[IC] The Gamer Squad: Escape The Mainframe

[Crossfire]

David woke in the dark void. His head pounding and heart racing a mile a minute. Everything felt.... funny. Like the world was just ever so slightly off its axis, not enough to matter, but enough to annoy you. Blinking a few times, he sat up to observe the near pitch darkness surrounding him. He could make out the shapes of his friends around him, but not much else. Indeed, the only source of light in this strange, mysterious place was the low glow of a neon green grid that ran underneath them.

Dave rubbed at his eyes, trying to remember what the hell happened. It couldn't be a dream, his head and the massive aches in his back told him that much. Thinking back, he remembered nearly everything about the day. Waking up somewhat early to go shopping for a literal mountain of junk food, instant ramen, and booze. Racing back home to set up the consoles, and other equipment. Installing the numbers of various pizza and takeout places into his phone's speed dial. And then kicking back with a beer as he attempted a 'perfect speedrun' of Metroid Fusion as he waited for the first of his friends to arrive for the weeklong gauntlet of a non-stop, fully-livestreamed gaming marathon. One by one, they showed up and the festivities began.

About 4 hours in, after getting blown out by Jaz in the semi-finals of an impromptu Street Fighter tournament, David noticed an old tv in the corner, and asked around to find out who brought it. Suddenly, the lights went out, and after a few moments of darkness, the CRT turned on. The grey light grew brighter and brighter until, without warning, a vortex of light, color, and misshapen figures surrounded them all and swallowed them up. Dave could remember seeing strange images as he fell, gradually fading away until he hit bottom with a light *thump*

Suddenly aware of how silent it was, David tried to rouse the others.
"Hey, you guys alright? Guys? Damn Toto... I don't think we're in Kansas anymore"

[fer1323]

@Crossfire

Aftering hearing David call out to everyone, Marona's eyes flatter open and sits up slowly as her senses are disoriented. Marona takes a mental check of any other injuries. Once there is none, Marona calls out "I am mostly fine. Been worse." Marona looks around at the green gridded flooring and darkness. "Yeah. This place looks like it came out of an old arcade game." Marona attempts to stands. Although she does so with success, she did it slowly and clumsily. "The timing is impeccable for something to intervene." Marona says with a smirk

[MechonRaptor]

Amethyst had been looking forward to the livestream event, all of her friends gathered together for who knows how long to play various genre's of games. It was like a dream come true. She had went to the store to buy various brands of soda, realizing that not everyone was of the legal age to drink. She herself wasn't a very big fan of drinking, but she felt there had to be some sort of alternative at the party. After all, it wouldn't be that much fun if they couldn't even remember it in the morning. She could remember arriving a tad earlier than everyone in an attempt to get the best seating and to help set up as well. To her, she wanted this to be perfect, and for 4 hours or so when everyone arrived, it was.

So then... as she looked around, she questioned why she couldn't really remember much after that. There was a void in her memory, almost like how there was a void like area around her as well. Darkness, the only light emitting from the ground was a neon grid below... She could make out the figures of her friends... And yet she sat there, attempting to think about how on Earth they managed to find themselves in this situation, unable to recall what exactly happened until finally, someone spoke up. They asked if everyone was alright, and soon after another voice responded with how it looked like they were in an arcade game. Though, she thought, how could they find themselves in such a place?

"None of you spiked the food, right? This isn't some hallucination we're sharing?" She asked in her best attempt to stay calm and think rationally about the situation. "It's the only explanation I can think of..."

[Peaceless]

"...Uuuuughhhh."

The large teen rolled over and gradually pulled himself into a sitting position. It has been way early to pass out from a mountain dew overdose or lack of sleep - the party was just getting started! He was helping to rev up some consoles when suddenly everything went dark (Not that surprising, considering the amount of electrical hardware plugged in simultaneously), but the sudden loss of gravity was definitely out of place.

He was surprised to find himself completely unharmed. The lack of visibility around him prevented him from jumping to his feet - he stood up slowly and examined the silhouettes strewn in various poses around the dimly lit floor. People started speaking up as they rose to their feet, and he quickly realized he was in the same company - the entire human contents of the party have been magically transported into some weird techno-cave.

