It's not a school night, and it hasn't been for a while even though it's the middle of May. That's why this room is (link-reveal: "so dark")[, in fact the only light besides the monitor comes from outside, from the windows that overlook Archgate Drive, littered with street lights whose brightness filters inside my home without any consent], but I have no intention of going to bed. Well, that and I'm old enough that my parents don't care to give me a curfew.
I'm sure that if I were sitting in any other chair, my butt would be protesting. But the arms on this chair are (link-reveal: "tall enough")[. I can sling my legs over them however I like with room to spare], and the total area seats my dad comfortably, so there's nothing for me to worry about. I've [[used this chair for years->Lego Batman]], and 80% of the time, it's (link-reveal: "mine")[ in all but name].
If I'm to be honest with you, the biggest problem is not that I've stayed up impossibly late, and it's not that my head aches for a pillow and my limbs a (link-reveal: "warm blanket")[, one that I could easily get if I stopped being so damn stubborn and just left this business for a new day]. It's the heft of a controller in my hands, and the aching in my fingers from [[clenching so tightly->frustration]]. When I was (link-reveal: "smaller")[, I was too afraid to play the big boy games my dad did. They seemed to finite and unforgiving at the time. I was willing to cheer him on in button mashing, and I pouted when he played the story all by himself while I was at school, although that was probably to spare me the sex scenes and more storylines that I wouldn't have understood at the time. I was (link-reveal: "eight.")[
It would be another few years before I would start my own save file of these games, rifling through the drawer and skipping past the old wii remotes that were dusty and didn't have full batteries, or the scooby doo gamecube disk that were bought for my, now completely dis-interested, older sister.]
The compromise was together,] my dad and I would play the Lego Games. Those were tame. They had hearts at the top for health, and when someone died, they broke apart without any blood or guts or gore. If someone died, the other player just had to (link-reveal: "hold out for long enough.")[ It would take me a while to realize that online multiplayer games had very similar mechanics in that respect, especially since I had always been cautioned against playing multiplayer games on our Xbox 360 in the first place.] He would teach me the importance of looting the room, sometimes even [[shouting in angst->frustration]] if I happened to start a new cutscene before he had declared the room finished. It didn't matter really who was which character, but I was always allowed to be Player One, and I always got the (text-style:"emboss")[big black cushioned office chair]. Inside the screen, I'm (link-reveal: "tired of swimming.")[ I imagine for Connor, the [[deja vu]] of the water, the climbing, the timed attacks is positively nauseating. ] If it didn't matter to me that he's not actually real, then I would make sure he didn't have to step in a puddle for the next in-game week.
But the fact of the matter is the little unchecked box at the top that has me muttering and grumbling, the (link-reveal: "loudest I'm able to be")[ although if I was really paying attention, I would notice the humming of the console running on hot air after many hours without a break, the squeaking of the chair wheels on wooden flooring, the slowly cresendoing clack of my right thumb on the x button,] without my mother coming out the door and [[shutting down the tv herself->If it were]]. If it were my father, he would be a lot (link-reveal: "less careful.")[ He doesn't like to turn the volume down, even if it's hours past midnight, and I can still hear the soundtrack of Skyrim from my bedroom, just down the hall with my door closed.]
If it were my father, he would have progressed past this section long ago, though. He doesn't have the same (link-reveal: "patience")[, and he's much more likely to make sure that everyone knows when he's feeling impatient by shouting at the top of his lungs in frustration, but usually he waits until the afternoon for that]. I do this, however, not because I have patience, but because if I give up now, what was all that effort that I put into the (link-reveal: "last two hours")[ memorizing the walking patterns]? What was all the effort (link-reveal: "last week")[, when I replayed running down the hill and dodging randomly timed cannons until my fingers were too stiff to move]?
