Discussion

Hello everybody and welcome to Daniel's Discussions! The place where we discuss things just for the sake of discussing things... Today's Topic: Dark Souls!

Now... You might be saying, 'Look at this idiot! Why does he talk about this game so much?!' Well... Just hold onto your horses and you will be impressed! Or at least fascinated... I hope.

So... As you know, I play a video game called Dark Souls, or well... You should, I talk about this game a lot because it is the only game that I have that challenges me, and therefore I can still play it. On a Side Note (this will be important to remember), in the video game there are nine attributes that you can upgrade to make your character better:

Vigor, that's your health; 

Attunement, that's your ability to use special attacks and magic;

Endurance, this is stamina; 

Vitality, this is your equip load (how much you can have on your person); 

Strength, pretty self explanatory; 

Dexterity, I actually don't know how you would explain this in real life... In the game, you have to have high Dexterity to use katanas or other weapons that you need to be agile with;

Intelligence, this gives you the ability to use Sorceries;

Faith, this gives you the ability to use Miracles and Pyromancies;

Luck, this is your item discovery.

Everything you upgrade raises your physical and elemental defenses, but only Strength-Faith increases your attack damage. Luck also increases your attack damage, but only if you are Hollow.

For more information... Check out this website: Dark Souls Wiki

Anyway... One of the things that make me love the game even more, is the fact that you can mix and match the armor sets and weapons to get something that looks really cool (remember this for later). After I beat the game on my first account (and perused every outcome), I remembered that in most video games the story mode changes if you change gender. So, being honestly curious (and a Completionist, through and through), I created a new account as a female. There were some story mode changes... Mainly, everyone addressed you as a woman, and the person you have the ability to marry changes from a woman (when you play as a male) to a man (when you play as a female). But, other than that... There are no story mode changes. HOWEVER! There is a dramatic difference in the way armor sets are worn, between a male and a female. Some armor sets are a little different, while some completely change.

Another thing... I believe that there is something else in the very code of the game... When you create a character, and you change your gender, there is a notice that claims that the attributes don't change. AND YET, I played as a Thief (with a Luck stat of 14; the highest luck of any starting class) as a female and the very first Thrall who wielded a Flamberge (the most powerful and lightest Greatsword IN THE GAME) that I killed dropped the Flamberge... That item is only dropped by Thralls wielding it, and they are a rare enemy... Not only that... But, that item is an Ultra Rare Drop with a 5% drop rate WITH 99 LUCK!! And yet, as a female, with 14 Luck... The first Flamberge Thrall I killed dropped it. 

So, I created a new class, as a male Thief... And repeated what I did in the female class. I farmed that Thrall for an hour, killing it 50 times!! Not one Flamberge. So, I deleted that class and made another female Thief... Same thing!!! First Flamberge Thrall I killed dropped the Flamberge. Then... Just to amuse myself, I created a female class as a Knight (who only has 9 Luck starting off) and upgraded my Luck to 14 and guess what... First Flamberge Thrall, dropped a Flamberge.

Therefore, after a week long study and six separate classes, I have to come to the conclusion that (despite the fact that the stats don't change between a male and female class) the value of the stats are worth more on a certain gender... Strength, Vitality, an Faith has a higher value on a male class than a female class; Dexterity, Intelligence, and Luck has a higher value on a female class than a male class.

In summary... In Dark Souls if you change your gender: the story mode hardly changes, armor sets dramatically change, the way you use and the stats you need to use weapons don't change at all, and the value of stats change on some attributes. 

So, everyone... I am very sorry that I don't post discussions as much as I claimed that I would. I swear that I wasn't lying. I made that claim back when the only thing that I had going on in my life was school. But, now... Things just keep getting in the way. School, my job, and every day life kind of... Pushed blogging out of my mind. I am going to blog when ever I can. But, I am not going to make any vain promises. I feel as though I have already let you guys down quite a bit...

I hope this blog interested you and that I can continue to amuse you in the future. 

Please remember to post a comment to let me know what you think, if you have any requests, or if you just want to tell me that this whole post was pointless and that I am an idiot... Go right ahead!

Stay tuned for more!

Daniel... Out!

Recent Activities

Hello, everybody, and welcome back! Man... It's been three months (just about)... Three whole months since I last submitted a blog post. But, I have a believable alibi... I really do. With that, I shall explain the topic of today's discussion: "Where has Daniel been?"

Now, I'm going to tell you a complete bogus story that I hope you will believe: About a three months ago, I received a telegram from some game show host saying, "If you win a wrestling match with a polar bear, live on Super Nature Smack-down, we'll give you $200,000". Naturally, I accepted. Nine days into the trip, however, while we were making our way to the outermost parts of the North Pole, every single snow-machine in our convoy broke. And none of us were mechanics, so we sat there for about a week and a half, slowly running out of food. Then, freezing temperatures, starvation, sickness, and polar bears picked off people one by one. Soon, I was the only survivor. And I thought to myself, "I'm not gonna die here!" So I loaded whatever food and water we had left into a back pack, and left the 'camp' we had made. After five days I had walked 300 miles, ran out of rations, and was losing the battle of survival. I remember that the sun was just setting as I rounded a hill, my pace slowed to a wander, and in the distance I could see an Eskimo village, then the world went black. Long story short, I woke up in the Eskimo village and spent the rest of the time regaining my strength, learning The Ways of The Eskimo, and trying to contact civilization. Finally, I have returned here.

That is what I honestly wish had happened... But, this is what actually happened: I spent the past three months or so working on finishing this school year, trying to get a job, getting my driver's licence, going on a three day vacation to St. Simon's Island, and trying to beat Dark Souls 3 NG+++ (I did. and Now I'm on NG+4!). And I simply forgot I had a blog... Sorry. But, I want you to know... I am going to try and write on my blog more often. Starting immediately!

First of all... Apparently, St. Simon's Island has some really big fish. We were walking along a board-walk and there was a man fishing. Well, it just so happened that right as we passed him, he pulled up a big fish. I don't know what kind of fish it was... But, it was big.

Second... This is my first time actually applying to get a job... I had no idea it took so long for it to process. I got an interview, and it ended with the Manager of Hiring shaking my hand and saying, "I would love to have YOU on the team!" But, they have yet to get back to me on my application or tell me that I've got the job... Still waiting.

Third... I had no idea that to get your driver's licence you have to complete a 30 hour class on top of everything else. So I was working on that.

Fourth... My school is going great! I am enrolled in an online public school called, K12. I spent the last month working on review for the End Of Course tests (or EOCs for short).

Last of all... Man!!! I know that the Dark Souls games get harder as you progress... But, I'm SO overpowered, there is very little challenge anymore... Challenge only comes when I get ambushed by dozens of enemies at one time. (For those of you who are curious, I am using the Catarina Set, a Refined Zweihander+10, and an un-upgraded Pierce Shield.)

So... That is what I've been up to. Thank you for reading. Good bye!

