You did everything you could.
You went back again and again in an endless loop to that terrible, wonderful moment you first became an Archival Assistant.
You warned Martin of the worms. Sasha of the tall stranger and the table. Tim of the Stranger with a capital S. Jon of...well, basically EVERYTHING.
None of it mattered.
Sometimes they didn't believe you. They yelled at you and mistrusted you and everything moved forward with a terrible sort of inevitability.
Sometimes they DID believe you, but at the cost of their hope. The Archives became a preemptive graveyard where no one cared to try to change anything.
A few times, you managed to thread that needle and give them just enough to prepare them but not enough to discourage them. You manage to care about them as people and bond.
And still Elias won.
Sometimes you're allowed to remember Truth, the spinning NotSpiral at the heart of this simulation. Those times aren't particularly productive because then it's YOU who are hopeless. There is nothing TO change. None of it is real. You aren't actually an Archival Assistant and all the others are no more than echoes of actual people.
But something is different this time.
You know you're in the simulation because when you're allowed to remember reality it's very obviously different.
But you're not in the archives.
You're in a featureless grey void, and in front of you, on that incredibly headache inducing NotChair is JR.
Their spiralling grin is firmly in place as they sprawl out in a jumbled heap on the NotChair. You are... very sure that joints aren't meant to do ANY of that.
"You." you say, grimly.
":) :) :) " JR somehow manages to say outloud, using their non-existent mouth. "Actually, no, YOU'RE you."
You refuse to be drawn into this. It never leads anywhere.
":( :( :(" JR says, without their spiralling grin moving a bit.
"You're no fun, you know that Wanda? Can I call you Wanda? Or would you prefer to avoid your NotName and instead be called by something that isn't a name at all?"
You learned a lot about patience during your time in the loops.
"Why am I here?" That doesn't mean you particularly care to apply those lessons to JR , of all people.
JR shambles to a more upright position, body moving more in an AGGREGATE way than any way that makes sense if you think too hard about any individual movement.
"Down to business, that's what I like about you, Wanderer!" They steeple 14 of their fingers together.
"Truth let me know what was going on here, and I have to say, love what you've done with the place!"
You grit your teeth. "I haven't done anything. I've been stuck here in a MEANINGLESS LOOP!"
"I know!!! That's SO you! Always digging, never stopping. Doesn't matter if there's no point. Doesn't matter if its red herrings all the way down. You always have to KNOW, don't you?"
Suddenly there is an entire crowd of three foot tall hopping and cawing anthropomorphic crows surrounding the NotChair. There has always been an entire crowd of three foot tall hopping and cawing anthropomorphic crows surrounding the NotChair. Each of them wears a fedora at a rakish angle and an adorable little trenchcoat. They're all wearing little paper masks of various animals or people. You're particularly disturbed by the one dressing up like...Evil Thomas the Tank Engine with a rat nose??? You're trying not to think about it.
JR casually points a few fingers towards them. "Take my lil idiot crow bois: Their relevance quotient was in the NEGATIVES just a few days ago. But here they are, dragged into the spotlight. All because you couldn't leave well enough alone.
So here they are, Real as anything in these parts and I'm going to have to figure out how to Reliably keep them nice and busy and out of trouble. "
One of the crows is bouncing up and down especially quickly and yells out "CAW!!! Temmie go college!!!". JR pats it on the head, indulgently, as they lean forwards with a series of unsettling cracks. "You sure will buddy. The Headmaster already approved it and everything!!!"
You grip your head as a spike of pain lances through it, along with the now familiar swirl of vertigo.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"
JR manages to blink at you with no eyes, just an unsettling wobble of part of their spiralling grin.
"Wanda, I thought you LIKED this. Why else would you always get all up in my business, searching for my secrets?"
You stare at them for several ticks.
"BECAUSE I WANT TO FIND OUT HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD??????????"
JR starts laughing and laughing at you.
"And why would something that important be in my labyrinth???"
You're on the verge of tearing out your own hair.
"Usually unimportant stuff isn't locked behind something so omg-thank-google-y as that." you plead.
JR's laugh spirals around you as you realize that the End is Never the End and the only reward you'll be getting is the narrative you make along the way.