dear_mun | forever homeless but voice test ohboy what am I doing

[Ralph tilts his head, then leans down for a closer look, squinting slightly as he does so.]

Mr. Litwak? As in Litwak Litwak?

[He scratches the back of his head slightly with a massive hand.]

Uh...you always looked bigger on the other side of the screen...

[Looking over with a broad smile, the man tilts his head back to get a better look at Ralph, putting his hands on his hips.]

The one and only big fella! ...and you're a lot bigger than you look on the other side of the screen.

[A LOT bigger.]

[Ralph thinks this over, scratching the side of his face with a finger.]

If that's the case, uh, why is it different now?

[He slowly walks around Litwak, looking him over. Once he's back in front of Litwak, he pauses again.]

...Up close, gamers don't look much different than characters.

[The man can't help but chuckle, adjusting his glasses when Ralph stops in front of him.]

Well...must be 'case of this place our muns have brought us to. I just had no idea this is what ya looked like on the other side of the screen.

It's pretty amazing, really.

[Ralph gets a puzzled look on his face and glances down at himself, then back to Litwak. The owner looks pretty much the same as he did on the other side of the screen, except that he's a lot smaller.]

You think I'm amazing?

[He shakes his head and holds his hands up for a moment before bringing them back down.]

At the end of the day, everybody's the same, whether we're 8-bit or high definition. The gamers just have different ways of seeing us, that's all.

Well course I do! I mean, why shouldn't I?

[Seeing Ralph like this was one thing, and actually talking to him was another. He'd be crazy not to think that's amazing.]

Well I suppose that makes sense, when you put it that way.

[Then the arcade owner raises a brow, adjusting his glasses.]

Though I never did think I'd see the day a character went missing from the game, unless something was wrong. ...which is what I thought.

[Before Ralph can respond to Litwak, he brings up the incident that had changed his life forever.

He gets a sheepish look and rocks back on his heels slightly, holding one arm with his other hand.]

Uh, yeah, that... [He takes a breath.] Sorry about that, I, uh, was dealing with some issues that day, but they're all taken care of now. So, it won't happen again. [Barring any emergencies, that was, but Ralph didn't plan on there being any emergencies that took him away from his game.]

[Litwak puts his hands on his hips, giving Ralph a knowing look. He'll just keep it to himself that Felix already made sure to let him know that that incident was all Ralph's doing. Still, no harm, no foul.
He's just glad they made it ok.]

Ahhh, it's alright big guy. You do what you gotta do, but next time just uuh...make sure it's after hours, ok?

I nearly unplugged you guys. Don't want that happenin' if I can help it.

[Ralph still looks pretty embarrassed about the whole ordeal, but he's owning up to his mistakes.]

Yeah...I usually do, but, er...some things can only be done when the players are around... I didn't mean to be gone that long, though. Climbing 99 floors takes a lot longer than I thought it would. And don't even get me started on the bugs, I've had more than enough of them to last a life.

Believe me, we don't want it to happen either, it's our home and our job.

[He remembers something and hesitates.]

Uh...I hope you don't mind all of the, er, new guys and the bonus level we added in?

[Litwak nods, listening to Ralph as he explains. Bugs huh? ....He can hardly believe Ralph actually went to Hero's Duty of all games, and it causes him to shake his head with a small chuckle.]

Well you're brave, I'll give you that much.

..I don't mind it all, personally. The kids seem to really enjoy it, and if I didn't know you guys added it on your own, I would have just assumed it was a bonus level that the kids were never able to reach.

[Ralph shakes his head.]

It wasn't bravery, it was desperation. And I didn't know it was gonna be that bad. The way that other guy made it sound, it didn't seem too different from my job, just with bugs. And I'm bigger than normal bugs, so I thought it'd be a piece of cake. Which, by the way, I finally got to eat some and it was delicious.

Yeah! I noticed that we've been getting a lot more quarters now, which is better for everyone. And more incentive to keep us plugged in, right?

...Well, whatever it was, at least everything turned out ok in the end. That I'm thankful for, both for you and the sake of your game.

And t'be honest with you Ralph? I'll probably keep Fix-It Felix Jr. plugged in for a long, long time. Even if it stopped making quarters altogether, I'd find somewhere for you guys to stay. Somewhere safe.

I'm glad for that too, the, uh, adventure was interesting to say the least. And, I managed to make things right for somebody else during the whole process.

[Ralph breathes a sigh of relief and gives Mr. Litwak a bright smile.]

Thanks! It's good to know that we've got a long career ahead of us of wrecking things, fixing things, and being tossed out of windows. It'll be a little boring if we stop making quarters, but hey, I'm sure we can find something to do during the downtime.

[He snaps his fingers as something occurs to him.]

Hey! Q*Bert and his buddies will be glad to know that they won't need to worry about becoming homeless again.

[The man nods in agreement, the smile that's on his face bright enough to match Ralph's own.]

I can't say I'll have room to keep every console around forever, but some- like yours- I won't be getting rid of if I can help it.

[Poor Litwak still regrets letting Turbo Time go. ...but it's too late for that now.]

Having to unplug Q*bert was unfortunate, I'll tell ya. Game just didn't wanna start up anymore, and boy were the kids upset about that..

They really like that new level you guys added in though.

[Ralph nods.]

Right, right... Uh, you know, if there's any games that need to be unplugged and you're gonna keep them safe, could you let us know somehow? Like maybe a little note on the back of the 'Out of Order' sign or something? Otherwise, you're gonna be stuck with a game that doesn't have any characters and there'll be people left homeless that didn't have to be.

