Wrong Warp/Transcript

The following is a transcript for the episode "Wrong Warp".

Script
[dark screen]

Unnamed Scientist: (voiceover) Video games are EVERYTHING! [cut to a montage of people playing games] Jobs, entertainment, lifestyle! It's the engine that powers society itself, and to make it in this society you need to win....

[cut to Glitch Productions logo]

Scientist: (voiceover) ...a lot. [cut back to montage] Be it in FPS games, platformers, battle royales, you name it. There are gamers who train EVERY waking moment of their life with the hopes of becoming the best. And at the top of the food chain, you have Meta Runners.

[cut to a scene of two Meta Runners playing an FPS in front of a crowd]

Scientist: (voiceover) People who are willing to replace their limbs just for a boost in accuracy, dexterity and performance.

[The red haired Meta Runner is shown succeeding against the purple haired Meta Runner, as she is shown holding her by the elbow in good spirit, whispering in her ear whilst giving the thumbs up to the crowd. The other gives a simple "peace" sign whilst smiling awkwardly]

Scientist: (voiceover) With legions of fans who adore them, Meta Runners are the best of the best! ...That is... [cut to the same scene being shown on a computer monitor as it pans out into an unnamed lab showing the scientist, a tall, brown haired man in a white and blue jacket] ...until the world sees what I have planned. Until the world sees you, Tari.

[Cut to the same lab, now darkened and abandoned. A blue haired girl who we know as Tari wakes up, gasping. The camera cuts to various different abandoned lab equipment. Tari notices a needle in her right arm, then looks to see her cybernetic arm on her left. She looks surprised.]

Scientist: (distorted voiceover in Tari's head) You did it! You beat the game in record time!

[flashback to the scientist] I'm so proud of you, Tari!

[End flashback]

[Tari removes the needle, gets up starts to walk around the abandoned lab.]

Tari: H-hello? Is anyone there? [she walks towards the exit door]

[Another flashback begins]

Scientist: [takes a sip of coffee] We're going to ramp up the difficulty a bit... All I want is you to try your best.

[End flashback]

(Tari stumbles outside and into an alleyway, as she walks towards a bright light.]

Scientist: (distorted voice over in Tari's head) Oh god no! Oh no, no, no, no, no! Shut off! Shut off!

[flash back to the Scientist in the lab now with a red alarm going off]

Unnamed Girl: (offscreen) Doctor! what's happening?

Scientist: J-just hang in there!

[both scream as the flashback gets even more distorted, an explosion in the lab is then shown]

[End flashback]

[Falling on her hands and knees, Tari finds herself out of the alley and onto the streets of Silica City. There are various screens promoting video games and products placed all around buildings. She gets up and begins to wander around the city as the camera pans up to show a skyscraper shot as the Meta Runner logo appears onscreen.]

[As Tari walks through the city we get a long tracking shot of various people playing video games.]

Male Pedestrian: (to Tari) Oh hey, did you want a turn?

Tari No, s-sorry. Just looking.

[A man across the street is visibly annoyed about losing in a puzzle game on a bus stop's screen]

Man across street: God damn it. C'mon, ah! Hahaha! Yes. ... My bus! Damn it, wait! Wait, wait wait! Wait...

[Tari chuckles at the man's failure as she continues to walk around the street. She then comes across a girl frustrated at her drink being stuck in a vending machine.]

Girl: Rrrgh! Dang it!

Tari: Ummm, is something wrong?

Woman: Rrrgh! My day's ruined!

[Tari smacks the side of the machine, very gently. The drink falls.]

Woman: Thank you so much!

Tari: I-it was nothing!

[Tari walks by a motion capture screen. The game's model reflecting her resembles the version of Tari from SMG4. She does a playful little dance before moving on.]

Bot-Boy: (offscreen) Bintendo consoles! Get your Bintendo consoles here!

(Tari almost walks into a fedora wearing Bot-Boy sitting in a gaming chair.]

Bot-Boy: Um, excuse me ma'am? I bet you've heard of gaming chairs that go 180°... but can yours do THIS?

[The Bot-Boy reclines the chair forward over his own head.]

Tari: Oh my gosh! Are you ok?

Bot-Boy: I can't feel my legs!

[cut to Tari in front of a gaming café known as "Game Drop"]

Bot-Boy: (offscreen) I don't even have legs!

[Tari presses her face against the window of Game Drop as we get various shots of people playing video games on computers. After a while, an employee notices her.]

