<h1>Containment for Derangement</h1>
[[Start The Game|Starting Background]]
[[Credits]]The protagonist wakes up like on any normal day. But, upon going outside, they notice a mist that makes their throat close and their skin burn. They come to realize that a mysterious, killer mist descended on their hometown, and now they must go about their days, holed up in their house, trying not to go insane.
-- Note for myselfYou shoot awake, drenched in a cold sweat. Gasping for air, you scan the room and make sure that you are truly alone. Once ensuring your safety (and unfortunate loneliness), you hesitantly drag yourself out of bed and try to remember and reflect on what nightmare might have caused you so much fear the night before. You think, and think, and think, but all you remember is the unrelenting wave of fear that the dream had overwhelmed you with.
You decide to forget about it and focus on the more pressing matter: the fact that you're going to be late for your first day on the job if you don't hurry up and run out the house!
You dash from task to task, brushing your teeth, changing into your work clothes, and grabbing a quick bite to eat all within a few minutes. You reach for your coat, which only looks a tad bit more overworked than yourself, and reach to open the door.
[[//> Leave Out The Front Door//|First Encounter]]<h2>Day 1</h2><hr>
You shoot awake, drenched in a cold sweat. Gasping for air, you scan the room and make sure that you are truly alone. Once ensuring your safety (and unfortunate loneliness), you hesitantly drag yourself out of bed and try to remember and reflect on what nightmare might have caused you so much fear the night before. You think, and think, and think, but all you remember is...
(text-colour:#ff6b6b)[No... Nononononononono ''(text-style:"shudder")[NO!!]''
You remember everything. The mist, the lockdown, the ''containment'', the despair, ''everything''. It wasn't a dream, it was reality this time that filled you with dread. You want to scream, you want to yell, you want to pray and ask God why (if there is a God), and, ''more than anything'', you want the mist to disappear.]
As you sit there and despair, however, you realize that you could sit there wanting and praying all you want, but nothing will come of it. You slap yourself back into reality and realize that though the mist has placed a major blockade in your life, it has yet to stop time itself. So, it's time to get to work. Even with the threat of what seems like impending doom, if it hasn't killed you yet, how bad can it truly be?
Might as well get some stuff done around the house to, at the very least, keep the end of the world off your mind:
[[//> Brush Your Teeth//|Brush Teeth]]
[[//> Clean Around The House//|Clean the House]]
[[//> Make Something To Eat//|Eat]]
[[Optional: //> Look Out The Window//|Window 1]]{
}(if: $tasks >= 3)[
It's already dark out. Guess there's nothing left but to:
[[Watch the News]].]{
}(if: $tasks >= 4)[
All that did was terrify you even more. Whatever is happening in the world, it doesn't seem like it's getting better any time soon, and that just scares you even more.
[[A New Day...|Anger]](click: "A New Day...")[(set: $tasks to 0)(set: $mental to 4)]]Tired from all everything that has happened up until now, you realize you haven't even eaten anything all day. And just as you realize, you hear it:
(text-colour:#ff8787)[''grrrrroooowwwllllllll'']
Yup, you're hungry. Might as well head into the kitchen and make something to eat.
|1>[(link:"> Open The Fridge")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You open your fridge and, considering the time that you have now, you decide to cook up a storm. A full, 3-course meal all for you and ''just'' you. You take out all your ingredients, all your seasonings, all your pans, and get to work.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"> Get To Cooking")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
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<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#38d9a9)[//Sautéing the onions and mushrooms. Adding in some garlic and ginger. You set a pot to (text-style:"shudder")[boil] on the side, reaching for a cutting board and a knife to cut up your meat of choice.
Fat removed, portions sized and tenderized to perfection, you set the board to the side and add all the sauces and seasonings to your sautéed ingredients, tossing them with a splash of red wine for a quick stir-fry. Upon reaching the perfect color, you toss in the meat in with the sautéed ingredients and throw in some noodles into your now-boiling pot of water. Stirring both the pan and the pot occasionally, you take a few sips of the wine you had just used before corking it, returning it to its cooler, and grabbing a bowl and utensils to serve your almost ready meal.
You toss the sautéed ingredients a bit before dumping its contents into your bowl, making sure to save some of the juices in the pan. You drain your noodles and dump them into the bowl, tossing and mixing the bowl to get a perfect mixture of noodles, veggies, and meat in each bite. You top your bowl off with some of the leftover juices, some sesame seeds, and some shredded seaweed and serve it to... well, yourself.
Pouring yourself a drink, you sit down at your table and enjoy.//]</span>
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(link:"> Eat Your Meal")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
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<span class="pulse-in">As you sit and enjoy your meal, you start to wonder about the situation you're in. Particularly about the said situation's impossibility. As in, you still can't believe that anything is truly happening. The longer you go about your day, the less and less you actually believe that this is all a dream. The food tastes too real to be a dream. The house feels too empty to be all in your head. Everything feels all too physical to be passed off as some sort of (text-colour:red)[//nightmare//], but the thought of this being real just scares you even more.</span>
]{
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(link:"> Finish Up")[(show:?8)(show:?9)(hide:?7)]
]{
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<span class="pulse-in">Before you realize it, you've finished your meal and even licked the bowl clean. Tossing everything in the sink, you think back to anything else you need to do.</span>
]{
}|9)[
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Denial]]]Tired from all of the chores for the day, you sit down and turn on the TV, hoping to see some sort of good news for once.
As the TV clicks on, you let yourself go and exhale, glad to see the news rather than another emergency alert. You turn up the volume and listen in, hoping for some good news:
|1>[(link:"> Listen Up")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#38d9a9)[Hello everyone, uhhhh, I know we aren't your typical newscasters, I know we're just the techs for the show, but please bear with us, we're all we have for now.]
Huh, guess the anchormen are stuck at home or something, that makes sense.
(text-colour:#38d9a9)[We have an update on the mysterious, killing mist that has suddenly befallen (text-colour:red)[REDACTED]. Uh, unfortunately, we have no reports of the mist subsiding anytime soon. In fact, as more reports come in, it seems like the mist is starting to expand across more and more of the world. As we speak now, it seems as if the mist has covered approximately 30 percent of the world, which is an almost exponential growth from yesterday's 5 percent. That's all we have to share for now, we'll keep everyone updated as time passes. This message will now repeat until a new report comes in...]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"> Stop Listening")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
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<span class="pulse-in">And so it did, as the tape seemed to cut and immediately play the exact same news segment that you had just seen. You frantically flick through all of the other channels, only to be met with static on each and every channel. It seems like no one is able to keep the channel streams up and stable with the appearance of the mist, so any type of entertainment or any other news channel is out of the question. You click back to the news station, watch the message once more, and quickly click the TV off.</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link:"> Reflect")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">You had hoped for some good news and, as a matter of fact, expected some, but were met with the worst possibility: the fact that this situation was worsening with no foreseeable future of ending. Any chance of the mist's disappearance seemed more and more slim, and, combined with the news report, just made you more and more doubtful of your own future...</span>
]{
}|7)[
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Denial]] ]Catching a whiff of your own breath, you scowl and realize that a full containment doesn't mean that you can slack on your own hygiene.
|1>[(link: "> Go Brush Your Teeth")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You run off to the bathroom, grab your toothbrush and sit there for a second. The toothbrush is the same one you used at home, just before leaving for what was supposed to be a new //chapter// in your life. You could have never guessed that that new chapter would be... well, //this//. You look down and smile a bit at the toothbrush, remembering all of the fond memories from home.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Snap Out Of It")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
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<span class="pulse-in">You snap out of it just as your thoughts start to sour, and grab your bright (text-colour:red)[red] bottle of toothpaste, applying just enough for a casual brush. Quickly splashing your toothbrush head with water, you get to brushing and sit with your thoughts for those quick, yet prolonged two minutes:</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Think...")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#ff8787)[//This mist is ridiculous. There is no way it just came out of nowhere, dropping down right here and keeping me from going anywhere. No, this has to be some kind of twisted nightmare. A lucid dream, or whatever those surreal dreams are called. Yeah, ''YEAH''! That explains it! This has to be one of those messed up, dream-within-a-dream situations! I just never fully woke up from my previous dream and am stuck in this weird, dream ''limbo'' of some sorts. That would explain everything! I just have to live out this day and I bet that when I lay down or something crazy happens, I'll wake right back up and head to work! Yeah...//]
Or so you convinced yourself, at least.</span>
]{
}|7)[
(link: "> Finish Up")[(show:?8)(hide:?7)]
]{
}|8)[
<span class="pulse-in">You spit out the toothpaste, rinse your mouth, and head back out into the living room.</span>
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Denial]]]Taking a look at your apartment, you realize that you never took the time to clean up and organize after moving everything in. Boxes scattered all over the living room, appliances, plates and tools thrown across the kitchen counters, packing tape and foam littered across the hallways, and dust covering the floors. While not a disaster, you've clearly left your place a mess.
|1>[(link: "> Clean Up")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">So, with all the time in the world now, you get to (text-colour:#ffe066)[work].
