[Backdated, see below]

[hacker_twins]

(Continued from here after Release 88 made the first post unusable)

The only thing that grates on Techno worse than when people notice how obviously he resembles Forte, is when it dawns on them he resembles both Forte and Mega. He isn't really sure how to feel about the person responsible being dead, as now he'll never get to have that nice loud 'what the hell were you thinking' talk he'd sometimes fantasized about.

But for now the Twins skirt around that topic and onto one of pets, as they follow Zero towards X's room.

"I still think we should get a puppy."

"We live in a treehouse, Middy. Canines can't climb."

Comments

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"With little boingy balls on the top. It's very cartoony."

"He's probably tricked them to use them and something bad will happen." Though Weil tricked someone and something bad happens has been happening the whole time. At least the game doesn't care about him killing the soldiers besides giving him a low score, and he doesn't care.

He fights Harpuia and... suddenly looks very uncomfortable, sinking into the beanbag chair more.

[vengeancechild]

If Zero hadn't been in the middle of a boring at-base status report scene, he might not have noticed. As it is, he risks a glance over at the rustle of the beanbag. "Something wrong?"

Glancing back at his own screen, he notes he's being told all missions are done, but there's a missile factory next. That was contradictory. And to save his game and get some sleep and they'd call him. He's played enough RPGs to know that that means there's about to be some kind of disaster. Any time you get a 'free stay at the inn' the town burns down or something, it's a rule.

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

Forte's not sure how to answer that question. How do you say someone is enjoying getting their ass kicked a little too much without it sounding wrong?

"We need to get them out of there fast. Harpuia is acting... weird."

[vengeancechild]

Zero takes note of the cutscene his own game has gone to, and can only agree.

"We definitely need to get them out of there before this one. Harpuia tried to tell Copy 2.0 not to trust Weil. Weil showed up, scolded Harpy for gossiping about him. Some stuff about the Dark Elf and Harpy said they'd go check it out if 'maintenance' to Levi and Fafnir would be completed, only to get a 'you're fired' and Weil gets put in charge of the army."

"This version of the Copy is some braindead stuttering puppet that needs put out of his misery. And I have a bad feeling that the only way anyone gets demoted in Arcadia is right into the recycle bin."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"What bullshittery is this? They're all going to end up dead or stuttering puppets!" Which would explain why they're not in the fourth game as much as Forte doesn't want to think that way.

[vengeancechild]

"We'll just have to make sure it doesn't happen this way. Do you think I want to die wearing women's underwear? ... that came out wrong."

Zero just shakes his head and keeps playing. "The Copy's a lost cause. They've fired a missile, with Omega on it, into a human residential district in Arcadia." There's a brief relieved sigh. "Harpuia showed up to fight Omega, shouting stuff about justice, pissed off at Weil about the bombing. Got damaged, but game-me took her... uh, him... back to the base..." He frowns then, and adds, "No sign of Fafnir or Leviathan."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

Forte moves on to the next level, hoping Fafnir isn't as bad. It's still a little awkward, even though he doesn't like the fight to the point of enjoying the pain. Or at least he doesn't say as much or like Harpuia. Great, now he's putting too much thought into what they're saying. And they're getting the kids back before any of this anyway so it doesn't matter.

"Ah hell, X is trying to keep the Dark Elf from waking up, but that's not going to work. Off Zero goes to save the day, only for everything to go horribly wrong because everyone here is an idiot!"

[vengeancechild]

"When did 'saving the day' become a job for Wilybots, anyway? One of the reasons X and I make a good team is because he can handle any of the 'saving' anything, and I can scrap anything that gets in the way."

"According to the NPCs, Harpuia should recover... not a peep on the other two." Zero can't shake the thought that they were probably killed while down for repairs and helpless. "The base gets a phone call from Weil and his puppet, demanding Ciel turn over some energy research. She refuses because of the bombing... looks like the next set of levels are going to be dealing with troops advancing on the base."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"Apparently when X decided to use his body to seal away some elf thing and become a ghost. And when everyone else became too weak and stupid to do anything right. This is all cleaning up other people's messes."

"I mean, they had the defenses down and they still get mowed down like pansies. This one pink guy sneaks into Arcadia to get the 'ultimate power' of the Dark Elf and that's obviously going to go wrong and- stop transporting me back to the stupid base the teleporter takes forever and I was right there! Why did you bring me back!" Because it was the end of a level obviously but that doesn't stop him from questioning the sanity of the NPCs and yelling at them like they can hear him.

[vengeancechild]

The Twins, having quietly completed ripping game roms to decompile and use for reference, decide it best to just slip out of the room if they can. Middy at least waves bye in case either Wilybot looks up, but both know that disturbing preoccupied Wilybots is not a good idea.

"What the hell is wrong with their teleporters, anyway?" says Zero. "You have to have someone else teleport you. And they have enough time to do a countdown while doing it. It's like someone took the crap I've heard of from Giga City and thought it was a great idea. It's a pain in the ass, is what it is. And the last game even had a part where, while in the middle of teleporting, you had to fight through some kind of cyberspace VR setup..."

"Hm. Boss was Anubis, said Weil brought them back from the dead. I think these are just copybots, programmed to think they're the originals. It makes more sense. And now the NPC says Harpuia's internal temp is rising from his injuries, but it's not serious. And the room Harpy's in is locked, so you can't check."

He suddenly looks uneasy and pauses the game for a moment, going over to a storage cabinet stuck back in a corner. "Want an e-tank?" he asks, since he's grabbing one for himself.