Post #6 - The Genie

Blasi sat in his bed late at midnight as he struggled to sleep. He kept thinking about his father and why he was so preoccupied with money. With his hacking skills, Blasi had an unlimited amount of money at his fingertips and not a cent seemed to satisfy the hole in his heart. He wanted friends, he wanted to get out, but most of all, he wanted his family back. Just then, he saw a bright green light out his window. “That was weird,” he thought, as the light brought back memories of when he used to watch that old genie cartoon with his father. “Genie,” he said to himself, “If you’re out there, I wish to have my family back.” He then chuckled to himself, a man of coding and algorithms wishing to a genie, and then fell asleep.

Light flooded through his windows as Blasi woke up with a new sense of energy. He didn’t know why he felt this way, but he could tell it was going to be a good day. He made himself breakfast and suddenly decided he was going to go out for a walk: something he never did. Luca took the long staircase down to the lobby and walked out of the large double doors into a beautiful day. He took the long walk to Yelsnag park and back, admiring each and every natural detail along the way. As he got back to his apartment, he was surprised to find his door was open. He cracked it open, and found Pierre Leclerc sitting in his living room. “Luca,” he said, “I have something you’ve been looking for.” Moments later, Blasi’s father stepped out in front of him.

Post #5 - The Rat

Anna Evita’s intro and Violet Cortez’s outro were mediocre in Luca Blasi’s opinion. However, Ryan Lochte’s speech hit Blasi like a truck. Despite how washed up he might be, the speech held aspects of personal significance to Luca. “Family is the most important thing in life,” said Ryan, “they’re the ones who help you through tough times, provide you with good times, and gave you the greatest gift of all: life.” He thought back to the days before his father had kicked him out. After his mom died, they were the only friends each other had and now that they were apart, neither of them had any. Ryan continued, “After my incident, I had tension with my family, and coming together and ending that tension was the most helpful thing for me in that low point of my life.” Luca heard this and then saw the rat run across the stage. “Sure my dad is a rat,” he thought, “but that’s nothing a little cheese and quality time can’t fix.” He then headed back to his apartment to begin the search for his father.

Ryan’s speech was so close to Luca’s apartment that he could still hear him talking when he got back. He knew Lochte had gotten a bit too into his speech and how now gone 30 minutes longer than proposed. He was sad as he wanted to hear coach K speak to remind him of the times where him and his father had watched the Duke games, but just like coach K, those times were gone. Luca knew him and his father would never be the same, but as he opened his laptop he missed the sense of adventure his father had given him. Sure he was hard on him, but he had pushed Luca outside of his comfort zone, away from the screen, and into the world. Luca then shut his laptop and went back out into the street.

Post #4 - The Aftermath

The storm had ravaged the city. One of Luca’s windows had cracked from the hail as he was cowering beneath his covers; he hated storms. When he heard it die down, he realized how bad it was from the sounds. He could hear car alarms blaring, babies crying, fires starting. He then heard another strange sound: a song. ““Call me Mr. Rattlebone. Holy Ghost who haunts your home. They don't know you like I know you. Call me Mr. Rattlebone,” the haunting tune went. Luca felt a shiver down his spine as he heard it. He opened his laptop and began to hack the traffic cameras to see what was happening on the streets, if the cameras were even still in tact. However, just before he broke the firewall, he had a change in thought. He had no idea was possessed him, maybe the creepy song, but he knew he had to go down to the street and help those who were in need.

The damage was worse than he imagined. Glass littered the street, cars were broken and on fire, and people were sitting around on the curbs looking more worn out than the buildings around them. Luca spotted a girl he recognized as he struggled to remember her name. “Hello, miss?” he said to her through the smoke and debris. “Are you ok?” he asked. “Yeah,” she replied, “that song though… I’ve heard it before… trouble is coming.” As she said this she got a terrified look on her face and ran off. “Odd,” Luca thought to himself. He then spotted a man cleaning was looked like blood of of his hands. He approached him and remembered him to be Master Gooway. “Master Gooway?” he said hesitantly as he approached him. “You here the song too, right?” he said. “Yeah…” “The change is coming, but for you, it already came,” said Oogway as he walked away as Anna had done. Luca took into account what he had said and then wondered if people would always be this weird when he left his apartment.