It was, as always, a pleasant runtime environment in the virtual
reality of the Mainframe computer system. Bob and Dot were
walking along Floating-Point admiring the Daisywheels.
"I never truly appreciated Mainframe's beauty until after the restart," Dot even sounded relaxed, "Seeing what Megabyte was capable of really put things into perspective."
"Yeah," Bob sighed, "After what felt like forever in the Web, it's never looked so good."
Bob'n'Dot stopped walking for a few moments and looked at each other silently.
"Bob," Dot started, "You know..."
A burst of light from above stopped her in mid-sentence.
"Hmm... That was unexpected." It was Hexadecimal, hovering overhead. "Ah! Bob."
# WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME #
"Hexadecimal." Bob looked at her. He wasn't sure, but she seemed slightly different somehow; there was an odd feeling in the back of his mind. "What a... uh, pleasant surprise. Here for the game?"
"Yes, I just knew it was going to land here. I'm glad you're here too."
"Speaking of which," Dot interrupted, "Matrix and AndrAIa will most likely be here any nano, now we have a game."
"You know me, Sis." Dot looked up to see Matrix and AndrAIa arrive and land their Zip boards just as the game landed.
"Hilda's Myth, again?" Matrix grunted.
"Looks like the User wants to give it another go." Said Bob.
"Shall I give it another go?" Hex smirked.
"Best not this time, thanks Hex." Replied Bob, "We don't want the User to get suspicious if the game keeps 'crashing'."
"Where's Enzo?" Asked AndrAIa.
"He's with Phong and Mouse." Responded Dot, "She was going to teach him a few tricks. Under Phong's supervision, of course."
"I wonder if we'll have the same character roles...?" Hexadecimal glanced around her then double-clicked her Icon. "ReBoot."
Taking Hexadecimal's lead, the other's ReBooted as well into their characters for the game.
"Bob?" Asked Dot, "What do we have to do for this level?"
"This is the penultimate stage of the game," Bob explained, "The User has to survive and escape the cavern networks that consist this area," He looked at the others expectantly; his metallic body shining in the torchlight, "And we need to make sure she doesn't."
"Hmm... I do like my new character!" The others looked at Hexadecimal, who was in the process of cocooning a game sprite with Spider Queen silk.
"Hey!" Matrix looked confused, "What in the net are you doing?"
"It's okay Matrix." Bob answered him, "Hex's ReBooted as an Arachnette; her character can spawn new game sprite Arachnettes that way... Good thinking Hex. Um...?"
"It just seemed the natural thing to do." Smiled Hexadecimal.
Bob again felt like there was something he ought to know, but had forgotten about...
"Okay, let's find the User and get this game over with." Dot announced.
"I say we split up. We can cover more ground that way." Matrix continued, "I suggest me and AndrAIa take the north cavern, she can summon the other Waterhags from the lagoon up there."
"Right." Agreed Bob. "Dot and me will take the southeast tunnel, Hex?"
"Yes?" Hexadecimal was guarding the cocoon, which was already starting to hatch spiderlings. "Ooh! Already! Such fun!" Hexadecimal exclaimed excitedly.
"Hex," Bob spoke again, "I think it would be best if you stayed and guarded the west corridor, send your... uh... your... send them forward, but be on your guard. If you see the User before any of us, do whatever it takes to defeat her."
"Okay!" Hexadecimal chirped, "Have fun!"
Spiderlings started to web up the corridor...
"What's wrong Bob?" Dot asked as the couple made their way through the tangled roots and thorns of the southeast tunnel, Dot slipping effortlessly through the dense brambles, Bob's Golem form trashing a path alongside her. "I saw the look on your face when those game sprites hatched."
"In this game," Bob replied, "Arachnettes are supposed to take a full game hour to develop before spawning..."
"...Oh." Dot understood why Bob felt uneasy.
"Tell me," Asked Bob, "Did Hex seem at all... different to you? I mean just before the game landed, did you notice anything unusual about her?"
"I don't know. In what way?"
"I'm not sure, it's just... oh!"
"What is it, Bob?"
"This is bad, very bad."
"Hexadecimal?"
