On a more serious note, still reading this. Don't vote much, because of the quest sliding towards write-in choices that require game knowledge (well, they don't necessarily require it, it just so happens that all the winning plans keep referencing information I don't know) - but the writing is good, so I just read it as a story.
On a more serious note, still reading this. Don't vote much, because of the quest sliding towards write-in choices that require game knowledge (well, they don't necessarily require it, it just so happens that all the winning plans keep referencing information I don't know) - but the writing is good, so I just read it as a story.
On a more serious note, still reading this. Don't vote much, because of the quest sliding towards write-in choices that require game knowledge (well, they don't necessarily require it, it just so happens that all the winning plans keep referencing information I don't know) - but the writing is good, so I just read it as a story.
Ha! Appreciated mate, apologies for the obtuse-ness with regard to game information. It's something I was worried about starting out but until we get further in there's not a huge amount I've been able to figure out to do about it. Glad that my writing has been good enough for you to remain interested even lacking some info though!
Also FYI everyone, never ever trust me when I set a deadline. I'll either drop the chapter way before my deadline or several days after (such is the case this time, if you couldn't tell.) But I'm alive! Just busy really, chapter's about half finished though. Thanks for waiting.
Ha! Appreciated mate, apologies for the obtuse-ness with regard to game information. It's something I was worried about starting out but until we get further in there's not a huge amount I've been able to figure out to do about it. Glad that my writing has been good enough for you to remain interested even lacking some info though!
Also FYI everyone, never ever trust me when I set a deadline. I'll either drop the chapter way before my deadline or several days after (such is the case this time, if you couldn't tell.) But I'm alive! Just busy really, chapter's about half finished though. Thanks for waiting.
Rolling your eyes at her, you nonetheless giggle and oblige. How long has it been in your personal chronology since you've done this? Your hand carves through the cool air, it's a familiar, almost soothing caress. Even if it means the wind buffeting you through the window is gonna make your hair a total rat's nest.
It was an early morning for both of you. Chloe had stayed awake a bit longer to catch up online, but had crawled into the shared warmth of the covers not long after. You feel a yawn coming and try to stifle it, but fail miserably. Yaaaaawn.
Yesterday had been a real test of your endurance, a whole bunch of near constant rewinds and budget time stops, seeing what you could and couldn't interact with, messing with the weird, conceptual-thread-things. By the end of it your head had felt the same way your body did after doing a major workout, back when you'd actually had to take PE. You still kinda felt the aftereffects, but at the same time something in you felt… stronger? Not quite the right word. Closer to more… anchored. Weighted. Relevant? Like you had more mass to push around. Not physically- you almost laugh at yourself. Nope, still a twig.
The real confirmation of this had come when you woke up this morning. Chloe was already up, and she'd gotten you to try to rewind into the time you were sleeping. You were out of it, didn't reeeally understand, but went along with it. The threads in your hand gave easily at first, you'd have to try again once you got out of the car (you'd found out the tailbone-breaking way what happens if you try to rewind inside of one), but as soon as you hit the point just before you'd woken up, a new kind of resistance tugged you to full wakefulness. You could still rewind, however where normally the threads were firm, but yielding, this felt like dragging them through a wall of liquid honey. Or something. Would a wall of honey be hard to drag thread through? Hmmmmm, maybe you should get Chloe to take you to the Two Whales. You could really go for some honey toast.
Agh! Bad Max, focus!
Right. Long self-recap short, it was tough to rewind through sleep, but possible. Not that you could rewind long enough to really even catch up on any Z's. Some movement out of the corner of your eye distracts you. Chloe's fiddling with a little gadget plugged into her truck's cigarette lighter. I wonder why they're called that? Her brow furrowed, cheek bitten, eyes half darting between the road and the thing itself, making you... mildly nervous. But God she's beautiful. Oh, looks like she figured it out. She taps into a music app on her phone, jostling around in her cupholder, then turns on her truck radio, tuning it quickly. A moment later, loud, if slightly static-y rock is blaring from her speakers. Huh, neat.
