[ WP ] Video games come to life and everyone is the game character of the game they 've played the most in today 's society .

I felt the anger climbing up my neck, threatening to choke me. If I hear `` It's-a me! Mario!'' one more time today, I will go straight up Bowser in here. The damned Pikachus have shorted out the national power grid. I do n't even know what to do with all these John Maddens. They have actually created a shortage of turkeys, ducks, and chickens. 
 
 Space marines and WWII infantrymen mill around. Yesterday they were normal people - doctors, plumbers, accountants. Today, they've inherited a digital legacy. Something happened that merged everyone with their most frequently played video game characters. 
 
 I sit here watching them walk by like they do n't even know this is wrong. I ca n't contact my family. I do n't even know which of these things are people I should know. The Marios come in several different versions, yet they're all the same. It's just a question of bits - 8, 16, or 64. Everyone once in awhile you'll see a Luigi. Obviously a little brother. 
 
 I've heard rumors of what's going on down at the park. All the World of Warcraft players somehow migrated down there. Alliance an sHorde squaring off in the real world to control just under half an acre of open lawn where perverts hook up and junkies shoot up. God knows if their powers can actually kill. 
 
 I've seen a couple that scare me. They shift. One minute they're Link, the next they're Sonic or Master Chief. Hardcore gamers. They've played so much for so long, it's like they ca n't lock onto a single form. I do n't think they can control it and it looks like it's painful. One form does n't know what the other forms do. Samus can shoot someone and the next moment PAC-Man is going over to check on them. 
 
 I sit here, full of regret. I watch everyone run by. They do n't remember themselves. Maybe I'm the crazy one. Maybe my life before was a dream. But that does n't seem right. No, I know who I am. I do n't know why the others do n't. 
 
 I'm stuck here, a giant red square of candy sitting on the sidewalk in front of my office. No think I can see another one like me on the fifth floor across the street. God, I hope no one carries a third one of us in between. What happens then?
