Locking In With My Life System

Aiden sat before his laptop, a hand massaging his forehead as he stared at the lines upon lines of code on one half of the screen.

Then there was the other half where [Crashout: Sin City] was running... though saying the game was running at this point was an understatement.

Instead, it was much safer to say that it was a complete, buggy mess! If one saw it now, they’d probably wonder what in tarnation happened.

The sprites were all jittery and glitchy, the controls were scrambled, the game’s core features weren’t functional...

It was hot garbage right now, so to speak.

’We might’ve been a bit too optimistic, Theo...’ Aiden inwardly remarked as he ruffled his own hair, a hint of mild frustration on his features.

For as lightweight as the Nimbus Engine was, there was one major issue that was making the PC port they were working on a quite the headache.

Theo’s modified source code.

What had originally been a simple tweak, had been so thoroughly modified by the youth over the course of developing the game, it was practically inches away from being its own full-fledged engine.

Because he’d tailored and optimized it so much for mobile though, it presented a rather difficult port to PC...

... which was quite ironic considering they’d built it on PC, but had been running all its codes through an emulator without ever considering the idea of a PC port down the line.

’Dumb move on our parts, now that I think about it...’ Aiden continued staring at the screen blankly.

Even then, it shouldn’t have been this hair-pulling... which only went to show that the Nimbus Engine itself hadn’t ever been optimized for PC games from the onset.

Whereas smartphones had a fewer complex series of layers to go through, PCs had so much of shit to keep track of, it wasn’t even funny.

Was it the Graphics APIs and rendering pipelines, the vastly different input systems, the more sophisticated operating system, or the uncompressed file I/O and assets?

The interconnected processes that made them all function seamlessly, none of it was accounted for on the Nimbus Engine.

It also didn’t help that they themselves had gone right ahead and further crammed a series of complexities into the modified engine to make their game a reality.

Now it was also turning out to be the very thing that was shooting them in the foot.

That said, Aiden wouldn’t have been this bothered about things if he wasn’t planning to ride on the momentum they’d garnered to drop the PC port of the game alongside the release of its new content.

One they’d scheduled for the third week of this month.

Then there was the fact that the academic decathlon was set to happen in that very same week, on the very same day they intended to launch the new stuff.

And for the coal-haired youth who wanted Theo to focus solely on the event so he could ensure he got the scholarship opportunity--one that had now being confirmed--he was even more bothered.

’Ugh,’ Aiden dragged a palm down his face and slowly lowered the lid of his laptop.

Then he buried his head into a corner of the couch in with a muffled yet resigned sigh, his father looking over to him from the other couch in their living room.

Today happened to be a weekend and Aiden had pretty much ticked everything from his usual schedule off the box so he was left with a lot of free time to work on the game.

Only, it wasn’t going to be fun for him and he knew it.

Which was a stark contrast to just last month when he and the gang were practically on a roll and had managed to sort out most of the new content they’d intended to add to the game.

Now, all five--with the exception of Theo whom was probably feeling just as stressed as him right now--were chilling and preparing in advance for Prom and their final year exams come May.

Yet, here he was, about to delve into yet another rabbit hole of staring at screens and crunching codes.

Aiden let out yet another deep sigh, this one even more resigned than the former.

As much of a workaholic he was slowly becoming, there was always a mental drain that came with constantly slaving away day-in, day-out to achieve his goals.

One he’d managed to ignore all this time ’cause he couldn’t afford to be whiney given the terrible future he’d experienced.

Yet, like most humans, it had finally caught up to him nonetheless.

That, exactly, was what he was dealing with right now.

”You okay, champ?” Richard asked as he folded his Sunday newspaper, his expression clearly one of concern as he watched his son lie face down on the sofa like a beaten plank of wood.

”I’m fine, Pops. Just realizing I won’t be catching a break anytime soon...” Aiden replied, his voice still muffled as he added;

”’Tis the cross I have to bear if I ever have plans of becoming a billionaire entrepreneur...”