"Hey, spike the food? Seriously, that damn mtn dew has enough spike without intervention." The others started to huddle in, naturally, trying to discern eachothers' faces, and he joined in. "This is probably some stupid prank by one of our parents or the other kids. Kind of elaborate, but what wouldn't they do to ruin a perfectly good arcade party?"
Flustered, William threw up his hands. He knew his mother didn't really approve of the time he'd spend in front of his computer, but this was too creepy even for her.

[Eklispe]

Aliron yawned and sat up, looking around with blurry eyes. At first glance he thought for sure he was in dreamland, the Tron like grid below him not making any sense. But a look around revealed the forms and voices of his friends. That and a pinch followed by an all too real sense of pain. What should he do now? Throw out a random theory like everyone else?

"I daresay it doesn't paticularly matter how got here, but rather our next course of action. It seems like we can either stay here or began moving in a single direction. Other thoughts?" Aliron asked calmly from his sitting position.

[alexfangtalon]

Alex Hill

---

Alex Hill

---

Alex groaned and slowly sat up. His head was hurting bad. Had he hit his head on something and knocked himself out. No, couldn't be that because he noticed everyone else having similar confusion to him. He looked around to realize that they were no longer in David's apartment. He spoke up to respond to William's inquiry, "I don't think anyone would be able to pull something like this off."

He noticed the floor and tried looking down one of the lines to see where it ended, but saw no end to the specific line. "We better not be having a shared dream of Tron, SAO, or Log Horizon. That would totally ruin the mood of our gaming. I do have to agree with Aliron though. We can't just stay here."

[NightmareInd]

Sam woke up. He didn't know what was happening, as the last thing he could remember was him being with the rest of his friends at David's place. There was a big gap in his memory between that moment and the present though. He looked around, seeing it was very dark except for the glowing grids in the ground. He stood up and turned to the others. He could barely recognise their shapes.

"Guys, whoever planned this joke, I don't like it. Can we please turn on the lights again? I mean, I really don't feel comfortable with this." He said, panicing a bit. He didn't really like it when his friends played tricks with him, as he still didn't really feel as a real part of the group. He was even doubting about going to this gameparty in the first place, but his mother said 'Why not? it isn't like you do anything else besides sit behind that screen of yours, might as well do it with some others you know.'

[Fabricant451]

The last thing Jaz remembered was jumping up off the couch with her hands thrust triumphantly in the air. Granted, she expected to breeze towards the finals - it had been her suggestion to have a little tournament in her area of expertise after all - but it still felt good to solidify her place in the finals. She was sporting enough to let her opponents take a round off of her - just so they could taste a bit of victory before utterly crushing them with the perfect full meter combo. It was like a science and she was a scientist.

The feeling of joy still coursed through her as she opened her eyes - when did they get so...groggy - and took in the rather unfamiliar territory. This wasn't an apartment. This wasn't a couch. This wasn't anywhere she was familiar with. Had she hit her head on her celebratory jump? She WAS rather tall, after all. But this wasn't any hospital she had ever been...plus she wasn't alone here. As her eyes and ears focused, she heard the familiar voices and saw the familiar faces of those she was so thoroughly looking forward to trouncing with perfects and ultra combos.

"It can't be a spiked drink, I didn't drink anything and I'm here," Jaz spoke up and stood up, her height announcing her presence along with her voice, "But I don't think this is a dream. Wait...someone pinch me or something, if it hurts then it's real, right?"

[Crossfire]

"I can't see anything around us. This is insane" David said "I guess we should try to figure out where the hell we are and how we're gonna get back home. Someone pick a direction"

Silence.

"Yeah... me too guys" David fell back to the floor, defeated. After a few more minutes of relative silence and hopeless staring out into the abyss, David's head perked up, thinking he had just seen something sparkle in the distance.
"Anyone else see that?" he said as he jumped to his feet. He waved his arms frantically and began to shout "HEY! OVER HERE! HELP US!"

It sparkled again, slightly brighter than before, more noticeable. David kept waving his arms and crying for help. Some of the others joined in as well, until finally, their savior came into view. It appeared to be simply a bundle of pixellated light, floating in the darkness. It silently floated into their midst and rotated around, seemingly scanning the lifeforms around it. The light around began flashing as it began to speak, sounding remarkably like a calm C-3PO
"Hello there. I see you all arrived safely. I can sense your confusion, so please allow me a moment to explain. I am Program Directory 348009- Navigation and Caretaking. For simplicity, you can call me Navi, if you wish. Apologies for this whole event, but once I explain, I hope you all understand that I had no choice. This is The Mainframe, or at least, an unused section of it. The Mainframe. Allow me a moment to convert what I have to say into terms you will all understand."

