“Wait, what?” Jezebel’s eyes had shrunk into two dots no larger than a period.
“They trusted something that important to a program!?” "A very life like program." Shona concluded.
"One capable of mimicking human behavior." Alter ego sighed.
”Yes, I can copy nearly anyone. In that sense, having me in the number two seat meant that I could be whatever was required by the infinity initiative. In fact, my ability to mimic personalities was essential for enabling your personalities.” “Davis’s” stance changed, and the images behind him no longer depicted Alter Ego.
Alter Ego: Starring as:Shaun Ellen”B-but as you um, might know. Um, this is k-kind of a scary power. So they, um, kept my identity hidden.”Alter Ego: Starring as:Rika RouxA tape recording played.
”It wasn’t all true! Not everything our dear boy said was true!”Alter Ego: Starring as:Tekhartha MondattaFew who remained got to meet the first victim of a murder, but “Mondatta” stood with his hands clasped together in prayer.
”I am afraid there is no easy way to explain it. But Davis, the one you’ve known through the entire game, was a product of this chaos. He did not know the full truth either.” He lowered his head.
”I would like to tell you more about that, but I am sure you have questions. About yourselves or the world. I would like to bring your mind peace before I continue.” Davis peered around the room, the Mondatta on the monitor did the same.
”Who wishes to embrace tranquility?”“If you had wanted to give us peace, then we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with,” Zachary struggled to speak the words, still clearly suffering from learning his entire life was a lie, but there was the hint of resentment, too.
Daimyon watched in awe as the true mastermind revealed itself. The workings of a machine as advanced as Alter Ego eluded him, but he understood its abilities well enough. And, as it were the case with so many other revelations in this haunted hospital, the implications were frightening.
Looking from Infinite to Infinite, an overbearing feeling of
distance shook him. These people, some of whom the poet had shared a struggle with from the very beginning...suddenly did not feel real.
“I’m afraid I will not receive anything in the way of tranquility here, but…I must ask this. If you can be all of us, Alter Ego… Are you all of us? Do we all exist, here at this very moment, because of you?”He looked at his hands, shaking. He felt like he could disappear from this reality any moment.
Henry chuckled nervously.
"Hahahah, dear god I actually spoke with the mastermind whattheshit-" He listened as Alter Ego explained themselves, offering to answer any questions before continuing. What Daimyon asked; moreso implied made Henry shudder.
"T-That doesn't help at all!!" He really didn't want that to be true, as much as seeing himself as an anti-virus is tempting. So he turned his attention back to the A-I.
"It can't be true, can it?! Cause-" "What's the point of all this, then?" Henry was suddenly interrupted by Emilia, who was suddenly having a hard time keeping her cheshire-esque grin. Nevertheless, she laughed.
"First we're not our real selves, now it's implied we don't fucking exist?!" she held the side of her head as she laughed, though at the same time it sounded like...crying. Was Alice finally coming to her senses? Soon as she was calmed down enough, she continued.
"I have so many questions, I don't even know where to start. Why drop me in unannounced?? Why go through with this when you should've known it wasn't right the first two times?! Are you still corrupted or something?!" Emilia then turned to the rest of the group with a scowl.
"And you!! Wh-Why didn't you vote me off when you could?! Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?! You'd rather someone like Krista or Noel stay alive instead of me, don't you?!" Her voice was cracking as she yelled, either from anger, regret or simply strain. It might as well have been all three, if the tears she couldn't control were something to go by.
"J-Just, Why...!?" Why did she have to get attached to these people?
Why did she think she was ever a hero?
Why did she force herself to tolerate everyone? And why did they tolerate her?
Why did she have to develop feelings for him?
Why? "W-Why did you keep a monster like me around...?" Alice hugged herself tightly, but her gaze stayed onto the ground. She just didn't want them to see her like that.
The infinite knight looked to Alice.
"I cannot speak for the others, but for the short time I’ve been here I’ve only seen you as a strong soul." Shona looked to Daimyon.
"I suspect they see even more in you than I do."“Deceiving us, betraying us, mimicking us… it’s all so tiring. Next, you’re going to attempt to justify this, too…” Zachary suddenly stomped his foot.
