His fingers clutched the edge of the arcade machine's front panel. With deep, measured breaths, his chest rose and fell slowly as his mind raced, trying to process the revelation that had just shattered his reality. This couldn't be real—could it? Had he truly been nothing more than a... game character? Code? His entire life? That did not make any sense. Why did it hurt to think about it? Why was it difficult...

How did forget it? What made him forget?

He slowly pivoted to face his grandfather, who stood behind him with a look of deep concern etched on his face.

Richard shook his head as he pleaded, "You need to explain everything to me, grandpa..." His voice trembled with raw emotion. "P-Please..."

His grandfather, Litwack, simply nodded and placed a comforting hand on Richard's shoulder. "I will," he said, "Come with me, let me take you out of this room,"

With a weak nod, Richard followed.

Litwack gave his grandson a reassuring pat on the back as he walked to retrieve the door and open it. Stepping outside, Richard found a cluster of kids scattered around the arcade, absorbed in their video games. He froze, taking in the scene as a sharp pain flared in his mind. He remembered fragments—he was a game character—but he couldn't quite grasp how or why he was different, or where he truly came from.

Did Rancis or the others remember how they were made?

Maybe this is why Richard couldn't.

But how did he end up in the real world in the first place? Who had brought him here?

"Richard," Litwack said, gently rubbing his grandson's shoulder. Still rooted to the spot, Richard finally moved. "Let's head to my office and talk," his grandfather suggested.

Richard slowly turned toward the office door, nodding faintly. "Okay," he murmured, starting off with his grandfather following close behind. They passed by the kids, still engrossed in their games.

"Mr. Litwack!" a small voice called out.

Litwack halted and turned to face a little girl, a five-year-old. "Yes, little one?"

She hesitated before speaking. "I think... I think Sugar Rush isn't working right. None of the boy racers are showing up, and I've already played three rounds! I wanted to race as Swizzle—he's super fast."

Litwack frowned thoughtfully as he began moving toward her, but then he caught sight of the pained expression on Richard's face from eailer. "I'll get back to you, sweetheart," he said softly. "There's something I need to take care of first."

Returning to Richard, he patted him on the back. "Come on," he said as they headed for the office.

Inside the office, Litwack gestured toward a couch."Go and sit on the couch," he murmured gently.

Richard complied, his voice barely audible, "Okay."

He settled on the couch in front of the computer, his gaze drifting from the desk chair to the monitor. His eyes widened when he saw Rancis on the screen.

"Rich—" Rancis mouthed something urgently, but before any words could follow, Litwack stepped in, not looking at the screen, then switched off the monitor, "Now—it's time for me to explain."

Taking a seat in the computer chair, his grandfather continued, "Ready?"

Richard blinked, then gulped and nodded slowly.

"When I first opened this arcade," Litwack began, "it was all for my son. Back in the '80s, I had a little boy named Charlie who adored video games—Street Fighter, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., you name it. But in our town, arcades were a rarity. His passion was ignited during a trip to New York when I took him to a ShowBiz pizzeria. Ever since, he couldn't stop talking about video games."

"At first, I dismissed it as a passing phase, but soon at school, his excitement grew as classmates shared stories about their own Nintendo Entertainment Systems."

"As a father striving to be the best for him, I wanted nothing more than to see him happy. I used my savings to rent this very building—yes, Richard, this building—and created an arcade just for him. And oh, did he love it."

"There were only a few machines at first—I couldn't afford more—but business soon picked up."

Litwack's expression changed, to sadness, "Not long after, something happened. Charlie became very sick. I wish I'd noticed the signs sooner, but I didn't. I lost my only son."

"But, his love for video games remained with me. I vowed to make this the best arcade on this side of town. He loved those retro games at that time, so I wanted that to be the theme of my arcade, despite moving forward in time,"

"Maintaining those old cabinets grew increasingly difficult, and financial pressures mounted, but I persevered. Sure, I added a few modern games along the way, but the retro charm would always be at the heart of this place."

"A year into the venture, I began scouring junkyards for machines—either for spare parts or the occasional intact retro classic. On one such trip, a junkyard owner told me about a newly delivered, fully intact arcade cabinet."

"I was intrigued and went to take a look. There it was—a pristine cabinet, unspoiled and perfect. 'What game is this? I've never heard of it,' I asked the owner. He simply shrugged; he didn't know either."

"The game was called 'Kid Powers,' It looked foreign to me, though the name 'TobiKomi' was etched on the bottom—the same company responsible for half the machines in my arcade."

"I decided to purchase it. If anything, this might have been a rare cabinet, and I might have struck gold there,"

"But once I set it up back at the arcade, strange things began to occur. Within days, I noticed flickering lights, machines turning on and off unexpectedly. Initially, I suspected loose wiring. Yet, the odd things persisted. One night, after closing up, I stayed outside and peered through the window..."

"The arcade machines came alive—the characters began moving on their own, then vanished. At first, I was terrified. But as the weeks passed, I realized no harm was being done. I even spent nights hidden away in the office, watching in disbelief as the characters moved by themselves. They were... alive. I told no one. Adjusting to this truth took time, and sometimes I'd accidentally unplug a game, panicking as if I'd killed someone."

