✅ Potty Genius [NaNoWriMo 2022]

Twenty-Two

¿Did you win?

No. That isn't to say I did badly; I just took a little time to understand why it was useful to have a tree that makes wood points count as fire and vice versa. Some of the cards in this new set seemed pretty interesting, but I think that we didn't see them at their best, only having a few each to choose from. If I'd understood them better, I might have used my other deck. I usually bring three to the League, and choose one based on if I feel patient or not, and how much I care about actually winning rather than making people laugh. If I'd picked the slow and steady deck, I could have put a couple of tiny smiling monk statues under these trees, and generated a couple of extra supplicant tokens every turn with minimal effort. That might even have let me win the mini tournament, because it would have given me a way to deal with Bloomers in someone else's garden; my usual weakness.

It got me interested in the new set, anyway. I was sure that I'd want to get some of the cards when it was actually released, so I could see what a difference it made to my play style. Anyway, I played a couple of games, and did fairly well. I enjoyed it, which I think is the real prize at a meeting like this.

And after the game, some of my friends suggested we go out for dinner. I wasn't the only one moving out of town when I started university, and it seemed like it would be the end of an era. I tentatively said I'd love to have something to remember in case I didn't see them again until after Christmas. But of course I needed to be sure that I didn't have any messages from my parents asking me to pick up something from the supermarket on my way back, or whatever.

"Such a good girl," Amelie said with a grin. "Catch me doing chores for my folks."

"Catch you even cleaning your room," Rhonda retorted. "Seriously, you live in a tip. You should at least try to clear some of that up before it starts to smell."

I turned away, smiling a little at their interaction. Those two had known each other practically forever, and it was hard to imagine either of them on their own. The constant bickering was just a fact of life, and I was sure that they both found it a great form of entertainment. My phone took a long time to start up; it always did, and I wondered if it might only be a couple of months before it was too old to support the latest updates. Sooner or later I'd have to get a new one, but for now I just had to be patient.

There was a message from Mum. Wishing me good luck, and telling me that if I was coming home for dinner, I should feel free to pick up a curry on the way. That would be their treat for me, to make sure that I didn't sink into some kind of depression on realising that it would be months before I saw some of my friends again.

¿So did you go out with your friends?

I was going to, but I had another couple of messages to check out first. Starting with the expected notification from Potty Genius. It told me that I'd succeeded at the day's challenge, and prompted me to look at the next. This time it was an easier one; to set reminders, and not attempt to use the bathroom unless I had a reminder to tell me I should. That was pretty similar to what I'd had to do today, but without worrying about the uncertainty in the timer if I set them too far in advance. It also told me to that if I got a badge as a reward for this, I should make Baby Adrica wear it on the screen, which sounded cute but made me just a little nervous.

It didn't say I had to go to the bathroom when the reminders went off. So I went into the app right away and set timers for every hour for the next day, starting when I estimated I'd next need to pee after dinner. After a second's thought, I set one in five minutes as well. It was great to have an easy challenge today, and not have to worry so much. The only downside was the thing with the badges; I still wasn't sure if those would change the way the app behaved in some way, and I didn't know if I was going to win or not. They were in a different menu from all the other clothes for my little pixelated baby, so I guessed there was something special about them.