A decision entirely up to you.

That’s easier said than done. Truth is a weird thing, really. Truth is needed, it always is, but it can be abused if it’s in the hands of someone who knows how to use it for their own selfish needs. Truth can help, and truth can hurt.

Really, what it comes down to is “who would use the truth for the right reasons”?

There’s some discussion among you on how to proceed. Some immediately step out from being considered for the position of a receiver of truth- Joe averts his eyes and coughs, Daniel shakes his head with an apologetic gesture. Thalia brings up another consideration – who is likely to share it, and who is likely to keep it for themselves? And what of the nature of this truth?

Camilla scoffs. She doesn’t believe that anything that Cancel is sharing is worth knowing. She’s out. Connor is interested in hearing it, claiming he will be impartial, as he is a scientist. There’s a sound as if someone is stifling a scoff. Thalia lowers her hand from her mouth and says she’s willing to receive the truth, as well. She has a level head, after all. Thinking about it, you, Kate Greenwood, would very much like to hear what Cancel has to say but…if you have to be perfectly honestly, you’d probably spend half the time trying to punch Cancel’s face on the monitor to make yourself feel better. So you’re probably out. So, is it going to be Thalia, or Connor…?

And then someone speaks up. Someone none of you had been expecting to even consider being the receiver of wisdom.



The discussion is done. Cancel seems pleased enough. Though none of you ever wants to hear Cancel being pleased by anything, at this point.

You are KATE GREENWOOD and you make your way down the hallway after the weird Cancel robot. Wasn’t this the same hallway that Seth went down? You don’t even need to think that hard about the answer, because suddenly your sneaker trods upon something hard and flat.

You look up, only to see an incredible mess. Pieces and torn limbs of what was a robot, strewn apart as if the thing was a piñata at a birthday party. Cancel’s robot turns its head.

Is all he says, the robot sliding around the parts, whirring, before moving on down the hallway. Most of you stop and stare at the destruction.

That robot is made of metal, isn’t it? That thing is made of METAL. And Seth ripped it apart.

What if he had gotten hold of any of you?

Would you now be wandering around the organs and body parts of a human being?

…

You feel sick to your stomach. You swallow, and move on.

You’re thankful it’s just a robot.




Finally, the hallway ends, and you come into a…very strange room. It’s circular, for one. And there are three doors around you.

You really can’t pay attention to the doors yet, though, because it’s what is in the door that is catching your eye.

A sculpture of some kind, of the head of, surprise surprise, an angel. Though this one’s gruesome to look at. Pieces of it are missing, cracks in it revealing something…strange underneath. A watchful red eye. Rows of gray squares that look uncomfortably like teeth.

You don’t like it. You really don’t.

You say, pointing to the thing, while noticing that, out of the corner of your eye, there’s two heads just like it, each on its own door. Cancel clicks his tongue.

You have to agree with Camilla on that one.



Now that you’ve all entered the room, you have the chance to really take a moment to take it all in. You thought the ceilings on the previous room were pretty high up.

This…this is a HUGE room.

And not only that – while the three doors are big enough for any regular guy to walk through, they’re framed by what seems to be far larger doors. Are they really doors? Maybe it’s just the small ones that count, not unlike how those doors work to the entrance of some churches you’ve seen. Like, the big ones have to just be for aesthetic, right?

Cancel positions himself near the entrance of the door straight across from the entrance to the room, folding the robot’s hands behind it in a seemingly polite manner.

Oh.

You had been thinking of Seth earlier, with the robot murder before. But you’re now just realizing that you hadn’t even been thinking of where Seth went. The hallway doesn’t go anywhere else. Did he go the other way, backtrack perhaps? Is he going to come here?

Cancel laughs.

> Abigail as truthbearer



Abigail shakes her head.

All of you are silent. She didn’t see what Seth did to the robot. She has no idea what she might be up against.

