"The White Empire"

(P.S - "Make sure to press play on the video below. You can adjust the volume; however, you'd like.")

The First Vision: The White Empire

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

The White Empire - the vision where I could go and enjoy the experience that comes with big-time places.

Before I get into everything, I must admit that I rarely traveled and ventured into attractive areas like Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, and etc.

I blame no one for this as there was one good reason or another why I couldn't go; and, when there wasn't, I had already made up my mind that I would remain in "my ivory tower" in my hometown.

It was this action on my part which only fueled my desire to pursue this idea. While I decided not to explore the rest of the world, I kept an eye from afar. All the things I see in video games, movies, YouTube, and etc., it showed the glitz and the glamour which I determined that I will grasp one day.

Of course, no place is all good and all glorious as it may appear, as I was made aware by several friends who did travel.

"Los Angeles isn't all that."

"Miami is alright."

"I've been to New York, it's decent."

Comments like these I heard all the time when I talked with my friends and the geographics and such; and I kept these in mind. However, to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled about all of that. These are the words of those who've been around the block several times, but that means nothing to someone who hasn't been there yet.

This was all in my head, once upon a time, as I took one Friday afternoon on a hot, summer day to sit down, play some video games, and think (for a long time). In that time, I thought of a lot of things. I thought about the year that I had, how I did in school and life, and what was next for me.

"What is it that you want out of life?"

"What it is that you see or that you want to see in your future when it is all said and done?"

I've had a general response to this question for a long time; but, on this occasion, I really pondered more about the specifics.

This started out with me going on the general things that I wanted.

"I want to become President, be the greatest politician and legislature that I can be, have a lot of money, have a great lifestyle, have a place to live, and to have a lot in general."

During this time, I switched from Assassin's Creed Odyssey to Assassin's Creed Unity and replayed some missions. As I'm pondering the topic, of course, some of my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of fighting and swords hitting each other (from the games).

But, despite the chaos in the game, I had thought of a couple other questions.

"How high will my ceiling be? How high do I want to soar?"

Naturally, I responded with, "I'll go as high as I could possibly imagine. Of course, that's a given. I'm Zachariah White and I'm a boss.

But what does "possibly imagine" mean? What is my version of "high"?".

It was then that I came across this visual:

Assassin's Creed Unity

There were some things that I noticed as I took time to examine what I was looking at:
1. The number of buildings in sight

This image wasn't something that was foreign to me, I had the game for about a year or so; but this Friday, I just so happened to be "height-setting".

Even though I had already established that I get a mansion somewhere in Florida, it was here were I thought, "Perhaps, the move may be expand within Florida. After all, there's a lot of good cities from Tallahassee to Orlando to Miami. But that's the dilemma, which cities would I choose?"

This was the question of the hour as I sneaked around assassinating people in the game.

"Tallahassee would be good. After all, it's the state capital and I'm going into the political world without a doubt."

"But what about Orlando? It has Universals and Disney World. I never been to Disney World and I've been to Universals twice. This is a go-to spot."

"How could I forget about Miami? It's the Las Vegas of Florida. Enough said."

"There's also Hollywood, Gainesville, and Tampa."

There was so much to choose from. Of course, I imagined if I were telling this to someone and then they tell me, "You could just live in your most favorite city and visit the rest. That sounds like a reasonable idea, why don't you do that instead?"

Why don't I do that instead? It would be cheaper and more convenient.

It didn't take long before I thought of an answer:

"Because I'm on a mission. I don't intend to kind of fulfill it or halfway fulfill, I'm going all the way. They say we only have one life, so Y.O.L.O. I'll definitely make the most of this life. And if we do have more than one life, then I'll beat a W out of this world, take another one, and call it a repeat."

So this became the goal. The White Empire would consist of having a mansion or a house in just about all of Florida: Tallahassee, Orlando, Miami, Hollywood, Fort Myers, Gainesville, and Tampa.

At this point, I took out Assassin's Creed and put in Sleeping Dogs. Of course, I continued questioning myself on the heights that I was willing to soar to with The White Empire.

Then, right out of the gate (the game loading screen), I saw this visual:

Sleeping Dogs (Location: Kennedy Town, Hong Kong; The Fourth Apartment)

There were three points of interest:
1. This was the fourth place of housing for the protagonist
2. The area, Kennedy Town, was the richest and nicest-looking town
3. The game is based in Hong Kong

As I took some time, I'm not even going to lie, I was still in the zone from the boss quote. Naturally the move would be to set the standard for outside of Florida and further in the country.

I ended up setting the post into the international setting.

This is where I, perhaps, fed into my desires for where I want to go. So, I went about naming places:
1. New York City, New York
2. Green Bay, Wisconsin
3. Las Vegas, Nevada
4. Houston, Texas
5. Dallas, Texas
6. San Antonio, Texas
7. Phoenix, Arizona....

Then, came Hong Kong, China; London, UK; Paris, France; Phucket, Thailand, Kingston, Jamaica; San Jose, Costa Rica; and etc.

At this point, I wasn't concerned on the cost of actually getting a place in all of these places, but the questions that I'd hear if I actually told someone.

"Is all of this really necessary? Most people struggle getting a place, most people struggle maintain one place; let alone a couple and several."

"You're just being extra at this point. What is your logic for doing all of this?"

"This is impossible."

"You're being greedy, there's many homeless people all around the world."

Let this be a reminder that the "fire" is always under constant threat of the "water". But none of this deters me, I won't claim to have heard it all; but I've heard a lot and thought a lot.

There are many things that are seen as possible were as once deemed "impossible", whether rightfully or not. There are many things "normal" in this society which was unprecedented at an earlier time.

I've written a good bit and I won't waste much more of your time. I'll just end it with this, this may be extra, unnecessary, and an indication of greed. Perhaps I am greedy and I want for unnecessary things or an unnecessary amount of them.

However, if one leaves it to the world or life or other people to grant their future, as it is likely to be dealt a satisfying outcome, it is equally as likely that one gets the shortest slice of the pie. Rather I'd take a large piece, perhaps even a very large piece, if it meant that I could eat when I was previously unable to do so before.