EXE

June 16th, 2015
The innovators at SEGA headquarters were working on their latest invention. One of them was holding a strange item, it looked like a high-tech bicycle helmet, but with an eyepiece and game-controller attached.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my latest and greatest creation; The SEGA EXE. This will surely be the newest thing out there since Blu-Ray. We should release THIS onto shelves for Sonic's 24th anniversary." He said, holding the mentioned item up.
"Hm, interesting. How does it work?" The other inventor asked.
"It's simple; just put it onto your head, and push the "on" button, which is located on the right side of the helmet." The man explained, preforming the mentioned instructions. "This is SEGA EXE: Sonic edition. Now, WHAT the EXE does is amazing; it produces non-cannon, choose-your-own-adventure games, except, it will feel REALISTIC. The technology acts as a combination of film, and video games. It's virtual reality."
"This sounds like an interesting experiment," The other man replied. "I would like to try next."
The SEGA EXE creator took the helmet off, and handed it to his fellow employee. "Go ahead, see for yourself. Just select what you want, and what genre, and PRESTO! It gives you a random, non-cannon scenario."
The other man put the SEGA EXE on, and saw a "select genre" screen, and a screen that read "How effective do you want the experience to be?" that featured a 1-10 selection.
"What on Earth kind of question is THAT? "How effective do you want the experience to be?"...This sounds dangerous."
"Don't worry, it's not," The EXE inventor reassured the man. "That just means if you want a COMEDY film, the amount of hilarity will depend on what setting you have it on. If you want a HORROR film, the amount of scariness will depend on what the setting you have it on."
"Sounds complicated."
"It is, until you get the hang of it."
"I've always been a Horror fan myself, but isn't this an invention for KIDS?"
"This invention is targeted towards EVERYONE. Adults could view the choose-your-own-adventure films, and have it set to "minor", "vulgar", "uncensored", "censored" or "explicit" language...or if the "parental block" is set, then kids can watch kid-friendly material. Teenagers will be able to view anything, just nothing TOO vulgar."
"I don't know about this, what if kids accidentally gain access to the..."explicit" material?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like swearing, or pornographic material."
"Oh, no. The SEGA EXE doesn't contain ANY pornographic material. The swearing on the other hand, depends on whether or not the "parental block" is on."
"We could get sued if the children accidentally view the Horror films set on "10" and get nightmares and scarred for life."
"Don't worry about it, Jackson. Everything will be alright. Besides, the "Horror" selection isn't even ALLOWED to play when the "parental block" is set."
"Okay. I suppose I'll watch "Horror", set on "10". How bad could it be?"
"Uh...I wouldn't do that if I were you, Jackson."
"Why not?"
"Because, "Horror" set on "10" hasn't been tested yet."
"What's the worst that could happen, Murphy? It's a VIDEO GAME, I don't think it can PSYCHICALLY hurt me. Besides, we're going to use the invention for MONETARY GAIN. Who cares if it's good or not in quality? People will buy ANYTHING these days."
Murphy, the SEGA EXE creator furrowed his eyebrows. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. By the way, I want to ENTERTAIN people, not JUST make money. Go ahead, let's see what happens, Jackson, you gold-digging assho-"
"Okay, what's going on in this lab?" The boss came walking down the stairs.
"Murphy's made a best-seller, and he's whining about the truth that we just aim to make money. And he still wonders WHY we made a partnership with Nintendo, ha! This guy's a CARD."
"Murphy, people actually LIKING a product is not much granted. Y'see, we're in this business for one purpose...And that's money. Nintendo TRIES to make money AND please people, can you believe it? No wonder their Wee-Wee Cube didn't sell much."
"It's "Wii U", Sir." Murphy corrected his boss. "We should be more respective towards them, considering that they let us do Mario and Sonic crossover games that people love."
"Whatever, does the damn thing WORK?"
"Testing, sir!" Jackson changed the "Horror" setting from "1" to "10". He then clicked the "play button"...
