Choose Wisely (Tear's Act 1 Song)
4th of July, 2023
[Overseer]
Tear? Tear! Wake up!
[Tear]
I slowly opened my eyes. Yesterday was a strange day. I learned that I'm in a facility full of non-human beings and I'm here to judge their past actions or something like that.
My memories from after the Overseer's introduction to my new surroundings are still quite fuzzy. I say "new surroundings" but I still don't remember anything of who I was before arriving here.
I woke up in a comfortable bed. Definitely a better awakening experience than yesterday. Although this all still feels so strange, I guess I kind of got used to the whole concept of it pretty quickly.
I turned my head to see the Overseer on the bed next to me. It's funny, he looks kind of like a plushie. Or at least he's the right size to be one.
[Overseer]
Aren't you at least going to say good morning?
[Tear]
Oh, right. Sorry, good morning Overseer.
I was still feeling very sleepy, to the point it was hard to form words.
[Overseer]
I apologise for waking you up, sleepyhead. But today I wanted to give you a demonstration of some of the capabilites that our Project Crystal Colony technology has.
[Tear]
Alright...
I was still struggling to keep my eyes open, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in both of my hands.
Oww! What the?!
After a brief amount of time, the pain suddenly came to a halt.
[Overseer]
I also apologise for having to use that on you. You're still learning, so I guess I should go easy on you.
Anyway, as I was saying, I wanted to demonstrate some of the technological capabilities that we have at this Project Crystal Colony facility of ours.
That was not the specific piece of tech I was wanting to demonstrate, but I guess this was a good opportunity to show you something that you and the other residents of this facility all have in common.
[Tear]
Something we... all have in common?
I looked down at my hands...
[Tear]
...To see that I was wearing a pair of dark grey gloves that didn't belong to me.
[Overseer]
Yes, that's right, the gloves. And also keep in mind that this entire operation does require us basically reading your thoughts, so be careful what you think... Hehehehe...
[Tear]
Unsettling laugh aside, where did these gloves come from? And what exactly are they, to be able to cause such a sharp pain in my hands?
[Overseer]
To answer your question, these gloves belong to the Project Crystal Colony facility, and they're placed on everyone to make sure everyone stays in line and does what they're supposed to.
We can't have our judge sleeping on the job before the real fun begins, can we now?
[Tear]
Still lost for words, I tried to keep my thoughts quiet. I had no reason to disbelieve what the Overseer was saying, especially considering the absurdity of the situation I'd been placed in.
I guess we can't...
[Overseer]
Right you are. Now to the important stuff. Remember when I talked about you watching music videos earlier based on the residents of this facility?
[Tear]
Of course I did. How could I forget, after all?
[Overseer]
That's all I needed to hear. Now, while you were sleeping, I managed to test our music video creation technology on you.
[Tear]
Wait, what? I didn't consent to this! Is this even legal? Although to be fair, I don't really know where this facility is.
[Overseer]
Don't you worry your pretty little head, Tear. You're completely unharmed, I checked.
[Tear]
He says that, but can I really trust a word he says?
[Overseer]
You don't have anyone else around here that you can trust though, do you? After all, you have amnesia and you haven't even met any other residents yet.
[Tear]
He's right that I don't remember anyone from my life before coming here, and he's the only face I've seen so far.
If I view this as a kidnapping situation though, should I really be putting my trust in my captor?
[Overseer]
It seems I underestimated everyone's incapability to make their own thoughts shut up. Although I am impressed that you don't seem too weirded out by the whole mind-reading thing.
Although I do find it interesting that you haven't questioned why you have amnesia yet.
[Tear]
What?! Does the Overseer have something to do with me not being able to remember anything?
[Overseer]
Don't give me that look. It's not like you can do anything, even if I am involved in your memory loss.
[Tear]
Once again my vision turned to greyscale.
[Overseer]
You better not try anything even if you suspect me, that's for sure...
[Tear]
My vision returned to normal. I guess he does have a point. With these gloves on my hands, he has a way to basically ensure that I do what he wants.
I guess my best option is to just play along for now. I don't know what'll happen with these other residents, but they're complete strangers to me. I need to focus on keeping myself safe around here.
[Overseer]
Hehehe... Don't worry about keeping yourself safe. If you're worried about the other residents, they can't harm you. Another one of our Project Crystal Colony technologies will prevent that from happening.
[Tear]
He did mention the other residents are also wearing the same gloves as me, so I guess that makes sense. Although I think it is a bit of a cruel way to go about making someone do what you want.
As I was still deep in thought trying to piece together as much information as I can, my vision turned to greyscale again.
[Overseer]
Oh please. We have more than just the gloves to protect you, that's for sure...
[Tear]
My vision returned to normal. How the hell does he keep doing that to me?
How the hell do you...?
[Overseer]
Tear, Tear, Tear... I can read your thoughts, remember? But let's not stray too far from the current topic.
As I was saying, the gloves aren't the only thing here to protect you from the other residents. We anticipated they might believe you're part of the reason they're here, so we developed another solution just in case, to ensure your safety.
[Tear]
I looked around for any kind of clues as to what he was referring to, but found nothing.
[Overseer]
Your gloves enable you to have an invisible forcefield around you to protect you from any kind of external harm.
Developed by one of our facility staff known by the pseudonym of "Dr Plot", I call this feature your "Plot Armour".
[Tear]
Plot Armour? Kind of an ironic name considering the reality of the weird situation I've been placed into.
[Overseer]
As for your vision going weird when I say my little catchphrase... Well, you might want to have a look in the mirror for this one.
[Tear]
A... look in the mirror...?