"An Active Imagination" Chapter 3

Here is the newly finished Chapter 3 of my book!! You guys seemed to enjoy the first chapters and a couple of you asked me to continue to post chapters (as I finish them). Thank you, again, for your patience. I had intended for there to be daily posts on my blog... But, that hasn't happened. So, thank you for your continued visiting of my blog!!

Chapter iiI

                That night, far away in the capital, an emergency meeting was being held. The Judge sat behind his desk, asking the Council questions, as to what their next move should be. Four hours dragged on, until the question arose,

“What do we do if he finds out?! Are we supposed to just wait idly by as he gets stronger?” In response to this question, one of the Councilmen answered,

“I agree! He doesn’t need a healer; he needs a jailer!” The room erupted with both cheers in agreement and boos in disagreement. The Judge ferociously pounded his desk with the gavel in a vain attempt to redirect the Council’s attention,

“ORDER! We shall have ORDER!” When the Council had calmed down enough that someone could speak, the Judge explained,

“You’re correct to be cautions, but let me remind you that if he doesn’t have a healer he will die! And as the last of their race, that is not something we can afford to risk!” The Council agreed with his every word. After a couple of seconds, one of the Councilmen made a suggestion,

“In light of that fact, I move that we put him under house arrest. Let’s keep him in one place where we can monitor his actions.” The room went silent as everyone present thought about this suggestion. The Judge was about to make a comment when the same Councilman from Sam’s trial spoke up for the first time this meeting,

“I can’t believe that you want to treat him like a criminal! He’s a child! He doesn’t even know what he is! Why not use that to train him to be on our side, rather than use him like a puppet!” A Councilman from across the room stood up in protest and shouted,

“How dare you, Abaara! You speak of him like he’s just an average citizen; when in reality he is the strongest being alive!! Not only could he overpower our entire army single-handed, but he will surely outlive ALL of us!” In response to this accusation, the Abaara stood up and shouted,

“What does that matter?!” To this, the Judge stood up and practically screamed,

“Abaara, SIT DOWN!!” And thus, the only Councilman who wanted to defend Sam was forced to keep silent. The judge sat back down, the room was now deathly quiet. In all the years that the Council had been meeting, never before had the Judge responded like this. It startled everyone. The Judge broke the silence after about ten seconds,

“I second the motion that we put Sam under house arrest in the home of Doctor Emizaneth Monret. We shall have spies watch the house at all hours; Sam may not leave the building. And until such a time when we can better control Sam’s actions and powers, he must be watched and guarded.” The room was silent, the Judge continued,

“All in favor?” About three quarters of the Council answered,

“Aye!” The Judge spoke again,

“All opposed?” The remainder if the Council answered,

“Nay!” The judge looked around the room and made a rough estimate of how many answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Afterward, he smacked his desk with the gavel and said,

“The decision has been reached and it will be in affect starting tomorrow. Meeting adjourned.”

After this, all of the Council members stood and left the Council Hall to return to their homes for the night. The Judge remained in his seat and called to Abaara before he left,

“Abaara, come here.” Abaara was hesitant but obeyed. He approached the large desk that the Judge sat behind and stopped when he was about ten feet away from it. The judge waited for everyone else to leave the room to speak. He quickly looked around the room, just to make sure that on one was still there, then he looked down at Abaara, with a grim expression on his face,

“Explain yourself.” He demands,

“I apologize, sir. I only want what’s best for the boy-- “

“What’s best for the boy?!” The Judge interrupted,

“What’s best for the boy is whatever I say is!” The Judge continues, rage clearly painted on his face,

“We’ve been working too hard on this for something to go wrong.”

“Yes, that’s true. But, you can’t treat him like he’s just some beast in need of a cage! He’s the last of his race!!! We can’t afford to lose him!” Abaara screamed,

“It doesn’t matter! A race goes extinct every day! What does it matter if another one dies!” The Judge protests,

“It matters, because we took an oath. When we came to office, we took an oath to uphold justice for all.” Abaara explains,

“We are upholding justice. With his power we can destroy anyone and anything that threatens us. We can have peace.” The Judge smiles cruelly,

“Oh, so you want to kill everyone that opposes your power?” Abaara inquires,

“Yes and no! I want to destroy those who threaten our community!” The Judge yells,

“Listen to me, Daniir, this isn’t going to work. The people won’t see what you’re accomplishing, they’ll see that you’re murdering the last of a mighty race to do so.” Abaara reasons. Daniir thought for a moment then responded,

“Get out. You’re no longer a member of this council. Remove your honorary robe, leave this building, and never come back.”

“You can’t do that!!” Abaara screams,

“Yes, I can. I just did.” Daniir responded, sounding calm and collected. Abaara threw his books to the ground and threw his robe in Daniir’s face. Abaara stormed out of the building and went home. The moment he was alone in his house, behind locked doors, he began conceiving a plan to thwart Daniir’s plans and save Sam’s life.

The next morning, at Emi’s house, Sam awoke before the First Sun rose, with the intent of re-learning the extent of his powers. In Sam’s mind, it was like riding a bike… He knew how to use his powers at some point… He just needed to remind himself. He spent two hours, in the living room, trying to time travel. But, no matter what he did, he couldn’t get it to work. 

"Why is it that when I don’t want to time travel, I do, but when I’m trying to time travel, it doesn’t work!" Sam thought to himself. He tried everything… Thinking about something in the past, longing for something in the future, banging his head against the wall saying, “time travel” to himself, but... Nothing worked.

Emi awoke at 7:30 AM (Earth time), as she always does, and came downstairs to start the morning, and was rather surprised to find Sam sitting crisscross in the middle of the living room chanting, “time travel” in a deep voice. Emi stood at the entrance to the sitting room puzzling.

“Um… What are you doing, exactly?” Emi asked, slightly tilting her head to the right. Sam hadn’t heard her come into the room, so her sudden inquiry startled him out of his trance. Sam turned his head to see who was standing in the doorway but, noticing that it was only Emi, he said,

“I’m trying to get my powers to work.” And returned to his chanting. Emi mouthed the word, “oh” and nodded, then entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, Sam groaned loudly then fell on his back. Emi ran over to him and yelled,

“Are you okay!?” When she got to Sam, she found him lying on his back, scowling at the roof.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m just frustrated that I’ve spent hours trying to get my powers to do SOMETHING, but… Nothing’s happening!” Sam groaned again. Emi rolled her eyes, shook her head, stood up, and returned to the kitchen.

Half of Sam wanted to continue to work on his powers, but the other half wanted him to give up. So, he continued to lie on the floor, thinking to himself. 

After a few minutes, the smell of food urged him to rise from the floor. Thus he did and, taking a seat at the dining room table, he awaited the meal. While he awaited the meal, he continued to think to himself,

“Hmm… I wonder what breakfast is going to be. I could really go for some griddle-cakes right now. Huh… I wonder if Emi knows what griddle-cakes are. If she doesn’t, I could explain them to her. But, then again, I don’t know if she would have the ingredients. Now that I think about it… Would anyone here have the ingredients to make griddle-cakes? Speaking of griddle-cakes… I’d love a glass of chocolate milk.” Sam closed his eyes and remembered how chocolate milk tasted. He opened his eyes again… And sitting on the table in front of him was a glass of chocolate milk.

