Would you look at that corner. Ain't she a 'beaut. All...gray and stuff. Haven't placed almost anything there ever since I got to this place. Sure, I have a whole stack of books under my night table, and a...nice lamp...but man, nothing beats that corner.
Five years in this house and I haven't been more enthusiastic to look there.
...Oh, right, the game.
Did I just hallucinate all of that, or is that how the game actually is? I re-open my laptop and go to my browser.
Looking at some gameplay footage I found online, it's nothing like what I've experienced. I see X jumping around on the highway stage, but he's shooting rockets for some reason? Also, all of his shots are hitting every enemy without missing once. There's also a bunch of buttons near the bottom of the screen that just clog up space, like they're meant to be physically pushed. Does everyone cheat at the game or am I missing something? It's like they decided to re-make X1 for, I dunno, people like my nephew.
But how could that be? I thought that my game would look exactly like the footage I've seen! Not the nightmare I just witnessed!
I think it's about time I give that update. Maybe I got a buggy copy or something, or maybe someone's pulling some prank on me. My gut's telling me to check up on that "ZIP" guy. Finally block him and report him to the authorities. He somehow knows about what's happening, and I gotta take this seriously. He's also a being a real pain, so hopefully I can get a harassment charge in.
My gut's also telling me to get supper. I check the time and-Oh, God, it's an hour past dinner! I should head downstairs real quick and make myself something, so that I don't do anything drastic. I'll go ahead and take my laptop, too, so that I don't get bored.
Priorities, y'know?
Okay, I'm back. Now that I have a full stomach and a clear conscience, I go to the tab where that forum was. Reading some replies under my post give me nothing that I can work with. Nobody's ever heard of X DiVE being ported to chromebooks, or they say their copy works fine on the one they have. One screenshot of the title screen tells me that it originally works like their copy did. Another shows a still of gameplay I looked up. Some guy also told me "jsut downlaod it of the app store or stèam dumfuck".
I bet he's with ZIP, too. There's some grand conspiracy, I can smell it.
I'll go ahead and post what I thought over. Here goes:
"About the game I found; the good news is that it's safe, and it did originally look like some of the screenshots here. The bad news is that it crashed on me before I could even play. Then...it changed into another game entirely. I don't know how to put it into words, and I don't have any way to screenshot whatever I saw in-game. The first time I opened the game, it went full screen on me. I don't wanna use my phone because the camera sucks. Every picture I take with it is too blurry, and I don't have solvent to clean its lens. Does anyone know some good software for screenshots?"
My antivirus should still be open with that file, and I make sure to screenshot the window before uploading it with my message. Well, no point in sitting around waiting for a reply. There's some chores I still need to do before I go to bed, after all. I turn off my chromebook and head downstairs, preparing to close out the day.
Another work day wrapped up. Today, I had one of my coworkers mouth on about the music he listens to. It's not a huge deal when he does, even though that genre he gushed about was only cool when I was younger. Besides, I was too busy with video games at the time. I should spare myself the details and go back to that forum. Two new replies stand out in the thread, one of them linking to some sites with the screenshot tools I wanted. Fatigue is taking over my senses too hard, and I just want to shoot robots in the face already. I download one of the links, then go to my desktop to open that EXE file from before. "GameClip", the software I downloaded, opens before my screen goes black. Wait, there's the Capcom logo! What if it'll be norma-
It gets replaced with that "FÏR" thing yet again, foreboding evil laughter and all.
Some help that was.
One positive thing I can take away from this is the title screen; it looks really cool! Bit's standing front and center of a fiery backdrop, alongside all the figures I saw earlier. There's one person looming over everyone else with their hands on their face, arms up with an evil glare. I hit "Continue" and select the file I saved into.
I'm re-introduced to that screen with Layer and Ciel, except the left box only has white noise in it now. Seems like the typing isn't stopping, since that's the first thing I hear other than the creepy music.
"Why...isn't it working!? The jammer won't go down no matter how hard I hack it!" He says. Bit is hunching over with his arms out, hands curling into half claws. The only signs of distress I can see are in his eyes.
"Then hurry up! We don't have all day to stop those lunatics! If you let someone else die on me, I swear I-" There's that set of question marks again. Pointy shoulders and spikes on their back are what pop out in this silhouette. They stand on the opposite side of Bit while they look like they're pleading.
"Axl, I know you are upset, but I have tried everything! Its signal is too strong!" Bit responds. He's still focusing on whatever's in front of him.
