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@off-book-man
Hello everyone! My name is Markiplier.
I've been a little busy recently, switching all my branding and such. You may wonder why... but wonder no longer. I have been brought into a new production studio. They run things a little differently over here. A tighter ship, but it helps keep me focused.
Now then... how's it going?
Been a while, hasn't it?
you should explore the exit-/hj
The... exit? There is an exit to this?
I can go exploring! Where should I go...
Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier. Welcome to further content expansion. Look out for changes. Don't worry, this will all be good.
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
[Ethan chooses to keep an eye on the situation as a whole rather than just rushing in]
"Ethan, do you see who you're trusting right now? You're trusting a maniac who's violent and manipulative. We're trying to protect you from this man."
[Tiger inches a bit closer to Ethan, but still maintaining a decent distance]
[Hetch holds himself tensely.]
“Ethan! He’s literally pointing a gun at me! Please do something!”
[Ethan takes a shuddering breath, he doesn't know what to do in this situation, he doesn't know who to believe]
"Put- put the gun down Mark."
"Ethan. Youre joking."
[His face falls, his grip shifting]
"I can't just-"
[Tiger smiles.]
"Thank you Ethan for trusting us. Mark will only lead you into more trouble if you stay on their side. Now back away from Mark."
[His eyes shift between Hetch and Mark and Tiger, trying to figure out who's really lying to him. He doesn't remember Mark, not really. But he can't deny what he does remember and he can't deny the zeros tattooed into his skin. He can't deny the sheer amount of viewers who sent in messages about that Unus Annus thingy. He's just trying to breathe, to understand. He doesn't move away like Tiger says]
"why does it have to be a fight? Why can't someone just fucking explain! Why does everyone seem to understand but me?"
[He just takes a deep breath]
Ethan if you help us get out I promise I'll tell you everything. They cant tell you shit.
[Hetch rolls his eyes.]
“And what do you know that I don’t, Mark? I could tell him everything he wants and more.”
"Every tattoo. Everything that wasn't from a filmed perspective. You wouldn't know what happened at after-parties or anything off camera."
[He stares down Hetch, keeping an eye on tiger in his periphrial vision]
"You wouldn't get it"
“You’re lying.”
[Hetch peaks around Mark to look Ethan in the eyes.]
“What’s happening is that this guy broke into our home and is trying to take you away from us! I don’t know why he’s putting so much work into kidnapping and manipulating you, but it’s causing more grief than there already is.”
[Ethan's breath is shaky and his head feels like it's spinning. He looks between Hetch and Mark, his brain feels like it's screaming at him but he can't understand the words.]
"Why are you all being so fucking vague! Will someone just tell me the truth?"
[He yells. It's unexpected but not all that surprising. The two parts of his brain fighting over who to believe]
"Ethan! These people are liars. They fucked with your head. Just... look around! They obviously want more than to just shoot me!"
[He sputters, as if it were obvious]
"You can remember when Hetch said not to kill me, right? If he was so territorial, he would kill me! Fully! Full of lead dead. But no!"
[He thinks about looking back at Ethan, but shakes his head. That would be an idiot move.]
"I want you to know... I am your friend. Remember LA. In fact, let's talk about Unus Annus. Probably the most common and longest detail we can get. Your hourglass tattoo. The little skull tattoo as well. The black and white. The quick editing we had to do. Brick soccer, maybe the Otter pops? C'mon Eef. You can do it."
[Hetch sighs, body language becoming more relaxed and looking towards Tiger instead. He throws the reprogramming mask he had hidden behind his back to her.]
[Tiger catches the mask, a bit indecisive on who to put it on. Place it on Ethan, or Mark? Ethan is the closest, but Mark is the most aggressive. Could she make it to Mark before she was killed by him? Or should she take the safe route. Either way, she could be brought back, right? She looks down at the mask before taking a good look at the moment makes a run for the man that has caused it so much trouble and burden, Mark.]
