You stumble towards bed, hauling yourself up and patting around for Sky. Once you find your plush, you hug it close to your chest...even with all of the new stressors around Monty and Max, it still brings you a lot of comfort. You’re not sure what to do about that whole situation, but for now, you need to rest and let yourself regenerate. 

You slowly let the world tune out around you, falling asleep for the first time. 



It is dreamless.



When you wake up again, your head has healed- how long were you out? Your health is also back at its maximum of PERFECT, and you feel fine. Sky is still held tightly in your arms, and you give it an extra squeeze for good measure. 



Once you acclimate to being awake again, you decide to drag your laptop over to your blanket nest, propping up Sky in your lap so that it can see the screen. You read about something called “searching” in your web browser application, and it’s about time that you started looking for answers. It’d be free, unlike asking the overseers, right?



>how to protect people

Oh god, so many results, most about news and illnesses, whatever those are...it’s kind of overwhelming.

>how to get stronger

A lot of stuff about “exercise” and...you don’t know what half of this stuff means. 

>how to get strong fast and free

You are absolutely bombarded with links for “muscle supplement free trial order now”.

You somehow doubt this will help you.

>how to protect yourself if you're small and weak

This gives you way less results, the third one jumping out to you-

“INSTANT PROXY
The surefire way to enhance your life, use magic, and protect what’s important to you!”

No idea what magic is, but it’s worth a look- better than getting overwhelmed by millions of search results.



“Invest now in supernatural self-defense with our brand new Instant Proxy™ kit!

The Instant Proxy™ comes with all the essentials to developing an impressive proxy like clockwork!

Avoid all the prep-work and hassle that comes with the process! Setup can be done in minutes and you'll see results by the end of the hour! No more mixing devilish spices or fishing around a lake of shady eldritch entities! 

The Instant Proxy kit comes with:

(2) Canned Potatoes, just add a bit of yourself!

(1) Self-Tuning Angel Radio! No dealing with finding a signal!

(1) A Blank Deck to help you generate form! 

(1) Scrap Amp! Power up fast!

(1) Radiation orb, allowing you to use the kit even in the middle of nowhere!

(1) Instruction Booklet in Common, “Spanish”, and Esperanto!  (Instructions for how to dismiss a proxy sold separately. Warning! Results may vary!)

Ordering the deluxe edition will also include

(1) Deluxe Scrap Amp for even more power!

(1) Proxy Monitor! Normally quite rare, this tool for tracking and maintaining proxy growth is now at your hands!

(1) Little Buddy! Experts hate him!

Begin your adventure today whether it be to find more success at your job, maintain a loving relationship, fight the dark arts, or just impress your friends! Order now!“

There’s a button on the bottom that seems out of place for some reason…

”Orderable for Trials Reward”

Huh...whoever’s making these webpages knows about the trials, you guess?

...that, or the overseers put this there.

You have a sneaking suspicion it’s the second one. Still...whatever this is, even if it goes over your head, the idea of maintaining loving relationships, fighting whatever the dark arts are, and impressing friends...neat!



>what skills are useful in resisting manipulation

You don’t get as many results for this one, but the second one seems promising. It’s some kind of “psychology” site.

“...being taken advantage of is a common thing in our society, but it is is possible to avoid with skill development. Knowing what the steps that common manipulators use is the key to avoiding being manipulated yourself.

Step 1) Manipulators will look for ways to make you feel insecure about your life, and make you feel like you are missing something, or target areas that you have worries and doubts about. 

Step 2) Manipulators will use these insecurities to provoke an emotional reaction of some kind- the stronger, the better. This reaction may override your common sense, and make you more susceptible to their manipulation. 

Step 3) Manipulators use your emotional state to suggest that doing what they would like you to do would be beneficial to not only you, but potentially a larger group- it could be your school, your workplace, your friends and/or family...or even a group they themself belong to.

Step 4) Manipulators will try to erase your fear and doubt about an action with reassurance, and potentially make things more appealing through rewards either through themself or your own actions.

These are not the only ways that manipulators operate, and knowing them does not make you completely immune to manipulation- but knowledge is power, and knowing at least common techniques behind manipulators’ actions will help you to avoid trouble.” 

...these don’t make you feel very good about your recent talk with Max.



>what skills are good at understanding people

You get another numbered list for this one. 

