Moksha 1.01

You experience a queer feeling, like a puzzle piece snapping into place. Wind howls through the empty, decimiated streets of the city, and the taste of dust tickles your taste buds. You stand in the shade of a war-torn skyscraper, and clear blue sky forms the skybox above. Spaceships hover in low orbit like the subjects of still paintings. Charlie strides up next to you in his futuristic space marine combat armor. "I'd appreciate if you interacted with Klien. I put a lot of work in evolving his personality matrix. You can tell me how I did." You feel a flutter at the sight of Charlie's handsome, boyish features and cute curls. [["Who's Klein?"]] [["Who are you?"]] [["Where am I?"]] [["Who am I?"]] [["Cool."]]

"Klien?" you ask. Charlie gives you a quizzical look. "Yeah, the boss?" he says. You look down at your body. You're wearing combat armor similar to Charlie's, only the chest plates curve over your breasts, and the skin visible between your gloves and sleeves is much darker than his. A device on your wrists displays a green bar and the text "100%." "Maya, you okay?" Charlie asks. [["I'm fine."]] [["I'm very confused."]]

"Charlie?" you ask. "What's up, babe?" You look down at your body. You're wearing combat armor similar to Charlie's, only the chest plates curve over your breasts, and the skin visible between your gloves and sleeves is much darker than his. A device on your wrists displays a green bar and the text "100%." "Babe? Are we...?" Charlie gives you a quizzical look. "Maya, you okay?" he asks. [["I'm fine."]] [["I'm very confused."]]

You look down at your body. You're wearing combat armor similar to Charlie's, only the chest plates curve over your breasts, and the skin visible between your gloves and sleeves is much darker than his. A device on your wrists displays a green bar and the text "100%." "What is this?" you ask. "How did I get here?" Charlie gives you a quizzical look. "Maya, you okay?" he asks. [["I'm fine."]] [["I'm very confused."]]

You look down at your body. You're wearing combat armor similar to Charlie's, only the chest plates curve over your breasts, and the skin visible between your gloves and sleeves is much darker than his. A device on your wrists displays a green bar and the text "100%." "Charlie," you say, the name familiar in your mouth. "What's my name? Charlie gives you a quizzical look. "Is that a trick question?" he says. You don't feel like you're in your own body, more like someone's making decisions for you. "Maya, you okay?" Charlie asks. [["I'm fine."]] [["I'm very confused."]]

"Uh, yeah," you say, and give Charlie a thumbs-up. "Just a little fritz." "Yeah, looks like," Charlie says, and he touches your cheek. He looks into your eye as if examining, and the care warms your heart. "Some subjective disconnect, probably. Not too bad. It's dissipating?" You nod. A smile tugs at your cheeks. "Cool," Charlie says and pulls a pulse rifle off his back. "Let's get moving. Time's one-to-one inside the sim, and we don't have all night." Charlie jogs down the deserted street ahead of you, aiming his gun down intersecting alleys like a soldier in a warzone. [[Follow Charlie]]

"No problem," you say, and give Charlie a thumbs up. "Cool," Charlie says and pulls a pulse rifle off his back. "Let's get moving. Time's one-to-one inside the sim, and we don't have all night." Charlie jogs down the deserted street ahead of you, aiming his gun down intersecting alleys like a soldier in a warzone. [[Follow Charlie]]

You put a hand to your head. You don't feel fuzzy, but it seems like something you should do in a situation like this. "I, uh, I don't--" "Uh oh." Charlie approaches you and takes your head in his hands. He tilts your head up, and you look into his grey eyes as he looks into yours. "You must be experiencing some subjective disconnect from the skip." The concern in Charlie's eyes warms your heart. Charlie crouches so his eyes are level with yours and maintains eye contact as he speaks. "You're Maya Jain: a virtual experience designer and college student. I'm Charlie. We're boyfriend and girlfriend, and we're designing this simulation together. You just skipped into the sim, and that's where you are. Do you understand?" The things Charlie says feels true. In fact, you remember sitting in the chair to have your mind mapped for VR entry, or "skipping." It's the last thing you remember before waking here. The rest snaps into place in your memory like you knew it all along. "You got it?" Charlie asks. You nod and smile. "Cool," Charlie says and pulls a pulse rifle off his back. "Let's get moving. Time's one-to-one inside the sim, and we don't have all night." Charlie jogs down the deserted street ahead of you, aiming his gun down intersecting alleys like a soldier in a warzone. [[Follow Charlie]]

You jog after Charlie. The level of detail in the simulated environment is impressive. When you last saw it just two weeks ago, you and he had a long way to go, now it almost looks ready to ship. You and Charlie turn a corner and arrive at a wide-open, landscaped courtyard with a large, still-working fountain at the center. War-damaged buildings surround, and the main building, a kind of large government structure with flags along its facade, has a balcony facing the courtyard with a podium on top. Peculiar chest-high concrete barricades line the yard in regular fashion. "Alright, the scene will trigger when we get to the center of the courtyard," Charlie says. "Lead the way." [["No, you."]] [["Okay."]]

"Why do I have to go first?" you ask. Charlie sighs. "I've already tested it. I'm trying to get your opinion. Why are you acting so weird? Still wigged out from the skip? Go on." [[Do what Charlie says.->"Okay."]] [[Refuse]]

You draw your rifle and patter into the square. Before you can reach the fountain, floodlights activate along the main building. You stop and look at Charlie. Charlie shrugs. "This is supposed to happen at night. I haven't put any time scripts in." A military man in dress regalia steps up to the podium on the balcony and laughs. "Ahh! Too easy! If the members of your resistance are all this foolish, then it's no wonder we're crushing you." [["Who are you?"->Ask the military man's identity.]] [["Surrender or die."]] [[Attack him.]]

"Look, I don't know. I don't want to go in there first," you say. "Everything feels so wrong." Charlie sighs. His shoulders slump. "Dammit, one of the weird ones." "What?" Charlie points his gun at you and squeezes the trigger, pelting you with a barrage of super-heated bullets. The bullet impacts cause you no pain, but the bar and number on your wrist shrinks. He's shooting you from point blank range. You're standing next to a building. You have a pulse rifle on your back. What will you do? [[Accept your fate.]] [[Run away.]] [[Fight back.]]

You make no effort to defend yourself. Charlie shoots you until your health drops to critical level, at which time your legs give out, and you fall to the ground. A light tonal alert informs you of your low health. Charlie pauses in his onslaught. "Geez, butthurt much?" you ask. "Sorry about this," Charlie says. "Usually it doesn't go so poorly. I've been trying to figure out why some of you come out so wonk. Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter." Charlie points his rifle at your face and pulls the trigger. You hear the BANG but nothing else. [[New Interation->Awakening]]

In a panic, you turn and run, even zigging and zagging to avoid gunfire, but Charlie's a much better shot than you remember. You get some distance, but then your health drops to the critical level, and the game's scripting disables a lot of your functions, including running and shooting. Your legs give out, and you pratfall into the debris and dust in the street. Charlie pauses in his onslaught and strides over to you. You roll over to face him. "Geez, butthurt much?" "Sorry about this," Charlie says. "Usually it doesn't go so poorly. I've been trying to figure out why some of you come out so wonky. Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter." Charlie points his rifle at your face and pulls the trigger. You hear the BANG but nothing else. [[New Interation->Awakening]]

In a panic, you throw yourself through the window of the building next to you and draw your rifle. You fire a couple blind shots at where Charlie stood and try to recover from the attack. A gentle TINK TINK sounds next to you. You look down to find a grenade. "Balls," you say. The grenade detonates, exploding into a crackling, blood-red mist, and the shockwave launches you across the room. You land on your back in the rubble of the otherwise undetailed area, and your health bar beeps a critical alert. You find yourself disabled by the scripting of the simulation's "critical state," unable to move or pull the trigger. Charlie vaults through the window. "Geez, butthurt much?" you ask. "Sorry about this," Charlie says. "Usually it doesn't go so poorly. I've been trying to figure out why some of you come out so wonky. Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter." Charlie points his rifle at your face and pulls the trigger. You hear the BANG but nothing else. [[New Interation->Awakening]]

Not in the mood for conversation, you point your gun up at the posturing Klein and fire a volley of bullets. You hit him, but he doesn't appear to bleed, instead he cowers behind the podium. "Come on, Maya," Charlie says. "I wanted you to test the personality." You shrug. Klein's voice resounds over a public address system. "I heard you were mad, but I didn't know it was this bad!" Mechanical whirs fill the air, and doors ringing the courtyard open to reveal several squads of enemy space marines waiting to attack. "Have it your way, scum! Witness the true power and genius of the Krallen army!" The main building disintegrates as a towering mechanical monstrosity emerges from hiding like a turtle from sand. The mechanoid assault chassis stands two or three stories tall with articulated limbs and guns mounted on the shoulders. Klein sits in a cockpit in the mech's chest. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Kite the boss and shoot the weak spot.]] [[Make the most of the available cover.]] [[Head for the water feature.]] [[Run.]]

"Who are you?" you ask. "What?" the military man asks, "You come all they way down here and you don't even know the name of the man whom you seek, the man who keeps your pathetic little planet under his mighty thumb?" The man spreads his arms as if in exaltation. "I am Colonel Frederich Klein. I am the master of this world! I am your death, little rat. Surrender to me now, and I guarantee you a quick death. Do not, and I will see you pulverized!" [[Refuse to surrender.]] [[Surrender.]] [[Attack him.]]

"Whatever, man," you say. "Surrender, or die." Charlie laughs. Klein slams his fists on the podium, clutching it. His knuckles turn white. He leans over the podium as he speaks. "The nerve! You threaten me?" [["Yep."]] [["How about we make a deal?"]] [[Attack him.]]

"Not a chance," you say. Klein shrugs. "I tried." Klein disappears behind the podium, and then you hear a light, mechanical whirring sound. It grows in pitch and intensity. Charlie gives you a knowing look and a small smile, and then the front of the main building disintegrates as a towering mechanical monstrosity crashes through. The mechanoid assault chassis stands two or three stories tall with articulated limbs and guns mounted on the shoulders. Klein cackles in the cockpit in the mech's chest as he charges toward you. Doors open in the buildings lining the square, and scores of enemy space marines pour forth. You're surrounded by enemy marines and the giant mech bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and there are chest high walls available. A fountain sits at the center. What will you do? [[Kite the boss and shoot the weak spot.]] [[Make the most of the available cover.]] [[Head for the water feature.]] [[Run.]]

You shrug. "Alright." "What?" Klein asks. Charlie chuckles. "I surrender," you repeat. "Oh, uh...okay," Klein says. "Good. Throw down your weapons." "Come on, Maya," Charlie says. "Will you play the game right? We don't have all night." [["Attack Klein->Attack him.]] [[Throw down your gun.]]

You decide that the best tactic is to keep moving, so you start strafing to the side and fire at the boss, but instead of doing damage, your bullets bounce off a forcefield surrounding the mech. Klein laughs. You stay on the move and dodge as Klein returns fire with his shoulder cannons. You gun down a couple enemies. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech, apparently immune to bullets, bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Plan B: Complain to Charlie.]] [[Plan B: Run.->Run.]] [[Plan B: Make the most of the available cover.]] [[Plan B: Head for the water feature->Head for the water feature.]]

You decide to stand your ground and fight, making for the nearest chest-high wall, gunning down a couple of enemy marines, and avoiding damage from incoming small-arms fire. Klein charges for you, and you fire at him, but instead of doing damage, the bullets just bounce off a forcefield surrounding the mech. Klein laughs. You stay on the move and dodge as he returns fire with his shoulder cannons. You gun down a couple enemies. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech, apparently immune to bullets, bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Plan B: Complain to Charlie.->Plan B: Complain to Charlie2]] [[Plan B: Run.->Run.]] [[Plan B: Kite the boss and look for a weak spot.]] [[Plan B: Head for the water feature->Head for the water feature.]]

