Y/N POV:

On Christmas eve, many years ago when I was 23. I walked down the street early in the morning carrying flowers, while picking up objects I liked simply because I could. I'm a collector...Okay, well, I'm more of what people call a hoarder, meaning I pick up objects that not many people would want. Like old pieces of paper that have something written on it, a broken watch that someone threw out, a small diecast toy car that some little kid left lying around and forgot to pick up, or even loose change. You name it, I have it. The odd thing about it though is that I can't ever seem to explain the exact reason why I do it. It's like a small compulsion that tells me that if I don't pick it up and take it home with me, then it'll feel sad that it was abandoned and doesn't have a home. Wishing for someone to come and pick it up to take home. I know, it's strange. Then again, I never was a completely 'normal person'. 

I suppose it all started back in 4th grade when the other kids thought I was strange for not believing my parents when they said Santa had flying reindeer and thinking that Santa was a superhero who had actual superpowers like flying at supersonic speeds, short distance-teleportation, and telekinesis and that the reason he lies about reindeer and elf are that he was afraid the government would come after him and try to enlist him. 

After that, the children started calling me a crazy person. I didn't mind it though, as by then I had figured out that I was a weird person, and that not everyone had the same beliefs as I did. Since then I learned to at least try to keep my thoughts to myself to not bother the other people around me who weren't interested. 

It ended up working as in 5th grade, I would develop a small circle of friends that I would go on to work at the same job with. I was happy that I was able to relatively feel somewhat normal. I soon found that I had reached my destination: The graveyard. I stepped through the rusty old creaking metal gates, flowers in hand. Each gravestone I passed filled me with a sense of sadness, it reminded me that people come and go in your life, and you almost have no control over it. 

Eventually, I made my way to the place and found what I was looking for. Two large stone slabs that stood next to each other. Inscribed on them were the names of my parents: M/N L/N  and  F/N  L/N. When I was younger, they died in an accident, they were driving and a truck crashed into the left side of their car, killing them instantaneously, and I was sent to an orphanage where I managed to make my circle of friends. 'St. John's Orphanage for the Youth'. "Hey mom, hey dad."

I said in a somber voice, placing the flowers on their graves. "I got the job...and all of my friends are there too...your reputation in the industry helped a lot...thank you so much...for everything...I wish you were here to see where I am now..."

I remember both of them as if I saw them yesterday. Mother was a kind and caring person who had a soft and gentle voice as sweet as honey. She sang me to sleep when I was afraid and it always knocked me out. Her eyes were as blue as the ocean and her brown hair flowed down to her waist, her long arms used to rock me to sleep while I was swaddled in clothing. She was a saint. My Dad was a rather large, but gentle man. He was strong and knew business like the back of his hand. His green eyes always looked at me as though he saw a small miniature version of him in me. He was always the selfless type who would walk old people across the street and make people smile by cracking a joke. They both had worked for the company they had inherited from their father, but on some days she and Dad took me with them. 

Their employees often kept me busy while my parents worked tirelessly on their next game. Sometimes they would even let me playtest a couple of their games. Like 'Ultra Jump Mania' or a game called 'Killer Robots', which despite its name was not very graphic and gave you the option of sparing the other robots. I always found myself sparing them and looking for another source of oil to be nice. "I still visit the old building...I signed to have it torn down though, a homeless shelter is gonna be built there..."

"I always passed by it, both on my way to work and on my way here," I explained as I kneeled and relit the candles that had gone out. "I miss you guys...I hope you're proud of me..." 

My watch beeped as I looked at the time showing 6:00 am 'the others must be worried,' I thought to myself, "I gotta go, see you next week, I love you," I hastily left the graveyard in an attempt to make it back to my college dorms. I ran down the sidewalk and then took a quick shortcut down an alley. I passed by the old building where my parents worked...and suddenly I found myself slowing down and looking up at a closed window with the blinds closed with a light showing through it. 'A light...What the hell is someone doing in there at this hour?... And why did they choose to do it in a place that's about to get demolished?' I thought as I looked at the broken window. '...I mean I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look around for a few minutes.' I climbed through the broken window, careful not to slip and cut myself.

As soon as I made it inside, I turned on my phone's flashlight and began walking through the abandoned ruins of the old building. 'So this is 'C&A Games' huh?' After a while, I came across an old decrepit lab with papers scattered everywhere...

'and I just picked them all up and stuffed all of them into my backpack...I also just took a picture of the whiteboard...I mean maybe there's something cool or important on one of them?'

Shrugging off the mental question, I eventually made my way to the upper levels. The stairway had some random bits of junk and trash with some papers that I collected. Once I reached the floor I was looking for I entered a room with computers that looked like they dated back as far as either the early 70's or mid 90's. However, one in particular caught my eye.