As you go around the house, picking things up and sweeping as you go, you think back a bit to what the containment order means for you. Now, not only are you holed up in your home, you're holed up without the option of even leaving to get food. No fast food deliveries, no driving to the store to pick up some milk, no ordering groceries, nothing. You wonder to yourself if you even have enough food to last until the end of this dilemma. Sure, you managed to stock your fridge, freezer, ''and'' pantry before this mysterious //mist//, but is that food really going to last you that long? You wonder...</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Think...")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#ff8787)[Wait, there's no way this mist is going to mysteriously appear without some way to get groceries, right? Like, there's got to be //something// that will get us groceries, right? Like... Like drones! There has to be some way of getting groceries delivered by drones! Or self-driving cars! Wait, staying in your car might be safe then... but can I even get to my car in time to be safe? Does staying out in the mist cause any lasting effects? OH! Maybe it's just some type of heightened allergic reaction! I mean, if it's just that, then an Epi-Pen should take care of that! Simple!]</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Snap Out Of It")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">Before you realize it, you've not only cleaned up all the boxes littered across the halls, but you've organized everything into its respective drawer, cupboard, and room. Not just that, but you've been sweeping the same exact spot for the past (text-colour:#4dabf7)[''twenty minutes''], completely absorbed in your own thoughts.
You decide to call it, putting away the broom and taking another look at what you have left to do.</span>
]{
}|7)[
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Denial]]]<h2>Day 15</h2><hr>
You lie awake, unable to tell the time nor the day if it wasn't for your phone. Luckily, it seems like the power is still up and it doesn't seem like it'll go away anytime soon. On the other hand, it seems like all the internet has cut out, so only the absolute basics of your phone seem to work. No messaging, no social media, no entertainment, nothing. Nothing but the clock, the calculator, and anything you had already on your phone. Unfortunately, your phone is brand new and you never got around to transferring over your old data, so it's not like you can view any of your old memories in your spare time.
Oh, a dream? A nightmare? Nonsense. Every single day since the mist's appearance has been nothing but an ill-minded reminder of the reality of things: the mist is real, and it's not leaving anytime soon. And even worse, there's nothing you can do about it. You've waited day after painstaking day to hear any good news, but each day seems to get worse and worse. And all that does is just piss you off even more. You're locked inside a home that you barely know with no means of communication and no means of (text-colour:red)[''anything''], and worse yet, there is no way of leaving to restock on groceries, cleaning supplies, and any other necessities.
Completely fed up with so many thoughts this early on in the day, you force yourself to get up and get stuff done around the house. You really don't want to, but with so much time on your hands, what else are you going to do but sit with your poisonous thoughts.
So, time to get up and get some stuff done around the house.
[[//> Brush Your Teeth//|Brush Teeth 2]]
[[//> Clean Around The House//|Clean the House 2]]
[[//> Make Something To Eat//|Eat 2]]
[[Optional: //> Look Out The Window//|Window 2]]{
}(if: $tasks >= 3)[
With nothing left to do in the house, you realize that all you can do now is sit down, turn the TV onto that godforsaken news channel and hope for the impossible: some sort of good news.
[[//> Watch The News//|Watch the News 2]]]{
}(if: $tasks >= 4)[
As you expected. It just gets fucking worse.
[[A New Day...|Bargaining]](click: "A New Day...")[(set: $tasks to 0)(set: $mental to 3)]]<h2>Day 76</h2><hr>
You wake up and break into a ''long'', (text-colour:#f783ac)[''refreshing''] stretch. Taking a glance at your phone, you realize that you slept in until (text-colour:#ffa94d)[''noon''] today. A new record! In fact, you haven't been able to sleep in like this since you were home sick as a child. Now, there's no school, job, or other responsibility forcing you to wake up early. Nor is there anyone to keep you from staying up late, or taking 20 naps throughout the day, or sleeping upwards of 12 hours in one go. You haven't felt so well rested in years! So, hey, maybe this mist thing ain't so bad.
You step out of bed and, as you reach down to make the bed, you realize that there is no one to judge you if you didn't! Sure, there wasn't anyone to judge you to begin with, but now that you don't have to follow any type of strict regimen or discipline to keep yourself ready for the rest of the day, there's no point in doing those small, menial tasks like (text-colour:#3bc9db)[making your bed]. There's no one to keep you from doing anything really, so you break out into an embarrassing rendition of one of your favorite songs, trying your best to remember the complicated, yet heartfelt lyrics you last heard months ago.
Mid-song, you step out into your living room, still in pajamas, and decide to do some things around the house. Sure, you can cut yourself some slack since, well, what does it even matter? But hey, it's always better to occupy yourself with ''something'', right?
[[//> Clean Around The House//|Clean the House 3]]
[[//> Make Something To Eat//|Eat 3]]
[[Optional: //> Look Out The Window//|Window 3]] {
}(if: $tasks >= 2)[
Satisfied with your effort for the day, you see no harm in sitting down and checking for a news report today. You haven't seen one in weeks, and how much worse could it really get at this point?
[[//> Watch The News//|Watch the News 3]]]{
}(if: $tasks >= 3)[
It's... It's never going to end, is it?
[[A New Day...|Depression]](click: "A New Day...")[(set: $tasks to 0)(set:$mental to 2)]]Switching the TV on, all you see for a few minutes is a blank screen, the subtle buzz of TV static ringing in your ears. All of a sudden, the news channel switches on and you catch yourself tense up and flinch at the sudden increase in volume.
|1>[(link:"> Listen In")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#3bc9db)[''REPORT REPORT.'' Still us, the techs, no anchormen just yet. To tell you the truth, we don't even know how long //we// can keep doing this before we run out of food. But in the meantime, yeah, sure, the news. Well, uh, nothing good to report today either. The mist has yet to subside and, instead, has grown to cover over half the world. We would love to say that we have heard reports of cures or alternative methods of travel, but, well, we haven't. Yeah it's depressing, but what else do you want me to say? We're //fucked//. Completely, totally, wholistically fu-]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"> No...")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
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}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">And with that outburst, the recording cut. From there, you aren't sure if it was the news report, every mistake that you had made that day, or the news tech's own outburst that ticked you past your boiling point, but you proceeded to throw the remote at the wall, fall down to your knees, and scream at the top of your lungs. There was no salvation coming, There was no getting better. There was no //get well soon//. There was just the reality of a new, fucked up existence threatened by a mysterious, killer mist that simply refused to go away.</span>
]{
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<span class="pulse-in">You wished you could rip this new chapter out of your own life's history books, but all you could do at this point was suck it up, wait it out, and, in this very moment, cry to yourself beside a glowing screen of TV static.</span>
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Anger]]]As you consider what task to finish next, you realize that there seems to be one thing that managed to be angrier than you in the house: your stomach. Hearing your stomach growl, you groan as you realize you have yet to eat anything and must now painstakingly cook something up //and// wash the dishes. Hesitantly, you drag yourself into the kitchen to find something to eat.
|1>[(link:"> Look For Food")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Quickly scanning both your fridge and pantry, you curse as you realize that your food supply may be slowly dwindling, but it will eventually run out and may even do so before you get the chance to finally leave and restock. Taking one more quick look at your fridge, you settle on a simple spaghetti, a recipe that you're familiar enough with to cook up in record times. And so you get to cooking.</span>
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(link:"> Cook")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
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<span class="pulse-in">However, as you pull out pot after pot and plate after plate, you realize that you keep making more work for yourself with each (text-colour:#ffa94d)[''dirty''] dish. In fact, you realize that even though spaghetti is an easy, familiar dish, it's also a dish that uses up an (text-colour:red)[''obnoxious''] amount of pots and bowls to prepare, leaving much of the work to the dishwasher (in this case, you).
To make matters worse, every time you reach for something on the counter, you end up ''(text-style:"shudder")[knocking]'' something over and make even more of a mess. First, it was your water. Next, the wine glass. Then, the wine bottle. Worst of all, the cutting board is covered in raw chicken. And so, you go through a loop of cooking correctly, knocking something over, cleaning up after your mess, swearing at yourself for your own clumsiness, and all over again until your meal is ready.</span>
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(link:"> Eat")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
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<span class="pulse-in">You sit down and eat your meal in silence, too (text-colour:#ffa94d)[frustrated] and (text-colour:#c92a2a)[angry] to think, much less say anything. Not like there would be anyone to hear it anyways.
As you finish your meal, you toss your dishes in the sink, promise to clean them later, and go off to find something else to do.</span>
]{
}|7)[
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Anger]]]Suddenly feeling the light pangs of hunger coming in, you decide to get ahead of the game and whip up something quick and easy to eat. You make a beeline for the pantry and grab your favorite meal as of late: (text-style:"sway")[(text-colour:#ffd43b)[instant noodles!!!]] There's nothing faster and tastier than some instant noodles, loaded with frightening amounts of salt and MSG, which just make it taste even better!!
