ExamineKey


A piece of interactive fiction vs. role-playing game, where you get to suggest the next move and influence how the story progresses.

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Recent Episodes
#40. End of the road.
#39. A shot in the dark
#38. Family Reunion?
#37. Frozen Takeaway
#36. The postman always rings...
#35. Home bound.
#34. Washed up
#33. Another fall from grace
#32. A Little Fumble
#31. Attacked

September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006


#40. End of the road.

Monday, January 02, 2006
You wake up in the back of a car.

It is moving, and your head is fuzzy. You look down to your waist, and see you have a bandage around your trunk, blood staining part of it.
You pull yourself up and look out of the window to try and work out where you are.

"Morning."

"I'll take your word for it" you quip, but pain from your wound makes it hard to speak.

"I'm sorry you had to go through this, we tried to sort it out without you getting involved, but in the end, you were the most sensible bait."

"Bait? Who..."

The driver turns around and you instantly recognise him from the Pink Kitten, the obnoxious business man who tried to spark up a conversation with you.

"I work for Judge Haynes. Lets just say, I look after his personal interests"

"I.."

"You, don't exist Mr Mason. You haven't done for many years, and we want to keep it that way. Things started to get complicated recently, and we needed to clear that up, but we're back on track now, and you need to not exist once again".

"I.. you're going to.. to kill me?"

"No no" the driver chuckles, "you're already dead, and as long as you stay dead, we're happy to keep thinking you're dead. You get?"

"Um. I think so."

"Good. I'm taking you somewhere you'll happily be dead for as long as you need to be. Being dead isn't cheap, so there's enough cash to get to going for a while in the trunk of the car."

"I.. just wait.. I'm meant to just up and disappear?"

"Mr Mason, you already don't know who you are, and other than a recent misjudged family reunion, you still don't really know who you are. So what's the problem?"

"I know enough."

The car pulls to a halt on the side of the road, and the driver leans over his seat to face you.

"No Mr Mason, you do not. You don't remember anything that has happened over the past week. You don't want to remember, and you're not going to try. You're going to start a new life with a clean slate."

His calm way of speaking suggests he isn't a man to complain to. He turns back to face forward and pulls back on to the road.

"Do you know anything of Buddhism Mr Mason?"

"What?"

"It is a common misconception, Mr Mason, that Buddhists believe in reincarnation as in an immortal soul, and transmigration of that soul. When I die, I will not become a dog or horse. However, Mr Mason, now that you have died, you are being given the chance to choose whether you believe in transmigration of the soul in to another life. Choose wisely Mr Mason. If you choose to be a dog, you can be a dog. If you choose to be a Man, you can be a Man, but if you choose to chase your previous life, Mr Mason, that's the end of your path - and I don't want bad Karma on my hands. When I say bad Karma, I mean your blood."

You swallow, and car pulls over once more, next to another car.

"This is your car now. Goodbye Mr Mason."

and the driver gets out of the car, and into another parked next to you.
The other car drives off in a cloud of dirt, and you step out of the car.

You are standing at a crossroads, but you've had enough decisions made for you by now.
You climb back into the car, and rest.


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#39. A shot in the dark

"I think I'm starting to work it out. You're not my sister at all, are you?" you ask Katy.

"No, of course not. You were forced upon us, some stinking orphan dropped into my parent's lap when they didn't have a penny to look after us, yet alone you as well." Katy explains.

"And you've never forgiven me for that?"

"You? I don't give a shit about you Mason. My parents loved you like their own, put every last effort into making sure you had a good upbringing, and ruined us financially."

"But when you found out that my real father was someone who had plenty of money, you felt the odds needed to be levelled out?" you ask.

"Something like that." Katy seemed disinterested, her eyes keep flitting to the door.

"And my feelings for Lena... brotherly love?"

"Wonderful wonderful Mason, so touching isn't it, now give me my money, and we'll all walk away from this without holes." Katy waves her gun at you.

You step towards the cash, which is starting to thaw, and leave water on the floor.

"Slowly! We don't want any bullets flying in the wrong direction now... Just pass me the bag..."

"Just one thing.." You ask, before stooping to grab the damp money. "I understand your anger, but why Lena? How is she mixed up here? Why the hell have I been blackmailing her?"

"You fucking idiot, you haven't been blackmailing her, its been me all along. She doesn't want a brother just as much as I don't want you as a brother, you're a lost cause Mason. She realised that if her Father finds out that you're still around, it would ruin him, and her credit cards. Sure she dances at night, but at day, she's just a rebellious little rich girl living of Daddy."

"He doesn't even know?"

"No, you're still an orphan Mason, and I'm running out of patience, just step away from the money, if you want something done.." Katy walks forward and pushes you out of the way. She stoops to grab the money, keeping her gun trained on you, but in an instant her head whips back and she's facing away, slipped on the watery floor.

You dive in and grab the gun, but she fights back and you both wrestle for what seems like a lifetime.

CRACK

A shot rings out, and everything stands still. You feel like you're sitting outside of your body. You look around the room - Zoe wide eyed in the corner of the room trying to get cover, Katy's contorted face grappling for the weapon, you beneath her, open mouthed, and another figure in the doorway, standing with a smoking gun.

Katy falls to the floor breathlessly, Zoe screams and your head falls backwards, hitting the ground. Your eyes close and everything once again goes black.


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