There was a reason for the curfew on the games.
No, not only because of the worry about the children staying up all night to play Deathrun or roleplay at Roblox High School when they had actual school the next day. They had the same games on phones and computers to keep those people up. Rather, it's when most developers update their games. It was different from updating the versions on consoles. After all, we are dealing with actual alternate dimensions here. Updating these alternate dimensions is quite the unpredictable process, you could say, as a glitch that just can’t happen on console and never once showed up during testing could make itself known the second it got updated.
If enough things went wrong, things could get dangerous.
Since there were a lot of games, it was very, very hard to keep players out without shutting down the game altogether. Which was already a very tedious process, which, on top of setting up the game again, was why most developers didn't want to shut it down.
A hefty fine isn't enough to scare away everyone.
Which was why the Guide, who was always the only one in-game and awake, was appointed by default as Flood Escape's night guard. Which was exceptionally boring, because there were no other NPCs to talk to. It was not like Crazy was there; he's either sleeping or working on the game. Barely anything happened in the night since not a lot of people wanted to jump around, pressing buttons while the floor was lava at 3AM in the morning. Even then, those players went to other games that had more complex movement mechanics and weren’t constantly pressured by a deadly liquid filling the room.
And, just like every other night, Guide was bored.
He had already counted every blade of digital grass, and every pixel on his navy blue suit. He had already ventured around the lobby, even playing a couple of rounds. And glitching out of the map was already getting old. Knowing that the players would rather break into other games, he knew he had to deal with this for the time being.
Ah, the curse of sentience. Give too much of it to an NPC and they're basically like a player. Players don't like being stuck with their own thoughts.
He wondered if it was that Robloxia was even more boring that it drove players to break the law.
However, this night was different.
He heard footsteps, footsteps that were not his own, footsteps that belonged to a player. Someone was here.
He looked up to the spawnpoint, to see the culprit.
iiOmqFiona, was her username. Allowed to play in reality games just a few months after Flood Escape's release, making her 17. She had blonde hair, with a holiday crown atop her head. She wore a dark green cropped sweater and denim shorts.
Quite the unremarkable Robloxian, her avatar almost a copy and paste of half the players who played Flood Escape. However, seeing as this was the first player to trespass in a long time, Guide was certain he would remember her for quite a while.
Fiona's posture suggested to him that she was cautious, but she seemed to have disregarded him completely as she stepped towards the building. She knew that he was intelligent enough to know that she wasn't supposed to be there, right? She had 526 wins on the Leaderboard, she would have definitely noticed that he was one of the more advanced NPCs, being the one who guides players in Flood Escape.
He sighed as he walked to block the entrance, which was effective in making her pause.
"iiOmqFiona," he started, following the standard procedure of saying unpronounceable words letter-by-letter before saying her name. "I believe you know that you are violating Section 32B of the Reality Games Act 2006, stating that Players are not allowed to play from the times 10PM-7AM. You are not a tester for the game, and you surely are also aware that this is for your safety. I implore you to leave before I report this to the authorities."
He was expecting the youth to leave. After all, kids make stupid mistakes sometimes, and they usually back down when they realise that actions have consequences. He was aware that this was her first offence in this game, and he didn't want her to lose her future to such an idiotic move.
However, she did not turn to leave, and continued standing there. Teenagers. They were a rebellious generation, or so he heard from the older playerbase.
"I know. But relax, the game isn't updating tonight. Crazyblox would've announced it if he were."
Huh. That was a good point, he had to give her credit for that. He was always alerted whenever the game got updated. But rules are rules, and he had to enforce them.
"Sorry, iiOmqFiona, while that may be true, it is still illegal to play Reality Games for the aforementioned time, and therefore this counts as trespassing. Failure to comply with my warnings will result in consequences."
She smiled at him. "Well, you're a smart guy, right? Then you'd know that if nobody knows, then it's not illegal."
He blinked. This was going to be tougher than he thought.
"ii-" he was interrupted by a stern "Fiona." from the other. "It is standard procedure to refer to you by your full username."
"Who even is checking you for that? We're alone! Nobody'll know if ya don't snitch."
Guide could only squint at her. "I have to follow my orders." He took a step towards the girl. "Now, if you would please-"
"Nuh uh." Before he could react, the youth had already grabbed him by his hand. Guide almost lost his balance as she dragged him down the stairs. "Lemme be clear, I'm not leaving until I play a few rounds. I'll leave faster if you cut the formalities." "But it is my duty to-" "You're not a moderator, nobody's stopping you."
He locked eyes with her, a glint of determination shining in them. Maybe he would have to report her. She had ignored numerous warnings, and was attempting to get him to assist in her crime.
Then again, he wasn't a moderator. He was, for all purposes, just a tutorial for newcomers, and someone to talk to between rounds. The night guard role was only because there was nobody else to take it. Even then, some of the more popular games don't have anything stopping the players from trespassing, and he hasn't heard of a player dying for breaking the rule.
Besides, if it did get this player to be more cooperative, he didn't see any harm in letting her.
He stepped out of the way, and the youth grinned at him as she strode into the Hard difficulty lift.
