Save File 17
I'm writing this because I wanted to finally get this off my chest. I always dreamed of being a game hacker. I just make hacks for games and put the files out on the public for people to play, hundreds of people do this as a job. As an 18 year old fresh out of high school I thought I could've done this as a side gig, but I had no idea what this would get me into. I don't only hack games, I also like to collect hacked games that other people have made. I went to a garage sale a while back in another neighborhood I was visiting to find any. It was one of the local spouses in the neighborhood who was running it. I found quite a few game disk in it, but there was one that really peaked my interest.
It was a hack of a Tails Game.
It seemed ordinary enough.
The only weird thing about it was that she gave of the impression that she was very reluctant to give it to me until I heard her mutter under her breath "I pray for your safety" whilst her eyes started to tear up a bit. She offered it to me. I'm gonna point it out to you, Lady, 37 bucks is an outrageous price.
I don't think she realized I heard her say that. Shit. It was at that point I was second guessing buying the disk.
I got home overjoyed but still somewhat confused. I laid all the games I got on my bad, wondering which one to play first. Some games were normal while a few were hacked. I showed my dorm buddies the disk and they wanted to help me try them out. I finally chose which one to play first. The Tails Game hack. My curiosity was peaked when it was this one that the spouse was so eager to give away but not at the same time. I wanted to play it. To see what was wrong with it. It probably had viruses on it and she just didn't want to ruin my system. I opened up the case, the disk was there but all a small little note inside telling me to try to avoid opening Save file 17 as it was extremely bugged and would be very bad for your PC. I complied with the very obvious warning that came with and put the disk in the disk slot to extract the files. I wrote down on a sticky note not to play save file 17 and I would just play all the other ones. I would not let curiosity get the better of me if I meant getting a virus on my computer.
I played all the other save files and I was baffled by how much content there was. Somehow, each save file had more and different content from the rest. It. Was. Amazing. This was when I started to think that maybe save file 17 was unfinished and my game would just crash and that's why it said not to play it. It was all starting to come together, I thought at the time. I learned from the spouse that her husband made it very clear to not anybody play Save 17 and he told her why, she didn't tell me why but at least she knew. I opened up Save 17 and started playing. I almost immediately knew something was very wrong with this save file. The title card for the zone I was in didn't say anything except for 17. The level was devoid of the art and beauty from the previous save files, in fact, it had none of the primary SEGA stylistic features either. The music was off-putting and sounded extremely bugged out, it felt like I was going crazy listening to it. The background was mostly a background sunset reflecting on the horizon with some mountainous terrain. It felt surreal. Tails also wasn't running in this level. He was just walking. Slowly. This zone gave me an uncanny vibe about it that made me instantly uncomfortable. There were no rings. I apparently had 0 lives. It was just hills and hills and mountains and tunnels. There were trees here and there but looked almost like real trees, tall and bushy. I felt the headache grow as the song kept playing. I couldn't move him anymore. The background faded until it was just Tails staring at me with a dead blank look, his pupils began becoming very little dilated to the point where it was just 4 pixels. A wide grin forming on his face. a spot light shun somewhere above him. The number '17' started appearing the void until it was all I was paying attention too. Then they vanish. I was confused. I was obviously spooked so I turned of the game and , it was just my roommate. But. He was laying his finger on the freaking stove. Staring blankly while his finger was acquiring a third degree burn and just slowly getting worst from there.
I questioned him. No response. I kept asking him questions to no avail. What the hell was going on. My other two roommates were not present in the dorm. I started asking myself where they went. "They died". I froze dead in tracks. I turned around to my roommate who had said that. "What?" I questioned him wanting answers that instant. "Car crash". Woah. I felt myself getting woozy, my headache still growing with that damn song still playing. I became agitated, I'm not sure at what. My roommate began to cry but still show no emotion, the tears turning to a dark blue. I scared. Confused. Mad. It went black. Nothing but void surrounded me. I didn't feel like anything.
Why didn't she tell me? What was wrong with the cartridge. If I had known. I finally figured out what I was mad at. I was mad at myself. But why? I can still hear the music. It's the music that's doing this. I thought that my life was turning into some cliche game story. How bugged out was that game? I began weeping. I ran forward hoping to fall into the void around me, but was greeted by no luck. I just wanted it to stop. Please. I want it to stop. Everything hurts for no reason. My ears were ringing non stop. My friends were driven into madness because of me. Now two died and the other is. . I don't know what happened to him. Everything was spinning. All I can think about is 17.
17.
17.
17.
17.
17.
17.
17.
17.
I woke up. On the floor. My headache still pulsing through my head. My three friends standing above me, concerned. Everything was normal? But everything wasn't normal. Confusion struck me like a truck. I didn't know what to think of anything. then it hit me. My friends weren't the insane ones. I was. The game. More specifically, It was that damn music in the game that drove me into madness. Horrified I took the cartridge out of the disk slot. deleted all the files I had extracted onto my computer. I wrote about it online to make it's existence known. I felt relieved. It felt like I was burning my insanity away. Nobody will ever have to worry about Save File 17. Nobody. I hid it somewhere in my closet so that it doesn't bother me. The music was annoying anyways.
Credited to Cool Username64
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