"The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist." - Opening Title Card To Bioshock Infinite
Dark clouds covered the skies leaving the area in an all consuming darkness. The rain fell hard, lashing at me with its icy fangs digging deep into my skin. The forest around me was a forsaken maze that seemed to lead nowhere and everywhere at the same time. My legs burned in agony as each step threatened to be my last.
Yet through it all, I still moved forward.
The low green light from my Pip-Boy pierced through the darkness that surrounded me and made my travels a little bit easier. Tripping over a rock, I soon found myself rolling down a hill and falling face first into a pile of mud.
Easier though not safer.
Hoisting myself back up, I glanced at my Pip-Boy screen, re-positioned myself, and continued on my way.
Not even a few minutes back into my journey did I have to stop and grasp my head.
Voices.
Million upon million of voice screamed in my head like nails against a chalkboard. Of what I could not tell--though by the tone, I could tell they were arguing about something--that forced my own voice to join in. I cried out in pain while I fell to the cold wet earth. Tears threatened to flow as I continued my scream while sinking my head into the ground, in the hopes to shut out the noise.
Just as quick as it came did it leave, leaving me to gasp for air while shivering from the experience. Composing myself within a few minutes, I got up once more and continued on my way.
A flash of lightning caught me off guard as it blinded me momentarily. Instinctively I covered my eyes even though it was too late. Waiting for a few seconds to regain my ability to see, I opened them and nearly lost it at the sight before me.
A simple opened wooden door laid before me, but that wasn’t what truly surprised me. I was entering a cave packed full of ponies and dogs that were celebrating with one another. Different colors of balloons and streamers littered the area while banners were hung above different section of the walls. In the back I could see a table full of refreshments of different food and gems laid out for all to share. To the side I could see a pony and a dog working together to hand out drinks for the adults of the party and further back I could see a group of drunks celebrating by singing an odd tune.
“Geez, Drake, took you long enough.” Silver said as she held the door open for me.
Speechless I simply stood there.
To the right I heard a cry of joy as Derpy and Dinky won a muffin eating contest. The pair hugged one another in joy as the judges of the event brought over a trophy for the two of them.
“Yo, Drake!” Cried out Minuette. Turning towards her, I watched her hazardly walk over towards the two of us. “I bet I can pass out before you can!” She exclaimed and promptly went face first to the floor.
“Another pony down!” Cried out a dog as he carefully carried her off.
“Kept telling her to pace herself, but she didn’t listen.” Silver said while shaking her head. Turning to walk over towards the bar she nodded for me to follow. “First few round are on me. So get that scaly butt in here already.” She teased and soon began to walk away.
A small smile crept its way across my face as I continued to look at the scene before me.
‘Yes, this is what I wanted to happen. Hell, this is probably more than I could’ve hoped for. Actual peace and harmony between them.’ I thought while a feeling of accomplishment and joy take hold of me.
With a spring in my step, I walked in to finally join in on the festivities.
Only to then smack my face hard against a tree.
Shaking the stars out of my eye, I looked around the area once more. I was in a small clearing while row upon row of trees went as far as the eye could see. In the very center of the clearing stood a lone tree that had nothing special going for it. Unless you want to count the fang indent created by yours truly.
Rubbing my eyes vigorously, I then began to look around the clearing to make sure what I saw wasn’t an illusion or that I wasn’t in one right now. Certain that I wasn’t in an illusion, I huffed angrily and resumed my trip.
~Sometime later~
The voices came and went in odd intervals, though they were thankfully a low whisper instead of a scream. My current path was taking me deeper into the forest as I pushed tree branches or bushes aside. Glancing at my Pip-Boy once more--incase it was leading me astray--it was telling me to keep going further in. Given that my body felt heavy--meaning I couldn’t just fly--, my magic wasn’t being very cooperative, and I had no idea where I was, I snorted in annoyance and pushed on.
Pushing a low branch away from me, I took a step forward only to then feel something grip my right leg. Before I could react, I was pulled, thrown against a tree to the left of me, and then to the right of me. Both blows knocked the air out of my lungs as I gasped for breath. Dark green vines began to wrap around my body as my attacker came into view.
Obvious ‘I’ve seen enough hentai’ joke is obvious.
It was a mid-sized tree that had those same vines growing from the top of its head. Its tooth maw was big enough to eat a whole pony in one gulp, while its black soulless eyes stared at me with hunger.
I could feel the vines pulling me towards its mouth, while the creature smacked its lips in anticipation.
