Confessions of an NPC

<div class="title">CONFESSIONS OF AN NPC</div> //A kingdom between a fantasy that never was And a future that could possibly be A kingdom not too unlike ours For us to better see The problems of our day and age A kingdom changing from old to new There were the challenges they had to see Take a glimpse at what you would do// <img src="img/cover.png"> //Author's Note: Your answers in this game are meant to be yours alone to share. As such, they will not be recorded or saved to a server. As soon as your close your browser, your answers will be erased, lost to history, gone with the ages.// [[Whom will you speak to?->Character select]] (set: $visited to 0) (set: $conclusion to 0) (set: $princess_end to "") (set: $commoner_end to "") (set: $historian_end to "") (set: $mother_end to "") (set: $moneymaker_end to "")

//You enter the colosseum amongst the cheers of the crowd. They have come to see battle. And before you is a great warrior.// [[The Gladiator speaks]]

//You've come a long way, crossed chasm and cloud, fire and foe, monster and mansion, yet finally, you've reached the Castle.// //And you see her.// //She's in a pretty dress, wearing a pretty necklace, earrings, and a crown. There are electro shackles and chains in the corner.// Author's Note: There will be topics which may upset players. These topics are covered with care and handled with sensitivity in mind. Content warnings: eating disorders, objectification [[The Princess speaks]]

'Are you happy?' she says, without turning her head. 'You come in here, whistling my name...' 'Are you glad that you've finally got to what you came for?' [[Yes->Happy to see Princess]] [[No->Not happy to see Princess]]

'Because you're not really here for me, are you?' 'If I weren't so difficult to get to, you wouldn't even bother.' 'Yeah, that's what gets them off, huh? Doing something that's difficult for it's own sake? And maybe getting some kind of //reward// out of it?' 'Me. Tied up by a monster and prettied up, just for //you//.' 'That's what you like... That's what they //all// like.' 'To keep the wheels turning.' 'To keep building the castles and kingdoms and breaking them down, brick by brick.' 'That's what //I// am.' 'Isn't that so?' [[That's not true!]] [[It's true...->...The idea of you]] [[I'm just someone passing through]]

'I guess most everybody likes a princess. Someone to care for and to protect. Someone to be looked up to. Someone to be pampered.' 'Parents always want to protect their little girls. Somehow the idea of being a rich, pretty princess...' 'It keeps their girls... //safe//.' 'Rich with nothing material to want.' 'Locked away with nothing to //taint// them.' 'And pretty. Girls //have// to be pretty.' 'Otherwise, they wouldn't be wanted.' 'And then all kinds of people will like you then.' [[What kinds of people will like you?]]

'And now, after all I've said...' //She looks away.// 'You know what's the worst part of being me?' 'Go ahead, guess.' [[Being held captive]] [[Being a reward]]

//You've travelled up and away from the city proper to a house in the hills to speak with him. As you open the doors, you see him standing before you, silhouetted against the sun beaming on the city skyline.// [[The Moneymaker speaks]]

'Anyway, the trick to it all was calculating how these people want to feel when they run their adventure, keep them happy, and they keep pouring the money in...' 'Basically, we were in the business of selling dreams!' //He takes a sip.// 'So we optimized, paid a few eggheads (pardon my French) to calculate out the numbers and the money started rolling in.' 'And it's a business I'm very //proud// of, I've made... lots of sacrifices but it all paid off in the end.' [[I've heard some questionable things about this...]]

'Alright, here's how we made our money... Listen up.' //He pours himself a drink to his shot glass.// 'You want some?' [[Sure->Listen up]] [[No, thank you->Listen up]]

'Ok, so listen up.' 'People dream big in this kingdom, and the biggest business in this kingdom is selling adventures. People want to be heroes. People want to be big shots. People want to be important, save the princess, be a big businessman, zap the aliens, be a sage, find true love, all that good stuff yada da da da, we give it to them.' 'The best part is, we just sold the adventure to people, and they gave //us// money to help them in their adventure! That's it!' [[So what did you do then?]]

'Blood and gold. That's our business.' 'Whether it's by the gun, sword, or sorcery, by we all deal in death one way or another... And for what?' 'What do you think the purpose of violence is?' [[To protect your loved ones]] [[To solve problems]] [[Amusement]] [[Gold]]

'Kid... Glad you could make it! Welcome!' 'Of course, we're having this chat because I know smart ones when I see them!' 'Are you ready to know all the secrets of how I made my money, kid?' 'And by that I mean, a //lot// of money?' [[Yes, sir!]] [[Sure...->Yes, sir!]] [[Yes, but don't call me kid->Yes, sir!]]

'Doesn't it say something, that even in this day and age...' He swings his sword lackadaisically. 'That it's still in our nature to want to kill... Or see something killed...?' [[To dominate another, he continues]]

'Do you know how it feels to die?' [[Yes->I know how it feels to die]] [[No->I don't know how it feels to die]]

//He looks down at his knife, twirling it in his hand.// 'You're so willing to take a life... The idea comes so easily to you.' //He looks up.// 'But don't understand the value of a life, do you?' //He looks back down.// 'Our lives are meaningless, of course. Only until we die, do our lives mean anything at all. Only in death do people give us value.' //He tosses a satchel on the ground with a thud, a gentle clink of coins.// 'Tell me something,' he asks. [[Yes?->Do you know anyone who has died?]]

'Do you personally know anyone who has died? Or been killed?' [[Yes.->Gold for blood]] [[No.->Gold for blood]]

'How would you feel if someone close to you died, and someone was given gold for it?' 'Would you want to think about how much money they'd be worth dead?' 'Just think about that for a bit.' 'What do you think, 100 gold pieces for their laughter?' He tosses a satchel down.. '200 gold pieces for their smile?' Another satchel. '300 for their body?' 'No, I know what it is...'. //He gives an amused scoff.// '1000 to see them torn limb from limb for other people's amusement! //That's// it!' //A huge pile of gold is on the ground now, pouring out slowly and sadly... The jingle carries a different kind of weight to it now...// 'What do you think of that? Strangers gathered around deriving pleasure from it? An audience lined up to see their life tossed away in a pageant of violence?' [[I don't know...]]

'I can tell you what it is for me.' 'It's those brief moments I have to experience beauty and freedom on the battlefield.' 'Not in reveling in violence, mind you.' 'But in reveling in life.' //He closes his eyes.// 'Seeing the sway of the leaves of the trees... Even if they're to be chopped down.' 'The wonder of the sky... However darkened with ash and smog.' 'The air that I can breathe... However filled with smoke and blood... 'Even the glow of fire. For even if fire destroys in its wake, it is still alive, like any of us.' 'And in those moments, I can almost feel like I remember what my parents looked like, their smiles, their laughter.' //He opens his eyes and looks at you.// 'And what gold do you think that's worth to me?' 'But that's not what you want us to do, do you?' [[What do we want...]]

'You want us all to be fattened up and slaughtered, like pigs with no other hopes or ambitions. The bloodier, the gorier, the more heartwrenching, soul-stripping, and hellscreaming the better.' '//That's// what you want.' 'Isn't that so?' 'Isn't that what we all are to you?' 'A body to be mutilated?' 'A fire to be extinguished?' 'A smile and a laugh never to be heard again?' 'Lives scattered like leaves falling to the ground in autumn, withered and lifeless... 'For your sick, sick amusement?' 'Isn't that so?' [[Yes, you are meant to die...]] [[No, you are not meant to die...]]

[[Return to Main Menu->Character select]]

//You enter a quaint and peaceful town. The busy streets are filled with children playing, women laughing, gentle chatter, the sound of water from a fountain as it twinkles. It seems peaceful here... But you're on a long journey, and you've only stopped to do business. You stop by the humblest of shops.// [[The Commoner speaks]]

'I've seen //you//, hero.' He narrows his eyes. 'You've saved us all countless times. But you only wish to talk to me just this once, and then I help you, and then you move along with your journey, isn't that right?' He sits up. 'Well, let me say, there have been countless heroes, just like you, all doing the same thing, having the same exact dreams.' 'But there you all go, off in your wide-eyed wonder, to see the world and all it has to offer.' 'Your journeys will be filled with challenge and peril. Yes, but off you go anyway...' 'Me? I'm content being here.' [[Why are you content here?]]

'Because I know what you're thinking... You all want to be heroes when you're young...' 'So you save your gold and buy yourself an adventure. Ah! How exciting it is! 'How do I know this?' [[How do you know this?]]

//He sticks his thumb out towards towards himself.// 'I was like you once.' 'I've been on those journeys. Seen the same sights.' 'And I know what happens.' 'Many of you will succeed, of course, and you'll end up being hailed as heroes.' 'But what does it mean to be a hero anyway? Is it just doing the same journey that has been written for countless other heroes to have?' [[Each journey is the same, but it's still great->And even then, he continues]] [[Each journey is unique because it is yours->And even then, he continues]] [[Maybe journeys are just enjoyable->And even then, he continues]] [[There's nothing better to do->And even then, he continues]]

'I suppose.' 'But even then... Many more of you might not succeed. You'll have invested in your journey to only end up coming back empty handed.' //He picks through some old relics.// 'Not a hero.' //He holds up a carbonite shield. // //And puts it down.// 'Not a champion.' //He holds up a trophy.// //And puts it down.// 'And many of you will realize, that you're just a commoner, like the rest of us...' [[I don't think I am a commoner->Not a commoner]] [[I need to try to be a hero before I settle with being common->Not a commoner]] [[There's nothing wrong with being a commoner->Am a commoner]]

'It's easy!' //He picks up a bag of coins.// 'First off, being a hero doesn't pay the bills!' //He looks at a few coins, half looking at their shine, holding one eye closed, tongue sticking out.// 'If you can't make a living being a hero, then maybe you're not cut out for it after all!' [[But there's so much good to be done as a hero!]] [[But there's it's so fun being a hero!->But there's so much good to be done as a hero!]]

'Sure. Villages to be saved, evil to be vanquished, glory to be had.' //He grabs an old frame and polishes it.// 'But there's glory in a lot of other things too.' //He's eying it for a bit, before giving it a kiss and puts it down in front of you-- it's a 3D holophoto of him and a boy, a girl, and a woman.// 'Like raising a family.' 'And you can't raise a family being a hero!' he pauses. [[Some people can!->Some can raise a family as a hero]]

'Not //all// people anyway! And I knew, //I// couldn't!' 'You can't be a hero and do everything!' 'And another thing about heroes...' //He leans closer.// 'They think there's always some happy ending.' 'That if they try hard enough, or win enough battles, that they can always persevere against all odds and save the day!' 'Heroes. Hmph.' 'Y'know, there's something important you learn from being a commoner...' //He takes out his locket.// 'You want to know what you learn?' [[What do you learn?->What do you learn from being a commoner?]]

'You learn that sometimes...' //He kisses the locket and opens it. It's his wife. A holophoto of her is smiling and blowing him a kiss. It says, --In Memory--// 'Life just happens.' [[I'm sorry...]]

'You can have your adventure. Maybe you could be a hero. Maybe. Enjoy it if you do. Do the hero thing.' 'But just remember that there's always a town waiting for you for when you're ready to be a commoner.' 'So, what'll it be...?' (display: "Dialog Box Prompt with Mystic") [[Take the rations for your journey->Commoner (Rations End)]] [[Take the broom->Commoner (Broom End)]]

'The worst part is...' //She turns her head down.// 'Not only knowing that you're just something for others to capture and tie up against your will and be locked away. //She shakes her chains.// '...Not only knowing that you're just something prettied up for someone else to get, to feel entitled to, like a doggie biscuit.' 'It's...' //She turns looks to the sky.// 'Not knowing how to be anything else.' [[You don't know how to be anything else?]]

'Well,' she starts. 'I'm not happy to see you.' [[Why...]]

'Well,' she starts. 'Neither am I.' [[Why...]]

'Hmph.' 'Then why would you wish it on another?' [[He continues->Willing to take a life]]

'Hmph.' 'Of course not.' [[He continues->Willing to take a life]]

'Of course, you don't know what death is...' He looks down. 'You don't know what life is...' He tosses away his sword, and drops his rifle. 'You want to know what life is?' [[What is life?]]

