>>5214548Jabbing your hand out to grab it, you half slide, half fall through the open door–your sudden freefall taking you into the inky darkness of a maze of cargo crates… and the business-end of a shotgun fastened above the interior door frame. Guess that explains the counterweight, huh?
Rising to your feet, you sever the weight from the wire looped around the shotgun’s trigger and let it drop at your side--so far so good!
Even better, you think as you squint through the stacks of crates around you, you’re officially <span class="mu-i">behind the scenes</span> now. If someone’s hiding in here, you reason, they’re gonna be holed up here somewh-
“<span class="mu-s">YES,</span>” Intones a gravelly, monotone voice from above, “<span class="mu-s">You’re right on time, Stanley. And not a moment too soon, either…</span>”
Instinctively freezing up at the sudden noise, you settle down a bit as you notice the dusty speaker it’s coming from–guess whoever’s talking to Stan has to address the entire building, huh?
“<span class="mu-s">Yes, my dear, I can hear you… and, as you might have already deduced, I can SEE you too… We’re very close now, you see…</span>”
<span class="mu-i">Great</span>, you sigh as you catch the faint scent of some kind of gas through your mask’s filter, he’s <span class="mu-i">theatrical</span>! At least it’ll buy you some time. Scaling a nearby stack of crates, you drop back down when you notice the telltale red glint of a <span class="mu-r">SECURITY CAMERA</span> overlooking the whole cargo area. Staying out of sight, you spot a few points of interest as the voice continues to reverberate throughout the building:
“<span class="mu-s">We haven’t properly met, no, but I’ve been studying you… I’ve witnessed your struggles… your pain… I’m SO close now, Stanley–so close… but I need more.</span>”
A pair of <span class="mu-g">FIRE DOORS</span> sit at the back of the loading dock–no doubt leading into a storage area or back room. They ain’t locked, you observe, but this guy’s already proven he doesn’t need locks, hasn’t he?
“<span class="mu-s">Consider this… an INTERVIEW, of sorts. An opportunity to truly see what drives you.</span>”
A metal staircase snakes upwards towards a catwalk, and at the end sits a singular door–one that strikes you as ‘<span class="mu-i">MAINTENANCE</span>’ more than anything else. Perfectly ordinary–almost <span class="mu-i">too</span> ordinary.
“<span class="mu-s">Each room has, shall we say, a QUESTION for you to answer. Abandon the delusions of a ‘CORRECT’ or ‘MORAL’ choice–I won’t tolerate anything less than pure, unfiltered HONESTY.</span>”
And then there’s a <span class="mu-g">VENT.</span> You nearly missed it behind those boxes, but something about their placement gives off strange vibes–like this guy staged it. Still, you reason, a vent’s a vent–you’ve watched enough action flicks to know how many doors <span class="mu-i">those</span> open...
>CONTD. 