Collective Player Experience (Final)

As you pass over the hill, you arrive in the small town of Pine Falls.(click: "Pine Falls") [ This is your first time entering the town, but from what you've heard, it sounds like a sleepy, quiet town that doesn't get much traffic nowadays. There's very few noteworthy sights, only an unusually large arcade that seems to still be open after all this time. But there's something that's [[caught your attention|Entering Pine Falls 2]]... ]

You've heard of quiet small towns before, but Pine Falls seems strange People seem to steer clear of it for some reason, and whenever people try to reach out to the town the communication always fails. You vaugely remember a few reporters that tried investigating what's up, only for them to never be heard from again. Looking at government records didn't help either, after [[1978]] the documents just... stopped. As you drive into town, you're suprised by how [[alive|Entering Pine Falls 3]] Pine Falls looks

Everything you've read or heard about it, whether it be articles, interviews or government records of the town, seem to just stop appearing after the 70s It's like the town's ''frozen'' in time... [[Strange...|Entering Pine Falls 2]]

The town is super lively, everyone's out doing something. You see some dads chatting to each other as they mow their lawns, some kids skateboarding, a few teenagers going out shopping... Everyone just seems to be going about their daily life. Checking in to your hotel room also seemed normal, although the place was super outdated and the receptionist looked lifeless. You can't help but feel that there's something [[//wrong//|Entering Pine Falls 4]] in this town, but you can't put your finger on it.

After settling in, you decide asking some of the people at the front desk about this town might give you some answers . You creep your way through the old place, but other than that receptionist there doesn't seem to be anybody here. Asking her might be pointless but you do it anyway. When you asked about anything interesting or strange in Pine Falls, all she could do was mutter something about the arcade before going silent again. Seeing as it was one of the few noteworthy things you found about Pine Falls, you think that's as good as a lead as you're gonna get. [[Check out the arcade]]

You know the articles said it was big but this is insane! It has to be the largest one you’ve ever seen, taking up multiple city blocks. It's a hulking black obelisk of a building, with very few signs or even features other than the entrance. You eventually have to look away from it because you //swear// your head started pounding. It just doesn't make sense for a town this small to be hiding something like this... [[Ask a local about it]] [[Head into the arcade and see for yourself| Enter the arcade]]

You find a guy standing outside the arcade, kind of in a daze (text-colour:blue)["Hey, what's up with this arcade? Last I checked Pine Falls doesn't have that many people, isn't an arcade like this kinda overkill?"] He gives you a blank look for a //while// before finally responding (text-colour:orange)["Oh you mean the Ultra Arcade. I //love// that place, I could spend days in there! There's this one game that I played for hours and hours and hours... ] He continues to rattle on about how great the arcade is, and you figure this conversation isn't going anywhere. [[Check out the arcade| Enter the arcade]]

You walk through the doors of the arcade and are immediately shocked at the utter size of this place. (click: "size") [ On the outside it looked huge but it seems ''unnaturally'' large on the inside. You're not even sure if you can see the ceiling. Other than the dim screens of the arcade cabinets there's barely any lighting. You decide investigating here will probably yield more answers than looking for info outside, so you head off. [[Walk around and explore the arcade|Explore]] [[Try to talk to some of the players|People]] [[Check out the arcade cabinets|Cabinets]] ]

You start exploring, but navigating this place is easier said than done. The best course of action would be to try to look for some kind of management or employees that can tell you more about this. While it was supposedly only built in the early 70's, something about this arcade feels... ''older.'' The entire place is dark, the long corridors and dim lights of arcade cabinets makes this place feel like some [[labyrinth]]

There's a group of kids nearby all playing their own cabinets, you figure asking them might give you some sort of lead. You try to get their attention a few times, but they seem glued to their screens. Finally you get through to one (text-colour:orange)["Huh? What do you want?" ] (text-colour:blue)["Do you know what's up with this arcade? Or this town for that matter? Everything's not making sense but everyone's acting like it's fine!"] She gives you a weird look and goes back to playing her game You should probably find someone else... [[Talk to middle aged guy|Dad guy]] [[Talk to younger woman|Gamer Girl]]

You decide checking out the cabinets might be the smartest move. On first glance they seem normal; brightly colored arcade cabinets with big, rectangular screens and some simple controls. However, some of the images on them are disturbingly lifelike. You see multiple pictures of people smiling, a kid with her skateboard, and one that looks like a cashier What kind of [[games]] are these?

