All around her, the city was in ruins. Fire crackled noisily from crumbling skyscrapers, and in the midst of the inferno, a titanic figure loomed, partially covered in charred armour, with what was visible of its body beneath a mess of raw stone and harsh black fur. All its attention was focused on Olivia, who faced it with a sword nearly as long as she was tall. Shining orbs hovered around the giant figure’s head, and one by one they shot towards Olivia, so fast they were barely visible as streaks of light. Before the first one shot, she was already running. One, two, three, four… two dozen in all. Each one slamming into the ground just a moment behind the Olivia. The ground shook with each impact, but Olivia’s strides felt light as a feather. After the first wave of lights had all shot Olivia turned towards the giant, her sword splitting open and a torrent of fire spouting out. Flipping to another spell, a rain of ice slammed into the giant a moment later, and by then the lights around its head had reappeared, and Olivia was off running again. She was beginning to get a feel for the rhythm, and as the final orb shot towards her, she followed the rhythm and jumped up, feeling a blink of satisfaction as the final orb sent a river of fire racing along the ground from its point of impact. The residual heat hurt a bit, but nowhere near as much as it would have if the fire had hit her directly. Firing off several more spells from her sword, the next wave from the giant had double the amount of orbs as the first one, and Olivia felt herself closing in on victory. Perfectly shifting from dodging to firing offensive spells without losing a split second of time, finally the giant was brought to its knees, defeated.

  As the cut scene began to play, Olivia leaned back from her computer, taking a deep breath in and out before trusting herself to speak. “Wow! Just wow! That was incredible! Guys, I’m… I’m shaking, I’m actually shaking from that! That was really good wasn’t it? What a boss fight!”

  For the first time since the boos fight had started, she looked over at her chat on her second monitor – it was streaming by almost as fast as the giant’s attack had been. Amidst the clapping hand and fire emojis, she also caught some more articulate messages as well, mostly along the lines of:

  “Let’s gooooooooooooooooooo!!!!”

  “Hype!”

  “Kiara gaming?”

  “Limi took nearly an hour on that boss, Kiara got it first try? Woww!”

  “Cracked”

  “Actually crazy”

  “Serious sweaty gaming!”

  Olivia leaned back, noting with some satisfaction her virtual avatar looked as excited as she felt. She was still smiling wildly, and as she finally started to come down from the adrenaline rush, she noticed that she did feel a bit damp. “Haha, yeah, you’re not kidding about the sweaty gamer thing. I thought that was just a stereotype, but I am actually drenched right now. It actually kind of sucks, I’m starting to get cold.”

  Ignoring the panting and blushing emojis that inevitably followed whenever she mentioned sweat or really any basic body function, she looked over at the time. She’d only been live for an hour and a half, but that was probably still good enough for now. “I think I’m going to call it there for tonight. Might as well end on a high note, right? And I need some warm tea and dry clothes. As always everyone, keep a light of hope in your hearts, and I’ll see you next time!”

  After the ending scene looped for a minute, Olivia found herself in a familiar position, leaning back in her chair alone in a dark room staring at a blank monitor. Her brightly coloured virtual avatar had left the screen, and all that reflected back from the monitor was her own face – in contrast to her avatar her own reflection may as well have been in black and white. Even after so many years of streaming, it still took her a moment to reorient to reality. As her adrenaline from the game faded, the moment passed. She was hungry.

  An apple stared at her accusingly from her kitchen. She winked her eye, but like every night since the devil had appeared in central district, she couldn’t see the sharp-toothed shadow that had become familiar far too easily. She’d never invited it in, never actually gave permission for it to stay, but now that it was no longer there, her apartment felt oddly lonely. She looked down to her phone – 17 notifications but no messages. It was hardly surprising, since with the release of Justice Detective season 6 just around the corner, Alice was getting a ton of last-minute work and hadn’t had as much time to spend with Olivia. The last time they’d met in the park, Alice had been so focused on her painting that neither of them had said much. Perhaps that was why she was suddenly missing Shark more than usual – after all, shadows didn’t have to worry about professional obligations, and Shark had always been a ready listener for whatever stream of consciousness came out of Olivia’s mouth in a given night. Olivia reflected that there was a deep well of nuance in the word ‘friend’. Also that she was hungry, and the lone apple would not be enough.

  Walking the familiar steps to the Square Mart, she came across Friend in the middle of stocking a shelf with deodorants, soaps, and household cleaners. He glared at her briefly, his eyes cycling through several colours, before he set aside his box and welcomed Olivia in with a smile. “Good evening, Olivia. Always a pleasure to see you.”

  Olivia had finished her stream a little earlier than usual, so she was visiting a little earlier than usual, but she had no reason to play along with whatever game Friend had made of his shelf-stocking timing. She wandered over to the sandwich section, decided against them, and moved on to the salads.

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  “Say Olivia. Has it ever occoured to you that the only reason you like chickpea salad is because it sounds like chicken?”

  Ah, there it was. Olivia might have been more insulted if Friend had actually been serious, but she could tell he was just sulking about his interrupted stocking. “I just like the taste, actually.”