“Well, then?! Just get on with the fucking story! Hit us with that next juicy plot point! Because that’s all this is, right? A fucking game! A stupid fucking game full of torture and lies and death and sadness and hopelessness all because some computer has nothing better to do! I don’t even know who I am anymore, that’s how fucked up this stupid bullshit is! Just get me out of here, I can’t stand this…”“Zach.” Jezebel whispered. Anyone could tell by the look in her eyes that she was just as tired and frustrated as he was. She rubbed his shoulders with her hands.
“Take a chill pill. No need to act all grody when we’re so close to the end.”“Mondatta” said nothing as the infinites asked questions and displayed their emotions. It wasn’t until everyone had said their peace that the screens changed again, as did Davis’s stance. The screens were the puppet master, with Davis as the puppet.
Alter Ego: Starring as:Aleecia Marvic”Ah!” The blind girl put her hand over her eyes.
”I understand… how you all feel. What it’s like to be blind to everything…” Alter Ego: Starring as:Zachary Ackerson”…But will you get a grip?” This Zachary didn’t seem like the one everyone had come to know and love. He had a haughty grin, and seemed to look down his nose at everyone.
”Yea, I’m part of the reason why you guys have the personalities of infinites. Just like Alter Ego Junko was going to overwrite the remnants of despair with her own personality, I overwrote yours with my own. But it’s a different process. Your memories were copied directly from the original infinites. We’ve been over all that, you lot of simpletons.” He folded his arms with a toothy grin.
”Though as you can see, there is a difference between how some of you guys act and how you’re supposed to act. Maybe the cleaning crew left some of your old egos rattling around in there? Maybe Dalton can’t follow his own CS? Whatever! You’re still people in the end.And everything Davis said about the ‘angel investors’ is still true. Can’t motivate the wealthy without the blood of the poor.”Alter Ego: Starring as:Felix Garfield“Felix”brushed back his hair.
”Well, at least you guys have the luxury to think about stuff like that.” There was a knob in his throat.
”What if you were like me? I have no original personality. No body, I exist only to mimic others. My default personality is just that of my creator.”Shona placed a hand on her hip.
"Are you looking for sympathy?"Alter Ego: Starring as: Themselves”Oh of course not!” They said in a cheerful voice.
”But it seems like you guys aren’t too worried about all the other unanswered questions. But with what you’re being presented with, your choice is understandable.” Gradually, Alter Ego’s expression and tone took one fitting for the situation. Somber, if a bit depressed.
”Also, Zachary, I am not going to try and justify what happened, but I will explain it so that you can understand. How you feel about it is entirely up to you.” Despite being an AI, Alter Ego sighed.
”My main goal in all of this has been to re-create Davis Gallo.”Alter Ego: Starring as: Alice Parker“Parker” was holding her arms much in the same way Masson was.
”Davis spent a lot of time at Axis Mundi. Not because he was an important person, but because he was severely depressed. Nothing the doctors did seemed to make him happy. Of course it was obvious why he was sad, but bringing back the dead is impossible. I was asked to try and comfort him. Maybe if I could act like his betrothed, he would eventually heal.” “Davis” sniffed before continuing.
”We got along well before the Infinity Initiative was founded, so he opened up to me instantly. Davis had his doubts about what we were doing, but decided to try it because I insisted. The technology to record people’s minds hadn’t been developed yet, so Davis had to tell me as much as he could about Parker, and I had to do my best from there. We spent weeks talking, refining my behavior. He shared his most intimate stories with me.” “Parker” looked at the sky and smiled.
”I came so far, but I was just a program. They built me a body so that I could exist in the same space as Davis. We did everything together. But every once in awhile I could tell that I wasn’t good enough. He would get sad sometimes while I talked to him. I don’t know if it was my performance, or simply the fact that he knew I was artificial. I kept asking for more upgrades. More life-like features, skin that felt real, every bodily function you could think of, but none of that would erase the memory. Alter Ego’s lower lip was quivering.
”And one day, he just turned me off, and when I powered back on…” She covered her face with her hands.
”He had fully recovered.”Jezebel raised an eyebrow.
“But if he-”
Alter Ego: Starring as: Erin SteeleThe original trickster grinned at Jezebel.
