Glitch Production: Meta Runner

S1 Episode 1: Wrong Warp

Summary: Tari wakes up in Silica City and discovers what it's like to be in a world obsessed with video games...

(Plot)

A man narrates the opening in a laboratory about how in this world, video games are everything and anyone who's training every waking moment will be able to reap the benefits. The best being the Meta Runners, those who replaced their limbs for greater abilites. Musing on how he plans to change all that, he turns to the one he's really talking to...

That girl, Tari, suddenly wakes up in the same lab, now having been abandoned. Dealing with brief flashes of memory of her training with the man and a sudden accident, she stumbles out onto the streets of a bright, flashing city as everything she saw around her changed, as if the lab was an illusion. She walks around, taking in all the sights and the myriad of games, before being stopped by a group of people who see her cybernetic arm and believe her to be a Meta Runner.  Pressured and panicked, Tari claims to be a member of TAS Corp and rushes into the nearby building to escape.

Inside the TAS Corp. sales building, Tari converses with Afro-bot, the salesman in the store, and discovers her location is Silica City, the center of all things gaming. She then gets distracted by a crowd at a speed running arena where TAS Corp.'s number one speed runner, Belle Fontiere, is attempting a new glitch in Ultra Jump Mania to set the narrow world record. Despite Belle's efforts, she blows it on the very last jump and storms off in frustration as the crowd disperses.

Intrigued, Tari takes up the controller and decides to try the game herself. A still miffed Belle is unimpressed by Tari at first, only to see Tari is learning the game at a remarkable rate. As Tari continues to play, her eyes suddenly go blue and she goes into a trance.

Tari wakes up to find herself on an island, her outfit changed to tropical gear and numerous stats before her eyes. Before she has time to assimilate this, she gets a whack in the head from none other than the protagonist of Ultra Jump Mania.

Back in the real world, Belle calls in TAS Corp.'s head, Lucks. The two get into an argument about Belle's flop and his playing damage control. Lucks starts insisting she can be replaced while Belle is confident her spot as number one grants her immunity. The discussion then shifts to Tari just before the game screen starts working again and both of them see Tari in the game. Lucks immediately calls in all TAS Corp. scientists to investigate.