He blinked repeatedly and rubbed his eyes, thinking, “Now… I’m seeing things”. But, it didn’t go away. He looked at Emi, who was still standing next to the stove, and asked,

“Did you… Put this here???” Pointing to the glass. Emi turned and looked at the glass full of something brown, sitting on the otherwise empty table, and responded,

“No. I didn’t put that there…” She paused what she was doing and walked to Sam’s left side and inquired,

“What is it?” Sam looked up at her and replied,

“It’s a drink from Earth called chocolate milk.” He picked up the glass and took a drink. He held the glass in front of his face, to get a closer look at it, and thought to himself, 

"Well… It tastes right." He looked up to Emi, who was still contemplating the sudden appearance of this drink. Just then… Her eyes widened, and she spoke softly,

“Wanderer Sight.” Sam gazed at her confusedly and asked,

“What did you say?” Not only did Emi not answer but, unable to control her excitement, she skipped around the kitchen, like a school girl, making a high pitched squeaking sound that could vaguely be described as: giggling. The only thing that Sam could compare the sight to, were those high school dramas where the girl is finally asked to the dance by the guy she likes. But, because his question wasn’t answered, Sam asked again,

“What did you say?” Emi paused, just for a moment, simply to repeat,

“Wanderer Sight!” Then continued to dance around the kitchen. Sam had half a mind to ask her what Wanderer Sight was, but… The other half wanted to continue watching Emi skip around. It made him feel… Happy inside. And only for a moment, it was almost like, time slowed, just so he could watch her express her joy. Without Sam even knowing it… A gentle smile spread across his face. Then, suddenly, Sam realized what was happening. He had made an inanimate object out of nothing, and he was slowing time. Sam stood from his chair, raised his arms above his head, and yelled,

“I’m doing it!! My powers are working!!” Then, the world went black.

Sam could hear muffled yells and screams, he opened his eyes, only for a moment, and got a glimpse of bright lights. For a moment, Sam could only hear his heavy breathing, then the screaming came back, a little clearer, he opened his eyes, again only for a moment, and the light was a little clearer, this time he could see shadows of figures running in front of the light, as well. Silence, he took one deep breath, and opened his eyes once more. Fire… The light was fire. He could make out the flames dancing across his field of vision, but his vision was still blurry; the screams still muffled. He closed his eyes, and breathed deeply, then opened his eyes. The screams were clear, now. The flames vivid. And the figures… He could make out their appearance… Wanderers… He could see Wanderers. They wore decorated robes, and beautiful headdresses, resembling crowns. He tried to move, but... Something kept him still. He looked down, to see that he was covered to his chest in rubble. He tried his hardest to move… But couldn’t. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. He looked around, trying to get the attention of those who ran past, but no one noticed. He started to cry, his voice came back, and he whimpered,

“Help me… Please, anyone, help me.” A shadow covered him. He looked up, and saw a figure standing before him. It looked young… Like it was a child. It came close and said,

“Don’t worry, I’ll get that off you!” It was the voice of a young girl, kind, gentle… Familiar. She struggled to remove the large chunks of building that sat upon him.  But, she freed him… One chunk at a time. Sam could barely move his arms, but his legs wouldn’t function. He gently felt his legs… Broken, just below his knees.

“Can you walk?” She asked. The only response Sam could give, was to shake his head. The girl looked down for a moment, then said,

“It’s okay… Umm… I’ll… Uh… I’ll wait. Yeah! I’ll wait with you until they heal.” And she sat beside Sam. Sam didn’t know what she meant by that statement, but he was happy that he wasn’t left alone. Ten minutes of people panicking and fire spreading went by, until she said something,

“How do they feel?” Sam wanted to scold her and say that, ‘broken legs don’t just heal’, but instead of repaying her kindness with hostility, he just felt his legs again. Nothing… They were fixed… As if they were never broken in the first place. Just then, he realized that he had full control of his arms as well. He couldn’t believe it. He thought aloud,

“Ha… They’re healed…” In response, the girl jumped up and said,

“Alright, great! Let’s go.” She put out her right hand to help Sam up. Sam took her hand and stood up.

Immediately, they started running; following the crowd of Wanderers, scrambling to get somewhere. Sam could tell that something bad was happening, given the expressions of the people and their panicked movements. Sam had honestly never seen people this scared except in movies where the people are getting attacked by a vastly superior force.

“Is that what’s happening?” Sam thought to himself,

“Are we being attacked?” Right as Sam finished this thought, he heard a multitude of roaring engines in the distance, getting closer. There were cries and screams, some wept saying,

“They’re coming back!” It was chaos, Wanderers were trampled as some scrambled to find cover, anywhere they could, while others kept running. Sam, however, was dragged into a house by the girl. Everyone tried to hush, and in the silence, Sam could hear the engines clearer. As the sounds came closer… The explosions started. Everywhere, on all sides, the sound of bombs going off! In the midst of all this… A bomb was dropped, right outside of the house that Sam was hiding in. The light was blinding and the explosion blew Sam against the wall. The world went black.

Sam screamed as he awoke from his slumber. He sat on the guest bed crying, sweating, and panting. He removed the covers and sat on the edge of the bed massaging his face, mumbling to himself. He looked at the clock: 5:45PM,

“I was out for TEN hours?!” Sam thought to himself. He jumped up from the bedside, stretched, then left the room. 

The first thing he did was make his way to Emi’s room. The door was open, so he looked inside…

“Not here…” Sam thought to himself. After checking Emi’s room, he checked the whole upper floor, to no avail. After this, he made his way to the main level. After turning the corner, he found Emi lying on the love seat reading a book. Sam paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to make his presence known. He settled for the first thing that came to mind, and asked, as he entered the sitting room,

“What’cha readin’ there?” Emi turned her head to face Sam. She sighed a great sigh of relief and said,

“Thank goodness you’re awake!” as she stood up, put the book down, and before Sam could respond, Emi locked him in a bear hug, closed her eyes, and rested her head against Sam’s chest. Sam tried to hug her back, but he couldn’t move his arms. Due to the fact that Sam was losing the ability to breathe, he quickly asked a question--despite already knowing the answer--in hopes that Emi would loosen her grip,

“How long was I out?” In response to this question, Emi just hugged Sam tighter and said in a calm voice,

“About ten hours.” Sam could just barely breathe at this point. Desperate to get some oxygen in his lungs, Sam said,

“Okay… Please, let go… Can’t breathe.” Emi opened her eyes and let go of Sam, saying,

“Sorry. I was just… Really worried.” Sam could see that her eyes were tearing up, so he smiled and said, as he set his hands upon Emi’s shoulders,

“I’m fine. In fact, after the lack of sleep that I had last night, I think it was good for me.” Emi chuckled gently and a single tear fell from her left eye. Sam lifted his right hand, rested it upon the left side of her face, and, with his thumb, wiped the tear away. Emi lifted her left hand and held Sam’s right hand. They looked deep into each other’s eyes. The world stood still and for a glorious moment… There was only Sam and Emi… Together. They took a step closer to each other. They both smiled gently and… BAM-BAM-BAM!! Three blows to the front door shocked the two out of their happy state of mind and hey both stared at the door. Because the door was solid, without any windows, they couldn’t see what was on the other side. So, Emi slowly, cautiously, approached the door; Sam following right behind her. 

