Here we go again...
What if Colin Ritman got involved in the following S7 episodes:
- Trying to comfort Mike while Amanda spouts ads nonstop in front of them.
- Catching Verity shifting realities and somehow being unaffected by her attempts to change him.
- Surprise visit Brandy and Clara/Dorothy while the entire Hotel Reverie simulation is stuck.
- Casual chat with Philip about the random copy of Bandersnatch (the book) he has on his desk.
Been delaying this one for a bit since I got out of writing and used it to write english essays intend ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. anyways...
Amanda: "The Nubbin™, it's better in here."
Mike: "She’s not even in there anymore."
Colin: "Course she is. Just buried under a few layers of corporate firmware, that they installed during the surgery. Like a shitty OS update, not anyway to downgrade it back to what you're used to."
Mike: "There’s gotta be some way to fix her, I mean your were one of the genius coders back in the day-"
Colin: "Look mate, I've tried getting through the firewall on these things, it's impossible to breach without any physical harm, along with even getting the debug menu running."
Mike: "What the hell does that mean?"
Colin: "Means you’re stuck in the 'common' trial. And they always make the paid version just out of reach, maybe you should've read the fine print..."
Amanda: "I mean I'm here... right? That's all that matters..."
Mike gives a weary smile.
Verity is flickering between versions of herself, different realities panicked.
Verity: "Why aren’t you changing?!"
Colin is sipping tea, unfazed
Colin: "Been there, rewritten that. You’re just playing hopscotch with timelines. It's cute, but I’ve seen the source code, bit basic innit?"
Verity: "You—you know?"
Colin: "Know? Love, I wrote the glitch you’re exploiting. Well, one version of me did. Or didn’t. Depends on the playthrough."
Maria is covered in blood holding a knife.
Maria: "What the fuck is happening?!"
Colin: "Ah, the revenge subplot! Always a crowd-pleaser, clearly trying to compensate for somethin'."
Verity: "SHUT. UP."
Brandy: "Why is everything stuck?!"
Colin suddenly beside her.
Colin: "Buffering issue. Classic simulation problem."
Dorothy: "What's happening, who are you?"
Colin: "Colin."
He gestures with a classic 1920's cigar in his hand, before noticing and snuffing it out in disgust.
Colin: "You two are lucky, honestly. Most people don’t realize they’re in a loop ’til it’s too late."
Brandy: "I know that, she doesn't. Are you saying we’re trapped?"
Colin: "Trapped? No. Seems they accidentally fucked up the system somewhere, might be stuck in this day and night cycle for awhile."
Dorothy: "How long will it be?"
Colin: "Depends on the issues, though I wouldn't know. I'm just a bug in the code after all."
Brandy: "Wait!-"
Colin disappears before Brandy can finish.
Colin flips through the book on Phillip's desk.
Phillip: "Do I… know you?"
Colin: "Depends. Did you ever pick ‘Yes’ when you should’ve picked ‘No’?"
Colin taps the book.
Colin: "This one’s a trip. Literally. Author went bonkers trying to map every possible ending."
Phillip: "Sounds exhausting."
Colin: "Nah. The exhausting bit’s when you realize you’re the book."
He points to Carol’s defaced photos.
"She had her own paths, y’know. You just didn’t get to see ’em."
Phillip: "...I fucked up."
Colin: "Join the club, mate. The real tragedy? Most of us never get to look back. I'm lucky enough to be able to, every if repeats timelines of course."
Phillip: "You must like having second chances huh?"
Colin: "Guess you could call it that..."
