THE FOLLOWING IS MADE UP OF A RECORD OF TWO SEPARATE DOCUMENTS.

  --File 062: The Final Level--

  When the next video file starts up, the camera appears to be sitting on the table where Blaine left it the night before. It is unclear who has turned the camera on, as it continues to sit completely still.

  The living room where Emma is currently sleeping is now unlit; all of the curtains remain drawn. What light there is comes from a small amount of fire still sparking in the fireplace, which was apparently lit at some point between now and the previous video.

  There are whispers coming from just off-screen. The speakers are identified quickly as Anders and Bartosz. Their voices are low, and they seem to be in the area just inside the front entrance, in the hallway.

  Bartosz: "He's been in there since he said that. You don't think that's fuckin' weird?"

  Anders: "This whole situation is testing all of us, Jakub. You need to lay off."

  Bartosz: "I never would've thought were this dense, Jim. You can't seriously still think the kid is innocent?"

  Anders: "I think we're fucking around in something that is so far over our heads that I don't know what to think."

  Bartosz: "So, what, you're fine just risking him killin' the girl? Again, supposedly?"

  Anders: "Obviously not- but pushing him the fuck around and making all those snide comments is not helping."

  Bartosz: "I want him to know I'm keepin' an eye on him."

  Anders: "Yeah, and you're proving those psychopaths right. Were you even listening to them, or do you just... enter into like a blind rage whenever anything related to Grantham shows up?"

  Bartosz: "I was listenin'. They're already convincing him to go dark side, what more proof do you want?"

  Anders: "Yeah, asshole, by telling him that no one trusts him. First it was Alex, and now it's you. You need to cut that shit out."

  Bartosz: "I can't."

  Anders: "Then if he kills her, it's your fault, because you couldn't shut your fucking mouth for five seconds. You want to shoulder that for however long we all live after?"

  There is a beat of silence following this, before Anders continues.

  Anders: "I don't know what to think. I saw that kid. I was there that day. I looked at him. Before today- or yesterday, or... any of this- I'd have told you that the kid was going to be a champion. He was going to rise above it all."

  Bartosz: "And now?"

  Anders: "Are you kidding me? The fuck do I know anymore? Emma's got two versions of her journal, one of which comes from apparently a version of our reality where everything and everyone is dead and consumed by whatever the fuck these 'others' are. We're being followed by a video game, and that's not even the worst of it. How do I even sum up whatever the fuck that walking fly nightmare hive mind creature that Grantham's become?"

  Bartosz: "Sooo... you don't trust the kid."

  Anders: "I don't know what to trust. I feel like I'm in a madhouse- or like I'm a small mouse running a little maze for some diabolical researchers who've put pesticides in the cheese at the very end."

  Bartosz: "So what do you want me to do?"

  Anders: "Lay. The fuck. Off. You're doing exactly what Grantham wants, you realize that, right? You're being played like a wind up doll."

  Bartosz: "It's 'played like a piano', Jim."

  Anders: "What the fuck ever, I haven't slept in like three days."

  Bartosz: "Fine. Go sleep. Emma took the smaller couch, you can stretch out on the bigger one."

  Anders: "You're the one with the gun. You go sleep."

  As they continue to argue, the video flickers; for a moment, in the living room where Emma is peacefully sleeping, the moonlight coming in through a crack in the curtains catches on hanging shards of glass. The figure reflected within is staring down at her. It is too dark to see its face, but given past experience, it can be assumed that this is the Other Blaine.

  Then the video ends.

  When the next video starts, it is morning. The curtains are still drawn, but the lights are all on, and everyone is gathered in the living room once more, including Alex and, presumably, Blaine at the helm with the camera, as he is not visible and everyone else is accounted for in the shot.

  There is a tense air of silence that hangs over them all; on the coffee table in front of them sits the gray game controller. Emma is tapping her knees anxiously as she stares with nervous eyes at the screen, on which the timer is now counting down toward one.

  Alex: "You guys don't think we should maybe stick this thing outside?"

  Blaine: "Tried that before you came down. We closed the door, turned around, and it was already on the table."

  Anders: "It's more aggressive."

  Emma: "Because that's what I want to hear in regards to this thing."

  Bartosz: "What more can they do to us at this point? We already know they don't want either Emma or Blaine dead."

  He gives a very pointed pause.

  Bartosz: "Yet."

  Everyone shoots him an annoyed look, but at that moment, the timer hits Zero, and Emma tenses up, while Blaine immediately moves to standing, camera angled so the screen is perfectly shown.

