Here

(Previously on Exit/Corners...)

I’ve come to the conclusion that Rae’s got issues.

Just a little while ago, he went absolutely ballistic and smashed his Gemini against the wall. Thing broke into a dozen little pieces.

He tried to play it off like it was nothing, but everyone was, understandably, a little concerned.

Beth put some pressure on him and tried to get him to reveal who was on the other end of his Gemini. Nobody knew who Rae’s Contact was, after all, and Beth thought that the fact that he was withholding their identity was suspicious. I was inclined to agree.

After some persuasion, Rae finally agreed to tell me and only me. If I heard something fishy, I’d report back to the others, but otherwise I’d have to agree to keep my mouth shut.

I thought this was kinda strange, but everyone seemed to be okay with it, so I didn’t fight it.

So then Rae told me about his Contact; an ex-girlfriend of his.

Her name is Tiana. The two of them were high school sweethearts. They ended up both going to Bellbridge University for computer science so they could stay together.

But at some point during their university career things took a turn for the worse. I’m not exactly sure what happened between them, but it culminated in Tiana stealing something from Rae - an algorithm he’d worked on known as RN.

She plagiarized his work and Rae didn’t get a lick of credit for what he’d been working on. There was a big fight. They broke up and Rae ended up dropping out.

And that was pretty much it. Rae’s just too embarrassed or prideful to bring it up with the others. I assured the remaining Contestants that there was nothing to worry about.

We almost died trying to complete the puzzle, but we didn’t, so that’s good, I guess.

Anyway, after the puzzle, I caught Sent in the middle of a lie. He was being all misogynistic when BAM - I reminded him that he told me that he wasn’t a man. I asked him what his or her deal was.

But instead of owning up to slip-up, he just spouted a crappy cop-out, called me “Kim”, and ran away.

And now all eyes are on me…

Liza: Isn’t Kim a girl’s name?

(Bar with Liza and Beth appears)

Ink: Gender-neutral, technically. It just happens to be much more popular for girls…

Beth: I see. Thank you for telling us, Kim. I appreciate the honesty.

Ink: Don’t mention it. Now if you’d do me the kindness of continuing to call me Ink, that’d be great.

Beth: Why? Everyone know your real name now; Sent probably knew it from the beginning. There’s no longer a need to hide behind it.

Ink: Ink is my real name.

Liza: I don’t follow. Is your name Ink, or is it Kim?

Ink: My name was Kim. I changed it a few years back and now it’s Ink.

Liza: You changed your name? How?

Ink: There’s a process. It was a huge pain in the ass, to tell you the truth. Moving on…

(Aether replaces Liza)

Aether: Why’d you change your name?

Ink: I didn’t like the old one and I wanted a fresh start. Can we just leave it at that?

Beth: You can’t simply discard your name just because you aren’t fond of it! Your parents blessed you with that name!

Ink: Yeah, well I’m not especially fond of them, either.

Listen, can we just drop this? This isn’t exactly something I’m itching to talk about right now.

Beth: Oh, Ink…

There’s power in a name, you know. What a shame you threw yours anyway.

Ink: Why do you even care? This has nothing to do with you!

Beth: I just can’t understand why you’d do such a thing. Your poor parents…

Ink: And you’ve never changed your name, Beth? When you married your husband, you kept your last name, right?

(Shakes)

Beth: That is completely different!

I adopted my husband’s name out of love for him; you threw away yours out of… what? Spite?

I’m proud to carry the last name Marche! It’s a name with history - with meaning! Can you really say the same in regards to your name? You named yourself after colouring fluid.

(Liza replaces Aether)

Liza: But it’s so edgy.

Ink: Shut up, Liza. Everyone wants to be someone else. You would too, given the chance.

Liza: I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m a Thatcher, after all. My name is actually worth something.

(Rae takes Beth’s place)

Rae: Thatcher…?

Rae, who had been quietly fiddling with the monitor, quickly cut back into their conversation.