Emi pushed a button next to the door and it opened, revealing a soldier in heavy armor. He said nothing, but handed a chip to Emi, and walked away. The two of them stood silently as they watched this soldier get into a military vehicle and drive away. Emi closed the door and headed to her office on the main floor. She turned it on, put the chip in, and a file opened. It was a letter… And, as Sam and Emi read the letter, their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped. The letter said,

      

 “Dr. Emizaneth Monret,                                                                                                                                      By the order of High Judge Daniir, on behalf of the Council of 1000 Worlds, you along with Samanon Az-Miin Zochorum, Last of the Wanderers, are hereby sentenced to house arrest. Under any and every circumstance, no matter how dire, you are to remain within the walls of your home. A guard shall watch your dwelling at all times; And, should you try to escape, you will be caught and tried with treason. Provisions will be provided you, whenever you should need them. Simply place a list of needed items upon the front patio of your dwelling, and an agent will retrieve whatever you ask for. 

     High Judge Daniir has requested that from this point on, until the Wanderer is cured, you are to send him a report of your progress every three days. You are to begin immediately after reading this letter.

The Council of 1000 Worlds wishes you luck.”

They were stunned! All they knew is that they were prisoners… Prisoners until Sam was cured. But… What then? What will happen after Sam is cured? The two looked at each other, confused and frightened. All they could do, was comply, and hope for the best. But… Something… Something in the back of Sam’s mind told him that they didn’t want to find out what happened after he was cured. Some… Wanderer primal instinct told him that they needed to get out of there, as quickly as possible. Emi looked over the letter again, as if to make sure she wasn’t misreading anything, then sighed and looked at Sam, and Sam looked at her, then Emi chuckled nervously and asked,

“So… Should… We get started?” And thus… The training began.

That was the third chapter of my book. I hope you all enjoyed; if you did, please tell me in the comment section, below. Your support is always appreciated! Remember to stay tuned for posts on all kinds of topics! If you have a suggestion for the topic of a post... Please tell me in the comments. Thanks!

Ta-ta and good-day, to you!

P.S. I'm trying to make my own sign-off-statement, thing. So, please tell me what you think. And if you have a suggestion (my brain is mush... I can only come up with so much before it dies) then post it is the comments.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to another discussion! Today, I will fulfill a request by one of my good friends, Ryan. He has asked me to share my knowledge of the Sonic the Hedgehog games. So, go and grab a six pack o' Mt. Dew and a Family Size bag o' your favorite Doritos... This is gonna be a long one! 

           

First let me give you the history of Sonic... The first Sonic game, titled Sonic the Hedgehog, was a platform game released in 1991 that featured Sonic [(a blue hedgehog, wearing only white gloves and red Nike's)JK I have no idea what kind of shoes he wears] running through the game's levels in order to stop Doctor Robotnik from taking over the world, with his animalic machiny things. The game focused Sonic's ability to run and to jump at high speeds with the use of springs, checkpoints, and loops. 

Then... There was a sequel! Sonic the Hedgehog 2, another platform game, that was released in 1992. This one increased the overall size and speed of the series' gameplay and was the second best-selling Genesis game of all time. Think about that for a second... OF ALL TIME! The game introduced Sonic's sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower, who followed Sonic throughout the game, and allowed a second player to control him in a limited fashion. This game also added Sonic's "spin dash" maneuver, which allowed Sonic to boost forwards quickly from a complete standstill, unlike the previous game, where Sonic could only gain speed with momentum. I personally really liked this feature.

Now... You know it's a good game when they make multiple sequels of the original. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, was a third platform game in the Sonic series released in 1994. The game introduced a temporary shield maneuver, added new shield types to the series, and allowed Tails to fly under a player's control. It also introduced a new character, Knuckles the Echnida, who served as an additional antagonist with Doctor Robotnik for the game. 

Now... I was not alive when these games originally came out, however, I still played them when I was a young child. A friend of mine--I actually forget his name--had one of those old Nintendo things where you had to put the cartridge in, then take it out, then blow on it, and put it back in... And only then did the game load. I played the original with him. 

Then, there were all kinds of "add-ons" that were made and "spin-off" games. All the way until the next Sonic game

made in the 'series'... Sonic Adventure, a launch title for the Dreamcast, was released in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in North America. Then, its sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, was released for the Dreamcast in 2001, and was the last game in the series to be released for the Sega platform. But, neither went very well. Then another game came out where they introduced Shadow the Hedgehog who was never one of my favorite characters, simply because of the fact that I could never tell if he was a hero or a villain... I actually forget which game that was though... A few more Sonic games came out, but... The only one that I actually ever owned, that I could play myself--without going over to a friend's house--was Sonic Unleashed, which came out for PS3 in 2008. 

I remember that the intro cutscene was Sonic attacking an armada of Eggman's spaceships (in space... If it wasn't obvious) and Eggman tricks Sonic into chasing him into the lab of his Mother Ship. Then Eggman turns on a machine that drains the energy of the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic's body. Then, all that power is put into a laser that is shot at Earth. Then, it becomes a Jekyll and Hyde story. At night, Sonic becomes a monster but at day, Sonic is normal. And there's this little annoying thing that fallows you around named Chip. The reason that I find it annoying is because all he would do throughout the game was say "SONIC!" or "HEY!" when you needed to draw your attention to a tutorial... Or he just wanted to tell you something. It has been so long since I played the game... I forget how it ends.

That is the extent of my knowledge of the Sonic universe. If you would like to know more... Consult the Internet. He knows far more than I do about EVERY SONIC ADD-ON OR SPIN-OFF... EVER! I would love to receive more topics from you guys! I feel like it would be a great way to see what I know and interact with you all, at the same time. Thank you for reading, please stay tuned for more! Remember to post your comments in the comment section bellow.

A quick shout-out to Ryan for giving me a topic. Thanks, buddy! 

"An Active Imagination"

Hello, everyone and welcome back to Daniel's Discussions! I would like to personally thank you for patience. Well, in a recent post, I asked you all if you wanted me to post my book. Well, here you go! I hope you enjoy!

An Active Imagination

By: Daniel Duncan

Chapter I

It was a hot summer day; the Sun shined brightly in the clear, cloudless, afternoon sky, and although there was a cool breeze upon the mountain top, the heat of the Sunlight made the endeavor all the more difficult… Three soldiers ran along the top of the mountain, doing their best to move quickly and stay unnoticed. When they had a good mile and a half between them and their pursuers they stopped to catch their breath.

