Interlude Will

Will was so mortified he wished the ground would just gobble him up. Except, he was already a mile underground, which, yeah, made that kinda impossible.

This whole mess kicked off with the new upgrades to the Aperture BSS. He totally would've snoozed on it if it weren't for Dustin geeking out big time. Dude was practically ricocheting off the walls with excitement.

Moving to the Enrichment Centre was a game changer, especially for Dustin. It was cool for all of us, sure, but Dustin? He was in his element. Found his tribe, you know? The kind of nerds who'd call math "the poetry of nature" and not even crack a smile.

Mike was low-key freaking that Dustin might ditch the Party for these new brainy pals. He didn't spell it out for Will, but he didn't have to. Even without his Gift, Will got Mike loud and clear.

That worry kinda lit a fire under Mike, got him hustling to glue everyone together. From D&D marathons to diving in the underground pool, he was on it.

And, uh, the whole pool thing? Still weirding Will out. Not like you had to strip down, but when nearly everyone's ditching their clothes, sticking to swim trunks makes you the odd one out.

But that vibe sometimes got Mike all riled up, especially with Dustin's new crew. Sam, mostly.

If Will's being real, Mike's beef with Sam had a lot to do with El being buddies with him too.

But that drama wasn't front and centre for Will right now. Nah, he was way too caught up in his own epic embarrassment.

He was skulking around the corridors far from where they usually hung out, dodging anyone he knew.

Couldn't even look people in the eye without freaking out, wondering if they'd caught wind of what went down. Every time he tried, he'd just imagine them laughing or, worse, pitying him.

Will didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't help it. The Aperture BSS already had spots where anyone registered could stash their stuff. And it even had a cool look that was always getting better.

Will had his own page there. He mostly used it to share photos of his art. There was some tech magic where photos could be uploaded to a computer, but that was kinda over his head. Dustin had tried to break it down for him—something about turning pictures into numbers and back again—but Will just couldn't wrap his head around it.

He never got why they called it a page. Messing with computers just made people weird. Like Dustin, or that Mormon girl he dated, or Zach. He really didn't want to think about Zach. Not after what he pulled.

Just the thought of Zach dragged him back to what he was trying to avoid. It was all Zach's fault.

His and whoever came up with making story videos on computers. Because now, videos could be made by anyone and shared. And Will guessed whoever invented the digital camera was to blame too, no matter how much his older brother was into them.

But mostly, it was Zach.

When Zach first made his move, Will felt a mix of embarrassment and a surprising hint of pleasure.

Being wanted was nice, even if it was by someone younger. Will knew it wasn't going anywhere. A few years might not seem like a big deal later on, but right now, they mattered.

Embarrassing, sure, but something he could handle. Nancy had dealt with Dustin's awkward advances. Will figured he could manage Zach's too.

But then Zach released that video.

What Zach called a "love song."

It was... a lot. Too much, actually.

How much?

Zach's video was a disaster on a whole new level. Him, with a joystick taped to his crotch, singing, "Come baby, play with my joystick, you know you wanna." Like, seriously?

And that wasn't even the worst part. The chorus blasted, "Up, up, in the butt," which was just... beyond. Who even thinks that's okay?

To top off this trainwreck, he dedicated the whole cringefest to Will, by name, in front of everyone. Like a giant neon sign pointing right at Will, broadcasting that mess to the world.

So, yeah, Will was contemplating hermit life now.

Stuck in a high-tech facility where privacy was pretty much a joke.

Fantastic plan? Nope. But it felt slightly better than walking around with a paper bag over his head for eternity.