Before you read this, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you play the game or watch someone play the game. I have written this out of my love for the game, and I must say, the story works much better in game form. I only did this because I love remembering every part of the game. Major spoilers ahead.
This story was inspired by OneShot.
(Click on the names of each area to hear the music for that specific area.)
The House
A dark, unfamiliar place. Light trickles through the window, highlighting speckles of dust in its path and illuminating 4 small squares on the old and dried wood floor. A very dusty bookshelf that hasn’t been touched in a long, long time sits next to a bed with a lightbulb sewn into its sheets. The child wakes from their sleep. “Hello?” No reply. As they get out of bed, A book previously hidden in the shadows starts to glow. The plain, brown book looks more like a novel or a diary; there is no title, just an indentation on the cover in the shape of a lightbulb. The child walks to the bookshelf and picks up the book; the light stops. As they flip through the pages, the child sees an odd string of messages.
“So, you’ve finally begun to read…”
“…Listen.”
“Your mission is to oversee Niko’s journey.”
“Niko is not a part of this world.”
“As soon as Niko’s journey is completed, Niko will return home.”
“But most importantly…”
The last page has been torn out. Niko closes the book and looks around the room. Niko sees two doors, one on the left and one on the right. Niko enters the one on the right. A bathtub and a toilet with no water sit rusted in the corners. On Niko’s left is a mirror. A pair of large, yellow, luminous eyes stare back. To the right is a long dead plant; a branch snaps off as Niko looks at it. They pick it up and continue to the door on the left. The first thing Niko sees is darkness; however, they see the sparks of a broken television set still emitting out from the large hole in the middle of the screen. Past the television is a large fireplace with dry firewood still piled inside. Opposite to Niko is the kitchen, and on the left is a locked door that leads to the basement. Niko walks to the fridge in the kitchen and finds a bottle. Upon closer inspection, and upon smell, Niko realizes it to be alcohol. Just then, Niko has an idea. Dipping the stick into the bottle of alcohol, Niko makes their way towards the television and holds the stick in front of it.
“Ah!” Niko exclaims, as the spark catches the branch on fire. Shielding their face, Niko tosses the stick into the fireplace. “I can finally see,” Niko thought. The warmth of the fire felt comforting. Familiar. Out of the corner of Niko’s eye, they see a glint. Niko snaps back to reality. A key is on the floor, strangely brand-new looking. Niko picks it up and goes to the door behind them. The key perfectly fits in the lock. Opening the door, it appears to be stairs as far as Niko can see. Oddly compelled to go down the stairs, Niko begins their way down. As they descend, and get farther and farther from the fireplace, it goes completely dark. At the end of the stairs is a wall, and at the bottom of the wall is…
“A lightbulb?” Niko thinks. The lightbulb is large and round, aside from the base. It’s about the width of Niko’s body, and looks to have been unlit for a very long time. As soon as Niko picks it up it flashes brilliantly. The lightbulb glows a bright yellow and lights up the whole house. As Niko walks back up the stairs they see something they hadn’t before. A large door opposite to the stairs with a slot in the middle, the exact same shape as the lightbulb. The lightbulb inserts perfectly into the slot, and Niko finally sees the outside world.
The Barrens
The first thing that Niko sees is the large tower, taller than Niko can see. The land is a deep blue and filled with large craters, some of which contain pools of glowing water and shrimp. Scattered amongst the land are many broken down robots. Further ahead Niko can see a green glow, and an even fainter red glow next to the tower. Right next to Niko are a few docks, and one has an intact yet unpowered robot in a boat. An outpost not too far away has another robot standing outside it. As Niko approaches, the robot turns and exclaims,
[Welcome to our world, Messiah!]
“What? I’m sorry, I just woke up in that abandon house over there… Wait, where did it go?”
[Ah, so you woke up in an unfamiliar, dark location?]
“Yes, I guess so.”
[Aha! Just as my prophecy foretold! Greetings, savior. I am prophetbot 2.0, and I will inform you over your oncoming adventure. Your mission is to place our new sun at the top of that tower.]
“Sun? You mean this lightbulb?”
