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"Who are all these people? And why are they here?"

"Same reason as us, Jack."

"No way, man. Look at them all. I'll bet most of them haven't even played Space Raiders 2. They're not real fans. They're just... followers."

"Shut up, Jack! Look, there she is!"

Jordan's outstretched finger pointed across the courtyard, beyond the murmuring crowd, to the source of the cheers and whistles. A small group of figures were walking in the sunshine, smiling and waving. Silver passes hung from blue cord around their necks, identifying them as exhibitors at the convention.

"Holy shit!", Jack said, pushing through the crowd. "I'm getting me an autograph!"

"Wait, Jack, we'll never get through-", Roxy protested, but he was almost lost to sight already. Jordan shrugged an eyebrow at Roxy, took her hand, and followed through the crowd as best he could, apologising as he went.

By the time they'd gotten through the crowd, Shelley Parker, Creative Director of D'Awesome Games, had reached the glassy doors of the Convention Centre. Standing with her entourage, the famed game developer was signing posters, DVD cases and t-shirts. Jack was there, right at the front of the line, holding out a copy of "Space Raiders 3" and thrusting it forward desperately.

"Look at that - he actually made it!" Roxy said, smiling up at Jordan.

"I've never seen him move so quickly."

"Amazing to see all these people here, just for D'Awesome Games."

Jordan peered above the heads of the crowd.

"Quite a change from the Raiders debut, huh?"

Jack had been forced from the front line, his green checked shirt standing out among the black t-shirts of the throng. As Jordan watched, he elbowed a small blonde boy out of the way and shouted something to the D'Awesome team - just moments before they gave one last wave and headed back inside the Convention Centre.

"Did he get it?" Roxy asked.

"Don't think so," Jordan replied, putting an arm around Roxy. "I hate feeling like a sardine - let's get out of here. Jack'll find us."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't that bothered anyway", Jack said, drawing deeply from a can of Dr Pepper.

"Bullshit, fanboy!" Roxy laughed. "I thought you were going to kill someone to get that sig."

"What do I need her scribble for? I've got all the Collector's Eds, plus a bunch of PM's from her on the forums."

"Such loyalty! What fandom!"

"Yeah, well. I tend to wonder why these days."

Jordan swung his backpack off his shoulder and started rummaging inside.

"Come on guys, the talk starts in forty minutes. Big reveal, you reckon?"

"Raiders 4", Roxy said. "Obs."

"What else could it be?" Jack asked. "It's been two years since the last game. And they wouldn't announce crappy DLC here."

"Could be new IP?"

"Whatever it is: bet you it's a PS4 exclusive", Jordan said. "Like it or not, world's changing, Jack."

"Nah - Parker wouldn't do that. She's a PC gamer herself, you know? She'd be nowhere without us."

Roxy rolled her eyes.

"Without you, you mean? I'm quite happy with my PlayStation and sense of perspective, thanks."

"Yeah, without me. I've been pre-ordering D'Awesome's games on PC since before you were unpacking your Wii, Rox."

"Ooh, you're so hardcore!"

"I've just got standards, man. No way I'm buying a shitty PlayStation just for Raiders 4."

"You know what it'll say on your gravestone, Jack?" Jordan asked.

"What?"

"'Here lies the death of PC gaming'."

"Then I'll just have to live forever, won't I?"

The lights went out and the room hushed for a moment - the sound of six-hundred conversations ending, of a room full of people fixing their focus on a single stretch of black floor with five unoccupied chairs. Then, at a glimmer of movement from stage-right, cheers, whoops and whistles spread across the crowd.

Jordan turned to look at Roxy, who was grinning and clapping excitedly. Their eyes met for a moment, then their lips, before they both took up the cheers.

The noise reached a climax as Shelley Parker waved to the crowd, blew a little kiss, then took her seat. Shelley was an icon in the industry: outspoken, loyal, and physically striking - purple hair falling sharply down the left side of her face, the right side shaved short. Jack would proudly describe her as "punk as fuck", before waxing lyrical about her high-concept, highly skilled shooting games. They used to be a niche market: but D'Awesome Games's popularity had exploded with the rise of last generation's gaming consoles. Jordan noticed that rather than join the cheering, Jack sat slumped in his chair, fiddling with his 'Droid.

"Thank you, everybody, thank you so much!", Shelley said, raising a red microphone to her black lips. "We're so thrilled you could all come! Look at you all, you're so beautiful!"

