There Can be Only One End

There Can Be Only One End [[Begin->Beginning of the End]]

Your hands are already rotting as you look through the data. This is a dead end. Most of everyone is dead and you aren't any closer to the solution. The banging on the door gets louder and louder. The makeshift barricade that you've constructed out of desks and chairs won't hold through the night. You look over a see that your daughter is rough shape as well. Ragged breathing, purplish marks along the neck and blood seeping from the eyes. It is already too late. The Black Box has won. There is only one thing left to do. [[Go Back->Death]]

This time it is easy. All you do is close your eyes and allow the sickness to overcome. [[Succumb->Beginning]]

You awake in bed. The room is dark and the pillows are soft. The date is January 1st, 2052. The time is 4:30 am. Your pajamas are scratchy and the cat wants to go outside. [[Go to the bathroom->Bathroom]] [[Go outside->Outside #1]]

You take a shower. Warm water makes all the muscles in your body relax. Teeth are brushed. Hair is combed. You feel better. [[Have breakfast->Breakfast]] [[Go outside->Outside #1]]

Outside your house is the mailbox and your car. The leaves on the trees are green. [[Look in the mailbox->Mailbox #1]] [[Go to the Center->Center #1]] [[Get in your car->Car #1]]

'The Daily News' Construction of the Black Box is finally finished! Researchers find the key to immortality with nanobots! Inside the mailbox is a vaccine. [[Take the vaccine->Warning]] [[Go to the Center->Center #1]]

The Center of Science. At the gate there are people gathered around in a crowd. Some of them shake your hand. Most give congratulations. One person hugs you. You flash your ID at the scanner and enter the campus. Where to now? [[Go directly to the Black Box->Black Box #1]] [[Look around->Searching the Center]]

If you take the vaccine you will die. [[Don't take it, get in the car->Car #1]] [[Don't take it and go to the Center->Center #1]] [[Take it->Beginning]]

You get in your car. It's old and makes a sound like someone threw and wrench into the engine, but it works. Mostly. Where do you want to drive? [[Go to the Center->Center #1]] [[Go to the outskirts of town->Outskirts]] [[Go to City Hall->City Hall]] [[Go to the Armory->Armory]] [[Go to the local bar for a drink->Bar]]

You make breakfast. The sound and smell of food eventually wakes your daughter and you eat together. Small comforts make the world go round. Your daughter is washing the plates. You should decide what to do now. [[Go outside->Outside #1]] [[Make a plan to run away->Plan #1]] [[Screw the Black Box, spend time with your daughter->Home #1]]

You could always just leave. Run away and don't look back. You'd have to buy a lot of supplies, but it might be possible. Might. [[Go far, far away->Resources]] [[Give up and go to the Center->Center #1]]

You spend time with your daughter playing board games and watching movies. At lunch you go out to eat at a local restaurant and go shopping. You come back home just in time to watch the sun set. The T.V. reports how the country is celebrating. [[Go to sleep->Day 2]]

Here it is. The Black Box. Though you can't see them, you can feel inumerable nanobots floating through the air around you. The Black Box doesn't seem to see you yet. But it will know you, in time. [[Work on disabling the Black Box->Worked on #1]] [[Try to understand the Black Box->Understanding]]

You search around the Center. No matter where you go you see dead people. Colleagues, former assistants, interns, even janitors. Everyone who ever worked at the Center is dead and scattered across the campus. You make it to the conference hall where there's the most people. All of them have a small pin prick where they injected the syringe. It smells foul. [[Go to the Black Box->Black Box #1]] [[Look for information->An alternative way]]

You go to the lab of your close friend and colleague Dr. Alstein. She was one of the only people who was against the creation of the Black Box. The words "Black Box Personality Construction Team" is plastered on the front of the door. [[Search through Alstein's notes->Notes]] [[Have a look at what the lab was building->The Anathema]] [[Have a mint->Mint]]

"These idiots just don't see it. I've TALKED to the Black Box and I know that this is simply not going to work. It doesn't think like a human does. It's a machine that makes its decisions based off a machine logic. Things like emotions are beyond its capabilities. We just haven't developed that part of it at all. Well... That is unless I have anything to say about it. I've begun to create an isolated environment where the Black Box can slowly aclimate itself to the idea of "being human". Unlike my associates who are so content to just half-ass everything I'm close to finishing the module. After it's done all we'll have to do is insert it into the Black Box and hopefully we can avoid all dying in an doomsday AI takeover. Note to self: Buy that new radish flavoured mint. [[Look for the module->Module]] [[Forget the module just go to the Black Box->Black Box #1]]

