Your Fate Is in the Cards



  I don't really like to talk about my life, but I feel that I must tell someone about this…

  To start with, I wasn't really the "social" type. Everyone used to ignore me and most of the times forget I was even around. The only thing I ever did when I was lonely was play on my PS2.



On my 16th birthday, I went to GameStop and noticed they were having a buy 2 get 1 fre e deal for PS2 games. I looked in their stacks of PS2 games and grabbed   “Final Fantasy X”, “Kingdom Hearts 2”, and a game that caught my eye called “Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES”   I had heard of the Persona series, but never really played it at the time because I could never find a used copy. After I bought the games, I went home and decided to try out the games I got that day.

  I played some Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts 2 and loved it. I was actually enjoying myself at the time. It was late at night, and I decided to give Persona 3 FES a try and see if it was any good.



<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">The game starts up with an anime intro that showed these different characters and some gameplay. After the intro, I was really intrigued on how the game would play. When I selected “New Game”, I then chose my difficulty level, and it introduced me to the game. Before I could get to the actual game, I had to go through a cutscene with my character taking a train somewhere and at the same time, showing a girl pointing a gun to her head and drop it. After all that, my character then went into a dorm and then I got to name him. After another anime cutscene and a boatload of in-game dialogue, my character went in his room and went to bed. I then ended up in what I thought was an elevator.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  <span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">There, I met two strange people.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  One was a short, white-haired man that wore a black suit and had big eyes named Igor. The other was a slim, white-haired girl with yellow eyes named Elizabeth. Igor says to my character, “I see you have finally made it here, welcome to the Velvet Room. We have been waiting for you for a long time.” Elizabeth then comes up and says, “You have been lonely for a while, haven’t you?” As soon as I heard that, I was creeped out. I just thought, “It’s just a game, she was probably just talking about the main character.” Igor then said, “Until we meet again” and left.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  Afterwards, it was day 2 in the game, and my character was going to school. After an anime cutscene and more in-game dialogue, I went back to the dorms and saved using the sign-in sheet on the desk. After I saved, I decided to turn off the game and go to sleep.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  The next day, I went to school and spent the whole day alone once again. When I came home, I did my homework and decided to play some more Persona 3.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  When I started up the game, I didn’t get the anime intro like last time. Instead, it started up in the Velvet Room, but my character wasn’t around. Igor then looks at me and says, “Hello again, welcome to the Velvet Room. Did you have a long day at school again?” I dropped the controller and ran to the bathroom.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  I splashed my face with cold water, and then went back to my PS2. Igor then tells me, “Do not fear, we are here to simply have a chat with you.” Afraid, but curious, I decided to sit down and look at the TV, with Igor and Elizabeth looking at me. I then asked, “How do you know about me?” I thought it was stupid for me to ask, there was no way a game would respond, but it did. Igor pulls out 4 blue cards and said, “The cards told me. They contain everything there is to know about you.”  I sat there in complete silence and shock.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  Elizabeth then says, “We know everything about you. We know that you spend your time alone, thinking that everyone ignores you. When in truth, it is you who ignores them.” I got irritated and told her that it wasn’t true and that she should shut up. Elizabeth then responded, “Do not lie! You talk as if you really want people to notice you, but all you really do is ignore them and act as if you are the victim. When in truth, you are no better than they are. Your fate is in the cards; do not try to escape it. Should you choose this path, you will spend your life all alone. Nobody to talk to, nobody to love, you will just stay there and die alone.” I then asked, “Why are you telling me all this?” Igor then replies, “In time, you shall truly know. It is not up to us to tell you why or what you should do. Now then, we must be on our way. Enjoy your game.” The game then starts up with its anime intro.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">  I turned off the PS2 and put it away. I haven’t touched it again since. But ever since that day, those words that they told me had been stuck in my mind. “Your fate is in the cards.” That day, I thought to myself, “If that is true, does that mean I can change? If our fate is in the cards, can we change that fate?” What do you think? If you are someone like me, could you change?