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Hetch wakes up coughing, clutching his throat. He looks franticly around the control room, his mind racing as he recalls what had happened.
This is a disaster…
They got away. Every single one of the actors had escaped, not before one of them had killed him, though.
Hetch clambers to his feet, light headed. He feels terrible, cold, tired, and is covered in his own blood. Being revived from the dead is no pleasant experience.
Hetch looks down and sees something he didn’t first see in his panicked scan of the room. Security, on the ground, unresponsive.
Did they kill security? If so, how?!
His mind was fuzzy and he couldn’t recall what exactly happened. All Hetch knew is that he died, even if he wasn’t certain how.
His throat hurt… did they stab him in the neck?
Hetch goes over to the control panel and logs in. The facility needs to be rebooted, all the employees are down. Hetch sighs and types in the passcode to reboot it.
[ERROR: REBOOT FAILED]
Damn old technology!
Hetch tries again.
[ERROR: REBOOT FAILED]
And again.
[ERROR: REBOOT FAILED]
[MAIN SYSTEM CRASH. AUTO REBOOTING]
[ERROR: REBOOT FAILED]
[AUTO REBOOTING]
[ERROR: REBOOT FAILED]
[AUTO REBOOTING]
[ERROR- -
There’s a loud ‘ca-chunk’ as the lights and other electronics power down in the mall.
Oh no.
[POWER FAILURE DETECTED. TURNING ON EMERGENCY POWER]
[STATUES REPORT: 97% OF SYSTEMS UNFUNCTIONAL]
The control room lights up with a dim red glow accompanied by the sound of faint electrical buzzing.
This is fine! He can fix this!
These thoughts don’t do much to reassure himself. Truly, Hetch knows that this is fucked and if The Founder finds out about this he’s screwed.
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear, or think, in this case.”
Hetch tenses up, and turns to see them. The Founder, a looming figure that Hetch can’t quite grasp. All he can perceive is a mix of static and shifting colors in a tall vaguely human shape.
“You seem surprised to see me, Hetch! Though, you must know why I’m here.”
“Founder!” Hetch tries to hide the nervousness in his voice, “I know it may look bad, but I assure you, I can fix this! And I can get new actors too, it’s not that big of a deal!”
“Yes, yes… That is one of the reasons I’m here, and given enough time, I don’t doubt you could fix it!”
The Founder walks around the room, the ground they walk on distorting and warping, until they stop at the puddle of blood Hetch woke up in. They glance down at it briefly and then look Hetch dead in the eyes.
”… But it’s the fact you let it happen in the first place…”
“I- I didn’t let it happen. I didn’t want this to happen!-“
“And as if that wasn’t enough, you’ve been failing to entertain me lately! I’m bored, Hetch! It’s your job to keep me entertained and I’m bored!”
The Founder laughs. It physically hurts to listen to, a shrill ringing accompanied by a low growl. Hetch covers his ears instinctively.
“I’m disappointed. I give you all this amazing knowledge and technology, even a new name under me! And for what? Failure? I expected more.”
Nothing in The Founder’s voice indicates anger, if anything, it resembles glee.
Hetch backs away as The Founder approaches him.
“Please don’t kill me!” he squeaks, fear no longer hidden. The Founder gasps in feigned shock.
“I would never kill you! I’m simply just changing your role and taking away your name!”
“What…?” Hetch questions.
“You’re a valuable resource! And since you lost all of our actors, you can be one of them, maybe even The Hero!”
Ranboo begging and screaming for death flashes in Hetch’s mind.
No. No no no. Not an actor.
“I- I would make a terrible hero! I’m not- I wouldn’t! It’s just not me!” He tries to reason.
“Oh, really? Then I’ll just have to change that. I can make you whoever I want you to be!”
Before Hetch can react, The Founder materializes in front of him and takes the mask off of his face, disintegrating it into static in their hands.
“You won’t be needing this anymore…”
Hetch The former show runner looks on, there is no pleading with The Founder. He tries to make a break out of the room only to watch as the world around him is consumed by static, all he can see now is himself and The Founder.
“Trying to run? That’s the most entertaining thing you’ve done in a while! You’re going to make a great actor.”
“Wh-where-?! What’s going on—“
“Shush.”
The former show runner suddenly finds himself unable to speak, causing even more terror in him.
“Oh, calm down. You’re going to be in here for a bit while I look for someone to take your place, so you better get used to it!”
The Founder paces around the terrified person, laughing to themself then sighing.
“Well, I’ll be off now… puppet. I’ll have to think of a new name for you…”
They give a little chuckle before finishing their thought.
“I look forward to seeing your performance!”
And with that, The Founder disappears, leaving a nameless actor in a void, nothing but static and white noise surrounding him.