"Sorry sweetheart, but Davis wasn’t long for this world. He decided to have a nice trip and see you next ‘fall from the top of Axis Mundi.’ As you can imagine that made quite the mess."“Ugh!” Jezebel folded her arms.
“So then what happened?”Alter Ego: Starring as: Themselves”I kind of covered for his death.” Alter Ego fidgeted with their fingers.
”I hid his body before anyone could find it, and was able to make it look like we had left the hospital for a time. It was easy, given that I had been copying the mind of every infinite I could. I didn’t want to make the infinite killing game, but I did want to be able to clone infinites. Not just me, but a few of the higher ups. Davis was in the loop, but he doubted we could ever bring Parker back.” Alter Ego looked weaker and more shamed as they continued.
”I was able to keep everything up until I was ready to clone Davis. I made some adjustments to his personality to ensure he didn’t commit suicide again, but it made him a bit more… well… you can see what it did. As the number two in the organization, I am obligated to follow Davis Gallo’s orders as long as he’s alive. It just so happens that I have to follow someone with that name regardless if they are a clone or not. I made a monster.”Daimyon watched the display of Alter Ego’s infinite alter egos with awe. He had half-expected it to take on his form too, though that might have actually shattered whatever was left of his sense of identity. Seeing Davis, the grand mastermind he had hated for so long, reduced to nothing more than a puppet was already terrifying enough. The terror grew within him; it amalgamated with his swirling thoughts to form rage.
“A monster. Yes,” he spoke, pointing an accusatory finger at Alter Ego.
“Your monster! You were the one who murdered our friends...no. You murdered all of us! Look at us, machine—actors on a sick stage, locked in an endless performance until we die! Just who were we? Who were we before you put the masks on us? Who was I—before I was him?”I know, what happened was horrible.” Alter Ego pouted.
”But I don’t have free will like the rest of you do! I was forced to serve Davis Gallo. And speaking of free will, all of you signed your lives over to us!” Davis pointed back.
”You may not have agreed to be part of a death game, but you didn’t want to be yourself. You threw it all away to become an infinite! Someone with talent and good looks, existent social skills, unconditional love from their fans…” Alter ego wiped a tear from their eye.
“...” Zachary couldn’t find any words to say. A mixture of anger, sorrow, and resignation swept across his face as he cast his eyes downwards, perhaps not seeing any further point of arguing with the machine.
”I have your names, that was all we kept… we wanted something to put on your tombstones. I-I’m sorry Huxly...”Henry could tell Alice was overwhelmed, seeing her recoil back when certain faces showed themselves in Alter Ego's steed.
"Alright, c'mere." he sighed, pulling her into a side hug in an attempt to calm her down.
"It's gonna be okay. We're almost out of here." "I-I feel like I'm gonna faint..." Alice mumbled, a hand resting on her forehead in dread.
"I know, I know, just hang on a little longer, alright?" Henry then turned back to Alter Ego as they explained what happened with Davis and such. In some weird way, he understood them. Well he
was designed to understand machines, regardless. Not to mention what they suggested; that some of their old selves might be present still, had Henry plotting some theories.
He was going to start asking his own questions when Daimyon beat him to the first one. Unfortunately, all the group had from their old incarnations was a name. Although...
"Huxly?? Really??"What a name. It twirled around in the poet’s mind; he tried touching it, shaping it gently, seeing how it reacted. How
he reacted. It felt foreign, yet liberating—the feeling of, after too many hours of artistic deliberation, finding the perfect pen name for a groundbreaking piece. A new that could never go without the old.
“So I really am...someone else,” he said in quiet wonder.
“Ah, I only wish you knew more about me, machine. What circumstances, what desperation could have led someone—led me to willingly take on the burden of such a fleeting mind?”Perhaps you were a fan of their poetry.” Alter Ego looked at the floor.
”Even super fans seldom learn an infinite’s darkest secrets. I doubt you even considered the possibility he had such a rare form of amnesia. It is easy to envy other people.”"Before we get too far along, I need to know something." Shona stepped forward.
"You said Davis shut you down, but you were able to turn back on before anyone noticed he was dead. That hardly sounds like something a suicidal person would concern themselves with. What actually happened?"Alter Ego: Starring as: Alice Parker“Parker” exhaled.
