Page 130 of Glitched Play

"Two?"

"No."

"Hmm." He pretends to think about it while taking a sip of coffee. "Then something else must've happened."

I smile despite myself.

"Maci had an idea." Okay that’s not the only reason I’m smiling. I’m self-aware enough to know that.

"The new creative strategist?"

I nod.

I tell him about the arcade. About the documentary series she wants to produce on the history of gaming and how she wants people to understand the stories behind the games instead of just the technology. By the time I finish explaining it, Dad is smiling almost as much as I am.

"I love it."

"So do I."

"You should make it."

"I intend to."

He studies me quietly over the rim of his coffee mug. "Are you going to be in it?"

The question hangs between us. I hadn't really considered it yesterday.

Today...

I've thought about little else. "I don't know."

"You built Synatrix from your bedroom until two years ago."

"I know."

"You lived it."

"I know."

"They'll want your story."

My story.

Most people think Synatrix started with code.

It didn't.

It started with a broken headset balanced on a stack of books... and a girl who refused to believe losing meant failure.

If I tell my story...

I tell part of Rune’s too.

Not her name or where she lived or who she became. I don’t know any of that and a part of me sinks. I spent ten years talking to her and now, nothing.

Rune would become part of my history instead of remaining tucked safely inside a decade's worth of letters.

For years, being Glitch belonged only to me.