Hello all you beautiful readers. I'm so glad you're enjoying this. I again wanted to thank you all for your love and support for this story.
Starless Echoes: No one has EVER spoken to me like that. It is bold. I like it. (•‿•)
SpiritChannelerJosh: Eyyy I've read one of your fics. Nice to see you here. Thanks for your comment.
Markens: ;)
ric castle: Don't worry. You will.
ThatBombsMine: Thanks a ton. You will :)
Footrot Flats: Don't worry, it wasn't. I just thought that if I'm going to make this interesting. I'm gonna need some character development. Thank you for your concern though. And thanks again for the review.
I love you all. And once again. Thank you all. Chapter 6 might take a little while to post but don't worry. It will be done.
CHAPTER V: Who Can it Be Knocking At My Door?
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Ryan? You in there? It's me, George!"
"Ah Shit…" Ryan mumbled.
"Who is this George?" Tigress asked in a soft whisper. Being mindful enough to keep her voice down.
"George is my next door neighbor. I don't know why he's here, he usually calls me first…"
"Calls you? You have one of those mo-bile phones like Neo does?"
"Yes, but mine's a bit different. I'll show ya later, but right now you need to hide. I can't let anyone see you."
"Why?"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"No time! Please just hide."
"Where?"
"Here."
Ryan grabbed Tigress' paw and led her over to the laundry room, which was right next to the kitchen, he opened the door and put Tigress inside. Tigress sat down on the white metal cube behind her.
"Okay, just stay here, I'll tell you when he leaves. Try not to move around too much."
Tigress nodded and Ryan shut the laundry room doors shut.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Ryan?!"
"Coming!"
Ryan walked over to the front door, he took in a deep breath and opened the door to reveal a balding middle aged Italian American guy named George Costello. His full name is Georgio Lorenzi Costello, but he prefers to be called George due to the fact that he resembles George Costanza from Seinfeld.
That and the fact that his Italian/New Jersey accent sounded like something out of The Sopranos was something that Ryan has had a good laugh over.
"Yes, George?"
"Yeah, sorry fah bargin' in like this, I know how you'se preferin' to bein' alone an all, but I was wondering if you 'ad some extra detergent?"
Ah shit…
"D-detergent? Like... laundry detergent?"
"Yea. Ya see, I ran out, right? So, I was just wonderin' if ya had any spare detergent."
"Can't you just drive to Wal-Mart?"
"Well I would, but ya see, my car is low on gas. An' you know how gas prices are an' everything."
"Yeah...uhm...well I'm sorry but I can't...I'm out too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Heh. What a coincidence, amirite?" Ryan nervously chuckled.
"Well shit. Heh. Guess I should probably ask someone else then. Heh."
"Yeah...heh...well...goodbye then."
"Yeah. See ya."
Ryan then shuts the door, locks it and gives a deep exhale as if he's been holding his breath the whole time.
Thank God that's over.
Ryan walks over to the laundry room.
"Alright Tigress, you can come out now."
Tigress then hops out of the laundry room and shuts the door behind her.
"That was too close." Ryan sighed in relief.
"So, this George. Is he someone that can pose a threat?"
"George? Threat? Pfft! He once vomited listening to Slipknot."
"..."
"Slipknot's a 'Heavy Metal' band."
"…"
Ryan sighs.
"They're musicians."
"Oh….so is George one of your friends?"
"Uhm...I mean he's my neighbor...we haven't really hung out together, so I wouldn't really call him my friend. I mean, he's a nice guy… so… uh...uhm...why are you asking this?"
"No reason. Just curious."
"You know we have a saying about curious cats."
"That reminds me...that...uhm... moment from the Matrix film thing…"
"You mean the scene?"
"Yes, yes. That scene from the Matrix film. Where the Neo character sees the same black cat twice."
"Yes?"
"Is that how all cats act on this world?"
