Steven held up the box like a knight, holding aloft his trophy, or remarking upon his great conquest. He was quite tall and thin, often referred to as gangly by those who saw him. Despite being almost 18, his facial hair was still quite patchy, and his complexion wasn't perfect. He kept his brown hair long and tied back in a ponytail, and his female friends agreed that he'd be pretty cute once he left his awkward teen years behind.
Or really fat once his metabolism crashed, given how much he ate and his refusal to work out.
The reaction he received to his news was fairly lackluster.
"... seriously, bro? You brought us out here for this?" Steven's sister, Samantha ("Because Heaven forbid our parents choose a name with a different letter..."), all but rolled her eyes at her brother's purchase. Like her brother, she had brown hair, though of a considerably lighter shade. Puberty had been far kinder to her then to Steven, and it was widely agreed that Sam was one of the top beauties of their high school. In particular, she was considerably more active then her brother, playing for both the volleyball and basketball teams, giving her a trim, tight figure that left many a high school boy dreaming in class.
"This from the girl that owns and has beat every Disgaea game ever made."
"Yeah, I love strategy games. I also like humor. And plot. And story. When has Anatal ever had any of that?"
Steven set the game on the table and cracked a can of coke. "Oh, come on, Sam. The first game was a classic."
"Yeah, the FIRST game," said Jacob, one of the twin's good friends. He was shorter then the two beanpoles he was next to, only standing about 5'5". He kept his curly red hair short, and was a bit on the heavy side. "Seriously, what are they even up to by now? 27?"
"This is game 6, jackass."
"Not helping your case here, dude." This time, the one who spoke was Sylvia. One of Sam's closest friends from the moment the two met in elementary school, she'd gone through the most drastic changes over time out of any of them.
When Steven had met Syl, she'd been an excitable and talkative little girl, gabbing non-stop, always wearing pink dresses and ribbons, and obsessed with everything cute and fuzzy in existence.
And now, she was the most depressing goth who'd ever walked the planet. The only articles of clothing in her closest that weren't black were grey. Her hair, naturally platinum blonde, was dyed black. Her fingernails, her lipstick, everything about her save her skin was black. Most people found her moody or non-responsive, and she generally only opened up to her closest friends in private, like now.
No one in the room was really certain why she'd had such a personality shift in middle school. Sam's running theory was that Sylvia's early development had something to do with it, and even now she was probably the bustiest girl in school, though the heavy sweaters she favored did make it hard to tell.
Sylvia continued, "Honestly, every game after numero uno was just a cheap cash in on the cult following of the first one. What makes you think attempt #: 6 is somehow going to be any different?"
"Well, unlike you lot, I've been doing my research. For starters, "GAMER$" went bankrupt, right?"
"Why no, Steve. We knew nothing of the endless lawsuits and predatory business practices and their multiple failing products, as we don't have the internet in our Amish community."
"Don't be an ass, Jake. Gamer$ had the rights to Anatal, but when they folded, it was bought by Blackstone."
"And who are they?"
"It's the company that was founded by Pan Twardowski and Richard Obsidian."
That got the attention of the other three people in the room. The aforementioned duo had been the creators of the original game, but had been fired by Gamer$ almost immediately after the title launched. Rumors abounded as to why, but the most likely reason was, with their contract with the company coming due, Gamer$ wanted to get rid of them before they had to pay them more. The two had tried for years to purchase the rights from the company, but Gamer$ wouldn't let it go.
Sylvia picked up the non-descript black box. Her voice was more reverent then sarcastic now, and she forgot to keep slouching, stretching out her shirt far more noticeably then before. "So, this is a new Anatal made by the original creators themselves?"
Steven only smiled. "Better. This is a beta copy they sent me to play test."
"Jesus. Who'd you have to blow to score that?"
"Classy, Sam. And no one. I put my name in their draw and won one of the beta copies. And guess what? It has multiplayer."
Jake was already breaking out his lap top. "Well, what the hell are we waiting for?"
*** *** ***
Indeed. What are we waiting for?
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