The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God

THE SURVEY FOR THE UPCOMING DECISION IS NOW LIVE.

I will give until 5/13 for people to put in their votes before I see the results.

Abigail and Camilla were tied for votes, so whoever is going to get the most votes on the survey will be the official tiebreaker.

Some of the groups listed have Abigail and Camilla as part of them - if one of them wins the Truth vote and the highest vote is for a Shrine/Bridge group that includes them, I will move to the next highest choice that doesn't include the one going to hear the Truth. A person can't be in two places at once!

And, for fun, I would just like to know who is your favorite character in the series so far! I did not include any characters that have not yet appeared in the story, sorry to all you AH and Gregor fans out there...

THE RESULTS ARE IN:

Abigail shall be the one going down to the hear the Truth.

Joe, Camilla, and Thalia shall be going to the Bridge of Sighs.

Daniel, Kate, and Connor shall be going to the Shrine of Lies.

And the most favorite cast member, winning with 40% of the vote, is none other than the most powerful man in the world, Seth Turner Sato!



Too bad he's not around to celebrate his victory...Prometheus came in second place with 16% of the vote, and everyone else except for Abigail, Daniel, the Minims, and Thalia got one vote. Sorry Abigail and company, maybe somebody out there is gunning for you, too...

Anyways, some news: I am going to be moving in the next several weeks and will be adjusting to a new place, so the update will probably be delayed until sometime later next month. I really, really apologize for the bad timing, but as soon as things get settled, an update will be happening for sure! I can't wait to do terrible thing- I MEAN having a great time with what is in store. 8)c

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.

CANCEL: …Ah. What a pity!

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.

CONNOR: Seth…
THALIA: It has to be.

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.

KATE: What the hell is that…?

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.

CANCEL: That is the mechanism to open the door, you see!
CANCEL: The very thing that you must submit your toll to.
CANCEL: Placing a coin in the mouth of the angel to be allowed to proceed onward…
CANCEL: Not unlike placing a coin underneath your tongue so that you would have passage to pay Chiron at the gates of the Underworld…
CAMILLA: Please stop talking.

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.

CANCEL: Now then.
CANCEL: Are we ready to proceed?
CONNOR: No, actually.
CONNOR: Before we go anywhere, answer this.
CONNOR: Where is Seth?

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: Oh, him?
CONNOR: Yes, him. Where did he go?

Cancel laughs.

CANCEL: Don’t worry your silly little heads about him.
CANCEL: I let him through one of these doors, you know.
CONNOR: Which. One.
CANCEL: My, so demanding. You’re getting almost as bad as Camilla.
CANCEL: Don’t you know how to ask things in a far more polite manner?
CONNOR: WHICH. ONE. I won’t ask twice.
CANCEL: The second one. The way to “Truth”.
CONNOR: …Okay, sorry then, we can’t allow this. We have to switch things around.
CONNOR: I won’t let her go down that road, truth or not truth, I won’t abide by it, I-
ABIGAIL: Stop!!!

> Abigail as truthbearer



Abigail shakes her head.

ABIGAIL: Just stop. I still want to go.
ABIGAIL: I want to hear the “truth”. I said I would, right? And everyone agreed.
JOE: But…but Abigail…
ABIGAIL: Seth might be there? Is that what you’re worried about?

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.

ABIGAIL: So what! I’m glad if he’ll be there…we left him behind. It’s really unfair!
CONNOR: Cancel might be leading you into a trap!
CANCEL: Why would I?
CANCEL: I said I would give her a statement of truth. I never said I would lead her to her death.
KATE: I wouldn’t put it past you, you jerk!
ABIGAIL: I don’t want to trust Cancel at all. But I’ll have to.
ABIGAIL: I want to find out what happened to Seth. I want us all to escape from this place.
ABIGAIL: You just…you can’t just keep treating me like I can’t do anything!
ABIGAIL: I’m not helpless!
JOE: Abigail…
ABIGAIL: …
ABIGAIL: I’m not.

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…

CANCEL: Well done, Abigail. Making such a case for yourself…
CANCEL: Now that that’s been settled, shall we go on?
CANCEL: Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting any of you to send the blind girl, of all people…
CANCEL: I would almost call that heartless, haha!
CANCEL: Anyways, Ms. Faust, I shall offer you guidance. Not out of kindness or anything of the like.
CANCEL:I merely don’t want you wandering off somewhere so that you can’t hear my words.
CANCEL: Shall you take the hand of this Major to hold as we proceed?
CANCEL: I’m holding it up near your face. Do reach up to grab it.

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...?

