32 – The Journeys of the Players

32 – The Journeys of the Players

So, with those three projects underway, I focused back on my Customers.

This was the first time my store had ever been full, with every computer being occupied, and I had two new customers, or to be exact, two new players.

Frank Castle, the Punisher, and Bruce Wayne, the Batman.

Two vigilantes.

One that kills, and one refuses to.

One that's poor, and one that's rich.

Yet, both have suffered immensely and try to do some good for the world, albeit in different yet similar ways.

Batman was playing Infamous, while Frank was going through Fallout.

Both took to the games nearly instantly, their experiences making them formidable foes in the games.

Batman, who occupied Cole's body and could use his powers, was nearly impossible to beat, as he could move far faster than any human, survive far more grievous injuries, and use Cole's powers in countless ways to stun, bind, or knock out any opponent.

Meanwhile, Frank was roaming the wasteland, using the skills he obtained throughout his life to easily take out any threat that neared him.

His marksmanship made him a threat to anything living in the wasteland, not to mention the other skills he honed from his time in the military.

It was surprising how quickly Frank and Batman adjusted to their roles and new 'gifts.'

Frank had already made plenty of progress, having only died twice, while Batman had died multiple times when he first started from the firearms that seemed to be common among the criminals of the city.

As for the criminal trio, Ivy has slowly been making her way across the wasteland, finding it incredibly difficult due to her no longer having access to her powers and being all that good with a gun.

Harley was, of course, having fun causing chaos in her Project Zomboid world, having finally died after biting off more than she could chew, however, as I expected, this only increased the fervor and chaos she ensued upon the zombies of the city. Her chaos has actually caused the few reaming of humanity in the area to flee, thinking the city was too dangerous to survive in.

Meanwhile, Selina was having a blast at being Cole, still following the story, but also taking part in some side projects, ones she would commonly do in Gotham, those side projects being that of what she could steal and how valuable the items would be.

Zeke's poor rooftop home quickly became covered in previous historical and cultural artifacts from different time periods ranging from as early as before civilization to as late as objects not even past a hundred years of age.

Of course, because of the current quartine that was placed over the city, the objects didn't have any value, so, she also began stealing from the countless gangs that had formed due to the chaos swamping the city.

One of them even went as far as to make the stupid mistake of choosing an occupation with a gun and they used the gun, firing off a round that every zombie within miles heard...

Safe to say that due to that man's actions, all of the Zombies in the town or city migrated to the side of the city the man was at, which also just so happened to be near where they had set up base.

Of course, that particular man got quite a few angry looks from his acquaintances, who happened to be nowhere near the base and got caught up in the migrating horde.

And lastly, there was Kyle, my most loyal customer who came in daily to play Fallout.

To be frank, I was growing a bit worried about the man.

With the amount of time he's been spending in the game, he was far older than he looked, probably reaching his late 50s in his mental age, while his body remained that of a man in his early 20s.

That's right, he's probably lived longer in Fallout than he has in reality, which concerned me.

Not only because his time in the game was changing him at a fundamental level, but also because, it seemed like he never wanted to leave, not anymore.

At this rate, I may need to stage an intervention and more than likely set a daily time limit any one customer can spend in the game.

Other than that, the progress at which he moved was astonishing.

He was at the late stage of the game, and unfortunately, kept dying and having to replay and work to get all the way back to where he died, only for the cycle to repeat.

He was having serious issues with the Enclave, having trouble obtaining any weapon that could effectively go through their power armor, with his only real success being that of a lot of explosives or plasma and energy weapons.

However, with each death, he was able to go back and fix any mistakes he made and improve his abilities. One time he even fully specked into a lucky bomber, which lasted for a few hours, that is until his luck ran out, and he died.

But, at this rate, he'd eventually make it through and move onto one of the 'Newer' fallout games, Fallout 1, 2, Tactics, and Brotherhood were the older games of the franchise, with 3, New Vegas, 4, and 76 being the newer additions to the series.

I hadn't added Tactics, Brotherhood of Steel, or 76 as of yet, though that could change in the future.

Don't get me wrong, all Fallout Games had their flaws, but that doesn't mean I couldn't fix them.

I just think Kyle needed a break to be honest.

He's become desensitized to killing, he has the instincts of a killer and soldier, the skills of countless professions, and hundreds of deaths on his shoulders.

The question was, how would an addict react to his obsession being taken away?