You drop the ball on the ground and open the door as quickly as you can. The ball bounces off of the ground and seems to gain speed as it goes towards your head. You dodge out of the way and make it through the door, shutting it behind you. The room you have entered is dimly lit by small electronic lights in the walls.\n\nYou see, in the corner of the room, a massive pile of human corpses. Each one wearing a lab coat of varying qualities. Some are torn, others pristine. There is a collective groaning from the pile, as some of the humans haven't perished quite yet.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Attempt to open the door|5G]]\n[[Join the pile|5H]]

You slowly approach the green, leathery ball. Extending your arm, you quickly snatch the ball from its pedestal. From the other pedestal, you hear the sound of glass shattering and a gust of heat begins to fill the room. Looking back to the sign, the text has changed to say. "Going down?"\n\nThe floor underneath you gives way and you fall into what appears to be a ventilation shaft. The heat you had briefly felt licking your skin has since vanished and has been replaced by a freezing sensation. Bursts of frigid air press through the shaft, biting your flesh and freezing the tips of your arm hair.\n\nLooking up, the floor that you fell through remains open within reach, and you can see the familiar orange glow of flame surging through the room above, but not following you into the new location.\n\nWhat would you like to do?\n\n[[Climb up, into the flames, leaving the ball behind|2A]]\n[[Throw the ball into the flames|2B]]\n[[Attempt to traverse the ventilation shaft|2C]]

You awaken. The tags of your bright white lab coat rub against the back of your neck, the laboratory lights slightly irritating your eyes. Across the room, you see two pedestals, each with a small sphere resting atop them. The one to your left appears to be made of a green, leathery material. The one to your right appears to be clear, but is emanating a suspicious red light. Behind them is a sign that says: "Choose a friend."\n\nWhich do you choose?\n\n[[The green, leathery ball|1A]]\n[[The clear, glowing ball|1B]]

You slowly approach the clear, glowing ball. Extending your arm, you quickly snatch the ball from its pedestal. As you touch the orb, it shatters. Your hand stings with a sharp pain as a burst of fire explodes from in front of you. Within seconds, the room is devoured by an inferno.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You open the door. The green, leathery ball awaits you, pulling you through the door onto the floor. It smashes your back, breaking your back and paralyzing all motion from below your neck. It then lifts you, and throws you into the pile of humans.\n\nEventually, a small group of subjects enter the room at the same time, claiming they have found a way to escape the test facility. Test facility? Is this what your existence has been? A subject in somebody else's sick game? Existential dread sets in as your hunger and dehydration drain your life away.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You approach the scene in an attempt to help save the creature from the red ball's wrath. As you touch the creature, however, the electric charge from the red ball courses into your body. You feel your insides frying, the heat radiating across your skin, splitting your visage into fiery shards before your bones melt.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You go back up to the green, leathery ball. As you approach, glad to be back in its comforting presence, it releases a potent electric shock. You are stunned, paralyzed on the ground looking up at the ball as it continues to shock you for its own pleasure. You thrash about in pain, knowing that you won't die. It won't kill you. It wouldn't dream of it right? If it kills you now, what was the point of saving you before?\n\nThe pain subsides. Eventually. As you begin recovering, you see the green, leathery ball float above you into your vision. You hear a sharp metallic noise as the ball transforms from leather into a dense metal. As you see the ball descend towards your skull, you realize you have no control over your muscles.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Stare at the ball, accepting death head-on|6A]]\n[[Close your eyes, waiting for the cold embrace|6B]]

You decide to stand your ground. You don't need the green, leathery, ball, and moving on down the shaft might take longer than expected. Your head begins to ache, and your heart feels empty. Your hands feels cold and they twitch, yearning for the tactile sensation from the ball. \n\nThe scratching sound comes closer and closer. You begin hearing heavy breathing approaching from the same direction. About 100 feet down the shaft, you see a grotesque creature charging your way. Its arms and legs are thin, almost malnourished. Its pale white skin clings visibly to its bones.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Climb up to the safety of the green, leathery ball|4C]]\n[[Continue standing your ground|4D]]\n[[Run the other way down the ventilation shaft|4E]]

