Picky Minch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
imjustpicky) wrote2011-11-07 12:47 pm
imjustpicky) wrote2011-11-07 12:47 pm
Entry tags:
03 - Just One More Level? Please?
[Action A - 7132 Brooks Lane, Morning]
[Having heard in passing that people were getting stuff back in the mail, Picky was anxious to check his own mail to see what he'd be getting. Monday morning he volunteered to bring in the mail, and atop the usual bills and flyers was a box with "Picky Minch" written on it.
...the town didn't seem to care that he had been going by a different name. Huh.
But never mind that. A box! A box for him! He scooted back inside, set all of the mail down on the table by the front door, and hastily tore his package open.]
Hey! My Game Boy!
[And it was his, not just any dumb Game Boy plucked off a shelf. It had a scuff and dent on the bottom from when he dropped it, and it had the sticker over the battery cover that he had put there himself. And it was real, because when he flicked it on, the little red light lit up and the green-yellow screen powered on, and the "ding!" of a proper start-up sounded. Followed immediately by the first few strains of the Tetris title screen music.
...he shook the box out to see if any other games were included, but alas, none were. Still, Tetris was pretty good. And he really should play a little, to make sure that it worked properly... Someone's probably going to have to shoo him out the door to get him to go to school.]
[Action B - Mayfield Elementary School]
[Class has gotten dull, and Picky is no longer paying attention. He has his Game Boy on, volume turned down, tucked partway beneath his desk. He won't get caught, right? No one's paying attention, right?]
---
[Lunchtime isn't much different. Rather than concern himself with peanut butter sandwiches and classmates, he's off at a table by himself, not eating, determined to get past level 4. That's where he's been stuck at this past while. It just gets so fast...]
[Action C - The Park, Afternoon]
[You know what happens when you play with your Game Boy all day? The one that had the same batteries in it from the before, that you haven't replaced in a while? The batteries run out.
Picky is on a bench in the park, manipulating those Tetris blocks, just about to get to level 6 when the dim red light finally flickers out. He starts, lifts his head, holds the Game Boy out in front of him, and then gets upset.]
Drat!
[Phone - Early Evening]
So, uh... hey. Does anyone know if you can get double-A batteries in this place? Or, or even better, does someone have a charger for a Game Boy?
It, uh, might be easier to get the batteries, but... but I've gotta ask.
[Having heard in passing that people were getting stuff back in the mail, Picky was anxious to check his own mail to see what he'd be getting. Monday morning he volunteered to bring in the mail, and atop the usual bills and flyers was a box with "Picky Minch" written on it.
...the town didn't seem to care that he had been going by a different name. Huh.
But never mind that. A box! A box for him! He scooted back inside, set all of the mail down on the table by the front door, and hastily tore his package open.]
Hey! My Game Boy!
[And it was his, not just any dumb Game Boy plucked off a shelf. It had a scuff and dent on the bottom from when he dropped it, and it had the sticker over the battery cover that he had put there himself. And it was real, because when he flicked it on, the little red light lit up and the green-yellow screen powered on, and the "ding!" of a proper start-up sounded. Followed immediately by the first few strains of the Tetris title screen music.
...he shook the box out to see if any other games were included, but alas, none were. Still, Tetris was pretty good. And he really should play a little, to make sure that it worked properly... Someone's probably going to have to shoo him out the door to get him to go to school.]
[Action B - Mayfield Elementary School]
[Class has gotten dull, and Picky is no longer paying attention. He has his Game Boy on, volume turned down, tucked partway beneath his desk. He won't get caught, right? No one's paying attention, right?]
---
[Lunchtime isn't much different. Rather than concern himself with peanut butter sandwiches and classmates, he's off at a table by himself, not eating, determined to get past level 4. That's where he's been stuck at this past while. It just gets so fast...]
[Action C - The Park, Afternoon]
[You know what happens when you play with your Game Boy all day? The one that had the same batteries in it from the before, that you haven't replaced in a while? The batteries run out.
Picky is on a bench in the park, manipulating those Tetris blocks, just about to get to level 6 when the dim red light finally flickers out. He starts, lifts his head, holds the Game Boy out in front of him, and then gets upset.]
Drat!
[Phone - Early Evening]
So, uh... hey. Does anyone know if you can get double-A batteries in this place? Or, or even better, does someone have a charger for a Game Boy?
It, uh, might be easier to get the batteries, but... but I've gotta ask.
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[Picky takes his Game Boy back, and packs it up safely for the trip over. No use having it out if it's not being played, really.]
It plays video games! Like a Nintendo, only you can take it with you! [It does not occur to him that Engie may not know what a video game is. They're a very big part of his life. Isn't it obvious to everyone?]
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(Pong hasn't even come out yet, so Engie has really no clue.)
