for a lot of Chaotics.”

“Well, I guess it is just a sport,” Conrad said. “Nobody expects sports to reflect real life, after all.”

“It’s still bullshit, even if it makes sense,” Pierce countered. “…But everything else about how this tournament works seems pretty damn cool, so I guess I can give the shield thing a pass. For now.”

“How gracious of you,” Conrad deadpanned, and then turned back towards the screen. “…Hey, looks like the next match is about to start.”

“Yeah, but it’s between an Academy team and a YCUR team,” Obra responded dismissively. “Who cares about that?”

“Hey, just ‘cause there ain’t a WCU team involved doesn’t mean it can’t be fun to watch!” Liask countered.

“Don’t you have a date with playboy, here?” Minilas questioned with a smirk.

“Oh…!” Liask turned to give Pierce a sheepish smile. “Uh, sorry, I guess I got carried away…”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Pierce replied coolly. “I’m actually pretty interested in watching the ACT, myself. Besides, it isn’t like this thing is going to run all day, is it? We can go out later. Maybe for dinner.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea! Thanks, Pierce!” Liask cheerfully responded, and then held her left forearm in front of her, across her chest. “Here!”

“…Uuuh…?” Pierce stared at her arm in confusion. “…Am I… supposed to do something?”

“Oh, right. It’s, uh… it’s a Tresédian show of, you know, uh… l-love.” Liask sheepishly diverted her gaze, but kept her arm held in front of her. “Y-you’re supposed to… w-well, I mean, I guess it’s kinda stupid…”

“No no, out with it,” Pierce insisted. “I forced you to put up with Earthian displays of affection, so I owe you at least this much.”

“Uegh, get a room, you two,” Obra retorted.

“Be quiet, you,” Minilas chided. “We don’t get to see Liask flustered like this very often.”

“H-hey…!” Liask protested.

“Ignore them,” Pierce replied, and then held out his own left arm across his chest, mimicking Liask’s motion. “…Is this right?”

“Well, you’re… you’re supposed to lock arms, and, uh… pull each other close.”

An amused smirk spread across Pierce’s face. “Ah, I see.” He then stepped toward Liask, threading his arm around hers and locking at the elbow. As soon as he had done so, he pulled her in, looking down into her bewildered eyes while raising his eyebrow suggestively. “Like this?”

“Uh-uuuh…” Liask’s face flushed red, though she couldn’t keep herself from smiling. “Uh… m-maybe not this close, but, uh, y-yeah.”

“…You know what? I’m with Obra,” Conrad said. “I think I’m gonna gag.”

“I think it’s funny,” Minilas remarked with a slight grin, half-hidden behind her long bangs.

“You all are just jealous,” Pierce retorted as he released Liask.

“Jealous my ass,” Obra countered. “Now be quiet, the next match is starting.”

“Says the guy who didn’t wanna watch ‘cause there weren’t any Tresédians involved,” Minilas commented.

“Alright, you—!”

“Shush, it’s startin’.”

Pierce merely chuckled to himself as he turned his attention to the screen, content to spend the rest of the afternoon watching the ACT with his friends.

---

*

“Alright, y’all! Creators’ Day is in eight days — that’s less than one Nimalian week!”

“Why are you urging us on?” Twy responded incredulously. “You’re half the reason we have to crunch, now!”

“Ah ha ha ha…!” Sky laughed sheepishly before turning to look over the rest of her room. Twy, Phoenix, and Kestrel all sat around the room; Twy had with her a large stack of poster-sized paintings, Phoenix was carrying a tote bag full of clothing, and Kestrel had brought her laptop, all of them prepared to continue working on their Creators’ Day performance.

“It’ll be close, but I think we can make it,” Phoenix remarked as she began rummaging through her bag. “My biggest concern is you, Sky — you’ll be the one actually singing on stage. Do you think one week is enough time to practice?”

