Miles

Miles was ready to fire back. He had armed himself with a refuting argument, eager to shoot back at his contender, when she abruptly stormed off in a huff. Now he was left alone, standing and stewing in disbelief at the exchange that had just transpired.

Well, it wasn't so much an exchange as it was a one-sided lashing from a brown-haired girl with freckle-peppered cheeks, fierce grey eyes and a sharp tongue.

He knew she was a novice to the gaming scene. She had to be, he assuaged himself as he stalked back to his booth. She's definitely new, otherwise she would've recognised his face from being endlessly plastered on every gaming magazine and website for the past two years - plus that one momentous but also slightly embarrassing talk show appearance where he play-tested his latest release with a famous comedian.

A group of fans accosted him in the aisle and he posed for photos, but as soon as they left, the encounter immediately sank its teeth back into his mind.

Who did that rookie think she was, laying into him about games? He was just stating the facts –linear gameplay offers less complexity.

He scoffed internally as he reached his booth and doused his annoyance with a gulp of water.

Liam walked up and punched him in the arm. "Dude, what's gotten your panties in a twist?" 

Miles rolled his eyes. "No big deal. Just a little heated exchange over at Golden Vault."

"The fuck you doing at their booth? Did the Golden Boys give you a hard time?"

"It's not like that." Miles bristled at the mention of their rivals with their holier-than-thou swagger.

The 'Golden Boys' – or so they were nicknamed by Mad Labs after repeated run-ins. Those assholes heckled Miles and his team whenever they could, talking smack to fans and jeering at them like overgrown high school bullies.

But Mad Labs' last game, Wasteland, seemed to have put them in their place – he hadn't seen any Golden Boys at this event. They were probably busy churning out some lame game, which is why he hadn't run into any trouble at their booth.

Except for that know-it-all greenhorn. Miles furrowed his brows.

When he was met with a prying look from Liam, he sighed. "There was this girl -"

"A succubus!" Liam interjected. "She tempts you into the void -"

"Shut the fuck up, jackass," Miles retorted. "She wasn't with Golden Vault. She was just some rookie who seemed ridiculously enamoured by their simple games."

Liam rolled his eyes. "And you couldn't have just, I don't know, ignored her?"

Miles shrugged. "Couldn't stand seeing a clueless beginner being led astray. Had to set her on the right path. But then she started railing into me like she knew better about games."

"Bro, can't believe you let someone talk down to you about your own gig. You, the God of Games!" Liam sniggered and ducked away from the violent shove Miles was about to unleash.

Miles shook his head and turned to the Mad Labs demo screen, where the hero Jessa was hurtling across crumbling buildings. The character he had sketched haphazardly on a scrap of paper in a restaurant four years ago was now leaping alive on the big screen.

His mind reeled back to his encounter with the brown-haired girl, to her hot-blooded temper, to her face ablaze with passion – not just for games, but for the art, the storytelling, the legacy. That taste of ferocity excited him, and he wanted more. God, he needed it, after all these months working in dry, uninspired if-this-then-that circles with his coding. He hadn't felt this way about games since...

He thought about the ridiculous game at the Golden Vault demo. "Straight To Dawn". Even the title betrayed how one-dimensional the gameplay would be. He made a mental note to look for her later; that little pepper with a quick bite and a point to prove.

But that day, Miles never saw her again.