The theme song started. This time it was an upbeat classical piece. The lyrics were sung in a high pitch, and danced along with the music. A perfect combination.

Nate came into view, slowly dancing with the music. His dance partner was a mop he was holding upside down.

Nate realized that people could see him, and he quickly hid the mop behind his back. He looked up at the reader and coughed into his fist.

“In today's episode, Csick makes an important announcement. In a surp…”

“What are you doing?” A voice boomed throughout the room, loud enough to make the picture shake. “You can’t give away the story before it even starts.”

“Why not? They’re going to find out in a few hundred words anyway, why not give them a sneak peek?”

There was silence, well aside from the theme song that was still playing in the background.

“Ok, but no major spoilers.”

“Let’s try this again,” Nate clapped his hands once. “In today's episode, I finally meet Alice and Alvin. I learn a secret about one of the housemates, and of course, the major announcement from Csick.

Nate looked around nervously, then whispered.

A peal of thunder obscured his words, and it started raining.

Nate held the head of the mop over his head and ran from view.

The theme song ended.

A book fell from the sky again. It opened up to a blank page. A quill started writing.

Rule 6 - Contestants must agree to the new rules before they will be allowed to compete.

Nate woke up to an unbearable pounding in his head.

No, it wasn’t his head. Somebody was banging on his door.

“Nate, wake up. The announcement starts in five minutes.”

“Pickle off” Nate mumbled, pulling his pillow around his ears to try and block out the sound.

“It’s mandatory, you can’t get kicked out on your first day. Come on Nate. Wake up.” The banging continued.

Something about the words got through to Nate. He pulled back the covers and rolled out of bed onto his feet.

“I’m coming,” He yelled out, and quickly got dressed.

“Thanks for waking me up,” Nate opened the door to find Jaz standing there. She had a cup of coffee and thrust it at Nate.

“Creamy caramel.”

“Thanks,” Nate took the cup and took a careful sip. It was hot but had cooled down enough that he could drink it instead of those awkward sips you have to take when it’s scalding. He hated those sips.

He took another deep sip. It was delicious, and Nate started to perk up immediately.

“Grab your laptop,” Nate disappeared into his room for a second then came out with it. Jaz led him to the table where the others were already seated.

Nate sat down and opened the computer. He opened the official Csick app, and joined the room. The screen was black, with a red timer counting down. There were less than two minutes left.

Nate took another long sip of coffee and looked around the table.

“Is this good news, or bad news?” He searched their faces for a clue, but all he saw was confusion.

“Nobody knows,” Dave was sitting cross-legged in his chair. “The entire ship is in a panic over this.”

“Everybody except you?” Nate had seen confusion, but not fear, or worry.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Luke took a sip from his mug. From the smell, Nate guessed that it was herbal tea. “No matter what, we can, and will, succeed. As a team.”

“Amen,” Stacy was holding a mug in both hands. Marshmallows overflowed from the top.

They all turned their attention to their computers as the timer hit zero.

A middle-aged man appeared on the screen. He had brown hair that was pulled forward to a point that extended a few inches past his forehead.

He had a handsome face that literally sparkled.

“Is he a vampire?” Nate gasped.

“Nah, he’s just good-looking.” Stacy sighed in admiration.

“That’s Clark, one of the founders,” Dave let out a sigh of his own.

Clark was dressed in a black tuxedo that gave off serious James Bond vibes. He was sitting at a desk, with a number of comically large stacks of index cards.

Clark smiled. His eyes were darting around, and there were slight lines around his smile. He was also drenched in sweat. It took a trained eye, but one could tell that Clark was nervous.

He grabbed the top card from the nearest stack and started reading.

“Hello, contestants, and once again congratulations on making it this far.”

“You may be aware that three new contestants arrived today. I am happy to announce that all three of their stories have surpassed one thousand views in just a few short hours. This is a groundbreaking record for even a single person, but to think that three of them occurred simultaneously is simply beyond words.”

“In honour of their grand accomplishment, I am awarding each of them 100 merit points.”

“Ten points for Gryffindor!” The group around Nate shouted in unison.

Nate waited for an explanation, but everyone else was still staring at their screens. They probably hadn’t even realized that they had shouted. He shrugged and looked back at his screen.