Rae: Your name is Liza Thatcher?

Liza: That’s right - only child and the heiress to Thatcher Biometrics Limited.

Rae: Goddamn it. You’re Nolan Thatcher’s daughter.

Liza: The one and only. You’ve heard of him, I take it?

Rae: Why didn’t you mention this sooner?! This shit’s important!

Ink: You know her father?

Rae: I’m surprised neither you nor Aether do. He’s on the Bellbridge University Sponsorship Council. At least, he used to be.

Liza: He used to be a professor, way back before he started his company. I don’t think he’s so much as gone to the university in years, though.

Rae: Things are starting to come together now…

(Aether replaces Liza)

Aether: That would mean that everyone but Beth has a connection to Bellbridge U in some way.

Ink: Damn. Maybe we are connected after all. Does someone there have a bone to pick with us or something?

Rae: There’s no way to know for sure, but… this is a start, at least.

(Liza comes back in Aether’s place)

Ink: Liza, do you think you could ask your father if he knows any of us? If he was on the sponsorship council, he might know something we don’t.

Oh, and you should ask him if he knows a ‘Sean Ward’, too.

Liza: I’m on it.

Rae: Also, can you tell him he’s a son of a bitch for me? I never got to tell him that in person.

(Shaking)

Liza: Excuse me?!

Rae: You heard me: tell your father he’s a son of a bitch for me, will ‘ya? I paid good money to go to that school and it all went right down the drain.

Ink: Is he not qualified to be on the council or something?

Rae: Huh? No, the guy’s pretty smart, actually. I read part of his thesis. It was on brain waves or… something. It isn’t exactly my field, but apparently he’s made some pretty significant discoveries.

But embezzlement is embezzlement. Her dad’s a thief.

Liza: That is a filthy lie! Where did you hear that?!

Rae: The only thing that’s filthy is your father’s chequing history. He’s been syphoning money from the school for years.

Liza: My father would never do something like that - he’s a sponsor, for crying out loud!

Rae: Yeah, that’s what he makes it look like. And then-

(Shakes)

Liza: Shut up! You’re just a bitter dropout!

(Again)

Rae: That’s got nothing to do with it!

Ink: Okay guys, as glad as I am that we’re piecing things together, I don’t want this conversation to come to blows.

Liza, ignore this guy and go message your dad. Rae, let’s start on this room’s puzzle.

Rae: And why would I do that? You think you’re our leader or somethin’?

Ink: Do you have any better ideas on what to do right now?

Rae: Yeah. I could start on the next puzzle.

Ink: That’s what I just said…

Rae: No, you said to start on this room’s puzzle. Problem being I’ve already solved it.

(Aether replaces Liza)

Aether: Already? When did you do that?

Rae: Just now, when you guys were arguing over Ink’s name. It was pretty simple and had a bit of a computer science focus, so I got it right away.

Ink: Oh. Nice.

Rae: Hurry up or I’m gonna solve the next one on my own, too.

(Beth takes Aether’s place)

Beth: I’ll join you, Rae. Come along, everyone.

(Liza replaces Rae)

Liza: I’ll catch up to you guys when I’m done messaging my father.

Beth: Would you like me to wait for you?

Liza: Why would I want that? You’d be wasting your time. Go on, get started.

Beth: ...Of course.

(Beth leaves)

With a small bow, Beth followed Rae into the next room.

(Aether takes her place)

Now’s probably a good time to message Sean…

(Fades to Gemini)

 This had better not be a joke.

(Fades back to empty bar)

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Ink’s head.

(Aether appears in the middle)

Aether put her hands on his droopy shoulders.

Aether: What’s the matter?

Ink: Sean isn’t responding, I’m worried.

Aether: There, there. I’m sure your friend is all right.

The girl moved in for a hug. Ink offered no resistance. (Slight tremble)

Aether: He’s probably just busy. Right?

