Post by Spirk on Jan 9, 2005 15:57:47 GMT -5
The Game
By R. M. Carroll
It was a cold Monday night when Hal got off work with his advance copy of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II under his jacket. He’d been working with Carl that night and knew the guy was a snitch so he had to be careful when he left so that Carl didn’t see him leaving with the game the day before it was actually due out. Carl would have no problem telling their boss and getting Hal fired.
“Bastard.” Hal muttered to himself as he passed the digital camera display. He saw Carl watching him out of the corner of his eye, the snitch knew something was up, he just wasn’t sure what. It would be best, Hal decided, if he just ignored him and went on his merry way, which is exactly what he did.
Hal made it home in record time; the game nestled against his chest as he turned off the car. Everything was so perfect this was going to be a great night. Hell on the way home he’d even got to hear one of his favorite songs on the radio, one of those old Power Ballads from the 80’s. Now he was heading inside to put Knights II into his X-Box and put his next two days off to good use.
With the game going full tilt, hours upon hours of role-playing fun in the Star Wars Universe, there were a few things that Hal missed out on. The first were the news broadcasts that had started as soon as Hal pressed the ‘Start’ Button on his X-Box. Both Television and radio reported strange phenomena in the night sky, flashing lights, billowing clouds, flashes of green and orange lighting as things began to enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Cows were mysteriously disappearing, the news reported, some were found dead, their insides now on their outsides, but for the most part the cattle population had just simply vanished.
The President and his fellow counterparts around the world made speeches that told their people not to panic, that everything would be all right. Of course as the first ships began to appear in the sky, as they news channels picked the video feeds up and broadcast them, the people panicked. Some ran wild in the streets, other began to loot and pillage. The madness had begun.
Meanwhile in the little house at the very end of the street, in the out of the way world that was Hal McReynolds own little kingdom, his character was well on it’s way to becoming a Jedi Knight. The stereo was up full blast, the sound effects and the music used to drown out any background noise that might interfere with his enjoyment of the game.
The first of the ships landed in a small field in New Jersey, the initial showing from the alien race was one of peace but humans, being the self destructive assholes that they were, shot and killed the alien ambassadors as they left their ship. The kills were credited not to the army, who had arrived too late to prevent the atrocity, but rather by Ray, ‘Ray Ray’ Milkins.
“Yup I got me three a them green bastards.” Ray Ray said proudly before a Captain named Beaumont pistol-whipped the local redneck into submission.
“Fucking rednecks.” The captain could be heard muttering as he beat the local man near death. “Started War of the Worlds just so you could have a ‘Goddamn’ trophy.”<br>
And on that last house on the left Hal was stuck on a puzzle game on Dantooine. He’d been through all the rooms, had talked to everyone he could find but he still couldn’t find the battery for his hand blaster. He looked over and eyed the remote and considered turning off the game. Perhaps if he had he would have realized what the rest of the world already knew. It was doomed.
An account was related from somewhere in the Midwest. It was a story of a man who’s home was under siege from this alien menace, this scourge of the universe, who after attempting to come in peace, discovered that their beloved ambassador was scheduled to be mounted on Ray Ray’s wall. That was, they decided, the final straw so therefore they would use their alien technology not to heal and help their would be friends of Earth, rather they would begin destroying the largest cities one by one to show their displeasure at having their leader’s fate tied to having cotton stuck up his ass.
Yet on this small farm in Illinois a man stood his ground and protected his family for over an hour using nothing more then an old sock and a barbeque fork. He managed to kill three of the alien hoard before his entire four hundred acre farm, including his home, his family and his friends, was reduced to ash by the mother ship that floated overhead. It was the only resistance the U.S. would be able to mount against the alien invaders.
Oddly enough, however was the announcement from the alien monsters, the destroyer of worlds, that Sweden would be spared any harm. The aliens had discovered the lovely compressed wood furniture that a company named Kia made and they simply adored it. So instead of wiping the Swedes off the map the aliens decided to turn them into slaves, forced to work in camps building this wonderful furniture for every alien in the group, an estimated 200 million, the country of Switzerland self destructed before the aliens could discover swiss chocolate and force a similar fate on them. Unfortunately, no one noticed.
As dawn rose on the horizon Hal was on a role again, he had mastered his skills, had figured out just what he needed to do to face the big bad, who stood just on the other side of that door. The grandfather clock behind him struck six but Hal didn’t notice, his eyes were locked on the screen as he pressed the X button to open that final door. The battle was historical, one for the record books, Jedi vs. Sith, good versus evil as Hal battled the master. He didn’t even notice as the ship cast a shadow over his house as it moved over his neighborhood. He was almost there, parry, thrust, and strike Jedi power! The master was almost dead; he was down to his last strike……….
The power went out at the same time that windows blew inwards. Hal was speechless as he stared dumbly at his blank television screen, he hadn’t even noticed the windows, didn’t notice the glass that was all over the floor. He had been so close, he was on the verge of winning the game and the power had gone out. He hadn’t even had a chance to save. He felt hollow, lost.
“Why?” He whispered as he let the controller fall from his hand to the floor. “Why God why?” He asked as his eyes stayed locked on the screen. When the ship fired it’s weapon Hal didn’t notice, not even as he was reduced to a pile of ash himself.