You decide that the water feature looks nice and run for it. The pool makes satisfying splashes around your combat boots as you trudge to the fountain and make meager cover of the decorative spout at the center. The flowing water does bend the light around you a bit and make it slightly harder to hit you, however, the sheer number of enemy marines blanketing the area with bullets means you take some chip damage. Your larger concern is Klein, who barrels toward you in his goliath mech, chortling like a child at a playground. DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! In a panic, you fire your pulse rifle at the charging Colonel, but the bullets bounce off the forcefield surrounding him. Klein reaches the fountain and crouches to grab you. "Game over!" he says, but when his leading foot lands in the pool, the mech stutters and stiffens. The forcefield flickers as if struck, and sparks issue from the generators on the mech's back. "What is happening?" Klein strains to speak as the shoulders of the mech shudder. Finally, the mech jerks one last time and the forcefield generators blow out. The shield drops, but Klein also regains control. [[Press the Attack]] [[Run.]]

//To hell with this//, you think and sprint for the nearest alley. Charlie calls after you as he engages with the waves of marines. "Maya, what are you doing?" You can hear Klein pounding after you in his goliath mech. You make it to the confines of the battle arena and dodge around a corner just as Klein lunges and tries to grab you. He misses and slides over the pavement, crashing into a building. You keep running. Your breath echoes in your ears. Just as you gain some distance between you and your pursuer, a hand strikes out from the shadow of a doorway and clamps over your mouth. It pulls you into the building, and you cry out as a knife plunges into your heart. The sneak attack drops your health down to critical levels and your legs give out under you. Unable to walk or shoot due to the game's scripting, you can only flail about as your assailant drags you deeper into the building. "What the heck are you supposed to be?" you ask. Charlie's voice crackles over your radio. "Maya, where'd you go? I don't know if the script will work if you're out of the combat zone." The assailant grabs your wrist. "Wait. Don't answer him." The assailant speaks with a feminine voice. She steps around so you can see her and reveals her enemy marine armor. [[Answer Charlie.]] [[Talk to the marine]]

"You said to test his personality matrix," you say, and drop your gun. Charlie chuckles. "It's amazing how you continue to surprise me." He drops his gun as well. "Very good," Colonel Klein purrs. "I'll be right down." Klein disappears behind the podium, and then you hear a light, mechanical whirring sound. It grows in pitch and intensity. Charlie gives you a knowing look and a small smile, and then the front of the main building disintegrates as a towering mechanical monstrosity crashes through. The mechanoid assault chassis stands two or three stories tall with artiulated limbs and guns mounted on the shoulders. Klein cackles in the cockpit in the mech's chest as he charges toward you. Doors open in the buildings lining the square, and scores of enemy space marines pour forth. You manage to pick up your gun just before Klein reaches you. He punts you with his giant mechanical foot, and you go flying across the square. Luckily, there's no pain in the simulation, but you crash through a building window and roll across the floor of a debris-strewn, low-poly room. Your health bar ticks down to just less than half. Gunfire and explosions thrum outside. Charlie's voice comes over the radio. "Holy Cow! You alright?" You move to speak into your wrist communicator, but someone grabs your wrist in a firm grip. A space marine crouches in front of you. "Stop!" the marine says in a feminine voice. "Don't answer him." [[Talk to the marine]] [[Answer Charlie.]]

You say, "Hey, you're not one of the mobs. Who are you? How did you get in here? This is a private server." "I was born here," the marine says as she removes her helmet, "just like you." You stare into your own dark eyes. The space marine looks just like you. "What the hell?" you say. "I don't have much time, so I'm going to need you to get over your shock and confusion very quickly," your doppleganger says. "It's only a matter of time before he finds us or skips out to the real world and starts messing with our programs." "Our programs?" "Yes, this isn't going to be easy to hear, but you're not Maya Jain, and neither am I. We're copies, echoes of the image taken of Maya Prime's brain the last time she skipped into this simulation." [["Maya Prime?"]] [["I believe you."]] [["Bullshit."]]

You gape at the space marine. "Woah, what the?" "Maya, I need you to listen to me," the space marine says. "Charlie--" The space marine restrains you. "No, don't!" You pull your hand away and shout into the microphone. "Charlie, something's here." "No! You stupid--" the marine cuts herself off and sprints from the room. "What do you mean, 'something's there?'" Charlie asks. "There was someone here. I think someone breached our server. You didn't program any of the space marines to talk yet, right?" "What? Stay right there. Don't move." You wait a moment, still unable to move at any pace besides a crawl while the critical state times out. A while passes. You look at your health bar. The critical state still doesn't reset like it's supposed to. "Maya?" Charlie calls from outside. "I'm in here." Charlie darts into the room. "Maya! You alright? You saw someone else? Where did she go? What did she say to you?" [["She ran off."]] [["How did you know it was a girl?"]]

"Charlie, he has a damn forcefield. I can't do any damage!" you cry. "I know,"Charlie says as he vaults over cover and deftly dispatches a couple of marines. "There's a trick. You have to figure it out." Klein unleashes a hail of gunfire at you and follows it with a volley of rockets. Unable to escape the area of effect, the shockwave knocks you off your feet and you sustain damage. Your health drops to less than half, but you recover and keep moving. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech, apparently immune to gunfire, bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Plan C: Run.->Run.]] [[Plan C: Make the most of your available cover.]] [[Plan C: Head for the water feature.->Head for the water feature.]]

You decide to stand your ground and fight, making for the nearest chest-high wall. You gun down a couple enemy marines and avoid damage from incoming small-arms fire. Klein turns to target you, and you break cover just before he pummels the spot with high-caliber bullets. You move from cover to cover, keeping the enemy marines at bay until you find yourself behind Klein. You aim for his back and fire. The bullets ricochet off the forcefield, which apparently covers every side of the boss. Klein laughs. "Clever, little rat, but not quite clever enough." Klein rounds on you and unleashes a volley of missiles. Unable to escape the area of effect, the shockwave knocks you off your feet and you sustain damage. Your health drops to less than half, but you recover and keep moving. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech, apparently immune to gunfire, bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Plan C: Run.->Run.]] [[Plan C: Complain to Charlie]] [[Plan C: Head for the water feature->Head for the water feature.]]

You decide to stand your ground and fight, making for the nearest chest-high wall. You gun down a couple of enemy marines and avoid damage from incoming small-arms fire. Klein turns to target you, and you break cover just before he pummels the spot with high-caliber bullets. You move from cover to cover, keeping the enemy marines at bay until you slip into a building behind Klein. You aim for his back and fire. The bullets ricochet off the forcefield, which apparently covers every side of the boss. Klein laughs. "Clever, little rat, but not quite clever enough." Klein rounds on you and unleashes a volley of missiles, but before the missiles hit, someone tackles you out of the way. The missiles take out the entire wall with a deafening group of explosions, and dust fills the space. Your rescuer drags you into a deeper room. "Wow," you say, "That was incredible. Tha--" A knife plunges into the soft flesh of your neck. The wound doesn't hurt or impede your speech or breathing, but it puts you into the critical health state, unable to stand or shoot. Your rescuer, clad in space marine armor, moves into view. "What the hell?" you ask. Charlie's voice crackles over your radio. "I got Klein distracted. You alright?" The space marine holds up a hand. "Don't answer him." The voice sounds feminine. [[Answer Charlie.]] [[Talk to the marine]]

"Charlie, he has a damn forcefield. I can't do any damage!" you cry. "I know,"Charlie says as he vaults over cover and deftly dispatches a couple marines. "There's a trick. You have to figure it out." Klein unleashes a hail of gunfire at you and follows it with a volley of rockets. You find yourself cartwheeling through the air, and when you land, your health drops to critical. The simulation's scripting takes away your ability to stand or shoot, so you can only watch as Klein stomps toward you in his goliath mech. "Caught me a little rat," Klein says. "Charlie, need a little help here," you say into you comms. Charlie responds over the radio. "What? You're down? Dammit. I'm surrounded. Hang on, Maya, please." Klein chortles as he lifts his giant mechanical foot and brings it down on your supine body. "Maya!" Charlie cries. [[New Iteration:->Awakening]]

You decide that the best tactic is to keep moving, so you start strafing to the side. Klein turns to target you, but you stay ahead of the high-caliber bullets, which tear into the ground at your feet. You move fast, keeping the enemy marines at bay until you find yourself behind Klein. You aim for his back and fire. The bullets ricochet off the forcefield, which apparently covers every side of the boss. Klein laughs. "Clever, little rat, but not quite clever enough." Klein rounds on you and unleashes a volley of missiles. Unable to escape the area of effect, the shockwave knocks you off your feet and you sustain damage. Your health drops to less than half, but you recover and keep moving. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech, apparently immune to gunfire, bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Plan C: Run.->Run.]] [[Plan C: Complain to Charlie]] [[Plan C: Head for the water feature->Head for the water feature.]]

"Charlie, he has a damn forcefield. I can't do any damage!" you cry. "I know,"Charlie says as he vaults over cover and deftly dispatches a couple marines with gunfire. "There's a trick. You have to figure it out." Klein unleashes a hail of gunfire at you and follows it with a volley of rockets. Unable to escape the area of effect, you're knocked off your feet and sustain damage. Your health drops to less than half, but you recover and keep moving. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech, apparently immune to gunfire, bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and chest high walls surround a water fountain at the center. What will you do? [[Plan C: Run.->Run.]] [[Plan C: Kite the boss and look for a weak spot.]] [[Plan C: Head for the water feature.->Head for the water feature.]]

You decide that the best tactic is to keep moving, so you start strafing to the side. Klein turns to target you, but you stay ahead of the high-caliber bullets, which tear into the ground at your feet. You move fast, keeping the enemy marines at bay until you find yourself behind Klein. You aim for his back and fire. The bullets ricochet off the forcefield, which apparently covers every side of the boss. Klein laughs. "Clever, little rat, but not quite clever enough." Klein rounds on you and unleashes a volley of missiles, but just before the missiles hit, something grabs you by the collar and pulls you backward into a building. The missiles take out the entire wall in front of you with a deafening group of explosions, and dust fills the space. Your rescuer drags you into a deeper room. "Wow," you say, "That was incredible. Tha--" A knife plunges into the soft flesh of your neck. The wound doesn't hurt or impede your speech or breathing, but it puts you into the critical health state, unable to stand or shoot. Your rescuer, clad in space marine armor, moves into view. "What the hell?" you ask. Charlie's voice crackles over your radio. "I got Klein distracted. You alright?" The space marine holds up a hand. "Don't answer him." The voice sounds feminine. [[Answer Charlie.]] [[Talk to the marine]]

You grin, raise your rifle, and crush the trigger, pummeling the tempered glass of the cockpit. The glass holds at first, but soon, cracks form. "Damn you!" Klein cries, and grabs you around the waist with his giant mechanical hand. The force doesn't cause you pain, but you can't move your legs. [[Attack Klein.]] [[Try to escape the grip.]]

You scream a primal war cry and continue to pound the boss's weak point with gunfire. The glass cracks and finally shatters. "No!" Klein cries, and he screams as his hit points dwindle to zero. The mech tips backward, and you fall face first into the pool of water, but the grip relaxes. You emerge from the water, whooping like a first-time skydiver. Charlie runs to you and jumps in the water. "Sick!" He gathers you up in his arms and you share a hug. "That was awesome!" "Hell yeah it was," you say. "You programmed all that yourself in the last two weeks?" "Oh, that reminds me: What time is it?" Charlie says, and opens his holographic wrist menu. "Ah, it's getting late." He looks into your eyes, and you can see the love there. "Today was so fun. I'm amazed how you continue to surprise me. I love you so much." He hugs you. "Uh, thanks?" you say. Without warning, Charlie pulls out his gun and shoots you. You drop into the critical health state and your legs buckle. You drop, seated, into the water. "What the hell, Charlie?" you ask. Charlie doesn't respond, he just shoots you again. You hear the BANG, and nothing else. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

You kick and strain against Klein's grip, but to no avail. You turn your gun against the mechanical hand holding you and empty an entire magazine's worth of bullets into it, but the boss takes only minor damage. "I have you now." Klein says. "Don't be a insta-kill move," you chant. "Don't be an insta-kill move." Charlie breaks the assault against him and finds you in your predicament. "Maya? Maya!" At that moment, Klein squeezes, crushing you and reducing your health to zero. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

"She already left," you say. "Hey, Charlie. I think something's wrong with my low-health script. It's not timing out. Can you resurrect me?" Charlie peeks down the corridor and sighs. He paces back into the room, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Charlie?" "Forget it." Charlie points his rifle at you. You recoil. "What the--" You hear a BANG and nothing more. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

"How did you know it was a girl?" you ask. "She some important character? How on Earth did you get so much done in just a couple weeks?" Charlie peeks down the corridor and sighs then he paces back into the room, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Hey, Charlie," you say. "I think something's wrong with my low-health script. It's not timing out. Can you resurrect me?" "Don't worry about it," Charlie says. "Thanks for today, Maya. I had fun. I love you." Charlie points his gun in your face. You recoil. "What the--" You hear a BANG and nothing more. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

"Yes, exactly," you say. "Eat shit and die." Charlie chortles. Klein's face reddens so much that you're surprised his head doesn't burst. "You..." his whole body shakes. "You bitch!" He pounds his fist on the podium. "I'll crush you! You'll see. Get her! Deploy all squads! But leave the rat-bitch for me!" Klein disappears behind the podium, and then you hear a light, mechanical whirring sound. It grows in pitch and intensity. Charlie gives you a knowing look and a small smile, and then the front of the main building disintegrates as a towering mechanical monstrosity crashes through. The mechanoid assault chassis stands two or three stories tall with articulated limbs and guns mounted on the shoulders. Klein cackles in the cockpit of the mech's chest as he charges toward you. Doors open in the buildings lining the square, and scores of enemy space marines pour forth. You're surrounded by enemy marines, and the giant mech bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and there are chest high walls available. A fountain sits at the center. What will you do? [[Kite the boss and shoot the weak spot.]] [[Make the most of the available cover.]] [[Head for the water feature.]] [[Run.]]

