#Stanley ☆I'm Afraid To Change What Comes Next☆ ☆IC☆

[chaosmultiverse-a]

@the-haunted-office might want a map

Stanley grimaced at this... Situation, oh no, he... Yeah no he was not equipped to really explain this to another Narrator, it was... Interesting enough for his state of mind to meet one another Narrator and now there's a second, also with His voice... But it wasn't him. Why were so many Stanleys not with their Narrator?

Stanley thinks for a moment of something else this guy could call him, briefly playing with the idea of using 'Jim' but... Actually yeah no he'd rather die right now than possibly bring up a conversation about 'Ultra Deluxe' so... Eh 'Stan' would have to work, it wasn't his name but it would do.

"Sure, call me 'Stan'. And you are in my office, there are multiple offices, multiple Stanleys, multiple Narrators, probably a set for each office." He started with, perhaps this was a bit of a blunt way to explain but he wasn't sure how to gently explain this situation.

"Sometimes when going though..." It was doors & windows that Doomsday mentioned, right? "-Doors and windows and such a person can end up in one of these different offices or other spaces not from their world. You must have went through something and it took you to my office."

Stanley gave an attempt at a comforting smile which looked much more awkward and painfully forced than anything "Does that help...? Explain what happened?"

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Stanley let out a warry breath, shoulders tensed for a moment before relaxing, leaving hia arms limply beside him.

This feeling, of the displaced voice that might as well be an echo within his skull was nothing new, he just always found himself looking up, like he was expecting to see the roof was gone and some large figure looming over him like he was a doll in a dream house.

As the voice spoke more he looked to the doors in the room, the first office room, he knew well that normally only doors that would open were his and the one forword, to the choice, the room with two doors.

"Are my choices the same as always? But simply with you here?"

Stanley eyed the space above him with suspension, he wasn't actually remotely sure where the voice came from, it always sounded like people's voices came from everywhere, or at least it did for the disembodied voices. So up he looked.

"You do not? What do you want?"

-

“ That all depends on where you choose to go, ” the voice responded.

From everywhere, the voice seemed to arrive ; from everywhere, the voice came. From above, more like. Watching the story, guiding where it went … intervening, when need be, in the case of the Curator.

“ You do happen to have some will over the story. You’ve made that quite clear. ” How else would he have managed to make the Narrator so frustrated ? How else could he have seen anything beyond the set path ?

[chaosmultiverse-a]

"I don't want to hurt you." // curator to stanley !

Stanley eyed the space above him with suspension, he wasn't actually remotely sure where the voice came from, it always sounded like people's voices came from everywhere, or at least it did for the disembodied voices. So up he looked.

"You do not? What do you want?"

[chaosmultiverse-a]

A man who looks like a fashion disaster truck ran him over comes strolling right up to Stanley, looking more than a bit panicked, really more than out of sorts, and really more than out place.

He has pale skin, long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and mismatched eyes - one is brown, the other is green. His attire is just as mismatched as his eyes, if not more so. He wears a white shirt with black polka dots; a black and white checkered vest over it; black and white striped pants; and one white shoe alongside one black shoe. He rather looks like Beetlejuice had a child with a chess board, who then had a child with a dalmatian.

Without wasting any time, he says, "Excuse me, I beg your pardon, but I'm looking for a man named Stanley. He's- Well, he's about your height, light skin, messy black hair, dark eyes, wears glasses, looks like your stereotypical office nerd, sort of like- well, like you, actually. Might you have seen him about? It's urgent that I find him straight away."

Stanley may recognize this man's voice, if he has the same British Narrator that most other offices have.

@the-haunted-office

Stanley juat stares, a little stunned as this... Trainwreck walked towards him. While he had been... Adjusting to the idea that people, actual real people were... Around, that he could bump into them in his or slimmer to hia office. It was an adjustment that still hadn't left him prepared for this.

Stanley was left even more dumbfounded as the man began his monolog, Stanley blinking a few times as he relized just how alike must have looked to... This other Stanley, that exists, somewhere... Not here, not right now anyways.

Stanley hesitantly raised his hands and started signing, hand movement janky, like he wasn't really sure what to say or if he'd be understood.

"I am a different Stanley, I think you are in the wrong office, do you know Doomsday or Cyrus?" Maybe if this guy knew them he'd be firmiler with the multiverse thing and Stanley could skip trying to explain that.

[chaosmultiverse-a]

@the-haunted-office the end is never the end

Stanley did take the cup, looking down at his reflection as Cyrus spoke, he wasn't sure what made him think of it, or say it for that matter, he was.... Feeling nostalgic, he guessed.