"Well, animals in this world...they aren't…how do I put this? They aren't...intelligent."
"How so?"
"Well, take a look at yourself, for example. You can walk on two legs, something that no cat here can do. You can talk. You have the cognitive function to realize that you have to wear clothes. Animals here are more feral. Now that I think about it, you're very smart."
"Oh...uhmm...thanks...I have another question...where do I go to… uhm...relieve myself?"
"Oh. Well, I have a bathroom right here."
"I don't need to freshen up, I need to-"
"I know what you meant. Follow me."
Ryan leads Tigress to the bathroom.
"Behold, the most underappreciated human invention of all time: Indoor plumbing."
Ryan opens the bathroom door and reveals the sink, the shower and the toilet.
"This is a toilet. A very very very helpful invention. Simply sit down, do whatever you have to and when you're done. Hold down on this lever and poof. Oh, and there's uhm...you know a roll of toilet paper there for...well...yeah, you know. And of course the sink, twist this knob to the left to turn the water on, vice versa. Soap is right here. You just pump it to use it. And the door locks, so yeah. I'll get out of your way. I'll be in the living room if you need me.
"Thank you."
Tigress shuts the bathroom door and Ryan sits down on the living room sofa.
A few minutes later a flush is heard along with the sound of running water from the sink. Tigress then emerges from the bathroom and finds Ryan where he said he'd be.
"All good?" Ryan asks.
"Yes."
"So...oh yeah, I almost forgot. I never did show you what a video game is. Would you like to see it?"
"Yes, please...and Ryan…"
"Yeah?"
….
….
….
"Thank you…for your hospitality. You've been...uhm...a great host."
"Well, your very welcome. It's the least I could do for a guest such as the honorable Master Tigress."
Tigress cracks something of a smile. If you blinked you would have missed it. Ryan didn't miss it. Tigress places her fist against her open palm and bows respectfully at Ryan.
"It is an honor to be your guest."
Ryan smiles and places his fist against his palm. Mimicking Tigress' bow.
"It is an honor to be your host."
The two look at each other, both stare into each other's eyes.
Ryan's neurotic nervousness gets the better of him and he clears his throat.
"Erm, well, uh, a video game. Well. Uhm. Let me show you a video game. I'll be right back."
"Okay."
Ryan runs off to his room and thought hard.
'Okay, what can I show her that she would be interested in?...What is she interested in?...Exactly! It's obvious. She interested in human culture. How we act. How we live. I can't think of a better game that does that than Grand Theft Auto V! She will most definitely despise all the crime, profanity and mayhem but hopefully she'll understand that that's just typical American culture for ya. Gotta bring the PS4 to the living room though. That's gonna be a bitch.'
Ryan unplugged and took with him his PS4 to the living room where Tigress was waiting patiently.
"Here we go."
"What's that?"
"This? This is a PlayStation. Specifically the forth iteration more commonly known as a PlayStation 4 or PS4 for short."
"..."
"It's a machine you use to play videogames."
"Oh. Well how does it work?"
"I'll show you. First I gotta set it down and plug it in...like...that...there. Then I turn the system on."
BEEP
The system take a few minutes to load up, as it does, Tigress observes and studies everything on the TV screen. The PS logo cuts to black, then a fade in to an on-screen warning about how the PlayStation was not turned off correctly. Ryan presses the X button, the PS4 automatically signs in to his account and a the main menu appears with multiple game selections.
From left to right it read: DVD, Red Dead Redemption II, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Sonic Mania, Nick All-Stars Brawl, Grand Theft Auto V and Fallout 4.
Tigress examined each box with great interest as Ryan pressed the eject disc button.
Tigress' eyes darted to the whirring noise as a silver gray disc slid out of the disc slit.
"Is that a movie?"
"Yes it is."
Ryan pulls out the disc.
"Which one is it?"
Ryan looks at the disc.
Kung Fu Panda
"Uhhh...Mega...mind."
