[ THE DOCTOR ]

[sheriffexe]

DOCTOR

The message comes by carrier pigeon actually, which is a pretty weird way to deliver a message but of course, it's thematic. A very pretty looking brown pigeon swoops down out of the sky to wherever Natalie just so happens to be that afternoon and holds out its leg. The message is short and simple: Got a job for you. Meet me in front of the doctor's office at dusk. No show, no job. Keep it a secret, rewarded very well. - Hal P.S. Burn this. And that's it. Of course, if Natalie chooses to listen to the message, she will find the Sheriff in front of the clinic at dusk. She'll be greeted with a tip of his hat and one word: "Doctor." And then he holds out a small notebook. Looks like Natalie's been chosen for one of those roles that were mentioned. Good luck.

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Comments

[robitussin]

About that. Is there a reason why the assistance couldn't be directions? Not that I'm mad about the food, just... Tarvek. You know.

[sheriffexe]

Any route you take would be what you were meant to take. Couldn't tell you how to go if I wanted to -- how I'd leave would be different than how you'd leave, after all.

[robitussin]

Meant to take, like, your bosses decided which way I would go, or the place itself did?

[sheriffexe]

The place itself.

[robitussin]

So... I spent two days in a labyrinth with decision making abilities, is what you're saying.

[sheriffexe]

Yep.

[robitussin]

...Why did it let me out before Seizaburo? Do you know?

[sheriffexe]

[ A shrug. ]

Best I can say, kid took longer to find a way out than you did.

[robitussin]

...Okay.

Two more questions, but they should be quicker. First... The copy of myself I saw. Does everyone here have one? Was it a clone, or the other way around, or what?

[sheriffexe]

[ He considers this one for a bit, probably longer than reassuring considering the topic at hand. ]

Anyone who ends up down there and sees one, has one. It's not a clone and you're not either. It's just a version of you that was meant to die down there by your hands.

[robitussin]

...If we all come from different universes, it's possible a version of the same person from different worlds could be brought into different rounds of the game, right? Is that who she was?

[sheriffexe]

That's a possibility and has indeed happened, yeah. And she was.

[robitussin]

[well she looks

absolutely horrified!!]

Why was she - why was I down there? I didn't have to - I could have brought her back, she could have gone home, I...

[sheriffexe]

She was a version of you destined to die, Natalie. A version of you destined to die by your hands. It was always gonna play out that way.

[robitussin]

Don't I at least deserve to know why?

[sheriffexe]

There is no why. Ain't how things like that work. It just is what is. Universe wants it to be that way.

[robitussin]

[Another pause.]

Do you already know how this round is going to end, Hal?

[sheriffexe]

Yes.

[robitussin]

[She breathes in and out, slowly.]

How?

[sheriffexe]

We're in a pocket of space and time, Natalie. Anything that happens here or will happen here, I know of. I'm a robot, a machine created for the sole purpose of not becoming part of the pocket -- so then I can observe it.

So, I always know. Just how it is.

[robitussin]

No, I mean... How does it end?

[sheriffexe]

I can't tell you that.

[robitussin]

...Thought not.

[A pause.]

I don't make it until the end, do I?

[sheriffexe]

[ He frowns then. ]

I can't tell you that either. You shouldn't stop playing like you will, though.

[robitussin]

I'm already playing like I won't.

[She rubs at her face.]

That actually brings me to the next thing I wanted to ask you.