Largo sighed with discontent at his desk as his eyes wandered around his small cubical. He was trapped at work again, another day without excitement or thrill. Largo was starting to consider that the walls were closing in each day. Not even his l33t posters of Never Winter Nights could make the small cubical look any better. He ran a hand through his long stalk of orange hair and groaned slightly as his eyes half shut. Largo looked as if he were going to lose his mind because of lack of things to do today.

His eyes absently rolled down to look at his desk, his large employee calendar was staring up at him. Everyday before he left work he'd mark off a day on his calendar with a large red x. He was just like a child marking off the days till Christmas. Unfortunately he wasn't counting down the days to anything important. The only thing he had to look forward to was 5 o'clock when he could go home and game, alone.

Life had changed a lot for Largo since he had come home to America. He was excited to finally be coming back to the good old USA. He could finally understand what people were saying to him. There would be no more Japanese being constantly yelled at him, no more getting hit by cars driving on the wrong side of the road, and no more crazy magic girls or zombie girls threatening his life.

Largo absently reached out to his cool thing, which sat proudly on the edge of his small desk. Using his fingers he rolled it around over his calendar. It reminded him of what he left behind in Japan, the times and adventures he had had there. As he played with it his mind wandered more and more. (Some dream job… Me being here is a crime against my l33t skills. I should be working on new l33t games, building the future of all that is gaming! Creating the new and unthinkable!) Largo thought angrily.

The great job he had gotten with Sony had turned out to be a desk job any monkey could do. Instead of working on new l33t games, Largo spent his days taking help calls from newbies who didn't know a connector cable from a controller. They irritated Largo to no end, day after day he'd get a few calls from them and then he'd just go home. It was a dead end job where he sat in a box and was paid for nothing.

Largo kept playing with his cool thing, no calls yet today. His eyes went on wandering to various things on his desk. His phone, a "the customer is always right" guide book, and on the end of his tiny desk was a picture. He made a frame for it out of l33t computer parts and hot glue. There were still some pieces of sugar cereal stuck to the frame, but that made it even more l33t. Inside the frame was a picture taken the night before he left for America. He smirked as he thought about that night. Everyone had come to see him off. Each one of the people he saw that night reminded him of how l33t his stay in Japan was.

(Japan was a place where my l33tness was loved! I was a king! There was not one person not impressed by my l33t skills. I even made a ninja l33t! That country always needed me! There was always something to do there. I got to fight off the zombie menace, build fear bots, and I saved the country from utter destruction! Now that was a game worthy of my time. A game that never got old, or boring…) Largo was shaken out of his thoughts by a voice coming from above him. A head popped up over his cubical wall on the right.

"Largo? Are you busy right now?" A small female voice asked. Her name was Colleen, a timid girl who had been in this job for a couple years now. Largo couldn't figure out how she had managed to stay sane. She was only 19 at the oldest and trying to put herself through college. She had mousy brown hair that was only shoulder length and soft blue eyes.

"What do j00 n33d?" He asked glancing at her.

"There's someone on my line right now and I can't figure out what their problem is… No matter what I try their PS2 won't turn on," she said quietly.

The first thing Largo noticed about her was that she wasn't just a normal gamer. She was a lot like Piro, a romance game player, scared of almost anyone or anything. That's why he took pity on her and her weaknesses. He lazily picked up his phone and hit a button that connected to Colleen's line.

She smiled at him, "Thank you Largo!" she squeaked and her head disappeared.

"What is your problem?" Largo asked as strait forward as possible.

"Your stupid play station doesn't work! That's my problem! What kind of piece of crap is this! It doesn't work for shit! What the hell!" A male voice yelled. Largo rolled his eyes, he could tell just from the voice that this person would never be worthy of the title gamer.

"This is what you need to do. Find your receipt and return the l33t machine. You are not worthy!" With that Largo hung up.

Largo's eyes turned back to the picture that sat on his desk. Back in Japan he didn't have to deal with such low level gamers, he didn't have to come home day after day to an empty studio apartment with a machine that could hardly be called l33t. Nothing exciting, nothing new ever happened, for the past three months he had been a rut. Largo quickly opened one of the drawers in his desk, inside there was a handy six pack. He wasn't supposed to be drinking on the job, but it helped the day go by faster. He quickly opened a can and took a long drink.

As soon as he felt the warm beer in his mouth he heard a familiar squeak. He swallowed his beer and glanced at his shoulder. Boo sat there, his large black eyes looking up at Largo with enough sugary sweetness to make someone throw up. Boo held a small post-it in his hands that said, "How about not drinking?" His furry little face looked hopeful.

