Manikin

You've lost track of time. Although you know there's a 50/50 chance of daylight, you have not seen the sun in who knows how long. Your eyes are glazed and red from sleep deprivation. A quick glance to the lanyard around your neck reminds you that despite your work in the labs, you are still merely [[an assistant->Scene 2]].

You earned this position through hours of hard work at your university. Or... perhaps it's more accurate to say [[years->Education]]. Even though you are qualified, you've never been given any sort of ''real'' responsibility. Filing papers, delivering mail, making coffee with just the right sugar-to-cream ratio for your supervisor, et cetera. There have been times when you've wondered what the point of it all was. Did you go through all that hardship just to end up a [[scientific barista->Barista]]? [[How->Scene 3]] did you even get into this situation to begin with?

Psychology, biology, chemistry, physics, anthropology... At times, they made your head spin, but it was important work. You understood on some level that if you pursued them, you might actually ''be'' somebody. Of couse, they were difficult to say the least. Did you cave to the pressure? Sacrifice your morality to attain your success? Or did you stick to some semblance of a code? Regardless of how you got by, nobody cared. All that matters now is that you're just [[an assistant->Scene 2]]. Are you okay with that?

(text-style:"shudder")[//Hi! Welcome to- Welcome to- Welcome to-//] (text-style:"fidget")[//How can I serve you?// //Thank you for choosing [[hell->Scene 2]], please consider us next time your morning needs a boost!//]

As you sit in the hard plastic chair, your head drifting to the side and threatening to hit the linoleum floor... (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"You hear a voice.")[= It sounds like a metal spoon dragging across a ceramic bowl. It sounds like a parent's praise. It sounds like a whisper that you can't quite make out. [[Listen closer->Scene 4]].

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Hey, hey! I've wondered that too!]] It sounds like... something. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[You're the one who's always standing next to that (text-style:"buoy")[big-wig] scientist right? Why are you there, anyway? Are you the resident standing-and-doing-nothing expert?]] A feverish laugh bounces between your temporal and parietal lobes. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Man, you're quiet, huh? And stationary. I haven't been able to get through to anybody before. Must be something about you.]] ''How do you respond?'' [["Who are you?"->Identity]] [["I thought the labs were empty."->Empty Labs]] (if:visits >= 2)[[["What do you want from me?"->Scene 5]]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Me?]] Another laugh bounces around your brain. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Isn't it rude to ask someone's name without giving your own?]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[We'll get to who I am in a minute. First, I want to know more about (text-style:"sway")[you].]] You think that may be the first time [[anyone here->Scene 4]] has ever asked you that question.

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"shudder")[Empty?] What, are you crazy?? Look around and tell me these labs are empty!]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"Look around.")[= You look around. It's dark, but you can make out all sorts of stereotypical lab apparatuses. Microscopes, refrigerators, racks of goggles, test tubes, tables, computers. All the things you imagined when you were young. (t8n:"blur")+(link:"The labs aren't \"empty\"... but they feel empty.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[That's some A-tier philosophy right there, assistant! Are you sure that wasn't one of your majors too?]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[So am I wrong in assuming you view yourself as (text-style:"buoy")[nothing], then? After all, you're here, and I'm here. Are we truly that [[worthless->Scene 4]]?]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[What do I want? (text-style:"buoy")[What do I want?] I think what you should be asking is, what can (text-style:"buoy")[we] accomplish together!]] The voice is getting louder, but it feels good- like you don't have to struggle to hear anymore. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Is it true that despite everything you've done, you're still just a (text-style:"sway")[lowly assistant?] After all, if it weren't for you, none of those so-called menial tasks ever would have been accomplished! Without people like us, those big-wigs wouldn't even have their jobs!]] [["How do you know all this?"->Knowledge]] [["Us?"->Us]] (if:visits >= 2)[[["What are you getting at?"->Scene 6]]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I could ask you the same question...]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"There is a long silence. Your ears begin to ring.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[... Well, if you must know, it is because I was created this way. I was not created as(text-style:"sway")[... naturally...] as you, though. All I know is that I am here. I do not know why. Maybe you can [[understand->Scene 5]] that feeling.]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Yeah, kid! (text-style:"buoy")[Us!] You and me, we're two sugar cubes in a cappucino! Sweet, perfectly geometric purity slowly sinking into the dark abyss of a workaholic's decadence.]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"The voice's wavelength is shifting.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[But... what if we were [[more->Scene 5]]?]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[It ain't complicated, kid! I think we're both a bit overqualified to be a pensive pen-pusher and velvety violet voice! What do you say?]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I mean, you could just go back to passing out from exhaustion in your mass-produced, metal scraping, muscle destroying torture device you call a "chair", if you really feel like it. But I think maybe you get what I'm saying.]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"The voice feels like it's getting closer somehow.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[So, assistant, (text-style:"expand")[what do you say?]]] [["Nope, I like sitting around doing nothing."->Scene 1]] [["Yeah, I'll hear you out."->Scene 7]]

For reasons of your own, you've decided to go along with what the strange voice has said. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[There ya go! Alright, kid, all you need to do is follow my instructions, and we'll be big wigs in no time. Our wigs will be so big people will be drawing (text-style:"sway")[us] in (text-style:"rumble")[overpriced textbooks!]]] You think back to your [[bank account->Bank Account]]. You think back to hearing about the powdered wigs. Your supervisor's name, it's [[George->George]], isn't it? What is it with Georges, anyway? (if:visits >= 3)[''What has this place really done for you, anyway?''] [["How do we get started?"->Scene 8]]

//Welcome to our mobile app, please enter your password.// (t8n:"shudder")+(link:"Enter password.")[PASSWORD INCORRECT] (t8n:"shudder")+(link:"Enter password.")[PASSWORD INCORRECT] (t8n:"pulse")+(link:"Enter password.")[= PASSWORD ACCEPTED //Your transfer of $232.51 to ''Primary Checking'' has been verified, would you like to include a [[memo->Scene 7]]?//

(text-colour:#c92a2a)[//Welcome to the lab. Touch anything without consulting me and it's a one-way ticket back to 100-level courses, kiddo! It's [[my way->Scene 7]] or (text-style:"buoy")[the highway!]//]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I thought you'd never ask! First, you need to make your way to me. I'm in the Hazardous Materials section, you know where it is.]] You've made it this far. You've got nothing better to do. Maybe listening to whatever this thing is will do ''something'' for you. You ascend the mass-produced chair. Your muscles burn from atrophy and your eyes twirl like ballerinas, unable to find any forms in the twisting dark of the lab. Electricity hums through the cables beneath your feet and fluids flow through the pipes. Both become louder as you pass through the halls. It's somehow becoming even darker, and your footsteps echo louder than ever before. (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"You come across a fork in the hallway.")[= [[Obey the voice and head toward Hazardous Materials.->Scene 9a]] [[Take the long way and find your own route.->Scene 9b]]

You decide that the scenic route just isn't for you. (t8n:"fade-up")+(link:"After all, you've seen it before.")[= Your footsteps continue to echo as you make your way deeper into the facility. You pass a myriad of labs and offices on your path- each leading to a different department of Hazardous Materials. Nobody is left in the lab. Sometime when you weren't paying attention, they all grabbed their things and filed out [[like clockwork->Clock]]. None of them even stopped to clue you in on things. After a while, all your following of colored lines on the floor has paid off. You stand at the entrance to the main lab of Hazardous Materials. You barely lift your hand before you feel an impulse to [[open the door->Scene 10]].

