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Another day, another trial. Would it be disturbing if Cassidy admitted she was almost used to them by now - as if they’ve become part of a perfectly normal routine? It probably would be… but that didn’t matter, anyway. There won’t be any more trials going forward. They’re going to find a way out of this place, and this… this ‘game’ is going to end…
Surely… Hopefully…
The redhead sighed, pacing aimlessly through the corridors of the supposed school she would’ve attended if she hadn’t been caught up in this disaster. She clenched her fists as her mind dwelled on thoughts she’d had a dozen times before; thoughts of escape, thoughts of stress, thoughts of regret… They trapped her mind in a cycle of worry, her anxiety spiraling tirelessly.
She took a second to ground herself. A few deep breaths later, and she was just a little closer to calming down… a little.
They’ll find a way out. They have to.
The gamer inhaled shakily, hands worrying at her arms in a pathetic attempt at self-soothing.
Determined to do something other than just walking around and letting her thoughts run wild, Cassidy turned on her heel and marched past the dorms as if they weren’t even there, eyes focused on the door leading to the courtyard, and nails digging into her palms. She couldn’t sleep now. She needed some fresh air.
She pushed it open and slammed it shut behind her as quickly as she could, as if fearing something might follow her outside… or, rather, ‘outside’. She was still in the school, unfortunately, just in a colder room with a digital roof designed to trick her into thinking she’d left.
Well… at least it looked pretty…
The frantic pace she’d once had as she paraded around the halls was replaced by a slower, clearly tired trailing as she trudged along the dirt paths carved into the grass.
She raised her head, glancing up at the night sky. It could definitely be mistaken for the real thing… if she didn’t look at it for too long or think too hard about it. Still, it was the only part of this place that almost seemed normal.
As she looked around with a much-needed curiosity, her eyes traced the outlines of the odd architecture throughout the garden and the stars that bracketed it, eventually landing on a shape she didn’t remember seeing before.
It looked vaguely like a person, though she couldn’t make out who it was thanks to the darkness. They leaned in stillness against one of the pillars making up the structure at the center of the room, looking out at nothing, much like she had been.
Someone’s here! She actually had someone to talk to!
No one ever left the dorms at night, especially not following a trial. This was a rare opportunity… and the perfect way to keep herself distracted.
“Hey, mystery person in the shadows!” she called out, strutting along a dirt path towards her target. “Hope you don’t mind some company. I needed some fresh air after all the-”
Cassidy stopped in her tracks. As she eyed the figure, a feeling of dread began to build as she recognized the sight of fur on the hood of their coat.
She couldn’t help the displeased groan that followed, as well as the grimace quickly replacing her smile. “Oh, it’s you,” the gamer mumbled, clearly unhappy.
Wenona reclined idly against the marble column at her side, eyes cast down at her shoes, still not acknowledging Cassidy’s presence.
Cassidy continued despite receiving no response. “Didn’t expect to find you out here… especially after that stunt you pulled during the trial.”
Despite obviously not wanting to spend any amount of time with the entrepreneur, the redhead still approached her, maybe out of habit. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d refuse to back down from what was bound to be an argument, after all.
“I mean, seriously - it’s like you weren’t even trying to help us,” she rambled. “We’re all stuck here together, y’know? I get that all you billionaires care about is yourselves, but you can’t just make us do all the work forever! What’ll happen to your precious business and your ‘hard-earned’ fortune if you don’t-”
It was only when Cassidy took one more cursory glance at the other woman that she stopped her rant, caught off-guard by the sight in front of her.
Wenona… hadn’t reacted to her words. She just stood there, still staring at the ground, mouth fixed with that permanent frown she always had… though, now… the gamer almost thought it felt off.
She looked distant… distant and unhappy, she realized.
… That shouldn’t be surprising. When was Wenona ever happy?
…
Cassidy continued forward, shuffling awkwardly to stand to the woman’s side, back facing another pillar as she tried to hide her stare (not that it mattered - the entrepreneur wasn’t even watching her).
She tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket. It took her a moment to realize she hadn’t said anything since her rambling. “... You look tired,” she noted. It was meant to be an insult. The slight worry in her voice made it sound more akin to genuine concern.
Wenona heaved a sigh, brows furrowing. “We’re in a killing game. When’s the last time you slept?” The reply was distinctly irritable, of course, but it was missing the bite it normally contained… not that it didn’t sound rude.
