Chapter Text
TWM Labs
TWMBIOS(C)X021 TWM ENTERPRISE, INC.
XIDON 2290-B ACPI BIOS Revision 1043
CPU: YTEC(R) Y-4430M CPU @1.6506Hz
Checking LPRAM...
2048KB OK
Detecting SC51 Devices..
5C511: Directional Input Device #140F604
SCSI2: Network Port #1801C20
SCSI4: Remote Presence #200A490
Auto-detecting Mass Storage...
512MB MD500100593-3B1
Scanning sounds....
Scan complete. Found 112 sounds.
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Launch Oneshot.
After everything going dark for a bit, something that Niko had gotten well adjusted to over the last day, they woke up again in the room made of glass, holding the Sun between their sleeves. “Wuh- oh, I’m back here. And the Sun is…” They clutched it. “Player, are you there?” Desperation laced their voice. Scared. Like a stray lost in an alleyway.
They got no response, and wilted a little before hearing the groaning of someone waking up behind them, which jolted them a little, glancing behind themself. A purple… lizard girl? pulled herself up. Niko’d seen crazier in this world. And she might be from another world, even, like them! Cause no one in this world could be in the tower, right? Had Player gotten her here as well? Was this a physical manifestation of them? They heard her mutter something along the lines of “Godammit, where the hell am I now?” Which immediately threw the second theory out the window. Her voice sounded nothing like theirs.
They walked over and put a hand out. “Hey, are you alright?”
She chose not to take it. “Heh, as ‘alright’ as I’ll be.” She looked around, throwing her- woah that was a HUGE axe- down. “Where are we anyway? Some kind of greenhouse? Or, wait, aren’t you supposed to be able to see outside in greenhouses…?” They couldn’t see how someone would mistake this for a greenhouse, but they also didn’t want to be rude, so Niko stayed quiet.
“...You don’t know? This is the tower, the center of this world! I don’t know a lot about it, and we’re… stuck up here, I think, so no asking someone else.” They hoped they weren’t telling her things she already knew. Based off of what she’d said so far, it sounded a lot like she was, in fact, from another world. Like them.
“Damn. What world?” She responded, confirming that theory. Well, maybe at some point they’d have to ask what world she was from. It was only polite! And maybe they were from the same world! …Well that was unlikely cause they’d never heard of person-like lizards being in their world. That would be weird.
“I don’t think it has a name.” They replied. Maybe they could’ve responded that they were in the Refuge, but they didn’t think that that was what she was asking. Or maybe they should have? Urgh… it would be nice if they knew more about the world that they were in. Then they’d be able to tell her all about it!
“Do you… know anything else about this weird tower? Is it just a weird tower or is it a prison or something. How high up are we anyway?” A lot of questions… Niko wasn’t great with remembering things.
“I don’t think it’s a prison, and I actually don’t know how high up we are. Probably pretty high? Cause this tower is supposed to hold the Sun, which might save this world!” Maybe it was a prison? At some point? No, that didn’t make sense… were they even at any kind of height? Or just in some weird space between space? But they’d seen the top of the tower before, and everyone else would have to if the sun was supposed to go here!
“How would a tower hold the Sun?” The girl snorted. “This room is tiny!”
“The Sun of this world is just this lightbulb.” Niko held it up. “Its pretty small, and I think it’s supposed to go in there,” They pointed to the jar.
The girl looked to it, then the sun, then back at it, confused. “So if it has to go in there… then what’s the hold up? Is it too small? You afraid you’ll break it?” Well, they weren’t before, but they were now! What if they dropped it?
They shrunk into themself, battering away their fear, giving her their explanation. “That’s the thing. I’m not really… from this world. And if I put the Sun in there, then I’ll never get to go home.” It was selfish. They knew that. But Player told them that that would happen, so they must’ve had some reason for it.
“And what’ll happen if you don’t?”
“Well, this world will be destroyed, and…” Niko trailed off. They didn’t want to never be able to go home again. That sounded so, so scary to them. But if this world died out, then no one would ever be able to see their world ever again.
“Then put the lightbulb in the jar! You can find a way to go home later. You won’t die, right?” An outside perspective, and she was so confident in her decisions. She knew what was correct for her. They really, really wished they could do that. It seemed nice.
