Bobby's bedroom - Saturday, 8:45pm EDT

I'm sitting on my bed waiting for another game update. I always get updates when my friends want to squad-up. It never seems to happen when I'm looking for a little solo time. This one's taking forever, and I'm starting to get the feeling that something went horribly wrong. Still only 77% done. I'm so bored!

The next Youtube video starts playing on my phone. Some guy with a squeaky voice talking about useless game tactics and ways to use a sniper rifle better. Aim where they are going to be, not where they are. Duuuh, obviously. An ad interrupts the stream, and for the first time, I'm actually glad. Warriors Wanted!

An Army recruitment video. They must be desperate to advertise on this video. Perhaps nobody wants to join the armed forces anymore. I think I'd be an awesome soldier. I already know battle tactics, and I'm a great shot. Going on missions around the world, saving innocent people, crushing bad guys. What a life! But only on a sunny day. I'm not a big fan of being outside when it's cold and damp. And as for sitting on the floor for hours and hours… no thank you. I like the comfort of my gaming chair far too much. Now that I think about it, military life is definitely not for me.

If they make a robot soldier that I could control from my gaming station, then I'm in! I'd be unstoppable. A one-man army. Maybe they will one day, maybe they did already. When they announce that, I'll be signing up the next day.

Crap! The update isn't moving. It's been almost two hours already and it seems to be stuck at 77% for the last ten minutes. Should I risk a restart? It's never a good idea, but what else can I do? On the bright side, it gave me time to fix Toby's drone.

Toby is my little brother. He got a drone for his eighth birthday two days ago, but it's been raining constantly, so today was the first chance he had to test it. Mom and dad took him to the park this morning and in the first five minutes, he crashed it… big time. He brought it home in pieces. Poor little guy cried himself to sleep about an hour ago. I felt really bad for him, so I thought I'd take a look at it. Worth a try.

I'm almost done. I've just got to connect the battery now. I hope this works. Alright, everything looks as it should. Here comes the moment of truth. I slide the battery into the slot and long-hold the power button. Blue light… good. We've got power. That's promising. I take the controller, switch on, and tickle the throttle. All four propellers spin. Damn, that's loud. I shut it down and the whine subsides. He's going to be so happy. I'm feeling good about myself right now, but the update is still on 77%.

I should probably tidy my room in the meantime. Mom says it looks like a grenade went off in my wardrobe, but I don't care if it's messy. I really don't get why my parents care if my room is tidy or not. They almost never come in here. Nobody does. What's the big deal? I'm okay with it. It's my room, what's the problem?

Then there's the half-finished history essay which has been calling out to me since I turned on my laptop this morning. I think I'd rather tidy my room. Don't we do enough learning in school? Besides, it's not like I'm ever going to need history for anything. Nobody cares about those ancient battles. Most adults can't remember the dates and don't need to, so why am I memorizing them? Total waste of time. I mean, can you imagine going on a job interview and getting asked when Pearl Harbor was attacked? Besides, I can just ask Siri. Instead of learning about how volcanoes are created, we should be learning how to create a LinkedIn profile. I really don't get it. Most parents admit they hated school too, and they had to learn pointless stuff that they never use in life, so why are they making me do it now?

My dad says it's not about what I'm learning, it's that I'm actually learning something. He says our brains are like muscles. The more we use them, the stronger they get. My mum just says that I should read more, but books are so dull. The authors always spend way too much time on boring details instead of getting on with the action from page one. Besides, I read enough at school.

And school, seriously! What a complete waste of time. A big building dedicated to creating average people. I mean, think about it. I'm good at IT, but I failed a test on geology. Did I spend the last three free periods learning more about IT? Nope. I studied to retake the geology test. Got to get that A+.

So I'll end up 'good' at IT, average at most things, and master of nothing–like almost everyone else I know. I guess the world needs more store cashiers than Bill Gates wannabes. As my friend Phil says, SCHOOL! Seven Cruel Hours Of Our Lives.

And then there's the social drama. Oh god, the drama. Kids trying to fit into cliques so they don't become outcasts and get bullied. I'm in the gamer clique. We don't get bullied as much as the nerds, but one kid likes torturing me more than most. Jason Hodgson. I hate that guy. I could never understand how schools let bullies like him stay. Why don't they just kick them all out? They could make a special school just for all the bullies. My dad says it's unavoidable. If the school were to kick out the toughest guy, another would just take his place. I can already imagine who would take Jason's throne. I try to stay out of his way, but it's not that easy. My mom says he'll end up pumping gas, or spending most of his life in prison. A real rotten apple.

Me, on the other hand, I'm a straight-A student. I've never been in a fight. Never been in trouble with the law, and yet I'm getting bugged on a daily basis just because I play video games.

Both mom and dad think video games are rotting my brain. Am I not using my brain when I'm playing? It's okay for little boys to sit on the floor with green plastic toy soldiers or run around shooting each other with nerf bullets, but catch a kid playing a battle royal game on an Xbox and everyone starts freaking out. I don't get it.

