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--
Thunderous footsteps echo off the walls of the alley. [[I->Meave]] push forward, shaking off the swift rush of fatigue, this was supposed to be so easy... They had found out about [[Grayson's->Grayson]] and my plan, like they'd known all along.
[[...->I look over my shoulder]]
My name is Meave, head of a low level mafia in New York City.
We aren't exactly legal, but we keep more scum off the streets than the local police department, half of which are in bed with the very flea-bitten dogs I'm working to take down. My family hasn't harmed a single innocent since I rose in the ranks.
[[Good to know->They had been compromised]]Grayson's a Scorcher, albeit a better man than the rest of the ants infesting the department.
I've been informing for him for quite a while now, however it's only recently I've revealed myself from being entirely anonymous. We've fallen into an absolute pit of a case, but hopefully... it'll soon come to an end.
[[Wishful thinking->They had been compromised]]With smugglers hot on our tail, I'm rather exasperated when I look back to see Grayson lagging behind, leg dragging. Our cover has already been blown, what is he doing?!
They're getting closer.
[[Reach for my gun]]
[[You don't need to outrun the bear..]]
Whatever he's doing, I can't let us get killed for it.
The crack of a pistol shot through the air is the whip crack that has me whirling around.
Too close.
Fallen rain kicks up under my skidding shoes as I let Grayson pass me, he calls my name, but there's no time for him to hesitate if he's going to keep up his bystander limping act.
"Go Scorcher, I'm right behind you."
[[He has never been a good listener->Grabbed]]
I don't have time, if that Scorcher wants to take his chances I can't let him drag me down with him. My family is waiting for me, I can't go out protecting a pig.
[[So I ran]]"Mae!!"
I don't look back, head dipping slightly as the volleys start just as I round the corner, he didn't even last long enough to scream.
My conscience will have to clear, but I made it out. I'll find another way to end this, but with this loss I'll have to regroup.
**BAD END**
[after 2 seconds]
[[try again?->They had been compromised]]I hold my pistol steady, firing off a warning round that I wasn't about to lay down and take it.
If only the damn ant listened to me. I should've kept a better eye on him. He grabs my arm, taking no care of the firearm in my grip as he pulls us to the refuge of an abandoned stairwell.
The shadow of the broken doorway is only wide enough to accomodate closer quarters than I would usually allow.
[[The Chopper Squad is getting closer->Chopper Squad prelude]]
Grayson's grip remains steadfast as I can't help but freeze.
"I've got you Mae"
Something in his tone sounds... ragged. He's still favoring that leg, had he been hit?
His grasp tightens, hand over my mouth as my attention shifts to the center of his attention.
[[A gun barrel pointed at my face.->Chopper Squad]]
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--
The crony hasn't seen us yet, but he's only a step away from breaking the illusion, seeing the peek of my shoe into the light that would break up the shadows and have us riddled with bullets within the minute.
[[Run]]
[[Hold my breath]]config.style.page.font: "Iowan Old Style/Constantia/Georgia/serif 18"
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--
I flinch, pulling free of the Scorcher as I make a break down the stairs.
The crony spots movement and lets fly a volley of bullets.
[[Duck]]
[[Weave Left]]
[[Jump]]He's so close it wouldn't do any good to move, We'd be dead either way.
[[So I remain still..->Stay Still]]Just as the lackey lifts his foot, a distant holler has his head snapping the other way, and his path follows.
Grayson has yet to move, likely as frozen in relief as I am.
[[Smack Grayson's hand away]]
[[Bite that -stupid- hand over my mouth]]
[[Tap him]]I throw my hand to wrench him off of me, brown orbs widening at me slightly.
"Do you think I'm a sap?!"
"Just thought to avoid taking any chances. Most people tend to gasp when a gun is aimed at their face."
"You didn't." A sharp bark as my gaze shoots daggers at him. Just as he opens his mouth I throw an accusatory finger toward him. "And furthermore!"
I'm seeing red. We almost got bumped off because of his little stunt.
{embed passage: 'Why the hell are you limping'}Usually I'd slap such an offending appendage away from my mouth, but what's the point.