You place your hands through the shaft and feel no heat burning you. You climb through and stand straight up, the inferno consuming your body, but no heat or air seems to be moving around you. Your lungs struggle to find air to breath as the fire has consumed all oxygen. Where there stood two pedestals now lay two piles of ash.\n\nFloating in the center of the room is the green, leathery ball. You hear a thundering pop, and the ball begins to sink to the floor, deflating. From the ball, however, fresh air begins to fill the room. The deflated, green, leathery ball rests on the floor in the center of the room. You feel yourself reaching for the ball subconciously, but pull away right before you touch it.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Pick up the deflated ball|4A]]\n[[Leave the deflated ball and go back to the ventilation shaft|4B]]

As you touch the yellow ball, the green ball forces itself upwards, snapping your arm at the elbow and dragging you into the air. The yellow ball moves up and attempts to help remove the green ball from your hand, but the green, leathery ball removes itself from your hand briefly to smash the yellow ball into a corner, popping it and removing all air from it.\n\nIt turns back to you, extending its spikes all around itself. It catapults through the air, planting itself directly into your stomach. While attached, the ball begins spinning, tearing your flesh open and exposing the inner workings of your digestive system.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You slide your way through the blood-soaked ventilation shaft towards the ball. Where could he be taking you now? Maybe it'll be happiness. The ball has protected you so far, maybe he's the one.\n\nAfter about three miles or so, the green, leathery ball's noises have ceased, leaving you stranded, alone in the ventilation shaft. There is darkness all around you, and there are no indications of where you may have gone. You desperately search for the green, leathery ball, but it appears to have disappeared.\n\nYou continue a short ways down the ventilation shaft before you see an opening in the floor. You approach and look down, and see an unconcious person lying on the floor in a white lab coat. The green, leathery ball is resting on a pedestal next to another pedestal that contains a glowing red orb.\n\nThe green, leathery ball seems to notice your presence, and immediately flies directly into the ventilation shaft's exterior, crushing the shaft with you in it. As your vision fades, you think about why this could have happened. What did you do? Why would the ball do this? Is it your fault?\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You jump into the pile, awaiting the sweet embrace of death. A general malaise passes over you at some point. No new subjects enter the room, and disease slowly wittles away your physical being and your sanity.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You return up the shaft to find three individuals of average build with protective equipment on sweeping up the ashes of the pedestals. You make your way entirely into the room before one of them notices you and alerts the others. They slowly surround you before leaping onto you, tackling you to the ground. \n\n"You shouldn't have seen us. Why would you come back to the room again?"\n\n[[You go unconcious|Start]]

You turn away from the ball and run the opposite direction. You don't need the ball. You don't abide by its rules, you can do whatever you want. You run. And run. And run.\n\nYou run for what seems like an eternity. Occasionally passing entrances to rooms but you don't care. You're getting away from the ball. You felt the allure of its texture against your skin, but it remains in passing.\n\nYou have escaped its call.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You turn and begin moving to your right. The hallway extends onwards for a long while, before finally ending in a doorway. You reach out to open the door, but the ball shocks your body.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Drop the ball, open the door|4H]]\n[[Turn around, and go the other way|3D]]

The Ball\n\n

You follow the path to what you presume is your left. After walking for about ten minutes, you see a faint light coming from the floor of the shaft ahead of you. Looking down into it, you notice a similar room to the one you just left: two pedestals, with one holding a yellow, leathery ball, and one holding a red-glowing glass orb. There is nobody in the room. When you look at the yellow ball, the green, leathery ball extends spikes from its surface, affixing itself forcefully to your hand. \n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Drop from the ventilation shaft into the room|4F]]\n[[Continue along the ventilation shaft|4G]]

You place your hands through the shaft and feel no heat burning you. You climb through and stand straight up, the inferno consuming your body, but no heat or air seems to be moving around you. Your lungs struggle to find air to breath as the fire has consumed all oxygen. Where there stood two pedestals now lay two piles of ash.\n\nYou look back to the hole in the floor but can't seem to find it. You drop to the floor, scratching at the ground trying to rip up the stonework. Fingers bleeding, you finally get a little grip on one of the tiles. As your vision fades, you tear the stone back to reveal a concrete floor base. The last feeling you experience is your skull colliding with the concrete floor.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You grip the green, leathery ball and throw it up through the hole in the roof of the shaft. As soon as the ball passes through the hole, you hear a metallic scraping sounds heading from further down the ventilation shaft towards your direction.\nYour heart pounds as you realize that you just threw the green, leathery, ball into the blaze. What if it needs you? What will you do without it?\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Climb up the shaft, rejoining the ball|3A]]\n[[Stand your ground|3B]]\n[[Run the opposite direction|5B]]

