“Benji Ferrell, you’ll be late for school again! Leave those games alone and hurry up!”
Yet again Benji’s precious free time was interrupted by his mother yelling up the stairs. She clearly doesn’t realize what’s at stake. Benji had been staying up all night every night for the last week. Most people would use this extra time to sleep but that’s what homeroom and first period are for. Teachers generally don’t care what you do as long as you pass the tests. Benji had to be the first to get 100% completion on Ultimate Daydream 12.
All the hours spent grinding levels, chasing side quest objectives, raising reputation, it will all pay off during the final battle. The only thing that was stopping him in this moment was his legs that had fallen asleep. He paused the game and gently tried to shift position but somehow knocked over a mountain of instant noodle containers in the process. Finally comfortable, Benji unpaused the game, the final battle music soaring throughout the room. A few minutes later and Benji sat watching the credits scroll down the screen. As they finished a button prompted him to save his game. A moment later it returned to the start menu.
All at once the television went dark, the trusty fan in the corner of his room slowly ground to a halt, and the glowing lights from Benji’s precious game console went dark. Suddenly a knocking on the bedroom door woke him from his stupor.
“Benji, I’ve shut off the power to your room and it won’t get turned back on until you come home from school. You have 5 minutes to shower and get ready or I’ll donate that console to a needy family while you’re gone.”
The average person would see this ultimatum as something reasonable but Benji saw it as a threat to his life. One that was enough to spur him to action. After placing the controller in front of the console, he willed his legs to work again, rising up to wobble unsteadily. He began to cross the distance to his dresser, picking up speed as he went and grabbed a fresh pair of underwear upon arrival.
As he step out into the hallway he could see his mother’s braided blonde hair disappearing beyond the steps. A few steps later and he was safely inside the bathroom. Benji had long ago mastered the art of the quick shower. He refused to waste precious time showering when that time could be spending working towards completing a game. A few minutes later with his body now fresh and clean, he turned off the water and stepped in front of sink. He grabbed his toothbrush, applied paste, and stuck it in his mouth. As he cleaned his teeth with one hand, he grabbed a tube of hair gel and quickly worked his purple hair up and back, forming his trademark spiked hairdo. With his hair now looking amazing, he finished brushing his teeth and took one last look in the mirror. Satisfied with what he saw, he ran back into his room and quickly dressed into his black school uniform and stuffed his handheld game system into his pocket on the way out.
“That’s better. Now eat your breakfast and head to the station or else you’ll miss your train to school.”
Before he even reached the bottom of the stairs his mother was talking to him. Did she have ESP? The stairs in his house come out into our living room. As he walked across the room to the dining table, he looked at the plate of food waiting for him.
“Thank you for the food, mother.”
After giving his thanks she smiled and turned back to her work in the kitchen. When Benji was little she would make him sit down and slowly eat the entire plate of food. She gave up over the years and was satisfied as long as he made an attempt to eat part of everything. Breakfast this morning consisted of salmon filet, pickled vegetables, egg omelet and a bowl of white rice. Looking at his watch he realized that he didn’t have time to sit and eat. Grabbing two slices of bread he took a fork and placed a decent amount of each dish onto one slice. After placing the other slice on top and pinched the edges shut, he created a portable version of the meal his mother made. He wrapped the sandwich into a paper towel and walked to the front door where he slipped on his shoes. After exiting the house he reached into his pocket, pulling out a Gamestation Portable and switched on Empire Battlers 9.
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As he made his way through the neighborhood his attention was focused on the game. He was working towards 100% completion with only the legendary weapon of his favorite character, Lu Bu, left to get. After years of walking while playing games, avoiding cars and people became second nature to Benji. He was able to avoid them without having to use his eyes. He methodically played the game while pausing to take bites of his sandwich. Most of the time he was satisfied with whatever was available but his mom’s breakfast was seriously delicious. After about 10 minutes of walking he came to Bahenta Station. A quick press of the menu button on his GSP told him that he arrived with a few minutes to spare. He quickly made his way through the ticket station and paused his game long enough to buy an iced coffee from a vending machine. Nothing was better after a good meal than iced coffee. After a few large gulps he deposited the can in a recycling bin and went to wait for the train.