Richard blinked repeatedly, trying to absorb all that his grandfather had just revealed. His mind whirled with confusion. "So... where... How am I... the game? I...?" he stuttered.

Litwack moved closer, settling on the couch beside him. "That arcade machine in that room out there," he said, gesturing toward the door, "is where you came from. You were part of an experiment developed by TobiKomi—a singular project, from one man."

Richard's eyes widened in shock.

"Not long after those strange events began, you came into the picture. Kid Powers was an experiment to create sentient video game characters—a process where a character from cyberspace, or whatever you'd call that code realm, would be materialized into our reality," Litwack explained, shaking his head. "I had no idea what I was dealing with when you first appeared. You were just a boy—no, a teenager—and I took you in. I adopted you."

Richard stared, stunned. "You adopted me?"

Litwack nodded slowly. "Yes. But after a year, I began to realize something was off. You really were not from this world. You were code—designed to be a teenager, and therefore destined to remain one forever."

Richard's breath hitched.

"I didn't want to lose you," Litwack continued, his voice thick with regret. "I was tempted to send you back into the machine, but I wasn't sure if that would kill you... I was being selfish. I lost my son once, and I couldn't bear to lose you too. I told the school about you being code—they were trustworthy enough to accept it, and keep it secret. So... as bad as it may be, they had you come to school... in 8th grade for 30 years,"

Richard felt his reality shatter. "My entire life... was a lie."

"The reason you can't remember anything clearly is because I contacted TobiKomi. I even befriended the man who created you. He developed a code that forced you to forget your origins—so I could keep you safe. But it backfired. The code not only wiped away many memories, it inflicted bouts of short-term memory loss followed by longer gaps. I regret it every day. I never should have hidden the truth about you being a game character."

Richard's voice trembled as he asked, "Then... who are my mom and dad? Who are they, grandpa?"

Litwack sighed heavily. "I don't even know why you called them that. I simply went along with it. I think It was a side effect of the code. They weren't your parents—they were babysitters I hired when I couldn't be there for you. As I grew older, I needed help, and they filled in the gaps." He glanced around Richard. "And you've been calling my Grandpa for the last few weeks, too. It's the code, maybe me getting older messed with it, and you ended up seeing me old instead of the young middle aged man I was haha...,"

Richard weakly smiled.

Litwack's eyes softened with admiration. "I know this is hard, and I'm truly sorry. I kept it from you because I missed my son, Charlie, so dearly. I poured all my love into this arcade as a tribute to him."

Richard stared at him, then he finally spoke. "You loved your son, nothing is wrong with that," he said.

Richard cleared his throat and continued, "I never really felt I belonged with humans anyway. In the game world, my life finally had purpose. I only ever wanted to come back to you—and to that forced life of homework. Without all that, I wouldn't have cared so much."

Litwack paused, glancing at the computer screen. "What's it like in there?"

Richard's eyes lit up. "It's an entire... multiverse," he explained. "Every arcade machine houses its own world. The characters are alive, and the Internet itself... is all sentient." He shook his head in wonder.

"The characters... the Internet?" his grandfather murmured, astonished. "So you've actually interacted with them?"

Richard nodded. "I did—three of them, mostly."

Litwack titled his head, "Who?"

With a knowing tilt of his head, Litwack teased, "The three racers, perhaps?"

Richard blushed a lot.

"I always knew you swung to guys," Litwack smiled. Then, he sighed. "It always hurt my soul when I saw you liking other people at your school, and the damn code made you forget about them," Then he sighed. "Not that it would have worked anyways, because they would have aged ahead of you,"

Richard cleared his throat. "So... the three racer boys are my boyfriends,"

Litwack's expression shifted to one of gentle shock. "Three? Wow... When I was in school, I couldn't even pull one!" He chuckled softly.

Richard gave a weak smile at that. He then looked up. "I don't want to stay here. So... I've been thinking why don't you hook up my old arcade machine, and I can be what I was meant to be,"

Litwack blinked. "Are you sure? You... You, well, you haven't been in a game for so long like that. I don't exactly understand how the other side works, but maybe we should take something like that slow, first, yes?"

Richard thought, then nodded. "Okay,"

Litwack added, "Since you know this now, I'll do what I should have done since forever. I'll take you out of school, and I'll look after you from now on,"

Richard tilted his head uncertainly, "But... what about your age?"

With a firm shake of his head, Litwack replied, "Age doesn't dictate what I can do. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

A tender smile spread over Richard's face. "My memory may be a mess, but I've always known you were a wonderful father figure."

Litwack paused, admiration glimmering in his eyes. Then he reached into his desk and said, "Here."

"Hmm?" Richard looked at him, with a confused blink.

Litwack pulled out a tape. A VHS tape. He handed it to Richard.

Richard looked down at it, The label read:

‐TobiKomi CLASSIFIED Project Powers Log‐

Richard's eyes widened in disbelief.

"This will clear up some things," Litwack said softly, "Never thought I'd ever give you that. But now's the time," Litwack nodded.

Taking the tape, Richard couldn't help but smirk. "You know nobody has a VHS player anymore, right, gramps?"

Litwack chuckled warmly. "Oh, haha. I've got one in my spare room back home."