Part 113: Many Weeks Later...

Many weeks later...

[BGM: See No Evil]


Uh, hey. Nice place you have here.

It... isn't. Nice of you to stop by though, Ox, I wasn't sure if I'd see you again.

I don't know why you wouldn't. We did sort of go through a lot.

Also, are you really going to still call me Ox, even now?

Think of it as a nickname.

I think of it as a reminder of a pretty thoroughly traumatic experience.

Well, you always did look on the downside. Anyways, what brings you here?



There's no reason in particular. I just had some time off, and wanted to see how you were holding up after the dust had really started to settle.

I'm... living. Found myself a new therapist. ...Hopefully one that doesn't try to slowly brainwash me over time.

That's the goal, isn't it?

So how about you?

Okay, so, I do have a small confession here – there's a thing the game does that I completely left out of the LP until this point, and simply acted as if it wasn't there. During the second game, when Mouse goes and talks to everyone, you actually get a dialogue option for everyone there – and there's a “right” choice you can make that changes how life goes for each surviving character in this epilogue.

I left it out for a couple of reasons – firstly, it breaks the pacing REALLY hard and also would be hard to get votes for in any kind of reasonable scale, and secondly, Monkey, Pig and Rooster's questions are, uh, a little more obviously thin in scope compared to the rest considering, well, how that all shakes out... and people in the thread had already basically sussed out the broad strokes so that would be a confirmation updates before the reveal. Instead, I went ahead and picked the “right” option for all of the ones where there was a right option, and I'll just briefly mention what the neutral/default outcome for each person is as we get to it.



Quitting the whole prosecution racket, eh? How bold.

Indeed. I can't say I'm feeling particularly confident in my choices right about now.

However, after reflecting a bit on this whole thing, I can't help but feel my time there has been misplaced. I want to make the world a better place. But I might need to think a bit harder about how exactly I plan on going about it.

Well, good for you. Have you figured out what you want to do now?

I'm not sure. Something befitting my skillset, certainly.

The default outcome for Ox doesn't result in him quitting prosecution, but instead he's simply taken a break to process what happened and is ready for things to get 'back to business as usual', with no other introspection on his place in how everything happened.

Anyways, did you hear about the news regarding Rooster?

Oh yeah, he finally woke up, didn't he?

Indeed. Honestly, after spending so long in intensive care, I thought he was a goner.

Totally.



I can't believe that botch job we cobbled together actually ended up saving him.

You can never underestimate the human spirit.

You can't. ...He's probably going to jail for the rest of his life, huh?

The case against him at present is actually surprisingly tenuous, should he not confess. But... yes, I would still wager on a long-term imprisonment for him.

That's probably for the best. Still, I can't say I don't feel at least a little bad for him.

You do?

I mean, he did end up saving us, when all's said and done. And he was probably just as manipulated into being party to the whole thing as Brian was.

I suppose. Still, I wouldn't have shed a tear had he not recovered.

…



The funeral date for Dog and Pig is still being set.

It's been a while... I do think it's nice that Pig's online popularity is sort of surging post-mortem, though. I mean, it kind of seems like hollow consolation, but, you know. It's not nothing.

I'm sure Pig would have appreciated that. ...As I'm sure Dog would have appreciated the media's silence on his whole part in any of this.

He probably would have.

Dog was dead before the second game started, so he didn't get a dialogue choice at all, and both Rooster and Pig's dialogue choices don't change anything either, for somewhat obvious reasons.

Did you hear about Tiger? She apparently decided to get therapy, and like, totally changed her life around.

Indeed. If I understand it right, she now intends to be a motivational speaker?

That's fitting.

It's definitely a large pivot for her, and yet, you're right, it suits her.

I'm just glad she seems to be doing well.

The default outcome for Tiger has her end up getting arrested for assault after getting in a street fight with someone, and while it's implied her sentence will be light due to first offense, her financial status, and lingering trauma from the games, Mouse and Ox note that while she'll probably be forced to get the help she needs this was hardly the ideal way for her to get it.



I also heard all about Sheep.

What about Sheep?

She... joined a punk rock band.

Ox started coughing in response to this.

I'm sorry, what?

Yeah, it's crazy, right? Apparently she met up with some old friends from middle school, had a few drinks, and decided – 'fuck it'.

Huh. Wouldn't have thought it.

Well, more power to her.

Certainly. I hope the band makes it big.

The default for Sheep, on the other hand, just has her return to her regular job as a librarian. Not much changes for her, but Mouse noted she seemed happy enough going back to the routine.



At any rate, I also heard about Bunny.

Oh yeah, so did I.

Since I stole that incriminating flash drive, it's been difficult to prove much regarding the whole police situation.

Didn't he, like, revolutionize the police force or something?

Yes. Unbeknownst to Oliver Bowen, it appears Bunny had been spending his time gathering confidants who are also sick of the current system.

In a rather radical turn of events, a whole bunch of evidence has come to light which has put Bowen and many other high ranking officials under great scrutiny. They've lost their jobs, and the federal courts are considering pressing charges.

In the meantime, Bunny and the others have become the acting police force in Hightower.

Huh. Good for him, I guess. He... definitely strikes me as the type that would plot an uprising like that.

No matter what choice you make regarding the flash drive, it doesn't influence Bunny's outcome – if you turn it in, it just “goes missing” and nothing changes. Bunny's default outcome has him confess to his personal involvement in stuff, as well as ratting out the police force; he ends up in a high-security federal prison for his own protection while he waits to be able to testify in full, and functionally 'goes down with the ship' to ensure the corruption gets routed, rather than whistleblowing and heading up the process of change himself. This version of Bunny believes it's better for him to spend his days in a jail cell to atone, rather than cleaning up the mess the police have left.