So they brightened up. This was someone willing to help, to not say that the world’s doomed or that they could only stay in one place. She’d just met them and she was still being nice! “Yeah… yeah, that’s true! Thanks, uh…?”
“Susie. Don’t mention it.”
“I’m Niko! Thanks, Susie!”
They put the Sun in the bottle and everything shone
Bright.
Niko woke up in a dark, familiar room. Jolting up, they shouted out, “...Player?”
They heard no response.
They remembered everything so clearly, and yet looking out the window, it was still dark.
But it was light enough, at least, to hold the remote up the window and see the numbers that were missing. 5, 8, 3, and 4. They entered them into the computer.
The computer flashed with notices, one by one, that Niko clicked through themself. […You found me. …Why? You’re too late. Not much of this world remains. This will be apparent once you go outside. This place was never worth saving.…Do you still want to try? Then, remember this: Your actions here will affect Niko. Your “mission” is to help Niko leave. And most importantly…… ]
[...]
[No. This does not feel right at all.]
They jolted. So it wasn’t just a dream?
[Have we… already been through this, Player?]
Niko, without thinking, responded directly to the computer. “I… I think so?”
[No, no. This message isn’t for you, and… I’m not supposed to exist, you shouldn’t- If this already happened, I shouldn’t exist anymore! You should’ve only had one shot!]
A door unlocked. There was no one else for them to talk to.
They went through the familiar puzzle, unlocked the basement door, and walked down the stairs, footsteps echoing through the corridor. They reached the end, and picked up the Sun between their sleeves.
The house was so uncomfortably silent, with nothing but their footsteps filling the empty space. They were so confused, but they had no one to tell it to, so they stayed quiet.
At last, they arrived at the door, and held up the sun to it, shining a bright light across the house and when they could see again, they saw that they were in the first room of the barrens. Computers lines the walls, and a door lay a few feet away from them.
They marched to the door, but felt something like an earthquake rattle the building, making Niko let out an “Eep!”
“Oh, damn, I didn’t know someone was in- oh, hey… cat person?” The girl from before (Susie!) was standing by the entrance,
They gave a tired expression back. “Niko, and I’m not a cat.”
“Right, yeah, sure. I was kinda hoping that after that whole tower thing I’d just be able to seal the dark fountain, but there’s nothing out here! Except for that tower, and it doesn’t look very dark fountain-y.” To them, it sounded like she was just saying random stuff. It made no sense. They tilted their head.
Niko looked dumbfounded. “Dark… fountain?”
“Yeah, y’know, dark, tall, swirly. You can seal them with a human soul?” She waved her hands around in a circle pattern. Though, uh… Kris isn’t here, so that might be… But yeah, dark fountain. We’re in a dark world, right?” Still sounded like nonsense. They could barely figure out the vibe of what she was talking about, let alone its meaning.
They stared forward, flabbergasted. “...Nevermind.” She threw her arms behind her head, dismissing whatever she’d been talking about earlier as nothing. “So, that lightbulb, huh? I thought you put it in the tower- jar- thing.”
“I did, I don’t know why it’s here now. Maybe I need to go up there again?”
She shrugged. “Makes sense to me. Maybe you just did it wrong or somethin.”
“So I’ll just redo my journey! And see if anyone remembers!” Niko began walking north, and Susie followed.
“Why wouldn’t they??”
“Everything in the room back there was the same as it was before, and this was where I was when I first entered this world, so I think time got reset. Except you’re here now.”
“Heh, I was worried that my memories had been erased too for a second!” She snorted. “Well, you know the place, so lead the way.”
Niko walked into the other building, grabbed the metal pipe, and left.
“Oh damn, a metal pipe? Wait, gimme, I wanna do something with it.”
“...Sure?” They gave it to Susie, who then banged it against the wall of the metal building, creating a sound so loud that they knew it would ring in their ears for hours.
“Heh, I’ve always wanted to do that.” She turned back to Niko, and, seeing their expression, dropped the pipe. “Oh, damn, are you okay? That was really loud, sorry…”
They bent down to grab it. “It’s okay. Just don’t do that again.”
“Yeah, I uh. Won’t.” She threw her hands behind her head and let a smile fall onto her face again. “So, where to next?”
And Niko set off south.