...
The morning after the nighttime raid...
A sour mood envelops the Maid Club as they gather together in a large hallway in Millennium.
Asuna remains a bit annoyed.
Karin a bit embarrassed.
Akane a bit ashamed.
As for Neru...
"So let me get this straight..." The shortest maid begins. "All this was done by some club I've never even heard of, the 'Game Development Department'. And that bunch of shrimps pulled one over on all of ya. That right?"
"I have no excuse." Akane says, bowing slightly as she awaits punishment. "It was I who accepted the request and made the preparations. My failure has tarnished the Maid Club's reputation. I'm sorry."
"None of that crap matters at all." Neru says.
"I beg your pardon?" Akane asks, stading up right with her eyes wide.
"When I got here, Rio called me." The red headed maid says.
"You mean the president of Seminar- I mean, the Student Council?" Karin asks.
"The one and only." Neru grumbles. "She said the request is being withdrawn."
The other three maids gasp in surprise at that.
"But why?" The bespectacled maid asks.
"Hmm... All I can think of is that Rio or Himari wanted to test somethin'." Neru says.
"They were testing us?" Akane asks.
"Nah." Neru says, shaking her head negative. "Bet they wanted to know what that Aris girl is capable of. All right, then. This has nothin' to do with the request, but, Akane, I want you to look into this."
"Sorry? Look into what now?" Akane asks, confused.
"The Game Development Department." The short maid says.
"Hm? Why? Oh- for revenge?" Akane guesses.
"I'm not usually interested in dirty work like this, but we might as well take care of it." Neru says with a grin. "Once the investigation is wrapped up here, I've got a house call in store for those twerps."
"That sounds perfect." Akane agrees. "I imagine right now they're celebrating how they pulled one over on the Maid Club." She says, letting out a soft giggle. "I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we pay them a visit."
—————
Meanwhile...
After we returned to Veritas after smashing through a few robots, we gave them the Mirror and returned to the Game Development Department club room. All of us took a nap, even Aris, who I forced to rest, despite not actually needing sleep at all.
The next morning, we were awoken by a scream.
"Hello, hello, Game Development Department gals! Miss Maki here's got a special something for ya!" Maki yells, waking us all up. "Whoa! Y'all were still asleep?"
I look over to see the red headed hacker back with the Game Girl. "Oh, hey Maki." I greet.
Maki stifles a laugh, causing me to look at her in confusion. She points downward.
I follow her finger and look down to see the twins both laying their heads on my lap as I sit on the couch. Aris and Yuzu are asleep, propped against bean bags.
I just let out a soft chuckle as I smile. "C'mon, you two. Wakey wakey." I say, gently grabbing the twins' shoulders and shaking them.
"Huh...? Wha...?" Momoi asks, blinking slowly.
"Is it... morning...?" Midori asks, also blinking awake.
"Mornin'." I greet, causing the twins to look up at me. As they realize their position, their eyes widen as their faces turn red.
""AAAAAHHH!"" They both shout, in unison, tearing themselves away from me. Both of them sling themselves back so hard, they go flying off either side of the couch's arms.
"Huh?!" Yuzu shouts, having woken up from the shout.
"Alert!" Aris shouts, looking around frantic, before she notices the situation. "Alert... rescinded."
"Ahahahahaha!" Maki lets out a belly laugh. "Geez! You girls are a riot!"
"Hang on, Maki?!" Momoi shouts, scrambling to her feet. "Is it finally ready?!"
"Ta-da!" Maki says, holding out the Game Girl to the pink twin.
Momoi happily takes the handheld and looks at the screen.
GBIBLE-exe: prepared for runtime.
"It... It's really here! The GBIBLE!" Midori shouts happily, looking at the screen as well.
"Sorry for the wait. We took the Mirror back to the Student Council after unlocking the GBIBLE." Maki explains,
"Why'd you do that?" I ask, curious.
"Himari already knew everything. She said it's not a big deal, and we won't be needing it from now on." The redhead hacker says.
