ReBoot Episode 16 (2+15) (code 9503)
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"WHEN GAMES COLLIDE"


Title credits

Written by
Jono Howard
Story by
Gavin Blair, Brendan McCarthy, Phil Mitchell, Ian Pearson, Lane Raichert

Synopsis

Megabyte starts leeching energy from game cubes in order to break into the Archives. Hack and Slash drain too much energy from one cube, resulting in the User downloading a second game on top of the first. The two games merge. Then Megabyte activates a "Stargate" to the Supercomputer.

Story

The episode opens in the midst of a game. The setting is in the ruins of some strange temple on a planet with two moons. A deadly enemy hovers into to view, looking like a cross between a Samauri warrior's helmet and an orange umbrella. Dot, Bob, and Enzo are in the game; their personas have no hair, are covered head to foot with a shiny metallic lavender covering. Even the binomes are covered with the purple-tinged metal. The whole thing looks like the futuristic commercials that Robert Ableman and Associates created for Benson and Hedges in the early 1980's.

Meanwhile, Hack and Slash are positioning a device atop the game cube. It has a nasty looking leach-like mouth. After their usual bickering ("Push the button", "No, you push it. Everytime I push the button something bad happens". The device drops its main feeding orifice onto the cube (and 8 smaller legs), and starts sucking energy out of the game cube.

Our heros, who had been unfairly outgunned by the enemy, are surprised to see the orange menace moving at one-quarter speed. It becomes trivial to dodge its bullets and bombs. Enzo uses his gun like a baseball bat, and knocks a fireball back to The User's icon, ending the game. Back in Mainframe, Phong reports a mysterious energy drain, and Security reports a break in at the Archives.

The Archives merely look like a "tiny little hut", but in reality, are a memory bank with transfinite parameters. It has a voice-print lock, Dot simply states her name to get in. The doors open, and open, and open, just like "Get Smart" and MST3K. Inside are copies of old information. The security field suffered a major blow during the game; the compression waves were registering at 0.8.

One of Megabyte's henchmen reports that they could have broken through with just a little more energy. MB instructs Hack and Slash to use maximum drain on the next game cube. In the mean time MB's minions are assembling a Stargate, a ring about 20 feet in diameter with strange hieroglyphs on the side. [The viral binome operating the crane has a pink bunny slipper and a brick as shoes, his mouth on the bottom cube, eye and one arm on the middle cube, and the other arm on the top cube.

Bob is heading for Megabyte's Silicon Tor when another game cube arrives. This time it's Basic Combat with the User in a tank. Bob reboots into a generic "Rambo" style soldier. But before he can do much fighting, Hack and Slash set the energy leech to maximum drain. The game cube is running out of energy, an is about to crash. Phong tries to reroute power to the game cube, but to no avail. A manual override occurs; the User downloads a fresh game cube (swirling with purple and white energy) on top of the old game cube (which has become flattened and dull gray). This is very bad.

The games merge; Dinosaurs meets Basic Combat. Bob is a cave man with fossilized eggs as grenades, the F18 fighter/bomber has a beak and bendable bird wings, and Tyranosaurus Rex is a robot wearing a Nintendo Super Scope. Megabye is stuck in the game. He helps Bob push a large tree over a deep canyon, but then tries to knock the Guardian into the gorge. Bob is saved by the bird/plane; it is piloted by a Binky and his commander (Binky Ffarquarson and Algernon Cholmondley-Worthington III). [Bob has a tatoo of a grinning skull on his left shoulder.]

As MB is dodging fireballs from the T-Rex, he lands in a tar pit. As he is slowly sinking into the mire, Megabyte calls for Bob's help. The Guardian has been programmed to defend people from outside enemies and has to save him.

While patrolling the perimeter, Frisket and Enzo investigate a manhole leading under the Archives. An energy surge from the second game cube passes down the cable running through the sewers, and allows the virals to break through. Enzo and Frisket see this, but are captured before they can report back to Dot.

Glitch becomes a rocket-launched cable, jamming up the dinosaur's Gatling gun, and allowing Bob to swing in and punch the User's icon. Game Over. Dot informs him that the virals have stolen an old Gateway command from the Archives, and that Enzo is missing. They both head for the Silicon Tor.

A rust-colored viral binome arrives with the Gateway command in a bag marked "SWAG" (stolen booty). MB advises them to be careful with that, the Gateway command is old and fragile. Frankenbinome lumbers forward with the Gateway command, and plugs it in. The ring is filled with field that looks like rippling water. Enzo is at the end of a long cable and is forced to test out the gateway. If the portal works, he will be transported to the Supercomputer. Otherwise, he will be deleted. Enzo sticks his face and hands into the gateway, then goes through. Once it is clear that the gateway works, Megabyte severs the cable just as Dot and Bob arrive.

Megabyte tells Hack and Slash to "get Bob", and in their infinitesimal wisdom, they try to catch Bob using the gateway as a net. Bob goes through, the ring cracks, the silvery surfaces wobbles in slow motion, and before it shatters on the floor, Bob zips back carrying Enzo. They start to leave, but notice the henchmen holding Dot.

Bob stares at MB and says "Let her go. You owe me one." Megabyte reluctantly complies. As Dot, Enzo, and Bob exit, Megabyte says, "Now, we're even, Guardian."

References

[The code number for this episode is 9503. Did anyone spot it?]

Did You Notice

(See also the quotes for episode 206)


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