(A/N: Okay, a thousand apologies. I had every intention of writing sooner, but I just had no inspiration. There's a bit more, it's not done yet, but I think I'll wrap it up sooner than I initially intended, because I just don't have enough material to work with. But I'm in a new groove now, and I swear to stick with it 'til it's done.)

6AM Playerside time.

Link's face was buried in his pillow when the alarm sounded. He bopped futilely around at his buzzing alarm clock, missing the snooze button every time. Finally, he begrudgingly sat up and pressed the button.

He mumbled something derogatory about Player A, and made some hurry to get ready.

He was the only file character that had to get up this early. Okareena and Doc could sleep in all morning if they liked. Their players rarely ever got on until at least mid-afternoon.

His young, chipper counterpart rapped on the door.

"Cummon, cummon!" he called. "She could be on any minute!"

"Yeah, squirt, I'm coming." He replied blearily.

Some ice cold water on his face did wonders for him, and he continued with some newfound energy.

In the hall, Young Link was waiting.

"What took you so long?" The kid asked.

"I'm not a morning person." Link replied flatly as they began walking.

Young Link chuckled. "Boy, did you get stuck with the wrong player."

Link bopped him on the head to make him stop.

"So, you hear about the Destructo-child?" young link asked.

"Yeah."

"What d'you think about it?"

Link frowned slightly. How this kid was so talkative was beyond him. He needed his coffee before he was any bit a conversationalist.

"Ehh, I'm not too worried." He replied.

Young link seemed to take this to heart. If Link wasn't worried, then it surely wasn't all that bad.

The player alert kicked in. "Attention. System powered on." The middle seemed fuzzed out by bad reception "...to entry point."

"That's weird." Link muttered. He didn't catch the name, but it had to be for him. He left young Link at the game door, and got into position. The menu theme played. Suddenly, the game area lights flickered.

i Alert! Alert! Game malfunction! Repeat! Game malfunction! Troubleshooting team to observation room! i

Link hissed through his teeth. A malfunction?

He exited the game area to find a very nervous young link. He didn't have time to console the kid. He had to see this for himself.

Along the way, Link spotted the Know-it-all brothers heading the same way he was. They were the troubleshooting team.

In the observation room, one of the brothers was already there, sitting in an office chair and staring in shock at a screen. It showed what the player saw. The files looked relatively normal.

As they crowded around to see, Link and the brothers all stared. The names were horribly scrambled beyond recognition. The letters weren't even recognizable.

"It just appeared like this." The one in the chair explained. "All of a sudden."

"File three reported strange player behavior recently." His brother added.

"The system is off." The third brother noted. "Should we run a full diagnostic?"

"Yeah." The first replied.

"Should I inform the rest?" link offered.

"Would you? Thanks." The second replied.

The brothers fell into a concerned chatter, and Link left the room, heaving a nervous sigh. This cartridge had NEVER malfunctioned. And the files? This was very bad, he just knew it.

As other characters filtered into break rooms and hallways, Link delivered the news as he went. The game was acting up, and no one was to go into the game area without precise clearance. The resident geniuses were on the case, so sit back, relax, and enjoy a day off.

Link needed coffee. He headed straight for his usual break room. Ganondorf was already in there, with a fresh pot steaming nearby.

"Ah! You are a lifesaver!" Link proclaimed, and all but attacked the coffee pot. He poured a big cup of coffee, and just sucked it down.

"Wow, you're thirsty." Ganondorf remarked.

"Guh... You hear the news?"

"Not the whole story, but yeah."

Link flopped into a chair.

"The files are all screwed up. The text is a botched mess."

Ganondorf gave him an interested look. "Really? You think maybe it's a practical joke?"

Link shook his head. "No. This had the Brothers close to a panic."

Ganondorf blinked. "That sounds bad." he said with a slightly nervous air. "They didn't get the name 'Know-it-all' for nothing."

"Yeah, I know." Link moaned.

"The talk is it's that Destructo-child." Ganondorf pointed out.

"That myth?" Link replied, mostly to convince himself than to counter the statement. His tone of voice betrayed his thoughts: maybe the myth was true.

"The only incident that has hard facts even supporting the idea was back when we had that freak shake-up." Ganondorf recalled. "There never was another like it before or since. And outer surveillance confirmed the presence of another player."

Link stared at a point on a nearby wall. "And confirmed only one name. Player A called him 'Destructo-child'." He finished the story. "But a data crash? This just can't be happening."

Ganondorf breathed out pensively. "well, all we can do is sit back and wait it out." He said in surrender.

Link eyed him over his now-empty coffee mug. "How can you be so calm in a time like this? We could be permanently wiped, and you sit back and wait?"

Ganondorf shrugged. "Got any better ideas?"

Link slumped back in his seat, got up, refilled his mug, and plopped down in his seat again.

"This is just too freaky."