Code # Broken

Chapter 3

Number 01000010 01000111 00100011 00110000 00110000 01000110 01000110 00110000 00110000 has been activated - Preparing divertissement... Character complete; simulating now.

Today is Wednesday.

The one day in which I actually do something.

Halle-freaking-lujah.

Wednesday equals walking into the town for a whole twenty minutes and just hoping the main character will decide to take a moment to say a little hello or talk about the weather.

Of course, being an insignificant background character, I shouldn't even wish for a dumb little pixelated dog to notice me, let alone the main character.

I was once meant to be important, I thought, as my code commanded me to begin my walk. I followed my predetermined cycle, as I always had before, seeing as to how I can't exactly do anything myself because I'm supposed to be dependent on a string of dumb numbers and letters. I was once supposed to serve a purpose.

To say I dislike the game's developers is an understatement. I should have had a better code. I should have had a flexible routine. Heck, I should have had a lead role. But instead, I'm just some poorly-coded lowlife.

As I strolled toward the town, I pulled up my character tag, bored of the ever present, never changing scenery.

Athena

Age 17

BG

Level: //?<--O

Everything seemed normal, minus the unnecessary level stat. Why does a background character even NEED a level stat? It's not like it mattered. It basically looked like what happens when a drunk frat boy and a keyboard collide. It's just another part of me that could have been better.

Thanks a lot, programmers.

And, just like that, I'm in the town. The sun is nestled between a collection of white, fluffy clouds, and the rest of the backgrounds are going about their business.

Now all I do is stand here.

My code is written in such a way that every Wednesday, I stand here, near the center of the town, waiting for no one. But am I lonely?

Oh, heck yeah.

Not that my feelings are of any significance to anybody. Background characters don't need friends. That's only for the main character and a couple other leads, like Madeline.

I would REALLY like to smash in that perfect, privileged little goody-two-shoes' face...

But, that would be frowned upon, and my code would never allow for it. I guess game developers just has something against vengeance and violence or something.

I watch the people around me, although I already knew their routines. I had studied them for so long, it was like second nature. If it were possible, I would've followed along, mimicking every movement like a toy soldier, fitting into the shoes of the other mindless puppets, playing any role other than the one I'd been assigned.

As the sun began to sink lower in the sky, I found that it was my time to go back to my home, where nothing ever happened, and sit until Wednesday came again.

But on that particular Wednesday, something caught my eye as I walked away from the center of the town. A girl walking, head down. A girl who I had never seen following such a sequence. And then there were others. It was almost planned.

But how could it have been? They were breaking their codes.

I hadn't ever thought it possible, it was unheard of, but in the moment, I knew what I was going to do. I was tired of living by the rules of some computer. I turned, although I felt the pull of my code. I heard it calling for me to get back to my schedule.

Fight me.

I followed the others, and then, as if by magic, as if our minds were linked, we started running, right towards each other.

It's time for the tables to turn.