Kieran didn't really know what made him download the app. He'd quickly scrolled through the info but didn't really understand any of it, and the name "QuadMod" didn't provide any clues. Still, it seemed like a decent way to kill some time. He had to register an account, but the app didn't even ask for his email, just an username and a password. He set his account name to DurianJuice8333. It came from an inside joke shared by him and his childhood best friend Jake. He didn't remember the origin of the joke — at seven years old he and Jake found durians hilarious for some reason, and the phrase "durian juice" reminded him of those times. Come to think of it, Kieran hadn't spoken to Jake in a good couple of years now. He thought he should dig up his email address and contact him one of these days.
Looking back at his phone, Kieran groaned. "Thank you for registering!" said the pop-up notification in a nondescript font. "You will receive a notification when you are matched with other players. In the meantime, why not tell your friends about QuadMod?" Great. So much for a distraction. Kieran tossed his phone on his bed and with resignation went back to doing his homework.
*
"Your phone's buzzing," said Pete. He was Kieran's roommate who was majoring in Museum Studies.
"It's just a notification," Kieran responded. He was at his desk and had zero interest in getting up to get his phone from his bed. Whoever texted him would have to wait.
His phone buzzed again.
"It's buzzing again," said Pete helpfully. Kieran rolled his eyes. Pete was... fine. He was an alright roommate — he didn't leave too much of a mess in the room, showered regularly, didn't walk around with his dick out. It's just that he and Kieran never clicked, so even though there weren't any major conflicts between them, they only really tolerated each other's presence. It didn't help that Kieran was easily annoyed by others. Perhaps the whole durian thing was foreshadowing how prickly his personality would become in junior high.
"Right, right," he murmured. He tipped his chair back and stretched out his arm towards the phone. For a split second he lost balance and almost fell, but he managed to recover the way only an overly lazy twenty-something can, and he even managed to grab the phone.
The notifications were from QuadMod. "Your turn to play!" they said.
Kieran opened the app, getting curious. What was the game supposed to be? Before he could find out, he needed to be shown information about the other players.
adam62281 || Gender: MALE || Age: 21
DurianJuice8333 || Gender: MALE || Age: 22
Sphinx_Yawn || Gender: MALE || Age: 36
Bbhhx || Gender: FEMALE || Age: 25
Okay, Kieran had never entered his gender or age into the app. This was freaky. But then the next screen was no less freaky. It said, "Suggest a change related to adam62281's hair!" Below, in smaller letters, the game said "You have to submit your suggestion within 30 minutes or you will suffer a penalty. Time remaining: 24:28." There was a text box he could type in.
He had no clue what was going on. He watched the timer tick down for a full minute, trying to figure out how this game was supposed to work. Were they changing each other's characters? But there didn't seem to be any option to design his avatar. Eventually Kieran's irritation overpowered his confusion, and he typed the first thing that came to his mind into the text box: "make it blue i guess".
Another notification popped up on the screen. "Thanks for your suggestion! User adam62281 will have 24 hours to choose one option, after which another vote will be held." Okay? Kieran still had no idea what the game's point was. He found an option called "suggestion history", where he saw his own recent suggestion, as well as Sphinx_Yawn's: "Grow to waist-length". It seemed the last player was still deciding.
Confused and annoyed, he threw the phone back on his bed. Pete did not look away from his laptop.
*
A few hours later, Kieran was in the middle of watching a trashy vampire movie and stuffing himself with potato ships when his phone buzzed again. Another notification from QuadMod had arrived, saying that it was his turn to choose. The other three players had made their suggestions, and Kieran now had 24 hours to decide between their suggestions related to his...