Ink: I really don’t know, Aether. I don’t want to think about it.

(Aether moves to the right as Liza enters on the left)

Liza: I’m sorry to hear about your friend, Ink. I hope he’s okay.

Ink: You guys ought to message your Contacts again. Make sure they’re watching their backs.

Aether: I can do that, yeah.

Liza: I’m not entirely sure my father needs to worry about that, but I suppose there’s no harm in another warning.

Ink: You never know. I didn’t think Sean of all people could get caught, and yet…

Aether: Hey, you don’t know for sure that something happened to him.

Maybe you should go help Rae and Beth with the puzzle. It’ll help take your mind off it.

Ink: That’s probably a good idea. It’s not like there’s anything I can do to help Sean at this point, anyway.

Liza: I’ll come join you guys when I’m done messaging my father.

Ink: Sure, but don’t be too long.

(Blackout)

Upon making his way to the next room, something caught Ink’s eye.

(Corridor with “379” painting appears)

Huh. Why does that painting bother me so much?

Ink ran his hand along the canvas, but felt only rough cotton and dried paint.

Nothing too out of the ordinary. Then why does this make me so uneasy? Is it the number?

Ink: Three, seven, nine…

Aether: You’ve noticed it too, huh?

(View shifts to the right with Aether)

Ink: Noticed what? That huge painting with the numbers emblazoned on it? It’s sort of hard to miss.

Aether: Not the painting, per se, but the number itself. 379.

It’s been showing up all over the place. Don’t you think it’s strange?

Ink: Is it? I remember seeing it here and there, but…

Aether: It’s more than just here and there. I’ve seen it on the walls, on our Gemini, and in some of the puzzles’ default layouts. And there’s probably more than just that.

Ink: So whoever built this place really likes that number. It’s an easter egg or something, I dunno.

Aether: You don’t think it could be something more?

Ink gave the girl an apathetic look. What was she getting at?

Aether: You think I’m stupid, don’t you?

Ink: No! Not at all! I’m just trying to understand where you’re coming from. I mean, yeah, this thing with the number 379 is a little weird…

What do you think it means?

Aether: I’m not sure, but… someone wants us to know about that number!

Ink: Who? Sent?

Aether: M-Maybe… either way, I know it’s important!

Ink: And how do you know that?

Aether: I just… know…

Aether straightened up, perhaps realizing she wouldn’t get through to Ink.

Aether: I’m sorry, just forget it. You clearly don’t care.

Ink: I don’t mean to be rude, but there’s only one recurring number I care about right now, and it sure isn’t 379.

Aether: There’s another recurring number?

Ink: Haven’t you noticed? There’s another number that keeps cropping up. That number is…

\*\*\*\*\*CHOICE TREE 36\*\*\*\*\*

# Choice 36a: “One”

Ink: That number is one.

Aether: Where’ve you seen one before?

Ink: Um… let’s see…

Where have I seen that before? One… one…

Ink: Well, there’s only one of me, and only one of you… and only one of Rae…

Aether: Are you trying to make fun of me?

Ink: N-No! I just can’t think of any examples right now.

Aether: Uh-huh…

# Choice 36b: “Two”

Ink: That number is two.

Aether: Where’ve you seen two before?

Ink: Um… let’s see…

Where have I seen that before? Two… two…

Ink: You and me make two, don’t we?

Aether: Are you trying to make fun of me?

Ink: N-No! I just can’t think of any examples right now.

Aether: Uh-huh…

# Choice 36c: “Three”

Ink: That number is three.

Aether: Where’ve you seen three before?

Ink: Um… let’s see…

Where have I seen that before? Three… three…

Ink: Okay, so I’m kind of drawing a blank at the moment…

Aether: Are you trying to make fun of me?

Ink: N-No! I just can’t think of any examples right now.

Aether: Uh-huh…

# Choice 36d: “Four”

Ink: That number is four.

Aether: Where’ve you seen four before?

