exsilium | 01 ☢ video

[The camera clicks on to reveal a skinny kid with a mess of brown hair. He's holding the tablet in front of him, so the view's a bit shaky; it doesn't help that he's fidgeting and gesturing with his other hand as he speaks, first and foremost being a quick and awkward wave hello.]

Hey. Hello? This is on, right? You know, they should put a light on these things to show they're transmitting. Maybe they do, I didn't really - [Barely a pause as he checks himself, gets back on track.]

Sorry. Hi, my name's Peter. Peter Parker. So I got the welcome tour, and I guess my big question is - where can we get decent food around here?

[Priorities. He got most of the relevant info the other day, anyway. He almost looks like he's done, but then he abruptly remembers something and speaks up again in a rush.] And I made a thing. I mean, I didn't really make it, I just re-made it. I probably messed some of it up, but I guess nobody here's going to know any better, right?

It's for Collette, but I figured anybody could use it. Let me know if you have questions, or just type "help" and it should cover the bases. And don't forget to use your lanterns. [And Peter out - no wait, just kidding. He's half a second from ending the transmission before he stops.]

It's a game, by the way. The thing.

[He's done for real this time, pending an attachment:]

► ATTACHMENT 1: zork.exe

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Peter this is so cool!

[... Talk about a blast from the past.]

Do you kids even play with these kinds of things anymore?

[No seriously, he was lost to the throes of the XBOX when it first released.]

So ballpark it for me, how many times have you been eaten by a grue?

You programmed this whole game? Wow, this is fantastic. I never had a chance to play this before, but I think I might---after work, obviously.

Yeah, sure they do.

[That is a blatant lie and he knows it.]

... or, you know, I guess certain social circles might classify me as a nerd.

For the sake of the pride I might still have I'll have to ballpark as more than ten and less than a hundred.

A game! A game! Oh, and its one of those old text adventure ones! You're the best!

it's not actually too hard, it's mostly just the repetition that kills you. it's a pretty small game.

where do you work? do we seriously have to do the 9-5 thing here?

[ Who doesn't take compliments very well, this guy. ]

Yeah, no problem. I figured people could use a little more fun around here.

You've played stuff like this before?

Hey, don't worry, they really know how to sneak up on you. I was killed by tons of grues back in my day.

[He really wasn't. He was kind of paranoid with the lanterns.]

So what do you think, do they still looks like bats?

Not a lot, since I never had much time to be tied to a computer. But on occasions, yes. I only came here with three games for my Gameboy Advance, so it'll be nice to have something new to play!

There's enough shacks around, that sell food. Y'could hunt, too.

You've got a Gameboy Advance here? Man, that's got to be like - really retro now. [Not that Zork isn't, but.] Do they not have any games here already? You'd think they'd be into some real VR business.

A text-based RPG? [Wow, Naoto hasn't seen any of those in a seriously long time.

prooooobably hasn't played any in that amount of time either. To play or not to play...]

How did you get the source for it?

Might. You're totally not sure about that.

[Yeah, you'd get along with Felicity.]

Yeah, I've seen the shacks, but - [excuse me] - sorry, hunt? Hunt what?

I'm more of a mechanic than a coder, but I understand. I've written a few mundane programs, but nothing this complex in a while. Not really. The only obligations we have are to train twice a week and go on missions when called. I just choose to do more work to fill my time.

[This is slightly awkward, mostly because he doesn't want to look like a show-off.]

I used to copy it as a kid for practice. [And fun, let's be honest.] You have this kind of thing where you're from? I mean - are you from Earth?

I am from Earth, yes. Tokyo, Japan, in fact.

That's an interesting hobby you have. [Not that yours are any better, Naoto.]

[Hey, don't be rude.]

How old are you, anyway?

[He actually wants to make a joke about him not looking much older, or maybe looking really old, but that manly stubble kind of makes it impossible to do so in a remotely convincing fashion.]

There's birds out there, three foot birds. Can eat on it for a week.

( Collette has a high level of curiosity.

Who needs lamps? )

Bats are way more respectable, I say they look like slyness and shadows, but hey, why hold that against them?

Yeah, thanks. I guess it passes the time. [Barely. He perhaps wrongly assumes he's being called a nerd, but he's used to it.]

And Tokyo? Nice, I always wanted to go to Tokyo. [It has cool science, okay.] How's future-England compare?

makes sense, i can see how it gets pretty boring around here. but i just coded a game for no reason, so i guess that much is obvious.

you were a mechanic back home, too? what kind of stuff did you work on?

Wow. That's really great. [He sounds more than slightly unsure.] I mean, I was more thinking pizza and hot dogs, but I guess that's as good an answer as any.

But you're sure they aren't radioactive future birds or something, right?

Page 1 of 22

01 ☢ video

literally comes HOURS LATER (guess who was playing between distractions)

[video]

EY

no subject

[video]

no subject

video;

no subject

video;

no subject

video;

video;

video;

video;

[video]

video;

no subject

video;

video;

[video]

video;

no subject

video;

no subject

video;