"I guess that sounds like a interesting loop at least, or at least not as... Existential as it could be..." He wasn't sure what the past of this office looked like, though he could guess there was something akin to his own experiences, and a lack of Cyrus's Stanley.

"...I am guessing you have ran into loops with other offices too, yes? I mean otherwise maybe it is just a weird triat ours share."

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Adding and changing Stanley tags

[chaosmultiverse-a]

"Be honest, Stanley - do you really dislike my story that much?"

Cyrus to Stanley!

@the-haunted-office

Stanley had a tried expression on his face, and his signing was stiff.

"I... do not know if I would call it your story Cyrus, my Narrator called it just as much his, and it seems like there's many others who would...

If it was just that though, a story, I would not have much issue with it, I mean I assume you mean the story that plays out if I just do as I am told, yes? It is... Fine, I suppose, I mean I would have have seeked it out myself, it is not my taste but really that is nlt a technical problem with it

But the thing is, it is my reality, my real actual existing co-workers, people I... Somewhat recall the names of, who have lives and dreams and real familes, those are the people who seemed to have just stopped existing.

It is every normal peaceful moment I have had since I took this job, which I have had from my 20s that suddenly I have been left to wonder if I have had any actual free will, if every 'choice' I made out of college was the will of someone else, whose only motive is profits.

Do you understand, could you? Understand what it feels like for every choice you have had most your adult life to be in question? Maybe I could of had more friends, maybe a real family or a pet or I do not know, that is the worst part I do not know what I might have missed... I do not know from my former life where there was I and where there was him, my boss. A man I do not remember the name of anymore.

And in thia story supposedly about freedom? The only way it ends 'good', the way is meant to go is that I yet again am mindless, following the whims of another man again, and then the 'reward'? It is not seeing the people who I once feared were gone and I have now mourned and moved on, no it is briefly, ever so briefly being 'outside', though never once when I got there did it actually look like the outside of the building, it looked like a set.

Could you even begin to understand the feeling? Or the narrative lashings I had to bare every time I tried and tried to actually live up to that supposedit theme of the story of freedom and actually make a choice?

There is so much guilt to bare, being the only one... Really left in any position to do anything, and every choice I make the story still will shallow everyone and everything whole and start again and again and again and again-

A thought, everyone loves stories or at least one, but... I truly do not believe anyone would ever want to be the protagonist, it. Is. Living. Hell. No. Worse. Limbo.

So to answer your question, do I truly dislike the story you call yours, if I dislike the story of the office worker who finds all his co-workers have disappeared and his company had been controlling their minds all along.

No, dislike is too weak a word, it implies I would compare it to something I like or would just put it at the buttom of some ranking.

No I despise that story, I... I do not want to be cruel to you, you were not the one who specifically were trapped with me nor made the story I was in, so please understand what I say, it... really is not personal.

But there are truly not words to describe the feeling of pure haterd and despair that story invokes in me, every 'twist', every self congratulating moment, every moment that would only work with someone watching and telling me what to do, every little spiteful comment at even small non-derailing choices.

...

You know what bit about the story I hate the most?

It only works with me in it, as the protagonist.

Because I am probably the only person who would not realize that years of his life were spent under mind control, who could have been surprised by the mind control felicity.

I honestly would not wish being stuck in the story on anyone, not my worst enemy, not any cruel soul, not on who actually trapped me. Not on anyone."

[chaosmultiverse-a]

She may not know him well ... but that does not mean she doesn't care about him. Nora takes up Stanley's hand, giving it a small, reassuring squeeze, as a nonverbal way of supporting him. // nora to stanley !

Stanley looks to Nora with some surprise, it hadn't been long ago that he had first encountered them, he was still trying to figure out where she fit into things.

He in turn squeezes her hand too, giving a awkwardly loupe sided smile that was ment to be assuring.

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Stanley tilted his head at Cyrus, just how many ghosts could there possibly be in one office? Actually given that this place was also empty of all his co-workers he was pretty sure he didn't want to know.

Stanley turned fully away from Cyrus as Doomsday started to explain again, it was going a little fast for him but he nodded as she went on.

Once she finished though, that's when he really started processing what she had explained.

He did easily understand that last part, it clinked in so fast for him that he nearly didn't realize he got it. He had so many times encounter doors or gateways or brief moments where he got to spaces that he shouldn't have been able to... It only made sense to him that it could happen on a universal scale.

There was also some larger space this all existed in... Could that be related to the white void always outside the window? Either way... Yeah it added up.

