#14

You looks over to the left and sees that there is in fact a thick door apparently leading out into the prison courtyard. If there is some sort of malevolent presence haunting this prison—which seems somewhat likely, to be honest, given the evidence in the journal—You doesn't want to remain here for very long. You's never been big on coercion, but You's built up quite a bit of muscle and can probably brave a few cultists if it means getting Your stuff back. And it is still possible that Susie is here. Maybe Your parents, too! So You's got to do something.

Realizing that You's completely unarmed, You walks through the door anyway, onto a balcony overlooking the courtyard.

It's worse than You thought.

The courtyard is filled with rubbishy tents and scattered broken machine shards. Like the computer tower up there, it looks like once-functional devices were torn apart in a wild rage by the cult after they went mad. It's a total mess. Then again, the cultists themselves are total messes as well. Garbed in the shredded remains of formerly bright colored cloaks, they seem to have undergone some sort of transformation (unless this is what they somehow looked like normally). They all have enormous protruding brows and cruel faces—and huge muscles. They more resemble atavistic cave-beasts than humans. Ironic, given that they once made slurs against people with your mutation.

You manages to keep control when You sees that it'll be nigh impossible to fight these guys. Instead, You gets a very quick idea...

“I am one of the ghosts! Do not move or I will kill you all!”

You do this while holding Your shirt in front of Your face, to make it look like You doesn't resemble the prisoner they captured. It's an incredibly stupid trick, unbelievably so, but You hopes that it sells. Most of those assembled flinch back, but suddenly, between blinks, something smacks in the wall next to Your head. It's Your kitchen-knife spear. It missed by just a few inches.

“Death to the ghosts!” shouts a tall man. You has reason to believe that this must be Lord Kletus, the Brotherhood's leader. The others begin to hoot and stamp around at this cry.

“Wait!” You shouts. They do stop, briefly, even as You pauses to consider how ludicrous it is that Your “disguise” worked. “I only warned you all because I have decided to rebel against my phantom brothers. Though I'm on your side, I'm just trying to protect myself. The same as you.”

They all grunt, but don't decide to rush You. Some of them get a look of recognition in their eyes, as if they know that this obscured-face stranger is almost bloody identical to their recently-trapped prisoner, but they do nothing. Whatever's changed them has divorced them from reality almost entirely.

“You have some possessions from a recent prisoner, and I want them given to me. And I also want to know if you're keeping any female prisoners that I haven't noticed.”

“We...have no women trapped here.” You sees that they're unarmed, and afraid as well. Which is basically where You wants them, even though it's not a very nice mood to set on other people. “This...Yours?” They point to a large pile of objects, which You does indeed recognize as Yours.

“Yes, I believe that's mine. I also know that the prisoner appeared in your territory on a boat. Do you have that as well?”

They nod, and point beyond the enclosure wall of the prison. “Out there.”

You nods, and begins to walk down. “Thank you.”

They give You a wide berth as You walks amongst them. You picks up all of Your items, and makes sure that the mysterious foosball figure and the runestone are in there. They are, and You slips them into Your pocket once more. You looks up, and the former Lord Kletus is standing beside You. He's looking at Your shirt, pulled stupidly over Your nose, with a look of fear. You also briefly feels fear, however—because in his eyes, there's a man trapped in a form which is no longer human.

You then decides to speak. “If there's a chance, I'll come back and help you.”

He suddenly seems shaken that one of the ghosts is making such a gesture, but he then nods. “Thank You.”

There is a moment of genuine warmth between the two of you.

He points over to two large men by the door. “Let You out.”

Uh oh.

He blinks. “Let You...You...out. You...h̶i̶m̶...HIM...”

He looks at You. “You is an apple!”

The crowd begins to hoot and heat up. Kletus yanks down Your shirt from Your face. “Not ghost...apple! But still must die! Death to the apple!”

“Death to the apple!” they all shout. You suddenly lashes out with the spear, holding it against his throat.

“Stay back!” You shouts. “I'm warning You seriously this time. And, I was serious about helping you. I read your journal. I know about the engine...”

“He knows of the engine!!” Kletus shouts, but You pushes the spear further into his flesh before anything goes any further.

“...and I know about the Ultimate.”

“The Ultimate?”

“Yeah. I know that they both did bad things to you. I want to make sure that they don't threaten the world again. The only thing is, I don't know what they do.”

Kletus' face is again shocked when he realizes You's been sincere about wanting to help him. Then, his expression relaxes into a gentle sadness. Tears well up in his eyes. “Please...don't make me talk of them...”

“What do they do?”

The tears begin to drip down his face. “Don't...don't...” Then he sighs. “The fuel.”

You pulls the spear back a little.

“Destroy the fuel.”

You stares at him for a little bit, thinking it over. The fuel has been recurring in a negative context recently, but it's so critical to everything. You's harvested it Your whole life, You's been dependent on it Your whole life. It's...hard to just throw it away, just like that. And since this beginning, these people have just been some random fringe group...

You'll have to consider this later, alongside many other things. You puts away the spear, and Kletus relaxes and does nothing. You merely nods at him once more and walks out.

The airboat is there, in good condition. It's on the river, but You knows the river no longer runs parallel to the trail. You considers asking the Brotherhood members where the road is, but You deems it hopeless. You is lost, and the only way to get back on track is to find a town or a city and ask for directions. It'll be tough, being an apple and all, but...

Suddenly, from the prison courtyard, there's a horrible shriek. Then, several screams afterward. You looks back, and sees the group begin to run away from the balcony. You runs back in there, still clutching the spear. A strange and unsettling sight greets Your eyes.

This time there is a figure up on the balcony, and it does seem to be some sort of ghost. It's hard to look at, but it looks like a man, one draped in darkness. The edges of his figure squiggle and shift, as if he's nothing more than a summer mirage. You realizes then why the group fell so easily for Your shirt-trick; this figure lacks the bottom half of his half. Shadows enshroud it, but the skin around it seems dark with blood. It just doesn't look right at all, and You feels Your body go cold looking at it.

It looks up and the shriek rings out again. Everyone around You is in a panic, crying about the ghosts. You's about to run for it too until something happens.

The figure looks directly at You.

It's not a mere glance, or part of a larger survey of everyone in the yard. It's directed at You, and it's a look full of malice and knowing. You feels even colder, so cold in fact that You almost feels like You's going to faint. The eyes shudder with that “multidimensional” effect, and then suddenly, with another heart-starting scream...the thing vanishes.

There is then a sudden calm, and You feels only a brief sense of terror...and then that melts into sympathy for these poor people.

These ghosts are real, and they've been genuinely haunting them for years now.

You doesn't know why they move, at least at first. But looking at all of them, You knows that this is their home—and though it's their terror and madness that binds them here, they can't leave it. You had to leave home too, and even though it's a creeping sickness, You knows that it hurts. Thinking somewhat more selfishly, You does hope that Your journey is a brief one.

Lord Kletus calms down, and breathes heavily. He looks at You again, and once more there is a chord struck. “Go,” he says.

And so You does.