'Do you know what it means for one to have a life of death?' 'What it takes to make a business of wholesale slaughter?' [[No->The business of death]]

'It means...' 'Having that strange feeling you get from the best meal of your life after brutalizing someone.' 'Which comes after having been starved and tortured so much that you'd be willing to kill anything for a crumb of bread.' 'Which comes after not making friends anymore, since you know you might have to see them die, perhaps at your own hand.' 'Which comes after realizing you've become a monster, after years of denying what you are.' 'Which is being something both less than human and yet more than human because you are allowed to do what no other human is allowed to do...' [[Which is...]]

//You enter the humble house of an aging woman, living alone. The house is neatly kept, but... It has an emptiness and spareness to it... As houses tend to be in the aftermath of tragedy. You see her.// Author's Note: Like with all tragedy, there will be topics which may upset players. To note, these topics are covered with care and handled with sensitivity in mind. There will //not// be any depictions of graphic violence. Content warnings: violence, depression, suicide, bullying [[The Monster's Mother speaks]]

'Hi there... It's nice to have a visitor after all this time...' //She smiles widely.// 'But, of course, you must be here to talk about my son...' 'How about we have some tea first?' //She offers a cup.// [[Take the cup]] [[Refuse the cup]]

//You take the cup and have a few quiet sips with her.// 'Ah... It's good to be able to share a nice cup of tea with someone, isn't it?' //You taste the druidic herbs and nutrosupplements.// //Her smile reaches her eyes. It seems she hasn't done this in a long time.// [[Anyway, let's talk about him...]]

'Ah... not a tea drinker, I see...' 'It's good for you... It's got druidic herbs and nutrosupplements.' 'And it's nice. You should try it sometime.' //She takes a quiet sip.// 'It's just nice to have a visitor...' //Her smile reaches her eyes.// [[Anyway, let's talk about him...]]

'So... you're probably wondering, why did he do it?' //She purses her lips.// 'Well, I've had a lot of time to think about that, and even today, I still don't completely know why... ' 'And even now, I sometimes blame myself... For maybe not being kind enough, or failing to see the warning signs...' [[It's not your fault...]]

'Oh, thank you. Of course I know that.' 'Not everyone feels that way of course... But, thank you...' //She exhales deeply.// 'But I do have some ideas as to why he did it.' 'And not all of them will be popular.' 'Because I know that nothing can //really// justify what he did.' //She tries to find the words, and says// 'But I felt... in a twisted way, he was driven to it.' [[How was he driven?->Tell me, what drove him?]]

'He wasn't a happy boy...' 'Um... I have to ask, this will get... very sad and tragic.' 'I'm about to talk about what would drive a young man to inflict horrible violence on others...' 'Are you ready?' [[Yes, tell me]] [[No, I'm not ready]]

'His childhood was good enough, but somewhere along the way, when he got older, he started becoming more distant...' 'There were warning signs. I didn't look at them closely enough, but looking back, I know most parents wouldn't have noticed.' 'It's part of my hope that by telling you this, you would can tell people what to look out for too.' 'Anyway, his first sign was that he was a fiercely independent child. He didn't like to reach out to others for help. And he would make an effort to figure things out by himself. When he built his own computer from spare parts, he refused to use a manual or ask help from the teacher.' 'It was this aspect that made him not reach out for help when things started to go downhill for him.' 'And when he wouldn't be doing well in competitions like baseball or playing video games, he would feel terribly humiliated and throw his cap on the ground or toss the controller away.' 'We, as his parents, even tried to get him to lighten up a little. But off he went. We just figured it was a phase.' 'So we let things be. And when they went a different direction, he couldn't bring himself to tell us about his feelings.' 'Being a young man, he wanted something to believe in...' [[You mean, believing in that madman...]]

'Yes.' //She nods.// 'At the heart of all violence is a question of pain without an answer...' 'And sometimes when we're weak, we're willing to get an answer from anywhere...' 'My son wanted to die and didn't care if people got hurt. His partner want to hurt people, but didn't care if he died.' 'They needed each other to do what they did. Oftentimes, people need to encourage each other in order to go through with a difficult task, and that's true for committing atrocities as well.' [[This is all a lot to take in->How I try to understand him]] [[That's no excuse for what he did->How I try to understand him]]

'Because he blamed the world for what happened to him... After all that happened.' 'And, in a way, forgive me, but I kind of do too.' 'To him, it seemed that sometimes for all the planning and laws and self-righteousness from the capitals, it was your actions that poisoned our waters, killed the world, and left us diseased and dying...' 'And when the world gets destroyed, the kingdom gets built back first, and you move forward...' 'You went to your universities, your work returned, and your businesses flourished...' 'And under your banners of universality, you said you're making progress, and you're giving hope to everyone...' //Her eyes grow pained.// 'But what about us...! The world seems to have forgotten us...' [[And you even mocked him, she continues]]

'And some of you mocked him, saying that he had opportunities that others didn't.' 'Do you think he saw it that way?' 'No, we don't have the opportunities that you do here.' 'We do have our traditions, which many have mocked as well, but we can't be educated the same way that you can be, so that's how we get our values...' 'But for all our values, the world is tragic and scary, and we're trying to do anything we can just to stay afloat...' '...Anything.' //She looks away.// '...Even give our bodies.' [[How I try to understand him]]

'None of this exonerates him for what he had did...' 'But at least this is how I try to understand him...' 'And I know I can never truly understand him completely, but I try to understand him in whatever way I can...' 'After going through years of trying to understand, this is how I make sense of it.' //She looks away for a while.// 'So I'm going to tell you some things. And they might be hard to swallow, but you're going to have to go with me on this.' [[Yes?->How would you remember him?]]

'So I try to remember him in that way...' 'To be clear, I'm not justifying what he did!' 'So many people would... //believe that//, so I want to be clear!' '...But I honestly can't say he's not a victim either.' //She turns away.// 'I've had to think many, many conflicting thoughts about him like this...' [[What kind of thoughts?]]

'What do you think?' //She makes a faint glimmer of a smile.// 'Was my son a monster?' (display: "Dialog Box Prompt with Mystic") [[He was a monster->Monster's Mother (Monster End)]] [[He was your son->Monster's Mother (Son End)]] [[He was both->Monster's Mother (Both End)]]

~End~ {<style> body { background-color: black; } tw-passage { color: white; } </style>} (set: $visited to $visited + 1) [[Return to Main Menu->Character select]]

'Hm.' //A pause.// //He smiles.// 'Good!' //he says pointing at you.// 'You did your reading! I like you!' //He clears his throat.// 'Sure, that 0.1% of adventurers who'd do anything to get more adventuring made up 90% of the market. But that's their own choice isn't it?' 'So yeah, part of our business strategy was to focus on that key market and make sure we kept those people... //highly engaged//.' [['Engaged' is just a euphemism isn't it?.]]

'Listen. Addicted. Engaged. People make their own choices. We're just giving them what they want.' 'That's how the business runs. I didn't make the rules...' [[...->It isn't right!]] [[Hm...->It isn't right!]] [[It isn't right!]]

'Taking a life.' 'And the feeling of taking a life so plainly and simply... It's not just the disgust and guilt for what you've become...' 'But deep down, you know that it's also a sense... of pleasure.' 'That you have done something that's been so forbidden, because of how powerful it is. To hold another's life in your hands, so frail it is like a butterfly, and be able to crush it without a thought.' [[And there's more... he continues->You start to crave it]]

'And when your whole existence is violence, you become //comfortable// with it...' 'And eventually, you start to crave it.' 'And think of your violence in terms of pleasure. "Kill //him// for a nice meal." "Kill //him// for a warm bed." "Kill //him// for a warm bed... with company."' '...And then use that company to enact a different kind of violence.' //That's// what death and violence is. And of course, [[you don't know what death is->You don't know what death is]]

//He picks up his glass, and looks down at it, swishing around his drink in the ice, other hand in his pocket.'// 'Y'know it's easy to be young and idealistic...' 'Believe it or not, I was like that too.' //He points to an old holophoto of himself. The hologram shows a younger version of him, vibrant, smiling, certainly thinner and with more hair.// 'But then I started facing questions that I never thought I'd have to answer.' [[What kind of questions?]]

'Then what do you like about me? Is it anything other than the idea of me?' [[Your looks]] [[Your personality]] [[...The idea of you]]

//She scoffs.// 'You've barely seen what I look like...' 'And still, a superficial reason at best...' 'Admit it, it's just the idea of me.' [[...The idea of you]]

'My personality?' //She scoffs.// 'You don't even know me!' 'Admit it.' [[...The idea of you]]

'It's never me that people want, at any time. It was just the prospect of something to //do//. Something to //chase//...' 'Something to just //waste their time with//.' 'To make them forget their life... They're just an average person after all...' 'Without me, they're //nobody//.' 'Isn't that true?' [[Maybe they want to help->hero]] [[Maybe they want perspective->perspective]] [[I suppose that's true]]

'Sure. Being captured is awful.' 'You're just a victim after all.' 'Completely at everyone's mercy...' //She looks out the window.// 'But that's not it...' [[I'll tell you what the worst part is...->The worst part]]

'Sure, being reduced to an object for another person to acquire, right?' 'Being reduced to a reward for another's pleasure.' 'Like I'm something that someone is entitled to for... //doing a good job//.' 'But that's not the worst part.' [[I'll tell you what the worst part is...->The worst part]]

'Heroes, eh?' //She turns and stares at you straight in the eye.// 'Do you think they're doing me a favor?' //She looks out the window.// 'I see them out there. They don't seem like they're worried about me at all. 'They're just focused on having their fun and going on their adventures...' //She shakes her chains.// 'I just happen to be at the end of it.' [[People aren't here for you...->People aren't here for me]]

//He takes a sip.// 'So you're running a company, things are going well, it's growing a lot, you're hiring more people. Business is booming. You're getting a lot of attention.' //He points to a shelf filled with trophies and articles. --#1 Up-and-Coming Startup-- --Best Company to Invest in Now-- // 'And people love working there. Love it! You'll walk down the hall and people will say working for you is the best job they've had in their lives.' 'There's this funny thing where people give each other high fives in the hallway and say, //"Hey buddy!"// it's the silliest thing!' //He chuckles.// 'Boy...' 'On top of that the family is doing great.' [[How's the family doing?->Family is doing great]]

'The local industry takes a hit and you lose several major clients, overnight.' 'You need to cut costs, and FAST.' 'Then, at the same time, they find something's wrong with your daughter.' 'You look into it, and it turns out she can't learn like the other kids. Turns out she's got Congenital Mindblanking Disorder.' 'But (of course there's a "but") this is the only district in the kingdom that offers any real spells that could actually support it.' ('They //say// there's support in other districts, but Kingdom funding for this always gets cut first so they really don't.') 'So you weigh your options and need to decide on what to do.' 'A whiz kid in R&D figured out how to cut costs through automation. But it means laying off half the crew and hiring some Out-of-Kingdom labor to compensate...' 'Or you can move the company across the kingdom to reduce cost of living and salary to keep most of the employees.' ('And you've thought about the middle ground... There's really not a happy answer, this time. It basically boils down to these options.') 'So, what do you choose, hot shot?' [[Sacrifice your company]] [[Sacrifice your daughter]]

'Boy, that's cold...' //He takes a sip.// //A chuckle.// '...It's what I did, though.' [[You did that??]]

'Hmph. Noble.' 'I couldn't do that though, not to my daughter.' [[You didn't...->You did that??]]

//You enter the study of a wise historian. The room is filled with shelves of books, brimming with conflicts ancient and modern, lives lost in the turning of well-worn pages. On the walls are collections of certificates, awards, and portraits of individuals, some moving in semi-transparent 3D hologrammetry. A man is sitting at his desk and looks to you. // Author's note: The following story will allude to problems in history and the current day, causing suffering in the lives of individuals and their families between generations. Keep this in mind before continuing. Content warnings: racism, political violence, absent parents [[The Historian speaks]]

'Greetings!' 'You must be here to learn of history!' 'A most fascinating subject... To understand the power of history would be to understand a force we both influence and are influenced by...' 'Pray tell, did you pay attention to history in school?' [[I tried to...]] [[I was always fascinated...]] [[It was boring...->I tried to...]]

'Yes, grandfather...' //He stands up from his desk and starts to pace.// 'Our kingdom was going through a great war...' 'As kingdoms do.' 'A man once said, "War solves all problems. No person, no problem."' //He pats a particular book on the shelf.// 'The spoutings of a madman, perhaps.' 'Anyway, it would be up to our kingdom to stop them. And grandfather was being recruited for the effort.' 'But... Wars are not always stories of clear heroes and villains...' 'Grandfather was conflicted... reluctant to become part of history.' [[Why would he hesitate?]]