“I also feel confident that we can begin phase two of the contest. A new set of rules and requirements will go into effect at midnight tonight. I’ll go over the changes with you now, so there aren’t any excuses or misunderstandings. The new rules will be available to read on the app, and you will be required to agree to them on the app before the next contest.”

Nate opened a new tab in the browser so he could take notes.

He blinked.

The entire mountain of index cards was gone, and Clark held the remaining few in his hand.

“On to the final, and perhaps most important part of the agenda.”

“Soggy lobster biscuits! I can’t believe I fell asleep.” Nate smacked himself in the head so hard that the rest of the group looked up at him.

“Sorry, I fell asleep.”

“Please tell me it was only a minute or two,” Stacy looked concerned.

“No, I missed everything. I still don’t know anything.” Nate wanted to scream in frustration.

“Shut up you two.” Jaz was pointing at the screen.

“Only 75% will pass.” Clark put down the last card and looked at the camera. “Do your best, ok?” He signed off with a wink.

“What was that? Nate had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“A mandatory contest, tomorrow at noon.” Jaz’s tone was defeated. “In the exam room. And 25% of us won’t make it.

She looked around the room. Her gaze fell on the two empty seats, where Alvin and Alice would have been sitting. She blinked, holding back tears at the thought of losing two of her best friends.

“We’re going to beat those odds, aren’t we!” Nate stood up and punched the air above his head. “Together!”

“Together!” The rest of the group shouted back at him.

Jax smiled and caught Nate’s eyes. Thank you she mouthed at him.

Nate tilted his head and winked.

Just then the door burst open. Alice and Alvin got caught in the door frame, each one struggling to be the first one in.

With a loud POP, they both came flying into the room. Alice managed to land on her feet, in a crouch. Alvin wasn’t as lucky, but he curled into a summersault and then lept back to his feet in one fluid motion.

Alice stuck her tongue out at the back of his head.

“I saw that,” Alvin called over his shoulder as he approached the table.

Alice was about to respond when she saw Nate standing there. “You must be Nate!!” She started running and took a flying leap at Nate..

Nate took a step back and bumped into the table. He held his arms up in defence.

Alice landed on him, and immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him, hanging off him.

“Ooh, I like this one. He has a nice aura,” Alice nuzzled her face in his stomach. “We get to keep him, right?”

“Yes,” Luke chuckled and came over to help remove Alice. “He’s here to stay.”

Once they had Nate free, Alice started to hop slightly, or bob back and forth. She was always in motion.

If energy drinks came in human form, they would look like this. Nate thought to himself. He couldn’t help but grin, Alice’s enthusiasm was contagious.

“Congratulations on your story.” Alice had circled the room and was crouched down for another leap, but Luke kept up with her and stood between them. “Do you know what you’re using the merits for yet?”

“I don’t even know what merits are yet,” Nate said with a nervous chuckle.

Alice pulled out her phone and showed Nate how to find them on the app.

“Merits are used to buy things from the gift shop. Each person has their own, but each room also has its own pool. You can contribute as much as you want, but once you donate your merit points to the room you can’t get them back again.”

“Why does the room get a pool of points?” Nate was looking through the rewards. There were things like laptops, televisions, computer accessories like keyboards, and mice. The popular home voice system. But everything was for individual people.

Alice tapped a button on his screen, and the items switched. Now there were massive television sets, group activities like a day at a bowling alley, helicopter tours, and assorted upgrades for the common areas. The prices for these items were in the thousands, while the most expensive Nate saw from the other list had been 75 points.

“Yeah, the group stuff is pricey, that’s why we rely on donations from our members.” Alice held out her hand. “Care to make a donation?”

Nate laughed. “Not yet. I want to save up enough of them for my own word wars.”

“Hrumph,” Alice snorted and crossed her arms. “Fine, but once you win big, I’ll be expecting a cut.”

“Absolutely.” Nate checked his balance, to see if it had changed yet. He didn’t say anything, but he had been awarded an extra 50 merits for being the first one to hit 1,000 views, as well as the highest overall at the time of the broadcast.

He was on his way to having enough of them to battle.

Nate grabbed his mug and walked to the kitchen to make another coffee. That first one obviously hadn’t worked.