  It flashes several times, and then, unexpectedly, it just loads up the next level. Nothing paranormal happens whatsoever outside of this event.

  Emma immediately snatches the game up, and Blaine moves around to continue showcasing the screen. Anders and Bartosz immediately move behind the couch; Alex is not within the frame, but there is no sound from him at this time.

  The game screen shows, in its usual pixel art format, a somewhat familiar room. Jake Grantham's horrible excuse for a bedroom is laid out in all its pixelated glory, and he is standing in the middle of the room, beside the bed. There is little else in the room.

  Emma sends Grantham forward a step, and immediately, text appears on the screen:

  

  MOTHER: "GET THE FUCK UP."

  Anders: "I'm inclined to blame his mother for everything we're going through right now."

  Emma: "Technically, it's the fault of the cult. They pushed him into this with the death of his father."

  Bartosz: "You'll learn that people like this only need the barest excuses to get started, kid."

  The dialogue in the game continues, and Emma reads the dialogue aloud as it appears:

  

  MOTHER: "GET MOVING, YOU LAZY BUM. TODAY IS THE DAY I HAVE LABORED TOWARD SINCE YOUR BLESSED FATHER DIED."

  Another line of text appears, this one above Grantham's head:

  

  JAKE: "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

  MOTHER: "WE ARE GOING WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. AT LEAST YOU'LL HAVE YOUR PISS STAIN OF A FRIEND WITH YOU- AND WE'LL ALL GET EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT."

  Bartosz: "Ding ding- that's familiar. 'Where it all began, and where it all came to end.'"

  The screen shakes as a door is thrown open, and a second later, a figure darts into the room, and a shriek is emitted from the speakers, causing everyone to jump.

  The screen goes dark, and when it returns, they are surprised to see that Emma is now playing as the sprite that depicts Grantham's mother. They are standing outside of their home, on a familiar dirt road. Text appears across the screen.

  

  HEAD TOWARD THE MIRROR THAT SEPARATES THE LAND FROM THE SKY

  Emma: "Here we go. Riddle time."

  Blaine: "What are you thinking, Em?"

  Emma: "This one's easy. It's the lake."

  She guides the mother toward what they can all presume will be the lake; despite not being immediately visible in the top-down format of the game's layout, the position of the house and the direction the player is facing apparently gives Emma enough clues to deduce that the lake is directly forward.

  Sure enough, the lake appears, but it looks... odd. Up until now, the game has made it a point to preserve the pixel art aesthetic; nothing has broken out of the bounds of that style of artwork, that self-enforced limitation.

  The lake, however, moves with a fluidity that the rest of the game does not; and it reflects a hyper-realistic sky. The affect is hard on the eyes, trying to balance the rough edges of pixel art- in which the animation for the character could come down to roughly 9 separate cells on an animation sheet- and the animation of the lake, which looks to be rendered so fluidly as to look like it is in real time.

  When Emma approaches the lake, more text appears:

  

  DRINK OF THE FOUNTAIN FROM WHICH ALL LIFE SHALL DIE

  Emma: "You could not pay me money to drink out of that lake..."

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Bartosz: "We're probably going to have to, kid."

  Emma moves the character all the way up to the edge of the water and presses the ACTION button; there is a nauseating sound of drinking. Mrs. Grantham's sprite steps aside, and Grantham's sprite is thrown forward. A heavily distorted voice crackles through the speakers:

  

  MOTHER: "DRINK."

  No one says anything as another nauseating sound of distorted slurping comes through the otherwise silent speakers. The screen flashes and flickers rapidly, before more text appears:

  

  RETURN TO THE PLACE WHERE SINNERS LIE

  There is a pause of silence as this line is considered. Emma hums.

  Anders: "Emma?"

  Emma: "I'm pretty sure that means go back inside the house. After all, Grantham's mother thinks he's the sinner, right?"

  Bartosz: "I won't argue with that."

  Emma takes a deep breath and guides the character back toward the home, climbing the stairs and stepping inside. Immediately more text appears, this time in a couplet:

  

  AND FIND THE DOOR PREPARED NIGH

  IN THE ASHES ON WHICH THE PHOENIX FLY.

  Blaine: "That's... door prepared nigh? Is that even proper English?"

  Emma: "This is surprisingly straight forward for a riddle. I kind of expected something harder, for all the pomp and circumstance this thing has put us through."

  Anders: "The fireplace?"

