Let the Games Begin | Dream Smp

Chapter 35

"Kayla!" Techno jumped back and sighed in relief. "You scared us so badly! We had been awake for a few minutes already and you were just laying there."

Kayla didn't respond for a moment as everything she had just witnessed came back to her. It was her fault. All of this was her fault. Maybe if she did something earlier—discovered it early, or sabotaged the operation—then none of them would be here.

So many people wouldn't have died.

"...Kayla? Are you okay?" Phil asked hesitantly.

She had idly witnessed so many people die during her time working in the Games Department. She never did anything about it. She never did a single fucking thing about it—just accepted it as if it were normal.

How could people dying ever be normal? How stupid was she?

Tommy died. Tubbo died. Jack and Niki and George and Fundy and Purpled and Foolish and Punz and Sapnap and Dream.

Kayla hated Dream in the arena. She saw him as the villain—someone who deserved to die. Looking back, now, she could only have pity for him. He was forced into this situation like everyone else, but he was one of the few who decided to actively do something about it in order to try to save himself and the people he cared for.

What would have happened if she never tried to save Wilbur? Would he have died? Would Dream have won? Or Techno?

"Kayla!" Techno exclaimed, gripping her shoulders tightly, "Save something! What's wrong?"

She felt the tears come down before she could try to stop it from happening. "No—no, I'm not," she choked out, "I'm an awful person. All of this is my fault—all of it! Why didn't I fucking do something?!"

"Kayla, what are you talking about?" Sam said gently, trying to comfort her, "You're not a bad person. How is any of this your fault?"

"All of it is my fault," she whispered, her breath short and ragged, "I just sat there and let people die. I never gave any of it a second fucking thought!" She hated herself for what she discovered. She didn't know how to face Wilbur again.

What did Karl save her for? She didn't deserve to be saved. Karl and her were so naive, but at least Kayla knew something was wrong when she saw Wilbur. And yet she still did nothing.

Karl died for her. She almost wished that she didn't—he deserved to be standing here a thousand times more than she did. She didn't want to be here anymore.

It was an almost involuntary urge that made her reach out for the knife that laid on the ground a few feet away. Figuring out how everything happened was like a bomb exploding inside of her, and the shrapnel of her remaining emotions were cutting into her heart and crying out to her.

"Kayla—no!" Techno shouted, tackling her to the ground and ripping the knife out of her hand. He flipped her onto her back and looked her in the eye as the tears continued the fall.

"Why?" She questioned weakly, "Why?"

Phil kneeled down at her side. "Please, can you just explain everything to us? You can't hurt yourself. You've already survived so much."

"It's all my fault," Kayla repeated, closing her eyes with a sigh, "You want to know where I was before I just suddenly appeared in the arena? After the Games already began? I worked here."

Techno's mouth opened in surprise and Phil blinked silently. Sam cleared his throat and sat down on the other side of Kayla.

"It was my job to regulate everything in the arena. The temperature. The weather. Those microchips that were in our arm," she explained in a hoarse voice, "Me and Karl. It was our job. I would just sit in the control room humming a pleasant tune as I registered deaths in the arena. And then I just moved on. I didn't care that people were dying."

"Kayla—" Phil began.

"—no, stop," she cut him off, "Then, when you all came around, I had recognized Wilbur. Because I knew him when we were children. And you know what I did? Cut open his fucking arm and slide the microchip in. Then send him into the arena."

"Eventually, I had second thoughts about it all," Kayla continued, "I finally tried to save Wilbur, but was caught. And forced into the arena myself. I was so naive. I was so fucking oblivious to everything."

"So it's not your fault, then," Sam said, "You didn't know there was anything wrong. They tricked you! And you were the victim, Kayla—they put you in the arena, too, didn't they? We don't blame you at all."

"Mhm. Sam's right," Techno nodded, "I don't care what you did before we ended up in the arena. What matters is that inside there, we were allies and we had each other's backs. That makes us friends. And nothing can stop me from considering you as one."

Kayla opened her eyes and looked up at Techno. He had a sympathetic expression on his face and looked hopefully into her eyes. "Really? You don't...you know, hate me for what I did?"

"We don't," Phil answered, "not at all. But we have to get moving soon, so do you think you'll be fine now?" Kayla nodded and sat upright after Techno released her and stood up.

"Here." Techno held out a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. They exited the room and turned to walk back down the hall, but they suddenly noticed the sound of voices up ahead. The door to Schlatt's office was half open and the dark shadows of two people were visible. As they walked closer, they began to make out their conversation.

"—and we pretend that he's still alive. Hide his death for at least a month."

"How will that work? He's the President, for god's sake. Someone will ask to see him and what do we do? Put the dead body in the office chair and let them have a meeting?"

"Fuck off, it's not the time to be sarcastic! We'll be ruined if we don't take control, so we have to keep the other departments from assuming authority."

"And if they accuse us of assassinating him?"

"We literally have video footage of his office. You can plainly see him talking to Kayla, then Karl bursting in and shooting him."

"Accuse us of plotting with Karl? So we could take the presidency?"

"For fuck's sake, Ponk! We'll cross that bridge when we get there!"

"What are you guys doing?" Kayla asked, poking her head into the room. Quackity and Ponk gasped in surprise and jumped back as Techno moved forward and held the knife up in their direction.

"Hey, hey, let's not get too crazy here," Quackity laughed nervously, holding up his arms, "We were just talking about country-related things. You all can do what you want. We won't stop you."

"Seriously?" Phil asked in disbelief.

Ponk nodded in confirmation. "We've got enough on our hands trying to take control of this country. With Schlatt dead, there's a fair chance of a civil war between the departments." He awkwardly looked down at the limp body of the former President, a pool of blood beneath him.

Kayla noticed that Karl's body was missing.

"I suppose you could compare Schlatt to a dictator, as he never put too much trust into any of the twelve departments," Quackity added, "Which is why problems will arise. Currently, we're the only ones who know about Schlatt's death, so the longer we keep his death a secret...the better chance we have of securing control."

"Oh. Okay," Techno stated dryly, "Could you—uh—point us in the direction of the arena's entrance?"

"No, need, I remember the way," Kayla told him. Quackity blinked in surprise before realizing.

"You all got the microchips out, didn't you?" He asked, "And Karl told you how?"

"Yeah," Kayla nodded.

A look of sympathy and sorrow flashed on Quackity's face. "I really am sorry, Kayla, about everything you went through. We couldn't help you for the same reason you got sent in there for. We were just following orders."

"I know," Kayla replied, "It's not really your fault." Quackity nodded and waved goodbye as the four exited the room.

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A/n - New chapter! (:
Hope you guys enjoyed it :D
Love <3
~Echo