“THAT’S THE SPATULA, NOT THE LEAF—”

“No way,” Maya whispered from the next desk, her novel upside down. “You actually got in?”

It was 2:47 PM on a Thursday. The final period was “Study Hall,” which in practice meant twenty-six students pretending to read while secretly battling the district’s content filter. Leo had already cycled through three proxy sites. Now, with fifteen minutes left until the bell, he typed the magic words into the search bar:

His heart thumped. Battle for Dream Island Again 5b — the legendary Flash-era stick-figure war game where Four, X, and a sentient nickel fought for control of the Yoyleland factory. The sequel to the game that got banned after Kyle from 2nd period accidentally set off the fire alarm by screaming “YOYLE STEEL, BABY!”