Well, where do I start?
My name is Nathaniel Grimm. That's the name I inherited from my grandfather. But nobody calls me Nathaniel, because it's a very old-fashioned name. Most people call me Nathan or Nate.
I'm 13 years old and I just entered middle school. My birthday is on March 21st.
I don't have many hobbies. Well, I even have some, but they aren't that interesting. I like to play, read, walk, watch movies and series (especially those inspired by games) and other things.
If I had to describe myself based on the characteristics I mentioned now, I would say that I'm just a normal kid who has an abnormal fixation on games. Not very different from someone my age.
But obviously, there are still dozens of other things about me that I haven't said yet.
But let's start with the most important. I'm not a normal boy. I have something that others don't have, a power of mine, a skill never seen before.
I'm not exaggerating or fantasizing, I'm being as honest as I can right now. So I'll just be direct.
I can...
"What are you doing? "
Nate was taken out of his little inner world back to the classroom where he was before. He blinked a few times still confused, but as soon as the gears of his brain started working again, everything fit into place.
It was already lunchtime, the math class was over and half of the room had already gone to the cafeteria. The other half was eating in the classroom while talking to their friends.
And Nate, as a great antisocial recluse that he was, was sitting in bis place with the same handheld console in his hand, this time with a different game on the screen.
He probably got distracted while playing and started rambling again. It was becoming a little frequent these days. If he gets bored or distracted while doing something (especially while playing), he would start thinking to himself about something random.
This could happen anywhere. In his house, in his room, in the bathroom, at school, in the school bathroom, he would begin to digress and make an extremely unnecessary internal monologue. Even he thought it was strange, after all it's not like anyone is going to hear what he thinks.
And it was because of these "daydreams" that he got into trouble with Mrs. Edderson in the last run. He should fix this before they became more frequent than they already were. Who knows what could happen-
"Dude, are you listening to me? "
Damn. I got distracted again.
Looking well at the person who had called him twice, Nate ran into no one else, none other than Mike.
"Did you got dementia by any chance? " Mike asked looking at Nate with a raised eyebrow.
"No, your face is so ugly that my brain glitched while looking at you" Nate replied rolling his eyes.
" Ouch " Mike murmured " You hurt my feelings... "
Nate sighed as he watched Mike do an extremely dramatic performance about how he had hurt Mike's feelings.
Mike Bayers, classmate, best friend and also my oldest friend. We've known each other since kindergarten and have very similar hobbies.
This guy is part of the theater club, so whenever he can he likes to exaggerate the situation and make everything more dramatic to become the victim, as he is doing now. Sometimes it's funny, but when he wants to make an impact, he's very capable of it.
He is the tallest in our class, being almost 5'9 tall and I'm 5'5. Apparently, it's a family thing because his father, mother, grandfather and great-grandfather are also very tall, and his 7-year-old sister is the same height as me.
He also practices many sports, such as basketball, soccer, boxing and many others-
"So, what are you playing? "
I really need to stop distracting myself. Lucky for me he didn't notice this time.
Nate had forgotten which game he was playing before, so he looked at the console to see which game it was. A simple look at the screen covered by giant robots and a mixture of colors ranging from purple, black and gray, he remembered what it was.
Machina Hell.
An adventure and action RPG whose main focus is battles between giant robots and aliens.
In the main story, humanity is invaded by creatures from another planet called "Zeals" and after years of war and death, using stolen alien technology, giant robots known as Machinas are created to face the giant orders of Zeals and other aliens scattered throughout the galaxy.
You can choose between 5 male or female protagonists, each having their own Machina, and each Machina having a set of weapons and improvements that you can get during the game. In addition to being able to interact with the other 4 main characters throughout the story.
The game had several scenarios that ranged from super technological cities to almost lifeless planets, a very interesting combat system that involved exploding, cutting and machine-guning everything that is not human in your path, a cool story and several fun interactions between the main characters. Overall, it was a good game.
It was already the 5th time Nate was playing that game. Of the other 4 times he each with each of the other 4 protagonists, but now he was playing with Tarah Taylor, a general of the army of humanity with a Machina focused on defense. And he was already in the final battle against the mother ship of the Zeals, being helped by the other 4 main characters.
" Machina Hell " Nate replied showing the game screen to Mike " Almost at the end "
"Really? I haven't even passed Glork yet " Mike said a little discouraged.
"The Glork? Really, Mike? " Nate almost didn't believe what he was hearing.
Glork was the third boss of the game and, for many players, was considered the easiest boss. He was basically a giant slug that spat out a kind of acid that corroded the Machina's metal. At first glance, it seemed dangerous, but this was far from true.
To begin with, Glork was slow. Like, very slow. He was at the top of the official list of slowest enemies in the game, according to the developers. You only lost to him if he got too close or didn't know the meaning of the word "dodge".
Second, he was a blind creature, and was guided only by sound. The simplest strategy was to put an explosive somewhere, wait for the Glork to go towards the sound of the explosion and fill him with bullets while he was at a safe distance.
