PixelVixen707

(Photo by Vincent Diamante yet again; why fight it?)

When last we spoke, I had just tracked down a game collector who used to own my Mr. Do!, but who sold it, circa 2000.  And he’s ready to tell me where it is.  But first, all of us have to score at least 5 million points on coin-op video games.  (To catch the whole convoluted reason why, skim here.)

I started a scoreboard, and you can see how far we’ve gotten.  As I write this, we’re at a whopping 669,297 points.  That’s enough to get the first two hints from the Collector!

But as I sussed out the last time I phoned the guy, the Collector is kind of obnoxious.

“We’re at 669,297,” I told him, reading off the scores. “Now give me the first two hints.”

“‘K. Here’s the first.”

“Hit me.”

“Got a pen and paper?”

“Always.”

“Here’s clue one: it’s east of the Mississippi.”

Stone cold silence from my end. ” … That’s it?”

“Hey, you got that hint for your first 100,000 points. That’s nothing. That’s drunks in a bar playing Centipede.”

“Ugh. Fine. But I’ve got another clue coming.”

“Okay. It’s in a public venue.”

“So? So what? That’s all I get for 500,000 points?”

“Well, that’s a win for you. If another collector had it, you’d have to talk to him - ”

“Or her.”

” - yeah right - him, and visit his place, and you know, you don’t want that.”

“Why?” I said, flashing tough. “What’s he going to do to me?”

“Tell you stories,” said the Collector, panting with not-mock-creepiness.

So, that’s our first two clues. It’s not too specific, but then again, how many public places still have a Mr. Do! lying around? You can all start helping me guess, but I think it would be simpler and more fun if everyone goes out and plays video games. 1 million is not far away. And the minute we hit it, I’ll let you know!

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