All of the passages you've been taking have been leading you to the same spot, and while you ''know'' there were a ton of kids here the place feels entirely empty now. You try to shake it off as just nerves or paranoia, but you have a gut feeling there's something off about this place. Just as you feel like booking it and heading to the entrance, you find a small closet labeled (text-style:"italic")["Employees only"] [[Head in]]

You feel bad for tresspassing, but at this point you just want some answers. It's a bit of a walk, but eventually you enter a small, cluttered room, filled with paperwork and files scattered everywhere. There's a folder that catches your eye however, a blank one simply labeled [(text-style:"italic","underline")[["Pine Falls Project, 1977"]]]

The pages are so worn and weathered it's hard to make anything significant out but you catch a few words here and there (text-colour:(hsl:0,0.8039,0.5,0.85))[(text-style:"blur","fidget")["Citywide inititive" "Ultra arcade construction" "townspeople under con-" "pyschological testing" "orders for _______ cabinets complete, arriving June __" "effects still unknown, reporting data to Mr. ____ for further notice" "the _______ reporting odd behavior" "collective ______ experience a success, moving onto larger scale mind control" "feds backing off after __________ incident, likely to lose funding" "________ declared an emergency, abandoning-" ]] but the last sentance is fully intact ''"As of today, Pine Falls will be under strict lockdown until further notice to contain the events that transpired. These orders will be effective January 1st, 1978"'' You need to [[get out of here]]

You start running, not even sure where to go but just knowing you need to get out of here. It feels like you're heading to the center of the arcade (click: "center of the arcade")[ As you get closer and closer, you start to hear [[whispers]], just faint enough that you can't fully make them out, and as much as you want to stop yourself, you can't. You head towards the [[source of the sounds|Ultra]]. ]

If you stop and listen to them, you find it disturbing how much they sound like people The whispers sound somewhat static and distorted, like a voice out of a radio or video game. But mostly, they just sound angry and pained. They keep on growing louder by the second, and you decide the best course of action is to try and [[tune them out|get out of here]] as best you can.

You enter a large circular shaped room, completely void of any arcade cabinets, with the exception of one in the middle The cabinet is pitch black, lacking any features expect for the words (text-style:"bold",)[//Ultra//] in bright white letters. The air around the cabinet feels heavy, and as you get closer to it your head starts pounding. [[Play Ultra|Ultra2]]

Walking up to a cabinet, you decide to try playing it for yourself. As you go to insert a quarter and start playing, the game lights up by itself (text-colour:blue)["That's... odd" ] You're brought to the title screen, just a flat background and the words (text-style:"italic","blink")[(text-colour:red)[Chelsea]] blinking over and over again. [[Play|Chelsea]]

You //take control// of a teenager as she goes about her daily life, waking up, brushing her teeth, going to school, shopping with friends and going back to sleep. (after:4s)[After playing for a while you notice that there isn't any real goal, you're just doing the same things over and over again. Playing this game just feels pointless, but it's so repetitive that you can see how people could get sucked in. You're able to tear yourself off from the game, and look for [[another one|David]]. ]

You start playing on a cabinet just labeled (text-style:"italic","blink")[(text-colour:red)[David]] (Weird. Do all of these cabinets just have names like this?) You start playing as your character, riding around the in game map on a skateboard, wearing probably the most annoying shade of neon green you've ever seen. Just like last time, you get hooked on the game pretty quickly, though at least this one feels kinda exciting. The only thing weird is the game's [[town]]...

You notice the town looks a lot like Pine Falls, and at first it just seemed like a coincident, but now you've started riding by the //exact// same places you saw driving in. You try to brush it off, but the whole arcade give you this eerie feeling, and you can't help but feel like there's something going on. Wait... the arcade, if this game is modeled after Pine Falls, maybe the [[arcade|David 2]] is in the game too!

