She even had glasses,
which people rarely had to wear anymore, with surgery being cheaper
than lenses. Page flipping paused on a drill sergeant archetype. The
man was straight out of every military movie I had ever seen. Seconds
later he started screaming.
“ You
are not prepared! You are a weak little man who couldn’t handle
what I have to offer! You keep turning that page right past me,
maggot!” I did while trying to wipe off flakes of spittle he
managed to shout over to me. Then I turned the page back, flipped off
the drill sergeant which set him off again. As I turned onward I
swear the next person was laughing at my antics.
“ That’s
right! Screw that asshole!” Said a young man dressed in a black
leather jacket. I paused for a moment.
“ How
many choices are there?” I asked.
“ One
for every dream under the sun, man. We are legion!” The teen
did a kick and started dancing. I smiled, recognizing it from an old
music video, then waved goodbye. The younger man waved back and kept
right on going, inserting his own sound effects.
It
was interesting and definitely neat. I might have scrolled back
through a few if they didn’t seem so real. Getting caught
staring at the red skinned woman would have been bad for my heart. I
sighed and turned another page, hoping for something that would speak
to me. Not in a literal sense, though, I needed someone that was
relatable.
There
was a yawn again. I looked over my shoulder, pausing halfway between
turning the page away from a child reading a book. The child had been
cute, but relating to younger kids was painful to me. I kept asking
myself endless amounts of questions. Most were of the ‘what if’
variety and those often knocked me out of my happy place.
“ Oh,
you again.”
The
small dragon was perched on an even higher pillar behind me. Where
that one had come from was beyond me. Perhaps the computer had
generated it when the small creature wanted a towering vantage point.
It looked down at my finger then tilted a small scaled head
quizzically.
“ I
don’t know either. There are so many choices and all I see is a
person. Got any suggestions?”
The
dragon rippled in a shrug, both wings fluttering slightly.
“ Yeah.
That’s what I figured.” I turned the page again and the
small child looked up briefly from the book, smiled and waved. Behind
me, there was a purr from the dragon. They parted ways as the next
person came into being.
A
man in prayer complete with a stole. Shortly after was a female in
her matching clothes. Next was a woman complete with baby in one arm.
She looked both tired and pleased at the same time. My sister wore
the same conflicted look as Beth grew up.
“ It
gets better.” I tried to give a reassuring smile, but it felt
fake.
The
woman grunted and waved me away.
Voices
came in all shapes and sizes. No two alike, many seemed to have
gender counterpoints. Skin color varied and many weren’t human.
One Centaur type creature was disturbingly correct in its anatomy. I
shuddered for a moment while the great beast gave a laugh. That page
was turned quickly before he could rear up and disturb me even more.
One
was a short creature that might have been a gnome. A stockier one
followed that might be a dwarf. Scanning through this book was giving
me a fairly clear picture of what sort of choices were out there in
this game.
Here
was a tree and perched up high was a giant cat man. Clearly this was
the same race as whomever Beth was playing with in the game. I paused
in my perusal. Were these what passed for Gods? Was that what was
happening here? A Voice? Oh wow. Now it was even more important to
find one that worked for me. Only I had no idea what to choose.
Next
up was a Jester looking creature. I hesitated to say human because it
wasn’t entirely clear under the clownish edge of frills. Worse
still was the long nose on his face and the distorted smile. This one
stared at me and didn’t move. His backdrop was blank like
which people rarely had to wear anymore, with surgery being cheaper
than lenses. Page flipping paused on a drill sergeant archetype. The
man was straight out of every military movie I had ever seen. Seconds
later he started screaming.
“ You
are not prepared! You are a weak little man who couldn’t handle
what I have to offer! You keep turning that page right past me,
maggot!” I did while trying to wipe off flakes of spittle he
managed to shout over to me. Then I turned the page back, flipped off
the drill sergeant which set him off again. As I turned onward I
swear the next person was laughing at my antics.
“ That’s
right! Screw that asshole!” Said a young man dressed in a black
leather jacket. I paused for a moment.
“ How
many choices are there?” I asked.
“ One
for every dream under the sun, man. We are legion!” The teen
did a kick and started dancing. I smiled, recognizing it from an old
music video, then waved goodbye. The younger man waved back and kept
right on going, inserting his own sound effects.
It
was interesting and definitely neat. I might have scrolled back
through a few if they didn’t seem so real. Getting caught
staring at the red skinned woman would have been bad for my heart. I
sighed and turned another page, hoping for something that would speak
to me. Not in a literal sense, though, I needed someone that was
relatable.
There
was a yawn again. I looked over my shoulder, pausing halfway between
turning the page away from a child reading a book. The child had been
cute, but relating to younger kids was painful to me. I kept asking
myself endless amounts of questions. Most were of the ‘what if’
variety and those often knocked me out of my happy place.
“ Oh,
you again.”
The
small dragon was perched on an even higher pillar behind me. Where
that one had come from was beyond me. Perhaps the computer had
generated it when the small creature wanted a towering vantage point.
It looked down at my finger then tilted a small scaled head
quizzically.
“ I
don’t know either. There are so many choices and all I see is a
person. Got any suggestions?”
The
dragon rippled in a shrug, both wings fluttering slightly.
“ Yeah.
That’s what I figured.” I turned the page again and the
small child looked up briefly from the book, smiled and waved. Behind
me, there was a purr from the dragon. They parted ways as the next
person came into being.
A
man in prayer complete with a stole. Shortly after was a female in
her matching clothes. Next was a woman complete with baby in one arm.
She looked both tired and pleased at the same time. My sister wore
the same conflicted look as Beth grew up.
“ It
gets better.” I tried to give a reassuring smile, but it felt
fake.
The
woman grunted and waved me away.
Voices
came in all shapes and sizes. No two alike, many seemed to have
gender counterpoints. Skin color varied and many weren’t human.
One Centaur type creature was disturbingly correct in its anatomy. I
shuddered for a moment while the great beast gave a laugh. That page
was turned quickly before he could rear up and disturb me even more.
One
was a short creature that might have been a gnome. A stockier one
followed that might be a dwarf. Scanning through this book was giving
me a fairly clear picture of what sort of choices were out there in
this game.
Here
was a tree and perched up high was a giant cat man. Clearly this was
the same race as whomever Beth was playing with in the game. I paused
in my perusal. Were these what passed for Gods? Was that what was
happening here? A Voice? Oh wow. Now it was even more important to
find one that worked for me. Only I had no idea what to choose.
Next
up was a Jester looking creature. I hesitated to say human because it
wasn’t entirely clear under the clownish edge of frills. Worse
still was the long nose on his face and the distorted smile. This one
stared at me and didn’t move. His backdrop was blank like
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