CONTENT WARNING: This game deals with the subjects of drugs, violence, and death.
[[Memories...|Day 1]]The dimly lit tent closes you off from the world. This is your home.
Your clock reads that it's 5 AM - not yet time for breakfast. You roll over, inspecting your surroundings. Things are pretty barren, but you do have an [[alarm clock]], a [[framed photo|picture]], and a [[crayon drawing]] that hung on the wall, all giving the place a little bit of warmth.XX/15/2XXX
You turn the alarm off. You woke up without it today because your sleep had been restless all night. You know you should [[get up]], but you really want to [[laze around|Day 1]] a bit more.There they were. Your spouse, with their gorgeous smile and bright blue eyes. Every inch of them was perfection. Standing beside them was your adorable daughter with her blonde pigtails and those same blue eyes. You couldn't help feeling joy spread warmly through your body as you examined the two of them, thinking back on what being with them was like.
You wish you knew when you would be going [[back|Day 1]].A picture that your daughter drew for you. She had sent it with a poorly written letter, but even though it was hard to understand what she was trying to say, you still felt love from it. Staring at the picture, you laugh as you remember watching her do similar crayon drawings at home, and how she would always lose a crayon at some point. The two of you used to pretend like you were playing hide and seek with the missing crayon. Your smile turns sad as the memory begins to sting.
You miss her. [[Badly|Day 1]].You roll out of bed, stretching as you slowly stand up. Just another day out in these wastelands. You replace your pajamas with your uniform, then quickly inspect your face in the mirror. There are some slight bags under your eyes after the hard night of sleep that you had, but other than that, you're still looking good.
You reach for your tooth brush and debate whether you [[should]] or [[shouldn't]] brush your teeth before breakfast.You pick up your tooth brush and hold it under the long tube that's attached to the mirror. It makes a small whirring sound as it deposits the perfect amount of toothpaste on your brush. You get to work scrubbing your teeth clean, and when it's all done, you smile into the mirror, ready for the day to [[begin]].Nah, it's really not that big of a deal. You shrug and head out of your tent, hurrying so you can grab some [[breakfast|begin]].Walking outside of the tent, you're met with the familiar sight of other tents arranged in neat formation. They were all varying sizes of metal pyramids, some being smaller living quarters like the one you were just in, and others being bigger, for either living, working, or eating purposes. As you head over to the mess tent, you flinch at the unbearable noise of shrieking missiles nearby and the calm conversations of the soldiers around you. The ground shakes beneath your feat due to some kind of heavy impact. But still, you follow that familiar [[smell]]...You follow the scent to the mess tent. Food was your first priority in the morning. Every day you look forward to breakfast. Even as you were served a bowl full of the same weird, gray goop, you took it with a smile. You assumed it was supposed to be either oatmeal or grits, but it didn't taste like either. Really, it tasted like nothing at all. What mattered though was that it was hot and filled your belly before work. You never [[complained]]."Goddamn it, this shit again?" The table you were sitting at rattled as a man slammed down into the seat next to you. "Grissom, how do you eat this garbage every morning?"
[[I like it.]]
[[Food is food.]]"You LIKE this? I never have understood what goes through that [[head]] of yours."“You’re not wrong, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be tired of looking at it every morning. I mean, we’ve been out here for [[months|head]], and they can’t change the menu even once?”You shrug. This was just how Bailey was: loud and obnoxious. But that's why the two of you got along so well. You met him in training years ago and became fast friends, because you helped him reign in his energy and crassness, and he helped you break out of your shell more. Your spouses back home even spend time together, comforting each other while we are out here, in hell.
"Well, whatever. [[Down the hatch]], I guess."The both of you finished your meals and then left your dishes on the table to walk through camp. It was time to get assignments for the day.
"Think you'll get Field Management again? You've been there almost every day."
"Hope so. I'm not a fan of camp management."
"Heh, well who is? The higher ups seem to think you're a pretty good fit for field anyways. I'll be out there leading my group, so I trust you to take care of me and my guys okay?" Bailey smiled, and you smile back. After all, while things were harsh out here, we hadn't had a single casualty yet. You know Bailey would make it back okay and that you could lead him through today's battles [[safely]].Just like Bailey said. Field Management.
Before he splits with you, he runs up to you again.
"Hey, we have a new kid whose never been out in the field before. His name is Ricky. Make sure to keep an especially close eye on us today, okay Griss? I want to make extra sure he comes out on the other side okay."
[[Sure.]]
[[I can't promise anything.]]"Thanks. I know I can always count on you." Bailey gives you a quick smile before turning to bark orders at the group in front of him.
They were all a couple years younger than the two of you, and you watch as they all put on their Lyt Armor. Bailey was helping one kid with his, and I assumed this was Ricky. He struggled with understanding how the Lyt Cube worked. Eventually Bailey just shoved the cube onto the kid's chest. The kid jumped as the cube began to fold out across his body, the metal covering his uniform completely before slithering around his fingers and up his neck until he was fully covered. Once his skin was no longer exposed, the suit began to glow a dim, dark maroon. The kid started moving around, looking at himself, but Bailey whacked him on the head and showed him how to bring up a weapons menu through the suit, then how to materialize the weapons and defense mechanisms.
You laugh, remembering when you used to go out into the field, remembering your first time with the armor. He would get used to it pretty quick. With a last salute to Bailey, you [[headed towards the Management Tent]]."Well do your best, damn it. I don't wanna hear that weak bullshit from you." Bailey hardened his face into a frown before turning around and starting to bark orders at the group in front of him.
They were all a couple years younger than the two of you, and you watch as they all put on their Lyt Armor. Bailey was helping one kid with his, and I assumed this was Ricky. He struggled with understanding how the Lyt Cube worked. Eventually Bailey just shoved the cube onto the kid's chest. The kid jumped as the cube began to fold out across his body, the metal covering his uniform completely before slithering around his fingers and up his neck until he was fully covered. Once his skin was no longer exposed, the suit began to glow a dim, dark maroon. The kid started moving around, looking at himself, but Bailey whacked him on the head and showed him how to bring up a weapons menu through the suit, then how to materialize the weapons and defense mechanisms.
You laugh, remembering when you used to go out into the field, remembering your first time with the armor. He would get used to it pretty quick. With a last salute to Bailey, you [[headed towards the Management Tent]].It was fairly empty as per usual, only about 4 or so men in there setting up to command their troops for the day. On the wall to your right were a few Lyt Cubes, so you grab one and put on the armor. It slithers over your body, covering everything except for your face. Your armor glows a light blue, unlike the maroon color that the field soldiers had.
You take note of the weapons kept in stock on that wall too - unlike field armor, management armor couldn’t call up weapons or ammo, so they gave you a small stock in the tent just in case.
You sit down at a desk on the far side of the tent. It lights up for you, a clutter of notifications appearing across it. You swipe up, and everything projects up onto the tent wall in front of your desk. You reach up into the air and start to open the documents. There was one that had [[no description]], one titled “[[Results from Yesterday]],” another called “[[Today’s Duties]],” and a final notice titled simply “[[Medicine]].” There was also a [[button]] in the top right of the projection that prompted you to put away the documents and start the day’s work.[[Be careful.|headed towards the Management Tent]]Yesterday’s Work: Infiltrated enemy encampment 36. No casualties. Enemy eliminated. Raid will continue tomorrow using Travel Pad 37 to move to encampment 37. Allies retreat using Travel Pad 36.
You need to set up the Travel Port so that the soldiers can [[start|headed towards the Management Tent]] their work for the day. They should be able to take Encampment 37. The enemy has only 50 Encampments in this area - you are almost to full control of Zone 2.Activate Travel Pad 37. Assist in strategies for taking encampment 37. Direct them after victory to retreat via Travel Pad 37. [[End|headed towards the Management Tent]] day with reports of day's work.A medicine shipment arrives tomorrow. All soldiers should have two capsules still, enough for their daily doses in the evening. Ensure that everybody takes their doses. If somebody is short a dose, [[submit|headed towards the Management Tent]] them to the Medical Tent immediately.Time to [[start]] the job.Open portal to Travel Pad 37.