[He was late to catch Tiger's movement in the corner of his eye. He fell to the ground with an solid thud. The fight continued from there, Tiger not leaving her task unfinished. He started fighting against the force of the mask being pushed on top of his face. It smelled a little funny, like someone had dumped flowers in a vat of cleaning solution]
"What... the hell?"
[He was starting to get tired... that's when he realized it wasnt just some scent they put in the mask]
"Chloroform? You... cowards... takin... my energy..."
[He laughs, delirious]
"Assholes! All of you."
[He pushes against Tiger, managing to kick her a couple times before giving to the chloroform. To this he would succumb. He looked at Ethan as the mask was shoved onto him]
"Sorry... Eef."
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
[Ethan chooses to keep an eye on the situation as a whole rather than just rushing in]
"Ethan, do you see who you're trusting right now? You're trusting a maniac who's violent and manipulative. We're trying to protect you from this man."
[Tiger inches a bit closer to Ethan, but still maintaining a decent distance]
[Hetch holds himself tensely.]
“Ethan! He’s literally pointing a gun at me! Please do something!”
[Ethan takes a shuddering breath, he doesn't know what to do in this situation, he doesn't know who to believe]
"Put- put the gun down Mark."
"Ethan. Youre joking."
[His face falls, his grip shifting]
"I can't just-"
[Tiger smiles.]
"Thank you Ethan for trusting us. Mark will only lead you into more trouble if you stay on their side. Now back away from Mark."
[His eyes shift between Hetch and Mark and Tiger, trying to figure out who's really lying to him. He doesn't remember Mark, not really. But he can't deny what he does remember and he can't deny the zeros tattooed into his skin. He can't deny the sheer amount of viewers who sent in messages about that Unus Annus thingy. He's just trying to breathe, to understand. He doesn't move away like Tiger says]
"why does it have to be a fight? Why can't someone just fucking explain! Why does everyone seem to understand but me?"
[He just takes a deep breath]
Ethan if you help us get out I promise I'll tell you everything. They cant tell you shit.
[Hetch rolls his eyes.]
“And what do you know that I don’t, Mark? I could tell him everything he wants and more.”
"Every tattoo. Everything that wasn't from a filmed perspective. You wouldn't know what happened at after-parties or anything off camera."
[He stares down Hetch, keeping an eye on tiger in his periphrial vision]
"You wouldn't get it"
“You’re lying.”
[Hetch peaks around Mark to look Ethan in the eyes.]
“What’s happening is that this guy broke into our home and is trying to take you away from us! I don’t know why he’s putting so much work into kidnapping and manipulating you, but it’s causing more grief than there already is.”
[Ethan's breath is shaky and his head feels like it's spinning. He looks between Hetch and Mark, his brain feels like it's screaming at him but he can't understand the words.]
"Why are you all being so fucking vague! Will someone just tell me the truth?"
[He yells. It's unexpected but not all that surprising. The two parts of his brain fighting over who to believe]
"Ethan! These people are liars. They fucked with your head. Just... look around! They obviously want more than to just shoot me!"
[He sputters, as if it were obvious]
"You can remember when Hetch said not to kill me, right? If he was so territorial, he would kill me! Fully! Full of lead dead. But no!"
[He thinks about looking back at Ethan, but shakes his head. That would be an idiot move.]
"I want you to know... I am your friend. Remember LA. In fact, let's talk about Unus Annus. Probably the most common and longest detail we can get. Your hourglass tattoo. The little skull tattoo as well. The black and white. The quick editing we had to do. Brick soccer, maybe the Otter pops? C'mon Eef. You can do it."
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
[Ethan chooses to keep an eye on the situation as a whole rather than just rushing in]
"Ethan, do you see who you're trusting right now? You're trusting a maniac who's violent and manipulative. We're trying to protect you from this man."
[Tiger inches a bit closer to Ethan, but still maintaining a decent distance]
[Hetch holds himself tensely.]
“Ethan! He’s literally pointing a gun at me! Please do something!”