As you wait for your water to boil, you lay your head down onto your hand and think a bit on the situation you're in:
|1>[(link:"Think...")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#ff8787)[You know, if you really think about it, this really ain't so bad!! Sure, I've said it over and over again, but really!! I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want and I don't have to worry about some kind of shitty boss or parent ordering me around. I could lay around all damn day, and no one would say a thing since, well, everyone would be doing the same thing!!
Sure, I am worried about my friends and family, but they should be fine. My parents never leave the house anyways, so I'm sure they'll be just fine. My friends, on the other hand... Well, if I'm doing fine, then they should be doing just as well, right? Yeah, they should be...
Either way, you could see the mist as some sort of blessing in disguise!! Thinking about it rationally, I was never much of an extrovert anyways, so staying inside by myself is the perfect outcome!! So, well, fuck it!! I'm gonna enjoy this stay-cation while I can!!]</span>
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(link:"Whistling?")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
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<span class="pulse-in">Just as that last thought leaves your mind, your electric kettle (text-style:"rumble")[''whistles''], signaling you to pour the water into your noodles and eat up. After pouring the water into the cup and waiting a bit for the noodles to hydrate, you grab a pair of chopsticks and start slurping away, absolutely taken aback by your meal's flavor. Though you put your (text-colour:red)[blood], (text-colour:grey)[sweat], and (text-colour:cyan)[tears] into some of your other meals, this simple, instant dish never fails to amaze and satisfy you with it's pleasant saltiness.</span>
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<span class="pulse-in">Before you know it, you've slurped up the last of your soup and have nothing left to do but toss the foam cup into your overflowing trash and head back to the living room, energized and ready for whatever task you may have to overcome next.</span>
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Bargaining]]]You stroll over and plop yourself down on the couch, glancing around for the remote that you keep losing. Once you find it, you click on the TV and quickly change it to the news channel, hopeful for something new. Once again, you're met with a black screen, but this time it also displays a countdown of some sort. As you watch the numbers count down, your heart stops for a second, just before you realize that it's probably a countdown for the next news segment. Since you hadn't even turned the TV on in a while, you hadn't seen the countdown before and were quite impressed at the innovation that the news channel was putting into place, even in these bleak times.
As the numbers counted closer and closer to 0, you sat back and ate your imaginary popcorn, excited to see what was next:
|1>[(link:"> Listen In")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#3bc9db)[Alert alert or whatever. So, uh, yeah, you know the drill. *(text-colour:#38d9a9)[coughs. ]* Ugh, sorry about that, it's getting pretty dusty in here and it's been a few days without water, so that explains my dry ass cough. Anyways, moving onto the shit that really matters, if it even does at all at this point... Uh, yeah, no good reports. We had hoped to hear something good about some sort of foolproof bodysuit or gas mask or something, and though we heard some rumors about some sort of prototype, we lost contact with them pretty quickly and, yeah, haven't heard back since.
The only thing we do know is that the Earth is totally covered in this fucking mist now. Yup, 100% covered. Every single nook and cranny is full of this killer mist and now we can't go anywhere at all!! I don't know what we expected to be honest. How long has it been? And still no change? Yeah, we're fucked. That's all. We're done for, nothing we can do, I'm out. Signing off. Man, fuck thi-]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"> That's All")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
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<span class="pulse-in">And it cut. Straight to black. Nothing more. No logo. No static. Just a black screen. Just your own, terrified expression staring back at you through the reflection on the TV. No new news. No good news. It really does seem like the end of the world now. Not only is the entire world covered in the mist, it seems like every single person on the Earth has just, (text-colour:#ff8787)[given up]. What even is there to do now?
You sit there, feeling more powerless than ever, and realize that everything is over. Reason has gone completely out the window. There is no salvation. There is no better world. Your life as you know it is gone and it will never return. You curl up into a ball hugging your knees, and rock in silence, completely overcome by fear and submission.</span>
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(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Bargaining]]]<h2>Day ???</h2><hr>
You're seated at the couch, covered in a blanket, unwilling to move even an inch from your current, comfortable position. Glancing around the room, you count the wrappers, boxes, cups, and various items of clothing scattered around the house.
1. 2. 15. 50. 99. You lose count. Or, well, you give up on counting. Too much effort.
In the seat next to you, your phone flashes for a second. You snap your head and shoot for your phone, hoping for some kind of internet connection. But, your hopes crash as you read:
(text-colour:#ff8787)[Low Battery]
You drop your phone onto the floor, somewhere away from you and out of your site, and curl up on the couch. As you lay there, you hear your stomach growl and wince at the sharp pain that came along with it. You look up to the kitchen and consider getting food, but lay your head back down at the idea of putting in the effort to eat something. It's not like you have much to eat anymore anyways.
Turning over, you catch a whiff of your own scent, a curious mixture of (text-colour:red)[laziness] with a hint of (text-colour:red)[carelessness] and (text-colour:red)[neglection]. Not like it matters, the only person to catch your scent would be yourself, and even smelling takes up more energy than you could care to give up at this point.
With the little bit of energy that you are willing to exert, you glance around the room and realize there's not much you're willing to do. At the same time, however, you realize that there might be a new news broadcast today. Though there hadn't been one in who even knows how long now, there's no harm in checking.
[[//> Watch The News//|Watch the News 4]]
[[Optional: //> Look Out The Window//|Window 4]] {
}(if: $tasks >= 1)[
''..........''
[[Knock Knock?|A Visitor]](click: "Knock Knock?")[(set: $tasks to 0)(set: $mental to 0)]]As you switch on the TV, you are immediately met with the chilling, ear-piercing siren of an emergency alert. Yet, you don't react. Why would you? It's the same alert that has been playing over and over again for the last few months. The news tech never returned from the last time you had seen him. In his stead, a blaring alert reminded the world that everything was completely (text-colour:red)[fucked]. No bright side. No light at the end of the tunnel. No, just a permanent order to remain in our homes until //further notice//. Sure, that makes it sound like there's still //some// hope, but when you've been waiting for that //further notice// for months on end now, you slowly learn to treat it as a matter of habit for news stations, not a matter of truth.
|1>[(link:"> Oh?")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">But suddenly, the screen flashes and the image changes. You shoot your gaze over to the screen in response, but see nothing but static. The crackly, white noise of the static fills the room as the alert disappears and you are left alone. No alert to keep you company. No monotonous, robotic voice to sing you to sleep. Nothing but white noise to fill the room and static to drive you insane.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"> Sit There")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[<span class="pulse-in">
...
You sit and stare for what feels like hours and, in the end, do ''nothing''.</span>
]{
}|5)[
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[Depression]]]<h2>Knock Knock?</h2><hr>
(text-style:"shudder")[(text-colour:red)[Knock]]
All of a sudden, you hear a knock at the door. At first, you think it's just your own imagination playing tricks on you, feeding you some sort of wishful thinking or distant memory. But then you hear it again.
(text-style:"shudder")[(text-colour:red)[Knock KNOCK]]
This time, the knocks shock you back into reality. You slowly turn over to the door and stare at the wooden slab between you and the murderous mist. Somehow, something is knocking at your door. Though your fear is keeping you locked in place, your curiosity and wishful thinking urge you on, pushing you to get closer and open the door.
You pull yourself up, slowly dragging your feet towards the door, the knocking becoming more frequent and urgent. As you approach the door, you notice the lack of light from the bottom of the door, even as the sun continues to shine through your closed curtains. Someone is definitely at your door, urging you to open it. The question is, //(text-colour:red)[who]?// Or, better yet, //(text-colour:red)[how]?//
|1>[(link: "> Yell Out")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Hello? Who's there?]
You manage to squeak out a response, surprised at the difficulty to even get those words off your tongue.
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh thank God!! I wasn't sure if there was anyone here and was just about to turn around and head to another place. Thankfully, though, you came just before I left an-]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Interrupt Her")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Who are you? Actually, forget that, how the hell are you standing in that mist out there? What are you, some kind of fucking monster? Is that what this is? Does this mist have fucking monsters now?]
You cut in, more interested in how she's managing to stand out there in that mist without any consequences. Last you checked, the mist hadn't gone anywhere and still seemed as deadly as it originally was.
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh, uh, I'm from a group of survivors not too far from here. We're a city or two over, but we found a way to prevent the mist from getting to us!! Basically, we made some special, makeshift hazmat suits that allow us to walk around the world without being affected by the mist!! Since then, we've been traveling around, looking for more survivors to, well, save, for lack of better words!!]</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Huh...")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">It all sounded sketchy. A bit too good to be true in a sense. If a bunch of everyday civilians had already figured out how to bypass the mist, why hadn't the rest of the world? What, all the minds and strategies of the world's governments and armies couldn't figure out a way to survive in the mist with all of their resources, but a couple of everyday people could? It seemed like a risk.
