The Golden Proposal

Everyone who lived in her complex knew her as "the workhorse in a shiny jacket". Prisma was usually seen carrying packages for her shop to the post office, or carrying rolls of fabric and sewing supplies back to her apartment. She was a very hard person to miss with her standing tall enough to rival a basketball player, long hair reaching down to her waist, and a trench coat with a near-blinding holographic shimmer to it. Always wearing an aloof face, and to top it off, she was a perfectionist, spending hours dedicating herself to each individual garment to avoid sending out wonky outfits with tearing seams and mismatched sleeves.

Prisma left her apartment and locked the door, carrying two flat boxes with her. She sighed and ran through her day plan as she waited for the elevator to come up. Send out these orders, then head back home and start working on restocking. These were the last two dresses she had on hand, and a few people had already asked if there's going to be more of that specific design. The elevator doors opened and she walked in. There was only one other person inside, carrying a towel and a duffel bag. That's her upstairs neighbor, Jade. She moved in about three months ago and unlike Prisma was rarely busy and opted to spend time with friends. The gym get-up was new though.

"Morning' dude!" Jade said. "Uh, you going to first floor too?"

Prisma nodded and Jade hit the button to close the door. She took one more glance at the duffel bag Jade was carrying. "Apologies, but I've never taken you as someone to exercise..," She commented.

Jade shrugged. "I get that a lot. Never thought I'd care for it either. But then a friend of mine took me to an arcade, there was a DDR machine and what do ya know? I got hooked! Turns out it's basically a work out to play... so I guess I tricked myself into it, Heheh."

"I suppose so," Prisma said. "It's been the usual for me. I have to send out a few orders, then start working on a few more dresses."

"Again? No offence Pris', I swear that's the only thing nowadays. Don't you ever take a break?" Jade asked. The towering woman glanced down at Jade as the elevator door opened. "I'm afraid not" She replied as the two of them walked into the apartment lobby.

"You should dude. Breaks are nice, don't have to worry about nothing, only about how much fun you're having!"

"Easy for you to say," Prisma scoffed

"Oh come on! You've been working up, down, left right, maybe upside down? I don't know, I never see you doing anything but work," Jade said as they walked out the front door. "Is it about that rich guy again?"

Prisma cringed at the mention of ‘that rich guy.’ He was the owner of his own clothing business, and was well known for gloating about how hardworking he is compared to everyone else. A month ago he made a snappy comment online about it and Prisma didn’t take it lightly. Long story short, she made so many garments in one night she blacked out. “He’s not relevant anymore,” Prisma said. 

"Ok. But seriously you need a break. How about this? After you're done delivering those boxes you could head down to the arcade with me?" Jade offered. "It'll be fun!" She started nudging the woman, her coat sparkling with each bump. 

"I'll consider," Prisma sighed, pulling away from her neighbor. "But for now I have to leave. Best to avoid the afternoon rush as much as possible." And with that, the two of them walked in opposite directions. 

She would be lying if she didn't think about going to the arcade the whole walk. She paused in front of the post office when she got there, staring at the boxy grey building. It might be enjoyable perhaps. Prisma thought as she entered. But I still need to commit to this restock... At least there weren't any lines. She walked straight to the front desk and sent off the packages. Now to head back home where she'll be back at the sewing table stitching together more panels of fabric, for the same dress pattern over and over again. All while Jade was playing DDR.

Fine! I'll go! She decided. I'll deal with any delays in my day plan later. She rushed out. It was a good thing the arcade wasn’t hard to miss. She just had to walk the opposite direction of the post office and spot the place with the big neon sign reading ‘ARCADE’ on top of it. The outside walls were painted bright red compared to all the other plain brick buildings around it. Taking a sigh, Prisma opened the doors and walked in.

The arcade was different from what she normally liked to say the least. Everyone was dressed so casually in shorts and t-shirts, running around with friends and fistfuls of tickets or watching over small kids with food plastered all over their face as they carelessly slapped their sauce-covered hands on the buttons of each cabinet. And in the middle of it stood Prisma in all her pristine, high fashion glory. She ducked a slice of pizza as it flew across the room.

Is it usually this much of a zoo? She thought, making her way further from the center and nearly getting tripped by a mob of small kids. If it's what Jade likes, then who am I to judge. Perhaps it's best if I try finding her. A DDR game or any machine like it isn't hard to find. Just find the one with a large pad with arrows on it. After evading many more kids, Prisma heard loud bell sounds in front of her. There it was. Jade was on the right side, grabbing onto the bar behind her as she stomped according to a flurry of arrows on the screen in front of her. The song ended abruptly before the screen faded out to show her scores. Jade walked off the pad and sat next to it, downing a bottle of water. She looked up and noticed Prisma.

