Darkness surrounded Kaitlyn—a pure, impenetrable curtain of featureless black that stretched on in every direction. Its stifling presence seemed to press in on her with a physical weight.

What… what happened…?

Finding herself able to think, she tried to take a look around. It proved to be a pretty fruitless endeavor. There was nothing to see. She couldn't even make out her hand in front of her own face. Although…

…I can't feel myself, either. What the heck?

Attempts to touch her arms or move yielded no feedback whatsoever. It felt as though she were simply floating as a disembodied consciousness. That, or unable to move. It was impossible to tell. Either way, it was unnerving.

After realizing that she was essentially stuck, Kaitlyn took a moment to review what she knew. Based on her surroundings, it felt like she was in the middle of a reset. The theory made sense, given what she'd just seen. But this was clearly different than anything she'd experienced before. Something had gone wrong. If the strangeness of the reset itself hadn't been enough on its own, the borked cycle ending screen confirmed it.

Which means… I did it. I really did it. I managed to change something in the game itself!

Pride and excitement welled up within her. Finally, all of her efforts had paid off. It hadn't even taken that long, either. Only a few loops of dedicated research and practice, and she'd managed to mess with the game this badly? That was better than she'd ever hoped for.

But as she waited, her excitement slowly turned to uneasiness. There were no real indicators of time in the void, making it impossible to tell how long exactly she'd been here. Counting the passing seconds allowed her to keep track, but that only increased her worry. This was taking much longer than it should.

…Maybe that's a good thing? She reassured herself. I mean, if I DID break the game, maybe that means I'll get out of here. Maybe that's why it's taking so long…

…Or maybe I broke things so bad that I'm stuck here forever.

Kaitlyn sharply veered away from that thought with a shudder. Nope. NOPE. Not going there. I'm not going to think about what happens if I'm stuck in infinite limbo. I need a distraction.

After a moment, she decided to try experimenting further with her surroundings. Talking proved as useless as moving. Calling up the end of cycle screen similarly ended in failure. However, pulling up the Progress Report was a different story.

ERROR

Kaitlyn frowned at the sight. The text hanging in the void was legible, at least, even if the complete lack of information was still concerning. Not entirely unexpected, given the state that everything else seemed to be in, but still concerning. The evidence that something had definitely broken continued to pile up. Even more than that, it showed she was still inside of the game, at least for now.

…Maybe messing with the game itself wasn't the best idea.

As the time ticked by, her vague misgivings solidified into more tangible fears. They became harder and harder to escape when faced with the continued strangeness of the situation. It wasn't like she'd been completely oblivious to the risks. She'd known there was always a possibility of something going wrong if she succeeded with her ambitions. But maybe she'd failed to consider all the possible flavors of "wrong" she could end up with.

I just thought it would be worth it. Anything to give this damn game a kick in the teeth or escape… I mean, it definitely still COULD be worth it. I hope so. Since I'm already locked in and all.

Light flashed across her vision. White text flared before her eyes, practically blinding her with its sudden brightness. Kaitlyn reeled back in surprise for a moment.

What…

Fatal exception encountered

Attempting reboot…

Reboot failed

She blinked. Once she'd adjusted enough to actually read the text, she found her eyes widening.

Are these… logs? They have to be, right?

Eagerly, she continued to follow along as more lines blinked into existence.

Attempting logout…

Her breath caught. If… if that means what I think it means…

Hope surged through her. If she could have spoken, she would have screamed with excitement. Instead, she just held her breath and waited for what would happen next. A few agonizing seconds passed before more text sprang into existence.

Logout failed

Logout conditions not met (12/18)

And just like that, she crashed back down to earth.

Attempting reboot from previous save…

Reboot failed

Attempting game state reset…

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Reset failed

As the messages continued to scroll by, Kaitlyn found herself sinking deeper and deeper into a state of utter dread. She couldn't know for certain what a "game state reset" entailed, but she had some pretty strong suspicions.

Holy crap. Could it… could it seriously make me lose progress like that? Was I that close to actually losing endings, or—even worse—having to completely start over?

Her slight twinge of relief at dodging that particular bullet was short lived. She wasn't out of the woods yet. Again and again, the game attempted various other restarts and reboots, each one resulting in failure. It made Kaitlyn wonder what exactly would happen if the game couldn't get going again. Would it really just leave her here in limbo? Or was there some sort of logout override in place?

After a few more messages, the entire wall of text winked out of existence. A few short seconds later, it was replaced.

Automatic reboot failed

Contacting SysAdmin…

For once, Kaitlyn was glad that she seemed to be a disembodied consciousness. Otherwise, that line would have made her heart actually stop. The single line of text, so loaded with implications about this world and all of her assumptions about it, threatened to floor her on the spot. Before she could even begin to untangle what it meant, more text appeared.

SysAdmin contacted

SysAdmin is identifying the issue…

Issue identified: User error (code injection)

SysAdmin is patching the issue…

The messages came through so fast that it felt inhuman. Kaitlyn focused on keeping up, not wanting to miss a single word of the logs. Still, her heart sank as they continued.

