They reached out to you because you had some connection or affinity to old video games. Not just you, of course, hundreds of others - mostly in their late thirties and early forties, though there were many who were younger and a few who were older. Old video game tournament champs. Gamefaq authors. Romhackers. Speedrunners. Popular streamers. People with a demonstrated expertise of some kind with video games from the 8-bit era - the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Sega Master System.

However they learned about you, it happened, and you were invited to a tournament in Nevada. At Area 51, of all places. Your air fare and lodgings were comped, and you were taken to a big tent out in the middle of the desert, where the government had set up rows and rows of tables with refurbished Nintendo Entertainment Systems set up on them.

Set into each was a specialty tournament cartridge that, when activated on the judges' commands, offered a randomized medley of games released between 1985 and 1990. You might play a level of Super Mario Bros, then jump into a round of Punch-Out, followed by a random Zelda dungeon. It didn't flow very well, but everything gave you points, with the goal of earning the most in one hour of play, all while judges walked the aisles with clipboards - taking notes and watching you play.

At the end of the hour, a dozen people were taken to another tent while everyone else was dismissed. Funny thing was, the people who were taken weren't necessarily the people who'd scored highest in the games.In fact, that didn't seem to have anything to do with it at all.

ooc: If you want to see how well you did, you can roll against the Hobby (Video Games) skill. Let me know if you want to have it in your personal development thread and we can work out what level you've got it at.

If you want to specialize in a specific game instead of "Video Games" as a whole, you can take a Games skill to represent that, and roll at a slight penalty here. Again, we'll work that out in your development thread.

If you're here because of something related to video games but you're not good at actually playing them, then you can roll against DX-4 - in the Die Roller, roll 3d6 (it's set up that way) and try and get under your Dexterity -4. High Manual Dexterity will help in this case, if you decided to take it.

Simple card tables were set up in the smaller tent, along with a large flat-screen television. One of the judges was here, along with a few Air Force personnel.

ooc: Feel free to describe your character for the benefit of the others, and reflect on how well you did if you feel like it.

In so far as Dash had a talent at games, they were twofold. One was his near-perfect memory. He rarely made the same mistake twice when it came to navigation or controller input. As a result, he tended to excel at games which demanded that one remember a staggering amount of detail - the older games like Legend of Zelda and Metroid held some appeal for him. Punch-Out was a puzzle game disguising itself as a boxing game, and Mario he was able to figure out quickly once he sussed out stuff like the Warp Zones.

Then there was his other talent which didn't earn him a lot of friends. He was good at thinking like a game programmer, and had learned to ask what glitches he was allowed to exploit in a tournament. For example, he knew of a few ways in some games to dip in and out of what were effectively minus worlds to get to places he shouldn't get to. He knew how to rub himself against correct terrain pieces to cause himself to skip difficult or time-consuming portions of the game.

In short, he was a bit of a speedrunner at games once he figured out certain things, because he had a lot of other things he wanted to do as often as not, viewing games often as something to do while he waited for the results of his projects to yield results. He rarely played the same game twice unless he wanted to test something new within that game, which was actually where the real wonder of games were to him. In the modern age, anything made by Bethesda was always a special treat, because one never knew what entropy would yield next in that game.

Sometimes he'd luck out and find some shortcut a game developer put in for a difficult game, but those were difficult to suss out through organic gameplay.

So, being at this tour and playing a bunch of old systems under the wonderful desert of Nevada of all places - never mind that it was at a top-secret Air Force base where they probably tested the stealth fighter in days of old - on the government's dime was intriguing to him, if extremely uncomfortable. He was wondering if they were testing drone pilots' abilities to operate under conditions of duress, because the where was occurring as inhospitable as the changing games. He discovered they only wanted him playing a fraction of multiple games, a challenge he had heard about but never personally attempted.

But for the most part, this was just replaying the motions from his childhood and getting the dust off his skills.

As for card games, they held some fascination for him as well. Entropy was a subject of great interest to him, and trying to figure out how "luck" worked was a lifelong exorcise to him. He was just focused on the digital games, because that was what he was asked to do. He figured it was science of some kind, and thus cooperated.

Riley's been on air force bases a lot in the past.  She grew up moving to a different one every six months or so.  This place was still weird.  There was no area for families, and they wouldn't let her bring in her headphones, her phone, or even her GBA.  So she's quite bored while she's waiting for things to be setup.  She's met a couple of these people before but they're not friends.