"Dude, you actually came!" Jade said, taking another sip afterwards and standing up. "Just finished a set. It's not the best I've done but eh, at least it's something. I'll catch up to the pros eventually."

Prisma raised a brow and glanced at the cab then back at Jade. "Catch up? Not the best?"

Jade nodded. "If you thought that was intense, just watch other people play. There's far worse charts, this is just the tip of the iceberg. By the way, wanna go against me next? The staff set it to one credit for two players so-”

"The offer is generous, but I'll have to pass." Prisma said. "I'm not one for physical activity."

"That's alright." Jade shrugged. "There's plenty of other games here so wouldn't hurt to try all of them and see what floats your boat! There's shooters and racers on the left and more rhythm games to the right. I'd avoid the middle though because it's all ticket games and you've seen how it's like down there."

Prisma nodded. Shooters and racing games sounded too macho for her tastes, so she turned to the right. She walked past machines styled like DJ turntables and sci-fi control panels looking over each one trying to find the right fit. Loud music blared to her right. She turned and saw a kid with shaggy hair playing at the colorful cabinet decorated with rainbows and cartoon characters.

Looks like a children's game. She thought, looking over each graphic on the sides, then to the game itself which had switched over to the game play screen with two characters on each side. She drew nearer to get a closer look.

"Are you ready?" a voice from the game asked. A few seconds later a massive flurry of notes rained on the screen, even more notes than the game Jade was playing! And the kid was hitting each one. Prisma's jaw dropped. Whatever she just watched, that was clearly not child's play. The kid finished off the song, the words full combo glowing on screen before the scores rolled in. The kid turned around and saw Prisma still standing there in awe.

"I? Did you? What?" She sputtered. The kid said nothing, only pushing up his glasses and giving her a smug, toothy grin. He grabbed his cup of tokens and walked off. That smug smile. He was showing off wasn’t he? She scowled at the cab.

"Hey Pris'! Found something?" Jade walked up to her, carrying two cups. "I got some tokens for us. No need to pay me back for them." Prisma didn't bother looking at her. Jade waved her hand in front of her enraged neighbor. "Pris'?"

Prisma looked down and grabbed one of the cups. "Thank you." She said, walking up to the cabinet and shoving tokens into it. 

"Um, you ok dude?" Jade asked, now worried. Prisma looked back at her after picking a character in the game. "I'm fine," She said sternly. "This kid who played earlier, he challenged me. I have a goal now."

Jade raised a brow. "Oh, glasses kid? I don't know his name, just know he likes playing that game. but you ain't beating him. He's godlike at it and you've never tried it!"

Prisma scoffed. "I'll challenge that. And I'll propose this, I'll beat his scores! That'll humble him." Jade had no replies left. She backed off and watched the fuming woman play and struggle with each song. She jumped into the higher level ones, barely passing failing each track She grunted and cursed under her breath, putting more tokens in before barely passing and failing again. 

It was two weeks since she started playing. Everyone in the apartment complex could've sworn they saw Prisma more than usual. But most of the trips out she wasn't carrying packages, and most of the trips home she wasn't carrying supplies. Her face wasn't aloof anymore but frustrated. She'd enter the apartment muttering something under her breath about "full combos" and "level 50 charts" before slamming the door behind her.

Jade came back from another arcade trip, walking into the apartment lobby lugging her duffel bag with her. She darted into the elevator right as it was about to close and saw Prisma standing right next to her holding a box.

"Ey, Pris'!" Jade said. "What's Pop'n?" 

Prisma glanced at Jade before hugging the box closer to her. "Nothing. Bought some special new equipment that I'm looking to try out for future projects." Jade leaned over and read one of the labels on the box, which read 'Kon's gaming supply, Warning! Fragile'

"Sure, special equipment." Jade muttered. "By the way, some arcade peeps I know said they saw you there the other day-"

"Pardon but they must've been mistaken." Prisma cut her off. "Maybe, it's someone else with a similar outfit." 

Jade raised a brow. “You ok dude? Last time I saw you like this it was because of that rich guy,”

“That was business competition. A-and this is because of that too. Definitely.” Prisma stated. The elevator doors opened. “I’m afraid I can’t talk more, I’m incredibly busy.” She said as she walked out.

