When Maxine Sneezes: How the Arcade Glitch Took Over Breakfast

It was early morning, and obviously, I couldn’t resist the urge for a good breakfast! So, I decided to step outside and grab some fresh fruit with Lena. But as we passed by the Giant Robot, I felt a weird energy in the air—and no, it wasn’t just because he was dressed as a cow with a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. Something unusual was going on. Naturally, being the community’s gossip girl, I called Maxine to join me for breakfast. I had a feeling she might know more than she lets on.

But wait—maybe you’re new around here and wondering: who is Maxine, anyway?

Maxine isn’t your average citizen of our universe. Legend has it that, years ago, she spent so much time inside an arcade game—literally inside the game—that one night, in a swirl of pixels and chaos, she got zapped right into our world. Since then, she’s become everyone’s friend and a real PK XD legend. She’s the ultimate gamer, always high-energy and ready for anything. But every now and then, she glitches out a little. Some say she still misses her arcade days, which might explain the occasional “anomaly”...

Anyway, back to our strange morning.

I set the table and made everything just the way she likes it. Maxine arrived, sat down… and just stared into space. Like, full-on daydream mode. She barely said a word, just poked at her bread and stared at her juice. Obviously, this only made me more suspicious! I tried to make small talk, but she seemed miles away.

And then…

— AH-CHOO!

She sneezed so hard it rattled the mugs on the table.

That’s when things started getting seriously weird. For a split second, I swear I saw Maxine’s arm “de-pixelate” into little colored blocks, like she’d turned into an 8-bit character. She just smirked, totally not wanting to talk about it. I laughed nervously but kept watching her closely.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the hallway. Clotilde strolled by like nothing had happened—but hang on… she was voxelized! Instead of feathers, she was made of little blocks, straight out of a video game.

Wait… video game?! Now I had to question Maxine.

“Maxine, are you seeing Clotilde right now?”

Another sneeze. Maxine stayed silent. She just kept sneezing, and every time she did, things around us changed a little more.

I looked at Maxine. She avoided my eyes, but I could tell—she knew something. Instead of explaining, she just kept sneezing. Again and again.

By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late: the street outside had transformed. The sidewalks were pixelated, the clouds were blocky, the fish in the pond looked totally glitched out, Clotilde was pecking at digital bits in the yard, and all I could think was, “Is this that computer virus everyone warns about?!”

I started to panic.

“Maxine! This is because of that old arcade of yours, isn’t it?”

She sneezed. Again. And again.

With each sneeze, it felt like a piece of the arcade world was invading ours. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, I heard a strange noise from the neighborhood. I ran over and… WOW!

A brand new house had appeared out of nowhere. Not just any house—a total retro gamer palace! Neon lights everywhere, the sound of coins dropping, flickering lights… It was the Arcade Gamer House! Of course, I had to go in (journalistic curiosity, you know). There was an elevator, a hidden passage, gorgeous rooms—honestly, it was HUGE! It felt like magic… or maybe just a really wild bug.

I hurried back to find Maxine, but she was already up, exploring the house with two new super-stylish roommates. I’d never seen them before, but you could tell they were her crew—one had amazing hair and a neon hoodie, the other had… wait for it… a TV for a head!

“Meet Gamer Boy and Gamer Girl” Maxine whispered with her first real smile of the day. “Old friends from my game!”

Before I could even react, an electronic meow echoed across the room. A cat jumped down from the mezzanine—but not just any cat, this was a Digital Cat, eyes glowing bright! Next came a Voxel Zombie, all wobbly and cute. And then—POOF!—a round, colorful pet burst out laughing. It was an Arcade Bomb! They all tumbled out of a glowing, blinking capsule.

Honestly, I think Maxine sneezed so hard she fused her arcade world with ours!
But hey, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. It’s just a little glitch—how long could it last, right? Until Maxine gets better, we might as well enjoy this gamer moment. Who knows, maybe we’ll score some arcade tickets and trade them in for surprise prizes! Not a bad deal if you ask me.

So if your chicken suddenly turns voxel, or your house starts flashing in 8-bit… you’ll know who just sneezed nearby. Welcome to the (totally unplanned) Arcade Season! Breakfast is officially over.

P.S.: Jenny begged us to launch the new goth outfit, and she’s got an all-new dance she swears will be a hit across the universe. She’s been practicing for weeks—and honestly, I believe her!

XOXO,
Gossip Girl (But seriously, could this virus wipe my computer? I can’t lose that list…!)

WHO WANT MORE SPOILERS?

I checked out the Arcade Season earlier and took some pics. Want to see them? Here you go!