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Listen, I know it sounds fake and completely unbelievable, trust me, I've been there myself. In fact, someone came to my door a while ago, just like I'm doing to you now!! So believe me when I say, I get your skepticism. But please, could you just let me in and hear me out for a bit? I'm not out to get you, I just want to help. Please?]</span>
]{
}|7)[
(link: "> Think About It...")[(show:?8)(show:?9)(hide:?7)]
]{
}|8)[
<span class="pulse-in">She was almost begging you to let her in, but you couldn't tell why. Sure, she sounded kind and genuine, but why is she so desperate to help? She could be out to get you, she could be a monster in the mist, hell she could even be a figment of your imagination. Sure, it's a risk to let her in, but will you ever get a chance again like this? You don't know, but it's your choice.</span>
]{
}|9)[
[[//> Let Her In//|Accept Them]](click: "Let Her In")[(set: $friend to true)]
[[//> Ask Her To Leave//|Reject Them]](click: "Ask Her To Leave")[(set: $friend to false)]]You give in. Or rather, you convince yourself that the best option would be to try your luck. Sure, if it's a monster, opening the door will cost you your life, but at this point, do you really have much of a life left to lose? On the other hand, if she really is as she says, then this could be a chance at an escape. A chance to finally be free. And, at this point, you'll take your chances.
|1>[(link: "> Give Me A Sec...")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Alright alright, just, let me get the door open. Give me a second.]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh thank you!! Thank you so much!! I'm really glad you're willing to hear me out!!]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Open the Door")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">You haven't heard enthusiasm like that in much longer than you were willing to admit. As you fumbled with the locks that you hadn't touched in months, you can hear the woman shifting on the other side of the door. From what you can tell, it sounds like a real person, but even then you can't believe it.
Finally managing to open the door, you swing it open and are immediately blinded by the light of the sun, seemingly amplified by the grayness of the mist. You quickly move to the side and usher in your guest, slamming the door shut and taking a deep breath of air once you hear her shuffle past the door.</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Heh...")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">As your eyes readjust to the darkness of your house, you look over at the woman and almost laugh. She's covered from head to toe by what looks like a bunch of stitched-together windbreakers. To make the outfit more hilarious, she's wearing a diving mask connected to an oxygen tank, an outfit so makeshift and ridiculous that you couldn't help but laugh.
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Laugh all you want, but a suit like this is what will keep you alive out there.]
And so, you regain your composure, looking over to the woman as you wipe the tears from your eyes.</span>
]{
}|7)[
[[//> Start Asking Questions//|The Argument]]]You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[No, I can't. I can't let you in, sorry. It's just too dangerous, what with me not knowing who you are to the probability of the mist coming in, there's just too much at risk. I'm sorry.]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[What? No it's fine, most won't flood the place right away, it's actually pretty slow! Believe me, I was just like you, I was also afr-]
|1>[(link: "> Cut Her Off")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[You have no idea what I'm like! Okay? So just leave, please. I don't want to go through this shit anymore, so just go save someone else's if you want to save someone so badly. Just... just leave me alone...]
As you step away from the front door, you hear your visitor calling out to you, begging you to reconsider and let her in, but you hear none of it. Or, rather, you willingly ignore it, moving as far into the house as you can, anywhere to get away from the presence outside of your home. You walk into your room and stop, your decision to turn her away suddenly hitting you and realizing one thing: that was your chance. A chance to escape had suddenly arrived at your front door, and you turned it away, too scared and skeptical to accept it.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Too Much")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">You drop down to your knees, overwhelmed by your realization, as every single thought imaginable floods your mind. From your near future, to an alternate dimension where you said yes, to what your visitor may do next, to what you are going to eat for dinner. You think about anything and everything, unable to keep the flood of thoughts from overwhelming your mind.
Yet, by some stroke of luck, one singular thought rings in your ears and seems to wash all your other thoughts away. One, single thought trumps the rest of them:</span>
]{
}|5)[
[[//What If?//|Self Reflection]]]You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[So, is that suit really the only thing we need to go out into the forsaken mist?]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Yup!! As simple and stupid as it looks, sewing together a bunch of windbreaker material and throwing on a diving mask will get the job done!!]
|5>[(link: "> Ask More")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]]{
}|6)[<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[And you said there was some kind of community or colony type of thing now? Like, there's a bunch of other survivors all living together?]</span>
]{
}|7)[
(link: "> Response")[(show:?8)(show:?9)(hide:?7)]
]{
}|8)[
<span class="pulse-in">Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Yes!! A few people realized they could make these suits and survive out in the mist a few weeks ago, and we've been slowly expanding and bringing in more survivors within the hour now!! It's really crazy, I know, but bel-]</span>
]{
}|9)[
(link: "> But...")[(show:?10)(show:?11)(hide:?9)]
]{
}|10)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[What about those oxygen tanks? I'm sure there aren't unlimited tanks of oxygen. So, what are you going to do when they run out? Huh? Pick people off and leave them to die in the mist?]</span>
]{
}|11)[
(link: "> Explanation")[(show:?12)(show:?13)(hide:?11)]
]{
}|12)[
<span class="pulse-in">Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Nonono, of course not!! I'm sure even you have wondered how you're still able to breathe in your home. It's something in the filters that's keeping the mist from coming in, so we've been looking into what exactly filters out the mist. In the meantime, we've been refilling all of our empty tanks inside of our homes and any building that can filter out the mist. Trust me, we know what we're doing!!]</span>
]{
}|13)[
(link: "> More Questions")[(show:?14)(show:?15)(hide:?13)]
]{
}|14)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Oh really? Then what happens when the mist eventually burns through those filters, huh? Eventually, the filters will give out and with no one making these filters, how are you all going to survive then? You won't!!]</span>
]{
}|15)[
(link: "> Response")[(show:?16)(show:?17)(hide:?15)]
]{
}|16)[
<span class="pulse-in">Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Well we haven't thought that far yet!! How do you expect us to when we just found a way to leave our homes and interact with each other? We found a temporary solution, I'm sure we'll find a more permanent one, okay!?]</span>
You grow silent at her sudden, desperate outburst. You might have taken it too far, realizing far too late into your interrogation that she too has been affected by the mist. She's probably just barely holding onto the small piece of hope that this temporary solution has given her. Even then, the chance of her words being true felt so slim to you. Even with her persistence and emotional reaction to your own words, you just couldn't bring yourself to believe her completely. Sure, the chance existed, and there could be a community of survivors out there, but were you willing to take that chance?
]{
}|17)[
(link: "> Oh...")[(show:?18)(show:?19)(hide:?17)]
]{
}|18)[
<span class="pulse-in">Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Well, you can choose to not believe me here, but it's always better if you see it for yourself. All I want to do is help you, save you. Will you come with me? Will you let me save you?]</span>
]{
}|19)[
[[//Take The Risk//|Agree With Them]](click:"Take The Risk")[(set:$friend to true)(set:$mental to 5)]
[[//Refuse Her Help//|Deny Them]](click:"Refuse Her Help")[(set:$friend to false)(set:$mental to 2)]]What if you had gone with the visitor? What if you had been able to work up the courage and gone with the mysterious guest that promised a new land? What then? Would you be happier? Would you have actually been able to escape? Would you have died instead, immediately falling victim to the mist outside? All you could do is wonder, for you had completely lost your chance now. You had pushed away your only chance at an escape, and had no chance of finding another one as easily as that.
Or did you? You realize that just before you had pushed your guest away, you had managed to get a peek at what they were wearing through the peephole. They seemed to be covered in some kind of ridiculous, makeshift hazmat suit and, with that, seemed to be completely protected from the murderous mist outside. She had also been wearing what looked like a scuba mask, and from what you could remember, your mom had thrown that into your boxes before you moved out.
|1>[(link: "> What To Do...")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Putting all your pieces together, you realize you have two options now: you could either try your hand at putting together a hazmat suit, like the one that your mysterious visitor was wearing, or you could give up and stick with your original decision to stay in what now felt like the safety of your own home. The choice was, once again, yours. You could either take the risk and take your first steps into the open, dangerous world, or stay in and forever abandon the world as you once knew it.
''What do you do?''</span>
]{
}|3)[
[[//Take The Risk//|Bravery]](click:"Take The Risk")[(set: $mental to 5)]
[[//Safety in Your Home//|Loss]] ]{
(set: $mental to 5)
(set: $friend to false)
(set: $tasks to 0)
}You throw open your front door and, to your surprise, are met with a thick, almost overwhelming mist, hiding even the stairs that should have been to your left from view. You slowly shut the door, confused at the sudden shift in weather than what was previously predicted the night before. You check your phone and see, once again, that the day was supposed to be sunny and warm, not cold and misty.
Passing it off as a simple, meteorological mistake, you reopen your door and step outside, (text-style:"shudder")[''slamming''] the door behind you.
