makingthisupasigo | And the stars look very different today...

It was a way out. But it wasn't home.

Truthfully, after Norfinbury, anything would be better than that place, but the cold truth was--there was no way to find his own universe out of the endless multiverse, even if Norfinbury's busted technology had worked properly. He was stuck, here, with a megalomaniac Flynn--granted, a Flynn that managed to open up a portal out of there. Maybe that's what it took to get out of Norfinbury.

Or, Peter thought sometimes on bad days, Norfinbury only released you once you became the twisted version of yourself it wanted you to be. A specially-designed virus inflicted on countless worlds.

Besides, he ought to know something about that.

He didn't stay long on earth, he couldn't. Maybe it had something to do with the mystery of how they were revived in Norfinbury, their bodies recreated or cloned or healed, or maybe it was something that was gonna happen to him anyway, but he could feel the Light burning inside him, inside his head almost as soon as he landed. A desperate need to take to the stars. He'd managed to create a ship and took off.

Time passes, and scientists notice something odd about several exoplanets they're monitoring, especially ones marked as 'earth-like' or other planets in zones that could make them potentially habitable. Bright bursts of light and changes in the composition of the atmosphere or surface, it was inexplicable. Possible evidence of intelligent life? If they didn't know any better, especially with the rocky planets that now somehow boasted extreme changes, it was like something was terraforming them.

There was cause for alarm when Mars suddenly turned blue and green a few months later.

Meanwhile, a small blue-and-orange ship that looked suspiciously like a slightly more organic-looking Milano was racing towards the earth.

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Or I could grab a whole fleet and make an awesome water maze when I do take over and it'll be even more awesome?

Okay, that DOES sound awesome.

For a video game.

Seriously, all of your ideas are prime material for a game, have you ever played one?

Thanks, bro!

[He beams, that's a total compliment.]

Have I ever played a video game. Come on, man. You're talking to an Arcade King. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Super Mario Bros...

Edited 2018-04-17 13:17 (UTC)

But those are super old and pixely.

I mean like actual modern games. Sandbox, arena based, PvP, PvE, zombie shooter, RPG, MOBA, MMORPG?

...super old? [Insulted!

And that gets a blank stare.]

...I don't know what those are.

[What is a zombie shooter that sounds great?]

[Well, sorry Peter, but they are!]

Seriously? Mate, you are in for a treat.

[Trust the Millennial, you're missing out, buddy.]

You got a computer around here somewhere? I'll hook you up.

...a computer? I have a computer on the ship, but unless like, you mean a regular earth computer? I can make one, I think.

[He concentrates and...suddenly here's a 1986 Macintosh Plus on a side table! Old and boxy with 1 MB of RAM and 9-inch 512×342 pixel monochrome display with a resolution of 72 PPI, just for you, bro!]

Oh my God, you're from the Stone Age.

[He's actually impressed. For the wrong reasons.]

Okay, so that won't do. I need at least an i7 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 64GB RAM, definitely a 2 TB HDD and an SSD to boot. We should totally aim for a 3,440 x 1,440 resolution, too, and not be cheap on the response time.

...what? This is an earth computer! I mean, I use space computers, of course-- [So insulted!]

...uh, sure. [He blinks, and then quickly goes over to the pile of magazines on a couch and starts flipping through them to see if he can find a picture of one. There's a couple of tech magazines at least, and finds an article with enough details that he...thinks he can replicate it. After a few minutes studying it--oh man, he's gonna be so embarrassed if he gets this wrong--what Ezekiel specifies appears next to the old Macintosh Plus.]

Now that's more like it!

[Ezekiel immediately sits down and powers the computer up, fingers dancing over the keyboard.]

Alright, let's see...

[Peter watches intently, he's not used to earth computers anymore, much less regular old keyboards, but the dude really seemed like he knew what he was doing.]

Is it good? I mean, this is what you need, right?

Yeah, that works. I'm just gonna download one of my games that's already finished so you can give it a try. Takes a little while to program these, you know?

...hey, sure, whatever you gotta do. [He raises his hands.] You're the computer dude.

That's right, I'm the computer dude.

[And the computer dude fires up a program, loading a generic but nicely fleshed out zombie shooter.]

There we go.

[...Peter suddenly leans in closer to the screen, his mouth agape as it loads.

His mind is literally exploding. Yeah, they do video games in space, holograms exist, but space video games really aren't that far off from what he's used to, and this thing is from earth--]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!

[Ezekiel just grins.]

See? Knew you'd dig it.

You wanna give it a go?

Hell yeah, I do!

[There's a long, mostly embarrassing pause.]

...how...exactly do you...I mean...I'm used to the...

Oh! Right, let me show you.

[He pulls the keyboard to the side so Peter can see what he's doing.]

Basic movement, WASD. Move the mouse to move the camera. Numbers switch your weapons. Fire with a click.

[Peter's a quick study, he had to learn alien controls at a very young age and he's good with video games.]

...fire with a click, got it!

Exactly. You wanna give it a try?

[He steps back from the keyboard with an inviting gesture.

Come on, you give it a try.]

[Peter grins, and he can't hold back anymore. He scoots over to the keyboard, brimming with excitement, and tries the controls.

He manages to play for all of ten seconds before dying.]

Hey--wait, what? Awww...

Don't sweat it. That's normal, you just have to get used to the controls.

[Ezekiel leans over, restarting the level.]

Here, try again. You can also save at any point in the game.

Oh cool! Man, saving is really convenient?

[He tries again, and it takes him fifteen seconds before dying.]

I'll get it, I'll get it, I swear...

Hey, you got all the time in the world, right?

[Maybe he should give the guy Dark Souls instead. The universe would be insta-saved for the next ten years or so.]

You'll get the hang of it eventually.

And the stars look very different today...

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