Author's note

Show Content

Spoiler

(Abigail and Cancel are totally going to become best buddies forever after this upcoming talk)

LONG TIME NO SEE...gently rests on Eagletime, dies a little

Real life has been BEATING ME UP but finally, FINALLy I've managed to get back on the update ball. I apologize for everyone who's been waiting for an update, thanks for sticking with me through these tough times!!!

And a note, the last panel is !symbolic!, Cancel isn't a ghost or anything - merely how Abigail sees him, kind of visualizing him as a human figure with his weird voice quirk applied to it. That's all! (PROBABLY...)

Also you can put in questions you'd like Abigail to ask Cancel or say to Cancel or the like, TIME FOR TRUTH TALKING

KEEP HAVING FUN EVERYONE, The Human Game is ALIVE. IT'S ALLLIIIIIIIIVEEEE

(don't make me regret this Friday, I love my ghost child)

8)

Abigail: Put your trust in a monster like that.

>Abigael: You're the one who was so insistant you didn't need to be protected and could handle whatever was commng so time to prove it.

>Abigail: is Seth's current state permanent? maybe we can't "fix" him, but...is there really only one path for him now? what other outcomes are possible, and why did they occur?

>I mean, holding his hand doesn't really have anything to do with trusting him. By no means trust him, but given that he's at least claiming to not be leading you into a deathtrap, better to have a robot with you to potentially distract any extremely deadly Seth(?)s you may encounter.

Like, by going through the door at all, you're already putting yourself at Cancel's mercy. If the thing behind the door is "certain death", he's already demonstrated plenty of ways to straight up kill anyone he feels like killing, so... yeah. Go with the robot, for whatever it's worth. I can't imagine how it would make the situation worse.

> Abigail: Grab his hand as mechanically as you can. Take deep breaths and go along wordlessly.

The choice seems obvious. So, the rationale/wording may be crucial here.

Abigail: Put your trust in a monster like that.

The doors are just a confirmation, really. To what? Let's see:

• How big does Cancel's medallion look like? About an inch? However, in Kate's hand it it's more like four inches. That would make him more-or-less four times larger... about 21'8" - almost seven hundred meters tall. And yes, they are roughly the same size.
  
• Cancel's sheer size would partially explain the mirror statue - it's mirror is sized and positioned for him, and Banksy knows that. But closer inspection of the facility so far implies Cancel would not be able to approach it, as all of the shown passageways are much smaller! Even without that detail this raises the question - was the facility built around him? Had he grown into it? Did he acquiesce to it? Did he plan for it?
  
• Of course, Cancel isn't the only suspect. Or maybe he is one of these angels.

So yeah. The doors are really just that. Doors.

I hope you have taken my petition to heart and will soon reveal Abigail's real full name, Abigail Blade.

> Abigail: Vow to haunt Cancel for the rest of your days if anything happens to you.

> Connor: Imagine what might happen to the girl. Blame yourself.

>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.

CANCEL: Thank you, my dear little nothing.
CANCEL: Let’s go on, shall we?

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.

CONNOR: Abigail…
CONNOR: Please, you don’t have to do this.
ABIGAIL: …

You don’t reply.

JOE: Abigail, you have to stay safe...

You don’t reply.

KATE: If he does anything to you, just run!

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.

ABIGAIL: Cancel?
CANCEL: Hm?
ABIGAIL: I know you are going to tell me a truth. But before that, I want to ask a question.
ABIGAIL: It’s about Seth…
CANCEL: Mr. Sato? You really don’t know how to let the topic of that man go, do you?
CANCEL: What about him?
ABIGAIL: Is it possible that he could turn back to the way he was?

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

CANCEL: Oh, how beautifully naïve!
CANCEL: There is no cure for what he has become.
CANCEL: What, did you think you could save him? What a laugh!
CANCEL: As if he would even save you if you switched places!
CANCEL: No, that man is far and gone, Ms. Faust.
CANCEL: Why won’t you give up on him, already?
ABIGAIL: Because…because he’s my friend!
ABIGAIL: He didn’t deserve to have that happen to him!
CANCEL: Your friend? Don’t make me laugh!
CANCEL: You’ve only known him for a few hours!
CANCEL: You’re so up in arms about your dear Mr. Sato, and yet…I have still have yet to hear you share any concern about the whereabouts of the people who brought you into this world.
CANCEL: Don’t you have any feelings towards your dear mother and father, hm?

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

ABIGAIL: Of course I do! W-why would you say that, I really care about my mom and dad!
CANCEL: No, you don’t.
ABIGAIL: What? No, I-I love my parents-

CANCEL: No, you don’t.