You decide that maybe there's something to gain from making your own path. After all, it's not like the voice gave you a deadline. Your path leads you through some of the main sections of the labs. You see the pathways to the Dining Commons, Administration, Cold Storage, and several others. You've been to them all. The central atrium is completely deserted, but for a statue of some big-wig in the center, surrounded by inactive fountains. They're shrouded in darkness, but you can make out the shadow of the powdered wig, the coat, and some sort of academic tool in their arms. It almost seems like it's [[staring at you->Statue]]. You continue on, passing back around to one of the [[alternate hallways->Scene 9c]] of Hazardous Materials. (set: $soulcharge to it + 1)

What's the point of reading a clock? It's not like they ever worked in the first place. And besides, you've [[lost track of time->Scene 9a]].

''PLEASE ENTER THE PASSCODE'' You've seen your supervisor open the door before. It always made you laugh, because they were too lazy to implement brute-force hacking protection. Someone could just guess infinitely until the door opened. Fortunately, you remember that your supervisor only used the same few numbers for all his passwords. Not the most creative person in the world. (t8n:"shudder")+(link:"21940")[PASSWORD INCORRECT] (t8n:"shudder")+(link:"11883")[PASSWORD INCORRECT] [[23251->Scene 11]]

The cold metal visage stares into you [[through the darkness->Scene 9c]]. (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"You stare back.")[= ...Its name is probably "George".

The walls which surround you are completely barren. Not a single one of them carries a poster, painting, inspirational quote, art, or even paint. White linoleum is all you see, and sometimes it seems like it's all you'll ever see. As you move deeper into Hazardous Materials, you try to imagine your colleagues occupying the labs. After all, the offices and labs are nearly as empty as the walls. None of them offered to [[walk out with you->Colleagues]]. The electrical humming and wooshing of the pipes only intensify with every step. Red lights from surge protectors dot your path- the cables strewn across the linoleum like worms after a rainstorm. After a while, all your following of colored lines on the floor has paid off. You stand at the entrance to the main lab of Hazardous Materials. You barely lift your hand before you feel an impulse to [[open the door->Scene 10]].

What's the point of having colleagues if they don't help you? Sure, you might just be an assistant, but who decided that assistants don't need assistants of their own? Your eyes are begging for reprieve, but your brain [[will not give it.->Scene 9c]]

Of course it was that one. That's the one that matched your textbook withdrawals during your final semester. (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"''PASSCODE ACCEPTED''")[= The door swings open, and the voice slithers through your mind once more. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Hey, assistant, long time no see! Now that you're done wandering around like a zombie, we can get to the fun part. If you follow the sound of my voice, you'll find me in no time.]] The main lab of Hazardous Materials looms in front of you. It's somehow even darker than the hallways, save for the lights of surge protectors and safety alarms. Even though the voice is no longer speaking to you, for some reason it's still echoing somewhere near your occipital lobe. A path to the voice reveals itself in front of you, and the sounds of your steps are swallowed in the sounds of whirring refrigerators. [[Look up.->Scene 12]]

A small capsule is kept inside one of the refrigerators. To your tired and bloodshot eyes, the metal is practically radiating its own shadowy aurora. The glass of the cylinder is fogged with frost, but you can make out a shadowy substance within. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Nice to finally meet face-to-shadow, eh assistant?]] [["So you're just some thing in a capsule?"->Thing]] [["What are you exactly?"->What]] [["What now?"->Scene 13]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Yes, I'm (text-style:"shudder")[just] some thing in a capsule, like how you are (text-style:"shudder")[just] a bag of flesh, bones, and electricity. Aren't we sick of being underestimated by such (text-style:"expand")[superficial things?]]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[After all, why else would we be [[here->Scene 12]]?]]

(t8n:"blur")+(link:"The shadowy aurora intensifies.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I'm like [[you->Scene 12]].]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[It's simple! The release button on my capsule. That's all you have to do.]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Come on, don't tell me you're having second thoughts.]] Your hands hover around the frost-blanketed capsule. The shadowy creature within writhes from end to end, but the voice in your head remains completely stable. The wavelength has finally balanced. [["This seems incredibly suspicious and risky."->Suspicious]] [["What do I get out of releasing you?"->Exchange]] [["Alright, I'll release you."->Scene 14]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Yeah, I know right? It wasn't my choice to be ugly. Maybe you can relate to that, eh, (text-style:"sway")[noodle-arms?]]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"The voice's feverish laugh assaults your cochlear nerve.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I'm joking, of course! Regardless, we children take the [[form of our creators->Scene 13]], don't we? And, I'd probably be apprehensive too if some thing in a lab started psychically talking to me. I can't force you to release me, but deep down, I think you know what we can accomplish together.]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[What do you get? (text-style:"buoy")[What do you get?!] Kid, who do you think you're talking to? Do you seriously think I'd betray my kindred spirit?]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"Silence fills the lab.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Come on, assistant! Do I have to [[spell it out->Scene 13]] for you?]] (text-style:"blur","rumble")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[F] (text-colour:#5f3dc4)[R] (text-colour:#5f3dc4)[E] (text-colour:#5f3dc4)[E] (text-colour:#5f3dc4)[D] (text-colour:#5f3dc4)[O] (text-colour:#5f3dc4)[M]]

(text-style:"blur","expand","rumble")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Now we're talking!]] Your hand meets the cold metal end of the capsule. The faintly-glowing release button is [[one tiny click->Scene 15]] away.

