Warning!
May cause time slips, specifically after midnight, when the only really acceptable course of action is to crawl into bed and wait until morning to respawn. May cause immersive dreams of animated violence (daytime hallucinations also included: check your corners!). May cause parasocial relationships, but that streamer said your gamer tag and your secret math class crush has never said your name. May cause you to speedrun weekends (right click to skip the cutscene!) in front of a screen that rots your brain until it’s slicking down your chin (why is it so chunky?) and the only thing that cautifies is queueing another round (gfuel and hot pockets not included). Carpel tunnel: optional, but shoulder pain from standing to lock in is permanent. May cause your attention span to widdle away until the 15 minute bus ride to school must be consumed not only by blasting hyperpop but also by a book, and a text conversation, and a reddit post, maybe even a split screen so subway surfers can run under the swimming words while you bump past two people sitting on a roof with cheap red clay crumbling onto their pinky fingers as their hands collide and with chins that hang so wide, as gaping as if the GPU crashed (the graphics are uncanny! wait for the shaders!). But they’re just NPCs, and you’re no bot, no, you’re a rizzler in training. GG go next, you bleat. Nt, next time.
Caroline Cunningham is currently a student at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill studying Computer Science. Raised with an undeterred focus on physics and math, they developed a deep fascination with the mechanics of reality. They found a greater passion for bending those rules through fiction, blending science with the wonder of storytelling. Outside of writing pursuits, they cultivate interactive worlds through Dungeons & Dragons, creating custom resin dice for their games.