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Cashier sighed, and looked around himself. Well, this was the anomalous corridor Dummy was talking about. He was standing in some sort of cosmic void, filled with splotches of purple and blue. Filling the space were endless stars, streaking part in brilliant off-white, before fading to make way for more.
It was certainly a pleasant sight compared to the dim flicker of a roadside gas station, and a small finite world of inlet and outlet studs, Cashier admitted to himself. Not sure what to do, he began to walk in a straight line. It felt as though he wasn't moving at all, though if he focused hard enough on a few fleeting tiny comets, it confirmed he was.
"I guess it's nice to have a little adventure," he commented to himself. "the stakes are way better than last time, too."
It was hard to keep track, and frankly, Cashier wasn't counting the seconds or his steps, but after a considerable amount of time passed, a uniquely blue light up ahead in his periphery seemed to appear. He squinted at it, pushing his visor down slightly in response. Now he had a reason to really keep walking.
"How does the Player not get tired of walking around all the time?" He answered his own question. "I guess that's why they don't really visit anymore."
The bright blue light seemed to get even more burning, until-
"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice greeted. The light was now a man in a dark blue suit, with equally blue hair and a matching hat. "Who are you?"
"I'm Cashier. I could ask the same about you." The other man smiled.
"That's funny, I've sort of got a similar name. I'm Guide. I suppose I can guess what you do. Are you also an NPC?"
"Yeah. I'm guessing that you guide people, right?" This made Guide's smile turn more awkward, and before he could follow up with anything to save the conversation's tone, he spoke.
"I haven't done that job in a long time. I do miss it."
Cashier couldn't remember the last time he did anything but rot in the corner of the store, but he did it because there was hardly anything else to be done in the game.
"Maybe you could do a bit of your job again." Cashier had a good idea of what this was, but he felt a little bad. "Where are we? Explain to me what this is please."
"Oh, thank you." Guide held up a finger, his smile real again. "I don't think it has a proper name, but I like to call it the Dimensional Rift. Sounds cool, right? Anyway, this is just a place between realities, whichever. If you were stuck on an island, this would be an easy way to travel to somewhere far more pleasant, for example. You can use it to travel to different universes, places that seem too far to reach, hardly any limit.With the help of science and machinery!"
"I don't know about that last sentence. I didn't go through a machine to get here. It was more… magical, or code-y. Kind of."
"I guess I should've considered that." Guide shrugged. "Okay. You can use it to travel to different realities, hard-to-reach areas, the possibility is limitless! It's like a highway."
"If it was, we'd be shouting at each other, and there would be way too much traffic."
They both shared a brief laugh.
"In all seriousness, Cashier, do you know where you're going?"
"Yeah. Um, do you?"
"Hopefully. I don't.. really have anywhere else to go." He adjusted his tie.
"Really?" He thought back to the corruption. What if they never gathered all the endings fast enough? And what about the soda flood? What if the game was never made to reset? "Can I ask why?"
"Well, I used to live on an island, with the game facility. My creator, who was also the maker of the facility, started to gradually disappear. He had eyes set on well, bluer pastures, I suppose. Fast forward several years, and hardly anyone but myself was there, and out of coincidence, the very volcano that formed the island… became active again. The structures had also began to decay despite trying my best, and it all fell into lava and ruin."
"… Damn. I'm sorry to hear that."
"Of course, I don't live there anymore, it's just that.. you know. Nothing can go back to normal. I mean, I still get to help people, but they don't really speak to me anymore, and I'm more active, but part of me wants to go back, still."
"To like, return to the past?" The Guide nodded in response. "I get it, I guess. But you made it sound like there were more opportunities now you've left. If you looked on the bright side, it's an alright trade-off."
"It's just… alright. Oh- I shouldn't dump all of this on you!" Guide walked backwards a bit, putting a bit of the stars and nebulae between the two NPCs. "Forgive me. I don't know your situation."
"I don't care. I mean I don't really mind, this is all a very strange situation." He scratched his neck, looking off into the glowing interdimensional dust. "I guess my situation wasn't that different. See, one day, I just existed. And there was a store, so I decided to take charge of it, and I named myself.
Sure, there was a sewer, and a house, but there was nothing special about them. Everything revolved around this Player guy, who was just some kid that reset the world and bugged me, all for just.. endings. And that same person sort of broke the game down a little. My friend and I, we kind of saw the end of the world, but thanks to their properties, they were able to hold all of the information and the world returned to normal.
I don't c- I don't know why I care, but sometimes I still wonder why that one player never returned."
"That's just how some of them behave, same as the people that make the games in the first place. Sometimes they come and go as they please, without consideration for anything but themselves…"
"Do you not like them?" Cashier frowned. That came out a little wrong.
"Oh- well, no, I guess I don't blame them. They're there for the game, not to check how I'm doing. It's just, sometimes I do wish that they'd look a little past it. M-Maybe I'm selfish for thinking-"
"No, I understand. Why the hell wouldn't you want people to care about the things around them? I'd find that a little weird." He swung his arms a little. "I would think that you're an emotionless robot."
This seemed to make Guide laugh.
"I guess we really are on the same page," Guide remarked, his smile present once more. "I've never had the opportunity before, you know. NPC to NPC. Thank you, Cashier."
"Yeah, likewise, I've never seen a perspective so different."
Suddenly, to Cashier's right, a white light shone from his periphery. They both turned their heads, and when Cashier squinted hard, he could make out green grass, and a fountain.
"Oh, that's my stop," he realized. "You can tag along, if you'd like. I'm sure that my friend Dummy wouldn't mind."
"I would love to join, but…" Guide sighed. "I too have someone waiting for me."
A strange silence stretched on, for god who knows how long, if there was one residing here. Cashier wished he had an internal clock, like a robot you see in stories.
"What is that place, anyway?" Guide hovered a hand to shield his eyes. "Do you know? I can't see a thing through the brightness."
"It doesn't have a name, but it's this land a little similar to mine. Dummy said there's far more people, and things to do. We'll be having a picnic, I think."
"That sounds lovely! I wish I could have one. Hmm, maybe one day, if I have time."
The white light began to close in. Guide stepped away slightly, with a gesture to it.
"Go on, then, Cashier. I hope you'll enjoy yourself, on that picnic, and with your companion."
"Can I ask where you're going?"
"…It's, a bit of secret. In fact, even I don't know where I'm going. But I know I'll be there to help."
"That's really nice of you."
Cashier turned to face the light. As he got closer, it began to transition to a certain green, the same as the signature color of his torso and visor.
"Bye, Guide. It was nice to meet you. I hope I see you one day."
"Goodbye, Cashier! I look forward to meeting you again!" His voice was already starting to sound distant.
The light engulfed him, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut.
"Cashier?" Dummy was in his face. "Hey, you alright?"
"Uhhh? Oh, yeah. I'm good." He rubbed his eyes, looking around. It was lively, here, for sure.
"You look a little dazed," Dummy replied, before starting to lead. "It's normal, I mean, you kind of leave one reality, then come out to another. I bet if we use it enough, it'll go away."
"How long did you wait?" He blinked a few times to rid the lingering stars, allowing Dummy to hug him along. "It felt like I took a while. I met someone too."
"It's fine, it wasn't even five minutes. Let's get something to eat, now. You can tell me about it when we find a cool spot to relax at."
"Alright."