Love in the Time of Beans (Among Us Logic)

Novisor Revisited (pt 2)

Player had no tragic backstory. He grew up in a normal neighborhood surrounded by a supportive, loving family -- even if Dum could be a lot to handle at times. He did okay in school and was over the moon when he got accepted to be a MIRA agent. He considered himself exceedingly ordinary, except for his problem of constantly losing at games. Whether they be games of sports, video, or tabletop, Player just plain sucked at them. But they were just that, games. Not life itself. It didn't define him.

But now, recent news had him reconsidering what his chronic losing meant. Was it possible that his connection to Novisor had something to do with it? He wished he could have asked Dr. Doktor about it, since the man seemed to know a lot about the being, but alas, it couldn't be that easy. No, it turned out that the esoteric masked Bean knew what he did because he was the beast's servant! He should have known!

He could do nothing now, though, because he was lost in a dream. His own words came back to haunt him -- sarcastic comments to Veteran, brushing off or flat-out insulting Captain, calling Mr. Cheese an idiot, it went on. He came away with a terrible realization: he'd been a truly rotten friend. All Captain ever wanted was to be buddies, but Player treated him like dirt. He brushed off his so-called best friend for long stretches at a time to do things that didn't matter. Some pal he was!

He awoke in a tree. Yes, in the gnarled skeleton of some long-dead tree. The Airship lay smashed on the ground many meters below. Ninja had managed a nimble landing on a branch a small ways down from Player, but he couldn't see anyone else.

"Ninja?" he asked.

"はい!"

"Oh, thank God." Player struggled to climb down the branches towards the azure Bean. "Dr. Doktor is a real POS. I should've known he would betray us!"

Ninja took Player's paw and helped him the rest of the way down the tree. They landed in a pile of sandy dirt. Around them were no other signs of life, just miles of rocky ground and ominous black mountains, set under a bloody red sky. Player beheld the remains of the Airship with a dire look.

"Man, even if we get that thing fixed, how are we gonna get out of here? Dr. Doktor's probably the only one who knows the way out, and like I said: POS. He won't help us."

He sat on a rock. Ninja remained ever the good listener.

"If this is even real," he went on. "Maybe this is still part of my dream. I kept hearing voices in my head, but they were from me. They were things I said to Veteran, Captain, Mr. Cheese...really nasty stuff. What's gotten into me, Ninja?"

The azure Bean shrugged and adjusted his headband.

"Sometimes...sometimes I think I say that stuff because it distracts me from how I really feel. Like a loser, you know? Deflection, I think they call it...What if it's Novisor's plan? To really bust me down so I'm all alone and down on myself, and then he'll strike!"

"Player," Ninja finally said. "Novisor did not make you do that. You did it yourself."

Player froze in his tracks. He started to say something, but then realized Ninja was right. He shut his mouth and sighed.

"Yeah. I've been a rotten friend, haven't I? Worst part is, I don't know if I'll ever get to make it up to them now. We're in the middle of nowhere, and I can't even find Captain."

"Hello, Player man!" Captain conveniently appeared just then, emerging from behind the shell of the Airship. "You're alive! Great! Unless this is still a dream. But if it is, that doesn't explain what happened to the rabid badgers--"

"Captain, I need to apologize for a lot of things," Player blurted. "Only thing is, first we need to get out of this mess."

"That's right! Dr. Doktor tricked us into coming here. I should have known better than to trust the British guy! Or the Russian guy. Or the Italian mafia guy--"