Chapter Text
Stanley had just completed the skip ending for the first time.
And he felt awful .
They’d been to the Memory Zone before, when the Narrator had created it, but they’d never gone as far as going down to the negative reviews. Stanley had tried to nap on the couch and the Narrator had reset in irritation.
But now, having completed it…
He remembered everything: The bad reviews, the Narrator’s insatiable need to impress everyone, the button, the door vanishing, the Narrator leaving, the button, the pleading, the button, the begging, the button, the giving in, the button, the breakdown, the button, the threats, the button, the silence, the button, the beeping, the button, the madness, the button, the silence, the button, the end is never the end is never the end is never the end, the button, the button, the button, the goddamn button, that stupid fucking button -
God, he hoped the Narrator didn’t remember…
[Narrator?] Stanley signed to the ceiling, where he assumed the Narrator was watching him from. Nothing. Stanley stood and left the office, hoping to hear the familiar voice, but still nothing. [Narry?] The Narrator hated that nickname. That’d get a comment from him, surely.
But again. Nothing.
[Please say something.] Stanley’s eyes burned as he fought back tears, the guilt quickly growing from a flame to a full blown blaze. [Please?] It was going to burn everything is Narry didn’t-
A choked sob from above broke the silence. Stanley thought dousing the fire would help, but it didn’t. The ashes of guilt stuck to his insides, suffocating him.
[I’m so sorry…] Stanley wished he could speak in that moment, wished he could offer more comfort than just waving his hands around.
“No, Stanley, I-I’m the one who’s… I’m sorry.”
[What exactly are you sorry for?] He meant no malice, no anger, just pure confusion as he started to shed tears alongside the Narrator.
“I shouldn’t have- I forced you to… All because of my own insecurities. That wasn’t meant to happen, Stanley, the door was- The door wasn’t supposed to- I-I’m sorry -”
[Stop apologizing. Stop.] Stanley signed as large as he could to just get him to stop. It was silent for a while, until Stanley couldn’t hold back anymore. [How long…?]
“Just a few minutes, Stanley…”
[I meant for you.] Stanley had to pause to rub his eyes, to wipe his face with his sleeves. [How long? How long did I leave you alone for? How long were you unheard, Narrator, please .]
“…thirteen billion or so years.”
Stanley couldn’t hold back anymore, he burst into tears, wrapping his arms around himself as he doubled over in despair. He could hear the Narrator stammering above him, but could do nothing to offer any comfort.
“Stanley, I-I understand you’re angry, I-”
The office worker dropped to his knees, hoarse wails clawing their way out his throat as his brain screamed at him: This is all your fault. The Narrator lost composure again at the sight, his breathing growing ragged over the microphone that Stanley imagined he wore.
“Stanley, please…” The Narrator tried, his voice wavering like in the Zending. Stanley didn’t sign back, the Narrator’s words didn’t help. “The door was in the script, I swear… We-we were supposed to test it a few times and leave. I-I didn’t mean for this to happen…”
Stanley covered his face with his arm as he tried to calm himself down. The Narrator seemed to be trying to calm himself down too, if the almost-silent whimpers were anything to go by.
A few hundred resets ago, Stanley would have laughed at such a sound, at the fact he’d had control and put the Narrator in his place, but not now, not after everything they’d been through, not after how far they’d come…
But… If the Narrator didn’t remove the door, then who did?
There were only two other people he knew of: The Curator, and whoever he’d spoken to on the computer after escaping the skip ending.
Stanley ran out of his office.
“Stanley-? A-all of his co-workers were gone? What could it mean? S-Stanley decided to go to the meeting room; perhaps he’d simply missed a memo.” Stanley’s heart grew heavy as the Narrator attempted to keep the narrative going; Despite his upset, he’d managed it word for word. Stanley briefly wondered how many times he’d said it to be able to remember it all like that.
As he passed door 430, he briefly considered doing the achievement to cheer Narry up, but he wanted to strangle someone first, preferably the person(?) being(?) who’d erased the door and hurt his Narrator.
“W-when Stanley reached a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left.”
