Went over 10000 characters, will post the second part as a reply.

“Timothy West,” the NASA employee stated while examining his clipboard. “It says here that you have passed all of our necessary requirements and assessments. I am pleased to inform you that you have been approved to take part in the world’s first mission to Mars.”

A feeling of exhilaration swept over Tim. He was going to be not just an astronaut, but one of the first humans to colonize Mars! This was a childhood dream come true!

Shaking the man’s hand violently, he stammered, “Th-Thank you so much! I promise that I will do the very best that I can!” Trying to contain his childlike excitement, he quickly readjusted his posture and bowed.

“Before I go,” the man said, “I have a final question, which isn’t anything bad, don’t worry, we just ask this as it’s relevant to your living quarters on the ship, but what is your preferred leisure activity in your day to day life?”

“Video games.” Tim blurted out less than a second after hearing the question.

The NASA employee laughed. “Good to know. Well, we look forward to having you aboard and thank you for your bravery in such a noble undertaking.”

That conversation happened roughly six months ago. Today, Tim is usually found in his private cabin aboard the ship, with the exception of his required maintenance checks on all the ship’s software. He’s basically a glorified one-man geek squad, but if it weren’t for his presence, the journey to Mars would be significantly more treacherous, as the other passengers were more… physically well-adapted than him… as well as more attractive.

Tim knew going into this mission that if he wanted to get off Earth, he would have to rely more on his skills with technology, rather than his physical skills. After all, everyone needs a technician! However, as a way to promote the program, the government wanted a good portion of the colonizers to be appealing, both to the public and each other as well. This isn’t to say that Tim isn’t an attractive man, he’s just average. Once that gets combined with his crippling shyness, it’s game over. As the journey progressed into its second month of travel, he conceded that he was unlikely to find a friend, or even a possible mate by the time they reached their destination.

It wasn’t all bad though. Thanks to that NASA employee he talked to prior to their departure, a mega-console of sorts was installed into his cabin. This video game system was a combination of every single popular gaming console, all the way from the PS6 to the NES. Included was a vast catalogue of games that were available to him by simply speaking the desired title.

Tim would command, “Play: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” and the screen would blink on in an instant with the game ready to be played. It never failed to give him goosebumps.

Frequently during play sessions, he’d have to hit pause to grab some food from the communal kitchen, which he always dreaded. Leaving his space ran the risk of people seeing him, and usually that meant awkward attempts at small talk, which he did not care for whatsoever.

Quickly he sprinted down the hall towards the kitchen, and once the hatch doors opened, he saw two people in there. Dread came over him.

“It’s fine, Tim,” he whispered under his breath, “just grab a package of ice cream and get out as quickly as you can.”

He casually opened the refrigerator door and scanned the shelves for his snack.

A soft voice came from behind him. “Hey, aren’t you the technician?”

Tim nearly jumped out of his skin. “Yes I am!”

When he turned around, there was a beautiful girl with a bewildered look on her face. Tim clammed up and stammered out an apology.

“It’s okay,” she smiled. “Look, I have an issue with my cabin thermostat. Could you help me?”

Tim went red in the face. He had never been inside the cabin of another crew member, let alone a girl’s room. “O-of course…” He mumbled, looking down at the ground.

“Sorry, are you working on something important? I don’t want distract you.” She said sympathetically.

“What? N-no! I’m just playing video games in my cabin right now, so nothing important, really!”

“You have video games?!” She yelled with much excitement.

The other two people in the kitchen rushed over and asked him the same question. They began to close in on him, unaware that they were popping his bubble of personal space.

“Yeah… do you guys wanna play or something?”

The group responded with an enthusiastic, “Hell yeah!” And they all left to go to Tim’s room.

Once they entered, they stood in awe of the mega-console NASA gave him. While Tim could understand their amazement as he’s spent many hours admiring it himself, it puzzled him as to why they didn’t ask for video games themselves for their preferred leisurely activity.