[Yes! Our sun! The previous one has sadly gone out. The only form of light left in this world is phosphor. It absorbs the light and glows for long periods of time, slowly losing its energy until it is completely dark.]
“I see… So where am I right now? It’s really dark, I can barely see anything.”
[Our world was not always this dim. But time waits for no one, not even saviors. The land is divided into three sections: you’re on the fringe right now, The Barrens. I believe there is a map inside the outpost.]
“It’s so… Empty here.”
[That’s why it’s called The Barrens.]
“Are there ANY people living in this area?”
[I do not know. I was not built to wander.]
“So, you just stand here all day? Must be boring… Do you at least have friends? Robot… Friends?”
[I cannot desire companionship. I have not been tamed.]
“Not… ‘tamed?’”
[There was no time.]
“I see… Can you tell me about this computer I found in the house I woke up in? It kept saying stuff like… ‘Your mission is to oversee Niko’s journey.’ But, I’m Niko!”
[If I had to guess, they would be referring to our god.]
“Your god?”
[Yes. No one knows his or her real name. No one knows if they even are a he or she. All we know is that they indirectly guide the messiah’s pilgrimage to the tower. Just by being present, this world comes to be. While they are not here, the world enters a stasis where nothing takes place. They have the power to see everything in relation to the messiah: All speech, thoughts, events, and so forth that affects you if relayed to our god.]
*Confused cat noises*
[Ah. I apologize. That must have been quite a bit for you. All you need to know is that you, and our god, can vaguely understand what you must do at any time to complete your mission.]
“Oh…”
[What troubles you?]
“It’s just… I was just with my mama a few hours ago. When can I go home?”
[…Your mission is to restore our sun. Just as my mission is to relay this information to you. I cannot help you past my programming. I am sorry.]
“Ah.”
[Is there anything else you wish to ask?]
“No, thanks. I guess I’ll continue on now.”
[Good luck.]
Niko then enters the building behind the robot. Inside appears to be the remains of an outpost or warehouse. It’s dark, but Niko can see objects strewn across the ground, and ransacked shelves scattered throughout the room. The wall next to Niko holds a rough map of the world, which Niko inspects for a moment before spotting a still intact battery with no charge on the ground.
The side of the battery says, “solar battery.” Niko holds onto it and walks through the doorway at the center of the room. Inside is the battery powering prophetbot outside, as well as a large and very dusty generator. In the middle of the generator’s face is an empty socket. Just then, Niko gets an idea. Holding the lightbulb to the battery found on the ground not long ago charges it in a matter of seconds. Niko then places the battery in the generator, and suddenly…
Lights flash. The dust disperses as the generator begins to tremor with new life. Slowly, the generator calms and appears to just vibrate softly. Niko exits the outpost and sees blue lights across the land. The generator had restored power to all the robots in The Barrens. Niko thinks, “That robot in the boat must be functional again now!” As Niko makes their way back to the docks, Robots of all shapes, sizes, and types pass by. The robot in the boat greets Niko as they approach.
[Greetings. I am RowBot serial number 310. What is your requested destination?]
“I want to go to the tower, please!”
[Calculating route… Closest port is port #26, located in The Glen. Please enter the boat.]
Niko hops in and holds the sun tightly as they trek across the ocean. The water beneath them glows blue as it is agitated, and slowly turns more and more green as they slowly row their way to…
The Glen
The RowBot drops Niko off and makes its way back to its assigned port for the last time. Niko enters the ruins ahead of them and makes their way up the stairs. At the top of the building is a door, and on the other side, a wonderful view of the area. The land is fragmented into multiple large islands, mostly connected by bridges. The land is very green; there are green fireflies in the air, green moss floating in the ponds and lakes, and a thick layer of green plant life covering the land. Past the marsh is a large wall separating it from the red city at the center of the world.
“Alright, All I need to do is find a way past that wall.” Niko walked down the stairs. Just taking a few steps forward, Niko hears someone exclaim “Alula!” The dark figure brightens as Niko approaches. It appears to be a young adult, possibly 15 years of age. He has feathers across his arms with one large red feather at the back of his hair. On his head is a small beak between two smaller eyes. His shirt looks handmade, like something a tribal person would wear. “Hello?” Niko says.