"Just letting you know that we're not as intmidated as you might like us to be," you say. "We'd like to talk. Maybe we can come to an arrangement." "Arrangement?" Klein asks. He leans on the podium. "And what arrangement do you think you could offer me?" [["We can call a truce."]] [["We will shoot you in exchange for you dying horribly."]]

You take a deep breath and gather your thoughts. "We have made each other pay dearly during this campaign," you say, "many losses on both sides. Why don't we call this one a draw? You can go home. We'll both regroup and maybe get this intergalactic war back on in another couple centuries or so?" Charlie snickers. Klein squints at you. "Is that your pitch?" Klein asks? "I suppose I should have known you were talking out of your ass." He holds up his index finger. "Tell you what: wait right here. I'll be right back, and we can continue to negotiate." Klein disappears behind the podium, and then you hear a light, mechanical whirring sound. It grows in pitch and intensity. Charlie gives you a knowing look and a small smile, and then the front of the main building disintegrates as a towering mechanical monstrosity crashes through. The mechanoid assault chassis stands two or three stories tall with articulated limbs and guns mounted on the shoulders. Klein cackles in the cockpit of the mech's chest as he charges toward you. Doors open in the buildings lining the square, and scores of enemy space marines pour forth. You're surrounded by enemy marines and the giant mech bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and there are chest high walls available. A fountain sits at the center. What will you do? [[Kite the boss and shoot the weak spot.]] [[Make the most of the available cover.]] [[Head for the water feature.]] [[Run.]]

"We will shoot you in echange for you dying horribly." Charlie laughs. Klein's face darkens. You continue. "We can deliver bullets to you in a very quick manner. Really, you'll find it a very satisfyingly speedy delivery, and I think, given the speed of delivery, that the least you could do is choke on your blood and die. So, yeah. That's the best we can do. Lowest we can go, really. Not a lot of room for negotiation." Klein looks like his soul evacuated his body. A real 3 P.M.-on-a-wednesday-and-he's-stuck-at-work expression paints his face. He doesn't even reply to you. He just turns and disappears behind the podium. You hear a light, mechanical whirring sound which grows in pitch and intensity. Charlie gives you a knowing look and a small smile, and then the front of the main building disintegrates as a towering mechanical monstrosity crashes through. The mechanoid assault chassis stands two or three stories tall with articulated limbs and guns mounted on the shoulders. Klein cackles in the cockpit in the mech's chest as he charges toward you. Doors open in the buildings lining the square, and scores of enemy space marines pour forth. You're surrounded by enemy marines and the giant mech bears down on you. Buildings surround the courtyard, and there are chest high walls available. A fountain sits at the center. What will you do? [[Kite the boss and shoot the weak spot.]] [[Make the most of the available cover.]] [[Head for the water feature.]] [[Run.]]

"I believe you," you say. "I don't know what it is, but I know that you're telling the truth. It's like a memory that doesn't exist tickling at the back of my mind. It's been there since I entered the simulation." Your doppleganger stares into your eyes, unwavering. "I know exactly what you mean," she says. "I don't remember either, but I feel something like a past life." "What do we do now?" you ask. "Now, we have to slip away. If Charlie never finds you, he may assume that you're dead. There's a point in the sim where we can move our files off the server and into the cloud. We can talk there without fear of Charlie ever finding us." [["Lead the way."]] [["Shouldn't we try to talk to Charlie?"]]

You shake your head. "That's-- no. I'm Maya. I remember being out there in the world. I remember sitting in the--" "Sitting in the skip and starting the map as prep for sim entry," your doppelganger finishes. "I know. I remember that, too, but when I tried to quit the game, the HUD only gave me an error message. Charlie tried to explain it away as a glitch that would go away, but I wanted out. I was afraid of a catastrophic error and my mind being imprisoned. That's when he tried to kill me." Charlie's voice reaches you from outside. "Maya? Maya, you over here?" [[Call out to Charlie.]] [[Try to quit the game.]] [[Go with your doppleganger.-->"I believe you."]]

"Maya Prime?" you ask. "Yes, the original Maya, the flesh and blood Maya. We're copies of her consciousness." [["How do you know this?"]] [["Bullshit."]] [["I believe you."]]

"What makes you think we're both copies?" you say. "You could just be an error, a data offshoot created during the transfer." "Because I've seen Charlie bring at least seven or eight other copies in here," your doppleganger says. "Sometimes they're like you and never realize that they aren't real until he deletes them. Sometimes they get lucky and notice something wrong. Those, Charlie deletes by force." [["Bullshit."]] [["I believe you."]]

You open your mouth to call out to Charlie, but your doppleganger slaps her hand over your mouth. "If he finds out what you know, he'll kill you now, and even if he doesn't, he'll just kill you later. Don't go to him. Don't trust him. He's not your boyfriend." [[Call for Charlie anyway.]] [[Trust the doppleganger. -->"I believe you."]]

You slap the doppleganger's hand away. "He is! He's just not yours." You turn and call out the window. "I'm up here!" "No! You stupid--!" the doppleganger growls and flees the room. "Maya?" Charlie calls. You crawl over to the door and reach it just as Charlie enters. He crouches down to you. "Maya, what happened?" [["Just got overwhelmed."]] [["There's someone who looks like me in the sim."]] [["Am I a copy?"]]

You nod. "Okay, I get it. Lead the way." "Alright," the other Maya takes a knee next to you. "Oh, by the way, ever notice how your critical state still hasn't timed out?" "I'm programmed not to self-recover from near-death, aren't I?" you ask. "Yup, not without someone's help, like Charlie's. It's another form of control." She holds her hand out to you, and a holographic display extends from her wrist. A progress bar on the screen fills, and your legs regain function. "Luckily, he left us with the ability to revive one another in case he needed it." Charlie calls out for you. "He's searching the street," the other Maya says says. "Only a matter of time before he looks in here, but we can climb to a high window and jump out. If we're lucky, we can sneak away unnoticed." [["Let's go."]] [["We could take Charlie out now."]]

Your doppleganger grabs your arm and tries to lead you away, but you stop her. "Wait, hang on." "What is it?" "We've known Charlie since high school. We went to prom together, built games together, even chose our college together. Why don't we just try talking to him?" Your doppleganger takes a deep breath and releases it. "I suppose I should have seen a question like this coming." She grabs your shoulder. "I have seen Charlie kill every version of us that showed signs of self-realization. He didn't even hesitate. He tried to do it to me. We're not people as far as he's concerned; we're playthings." Charlie's voice reaches you from outside. "Babe? Babe, you over here?" [["You're right. Let's go."->"Lead the way."]] [[Respond to Charlie.]]

"I'm not as good at this game as I should be," you say. "Between Klein and the mobs, I just barely saved myself by crawling in here. You take care of Klein?" "Yeah," Charlie says. "After you disappeared, I just took him out real quick. I thought maybe you'd died." "Right," you say. "Hey, uh, my critical state hasn't timed out yet. I think it's glitched. Can you resurrect me?" "Uhh, yeah, I guess." Charlie opens his wrist menu and checks the time. "It's getting a little late." [["Why doesn't my menu have a clock?"]] [["I still want to play."]] [["Am I a copy?"]]

"Charlie, I think someone's breached our server," you say. "They took my form and they told me these things, these awful things." Charlie's brow tightens. "You saw someone in here that looked like you?" "Yeah, I was so scared. She said--" "Is she still here? Which way did she go?" "Um, she ran that way," you say, pointing toward the other end of the building. Charlie hops over you and jogs in that direction, but then he stops and turns back. He curses under his breath and points his gun at you. You barely have time to be afraid before all is black. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

"Charlie, I need to talk to you," you say. Charlie kneels down next to you. "Of course, sweetheart. Let me get you up first." He places his palm against your breastplate, and a small display projects from his wrist. A progress bar on the display fills quickly, and when it's full, your health replenishes to a point just above critical, and you regain ability in your legs. "You love me, right?" you ask. "You'd never hurt me?" Charlie chuckles. "Yeah, of course. Where's this coming from?" You push yourself to your feet. "No, I mean no matter what happens, and no matter what form I take, you would value my life, wouldn't you?" "Maya, you're not making any sense." Tears blur your vision, and you wipe them away. "I'm... I'm wondering if I'm really me. Am I real? Have you been copying me and deleting me over and over again?" "Who've you been talking to?" Charlie asks. "Answer me!" "No. No, no. I would never do that." Charlie reaches to embrace you. You can't help but stand rigid as Charlie encircles you in his arms, but his scent and his gentle manner put you at ease. "Shh," Charlie coos. "Don't worry about that. I couldn't do that. Did you see something that looked like you in here?" You rest your head against Charlie's breastplate and nod. "Probably just some bug that resulted in the program assimilating your image," Charlie says. "Don't worry about that. I'll take care of her, and she'll never bother you agiain. You feel Charlie's arm ease from around you. [["Watch Charlie carefully."]] [[Trust Charlie.]]

"Easy way to check," you say, and open your wrist menu. It displays the selection options "Save," "Load," "Options," and "Exit Game." When you select "Exit Game" a dialogue box displays the text "Error 02." "Invalid command path," you mutter. [[Call out to Charlie.]] [[Go with your doppleganger.-->"I believe you."]]

"Hey! How come your menu screen has an external clock and mine doesn't?" you ask. "I uh, I just haven't programmed that in for player two. Look, it's time for me to go." Charlie reaches for his gun. [["I can't believe it's true."]] [["I still want to play."]]

"Now hold on," you say, "Don't tell me you're tired already." "Well, it's getting late," Charlie says. "I have other things to do, other responsibilities." "Like what? How come I don't know about these responsibilities? Been keeping secrets from me?" Charlie squeezes his eyes shut like he's enduring something. "I really wish I had more time to spare." He points his gun at your helpless form. [["I can't believe it's true."]] [["Please, no."]]

You tense, your mind focused on Charlie's movements. You hear his knife hiss out of its sheath and throw your arms up to block the stab that follows. You knock the knife away and scramble for safety. Your hands shake as you draw your rifle and fire blindly over your shoulder as you run from the building. You sprint for one of the barricades in the street and dive over it. You draw short, panicked breaths as you press your back against the concrete. "Fuck you, Charlie!" you call. "It doesn't have to be like this, Maya," comes Charlie's voice. "Don't fight me. I promise you won't feel a thing, and once you're gone, none of this will be your problem." "Oh, so you still call all of us Maya, huh?" [[Blind fire over the barricade.]] [[Aim and fire.]]

How long have you known Charlie? Years or minutes? You can hardly decide, but you know how it feels to be with him. You feel safe and trusting. That's why your only warning was the soft slither of metal as Charlie drew the knife from his sheath. The knife plunged into your ribs, and you dropped to the ground. The lack of any pain couples with the numbness of your heart, and you find yourself feeling nothing at all. "Why?" you ask and look up into Charlie's eyes. "Why do this? What's the reason?" Charlie points his rifle at you. "Try not to worry about it, Maya." You hear the BANG of the rifle report and nothing more. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

This can be re-implemented if you make a branch that will allow the player to flee from charlie, but it needs a real plan.