"What's that one about?"
"It's about uhm...well...I can't really explain it. I'll uh...show you later. I gotta put this one back in it's case."
As Ryan walks towards his room, Tigress stops him in his tracks by putting her paw on his shoulder.
"Ryan?"
"Y-yeah?"
"All your movies are in your room right?"
"Yeah...why?"
"Could I come with you...so I can see them. I'm greatly interested in them and I wish to see what else you have."
"Now?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Pfft. Please. No problem at all. Heh…"
A very nervous Ryan alongside a very curious Tigress walk over to Ryan's bedroom.
Tigress looks around at all the various posters that she saw when she first came here.
"What's with the wall decorations?"
"You mean the posters? Oh, those are just to liven up the place. A lotta people have posters."
"So? What are they?"
"Well that one is obviously The Matrix, this one is of a movie called Drive, this one is of a character named Patrick Bateman, played by actor Christian Bale in the movie American Psycho and this one is of a video game called Sonic the Hedgehog, that blue character right there is Sonic."
"Do you have them?"
"Well I've got Drive and a lotta Sonic games, but I haven't gotten American Psycho yet."
"What's American Psycho about--...actually...I don't wanna know. What's Drive about?"
"Drive is one of those films that can't be described, you just gotta see it for yourself."
Tigress nodded in understanding. At the corner of her eye she noticed a large shelf filled with DVD cases along with smaller blue cases on a separate shelf.
"That's a lot."
"Thanks. Feel free to look around, see which one you like. I'll just put this one back…"
As Tigress stared at the large collection of films Ryan quickly and quietly slid the disc under his bed and grabbed the Megamind case from his shelf, he opened the case took the disc out then snapped it back on, thankfully Tigress wasn't looking when he did and he slid the case back in the shelf. Making the auditory illusion that he put the disc back in the case. Tigress looked to Ryan and showed him a case she pulled out.
"What's this?" She asked.
"Ah yes, Blade Runner. One of my many favorites."
"What's it about?"
"It's a film set in the future about a police detective named Rick Deckard."
"How can you tell a story based on events that haven't happened?"
"Well that's why it's called fiction. You see this movie is an interpretation of what the future would look like. In the film there are machines that humans made called Replicants. They look just like humans, they bleed like humans, but they are still a machine."
"H-how is that possible."
"Well, Blade Runner takes place in the future. And in the future, anything's possible."
"After you show me what a video game is, I wish to watch this."
"Heh, alright. I think you'll love it."
Tigress takes a good look at the case then a curious thought crosses her mind.
"What year is it here?"
"2022"
"2022...what year were you born?"
"1997, why?"
"Where I come from, the year was seven hundred twenty-two…which would make me...one thousand four hundred years old…"
Tigress' expression sunk to a depressed one.
"So you're over a thousand. Don't let that bring you down. You don't even look a week over 25."
Tigress allowed a smile to escape her lips. She then lunged at him and hugged him tight.
"Whoa...heh heh…"
"Thank you...no one has ever really...been supportive to me before. I am gratefully appreciative of it."
Ryan hugs back.
"It's gonna be all right, kitten."
Tigress broke the hug.
"Kitten?"
"Ah...uh...s-sorry...I didn't mean to say that. I...I meant...uh...SITTIN'!!
I really feel like sitting down. Let's go back to the living room."
Ryan power-walked his way to the living room, grabbed the controller and sat down.
He inserted the GTA V Disc inside the system and pressed X.
The sound of broken glass, a car being hotwired, police sirens and gunfire blasted through the TV speakers as the Rockstar/Rockstar North logos appeared before the two.
The game booted up and loaded in the recent Story Mode save file. Ryan spawned in as his most played character, Trevor. Trevor wore, pink aviators, a champagne driver blouson along with blue jeans and dark brown army boots.
The in-game camera was set to third person. So Tigress saw the Trevor character and immediately asked:
"W-who is that?!"
