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[Thank you for using Nintendo eShop. You will no longer be able to buy or download new software.]


It wasn't fair, you thought. Sure, these systems were getting on in years, and there's been plenty of legitimate thoughts on why this has to happen. But you loved Nintendo. Especially on the 3DS. To be greeted with that message displayed just above that still smiling, cute little orange shopping bag mascot seemed like a kick in the teeth.


Why was it so happy anyway? It wasn't probably possible to ascribe any sort of emotion to it - more likely than not, it's because they didn't code in the ability for it to frown at all, so it just has to keep on smiling. But you weren't thinking super rationally right now. You stared back at it, denying it. "You should be more upset! You don't have anything left anymore, you're basically unemployed!" Of course, this elicits no response from the little creature.


You let out a sigh, putting it down, ready to whine about it online. You think to yourself, even knowing that tons of people are going to hack their systems and get their stuff regardless, there'll always be those unaware folks that either don't accept piracy or aren't willing to learn about it. You think to yourself, if only there was something I could do about it. To spread the joy of the old Nintendo 3DS to all who would listen. You were so nostalgic right now.


So much so, that it's likely you didn't notice the shopping bag winking and vanishing from the screen, with a subtle tingling filling your body.


It began subtly at first... the curling and smoothening of your feet within your shoes. Your skin taking on a distinctly orange hue, as your toes blended together one after another, the barriers between them vanishing, until all that was left was a nearly featureless orange sphere that easily slipped out of your footwear. That was enough to get you to take notice - you didn't think your shoes were THAT loose.


You swing your legs around and take a look at what's transpired, seeing the small round nubbins and gaining a conflicting feeling. One, was this even real? Two, what did this mean? Three, was anything else going to happen? And that's when you feel the severing. The nearly indescribable feeling of your limbs... vanishing. They'd go completely numb before parts of them seemed to blink out of existence randomly. It was like watching an old computer load something, but in reverse! Your pants slipped right off of you - and why wouldn't they, seeing as they weren't holding onto literally anything anymore? There wasn't even a waist or any 'parts' to witness at all now. These changes struck your arms, too, but unlike your still-existing feet, your hands weren't spared, and disappeared along with the rest of the arm.


This was happening so fast! How was this even real?? The way your feet moved, it still seemed like you had legs, they were just... invisible? You moved them around a lot, seeing how far away they could get from your body, but each time you fiddled with them, they seemed to get closer and closer to what remained of you. Like your 'legs' were shrinking. And you start to hear an odd sound that's like crinkling or rustling as the same orange hue of your feet begins to spread throughout the rest of your body. You try to shake off your shirt to see it in more detail, and eventually succeed in doing so, shocked to see that your own chest and torso is flattening out. The contours and curves of your body making way for geometrical perfection, a regular rectangle of a body, with only the tiniest amount of depth.


You swear you weren't even supposed to be alive with how much you had changed. You wanted to feel yourself, look for vital things like your heart or stomach, but without any hands... it was a little difficult. But then came another strange feeling, the feeling of your head growing less and less fluid, as it seemed to flow like a river down onto your "torso". Ears and nose and hair were all "deleted" through the same process as your other unnecessary parts, and what little remained of your face melded with your body, converting itself into much simpler and expressive giant white pupilless eyes and a simple curvy mouth to match.


At this point you realized, not just because of your head and torso becoming one, but just overall in general - you were tiny. Not tiny like some sort of insect, but like the size of a human baby, even though you were anything but. Your insides felt hollow. Indeed, they were, your main body resembling some sort of folded rectangular container, with an opening at the top for things to be placed inside. And your changes finalize with arch-shaped growths sticking out of your front top and your back top. You needed to see what had happened, and that's when you saw your 3DS was off, for some reason (did it lose battery?) and yet that'd provide at least a bit of a reflection. Stumbling over to it, you take a look.


Well, the little eShop bag wasn't smiling anymore. Because it was too shocked and freaked out to realize that it was you! You had somehow BECOME this weird one-time mascot for capitalism! You didn't have a name or any kind of lore, you just were this... cute thing! Cute somehow even as it sobbed in the foggy reflection of the system. How were you supposed to live like this?


You consider calling for help, but your feet are too chunky and imprecise to hit the exact numbers on your cell phone - nor could you unlock it with your fingerprint. You think maybe since your bag body is flat you could slip underneath the door of your room to get out of here and call for help more directly, but those little round devils didn't want to pop through there either. There are some upsides though. You were feeling peckish for a snack before all this, but that feeling was completely gone. So you figured you wouldn't starve to death as you tried to figure out a solution to all this.


