Page 67 of Played By Design

Disappointment floods the chat.

I give them a few seconds to complain before an idea clicks into place. “Would you guys tune in for a full Dusk Protocol playthrough when the DLC comes out?”

Chat floods with demands for romance routes, Sentinel-only runs, challenge runs, and blind playthroughs despite the fact that I know every pixel of the game.

Someone starts explaining the declaration mechanic to me.

I stare at the message.

Another person explains affinity.

My eye twitches.

I throw up a poll before I do something stupid, like out myself as ZeroSignal.

The results fill in seconds.

Eighty-seven percent YES.

Twelve percent I WILL CANCEL ALL PLANS.

One percent PLAY BLIND, which is impossible.

“All right.” I adjust my bunny ear headphones. “That’s the announcement. Full Dusk Protocol playthrough when the DLC drops.”

I restart the Grave Circuit run. “Now, back to what you came for.”

The first room opens.

Three enemies.

I kill all of them before the chat finishes arguing about whether I should romance anyone.

Forty minutes later, I wrap the stream with my standard sign-off. “That’s time. We’ll be back to the normal schedule on Sunday. Don’t forget to hydrate. BunnyGlitch out.”

The camera light dies.

I slump back in my chair like a circuit being cut and yank off the bunny-ear headphones. My fingers ache, the ring finger on my right hand throbbing where the tendon has been working overtime. I stretch it, rubbing the knuckle with my thumb until the pain spikes, then eases.

Kain appears in the doorway within seconds, which means he was lurking.

“How’d it go?” He props one shoulder on the doorframe, arms crossed.

“They want a Dusk Protocol playthrough when the DLC drops.” I flex my hand again. “Poll was eighty-seven percent.”

“Do they know what they signed up for?”

“Nope.” I snort as I pull off my mask. “But they’ll learn.”

He pushes off the doorframe. “You went over your hour. We’ll have to eat on the go.”

“Stackers?” I ask hopefully.

He shakes his head. “I packed dinner to go. I need to get to Blue Note early tonight.”

My bottom lip pokes out.

“None of that.” He wags a finger at me. “I told you before the stream started that we were on a tight schedule tonight.”