Chapter Text
Twm Labs v1.24.10.5.0
TWMBIOS(C)X021 TWM ENTERPRISE, INC.
Console Log (XX/XX/XXXX)
>BOOT UP
Booting up program...
.
Scanning NPC data...
NPC Data [100%]
NPC Data fully loaded.
.
Scanning sounds...
Sounds [100%]
Sounds fully loaded.
.
Loading graphics...
Graphics [14%]
ERROR - Unable to load Graphics Data: No mental renderer found
.
ERROR - Unable to complete boot sequence: No host computer found
Initiate A.E.R.S? [Y/N]
> Y
Initiating Alternative Environment Relay System...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
—————————————————————————
[Percy wakes up in a bed in an unfamiliar room.]
[He looks around in confusion before leaving the bed.]
"H-Hello? Is anyone there? Sally? Little guys...?"
[Percy stands up and looks to the desk next to him.]
[There's a computer that's currently powered down.]
[He turns on the computer, which displays a black screen with text asking to input a 4-digit password.]
"Password? Sally never told me the password to the family computer..."
[Percy steps away from the desk.]
[He goes to a door and tries to leave.]
[It's locked.]
"What the heck? Hey, this isn't funny! Unlock this thing!"
[Percy shakes the door, but it doesn't budge.]
[He walks away from the door.]
[On the side of the room, there's a TV remote lying on the ground.]
[Percy takes it.]
"Ugh, I can barely see anything in here..."
[Percy notices a nearby window emitting a soft light into the dark room.]
[Walking over to it and holding the remote under its faint glow, he can glimpse the face of the remote...]
[All of the numbers except 2, 3, 4, and 8 are missing.]
"'2348?' Is this...?"
[Percy walks over to the computer and turns it back on.]
[He inputs the password '2348.']
[...]
[Access Denied.]
"...alright, looks like I'm gonna have to brute force this."
[It takes Percy a few minutes to figure out the password, but eventually...]
['8423.']
[...]
[Access Granted.]
"Sweet, I got it! I thought that was gonna take me an hour! Now... what's up with this thing?"
[Percy presses several keys on the keyboard, none of which give a response.]
[He lets out a frustrated huff... before a series of pop-ups appear on the screen.]
"[You found me. Why? You're already too late.]"
"[Not much of this world remains. This will become apparent when you go outside. This place was never worth saving.]"
"[...Do you still want to try?]"
"[Then, remember this: Your actions here will affect Percy. Your 'mission' is to help Percy leave.]"
"[And most importantly...]"
You only have one shot, Reader.
—————————————————————————
[Percy hears the sound of a door unlocking.]
"...What did any of that mean?"
[Percy walks through the door on the south of the room.]
[He steps into the living room and shouts.]
"HEY! Is anyone there?! Tat, if this is another one of your pranks, I'm gonna get you for this!"
"...Or was it Tim that did this? T-Tot?"
"..."
[Percy sighs.]
[He walks towards a broken TV that gives off a dangerous looking spark.]
[Curiously, he puts his hand close to it.]
"ACK-! Okay, that was stupid! Ow..."
[Percy holds his sparked hand close to his mouth as he walks over to a fireplace.]
[The wood inside looks like it was never used. Perhaps it could be lit.]
[Percy walks towards the kitchen and opens the fridge.]
[Inside the refrigerator is a bottle of alcohol.]
"Yuck. I don't get why adults like this stuff, it smells awful."
[Percy quickly shuts the door and walks away from the kitchen.]
[He goes back into the bedroom and goes through the other door that leads to a bathroom.]
[In the mirror, a pair of reflective, white eyes stares back at Percy.]
"Bleh, bedhead..."
[Percy runs his hands through his fur to straighten it.]
[He walks away from the mirror and approaches a withered plant.]
[He touches it and accidentally snaps off a branch.]
"...oops. Hope you won't be needing that."
[Percy takes the branch.]
[He leaves the bathroom and enters the living room again.]
[He walks to the door near the fireplace.]
[It's locked.]
"Another locked door. Great. Now what?"
[Percy looks around the room and glances at the fireplace.]
"Hmmm..."
[Percy grabs the dry branch and approaches the broken TV.]
[He readies the branch...]
[...it doesn't manage to light.]