Whatever weird thing this is, she needs to do a decent job.  With the off-season at work, she's only getting a couple shifts a week and her streaming brings in less than it cost for the rig she needed.  So she waits until they're ready for her group and chats with a couple of the other participants.

OOC: Delaying a bit for the first post.  Should have more about how she did on the test in the next one, still working on my skills.

Charlie isn't invisible but may as well be so. Apart from being, well, a bit runty he's rather unengaging and very vanilla. He does as he does and has no need to discuss it. Not a loner, just backward at coming forward but press the right buttons and he he can talk your leg off.

Jack's recruitment happened so fast that he hadn't really had any time to stop and process what was happening. He had been moved, herded, shuffled, and transported. And then suddenly, he was here playing old games in the strangest environment he'd ever been in. These games, in their cartoon flashy colors and catchy music, were in stark contrast to the serious business of the tents and the military attendants. This set up was not intended to be fun in spite of the games.

When the Zelda segment started, it was only then that Jack's attention was able to release the bazaar atmosphere and he began to relax and focus.

All of a sudden it appeared the staff had gotten the results they were seeking and it was all over.

One of the air force personnel spoke to the assembled group. "Just to reiterate, everything you're about to hear is covered by the NDA you had to sign as part of the sign-up process. Breaking this NDA will open you up not only to civil punishments but Federal criminal prosecution."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel." One of the judges, dressed casually in slacks and a short-sleeved dress shirt, nodded to the speaker then cleared his throat and turned on the television with a small remote. "I'm Greg Walters. I'm sure you all recognize this?"

The image on the screen was unmistakable - the Object, the Anomaly, It, the Big Dumb Object, the media had had dozens of terms for the mysterious and mind-bogglingly large object that had appeared at the L2 Lagrange Point nearly a year prior. Then the news cycle had moved on, and aside from the occasional meme on social media nothing more had been heard, other than tests were inconclusive and nobody could get in.

"Stories of the Anomaly's impenetrability were exaggerated," he continues. "In fact, the US mission managed to gain access only weeks after their arrival - and we assume the Chinese and Russian projects had similar luck."

Walters uses his remote, and a slightly artifacted video feed plays on the big television, showing a helmet-cam view of a massive hatch. The wearer is space-walking towards it. “Control, have made contact with the object.”

“Acknowledged, you may attempt to breach.”

“Attempting to breach.” The figure brings a torch up into view, then jerks as the hatch starts moving. “Control, the hatch is moving. It’s opening!”

“Abort, Captain! Abort!”

The figure thrusts away from the hatch. We can see it open at a distance and hear his heavy breathing. “Can you see that?”

The feed cuts and we’re given another, this time a split screen with two cameras approaching the open hatch.

“Control, Vance and Piper approaching the entrance. Edges are smooth. There’s another hatch at the far end, looks like an airlock. No visible controls from out here.”

“Acknowledged. Permission to approach.”

“Roger.” The feeds enter a short tunnel ending in another hatch. “Interior structure is another material. Plastic, maybe. Piper, get some samples-“

There’s a sudden shudder and the feed pans to show that the exterior hatch is closing. A woman’s voice comes over the feed. “Captain, we’re trapped!”

Vance’s voice repeats. “Control, we’re cut off. Repeat, we’re cut off.”

Piper: “Signal’s cut out! Look!”

Vance’s feed pans again to show that the interior door is slowly sliding open. Beyond it is a bright space - a broad rolling green hill studded with small cubes. The ceiling above is painted a powder blue, with a cloud motif. The astronauts approach cautiously. “Are you seeing this?”

As Vance nears the hatch he almost falls. “Artificial gravity!”

“How? There’s no spin?”

“No idea. This… looks like grass. Just normal grass.”

“We should wait for exfiltration-“

“It took forever to get that hatch to open the first time. We can’t sit around waiting, we don’t have the oxygen. Come on, maybe there’s a control mechanism.”

The pair step out into the field, moving clumsily.

“Look at the grass. There’s a breeze.”

“Didn’t bring anything to take an atmospheric sample with.”

“Next time.”

