is a week-long meth binge with walter day, formerly of twin galaxies.
walter day invites you to some basement in idaho, where he has set up a supergun with same! same! same!. the control panel is rough, unfinished plywood with a happ stick in 4-way and 100g-force leaf spring buttons, there is no autofire circuit.
he has the referee cosplay going the whole time. after he reclaims his meth pipe from you, he backs away slowly and goes "you can play the game now". every couple of hours he returns with a solo jazz cup of room temperature tap water. walter day doesn't make it apparent, but he is thoroughly expecting you to not just clear the first loop, but approach a counter-stop, all on the 4 way happ stick and 100g leaf spring buttons without autofire.
every 12 hours, walter day comes down with a bowl of beans and rice, and what walter day keeps calling "the ultimate gamer fuel". your wrists are in excruciating pain, due to the excessive forces required to operate the heavy controls. at least walter day is kind enough to give you a break between credits. these breaks, you mostly spend picking splinters out of your wrists, all while declining offers to smoke some of walter day's ultimate gamer fuel.
during the second day, you ask if you can at least get an autofire circuit or some different parts in there, but the only response you get to those repeated requests over genuine health concerns is "there are some rules." each time you ask what the rules are, walter day points over to the setup and states "you can play the game now", as calmly as ever. walter day insists that his status as "the world's first video game referee" is enough to justify his obfuscation of said rules. you continue to mash the 100g leaf spring button as many times per second as you can manage. hey, at least you aren't bombing accidentally by resting your finger on the button!
day four, walter day comes down the stairs going off multiple times on how "a veeerrry special friend is coming over." while you're eating your beans and rice for the day, with walter day, you ask "so who is this special friend of yours", to which you come to understand that a purported "video game player of the century" will be paying a visit, and you musn't disappoint.
and within hours, the "video game player of the century" has arrived. to serve as a secondary ref. this man has never once touched same! same! same! . he arrives, as soon as he comes downstairs and immediately pulls out a flip phone and proceeds to mutter, "okay", "mhum", "yes" and "okay", with an occasional "i would like to let you know that i'm in the middle of something Very important." between credits, you move to even see who this "video game player of the century" is, but walter day, with his pinpoint awareness notices your last death, and gets directly behind you, hands you another solo jazz cup of room temperature tap water. "you can play the game now", same! same! same! as it has been.
"billy doesn't appreciate disappointment"
very important, you're the important one. this could be your opportunity to usurp the one they call Billy as the Video Game Player Of The Century. walter day's ultimate gamer fuel making its way to your respiratory system, secondhand. a stinging feeling in all your body, but especially your wrists and fingers. "can i at least get some sanwa obsn-30's in here?", you plead, as your head pulsates and your wrists bleed. "there are some rules", from your captor once more, down here must be that fabled twin galaxy.
you take a break once more, beans and rice doing what it can to sustain, your pleas for some coffee, or maybe some shuteye go ignored. "i must be fully aware, fully awake to verify your performance. recordkeeping and officiating is strenuous work, but you wouldn't know that. you can play the game now, billy is getting impatient."
do you really want to see billy?? billy has been seeing you, you can feel that, yet every time you turn around, you never see him. his presence is felt through his telephone conversations. in the background, possibly standing in a corner of the basement. every once in a while you hear walter speak about getting Todd on the phone, billy remains heard yet unseen.
and you continue for another 3 days, a solo jazz cup of room temperature water, a bowl of beans and rice every 12 hours. no amount of walter day's ultimate gamer fuel will help you through the sleep deprivation and rapid onset RSI, brought about by the controls provided. there are some rules of course, you can play the game now. you will never be The Video Game Player Of The Century. and that's fine.
