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There was an old game me and my older brother loved to play together on Sega Genesis (on Sega Channel, and if you don’t know what that is, I feel sorry for you that you missed an awesome time). Years went by - it was so long ago - but I could remember the look of the levels and all the noises so clearly. I finally typed in "first person shooter for Sega" in Google over the weekend and found it within minutes. It was called Bloodshot. The following story is true, and you can even look up the game to see it is real (unlike many others claimed to be seen).

It was a boring night at home; I lived with two of my brothers and my father. I was home alone; dad worked late, brothers over friend’s place, so yeah. I decided to check out a bunch of old Sega Genesis games with an emulator on my brother’s computer. It was good memories, but no game lasted me more than five minutes. I then remembered Bloodshot, and frowned when I saw it wasn’t in my brother’s game folder. It took a while, but I found a download link for it, but it stopped at 92%. I was frustrated, waiting for an hour without it moving. I then noticed the file itself was in the game folder, where I told it to download to...so I tried loading it anyway without waiting any longer.

I was relieved it worked. The familiar graphics came upon the screen and the well known little sounds filled my ears. It took a while controlling it with a keyboard, but I managed the buttons. Things got a little strange when I opened the door to enter the first level, and I saw another avatar already running and picking up all the special guns even though I was playing alone, and not even on 2 player mode. And this game is basically a fossil; it wasn’t an online game.

I thought it was a computer controlled entity, although I don't remember one being there before...and it was doing all the work for me. I followed behind getting bored as he blasted all the enemies, and then the boss of the level, and we ran back (after the boss dies, you have to run to the start before the place explodes). The second level, we stood in front of the first door. This is when I felt awkward around the other guy, he turned to me, and then the door as if waiting for me to open it. So I did, and we ran off. Eventually, I realized I was almost dead and have been fighting alone. I turned around to see my mysterious ally was running along the walls, and eventually found a hidden door with a special gun.

That did it, this guy was acting like a human player, and not a computer controlled entity. We went ahead into the level, and I noticed some glitches out textures on the walls. Curiously, when I ran into one, the game froze...so I reloaded the game and found myself alone in the first two levels. As I entered the third level, the countdown was already commencing and I saw my mysterious ally running towards me to exit the exploding level. We come to level four and it seemed the higher the level, the more glitched textures appear. Before entering the door into the forth level though, he shot me a few times, and then faced forward and waited for me to open the door. It was as if he was cursing me for abandoning him the first time around. When I shot at him, it did nothing.

After we defeated the fourth boss, the countdown didn't start. Confused, I followed the other player behind the dead boss and he opened a hidden door. Behind it was a avatar of a human (rather than looking like a robot like everyone else). It walked into me, startling me a bit and the screened flashed red as if I died, but the game froze. It was late, so I went to bed and shrugged it off.

The next day, the game wouldn’t load and came up with an error. I was interested to load the game up, but gave in after an hour and finished the download quite quickly. The game was normal however, there was no other player. I reached the fourth level, and after the boss, the countdown commenced. I went behind him and opened the door, and inside was the human avatar as well as another player texture. They walked into me, and the game flashed red, I died but the game didn’t freeze. I respawned in a huge level, but came across no enemies, weapons, or mines..but there is a strange buzzing noise. I am still walking through the level and trying to find out what the hell this is all for.

I left my computer on, but the game paused, it keeps unpausing itself in the middle of the night and I hear the noises of the game (as I leave my speakers turned up. Whenever I sit down to pause it again, I see something run around the corner at the last second, but can never catch to see what it is. I keep feeling like something is watching me as I sleep.

My Perfect World, Shattered

DAY 0

It’s only a few weeks since I left the mainland. Good riddance. It’s been years since I got my doctorate. I was trying to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps, becoming a scientist to try and better the world. In the mainland, however, I’d unfortunately experienced nothing but set backs in concern to my peers and my government. Using the knowledge I’d gained through years of studying engineering and robotics, I built my own craft in secret. It’s taken a while, but I finally completed it. I set out today from the main continent toward one of the larger, uninhabited islands far from my home nation.

