Bucky Talk: February 2022

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Let’s Plays To Death (Full Short Story)

It’s the year 2093 and climate change has altered societies way of life. Since really no one goes outside anymore due to the extreme weather, people just stay at home and watch FlinchTV. What is FlinchTV? Why it’s the largest live streaming website in the world owned by the tech giant Forest Inc.

My name is Ian McShiner, but I’m known better under my username DoctorToyWarz where I work as a live streamer on FlinchTV. I have 350 million followers on social media and over 400 million subscribers on FlinchTV. To be honest I should say I used to have those followers and subscribers, but after a recent scandal where I said something racist as my poor attempt at humor during a live stream, I lost a quarter of my followers and subscribers. Along with losing my sponsorship deals and my agent. Hell, even my girlfriend dumped me due to my raising fame and because many of my female fans came a calling.

Now with basically no money left and on the verge of losing everything I built, I needed to make my comeback and regain my fame. But I needed to stand out from the crowd. So, one day out of the blue, a new potential sponsor sent me an email saying they wanted me to test out a new gaming chair during a live stream. With the money they offered me I couldn’t turn them down and since it would be enough to fix my apartment’s broken air conditioner, which I need due to the extreme heat of the modern summers as they are called now. I happily agreed to sponsor the new gaming chair and now my comeback is on.

After Forest inc. delivered my new gaming chair, I got another email from my sponsor who I forgot to mention was called PharmaKey Inc. I’ve never heard of them before and my web searching skills failed me. But PharamKey’s money is good and before I did my latest live stream, I’ve received an email from PharmaKey. It said that this is no ordinary gaming chair, but it includes a new way to play. Lastly, they warned this might be my last day of play. I had no idea what that meant but I’m at least happy they marketed this live stream like crazy.

I finally set up the new gaming chair from PharmaKey and was getting ready for my live stream on FlinchTV. “Okay, let’s play some Toy Brawlers,” I said to myself. What was weird was that my dog Freddy didn’t want to enter my gaming room. Freddy seemed afraid of the new gaming chair. I would soon learn why. Once I started the game, began live streaming to billions of people around the world and finally sat on the new gaming chair. Something was off, once I sat in my new gaming chair, I could get up, like I was stuck permanently. “Hello viewers, this is your boy DoctorToyWarz and I’m stuck, so let’s begin playing some Toy Brawlers,” I said nervously. My Forest inc. Anne began to chime up. “Anne FlinchTV recommendations, The Death of DoctorToyWarz is streaming now on FlinchTV, would you like to watch?” said my Anne home assistant. “The Death of DoctorToyWarz? What the…,” I cried. I looked through the live stream chat and the comments were saying that this is my final day of play. One comment scared me more than anything else. It said that I only get three tries against the final boss fight in Toy Brawlers and then my gaming chair will eject me with poison which will kill me. And my fans know that I can never beat the final boss in Toy Brawlers.

In the chats I discovered the PharmaKey is a pharmaceutical corporation, and they are testing out a new suicide machine. This new suicide machine is what I was currently sitting in. You see, two years ago the government legalized assistant suicide and the suicide booth business grew. But once the weather became too unpredictable, everyone was ordered to stay inside. So now PharamKey came up with a new suicide machine where the user plays video games as they are slowly ejected with lethal drugs. I played Toy Brawlers for a good two hours until I made it to the final boss fight. After I used my two tries, I only had one try left again the Toy Brawlers final boss. My hands were hurting but I played like hell because my life literally depended on it. “What’s this,” I uttered in pain. I noticed in the chat, someone sent me a cheat code to defeat the final boss in Toy Brawlers.

I entered that baby into the game, and I was shocked that it didn’t work. “What the fuck?” I yelled. It was then I realized the person in the chat gave me the cheat code for the final boss in Toy Brawlers 3 and for an entirely different video game console. I slowly felt that death was near. “Why? Why are you all watching me die?” I uttered as I slowly faded away. Everyone in the chat said the same thing, you deserved this. As I was dying from the lethal drugs, I started to reflect on my life. I regretted cheating on my girlfriend, I regretted my racist jokes, I regretted becoming a fame whore and asshole. But most of all, I regret that I’m not dying as the shy nerdy kid Ian McShiner, but the monster DoctorToyWarz. What have I become? A better question is who was I to begin with. The live stream ended early, and death came early as well. Game over! Thanks for watching! Please subscribe to the channel because it would support me a lot. This has been DoctorToyWarz. Remember, do anything for the content. Of course, those sentences above were prerecorded because I had no final words. “Ordering the usual deep dish sausage pizza for Ian after another successful live stream. Also reminding rent is due today and you have a zero balance in your account. Would you like me to do anything else, Ian?” asked Anne. Anne didn’t get an answer back, only silence as this wasn’t really a final day of play, but the last day on the job.

