User:Trocyte V./cutscene sandbox

Courier is the first mission in Plants vs. Zombies: Infinite Generation. It serves as the game's tutorial and introduction to the story, following the opening cutscene's establishment of the game's setting.

Completing this mission unlocks the first page of the lorebook "Exogenesis."

Synopsis
As the game's tutorial, the below events contain prompts and hints on various controls and in-game functions where applicable, including movement, combat, and the lore card system.

The player character is first introduced in this mission as a test pilot working for Cosmic Compiler. After spending some nights in an Infinity Time outpost, they leave and board a transport for a new mission they have been preparing for: a test flight of the Extreme Gundam, a prototype Infinite Robot containing an experimental testbed for a revolutionary programmable matter system. To test out the suit's basic specs and its new tech, LEAF has worked with Compiler to get the Extreme involved in a real task from them, namely the transport of a derelict drone found in unincorporated territory for further analysis at a lab.

After the player enters the Extreme with the help of fellow coworker Leo Siever, they are instructed to begin piloting it towards LEAF's headquarters via a known safe path. On the way, the learning algorithms in the Extreme combined with some straggling Gnomes produce a new file for a dulled shortsword, which appears in front of the player character by exuding some of the stored matter inside its frame.

Just as the player is about to reach the main headquarters, a Peashooter and Camo Trooper piloting Jegan Type Bs jump them, declaring their intent to steal the drone carried aboard the Extreme for parts and/or cash. Initially seen as a poor attempt to burglarize an actual military operation, the pair's bite soon surpasses their bark as they activate a strange device attached to the Jegans' waists which rapidly equips them with a new set of armor and powerful guns.

Too weak to fight back now, the player has no choice but to hunker down, the rough maneuvering while dodging the gunfire causing the storage unit to crack open and release the drone. Sputtering back to life, the drone spots the Extreme and the apparent danger it is in, and introduces itself to the player as an intelligent construct named Rey before biting the Extreme's wrist and pumping a strange substance into its structure, causing energy cracks to form all over its armor and a device to materialize on its waist.

Understanding what Rey intends to do, the player stands up to face the attackers head-on and helps Rey nestle himself inside the new device, until they are seemingly consumed by the same energy injected by Rey's fangs and blinded by a glyph of light. During the whole ordeal, Rey explains that he has physically modified and upgraded the Extreme's systems through whatever technology was embedded in his fangs, but now wants the player to pick the means by which they fight back, thus choosing their class for the rest of the game.

When the transformation finishes, the player discovers that not only is the Extreme now strong enough to compete with a "true" Gundam frame and thus take out the mystery men, they have been given a host of new abilities drawing upon Rey's own powers to supercharge their technology and wreak havoc on the battlefield. As the petty squabble has now suddenly erupted into a dangerous conflict with even more of the modified Jegan Type Bs showing up, LEAF sends one of their commanders (dependent on class choice) to help ascertain the situation and hold off the enemies following a short delay.

Once all of the attackers (now known as Raiders) have their Infinite Robots shut down, the player is asked by the commander to come in for a talk. With Compiler's own tech now a black box and the mysterious Rey flapping about in defiance of the mission that was supposed to protect him, everyone's got questions that might go unanswered for a while...

Objectives
Objectives marked with a skull have restricted respawning, where falling in combat results in death or failure and restarts the mission from the most recent checkpoint.
 * Pick up the PDA (E/X/Square)
 * Leave the building
 * Board the transport
 * Board the Extreme
 * Make your way to LEAF-Prime's main outpost
 * Defend against the assailants
 * Survive and defeat enemies (1:00 timer)
 * Escape with the commander

Transcript
(Fade out from black. The player character wakes up in the quarters of an Infinity Time base, which appears to be well-furnished and homely.

They check a PDA, which buzzes with a reminder, before putting it away.)

PLAYER: Right, the big test run for Cosmic Compiler's biggest project is today. Can't miss it.

...I wonder why we haven't done this already? Eh, whatever. Not like I've had very much info on it.

All they said was something about programmable matter... though I might not have paid attention.

(Control is given to the player. The prompt "Use WASD/LS/L3 to move / Use the mouse/RS/R3 to look around" appears in the center of the screen.