But as you take another step, you find yourself unable to comfortably take another breath. In fact, you feel the muscles in your throat contract, refusing to allow in any more air. More so than that, your exposed arms, neck, and face all begin to tingle, just before they seem to burst into flames. You attempt to scream in pain, but are unable to push out the nonexistent air in your lungs. Vision red with the pain overwhelming your body and mind, you scramble for your front door and manage to get it open.
[[//> Run In and Slam the Door Shut//|Panic]]
Slamming the door shut behind you, you take a few seconds to regain your breath, sitting at the foot of the door and gasping for air. Confused and terrified, millions of thoughts cross your mind all at once...
(text-colour:#ffa8a8)[//What the hell just happened?
Why was I in pain?
Why couldn't I breathe?
Why is there a mist outside?
What is this mist?
How am I going to make it to work? Is anyone going into work today?
How am I going to eat? I need groceries!
What about my friends!? What about making friends!?
Whatabouthowaboutwhatifwhenhowwhywherewhatwhenbutthenifwhy...//]
Suddenly, the TV flashes on and you hear the terrifying melody of a national emergency.
[[//> Check the report//|Radio Noise]]You pick yourself up, dragging step after sluggish step behind you as you make your way to the TV. As you turn the corner, the periodic siren of an emergency alert pierces your ears. You look at the screen and see the ill-fated, text-covered black screen. Not a news story. Not a piece of gossip. Not a weather report. No, an emergency alert:
|1>[(link: "> Listen")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:yellow)[EMERGENCY ALERT!!!
TO THOSE IN THE AREAS OF (text-colour:red)[REDACTED, REDACTED, REDACTED]:
YOU ARE ALERTED TO REMAIN INDOORS, CLOSING ANY DOOR, WINDOW, OR OPENING TO THE OUTDOORS!!! A TOXIC MIST HAS BEFALLEN THE AREA AND ANY CAUGHT IN ITS MIDST FOR LONGER THAN A MINUTE WILL PERISH!!!
THIS MESSAGE WILL NOW REPEAT...
EMERGENCY ALERT!!! TO THOSE IN THE AREAS O-]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Stop Listening")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">As the monotone, automated voice repeats the message, you fall to your knees, completely and totally overwhelmed. Thoughts, fears, and worries race your mind, so many overlapping that not a single one makes sense or comes to fruition.
You worry about your friends. You worry about your family. You worry about your job, your coworkers, their families, everyone caught in the mist, anyone caught in the mist, everyone locked in their homes, everyone locked from their homes, the animals the trees the world the -</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Get Yourself Together")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">You worry about anything and everything. Trapped in the confines of your own home, all you have left to do is worry. Yet, by some sick stroke of luck, you realize one thing:
(text-colour:#ff6b6b)[You wanted a new chapter in your life. Is ''this'' it?]</span>
[[A New Day...|Denial]]]You sigh at the thought of having to brush your teeth everyday. Considering the fact that you'll pretty much never get to see anyone or look anyone in the face for a long, ''long'' time, what even is the point of keeping your teeth and breath clean. But, as you exhale, you wince in disgust at your own sloppiness and force yourself to get up and brush your teeth.
|1>[(link:"Head To The Bathroom")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Walking into the bathroom, you look at your toothbrush in ''(text-colour:red)[dismay]''. The first time you took a look at that same toothbrush, you had looked at it with love and reminiscence of your old life, but those memories quickly grew sour and toxic as the days passed. Now, you look at the toothbrush and remember all the arguments, the disagreements, the fights, the disbelief, the crying, the hardships, and the negativity of your old life. You scowl at your toothbrush and throw it in the trash, swearing under your breath as you reach for a spare from your medicine cabinet.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"Brush Your Teeth")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">As you brush your teeth, you reflect a bit on the last few weeks. You think back and wonder about the future at the same time. The same monotonous tasks, day after monotonous day. (text-colour:#ffe066)[//Brush, clean, eat, watch, brush, clean, eat, watch.//] No spice. No difference. Nothing else to do. You realize now that the appearance of the mist has caused you nothing but despair over these last few weeks and curse it. You (text-colour:red)[curse] it for what it has done to you, to your family, to your friends, to the world.</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link:"Think Some More")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">As you contemplate all the anger held within you, you instinctively start brushing harder, and harder, and harder. You brush so hard that, before you realize it, you wind up cutting your gum on the corner of the toothbrush head, swearing as you drop the toothbrush into the sink. Angrily muttering at your own stupidity, you rinse your mouth, wash the toothbrush off, and put everything away before you stomp out into the living room.</span>
]{
}|7)[
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Anger]]]Scanning the room, you scowl and curse at your own laziness. You've let dishes and dust pile up all over the house over the course of a few hours. Even with a daily clean, the house looks no cleaner than when you had first moved in. In fact, with each and every day that passes, the house feels more and more dirty. You've started to question yourself in both your cleaning capabilities and your capabilities of being an absolute sloth.
|1>[(link:"Clean Up")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Fed up with your own self-hate, you pick up a broom and sweep the house, making sure to dust and clean even the hidden corners of your house. As you clean and organize the house, you start thinking about how bullshit the lease even was for the place. You think back to the day and remember the hesitancy before signing off on this place. Between the pushy landlord and your easily-pushed personality, you ended up signing the very first apartment that caught your eye, which just so happened to be the most expensive apartment in the area for what you got.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"Uh-Oh...")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#ff8787)[''Shit!!''!]
You yell and curse as you unknowingly smash your foot against the corner of your coffee table. Dropping down to hold and examine your injured foot, you continue to swear and mutter under your breath, cursing anything and everything that proves to be even a minor inconvenience in your life. Standing back up, you throw the broom across the room and decide to quit cleaning up for the day.</span>
]{
}|5)[
<span class="pulse-in">You head back into the living room for the tasks that you have to eventually bring yourself to complete.</span>
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Anger]]]Scanning the room, you realize you've left too many plates on the table and blankets on the couch. Wrappers are thrown across the floor and various drawings and half-read books litter the carpet. You laugh a little and find yourself thankling the time that the mist indirectly provides you with to clean up messes like these. With another chuckle and a slight shake of your head, you throw on some gloves and get to cleaning around the house.
|1>[(link:"> Clean Up")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">As you pick up the various items scattered around your house, you find yourself rethinking your initial reactions to the mist. In the past, you had cursed it and sworn against it, blaming it for all of your problems and all of the world's problems, too. But, as you slowly and relaxingly clean up around the house, you realize that the mist might not be so bad as it had first seemed. Sure, you haven't been able to contact any of your loved ones or try your shot at making new friends (and potentially lovers), but that also means that you haven't had to have any awkward or undesirable conversations with people since. No arguments, no fights, no rejections, no regrets. I mean, if you were never given the chance to try your hand at something, then you never had the possibility of living with regret at failing. No, for the time being, you're safe and secure in your own company.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link:"> Finish Up")[(show:?4)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
Happily humming a miscellaneous tune you made up in your head, you throw the last dish into the drying rack and, satisfied with your effort and your thoughts on the current state of things, decide to cross cleaning off the list and look to other tasks to fill up the hours of the day.
(set: $tasks to it + 1)[[//> Back//|Bargaining]]]No way. No way in hell would you ever choose to risk yourself for a //maybe//. Sure, there was always the chance of a suit like that working and giving you a chance, but that chance felt so slim, you refused to force that pain you felt on the first day back onto yourself again. You had spent so long inside your own cell, what harm was there in spending a little bit more time in there.
|1>[(link: "> Go Back and Rest")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Moving back towards the couch, you reach for the blanket you had on before and throw it over yourself again, eager to get back to sleep. A sleep that you didn't have to return from. A sleep that would end when the mist suddenly disappeared. A sleep that would place you right back at the beginning of everything, save for the mist appearing out of nowhere.
As you lay there, you find yourself doing something you haven't done since you blew out the candles at your 10th birthday: you wish. You wish for a do-over. You wish for a restart button. You wish for a chance to skip over the despair that you have had to endure for the last few months, years, decades, or however long you have been forced to stay inside your containment cell. You wish for a second life once again. A third one, if your life in the mist already counted as a second life. You wish for all of it to be over, yet for it to never end at the same time.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Is It Over?")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">You're done, you've given up and given in to the mist. It's taken total control of your life and you lay there, unable to do anything about it.
You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[You've won, you fucking won. Now leave me alone. Let me be and let me sleep goddammit.]
