XP shenanigan thingamajig

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I've always wondered what it meant. XP? Like the video games? It just didn't really make sense. I'd always thought that everyone had it, and I was just another face in the crowd. Of course, I'd only thought that until I was thirteen, when social awareness hit my little undeveloped brain. No one else had it! I was 'weird', and had to hide it. I began wearing those fingerless gloves. Y'know, the typical 'cool kid' cover-up hand accessory that was all the rage in middle school. They've become part of my life by now, and I've never taken them off. Life goes on. 

I finished high school, hopped along to college, and graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts. Not the best, but alas, one has to gain at least a basic education in order to survive. But I digress. I was your typical citizen with a good track record. I began to forget about the bar, and why I even donned the gloves in the first place. I just kept them on... well, because they became a part of me, and for some reason I could never let go of them. Call me conceited. I've got a decent life, a beautiful girlfriend, and an average-sized home. Couldn't ask for more, considering the fact that I basically scraped by for the last ten years. It seems sort of surreal that after all this time, it's actually worked out. Until today. I've still been pondering what exactly happened. Yes, yes, you could say it's shock. Yet, I beg to differ. I'm not affected by the crash. It... wasn't my fault. I do feel sorry for the poor guy, but if I'm being honest, this one's on him. 

The young chap, about 18, was recklessly swerving around on his speed bike. He wasn't watching the road. I took a left turn, and...Well, it wasn't the prettiest sight. Still, I sure as hell have seen worse. Somehow, murders happen around me. Not targeted at me, but always somewhere near me. Death. Terror. I don't understand it, but I don't question. Life goes on. After the accident, I watched the lad get carted away in the ambulance. The cops questioned me, asking me about what happened. In that moment, I felt a tingling sensation run down the length of my arm into the back of my hand. As they drove me to the hospital, I unstrapped my gloves for the first time in twenty years. Or at least, I would have, except the civil servants got shot in the head. One had his eye blown out, the other, brains splattered against the windscreen. Ah, shoot. They're coming for me. Screw me and my monologues.

"Get out of the car!" The lady dressed in black yells into the vehicle. I walk out, arms outstretched towards the heavens. The woman pulls down her hood, staring. "I knew it. I knew you were... one of us." I look back, eyes questioning, as they always are. "'Liz...? What the hell are you doing-"She lunges forward, clasping one of her delicate hands over my mouth, hissing into my ear. "You are going to keep silent until we find a proper space to explain this. Understand?" She leaps off, whispering to her lackey. 

Christ, she's beautiful. I shake my head. "Alright, what the hell is this? I'm not going anywhere until you explain what in the everloving gods is-"Elizabeth whips her head back at me. I stare back, and the words escape from her mouth. "You're one of us. A player character, not an NPC."

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