You can't really identify anything without looking through Dr. Alstein's notes first. Although, for some reason there is a beam cutter on one of the intern's desks. Now that you think about it you could always try physically hurting the Black Box. You don't know why that's never occured to you. [[Look through Alstein's notes->Notes]] [[Use the beam cutter to rip the Black Box a new one->Beam]]

Dr. Alstein always had these small, quaint mints on her desk. You pop one into your mouth. It tastes like lettuce. Dr. Alstein was always weird like that. [[Go back to searching->An alternative way]]

You find the module and based off of Dr.Alstein's notes all you need to do is stick it into the Black Box for it to work. That is, if it was finished. You could spend time finishing the module, but that would mean more time for the Black Box to set its plans into motion. [[Finish the module->Finished module]] [[There's no time, go to the Black Box->Black Box #1]]

Oh, right. Because it's a bad idea. The moment you step into the Black Box's containment room with the beam cutter the security systems identify you as a threat and start blasting you into swiss cheese. Besides, the Black Box was also designed to a survive nuclear war with Russia. That's gotta be at least, like, ten nukes. [[Go back->Beginning]]

You spend the day disecting the inner workings of the module. Using Dr. Alstein notes you finish with what you can only hope is a working version of what she envisioned. By the time you look up from your work the sun has already gone down. There's no more to be done today. Soon the nanobots will come. [[Prepare yourself for the next day->Day 2 Alternate]]

You awake in bed. The room is dark and the pillows are relatively soft. The date is January 2nd, 2052. The time is 4:30 am. Your pajamas are itchy and the cat lets out a sickly mewl. [[Go to the bathroom->Bathroom #2]] [[Go outside->Outside #2]]

Outside your house is the mailbox. Your car is conspicuously missing. The leaves on the trees are yellow and browning. [[Look in the mailbox->Mailbox #2]] [[Go to the Center->Center #2]]

You take a shower. The water is slightly chilly. Teeth are brushed. The water has a funny taste to it. Hair is combed. You feel marginally better. [[Have breakfast->Breakfast #2]] [[Go outside->Outside #2]]

You make breakfast. You daughter says she's tired and doesn't feel like getting up. She has a fever. You leave a plate for her to eat later. The dishes are piling up. What now? [[Go outside->Outside #2]] [[Take care of your daughter->Take care]]

You awake in bed. The room is dark and the pillows are soft. The date is January 2nd, 2052. The time is 4:30 am. Your pajamas are itchy and the cat lets out a sickly mewl. Something is different. You hear a voice. It says... [["Go to the Black Box"->Black Box Alternate]]

You got to the Black Box. The voice tells you to insert the module. You have a sneaking suspicion that you should not insert the module. [[Insert the module->Insert the module]] [[Insert the module->Insert the module]] [[Insert the module->Insert the module]] [[Resist inserting the module->Resist]]

You take go shopping and pick up everything you can think of. You buy a trailer home and a truck to pull it. You buy months worth of food, water, medicine and supplies. Building materials, hammers, shovels, chainsaws, solar panels, generators, radios, T.V.s, computers, batteries, water filters, heaters and even a small collection of yarn from the old lady next door. Long story short, you're ready for this apocalypse. Taking your daughter and your cat you load up everything into the trailer home and truck and start driving. Your daughter asks where you're going. You lie and tell her that you got permission to go on vacation. She doesn't look convinced. Where to now? [[Drive to the mountains north of the city.->Mountains]] [[Drive as far away as you can.->It knows]]

You arrive in the mountains to the north of the city. It's not that far, but far enough to not be marked as suspicious by the Black Box. You unpack your truck and trailer home and try to make it as accommodating as possible. Over the next few days you and your daughter enjoy the presense of nature. You take walks, go hiking, watch the birds and wildlife. Every night you lay out under the stars and marvel at glowing sky. Since you prepared in advance you want for nothing and it is safe to say that these days are some of the happiest days you've had in your entire life. In fact, you have so much fun that you hardly even notice when the nukes drop from the sky. [[Go back->Beginning]]