We've been working together long enough that I'm used to how he functions, he was only acting to keep us from leaving the alley in a pair of Chicago overcoats.
Even if he had escaped my ire for saving my life, his acting is what got us into this mess.
{embed passage: 'Why the hell are you limping'}"Why the hell were you limping? This isn't a game Grayson-!"
His hand goes up to stop me mid-rant, gaze falling to the ground as he massages his upper-thigh, wincing as it suddenly hits me how pale he's gotten.
"I was shot as a kid and the nerves haven’t worked right since. I can run for a while, but eventually…"
He shifts again, keeping his foot off the ground, gaze nearly losing focus as he takes in a shaky breath.
I offer him an arm, hoping I don't sound as snapping to him as I do to myself.
[["Why didn't you say something?"]]
My teeth take one of his fingers and I clamp down just enough to send the appendage jerking away.
"You're welcome." He snickers, gaze almost sparkling with the sarcastic smugness overtaking his features.
I don't let it last however, too high strung from our close call with lead poisoning. He almost got us killed.
{embed passage: 'Why the hell are you limping'}I dive to avoid the majority of the spray, only to put my more vital organs in direct line of most of the bullets showering the concrete to immobilize whatever ran past the chopper's vision.
Blood chokes up the back of my throat, a shout echoing in my ears.
"MAE!!"
My legs give out from under me as more bullets start to fly. Grayson is an idiot, there's as much hope for him getting out of this alive as there was for my little stunt to pay off.
My vision is too dark to see him, but I know he lands a few feet from me
Now neither of us will make it out of here.
{embed passage: 'Run-END'}Bullets graze by my head as I take off down the stairs, only to hesitate went I hear a strained grunt, turning around on the next landing. It's hard to make out in the low light, but Grayson's blown his cover to grab the gunman.
"Get out of here Mae!" Then the ring of gunfire, and a groan as his form slumps.
[[Run->Run again]]
[[Get Grayson]]Not sure why I thought jumping down a flight of stairs was a good idea, adrenaline I suppose.
My feet make contact with the concrete and my right ankle gives a resounding crack. I go down, unable to regroup fast enough before the scream of bullets turn out the lights.
{embed passage: 'Run-END'}Meave has died...
**BAD END**
[[Try to Escape again?->Run]]
[[Try another route?->Chopper Squad]]
[[Back to the beginning?->They had been compromised]]His head jerks, seeming about to snap back only to pause a moment, maybe it was the crease in my brow, the concern and *guilt* that had wormed it's way onto my face.
He was always tailing behind me and asking me to slow down. I just assumed he wasn't in shape, and he was in pain, *and I never even asked.*
The pattering rain thankfully camoflagues my eyes, water-glazed, threatening.
"It never seemed like the right moment." I shrink back, silence growing until his sigh makes me jump. "Mae, I’m okay. It’s an old injury that acts up sometimes, especially when it’s cold and wet. None of this is your fault." He places [[a hand->tremble]] to my shoulder.
I go quiet, only reply even approaching coherence being 'I'm sorry' until I made myself look up.
He's smiling.
*idiot*
"W-when did you get shot, again?"
[[He laughs]]
He's likely already dead, I need to make sure the chance he gave me doesn't go to waste.
*I just abandoned him and he was cut down for it. Damn ant. He should've let me get shot at and lead 'em off!*
The squad is still very much on my heels, bullets flying as I get grazed more and more as they group up and rush the stairwell.
The bottom of the stairwell is a dead end.. there's no where left to run.
{embed passage: 'Run-END'}
With a shake of my head I dive back up the stairs, yanking the gun from the lackey to crack him over the head. He's not dead but he won't be following us. The commotion has drawn the rest of the squad, their footsteps closing in, we need to move.
I hoist the Scortcher over my shoulder. He should've followed me, but then we'd likely both be chilled off already. He groans, but he's alive, thankfully coherent enough to shuffle his feet, still favoring his one leg. Maybe it wasn't an act?
"Come on Scortcher, I can't carry you."
"Then why didn't you go?"