He had a hard with visualizing the shard thing but... He was pretty sure he understood the basic idea that universes would bump into each other & throw people into different universes.

As for the idea of spaces outside the office... That didn't matter at the moment.

"I- I think I understand what I need too from that, thank you for explaining, it means alot. If it would not be much of a issue I would love to see an example, I think it would help... And admittedly I am just very curious." He stepped over to Doomsday with some amazement on his face.

Stanley deeply frowns he isn't sure if by story this... Guy, whoever he was, meant the whole thing about 'going outside' or explaining what was happening so he elected to not reply, see where he was going with this. But as tea was offered his face shifted to some bewilderment at the suggestion, after a moment he gained the clarity to shake his head no, he didn't want to move right now or bw confronted by any 'choices'.

As Cyrus explains Stanley first is stunned which slowly cracks into a face of horror as he starts thinking of what that means. He... Had some experience with the idea that... There were different versions of the office, of his narrator, after all... He has lost him once, & then everything reset & he has never allowed the idea that The Stanley Parable 1 & 2's narrator could be different people live in his head, because then... What did anything matter?

Besides the end was never the end & while that trapped him, it also meant he was trapped with 𝘩𝘪𝘴 narrator.

But... Right now he wasn't.

Apparently, it wasn't just that the world could be updated & reset no... There were Apparently other offices... Other narrators & other...

Stanley(s).

He always knew he was a replaceable cog in... "normal" life but... He wasn't sure how to feel that there were more hims out there... He supposed at least it meant there were others who understood how he felt. That was new.

Stanley's body stops being tense, though is one again a little stiff as his posture closes in on himself a little, like a comforting blanket or shield. His expression softens out its horror into simple worry & something keeping him from even pretending to look Cyrus in the eye.

Stanley turns to look at Doomsday as she starts speaking, he seems to be getting more invested as she gets going but as Cyrus interupts his gaze turns to give Cyrus a glare, which lasts for a moment before he can't keep it up.

"...So... This place is named after it having Doomsday here? Right, Cyrus?" Stanley's hand got a little shaky signing Cyrus's name.

Stanley then turned to Doomsday "Doomsday, you were getting talking about how I got here, I want to hear what you have to say, I am curious so please, continue."

[chaosmultiverse-a]

❛ Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it burned in one, ehehehe," laughs the ghost who has just struck a match and looks like she's about to set fire to something. Mischief and mirth are present on her expression, even with her empty eye sockets that contain bright yellow light in lieu of eyeballs.

@parables-for-days

Stanley was... He seemed much more alarmed when he first noticed a person than when he could have noticed the ghostly nature of what was before him or the fire.

Stanley waved to get her attention before signing "What are you?" In large motions to make it easier to read and... basically be yelling.

[chaosmultiverse-a]

@parables-for-days Might need a new script.

Stanley seemed rather surprised by the fact his signing had gone acknowledged at all, this was new... But very welcomed.

"Maybe something outdoors, and open? Maybe with real animals?" It seemed like a lot to ask but it was worth trying.

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Stanley awkwardly smiles "Maybe-" he signs before she continued, but stopped as she meant on, he was starting to notice she was a bit of a rambler but that was actually welcome, he liked talkative people. He mimiced a giggle at pointing to Cyrus as 'mad'.

Stanley looked over to Cyrus & quickly found his humor with the situation dwindling, he... Did not like the idea of being stuck somewhere out of Narrator's sight for long at all, he... Knew that it was very hard on him.

Stanley turns back to her while she's speaking, there is a quiet surprise that'd she would actually go that far to help him out, he feels choked up & can at the moment only manage a simple "Thank you, that means a lot." Without tripping his hands over his words.

Stanley nods "I... I think I need a minute or two to decide, I am going to grab one of the office chairs." Stanley walked over to one of the desks, grabbing the chair from there though he stopped and looked over with some alarm as the tea set went crashing down.

He hesitantly rolled the chair back over to the others & put it against the wall and sat down.

"Should I ask why the tea ended up on the floor?"

Stanley awkwardly reflected Doomsday smile back at her, his gums show & it doesn't reach the corners of his eyes. He doesn't want her to feel alone in expression, he didn't want to feel alone.

Stanley nodded when she spoke, he wasn't sure where he should- He froze a little when he was touched, it was like he short circuited with how little he was moving, it was hard to tell if he was actually breathing.

He is still fairly stunned once she retracts her arm, but he was at least now clearly breathing & his head turned to follow her movement.