Navi let out some robotic beeps as it processed. then it continued "While we have no remaining records on the full history of it, we know that The Mainframe has existed at least since the zenith of your world's technological boom. Think of it as a nexus point, upon which your internet was based, and it is under a grave threat, that I believe only you can stop. It began with a corrupted data file, infecting Default State Programs, which acted as the 'worker bees' of the proverbial colony here. They morphed into something akin to a virus, and began to attack the various systems of The Mainframe. The only area they were unable to conquer is the Datacore, The central processing unit of the entire system. If they were to reach that, they would have access to everything networked to The Mainframe. I fear they would able to use that access to destroy both our worlds. So I locked myself out and enacted a security measure. Using data from these 'video games' that your people adore, I have constructed a gauntlet of challenges to slow the Default's progress. They cannot adapt as quickly as organic beings. Even through their preferred method of hacking and infecting other AI constructs throughout the game worlds, they are limited by their programming. That is where you come in. If you were to enter these worlds and complete the challenges within before the Default, you would gain the key constructs necessary to access the Datacore, you could then use its power to delete the virus and return home"

"This is crazy" David said "I don't know why we were chosen, I don't know if we can do this, hell, I don't even know if this is real, but if this is the only way for to get home, I think we should do it"

He turned to his friends to see their response "What do you say guys? I did promise you all an epic week of gaming.... I mean yeah, this is not exactly the fun-filled relaxing time I imagined, but pretty close second right?"

"Excellent" Navi exclaimed "Please allow me to properly arm you for the challenges ahead"
At those words a band of light appeared around each of them. When it faded, they saw that a device had appeared on one of their arms, it resembled an old NES Power Glove, with way less buttons. Before any of them could comment a door began rising from the abyss in front of them, a wall constructing itself around it as it went. Above the massive door, in big block lettering, the words PRESS START

"The device you have will prove to be an invaluable tool. It will allow you to properly equip yourselves for the challenges ahead. A quick analysis of your online records show that each of you have a particular video game you have shown mastery in. By pressing the large red button in the center of the control board, you will be equipped with armor and abilities from those games. The buttons surrounding it will allow you all to access those abilities, and the blue button will bring up a holographic readout of the games you will face as well as any other information I can offer"

David took the lead, tapping the indicated button on his power glove. A brilliant flash of white light surrounded him, and when it cleared he was outfitted in the armor of a COG Gear.
"Ok Navi, this is pretty cool. As long as you don't start screaming HEY LISTEN, we're all good" David joked.

"Scanning. I have located the source and appreciate the humor. Please proceed to the door ahead"

[Peaceless]

"Navi?!" Will stepped forward to appraise the weird digital construct."Yeah, no. How about PDANAK? Or, like, Padonk. Heh. Podonok. Hehehehe..." He paused to appreciate his impressive wit that allowed him to use a new russian curse word he learned online just last week.

But the door quickly soured his mood. He lunged in its direction and pulled on David's shoulder. "Look, uh, look man..." He was taken aback by David's sudden intimidating appearance. Was it even David anymore? "Um, this is obviously a trap, and I planned a single all-nighter for this. Why the hell are you cooperating?"

[Eklispe]

Alirron followed along with this 'Navi's explanation, albeit somewhat warily. Their apparent recruition with a description of events that were hypothetically possible, but it seemed somewhat suspicious. After all this Navi was their only source of information, thus it was impossible to tell whether it was lying or not. In addition he found it odd that Navi found their information in game of choice online, given that his favorite brand at least, was entirely offline. Perhaps all games were connected to this mainframe of which it spoke. On the other hand, his options consisted of A) Going through the door and figuring it out from there or B) Waiting here and hoping something else happened. Option B would be really stupid. Aliron somewhat skeptically pressed said large red button and was greeted with an alarming sudden shift in his attire. In addition to the green clothes that, fittingly enough, were at the start of any Zelda game, he also came complete with a wooden shield and a master sword replica. Along with this came a somewhat disconcerting mental shift as he felt new knowledge flood into his brain for a moment. Aliron shook his head and placed both his sword and shield on his back in the typical idle stance of Link. "While you may have a point, we have little other option. Unless you wish to continue wandering in this barren digital land or waiting and hoping something else happens, we must take Navi up on her offer, at least for now." Aliron then stepped next to David and looked back at the rest of the group expectantly.