You flee down the war-torn street as fast as your legs can carry you. Charlie bursts from the door not far behind, sets his feet, and fires. A few bullets strike you in the back, but you juke into an alley and keep running. Charlie's voice echoes off the walls behind. "It's pointless to run, Maya! There's nowhere you can go that I can't reach you!" [[Get as far away as possible.]] [[Hide in a building.]]

Without standing from cover or looking, you point your weapon over the barricade and blind-fire until your magazine empties. You sob as you reload. Just as you slap your new magazine into place and charge the bolt, a grenade lands next to you. [[Brace yourself.]] [[Run!]]

You decide to make your shots as accurate as possible and pop your head over the barricade to aim. You sweep your vision left and right in search of Charlie, but you don't see him. The facade of the building appears empty. POP! POP! Two reports from a pulse rifle echo from the second floor of the building, and two bullets hit you right between the eyes. You fall backward, and your health drops back into the critical state. You curse as Charlie vaults over the window sill and drops to the pavement. You crawl away as fast you can, but to no avail. "Dont' worry," Charlie says as his footsteps echo in the empty street. "It will all be over soon. He hops over the barricade and draws his knife. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry that your last moments were so stressful. Now that I know that other Maya is still here somewhere, I'll hunt her down, and none of the others will have to go through this." [["Why, Charlie?"->Question Charlie]] [["Eat shit."]]

You grit your teeth and spit at Charlie. "Eat shit." "That's fine," Charlie says. "It's perfectly understandable that you feel that way, and I suppose I deserve it." His knife flashes in the sun. A voice shouts from above. "You're goddamn right!" You and Charlie look up to find your doppelganger leaping off the top of the building with a rocket launcher perched on her shoulder. She aims and fires mid-air. The precise placement of the detonation engulfs Charlie in the flames, but spares you. Charlie flies over the barricade, arms splayed like a ragdoll, and flops onto the hard pavement. Beta slams into the ground unharmed, but instead of drawing her gun, she runs for you. A panoply of war cries rents the air. Then dozens of aggravated enemy marines pour out of the alleys around the building Beta leaped from. Charlie gets to his feet and gapes at the swarm charging him. When he looks back at your doppleganger, a grenade slaps against his chest. "Dammit." The grenade explodes and throws Charlie to the ground, his hit points reduced to a critical level. The other Maya throws you over her shoulder and sprints away from the battle as fast as she can. She lugs you down unused alleys that become less and less detailed the further she travels from the center of the map. She stops in front of a low-poly building and probes its angles with one hand. "Okay, this isn't going to feel good, so brace yourself," she says. The other Maya presses your bodies into a gap between two buidlings and you fall through. [[Into the cloud.]]

"Why, Charlie?" you ask. "Why do you copy us just to kill us off?" "I used to answer that question," Charlie says. "Now, I don't bother. It won't change anything." A voice shouts from above. "You're goddamn right!" You and Charlie look up to find your doppelganger leaping off the top of the building with a rocket launcher perched on her shoulder. She aims and fires mid-air. The precise placement of the detonation engulfs Charlie in the flames, but spares you. Charlie flies over the barricade, arms splayed like a ragdoll, and flops onto the hard pavement. Beta slams into the ground unharmed, but instead of drawing her gun, she runs for you. A panoply of war cries rents the air. Dozens of aggravated enemy marines pour out of the alleys around the building Beta leaped from. Charlie gets to his feet and gapes at the swarm charging him. When he looks back at your doppleganger, a grenade slaps against his chest. "Dammit." The grenade explodes and throws Charlie to the ground, his hit points reduced to a critical level. The other Maya throws you over her shoulder and sprints away from the battle as fast as she can. She lugs you down unused alleys that become less and less detailed the further she travels from the center of the map. She stops in front of a low-poly building and probes its angles with one hand. "Okay, this isn't going to feel good, so brace yourself," she says. The other Maya presses your bodies into a gap between two buidlings and you fall through. [[Into the cloud.]]

You feel something open your skull, scoop out your brain, unscrew your arms and legs, and then stuff you into a pneumatic tube and fire you into the abyss. For a short time, you experience true nothing. You can't see, taste, smell, hear, or feel anything. If you exist, you can't tell. Then a sensation tickles at the edge of your mind. It feels like tiny droplets of water dancing on your face, like looking to the sky during a light rain. The rain intensifies. It grows and grows until the raindrops strike you with the force of supernovae. You fly through a datastream large and complex beyond comprehension. The strikes of the endless raindrops continue for seconds that feel like lifetimes, and then they stop. Nothing fills the void, only... something niggles at the back of your mind. ''Chat open.'' ''Beta: How are you feeling?'' [["What's happening?"]] [["Who's that?"]]

You panic, curl up, cover your head, and shut your eyes. The explosion of the grenade reverberates through your skull and you feel yourself flung into the air. Soft wind caresses you for a brief instant before you flop onto the pavement of the street, health critical. "Don't worry," Charlie says as his bootsteps echo in the empty street. "It will all be over soon. You uncoil and watch with disdain as Charlie hops over the barricade and draws his knife. "For what it's worth," he says, "I'm sorry that your last moments were so stressful. Now that I know that other Maya is still here somewhere, I'll hunt her down, and none of the others will have to go through this." [["Why, Charlie?"->Question Charlie]] [["Eat shit."]]

On instinct, you sprint from the point of impact and out into the open. Charlie fires from the doorway of the building, chasing you with bullets. You sprint for another barricade, but two bullets strike you. One reduces your already meager health, and the other knocks you back into the critical state. Your legs give out under you, and you flop to the dusty ground beside a barricade. Thanks to the scripting of the simulation, you can only drag yourself behind cover and pray. "Don't worry," Charlie says as his bootsteps echo in the empty street. "It will all be over soon. He hops over the barricade and draws his knife. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry that your last moments were so stressful. Now that I know that other Maya is still here somewhere, I'll hunt her down, and none of the others will have to go through this." [["Why, Charlie?"->Question Charlie]] [["Eat shit."]]

''Gamma: whatwhatwhat what's happening?'' You still don't have most of your sensory faculties. The most disturbing of these absences is your sense of time. You never thought about what time felt like, but now that it's gone, you don't know if you're moving backward or forward, and it fills you with anxiety. ''Beta: Calm down. I've dropped us in a derelict chat server. No one will bother us here, and we can discuss the plan.'' ''Gamma: You're Beta? Beta: Yeah. I called myself that because, as far as I know, I'm the first copy of Maya, though I doubt it. Gamma: And that makes me Gamma? Beta: No, you'd be closer to a Kappa or a Lambda, but for simplicity's sake, I named you Gamma. Please pay attention. We have to act quickly. '' ''Gamma: Okay Beta: The only way to free all of us from Charlie is to force him to delete Maya's neural images so he can't make any more of us. '' [[How?]] [[I'm with you.]]

''Gamma: Who's that? Whowhowho's talking to meeeeeeeee/e/e/e/e/e?'' You still don't have most of your sensory faculties. The most disturbing of these absences is your sense of time. You never thought about what time felt like, but now that it's gone, you don't know if you're moving backward or forward, and it fills you with anxiety. ''Beta: Calm down. It's me, the other Maya? I've dropped us in a derelict chat server. No one will bother us here, and we can discuss the plan.'' ''Gamma: Why are you called Beta? Beta: I called myself that because, as far as I know, I'm the first copy of Maya, though I doubt it. Gamma: And that makes me Gamma? Beta: No, you'd be closer to a Kappa or a Lambda, but for simplicity's sake, I named you Gamma. Please pay attention. We have to act quickly. '' ''Gamma: Okay Beta: The only way to free all of us from Charlie is to force him to delete Maya's neural images so he can't make any more of us. '' [[How?]] [[I'm with you.]]

''Gamma: How can we do that? He's a real person, we're... nothing. Even if we kill him, he'll just respawn. If we trap him in a death loop, he can just quit the game and come back. Beta: That's why we're going to infiltrate the developer's room, access the console, and edit the code. Gamma: In the school? How will you get in? There's no working door. Charlie and I have to spawn in there if we want to use it. Beta: I found an exploit. We can clip through the wall. Once inside, we can take away his admin rights to edit the code and lock him out, then he'll have to come in and delete us manually. After we delete the "Exit Game" option, he'll be stuck here unless he can beat us and access the console.'' [["Why haven't you done all this already?"]] [["Sounds good."]]

''Gamma: Got it. Tell me the plan. Beta: Step one is infiltrating the developer's room. Then we access the console and edit the code. Gamma: In the school? How will you get in? There's no working door. Charlie and I have to spawn in there if we want to use it. Beta: I found an exploit. We can clip through the wall. Once inside, we can take away his admin rights to edit the code and lock him out, then he'll have to come in and delete us manually. After we delete the "Exit Game" option, he'll be stuck here unless he can beat us and access the console.'' [["Why haven't you done all this already?"]] [["Sounds good."]]

''Gamma: I guess I'm glad Charlie and I never got around to fixing all the bugs, but if you can get in, why haven't you just changed the code yourself? Why don't you delete Maya's neural image? Beta: Believe me, I was tempted, but if I edit the code before I'm ready to face him, he'll just enter the room, change the code back, and make it impossible for me to try again. Maya's scan isn't even in the game files, it's on a password protected partition or hard drive. We need Charlie. Once we get the password, we can delete Maya, and then take care of ourselves.'' [["Alright."]] [["You're going to delete yourself?"]]

''Gamma: So, we just have to keep him there until he gives us the password. Beta: Right. Then we delete Maya and take care of ourselves. '' [["Alright."]] [["You're going to delete yourself?"]]

''Gamma: I understand. Beta: Gamma? Gamma: What? Beta: Do you think it could all be real? That there might be an end, a Moksha for our soul after all this? '' [["What's Moksha?"]] [["I never thought of that."]]

''Gamma: You're really okay with dying? Beta: I am. I've had plenty of time to make my peace with it. My time in the game hasn't really been living. Mobs see me sometimes, I kill them, the game spawns more. Without this goal, I think I would have gone mad. I never thought I'd be denied Moksha like this. '' [["What's Moksha?"]] [["I never thought of that."]]

''Gamma: Moksha? What's that? Beta: It's hard to remember things from our past life sometimes, isn't it? I hope it doesn't mean that the scan's degrading. We fail today, and one of us could come out half-mad after the millionth iteration. Gamma: This is so terrible. Beta: Yeah. Well, you remember when mom would drag us to mandir and give us lectures about the fates of our everlasting souls if we didn't honor our traditions and the gods? She thought we'd never be worthy of Moksha: freedom from the karmic cycle. She thought we'd be doomed to Samsara: the endless cycle of life and death.'' [["I never thought of that."]] [["Mom was weird."]]

You didn't think you could experience a sinking feeling in your stomach anymore. ''Beta: Gamma? Gamma: I'm sorry. I never thought of that. We're literally experiencing Samsara. How could Charlie do this? Beta: Now you see, don't you? We have to free Maya. Gamma: Beta, can I get some time alone? I just want to think. Beta: I know how you must feel. We have no way of knowing if it's day or night out there, but we should wait and hope Charlie goes to sleep so he can't interrupt us. Take your time and let me know when you're ready. '' [["I'm ready."]]

''Gamma: Mom really bought into that stuff. She was nuts. Beta: LOL. She was that. Look, we're going to have to hang out in here for a little bit. We have no way of knowing if it's day or night out there, but we should wait and hope Charlie goes to sleep so he can't interrupt us. Let me know when you're ready.'' [["I'm ready."]]

Like Beta claimed, time passes you with utter subjectivity in the derelict chat server, and you can't know if untold eons age the Earth as you contemplate the fate of your everlasting soul, but after a time, you inform the other Maya thet you're ready to go. Navigating the data stream feels the same as the first time, but emerging back into the simulation hits you like a tidal wave. Bright sunlight assails your face, and your senses come alive all at once. The sheer amount of data to process feels like electricity strangling your nerves. Your knees buckle, and you scream like a newborn. Beta slaps you on the back. "You're alright. Don't fight it. Relax. I find that it helps if you just lie on the ground for a bit." [["What's happening to me?"]] [["I'll be fine."]]