Himari... already knew everything? Did she...?
"Oh yeah, when I was decrypting GBIBLE, I found a folder called 'Key'." Maki explains.
"Key? But I thought you already unlocked it?" Momoi asks.
"Hmm...?" Aris hums, questioningly.
"She means they found it AFTER they unlocked it." Midori says slowly, shaking her head. "Sis, how did you even pass the entrance exams...?"
"Key? What could it be a key for?" I ask.
"This one's got me totally stumped." Maki says with a shrug. "The file doesn't seem to be corrupted, but there's no way it was coded in a language from this era. Anyway, I was able to open the GBIBLE like you wanted, but I couldn't get that 'Key' folder open. Any idea what it is?"
"Unfortunately, we don't know either." Momoi admits.
"Perhaps it was downloaded along with the GBIBLE..." I guess.
"Could they key be...?" Midori mutters.
It definitely has something to do with Aris.
"Come by whenever you've got some free time! We can analyze the Key folder together." Maki says. "Well, I've delivered it to you, so I'll see you later!" She says, beginning to walk away.
"Thanks again for the help, Maki." I say.
"Yeah, good work, Maki." Midori adds.
"You'll have to schedule an appointment through me secretary next time we get together! 'Cause we're gonna make it big with TSC-Two!" Momoi proclaims.
"Heh, I'm excited to pop 'er open." Maki says with a grin, leaving the room, closing the door behind her.
"All right, everyone. Gather round! It's time to look at the GBIBLE!" Momoi says, sitting down next to me. The four girls decide to do the same, all of them sitting on the couch with me in the middle. Momoi to my left with Yuzu to her left, and Aris to my right with Midori to her right. "Nobody knows what's in here. A famous developer believed to have read the GBIBLE once said, 'The true secret of game development is a miracle everyone thought they knew, but, in fact, no one truly understood the meaning of'."
"I've said it once, I'll say it again. It ain't gonna tell you anything special." I say, defiant.
"Well, I want to know the truth so we can..." Momoi begins.
"...make the best game ever." Midori finishes.
"It's our only chance of being able to stay together." The pink twin adds. "If we fail, Yuzu has to go back to the dorm with people she doesn't like, and Aris-" She begins, but I quickly cut her off.
"Can stay at Schale." I say, surprising the four girls. "What? Y'all are my students, so you're already welcome to come by. Plus, the building is pretty big and has lots of empty rooms. If y'all fail, Aris can stay there. Same goes for you four, if need be."
Aris, sitting next to me, suddenly hugs me tightly. "...Thank you, Sensei."
I reach over with my free left hand and pat her head gently. "Anytime, Aris. Still, stop thinking of 'What-if's, it's not gettin' us anywhere."
"Sensei's right!" Momoi declares. "Soon, we'll be asking people, 'Have you played TSC-Two? It's a masterpiece'. And so to get there..."
"Enough with the suspense! Open it, already!" I snap.
"Understood." Aris says, breaking the hug to grab the Game Girl. "GBIBLE... activate!" She declares, dramatically pressing a button.
"Oh, it's coming on!" Midori says.
"Seems like it." I say, watching words appear on the screen.
Welcome to the world of GBIBLE.
"I-It's working!" Momoi says, in awe.
"What makes a game 'the best'?"
There's innumerable answers to such a question.
Quality, popularity, vivid storytelling, impact, innovative direction...
All are aspects in the best of games.
However, they are mere byproducts derived from the greater truth.
There is a single secret behind all the best games...
...and GBIBLE was made to hold said secret.
"F-Finally!" Momoi happily says.
"This is so cool..." Midori gushes.
I will now reveal the one and only secret to making games.
"Oh!" Aris says.
"Here it is!" Yuzu says.
LOVE... VIDEO... GAMES.
"Wow, what an inspiring opener." The pink twin says.
"Y-You think so?" The green twin asks.
LOVE VIDEO GAMES.
