“Forty-five words per minute, Leo,” Mr. Henderson droned. “That’s the goal.”

Inside, one line: Player 48 escaped. But the maze remembers the shape of your hand. He closed the laptop. He never played Operius again.

—the fabled final stage. The maze was no longer on the screen. It was the classroom. The rows of desks became corridors. The windows became dead ends. Mr. Henderson’s voice warped into a low, digital drone. Mia was frozen mid-type, her eyes glassy, reflecting a maze only she could see.