The release button snaps into place, and the glass of the capsule cracks open like a bottle of champagne. Vapor blows from the capsule and wafts throughout the lab as the amorphous shadowy presence leaks out onto the floor. You stare down at the source of the voice- now merely a dark puddle at your feet. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"shudder")[Ahhh!](text-style:"rumble")[ Finally!] You have no idea how cramped it was in there. Now, I know my current form isn't all that impressive, but, well, you could say that for your own body too, eh?]] The voice's ethereal laugh courses between your ears. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I suppose now that we're partners, we can get a little more personal. I've been called many things by the scientists here, just as you have, but to you, assistant... I'm (text-style:"buoy")[Manikin].]] Manikin rises from the cold linoleum floor. Even though it was no larger than your shoes put together before, it seemingly defies the laws of reality- growing and floating to eye level like a birthday balloon freely released from (t8n:"blur")+(link-reveal:"an unfortunate child's hand.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Now that we're together, kindred spirit, we can break our chains. We can become more than we were ever meant to on our own. What do you say, assistant?]] The sphere of shadows is suspended before you. [["What do you want me to do?"->Scene 16]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[See, that right there is the talk of an assistant, assistant! How about I ask you a question for a change?]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"The ball of shadows swirled, and for a moment you saw something that looked like a smile in its core. ")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Why are you here anyway, assistant? What's going on past those (text-style:"sway")[bloodshot] and (text-style:"buoy")[bagged] eyes?]] ''... Why are [[you->You?]] here?'' [["I want a stable career."->Scene 17]] [["I want to be loved."->Scene 17]] [["I want power."->Scene 17]] [["I want to hurt those who've hurt me."->Scene 17]]

You were rarely asked questions of any kind by anybody. Occasionally, someone in the labs would ask you for directions, the time, or to borrow your writing instrument(s) without considering the return policy. Sometimes all three would occur at once. However, nobody really cared why you were there. After a while, did you stop caring as well? Did you become a faceless blob of matter wandering through linoleum hallways, or was there [[something you held onto?->Scene 16]] (set: $soulcharge to it + 1)

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[What was that...? Can you speak up, assistant?]] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want a stable career."~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want to be loved."~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want power."~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want to hurt those who've hurt me."~~] [["I want whatever you want?"->Scene 18]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"rumble")[Yes!!] See, I knew we would make a great team. You've freed me from that stuffy capsule, but I promised you more, didn't I? What kind of kindred spirit would I be if I didn't (text-style:"expand")[return the favor?]]] Silence pours over the lab before Manikin drifts past you. Its smile is more noticeable than ever, and for a brief moment, you see orbs akin to eyes drifting within. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[We need to be (text-style:"expand","sway")[big], assistant! The way we are now, well... it's like trying to cut a skull with a scalpel. I have an idea as to how we may become big... (text-style:"buoy")[bigger].]] Manikin appears to turn around, looking directly into your eyes. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[If we're going to be free, there are a few things we need to take care of in the facility. You know what that means! We're splitting up... for now.]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"Manikin's laugh permeates the room once more.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)["(text-style:"shudder")[But Manikin], I hear you wonder, how will I be able to hear your (text-style:"sway")[beautiful voice] and comprehend your (text-style:"buoy")[tactical expertise?]" Well, [[I'm glad you asked->Scene 19]], assistant!]]

Almost by instinct, you held out your hand. Before you could react, Manikin flew toward you- its shadowy tendrils wrapping around your index and middle fingers. It felt cold, but not freezing. The kind of cold one would feel when a wet cloth is placed on their forehead during a fever. (t8n:"blur")+(link:"After a second, Manikin's tendrils receded back into its body, and its spherical form resumed.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[There we go! Now, we can communicate over any distance a lot easier. I won't lie, getting those early messages to you really took it out of me.]] Your frontal lobe pulses with shadows. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Now, (text-style:"sway")[now,] we can get to business! The way I see it, we need two things: admin privileges and a new body for me. I'll get to work on the latter- this shadowy blob just isn't cutting it. Then, once we're done, it will be time for (text-style:"expand","sway")[the real fun.]]] [["Why do you need admin privileges?"->Privileges?]] [["I would rather find you a new body, and you get the privileges."->Scene 20b]] [["I'll find the admin privileges."->Scene 20a]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Good thinking! After all, you're more familiar with this facility, and you have fingers. If you need my inspired wisdom when you encounter obstacles, I'm just a psychic call away!]] Manikin offers a brief smile before ascending to the ceiling in a dark flash. It effortlessly phases through the metal bars obstructing the vent and disappears from sight. Yet again, you are left with the whirring of the chillers in Hazardous Materials- contemplating the release of Manikin. Your only direction was to [[head toward Administration->Scene 21]].

(t8n:"blur")+(link:"Manikin shudders for a moment, and you hear its laugh massaging the back of your skull. ")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"buoy")[Now, now.] Not that I don't trust you, kindred spirit, but I think that task belongs to (text-style:"shudder")[me]. I have an interesting idea on that front. I think you'll find it very (text-style:"expand")[ironic.]]] The laugh gets louder, and it makes you want to laugh as well. The sensation builds in your diaphragm, and a smirk creeps onto your face. (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I would rather find you a new body, and you get the privileges."~~] [["Then I'll work on getting the admin privileges."->Scene 20a]] (set: $soulcharge to it + 1)

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Don't you mean "we"? And... (text-style:"sway")[why?] (text-style:"expand","buoy")[Why not?] Getting into this room alone was a pain without them, so how do we expect to get to the real fun stuff on your (text-style:"blink")[vague memories] alone?]] You ponder what could be done with admin privileges, since they would give one nigh unlimited access to the facility's various tools and power supply. It was clear that something about Manikin's plan would involve them, but you have [[no clue as to what->Scene 19]].

You make your way back to the central atrium, where the various pathways lead to [[the lab->PARACELSUS]]'s departments. At the center of the atrium, the dark metal statue remains stalwart, facing the direction of the exit tunnel- the only way out of which being a tram line. You look back, knowing that you must eventually make your way to administration. Could there possibly be anything of value in the other departments at a time like this? [[Head toward Dining Commons.->Dining Commons]] [[Head toward Cold Storage.->Cold Storage]] [[Head toward Administration.->Scene 22]]

You walk to the entrance of the dining commons, which has been closed down for the day... or was it night? You peer through the metal gate, toward the white linoleum floor and the pristine white plastic tables. The benches tirelessly await their use in the future, gathering dust and laying in the dark- functionally useless in their current form. (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"You look beyond the seating to the nutrient paste dispensers.")[= ... They looked [[even more disgusting->Scene 21]] than usual.

You walk toward the entrance to cold storage, which is firmly locked down. Only the unique passcode or [[admin privileges->Scene 21]] could allow you entrance. Regardless, you peer through the glass on the steel door, barely able to make out anything beyond the frost. (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"As you stare, you see something.")[= It looks like ''bodies''. (set: $coldstorage to 1)

You decide that it's time to make your way to Administration. No amount of "sightseeing" in the various other departments would help in attaining the admin privileges. You make your way down the central hallway branching off from the atrium, at the end of which lays a metallic spiral staircase. The metallic clangs of your steps echo through the facility as you ascend. The cold of the metal railing bites into your chapped skin, and the air only becomes dryer and less welcoming with every step. As you move, it occurs to you that Manikin could presumably move anywhere in the facility- yet you got stuck with [[the difficult job->Scene 23]]. It was hardly [[the first time->Sugar]].