The crowd cheered and whistled in response.

"Alright guys", she said as the whistles began to die down "I don't know about you, but I've been waiting for this moment for months. Atari wanted me to start off with some Q&A and to talk about the Raiders 3 DLC. But the hell with that, right? That's not why you're here - and it's not like they can pull me off stage, now."

Shelly shrugged, melodramatically eyeing the wings of the stage. Laughter rose from the crowd.

"So the big news is that we're here today to announce a brand-fucking-new game."

The audience roared its approval. Jack sat up a little in his chair. Roxy squeezed Jordan's hand.

"It's called Space Raiders 4: Rise of the Immortals. And we're really, really thrilled to be able to tell you that we've teamed up with Sony on this one - it's going to be a PlayStation 4 exclusive title, and it's going to be fucking epic!"

The room exploded in an avalanche of sound. Shelley leaned back in her seat, a huge, natural smile spreading across her face, and exchanged a relieved glance with Bill Snider to her left.

"The fuck you idiots clapping that for?" Jack muttered under his breath - just loud enough for Jordan to hear.

"It's a betrayal, is what it is."

"Jack..."

"She's pandering to the big stage, the big crowds. But what about us? What about her faithful fans?"

"Maybe", Roxy answered, "If they want to remain faithful fans, they'll have to swallow their pride and buy a console?"

"After all the money I spent just getting here? Fuck that, we deserve better."

"Come on Jack", Jordan cut in. "You're over-reacting."

"What happened to you, man? You shack up with a girl and all of a sudden you're never around, got no time for Raiders, tucked up in bed at 10pm."

"Hey, don't take it out on Jordan."

"Who should I take it out on, Rox?"

"Total strangers on the internet? That normally seems to work for you."

"Whatever. I'm out of here. I'll see you later, or something."

“Hey, Rox" Jordan said, when they'd gotten home a couple of days later. "Look at this. Jack posted it at about 2 am last night."

Roxy peered at the open laptop and read:

"No matter how shitty life gets, Ive always had games. They've been like a best mate. Worlds 2 explore, characters to connect with, systems to rule. And not bragging or anything but tbh ive always been good at them. I learn from them. Im a better person ingame that I could ever be in the real. I mean I can do shit, own shit, top tables. I can WIN, u know?

"Games aint never lied to me, never let me down, never betrayed me. Until now.

"Raiders 4 represents the final nail in the cross or whatever. Industry's changing and pretty much I can deal. The wheel keeps turning and the pc - only place where games belong 2 the COMMUNITY & not the boardroom - will have its time once more. Consoles get bigger and dumber and we get a wave of casual players and noobs coming in from the high street wanting to play My First FPS. But there's money in those noobs and so long as we're still being looked after, I guess its cool.

"But then Parker comes out & says that D'Awesome Games is turning its back on the PC, on it's own history, on the community. Jumping into bed w big business and £££. Well g fucking g. Gamings running out of heroes man. Parker letting us down, snubbing us like this... its a step too far for me. It's one more in a long line of kicks to the shin AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH.

"Dunno what I'll do now. I'll find somewhere else to invest my time, money and soul. Ill learn to love again. But I want D'Awesome Games to know that this time they've left a scar which wont heal and which I won't forget and which I wont forgive.

"Bye."

"Urgh, dude's flipped his lid," Roxy said. "Always knew he was a creep."

Jack peered through the glass, the hammer heavy in his hand. He could just about make out the sleeping figure of Shelley Parker. He reflected for a moment how they were both on the wrong side of glass barriers. Well, Jack couldn't shatter his barrier. But he could make his feelings known, alright. He'd remind the world that he mattered.

Strangely, he didn't feel angry any more. He had been: in the crowd, in the conference, in front of the keyboard, while tracking down Parker's address. He'd been angry at the world for stealing his passion: for loving, or claiming to love, his game even more than he did.

But now he felt calm. The thought of hurting someone made him feel sick to the stomach. It wasn't really Shelley's fault: he knew that. She was just a symptom of a wider sickness.

And yet, here he was: and this was the only way that his voice would be heard. After everything he'd said, done and believed. If he didn't follow through on this, if he didn't make his point, was it all for nothing? Would it put the lie to his whole reality if he backed down and decided that this wasn't the right thing to do? That this wasn't justice?

Jack hefted the hammer again, and pressed a hand to the window pane.

