Most have only heard of him as a rumor, a figment of gaming lore that was stretched beyond the limits of truth and reality and ascended into the heavens a legend. But everyone knows that legends start somewhere and with a bold truth….


It had all started one day after Sam was leaving Mrs. Lane’s office their meeting back then were nothing like with Dr. Methurst, she was calm and understanding, the type of person that gave Samuel a sense she really cared for him and how he felt and that was something that Sam had grown to become accustomed to. And more so might have needed. It was a lot easier to relax back then as well his liberty restrictions weren’t so tight back then and during the day he would visit the local arcade regularly playing a few games here and there and even accepted some challengers. After the first couple of months he had become very good even an elite at some games.


With his meeting always ending early in those days Sam was able to put a lot of hours into his gaming, SAM often occupying the tops ranking spots on some games and was no less than number ten on the others. Day after day people would come to challenge or reclaim their spots in the rankings only to fail. Before long the legend of S.A.M traveled through the arcade circuit and anyone with knowledge of a D-pad or back ,back, B came to fear the name…


S.A.M….


Those were the days he thought to himself, making his way down the cold concrete to his old hang out spot. Stopping at the glass doors he took a breath it was clear that the inside was almost packed, more than half he was sure were merely spectators for tonight’s event.

Posters had been set up around the surrounding blocks of the arcade, others would receive text or emails from friends, but any gamer that calls themselves a gamer would be here tonight for tonight was the “Power Tower” and series of different games of different genres that one must conquer in order to “ascend” to the next level. From Centipede to Zelda it was the gladiator of gaming tournaments.


As he opened the door that familiar bell dinged, turning a few heads as they all glanced to see who entered.

“It’s..him…S.A.M is back.” One person muttered starting a brief chatter among them.


"I heard he moved!"

I heard he was doing so well on COD the military hired him to train the Army!" The rumors abut his absence continued on as Sam made his way down the steps to Phil the owner. He was an older man in his late fifties, but could game with the best of them. He flashed his old yellowish smile, his voice rasp and harsh yet cheerful all at once.

"Aeya Sam good ta see ya... where ya been?"
Sam smiled back and signed in before replying. "Grounded..."

The e-mail from one of the gaming fan sites that she had subscribed to was almost deleted, but out of boredom it was opened, anyway. A local get-up was holding something like a gaming competition and a lot of people were most likely going to be there. Malice liked to play games. A lot of games. She was not one of the best players, but if she liked something enough and kept at it for a while, she at least ranked a bit and got the hang of it enough to be put up a good fight against other players. Though, she did dislike people. The idea of a lot of bodies being in one place at one time threw her off and made the decision a little difficult. But the idea of terrorizing some at their own game seemed appealing. Even if she lost at something, she would at least try. If all else failed, the people she would be around share a common interest with her.

It was fun thinking back on times when she played Halo a lot. There was so much trash talking in the lobby and from her own team mates. Fun, because they constantly mistook her for a man, even though her model was female. She could not correct them, not unless they messaged her over the system's Live feature. But it did not matter to her. She felt like people respected her more if they thought they were playing against another man. Even the boxing games, like on the Kinect. She won a few matches of that, where a player actually messaged her asking if she was really a "girl." Her arms tired pretty quickly, though, and she never got far with it. It was more about how wide you swung your arms for the device to recognize the hit, not actual strength of the person's arms. But it was really difficult to play with her tentacles out. She would keep them wrapped around herself, but the thickness got in the way of her under-arms.

Slipping on a sweater with the back altered, of course, to accommodate her tendrils, some old jeans, a pair of flat-bottomed boots (she had enough of wearing heels lately), and snatching up her jacket and bag, she headed out the door, locking it behind her. She let her extra "arms" slip around her body, the top two coming over her shoulders and the rest wrapping around her ribs. Malice did not feel like putting her arms through her jacket, but she laid it over her shoulders and back, anyway, leaving her arms inside. She loved her mutation, but was afraid what anyone might think, or do, if they saw it. Hailing a taxi, she made let the driver know where to go by writing and handing him a slip of paper. At least, all I had to do was wave at him.

It was getting annoying, having to use public transportation. She always felt uncomfortable, because she could not give good conversation to the driver. Hopefully, soon, that would change. She had applied at some businesses for jobs on their websites, making sure to select Contact By E-Mail and finding places on each application to add that she was mute. She was just dreading interviews. Though, even if she did get a better job than what was going on with her now, driving was probably a terrible idea unless the destination was far away. Traffic could get terrible. Once the cab got to the gaming center, she swiped her bank card through the driver's credit card reader... thing... Mouthing "Thank you," she climbed out with all her things, holding the jacket closed the entire time, and shut his door so he could drive away.

Malice was feeling a little nauseous as she approached the door. People made her so nervous. Keeping her breathing calm, she opened the door and walked inside, wanting to smack the bell off the door frame for making noise. Not that many people bothered to look over, but it still annoyed her. At least it took your mind off your stomach. Where to go first...? 

Sam looked up as the bell sound dinged, signaling that another person had entered. He was a little shocked to see it was a woman. These events were often male dominated, with the exception of a few ladies here and there but those were rare occasions.

Phil smirked as he looked her up and down. “Looks like you ain’t the prettiest one here anymo Sam. Heh I’m going to go get this thing started… why don’t you go help the lil Miss over there get signed in.”

Sam smiled a little. “How do you know she is even here to play?”

Phil looked over the girl once more, before flashing his old crooked smile. “A girl like that ain’t just stumbled across a place like this, plus she got gaming thumbs. Hell she probably take you out of the tourney…” The old man walked off laughing leaving Sam there with the clip board and sign in sheet.

“Gaming thumbs huh?” He asked himself looking over the girl once more before getting up from his chair.

He smirked slightly, walking over to her with the signup sheet. “You here to play or watch?” Handing the sign-up sheet towards her.
“If you wanna play for the prize you need to sign here. I’d hurry though… Phil is going to start this thing in the next couple minutes. And I’d hate for my biggest rival to miss out because of a technicality.” He winked, still holding the clip board out to her.

“Names Sam.”

Slipping her arms through her sleeves, she took the pen and clipboard and signed her full name to the list. Danielle Cathers. But as she looked back up to him, she pulled her own notepad out of the top of her bag and wrote on it, as well.

Most people call me Malice. I lost my voice. It's nice to meet you. This is the first time I've ever been to one of these things.

She handed Sam his pen back, with the small piece of paper, and the clipboard. The idea of being around a lot of people was still making her a little nervous, but the man's personality was making her feel a little more comfortable. Malice was not sure where to go first, or what to do, so she decided to just try to act cool about it and see where he went.

At least most of the people in the building were not too intimidating looking. Most looks harmless. She had been around gamer people before, even made a few online friends over her XBox and computer that talked to her over the voice chat system, even though she could only reply by typing or sending messages. So, she was used to a lot of people like that, but actually seeing people in person was another thing. She was not a big gamer, not a lot of people really knew about her, except on one of her PC games. But she thought she could stand a chance against them here, for a short while at least.

Her right hand going into her pocket, she pulled out a grey hair band, to kind of match her eyes, grabbed her hair in her left hand and slipped it all into a ponytail at the back of her head. If she was going to play, she may as well be able to see without her hair obstructing her view, or touching her face. It really annoyed her when stray strands touched her cheeks and forehead when she was trying to concentrate.