'Yes, history doesn't always grab a student's attention...' 'I, too, was bored of history for most of my youth...' 'But sometimes history has a way of finding you...' [[How did history find you?]]

'Impressive!' 'To be honest, that's more than I could say as a student!' 'But history has a way of inserting itself into our lives and knocking on our door...' [[How did history find you?]]

'In my case, history intertwined with my own personal history.' 'I suppose, we should go back to a time of war.' //He looks to a holoportrait on the wall.// [[Your grandfather...]]

'Because he didn't believe our kingdom would respect him.' 'Even if he went to fight for our kingdom, he wouldn't return to glory and beauty, but return to their insults, them calling him a monster, their spit in his eye...' //He pauses in his pacing and turns to you.// 'He wasn't considered a //true member of the kingdom//.' 'All because of the //color of his skin//.' //He continues.// 'Furthermore, if he didn't join the effort, he would be subject to legal action from his kingdom and potential imprisonment, rubbing salt in the wound.' 'So he naturally felt conflicted.' 'For a country you love but doesn't love you back, would you fight to your last dying breath for them?' 'What would you do?' [[Fight for your oppressors]] [[Don't fight for your oppressors]]

'Hm. And so you would do what he did.' [[Your grandfather fought...]]

'Maybe you're right.' 'But it isn't what grandfather did.' [[Your grandfather fought...]]

'He left his wife and children because he believed in fighting for their future.' 'A future in which they would be considered equals, and he believed to earn that it would even mean fighting for the brutes who scorned him.' //He picks up the holophoto of his grandfather in a pilot uniform from the wall. He's smiling and there's wind blowing his scarf around.// 'And he died for that cause.' //He holds it for a while, staring at it.// 'And so, in fighting for the future he became part of history.' [[He takes a moment before continuing]]

'So he left grandmother and several children...' //He points to another photo of a woman and two boys and two girls.// 'Among them, my father.' //He sighs.// 'It's a tough thing for a boy to understand why his father isn't around.' 'Father was 9 when grandfather was taken away from him.' 'Can you imagine trying to understand that... as a child of 9 years of age?' [[Yes... I can imagine...]] [[No... I can't imagine...]]

'So then perhaps you'd understand what my father went on to do.' [[Your father was lost...]]

'It's an unthinkable thing for a boy to go through...' 'So perhaps that's why he did what he did next...' [[Your father was lost...]]

'Father was lost for a time, taking up the drink and getting into fights with anyone and everyone.' 'Violence is rarely warranted, but it will certainly find you if you go looking for it.' 'Oftentimes, when a man is destroyed, he'll respond with attempting to destroy the world...' 'History is filled with such men.' 'But he turned it around.' [[How did your father turn it around?]]

'Firstly, grandmother and his siblings were there for him...' //He points to several portraits of him and his family members. They're together in different configurations over different ages.// 'But it was only when he had reached bottom that his life started to turn. He found belief, found other people like him...' //A portrait of his grandfather in a large group of dozens of people. They're all standing close together, smiling.// 'Others who also had also lost their fathers.' 'And they helped him come to certain realizations...' [[What realizations?]]

'Father had blamed grandfather for leaving him... ' 'But he learned from being with his people that it wasn't grandfather that had left on his own...' 'It was the monsters that took him away.' 'For if one doesn't take a stand against monsters, then there would be more fatherless children in the world.' 'And so...' 'Father joined the revolution of the time.' //He points to another shelf of holophotos. People lining the streets and standing up to provincial robosentry policemen. Crowds marching arm in arm, people singing songs.// 'But history would give father his own dilemma.' [[What was your father's dilemma?]]

'There were two schools of thought for my father's revolution.' 'One school said to father the following...' //"If we wish to be respected, for all the savagery of brutes, we must not reduce ourselves to the level of monsters. If we cease to love our fellow man, that is the beginning of the end."// 'The other school said to father...' //"If we cannot be heard any other way, if they give us blows, if they don't listen to any other means, then we shouldn't fear violence. If one is ready to lose one's life for freedom, one should be ready to take a life for freedom."// 'To note, these decisions are further compounded by perceptions of our people. One, being that we are savage and violent. The other, that we are passive and deserve our lot in life.' 'Either way, it seemed we played into our oppressors' hands.' 'Which school of thought would you subscribe to?' [[Accept their violence with your nonviolence]] [[Respond to their violence with your own]]

'Perhaps that is wise.' 'But it isn't what father chose.' [[What your father chose...]]

'Perhaps that is foolish.' 'But it is what father chose.' [[What your father chose...]]

'Father chose to march and not respond with violence.' 'He and his compatriots were taught to accept each blow and not give into violence.' 'But, despite having done everything right, the powers that were twisted the truth. They doctored footage using machine processing and he was given 21 years imprisonment for being a revolutionary.' //He looks down and takes a deep breath.// 'I was 9 at the time, like father when he lost grandfather before me...' 'I wouldn’t be with him again until I was 30.' 'Can you imagine what it means for a young boy to miss his father for that long?' [[Yes, I can imagine->What it was like missing father]] [[No, I can't imagine->What it was like missing father]]

'For me, it wasn’t a general feeling as much as many feelings attached to many different events.' 'An empty chair at the table.' 'A missing hand that could've made things better if it were there.' 'But the memory that stuck with me most was the sound of keys...' 'Sometimes I would hear the jingling of keys and think it was him. He always carried this big set of keys wherever he went because it meant he could get into where he wanted despite being such a nuisance. Even years into his imprisonment, I'd be deluded into thinking that when I heard a jingling, perhaps he'd turn the corner and it would all be over.' 'That still happens today, even after he has passed.' 'But back then, there was one moment that finally twisted the knife that was stuck in me.' //He points to a photo on his desk.// [[You pick up the photo.]]

//The photo has a young man holding a diploma, a mother, and several siblings.'// //He cringes and gives a slight laugh.// 'In my... proudest moment. He couldn't be there.' 'And so I became a brute and bully of the worst kind.' 'After a while, I started to believe there was no potential for me other than a life of violence.' 'I thought I had no future.' 'To be clear, not all young, fatherless men face these feelings... My brother didn't react that way at all... He kept the pain inside.' 'He went on to get Type 2 Mindblanking Disorder.' 'Maybe it was better off that I didn't keep it inside. //He looks at you.// 'At that point in time, anyway.' 'Yesn, then I made sense of it the only way I knew how. By taking it out on the world...' 'Have you ever identified with such thoughts?' [[Yes->History found my family once more]] [[No->History found my family once more]]

'I couldn’t make sense of my feelings as a young man. Heroes weren't meant to be weak, they were meant to save the day. Now I understand why it is that young men become monsters, enlisting themselves to madmen.' 'But history found my family once more.' 'A history teacher saw something in me.' 'Two paths were before me. One, a path which could lead towards ruinous violence.' 'For at the heart of all violence is a question of pain without an answer.' 'And another, a path with my potential... And in my potential, a passport towards a better future.' 'He saw both of these potentials in me back then, even if I didn't. So he took me under his wing...' [[How did he take you under his wing?]]

'Say you have a son...' 'He's born and more beautiful than anything in the world.' 'He has his father's walk, his mother's eyes.' 'His father's careful manner, and his mother's smile...' 'And as silly as it might be, his first words are actually "mama"'. //She shakes her head with a smile.// 'That never happens, right?' 'You might find this hard to believe... but he was even-tempered, gentle, thoughtful, and made friends easily.' 'His own father would tell me that he viewed him as a chip off the ol' block!' //She chuckles a bit as she takes a semi transparent 3D holoframe from the shelf. It shows an image of her son as a baby, giggling.// 'And he grows up beautifully too...' [[How does he grow up?]]

'He grows up beautifully too...' 'He's sharp. He absorbs all the information from them, like a sponge. His teachers love him.' 'He's on his way to college and wants to study technical work for KingdomNet.' 'And //on top// of that, he wants to be a poet!' 'And his stuff is pretty good! When he wants to show it off anyway. When he's confident, you have to respect that.' 'We always kinda wondered what this kid was going to be like when he grew up...' //She laughs so happily until her faces softens and she turns to you, with tears in her eyes.// //She shakes her head and sighs.// 'It's quite ironic.' 'So you wonder.' [[Yes?]]

//Through her tears she says...// 'That's how I chose to remember him. A baby, in my arms... Forever and always.' [[It's quiet for a while...]]

//Through her tears she says...// 'That's how his father chose to remember him. A man, standing tall... Forever and always.' [[It's quiet for a while...]]

'Maybe that'd be easier.' 'It's not what I had wished, though.' 'I wished he'd take his own life...' [[Why'd you wish that?]]

//She gives a faint smile and holds your hand, holding back her tears.// 'That's what I had wished too.' [[Why'd you wish that?]]

'Because he'd at least be in control of his own fate. At least I'd know that the only reason he might want to harm others was that, deep down, he had really wanted to die.' 'I've regretted that prayer more than I've regretted any prayer in my life.' 'And I would never wish that question on another living soul.' //After a long wait, and a deep breath she speaks.// 'We decided to have a quiet funeral not open to the public and to cremate his remains. Because we were worried people would do something to his body or us.' 'We worked with our attorneys and the funeral home to plan the logistics of it. We were so worried to see a journalist or a stranger there, disrupting our last chance to say goodbye to our boy.' 'I know others have feelings of their own that they're trying to process... As a parent, I understand that...' 'But they don't understand that we have a right to grieve too. Because our boy was a victim as well.' 'And we're grateful for all the letters and well wishes from those who did understand that. They helped a bit in the years of angry messages on the KingdomNet, and malicious hexes by courier, and lawsuits.' 'So, what do you think?' [[The Monster's Mother asks]]

'To kill him.' 'And he's being faced with the consequences of what he has done to these innocent people.' 'So, as his mother, what do you wish for his fate? That he gets killed by others, or that he takes his own life?' [[I'd wish others would kill him]] [[I'd wish he'd take his own life]] [[I'd wish he could come home safe]]

'Yup. Sacrificed the company for my kid.' 'Some people said they couldn't blame me... sure...' //He shakes his head.// 'But generally, everyone //hated me// after that point...' 'Yeah... I threw a lot of people under the bus...' 'But, y'know... Makin' a damn omelette.' //He tilts his glass to his mouth.// 'It's not so easy being a big shot.' //He takes a big sip.// 'Anyway, things are good for a while.' [[Ok, so they're good for a while...]]

'The company recovers. We're grown back to size a bit... Not the glory days, but it's strong enough.' 'And your employees are feeling better, it's starting to look like they might trust you again...' 'But!' [[But what?]]

'You think... I could be forgiven for what I've done...' 'I mean I tried to do the right thing. What I felt was right, but I don't know... I just don't know...' //He plays with his ring.// 'You think there's any hope for an old bastard like me?' [[I don't think you can be forgiven.->End]] [[Anyone can be forgiven.->End]]

'So we saw it. The adventures were bunk. Worth nothing.' 'The market had been oversaturated for years. We had heard whispers that the market was getting more shady over time, but we figured out that a quarter of the market was backed by //DarkCoin//.' //He shakes his head.// 'Gods, gold that's made from Dark Path adventuring... I couldn't believe it. I almost //vomited// when I heard that.' 'But no one else knew it yet.' 'And with that knowledge we could save ourselves...' 'We could sell the adventures for whatever we goddamn could, offload it onto anybody willing to give a satchel for it and make a life raft for whoever we could save...' 'If we didn't do it, someone else would do it anyway.' 'Furthermore, if we didn't do it, we'd have to fire everybody and let them go empty-handed, knowing that you could've done something for them.' 'And face your family with no money, no company, and no future.' //He takes a big sip out of his glass.// //And turns to you.// 'So, sinking ship, everyone's going down.' 'Do you push others down to keep yourself afloat?' 'Or do you go down with the ship?' [[Take part in disaster to save who you can]] [[Go down with the ship]]

'So you'd save who you could...' 'But throw others under everything.' //He exhales deeply and shakes his head.// 'Boy... I don't think that's necessarily the right thing to do...' 'But... yeah.' 'It's what I did.' [[You took part in disaster...]]

