by The Pighead
Yep, late at night. Again. Seems to be my destiny.
Anyway, here's the new chapter and I hope you'll enjoy !
What's your name ?
They didn't know. If they tried to be logical, their name would be Lionel Snill. But they're not him. They have never been him. So, no, they never had a name. In fact, their only known name was three interrogation points and that was it.
What is your purpose ?
Being here. Or, more precisely, being a vessel. Each day, their task was simple : walking in random environments and hearing Snill talking in their head. Which was already bad in itself but the fact that they were mostly hearing him attacking all perceived enemies or complaining about the fact that his glory days were behind him without even trying to understand why he's in the position he is now. And they had to do that every day. Hearing him without any possibility to turn the volume of his speech down.
It was the shittiest purpose imaginable, in their opinion.
What is your gender ?
They didn't know. They barely even knew what the concept of gender was to begin with. Except their hat and their gray hands and feet, they didn't had any features. They weren't supposed to be a full-fledged character. Though, if they knew more about that, they would surely define themself as agender.
Is there people in your life that you could consider as friends ?
The other ex-patrons of the Six Pint Inn. Without a doubt. It helped that they were (and still are, in a way) the only people in their life that they knew at least a bit well. Did they considered them friends ? In the beginning, it was a bit difficult. Weasel Kid & Chandrelle were rude people, Rust was scaring them off with his weird behaviour, Reggie had the tendancy to hide too much secrets, Lazarus was too busy looking over his shoulder to be sure that no one from The Gameworks was near him to have a real conversation… yeah, only Bryce was someone they could easily consider a friend.
Now, since they escaped, they could feel something changed. Of course, it was quite subtle but they felt it was a bit simpler to talk with them. They found new hobbies (Weasel doing rap battles, Chandrelle frequently visiting a library possessing knowledge that they didn't understood very well, Bryce & Rust attending a literature club…) that they were quite eager to talk about and it made discussions easier. They were pleased by this, immensely.
Are you happy with the way you are, now ?
Maybe ? Possibly ? If you asked them six or eight months ago, they would have told you « no » for one simple reason : because they still were deeply connected to Lionel in the past, that meant that they also inherited of his ego. And if there was a main difference between him and them, it was that Snill had been famous at one point while they were not. For them, it was unfair.
But after Reggie, with the help of the Hex' mysterious benefactor, killed him and they escaped here, they were less and less concerned with that. When suddenly, the connection wasn't here anymore, of course, this would happen at one moment or another. The desire for fame stopped at the same moment they really started to act as their own person and not just an extension of another person. But they just started understanding what it was like to live their own life so, even if they were happy with their current situation, they couldn't tell you that they were satisfied at 100% with the way their life was happening right now.
Do you have hobbies ?
Oh, yes, they have. They didn't like being outside too much so what they had was the things in the house. Because they needed to write on pieces of paper (they didn't knew sign language) in order to express what they meant, they often found themself using pencils. One day, they started to draw something. They ended up with a very simplistic stickman. It was far from a work of art, but they find it funny to do. So, they did it again the next day. And again. And again. And again. Each day.
The patrons' benefactor seemed to quickly have picked up on it, because after a week, Reggie found on the apartment' door a big batch of paper with a little letter wishing good fun to them. And so, they kept doing it. The stickmen slowly became more developed, got more features to them and after one month, they were replaced by real humans. Free time was the only thing they had so learning how to draw would be fast, of course.
They were immensely happy with that. The others weren't always in agreement about what worked or not or what artstyle (they had the tendancy to try different things) fitted them best but, at least, they were paying attention and it was just what they needed.
What is your aspiration in life ?
They think they have an idea of what it is. As said above, when they were still connected to Lionel', they were resenting him for just being an extension of his personality, not having the possibility to speak, not having the possibility to shut him off, not even having the praise he had in the past. Since his death, they only had one of their wishes granted. But that doesn't mean they would give up ! One wish granted was already great as it was, it was more of a reason for them to persevere !
So, yes, what they wanted was to continue drawing. Maybe showing it to other people at one point. Also, seeing themself in the mirror would be very nice. They were tired of being just a black silhouette with a purple interrogation point and a hat. They would like to see a real face in the mirror.
What is your favourite drink ?
They would love to try orange juice, one day. It looks like something they would like to drink if they could.
Do you feel comfortable around others ?
Depends on who you were talking about.
Around strangers, no. They weren't feeling comfortable. Everyone is always walking, there's noises everywhere, it goes too fast… no, they didn't like that at all.
Around the other ex-patrons, yes, they could say that. After all, they had more in common with them than with Lionel. The irony wasn't lost on them. But anyway, yes, they were comfortable around them. With time, they came to see the other guys as the closest thing they have to genuine friends. Yes, they still weren't the most easy-going people to live with but at least, they have shown that they could live all together without feeling the need to slaughtering each other so it was already great ! And they hope it will still be like this in the future.
Is there someone you wish you could met ?
The Hex' benefactor. Just so they could ask them what their deal was and why they were so interested by the group. They were just some video game characters. Sure, they managed to leave the game world, which wasn't a feat every character could do, but still, if they decided to work with Reggie in the first place in order to help them, that should mean they saw something in them, right ?
And if they still continue to contact them and send things to them in addition… no, it must mean something. They would like to know what this something is.
What do the Multiverse makes you think ?
See the answer to the previous question. Their contact was talking about the Multiverse and how it was this really cool thing that will change the lives of everyone quite frequently in their letters.
What's your name ?
While we were on the subject of their contact, they sent them a computer recently, which was quite useful for research. One day, while they were switching mindlessly between different websites, they ended up, fuck knows how, on a fan-made Wikia (it's how it was called, the name was quite weird but oh, well) about a video game. It was about a guy making a commentary on several little games made by a former friend of his who vanished some time ago but, at one point, it's revealed that the narrator is an insecure attention whore and that his friend disappeared because of him.
It wasn't the happiest game ever but they strangely found it interesting. The most interesting thing was the pseudonym of the vanished developer. Coda.
In fact, it was so interesting to them that when they go find the others, they ask them to refer to them by this name. Everyone complied.
It was the first step towards the creation of their own identity. Now, they knew what their name was. They just had to figure out the rest, now.
It would be fine.
So, now that all the six main characters of the game got their own chapters, it seems that it's the end for this series, right ?
Right ?
...well, uh. Stay tuned for what comes next, I'll say? Yeah, I'll say that.