If it were [[anyone else->perfectionist]], they wouldn't have even [[picked up this game->who cares]] to (link-reveal: "play")[ [[for the second time->deja vu]]]. I'm not sure if it was someone popular online who decided that this game was the (link-reveal: "worst in the franchise")[ well, at least until the newest experimental release comes out in a year from now], and then a bunch of people decided to bandwagon, but if they were to really use their heads, they would realize it's really (link-reveal: "not that bad")[ although I won't be saying that when I'm 5 seconds and 78 tries away from being a total [[perfectionist->perfectionist]]]. Does it surprise you, then, that I manage to do it? And before the sun has risen too. I tune out the (link-reveal: "frustration")[ or maybe I use it to feed my ego and motivation so it doesn't collapse from malnutrition and force me to abandon my efforts til morning].
To my parents, and the neighbors on our (link-reveal: "left side")[ that will wake me up the next morning when their four children jump into the pool and their two dogs bark until their lungs give out], and my best friend (link-reveal: "across the street")[ (who is actually probably awake at this time as well, filming a video eating ramen while learning the guitar that he'll share to the groupchat in a month from now)], it's just another moment.
And it is just another moment in time. I'll forget about this victory when I have to face the next challenge, and I'll forget it again when it finally becomes another school night, and I'm staying up this time to finish an (link-reveal: "essay")[ that I could've completed the day before if I hadn't been so lazy].
But to me and the notification that scrolls past on the screen(link-reveal: ",")[ with a shining diamond that less than 1% of all player get to see], it's the moment that I get to see right before I [[black out]]. (text-style:"emboss")[There is water all around you, but don't be afraid. You can swim it. There are two ships in the ocean, both belonging to the British, and you are currently perched on the stern, well out of anyone's view. If you are seen by anyone, you will desynchronize and your mission will restart you to this point.
What do you wish to do?
[[Climb up. -> Desynchronize]]
(if:visits >= 2)[[Check if anyone is walking by.]]
(if:visits >= 3)[[Exit. ->If it were]]]
(text-style:"blink")[(if:(history: where its name contains "Kill him.")'s length >= 2)[[...wait a minute... did you... actually.. do it??!!!?!?!1!]]](text-style:"blurrier")[You desynchronized.
Return to [[Checkpoint ->deja vu]]](text-style:"emboss")[Steathily, you peek just above the edge of the stern. There is a man right in front of you.
[[Kill him -> Desynchronize]]
(if:visits >= 2)[[Pull him back and slit him by his throat before dropping him in the water.]]](text-style:"emboss")[He is dead. From what you can see, there are three more men on the ship. One stands on the other end of the ship, and he likely won't move unless you make a loud enough sound. The other two have their backs to you and stand right under the mast.
[[Climb up the mast.]]](text-style:"emboss")[You sneak your way across the desk and climb up the mast. From here, you have to position yourself right in order to kill the two men at the same time. If you kill one and get in a fight with the other, you will catch the attention of the third man on the ship and desynchronize.
Position yourself [[right]]
Position yourself [[center]]
Position yourself [[left]]
(if:visits >= 3)[Position yourself in the [[middle]]]](text-style:"emboss")[Great job.
[[You kill the man on the right. -> Desynchronize]]](text-style:"emboss")[Poor job.
[[You kill the man on the neither. -> Desynchronize]]](text-style:"emboss")[Great job.
[[You kill the man on the left. -> Desynchronize]]](text-style:"emboss")[Finally(!), you manage to kill both of them at the same time without getting into a fight.
Lastly, it's time to kill the last man on the ship. He's in the same red coats as everyone else, but he's not very observant if he couldn't hear the shinking of metal and you sliced through the throats of the other three on board or the dripping of your wet clothes onto the wood.
Whatever, this should be an eaaaasy kill.
[[Kill him.]]](text-style:"emboss")[Wow, you managed to do it!
Now go swim to the other boat and [[do the exact same thing->deja vu]].]You did, didn't you! How long did that take you? It must've taken you a little bit. You probably weren't even confident that the loop would end, were you. It was totally possible that there wouldn't be a way out of that loop, but I was confident you would do it. You found a way into the game into the first place, didn't you?
Anyway, I'm proud of you but...
well, you didn't exactly finish the game. You just got past one segment of it. That's one less thing to do next time you boot it up but, you have more tedious objectives like that to do before you finish.
Aw well, you should probably [[rest now->If it were]]. It must be late.(text-style:"fade-in-out")[The end.]