Ink: You’re kidding, right? It’s everywhere.

We’re in “The Four Elements Hotel”, for starters. There are four corners and four keycards. There were four elevators in the elevator hall and even four pitchers of water in the main lounge.

I could probably list some more if you pressed me. There’s one big problem with all of this, though…

Aether: It’s because there are five of us, isn’t it? Five Contestants in a game that seems set up for only four…

Ink: There’s an extra player. You can probably guess why I haven’t pointed this out until now.

Aether: We’d just become suspicious of each other all over again.

Ink: I knew you wouldn’t freak out over this, which is why I told you. But try not to tell the others; I’d hate to revert to having to watch my back all the time.

Aether: I won’t bring it up. Don’t worry.

Ink: It isn’t even necessarily a bad thing. Best-case scenario, Sent just added one of us at the last minute.

Aether: Who do you think it is? The extra player?

Ink: Who knows? It could be you. It could be me for all I know.

Ink looked to the floor and sighed.

Ink: Maybe I’m putting too much thought into this. I didn’t mean to freak you out.

Aether: Do you no longer trust the other Contestants?

Ink: I trust them, but I don’t think we should leave anyone unattended. You know… as a precaution.

\*\*\*\*\*END CHOICES\*\*\*\*\*

Aether: In that case, I’m going to keep Liza company a little while longer. I still need to message my father, anyway. Sound good?

{If you chose Choice 2a: ”Detective.” in chapter 1}

Ink: Sounds good, sidekick.

{If you chose Choice 2b: “Sidekick” in chapter 1}

Ink: Sounds good, detective.

{Narratives rejoin here}

(Blackout, then another view of corridor with Beth and Rae appears)

As expected, Beth and Rae were standing in front of the monitor, attempting to solve the puzzle.

Ink: Hey. You guys want a hand with that?

Rae: Sure. Doesn’t seem too tough, but there’s no sense in turning down extra help.

(Fades to puzzle)

[Hints section]

Ask: Beth

Hint 1

Ink: Any ideas, Beth?

Beth: Hm? Pardon me?

Ink: The puzzle, I mean. Do you have any ideas on how to solve it?

Beth: Oh… no, none as of yet. I’m sorry; I suppose I was lost in my thoughts just now.

Ink: Something the matter?

Beth: Not especially. I was just reflecting.

Say, Ink, did either of the starting dates have any significance to you? That’d be February or March 19th.

Ink: Well, March 19th is today if our Gemini are to be believed. February 17th… no clue.

Why? Does it mean something to you?

Beth: Take a guess.

Hint 2

Beth: Any ideas on your end, Ink?

Ink: Not quite. Right now I’m just trying to figure how how it’s possible for two completely different dates to be “equal”.

Beth: I wonder if any special dates double in meaning.

Ink: Special dates?

Beth: You know, like Christmas or Valentine’s day. From the looks of it, we could assemble either of those two dates.

Ink: There are sure a lot of dates that carry significance, though. Even though we can’t make every possible date, the number of “significant” dates is… a lot, I’d wager.

Beth: I’m aware of that. It’s worth keeping in mind, at least.

Ink: Oh, for sure.

Hint 3

Beth: I can’t help but wonder if I’m not cut out to solve these puzzles.

Ink: Huh? Why would you say that?

Beth: I don’t think it was Sent’s intention for me to live this long.

Ink: Hey, don’t say that. Who cares what Sent’s intention was? You’re alive, and that’s what matters.

Still, I kind of get what you mean. These last couple puzzle seemed like they were catered to Rae… I feel more than a little useless.

Beth: I wouldn’t worry about that, Ink. You’re helping more than you know.

Ask: Rae

Hint 1

Ink: Hey, sorry I’m late. Any thoughts on this one?

Rae: My thoughts are… that this is another puzzle with a stupid gimmick. I mean, just look at it.

Ink: Yeah. It says “Equalize”, but there aren’t any two tiles with the same number… or the same month, for that matter.