"Dang it, I thought that would work! How am I supposed to get a fire going if I can't even... oh, wait!"
[Percy runs to the kitchen and grabs the bottle of alcohol.]
[He dips the branch into the alcohol.]
"Let's try this again."
[Percy readies the branch...]
"Woah-!"
[The end of the wet branch ignites with a blue flame.]
[Percy walks over to the fireplace and lowers the flame into the logs.]
[The fireplace lights up in an instant.]
"Whew, finally. It was getting cold in here."
[Stepping back from the fire, a glimmer on the ground shines in the firelight.]
[It appears to be a small metallic object, wedged into a crack in the floor.]
[Percy digs it out.]
"It's... a key."
[Percy walks to the locked door from earlier and tries to insert the key.]
[It slides in and turns with a click.]
[The door swings open, revealing a staircase leading to the basement.],
"Cool, a creepy dark set of stairs leading to a creepy dark basement. What is this, a horror movie?"
[Percy walks down the flight of stairs.]
[The way down is dark.]
[The way back is dark.]
[Everything around him is dark.]
[No light.]
[Only the sounds of paws stepping on wooden boards fills the room.]
[Nothing else.]
[At the bottom of the stairs is a hallway.]
[The hallway is dark.]
[Something can be seen at the end.]
[He walks towards it.]
[He looks around, but it's all dark.]
[He reaches the end.]
[He finds a satchel on the ground.]
[Inside of the satchel is a large orb.]
[He reaches down to grab the orb.]
[And then...]
—————————————————————————
...Percy closes his eyes as the strange object starts to glow harshly. Once the flash subsides, he finds the basement illuminated by the orb in his hands, which he now clearly sees is some sort of large lightbulb. He holds it up and stares at it in wonder.
"What... the HECK is this thing? I thought lightbulbs needed like, electricity and stuff to work! And why is it so BIG?!"
After his initial confusion goes away, Percy looks to the satchel still lying on the floor. He decides to take it with him, tossing it onto his shoulder and slipping the large lightbulb inside... before quickly taking it out due to everything being pitch black without it. With nowhere else to go, Percy decides to go back upstairs and return to the living room of the odd house. With the lightbulb held in his arms, the place is a lot clearer than before. He first heads back to the kitchen area to grab the now-empty bottle. With the two puzzles things he had to solve earlier, he figures it could come in handy later.
"Ugh, this thing still reeks of alcohol..."
Reluctantly, Percy stashes the bottle into his satchel and zips it closed. Turning towards the living room again, he begins walking over to the fireplace... when he sees a door on the opposite end of the room. One he had never noticed before. He heads towards the door instead, staring at it and wondering why it seemed to lack a doorknob of any kind. There's some kind of engraving in the door which, to him, looks like a drawing of a lightbulb.
"Lightbulb... does it want this?"
He holds the lightbulb up near the door, trying to find somewhere to insert it... when suddenly, the engraving reacts to it and starts glowing.
"Uh oh."
Another large flash envelops the room around Percy, him holding the lightbulb over his face to shield it. Amidst the blinding light, the sound of something creaking can be heard, almost like a door swinging open. Both the flash and the sound stop, and Percy opens his eyes and sees... he's not in the house anymore. The environment around him now resembles a train car, but with what seem like broken computer terminals lining its walls.
"Alright, first I wake up in a weird house, have to solve some puzzles to get around the place, then I find some giant lightbulb in the basement, and now that lightbulb got me magically transported to a beaten up train!"
Percy kicks the ground under his feet, letting out a frustrated sigh as he composes himself.
"...this is some kind of train, that part's pretty clear. And if I'm in a train, that means I'm back in the city, right? And if I'm back in the city, I must not be far from home. So once I leave this thing, I can just walk my way back home and go back to bed..."
Clutching the lightbulb tightly, and still muttering to himself, he walks over to the doorway of the train car. He stares at the large gap before taking a deep breath, exhaling, stepping outside, and...
...Percy finds himself in a desolate area comprised of blue and purple stone grounds. The field is littered with piles of stone dust, broken railways and minecarts, and shut-down machines and robots. A large pool of a sparkling, glowing blue liquid sits not far from he's standing. And, out in the distance, far, far, far away from here... lies a tall structure, seemingly reaching the top of the dark sky above and towering above the wasteland.
"...this... isn't the city, is it?"