A Christmas Tale
TelltaleGames
Former Telltale Staff
It's holiday time at Telltale, and the office is awash with the twin spirits of good cheer and generosity. Under such circumstances, Dave and Heather can occasionally be persuaded to relax their iron grip on this blog space to allow someone else to have a say. This week we have given the floor to Greg Frank, if for no reason other than to demonstrate that he is a real person and not someone we just made up.
A Christmas Tale
(or: Too Many Sugar Plums Before Bedtime)
Twas the night before Christmas and all through Telltale, not a creature was stirring, not even a snail. Which is a good thing for the snails, since Randy seems to have a vendetta against the little mollusks...
It is a bit of a mystery as to what lies beyond the Blue Line which sits on the floor at the back of the office. Not many have dared venture across it, but those few who have dare not speak of what is on the other side. One cold winter night, I took it upon myself to cross over the line and see first-hand if anything lay beyond, or if it was just a piece of tape on the ground.
The first time I stepped across, the blood rushed to my head and something bothered me. I felt something terrible was about to happen. Greg Land had been bragging about how he and Dave Grossman rescued his grey chair from the other side, but neither he nor Dave would tell me what it was like to "cross the line"�. So, taking a deep breath and throwing caution to the wind, I crossed. That's when the light-headedness really took effect and I thought I would faint. Hearing a voice call out to me, I backed up over the line, back to the safety of the office, and looked for the source of the voice, but there was no one in sight. Thinking nothing of it, I got back to work. For the next few days the temptation to cross the line and venture even deeper into the other side intensified. It's just a corridor that loops around back to the office, right? It is just a piece of tape, or some joke that someone decided to play on us.
Finally, it was time to prove to myself and the people around me that I was not scared. I would walk over a piece of tape. As my co-workers prepared for their holiday vacations, I was steeling my nerves for my expedition. It was a crisp winter morning. I crossed the line and ventured forward. At first the feeling of dread returned (along with the light-headedness). Denying this feeling, I inched onward. It was then that I noticed this room didn't quite look like the rest of the office. It had many doors that were closed and just looped back towards Greg Land's Desk. But I kept following it. Now standing in familiar territory, I noticed that no one was in the office but me. Had I missed lunch? How long did it take me to finish that loop?
I went to lunch and got a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's which tasted very odd. Did chicken always taste so meaty? I mean, it looked like chicken but tasted more like a steak. Anxiously, I waited for my co-workers to return. That is when Kevin, with a can of Dr. Pepper in his hand and a red hat on his head, walked through the door. My eyes went wide in horror as I realized this was not the Kevin that I know. The Kevin known to me doesn't have 8 legs like an octopus, and the can of Dr. Pepper he was holding wasn't a can of Dr. Pepper. He was holding a hand that was holding a can of Dr. Pepper. I began to tremble when he looked at me. His face looked as it should, and his voice sounded like Kevin as he said, "Hey Greg, Sorry we missed you for lunch."�
I was about to ask what he meant about "we"�, when the rest of the gang walked in. Well, what I thought was the rest of the gang, but they looked completely different. Dave Felton walked in with a robe and hood humming to himself with his eyes completely red. I don't mean red as in he had red eye or bloodshot, I mean his eyes were completely glowing red. Then he was followed by Randy who had what looked like the head of a dragon, the body of a snake, and the legs of a wolf. I began to quiver and wondered if I was seeing things. They all smiled at me and said they were sorry they missed me for lunch. I found this exceptionally weird, since they have never said that to me before, not to mention they looked like monsters right out of an H.P. Lovecraft book. Then it hit me. I was insane. That was the only solution. There is no other option. All the stress, long hours and chemicals from the Rockstar energy drinks made me go completely mad...Wait. Was it insanity? No, it must have been crossing the Blue Line; it sent me into a world that was overrun by monsters. I started to get up and back away slowly from my desk, not taking my eyes off of the creatures that I thought were my co-workers, and made the trip all the way back past Greg Land's desk, past the locked doors and all the way back to where the Blue Line was.
Keeping my back to the Line, I closed my eyes and prayed that everything would be normal again and took a step backwards. I kept backing up and accidentally bumped into Kevin. He looked at me and asked if I was okay. I jumped away from him while turning around and noticed that Kevin looked completely normal again. So did everyone else in the office. Taking a deep breath, I began to laugh and told him everything was fine. He asked if I wanted to join him, Daniel, and Graham for lunch and I said "Sure, let me just get my coat"�. I was so happy it worked and that I was safe and sound back in the real world. Vowing never to cross the Blue Line again, I grabbed my jacket and noticed a card on my desk. When I opened it, it had a gift certificate in it, apparently a gift from the Telltale higher ups. I laughed and followed the gang out, when I noticed something move in the corner of my eye. It looked like a big fat Santa Claus with claws and fangs. His belly was a big mouth full of sharp teeth and he donned a beard of snakes and a dark cloak. But when I turned there was nothing there...must have been my imagination...or was it?