He saw the coffee tin on the counter and stared at it for a few minutes in absolute shock.

“Uh, Jaz? Is this the coffee you made me?”

Jaz looked up from her phone. “Yes, that’s the one.”

“It’s decaf,” Nate’s stomach spasmed, and he chocked back the reflex to gag.

“Are you ok?” Jaz looked concerned. Her eyes were soft, and her head was slightly tilted. “Caffeine isn’t good for you, so I only drink decaf. I know it doesn’t taste as good, but with the flavoured creamer, you can’t even tell the difference.”

“We keep the good stuff on the top shelf,” Luke said, much to Nate’s relief. “We get the beans from the cafeteria every few days. Don’t let us run out.”

Nate checked the cupboard, and quickly found a paper bag full of coffee beans, along with a grinder.

Minutes later Nate was basking in the smell of fresh coffee as the grounds soaked in a french press.

Once he had a fresh cup all ready to go he went back to the table and sat down.

Matt and Dave had begun to spar in the living room area. Alice was crouched nearby, watching them.

Alvin was sitting at the table, with a deck of tarot cards out, with three of them spread in a line in front of him.

The rest of them were sitting at the table, talking.

“Have you read the latest story by Matt’s girlfriend?” Stacy looked around the table.

“Who is his girlfriend?” Nate took a sip of coffee. It was too hot.

“He claims that he’s dating Madame Midnight.”

Nate spit out the small sip of coffee he had just taken. “Really? Even I know who that is.”

One of the most well-known names in romance. Her books always have a fantasy element to them. Nate had given in to his curiosity and read some of them. He had to admit they were really well written, and the fantasy elements were completely on point. The books deserved to be on a fantasy shelf if it wasn’t for the other half of the book which was pure, and sometimes explicit, romance.

“Oh, have you read any of her stories?” Stacy looked interested.

Nate was about to answer but held back. Should he tell the truth? He felt a wave of doubt crash over him. Guys his age weren’t supposed to read romance. He gulped and replied.

“Of course I have. I don’t care much for the romance genre, but her books are pure fantasy gold. And that’s right up my alley. I haven’t read her latest one yet though.”

“Oh, you have to read it.” Luke was all excited.

“So our resident romance expert approves of her work?” Nate stroked his chin, looking at Luke.

“Of course. I fully support the blending of genres, when it’s done well, and respectfully.”

Nate nodded. He felt the same way. “So what’s this new one about?”

“Oh, it’s a male werewolf who can’t control his wolf side. He’s looking for a cure for his condition. He meets a young female elven wizard who can’t control her magic. She’s looking for a new purpose in life. Very depressed over failing school and getting kicked out. As they pair up, they protect each other, she makes sure he doesn’t do anything stupid as a wolf, and he tries to help her find a new life goal. I don’t want to spoil anything though, so I won’t go into details.”

“That sounds like a great read.”

There was silence around the table again, until Nate broke it.

“So, is it true? That she’s dating Matt?”

Nothing was known about the person behind the name, so it would be easy to lie about something like that.

“I’ve looked at some of the messages,” Luke said. “They seem legit. He used the contact form from her site as well, so everything points to it being real. She’s even had him proofread chapters from upcoming books, which ended up being published. It could be a catfish situation, but that’s an awful lot of work to go through.”

“How old is she?” Nate had always pictured her as being older, at least middle-aged.

“Our age, apparently.” Luke smiled. “She says that’s one of the reasons she uses a pen name. Nobody would buy a sex book from a teenager.”

Nate remembered her series titled Blackout and shivered. There was some truth to that.

The sound of Matt and Dave’s fighting had been growing louder and louder.

“1,000 slaps!” Matt yelled, and his arms became a blur.

Dave’s body jerked every which way, each one was a solid hit. Matt’s arms eventually stopped moving. Stars appeared above Dave’s head.

“Look ma, the stars are out,” Dave pointed vaguely at them before falling over.

The words 10 XP appeared over Matt’s head.

“Why is it only 10 this time? You got 35 at the docks.” Nate joined Luke in hoisting Dave’s unconscious body onto the sofa.

“Oh, you noticed that? The stronger my attack, the less experience I earn.”

Nate nodded.