[alexfangtalon]

Alex Hill

---

Alex Hill

---

Alex didn't know if they were dreaming or if this was real.All he knew was that as long as he was here with his friends he would push through it no matter what. He had to keep his mind focused and think logically. If what this 'Navi' said was true then they didn't have time to act like scared little kids, and hey it seemed like it'd be fun to play the games like this. At least there shouldn't be lag. Hopefully.

After both David and Alirron showed there wasn't any immediate danger from pressing the start button, Alex stood and and said, "I'm not so sure it is a trap. I mean, what purpose would this Navi have for kidnapping us just to have us trigger some sort of trap. Sure maybe the things we would be fighting against might be working for Navi here, but come on playing the games we all love as the actual characters doesn't appeal to you at all. I for one can't wait to see what kind of experience lies beyond that door. Any gamer should want to jump at the chance to literally be the character from a video game. Not just holding the controller that moves them around. And Willie if it is a trap I'll pay you $50 bucks. Will that get you to participate?"

With that Alex hit the button just like David and Alirron had. A bright light soon shined around Alex and when the light dispersed his clothes were now tattered and old looking. Also in place of his shorts were jeans. "Well. I definitely do not look as cool as David and Alirron right now."

[NightmareInd]

Sam was a bit scared. This whole situation seemed to be forced onto them. However, as he and his friends finished listening to what 'Navi' had to say, and his friends tried to reassure them there was nothing to be afraid of and it was actually quiet fun, he started to follow their lead, but hesitated before putting the glove on. However, when he saw his friends put on the their new gear, he got excited. At was no secret his favourite game was Assassin's Creed, and when he pushed the button, the light overwhelmed him.

When the light dimmed though, He felt himself lighter and at the same time sturdier. He also saw himself with a hood on, and looked down to see himself have one of Edward Kenway's customes, more specificly a fully upgraded Pirate Captain outfit. It looked well on him, and he loved the way he felt. He slowly looked around clockwise, arms wide, showing off his custome to the others. "This is amazing!" He said, the being so happy he jumped in the air and automaticly did a backflip. "WOW! What was that?!" He asked, normally not being that light or agile.

[MechonRaptor]

The small amount of silence before some sort of pixelated arrived was rather nice in the eyes of Amethyst. After all, seeing as a majority of them weren't panicking, it allowed her to try to analyze the situation a bit more. Granted there wasn't much to analyze, but a good sniper knew to survey the surroundings and always be alert on the off chance something would happen. That something was a light in the distance that a majority of the others called out towards, but not her. She was simply watching as it approached, not entirely sure if that was the best course of action of everyone to take, but fortunately as the light began to speak, it seemed to not be hostile.

And while that was a relief, She still was relatively on the unsure side, even if a majority of the others weren't. And while she wanted to voice her opinion on the matter and somewhat side with William, she instead decided she would instead observe what happened to the others. One of them now looked like Link from the Legend of Zelda, and she found that somewhat fitting for him. He did like that series a lot... In fact, the more she watched as the others started to press the start button, the more they took on appearances or something fitting from a game that they were seen as the best at. That made her question what her own appearance and overall style would be... She was often either the healer or sniper in a majority of her games, and that went rather well when playing Xenoblade Chronicles with the character Sharla...

And since there was no immediate harm, she too pressed the button, her rather casual outfit replaced in a ray of light with what looked like light armor, a blue cape, and even a beret to match. She looked like some sort of military official, and her only concerned that was raised from the fact that they were going to go into a video game world was, well, did that mean they could die?

[Peaceless]

A cringe of disbelief and disappointment spread all over William's pudgy face. "...Seriously. Ya'all's seriously doing this?" He threw up his hands again. A certain imbalance made him look at his right hand, where the "glove" resided. He pursed his lips, his mind racing as he turned the device this way and that in front of him. He could feel his inner kid, beating against the back of his eyes, trying to smash the wall of logic that kept him away from William's thoughts.