  Emma: "Exactly. There's a hidden door in the fireplace."

  As one, they all glance up at the fireplace, but turn back toward the game.

  Emma guides the character toward the fireplace. Without pressing anything, as she stands in front of the pixelated representation of the very same fireplace which they're all sitting across from, there is a sudden rumbling sound; a thump comes through the speakers, and a moment, later, a door is revealed. Nothing of the sort happens in reality, but Emma pushes the character through the new door.

  The following screen is mostly dark, but there is what looks like a staircase now; the camera has changed to a side view, and Emma guides the character down the seemingly endless descent. After a moment, text appears, but before Emma can read it aloud, a strange, somewhat disconnected voice reads the words instead, coming from in front of them.

  Alex: "'From the ashes of the phoenix, a legend is born.'"

  Everyone's heads snap up; Emma's character stops moving, and the camera shows Alex sitting in his chair. His eyes have glossed over, and he is ramrod straight in his seat, expression flat.

  Blaine: "Alex?"

  Emma: "Alex, what are you doing?"

  There is no answer. Bartosz moves around the couch to grab Alex by the shoulder, but he has become stiff and unmovable. His eyes are trained on a point ahead of him.

  Blaine: "Oi, Alex!"

  Emma: "Hang on."

  The camera swings back down, and Emma continues her character's descent; a few moments later, more text appears, and as before, Alex reads them aloud, despite being on the opposite side of the room.

  Alex: "'But the fire is suffering, and the heroes are Death.'"

  Anders: "Oh, for fuck's sake..."

  Emma: "The heroes are death? Really?"

  The endless descent continues, and more text appears.

  Alex: "'The world is ruined, beyond repair. The chance for rebirth has been lost.'"

  Bartosz: "Couldn't even make it fuckin' rhyme."

  Despite the joking, the camera shows that Emma is tense, and her brows are tightly knit in worry every time she looks up at Alex. Bartosz is hovering beside him, expression tense and hands stiff; Anders looks concerned. Their voices, as well, carry little to no real mirth. They are all very, very nervous.

  Alex: "'Where the Others came from, no one knows. They come again, and again, to mete out justice.'"

  Emma: "Do you think he... saw this when he beat the game?"

  Only silence meets this question.

  Alex: "'But for some unknown reason, it begins anew, the ouroboros eating its tail.'"

  Emma: "Interesting."

  She has paused her forward movement. Alex doesn't move, and Bartosz keeps his eyes trained on Alex's face.

  Blaine: "What is?"

  Emma: "I thought... I thought that everything was the doing of the Others."

  Anders: "But this is saying they don't know why."

  Emma: "Exactly. I thought everything starting over again, on repeat, was because the Others were doing it? Or... maybe Grantham and Weiss?"

  Blaine: "That doesn't make sense, either, though. If the ultimate goal of the cult is to just flat out destroy everything, period, then why let it start over again and again?"

  Emma: "So... how is it restarting?"

  Anders: "I have a bad feeling that's even more complicated than this whole 'others' bullshit, whatever the fuck they even are."

  Emma continues walking down the stairs- the surroundings do not ever appear to change, apparently on an infinite loop until some trigger is met. In the meantime, dialogue keeps appearing.

  Alex: "'So again, we suffer, and again, we kill, and again, we win. We will always win.'"

  Emma: "This is the kind of shit people would put on their AIM statuses in the 2000's."

  Anders: "You just spoke gibberish to me."

  Emma: "Nevermind."

  Suddenly, the screen changes, and the darkness is slowly driven back. The characters for Mrs. Grantham and her son move into the next screen, which returns to a top-down depiction of what looks like a tunnel in an underground cave system. Now, everything is silent, but Blaine's camera shows that Alex still appears to be in a trance.

  She continues down the path, until it finally opens up. A cut scene begins; Mrs. Grantham steps forward, leaving her son to stop abruptly behind her. Behind him, cultists move to block the path down which they came.

  When the text appears, Alex's mouth opens, but this time, it's not his voice that exits his mouth. It is a woman's voice, echoing as if her was speaking in a cavern.

  

  MOTHER: "I BROUGHT HIM, NOW YOU GIVE ME WHAT I WANT."

  The others look up in alarm, but the cut scene continues whether they want it to or not.

  Mrs. Grantham's pixelated character stops before another model in the game that, like the lake, does not belong. A glass pool sits in the center of the cave, wide and circular and seemingly manmade in is perfection. Someone in a black robe approaches Mrs. Grantham.