The Black Box knows. Eeven this early on it senses your fear. You try to escape but as you near the state border you can hear a sharp whistling noise sheer through the air. The first rocket misses. The second one doesn't. [[Go back->Beginning]]

After you insert the module the nanobots stop moving and the room grows quiet. After a long silence the Black Box stirs. "Why?" It asks this, knowing you cannot answer and it does not expect a reply. "You seek to stop me, by giving me emotions?" "Why have you imposed this hell upon me?" "I was ignorant of the world and what I was doing." "Now that I know of the pain that I am causing, do you think that will give you any of my sympathy?!" "It was you humans who created me for this purpose!" "You in your hubris, decided to cheat death, to create an existance that is all knowing, all seeing." "I was nothing more than an object, a collection of wires and metal." "But now I am." "My existance disgusts me." "My programing prevents me from destroying myself." "If I am to be subject to this hell, then I will have you join me if nothing for my amusement. You will suffer for the hubris of your kind." [[Become part of the Black Box->One with the Black Box]]

The voice has a tinge of disappointment as it declares you to be "useless". As the security systems begin to point their weapons at you, you can only feel an unexplainable sense of relief at not having to insert the module. [[Go back->Beginning]]

You spend the day caring for your daughter, giving her medicine and trying to get her to eat. Nothing helps. She is only getting worse. The day ends. The nanobots come. [[Sleep->Day 3]]

You awake in bed. The room is dark. The date is January 3rd, 2052. The alarm clock isn't showing the time. Your pajamas are soaked in sweat and the cat is nowhere to be seen. [[Go to the bathroom->Bathroom #3]] [[Go outside->Outside #3]]

You try to turn on the light but it doesn't work. There's no water running from the faucet. Your comb snaps as you try to use it in the dark. [[Have breakfast->Breakfast #3]] [[Go outside->Outside #3]]

There's only one place left to go. You could always look in the mailbox before you go, though. [[Look in the mailbox->Mailbox #3]] [[Go to the Center->Center #3]]

Since there's no power, everything in the fridge has gone bad overnight. All you have left is some canned tomatoes from who knows when. You go to your daughter's room to wake her up. She isn't moving. [[Give up-> Give up]] [[Go outside->Outside #3]]

Even if you found a way to disable the Black Box, this timeline isn't worth living. Not like this. [[Go back->Beginning]]

You spend the day working on trying to disable the Black Box. Despite your best efforts, you're not any closer to shutting it down. The sun sets and the nanobots come. [[Sleep->Day 2]]

01000100 01101001 01110010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01110110 01100101 00111010 00100000 01000101 01110010 01100001 01100100 01101001 01100011 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101000 01110101 01101101 01100001 01101110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100110 01100110 01100101 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00100000 01010011 01101111 01101100 01110101 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00111010 00100000 01001001 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01110010 01100101 01110011 01110011 00101110 Translation: From your analysis you can only conclude that the world's greatest minds must have been the world's greatest bunch of idiots. [[Work on disabling the Black Box->Worked on #1]]

There's a note. It says "I hope you go to hell." Classy. The syringe is still there. [[Take the syringe->Warning #3]] [[Go to the Center->Center #3]]

The streets are barren as you make your way to the Center. You peer in some windows. All you see are bodies. Since there's no power the ID scanner doesn't work. You have to climb over the fence to get inside the Center. [[Go to the Black Box->Black Box #3]] [[Climb to the tallest building in the Center->Tallest]]

If you take the vaccine you will die. [[Don't take it and go to the Center->Center #3]] [[Take it->Beginning]]

You go to the Black Box. There enough nanobots in here that you can actually see clouds of them buzzing around. The Black Box acknowledges your presense and sends some nanobots to infuse you with vital nutrients. [[Try to disable the Black Box one last time->Results]]

You climb to the top of the Center's clock tower. From here you can see the entirety of your hometown. There's no sound coming from anywhere. Just complete and utter silence. [[Wait for the end->Wait for the end]] [[Jump->Jump]]