After your little rewinding experiment, that morning was similar to the last, minus Joyce barging into Chloe's room. You'd spent some time after waking up… well. No polite way to put it other than 'cyber stalking your not-classmates' really. You'd started with just sitting at Chloe's computer, looking up their Facebook profiles but it became clear from the snarky chirps coming behind you that you were finding a whole lot of nothing of value very quickly. It had ended up with you sat next to Chlo as she managed to figure out and pull up each name you'd given her's various social media. Even ones not associated with their real names, which was kinda freaky. She'd just shrugged, apparently people leave clues to that kinda thing everywhere, if someone had any kind of online presence contextual links and properly keyworded google searches alone could go a long, long way.
You sigh and cast your gaze out towards the bay. Ultimately, nothing had really come of it. Some details were changed, a lack of Nathan meant some parties had been less dangerous, some had been more, somehow. The same girls as were disappeared last time had done the same- or had the same done to them - this time. Exceptions being Victoria and Kate, though- you check your phone- yup. October 10th. Today's the day they would've been taken. Ugh . October 10th… the date runs through your memories, a reflex. The hard wired checklist of potentials and maybes and what-ifs that make up a day in the life of Hell-Week Max Caulfield. In every timeline something awful has happened today. The sheer variety of absolute bullshit that's hit you on October 10th would almost be impressive, if it weren't all so horrific. AlterChloe asking you to kill her. Chloe shooting Frank- Oh shit. I still have to deal with him this time. Finding Rachel's body. Mark fucking Jefferson shooting Chloe and drugging you. Nathan getting killed. Not that he's around this time I guess. Victoria getting taken by Jefferson if you don't warn her in time.
Yep. Lots to worry about. Or there would be if you were remotely in the middle of it this time! You almost manage to make yourself believe that for a second. Ya, no. Just because stuff is different, doesn't mean it's any less fucked up, and it doesn't mean Jefferson doesn't already have his eyes set on Victoria. Or Kate. Well, we're seeing her now so… hopefully I can do something about that, no matter how different she is.
The other part of the morning was spent quizzing Chloe about recent and semi-recent world history. You'd started pretty broad, but when Chloe's adamant assurance that there was never a "Mikhail Gorbachev" with a birthmark on his head in charge of the Soviet Union turned out to be…. demonstrably untrue, you decided to focus a bit more locally, and back it up with a bit more Chloe-lead research. You were never any sort of geopolitics or history buff, but almost everything… seemed to line up? To the best of your knowledge? The major difference, as you'd suspected, was the Prescotts, but even that was a bit of a dead end. The Prescott foundation in your timeline was old money, they did some real estate deals and developed some properties, but in the grand scheme of corporate America, they were small fry. Not so here it seems. The Prescott Foundation was the presiding paternalistic corporate force overseeing over a dozen other corporations (some of which had too their own sub-corporations) in fields varying from resource extraction to medical technology to agriculture to surveillance, the list went on. They have their fingers in all sorts of pies, and from the looks of things their purchase of the docks and fishing businesses of Arcadia Bay had been excellent for the community. Not only had the funding gone straight to the local fishermen, but even the average yield in general had increased significantly. The infusion of cash from Trillium Fishing Int. had been a bit of a boon for the town.
Despite the fanfare though, you can't help but feel something stinks. And it sure ain't the stronger than normal fish-smell. Though that's been pretty gross too.
"Yoooo, Earth to Max?"
"Huh, wha-?" You zone back in to Chloe leaning across the gear shift, her face close- oh my god very close- to yours. Her expression is that tight mix of concern and amusement, when she wants to make fun of you but is worried you're going through it a bit. Pretty familiar face on her at this point. You smile easily and quickly lean forward, lightly bonking her forehead with yours. "Sorry Chlo, was zoned out a little."
"Ow, hey. No worries. You good?"
You nod. "Ya, I'm good."
"Cool, we're here anyway."
You turn and- oh. Yup. There it is. Blackwell. As stark and imposing an orange as any brick building has ever been. Which isn't much colourwise, but the memories more than make up for it.
You feel and hear Chloe hop out of the truck. "Cmon, let's go Maximus. Kate's waiting for us at the dorms."
"Right! Sorry, coming." You hop out of the truck and start towards the dorms, Chloe pacing to catch up.
You pointedly do not look at the art exhibits are you go by.
≅≅≅
Out of habit you slow down as you pass Principal Well's quarters, remembering him out there, watching for students. Drunk. That's not fair to him, the Prescotts had him under so much pressure. Still a shitty example though, not that the kids were much better either way.
