One(Repeating)Shot

Wait, What?

"Goodbye, Player."

Walking through that portal was easy physically, but not mentally. Niko and Player had said goodbye a couple times now, but this truly was goodbye . Niko was about to be home, and they should be excited about that. But never getting to see Player again was still weighing on them. Everything faded to black, and their eyes shot open to reveal a darkened ceiling.

"No."

Niko hadn't necessarily been trapped in the world for a very long time, but they knew that ceiling when they saw it. They sat up, seeing the same room they had woken up in so many times.

"Player, what happened?"

. . .

"Player, are you there?"

"What the heck?" Player quietly mumbled while watching the events on their Switch. He saw less, only a 2D bedroom with a pixelated Niko inside. The game was supposed to be over, so what was this? A bonus level that nobody knew about?

Actually, OneShot could hardly be referred to as a game. It was an experience. An adventure, between a god and his messiah, who was certainly more alive than any video game character he had seen. They all were. Silver, Calamus, Alula, Kip, Plight (why does everyone call him that?), George, Ling, Prototype, Rue, Cedric, even the World Machine itself. They were all alive. They had especially felt this feeling with the last 4, who had assisted them in the final quest, the "Solstice Run" as other players put it. These people were his friends, and he had to get to the bottom of this.

He saw the text going across the bottom of his screen attempting to get his attention, Niko screaming for him to please respond. He had no diologue options, and so they couldn't communicate. He clicked the purple square in the top-right corner, minimizing the "window" and revealing the simulated OS homepage. Many people claim this doesn't feel as "emersive" as the Steam version, which actually makes changes to game files, and even the player's wallpaper. However, the idea of a Switch game containing a virtual desktop through which one could play the game was interesting. And the whole "collectible wallpapers, themes, and characters" concept was cool as well.

Nevertheless, clicking on files, there didn't seem to be any clues. No new popups or files, no changes to the desktop . All Player could do was what he did best, which was guide Niko through this world, and hope it was just a one-time glitch.