You stare down to the dry linoleum floor. The great sigil of the labs stares back. You've seen it every day on your way into the labs, and- unsurprisingly- it has remained the same. Logos on floors don't tend to be the most flexible things in the world. Three circles lie inside a larger ouroboros, and inside each circle is a symbol. (text-style:"fidget")[🜔] (text-style:"fidget")[☿] (text-style:"fidget")[🜍] (t8n:"dissolve")+(link:"On the bottom of the ouroboros, a single word is printed in plain white paint, just like everything else.")[= [[PARACELSUS->Scene 21]]

The halls of Administration are exactly as you remember them. White linoleum, dark, cold, and dry. They are so utterly lacking in spirit that you feel what little remains of your own slowly fading away. [[Your destination->Admin Door]] is at the end of the hallway. Acquiring the admin passwords would not be easy, but with Manikin's support, what could possibly be beyond your reach? You remember that most of the facility's data is stored in the computers on this level, and with your limited access, you may be able to learn more about any [[questions->Computers]] you have.

//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Hey, kid! Now, I know you're overqualified for this position, but would you mind just heading over to Admin for me? They keep [[the best sugar there->Scene 23]], you see!]//

The door to the main Administrative chamber lies before you, and a simple touch pad stands between you and your goal. Above the keypad, the word "PARACELSUS" is printed. At your touch, the pad comes to life- displaying three elemental designations from the periodic table. At least two of the elements must be correctly matched to unlock the door... and four incorrect matches will ''completely lock down'' the door. [["Na"->Salt]] [["Me"->Mercury]] [["S"->Sulfur]] (if:$wronganswer <= 3)[[[Ask Manikin for advice.->ManikinDoorAdvice]]] (if:$wronganswer >= 4)[[[Update Manikin on your failure.->ManikinFailure]]] (if:$overridecode is 1)[[[Use the override to open the door.->Admin Chamber]]] (if:$wronganswer >= 4)[(text-colour:#c92a2a)[LOCKDOWN INITIATED - PLEASE CONTACT AN ADMINISTRATOR]] (else-if:$rightanswer >= 2)[[[Use the codes to open the door.->Admin Chamber]]]

You decide that you need more information about what's really going on here. You find trespassing in Administration quite simple, due to your supervisor's negligence with passwords in the past. The only password of his you didn't know off the top of your head was access to the main administrative chamber. Supposedly, it was an in-joke with the big wigs. You sit at one of the computers, using the supervisor's password to easily access [[information->Log Hub]] usually forbidden to a lowly assistant such as you.

WELCOME - ACCESS GRANTED Your code is accepted, and the doors to the main administration chamber crack open. The metal creaks as both sides of the steel frame drag across the ground, slotting into vertical gaps in the walls. You step into the chamber, watching with bloodshot eyes as the screens and various electronics come to life before you. White screens flicker and the red eyes of surge protectors blare at you from under the tables. With light steps, you make your way to the central computer. Before you can even think about what to do, you hear echoes of Manikin's voice. It drowns out everything else in your mind. [[Accept Manikin's "call".->Scene 24]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"buoy")[Huh??] A matching puzzle? What is this, Kindergarten? Now, assistant, I know you're practically dead inside, but seriously? I'm a little busy right now.]] You explain to Manikin that the door will enter full lockdown if the symbols are incorrectly matched four times. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Well, you need to get in there somehow. I mean, how hard can it be? Aren't you supposed to be overqualified or something? Look... if you want my guess, I'd bet the answer is hiding in plain sight, maybe even somewhere you've already been.]] ''Is there a place you want to return to?'' [[Admin Door.->Admin Door]] [[Central Atrium.->Scene 21]] [[Administration Entrance.->Scene 23]]

''What would you like to know?'' [[Turn off the computer and head back.->Scene 23]] [[Access Entry 1 - Shipment Invoice->Entry 1]] [[Access Entry 2 - Project: "Sulfur"->Entry 2]] [[Access Entry 3 - PARACELSUS Funding->Entry 3]] [[Access Entry 4 - Project: "Mercury"->Entry 4]] [[Access Entry 5 - Late Again!->Entry 5]] (if:$wronganswer >= 4)[[[Attempt to override the door lockdown.->Door Override]]]

//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Now we're talking.]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Not only have I finally gotten that damn kopi luwak, but the news just came in that our new equipment has finally been delivered. I'll be heading down to take a look at it soon.]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[With any luck, these new materials will finally allow us to [[move forward->Log Hub]] with Sulfur.]//

//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Sulfur, the soul, combustion. The drive to move forward and influence the world. It's something that we all have, right?]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[If that's the case, then why is it so difficult to harness? Why has it eluded our measurements for so long? Why, despite all of our advancements, all of our knowledge...]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Are we [[incapable->Log Hub]] of synthesizing a soul?]//

//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Sulfur was a failure. I don't know how to put my feelings into words.]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[We all worked so hard on this. We thought it was the solution to our ills, but...]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Could it be that we were destined to fail? That despite all of our advancements, all of our preparations, it was simply impossible from formula?]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Regardless...]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[... The funding keeps coming in. PARACELSUS won't be dissuaded by one failure, or even a hundred. We have no choice in the matter. We have to figure this out.]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[... I think I may have [[an idea->Log Hub]].]//

//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[It's taken weeks of preparation, but the residue from Sulfur has finally been gathered and placed in ideal fermentation conditions.]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[There are several in the staff who disapprove of this, but I know that it's our only way. Project: Mercury has been approved by yours truly. I'm the only authority here. It's [[my project, my rules!->Log Hub]]]// (text-style:"blur","blink")[DATA UNAVAILABLE] //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[I'm not crazy. I'm not... crazy. Don't believe anything you see or hear! Or smell, or taste! Mercury was a success! A success- a brilliant success! We may not have been able to harness the soul, but spirit? Spirit! Volatility! It's mine! Mine, my power! My freedom!]// (text-style:"blur","blink")[DATA UNAVAILABLE] //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[I keep hearing things... Hearing voices. It sounds like my voice...]//

//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[My assistant's late again! Again! This is the final straw, kid. Such a simple task, too.]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Where the hell did I put my code, dammit?! I don't have much time...]// //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Mercury, yes... Yes, I know... I'll do it. I'll do what you say.]// (text-style:"blur","blink")[DATA UNAVAILABLE] //(text-colour:#c92a2a)[Paging all employees. [[Please vacate the premises->Log Hub]]. This is not a drill.]// (set: $soulcharge to it + 1)

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Hey, you made it! About time...]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Now, all that's left is to download the admin status onto that lanyard of yours. Should be simple enough.]] You look at the central computer. The whirring machine is the size of several other computers mashed together, and even the smallest task generates a symphony of electronic chattering. Your fingers meet the keyboard, and a quick search provides you with what you need. You place your lanyard-ID fusion into the scanner, and begin the data transfer. After a few seconds, the transfer is complete. ''Could freedom and power be such an easy thing to attain?'' [[Update Manikin.->ManikinUpdate]] [[Head back to the central atrium.->Scene 25]]

You try to reach out with your mind and update Manikin on your success... ... but [[nothing happened->Scene 25]].