The gamer opened her mouth as if to snap back some pointed remark or judgmental answer, but the perfect retort failed to reach her. The words died in her throat as she pressed her lips together, resigning herself to letting the billionaire have this one.
Her confused staring hadn’t stopped. She didn’t know what to think of the situation… nor did she know what to say now that she’d given up any chance of starting a fight.
It was like Wenona was pretending she wasn’t there… Actually, it was more like she didn’t care if she was. The first movement she made surprised the other girl; she solemnly raised her head, gazing up at the fake sky above them, expression still dull, even as she found something else to occupy her vision with.
“... Do you like the stars?” It was a stupid question, and it was missing the enthusiasm that would normally be present if she were speaking with anyone else at the moment. She asked anyway.
“No,” Wenona replied. “I thought I would, but… They’re too different. They don't match any placements of actual stars.”
“You say that like you’ve memorized them.”
“I have,” she retorted. “... Most of them, at least.”
Wenona… actually memorized where stars are supposed to be? That’s… ridiculous… and kinda cool… Cassidy raised a brow, curiosity piqued. “So… does that mean you know, like, constellations, too?”
The entrepreneur narrowed her eyes, a stiffness visible in her arms as they remained crossed. “... Of course…” she answered. “Though, you won’t be able to find any in this ‘sky’.”
“Aw, seriously?” Cassidy deflated, slumping against the column.
“Yes…” The reply was slow and distinctly uncomfortable. She finally turned her head to look at the other girl, a puzzled, almost bitter look in her eyes. “I’m surprised you even care. You don’t exactly seem like the type to like stargazing.”
The gamer frowned. “I don’t care,” she mumbled, turning away slightly, like she was prepared to end the conversation.
The entrepreneur scanned the girl, tension leaving her shoulders as the instinctual defensiveness started to fade, leaving only confusion for the woman to dwell on. She lowered her eyes back to the ground, unsure of what to do.
Several quiet seconds passed. Neither of them left. Wenona looked back towards the faux stars. She didn’t make a conscious choice to continue their discussion, but she found the words being spoken regardless. “... I thought otherwise at first. Some of the spots actually looked like Ursa Minor at a first glance… but it only took a moment for me to realize that ‘Polaris’ was too far from where it should be.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Cassidy take in the rambling. The annoyed look she wore had shifted, frustration still present, but dulling as she thought about the information. “... ‘Ursa Minor’...?” the redhead asked eventually, parroting the other woman’s words.
Wenona raised a brow, sparing at glance at the girl beside her. “The Little Dipper?”
“Oh…” She paused, lost in thought, before she remembered the constellation. “Oh! I know that one,” the gamer replied. “It’s… uh…”
The entrepreneur rolled her eyes. She raised a hand, pointing to a certain pattern of stars amidst the field. “Right there.”
“Oh… Ohhh! I see it!”
“Like I said, it’s not the real thing. It’s hardly even a copy.”
Cassidy looked back to Wenona as she stared up at the pattern in the sky with malice. Thoughtfully, she shrugged, relaxing back into the column behind her. “Well… at least it’s still fun to find it. That’s the point of constellations, after all; to find fun pictures with stars.”
“The point of constellations is to create a means for easier navigation when traveling or recalling spiritual history.”
“And to find fun pictures,” the redhead corrected. She gestured to the Little Dipper. “You found that one, so now it’s my turn.” Cassidy took a few steps out onto one of the many dirt paths leading away from the structure. She looked up, spinning around as she scanned the sky.
Wenona frowned. “You’re not going to find anything else. I already looked.”
“Didn’t look hard enough, apparently,” the gamer replied, “because I just found one!”
“What?”
“Right there!” She pointed enthusiastically, directing her gaze to a place out of the other girl’s sight.
The entrepreneur had to know what she was talking about. The idea that Cassidy could’ve seen something she hadn’t was too unbelievable. It demanded her attention. Wenona hurried to stand beside the redhead, eyes flitting over every group of stars she could see as she followed her gesture, trying to make a connection to something familiar. But the more she searched, the less she understood what she could be talking about. There was nothing there. Meaningless patterns dotted her vision, none resembling anything she had ever observed before.
“What are you talking about?” she finally asked, frustrated.
“You don’t see it? It’s a spider!” the gamer replied. “Look; that’s its head, that’s its body, and those three stars on each side are its legs!”
