The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God
04-21-2016, 02:16 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-20-2020, 03:15 AM by theredlamp.)
![[Image: pQKp3.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pQKp3.png)
![[Image: ARaMvcR.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/ARaMvcR.gif)
TUMBLR | MIRROR
TV TROPES PAGE
CANCEL'S COMPUTER (CONTAINS SPOILERS, UPDATES ON ITS OWN TIME)
PLEASE READ THIS SPOILER BEFORE READING THE ADVENTURE:
CONTAINS IMPORTANT CONTENT INFORMATION
SpoilerShow
This adventure is a horror adventure. Therefore, it will contain very terrible, horrific events that will be uncomfortable or unpleasant to see/read. I can say that the maximum rating for such an adventure would be PG-13- I can definitely say that this adventure contains no gore, no nudity, no sexual scenarios, and very little language.
However, despite this, the adventure touches upon and even explores some themes and aspects of horror which people might find unwelcome, as well as personal issues that people experience in their everyday lives. Here are the more general ones:
Body horror
Violence towards self and others
Abuse (physical and verbal)
Mentions of suicide
Sadism
Possession
Human experimentation
Psychological torture and intentional triggering
Science fiction horror (think Alien)
For more specific triggers, I will often list them directly before the update addressing them in question. If you have anything to add or any questions about these triggers, PM me! I want to make this a good experience for anyone, so if you're uncomfortable about the way I treat an issue or trigger in the adventure, don't hesitate to notify me about it.
However, despite this, the adventure touches upon and even explores some themes and aspects of horror which people might find unwelcome, as well as personal issues that people experience in their everyday lives. Here are the more general ones:
Body horror
Violence towards self and others
Abuse (physical and verbal)
Mentions of suicide
Sadism
Possession
Human experimentation
Psychological torture and intentional triggering
Science fiction horror (think Alien)
For more specific triggers, I will often list them directly before the update addressing them in question. If you have anything to add or any questions about these triggers, PM me! I want to make this a good experience for anyone, so if you're uncomfortable about the way I treat an issue or trigger in the adventure, don't hesitate to notify me about it.
Hello, hello! Long time, no update! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Friday, and I'm the author and artist of an adventure called The Human Game, which I started back all the way in 2013. It's a horror adventure/ontological mystery that focuses on eight people who wake up to find themselves involved in a strange competition hosted by a masked mastermind - the prize is something far more precious than life itself. Sad to say, I am also a refugee of the MSPA Forums, so I'm here to continue the adventure and keep The Human Game alive.
If you're new to the adventure, welcome! You can catch up with the adventure by using the mirror, which is up to date (excuse the art in the beginning, it DOES get better, trust me). For those of you who aren't new, welcome back! Thank you to all the fans who have been so patient with me throughout these months - I'm so SO grateful for all your support and interest.
Now...onto the newest update, which can be found under the spoiler:
If you're new to the adventure, welcome! You can catch up with the adventure by using the mirror, which is up to date (excuse the art in the beginning, it DOES get better, trust me). For those of you who aren't new, welcome back! Thank you to all the fans who have been so patient with me throughout these months - I'm so SO grateful for all your support and interest.
Now...onto the newest update, which can be found under the spoiler:
SpoilerShow
![[Image: jv6m0M8.png]](https://i.imgur.com/jv6m0M8.png)
You and Camilla make your way back. You don’t know where the others could’ve went, but, well, there are only so many places they could’ve gone. Sure enough, as you step up the stairs to the place known as the Center, you hear a very familiar voice, sharp and filled with anger:
KATE: Idiot!
KATE: You’re such an IDIOT!
![[Image: zY34bED.png]](https://i.imgur.com/zY34bED.png)
She and the others haven’t noticed you yet. Joe is turned away, and you cannot see his face – though, as you watch, you realize that he is very much the subject of Kate’s tirade. She looks absolutely livid.
KATE: What was wrong with you, huh?!
KATE: They’re probably dead because of what you did!
JOE: Kate, I…
KATE: Didn’t you hear me? Dead!
ABIGAIL: Kate, you don’t know that!
ABIGAIL: D-don’t say that!
THALIA: Kate, remember your punishment…
![[Image: UcmldV5.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UcmldV5.png)
She twists her gaze towards Thalia, seething, but the words are enough for her to momentarily back down. She turns her head back to Joe, but her gaze goes a little far, and you know for a fact that she’s spotted you when her eyes widen.
KATE: …
KATE: Wait, Connor? Camilla?
THALIA: What?
JOE: Huh?
KATE: You…you guys are alright, oh my god!
The entire group turns around, reacting with a mixture of surprise and awe. It feels strange, the feeling that just a minute ago, these people were very ready to write you off as dead.