[Ethan takes a shuddering breath, he doesn't know what to do in this situation, he doesn't know who to believe]
"Put- put the gun down Mark."
"Ethan. Youre joking."
[His face falls, his grip shifting]
"I can't just-"
[Tiger smiles.]
"Thank you Ethan for trusting us. Mark will only lead you into more trouble if you stay on their side. Now back away from Mark."
[His eyes shift between Hetch and Mark and Tiger, trying to figure out who's really lying to him. He doesn't remember Mark, not really. But he can't deny what he does remember and he can't deny the zeros tattooed into his skin. He can't deny the sheer amount of viewers who sent in messages about that Unus Annus thingy. He's just trying to breathe, to understand. He doesn't move away like Tiger says]
"why does it have to be a fight? Why can't someone just fucking explain! Why does everyone seem to understand but me?"
[He just takes a deep breath]
Ethan if you help us get out I promise I'll tell you everything. They cant tell you shit.
[Hetch rolls his eyes.]
“And what do you know that I don’t, Mark? I could tell him everything he wants and more.”
"Every tattoo. Everything that wasn't from a filmed perspective. You wouldn't know what happened at after-parties or anything off camera."
[He stares down Hetch, keeping an eye on tiger in his periphrial vision]
"You wouldn't get it"
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
[Ethan chooses to keep an eye on the situation as a whole rather than just rushing in]
"Ethan, do you see who you're trusting right now? You're trusting a maniac who's violent and manipulative. We're trying to protect you from this man."
[Tiger inches a bit closer to Ethan, but still maintaining a decent distance]
[Hetch holds himself tensely.]
“Ethan! He’s literally pointing a gun at me! Please do something!”
[Ethan takes a shuddering breath, he doesn't know what to do in this situation, he doesn't know who to believe]
"Put- put the gun down Mark."
"Ethan. Youre joking."
[His face falls, his grip shifting]
"I can't just-"
[Tiger smiles.]
"Thank you Ethan for trusting us. Mark will only lead you into more trouble if you stay on their side. Now back away from Mark."
[His eyes shift between Hetch and Mark and Tiger, trying to figure out who's really lying to him. He doesn't remember Mark, not really. But he can't deny what he does remember and he can't deny the zeros tattooed into his skin. He can't deny the sheer amount of viewers who sent in messages about that Unus Annus thingy. He's just trying to breathe, to understand. He doesn't move away like Tiger says]
"why does it have to be a fight? Why can't someone just fucking explain! Why does everyone seem to understand but me?"
[He just takes a deep breath]
Ethan if you help us get out I promise I'll tell you everything. They cant tell you shit.
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
[Ethan chooses to keep an eye on the situation as a whole rather than just rushing in]
"Ethan, do you see who you're trusting right now? You're trusting a maniac who's violent and manipulative. We're trying to protect you from this man."
[Tiger inches a bit closer to Ethan, but still maintaining a decent distance]
[Hetch holds himself tensely.]
“Ethan! He’s literally pointing a gun at me! Please do something!”
[Ethan takes a shuddering breath, he doesn't know what to do in this situation, he doesn't know who to believe]
"Put- put the gun down Mark."
"Ethan. Youre joking."
[His face falls, his grip shifting]
"I can't just-"
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
[Ethan chooses to keep an eye on the situation as a whole rather than just rushing in]
"Ethan, do you see who you're trusting right now? You're trusting a maniac who's violent and manipulative. We're trying to protect you from this man."
[Tiger inches a bit closer to Ethan, but still maintaining a decent distance]
[Hetch holds himself tensely.]
“Ethan! He’s literally pointing a gun at me! Please do something!”
[He laughs incredulous]
"Ethan I'm literally getting threatened right now. Do you believe this shit?"
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He steps back, holding up the gun]
"Don't touch me."
[Hetch backs up a bit as Mark practically jumps in front of Ethan’s gun to shield Ethan from Hetch.]