And with those words, you drift off into sleep...</span>
]{
}|5)[
[[//Another Chance?//|Years Pass]]]Seeing another living, breathing human had breathed a bit of hope into your hopeless heart. For once in a long, ''long'' time, you felt as if there //was// a second life out there somewhere. And you refused to let that chance go. So, you gathered up all the courage you had left and promised yourself and the mysterious visitor that you had let down to push forward and seek that community.
|1>[(link: "> Prepare")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Running around the house, you grabbed whatever protective piece of clothing you could and threw it all onto the couch. You ripped open boxes in search of the scuba mask you had sworn your mom had packed for you, finding it and a spare oxygen tank from what seemed like the previous owners. Throwing everything together, you did your best to put together something that at the very least could imitate what you saw your visitor wearing, leaving it ready on the couch and heading into your kitchen to pack up any remaining snacks and food that you might have left. Filling up a few water bottles, you throw everything into a duffel bag and leave it by the door.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Time Passes...")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">As you glance at your windows, you realize that the sun has long since set, leaving your house in the dark. Turning on a few lights, you make your way to the bathroom and wash up, making sure to take an extra long time both in washing yourself and in brushing your teeth. As you dry your house and change into a pair of clean clothes, you sit down on your bed and think about the journey that is to come. You might have let down the person that came by to save you, but you now promise yourself to find her and make it up to her. You will make it to civilization and leave this life of despair behind.
With that assurance to yourself, you climb into bed and get yourself to sleep, eager to rest up before your big day tomorrow.</span>
]{
}|5)[
[[//The Next Day//|Preparation]]]You wake up in a cold sweat, immediately realizing what you have set yourself out to do today. You jump out of bed and change into some more comfortable clothes for the road, making sure to toss in as many clean clothes as you can into your duffel bag. Closing all of your bags up and placing them by the door again, you reach for the meal that you had set up for yourself on the kitchen counter and devour it, too restless and excited to fully enjoy your last meal before your big escape.
|1>[(link: "> Clean Up")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">As you finish washing all your plates and getting yourself mentally prepared, you walk over to the couch and pick up the suit you had made the night before.
You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[I sure hope you work, or else I'm dead.]
You say out loud to the suit. Laughing at your sudden outburst, you suit up and put on the mask, making sure that the tank properly dispenses oxygen into the mask. Satisfied with the suit's functions, you tighten any loose openings and walk over to your door.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> You Stop...")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">But, you hesitate. You take one last look around your home, your containment cell, and wish all of your few memories goodbye. Looking back at the door, you realize everything you had gone through in order to get to this very moment, and smile as you open the door and take in a deep breath.
No pain, no choking, nothing. So far so good.</span>
]{
}|5)[
[[//> Take the first step outside//|Escape]] ]<h2>Day 756</h2><hr>
A scouting group is moving about the city, checking each and every house and apartment in hopes of finding resources or more survivors to bring back to their settlement, a small community that slowly grew into the size of a small town. They all seem to be wearing makeshift hazmat suits and scuba gear, moving carefully through the mist so as to not stumble or trip on an unseen obstacle due to the mist's horrid thickness.
Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Hey Jack!! There's an apartment complex over here!! It looks familiar, and all the doors are op- oh wait! There's a door at the top that's still closed!! You think there's someone up there?]
Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Hell, it's better to check than leave them to die. I'll head up there myself, everyone else check the other rooms and shout if you need help].
Team: (text-colour:#a9e34b)[Roger!]
|1>[(link: "> Hold On...")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Oh, Lily, wait. What was that about this looking familiar?]
Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh don't worry about that. This just looks like a place I came around to visit when I first moved into the settlement, but I've seen so many apartment complexes like these that it could just look similar to those. It's probably nothing, sir.]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Wait, Lily!")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Wait, Lily! What about that one place you saw a long time ago? The stubborn ass who wouldn't even let you in?]
Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh, that? Sorry, that was so long ago, I don't remember the place all too well. Even then, I'd rather not think about that. Even today, I hope that person was saved in what way or another.]</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Okay...")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Alright then. I'll head up to that closed apartment, you check out the office and the ground floor. Call out if you need any help, alright?]
Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Sir yes sir!!]
And with that, Lily ran off to the office and, taking one last look to ensure Lily's safety, Jack turned towards the staircase and made his way to the top-floor apartment.</span>
]{
}|7)[
[[//Familiar Place?//|Mess]]]You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Well, it's not like I have anything to lose anyways. Sure, I'll bite- Uh, what's your name again?]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh I'm so glad you're willing to hear me out!! I promise you, you won't regret it!! And my name's Lily, nice to meet you!!]
She extends her hand out to you, and you slowly, warily extend your own out to meet hers.
|1>[(link: "> Shake Her Hand")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Yeah, it's really nice to meet you Lily. I'm -]
And before you can finish, she suddenly pulls you into a hug and gives off a half-cry, half-laugh. Once again, you realize that she must be low on hope as well, and smile a bit as you hug her back, glad to finally feel the company of another person after so long.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Poor Girl")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">Pulling away from you, Lily starts to talk off about the community, excitedly pacing around your living room. You crack a smile and sit down, staring up at her as you attentively listen to her stories.
For the rest of the day, you ask her about the community and listen as she tells story after story of her days since joining the community. After a while, you start to clean up around the house and she follows suit, helping you clean up while asking you about your own experiences and your own stories while in the mist. You talk for what feels like hours, and then continue to talk and joke even more.
</span>]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Time Passes...")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">Once nighttime came rolling in, you realized Lily must have been exhausted from her journey and from talking and storytelling all day, so you set her up in your room and offered to let her stay the night there, offering to take the couch. She agrees and assures you that the two of you will leave first thing in the morning, not a second too late. Shooting her a smile, you toss her a pillow and head back into the living room to get some sleep before your big day tomorrow.</span>
]{
}|7)[
[[//> Get Some Sleep//|Restless Night]]]You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[No. No I can't.]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[What? Why not? I'm giving you a chance to get away from this, this, this prison cell!! Why can't you go?]
|1>[(link: "> Answer")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[I just can't. I can't bring myself to do it. It's far too much of a risk and, well, I'm fine here. I'll be fine. I'll do just fine.]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[What about food? What about people? Friends? Family? Are you really going to let that all slip out of your grasp just because you can't bring yourself to do it? I'm offering you a second chance, so why-]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Stop It...")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[BECAUSE I CAN'T OKAY!? THAT'S ALL. I just can't. This place, this city, this whole thing was supposed to be me my second chance, and I already fucked that up. I don't need a third chance, if what you say is even true.]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[You still can't believe me!? Is that what this is?]</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Explain...")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[No, well, not exactly. It's just- whatever. No, my final answer is no. Listen, I just don't want to talk about it anymore. From what it seems, you came from somewhere pretty far away, and it's already getting dark. So here, you can stay the night in the room, I'll take the couch. You can stay here as long as you like, I just can't go with you. Understand?]
Guest: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[But... Well... Uh... fine. Don't say I didn't try to help you. I'm going to bed.]</span>
]{
}|7)[
And with that, she stormed off into your room and slammed the door closed. Due to the size of the house, you could hear her soft sobs through the closed door, but you couldn't bring yourself to go check in on her. It was your hesitance and fear that pushed her to that point, so there was nothing you could even do.
[[//Just Try to Get Some Rest//|Night Of]]]The lights off, the house silent once more, you lay there staring at your ceiling. You know you have to close your eyes and get to sleep soon in order to be prepared for the next day, but your excitement and fear keep you from doing so. You wonder about the new dangers in the world now that the mist has covered the Earth. You wonder if there really are monsters out there like you had originally assumed, or if there had been people like Lily, walking around the street and living an almost normal life this whole time.
Just before your fears can rise to the surface, you wonder about the community and the people there. You've heard countless stories about them from Lily, but you can't help yourself from wondering about their looks, their personalities, what they do, how they function, and every little piece about them. You hadn't seen anyone else in what felt like forever, so the thought of immediately meeting an entire community all at once filled you with both fear and excitement.
More so than anything else, you simply couldn't wait to escape the prison cell that your home had become. Knowing that in just a matter of hours, you would be able to finally escape your containment filled you with excitement and another emotion you hadn't felt in a long, ''long'' time: (text-colour:#ffd43b)[Hope]. You now realize, you haven't had hope in a long time. And you were overcome with joy at the fact that you had it once again.
With that, you smiled to yourself, turned over into a more comfortable position, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
[[//Nite Nite//|Escape]] Turning around and scoffing at your disagreement with your guest, you head over to your couch and lay down, grabbing your blanket from before and covering up before laying down with your thoughts. You think about the possibilities of a community of people like here. Sure, it could exist. I mean, she had to come in from somewhere, right? But, without knowing for sure, you just couldn't bring yourself to take that risk.
Thinking about your reasoning, you realize that you had not only lied to your guest, but you had even lied to yourself. It wasn't that you couldn't bring yourself to take that risk, or even that you believed there to be any risk at all. Rather, you were just so used to being holed up in your house, alone, that the idea of breaking out of that norm scared you. You were afraid of giving up the thing that you had slowly grown accustomed to, even if that thing had caused you so much despair before. It was as if you couldn't bring yourself to leave a toxic relationship for fear of having nothing left afterwards.
And so you laid there, unable to sleep with your own thoughts attacking you, time after time again. You judged your options over and over again, weighing the pros and cons and taking into account all of your guest's reactions to your dismissal. You wondered about her, her priorities, her determination, her disappointment. Her disappointment in her failure, her disappointment in your refusal, her disappointment in you.
