February, Presidents' Day.
California.
"Crackling..."
The heavy iron gate, driven by a motor, slowly closed along the track behind Bill.
He stood blankly at the prison exit, holding a bag made of kraft paper.
Apart from a little cash, identification documents, and clothing in the bag, he had nothing else on him.
Bill opened his mouth, but suddenly realized that he couldn't even make a sound.
A full 20 years.
Twenty years ago, he was sentenced to five years in prison for drug possession and other charges.
He thought he could hold out for a few years and then get out, but this unlucky guy just happened to run into legal turmoil in California.
He was repeatedly denied parole, and no one was willing to bail him out, so he served a full 20 years instead of the original 5-year sentence. Twenty years, in the long river of history, may just be a blink of an eye.
But for a human being, that is a quarter of their short life.
Now he is 43 years old and has already wasted his most precious youth in prison.
"What are you still standing here for? You can leave now."
The prison guard standing guard saw him hesitate and waved him away.
Hearing that the other party wanted him to leave, Bill reluctantly took a step away.
At this moment, he would rather his parole be rejected again.
He no longer has the ability or courage to survive in human society.
"Jingle"
Bill walked into the convenience store.
Looking at the dazzling array of snacks and drinks on the shelves, along with the beautifully printed magazines and videotapes, he was momentarily dazed. He hadn't been taught these things in prison.
He walked up to the bookshelf and casually picked up a newspaper.
Thank goodness there are still newspapers here.
This was the only reliable thing he could think of.
Even decades from now, newspapers will never change.
[ Sacramento Daily ]
President Bush stated in a speech today...
[As a rival in this year's presidential election, Clinton...]
The front page features an oversized image of Bush giving a speech at the podium, printed in the very center.
The presidential election is just around the corner.
For most Americans, this news had already been thoroughly absorbed by the bombardment of television news and the constant reporting by CNN.
But for Bill, this was like reading gibberish. The political landscape he knew had long since changed hands.
What does it mean that the Russians have disintegrated?
What do you mean by saying the Vietnam War was over long ago, and then the US fought the Gulf War in the Middle East, a war that shocked the world?
Seeing the words "1992" and "50 cents" in the upper right corner, he is still a little confused.
Well, prison isn't completely isolated; he's heard about some of the big news from the outside world.
But since no family members visit him in prison, his understanding of the world is limited to the exaggerated performances of others during casual conversations.
Most of the time, he was still reading those thick novels that he had never bothered to even glance at before.
If this content only made him feel the weight of time, then the contents of the entertainment section inside completely shattered the worldview he had built up over time.
It's that time of year again for the President's Day sales!
[I believe that gamers across the country, like myself, are eagerly awaiting the news from Gamenova.]
[Our reporter recently had the privilege of interviewing Tim Schafer, the producer of the wildly popular new Lucas Arts.]
[It is understood that our great gaming god, the embodiment of video games, Mr. Lin, has been fully involved in the development of Lucas Arts ' new project.] ["This will be a rather different kind of Adventure game. You know, Lin isn't a conventional person," Schafer told reporters.]
As we all know, Lucas Arts is a brand new label that Gamenova established specifically for Adventure games.
[This new work, " Disco Elysium," is their latest creation for this year's President's Day.]
[The reporter was fortunate enough to be invited by Mr. Tim to try out some of the demo content.]
Honestly, I never imagined that video games could have this kind of presentation.
[Due to confidentiality agreements, we cannot disclose any further information here.]
[But if I were to rate it...]
[absolute 100/100!]
[Mr. Lin has once again presented players with a magnificent work of art.]
[also...]
"Hmm..."
Bill struggled to read the text above.
The sheer number of unfamiliar words left his mind somewhat muddled.
This is not something that can be understood in a short period of time.
Even though he can understand many words individually, when they are put together, they are completely unknown to him.
"Video game..."
Bill kept repeating the word that had caught his attention.
He knew what it was.
Atari, the emperor of video games.
The Pong game machine they developed had already entered bars and convenience stores all over the country when he was a young man.
Atari is still around, which is perhaps good news for Bill.
I finally met a familiar old friend.
He felt his pockets, counted the cash on him—the money he'd saved working in prison, not much, but enough to get by for a few days. Grabbing a newspaper, a bag of bread, and a bottle of soda, Bill slowly made his way to the cashier.
"Beep beep pop pop..."
The distinctive 8-bit sound emanated from behind the counter.
The shop assistant leaned against a pillar, casually fiddling with a strange-looking little box in his hand.
The sound was coming from that box.