"B33r is g00d," Largo answered and took another drink. Boo quickly ripped off the post-it and wrote out another message as best as his small paws could. "Are you lonely?" Was all it said. Largo drank more, and Boo waited for an answer. "I just n33d more b33r," Largo replied.

Colleen appeared once again, this time it was more than her head that could be seen. She stood in front of Largo's cubical nervously and smiled. "Largo, who are you talking with?" She asked quietly.

He finished off the beer that he was drinking and cracked his knuckles. "Just B00," he said shortly.

Colleen blinked a few times, she had no idea who or what Boo was. It seemed every day he was having some kind of chat by himself or with this Boo. She couldn't understand why he didn't talk to anyone else in the consumer help department. She couldn't put her finger on what she thought might have been wrong with him, he seemed so alone.

"Would… you like to come to lunch with me?" Colleen said smiling. She held her Inu-Yasha messenger bag over her shoulder and had been on her way out when she heard Largo muttering to himself.

Largo looked up and shook his head. "I do not need food right now. I have b33r." With that he reached back into the drawer and pulled out another can. Colleen smiled warmly again and walked up closer to his desk.

"Alright…," she muttered. Since Largo had come to work for this department she had seen the ornate picture frame on his desk. Maybe Largo did have friends, or family. Colleen was just desperate to know if he did have someone in his life. She quickly picked up the frame and glanced at the people inside the picture. Largo almost flew across his desk toward her.

"What are j00 doing!" He asked a glare forming on his face.

"I just wanted to see your picture… that's all. Who are they?" She said. Largo pulled the picture from her hands and set it back down on his desk.

"Friends back in Japan," Largo snapped. He opened his beer and he felt Boo poke his neck with the pen he was writing with. A new note was there for him to read. "Be nicer to her!" Was all it said. Colleen felt some relief from hearing Largo mention having friends.

"You have friends in Japan? That's good," she said sweetly.

"Why do j00 care so much?" He asked.

Colleen ignored his question and asked another of her own. "What is Japan like? I've always wanted to go, but I never will have the money. Do you still talk to your friends there?" Largo stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out why she was asking him all these questions. He couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself when she said she didn't have money to go Japan.

(You don't need money to be there, just the money to get there.) Largo thought quickly.

No one else had talked to him nearly as much as Colleen was. He hardly even knew this girl, yet she showed so much interest in him. Largo lifted an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I do still talk to my friends there," was all he said.

Colleen smiled warmly again at Largo. "Was Japan fun…?" She knew she was pressing her luck by asking more questions, but she just wanted to know more about him. In the three months he had been in the office, half the people there still referred to him as "that weird guy who talks to himself".

Largo went on studying her; he couldn't understand where these questions were coming from. He took gulp of his newly opened beer and smirked evilly.

"Fun? It was l33t. They had b33r in vending machines," Largo muttered.

"Colleen, are you coming to lunch!" A voice called from outside Largo's cubicle.

"Yeah, I'll be ready to go in a minute!" She called back glancing over her shoulder.

Largo calmly sipped his beer again, memories of Japan seemed to be coming back to him thanks to Colleen's questions. "I'll talk to you later Largo," she said. He nodded and went on staring into space.

"Maybe you can tell me more about Japan later," she added before walking off.

Boo squeaked as he tried to get Largo's attention again. He had another post-it in his hands and ready for Largo to read. Boo's small squeak was ignored as Largo put his arm on his desk and propped his head up on his hand. His eyes were still on the picture sitting there.

(I wonder… if she's happy now.) Largo thought. He remembered all the good times in Japan, but with the good thoughts of the hard times came back too.

(Women are the evil of the world. They have the hardest rules to play by and not enough save points in their games. Still…I did like the challenge. It's been a long time since any game presented a need for my skills…) Largo sighed and finally gave Boo his attention.

The newest post-it note Boo held said "Why not go visit them?" Largo's smirk faded from his face.

"If I visit I might not be able to leave again. Besides I don't have the money to even buy a ticket back," Largo finished his second beer. Even the alcohol wasn't helping take the edge off of the memories. It wasn't pushing away his thoughts like it normally did, Largo had a feeling he was starting to get tolerant. Boo looked down, his small black eyes were filled with sadness and pity.

The small winged hamster quickly scribbled down another note. "Will you really let money keep you away from her?"

Largo glanced at the note and took a long sip of his beer. He paused for a moment before he answered Boo's question.

"She doesn't need me little dude. She let me leave without a second thought. We played a good game… but that game hasn't come to America yet," He said slowly.

That's when Largo's phone rang for the second time that slow day. He reached over lazily and picked it up.

"Just put the l33t machine down and step away, you unworthy, unl33t,… Piro?"