“I mean, I have the lyrics, so I can practice that already,” Sky replied, and then gestured toward Kestrel. “But she’s the one writing the backing track. That’ll set the tempo and the tone, so I can’t really practice until she’s done!”

“Sent draft two days ago…” Kestrel responded.

“What?!” Sky quickly jumped over to her desk and began fiddling with her own laptop. “…Oh! Ha ha, guess you did!”

“Damn it, Sky…” Twy muttered as she held her hand to her face.

“The two of you really are hella different, huh?” Phoenix said as she glanced between Sky and Twy with a smirk. “Twy’s already almost done with the mural, and yet Sky is barely on top of things!”

“Hey! It’ll be fine!” Sky insisted. “After all, if I fuck it up somehow, I’m the only one who’ll get publicly embarrassed!”

“We’re still attaching our work to this performance, you know,” Twy argued. “Can’t you take this at least a little seriously?”

“Oh c’mon, it’s just a little talent show, kinda. It’s not like there’s anything actually on the line.”

“That doesn’t mean you can just—!”

“Alright, alright, I didn’t mean to start an argument,” Phoenix cut in. “Honestly, you’re both right. Sky, you should take this at least a little more seriously — after all, what’s the point in performing if you aren’t going to bring your best? And Twy, let’s lighten up at least a little bit. This is just an extracurricular, after all. Hell, not even that, really.”

Twy sighed in resignation. “I suppose you’re right…”

“Sorry!” Sky readily apologized, at which point she grabbed her laptop and made for the door. “I’ll go practice the song, now—!”

“Hold on!” Phoenix quickly interrupted again. “We only just met for the day! Let’s at least make sure we’re all on the same page!”

“Final draft by tomorrow,” Kestrel declared as Sky slowly backed away from her room’s door.

“I should be able to put the finishing touches on the mural by tomorrow or the day after, as well,” Twy stated, and then gently patted the stack of posters nearby. “There’s four more pieces of the mural left to paint, but they’re all simple. Just clouds and sky, really.”

“Damn, almost done in just five days, huh?” Sky remarked. “That’s my sis, for you!”

“Five days because I closely followed a reference, this time,” Twy refuted. “We didn’t have time for me to freehand a mural of Yosemite…”

“From what I’ve seen, you’ve done impressive work, nonetheless,” Phoenix said. “But I didn’t know you were so close to being done. I suppose that leaves the rest to me and Sky, then.”

“Have you picked out an outfit, yet?” Sky questioned.

“I’m getting there, but I’m still considering a few things. We switched to an American theme, which makes this easier. And since you’re Texan, I briefly thought about some kind of cowgirl outfit—“

“Please don’t,” Twy pleaded.

“Oh c’mon, it sounds really fun, to me!” Sky remarked.

“Yeah, but your song isn’t actually about Texas,” Phoenix countered. “Enough of Earth already associates the US with Texas or California, as is; I don’t want to introduce that trope to a whole new planet.”

“Aw…” Sky pouted.

“Other ideas?” Kestrel questioned.

“The song is about both the people, and the natural landscapes. And the mural is of Yosemite valley…” Phoenix mused. “It’s hard to think of a flashy performance outfit that would fit all of that. A park ranger outfit comes to mind, but it’s way too drab…”

“Would you even be able to put together an outfit like that, using only clothing here in Tresnon?” Twy asked.

“Don’t underestimate my sewing ability. I already have Sky’s sizes, so I just need to design an outfit. And don’t worry, I’ll definitely have something before Creators’ Day — by the 5th, we’ll say.”

“That would give me two days to practice with the outfit…” Sky mused. “It isn’t much, but it should still be enough, I think.”

“We really are cutting this close…” Twy muttered.

“We are, but we’ll be fine,” Phoenix insisted. “Worst comes to worst, I can just give Sky one of my outfits. Nothing says ‘American’ better than an informal style!”

“Will they fit?” Kestrel questioned.

“I’m not that short!” Phoenix immediately snapped back.

“Yeah, I’ve only got a couple inches on you,” Sky remarked. “I’m more worried about the hips, though. Yours are a lot more impressive than mine.”