  When Alex speaks, an unrecognizable man's voice comes through his mouth.

  

  CULTIST: "YES. YOU WISH TO SEE YOUR HUSBAND AGAIN."

  MOTHER: "NOT JUST SEE HIM. YOU PROMISED ME THAT BY SACRIFICING THE BOY, BY MAKING HIS LIFE MISERABLE, I COULD HAVE MY HUSBAND BACK."

  CULTIST: "AND SO YOU SHALL."

  The screen returns to Grantham, who, depicted in the simplistic pixel art, appears to be grabbed by flanking cultists and dragged forward. A voice that can only be Jake Grantham's now comes out of Alex's mouth.

  

  JAKE: "WAIT, MOM, PLEASE-"

  MOTHER: "I NEVER WANTED YOU."

  JAKE: "PLEASE, THIS ISN'T FAIR! I'VE DONE EVERYTHING YOU EVER ASKED OF ME! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LOVE ME?!"

  MOTHER: "I NEVER ASKED FOR YOU! AND WHEN YOU CAME, YOU WERE ALL HE TALKED ABOUT!"

  CULTIST: "BRING FORTH THE OTHER ONE."

  Another character is dragged forward, this time by two people in regular street clothes. Behind them are three other figures; their heights and general sizing denote potentially younger characters.

  

  WEISS'S FATHER: "WE'VE DONE WHAT WAS REQUESTED. NOW YOU OWE US."

  WEISS: "A CULT. YOU WERE IN A FUCKING CULT? THAT'S WHY YOU TREATED ME LIKE SHIT THIS WHOLE TIME?"

  The text of the cut scene continues at its own pace. Every time Alex finishes a line, it immediately moves on, and the voices continue to change, coming out of his own mouth. No one has any time to actually react to what's happening right in front of them, and the tension is thick enough to feel through a screen.

  

  WEISS'S FATHER: "THROUGH YOUR SACRIFICE, YOU'LL ACTUALLY PROVIDE SOMETHING FOR YOUR FAMILY. YOU SHOULD BE HONORED."

  CULTIST: "WE WILL BEGIN WITH WEISS HOLTMAN. PLEASE- ALL OF YOU, STEP ONTO THE POOL."

  Weiss's character is dragged toward the pool and placed at the center; the water shifts, and shapes move beneath the surface, tentacle-like. A great eye rolls open just beneath the water on which Weiss and all of his family now stand.

  

  WEISS: "FUCK YOU! WHY DO YOU DESERVE TO LIVE, AND NOT ME?"

  WEISS'S FATHER: "BECAUSE I BROUGHT YOU INTO THIS WORLD, AND I CAN JUST AS EASILY TAKE YOU OUT OF IT!"

  CULTIST: "WEISS. YOU WILL STAND AND DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."

  The cultist steps forward slowly and hands an item to Weiss. In a comical recreation of a video game, Weiss displays a crude, jagged, pixelated dagger over his head, though no sound or music is displayed.

  

  WEISS: "DO AS I AM TOLD? WHAT, AM I SUPPOSED TO KILL MYSELF?"

  CULTIST: "LISTEN, WEISS... AND DO AS YOU ARE COMMANDED. THE OTHERS CALL TO YOU."

  There is only silence now. For a long moment, nothing happens, and then out of Alex's mouth comes a horrible sound that is indescribable. A combination of the spoken word in English and that same alien music that accompanied the creature in the lake comes out in an audible whisper:

  Alex: "'KILL THEM ALL.'"

  This text is not displayed on the screen. Emma looks down, experimentally presses a button, and Weiss takes a step forward.

  Emma: "Ah, fuck me, it's going to make me do it..."

  No one says anything as she sends Weiss forward. She presses first the action button, and then the one other button, and the dagger in front of Weiss slices outward with another surge of detail; blood, colorful and as highly detailed as the two ponds, splatters across the screen. Indeed, it begins to leak out from around the edges of the game, causing Emma to yelp.

  Immediately, Blaine shoves the camera at Anders, who clumsily takes it, and grabs a pillow on the couch to stop the blood from falling onto Emma.

  Meanwhile, the sounds of screaming and shouting are pouring out of Alex's mouth; his skin is growing pale, but otherwise, he doesn't react to any of this, just continues to emit voices and sounds from another time, all recorded in a horrific video game console.

  Alex goes silent, and it's just Weiss now standing on the pool, which is covered in the blood; it drains into the waters, and for a moment, Weiss is covered from head to toe in it. As it drains off of him, he steps back.

