Lincoln Lewke is an ordinary teenager living with his mom. His dad left them when he was very young. He only saw some pictures but now they're nowhere to be seen, maybe his mom hid it from him and does not want to remember his dad at all.
Before going to school while eating his breakfast, Link heard his mom hollering at him, which is sort of their everyday routine.
"Link! How many times do I have to tell you to take out the trash before going to bed?!"
His mom burst out of the kitchen feeling frustrated.
"Was going to take them out after breakfast. I'm going to school anyway." Link confirmed to calm his mom.
"You better be. Just reminding you about our deal when I bought you that X-Play?" Link promised his mom to help with the chores in the house and to never neglect his studies when he asked for the game console as a present last Christmas.
Link just smiled when he heard that. His mom always does that, keeping the X-Play as a hostage when his mom wants something done.
"I have to go, I have clients waiting for me. Be good at school and go home EARLY." Emphasizing on the early, his mom kissed him goodbye.
Link loves his mom so much, she's a hard working real estate agent. He doesn't even feel that he doesn't have a father growing up because his mom provided everything he needs.
After finishing his breakfast, he took out the trash and went to school.
Before walking to school, he puts on his earpods as he loves listening to music or podcasts. At this moment, he's listening to a podcast about the game Reverie, he's so much into this game that he wants to know every update the game is undergoing.
Upbeat music greeted Link's ear when he put on his earpods. The podcast has just started.
"Good morning gamers! We are back with a brand new episode of Xtreme Games, I'm Vinnie. And I'm Roshi!" The hosts of the podcast greeted their listeners.
"We've got great news for Reverie fans out there! The Garrison has launched brand new weapons to pulverize those swarms of monsters in the Dark Forest!"
"That's correct Vinnie, what a way to earn lots and lots of experience and gold using new gears to wipe out those enemies!"
"I'm up for it, Roshi! I'm willing to trade in my Verity Sword for a Crimson Revolver!"
"That would be sweet! Eliminating two-headed monsters coming your way!
"And in other news, have you heard about the rumours, Roshi?"
"Of course, Vinnie, the Credo Games just released a statement about looking into the complaints that some players experience a blackout when they're in the middle of playing Reverie and waking up minutes after not knowing what happened."
"I dunno if those are true, but it never occurred to me." Roshi stated.
"Hey, you look very serious." Link felt the weight of his best friend, Alex's arm on his shoulders. He immediately took his earpods out.
"Have you heard about the rumours?" He asked Alex.
"About what?"
"I just listened to a podcast and they said some players got a blackout playing Reverie." Link explained.
"Why are you scared that you might get one since you spent so much time playing?" Teased Alex.
"No but it has never happened to me yet, just thinking if you experienced something like that?" Link continued.
"I haven't yet, but I'm spaced for other things, so haven't played Reverie in about a month." Alex confirmed.
"That figures," Link thought Alex spends much of his time after school helping his father with their store. He wondered if he'll do the same if his own father is still around.
The two best friends went on with their normal day at school. Link might be playing a bit too much video games but he never neglected his studies. The last thing that he would ever want to do is to give his mom a hard time raising him. He knew how devastated his mom was when his father left them, he doesn't want his mother to experience that same scenario again.
After school, Link and Alex walked home together.
"I'll go straight to the store my father needs all the help there," Alex said to Link
"I'll go with you, I need to get some milk from your store, we already ran out this morning." Link continued.
At the store, lots of customers are lined up at the cashier. Alex's father is busy tending to all of them. The moment Alex saw the line, he quickly ran up to help. Link went straight to the dairy section to get some milk. He also got some snacks and chocolates for himself to nibble when he's home and playing Reverie.
He stood at the end of the line, while waiting for his turn his attention was caught by the magazine at the stand, StratiGame. There in the cover is a feature regarding the inception and development of the game Reverie. He decided to read the article while waiting to pay for his groceries. When he was about to read the article he saw a familiar photo. He looked at it intently thinking he saw the man in the photo before, he just can't grasp where. Under the photo, it read Gabe Lewke, Reverie inventor. Link was taken aback when he read it. His hands were frozen and the magazine fell on the floor.
"You alright Link?," Alex asked when he saw Link standing there kind of stiff.
Link came back to his senses when he heard Alex's voice. He got his groceries and put them on top of the counter.
