[øøøøo]

By Sasha Reneau

A game for a player and their device. 
The player plays the pilot. The device plays the mech. 

When the device dips below 20% battery, begin.

Where are you as your mech reaches its limits? What purpose is draining its resources?  

Close as many apps as you can to consolidate power to your primary use.  (You may try to optimize by uninstalling or deleting files; just be aware of the energy spent doing so.)  Describe how the cockpit changes without the additional inputs. 

Focus on the task at hand: 
If it's directions, make your way home and try to memorize what won't last the trip. If it's entertainment, glean as much joy from it while you can. If it's connection, talk for as long as you can with someone you trust.  If it's intel, absorb as much incoming data as you can. 


Keep an eye on the percentage.  Every multiple of 5, describe an auxiliary system that fails.  When you reach 5% and lower, stay with the mech for as long as you can. 


At 4%, choose between letting the machine rest in its final moments, or keeping it active and keeping it company until the battery dies.  


At 2%, thank it for its dutiful service.

At 1%, all that's left is to wait.


When the device dies, the mech shuts down and you are left alone with the cooling metal.

When you plug the device in again, describe how much of the mech you manage to bring back, and in what shape.  Imagine what it must be like for it to reawaken from dead metal as the battery charges. 


When you need it again, power on the device to end its rest, and begin operation at whatever percentage charge it could muster: there's work to do.

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[øøøøo], or 20%, is by Sasha Reneau, inspired by Recollection Gloaming by Tomas Herbertson, and made for Emotional Mecha Jam run by Takuma Okada and John R. Harness. Thanks to Michael Teller Ornelas and Takuma Okada for the title.