“We can’t rest long, they’re fast… Really fast.” The youngest of the three spoke up.

“They are only human… They… Can’t just run forever!” The oldest replied, gasping for air. The middle one sat down on a rock and chugged down the rest of the water in his canteen before speaking,

“Man… What are these things?”

“Well… Joel…” The oldest said in response,

“They are very angry Natives.” In response, Joel looked the oldest in the eyes,

“Well, let me tell you right now, Sam… I don’t really care what someone took from me, I wouldn’t chase them down for EIGHT STINKIN’ MILES!!” The youngest spoke up harshly,

“Keep your voice down, Joel! They might have lost us back there.”

“Ah, shut up, Noah!” Joel yelled at the youngest.

 The oldest was about to scold them for arguing mid-mission, but was interrupted before he could speak by the sound of many feet charging across the mountain.

“Ah, crap!” Joel almost screamed. The three of them stood up and continued running across the hill.

The oldest, Sam, recollected exactly how they got in this mess. Three days ago, Noah and Joel were assigned a mission to sneak into this native camp and take their Source Rock; a magical orb, roughly the size of a large marble, that supposedly held the key to limitless power. Sam, a Colonel, was sent with them not only to ensure the success of the mission but to keep the other two in check. The orb was right next to the chief of the tribe, nevertheless the mission went flawlessly! But, the moment the Sun rose and the chief opened his eyes… The three had been chased. Now… Sam, a 39-year-old Colonel, Joel, a 29-year-old Sargent, and Noah, a 27-year-old Private First Class were running for their lives.

“It’s three miles till we reach the rendezvous point!” Sam yelled. Suddenly Sam heard a sound come from behind,

“Sam, don’t go any further!” The sharp voice knocked the boy right out of his daydream. 15-year-old Sam turned around to face his father, who was hiking up the mountain at a ridiculously slow pace (in Sam’s opinion). Sam sat down on a rock to wait… His two younger brothers did the same.

“I told you to stay where I can see you.” The father shouted trying to catch up with the three boys.

“Sorry, dad… I guess I got lost in a daydream again…”

This was a recurring problem for Sam; if his mind wasn’t actively focused on something, he would rapidly drift off into a daydream. This didn't bother Sam however, he actually preferred the Dream World rather than the Real World: in the Dream World you can do anything, no matter how absurd! In the Real World, however, there are limitations to what a person can do.

“You need to wait for me. I’m not as fast as you kids.” Their father explained as he finally caught up.

That was another thing that Sam hated about the Real World: You had to wait for things… In his imagination, he never needed to wait on anything! Everything was always on que, everything waited on him. Sam stood and started to walk up the hill. It wasn’t a walk; it would more accurately be called meandering or wandering… Sam used a Fitbit that said his walking speed is approximately 4.5 mph… So this pace he was forced to walk in, was basically a wandering movement in the general direction, ‘straight’.

Sam could do nothing but wander forward as they attempted to get to the top of this… Foothill. Kennesaw Mountain was not a small mountain, but as opposed to the hills in Alaska… It was a foothill. Sam longed for Alaska; he lived there only a year and a half and yet, he missed with all his heart. He loved the cold, he loved the dark, he loved the space… But, most importantly, he loved the fact that no one cares about what you do with your stuff. His father, in Alaska, spent about a week un-jamming a .22 that his uncle gave him. When he finally thought he had fixed it, he stepped on the back porch and shot it down the hill.

There’s no reason to fear for someone’s life… They lived on the top of a hill that was densely forested. The forest was only about 250 yards deep before it completely disappeared and met the road… But, it was so dense that there’s no way that a .22 could do anything.

Sam and his friends actually made it a game, ‘Try to Find the Tree That Has A .22 Bullet Stuck in It’, it was a very fun game! If you found it, you got a week’s worth of candy! No one ever found it though… Remembering all of this made Sam chuckle. He didn’t even notice that he had walked ahead again. He just stood there waiting for them to catch up.

“Man… Something’s wrong with me.” Sam said to himself under his breath,

“Why is it that when I daydream… Or think deeply in general… I just become oblivious to time passing?” He stood there for about fifteen more seconds until his father and three brothers came into view. Sam paused for a second…

“1, 2, 3, 4…” He said pointing to each of his visible family members, then pointed to himself,

“5…” He paused to think for a moment,

“Two are missing… Where’s Mom and Eliza?” He thought out loud. He waited until his father and brothers were within earshot and yelled,

“Where’s Mom and Eliza?!”

“They’re at the visitor center.” His brother, Joel, yelled back.

Sam scolded himself for forgetting. He suffered from a moderate case of Short Term Memory Loss. Not as bad as that of Dory from Finding Nemo… But, if it wasn’t of uttermost importance, he would forget. And, unfortunately for him, very few things were considered to be of uttermost importance. You could literally hide something in plain sight--you could set it on the counter top--and he wouldn’t notice. He slipped back into a daydream as he continued walking… And before he knew it, they were back in the van headed home. This one… Confused him… He knew that when he got deep into a daydream he became completely oblivious to time passing… But, this was ridiculous! It had to have been at least 45 minutes that just… Disappeared.

When the arrived home, Sam went to his room, put on his headphones, and turned on his iPod Nano. Now that he had ‘thinking music’ playing he replayed the whole event, considering how it happened… He chalked it up to: blacking out, and left his room to eat dinner. After he cleaned up dinner, as it was his turn to do so, he went to bed.

At about midnight, he awoke up to the sound of heavy feet storming through the house. They charged right for his bedroom and the door flew open revealing two soldiers wearing unfamiliar armor. Both of them had a strange symbol on the left of their chest. It looked vaguely like many lines making up and filling a triangle. They ripped Sam out of his bed, hand cuffed him, gagged him, blindfolded him, and dragged him out of the house. Through the blindfold Sam could make out a very bright light… Something hit him with extraordinary force over the head, then everything went black.

Sam awoke to still being blindfolded and gagged, but his hands were tied behind something like a chair. The sound of a metal door opening fallowed by another bright light broke the silence. He was un-cuffed just long enough to get him off of the chair, then his hands were immediately cuffed behind his back again. He was hustled through a maze of bright lights until Sam heard the sound of a heavy door opening; his blindfold was removed to reveal a massive room filled with strange creatures that could only be described as aliens or monsters. And every single one of them was hollering like it was the Colosseum… However, it was only as large as an average court room.

Sam was moved to a large platform raised about a foot and a half, in the middle of the room. There was a large desk about fifteen feet in front of him, at which sat a large figure… It wore a large black robe with a hood. One could mistake it as the Grim Reaper… But, it obviously wasn’t, it was too… Buff, too muscular, too… Tall. It stood up, it looked to be 9 or 10 feet tall. It raised its right hand and the crowd that had been screaming and cheering was now deathly silent. Everyone, including the cloaked judge, sat down. Sam was now the only person who was standing up. The creature at the desk looked down at Sam. Looking around the room, it began to speak in a deep, gravelly voice that was nevertheless clear and definite,

“Standing before us is a Wanderer, one of the last five of its kind; Sacred, cherished, infinite in power. Nearly two centuries ago we, the Supreme Council of the Ninety Worlds, swore to protect these beings…” He said gesturing to Sam,

“And to give them the same fair and just treatment as anyone else. However, in exchange for protecting them, welcoming them, and treating them as equals, we made an agreement with the last five Wanderers.”

