"On Game Design"

I definitely knew this man, but I couldn’t remember how. I needed to know for sure. Peeking through the open door, I saw the man’s back as he retreated down the long and twisting hospital hallways. I immediately took up pursuit.

I still didn’t entirely trust the hospital — those thugs who shot Jason up might be watching the emergency rooms. I decided to go with Jason to make sure he was safe. It wasn’t too hard to make my excuses to my police officer contact, and so in short order I found myself in the…

In our current conditions, we weren’t going to be much use if we went after the man who called himself the Spider. My head felt like a size-twelve foot in a size-three boot, and it only took one look at Jason to seal it. We had to stick together. I said as much to Jason…

Conflicting desires warred in my brain. On the one hand, my friend’s life hung in the balance. On the other hand, an innocent’s life did the same. Jason had told me point blank that he was questioning his own sanity, so why couldn’t I bring myself to do the same? My options were limited, but…

For a moment the world seemed to stand still. Fragments of glass froze in the air, refracting the dim office lighting out in all directions. I had the sudden irrational thought that, if I wanted to, I could reach out and pluck one from the air. It was all too much… too surreal. It wasn’t…

My mind felt like a drunken hobo getting off a Tilt-a-Whirl, though with less vomiting and more spinning. The shit had come down, and come down hard — the ride had jumped the tracks. I carefully weighed my options, and given that the situation had so quickly escalated out of control, I decided to see…

Following Jason’s lead, I reached into my coat, pulled out my Glock, and aimed it at the intruder, who slowly and deliberately raised his hands in the air. For a tense few moments, it was like a mime’s deathbed — quiet, awkward, and nobody seemed to know just what to say. The silence was finally…