“Good communication skills are vital for understanding others- here’s some handy tips for getting to know people!

Share interests
Sharing your interests with others and having them share theirs in turn is a great way to break the ice in conversations, with anything in common being a stepping stone towards a great relationship. Even if there doesn’t seem to be anything shared between you and another person at first, stay open to new possibilities- you never know what new experiences could end up being your favorites!

Listen often
When you talk to someone, listen to what they’re saying and think about their perspective. Being perceptive to their thoughts and needs will be a boon in almost any conversation- but beware of people who won’t do the same for you! 

Offer a shoulder in times of need
When someone you know is going through a hard time, offering some reassurance or just a listening ear is a good way to help them feel appreciated and cared for. Make sure not to overextend past what you can do, and take care of yourself too- a good friend will offer the same comfort to you when they’re able!

Keep an eye out for social cues
While it can be difficult for some to pick up on things such as body language and tone, learning to identify these these will help you stay on top of social interactions! When in doubt, however- just ask how someone is doing! 

Stay sincere
Be honest and true to your feelings, and try not to let sarcasm or irony get you down. Being sincere with someone will allow you to strengthen your relationship as you get to know each other- and if they aren’t sincere in return, stay away!”

Well, it looks like you’re already doing a lot of these. That’s good news!

>what skills are good at helping people

Most of the search results are talking about “improvement for your career”, which is a little frustrating. It doesn’t really sound relevant to you!



>what is destiny

“Destiny: the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future; fate.”

Huh. That weirds you out a bit, frankly. Was some kind of future event with Monty your destiny? And what about Max’s future? It makes your head hurt to think about too hard, but looking down at Sky reassures you a bit- better to have a vision of time with someone who was kind to you, versus someone who creeped you out.

At least, you hoped so.



You decide to wind down from all this new information by trying out pinball...the instructions are a little hard to grasp at first, but actually getting into the game, you pick it up quick.

Oh god, it’s so fun.

This may end up being a problem.

 
You shuffle around your laptop to get your journal and pen, quickly scribbling down the updated names and pronouns of all the TCPs you’ve met so far...or at the very least, heard of. For posterity’s sake, you also start including typings.
 

You remember the text editor program on your computer, too- you quickly check the manual to figure out how to use it, and enter the same information in a new file. Looking good.
 
Time for questions.

You...really don’t like that- you’re not sure how long either of these time periods are, but they sure don’t line up. Whether you tell Suzanne or not is something you’ll have to figure out later, but...yeesh.
 
The idea of a proxy sounds interesting, and while you do have some worries about the whole thing...it tempts you.

A box comes tumbling down the chute, having to pry it out as best as you can with your short arms. 

Well, there it is. You open it up and start taking things out, laying all the components out in front of you. There’s an instruction manual, thank god...though it looks a little sparse.

Huh. An object...the way you see it, you could use the cards they gave you, whatever those do...or maybe toss Sky in there. Could be interesting, and the idea of making Sky stronger in some way sounds cool.

Okay, never mind, most of it goes over your head anyway. The whole “extension of personal traits” thing stands out, though....maybe it could help you be a better medic! May as well just...dive into it, you guess?

Or...maybe not yet. You definitely want to go for this, especially using Sky for it, but it might be a good idea to put in some more research first.

For now, you look up what “months” and “weeks” are, as well as measurements of time.

You...think you get the gist, now. You still don’t have too much reference as to how long an “hour” is in practice, unless you think about how the overseers told you it’d take “two hours” for your injury to heal earlier. Since you had a new one heal completely during your nap, you must have been asleep for at least that long, though something tells you it was much longer.

The door opens up as they say it.

 

You scribble down how long people have been in the trials for in your digital and physical notes before heading out, giving Sky a little pat on your way. 

The next trial chamber is...tiny. At the very least, the platform you’re on is- there’s some stairs going down, and there might be more to see there.

There’s already a door open, and you can’t help but peek down the hall-

 

You barely have time to notice the smoke billowing out of the open door before you feel something large collide with your body, knocking you backwards.

 

You have to struggle to get back up, panic going through your whole body- to your relief, it doesn't appear to be one of those balls that Monty talked about. It's...your mind calls it a trash bag?

You see a TCP poke their head out of the doorway and look sheepishly at you.

Three more TCPs poke their heads out.