"W-Wait... Th-That can't be it, right?" The redhead gamer asks in disbelief.
"I-Is it broken or something?" Midori asks, worried.
"H-Hang on!" Momoi snaps. "L-Let's try the settings button."
LOVE VIDEO GAMES.
If you pressed this button, you must be thinking the file is corrupt. That there's something or another that has gone wrong.
"Oh! I knew that couldn't be everything-" But sadly, Momoi is cut off.
However, that was everything you needed to know.
"S-Seriously?!" Midori shouts.
Sorry!
Just LOVE VIDEO GAMES!
"Th-This can't be happening!" Momoi shouts, grabbing the Game Girl and standing up, looking dead into the screen deparately. "It has to be an error or something!"
"The file isn't corrupt." Midori says, looking at the screen. "It hasn't been modified, either. The metadata, file size, and data of the most recent copy are an exact match."
"Th-This is... for real, then?" Yuzu asks, worriedly.
Upon processing this information,-
thunk
"Huh?!"
"S-Sensei?!"
-I slam my head straight onto the table in front of the couch.
"I TOLD YA!" I shout, muffled by being face-down. "You just need passion, that's all. Even the legendary macguffin in your hands agrees with me."
"S-So... wait... That was it?" Momoi shouts. "So much for legendary knowledge! DAMMIT!"
I pull myself back up with a sigh, sitting upright in the couch once more, as the room's mood plummets.
"...I haven't been so sad since Tales Saga Chronicle's alpha update." Yuzu mutters.
"H-Hey, Momoi..." Aris begins.
Momoi begins laughing maniacally. "It's over! We're finished!"
"Midori, are you okay?" Aris asks.
"Sorry, Aris... I don't really feel like talking right now..." The green twin says, despondent, as she sit down, facing the wall.
"Hey, Yuz-" Aris begins.
"Rage. Destruction. Desolation. Despair. Emptiness. All the world hurtles toward inevitable ruination..." Yuzu mutters frantically.
"I... I do not think GBIBLE was lying." Aris says.
"Just leave me alone, Aris... My HP is at zero." The pink twin whines.
"This... is the true ending, huh?" Midori mutters.
"What about you, Yuzu? Wait..." Aris asks, looking around the room.
I point my thumb towards the locker-slash-cabinet where she hid.
"It is like... everyone's spirits have been debuffed." Aris says.
"Ergh..." Momoi groans. "How else are we supposed to feel?!" She snaps, causing Aris to backpedal. "This was it! How could we have known that all we'd get is one stinking sentence everyone already knows?! They got us hook, line and sinker! I wasn't expecting to hear the secret and magically have all our problems go away! But come on, help a girl out here!"
Midori lets out a defeated sigh. "I'm so sorry, Aris. We... We just can't do it without the GBIBLE. We're jut hopeless failures now."
"So that's it? You're just gonna give up?" I ask, annoyed by their actions.
"What...?" Midori asks.
"I told you, and the GBIBLE told you." I begin. "All you need to make games is to have passion for the craft. The same thing goes for anything, really. The only thing keeping you down is yourselves. You hyped up the GBIBLE so much, and when you realized it was mediocre, felt like shit. It's just like when it happens with video games. Y'all are giving up before you've even TRIED! Sure, you made a game a lot of people didn't like, but you all clearly have a passion for the craft.
You made a game a lot of people see as bad, so what? You're just gonna give up when it seems hopeless? You're not even gonna put in the effort? Why even bother going through everything we went through last night?!" I roar.
"I've been through far, FAR worse situations than this. If I had given up then, I would've died." I say, causing them all to tense up. "But I didn't. I kept going, because there was a reason I had to not give up, something I know all of you have. So all of you, stop being so damn down. Don't you dare think to give up after how far you've come, because I KNOW you will regret it if you let it end here. And know that I won't forgive ya if you let it end like this." I take a sharp inhale as I finish.