This time, Richard chuckled in amusement and then said;

”Why not go for a walk to clear your head a bit? It’d help take your mind off things for a while.”

In response to that, Aiden slowly rose up from the sofa, considered it briefly, then shook his head in denial as he slumped right back into the sofa whilst replying, his voice coming out muffled yet again;

”Maybe another time, Pops. I need to get back to crunching codes in a minute anyway.”

Richard let out a gentle yet concerned sigh upon hearing that.

For a moment, he simply tapped his fingers on the arm rest, wondering what to say to get across to his son.

He was never really good at the whole pep talk thing.

His own father hadn’t exactly been the easiest man to get along with. In fact, he couldn’t ever remember a time where he and the man ever had a discussion the way he and his son often did.

Most of what he figured out in his life, he did it on his own.

It was also why he’d refused to continue that cycle by building a strong rapport with his son. One he’d hoped would at least make up for his non-existent pep talking skills.

Still, in this very moment, he knew he had to try.

Because as proud as he was of the mindset his son was building, he couldn’t help but feel like he was getting a bit too comfortable with always keeping himself busy.

”You know, as ’responsible’ adults, we’re conditioned to live in a way that rarely ever affords us the opportunity to have time or do anything for ourselves as we grow older,” Richard began and Aiden slowly raised his head up.

”It’s why so many of us live such monotonous lives and constantly have to deal with the existential dread that it’s all our lives will ever amount to,” the man gestured to his son with an open palm.

”But every once in a while, we choose to deviate from our programming to add a dash of color to that monotony,” Richard adjusted a bit in his seat, Aiden listening intently as he continued;

”And more often than not, it ends up being some of the best experiences we end up remembering for years to come...”

”...the kind that keeps us going through all that monotony till we get the chance to perhaps experience it, or something similar to it again.” he made a vague gesture with both palms and a light bob of his head.

”What I’m trying to say is, you should try deviating every now and then, son. Add a dash of color to your life whenever you can.” he advised with a pointed finger.

”Try to just breathe in the moment, I guess... and do things that are completely independent of whatever plans and goals you’ve set for yourself.” he continued, a genuine smile on his lips as he concluded;

”Trust me, champ. That’s the only way you’ll actually ever reach where you want to be, without losing sight of what made you work towards it in the first place.”

For a while, Aiden simply lay still.

Yet, it was clear that his father’s words had deeply affected him.

Him feeling the way he was about having to bust his ass yet again to reach his goal, wasn’t the problem. That was perfectly normal.

Him feeling the way he was about having to bust his ass yet again to reach his goal but trying to suppress that feeling in and of itself without acknowledging it... now that had been the problem.

His mind needed a break from the constant grind but he wanted to beat it into shape nonetheless. Clearly, he was starting to burn himself out without even realizing it.

Even with his Mind attribute so high up, it didn’t detract from the fact that he was still human, through and through.

It was also why, after a minute or so, he slowly rose up from the chair, a deep, grateful smile touching his lips as he said to his father;

”Thanks, Pops.”

”Just doing my job, Champ.” Richard reciprocated with a warm smile of his own as he flipped open the newspaper again, inwardly relieved that he got across to his son.

Aiden on the other hand, bobbed his head once in genuine appreciation and proceeded to head out.

However, just before he left, he pivoted and made his way upstairs, much to the curiosity of Richard who watched as he came back down a minute after with a navy-blue sketchbook in his hand.

”I’ll see you soon, Pops. Should be back before noon.” Aiden informed his old man.

”No problem, champ. Take care.” Richard responded as his son finally headed out, the door closing behind him with a soft click.

Walking with a relaxed gait, the youth began to make his way down the quiet neighborhood, unsure of where he was headed just yet.

As he did though, his phone suddenly buzzed in his pockets.

Casually retrieving it, his eyes narrowed upon laying eyes on the unknown, private number.