The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God

The Null slumps, instantly.

The chest, having met its mark, lands, but not before the lid detaches and the contents of it are spread out on the floor. Oh. That’s right – the chest is supposed to open when the objectives of this stupid bridge puzzle are met. All three of you are on the other side now. You accomplished the task.

…And yet, you don’t feel that accomplished at all. Maybe it’s the fact that you almost had your head chomped off by a giant mask creature.

It’s interesting to see what was in the chest, though. You squint - you can’t see it well from where you’re standing, but it looks like the contents of that chest were…rings?

A chest that heavy just had some rings in it?

>Camilla: Quick, while that thing is dazed, let's push past it!

You don’t really have a moment to wonder the paradox of it all before Camilla moves, letting go of your shoulders to head briskly in the direction of the old man.

CAMILLA: We don’t have much time. Let’s move.

She’s absolutely right. Although it would be quite nice to think that Camilla’s mighty throw was able to kill that abomination in one hit, you don’t really think that’s the case. It doesn’t look like a creature that could go down that easily.

Camilla speaks up as she walks:

CAMILLA: Pick up the stuff from the chest and follow me.
CAMILLA: I’ll take care of Joe.
THALIA:  Got it.

With a short inhale, you follow her, trying to move fast to match her pace– you can still feel your heart still beating fast, like the frantic beating of a war drum announcing a battle to come. You can’t calm down, not now, not when there’s still so much here you don’t understand, and so much here that could potentially hurt you. Even after you all move to the next room, what’s next? What’s next for you? What’s next for Camilla?

…What’s next for Joe?

> Be Joe Verger.

You can’t be Joe Verger. You are unable to be Joe Verger. You see, somebody else is Joe Verger now.

…

Why does he look so surprised, though? Shouldn’t he be happy about being saved? The threat is gone, for a moment. The death he anticipated hasn’t happened.

And yet…and yet…

His body has been handed over. Sold. Signed away. All in the heat of the moment, all because deep down, very deep down, Joe Verger is a coward who runs, and run he did, except if he knew that the solution was as simple as this, that he didn’t need to run at all, that he didn’t need to trust in visions at night, that he didn’t think that literally anyone could live his life in a better way than he could…

His body would still be his, wouldn’t it…?

…

You can’t be Joe Verger anymore.

Sorry.

He’s taken.

CAMILLA: Come on, Joe.

The man gasps as Camilla takes and yanks him roughly by the hoodie of his coat as she walks by him – he doesn’t even look back at her.

CAMILLA: I won’t let you die here.
CAMILLA: I don’t care what you say.
JOE: …

She drags him along behind her - he doesn’t resist, only stumbling a little as he moves backwards, his eyes unfocused.

CAMILLA: Let’s move quickly.
CAMILLA: Before that thing wakes up…

>What is there in the other side of the chasm? A door? A corridor? Another stupid puzzle?!

No puzzles, thank goodness.

Just a pair of doors. One of them is already open – was it like that, or did it open because the puzzle was finished? You don’t know – the whole mess with the Null barely made you notice what was behind it when it popped up.

It is worrying, though – there just seems to be a corridor behind it as far as you can see. This only makes it harder to imagine options you have if the Null eventually wakes up.

Just run, you suppose. Or keep the doors shut somehow. You can’t tell if they’re like the ones from the library or not.

As Camilla asked, you bend to scoop up the rings. There are three of them, rather simple silver metal bands – they have a small circular inlay of some kind of green stone. Odd. They don’t seem to be heavier than you’d expect a few metal rings to be.

A hard nudge with your foot against the chest confirms its weight to you once again– it doesn’t even budge. You picked it up before with Camilla’s help, Camilla struggled with picking it up on her own, and if it didn’t change its weight somehow when you crossed the bridge…how did she throw it so high, so effortlessly? Some kind of “super strength in a crisis” situation?

Odd.

The Null doesn’t move. It’s eerie, looking at the thing up close – you move quickly to follow the others, the rings held tight in your hand.

>drag Joe away, then ask if whoever he's talking about looks like the Null

You can hear Camilla trying to talk over her shoulder to Joe as she moves.

CAMILLA: …Hey, is that thing still in your head?
JOE: …
CAMILLA: Joe. Listen to me. Who’s ”him”?
CAMILLA:The person who you said you could hear.
CAMILLA: Is it the Null?
CAMILLA: Is the Null still speaking to you?
JOE: …No. It’s not.

His voice is weak, hoarse, like the creaking of an old willow branch ready to break.

CAMILLA: Who is it, then?
JOE: Jo…
CAMILLA: Huh?
JOE: Joph…
CAMILLA: Joe?

His lower lip trembles – there’s an edge to his tone, plaintive. It's like at any second, he’s about to burst into tears.

JOE: My dear…my one and only…
JOE: We’ll never be…apart…
JOE: A true…angel…
CAMILLA: …?

You don’t understand. He’s still making no sense. If the Null was affecting him before, shouldn’t it have stopped? The Null isn’t active right now - unless it has some kind of incredibly potent ability to mess with minds, you don’t think it’s the culprit of this man’s babblings.

He even said so himself. So what he's talking about, then? Has he just lost it for good? Has the Human Game made him crack? You can already imagine Cancel's reaction - he'd probably laugh. A man going mad from the twisted game he made him play...

Something whips by your face. Your breath seizes in your throat.

You catch sight of it easily, because it's moving so fast - its a long, black, sharp-looking mess of a tendril, moving through the air like a vicious arrow aiming to pierce its target.

It’s…

It’s the Null. But how, HOW, its supposed to be unconscious-!

THALIA:  CAMILLA! JOE! LOOK OUT!!
CAMILLA: …!!

But even before Camilla can twist around, the tendril wraps around the poet’s neck, as tight as a noose. Joe’s body lurches forward in its snare, like he’s a doll grabbed by the hand of an incredibly inpatient child who wants what it deserves...

JOE: Let me…
JOE: Let me…go...

Author's Note:

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Spoiler
joe verger has henceforth been removed from the human game character selection screen because JOE VERGER gave SOMEONE ELSE THE SECOND CONTROLLER, THE ABSOLUTE FOOL