I looked at it with curiosity, leaning closer and closer to get a better look...

"That there game catch your eye son?"

I yelped and looked behind me and was met with an old man in a brown leather trench coat, his eyes beaming at me with curiosity coupled with a warm smile that stretched across his wrinkled face as he approached. 

"That there is an unreleased game that has never been seen before, and only heard of in legends in the gaming community. Fitting that the son of the company's former CEO is the one to come and get it."

My eyes widened in shock, I've never met this man before, nor had I ever told anyone who my dad was. "H-How did you know that?" I managed to choke out in my shocked and scared state. "This building was a great place, in the mid-80s your grandfather was both one of the founders and CEO of the company. Then he died, and the company began to go under. A small team of dedicated people stayed behind and desperately tried to save the company by making a new game using experimental technology they had developed..." Suddenly the man's face went grim.

"But when the game was nearly finished, the team had gone missing, never to be seen again,  and rumors began to circulate, claiming the game to be cursed. Some say the team was murdered by someone, others say they went mad trying to complete the game and cracked under the pressure of the small amount of time that they had...your father was the one who had saved this company.

The man said as he turned to look at me. "He was excited to continue working on the game, but when he died, no one was able to succeed him, and the next person in line to succeed him left the company out of fear that the same would happen to him. That was the final nail in the coffin, and the company was forced to close its doors for good this time. Leaving the game unfinished."

I listened intently, trying to figure out what it was this strange man wanted. "...So what is it you want from me then?"

The old man looked at me and smiled, "Nothing, just figured I'd give you a little gift. The game can't be ejected...but I bet it can be downloaded and transferred onto that laptop of yours." he said while handing me an object wrapped in bright red Christmas paper wrap. I take it inspecting it hesitantly. "Take this too while you're at it, you might not use it, but it might work with a few tweaks and after a few bugs are worked out." The old man gave me a warm smile. "Merry Christmas Y/N." I looked up at him and then at the computer and saw my laptop there. "Wait- What- How did you-"

I didn't get to finish my question because when I turned around he was gone. "What in the god damn..."

I slowly turned to look at my laptop, which was now hooked up to the old computer. It was already ready to download as I hesitantly reached a handout, I didn't know why I was doing this, for all I knew it could be a virus and the man just lied to me, and the 'gift' could be a tracking device. I thought about all of it and yet I couldn't bring myself to leave it. I wanted to leave, I wanted to go back to my dorm and forget this ever happened, but the urge kicked in again. 'God damn it.' I thought to myself as I clicked the download option. The download was fairly quick as it rapidly went from 0% to 35% then 54% then 79% then finally to 98%. As soon as the transfer was complete, I unplugged my laptop and hastily put it and the gift back into my bag. 

Just then I heard a loud crash and found myself on the floor, the floor beneath me rumbling. 'The wrecking crew...' I remembered, I checked my watch, 7:00 am. 'Shit!' I scrambled to my feet and ran for the exit. 'It's no wonder that guy suddenly left.' I made a left and ran down the halls, the sound of crashing walls and construction equipment filled my ears as I hurried down. 'we're almost out...' I thought to myself until...

THE STAIRS! THE STAIRS HAD CRUMBLED! I stood there struggling to breathe as I couldn't believe my eyes. 'no...no, no, no, no, no,' I desperately tried moving the debris but it was no use. 'Okay, okay, breathe...calm down...there must be another way out of here...' 

I frantically ran around looking for an alternate route and saw an exit door. 'That was lucky!' 

I ran and slammed the door open, narrowly missing a wrecking ball. The stairs here had been destroyed too. 'Oh fuck me!' I looked around and saw a storm pipe. Faced with no other options, I got ready to jump. 'Let's hope this works.' I latched onto it sliding down. 'Please don't break. Please don't break. Please don't break. Please don't break. Please don't break.' After what felt like an entire minute the rooftop caved in beneath me, I dropped down making it back to the first-floor hallway. The sound of the wrecking crew behind me. "FUCK!" I booked it down the hallway, not looking back and avoiding the falling debris. Eventually, I made it to the main entrance and back to my entry point, the building crumbling behind me. I screamed in fear as I leaped out the broken window, I landed on the ground with a thud as I hastily got up and ran as fast as my legs could carry me not daring for a minute to even look back.

I opened the door to the apartment and slammed it shut leaning against it and sliding down it, panting. "Holy shit..."

Meanwhile...

A small group of colorful characters wake up gasping for air and hyperventilating. They get up and frantically look around at their unfamiliar surroundings with a panicked expression on their faces. All they could see was a dark void, but before any of them could call out for someone, anyone, they suddenly felt an excruciating pain.