⛌ bluff ⛌

[SHIVERS]

Your thoughts are jumbled to say the least.

Notably,
thinking about how Mikki came in and changed back,
but you feel your chances of that are growing slimmer.

ARC:\TR_TH *OF COURSE IT WOULDN'T BE THAT SIMPLE FOR ME*


ARC:\TR_TH *...THERE'S STILL A CHANCE*
ARC:\TR_TH *MAYBE*

ARC:\TR_TH *PLEASE*




Ultimately,
you know you need answers, and owing a kind-of-weird museum manager a favor isn't that big of a deal if it means getting some.
You're sure More answers likely won't come cheap, though.

You're still wary -
you know there's a decent chance they know what's going on -
but you can keep your suspicions to yourself.

Hopefully something will come to light.
Anything, at this point.








"All decided?"

ARC:\SPEECH "...SURE."



"Deal?"





ARC:\SPEECH "DEAL."










You reach out your claw






and take the ticket.






































You


















You reach out your claw,



























You reach out













and take the














You reach out and









You take






























You reach out














and clasp your claw with theirs.



A wave of dread rushes through your circuits.

You can't pull your hand away.

You feel a crushing pressure
all over


that's slowly dissipating.







"Perfect."




You gaze up at the creature holding onto you.

You don't recognize their species.



You have no idea what you're looking at.



Long and slender,
almost serpentine in an S-shape,
but with short arms and legs
protruding at about the first and second thirds of the body.

Two ears - you assume they're ears -
thin, and flicked upwards from their head.

Bright purple, though it transitions to a light blue closer to the tail,
creating a gradient effect.
Bright yellow eyes with a jack-o-lantern grin.
Scars the same color, but turning orange and then red the further along they are down the creature's body.

Tall.
Taller than the rat.
Several heads taller than you, at least.

Their imposing head grins down at you.










"You really should be more careful.

Making deals with anyone you meet?"



Their long neck leans in,
eyes and jagged mouth lighting up your screen.



"WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN."









They let you go;
snickering,
as if they'd just told a joke too funny to contain.

"That friend of yours drove a much harder bargain, you know.
I didn't even have to turn you back yet!
And for,
well..."

They reach into your pocket, and pull out your ticket.
Then, they take a ticket from the stack the rat had set by the register.

They hold both up in front of your screen.



The two tickets are identical.
Same light blue color.
No moon, no sun, just the title of the

"...not much of anything.
Parlor tricks, really."

They put one back in your pocket
and toss the other.

"But, a deal's a deal."
They smile.






You realize you can move again.






Instinct kicks in.

You turn around to leave.



The door is gone.









"Done already?
And here I thought you wanted answers.
You were fairly adamant about your little investigation before.

And,
to change back,

of course."



You find yourself facing the creature again,
although you're certain you hadn't turned back around.




"How about we stay focused, hm?
All that worrying of yours is impeding progress.
Here."

The purple creature reaches
into your screen.



You feel their claws

rummaging around In Your Head.
Your display flashes and glitches.



You



suddenly feel


calm.

"There we go.
Simple enough."

Their claw recedes,
pulling you forward somewhat as it pops out of your monitor.



"Better?"

You can't exactly disagree.
You know you SHOULD be scared,
or extremely Wary at the very least.

But you aren't.



"Good!
Let's talk."

The creature snaps their claws.
























 

▶ Safe Surface
corru works

You find yourself
sitting in an admittedly-comfortable red armchair
in a black void.

The creature sits across from you, in a chair just like yours.

A single, warm light with no apparent source illuminates the both of you.







"You want to know about the museum?"

You hadn't asked a question.
You aren't even sure what you were Thinking.

"Yes, it is different at night!

VERY different.
You knew that already.

Afraid I can't tell you more than that!

If you want to know more,
why not go back?
You've only been Once, after all.
Maybe you could try bringing a friend this time.

You already know what could happen to you.