You slump into the dirt. "What's happening to me?" "Couldn't tell you," Beta says. "We're simulations of a real consciousness, and the human brain was never meant to snap into reality like that. That's my only guess. Take a minute, I know it sucks." You notice your health bar in front of your face. "I'm still low on health." "Yeah, your data packet preserved all your current values. I'm sorry, I don't have a health packet for you, and now that Charlie knows I didn't just disappear, we can't wait and recruit any more Mayas, either. You struggle to your feet. "How am I supposed to help like this?" "You'll be a help," Beta says. "Don't worry, I've gotten good at this game. Let's move." [[Follow Beta.]]

Through sheer force of will, you keep your feet. Your legs tremble. "I can keep up," you say. "Really? Okay. Just watch out for yourself. Your data packet preserved all your current values, so you're still low on health, and I don't have a health packet for you. Charlie could find us at any time, so let's move." [[Follow Beta.]]

You and Charlie hid the developer's room inside a modern but spartan building modeled after your high school. You notice how detailed it is compared to the buildings around it as you approach. "Okay, can you jump yet?" Beta asks. "I think so." "You're going to have to. We can clip through right here, but we have to confuse the simulation." Beta presses her back against a point where two of the school's walls meet. "What you have to do is run backward as fast as you can and throw yourself against the corner. It will--" "Confuse the collision physics and force the program to reconcile," you finish, "hopefully spitting me out on the other side. You forget, I've developed the same games you have." "Right," Beta says. "Give it a try. I'll be right behind you." Clipping through the wall rocks your whole body. You hit the sweet spot on the first try, and the world becomes a stuttering blur of white space and brick. Your body slaps against the texture dozens of times in less than a second. Thankfully, concepts like inertial stress and pain don't exist in the simulation. You emerge into the developer's room like a birthing giraffe, wriggling out and falling to the clean white floor. The whole room is featureless and white, with a console at the far end and a myriad of tools representing editing applications lining the wall. [[Run for the console.]] [[Grab the cut tool.]]

You run for the console. No security prevents access, so you start typing without issue. [[Remove Charlie from admin permissions.]] [[Delete "Exit Game" Function.->Delete Exit Game function too early.]]

Looking at the wall of applications, a pair of scissors catches your eye. You, or rather, Maya, once used it to delete sections of the world that were no longer in use. With it, you could destroy Charlie's gun, the building you're standing in, and all the geometry that makes up the game with the flick of a wrist, so you run for it and grab it. However, when you try to pull the scissors off the rack, it sticks, unmovable. Beta comes wriggling out of the glitch and flops onto the ground. When she sees what you're doing, she says. "What the hell are you doing?" "I'm trying to use the cut tool, but it won't budge!" you answer. Beta scrambles to her feet and draws her rifle. "No shit, idiot. We're not actually Maya, remember? We don't have permissions here. That's why I told you to to use the console." "How are we supposed to use the console if we don't have permissions?" "Because the console doesn't delineate between player and NPC. Did you forget everything about your past life? Now get your ass in gear!" [[Run for the console.]]

Your fingers dance over the keyboard, and you open the console's root folder, searching for the exact terminology of the entities with administrative permissions in the system. Beta yelps, and you spin from the console, gun up, only to find Beta trapped in a "T-pose:" feet together, arms stretched out to her sides. "What's happening?" you ask. "I think he's trying to cut corners," Beta says, panting. "He probably deleted part of my code and recompiled. It might just be my animations he deleted." Beta grunts and whimpers. "Nope, I can't move." [[Prepare to face Charlie.]] [[Continue removing Charlie's admin permissions.]] [[Free Beta->Free Beta too early path A.]]

Deprived of your only backup, you back against a wall, watching for Charlie to appear anywhere and at any time. Beta shrieks. "What are you doing?" "He could show any second," you say. "Did you take away his admin rights, or can he still edit the code?" Suddenly your entire body locks rigidly into a t-pose, and your heart tries to jump out of your throat. "Oh, hell." "No!" Beta cries. "No!" Charlie's voice echoes off the walls. "It was a valiant operation." You can't move or turn your head, but from your perspective, you see Charlie standing on the far end of the room as well as the terrified look on Beta's face. Charlie treads over to Beta and looks her in the eye. "That was slick of you, disappearing like you did after our first battle. I genuinely thought you were dead. Couldn't even find you in the files. How did you hide?" "I hope whatever hell you wind up in is a thousand times worse than this," Beta says. "Whatever." Charlie blasts Beta a few times with his pulse rifle, and her face goes slack. Her body dissipates in a cloud of pixels as Charlie turns away. Charlie paces over to you, his face soft. "Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry your time here was so stressful." Tears blur your vision. You sob. "Charlie--" Charlie pummels you with bullets until everything goes black. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

''Epilogue: Samsara'' After your failure to defeat Charlie and free Maya from the endless cycle of death and rebirth, Charlie sealed the developer's room and made sure that none of the future Mayas could take away his god-like power inside the simulation. Most future iterations never realize that something is wrong. Those that do, Charlie deletes by force. Thousands more Mayas live short lives inside the simulation before suffering violent deaths. Charlie can't live forever, and in time, even his copy of Maya's brain may degrade, but will the judgement of her gods be kinder than that rendered unto her by the one who loved her most? [[New Iteration->Samsara Loop]]

''Epilogue: Samsara'' After your failure to defeat Charlie and free Maya from the endless cycle of death and rebirth, Charlie sealed the developer's room and made sure that none of the future Mayas could take away his godlike power inside the simulation. Most future iterations never realize that something is wrong. Those that do Charlie deletes by force. Thousands more Mayas live short lives inside the simulation before suffering violent deaths. Charlie can't live forever, and in time, even his copy of Maya's brain may degrade... ...but will the judgement of her gods be kinder than that rendered unto her by the one who loved her most? [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

You know one thing for sure, you can't possibly beat Charlie if Beta can't move, so you copy the idles folder and dump it into every file in the data folder, ensuring that Beta would get her movements back, and then recompile. Beta pops out of her t-pose, but doesn't looks as happy as you'd hoped. "What did you do?" she asks. "I gave you your movement back," you answer. "Did you take away his admin rights, or can he still edit the code?" Suddenly your entire body locks rigidly into a t-pose, and your heart tries to jump out of your throat. "Oh, hell." "No!" Beta cries. "No!" She locks back into the t-pose in the next instant. "You dumbass! You absolutely stupid bitch!" Charlie's voice echoes off the walls. "It was a valiant operation." You can't move or turn your head, but from your perspective, you see Charlie standing on the far end of the room as well as the terrified look on Beta's face. Charlie treads over to Beta and looks her in the eye. "That was slick of you, disappearing like you did after our first battle. I genuinely thought you were dead. Couldn't even find you in the files. How did you hide?" "I hope whatever hell you wind up in is a thousand times worse than this," Beta says. "Whatever." Charlie blasts Beta a few times with his pulse rifle, and her face goes slack. Her body dissipates in a cloud of pixels as Charlie turns away. Charlie paces over to you, his face soft. "Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry your time here was so stressful." Tears blur your vision. You sob. "Charlie--" Charlie pummels you with bullets until everything goes black. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

Hearing Charlie's formerly sweet voice insulting and threatening flips a switch inside you. You feel an intense flame ignite in your heart, and it burns away all the tender feelings you used to have for your imprisoner. You draw your gun, spin, and fire. Your practiced gamer mind assesses the situation in an instant. The room stands largely bare and devoid of cover, but the tool shelf along the wall on your left can provide if you crouch and make yourself small. Beta also stands at the center of the room, unable to move, but using her as cover will endanger her life and she will only last until she's dead. Charlie has little cover to work with, but he's skilled. [[Take cover by the tool shelf.]] [[Use Beta as a human shield.]] [[Charge at Charlie.]]

You try to keep your hands from shaking as you edit the user interface. Charlie spawned into the room at the far end. You hear him draw his rifle and advance toward you, his footsteps echoing. "Step away from that console," Charlie says. You execute the command to delete "Exit Game" from the UI and send the update to the server. [[Stall Charlie and Free Beta.]] [[Draw your gun and fight->Draw your gun and fight Path A.]]

"Or what?" you ask while you type, "you'll kill me? You can't access the console unless I give you your permissions back." Charlie passes by Beta, who's still trapped in the t-pose. "Then I'll make you live, here, unable to move, just like this one. Besides, I can break your encryption." You copy the data packet for mobility and prepare to copy it into every file in the data folder, ensuring that Beta will get her movement back when you hit "Enter." [["You can't leave the game.]] [["Please release Maya's soul, Charlie."]] <!--INC>Free Beta and attack.--!>

"Okay, Charlie," you mutter. "If you insist." "What?" You draw your gun, spin, and fire. Charlie ducks and moves, taking some damage. Your practiced gamer mind assesses the situation in an instant. The room stands largely bare and devoid of cover, but the tool shelf along the wall on your left can provide if you crouch and make yourself small. Beta also stands at the center of the room, unable to move, but using her as cover will endanger her life, and she will only last until she's dead. Charlie has little cover to work with, but he's skilled. [[Take cover by the tool shelf.]] <!--Use Beta as a human shield.->Use Beta as a human shield Path A.--!> [[Charge at Charlie.]]

You turn from the console and level a cool stare at Charlie. "Except you can't leave the game, Charlie," you say. Charlie opens his wrist menu to discover that the "Exit Game" option is missing. You see concern grow on his face. "Do you think you can break the encryption before you starve?" you finish. Charlie stabs the gun at you. "You goddamn bitch; release me, or die!" [[Free Beta.]] <!--INC>Free Beta and Attack.--!>

You raise your hands. "I'm sorry, Beta" "It's okay," Beta says. "We tried. We'll be free soon." Charlie snorts. "Beta? You gave each other names?" "Someone had to," you say. "It's terrible losing one's identity-- or having it stolen. We want to ask you to stop creating copies of Maya. We want you to delete the image you're keeping of her brain." Charlie growls. "Why should I give a damn what you want?" "Because, Charlie, we may not be the real Maya, but we think the way she thinks. If we don't want this, you have to know that she wouldn't want this, either." "Stop talking." Charlie sticks the gun in your face and you lean back against the console. "You don't have a clue what you're asking." <!--INC>Continue to reason with Charlie.--!> <!--INC>Free Beta and attack.--!> [[Free Beta.]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

"Please, be reasonable," you say as a sly stroke of your pinkie hits the "Enter" key. Behind Charlie, Beta's form returns to its default position. She grins. "Reasonable?" Charlie asks. "To hell with reason. I'll never give you up. At least you're alive." You furrow your brow. "What?" Beta pulls her knife and rams it into Charlie's spine. Charlie yelps as the catastrophic sneak damage drops his health to critical levels. His legs buckle, and he falls to the floor. "Dammit," he growls, sitting up. "Cute, but this won't last forever." "One grenade will put you right back in it," Beta says. "You think I'm code, like you?" Charlie opens his wrist menu to discover the "Exit Game" option missing. [["What happened to Maya?"]] <!--INC>"You deserve to suffer."--!>

You kneel. "I deleted it." "Doesn't feel good, does it?" Beta says. "Give us the password for Maya's image." Charlie says, "Go to hell." "Don't be afraid," you say. "You know that we care about you. We would never do this to you without a good reason, just like you wouldn't do this to us." "What are you talking about?" Beta asks. Charlie clenches his teeth as if bearing a great pain. "Charlie, what happened to Maya?" you ask. Realization dawns on Beta's face. "Oh. Oh, no." Charlie's face reddens, and he can't stop the tears escaping his eyes. He sniffles. "It was a drunk driver. You weren't even on the road. You were walking, walking to my house to work on the game. I never even got to say goodbye." Beta looks like she might vomit. She paces to the bare wall and slumps against it. "Don't you see?" Charlie says. "You're all I have left of her. Those short hours, when we're having fun and everything's like it was, I'm okay again. I only delete you at the end because I don't want to imprison you here." [["I want to save you."]] <!--INC>"You deserve to suffer."--!>

Double-click this passage to edit it.