Happy Christmas (or other wintry holiday of your choosing) to all and to all a good night!
A Christmas Tale
(or: Too Many Sugar Plums Before Bedtime)
Twas the night before Christmas and all through Telltale, not a creature was stirring, not even a snail. Which is a good thing for the snails, since Randy seems to have a vendetta against the little mollusks...
It is a bit of a mystery as to what lies beyond the Blue Line which sits on the floor at the back of the office. Not many have dared venture across it, but those few who have dare not speak of what is on the other side. One cold winter night, I took it upon myself to cross over the line and see first-hand if anything lay beyond, or if it was just a piece of tape on the ground.
The first time I stepped across, the blood rushed to my head and something bothered me. I felt something terrible was about to happen. Greg Land had been bragging about how he and Dave Grossman rescued his grey chair from the other side, but neither he nor Dave would tell me what it was like to "cross the line"�. So, taking a deep breath and throwing caution to the wind, I crossed. That's when the light-headedness really took effect and I thought I would faint. Hearing a voice call out to me, I backed up over the line, back to the safety of the office, and looked for the source of the voice, but there was no one in sight. Thinking nothing of it, I got back to work. For the next few days the temptation to cross the line and venture even deeper into the other side intensified. It's just a corridor that loops around back to the office, right? It is just a piece of tape, or some joke that someone decided to play on us.
Finally, it was time to prove to myself and the people around me that I was not scared. I would walk over a piece of tape. As my co-workers prepared for their holiday vacations, I was steeling my nerves for my expedition. It was a crisp winter morning. I crossed the line and ventured forward. At first the feeling of dread returned (along with the light-headedness). Denying this feeling, I inched onward. It was then that I noticed this room didn't quite look like the rest of the office. It had many doors that were closed and just looped back towards Greg Land's Desk. But I kept following it. Now standing in familiar territory, I noticed that no one was in the office but me. Had I missed lunch? How long did it take me to finish that loop?
I went to lunch and got a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's which tasted very odd. Did chicken always taste so meaty? I mean, it looked like chicken but tasted more like a steak. Anxiously, I waited for my co-workers to return. That is when Kevin, with a can of Dr. Pepper in his hand and a red hat on his head, walked through the door. My eyes went wide in horror as I realized this was not the Kevin that I know. The Kevin known to me doesn't have 8 legs like an octopus, and the can of Dr. Pepper he was holding wasn't a can of Dr. Pepper. He was holding a hand that was holding a can of Dr. Pepper. I began to tremble when he looked at me. His face looked as it should, and his voice sounded like Kevin as he said, "Hey Greg, Sorry we missed you for lunch."�
I was about to ask what he meant about "we"�, when the rest of the gang walked in. Well, what I thought was the rest of the gang, but they looked completely different. Dave Felton walked in with a robe and hood humming to himself with his eyes completely red. I don't mean red as in he had red eye or bloodshot, I mean his eyes were completely glowing red. Then he was followed by Randy who had what looked like the head of a dragon, the body of a snake, and the legs of a wolf. I began to quiver and wondered if I was seeing things. They all smiled at me and said they were sorry they missed me for lunch. I found this exceptionally weird, since they have never said that to me before, not to mention they looked like monsters right out of an H.P. Lovecraft book. Then it hit me. I was insane. That was the only solution. There is no other option. All the stress, long hours and chemicals from the Rockstar energy drinks made me go completely mad...Wait. Was it insanity? No, it must have been crossing the Blue Line; it sent me into a world that was overrun by monsters. I started to get up and back away slowly from my desk, not taking my eyes off of the creatures that I thought were my co-workers, and made the trip all the way back past Greg Land's desk, past the locked doors and all the way back to where the Blue Line was.
Keeping my back to the Line, I closed my eyes and prayed that everything would be normal again and took a step backwards. I kept backing up and accidentally bumped into Kevin. He looked at me and asked if I was okay. I jumped away from him while turning around and noticed that Kevin looked completely normal again. So did everyone else in the office. Taking a deep breath, I began to laugh and told him everything was fine. He asked if I wanted to join him, Daniel, and Graham for lunch and I said "Sure, let me just get my coat"�. I was so happy it worked and that I was safe and sound back in the real world. Vowing never to cross the Blue Line again, I grabbed my jacket and noticed a card on my desk. When I opened it, it had a gift certificate in it, apparently a gift from the Telltale higher ups. I laughed and followed the gang out, when I noticed something move in the corner of my eye. It looked like a big fat Santa Claus with claws and fangs. His belly was a big mouth full of sharp teeth and he donned a beard of snakes and a dark cloak. But when I turned there was nothing there...must have been my imagination...or was it?
Happy Christmas (or other wintry holiday of your choosing) to all and to all a good night!
* Illustration this week by Dave Bogan!
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