"That is one of the characters I play as. You see, in a video game, you usually play as a character and use their abilities to your advantage in order to win."
"So...who are you playing as?"
"This is Trevor."
"H-hello Trevor…"
Ryan chuckled.
"Tigress, he's not real."
"Huh? B-but how?"
"You see a video game is made with a very sophisticated system of graphics and models. Kinda like clay. These digital models are created in machines we call computers. Simply put…"
Ryan moved Trevor outside and into the main world of Los Santos. Showing Tigress the full extent of this game. Seeing a living, breathing world was just mind blowing to her. This was something unlike anything she has ever seen before.
"The entire world of this game is a Matrix in itself."
"That's...amazing...What is the objective of this game?"
"Well, every GTA game has a simple objective. Complete missions and make money. I've already beaten all the main missions. Now I can just do whatever I want. This world is practically my sandbox. I can practically do anything here. Watch this. Here I can move and jump, right?"
Ryan moved forward on the analog stick and pressed square. Making Trevor hop in the air.
"How do you do that?"
"Well that's why this is called a controller. So you saw how I can jump in the air, right?"
"Yeah…"
"It's not that high of a jump, but if I enter a specific code…"
Ryan pushed "Left, Left, Triangle, Triangle, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, R1, R2" into the controller and a pop-up appeared.
"What's that?" Tigress asked.
"That was a code I entered that granted me the ability to jump higher. Now watch."
Ryan presses square and Trevor now flies high into the air.
"How'd you do that?"
"You know how in The Matrix, the laws of gravity could be broken, because gravity wasn't real in a fake simulated world? Well the same applies here. Because this is a simulation, laws of physics can be broken."
"This is phenomenal...what do all the other buttons do?"
"Well, see buttons allow you to jump, run, punch, and access weapons."
The weapon wheel was brought on screen as Ryan immediately started to scroll through it. He chose an SMG with a scoped, and gold color scheme. He fired at a parked car and glass shattered and tires popped.
Tigress' awe was indescribable. She was simply fascinated at how this virtual world was made.
"So. What's the main objective of this game aside from making money?" Tigress asked.
"Well, normally you go and complete jobs or missions. Usually these missions are pretty simple. Either do someone's dirty work for them, steal something, kill someone, blah blah blah….but it's pretty fun overall."
"So basically you're playing a game as a criminal."
"Ehh...Pretty much. But hey, that's the fun of this game. It scratches that chaotic itch for me. Who knew causing mayhem could be fun...heh...heh…"
Tigress wasn't amused.
"Would you commit such crimes, if given the opportunity?"
"No way, Tigress. Trust me I wouldn't do anything like that in real life. What do you take me for?"
"You and your species are very strange. Very strange indeed."
"Here. You wanna try?"
"I...I haven't the slightest idea of how to use that. Besides I wouldn't want to accidentally break it."
"Oh c'mon, It's easy. Really. Let me show ya."
"O-okay. But I refuse to commit any crimes."
"Tigress. It's a game. It's not real. You're not actually commiting crimes."
"Still. Why would I want to?"
Ryan sighed and chuckled a bit.
"Okay, okay. So...what do ya want me to show you?"
"Well...you said you can do anything in this...video game. So, I'd like to drive an automobile."
"Okay. Here, hold the controller like this."
Ryan placed the controller in Tigress' paws.
"Now those two are called analog sticks. Move the left one forward to move forward."
As Trevor began to move forward, sirens in the game could be heard from the distance.
"Now press the X button right here to run."
Tigress repeatedly tapped the X button and began to run Trevor out into the street. Unfortunately a speeding police car that was chasing another npc rammed straight into Trevor causing Tigress to jolt a bit like the cat she is. The screen flashed to black and white, the words WASTED popping up on screen.
"What just happened?" Tigress asked.
'This might take awhile…'
Ryan thought to himself.