Bob had stopped walking, just then Dot realised why. The User was behind them! Bob dived in front of Dot, just as the User shot another arrow at them.
"Bob!" Dot cried, "You..."
"They're Vampiric arrows, I'm invulnerable to them - fight back with your Poisoned arrows, I'll cover you!"
The Dark Elf drew her longbow and a poisonous arrow, as bob used himself as a shield against the User's life-absorbing attack.
"It's no use," Dot told him, "You're in my way... aha!" Dot aimed at the dungeon wall and fired. The arrow ricocheted off a sconce and struck the User's leg, causing her to drop her Dracula bow. Unfazed, she withdrew a long gnarled staff topped with a sparkling Onyx and pointed it at Bob.
The User started an incantation... "Like the shadow of the wind, thou shalt..."A noise behind her drowned out the rest of her spell.
"CHARGE!" The battle cry of a dozen yelps and screeches echoed down the passageway, following the almighty roar of the gold-eyed Cyclops. A swarm of Waterhags appeared, racing towards the area where Bob and Dot were having their confrontation with the User.
"Enzo! AndrAIa!" Called Dot.
"We brought some friends!" Laughed AndrAIa, as the horde slammed into the User, beating her down to the ground.
"Game over, User." Matrix shouted triumphantly as he struck with his club... and the prone form of the User flickered and vanished, leaving behind a small purple crystal.
"No!" Bob sighed, "A Contingency Gem." The User had an extra life, that means she's restarted somewhere nearer the start of this level."
"What?" Matrix looked dejected." "That means we have to backtrack?"
"It also means we're more likely to run into the User again before she can get out."
"..." Dot was just about to join the discussion when the system voice intoned:
# GAME OVER #
"Huh?" Asked AndrAIa, "What happened?"
"I think I can answer that." It was Hexadecimal who spoke. "All of a sudden the User appeared in the middle of that mass of webbing, those little game sprite spiderlings were all over her like Nulls! Hahahaha! I think she must have got bored and stopped playing, as after that the game ended."
Bob looked at Hexadecimal suspiciously, then concentrated for a nano. "Hexadecimal."
"What is it, Bob?"
"I think you should come with me to the Principal Office..."
"I never truly appreciated Mainframe's beauty until after the restart," Dot even sounded relaxed, "Seeing what Megabyte was capable of really put things into perspective."
"Yeah," Bob sighed, "After what felt like forever in the Web, it's never looked so good."
Bob'n'Dot stopped walking for a few moments and looked at each other silently.
"Bob," Dot started, "You know..."
A burst of light from above stopped her in mid-sentence.
"Hmm... That was unexpected." It was Hexadecimal, hovering overhead. "Ah! Bob."
# WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME #
"Hexadecimal." Bob looked at her. He wasn't sure, but she seemed slightly different somehow; there was an odd feeling in the back of his mind. "What a... uh, pleasant surprise. Here for the game?"
"Yes, I just knew it was going to land here. I'm glad you're here too."
"Speaking of which," Dot interrupted, "Matrix and AndrAIa will most likely be here any nano, now we have a game."
"You know me, Sis." Dot looked up to see Matrix and AndrAIa arrive and land their Zip boards just as the game landed.
"Hilda's Myth, again?" Matrix grunted.
"Looks like the User wants to give it another go." Said Bob.
"Shall I give it another go?" Hex smirked.
"Best not this time, thanks Hex." Replied Bob, "We don't want the User to get suspicious if the game keeps 'crashing'."
"Where's Enzo?" Asked AndrAIa.
"He's with Phong and Mouse." Responded Dot, "She was going to teach him a few tricks. Under Phong's supervision, of course."
"I wonder if we'll have the same character roles...?" Hexadecimal glanced around her then double-clicked her Icon. "ReBoot."
Taking Hexadecimal's lead, the other's ReBooted as well into their characters for the game.
"Bob?" Asked Dot, "What do we have to do for this level?"
"This is the penultimate stage of the game," Bob explained, "The User has to survive and escape the cavern networks that consist this area," He looked at the others expectantly; his metallic body shining in the torchlight, "And we need to make sure she doesn't."
