September 22, 2005
Week 21 - The Quest 1
Episode 4
Rantz and Liza sit together on the couch in the living room.
"Um… You know," Rantz says, "Hal complained to me about you…"
Liza sighs. "About that damn game?"
"He's really upset. He asked me if I would lend him the money to buy the new version. I told him no… not unless you said it was okay. He didn't like that at all."
"I wish we were raising a family, like, two hundred years ago. They didn't have to worry about their kids playing violent computer games…"
"I don't think I'd want to live back then… What if I got a toothache?"
"I guess you're right… For that matter, can you imagine going through labor?" She shakes her head. "Those natural childbirth nuts do it that way nowadays, on purpose." She shudders. "Crackpots! I say, give me medication and lots of it!"
"I hate to admit it, but I think Hal might be right. We should lend him the cash. I trust him to pay it back."
"It's not that! I just don't want our money being used to pay for that crap… 'Death Zone'! Even the name's disgusting. It's all about running around gruesome dungeons trying to murder one another. It's sick! And they market it to children!"
"I don't see what the big deal is. Didn't you ever play Atari when you were a kid?"
"I played Ms. Pac Man nonstop for a couple of months… But Ms. Pac Man didn't have a rocket launcher!"
"Can you imagine what would've happened to those ghosts if she did?"
"Even if she had one, she wouldn't've used it. Ms. Pac Man was a non-violent feminist!"
"She certainly didn't watch her figure… I wonder how many calories those dots had…"
"Maybe they were the low fat kind."
"Look… the point is… what if Ms. Pac Man 2 came out and your parents wouldn't let you buy it?"
"I didn't say he couldn't buy it. I just don't want to loan him our money…"
"So… if he gets a job or something and pays for it himself? You won't stop him?"
She sighs. "I suppose not…"