Secret Heroes

It all started in the year 2006 when my life would change forever. Growing up with a small family in a small town was nothing extraordinary, and keeping myself busy was always something I never had to worry about. The reasoning behind that was because I was the only one of my kind, so I thought. It all started at the age of 10, when my family and I took a trip to South Africa for a mission trip through our local church. For me the trip was very exciting, I always loved to travel and I had always dreamed of seeing the world for myself. The day we landed we were told to unpack and head out to the local village where we would be helping out, however that changed when a massive storm hit. So far my new adventure was lame, but I decided to go venture off and take a look around, which would later turn out to be one of the best decisions of my life. As I started walking along the path near our camp, I decided to take an alternate route that I made myself which took me 3 miles away from camp. While walking on my new path I came across the most interesting object that I have ever seen. It was a gold necklace with weird markings all over it. Being a 10 year old boy I picked it up and put it on, but while trying on my new necklace a group of men with guns started to come at me. At that moment I had no clue what to do, I started to panic and then I started running. The men were shouting at me and it caused me to run even further away from camp, and since I did not know the area, I ended up staring straight down a cliff. At first I thought to just get caught and face the consequences, but then I thought I could hide from them by trying to climb down using the rocks as a guide. As you can tell that didn’t work out so well considering the massive storm that was going on. I ended up slipping and started to plunge to my death, but that all changed when I realized that I was floating in the air. I couldn’t believe it, I was shocked and confused at the same time, and had no idea what to do. All I could do was wish for myself to me set on the ground, and that's exactly what happened. I figured out right away that the necklace I was wearing had some sort of powers that gave me the ability to fly, all I had to do was imagine me flying and it would do it for me. Ever since that day I was able to practice using the necklace, developing my skills and being able to go where I wanted, when I wanted. To this day it has been hard keeping such a big secret for my family and friends, but I knew if I wanted to keep the necklace then I had to be careful using it. Fast forward to the present, I’m now a 20 year old college student attending the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and for the past two years I thought I was all alone when it came to superhuman abilities, but that all changed when I met my college roommate Grant. Grant was a shy kid who never really spoke much, until the day he saw me flying. I thought that my life was going to be over, I was thinking to myself “how are you going to explain what just happened” but there was no need for that. Grant admitted to me that he had the ability of telekinesis. He never really told me how it happened, something to do with experimental drugs his family was working on, but ever since that day we have been best friends. We decided to use our powers for good and to help the locals, however there was another group of three who had abilities of their own. This made things awkward for us, until the three asked us to join their team. Ever since that day college has been different for me, it wasn’t just about getting good grades and having fun, it was about keeping the people we cared about safe from whatever came our way, and that’s how our group started. To some were just normal college students, but between ourselves we were known as the Secret Heroes.

