Your son's class is studying the solar system.
Each child is asked to do a report on one of the planets.
His teacher informs me that your son has refused to complete the assignment
unless he can do it on a planet that doesn't exist.
It might.
There are billions of galaxies. Who says Planet Tarturus isn't in one of them?
Scientists.
But they're constantly discovering new planets, and I think--
This is exactly why I called you in today.
Arguing with staff. Failing his classes. Fighting with his fellow students.
Dennis Hogan is a stupid dick!
Language, young man.
To say we are concerned is an understatement.
-I'm concerned, too. -Perhaps not enough.
I know he's struggling,
but maybe the teachers can-- they can explain it in a different way.
Our teachers cannot be expected to teach a child who refuses to learn.
That responsibility falls on him and, frankly, his parents.
Parent.
Either way, he is already in our third track program.
If his grades do not improve, he will be placed in remedial classes.
No! That's where all the freaks are!
Please. Sweetie, please sit down. Please, sit down.
Is there anything that we can do?
You can start by seeing that his assignment is completed.
That may improve his grade.
But the improvement in his attitude is his responsibility.
Of course.
Don't worry. He will get exactly what he deserves.
Mom, I know I shouldn't yell at my teachers,
but I just try to do what they say and they don't listen, and--
You know what, Ian? Save it. Here.
What's this?
What you deserve.
And Dennis Hogan is a dick.
Come on.
Stop!
Enough syrup!
Poppy!
-Hey. -Oy! Enough syrup.
Listen to your mom.
I would listen if I spoke Tagalog.
You could learn. I did when I was not much older than you.
Only 'cause you had to.
Well, it also helped her bag a handsome husband.
Tagalog's the language of love.
So? What do you have planned for this weekend?
Playing with Freya and the gang.
Freya? Who's that? Is that a new friend?
No. It's a character in Final Fantasy, Mom. It's a video game.
It is epic.
Her words.
So epic.
I made it all the way to the final boss, Kuja.
I'm about to beat the whole game. I think I could do it today.
Yeah.
-No. No video games. -No. No.
If you want to play something, you could play piano. That would be fun.
I don't think she knows what fun is.
No, your mother's right.
You have to practice if you're going to put everyone to shame at the recital.
I don't care about the stupid recital.
Why can't I play my game?
No. You spend too much time with video games.
I wouldn't have to if we got the Internet.
Then I could look up a walk-through and beat it faster.
-Yeah. -Well, if you want a walk-through,
you could walk through the front door and go outside like your sister.
I don't know what to do anymore.
I mean, we've tried punishments, rewards, no-sugar diet, all-sugar diet.
-Have you tried a swift kick in the ass? -Dad.
Look, Sarah, I didn't wanna have to tell you this,
but you got another letter from that asshole's lawyer.
Again?
He doesn't mean it. He just does it to piss me off.
Well, if he's gonna take you to court, he might have a case.
What case? I'm his mother.
His mother with struggles.
Sarah, he could win.
He won't.
Look, you're a good mom. I know that.
But you gotta get that kid on the right track.
I'll figure it out.
How's it going, kiddo?
How do you think it's going? I'm dumb.
Don't say that.
You're a smart kid.
You just-- You think differently than the other kids.
But maybe if you try a little harder--
I am trying!
That's how I know I'm dumb!
I'm trying as hard as I can and I still can't do it.
I know you're frustrated.
And I wanna help. I just-- I don't know how.
Maybe you're dumb too.
Maybe I am.
You read all these?
I can read, you know. I'm dumb, not stupid.
Wait. This is actually, like, pretty dirty.
It's sci-fi erotica.
Okay. Sci-fi erotica. Sure. Yep.
Who cares about stupid Saturn anyway?
Like, there are so many planets cooler than this.
I just can't get it from my dumb brain onto the stupid paper.
-Come with me. -Where are we going?
Somewhere cool.
