The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

“Well,” Elaine said as she strolled over, placing the cable down on the arm of the sofa next to Aria, “I’m sorry to say, you’re not going anywhere until this lets up. I hope you can stand our company that long.”

The Student Union only had one color of umbrella available, and in that cosmic humor way, it wasn’t Clarity beige, but neon purple. To add insult to injury, it only kept the rain and then the quarter sized hail stones that were falling straight down from concussing her. They did absolutely nothing to stop those being blown by the 25 mile per hour wind straight into her body, ignoring the meager protection entirely.

By the time she arrived at, and burst through the doors of the girls’ dorm, soaked to the bone, shivering, and battered, she was ready to collapse. “In case anybody’s curious,” she groaned, a soft croak as every muscle in her body panged from exertion and newly bruised flesh, “There’s quarter inch hail falling now.”

“Jesus Tap Dancing Christ,” a girl with black hair, wearing red framed glasses said, and leapt over a foot stool to rush to Aria’s side. Aria was too exhausted, cold, and in too much pain to realize she was one of the ‘theater royalty’ just at the moment. “You actually ran through all that?”

“Didn’t have a choice,” Aria groaned. “I was already halfway here when the hail started. I was on my way over to meet with Elaine,” she said, as the girl took her by the arm and guided her into the common room, making her sit down.

Rather than the tang of sweat, aftershave, Axe body spray, and testosterone, Aria settled almost immediately into a soft, welcoming cloud of vanilla rose perfume left by whomever had been sitting in the space previously., and probably applied it there, seeing as how just the act of sitting down kicked it up all around her.

“Let me get you a hot cocoa,” the girl said and quickly scurried over to the coffee bar and espresso machine. They had one in the boys’ dorm too, but as far as Aria knew, nobody ever used it. This was the first time Aria had ever seen anyone using the electric kettle.

“You didn’t get hit in the head did you?” she asked conversationally as she waited for the electric kettle to boil the water. Aria shook her head.

“No, thankfully. Just everywhere else. The umbrella kept most of it off, but it’s not falling straight down. The wind’s knocking it sideways. I feel bad for anybody who didn’t put their cars in the parking garage. Thank you so much,” she said as the girl brought the steaming cup of hot cocoa over and carefully placed it in her hands.

“Don’t mention it,” she said. “Chambers right?” she asked. “Puck with up,” she ribbed gently.

“Yeah,” Aria said, sipping the cocoa.

“I’m Vanessa. My roommate Heather talks about you all the time.”

Aria lifted her gaze to look at Vanessa. “Oh no. What does she say?”

Vanessa laughed. “Just how much she appreciates someone willing to roll up their sleeves. And honestly? Me too. If Heather is the theater’s drill sergeant, I’m its conductor. Costumes, backstage directions, while she’s managing the big picture I’m in the back praying to God the super tack holds long enough for Juliet to stab herself without a clothing malfunction.”

Aria shivered, clinging to the porcelain cup in her hands as if it contained pure, liquid oxygen and the rocket ship had just crashed back down to the Martian surface. Vanessa watched thoughtfully, and that didn’t help. She was... studying her, and it unnerved her.

“I know it’s not my place to say anything, Chambers,” Vanessa said quietly, “But you don’t look like you’re occupying space. You look like you’re hiding in it. Or from it.”

Aria lifted her gaze, trying to formulate a Lewis response, but the elevator dinged. Elaine and Kris stepped out.

Neither were wearing their scholar standard uniforms. Elaine had on a comfortable hoodie, her long, dark brown hair lying back over her shoulders and back now, and she held the beige cable, now patched with a professional black shrinkwrap where it had been soldered. Kris was wearing an extremely loud, neon yellow and blue tie dyed tee shirt that made green streaks where the yellow and blue haphazardly crossed paths, and a pair of baggy cargo shorts.

They both gasped. “Jesus Christ,” Elaine said. “Did... Did you actually run through that?” she asked, pointing her hand with the cable toward the door, where hail stones slammed hard against the glass, ineffectually trying to penetrate the newfound fortress.

“I was already halfway here so I didn’t really have a choice. I thought the hail was over, then,” she paused, another thunderclap causing her to flinch, “It opened up like the wrath of God.”

“Well,” Elaine said as she strolled over, placing the cable down on the arm of the sofa next to Aria, “I’m sorry to say, you’re not going anywhere until this lets up. I hope you can stand our company that long.”

Aria tried her best not to let just how much she wanted to be here right now shine through, but the Lewis mask didn’t just feel like cardboard, it felt like soggy, hail-battered cardboard. Between the aching muscles from fencing class that morning, the soaring high of her own realization in the rafters, and then the intellectual victory, getting a whole ass ten bonus points added to her GPA for the semester, it was getting harder and harder to put up even a little fake resistance.

“I don’t mind,” she said, having finally settled on that as the best compromise she could muster. Kris smirked to herself, but didn’t say a word as Elaine walked over to the coffee bar. “Kris? You want the usual?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Kris answered, taking a seat while Aria watched out of the corner of her eye. She wasn’t performing reconnaissance, by any means. She was just curious what ‘the usual’ would be for a girl like Kris, an absolute enigma of a person.

