Chapter 76
"I've had minimal experience with this type of game to be clear." Vil said as Ortho handed him the controller.
"Then I'll set it to the beginner mode." Ortho said as the start screen popped up.
"Shoot for glory among the stars and soar like a comet!" Idia and Ortho sang out as Vil hit play.
"Wow you're good you blew through the first boss like it was nothing." Ortho cheered.
"Something clicked for me while I was playing wasn't there a live action movie adaptation of this game? I vaguely remember the story from the film I saw with my dad." Vil informed them.
"Dude, you saw the movie?" Idia asked excitedly.
"I didn't know it was based on a video game." Vil confessed.
"The movie was highly regraded among fans but it appealed to a widespread mainstream audience too. That led to Star Rogue hitting the big time." Ortho explained.
"Yup, game sales spiked after the movie's release and they finally announced a sequel." Idia added quickly.
"But right after that the development team had a falling out." Ortho sighed.
"It was tragic, the narrative writer, character designer and game designer all argued so much they ended up leaving the industry and going their separated ways." Idia explained.
"With the original team gone, I suppose any sequel that got made would be an entirely difference game." Vil said.
"Exactly I mean props to the company for sticking to their principles they didn't just slam together another team to churn out a sequel, but alas the sequel to Star Rogue was left a dream unrealized." Idia sighed.
"And because of that plans for a second game were also suspended indefinitely." Ortho added.
"I still hold out hope that those top tier creators will get back together someday and we finally get our miracle the Star Rogue sequel." Idia confessed.
"So all you do is hope?" Vil asked raising an eyebrow.
"Uh what?" Idia hiccuped.
"If you love it that much why not make it happen yourself?" Vil asked.
"What?" Idia repeated.
"He's right y'know, with your family's resources you could just pay the creators and get them back together." Leona added.
"Huh? No! None of you get it. I want the original team to make a sequel to Star Rogue. A game that was made with passion by a team that truly believed in it and knew it was going to be amazing. What value would there be in a game they made grudgingly just because I threw money at them?" Idia complained.
"Is that how it works?" Jamil asked.
"Yes! Ugh, bunch of casuals you know nothing of a nerd's heart." Idia exclaimed.
"Not to burst your bubble but that's actually not what I meant." Vil sighed.
"Oh?" Idia asked.
"For a start, you could go visit each of these creators and let them know how absurdly passionate you are about this." Vil pointed out.
"Huh?" Idia asked.
"Perhaps you'd make a difference by showing them they have an ardent fan eagerly awaiting a sequel." Vil said.
"I dunno, I've seen plenty of super fans doing that before signing petitions and stuff." Idia sighed shaking his head.
"But that was other people right? Have you taken any action yourself?" Vil asked.
"I-I couldn't I'm just one guy nothing I do would make a difference." Idia stuttered.
"It will always be a 0% chance as long as you believe it impossible and refuse to act. Personally I wouldn't let it stay that way." Vil said.
Ortho looked up at him in wonder filled silence.
"0 is 0 no matter what you multiply it by right? But you take some form of action that zero could potentially become .001 and .001 has a chance of becoming 100. In which case there's no reason not to do it. The main character of Star Rogue starts at 0 and becomes a hero does he not?" Vil asked.
"Well sure, but that's just a story reality doesn't work that way. At the end of the day even super passionate dev teams disband without finishing what they set out to do." Idia countered.
"You're right of course reality is harsh and we don't always get happy endings wrapped in neat little bows, and that's precisely why there's room to turn our story our future on its head. We're still young no need to roll to the end credits on our potential yet." Vil replied.
"But for me it's just." Idia sighed.
"It's not impossible Idia!" Ortho exclaimed hoping over to Idia.
"Huh?" Idia asked raising an eyebrow.
"I never thought there was any chance we'd have friends over and play video games with them but it happened." Ortho said.
"Ugh, again this is kind of a different scenario." Idia groaned.
"I think I have a better idea of what I should be doing now, Thank you Vil Schoenheit." Ortho said coming over to Vil.
"Hm? I hardly did anything worth thanking me for, but if you got something positive out of it so much the better." Vil shurgged.
"Uh? Ortho? Did you hear what I said?" Idia asked.
"Yes I cleared it!" Riddle cheered from the table.
"Looks like Riddle cleared Legend of the Underworld stage one on easy." Ortho smiled.
"Whoa, guess he figured out where the Up button was." Idia chuckled.
"All thanks to my patient and humble advice of course wouldn't you agree Riddle?" Azul smirked pushing up his glasses.
"I could've done without the peanut galley." Riddle commented.
"Have you two been playing this whole time? I thought I told you to take breaks." Vil sighed.
"Not letting 0 stay 0, by taking action. You're able to turn your story on it's head." Ortho muttered as he watched the group.
A few hours later the alarms went off again as the lights flashed red again.
"Testing of subjects ROS-859A and SUS-3320B is now complete as of 1600. Phantom cages have been frozen and secured lifting lock down status." The PA system announced.
"Oh hey, they're done. Whew now I can finally get out of this zoo." Idia muttered as he got up from the table.
"Those 3 hours certainly flew by." Vil remarked.
"Yawn nothing like a good nap." Leona yawned as he sat up on the couch.
"I'm impressed you managed t sleep through all that noise." Jamil said.
"Ugh, Now I see souls drifting down the river whenever I close my eyes." Riddle groaned as he rubbed his eyes.