The update jumps to 79%. Oh, thank god. No need to do a restart. I stare at the colorful screensaver showing two squads charging at each other with angry faces and weapons at the ready. It looks aggressive, but in reality, It's just a bit of online fun. Parents should play it before they judge it. I laugh to myself, imagining my mom and dad waging war on the island. I wish!

My monitor goes blank and my heart skips a beat. Come on, no, no, no! Don't be a crash. Don't be a… a message box pops up on my screen. Thank God, it's not a crash. The message is very suspicious. A simple black window with a DOS-style green font.

Want to take your gaming experience to the next level?

It's clickbait for sure. It has to be. But how did they hijack my update? Another level? What other level? I wasn't born yesterday. Nah! I'm not falling for it. I hover over the red button. NO!

The window closes and the update status returns. 89% complete. Cool, almost there.

"Bobby! Can you hear me?" shouts my mom from downstairs. "I'm going to pick up your dad. Do you have any laundry in there?"

I look around my feet. Socks, shirts, shorts and a bath towel from two days ago. "No."

My bedroom door opens and my mom walks in and points at the carpet of clothes at my feet. "So what's all that then?"

Oops. She's got me. "Ahhh, well…"

"Tidy this place up. If it still looks like this when I get back, I'm changing the WiFi code. Start the laundry machine when you're done loading it!"

Who's she kidding? My mom has no idea how to change the WiFi. She can't even change the microwave clock. She normally just takes my keyboard. Fortunately, she doesn't know I have a spare.

She does her famous finger-wave. "And another thing. If you spent half as much time studying as you do playing, you'd be a straight-A student who actually has friends."

What-the-fridge! "I am a straight-A student, and I have friends! I play with them every day."

She puts her hands on her hips and I already wish I'd kept my mouth shut. "I mean real friends, Bobby! Real people out here in the real world. Stop wasting your life in front of a monitor, otherwise, I'll drop that damned console in the garbage and be done with it. Now tidy this place up, NOW!"

My bedroom door slams closed and I kick the clothes under my bed. Is this all there is to life? Sometimes I just wish something different would happen. Again, a message pops up on my screen.

Last chance to take your gaming experience to the next level?

I've done dozens of game updates, but I've never seen one like this before… ever. So just what could the next level possibly be? I can't believe I'm going to do this. I'm gonna do it, I click YES.

Another question shows up above a list of twelve of my online friends.

Solos or Squads?

I hover my mouse over the glowing invite buttons. So tempting. Should I? They're probably going to kill me if I do. l check the list. Let's see. Andy for sure. Phil, and… Tony.

My screen goes blank. I already regret it. A new message appears.

Invites accepted. Please darken your room.

Please darken my room? It's already dark. My dad calls it 'The Cave' because I almost never open the drapes. My mom says caves are cleaner. The message fades away and my room falls into total darkness.

"Hello, hello?" says Andy.

I flip down my mic. "I'm here."

"Hey Bobby. What's this you invited me to?"

"I don't know. Give it a second. It must be loading up."

Andy and I have been gaming together for years. We've teamed up many times. His kill record is pretty good and he's got a good balance of tactics and aggression. He's a good guy to have in the squad.

"Hey, guys." Says Phil. "My screen is black. Can anyone see anything?"

Phil is my best friend. He lives across town, so we hardly get to meet in the real world, but we play online almost every day. He's a nice guy, funny as hell, and we always do well when we team-up. Phil is a cautious player. He likes to play strategically and avoids full-on attacks. He sometimes panics in the heat of a battle. When he manages to stay calm he can be dangerous, especially with a sniper rifle.

"Same here." Says Tony. "Black screen. I think it's glitching. I'm out!"

"Wait!" I say. "Just give it another minute."

Tony and I don't play together as much as we used to. We met in 4th grade, but he's changed a lot since then. He used to be fun to play with. Nowadays he likes to 'sweat' people and acts like a one-man army. He's good, but he has no mercy… not even for his own team. I've seen him wipe out an entire squad in less than a minute, but let our squad die in the process. Totally ruthless.

"Yo, yo!" shouts Andy. "Something's happening."

My screen turns from black to grey, getting brighter by the second. I feel a vibration in my feet. Earthquake? My whole room lights up as my monitor hits full white. A deep rumble in my headset is getting louder. "Woah! Did you guys feel that?"

"Dude!" Shouts Phil. "My monitor is gonna blow up."

"This is not possible. This is NOT possible!" says Tony, over and over.

Intense flashing begins, getting faster and faster. A deep bass pulses in my ears and I pull off my headset. What the...? The pulse is in my room… and it's getting louder. The Star Wars collectibles dance and vibrate on my shelf then one by one fall. My red lava lamp is bubbling like crazy. The flashes are getting faster now, and brighter. Something in my bones tells me I need to get out of the room. I stand and back away from my gaming station. The room is spinning. I cover my ears as the pulse grows even louder. As I turn towards the bedroom door, my legs give way and...