103RX0009

This album is dedicated to Iris Walklate and Cody Seusy.

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"It is the 84th Century; great calamity has befallen the Earth, rendering the outside atmosphere hazardous and unsafe for human life. The Unified Coalition of World Government (UcoWG) was entirely unprepared to deal with this disaster, resulting in a huge loss of life on a global scale, but the actions of a group of the world's leading scientific experts lead to the reconstruction and reactivation of a lauded machine from centuries past: a giga-computer named Saint J92000 that contained a highly detailed and fully liveable world within it, that required humans to upload their minds to use whilst the machine kept their physical bodies cared for in an advanced form of stasis. Once assembled and operational, as much of the human population as possible was transported to the location of Saint J92000 and hooked up to it for an indefinite period of time as the planet slowly recovered.

In an effort to alleviate boredom and malaise, this machine also included a bevy of virtual reality experiences and media that it's inhabitants could access alongside their binary living space, including games. The most popular of these is a game called Battlemania; according to internal documents, the game is a massive multiplayer online Beat 'em Up that sees people take on the forms and identities and characters belonging to a media conglomerate from the world before, the 103rd Corporation, with the aim being to traverse several worlds and levels fighting computer controlled enemies and bosses- all of which were also taken from the library of licenses the 103rd Corp. held- either on your own, or with other players as a duo or squadron. Much as it had done in the world before, it became an extremely popular passtime for many people's, young and old, due to the high degree of immersion and capability for role-playing it offered: as the worlds were either highly fantastical, based on imagined futures or pasts, or based on more idyllic times that happened millennia ago, and due to how you were encouraged to fully embrace the role you took on by way of gaining access to extensive lore documents and information, it allowed players the most immersion possible; the perfect escape from the reality they left behind.

And so things continued in relative peace for several decades, until the closing moments of the year 8392. Tragedy befalls a high-ranking duo of Battlemania players using the King of Hatred and Queen of Joy avatars from the Otherside property, when the latter appears to collapse into a deep coma in the middle of a game that she cannot be awakened from. Even the highest technical authority in Saint J92000, the Administrators- those who stayed outside the machine to maintain it- are unable to revive their consciousness, their brain having entirely ceased function and their body kept alive purely by the stasis procedure. They are effectively declared dead and removed from the machine, with the King of Hatred player retreating into self-imposed solace to grieve. Mere weeks later, in the tail end of December, reports of several similar comatose states befalling other players start flooding into the Administrators directly, baffling them: though player infighting is possible, “death” within Battlemania should not be permanent. When they check on the physical bodies of every fallen player, they find them in the same braindead state, confirming that there is a Player Killer operating within the game, somehow gifted the ability to literally steal the life of the players it destroys and leaving a bevy of virtual corpses in its wake. It doesn't take long for the identity to be confirmed; a player that miraculously survived an encounter confirmed it to be the King of Hatred player, and when asked why, they replied that “He told me I could bring my Queen back, if I bring him enough.” Worse still, the survivor tells that levels touched by the King's presence have become actively hostile, granting the enemies and boss encounters the same Player Killing attributes

With the death count rising, a call is put out across the game calling for strong, high level players to bring down the King of Hatred by any means necessary whilst the Administrators try to fix the abnormally functioning game. Due to the threat he poses, many challengers answer the call thirsting for glory- due to that same threat, most of them fall and the rest barely escape with their lives, many of them falling victim to the corrupted enemies long before they even reach the King himself. However, glimmers of hope emerge amidst the chaos: eight of the game's best players, all from separate guilds and all who have lost friends to the King of Hatred, have set aside petty rivalries to form a team known only as the Kingslayers. Communicating directly with the Administrators, the team is given a loose roadmap of the King's path of destruction, which seems to be nearing its end as he circles back to his homebase; the Hateful Towering Spires. The Kinglsayers intend to follow this path closely, aiding players struggling in the now dangerous battlefields and cleaning up the mess the King left behind before confronting him directly.

There are also rumours circulating that one of the Administrators has renounced his position and title, plugging himself into the machine and playing the game with an advanced knowledge of it's mechanics and the ability to actively reprogram the game in realtime- an enormous advantage, if true, though it remains unconfirmed. What is clear, however, that there is someone backing the King; someone that was able to give him the abilities he now sports, and is pushing him towards a defined goal. Just who is this mysterious “He”, and how much more dangerous are they then the King himself?

As the Kingslayers depart on their quest, the clock strikes midnight on the 24th of December; they hope to have this situation under control and peace restored to the game before Christmas Day can begin in earnest.

Battlemania 2: King of Blues is the much anticipated sequel to the best-selling arcade and FunConsole 1 title produced by Nincom, featuring deeper combo mechanics, rescuable NPCs, stunning cel-shaded graphics, and an electrifying soundtrack from the company's in-house unit Gonkaka. It will be released simultaneously in arcades and on the FunConsole 2 in December of 2002."

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I cannot possibly thank Dio Maxwelle for her help and encouragement with the project; she may be credited as co-director alongside me, but this project very likely wouldn't have gone ahead without her genuine passion and love for the concept and the original 2014 album. I made this album more for her then I did for myself, and in spite of absolutely everything that went wrong during its production- all the technical issues, the various dips in mental health, and the seemingly insurmountable personal issues- I would do it all again in a heartbeat if it resulted in an album she'd enjoy. She's my number 1 fan for a reason, folks.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks and love to the following individuals, all of whom provided either direct moral support for the project, or who helped by simply being my friends, colleagues, and loved ones, all of whom I treasure very much: Emily “Mushroomminded” P., Sam B., Lauren C., Dayle R., all of the California crew (in particular Doc Tran, “J”, Chou, Zac, Kyle), the AJE team (Shad, Vid, Alex, maximumbepis, Giga), Claus, Kate “keharts” H., Lynne Triplett, and of course Mum & Dad, Gill, Lesley, Graham, and the rest of the Walklate/Aldrige/Higgins/Colbourne/Zawadzki (+Zawadzka) (jesus, so many surnames) clan that are too numerous to mention by name, and of course the M2K/TIMGUL crew (particularly Billy C., Paul L., Roman, INFU)

I also thank my Patreon supporters- a couple of whom are also thanked above- because without their willing financial aid, this album could have taken even longer to come together (and it took long enough as it is!). Those not already thanked by name include; Stanley Bunce, Kevin “indePLASTIC”, and AgentKaz.