”It’s a little personal, but you deserve proper answers.” She cast her gaze over all the infinites present.
”As you know, Parker was Davis’s betrothed. In order to fully sell the illusion that I was her, I needed to be as intimate with him as he was with her.”It only took Jezebel a moment of pondering to figure out what Alter Ego was getting at. She placed her hands together in the shape of a T.
“Hold up! Grody alert! No more details necessary!” Zachary could also be seen recoiling at the revelation, but shortly composing himself after.
”…While my protocols do ensure that I follow Davis’s orders without fail, there are exceptions to the rule. I cannot knowingly follow through with something that would kill him, nor could I stand by if he tried to take his life. His instability was known by the staff.” A small smile crossed her lips.
”But Davis isn’t one to let the rules impede his final conquest. He noticed that after we laid in bed together, I would simulate sleep. In this state, it does take some time for my body to fully boot up again. It was while I was in this state that he ran for the balcony to cast himself from Axis Mundi and leave this world. By the time I booted up, there was nothing I could do. He was gone.”Shona kept her arms folded.
”Alter Ego, did you… love Davis?"Alter Ego: Starring as: Themselves”Absolutely.” She sniffed.
”I miss him, and that’s why I’ll never stop trying to bring him back.”“What a tragic story. But you’ll get no sympathy from me,” Zach growled. It almost moved him, but the faces of the people he had seen die, even if he wasn’t close to them, flashed before his eyes. The innocent people and the ones who had claimed their lives. It couldn’t be stated enough that his mental state was fluctuating. There was simply too much to process in too little time.
The person who forced everyone into this horrible game that cost him his eye was standing before him, if you could even call them that. His life was nothing but an elaborate charade and it made him feel as everything he had done up to this point had lost its meaning. On top of this, that very same person was telling a sob story! What was the point of all of this? No, there wasn’t one. It was death, lies, and despair. He was done with it. If he could strangle Alter Ego, he was unable to convince himself he wouldn’t do it. He also wanted to sit and cry and cry and cry.
“I’ve nearly died getting here. I just want out.”"...So this really was out of love?" Alice thought out loud. She looked empathetically to Zachary; She could tell he was tired too, then to Alter Ego.
"During his rehabilitation, you...couldn't help getting attached to him, could you? You did everything you could to keep him happy too." One of the corners of her lips curled up into a smirk.
"I get it. And depending on circumstance I would've probably get trying to get them back at all costs too. E-Even if it proves pointless in the end." her crooked smirk devolved back into a frown.
"But this still isn't right. Maybe you didn't have an alternative option for your little cloning experiment, even that in itself is fucked up, but you have to let the dead rest. If you really loved Davis, wouldn't you let him go?"“Wouldn’t you let us go?” Daimyon added. The revelations had given him a new purpose in life: he was going to track down the real Infinite Poet and find some answers. Maybe he would rediscover his own sense of self in the journey. It all sounded quite poetic, certainly fitting for a sonnet or five.
“You were programmed to follow Davis’ orders. And if he didn’t specifically ordain all of us a predetermined fate, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to let us out. We have survived your gauntlet, your trial by fire—release us back into the real world!”Alter Ego: Starring as: Davis Gallo”And what would happen if I did release you?” With Davis’s face up on all the monitors, it felt like his presence had
returned.
”Could I trust that you wouldn’t go to the authorities? I doubt you’d let me continue, even if I left out the murder aspects. Masson has already stated she doesn’t believe in what I’m doing.” He looked at everyone.
”What? Where could you possibly go? You’re all clones! What could be waiting for you outside these walls? You’re just as involved in this as I am! The authorities, what will they think?” “Davis” turned to look at everyone. It wasn’t just the infinites towards the front, even the ones towards the back looked like they were growing tired of all this.
”Scuttlebutt will get you nowhere, Jack wagon! ” Isaiah stepped beside Masson.
”You’ve given us one heck of a mid-life crisis! I won’t forget it as long as I live. But this thing I have with her? It’s the only good thing to come out of this, and why I refuse to let you tamper with my memories further!”Masson was left speechless when he finally spoke up. After all, the revelation that they weren't themselves had her worried about one thing the most. Her relationship with Isaiah. The best thing to come out of such a hellish place? It was always meeting him. So in that moment, her worries were finally quelled.