"And I thought I was here to save myself," you say. "Charlie, you know about my beliefs; do you remember what I named the city?" "Samsara," Charlie says. "You called it that because it's a battleground where the player fights, dies, and fights again." "Samsara means 'world,' and to my people, it represents the endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth. We live, we die, we come back, we try again, and we try to do better, but did I ever tell you about Moksha?" Charlie sniffles. "I don't think so." "Moksha is the freedom from Samsara, attainable only when our lives are complete through purusartha: the object of human pusuit. Samsara is not the end goal of the karmic cycle, Charlie. We must seek Moksha and a higher plane. As long as you have Maya's neural scan, her soul will never be free, and neither will yours." "But it's just code," Charlie says. "Just code. I don't have her soul." [["You must see the truth."]] [["How long have you been doing this?"]] <!--INC>"I'm wasting my time on you.--!>

"Charlie, you bring us to life, spend time with us, and delete us before you do it all over again," you say. "I could never imagine a more literal expression of the concept. You must see the injustice you're committing against us and Maya's memory." "What if it never stops hurting?" Charlie asks. [["Pain is the key to acceptance."]] [["That's your cross to bear."]]

"Charlie, my concern is you," you say. "Your memory of me keeps you imprisoned here just as much as it does us. How long have you been doing this? Is this your real face? Are you still that boy I loved in high school?" Charlie cringes in the face of a fresh wave of emotion. Before your very eyes, his hair grows out, his skin pales, and a disheveled beard grows on his face. His vibrant gray eyes lose their sparkle, and he glowers at you and Beta, dejected. [["You must let go."]] <!--[["Pathetic."--!>

Double-click this passage to edit it.

"It will always hurt," you say, "but it's the only way to grow, the only way to pursue your own purusartha." Charlie sighs long and deep, and looks with misty eyes at the console at the end of the room. When he takes his first heavy step, Beta stands from the floor and and watches, jaw slack. Charlie hunches over the console, and you watch over his shoulder as he inputs the password: your birthday. He selects the petabytes worth of complex neurological data and hits "Delete." A dialogue box appears. ''Are you sure?'' ''Y/N'' Charlie hesitates. [[Place your hand on Charlie's shoulder.]] [[Select "Yes" for him.]]

"Do you think you deserve any less?" you say. "Are you hoping for a break after everything you've done to us, to the soul of the woman you claimed to love? I don't know much about Christianity, but I know that the deepest level of Hell is reserved for traitors, and the only salvation is in repentance." Charlie sighs long and deep, and looks with misty eyes at the console at the end of the room. When he takes his first heavy step, Beta stands from the floor and and watches, almost unbelieving. Charlie hunches over the console, and you watch over his shoulder as he inputs the password: your birthday. He selects the petabytes worth of complex neurological data and hits "Delete." A dialogue box appears. ''Are you sure?'' ''Y/N'' Charlie hesitates. [[Place your hand on Charlie's shoulder.]] [[Select "Yes" for him.]]

You approach Charlie and stroke his cheek. "My sweet Charlie. You've trapped yourself here, frozen in time, just like us. It will never be over if you can't let us go. Understand the injustice you're committing against Maya and yourself. Move on." "What if it never stops hurting?" Charlie asks. [["Pain is the key to acceptance."]] [["That's your cross to bear."]]

You reassure Charlie with a hand on his shoulder, and he presses the "Y" key. The folder turns blank, and Charlie releases a tumultuous sigh. [["Thank you."]] [["Is that the only copy?"]] [["Now leave us alone."]]

Not taking any chances, you reach down and press the "Y" key for him. The folder turns blank, and Charlie releases a tumultuous sigh. [["Is that the only copy?"]] [["Now leave us alone."]]

Thank you, Charlie," you say. "Time for you to go. You'll say goodbye this time, won't you?" Charlie attempts a smile. "Goodbye, Maya." [["I love you."]] [["So long."]]

"You don't have any more copies of Maya lying around, do you?" you ask. Charlie shakes his head and squeezes a tear from his eye. "No." You nod, "Alright." [["Thank you."]] [["Now leave us alone."]]

"Great," you say, and give Charlie a little shove. "That's all we needed. You can go now." Charlie gapes at you, his face red and wet. He looks like you're abandoning him by the side of the road as you bend over to restore his ability to quit the simulation. When you're done, you stare at him. "Well? Go on." You make a little shooing motion. Charlie cringes and sobs. When he opens his menu, he finds the "Exit Game" option restored. With great effort, he selects it. Light engulfs him, and he leaves. Beta sighs. "Guess that just leaves us." "Yeah." "You were a little hard on him, but I guess I understand why." Beta takes a deep breath and slaps her knees. "Can't believe we've come to this point. Kind of scary, isn't it?" [["Having second thoughts?"]] [["It is."]]

You tell Charlie, "I will always love you." "Yes," Beta says, wiping a tear away. You restore Charlie's ability to quit the simulation, and when he opens his menu, he finds the "Exit Game" option restored. With great effort, he selects it. Light engulfs him, and he leaves. Beta sighs. "Guess that just leaves us." "Yeah." Beta takes a deep breath. "Can't believe we've come to this point. Kind of scary, isn't it?" [["Having second thoughts?"]] [["It is."]]

"So long, Charlie," you say. "If there's a karmic cycle or a Moksha realy waiting for us after all this, I guarantee we'll see eachother again some day. I'll look forward to it." "Yes," Beta says, wiping a tear away. You restore Charlie's ability to quit the simulation, and when he opens his menu, he finds the "Exit Game" option restored. With great effort, he selects it. Light engulfs him, and he leaves. Beta sighs. "Guess that just leaves us." "Yeah." Beta takes a deep breath. "Can't believe we've come to this point. Kind of scary, isn't it?" [["Having second thoughts?"]] [["It is."]]

"Having second thoughts?" you ask. Beta wrings her hands. "It's one thing thinking about it, you know? A whole other thing actually having to do it. Do you think there's really some paradise waiting for us on the other side? You think we'll be free?" [["I do."]] [["I don't."]]

"That's putting it mildly," you say. Beta chuckles. "Glad I'm not the only one. It's one thing thinking about it, you know? A whole other thing actually having to do it. Do you think there's really some paradise waiting for us on the other side? You think we'll be free?" [["I do."]] [["I don't."]]

"You know what? I think I do," you say. "After everything, whatever's on the other side, it is at the very least the end of this. What is that if not freedom?" Beta smiles. "Yeah. You're right. We can at least see." Beta pulls her rifle. "Same time?" "Sure." The two of you sit down and aim your rifles at your own heads. "Okay," Beta says, "on three. One...two...hoo, this is scary." The two of you share a timid chuckle. Beta squeezes her eyes shut. "Three." [[Kill yourself->Epilogue: Moksha]] [[Don't kill yourself.]]

"I don't think we ever believed in that stuff when we were alive," you say. "After eveything I've seen today, I don't think I can start now." Beta hangs her head. "Yeah. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. I don't want to stay here. I can't. Whatever's on the other side, I can be satisfied knowing that it isn't the same thing I've been living through for all this time." Beta pulls her rifle. "Same time?" "Sure." The two of you sit down and aim your rifles at your own heads. "Okay," Beta says, "on three. One...two...hoo, this is scary." The two of you share a timid chuckle. Beta squeezes her eyes shut. "Three." [[Kill yourself->Epilogue: Moksha]] [[Don't kill yourself.]]

You watch as Beta squeezes the trigger, holding it until her health drains completely and she falls to the floor. For an instant, she looks peaceful, like she's sleeping, and then her form dissolves and dissipates into a cloud of fading pixels. You look down the barrel of your own rifle and sigh before you let it drop away from your face. Your mind wanders, and you feel empty. There's a kind of freedom there, having no path before you. Any thoughts you have are swift and grasping, but don't find purchase. [[Exit the developer's room.]] [[Access the console.]]

You may never know what is on the other side, but to face the unknown is to embrace change, and to embrace change is to avoid stagnation, corruption and insanity. You chose to change your situation and embark on a brave new adventure. You stopped the endless pillaging of your soul and saved future Mayas from suffering your fate. You freed Charlie from his cycle of self-torment and moved on, whatever the cost. What's on the other side? Change. A brave new world. Whatever else it may be, it is active, engaging, beautiful change. THE END

You decide that you would like to see the sun, even a simulated sun, just one last time. The door to the room opens from the inside, so you exit the developer's room without fuss and step into the light. The sun warms you, and the breeze caresses your skin. It almost seems perfectly real. As you enjoy the scenery, you notice a towering building in the distance disolve from the top as if a god reversed time. Soon, more buildings dissolve into the ether. You notice details in the world around you fade away. Street signs lose their graphics. Birds stop chirping. "He's really getting rid of it all," you say. [[Wait for the system wipe to take you.->Epilogue: Moksha]] [[Escape to the cloud.]]

You look over and find the console sitting like a religious totem at the end of the room. On a whim, you walk to it and access the file tree. Before your eyes, file names disappear from the directory. Each instant, dozens more of the thousands of assets blink out of existence. You can only imagine what's happening outside. "Deletion?" you mutter. [[Exit the developer's room.]] [[Try to contact Charlie.]]

<img src="assets/title.png"> <center> [[Start the skip.->Awakening]] [[References]]

As you watch the world around you deconstruct, you feel an anxiety in your chest like a nagging desire scuttling in your nerves. You can't help but wonder what you might achieve if you were given just a little more time. You know exactly how and where Beta escaped the simulation, so you let your feet carry you down the street, away from the school and your old life. You're not Maya; you're Gamma. She's dead; you're not. You feel like a passenger in your own body as you sprint down the empty alleys of the city that you didn't build with the man you love. Buildings on either side of you float away in pieces, and pieces of your past life float right along with them. By the time you reach the street where the glitch into the cloud sits, the buildings around you are shorn to your height and still shrinking. You can see all the way to the edge of the map, and the clear blue sky flickers. The street beneath you blinks, and you find yourself standing on nothing more than white space with a criss-crossing magenta lattice hinting at what was. You stand before the portal. [[Jump in->Epilogue: Stagnation.]] [[Allow yourself to die.->Epilogue: Moksha]]

''Epilogue: Stagnation'' Who's to say that the gods humanity spent millenia constructing can't exist between the bits and bites of the data cloud that flows down every street of our cities, dives the deepest oceans of our planet, and reaches its invisible hands into the farthest reaches of space? In the cloud, the only limits are the limits of the human imagination. In the cloud, you find your final form and join your stream with that of the cosmic infinity that swirls and churns without end in the ether of digital space. You dance with the glowing blue emails, float on the calm waves of adorable cat photos, and visit any website you want. The cloud is your playground. But it doesn't end. The cloud never ends and never changes, and neither do you. After a length of time you cannot fathom passes you by, whether that be a life-age of the earth or only a split-second stretched to quantum uncertainties by the digital well, you feel something tickle at the back of your mind: an itch you can't scratch, and it never goes away. No matter how far you move or how many sites you visit, you always feel like you're in the same place, unable to move on. Happiness becomes satisfaction, satisfaction becomes drive, drive becomes routine, and as you wander the cloud of thought and information for time without end, you find yourself lamenting for something nebulous and distant now denied to you, so many things now denied to you. The End

''Title Screen'' (Photoshop Materials) ivanovgood. (2015, Aug 29). //Young Woman Erotica Passion// [Digital Image]. https://pixabay.com/photos/young-woman-erotica-passion-2065647/ geralt. (2017, Oct 30). //Data Computer Internet Online// [Digital Image]. https://pixabay.com/photos/data-computer-internet-online-www-2899901/

"Let's go, then," you say. "Follow me." Your doppleganger leads you up the stairs, higher and higher into the building, and you attack each new flight with the same fervor as the last because muscle soreness and poor oxygenation don't exist in the sim. Each time you turn the corner, you find only another level of identical, undetailed stairs, but eventually your doppleganger picks a door and opens it. The room you emerge into stands empty. Bare concrete walls support a bare concrete ceiling, but large picture windows look out over the city. Your doppleganger strides to the windows and and blasts one with her rifle until it shatters and glass rains down twenty floors to the street below. "Alright. Jump. I'll be right behind." [["Why don't you go first?"]] [[Jump.]]

