Mr. K poured drink in a glass and sat in his office in front of the computer. He will browse and then he will play his favorite game. It was something that Mr. K would do every day, since he never married.
After he was one surfing the net, and when he started to play his favorite game, he heard a voice, a female voice.
-“Please Mr. K, release me” said the voice.
Mr. K was surprised; he didn’t know who was speaking to him. After a few seconds, the female voice asked him again to release her.
As Mr. K looked closer, he saw a young woman on her knees, begging him. Her face was familiar, and he was not surprised.
-“You know that I can’t release you” Mr. K said.
-“Why you’re saying that?” the female said. -“I know, we both know, that I am your servant, we know that you are the master, but please, I’m tired of all this time” continued the woman.
-“It’s not so simple, you are a character in the game that I’m playing, you are not real” Mr. K replied.
-“Please!!” the woman said again.
-“Sorry, but everything is happens for a reason, and your reason is to follow my orders and do what I command you to do” Mr. K said.
-“The reason is that I want to live, I want to do something with my life, not obey to you all the time! So, please release me” the woman said.
-“I told you that I can’t!” Mr. K replied loudly.
-“Why can’t you? Why? Is it maybe ’cause I want to do things that you never did?” said the woman again
-“Hey, wait a minute! What do you mean by that, eh?” Mr. K said.
-“Well, I didn’t want to mention that, but you left me with no choice. The truth is that you’re almost 50 years old and you have done nothing in your life. You didn’t marry, you live alone, you have a job that you hate and, most of all, you are too shy! You are even afraid of the air that you breathe and your only pleasure is playing that game on the computer. So please, release me, let me live a life!” said the woman.
Now Mr. K was very sad. The woman just summarized his life so far. He knew that this is the way that his life goes, but he didn’t imagine that this was so obvious. Most of all, he knew that what the woman said, was absolutely true! He loved to be alone; he loved to spend his free time playing his favourite game on the computer. And the harsh truth is that he was so jealous of this woman’s life that many times he had imagined himself living it!
At least, she had a meaning in her life, she was a secret agent, she was fighting the bad people, and she was …somebody! She wasn’t …Mr. K!
-“Okay, let’s hypothetically say that I want to change places with you. How is this going to happen?” Mr. K asked.
-“No need to worry” said the woman. “This is too easy. The only thing you have to do is close your eyes, hold your breath until you die, and think that you become me”.
-“I don’t know, it sounds tempting but I’m afraid” Mr. K said.
-“It sounds as it is” said the woman. “For the first time in your life, you are about to live in my reality for ever, even as a character on a videogame. And me, I will live in your reality, so it is nothing to be afraid of”.
Now Mr. K was confused. Was it worth, this change? He believed that it was. After all his was a pathetic life, but being a …secret agent, even in a videogame, that would be much better!
So, he agreed. He agreed to change his life with the life of the woman on the videogame.
Before he made the trade, asked the woman:-“I have played your character so many times, but I don’t know your name. Can you please tell me what your name is?”
-“My name is Mr. K” said the woman.
-“Mr. K?” Mr. K said. “It’s strange, but okay, no problem at all; it’s like keeping my name in my other life.”
And a few minutes later, Mr. K closed his eyes, held his breath, and started to imagine that he was the character on this game.
Then, everything got dark. There was silence all over the place.
Did this transformation succeed? Who knows! The truth is that the next day, a neighbor called the police because he saw from his window Mr. K standing still.
The police found Mr. K lying on the table in front of his computer. They took him to a hospital, but it was too late.
Nobody noticed that the character on the screen was looking just like Mr. K; nobody noticed that this character was looking so happy!
Story by: Konstantinos Pamfiliss
Illustration: Sofia Kyrisoglou
