VCR ELECTRIC REMAINS

CHALLENGE #9: You Go High, I Go Low
CHALLENGE: Find Scrap Metal
MUSIC: Paul Whiteman - Grieving
Image description: The challenge's name is Challenge #9: You Go Low, I Go High. It opens with VCR yawning in a green color palette. The background is a tinted blue picture of meat. VCR thinks 'Huh. I wonder who unplugged me this morning. I feel so drowsy. Did I not get a full charge? Must have been Task. I wonder why ze didn't stick around. Could've been Phyllis but- Wait. Where is Phyllis?' VCR stands up and looks around. Xe thinks 'Where'd he go? I don't like sleeping alone. I ought to ask around. Task would know where he went.' Firefly is standing in the distance in the arcade. VCR says 'Pardon me, Firefly, have you seen my sister? I can't find him anywhere.' There is a closeup panel of Firefly's face, showcasing its left eye. Firefly says 'Phyllis became a star.' VCR says 'What?' Firefly says 'I'm sorry, I don't know where petal went.' VCR thinks 'I ran into Daisy on my way to find Task. She didn't know what I meant and told me to 'fuck off.' There is a closeup of Daisy Bell's face, an anthropromorphic computer, showing her left eye. VCR thinks 'Meeba also wouldn't tell me. It gave me a hug and told me Phyllis was gone. Did he leave?' Another panel of a left eye, this time from Meeba. VCR thinks 'I still haven't seen Task yet. Is aw avoiding me? Asking around further didn't yield many results. Some were gentle with me;' There are three panels of Ska, an anthropromorphic version of the Happy99 virus; Hivemind, an anthropromophic beehive; and DNE. All panels are of their left eyes. VCR thinks 'Others were not.' There are two panels of Eggpet and Tiny Fan in the same manner. VCR thinks 'Others-' There is a panel of Mane Event, an anthropromorphic plush of a horse head, standing up in a looming position, with only her left eye visible. VCR thinks 'Mane Event yelled at me and told me it was 'my fault.' My fault for doing what?' VCR thinks 'I don't understand what's going on. Why's everyone acting so strange around me? Where's my sister? Why won't anyone tell me what happened to my sister?' VCR grabs ATM's leg, looking up at aer with sad, wet eyes. VCR says 'Excuse me, ATM? You've seen my sister, right? Please tell me you've seen my sister. I can't find him anywhere.' Ae lifts up aer leg, dangling VCR up off of the floor. Ae say 'I am not ATM.' VCR says 'I'm sorry, I must have forgotten again. Who are you?' Ae says 'I am not ATM. I am, but I am not. I- Just do not call me ATM.' VCR says 'Okay!! Can we still be friends?' Ae say 'We are still friends, we can keep being friends.' VCR says 'Do you know what happened to my sister?' Ae says 'He died, VCR.' VCR says 'What do you mean, he's dead? I'm dead too. Can we fix him?' Ae pats VCR on the head and says 'Phyllis asked us all to vote him off last night; Polybius snapped him like a rubber band. He asked me to tell you. He cannot be repaired, I am sorry.' VCR says 'You're lying to me. You're lying to me like Tiny Fan did. Why are you lying to me?' Ae says 'VCR, I am telling the truth. I am hurt you would think I would lie. Why would I lie to you? I am trying to fulfill his last wish. Why is me lying your default assumption?' VCR says 'Task told me the eliminated contestants leave. Task wouldn't lie to me, ze <em>can't</em> lie to me. Task's my friend. Aren't we friends too? I don't get it- why are you trying to lie to me? Did I do something wrong?' Ae says 'Of course I want to be your friend, I... I am sorry. I am sorry that Task Manager was lying to you. That seems cruel. I know it is hard to loose family. It was Phyllis' dying wish that I told you.' VCR says 'I- Task wouldn't- Phyllis-' They crash to the ground, distraught. VCR says 'I'm sorry, I can't believe you. Task Manager will tell me where he went.' End description
MUSIC: Camille Saint-Saens - Cuckoo in the Woods
Image description: VCR thinks 'I don't understand. I feel like something's missing. Why won't anyone tell me where my sister went? Ae said petal got eliminated. Task says the eliminated contestants leave. It never says where to. Why is everyone saying they don't?' VCR walks through the arcade. Xe thinks 'Something isn't right. Why isn't it adding up. Task couldn't lie to me. Task would never lie to me. Come to think of it, where has Task been all day? Xe didn't even wait for me to wake up. Has she been avoiding me? If others have left, does Task think I'm going to leave too? Is that why ze's avoiding me? Do they not trust me to stay? Does Task not even trust me enough to tell me where my sister went? If I show xem I'm not going to leave, will he tell me where my sister went? I...' An image of VCR falling without a panel around it. The background color fades from a blue tinted meat image to red meat. VCR thinks 'Phyllis didn't love me enough to stay, did he. When you love someone, you stay with them, right? Even when it hurts you? My team didn't love me enough to stay. My sister didn't love me enough to stay either. It doesn't matter. Why would it matter?' There is a panelless scribbled drawing of VCR crying. Only her left eye is visible. She thinks 'Why am I crying? I... Pull it together, VCR. You've got to do the challenge, how else are you going to-' There is a screwdriver laying on the arcade carpet floor. VCR thinks '<em>Scrap metal.</em> I reckon I know where to get that.' VCR holds the screwdriver up to her face. 'Is this what Baptismal Font would have done? That's what Task would want, right?' In a black, white, and red panel, VCR gouges out her eye with the screwdriver. The background fades to black, and the text is lime green. VCR thinks 'I- We-' There is a jumble of text in different fonts used to represent the dead objects used to make up VCR featured in challenge 5. The font switches to VCR OSD Mono. VCR thinks '[<em>You</em> finish the job and rip the eye out of the socket. It pops out easily.] [You don't know why it stings so bad.] [Is this what love feels like?] [You grip the eye hard in your hand to dull the pain.] [With your other hand, you reach into your mouth and grab the bow that Task gave you the first time they took you on patrol. You ought to look your best, you don't want Task thinking you're not serious about this.] [You're sick of feeling like a secondary character in your own story. You're sick of people telling you lies.] [You ought to-]' End description.
MUSIC: Haruomi Hosono - En Tago Serena
NOTE: please put this on loop!! It's short. :)
BONUS
Image description: bonus palette. Task Manager is curled around VCR. Xe thinks 'It's over, isn't it? I can't believe it's over. You'll wake up and you'll hate me. And yet- I can't help but feel a little selfish for wanting one last moment alone with youn' End description.
RESULTS + EXTRAS
PLACEMENT:
Not released!!
Sorry Petra for making such a long entry. (head in hooves)
EXTRA:
Okay so my entry's file corrupted very early on, and I had to redo some of the art. And here's the very angry notepad note I wrote myself when I figured out I had to redo all of the work I'd already done at like. 2 in the morning.