Pixel

Dedicated to @skyhuntress for editing and helping me not to give up

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....."  

The sound came through the door from somewhere downstairs, waking me up from my dreams. 

Great, I thought. My parents have broken into my apartment and are probably harassing my roommate.  

I looked over at the clock and groaned loudly. 6am, fuck! You have to be kidding me. The singing got louder as they came up the stairs. I pulled myself out of bed and put on some baggy grey pants, not nearly ready for the onslaught that was coming my way. 

It didn't matter where I was living at the time, my parents always visited on my birthday. Always. They brought presents, cake and embarrassing pictures of my childhood to show to whoever my unfortunate roommate was at the time, and this year was no different.

"Good morning James." My mother's voice drifted under the door. "We hope you're decent, because we're coming in!"  

The door flew open, revealing my mom, dad and little sister in tow. As predicted, mom held the large cake, dad the overly large photo album and my sister clutched a bright but badly wrapped present to her chest.

"Happy birthday Jon!" said my sister as she jumped on me, the present connecting with my nose. I spun her around twice before setting her down to greet my parents who still stood in the doorway smiling.  

"Hi mom, hi dad," I said, hugging them both.

"Mom, you know I've told you quite a few times it's not necessary for you guys to drive to where ever I am just to wish me a happy birthday," I said. "A phone call would be fine." 

"And I've told you we would keep on doing it until we are no longer here or able to remember who you are, whichever comes first," she replied. 

"Enough chitchat, let the boy open his present," my father said with a sly grin on his face.  

I took my present from Kayla's hands and opened it to reveal a holo projector, just like the one I had been saving for-for the last six months. 

"You guys shouldn't have bought this for me; I know how expensive it is." I said  

"Nonsense!" my father replied. "We know how you like technology, so we got this for you and I am sure it would be useful in your line of work."

After everyone left, I wandered into the living room and set up the holo projector, connected it to my PC and then sprawled out on the couch preparing for another hour of an Endless zombie level I'd played four times already. 

Coming around a corner I switched weapons already knowing where the next zombie was going to spawn, I shot the ugly fucker and well , nearly cut him in half.  

This was nuts, I can't believe they still haven't fixed the damn shotgun sound. Sounds like someone having a shit inside a tin can. The developer was aware of it, but it didn't mean I wasn't going to remind them they still hadn't fixed it. If I had to suffer through this maze again, then damn it, they were going to hear about it. 

I am a games tester, it might sound like fun to all the avid gamers out there but it's hard work, putting in long hours for not really much of anything so that you guys out there in the world can enjoy glitch free gaming. At first its fun but after playing the same level of a game 7 times, it loses it's charm believe me. 

I got up to get myself a soda from the fridge, when I started to feel strange. I was light headed, almost faint. I brushed it off as getting up too early and staying awake too late. My head started to spin, stars appeared in front of my eyes, I've less sleep than this before and nothing even remotely like this has happened. The world started to rotate, slow at first but picking up speed, making me sick to my stomach. 

My vision went blurry and darkness surrounded me. 

"What the fuck just happened?"

Suddenly the words I had just thought started scrolling before me in bright green pixelated letters........ I looked down and realized there was no down anymore, not even the sensation of turning my head or moving any of my limbs, the darkness replaced by an eery glow coming from everywhere and nowhere. Like one of those dreams where you drift around, no control of where you are going, but different at the same time, no sensation, no feeling of being anywhere.

"What the hell is going on here?" I thought and just as before the words scrolled by. 

I tried speaking aloud but no sound could be heard just my thoughts being displayed in those weird green letters.  

"Anyone there?" I thought, expecting it to be displayed again.  

To my surprise, a single word blinked in front of me. 

-"YES"- 

"Who are you?" I thought again. 

-"THE CORE,"- came the answer. 

"Where am I?" 

-"IN THE CORE."- 

"I am inside of you?" 

-"YES."- 

"Why?" 

-"YOU ARE NEEDED."- 

"What do you mean 'I am needed?" 

-"PIXEL WILL EXPLAIN."- 

"What?" 

-".........."-  

"Hello?" The word scrolled by in an endless loop, frustrating me.  

The last word I thought disappeared and was replaced by a blinking dot that shifted between red, yellow and blue.

The dot multiplied and slowly formed into what I can only explain as an antique space invaders alien. 

"I AM PIXEL" the alien thingy said 

"I am confused," I replied, trying to translate my emotions into the words but clearly failing when 'Pixel' replied: "I WAS TOLD YOU ARE JAMES OLIVAN NIKOL, THE CORE IS NEVER WRONG"