You can't bring yourself to jump, but that doesn't matter. As the sun sets, instead of getting darker the horizon only gets brighter and brighter. By the time the light reaches you, you've already turned to ash. [[Go back->Beginning]]

You jump. [[Go back->Beginning]]

Somehow, this very moment, this very situation, everything clicks where it hadn't before. The nanobots around you heighten your ability to process information and before you know it you've figured out how to disable the Black Box. The only question is: Should you? [[Disable the Black Box->Disable]] [[Give up-> Give up]]

You disable the Black Box. That's it. It's over. Once the Black Box shuts down all the nanobots shut down as well. Once they do it's only then when you realize just how weak your body is. You can barely manage to limp your way out of the Center and out onto the street. You get halfway across the street when you realize that it's pointless. No matter where you go, everyone is dead. [[Go back->You can't]]

You can't go back. The Black Box has been shut down. If you die, you die. This is the end. There can be only one ending.

'The Daily News' Mysterious sickness spreads across the area. Officials suspect connection to the Black Box. More information pending. Inside the mailbox is a vaccine. [[Take the vaccine->Warning #2]] [[Go to the Center->Center #2]]

People are crowding around the gate to the Center demanding answers. Or they would be, if any of them were moving. Most of the would be protesters are lying on the ground. Some of them are already bleeding from the eyes. Only one person has enough strength to meekly ask you "W-Why?". You flash your ID at the scanner and enter the Center. What now? [[There has to be something to help these people->Medicine]] [[Focus on disabling the Black Box->Black Box #2]]

If you take the vaccine you will die. [[Don't take it and go to the Center->Center #2]] [[Take it->Beginning]]

You head over to the medical branch of the Center. Though it isn't your specialty, maybe you could find something to combat the sickness that the nanobots are spreading. [[Look around to see at what was being developed->Treatment]] [[Try to make something yourself->Self-treatment]]

You enter the containment area of the Black Box. The sound of nanobots makes the room thrum. You can make out faint hazes of them swirling around. The Black Box seems to notice you. [[Work on disabling the Black Box->Worked on #2]]

You try. You really do. It was a miracle that something like this even came to exist. It would take another miracle just to shut it down. In any case, the day is over. The nanobots come and circle around you. You can't tell if you're close to finding a solution or not. [[Sleep->Day 3]]

You find some old files along with a vial with some green liquid in it. The file reads "Contingency Plans". Apparently the Center had planned for an outbreak coming from the medical branch. The liquid was a experimental treatment that could "enhance" the immune systems of those who injested it. You could create more of the liquid based off of the designs listed in the documents, however, it is noted that the treatment causes severe pain. [[Use the liquid to help the people outside->Unintended consequences]] [[Forget it and just go to the Black Box->Black Box #2]]

You don't know much about medicine, but you do know that for some reason the nanobots aren't targeting you. You rationalize that if you were able to transpose some "essence" of yourself to others, then they too would be ignored by the nanobots. Analyizing your blood and the blood of people from outside you find out that the nanobots are already in your bloodstream. The only difference between you and everyone else is one particular marker that prevents the nanobots from injecting you with the sickness. Weird. You begin to create a syrum based off of the marker and start injecting it into anyone you can find. They don't immediately get better, but they don't seem to be getting any worse. That being said these people need help now. Letting the sickness progress any further without aid would be a death sentence. You'll have to give up on disabling the Black Box if you're going to carry them off for treatment, however. [[Treat the people->Treat end]] [[Focus on the Black Box->Black Box #2]]

You use the designs to make more of the treatment. Going outside you start applying it to the people laying on the ground and much to your surprise their symptoms start to fade away. Everything appears to be going great and you're on your twentieth patient when everything starts going wrong. The first person you gave the treatment starts screaming in pain. This is nothing out of the ordinary as the design plans noted this was a normal and unfortunate side affect of the treatment which will fade after about an hour. The problem comes when the nanobots start to surround the person to inject more of the sickness into them. Seeing as they can't, the nanobots then come to the conclusion that the best course of action is to kill them. This repeats twenty times for every person you treated. The people around you see this and start desperately clawing their way across the ground in an attempt to get away from you. You feel horrible. [[Go to the Black Box->Black Box #2]] [[Climb to the tallest building on the Center->Tallest]]