Secret Superheroes

In the year of 2015, it appeared that I was the only one of my kind. I was eighteen years old, and I just graduated from high school. After high school many people choose to attend college, and since that seemed like the “normal” thing to do, I chose to follow that path. The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown is where I ended up. I finished my first semester of college with minimal excitement and interaction. I was still laying low because only six years have passed since my mutation occurred. Now I know the word “mutation” does not sound very appealing, but it wasn’t a noticeable mutation. It occurred many years ago, in my father’s laboratory. My father was a lead scientist at one of the largest pharmaceuticals in the world. He is well renowned for his innovations and safe practices, but one day it was not so safe. It was bring your child to work day at the laboratory, and my father, even though he had created many great things, always said that I was his greatest creation. The day started out with a tour of the facility. It was a magnificent work of art without a speck of dust or dirt anywhere. The tour lasted a couple of hours, and it included some demonstrations of what was being done there. Even though it was a pharmaceutical, there was some pretty sick stuff going on. When the tour concluded, it was time for lunch. I sat down with my father, and quickly ate. He was conversing with a friend of his and their child, so while he was distracted, I took the opportunity to show myself to the bathroom. Well by bathroom, I mean the experimentation lab. It was where my father’s work was being conducted, and I had always been curious to see my father’s work in action. Everything was always so secretive with him, and the worst part of it was that he could not even tell me about it. I’ve always had a great memory, and I navigated the halls quickly. I soon came upon the sliding doors, which were left open for some reason, and stepped inside. This had to be quick. I could not make a sound, and I most certainly could not be caught. It would embarrass my father, and result in a severe punishment for myself. I rapidly scanned the room and affixed my eyes on a small jar. In this jar were small, purple liquid pills. I reached in and picked one up, only to have it slip from my fingers. A mini heart attack ensued, as I scrambled to retrieve the slippery pill. Ten agonizing seconds later, the pill was back in its jar, and I was ready to get the heck out of there. I turned to walk away, but as soon as I took a step back I hit something. I swung around, and to my horror, a large, clear vat of the clear, purple liquid began to topple over. I tried to catch it, but I only made it worse. I tripped back over my own two feet, and landed on my back, with the liquid plummeting towards me. I gasped, and tried to let out a cry for help, but my mouth was soon filled with the liquid. It shot straight down my throat, and I didn’t even need to swallow. At first, it was extremely bitter and aggressive, but the sensation faded into that of sweetness and serenity. How could I be calm in a time like this though? I just consumed a vast quantity of who knows what, and now I have to tell my own father. I scramble to my feet, and narrowly avoid falling on the wet floor. When I regain my balance, I notice that the door is closed, and alarm begins to sound with the piercing words, “Hazardous spill in the experimentation lab.” I was in the experimentation's lab, and I caused the spill. I had to get out, but the door would not budge. People, including my father began flocking to the windows and to the door. Then a countdown began, preceded by the statement, “Automated cleansing will begin in… 10… 9…” On the tour, we learned that automated cleansing was a bad thing. It was supposed to release chemicals that would kill or neutralize the hazard, and I was stuck in it. My father was screaming, trying to get the doors open, but they were sealed along with my fate. I just sat down in disbelief. “2… 1…” The last thing I remember is the pain. Two months later, I wake up in a hospital, with my parents beside me. They reinform me of my incident, and my father proceeds to tell me why I am still alive. The purple liquid had been ingested so quickly that it already coursing through my body, and when the neutralizing chemicals were released, they reacted with chemicals from the liquid and chemicals in my own body. It caused mutations in my brain. These mutations saved me, but they did much more than that. They gave me the ability or superpower of telekinesis. The experiment that my father was working on was one inspired by the “Limitless” movie. He was trying to access every part of the brain at once, and with a little accident, it worked on me. Fast forward to 2016, my best-friend, and roommate, Ethan and I decided to take a class called Digital Humanities together. Ethan was also special. He had the ability to fly which came from an experience he had in South Africa. Anyways, this Digital Humanities class was pretty normal. We were in groups of four or five. Our three group members, like us, appeared as normal college students, until one day the college was attacked. Rising political tensions had caused extremist political factions to rise up quickly, but no one ever thought that it would have escalated so far. We were sitting in class one day, when the ground began to shake. Dr. Justus got a phone call, which instructed him to initiate a certain protocol. We quickly turned off the lights, and crouched down in the back room. Ethan and I knew that we had to get out. We had to help. We stood up to leave, but we were quickly told to get back down. That was when the first bullet flew. The bullet went clean through Dr. Justus’s hand, and hit the back wall. Without much thought, I used my mind to grab the assailant's gun, as Ethan jumped forward and knocked him off of his feet and out cold. We made it out of the room only to be confronted by more enemies, but we were not the only ones to leave the room. Our group members were behind us, and with a nod they took care of the other group of enemies. They also had superpowers! My mind, even at with its heightened ability, was freaking out. We quickly knew that we had to split up, but first, Ethan flew around campus to find out how many people we were up against. After figuring out that it was a number around one hundred, we split up. The attackers were in five buildings including, Blackington, Krebs, Biddle, the library, and the Union. Immediately we were off. I moved myself to the Union where guards waited outside. I levitated a large boulder from the woods and flung it at the guards. I picked up some smaller stones, with my hands this time, and entered the Union. Guards were also inside the doors, but I quickly dispatched them by launching the stones like bullets. I could hear shouting coming from the cafe. It turns out that a couple teachers and employees were being held hostage in their booth. A man, surrounded by twenty or so guards, spun around towards me. I jumped behind the salad bar, as bullets smacked all around me. I was surrounded by silverware and salad bowls. With a break in the gunfire, I rose to my feet, and began launching silverware. Knives worked the best, but I quickly ran out, and I still had ten to twelve minions in front of me. The next best thing was bowls and plates. They worked surprisingly well especially when thrown like a frisbee. This left me with three more attackers. I flung a chair, and took out one more. The last minion charged me, but I grabbed his boots and tripped him. As he fell, his head smashed off of a table, rendering him unconscious. The leader of this group simply surrendered, so I tied him up and let the hostages take care of him. I rushed back to Blackington, but on my way, I noticed everyone congregated outside. As I approached them, it began to sink in. We were superheroes, and we just saved the day. We were the secret superheroes.