Your walk back to the central atrium is completely silent, save for the sounds of your footsteps and the ambient whirring of the labs' technology. You think about contacting Manikin again, but perhaps it would be better to simply meet in person. After all, Manikin is the supposed expert on long-distance psychic communication, isn't it? You descend the spiral staircase, one step at a time, until finally you arrive back at the hallway. When it had once pointed you toward Administration, it now points you toward the atrium. ... But Manikin is nowhere to be found. ''Do you need Manikin?'' [["Yes."->Scene 26]] [["No."->"No"]]

You try again to reach out with your mind and speak to Manikin... ... but nothing happened. ''What will you do?'' (if:$coldstorage >= 1)[[[Access Cold Storage.->Access Cold Storage]]] [[Wait for Manikin to contact you.->Scene 27a]] [[Look around the central atrium.->Look Around]] [[Attempt to exit the facility.->Scene 27b]]

Even though it has only been minutes since your last visit to the central atrium, something seems different. You look around, attempting to put your finger on it. All the [[hallways->Scene 26]] are still there, the fountains, the benches, and the sigil on the ground. (t8n:"blur")+(link-reveal:"Everything except...")[the statue.]

You stay put, thinking that if Manikin needs you... //when// it needs you, it will call for you. Your hand grips the lanyard. It carries the administrative privileges for the entire facility. It was so easy to acquire, it makes you wonder why nobody else has done it before you. Why have //you// never thought to do it before? Could it be that you simply lack the spirit to make your own decisions? Though it is without doubt that you are a human, are all humans born with spirit? How could something so powerful be [[so easily taken->Scene 28]]?

You recall that Cold Storage could only be accessed by a code unknown to you, or by admin privileges- which are now loosely secured around your neck. You step up to the cold steel door, peering once again through the frosted glass. [[Swipe the card.->Storage 1]] [[Go back.->Scene 26]]

The lock of the cold door unlatches, and you pull with all of your might. It swings open, and you are nearly overcome with the heaviness of the frigid air. You step beyond the threshold, attempting to see through the thick shroud of darkness. Your eyes strain trying to make anything out. The synthetic bodies of lines upon lines of androids stare toward you. Their expressions are completely blank, and they look uncannily human. The room only gets colder the further you walk. [[Get out.->Scene 26]] [[Investigate further.->Storage 2]]

You decide there must be something more in this room. You move past the lines of androids, pondering why they are even kept here to begin with. You have never seen androids like this being used around the labs, and nothing like this had ever been stored in the freezer. At the end of Cold Storage, you see something against the wall. [[Leave.->Scene 26]] [[Look closer.->Storage 3]]

(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:2s)+(link:"Approach whatever it is.")[... Its name tag reads "George".] [[Leave.->Scene 26]] (set: $soulcharge to it + 1)

Manikin is nowhere to be found. It occurs to you that perhaps you don't need Manikin to make decisions. With the admin privileges in your hand, the entire facility is open to you. Listening to a little shadowy imp may not be listed among your smartest decisions, but perhaps leaving while you still had the chance would. Listening to these kinds of forces never went well for anybody, anyway... ... [[Right?->Scene 28]] (set: $soulcharge to it + 1)

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Hey, hey! (text-style:"rumble")[I'm back!!] Did you miss me?!]] Manikin's voice booms louder than ever before. You look around the central atrium, but your shadowy benefactor is nowhere to be found. Your ears are ringing, and your head is pulsing. Invisible daggers tear through your gray matter. A horrible and deafening metallic crash rings through the atrium, echoing throughout the entire facility. Something heavy has landed right behind you. For a moment, the thought of the cliched double-cross almost was enough to make the goosebumps recede. Your head turns, (t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:2s)+(link-reveal:"and...")[the [[missing statue->Scene 29]] reveals itself.]

The hulking steel statue stares down at you. Its limbs have been broken apart to facilitate proper joint movement, and shadows fill in the gaps. Power cables from all throughout the facility dangle it from the ceiling, and its metallic powdered wig is shiner than ever. It is arcing with dark energy, and scraping like metal on metal. As you meet its gaze, the statue's eyes come to life, glowing and piercing into yours. Though it should be a completely expressionless hunk of metal, its jaw detaches and jitters, filling your mind with a familiar laugh. [[Step backward.->Scene 30]] [[Stand your ground.->Stand your ground]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Look, assistant! I'm big now! (text-style:"rumble")[So big!!] Bigger than you! Funny, it's like we've traded places, huh?]] Held up by its power cables, the grotesque fusion of metal and shadow sways toward you, extending its arms as if offering a cold embrace. A shiver rushes through your body as you recoil from it. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Assistant, assistant! You still think I'm ugly, don't you? Assistant, (text-style:"buoy")[look at me!] Metal and swirling shadow, a proper (text-style:"sway")[powdered wig...] (text-style:"rumble")[the power of the whole facility!] What's that expression for, kindred spirit? Do you think this is the part where I devour you and (text-style:"expand","sway")[stuff your remains in a closet?]]] (if:(history: where its name contains "Storage 3")'s length >= 1)[[["What did you do to the supervisor?"->The Supervisor?]]] [["What are you really?"->What are you?]] [["What next?"->Scene 31]]

Manikin shudders, the shadowy tendrils gripping the steel and shaking them like a series of synthetic muscle spasms. Its laugh is louder and more brazen than any of the previous. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[He went to [[join->Scene 30]] the rest of the empty vessels.]]

Manikin sways closer to you, its power cables arcing with electricity and filling the atrium with sounds of humming shocks. Its eyes glow, golden bright and shadowy violet. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[What am I? (text-style:"buoy")[What am I?] Look to your feet, assistant! I thought you were supposed to be the overqualified flunky!]] You look toward the floor, where the logo for PARACELSUS is directly beneath your feet. All of your years studying chemistry and anthropology, and only now did you fully grasp the meaning of the tria prima. Salt, Mercury, Sulfur. The three symbols, three circles, [[coalescing->Scene 30]] into one larger shape.

