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FIRST PREVIOUS ARCHIVE

Hours earlier, in the faraway land of Reno, Nevada...
The late spring sun shone down upon the campus, giving the gentle warning of the approaching summer. The ordinarily busy campus was noticeably still lately. For this week, final exams for the spring semester were under way.
But there was still activity outside of the classrooms and lecture halls. And this nook of the university, a pair of students, at the end of their times as freshmen, were idling the time between exams away in their own way. James (exaggeratedly climbed up a ledge by a stairway): FINALLY!!! With that, I am done with finals!
The strangely behaving caucasian male stares at an aloof african-american student anticipating a response to his tomfoolery. Ryan: ... Congratulations, I still got two left.
James (sitting back up against the wall): I'm not apologizing, I'm too stoked to be done! I need the next three months to finally breathe! Ryan (toking off a vape pen): It is going to be so much fun watching you suffer when you have to take summer classes down the line. James (hopping off the rails of the stairs): You don't know for sure I'll have to take summer classes. Ryan: Really? Do you have ANY idea of what to major in by now? You did go to your counseling session to decide your schedule next semester, right? James: Yes, I did, and we had a very invigorating conversation about my time in school that I totally didn't tune out!
The scene momentarily shifts to show more of the university as Ryan and James continue their animated discussion (or at least animated on Jimmy's side). Ryan: Right. So you didn't bother to figure something out. James: I did! Ryan: What then? James opens his mouth to speak, even creating a speech bubble, but changes course before answering the question. James: Totally unrelated question, what were you thinking of majoring in agai-? Ryan (seeing where Jimmy was going with this): Accounting. James: THAT'S IT, ACCOUNTING! Totally wanna do that!
Ryan (turning away from the stairs): Cuz you have a passion for accounting, or cuz you can just follow what I'm doing? James: Oh like you're so passionate about the corporate grind. James makes a cutesy, exaggerated face with sparkles around him. James: Ryan Turner: accountant! Ryan: I'm passionate about getting a job that will let me afford to live on my own. Ryan proceeds to mimic the face Jimmy just made, with sparkles and everything. Ryan: Ryan Turner: stable job! He returns to his default state, taking another puff from his vape pen. Ryan: And I'm coasting by on my math classes well enough to make this a promising move. James (following Ryan from the stairs towards the Knowledge Center): Hey, I want to live on my own too! Stable job and all that, of course I want that! Ryan: You certainly sound convincing.
James: Well, I'm seeing Ben and Luis do their own thing, and that seems like the opposite of stable. Ryan: Nah, Jimmy, Ben's got it good with the state. I looked it up since we last hung out. They pay well enough even at the entry level, you get job security, and there's a lot of movement even between other departments. His supervisor has been telling him that's a shoe-in for a promotion already. An image of Ben Demamp giving a thumbs up is shown in Ryan's speech bubble. James (in surprise): Wait, seriously? After not even a year? Isn't he in the mailroom or something!?
Ryan: Yeah, and we were at the bar Luis' brother is managing, and it's pretty bumping there. They've been raking in cash on a regular basis. Sure, doesn't mean a lot for us since we're underage and don't wanna get Luis or Omar fired, but even so, they're doing great over there. An image of Luis Garcia holding a mug of beer and winking is shown in Ryan's speech bubble. James (with a hand scratching the back of his head): Oh right, the bar out in downtown or something. Kind of a walk...
Ryan (looking smug): Wouldn't be that bad of a walk if you actually went with us every once in a while. James (looking manic): Hey man, didn't you tell me I need a major already? Summer classes? I'm losing my hair trying to get by! I barely even have time for gaming and YouTube anymore, man! Ryan (looking less smug): So... gaming and YouTube take priority over us? James (slumping down): 'Course not, I'm just saying, it's overwhelming, dude. Ryan: I get it, Jimmy, it's a lot. We all take things at our own pace. I'm just saying, it'd do you some good to sort all this out. Yeah, accounting can open a lot of doors, but if it's not speaking to you, there are other options.