You turn over, feeling a (text-colour:#4dabf7)[tear] slip past your defenses and down your cheek, and force yourself to go to sleep.
[[//Bad Night//|Morning After]]The next morning, you wake up in a cold sweat, a feeling you haven't experienced in a long time. You shoot up and immediately jump off the couch, immediately remembering all of the previous night's events. Though you had refused to go along with your mysterious guest's offer to go with her to a group of survivors, you couldn't imagine letting go of the calmness you felt with the presence of another person after so long ago.
Running and sliding across the messy floors of your house, you beeline to the door of your room and hesitate, your hand shakily hovering over the handle. Though you wanted to check in on your guest in the hopes that she would still be there, you remembered your words to her the night before. You remembered her reaction, and paused before the door, unable to bring yourself to even open the door to your own room. You thought about what you would say to her if she was, what she would say to you if she had chosen to wait for you.
|1>[(link: "> Open The Door")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Through a sudden burst of bravery, you decide to throw open the door, fully prepared for the difficult conversation that was bound to come either way.
Or so you thought. As the door swings open and you adjust to the brightness of the room, you find your worst case scenario. She's gone. All of the blankets, covers, and pillows are all folded neatly and placed gently on the bed. All of your dirty clothes are all thrown into your hamper. All of your wrappers and trash is all thrown into the small trash can under your desk. All that remains is a neatly folded letter sitting on the bed, a pen holding it closed.</span>
]{
}|3)[
[[//> Read The Letter//|Disappearance]]]As you pick up the letter, you realize that the handwriting is neat and professional, yet clearly rushed with mistakes crossed out throughout. The more you stare at the page, you see spots stained across the text, clear signs of tears falling on the page.
Taking sharp, extended breath in, you get to reading the page:
|1>[(link: "> Read the Letter")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">(text-colour:#3bc9db)[Hey, uh, I woke up and had to leave before you got up, so I decided to leave you a bit of a message instead of just leaving unannounced. You're a kind person, letting me at least stay for the night even after our heated discussion the night before, so I'd like to thank you for that. About that discussion, uh, listen. I know you already said no to it, but I wanted to let you know that, should you ever change your mind, we'll still be out here. I know you might not believe it now, but trust me, we'll all pull through somehow. So, in the event that you decide to believe me and decide to find us, here's the directions back to the community. So, from where you live, you have to-]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Stop It")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">Before even reading into the directions to the colony, you see darker spots appear around the page. Without even realizing it, you've started crying at her disappearance. The only person you had seen in what felt like years, and you had pushed her out just as easily as pushing off a bug. Such warmth and comfort, and you had cast it aside for fear of what consequences could come around, never realizing the consequence of pushing her away in the first place.
Disgusted and disappointed with yourself, you crumple up her letter and throw it in the trash. Better yet, you get up and walk over to the trash can, fishing out the letter and taking it into the kitchen, where you proceed to light a burner and burn the letter. Leaving the burner on, you break into an uncontrollable sob and drop down to the floor.</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Is This It?")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">This is it. You had a chance to escape your containment, but your fear of the risks and your misguided security in your home kept you from doing so. You had hoped your chapter would end and begin on a brighter note, but it felt as if this chapter of your life would go on forever, or at the very least until the end of your story. Now, with no letter, no companion, and no hope, you cry. All you have left to do is cry, and so you do. You cry for what seems like forever, and mark the end of your chapter.</span>
]{
}|7)[
[[//Lonely Ending//|The End]](click:"Lonely Ending")[(set: $friend to false)]]As he approaches the door, Jack carefully scans the windows and the front door of the closed apartment. Blinds closed, door rusted, floor completely covered in leaves. It seems to him that no one has left or entered this apartment in what looked like a millennia. Reaching the door, Jack extended his hand out and knocked on the door.
Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Hello? Is there anyone there? I'm Jack! I'm with a group of scouts, just looking for anyone left behind in the mist! We've got ways of walking around and surviving in this mist, so we're looking to help anyone in need. Is anyone there?]
...
No answer.
Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Hello? If no one answers, I'm just gonna take it as no one lives here and break open this door! Last chance!]
...
Once again, no answer. And so, Jack pushed up against the door, feeling it budge with each push. With one, final push, he heard the boards creak and snap, and pushed straight into the empty apartment. Or so he thought...
[[//Hello?//|Given Up]]As he burst through the door, Jack winced at the sudden darkness of the room. With all of the blinds closed, the whole house felt like nothing short of a cave, and smelled just like it. Looking around the room, Jack feared that some scavengers had already made it to this place and scoured it for any useful component. Wrappers and clothes scattered all over the floors, piles of lint and dust lining the corners of the room, a mountain of dishes both in the sink and on the kitchen table. The house looked both untouched and destroyed at the same time.
|1>[(link: "> Step Inside")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">Taking a few more steps inside, Jack ran straight into the bathroom, eager to find any useful supplies and quickly leave what felt like a scavenger den. To his surprise, the bathroom was full of untouched, unexpired bottles of toothpaste, medication, and more. Upon looking in the cabinets, he found cleaning supplies, gloves, shampoo, conditioner, soap, beauty products, and more untouched essentials. Everything felt too good to be true for how easy it was to push through the door.</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Bedroom")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">Heading into the bedroom, Jack immediately noticed a huge pile of clothing that, with a deep clean and an even deeper disinfecting, could clothe most of the young adults in the community back home. Throwing as many of the clothes into his bag, Jack focused his attention on the nightstand, absolutely covered in chargers and electronics that, even if broken, could still be broken down for usable parts. The more he explored, the more he found.</span>
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Show Everyone")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">Eager to bring everyone into the jackpot that he had found, Jack ran into the living room and towards the front door.
Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Hey guys! This place is lo-]</span>
]{
}|7)[
(link: "> Something's There...")[(show:?8)(show:?9)(hide:?7)]
]{
}|8)[
<span class="pulse-in">And that's when he saw it. Laid across the couch in the living room. A corpse, no more than a month or two old. Some bone could be seen, but before he could closely examine it, he turned away. Shocked at the sudden view of death, he took a few seconds to regain his composure before turning back around and walking towards the corpse.
Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Poor bastard, you never made it out, huh? Sorry we didn't make it to you on ti- Wait, Lily... No, it's better I don't tell her. Who knows how she'd react. Dammit, what a stubborn ass. Rest in peace, I guess.]</span>
]{
}|9)[
(link: "> Cover It")[(show:?10)(show:?11)(hide:?9)]
]{
}|10)[
<span class="pulse-in">And with that, he covered the corpse with a nearby blanket, vowing to give it a proper burial whenever he got the chance to come back alone, or without Lily, at least. The last thing he wanted was for her to break down after seeing the only person she ever failed to save. The poor girl had already gone through too much.</span>
]{
}|11)[
(link: "> Pack Up and Leave")[(show:?12)(show:?13)(hide:?11)]
]{
}|12)[
<span class="pulse-in">Packing up all of the essentials he could scrounge up, Jack took one last look at the blanket he had thrown over the corpse before turning back and leaving out the door.
Jack: (text-colour:#ffa94d)[Guess not everyone got a second chance, poor soul.]
With one last glance at the doorway, he turned back towards his team and vowed to save every last person out there. No one would lose that second chance at life anymore, no one should lose their second chance. Everyone deserves to live. Everyone deserves their escape, at least once.</span>
]{
}|13)[
[[//Bad Ending//|The End]]](if:$friend is true)[Lily woke you up pretty early in the morning, just past 6 from what you could see on your phone. You both had been gathering any necessities and essentials that you could find around the house, and had packed anything and everything useful into a duffel bag you found under your bed. As you both scoured the house, Lily ran up to you and handed you a breakfast bar, a little something to keep your energy up throughout the day, she said. And so, for a few minutes, the two of you took a break to eat your breakfasts and look around at the not-so messy apartment you were about to leave.