The room is stunned to silence as I finish my tirade, each of them soaking my words into their brains.
"Sensei... is right." Aris breaks the silence. "Aris will not allow you all to say such things. Aris had fun every time she played Tales Saga Chronicle. Real, genuine fun."
"Huh...?" The green twin asks.
"And Aris can feel it... Aris can feel how much Midori, Momoi and Yuzu put their love into the game. When Aris plays and travels in that world you made... Well... Her heart pounds in her chest." Aris says, with a big smile at the end. "Travelling in an unknown world with your companions at your side... You all taught Aris what it means to dream."
I gasp slightly at that sentence.
—————
"What do you dream about, Josh?"
"Huh? What's this about?"
"Just humor me, man."
"My dreams are pretty boring. That, or just plain weird."
"I don't mean dreams when you sleep, I mean dreams for the future. What you wanna have, what you wanna achieve. That kinda thing."
"..."
"..."
"...I... My only dream now is to be happy again."
"...?"
"I want to live again... running like this... how I have for the past year and a half... I... I can't..."
"I know buddy... But, y'know what?"
"What?"
"I'm glad you have a dream."
"...?"
"Before you helped me back then... Haah... I was broken, Josh. I had nothin' to live for, nothin' to care for, nothin' to dream for. But you... hearing your story... it gave me hope."
"Xav..."
"It feels kinda cheesy to say somethin' like this, but... Thank you, Joshua. Thank you for helping me remember what it means to dream."
—————
...Xavier. Dammit, I haven't thought about him in...
Well... I guess I fulfilled my dream.
Aris' voice pulls me from my thoughts.
"When I realized that our quest was coming to an end, a thought crossed Aris' mind." The robotic girl says. " 'Aris wishes the dream would never end'."
The twins stiffen, as do I.
"It was all Aris could think." Aris says, happily.
"Aris..." Momoi mutters.
Yuzu peeks from the cabinet, to look at Aris. She comes out slowly, enraptured by our conversation, probably.
"Oh, Yuzu..." Midori says, noticing the shy girl.
"We... We should do it." Yuzu says, seriously.
"Huh?" The green twin asks.
"I've always wanted to hear people say the game I made is fun, but the first version of Tales Saga Chronicle got thousands of negative comments, and people were brutal..." Yuzu says, sadly. "I couldn't take it, so I locked myself away in the Game Development Department. But... that's when you guys came along." She says with a shy smile as she begins to explain how the club came to be.
"You two actually liked the game. You two wanted to make games not just like me, but with me." Yuzu says with a nostalgic smile. "Together, we finished Tales Saga Chronicle and had the honor of winning Worst Game of the Year."
At that little reminder, the twins lock up.
"And then Aris appeared..." The redhead continues. "When she said my, no our game was fun, it filled my heart with joy. Creating a game while surrounded by wonderful people and getting to hear that others enjoy what we made... it's always been my dream. But..." Yuzu suddenly becomes serious. "I'm also not ready for this dream to end."
...I can practically feel the big smile that grows on my face from the shy girl's emotional words.
"Hmm..." Momoi hums as Yuzu finishes speaking. "Midori. How much time is left until the Millennium Prize?"
"About a week and a half. Why?" Midori asks.
"Then there's still time." The pink twin says, standing up with a determined smile upon her face. "Game Development Department, assemble! Let's begin development of Tales Saga Chronicle Two!" She declares, fist raised towards the sky.
"Let's do it!" The green twin agrees as big smiles threaten to split everyone's faces.
"Count me in too. I've wanted to help make a game for a long time." I say, hoping to help.
"Haha! The more the merrier!" Momoi says, happily.
"What about your work for Schale?" Midori asks.
"This IS Schale work." I say with a smile. "The paperwork and stuff can wait, this is more important."
And thus, the five of us got to work.
—————
AN
Also, with this chapter, we have reached 200k words! Good lord, that was fast! And we hit 100k at Chapter 25! Looks like the newer chapters are longer.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next!