Red or Blue || Stanley x Narrator fanfic || The Stanley Parable

Chapter one- The Freedom

A/N- this chapter has not been checked for grammar or spelling mistakes and I wrote it at 1 in the morning so it's probably a hot mess :D

"This is the story of a man named Stanley. Stanley worked for a company in a big building where he was Employee #427. Employee #427's job was simple: he sat at his desk in Room 427 and he pushed buttons on a keyboard. Orders came to him through a monitor on his desk telling him what buttons to push, how long to push them, and in what order. This is what Employee #427 did every day of every month of every year, and although others may have considered it soul rending, Stanley relished every moment that the orders came in, as though he had been made exactly for this job.

And Stanley was happy.

And then one day, something very peculiar happened. Something that would forever change Stanley; Something he would never quite forget. He had been at his desk for nearly an hour when he had realized not one single order had arrived on the monitor for him to follow.

No one had shown up to give him instructions, call a meeting, or even say 'hi'. Never in all his years at the company had this happened, this complete isolation. Something was very clearly wrong. Shocked, frozen solid, Stanley found himself unable to move for the longest time. But as he came to his wits and regained his senses, he got up from his desk and stepped out of his office." The Narrator spoke these words with passion as he looked down into the deserted office building.

There was only one single man inside, he knew that perfectly well: yet there was something about this particular man that seemed to fascinate the Narrator. As the brown haired man walked through the corridors, he wondered where his co-workers had gone- oblivious to any former situation like this one.

"When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left." The Narrator spoke, re-adjusting his tie. After several endeavours through this office building, the Narrator always found that it was here where Stanley seemed to either follow his orders or ignore them. It always hurt the Narrator to see Stanley stroll through the right door without a second thought, like the Narrators words were nothing more than a mere suggestion. This time it hurt especially much, maybe even more than ever other time.

Holding back tears, the Narrator looked to the paper in his hands and read aloud, "This was not the correct way to the meeting room, and Stanley knew it perfectly well. Perhaps he wanted to stop by the employee lounge first, just to admire it." Stanley didn't even seem to hear the Narrators words anymore. Hurt and frustrated, the Narrator remained silent as Stanley stood in the employee lounge.

Perhaps Stanley had a purpose with coming to the employee lounge. Perhaps he had wanted to hear what the Narrator had to say about the room- he had wanted to hear the witty comments he had grown found of over the past few months of this cycle. But he wouldn't let the Narrator see that, no no no, he couldn't do that. He couldn't show that he cared, what did he care anyway. He didn't even know if that Narrator was real; he didn't know if he was just a recording playing over and over just so Stanley could move on.

Stanley walked through the door to be greeted by the Narrators words, "But eager to get back to business, Stanley took the first open door on his left." The Narrator spoke these words with no meaning like he had done many times before. He wanted Stanley to do as he asked, he wanted Stanley to follow a new path but every single time Stanley was faced with a choice he picked an answer that led him further away. Further away from the truth. Further away from the Narrator. Further away from freedom.

It didn't matter anyway. Everything that the Narrator had planned had to be forgotten about for now, he had to wait until Stanley was ready to pick that path. He had to be patient.

Stanley trudged his way through the maintenance room, not even giving the Narrator time to speak. He disregarded the Narrators words as he strolled into the meeting room, tripping over a stray chair in the process. The Narrator wanted nothing more than to help Stanley, but he couldn't. He wasn't allowed in the office, ever.

Eventually, Stanley picked himself up and ran down the corridors and up the flights of stairs. Stunned, shocked, the Narrator didn't speak a word, he just stared in amazement as he watched Stanley enter the bosses office and walk over to the keypad. He was at a loss for words. Stanley had never not let the Narrator speak at all, maybe once or twice in accident but accidents happen. The Narrator looked over to his own keypad and pushed in the numbers 2-8-4-5, letting Stanley go down into the elevator.

As soon as the elevator hit the ground, Stanley sprinted into the mind control facility- he couldn't wait for this to end. He pushed button after button, walked step after step. Finally, he reached the heart of the machine, the on and off buttons. All the power he held in that moment was immense. He slammed his hand down onto the 'off' button and everything went black.

"Blackness...

and a rising chill of uncertainty...

was it over?"

Light slowly began to fade into the room, blinding Stanley. "Yes! He had won. He had defeated the machine, unshackled himself from someone else's command. Freedom was mere moments away."
Stanley looked back into the darkness, the light no illuminating any of it. Questions began to run through Stanley's mind. Where had his co-workers gone? What was that machines purpose? Why had the Narrator stopped talking to him back in the meeting room? What other mystery's did this strange building hold?

Stanley didn't care about most of those questions anymore. He listened to the Narrators calming voice telling him that he was free as he slowly inched towards the green landscape that was just out of his reach. "Perhaps his goal had not been to understand, but to let go. No longer would anyone tell him where to go, what to do, or how to feel. Whatever life he lives, it will be his."

The immense wall has at his shoulders now and Stanley could smell the fresh cut grass and the sweet summer flowers. "And that was all he needed to know. It was, perhaps, the only thing worth knowing."

Stanley took a deep breath and rounded up all his courage to follow the Narrators words.

"Stanley stepped through the open door."

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HELLO! This is my first ever story and I'm proud of what I've just written. I hope you enjoyed it and the next update is in the works as you read this :D
Hope you have a good day and make sure to vote :)
Recommendations are always welcome :]