As the portal ripped open Stanley took a step back out of instinct, he squinted at it, trying to make out the details of what laid beyond without stepping closer

Stanley was starting to sign something but as Doomsday went in his hand reached out uselessly for a moment, he was far too used to the idea that once one went though some sort of 'door' that there was no going back.

Stanley jumps a little as she reappears, though quickly surprise shifts to a small smile.

Stanley glares over at Cyrus "I will admit that I am... Feeling odd about all of that, but I am happy to learn about it, I would much rather know about something, plesent, unpleasant or neither than not know. So-" he turned so he was looking at Doomsday "Thank you for explaining, knowing how it works a bit is reassuring."

He turned back to Cyrus "Also I do not really mind the ghost bit of this, really the only thing bothering me right now is just wondering if there is a easy way home for me eventually, I do not want to leave yet but eventually I should."

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Stanley deeply frowns he isn't sure if by story this... Guy, whoever he was, meant the whole thing about 'going outside' or explaining what was happening so he elected to not reply, see where he was going with this. But as tea was offered his face shifted to some bewilderment at the suggestion, after a moment he gained the clarity to shake his head no, he didn't want to move right now or bw confronted by any 'choices'.

As Cyrus explains Stanley first is stunned which slowly cracks into a face of horror as he starts thinking of what that means. He... Had some experience with the idea that... There were different versions of the office, of his narrator, after all... He has lost him once, & then everything reset & he has never allowed the idea that The Stanley Parable 1 & 2's narrator could be different people live in his head, because then... What did anything matter?

Besides the end was never the end & while that trapped him, it also meant he was trapped with 𝘩𝘪𝘴 narrator.

But... Right now he wasn't.

Apparently, it wasn't just that the world could be updated & reset no... There were Apparently other offices... Other narrators & other...

Stanley(s).

He always knew he was a replaceable cog in... "normal" life but... He wasn't sure how to feel that there were more hims out there... He supposed at least it meant there were others who understood how he felt. That was new.

Stanley's body stops being tense, though is one again a little stiff as his posture closes in on himself a little, like a comforting blanket or shield. His expression softens out its horror into simple worry & something keeping him from even pretending to look Cyrus in the eye.

Stanley turns to look at Doomsday as she starts speaking, he seems to be getting more invested as she gets going but as Cyrus interupts his gaze turns to give Cyrus a glare, which lasts for a moment before he can't keep it up.

"...So... This place is named after it having Doomsday here? Right, Cyrus?" Stanley's hand got a little shaky signing Cyrus's name.

Stanley then turned to Doomsday "Doomsday, you were getting talking about how I got here, I want to hear what you have to say, I am curious so please, continue."

Something in Stanley seems to shift with the first part of Cyrus's answer, especially as he says he is a real person, it is still tense but not stiff & still, no, his shoulders lowered & it seemed like he was unintentionally holding his breath.

"At my office? What do you mean, 𝘔𝘺 office? It is just the office and what do you mean narrator with an S?" Stanley's signing was loose, nearly hitting himself & objects unfortunately close to this confusing encounter.

Stanley simply stepped closer to Cyrus, not looking at the portal right now, apart of him wanted to, like an animal nawing at a cage finally with a hint of light but... No this wasn't right, this was... He wasn't sure, a trap? He supposed.

"Where are we? Who are you?" He signs hesitantly, he... Hated the first question at this point because the answer in truth would always remain the same, the end was never the end, he was always tied to the same confinement.

And the second part, it make his guts feel like they were at war with each other, he wasn't even sure how 𝘩𝘪𝘴 narrator would really answer that outside of stating his job, which was decidedly not what he meant by the question right now, he... He needed to know if he was face to face to his only... Companion until like five minutes ago or if...

If he had been talking to a doppelganger without even noticing, if he was just... He wasn't sure what.

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Stanley slightly rised a eyebrow at the *our* narrator bit, he supposed that he was narrating both of them at the moment but... Something about it didn't sit right with him.

Stanley looked up at the speaker with a fowrn (was there always speakers? He... Didn't think there were) "Well if you want an actual answer it was because I asked to see an animal." He signed.

Stanley humored, smiled at her comment about the Narrator not knowing what he wanted. It did real pretty adpt.

Stanley looked very surprised when he agreed to actually come out... This had to be some sort of joke, a tape recorder or cardboard cut-out of a stock image or something would probably show up, the Narrator simply didn't... Show up, that had to be some sort of rule of the universe or something.

Stanley as the pair waits doesn't look like he's expecting much, maybe some irritation for the wait, for him he simply would like the gag to get over with so he could go outside.

But when he actually sees another new person, another person period arive his mouth is agape & he is staring at Cyrus with a intense emotion he himself won't know what to label.