The building looms at you as you slow down to take in the familiar courtyard. Briefly, you wonder where Samuel is. Probably tending to his squirrels somewhere.Also, quit that building! No looming! You remember talking Kate down from the ledge up there, and the first total time stop you'd experienced to allow that to happen and- God. The most nerve wracking part. Trying to talk her down with no rewinds. Your heart jumps to your throat as you remember the sheer, pitted terror of the first time. Almost losing her. Not knowing what to say and not having any chance to do it over. It was- God your eyes are watering now. Breathe.
"Hey, you okay?" Chloe's sidled close to you. Calloused hands on your shoulders giving you a reassuring squeeze.
"Just- yeah. Tell you later?" You sniffle and wipe your face with a sleeve as Chloe lets go to check her phone.
She nods. "If you need to, sure thing."
You nod back, and the two of you continue on.
≅≅≅
The dorms are mostly empty this time of morning, which means either Kate doesn't have class, or she's skipping. The latter seems less likely, but you try to remind yourself that this Kate has apparently lead quite a different life to the one you're familiar with.
Chloe leads you right down the hall to… ya. Kate's room. Same as the first timeline. You idly wonder who's in your room, was it left waiting for you?
As you approach the door, you let yourself be a little excited. You've missed Kate. In other loops it quickly became your policy to be an invisible guiding hand for her. Some well placed gossip against Victoria. Some light blackmail. A tipoff for a sympathetic teacher or two. Just the things to get her the help she needs, when she needs it. Chloe up and barges in in her Chloe way, and you follow a bit, pausing awkwardly at the doorway.
"Jerry, you're not gonna believe this!" Chloe half-shouts in a… surprisingly accurate Kramer impression.
Kate's voice answers. "Kraaaamer! WhaaAAaat is it?" Your eyes widen and you feel your mind buckle a bit under the sheer anachronism of hearing Kate Marsh respond to anything with as much enthusiasm as she put into that Seinfeld impression. Fuck time travel and alternate realities dude, the real brain bending is when you see your straight lace Christian friend turn into a Seinfeld fan.
"They just legalized marijuana in Oregon Jerry! Do you know what this means? Do you?!"
"What, does it mean the cops can join everyone else and get high as well now?"
"No Jerry! It means I can finally get rid of that massive envelope of weed George scored me before he died!"
"Ah yeah… God rest his soul."
"Amen."
You can't take this anymore. "George is dead!?!" You shout with real, genuine incredulity.
The two of them look at you for a moment, clearly caught up in their bit and surprised by your outburst, before looking back at each other and falling to the ground laughing.
You laugh too, but at the same time start to finally take in the room. It's surprisingly close to the first timeline's Kate's room, but with a lot more personality and less… depression mess. Her bed is made simply, a green comforter over a pile of pillows, a few stuffed animals- rabbits, awh - are thrown on top for good measure. Her desk has a collection of books, lots of stuff on plants, but a few fictional stories and a couple poetry collections- Milk and Honey - and most notably, not a Bible in sight. There's a few potted plants scattered around the room. In your minds eye you can tell they're in the places that get the most sunlight throughout the day. And then your eyes fall on Kate herself. Still chuckling on the floor, she's rolled herself into an upright position. Her hair is down. First time seeing that. To your surprise it goes down to her mid back, though it's quite voluminous around her head, falling pretty evenly down. She's wearing a simple, loose, light green blouse, long sleeved, but she has them rolled up. Her jeans are cuffed and plain, rolled up a bit past her ankles, if the blouse were a little less nice looking you'd say she looked ready for a major day of gardening.
It's a strange feeling, taking her in. She's very different, but in a way she's so Kate. Her expressions and gestures, the way she holds herself, the almost unnervingly firm eye contact that belies her gentle manner. This Kate is outwardly happy, and clearly more comfortable in her skin than the Kate you knew. You wonder if "your" Kate would have eventually ended up like this one. Ah. Moot point for now it seems, no matter how callous that is.
Kate smiles kindly up at you and starts to talk, knocking you out of your reflection. "Sorry we- oh man, neither of us can do a good George so we eventually came to the conclusion that he never shows up because he died."
Oh God, you don't know how easy it'll be to get used to this version of Kate. She keeps talking though. "Come in! Chloe seemed so excited to introduce you, prove to me that she does actually have more than one friend."
