John had always wanted a child. He loved Gideon even though he wasn't born.
Then his whole life had turned upsidedown.
Jill left. John loved her more than anything, but she didn't like his work. He had to say goodbye. He could not abandon his work. He had to teach people to appreciate what they had.
Cecil was his test subject, the first player in his games. He got what he deserved.
Then there were others. All failures. Nobody had wanted to live badly enough to survive.
Then Mark came. He became John's first apprentice. At first he didn't have the right frame of mind, but he learned. He was more like a business partner than anything.
Then came Amanda. Sweet, sweet Amanda. Not only did she have the will to survive, but she wanted to help John with his work. So John taught her. He saw her as his daughter and allowed himself to become emotionally attatched to her, which went against all of his morals.
It will be okay. He thought. Just this once.
He didn't expect things to go as badly as they did.
Four people dead, possibly more, because of Amanda. She saw her players as mere victims. She needed to be stopped.
But she wasn't cruel or evil. Not to him. John would never remember her as cruel. Not when she always looked up at him with those innocent eyes that craved his teachings, his love.
One last test was all it would take.
She set up Jeff's game okay. John asked Mark to check them over after she was done, and he said that he didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
Mark said she would fail.
He was right.
As John spoke his last words to her, he couldn't help feeling an overwhelming sense of loneliness. He longed for one more second with her. To let her know he would always love her. She would always be a daughter to him.
After all, his love is everlasting.