Glitch Production: Meta Runner

S1 Episode 6: Game Plan

Summary: Tari and MD-5 plan their attack on TAS-Corp using some... interesting methods. Meanwhile, Belle discovers some shocking evidence about Project Blue.

(Plot)

Having warped back into Ultra Jump Mania, Tari and Theo are saying their goodbyes when another Theo appears and the game suddenly begins glitching, forcing the two out. Sofia theorizes that Theo has to go back into the cartridge he came from in order for it to work. Realizing TAS Corp. would have the cartridge, Masa decides to train Tari in Operation: Silent Demon, despite Lamar's objections to the plan's risks.

At the destroyed facility, Belle finds a video log of Dr. Sheridan, who discusses Project Blue, his TAS Corp. project to keep from getting fired. In the second Log, He details that it's an A.I. capable of beating any video game once implanted in a human host. A third log shows the increasingly crazed Sheridan finally finding a host in a TAS Corp. Meta Runner and preparing a more advanced version of the A.I. Belle opens the fourth log, but does not open, projecting "FILE CORRUPTED". The fifth and final log shows the accident that resulted in the death of Sheridan and his assistant, the voice of which drops Belle to her knees upon recognition.

The next morning at breakfast, MD-5 begins discussing their plan. Sofia explains that MD-5 has fought TAS Corp. for a year with no success until conceptualizing Operation: Silent Demon. The gist of the operation is to hack into TAS Corp. and get their private records and files, but is unfeasible due to their security. The modified plan is to get into an underground competition hosted on TAS Corp. servers, crash them with a glitch in the game Tempest and give Sofia time to hack in and get both the info and an order to ship Theo's cartridge back. Tari's part in the plan is to use her powers to execute the ultra-precise glitch that Lamar deems unfeasible without alerting Lucks. Tari agrees and the group agrees to prepare training her in less than a week.

At TAS Corp., Lucks continues to get the Ultra Jump Mania cartridge working when Belle arrives with the memory card. Reviewing the evidence, Lucks is surprised that the explosion was an accident instead of a cover-up while Belle is concerned that the voice was Lucinia, who was thought missing. As Lucks ponders this turn of events, he sees Sheridan activate a button combo on the controller just before dying. Inputting that same combo on the Ultra Jump Mania cartridge, Lucks and Belle see the Project Blue logo flash before them.