The dorm room was barely big enough for two beds, a desk, and the constant hum of someone else's ambition leaking through thin walls.
Luke didn't care.
This was enough.
Laptop open.
Whiteboard filled with messy diagrams.
Coffee gone cold.
This was how worlds started.
A Game About Survival
Luke wasn't interested in dragons or fantasy kingdoms.
He built what he knew.
The South Side.
Blocks instead of castles.
Stairwells instead of towers.
Resources like cash, reputation, heat, loyalty.
Police pressure replaced invading armies.
Rival crews replaced barbarians.
Social workers functioned as random disaster events.
The win condition?
Keep the community alive without selling your soul.
Scholarly Wisdom — Active
Code flowed.
Not rushed.
Not sloppy.
Architecture clean.
Scalable systems.
Elegant resource loops.
Every mechanic taught a lesson:
Overexpand? You collapse.
Ignore upkeep? You rot.
Abuse people? Loyalty bleeds out.
It wasn't just a game.
It was a thesis.
Ian's Problem
The phone buzzed mid-build.
Ian.
Luke answered without looking away from the screen.
"Talk."
"I think I'm spiraling," Ian said. No joke. No bravado.
Luke stopped typing.
That mattered.
The Conversation
"You sleeping?" Luke asked.
"No."
"Eating?"
"Barely."
Luke leaned back.
"Where are you right now?"
"Bus stop."
"Stay there," Luke said. "I'm calling you an Uber."
Silence. Then: "You don't have to—"
"I know," Luke replied. "That's why I am."
Parallel Builds
While the game compiled, Luke talked Ian through breathing.
Not therapy-speak.
Practical anchors.
"You're not broken," Luke said. "You're overloaded."
Ian laughed weakly. "Figures."
"Come home for a few days," Luke continued. "Reset."
"I don't want to be a burden."
Luke's voice hardened.
"You're my brother. That's not a cost."
System Note
[Social Stability Intervention]
Outcome: Emotional Collapse Prevented
Secondary Effect: Family Trust Reinforced
Back to Code
When Ian finally hung up, calmer, Luke returned to the screen.
He named the project:
Clash of Blocks
No trademarks.
No illusions.
Just survival math.
The first playable build loaded.
It worked.
Perfectly.
Final Thought
Luke leaned back, staring at the flickering city outside the dorm window.
He was building two things at once:
A game about surviving chaos.
And a family that didn't have to.
Both required the same rule:
You don't abandon what you're responsible for.
And this time—
he wouldn't.