Johnny finished hooking up the game system and turned it on, along with the TV, before turning to address the rather large crowd that had gathered in his and Diane's living room. Not only had the entire A shift shown up, but Joanne, Isaac, and Mike's wife Shirley had shown up as well.

"Okay, Johnny." Roy started. "Let's see this new wonder you're so excited about."

Katie wrapped her arms around Johnny's leg, and he rested his hand on top of her head as he spoke. "Friends, allow me to introduce you to the next big thing in video games. The Intellivision."

"The Intelli-what?" Chet asked skeptically.

Johnny huffed irritably. "Intellivision. Better than the Atari. Better graphics, better games, better everything."

Adam eyed one of the controllers. "I don't know. Think I like the joystick better."

Isaac murmured something that made Adam laugh and Chet blush furiously. "God, you guys." Chet muttered.

"Anyway." Johnny shot Adam and Isaac what he hoped was a scathing look. "I picked up this game a couple weeks ago called Astrosmash. It's kinda like a combination of Asteroids and Space Invaders. Katie, you wanna help me show them how to play?"

"Uh-huh." Katie nodded, letting go of Johnny's leg.

Johnny lowered himself to the floor, turned on the Intellivision, pushed in the game cartridge, and let Katie crawl into his lap before starting the game.

"See, you've got this cannon that moves back and forth, and you've got to shoot down these meteors, missiles, and spinners." He explained as he manipulated the controller. One of the spinners whistled loudly, and Katie imitated the sound with a loud squeal, much to the amusement of everyone in the room. "The spinners will knock you out if they touch the ground, even if…dammit…even if they don't hit you directly."

"Hey now, watch your mouth, Dad." Diane lightly stroked the top of his head.

"Sorry, Mom." Johnny's eyes never left the screen.

Johnny managed to get through a couple of levels before he ran out of cannons, and he turned to the rest of the group. "Who's next?"

"It does look fun." Joanne spoke up. "Let me try."

Johnny switched places with Joanne and handed her the controller. Diane took a seat next to her, giving her tips. Joanne squealed with delight with every hit until a missile ended her turn. "Well, that's that. Roy, how about you?"

Roy shook his head, and Isaac spoke up. "I'll give it a shot."

Adam lightly ran his fingers between Isaac's shoulders. "We play Space Invaders all the time at home. He always kicks my…" He glanced over at Katie. "…well, you know."

"And I'll do it with this, too." Isaac told him, taking the controller from Joanne. He ignored Chet and Adam trading insults, concentrating intently on the game. After three levels, he was taken out by a spinner hitting the ground next to his cannon. "Whew, that's a tough one. Adam?"

Adam scooted to the floor next to Isaac, starting his turn with Isaac 'helping' him. It turned into a back and forth, with Adam animatedly working the controller while good-naturedly snapping at Isaac, which only made Isaac antagonize him more.

Once Adam's turn ended, Chet spoke up. "Hand it here. Let me show you how it's done."

Adam rolled his eyes as he and Isaac switched places with Chet and Sam. Johnny couldn't help noticing how the two of them always seemed to maintain some kind of contact, talking among themselves all while Adam was giving Chet a hard time from one of the couches.

Chet bombed out almost immediately, handing the controller to Sam. She settled herself on the floor, crossing her legs and concentrating intently on the screen, seeming to shut out everything around her. She came close to completing the second level before a large meteor struck her cannon.

"You did good, babe." Chet told her.

"Yeah, better than you." Adam taunted him.

Chet turned around. "You know, if the kid wasn't in the room…"

Adam rolled his eyes. "You still wouldn't do anything."

Chet huffed, pushing himself off the floor and offering Sam a hand up. "Who's next?"

"I'll try it." Mike spoke up. He and Shirley settled in next to each other, and he patiently worked through the levels, making it all the way to the fourth level.

"Uh-oh, Daddy!" Katie shouted. "UFO!"

"That's right." Johnny replied. "They'll shoot right at you."

As if on cue, the UFO took out Mike's cannon, and he handed the controller to Shirley.

Johnny turned to Roy as Katie snuggled into his chest. "You sure you don't want to take a crack at it?"

Roy shook his head. "Just not my thing. Joanne and the kids love that Atari. I just don't get the appeal."

"You're missing out." Johnny told him as Shirley let out a squeak when one of the spinners hit her cannon.

Johnny felt Diane kiss the top of his head. "Do you want me to put Katie to bed?"

He looked down at his daughter, whose eyes were slowly closing, her fist partially in her mouth. "Nah, we're fine just as we are. I'll get her to bed eventually. Why don't you take a turn on the game?"

"If you insist."

Diane took the controller from Shirley and settled in on the floor, working her way through the levels. As she got to the fourth level, the room suddenly got quiet. She managed to dodge the UFOs, working her way to the next level, evoking a murmured "No way!" from Chet and murmured agreement from Adam.

Johnny couldn't suppress the big smile he knew was spreading over his face as Diane made it to the sixth level. As far as he knew, she'd never gotten that far before.

The meteors were flying fast and furious, and Diane lost a couple of cannons in the process, but she managed to shoot down the spinners, even one of the UFOs before she could no longer keep up, and the last spinner hit her cannon directly, ending her game.

She let out a long sigh, obviously disappointed. "Oh well."

"Oh well?!" Johnny exclaimed. "That's your highest score ever, isn't it?"

"Mmm, close." Diane replied. "I think I scored higher yesterday."

"How the hell did you do that?" Chet blurted out.

Diane merely shrugged and smiled. "I have some time on my hands when Johnny's working and Katie's asleep."

"In other words, practice." Adam told him.

Chet looked thoughtful. "You know, we should get one of these for the station."

"Absolutely not." Roy interjected. "You guys will screw around on that thing all day long."

"Aw, Cap." Chet protested.

"Yeah, Cap." Adam chimed in. "We get one of these and we'll have the best hand-eye coordination in the whole department."

"I heard Eighteen just got an Atari a few weeks ago." Mike commented. "They just schedule time on it, just like for everything else."

"We're not getting a video game system for the station." Roy told them firmly, a note of finality in his voice. "Discussion closed."

There was some grumbling before everyone took another turn at the game, and almost everyone seemed to improve as the evening wore on.

Finally, the evening wound down, with the agreement to make this a regular gathering. "Seeing as Cap won't let us have one." Chet complained.

"Well, I'll be glad to come over." Joanne told Johnny. "I had a great time."

Roy sighed heavily and shook his head. "Good night, guys."

Once everyone had left and the house was quiet, Johnny carried Katie to her room, helping her change into pajamas before tucking her into bed. He kissed her forehead and quietly closed the door behind him.

He could hear something in the living room as he returned. Sure enough, Diane was back on the floor, concentrating intently as she worked her way through the levels once more.

Johnny lowered himself on the floor next to her, waiting as she finally lost her last cannon and handed him the controller.

"You know, it's funny." He told her as he started playing. "Never in a million years did I think you'd get more use out of this thing than I would."

Diane smiled broadly. "It's fun. We definitely need some more games for it, though. I've almost got Astrosmash mastered."

A spinner took out Johnny's cannon, and he turned to Diane. "I think I've created a monster."

"A high-scoring monster at that." Diane answered with a laugh. "One more round?"

"One more round."