Well...if the gamers wanted to hurt you, they probably would have done it by now- especially since they already know you're inexperienced. Going with them would also be a good chance to see what this whole predetermined reward thing is...
 

SEE: Sure, I can come along.
ROXAS: Alright, sweet!

 
The TCPs walk with you back up to the top floor of the room where the doors have reopened. Even if you didn't already remember which one was yours, the smoke billowing out of it made it immediately apparent which one was theirs.
 


 
You head along with them, the smoke blinding you a bit- but you finally reach it...the den of the gamers.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter is the smell, the smoke billowing out of the room carries a faint odor that gets stronger as you walk further in. Through the smoke, you can see what can only be described by your new knowledge as a 'gamer den,' with several setups for playing video games.
 

SEE: Whoa...this place is cool as hell!

 
Roxas stoops down for a high five.
 

ROXAS: Hell yeah it is!

 
You go for it, grateful that you didn't have to try to reach any higher. 
 

SEE: Are these all for gaming? I know I saw something similar in my catalog, but damn, this is a lot!
SAMSON: Tch, not everything we do is gaming.
ROXAS: Yeah, we do a lot of other stuff too, like recon type stuff. And also figuring out explosives.
ROXAS: Don't worry, we all have the skill for it.
SEE: ...explosives?

 
For some reason, that word makes you a bit nervous.
 

TODD: Don't worry about it, chat for another time.
CAYDEN: Well, now that you're here, what do you want to do? We can play games, smoke some weed, whatever.
SEE: I think I'm down for weed, actually.

 
 


The door behind you seals, startling you out of your chocolatey skin. You probably should have expected as much, but it looks like you've gotta commit to your decision now.
 

ROXAS: Nice! Let’s-
ROXAS: Wait, what’s that?

 
Roxas rushes over to some kind of basket that seems to have tumbled down the chute. They take a card that was tied to it.
 

ROXAS: “To my favorite band of feral gamers, I think you’ll get a real kick out of these. - J the Overseer”
ROXAS: Well shit. Looks like this is what they meant by ‘predetermined rewards,’ huh?
SEE: Who's J? 
SEE: I thought there was only one voice.
SAMSON: What made you think that? There’s a lot of us to keep track of, and they’re always so quick to respond, it only makes sense there’d be more than one person.
SEE: ...I guess that does make sense...
SEE: What's in the basket, anyway?
ROXAS: Looks like a bunch of boxes, and also they used loose weed for packing filler.

  

 
Roxas pulls out the boxes and hands one each to Samson, Cayden, and Todd, keeping the last one for themself.

Roxas rips open their box and pulls out a strip of red cloth and a note.
 

ROXAS: Lets see... wrap it around... stand like this and... no way.
ROXAS: That can’t... no...

Roxas quickly wraps the cloth around their arm, faces the wall, and puts their arms together.
  

 

ROXAS: Holy Shit! Did you see that? What the fuck?!
SEE: What the hell is that?!
SEE: How'd you do that??
ROXAS: I don’t fucking know????????
ROXAS: The note told me to do it and I did it????
ROXAS: Damn, I guess these overseers don’t joke around with this shit.

   
Samson glances at the rest of the gamers and gives them a look.
 

SAMSON: I think we should open the rest later. Just in case. 
SAMSON: If the rest are similar to this we wouldn’t want to accidentally put See in danger.
SEE: I wonder if my gift's anything like that...I don't think me shooting a fireball is a good idea, though- something tells me I'd melt.
SEE: Are you sure you don't want to check them out, though? Like...even just reading the notes?
SAMSON: I'd rather not go through all that right now, no.
SEE: ...fair enough, I guess.
SEE: So...weed, time?
ROXAS: Hell yeah!

   

 
They grab a handful of loose weed from the basket and begin wrapping it in papers from their pocket, passing out the completed joints.
 

ROXAS: Here you go, bud. 

You hold the relatively massive joint in your hand, weighing it. 
 

SEE: Here goes nothing.

  

 
You promptly and completely absorb the joint into your face.

All of the gamers stare at you wordlessly in shock.
 

SEE: What?
SEE: Did I do it wrong?
TODD: You were-
TODD: You were supposed to smoke it.
CAYDEN: You should probably sit down and take it easy for a bit, I don't know what eating that much will do to you.
SEE: Okay, uh...

 

 
You sit on the ground, feeling just fine. 
 

SEE: What's it usually supposed to do, exactly?
ROXAS: Uhhhhh that kinda depends on you, bud.
ROXAS: Different folks get hit different.
ROXAS: But generally, it makes you chiller.
SEE: Okay...chill. I can do chill.

 
You could probably ask some questions while you're here, waiting for the weed to kick your ass.

 

You’ve got a lot of questions in mind, and you’ll be honest, it’s kind of making it hard to chill. You feel a little weird around the edges the more you start thinking about this stuff, but it’ll be fine, right?

Samson scoffs.

You're definitely starting to feel something, but it's not strong enough to really pin it down. 

You start staring into space.

Roxas sits down on the bed and nods slowly, the weed clearly hitting them hard.

You start spacing out again.

You don't wait for a response. 

 

Okay, you're starting to feel way, way weirder now, and not necessarily in a good way. Thinking about fluid makes you think about Max and the stains on his bandages, the fact that something cut him open...