They rush up to you, and you and Camilla recount what had happened. How Seth had tried to get in, but had been foiled by a distraction of sorts. How Seth had recognized the pleasant English voice as someone called “Hammond”. How Seth had gotten angry, for some reason, and had rushed off after…whatever the thing was.
“Was it a minim?” Thalia asks (there’s still one hanging around, by the way, you can see it clacking on the floor a few feet from the group). You say that you don’t know. It might’ve been another robot, but it’s not like you were paying any attention, what with Seth blocking any possible way you could’ve seen the thing.
Everyone seems to be intrigued, but mostly, they seem relieved you and Camilla are alright. The only person who doesn’t seem to be joining in the discussion is Daniel, who is standing on his lonesome, an unreadable expression on his face…
They rush up to you, and you and Camilla recount what had happened. How Seth had tried to get in, but had been foiled by a distraction of sorts. How Seth had recognized the pleasant English voice as someone called “Hammond”. How Seth had gotten angry, for some reason, and had rushed off after…whatever the thing was.
“Was it a minim?” Thalia asks (there’s still one hanging around, by the way, you can see it clacking on the floor a few feet from the group). You say that you don’t know. It might’ve been another robot, but it’s not like you were paying any attention, what with Seth blocking any possible way you could’ve seen the thing.
Everyone seems to be intrigued, but mostly, they seem relieved you and Camilla are alright. The only person who doesn’t seem to be joining in the discussion is Daniel, who is standing on his lonesome, an unreadable expression on his face…
>Daniel: Well, screaming at people ends in punches. At least, nothing cracked. (...right?)
![[Image: d5hnJwR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/d5hnJwR.png)
No, you’re fine. Shaken, but fine. You didn’t expect it from him. But the slap isn’t what’s concerning you right now.
You had seen something, a brief dark flicker in Joe’s eyes, when he had reached out to hit you. No, actually, it wasn’t “dark”. Quite the opposite. It was sharp and bitter, but it seemed to glint like the sparks from a spitting flame. A look very unfitting for the loopy rambling poet that Joe seemed to be.
You’ve seen it somewhere before. That’s what’s unnerving you. Somewhere, somehow, you’ve seen that same look directed at you from someone else.
Someone grasps your shoulder, asking if you’re alright. It’s Camilla. All you do is nod, too absorbed with trying to understand the meaning of that terrible, burning look…
> Joe: Take deep breaths. You don't want to drive everyone away, do you?
![[Image: TUyOow9.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TUyOow9.png)
Maybe a part of you wants to.
….........
Perhaps it’s the effects of the headache pounding on and off behind your eyes, but you’re not feeling like yourself, exactly. It’s like cotton is growing between the gaps and crevices in your brain, pushing out coherent thought as it moves along. It’s getting very hard to think. The words keep tumbling, tumbling everywhere, and you’re trying to catch them, but sometimes they slide downwards into some dark, strangely foreign space you can’t reach. Which…doesn’t make sense, but that’s the best way you can put it.
What’s even more troubling is that it’s never been this bad. You’ve had bouts of this ever since you were a child, sickly and frail in bed, but they’ve come and gone for seconds, maybe minutes at a time. The doctor never did find any evidence of why those types of things happened…
But anyways, you’ve never had it going on for this long. Except, perhaps, there was that one time, when it had come during a certain moment, and…
You can’t finish the thought. Your neck itches, like an old wound. You ignore it. What could be causing this? Is it the influence of the game that’s doing this? Your heart condition, perhaps? You don’t know.
You just don’t know.
>Joe: Calm down, and explain yourself.
![[Image: rNXJOAD.png]](https://i.imgur.com/rNXJOAD.png)
A clearing of a throat interrupts the conversation. It’s Joe, who folds his arms, his fingers grasping his upper arms as if he’s giving himself a hug. His gaze is turned towards the floor.
No, you’re fine. Shaken, but fine. You didn’t expect it from him. But the slap isn’t what’s concerning you right now.
You had seen something, a brief dark flicker in Joe’s eyes, when he had reached out to hit you. No, actually, it wasn’t “dark”. Quite the opposite. It was sharp and bitter, but it seemed to glint like the sparks from a spitting flame. A look very unfitting for the loopy rambling poet that Joe seemed to be.
You’ve seen it somewhere before. That’s what’s unnerving you. Somewhere, somehow, you’ve seen that same look directed at you from someone else.
Someone grasps your shoulder, asking if you’re alright. It’s Camilla. All you do is nod, too absorbed with trying to understand the meaning of that terrible, burning look…
> Joe: Take deep breaths. You don't want to drive everyone away, do you?
Maybe a part of you wants to.
….........