Your name is ABIGAIL FAUST, and irritation is rising in you like water from a bubbling fountain. You’re tired of this place. You’re tired of everything. Seth is still out there suffering, and everyone else just wants to argue about how you have to be sheltered from everything else.

You take a deep breath. You can’t be mad. You have to be good. You have to be a good girl…

You really hate his voice.

You hate his voice, because it’s reminding you of what happened to Seth. So dark and empty. The millions of knives just there, waiting in the dark for someone to wander too close. Any ghost you’ve talked to barely comes near how afraid you feel when you hear Cancel speak. You’d take a million ghosts any day over him.

But you have to go on. You have so many questions to ask him, and you want to hear the truth, whatever it is.

Can you really put your trust in a monster like that...?

>Abigail: Put your trust in a monster like that.



Unfortunately, you really see no other way around this. You could go on ahead, prove to everyone that you’re a big girl who can do things on yourself, but you have no idea what’s ahead of you. There could be a big hole in the floor and you wouldn’t know.

You don’t want to go with Cancel. But you have no choice.

You’re helpless. That's just a fact.



You reach upward, hesitantly letting your hand wrap around what seems to be cold metal. Sort of like the Minims, you think, except you’d rather be holding a Minim any day than have to walk hand in hand with a robot that is controlled entirely by Cancel.

There’s some strange mechanical noise, offset by a loud creaking sound. A sudden rush of cool air comes out at you, and you feel a sudden tug at your hand. The robot is probably moving. As you step forward, you hear the hesitant voice of Connor from behind you.

You don’t reply.

You don’t reply.

You don’t reply.

You’re on your own, now.

Nobody will tell you what you can and cannot do. Not Connor. Not Joe. Not Kate or anyone else. Not even Cancel.

Especially not Cancel.

>Abigail: is Seth's current state permanent?



You hear the sounds of the doors shutting behind you, stone shifting as they push against each other. It’s cooler here than in the other room. So far, the both of you seem to be going straight without moving to the side or anywhere else, so you assume it’s just a straight corridor of sorts. Cancel is strangely quiet, not a single word of his terrible voice breaking the silence, so you decide to speak up instead.

Cancel laughs. Each laughs stabs into your mind, like a set of voracious needles.

It feels like he’s slapped you across the face. Your voice trips over itself, your heart racing as you try to speak.

WARNING FOR WRITING/FLASHING IMAGES SUGGESTING PHYSICAL ABUSE

> "...It sure sounds like I hit a nerve."



You don’t want to talk about this. Cancel is trying to get you angry, he has to be, and you need to change the subject, and you need to change the subject NOW.

And suddenly, without warning, your hand gets jerked forward – you let out a slight yelp of pain. The terrible voice is closer now, and it’s so strange, because for a moment, it feels like something is pressing a finger into your mind, not unlike when you feel there’s a ghost around. But this time, it’s not a voice that comes to you, but a series of images and sound and feeling that briefly overwhelm you. A choked gasp comes from the back of your throat.

Somebody strangling another, laughing, the sudden feeling of metal fingers curling so hard around your neck, a hissed set of words, I LOVE YOU MY CHILD MY CHILD BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IN THIS WRETCHED WORLD WILL EVER LOVE YOU-

The image in your head is displaced by the sharpness of Cancel’s voice. The scene is gone.

>Even if I don't seem like it, I care for them because they've been in my life for so long



You’ve had enough.

You don’t care anymore. You raise your voice, trying to jerk your hand back out of the robot’s grip. You feel like you've never been this mad before.

Cancel is oddly silent in response to your yelling. Perhaps he hadn’t been expecting it. You don’t care at all.

God, you’d wish he’d die.

He suddenly speaks up to interrupt you. You swear you can almost hear him smiling.

You can already feel tears welling up in your eyes. It’s like a wave of emotion that you’ve been holding back is just overflowing in you, spilling out in the form of sobs and tears.