Dad. The final boss, Kuja, he uses an attack called Flare Star
that does, like, crazy damage to your whole party.
Sounds cool. Practice.
But I reckon if we equip against Holy damage--
Focus.
Also, I can't decide between Eiko or Dagger.
Poppy, why don't you take all this energy you have
for learning how to beat video games and put it into learning your piano?
'Cause I hate piano. It's boring.
Think of this like it's one of your video games.
This recital is an evil boss you have to conquer.
Okay, then what do I win?
When you conquer a boss, you win something cool,
like treasure or armor or a new weapon.
Okay, if you practice really hard, and you defeat this recital,
-I will buy you something. -The Internet?
No, not that.
Something cool that we could sneak past your mother.
You can't sneak anything past her.
You've snuck that you understand Tagalog past her for years.
What? I do not.
Really?
Your lies stink as bad as my farts.
-Oh, shit. -Language.
Sorry.
Shit.
Okay. Deal. Something cool.
The whole piece.
Okay.
Hey, Dad. Do you wanna watch me fight Kuja?
Okay, I'm first.
Tell me about your planet.
It has rings. It's the sixth planet from the sun.
And it has an iron-nickel core.
Not Saturn. Everyone knows about that stuff.
Well, I didn't know about the iron-nickel thing, but who cares?
Tell me about your planet. The one that you wanted to do your report on.
Tarturus?
Yeah. Tell me about Tarturus.
Mom.
It's outside our nebula, so the atmosphere is different.
It's a breathable red vapor.
Kinda like…
this?
What else?
There's water.
But it's filled with bioluminescent nanokrill.
Bioluminescent?
Bioluminescent…
nanokrill.
Yeah! And the mountains, they're not like mountains on Earth.
They glide across the planet's surface,
pulled along by the gravity of the planet's moons.
That's incredible. I mean, how many moons are we talking?
Like 50. And each one has its own orbital rate and pattern.
Kinda like this?
Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?
Run!
-You better pay for that! -Sorry!
I can't believe we left all that mess!
Mess? What mess? That was your genius!
I am in awe of your brain.
You are the smartest kid I have ever met.
Mom.
You have a gift.
Other people might not see it, but that doesn't mean it isn't real.
It is real. It's as real as Tarturus.
I love you so much, baby.
I love you too.
Now we need to get stuff to build your planet.
-Okay. -Let's see.
Some glue. Tape.
Paints. Over here.
These balls.
-Mom. -What?
Are you sure I don't have to do the report?
No, screw that. You can do your project however you want to do it.
-But-- -No. But I will deal with your teacher.
Okay?
You must be hungry. I'm gonna make you pancakes. Yeah.
Yes, like, brain food. And chocolate chips.
And whipped cream-- Thumbtacks!
-Thumbtacks? -Yes. For your planet!
Oh, my God, I know they're somewhere.
I know they're somewhere here. They must be here.
Well, here's tape. No, you just go-- You go-- I'll bring them to you.
Just go. Go. And gum thing.
It's here. And…
Nice. That did a ton of damage.
Yeah, but we aren't healing fast enough.
-Oy, hit him! -I'm gonna try Thunder.
-I don't think that helped. -Oh, no, he's going to blast us.
Oh, no!
Damn it!
We were so close.
Let's play again.
You know what? This is epic.
I know.
What is this?
Well, I was just--
Just taking a break from practice.
Well, that's five minutes. Switch it off.
-But we didn't save the game. -Poppy Liwanag, you heard me.
-Right. -Right.
-No. -Wh--
My love…
Why do you encourage her?
Because she's my daughter and I love her.
Don't you think I love her too?
All she wants to do is stare at a screen.
How will she ever have friends?
I worry about her too.
She's just a bit… different.
If I'm not her friend, who will be?
Mom!
Mom?
I finished my project. It looks pretty cool.
I decided to name it "Sarian" because it's our planet.
