Chapter 25

Third Person POV

........

Alice played Detroit for a few hours and then decided to end the stream. Passing by the protesters, dealing with the constant tension in Kara's chapter, and having a deep conversation in another chapter of Markus left the girl a bit tired. As a novice streamer, instead of looking for some simpler content, she decided to call it a day.

When Alice finished streaming, Débora sat on the couch lost in thought. The last chapter Alice played really caught her off guard. Seeing Markus talking with Carl about human mortality and how Carl treated Markus reminded her of her own past.

Sighing lightly, Débora went to the game's page to find the developer, but unlike she imagined, it wasn't one of her old battle companions but an 18-year-old child. 

"This is really surprising… I need to play it myself. If this game continues like this until the end, maybe I can use it as a form of awareness."

Débora saw great potential in Detroit, but she wasn't the only one. Many people were beginning to pay attention to it, and many players started commenting on the unique type of narrative the game presented. In a universe where most people are genuinely fanatical about history and war, seeing a story of revolution slowly being built and being able to directly influence the direction of that revolution fascinated many players.

A large number of videos and comments about the game began to appear all over the internet. A fan group already familiar with Alex's work also began to emerge. The profile of Batata Produções on Vortex had a huge number of views. Even though Alex did not have a partnership with any brand or company, he still managed to gather a good amount of credits and fame, which at that moment became essential to help the game be known more easily.

One of his biggest fans was Melina Castro, a well-known film critic famous for her acidic and malicious reviews of famous movies. Many often said her reviews were like that just to get attention. However, a large part of her audience usually agreed with her critiques, especially when it came to the protagonists and the story. Many screenwriters became targets for Melina's critiques, especially after she got to know the works of Batata Produções.

In the beginning, Melina criticized how repetitive the movies were, how most directors continued to milk the same skinny cow. The war against the Exceeds was extremely long, but only a dozen battles were depicted in cinema, and when lesser-known battles were made, the budgets were miserable. As a lover of cinema and good stories, seeing the situation of movies left her very dissatisfied.

But ten years ago, while bored watching some independent animations on Vortex, she found a movie that changed everything for her: My Neighbor Totoro. At that time, Melina watched the movie just because she was bored and had nothing else to do, but today she could say that it was at that moment she remembered why she loved cinema, why she loved movies and good stories so much.

Totoro was different from anything she had seen. It didn't have a super complex story, nor super strong and skilled characters,no, just children playing like children. The animation had few lines, but the scenarios, the actions of each character, the music, all of it told a story without needing words.

After that day, Melina became even harsher in her critiques. She didn't know who made that animation, but that wasn't important. What was really important was the change it could bring to the way of storytelling. Over the years, Batata Produções released one great animation after another. Melina was delighted with all those stories. She made sure to post great reviews for these movies and recommend them to everyone she knew. Melina even tried to contact someone from the production for an interview but couldn't. However, she didn't mind,they were already known for not communicating with anyone.

Now, years later, Melina still watches and reviews all the animations from Batata Produções, with the Avatar series being her favorite currently. But she was really surprised when at the end of the last episode of the season, she saw an advertisement for a game participating in a game designer competition. Initially, she wasn't very interested; she wasn't a fan of games. If she were to waste time, she preferred to watch a two-hour movie rather than a thirty-hour game. But when she saw the note at the beginning of the advertisement, she changed her mind.

[From the same creator of Batata Produções animations, Detroit Become Human. Would you like to change the story? Would you like to make better choices than the protagonist? Would you like to decide the fate of the characters you love? This is your chance.]

"A bit exaggerated, but from the same creator of the animations? Maybe I should try."

Melina wasn't very excited, but since she had never been disappointed with Batata Produções' work, she decided to give it a chance, and once again, Melina wasn't disappointed. Right at the beginning of the game, she fell in love with Connor. For a story lover, being able to play as a detective, search for clues, and slowly uncover the truth of a case was simply addictive. After that, seeing the development of Markus from a simple caretaker android to something bigger.

Then there's Kara, breaking Todd's commands to do what she believes is right. It's not just the story that is unique, but the fact that she can decide how things will develop seemed unbelievable. 

After playing for a few hours, Melina exited the game with her heart racing. 

"If watching a movie and following a story is already incredible, now that I can change and interact with it, I think I can die happy, hahaha."

"Dear, are you okay?"

Melina, who was laughing loudly, felt embarrassed seeing her husband standing at the door looking at her.