She was a little surprised then, to see Elaine fire up the electric kettle, pour up some hot water, and take a muslin saché of Lady Grey, dropping it in the cup, while she busied herself with the steam of the espresso machine for her own drink.

“I hate coffee,” Kris said, seemingly noticing Aria’s interest.

“I have to have it doped with sugar and some kind of syrup,” Aria said. Outside the golf balls had graduated to baseballs, and their frequency had increased - literally and in volume.

“You and me both,” Vanessa said, finally releasing Aria from her scrutinizing gaze. “If I don’t have at least two shots of mocha and a dollop of oat milk I can’t. I refuse,” she said as Elaine brought Kris’ tea over to her, and Aria realized that since arriving, this was the most time she’d spent in a common room.

“So, hey,” Elaine said, “Kris said you guys found an old Gateway PC, an actual cow box from the early days?” she asked, nodding toward the patched cable.

“Oh, oh yeah, somebody went to a lot of trouble to hide this thing. Not only is it off the network, it’s in a DIY Faraday cage. But, that might just be to keep it from blasting out EMI because there’s a couple of expensive mics and some old sound boards in there, too. It’s like a hidden recording studio - top of the line 20 years ago. I love going there to practice singing without bothering anybody.”

Elaine nodded thoughtfully. “Damn. That’s like lifting your bed and finding buried gold underneath it. And it was just... hidden this whole time?”

“Yeah, right under everyone’s noses,” Kris laughed. “Everyone but Chambers here, anyway.”

“Hope it was worth it at least,” Vanessa said. “You look like you went to war for that damn beige snake.”

“I feel like it,” Aria said honestly, finishing her cocoa just as a particularly loud chunk of hail slammed against the brick wall. Another inch to the right, and it probably would have shattered the window. Everyone but Elaine jumped, and Kris even squealed. Elaine just sat, quietly sipping her espresso.

An older girl, definitely senior in every respect, stepped into the common room. She looked poised and polished, and even her ponytail looked symmetrically planned, which made her Minnie Mouse tee shirt haphazardly hanging on her frame look even more comical.

“This isn’t letting up, so I’m enacting emergency dinner plans. Someone’ll be here soon with an armored delivery truck.” She wasn’t joking. She didn’t smirk when she said it, and, Aria had no trouble believing her. Clarity didn’t half-ass anything. They probably had one of those ‘Dominator’ vehicles storm chasers on YouTube and TikTok loved so much, exclusively to deliver meals on wheels to the dorms.

“I wonder if I can catch a ride back to my dorm with the delivery truck,” Aria mused. Kris gave her arm a playful, light punch, not hard enough to leave a mark, just enough to get her attention.

“Are we that bad?” she asked.

“Oh, oh God no,” Aria laughed, the Lewis mask sliding down her face for a moment. “I just feel bad, like I’m intruding on something.”

“Well, you’re not,” Vanessa shrugged. “So stop fidgeting and relax. Let me get you some more cocoa,” she said, standing up and reaching out a hand. She waited for Aria to hand her the cup. Suddenly the side fire door opened, and in walked two people wheeling a massive steel cart laden with styrofoam boxes, even as more girls slowly emerged behind them, coming down from upstairs.

Through the open fire door and the outside access, the storm howled, and sure enough, Aria could see the Dominator vehicle, hear the hail ineffectually slap against its double shielded metal skin, even as the pair who had entered looked like they were practically in space suits - probably some kind of specially shielded hazmat suits that let them not get beaten to hell while they unloaded the truck.

“Man,” Aria whispered, “Clarity doesn’t half ass anything do they?”

“Nope,” Elaine said as she got up, returning with two boxes. She pressed one into Aria’s hands. “Eat something. You burned like 4k calories today.” She winked and sat back down, as Vanessa brought a fresh cup of cocoa over to her.

Other girls were joining them now. Not a single one of them, not even Madison, gave her a second glance, which genuinely shocked her. Madison of all people, she just knew would have something smart assed to say, but she looked just as shaken up by the storm as Aria felt. She was wearing a two sizes too big beige hoodie, the usual intensity in her emerald eyes replaced with a nervous tick every time the thunder rolled or an intense hail stone smashed against a wall by the window.

Aria opened the lid, the intense, wonderful smell of garlic lasagna filling her lungs. She realized she hadn’t eaten anything since her egg McMuffin in the Student Union this morning, and her stomach reminded her of that fact with a loud, annoyed rumble only covered up by the roar of hail and the rumbling thunder.

She wasn’t Lewis, the stranger in a strange land. She was Aria, the refugee in a rainsoaked blazer, and even her would-be rivals acknowledged that. She didn’t feel like a museum piece or a mascot. She felt like part of the scenery, like everyone else. It felt incredible, and she longed for the moment to last. As she tore into the lasagna, stopping only to grab a bite of garlic bread, she began to wonder if there was some way it could?