100% SP Payout
This is the continuation of the Bad Trip series.
The earlier chapters can be found here (part one)(part two)(part three)(part four)(part five)(part six)(part seven)(part eight)(part nine)
Part 10
Taylor stood staring at his doppelganger. Could this nightmare get any stranger, he thought wondering where it would all go from here. Milliseconds ticked by, but each one felt like an eternity. Taylor the original and Taylor the copy stood staring at each other, one in the hallway, the other in the room. Each seemed to be waiting for the other.
Without warning the doppelganger grabbed Taylor and dragged him into the room, slamming the door behind him. The room was pitched black, he found himself unable to see a thing. Taylor fell to the floor, and tried desperately to crawl as far away from that spot as he could. There was no sound, no sense of movement. Where is he now, he thought.
Suddenly the lights went on. Taylor took a moment to adjust his sight, but recognised the room once his eyes regained their focus. He looked around to confirm his suspicions. He was in the factory where he started this crazy adventure. It appeared to be the exact same one. He noticed the office slightly in the distance. The one where he met the Gamemaster. Taylor tried to find his copy, but from all he could see he was here alone.
As he stood up, he noticed the office door open. The Gamemaster walked out and looked straight at Taylor. Without looking around, he walked directly over to Taylor.
“So you picked door number minus one, did you?” he asked.
“I think it picked me!”
“How do you mean?” Taylor looked around. He knew he was dragged into this room, or at least into a room. And that room somehow became this same spot he started in. Yet there didn't appear to be the other Taylor anywhere. The Gamemaster noticed his agitation. “Looking for someone?”
“Yes, actually I am.”
“Who?”
“Me! The other me.” Taylor contemplated the irrationality of that statement. Is all of this supposed to be so surreal, he wondered. It was frightening at first, but now it just getting weirder.
“What other you? How many of you are there?” Taylor thought through his question. How many of me are there? Isn't he the Gamemaster, isn't he in charge. No point asking me these things.
“I opened the door to room number minus one after hearing a noise. When I did I saw me staring straight back at me. The other me grabbed me and dragged me into the room. This room, it would appear.” Taylor wondered at why he needed to explain the game to the Gamemaster. Why was he not up to speed on all of this. Something here doesn't add up. Or is this just another layer of the game? He thought back to his introduction to the Gamemaster - “layers within layers” - is that not what he told me? Taylor's suspicions grew; perhaps it's all just part of the game.
“The other you dragged you into this room? So he is in here also?” the Gamemaster asked.
“I assume so, but I haven't been able to find him, not since the lights came on. Do you know who that other me is, who this copy is? It's part of the game, right?”
The Gamemaster shot Taylor a look. A very unpleasant look. It left Taylor wondering about all of these latest developments. Perhaps it's not part of the game at all. Perhaps he is not completely in charge of this game. If he isn't then who is? And the big question; what if there are two Gamemasters? Which one would be the real one? All of these questions raced through his mind, like a car crash just waiting to happen. It seemed to bring the whole experience into focus for Taylor. Taylor asked himself one last question; what if none of this, none of these people, are real?
Taylor's doppelganger appeared several metres away from where the two men were standing. “Hello GM, sorry to crash your party.”
Taylor observed the Gamemaster for any indications. He remained steely eyed, giving very little away. He clearly didn't welcome this new arrival, but apart from that Taylor had very little to go on. Is something going on here, something way beyond me? Or am I still being played here? Am I not a contestant in some perverse game?
“What are you doing here?” the Gamemaster asked Taylor's doppelganger.
“It bothers you, doesn't it? No longer being the sole master of this game. This ridiculous charade.”
Turning to Taylor, the doppelganger asked, “He hasn't filled you in on anything, has he? Apart from some double talk, and obfuscations, you've essentially been told nothing, haven't you?”
“Well, I don't know,” Taylor mumbled. It was true. He was clueless about the bigger picture. And was there any other picture worth knowing about than the bigger picture? “I know I am in some sort of game. I don't understand why, though.”
The Gamemaster stood silent, seemingly unsure of how to deal with the gatecrasher.
“A game? All of life is a game. That doesn't really explain much, does it? Let me show you something.” Taylor's doppelganger changed his appearance in front of both Taylor and the Gamemaster. He now no longer resembled Taylor. Now he resembled the Gamemaster. Taylor stood wide eyed. What does this mean, he wondered. What are the implications of all of this? Someone looking just like me is a high level of strangeness, he thought. But completely changing their appearance in an instant. That's some kind of black magic. Surely that's not possible?
The Gamemaster took a step back. Out of nowhere he appeared to draw a gun, and pointed it at the other Gamemaster.
“Don't be silly, now. You and I both know you can't hurt me, any more than I can hurt you.” The new Gamemaster said. “Put that down before our friend here is hurt.” He pointed to Taylor as he spoke that last statement. They can't be hurt, but I can be? Taylor observed them both, and wondered, what happens if I mix them up?
“How can you do that?” Taylor asked, referring to the change in appearance.
“Because none of this is real. Not in the way you comprehend reality.”
“If it's not real then what is it? A dream?”
The new Gamemaster turned to the original and asked, “Shall I tell him, or will you?” He got no response. “Very well then, you're in a computer program. You've been mentally hacked. You have something that these people here want. Well not the Gamemaster so much as the people he represents.”
Taylor looked at the original Gamemaster. “What could I have that you want?”
“I'm not privy to such information,” he told Taylor. “And even if I was, I would be reluctant to tell you. Although I fear our new friend here won't hesitate.”
“No, I won't,” the second Gamemaster said.
“But before he does, you should ask him why he is helping you. Or if he is truly helping you.” The Gamemaster fired back.
Taylor thought it through. It was a good point. “So why are you helping me?” Perhaps they were all playing him. But for what purpose?
“You also have something he wants. Something different.” The original Gamemaster answered Taylor's question.
“How many things could I possible have that you all seem to want?” Taylor had gone from being scared, confused, bewildered, to now just downright annoyed. I don't have anything, he thought. Have they even got the right man?
The Gamemaster stood, still holding the gun pointed at his doppelganger. “Shall you tell him why you're here, or shall I?” He was met with silence. “You seemed to have found yourself in the middle of a civil war, it would seem,” he said to Taylor.
“So what does he want from me?” Taylor asked.
“He wants the only person who can help you. And he wants him dead.” Taylor realised he was referring to Jim.
“And that would leave me stranded.” Taylor said.
“Yes, it would,” the second Gamemaster said. “Just like he did to me.”
This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Pixabay.com and Unsplash.com
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