Count soldier appearance at Encampment 37.
That's 25.
Close portal to Travel Pad 37.
[[Activate]] Navigation System.A large map appears on the projection in front of you, displaying the detailed appearance of the area in which your troop was going to be fighting in and around during today’s [[mission]]."Hey, Griss, you hear me?" Bailey's voice came through on your radio.
"Loud and clear Bailey."
"Alright, [[send us on our way then]]."Direct [[left]].
Direct [[right]]."Okay, we're at the left of the camp."
Use Infiltration Tactic [[1]] or [[2]]."At the right of the camp now."
Use Infiltration Tactic [[1]] or [[2]]."Okay, splitting into two groups to bust in from different sides."
Command to [[infiltrate]].
Command to [[wait]]."Okay, splitting into four groups, gonna surround them."
Command to [[infiltrate]].
Command to [[wait]]."Alright, [[going in]].""Holding."
...
"Okay, clear. [[Let's go|going in if wait]] boys."Video popped up in the top right corner of your map, a feed from Bailey's Lyt Armor. There it was. The Encampment. Enemy soldiers lay on the ground, orange blurs with targets still projected on their vital areas. Bailey moved from this large outside area and went inside. There were offices and desks inside these areas, small and cramped, much different than our Lyt Tents. Those were separated, metal pyramids, a more durable version of normal camping tents.
Bailey continues to move through, shooting the occasional missed enemy, picking up the occasional file and scanning it. He turns and you see Ricky, that new kid. Bailey motions with his head that he wants the kid to lead, probably for experience. There isn’t really danger anymore after all, and there’s only one room they haven’t dug through. Ricky performs the infiltration of the room [[perfectly]] and you smile. After his hiccups with the technology, you didn’t expect him to be this good with tactics. He may even end up in your position one day if he’s really this good.But then the video turns to static.
You panic, nimbly moving your fingers across the projected screen in an attempt to bring the image back or find out what happened.
"Bailey? Bailey, [[what happened]]? Your feed cut out!"[[Silence.]]"Hey Griss. I'm fine. Ricky though... Man that kid had potential. He tripped a wire in the room. [[The explosion killed him]] Griss. Also probably damaged my video feed which is why it may have cut out."Dead.
He was dead. The first casualty of this war. We'd been fighting for around a year, no casualties, and now this. We've failed. Maybe you would even be discharged. You couldn't bear the thought of this new kid already being gone. His first day. This had all felt like a game, shoot up the orange guys, hit the targets and you win. The Lyt products always kept you safe. No casualties! The safest war because of Lyt Tech!
How did all of this fail? How could you have actually lost someone, and at that someone so young, so new? He had so much potential, and now he was [[gone]]."Griss, hey, we need you. We got out of there but you have to set up the teleport pad!"
[["Got it."]]Your fingers nimbly slide through the air, activating Travel Pad 37. You count the disappearing dots until... Yes, 24. They're all through. You switch back to the map of base, and sure enough, all of the little dots are there. Everyone made it back safe.
[[Except...]]You lean back in your chair and breathe in deeply, then let the breath out slow. It was hard to accept Ricky's death. You bury your face in your hands. There was still work to be done, but it was so hard to think, so hard to do anything right now.
[[Pull yourself together]]. You have a job to do.You gather yourself finally, write your reports on what happened today shamefully adding the part about Ricky’s death, and then start to close up shop. You send in your reports and then turn the system off. Standing, you press the small square on your chest, and your Lyt Armor begins to peel away from your skin, compacting itself into a cube once again. It had been a long day, and as you place your Lyt Cube back onto the wall of the tent, you sigh. Dinner... doesn’t seem like a possibility. You don’t think you could keep anything down. You [[return to your tent]]. As you open the door to your tent, you hear a sharp hissing noise from your left. It was the medicine tube, delivering your nightly Lyt Vytamins. You sigh. Time to [[take your medicine]].Once you’ve downed your pills, a blinking light appears on your mirror. You walk over and tap the mirror, and the small blinking light pulses over the entire surface. A message appears:
REMINDER: check that every camp member has taken their medicine. This is VERY important.
You tap the mirror again and the message disappears. This is your job, but you’re tired and the bed is right there… It would be so easy to just go to sleep, but you should probably go outside and [[finish today’s work]].Reluctantly, you leave your tent again. Doing this job meant that you had to check the medicine tubes to make sure that they had a green light on the bottom and that the medicine was actually gone. Then you had to check the mouthes of every individual at camp. In order to ensure that people actually took the Vytamins, these pills released a sort of dye when they were wet, so they stained your tongue green.
After a once over of everyone at camp, you see that everyone has taken their vitamins. Good.
You return to your tent and lay down. Finally done for the day, you [[fall asleep|Day 2]] quickly, tired from all of the stressful events that you had experienced.The dimly lit tent closes you off from the world. This is your home.
Your clock reads that it's 5 AM - not yet time for breakfast. You roll over, inspecting your surroundings. Things are pretty barren, but you do have an [[alarm clock|alarm clock2]], a [[framed photo|picture2]], and a [[crayon drawing|crayon drawing2]] that hung on the wall, all giving the place a little bit of warmth.XX/16/2XXX
You turn the alarm off. You woke up without it today because your sleep had been restless all night. You know you should [[get up|get up2]], but you really want to [[laze around|Day 2]] a bit more.There they were. Your spouse, with their gorgeous smile and bright blue eyes. Every inch of them was perfection. Standing beside them was your adorable daughter with her blonde pigtails and those same blue eyes. You couldn't help feeling joy spread warmly through your body as you examined the two of them, thinking back on what being with them was like.
You wish you knew when you would be going [[back|Day 2]].A picture that your daughter drew for you. She had sent it with a poorly written letter, but even though it was hard to understand what she was trying to say, you still felt love from it. Staring at the picture, you laugh as you remember watching her do similar crayon drawings at home, and how she would always lose a crayon at some point. The two of you used to pretend like you were playing hide and seek with the missing crayon. Your smile turns sad as the memory begins to sting.
You miss her. [[Badly|Day 2]].You roll out of bed, stretching as you slowly stand up. Just another day out in these wastelands. You replace your pajamas with your uniform, then quickly inspect your face in the mirror. There are some slight bags under your eyes after the hard night of sleep that you had, but other than that, you're still looking good.
You reach for your tooth brush and debate whether you [[should|should2]] or [[shouldn't|shouldn't2]] brush your teeth before breakfast.You pick up your tooth brush and hold it under the long tube that's attached to the mirror. It makes a small whirring sound as it deposits the perfect amount of toothpaste on your brush. You get to work scrubbing your teeth clean, and when it's all done, you smile into the mirror, ready for the day to [[begin|begin2]].Nah, it's really not that big of a deal. You shrug and head out of your tent, hurrying so you can grab some [[breakfast|begin2]].Walking outside of the tent, you're met with the familiar sight of other tents arranged in neat formation. They were all varying sizes of metal pyramids, some being smaller living quarters like the one you were just in, and others being bigger, for either living, working, or eating purposes. As you head over to the mess tent, you flinch at the unbearable noise of shrieking missiles nearby and the calm conversations of the soldiers around you. The ground shakes beneath your feat due to some kind of heavy impact. But still, you follow that familiar [[smell|smell2]]...You follow the scent to the mess tent. Food was your first priority in the morning. Every day you look forward to breakfast. Even as you were served a bowl full of the same weird, gray goop, you took it with a smile. You assumed it was supposed to be either oatmeal or grits, but it didn't taste like either. Really, it tasted like nothing at all. What mattered though was that it was hot and filled your belly before work. You never [[complained|complained2]]."Goddamn it, this shit again?" The table you were sitting at rattled as a man slammed down into the seat next to you. "Grissom, how do you eat this garbage every morning?"
[["I like it."]]
[["Food is food."]]"You LIKE this? I never have understood what goes through that [[head|head2]] of yours."“You’re not wrong, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be tired of looking at it every morning. I mean, we’ve been out here for [[months|head2]], and they can’t change the menu even once?”You shrug. This was just how Bailey was: loud and obnoxious. But that's why the two of you got along so well. You met him in training years ago and became fast friends, because you helped him reign in his energy and crassness, and he helped you break out of your shell more. Your spouses back home even spend time together, comforting each other while we are out here, in hell.