Rae: I’ve been playing around with it and it looks like we can only swap a red tile. Same goes for the blue tiles.

Ink: So it looks like we’ll need to construct each side of the equation with both a month and a number.

Hint 2

Ink: Hey, any thoughts about the missing numbers and months?

Rae: ‘Scuse me?

Ink: Notice that some of the months aren’t there. And not all of the possible days of the month are represented.

Rae: Oh… right. Nah, I don’t think that’s important.

Sent probably just didn’t want to make extra rows on the grid. I mean… we’re only going to use four tiles anyway, so what’s the point in adding more useless ones?

Ink: Ah… I guess you’ve got a point.

Rae: Man, something about this puzzle seems really familiar...

Hint 3

Rae: Got it.

Ink: That was fast. What’s the answer?

Rae: O-C-T 3-1 is the same as D-E-C 2-5. I knew it was familiar.

Ink: What…? How is Halloween the same as Christmas?

Rae: It’s an old programming joke. Well, not a programming joke specifically, but any self-respecting computer scientist would get it.

Rae: O-C-T is short for octal… which is number notation with base eight. D-E-C is short for decimal. You know, the decimal system - the base 10 number system we use every day.

Ink: I know what the decimal system is.

Rae: Right. Well, it just so happens that 31 in octal is equal to 25 in base ten. It’s a joke because “Oct 31” is Halloween while “Dec 25” is Christmas.

Ink: Uh…

Rae: Listen, I didn’t say it was a funny joke. Still, though, that has got to be the right answer.

Ink: Damn… even I could’ve figured that out if I had known about the octal system.

Rae: Well, if you want to feel like you did something, you can go ahead and input the answer.

Ink: Um… sure.

Hint 4

Rae: Oct 31 = Dec 25. Go on, punch it in. Or do you want me to do that for you, too?

He’s sure getting bossy…

[End hints]

(Corridor with Beth and Rae appears)

{If you asked Rae for hints up to hint 2}

Ink: There we go. Solved.

Rae: Not bad, Ink. I shoulda’ thought of that…

Beth: I don’t think I follow. How is it that Halloween is the same as Christmas?

Ink: The letters don’t represent months. They represent bases. Numerical bases.

D-E-C stands for decimal while O-C-T stands for octal. It just so happens 31 in octal is the same as 25 in decimal.

Rae: How did you know about bases, Ink?

Ink: I looked it up once. I read a lot, you know?

{If you went beyond hint 2 for Rae}

Rae: Easy. We’re done here.

Ink: We sure seem to be tearing through these puzzles. Especially the last couple.

Rae: You mean I seem to be tearing through them.

Beth: Don’t be so vain. You yourself admitted that the last few puzzles were computer science-orientated, so one would expect you would be the best at solving them.

We all have our areas of expertise; yours just so happens to be the most relevant as of right now.

Rae: Right, right, we’re all unique little snowflakes with our own set of skills. I’m sure you’ll have your time to shine when we come across the knitting-themed puzzle.

These last few puzzles sure went to Rae’s head…

**If you entered the alternate solution}**

Ink: There we go. Got it.

Beth: Ah. That’s quite clever, Ink.

Rae: So the months, like… wrap around?

Ink: Yeah. February only has 28 days this year, but if February did go all the way to the thirty-first, it would land on the same day as March third.

Rae: Bah. I thought this was going to be programming focused, so I was thinking about it all wrong…

Ink: Eh. We all make mistakes.

{Narratives rejoin here}

(Tremble)

Aether: Oh, have you already solved it?

(Both are replaced by Liza and Aether)

Ink: Yeah, we just solved this one.

Liza: That was pretty fast. Nice work.

Liza: Good. We ought to be nearing the end of this section of Exit/Corners soon.

\*\*\*\*\*CHOICE TREE 37\*\*\*\*\*

# Choice 37a: “No thanks to you.”

Had someone said something? Ink, almost positive that he had heard someone speak, looked about the room but was only met with confused stares. He shook his head.

