More of a story written by some guy…

Stuck In A Movie!

Chapter 2: The Complication

Raz was now inside a city. Quite a peaceful city, to add. He took a step forward, noticing that somehow, the city was deserted. It was exactly as if everybody was inside watching the Super Bowl. He looked around, trying to listen for anything at all. Soon, he noticed a strip of cloth on the sidewalk. Bending down to examine it, he used Clairvoyance on it. Concentrating hard, he put his left hand on his head with his right arm extended. Concentrate… This shouldn't be so hard…Raz thought. All of a sudden, a thought hit him, and a deeply disturbing one too. Maybe… Is this guy… Dead? It clicked. He knew that the only way this would be so tough is if he was dead. That way, he couldn't see anything. Then, by logic, everyone else who made the streets deserted must have been dead too. Raz was now thoroughly freaked out. If everybody had kicked the bucket, what could have caused it?

He soon had his answer. Tons of censors parading down the street in front of him, turning the corner. Raz was about to put his marksmanship badge to good use when he noticed that the censors didn't look so well, like they were about to barf. When they passed the public toilets down the street ahead, he knew something was very wrong. The final jigsaw piece clicked into place as he saw the censors' arms extended as they drew nearer. They were zombies. But more importantly, as he looked over the horizon, squinting, the zombie censors at the front didn't look like censors. Rather, they looked like regular people, but more pukey. Raz then came to a startling conclusion: those were regular mental residents in McGregor's mind. They had just been turned into killers. Raz knew he needed an escape route, but as he turned around, a tall building erected itself in front of him. It shot out of the ground, quickly reaching towering heights and becoming taller than anything he'd ever seen. The ornate glass door said, "20th Century Vole." Raz ran to the doors, pulling on them, pushing as well. They were locked. Raz glanced around, finally seeing a manhole. The last one he'd been in was filled with pink paint, and Raz knew this would be unlikely this time. He held his nose, opening the cover and jumping in.

What he landed in was dark, surprisingly clean, and very narrow. Raz had had experience before with openings leading to unexpected places, but this wasn't so easily figured out. It was damp, and it had a wooden bucket in it. Raz's eyes trained upwards to see a rope and crank at the top, silhouettes against a cloudless sky. Another realization hit him, worse than before: he was in a well. A well which was too tall for levitation, and to boot, contained the possibility of having water in it. Raz quickly sent his thoughts up to the crank, using Telekinesis to move it. Raz hopped in the bucket and struggled to give the crank a turn. Turn after turn, he finally made it halfway, at which point he used Levitation to hop out of the well. A woman in a red and white dress, presumably in her mid 30s, was outside gardening. Raz garnered her attention by saying "Hey!" across the front lawn.

Raz looked out and noticed that "lawn" was an understatement; more like prairie with no road in sight. The lady noticed Raz and replied in a voice drenched in Southern drawl, "Hey there. I haven't seen you 'round these parts. Like to come in?"

Raz replied, "Sure. I'd like to sit down, ma'am," knowing that this would help him fit in in order to investigate.

"Oh, well, just come in and sit down. I've been needing comp'ny ever since Eddie died."

"Eddie who?"

"My husband. Farming accident." When she said this, she started to break down in tears.

"There there. I'll help how I can. So, how are your kids?"

"They're doing fine, except for Neil. My two-year-old daughter Sally and little Will are doin' fine, I'm not sure if they quite understand it. But Neil's in second grade, and it hit him hard. He's been havin' nightmares and the like."

"Hmm. What's your name?"

"I'm Mrs, um, sorry, Miss Ellie McGregor." She was still sobbing. Raz was about to console her, but two and two were quickly put together: Raz knew that the Neil in question had to be the director. The rest suddenly fell into place, like dominoes: There was a farmer at the very front of the zombie horde. That had to be Neil's father. It all made sense. The censors had attacked Neil's bad memories of his past, turning them into zombie censors. That was what caused Neil's nervous breakdown. But now, he had to figure out what Twentieth Century Vole had to do with Neil's problems, then he could start to get the famed director out of his funk.

Disclaimer: If at any point you saw something resembling anything from your Psychonauts playing experience while reading this, it does not belong to me.