"Well, whatever. [[Down the hatch|Down the hatch2]], I guess."The both of you finished your meals and then left your dishes on the table to walk through camp. It was time to get assignments for the day.
"Think you'll get Field Management again? You've been there almost every day."
"Hope so. I'm not a fan of camp management."
"Heh, well who is? The higher ups seem to think you're a pretty good fit for field anyways. I'll be out there leading my group, so I trust you to take care of me and my guys okay?" Bailey smiled, and you smile back. After all, while things were harsh out here, we [[h̴a̴d̶n̵'̸t̷ ̷h̵a̸d̷ ̸a̵ ̵s̵i̴n̷g̶l̶e̸ ̵c̸a̵s̸u̶a̵l̸t̸y̵ ̵y̷e̸t̵]]. You know Bailey would make it back okay and that you could lead him through today's battles safely.Hadn't had a single casualty...
Was that [[true]]?Just like Bailey said. Field Management.
Before he splits with you, he runs up to you again.
"Hey, we have a new kid whose never been out in the field before. Her name is Jessica. Make sure to keep an especially close eye on us today, okay Griss? I want to make extra sure she comes out on the other side okay."
[[Sure.|Sure.2]]
[[I can't promise anything.|I can't promise anything.2]]"Thanks. I know I can always count on you." Bailey gives you a quick smile before turning to bark orders at the group in front of him.
They were all a couple years younger than the two of you, and you watch as they all put on their Lyt Armor. Bailey was helping one kid with his, and I assumed this was Ricky. He struggled with understanding how the Lyt Cube worked. Eventually Bailey just shoved the cube onto the kid's chest. The kid jumped as the cube began to fold out across his body, the metal covering his uniform completely before slithering around his fingers and up his neck until he was fully covered. Once his skin was no longer exposed, the suit began to glow a dim, dark maroon. The kid started moving around, looking at himself, but Bailey whacked him on the head and showed him how to bring up a weapons menu through the suit, then how to materialize the weapons and defense mechanisms.
You laugh, remembering when you used to go out into the field, remembering your first time with the armor. She would get used to it pretty quick. With a last salute to Bailey, you [[headed towards the Management Tent|headed towards the Management Tent2]]."Well do your best, damn it. I don't wanna hear that weak bullshit from you." Bailey hardened his face into a frown before turning around and starting to bark orders at the group in front of him.
They were all a couple years younger than the two of you, and you watch as they all put on their Lyt Armor. Bailey was helping one kid with his, and I assumed this was Ricky. He struggled with understanding how the Lyt Cube worked. Eventually Bailey just shoved the cube onto the kid's chest. The kid jumped as the cube began to fold out across his body, the metal covering his uniform completely before slithering around his fingers and up his neck until he was fully covered. Once his skin was no longer exposed, the suit began to glow a dim, dark maroon. The kid started moving around, looking at himself, but Bailey whacked him on the head and showed him how to bring up a weapons menu through the suit, then how to materialize the weapons and defense mechanisms.
You laugh, remembering when you used to go out into the field, remembering your first time with the armor. She would get used to it pretty quick. With a last salute to Bailey, you [[headed towards the Management Tent|headed towards the Management Tent2]].It was fairly empty as per usual, only about 4 or so men in there setting up to command their troops for the day. On the wall to your right were a few Lyt Cubes, so you grab one and put on the armor. It slithers over your body, covering everything except for your face. Your armor glows a light blue, unlike the maroon color that the field soldiers had.
You take note of the weapons kept in stock on that wall too - unlike field armor, management armor couldn’t call up weapons or ammo, so they gave you a small stock in the tent just in case.
You sit down at a desk on the far side of the tent. It lights up for you, a clutter of notifications appearing across it. You swipe up, and everything projects up onto the tent wall in front of your desk. You reach up into the air and start to open the documents. There was one that had [[no description|no description2]], one titled “[[Results from Yesterday|Results from Yesterday2]],” another called “[[Today’s Duties|Today’s Duties2]],” and a final notice titled simply “[[Medicine|Medicine2]].” There was also a [[button|button2]] in the top right of the projection that prompted you to put away the documents and start the day’s work.Yesterday’s Work: Infiltrated enemy encampment 37. No casualties. Enemy eliminated. Raid will continue tomorrow using Travel Pad 38 to move to encampment 38. Allies retreat using Travel Pad 37.
I need to [[set up|headed towards the Management Tent2]] the Travel Pad so that the soldiers can start their work for the day. They should be able to take Encampment 38. The enemy has only 50 Encampments in this area - we are almost to full control of Zone 2.Activate Travel Pad 38. Assist in strategies for taking encampment 38. Direct them after victory to retreat via Travel Pad 38. [[End|headed towards the Management Tent2]] day with reports of day's work.Ensure that the medicine shipment arrives safely. There should be a months worth of doses for all people in camp. Ensure that everybody takes their doses. If somebody does not take their dose, [[submit|headed towards the Management Tent2]] them to the Medical Tent immediately.[[You know don’t you.|headed towards the Management Tent2]]Time to [[start|start2]] the job.Open Portal to Teleport Pad 38.
Count soldier appearance at Encampment 38.
That’s 25.
Close Portal to Teleport Pad 38.
[[Activate|Activate2]] Navigation System.A large map appears on the projection in front of you, displaying the detailed appearance of the area in which your troop was going to be fighting in and around during today’s [[mission|mission2]]."Hey, Griss, you hear me?" Bailey's voice came through on your radio.
"Loud and clear Bailey."
"Alright, [[send us on our way then|send us on our way then2]]."Direct [[left|left2]].
Direct [[right|right2]]."Okay, we're at the left of the camp."
Use Infiltration Tactic [[1|12]] or [[2|22]]."At the right of the camp now."
Use Infiltration Tactic [[1|12]] or [[2|22]]."Okay, splitting into four groups, gonna surround them."
Command to [[infiltrate|infiltrate2]].
Command to [[wait|wait2]]."Okay, splitting into two groups to bust in from different sides."
Command to [[infiltrate|infiltrate2]].
Command to [[wait|wait2]]."Alright, [[going in|going in2]].""Holding."
...
"Okay, clear. [[Let's go|going in2]] boys."Over the top right corner of the map you are looking at, a small video appears. You can see the action through Bailey’s Lyt Armor feed. They’re already inside the enemy Encampment, and you watch as he expertly guns down the blurred, bright orange figures. You knew that these were actually people, but the Lyt Armor disguised them as bright targets, most likely to make the killings easier and more mechanical in the minds of our soldiers.
“Okay, Griss. That’s all the targets in the center of the Encampment. Are we clear to go deeper?”
[["Clear."]]
[["Pull out."]]“Alright.”
You watch through Bailey’s feed as they explore the enemy Encampment, examining what look like offices. He picks up and scans several important looking documents, then continues to move through the area.
“Okay Griss, I think we got it all. What’s the best way to get out of here?”
Direct [[left|left3]].
Direct [[right|right3]].“Maybe in a second. Griss, I see something… Hey, new kid, go check that out.”
You watch through Bailey’s eyes as Jessica walks over to the area that Bailey had gestured to. But as she approached, an orange figure, apparently not dead, rolled over and fired at her. The kid dropped to the ground right as Bailey fired back. Now Jessica laid as [[still|slumps]] as all of the other orange men beside her.“Alright, right boys, lets go.”
There’s silence as you watch through Bailey’s feed. Blurry orange figures litter the ground as he walks through the base. But wait… That one… doesn’t look dead.
“Bailey—”
You hear gunfire and watch Bailey swiftly move and fire back. The orange man [[slumps]] back to the ground.“Alright, left boys, lets go.”
There’s silence as you watch through Bailey’s feed. Blurry orange figures litter the ground as he walks through the base. But wait… That one… doesn’t look dead.
“Bailey—”
You hear gunfire and watch Bailey swiftly move and fire back. The orange man [[slumps]] back to the ground.“Shit. Griss, the new kid… The enemy got her.”