"You going to get that?" Alex pointed at the magazine laying flat on the floor.
Link picked the magazine up and gave Alex the nod. After paying for all his items, he sped out the door.
"See you on Sunday, Link," Alex waved goodbye but kind of confused why Link ran out of the store in a hurry.
Link's heart was racing so fast. This is the first time he felt a connection between him and his estranged father. He does not know exactly what to feel. He cannot perceive what to think. There are so many questions and scenarios running through his mind. Does his mother know about this? Should he open this topic to her? What would her mother feel if he asked about his father?
He is not even aware of how fast he was walking. He just stopped to breathe and to calm himself down, little did he know that he's already in front of his house. He mustered all his courage to step on the doorway. He grasped the knob of the door so tightly that he did not want to open it.
Link sensed it would not be a good idea if his mom sees him like this, agitated and not in his normal state. He pushed the door slowly, trying not to make a single sound. He would like to get to his room as fast as he can and unnoticed. The house seems eerily quiet or maybe that's just what he's feeling because of the excess baggage he's carrying deep inside. He stepped on the wooden floors very carefully not to make it squeak. His heart was pumping; he could feel it right up his throat. If he could just make it to his room without showing his face to his mom that would be great, he would worry about dinner later. He's finally walking towards the stairs without making any sound, just five more steps, he keeps whispering to himself on repeat.
He's now at the bottom of the stairs, looking at it right now feels like a mountain top to hike. He's been successful navigating from the front door and now he's almost at his end goal. He made his first step on the stairs when he heard the back door open.
"Link, is that you?!" Called his mom.
Link felt his ears grow up to the size of an elephant's ear when he heard his mom calling him. He frantically runs up stairs as he's got no idea what to do. He lifted his weight so fast that the brown paper bag containing the milk ripped off. It left a loud thud on the floor as the gravity pulled the milk downwards and settled at the bottom of the stairs.
His mom saw the milk as she was walking to the kitchen. She just shook his head and picked the milk up. She thought her son couldn't wait to get his hands on the playing console.
"I am hoping that it's your homework that you're working on that you couldn't put the milk inside the refrigerator!" Link's mom called out.
Link heard his mom as he's guarding his bedroom door trying to catch his breath. He's relieved to know that his mom didn't think anything suspicious on the way he bolted to his bedroom, he even laughed at the thought that his mom thinks he's just in a hurry to get his hands on the X-Play.
He pulled the magazine out of the brown paper bag, then immediately locked his bedroom door. He looked at the door knob and unlocked it, it would have been suspicious for his mom to find out that his bedroom door is locked, so to be safe he left it unlocked. He pulled a chair and started to read the magazine on his desk very intently.
He read the whole article as fast as he could, but he was unsatisfied. He was hoping to get more information from his father, but the article only mentioned his father once as the inventor of the game and that is it.
He thought the article would shed some light who his father was and at least get to know more about him. He grabbed a pen and a paper from his bag and started to draw the timeline of Reverie's inception.
According to the article, 2010 was the year that his father, Gabe Lewke invented Reverie. He thought to himself, same as the year he was born. Then three years later in 2015 it was acquired by Credo Games and developed it into the game that it is today.
"What happened between 2011 until Credo Games acquired dad's game in 2015? Link thought to himself.
Upon reading the whole article it wasn't the result he was hoping for, instead of gaining some information from his father, more questions have rather sprung up.
He was so overwhelmed with emotion that he locked his head between his hands. How would he be able to talk to his mother about his father, one memory he had when he asked his mom about what happened to his dad, it was not a pretty sight. His mom avoided him for days and he doesn't want to repeat that scenario again. He loves his mother so much and he doesn't want to do or say anything that could hurt her.
"Time for dinner, love!" His mom called.
Link jolted at his seat upon hearing his mom. He has no plans in place, how would he be able to go through dinner without his mom being suspicious that he's hiding something from her.
His bedroom door bolted open.
"Haven't you heard me? His mom asked.
Link is not moving. He closed his eyes and tried to stay calm.
"Be going down in a bit, just finishing something up." Calmly he said.
"Ok, don't make me wait too long, the food's getting cold," Her mom continued.
Her mom left his room, leaving the door open.
It seems like a lightbulb lit up above his head.
"I know what to do," Link said to himself then he proceeded to follow his mother downstairs.