"Don't gimme any of that! Something we did probably weakened it and you know how! So spill it! What happened!?" Axl urges. His silhouette is revealed, and he looks like he wants to strangle Bit. Red lines go down his black armor, some wrapping around the blue cores on his head and chest. Also, the spikes on his back turn out to be orange "hair".
Bit glances near one corner, guilt filling his eyes. "OK, I must confess...There is a difference in the signal's strength compared to before, though you may not like the answer."
Axl continues to glare at Bit, explanation be damned. "Don't you dare leave anything out, or I'll handle you like the Maverick you are!" He aims a ruby tipped, white and lavender-steel gun at Bit after he finishes. Just when his text disappears, a busier looking silhouette stands behind him. This one also has a bulkier appearance, with wings occupying his back instead of hair.
"Woah, buddy, calm down! You're only making it harder for us if you wave that thing around! So put it away before you become the Maverick!" They argue. Bit has his hands on his face, slouching harder than before.
"Please listen to him...I am just as disappointed as you are, but you will not receive any answers if you decide to go through with your decision..." Bit says as his hands are now on his cheeks, facing Axl and the other reploid. A few seconds later, Axl puts his gun away, his glare unchanging.
"...You better be telling the truth."
Bit straightens his back more, going back to where he was looking previously. "Thank you, Axl. To answer your question, nothing I have done came close to leaving a dent in this jammer. However, its strength got halved after the Player had interacted with it." He explains.
"Wait, then that means we ca-"
"I know what it sounds like, but my words hold conviction. I can show you all the software I have used if you do not believe me. In the meantime, we must let the Player handle this matter." Bit explains. Axl isn't very convinced, judging by his portrait. He turns his back to Bit, eyes closing with a simple "This blows..." before he leaves with the winged silhouette.
Bit faces me and says this before the game confronts me with my only option:
"...It is funny. Despite your failure, we are one step closer to getting our communications back to normal.
That does not mean you can let us down like last time."
I select Ciel and hear the same laughter again. Well, wasn't all that reassuring?
Two red and white boots sit on a glass counter, in front of an abstract looking cash register. For some reason, they have green tubes on their sides? With elevated heels? What's weirder is all the cylinders and engines below the pair; some shiny and new, others rugged with their paint jobs chipping away.
No, I think the weirdest part of this cutscene, aside from the change to 3D, is how the person receiving the boots is Ciel herself. She's wearing black cargo pants with a pink, zip-up hoodie, hair in a high ponytail without her helmet.
"That'll be eight hundred zennies." The reploid cashier says. Ciel searches in her pockets before fishing out her wallet. Reluctance shows up in her lowering eyes when her card hovers over the reader.
"...Just for flying and a dash upgrade?" She mutters to herself. Not wanting to alarm Ciel, the cashier keeps looking at his screen.
"I mean, yeah, in this economy, sure. Unless the boss pays you, then, oh well." They rabble before Ciel places her card on the reader, making a soft buzz when the price goes away. Ciel takes the boots from the counter and carries them in each arm. Noticing her slow pace with these boots, the cashier properly looks at their customer now.
"Uh, do you need a bag for that?" They ask as they reach for something below the counter.
"No, I'm good! I'll wear these...when I get out-!" Ciel's boot nearly slips out of her arms, but she catches it using her leg. Her eyes are straight at the door, unwilling to cause a scene, yet her pace thinks there's some time for one.
Said "scene" never happens; it skips to Ciel trudging through some sliding doors with her boots on. She looks down at the pair while she catches her breath, then puts her wallet back in her right pant pocket. From the side of her boot's lifesaver shaped cuff, she exposes a small set of buttons that stick out like an old telephone keypad. "Here goes..." Ciel says before pressing the center button.
To her surprise, the heels of her boots emit small, continuous blasts and lift her into the air somewhat. Ciel's amazement shifts into a wide smile before she soars into the sky. A bird's eye glimpse of a cityscape blurs out below Ciel, whose head is high as she touches the clouds. Laughter fills the otherwise dreary, burgundy atmosphere thanks to Ciel using one cloud as her welcome mat. She jumps off the gray smear to float in figure eights, cartwheels, and all sorts of parkour. Cut to Ciel pretending to use a thin, hazy cloud as a tripwire. As the thrusters on her heels come to a stop, she kicks one leg into the air and lets herself fall out of the sky. Right when the clouds stop, both thrusters whoosh back to life and safely flip her back into the air.