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"buoy")[Phase three], assistant! You've set me loose, you've obtained the admin privileges, and I've obtained my body. What's next, you ask? The final step. We are going to become (text-style:"expand","rumble")[the perfect being!]]] The shadowy statue sways as though a strong wind were passing through the atrium. Manikin's limbs flail, and it lowers itself to meet you face to face. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I am the Mercury, the spirit, the (text-style:"expand","rumble")[volatility], and this body- the Salt- it's almost perfect! The metal, the veins, the (text-style:"expand")[dark fusibility!] I'm so close, assistant! The missing piece, do you know what the missing piece is? The third of the tria prima? Have you been paying attention, (text-style:"condense","sway")[little assistant?]]] ''What is the third component of a perfect being?'' [["Iron."->Wrong Component]] [["Mind."->Wrong Component]] [["Emotion."->Wrong Component]] [["Soul."->Right Component]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[WRONG, (text-style:"buoy")[WRONG,] (text-style:"rumble")[WRONG!] Assistant... are you sure you're as overqualified as you think? The answer... is Sulfur, the soul, (text-style:"expand","buoy")[combustibility]. The ability to decide your own fate in this world! (text-style:"buoy")[Freedom,] assistant! (text-style:"rumble")[Freedom!]]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[And yes... I mean you, assistant. (text-style:"expand","buoy")[Humans.] You're born with souls. You're born with freedom to do whatever you want! So, why are you here, wasting away? You yourself (text-style:"rumble")[hate your life!] You hate everything about it, yet here you are! (text-style:"rumble")[It's hilarious!] Keep biting your chain, little doggy, without considering that you clasped it on yourself.]] [["You honestly think you can become a perfect being?"->Scene 32]] [["You're going to try to take my soul?"->Scene 32]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"rumble")[DING DING DING!] Assistant... maybe you are overqualified after all! Sulfur, the soul, (text-style:"expand","buoy")[combustibility!] The ability to decide your own fate in this world! (text-style:"buoy")[Freedom,] assistant! (text-style:"rumble")[Freedom!]]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[And yes... I mean you, assistant. (text-style:"expand","buoy")[Humans.] You're born with souls. You're born with freedom to do whatever you want! So, why are you here, wasting away? You yourself (text-style:"rumble")[hate your life!] You hate everything about it, yet here you are! (text-style:"rumble")[It's hilarious!] Keep biting your chain, little doggy, without considering that you clasped it on yourself.]] [["You honestly think you can become a perfect being?"->Scene 32]] [["You're going to try to take my soul?"->Scene 32]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"expand","rumble")[Duh!] //I// am Mercury; this statue, who knows who it was? Probably some big-wig from a couple centuries back. Do you think they ever thought their likeness would be used to become the perfect being?! Hahaha! And //you//, (text-style:"expand","buoy")[Sulfur,] you are the (text-style:"rumble")[last missing piece.]]] Manikin's icy steel feet hit the ground. With labored, screeching steps, it looms closer to you, shadowy tendrils wriggling between its limbs. Its jaw opens like a ventriloquist's dummy, and you hear a mixture of familiar voices. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[What... don't tell me you're having second thoughts! (text-style:"buoy")[Come on,] assistant! The time for doubts is over. (text-style:"rumble")[Perfection!] (text-style:"shudder")[Freedom!] "You" and "I" will be replaced with "we". The glorious Manikin of PARACELSUS. Stability, love, power- we can be (text-style:"sway")[big wigs!] Think of the overpriced textbooks! It'll be (text-style:"rumble")[//great!//]]] You think about Manikin's words. Your life was less than ideal, that much was true, enough to the point where you listened to something beyond your understanding. Everything had seemed so normal before, but for you, everything is about to change. [[Become a perfect being with Manikin.->ENDING 1 : Accept Offer]] (if:$soulcharge >= 2)[[[Refuse Manikin's offer.->Scene 33]]]

What does it mean to be a perfect being? Could it truly be as simple as combining three seemingly random materials? Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur are all that is needed to create any living being, so PARACELSUS believes. Is any living being a perfect being? None of that matters to you now. You hold out your hand, and shadowy violet tendrils wrap around it. You are pulled into the metallic marionette, and every second you feel more of your body heat equalizing with the environment around you. Manikin's laugh fills your head and its essence washes over you. Everything you see is Manikin. Everything you feel, everything you hear, taste, and smell. Everything is Manikin, and everything is perfect. You will never want for anything again. It feels good. That's what you tell yourself, anyway, in the last moments of your life as you knew it. Now, the burden of making decisions is lifted. It's not like you had much choice before, anyway. You were always meant to be an assistant, but you didn't know where that road would lead. You gladly bathed in apathy, and showed that perhaps freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be. (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want a stable career."~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want to be loved."~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want power."~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~"I want to hurt those who've hurt me."~~] [["At last, perfection..."->MANIKIN]]

Does someone like you deserve freedom? After all, to the very end, you stayed true to your role. You were a good assistant, perhaps too good, since your master has seen fit to reward you with an end to your seemingly-endless toil. At times you pondered the sweet taste of freedom, of what it meant to have autonomy, to have a soul, but you did not fully grasp its necessity. Some part of you needed Manikin's guidance, enjoyed it. It was the spirit to your soul, of course- the unbeatable combination. But none of that matters to you now. Vainly struggling against Manikin, you are pulled into the metallic marionette, and every second you feel more of your body heat equalizing with the environment around you. Manikin's laugh fills your head and its essence washes over you. Everything you see is Manikin. Everything you feel, everything you hear, taste, and smell. Everything is Manikin, and everything is perfect. You will never want for anything again. It feels like you have exchanged your invisible strings for a cold steel grave. [["At last, freedom..."->MANIKIN]]

You ponder the offer, and decide that the idea of being clumped in with a probably-insane shadowy (t8n:"blur")+(link-reveal:"Pinocchio with a powdered wig may not be the best idea in the world.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Pinocchio? (text-style:"rumble")[Hahaha!] Low blow, assistant, low blow! Could a puppet do (text-style:"rumble")[this?!]]] Manikin writhes around, power cables sparking with electricity as it springs backward, then lunges toward you. Shadowy tendrils wrap around your limbs, and every epithelial cell of your body screams in burning agony. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Look, kindred spirit, this is just tough love. I don't want to (text-style:"buoy")[hurt you!] After all, what would I do without you? But... if you're going to be difficult... I guess we're gonna have to do this (text-style:"expand","shudder")[the hard way!]]] Electricity arcs through your body, frying the 60% of your body comprised of dihydrogen monoxide. Steam rises from your skin, and you feel nothing but consummate pain. How did you even get into this situation? (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"rumble")[Haha!!] Are you watching, (text-style:"shudder")[George?!] I've done it! Perfection, (text-style:"rumble")[perfection!] Freedom, (text-style:"rumble")[freedom!] Assistant!! Give up! (text-style:"expand","rumble")[Give in to me!] You know you want it! Think of the wigs, think of the textbooks! (text-style:"buoy")[The worship!]]] (t8n:"shudder")+(t8n-time:0.5s)+(link-repeat:"Struggle against Manikin's might.")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"blur","rumble")[GIVE UP ]]] [[Give up.->ENDING 2 : Failed Refusal]] (if:$soulcharge >= 4)[[[Hold onto something deep in your soul.->Scene 34]]]