"Thought you were behind me." I lie, guilt eating me alive, I was ready to leave him to fend for himself and he took a bullet for me. I can't bring myself not to care about him either, we've worked together too long.
Long enough that he knows I'm lying.
"Yeah right." He hisses through clenched teeth
"Believe me or don't we've gotta dust out of here."
[[He does his best]]But we're just not fast enough to get out of the line of fire, if the stairwell was even an escape anyway.
If only he'd stayed put...
*no*
If only *I'd* stayed put.
{embed passage: 'Run-END'}A full sound that echoes off the walls of the alley. I have the shame to look a little chastised. Yet he smirks, warm and wily and just what I need to stop the last of the clawing guilt in my gut.
"You never were one to hold back~ There was a shoot-out down on the dock my father worked on; the police had cornered some smugglers as they were packing up their cargo. My dad and I got caught up in the middle of it." I know very well where this story is going, and the speed with which Grayson's grin fades only confirms it before the words leave his lips. "My dad and I both got hit, but he… didn’t make it."
"How… did you get away?" I'm careful to skirt the [[subject->The Night at the Docks]].
He's mentioned the 'Smuggler Bust', but I didn't know just how close he was to it. His father.. there's an eerie familiarity to the story. I take a step toward Grayson, meeting a gaze that is looking *through* me.
"Don't remember much 'cause I blacked out, then to make things worse I got sick. If that girl hadn't showed up, I probably wouldn't be standing here."
[[I freeze.]]The feeling I've met him before, it all starts to click.
It was right in front of me, just as those green eyes that caused all the corruption he desires to fix are right in front of him, staring at him like some malleable pawn every day of his job.
Grayson smiles at me softly. My mouth drier than fish’s scales on market day as he seems to come back to himself, only to notice how close I've been standing, gaze scanning my face, something flickering in the depths of his features.
"Mae. You really remind me of her sometimes."
[[*Click*->The Night on the Docks-Memory]]
I've come to respect Grayson over the time we worked together, but he's yet to put the picture together that I've had in totallity for years. That night on the docks, the puppet master with green eyes behind it all.
[[Whatever happened on his side, Grayson is *lucky* to be alive.->He laughs]]Even through the thick fabric of my coat, his fingers are obviously trembling. there's sweat beading on his brow. His other leg starting to strain under his full weight. I have to bite down an order to have him sit down. to get some relief for a moment.
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--
The distand sound of gunfire, and I know I should stay away. The pops have my heart racing, hair on end and I know my mentor would tell me to mind my own. To leave before anyone noticed I was there.
Turning on my heel to do just that, a high-pitched scream carries betwen the buildings, carried on {reveal link: 'the wind', text: 'the wind. A salty tang in the back of my throat, a bitter taste.'}
[["DAD!"]]
By the time I realize what I'm doing I've already broken cover. {reveal link: 'Sprinting faster.' , text: 'Sprinting faster toward the short bursts of light, the shouts of agony.'}
I turn the corner of a warehouse just in time to see {reveal link: 'a boy' , text: 'a boy, not much older than me,'} go down in a spray of his own blood, a puddle of scarlet pooling under his body.
I paused, there in the shadows of the buildings and the boxes, {reveal link: 'waiting' , text: 'waiting for something to move'}.
{reveal link: 'Waiting.' , text: 'Something to tell me to run away because it is too late, that I can’t do anything.'}
[after 8 seconds]
[[But the shouts of victory come from the other side of the dock.]]I dove forward, almost proud of the fact I don't strain to lift the deadweight of a child onto my back. Shaking off the hand of the man who had fallen nearby, I don't so much as gag at [[his face]]. I don't even fall in the blood that slips down my arms as I carry the boy away, more than grateful for the darkness that swallows us when I hide our forms behind a stack of crates. The men swarm where we'd been standing a few seconds prior..
[[like ants.]][[Stained with his own grey matter and shocked fear->But the shouts of victory come from the other side of the dock.]]I watched the men in golden badges kick around the dead man, jokes thrown back and forth before the sharp click of shoes sent them scattering, finally deciding to stand rimrod straight, thin noses pointed to the air.