As he stood waiting patiently for the train he felt someone gently brush his left shoulder. He ignored the movement and refocused on the game. A few moments later he felt another slight nudge to his shoulder. He sighed, paused the game, and turned to look at the offender. To his surprise he found a girl smiling back at him. Her black hair was pulled into a complicated braid which nicely framed her face. She was dressed in a dark green blazer and matching plaid skirt which complemented her slender frame. Her name was Zoe Weaver, a fellow senior from his school.
“Good morning, Benji.” she said.
“Morning.” he replied.
This interaction happened on a weekly basis but always played out the same way. Zoe would attempt to make conversation and Benji would largely ignore her. After seeing that she was satisfied with his greeting, he resumed his game. It wasn’t that Benji disliked her. On the contrary he thought she was quite attractive. He just wanted to be left alone but Zoe was someone who made it her mission to be friends with everyone.
A few minutes later the train arrived. Benji made his way onto the train and quickly found a seat. Zoe sat across from Benji but she was content with playing on her smart phone and left him alone. He unpaused his game and finished the final boss without taking any damage. A shining weapon dropped from the commander’s corpse. He quickly collected it and saw the achievement notification flash across the screen telling him that EB9 was 100% complete. After going to the option menu, he equipped Lu Bu with Sky Piercer, his crescent-bladed halberd. Satisfied, he saved his game, turned off his GSP and placed it in his pocket. The rest of the ride was uneventful and after a few minutes arrived at the next station.
Benji left the train and made his way through the crowded station. Eventually he arrived at Giga Street, the main road that ran through the city. While waiting among the crowd for the light to change, he checked the clock on his GSP. He would arrive to homeroom on schedule and have plenty of time to chat with his friends about their progress on Empire Battlers 9. He was keen to brag that he had completed the game on the train ride to school. All the sudden screams could be heard all around him. He wondered if someone had crossed early and had been struck by a vehicle. The screams increased in volume which in turn led to people running every direction causing cars to crash into each other as they avoided pedestrians. He soon heard the sound of car doors being opened, followed by hurried steps that he assumed were from the drivers.
Benji pushed his way to the curb and looked at the source of the noise. Injured people were being assisted by concerned citizens while the drivers and pedestrians began running down the street only to momentarily look back at the sky above them, a motion that caused them to shriek in terror. Confused, Benji finally looked up at the sky. What he saw made no sense. Something that looked like a giant iron railroad spike was plummeting towards the Earth. The sudden realization that the gigantic object that was casting shadows over the city was actually hundreds of miles away out towards the Panlantic Ocean. Benji stood in awe of the object, wonders where the massive thing had come from. Seconds later the giant spike impacted the Earth, sending violent tremors that reached across to both sides of the ocean. Benji was swept off his feet from the impact. As he fell to the ground onto his back, he heard Zoe cry out in pain. At the same time he heard a voice that echoed across the planet.
“Greetings Earthlings! Your backwater planet has the good fortune of being visited by The World Spike! Speaking my true name would crack this tiny planet in half so you can just call me Bob. Now, generally the first reaction in a situation like this is for your governments to start attacking the offending object. Sorry to disappoint you but the World Spike is indestructible. Your next question will be asking why I’m here. Well, it’s because I’m bored! The first ten thousand years of human history were interesting but lately you’ve all become so boring. There for a while I thought you’d kill yourselves off but what’s with all this peace!? Sure I could just go watch some other part of the galaxy but not every planet evolves to the point of producing intelligent life."
"Since you all refuse to be entertaining I’ve decided to change things up a bit. I will now activate the Great Changing Machine which will randomize things a bit. You’ll all gain new abilities based on your personality and general lifestyle. You all should take some time to get used to your new powers. Twenty-four hours from now I will mutate all non-human life on your planet which will try their very best to kill you all! Try your best!”