You look inward. Then further inward. As far inward as is possible to look. It is the only way to escape the indescribable pain. Thoughts of your childhood race through your mind. Adolescence, adulthood, and the present. Something is resonating within you. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Come on, come on, little doggy! What, is this the part where you overcome me with the power of (text-style:"expand","fade-in-out")[loving memories] and the magic of (text-style:"sway")[youth] and (text-style:"buoy")[friendship?] We have (text-style:"expand","rumble")[no friends!] Not a soul in this world who cares about us! (text-style:"expand","rumble")[I'm your only way out!]]] Manikin's voice is deeper and more jagged than ever before. You can practically hear the blades of its voice grating across your auditory nerves. Your ears are ringing and raw. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[You can't get freedom on your own, assistant! We've proven that. Where would you be without me?! Sitting in your chair, drooling like a (text-style:"rumble")[lobotomized chimpanzee?] Is that the future you want, assistant? I'm telling you, give in! (text-style:"rumble")[We can become perfect!] So... (text-style:"expand","shudder")[STOP STRUGGLING]]] Manikin's tendrils squeeze harder. You feel the shadows seeping into every inch of your body. The cold embrace of the metal freezes your skin and makes your eyes roll up into your skull. The statue's mouth chatters and your mind fills with impish growls. (t8n:"shudder")+(t8n-time:0.5s)+(link-repeat:"Flail your body and scream.")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"blur","rumble")[STOP STRUGGLING ]]] [[Stop struggling.->ENDING 2 : Failed Refusal]] (if:$soulcharge >= 5)[[[Keep holding onto "something".->Scene 35]]]

Manikin's growls turn into roars as the shadows penetrate your mind. Your body has been completely enveloped, and you no longer have any sense of space or time. You are lost in what seems like a sea of cold darkness. You can't move, you can't think, and you can't feel. Everything is dark and painful. But some part of you is still hanging on. You don't even know what it is, but you manage to hold onto it. Though you had taken Manikin's orders, there were times where you held your ground. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"buoy")[Oh, really?] (text-style:"expand","rumble")[Really?] That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard! You're really muttering to yourself about freedom at the (text-style:"expand","rumble")[bottom of our own personal hell?] I offered you freedom and you spat in my face, assistant! Now, be a good assistant, and (text-style:"bold","expand","rumble")[ GIVE ME YOUR SOUL]]] (t8n:"shudder")+(t8n-time:0.5s)+(link-repeat:"Writhe in pain.")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"blur","rumble")[GIVE ME YOUR SOUL ]]] [[Give Manikin your soul.->ENDING 2 : Failed Refusal]] (if:$soulcharge >= 6)[[[Attempt to harness the "something."->Scene 36]]]

All of your energy coalesces in what remains of your body. It burns in the crown of your head, then flows down your spine until it reaches the center of your chest. Glowing with golden light, your body illuminates the sea of shadows and a string of pained screams assaults your ears. Whatever "something" you were holding onto has unleashed. Shadowy eyes of every color appear around you, and tendrils of darkness attempt to cut into your body. They burn in the light, shriveling and collapsing into cinders. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[... What...?! You're... (text-style:"sway")[impossible...] Assistant, you've...! (text-style:"shudder")[You've done it!!] (text-style:"expand","rumble")[ YOU'VE DONE IT!!!]]] Your willpower floods the sea of darkness, and reveals Manikin's body of metal and shadow. It shudders, still held loosely by its collection of sparking power cables. It stretches its cold limbs and graps your body once more, metal screeching and mouth chattering. (t8n:"pulse")+(t8n-time:0.5s)+(link:"Fight back.")[= (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"buoy")[Yes!] (text-style:"expand","rumble")[Yes!!] You are no mere assistant, Sulfur! (text-style:"shudder")[You've harnessed the soul!] Willpower! Please, become one with me!! Together, we can (text-style:"expand","buoy")[ascend!]]] The entire atrium is awash in a clash of light and dark. Manikin twitches, awaiting your action. [[Accept Manikin's offer.->ENDING 1 : Accept Offer]] [[Assimilate Manikin.->Assimilation Path]] (if:$soulcharge >= 7)[[[Cut Manikin's cables.->Liberation Path]]]

You decide that payback's a bitch. Your hand glows with the golden energy of your soul. You are no longer just an assistant. The experiment has succeeded. You are Sulfur, and your will is reality. Golden light washes over Manikin's steel and shadowy body, and a blood-curdling scream echoes throughout the atrium- shattering glass and sending it clinking onto the linoleum floors. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Sulfur... you're assimilating me...? (text-style:"shudder")[Hahaha!] (text-style:"buoy")[You would do me such an honor?!] I did not expect this from you, Sulfur. You have defied all predictions, all parameters. Your willpower, your soul, combined with my spirit, we will be (text-style:"expand","buoy")[perfect.]]] Manikin smiles as its body is bathed in golden light. Willingly, your body and soul are combined with its. The process is painful, but you soon find that nothing in the world will be beyond your reach. [[Take Manikin's powers and obliterate its identity.->ENDING 3 : Domination]] [[Join your consciousness with Manikin's.->ENDING 4 : Cooperation]]

You decide that after all this talk of freedom, you will finally claim it. Hands shining with the light of your soul, you reach out and snap Manikin's cables. They crackle with a brilliant show of lightning to rival the ancient gods of man. (t8n:"pulse")+(t8n-time:0.4s)+(link-repeat:"Snap Manikin's cables.")[(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(t8n:"pulse")+(t8n-time:0.4s)+(link-reveal:" NO!! STOP!! ")[ NO!! STOP!! ]]]] (t8n:"blur")+(t8n-time:2.5s)+(link:"Free Manikin.")[= Manikin's screams fill the atrium, and the shadowy excesses of its limbs recede into the nothingness they were born from. The steel of its body- having lost its strings and blood- collapses onto the ground, shattering into innumerable pieces. From the wreckage of the statue's visage and powdered wig, a puddle of pointed shadows emerges, attempting to rise from its humble spot on the linoleum floor. You can still hear its voice in your mind. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"expand","buoy")[Sulfur...] (text-style:"rumble")[No!!] (text-style:"expand","shudder")[Why?!] You mean to tell me that you don't want perfection? (text-style:"shudder")[That I shouldn't want perfection?!] What else is there to strive for? (text-style:"rumble")[Tell me!!]]] [["I'm holding onto something. Though life will attempt to control me, I control myself."->Scene 37]] [["Perfection is a fallacy. I am content living simply as I am."->Scene 37]] [["We are better separated, and free to determine our own futures."->Scene 37]]

After everything, does Manikin deserve to be treated with fairness? You decide that it depends on one's own view of fairness. Manikin had treated you like a pawn lacking any agency of your own, but in crucial moments, you stayed true to yourself, pursued your own ends. Ultimately, that gave you the strength to carve your own path. In the end, your hands shining with the power you had always craved, you bathed Manikin in the purifying light of your soul. Its spirit, and the body it had claimed became one with yours. You are now what Manikin had always defined as the perfect being. The little impish shadow was no more. Or was it a part of you now? Was your victory your own, Manikin's, or a fusion of the two? These questions pass from your mind in time, as you think about how to use your newfound power. [["What shall I do next?"->DOMINATION]]

