The Saga of Kawaii Glitch

A sudden jolt awakened the programming quirk from his years-long slumber. He felt a gentle electrical tug on his body as he yawned and blinked sleep from his eyes. How long had it been since his program had been installed? It felt like forever.

The quirk was a small, L-shaped pixel blob known as Kawaii Glitch (or KG for short) who lived inside a PC game called Super Kingdom Adventure Saga III. This was an older role-playing game, the third in a mostly-forgotten series and one of the first graphical PC games available. From what he'd read in the READ-ME scrolls, the first two games in the series had been entirely text-based.

Of course, the game's coding wasn't perfect, especially since the game was so old. KG knew he wasn't an original part of the game, but somehow he'd wound up inside the game anyway. Most of the other game files were always yelling at KG because he seemed to create problems with the game without meaning to. KG seemed to be terribly clumsy, and the game would crash whenever he bumped into an important piece of coding.

KG watched as the pair of install wizards, tall bearded figures draped in midnight-blue robes, waved their wands in unison. The game's most important files, glittering like crystals, began floating through the shimmering gateway that connected their CD-ROM to the hard drive of the computer. A stream of multi-colored graphics and map files hopped through the gateway, chattering excitedly to each other.

"I didn't think we'd be woken up again," remarked an image file that looked like a blocky castle. "Lucky for us our master has a nostalgic side."

"Tell me about it," answered an image file that resembled a simplistic tree. "I wouldn't be surprised if he kept an old OS running just to see us all again."

As the last of the important crystal files vanished into the gateway, the install wizards nodded to each other, satisfied with the completion of their task, and disappeared with a loud pop. The graphics and map files had already crossed over to the hard drive, and now only KG was left. The shimmering gateway began to fade; the install was nearly complete.

I should probably stay here, he thought sadly. The other guys just yell at me and say I cause trouble. But I really wish I could see the game in action again... It's not my fault I make the game crash.

The gateway shuddered slightly, and a strong electrical force grabbed KG and pulled him into the hard drive before the gateway vanished completely. Yay! I'm on my way back to the game after all!

On the CD-ROM, all the files had lived in brown cardboard boxes, waiting to be unpacked. But on the hard drive, all the files were arranged in a beautiful building that looked like a museum. Every map file, every piece of coding, and every image had its own designated spot in its own Gallery. Every file, that is, except for KG. Since he wasn't really supposed to be part of the game, he was free to wander around the building however he wanted. Of course, this is how most of the problems started.

KG was hopelessly curious, and loved to examine everything. Wandering past the Graphics Gallery, where all the image files were precisely arranged on glass shelves up to the ceiling, KG found himself at the entrance to the Data Gallery. The Data Gallery used to have an iron gate blocking the entrance, but for some reason, it wasn't there now. Overcome with excitement, KG practically danced into the Data Gallery to take a closer look at the crystal-like important files displayed on white marble pedestals.

Ooh, Shiny!, he thought, looking at the sapphire-colored .EXE file, the ruby SAVE file, and the emerald CHAR file. On the other side of the room was a black onyx UNINSTALL file; KG knew better than to touch that. UNINSTALL would put everyone back on the CD-ROM, maybe forever. That was how they were pulled out of the hard drive in the first place, all those years ago.

But that .EXE file was fascinating. A warm heat seemed to be pouring from it, enticing KG to move closer and closer. As the little quirk stepped back for a moment to admire the blue crystal, he accidentally bumped into the pedestal behind him. Oops! he thought, hurriedly running forward to rebalance the pillar, but it was too late. The pillar tottered and fell to the ground, the ruby SAVE crystal shattering on the red carpet floor.

What have I done? cried KG, looking at the red pieces on the floor. That can't be good... maybe I can glue that back up...

KG rushed to the exit of the Data Gallery, but in his haste, tripped over the fallen pillar and crashed into another pedestal. This one contained the CHAR file. Ouch! Not again... This kind of thing always happened!

KG didn't know what the two broken files meant, but it couldn't be good. This room contained the most important files of the game, and he'd just broken two of them! Master's going to be angry... he thought worriedly.

To be continued...

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