''The player is given the option to look around the room before leaving. A marker appears on the PDA the player character just checked; approaching it gives the prompt "Use E/X/Square to interact with objects." Doing so gives the Cosmic Compiler lore card and displays a guideline at the bottom of the screen, until dismissed with Enter/B/X:''

"Lore cards drop through various means and shed more light on the world around you in ways that you might not be able to be physically there for. While some cards are simply dossiers on people and places you've encountered, others are fragments of journals, books, memories, and data that may serve as a key to certain events. Aim to collect them all!")

PLAYER: Once a tiny supplier that LEAF inexplicably decided to support, I'm working for a company that's changing the world now - and here we thought we'd run out of those opportunities.

I guess that just goes to show how a little faith goes a long way.

(The player character leaves their room and walks into a hallway with a visible skylight. A ReZEL can be seen soaring above in its transformed state, its streaking green sensors indicative of a plant flying it.

Soon, they reach a nearby exit and leave the building, hopping into a company hover transport. It automatically begins to start up and move, taking the player character to the mission site.

''After a fade-in and out, the game cuts to the transport's destination, a hastily-constructed outpost with LEAF markings, where the player character then disembarks. A simple Gundam frame lays dormant nearby, while a fellow Compiler worker, a Gravitree named Leo, greets the player character, who follows along with his further instructions.)''

LEO: Hey, it's the test pilot! I hope you remember Compiler negotiated to do this with a real mission, right?

PLAYER: ...Right.

LEO: No pressure. From the looks of it, we're not doing anything too important, so we should be fine.

(Leo walks over to a terminal wired to the Gundam frame. Inspecting it reveals its name, which simply reads "Extreme Gundam" with no model number. Both Leo and the player character seem to already be aware of this fact.)

LEO: The goal here's pretty simple''. ''LEAF found this drone with no idea on where it came from or what it is on a routine sweep, so they wanted a direct courier mission to take it back for research.

(Leo gestures towards the LEAF agents, who are holding the drone he mentioned. It seems to resemble a robotic bat with cartoonish proportions. They walk towards the Extreme.)

LEO: Now, the Extreme over here isn't exactly befitting of its name right now. But if I just load this file here...

(Leo mounts a file through the terminal. Suddenly, a storage unit and some basic munitions appear on the Extreme's back. The agents take note of this and deposit the drone's lifeless chassis into the backpack.)

LEO: ...you'll see that it can do almost anything with the right data.

Now, shall we get started? Go and start up the Extreme.

(The player character moves to the Extreme's back, and is prompted to interact with it. They place their hand on the Extreme's back, and are digitized into its systems after a short delay. The Extreme powers on to life as its optic sensors glow with visible irises; control shifts to the experimental Gundam frame as the camera shifts to first-person, showing the boot screen of the frame.)

LEO: Great, it seems like everything's in working order. Lemme just disconnect the wires here... and you're good to go!

(The wires are removed from the Extreme's frame.)

LEO: We've armed you with some basic low-power weapons as a precaution, but I doubt you'll need them. If anything strange does happen, though, just radio LEAF for help, and if you stumble and accidentally knock out some of the systems, the reserve Time Crystal shavings inside should automatically restore them after a short delay. I'm getting the go-ahead for you to start trekking towards LEAF's base, so I guess I'll just send you off and say go for it!

(The player character begins walking in the prompted direction. Leo waves at them as they leave.)

LEO: Good luck! We're all counting on your success!

(The player character ventures out into the "wilderness" of Infinity Time. Along the way, they encounter several situations that introduce the player to more basic controls: rocks to jump over, time crystals to break off a piece with melee, and some stray Gnomes to take aim at and shoot.

''After destroying some of the Gnomes, a large white mass appears out of one of them. When the player character goes to touch it, it reforms itself into the shape of a shortsword with a dulled crystalline edge; at this point, the player is instructed to open their inventory with F1/Start/the touchpad, and become familiarized with the organization system before inspecting the sword with RMB/Y/Triangle. Leo, who is still monitoring the Extreme through external telemetry, chimes in over comms:)''

LEO: One thing I forgot to mention: the Extreme has some basic learning algorithms in its systems that let it produce files for more equipment after it gets some experience. It's still super basic though... apparently we still haven't been able to improve what comes out without running up a fortune in hardware bills. So.

(Indistinct chatter is heard in the background.)

LEO: Yeah, yeah! I'll close up shop in a second. It's just nice to finally feel like I'm in touch for once, but - (voice trails off, then disconnects)

(The player progresses relatively unimpeded until a short distance from LEAF's Infinity Time base, during which the game cuts to a cutscene.)