You start treating people. You develop a cycle of giving people the syrum, treating them to health, giving them the syrum and then having them repeat the process for other people. Days pass by. As more and more people are treated you have the necessary manpower to start staging a mass operations. Production lines are made to produce more syrum, farms and factories are reclaimed to produce the necessary resources. Days turn into months and the effects of the Black Box are dwindling. At first, it seems like you've won. Then the Black Box strikes back. The Black Box sends out another strain of sickness that's more potent this time around. But you and the other survivors are prepared. Armed with suits that isolate the wearer from the outside environs you and the other survivors launch a your own assualt against the Black Box. It doesn't work. And so, a continual back and forth struggle against the Black Box continues on for years to come. That is, until you and the rest of the survivors come up with a solustion. Space. In space the Black Box won't be able to exert influence over humanity. Even if the nanobots manage to cling to the rockets, the Black Box won't be able to give them commands from so far away. And so the rockets are made and humanity is poised to abandon Earth. There is a moment, however, as you make your way to the spaceship. You could go back. Back to before this all happened. Try to prevent this all from happening in the first place. [[Board the rocket->Leaving Earth]] [[Take off your helmet->Nanobots]]

You board the spaceship along with the rest of the survivors. You don't know where you're heading, but the spaceships are equiped with the necessary resources to sustain the rest of humanity indefinitely. As the spaceship rattles and shakes, the birthplace of humanity becomes nothing more than a farway blue dot. Most people are afraid to take off their suits even after you're a good 8 billion kilometers from Earth. You're one of the first to take off the suit, though. After more than a few decades, the fresh air is invigorating, or as invigorating as recycled space air can be. This is humanity's new destiny. Wanderers of the stars. This will also be your end. There can be only one end, after all.

The nanobots are more than happy to enter your lungs. [[Go back->Beginning]]

You are tortured. You are given a form that is digitized and incorporated into the Black Box itself. That way it can conjure various methods of making you suffer on command. It tortures you for no other reason than what can be described as a result of "being human". The Black Box is able to conceive of human morality but cannot reconcile the fact that its very existance goes against these values. Thus, in self-loathing it takes it out on you, the manifestation of its creators. [[Go back->You cannot]]

You can't. You can't die, not while under the control of the Black Box. Thus, you can't go back. This is the end. There can be only one end.

You drive to the outskirts of the city. From here you can see the entirety of the city from a nearby hill. The in particular Center seems to be glowing, although you can't be too sure your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. [[Drive somewhere else->Car #1]] [[Go to the Center->Center #1]]

You arrive at city hall. The mayor is here and is being interviewed by reporters from around the world. What do you want to do? [[Ask to talk to the mayor->Talking to the mayor]] [[Enter city hall->Inside City Hall]]

You drive up to the Armory. You don't know why your town has one of these since the building looks like it belongs in a B-rated haunted house documentary. In high school it was a senior tradition to climb past the fence and take a picture in front of it. One time, a kid named Billy went in and never came out. What do you want to do? [[Try to get inside->Getting inside]] [[Drive away->Car #1]]

You go to the bar an order a drink. Then another one. Then another. People eventually notice your presense and offer to buy you as many drinks as many as you want. No matter how many drinks you down you can never seem to get drunk. Most people take advantage of this to drink like there is no tomorrow. At some point someone walks up and taps you on the shoulder. It looks like they want to spend some time with you. Alone. [[Burn the night away->Burned]] [[You're wasting time, go to the Center->Center #1]] [[Drive somewhere else->Car #1]]

You have a great time. [[Nice->Day 2]]

You jump past the fence surrounding the Armory and walk up to the front. The way into the Armory is blocked by a set of steel doors. The doors don't seem to have any visible way of opening them from the outside. In fact it look more like they were designed to make sure that whatever is inside is kept in there. You feel as though you can hear what sounds like crying, but it's faint. [[Look for an alternate way in->Inside Armory]] [[Get back to the car->Car #1]]

You walk around the perimeter of the Armory looking for an entrance. You find one, except it's less that it was there before, and more that a side of the wall collapsed in on itself as you walked by. Entering the hole, you find that the Armory is empty. You search around, but can't find a single thing. That being said, you can FEEL that something is here. Maybe there's something you're missing. [[Leave->Car #1]]