At that moment, he began to realize how scared he was. There was infinite darkness in all directions, a weird device was forced onto his hand, his friends were wearing some kind of weird teleporting cosplay, and he didn't even call his mom to say goodnight... At least he wasn't hungry. Which only made things weirder.

The red button. What would happen to him? Which would be the game that would inspire his weird equipment? He knew which game he wanted it to be, but that was impossible, wasn't it? "Fine. Screw you guys, I'm saying I told you so in advance. My death is on you, and I choose to be buried with my PC." He spat right before smashing his fist into the red button.

A glow appeared underneath the fat teenager's clothes, stronger by the second, until he looked like a giant jack-o-lantern. A hum accompanied the glow - a strange high-pitched sound, like a boiling kettle, that made everyone uneasy. And while he looked at his hands, both terrified and curious, he seemed to inflate, as if by the light and sound. A few seconds of this, and the effect abruptly disappeared.

"Well, I guess nothing-"

HALLELUJAH

A great explosion shook the silence. And on the smoking remains of what once was William, stood a large, fleshy, disgusting creature, about half of William's height and with a gigantic face. It blinked at its surroundings, then shook a meaty fingerless hand that hung on thin air.

HELLO A sound effect more than a voice came from its mouth. It blinked in surprise, then looked at its floating hands. The innocent expression slowly turned to horror.

OH NO!

[fer1323]

After hearing Navi's retelling of the history of the place that they are in, Marina says "Navi, your story has a lot of similarities to Digimon. Anyways, who am I to judge? If most of us are going to press the button and becoming epic then I will give it a try." Marona pressed the button and a light envelop her entire body. Once the light fades away, Marona did not feel much different, except for the extra weight on her head. Marona touches the top of her head and feels two horns. As Marona touches the rest of her head and finding the pointed ears too, her now emerald eyes grow large. When she looked at her clothes, Marona says softly "I am a farian." She then realises what the others are wearing and what Navi said is now the reality that none of them knew was real. After composing herself, Marona looks at the problem at hand: getting to the data code. "Hey Navi. Could you provide more information on the gauntlets ahead or give us a training course? As good as we are at these games, I would feel more comfortable once I know the capabilities of my new form along with my team."

[Crossfire]

@fer1323@Peaceless@NightmareInd@MechonRaptor@Eklispe@alexfangtalon@Fabricant451

"The gaming realms are countless and randomized, a necessary security feature of the DataCore" Navi stated "Although with some time, I believe I could decipher the formula and predict upcoming challenges with a 94% accuracy. As for training, if you would allow me a moment, I will access appropriate simulations for you all"

A short time later, the group reconvened in front of the large glowing doorway, each of them having spent ample time getting used to their new powers. David stepped forward.
"Ok everyone, I think we're as ready as we'll ever be to take this on, so here goes. Once we go through this door, we could end up anywhere, but if we stick together, and work as a team, we can make it out the other side of this alive. Here goes"

David turned and took the first step through the door. A blinding white light enveloped him, slowly fading into darkness, as he emerged from the other side of the portal a familiar, melancholy theme began playing.

"Oh, so much for starting off easy" He remarked sarcastically as the others began emerging from the portal, looking down at his armor, he noted that it had shifted to match the aesthetic of the Dark Souls world, appearing more medieval rather than futuristic. Down on his power glove, David noted that all of his active abilities had been locked out. He tapped on the INTEL panel urgently.
"Scanning" Navi's voice said from the device "You have entered the realm of Dark Souls, although it appears that the data file was corrupted and the gaps were filled with similar data. Analyzing. Indeed. This version of Dark Souls will contain elements of all 3 games. Your goal is to eliminate 3 bosses and claim their souls. With those in your possession, you will be able to access the sealed room containing the first DataCore key. I will update you all with further information as it becomes available"
"Wait!" David shouted "What about weapons? My abilities are locked out. Aliron and Sam have swords, Amy and Marona have bows, but the rest of us are defenseless!"
"Ah, yes apologies, I will attempt to override the system's ability limiters to allow you to arm yourselves. One moment please"