Ink: No thanks to you. You sure took your sweet time over there, huh?

Liza: Fine then. Next time I’ll just skip the job you explicitly asked me to do.

Ink: It shouldn’t have taken that long.

Liza: I told you, I’m slow at typing. I almost felt like apologizing, but now you’re being a prick.

Ink: Oh, whatever. And what did he say?

# Choice 37b: “Any progress on your end?”

Had someone said something? Ink, almost positive that he had heard someone speak, looked about the room but was only met with confused stares. He shook his head.

Ink: Any progress on your end?

Aether: Pardon me? What kind of progress?

Ink: That was more aimed at Liza. Did you end up asking your father about any of us?

Don’t get me wrong, getting out of here alive is priority number one, but figuring out why we’re here and who is responsible is also very important. To me, at least.

Aether: I think everyone’s hungry for answers.

Ink: Anyway, Liza, what did your father tell you?

\*\*\*\*\*END CHOICES\*\*\*\*\*

Liza: He said he hadn’t actually been giving any lectures these last few years so that it was unlikely that he knew any students by name.

Ink: Oh… damn.

Liza: I wasn’t finished. He said that despite that, he does know a “Sean Ward”. Apparently he’s pretty smart and does a lot of extracurricular work.

Ink: That’s Sean all right. He actually started attending BBU a year early; I’m pretty sure he’s in one of their engineering programs.

Liza: I see. Anyway, he also said that the name Rae Nandon sounds vaguely familiar, but that he doesn’t know what these students have in common with each other.

Ink: Did you make sure to warn him?

Liza: Yeah, I warned him. Don’t worry.

(Beth replaces Aether)

Beth: Warn him? Of what?

Ink: Right, you weren’t there…

Something might’ve happened to Sean. He told me that he was being followed and now he’s not getting back to me.

Beth: This is the first I hear of this.

Ink: I told the others to message their Contacts, hoping they’d take the warning to heart. I would’ve told you, but…

Beth: I don’t have my Gemini anymore.

Ink: That’s my bad. I should’ve told you regardless.

(Rae replaces Liza)

Rae: Don’t worry about it, Beth. It might not even be related.

Hell, I got the warning, but I didn’t even end up relaying it to my Contact.

(Beth is replaced by Aether)

Aether: You didn’t tell her to watch her back?

Rae: I haven’t told her anything. Like, at all.

Aether: Are you telling me that Tiana doesn’t know that Exit/Corners even exists?

Rae: Nope. And if she gets abducted, too… meh. Don’t care.

Wait a minute…

(Screen shakes violently)

The realization hit Rae like a bolt of lightning. A surge of trepidation came over Ink.

Rae: Say, Aether, can I ask you something?

Aether shrunk under Rae’s accusatory glare.

Aether: Yes?

Rae: How did you know my Contact’s name?

Aether: O-Oh, um…

Didn’t you tell us?

Rae: I didn’t tell you a goddamn thing.

(Pause)

Nothing to say, huh? The question now is: how did you know? Would you mind telling me that, Aether?

Aether whined from behind her hands.

Aether: You’ll be upset if I try to explain.

Rae: Of course I’m gonna be upset. But I’m still going to get the answer out of you, one way or another. So go on, I’m listening.

Or maybe your boyfriend over here would care to explain instead.

\*\*\*\*\*CHOICE TREE 38\*\*\*\*\*

# Choice 38a: “Don’t look at me! I didn’t tell her anything!”

Ink: Don’t look at me! I didn’t tell her anything!

It was the truth. Ink hadn’t the faintest idea of how Aether knew about Tiana and getting caught in the crossfire was just about the last thing he wanted.

ae: You do have a pretty clueless look on your face…

I’m trusting you on this.

Now, Aether, tell me: if Ink wasn’t the one to tell you, how did you know?