He picked up a parchment of paper that had been folded like a letter and that had a strange seal on it and opened it,

“Here is the contract that ALL FIVE of the Wanderers signed stating that they would only use their incredible gifts in dire circumstances or to help the needy.” He put down the paper and looked Sam in the eye,

“This one, broke that agreement. Sam-anon Az-Miin Zochorum, you are charged with continual time travel and tampering with the Time Stream used by the planet known as Earth. How do you plea?”

Sam just stood there, awestruck. He was trying to process everything that was going on around him… Nothing made sense. Now he was in court for something he didn’t even know was physically possible! In a moment of both terror and exhaustion, Sam blurted out the first thing that came to mind,

“What are you talking about!? T-time travel, t-t-ta-tampering with the Time Stream??! That’s impossible! I’m just your average 15-year-old American… I’m not even that! Have you seen my test scores??” Murmurs and whispers rang through the Council as every word that Sam said echoed in the large room. The judge looked at him in confusion, but before he could speak, Sam said one more thing,

“And what the heck is this ‘contract’? I never signed a peace treaty or whatever it is!” When he said this, the room went silent,

“You mean to say… You don’t remember?” The judge inquired,

“I’m pretty sure I would remember signing a… Space Contract or whatever.” Sam said sarcastically.

The judge just sat there, it almost seemed like he was afraid when he said,

“What’s your full name?”

“Samuel James Tyler.” Sam declared in a loud clear voice.

Just like that, the room filled with cries of fear or other emotions. Among them you could hear voices yelling, “Spare him!” or “Help him” or “He has the sickness!” The judge frantically pounded the desk with his gavel, screaming,

“Order! We shall have order in the Council!” Once the crowd had finally been silenced, the judge looked down at Sam. There was a long pause, suddenly the judge stood up and said,

“I sentence you to house arrest and place you in the hands of our Main Healer, until such time when we can identify the problem and fix it.” The judge looked around the room, and proclaimed,

“All in favor?” It looked as though literally every being in the room raised its right hand and yelled,

“Aye!” The judge took a quick look around the room,

“All opposed?” One being in the room raised its right hand and said,

“Aye.” Utter silence, everyone in the room looked, in pure anger, at this one lone creature that disagreed.

The judge took another quick look around the room,

“Case dismissed.”

He motioned for Sam to be taken away. This time, Sam wasn’t blindfolded or gagged. Now he could clearly see what was around him, the sight he saw was incredible! There were giant futuristic buildings everywhere, logic defying vehicles, and every kind of alien species the imagination could conjure traveled around, just living their lives! He was ushered into a strange vehicle. Just the sight of everything could make a grown man cry… It was incredible, unimaginable, logic defying, and Sam loved it! An hour and a half passed like a flash of awe inspiring light. And before his mind could finish processing what he saw, he was ushered to the front door of a two-leveled building out in the middle of nowhere… It was kind of strange in comparison to the large city. Sam was escorted to the front door and one of the two soldiers pushed a button on a panel that was next to the door. The door opened into the wall like a door from Star Wars and behind it stood something that couldn’t be explained in mere words… It looked like the End Dragon from Minecraft was shrunk to be about five-foot-eight, given a white dress, blue eyes, glasses and removed its wings. It’s adorable! Sam thought to himself. The soldiers simply gave the creature a chip that looked like it was from a camera, escorted Sam inside, un-cuffed him, and left… Just like that.

Sam could tell that this creature was confused. It looked at the chip in it's right hand, then at Sam, then back at the chip again. It asked Sam to sit down while it walked into the other room. All Sam could do there was look around the room. It was spacious, warm, cozy. Out of nowhere, the alien walked up to him and said,

“Hello, Sam. My name is Doctor Emizaneth Monret, but you can call me whatever you wish.”

Sam looked her in the eye and asked,

“Is Emi alright?” She paused for a moment, then looked Sam in the eye and responded,

“Sure.” Emi replied.

Sam asked another question,

“Are you the healer that I was told I would be staying with?”

She nodded. Suddenly all of the floodgates opened! She went full nerd on Sam, bombarding him with questions about his race, his powers, where he’s been, how old he is, if he can feel things like pain or hot or cold, and basically anything that came to mind. Sam couldn’t keep up with her, so he stayed silent. Emi just stood there… You could almost see the stars in her eyes…

“Wow… I am standing in the presence of pure greatness… The most powerful thing in the multiverse is in my house… I get to take care of something that has infinite knowledge and wisdom!”

She fainted. Sam didn’t know what to do… He didn’t want to drag her around trying to find a couch or something to put her on, but right as he decided to pick her up and find a place other than the floor to let her sleep, she sprung right back into reality.

Sam could see that it took every fiber of her being to control herself as she asked him to fallow her to where he would be staying.

“This is my guest room…” Emi opened the door leading to a bedroom that, in comparison to Sam’s bedroom, looked like a Masters’ Suite.

“It’s so tidy because… Well… I never have guests. Everyone that I heal is in a hospital.” She said looking kind of embarrassed. Sam looked at her,

“I thought you were the Main Healer; why would you never get guests?” She made a face that looked like she was kind of depressed,

“Well, I get visitors… Every now and then… But, no one ever spends the night. So, this room has been completely untouched, other than the occasional cleaning, since I moved in.”

Sam couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. She gave a small smile, and turned and darted away yelling,
“I need to make dinner!!”

Sam chuckled a little, then went back to studying the room he was in. There was a large bed that looked like it would be roughly the size of a king sized bed. Sam pressed his hand on the bed and it sank! Sam lied on the bed and just melted, it was like the whole bed was made of warm memory foam. He lay there, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed.

“Now, this… Is a bed!” He exclaimed, yawning and stretching. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

Chapter ii

He was awoken by a sound come from down stairs,

“Dinner’s ready!”

It shocked him awake… He looked at the clock. It was ridiculously technologically advanced but, he could still tell that he had been asleep for 40 minutes. Deep grumblings of frustration emitted from Sam as he tried to get up off of the comfy bed.

The half-asleep Sam trudged downstairs, still grumbling about having to get out of his warm foam bed. As soon as he set foot on the main floor the smell of food caught his attention. A fascinating feature of the human mind is that it remembers what things smell like. This smell was completely unfamiliar and yet… It made his mouth water.

He made his way to the table and his jaw dropped when he saw the feast set before him. Emi stood next to the table, looking at Sam in anticipation of how he would respond. Sam caught on to this immediately, however due to his being half-asleep and his awe of how much food was set before him, all he could get out were mumbles and hand gestures.