“Say, Nate, do you want to join me for dinner, and a small tour?” Luke turned to face him. “The rest of these folk will be eating here but I can take you to the cafeteria, and show you a few places that weren’t included on the official tour.”

Nate’s stomach rumbled in response.

“Can I take that as a yes?” Luke laughed.

Nate grabbed his phone and they left together.

They walked down one hallway after another. Luke pointed out rooms seemingly at random. Places Nate would never visit, but he wanted to be polite so said nothing.

After about ten minutes, things started to make sense. Nate stopped walking as the realization hit. There was a rhythm to the rooms and the hallways. A weird logic behind the placement of every room. He didn’t magically know where every room was now, he would still need a map. But he had an excellent idea of where a room wasn’t. And he figured that was half the battle when you didn’t know where you were.

Luke noticed that Nate had stopped, and turned back for him.

“You get it now?” Luke asked. “That’s impressive. I knew you were special. That’s why I wanted to get you alone.”

“What do you mean?” Nate slowly started backing away from him.

“Nothing like that,” Luke’s booming laugh echoed through the empty hallway. “I need to talk to you, but it can wait until after we eat. Come on, the cafeteria’s just up ahead.”

The cafeteria turned out to be a massive room. There were food stalls everywhere, and a line of buffet tables at one end of the room.

“The buffet stays the same, but the food stalls change up the menu every day. There are rumours that say they’re secretly part of a cooking contest.”

Nate’s mouth watered as hundreds of smells came after him at once. The scents hung like fog in the air, and every now and then one of the scents would become almost solid, and form a hand, with a finger beckoning Nate towards one delicacy after another. One of the hands picked Nate up by the collar.

“Let’s keep it simple tonight,” Luke noticed Nate hanging in the air, nose straight up, and a blissful smile plastered across his face.”

“Nate,” Luke pulled Nate back to the ground.

“Sorry,” Nate blinked and looked around. “What were you saying?”

“Pick something to eat here, and we will hunt it down. If we let you loose on the buffet in this state you’ll never pick anything.”

“Lasagna.” The answer was immediate. “And I’ve never had sushi, so maybe some of that.”

“We can do that,” Luke laughed. “You didn’t even need to think about it.”

“It’s my favourite food, but my sister is allergic to tomatoes, and my brother can’t have dairy. Dad has a pretty good eggplant lasagna, but it’s just not the same.”

“Lasagna is usually at the buffet, but one of these booths is Italian, it might be worth checking there first. Same with the sushi, we should be able to get it in a few different places.”

They found the Italian booth first, and it must have been Nate’s lucky day. They had a special lasagna-looking dish.

Luke stopped by the soup and stew booth and came back with a bowl of thick steaming stew.

They found the sushi booth and Luke took a couple of each of the different types, assuring Nate that he would be able to eat it all if Nate didn’t like it.

They found a table and sat down to eat.

Luke bowed his head before he started to eat. He let out a content sigh as he took his first bite.

“Stew is my comfort food. And those people certainly know how to make it.”

Nate took a bite of his own and felt the warmth and joy spread from his mouth to the rest of his body. He let out his breath as his body relaxed.

They took their time eating, enjoying each bite. Nate tried the sushi and fell in love at first bite..

They cleared their table and deposited their dishes on one of the many carts that were littered around the room.

“Come on,” Luke pulled Nate after him. “There’s something you have to see.”

They arrived on the deck of the ship. Luke pulled open a door, and they walked up a short staircase. Luke took out his phone and turned on the flashlight before opening the door at the top.

Nate quickly realized why. It was pitch black on the other side.

Luke lit a path for them, and they walked a short distance until a chain-link fence.

“This is the only spot on the ship that’s completely dark. Don’t worry about falling off though, it’s completely fenced in for that reason. It’s for stargazing.”

Nate managed to make out a telescope and chair in the corner before Luke’s light went off.

“Look up,” Luke whispered.

Nate obeyed and looked at the sky.

He had never seen so many stars in his life.

“Majestic,” The world slid from his lips without prompting.

“I thought you would enjoy it.”

“About what you said earlier, what is it you wanted to tell me?” Nate’s fingers curled around the links in the fence as he bathed in the beauty of the night.

“I’m Madame Midnight.”