PLAYER: Leo was right, I guess this is pretty easy for a pod that could potentially kill me dead if it shatters. Talk about an effortless paycheck-

''A beam rifle shot suddenly strikes the Extreme out of nowhere. While its armor is surprisingly durable, part of the shoulder armor sloughs off in the blast.''

PLAYER: What the -

More beam rifle shots continue to be fired, but miss the Extreme.

PLAYER: Extreme to LEAF! I'm under attack!

LEAF: Copy that. Unfortunately, it'll be a while until we can send backup, so try and hold out.

PLAYER: ...Shit.

??? 1: *scoffs* Is this really all Cosmic Compiler's new invention has to offer?

''The camera turns to focus on the assailants, who are now in visible range. A Peashooter, a Camo Soldier, and their Jegan Type Bs stand in the distance - but even from afar, a strange-looking device is clearly affixed to their units' waists.''

The encounter quickly turns to a confrontation - both the player character and the Jegans have their guns raised.

PLAYER: The hell are you doing? This is proprietary technology you're damaging!

??? 2: My mistake.

??? 1: We'll be taking that Compiler system and whatever's in that box off your hands!

PLAYER: Go ahead and try! A lowly Jegan is no match for even the most basic of a Gundam!

??? 1: We'll see about that.

The Peashooters, now back to piloting their Jegans, pull out a grey keycard and press a button on their tops.

[HARD!]

''The keycards are inserted into the device on the Jegans' waists. A standby signal resembling the sound of metal clanging begins to play.''

??? 1/2: Install!

''A button on the devices is pressed. ''

[RAIDRISE!Heavily produced battle armor equipped with extra battle specifications.]

Mechanical whining can be heard as countless energy tubes surround the Jegans in a dense, cubic pattern, before they inject themselves into the robots' armor, disintegrate into a thick smog, and reform as a thick suit of armor that is now attached to the Jegans' frames.

''The cutscene fades back into gameplay. The armored Jegans appear to be classified as two minibosses, but have a question mark instead of a logo on their health bars - indeed, the player character's guns seem to be severely ineffective against them, despite being of reasonable quality. After a while, the mystery men get impatient.''

??? 1: Give it up! We know those weapons were never meant for IR combat!

PLAYER: (under breath) ...why are they this persistent?

''With no choice, the player character dodges and hides from the Jegans' gunfire, dropping the package with the drone in it. Snapping open on impact, the drone clatters onto the stone nearby, and begins to sputter back to life, the camera cutting to its optics as it scans the surrounding area - and finds one person endangered by two others. It decides to help the former, flying to the Extreme.''

??? 3: Hey, you!

PLAYER: ...aren't you supposed to be -

REY: Not in a million years. Name's Rey, and you look like you're in a lot of trouble right now. Give me your wrist!

The player obliges.

PLAYER: Uh...

REY: Victus!

''Rey bites down on the Extreme's wrist, his fangs penetrating into the wiring underneath its armor. The player winces from the bite, which seems to be pumping something into the Extreme's systems. The Extreme slowly becomes coated in a cracked pattern of energy, and a device materializes on its waist, a warbling standby noise emanating from it.''

PLAYER: (slightly strained) What, exactly, are you doing? This mission was to protect you, you know.

REY: Consider it a code injection. I'll explain later... if we ever find the time, that is.

''Rey flies to a receptacle on the newly-formed device and inserts himself inside it, folding his wings up in the process. The player character, seemingly understanding what he intends to do, stands up to face their assailants. A polygonal glyph begins emanating from the mysterious device, blocking incoming fire.''

REY: Transform!

''The glyph shatters into energy, enveloping the Extreme until its silhouette resembles a blurred mass. Fade to white.''

REY: (voiceover) I can do a lot of things, but I can't make all of your choices for you.

''A class select screen appears. Hovering over each of the three options explains the main roles of the highlighted class, along with their first three subclasses. The player is given a choice between a hulking armored warrior, a winged seraph, or a lightning-fast rogue.''

REY: There is grace in destruction and its delivery when it's needed - but you need to choose how you'll go about it, or else you might falter from discord.

Once the player chooses a class:

REY: An excellent choice.

