Work Text:
┌
│ Boss defeated!
│+513 XP +650 currency
└
The hero hid his weapon and, lost in thought, began to collect the drops spread across the flooring.
The boss was fast and ruthless, the player needed more than a dozen attempts to finally defeat it and although it finally disappeared in a colorful burst, the hero didn't feel satisfied. He has spent quite some time on this battle and this whole level only kept looking less and less fun. He wished to quickly finish this map and move to a new environment.
The hero tried to remember the shape of the map. If he arrived here from the side of the skull-shaped rock, then the exit ought to be on the opposite side, which means somewhere behind this rock face where he found the boss.
He looked around. In order to conquer the wall he would need to scale the surrounding rocks, climb some trees, maybe even pass through a cave or two...
A quiet chirping snapped him out of his thoughts. The hero quickly started examining his nearest surroundings looking for the sprite, until he finally found it in a cavity at the bottom of the rock - when he approached it, the sprite vanished into thin air, revealing a hidden entrance to a cave.
Could it be that he just found a shortcut to the exit? The hero eagerly run inside the cave and immediately hit a wall. It was completely dark inside, and fumbling blindly he couldn't find any foothold. To make things worse, soon enemies have appeared and started attacking him, aiming precisely while perfectly unbothered by the darkness.
The hero quickly returned outside. He didn't feel like collecting any bonus XP at all. Reluctantly, he started climbing the rock shelves.
The bushes were not on his side. What awaited him within were tiny monsters, disappearing platforms and mean plants - poisonous, prickly and slowing. Jumping between them the player was wondering if that was the only enrichment the developers have implemented in this stage.
As it soon turned out, there were more obstacles awaiting - near one rock passage big boulders started rolling down from the edge of the screen, pushing him down to the very bottom upon touching. The hero tried to avoid them, fully focused, frequently sliding literally one pixel away from them. The game developers drew him an athletic build, which unfortunately made him an easy target.
After a few shelves and turns instead of rubble, which usually preceded falling boulders, a bunch of leaves and twigs fell from the top of the screen, followed by a dialogue box.
┌
│ ???
│ Have you seen my balls?
└
The player was stunned. What was that even?
A gooey character with a worried face lowered himself down with his stretchy arms right onto the hero's rock shelf.
┌
│ ???
│ I lost my balls! Have you seen them, perhaps?
└
The NPC looked around and, excited, pointed at a nearby bush, which was surrounded in bright sparkles. He skipped towards it and reached into the leaves to pull out an egg-shaped object giving off a blue shine. He presented it cheerfully.
┌
│ ???
│ It's a ball of power from my power plant! I need to bring it to the top quickly!
│ If you find more of them, bring them to the power plant at the top of the mountain!
│ Without them I won't be able to reach full power!
│
│> Sure!
└
The NPC threw his arm like a lasso and pulled himself up the rock wall, soon disappearing behind the edge.
The hero followed him with his eyes. Although he was in a hurry, there was something really charming about this gummy guy... Maybe it was his honesty and directness? Maybe his bright smile? Suddenly this whole level stopped looking like a series of miseries. The player started to feel like staying there for a bit longer. To his own surprise he immediately started to search the bushes along the trail.
Just like earlier, balls could be spotted by a sparklative cloud surrounding the bushes where they were hidden. Just like earlier still, the bushes were hiding unpleasant surprises. Damaged and slowed hero kept asking himself, what's this all for? Why did he care so much about this draggy sidequest?
That was silly. He was rummaging through bushes looking for blue balls for the simplest sidequest one could possibly come up with. And he enjoyed it. He was ashamed of his joy, harmless and simple, because he thought he's too serious for this, too mature... But did this actually matter at all? Were his ideals even right if something so incompatible with them brought him so much joy?
The hero already managed to collect six balls when he finally reached the top of the mountain. A huge antenna was standing there, and a minuscule building next to it. That must have been the power plant, so he eagerly walked inside.
The familiar NPC was focused on operating a control panel which was connected by a tangle of cables to a strange round device. The hero felt a wave of relief and joy flowing through him. He walked closer to talk to him.
“Nice to see you again”, he would have said if there was such a dialogue option available. The NPC greeted him with a smile.
┌
│ ???