[[Dead]].Jessica is dead. The first casualty of the war. We’d been fighting for a year, no casualties, and now this.
No.
First?
No casualties?
[[Ṉ̴͋ỏ̷̝.̵̥͝.̵̱̾.̴͚̏]]“Griss, hey, we need you. We got out of there but you have to set up the Teleport Pad.”
You shake off those weird feelings from before and nimbly slide your fingers through the air, activating Travel Pad 38. You count the disappearing dots until... Yes, 24. They’re all through. You switch back to the map of base, and sure enough, all of the little dots are there. Everyone made it back safe.
[[Except...|Except...2]]You lean back in your chair and breathe in deeply, then let the breath out slow. It was hard to accept [[R̵̢͈̖̙͓̼̠̈̀̀͗̑̉̀i̶̻̳͕̥͑͒c̸̮͉̊̄̄̈̑̐̈́̀̚̕͠͝ͅkys̸͖̩̳̤̤͑̐̓̂̀]]death.You lean back in your chair and breathe in deeply, then let the breath out slow. It was hard to accept Jessica’s death.
[[Pull yourself together|Pull yourself together2]]. You have a job to do.You write your reports on what happened today in the field, shamefully adding the part about [[R̴̖̹͌̅i̷̧̡͉͂ck̵̢̛̦̮ỹ̶̨̭̀͌]].You gather yourself finally, write your reports on what happened today in the field, shamefully adding the part about Jessica’s death, and then start to close up shop. You send in your reports and then turn the system off.
Dinner... doesn’t seem like a possibility. You don’t think you could keep anything down. You [[return to your tent|return to your tent2]].As you open the door to your tent, you hear a sharp hissing noise from your left. It was the medicine tube, delivering your nightly Lyt Vytamins. You sigh.
[[Take the Vytamins]].
[[Don’t|Don't2]].A blinking light appears on your mirror. You walk over and tap the mirror, and the small blinking light pulses over the entire surface. A message appears:
REMINDER: Ensure that the Vytamin shipment arrived safely and has been deposited. Check that every camp member has taken their medicine. This is VERY important.
You tap the mirror again and the message disappears. This is your job, but you’re tired and the bed is right there… It would be so easy to just go to sleep, but you should probably go outside and [[finish today’s work|finish today's work2]].You took them every day, you were in charge of making sure that everybody else had taken them, but you just didn't feel right tonight. Not after Jessica...
You take the pill capsule out of the tube and see the blinking light on your mirror.
REMINDER: Ensure that the Vytamin shipment arrived safely and has been deposited. Check that every camp member has taken their medicine. This is VERY important.
Even though you haven't taken your own pills, you know you still have to go [[finish the day's work]].Reluctantly, you leave your tent again. You make your way to the Shipments Tent and check that the shipment had arrived and was deposited in the logs that were kept there. Sure enough, everything seemed to be done correctly. Then, you make your rounds, checking that everyone had taken their medicine that night.
After a once over of everyone at camp, you see that everyone has taken their vitamins. Good.
You return to your tent and lay down. Finally done for the day, you [[fall asleep|Day 3]] quickly, tired from all of the stressful events that you had experienced.The dimly lit tent closes you off from the world. This is your home.
Your clock reads that it's 5 AM - not yet time for breakfast. You roll over, inspecting your surroundings. Things are pretty barren, but you do have an [[alarm clock|alarm clock3]], a [[framed photo|picture3]], and a [[crayon drawing|crayon drawing3]] that hung on the wall, all giving the place a little bit of warmth.XX/17/2XXX
You turn the alarm off. You woke up without it today because your sleep had been restless all night. You know you should [[get up|get up3]], but you really want to [[laze around|Day 3]] a bit more.A picture that your daughter drew for you. She had sent it with a poorly written letter, but even though it was hard to understand what she was trying to say, you still felt love from it.
You remember holding her in your arms after an especially terrible argument with your spouse. She had cried herself to sleep, leaning against your chest. You remember cradling her warmth and wishing and praying with all your might that you could do better and be better for her.
You miss her. [[Badly|Day 3]].There they were. Your spouse standing next to your daughter.
You remember them screaming at you once, your daughter's crying audible from the other room. There was always something to get mad about at home, always something going wrong. You always thought it was your fault because you were gone so much because of deployment. They never sent you letters. You only got a small letter every once in a while from your daughter.
Is everything going to be okay?
You wish you knew when you would be going [[back|Day 3]].It’s about time. You roll out of bed, stretching as you slowly stand up. Just another day out in these wastelands. Replace pajamas with uniform, then put on the combat boots. You look at yourself in the mirror but don’t feel as if you recognize who you’re staring at. You know it’s you… But is it?
[[You don’t feel like you have the life in you to brush this stranger’s teeth.]]You head to the mess tent. Food was your first priority in the morning. Every morning you looked forward to breakfast. Even as you were served a bowl full of the same weird gray, goop, you took it with a smile. You assumed it was supposed to be either oatmeal or grits, but it didn’t taste like either. Really, it tasted like nothing at all. What mattered though was that it was hot and filled your belly before work. You never complained.
“Goddamn it, this shit again?” The table rattled as a man slammed down into the seat next to you. “Grissom, how do you eat this garbage every morning?”
[[“…Bailey?”]]“Who else would I be?” Bailey looks at you weird. “You okay?”
[[I'm not sure...]]“Well, hopefully you feel better as the [[day goes on]].”The both of you finished your meals and then left your dishes on the table to walk through camp. It was time to get assignments for the day.
“Think you’ll be assigned to field management again? You’ve been there almost every day. They seem to think you’re a good fit for it. I’ll probably be out in the field again, so I trust you to take care of me and my men okay?”
Bailey smiled at me and I grimaced.
Things were harsh out here, I had watched people die
[[à̸̳̘͗͋s̷̬̪͚͂d̸̝̥̒̽f̵̬̪̿j̵̢̝͎̄;̸͓̾̏̉ȏ̴̧̪i̵͎̖̎ë̶̯́̏u̶͈͛͝͠o̵̞͓̒r̷̡̡͓̀̒n̵̝͚͊̏v̶͙̮̲̊͒]]“Think you’ll be assigned to field management again? You’ve been there almost every day. They seem to think you’re a good fit for it. I’ll probably be out in the field again, so I trust you to take care of me and my men okay?” Bailey smiled at me and I smiled back. After all, while things were harsh out here and scary, we hadn’t had a single casualty yet. I knew Bailey would make it back okay and that I would lead him through today’s battles [[safely|safely3]].We were assigned to our usual places. With a last salute to Bailey, I [[headed towards the Management Tent|headed towards the Management Tent3]].It was fairly empty as per usual, only about 4 or so men in there setting up to command their troops for the day. On the wall to your right were a few Lyt Cubes, so you grab one and put on the armor. It slithers over your body, covering everything except for your face. Your armor glows a light blue, unlike the maroon color that the field soldiers had.
You take note of the weapons kept in stock on that wall too - unlike field armor, management armor couldn’t call up weapons or ammo, so they gave you a small stock in the tent just in case.
You sit down at a desk on the far side of the tent. It lights up for you, a clutter of notifications appearing across it. You swipe up, and everything projects up onto the tent wall in front of your desk. You reach up into the air and start to open the documents. There was one that had [[no description|no description3]], one titled “[[Results from Yesterday|Results from Yesterday3]],” another called “[[Today’s Duties|Today’s Duties3]],” and a final notice titled simply “[[Medicine|Medicine3]].” There was also a [[button|button3]] in the top right of the projection that prompted you to put away the documents and start the day’s work.[[They’re starting to notice.|headed towards the Management Tent3]]Ensure that everybody takes their doses tonight. If somebody does not take their dose, [[submit|headed towards the Management Tent3]] them to the Medical Tent immediately.Yesterday’s Work: Infiltrated enemy encampment 38. No casualties. Enemy eliminated. Raid will continue tomorrow using Travel Pad 39 to move to encampment 39. Allies retreat using Travel Pad 38.