Themis does acknowledge that depending on your personal views, either of these could be the “best” outcome for Bunny, but for our purposes of getting the “right” outcome, having Bunny out of prison and helping to remove the corruption is what counts for that.



In a shocking twist, it sounds as though Horse will be joining Bunny.

What?

Yes, apparently he's decided to quite his job as a construction worker, and will be training to become a police officer. Something about getting a more stable income for his adopted daughter.

You know, I think Horse being a police officer is kind of fitting.

I... guess I could see it?

Citizens can sleep safe knowing that Bunny and Horse will be watching over them at night.



The default option has Horse vanish into the night completely, having been unable to process the trauma from the games and seemingly deciding the best option is to separate himself from his adoptive daughter... who is likely to end up back in an orphanage as a result. Great outcomes, guys! Either he becomes a cop or he abandons his daughter.



If we're really going to do a full recap of how everybody's been doing, I suppose I'd be remiss in not mentioning Dragon.

You would be.

Apparently, she's reformed her gang into a group aimed to 'protect and uplift the community'.

No shit.

Indeed. I suppose the dance with death has made Dragon turn an altruistic heel.

Naturally, such drastic reforms to the group have met with a lot of backlash. A lot of people quitting, other gangs eager to take advantage of the power vacuum and the like. But... that was always to be expected.

For the most part, it seems like Dragon's been keeping things together.

That's a relief. I spent a lot of time imprisoned with her. I'm glad to see she's using her charisma for good.

Indeed.

In her default outcome, Dragon simply steps down from head of her gang and washes her hands of the whole scene. She decides to start attending community college, and in her absence the gang's activity does start winding down just naturally with the lack of a strong leader. (Mouse actually considers meeting up with Dragon for drinks and trying to spark a friendship in this outcome, so I think the default outcome is the better one, personally.) )



She's even collaborating with Snake.

You're kidding.

I'm dead serious. Snake apparently rekindled his love of teaching through this.

I spoke with him, and he says that after everything was said and done, he realized the things that would last after he was gone was not any of his artwork, but his influence on the younger generation.

The way he put it was, 'it'd be simply amoral to waste time dilly-dallying about nothing much of substance, no?'

That... sounds like Snake alright.

In this aim, he's been a part of a community outreach program aimed at helping high school dropouts turn their life back around. A pretty saintly idea if I've ever heard one.

You're telling me. Right on, Snake. Right on.

Snake's default ending has him quit his teaching job, seemingly stop producing new art under his current name, and leave Hightower completely. He functionally just goes off the grid, and nobody can get hold of him.

I sighed. It was all a lot to take in.

… Say, Mouse?

Yes?

[BGM: Rat's Awakening]


Have you been, er, bothered at all about what Monkey was talking about back then?

You're gonna have to be a bit more specific there. That lady said a lot of crazy shit.

I'm talking about her whole spiel about how the world is 'predestined' and everything. I've been thinking about it ever since, and... she raises a point, you know?

In this very specific avenue, I mean. It's just... I don't know how to refute it.

… Ox, have you heard of 'playing your outs'?

Hm?



I heard about it from Snake when we were imprisoned at Dog's. Basically, the idea is that if there's a situation where you always win, or always lose, you ignore it. After all, your decisions don't matter in those scenarios.

Instead, you just focus on the situations where your choices can change things. I think that's pretty applicable here.

How so?

Perhaps predetermination is real. Who gives a shit? If that's the case, then whatever. But if it's not? Then think about how ridiculous it'd be to use predetermination as a crutch!

Imagine failing to win a race and then claiming that 'you never could have won the race, because it was predestined'. It's laughable, right?

Well... when you put it like that.

I think it's important to keep in mind that everyone has their own circumstances that made them the way they are, and that sometimes things happen without much of a good reason. That's all fine and good. But beyond that?

The only use I can see for thinking about that type of stuff is just making yourself depressed.



I don't know if I have 'true free will' or whatever. But I know that I'm experiencing my life. I know that the choices I make are what will make my life better... or worse. And that's really all that matters to me.

It's kind of a dismissive way of thinking about it, though.

Is that so wrong?

Who's to say?

I am.

Then it isn't so wrong.

Exactly.



Standing there, my eyes wandered to the stolen USB still sitting on my desk. Evidently, so did Ox's.

Is that...

It is.

I figured. I knew you took it when I realized it wasn't recovered at the scene. ...So, what are you going to do with it? Why'd you take it?

Are you going to publish it online, for all the world to see? Or are you going to put it to your own uses, blackmailing people like Amadeus did in the past? Or are you just going to start by looking through it all, and decide from there?

…

Truthfully speaking, I didn't know why I had grabbed that USB drive. I just figured that turning it in would be a mistake, and I didn't want its secrets to vanish into the ether forever. That flashdrive represented opportunity. Possibility. With it, I could do so many things. I could be a benevolent revealer of the truth, or a devilish mastermind just like Bowen. Who deserved to be outed? What secrets should stay secrets? I'd need to decide all that by myself. They were important questions.

But I was the one who'd be in control of answering them. And that was the most important thing.



[True Ending – Joker]

There are infinite ways in the universe to live. This... is merely one. No man has a set path that he must walk. But in the end, we all must make the choice of which.

…

[BGM: Sleepy Sheep]