The rest of the loop passed by in a blur of reflection, sore muscles, and activity. Now that Kaitlyn had a better lead on what had gone wrong last time, she had to adjust her approach to compensate. It wasn't an easy task, though. Without more information, the best she could do was make a rough draft and keep an open mindset going forward.

Still, she had a suspicion that Ian's game would be important. For that reason, she kept learning D-Flat and educating herself on basic game design practices, just in case. It never hurt to have more tools on hand. But if things really didn't seem like they were working out, she made herself swear that she wouldn't force the issue or double down on that path. She couldn't just assume that she was in the right this time.

Other than that, she spent a lot of time decompressing with her other hobbies and routine activities. Music practice was going quite well, to the point where she was starting to feel a bit proud of her skills. The songs she played were generally recognizable, and her range had increased by a lot.

If someone asks me if I play an instrument, I might even say yes. That's how much better I've gotten.

That wasn't to say she was perfect. Although she wasn't aiming to be a professional musician, each bit of improvement just showed her how much farther she could still climb. Still, it was fun and rewarding, so she kept at it.

Before she knew it, Kaitlyn once again found herself at the end of a loop. She tapped away at the laptop on her desk, making use of her remaining time to get in a bit more work. A few more hours might allow her to finish up the barebones game she'd been working on for a couple of weeks now.

Well, calling it a "game" might be a stretch.

Running it again, Kaitlyn watched the simple white rectangle shape appear on the screen. A moment later, a series of differently-sized red rectangles began to slide toward it, each with plenty of space between them.

She tapped idly on the spacebar, watching the white rectangle bob up and over the red ones with each press of the key. After a few minutes of things running well, she intentionally ran into one, the collision causing the game to freeze.

Ok. So, it does detect the collision now, looks like. Now to add a game over screen and make it faster over time…

Tabbing back into the program itself, Kaitlyn began adding more lines of colorful code to her little project. It was nothing compared to Ian's full-fledged project, of course, but it made her a little proud that it even worked this well. Programming for game design felt so much different than any of the other assignments or projects she'd ever done. While the sheer number of bewildering bugs made it clear that she wasn't a natural, it wasn't so foreign as to be incomprehensible, either.

A yawn forced its way out of her mouth, prompting her to check the time. It was getting pretty late. As much as she wanted to keep working, she could feel herself slowing down a bit.

Tomorrow's the big day. I'd better get some rest.

Admittedly, she didn't really need the rest. The reset would grant her the benefits of a full night's sleep even if she pushed herself to the absolute limits. But that didn't keep her from being tired right now.

Shutting her laptop with a soft click, Kaitlyn rose from her desk. The nearer it got, the more the prospect of the next loop filled her with nervous energy. She could feel herself fidgeting even as she got ready to sleep.

Part of her knew that it didn't make sense. She had theoretically infinite time to get this right. So why was she stressing so much about it now?

Maybe I just don't want to be that wrong again, she reasoned. Getting bad endings doesn't exactly feel great. Realizing that I'm the direct cause feels even worse. I just… I just want to do it right this time.

Laying down in bed, she ran through her plan again and again. It was a loose plan, one with plenty of room to adjust based on how things went. But she didn't want to go in and improvise everything.

I'll talk to him at breakfast that first day. I'll also go to Intro to Programming with him again, since that was pretty useful. Bash Bros is also a no brainer. Past that… I guess I'll just have to pay attention and see what he does.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Nestling under her covers, Kaitlyn closed her eyes and ran through things a few more times. Eventually, her thoughts began to slow and she drifted off to sleep.

***

Cycle 33 Complete!

Ending: Under the Radar

Total Endings Unlocked: 10

Achievement Earned: Winner Winner

***

Sunlight peeked through from behind Kaitlyn’s closed eyelids. Coming to consciousness once again, she allowed herself a moment to orient herself and prepare. Then, with a final deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes and sat up.

Alright. It's time to go.

Immediately, she got up and started getting ready. The usual start-of-loop gifts were retrieved from her doorstep and unpacked with practiced efficiency. Her laptop was open and downloading all the relevant software packages she'd need in the background as she got dressed. In minutes, Kaitlyn was in the bathroom brushing her teeth as she ordered cooking equipment and her keyboard with her free hand.

Just because it's an Ian loop doesn't mean I'm giving up on everything else. I want to keep making progress. Besides, it's easier to drop this stuff later than it is to start it up from scratch.

After ordering everything on her phone, Kaitlyn popped open her Notes app to make a new shopping list. Judging by her dessert successes, it might make sense to try starting with those this time, rather than her usual fare. It would be an interesting experiment to run at the very least.

But rather than the blank page she'd expected, the thing already had text in it.As her eyes skimmed the screen with confusion, she nearly choked on her toothbrush.

Melting choc (diff brand)

PB

Orange peels(?)

Nutmeg

Hoisin sauce

Cardamom (green)

…

What the—?!

Thumping on her chest, she coughed and struggled for a moment to get herself under control. Then, she continued staring blankly at the screen. Staring back at her was a grocery list and a few hastily-typed to-do's that she'd handled weeks ago. But the content wasn't her main concern. It was the fact that she'd typed this up last loop.

No way… Scrolling down a bit, Kaitlyn felt her jaw drop. This… this carries over?

She'd been using the Notes app as just that—a basic app for notes. There'd been no indication that it was anything more, much less that it could do something like this.

This is such a huge quality of life upgrade.

It wasn't a complete gamechanger. Her memory had gotten pretty good over time, and she already had a lot of knowledge accrued from years of reliving the same events over and over. Still, it took time and effort to memorize some things, not to mention her head only had so much room. This would be perfect for making sure she never lost track of the minute details again.

A grin slowly spread across her face. Part of her kicked herself for not saving something more useful, despite not having known. But that regret was drowned out at possibilities and ideas began to bloom in her head one after another.

I can totally take advantage of this. I just need to figure out how.

It would take a bit of time to figure out what the best use of this new tool was. For now, though, she had things to do.

Finishing up, she headed back to the room with a spring in her step. After getting a few more pre-loop preparations taken care of, she had a bit of time to sit and relax until Heather arrived. Helping the girl move in was always a great way to start off their friendship, though she wouldn't be able to go for brunch with her family. This time, she'd head to Cappy's for the first Ian encounter instead.

As she waited, a quick check of her Progress Report revealed the reason for her new achievement. Evidently, the game agreed that winning a tournament was pretty noteworthy. Given that, she wondered if getting first at Bara Bash might also earn her some reward.

Well, not a "reward," exactly. These achievements don't do anything. But they are nice to look at.

It was one of the reasons she didn't focus on the things. It was hard enough meeting the game's demands with the endings. Trying to aim for 100% completion, especially when she didn't know how many achievements existed, was completely off the table.

Still, I wonder what other stuff they cover… So far, they've been pretty closely tied to endings, if not directly. But are there ones for doing stuff off the beaten path, too?

She shrugged. Maybe she'd find out along the way. But for now, they were just another reminder of her progress.

A familiar knock came at the door. Rising from her chair, Kaitlyn stepped forward and reached for the knob.

Well, here we go. Round two. Let's hope this one goes better.

Squaring her shoulders, Kaitlyn opened the door.