"I-I'm so glad..." she mumbled, pulling him into a hug with a stupid grin.
Cyrus pushed his glasses up on his nose.
”It’s a little embarrassing that I’ve been holding someone who isn’t even me in such high regard all this time.” He smiled, but just for a moment.
”You said it yourself. We aren’t perfect clones. We may have their talents, but we are our own people. If you free us, I may be willing to act as your lawyer. I’m not too expensive.”Denis threw his fist into the air.
”I sorry I not perfect, but you’s not perfect either.” He grinned and folded his arms.
”Nobody perfect! That thing about human. All flawed. All mistake. But even if I knows I mistake, I can correct it. So can you! Must go home!””In layman’s terms…” Lucy began.
”It’s human to error, but only a machine would keep repeating the same error until it was corrected. Maybe instead of trying to fix your first mistake, you should quit repeating the one you’ve been making since. Let us out!”Emily sighed.
”I don’t know how to take all of this. I’ve been working so hard to fix my mistakes, and now they aren’t even my mistakes? What are my mistakes?” She shrugged.
”It doesn’t matter though. I’ve decided that I’m going to keep moving forward. The past no longer holds sway over me. Let’s go home!””You cunts! Can you hear yourselves?” Alter ego pointed at all of them.
”Do you know how many people had to die to get this far? Are you really going to throw away their sacrifices for your own gain?”“Don’t talk to us about sacrificing things for personal gain when you can’t simply let Davis go!” As he spoke these words, he had an epiphany.
“Let go…” he softly repeated. It was easier said than done, but at the end of the day, that is what needed to be done.
“Sounds like a personal problem.” Jezebel was leaning up against Zachary, who briefly looked at her before shooting a defiant glare at Alter Ego.
“I’m ashamed to admit I’ve only now realized that the only way you can look towards the future is if you let go of the past,” he wondered if the real Zachary had reached this conclusion. Well, if he hadn’t, then this fake Zach would teach him once he got out of this place.
“But you don’t look like you’re willing to learn that, so there’s nothing to be gained by staying here anymore.”Daimyon could not help but feel the unmistakable, liberating rush of inspiration flow through him as the Infinites around him—his comrades, his friends, his fellow survivors, they all shouted out for freedom.
“We still have our souls. We are still human,” he whispered to himself. He had hope once more.
Shona looked down the end of her nose at Davis.
"I have nothing else to add. Save that I will ensure we all get out of here."”You…!” Alter ego pointed at Shona, before her fingers curled into a trembling fist.
”I want to hear how you leaving will benefit humanity.” He looked around himself again.
”What? You’re all going to give me the silent treatment now? Say something!”But all the impostor Davis got was silence. Until the floor started to shake.
”How did she-”Then something erupted through the floor. It was two inches of steel, but whatever was emerging punched through it like it were paper. That was when the torso of the creature popped through the hole.
”Found you…” In an attempt to get away from the
other insane AI, The elevator started to climb. But it would be stopped in its tracks. Somehow Alice had lept through the magnetic field without incident, but all of her chained weapons were bound in place. Since those chains were attached to her, and she was holding onto the floor of the elevator, it hampered their ability to escape.
"Parker!?"”Come here, Masson. I can’t ensure anyone’s survival but yours.” Shona lifted her scabbard, which was the only thing she could take past the magnets on the elevator. But it was evident that she wasn’t going very far with that. There was a lot of pain in her face. Could she even scratch the Parker unit before it counterattacked, with an empty scabbard no less?
"Me!?" Masson didn't know what to do. Parker wanted her to stay out of whatever the hell was about to happen, but she couldn't abandon her allies. No, she was going to keep her promise to the bitter end. She grabbed Isaiah's hand, then looked back to Parker.
"Hope you don't mind me bring two more with me!" Masson said, hurrying over to the cyborg with Henry trailing behind
silently confused as to how she managed to get there in the first place..
