Chapter Text
THE WORLD TREE – There is nothing. Only a hot, burning void and you're engulfed in it. You can't move any more.
Never.
Never ever.
- - Really?
- - (Don’t move a muscle.)
THE WORLD TREE – Really.
- - (Don't move a muscle.)
THE WORLD TREE – Seconds, minutes, hours pass by. You're still on fire.
- - Okay.
- - Fuel me up, baby!
- - What is it with this fire?
THE WORLD TREE – Okay? Is that it?
- - Yes. (Stay completely still.)
- - No, I want to live.
THE WORLD TREE – Do you really?
- - I do. Let me go.
THE WORLD TREE – You wouldn't like it if I told you what's out there. Flashing, blinding lights and cameras in your soft babyface. There's a reason you tried to escape from it.
INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] – Fear and apprehension. Ask her what's *really* waiting for you.
- - What's out there?
- - (Keep staying still, for whatever reason.)
THE WORLD TREE – Land, beautiful land. Filled with peasants. A freezing wasteland covered in snow and, eventually, engulfed in flames.
- - Sounds like home.
THE WORLD TREE – It does, doesn't it? Warm and welcoming.
- - I want to go there
- - Please, don't make me! I can't survive out there!
THE WORLD TREE – Live.
- - [Open your eyes.]
YOU – Your eyes struggle to open, but you get the job done and look around you.
BROKEN DOWN SHACK – Four walls made out of dry, rotting timber. On the ground, two dishevelled sleeping bags with no one inside them, nobody in their right mind would be able to sleep peacefully in these conditions anyway.
LIGHT BULB – On the ceiling, a lonely dim bulb hanging on a thread, and a pull switch chain. A dark tie is tied around the chain, resembling a small noose.
- - [Savoir Faire - Medium 10] Attempt to loosen the tie and grab it.
- - Pull on the switch
- - [Leave.]
SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] – You successfully pull the tie apart and hold it in your hand, it welcomes your neck with respect.
Item gained: Black tie
- - Pull on the switch
- - [Leave.]
LIGHT BULB – Oh god, turn it off now! It’s killing you!
- - I’m used to it.
- - Pull on the switch again to turn the lights off.
LIGHT BULB – The lights are off. It’s dark again, but at least you’re free from the pain.
- - Pull on the switch
- - [Leave.]
BROKEN DOWN SHACK – You walk around the small hut. Stray clothes are scattered on the floor, some of them aren’t yours.
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] – You look down at yourself - your long feet are covered with thick cotton socks, your knees are shaking and covered in purplish splotches and your cock, if you even have one, is nestled between your thighs. Not a pretty sight at all.
MIRROR – A mirror is glued to the rot, engulfing the glass with fungal growth, it’s soft to the touch. You blink for a second.
- - Open your eyes and look at yourself.
- - I don’t… I don’t want to right now. [Leave.]
MIRROR – Behold!
You don’t recognize yourself, do you?
- - Is that me?
- - No, I don’t.
MIRROR – Of course it’s you. Contorted, disgusted, but still smiling through it all. Is that even an emotion? Did you just create a new feeling?
- - No, it’s just… doing that. I don’t know what it is.
MIRROR – Well, can you at least stop it? It’s freaking you out.
- - I’ll try. (Stop making the face.)
- - No. (Keep making the face.)
MIRROR – You can’t. You can’t stop it. It’s just stuck there forever… It won’t come off. Ever.
What does it even mean? You made it after all, it’s your creation.
- - It’s my true self.
- - I don’t know, I’m sorry.
- - I think I’m having a seizure or some kind of melt down, I can’t even flare my nostrils.
- - ''Buh… bah…''
MIRROR – It’s okay, don’t be sorry, you don’t forgive yourself at all. Let’s try something else, shall we? Baby steps.
- - [Encyclopedia - Challenging 12] Try and figure out why you’re making this face.
- - [Electrochemistry - Impossible 18] Attempt to deform *The Face*.
- - [Let it be for now and leave.]
ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Failure] – Like the rest of your abused body, it comes from torture. You’re trying to mask yourself but to no avail. This is you.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Impossible: Failure] – It’s too late for that. You’re an actor and this is your grand performance.
- - [Locked] Try and figure out why you’re making this face.
- - [Locked] Attempt to deform *The Face*.
- - [Let it be for now and leave.]
BROKEN DOWN SHACK – You walk over to your sleeping bag, ignoring the mirror for now and picking up scraps of fabric that definitely belong to you.
Item gained: White Button-Up
Item gained: Ripped Jeans
Item gained: Black Stained Blazer
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] – You notice that the right arm sleeve for your blazer is gone, it’s snipped off.
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) – Looking back down at yourself… You have no right arm at all, it’s a little nub. Can it get any worse?
ENDURANCE [Challenging: Failure] – You have no idea how you haven’t fainted from shock yet, perhaps you’re used to your belongings being taken from you.
YOU – You’re all dressed up now, yet you still feel unwelcome in your clothes. They belong to you, don’t they? You didn’t just steal them off a dead man, right?
LOGIC [Medium: Success] – No, of course not. They fit you perfectly.
YOU – Okay, now that you’ve established you’re not a murderer or a sick fuck that dresses up in the deceased’s attire, you should get some fresh air and figure out where you really are.
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] – The first thing you see when you step outside the fermenting shack is a cold breeze hitting your face, it’s snowing and your feet get wet from the soppy crust beneath you. There’s no signs of life anywhere, just trees covered in powder surrounding your home.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Formidable: Failure] – Your nose is on fire, honey, get to work!
COMPOSURE [Challenging: Success] – Enough of that. You straighten your back and move your feet forward, walking down the path leading away from the cabin.
VOLITION [Medium: Success] – Someone is out there. To greet you, keep you warm, feed you, save you.