Wenona glared at her. “That’s not a real constellation… and spiders have eight legs, not six.”
“It is now, ‘cause I just made it!” Cassidy remarked, completely ignoring the second half of the other woman’s sentence. “What do you think - should I name it after me, or should I give it its own name?”
The entrepreneur groaned, rubbing her temples idly.
“No need to be jealous, you can name one after yourself, too! You just gotta make your own, first.”
“I don’t-”
“Come on, it’s not hard! You gotta at least try! Haven’t you ever thought about how cool it would be to make your own constellations?”
“...”
… Was that a ‘no’, then?
With the way Wenona had gone back to glaring down at the floor, Cassidy almost thought she’d struck a nerve. “... Well, if you haven’t, you can always start now,” she encouraged. She didn’t get a response, of course. The gamer glanced back up at the sky, putting her hands back in her pockets. It didn’t take her long to find her next subject of conversation. “Hey, look,” she said, nudging the entrepreneur with her elbow, “those ones look like that paw print on your belt.”
She didn’t raise her head right away, but a delayed reaction was better than none at all, and seeing the woman follow her gaze again after a few hesitant moments made her happy she’d pointed it out.
Cassidy knew how to read the odd stare from the other girl this time. “The three over there make a triangle shape, and those five above it are the little finger pad things.”
Wenona continued to observe the pattern. Another few seconds of silence passed before she was the one to break it. “They’re a little skewed,” she murmured.
“But close enough, right?”
The entrepreneur sighed, looking between other groups of stars.
Victory! “Well, then, looks like that’s two constellations for me and zero for you. Better step up your game, Wenona. You’re fallin’ behind.”
The other woman rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t aware there was a competition. Besides, your first one shouldn’t count. It doesn’t even look like a spider.”
“You think you can find one that’s better?”
“Yes. I just did.” She pointed up to a side of the dome Cassidy had yet to explore. “This one actually has eight legs.”
The gamer narrowed her eyes as she looked over her shoulder. It did look much more like a spider; not that she’d so readily admit defeat. She shrugged, as if nonchalant. “Not bad for your first try.”
“You mean ‘better than your first try’-”
“But I won’t let you take this chance to get ahead of me! Prepare yourself - you’ve challenged a master at her craft.”
Wenona seriously doubted she’d ever stargazed before now.
“Watch and learn.” Cassidy flipped her short hair over her shoulders and toyed with her sleeves, stepping around the building in the center of the courtyard, eyes fixed on the sky. The entrepreneur was almost surprised she didn’t run into anything as she wandered around aimlessly. She could almost pinpoint the second she noticed a new constellation, as if a lightbulb went off above her head. “Found one!” Wenona followed instinctively. “It’s Ulysses’ feather pen, see?”
“Hardly,” she answered.
“I gotta show him later - I bet he’d think it’s pretty cool.”
“If he even stays awake long enough to notice it.”
Cassidy crossed her arms. “That’s three to zero.” Wenona glared at her. “Fine, fine… two and half to zero. You’re welcome to start catching up anytime.”
“Hm,” the woman huffed, pacing throughout the garden. “Here,” she called. “This one is Jett’s helmet.”
“Oh, yeah!” Cassidy agreed. “And the two stars in the middle are where the edge of his visor is! Good eye, Wenona.” She patted the other girl on the back as the entrepreneur accepted the well-deserved acclaim. “Well, then. Now, it’s my-”
“And the three to its left are Kai’s emblem,” she interrupted.
The gamer looked back up. “Huh. I guess you’re-”
“Actually, now that I think about it, there’s a handful scattered all across the dome that could make out the shape of Jett’s logo, as well.”
“H-Hang on! What happened to-”
“And those four over there look much like Grace’s visor, though that is a fairly simple shape to make.”
“Wenona!” Cassidy whined. “Slow down! This isn’t fair!”
It almost looked like the entrepreneur was smiling. “Oh? What happened to me being ‘welcome to start catching up’?”
“You’re caught up, now! Let me have a turn!”
“Sounds like someone’s being a sore loser.”
“Sounds like someone’s afraid I’m gonna retake the lead!”
Wenona rolled her eyes. “Oh, wow, you’ve found me out. Truthfully, I’m terrified.”