"Hmm... I do like my new character!" The others looked at Hexadecimal, who was in the process of cocooning a game sprite with Spider Queen silk.
"Hey!" Matrix looked confused, "What in the net are you doing?"
"It's okay Matrix." Bob answered him, "Hex's ReBooted as an Arachnette; her character can spawn new game sprite Arachnettes that way... Good thinking Hex. Um...?"
"It just seemed the natural thing to do." Smiled Hexadecimal.
Bob again felt like there was something he ought to know, but had forgotten about...
"Okay, let's find the User and get this game over with." Dot announced.
"I say we split up. We can cover more ground that way." Matrix continued, "I suggest me and AndrAIa take the north cavern, she can summon the other Waterhags from the lagoon up there."
"Right." Agreed Bob. "Dot and me will take the southeast tunnel, Hex?"
"Yes?" Hexadecimal was guarding the cocoon, which was already starting to hatch spiderlings. "Ooh! Already! Such fun!" Hexadecimal exclaimed excitedly.
"Hex," Bob spoke again, "I think it would be best if you stayed and guarded the west corridor, send your... uh... your... send them forward, but be on your guard. If you see the User before any of us, do whatever it takes to defeat her."
"Okay!" Hexadecimal chirped, "Have fun!"
Spiderlings started to web up the corridor...
"What's wrong Bob?" Dot asked as the couple made their way through the tangled roots and thorns of the southeast tunnel, Dot slipping effortlessly through the dense brambles, Bob's Golem form trashing a path alongside her. "I saw the look on your face when those game sprites hatched."
"In this game," Bob replied, "Arachnettes are supposed to take a full game hour to develop before spawning..."
"...Oh." Dot understood why Bob felt uneasy.
"Tell me," Asked Bob, "Did Hex seem at all... different to you? I mean just before the game landed, did you notice anything unusual about her?"
"I don't know. In what way?"
"I'm not sure, it's just... oh!"
"What is it, Bob?"
"This is bad, very bad."
"Hexadecimal?"
Bob had stopped walking, just then Dot realised why. The User was behind them! Bob dived in front of Dot, just as the User shot another arrow at them.
"Bob!" Dot cried, "You..."
"They're Vampiric arrows, I'm invulnerable to them - fight back with your Poisoned arrows, I'll cover you!"
The Dark Elf drew her longbow and a poisonous arrow, as bob used himself as a shield against the User's life-absorbing attack.
"It's no use," Dot told him, "You're in my way... aha!" Dot aimed at the dungeon wall and fired. The arrow ricocheted off a sconce and struck the User's leg, causing her to drop her Dracula bow. Unfazed, she withdrew a long gnarled staff topped with a sparkling Onyx and pointed it at Bob.
The User started an incantation... "Like the shadow of the wind, thou shalt..."A noise behind her drowned out the rest of her spell.
"CHARGE!" The battle cry of a dozen yelps and screeches echoed down the passageway, following the almighty roar of the gold-eyed Cyclops. A swarm of Waterhags appeared, racing towards the area where Bob and Dot were having their confrontation with the User.
"Enzo! AndrAIa!" Called Dot.
"We brought some friends!" Laughed AndrAIa, as the horde slammed into the User, beating her down to the ground.
"Game over, User." Matrix shouted triumphantly as he struck with his club... and the prone form of the User flickered and vanished, leaving behind a small purple crystal.
"No!" Bob sighed, "A Contingency Gem." The User had an extra life, that means she's restarted somewhere nearer the start of this level."
"What?" Matrix looked dejected." "That means we have to backtrack?"
"It also means we're more likely to run into the User again before she can get out."
"..." Dot was just about to join the discussion when the system voice intoned:
# GAME OVER #
"Huh?" Asked AndrAIa, "What happened?"
"I think I can answer that." It was Hexadecimal who spoke. "All of a sudden the User appeared in the middle of that mass of webbing, those little game sprite spiderlings were all over her like Nulls! Hahahaha! I think she must have got bored and stopped playing, as after that the game ended."
Bob looked at Hexadecimal suspiciously, then concentrated for a nano. "Hexadecimal."
"What is it, Bob?"
"I think you should come with me to the Principal Office..."