“Like I said, I’ll make it work. You just need to hold up your side of the performance and practice that song until you know it better than the back of your hand!”

“…You know, I’ve always thought that was a weird phrase. Do people really know the back of their hands all that well?”

“Sky…” Twy muttered as she facepalmed again.

“Ha ha, sorry! Point taken!” Sky remarked, and then moved to grab her laptop again. “Anyways, it sounds like we’re all making good progress! I’m gonna go practice my singing, now!”

“And I’ll get to thinking about the outfit, some more,” Phoenix replied with a nod. She then turned to look at Twy and Kestrel as Sky practically bolted out of the room. “I’ll leave the two of you to it. Let’s make this a Creators’ Day to remember!”

---

*

The soft tapping sound of keys being depressed on a laptop keyboard filled a dark tavern room, the only signs of Kirstin’s presence in Tresnon at that moment. Closed curtains prevented the bright midday sun from reaching the room’s interior, leaving Kirstin’s laptop screen to be the sole source of light illuminating her cross-legged, somewhat hunched over form, sat on the ground between the wall and her bed.

The SFC is really, uh… bad at information security, huh… she mused as her fingers continued to fly across the keyboard. Ever since CSF-1 returned to Compound Tresnon with two SFC captives, Kirstin had been tasked with pulling as much information from their implants as she could, as well as analyzing whatever could be relevant to the defense of Compound Tresnon and Treséd as a whole. She had expected the task to be a bothersome one, given that the SFC were an alien organization with advanced technology — yet she had managed to break their encryption with just the most standard of hacking and decryption techniques. All that remained was to sift through the information that was present, much of which was interesting, but little of which seemed relevant to Treséd.

I even have limited access to the SFC’s internal network, just because I hacked these implants… Kirstin shook her head in disapproval. That just seems so sloppy. I already let the Nimalians know, and they said it’s fine to keep looking around, so I guess it’s fine, but… I really wonder how these people are supposed to be the official military of Riverana…

A knock at the room’s door startled Kirstin out of her thoughts. Before she could begin to reply, she heard a voice call through the door, “hey, is anyone in there?”

Is that… Austin…? Kirstin glanced uneasily toward the door. “U-uh… c-come in…?”

“Oh. There is someone here,” came Austin’s voice, followed a second later by the creaking of the opening door. Light spilled into the dark room from the hallway, causing Kirstin to flinch away as both Austin and Spike peered into the room.

“Why’s it so dark…?” Spike questioned incredulously.

“Uh… well, I thought someone was here…” Austin said while scanning the room. “Was I just hearing things?”

“N-no, I-I, um…” Kirstin stuttered out, while meekly raising her hand to make herself more easily seen from behind her bed. “I’m, um, here…”

“…Oh, there you are,” Austin replied. “Why did you leave it so dark, in here? Do the lights not work, or something?”

“I-I just, um…” Kirstin responded uncomfortably, while fidgeting in place. “…Uh, w-well, did you, um, n-need something…?”

“Oh, yeah.” Austin nodded once. “We were looking for Luke, but he’s not in his room. We were wondering if you might know where he went.”

“Oh. Um, I, uh… d-don’t know.”

Austin released an annoyed sigh. “It would figure…”

“H-he might, um, be on g-guard duty, though…”

“Guess that would make sense,” Spike remarked. “Well, thanks anyways.”

“…Uhh…!” Kirstin started to reply, halting Austin and Spike just as they were turning away. With their attention drawn back to her, she began fidgeting uneasily, but she eventually managed to ask, “w-why… do you need him? J-just curious…”

“We were hopin’ he could help us out with some Creators’ Day stuff,” Spike replied. “But, if he ain’t around…”

“C-Creators’ Day…?”

“Have you not heard? Half the Compound is buzzin’ about it!” Austin exclaimed.