I’ve had my fill of my corrupt, unjust government and what they call progress. After all, this is the same government that allowed my favorite cousin to die years prior, when she fell ill to a terminal disease. This was same government who jailed my grandfather, then in their employ, for attempting to find a cure for her fatal ailment. I had always sought to use my gifts to better humanity, yet I knew, as I grew older that the culture of the mainland would not allow me to. It was because of this that I’ve set out, far away to an unclaimed chunk of land, in an attempt to pioneer my own nation. I hope to create a land where corruption and sadness are nonexistent. I know this is not completely possible, but I must try.

By morning I will arrive at the new land. I must rest now.

DAY 1

I set forth to explore the island. There are no people here, but there is a great myriad of wildlife. The animals seemed to be dwarf variations of those I’d find on the mainland. Most of them, even those that are considered feral and territorial, such as bears and walruses, have proven friendly and sociable towards me. I must take care to protect them and preserve a safe environment for them as I build my new country. Things of such a good nature should be protected, after all.

During my survey of the island, I came across the ruins of an old, extinct culture. Apparently it had inhabited the island before, yet there was no trace of its people. At the core of the structure, I found a group of relics atop pedestals. Afraid to disturb them, I ran a test to determine their composition, in hopes that it may’ve given me some clues to the culture that was here before. The relics seemed to be emitting a large amount of energy. A machine would easily be able to harness it as a power source. Fearful that, should I been followed by my government, they would fall into the wrong hands I removed the six of them from the ruins. In doing so, I accidentally reactivated the structure’s archaic security system: a series of traps that rely on a lava flow running underneath the ground for both its power source and firepower. The natives obviously realized the power of these relics, as they wanted them protected as well.

I’ll have to disable it later, after I’ve put things in order. Now in order to build my country, I must keep these animals safe as well as the relics. This is becoming more troublesome than I initially imagined, but I feel I will persevere. Every problem has a solution, after all. Tomorrow, I will begin construction.

DAY 2

I began construction today. In order to keep the animals out of harm’s way, I’ve developed numerous suspended animation systems. The initial model was a capsule structure designed to house numerous animals at once, though the number was still limited. After all, I didn’t want them slumbering in a cramped space where they could be unintentionally injured while they were unconscious. After filling up the few models I had, I discovered there was a slight overflow of the population. Not wanting them to be injured by the robots I’d built to help with construction, I had to engineer some way to house this overflow. I created portable suspended animation capsules and added them to the internal workings of my worker bots.

This’ll house the overflow, and keep them safe. The animals will be completely unconscious the entire time, so when matters are put in order, they’ll wake up as if they’ve just been asleep for the night. This is one issue out of the way.

As for the relics, I’ve placed them in secure locations throughout the island. Each of them is hidden in a virtual reality simulation stations that I’ve engineered as a barrier. The unearthly physics and constantly changing gravity in the program would make it impossible to retrieve the relics inside. Since I’m the only one with access to disable the program, I’m the only one who can get to them. They’ll be safe for now. Now I can move onward with building my nation.

DAY 17

I’ve established my base of operations at the center of the island. It’s a bit barebones at the moment, but setting up the rest of the island first is more important. The robots have made construction go along so much faster. I’ve already set up a city and a highway. At least I have my nation’s capital completed.

I came across a series of buried ruins and an underground lake while building both. I built over it, while taking care not completely destroy the structure. I sent several of my robots down into the ruins to investigate. Hopefully, they’ll return with valuable data about the island’s original people.

I made the decision to preserve the island’s coast as is. It was too difficult for me to sully such natural beauty. I sent a few of my robots there to monitor the area and to keep watch for signs of any visitors. I don’t want any tourists or government officials interfering with my plans, after all.

I keep forgetting to disable the traps in the aboveground ruins I encountered on my first day here. The days keep growing shorter, I suppose. I’ll have to take care of it later.