[Tiger laughs, tightening it's grip on the trigger and moving to the side to keep their sights on Mark. Not enough to hire but it's pretty damn close; a single flinch could cause the gun to go off]
"Well, Ethan is just as important as you; you're needed for a show! A very important show. And yet, you throw away your amazing skills as you slip into the manic state you're in?"
[He draws his gun in the time Tiger takes to move]
"Ethan stay behind me."
[His axe was held in front of him, his gun pointed at Hetch]
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
“God… has he really gotten in your head that much? Here, let me help you.”
[He walks towards Ethan until he stands in front of him, not too close, though.]
[He faced up with Hetch, pushing Ethan back a little and covering his hands from Tiger's shot]
"Back up"
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Once Tiger was within axe swinging distance, Mark struck]
[Tiger dodges the attack, expecting the reckless attempt and pointing the gun at Mark's hands]
"My, someone missed me. Why don't we calm down and act like a civil person, Mark."
[He looks warily at the gun, bored]
"Civil? You tried to kill me. And if you wanted to remain civil... you would put down the gun"
[He drawls, then looking at Hetch]
Another bitch. Why would you want Ethan?
[He tries to stand in front of Ethan]
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Hetch turns his attention towards Ethan specifically, approaching him slowly, hands behind his back.]
“Nestor.”
[He stays silent. The only acknowledgement that he heard Hetch is the glare in his eyes]
“You know he’s lying to you, right?”
[Hetch sounds genuine, convincing.]
[Ethan pauses. Is he? But his memories, the tattoo...]
"no."
[It doesn't come out as strong as he wanted it too]
[Hetch keeps moving forward at a steady pace, though pauses when Ethan responds.]
“… Ethan. Why are you believing him? Is he seriously more trustworthy than me?”
[He takes a step forward.]
"I don't... I don't know. But I do."
[He tightens his grip on the gun and holds it closer to him]
"There's nothing more than I hate asshats. You in particular."
[He spat as Hetch spoke]
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
[He follows, keeping his distance but still following]
[Ethan and Mark exit the circle of employees to find Tiger and Hetch standing outside the circle, armed.]
“I love improv but this hasn’t been going the way I wanted!”
[Hetch elbows Tiger.]
“Why don’t you take care of Mark, yeah? Make sure you don’t kill him yet.”
[Tiger nods, slowly stalking behind Mark and weaving herself into the employees]
[@off-book-man]
[Ethan stands his ground, his grip on the gun tightening]
[Once Tiger was within axe swinging distance, Mark struck]
"At least turn on the stereo. The mall speakers can't be that broken."
[He walks around the employees with no resistance]
[ @say-4]
[Shuffling can be heard over the intercom before Hetch speaks again.]
“My bad for the wait, Mark! We had a bit of hesitation from your good friend!”
[ @theun3mployed ]
[A figure emerges, walking through the mass of employees. There is no recognition in his eyes. He silently glares at the intruder]
[@off-book-man]
"Ethan? Eef."
[After no reaction, he looks at Ethan then at the nearest security camera]
"You son of a bitch. Fight me like a man"
[He looks back at Ethan]
"I don't know what they told you-"
"You are a threat to this facility and you need to be taken care of"
[His voice is cold, so unlike the Ethan Mark knows. He holds a gun in his hand]
[He narrows his eyes, adjusting the axe in his hand, slowly putting it in his belt loop, the other hand his own gun]
"Ethan. You gotta talk to me."
[the repeated use of his name is confusing to him]
"I don't know you, stop acting like I do"
"Ethan... please"
[He tries to bargain]
"I don't know what they've told you but I promise... we're on the side. I-I'm not an intruder either!"
[He pulls up his sleeve, revealing his Showfall insigna tattoo]
[Seeing the tattoo makes him pause as he tries to figure out how he got it, but that doesn't matter]
"You broke in and damaged the property. You're an intruder"
"It was self defense. I could explain it all."
[He forces himself not to stutter in desperation. He understands what he has to do and lets himself be calm]
"Ask me anything. About you, about me. I can tell you ANYTHING."