“Like hell I’m going to be your lunch!” I screamed. Taking in a deep breath of air, I could feel a warmth coming from the bottom of my stomach to my mouth. Exhaling, I released a torrent of crimson fire into the beast open maw, causing the creature to screech in pain.
With the creature in pain its vines loosened up, which allowed me to squirm my way free of its grip.
“What’s wrong? Too spicy for you.” I spat, another small ball of fire hitting the creature causing it to lean away. Noticing that the creature was in fact rooted to the ground, I smiled wickedly and reached into the hammer space.
Pulling out a chainsaw, I revved up the machine and smiled in glee as it roared to life. The creature screamed in pain once more as the chainsaw began to cut through its thick bark. A yellow-blackish sap sprayed from the wound, as its life fluid covered me and the surrounding area.
The creature tried desperately to pull me away with its vines, but I had more control over my body than it did at the moment. The chainsaw finally cut through the creature and with nothing holding it in place, it fell to the muddy floor.
But I wasn’t done yet.
My chainsaw began to cut the creature’s face in two. It let out one last cry of a pain before it went silent. That however did not stop me as I continued to cut the creature’s corpse over and over again until its entire body was nothing more than kindling. Panting in exertion, I stood over the body of the creature while my chainsaw remained lodged in one part of its body.
I believe it was it’s spine.
...Or maybe it’s femur? I always get the two mixed up.
Catching my breath, I soon began to untangle myself from the vines until another flash of lightning blinded me once more. Once more it took a few moments for me to regain the ability to see and once more, I was left dumbfounded.
I was no longer surrounded by a cluster of trees or wrapped up in vines. I was instead in the same clearing with the lone tree. Me nor the surrounding area was covered in the abominations life fluids and the chainsaw I summoned was nowhere to be found.
“No, that’s not right!” I cried out, only to be meant with a low rumble and breeze. Searching the area desperately, I tore through any piles of leaves, grass, and dirt for any signs of the tree creature.
The voices whispered amongst themselves. Their words ranging from concern to calling me insane.
“It was just here a sec-” I began though stopped.
Who was I trying to convince?
The voices?
The universe?
...Myself?
I wasn’t sure anymore. My body decided that it was time for a rest as I lost the feelings in my legs. My mouth opened and closed as I tried to find something, anything to say that would help me make sense of this. The wind picked up, threatening me to loose my balance. Through reflex, I was able to regain my balance before I fell.
That however didn’t count for much as to what happened next.
A solid object smacked right between my eyes that sent a burning pain through my skull. The force of the blow also knocked me to the ground, but at least the cool tiles did wonders for my head.
...Wait, what?
Opening my eyes, I could see I was no longer outside or even in Equestria. I was in a familiar kitchen that had a stainless steel workstation with a variety of toppings. To my immediate left was a freezer that held some fry products and a cooking vats.
Dumbfounded I tried to get up, only to be stopped by someone. “Ron, don’t get up. Just lie down.” Came a concerned female voice. Listening to her, I did as she instructed. Turning my head slightly I was able to get a look at her.
Stacey was her name. She was about in her late twenties with chocolate colored skin, long black hair tied up in a bun, brown eyes, and a beautiful smile. She wore a black button up shirt with matching pants, shoes, and socks.
“W-what happened?” I asked confused.
“You were unlucky, is what happened.” She said while carefully placing a towel underneath my head.
“You were getting some products from the freezer in the back and Miguel didn’t see you when he opened the freezer door.” She said while gesturing to the freeze to the left of me. “Not only did the door smack you in the face, but you hit your head pretty hard on the floor.”
“The ambulance should be here in a few minutes.” Came a familiar males voice. “How you doing, buddy?”
Looking over towards him, I recognized him immediately. His name was Stan, he was about my height with short dirty blonde hair, tannish skin, and sea blue eyes. His cloths were the exact same as Stacy's except he wore an all red tie.
“A bit confused...How long was I out?”
“Oh about five to eight minutes, give or take.” Stan answered.
I just laid there taking everything in. The throbbing of my skull, the cool tile against my skin, the smell of food being made, the sounds of my co workers doing their job, and then my ‘dream’. How real it felt. From the detailed scenery to the interaction with those I conversed with to the physical activities, it was hard to believe that it didn’t happen.
Though at the same time it was a blessing in disguise. Knowing that I didn’t cause a mass genocide was a huge weight off of my shoulders. A part of me was also grateful to know that my life would be returning to its boring daily routine. A small part of me would miss the freedom, but it was quickly knocked out and thrown into a closet.