DAY 18

The robots I’d stationed on the coast had alerted me to a disturbance in the early hours of the morning. The images sent back by them appeared to be of some sort of beast. It was unlike any creature I’d ever encountered. I’m certain the zoologists on the mainland would’ve declared it a new species. Despite the intrigue the creature inspired, the reports indicated that it was attacking, and worse, destroying my robots. The animals housed in the robots’ internal suspension capsules would likely die of shock from the suspended animation process being halted unexpectedly. I had to do something.

I set out from the base in my craft, armed, but not looking for a fight. I optimistically assumed that perhaps this animal was one I’d missed in my sweep of the island, and was reacting this way out of fright. I hoped I could calm the creature upon my arrival, and put him into a sleep enclosure like the other animals. How wrong I was. When I arrived at the coast, I spotted the creature from the air, attacking the en mass suspended animation capsule I’d made for the coastal area. I descended in my craft and called out to the creature, in an attempt to reason with and/or calm it.

On first sight, the creature turned and lunged for my vehicle. I dodged out of the way and activated the weapons I’d installed, hoping to subdue it. Such an attempt proved futile. It was too quick to land a single hit upon, and before I knew it, it’d ripped the weapons off of my craft. I had no choice to retreat.

I flew away in my craft; fearful for what chaos this monster may bring to my new home. As I departed, I turned back to see the beast destroying the capsule. The animals I’d safely tugged away convulsed out of the wreckage, flopping about the ground below. My heart sank at the sight. I have to do something to stop this monster.

DAY 19

The airborne drones I released have tracked the creature’s route. It was crossing through the above ground ruins upon the last report. From what I can tell, the monster is heading for the city I just recently finished building. My new country’s capital is standing for three days, and already it’s under threat of attack. What’s more, it seems it found and disabled the VR Security device at the coast and retrieved the relic inside. In addition to being ferocious, it seems the creature is intelligent as well. Foolishly, I’d placed a capsule on the outskirts of the ruins, thinking it was safe. I felt I must go and retrieve it before the creature can destroy it and harm the animals inside.

I equipped my craft with a flamethrower, hoping this destructive beast couldn’t survive flames. When I arrived, once again, it proved too fast to actually land a hit. It sliced the flamethrower clean off of my craft, like a knife through butter. I had to flee again. I’ll have to block its progress at the city itself, I’m afraid. Let’s just hope my plan works.

DAY 20

The additional security I added to the city failed to keep the creature out. Most every robot I stationed there has been destroyed. My attempt to personally assault the creature failed again. I fled, in hopes to find another place to head it off, and later received reports that it’d dived into the underground ruins and destroyed every robot I put down there.

I attempted to dam up a portion of the underground lake to flood the ruins and drown the monster. I optimistically thought I could quell it this way, but the attempt failed. I suspect the creature may have increased lung capacity, as it later escaped the ruins after they’d been completely flooded. It seems bent on destroying every piece of technology I’ve placed on this island.

Less than an hour later, it was attacking the robots I’d left monitoring the highway. I attempted to head it off yet again, but I failed. Nothing I do, no weapon I try will stop this beast. I retreated to my base.

My robots outside the base have all been destroyed. The beast has also managed to find and disable each of the VR systems: now it has all of the relics in its claws. It’s planning something. All I know is that it wants me gone.

DAY 21

I haven’t slept. The creature breached the front gates of the base at the brink of dawn. Every robot and machine in its path has been brutally destroyed. I got desperate and opened up a trap door into a set of ruins I’d built the base on. I managed to plunge the demon down into it and seal it off, while hiding myself behind a force field.

I thought I was safe at that point, as there seemed to be no sign of it returning. To cool my head, I retreated into my lab to try and work on a large-scale hydraulic press I’d been working on to help me better manufacture my robots. It was then that the creature emerged from the floor and attacked the machine. Apparently, there was no killing it.