I need to set up the Travel Pad so that the soldiers can [[start|headed towards the Management Tent3]] their work for the day. They should be able to take Encampment 39. The enemy has only 50 Encampments in this area - we are almost to full control of Zone 2.Activate Travel Pad 39. Assist in strategies for taking Encampment 39. Direct them after victory to retreat via Travel Pad 39. [[End|headed towards the Management Tent3]] day with reports of day's work.That seems to be everything. Time to [[start|start3]] the job.Open Portal to Teleport Pad 39.
Count soldier appearance at Encampment 39.
That’s 24.
Close Portal to Teleport Pad 39.
[[Activate|Activate3]] Navigation System."Hey, Griss, you hear me?" Bailey's voice came through on your radio.
"Loud and clear Bailey."
"Alright, [[send us on our way then|send us on our way then3]].""Okay, we're at the left of the camp."
Use Infiltration Tactic [[1|13]] or [[2|23]]."At the right of the camp now."
Use Infiltration Tactic [[1|13]] or [[2|23]]."Okay, splitting into two groups to bust in from different sides."
Command to [[infiltrate|infiltrate3]].
Command to [[wait|wait3]]."Okay, splitting into four groups, gonna surround them."
Command to [[infiltrate|infiltrate3]].
Command to [[wait|wait3]]."Alright, [[going in|going in3]].""Holding."
...
"Okay, clear. [[Let's go|going in3]] boys."Over the top right corner of the map you are looking at, a small video appears. You can see the action through Bailey’s Lyt Armor feed.
“Okay, Griss. That’s all the targets in the center of the Encampment. Are we clear to go deeper?”
[["Clear."|"Clear."2]]
[["Pull out."|"Pull out."2]]“Alright.”
You watch through Bailey’s feed as they explore the enemy Encampment, examining what look like offices. He picks up and scans several important looking documents, then continues to move through the area.
“Okay Griss, I think we got it all. What’s the best way to get out of here?”
Direct [[left|left5]].
Direct [[right|right5]].“Okay, we’ll leave checking this place out for later then. [[Move out|Something doesn't feel right...]] boys.”“Alright, left boys, lets go.”
There’s silence as you watch through Bailey’s feed. [[Blurry orange figures|Something doesn't feel right...]] litter the ground as he walks through the base.“Right boys, lets go.”
There’s silence as you watch through Bailey’s feed. [[Blurry orange figures|Something doesn't feel right...]] litter the ground as he walks through the base.Something doesn’t feel right…
“Bailey, wait, something’s wrong. Check around you before you move on.”
“Alright, dunno why you’re saying that, but whatever. We’ll check around.”
Soldiers disperse around Bailey and you can see a few moving around through his feed. They check the area around them, ensuring that all the enemies are actually dead. Suddenly you hear gun fire and a yell. Bailey’s feed moves toward the sounds quickly. It had happened off to the side of the main area of the encampment. An orange figure lay still on the ground, but one of your men was also on the ground, [[writhing in pain]].“He’s okay Griss, but we’re gonna have to end today’s expedition on this. He needs to get back to base immediately. Set up the Travel Pad for us will ya?”
You quickly do as he says while watching two of your men carefully lift the guy up, supporting him on their shoulders. He was bleeding out of his left thigh. Clearly he had been shot before he was able to finish off the enemy, but at least he wasn’t dead like
[[Rick̶͍̝̒y̴͓͌̕͝ ̴̮̉a̶̧̗̝͆ņ̵̛͖͈͝d̴̡̔̈ ̴͚͝J̴͖̰͊ͅe̶͎̝̰͗͝s̸͇͓̃̆si̴̫̎c̸̞͓̝̾a]]You quickly do as he says while watching two of your men carefully lift the guy up, supporting him on their shoulders. He was bleeding out of his left thigh. Clearly he had been shot before he was able to finish off the enemy, but at least he would be [[okay]].You turn your focus from Bailey’s feed to the large map dominating most of your holographic screen. You count the disappearing dots until… Yes, 24. They’re all through. You switch back to the map of base, and sure enough, all of the little dots are there. Everyone made it back.
You close off the portal, then immediately stand up and head outside to where Bailey and his men are. Bailey has dismissed the other guys and is now the only one supporting the injured soldier. You rush over to the other side of the man, helping Bailey move him across camp to the [[Medical Tent]].Once the two of you successfully get the soldier settled and are assured that he will be okay, you step outside and finally feel like you are able to breathe.
“How did you know.” Bailey turns to you. “How did you know that something was wrong?”
“I… I don’t know. I just had a bad feeling. I couldn’t say why… It just happened, so I listened to it.”
“Well I’m glad you did. That guy could have turned out dead because of the hidden enemy if you hadn’t put us on alert. I still don’t really understand, but whatever. I’m just gonna thank God for this soldier’s safety and not question it any further.” He nods at you, then slowly [[walks away]].You make your way back to the Management Tent to finish your work for the day. You gather yourself, write your reports on what happened today in the field, then send the reports in and turn the system off.
Even though the day wasn’t too stressful, you’ve been feeling kind of strange all day and decide that a heavy meal for dinner wouldn’t be a good idea. You stop by the Mess Tent on your way back to your own tent and grab a dinner roll and a small portion of the nights meal, then take it back home with you. You sit down on your bed and snack on the food, [[thinking]].Why did your head feel fuzzy? Why does something not feel right? Why do you feel as if you’re... forgetting something?
From across the room you hear that familiar hissing noise. It was the medicine tube, delivering your nightly Lyt Vytamins.
That same blinking light appears on your mirror. You knew what it was. You look back over at the medicine tube where the capsule holding your Lyt Vytamins still sat. Every night you took them, but... what if tonight you didn’t? You hadn’t been feeling well since the new shipment of vitamins came in, so maybe the new ones were making you sick or something. One night of not taking them wouldn’t hurt anyways.
You walk over to the tube, pick up the capsule, then throw the capsule away. You felt hypocritical knowing that now you were going to make your rounds and check that everybody else had taken their vitamins, but shrugged the feeling off. [[Hypocritical]] or not, if this helped you feel better, then it would be worth it.After a once over of everyone at camp, you see that everyone has taken their vitamins. Good.
You return to your tent and lay down. Finally done for the day, you [[fall asleep|Day 4]] quickly, tired from all of the stressful events that you had experienced.The dimly lit tent closes you off from the world. Everything feels quiet and peaceful. This is your home.
Your clock reads that it's 5 AM - not yet time for breakfast. You roll over, inspecting your surroundings. Things are pretty barren, but you do have an [[alarm clock|alarm clock4]], a [[framed photo|picture4]], and a [[crayon drawing|crayon drawing4]] that hung on the wall, all giving the place a little bit of warmth.XX/18/2XXX
You turn the alarm off. You woke up without it today because your sleep had been restless all night. You know you should [[get up|get up4]], but you really want to [[laze around|Day 4]] a bit more.There they were. Your spouse and your daughter.
You sigh as you remember all of the pain of being home. You left them alone for so long that going home was almost as painful of being gone. You wanted to make things work but your spouse was fed up with you being gone on deployment and was getting more sour by the day. She wanted to take your daughter and leave, settle down with someone else who would be home more often. You wanted to convince them to stay.
You wish you knew when you would be going [[back|Day 4]].A picture that your daughter drew for you.
How long had it been since you heard her voice? How long had it been since you had seen her adorable smile?
How long had it been since she had sent a letter?
You wonder if your spouse was already starting the process of separation, pulling your daughter away from you and telling her that you were a bad person.
You miss her. [[Badly|Day 4]].It’s about time. You roll out of bed. Replace pajamas with uniform, then put on combat boots. You look at yourself in the mirror.
Who are you? What are you doing here? Questions race through your mind. You close your eyes and breathe. [[Remember, remember...]]A few days ago was the first ḍ̵̮̊̕e̴̪͍͠a̷͇͝t̵̬̉h...
You rubbed your temples as your head begins to ache. Thinking about this was hard and hurt, like someone was drilling a hole into your head.
It was Rič̵̡͖̋k̶̛̼͝y̶̳͖͒̓̀ who died first, and then the next day it was J̴̞̹̀̐͝è̴̢̡̈́s̴̠͠sica.
