The Anthologies Saga Volume 1-Pixelations

"Am I Real?"

When JJ logged back into the game, he rematerialized back onto the stage of Mama's Tavern. Right away, he noticed something was wrong. Because Keaton Douglass was on the other side of the bar, surrounded by empty bottles.
"Ay, no," he muttered and rushed off the stage. He got closer and confirmed the sight- Keet was drowning his sorrows.
"Hombre, ¿que pasa?" JJ started, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder.
Keet turned around and shook off his hand. That wasn't normal. "When'd you get here?" He questioned sourly.
"Just now. What's wrong?"
Keet downed another glass and slammed the cup on the table, wiping his mouth. "Mama's dead."
JJ's jaw dropped. "What?"
"I just came back from the hospital...what ti-" he looked up the stairs where the living quarters were. "Alfred, what time is it?" He shouted up the steps.
JJ checked his watch. "It's a quarter till midnight."
"Okay, I've been back for a few hours now."
"Dios mío," JJ muttered. Keaton didn't hear him.
"I was gone for just a second... and then she was just...poof. And she left the tavern to me." He leaned his head down on the counter, empty and broken.
JJ cautiously reached for the bottle, but Keet held on tighter. Keet raised his head up to speak again. "You know, I know a few people who cut themselves 'accidentally' as a hobby. I finally know why the do it." He locked eyes with JJ. "It's to feel real."
JJ could not fathom what he was hearing. Keet has always been so happy, his very own Pee-Wee Herman, just without the annoying laugh. Now he's saying stuff like this? No bueno.
"Hombre, you gotta promise me you ain't gonna try that."
Keet looked up at him, but didn't say a word. JJ grew more frantic. "Keaton, you have to promise me. Promise me!"
"What would my promise mean to you?" Keaton asked him, starting to drink another glass. JJ took it and brought it out of reach. Keet reached out for it. "Jay, give it back."
"No."
"Jason!" Keet tried reaching for it one last time before settling for drinking straight from the bottle. It hurt JJ to see the guy like this.
"Keet, this isn't like you. What would Mama think?"
That got Keaton to snap. He turned to face JJ and screamed, at the top of his lungs, "Mama isn't going to think anything! MAMA'S GONE!" And to show that to JJ, he threw the bottle at the wall. The glass shattered, and it hurt JJ's ears so bad, he covered them. The shards fell so they surrounded the broken knife, artifacts of his new emotions. Keaton felt his lower jaw tremble as tears formed in his eyes. He sat back down and tried to calm himself down, but it didn't work, and his loud sobs were just barely muffled by his arms. JJ didn't know how to calm him down, so he just tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, when was the last time you slept?"
Keaton sniffed. "A few nights ago. Every time I close my eyes, I see bright white and earthquakes. I don't need sleep anyway."
"I think you should get some sleep, Keaton. Come on." He wrapped Keet's arm around his neck and hoisted him up the steps to his room. When he got to Keaton's room, Keaton pushed JJ away and sat on his bed, kicking off his shoes. JJ was about to go back down when he heard Keet say "Am I real?"
JJ turned back and sat next to him. "Of course you're real, hombre. You're like a brother to me-"
"I didn't ask 'am I real to you?'!" Keet snapped. He looked over at JJ and reiterated, "I asked 'am I real?'" JJ could hear Keet's voice crack at the word "real". What did Anna say? Better yet, what did Gary say? JJ sighed and decided to tell him the truth.
"No, Keaton. You're not real."
Keaton nodded. "Are you?"
JJ sighed and then nodded. "Yeah."
Keaton didn't meet his eyes. He looked up, clicked his tongue in betrayal, and then laid down, facing away from the door.
"I want you out of my room, Jay."
"Keaton, I-"
"If I have to ask again, you will regret it."
JJ wanted to stay with him, but he respected his wishes of being alone. He shut the door behind him and looked at Alfred. His two hands told JJ that it was already 11:55. JJ strutted down the steps until he reached the tavern. When he got there, there were people up on stage doing drunk karaoke. He grabbed the aux cord and yanked. The music came to an abrupt halt.
"Party's over," he announced bluntly. "Go home."