So what's the harm?
You want a new look, don't you?"
They raise their claw to their mouth, stifling a giggle.



"As for during the day,
it's normal. Just as boring as it ever was.

The only difference is: Me!
Couldn't exactly leave that old man here to run things, could I?
He'll be back when it's all said and done, anyway.
...I think."

They shrug.

"Regardless,
if you want to come see me,
I'll be here anytime during the day; feel free to drop by!
And don't worry about a ticket.
You should be using those, anyway.

Oh, but don't try and bring any friends along.
And don't try to tell anyone, either. It won't work."

They tap the top of your monitor.

"You're the only one that gets to know about me.
I can't exactly remove your memory with those guardian angels of yours, can I?
And what a privilege!

I'm sure you feel very lucky."








You

finally


work up the nerve to speak.

ARC:\SPEECH "YOU'RE... THE ONE THAT DID THIS TO ME."

They make a face and point at themself, as if to say 'Me?'
They're still grinning.

ARC:\SPEECH "YOU ARE, AREN'T YOU?"
ARC:\SPEECH "YOU DID... /ALL/ OF THIS."



A buzzer sounds,
from nowhere,

as a large red X flashes over your screen.

"Nope!
I didn't, if you can believe it.
I played no part in that Update of yours,
though I won't argue with the results.
Certainly an interesting choice!"

You don't see them stand up,
but they're suddenly lifting you up entirely by the monitor,
claws tapping about on your new head.

"I can't imagine why you'd want to go back.
This body is SO much more interesting than that old one.
And you've hardly experimented with it at all!"

You feel them playing around with knobs and switches on the back of your head
that you didn't even know you had.

You feel every click and turn,
every subtle shift,
every little change to your display.

Every sensation is alien.
Your limbs jolt reflexively on occasion, as if expecting pain.

No part of it hurts at all.

"You don't even know what all your buttons do yet,
or how to get that cassette loader of yours working."

They sigh quietly,
sounding legitimately disappointed. Somehow.

"What a waste."

The creature gently sets you back down in the seat,
leaving you marginally dazed, yet MUCH more present, now.

They sit back down, shaking their head.

You don't have words.
You're still processing how that felt.
And that part of you really does not want to think about it.








"You know,
if you want to be technical,
you did this to You.



You entered the museum.



You chose the exhibit.

That particular fascination of yours really backfired, didn't it?
That's one way to look at it, at least!

I suppose
it's all about perspective."
Their smile is back.


"Either way,
I didn't do this to you.
But I can change you back.

Sort of!"

ARC:\SPEECH "...WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?"

They tilt their head at you.
"You saw what happened to your old body.
It rotted away.

Into practically nothing.



I could put you back in the rotten sludge that's left,
but you'd effectively die along with it.

None of us want that, do we?





However,
I Can make a new one!

Just like the old.
More or less."

ARC:\SPEECH "MORE OR LESS?"
You feel as if you're speaking automatically.

"This new body is your REAL body.
It's woven into your being.
Quilted together.
Allllll the way down into what makes you You.
Not even I could remove it if I tried, at this point.

So, even an entirely new body will have some
bleed
to this one.

Like a blueprint at its core.

And it will try to pull back to its natural state," They point at you,
the computer.

"...if you allow it to do so.



Just don't pull at it too much,
and everything will stay relatively 'normal'.

Even if the reminder will Always be there."






You stare.

Dead silent.



Even with the calming effect, from whatever they did to you,
your thought process feels sluggish;
like a residual effect from the stress you Should be feeling.



"So, how about it?
Would you like to be an amerveille again?
Nearly the same body as before; myopia and all.

You'll owe me again, but you've already come this far.
What's another deal?"

They reach across to you,
holding out a claw to shake,
grinning, as ever.

"And, of course, if 'you' have questions,
I could indulge some.
For a price, of course!

And I don't take money.
Luckily for you,
you won't even know what my payment is until after it's done!
A lot less for you to worry about that way.

Don't you agree?"