I turn
And any air that had been in my lungs escaped in something akin to a dying whimper. My muscles screamed, telling me to run before it’s too late, as hard {reveal link: 'eyes' , text: '*green* eyes'} scanned the destruction and death, landing on mine with a halt.
Every hair on my body stood on end as I recognized the {reveal link: 'face' , text: 'thin face'} and messy stubble. My mind demanded I listen to reason. I knew I needed to move, do something other than stand there, feet glued to the ground.
*I couldn't move.*
[after 7 seconds]
Those eyes that once glared down at my parents as he left me to hide in the closet, *left me to watch.*
*Couldn't breathe.*
[after 10 seconds]
The shirt I'd pressed against my mouth to muffle my cries. Father's.. smelling of pine and aftershave. Not strong enough to overpower the cigar smoke and sickening tang of *iron*.
*Couldn't do anything but stand there and wait for him*
[after 13 seconds]
The chuckle at a job well done as he left the door standing wide open.
[[*He’s going to get me-*]]But he didn’t. He merely shook his head and turned back to his fellow ants, a sickening upturn to his lips as he joined in the celebration dedicated to the death of the ‘smugglers’.
I waited as long as I could force myself to before lifting the boy onto my shoulders and giving to my instincts. Booking it back to my little hovel in the backroom of one of the most feared mafia groups in the entire city.
No one would find us there.
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--
"-aeve. Maeve!"
The memories are chased away by the firm shake of Grayson's grip and booming voice, pure gravel in desperation as I take him in: his chiseled jaw, defined and shadowed by the stubble across his chin, and his furrowed brows, set above deep brown eyes. How had I never seen it before?
I hadn't stopped to wonder at the boy who'd just lost his father, not until we were both locked away safe in the walls on my home, but nothing could change the messy, brown head of hair or the face that seems even younger than my own.
But I'm almost certain that if I keep staring, Grayson is only going to shake me again, and frankly if he does I'll fall. {reveal link: 'Fucking-' , text: 'Fucking- how hard had he been shaking me?'}
[["I-I’m fine, Scorcher, you can stop giving me whiplash now."]]
I dust him off, trying to step away, trying to escape the rushing thoughts flooding my mind faster than I can process.
Yet I only succeed in making him more suspicious, his gaze narrow as it follows after me, grasping my arm just enough to keep me from running away.
All the space I'd fought so hard to keep between us, the criminal and the scorcher, he closes with a simple flash of his gaze. An examining look that only grows stronger with every passing moment.
[after 5 seconds]
[["*It was you.*"]]
"Grayson-"
"You saved my life."
The words are a vice around my neck, like curling fingers stealing the air from my lungs.
*How am I supposed to tell him [[the truth]] now?*
[[A shout is my exit]]That I know exactly who he's looking for. That I *have* known for so long.
Now that I know why he looking so desperately.
[[Why he's different.->"*It was you.*"]]“Over here! They’re over here; I heard ‘em!”
A gunshot rings out over our heads, and I react before Grayson can even register what's happening, shoving him back so he's engulfed in the gloom of the building.
I couldn't have asked for a better distraction. [[I need to think.]]
"Stay hidden. Meet me at the rendezvous once I lead them off."
"Mae-"
"I've got this. stay off that leg until you can meet with me. Do you understand?" I make sure there is equal parts steel in my gaze as my voice. Hazel eyes like daggers to pin him in place as he physically wilted, grasping for his weapon as the thunder of footsteps only closes in.
[["Be careful"]]I can't with the Scortcher scrambling anything the moment it surfaces, or if [[I'm worried he's about to get shot.->A shout is my exit]] "Of course" These alleys are my domain, a little further and I can lose them no problem.
I back up until I'm in clear view of the corner the chopper squad will be rounding any second.
[[Wink]]
[[Get Moving]]As a final attempt to soothe the fear across Grayson's face, I wink.
"Have faith, Scorcher. You catch the bad guys. I make sure they get caught by the right people." Unfortunately I have no more time to lose.