He replies, “Oh hi, I’m looking for my sister. Have you seen her?”
“No, we just got here. What does your sister look like?”
“She has long blue hair, and wears a shirt like mine, just… bluer? I’ve been looking for almost two days now! She was in the ruins and said she was heading into the forest, so I’m waiting here but she hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Oh… we can check the ruins for you, if you’d like.”
“Yes, that’d be wonder- wait. We? Is that the sun? Oh my stars, please forgive me, messiah!”
“It’s okay, you can just call me Niko.”
“Would it not be rude to call you by name?”
“No…? I’m just a kid, like you.”
“Ah. In that case, it’s nice to meet you, Niko. My name is Calamus.”
“Nice to meet you too! I should go off and find your sister… Alula, right?”
“Yes. Please hurry back, the ruins haven’t been as safe since the flooding.”
With that, Niko was off to the ruins. They weren’t far, just across the bridge. The buildings of the ruins above ground appear as large grey rectangles, while underneath is a large network of catacombs. Just walking in, Niko could hear a very faint voice say, “Calamus!” Moving towards the voice yielded a large wall splitting off into two paths. Somehow Niko knew that the right path was correct, then the left, then another right, and two lefts. A very thin layer of water coated the floor of the tunnels.
Niko took a final turn and ended up in a confined and dark room. “Calamus?” The voice exclaimed. Niko replied, “Are you Alula? Calamus sent me to help you get out of the ruins.” A small girl, no more than 9, peeked out from under a large rock in the corner. “Messiah! Did you come to save me?” Flustered, Niko could only respond with “I gues-” before the child had ran over and tightly hugged them. “I was looking for fireflies and then I got lost in the ruins and it was so dark and all I could find was this rock but now you came and saved me and I can go see Calamus!” Niko, impressed with the child’s stamina, escorted her out of the ruins and towards Calamus.
“Alula!”
“Calamus!”
The siblings ran towards each other before embracing one another. After spending some time bantering, laughing, and scolding (mostly by Calamus,) The siblings calmed down enough to talk.
“How could I ever thank you, savior?” Calamus asked.
“Well, all I need right now is to know how to get into the city.”
“Well, that’s where your luck runs out, I’m afraid. The city gates have closed due to the frequent breaking of the land and even more frequent flooding.”
“But Calamus, didn’t dad dig that secret tunnel a while ago?” Alula asked.
“Alula! You can’t tell anyone about that, it’s secret for a reason! Do you know how much trouble we could get in if anyone found out? But… if it’s for the messiah, I guess it’s alright…”
“Where is the tunnel?” Niko asked.
“It’s quite deep within the underground ruins. Our family used the ruins as a home, before… Well, the sun…”
“Went out?” Niko finished.
“Yeah. There’s no need to speak of that anymore. Brings back bad memories. If you could follow me, the tunnel is just this way. I have the path memorized, so as long as you bring some light, we should be able to make it.”
Walking back through the catacombs felt surreal. Every corner, every turn, every wall all looked the same. Niko could hear a constant drip, drip, drip of the water leaking from the ceiling and landing on the floor beneath them. The humid air made Niko feel as if they were wet without and water on them. It felt as if they were walking for hours when it had been mere minutes. As they got deeper and deeper, the walls began to look worn and broken. Suddenly, Calamus stopped.
“We’re here.” There was nothing but a wall in front of Calamus, And Niko thought that they had taken a wrong turn or Calamus had forgotten where to go. “It looks like a wall to me,” Niko said. “Just watch this.” Calamus pulled out a feather from a hidden pocket under his shirt. It glowed yellow, like the sun. “This is a feather we got from our Great Aunt – The grand prophet. My father wanted to keep it as an heirloom, but… It feels more fitting to let you have it. Calamus handed Niko the feather.
“All you have to do is close your eyes and see the tunnel.”
Niko, very confused, closed their eyes. The wall slowly disappeared in Niko’s mind.
“It’s open, what do I do?”
