It feels like I have been writing this book for many years. Accordingly, thanks and acknowledgments are due to many people.

I am deeply indebted to my editor, Orlando Dos Reis, whose persistence and perceptiveness have saved this book time and again. Among (many) other things, he helped me get into Kara’s head, got this book off the ground, and brought it home. Thank you.

Thanks are also due to the entire team at Scholastic, who brought me such joy with every stage of this book’s formation, from art to copyediting, that I have now become even more annoying at parties because I can not stop talking about any of it. I am also grateful to David Levithan, whose advice restarted this book when it glitched. Truly, your help was the equivalent of unplugging the controller, dusting it off, and plugging it back in again; may every writer be so lucky as to have such an incredible cheat code in their arsenal. Or a player’s guide, because you were a guide? This metaphor is getting away from me.

My sincere thanks to both Pasquale Toscano and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins; Aaron and this book are both better off because of your time and thoughtfulness. Thanks as well to Dan Fitzpatrick and Jacob Rienstra, for fielding unexpected questions about video games and programming, respectively. And then there are those who consulted on this book without knowing it. In particular, I owe thanks to Greta, Danna, Nita, Gianina, and Julianna, all of whom were major inspirations for Kara. And I didn’t even plan that name thing. Wild!

Many people either had to hear about this book incessantly for years, or in some cases watch, for hours at a time, as it got dragged kicking and screaming into existence. A non-exhaustive but very heartfelt list would include (deep breath, from the top): Devon, Dan, Nora, Micah, Moulie, Mark, Neil, Gianina, Jack, Jules, Aleja, Elizabeth, Lydia, Matt, Brice, Bugra, Dylan, Jon, Billy, Nico, Andrew, Nick, David, Chris, and the Q train. If I have forgotten anyone, please excuse my lack of RAM. Let me know and you will be included in the next Update’s patch notes.

And, of course, thank you to my family, who got me here and helped me stay here. In many ways, they are the reason this book exists. But let’s get specific about one particular way: They supported me as I ransacked book fairs, libraries, and (in my brother’s case) hard-earned private property for years. Mom was constantly on book fair duty; Dad is the reason I was able to bike to the library; and countless uncles and aunts contributed books to the effort as well (one in particular knocked it out of the park with The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents). As a result, I was introduced to all the great, empowering action-adventure books I read and reread growing up, along with their authors, to whom this book is one big, breathless tribute: Eoin Colfer, Vivian Vande Velde, Scott Westerfeld, Diane Duane, Terry Pratchett, and too many more to name. They all deserve thanks, as well.

And if you’re reading this: Thank you, too. Now that you’ve finished your first playthrough, you can actually go back and reread this book with all the side quests unlocked.

If I’m lucky, you’ll enjoy it half as much as I did.