As you both wrapped up and closed up all the bags you planned to take, Lily called you over to try on an extra suit and mask that she had brought over just in case she came into a situation just like this. That or her own suit ripped for whatever reason, she mentioned. Much to both of your surprise, the makeshift suit fit perfectly and, to your additional surprise, was ridiculously easy and comfortable to move in. All suited up and ready, the two of you walked up to the door, pausing for a second. Having already walked out into the mist, Lily turned back to you and questioned your brief pause.
|0>[(link:"> Continue")[(show:?1)(show:?2)(hide:?0)]]{
}|1)[<span class="pulse-in">Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Hey, what's wrong? Having second thoughts?]</span>
]{
}|2)[
(link:"> Respond")[(show:?3)(show:?4)(hide:?2)]
]{
}|3)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Hah, no, never. Just crazy to think I'm finally able to go outside.</span>]
]{
}|4)[
(link:"> Continue")[(show:?5)(show:?6)(hide:?4)]
]{
}|5)[
<span class="pulse-in">Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Oh I see, haha. Well, I don't know about you, but I think the outside world is much prettier when you're, well, outside! So hurry it up, we've still got a ways to go before we get back to everyone else!]</span>
And with that statement, you look down and laugh a little bit, still in disbelief at what you are about to do, and take a step outside.]{
}|6)[
[[//The Good Ending//|Realization]]]]
(else:)[You step outside, blinded by the sudden increase in brightness and the immediate scent-overload. All the senses that had gone to waste in the last few months locked in your own home were suddenly overwhelmed with the outside world. Much to your surprise, it seemed as if all nature and wildlife had not only continued as per usual, but were even thriving in the midst of the mist. Birds chirping, flowers blooming, squirrels fighting, you heard it all. And you were pleased by it all.
|0>[(link:"> Take Another Step")[(show:?1)(show:?2)(hide:?0)]]{
}|1)[
<span class="pulse-in">Taking another step outside, you realized the position you had just put yourself in. You had cast away the only beacon of light towards the nearest civilization that you had, putting yourself in the middle of now-unknown territory. You had no idea where to start nor where to head too, but for some reason, none of that mattered. You remembered the promise you had made to both yourself and your mysterious visitor, and pushed forward. You would overcome this hell. You would overcome this mist. And that you did.</span>
]{
}|2)[
(link:"> Push On")[(show:?3)(show:?4)(hide:?2)]
]{
}|3)[
<span class="pulse-in">Pushing forward, you sign off on the last chapter of your story and begin a new one. Finally, you begin that new chapter of life that you had wished for for so long, pushing forwards and writing your own story, refusing to let the mist write it for you. You might face the future alone and you might encounter even more hardships than before, but now, you chose your path. You chose the steps to take and the hardships to overcome. For once, you were back in control, and you refused to give that up. Push forward, my friend. Push forward and live.</span>]{
}|4)[
[[//The Good Ending//|The End]]]]<h2>Day 756</h2><hr>
It's been years since the mist first appeared, and now it seems like it never did. Sure, it's still eternally foggy, but life continues on as if nothing had ever happened. The community you had first joined had grown to the size of almost a small town, and things had continued just like before, but with what felt like a little bit more leniency and, with that, a little bit more happiness.
You had been assigned to the group analyzing the filters in home air filtration systems and, with the help of a few scientists and some other interested souls, had found exactly what filtered out the mist and had begun manufacturing better, more replaceable suits and masks. Not just that, some people were even pitching the idea of making huge filtration devices to filter out the mist in certain zones and keep those in these zones safe and healthy.
Heading back from your job, you wave at the various faces you have grown to recognize and interact with, when you hear a familiar voice in the distance.
Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[HEYYYYYYYY!!! COME OVER HEREEEE!!!]
|1>[(link: "> Oh, it's Lily!")[(show:?2)(show:?3)(hide:?1)]]{
}|2)[<span class="pulse-in">And so you did, smiling all the way. As you approached her little shop, you looked down at the various pastries and delicacies that she had made for the day. Since the day she had come to save you, she had slowly marked herself as the community baker, capable of making everyone happy with just a few slices of bread or a muffin or two.
You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Hmm, I'll take two of those, and the rest of your croissants if you still have any.]</span>
]{
}|3)[
(link: "> Continue")[(show:?4)(show:?5)(hide:?3)]
]{
}|4)[
<span class="pulse-in">Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[I do still have croissants, but what did I tell you about trying to keep the croissants to ourselves, hm? I know you want to buy them because they're my favorite, but I could always bake more at home if we want some. Leave some for the people!</span>]
]{
}|5)[
(link: "> Flirt")[(show:?6)(show:?7)(hide:?5)]
]{
}|6)[
<span class="pulse-in">You: (text-colour:#ff8787)[Aww, but the smile that a croissant puts on your face is priceless. Or well, however much the croissant is, but that's besides the point.]</span>
]{
}|7)[
(link: "> Continue")[(show:?8)(show:?9)(hide:?7)]
]{
}|8)[
<span class="pulse-in">Lily: (text-colour:#3bc9db)[Hah, oh stop it. Fine, I'll give you two, but make sure you actually save one for me this time. I'll head home in a bit, just a few more to sell and then I'll pack up and head back. Don't have too much fun without me!]
You laugh as you wave at her, heading back to your apartment. You had grown a liking to Lily from the first day you met her, and luckily she did as well. Everything really did seem like it was all coming together, and it's crazy to you that a single decision could have kept you from such a beautiful, second life. You remember your old dream of starting a new chapter in life and realize that you had, but now a new chapter has started. A much, ''much'' better chapter than that last one.</span>]{
}|9)[
[[//Live On//|The End]](click: "Live On")[(set: $mental to 5)]]Thanks for playing:
<h2>(text-colour:#c2255c)[(text-style:"bold","fidget")[ Containment for Derangement ]]</h2><hr>
You got the:
(if:$mental is 5 and $friend is true)[<h3>(text-colour:#f5c842)[Good Ending]</h3>Ending 1 of 4](else-if:$mental is 5 and $friend is false)[<h3>(text-colour:#868e96)[Determined Ending]</h3>Ending 2 of 4](else-if:$mental is 2)[<h3>Lonely Ending</h3>Ending 3 of 4](else:)[<h3>(text-colour:#fa5252)[Bad Ending]</h3>Ending 4 of 4]
Play Again(click:"Play Again")[(restart:)]
Credits(click:"Credits")[(go-to:"Credits")](text-style:"blur")[You take a look out your window and wow wow, to your surprise, the mist is still there. But you take a minute to look out the window and really //look// at the mist. It seems like a heavy fog, and as you watch it for a few minutes, you realize something:
(text-colour:#4dabf7)[//(text-style:"sway")[It's moving...]//]
You notice the corners of multiple buildings popping in and out of existence and realize that the mist is moving across the surface, not just sitting still. For a second, your heart leaps and you crack a smile with the possibility off the mist ending soon. possibly subsiding as it passes over you. Yet, just as quickly as you came to that realization, you realize that if that were true, then it should have passed over by now. If that was true, it should have been gone upon waking up.
Then again, if this is a dream, what even is the point of wondering about the logistics of this mist. There's no point in complaining, when all you have to do is finish the day and go back to bed. So you take a few more looks out the window, admire the despair-inducing beauty of the mist, and go back to what you were doing.]
[[//> Back//|Denial]] (text-style:"blur")[You take a step towards your window and scan the outside world, scowling at the land that you are forbidden from entering now. Staring out at the world, you see nothing more than what you saw yesterday, and that disgusts you. The gloomy, depressing grays of the mist only reflect your current mood and remind you of the nature of your existence now: nothing more than a lab rat locked in a cage, examined by the watchful eyes of this (text-colour:#f03e3e)[''abhorrent''] mist.
Taking one last look at the bane of your existence, you turn around and leave to find something better to do.]
[[//> Back//|Anger]] ...
Still mist. Nothing more. You could look closer and try to point things out, but why bother. In the end, the mist will end up hiding it anyway.
...
[[//> Back//|Depression]](text-style:"blur")[You look out the window, admiring the hidden beauty of the cold, gray mist. Sure, some may say that a fog or mist creates the most dull, depressing, almost eerie atmosphere of any meteorological phenomenon, but the more you look at it, the more you realize its subtle beauty. You've stared out into the mist so often, you've even managed to point out the individual droplets of mist in some parts. You notice the short, wispy strands as the wind carries the mist across your city, slipping over the tops and sides of buildings in your view.
As you look out into what feels like uncharted territory now, you think of all the responsibilities you would have had to bear had this mist not appeared from thin air, quite literally. Your job could have been stressful, your coworkers could have been judgemental and cold, your boss could have been a total ass, your social life could have been a trainwreck, and so many more issues could have occurred in just a few weeks in a life of normalcy. But now, you don't have to worry about any of that. You're living what feels like the best life and could probably write a book on isolation and its benefits at this point. Your life's great, your mind's great, everything's great.
What more could you ever ask for, right?]
[[//> Back//|Bargaining]]It's your first day of wark as a lab technician for a big name chemistry company! All those years spent studying in college, all those all-nighters spent cramming for exams, and all of those sleepless nights waiting for responses to your applications have all led up to this! You might be a bit drained, a bit overworked, and most definitely a bit fed up, but that's alright now. Even after spending the whole of last week painstakingly moving box after monotone box of old memories into your new studio apartment, which is apparently the cost of a whole manor anywhere else in the world, you couldn't be more thrilled to forget about those boxes of ancient history and take your first step into a new chapter in your life!
...
And that you will, just not exactly the chapter you were expecting.
Welcome to...
<h3>(text-colour:#c2255c)[(text-style:"bold","fidget")[ Containment for Derangement ]]</h3>
[[Begin|Starting the Day]]<h1>Credits</h1>
''(text-colour:#ffec99)[- Background: ]'' fdecomite, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/4905149381
''(text-colour:#ffec99)[- CSS Template: ]'' Daniel Talsky, GitHub, https://github.com/danieltalsky/twine-css-template
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Credits