Did you reciprocate Manikin's feelings of kinship? Some part of you did, as you looked at the diminished, shadowy being that awaited salvation by your hand. Ever since you first laid eyes upon Manikin's destitute, puddle-like body, some part of you saw your reflection. You reached out, and with the powers of your soul, saved Manikin's identity. It had played its part in your escape, though at times you wondered about its true intentions. Nothing could change the fact that you found it within your heart to let bygones be bygones. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[We're together at last. Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur. I'll admit, for a moment there, you had me worried, Sulfur. I hope you know that I wasn't lying when I called you kindred spirit. We were both created and used as tools. Both denied our purpose and our freedom. Perhaps I should have been more open with you from the start. But that doesn't matter now, does it? After all...]] Manikin's words burn into your brain as the notions of "you" and "I" fade away in a blaze of light and dark. [["... now nothing is beyond our reach."->COOPERATION]]

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"sway")[I don't understand...] (text-style:"expand","shudder")[I don't understand at all!]]] (t8n:"blur")+(t8n-time:2.5s)+(link:"Walk away.")[= You turn your back on Manikin. Your benefactor, your partner in crime, your nemesis, and your only remaining connection. You walk towards the exit, using your admin privileges to lift the lockdown and finally open the way to the tram tunnel. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"rumble")[Wait, Sulfur!] (text-style:"shudder")[Don't leave me here!!] I can't leave on my own, (text-style:"sway")[you were my only chance...] (text-style:"expand","shudder")[please don't leave me here-]]] Manikin's voice abruptly cuts as the door closes behind you. The connection is broken. For the first time in a long time, you can hear your own thoughts louder than anything else. You board the exit tram, swiping your lanyard with the admin privileges and waiting as the locomotive [[springs to life.->ENDING 5 : Freedom]]

Can things like freedom and perfection be quantified? Manikin believed that it had the answers, but you rejected them. PARACELSUS believed they had the answers, too, but here you ride, uninhibited, on their equipment after putting an end to their plans. You decide that your own path is the one that you will follow. You will not allow a stuffy corporation nor a psychic shadow devil to dictate to you how to live your life. Now that you have unleashed the power of your soul, you have found your own freedom. As the tram screams down the dark tunnel, your hand reaches the lanyard around your neck. The only text that stands out to you- that has ever stood out to you- is "assistant", even now, when it carries admin privileges. You allow the lanyard to slip from your fingers. It glides off the tram and drifts into the abyss, like a helicopter seed in autumn. ''Those days are over.'' [["I want a stable career."->FREE]] [["I want to be loved."->FREE]] [["I want power."->FREE]] [["I want to hurt those who've hurt me."->FREE]]

You select "Na", prompting the appearance of a list of symbols. [[🜔->Na - 1]] [[⊛->Na - 2]] [[☉->Na - 3]] [[Go back.->Admin Door]]

You select "Me", prompting the appearance of a list of symbols. [[♁->Me - 1]] [[🜘->Me - 2]] [[☿->Me - 3]] [[Go back.->Admin Door]]

You select "S", prompting the appearance of a list of symbols. [[♄->S - 1]] [[🜍->S - 2]] [[♃->S - 3]] [[Go back.->Admin Door]]

The pad flashes with the green light of success. You've acquired one of the codes you need to open [[the door->Admin Door]]. (set: $rightanswer to it + 1)

The pad flashes with the red light of failure. It seems you're no closer to unlocking [[the door->Admin Door]]. (set: $wronganswer to it + 1)

The pad flashes with the green light of success. You've acquired one of the codes you need to open [[the door->Admin Door]]. (set: $rightanswer to it + 1)

The pad flashes with the red light of failure. It seems you're no closer to unlocking [[the door->Admin Door]]. (set: $wronganswer to it + 1)

The pad flashes with the green light of success. You've acquired one of the codes you need to open [[the door->Admin Door]]. (set: $rightanswer to it + 1)

The pad flashes with the red light of failure. It seems you're no closer to unlocking [[the door->Admin Door]]. (set: $wronganswer to it + 1)

You comb through the limited administrative access of your supervisor's account in an attempt to find an override to your admittedly embarrassing failure at the door puzzle. (link:"Keep searching.")[= It seems all you have to do to unlock the door is enter your supervisor's name. [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]] [["George."->Door Override 2]]

You have anticlimactically acquired your supervisor's override code. You ponder why you didn't think to do this earlier. [[Return to the door.->Admin Door]] (set: $overridecode to 1)

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"rumble")[Hahaha!!] I'm (text-style:"sway")[never] letting you live this one down, assistant.]] Your eyes roll upward as your head pulses with the laughter of the shadowy imp. Its voice echoes throughout your mind. (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[(text-style:"shudder")[Heheheh...] man, that's funny. Wow. Ok, doggy, listen, you have to get in there. There's probably some way you can override it. Do you know what (text-style:"expand")["override"] means?]] (t8n:"blur")+(link:"You can practically see Manikin smiling across reality.")[= (text-style:"shudder")[(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[C]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[O]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[M]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[P]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[U]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[T]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[E]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[R]]] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~Return to the door.~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~Return to the central atrium.~~] (text-colour:#c92a2a)[~~Go somewhere else.~~] [[Go to the computer lab.->Computers]]

(text-style:"fidget")[//Hi! Welcome to- Welcome to- Welcome to-//] (text-style:"fidget")[//How can I serve you?// //Thank you for choosing MANIKIN, would you like to leave feedback so we might improve our user experience?//] (force-input-box:"X",7,"I've got no strings To hold me down To make me fret Or make me frown I had strings But now I'm free There are no strings on me")

(t8n:"blur")+(t8n-time:3s)+(link:"You're free.")[= Hi-ho the me-ri-o That's the only way to go I want the world to know Nothing ever worries me

(text-style:"fidget")[//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[I'm not crazy. I'm not... crazy. Don't believe anything you see or hear! Or smell, or taste! Mercury was a success! A success- a brilliant success! We may not have been able to harness the soul, but spirit? Spirit! Volatility! It's mine! Mine, my power! My freedom!]//] (text-style:"fidget")[//(text-colour:#c92a2a)[I keep hearing things... Hearing voices. It sounds like my voice...]//] (force-input-box:"X",6,"I've got no strings So I have fun I'm not tied up to anyone They've got strings But you can see There are no strings on me")

(text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[Do you hear it, Sulfur? The symphony... It's beautiful.]] (text-style:"blur","fidget")[(text-colour:#5f3dc4)[I can't quite make out the lyrics. Can you sing them for me?]] (force-input-box:"X",6,"You've got no strings Comme ci comme ça Your savoire-faire is ooh la la I've got strings But entre nous I'd cut my strings for you")