Every day they re-affirmed that there had been n̷̨͉̝͑o̴̹̊̇̅ c̵̢͈̎à̶̢̳̦̾ş̵̠͝ụ̷̰́̍͆ä̶̜̼̘l̷̜̲͊̈́̃t̷͇̄̀i̵̘̤̓̒es̷͉̹͔̆ no one hurt, no one d̴e̷a̵d̸.
But you remembered them. You remember the people who had been sacrificing themselves for the war, not only R̵i̵c̷k̴y̸ and J̶e̸s̴s̵i̶c̶a̴ but everyone you had seen die before them too. So many soldiers dead but nobody talked about it... Had everybody [[forgotten]] just like you had?Yesterday… yesterday he didn’t die. You brought him to the medical tent. Maybe he would remember, r̴e̶m̴e̶m̵b̴e̵r̶ getting shot, remember being on the b̴a̶t̵t̵l̸e̴ field and seeing his friends die. [[You had to know]].You rush out of your tent, stumbling a bit from the intense headache that refused to go away. You arrived at the Medical Tent, short of breath but still determined, and rushed through, looking for the man’s room. There, this one. You burst in. A
nur̶͉̿s̶͎̊͌e
was in there tending to his wound, and she looked up in surprise as you stood there, eyes wide, staring at the soldier and the nurse.
“Oh, Grissom, isn’t it? The nurse here was just telling me how you were one of the people who carried me here after my little accident. You don’t have to look so worried, I’m totally fine.”
[[“…accident?”]]The
nȗ̵̡̏r̶̳͔͇͇͗̀͒sẽ̵̼̣̓̒͑̓̉̓͐
stood up after re-bandaging the gunshot wound, and stared at me with cold eyes.
“Yeah, the accident. Do you not remember or something? One of the new kids was trying to play target practice and shot me in the leg. What an idiot. Now our squad is gonna be short a man. Things will probably be rougher out there today than they usually are. Sorry about that.”
“It wasn’t an accident... It WASN’T an accident! You were on the battle field, the enemy shot you, I watched! I heard your scream, I watched you go down!”
“What are you talking about? War isn’t like that, nobody has ever been injured on the field. Only stupid mistakes like this happen every once in a while. [[It’s no big deal]].”The
n̶̟̥̄͂u̷̳̗̹͂rs̴̨̮̫͓̙͆̑̋̌e̷͔̪̔̅’s
gaze seemed to intensify. “Excuse me,” she muttered before briskly brushing past me and out the door. Did she know? Did she remember? She wasn’t reacting like the injured man was… After watching her leave, I ran over to his side and whispered to him.
“Something is going on here. This place isn’t safe. War is NOT as friendly to us as they’ve been telling us. People have died. Don’t you remember Ricky? Don’t you remember Jessica? They died just a few days ago, I watched them die, I saw it all.”
“Woah there Grissom. I think you’ve got something twisted in your head. Are you gonna be okay? I’ve never even heard of those guys and you’re saying they’re in our squad?”
“They WERE in our squad. They’re dead now, but you knew them, you laughed with them, you fought alongside them. How could you not remember?”
“Look, I’m sorry, but I think maybe you haven’t been getting enough sleep or something. [[I don’t know what you’re talking about]].”You stand up, completely shaken by his statement. He didn’t know how he had gotten injured and he didn’t know about the ot̴̨͔͋ḩ̶̣̃͆e̴̹̟̋͜r̶̬͈̭͌ ̴̨̪͂͌̒mḙ̷͉̒n who had died? How? How could he forget something like that? How could YOU have forgotten something like that?
Bailey. Bailey would know.
Without saying another word to the man on the bed, you rushed out of the Medical Tent and towards the Mess Tent. You burst in and look around in a panic till you set eyes on a grumpy Bailey, slurping up his morning mush. You take a breath and walk over to him, the slow pace almost hurting you, the headache [[p̸͉̻̓į̶͕͐͒́ḕ̶̝̥̦r̸͕͇͇̕c̴̨̻̝̒̌͂i̸̩̗̓̉ng̸̼̠̥̋̒̈́ ]]your brain even more.“Bailey.” You sit down next to him and whisper.
“Hey Griss. What are you doing here so late? You always get here before me.”
“I went to check on the guy in the hospital.”
“Oh, the guy that some rookie shot in the leg? Sad situation. Luckily they took the rook back to training, so we don’t have to worry about him being around here anymore.”
Bailey had the same story. He [[d̴i̴d̷n̸'̶t̵ ̶k̴n̵o̴w̷]] either.“Bailey… What was that rookie’s name? Do you remember?”
“His name?” Bailey sat back in his chair and twisted his face up in thought. “Uh, I guess I can’t say. Huh.”
“That’s because he doesn’t exist. Bailey, nobody remembers, but I do. That guy in the hospital didn’t get shot by some rookie because that rookie isn't real. The guy in the hospital got shot out in the field yesterday, I remember it happening, I watched it, and you did to.”
“You sure about that? Cause I remember him getting shot before we went out on our mission yesterday. He didn’t even come with us. Maybe you had a weird dream or something Griss. Now go get some grub and eat with me.”
“It wasn’t a dream Bailey, I’m telling you the truth!”
“Okay bud. Whatever you say.”
[[“Why aren’t you listening to me?”]]“Excuse me, are you Lieutenant Grissom?”
I knew that c̷o̸l̸d̷ voice. I could feel her gaze drilling into my back. I turned slowly to face the voice coming from behind me to see the familiar face of the
n̴̼͝ṵ̸̳͑̊̂̇̚͝r̶̢̨̋͌̉͠s̷̨̪̙̲̥͆͜e̶͈̭͗̽̓̅
from this morning.
[[“Y-yes.”]]“Fantastic! We’ve been look for you.” From behind her, a dignified looking
ẉ̷̔͋̍̊͋̽̕o̸̫̣̮̬̭̟͓͔̱͐͗̾̈̊mȁ̴̛͎̹̦̭̈̃̈͌͗͌ͅͅn̶͔̮͋̃̍͂̈͊̕ͅ)
in a pantsuit appeared. She had the same cold eyes as the nurse, but her smile held a lot of genuine warmth. I grimaced. The difference was almost sickening to look at.
“We just became aware that you may have come down with a rare sickness because of a bad batch of medicine. We would like to take you to the Medical Tent as soon as possible if that’s okay.”
“Oh, so you’re sick, that’s why you’re acting so weird.” Bailey mumbled through mouthfuls of food.
[[“I’m NOT sick."]] "I can’t be sick, especially not from those vitamins. I didn’t take them yesterday because I thought they were making me sick, but I’m not sick. I’m remembering. People are dying out here. It’s you isn’t it? You and whoever you work for! You’re hiding this from us. Why are you doing this? Why are you making us forget our fallen comrades, our friends who have gotten injured and died out there? Nobody remembers them!”
“What are you talking about? Nobody has died. This war is perfectly safe for our side, completely ensured by the Lyt Tech that you all wear every day. It seems that the sickness has already made you delusional. [[Nurse, if you could, please]].”The
n̵̩̈́̃͂ũ̷͔̌rs̴̢̰̘͓̰͕͊̋͆̉̀̔̃̍̅̚ȩ̵̡̨̣̭̹͚̻̮̼͕͗͌̎
grabs your arm and pulls you up out of your seat forcefully. “Don’t, please, they need to know, I need to tell them what they’ve forgotten!”
The nurse smiled and leaned in to whisper in your ear: “They wouldn’t believe you anyways. Just come with us so you can get better and forget all these awful memories okay?”
But you didn’t want to forget. You didn’t want to forget Rỉ̸̢͈̾c̴̦̘̦͠k̸̰̐̊y̸̤̑̀ and J̴͈͈̌̽ẽ̵̠̹͉s̸̭̟̣̄si̷̧̙͒̈́̈́ć̴̯a̸̦̋̕͝ people that you saw potential in that you watched ḍ̷̢̩̚i̸͎͒͝é̵̖̱̍͊ and just become another blurred figure on camera. Another seemingly unimportant image on your screen. But they were real, they were people that you knew, people that had families. People whose s̵a̷c̶r̸i̵f̸i̴c̴e̴ should be remembered.