'Go down with the ship, eh?' 'All your employees, your family, your lifestyle... All gone.' 'All so you could keep your conscience clear.' //He shakes his head.// 'Boy, I could never do that...' [[You took part in disaster...]]

'Well...' //He starts to take another sip before putting his glass on the table.// 'You already told me I shouldn't do it, I'd be making an omelette.' [[You mean it was...?!]]

'Like I said, making an omelette.' 'A hell of an omelette.' //He picks his glass up again and finishes the last bit of it.// 'What do you do, big shot?' [[Sacrifice your company and your daughter]] [[Sacrifice your values]]

'You'd sacrifice your values...' 'Heh. That's a good way to lose yourself...' //He takes a sip.// 'Just like I did.' [[So you sacrificed your values...]]

'You'd sacrifice your company and your daughter, eh...?' 'All to maintain your values as an individual...' 'Noble.' //He tilts his glass.// 'Hmph. Maybe I should've done that...' //He takes a sip.// [[So you sacrificed your values...]]

'When I speak of history in terms of the actions of men...' 'I do so because it's how I understand the world. My life has been shaped by the rashness and the bombastics of men.' 'Historically, it was men who were the drivers of the hopes and horrors of humanity...' //He trails off and looks away.// 'And it's been up to women to ensure the survival of the humanity... As grandmother and mother had done before me...' 'And yet...' //He turns back to you.// 'My grandmother said to me something wiser than I heard from any history book...' [[What did your grandmother tell you?]]

'With that in mind, I'm faced with my own personal dilemma...' //He turns away to muse for a bit.// 'You see, now, women are faced with more of the opportunities that men did in the past... 'Which is good. We live in prosperous times...' 'But, personal history and history once again intertwine in my life as I come to face my dilemma...' //He turns back to you.// 'Leading me to have hesitations about the opportunities of women...' [[What hesitations...?]]

'My daughter.' //He strokes his chin and stops pacing.// [[Your daughter?!]]

'We were in the kitchen one evening, I was still but a young man.' 'I was telling her of all I was learning from books. How they were filled with so much wisdom and guidance and how they inspired me to action!' 'And she stopped stirring the pot and looked me dead in the eye and said to me something I'd never forget...' //History contains only facts. Family contains truth.// 'And she poured me a bowl and told me, "Sit down and eat."' 'Now, to continue.' [[Yes, please continue]]

'Firstly, he learned how his pain from missing his father wouldn't be answered by the old ways he knew. And he vowed he would be father to his own children, and be the father grandfather never could be.' 'Secondly, he learned that he had no future if he continued on this path, and it would lead to his destruction.' 'Thirdly, he saw his own potential, and wanted to make the most of his life.' 'And with that in his heart, he quit the drink and had a wife and children-- one of them being me.' 'But, as I've said, history has a way of taking hold of you... And it took hold of father in his other realization.' [[How did history take hold of your father?]]

'Ok then, you're very brave. I'll tell you what drove him...' [[Tell me, what drove him?]]

'I'm sorry, then you'd best speak to someone else...' [[Back to Main Menu->Character select]]

'The world seemed so ideal for us... 'Most people would've thought that he would've had an unhappy childhood... But no.' 'He had a happy childhood. It's strange to hear, but it's true.' 'We'd have trips to the country, go to wizardry shows together, he'd talk about virtua-sports with his father, he'd like talking to me about becoming a hero when he grew up...' 'People asked if I hugged him. Of course I did! Only thousands of times!' 'I was a babysitter as a teenager, I studied developmental psychology, I worked in a school. I knew how to raise a kid.' 'It's... //strange//. So very strange.' //She looks out the window distantly, deep in thought.'// //She turns back.// 'Everything that my husband and I thought of him growing up seemed to point in the same direction.' [[What did they point to?]]

//She smiles and asks// 'So... ' 'Do you think princesses need to be saved?' (display: "Dialog Box Prompt with Mystic") [[Princesses need to be saved->Princess (Saved End)]] [[Princesses need to be free->Princess (Freedom End)]]

'I mean... I can't be a queen...' //She props up her crown.// 'Not rich enough.' 'And I can't be a heroine...' [[Why can't you be a heroine?]]

'I'm not smart enough...' 'Not talented enough...' 'No one would respect me.' 'Nobody would want that from me.' //She shakes her chains.// 'And I hate these- these- //New Kingdom// heroines anyway!' 'Heroines think they can rule the world in the New Kingdom, make big fuss out of everything and think it'll bring change...' 'But all it does princesses like me in trouble!' 'I hate them.' [[She sighs]]

'Well, first...' 'Thoughts about what I could have done...' 'I mean, you can say it wasn't my fault...' 'But, you can't help but play back every memory in your head and think what you could have done...' 'And you think back to That Day...' 'Where all I can do is stand by on the sidelines while the world goes out of control and nothing makes sense anymore...' //She looks away and grows terribly silent.// [[...What happened that day?]]

'It's strange... The day seems like any other.' 'But there was a lot leading up to that day that made it make more sense... 'I've told you about him.' //She turns to you and shrugs.// 'I mean... When you were a kid, weren't there things you'd never tell your family, despite how difficult they were?' [[Yes, I did...]] [[I suppose I didn't...]]

'Then I'd think you're lying...' 'Or perhaps just incredibly lucky.' //She shakes her head.// [[So your son was a mystery to you]]

'Sure.' 'I don't think any of us can really know anyone that well.' 'It's only human.' //She shrugs.//

'Yes. He was a mystery to me.' 'I wish every day of my life that I had pushed a little harder to get through to him.' 'And I remember my last opportunity.' 'He just took his breakfast and got ready to leave before saying something I'd never forget...' "Goodbye Mom." //She starts to tear up.// 'It sounds strange, but he never said that before!' 'And the way he said it... It sounded so //different// than anything I'd ever heard before.' 'That and the fact that he wanted to leave so quickly. That was so out of character for him...' 'So I called my husband and asked him if we should do something.' 'But all we had to go on were his vague mood and those... 'Two words.' 'Would you have have done something?' [[I think I might have...]] [[I'm not sure that I would...]]

'Well then...' 'That might have been all it took to stop tragedy.' 'But who knows?' [[She's quiet for a while]]

'Well, I wouldn't blame you... I stayed silent...' 'But sometimes that's all it takes to allow something like this to happen.' [[She's quiet for a while]]

//She breaks the silence.// 'And then it all happened.' 'All of it.' 'And you're not sure what to say when you hear that laser rifles had been fired at the school where your son is...' 'You're not sure what your first thought would be.' 'What would you think?' [[Is he safe?->We know what happened in the end]] [[Did someone hurt him?->We know what happened in the end]] [[...Is he hurting others?->We know what happened in the end]]

'So you think what you think...' 'But we all know what happened in the end...' 'And for a while... You don't even believe it.' 'Even though they know it was him and they tell you that it was him...' 'You still feel like you're going to wake up from this dream some day and he'll be back there with you...' 'I thought that for //months//.' 'But in the moment, when there's part of you that thinks he might be the one doing the most unthinkable of acts...' 'You realize they're sending the King's Guard in "to protect others", they say.' 'You know what this means.' [[To kill him]]

'Yup, sacrificed what I believed in...' 'I couldn't bring myself to hurt my company or my daughter again.' 'So I sold the rest of the world down the river...' 'We've had all kinds of adventurers, adventurers with too much money, adventurers with no money, adventurers with nothing better to do, adventurers with nothing left to gain, adventurers who felt they couldn't start doing anything else, adventurers who thought going on one more would make them happy or worth talking to, adventurers who are on the very margins of our kingdom, adventurers who'd have no problem exploiting their own mother if it meant one more adventure, one last fantasy.' 'It meant finding the lowest of the low. My old boss said that the best kind of customer was someone who had no hope left in the world except you.' 'He honestly believed in eroding people down physically, mentally, spiritually, until they had no hope left.' 'I tried to fight doing what I knew was wrong for as long as I could.' 'But I lost.' 'I'm not the hero of anyone's story. In many cases, I'm the villain.' 'Call me whatever you want, but you don't have to live with the decisions I've made...' //He looks out the window.// 'Tell me, do you think other people have the right to judge you for your decisions? Decisions that they've never been faced with?' [[People have the right to judge me]] [[People don't have the right to judge me]]

//He looks up from his glass as he takes a sip.// 'So... Tell me something.' 'So the world died, right?' //When he says this, you know he means when the markets fell and the Old Kingdom became the New.// 'Ask any of these other people you're going around interviewing, every single one of them was struggling through that, trying to survive.' 'Well...' 'What if I were to tell you, while people were dying in the streets and losing their homes, I, my family, and my employees were living it up, and we did better than anyone...' 'Because we //profited// off of it.' //He's nodding his head.// [[What?! You...]]

//He sets down his glass on the table and just stares at you for a bit.// 'Hm.' [[Is that all you have to say?->I was like you once]]

//He stares at you for a bit.// 'Hm. You give me more credit than a lot of people.' [[But what you did was pretty monstrous...->I was like you once]]

'Hm.' 'Well, I just hope you don't have to face their judgment like I have...' [[So what happened next?]]

'Hm.' 'Just saying, lots of people would say otherwise about me...' [[So what happened next?]]

'So the company, it's doing great. The R&D geniuses did it. They've found the magic bullet and we're able to survive better than the other companies...' 'Of course, I hire the best people.' 'And my daughter... I've been able to fund the school single-handedly. They've named a wing after me, so they're taking good care of her.' //He looks at a photo on his desk. It's his young daughter, smiling in her classroom.// 'Maybe these facts are enough to keep me going through knowing what I've done...' 'But...' [[Oh no...->The market again]] [[Not again...->The market again]] [[When the world died...->The market again]]

'When the world died, it wasn't easy on anyone.' 'It wasn't just the adventures, it was the full collapse of the market.' 'All those homes lost, businesses collapsed, marriages and families destroyed...' 'What we all had to live through...' //He turns back to you.// '...But we saw it coming.' [[You saw it coming??]]

'You'd probably think I'm some kinda... //monster// or something...' 'Tell me the truth.' 'Look me in the eye and tell me what you think of me.' //He's staring you right in the eye without blinking or turning away.// '...Am I a monster?' //He smiles.// [[You are a monster.]] [[Maybe... you're not a monster...->Maybe you're not a monster.]]

'So, your family is doing great too.' 'Your daughter is going to a great school, she loves her friends, her teachers think she's adorable, plus she's got your firey attitude!' 'You come home and she's running the place!' 'Like "Whoa! Yes ma'am!"' //He salutes.// 'Haha!' //He sighs and looks down at his glass.// '...You're just so proud of her.' 'Yeah... Things are //peachy keen.//' //He turns to you.// 'But then!' [[Then what?]]

'It sounds weird, but I happen to hire the best guys.' 'Another whiz kid in R&D found it and nobody could make sense of it at first.' //He's shaking his head.// 'Like, //really?// The whole kingdom? No frickin' way, right?' 'I mean, for ages, we based our entire kingdom on these adventures, a guaranteed promise of a better future...' 'It seemed too horrible to be true...' //He sighs.// [[But he was right...]]

'I mean...' 'Sure, I understand it's easy to blame the big guys for being greedy, right?' 'But think about it, all the shopkeepers, all the castlebuilders, all the adventurers, all the noblemen, all the academies, all the advertisers, all the investors, we all played their part in making things this way, we //all// played a part in it.' 'It wasn't even the dream of a better future that we were all gunning for...' 'There wasn't anything //real// to dream for.' 'And when there's nothing left to dream for, the only thing you can sell is just the //idea// of a dream.' 'Sure, we never thought we could //actually// kill the world, but we were all chasing after that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.' 'Let me tell you a story.' [[What's your story?]]

