The Human Game: Water Under the Bridge
11-14-2017, 01:47 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-14-2017, 02:09 AM by theredlamp.)
> Bridge of Sighs
![[Image: VL0YIZg.png]](https://i.imgur.com/VL0YIZg.png)
Your name of THALIA PARIK, and you have arrived into a dark place, indeed.
You hadn't known what to expect when you and the other two had deposited your coins into the mouth of that...whatever that was. The head-shaped lock, you suppose you'll call it. You had heard a low clicking noise, and suddenly the doors had opened wide in a strangely silent fashion. There was a dark hallway afterwards, and you and Camilla and Joe had progressed quietly down it towards the direction of yellow light.
And now you're here. This must be the Bridge of Sighs, yes? One of the pathways that Cancel had noted? But it's strange, everything is so strange, you see, because, well...
![[Image: fM8ka2a.png]](https://i.imgur.com/fM8ka2a.png)
There is no bridge.
You stand there a moment in shock. The room is terribly dark, save for the yellow lights that stand in pairs at the edges of the pathway. They barely offer enough light to even see the rest of the room - you can make out something large and cube-like hanging from the ceiling, and if you squint, you can almost make out strange shapes and lines on the walls of the room. Otherwise, everything else is covered a shroud of darkness. Deep, intense darkness, the kind that one can't stare into for too long, lest your mind makes you think that things are moving out of the corner of your eyes...
You spare a glance at your companions. Joe stands slack-jawed, clearly stunned into silence. Camilla seems to have the same bland expression she always has, but her eyes move over the corners of the room intently, as if on the lookout for anything that might pose an instant threat.
The air is musty, almost moldy, and it makes your nose wrinkle in slight disgust. It doesn't smell like the rest of the facility, for some reason.
![[Image: LZAdAbx.png]](https://i.imgur.com/LZAdAbx.png)
But, of course, the matter here isn't the darkness. The matter here is what is in front of you. Or rather, the question of what isn't in front of you. There's something box-like to the side of you, but your attention isn't on that at the moment.
You peer down. It's clearly twenty feet or more from this edge to the next one at the other side of the room, a length impossible to jump across. There's nothing even suggesting a bridge. No suspension cables, no girders, no decks, not even a single railing. The bridge is simply not there.
You resist the urge to let out a scoff. Was this some kind of joke? A bridge that isn't a bridge? What is Cancel's game, here? Give you an impossible task to accomplish so he can laugh about it?
![[Image: qNs3Xw5.png]](https://i.imgur.com/qNs3Xw5.png)
Either way, while the thought of just climbing down comes to mind, you're not sure you want to act on it. There's nothing but inky blackness down in the chasm in front of you. It's impossible to tell how deep it goes.
Some part of you really doesn't want to find that out.
![[Image: VL0YIZg.png]](https://i.imgur.com/VL0YIZg.png)
Your name of THALIA PARIK, and you have arrived into a dark place, indeed.
You hadn't known what to expect when you and the other two had deposited your coins into the mouth of that...whatever that was. The head-shaped lock, you suppose you'll call it. You had heard a low clicking noise, and suddenly the doors had opened wide in a strangely silent fashion. There was a dark hallway afterwards, and you and Camilla and Joe had progressed quietly down it towards the direction of yellow light.
And now you're here. This must be the Bridge of Sighs, yes? One of the pathways that Cancel had noted? But it's strange, everything is so strange, you see, because, well...
![[Image: fM8ka2a.png]](https://i.imgur.com/fM8ka2a.png)
There is no bridge.
You stand there a moment in shock. The room is terribly dark, save for the yellow lights that stand in pairs at the edges of the pathway. They barely offer enough light to even see the rest of the room - you can make out something large and cube-like hanging from the ceiling, and if you squint, you can almost make out strange shapes and lines on the walls of the room. Otherwise, everything else is covered a shroud of darkness. Deep, intense darkness, the kind that one can't stare into for too long, lest your mind makes you think that things are moving out of the corner of your eyes...
You spare a glance at your companions. Joe stands slack-jawed, clearly stunned into silence. Camilla seems to have the same bland expression she always has, but her eyes move over the corners of the room intently, as if on the lookout for anything that might pose an instant threat.
The air is musty, almost moldy, and it makes your nose wrinkle in slight disgust. It doesn't smell like the rest of the facility, for some reason.
![[Image: LZAdAbx.png]](https://i.imgur.com/LZAdAbx.png)
But, of course, the matter here isn't the darkness. The matter here is what is in front of you. Or rather, the question of what isn't in front of you. There's something box-like to the side of you, but your attention isn't on that at the moment.
You peer down. It's clearly twenty feet or more from this edge to the next one at the other side of the room, a length impossible to jump across. There's nothing even suggesting a bridge. No suspension cables, no girders, no decks, not even a single railing. The bridge is simply not there.
You resist the urge to let out a scoff. Was this some kind of joke? A bridge that isn't a bridge? What is Cancel's game, here? Give you an impossible task to accomplish so he can laugh about it?
![[Image: qNs3Xw5.png]](https://i.imgur.com/qNs3Xw5.png)
Either way, while the thought of just climbing down comes to mind, you're not sure you want to act on it. There's nothing but inky blackness down in the chasm in front of you. It's impossible to tell how deep it goes.
Some part of you really doesn't want to find that out.
Author's Note:
Spoiler