Max was young, smart, and not one for being social. He was not your average 14-year-old, he was a lot taller, and had wits beyond compare. Hair swooped over his eyes; it was his way of hiding his facial scar on his left side of his face that looked fairly similar to a star. To him, it was a mark for something special in the future, but to others, it was just another way to bully him. He spends most of his time inside because he doesn't like the people around his area, and no one understands him for that and many other reasons. His silence was bizarre, he never really said anything to defend himself, or even explain who or why he is.

Thinking to himself Max says aloud, “Ya know it's nice having everything I want in this room and the best part is I can make friends online and not have to deal with their mean ways in person. If we do not get along, I can just block them instead of having to avoid them in public places!” Max’s room was filled with tech of all sorts, millions of dollars put into his dream setup that amazes his friends. He had it all, he was set with tech of all sorts: computers, gaming consoles, DVD players, spare TVs, spare cords, spare wires, extra hard drives

Max’s room was a very dark room . . . with an exception of the lighting coming from his screens and devices that seemed to surround the room. Sitting at his desk, Max is very focused on the game he is playing, the headset turned up to the max so he could hear every key detail. Gaming to him was all he had. Each game meant going further and further to his goal of being the best gamer to exist. Max begins to set himself up for a tournament, grabbing his controller and slowly setting his headset with a soft ear cushion and an ultrasonic hearing capacity. Hoping into the party Max sets everything up for him and his friends. This is the game that will set him one rank set farther. “Players ready, teams grab your loadouts,” the game announced, and he was ready for it all. Pushing his sticks and pressing his buttons Max began to gain the concentration of a Jedi, he had a dead stare towards the screen, nothing could break his focus.  About to die and lose a shot at winning, Max begins to yell into the void of the gaming world which seemed to confuse more than his friends, it even confused him, “Why can you guys listen? Rachel stop flirting with Jimmy, Jimmy start hitting your shots, and Hector what happened to my cover fire?”

“Calm down bro, it’s just a game, it's not your life. You need to stop taking it so seriously, there is more to gaming than just winning!” Jimmy replied.

Shortly after, Hector chimed in, “Won't happen again man, I know how much more winning is than having fun.” Rachel remained silent as she knew Max was right, and he was only going to become more red than he already was.

 Turning off his mic, the frustration grew as Max knew every game affects his score, how will he reach his goal if he can't even win, it was as if he believed he was best off alone without his friends. Max begins to clench his fists in between each game. Growing in hatred towards his losses, Max is trying not to snap on his team again. They all know it's unusual of him to even say a thing, for the most part, Max stood by silently and only used his mic to give small callouts because he was too busy focusing on the game's audio than being able to communicate. Listening to his team was just his way of making things easier because he could gain more of an advantage with the information they give out. Every piece of audio could mean winning or losing. Max was not very fond of losing, and he only had so many more defeats before he would give up for the night. Hitting with the strength of the supernatural, the game that caused Max to leave his room. He then spoke once again to his team, “Good game guys, we lost once again, I think I am done for the day," dropping his mic, shutting down his system, filled with a defeat he could not handle. He walked away knowing he dropped in rank, his skill was now seen as lower than it was, and he is further from being the best.

To clear away his anger, Max decides to walk to the tech store to go look at the newest drops, Max always had the best of the best, the top of the line products. Everything must run smoothly. Carefully looking around Max browses through each section of the electronics. Passing by one of the workers asks “Need any help? Are you finding everything alright?”

Scared by the surprise, Max immediately swiped his hair over his scar worried about the judgment that he thought would come. “No, I am good, man,” Max replied. Looking for the next piece for his ultimate setup, one wrong choice and he could be losing valuable aspects of what he has. Max questions himself “Do I want better graphics and streaming speed with a realistic feel, or do I want to be able to have more of a realistic feel with a very high-quality audio system?”

Struggling with these decisions Max begins to walk away because he does not want to jeopardize his already pretty good, well thought through, personally designed setup. He knew he could do better, but he worried about his choices, and how it would affect him in the long run while gaming. From the distance, Max hears a voice speak to him “Hey, you want to be the best in any game? Come over here and I will show you an escape from rejects, an escape from people. It will be your way out, and you will be the alpha gamer, number one, and the best around.”

Normally Max avoids people, but out of pure curiosity, Max traces the voice in the distance; while walking in a very bizarre fashion, looking at things along his way, Max paced around with caution to avoid suspicion and keep himself at ease. As he approaches the noise, Max could feel his heart jumping out of his chest. A figure like no other comes out of the room and with a very robotic and raspy voice, the unknown figure speaks to Max, “Follow me, I see you’ve been looking to be the best, but are you? I can give you a chance like none other, only you can succeed, for you have the skills that even I do not have!”

            Max responds in an excited tone, “You really think I could be the best? What do I have to do?”

“First, I must tell you my name, and then I can tell you how to become the best,” the figure explains.

“So, who are you?” Max asks.

As the conversation continues Max feels very anxious and worried. He does not like talking at all, but this seems different.

 “I am Dreamz,” said the robotic-looking figure. Thinking to himself, Max wonders what this could truly mean, how could one be the best only by being recognized by some machine figure with wires sticking out like a forgotten project and screens for eyes.

“Simply look into my eyes and think of a game of your choice and say it aloud. You only get one, so be careful of your choice,” Dreamz toned out.

“Mario, Doom, Jak and Daxter, Call of Duty, but which one. No, how about Bioshock, or Final Fantasy. THERE ARE SO MANY CHOICES!!” Max wonders to himself.

“Ya know, I think I'm going to stay here,” Max worryingly spoke to Dreamz.

“NOOOOOO!” screamed Dreamz. “Your scar, it’s a mark of destiny, you must follow it or you will never be the best!”

“I already am the best I want to be right now; I would rather earn my place as number one,” Max spoke with an angry voice, with a hint of realization. “I have to get back to my friends, I need to apologize. Leave me alone with this so-called destiny.”

Walking away, Max sighs and reflects on how his life can be like a video game and how each choice he makes sets him up for being the best version of himself. The best for others, the knowledge he carries throughout only matters if he can use what he has gained. From the distance, Max hears the cry of Dreamz. She did not seem very happy about not having Max getting lost in his choice of a game. Max begins to head home to tell his gaming friends about what's just happened.

Arriving at his home, Max is still trying to comprehend what is going on. How will his team, his friends, react to something so surreal. Maybe it was a dream, maybe Max had been drugged. Continuing to think, Max finally decides how he is going to explain what went on at the store. His words were, “Very bright lights everywhere, tons of screens, and a female with screens for eyes and a body made out of scraps. I have no clue if you will all believe me or not, but I am being serious! I was given a choice to live within my favorite game. The choice was tough but obviously, I decided to stay, because the best game is life. Every choice I've made, every game I've played, everything that's happened around me, it all makes me smarter by the moment. Everything all adds up, it all becomes part of a final product. One day I will die, and myself as a player will have reached my full potential.”

Taking a deep breath, Max spoke once more, “I am sorry guys, you don't understand how much you actually mean to me. You know how much these games mean to me; I promise it won't happen again.”

Max began to feel relieved as he had spoken more than he usually does, appreciating the fact he has such good friends who listened to his tale, that he felt only they were trusted. It was still crazy, and it was enough to shock them more than when he spoke in an angry tone towards them earlier that day.

“What would it be like to my team without me? How would I be the best in another world that was my game of his choice? What if I stop wanting to be the best and enjoy my playtime instead of taking it so seriously?” Max thought one last time before signing off until the next day.