'Yes, I did.' //He looks you straight in the eye.// 'I took part in disaster.' 'And I would do it again.' 'People threw rotten eggs and garbage at my car for years. Literally, //years//.' 'One guy kept trying to track me down and I had to get a restraining order.' 'Also, let's just say you shouldn't look me up on KingdomNet image search without the //Safe settings// on.' 'Plus the countless insults they edited onto holopics...' 'Like, "You're disgusting." "You should die." "I hope you and your family go to hell like you deserve."' //He shakes his head.// 'The ones like that last one hurt the most.' 'I try not to give a damn, but it hurts...' 'Like, //a lot//.' //He nods a little.// 'But...' 'I can always tell myself I did the right thing.' //He points to the shelf right behind his desk.// 'And that's why.' //[[You look at the shelf.]]//

//It's a collection of handwritten holocards. 'We'd be on the street if it weren't for you...' 'Thank you for saving my family. It reminds me of a passage...' 'Me and my family owe the world to you. We've named our...' Story after story of employees thanking him. And at the center. A humble physical card. 'Thank you Daddy.'// 'So, hot shot.' [[The Moneymaker asks]]

'So, you're a heroine...' //She turns to you.// 'You think that's any different than being a hero?' //She looks out the window.// 'You're no different from any of the heroes out there, having their fun.' 'Having fun at the expense of girls just like us...' 'And you are //not// doing us any favors.' [[Just admit it...->People aren't here for me]] (set: $gender to 'female')

'So.' //She takes a deep breath.// 'So it was either be a princess and be whatever they wanted...' 'Or the street.' //She looks at a bug on the windowsill.// 'And I didn't want the street.' //She flicks the bug out the window.// 'So here I am... a //beautiful//...' '//Little//...' '//Fool//.' //She's quiet for a time.// [[The Princess asks]]

'But the market, as markets do, takes another hit.' 'But it's worse than last time. This time, the industry is hit. We're faced with another situation where we lay off people, but there's no way to cut costs. We either lay off 90% or go bankrupt.' 'Furthermore... The schools are hit hard too. They need donors in order to keep things running...' 'And your daughter is older now, she's getting the hang of things, but... she still needs help at her age.' 'So it seems like that's game over...' 'But-' 'There's something...' [[What is it?]]

'Yup, the numbers checked out. The whole world was going to die... And we were seeing it in slow motion.' //He takes out a gold coin out of his pocket.// 'See this?' //He's holding it and pointing to a large skyscraper out the window.// 'You see that bank? It's the biggest bank in the kingdom.' 'This goddamn coin was worth several kingdoms more than that whole goddamn bank would be worth in the next business cycle.' //He puts the coin back in his pocket, shakes his head, and claps his arms at his side in defeat.// 'And it's not just the fault of us in the capitals, you know?' [[How wasn't it your fault?]]

//He looks you straight in the eye again.// 'What do you think now?' 'Am I a monster?' (display: "Dialog Box Prompt with Mystic") [[You're a monster.->Moneymaker (Monster End)]] [[You're only human.->Moneymaker (Human End)]]

'She is coming of age. And I see in her the fire which possessed so many young men to sacrifice themselves to be part of history, which had consumed my father and grandfather before me.' 'For after all, what is history but a furnace which feeds itself on the blood of young, angry men? ' 'But now, I am at a loss for what narrative to tell her.' 'As a teacher, it is easy to tell your students to be a part of history.' 'But as a father...' 'I want to see her outlive me and care for her children. Isn't caring for future generations a most noble of causes?' 'So...' [[The Historian asks]]

'They say the best kind of teaching isn't the filling of a pail, but the sparking of a fire, and so it was for me.' 'He lit the fire in me and I pored over history book after history book, wanting to learn more and more about the ways history drove men to violence and oppression. The rationalistic systems which brutes exploited to feed their neverending greed. The individuals who fed into it, both directly and indirectly, to keep these machinations going.' 'And I had also seen hope. Hope for the path for breaking this senseless cycle of exploitation. Hope in the knowledge that my people weren't always this way, and that we were once proud sages and warriors, and prosperous, and we could be again.' 'And... in a way, knowledge became the lens for me to understand my father and grandfather before me, and with each book, their image became clearer than ever before.' 'I read until my eyes hurt and rested only to eat and sleep. With all I had learned, I went on my path to my profession. //Historian.//' 'My knowledge became both my material salvation and my spiritual one.' 'Looking back on my life before knowledge, I was like a tree which had a ring cut around its trunk, unable to bring nutrients to its branches and could only wither and die.' 'But //with// this knowledge, I had the power to become a mighty oak, reaching towards the heavens.' //He inhales deeply, looking at the room full of his books and accomplishments before turning back to you.// 'There's also something I want to clarify...' [[What do you want to clarify?]]

'What would you have me do?' (display: "Dialog Box Prompt with Mystic") [[Encourage her to be part of history->Historian (History End)]] [[Encourage her to focus on family->Historian (Family End)]] [[Let her choose and support her->Historian (Support End)]]

'When he's gone, who do you mourn?' 'The child he was or the man he could have been?' [[The child he was]] [[The man he could have been]]

//She bursts out in tears.// 'Yes! Yes, that's what I wished too!' 'But...' 'I know that that couldn't be how that day would end...' 'No matter how much I would wish it...' 'My son was going to die that day.' 'It was just a matter of how.' [[Someone would kill him...]] (set: $wish_safe to true)

'So, I ask again, as his mother, what do you wish for his fate? That he gets killed by others, or that he takes his own life?' [[I'd wish others would kill him]] [[I'd wish he'd take his own life]]

Listen to their stories. Find out what happened. Tell The Mystic what you have learned. { <span class="profile"> (if: $princess_end is "")[[[The Princess]]](else:)[The Princess (done)] </span> <span class="profile"> (if: $commoner_end is "")[[[The Commoner]]](else:)[The Commoner (done)] </span> <span class="profile"> (if: $mother_end is "")[[[The Monster's Mother]]](else:)[The Monster's Mother (done)] </span> <span class="profile"> (if: $historian_end is "")[[[The Historian]]](else:)[The Historian (done)] </span> <span class="profile"> (if: $moneymaker_end is "")[[[The Moneymaker]]](else:)[The Moneymaker (done)] </span> <span class="profile"> (set: $left_to_visit to 5 - $visited) (if: $visited is 5)[[[The Mystic awaits!->The Mystic]]](else:)[The Mystic will be revealed after seeing $left_to_visit more tales] </span> (set: $debug to false) (if: $debug)[ [[The Princess asks]] [[The Commoner asks]] [[The Monster's Mother asks]] [[The Historian asks]] [[The Moneymaker asks]] ] }

'I'm quite alright... Thank you.' 'She had Heartwrencher's Syndrome.' 'Kinda cheesy, I guess. Her having a condition that meant she couldn't use her heart anymore.' //He struggles with a faint smile before grimacing.// 'I couldn't take it at first.' 'Her being... //taken away// from me.' //He winces at those two words, the euphemism biting into his heart.// 'It felt like an ocean was separating me from her.' 'An ocean that no machine or monster or magic could conquer.' 'Something so... vast, between me and her.' 'I used to hate the ocean.' 'I wished I could find all the power I could and make it all boil up with my anger, and make it flood any landmass I could if it meant I could be with her.' //He looks to the sky, the white gulls gliding overhead, their gentle cawing invoking the smell of the beach.// 'But I learned something.' [[What did you learn?]]

'I learned that when you try to be a hero...' 'When you try to stop things like death, and disease, and time, and old age...' 'Sometimes that just makes you the villain.' //He closes the locket.// 'So, I have one last thing to tell you.' [[The Commoner asks]]

// You make your way to a cabin deep in the woods. The forest is rich here, with trees climbing over 100 meters towards the heavens, moss growing on rocks and logs, the mountains loom in the distance, you hear the gentle rushing of river streams. You meet an old man, smiling through his beard from ear to ear. You take a seat. // [[The Legend speaks]]

//You walk up to the cliffs by the ocean. The sound of the waves crashing against the crags, a misty breeze from the sea brushing one's face. The sun hanging on the edge of the world. You see her wrapped in her cloak, her wizened eyes and a wrinkled welcoming smile greet you. She looks at you like a friend that's known you your whole life. [[The Mystic speaks]]//

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'Doesn't it say something, that even in this day and age...' He swings his sword lackadaisically. 'That it's still in our nature to want to kill... Or see something killed...?'

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'Death is the ultimate taboo.' 'But it's also what makes the world work.' 'Every part of the world deals in death in some way. Whether it's taking the life of an animal or a plant, or using the fear of our own deaths to create imaginary divisions between us, or killing ourselves slowly from the inside out. Physically, mentally, spiritually.' 'You know why we're so afraid of death?' [[Why are we afraid of death?]]

'Because it takes away our agency.' 'We're no longer free to do the things that we want to do, feel the sensations that we want to enjoy, see the futures that we want to see...' 'It's the ultimate form of theft and imprisonment.' 'The opposite of death isn't life. It's freedom. True and complete freedom.' 'And, of course, sometimes people die long before their body dies.'

Tell me something, what do you love most in the world? And I hope you give a serious answer because I will have some follow up questions. [[I'll try to answer]]

(prompt: "What do you love most in the world?") Now, imagine loving that thing with all your heart. Feel the joy that emanates from your heart, the way it makes you smile, the lightness of your being. Can you do that? [[I'll try]]

Ok, now hang onto that thought for about 30 seconds. When you're ready, feel free to move on. [[Ok, I'm ready to move on]]

'Now, after having experienced all that, picture it leaving you.' 'One day, out of nowhere. It's simply gone.' 'Does that cause you pain?' [[It causes me pain]] [[It does not cause me pain]] [[I would feel pain at first, but I would be fine in the future]]

'That's only natural.'

'That's probably a lie.'

'That's just the way life goes, doesn't it?'

'I used to love my husband with all my heart. I wrote about the poetry of those joys and collected them in a book and the world loved it too.' 'Waking up together with the morning sun and sharing breakfast. Picnics. Late nights baring our souls to each other until there was nothing left to know.' 'At certain points, I loved him more than myself.' 'But later, the cracks in the armor began to show, blemishes on that perfect canvas, that beautiful tapestry of joy began to unravel. However, I pressed on. No way could that love be worth sacrificing for a few problems... Could it?' 'But we had different needs, why were we together, what was it all for, what we wanted from living our lives. We both sensed it wasn't meant to be, but I realized I was starting to cling so desperately to that idea of what our love was...' 'And deep down, I realized that I had to walk away. 'And so I did.' 'Have you ever walked away from something that you loved with all your heart?' [[Yes, I've walked away]] [[No, I never have]]

'Nothing's more important than tending to the needs of your heart.' 'Things can be important to us, but when we think something is too important, then we begin to sacrifice the rest of our lives.' 'Our minds can live in denial of these truths, making up lies and excuses... But fortunately our bodies cannot.' 'Deep in my denial, my body gave inexplicable symptoms. I've had several doctors visits from these moments of crisis, and even hospitalizations.' 'Have you ever had unexplained physical ailments that went away after you surmounted a crisis?' [[Yes, I have had that->physical ailments]] [[No, I have not->physical ailments]]

'Then you know that pain.' 'But also that relief.' 'Let's continue.' [[Let's.->Are you a monster or hero?]]

'I... don't know if I should happy for you or sorry.' 'Let's continue.' [[Let's.->Are you a monster or hero?]]

'So tell me, independently of all these questions you're asking, do you think you, as a person, are a monster or a hero?' [[I think I'm a hero->Monster or Hero]] [[I guess I'm a monster->Monster or Hero]] [[It's not clear cut->Monster or Hero]] [[I'll keep that answer to myself->Monster or Hero]]

'Is there a difference between the world and yourself?' 'When you kill yourself, you kill the world. There's no more world to be experienced. 'If you are able to enjoy the world, you enjoy your life more. 'For a number of years, I was locked away for standing for something I believed in. The details of which are not important right now. At any rate, I fell into a deep despair. Days and nights passed by without any distinguishing moments between them. Sleeping was my only refuge because it meant I didn't have to be conscious. I began to fantasize about dying. In my mind, it meant at least there could be something different about the world, which seemed to be the same every day.' 'Have you experienced a despair like that before?' [[I've experienced such a despair]] [[I haven't experienced such a despair]]

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'Ha,' she laughs. 'I suppose we all have our own journeys towards Truth.'

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'Anyway, where was I?' 'Oh yes, how to get out of that despair.' [[How did you get out of that despair?]]