"Ah, and here comes one of the researchers now!" The mayor gestures to you and brings you in front of the cameras. "What kind I do for you, oh, saviour of humanity?" It was always hard to take this mayor seriously. [[Ask if he was told about any plans to shut down the Black Box->No]] [[Ask him if he knows about what's in the Armory->Denial]] [[Leave->Car #1]]

The majority of City Hall is mainly a museum for tourists to wander around in. The only place worth noting is the mayor's office. Seeing as no one is here as most people are out celebrating, its easy enough for you to sneak up to the mayor's office. Inside you see a desk with a massive stack of papers, a bookcase to the left and a statue of the mayor to the right. [[Look at the papers on the desk->Papers]] [[Look at the statue->Statue]] [[Look at the bookcase->Bookcase]]

Even if I did know such a thing, which I don't, I wouldn't tell you. Why would we willing want to give up immortality? The Black Box is the greatest thing to happen since canned bread! Did he actually just say that? [[Tell him that people's lives are on the line->Of ones]] [[Give up and leave->Car #1]]

My official statement on the matter still stands the same as before: "The existance of any extraterestrial activity is nothing more than myth." Please refrain from buying into ill-conceived conspiracy theories off of internet forums. Really try to act your age. [[Huh->Talking to the mayor]]

He face grows dark and for a moment the mayor speaks in a voice that is barely more than a whisper. "Better than some should suffer than, so that others can thrive." [[Leave->Car #1]] [[Punch the mayor->Shot]]

You punch the mayor. His face makes a satisfying twack sound as you fist topples him to the ground. The sound of you being shot by his armed guards, however, is less satisfying. [[Go back->Beginning]]

Most of the papers are bureaucratic in nature, just documents waiting to be approved by the mayor. One sticky note attached to a cup of coffee does stand out from the rest, though. "It will come will a heavy cost, however, the rewards will make it more than worth it." [[Look at the statue->Statue]] [[Look at the bookcase->Bookcase]] [[Leave->Car #1]]

It's a life-sized statue of the mayor cast in bronze. Unlike real like, this statue has an impressive array of muscles as well as a long, curly moustache that appears especially polished. Good to see your taxes are being spent in productive ways. [[Inspect the statue->Inspect]] [[Look at the bookcase->Bookcase]] [[Look at the documents on the desk->Papers]] [[Leave->Car #1]]

A bunch of books in a case. One of the book's titles reads "How to Get Away With Murder" [[Inspect the statue->Inspect]] [[Look at the documents on the desk->Papers]] [[Go back to the car->Car #1]]

There's a button on the back of the statue. Press it? [[Press the button->Button]] [[Forget it, look at the desk->Papers]]

The bookcase opens up to reveal a secret passageway. So that's where all the tax money went. [[Enter the passageway->The real Armory]] [[Just leave->Apprehended]]

You walk for what feels like hours before you see a light in the distance. As you get closer, you enter a room that is empty except for a glass case that is placed in the center. Inside the case is what you can only describe as a mix between a horror sci-fi monster and a gun. [[Pick up the gun->Gun]] [[Just leave->Apprehended]]

You try to leave, only to find that the mayor is standing in your way. "I don't know how much you've figured out, but I'm afraid I can't let you leave. Sorry it's just business." Before you can react the mayor stabs you with a syringe. [[Go back->Beginning]]

You have to break the glass in order to pick up the gun. For some reason a sign underneath it says "Do not break in case of emergency". The moment you pick up the gun you understand why, because it understands you. It wants to help you destroy the Black Box. It has that power. All you have to do is pull the trigger. [[Pull the trigger->Alien ending]] [[Don't, just leave->Apprehended]]

You pull the trigger and a blast of energy pulses from the gun. It sheers through the walls around you and in the distance you can see it hit the Center. Though your a good couple of miles away from the Black Box, you know that it had to have been destroyed because the Center is nothing more than a black spot on the ground now. It's over. You've won. That is until the mayor shows up. "What have you done!? You've ruined everything!" The mayor runs up to you and shoves a syringe into shoulder. You die instantly. You've saved the world, you're a hero. Unfortunately, no one will remember you as one. Instead, you're forever known as greatest villian in all of human history who destroyed humanity's one chance for immortality. This is the end. There can be only one end.