A small smile splayed across my lips while tears of relief rolled down my cheeks. Stan noticed my tears and attempted to cheer me up with a joke. However, Stacey didn’t find it funny and started to scold him for such an inappropriate/ill-timed joke. The scene before me was a welcomed one as I chuckled at the two of them.
The paramedics must have arrived as Stan got up to usher them over here. Drying the tears from my eyes, I watched as Stan explained to the paramedics what happened, though I had the strangest feeling that I was forgetting somethi-
…
Stan wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Rubbing my eyes, I looked once more and still couldn’t see hide nor hair of his wedding ring. But that didn’t mean anything. It just meant that he took the ring off--which he never did--and put it somewhere as to not lose it.
Yeah, that’s what happened. I’m just not thinking clearly is all. Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I noticed Stacey moving around out of the corner of my eyes.
“Do you want some water or anything?” She asked.
Turning towards her to answer her question, I opened my mouth to reply, but my response never came out.
“Ron?” She asked me while her white hand moved her blonde hair from her face.
I blinked not once, not twice, but three times though her new appearance still remained.
“Hey, Stan, you might want to get those two over here.” She called out in concern.
Looking over to Stan, I saw him wrapping up whatever he was telling the paramedics and lead them over towards us. Looking to his left hand, I was now able to see a wedding ring on his finger...though it was a gold one instead of a silver one.
With a despondent sigh I stared at the ceiling for who knows how long. I could hear the occasional question from the paramedics as they got to work, but I didn’t respond to any of their queries. The weight of what I did slowly came back, but it was not in full force yet...though it would be soon enough.
Turning my head towards the freezer, I looked at my reflection. It was blurry, but I was able to make out my face. Oval shaped head with dark brown hair, matching eyebrows, and white skin. However instead of my brown eyes a pair of purple snake ires surround by cyan blue stared back at me.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to run away. I wanted to find a rock and hide underneath it. But I was unable to as the all too familiar oppressive weight came down on me.
Shifting into a sitting position, I was quickly stopped as eight pairs of hands tried to hold me down. Tried being the key word as I easily overcame their combined strength like that of a feather in a harsh breeze. As I stood up my surrounding began to fade away except for one lone door in the distance.
Making my way towards the door each step took more and more away of the surrounding area. Reaching and opening the door I was momentarily blinded by the bright room. The room was a stark contrast to the room I was in now. Instead of an all consuming black void it was an all consuming white void.
...Okay, maybe not that different, but it was definitely in the right direction.
Just as I was about to take a step into the next room, I could hear voices calling out to me.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Don’t leave. We can show you what you truly desire.”
“Leaving will only bring more pain.”
The voices continued with their siren call to have me come back and I’d be lying if I didn’t consider it for a moment. I thought long and hard between the threshold of both worlds. Turning to the shadows I could hear some in the distance cheer in delight.
“You’re partially right that it wasn’t my fault.” I began with a dejected look. “I didn’t kill them, they killed themselves even after all of my warnings.”
“However-” I continued with a determined look. “I could have still done something, but choose not to.”
A sad chuckle escaped my lips as a memory from college came to me. “The lever to the train tracks was right in front of me and I choose to ignore it instead of choosing to save the life of a group or an individual.”
I looked upon the endless black void with longing as my thoughts drifted to what they showed me. “You probably could show me what I truly want. From the way it could have ended to me being back home amongst friends, but it still wouldn’t change the things that I did. To the choices that I made.”
Taking a step into the white void, I could feel a warmth that I hadn’t felt in quite sometime. As the door began to close between both realms, I couldn’t help but shed a tear to the ‘reality’ that I was giving up.
“There probably will be more pain. More choices that will decided the fate of not only myself, but others. Choices that will make me question my morality. My fate. My sanity. But it is the path that I have chosen.” I said just as the door closed before me.
Opening my eyes I could see the dark overcast still looming over me, though thankfully it decided to take a break. Getting up, I then preceded to dust myself off of the leaves and mud that caked my body. Looking at my Pip-Boy, I oriented myself towards the point and made my way out of the clearing.
Just as I was at the threshold of the clearing, I stopped as I felt a part of me want to stay. Taking a deep and calming breath, I gathered all of the courage and willpower at my disposal to take the final step.
“I’m responsible for the death of the inhabitants of the Lonely Mountain. I killed them by doing nothing.” I confessed. A small weight was lifted from my shoulders as I took that final step from the clearing.
And then another.
And another.
And another once more.
By that point I was able to walk with no problem as I continued on my journey.