Author's note

Show Content

Spoiler
UPDATE DONE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT
SURRENDER NOW AND PREPARE TO be thrown into despair, probably

throws confetti, ENJOY THE UPDATE

> Your parents didn't get horribly disfigured right in front of you. Excuse you for worrying about someone you KNOW bad things have happened to, instead of people who MIGHT be perfectly fine.

If what happened to Seth is any indication, letting your insecurities get to you can be a big problem here. Cancel's trying to get your goat- your parents aren't here, and whatever your feelings are about them, they don't matter right now. So...

>"...Maybe. So what?"

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

>Perhaps you don't love them. But do you hate them?
>Or perhaps you just... Don't feel much about them at all.
Not outside the realm of possibility.

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

> Abigail: "Confess to your sins of harbouring resentment for your parents for exploiting this "harmful talent" you have been cursed with. That doesn't change the fact that you still appreciate them. Is it truly the most selfish thing in the world to have and voice compassion but unable to remedy the situation? You know what they say, "actions do speak louder than words". Why do you mock my impotence so? Anyways, “Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination“ and I choose sanity and truth over happiness"

> Cancel: Is the superficial empathy between two individuals over shared debilitation's of the eye, such a wicked sin to you that you must feel the need to scrutinize it?

> Cancel: How are the Nulls so deliberate in purpose if they were not manufactured? It is like a misguided deity or a cruel demon willed them into existence.

> Abigail: "Cancel, have you ever had children? If so, did you ever feel any concern for them"?

> Abigail: "Cancel, Have you, yourself fallen victim to a Null that puppets your body and mirrors the man you used to be? Your voice resembles that of Seth???"

> Cancel: Do you admit and revel in your flaws to avoid a full-circle critique of your being?

(This is verbose as all hell, I did not know I had so much to suggest and I probably still have lots and lots to write out.)

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.

ABIGAIL: …Y-you sound upset.
CANCEL: Excuse me?
ABIGAIL: Did I do something that made you upset? Did I…did I hit a nerve?

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.

CANCEL: Hit a “nerve”?
CANCEL: Oh, dear Ms. Faust, with words upon words that simply aren’t true!
CANCEL: That’s rather part of your greatest skill, isn’t it?
CANCEL: What are you trying to do here? Trying to shift the topic of discussion onto me, hm?
CANCEL: You lie. You lie to yourself. You lie to your family, and pretend you love them.
CANCEL: No one is ever the wiser to the fact that such a nice young girl thinks such perfectly ugly thoughts.
CANCEL: You know, I know both of my children loathe me entirely, and have said as much to me several times.
CANCEL: But you? You’ve hidden behind so many lies that I think that even you’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re a person with a heart of gold!
ABIGAIL: Be quiet! Be quiet, just…s-stop!
ABIGAIL: Why do you even care about this, just STOP!
CANCEL: Why don’t YOU care about this?

CANCEL: The dear Ms. Faust! The preeminent spirit medium of her generation!
CANCEL: The pretty princess in blue up in her dazzling glass cage, but so loathing to even allow others to look at her!
CANCEL: Your heart’s so tainted that it’s a wonder that you haven’t let your little mask slip yet, haha…
CANCEL: Have you even given a thought as to what you’ve become?
ABIGAIL: Stop, just stop…
CANCEL: Oh, what am I doing now? Making you upset?
CANCEL: I care little about your feelings, Ms. Faust.
CANCEL:I am here only to give you a truth.
CANCEL: And the irony is, I’m giving a truth to a child who simply refuses to tell the truth to everyone around her.

>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.

ABIGAIL: You don’t know anything!
ABIGAIL: You don’t know a SINGLE thing!
ABIGAIL: All you’re doing is just saying things to get me upset!
ABIGAIL: You just want to feel good about yourself, is that it?
ABIGAIL: You think you’re the best while you go and judge others when…when YOU’RE the worst!!
ABIGAIL: You don’t even have any proof of what you’re saying, do you?
ABIGAIL: So WHAT if I care about Seth?
ABIGAIL: He got turned into a monster! And maybe my parents are okay, okay?!
ABIGAIL: And just because I don’t ask about my parents doesn’t mean I don’t care about them!
ABIGAIL: They’ve done so much for me and YOU don’t even know it!
ABIGAIL: You…you’re just saying things because you CAN!!

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.

ABIGAIL: …And you know what? Your children are right to hate you!
CANCEL: …
ABIGAIL: I’d never want you as a parent!! Never ever!!!
ABIGAIL: You’re a MONSTER! You’re the worst!!