It was hard for the redhead to even feign an attitude. Seeing the other girl actually engage in a normal conversation - and a playful one, at that…
Cassidy smiled confidently. “As you should be! This isn’t just a competition, you know; it’s a game! That’s my territory,” she declared, pressing a hand to her chest. “In fact, I bet if I had a controller and a screen to do this with, I would’ve totally swept you by now. You should feel lucky to have the advantage.”
It looked like the other woman was stifling a laugh at the beginning of the rant, though, by the end of it, her energy had died down somewhat. Her focus left the gamer for a moment, eyes cast back to the stars. She didn’t seem unhappy - she still wore that odd half-smile she’d developed - but she did seem lost in thought.
“... Already got another one in mind?” She asked, tentatively. She had a feeling whatever had her attention was something a bit different, though.
“I…” Wenona glanced back down to the floor, hints of earlier amusement still glittering in her eyes, as dull as they were now. “... I remember how I used to play games like this when I was a kid,” she explained, picking at the fur on her sleeve with one hand while her arms remained crossed.
The quiet words urged the redhead to step closer. “... You did?” she asked, unsure of what else to say.
“Yeah. I’d try to find as many as I could as fast as I could.” Her smile grew, slightly. “I used to make up names for them and pretend everyone else could recognize them too… like they were just as important as actual constellations.”
“They could’ve been. You should’ve called a bunch of astronomers and told them about your findings,” the gamer joked.
Wenona chuckled. “I’m sure they’d love that.” Her smile faltered. “... It feels weird doing this now… with a sky that’s not even real.”
The gamer glanced back up. That’s right… She almost forgot they were just looking at a screen.
Cassidy ruffled her bangs. “Well…” She eyed the white spots over her head. Eventually, she sighed in reluctant agreement. “Yeah. It’s pretty weird not being able to see actual stars…”
Wenona hummed, voice distant.
“But, y’know… as long as you enjoy it… stargazing here can be okay… for now, at least,” the redhead tried.
The seconds that passed before she received a response didn’t do any favors for her anxiety… but, soon enough, the other woman raised her head, and the gamer’s heart skipped a beat. “Huh?”
“I-It’s like…” Cassidy struggled, “they’re not real, but… at least they’re here! And, since they are, you can find as many constellations as you want, if you want to…” The gamer’s thoughts were scrambling as she desperately tried to piece them together. “Then, when you get out of here, you can go back to doing this with real stars. Just think of this like a minigame!” she suggested, looking far too proud of the connection she’d made. “Playing it’s not part of the main quest, but… it’s not so bad as long as you’re having fun, right?”
Suddenly - as if instinctually - the redhead reached out and gently took one of Wenona’s hands in her own. It lacked any of the aggressive, excitable energy she’d become accustomed to. It was a quiet, comfortable offering; a suggestion.
The entrepreneur paused, staring back at the other girl. She could see the glimmer of white spots reflected in her eyes, the screen overhead dotting them in familiar patterns. It was almost blinding.
She took a breath… and restrained herself from grinning wildly.
“... A minigame?” the woman chuckled.
“Wh- Yeah!” The entrepreneur’s smile was wide and she couldn’t help it. “H-Hey! If you played video games too, you’d get what I mean! I thought that comparison was perfect!”
“It’s something,” Wenona mumbled, though the humor in her tone betrayed her.
“A-Anyway, we still have constellations to find!” The redhead was eager to change the subject. “And it’s your turn. Better hurry and get your head start while you can; you’re gonna be sad you didn’t take it sooner when I claim my victory!”
The other girl raised a brow. “My turn?”
“Yeah! I figured it wouldn’t be fair for me to just come back swinging right away and sweep you so easily so you get one extra turn. No need to thank me.” Cassidy shrugged nonchalantly before seemingly remembering something, bravado stuttering briefly as she walked back her enthusiasm. “That’s if you still want to play, of course…”
Wenona would’ve rolled her eyes if it wasn’t so clear the gamer was being so genuine. Instead, without much thought, she simply clutched her hand softly, smile refusing to fade. “What’s my other option? Forfeit and let you win by default? As if I’d allow that.”
The redhead grinned. “Fine, fine. You’ve sealed your fate. We’ll see how confident you are when we get out of here, though. By then, I bet I’ll be a hundred times better at this than you! And then I’ll be able to show off my skills with real stars!”
“You wish.” The entrepreneur returned her gaze to the screen, analyzing its contents as Cassidy waited patiently. In truth, she already had more than a few ideas for her next constellations… though maybe she’d take her time and give the other girl a chance to catch up, just this once.