{embed passage: 'Get Moving'}And so I was off, feet pounding against the oavement joined by wild shouts as the men round the bend and give chase, incoming fire only pushing me faster, ignoring the sting of the rain and the worry that has me almost wanting to throw a look over my shoulder.
Had they all followed me? Had any spotted Grayson?
Concrete, torn by the volley of bullet, hits the back of my heels and I know there's no time to think. I can do nothing but run. The hunted leading the hunters away into a labyrinth of lies, metal, and asphalt.
[[*****->something is wrong]]
The door opens without a sound as I slip inside, the smell of mold and mildew mingling in the air threatening to choke me as I suck in as much air as possible, leaning back against the wall.
I'd long lost the chopper squad, but [[it had taken some time]], finally losing them down by the docks. Yet I still played it safe, not doubling back to the rendezvous just in case. Wasting time in an [[abandoned restaurant]] before I head out into the roar of thunder and pouring rain.
The four block walk after everything else makes my feet feel like lead, but knowing Grayson is waiting on me-
And that's when it struck me. I wouldn't have to change a thing. We'll still work together, he'll just undertand *why* I'm doing it. if only I'd known- no use now.
Finally finding the air to move forward, I make for the stairs.
"Scorcher! I'm back!"
But he isn't waiting for me at the top.
just the soft scurry of rodents and the quiet coo of a pidgeon somehwere in the rafters.
[["Grayson?"]][[An hour of zigzagging through empty side streets and broken down alleyways.->something is wrong]] An old seafood joint that went out of business years ago.
[[It still reeks of dead fish.->something is wrong]]Something in the cold wind that beckons me forward is familiar. Bringing with it a sharp tang that makes the hairs on my neck stand on end. Claws dig into my ribcage, knives fashioned from fear that tear into my lungs.
My body tenses.
*get out*
*GET OUT NOW*.
But the further I go, the more I recognize the twinge of iron hidden within the fresh rain and rotten floorboards.
[[I can't hold back anymore]]
I slam into the door seperating me from my *partner*. Shoulder going numb in the process but I'm on too much adrenaline to care, gun out and up.
*Green* eyes meet my sights within the second, smug face dancing across my vision as my gaze darts to [[the slumped figure]] next to his feet.The one laying in a pool of his own blood.
Skin decorated in black and blue and snaking gashes.
{reveal link:'I cant bare to look' , text: 'I cant tear my eyes away.'}
[After 3 seconds]
afraid I'd miss [[the faint rise and fall of his chest]].Before I met my stupid detective, I never thought it would be like this. I thought I'd stand tall, voice steady as I put a bullet between those green eyes and finally shut them out, finally put an end to the two decades of violence.
But this..?
I feel like I'm back in the closet.
I take a shaky step forward.
"{reveal link: 'G-' , text:'Grayson..?'}"
The smallest of shifts and I fight to not drop my gun. Aching to dive forward, scoop Grayson up, and hide him away. Mend his wounds before I lose the one good thing I let get past my shell.
"It's good to see you again. Maeve, isn't it?"
And just like that, all my fear, all my worry is swallowed by the burn of *rage*. Eyes glowing behind the dripping strands of darkened hair as I pull my shoulders back. Reclining to full height as I take in the man who'd caused everything. who'd hurt *my* detective.
[["Delano."]]
That same smirk from all those years ago spread across his cheeks, a spark igniting in his cold green gaze as he placed a hand to his suit speckled with red. "The one and the only, at your service."
"I’ll kill you-"
"Ah, ah." Waving his gun in the air, Delano lowered it so it was pointed directly at my chest. “I wouldn’t if I were you. You’re too late anyway. He shouldn’t have been playing around with a dame like you; maybe then I could’ve left him be. Truth be told I only kept this patsy around to make sure he kept his nose where it belonged. His prying was a nuisance, but it was manageable before he met you and got the stupid idea to become a real detective.”
I bite my tongue, jaw clenching as my mind races. He doesn't realize {reveal link: '...' , text: 'Grayson is still alive. Granted, I dont know how much blood he has lost or how much time he has left. Chances are, whatever Delano did to him, he is out cold.'}
[[I'm on my own here.]]At least I don't have to worry about Delano putting a bullet anywhere but my own skull.
