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"Mom, Dad, I want to officially introduce Madeline Oh, my best friend,” I said.”
"Aww, I am?" Maddy cooed, completely forgetting that we had company.
I rolled my eyes, laughing when my mother embraced her. From the outside, no one would guess that our family had been estranged for almost four years. We'd weathered storms and climbed mountains to get to where we were now.
And now they'd come to support me in their own rambunctious way, letting everyone know with their presence that I was a Wiley, and they would always have my back.
Then the show started. The lights went off, and curtains were drawn. Every eye turned to the screen at the other end of the hall. The livestream was supposed to take place at 7 p.m. sharp. I quickly swept the hall for Aaron before I turned to the screen.
I hoped he was okay.
Jeff stood at one side of the large screen with a controller in his hand. The game was originally supposed to support two players, but Aaron had programmed the computer to be the second player just for the opening.
A short trailer of the game played first, followed by a quick dive into OceansPlay's existing games.
Then the game began. The crowd was wowed by the avatar selection process, courtesy of yours truly. Jeff had loved my mixed-animals suggestion and could not wait for it to be implemented. I was pleased it was agreeable with the guests.
The theme of the game was survival of the fittest: kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. All the animals used were wild animals that could stand their ground in an epic showdown.
The game was set in a vast, realistic jungle environment with dense foliage, towering trees, winding rivers, and hidden caves. The environment was filled with dynamic elements, such as changing weather patterns, day-night cycles, and seasonal variations, to add unpredictability to the game.
All these were explained to the guests, of course. They took in every world as well as every swerve of Jeff's avatar as it came across other predators in the wild.
"Wow," my dad whispered next to me. "You designed this?"
It was my most significant work so far, and my heart swelled at the wonder in his voice. "Yeah."
"You're a fucking genius," he breathed. "Are you sure you don't want to work for me?"
I chuckled. "You promised not to bring that up again."
He held up his hands in mock remorse, whistling low. "I know. I can't help it. My daughter is a brilliant video game designer. Why wouldn’t I want her to work for me?"
At least now, he wasn't saying it because he thought I couldn't handle myself in the outside world. Maybe I'd have considered it if I didn't love working at OceansPlay so much.
"Yeah, Fliss. I'm going to spend the rest of my night streaming this. My fans are going to love this," Derick chipped in. "And I'm going to fucking let everyone know my sister was the designer."
My cheeks were this close to becoming charred. Derick was one of the world's most popular game influencers, and his streaming of the game would send it off the charts.
"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. All of this is because of you," Dad whispered to me again.
Turned out, at heart, I was a daddy's girl. "Thank you, Dad, but I wasn't the only person on the team."
He made a show of looking around. "Speaking of which, where is your friend? I was hoping to have a word with him."
I was hoping he wouldn't notice.
"I don't think he's coming,” I admitted.
"Why not?"
"Because…I might have pushed him too hard, and now his closest friend says he's considering quitting."
"Well, damn." Dad tsked. Then he angled his head toward me. "What are you doing here then? Haven't you made up your mind yet?"
I shook my head. "If I make a hasty decision, it could blow up in my face."
"Then I guess you'll just have to get used to not having him around. For the rest of your life."