The only audible word he could get out was,

“It’s glorious!” Emi smiled and gestured for him to sit. He sat down in a chair and found enough concentration to mumble,

“Is there any order or do I just dive in?” Emi sat down and responded,

“Dive in.” She filled her plate with several fruits and what looked like it might be some kind of steak.

Sam was amazed to see razor teeth inside of her mouth, every one of her teeth that Sam could see were razor sharp. Nonetheless, she used a knife and cut the steak before putting it in her mouth. Sam, on the other hand, didn’t waste time being ‘proper’ he stuffed everything he could in his mouth. It was like watching a vacuum cleaner. Everything that went near his mouth was eaten up!

Forty-five minutes later Sam was stuffed like a Thanksgiving Turkey and the table was picked clean. Sam felt like asking why she made such a large feast, but decided to be grateful instead of inquisitive.

Emi brought him a drink that could be easily mistaken for a milkshake, by humans, at first glance. Sam groaned in frustration,

“I’m stuffed… So stuffed…” He looked at the milkshake siting before him on the table and mumbled,

“It looks delicious.” Sam wanted to eat it, but he was so full that the very thought of more food made him uncomfortable.

He just sat there groaning and mumbling to himself. Emi was cleaning up after the meal, in 6 short minutes the only thing on the table was the milkshake. Sam could hear Emi humming in the kitchen as she prepared the dishes to be washed. He sat up in his seat and scowled at the milkshake,

“Look at you… Sitting there… Mocking me!” He spoke in the milkshake’s vice, high pitched and mocking, and said,

“Oh, you can’t eat me! HA! You don’t have the stomach!” He continued in his normal voice,

“Oh but what you don’t know is that I’m just biding my time… Waiting until I have just enough room in my stomach to swallow you whole!”

He stared at the milkshake and mumbled under his breath as though to mock the mocking milkshake and to encourage his stomach to digest faster.

Three minutes later, he grabbed the milkshake and laughed,

“Now, oh Undrinkable One, you’re mine!” He took a large drink. It was unbelievably thick but creamy in texture, and it was almost sickeningly sweet. Sam drank it in a matter of 13 seconds. He laughed,

“I have conquered the Undrinkable One!” Emi stuck her head out of the kitchen to see what was going on. Sam fell out of his chair,

“Brain freeze!!” He moaned,

“It burns! It burns us!” He yelled mimicking Golem. Emi couldn’t help but laugh. Sam finally got up and sat back in his chair. Emi finally caught her breathe and explained that she had never seen something that funny before. Sam grumbled in his throat. Sam decided to be a gentleman and asked if he could help her with anything. She explained that she was fine doing it by herself and said that he should simply make himself comfortable.

Sam agreed and left Emi to the dishes; Sam decided that the best thing to do would be to explore the house and get to know his surroundings. He began the process of ‘casing the joint’, as his mother called it; He started in the entry way and meticulously walked through every room looking at everything.

When you came in the front door, you stand a two-story clearing; directly to your right is an office; directly to your left is the dining room; straight in front of you, to the left is a hallway leading to a sitting room; straight in front of you, to the right is a staircase leading to the upper floor; if you walk down the hallway you find that there is a door at the end of the hallway leading to the basement; when you leave the hallway and stand in the sitting room consisting of a love-seat that was in front of the TV, two recliners, and a couch; to your right is another short hallway leading to a bedroom and the main floor bathroom; the main floor bathroom has two doors: one that connects it to the main floor and one that connects it to the main floor bedroom, at night you could lock the door that connects the bathroom to the main floor and the only way to get in the bathroom would be through the bedroom; to the left of the sitting room was a massive kitchen; at the entrance of the kitchen, to the left is a butler’s pantry that also connects to the dining room; the back door is in the kitchen as well as the way to get to the garage. There are no doors on the main floor except the ones that connect to the outside and the ones in the bathroom and bedroom; the roof in the sitting room and entry way are the same height, but every other room on the main floor has a nine-foot roof. If you go up the stairs half way up it splits and goes left and right; to the right is the guest bedroom that has its own bathroom, it is the same size as the main floor bedroom and bathroom; the first door at the top of the left staircase is a towel closet; to the right is the master bedroom, Sam didn’t want to intrude on Emi’s personal stuff so he didn’t enter the room; on the left are two other bedrooms that share a bathroom. Every bedroom had a walk-in closet and every bathroom was complete. The basement door was locked.

Sam sat down in the love-seat, and yawned. He spent the next five minutes studying the TV looking object that sat against the wall in front of him.

“Would you mind if I turn on the TV?” Sam asked.

 Emi looked at the TV and said,

“I don’t mind… All you have to do is find the remote.”

Sam looked at her and replied by saying,

“Did you lose it?”

“Yes… Two days ago.”

Emi paused doing the dishes to point out that she had it last when she in the love-seat. Sam began the process of finding a lost remote… He shoved his arms into the deepest parts of the chair trying to find where the remote could have fallen… Nothing. Next, he lifted the sofa to see if it was underneath it… Nothing. Suddenly the TV turned on by itself. Sam was a little startled at this happening, but he didn’t really care… The only thing that mattered in that moment was that the TV was on. The TV started to flip around the channels. Sam got very suspicious and spun around to get a look at Emi, who jumped at his sudden movement. She didn’t have the remote…

“How is the TV doing that?” Sam asked. Emi smiled and explained to him that she could control technology with her mind. Sam immediately shot a question at her about her ‘power’,

“Is it like telekinesis?”

“No.” Emi responded.

“Oh… So… What? What do you mean by control technology?”

“I mean that I can control stuff… Like the toaster… Or the oven… Or the TV… If it runs on a power source of some kind, I can control it with my mind. For example, I couldn’t build a TV with my mind but I can buy one and never need a remote.” Sam put two and two together…

“Wait… So you just wanted me to find a nonexistent remote??!”

“It isn’t nonexistent! The TV came with a remote… It’s just that, because I never needed to use it, I didn’t keep track of where it went.”

Sam looked at her and laughed at the magnitude of the prank she just pulled on him and at how efficient it was,
“That was very good!” Sam exclaimed. 

Emi smiled and laughed,
“I know. I’m hilarious!”

Emi flipped through the channels until she got to a channel that was playing an alien game show. It looked vaguely like the setup of Family Feud… But, the game show host was asking the teams riddles.

“Okay, last riddle, for 5000 points! Are you ready?” That game show host inquired. Everyone answered in unison,
“Yes.”

“Alright. The last riddle is:  What 7 letter, Earth Word, is spelled the same way backwards and forewords? You have one minute.” Both teams thought deeply, you could see it in their eyes. Sam on the other hand answered every riddle almost instantly,

“The answer is: Racecar.” Sam shouted at the TV. A minute passed and no one answered the riddle.

“The answer was: Racecar. No one got that riddle.” Sam smiled,

“I got the riddle.” Emi finished the dishes and sat next to Sam. She turned toward Sam and asked a question,

“After this would you be okay with doing some tests?” Sam didn’t like the idea of doing tests, but he didn’t protest,

“Sure. Actually, if you want we could go now… The show’s almost over anyway.”  Emi looked at the TV then back at Sam,

“That would be great!” 