"Cough cough."
Seeing that the other party didn't seem to have noticed him at all, Bill coughed a few times.
Only then did the man notice someone approaching.
"Call--"
"Smack!"
She used her lips to skillfully blow air, causing the chewing gum that was originally on the tip of her tongue to form a Bubbles, which then popped open with a bang and was chewed back in her mouth.
This is chewing gum; he recognizes it. "Put it here, sir, I'll scan the code to check the price for you."
"Scan the code...?"
Bill didn't understand, but he still obediently handed over the things.
The other party took a palm-sized scanner and scanned the packaging bag with a "beep".
"Two dollars and fifty cents, sir? Credit card or cash?"
She reached out and gestured towards the POS machine in front of her.
"Cash... of course."
Bill counted out the banknotes and handed them over.
As he moved closer, he noticed the unique features of the other person.
She had a bean-sized object stuffed in each ear, connected by a wire to her pocket.
A corner peeking out of the pocket revealed another small box, about the size of a cassette tape.
The casing has a metallic blued finish, paired with silver-gray edges for the functional areas. The Sony and Walkman logos are faintly visible.
Here's your change.
"Um... excuse me, could you tell me what those two things are? Yes, those two little boxes."
Bill gestured.
A strange look flashed in the shop assistant's eyes, which widened slightly, as if she had seen an alien.
"I spent a few years in prison when I was younger due to some medication issues. I'm sorry."
"Oh... that's really... uh, bad luck?"
How is she supposed to answer that?
If the other party had been in another state instead of California, the sentence might not have been so severe.
With the reform of state laws, and under the current "war on drugs" rhetoric, penalties are gradually being raised.
He was at the forefront of reform almost the entire time.
On the bright side, at least he's not a murderer. The clerk thought to himself, and relaxed slightly, placing the two machines on the table.
"I guess you're asking about these two, right? The Walkman and the NovaPocket, these are two must-have gadgets these days, everyone has one."
She fiddled with it for a while, removing the game cartridges and tapes from inside.
"This can be used to listen to cassette tapes, uh, cassette tapes are..."
"I know what cassette tapes are; I even collected a few the Beatles recordings back then."
"Sir, the Beatles have disbanded."
"Oh... right, I forgot."
A look of sadness flashed across Bill's face, but he quickly composed himself and turned his gaze to another device called "novapocket."
" Atari can make game consoles this small now? Back in my day, the Pong console was as big as a freezer!"
" Atari? Oh no, sir, nobody plays with Atari stuff anymore."
Especially in California.
The saleswoman added in her mind. Then, she unbuttoned her uniform, revealing a bikini underneath with the official Gamenova logo.
When California is mentioned, the first word that comes to mind for most people is probably "gamenova".
This incredible man, who almost single-handedly saved the entire United States gaming industry, appeared out of nowhere.
California, the mecca of entertainment!
" Atari went bankrupt??"
Compared to changes in presidents or the course of war, things that are truly close to his life give him a more absurd sense of subversion.
"You know what, sir? It may sound strange, but I really envy you."
The shop assistant suddenly said.
"Huh? You envy me?"
"Yes, I envy you for having a mind that has never played any Gamenova titles, allowing you to experience it all from the beginning."
As she spoke, she reached under the counter and pulled out a beautifully printed packaging box.
"We have them in stock. During the President's Day sale, purchasing an NP/NPC handheld console will get you a free Pokémon Red /Green cartridge, version random." "... Sorry, I might need to rest for a bit and take some aspirin; my head hurts a little."
That's what he said, but after a brief hesitation, he still pulled out another large bill and bought the game console.
I walked to the door.
Perhaps it was because the overwhelming amount of information had left him feeling dizzy and disoriented.
Bill couldn't even see where he was going and stumbled forward a few steps.
Then...
Everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.
"Gentlemen?!"
"Ding-dong"
"I told you, Simon, we have to get in line at least eight hours early, otherwise..."
"Benji, stop! You almost stepped on someone!"
Simon grabbed Benjamin, who was hunched over with his large belly, and stared in astonishment at the lifeless corpse lying on the ground in front of him. "What the fuck?"
Benjamin pulled back his large thighs and quickly took two steps back.
This is absolutely the worst luck imaginable.
First, I left home late and missed the queue, thus failing to be among the first to grab a copy of Disco Elysium.
I came to buy a bottle of water and ran into the homeless man in front of the dead shop again.
The shop assistant breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two people appear at the door.
" Simon! Benjamin! Thank goodness you're here, he is..."