Jade’s eyes narrowed. “Incredibly busy huh,” She said as the elevator doors closed. Prisma sighed and walked left of the elevator, back to her apartment door.

How much time have I been spending there? She thought, going inside her apartment. She walked past the table topped with a stack of orders that needed to be sent and opened her package. It contained a home console version of the same game and a mini controller to go with it. Alright, enough procrastinating. If I want to best that kid I should start training at home! It's what I bought this for!

Another week passed. Orders went out of her shop, but restocking was getting slower and any sort of update on it was nowhere to be seen. Jade was making her way down to the arcade that morning, carrying her towel and duffel bag. She entered the place and stepped around a mob of 6 year olds chasing each other with plastic snakes. Heading down to play DDR as usual, Jade caught a few people and a glimpse of light coming from the right side. Is that? Her? Jade thought, walking further to the right. Past the other machines two guys were watching Prisma aggressively slamming her hands on the game controller. They were whispering to each other and Jade could make out "She's been playing non-stop since we got here," and "I'd say nonstop this week. Saw her here last Monday. Does she ever take a break?" 

The two boys walked away, giving Jade the chance to come up closer. Prisma took no notice of all the people watching her, the arcade staff, and even her neighbor. All focus was devoted to the game. Her eyes darted between each note and judgement text appearing on screen. Many Greats, many goods, and to her frustration a few Bads. She cursed under her breath as she stumbled through a fast paced section of the song, the life bar on screen rising and falling with every hit and missed notes. The song ended and she grunted, "I swear to god I BETTER perfect combo this song or else!"

Jade cocked her head to the side. "Or else what?" She asked. Prisma looked behind her, flustered. "Pris'? You're not gonna break that right?"

"Break it? It's the only machine of its kind within fifty miles!" Prisma snapped. "And unless I can find a car in less than a week this is the only way I can train!"

"Training huh," Jade said. "Ok, what's up with you? Last month you didn't want to break from work and now if everyone here's correct you've been non-stop playing this game!"

Prisma started scrolling for another song to play. "You don't understand, I've set myself to be the top player in the whole arcade!" Prisma explained, turning back to the screen and selecting a song. But It all starts with perfect comboing the 49 charts, then moving on to the ex fifties-" From that point onward, Jade was lost in Prisma's splurge of rhythm game terminology and song names, many that she's never even heard before despite being a dedicated player herself. 

"Are you ready?" The voice in the game asked. Jade sighed and spoke, "I'm just gonna say it, you have a problem man. First, I talked you into taking a break because all you were doing is work and nothing else, then when you’re supposedly ‘taking a break’ you’re acting like that game is more than life. It’s the whole rich guy thing all over again! Only this time it’s not some dude being a jerk, it’s a kid! All he did was give you the wrong look and suddenly this is the only thing you give a fuck about? For god's sake take it easy and take a real break!"

"Easy for you to say!" Prisma scowled as she slammed the buttons on the machine faster than lightning. "You wouldn't understand, this is something I care deeply about. My true calling! the only thing that can satisfy me and put me at ease is if I finally take the title of highest scoring player in the arcade!" 

"Oh yeah? What happens next?" Jade questioned her. "Move on and obsess the same way over the other games? Quit your day job for the sake of getting mad over games?"

"IF THAT'S THE NEXT STEP, THEN SO BE IT!"

The screen cut to black. Prisma's frustrated expression was wiped from her face. "No... No!" She panicked tapping the screen and each of the buttons repeatedly. "I was so close too! That was gonna be a perfect combo I felt it! I-" She glanced down at the power cord coming from the cabinet. It led all the way to a power plug between two redemption games, and to the group of 6 year olds gathered around one member who was holding the end in his hand. The kids noticed her, dropped the cord and ran off screaming and flailing their plastic snakes around the arcade chanting "We're gonna get in trouble! We're gonna get in trouble!"

Slowly, Prisma looked back at Jade who was giving her a weary smile. "Umm... I-I'm just gonna go play DDR. I-If you need me..," She stammered, shuffling away. Jade picked up her pace, revealing there was one more person behind her watching. The glasses kid from a month ago. This time there was no smug grin spread across his face, but a petrified look as if he was aware of the mess he unintentionally started. Eventually, he started inching away from the scene too leaving the woman alone with only her half filled cup of tokens, and the now powered off game.