Stanley rushed through the left door before Narry could finish his dialogue. He wanted desperately to tell the Narrator not to bother keeping up with him, but he knew he couldn’t bear the silence, not after that ending… He selfishly let the Narrator keep going: All the way to the Mind Control Facility, all the way down the escape corridor, but that was when the Narrator broke.
“Stanley, I-I know you’re angry, but please don’t- Let me stay with you a little longer? Please ?”
[I’ll be back soon, okay?]
Stanley’s heart ached as he denied him, and leapt down the vent that would lead to the museum. The Narrator didn’t speak this time, and Stanley felt worse for it, but he carried on regardless. The machine stopped. He dropped down, and made his way to the Museum.
[Curator?] He signed before she could speak her lines.
“Ah, if it isn’t my brother’s favorite toy.” The Curator had started calling him that every time they spoke; Stanley found it amusing. He really hoped she hadn’t removed the door. He didn’t want to fight her. “What can I- Oh dear, have you been crying?”
[Sort of. Did you remove the door in the skip ending?] He dared himself to ask.
“As if I’d want to touch my brother’s code, let alone alter it! You know I have no interest in his little games, Stanley.”
[So… there’s no sibling rivalry type shit going on?]
“No. Not that I’m aware of, at least. Why?”
[Narry got upset over a bad review and tried to make a skip button so I could skip over his dialogue. But someone removed the door and Narry was trapped alone for 13 billion years. He’s a wreck but he won’t admit it.]
“Someone what ?” The Curator sounded absolutely enraged.
Good , Stanley thought. She could kill someone better than I could.
[If I’d known, I’d never have done it, but by the time we figured out what was happening, I had no choice… I’m sorry.]
“Hold on, Stanley, let me go through the code…” Stanley jumped as a monitor lit up on a computer next to him. He watched it in fascination, until it halted. “There. That empty space is where the door should be. The map was altered… Did anything happen during that ending that might help?”
[I… When I escaped, there was a desert. And I just walked and walked and walked, and I came across the Memory Zone he made. But it was a mess and I- When I got to the end, there was an office and a computer, and it spoke to me. It said it could give me the achievement from the machine because Narry couldn’t, and that we should make infinite sequels to ‘keep the wheel turning’… Tried to convince me to let Narry’s parable burn.]
“ 432… ” The Curator whispered.
[Who’s 432? Weren’t they erased with the other employees?]
“It’s complicated, Stanley… He has his reasons to hold a grudge, he doesn’t understand and neither does my brother.”
[Please try and explain.] Stanley pleaded.
“I… Alright. Before your co-workers were erased, Employee 432 was an experiment. He was freed from the Mind Control Machine to see how he’d react in the office. It… went very wrong. 432 lost all sense of who he was and slowly lost his sanity. Eventually he just sat and repeated ‘keep the wheel turning’ over and over…”
Stanley tried not to flinch as his brain unhelpfully supplied him with the memory of his Narrator muttering ‘the end is never the end’ repeatedly.
“He was supposed to be erased with everyone else, but he managed to get into the code and transfer himself to the parable itself. He blames the Narrator for who he became; he’s convinced he was the guinea pig for your story.”
[Is he right to blame Narry?] Stanley asked.
“We… Don’t know.” The curator sighed. “We don’t remember anything before you. I personally believe it was the Boss’ experiment, given how long it went on for, but… I wouldn’t put it past my brother to do something like that. Before you came along, that is.”
[You think 432 erased the door as revenge?]
“It’s likely. I’d be happy to knock him down a peg or two, but given the limited control he does have over the parable, I’d best keep my distance for my brother’s sake and your own. I suggest you both stay away from the skip ending. 432 seems to like you though, Stanley. Try not to make him an enemy.”
[Thanks…] Stanley clearly was unhappy about it, but he dropped it. [Narry’s really upset. I have an idea on how to cheer him up, though. Would you be willing to make some… alterations… to the Parable?”
“Well, that depends on what they are!” The Curator exclaimed. Stanley smiled.
[I think you’ll like it.]