Hey, making the gamers happy is our job, you know. I'm glad we were able to help everybody out by letting them join our game. They get a home and something to do, we get more popular, and you get more quarters.

By the way, what exactly do you do with all those quarters you get, anyway?

I don't think it would be too much trouble to do that. It's the least I can do, really. Wanna give you fellas the benefit of the doubt if something ever does go bad with your cabinets, after all.

Well, them quarters you make are what help me run the whole operation! Power bills, maintenance- most of my profit goes to keeping the arcade in tip top shape. If you guys didn't do the work you do, well,...there wouldn't be an arcade for much longer.

Thanks, I appreciate it, we all would. Yeah, sometimes things just happen, but we all try to behave. We all know what happened, er, what we thought had happened to Turbo.

[Ralph thinks this over, nodding slightly.]

Without you, we don't have homes or jobs, but without us, all of us don't have a place to go, huh... Well, we're all doing our best for the gamers, but I'll try to put in a little more effort for you. I mean, without you, we wouldn't have jobs or anything!

Yeah, right...I'm glad uh...most of you behave, at least. Else I'd be unpluggin' consoles left and right....and then what?

[Litwak rubs the back of his neck uneasily at that, avoiding Ralph's gaze. He can't help it- just thinking about Turbo Time, even for a brief moment, fills him with regret.

Then he looks back with his own nod.]

Looks like we all help each other out then. But thankya Ralph. It means a lot to not only the kids, but to me as well.

After the whole Turbo...thing, everybody got scared pretty straight, even to the point where some people thought that wanting more outside of your job was a bad thing. Considering everything that's gone on, you won't be seeing anything like what happened back then, or with me, again.

It's no problem at all, Mr. Litwak, after all, you're the one who believed in us and kept us around after all these years! I know a lot of games have been swapped out over time, but you left Fix-It Felix Jr. in, even though some days we're lucky to get a handful of quarters.

Uh, also, if you could take as much care of Sugar Rush and Hero's Duty as you did my game, I'd appreciate that. I've got a friend in Sugar Rush, my best friend, actually, and Felix's got, well, somebody important to him in Hero's Duty.

I'll believe it. That's good to hear though. One incident like that is...well, enough for several lifetimes, I'll tell you that much. And I'm getting too old for too much excitement.

[He chuckles softly.]

Well besides Turbo Time, your console was one of the first few I ever brought to the arcade. I don't mean to pick favorites, but I couldn't just let you guys go that easy.

Yeah? Well sure, I can do that. Those two are mighty popular games, so I doubt they're going to be having any trouble getting business for a long time. Don't worry though, for you I'll make sure they stay in tip-top shape.

[Ralph chuckles as well.]

That makes two of us, though, if there isn't any excitement at all, things get a little boring.

[He grins.]

Favorites, huh? I'm still getting used to being anybody's favorite, but I'm glad you like our whole crew as one of your top picks.

Thanks! Yeah, I can see how Sugar Rush'd be popular with the kids, but I don't get how anybody likes Hero's Duty, it's violent and scary, and those darn Cy-Bugs have caused more than their fair share of trouble.

Video games sure have changed a lot, huh? First Pong, and now...well, Hero's Duty. I never thought that things would go as far as they have, but well, I'm stubborn and set in my ways.

...Is it true that people play video games in their house, too?

Sure thing! I remember back when Fix-It Felix Jr. first came out, and I got your console into my arcade for the first time, right alongside Turbo Time and Tapper. My son was the first person to have a go at it, and he enjoyed your game so much I knew it was going to stay.

Yeah well, things do change a lot over the years. An old man like me can tell you that much. Nowadays it takes a lot of fancy graphics to impress the kids, and some of them like things even more violent than Hero's Duty is. Can't complain though. It's all harmless fun, and in the end they seem to enjoy just about every game in the arcade.

[Litwak smiles, nodding.]

It is! Though the games people play at home are a bit different from the games here in the arcade.

[Ralph smiles at the memory, nodding slowly.]

Yeah, those were some good times, weren't they? How's your son doing, by the way?

[He stares at Litwak in shock, his mouth hanging open slightly.]

What?! You're telling me that there's games worse than Hero's Duty? Man...and I thought they had it bad there. There's one guy, oh man, he was really freaked out about it, and he has to deal with it every day. ...That is if he managed to get out of Tapper. Whoops, uh, hopefully somebody found him and that that person wasn't Calhoun.

They are? I mean, it's hard enough imagining them playing games not at the arcade, but there's all sorts of games here... Though, the programmers are always coming up with new stuff, that's for sure. Nobody's been able to tell what Q*Bert even is.

He's doing fine, thanks for asking! He's gotten on up there, definitely not the little tyke he was when he played your game for the first time. Though he does still play games, just not up front here.

[No, mostly computer games nowadays.]

As shocking as I'm...sure that is to you, it's true. Games keep getting more and more violent because there are some kids out there who actually enjoy the thrill of being frightened half to death. Makes me happy some kids still have sense and enjoy the nicer games still hanging around.

Game companies are always coming up with new and better things. ..Makes me worry that, before long, this arcade won't be able to keep running if....well, if I'm beaten out by bigger and better games.

I'll keep an eye out for him, anyway. Maybe he'll decide to come back and visit what's left of the crew soon.

[Ralph shakes his head.]

Well, if it's what the gamers want, I guess it's fine... It's just...man...do I feel sorry for the characters stuck in those games.

[He gets a determined look.]

Don't worry, Mr. Litwak, we're gonna do our best to keep the gamers coming back here, instead of staying at home. We'll give it our all and really show them what we can do here!

I bet those home games don't have half the heart we do!

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