Emi shut off the TV and led Sam to the basement door, she took a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. At the bottom of the stairs, to the left, there was another bedroom and to the right there was another bathroom. Other than those two rooms the basement was completely open and it was full of medical equipment. 

Emi gestured for Sam to sit. She walked over to a computer and got to work. Sam looked around… It looked like the check-up room and the emergency room from a hospital were put into one room. The only thing that didn’t look like it was taken from a hospital was a gyroscope looking thing in the corner. Emi got up from her seat by the computer and sat in front of Sam, with a tablet in her hand.

“Do you remember anything before living on Earth?” She inquired,

“No. I never second guessed my humanity.” Sam answered truthfully. Emi typed on the tablet and asked another question,

“How far in the past can you remember?”

“The earliest memory that I have is that I jumped on a bed when I was 5 and I ended up jumping out of a 2^nd story window.” Emi typed his answer on the tablet and asked anther question,

“Have you ever exhibited strange talents? Other than time travel?” Sam thought for a moment,

“Well… I’m extremely strong, responsible, and fast… I’m also very good at completely ignoring things.” Emi looked him in the eyes and asked,

“Have you ever looked in the mirror and seen a different reflection? As if, you were different?” This question hit Sam like a rock,

“What? No! Never!” Emi typed on the tablet,

“You do know that this isn’t what your species naturally looks like, right?” Sam lifted his arms in a shrug and explained,

“I had no idea that I was an alien until yesterday!” Emi stood up and set the tablet on the counter next to her,

“Fallow me.” She instructed. Sam obeyed and was led to the thing that looked like a gyroscope. Emi told him to remove his shirt, his socks, and his shoes. Sam was hesitant, but he did as he was told, then Emi strapped him in and turned it on. After 15 minutes of spinning in every direction, the machine stopped. Sam got out and fell on his knees.

“I feel like my bones are vibrating!” He exclaimed, trying to focus. That’s when he noticed that his hands looked different. 

Emi brought full body mirror and placed it in front of him. He looked like a birch tree. He had the body shape he had before he got in the gyroscope, but he had the color scheme of a birch tree. His head, neck, forearms, hands, and feet (from the ankle down) were pitch black. He studied his body carefully; his eyes were black other than his irises, which were bright green; he had no nose, no ears, no hair. He opened his mouth and examined its contents, his teeth were long, black, and wolf-like; the inside of his mouth was a black as his head. He studied his arms, they were shaped exactly like his arms were when he was human looking; his hands still had five fingers, but every finger now had a four-inch claw at the end of it. His legs were shaped like those a dog would have; his feet were shaped like human feet, but now he only had three toes on each foot and they were clawed like his hands were.

“How?” He gasped, his voice was deeper and more gravely.

“Well, your body was used to holing that form under the influence of Earth’s gravity. So, all that had to be done was make your body feel like there was a change in gravity. You see, in this form you are much more invulnerable than in any form you could take, so if gravity suddenly changes you return to your previous form to avoid being crushed or exploding.” Sam felt faint,

“So… If I’m an alien and I’ve always been that way… How can I live with humans that have pictures of me as a baby in the hospital??” Emi looks him square in the eyes and responds simply,

“They never actually existed. You created them in an attempt to escape everything that you feared.” This his Sam like a brick, he felt tears start rolling down his face,

“That’s impossible! I had friends over all the time! I walked up and down the stairs in the house every day!”

“I never said that they were imaginary. I said that you created them. That is one of the Wanderers’ amazing powers: they can create animate and/or inanimate objects out of thin air.” Sam was gritting his teeth in rage and sadness,

“Afraid of what?!” Emi walked over to the computer and brought back another tablet.

“About a century ago, all the Wanderers just abandoned their home world. No one knows why. But, they all just left the planet. For some reason… After that… They all died. Millions at a time. Soon only 5 remained. And one by one they died to a virus. You are the only one that has survived from it, but now… You’re exhibiting the symptoms of the virus.” Sam felt like killing something, he just wanted to take his claws and bury them in something’s chest. But, instead of being violent, he just clenched his fists.

“So… What you’re saying is: I was afraid so I ran away to Earth and created a family and a body so that I could have camouflage… Then, I just hid there?” Emi nodded,

“That is correct.” Sam looked her in the eye and asked,

“How did I forget everything?” Emi shrugged and thought for a moment,

“Maybe your camouflage was so good that it fooled you too… Or, perhaps, you just wanted to fit in somewhere and so you told yourself, “I am human.”, for so long that you forgot everything that you were.” Sam thought this through then asked,

“So… What happens to them when I’m gone?”

“They stop existing, they disappear into thin air, and everyone who ever met them and every record of their existence vanishes.” Emi replied.

That was all that Sam could take, stormed out of the basement and upstairs to the guestroom. He slammed the door and collapsed on the bed weeping bitterly. Three days dragged by and this is all Sam could do. He didn’t drink, he didn’t eat. He cried, often he would cry himself to sleep, only to wake again and continue weeping. 

Everything he thought was real was a lie! It was the greatest lie that anyone could ever tell… And he fell for it, hook, line, and sinker! In the midst of his sadness, Emi would occasionally enter the room and try to comfort Sam… To no avail. 

The fourth day after Sam’s tragic revelation, he exits his room and slowly made his way down stairs. He found Emi sitting in the dining room by herself reading a book. Sam didn’t want to be alone anymore… But, he didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry.” Sam’s voice was quiet, but his sudden appearance startled her.

“What?” Emi asked due to the fact that she honestly couldn’t make out what he had said,

“I said: I’m sorry.” He responded quietly, looking at the ground,

“You’ve done nothing that would need an apology.” Emi stated, closing her book and standing up,

“I know you were just doing your job… But, I shouldn’t have acted like some kind of child.” Emi couldn’t believe what she was hearing!

“That is a lot to take in! You took it how anyone would have taken it!” Emi tried to comfort him. All Sam could do was stand there shaking his head. Emi hugged Sam and spoke softly in his ear,

“If it’s any consolation, I know what it’s like to lose everything. I lost my parents, my brother, and my home, to a fire when I was 10.” Sam could feel that Emi had started to cry. Sam realizing this hugged her tightly and started to cry. It was 15 minutes before they let go of each other and stopped crying. Sam chuckled softly and asked through a cracking voice,

“What’s for dinner? I’m starving.” Emi laughed like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard and hugged Sam again. She let go and walked into the kitchen saying,

“I’ll get started on supper.” Sam sat at the table and sighed. It was strange… He felt better than he had ever felt before. He smiled and closed his eyes to rest a little before dinner. 

(I am currently working on chapter three. Because of school and chores and all that... I don't have a lot of time to work on it. I hope you have enjoyed. If you have, please let me know in the comments and I will work on getting the third chapter done. That's all for this post. Thanks for reading Daniel's Discussions! Stay tuned for more.)