James: Options that will pay well and turn me into a cog for the machine? Cuz y'all keep telling me a theater major isn't worth the trouble. Ryan: Find a compromise, something you can enjoy and that will get you money! And if you're really worried about living a boring office worker life, make time to chill with us and shoot the shit like we used to. We always have some crazy times! James: What, you're not gonna be exhausted after classes and working all day? Ryan (taking another puff off his vape pen): I am a lot of the time, but I can make time for fun every now and then! It's not as hard as you're making it out to be! It's not like I'm trying to force you, or tell you to get back on the dating scene. The art style briefly shifts into more of a chili style. Ryan (exhaling a vapor cloud with the faint words
The art style reverts back to normal. Ryan: All I'm saying is stop overthinking it! Come hang out with us tonight, and let's make plans over summer! We can figure out what you should major in at your own pace! Ryan (placing a hand on Jimmy's shoulder): You'll find something, man, I promise you. James: Right... Ryan: Okay, I gotta cram while I still got time. I'll text you later tonight!
James waves good-bye to Ryan with a relaxed smile on his face. This smile quickly fades as James watches his friend leave for his next final. After a moment, a despondent James turns his head down with his hands in his pockets, and sets off himself.
With all of his final exams done and not having any plans until later in the evening, James spends the afternoon wandering the campus of UNR in solitude. He wanders the campus aimlessly and with melancholy, as his fellow students mill and wander about around him, all with their own groups and plans and aspirations. All of it goes unnoticed by Jimmy, however, as he simply mulls about his conversation from earlier. The future he has nary a solid idea for approaches quicker than expected, as did the arrival of dusk that very day.
By the time the sky darkened for the early evening, James found himself at the Jot Travis building on the south end of campus. He stands on the walkway overlooking the lake, leaning against the guard rail. His movement and posture have adjusted, but his face has been unchanged over these past few hours.
James: You really know how to make it sound so easy, Ryan. James (looking to his left and raising that arm): Well from where I'm standing, it's either have fun not making any real money... James (turning to his right and raising that arm) or grind myself into an empty husk. Exasperated with his limited, crappy options, Jimmy heaves a heavy sigh and slumps over the railing.
James: There's gotta be more to life than this... In that moment, a faint magenta light shines from below. James does not notice it until it shines a bit brighter, and he sees it coming from the bottom of the lake. There, in the center of the light, shines a mysterious, bright pink shape.
James (nonchalantly reaching for his pocket): Huh. Guess all the other lights are busted. Jimmy pulled out his smart phone and begins to flip through it, but only for a moment. James (doing a double-take towards the lake): Wait a minute, this is a lake, not a swimming pool, why would there be lights...?
James looks closer at the light in the lake. The magenta emanating from the light, on closer inspection, appears to be more like a kind of mist. Light purple sparks of what seem like electricity occasionally zap out from the light pink shape. James: ... Is that a... pentagram? As he leans further and focuses harder on this shape, he could make out a pentagram. The points on the pentagram appeared more pronounced, and also marked where the lines of a star inside the pentagram connect. Thinner lines connected from within the lines of the large star and connected to a smaller star in the center of the full shape. But while Jimmy became fully transfixed on this phenomenon, his left hand began to slip from the guard rail.
James: Whoa shit! He loses his balance and managed to flip up over the rail. James: GAH!!! He falls over the other side of the guard rail, his phone falling on the other side onto the walkway.
James hits the surface of the lake with a loud SPLASH, spraying water all over the walkway and the guard rail. The light from the bottom of the lake continues to shine and spark with power.
After only a few more seconds, the light fades away. A few more small sparks shoot out from the lake, until quiet and stillness return to the night. The calm after the short storm was only briefly interrupted by the BZZZZ of James' now abandoned smart phone, vibrating from a text notification from his friend that would go unread for the foreseeable future.

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