"I understand the entertainment value of game play-throughs much better now. The way Riddle would scream when he got hit right before was about to clear the level. Oh I can hear it now." Azul chuckled.
"Okay guy time to head back to your rooms. You're scheduled to fly back to school at 8 am tomorrow just sit tight until then. Oh right, I almost forgot Vil could you stick around a sec." Idia requested as an technican took the others out of the room.
"Just me? I suppose I don't mind." Vil said.
Idia explained what had happened earlier than morning.
"Rook and Epel followed us all the way here?" Vil gasped.
"And they brought Odette with them." Idia remained him.
"Odette too? Please tell me you're joking." Vil sighed.
"I wish I was dude. Their attack's gonna go down as the wildest thing to ever happen at Styx." Idia said.
"What possessed them to do such a thing? Were they actually trying to rescue me?" Vil asked.
"Ortho go on and give him the stuff Rook brought." Idia ordered.
"Roger here you are Vil Schoenheit a full set of your preferred skincare products." Ortho said as he opened a cavity in his waist and pulling out a bag.
"I beg your pardon?" Vil asked looking comfortable as Ortho handed him the bag.
"Right!? That's the normal reaction. When Rook came flying up to the island on a broom, he held out those bottled and was like 'you must give these to Vil', and I swear every Styx staffer there just froze in place." Idia said.
"He said he was here to rescue his boon companion from mortal peril." Ortho informed him.
Vil takes a minute but then he began to laugh, hard. Once he had recomposed himself he finally managed to said. "I could hug and kiss all of them right now then I'd slap them in the face. I thought I was used to Rook's antics but this truly takes the cake, and then there's Epel and Odette. I explicitly told them not to get involved. They just never listen. I must give them a stern talking to once we get back. They need to understand how foolish this was, but since they were kind enough to bring to all I'll gladly take it. Mh this serum."
"Is something wrong?" Ortho asked.
"Oh no not really, this isn't what I normally use it's a high end product imbued with a special cantrip. After seeing how violently the Charon troops dragged me off Rook must have feared I was in dire straits." Vil chuckled.
"They knew they didn't stand a chance yet they came after you anyway. Rook and the others must be really caring friends." Ortho smiled.
"Uh, what they did was beyond 'caring' more like creepy TBH." Idia remarked.
"Rook can certainly be eccentric but once you get used to it, you see he's quite affable and honest. Honest to a fault sometimes and utterly devoid of tact, but regardless he's ensured I'll be in top form for my photo shoot next week. I imagine every subject isn't allowed to receive care packages from the outside. Thank you 'Boss'." Vil said.
"Eh, no biggie I just threw a howling beast a bone, had to calm him somehow." Idia sighed shaking his head.
"You really do have a special talent for getting on people's nerves. Well, if we're all done then I'll return to my room." Vil muttered then left with another technician.
"Yeah, cool later." Idia muttered as his radio buzzed. "Idia Shroud speaking."
"Acting Director I have a status report on the River Lethe for case LOD-627. It's 88% charged and should be ready tonight at 2000. to use on subjects A through E all of sage's island and other related parties. The Mnemosyne information scrubbing team is handling the info that was disseminated online." A technician report over the radio.
"Okay, good to know schedule the flood for 0000 hours." Idia ordered.
"Copy that we'll dispatch Team Hexa to Sage's island to deal with matters there." The technician said.
"Got it, oh yeah, Malleus Draconia, Briar Valley's heir apparent is a student at NRC. Lethe works differently on fae. Make sure you adjust accordingly. You wouldn't wanna erase info that someone with his long life span would be expected to know." Idia informed them.
"Roger." The technician said.
"They're all going to forget about Styx once we use Lethe aren't they?" Ortho asked starting to sound a bit sad.
"Yup, not even Styx tech can turn back time. So we use Lethe to rewrite a few discreet memories that won't cause any inconsistencies. Subjects A through E will think they got a special request from a university hospital in the Kingdom of Heroes and that they agreed to help them with a study on blot. People say that mages don't come back from the Island of Woe. And of course they don't in their minds they were never there to begin with." Idia pointed out.
"Will they forget that we played video games together?" Ortho asked.
"Absolutely, they won't remember me being the Acting Director here either. I'll just be the same ol gloomy nerdy shut in to them. Then again that's what they'd think even if they did remember this." Idia chuckled.
Ortho just looked down at the ground.
"Ortho?" Idia asked placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What?" Ortho asked looking up at him.
"You seem a bit off, are you feeling okay? Maybe your technomantic circuits are out of whack or something's up with your reactor? Want me to run maintenance just in case?" Idia asked.
"No, that's okay. Nothing's wrong with my body your work is as flawless as ever. Maybe I'm just still processing the memories from all these unusual experiences." Ortho stated.
"Are you sure? Well, I guess if you say so." Idia shrugged.
"I'm going to check on Rook's group at the training facility. I'll let them know we gave Vil the cosmetics." Ortho said pulling away from Idia and heading towards the door.
"Uh sure knock yourself out." Idia muttered.
Thanks for reading and sticking around. I can't believe we're at part 20 of this Arc and that we're at chapter 77. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to write as well. We're one chapter closer to the action of this chapter and seeing our Diasomnia boys again. Thank you everyone for the favoriting, following and comments lately, knowing people are still reading this makes me so happy. See ya next time.