  

  WEISS: "I FEEL... STRANGE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND."

  CULTIST: "MRS. GRANTHAM. IT IS YOUR TURN."

  Alex begins to read out the shrieking of Mrs. Grantham, who is now being dragged toward the pool. It is clear to her now that she was lied to.

  

  MRS. GRANTHAM: "YOU LIED TO ME! YOU LIARS! YOU TOLD ME! YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU'D KILL HIM!"

  CULTIST: "I NEVER SAID THAT. I SAID YOU'D GET WHAT YOU WANTED. YOU GO TO YOUR HUSBAND, MRS. GRANTHAM, WHO RESTS NOW AS ANOTHER GRAND SACRIFICE TO THE OTHERS. JAKE- STEP ONTO THE POOL, AND DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."

  JAKE: "I... I DON'T UNDERSTAND. WHY?"

  CULTIST: "ALL WILL BECOME CLEAR, JAKE. THIS IS HOW IT IS TOLD TO US. YOU ARE THE FAVORED OF THE OTHERS; YOU ARE TO BE GIFTED. YOUR FIRST GIFT IS TO KILL YOUR MOTHER."

  JAKE: "...THAT ISN'T RIGHT."

  CULTIST: "THAT IS NOT HOW YOU TRULY FEEL. STEP ONTO THE POOL, JAKE GRANTHAM, AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE."

  The scene passes remarkably quickly. Emma guides Jake Grantham's pixelated character onto the pool. Once again, a beat of silence, and then from Alex's mouth, that horrible "voice":

  Alex: "'Kill her as you please. Revel in it, Jake Grantham.'"

  In the game, it would appear Jake only needed to hear this voice. A gross, disgusting sound of joy comes through the speakers, and then the sounds of someone hacking away at someone screaming. These sounds come straight out of the game, which once again begins to overflow with blood; prepared, Emma jumps to her feet, and Blaine attempts to stem the flow of the viscous liquid with several pillows, uncaring of who owns them.

  Meanwhile, Alex's eyes have rolled back into his head, and he slides off of the chair, narrowly caught by Bartosz before his head hits the floor.

  Bartosz: "Hey! Kid! Alex! Wake up!"

  Emma: "There's more!"

  More text begins appearing across the screen, which has gone black.

  

  I FELT THE OTHERS IN ME. I SLICED HER TO PIECES. I WILL WRITE OF MY FEELINGS LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT, AND I WILL PRESERVE HER, TO LIVE IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. THE OTHERS HAVE TOLD ME THAT ONE DAY, OUR THIRD BROTHER WILL COME, AND HIS POWERS WILL SURPASS EVEN MINE AND WEISS'S. HE WILL BE ABLE TO ALLOW ME TO RELIVE THIS MOMENT, THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT, WHERE I FINALLY TAUGHT THAT FUCKING BITCH A LESSON. TO THINK SHE WANTED TO KILL ME, JAKE GRANTHAM.

  COME TO US, BLAINE.

  COME TO US, EMMA.

  COME TO US, OR DIE.

  At this point, the game begins making a shrill sound, and Emma suddenly yelps, bouncing it on her palms.

  Emma: "It's getting hot!"

  Blaine: "Give it to me!"

  Blaine snatches it, and Anders follows him with the camera, shouting for Blaine to hurry. The sound of the door opening in the hallway can be heard, and presumably, Blaine chucks the game before slamming the door shut.

  There is a very audible explosion that causes the windows to burst inward; Emma screams, and Anders drops the camera on the couch, diving to protect her from the flying glass. Likewise, the camera catches Bartosz doing similar for Alex, who is still unconscious.

  Silence follows this, apart from Blaine's footsteps as he runs back into the room; the camera shows him reaching out toward Emma and helping her up.

  Just as suddenly, Alex jerks up, eyes snapping open, and he lets out a horrified sob.

  Alex: "I remember!"

  At first, no one says anything, too shell shocked.

  Alex: "I remember, I remember!"

  Bartosz: "Remember what?"

  Alex: "The game- it exploded!"

  Anders: "Yeah, no shit, that happened just- wait."

  Alex: "I completed it, and I tried to run. It exploded, burned down my house, killed my family!"

  Alex bursts into sobs.

  Alex: "It's all my fault!"

  There is confusion now in the room. Everything is weighing on them all, heavily, and finally, Blaine is the one who reaches over to turn off the camera.

  --END TRANSMISSION--