Well, buckle up, fucker. It’s back.
NOTES ON THE GAME:
MISSIVE BY HAZEL
（AUTHENTICATED BY BLOCKCHAIN）
A coincidence is defined as a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.
When you move through the game, you begin to notice things that people outside it would never notice—the title of the song playing on the radio is a combination of the name of the restaurant you’re walking past followed by the name of the street you’re walking on. Or maybe you receive two wrong number calls four minutes and forty-four seconds apart. And maybe those two numbers are identical except for the area code, or maybe the numbers are completely different but the two unrelated callers have the exact same name.
Carl Jung referred to meaningful coincidences as synchronicities.
What if I told you that just as I was typing those words, the song “Synchronicity II” by the Police started streaming from the speakers in the random restaurant I’d chosen to sit and drink coffee in while I composed this note?
Just because there is no apparent causal connection, doesn’t mean a connection isn’t there.
—HAZEL 8
17
IT SMELLS A LITTLE BOOZY IN HERE
A month or so after Baron’s death, Chloe and I got together to celebrate his birthday. The Magician had agreed to close for the day in Baron’s memory, so I picked up some sandwiches, a case of beer, and a bottle of Baron’s favorite Icelandic vodka and made my way over to the arcade, where Chloe and I had decided to spend the afternoon day-drinking and playing Baron’s favorite games.
We were doing our best to follow the Magician’s edict and avoid Rabbits.
It wasn’t all that hard. Baron’s death had left us both pretty shaken, and digging into the mystery surrounding the game didn’t feel quite as important or exciting after losing our friend.
The Magician was supposed to meet us at the arcade for dinner, but he didn’t show. Chloe was worried. She hadn’t seen him since the night he’d demanded the two of us stop playing the game.
We played every single pinball machine in the arcade at least once, but reserved most of our time for videogames like Galaga, Gauntlet, Joust, and Wonder Boy. It was nice to relax and spend some quality game time together. No Minister Jesselman suicide. No impossible attacks on famous actors.
And no Rabbits.
Halfway through the bottle of vodka, about an hour after we’d polished off a large pizza, we heard banging coming from the front door of the arcade.
“What time is it?” Chloe asked.
“Almost midnight.”
“We’re closed,” Chloe yelled in the direction of the door.
Immediately, the banging became louder and more insistent.
“What the fuck?” Chloe said. “I’m close to my high score.”
Chloe was in the middle of an intense game of Missile Command.
“I’ll check it out,” I said.
As I turned the corner, I could see that somebody was standing outside, but I couldn’t see them clearly.
“I’m sorry, but the arcade is closed,” I yelled.
“Please, I need to talk to you.” It was a woman’s voice. She sounded desperate.
I slowly approached the door and leaned forward to see who it was.
Fuck me.
I unlocked and opened the door, and a slender redheaded woman slipped out of the rain and into the arcade. She was wearing faded blue jeans, a light gray T-shirt, and a dark blue hoodie. She brushed aside a mop of wet hair and held out her hand.
“You don’t know me, but my name is Sidney Farrow,” she said.
“I know you,” I replied. “I mean…I’m sorry, I’m K.” I shook her hand.
“I wanted to stop by earlier,” she said, “but things got a bit crazy at work.”
“Oh…okay.” I didn’t know what to say. “So what’s…going on?”
“I’d like to talk to you about Baron.”
“Baron? What about him?” The vodka suddenly seemed to have left my system.
“Who the fuck is this?” Chloe threatened, suddenly beside me. The vodka clearly hadn’t left her system.
“Chloe, this is Sidney Farrow.”
Chloe leaned forward for a closer look. “Holy shit, it is you.”
“She wants to talk about Baron.”
“What? Why?”
Sidney Farrow looked down at the mostly empty bottle of vodka in Chloe’s hand.
Chloe followed Sidney’s eyes and then slowly extended the bottle.
Sidney took a sip of vodka, exhaled, and shook her head. “Have you guys ever heard of a game called Rabbits?”