You’re not sure just how long it was you were driven. Most of you fell asleep, finally allowing the tension to fade away and letting your fatigue catch up with you. Others still weren’t quite sure yet if you could trust the people driving you now...
But the fact remained that you were out of that place. Wherever you were heading now, it couldn’t possibly be worse, could it?
Whatever the case... fatigue eventually caught up with you.
...
...
When you came to, you were pulling to a stop in a wooded area, near a river. Your driver looked back at you, gesturing for you to get out.
“Go on, now. He’s waiting for you.”
You hesitantly get out, and walk the direction he’s gesturing. Sitting on a bench, you saw a man in a brown coat, facing the river.
You approach him slowly.
He turns around. An older man, with thinning brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses. A face you’ve seen before...
“I’m glad to finally meet you in person. My name is Suzume Satou.”
Ah, of course. The man who’d been talking to you through that little laptop... He stands up, turning to face you. After a quick headcount, his face falls.
“Though, I do regret not being able to greet all of you.”
He sighs, shaking his head.
“But as for you all, I am grateful to you. All of you. For what you’ve managed to do in there. For ending the twisted ambitions of Arthur Ascott.”
Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath.
“In life he was a shrewd businessman, with a kind heart. I was proud to call him my friend. But when his daughter was killed, something in him changed. Something within him couldn’t accept the senselessness of her death. My machine - our brainchild, it predicted she would be in danger, but we couldn’t do anything about it. That’s when he left, and started... this project.”
He adjusted his glasses.
“He didn’t think we were doing enough with the information our machine gave us. A machine we designed to see everything, to identify terrorist threats... and only that. But it gave us more than that... names of ordinary people in danger. When we first discovered this, we agreed that we had to keep our creation out of the hands of the Government. We couldn’t let this power be misused.”
Exhaling, he met your gaze.
“That in mind, you’ve no doubt seen for yourself that there are factions in the government with an invested interest in this project of Arthur’s. I hate to say this, but they cannot know the truth of what happened here - what Arthur created, and what happened to it. You’ve seen what Arthur created. Now imagine what it would become if it were raised by a government party, fueled only by greed and the desire to control...”
He lets the word linger on his breath.
“You understand then, why this must not get out. I’ve already taken measures to help you in this... I have contacts in the police who can look after you... And the two currently driving you, they’re employees of mine, well-versed in protection. Whatever happens with these interested parties, we’ll be looking out for you. Us, and, well... them.”
Looking up, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance. A small camera, on a telephone pole. Sitting next to it was a pay phone.
As if on cue, the pay phone rang.
“Go on, answer it.” Satou said, smiling slightly.
You approach slowly, and together you pick up the receiver. A familiar voice meets your ears.
“Can you hear me?”
You respond with a simple yes.
“Good. I’ll watch out for you, I promise.”
The line goes dead, and you find Suzume Satou standing by the phone as well, observing you.
“Watching with a thousand eyes, and listening with a million ears...“
After that, you were safely turned over to the police. Some point along the line, your families were informed - as they were there to greet you. The next few days were a whirlwind of questions from policemen and family alike, just spinning around you. You faintly recall a few detectives mentioning ‘your mutual friend’ and avoiding the more difficult questions, just as he said. They even managed to keep the worst of the press away... So they could be trusted, right?
After what felt like forever... You were able to return to your school dorms. With the stress of impending school catch-up on your plate, you opened your dorm to find...
A cardboard box, sitting on your bed.
Inside... was a collection of clothing and other items, from your time inside that building. Good and bad memories alike, all wrapped up in one nice package. One way or another you reached the bottom of the box to find two other items... an envelope of money, and a note.
The note reads:
“You are our future. Stay strong. - SS”
You are being watched.
The government has a secret system - a machine - that spies on you every hour of every day. It was designed to detect random acts of terror, but it sees everything, including violent crimes involving ordinary people - people like you. The government considers these people irrelevant.
We don’t.
We work in secret, outside government control. You'll never find us, but victim or perpetrator, if your number's up... we'll find you.
You spy a numbered keypad on each door. And you can see through the doors and windows outside the room, to boot. As you scour the hall outside the room, desperate for any salvation, you spy something odd on a monitor...
Is that... Nami? It appears to be. But... how? They’re dead, right?
But... Nami opens their eyes.
They blink once. They pause.
They blink five times. They pause.
They blink three times. They pause.
They blink six times. They pause.
They blink twice. They pause.
The pattern repeats.
With the oxygen in the room rapidly vanishing, it takes a while for the meaning to sink in. When it does, you move over to the keypad and punch in the numbers.
1 - 5 - 3 - 6 - 2
The doors open, releasing you into the hall. The weight on your chest is released, and you’re able to breathe once again.
“Please, hurry. You need to get out of here. You don’t have much time.”
Nami points toward the entrance to the server room.
“Farewell, everyone...”
Their monitor flickers out, and Aletheia lets out a pained scream. You hear an explosion far in the distance.
What on earth was happening out there?
When you emerge into the parking area, you find a sight most unexpected...
Two massive jeeps - thick, massive tires, dark windows, parked before you, rumbling. Where- How-?!
The window rolls down on one of them, revealing a man in sunglasses and a black jacket.
“Our mutual friend sends his regards.” He says, waving you towards him. “Get in. It’s time to go.”
Time to go...
You stare in disbelief, but the ground rumbles around you, shaking your feet to life. You’re forced to split up between the jeeps, but one by one you pile in and speed off, out the tunnel - now largely cleared of debris.
The trip is a shaky one, as you find yourself speeding through piles of debris lingering on the road. It feels like this tunnel goes on forever, before...
try{ exec sp_endgame; } | Final Chapter | Trial Start!
The walk is a long one, filled with mixed emotions. Uncertainty about what the promised end entailed. Fear, brought on by what knowledge of the context of your situation you could find.
Once you are locked into your cages safe and secure once more Aletheia’s voice fills the room, and in place of Control...Sayuri.
"Restating the purpose of this final trial... You are to find the culprit who murdered Arthur Ascott."
"Only once you vote for the correct culprit will you be deemed worthy."
The words linger for a moment. Then Sayuri returns.
“Prove your worth. Prove your viability as assets to the new world.”
Everything Is Worse Than Awful | Chapter 5 | MOTIVE
As people began to assemble, you started to notice… everyone was not looking well. A mess of groaning, sweating, rubbing temples…
No one was feeling well.
What was going on?
“Now, thank you for coming. Last night, I started distributing a chemical agent through the facility’s ventilation system. It seems to be acting quicker than I expected. Expected symptoms are… fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue, among others…”
“If those sound familiar, it’s because they are… They are, in fact, symptoms of rabies. Four of you have actually been infected with the rabies virus. The rest are now suffering with similar symptoms due to my chemical agent.”
“If you want to cure the symptoms from my chemical agent, it may be possible… If there are any chemistry experts among you, that is. Even still, if you can manage that, you’ll still know the ones that are infected for real.”
“Though I will be providing no vaccine until there is a murder. You’ll have to sacrifice someone if you want to treat the rest of your classmates, I’m afraid.”
“I doubt you’ll last the week if you don’t act soon. Show me your potential.”
MOD NOTE: Can you find a cure for Control’s chemical agent? A new puzzle has been unlocked… See me on Discord to start investigating!
