Taboo

PART I

The streets were dark almost all the time. It was raining, like it did almost everyday, and the stale smell of diesel fuel filled my nostrils for every breath I took, just like everyday. People were crowded around the doorways to shops they could not enter, only so that when some one did, they would be brushed by the sweet warmth of the shop's interior. I pulled my trench coat tighter, as it felt like it was slipping, but was only my imagination. I splashed through several puddles until I came to the entrance to a small electronics repair store. It's name was faded but still readable on the side of the building: RADIO SHACK.
As I entered, a barely functional electronic bell chime was heard, and took in the new smell of the store. It smelled like fried soder, must, and sweat. Repaired electronics dangled from the ceiling and were shoved on every flat surface. A fat man sat behind the desk, munching on some sort of potato chip while watching some show on an old television.
"You know you could get in trouble for that." I said. My sudden speech startled the man, as a chip dropped from his mouth in mid chew, and quickly shut the TV off.
"It's fine." I laughed. "I'm not going to tell anyone. A long as you promise not to tell anyone I watch TV too."
The man gave a sigh of relief and smiled, seeing I was not some undercover official. He set his chip bag down and swiveled his chair to face me.
"So, what can I do for you?"
"Since I caught you watching TV, I'm hoping I can trust you with this extremely important task."
The man straightened himself in his chair, and gave a worried glance at me.
"Um, I don't know if we do important here."
"Please, you must help."
"Alright, what is it?"
I looked behind me to check no one was watching, and I slapped a flash drive down onto the desk.
"A flash drive? This is a USB 3.0 model, it's a little outdated, but I think I can fix it, whatever's wrong with it."
"There's nothing wrong with it." I said, which seemed to grab the man's attention back.
"Wait- then what is so important about it?"
"There is a video game on it."
The man was very vexed by this statement, and seemed to back away from the flash drive.
"Oh sir- if you're asking me to sell a video game, I don't know if I can do that-"
"You don't understand." I interrupted him, "I'm not asking you to sell it, I'm asking you to give it away. For free."
Now the man was truly perplexed, and I can't blame him. If I was told to give away highly illegal material for no charge and that it supposedly was "very important", I too would question the sanity of whoever asked me to fulfill such tasks.
"Wait, so why is this so important i should risk my job- or lack thereof, and possibly my life on a video game?"
"Because, this video game will change the world."
"You're starting to sound like old game commercials."
"I admit it might sound cliche, but just look outside." I motioned towards the window, and his eyes followed.
"Without entertainment, everyone has lost the will to live! If we hand them a video game, can you imagine how better the world would be? Look, I've been designing this video game for practically my entire adult life, and it was painful watching the world fall apart around me. I can't distribute the game via the web, or the officials will track the source, and the only people I can trust are people like me, who live behind the officials back. Please."
The man stared at me, listening intently to everything I said, and after several moments of silence, he finally spoke,
"So, what's the name of your video game?"
"Taboo."

END OF PART I