By R. M. Carroll
It was a cold Monday night when Hal got off work with his advance copy of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II under his jacket. He’d been working with Carl that night and knew the guy was a snitch so he had to be careful when he left so that Carl didn’t see him leaving with the game the day before it was actually due out. Carl would have no problem telling their boss and getting Hal fired.
“Bastard.” Hal muttered to himself as he passed the digital camera display. He saw Carl watching him out of the corner of his eye, the snitch knew something was up, he just wasn’t sure what. It would be best, Hal decided, if he just ignored him and went on his merry way, which is exactly what he did.
Hal made it home in record time; the game nestled against his chest as he turned off the car. Everything was so perfect this was going to be a great night. Hell on the way home he’d even got to hear one of his favorite songs on the radio, one of those old Power Ballads from the 80’s. Now he was heading inside to put Knights II into his X-Box and put his next two days off to good use.
With the game going full tilt, hours upon hours of role-playing fun in the Star Wars Universe, there were a few things that Hal missed out on. The first were the news broadcasts that had started as soon as Hal pressed the ‘Start’ Button on his X-Box. Both Television and radio reported strange phenomena in the night sky, flashing lights, billowing clouds, flashes of green and orange lighting as things began to enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Cows were mysteriously disappearing, the news reported, some were found dead, their insides now on their outsides, but for the most part the cattle population had just simply vanished.
The President and his fellow counterparts around the world made speeches that told their people not to panic, that everything would be all right. Of course as the first ships began to appear in the sky, as they news channels picked the video feeds up and broadcast them, the people panicked. Some ran wild in the streets, other began to loot and pillage. The madness had begun.
Meanwhile in the little house at the very end of the street, in the out of the way world that was Hal McReynolds own little kingdom, his character was well on it’s way to becoming a Jedi Knight. The stereo was up full blast, the sound effects and the music used to drown out any background noise that might interfere with his enjoyment of the game.
The first of the ships landed in a small field in New Jersey, the initial showing from the alien race was one of peace but humans, being the self destructive assholes that they were, shot and killed the alien ambassadors as they left their ship. The kills were credited not to the army, who had arrived too late to prevent the atrocity, but rather by Ray, ‘Ray Ray’ Milkins.
“Yup I got me three a them green bastards.” Ray Ray said proudly before a Captain named Beaumont pistol-whipped the local redneck into submission.
“Fucking rednecks.” The captain could be heard muttering as he beat the local man near death. “Started War of the Worlds just so you could have a ‘Goddamn’ trophy.”<br>
And on that last house on the left Hal was stuck on a puzzle game on Dantooine. He’d been through all the rooms, had talked to everyone he could find but he still couldn’t find the battery for his hand blaster. He looked over and eyed the remote and considered turning off the game. Perhaps if he had he would have realized what the rest of the world already knew. It was doomed.
An account was related from somewhere in the Midwest. It was a story of a man who’s home was under siege from this alien menace, this scourge of the universe, who after attempting to come in peace, discovered that their beloved ambassador was scheduled to be mounted on Ray Ray’s wall. That was, they decided, the final straw so therefore they would use their alien technology not to heal and help their would be friends of Earth, rather they would begin destroying the largest cities one by one to show their displeasure at having their leader’s fate tied to having cotton stuck up his ass.
Yet on this small farm in Illinois a man stood his ground and protected his family for over an hour using nothing more then an old sock and a barbeque fork. He managed to kill three of the alien hoard before his entire four hundred acre farm, including his home, his family and his friends, was reduced to ash by the mother ship that floated overhead. It was the only resistance the U.S. would be able to mount against the alien invaders.
Oddly enough, however was the announcement from the alien monsters, the destroyer of worlds, that Sweden would be spared any harm. The aliens had discovered the lovely compressed wood furniture that a company named Kia made and they simply adored it. So instead of wiping the Swedes off the map the aliens decided to turn them into slaves, forced to work in camps building this wonderful furniture for every alien in the group, an estimated 200 million, the country of Switzerland self destructed before the aliens could discover swiss chocolate and force a similar fate on them. Unfortunately, no one noticed.
As dawn rose on the horizon Hal was on a role again, he had mastered his skills, had figured out just what he needed to do to face the big bad, who stood just on the other side of that door. The grandfather clock behind him struck six but Hal didn’t notice, his eyes were locked on the screen as he pressed the X button to open that final door. The battle was historical, one for the record books, Jedi vs. Sith, good versus evil as Hal battled the master. He didn’t even notice as the ship cast a shadow over his house as it moved over his neighborhood. He was almost there, parry, thrust, and strike Jedi power! The master was almost dead; he was down to his last strike……….
The power went out at the same time that windows blew inwards. Hal was speechless as he stared dumbly at his blank television screen, he hadn’t even noticed the windows, didn’t notice the glass that was all over the floor. He had been so close, he was on the verge of winning the game and the power had gone out. He hadn’t even had a chance to save. He felt hollow, lost.
“Why?” He whispered as he let the controller fall from his hand to the floor. “Why God why?” He asked as his eyes stayed locked on the screen. When the ship fired it’s weapon Hal didn’t notice, not even as he was reduced to a pile of ash himself.