Anna checked the tavern the next day. Her countdown said Armageddon was in four days, 22 hours, and 2 minutes. However, the minutes were ticking off like seconds. She had to move fast.
When she entered the tavern, the bell above the door rang. Keet was scrubbing the countertop off the bar, using unnecessary elbow grease to make it shine.
"We're closed," he called out haphazardly, not looking up. When he did look, and he caught eyes with Anna, his face turned. His eyes narrowed and his mouth went down in a scowl. "What do you want?"
"To see you," Anna answered obviously. Keaton scoffed and threw the towel down. "JJ told me about what happened. I'm so sorry about Mama-"
"Get out," he snarled. "I don't want to see you or your friends anymore."
"I know your upset-"
"Oh, you know NOTHING," he snapped back. "You are safe behind your screen. You get to feel. This?" He motioned to the entire tavern. "This?" He repeated, grabbing chunks of skin from his arm and pulling. He stopped and turned back to Anna. "I bleed ones and zeroes. I'm not in control of my actions. NOTHING in my life is real. And besides..." he locked unsympathetic eyes with her. "I know you didn't come here for consolation. You didn't care about Mama."
"I am here for consolation...among other things."
Keet scoffed. Called it.
"I also wanted to thank you for helping Kat."
Keaton paused. He flipped his lid at Marx Triplet. He remembered crying afterward, scared that he accidentally hurt the guy. The rage he had fizzled out.
"The guy didn't sit right with me," Keet admitted. "I could see in her eyes she didn't know him. They were scared of him."
"And you helped her. They want to thank you."
Keet looked up at her and then groaned. "I cannot look at you right now," Keet confessed. "I liked you, okay? I really...really liked you."
Anastasia paused the game for a moment and considered this. Immediately, her mind went to Free Guy, that one movie with Ryan Reynolds. She also remembered how that movie ended: sorta bittersweet.
When she unpaused the game, he continued speaking. "You were the girl of my dreams. I knew it from the moment I saw you."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because..." he sighed. "I can't see you anymore. I just can't. Life is short, and I can't spend it with a girl I can't have."
"That is actually the third reason I came, Keet," Anna started.
"I figured. Armageddon."
Anna's jaw dropped to the floor. "How did you-?"
"Please," he retorted. "The two people from the tavern a while back. They made me see things. Things that look like the end of the freaking world. And I know that I won't look like this when I'm seventy." He motioned to his face. The youthful expression was drained out of him-he looked so tired. It made Anna feel like this was her fault.
"You saw what was going to happen?"
"Anna, I see it every time I close my eyes."
Anna walked over to Keet and put a hand on his. His skin was soft and smooth...or at least, it looked that way.
"Keaton, listen to me," Anna said. "I think the purpose of this game is...we have to stop the end of the world."
Keaton looked into her eyes...and snickered. The snickering turned into full-on laughter, head reared back, tears forming. He wiped at his eyes and sighed. "Oh, good golly gracious! Thank you, Anna. I really needed a laugh this week."
"I'm serious," Anna snapped.
Keaton got himself under control. Smile on his face, he asked, "What's in it for me?"
Anastasia did a double take at her screen. "What did he say?" She thought out loud. In game, she scoffed. "Could you repeat that?"
"What's...in it...for...me." He repeated, enunciating each word carefully. "Why should I help you after the things that happened in the woods?"
"Name your price," Anna told him. Keet thought about this carefully, and then a thought came to him that was too good to pass up. He leaned over, elbows on the counter and said, "Make me real."
Anna blinked. "Real?" She clarified.
Keaton nodded. "Yup. If your messy-haired friend was right, and I am just an NPC, then my strands of code could be transferred onto an AI. Then I could be in the real world. I could meet you in person."
Anastasia actually considered this, and had to pause the game again to let that sink in. Keaton's consciousness being transferred into an android? If that fails, everything that makes Keet Keet will be wiped from existence. Deleted. Gone. Destroyed. Is Anastasia really that insane?
Perhaps.