Secret Identity
"Who are you, my mysterious stranger?"
Disclaimer: all copyrighted names, characters, and places belong to their respectful owners.
Enjoy the story!
1
When I tell people that I work at Nintendo, they get this look of wide-eyed appreciation. That is, until they find out I'm just some coffee fetching, paper organizing assistant who rarely gets noticed at all. I sometimes lie.. you know, say that I've helped on some pretty awesome games. Really though, the most I've seen of games are the ones I play at home. However, lately the department I work in has been all a buzz over the Nintendo Wii and the main game they've been hauling ass over: "Twilight Princess". The development process began 2 years ago, and when the big-wigs decided to temporarily stop working on the Gamecube Zelda and focus on the Wii version.. THAT'S when things started getting interesting. I'll tell you.. I made a lot of coffee.
So it's a bright and sunny day, and surprisingly I'm feeling quite cheerful today. Birds are singing, subways are running on time, tobacco in the air.. aaah welcome to Kobe, Japan. It's still quite early and no one's really arrived yet so I'll just sit and read this magazine...
"Toshiko?"
Damn. So much for relaxing. I crank my head up to reply, "yes? What can I do for you?" in the sweetest voice I could muster.
"I've got alot going on today, and my assistant has gone on vacation. I really didn't want to have to come and ask you for help, but there's no one else who's not busy at the moment." The woman tried really hard to not make her request seem like an insult, but being the negative-thinker that I am, it certainly seemed that way to me.
This could be fun.. right? "Of course I'll help you, Dana", I say as I stand up and straighten my skirt.
Dana smile was fleeting as she turned her head to speak as she exited the room. "Okay then. Hurry up. We've got lots to do."
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As we walk quickly through the small corridors, heads from behind cubicles turn to look at us as we briskly make our way to wherever we're going. We must look very important. I must admit, I feel somewhat proud walking next to Dana. After all, she's been working on Zelda with all those mega-creative people over in the development department, and she's half-American. The two words Zelda and American have alot of special meaning to us Japanese, you know what I'm saying? Anyways, so we're walking and Dana's handing me a gazillion papers and she obviously has no regard for my well-being... wait. We've stopped. In front of us is a door. "Are we... going in..?" I ask, not trying to sound sarcastic.
Dana sighed deeply. "Toshiko, there are some pretty important people behind this door. Now, I'm not going to ask alot of you. All I want, is for you to do what I tell you." Her expression remained stern, but it quickly softened as she tried to make a kind recovery. "Okay, sweetie?". Oh, nice recovery. I wish I could roll my eyes, but my job is on the line.
I smile enthusiastically and say, "I'll do my best!"
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Inside the room, there are many computers, and a somewhat large table off to the side where they must have meetings or something. I've never been in here, so I can't tell you for sure. Maybe they just eat pizza on it? Anyway, a stern looking man with a stern expression greets us right away. Can this be good?
"Miyamoto-san was unable to join us today. I've come in his place. I hope we can get things underway without him for the time being." The man held tightly onto his briefcase, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Dana remained calm. "It's all right, Umeda-san. We'll just have a video-conference with him later." She nodded ushered me into the room along with her.
Umeda stopped walking beside us briefly to turn around and say, "He's here." He pointed in a somewhat distant direction.
Dana looked confused for a moment. "Who?.. Oh! You mean Matsumaru-san?"
The man nodded.
"Well, where is he?" Dana was beginning to look exasperated.
"He is in the motion capture room. I don't think he's begun yet.. but.." Umeda's voice trailed off as Dana yanked me off in a seperate direction.
She sure seemed excited to meet this Matsumaru guy. Wonder why...
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A man sat in the center of the room, dressed in a tight-fitting black garment. The blue mats around him were almost gymnasium-like, and on his joints were little sensors attached to his clothing. He is quiet.. in his own little world. At that moment, and I don't know why.. but I feel bad for him. He looks almost like a test animal in a cage. For some reason, he seems.. not of this world. Like, he doesn't understand where he is. Hey, why am I thinking this? I don't even know the guy. Sheesh. And I try always to never judge people on appearances. He looks up at us as we enter the room.. my heart skips a beat. Well, he's blond first of all (I love blond foreigners) but in his eyes... this.. intensity and maturity.
Who is he?