The End of Yardale Part I

Not the Same

Gary and Rebecca looked down at Gregory, whom they had brought onto a bed to lie down on before he would wake up. As they both had found interest in the medical field, they volunteered to be the ones to watch over Gregory and find out if anything had changed about him physically. Observing how hard Leslie had hit Gregory, they could presume that he wouldn't be waking up for quite some time For extra precaution, though, the two had been sure to arm themselves in order to stay safe from a potential attack. 

"What do you think they did to him back at Yardale?" Gary asked, worried. 

"Well, taking into account all the bruises and scars he seems to now have, they must've used torture as a form of manipulation against him." Rebecca replied. 

Gary sighed. "That's horrible. I remember when Gregory and I were good friends way back in school. Now he may never be the same." 

"We can still hope." reassured Rebecca. "It's not like they completely replaced his brain or something." 

"True. With some patience, we could help him get better!" Gary hopefully said. Rebecca nodded, and the two could only continue staring down at Gregory. Deep down, they didn't truly know if there was a thing they could do about Gregory's situation. He had been changed, and they had no ideas on how they would get him to remember who he was. 

Estella then walked in, still appearing to be deeply weakened by her wound. Gary and Rebecca had been sure to assist her before focusing on Gregory, wanting to ensure that no one in their group had to face another death. "How's he doing?" Estella asked, regarding Gregory. 

"He seems to have faced tons of trauma while he was gone." answered Rebecca. "Yardale most likely manipulated him into becoming a weapon, then sent him to fight us." 

"Oh." Estella simply replied, not knowing what to say. 

"We'll get the old Gregory back, though. Don't worry!" Gary then chimed in. 

"Right. We will." agreed Estella. She wasn't certain of how much she believed Gary, but all she had left for herself was hope. She refused to give up when she cared so much about going on and making a better life for herself and her brother and every other person she cared for. 

Estella turned around and began to make her way out until she saw Mole standing silently in the doorway. She saw how he looked at the knocked out Gregory before him and realized that he had no hope left. 

"We won't really get him back, will we?" Mole then asked.

"No. We will. I'm sure of it!" said Gary. 

Mole shook his head. "You're not sure. He's gone. He's changed." 

Rebecca sighed and said, "Mole, if we can just get him to remember-" 

"He's not going to remember shit." interrupted Mole. "He's not the same Gregory anymore. He's different now." 

"You don't know that, Mole." Estella stated. 

"No, I do know that, Estella! If he were the same person, he wouldn't have stabbed you or attacked me or- done any of this fucking shit! I don't even know if I can love him anymore!" 

"We helped Leslie become a good person again. I'm sure we can do the same with Gregory!" Gary said. 

"No we fucking didn't. Leslie only changed because she's a robot. She doesn't have control over her own mind anymore- she only thinks what you want her to think. She's not the person she truly used to be- I bet she doesn't even remember who she was before she was a robot! Gregory- he's still human. It would take more torture to turn him into the person we want him to be- and we can't fucking torture him. At this rate, it would be better for us to just let him die again rather than trying to 'fix' him." 

"Mole, you can't honestly think that-" Rebecca began. 

"Well I do. Gregory's gone. You can believe whatever delusions you want, but that right there-" Mole said, nodding towards the passed out man before them, "that's not Gregory." Mole then turned around and walked off, Estella doing her best to follow him. Gary and Rebecca were left behind to rethink whether or not bringing the real Gregory back was possible.