Ya gonna have ta forgive me Finch. I'm from 1968, so I'm a bit behind when it comes ta some gadgets, 'specially if they're from a later year than mine.
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I-I'm sorry! I didn't even think! Er, it's... they're games? That run on a computer? And they're really fun!
[He has no idea how to even begin to explain.]
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Games that run on computers though? Well...I did hear that computers git smaller in the future. But back in my time, computers took up an entire room, and ya couldn't use'em for fun either.
If we get your Gameboy going, mind showin' me how it works?
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[He looks proud of himself, for having remembered that.]
Of course I'll show you how it works, Engie! You'd like it! It's cool. Tetris is fun. Maybe... maybe I'll get back more of my games, sometime, too?
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Thanks Finch, I'd love that. An' I'm sure you'll get'em all back. Town's gotta give us somethin' for all the trouble they give us, might as well be somethin' that ya like. What sorta game is Tetris though?
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[He takes a few quicker steps to keep pace with Engie.] Tetris is a puzzle game! You move blocks around, they've all got four pieces, and you line them up so they disappear, and you score points!
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(Engie notes that, and slows down to accommodate the boy.)
Can ya move the blocks anyway ya want? What if they don't fit between the spaces?
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[Encouragement is something that he doesn't get much of. To know that someone thinks he can do that? That's really great.]
You move the blocks left and right! And then you drop them to the bottom. If you don't make lines with them, they'll stack to the top, and then you lose.
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So, it's a lot like a puzzle game then.
(Engie's trying to imagine it, but all he's coming up with is a giant jigsaw puzzle.)
Is it like a jigsaw puzzle, where ya have all the pieces an' ya hafta slot them in?
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[Back to Tetris. There's a topic he gets!]
It's a puzzle game, yeah! If you make lines, the pieces disappear, so you can keep making more and more, for points!
I'll show you when we get some power for my Game Boy. Then you'll see!
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(But even Engie has to smile at Picky's enthusiasm for the game.)
I'd like that very much.
(They're now at Engie's house. The Texan heads over to the garage and beckons for Finch to come in. There's a sentry there that's thankfully not programmed to shoot at the moment, and a dispenser at the corner. But Engie picks up the Gameboy and attaches some wires from the Dispenser to the Gameboy. And sure enough, the Gameboy starts coming back to life.)
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Yeah! You can play it as long as you'd like! Everyone likes Tetris! It's really fun!
[There was no good save, so, he's just gonna continue the other conversational string. Good thing they're at Engie's house. That's also a good distraction. He 'ooh's at the sentry, and 'aah's at the dispenser.]
What're you gonna do?
[Just attaching some wires? The Game Boy's switch had been in the on position. Once provided with a power source, it powered right up, with the signature "ding!" And then, after displaying some credits, there was Tetris, opening music and screen and demo play and all.]
It's charging! That's perfect!
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There ya go!
(He gives his Dispenser a pat, before he checks on the Gameboy. It seems to be working, but he's not too sure, given that it's technology past his time.)
Did I get it right, Finch?
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You see, you move the pieces around. And you have to make lines along the bottom. They disappear, see? And when you get ten lines, you go up a level and it gets faster!
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Oh, I git it! That's a pretty neat game then, teaches ya ta think fast an' act fast too. Not bad. How many, err, levels, are there?
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There's twenty levels. I think. I can't even get to nine yet... it gets REALLY fast at nine, so I don't even know how fast it gets at twenty!
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It all looks so...complicated. I'm all thumbs, I don't think I can even git pass level five!
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[He pauses the game and sets it down. Sometimes, adults just didn't get these things.]
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Mind if I give it a go Finch?
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[And he holds it out, offering it to the man. Everyone should at least TRY Tetris.]
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(It takes a few gos, but eventually Engie manages to clear one level. It's all a bit new to him, and the buttons are a bit too small for his liking, but after he beats level one, a big grin splits across his face.)
Whoowheee! Makin' bacon!
That was really fun Finch! But Lord is it hard...I can barely get pass the first round. You sure there's a kid who can hit level nine?
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Turn it again! Yeah! You can put it there! Stack those ones on top of each other! Don't leave spaces! Yeah!
[He's still grinning when Engie takes a break.]
I swear! He's really good at it! He probably played it a lot back home. He said that Game Boys were really old where HE came from.
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(He passes the Gameboy back to Finch, perhaps a little, tiny bit reluctantly. He DOES want to tear that thing apart and see how it ticks after all. But this is Finch's regain, and it's something the boy treasures.)
Thanks Finch. I really did enjoy that; ya can still teach this old dog some new tricks.
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He takes his Game Boy back, then sets it down so it can charge a little more.]
No problem! Everyone likes Tetris. You can ask me to play it anytime you want!
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