Everything You Might Want to Know About the Rec Room!

I would want to call this an F.A.Q... except I haven't been asked any questions over the Internet as of yet. So, none of the following info was ever requested of me, but I figured someone would ask of it eventually. So, if you want to know more about me and my collection, read on!

That would be Xalk Segatart, yours truly! I'm about 243 Earth years old; I know that makes me sound ancient, but us Polybians age sloooooow. 10 Earth years are equivalent to 1 Polybius year, so we have the odd quirk of spending two-thirds of a human's lifespan just to fully metamorphize from a tadpole-like state. Then we still have to trudge our way from a small, simian/frog-esque creature to a functioning, humanoid adult. Turning 181 was liberating, to say the least. It was tiresome having to undergo a cartoonish evolution cycle, struggling to survive the commute to high school. The teachers sometimes felt deadlier and meaner than the carniverous plants and vacuum-equipped scorpions.

Besides all that, I have never lost a taste for swimming - I know Earth summers get overbearing, but I simply can't get enough of them! I travel back and forth between Polybius and Earth much of the year, but I've stayed on Earth from Memorial Day to Labor Day every year since the 1960s. If you don't see me hanging out in arcades or "geek" stores, you may find me at a beach, lake, pool, maybe even a water park! It's a good thing my skin pores are natural chlorine filters, or I would've never lived to see so many Pong clones. I also love going to the movies and eating sweets. As for dislikes... I can't think of many things I hate except for hatred. This is a problem on just about any planet with intelligent life, and it hurts. But let's not get too somber; I'm here to provide a neat little spot online.

Going back to that special moment where I finally became an adult, I celebrated by going on a "little" space trip. Luckily, our comical abundance of fuel means that would-be greedy spacelines basically have to give flight bundles out for free. For about a straight year, I was a nomadic tourist, taking in the sights and activities of every celestial I could find with a tourism commission. A moon that's actually made of cheese(-adjacent substance?). A cubist, technicolor planet where even the wildlife was angular. Even a habitable sun, filled with fire, brimstone, and a horned devil for a president - the winters are a toasty 62 degrees Fahrenheit. However, it was Earth that caught my attention; quaint, almost barbaric on the outside, but filled with pleasurable secrets. So, just like home!

Sure, maybe it was mundane compared to the edible(?) moon, but that didn't have soda shops, television - not even any water to speak of, unless you count the incorrigable sleazeballs who sold bottles of it for marked-up prices - and especially not pinball. I believe it was Williams' Darts that caught my eye. So simple, especially looking back. Yet, something about it filled me with emotions that I'd never felt before. A concoction of bells and a test of physics sucked me right into n inescapable world, and it certainly made the man in the drug store some more money, God rest his soul (I'm still a family friend). Things got even more exciting when video games became more common. I took to Pong like man to fire, and every year ever since has been a moment of discovery and wonderment. They kind of reminded me of my own upbringing - from a featureless tadpole to a mighty being. And a bunch of weird monsters came in at one point. It was also intriguing to see Earth people's take on outer space. Not as far off as you'd think.

If arcades fail, the owners are so adamant on getting rid of the machines. Rational ones sell them. Other ones toss them to the dump. Since I wasn't so rich, I had to swoop in and save many a video and pinball creation from the crusher by begging people to give their unwanted games to me. Especially when the American 1983 crash hit. Ugh! I'm pretty sure the moving company from back then still hates my guts. I will never forget when an employee with venom-equipped fangs tried to strike me, missed, and bit the poor owner. All of this over Bega's Battle! A swift trip to the hospital saved him, although I think the venom messed with his brain enough to make him addicted to pickles. I ended up having to switch moving companies in the end.

As I implied before, I also have a wide collection of movies - home video games and consoles also have a nice home here. I have a pool table... and a pool. A lot of TVs, too. One of them is able to play Cartrivision! Or maybe it isn't, since it's been so long. Whoops.

Assuming you're reading this from Polybius, or any nearby planets, you're more than welcome to come in. I can't find it in myself to hoard everything I've amassed all to myself! Faraway visitors are also welcome, although that very well depends on technological limitations. Even populations capable of space travel may not be able to get here fast, and I'm sure some of you don't want to spend your entire lives on a road trip. Of course, there are the planets still figuring fire out, and I know this, because I have a boyfriend from one of them (he insists to me in his cute little grunts that it's the atmosphere~).

As for in-person rules! Our hours are from the 3rd hour past first sunrise and last until the 1st hour past third sunset. I suppose now is a good time to warn people about the time scales on Polybius; even the most formidable tourists succumb to jet lag naps on the first day. Don't get drool or slime on the machines, and please no spawning anywhere on the premises. Euphoric mists are for sale in the bar - it goes without saying that minors aren't allowed in there. I also must ask that you treat the employees with respect; they do have clearance to fight back, should they feel properly threatened. Finally, movies and TV shows are available for rental. Make sure you can play the format you rent, because a concerting amount of you have attempted to play Betamax tapes on your imported Nintendo Entertainment Systems. I think there's a viral urban legend I missed.

They teach it here. Polybians are more common on Earth than you think, and they like taking knowledge and souvineers with them. I know this will shock some people, but a lot of us are fans of Earth cultures. I'm just more obsessed with trivial amusements than others.

Liking animation felt like a life path I couldn't really walk away from after I nearly died trying to import Bega's Battle. I actually talked about Akira with someone in the early 90s once, and they brought up Katsuhiro Otomo. "Oh my! That's the man that did the character designs for Bega's Battle." Or Harmagedon, more like it. He looked really confused and walked away. I outnerded an anime fan in the early 1990s...