I started to panic before I realised there was a mirror on one of the walls. It was then I noticed something strange.
[Tear]
My eyes... What... did you do to my eyes...?
[Overseer]
Nothing for you to worry about. I just requested the ability to be able to make your vision go funny when I say my catchphrase.
Considering my size, I had to make myself seem at least a little bit more intimidating, right?
[Tear]
I'm scared now. The Overseer has the power to give me gloves that can hurt me, to give me a forcefield to protect me, and to affect my vision.
And that's not all. He says he's made a music video based on me? Just who is the Overseer, exactly?
[Overseer]
Don't you worry. All I want you to worry about right now is watching the little music video I've prepared for you, to introduce you to what exactly the viewing experience will be like for you.
Now, if you remember the concept of Phases I introduced you earlier, your music video will also contain all twelve residents from Phase 1.
I know you haven't met them yet, but I didn't want our technology to produce a lot of visual content based on your past. Can't having you knowing all about yourself this early on, can we?
[Tear]
I need to remember to just play along for now. As irritating as it is to know nothing about who I am, I guess it could be helpful to see the faces of who I'm supposed to be judging later.
[Overseer]
That's a good mindset for you to have. Now, the projector screen unrolling over there will play your little video for you now. You can hop back into bed if you like while you watch.
[Tear]
Curious about what this video was about to show me, I laid back down on my bed and tried to relax while the lights in the room turned off and the video played out before my eyes.
The video started off with a black screen with white text in the centre that read, "Choose Wisely".
Then the music began to play.
[Tear]
The music video started with a short clip of me walking towards the camera, while in some kind of room I didn't recognise.
At first I didn't seem to be looking towards the camera. I had one hand behind my head and just seemed to be staring off into space.
[Tear]
I then turned to look towards the camera.
[Tear]
And then began walking towards the camera with a blank expression on my face.
[Tear]
The video then cut to me standing a lot closer to the camera, with a hand behind my head once again.
[Tear]
The next few shots showed me seemingly investigating the camera, as if I didn't know what I was looking at.
[Tear]
It then looked like I was shocked at something. Was this part of the video representing something from before I was kidnapped?
[Tear]
Various side-view shots of me were then shown in areas with various different coloured walls. After each of these side views, it would show a video of one of the residents turning around to look at the camera, with their name displayed at the top-right of the screen.
It took me a moment to realise these were the first six people I had been shown yesterday. Their names, according to the video, were Rouge, Azure, Jordan, Nero, Memento, and Pocket.
[Tear]
For a short while, the video clips of the first six Phase 1 residents turning around were played and rewinded a few times, but with a pixellated filter on top of them.
After Pocket's pixellated video clip had played, the last six residents of Phase 1 were shown with their own pixellated video clips playing and then rewinding. Their names weren't shown on the screen yet.
After the last resident's pixellated clip played, I was then shown on the screen once again in a side-view, like earlier.
I was finally getting to see the unpixellated video footage of the last six residents, along with their names. Franklin, Denise, Snow Paw, Aubrey, Lorelai, and Victor.
[Tear]
After a few bars of music with the close-up of my shocked face earlier, the pixellated clips playing and then rewinding were shown to me again.
[Tear]
Once Victor's pixellated clip had finished, the video ended with a few shots of me from the walking clip from the beginning, but they were out of sequence. Some were also pixellated with a greenish filter over them, while others weren't.
And with that, Choose Wisely's music video was over. The lights in the room turned back on and the projector screen rolled back up towards the ceiling.
[Overseer]
So, what did you think, Tear?
[Tear]
I was intrigued by the twelve residents the video had shown me. But what I was most curious about was the clips of me.
I know that I don't remember anything, so was that video clip part of a deeply hidden memory in my own mind, currently inaccessible to me?
I liked the music I guess. But I don't really understand what this was showing me.
[Overseer]
The purpose of this was simply to demonstrate how this whole process will work. You meet a resident of this facility, and after you've spoken to them for a bit, you alone will be shown a music video telling the story of their past actions and experiences.
Since Choose Wisely was modelled off of you, and you're the judge in this situation, the whole "majority vote" process won't be occurring today.
But after you view the video for another resident, I and the other Project Crystal Colony staff from behind the scenes will be measuring your thoughts to determine whether or not you truly forgive each of them or not.
[Tear]
So for how long will you be measuring my thoughts exactly?
[Overseer]
For 24 hours per resident. However, some or most days, you may be shown multiple music videos. We have a lot of residents here, so this is merely to cut down on the time it'll take you to make decisions.
[Tear]
A question popped into my mind that sent a shiver down my spine.
What exactly will happen after you determine what I think of a particular resident? What's going to happen to them?
[Overseer]
Hehehehe... Don't worry about it. But I do find it interesting that someone who only a few minutes ago was only thinking about saving themself, is now concerned about the wellbeing of others who they haven't even met yet.
[Tear]
He does have a point. I guess having a name to put to each face made them feel more like real people rather than strangers who have no impact on me.
[Overseer]
Now. I know you haven't been awake for too long, but it's time for you to go back to sleep. I'll wake you up tomorrow so you can make yourself known to the Phase 1 residents.
[Tear]
Wait, go back to sleep? I've been awake for like, 10 minutes!
[Overseer]
I know. But you're going to need all the rest you can get. You're going to have some real dilemmas playing on your mind throughout this whole process, and you'll need the energy to be able to think all those thoughts about everyone.
[Tear]
Before I could object, I started to feel my consciousness slipping away and my thoughts delving into nonsense.
[Overseer]
Night-night, Tear. See you tomorrow.
END OF EPISODE
Episode 3 coming 6/07/2023