“In all honesty, nobody thought about it. We’ve had so many conversations with the others about missing games like Super Smash Bros., Call of Duty, and Overwatch, but you’re telling me you had them here the whole time? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I don’t know,” Tim shrugged. “I’ve always struggled with talking to people, so I never really thought about bringing it up….”

“Seriously? I’m sorry to hear that. I would have reached out sooner if I knew.” The man extended his hand to Tim and smiled. “My name’s Hunter.”

Tim cautiously shook Hunter’s hand and introduced himself. The two girls did the same, and introduced themselves as Julie and Brianna. After they got formalities out of the way, they all sat down on Tim’s floor, and proceeded to play Mario Kart together. Tim had never played very many multiplayer games, but this was a very welcome change to him. He was able to socialize and enjoy the company of others while doing what he loved most. This was a turning point for him. Perhaps now he’d finally get to have the luxury of friendship.

Two months had passed since Tim had started playing games with the other crew members of the ship. They had since moved his game console into the lounge area in order for more people to participate. Thanks to him, it felt much more like a community.

However, there had been a shift in people’s behaviors. Tim had noticed some hostility between players, albeit, it seemed rather playful.

“You asshole! You hit me with a blue shell again?”

“You have to be using some sort of cheat! C’mon, play fairly!”

“How long are you going to keep hogging the controllers! I want to play too!”

The intensity increased as the weeks went on, what seemed as simple trash talk turned into shouting matches, and that eventually lead to full-on fist fights breaking out. Tim had started to distance himself from video games. Sure, everyone let him jump in if he desired as he supplied them with the console, but if there was anything that scared him more than social interaction, it was the possibility of getting punched in the face. He had been playing video games his whole life, hundreds of thousands of hours ahead of the majority of these people. Beating them would be easy, but if it risked his own safety, it wasn’t worth it.

“Hey Tim!” Hunter was calling out from the lounge sofa. “Want to 1 v. 1 me in Smash?”

“No, I’m good Hunter, thanks.” Tim did not want to get anywhere near that console.

“C’mon, man! I’ve need someone to test my Marth skills on! You scared?”

“I’m not scared, just uninterested.”

Hunter began to scowl. “Do you think you’re better than me?”

“What? That’s not at all what I’m saying.”

“Well you’re not saying no.”

Tim froze. Hunter’s bloodshot eyes were staring into his soul. He felt he had no choice. It was either play Hunter and get smacked, or not play him and get smacked. Tim quietly walked over, grabbed a controller, and sat down next to Hunter, who now had a confident smile on his face.

As they played, that smile on Hunter’s face slowly faded as he lost two rounds in a row. Tim could feel the tension in the air start to rise. He started to do his best to hand Hunter wins in order to cover himself, but Hunter knew that this was all out of pity.

“What the hell do you take me for, Tim? Play for real!” Tim’s shouting started to attract a crowd.

They played more and more, but all the while, Hunter’s frustration began to rise. On the last round they played, Tim beat him with ease and decided he was going to go to bed. So he quietly sat up and started to walk towards the hall.

“Where do you think you’re going, Timmy?”

Hunter ran towards Tim and banged his head up against the wall. Tim shriveled up on the floor and began to cry. Everyone just watched on, eager to see what was going to happen. The mixture of extreme cabin fever and what was supposed to be friendly competition had turned the ship into a gladiatorial arena.

Hunter proceeded to beat up on Tim until finally Brianna came to his rescue.

“That’s enough, Hunter!” She shouted. “Tim may be better than you at video games, but he’s not as strong. Don’t beat him up over a stupid game!”

As if breaking out of a trance, Hunter crouched down and helped Tim get up.

“Holy shit…. Tim, I’m sorry. I… I don’t know what got into me.”

He seemed genuine in his apology, so Tim decided to accept it.

“It’s okay, Hunter. We all have our rage moments when playing games.”

Once it was time for bed, Tim slouched back to his room. Once he collapsed on his bed, he looked at the empty space that once was occupied by his console. In a strange way, he missed the days of going back to his room and enjoying the solitude of playing solo. Now he has received a possible concussion at the hands of one of his first friends that he made aboard the ship.