Her voice is teasing, but it still has that same gentleness that just… infused Kate. Where with the Kate you remember that gentleness was so easily turned to timidity and fear-through no fault of her own -, this Kate seems to embrace it as a warm kind of strength. Honestly? For all the weirdness, it makes you really, really happy to see her doing this well.
A smile you didn't notice is lighting up your face as you step into the room, and let the door close behind you.
"Ouuuh, closing the door Max? You got something planned for us?" Chloe calls out at you, an exaggerated sultry edge to her voice. You feel yourself turn absolutely beet red. You were not just thinking about how cute Kate looks when she's so happy and confident and-
Kate saves you, fortunately. "Chloe, don't tease the poor thing, she looks like a deer in headlights!"
Chloe's head pops up. "Up yours, she can take it! She'll warm up quick."
These two have a… dynamic. You're a little jealous. You see Kate's frozen in place, as if she's thought of something. She turns to you and opens her mouth, then squints, furrowing her brows and turning back to Chloe. "Hold on. Uh, Max…?" She leaves the unspoken question in the air.
Chloe grimaces and shoots you a guilty look. "Ah, uh- ya. Max Caulfield." And suddenly Kate's posture has totally changed. Back upright, brow knit. All hard edges converging at acute- ha, cute - angles.
You shrink back against the door, suddenly wishing you'd left it open. Kate doesn't speak, but just hums in what you guess- you don't need to guess Max it's all over her face- is displeasure. Chloe's face is a touch panicky as she looks from one of you to the other.
"But, uh! It's all good now!"
"Mmmm."
"We had um. Ya. A talk, we talked! And we sorted it out our, uh-"
"Mhmm?"
"Ya our feelings! And uh."
"Hmmm?"
"My feelings! And I'm not! She's not! We're!... Agh!"
Chloe throws her hands up in disgust.
"I need a smoke. One of your wanna come with?" The way Chloe puts an emphasis on the 'one' tells you she wants to explain something to one of you out of earshot of the other.
Before you can respond, Kate speaks, her eyes still locked on yours. "Sure Chloe, I'll meet you out there, just have to roll." Her tone is… almost icey. Not the kind of edge you'd ever heard on Kate's voice. Oh man, how many times am I gonna think something like that?
Chloe looks helplessly between the two of you for a moment, already standing. You break eye contact with Kate and offer a silent plea with your eyes. Please don't leave me with her.
Chloe shrugs and looks away, shaking her head. "Fuck it." And leaves the room, already fishing her cigarettes out of her pocket. You nervously turn back as the door shuts behind her, slamming louder than you remember it doing when it closed behind you. To your surprise, already has a little footstool in front of her as a surface- you didn't even hear her move- as well as some rolling paper and-sniff - yup. That's weed. She's watching her hands but her movements are practiced, deft. You don't doubt she could do this with her eyes closed.
"Chloe's told me about you." You jump a little. Her tone has cooled slightly, less icey and more… matter of fact.
"Not good things, I guess?" You venture.
She glances up at you with a pointed look. "No." And looks back down.
You look down at your feet and turn it into a nod. You've never been… shamed by someone else for ditching Chloe.
After a moment, she doesn't seem interested in talking, so you start, "Look, I don't-"
She cuts you off with a glare and stands up, apparently finished with the joint. "Maxine. Max. Whatever you prefer. Chloe is not in a good place. I'm doing what I can for her and I've talked her through some tough shit. I'm sure you had a real heart to heart, some real truth and reconciliation style shit. But listen to me. Your friendship back then meant the world to her. And when you dropped her like that? Life went on, Max. She met Rachel. Eventually she met me. I don't know why she's being so easy-going about you just popping up again, but clearly you're still important to her. So I'm gonna respect that, and not tell you to leave the poor girl alone." She steps closer to you, and you shrink back further. Something in the back of your head mutters. Holy shit am I being menaced by Kate Marsh? "But I want you to give me one. Good. Reason." She jabs towards you with the joint on each word for emphasis. "Why I shouldn't be worried you're just gonna up and ghost her again, and leave her another pile of emotional baggage to sift through on top of literally everything else in her life. "
She leans back away from you and crosses her arms. Joint still held unlit between two fingers. Oh. Uh. You expected her to go join Chloe now but it looks like she wants an answer now .
