Choose (A Choose Your Own Story Adventure)

39. Defend Yourself

You grab the chair and roll it towards Mia. It knocks into her, causing her to stumble backward. This gives you enough time to grab anything on the desk in which you can throw. Mia also grabs something from the ground. You two stare at each other, ready to attack when the other does.

"Who are you?" Mia demands.

"Me? I'm—"

"Are you the one who's been controlling me?" she asks. Her voice is shaky. "'Cause if so, I swear, I'll—"

"I haven't, I promise!" you insist. "I stumbled upon here yesterday morning. I thought this was a video game. I...I had no idea that you were..."

Thinking about it, both you and Mia both managed to sneak into this room. Clearly they need to secure this area better.

Mia lowers her arm. After a moment, she raises it up again. "You-you're lying."

You shake your head. "Ask me something about yourself. Anything that I should know."

She thinks for a moment. "What's my favorite color?"

"Uh, green?"

"You could be lying," she argues. She pauses. "But if you're not the one who controls me, then what are you doing down here?"

"Well," you laugh nervously, "I kind of pretended I was a fill-in while sneaking out of a tour I was supposed to be apart of. I didn't mean to, I found a key card on the ground of the elevator...I promise, Mia. I'm telling the truth."

Mia appears conflicted with herself. She looks from the screen to you. She closes her eyes and clenches her jaw as she lowers her arm to her side. She sighs. "I believe you."

You look up at the computer. Grace is silent. She has been giving you input this entire time, but now that Mia is here, it seems to have nothing to say. Thanks a lot, Grace.

You look back at Mia. Her anger is replaced with sadness. You pity her. You can't imagine living a life that's not yours. All she wants is to live her own life. To make her own decisions. Is that so wrong?

"I think we need to destroy the computer," you say. She looks at you, her eyes wide.

"You're going to help me?"

"Absolutely," you reply. "Can you call Craig and tell him to bring something down here to break it? That'd be helpful."

Mia leaves the room and goes up the elevator to retrieve Craig. You're alone in the room with the computer.

"You do not understand what you're planning to do," Grace says.

"Oh, now you want to say something?"

"She won't be the same if you do this," she continues. "You can not release a zoo animal out into the wild. Mia will be unsafe without our protection."

"Protection?!" You laugh. "You have imprisoned her. I'm sure that she will be better of without you."

Mia and Craig come back. Craig has come empty-handed. It makes sense. It would be suspicious if he roamed around Digital with a bulky object and the intent to destroy their property.

He finds a tower and a printer under the desk. "Back up," he warns you and Mia. You two do as told. Then, with all his might, Craig chucks the printer at the screen.

It doesn't do much. It takes Craig a few more times before cracks begin to appear. After what feels like hours, the screen is blackened and shattered. Mia and you take on the role of destroying the keyboard, even though it won't do much. Craig also manages to destroy the tower with other heavy objects found around the small room. Soon, everything within the room is destroyed.

Mia falls onto the chair. She lets out a breath of relief. Craig wipes his sweaty forehead. After hours of hard work, Mia is finally free.

"We should get going," you say. "I don't know when Trevor's supposed to get back."

"Trevor?" Craig asks.

You nod. "He's the one that has been making choices for you."

Craig curls his fists. He rolls his sleeves over his elbows. "Well, I don't mind staying and having a chat."

"Craig." Mia touches his hand. His fingers uncurl at the touch. "It's over. We should go home."

The three of you exit the room without talking. You stand next to Mia, deep in thought. You don't know how you feel about the situation. Do you feel like a hero? You helped Mia get to where she is now due to your choices. However, you feel like you overstepped boundaries by making choices in the first place. In a way, you contributed to what Mia has been going through all of her life. Hopefully helping her end it will make up for it.

"Do you need a ride home?" Craig asks. "Or did you drive here?"

His question snaps you out of your thoughts. "Oh, no, my friend drove me here. I think they left yesterday, though. They don't know where I've been."

Man, they must be really, really worried. It's best to not check your phone yet since you don't want to be overwhelmed with worried texts.

"You probably live somewhere completely different than I do, though. I'll have someone else pick me up."

"Are you sure?" he asks. You nod. You walk them to their car, though. Craig gets into the driver's seat. Mia opens the passenger door but doesn't hop inside. She looks back at you. Her eyes are glassy. She runs and gives you a tight hug.

"Thank you for helping me," she whispers. "I will never forget this."

Touched, you hug her back. The embrace makes you look back at the past couple of days. If you hadn't diverted from the group, then you would have never learned about Mia. You would have never known the crazy thing that Digital is apart of. Mia could have lived her life clueless until she died.

Mia gets into the car. She waves to you as they drive away. You watch their car disappear down the road. Though you know that you'll never see Mia again, you feel reassured knowing that she will live the rest of her life truly, genuinely happy.

Congratulations! You just got the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ending! Go back to "1. Morning" in order to try again!

Ending: 3/19