They trail off and just stare into space.

The last TCP finishes the introduction.

 

Your eyes are drawn to the lines on the other TCPs' faces. They're...unsettling, and it's with a sudden shock that your mind tells you exactly what they are-

 

These TCPs are marked. Before this moment, you were completely unaware of what that meant- but now, you know without a shadow of a doubt...that a marked TCP has killed someone. With this information, you know the meaning of the marks as well. Length means how intended the kill was, and how broken up the line was indicated regret...

This is...really overwhelming. You had no idea about any of this, and just seeing the marks flooded your mind with this knowledge. A deep feeling of dread settles in the longer you look at them, but you don't want to avert your eyes and make things awkward.

You don't know if you want to share anything with someone who's killed another TCP, but...you have questions, and you have to stay calm.

All four TCPs burst into laughter at that, Roxas approaching you while giggling.

They stay awkwardly silent for several moments.

Roxas kneels down and puts their arm around you, the door shutting behind the TCPs as they all come out to see you.

They don't seem like murderers. But...

This is a hell of a situation.

 

You have no idea what a metabolism is, and your mind is too scattered on the whole MURDER THING to really figure out what the hell it means.

The group shuffles around uncomfortably, clearly unused to answering this question. You notice that Samson in particular seems upset about something when it's brought up.

 

You calm down slightly at Todd’s tone...you don’t want to admit that the idea of having to do this yourself has crossed your mind, but the fact that the...gamers? Seem to take this seriously shows that it wasn’t an easy decision.

You see Todd, Cayden, and Roxas glance at each other before nodding quickly. All three of them loudly burst into song wishing you a... happy birthday? Before they get very far into it, Samson interrupts them.

You start walking with the gamers, keeping an eye on them as you do.

Samson scoffs.

Todd puts his hand on your head, and suddenly you feel the knowledge of gaming flow into you. It's similar to the feeling you get when you read a skill paper. Suzanne did the same thing, back in the first chamber, now that you think of it.

You've gotta think about your approach here. There's so many options for gaming and being a true gamer...

Before you manage to get down all the steps (they're a bit big for you, unfortunately), you pause and make sure to ask something important.

 

You channel your knowledge of gaming to find the right words.

You've got this.

Roxas fidgets with their claws and makes a sort of low droning sound before responding.

A couple of the TCPs let out resigned sighs.

Samson gives you a look that you can only assume is her pitying you.

 

You decide to pick up on some of these swear words. They’re good stuff- you mean shit.

Samson huffs and walks faster, putting distance between herself and the group.

He sighs.

You keep heading down the stairs, reaching the next floor. There are buttons all over the place, and when you stop to count, you get five of them. They seem to be blocked by a variety of platforms...one that moves sideways to your right, one that moves up and down in front of you, a sequence of platforms to jump across,  one that spins and...there's one button across a large gap with no platforms, just a tiny ledge to stand on.

You walk over slowly to the raising and falling platform, your nerves setting in as you get close. It's not that far of a gap between you and the platform, but it doesn't rest at the bottom for long before going right back up.

 

Samson glances over at you while jumping between platforms.

You feel yourself getting hoisted off the ground by Todd.

OH GOD THEY COULD DROP YOU AND ITS ONE OF THE MURDER ONES-

Todd gently places you on the platform, the force of it rising mildly jostling you.

You reach the button in no time, and hitting it gets you a beep...but nothing happens, and the platform lowers shortly after.

You look over to check on the gamers.

 

You see that all the gamers but Todd have made it to their buttons, with Roxas having somehow disabled the spinning platform and the others simply sitting and waiting at their buttons. You resist the urge to call out to Todd, not wanting to distract them....besides, they probably got delayed as a result of helping you.

You wait patiently, the platform lowering and raising in a steady rhythm...faster than you want it to be, but it's fine. It's Fine.

Todd hops onto the platform that moves back and forth, calling out to the room.

Once the platform reaches the top, you press and hold the button as long as possible.

Thankfully, with everyone at their places, a chime echoes through the room.

You gather your courage and hop off of the platform as soon as it gets closer- but still high up enough to give you some room for error on the jump. 

Thankfully, you land just fine, only flopping on your face a little bit. You're getting used to that.

The gamers reassemble around you and help you get to your feet.

UHHH YOU ARE NOT SURE ABOUT THIS