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"Who are all these people? And why are they here?"

"Same reason as us, Jack."

"No way, man. Look at them all. I'll bet most of them haven't even played Space Raiders 2. They're not real fans. They're just... followers."

"Shut up, Jack! Look, there she is!"

Jordan's outstretched finger pointed across the courtyard, beyond the murmuring crowd, to the source of the cheers and whistles. A small group of figures were walking in the sunshine, smiling and waving. Silver passes hung from blue cord around their necks, identifying them as exhibitors at the convention.

"Holy shit!", Jack said, pushing through the crowd. "I'm getting me an autograph!"

"Wait, Jack, we'll never get through-", Roxy protested, but he was almost lost to sight already. Jordan shrugged an eyebrow at Roxy, took her hand, and followed through the crowd as best he could, apologising as he went.

By the time they'd gotten through the crowd, Shelley Parker, Creative Director of D'Awesome Games, had reached the glassy doors of the Convention Centre. Standing with her entourage, the famed game developer was signing posters, DVD cases and t-shirts. Jack was there, right at the front of the line, holding out a copy of "Space Raiders 3" and thrusting it forward desperately.

"Look at that - he actually made it!" Roxy said, smiling up at Jordan.

"I've never seen him move so quickly."

"Amazing to see all these people here, just for D'Awesome Games."

Jordan peered above the heads of the crowd.

"Quite a change from the Raiders debut, huh?"

Jack had been forced from the front line, his green checked shirt standing out among the black t-shirts of the throng. As Jordan watched, he elbowed a small blonde boy out of the way and shouted something to the D'Awesome team - just moments before they gave one last wave and headed back inside the Convention Centre.

"Did he get it?" Roxy asked.

"Don't think so," Jordan replied, putting an arm around Roxy. "I hate feeling like a sardine - let's get out of here. Jack'll find us."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't that bothered anyway", Jack said, drawing deeply from a can of Dr Pepper.

"Bullshit, fanboy!" Roxy laughed. "I thought you were going to kill someone to get that sig."

"What do I need her scribble for? I've got all the Collector's Eds, plus a bunch of PM's from her on the forums."

"Such loyalty! What fandom!"

"Yeah, well. I tend to wonder why these days."

Jordan swung his backpack off his shoulder and started rummaging inside.

"Come on guys, the talk starts in forty minutes. Big reveal, you reckon?"

"Raiders 4", Roxy said. "Obs."

"What else could it be?" Jack asked. "It's been two years since the last game. And they wouldn't announce crappy DLC here."

"Could be new IP?"

"Whatever it is: bet you it's a PS4 exclusive", Jordan said. "Like it or not, world's changing, Jack."

"Nah - Parker wouldn't do that. She's a PC gamer herself, you know? She'd be nowhere without us."

Roxy rolled her eyes.

"Without you, you mean? I'm quite happy with my PlayStation and sense of perspective, thanks."

"Yeah, without me. I've been pre-ordering D'Awesome's games on PC since before you were unpacking your Wii, Rox."

"Ooh, you're so hardcore!"

"I've just got standards, man. No way I'm buying a shitty PlayStation just for Raiders 4."

"You know what it'll say on your gravestone, Jack?" Jordan asked.

"What?"

"'Here lies the death of PC gaming'."

"Then I'll just have to live forever, won't I?"

The lights went out and the room hushed for a moment - the sound of six-hundred conversations ending, of a room full of people fixing their focus on a single stretch of black floor with five unoccupied chairs. Then, at a glimmer of movement from stage-right, cheers, whoops and whistles spread across the crowd.

Jordan turned to look at Roxy, who was grinning and clapping excitedly. Their eyes met for a moment, then their lips, before they both took up the cheers.

The noise reached a climax as Shelley Parker waved to the crowd, blew a little kiss, then took her seat. Shelley was an icon in the industry: outspoken, loyal, and physically striking - purple hair falling sharply down the left side of her face, the right side shaved short. Jack would proudly describe her as "punk as fuck", before waxing lyrical about her high-concept, highly skilled shooting games. They used to be a niche market: but D'Awesome Games's popularity had exploded with the rise of last generation's gaming consoles. Jordan noticed that rather than join the cheering, Jack sat slumped in his chair, fiddling with his 'Droid.

"Thank you, everybody, thank you so much!", Shelley said, raising a red microphone to her black lips. "We're so thrilled you could all come! Look at you all, you're so beautiful!"