It totaled the machine before I could blink. I fled the lab and made my way down the corridor to the launch hatch for the craft I’d flown to the island. I could see the beast in hot pursuit. I managed to jump into the craft and lift off in time, flying off from the cliff overlooking the island below. I thought I was in the clear, but then it felt as it something had struck the back of the craft. The machinery sparked and burst into flames. I turned my head to look back at the launch hatch, and I saw the beast standing there, grinning in a grotesque satisfaction that it’d ensured my demise.

As I plummeted into the rocks below in a cloak of flames, I assured myself that I would survive. I would bring this world a utopia, even if it killed me. It was then, for the first time in my life, that I felt contempt for another living thing. This beast, for no reason, has destroyed all my hard work and risked the lives of those innocent creatures. It had more than earned my hatred. As sure as my name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik; I HATE that Hedgehog.

Episode 66

Can anyone help me out here? I'm looking for a lost episode of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm sure some of you remember; if you're from the northern part of Virginia and watched the show, you ay have seen this. Some backstory first, however.

I first recall seeing this episode when I was eight. It was episode 66 of season one (there was only one season) and it was only aired in northern Virginia, as the broadcasting station had ignored the notice not to play the final episode of the bundle due to its extreme adult content.

This was the station's choice, as it had purchased the syndication rights for the area, but concerned parents later sued them after several children came down with light neural hemorrhaging that caused severe nightmares and vomiting.

Viewing this episode killed no one and older viewers seemed immune to the effects of whatever caused the bleeding but, needless to say, a freeze was put on the production and was hushed up on the news. The show was replaced by the series simply named Sonic the Hedgehog.

I started my search for the episode after the nightmares from watching the episode returned after sixteen years. The nightmares were vivid. They contained visions of people in a long line, all of them clutching their faces in despair. The people in this line spread the full length of the street and all had seemlingly abandoned their cars to join the others waiting.

Everything had a dark red tone to it, like the sun was burning out at sunset but never fully went down. Those that weren't in the line littered the street, dead. I can't recall much of the dream beyond hints of looting (things like a line of dead riot police, smashed windows, a collapsed skyscraper in the distance, and upturned cars), but no one in the line paid attention to this. They simply sobbed as the line shifted forward.

The nightmare ended with one of the members of the line looking directly at me. He said nothing but shifted to an unnatural pose; his arms bent at 45-degree angles and his legs spread into a box over the ground, his mouth agape. As he did this, the rest of the people in the line did the same, striking a slightly different twisted pose. All were looking at me. I awoke with tears in my eyes.

My logical step to finding this episode lie with the station that originally aired it. There is nothing odd about the station; its old management has long since moved on...'committed suicide,' as the new manager pointed out to me.

Over a cup of coffee, the new manager and I discussed the station's past. I intentionally eased into the subject of the lost episode and, as it turned out, I was right to do so. When I brought it up, John (as he will now be known) literally spilled his coffee on his lap.

He told me this subject was a personal one to him; as it turns out, John was the original owner's son. He was kind enough to explain to me that the legal fees he was receiving in conjunction with the mail he was receiving from children and parents alike had pushed him too far and he hung himself in the family kitchen.

I was little taken back by this news, so I figured I was digging too deep and decided to drop this madness, maybe call it a day. Before I could exit John's office, he told me he would send me the mail.

His reasoning? He wanted me to know what happened; his curiosity was almost deep as mine, which wasn't surprising considering this epsidoe killed his father. I told him I'd take a look deeper into the subject and get back to him on anything I dug up.

The letters were as one would expect: angry mothers asking what kind of station would air such filth, legal fees ranging in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (enough to send any station broke in the 90s) and, of course, drawings from children depicting scenes of the episode. They were thinks like the blood and unusually dull colors that persisted throughout and horrible things, such as Robotnik vomiting blood and Tails crying over the corpse of a feathered headless bird.

One letter, however, caught my attention specifically. It was a letter from the studio that produced the series.