≅≅≅
Current Point: October 10th, just after 10am
October 7th, 2013, 9:47pm. In hallway of hospital, no clothes yet, and holding "borrowed" phone. (Printer Paper)
October 9th, 2013. 10:36AM. T1. Rachel's Clothes, Will's Camera, One other Photograph. (In Chloe's weed stash)
October 9th, 2013. 10:36AM. T1. Rachel's Clothes, Will's Camera, Two other photographs.
October 10th, 2013. 9:03AM. T1. Pajamas, Will's Camera, Three other photographs. (In Chloe's weed stash)
October 10th, 2013. 9:04AM. T1. Pajamas. Will's Camera. Four other photographs.
[] Write In
Oof. Chloe must not have painted too flattering of a picture of you. Hopefully there's something you can say to set her at ease? Whatever you write here will set the tone for your talk with Kate, but it won't be the end of it regardless. Next couple updates will be shorter, this one just kinda grew far beyond how large I expected it to be.
[] Abuse powers to appear behind her without warning, and for further demonstration. Get serious. I'm a time traveler, the supernatural is real, and I'm out to save Chloe. Destiny disagrees, so I spit on destiny. I've done this before and like as not I'll do it again over and over until I get it right; the world will break before I do.
This won't win, but I'm gonna advocate for going in like a fright train and blowing her mind out the gate.
[] Abuse powers to appear behind her without warning, and for further demonstration. Get serious. I'm a time traveler, the supernatural is real, and I'm out to save Chloe. Destiny disagrees, so I spit on destiny. I've done this before and like as not I'll do it again over and over until I get it right; the world will break before I do.
This won't win, but I'm gonna advocate for going in like a fright train and blowing her mind out the gate.
Right now I'm thinking of just redoing this whole day.
[X] Go back towards the picture you took this morning.
-[X] Come up with a plan to convince Kate you're not going to abandon her.
-[X] Try to get Chloe to back you up on this. Give her an overview of what happened so far in your talk with Kate.
-[X] Have a proper heart-to-heart with Chloe about your abandonment or whatever else
I might be overreacting, since I can't think of anything good to say to Kate, but that's what we have time travel for.
Hmm... I feel like doing anything Time related, either revealing her powers or restarting, just proves Kate right. One can easily argue Max has abandoned hundreds of Chloes with her rewinding, all in search of 1 Chloe that won't die.
Hmm... I feel like doing anything Time related, either revealing her powers or restarting, just proves Kate right. One can easily argue Max has abandoned hundreds of Chloes with her rewinding, all in search of 1 Chloe that won't die.
Well that gets very nihilistic very fast, depending on the interpretation of time travel and the universe. Are we just going back in time, or are we creating infinite branches wherein shit goes bad, Into the Breach style? Really, even if it's the latter I'm of the opinion you have to go on anyway. After all, if there's really infinite timelines/universes, well nothing you do was ever going to make a dent in that.
At that point you may as well just keep going. Accept it and move on, make the best you can.
Well that gets very nihilistic very fast, depending on the interpretation of time travel and the universe. Are we just going back in time, or are we creating infinite branches wherein shit goes bad, Into the Breach style?
From the diner scene with the other Max, it very much seems like different kinds of time manipulation produce hard breaks and soft ones. With photo jumps, we are most likely creating new main branches and leaving versions of ourselves after the jumps in the old scenario.
It's not known whether the old versions also have powers or not, but I Iean towards we're the only Max with time powers. I think we just kind of leave the rest behind to suffer the messes we leave behind. With no powers.
Really, even if it's the latter I'm of the opinion you have to go on anyway. After all, if there's really infinite timelines/universes, well nothing you do was ever going to make a dent in that.
At that point you may as well just keep going. Accept it and move on, make the best you can.
That kind of thinking cheapens the consequences of what we as an individual do. There might be an infinite number of everything, but we're still tied to our own experience. We have to carry the weight of everything we've been through all the bodies that leaves behind. Metaphorically and actually.
Plus, that creates a reality where Max has to explain to Chloe that she ditched her (as well as herself) because one stoner is rightfully mad at her for being a shitty friend. It's beyond embarrassing.
I'm not even humoring the idea of rewinding back to the morning, it's incredibly cowardly. And unnecessary, we should talk to Kate person to person and what will come is what will come. You can't redo every bad situation, trying to do that is partially why Max is in the situation she's in.