Dark West (Full Short Story)

In 1871, during the heyday of the Wild West, I worked as a sheriff’s deputy in the town of Gutter Splatz. My name is Todd Fredstone and I moved to Gutter Splatz when worked dried up in the northeast. Gutter Splatz has a mayor and of course some law enforcement, but the man that truly runs the town is Kane McLeash. Kane McLeash is one of the richest oil barons in the good old US of A. Kane McLeash may have all the money and power around here, but he couldn’t control everything.

That being, time. What makes Gutter Splatz such an odd place here in the west is that time hasn’t really moved forward nor backward. Like we’re in a loop. Stranger still, we have travelers not from out of state or out of town, but out of time. We have Roman gladiators drinking in the saloon and dinosaurs stealing cattle. In fact, one of my friends is a monk from the dark ages, who, like many travelers in our town, only wants to return home.

One day, when I was doing my morning patrol. The sheriff and I were summoned to the hillside manor of Kane McLeash because he claimed his daughter was kidnaped by a man in the strangest clothes he’d ever seen. The sheriff and I went into the desert to investigate McLeash’s daughter’s whereabouts, but not before encountering some Indians. The Indians believed in some prophecy that a man in a black robe had told them. The Indians ordered that I go with them, and the sheriff to return to town. The sheriff and I did what we were told to do. While the sheriff and the other residents of Gutter Splatz dealt with two huge T-Rexes.

Once I arrived at the Indian village, they introduced me to a man I would never forget. This man was named Fizillo and he was a wizard from the middle ages. Fizillo told me that the man who kidnaped McLeash’s daughter was a man from the year 2154. The man from the future was Kevin Dash, and he was a soldier ordered to fix the time space continuum.

This made me mighty confused, but he also gave me a magical sword. Once I held the sword, I was transformed into a new chap. I became a powerful magical black knight. I felt more powerful than King Arthur himself. “So, where can I find Mr. Dash?” I asked. “Go to the silver mines, but know this, Kevin is not your true enemy, there is another,” said Fizillo. I was confused by that, but because time was of the essence, I headed to the Gutter Splatz silver mines. On my way to the mines, I battled many robots and dinosaurs. After making my way to the mines, I saw McLeash’s daughter tied up and Mr. Dash holding her at gunpoint. I jumped off my horse and rushed over to attack Mr. Dash, but then I froze in place. “Who are you?” asked Kevin Dash. I kept moving and Mr. Dash laughed. He showed off a very fancy watch. “You see this, this lets me control time. Top government scientists built this. Now, answer these questions, who are you and where’s the crystal?” asked Kevin Dash. “My name is Dark West,” I cried as I managed to break free from control of Kevin’s device. Kevin shot his gun at me, but I used my sword to dodge all his bullets.

We fought for a long time until McLeash’s daughter screamed “I know where the crystal is!”. Kevin and I both turned around. McLeash’s daughter explained that her father had the crystal and that’s why time has been disrupted in Gutter Splatz. Kevin and I agreed to team up as we headed to McLeash’s manor. When we arrived at McLeash’s manor, McLeash was prepared for us. “I won’t let you ruin everything that I built!” yelled Kane McLeash. Kevin pulled out his gun and I my sword as we demanded to know where the crystal was. Kane, being the stubborn man he was, wouldn’t budge. Kevin shot him in the foot. But before we could do anything else, McLeash’s daughter had the crystal in her hands. “Sarah, no! Put that back in the vault,” yelled an angry Kane. “Sorry father, but the universe is at stake, Kevin, Mr. West, follow me,” said Sarah.

Sarah McLeash and I rode on our horses while Kevin Dash rode on a fancy futuristic hover bike. Sarah led us to the silver mines where she showed us a cave within the mines where the crystal was found. Out of nowhere, Fizillo appeared and Sarah, almost like instinct, handed the crystal to Fizillo. “Ah yes, time to put you back in your place. Thanks for returning the time crystal to its home. Once placed here, the time stream will be restored,” said Fizillo. Fizillo dusted off an ancient podium and placed the time crystal inside it. Once returned, the silver mines lit up as the time space continuum was being restored.

Soon all the dinosaurs, robots, barbarians, pirates, knights, and Roman gladiators disappeared from Gutter Splatz. Sarah, Kevin, and I fled the mines as order was being restored. Kevin began to tinker with his watch as he stared at Sarah and I. “It’s funny, I’m actually a descendant of the McLeash family. We’re related Sarah by many centuries. I’m just bummed I couldn’t meet my very, very, very, great grandfather Todd Fredstone who lived here around this time. Thanks for your help. I hope we won’t meet again,” said Kevin Dash. Kevin Dash saluted Sarah and I as he slowly fazed away as he returned to the year 2154. Then I realized that I had just met a future descendant of mine who happened to be a very, very great grandson. He also said he was related to the McLeash family as well? Could it be that there’s more in store for Sarah and me? Only time will tell. But, for now, as the sheriff’s deputy, I had a town to protect. Even though the time stream was restored, I still have the sword Fizillo gave me, so if Gutter Splatz ever needs Dark West again, he can come back at any time!