Kirstin looked away uneasily. “O-oh… r-right…”

“Damn, Austin. Read the room, man,” Spike admonished, and then turned to look at Kirstin. “It’s a Nimalian holiday, apparently. Somethin’ about celebratin’ creators and creations and stuff. Austin here wanted to run a game, so we’re goin’ around tryin’ to find people to help out.”

“It’s just me, Spike, and Conrad, for now,” Austin said. “It would’ve been nice to get Twy on board, too, since she could draw everyone’s characters. That would go a long way towards getting new people invested. Too bad she’s doin’ that thing with Sky…”

“Yeah, sure, that’s the reason you wanna work with Twy,” Spike teased.

“Sh-shut up, man,” Austin retorted.

“D-drawing characters…?” Kirstin echoed. “And, um… r-running a game? D-do you mean, um… like a… t-tabletop game?”

“Wait, you know what I’m talking about?!” Austin responded excitedly. “Have you played one before?!”

“Uh—!” Kirstin drew back, startled by Austin’s sudden interest. “…N-no… j-just, um, h-heard about them…”

“Oh. Well, are you interested? I could teach you how to play!”

“You’re gettin’ too excited, again,” Spike cut in. “We need someone to help setup the game, not to play it. Remember?”

“Well, sure,” Austin replied, “but we could still have her play on Creators’ Day!”

“Uh… th-thanks, but… n-no thanks,” Kirstin responded uneasily. “It’s a, um… h-holiday, right? So, uh… c-crowds, and stuff… right?”

“Sure, and I hate crowds, too,” Austin said. “But that’s what makes the game great — you can only really have a few players at a time. So it never gets too crowded!”

“St-still, um, st-strangers, though…”

“I mean… true. …Actually, you’re right. Do I really want to be DMing for strangers? Aw, fuck, I didn’t think about that part…”

“C’mon, man,” Spike insisted as he gave Austin a slap on the back. “Don’t be gettin’ cold feet now! Creators’ Day is in barely a week!”

“Well yeah, but—“

“Wasn’t the whole point of this to introduce tabletop gamin’ to the Nimalians, anyways?”

“I mean…” Austin began to retort, only to slump his shoulders and release a resigned sigh. “…I guess you’re right. Although…” He perked up, a new idea clearly forming in his head as he turned back to face Kirstin. “Hey, what if I taught you how to play the game so you could help playtest my one-shot? Then you’d get to play, but you wouldn’t have to deal with the crowds on the day of!”

Kirstin regarded him with surprise. “Wh-what…? R-really…?”

“Don’t mind him,” Spike remarked with an amused smirk. “He just gets really excited when he gets the chance to play this stuff.”

“C’mon, man, I have to take what I can get!” Austin retorted. “My games with you and the twins never actually last!”

“Because you’re the one who loses interest!”

“Details, schmetails.” Austin turned back to Kirstin. “What do you think? You in?”

“U-uh…” Kirstin glanced away and fidgeted uneasily. “…W-who… would be there…?”

“Me, Spike, Conrad, and you. For the playtesting, anyways. Oh man, having more than two players would be a big help, actually!”

“Don’t get carried away, now,” Spike insisted. “She still hasn’t said ‘yes’.”

Kirstin fidgeted uncomfortably again when Austin and Spike turned back to her. “…M-maybe…” she eventually replied.

“…Well, at least it’s not a ‘no’,” Austin said with a shrug. “I’ll let you know when we do the playtest run. You should show up, it’ll be fun!”

“I’ll… th-think about it…”

“Suppose we should probably leave you to your work, then,” Spike remarked. “Sorry for interruptin’.”

“I-it’s fine…” Kirstin quietly responded.

“Well, I guess we can go back to the dorms and work on the one-shot a bit… see ya, Kirstin,” Austin commented as he and Spike retreated from the door, closing it behind them.

Once again alone in the room, Kirstin’s gaze lingered for a moment on the now-closed door. Gaming with the recruits, huh… she mused, only to shake her head and return her attention to her laptop. M-maybe later. For now, you have work. Focus, focus…