Piper’s feed stoops to examine one of the bricks. It’s perfectly formed, the bricks unweathered. “Can’t tell what kind of mineral this is.”

“Get a scraping.” Vance spots something hovering in the distance. “What in the world…?” He draws nearer as Piper pulls a metal tool out of her kit.

Vance grows closer to a golden box somehow hovering in mid-air, with a question mark on each side. “No visible means of support.” He waves a hand under it. “Have to get something to test for electromagnetism." He starts to reach towards it.

Suddenly, on Piper’s feed, she strikes the brick box sharply and it explodes. She flies back, and you can see Vance spin to look at the sound. “Piper!”

The feeds end.

Walters clears his throat. “As you can clearly see, the object’s interior has some familiar cultural markers.”

An aide passes a set of photos around to the gathered gamers - a brick block, question block, flagpole in the distance, a giant mushroom, a massive golden coin.

“You no doubt have already made the connection to the game Super Mario Bros. Further trips into the anomaly only confirmed this. You are not yet cleared for further details, but Space Force is looking to recruit subject matter experts in the field of this era of video games to act as advisors and consultants... to help our field agents and security staff avoid any dangers to be encountered.

The details are largely classified, but I can tell you that we have a semi-permanent facility in orbit near the object, contractors would be staying there long-term, and the compensation is in the six-digit range.

You have all undergone background checks. If you agree to contract with the government, you will undergo a few weeks of training to get you… space worthy… then depart for the orbital facility, whereupon you will be cleared for more information.

You'll have time to decide, of course. But while you're here: any questions?"

The feed is weird as hell.  Scary, but draws you in.  Riley already feels like she needs to go before she hears how much it pays, and she literally cannot turn that amount of money down.  Not during the off-season when she's already wondering how to pay her rent.

And then... she gets to go to motherfucking SPACE!?

Nevermind that anyone who says no after seeing that video is going to be in a holding cell that afternoon.

She holds up her hand .

"Excuse me sir.  You mentioned teams from Russia and China.  Most of the games you just ran through are from Japan...

Are we working with them on this?

For the record, sign me up either way.

Charlie's hand shoots up, "Yes, I have! Has anyone returned? Have results on air and brick compositions or E-M field strength been determined? Do unmanned probes work there? Umm, do our physical laws apply there?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Mon 17 July 2023.

"JAXA?" Walters answered Riley. "No. This is a US operation. But we have reached out to Japanese game developers of the era in a remote consultancy role."

He turns to Charlie's barrage of questions. "The AEP - that's Anomaly Exploration Protocol - is operating with airtight operation security. That means the answers to questions about what's going on up there, what they've discovered - it doesn't leave the station. I don't have clearance to know the answers, and you won't get it until you get up there.

I can however confirm that preliminary expeditions have been into the anomaly and have returned, and it's expected that your guidance will be a great asset to these efforts."

Dash listened, thinking, his face going from mild amusement to seriousness, and then leaning forward at the description of the samples. He glanced over to Charlie and Riley as they spoke, reserving his thoughts on their questions as Mister Walters answered. "Of course I am on board with this. The ramifications of this and our understanding of the cosmos... this might even be proof of practical applications of solipsism and multi-universal theory, theories which could not previously be tested due to the lack of risk."

"And I'm sorry to my non-philosophical friends in the room, but that is me trying to phrase my thoughts in a simple way. I'll explain if anyone cares later. For now, let's just say the idea of a world being formed from the specific visions of a 1983 console is... astonishing. There are a lot of questions I would like to have answered, but I believe you do not know the answers yet."

Charlie looks at Walters and says quietly, "It's fine. I will be an astronaut."

Jack's face was a little pale and it appeared that he might be in shock as he looked around for hidden cameras. There was no sign of anything prank-like. Its just so much to process. The fact that the object contained video game realities AND the idea that he somehow was selected to be on the team to explore this?! It seemed too good to be real.

"I mean. Of course I'm in!"

"Take a few days to consider what this means," Walters told the group. "Discuss it with your families - as much as you can without breaking your NDA. You'll be away - in space, away from everything you know, away from your lives, for months at a time... depending on time of year it can take a month just to get to the Anomaly at L2."

Manila envelopes are passed out.

"The financial details are in these packets. We'll be contacting you within a week to get your answer, and if you accept, you'll be off to Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for training."