Perhaps it’s the effects of the headache pounding on and off behind your eyes, but you’re not feeling like yourself, exactly. It’s like cotton is growing between the gaps and crevices in your brain, pushing out coherent thought as it moves along. It’s getting very hard to think. The words keep tumbling, tumbling everywhere, and you’re trying to catch them, but sometimes they slide downwards into some dark, strangely foreign space you can’t reach. Which…doesn’t make sense, but that’s the best way you can put it.
What’s even more troubling is that it’s never been this bad. You’ve had bouts of this ever since you were a child, sickly and frail in bed, but they’ve come and gone for seconds, maybe minutes at a time. The doctor never did find any evidence of why those types of things happened…
But anyways, you’ve never had it going on for this long. Except, perhaps, there was that one time, when it had come during a certain moment, and…
You can’t finish the thought. Your neck itches, like an old wound. You ignore it. What could be causing this? Is it the influence of the game that’s doing this? Your heart condition, perhaps? You don’t know.
You just don’t know.
>Joe: Calm down, and explain yourself.
A clearing of a throat interrupts the conversation. It’s Joe, who folds his arms, his fingers grasping his upper arms as if he’s giving himself a hug. His gaze is turned towards the floor.
JOE: Everyone, can I have your attention, please?
JOE: First of all…I really do want to apologize.
JOE: …I can’t explain what happened.
JOE:I wish I could.
JOE: I’m not feeling well, you see, and…I suppose I just fell backwards into a fit of panic.
THALIA: Is that why you heard something before? Because you were panicking?
JOE: …
JOE: I didn’t hear anything.
JOE:I was just nervous, exceedingly so, and I didn’t handle it well.
KATE: You almost ruined everything with your stupid panic!
KATE: What if Seth had gotten to them, huh?
JOE: I know…I know.
CAMILLA: You didn’t think before speaking.
JOE:I-I didn’t.
JOE: It just happened. I don’t know why, I suddenly got caught up in it…
JOE: And then I just wasn’t seeing straight.
CONNOR: …You slapped Daniel. Why?
JOE: I said, I don’t know.
JOE: I felt like I wasn’t myself…my head kept hurting, and then I saw Daniel and it was like I couldn’t help myself.
JOE: Like my hand moved on its own accord…
DANIEL: …
KATE: Aren’t you even going to apologize to him?
KATE: And how do we know you won’t do something “on your own accord” again, huh?
KATE: How can we trust you?!
KATE: You put us all into danger, you stupid old man!
>So....maybe give the poor man a hug, Abby?
![[Image: YJJ52cK.png]](https://i.imgur.com/YJJ52cK.png)
ABIGAIL: Stop it!
Kate stops, eyes widening. Everyone turns to the young girl, who steps forward, her voice surprisingly loud.
ABIGAIL: Everyone, stop this, you don’t know what Joe’s been through!
JOE: Abigail?
ABIGAIL: Why are you doing this? He was scared!
ABIGAIL: He was just scared!
ABIGAIL: Why are you blaming him?
ABIGAIL: He’s been through so much…
Everyone is stunned. Abigail’s hands curl into fists at her sides as she lets out a shaky sigh.
ABIGAIL: Joe, please…
She walks in his direction, arms reaching out. Joe reaches forward to grasp them, and she swiftly moves in to give him a hug, her arms tight around his waist as if she thinks he will float away at any moment. She buries her face in his bright pink coat.
ABIGAIL: He didn’t do anything wrong…
She murmurs something else, almost too low for you to hear, but it makes Joe shudder a little as he lets his hands down to pull her in close.
“…I’m scared, too.”
“…I’m scared, too.”
![[Image: npNdpD0.png]](https://i.imgur.com/npNdpD0.png)
You’re KATE GREENWOOD, and that hug is…rather touching, okay, you’re not going to lie. It’s sweet. But you all still have a lot on your plate. You’re really happy that Connor and Camilla are alright, but next time, you’re not going to take any chances. You can’t. Just to think that if it hadn’t been for the robot thing, Camilla and Connor might not be alive right now…
It makes you shudder. You glance at the others, who seem varying levels of uncomfortable. Daniel even seems like he’s in his own world. You would’ve gone and comforted him first thing after you had run to the Center with the others but…god, you were so angry at Joe that you honestly forgot about him. You feel a little guilty…
Anyways, it’s too late now. You all have to focus on the goal, and that goal is to get the heck out of this place before Cancel turns you all into monsters. Or you all die. Or both.
You’d really like if none of those things happened, thank you very much.
KATE: …Okay, everybody, let’s head to the library.
> Enter the library, but keep an ear open for more monsters or Seth again.
![[Image: pNkePjd.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pNkePjd.png)
You all make your way back, and push open those great stone doors after checking that the coast is clear.
The library is much bigger than you could’ve imagined. It's reminds you of a great cathedral of sorts, with a ceiling that arches upward into a large dome.
