Author's Note: I do not own The Loud House or any other story depicted. I also make no money from it.
Also, I don't know anything about engineering.
Saw: Lincoln's Story
"To engineer… To engineer… is human."
Noah McClain, retired civil engineer and instructor at Royal Woods Technical College is seen giving a lecture to around thirty students. Three rows of ten, with each row looking down at the row below it. On the right wall, there is a large poster with the picture of Benjamin Franklin alongside one of his quotes: 'Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.'
"If you actually believe that the Earth is four and a half billion years old and simplify it to the timespan of one day, humans… have been around for only the past twelve seconds. Eleven and nine-tenths of those seconds, however, we're spent either hunting, gathering, or farming, which was ten thousand years ago. We've built cities. We've built ships. We've built COUNTRIES! But engineering as we know today was only here for a very short time. The phones in your pockets… which some of you are looking at RIGHT NOW WHILE I'M TALKING! YEAH, I SEE YOU, TYLER! PUT IT AWAY NOW!"
With a shocked expression on his face, Tyler puts his phone in his pocket.
"As I was saying, the cell phones you all carry have more processing power than the computer that was used to send men to the moon. WHICH WASN'T FAKED BY THE WAY!"
The students laugh in agreement. The miracle of technology in their minds.
"So when we say 'to engineer is human,' we reflect on all the progress that was made during those microseconds. A luxury which you all are lucky to be in.
Alright, that's all I have for today. Remember, the project is due on Monday when you come in. If you're going to turn it in LATE, please let me know before you walk out or give me an email later. Otherwise, I won't give you an extension. I hope you all have a good weekend, AND REMEMBER… make good choices…"
"NOT BABIES!" The students shouted, finishing Mr. McClain's sentence.
Having finished his lecture, Mr. McClain sat down, feeling proud of himself. He doesn't have to work another day in his life but yet here he is as an instructor at 74 years of age.
"God, I'm old. Hmm?"
The student in the center of the class is eyeballing him.
He had known of this student since before he first saw him in person.
Lincoln Loud, age 27. Comic book inker turned viral sensation when a video surfaced which shows a killing best friend prank. Uploaded by one of his older sisters if he remembers correctly. While he can't recall the sister's name, one thing he can recall is how he felt when seeing Lincoln cry while being tied up in that chair. It was horrible, that prank.
Many classmates tried to have a conversation with him in an effort to help him, or at the very least, score some social points by taking their picture with him, but he spoke very little.
"Maybe… he's the one I've been looking for."
TWO YEARS LATER
"To engineer is human."
Lincoln Loud is seen in his car with his hands on the steering wheel.
Those flashbacks have been happening to him much more frequently ever since his recent trip to the multiverse a week before.
He's currently at a drive-thru window, but it's not to get food. He has plenty at home. Since the Overseer won't help him…
"Here's your prescription, sir."
"Thanks… wait?"
Lincoln instantly recognized the man at the window.
"Rusty?"
"Oh my god! Lincoln!?"
"Rusty, you work at a pharmacy now. That's awesome!"
"Yeah, man. It wasn't easy. But now I'm here. Anyway, what the hell is going on with you? You feel like you're burning anywhere?"
"OH! This is… this is for a tooth infection!"
"NO! NO! NO! The prescription said it's for gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia! COME ON NOW!"
"Bring it down!"
Lincoln feels a growing wave of embarrassment clinging onto him with each word Rusty says. His secret is now out.
"I'm… clueless."
"You went from fame to flame. Your thang on fire, big fella!"
"Rusty, this is beneath you!"
"I don't know what else you got but make sure you take the whole bottle!"
"This is for a tooth infection!"
Lincoln's vain efforts to quiet Rusty only prolonged his problem.
"LINCOLN, YOU'RE BURNING! STOP LYING!"
"You know that I am sick! Cut it out!"
"Lincoln, the bottle says to take two or three pills a day! You are burning in every way!"
"I… am… puzzled!"
"Get the hell out of here! A matter of fact… LIAM! ZACH! LINCOLN'S HERE AND HE HAS S.T.D.S! COME GET A PICTURE!"
"That's it! I'm out of here!"
Lincoln steps on the gas and sped off.
"I am old, Lincoln. If I had to trust anybody with this, it's you."
The sweet old man Mr. McClain. Everybody has a dark side to them. He is no exception.
He knew a guy who practically designed half of Royal Woods as well as a few buildings in Detroit, which is half an hour south.
He ended up trusting McClain with his fantasies.
Which now he is passing on to Lincoln.
He hands the silent Lincoln a hefty box.
It's contents consist of schematics for potential torture devices as well as a list of locations for the 'games.'
He knows. They have the same crazy mindset.
Those who do not appreciate life do not deserve life.
He lost many family members throughout the course of his long life and it pains him to see others just scoff at the topic of death. As if they believe it will never happen to them.
He gained possession of these schematics a few decades ago but never got around to carrying out the actual process.
Maybe it will be different for Lincoln.
McClain knows he is not long for this world, and he knows that his hypothetical grave would probably never be visited by anyone.
Including Lincoln.
Because he is in the cemetery to visit someone else.
He looks down at the tombstone below him.
"Hey, Lis. It's been a while since I last spoke to you. So much has happened. I mean… I'm sorry I couldn't bring you flowers like I normally do. I was planning to… I'll just say that I had to speed things up."
Lincoln paused. What is he even saying? Considering everything he saw; knowing how little he really matters. It really gets to him.
"I'll get straight to the point. The explosion. It wasn't an accident. It was suicide. You discovered the multiverse before I did. Before any of my… friends did."
Feeling tears gathering in his eyes, Lincoln fell to his knees and started sobbing.
"You saw what you were never supposed to see! You saw the… atrocities other versions of yourself carried out. WHY SUICIDE!? YOU WERE ONLY 18!"
(FLASHBACK)
"Turning rocks into bread would be just as easy in comparison, but you brought this on yourself. I'm not curing your S.T.D.S."
Jigsaw is seen standing in front of the Overseer of the Multiverse in the throne room. The sound of waterfall fountains playing with his ears.
"W-what if I… travel the multiverse for a few hours. Will that get you to change your mind!?"
"Hmmm. I'll tell you what. I'll prepare a series of universes for you, to react to, and in the end, I'll give you something I think you would REALLY want! If you don't want to travel, that's also fine.
It's your choice."