Editing Chuubostuck/Book One (section)

== Chapter One: Let’s Play A Game (Posts #1 - 123) ==

The day is Sunday, July 14th, 2013. A large number of children have gathered to play a game: SBURB. Thousands of people in town are trying to get access to first-release copies. Nine of them are a group of friends. 

In Old Molder, Ayumu Mori has two goals: explore his gargoyle-filled mansion, and convince his friends to play SBURB. He sends out a message to that effect. Then he goes to get his mail, which has frustratingly been left in a hole in a tree by the house instead of in a mail box. While attempting to recover it, he has to find the key, and then strife with his Butler, who still doesn’t know that Ayumu dropped out of School several years ago. Outside, he discovers that his nemesis, a red squirrel named The Baron, is making a nest out of a pair of packages he’s received. The Baron attaches itself to Ayumu’s face, and he has to literally beat it off with a stick. Upon doing so, he discovers that his SBURB server disc has become scratched. More importantly, he sees that the SBURB symbol is one that he has been seeing in his nightmares...

In Horizon, Fitzwilliam Gerald, a boy who is half-ghost, breaks into Principal Entropy’s office to steal back his confiscated copy of the game. He succeeds, but Entropy spots him. After a brief but very intense interaction, he manages to escape. Unsure of himself, he gradually fades into the Ghost World, before running smack into his friend Richard, who convinces him to return to School to steal even MORE copies of the game… 

Also in Horizon, the genius mad scientist Lilith Ivanov tries to clean her way out of her room to retrieve her own copies, after choking down a disasterous breakfast prepared by her mildly incompetent robot butler. And on the edges of Arcadia, Matt Ritter tries to avoid his athletic uncle and reach the shops to collect his pre-order. He narrowly succeeds, outrunning his uncle and, gasping for breath, heading down the street. 

In Fortitude, the shrine maiden Lily Watanabe rushes to finish her chores, and hurries to Arcadia to try and buy a copy of the game. There, she meets with Riley McArthur, a daughter of heroes, who hopes that SBURB will help her connect with her friends in a normal way. Riley has baked Lily a cake for her birthday, and the two pause to eat it and talk about life before rushing off to Space Ingamers, where they find a massive line. Riley convinces the line to let her and Lily through so that she can get a game, impressing and frustrating Lily, and then learns there’s only one copy for sale. Lily lets Riley have it. 

Lilith and Matt run into each other, meeting in person for the first time, and Matt is instantly sucked into Lilith’s schemes, joining her on a trip to the game store, Game Guys. There, they find a massive line. Forcing their way through, they learn that the game is already sold out, and after briefly considering a life of crime, decide to look elsewhere, hitting up hardware stores for a new wrench while they wait. They discuss Lilith’s rivalry with Riley, and arrange to meet up.

After hopping across some rooftops, Riley and Lily spot Matt and Lilith, and go down to meet them. Lilith immediately challenges Riley for possession of her SBURB disc, while Matt and Lily chat...

And in the intermission, many years away, a Disheveled Drifter sails a boat across an endless sea. Discovering a scrap of printed paper on which is printed the beginning of a walkthrough for SBURB (as written by someone with the pesterhandle apocryphalConsolation), he changes his course in hopes of finding an island.