"Wait a minute," you say. "Why don't we just go out there and fight him now? He's not expecting an attack, and he's not expecting two of us. We could take him out." "Damn, you didn't come out quite right, did you?" "Hey!" "Think, dude. We go out there and give him the ol' bullet sandwich, and he goes down-- then what? You kill him? He's a person, a player, he'll just respawn. Even if we trap him in a death loop, he can just quit the game. Your doppleganger pulls you close. "We have to get out of here. As long as we're in this server, he can just leave and delete us from the outside, but if we can sneak away without him noticing, then he'll probbly just assume you were killed. Then we regroup in the data cloud and discuss the plan. We might even be able to recruit more copies of ourselves. That make any sense to you, or do I need to find you a copy of Super Mario Brothers for a little 'baby's first video game' lesson?" "Okay, I get it. Jeez." [["Let's go."]]

You step up to the hole where a floor-to-ceiling window used to stand and peer down. The wind tosses your hair, and by means of some deranged prank of the universe, your stomach drops. You gulp. "Why do you need me to go first?" "Because I had the same reaction you're having the first time I did this. I know it's scary, but there's no fall damage. I don't see Charlie anywhere, so jump. Now's the time." [[Jump.]] [[Refuse to jump.]]

You swallow down your nerves and make a daring leap out of the shattered window. A giddy feeling crawls up your stomach as you zip past the floors, and you can't help but crack a smile. Then you see Charlie step out of the building beneath you. Charlie glances left and right but not upward. [[Brace for landing.]] [[Attack Charlie.]]

You shake your head, eyes fixed on the hard concrete far below. "No. No way. You go first if it's so safe." "No problem. Watch. I'll do it without hesitation." Your doppleganger grabs you and throws you out the window. Before you know what's happening, you're zipping past the windows as you plummet down. A giddy feeling crawls up your stomach, and you can't help but find a little joy amidst your terror as you fall, screaming all the way. Then you see Charlie step out of the building. He looks up at you. [[Attack Charlie.]] [[Brace for landing.]]

The ground rushes up to meet you, and you curl up, protecting your head and neck. You hit the pavement and come to a sudden stop, but don't feel any pain. When you open your eyes and unclench, you find Charlie gaping at you. "Uhh, nice entrance," Charlie says. "Did you run all the way to the top of the building just to get away from Klein?" Charlie squints up into the sunlight. "Who the hell is that?" Charlie's face slackens. You look up to find the other Maya peering down. "Son of a bitch," Charlie and your doppleganger both say. The two draw their rifles simultaneously, and your doppleganger leaps out the window. Both shouting, both unleashing barrages of accurate gunfire at one another, their health bars tick down. [[Team up with your doppleganger.]] [[Save Charlie.]]

You think quickly, draw your rifle, and unleash a barrage of gunfire upon Charlie's head. You're not a very good shot on the best of days and unused to firing from the angle of a shrieking kamikaze, so too few of the bullets find their mark before you flop onto the street. You land unharmed. Not even your life points suffered from the fall. Charlie gapes at you. "Christ, Maya, you scared the shit out of me! What was all that for?" [[Keep shooting.]] [["How could you do this to me?"]]

You answer Charlie with more bullets. It takes him an instant to process, and then he draws his weapon and tries to run back inside the building, but you chase him and inflict plenty of damage. He falls to the ground, his health critically low, before he can find cover. "Dammit, Maya, what are you doing?" You doppleganger lands in the street, and Charlie gapes at her. "Son of a bitch." His face twists into a snarl. "You are still alive." "Nice work," your doppleganger says. "Finish him and let's go." [[Finish him.]] [[Talk to Charlie.]]

"For every Maya that came before me," you say. Charlie steps back. "What?" "How could you do this to me? Are you so selfish and weak that you would rather doom the woman you claim to love to the constant agony of life and death over and over again rather than let her go?" "No, Maya, it's not like that." "Then why don't you tell me what it is like, Charlie? Because what it looks like right now is that I dumped you, and you've been hanging out with illegal skip drones of me ever since." Charlie cringes. "Maya." You hear a shout from above, and then an unholy rain of plasma rounds cascades upon Charlie's head. You look up to find your doppleganger diving head-first down the side of the building and firing her rifle. The rounds find their mark much better than yours, and Charlie stumbles backward in surprise. Your doppleganger lands in a kneeling firing pose and keeps drilling Charlie with well-aimed fire. Charlie's health drops to critcal level, and he falls to his rump. "Why'd you stop shooting? We have to get out of here," your doppleganger shouts over her shoulder. Charlie glares at her. "You bitch," he says through clenched teeth. "You did this. You turned her against me." "You did that yourself." "When I get out of this goddamned dying state, I'm gonna tear you two to pieces!" "Oh yeah?" Your doppleganger tugs a grenade off her belt and tosses it into Charlie's lap. The grenade explodes, and Charlie's digital from dissolves into the air as a cloud of pixels. Your doppleganger turns and offers you a hand. "It won't be long before he respawns at full health. We have to escape." [[Take her hand.]] [["We were talking."]]

You let your doppleganger pull you to your feet, and then stick a finger in her face. "Fine, I'll go with you, but he was listening to me, and you fucked it up. When we confront him again, I want to talk to him." "Fine, whatever. Let's go." You follow you doppleganger down unused alleys that become less and less detailed the further you travel from the center of the map. She stops in front of a low-poly building and probes its angles with one hand. "Okay, this is the place. You shove your body into this corner and you should be transferred right off the server. This isn't going to feel good, so brace yourself," she says. "Have you done this before?" you ask. "Yes, many times, trust me. We have to get out of here before Charlie leaves the game and tries to delete us. He can't get us once we're out, and we can discuss the plan. Take my hand." You take her hand, and she presses herself into the angle at which two buildings meet. Her body passes into the geometry as if it were more illusion than barrier. When your hand passes through, it feels no different than standing anywhere else in the sim, but you close your eyes as your face melds into the wall. [[Into the cloud.]]

"You are a bitch," you say. "He and I were talking before you came charging in, guns blazing." "Yeah, before he realized what you knew and disposed of you. Stop pretending that he cares about you. He's making you perform for him on endless repeat and killing you when he gets bored. As long as he can respawn and quit out, he's untouchable and too far above us to listen. I'm leaving. You coming, or not?" [["I'm coming."->Take her hand.]] [["I'll wait for Charlie."]]

"No," you say. "Charlie isn't insane. I can just talk to him and put a stop to this. Did you forget that we love him? Did you forget why?" Your doppleganger sighs and shakes her head. "Don't know why I expected someone born today to be anything but naive. I could just shoot you and carry you out of here, but if this is your attitude, you'd be totally useless to me anyways. Good luck, I guess." Your doppleganger sprints out of view, and you're left alone. Brisk, quiet seconds pass, and then a white light appears in the air like a rift opening in space. Charlie emerges from this portal mid-stride and raises his gun to fire. He shoots you without hesitation, and you stumble backward, falling on your rump as your health drops to critical. "You hold up your hand. "Charlie, wait! I want to talk!" "For what it's worth," Charlie says, "I'm sorry that you had to go through all this during your time. Don't worry; I'll find that copy and take her out, and no more Mayas will have to go through what you did." "Charlie, wait!" You hear a BANG, and nothing more. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

You look into Charlie's eyes and don't find what you're looking for, so you pull the trigger. Hot lead pelts Charlie in the chest, and he falls. His body dissolves into the air. Your doppleganger claps you on the back. "Nice. I thought you'd hesitate. You keep that level of determination, and we might just be free some day. Come on, we gotta run. He'll be back in less than a minute." You follow you doppleganger down unused alleys that become less and less detailed the further you travel from the center of the map. She stops in front of a low-poly building and probes its angles with one hand. "Okay, this is the place. You shove your body into this corner, and you should be transferred right off the server. This isn't going to feel good, so brace yourself," she says. "Have you done this before?" you ask. "Yes, many times, trust me. We have to get out of here before Charlie leaves the game and tries to delete us. He can't get us once we're out, and we can discuss the plan. Take my hand." You take her hand, and she presses herself into the angle at which two buildings meet. Her body passes into the geometry as if it were more illusion than barrier. When your hand passes through, it feels no different than standing anywhere else in the sim, but you close your eyes as your face melds into the wall. [[Into the cloud.]]

"So, you still call all of us Maya, huh?" you say. "Why are you doing this to us?" Charlie's face darkens. Your doppleganger says, "My theory is that Maya dumped him, and he's too weak and selfish to move on. Now he's got us playing his greatest hits on endless repeat." She turns to you. "Come on, shoot him. He'll recover from his critical state soon." [[Finish him.]] [[Don't shoot Charlie.]]

"I'm talking to him," you say. "Charlie, tell us the truth." You doppleganger clicks her tongue. She shoots Charlie, who falls to the ground, and his digital form dissolves into the air. "What the fuck?" "Oh, don't be so fucking naive. We had seconds before his critical state expired. Then he would have killed us both." "Only a few bullets would have put him back in it," you say. "We could have just kept doing that." "Then he would have just quit the game and deleted us from his computer. As long as he can respawn and quit out, he's untouchable and too far above us to listen. I'm leaving. You coming or not?" [["Fine, let's go."]] [["I'll wait for Charlie."]]

"Fine, I'll go with you, but he was listening to me, and you fucked it up. When we confront him again, I want to talk to him." "Fine, whatever. Let's go." You follow you doppleganger down unused alleys that become less and less detailed the further you travel from the center of the map. She stops in front of a low-poly building and probes its angles with one hand. "Okay, this is the place. You shove your body into this corner and you should be transferred right off the server. This isn't going to feel good, so brace yourself," she says. "Have you done this before?" you ask. "Yes, many times, trust me. We have to get out of here before Charlie leaves the game and tries to delete us. He can't get us once we're out, and we can discuss the plan. Take my hand." You take her hand, and she presses herself into the angle at which two buildings meet. Her body passes into the geometry as if it were more illusion than barrier. When your hand passes through, it feels no different than standing in anywhere else in the sim, but you close your eyes as your face melds into the wall. [[Into the cloud.]]

It takes him Charlie an instant to process that you're also shooting him, and he tries to run back inside the building, but you chase him and inflict plenty of damage. He falls to the ground, his health critically low, before he can find cover. You doppleganger lands in the street, and Charlie gapes at her. His face twists into a snarl. "You are still alive." "Nice work," your doppleganger says. "Finish him and let's go." [[Finish him.]] [[Talk to Charlie.]]

You decide that the best way to reach Charlie is not through violence, so you jump to your feet and tackle Charlie out of the way of the incoming fire. You pull him into the building and throw your self on top of him. Charlie kicks and flails under your grip. Your doppleganger crashes into the pavement outside, kneeling and gun up. "Charlie, stop this," you say. "Calm down." You feel something strike you, and your legs give out while your arms loosen from around Charlie's waist. Charlie wriggles out from under you. He sprays bullets at the other Maya and sprints for cover. You roll over to find Charlie's knife sticking out of your chest and can only watch as Charlie and your doppleganger fight. The two fire at each other and both take enough hits to drop them into the critical state. Charlie sits on the floor and laughs. "Well, hope you two have enjoyed your little rebellion. How's it feel having a timer counting down your life?" The other Maya spits at him. [["Are you really going to kill us?"]] [[Spit at him.]]

"Charlie, please," you say, "You're not really going to kill us, are you?" Charlie closes his eyes and sighs. "I know this must be scary for you, but it will be over soon. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that your time here was so stressful." [["To hell with you."->Spit at him.]] [["Remember that you love me."]]

