The Other World | Stardew Valley meets Papers, Please

Chapter Three: Unspoken Secrets

Gus finishes his conversation with Pam and Clint, soon making his way over to Jessie who sits there paralyzed with guilt. "You look like you've seen a ghost, Jess," he says with a giggle. Jessie's stature and emotion doesn't phase, as if Gus didn't say anything at all. Gus quickly takes notice and sighs, "Listen, kid, I don't know what's going on right now, but whatever you order is on the house. You look like you need it. Don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

Misha would look over to Jessie, seeing his expressions. He understands what he feels because he has felt it before as well, but he only smirks and stands up. He nods to Gus as a way of saying thanks, then scurries off to the Stardrop Inn area of the Saloon.

"Not a word." The voice of Sergiu plays over and over in Jessie's head. He finally kind of wraps his head around the situation enough to order a beer from Gus. He's so stressed that he downs the whole pint in one chug, foam and all. "I'm sorry, Gus," he says, a little woozy, "I think I just need a good night's sleep. That should make me feel better..."

A familiar voice from behind him calls out, "How's it going, Jessie!" He gives a little smile and turns around to see Emily wiping off the table that Misha was at. When she notices he's looking at her, she waves. "Hey! Haley and I are done working with that project today if you wanted to stop by the house and see her. She's been talking about you two," she says with a wink. Jessie blushes, the stress sort of melts away, or more so escapes to the back of his mind, when he thinks about last night's predicaments. He smiles and says, "Thank you, Emily."

He leaves a 100 gold tip on the bar for Gus before he leaves, heading Southwest towards the residence of Haley and Emily. Along the way, he is stopped by Kent. "Hey, Farmer Jessie. Let me ask you something." Jessie stops and turns, raising an eyebrow, "What's up?" Kent looks Jessie up and down then smiles, "You think something big is on the horizon? I can feel something big... I don't know if I can take going through combat again..."

Jessie thinks long and hard on that question, then gives the only rational response that comes to mind, "Can I tell you something very secretive?" Kent nods, "Of course, bud. What is it?" Jessie lets out a large sigh and whispers, "I was showing Sergiu, one of the agents from Arstotzka, around. I brought him to Evergreen Farm and showed him around there a bit but before we could really settle in we got attacked. Shot at." Kent's eyes widen, "Shot at? Who shot at you?" Jessie continues, "Well, Sergiu and I tracked them down to some old abandoned farmhouse deep in the woods North of my farm and we got into a gunfight. Turns out they were some sort of secret Gotoro agents trying to start conflict between Arstotzka and the Ferngill Republic." He stops there. He doesn't want to betray Sergiu's trust and rat about the executions. "We killed people," Jessie says, his voice beginning to crack.

Kent sighs, running his hands through his hair, "Jeez, kid. I guess you and I are in the same boat now, huh? I'm so sorry." Jessie's eyes begin to swell with tears, "Kent, I-... How do you cope with that?" Kent thinks for a moment as he's never been put into a situation like this before, "Ah, kid. I really wish I could tell you. You have to find your own cure. For me? It was Jodi, Sam, and Vincent. Those three saved my sanity more times than I can count. Find someone you love and just spend time with them. Try to push the demons back, kid. That's all I can really say."

Meanwhile, back at the forest clearing, Sergiu has finished what he stayed behind to do: Reposition the bodies and weapons. He deeply inhales and then exhales as he goes to the porch of the old house and sits down on the edge. He pulls out a small black device and inserts it into his ear, tapping it, "Testing, testing. Comrade Valentin, do you copy?" A moment passes before Sergiu hears, "Yes, Comrade. What is it?"

Sergiu sighs, speaking aloud seemingly to himself, "What we theorized was true. Gotoro agents were waiting for me to get alone before they botched an assassination. I assume they were attempting to take us all out, one by one."