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<<if not visited("Timmy")>>[[URYCZRVNZVAURYYtimmyVAURER.gcp|Timmy]] - 03/13/2003 2:47:39 AM 668.48 KB<<else>>NullReferenceException<</if>>
<<if not visited("Lisa")>>[[πâ¬πé╡lisaăŞăľדƒ×ד‚µعâزعé╡.gcp|Lisa]] - 11/17/2001 4:36:59 AM 616.781 KB<<else>>NullReferenceException<</if>>
<<if not visited("Eiichi")>>[[æ „ä¸€eIIchi€„ æ.gcp|Eiichi]] - 07/04/2013 12:17:43 PM 106.83 KB<<else>>NullReferenceException<</if>>
<<if not visited("Milana")>>[[o'g'irMILANAlash.gcp|Milana]] - 03/27/2004 3:47:00 PM 15.02 KB<<else>>NullReferenceException<</if>>
<<if not visited("Yvonne")>>[[Yvonne.gcp|Yvonne]] - 08/18/0000 8:03:24 AM ??? KB<<else>>NullReferenceException<</if>>
<<if $count eq 5>><<goto "End">><</if>>I lost all my allowance, which I saved for three days. Well, I didn't lose it, actually. I spent it on a new game.
I didn't care that it was gone, though. Everyone in class had already gotten to play days ahead of me, so I had to catch up. And, I was lucky.
Brand new games fresh out the wrapper costs like, six weeks of allowance! But mom chipped in too. So it was only three weeks. Plus, [[I got it used.]]
<<set $count += 1>><<timed 3s>>Honey, is that you? Are you there? Are you with me?
<<timed 6s>>I need you to call for help. I don't know where I am. I don't think I have much time.....
<<timed 6s>>Please. The number taped to my kitchen board. I need you to call it. I don't know who else to turn to now.
<<timed 6s>>I was struggling, at work, to keep you in school. To keep you safe. To keep us both safe, from him. I know you're smart...I'm sure you saw it all.
<<timed 5s>>I wish we could have spent more time together. The idea of you being all alone is.<<timed 500ms>>.<<timed 500ms>>.<<timed 500ms>>.<<timed 500ms>>.<<timed 250ms>>I can't bear it.
<<timed 5s>>If this is it, I want you to remember these words: even if they can't help me....don't turn around. <<timed 4s>>Never. <<timed 5s>>Because there's always another path, even if it's not there to see now. You still have a whole life ahead of you. That's all I've ever wanted for you.
Goodbye.
[[eof()|Data]]<</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>><</timed>>
<<set $count += 1>>I thought I had given up play. My work took precedence over everything else. But I'd heard the stories around the office. A single copy of a banned game showing up at a used shop out of the blue? I couldn't help myself; forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest.
One impromptu visit to the Super Potato later and I was right on the Sakura headed home.
[[I was obsessed.]]
<<set $count += 1>>We did a lot of things. Mostly bad things. I've had a lot of time to think on them lately.
The problem was every hit we pulled, we'd make it personal. It was never a bank or a restaurant or a store which made our target. We'd break into houses, places where people lived and were (ostensibly) safe. When you shoplift, you're not really taking the property of any one person. And shoving equipment in any average employee's faces stopped getting those juices flowing pretty fast. We needed something different, more.....visceral is the word, maybe?
It was supposed to be an average, run-of-the-mill hit. Then it turned into [[something else completely.]]
<<set $count += 1>>I had never seen a clear blue sky before.
I had never witnessed the swaying trees, or the singing birds, or the verdant grass. I had never tasted the sweetness of an apple picked at just the right time off the branch. I had never been to the cinema. I had never crossed the River Styx. I had never felt the wind on my back. I had never felt the sweat dripping down my neck. I had never tripped and fallen. I had never worked a day in my life. I had never sang a song to an audience of more than myself.
I had never until I met him. He, who walks among time. He, who disguises himself as many things. He, who knows no kindness, no empathy, no grace. He, who knows only darkness, only rage and destruction. Me, another lost soul, but to him, sustenance. Us, the prospect of love and compassion. Us, the bad joke. Me, the dainty, forgotten one. Him, the oh-so dashing savior.