The wind combs through her fringe as her eyes stay unopen, though this leads her to crash into a puffier cloud. It stops her dead in her tracks, practically sucking her in. Ciel pops out through the other end after a not-so-long while, looking...fresh with an oversized pompadour and cloudy beard to match.
Suddenly, a crosshair shows up right on her nose as the view gets a little shaky. There's a black border covering the rest of my screen, leaving out only two circles that merge to show Ciel wiping her face. "There she is...God, I hate the bitch. I bet she's so happy to be a Maverick...Dumb brat..." A familiar voice rants while Ciel styles her "hair".
At the front row seats of a dark red truck, I recognize two faces instantly; Iris•APK and Blue Zero from the normal title screen! Some differences in their designs also pop out at me: Parts of Iris' dress and armor are black where they're supposed to be blue, and she's wearing a diamond chain with a "Z" that has two vertical lines going through it. Her eyes are obscured by the binoculars in front of them, yet I can still see her matching earrings poke out of the sides of her face. One other thing that stands out is that both characters have blood running down their cheeks, something that APK wasn't sporting before...
Blue Zero has the same red eyes that had when I first saw her, too...
Outside of the cheesy get-up, Blue Zero just looks like...regular old Blue Zero? He turns to Iris•APK as wafts of steam starts to come out of her "ears". "Is...everything alright, babe?" He asks when APK crumples her binoculars up with ease, a growl building up alongside her gnashing teeth.
"Of course it isn't! How can it be alright when our next target is still alive!?" APK yells, making Blue Zero jump as she throws what's left of the binoculars down her seat. "We gotta strike while the flesh is still hot, and you know how much I hate human flesh!" She continues as she slams a fist into one of her hands, gaze unchanging from Blue Zero's.
He grabs one of APK's hands with both of his, and leans forward with a soft expression...Well, as soft as "only a pair of eyes and red lines for facial features" can get. "Is there anything I can do about it? Tell me, my love..." He says. APK blushes and glances to the side, but her brow doesn't unfurrow.
"Well...You already know the plan. We wait and watch our target's every move, then I go and catch her off guard when she's out of the commercial district." APK explains, steadily turning to Blue Zero with a smirk. "Think you can wait here a tad longer, ViA?"
"You know my answer, dear. Even if we've been here for forty minutes already, I'd wait eighty more for you." He utters in a monotone voice.
"That's my blueberry..." Iris•APK gives...her man...a peck on the lips, one that lasts a couple seconds too long, then pulls back while one of her hands cups his cheeks. "Now don't come out until I give you the signal." She says. "Blueberry" nods before APK vanishes out of the car. His passenger's seat empties out with a 16-bit buzzing noise as he stares out of the front window, bug eyed.
God, that was awful. At least I can get to some actual gameplay now. Ciel floats down the top of my screen with her boots on, and the game goes back to X4-like graphics. When the "READY" sign flies past the mall, I can see some shops between them that have various neon signs on them. Going left doesn't get me anywhere, so that means...heading right again.
This level's music choice sounds out of wack compared to the last one. Instead of music from the X games, it has this ambient, cavernous track with weird synths, even though the scenery isn't as ominous as it suggests. Sure, there's reploids staring at me while I fly above the sidewalk, but the shops look really nice! Some neat souvenir stores, a quaint hairdresser place, the obvious choice of a tech shop, and even a record store all show up!
It'd be cool if the game let me visit these places, if they all didn't close their shutters whenever I fly past them. A few of them have a hard to see poster on them with a blonde figure at the center. Few red pixels at the top are illegible, although I don't bother and keep moving forward.
More reploids stare my way, most of them deciding to run for the nearest alleyway or shop. Others stand in place, shaking or falling at my presence, wide-eyeing me. One lady tries to stop a green wolf reploid on her leash from barking at me.
Why is everyone acting like this? Since this is a public place, there's no enemies that I have to kill. I don't even have an attack to use! I'm moving to this bus stop that has a futuristic shuttle waiting for its passengers to board, only for it to bolt past me when I get there! Shouldn't we be more afraid of the driver, who is willing to leave them behind at full speed?!
Further to the right, the amount of shops and buildings dwindle, though the signs from before start to increase. A lot. To the point where I get to a lone bulletin board that has nothing but the poster with the blondie on them.
As soon as I reach the middle of the board, I see a certain someone teleport in my face, leering in front of me.