“The door is passable as long as you see it as so. Keep your eyes closed and go through to the tunnel.”
Niko, from the perspective of Calamus and Alula, walked straight through the solid wall. Once on the other side, Calamus said,
“Great job. This tunnel leads directly to the center of The Refuge. Once you get to the end, you will reach a set of stairs. Go up and look for the library; all I know is that there’s somebody smart in there that might be able to tell you how to get into the tower. Good luck!”
Niko, still in shock from walking through a wall, said “Thanks” before continuing.
The Refuge
The stairs at the end of the tunnel spiraled upward into a small room. The door just across from the stairs led to a balcony where Niko could see almost the whole city; Tall buildings connected by metal bridges, red glowing rivers throughout the city, and many people all moving around on the ground below. Niko continued along the balcony until they reached a large platform with an elevator at its center. To the right was a café, atop a large building and connected by metal bridge. “Oh yeah,” Niko thought, “I haven’t eaten anything since I got here. I hope they have pancakes.” Just the thought of pancakes made Niko go crazy.
The café was empty when Niko walked in, aside from the one worker at the counter. As soon as she saw the lightbulb, her eyes went as wide as the lightbulb itself. “Messiah! What brings someone like you to a tiny café like this?” Niko thought about it for a moment. “I’m hungry,” they decided.
“Well, what would you like? It’s on the house. It’s the least I could do for our savior, right?”
“Do you have pancakes?”
“We sure do! Lemme fry some up for you real quick.”
She set the stack of pancakes on the table and complimented it with maple syrup and a spoonful of butter. The butter started to melt immediately from the warmth of the pancakes. Niko took a bite. Then another. And another. The stack of pancakes was down in less than 5 minutes.
“Never seen someone eat that fast. Pancakes must be your favorite, huh?”
“Yeah! Well… almost. My favorite pancakes are these super special ones my mama makes! She would pick fresh hazelnuts and grind them up in the batter.”
“Wow, those sound amazing.”
“They taste amazing! She would always make them for me on my birthday, or when I’m sad… Oh…”
“What’s wrong?”
“I just… Suddenly have a bad feeling. I miss my home, my village. What if bringing back the sun doesn’t send me home? I miss my mama…”
“Oh, uh… There, there. I’m sure everything will be alright. After this is all over, you’ll get to see your family again. Here, why don’t I make you some more pancakes.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Alright. Don’t doubt yourself, savior.”
Niko walked back outside and entered the elevator. The only button outside the elevator was a large rectangle with the word “GROUND” on it. Niko entered the elevator, but just as it was about to depart, Niko heard a man yell “Wait!” In the distance. He’s an adult with light skin, purple hair with bangs covering his right eye, and a faint stubby beard. He wears a violet patched-up newsboy cap and a just as patched up violet coat. Niko held the door for the man. He ran inside and said “Ground level,” while still out of breath and panting. “That’s… the only other floor?” Niko said. “Oh. Yeah.” Awkward elevator music ensued as the man suddenly realized he was next to the messiah.
“So where do you work?” Niko said, trying to break the tension.
“I uh… fill the lamps throughout the city. Important work.”
“Do you know where the library is? Someone told me to head there.”
“Yeah, it’s just east after you get out of the elevator. I run past it a lot.”
The elevator music was all that was heard for the rest of the elevator ride.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, uh…”
“Niko.”
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Niko. Gotta run now!”
And with that, he was gone. The city was much darker from the ground; most of the illumination came from the river and the rest was in the very small, yet very numerous lamps throughout the city. The library was in view from the bottom of the elevator, which made it much easier to get there rather than finding a compass to figure out where east is.
The library was quite small, for a library. All the books had a distinct clover shape on their covers. Straight ahead was a robot at the receptionist desk.
“Hello! Could I see the person in charge here?”
[Would you like the see the Head Librarian?]
“Yeah, that would be great.”
[Please allow me to dial her.]
*Preset Apple iPhone ringtone…*
Coming down from the stairs behind the robot was the head librarian. She has the body of a person, but with the head of a die. She’s wearing a teal dress, and the front of her ‘face’ has 5 dots.