'So one day, I'd thought of trying something different. I realized all I could do was stroke the wood on the desk I was chained to. That one thing. So, I did the one thing that I could.' 'I ran my fingers over the desk. Then I tried feeling its coolness, the weight of it, the textures, running my fingers over every little bump and ridge. And I felt a bit of freedom. Something different was happening.' 'Then I began to appreciate that it came from a tree that we had harvested from the forest. And that creature came from a seed that was nurtured by countless rains and survived being destroyed until it could reach the point it could be a tall powerful tree and be used to make that very desk.' 'Then I thought of all the trees in the all the forests of the Earth, the grains of sand on every beach, the faces of all the human beings who ever walked on this Earth, and I was staggered by the beauty of humanity and life in our universe. And I saw the stone walls, harvested from quarries and hewn into blocks, the metal bars mined from the Earth and purified in a furnace. I saw the stars at night.' 'I felt the miracle of being in my body in the universe. I began to be fascinated with the sensations of my chest raising and lowering when I breathed, the feeling of droplets gathering on the palm of my hand when I exhaled into it.' //She takes a deep breath.// 'Please, take a moment with me.' [[Sure, let's have a moment.]] [[I'll just wait.]]

'This school would provide an education and opportunities beyond measure.' 'As a young upstart, you know this would help you on your path to all you want. But it would mean leaving behind everything, your home, your friends, and even your family. 'However, I knew that my family wouldn't come close to providing these opportunities. My mother and father were kind, but simple and common.' 'Would you be willing to walk away from everything for success at that age?' [[Yes, I'd walk away at that age]] [[No, I wouldn't walk away at that age]]

'Now, to begin telling you my story.' 'I was born fighting and screaming into this world.' 'And even from a young age, I knew I was destined for greatness.' 'It was a fact that I knew even before I knew two plus two was four.' 'Even in my darkest moments, I could reassure myself that they would pass because I knew, it seemed deep in my bones, that there would be better times.' 'Tell me, have you ever known something so deeply from such an age?' [[I've had such knowledge]] [[I haven't had such knowledge]]

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'You've been at this school for your young adolescence. But before it's over, it seems that the heavens shine on you once again.' 'A prestigious firm has heard of your exploits and they have an offer for you.' 'They pay lots, you'll form even more connections, like a lunch with an ambassador with a sovereign nation is just another Tuesday there. It's a highly competitive environment so no one is there to make friends (generally you only make enemies), but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.' 'And it has to be now or never.' 'What do you do?' [[Join the firm]] [[Stay in school]]

'I could not bring myself to do such a thing.' [[You walked away from everything...]]

'Of course, that is what I did.' [[You walked away from everything...]]

'Many have asked me that question over the past 16 years and I've scoured our family history for an answer that might be satisfactory.' 'But to tell you the truth, he was a happy child.' 'He made friends easily, I would give him hugs and tuck him in at night, his father played Hero's Ball with him.' 'And I was an active parent. I would make sure he ate healthy, I kept him away from too much television, told him to stay away from drugs, to be respectful of people, and he seemed always happy to talk with me about his problems.' 'Everything that my husband and I thought of him growing up seemed to point in the same direction.' [[What did they point to?]]

'There's all these stories of kids who act out, and make scenes, and are nasty, violent, and scary, and you wonder what you would do as a parent if they were yours.' //She looks to you.// 'He simply wasn't that kid.' //She looks out the window.// 'And maybe that's why we let our guard down. Maybe that's why he seemed to slip through our fingers.' [[I suppose that makes sense]] [[That's a little hard to believe]]

'Since the event, I've talked to a lot of people who went through tough moments as a child, and many of just couldn't bring themselves to talk to their families.' 'Some of them as adults even told me what they could never tell their parents.' 'So you understand why this might have been so hard for him.' [[So your son was a mystery to you]]

'Well, sounds like you either had a pretty nice childhood or you were way too open.' 'Since the event, I've talked to a lot of people who went through tough moments as a child, and many of just couldn't bring themselves to talk to their families.' 'Some of them as adults even told me what they could never tell their parents.' 'I guess this sort of thing would've never happened to you.' [[So your son was a mystery to you]]

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'It takes you months of solid denial, for your mind to protect you from all the trauma and finally allow some of reality to creep into your mind.' 'So you finally come to terms with it.'

'Hey, making an omelette, right? Break a few eggs.' [[I dunno...]] [[...->I dunno...]]

'Well...' //He starts to take another sip before putting his glass on the table.// 'You already told me I shouldn't do it, that I'd be breaking too many eggs.' [[You mean it was...?!]]

'Heh. Yeah, right.' 'Don't stop dreaming kid.' [[They killed the giants]]

'They killed all the giants.' 'Of course it didn't matter. The well dried up and half the villagers died before they remaining villagers fled.' 'It wasn't the monsters from outside of the village that kills the world...' 'It's //us//.' 'All of us.' //He's quiet for a while.// [[He takes a deep breath.->Moneymaker's Dilemma]]

'There's this fairy tale that my nana would tell me about this desert oasis and its well. 'All the villagers living around the well were told by the village elder to only take one bucket of water from the well each day. If they did so, it would last for centuries.' 'But everyone secretly took two buckets of water. And they did it //every// day.' 'After several decades, the well started to drain. And the people didn't know why. But it was bad. There would be droughts and famine.' 'And the next day they saw a giant drink from the well.' 'The giant didn't make the water level drop by an iota of an inch.' 'And you know what the people did?' [[They changed their ways?]] [[They killed the giants]]

'You're accepting this truth far more easily than other people would.' 'Countless people have sent us death threats and blamed us, as the parents.' 'Honestly, I would've thought the same thing. And the only reason I believed it was because I lived it.' 'It wasn't the what the world had done to him that was the problem.' [[What was the problem?]]

'I know it's a hard to believe. But it's the truth. I've looked over countless holologs, talked with his friends, the other family members.' 'Believe me, we've all wracked our heads over this because we wanted to know the truth more than anyone else did.' 'He was a happy child.' 'It wasn't what the world did to him.' 'That wasn't the problem.' [[What was the problem?]]

'People are quick to find simple answers that say that this couldn't happen to them. That it was the parents, that it was the adventures, that it was politics.' 'But all those things alone don't erode a person's empathy to the point where they're willing hurt other people.' 'You see, it wasn't what the world did to him as a child, but it was... 'The world //inside// him.' 'Inside his head.' 'There were early signs that we only now see them as they were.' [[What were the early signs?->Early Signs]]

'So I guess you're just another person slumming with us for some kind of tourism.' 'Maybe you won't change anything. Maybe it's not your place.' 'But okay, let's talk.' [[What do people want from you?->...The idea of you]]

'When I was young, I wanted to feel safe.' 'When you were younger, didn't you like the idea of being protected?'

'When I was young, I wanted to be wanted.' 'I think lots of young girls feel that way. We all fall for that trap, defining ourselves through how much we're desired.' 'Sometimes even if it means being looked at and getting attention.' 'Even the //bad// kind.' 'We can't be too smart, we can't be too emotional, we can't be too stressed out or angry or mean...' 'But we always have to be wanted.' 'Didn't you want to feel wanted that way when you were younger?' [[I didn't feel that way]] [[Of course, I did]] [[I still feel that way]]

'Then you know what I mean.' [[Girls care about how they look]]

'Then you're lucky.' 'Generally, all us girls think about how we look.' [[Girls care about how they look]]

'Then you know the struggle.' 'Keeping up with appearances.' 'You //know// what I mean.' [[Girls care about how they look]]

'Yeah. Guys like that line up around the block for me.' 'It's that exact feeling that that keeps all of this going.' 'Be careful. Don't let that make you a monster.' 'It's those monsters that make us feel the way we feel.' [[How do you feel?->How women feel]]

'Well, maybe that's not the worst thing in the world.' 'Maybe you don't obsess over it.' 'But if you don't keep that in check, you might become a monster.' 'It's that feeling that makes us feel the way we feel.' [[How do you feel?->How women feel]]

'Oh.' 'If you say so.' //She's a bit skeptical, probably after doing this for so long.// 'Well, maybe you're one of the good ones. I hope you are.' 'It's the bad ones who make us feel the way we do.' [[How do you feel?->How women feel]]

'When they announced my coronation, that vague feeling was starting to attack me, now affecting my physical health. The royal physician couldn't figure it out.' 'I didn't know it then, but I know now that it was a spiritual illness and not a physical one.' 'The physician said that I might need to relax and do other things to take my mind off the events. And that I certainly deserved to relax.' 'I felt as if I couldn't pause for a beat though. All my life, whenever there was a challenge, no one was there to catch my fall. It was always up to me to be my own champion and never show a sign of weakness. How could I be ready to be king if I was sick? The people looked to me for strength and composure. It seemed like almost a helpless case.' 'I couldn't even bring myself to confess to any advisors or clergy, I couldn't tell a soul. If I revealed my weakness to them, then I would put them and our kingdom at risk. If word got out, my followers would lose heart and the other kingdoms might come down us...' //He almost whispers. 'I'd certainly made a number of enemies over the years.'// 'So, if I faltered now, for the rest of my life, however much shorter it might be, I would be an outcast.' 'Tell me, if you were about to be an all powerful ruler, do you know someone you could talk to, whom you'd trust with your deepest darkest secrets?' [[I'd have someone I could trust]] [[I wouldn't have anyone]]

'Then you're luckier than I.' [[You didn't have anyone to trust?]]

'Then you're no better than I.' [[You didn't have anyone to trust?]]

'Honestly, in the name of my pursuit for glory, I had failed to form any meaningful relationships. All I knew was power and success.' 'I think others sensed that aspect of myself. And I think that only attracted others seeking the same thing from me.' 'So I had to do something. But I had no idea what!' //He claps his hands together, still incredulous about hopeless it all seemed. He composes himself and speaks sagely.// 'I've learned since then that when we are searching for answers, the world will answer us tenfold. And it did for me at that moment.' 'I saw a poster for an art exhibition in a village in the outskirts of the kingdom. I don't even remember what it said, but I //knew// that I had to go see it, but no one could know.' 'I disguised myself and stole away from the castle without telling a soul and found my way to the village with just the clothes on my back and with only a few coins in my pocket, anything to prevent anyone from noticing.' [[You left everything...]]

'It was something I knew I had to do. It was the first time in my life I had pursued something other than the success I had felt destined for. But I was finding my destiny in another sense.' 'It was a humble art gallery, completely unremarkable by the standards of the largesses of the capitals, but I liked its sparse and rustic appearance. And it was there that I knew would find the work that would be the answer to the questions of my life.' 'I tried to appear nonchalant but my eyes were searching so wild and my appearance so drab that I must've appeared to be a madman. I would get looks from the different guests.' 'None of that mattered to me.' 'I searched and searched and searched, from drawings and photograms and sculptures and interactives, physicalia and digitalia, searching, searching, searching...' 'Until there it was.' 'My heart stopped. I had found it.' [[What was it?]]

'It was a painting. Modest. No larger than the window in the hut that I had grown up in.' 'Through swirling brush strokes and vibrant colors, it depicted everything I had been experiencing.' //He closes his eyes to see the image of it in his head all over again.// 'It showed a princess running away from a castle, destroying the earth in her wake, leaving a trail of destruction, and fire in her eyes, chains on her arms and legs, broken free from her bondage.' 'She was fierce and powerful but deeply pained.' 'The castle was set ablaze in a myriad of colors, as if through its destruction, it was somehow being set free.' 'I stared it it, and I saw something in the swirling mass, a hidden figure.' [[What was the hidden figure?]]

'A monster.' 'In the huddling mass of all that destruction was a monster that was trying to pull the princess back to the castle, fiendish, powerful, and cruel.' 'My mouth was agape.' 'Sometimes art is a mirror for the deepest version of ourselves we had never known.' 'It was myself.' [[Were you the princess?->The Princess and the monster]] [[Were you the monster?->The Princess and the monster]] [[What were you?->The Princess and the monster]]

'I was both.' 'I was the princess who needed to escape from the chains that were bounding me in the castle.' 'But I was also the monster who was trying to keep me in there.' 'Many times, the most dangerous monster we are afraid of is the monster within.' 'I knew I couldn't buy the painting, I couldn't give away my identity, but I knew that I didn't need to.' 'With the money I had begged for on the street, I bought a small print of the painting, just a postcard, and knew that I would write a message to myself in the future.' 'I quietly went back to the cabin I was staying in on the outskirts of the kingdom to write that message.' [[What did you write to yourself?]]