(The scene changes to a nice, sunny day in the city; the virtual reality helmet plays for Jackson)
A little Hedgehog, and his mother were walking down the street, hand in hand. The young Hedgehog donned a propeller hat that was colored like a rainbow, while the mother wore a purple sundress, yellow sunglasses, brown colored sandal shoes, and a black purse.
"That was fun, ma!" The young Hedgehog cheered. "The park was AMAZING! I like the swings the best!"
"I know you do, sweetie." His mother replied, smiling. "That's not ALL you're getting on this nice, sunny day."
"It's NOT?" The young Hedgehog looked at his mother in awe.
"Nope."
"Where ELSE are we going, ma?"
"You'll see." She giggled.
"I wanna know, I wanna know!"
"You'll see in a minute."
"Where we goin', where we goin'?"
"Calm down, Sonic," His mother giggled again. "It's one of your FAVORITE places."
Little Sonic gasped. "OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY! I can't wait!"
The mother and her son walked one more mile, and stopped in front of a candy store. "Here we are, Sonic."
Sonic looked up, as his eyes widened. He gasped in awe. "Can we go in?"
"Of course, my little Sonic! You can pick out whatever you want."
"YAY! Thanks, mom! You're the best!"
Sonic's mother leaned down, and kissed the top of his head.
The two went into the candy store, there was about every sugary sweet you could possibly imagine. There were lollipops, chocolate bars, gumdrops, even sodas of all kind; it was paradise to those who may have a sweet tooth.
"Oh...My...Gosh! I LOVE this place!" Sonic looked everywhere, grabbing a 16 ounce bottle of Diet Chaos Cola. "Look, ma! They have your favorite soda!"
Sonic's mother accepted the bottle. "Thank you, Sonic. What would YOU like? You may pick out a soda AND a candy."
"Woooowwie! How do I choose? There's just SOOO many different candies and sodas to choose from...."
Sonic looked all over the store, gazing at all the candies...just then, he had found his FAVORITE candy of them all; a big, red, cherry flavored lollipop. "I want THIS one, ma!"
"Okay, sweetie. Do you need help reaching it?"
"No, no, ma. I've got this." Sonic crouched, and sprung up, as he grabbed the red lollipop...the others fell off the display, but Sonic was too fast, as he caught every single one of them and put them back. "Yummy...they have Root Beer!"
"Nice catch, Sonic!" His mother applauded him. "Here's your Root Beer."
"Thanks, ma." Sonic hugged her and took the Root Beer.
The little blue Hedgehog and his mother walked over to the cashier and walked out the candy store, with sodas in hand.
Sonic took a drink from his bottle of Root Beer.
"Be careful, Sonic. It's dangerous to drink and walk at the same time," His mother said. "You could trip and it would all be over but the shout."
Sonic nodded, as he continued walking, hand-in-hand with his mother.
He watched the clouds, making shapes in his imagination. "Hehe, that cloud looks like a birdie."
His mother giggled. "That one over there looks like a dog's head."
"Hey, what's that, mom?" Sonic pointed his finger to the sky, as he noticed a hovering, grey pod. Its lower part is completely black, and there seemed to be a round man with a wacky-looking mustache piloting it. He wore a red suit, with yellow collar and had white gloves.
"What's what?" She looked up.
"Right there, mom. I see a flying ship or somethin'."
She quickly noticed the hovercraft. "What on Earth is THAT?"
"I don't know, I've never seen anything LIKE it." She staggered, as if she were hiding something.
"Attention all!" The round man spoke from a bullhorn, as a large group of civilians gathered 'round. "If you value your lives, you will bow down to Doctor Robotnik!"
"Huh?" Sonic looked up. "What does he mean by that, mom?"
His mother's eyebrows furrowed at the man. "Ignore him, honey. He's sick in the head."
"Sick in the head?" Young Sonic asked innocently. "Does he need soup?"
"No sweetie, he's a criminal. A BAD guy."
"Then we should do something about him." Sonic looked up once more, observing the airship. "Be right back, mom!"
"Sonic! No!" His mother held him back, and continued walking. "You can't do anything about him, you're just a sweet, innocent little boy. You shouldn't have to deal with such madness. Especially at this age. You're only five years-old. I will NOT let you try something LIKE that!"
