RPG Grove

It's a new semester at Coldwater University, and that means parking is fucked and so is the internet. The college radio station, KKAW "The Crow," is playing the hits to lull freshmen into a false sense of security, and unlicensed marketers with novelty cooler backpacks resembling popular energy drinks are skulking about, giving away free samples and trying to stay one step ahead of Campus Police. The one bright spot is that the fire-and-brimstone street preachers have been crowded out by a bevy of admin-approved activities hosted by Campus Life; they won't be bothering people for Jesus until next week at the earliest.

The question is not whether the day will be stressful, but rather just how badly everyone will regret being on campus.

We begin with the Obligation Phase. Roll your worst attribute.

If you roll Sun, your obligation involves scary people or circumstances, or is physically taxing.
If you roll Moon, your obligation breaks your heart, and drives you to despair.
If you roll Stars, your obligation puts you under social pressure, or sets off your anxiety.

The freight elevator of the communications building had been out of service for over a week, which was excellent news for anyone who had ever wondered how many stairs it took to transform a broadcast engineer into a ghost.

Nico emerged from the stairwell backward, hauling one end of an equipment rack whose other end balanced clumsily atop a badly fraying furniture dolly. Coils of XLR cable hung across his chest like a bandolier. His beanie sat crooked over hair that had surrendered hours ago, and the damp patch spreading across the back of his oversized KKAW T-shirt gave testament to how long he’d been at this particular task.

“Good news,” Nico announced to nobody in particular. “I’ve identified the problem.”

The dolly struck the edge of the doorway.

“Walls. Don’t need em. Every building… just… one big room.” Huffing, he gave the rack one more good tug as the dolly scraped some paint off the door jam.

KKAW’s latest media modernization initiative had begun with a zesty little Friday morning email congratulating the station on its forthcoming improvements. It had continued with contractors announcing that two production rooms needed to be completely emptied by the end of day one, start of semester, the following week. Somewhere between those events, the professional movers promised by Campus Facilities had vanished into the same administrative void currently holding the station’s replacement router. There were of course other student volunteers and media majors… most of whom did NOT live two miles from campus and already found themselves eagerly available the weekend before classes began.

That left Nico.

For three days, while other students were lazily meandering back to campus, reuniting with friends, and blissfully ignoring their phones, he had hauled amplifiers, monitors, microphone stands, boxes of records, acoustic panels, and several pieces of equipment old enough to possess tenure. Between loads, he had rewired the temporary booth, produced six station IDs, and helped Priya keep The Crow broadcasting its reassuring mixture of indie hits and start-of-semester lies.

He had slept recently. Probably. There had been a couch involved.

Nico maneuvered the rack into place and crouched beside it, sorting cables with fingers that trembled only slightly from fatigue. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Nico glanced at the latest addition to an increasingly apocalyptic Media Department student group chat, typing back:

Parking’s fine if you simply abandon all worldly attachments, including your car

Then he added:

seriously tho, anybody need a ride later?

His shoulders ached. His palms were scraped, his coffee was cold and forgotten two floors away, and the temporary studio was producing a low electrical hum that seemed specifically designed to unravel what remained of his sanity. Still, when the ON AIR light flickered back to life, Nico smiled. Everything was under control. Totally. Definitely.