“It means ‘unblocked from the school filter,’ Leo. Not ‘unblocked from the interdimensional grandmother apocalypse.’”

Leo raised his hand. “In my defense,” he said, as a second wave of grandmas phased through the back wall, “it said ‘unblocked.’ I assumed that meant, like, ‘safe for school.’”

He held up his school-issued Chromebook. The calculator app had transformed. Instead of numbers, it displayed a single, rotating chocolate chip cookie. When Marcus tapped the screen, his total number of unlocked pastries went from zero to six.

Into the classroom shuffled seven figures in floral dresses and hairnets. They were grandmas—virtual grandmas from the game, rendered in alarmingly high resolution. Their eyes were pixelated voids. Their hands kneaded invisible dough. And they were heading straight for the Chromebook cart.