In Hindsight

What's the Catch?

Tommy was really starting to hate waking up in pain.

"Fuck," he rasped, immediately regretting it. His throat burned like someone had force-fed him a handful of rusty nails. To make matters worse, his mask began beeping, sending a pulse of electric shocks down his neck. Tommy flinched and curled into himself, shaking.

"Oh no no no, come on," someone said. Fabric brushed against Tommy's ear and he twisted his head, teeth snapping at the offending object— but he bit down on air and a moment later hands pressed behind his neck, fiddling with his mask— and then the metal was torn away and thrown to the ground. The shocking stopped.

"There we go, sorry kid." The man pressed a glass bottle into Tommy's hand. "Health potion— sorry, I broke your mask, I probably should have taken it off before the redstone freaked out— must have broken a wire or something. . ."

What the fuck, Tommy thought, grimacing. What the fuck what the fuck what the fu—

". . .You gonna drink that potion?" The man said hesitantly. "It's just health, I promise— it'll help your throat. . ."

Tommy started to say fuck you, thought better of it, then flipped the voice off before uncorking the bottle and downing the sickly sweet potion in one go. He wasn't too worried about poison— he was 90% sure he'd been dying last time he was conscious, so they must have wanted him alive for something.

"Alright, where the Notch is my mask," Tommy coughed when the pain in his throat had been washed away.

"Oh, it's— um. How— how much do you remember?"

Tommy scowled. "Mind telling me who I'm talking to first?"

"Tango Tek, at your service." The admin chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, you held a knife to my throat."

". . .Right." Tommy's claws dug into his arm. "I remember that."

"Yeah, so—" Tango continued on, tripping over his words a little, "So recap— Xisuma was talking to you, and then according to him, you— I don't know, he was kind of vague about it— your mask just started strangling you? And then you died, and appeared outside the firewall next to me, so I kinda just. . . picked up a rock and smashed your mask?"

Tommy reeled back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait— what—"

"It's not too damaged, it's just— okay, it is actually pretty busted, but Xisuma took of the face bit before you died, so that's still intact— and you were actually able to wear it without the prongs until it started shocking you—"

"Time out!" Tommy yelled. "You broke it?!"

"You were dying!" Tango said. "It's— look, we didn't know you were seventeen, and we don't really—"

"What the fuuuuck." Tommy dug his palms into his eyes, groaning. "I don't understand this fucking server. Why the fuck— why am I still alive?"

Tango paused. "Excuse me?"

"Like. . ." Tommy gestured meaninglessly around. "Common sense, guys, you don't— you already got my code, why the fuck would you keep me alive? It wasn't even something you did, you could have just let the mask take care of me, and suddenly the kid's dead, no guilt, no— like what the fuck?"

Tango was silent.

"Okay, I'm not complaining," Tommy said quickly, "like, I'm alive, pog, whatever, but come on, you guys lock me in a box and steal my code but save me from being killed by my own mask? Like, make it make sense, you know?"

". . .I mean. . . we don't. . . kill people? Like, outside the server, at least. . .? It's all hardcore out there, so. . ."

"Okay, sure, but what do you want from me? You already have my code, why am I still here?"