Chapter Text
📺 BREAKING NEWS 📺
A missing woman has finally been found alive on a highway outside of Arkansas.
The woman was in a dissociative state, unresponsive to her name, and had to be hospitalized after collapsing while trying to flee from authorities.
She also underwent surgery due to an anomaly in her eyes, which appeared to have been exposed to intense light for an extended period.
Police closed the case after the woman declined to testify.
This is the fourth case of people found on highways outside of cities and in the woods.
We wish the victim and her family all the best.
...
Report:
Name: Christine Brooks
Age: 25 years
Marital status: Single
Blood type: O negative
Height: 1.56 m (5'1")
Completed higher education
Physical condition: Mild malnutrition, dehydration, irritation, and ocular abnormality (witnesses swear they saw the woman's eyes were different colors, red and blue).
Mental state: Severe dissociation, constant panic attacks, does not respond to her name, mentioned different names that made no sense, heightened sensitivity.
Initial diagnosis:
- Dissociative identity disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Prescribed medications:
- Buspirone
- Zaleplon and melatonin tablets
Therapy 3 times a week
Notes: Quiet environments are recommended for the patient. I'm beginning to suspect she knows more than she's letting on, but she doesn't know how to express it.
I compared this report to the other four, but they all look different, only agreeing with the story, however unrealistic it may sound.
She will be transferred to a psychiatric unit until she stabilizes; her family has already signed the corresponding forms for the transfer.
If her treatment is successful and she passes the psychological evaluation, we can use her testimony to resolve her case and the other closed cases.
However, if Ms. Brooks fails the psychological evaluation or refuses to testify, we will have to close the investigation.
Note that the chief is the most interested in closing the investigation. The same thing happened with the other 22 missing persons cases, including the four citizens found in the woods. I will try to keep this operation going so that we can bring justice to all those missing persons.
...
...I still remember the exact moment...
"Why would the console in Caine's office be tricked?! No matter what we press, Caine's gonna know we were here! We should push it" Zooble said when I hesitated to press the button that was supposed to guarantee our escape.
At the same time, I swore I heard Abel's words over and over again.
"Make the right choice"
"H-hold on! Let's just wait a second and...go over everything we know and..." Doubt crept into my voice as nervousness spread through my body, my arms still outstretched to prevent Zooble or Kinger from pressing the button. "...and maybe we could vote on it or something..?"
Sometimes I wonder why I didn't see it coming...
of all of us, Jax seemed the least convinced by the whole plan.
I remember seeing his hand push Zooble away before he ran towards the controls.
Luckily, Zooble managed to grab his foot before he could get any further.
"ARE YOU CRAZY OR WHAT, YOU IDIOT?!" Zooble yelled, and even with some of their parts falling off, they managed to hold onto Jax before got kicked again.
Zooble's head fell, as did their arm. Jax took the opportunity to rush back to the controls. This time, Gangle tried to stop him, but Jax forcefully pushed her aside.
Ragatha and I managed to restrain him before he pressed the red button.
"JAX, STOP!!" Ragatha shouted. I couldn't; my entire mind was focused on stopping him from ruining our only chance to escape before Caine discovered us.
...though I still had doubts.
What if this didn't work? The screen only said that the game would end and the players would be disconnected once the blue button was pressed.
But what if something went wrong? What if everything disconnected, but they didn't log out?
All of this would have been in vain, all the pain, all the suffering, all the effort, all the hope.
...And then, we all heard it.
The sound of the blue button being pressed.
All our eyes went to Kinger... he wasn't looking at us, not even when Ragatha called him.
Out of nowhere, a red light began to flash.
[GAME OVER]
"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Gangle screamed, clutching Zooble's head.
"This has to be normal, right...? No... we can't have made a mistake, can we?!" Ragatha said, looking around at me, at Kinger...at Jax.
Jax seemed lost, no longer fighting, as if his body had stopped working.
The screen in front of them went completely white, and Caine's screams echoed from a distance.
Then, Gangle's scream cut through everything.
"What's happening?! Zooble! Zooble!" Gangle yelled. Zooble had vanished.
Next was Gangle. Her ribbons faded as her mask fell and shattered before disappearing.
Then Ragatha, Kinger...
and finally, it was me.
I remember Jax's expression
I remember trying to reach him before everything went dark.
I remember waking up on that hard, cold floor.
I remember running like I never had before
I remember feeling the pain in my body every time I tripped and fell, the burning in my eyes that watered with confusion and despair.
I remember trying to shout their names, I remember falling, I remember lights and people trying to restrain me.
And then... I woke up...
....
WARNINGS:
- Inspired by two fanarts I saw on Pinterest
- Pomni/Christine takes on the role of MC but retains her personality
- Crackship
- The characters do not belong to me. Pomni and other characters belong to the production company GLITCH and Goosework, while Pierrot and his entire world belong to the developer NekoBueno (creator of The Freak Circus)
- Sensitive themes such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), panic attacks, su!c!de thoughts, obsessive behavior, kidnapping, bad words and medication.