I found everything yet lost it all and more in less than a second. He gave so much, yet took so much more. And the worst part is, he'll do it again.
And again. And again.
[[eof()|Data]]
<<set $count += 1>>An arcane symbol stamps the face of this card. It radiates a dark, hostile yet invisible energy unlike anything you've felt before. You feel uneasy just looking at it, as if you're being watched.
[[Enter.|Data]]
(cw: death)
<<set $count to 0>>The first Red Dawn Calling was my favorite video game ever. I played it all the time, even when I wasn't supposed to, like after bedtime with the volume down extra low so dad couldn't hear. Dad hated me playing games all the time because he said they were bad for my brain, but he really hated Red Dawn Calling 1 because he said it was a bad influenza. At least, I think he said that.
I don't think Mom cared. I saw her playing Centipede on PlayStation 1 and she was really good. She was so good that she beat my high score, but that was only because I only played Centipede once. I bet I could beat Mom's high score but I don't want to. So, I think Mom likes [[video games.]]Monster took me. He didn't call himself anything. I don't think he said anything either. But I know that I heard him because he's really loud.
I tried to finish the seventh level like two or three hours past my bedtime because Brian told me he was almost done and Brian always likes to spoil everything. He spoiled the new Spider-Man movie and I still haven't seen it. I don't even want to now, that way I can save my allowance.
The game stopped working when I was just at the end, which really made me mad because I forgot to save. I always forget. So Monster said, "Blow out the candles. It's your birthday, so blow out the candles." So I pulled out the card that came with Red Dawn Calling 2, which was really cool because I was running out of blocks on my old one. I still have my old one but I don't use it much.
I blew out the candles and Monster just smiled. He asked me if I wanted to play Red Dawn Calling 3 before everyone else. I said yes, that way I could get to the end before everybody else in Mrs. Sarria's class and tell Brian what happens so he'll get mad. I like Brian but sometimes he's a really big jerk.
That was the last time I [[saw my room.]]I like how I never get hungry in here, and it's never too bright so the sun can't get in my eyes when I look up. I played Red Dawn Calling 3 and it was okay. Monster watched and gave me hints. I don't think Brian is gonna like how it ends. I can't wait to tell him, though.
[[eof()|Data]]I was obsessed, though not because it was a particularly great shooter, or anything. Still, I played for nine hours straight. A decade-old interpretation of one of this country's great battles, even in loss; the history buff in me was hooked from the word go.
I had to fake sickness to play some more the next day. I was hoping most that Higuchi Kacho wouldn't be the one to answer the phone, but so it goes. I received quite the verbal beating, but it was all worth it; I had still a few hours to go and wouldn't have time within the next two weeks to play once season hit.
Now, I'm totally stuck. I've got nowhere else to go. Sucked in. He—I know it was a he—called himself a friend, but I know Akuma's true face. All this for an off-brand Battlefield WW2 game.
I hope someone's calling in sick on my behalf.
[[eof()|Data]]The thrill of any good hit isn't the take. Nah, for me it's the victim's initial shock. But when ol' Pete busted through his window like a top slugger: dead silence. Lights all off. Like the end of the world type shit.
We found him on the couch, mouth open. Head tilted backward, staring at the chipping plaster from the ceiling, and he had....holes for eyes. It was like someone had gouged them out. The TV was on, all blue. Lit the room a bit. He just sat there, on the couch......
Having a gun for me isn't about killing. It's about intimidation. Might as well have been bare-naked standing in [[that living room.]]We made sure not to touch the body. Didn't call the cops either. Unplugged the TV, snatched his game thing which had a little rectangle thing sticking out so it was kinda awkward. Took some food out of the fridge; must have been recent when it happened 'cause milk and bread were still good.
Couple nights later, calls on good hits were slowing down. Had some time on my hands. So, I hooked up Dead-Eye's game machine to a 55' we yanked from a senator's daughter, which I won best two out of three in shoots.
It was an army game. The only type I ever really played, 'sides Madden. Used to play them with my brother before his accident. I'd heard of it, too. Everyone had been talking about it the year before. So, I knew it was a serious game. I just didn't think it was this serious; karma, ey?
[[eof()|Data]]You feel something push you out of the card, violently. You're still as alive as ever; it might have been a blessing in disguise.