You crane your neck, feeling the sunlight beam down upon you from the small windows surrounding its edge. A large and very familiar star is painted directly in the middle of the dome: the star of Achronicity. The symbol may have been painted there as a sign of hope and peace, like a star sailors could to find their way home, but it only gives you a deep feeling of uneasiness. It’s like that star is an eye, watching, waiting, just one of the many many mysteries you and the rest have still yet to uncover…
![[Image: 3Vkfx3V.png]](https://i.imgur.com/3Vkfx3V.png)
In the middle of the room stands a broken angel statue, not all that much bigger than a person. The inscription on the tablet underneath it is obscured with black paint. The stone seems old, worn, like it’s been standing here for ages like a sentinel of sorts. You don’t want to think about whether its arms and head broke off naturally or were ripped off by something in some kind of temper tantrum. There’s something white tucked in one of the creases of its robes – a note?
The shelves, though large, are incredibly sparse. Maybe once upon a time, these shelves were filled to the brim with books, but now, only a few can be seen here and there. Some have titles (you see Collection of Poetry and The Biological Sciences from here) but some don’t. It’s not really a great library, if the selection is this poor.
There’s a large illustration on one of the walls behind the statue, and you step forward to take a look.
![[Image: TVUUxkY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TVUUxkY.png)
Looks like the gallery of the mysterious graffiti artist isn’t done yet – this is another of their works. Once again, it’s wildly drawn, all haphazard, depicting a very Cancel-like figure with two smaller figures standing at its sides. One of the figures is so obscured by paint you almost can't tell if it's a person or not. The other has a strange face, lines crossing over it. The inscription is garish, reading:
“YOU CANNOT CLAIM WHAT IS NOT YOURS.”
You all make your way back, and push open those great stone doors after checking that the coast is clear.
The library is much bigger than you could’ve imagined. It's reminds you of a great cathedral of sorts, with a ceiling that arches upward into a large dome.
You crane your neck, feeling the sunlight beam down upon you from the small windows surrounding its edge. A large and very familiar star is painted directly in the middle of the dome: the star of Achronicity. The symbol may have been painted there as a sign of hope and peace, like a star sailors could to find their way home, but it only gives you a deep feeling of uneasiness. It’s like that star is an eye, watching, waiting, just one of the many many mysteries you and the rest have still yet to uncover…
In the middle of the room stands a broken angel statue, not all that much bigger than a person. The inscription on the tablet underneath it is obscured with black paint. The stone seems old, worn, like it’s been standing here for ages like a sentinel of sorts. You don’t want to think about whether its arms and head broke off naturally or were ripped off by something in some kind of temper tantrum. There’s something white tucked in one of the creases of its robes – a note?
The shelves, though large, are incredibly sparse. Maybe once upon a time, these shelves were filled to the brim with books, but now, only a few can be seen here and there. Some have titles (you see Collection of Poetry and The Biological Sciences from here) but some don’t. It’s not really a great library, if the selection is this poor.
There’s a large illustration on one of the walls behind the statue, and you step forward to take a look.
Looks like the gallery of the mysterious graffiti artist isn’t done yet – this is another of their works. Once again, it’s wildly drawn, all haphazard, depicting a very Cancel-like figure with two smaller figures standing at its sides. One of the figures is so obscured by paint you almost can't tell if it's a person or not. The other has a strange face, lines crossing over it. The inscription is garish, reading:
“YOU CANNOT CLAIM WHAT IS NOT YOURS.”
Uh...okay, then. You don't know what that means, but if you remember correctly, who drew this wasn't a fan of Cancel, so maybe this was another weird personal snub to the mastermind. You can only guess, though.
The others spread out, eager to search for the tokens Cancel mentioned that they would find here. You can investigate some more, try to find a token of your own, or talk a bit with your fellow captives, if you want. What shall you do?
The others spread out, eager to search for the tokens Cancel mentioned that they would find here. You can investigate some more, try to find a token of your own, or talk a bit with your fellow captives, if you want. What shall you do?
Author's Note for this update (PLEASE READ):
SpoilerShow
Just a note: you can use this time to talk with the rest of the cast using Kate, though bear in mind that you can only select up to two people to do so. Think of it as a chance to up your social link with whoever you choose, in a way, which might help with things later (you won't get so many chances in the future, so CHOOSE WISELY).
To help you decide who to talk to, here are some hints for what each character will offer, conversation wise:
Joe: doppelgangers
Connor: a familiar voice
Thalia: last performance
Abigail: Joe
Camilla: the age of books
Daniel: a gift
To help you decide who to talk to, here are some hints for what each character will offer, conversation wise:
Joe: doppelgangers
Connor: a familiar voice
Thalia: last performance
Abigail: Joe
Camilla: the age of books
Daniel: a gift