''Once the player chooses a class, the screen fades back to the Extreme and the Jegans. The energy coating the Extreme reforms into the starting armor of the selected class and bursts off, revealing a set of fully-complete, freshly-attached parts. The weapons held by the Extreme, likewise, are reshaped into combat-ready versions; meanwhile, the device Rey inserted himself into disappears, taking him with it, but not to worry:''

REY: Don't worry, I'm still with you. Ready to put these punks in their place?

''The player character nods in agreement and flexes once before drawing their weapon. ''

PLAYER: You're not tampering with the contents of my mission any longer.

REY: Here we come!

''The cutscene returns to gameplay after this. With all of the player character's weapons at full power, the two mysterious Infinite Robots are stopped with some resistance and the help of their new melee, throwable, and ultimate abilities.''

LEAF: LEAF to Compiler, you've got incoming. Just hold on a little longer! We're sending a strike team to your position and they'll be here shortly!

''A timer counts down from one minute as weaker versions of the Jegans in the grey armor show up along with some snipers and melee fighters; restricted respawning is enabled. Another guideline appears on-screen: "You cannot respawn in scenarios where falling in combat would result in your death or the mission's immediate failure. Watch your health."''

While the timer is counting down, Rey and the player character may exchange some banter:

PLAYER: You're awfully quiet now. Where's the gusto you had when you saved my ass?

REY: I'm omniscient, not invincible. Don't mind me.

PLAYER: Fine, whatever... wait, what?

or

REY: Quite the spectacle, isn't it? Those explosions and technique are unlike anything I've seen before.

PLAYER: You find trashing my own kind attractive? And here I thought that CPU of yours had at least a somewhat normal mind.

REY: They're trying to kill you, damn it! Can't we at least have some fun to make shaking this off less stressful?

PLAYER: Ugh, fine.

''After the minute elapses, several Bar-GMs in LEAF colors fly down and open fire on the Jegans, forcing them to retreat. Once the area is confirmed secured, one of the LEAF agents in turns towards the player, initiating a cutscene.''

AGENT: It's quite fortunate we arrived when we did. The Raiders have been a problem for a while, but I didn't realize it'd gotten this bad...

PLAYER: Raiders?

AGENT: One of our foundries contracted to R&D cooked the books with the sales of that Raidriser gizmo those hostiles were wearing, and now petty crimes have been rising while we're stuck trying to clean up their mess.

PLAYER: Figured it'd be something like that. I've spent the last month sleeping in a portable living space to isolate a company secret, so I guess this is why.

The agent goes to rejoin their crew, and motions to the player.

AGENT: Oh, speaking of which...

''The agent draws their rifle. The player character, shocked, raises the Extreme's hands.''

AGENT: You're under arrest for tampering with a military secret. Come with us and we'll guarantee your safety. If not...

Rey suddenly speaks up and materializes after having spent the battle hidden.

REY: This is absurd! I saved them from getting turned to scrap, I didn't have a brush with death just to face it again with an ungrateful bastard -

AGENT: Don't you dare act like you aren't part of the problem, either! You being alive and - and - an individual has made this mission so much more complicated! I don't even know why we asked them to do it, everyone knows how flashy Compiler is -

AGENT 2: Can it, Zach! I think they get it. You're just eroding their trust at this point.

''Zach grumbles and leaves the scene. The other agent takes over.''

AGENT 2: You'll have to forgive Zach here, but his point remains,

''The agent pulls out a grenade-like device and breaks the teeth on its pin. It explodes into a portal behind them.''

AGENT 2: Come with us. It's for your own good, that much I can promise.

The player character and Rey look at each other.

REY: You sure you want to trust them?

PLAYER: Do we have a choice? (pauses, then turns towards the agent again) Fine, we'll go with you.

AGENT 2: Thank you. Between you and me, this is all largely just protocol... so I hope you two will turn out fine.

REY: Heh... Thanks. Maybe this world will be an interesting one after all.

''The player character and the cleanup crew head through the portal, which closes up. The camera zooms out to reveal a Lightning Slaughter Dagger watching from afar, who twirls a blue magnum in their hands before disappearing.''

Mission ends.

Secrets & Notes
This mission does not have any secret content exclusive to its encounter spaces.
 * This mission cannot be replayed on higher difficulties.
 * The Chronoshard Dagger obtained in this mission cannot be replaced without making a new character. Players are advised to keep it if they plan to maintain a collection.