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When you open your server-browser and you try to find a nice server (excluding servers from your favourites-tab), how do you prioritise? Do you search for your favourite map? Do you try to find a server with certain tags like InstaSpawn or increased max. player or no crits? Or are you looking for a certain player count? Some people tend to visit almost full servers where only one last seat is available. It’s a quick jump into the game which guarantees instant action and full immersion. There you will find people, who are not like entities, but more like speckles or spots on something. Randomly generated characters.
But maybe you are the kind of player who likes to be the first to civilize a server by playing the pioneer and breathing some fresh air. In this case, you will be able to experience the map without any distractions like bloody gibs laying on the floor or voices yelling across the hallways. Of course you could just create your own local server for this purpose, but there is a difference between these places, a psychological one which makes it more interesting to be on a real server, because it’s still a public space although it’s only a virtual one.

Aside from these two common types, there are countless other possibilities to waste your time instead of playing the actual game. I usually prefer to search for servers where the player count is very close to zero. One, two or maybe three players are perfect. In this case, you can expect to join an ongoing game, which still offers intimacy. And unlike a game with 23/24 players, you will have the time to get to know each player.
So, after finding and joining a 2fort-server with an 1/24 player count, I mindlessly scanned the map as a Scout. To my surprise, the other person on this server was in my team, brazenly ignoring the rules of auto-balancing. I wasn’t able to find him anywhere, maybe he was afk.

I got bored, then I invited some friends. While I was standing on the roof of the bridge, which connects the two forts in 2fort, I finally discovered the other person on this server. He was standing in front of me, and he was a scout too. I quickly typed “Hi” in the message window, but he didn’t reply. In fact he was just standing there and doing nothing. I got bored again, so I jumped on the sniper deck, where I continued to wait for my friends. Funnily enough he was following me. There was a sound of movement, and suddenly he was standing right behind me. Because of curiosity and boredom, I started to run as fast and tricky as possible. Was he still behind me? It took me almost two laps around 2fort to realize that he was still close behind me. Feeling a big desire to act against this oddity, I tried to think things over but I was absolutely unable to think about anything. I had to change my class. After 14 seconds of maddening waiting, I finally spawned as a Heavy. My friends will come soon enough, that’s what I was thinking.
Slowly heading deeper into the sewers of 2fort, I met him again. He was a Heavy, once again imitating my behaviour. But this time, the atmosphere was different. The appearance of the Heavy changed everything. Although having the characteristics of a child, a Heavy confronts the world with his inner calmness, with his noble soul, which originates from his Russian nature.

The clock of doom had struck as fated,
the Heavy, without a sound,
let his Minigun fall on the ground

Who was the man behind that Heavy? Did he try to scare or grief me? What was his intention?
Let us imagine for a moment that we were twins, that we had been born twin brothers, and nothing else – there it is! Well, what of it?
Why, nothing! All the players can get used to it . . . And an outsider, coming into our game, would certainly find nothing unseemly or offensive in the circumstance. In fact, there is really something touching . . . to think that the divine providence created two men exactly alike . . . it would, of course . . . it would, of course, have been better if there had been . . .
. . . if there had been nothing of this touching kindness, and if there had been no twins either . . . The devil take it all! But what if . . . what if they get us mixed up! . . . Ah, Lord, have mercy upon us!

In the following 10 minutes, three friends of mine joined that game. This brought back a light into this dark session. Since the beginning, there was no joy and no fun at all.
At least now I wasn’t alone anymore. I told them the whole story and I was making fun of the sanity of that freak behind the Heavy. My friends nodded, they looked at each other, but they didn’t answer. My look-alike began to move, independently turning his back and switching his weapons. I was relieved and I had to laugh about him. Finally he gave up, maybe he just grew tired . . .

“You worthless fellow, you are drunk! Go to sleep now, you ruffian!” said one of my friends to me. “And tomorrow you’ll maybe catch it” another one added in a voice hardly audible.
My double laughed, then he walked away with my friends . . .

Things just went wrong from now on

What the hell was going on? I was more dead than alive in that moment. I couldn’t even respond. It was a shock. Recognizing that I had been turned into ridicule and treated with contempt in the presence of my double, I rushed in pursuit of him. Unfortunately, that scene wouldn’t end with a classic “It was a Spy all along”-punchline.
They’re all in a conspiracy together,” I said to myself.
“They stand by each other and set each other on to attack me.”
After taking a dozen steps, however, I received clearly that all pursuit would be vain and useless, and so I turned back. But my fake copy wouldn’t get away like that, he would get caught. The wolf will have to pay for the sheep’s tears, you know . . .
Everything, apparently, and even nature itself, seemed up in arms against me. But I was still on my legs and unconquered. At least I felt that I was unconquered. I was ready to struggle. I rubbed my hands with such feeling and such energy when I recovered from my first amazement that it could be deduced from my very air that I would not give in.

Yet the danger was imminent, it was evident. I felt it. But how to grapple with it, with this danger? That was the question . . .
I was unhappy, and I wanted to end this carnival and after all, I just wanted to hunt down my demons. My blood beat faster, there was no need for comfort and a plan. I was speeding towards them. My calm was gone . . .

“You’re a gentleman,” they said to me. “You shouldn’t have gone murdering people with a kukri, that’s no occupation for a gentleman.”

I hope I have done nothing . . . nothing reprehensible . . . or that can call for severity . . . and general attention in regard to my official relations . . . but it was too late . . .
I shrieked and clutched my head in my hands. Alas! For a long while I had been haunted by a presentiment of this. My double, in his usual nasty way, pretended to be shocked, yet I knew his true feelings.
I killed two men . . . I took a last look on all and everything, and, shivering like a kitten that has been drenched with cold water – I accepted the consequences . . . the consequences . . .

They fixed me a pretty decent Sandvich for my last meal. They even threw in a Blu Streak, the first I’ve had since back at Jimi Jam’s.
Then they shaved my head and fixed me with a rubber diaper. And got to it.
And it was about damn time, if you ask me

Death . . . the dead know only one thing: it is better to be . . . oops, sorry, I drifted off a little bit. Now back to reality. Well, I was just kicked from the server, because I accidentally left my headset on, which transferred all my weird speeches into the game . . . sometimes my mind plays a trick on me. This one was pretty big. But seriously, don’t underestimate what happens on your Team Fortress 2 server.

Thx to my mate KaneXLS for the pictures. Take a look at the full pictures.