Ready Player One

WarGames

Ladyhawke

concerned that my absence might raise suspicions.

I felt like a kid standing in the world’s greatest video arcade without any quarters, unable to do anything but walk around and watch the other kids play.

I was afraid, for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.

You’re going to turn it into a fascist corporate theme park where the few people who can still afford the price of admission no longer have an ounce of freedom.

“No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful.”

I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal. —Groucho Marx

As I read the words they’d left behind, I finally began to get a grip on the situation. My situation. Our situation. What most people referred to as “the human condition.” It was not good news.