This… this doesn't seem like a "you're free to go" kind of reaction.

Local state wiped

Conflict resolved

12 issues identified

12 issues resolved

Attempting reboot…

Reboot successful!

Resuming Heartthrob University…

The messages disappeared a moment later. In their place, a familiar sight filled her vision. Three red exclamation marks sprang into existence, looming tall against the impenetrable background of the void. They blinked slowly in the darkness as Kaitlyn continued to stare, dumbfounded.

No… no way. That can't be it. It can't be! I was so close! I—

Then, she lost consciousness.

***

Sunlight shined directly into Kaitlyn's open eyes. On reflex, she tried to close them or at least pull a blanket over her head, but it was no use. Her body refused to move.

Her breath caught. The sheer whiplash of going from the strange reset back into the world left her disoriented and confused. But despite that, she recognized the sensation instantly.

Calm down, Kaitlyn. Just… calm down. Slow breathing.

She forced herself to inhale and exhale steadily, her vision glued to the bottom of the bunk hanging above her. A quick once-over of herself confirmed her fears. She was paralyzed. The game was punishing her once again.

It wasn't entirely unexpected. This was exactly the kind of thing she'd feared when setting out on her quest for revenge. But knowing it was a possibility was one thing. Actually being back in this state was another.

It's ok. It's going to be ok. I just have to wait it out, that's all.

Despite knowing that, actually doing it was much harder than it sounded. Time had put a lot of distance between her and the unpleasant realities of being a prisoner in her own body. Now that she was actually here, she found it much more difficult to keep her cool as planned. But there wasn't much more she could do besides wait. That, and try to keep a lid on her panic.

Time passed by slowly. Her only real reference for how long she'd been here was the slow movement of the sunlight across her face. At some point, her eyes began to dry out from the lack of blinking. Kaitlyn lamented that she couldn't even fidget to distract herself, given the chaotic mess of her thoughts.

How long is this going to last?

The last time she'd gotten into a forced reset, it had lasted for about an hour. That hour had felt like an age in her state, but it wasn't too long in the grand scheme of things.

But that was for two red exclamation points. Now I'm at three, so it makes sense that things will be worse. The real question is, how much worse…?

Possibilities whirled in her head, most of them negative. Kaitlyn tried to ignore them with moderate success.

It's ok. I'm not permanently stuck in limbo, so that's a win. Even if it doesn't seem like things went entirely as planned… I just have to stick it out until this ends.

She focused her efforts on blocking out the constant stream of worries and fears vying for her attention, trying to reach a meditative state. It wasn't exactly easy, given the circumstances, but it was better than allowing herself to wallow.

Eventually, her trance was broken by a knock at the door. Her heart sank. Dang. Heather is here already? Has it already been two whole hours?

Another knock came shortly after, followed by the soft snick of a key in a lock. The door creaked open as she heard her roommate enter the room. Though she couldn't turn her head to look, she'd seen the blonde enough times to picture her denim cutoffs and bulging lavender suitcases with perfect clarity.

"Hellooooo? Anyone home?"

Kaitlyn cursed internally. She had really hoped to be up and moving by now. She tried in vain to call out to the girl, to move, to do anything, really. But no luck. The most she could manage was a slightly louder exhale. Not even the faintest hint of sensation had started to return yet.

She heard a slight gasp from the doorway as Heather dropped her voice to a whisper. "Oh, shoot! Sorry!"

The girl's soft steps tiptoed inside as she rolled her suitcases quietly along the carpet. She then proceeded to move in and out of the room a few times, shuffling things about and easing the door along its squeaky hinges with care. After a few more minutes of hearing the blonde make every attempt to move stealthily, it dawned on Kaitlyn.

…She thinks I'm asleep, doesn't she?

Part of her felt a little offended. She hadn't slept in this late in literal years. How lazy did Heather think she was? Though since the girl didn't even know her yet, she supposed she had to give her a pass. If anything, she should be relieved.

This is probably way easier. It won't be as weird to explain the situation away when I'm free. Any minute now…

But as the blonde continued to quietly unpack, Kaitlyn remained frozen. The panic she'd been working so hard to tamp down continued to rise, making it harder and harder to control her breathing.

A loud crash echoed through the room. Kaitlyn heard Heather hiss in a sharp breath, whispering an apology that went unanswered. A moment later, she heard footsteps quietly approaching her bedside.

"Boy, someone sure is a sleepyhead…"

A few golden locks fell into her vision as Heather leaned over to look at her face. "Wait… Uh, are you, like, ok?"

The girl reached out a hand, hesitated, then poked Kaitlyn. She didn't even feel the contact, but remained as stiff as a board. The girl shook her shoulder softly, then a little harder, her eyes widening.

"Omigosh. Are you dead? Omigosh. Dad!" Heather's voice rose in panic. "Dad, help! Omigosh, there's like, something wrong with my roommate!"