Been a while since I wrote anything.. hope you guys enjoy
"Unit eight hundred and twenty ready" said a computerized voice as a young high definition avatar came to existence.
"Wha…" spoke the confused female as she came into existence.
"Great a little girl… what's next a pony…" muttered a passing soldier.
"Welcome aboard kid" said an energetic woman as she dragged the young with her. "I am unit 306 and I am gona' make sure you survive your first quarter"
"My … what?"
"Try to keep up kid… is your memory glitched or what?"
"…."
"You're kidding me right?"
"Three-O-six… everything alright over there?" asked a unit of high rank
"Yes sir…. Looks like we got a slow one… probably rolled low on the brain power"
"Great… a stupid little girl… over 100,000,000 combinations and we get that… just see what you can do 306"
"Yes sir" 306 waited till the high ranking unit turned its attention to more pressing matters "That's unit 16… the oldest surviving unit…. So…" 306 looked down on 820 ".. you really don't know what's going on?"
"No… I mean… I am not sure… where am I?"
".. I am not sure where to start…"
"Quarter alert… Quarter alert…"
"Not now… " 306 looked at 820 "… look kid… don't talk to anyone … if anyone knows you're glitched they'd scrap you for some experience points"
"O..ok" 820 complied
"Who is it?" asked a unit
"It's 86" answered another one
"86?" asked 820
"Unlike other games, if a unit dies here… it dies… even if this is our game… we are an expensive game so we don't get much players.. it's easy to memorize them… we refer to each one with his survival rate. 86 means there's an 86% chance a unit is going to survive if chosen by this player"
"So… a player chooses a unit?"
"Not exactly…. " 306 pointed at a passing monitor "… the player controls that… our job is to protect it… and survive"
"Can't you just stay hidden or something?"
"Wish it were that simple kid.. if we hide, the player reports the game.. the arcade owner tags it as broken and we get unplugged. Our life code is tied to the core of this arcade machine. Unlike others we can't survive without the game running."
"So.. why don't you leave… as long as others fight the game won't stop.. you don't have to worry about dying"
"We are limited in number of active units, and a unit can only be used once per day unless all fifty were used before the day ends"
"Fifty?"
"There are fifty…." 306 stared at a controller in her hand and turned to 820 "..one…. units in the game… kid… remember when I said don't talk to anyone?"
"Yes"
"Avoid anyone who's counting as well…"
"Why?" 820 asked
"Three-O-six you're up" yelled unit 16 "208 , 316 and 512 you guys are up too… good luck"
"Yes sir" the bunch replied together
"Wish me luck kid.. and like I said… stay out of site" 306 left 820 and went towards a rally point
"306…" spoke unit 16 "… you're my best unit… don't die"
"Sir"
"And you ladies…" unit 16 directed his attention towards the party members "… I am scrapping your asses if any one of you four dies… understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" the party replied as the platform they stood on started rising
Unit 16 saluted the brave four as did all other units around him. 820 remained hidden as her superior instructed her.
"I am hit!" 512 yelled
"Medic!" 306 checked 512's wounds … "Sir.." 306 looked at the player monitor "… unit 512 requires immediate medical assistance sir…" the small platform holding the monitor and armed with a gun did not respond ".. SIR!"
"How do you silence these again?" asked a young kid as he enjoyed his game
"Watch out!" his friend spoke
"Wha… oh come one…" the disappointed player looked at a game over screen "… I was so close to finishing level 2"
"Hey 512 can still be saved, but you need to put in a quarter to buy a medic bag"
"hmm… nah… I didn't like his stats much anyway"
"Are you sure man? He's level 4"
"Yeh but not much marksmanship.. I only chose him for his high HP… every squad needs a fodder…"
"If you say so" the small group walked away from the arcade machine
"No no DON'T LEAVE" yelled 306 as she held 512 in her arms
"Did you guys here anything? The player asked as he directed his attention back to the game and saw 306 "… creepy man I think she's looking at me"
"High definition man" replied his friend
"Yeh…" the player kept staring at the screen until 512's pixels disappeared. 306 started crying in disbelief and the monitor returned to its insert coin mode. "… too much high definition on this one"
"Welcome back" unit 16 welcomed the surviving three
"Thank you sir" 306 managed to spit out the words as other two units were speechless.