"Thank you for purchasing the rights to air the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega 1993-1994. All rights reserved. Enclosed is the series list, episode descriptions and episodes 1-66, the entirety of season one, and legal information regarding ratings and air times.”

In poor handwriting at the bottom of the page, a scrawled note was placed with the words, "Episode 66 is not to be aired! This is a database error and contains corrupted material." The initials JS followed.

I set out to find this episode, but to no avail. My second plan was to ask the people who sent the angry letters about the episode about their take on it. Those who had not moved away since then gave me the canned, "I don't know," or, "Not this again," responses, but I did chance upon one man around my age that remembers and taped the episode.

He invited me in and showed me his VHS copy of the episode. It was badly decayed from the years of neglect in his garage, though, and I could only make out a few bits: Tails screaming at sonic, with tears in his eyes. "How could you, Sonic? What have you done?!" The rest of the episode was static with the occasional scream and twisted figures (not animals or people, but figures staring at the viewer, with their circular mouths and open black eyes emitting a slight screech).

The tape sent chills up my spine and I asked if I could take the tape for research I was doing into the episode. He agreed quite readily and I promised to keep him updated about it. I took the tape back to John and we watched it for about fifteen minutes until John jumped back in his seat.

He told me he saw the figure with black eyes, but it spoke for a brief moment. He claimed he saw its lips move, mouthing a word he thought was 'eternity.' We watched that same one second flash for what must have been thirty times and each time we both attempted to freeze the frame on the figure, it disappeared when the video paused.

I called it a day there; we needed a better copy of the episode if we were to find out why it ended the entire series and caused me nightmares for much of my childhood.

Short of traveling to France and talking to the animation studio, I gave them a call. They bluntly told me there was no episode 66. 65 was the last episode of the season. Knowing this was a dead end, I called again and asked for the contact information of the voice actors.

Most of the information was out of date, it seemed. The information given for the voice actors of Robotnik, Scratch, Grounder, and Sonic all gave "number not in service" errors or people told me I had the wrong number. However, I did manage to contact one person:

Christopher Evan Welch was the voice of Tails. I managed to hook him for a fake interview about his roles in 90s television. As you would expect, Chris turned up wearing casual clothing and a smile on his face. He looked like the average guy in his late 20s.

As he sat down, I asked about some of his roles in bands and television, working my way to Sonic. When I did get there, however, he got really quiet and evasive. I asked him specifically about episode 66 and he froze. His pupils almost retracted to nothing and he looked at me, telling me the episodes only went up to 65.

I knew better, of course, and asked him about his script - where he was talking to Sonic about something he had done. The man grabbed his face - not in frustration, but to wipe his eyes (they were beginning to well up). He took a deep breath.

He told me the episode was written by Jeffrey Scott and the usual spiel that follows; Jeffrey was a nice man was was very patient with Chris as he read the script (being 11 at the time), but as the first season drew to a close, Jeffrey had become very angry with everyone...even 11 year-old Chris.

The voice actors for Robotnik and Sonic threatened to quit over his behavior, but the executive producer paid them both very large sums of cash in hand right there to read from the script Jeffrey had written. Apparently, Jeffrey had an order from high up - the top of Sega as far as Chris knew at the time - to produce this episode, and it was listed as a business priority.

Chris explained to me how as they read the script, he felt great sorrow and terror. It was as if they had lost a close friend or family member, even seen those people die before them. He told me of the scarring to his vocal chords from the screaming that was invoked by reading the script, even the extreme exhaustion of the other voice actors involved.

The session ended with the security pulling the voice actors from the studio before they died of exhaustion in the process of recording. His mother pulled him from the show the next day, fearing for his safety. I stopped the interview there and asked for a copy of the episode, but none were ever sent back to the voice actors.

That is as far as I've come in the search for episode 66. I've heard there may be a copy in the studio in France, but I have no way of getting there on my budget. I KNOW it exists and many more people out there must have a VHS copy, so that's why I ask the internet. Help me in my search. Please.