  As she debated if today was a salad night or if she would continue on to the enticing bright colours of the fried chicken display, the sudden sound of the door opening caused her to jump. She almost never ran into other customers at this time of night, but as she stole a glance towards the entrance, she was surprised to find she recognized her fellow night-owl. It was the robot-boinking businessman – what had his name been again?

  He noticed her a moment later, and greeted her in his almost insultingly polished and mild way “A good night to you. It was…

  ….

  …blast. Wait, it was Olivia, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right. Um, sorry, but what was your name again?” It was a little embarrassing Olivia couldn’t remember much about the man past his moustache and that he seemed to get excited by the prospect of spending a night with what looked to be a personal office android. Still, she was fairly confident he’d never actually told her his name.

  He paused for a moment, as though considering whether he had neglected to introduce himself or if she was merely forgetful. “It’s William. William Stocks at work, just William everywhere else.”

  They briefly returned to their own browsing, before William rather abruptly turned back to her. “I apologize if this is inconsiderate, but what is it you do for a living?”

  The question caught her off-guard. “I’m, uh, maybe a net… celebrity? I mean, I livestream games and chat online about… stuff.” How did one explain virtual avatars and magical girls to someone whose taste in entertainment was no doubt as dry as his taste in suits?

  William looked understandably confused. “I wasn’t aware the corporation still paid enough for adverts to make live streaming a career option.”

  “They don’t, it’s mostly donations and memberships and merch and stuff. It’s nothing sexual, so don’t get any weird ideas.” There were far too many people who assumed that the only people who made a living off livestreaming must doing something salacious.

  “I see. I apologize, but you didn’t strike me as being involved in any kind of corporate work. It was just a little mystery.”

  Olivia wasn’t sure if she should feel insulted about that. “Okay then. If we’re talking about little mysteries, why are you here right now? I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen you in here before.”

  His reply was disappointingly boring. “I was working especially late, and away from the office, so Four wasn’t able to prepare a dinner.”

  “Four’s your android assistant right? And your security friend was Davis? I think I’m starting to get a collection of his business cards.”

  “Yes, both correct. Although I wouldn’t call Davis a friend.”

  “Enemy, then? Enemies to lovers?” William’s immediate look of bewilderment with a light seasoning of disgust had Olivia immediately regretting her words. William wasn’t a game character, and this wasn’t online. “Sorry, you just seemed close. I mean, he grabbed your shoulder last time, that’s practically a brofist.”

  “He’s a good colleague, no doubt, but friends are people you spend time with outside of work, so I can’t really consider him one.”

  “That seems like a kinda stingy definition for the word ‘friend’.”

  “I think it’s just honest.” William turned back to the shelves.

  Olivia nearly did the same, before it struck her that this meeting could be unexpectedly lucky. “Hey, um, does Davis know a lot about Atlanteans?”

  “Not especially, I would imagine. Likely not any more than I do, and I only get the basics through corporate training reviews. … Wait, you had an Atlantean with you the first time we met, why was the hunting sprite even able to get near you?”

  Another ‘little mystery’ for William, but for Olivia the question was more painful than she expected. “I don’t know. Maybe she got bored of me. That’s why I wanted to learn more about Atlanteans. I want to try to find her again – if we have to say goodbye, I want to at least do it properly.”

  “Hmm. I’m hardly an expert, but my impression was Atlanteans weren’t that fickle. I’m sorry I can’t be more use, but I’d suggest you consult with someone in the university for more information. I don’t keep up with the universities’ brightest, but I have heard Professor Alfred Niirisu quite esteemed in the field of non-human consciousness types. I have a meeting with him myself later this week.”

  “Alfred Niirisu,” Olivia repeated, then pulled up her phone to make sure she didn’t forget. Alfred was no problem, but his last name was decidedly less common. Her best guess was ‘Nearisoo’, which was hopelessly wrong, but the ‘Professor Alfred’ in front of it was apparently enough for the search to figure out who she was looking for. She showed her phone to William, “This guy?”

  “Yes, he’s the one. Professors often have open lectures a few times a month, that may be your best chance to ask him questions.”

  “Bookmark… save… Great, thank you!” Olivia felt her mood improve. It was wonderful to have something she could do, rather than just an empty room with nothing but questions. William, on the other hand, looked to be wilting a bit – she supposed it was quite late for anyone with a normal sleep schedule. She thanked him a final time before leaving the store with a chickpea salad and a candy bar for dessert. Stepping outside, her steps feeling just a bit lighter than they had earlier this night, she found her gaze drawn back to the unnervingly narrow building beside the Square Mart. It still felt odd to imagine someone living there – although a narrow building might be a fine fit for someone with narrow interests? William may have been as dry as her houseplant (when was the last time she watered it, again?), but he was at least polite, and this time he’d actually been helpful. Professor Alfred Niirisu… hopefully he had some answers for her – either to find Shark, or at least say goodbye. And the more she contemplated saying goodbye, the more she realized just how bitter the word tasted. It was a taste she resolved she wanted nothing to do with. Not with Alice, and not with Shark, either.