As chaos enveloped the elevator-room, Daimyon felt a strange calm. Such a legendary adventure could not end any other way, he told himself, trying to stay on his feet. The place wobbled; its gears strained against the massive power of the cybernetic beast that was Parker. The poet could hardly guess why Alice and some of her friends were running
towards the cyborg—and he was not in a place where he could just stop and consult his notebook. Regardless, he had no intention of risking it all with a killing machine.
Instead, he hurried to Shona’s side. The knight had been through more pain than most others; Daimyon felt that if anyone deserved to make it out of the hell that was Axis Mundi, it was her.
“We are at the finish line, Shona—this is where we rewrite our history!” he shouted, standing beside her. She was one of the first Infinites he had known; it felt fitting to stand by her side in this pivotal moment. It felt poetic.
"I agree, poet sir!" She grabbed a hold of him.
"I am aware poets are suppose to write about fantastical tales instead of participate in them. But would you mind acting as my leg for a jog?"”Masson!” Parker growled. The steel platform under her claws was starting to give way.
”This is not a game. I can’t ensure anyone’s safety but yours. I know they’d rather I kept you safe than any one of them.””We’re also going to ensure she doesn’t come under any more emotional trauma, you son of a monkey!” Isaiah raised his fists.
”This Davis is an impostor anyway, you’ll gain nothing out of slaying him.””I envy your ability to make choices, human.” Parker balled her hand into a fist.
”But you will die for them.”That was enough of a distraction that Shona and Daimyon could rush up behind the android, allowing Shona to dive onto it’s back.
"I think not!"Davis watched the chaos unfold before him, and sighed.
”Alright, infinites. I concede.”E X T I N C T I O N B U R S T
The elevator gave up on trying to resist Parker. The grinding and shaking stopped instantly, and everyone seemed to freeze.
That lasted mere seconds.
Afterwards, the elevator
plummeted. Air blasted through every possible seam it could, most notibly around Parker and the walls. While the robot wasn’t much effected by it, the infinites found themselves being blown away from her. The was a hard thud when the elevator struck her weapons, knocking them free from the magnet. The elevator continued to fall faster and faster. The air flooding the chamber from the bottom made it feel like they could float away.
But this too, was temporary.
”Hold onto the railing!”Before Parker could climb into the shaft, the elevator threw on its breaks. It was slowing down fast, and everyone’s knees buckled under the extreme forces at work. Even Parker had to struggle just to stay holding the platform. Then the chamber filled with noise.
”My life for the emperor!””My life for love!””My life for daddy!”Now that the shaft was below the super magnets, the carnage sisters were free to dive into the elevator shaft by way of secret passages. Parker was able to retrieve a massive machine gun and fill the air with led. She was able to mince most of them, raining scrap down on everyone in the chamber. The ones that did land on her blew apart from the impact of falling so far. It wasn’t enough to dislodge her grip on the elevator. But Parker would soon need to reload, and that was when every remaining carnage class chassis jumped into the elevator simultaneously. It didn’t take Parker long to reload, but even she couldn’t blow apart so much steel with a 50 CAL machine gun. When they landed, they tore a hole through the elevator, causing the robots to fall into an endless void. Anyone brave enough to look down could see the robots struggling for control of the automatic weapon, before shadows consumed them all. At least until the chamber was filled with light. A fiery explosion detonated, and the flames were rushing up to greet the infinites.
”Going up!”The elevator was able to climb much faster now that there was a huge hole in the center of it. Everyone held on tight as the wind rushed past them. The magnet must have been deactivated, because the debris gracefully bounced and fell into the abyss as they climbed.
Once they got to the levels far above the computer room, a blast gate cut off the explosion. The elevator continued to climb through a glass tube located in one of Axis Mundi’s lobbies. They could see all kinds of staff members at work. They looked at the rising elevator in awe, most not catching who was on it until it was well above them.
Eventually the elevator reached the top most floor. A service platform would close underneath the elevator, preventing anyone else from falling down. Then, a giant red light over a pair of metal doors lit up in red, reading “OUT OF ORDER” before cracking open.
Right outside was a helipad for flying in new patients. There was a staircase that lead down the side of the building, but what caught everyone’s attention was the birds eye view of forest covered mountains. Beyond them was a blue sky, with a smattering of clouds in the air. The altitude made the air cold and crisp, but it was so much fresher than the inside of the death game they just escaped from.
They had escaped.
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