"The phone rings, but the puppeteer doesn’t answer. When Lewis eventually listens to his voicemail, his boss’ voice asks why he missed his shift at the nearby Phillips 66. The boss tells Lewis not to worry about coming in. He’s fired.
Lewis is jobless, but his immediate concern is not how he’ll pay the bills, or that he hasn’t showered since the last time he showed up at work six days ago, or that he hasn’t talked to family or friends in a month.
Lewis is focused only on the game, a place where for hours on end he can heal anyone — except for himself.
Lewis is among a growing number of young men who have an obsession with video games, which some call an addiction. Gamers like Lewis have fallen into a daily rut and can’t quit playing — failing classes, losing social contact with friends and family, forgetting to bathe and one even committing suicide at his computer with the game still on the screen. Friends and family look for effective therapy while some gamers have found ways of quitting, with help or on their own.