GRADUATION

[descentinto]

[ There’s a spark in the darkness outside the dome, somewhere. The pale rainbow of some kind of bio-luminescent jellyfish. Then another. Then two more. Then ten more.

Within moments, the seafloor around you is illuminated by jellyfish, shining brighter than nature should allow, and you find your surroundings changed. Statues, piles of gold, paintings, all of them lie scattered around for as far as the eye can see in any direction. Just a disgusting amount of wealth.

The frosted glass box in front of all of you just… vanishes. And standing at a podium that doesn’t at all match the previous silhouette, you finally get to see The Professor, in all his slightly ghoulish glory.

Honestly? This might be exactly the kind of man you pictured he would be. ]

Allow me to introduce myself properly, boys and girls. I am Professor Gunnar Maelstrom, one of the five sitting members of the Faculty here at VILE. I suppose, one way or another, this is where it ends.

[ You’re getting close, gumshoes! Don’t give up! ]

Comments

[bolderfell]

[Hey so, does it sound like electric humming in here?]

[ladygeryon]

Acronym's little on the nose there, don't you think?

[bogwife]

VILE? Really?

[hardnosed]

[ yeah she's just drawing Rose's sword, everyone else can deal with nerd things like "conversation" and "figuring out what he wants" and shit ]

[fivestagegod]

God. Why do all of you look like this.

So just as a quick question, because you've felt the need to give me an existential crisis on top of everything else: are you puppeting our bodies around somewhere else, or are we the genuine article?

FINAL CHOICE...?

[descentinto]

Alright, all of you, let's get down to business.

[ He steeples his fingers, looking around the room. ]

I offer you a choice. While I have administrative privileges, you cannot kill me, so that option is off the table.

I give you this choice here and now: either you may join up with VILE, with or without a wipe of your mind, or you can all be returned home, with or without your memory of the last two months.

1/2 ???

[wickedskills]

[Just as strangely as it vanished, the frosted box around your Professor's desk returns. Something the man inside does not look to be entirely happy with, judging by the opaque figure.

But there's not much time to watch that, as a screen opens on the side of the box facing the group. Like a window, but releasing a burst of static before the visual settles in on...]

KSSSSSH-wow, admin privileges? You wouldn't mind if I just nabbed those away from you, just for a sec?

[A boy at a desktop?]

Hey everyone, Ghostworth here! Sorry, but I'm going to have to make this quick. Maelstrom wants you to make one choice, but while he's in digital time out, I've got a friend that would like to offer you some other options.

OPTION ONE - 1/3

[wheremst]

Alright, let me just...

[ Apparently she has now finally reached the bottom of the lighthouse. ]

I'm gonna go ahead and hand things over to you, Player. Work your magic. And everyone in there?

[ She shoots you a smile. ]

See you on the other side.