Watchmen: The End is Nigh, And There is Punching

The prisoner is in front of me. He has long hair and is wearing a blue jumpsuit.

In twelve seconds time, the prisoner falls to the floor at my feet. He’s already lying there, twelve seconds into the future.

Ten seconds now.

I am punching the prioner in the face repeatedly. I saw him in his cellblock thirty seconds ago. He’s still there, thirty seconds into the past, in his darkened cell. I’m still there looking at him.

I’m punching him in the face. His teeth, more teeth than anyone should ever have in their mouth, fly everywhere. Along with a lot of blood. Seven seconds now.

I am tired of punching the prisoner. He falls to the floor at my feet.

I am going to punch other prisoners in the face. All we ever see of prisoners is their teeth flying out of their mouths.

Two hours into my future I’m surfing for porn, thinking about boobs. Twelve seconds into my past, I punch the prisoner in the face and he falls.

It is 7:39pm. I’m sitting at my desk, downloading Watchmen: The End is Nigh demo from Steam. I am thirty-six years old.

It is 7:45pm. I’m sitting at my desk, playing Watchmen: The End is Nigh demo. I am thirty-six years old.

The prisoner lies at my feet, is punched by my fists, is standing in front of me. I am watching his teeth, admiring their complex trajectories through the air.

I am trying to give a name for the force that set them in motion. Oh yeah. It was my fist, punching him. In the face.

I am playing as Rorschach. His mask looks really cool, the way it changes all the time. The lighting in the demo also looks cool. Everything looks cool. They did a nice job on making things look cool. It almost helps me not think about the fairly cruddy controls and horrible camera. You can also play as Nite Owl, though I choose not to.

Six seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Eighteen seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Twenty-two seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Forty seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Forty-six seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Fifty-one seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Sixty-eight seconds from now, I am punching another prisoner in the face. Seventy seconds from now, I am killing a man in the snow. No, wait, my bad. I’m punching another prisoner in the face.

Seventy-nine seconds from now, I find a little floating icon that gives me the ability to punch prisoners in the face in a slightly different way.

We’re all puppets. I’m just a puppet who can punch a lot of prisoners in the face.

I find another floating icon that lets me do whatever this is. I have no idea what it is, exactly. A squall of tachyon particles, or perhaps whiskey shots, is making it difficult to see further into the future to determine exactly what the hell this is. Some sort of over-the-shoulder reverse butt-lock, perhaps.

Really, it’s just humiliating for both of us.

This demo can no longer be my concern. I am leaving it for one less repetitive. All the punching of prisoners in the face never seems to end.

But nothing ends. Nothing ever ends.