No Escape from Ultra Deluxe

Here We Go Again

You wake up you find yourself raising your head off your keyboard. Back in the office. The room is completely dark and the door is closed. Than your computer jumps to life.

-Please choose a screen and subtitle language.-

That's new. You click an option and press continue.

-Have you played The Stanley Parable before?-

You click your answer.

-Please adjust the slider until the computer is barely visible.-

You do and press continue.

-Please enter the current time.-

You glance over to your clock and adjust the time accordingly before clicking confirm.

-Note: accessibility settings can be accessed from the main menu.-

You click okay and the room jumps to life, the computer goes back to it's usual state, and the door slowly opens.

"This is the story of a man named Stanley-"

You lean forward, smacking your head on the desk, thinking 'here we go again'.

"I'm kidding! After everything we just went through you thought I'd just forget you, how disappointing is that!" The Narrator said.

"Don't pretend it's not a reasonable fear." You say, standing up.

"(Y/N) stepped out of the office."

You looked up at the ceiling, challenging The Narrator, before slamming the door.

"I see how you're going to be." The Narrator said. "(Y/N) simply couldn't handle the pressure. What if they had to make a decision? What if a crucial outcome fell under their responsibility? They had never been trained for that! No, this couldn't go any way except badly. The thing to do now, (Y/N) thought to themself, is to wait."

"No I didn't." you said, sitting down and leaning back in your chair.

"Nothing will hurt me." The Narrator continued. "Nothing will break me. In here, I can be happy, forever. I will be happy. (Y/N) waited. Hours passed. Then days. Had years gone by? Obviously not since they hadn't moved. But the one thing they knew, for sure, beyond any doubt, was that no matter how long they waited, the answers would never come. Very soon now, this will end. The game will restart and The Narrator will begin from the top and tell them what to do. Now it's just a little bit closer. Now it's even closer. Here it comes.."

You jumped awake again, back at your desk.

-Please enter the current time.-

You look over at the clock and enter the time again, 'It's going to get annoying quick if I have to do the every time from now on.' you think.

-Hang on, hang on.-

You pause, and click the mouse.

-Before we get started, can I just say something?-

'ok?' you think, clicking the mouse again.

-Thank you for actually setting the clock both times you booted up the game.-

"Not like I have anything better to do." You say and click the mouse again.

-Right, well a lot of people don't take that step seriously. They just leave the clock set at 12:00 and call it a day.-

"A lot of people?" You ask, clicking the mouse.

-Yes, but you actually took the time to set the clock, and I appreciate that.-

You click the mouse.

-That's how I know you care about all this, you're paying attention. if only it were enough.-

"What?" You click the mouse.

-What do you know! You even set the correct time!-

You click the mouse.

-Tell you what, I'll make you a deal.-

"What kind of deal?" You ask and click the mouse.

-Since you've been so cooperative, next time you boot up the game and see this screen, just set the clock to your FAVORITE time.-

"Favorite time?" You say, "Since when does time matter here?" You click the mouse.

-Pick whatever time you want! Even if it's not the correct time! You've earned it.-

You click the mouse.

-Alright, I'll let you get back to it now.-

You click the mouse again and the room jumps to life.

"Alright, come on this time. Since we're probably stuck here for the rest of time you might as well work with me here." The Narrator says. "(Y/N) got up from their desk and stepped out of their office."

You sigh and walked out of the room the door closing behind you.

(710 words)