Tari: Uhhh... [Tari smiles and chuckles awkwardly as she looks away]

[A random male pedestrian walks past and notices her arm]

Male Pedestrian: Wait a second... is that...

Male Pedestrian: (to Tari) Hey! Uhh, that cybernetic arm... you're a Meta Runner, right?

Female Pedestrian: (to Tari) Excuse me...? Could I have your autograph?

Tari: Um... oh!

[a crowd of people start cheering at her]

Woman in the crowd: I can't believe I'm meeting a real life Meta Runner! [high pitched scream]

Tari: What...? Oh, no. No, no, I'm not-

Man in crowd: Which gaming company are you with? COG? Cloud7? A-Alphamax?

Tari: Umm, uhh.. [She notices a sign for a store with the words "TAS Corp" written on it.] I'm with... TAS Corp?

[The crowd collectively gasps and begins to whisper amongst themselves.]

Tari: Uh... That's right! And uh, speaking of which... [begins to slowly walk away] I-I think they're calling me there now, so gotta go...! Y'know... [walks away laughing awkwardly]

[Tari enters the TAS Corp store. There are many different gaming enhancing products available for purchase.]

[A Bot-Boy salesman with an Afro and Mustache notices Tari and gives her a wave.]

Tari: Oh! Uh, um... [looks away]

[Tari picks up a speed ring and looks through it.]

Afrobot: [jumps in front of the speed ring] I see you're interested in the speed ring!

Tari: Ahh! [She drops the ring.]

Afrobot: One of our more popular gaming enhancement wearables. It's proven to make your finger button mash at an insane rate. [proceeds to mash a game controller intensely until it breaks]

Tari: N-no thank you... That looks... painful.

Afrobot: Ah, not your style eh? [throws away the broken controller as it crashes into something offscreen] What about an Alpha X Stabilising Wristband? Infinite Accuracy Glove? GlitchyBox Console, Comes with a free game! [pulls out a cartridge of Ultra Jump Mania] TAS Corp coveted Headset? Cloud7 Toothbrush? Limited edition Gaming Duck?

Tari: Oooh! Wait.. no. I was wondering if you could tell me where I am? My memory's a bit hazy.

Afrobot: Ahhh, I see... Party too hard last night, huh? No problem! Afrobot is here to help! You're in Silica City! The video game capital!

Tari: Silica City... That sounds familiar.

Afrobot: And there's no better place in Silica City to be then the TAS Corp Super Store! With top of the line peripherals, tools and gaming enhancements as well as the world's greatest e-sports team! TAS Corp is the most trusted name in gaming! TAS Corp! [whispers] The new meta!

Tari: Um...

Afrobot: Now lets find the perfect gaming enhancement for YOU! Maybe a Geo Synchronised Orthopaedic Mouse...

[Tari enters the same arena we saw in the Scientist's monologue at the beginning where we now see a live speedrun being held. On stage is Belle Fontiere, playing the platforming game Ultra Jump Mania.]

Announcer: And after that AMAZING split, Tascorp's Meta Runner Belle Fontiere is on a world record pace. Will this be another speedrun world record under her belt? Look at her blaze through that final level, that jump dive precision is phenomenal! Another amazing split! Now, all she has to do is get to the goal in under 60 seconds to officially hold the world record time!

Tari: [Walking through the crowd of cheering fans] Excuse me... Hey! Sorry, can you tell me what's going on?

Announcer: LOOK AT THAT DETERMINATION, ladies and gentlemen! This isn't your average Meta Runner here!

[Belle activates something on her cybernetic arm as we then cut to a determined look in her eyes]

Announcer: OH MY GOD! That frame perfect precision!

[Tari watches on in excitement]

[we then get a shot of a sinister looking man with slicked blond hair and a blue business suit]

Announcer: All she has to do now is execute the coconut burst jump, and the world record is hers.

[Belle smirks and chuckles]

Announcer: For those new here, the coconut burst jump is a newly discovered glitch that cuts this level in half. And we're about to witness it in all its glory.

[Tari gasps as Belle has Coconut Boy hanging on the edge of the plaform.]

Announcer: Remember now,the coconut burst jump comes in two parts. Here we go! The beginning of the glitch! It's all or nothing now.

[Belle pulls the first part off flawlessly.]

Announcer: There's the setup, and now she's positioning herself. Ooooh...! And there it is! A perfect wall clip!