The crowd cheered and whistled in response.

"Alright guys", she said as the whistles began to die down "I don't know about you, but I've been waiting for this moment for months. Atari wanted me to start off with some Q&A and to talk about the Raiders 3 DLC. But the hell with that, right? That's not why you're here - and it's not like they can pull me off stage, now."

Shelly shrugged, melodramatically eyeing the wings of the stage. Laughter rose from the crowd.

"So the big news is that we're here today to announce a brand-fucking-new game."

The audience roared its approval. Jack sat up a little in his chair. Roxy squeezed Jordan's hand.

"It's called Space Raiders 4: Rise of the Immortals. And we're really, really thrilled to be able to tell you that we've teamed up with Sony on this one - it's going to be a PlayStation 4 exclusive title, and it's going to be fucking epic!"

The room exploded in an avalanche of sound. Shelley leaned back in her seat, a huge, natural smile spreading across her face, and exchanged a relieved glance with Bill Snider to her left.

"The fuck you idiots clapping that for?" Jack muttered under his breath - just loud enough for Jordan to hear.

"It's a betrayal, is what it is."

"Jack..."

"She's pandering to the big stage, the big crowds. But what about us? What about her faithful fans?"

"Maybe", Roxy answered, "If they want to remain faithful fans, they'll have to swallow their pride and buy a console?"

"After all the money I spent just getting here? Fuck that, we deserve better."

"Come on Jack", Jordan cut in. "You're over-reacting."

"What happened to you, man? You shack up with a girl and all of a sudden you're never around, got no time for Raiders, tucked up in bed at 10pm."

"Hey, don't take it out on Jordan."

"Who should I take it out on, Rox?"

"Total strangers on the internet? That normally seems to work for you."

"Whatever. I'm out of here. I'll see you later, or something."

“Hey, Rox" Jordan said, when they'd gotten home a couple of days later. "Look at this. Jack posted it at about 2 am last night."

Roxy peered at the open laptop and read:

"No matter how shitty life gets, Ive always had games. They've been like a best mate. Worlds 2 explore, characters to connect with, systems to rule. And not bragging or anything but tbh ive always been good at them. I learn from them. Im a better person ingame that I could ever be in the real. I mean I can do shit, own shit, top tables. I can WIN, u know?

"Games aint never lied to me, never let me down, never betrayed me. Until now.

"Raiders 4 represents the final nail in the cross or whatever. Industry's changing and pretty much I can deal. The wheel keeps turning and the pc - only place where games belong 2 the COMMUNITY & not the boardroom - will have its time once more. Consoles get bigger and dumber and we get a wave of casual players and noobs coming in from the high street wanting to play My First FPS. But there's money in those noobs and so long as we're still being looked after, I guess its cool.

"But then Parker comes out & says that D'Awesome Games is turning its back on the PC, on it's own history, on the community. Jumping into bed w big business and £££. Well g fucking g. Gamings running out of heroes man. Parker letting us down, snubbing us like this... its a step too far for me. It's one more in a long line of kicks to the shin AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH.

"Dunno what I'll do now. I'll find somewhere else to invest my time, money and soul. Ill learn to love again. But I want D'Awesome Games to know that this time they've left a scar which wont heal and which I won't forget and which I wont forgive.

"Bye."

"Urgh, dude's flipped his lid," Roxy said. "Always knew he was a creep."

Jack peered through the glass, the hammer heavy in his hand. He could just about make out the sleeping figure of Shelley Parker. He reflected for a moment how they were both on the wrong side of glass barriers. Well, Jack couldn't shatter his barrier. But he could make his feelings known, alright. He'd remind the world that he mattered.

Strangely, he didn't feel angry any more. He had been: in the crowd, in the conference, in front of the keyboard, while tracking down Parker's address. He'd been angry at the world for stealing his passion: for loving, or claiming to love, his game even more than he did.

But now he felt calm. The thought of hurting someone made him feel sick to the stomach. It wasn't really Shelley's fault: he knew that. She was just a symptom of a wider sickness.

And yet, here he was: and this was the only way that his voice would be heard. After everything he'd said, done and believed. If he didn't follow through on this, if he didn't make his point, was it all for nothing? Would it put the lie to his whole reality if he backed down and decided that this wasn't the right thing to do? That this wasn't justice?

Jack hefted the hammer again, and pressed a hand to the window pane.