Heroes of Dreamland, Book 3: The World of Nintendo (OLD)

Byte's Revelation

Byte's POV:

I shiver a bit, then open my eyes. This is strange, I don't recognize where I am at all. This must be a memory that's Tedium's shoved me into, but if it is, why don't I know what's going on?

I'm in a stark, white room, and I'm sitting at a desk. A desk just like the kind they have at school, gray with a touchscreen surface. Without thinking about it, I swipe my hand across the screen to 'wake up' the computer. The screen lights up, and is blank-white for a second. Then, it shows nine dots in a tic-tac-toe style box shape. Huh. That's weird. What's going on?

Words appear on screen: "Connect all the dots without going back over what you've already drawn."

Hmm. Okay. I think for a minute, then try something. It doesn't work, so the computer makes a buzzing sound and clears the board again. Okay. I think some more, then grin. I just have to think, literally, outside of the box. Trying again, this time I solve the puzzle. Making a happy binging noise, the computer goes blank again for a second, then more words appear onscreen.

"You are in a cave full of old artifacts. You do not have any food, water, or batteries. The only exit is blocked by a pile of heavy rocks that are too big for you to move. What do you do? Feel free to ask what supplies you have."

I think. This sounds like a puzzle dungeon in the Legend of Zelda, and I know exactly how to get out of one of those. With a grin, I ask, "Do I have matches?"

"No."

Dangitall. "Do I have rocks?"

The computer seems confused, then answers, "Yes."

Ha! Now we're getting somewhere! "Are any of the artifacts flammable or explosive?"

Again taken aback, it hesitantly replies, "Yes."

"I would strike rocks together until I had made a small fire. I would then place all of the flammable or explosive objects at the entrance of the cave, and set fire to them," I tell the computer confidently. I still have no idea what's going on, but that was simple enough. Rule number one of gaming: when stuck, blow stuff up. Wouldn't always apply to real life, but it solved the posed problem, didn't it?

The computer thinks a second, then says to me, "That is an... original, answer. How did you come up with that?"

Warily, I reply, "I have quite an imagination."

"We know. That's why you're here, Byte Sakurai," a human voice says, a person coming through a door I didn't see before.

"What do you mean, Sakurai? People haven't had last names for hundreds of years," I tell the science-y-looking lady that appears. I say 'science-y,' because she's wearing a lab coat, and has her hair pulled back out of her eyes. It's perfect blond hair, and she also has sapphire blue eyes. That's the kind of appearance that makes any girl within a ten-mile radius take a critical hit on her self-esteem. "I don't even know what my last name is. I couldn't, the World Government has been taking children and giving them to whichever family seems most efficient for them to be in for centuries. I don't even know who my birth parents were, my adoptive parents don't know who theirs were, either."

"True, Byte. But the World Government keeps track of that sort of thing. Certain genes can continue to travel through families, even when the World Government is in charge of matching couples based on what would be most efficient," she answers, using a stylus to scribble something down on the computer/clipboard she carries. "You're probably wondering why you're here, aren't you?" she asks. She's formal, but not mean at all. She even gives me a reassuring smile as we speak, so I know she's not a complete Vulcan like most people are.