"Hehe, I'm fine, just got a little excited."

"All right, no more work today, let's have dinner."

"Okay, but I need to finish something first…"

ಠ_ಠ

"....."

"... Then I'll have dinner, after I can…"

ಠ_ಠ

"....."

"... Then take a bath and have dinner, afterwards we can spend some time on the couch watching some things... Then, before bed, I'll post a super quick review and go to sleep hugging my wonderful husband."

".... Sounds like a good plan."

Melina sighed, watching her husband leave the room.

"The girls would laugh if they knew who wears the pants in this house, but what can I do when he looks at me like that?!"

Sighing, Melina got up and went to wash herself. After a bath, she had dinner and watched a movie. When she was about to go to sleep under her husband's gaze, she went back to the office to post a review.

Sitting with her eyes closed, she thought about how to make this review. After thinking a bit, she decided to make an honest review without a script or editing; she just started recording.

"Hey Vortex, folks, today's video is going to be a bit different. It's going to be shorter, with no editing or script. You all know how much I like the animations from Batata Produções, right? But I think everyone who follows me must have seen the ad for a game at the end of the last episode of Avatar.

I don't like games; actually, if I've played about five, that's a lot. But since we're talking about Batata Produções, I decided to give it a chance. I haven't finished it yet, but after playing for a few hours, I couldn't hold back. I had to come here to recommend this game to you. When I finish playing, I'll make a complete review, but as far as I've played, I can say the experience is almost unbelievable.

I started playing with Connor, an android detective. Walking through the scenario, finding clues, discovering more about what's going on, and slowly piecing together the crime scene is an incredible feeling. Then there are two more protagonists, Markus and Kara. Not only are their personalities unique, each with their own problems and paths, but in everything this game has, the thing that stands out the most are the choices.

Yes, choices. In this game, you can not only choose the path of the protagonists. I'm not going into many details now; I can only say that as far as I've played, this game is a love letter to all story lovers. I'm in love with this game, and considering it was made by Batata Produções, or rather HeartDream Productions—I think it's a subsidiary of Batata Produções, but I'm not sure. Either way, they never disappointed me, so I'm very excited to keep playing."

Melina talked for a long time about the game. Even though she had played little, the video, which was supposed to be short, ended up being over twenty minutes long. But she was satisfied. Posting the video, she got up and went to the bedroom to sleep. As soon as she opened the door, she saw her husband looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"A super quick review, right?!"

"... I guess I got a little excited..."

"It's okay, dear. It's your job; I don't want to interfere. Anyway, while you were doing your review, my mom called. She's going to stay here for a month. That's okay, right?!"

"..... It's fine. It's great to have her here, hehe."

(Damn it, that old hag. If I had known, I would have waited until tomorrow.)

.....

**POV Catharina Lockhart**

.....

After playing Detroit, I can only sigh in disappointment. It's not that it's bad; actually, it's very good, but I'm not the emotional type of person.

I worked my whole life as a spy, always infiltrating enemy bases, feeling the sensation of being about to be discovered, having life and death decided by my skills. I always complained about how the missions were sucking my soul. Now I'm married, have kids, and have a stable job. I should be completely satisfied, but now I'm missing the wildness.

When I met Mark, my cover had been blown. I was fighting for my life when his squad arrived. I barely remember how we got out alive, but when it was all over, there were only mutilated bodies, blood, and dust. I was so tired that I didn't want to go back to work anymore. Slowly, I moved away from the front line, doing more and more bureaucratic work until I finally managed to leave.

"What's my problem? Isn't my life great?"

*Sigh*

(I'll call Monica to go to the duel club with me. Maybe if I beat her up a bit, I'll feel better.)

When I was about to call Monica, Alex called me.

"Mom, can you help me with something?"

"Huh?! With what? Is it important? I was thinking of going to the duel club to beat up Monica."

(Please, don't go around beating people up.)

"Actually, I wanted to test the enemy AI in my game. It'll be fun; you'll be able to beat up a lot of monsters."

(Monica, you owe me one.)

*Sigh*

"Okay, I can beat Monica another time."

"Hehe, don't make that face. You'll like it. God of War will become your favorite game."

...….

Note: Another chapter, I almost forgot to post, haha. 

A question, do you want more about Detroit, or is it better to just summarize the story and move on? 

I'm going to explore the protagonist's parents a bit more and start making preparations for the next game. Soon, our beloved Kratos will make his debut, hahaha.