You find it pretty easily, and you see a bunch of in game people swarming around the huge arcade. The idea that this game, maybe all of the games here are centered around Pine Falls only adds to your confusion, but you try to steer your character into the arcade. The little neon green skateboarder enters the building and as soon as they do, the game goes [[dark]]

(text-colour:blue)["Huh, that's... odd"] As you're trying to figure out what went wrong, you hear some teens talking behind you Turning your head to see what the commotion is about, your eyes go wide as you see a young skateboarder, complete with a sickly shade of green. (text-colour:orange)["Yo! ''David!'' What are you doing here man?"] (text-colour:red)["I don't know! I just suddenly felt like dropping by, I guess!" ] (text-colour:blue)["But... that would mean... //Oh no//."] You can almost //feel// your heart drop, and you start to [[run]]

Whatever's happening in this arcade, whatever this arcade ''is'', you know it isn't normal You don't really know where you're going, but you keep running, hoping to find some way out. (click: "out") [You see something bright in the darkness, and, with your heart pounding, you head [[towards the light|Ultra]]]

You see a middle-aged guy a few cabinets over and talk to him, thinking you may get a better answer out of him. But before you can even start talking he speaks up (text-colour:lime)["I love this place! It makes me feel like a kid again y'know?"] (text-colour:blue)["Oh uh... sure, hey when did this arcade show up in Pine Falls? Seems like a pretty big deal nowadays right?"] [[next|Dad Guy 2]]

Over your shoulder you see what looks like a fast food cashier playing a game rather intensely (text-colour:blue)["Hey uh, that game looks good, how long have you been playing it?" ] (text-colour:magenta)["Huh? Oh I don't know a few hours or so."] (text-colour:blue)["A few hours? Wouldn't you get tired of it? Why not play this one instead, it looks fun?" ] She looks at you like you were just speaking in some alien language [[next|Gamer Girl 2]]

(text-colour:blue)["Say... sir, can you tell me what year it is?" ] (text-colour:lime)["Of course I can! It's 1978, why?" ] You sit there dumbfounded, unsure if he's telling the truth or not (text-colour:blue)["1978? A-Are you sure?"] He gets that same irritated look on his face (text-colour:lime)["Absolutely! Now, if you'll stop bothering me, I have a game to return to."] You figure you should [[get out]] of his hair

The way everyone's been acting has been really unsettling... You don't know what exactly but the people in this arcade, in this //town// are all off Maybe if you find the people in charge you might get some actual answers to what's been happening, so you start asking around. After a while, you find a man wearing an Ultra Arcade uniform [[talk to him]]

You approach him and try to get his attention He shoots you an annoyed look before responding (text-colour:grey)["Huh? What's up."] (text-colour:blue)["Do you know who owns this arcade? Like this place is super weird and-"] His face lights up as soon as he hears mention of the arcade (text-colour:grey)["Oh you want to see Mr. Helm! Yeah I can take you to him."] (text-colour:blue)["He's still here?"] (text-colour:grey)["Of course! He never left"] While that last comment sounds... unsettling, you decide to follow him to [[Mr. Helm|Ultra]]

(text-colour:lime)["Yeah! Mr. Helm built this place a few years ago, and ever since it's been our city's pride and joy!"] (text-colour:blue)["Yeah but, when was that?"] He pauses for a bit, and gets an irritated look on his face before continuing (text-colour:lime)["Oh that doesn't matter, not when time flies like this!"] Hmmm... [[Interrogate him more|Dad Guy 3]]

(text-colour:magenta)["No, it wouldn't be right for me to play that, it's not my game"] (text-colour:blue)["''Your'' game? What does that mean?"] She gives you the same look before continuing (text-colour:magenta)["''My'' game, this one right here, the game specifically made for me? ...What, do you not have one?"] (text-colour:blue)["Uh... no I don't..."] That last comment doesn't sit right with you, and you feel a overwhelming desire to go [[somewhere else|get out]]

Starting to feel sick, you walk up to the cabinet. Every bone in your body is telling you this is a bad idea but... [[Play Ultra|Ultra3]]

There's this part of you that just wants answers, wants to //know// what happened in Pine Falls. You just want to find out the truth, the ''whole truth'', and put an end to this whole mystery Maybe this cabinet can give that to you [[Play Ultra|Ultra4]]

You stare at the monochromatic flashing screen and take a deep breath [[Play Ultra|Ultra5]]

You put your hand over the start button [[Play Ultra|Ultra6]]

And you press play [[Play Ultra|Ultra7]]

You feel so... enlightened! Finally everything makes sense! The townspeople, the arcade, Pine Falls, the disappearances, you understand all of it! It's like you were missing a part of yourself until this exact moment, and now you finally feel ''whole'', a part of the collective You start laughing so hard that you're not even sure if you can breathe anymore. Your headache, your worry, your fatigue, it all fades away as you play, no as you //experience// Ultra. It all finally makes sense You've never been happier than you are right now You have everything you've ever wanted And all of it all of it is because of //''Ultra''//