│ It's you! I forgot to introduce myself.
│ I am Jesse and I'm taking care of this power plant.
│ In this place we are generating power for the entire region!
│ Did you manage to find my balls?
│
│ > show balls
└
┌
│ Jesse
│ Great, you already collected six!
│ Just three more and the generator will be able to work with full power!
│
│ OK
│ > tips
└
Normally the hero would feel disappointed that this isn't the end of this tiresome quest, this time however he was enjoying every moment spent with the nonchalant character. He continued the conversation, quietly hoping that the host also wants it to keep going.
┌
│ Jesse
│ There was a heavy thunderstorm in the area recently.
│ A thunderbolt must have hit the grid, because the generator suddenly went haywire and threw the balls everywhere!
│ I only have one ball left, so I must make sure the generator doesn't stop and I can't look for the rest myself.
│ I believe they have rolled all the way down, unless the bushes stopped them.
│ I am counting on you!
└
The NPC returned to work and the hero reluctantly left the building. Jesse had a really nice voice and it was a pleasure to listen to him, unfortunately the developers didn't give him a lot of dialogue.
The player quicky rolled down to the very bottom of the level and started searching the bushes from the lowest parts of the mountain. Stubborn enemies, nasty plants - all of it somehow didn't bother him anymore, because completing this task would grant him another meeting with Jesse. Just the thought of it was enough to make him smile.
Finally he managed to collect all the balls and skipping happily he returned to the top of the mountain. Along the way he was preparing what he wanted to tell Jesse: that thanks to him this level made any sense at all, that this quest was tons of fun, that he couldn't await meeting him again...
As soon as the hero entered the building, he froze in place. This was most likely the last stage of the quest and they will probably never have a chance to talk again. Besides, his dialogue options didn't give him many possibilities to communicate. He didn't want to part ways just yet, so before he passed the balls, for a few moments he was just standing there.
Without stopping his work, Jesse took a look over his shoulder. Seeing the hero's hesitance he appeared a bit worried and looked at him with anticipation, as if offering help.
The hero was basking in the NPC's worried look, trying to remember well his messy hair, elastic arms and relaxed stance. He also counted that by some miracle he will be able to express his feelings without using words.
Language is both freedom and prison. It makes communication possible, but heavily limits which thoughts and in which way can be expressed.
Somehow Jesse must have understood, as his face brightened up, his eyes filled with strange longing and wisdom so out of place for this character archetype, as if he wasn't just one of many NPCs in this game, but rather something closer to a reflection of the developer in person.
Connected by the common thread they persisted, lost in each other, in silence, which carried more meaning than any words could express.
This moment, as beautiful as it was, couldn't last forever. With regret, the hero at last passed the found balls and watched Jesse installing them in the generator, which soon started to glow with a pleasant shine, humming quietly.
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│ Jesse
│ Hooray! Finally everything works!
│ I don't have to watch after the generator anymore.
│ We have enough power to light up even the tunnel under the pass.
│ It's been so long since I've been there!
└
┌
│ Task completed!
│ +88 XP +15 currency
└
The player knew what will happen next. As soon as the dialogue box disappears, the NPC will run out of the building and he won't see him ever again. But something couldn't stop bothering him. Jesse kept looking at him reassuringly, as if promising that this won't be the end just yet.
Intrigued, the hero ended the conversation and, as expected, Jesse has left the power plant. But as it turned out, he was waiting right behind the door. Without words he gestured at the hero to follow him, which the latter eagerly did.
With no rush they climbed down the mountain, without having to worry about a single enemy - Jesse turned out to have the ability to destroy any obstacles with his light, which he kept using to make sure nobody disturbed their walk.
The hero realized they were headed towards the place where he defeated the last boss. The cave which he discovered before turned out to be an entrance to a tunnel, which was a shortcut to the next level. Right now, lit brightly, the tunnel didn't pose any threat, and Jesse additionally cleared the area from all monsters using his light.
The NPC stopped at the very entrance to the cave. The game required him to say one last dialogue line. The player however knew that he wanted to express something more. He ignored the dialogue box and read the true message in Jesse's eyes. Touched, the hero responded with the same and, looking back still, he went towards new adventures on the other side of the tunnel.