"You can’t get enough, can you, Delano? Don’t you control enough now?" I lower my voice to a snarl, baring my teeth as [[I grip the gun in both hands,->I grip my gun in both hands.]] Waiting for that familiar yank in my gut to tell me it's time to fire.
Delono laughs, and the chills it sends down my spine has ice pouring into my veins, it's nothing like Grayson's; there is no warmth in it, just a vague emptiness that chews away at my courage even as I plant my feet and hold myself steady. His voice couldn't sound more calm.
"Someone’s got to get this city under his belt. I wrangled the station under control and it took me years to get the underbelly to listen to me. Only your little clan of misfits refuses to behave. So, once I bump you off, maybe then? But who knows? I’ve gotta do what I need to in order to make people act like they should."
The chamber of Delano's gun clicks smoothly and he bestows upon me a toothy grin that has my eyes darting around for someplace to hide, someplace to take shelter.
[[There is nothing.]]
I'd only have one shot at killing this son-of-a-bitch.
[[I refuse to miss.->I'm on my own here.]] "Maybe you’ll feel better knowing I told Grayson what actually happened to his father. A deadman deserves to know the truth, and there was no harm in detailing my part behind the break in that little ‘smuggling’ operation~"
“You killed innocent people!”
“There are no innocents!” He barks the words and it takes everything I have not to dive for the floor or fire my weapon. My eyes narrow as I take a deep breath and praise the crisp scent of rain behind the iron; it clears my mind, makes it easier to steady my hands.
“You’re insane.”
“No, you don’t understand how the world works. But I’m merciful enough to [[take you out of it.]]”
People say that when you’re about to die..
[After 2 seconds]
[[time slows down.]]But in my experience,
[after 500ms]
[[it only speeds up.]]One second Delano was going to pull the trigger, my knees bending so I could jump to the side, my finger getting ready to fire the first shot.
[[...->lunge]]And Grayson [[lunged]]
shoving his body into Delano’s legs and sending the Chief of Police stumbling to the side with a face of shock that I will think about for years to come.
My bullet found its home in Delano’s brain, his in the plaster far to my right, and blood flew into the air, arcing through the first ray of sunlight that had broken through the storm clouds out the window.
[[...->silence]]Silence descended, broken only by my heavy panting and Grayson’s moan of agony as he clutched at his ribs and shoved himself into a sitting position. Tearing my gaze away from {reveal link:'green eyes' , text: 'now dull green eyes'}, I take a hesitant step forward, afraid that if I got too close Grayson would vanish or topple over. All he did was offer a smile that tears a sob from my throat, and I fight to keep my tears back as I drop my gun to the floor and feall to my knees in front of him.
“I.. I thought you’d want to take him in.” It's a very weak attempt at a joke, but frankly I mean it. I had fully expected Grayson to go against me in the end, [[to push against Delano’s murder.]]
Glancing at the former Police Chief, Grayson’s lips pulled into a thin line, disgust and hatred cold at the center of his normally warm brown eyes.
“Fuck him.”
and I laugh, a sound that's full and amused, a sound that hasn’t been heard since I was seven years old.
**TRUE END**
[[Restart?->They had been compromised]]
[[Notes for further work]]Hello! You finished the Beta of The Informant!
Ideas for future mechanics as I add the rest of the story are to implement variables for relationships to trigger route and ending options! as well as variables for information collecting to unlock certain scenes that in turn also unlock routes and relationship points!
What you played was a railroaded true end. The Normal ending would have a slightly different climax action and would take more work than I have time for in a week and/or into a 15 minute demo. as it is my lightnign reading speed and the semantics of a 15 minute demo in a reading game is my only saving grace here. yet just one of these scenes was not only short but lacking in moments to showcase the games possible mechanics.
the interactions you have with Grayson will affect if you can get the true ending or not, clues in earlier chapters would unlock the memory sequence you read through x3
And of course there are death routes because I am a cruel and evil overlord MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
....
Anyway. Hope you enjoyed.