"But moooom," Sonic frowned, disappointed that his mother wouldn't let him "save the day". "I could save us from the mean man!"
"Absolutely NOT, young man. He's crazy, and he could hurt you. Just ignore him, and let's go home." His mother scolded.
"Mom, I want to help." Sonic stood still, stopping his mother in her tracks.
"No!" She snapped. "You can't do it, Sonic! You're just a little boy. Now stop being stubborn, and let's go!"
"All whom refuse to bow to me, shall be executed and be turned into my robotic slaves!" The man boasted again.
"Sonic, please let's go!" His mother was worried for the safety of her son. "This is NOT a game!"
Sonic looked up, and saw the bottom of the hovercraft. Down came some sort of wrecking ball from it, as it crashed into a building, knocking it over. "WHAT THE HECK?!"
The crowd was now running, screaming, hoping that their lives would not be taken by this contraption.
Sonic's mother grabbed him, as she ran fast as a bullet.
"Ahhh." The malevolent man gained an evil smile, as he followed the two. "I've never liked Hedgehogs! You aren't even WORTH being my prisoners! Hedgehogs don't exist to be surrendered to, they're made for me to DESTROY!" He let out a disgusting, twisted laugh, as he pressed a button, and had the wrecking ball drop.
The wrecking ball fell, almost hitting Sonic and his mother, but missed by an inch. "I believe the most solemn duty as the ruler, is to protect the people. If you show uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch!" He pressed another button, as the bottom of his hovercraft gained something unusual; a muzzle. Like what you would find on the end of a cannon.
Sonic's mother had nothing but the face of fear. She panicked, as she rushed with her little boy in arms, hoping that he would be safe. Tears ran down her eyes as she ran, and her son was crying, as he watched the hovercraft. "MOM, WHY DOES HE HATE HEDGEHOGS?! WHAT DID WE DO WRONG?!"
"Nothing, Sonic! We did NOTHING wrong, this man is CRAZY! We have to run from this monster before he kills us! Oh, my poor sweet baby, mommy's sorry this is happening."
"I want to go home, I want you safe, ma!" Sonic cried, his face wet with tears.
All his mother could do was run as fast as she could, as she ran in fear. "Don't worry, Sonic! We'll make it!"
The hovercraft followed, as the monster was catching up to them. "BLAST OFF, HEDGEHOGS!!! Time to die!" Bombs began falling out the hovercraft's muzzle, exploding buildings behind the Hedgehogs.
Sonic's mother was running out of breath, as she started slowing down a bit. "NOOOOO!"
Building after building fell, as pieces of their remains almost fell onto the poor, terrified Hedgehogs. Flames ignited apartment buildings because of the explosions, it was complete chaos.
"Sonic, listen to me, and listen to me good." His mother began. "I'm running out of stamina, I know that you have the gift of speed. Please, my sweet baby boy, run. Run as fast as you can, and don't look back. I can't run anymore. There's still time for you though. I want you to grow up, I want you to see the world, I want you to escape."
"W-What are you saying, mommy?" Sonic was crying his eyes out, as he couldn't understand what his mother was trying to tell him.
"Run free, my little Sonic." His mother was also in tears. She gave him a kiss. "I love you, Sonic. Don't worry, I will still be with you. You're never alone, remember that."
Sonic sniffed. "I love you too, mom." The two hugged tight, and his mother lifted him into the air.
"Be free." Was the last thing she said to him, as she threw him into the distance. She had great aim, so he flew a quarter of a mile away from the hovercraft.
Another bomb had fallen, as Sonic's mother tried to jump away from it, only to be exploded. The bomb had exploded a lamppost, and it fell on her head, bulb first, as the glass shards penetrated her forehead.
Young Sonic looked back, to see his mother's demise. He cried loudly, mourning the death of her. "I WILL AVENGE YOU, MOM!" He ran at top speed, running to his mother's house.
Doctor Robotnik laughed maniacally at his victory, to let the town know that he was pleased.
A disgusting deed is done.