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This is the story of a man named Stanley.
On this particular attempt, Stanley decided not to listen to the Narrator, as he had almost every attempt beforehand. The Narrator, of course, went on one of his rage-filled rants about how Stanley was simply incapable of listening at all. So he did not notice when Stanley took a pin from one of the desks, and stuck it into the keyhole for the room labeled Maintenance Room.
Stanley had not been in this room before, even before The Narrator started his story. It had always remained locked, and he had never seen anyone enter or leave. The room he was in was a mystery.
“What— Stanley! Where are you going? That room is locked! You aren’t supposed to get through here!” The Narrator began, attempting to open a few side doors as to usher Stanley back on the correct path. All of this was futile, of course, as Stanley moved down the concrete steps and into another office.
This office, however, was not like his own.
It was cold, with no yellow painting the walls as an attempt to cheer the workers up. Multiple computers displayed different rooms, one even displaying the room for displaying rooms. Stanley drowned out The Narrators panicked speech as he sorted through the papers left on the desk, which he quickly realized had every single action he has done, every ending he has gotten, and everything that the Narrator has said to him written down on it.
Whatever this room was for, it was made to document whatever test he was a part of, and could hold his escape.
“Have you found what you wanted, Stanley? Good. Time to go. Come on now.” The door behind Stanley opened, leading back up the staircase. “You can even keep those papers! Put them on your desk or something. I don’t care. Come on, time to go.”
Stanley turned his head up at the security camera. The panic in Narrators voice was unfamiliar. He must be getting close.
Stanley turned, and grabbed the closed door in front of him. He rattled the doorknob, and found it was locked. Good thing he brought the pin with him.
“Oh, thank goodness. The doors locked! The lock to this door is very complex, Stanley, So you wont be able to get through. Lets turn around now, and continue with our story—“
The door clicked, and Stanley turned the doorknob.
Stanley was met with a server room, that seemed to go on forever. The lights in the server racks flickered, indicating to him that they were powering something.
“Oh goodness. Stanley, you need to leave, now. This is not safe for you. At all.”
Stanley then realized exactly what this place was. It was The Narrator. Or at least, whatever helped him control Stanley. It only made sense, considering how frantic he was to bring Stanley back.
“..your not going to listen, are you? I suppose i’ll have to reset. Yes, yes! I’ll reset this try and we can continue on normally. Alright. Im restarting in Three..”
Stanley knew that if he stood around and waited for Narrator to reset this attempt, then the door would be boarded shut, or removed entirely.
This was his only chance to escape.
Stanley rushed over to one of the server racks, pulling against the lock as he frantically tried to open it.
“Two..”
Stanley finally pried the metal casing open, and paused for only a moment as he glanced over the wires and buttons. What to do now?
“And..”
No time to wait, he decided. Stanley squinted his eyes shut as Narrator reached one, grabbed onto a cluster of the wires, and pulled.
Narrators voice cut off, but not before Stanley heard the sharp gasp he had managed from his actions. Stanleys eyes blinked open, and he found he was not in his office. Whatever he had done had stopped Narrator from resetting.
Stanley paused, loosening his hand around the wires. For a moment, he worried he had killed Narrator, though he supposed that was his goal.
“Stanley, you cannot be doing that. It’s highly dangerous, for the both of us. Do you seriously want to kill me?”
The Narrator was trying to be serious and intimidating, he could tell, but his voice gave it away. Stanley pettily hooked his finger around one of the wires and tugged.
“S-tanley!”
Stanley froze as he heard Narrators voice catch like that, and he suddenly realized what he was doing.
“Ahem. Let’s forget that happened. Come on, now, Stanley! This must be very uncomfortable for you— let me just wipe your mind of this ever happening and we can get back on track!”
Stanley panicked, and grabbed another handful of wires, pulling with more force than before.
Narrator immediately cut his voice out again, but he couldn’t do much about the cooling fans speeding up throughout the endless web of machinery.
“S-Stanley.” Narrator hissed.
Stanley turned his head up, looking for a security camera.
He supposed this was how he was doing it, then. Anything to escape.
Stanley tangled his fingers into the wires in his hand while keeping what could be called eye contact with the camera, splaying his hand over one of the computers and rubbing his thumb over one of the wires.
“Oh-god-“ Narrator mumbled, and Stanley actually began to smile. He leaned his face down over the wires in his hand and paused, glancing up at the camera. Consent was still important, even now.
The Narrator paused, processing what he was asking before nodding. “Yeah- thats fine—“ he strained, letting out a shaky sigh as Stanley pressed his lips against the wires.
The fans became even more noticeable now, and Stanley, with his lips still pressed against the wires, laughed.
“Dont you laugh at me. You’re doing this by choice.” Narrator snapped after catching his breath. “Goodness, for what you’re doing, you are highly immature about—“
He was cut off as Stanley trailed his fingers against the metal casing of the computer. Apparently he could feel that too.
Stanley took this opportunity to open the cabinet next to him, which held the same result as the first. He shifted, trailing his finger over one of the wires and pinching slightly. The result he got from that egged him to do it again, so he did.
“Goodness- Stanley you are—“
Stanley paused, pulling his hands away and tilting his head up at the camera to urge Narrator to finish his sentence.
“..wonderful.”
Stanley felt warmth prickle at his face— the same he got when with his wife, which was enough internal turmoil to cause him to sharply tug at the wiring. Instead of leaning down, this time he instead pulled the wires up to him and gently kissed the casing a few times, making sure to be gentle.
The Narrators voice glitched, before falling completely silent.
And then the fans shut off, and all of the blinking lights went off, and then the buzzing ceiling lights overhead cut out.
Stanley untangled his hands and gently closed the two racks, slumping over the one closest to him and drawing small circles over the metal case. Never once did it occur to him to run, try to find a way out.
After a few seconds, the lights cut back on, and then the computers, and then the fans, which were now much, much louder.
“Goodness. Um. What now.”
Stanley turned to look at the camera, his face softened with concern.
“Wh- yes, im fine, Stanley! No need to worry.”
Stanley smiled, closing his eyes.
“Um- Thank you, I suppose.”
Stanley laughed again, and pressed a kiss to the top of the server rack, and immediately regretted doing so as he coughed from the dust that had collected there.
He stumbled backwards, letting go of the rack, and when he next opened his eyes, he was met with the door to his office.
When he glared up at the security camera positioned at the corner of his room, The Narrator sighed.
“What? It’s my job, Stanley!”
having given up his chance to escape, Stanley was back. Though he couldn’t help the amusement that came with the fact that the maintenance room was still there as he stepped out of the office, especially when he found it was unlocked this time around.