You stare into the ventilation shaft, but see no signs of an end either way.\n\nWhich way do you choose?\n\n[[Left|3D]]\n[[Right|3E]]

You drop into the room. The person on the ground does not appear to be waking up any time soon. You stand before two pedestals, one holding a yellow, leathery ball, and one holding a glowing orb. A sign appears behind them and reads, "Choose a friend."\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Choose the yellow, leathery ball|5F]]\n[[Choose the glowing orb|1B]]

You continue onwards. The green, leathery ball retracts its spikes, and provides you with a rub against its textured exterior. You crave giving it satisfaction in any way you can. It protects you from others, but abuses you itself. You continue through life in suffering. Every day you receive abuse from the green, leathery ball, and there are severe consequences if you disobey.\n\nYou have succumbed to the ball's will.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You stand your ground, ready to take the full force of this creature. You don't need the ball's help. You can do this on your own.\n\nThe creature, about 10 feet away seems to notice you and fumbles to slow down as soon as possible. It skids across the floor of the shaft and trips, falling into you. It is light enough to, with your fortified stance, not push you back at all. The creature might have even broken itself had it hit you with full force.\n\nYou see, approaching with a small light emanating from itself, a red, leathery ball floating down the shaft towards you. A psychic force pulls the frail creature towards the ball, where he receives a variety of intense electric shocks.\n\nThe creature's screams echo through the ventilation shafts, sending a deathly chill up your spine.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Attempt to help the creature|5D]]\n[[Go back to the green, leathery ball|5E]]\n[[Go the other way down the ventilation shaft|5B]]

You turn away from the creature, a cowardly move, perhaps, but some would say you are the smarter of the two parties. You hear a blood-curdling scream echo through the ventilation shaft. That must've been the creature. You can't imagine the terrible things that must have been done to that poor creature. \n\nAs you contemplate this dark thought, you feel a tug on your leg that drags you to the ground. Looking back, it's the green, leathery ball. It approaches you from the ground, rolling up to your leg and rolling over it quickly, snapping it at the knee. Pain shoots up your leg and sends a physical tremor through your body. The ball crosses over the other knee. Then both of your elbows. All means of escape have been lost. \n\nThe ball rolls onto your chest, resting for a second. It's weight then seems to double. Triple. Quadruple. Increasing more and more rapidly, until your chest cavity collapses, exposing your heart and lungs to the visible world. Your heart is punctured, causing you to bleed to death shortly after.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

Despite the temptation, you leave the ball there. It has protected you, but you don't need it anymore. You go to drop down into the ventilation shaft, but as you drop your leg down you feel a strong electric shock course through your body coming from the green, leathery ball. You fade away from conciousness.\n\n[[What happens next?|Start]]

You scramble into the room above, and see the green, leathery ball full of air. You reach out to grab the ball, aching to feel its touch again. The ball rolls into the ventilation shaft. You feel a heavy gale burst from the ventilation shaft, accompanied by a horrific scream. But you feel safe. The green, leathery ball has saved you once again. \n\nYou gaze down into the ventilation shaft, now thoroughly coated in a deep red liquid. The green, leathery ball releases a small squeak, drawing you into the shaft. Without thinking your body moves to accomplish this task. You slide into the ventilation again. You hear the green, leathery ball make another noise, beckoning you down the passage.\n\nWhat do you do?\n\n[[Follow the ball|5A]]\n[[Go the opposite way down the ventilation shaft|5B]]\n[[Return up the shaft into the room|5C]]

You kneel down and pick up the deflated, green, leathery ball. As soon as you touch it, however, you feel a pulling sensation on your chest. The air from your lungs seems to retreat from your body and into the ball. Your hand weakly grasps the newly filled ball, and the rest of your body falls over.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You see the metal ball coming towards you. The corridor echoes with a deep laughter. Your nervous system shocks your body as the hard metal ball crushes into your skull.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

You close your eyes. The darkness is somewhat peaceful, is it not? Floating in the emptiness of your own mind can be relaxing. The thought of impending doom barely crosses your mind as you hear the loud cracking of your skull.\n\nYou have died.\n\n[[Play again?|Start]]

Jarod Haney