Excerpt
Vex grabbed a few game magazines and a couple of games from the shelf and walked to the cash register. "You seem troubled....is everything alright?", Kat jested as she rang up the items. "Well..."said Vex. "Have you ever heard of a game called Doomsgate?"
"I haven’t heard of the title, but I mainly sell games….not play them. You should ask Zilo, the manager. He might know about it. He’s in the back." Vex picked up his purchase and attempted to build up his courage to go to the back office.
The office was a little run-down, like it hadn't been maintained in years. In the center of the door near the top hung a sign with the words, "The only bad game is a game that is not understood or where the player has not reached deep enough." As Vex read this, he thought to himself, "I guess he never played the old Ataria disaster ET."
Vex slowly opened the door and went inside. The office was cloudy with dust particles (shown by the morning light) through the two small windows in the far end of the office. A rugged, unkempt man of at least 40 years was sitting behind a junk-covered desk. Zilo was busy writing something in a book with curled pages.
"What can I do for you?" Zilo said, without looking up from his writing.
"Uhh.." Vex timidly responded. "Have you ever heard of a game called Doomsgate?"
"Who made it and what year?" questioned Zilo.
"I don't know what year for sure....All I know is the title, which was scribbled on a printer paper cover. The title is Doomsgate by Zerahan," Vex replied.
Zilo sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling as he thought for a moment about times long since past. "Zerahan…that sounds familiar….ahh, yes I remember. He created several games in the early 1990’s. They were all unique and very challenging. He seemed to have a way of getting people very involved in his games." Zilo then turned to a computer on the side table of his desk. "...Hmmm...it doesn’t appear that Doomsgate is in my database."
Vex thanked Zilo for the information and turned to leave the room.
"Wait!…there is something else you might be interested in. About ten years ago, it was rumored that Zerahan was working on a game that would bring together all games in one. I heard that he never finished it, and that he mysteriously vanished. If you have a beta copy of this game, I’d like to see it."
Vex hesitated and then responded, "I'll let you know if I find anything." Vex then left the room.