Tari: What is she...

Announcer: She's now glitched herself inside the wall. Allowing for the final and hardest part of the glitch...

[Belle takes a deep breath and focuses.]

Announcer: Here it is! The coconut burst jump! Will it be enough to break her out of the wall and fling her to the goal though?

[Coconut Boy is launched out of the wall.]

Announcer: Holy smokes it worked! It actually worked! This is it. She just has to land we have a new speedrunning champion!

[the aforementioned Sinister man is now seen nodding and smiling]

[Coconut Boy misses the goal by a few inches and lands in the lava below.]

[Gasps of shock arise from the audience.]

Announcer: Aw no! She missed! She just missed! The run, It's dead folks!

[The audience can be seen walking away looking disappointed.]

Belle: No! It was right there! Just one stupid jump! Agggh! [Belle throws the controller at the ground and storms off.]

Tari: No idea what was going on, but that looked awesome!

[The title screen of the game begins to play.]

Game: Yeah! Ultra Jump Mania!

[Tari picks up the controller and starts to play. She presses one button. Coconut Boy jumps.]

Tari: Wooow...

[Tari manages to get Coconut Boy to move, but promptly jumps him into a pit.]

Tari: Awww... damn it.

[Belle starts swiping through her phone but hears Tari playing.]

Belle: Uhhh, what do you think you're doing? This is the speedrunners arena. I don't know if you understand but you need this thing called skill to be-

Tari: Oh! I made it over the spikes! Yes! Oh! [Tari notices Belle] [she chuckles]... hi!

[Belle glares at her with disgust]

Tari: Uhhh... don't suppose you could show me how to make Coconut Boy go as fast as you did?

[Belle chuckles.]

Belle: You want ME to teach YOU advanced speedrunning tricks when it looks like you've never touched a game in your LIFE?

Tari: Fine... I'll just figure it out myself...

Belle: This world revolves around games, kid. If you ain't any good, don't bother. Go be a janitor or something.

[Tari begins to play really well.]

Belle: Tch, y'know... button mashing ain't gonna get you anywhere!

[Belle notices how well Tari is doing.]

Belle: So you HAVE played this before?!

Tari: Am I winning...?

[Tari begins to breathe heavily as she begins to play VERY well... she then gasps as we go through her eye and see some kind of portal as she wakes up on a sandy beach, on an unknown island.]

Tari: An island? Is this a dream?

[a holographic UI appears in Tari's eyes, containing various types of information]

Tari: What... what is all this?!

???: Ahhhhhhhh!

[a random coconut comes flying at Tari's head, knocking her over.]

Tari: Ow! Who the...

[the coconut comes flying back to non other than Coconut Boy himself]

Coconut Boy: Take that, foul beast!

Tari: Wait... Coconut Boy?

[Coconut Boy once again throws his coconut at Tari's head.]

[Back in the real world, Tari is standing there lifelessly. Her eyes are glowing blue]

Belle: Yo, girl? You alright?

[Belle touches her. She gets a shock through her body.]

Belle: Uhh, Lucks! You might wanna see this!

[the same sinister man we saw earlier who we now know as Lucks is on his phone.]

Lucks: I'll call you back. It's one of my Meta Runners. [he hangs up]

Lucks:What is it Belle? I'm EXTREMELY busy explaining to the press about your disappointing FAILURE of a performance tonight!

Belle: Hey! SCREW YOU man! YOU go and do better. Oh wait. You can't play video games for CRAP!

Lucks: Rrrgh... There's no need for language like that dear Belle!

[Lucks roughly grabs Belle by the arm.]

Lucks: Need I remind you who owns you? And who can decommission you in an INSTANT...?

Belle: Really? Intimidation. Come on Lucks. That might work on your other Meta Runners, but we both know you wouldn't let anything happen to numero uno here.

Lucks: Maybe I will after today's performance.

[Lucks notices Tari and pushes Belle away.]

Lucks: Hm. What triggered this?

Belle: I don't know... she just sort of... freaked out and froze. I thought I broke her, y'know, emotionally!

[The TV screen's static fades, showing Tari standing next to Coconut Boy]

Tari: Wait.... Coconut Boy?

Belle: Lucks, is she in the...?

(Lucks activates his earpiece.)

Lucks: Bring in the Tascorp scientists. I want all of them here. NOW!

[close-up shot of Tari's face.]

(Credits roll.)