'I wrote about what would be my decision for my future.' 'I had to choose between two lives.' 'One was the whole life I had crafted for myself, from childhood to kinghood. Success and glory.' 'And the other, was staying in the cabin and disappearing, not telling a soul.' 'So what would you do?' 'Everything you've worked for has led to this moment. You can become king.' 'But there's something tugging at you, deep in your heart. You have little to go on but just that vague feeling that has no rational explanation or reason in your life.' 'What would you have done?' [[I'd become king and try not to worry about it]] [[I'd walk away from everything]]

//He nods.// 'I walked away from everything 35 years ago, and I've been happy ever since.' 'I had told myself that I could go back at any moment. I did check to see that the kingdom would be able to handle itself without me, and I was pleased to see that it did.' 'And I told myself I could go back, maybe in 2 years, maybe 5, then 10, then 20. But I never did.' 'I want to tell you something and I want you to tell my message to all the others back in the kingdom.' 'No matter how hopeless it may seem, how trapped you are in whatever situation you've set yourself up in...' //He looks you dead in the eye.// 'It's never too late to walk away.' 'It's //never// too late.' 'Remember that.' //The air is still for a moment, as if to allow the words to fill the room as the fire in the stove burns quietly.// 'So, do me a favor.' 'Write a letter to yourself now and then.' 'As a matter of fact, how about you write a letter to yourself, right now?' 'Would you like to write a letter to yourself?' [[Yes->Write a letter]] [[No, thank you->No letter]]

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[[Back from breathing]]

'Alright then.' 'Everyone must live their own life.' //She closes her eyes.// 'From one to the next.' //She relaxes her body and sits, breathing for a while.// [[Wait until she's back->Back from breathing]]

//She finishes her breathing.// 'I realized that I didn't want death anymore. I wasn't afraid dying. I was afraid of living. My soul had already died when I gave up on the world.' 'And when I started to love the world, I began to love life and love myself. And I became alive and free.' 'When you die, you kill your ability to experience the wonder of the world.' 'And when you kill a part of the world, you kill a part of the miracle of life. So, when you kill the world, you kill a part of yourself. You aren't a part of the world, you are the world.' 'You are both the world, and the world is you.' 'Do you understand?' [[Yes, I understand]] [[No, I don't understand]] [[Uh, kinda]]

'Important, not important.' 'Good, evil.' 'You, the world.' 'The past, the future, big, small, light, dark.' 'It //is// important to identify and discern between the different forms of the universe. For practical concerns, exercise your discernment.' 'But do not become possessed by them, remember to breathe, be present, and you inherit the greater wholeness of reality.' 'What's higher for you in this world than the individual moments of reality?' [[My loved ones->End]] [[Myself->End]] [[The world->End]] [[Something from above->End]]

'Be very wary of fear.

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'Sometimes we can only recognize the spiritual illness in our lives when we've hit rock bottom. And our body will signal this to us.' 'To be clear, this is not saying all physical ailments come from spiritual ailments. Remember not to throw our reason!' 'Anyway, where was I?'

'We all have aspects to ourselves that can be both monstrous and heroic.' 'A good friend could commit horrors.' 'A mass murderer can become an ideal citizen.' 'There's potential in all of us, high and low.' 'Tell me, what would you say makes a monster different from a hero?' [[Their actions->Hero Monster Differences]] [[Their intent->Hero Monster Differences]] [[Their circumstances->Hero Monster Differences]] [[Nothing makes them different->Hero Monster Differences]] [[It's hard to say->Hero Monster Differences]]

'Hm. Interesting.' 'I suppose there's lots of different ways to look at the differences between a monster and a hero.' 'You can think and think and think about it.' 'I don't know if it's important to think about it too much.' 'I would like to focus on how to bring out the hero in a monster and how to prevent a monster from becoming a hero.' [[Maybe that's good enough]] [[That's not good enough!]]

'Those are my thoughts anyway.' 'I really don't know.' 'Let's move on.' [[I suppose...->Making heroes]]

//She's slightly startled, but doesn't give in.// 'There's plenty of discussion by scholars about these kinds of questions. You can talk to them about it, or even think about it yourself. That's not my concern.' 'This is what I've chosen to focus on, since I think it can do the most good in the world.' 'Please, for my sake, let's move on.' [[I suppose...->Making heroes]]

'There are extremes on both sides.' 'Some people do not possess an evil bone in their body as if they sprang up from the earth, like purified water dripped from the deepest mountain, and are kind, generous, loving, noble, and wise.' 'There's also people who seem to possess no goodness in their soul, as if from purified vitriol and seem to magnify the evil in the world.' 'Little can be done for both of these kinds of people. Like an arrow fired from a very taut bow, they fire straight and true to their course.' 'But the vast majority of humanity, myself included, exists in the realm between the two. With the potential to go in either direction.' 'A slightly different angle to the bow, an itch of heaven's finger, the winds of the world blowing slightly too hard. Any of these microvariations in our lives can send someone on a completely different course.' 'Can you think of a moment where your life could've went a vastly different direction if a moment went a slightly different direction?' [[No->The winds of change]] [[Yes, once->The winds of change]] [[Yes, on several occasions->The winds of change]]

'We can all be saved or destroyed. Abandoned or taken in. Loved or forgotten.' 'I was abandoned by my parents as a child. But then my new parents found me.' 'A family is something which dramatically determines the course of our lives which, unlike other important factors, remains totally out of our control. Families find us before we have an opportunity to exert any agency of our own.' 'For my children, I used to think my responsibility to them was the most important duty I had to the world.' 'But sometimes when we think something is too important, we forget to take care of ourselves and the rest of the world.' 'I wanted to create art, but I kept telling myself that I had no time for art because I had to take care of my children.' 'However, I realized that I started to resent my children and the world. And realized that they weren't the barrier to my art. My barrier was myself.' 'So I sent the children to their relatives' place, and made myself time to work.' 'At first it was a weekend. Later I learned how to make time, an hour a week for myself.' 'And I felt alive again, and I loved my children more. And my children understood and they felt inspired by my confidence.' 'Have you ever found that you were blaming someone for your own inaction?' [[Yes->Blaming someone else]] [[No->Blaming someone else]] [[I don't want to say...->Blaming someone else]]

'We didn't know it at the time. But his thoughts were getting dark.' 'At the time, we never realized how bad things had gotten for him.' 'Most of the signs seemed like regular teen drama. His grades were slipping. He was always... very tired. Then he had gotten in trouble for messing with school holologs. But he remained respectful.' 'He was receiving counseling from a Kingdom AI therapist, but she ended his sessions early because she thought he was ready. He was funny, charming, and lovable. Just like I knew him to be. He seemed like any other teenage kid getting into trouble.' 'If //I, his own mother// couldn't tell, how could a counselor?' 'Even in the journals and videos we found, as angry as he was at the world and at life, he said that our family was the one thing that he couldn't criticize. Ever.' 'It seemed almost as if we'd done everything right.' 'But he kept his secrets from us... And I'd do anything to be able to go back and push have found out about them...' [[What secrets?]]

'His journals were dark. Things that I don't even want to repeat. Even a few years before what he did he already started to talk about hurting himself.' 'He wanted to die.' //She tries to stay objective, but gets really upset after saying this. She composes herself.// 'In the wholeness of my heart, which it took me time to understand, I know that he was a victim of suicide.' 'Around that time, the family was going through several crises. His father's health was deteriorating, I was transitioning to a different job with more risk for my career, and his older brother was having trouble finding work and staying sober. We were also worrying about how we would pay for his college tuition, which I wish I had never let him know.' 'Kids who are in families going through financial and social disturbances are more likely to suffer from depression.' 'To be honest, it seemed that we relied on him to be the one without any problems, which he //seemed// to take in stride. Every time there seemed to be a hiccup, he seemed to put on a good face and convinced us he was fine. I think that's what he wanted us to think.' 'But we would see in his journals that he felt deeply alone, and viewed himself as a burden, and gradually he started to validate the idea that the world would be a better place without his existence. All three of these are said to be factors that lead to suicide ideation.' 'But that wasn't enough for him to want to hurt other people.' 'That alone doesn't make someone want to hurt people.' [[What would would push him over the edge?]]

'Gosh, you're going to be shocked. That's way too low.' [[How many kids get bullied?]]

'You might be surprised but that's too low.' [[How many kids get bullied?]]

'Yes, that's about right.' [[How many kids get bullied?]]

'You think the worst, that's too high!' [[How many kids get bullied?]]

'By different estimates, it's about 20 to 30% of kids that get bullied.' 'It's shocking.' 'Kids who get bullied, not surprisingly, are at higher risk of anxiety, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, and depression. Even more likely to get headaches and stomach aches.' 'The majority of kids who get bullied do not tell an adult.' 'That's absolutely //heartbreaking//.' 'And even then, there was another condition that allowed him to commit to the act.' [[You mean his partner...->You mean, believing in that madman...]]

'Hm. Would you like to tell me about those feelings? It's completely up to you.' //Author's Note: Your answer to this question will not be saved to a sever. As soon as your close your browser, your answer will be erased, lost to history.// [[Yes, I'd like to talk a little.->PROMPT I had no future]] [[I'd like to keep that to myself.->History found my family once more]]

'I see.' 'We all go on our tough journey through life.' 'My best wishes to you.' [[History found my family once more]] (set: $present_thought to "I had no future... " + (prompt:"Talk about how you had no future..."))

~Fin~ ~Writer, Programmer, Game Designer~ Charles Hans Huang Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharlesHHuang ~Cover Art~ Wen Shi ~Playtesters~ Sam LaFleur Frank DeMarco Jingyu Sui Blake Andrews Shu and Andrew from Babycastles [[Return to start->Start]] {<style> body { background-color: black; } tw-passage { color: white; } </style>} (set: $visited to 0) (set: $conclusion to 0) (set: $princess_end to "") (set: $commoner_end to "") (set: $historian_end to "") (set: $mother_end to "") (set: $moneymaker_end to "")

'I see.'

'Most of everyone, of course, cares about how they look.' 'Girls have it bad especially, of course.' 'They did a survey when I was a teen in still Adventurers' Academy.' 'Do you know how much more likely girls than boys are to get eating disorders in middle school to high school?' [[Girls are half as likely->You're way off]] [[Girls are equally likely->You're a little optimistic]] [[Girls are 50% more likely->You're a little short]] [[Girls are twice as likely->You're correct]]

'Gosh, you're way off, bucko.' [[Exactly how much more likely are girls to get eating disorders?]]

'That's a little optimistic. Don't you think? [[Exactly how much more likely are girls to get eating disorders?]]

'Not quite enough.' [[Exactly how much more likely are girls to get eating disorders?]]

'That's about right.' [[Exactly how much more likely are girls to get eating disorders?]]

'Girls are more than twice as likely than boys. About 1 in 26 girls form an eating disorder at some time during their youth. About 1 in 65 boys.' 'I was never one of the pretty girls growing up. What I really wanted was to be //seen//, and not just //looked at//.' 'But I settled for just being looked at.' 'That's how I fell into this trap.' [[You mean, being a princess?]]

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'I suppose that's not the worst thing in the world.' 'If you're not going to be participating in suffering in the world, at least be aware of it.' 'People aren't ever here for my sake though.' [[People aren't here for you?->People aren't here for me]]

'Hm, maybe you understand better than the average kid.' 'People aren't ever here for my sake though.' [[People aren't here for you->People aren't here for me]]

'All kinds of men want to be with a princess. Tall men, short men, skinny men, big men, men with wives, men who’ve never even talked with a woman, holy men...' 'Unholy men.' 'Even women. Sometimes being able to be with a pretty girl from royalty is just a dream come true for some people.' 'Everybody wants to feel a bit rich and worth paying attention to.' //She gives you a side eye.// 'That means people are willing to pay for that.' 'Everyone likes to feel important now and then.' 'Even if it was based on a lie, wouldn't you like to feel important like that now and then?' [[Quite often]] [[On occasion, I suppose]] [[Not really]]

'As time went on in school, he would get bullied. Even by younger kids, despite being tall.' 'The school seemed to turn a blind eye to the bullying kids would do. The police found footage of him walking down the hallway with his friends, and he gets shoved by another kid out of nowhere!' 'The most striking part of the video was that he and all his friends just continue walking as if this was //normal//.' 'I wish I could go back in time and tell him, nothing about that was normal.' 'So, in his twisted logic, his desire to die turned towards a desire to hurt others at his school.' 'This is by no means a justification for what he did.' 'According to recent kingdom surveys, how many teenage students do you think have been bullied?' [[1%->Way too low]] [[5%->Too low]] [[10%->Too low]] [[20%->That's about right]] [[30%->That's about right]]

'So you've come to the end of your journey.' 'How about we take some time to just enjoy the moment.' //She looks out to the sea. The gulls glide on updrafts overhead.// [[Yes, let's take a moment]] [[Let's just get straight to business]]

'Well, I suppose we need to try, don't we?' 'I was like you, but then I realized the truth, that I was a commoner.' [[How'd you realize that?]]