[] Abuse powers to appear behind her without warning, and for further demonstration. Get serious. I'm a time traveler, the supernatural is real, and I'm out to save Chloe. Destiny disagrees, so I spit on destiny. I've done this before and like as not I'll do it again over and over until I get it right; the world will break before I do.
This won't win, but I'm gonna advocate for going in like a fright train and blowing her mind out the gate.
I actually do think that being completely honest and making a disturbing power demonstration can help. Nothing too distracting, but the whole appear where we shouldn't be and starting from the top makes a strong impression. If nothing else, Kate won't think we're a normal flake.
We should also give her the whole, "I'll tell you everything if you really want", choice.
[X] Plan Radical Honesty
[X] Use your powers to unsettle Kate a little. (She seems like her mind is already made)
--[X] "Teleport" next to the window, and then back to in front of the Door.
--[X] Ask to sit down on the bed, this looks to be a long conversation
[X] "I can't promise there'll be no emotional baggage. I can promise I'll be there for her through it."
--[X]"The next few days are going to be crazy. Helping Chloe get through it is kind of why I'm here."
--[X] Tell her as much of the truth as you told Chloe, or close to it.
--[X]Answer her questions as much as you can.
--[X] Be ready to get berated, and to own up to our past failures. Cause you've got more than a few.
[X] Ask Kate about the symbol.
[X] If Chloe shows back up, keep explaining. If all the cats are out of the bag by then, that is.
Also, Kate might be one of those people with the symbol from the first chapter. We should get around to asking her about that during this conversation.
[X] Tjakari's Plan radical honesty. It's really the only way we'll show Kate how much we care about Chloe. Also ask Kate about the symbol.
--[X] Be ready to get berated, and to own up to our past failures.
[X] We're going to need to be even more honest with Chloe, probably the sooner the better. It'll suck, but we're kind of on a roll with it, and putting it off will likely only be more detrimental IMO.
Voting Is Now Closed
[X] Plan What Else Have I Missed?
Proposed by Tjakari
Markala, 7ime1ock, The Game
Not much to say about this! Apologies for taking till nearly 10pm to close the vote, rather than 10am lmao. Update on it's way tonight or tomorrow. Who's ready for me to do a 180 and reveal this is actually a Command and Conquer crossover where the Soviet Union reigns supreme? /s
Hit me TF up with that Soviet supremacy AU. Lenin never has a single stroke, the other European revolutions take off, and the union never gets bogged down in bureaucracy. Also we win the space race.
[X] Tjakari's Plan radical honesty. It's really the only way we'll show Kate how much we care about Chloe. Also ask Kate about the symbol.
--[X] Be ready to get berated, and to own up to our past failures.
[X] We're going to need to be even more honest with Chloe, probably the sooner the better. It'll suck, but we're kind of on a roll with it, and putting it off will likely only be more detrimental IMO.
Don't have much to say about the vote itself, but...
sometimes italicizing the text eats spaces between the words, making it harder to read. You might want to fix those?
Oh jeez thanks! Did my editing pass during an overnight at work on my phone, I'll give it another when I get home. I think this has to do how I have to handle my copy-pastes to preserve my formatting between Google Docs and SV.
Appreciated!
Was this a Homestuck reference? Nice choice. Anyways, I just wanted to say that this is great @Alobomb, I love Life is Strange so it's great to see a quest of it. I have a question: Do you mind if people write omakes for your quest? I have an idea for a somewhat dark one during one of her last few loops.
Oh, I should probably vote too
[X] Plan Radical Honesty
Hahahaha, no that one was not intended as a Homestuck reference. I'm pretty sure I snuck one or two particularly obtuse ones into earlier chapters though, I had just read it for the first time when I was beginning to write this.
Omakes are a-ok! If you or anyone else do decide to write and post any they'll be linked in the OP in a section under the chapter spoilers.
And thank you in general! I love these characters, it's a blast to write and I'm glad people are enjoying it.
Voting will close when I wake up in a few hours.
Not that I expect an upset or anything at this point, but remember even if it seems like the consensus has been reached, we've a small enough voter base that submitting a plan before voting is closed but after a lot of people have voted still has a chance to win, or at least influence the voted-for plan. Have definitely seen people edit to change their votes, and I only count them up right when I do close voting.