“These memories aren’t awful. These memories are important. [[I want to remember]].”“You’re only saying that.” The
n̸̢̛̯̦̠̤̜̞̳̻̾̒͊͝͠ṵ̴̾ŕ̸̤̎͜s̷̞̻͇̳̪̉͆̍̓̇͊͋̉ę̷͔̘͎͓̬̖̙̮̗͒͝
continued to smile as you stared at her, horrified. She began to lead you out of the Mess Tent, and your headache had begun to
h̷̨̛̥̮̥̬̎̄͊͝ű̴̗̻̳̑͂͝r̸̪̘̬̅ṭ̵͕̲̳̗͉͍̬̞̣̿̇̇̕
so badly that you didn’t have the strength to [[ȓ̴̖ẽ̷̛̟̌ͅs̵̤͎̠͆̊͐i̵͔̚͝s̴͎͗̓t̵̿ͅ.]]Back in the Medical Tent, the nurse and the woman in a pantsuit laid you down in an empty room.
“Now, I’m sure that headache you have hurts a lot. This shot is going to put you to sleep and get rid of it.”
“…How did you know about my headache?”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with you. I guess it doesn’t hurt to tell you that. [[You won’t remember in the morning anyways]].”“No, please, I want to remember, I can’t forget them, I can’t!”
“Okay, Grissom, okay.” She emotionlessly prepared the needle and walked over to you. “Just hold still, or we’ll have to tie you down.”
Your headache came back with a v̵͍͂̌e̶̼̗̲͒̚ǹ̵̳g̶̞̅̈́͝e̸̦̟̓ͅä̷̖̯́͑n̸̠̪̖̐̏c̵̛̘͕̿̃e̷͓̦̅ͅ and you gritted your teeth. You couldn’t bear it, but you couldn’t fight back. You felt like your world was s̸̝̿p̵̛̼̰̔i̴̤͍̽̎͌n̵̨͍̹͋̃̏n̷̢̟̑i̴̡̧͍̅́n̴̛̤̱̔̈́g̸̔ͅ out of control. How did things get from your normal every day job out here to this strange realization? How did you f̶̘̍̎̾ö̵̦̽̈́ŕ̷̰̫̼g̶̢̟̻̋̀̕e̶͖̘̖̿ẗ̷̨͓́̊̄...
“There we go. You should be just fine in the morning. G'night Grissom. I assume we’ll see you again in the next week or so. Until then I suppose.”
Your world WAS spinning now. You opened your eyes and felt extremely dizzy, that dizziness only ì̴̡̝̬͠n̸̨͖̖̆̅͐ṯ̴̤̀e̵̯̦̮̒̓ṇ̴̭̉s̷̫̒̿i̸͉̬͒̓f̸͍͎̄̓ȳ̴̩͠i̸͖͆̊͝n̵͎̝̑̒̃g̵̫͛́̂ y̷̤͉̜͂̀o̵̱̤͑͗͂͜u̵̝͒͗r̸̨̲͎̓͘ h̷̲̦͓̑e̸̡̿a̷̢̝̐̐d̴̗̗́͘a̴̤̍̏c̴͂̀̕͜ḣ̵͕̘̏͆e̶̡͇̪̕ [[ư̷͍̠̊n̷̛͜t̴̞̤́i̸̞̦̙̓l̴̜̳͉̔͠]]The dimly lit tent closes you off from the world. Everything feels quiet and peaceful. [[This is your home.]]“War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
—William Tecumseh ShermanDirect [[left|left4]].
Direct [[right|right4]].Video popped up in the top right corner of your map, a feed from Bailey’s Lyt Armor. There it was. The Encampment. Enemy soldiers shook with the impact of bullets before falling to the ground, orange blurs with targets projected on their vital areas, the Lyt Armor disguising the sight of violence to make the enemies look like practice dummies.
The feed shook, probably from an explosion. You hear Bailey grumble about a bomb that must have gone off in the building in front of him before he moved from the large outside area into that rectangular brick building. There were offices and desks inside, the amount of them creating a small and cramped space, much different than our Lyt Tents. Those were separated, metal pyramids, a more durable version of normal camping tents that provided plenty of open space for living and working in.
Bailey continued to move through, shooting the occasional missed enemy, picking up the occasional file and scanning it. He turns and you see Ricky, the new kid. Bailey motions with his head that he wants the kid to lead, probably for experience. There isn’t really danger anymore after all, and there’s only one room they haven’t dug through. Ricky performs the infiltration of the room [[perfectly|perfectly if wait]] and you smile. After his hiccups with understanding the field technology earlier, you didn’t expect him to be this good with tactics. He may even end up in your position one day if he’s really this good.You watch through Bailey's eyes as he follows Ricky into the room. This was clearly where the previous explosion had occurred. The area had black scorch marks but no fire was evident, probably some new technology that they had recently developed. Large orange squares covered a few areas of the room, most likely enemies that had been caught in the explosion.
[[Can you see what did this Bailey?]]"No, you see anything Rick?"
"Negative sir."
"Sorry Griss. We'll still report this though. Strange that there wouldn't be a fire since this explosion went off just a litle bit ago. But everything seems all clear. We should head back to base now." Bailey motioned to Ricky before turning, and you watched as they exited the building and met up with the rest of the team outside.
[[Open portal for Travel Pad 37.]]Your fingers nimbly slide through the air, activating Travel Pad 37. You count the disappearing dots on the map until… Yes, 25. They’re all through. You switch back to the map of base, and sure enough, all of the little dots are there. Everyone made it back safe.
You lean back in your chair and breathe in deeply, then let the breath out slow. Work was always stressful, but after a few breaths you were focused again. It was time to finish the day's work. You write your reports on what happened today and then start to close up shop. You send in the reports and the log out and turn the system off. Standing, you press the small square on your chest, and your Lyt Armor begins to peel away from your skin, compacting itself into a cube once more. It had been a long day, and as you palce your Lyt Cube back onto the wall of the tent, you smile, thinking about enjoying a nice dinner with Bailey and getting a chance to congratulate Ricky on his first day in the field.
[[Head to the Mess Tent.]]"Griss, over here!" In the Mess Tent, you turn with your tray full of bland food to see Bailey sitting next to Ricky who was eagerly digging into his meal. You move over to them and sit down next to Ricky who pauses in his eating to look up at you and give you a smile with full cheeks.
"Kid, you look like a chipmunk. Swallow your food you idiot." Bailey sounded harsh but you knew he was enjoying having a newby to mold. He always loved mentoring new people, creating his own small family out of his troop members. But he refused to show it, just shook his head in shame.
You smile, knowing the truth of the matter.
[[Good job in the field today Ricky.]]
[[Do what he says kid.]]"Hey, Rick, good job today. Really, you did great, especially for your first time in the field."
"Thank you sir, I'll do my best to keep up the performance."
You smile at the kid, hoping that he will. If he does manage to keep that up, then he would be promoted in no time. You were excited to see where his career would take him. You turn your attention from him to the bland mush that sat before you on your tray, ready to fill your empty stomach with dinner, but before you get a chance to, a piercing pain splits through your head. You [[drop your utensils and cry out.]]"Do what he says kid. He'll never steer you wrong, whether in the field or here in the Mess Tent."
Ricky looked up at you and nodded, this time without full cheeks. You smile at the kid, hoping he keeps up the obedience. If he does manage to keep that up, then he would be promoted in no time. You were excited to see where his career would take him. You turn your attention from him to the bland mush that sat before you on your tray, ready to fill your empty stomach with dinner, but before you get a chance to, a piercing pain splits through your head. You [[drop your utensils and cry out.]]"Griss? Griss, what's wrong? Someone get a medic, hurry!" You heard Bailey's yelling over the bustle and talk in the mess hall as you fall our of your chair and to the ground. The pain in your head only gets worse and your ears start to ring, drowning out the noise around you.
[[Remember, remember...|Remember2]]This was wrong... You've done this before. It wasn't Ricky, it was D̷͎͍̽ȇ̶̹a̸͕͝n̶̛͎̦̮, it was M̷̟̏͊ä̶͓́̈r̸̰̽̐y̵̗̼͕͒̽̕, it was J̴͇͝o̸̞̅̈́n̶̜̓̕... You struggled to remember them. What happened to them? Where did they go? Who exactly were they and why didn't you know them before?