Stanley barely reacts to Cyrus & Doomsday's banter, if he was being honest he could only distantly hear it, like they were in another room, his gaze just stays on Cyrus.

Stanley only somewhat snaps out of it when his name is said, which for a moment makes his eye twich before he takes a breath & signs

"You could do that, this whole time?"

Stanley's would intensely stay on Cyrus until he got an answer, not looking as Doomsday spoke or even opened the portal.

Stanley looked a little stunned for a moment with Doomsday's observation but that shifted into a burst of unexpected laughter, bending over with it, it was loud and a little bitter, like it was winning a fight with a gloomly look or spiteful look up.

It took Stanley a good moment to regain himself and for the laugher to die out in a awkward cough as he moved to be looking at Doomsday with a embarrassed expression.

"Sorry about that, I..." Stanley's hands lingered in the air as he thought of how to explain why that had made him laugh so much... "We normally- I normally do not get to make requests."

That was the simplest way to explain the long, complex power struggle he's had with the narrative and the narrator, that despite it being his story he barely got to change it.

Stanley looked up with a strange expression when the narrator mentioned it was to keep Stanley 'safe', the closest word for the expression would be some form of pity.

Stanley's face lights up though when Cyrus relents and his attention turns back to Doom, his smile becoming warmer as she offers her protection "I- thank you, that is really kind of you."

He had been tempted to mention he was pretty sure he could protect himself but... He didn't want to reflect on the bucket incident and... He would rather actually die than explain the desert 'ending' to the Narrator.

Stanley seemed... Stunned, like he was holding his breath as he heard her explain in full where she could take him, he was waiting for a but or a moment where a mask sliped and it was revealed that this was a trick but... That didn't seem to be happening.

"I would like, if it didn't trouble you too much, to go outside, even if it's for a hour or two. I would love to just sit in some grass or something, I am not really picky as to where as long as it is open and lively..." Stanley seemed very nervous to admit what he would like, like he was just waiting for something to go wrong.

"As for the Narrator... Well, what would you like? Want to stay here or come with us?" He looked up to the speakers as he asked, if he was getting to make a choice that wasn't practically bobitraped then... It felt like he should offer that to the Narrator.

[chaosmultiverse-a]

Stanley looked a little stunned for a moment with Doomsday's observation but that shifted into a burst of unexpected laughter, bending over with it, it was loud and a little bitter, like it was winning a fight with a gloomly look or spiteful look up.

It took Stanley a good moment to regain himself and for the laugher to die out in a awkward cough as he moved to be looking at Doomsday with a embarrassed expression.

"Sorry about that, I..." Stanley's hands lingered in the air as he thought of how to explain why that had made him laugh so much... "We normally- I normally do not get to make requests."

That was the simplest way to explain the long, complex power struggle he's had with the narrative and the narrator, that despite it being his story he barely got to change it.

Stanley looked up with a strange expression when the narrator mentioned it was to keep Stanley 'safe', the closest word for the expression would be some form of pity.

Stanley's face lights up though when Cyrus relents and his attention turns back to Doom, his smile becoming warmer as she offers her protection "I- thank you, that is really kind of you."

He had been tempted to mention he was pretty sure he could protect himself but... He didn't want to reflect on the bucket incident and... He would rather actually die than explain the desert 'ending' to the Narrator.

Stanley seemed... Stunned, like he was holding his breath as he heard her explain in full where she could take him, he was waiting for a but or a moment where a mask sliped and it was revealed that this was a trick but... That didn't seem to be happening.

"I would like, if it didn't trouble you too much, to go outside, even if it's for a hour or two. I would love to just sit in some grass or something, I am not really picky as to where as long as it is open and lively..." Stanley seemed very nervous to admit what he would like, like he was just waiting for something to go wrong.

"As for the Narrator... Well, what would you like? Want to stay here or come with us?" He looked up to the speakers as he asked, if he was getting to make a choice that wasn't practically bobitraped then... It felt like he should offer that to the Narrator.

Stanley stood stunned for a moment, it wasn't... Alive but, it was moving, it 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥, like a fucked up cartoon animal or something, it was a someone.

Stanley came closer with some wonder on his face and slowly, and carefully extended his hand to pat the rabbit before retracting it when the question came up

He tilted his head to look at them, not only this was a someone, it was a someone who could do things that could do things the narrator couldn't.

He had a wode grin as these things clicked together in his head.

"I mean, a fairy tale would be a nice change of pace, and is there not a lot of tales about people being locked up in towers and stuff? So not too different, yeah?"