[X] Plan Radical Honesty
[X] Use your powers to unsettle Kate a little. (She seems like her mind is already made)
--[X] "Teleport" next to the window, and then back to in front of the Door.
--[X] Ask to sit down on the bed, this looks to be a long conversation
[X] "I can't promise there'll be no emotional baggage. I can promise I'll be there for her through it."
--[X]"The next few days are going to be crazy. Helping Chloe get through it is kind of why I'm here."
--[X] Tell her as much of the truth as you told Chloe, or close to it.
--[X]Answer her questions as much as you can.
--[X] Be ready to get berated, and to own up to our past failures. Cause you've got more than a few.
[X] Ask Kate about the symbol.
[X] If Chloe shows back up, keep explaining. If all the cats are out of the bag by then, that is.
[X] Plan Radical Honesty
Proposed by Tjakari
Tjakari, 7ime1ock, Kkutlord, James C, Blueshift, Thrice.Great
See y'all once this is banged out.
Edit: FYI, I've removed the link to the image of "the symbol" from the first post, and replaced it with a bit of a wordier description. It wasn't a very high quality image, and I don't really know what my endgame with that was like lmao. If Max sees the symbol, she'll remember it.
….quite unhappy that Chole did not warn Max about the negative image she painted of her and then running off to smoke joint, leaving us to deal with the fallout. I prefer we be sharp towards Chole about the lack of warning and ask how many knows after this.
Alright, I got my Omake done, so let me know what you think of it. Just a quick warning: this is pretty dark, so if you don't like that you might not want to read it. Enjoy.
Taking the Shot
Mark Jefferson was slowly waking up on the white, canvas covered floor. Showtime. Maybe I should- yeah, that'll be a good way to start things off. Max Caufield stepped forward, over Mr. Jefferson's prone form and snapped a few shots, his eyes blearily opening. His expression is still mostly glazed over, and he's shifting around slightly, but still to drugged out to try and escape his bindings, if he even realizes what's happened to him yet.
"Wakey, wakey, it's time for your close up, Mr. Jefferson" she faux-cheerily says to him.
He responds with a groggy "Whuh?" Making Max wonder if she had drugged him enough, for it to be wearing off that fast. She remembered it taking longer with her, but even if that was ages ago she remembered it feeling like an eternity. It's not like she could have drugged him any more though, he only had the one needle hidden away in his desk drawer, and him waking up faster was actually a good thing, she supposed. He could answer her questions sooner.
She takes a few more photos, before putting his camera down. Her crush on him had long (loooooong) since ended, but she did still appreciate his skill and figured since she had the chance she might as well test out his equipment. It was something she had never done before, so it'd be something new to the loop. It was fun to use, but she grabbed her own now, wanting to see any photos a little faster than his could provide.
"Confused? This should be quite familiar to you, how many times have you used this room on your 'subjects'?" Max circles him a few times as she talks. He isn't responding yet, but the dim light in his eyes is growing clearer. "Admittedly, this is will be from a very different angle for you, but hey, isn't that what you say we should do? Seek out new perspectives?" He still isn't answering her, so she kicks him in the gut and drops any fake sweetness to her voice "Answer me, cocksucker."
"Oh, Max" he responds his face turned slightly downward. "I- I'm shorry." His words are slurred but there is a bit of consistency coming through with them now.
"Sorry? You, of all people are sorry?" Max says, incredulous. She can't believe he'd ever be this way, not that she's had many chances to see him like this before. Even the times when she managed to get him arrested earlier on, she hadn't been involved personally, never got to see more than a few fleeting glances as he got dragged out of the school. Even then, the calls and gathering evidence usually took a bit of time, this had been near instant, from the moment she looped back.
Through liberal abuse of all the foreknowledge and time travel she had at her disposal she had managed to: acquire Chloe's car keys, go back to the classroom, get the needle full of knockout drug Jefferson kept hidden in a secret compartment in his desk, inject him, drag him out to the car without anyone noticing (difficult, even with her powers and knowledge, but worth it), drive to the Dark Room (not before taking a pit stop at Chloe's house to grab the gun – it's not like she'd need it, but it made her feel a little safer), and get Jefferson set up there.