David looked down just in time to witness his Weapons Locker ability unlock itself. He tapped the icon and watched the holographic menu pop up.
"I apologize for the lack of options, but I could only program it to give access to starting weapon sets for now, I will attempt to dig further into the files to give you more weapons as you proceed"
"That's ok Navi, you did what you could. Alright everyone, who needs a weapon? I have access to a standard sword, a mace, a spear, a battle axe, and what looks like the pyromancer's glove, as well as a base shield"

[alexfangtalon]

Alex Hill

---

Alex Hill

---

As the group went off to train Alex had a little fun with the exercise. He had Navi produce for him the training stages from various military games. Namely COD4, Alpha Protocol, and the like. He had Navi throw in a few Clickers in the stages to make it more interesting. Needless to say he got well acquainted with how his powers worked and the weapons that came with. This would be fun.

When they met back up in front of the door Alex was smiling wide. Honestly, it looked a little creepy. He was having to much fun with this already. At David's short speech however Alex mentally said, *I'll probably just go lone wolf.* That was, however, until he hopped through the door and heard the music. Oh, he recognized the music alright. "Seriously. One of the few games I haven't played." He audibly groaned. He wasn't gonna risk running off on his own when he had no experience playing the particular game world they found themselves in.

He looked down at his attire to realize that it had slightly altered. Looked like something the commoners from medieval times would wear. At least this time it looked like something he wouldn't be seen wearing out and about. Actually now that he thought about it the clothing was fairly comfortable. Maybe he should start going to Renaissance Fairs so he could have an excuse to wear the clothes. When Daavid asked if they needed weapons Alex responded, "All I need is a bow and some stuff to craft with and I'll be just fine." At this he used his ability to pull out a bow and a chunk of arrows. He looked a little like Robin Hood actually. Now he just needed the hat.

[Eklispe]

Aliron nodded, getting a chance to become acquainted it their new... status, would be greatly appreciated. In a remarkably short period of time Navi had created a simulation that allowed Aliron to test the extent of his new abilities, and learn of those he had been unable to use. He stepped out of the simulation and stepped through the white light along with the others. Somewhat familiar music and the scenery revealed that they were in the world of Dark Souls. Though apparently an amalgamation of all versions. He didn't need any items yet so he couldn't pull anything out yet. From what he gathered he could probably get a new item before each new boss they fought. Luckily the worlds of Dark Souls and Legend of Zelda were very similar. The main difference was that in both combat and puzzles, Dark Souls was more liable to kill you. Yet the need to pay attention to your environment, analyze and fight your opponents appropriately, and be ever vigilant were all the same. Aliron grinned, this could be fun, he was somewhat eager to test his new skills against real opponents. "I'm equipped well enough on my own. It would be best if I lead I think, my skills are well suited to this world." His combat abilities should ensure he could fight anything, likely by himself or until help arrived and his keen eye should detect any traps before they triggered. "I also recommend staying in sight and shout range but not too close together, lest one trap or enemy take advantage of multiple people." Aliron said confidently, though not moving forward yet, it would be best to ensure everyone was ready before moving forward.

[Peaceless]

The simulation was weird. The ability to perceive the world both from a first-person view and some kind of isometric overview made the Will-Worm dizzy for a while, his floating arms laying flat on the ground in front of his feet-body-tail-whatever. He was surprised how fast it became natural, though. Despite the "stage" being empty, he managed to measure and throw some trick shots with a toy-like bright green hand grenade that felt so familiar in his hand. Yeah, he could handle this. He checked what other weapons he had access to and found only the basic ones were unlocked. Eh. To be honest, that's all any pro player ever needed.

When Will emerged from the simulated space, half of the group were already past the strange light portal that PODONOK (yeah, cyka) summoned. A sudden gust of cold wind made him shiver and back away, the view of the desolate, colorless landscape in front of them chilling him in more ways than one. He knew this game. Oh yes. It was a game that required much timing and skill. That he could respect. It also required much, much dying.

One would say dying was an integral part of the game.

I wonder how permanent our death is here, he thought aloud, but the only sound that came from somewhere in his form was OI NUTTER. He tried to summon one of those grenades, but the only thing that appeared is a weird pixelated inventory with badly drawn equipment. A quick look around the new options made him understand he wasn't completely lost.

COME ON, THEN A small but painfully bright flame appeared inside Will's right floating fist. He tossed the fireball lightly into the air and caught it. Yeah. This could work.