And third, if you were playing with Anthony Loft, one of the male protagonists who has a Machina focused on short and long distance combat, the most efficient strategy is to plant bombs and fill the Glork with bullets until he dies.
It was almost impossible for you to have difficulty fighting Glork. Dark souls players who played Machina Hell even said they won Glork with their eyes closed and using noise-proof headphones.
The funniest thing? Mike was playing with Anthony, the same character who already guarantees an easy victory against Glork.
"The fight against him is difficult" Nate had to use every fiber of his body to resist the urge to say 'noob'.
"Do you want a tip? "Translation: You are so terrible that you need advice to beat the literal easiest boss in the whole game.
"I would appreciate it" Mike didn't notice the subtle double meaning of the sentence.
Nate just rolled his eyes while pausing the game.
"In the real city, the first city of the game, there is an orphanage. Go to this orphanage, look for a girl named Emily, play a little with her, buy her some candy, and during the dialogues, promise that you will destroy all Zeals and avenge her parents who were killed by Zeals "
"Okay? "
"Wait 3 days, then go back to that same orphanage. You will find out that she and her older sister, Carla, disappeared. Then you can decide between ignoring this or looking for them. Obviously you will look for them, they are in a dangerous neighborhood called 'D.E.D'. Look for the 'Black Dogs' gang because they were the ones who kidnapped the girls. Find their base and rescue the two girls "
"And how does that help me? "
"I haven't finished yet. After saving them, as a thanks to you, Carla gives you a lot of scrap that she found in the old iron of the city. It turns out that, after all, they were not simple scraps, but Zeals technology that was confused with scrap. Take this to the main laboratory and after 2 days, scientists will use these same technology to improve their Machina. You will win the energy blade, the pulverizer, the electro-shield and the magnetic shield, which you would only win later in the game. This will make your fight against Glork easier "
Nate took the game out of the pause and continued the battle.
Mike was completely speechless.
"How do you know that? Did you see it in any YouTube video? "
"I found out on my third time playing the game. But I think there must be some video on YouTube talking about it " Nate replied while giving the final blow to the boss.
"And how did you find out? "
"Playing" The victory screen and the final animation appeared while Nate opened a smile.
He wasn't lying. He discovered all that by playing the game and testing the numerous possibilities of dialogue and actions within the game.
For Nate, one of the most important requirements a game should always have was a system that allowed players to test everything they wanted within the game. Different actions, different dialogues, different reactions, which would lead to different endings. Although Machina Hell did not have all this, the game still allowed players to feel the consequences of their own actions throughout the journey.
That was just perfect in his view. A system of action and consequence, karma if you want to call it that, that's what made a game interesting. That's what made the journey rewarding. That's what made the game interesting.
That's what made life interesting.
*RINNNNG*
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the break. Nate sighed and put the handheld away.
"We'll talk later then"
"Cool" Mike replied, returning to his place.
And so the classes continued normally.
//////////////////////////////////
"Bah, so much homework..." Mike's soul was almost leaving his body while he said that.
"Why do you care? Today is Friday, and because of some long holiday, we will only be back on Wednesday " Nate replied while walking next to Mike.
The sun was already setting on the horizon as they returned home. They lived relatively close to the school, so going and coming back on foot was common for them.
Nate lived in Mapple Street, one of the "noble" areas of the city. Mike lived a little further down, so there always came a point where they separated. Before reaching this point, they always talked a little.
"That's exactly why. These days we don't go to school should be the days we rest, not do endless homework " Nate rolled his eyes while listening to Mike.
The guy was always like that. Lazy but talented as the teachers said. Even complaining, he would still finish all the homework, even if it was at the last minute.
The kind of guy you felt jealous of but who you were also grateful for not being like him. Nate himself knew that if they hadn't known each other since kindergarten, he would probably hate Mike.
Best friend stuff, right?
"So..." Mike's tone of voice had become strange now "How are you after... that? "
Ah...
"I'm fine," Nate replied without looking at Mike.
"You're really sure, because..."
"I've already said I'm fine" Nate's answer came out a little drier this time.
Seeing the old lamppost on that street, which was also the point where he and Mike separated, Nate said goodbye and went on his way while feeling Mike's pitying look.
And he didn't like that.
//////////////////////////////////
Well, as you can see, my life is very normal.
School, games, friends. Normal things.
But as I had said before, there are some things about me that are not normal.
The most important was perhaps my special and unique ability. One thing that only I have, the characteristic that differentiates me from ordinary young boys, and also the thing that I am most proud of.
My ability to...
"WATCH OUT, BOY! "
Damn. Wandering again.
Nate returned to the normal world with the scream of a man he didn't know. When he noticed, he was in the middle of the road.
And there was a truck coming towards him.
The last thing Nate saw were the lights approaching him.
[Restart]
//////////////////////////
The same truck that had run over Nate the other time crossed the road out of control and ended up running over a child who didn't see it approaching.
Probably a drunk driver.
Nate simply crossed the road while ignoring the screams of horror from the people around him.
Look at both sides before crossing the road, right?
Well, that's my ability. I can kind of go back in time.
Cool, right?