'Hm, maybe you're ahead of the game.' 'It took me a good long while to realize I was a commoner!' [[How'd you realize that?]]

This chapter is dedicated to Sue and her beloved son Dylan (display: "End")

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(display: "End") (set: $historian_end to "You chose history over family for your child... " + (prompt:"Why'd you choose history over family for your child?"))

(display: "End") (set: $historian_end to "You chose family over history for your child... " + (prompt:"Why'd you choose family over history for your child?"))

(display: "End (Monster's Mother)") (set: $mother_end to "He was still a monster... " + (prompt:"How was her son a monster...?"))

(display: "End (Monster's Mother)") (set: $mother_end to "He was her son... " + (prompt:"How could he still be her son...?"))

(display: "End (Monster's Mother)") (set: $mother_end to "He was both a monster and her son... " + (prompt:"How could be both a monster and her son...?"))

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$princess_end $commoner_end $historian_end $mother_end $moneymaker_end

(display: "End") (set: $commoner_end to "You chose to journey forth... " + (prompt:"How does adventure still call to you...?"))

(display: "End") (set: $commoner_end to "You chose the common life... " + (prompt:"How does the common life call to you...?"))

(display: "End") (set: $moneymaker_end to "He was a monster... " + (prompt:"How did you find him to be a monster?"))

(display: "End") (set: $moneymaker_end to "He was only human... " + (prompt:"How was he still human after what he had done?"))

(display: "End") (set: $princess_end to "Princesses need to be saved... " + (prompt:"How do princesses need to be saved?"))

Take your time... (link-reveal:"Take a few deep breaths...")[ (link-reveal:"Take in your surroundings for a moment...")[ (link-reveal:"Feel the weight of your body, your ankles, your legs, your torso, from bottom to top, all the way to your head. Bit by bit.")[ [[Let's move on.]] ]]]

'Sure.' 'Let's.' [[Let's move on.]]

'Here's your learnings from each of the stories that were told.' 'For The Princess, you said...' $princess_end '(link-reveal: "For The Commoner")[, you said... $commoner_end (link-reveal: "For The Historian")[, you said... $historian_end (link-reveal: "For The Monster's Mother")[, you said... $mother_end (link-reveal: "And for The Moneymaker")[, you said...' $moneymaker_end 'What do you take away from all of that?' //(Author's Note: This screen will not be revisited. Take your time reviewing your answers. Feel free to read them again or take a screenshot.)// [[I learned a lot->Your own conclusion]] [[It's what I already knew->Your own conclusion]] [[I'm still processing all of this->Your own conclusion]] [[I didn't learn a thing]] ]]]]

'So...' 'I believe everyone has to draw their own conclusions to the truths that are already within them.' 'And these are truths that are deeper than all other truths in their lives.' 'Lives, people, kingdoms, and worlds die in every moment, and new kingdoms arise every turn of the page. With every conflict in the world, there must be a new world that must come afterwards.' 'I think it's time for you to draw your own conclusions in light of these conflicts.' 'Please, be ready to write down your thoughts in a letter.' 'Address it to someone, a loved one, a stranger, yourself in the past or the future.' 'And write as long or as short as as you want.' //Author's Note: Please take this time to write an actual letter. Choose your method of writing. If you're writing with pen and paper, please use actual pen and paper, and so on if you'd like to write otherwise. [[I'd like to write with pen and paper.->Tell me when you're ready]] [[I'd like to type my answer in this game. (This will open a dialog box. Your answer will not be recorded.)->Write answer in-game]] [[I'd like to write it somewhere else.->Tell me when you're ready]] //

'I suppose we all have our own understanding for the world.' 'Still, I'd like for you to draw a conclusion for all this for yourself.' 'Maybe not now but for some day in the future.' [[Draw my own conclusion...->Your own conclusion]]

'Take your time.' 'Tell me when you're done writing.' //Please write your letter now.//(click: "done writing")[ Good. [[What now?]] ] (set: $conclusion to "You wrote your letter separately")

'Good.' [[What now?]] (set: $conclusion to " " + (prompt: "Write a letter about your experiences from your conversations."))

'Do what you will with your letter. You're free to keep your thoughts as public or as private as you wish. Maybe you can revisit your thoughts some time later, or share with a friend.' 'In many stories we have a hero saving the day or an answer which makes things just right.' 'But life has more people than heroes. And more questions than answers.' 'I once spoke with a puzzle box maker and she said that she sometimes designed beautiful, intricate puzzles with no solution. These puzzles often had the most fascinating reactions.' 'I've found that for the toughest challenges in our lives, it's often more important to simply live in the mystery of the world than attempt to find solutions.' 'Thank you for indulging in these mysteries.' //$conclusion// [[Credits (Clicking will delete your data)->Finale]]

(display: "End") (set: $princess_end to "Princesses need to be free... " + (prompt:"How do princesses need to be free?"))

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'Once you make that mistake, it can change the rest of your life.' 'And once you start on this kind of path it can be hard to get off.' 'Before I knew it, my adventure dealer sold me to another dealer to settle his debts. It was bad stuff, Dark Path adventuring completely unsanctioned by the Kingdom. They used Enslavement Crowns and Mindblanking hexes.' 'I knew I wanted out, but it never seemed like there was a way.' 'Until I finally found an opportunity.' [[What was that opportunity?]]

'Someone left the key to my chains right in front of me. I thought about whether or not I could make a run for it. But I knew I would never find another opportunity for a long time.' 'What would you have done?' [[Take the opportunity]] [[Hesitate]]

'I should've done that.' 'And I've kicked myself since.' [[You hesitated]]

'I was a fool.' 'And that's what I did.' [[You hesitated]]

'I thought about reasons to stay, reasons not to run, reasons to avoid further punishment. Reasons, reasons, reasons.' 'Sometimes when you know what you really need to do to get out of your circumstances, you don't do it.' 'And I paid for it.' 'So I stayed for several more years in the thick of things...' 'Kicking myself ever since then.' 'Until the next opportunity showed itself.' [[What was the next opportunity?]]

'A hero said he was there to genuinely save me.' 'He was handsome, charming, and seemed kind. I trusted his voice. His azure robes and his smile felt like a million gold pieces.' 'Plus, he had good hair. I was such a sucker for that.' 'Yet, I wasn't sure whether or not to believe him... But he said he'd make sure I'd go far away and never see that dungeon again.' 'What would you have done?' [[I would've taken the opportunity, for sure]] [[I would have hesitated again]]

'That's what made sense to me.' 'But it didn't work out.' [[It didn't work out]]

'I couldn't bring myself to hesitate again.' 'I had to take it this time.' 'But it didn't work out.' [[It didn't work out]]

'He betrayed me.' 'He was really working for them the whole time and he told them about my plot to escape.' 'They doubled down on my imprisonment, locked me in a deeper chamber, increased the treatments and so I was stuck in further than before...' 'After a while, I began to defend my captors and be thankful for when they would be kind to me.' 'One was handsome, and he seemed so gentle, so genuinely kind to me when he was giving me gifts.' 'But that was all part of it. Sometimes when your mind craves something, it just deludes itself into believing its there when it's really self-destructive.' 'They increased the Enslavement Crown treatments from hours to days to weeks. Finally, when the treatments had extended beyond all reasonable limits, when I had collapsed on the floor of my cell, numb to even feel pain anymore, I resolved that I had had enough. I could either choose death or choose freedom.' 'My whole body was no longer mine, and my whole life was no longer mine. I resolved that I would own my life again.' 'No matter what the cost.' [[What kind of cost would there be?]]

'I stole from adventurers, I lied and kept secrets to gain any edge I could without being able to sacrifice my chance at freedom.' 'I even sold other women into being princesses. I picked out the girls who I knew were weak like me.' 'If I didn't do it, other men in the business would've done it anyway.' 'I even placed the Enslavement Crowns on the girls' heads myself...' 'Even the men didn't want to do that themselves.' [[You shouldn't have done that->You did what you had to do]] [[You did what you had to do]]

'I needed to escape and I was willing to make amends later, when I would come back to tear this whole kingdom apart, after they had already killed it with their business.' 'I bided my time until I found a moment to escape. 'And there it was.' 'I could steal a mecha-horse from the stables and I figured could make a great distance towards the nearest town to get help. Not all the way though. So my only hope was with running into someone on the road before they realized what I had done and caught up.' 'I went in the cover of night, made sure the men had eaten all their fill, and were deep in slumber.' 'I grabbed the horse, and was as quiet as I could be. Every sound I made could've given me away, every sound I heard could've been someone coming to prevent me from getting away ever again.' 'But I made it past the gates and broke the horse into a sprint to get as far away from this horrid castle as possible.' [[And then...?]]

'I ran into a soldier who lived in a cottage nearby with a comm link to the King's Guard and he promised to protect me.' 'I suspected he might've secretly been working for //them//. So many times I had been burnt by the faith of corrupt men, but I had no other choice.' 'And I chose right.' [[It worked out?!]]

'He called the King's Guard and they came to the castle to free all the princesses.' 'I was hailed as a heroine. They said I was so brave.' 'But, honestly, I felt I didn't deserve any honor higher than the other women who had suffered and //weren't// able to escape.' 'Still, I used my platform as an opportunity to save other princesses. To bring more awareness to our plight.' 'Eventually, I found a prince who was impressed with my ingenuity and resolve and we married.' [[Was it happily ever after?]]

'Like all stories, it hardly ever turns out that way.' 'For years, I wouldn't trust men. Just the sound of a man's voice would sometimes be enough to make me shudder and cry.' //She looks at you.// 'Even my own husband's.' //She continues.// 'Even when a prisoner is already freed, sometimes a prisoner is still captive in their heart.' 'But still, I pressed on in my work to save more princesses from adventurers' insatiable appetites.' 'That's why I'm in this castle. To tell others about my story, so they may learn from it.' 'But to answer as to whether there was a happily ever after. There //was// one memory I had where I felt I was finally free.' [[What was that memory?]]

'I was with my prince and our children. We were by a cabin by a lake meant only for us. The royal wizards had cast a protection ward so not a soul would be able to bother us.' 'As I swam in the waters, it reminded me of the lake I would swim in when I was growing up. The cool waters holding me up as I floated, making my hair wet and thin.' 'I remembered back to when I was a little girl who didn't worry about being beautiful. And my body was mine and mine alone and I could be as bold and angry and silly as I wanted to be with it without worrying about anyone saying a word.' 'And I thought about how I was finally free again, as if I were back to being that carefree child. And my prince was strong and handsome and respectful. And my children were beautiful. And my body had these beautiful scars from giving birth to them and my prince didn't care and I didn't care.' 'And for a moment, I felt my body was mine again.' [[That's beautiful]]

'I suppose it is.' 'So I guess I have one question left.' [[The Princess asks]]

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'Yes.' 'I heard there was an opportunity to be a princess for adventurers. Not only was it nice to get noticed, it was a nice way to make a lot of gold.' 'I started without thinking about it too much, but it led me down a path that I'd have to claw my way out of.' 'And I've been paying for it ever since.' 'It's so easy to fall for those traps when you're a young adult and you're finally wanted. You seek any kind of validation at that age.' 'Haven't you made that kind of mistake before?' [[I've made that kind of mistake->Making that mistake]] [[I haven't->Making that mistake]]

'Hey there.' 'Thanks for coming by.' 'I'm glad you're here to talk about my struggles.' 'The word needs to get out about how princesses are dealt with in the adventuring business.' [[It's my pleasure->Do you like princesses?]] [[No problem->Do you like princesses?]]

'Tell me, do you like princesses?' [[Yes->People aren't here for me]] [[No->People aren't here for me]]

//A dialog box will open and you will type an explanation. Your answer will return in your discussion with The Mystic.//

(display: "End") (set: $historian_end to "You chose to support your child in her choice... " + (prompt:"Why'd you choose to support your child instead of encouraging in a direction?"))