The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God

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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.

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:

SpoilerShow

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!

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…

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…

>Daniel: Well, screaming at people ends in punches. At least, nothing cracked. (...right?)



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?

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.”

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.



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?

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

> Kate: Talk to Joe and Abigail. You need to understand what Joe is going through, you being angry is just as bad as his overreactions, Cancel wants you to give into your weakness and become a monster, the solution is simple. Don't let him. Abigail seems to understand the situation well enough.

Yoooooooo

Talk to Joe and Camilla, and also check out that note in the statue.

> Talk to Joe and Abigail

> Maybe you should check out on Daniel. You were waiting for an opportunity to ask about that bauble...

> Get the note from the angel statue and read it!

>Talk to Joe and Connor

>flip through some books. maybe one of them...is cancel's DIARY

Talk to Connor, try to find some Interesting Books.

>Connor looks like he might have useful information, and we probably want to see what Daniel has for us.

Nox and Thalia

SpoilerShow

Social Link mechanic is a sweet, sweet idea.
The questions that ask themselves are in as such: How will the discussion pan out and what we can learn from each character?

• Joe - While the intention would be to smooth things over, would he be really that into it right now? The topic at hand - 'dopplegangers' - might or might not give us a rundown on it's use as a literary device et al. Or he might find them familiar, but nothing else.
  
• Connor - It'll be about GH, obviously. That said, him being the head honcho of Achronicity meshes rather nicely with Connor's insistence of not being recruited by them and his dreams.
  
• Thalia - anything we say will just slide right into bland politeness, but the attempt might be usable later. And maybe - just maybe - it could help with zeroing in on her plans.
  
• Abigail - She probably didn't get the full version. Moreover, it's unlikely she'll mention anything about what she said to him so no bueno.
  
• Camilla - What are the probable answers? Either the books are very old (which just corrects the timeline, depending on whether or not they touch on stuff that Joe/Connor already published. If other books are really a hundred years old, it just creates a venue we don't really have to go through to think about.) Or relatively recent. (which also corrects timeline and is also... meh.)
  
• Daniel - Either party might decide it's too crowded to risk it. Or we get a... proper answer?! Or he just might not remember due to mad glitching, tho an attempt might help in future endeavors.
  

That aside, the note is from an A and we will learn of it soon enough. However, that shouldn't stop us in the slightest. Without further ado:
The most genereous time frame would be from 40 years ago* (as the painter would probably be too salty to play around with paper) to now. Given the placement on the map, it is possible that Daniel was the one who planted it - and barring him, Thalia, Camilla or it's a part of the game's setup (as that partial map could have been)
*as stated in the old forums. I'll dig through it at some point, but i'm missing 11 pages

>Hey Connor, uh... good thing you did there.
>Thalia, i remember someone mentioning going to your concert. You play in a band?

You crane your neck, feeling the sunlight beam down upon you from the small windows surrounding its edge.

Interesting. Is there a way to get up to the windows and look outside?

>Talk to Joe



You know that the whole Seth deal is done and over with, but honestly, you feel like you need to talk to Joe again. A part of you is still mad at him, but at the same time, you can’t help but feel concerned. What is going on with him?

You approach him from behind – he hears you, but doesn’t turn to you. Already, a bad sign. You let out a sigh. Maybe you should apologize for before.

KATE: Hey, Joe.
JOE: …
KATE: Look. I know that before, I was really harsh with you.
KATE: I…I shouldn’t have called you an idiot or said those things.
KATE: I was just shocked. I mean, I didn’t know what had happened to Connor and Camilla…

He doesn’t answer for a moment, instead staring down at the book in his hands. It’s the collection of poetry. Of course he would go straight for a book like that.

JOE: …It’s alright.
JOE: I don’t blame you, Kate.
JOE: I understand why you were upset.

His frown is so heavy that it almost makes you wonder if you will ever see a smile on the man’s face again. His cheerful attitude seems to have gone down the drain.

Even though you don’t know him that well, the fact that all of this has gotten to him chills you in a way you can’t explain. Seeing him like this seems…strange. Off. This isn’t the same man who chatted with you so gaily about trying to find guidance in different places.

JOE: There’s no need to apologize.
JOE: Everything that happened is on me.
JOE: It's my fault.
KATE: ...
JOE: …
JOE: Kate, can you do me a favor, of a sort?
KATE: Uh. Yeah, sure?
JOE: I’ve been thinking over something, and I want to get your input.

JOE: Kate, this will sound like a very strange question…
JOE: But please, humor me, if you will.
JOE: Let’s say that you woke up one day and found that someone who looked, sounded, and acted exactly like you had taken your place.
JOE: You don't know where they came from, and you don't know why they're here.
JOE: That’s a horrifying thing to find in general, but let’s say that you observe this person for a while, and you find that they’re ruining your life.
JOE: They’re mean to your friends. They squander opportunities. Everything they do, they do with barely any effort or passion. Overall, they go about things in completely the wrong way.
JOE: …If something like that happened, what would you do?

Author's Note:

SpoilerShow

AN UPDATE? SO QUICKLY? SAY IT AIN'T SO.

Tallying up the votes for each character, both Joe and Connor had the highest votes (with 4 each, respectively)! They'll be our social links for these next few updates. :)b

> I'd probably try to find out why this person is trying to ruin my life. It really depends on who it is.
> Joe are you talking about yourself or somebody else? Do you have an impostor ruining your life? Is this the source of all your angst dude?

> What... literally? Uh, that depends on what exactly is going on, but, if it was an impostor, you'd definitely confront them out in the open!

>Kate: He's obviously asking for advice for a real situation, and, barring an evil twin, there isn't a clone of him running around. Joe or someone Joe knows probably has some sort of mental issue. Sudden mood swings maybe?

>Talk to the imposter and try to come with some sort of compromise? If you can't force them to stop, minimizing the damage seems like the best solution.
>If that doesn't work, talk to someone who knows how to deal with what you're going through. The world's a big place, your case is probably not unique. There are definitely professionals who could give amazing advice.

>: I'd probably want to know what's up with them first, talk to them and see if you can find out why they're like this, and if needed try and get them to at least make them stop being mean to their friends.

>beat them up probs i dunno man

NO BUT IN ALL SERIOUSNESS

>Try to get them alone- by any means necessary, ask them why. Or, like run away start a new life somewhere else.

>Talk to the imposter and try to come with some sort of compromise? If you can't force them to stop, minimizing the damage seems like the best solution.

>Impostorise the impostor!

>Is there a such thing as... auto-Capgras delusion? Is this a colorful metaphor or something you actually think happened?

>Is there a such thing as... auto-Capgras delusion? Is this a colorful metaphor or something you actually think happened?

Maybe Cotard delusion counts in some cases?

I think it's joe using a literary metaphor for Brain Problems...based on what he said earlier, it sounds like he's had episodes where he became somewhat dissociative. I don't think he Literally Has Another Personality, or believes himself to, more that the irritability/antisocial feelings and lack of drive (negative affect) he experiences are ego-dystonic. so he'd conceptualize it as a "doppelganger" bc it doesn't fit with how he thinks of himself. sorta like how some people with depression describe it as a stormcloud or a black dog (i.e. an outside force).

anyways obviously the ic kate answer to this is PUNCH THEM but that's not really helpful so

>talk to my friends, try and explain what's going on so they can understand and help

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is to call the imposter out, right?

>Kate: Kick the imposter's ass. No one can beat the original.