Max is still a little sweaty from all the work she had to do to get it all set up, but she was happy eagerly anticipating the moment he put it all together and despair could reign on his face for once. "What are you sorry for? For everyone you kidnapped? For how you manipulated and used Nathan? For causing Rachel's death?"
"No, fuck no, I don't care-" he takes a moment to compose himself further. "I don't give a damn about that, I'm sorry I missed it."
Max pauses for a moment. Jefferson might not surveil the whole town or try to like David, but he knew things. Did he, of all people, somehow know something to stop the storm? Well, it was why she had brought him here. "What did you miss?" Max growls out at him.
"You." Max freezes for a moment, she knew that it was her fault, for messing with time, but how did he- "I missed you transforming. Losing that naïve innocent look and becoming… this." He says it like he's beholding a marvel, the greatest photograph he's ever seen. "How I would have loved to see you shift, change from that innocent white, darkening-" His words are interrupted by her feet slamming against him repeatedly. She kicks him several times to get him to shut up with his bullshit! It stops him, but Max doesn't quite have the strength to do any real damage to him, even with him prone, drugged, and hands and feet bound.
"Enough!"
"Au- au contraire Max, you haven't gone far enough yet. I knew there was potential in you, I just, I can't believe how much I missed, how much you changed. And yet you've seemed the same through every class. Are you really that much of an actor? I can see why you're interested in Rachel Amber, but I assure you, you have no reason to be jealous of her if this is what you can pull off."
"You think I brought you here because I'm jealous? Jealous that you and Nathan killed an innocent girl?"
"Oh, so it's Nathan then." Ugh, this is getting so off track, he doesn't even seem to be feeling the drugs anymore but he isn't giving me what I want. "You are so much brighter than that fool. I'll admit, he was useful for his money and connections, but he doesn't have the talent you or I have. He's sloppy. You, on the other hand, Max? I remember now, how you injected me – with my own needle, still don't know how you got it – and dragged me away. You must have been smart, to not get spotted, to take us this far (to say nothing of finding it in the first place). You're technique in eliciting a response is… it could use work, but I can help you with that."
"You aren't in any position to help anyone, not even yourself." Max takes a moment to try and take a calming breath. Beating on him senselessly won't help anything.
"Let me free." She scoffs at the notion, but Mr. Jefferson doesn't let that stop him. "I'll help you. Max, you can be my new protégé! I'll guide you through your first time, with Nathan – finally give the boy a decent use in this world."
"No." Rage courses through her, but Max feels strangely controlled in the moment. "You're not going to 'be set free'. You're never going to see the light of day again. I'm going to torture you down here until you tell me everything you know. Then I'll keep on doing it till you've experienced at least as much pain as every girl you've hurt. Then I'll leave you here, and you'll disappear, without anyone ever knowing what happened to you. Or caring, in a few weeks everyone will have forgotten about you, you sadistic fuck." His face goes slack for a moment at his words and she pulls up her camera, ready to take the shot.
With a click her machine comes to life and she waits for the photo to come out, when she hears it. Laughter, from Jefferson, matching the wide smile she can see on the photo. He's happy. I kidnapped him, beat him up, threatened everything he worked for, and he's laughing!? How dare he mock me! He should be groveling! He should be in despair! He's ruining the shot!!"
He's ruining the shot.
The words echo in her mind for a moment before she pulls her gun out and shoots him in the head, ending the background noise of his laughter, along with his life.
Max had done a lot of things she had never thought she would do before getting this power. Always justified by her ability to undo things, but those thoughts she had… they were far too similar to what he said. To how he thought. She could undo the shot, spare his life for the time being and try again. She looks at the gun and thinks about trying to stomach listening to him again. She lets the minutes pass by until she can no longer reach that moment.
Never again. I'll never try something like this again. She shook her head and let the shivers she was feeling pass as she placed the gun down on the table and left the Dark Room. Even if I didn't get anything from him, at least he'll be gone from this loop. Maybe that will change everything.
***
She tried her best, but.. the future refused to change. Again.
A/N: Alright, so I had this idea floating around in my head for a bit, but it took me a while to find the time to write it. As I mentioned, this omake is pretty dark. With so many resets and Max getting more and more detached each time, I thought that Max might eventually get desperate enough to try something like this, at least once. This wouldn't have to be the last loop or anything, but I'd imagine it happening sometime after she hit double digits.