Those messages... You knew those messages too...
You felt a hand touch your shoulder gently, and you peel open your eyes just to enough to look into her face.
[[The n̶̠̹͔͓̅͆̆̊̿ȕ̷̧̗̘̓r̴̞͊͌s̸̼͂͝ë̸̥̻́͑.]][[No, please God, no. I know you.]]You felt yourself whisper the words, but the ringing in your ears made the sound seem distorted.
"Yes, İ̸̟̮̀͒ k̸͍̱̓̓n̴̗͐̍͒o̵̞̓̀̇ẇ̶͎̇̇ y̷̗͑o̶̢̤̐̈́ù̷͔̞͇ t̴̪̆o̵̱̐o̷̢̳͍̓ Grissom. It's okay, this has happened before, [[w̶e̵ ̴k̶n̵o̵w̴ how to t̸͉̼̘͠ȃ̶̯ͅk̸̪̖̽̀̈ę̷͋́ ̸̱͋̈̅c̴̭̿á̵̝̖́͂ȑ̶̳͍͎̀͝é̸͍͇͠ of you.]]"Her voice was just as distorted, but you still picked up on her saying that this had happened before. When? You couldn't remember, you couldn't recall, and the more you tried, the worse the pain got. You saw her pull out a needle and prep it before plunging it into your neck. You felt yourself lose grip on reality as a few sets of hands grabbed hold of you and lifted you up. But those were the last things you felt before you lost consciousness.
[[END 1]][[TRY AGAIN?|Day 1]]Reluctantly, you leave your tent again. You make your way to the Shipments Tent and check that the shipment had arrived and was deposited in the logs that were kept there. Sure enough, everything seemed to be done correctly. Then, you make your rounds, checking that everyone had taken their medicine that night.
You begin your check of tongues for the night, and everyone has the green stain of the vitamins on their tongues. You shine a flashlight on the last soldier's tongue and smile tiredly, ready to go home. You turn, but your motion is interrupted.
[["Excuse me."]]You look over your shoulder at the soldier you just checked. He was smiling in a way that made you uncomfortable, the stretch of his lips almost too big for his face. You shudder.
"I was just curious, you check our tongues every night, but who checks yours?"
You swallow nervously, remembering how you forgot to take your pills that night. Why was this kid asking? Did somebody know?
[[Nobody does.]]"Nobody checks my tongue. I always take my vitamins, I'm trusted to do that."
The soldier's smile didn't even twitch at the answer.
"Well, that doesn't seem right. Why don't we check your tongue?"
You didn't understand. Why was this kid acting so crazy? What was his problem? You ignore his request and turn, briskly making your way out of the tent, but he catches you by the arm, gripping your forearm so tight you gasp in pain. The soldier pulls you in close to him and whispers in your ear. "We know you didn't take them Grissom. You have to take your vitamins. They'll make you big and strong. And if you don't want to take them, then I guess we'll just have to [[make you]]."Your eyes are wide with fear as you stare helplessly at the entrance to the tent that's so close but impossible to reach with this guy gripping your arm as he is. As you stare helplessly, someone enters.
It's her. Oh god, you remember her. [[She's here]]."Hello Grissom. Causing problems still, are you?" The n̸͖̎ủ̸̼̎ř̷̞͝s̷̨̗̐̈é̵̤̯̒ seems disappointed but bored, and you struggle against the soldier harder as she approaches you. "Calm down," she rolls her eyes. "We're not going to hurt you, we just need you to forget all of this okay? You are probably the worst case we've ever had."
You didn't understand what she meant about forgetting, but your head was starting to hurt, sharp pains shooting from ear to ear.
[[Okay, I'll take them.]]
[[I refuse to take them.]]"Okay, okay! Let me go, I'll take them, I'll be good, please." You cower now in the grip of the soldier, and the n̴͖͕̈́u̶̠̟͐ṛ̴́s̴̢̗̀̋ė̶̟ smiles, sickly sweet.
"I think this is the most compliant you have ever been. You know, I'm proud of you Grissom, you've come far. Alright, here's your dose. Take them and I'll walk you back to your tent."
The soldier lets you go and you stumble forward a bit, sweating. The n̷̙̮̏̕u̷̻̣̔̚ṛ̵͊̃s̵̉ͅe̴̮̐͂ hands you the vitamin pills and you toss them back into your mouth, shivering as you swallow them, one of them catching a bit in your throat. You open your mouth wide and the nurse briefly checks that you've taken the vitamins before motioning for you to follow her [[outside]]."I won't do it, I'm not gonna take them!" You continue your struggle against the soldier, but no matter what you do you can't seem to break free. You're their hostage.
"That's fine, even if you don't want to, we can make you take them." The n̴̡̬͝u̶̥͝r̶̼̈́s̴̹̪͒ẻ̶̬̒ nods to the soldier, who adjusts his grip on you to hold you tighter and to use one of his hands to force your mouth open. She shoves pills in your mouth and keeps her hand pressed firmly over your lips so you can't spit them out. No matter how much you don't want to swallow, eventually you do. The pills catch in your throat on the way down and you shudder.
"That's a good little soldier. Alright, let's get you home now."
The soldier lets you go and you stumble forward a bit, sweating. The n̶̛̫ŭ̶̬̾r̸̡̈s̷̟͉͑e̸̛͔̮̒ motions for you to follow her [[outside|outside2]]"Well, I'm glad you worked with us this time." The ṇ̶̢̕ư̷̳r̴̪̊s̸̩͠e̶̘̘̓̈ wasn't even looking at you. You knew you had seen her before, but you couldn't remember from where or in what situation.
"This time?"
"Oh, this happens all the time. You wouldn't know. You won't even remember this conversation in the morning. You've gotten so bad in the past that you kept trying to leave yourself hints to remember in your computer. Little messages, they were weird and creepy things. It was funny actually. I'm not sure you ever actually got it done, but you tried really hard."
You had done that? And why couldn't you remember any of this?
[[Who are you?]]
[[Why can't I remember?]]"Oh, no one special. Just a n̸̞̈́ṵ̶͑̄r̸̫͒s̸̖͠e̵̥̝͝ who works here." She stops in her tracks and you realize you're already at your tent. You stare at her for a second more, but she doesn't say anything else.
You enter your tent and lay down. Suddenly the war didn't feel so perfect or so far away. It felt like it was crawling under your skin, invading you through those pills that were settling in your stomach.
[[END 2]]"Well, the vitamins. We can't have you remembering all of the horrors that actually happen on the battlefield. Only a few of us workers do, but that's because we need to keep all of the real paperwork proper and up to date. Everybody else gets to forget. The Lyt corporation wanted it that way. I don't know why, I'm basically just a grunt." She stops beside your tent and turns to you, actually laughing for a bit, a sound that seems strange coming out of her mouth. You don't trust her.
"It's funny you know," she says coyly. "I can say whatever I want to you right now and you'll never remember in the morning. You'll never know. I love that even if I answer all your questions, it won't matter one bit in the end." You stare warily at her, but she only says "Goodnight, Grissom."
You enter your tent and lay down. Suddenly the war didn't feel so perfect or so far away. It felt like it was crawling under your skin, invading you through those pills that were settling in your stomach.
[[END 3]]"Well, I'm disappointed that you refused to work with us this time." The n̴̢͈̈́́u̶̹̬̇̅r̸̗͂̓s̴͖̖͂e̷̙̓͝ wouldn't even look at you. You knew you had seen her before, but you couldn't remember from where or in what situation.
"This time?"
"Oh, this happens all the time. You wouldn't know. You won't even remember this conversation in the morning. You've gotten so bad in the past that you kept trying to leave yourself hints to remember in your computer. Little messages, they were weird and creepy things. It was funny actually. I'm not sure you ever actually got it done, but you tried really hard."
You had done that? And why couldn't you remember any of this?
[[Who are you?]]
[[Why can't I remember?]][[TRY AGAIN?|Day 1]][[TRY AGAIN?|Day 1]]