the ultimatum ↬ elliot alderson ✔

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Like the author David Gemmell said: "We make choices every day, some of them good, some of them bad. And if we are strong enough - we live with the consequences."

The choices I have in front of me can be both good and bad. I should just pick one. 

But the risk of choosing one over the other is what terrifies me. Choosing one means not choosing another. We make choices every day and those choices define who we are. Should I tell Joanna her husband is dead? Or feign ignorance? 

There are over a thousand possibilities that can turn out with each choice. One of the choices is fight, whilst the other one is flight. How do I know I'm making the right choice? 

"How do we know we're in control?" I whisper to myself, walking down the street towards Tyrell's house. Should I just not go, until Joanna finds me again? 

No. That would make me her perfect exploit. She could tell anyone about Steel Mountain if I don't help her. 

I know you're listening. I know I'm not alone. I want you to help me make the right decision. Here are the possible outcomes:

If I tell Joanna her husband is dead, she will ask me how I know this. I don't have an excuse, so I'd tell her I killed him. Joanna grabs a knife from the drawer and slits my throat. I'm dead. Mr Robot dies with me. 

If I tell Joanna I will help her find her husband, she will make me look at the evidence she has. I can then see who's been sending her messages and track down the call. She'll see someone else called her and still continue searching, living in naivety. 

If I don't go to Joanna's house, she'll send that brute Mr Sutherland to my house. Dawn will see him and so will Angela. He will force me to help her, or he will point the gun at me. Or at Dawn. Or Angela. 

If I don't go to Joanna's house, she will tell everyone about my involvement in the Steel Mountain hack. She knows what I'm capable of. I'll get shot by someone just like Romero. Whether that's the Dark Army or the FBI, it won't matter. I'm dead. Mr Robot dies with me. 

These are just the obvious combinations, any tiny detail can change. Like I said; there are thousands of possible combinations and therefore there are thousands of different outcomes. 

How do I know I'm making the right choice? 

I take out my phone, walking inside the closest coffee shop with WiFi near me. This is the moment of deciding. If you won't help me, maybe Mr Robot can. I sit down at one of the tables at the back, opening my search engine. I type in Wikipedia, logging into Mobley's account before I turn my laptop on. 

I need to make sure every possible safety net is waiting for me if all else fails. I create a page for the company Dawn and I created, so that, if Joanna does try exposing me, she'll see that the company exists. Maybe that's how I can cover up my tracks. 

I open up a terminal on Kali, connecting to the WiFi of the coffee shop. This will help me create a fake location of the company. If she hasn't done her research already, I'm good. Dawn helped me create fake Wikipedia pages for our aliases; Lucy Moore and Sam Sepiol. 

Maybe I can play this game. Maybe I won't have to die.

I create a fake address on Google Maps, inserting a random factory in the so-called location to make sure she won't feel suspicious. I have to make sure my tracks are covered. 

I leave the coffee store, wiping all the data off my phone before tossing it inside a trash can. 

I manage to find Joanna and Tyrell Wellick's house a few minutes later, remembering that the option of not going to her place has been cancelled out. That means there are less combinations available, but maybe that's a disadvantage. I knock on the door, waiting for a response.