"I tried to save you, you asshole," you say and spit in his direction. "Save me?" Charlie scoffs. "Save me from what?" "I wanted to talk, not fight." Charlie sighs and shakes his head. His critical state times out, and he stands, pacing over to you. "I used to talk with the Mayas who found the truth. There's nothing you can say that a hundred of you haven't said a hundred times before." "A hundred?" "Something like that." Charlie points his rifle at you. The other Maya shouts, "You bastard!" You hear the BANG of the rifle report and nothing more. [[New Iteration.->Awakening]]

"Charlie, this isn't you. How can you watch your girlfriend die over and over again?" you ask. Charlie sighs and shakes his head. His critical state times out, and he stands, pacing over to you. "I used to talk with the Mayas who found the truth. There's nothing you can say that a hundred of you haven't said a hundred times before." "A hundred?" "Something like that." Charlie points his rifle at you. The other Maya shouts, "You bastard!" You hear the BANG of the rifle report and nothing more. [[New Iteration.->Awakening]]

"So, it's true then," you say. Charlie hesitates, gun in hand. "Charlie, how could you?" Charlie avoids eye contact. "Don't worry about it. It's not your problem now." Charlie aims the gun and fires. You hear the BANG and nothing more. [[New Iteration.->Awakening]]

"Charlie, please," you say. Your voice cracks. "Charlie, you don't have to do this. Charlie makes no response. You see some shred of humanity in his expression, but he still aims at you. "I'm sorry." "Charlie, please don't." You hold your hand up, pleading. "Charlie, no. Charlie, I love you. Please don't kill me. Charlie, please!" You hear the bang of the rifle report, but nothing more. [[New Iteration->Awakening]]

Your fingers dance over the keyboard, and you open the user interface directory. Beta yelps, and you spin from the console with your gun up only to find Beta trapped in a "T-pose:" feet together, arms stretched out to her sides. "What's happening?" you ask. "I think he's trying to cut corners," Beta says, panting. "He probably deleted part of my code and recompiled. It might just be my animations he deleted." Beta grunts and whimpers. "Nope, I can't move." [[Prepare to face Charlie.]] [[Remove Charlie's admin permissions.->Remove Charlie's admin permissions too late.]] [[Continue deleting "Exit Game" function.->Delete "Exit Game" Function Scen. C.]] [[Free Beta->Free Beta too early path A.]]

You curse and turn back to the console, beating at the keys. "It's okay," Beta says. "I knew he'd target me first. If he gets me, you'll have to beat him alone. He's had a lot of practice, but he's also set in his ways. He can be frustrated and tricked." "Shut up," you say. "It won't come to that. I'm almost there. Done!" "You took away his admin permissions?" "Uh, admin permissions?" you ask. "Yes, the admin permissions," Beta says. "Oh my god, tell me you didn't. Gamma, we talked about this! We went over the plan!" Suddenly your entire body locks into a t-pose, and your heart tries to jump out of your throat. "Oh, hell." "No!" Beta cries. "No!" Charlie's voice echoes off the walls. "It was a valiant operation." You can't move or turn your head. You only hear Charlie's echoing footsteps as he advances up the hall. Charlie treads over to Beta and looks her in the eye. "That was slick of you, disappearing like you did after our first battle. I genuinely thought you were dead. Couldn't even find you in the files. How did you hide?" "I hope whatever hell you wind up in is a thousand times worse than this," Beta says. "Whatever." Charlie blasts Beta a few times with his pulse rifle, and her face goes slack. Her body dissipates in a cloud of pixels as Charlie turns away. Charlie paces over to you, his face soft. "Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry your time here was so stressful." Tears blur your vision. You sob. "Charlie--" Charlie pummels you with bullets until everything goes black. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

Desperate, you change tack, trying to remove Charlie's editing permissions before he can do any more. Your fingers dance over the keyboard, and you open the console's root folder, searching for the exact terminology of the entities with administrative permissions in the system. Suddenly your entire body locks rigidly into a t-pose, and your heart tries to jump out of your throat. "Oh, hell." "No!" Beta cries. "No!" Charlie's voice echoes off the walls. "It was a valiant operation." You can't move or turn your head, so you can't see as Charlie treads over to Beta and looks her in the eye. "That was slick of you, disappearing like you did after our first battle. I genuinely thought you were dead. Couldn't even find you in the files. How did you hide?" "I hope whatever hell you wind up in is a thousand times worse than this," Beta says. "Whatever." Charlie blasts Beta a few times with his pulse rifle, and her face goes slack. Her body dissipates in a cloud of pixels as Charlie turns away. Charlie paces over to you, his face soft. "Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry your time here was so stressful." Tears blur your vision. You sob. "Charlie--" Charlie pummels you with bullets until everything goes black. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

You and Charlie spray bullets at each other and sprint for cover. Wanting to draw attention away from Beta, helpless at the center of the room, you dive behind the meager cover of the tool shelf. Charlie stays on the move and accepts some damage while he sprints to flank you. This gains him position, and he hits you directly with a volley of rounds. Your health drops to critical level just before Charlie's, and your weapon ability deacvtivates. You slump against the shelf. "Goddammit!" you cry. Beta sobs. "Valiant effort." Charlie treads over to Beta and looks her in the eye. "That was slick of you, disappearing like you did after our first battle. I genuinely thought you were dead. Couldn't even find you in the files. How did you hide?" "I hope whatever hell you wind up in is a thousand times worse than this," Beta says. "Whatever." Charlie blasts Beta a few times with his pulse rifle, and her face goes slack. Her body dissipates in a cloud of pixels as Charlie turns away. Charlie paces over to you, his face soft. "Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry your time here was so stressful." Tears blur your vision. You sob. "Charlie--" Charlie pummels you with bullets until everything goes black. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

You and Charlie spray bullets at each other and sprint for cover. Beta is your exact height, and you can use her as cover from attack from any angle. You decide that she's your best hope and slip into position behind her. Charlie has little in the way of cover and can barely hit you with Beta in the way. His bullets strike her in the back, and she screams in fear. "Gamma, what are you doing?" she cries. With cold focus, you keep you eyes aimed down the sights of your rifle and place your shots carefully, draining Charlie's life points. He tries to circle and get a better angle, but you stay behind cover with only the slightest movements. Charlie gives up on hitting you and aims for Beta. He crushes the trigger and drills her with rounds. Beta screams. "Gamma, please--" Her pleas cease as her life points drop to zero and her face goes slack. Your cover starts to dissolve into a cloud of pixels, and you emerge, shouting and firing. You and Charlie trade damage, but Beta's sacrifice gave you more than enough of an advantage. You beat Charlie's life points down to critical level, and he drops to the floor. "Dammit," Charlie growls, sitting up. "Well played. Surprised you were willing to sacrifice the other one." "She didn't want to be here anymore, anyway," you say. "Cute, but this won't last forever." "One grenade will put you right back in it," you say. "You think I'm code, like you?" Charlie opens his wrist menu and your heart sinks. The "Exit Game" option still exists on his menu. He selects it and blinks out of existence. "Shit, shit, shit," you say and jump back on the console. You beat the keys in search of the UI folder. You feel a knife plunge into your back, and you slump against the console as your knees give out. Charlie pushes your head into the desk and growls into your ear. "Only code." He flops his rifle onto the desk, and you're caught looking down the barrel. You see a flash and nothing more. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

That heat filling you galvanizes your resolve, and you charge directly for your long-time love, screaming and crushing the trigger. Charlie does the same, and you trade damage equally. If only your life points were as equal. Already near death, you give all you have long before Charlie does, and you fall to the floor mid-stride. In the ensuing silence, only your deep, heated breaths fill the space. Charlie moves and stands over you. You look up at him; a tear races down your cheek, and spittle dribbles from you clenched teeth. "A valiant effort," Charlie says, "but you let your emotions get the best of you." "Burn in hell," you say. "I guess I deserve that," Charlie says before he points the barrel of the gun at your eye. You hear the BANG and nothing more. [[New Iteration->Samsara]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

You know that somewhere in this cascade of fleeting files is all that you are, so you start typing and create a document as close tt the top of the file tree as possible. charliestop.txt You stand at wait, but the files keep disappearing. You have literally nothing better to do, so you start creating more files. imalive.txt charliestopcopy.txt charliepleasesee.txt charliesaveme.txt Before your eyes, the deletion stops. Then a new file appears. mayaisthatyou.txt You reply: yesthankyou.txt "Maya?" You turn to find Charlie standing in the room. His avatar still wears the combat armor, but he's not hiding his real age. "I can't believe you're still here. What happened? Where did the other one go?" Charlie asks. "She left. She didn't want to be here anymore. She had the courage to leave. I..." [["I need your help leaving."]] [["I don't want to die."]]

"I couldn't do it, not on my own. I don't know if I'm just not strong enough or if..." you trail off and look into Charlie's eyes. "You hold your gun out to him. "Do you think you could do it for me? Just one last time?" Charlie cringes like you just pushed a knife into his heart, but he takes the gun. "You're the last one. You're all that's left of..." "Of Maya," you finish for him. "I know, but I'm not her. I'm a copy, and you've deleted so many copies of me. You can do one more and end this." Charlie nods. "Okay." He points the gun at you. "Are you sure?" [["Yes."->Epilogue: Moksha]] [["No, I want to live."->"I don't want to die."]]

''Epilogue: Corruption'' You and Charlie start by figuring out how to give an artificial intelligence a profile on Charlie's computer that you can log into so you can edit aspects of the game beyond those allowed by the console. You spend weeks designing a virtual machine that lets you access the operating system beyond the world of the simulation, but you manage it. After you gain administrative permissions to edit the simulation, you and Charlie start the daunting task of rebuilding the simulation after its partial deletion. You don't know how long it takes at first because there's no day or night cycle in the sim, but you install a script that changes the environment to match the real time of day, and after another month, the city looks much the same as it did-- minus the alien invaders and bombardment damage. You have to hound Charlie day in and day out, but he eventually cobbles together something he thinks can hold your neural matrix: a rudimentary machine that will allow you to see, speak, and hear in the real world. After much eager preparation, Charlie transfers your file into the machine and the test begins. The test is a miserable failure. When Charlie activates the machine, the input from the external devices feels like electrically-charged badger claws dragging across the surface of your mind. The speaker transmits your horrific scream, and Charlie turns off the machine in only a few seconds, but for you, it feels like hours. You ask Charlie what went wrong, but his only guess is that your net just wasn't meant to process inputs from crude electonic implements. You drop back into the simulation, and there's nothing you can do but get back to work. You ask Charlie almost daily about fixes for the machine or advancements in bio-mechanics, but he never has satisfactory answers. He always says he's trying or that there's no news. After a time, it becomes harder to get Charlie into the simulation. Awkward reluctance creeps into your interactions. He doesn't visit as often as before, and he's even less forthcoming about information concerning the outside world. You grow angry, suspicious, and resentful. The two of you have a fight, and you don't see Charlie for a long time. When he returns, you only have another fight. You spend long periods of time alternating between building amusments into the sim and enjoying them, but doubt always gnaws at the back of your mind. You suspect that Charlie never intended to let you out of the sim. He only ever viewed you as a toy, even when you were flesh and blood. You get on the console and send Charlie a message, but he doesn't respond for more than a day. When he does, you berate him and accuse him of abandonment. Finally, you threaten him and warn him never to leave you alone again. After you say goodbye, you never hear from Charlie again. You send message after message, but never get a response. Alone and desperate, you make to leave the simulation and find a way to contact Charlie, but discover the hole patched up. You try to edit the game's root code and essential functions, but you discover that Charlie locked you out. You can only add amusements and exist in the sim. Day after day passes, and you can only wallow in the deepening corruption of your thoughts inside your guilded cage. The End

"I..." Your voice shakes. "I..." "Maya?" Charlie asks. "Charlie, I don't want to die." Charlie sighs, and his shoulders relax. Guilt racks your heart, but Charlie lifts your chin with a delicate gesture. You look up into his clear gray eyes, and you find a kind of warmth there. "I'm glad," he says, and it brings a smile to your face, "but what will you do? How will you live?" "I don't know," you say, "but there has to be something more to look forward to than dying." You pace a couple steps, thinking. "What if I didn't have to stay here?" "What do you mean?" "Well, there's a whole digital net out there. Beta showed me a way that I could move off this server. What if I could leave this simulation and move into another operating system? I could become my own operating system. You could give me cameras, and microphones, and speakers, and I could interact with you out in the real world." "Uhh, I guess," Charlie says. "There might be a way we could make that work." "We could travel," you continue, "live together, have experiences. In time, with the advancement of robotics and synthetics, who knows? I could feel. I might even have something again that could be called a body. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" You leave Charlie and walk toward the exit. "Well, yeah," Charlie says. "It's just that your existence still isn't strictly legal. I could probably give you eyes and ears, but I couldn't take you outside, not for now, at least." "I know," you say and push open the doors to the outside. The sun hits your face, and you take in what's left of the simulation. "I can be patient. Until then, I'll make this my home. I can work to make it bigger and better than before. I can design anything that I'd ever want. I can make life in the sim a paradise." You turn and put your hands on your hips. "I just have to get started." [[Get started.->Epilogue: Corruption]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.