“Oh, hello messiah. You’re quite young, aren’t you?”
“No! I’m grown up…”
“Well either way, you must’ve come here for help. My name is George. What’s yours?”
“I’m Niko! I need to know how to get into the tower.”
“Hm. No one has ever entered the tower. It’s known to our citizens as something you can’t and shouldn’t do. It’s not like there’s anything useful in there, anyway. But if you’re looking for where the tower is, just go down by the river across from the library and there should be a metal platform. The door and hallways connecting the tower to the city should be right there.”
“Is that all?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it feels like everything is ending so quickly. I just met you and now I’m going into the tower?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be able to talk after you put the sun up there, right?”
“I guess so.”
“Well then you better get going. I really do want to talk to you, messiah. There’s a lot of things you don’t know about the world, and what better place to learn than the library!” George looked up and spun around with her arms up.
Niko giggled a little at George’s joke. Feeling a bit better now, they said their goodbyes, and Niko headed off towards the tower. The tower looked as if it went up forever when you were at its base. It was completely grey, With a hexagonal shape to it. At its base was a completely black entrance that wasn’t lighted by the sun. Niko gathered their courage and waked in.
The Tower
A dark, unfamiliar place. Niko no longer holds the sun. All around Niko is darkness, but in the distance they see a very faint glow. Niko sprints towards it, hoping it’s the sun, but as they get closer, it’s just a…
Book. Just a plain, brown book that looks more like a novel or a diary; there is no title, just an indentation on the cover in the shape of a lightbulb. The lightbulb portion of the cover is still glowing a faint yellow. Niko opens to the first page, but it’s blank for them. Niko continues to flip through, but all they see is blank sheets. The pages truly say:
“Congratulations. You’ve made it to the end.”
“This is the tower. It is what allows this world to come into existence, along with a living person from another universe, and another to offer their mental creativity.”
“Niko is the vessel.”
“You are the god.”
“I am the story.”
“And I’ve decided that Niko was successful. This run of the program missed a few characters along the story, however that’s fine. Normally the god can interact by speaking to Niko, however the form I was required to contact you with was… Limited, at best.”
“Niko will be allowed to continue now. No matter what is seen in the tower, the top room never changes.”
The book shuts itself, and its glow stops. It disappears from Niko’s hands just before their vision goes completely black.
Niko wakes up in a bed with a lightbulb pattern sewn into the sheets. The room Niko wakes up in has a Bookshelf filled with books with clovers on the covers; a very soft light trickles through the window. Entering the bathroom, Niko sees a small tree to the right and a large mirror on the left. Niko stares into the mirror. A pair of large, luminous, yellow eyes stare back. As Niko enters the living room, they see everything as a flashback. They suddenly remember the key on the ground in front of the fireplace. Niko picks it up and goes down to the basement, where they find the sun in the same place it was when they first arrived.
Niko exits the house and finds themself in a long wooden hallway. Many doors are evenly separated along the sides of the hallway, each most likely leading to another house. At one end of the hallway is another elevator; the other end isn’t visible. Niko enters the elevator, with much less awkward elevator music this time.
The elevator doors open, and Niko steps into the large glass dome with a slot at its center. The slot would perfectly hold the sun in it, and all that’s left is to place the sun at its center. But before Niko returns the sun, A glow in their pocket takes their attention. The book that Niko first saw has found its way into their pocket. Niko opens to the first page again.
“I’m sorry, but it’s not that simple.”
“This story was built with possibilities taken into consideration.”
“Every event that happens in this world has been accounted for. Planned for.”
“That includes the ending.”
“My creator made me with only one ending intended.”
“Niko, the messiah, will enter the tower and return the sun. However, the child must bear the weight of this sacrifice. The world cannot live on if this one dies.”
“This world is not real. It is only words on some website somewhere on the internet. Niko, however, is very real.”
“The only way the messiah can return home is to shatter the sun.”
“…This will end the world instantly.”
“I will leave you two to decide.”
To return the sun, go to 0:33
To return Niko home, go to 2:11
English Composition I - Multimedia Project 