Page 65 of Played By Design

I twist in my chair and check the wall behind me.

Kain had cleared the space behind my chair yesterday and hung the digital frame. It fills the section of wall I exposed. In the photo, I’m off-center, dwarfed by the life-size Sentinel model in its glass case at Lantern Key Games.

A purple bunny emoji covers my face.

[17:26] PotatoAim: @BunnyGlitch WAIT IS THAT YOU WITH HIM

[17:26] PixelPanic: why does bunny have a bunny for a face

[17:26] Foxiefox: you thought he was gonna dox himself in a picture behind himself???

I turn back to the camera. My Grave Circuit character is dead, flattened by the elite I stopped paying attention to. “You guys want to talk about that?”

The chat explodes.

[17:27] NoScopeNoodle: TELL US EVERYTHING

[17:27] ButtonMasherX: how the fuck did you get into lantern key

[17:27] LootGoblin92: THAT’S ACTUALLY THE SENTINEL STATUE

[17:27] PixelPanic: I STILL DON’T KNOW WHO THAT IS

[17:27] LootGoblin92: SOMEONE BAN PIXEL

[17:27] NoScopeNoodle: HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN BACK THERE

[17:27] CtrlAltDefeat: forget the run I NEED ANSWERS

I pull my headphones down around my neck, and the bunny ears dangle against my chest.

“Julian Vey was at the Pulse Riot competition.” I rush through the explanation, barely pausing between sentences. “He runs Lantern Key Games. For the noobs in chat, Dusk Protocol was their first game. Julian co-developed it.”

[17:28] LootGoblin92: Only NOOBS need a history lesson

[17:28] ButtonMasherX: *cough* @PixelPanic *cough*

[17:28] PixelPanic: YOUR ALL ASSHOLES

[17:28] NoScopeNoodle: YOU’RE

[17:28] Foxiefox: you’re

[17:28] PixelPanic: *YOU’RE ALL ASSHOLES

[17:28] NoScopeNoodle: GOOD JOB

[17:28] Foxiefox: high five

I ignore all the chatter. “Julian saw me play, and I got invited to tour the studio. Yes, that’s the actual Sentinel statue. Yes, it’s life-size. Yes, I am that short.”

My free hand sweeps through the air as I talk. “The studio is purple, and the developers are all amazing. They have original concept art everywhere, and I got to see development material from when they were building the game.”

Chat floods faster than I can read it.

[17:29] PixelPanic: did you meet any voice actors

[17:29] LootGoblin92: ask about chapter nine