I call out for help...

I hear Fando cry for help. Dammit Fando. All you had to do was wait for me to get back. OK, let's go handle this. I'll need a mask.

Edgar! Down here! Now!

*Mask?

Yes.

*I'm on my way.

Bring your brother.

*Are you... Doing OK?

Da fuck do you think?

*Alright. Dude chill. We're on our way.

...

But nobody came.

A battle starts. There is no music, only the sound of a cold wind and The Technician's menacing, uncaring gaze.

"You won't ever unmask us," he chuckles, "we are perfect the way we are. We don't need to, want to, and will not change."

The Technician attacks!

He strikes at me with his wires, which I narrowly avoid.

Fando avoided the attack!

The Technician is not knocked prone. Guess it's because he attacked indirectly.

Well my life just got a whole lot harder. I have to attack and hope for a critical hit. It's my only hope.

Fando attacks!

The Technician's mask glows with an unholy power. He summons wires to trip me.

The Technician's mask protected him!

Fando was knocked prone!

"Foolish child," my foe chuckles, "how can you harm what you don't know? Until you know my true face, my power is far greater. Tell me Fando, and maybe you'll survive..."

The Technician summons wires that rise next to him, ready to electrocute me.

"What's my name?" He asks.

"Your name?" I inquire.

"Well," he smiles, "I guess the better question is, what is my relation to the Author? What is the truth?"

"I don't know."

"Then you'll never unmask me!"

The wires lash out at me. I close my eyes, unable to dodge..

Guys we gotta move! He's gonna shatter her!

Gen3king!

Gen nods in response as I put on my mask. I absorb him into myself, taking him as a facade to face my foe.

I interrupt the battle.

The King blocked the attack!

I open my eyes and see The Author, but wearing a mask. He appears slouched over, timid, and his black jacket is zipped up tight, even though even someone like him would wear it unzipped in this place. It's to warm...

Why do I know that about his jacket?

"He's going to lie soon," the voice whispers, "we'll show you what he really means."

"You're really still at this?" The Technician asks, "boy, you are weak! I'll kick your ass if you keep this up! We'll have you put in the nuthouse!"

"Why?" The Author asks, "I promise you I'm fine."

I hear him mumble, "lie. Hide. Repress. Lie. Hide. Repress. Lie. Hide. Repress."

"You still trying to unmask me?"

"Heck no!"

"Good. You best be taking Fando. No one cares about the truth anyways."

The Technician looks at me and continues, "I see you again, and your soul is shattered."

The Technician leaves. The Author rips off his mask, shaking uncontrollably. In his eyes...

There is only fear.

"Author?" I ask.

"Look Fando," he sighs, "the truth is futile. Someday, I'm gonna break. They're going to break me. Can you just... Forget about me? Trust me, if I do break, and as of my time of writing this, I'm probably going to, it'll hurt less."

"Watch closely," the voice smirks.

I see the Author standing on a high up place, the seats of a high school football feild on the other side of a fence at the top. He wears Gen's mask.

The Author's words, "just forget about me," repeat over and over again.

I then see him in his room, dead. He appears even thinner than usual, and paler. He wears Edgar's mask.

I see the Author with a knife in his hand in a pool of his own blood. He wears no mask.

I see the Author, this one the only one who seems happy. He wears no mask, and appears to be far away from... Wherever he was, but this appears to be in the future.

I have to say something.

Choice: What are you hiding?

Choice: Are you OK?

Choice: I won't forget.

Choice: I'll unmask you.

Choice: I'll stop The Beast.