eXistenZ

While watching this movie, I was both intrigued and slightly disturbed.  I was intrigued because it really opened my mind and made me think that these things could quite possibly exist.  One of the stranger things in the movie in my opinion was when they were in the Chinese Restaurant in the game.  When he began to eat what they called "The Special," it was pretty gross to me and also the fact that he built a gun out of the bones.  Another strange part to watch was when they would insert the umbi cord into the bio port. Even though I don't watch sci-fi movies that often, I enjoyed this one because of its oddness and story line.  Overall, I think this movie gave a very different view on society and gaming that I enjoyed.

Existenz

While watching his movie my face was just like the character to the rights face. I wouldn’t classify it as a horror film at all but for a person who is not used to seeing things like that it might be hard to watch. For example, the hole they had to put inside of their backs in order for them to play the game. It was difficult to watch especially when the guy had licked it. Also the pod that she was using to the play game was weird. The sound it gave off and made it hard to look at or even watch. But besides that the movie was entertaining for the most part. I’m not a huge sci-fi movie fan but this one seemed to keep me interested for the most part. It was creative as well I believe. For example, the guns that they had made with the teeth. It was something that I had never seen before. And since this movie was in the future, you can’t help to think that some people might come up with something that odd. I don’t know it would be considered as lethal but it couldn’t do enough damage to your point across to someone. As a whole, I really did enjoy the movie, it made me actually want to expand on my movie genres. Probably give this a second watch as well to get a better understanding of the movie.

Are video games considered a piece of digital humanity? In my opinion I believe that it is. Throughout the class we have come across a variety of pieces that involve interactive fiction. So with video games, a majority of them are a fiction and you do have to interact with them. For example, the game Fallout 4 which has just released this past November. In this game you come across very situations where you are given options when speaking to someone. Sometimes you have the option to lie, tell the truth, let some go, kill them, the list just goes on for days. But with each decision you make, it effects the story line in some type of way which is why I love this game. With digital humanities, it isn’t just interacting with whatever it may be. Digital humanities take a lot of things into accountability for example, there being a story line to it only being able to be done digitally and not much physically. And with video games you really can’t make them “real” it’s only seen through a TV, portable system or your laptop and that’s just like the pieces that we have been observing all semester.

                History is major in digital humanity as well when it comes to archives. There are various games out there that were based off of real life situations in the past. For example, Assassins Creed. That game focuses a lot on a lot of digital archives of the past that you virtually get to experiences and play out. So to answer the question I truly believe that video games can be considered a digital humanity just based off it is everything that we have been doing in class, just in a more interactive way.