That's so great, baby.
Can you take me to school?
I'm so tired. I--
Maybe you could ask Grandpop?
He's still at work.
It's okay, Mom.
Tracy, I'm proud of you too. Okay?
Hey, Dad.
I figured out something cool
you can get me for beating the recital boss.
I want a bicycle.
A bicycle? Wait, is that a video game?
No, like with wheels and pedals and handlebars and everything.
That way I can play outside with my friends.
You got it, Pop.
I was never good at music, but I was a break dancer.
-Can you believe that? -No.
Back so soon. What is it this time?
My teacher said I need a late pass.
You certainly are late.
It's almost 10:15.
Doesn't your mother usually bring you to school?
Yeah, but she's having a bed day.
A bed day?
Does that happen a lot?
Is there anyone else at home
to help you out when your mom is… sick?
Grandpop, but he works nights.
I see.
Am I in trouble?
No.
Not at all.
Give this to Miss Miller and ask her to stop by my office at lunchtime.
Grandpop!
Grandpop! Look at my project!
My teacher said it was the wrong planet and not an essay,
but my explanation was lengthy
which I guess is good 'cause she gave me a D!
I'm gonna go tell Mom about my grade.
Ian.
Hey, pal.
Dad?
I packed some things for you.
You're gonna stay with me for a little while.
-I don't want to. -It's for the best.
-Look, I can take care of the boy-- -Stay out of it, Joe.
If I were you, I would take care of your own kid.
And make sure she's taking her meds.
Okay, let's go.
-Don't make me go. -Ian…
His name is Ian.
Okay--
Pal, your mom, she can't take care of you.
-But she can. -No, she can't.
-She's just tired. -So you're--
-And that's why-- -She'll wake up!
-No! Come on! Ian! -Mom! Mom!
-Mom! No! No! No! -Come on! Ian!
-Come on. -Mom!
Mom, wake up!
Mom! Dad! I'm gonna go ride bikes with Tracy!
Watch out, here comes the Freakazoid.
Hey, where are you going?
Eat shit, Tracy!
Mace of Zeus?
Doomsday spell? Nice!
Sorry.
Wait, he's not the final boss?
Piss off!
They asked me to sit on a stool. I'll tell you something.
Sitting is a convention.
The man wants you to sit on a stool.
We don't sit just 'cause they tell us. Right?
Now, I'm gonna sit 'cause yesterday was leg day.
Sure, some might say that I was wrong about Twin Daggers.
Although, 2.1 million units sold is hard to argue with, no?
Yeah. Anyway, it's been about three hours.
I'd say class dismissed.
And all this shit that the last guy wrote up here,
you're not gonna use it, so just throw it out.
-Hi. Mr. Grimm. Can I just-- -Ian.
Your game inspired me to become a programmer. My name's Poppy.
Well, you wouldn't be the first.
-Twin Daggers has… -No. I--
…had a ripple effect across the culture.
No, I was actually talking about Sarian.
-Sarian? -Yeah.
I haven't thought about that game in a long time.
Yeah, it was the most beautiful thing that I'd ever seen.
Of course, I was ten,
so I didn't realize that the code was shit.
You're fun.
So, are you working on anything new, or…
Yeah. I am actually. I could tell you about it.
You could tell me how it's all a bunch of shit.
Totally!
That was a joke.
You don't know what a joke is, do you?
Yeah, I do. I--
I like your beard.
-You do? Thanks. -No, I was making a joke.
-Okay. I'm gonna walk out. -I'll follow you.
Okay.
-You wanna hear about that game? -Yeah!
All right. Well, I'm thinking about a massive multiplayer role-playing game.
Sort of a medieval bent.
-Epic. -Yeah.
I think I'm gonna call it Grimm Quest.
-Is that a working title or-- -Yeah, that's good. It's good.
-I'd go with something… -It's the final--
-…that's a little less egotistical. -It's the final title.