The computer was still on. Maybe that could work? You find yourself able to leap about twice your height to get back onto your computer chair. That was kind of fun. No, no, you should focus. Focus on the... bright, bright light of the screen. It almost looked like it was coming towards you... no, wait a second, you weren't standing anymore! You were floating, and beginning to spiral towards the screen itself! You shut your eyes and brace for impact.


Impact never comes. When next you open your eyes, streams of digital data are surrounding your cute body. And you could somehow read and interpret them... you were in some kind of cybernetic gateway. Certain data streams highlighted themselves in orange, and you took more close notice of those. Interpreting those led to a particular revelation - they were messages of lamentation for the Nintendo eShop! And they came from all sorts of different directions. Out of instinct, or something like that, you find yourself moving in the direction of one particular message.


Pop! You can feel the air of reality surround you suddenly, as you stumble onto some new surface. You look around. This isn't your room, but it is designed like the room of someone who's a bit of a nerd. Then again, who are you to judge that?


"Um... what?"


You hear this, and turn around, to see a wholly unfamiliar face. A person. This was someone's room and you had somehow barged into it through cyberspace! "H... hi?" You reply, realizing you have a much higher-pitched voice with a bit of natural digital synthetization to it.


"You're... the eShop mascot? You're real? What are you doing here?" The person asks of you, and you wish you could give them an answer that'd be satisfactory. You can't even shrug!


"I don't... really know. I was a normal person, and then this happened, and... I'm not sure why. The last thing I remember doing was thinking about how it sucked that some people wouldn't be able to get stuff..." You're truthful with the stranger.


And they scoff. "Hmph, you're telling me. Like, I loved Smash for 3DS, but I never got the DLC - by the time I had the freedom to get it, Ultimate was already on the way, and I figured there wasn't much point. But now the shop's gone for good!"


"Yeah, gone for good..." You replied, waddling over to their 3DS. More instincts seemingly taking over, as you place your foot on it, you can suddenly see all the software installed onto it. It was so limited compared to your repository... wait. You HAD a repository. The data of everything that could be installed digitally onto a 3DS lived within your skin! Maybe you could...


"What are you doing, weirdo?" The stranger asks, as you focus, a light growing from within your empty bag, before it lets out a flash. You and the stranger then witness a vision. A large, vast, orange-tinted space. From above, hooks with colored, candy-like cubes slide through, and drop their blocks onto you. The blocks slide right into your bag. You get a sense of their taste... truly delectable. The vision ends as suddenly as it began, and you step back from the 3DS.


"I think... you should boot up Smash," you suggest to them, and skeptical, they do so. To their surprise, the game boots up with large fanfare. One after another, DLC fighters are unlocked for use, from beginning to end.


"How in the hell... you, you did that? Without hacking? You're... you're incredible, lil fella!" They pick you up and give you a sudden tight hug, squishing your tiny body painlessly as your feet wiggle and flail beneath. You were incredible... you supposed, in this one specific circumstance, you were! And this person's smiling face was infectious, leading you to smile with that identical earnestness of the true eShop bag. You guessed that old message was true. You, yourself, would not be able to buy or download new software... but you could certainly upload it for the rest of the world.


Released from the hug, you explain your feelings. "Somehow, my wish was granted. I can go through the internet and find other people who need 3DS software, and give it to them. That seems to be my new purpose in life."


"What about everything else? You left a whole life behind, didn't you?" The stranger-turned-friend asks, concerned about what came before all this.


"I guess I did, but... even if I wanted to go back, I can't now. That computer's been abandoned, and there won't be any data coming from it now, especially no data that I would be able to pick out as wanting the eShop back," you figured out in the moment. "But, maybe someday I'll stumble back there and tell everyone what I've been up to. I'm sure they'll understand how important this is."


"I hope they do, lil fella. You shouldn't only be a wanderer though. Find some place to set some roots down, to relax, and all that junk," your new friend cautions, before picking you up once more, holding you in front of them.


"Thanks... ♪ I'll get going for now, though. Who knows, maybe I'm not the only bag out there...?" With that in mind, you leap towards their computer screen and pass painlessly through it, re-entering cyberspace. Everything seems like it's been figured out. And for once in your life, you have an idea of how the rest of your life is going to go. Spying another orange message, you go barreling forwards, hoping to meet someone new and grant their wish, the way yours was granted.