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

CANCEL: Feeling better, Ms. Faust?
CANCEL: Did that little tirade do you any good?
CANCEL: Made you feel mighty? Because I’ll admit, all I saw was a small child having a temper tantrum.
ABIGAIL: : …
ABIGAIL: I hate you.
CANCEL: Do you hate me, or are you simply shooting the messenger that has been telling you what you knew all along?
CANCEL: I do think it’s more of the latter. But what do I know?
CANCEL: Do you really think that such words would even faze me?
ABIGAIL: I hate you.
CANCEL: Calm down. Hush hush, now.
CANCEL: I need to tell you a truth, and being this illogical and irrational simply won’t do.

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.

ABIGAIL: Why did you do this to us…what did we ever do to you?
CANCEL: Oh, the common, eternal question I’ve heard a million times…
CANCEL: Though actually, now I’m curious.
CANCEL: Why DO you think I’m doing all of this to you, hm?
CANCEL: Judge me. Make your opinions. Try to cast me in a role in your stories.
CANCEL: Tell me…what do you think my purpose is, in all of this?

Show Content

Spoiler
[abigail voice] well maybe your purpose is you being a HUGE DICK

enjoy this quick update, FINGERS CROSSED I CAN KEEP THIS QUICK UPDATE SCHEDULE GOING

apparently you just think being as condescending as possible is a funtime activity

>Probably not revenge. There's a lot of us here, and there've been more before us, and I doubt you wanted revenge on that many people that badly. I'm a small child, and I don't know how I could have hurt you even by accident.

>Its hard to say. You never actually call yourself the villain, yet your actions seem intended to make people think that's all there is.

>But looking from another angle, your more of a... Conductor, guiding the show along to its conclusion whatever it may be.

>And from yet another angle, a referee making sure the players follow the rules.

>...But, then again, I'm just a kid.
>Let me ask you a question, then. What role would you say you serve in all this?

>Its hard to say. You never actually call yourself the villain, yet your actions seem intended to make people think that's all there is.
>Let me ask you a question, then. What role would you say you serve in all this?

>an example out of us
>we're examples of prime humanity

>why would I ask about how two people who onlu use me are doing
>love isn't unconditional if it's a reward or a prize to be won
>and today is a day where I'm not a trophy
>but what's worse, telling someone you want to live as if they never existed, as if they were dead, or finding a way to make everyone happy like they want to be, like they want without you

>ask cancel why nobody has gotten hungry
>consider that the 'lies' only bring you closer to your mask, and no matter what the truth is you need to share it. It could protect you and the others even a little bit

> Both: Confess your sins.
> Abigail: Dad had a bit of a Buddhist craze a few years back. He'd talk about how irresponsibly voicing the truth did more harm than good and that it was better to communicate it in a tasteful fashion. Cause ya know, white lies and lying of omission are still wrong.
> Cancel: I'm the bad guy? How did that happen?
> Abigail: It's better to be unhappy but sane.


Joke suggestions:
> You're a troll, Cancel. And trolling is wrong, it sayyys so in the bibleeee!
> For criminal acts and violence on the stage, for being a brat refusing to act your age. YOU CAN GO TO HELL
> "My wife's a pain in the ass. She's always busting my friggin' agates. My daughter's married to a real loser bastard. And I got a rash so bad on my ass, I can't even sit down. But you know me. I can't complain."
> You did not strike a nerve, Abigail. You are a failure! A NUZZINK! A ZILCH! A N(U)IL(L)! Evidently (you're not a golfer) Cancel never criessssss!

> From everything you said, you're testing our worthiness to be human or something like that, though it's still unclear why.

Edit: So that was interesting. I'd fallen way behind on keeping up with the Cancel's computer tumblr thing so I went back to read through it all. I got to the first "audio" link to a YouTube video of an old-timey song, and there were these weird mechanical distortions to it. Assuming it was deliberate, I went on and reached the next such link. I found it had the same sort of distortions and got a bit suspicious, especially considering that none of the comments on the video acknowledged this. It turns out something had gone wrong in connecting my headphones to my computer, causing the distortions. What's odd is just how perfectly these distortions fit, to the point where I didn't even question them the first time.

> "Well, you seem to think you know so much about me, don't you? I wouldn't be telling you anything you don't know."

Alternatively:

> "You want to punish us. All of us. For doing bad things, I guess. Or maybe just lying to ourselves? Whatever the case... I think you just want to be judge, jury and executor to us all, and maybe offer someone a shot at saving themselves if you're feeling less horrible than usual."