Red or Blue (i love you) | The Stanley Parable

Contemplation

Red or Blue.

Stanley considered his options. He'd been here once before, when he kept disobeying the Narrator, and had ultimately gone through the Blue door, resulting in the Narrator making some kind of... baby game? He doesn't really remember, that ending was one he did a long time ago, and that's why he's here right now, standing in front of the two doors.

Red or Blue.

He could just go through the blue door again... it has been some time since then, maybe there was something he missed? Maybe if he did it a second time the Narrator might have something different to say to him? No. Shaking his head, Stanley once again looked toward the doors, his fingers running through loose brown curls as he concentrated. This was a very important decision! The Narrator wanted to show him something, after all.

Red or Blue.

"Stanley, are yㅡ I haven't got all day you know!" The Narrator huffed, their voice echoing throughout the empty room and vibrating off of the concrete walls. Stanley could imagine their face right now, glasses askew and the bridge of their nose pinched between fingers in dramatic exasperation. He chuckled. "When I said I'd prove that I'm on your side, sitting in a dusty room with nothing but air to converse with was not part of the plan, Stanley."

All Stanley could do was smile. Trust the Narrator to fill the empty silence, you'd think he'd never gone more than 5 minutes without talking in his life. More than 1 minute was probably stretching it. Chucking to himself, Stanley raised his hands as he leaned casually against one of the brick walls, dust fluttering through the air as his back made contact.

'I was just thinking.' He started, making his hand moments deliberate and slow - the Narrator knew sign, but he still needed it to be clear enough to decipher. 'This is an important decision, you know, I want to do it right.'

"Well, Iㅡ You've gone down this corridor before Stanley! What more could there be? All you have to do is go down the RED door, you know, the one to your LEFT?" He raised an eyebrow at the ceiling, the man rambling on about how there was nothing important down the blue door, Stanley, and just go down the red door, Stanley. A vision of the man crossing his arms popped into Stanley's mind, and he tried to stifle the amused smile he knew was beginning to creep on his face. "You... You do know what is left and what's right, right Stanley? Oh god, please don't tell me you've been doing this without knowing the difference between the two directions, oh god Stanley, this isn't good! We should go back andㅡ"

Stanley slapped the wall, the sharp sound reverberating through the room, effectively cutting off the Narrator's spiraling thoughts. Shaking his head at the man, Stanley decided to put an end to this.

'No. I'll listen.' He pointed at the two doors, his hand hovering between the two, before lowering it and walking toward the door on his left.

Red or Blue.

'I'll go, you told me to give you a chance, right?'

He grasped the handle in his palm, pushing the ajar door open fully and entering, grasping the door handle tightly in his hand to close it behind him as he finalised his decision. Beaming up at the ceiling, he gave the Narrator a thumbs up, signalling his final choice. Sure, he could've disobeyed and gone through the blue door again, but then he'd have to come back once more just to see past the red door, plus he'd done enough disobeying the last reset, it was time to indulge the Narrator a bit this time. He knew he'd chosen right when he heard quiet humming from them, their happiness evident in just a single sound.

Stanley walked along the unending, twisting corridor as it repeated over and over, his fingers absently picking at his nails as he nervously listened to the Narrator's voice filter through the space, their words punctuating loudly through the stagnant air.