Aether: You w-wouldn’t believe me if I t-told you…

Rae: How did you know, Aether?! Tell me!

Aether: I…

I want to do what you did.

Rae: Huh? What’re you talking about?!

Aether: I have an explanation - I do, I swear - but I only want to tell Ink. In private.

Rae: Like I’m gonna let you do that!

Aether: Then why don’t you tell everyone what you told Ink in secret?

Rae scowled.

Rae: Fine. Go tell him your little secret, then.

Aether: Thank you, Rae.

Rae: Ink, there had better be a good explanation at the heart of this. If there isn’t, you’ll let me know, right?

Ink: Yeah, don’t worry.

(Rae leaves)

Rae sighed, performed an about-face and marched through the nearby door. Liza followed him, and Beth followed her. They each looked over their shoulders as they left.

(Aether moves to the center)

Ink: I wasn’t lying to Rae, you know. I don’t know how you could’ve known about Rae’s Contact. If you don’t have a good explanation…

Aether: I understand.

Ink: I thought you might’ve been eavesdropping, but Beth and Liza had been with you the whole time. They’d have said something if you had gone back to check up on Rae and me.

So, Aether, I’m asking you: how did you know about Rae’s Contact? How did you know about Tiana?

# Choice 38b: “I told her. I’m sorry.”

Ink: I told her. I’m sorry.

It was a lie. Whatever the reason Aether knew what she knew, Ink didn’t want her taking the brunt of Rae’s anger.

(Rae moves to the center, Aether goes off-screen)

Predictably, Rae was furious. He got up right in Ink’s face, sneering.

Rae: What the fuck, man?!

Ink: I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t tell her your whole story, only who your Contact was.

Rae: I don’t care how little you told her! You said you’d keep your mouth shut!

Ink: C’mon, it’s nothing to cry over.

(Rae disappears, then screen blacks out, shaking violently)

Rae’s retort took the form of a swift punch to Ink’s gut. Ink crumpled to his knees, clutching his stomach.

Ink: Ugh!

Rae: Now we’re even.

Ink didn’t have enough air left in him to speak. He could only listen as Rae walked away and entered the next chamber.

I guess I should’ve seen that coming…

Liza: Are you alright, Ink?

(Corridor with Beth and Liza comes up)

Ink: Y-Yeah…

Beth: You’ve gone rather pale. Sit down for a moment if you feel like you need to.

Ink: I’m always pale. No biggie.

Ink and Beth shared a smile. He sat up.

Ink: Talk about disproportionate retribution. Damn.

Liza: You saw how angry his Contact makes him, whoever she is. If you hadn’t broken your promise you’d have been fine.

Ink: Okay, okay! I don’t need to be chewed out about it twice.

With a wheezy sigh, Ink feigned an attempt at standing up.

Ink: Give me a moment to catch my breath. I’ll catch up to you guys in a bit.

(Aether replaces Liza)

Aether: I’ll stay with him. Is that okay with you, Beth?

Beth: You don’t need my permission. Stay with him if you like, but try not to be too long.

(Beth disappears)

Beth and Liza proceeded to leave, leaving the room silent save for Ink’s laboured breathing.

(Aether too)

Ink rose to his feet as they exited.

Ink: Alright, Aether. You’ve got some explaining to do.

(Aether reappears in the middle)

Aether: I know. But first… thank you, Ink. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t covered up for me.

Ink: Don’t make me regret it. You’re going to tell me whatever it was you didn’t want to tell the others.

So, Aether, how did you know about Rae’s Contact? How did you know about Tiana?

\*\*\*\*\*END CHOICES\*\*\*\*\*

Aether: You’re not going to believe me.

Ink: So long as you swear it’s the truth, I’ll believe whatever explanation you have to offer.

Aether: Ink…

Ink: It’s okay, Aether. I trust you.

Aether: ...I’ll tell you, then. I’ll tell you everything.

**End Chapter**