STORY 01: LUNAR LANDING SCANDAL
When I was a kid, I visited Florida. My parents had been saving up for forever, and we did everything. The beach, Disneyworld, Marine Land… But my favorite was the Kennedy Space Center. My parents thought I was some crazy kid for liking something educational like that better than Disneyworld, and my dad kind of made a face like "why did we spend all the money on Disney, then?" but I didn't care, and my mom was thrilled.
You see, I wanted to be an astronaut one day. That was my dream. I wanted to go to the moon, shoot past the stars, see it all! If only I were still that naïve today. I wish I could erase everything I know about it now, just keep the childlike sense of wonder. But no, it's too late for that. Too late to go back.
When we were there, we bought tons of souvenirs. I got postcards, model spaceships, books, and more. I guess I still have them in my attic or something. I don't know why I kept them.
There was one other souvenir. At the shop there was a small shelf lined with copies of a Gameboy game. Pokemon: Special Lunar Edition. It was my first and last interaction with the world of Pokemon. I swear I'll never play another Pokemon game as long as I live. I won't let my children play them either, when I have kids of my own.
It seemed innocent enough. NASA and Pokemon teaming up for a special promotion; what could be cooler? The box had a clefairy on the front, and a swirling watercolor of a galaxy in the background. I was so excited to start, and I played it all the way home from the trip. It was magical to a child.
Little did I know it would soon be what would end all the magic.
I played that game for a long, long time. From what my friends told me about their Pokemon games, the only thing different about my copy was the museum in Pewter City. In this "Special Lunar Edition", there were several more space-related exhibits, including some on an extra floor of the building, and banners that said "NASA" hanging on the wall everywhere.
It was the only difference, but that was cool with me. It was a fun game, and I was glad I'd been introduced to it. Plus, all my friends were jealous that I had something that was different or "better" than theirs. That was enough to make me happy.
But several years passed, and one day I went back to the Pewter City Museum. I'd been there probably a hundred times, literally. Maybe this was actually the hundredth time, and that's what triggered all this. I'll never know. But I walked around the museum like I always did, talking to all the NPCs. They always said the same old things, but I didn't care. I always liked the little girl whining to her dad about how she wanted a Pikachu.
Then I talked to the old man on the second floor. If you've played Pokemon, you know the one. He usually says how he bought a color TV to watch the news about the first lunar landing.
But that's not what he said this time.
SON, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I'VE GOT TO TELL SOMEONE! WILL YOU LISTEN TO MY STORY?
A box appeared, asking me to choose YES or NO. Of course, I chose yes.
OH RELIEF! I'VE BEEN PRETENDING ALL THESE YEARS! THEY TOLD ME NEVER TO TELL!
…
NO, WAIT, MAYBE IT'S BETTER FOR YOU TO SEE IT YOURSELF. HERE, TAKE THIS KEY AND WALK OVER TO THE LEFT PICTURE ON THE FIRST FLOOR.
I received the key from the old man, my heart beating wildly. I thought I'd done everything there was to do in this game. What could this secret be? I checked my inventory, and the key was there for sure, called the STUDIO KEY.
I walked down to the first floor, slowly, wishing I could speed up my character's movement. After what felt like an eternity, I got to the poster. As soon as I bumped into the wall… a door opened.
No one seemed to notice. None of the scientists at the museum yelled at me. They had their backs turned. So did the man near the display cases. Slowly, slowly, I walked through the door.
And found myself in a film studio. Pure black backdrop, little pixilated studio lights, little pixilated spotlights, little pixilated cameras, a spaceshuttle, a floor dappled with craters and dust. My heart was beating wildly within my chest.
What does it mean? What does it MEAN?
Tears sprung to my eyes. I was joking myself; I knew what it meant. It meant the lunar landing was a hoax. It was all phony. My heroes were actors.
My parents often asked me after that why I had stopped playing my game. I lied; told them I'd "outgrown" it. I guess I don't have to tell you that I'm not an astronaut now. I never lived out my childhood dream.
Still, it leaves open more questions than it answers. Was it all just a joke? Was it the awful truth? Why would they reveal that information? Why would they reveal it in a simple game?
Maybe there really was an old man over there at NASA, an old man who wanted the truth to be known. Maybe there was someone over at Nintendo that just wanted to pull a prank. They never thought in a million years some kid would actually talk to the man in the museum one hundred times. They never thought some kid would take it seriously.
They never thought it would dash a little astronaut's dreams.