[He moves his hand slowly away from his holster as a sign of peace. Not too far away, but enough to give an idea of understanding]
[He shouldn't. He's been given a task to do and he should complete it. But there were too many warnings, too many things that didn't make sense. His grip on the gun tightens]
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mark. I create content, like videos, online. I am but a man with an obsession with cameras."
[He wants to describe his friendship with Ethan, but the way Ethan gripped his gun suggested that wasnt a good idea]
"Why do you know who I am? Were we in shows together?"
[It's clear he'd been at Showfall before so it made the most sense to Ethan]
"Well... we were going to be in a Showfall show together... but we did some... other stuff. We made our own series outside of this... place. If you could call it a TV series, that is. You were in a couple of my video projects, it was a whole thing"
[He takes his time to explain, trying not to keep eyeing Ethan's gun hand]
[That's vague. Too vague]
"Elaborate, cause that's pretty suspicious"
"Well... I'll start with the most relevant. The one that probably got these... "producers'" attention. The main "show" we did together was called Unus Annus. It means 'one year' in Latin. We posted one video every day for a full year, most of them just us doing things we never would've done regularly. Living life to the fullest."
[He pauses, looking at Ethan]
"It was a solid pact we made. After the year we delete the channel, it was a limited time thing. 'Momento Mori' as we said. 'Remember, one day you will die' as its rough meaning."
[Is that what all the audience members were talking about? This Unus Annus thing? His eyes fall onto one of his tattoos]
"there was a countdown..."
[He nods encouragingly.]
"The countdown... the hourglass, the intros..."
[He slowly had decided to lower his hand away from his holster as he spoke]
"We had it all that year."
"Why can't I remember then?"
[All he has are bits and pieces. Flashes of events, of random things they did. But also other things, things further back than then]
"I should know you. But I don't"
"I think they have fucked with you. This... place. They have lied"
[He tries to think, trying to trigger any other recall]
"The gymnastics you can do. Hell, we met because you did a backflip for me.... The space tv show... the stupid nights we spent, the times outside the camera..."
[He's run out of thoughts or things to provoke memories]
[Too many flashes of things he almost remembers are running through his head]
"Stop it... It- you- too much. Why are- why are you even here?"
"I came back for you"
[He holds both of his hands up in front of him in a calming manner, showing his peaceful intent]
"Literally just coming back for you, my friend"
"you shouldn't have. If you really escaped left then you shouldn't have come back"
[This doesn't make any sense, who was he to risk everything just for him?]
"Look... just come with me. I can tell you everything"
[He was a little desperate at this point]
[He glances around. At the drones, at the cameras, at the damn mall itself.]
"I...I can't. I can't leave."
"...what's stopping you from walking out that door?"
[He leaves the question to hang in the air as he eyes the employees that were too close for comfort]
"him."
[Ethan hopes he knows who he's talking about. He knows they're being watched but he doesn't understand why he hasn't been stopped yet]
[He looks for the nearest camera and has to stop himself from trying to shoot it or yell. This must be hell]
"He" can go fuck off.
[Mark had a pretty good idea of who "he" could be. He had many things to say to this man]
[He gets another memory]
"We- we tried this already didn't we? It didn't go well'
[Why would he come back after everything that happened?]
"We were unarmed. Unprepared. If we go now... the car is already ready. We can get help."
[He winces at how dumb he sounded]
"We can do it again. I'm not leaving you this time."
"I don't-"
[He looks around again]
"what about the others? There's so many..."
[He eyes the camera and whispers to Ethan, out of distance of mic capture.]
"We get you to the police. We can get them to properly come in and locate them. With the way these employees are standing, we'd be lucky to find one, much less that bitchface Tiger."
[He tries looking around]
"This place is massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin"
[he knows this "Mark" guy is right. But he can't put that into words so he just nods]
[He slowly starts backing up, but then turns around so he can move past the employees]
