He looked at the desk in front of him with tired eyes. All his notes and research lay out, unorganized. His chair was tipped over against the wall behind him and his lamp was on the ground next to the desk. Standing, he slammed his hands down on the desk, making a few pencils jump in their holder. Nothing was going to work. He turned around and slammed his fist on the wall, making the blinds shudder and the lights flicker. Outside people screamed at the building he was in. Protesters throwing rocks and bottles, some threating with guns. Police had set up barricades to hold people back. He turned back to look at the rest of his office. Shelves lay facedown on the rug, lamp shades broken and more papers all over the floor. The phone began to ring, causing him to momentarily come out of his stupor. Tentatively, he pressed the speaker-phone button. "Mr. President, have you figured out a solution to out nation's growing problem? Job losses just went up to 70% and rising. You meed to work quickly."
"Yes, yes, I realise the dire situation that we are facing Stanley. I have spent countless hours working on this. Our economy is unstable. So far nothing seems even realistically possible. I'm not sure-"
"You know the old saying 'Rules are made to be broken?' Well, now those 'rules' are our laws. Listen Mark, I know that you worked hard to get this job, but if you don't figure out something soon, there's going to be no nation to run."
"Goddamnit man! All I need is a little more time and-"
"You don't have a little more time."
Mark jumped at the chime that signiled another caller trying to contact him. "Listen Stan, I'm going to have to put you on hold for a second while I answer this. Can you just-"
"You know what Mark? Don't fucking bother." The line clicked off, showing that the caller, Stanley, had hung up. He stared at the phone for a moment before quickly answering the other line, which turned out to be his secretary.
"What is it? I'm very busy right now."
"Yes sir," the caller sounded rushed, "this is very important."
Mark raised an eyebrow before asking her to continue.
"We just receaved a letter from a highschool student who may have figured out a way to solve all our problems."
He stopped. "Deb, I don't think that it is smart to trust a kid who knows noting about the situation that we're actually in. But, to hell with logic. What's the idea?
"First let me ask one question, how many video games have you played?"