Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

New Challenge

Hello Crowdy,

A new bonus quest for today:

Convince at least 1 citizen to join Crowd to earn 50 Creds.

Extra +20 points for every additional citizen you convince.

Spread the Crowd love!

The update floated around Rain's augmented vision like a game menu. She had solved almost every bonus objective but two days before the graduation, she struggled to comply. Rain simply wanted to stay in her dorm room, read a good science fiction book and go to bed early to wake up fully rested.

She couldn't.

Crowd had given her so much.

It was only fair to return the favor and spread the good news about her favorite social media credit platform. As a plus, the extra 50 Creds would give her some much-needed money.

The only problem: since this college was part of the company, every faculty member and student was automatically on Crowd. Rain needed to leave Campus and to find the disconnected.

"Where are you going? Quinn asked her from his bed as he looked up from his deadwood magazine.

"I'm doing the new Crowd challenge."

"Around here? Tough luck."

"I'll have to probably take a ride and look elsewhere."

"Go visit a convenience store." He looked up his version of the interactive map. "Sunset Market. It's nearby and full of peeps from around the city."

"A good idea," Rain said.

Quinn was about to lay down on his bed again. "Oh, and could you bring a dark chocolate bar? Like over seventy-five percent chocolate. And a vanilla drink?"

"Sugar overkill."

"A little pain reliever after the finals."

He was right. Rain and Quinn had worked day and night to study for their final exams. "Got it."

"Good luck."

Rain gently shut the door, walked along the corridor where fellow students chatted each other up and greeted her. Their Crowd rank hovered next to their heads in semi-transparent menus, all of them between three and four. You had to have at least a three point five ranking to get accepted to the college.

A young woman peeked from a nearby dorm room. Her name 'Jin' floated on top of the profile tag. "Where are you going?"

"Getting a little snack from the convenient store."

"Are you doing the new Crowd challenge?"

Jin knew. Every ambitious Crowdy living in the dorms did.

"I try to. We'll see what happens."

"You're gonna own it, that's what's going to happen."

The student looked up her profile. "Holy shit, you completed every bonus challenge since you signed up?"

Rain's face reddened already. "I didn't plan to, but you know, it just happened."

"Over one thousand two hundred and forty-five completions just happened." Jin winked at her. "Well, I don't want to get in your way. Gotta catch 'em all, right?"

"Right."

Jin closed the door. Rain reached the campus outside and welcomed the late afternoon breeze brushing her face. A few students chatted each other up on the grass and waved at her. Rain hailed a Fleet auto-cab which promptly arrived with an upbeat jingle. "Hello Rain, where would you like to go tonight?"