There was a small moment of silence in the room as no unit had anything to say
"Unit 512 is… " 306 broke the silence ".. was… one of the bravest units I have ever seen… we almost finished level 2 today… I don't care what the spoiled brat said… It's units like 512 that will lead us to victory… to finish all 10 levels.. to rescue that damned princess… and to be freed from this game… to unit 512" 306 raised her machine gun
"To 512" the rest of the units followed
"To 512" Unit 16 raised his own
820 stood in the background not knowing what to do. Unit 306 left the party and walked towards 820 as the other units scattered.
"Looks like you don't have to worry about anyone counting anymore.." 820 was somewhat surprised by 306's harsh tone. As was 306. "Sorry kid" 306 apologized.
"Ok… " 306 instructed ".. put your hand on the scanner… let's see what you're made of"
"Ok" 820 put her hand on the scanner and it glowed
"Level 1… Intelligence … EEAB… Speed… FFAA… Strength… CBCB… what's going n here….Marksmanship… 16.. ok… so at least I know you can't shoot straight…. Let's have a look at your specialty… it's… not here…"
"What?" asked 820
"Kid… I've trained hundreds of units… all I can say is I hope no one chooses you because you might just kill us all"
"Oh… sorry"
"It's not your fault kid… just be careful.. if the others find out… they might kill you themselves"
"What.. why.."
"You could get us unplugged… and like I said we need all the manpower we can get… I am not sure you count at the moment.. we're pretty much down to 49 manpower.."
"So…. What happens now?"
"I don't know… this is the first time I see something like this… but given your low marksmanship… I think you should stick into being a medic… and I cannot stress this enough… never tell or show your stats to anyone"
"O…k"
"Your training starts tomorrow.. the arcade is closing in 5 minutes… we almost finished the day with no casualties."
"Quarter alert… Quarter alert…"
"You're kidding me… not again"
"I thought the arcade is closing"
"Rich kids are rich kids"
"Damn it it's 0" A unit yelled
"0? As in 0 survival?!"
"That kid is worse than a firing squad… keeps wasting our best units… each unit costs credits based on its level… a quarter is 500 credits. I am worth 720, you're worth 180, unit 16 is worth 1,500, unit 1 was worth 4,000 and so on. Too many quarters means too many units means too many casualties… luckily the game caps at 5,000 credits.. Otherwise he'd kill us all in a single game"
"So if I reach more than 5,000?"
"Unit 1 was close but no one ever made it… in theory it should mean no one can choose you and you're free"
"306…" yelled unit 16
"Not again…" she turned towards unit 16 only to see him on the platform with three other units
"You're in command" Unit 16 gave his final command as the platform raised
"Sir NO!" 306 ran towards the platform but was stopped by some other units
Less than 10 minutes later, the platform returned with no one board. Over forty units remained speechless as they could not comprehend the loss of the 4 best units in the game. Including the highest ranking officer.
"I guess…." One of the units broke the silence "…. 306 is in command now"
306 was speechless. She couldn't even come up with a speech to honor unit 16.
"If I ever get to level 10… I am going to kill that bitch myself" 306 muttered as she entered her new quarters. The electronic grid showing 16 changed into 306 as she entered.
820 shortly followed.
"Are …you ok?"
"I am still alive…. For now…"
"I… am sorry for your loss"
"Don't be kid… quite frankly I can't see you surviving your first mission… don't waste any time feeling sorry for anyone"
"….. the princess"
"What?"
"The princess you mentioned before… is she the purpose of this game?"
"The goal of this game is to clear all 10 levels to free some princess from some who knows what…. Standard damsel in distress scenario… except a lot die to get the princess her knight in shining armor."
"So no one ever met her?"
"No… but once we reach her, the game is cleared"
"Then what?"
"We don't know… we might enter the high scores and be freed.. we might be deleted… or most probably this whole thing is going to start all over again... for all we know this may not be the fist cycle"
"So there's no end?"
"Not a good one…. You spawned in the wrong game kid… I don't think you belong here… you're stats don't make sense… I am not sure what you are… but you're not a combat unit in this game"
"….what can I do?"
"I don't know kid…. I don't know anything anymore…"
R&R