You don't like this train of thought one bit.

 

 

You flop forward onto the ground, face first.

Cayden swoops in, sitting down next to you and speaking in a gentle voice.

Cayden gives a small nod.

Cayden simply nods along, listening to you ramble.

You lift yourself up a bit.

For some reason, this is making you even more emotional.

You're pretty overwhelmed at this point, but you feel like you should say or do something to express just how much this means to your highly emotional, weed-addled head.

 
You shuffle over and attempt to give Cayden a hug, missing on your first try.

You try to say something but all that comes out is a weird noise your mind tells you is "crying", and all you can do is hold onto the much larger gamer.

Cayden gently pats you on the head.

You are really struggling here.

Something hits you.

Samson pipes up from the other side of the room.

The gamers wait patiently for you to get your thoughts together.

Roxas nods slowly.

You see the TCPs in front of you shift nervously as Samson speaks up again.

Samson lets out a low grunt and walks away to her desk.

Cayden leans closer and whispers.

 
You make a noise akin to sniffling and nod.

Cayden stands up and heads over to one of the desks, picking up a somewhat thick plastic box, something you can only assume is the handheld they were talking about.

   


Cayden comes back and hands you the console, with the game already inside, along with the manual.

You take the manual out, ready to start being the best at this.

 

Let your new life bloom!

There’s a table of contents inside.


-Getting Started
-The Story So Far
-Getting to Know Your Neighbors
-Farming, Fishing, and More!
-Home Sweet Home
-Playing with Friends

You may as well read all of it, flipping the page to the first section.
  

GETTING STARTED
 
Welcome to Fields of Red Grass- your new, portable home away from home. In this game you take on the role of a newcomer to a ramshackle town in the Fields of Red Grass, having signed up to be a new caretaker of an abandoned farm. Not many people remain in the town after a horrible disaster struck three years ago…but with your help, it’s time to rebuild!

Easy enough. 

CONTROLS

To start, you check out the control page- Cayden has to help clarify which buttons are which, but you think you get the gist. You really like pressing the squishy trigger buttons and kneading them around- they work just like your laptop’s doughboard!
 

The next page has some more starting info.

Before you arrive at your new home, you’ll have to create your farmer! Select a head, ears, body features, and a starting outfit- and colors to match.

Cool! You have no idea what a farmer is!

Always remember to save your game before quitting by pressing the START button! Otherwise, there could be consequences! 

…consequences?

Time changes along with the real world in this game! Before starting, you’ll be asked whether the time on your game system is correct. Don’t change the time to cheat, or you’ll be punished!

…uh.

You are too spooked and stoned to question him, just nodding vigorously.

That’s just going to have to be good enough.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS

You open up the Neighbors section- oh! These are cool! They look kind of like TCPs, but different- your mind tells you that some of them have “mouths”. 

As anyone knows, good neighbors are what makes a good community. The neighbors of your town are a friendly bunch, all ready to work together with one another to make things happen! 

You may find that your neighbors will bring you gifts, or offer to help with your work, especially as you become better friends with them (or perhaps, more????)

Neighbors…you like the feel of it.

 

This one has a fun look! Your mind tells you that his mouth is “smiling”, and for some reason, it makes you feel happy and at ease.

Kalisha kind of reminds you of Suzanne…you shake off the thought before it ruins your mood.

There are many more to meet on your own!

This next section really throws you for a loop. There’s…a lot of terms you don’t know.

You nod, as if anything but the word “food” registered to you.

At the very least, the pictures look cool.
  

This section also goes over your head, as much as you want to absorb every bit of info about playing the game with somebody else- it’s just so much technical info.

You realize you don’t know what a town is either, but you’ve come too far to admit that now.

You’re comforted by the thought of having some company in your own room…

Sounds like a new mission- get all of your friends’ handles!

…well, what…three? Friends you have aside from the gamers.

More to come, hopefully!

You have a ton of questions still, but…you can learn as you go.

You go ahead and hit it- this thing's a bit big thanks to it coming in gamer-size, but you're making it work.



The screen that pops up is super colorful, with a little person on the screen.

...this is gonna be tricky.

[Time for character creation! Post a screencap of your farmer design from here to suggest!] 

You carefully try out your options…big ears definitely appeal to you- they remind you of Monty! A red outfit also seems like a good idea, because it’s just like Sky. And…hm….oh, here’s a tail that looks like your laptop cable!

You feel like Cayden was looking in Roxas’ direction when he said that, but you’re not sure.

You nod, pressing the correct button to proceed.



The game opens on a peaceful scene- your mind filling in the gaps as you stare in wonder.

There is a field of dirt and grass, trash scattered around- you wonder if you'd need a trash bag like the gamers have to clean it up. There's also a cabin, though it looks...really beat up.

There's also a character on screen, black and red and horse-like.

A dialogue box pops up, and your gaming skill says that it's probably the horse talking.

You hit >Yes.

You get completely absorbed in the tutorial- you're surprised at how much Kade feels like a real, actual person.

You keep playing through, and all of a sudden, the game lets you loose. You're out of the tutorial!

But before you can really get into it-

Samson lets out a cough over at the desk that she’s been watching you and Cayden from.

You get the feeling that this is less of a suggestion than it sounds.