[WP] A 1950s sci-fi short story.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Turbo asked. He emerged from a tall black portal to find Crystal and Keys on a hill overlooking a small town. Although, he could only make out a few houses and some of the main street; the rest of the town was enveloped by a pink, translucent blob. Crystal nodded down at the obscured buildings.
"It's bugged," she said. "The NPCs weren't fighting it like they're supposed to. Keys and I haven't been able to do any damage to it either; but, at least it's not fighting back." Then, Crystal apologized to Turbo. "Sorry to bother you; but, we submitted a ticket and it's taking forever. I thought you might have some ideas?" Turbo nodded and chuckled.
"No sweat," he said. His glasses changed into a red glass visor over his eyes with the nodding motion and he turned to face down at the blob. Then, he raised his hands in front of him. His smoke-grey glass Slate appeared and he immediately started typing. His initial flurry of activity lasted only a few moments before he stopped.
"Can you abandon the quest?" he asked Crystal.
"Do we have to..?" She asked. "We spent all week preparing and upgrading the villagers...,"
"Sorry," Turbo nodded. "You need to," he confirmed.
"Since we're doing that anyway...," Keys nudged Crystal with his shoulder. "... Let's take a break and go get something to eat; maybe try a new quest after."
"But we're so close!" Crystal shook her head as she flicked her wrist up. In the heat of the moment, the gesture made her look more frustrated than she was. Turbo chuckled and shook his head.
"I don't think so," he said. Crystal navigated the menus, then abandoned the quest.
"What do you mean?" she asked. "Huh." The moment she finished her question, a line of text appeared in her vision.
[Error: Blob Defense quest cannot be found.] But, even with the automatic message, the entry disappeared from her quest journal.
"Did it give you an error?" Turbo asked. Crystal nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay, I'll see what I can do, maybe I can recover some of your NPC progress. Why don't you guys go get that bite to eat?" he suggested.
"But...," Crystal tried to object. She wasn't exactly hurried to complete the quest; however, she was interested in the trouble. The AlterNet rarely suffered glitches and she immediately wondered if there was more to the situation. Her curiosity had a mind of its own and it found a new mystery to ponder. She wanted to be there to see Turbo work through the problem, at the very least to satisfy her curiosity. Luckily, Keys was around to help keep her distracted.
"No buts, I'm hungry," he said as he guided her toward an open portal.
"I'll let you know if I can salvage any upgrades; but, you'll probably have to start again," he said as he waved at them. "Sorry."
"It's fine. It was just for fun, not gear," Keys waved at him as he and Crystal disappeared into the portal. He waited a few moments, then, he sent a message. A new portal opened up and Jubilee stepped out with a smile.
"Time for a test run!?" she asked. "Can I stream it?" she added the question after Turbo nodded. This time, he shook his head.
"Not yet; I want to make sure it's going to work first," he nodded down at the blob-covered town.
"It's not connected to the AlterNet," he said. "See if you can do any damage to it."
"'Kay," she nodded, then released a brilliant flash of golden light. In an instant, her t-shirt and jeans were replaced with a colorful sailor outfit that included a gold and purple flowing skirt, and an elaborate helmet covering her head and face.
"That's the transformation you chose?" Turbo chuckled.
"Testing some different looks, and since I'm not streaming…," she answered him with a shrug. Then, she looked down at the town and nodded to herself before leaping down to the city. "I guess let's see what this form can do."
—
Cast