Out of This World Gaming [~ read description]

Chapter 23: VHS Message

"I just got done putting Iris to sleep and now something else breaks? What could possibly be happening now? Seriously, I can't turn my back on any of you for a second without something in this house breaking." Larkspur accused as she swiftly flew down the stairs and confronted the rest of the group in the living area. 

Silently, they all gestured to the tape underneath the broken window. "Did someone throw that in?" she asked. "All signs point in that direction." Zander responded. The older consoleoid's face turned red and she twirled her hair with her finger nervously whilst looking away. "S-sorry.." she managed to say. 

Zerrin walked over to the tape and picked it up as she brushed off tinier glass shards haphazardly onto the carpet. "Got a VHS player?" she asked. "We don't have one here, but Clover and I think we know just where to go." Zander suggested. "We do?" she asked. "Yeah, don't you remember that Mr. Smith has one in the employee lounge of that game store?" Now that she thought about it, she remembered going in there at least once, but that was just to give her a video game before it went onto the shelves since she wanted it badly. Would he really let anyone in there again? 

"Look, I don't think he'll let us in that easily." she pointed out. "We've got to try, right, sis?" 

Zander did have a point. Besides, they had a VHS tape to watch. "We'll come with you." offered Zerrin. "No, we can't just bring the rest of you along. You two stay and take care of Iris." Zander explained whilst hastily grabbing his sister's wrist and slipping through the door. 

"Well, that's rude, he didn't even say a 'see you later'" Zerrin mused. 

"Well, why do you seem all worked up over Iris's lost power? You could just make another weapon for her, right?" rationalized Larkspur. "Sure, but we're all screwed if Satara is doing what I think she's doing." "What makes you say that?" "Ziazan has the rest of that software Iris had, and if he gets all of it, it's going to get way too ugly, way too quick." 

- - - - - 

The sound of a bell rang throughout the small area. "Coming, coming!" a man's voice spoke hastily accompanied by hurried footsteps. "Welcome to the-" he said before he was interrupted by what he saw on the other side of the counter, and began to smile. "Ah, if it isn't the Primrose family. So, why are we here today? New PC upgrade for the young lass? Another lowbrow video game for the older lad? Oh, what about the new console we talked about the other day?" 

"Thank you, Mr. Smith, but we're actually here to see about a VHS player." Clover clarified. "A VHS tape player? Sorry, I don't have any of those on sale." he answered. "No, sir, we mean to ask if we could use your personal VHS player in the back." Zander corrected. "Yeah, I was back there before when you had me help you look a box of video games that just came in that day, y'know, the game I was anxiously wanting at the time." the young adult female assisted in the explanation. "Oh, that VHS tape player. Well, I suppose it is a slow day, so I've got time to help you out. Right this way." 

Clover and Zander followed the manager into a hallway near the back of the establishment. In this hallway was a single water fountain for patrons and a bathroom right beside it, and a door that had a sign plastered on it that said, "Personnel Only." the older man took out a metallic object from his jeans' pocket and inserted it into the doorknob; he twisted it and the door clicked open. 

Inside this small room was an older model of television sitting atop a wooden cabinet with a shelf in it. On the shelf was a boxy, black, dusty object that looked like it had a slit in it big enough for the aforementioned tape. Underneath the shelf were a couple of small doors that acted like the gateway for a compartment that was just as small, but they were locked. 

Mr. Smith got past the siblings and turned on the appliance, and once the picture finally faded into view, he changed the channel to one that would display what would be on the tape as evident by a blank, blue screen with a vague, white channel number in the corner.