Mind Blind Teaser (Spoilers)

I've been pretty much offline these past couple days due to computer problems and also due to being completely absorbed with this newest chapter (BECAUSE NOH). Anyhow, as apology for my silence, here's a teaser for the next update on October 16. 

I mentioned in a recent post that Button can walk away from Noh and thus never learn their identity. Obviously, this part is still a WIP (as is the whole game), but I wanted to share a little about how the scene plays out.

What do you guys think? Is the warning about being locked out of content too obvious? Not obvious enough? Feedback is appreciated!

(Also, because of this scene--for Buttons who maintain their cover--I'll be adding in options to customize your bedroom in Chapter 1 on the rewrite.)

* * * *

Beyond this point lie spoilers. You have been warned.

* * * *

For a moment, you can only gaze at page. Because this is weird and abnormal and utterly terrifying . . . yet it also feels mundane. This book isn't a horror movie prop, where the director arranges for the shadow to hit just right and the musical score creates a pit of growing dread in your stomach.

No. Your bedroom looks and feels as it always has: the Ikea lamp by your bed, the lopsidedly-hung painting that you bought in a yard sale, the ugly yellow wallpaper that Nick keeps swearing he’ll eventually paint over. There’s nothing ominous or spooky here. This your home. Your window doesn’t crack open to let in a sudden icy gust; there’s no malicious creak of someone lumbering up the staircase. Your bedroom door, decorated with the poster of your favorite band since high school, doesn’t suddenly swing open to reveal a shadowed form.

Yet despite the banal normalcy of your surroundings, the page's words have changed. Someone is writing to you. But you doubt even telekinetic could rewrite a book, and the only sound in the stillness is that of your own ragged breathing.

Whoever sent this message isn’t inside your bedroom. They’re inside your head.

And their touch feels familiar.

CHOICE: I slam shut the book. Then I pinch my arm, because this is obviously a nightmare.

Your pinch is hard enough to make you hiss with pain. Not a dream. Still a nightmare.

Hopefully, this is a nightmare that you can escape. You lurch towards the door, towards the handle. Your hand misses.

Disoriented, you reach out again, only for your fingertips to barely brush against the bronze knob. Or are they passing through? Your depth perception skews and warps, and you’re no longer able to discern whether the door is far across the room or only a foot away.

The lead singer’s signature scrawled on the bottom of your poster bleeds into the name of the band, falling over the blocky print like a scribbled shroud. As with the book, the words rearrange into a new message:

I’ll only offer to help once. Pick up the book.

CHOICE: Not happening. I focus and reach for the door's handle once more.

Again, your hand passes through the knob. You stare at the poster. Its message is somehow the only thing that seems real and tangible despite you knowing that it’s neither.

I’ll only offer to help once. Pick up the book.

If you refuse this offer, the writer may never make contact again. This Ment, who you’re almost certain is the same person who forced you to plant the bomb, who ruined your life and almost ended your brother's . . .  they'll  disappear. You might lose your chance to apprehend them for the UCRT explosion, as well as what may be your best chance of rescuing Nick.

Do you really want to walk away?

CHOICES AVAILABLE: 

Yes

or

No