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Stanley and the Narrator sit in silence.
The world around them spins into different colors and dots, projected onto every wall from a projector by the door. It really was quite peaceful, he had trusted Narrator and it had paid off. No deaths this time, no countdowns or babies or Minecraft.
Except.
Stanley knew the world around them wasn’t perfect. It was much better than finding out his world was a lie, sure, better than leaving everything behind just for a superficial freedom that proved that, even though the mind control room had been disabled, he couldn't think for himself. But it was all fake, a way for the pair to stop feuding and ignore their purposes. The longer they sat there, the more Stanley realized that he had to move the plot forwards. They couldn't just stay still. Stanley couldn't just stay still. He had to believe that there was an ending where he was free. And he wasn't going to do that by staring at the swirling colors.
So he stands up. The only way for this to work is to block it all out. He ignores the narrator's fist clench as he walks out of the room. The bright, white walls are a stark contrast to the projector room. The narrator’s voice is broken as Stanley walks up the stairs. He’s pleading with Stanley to let them stay, let them be at peace. But Stanley is blocking him out. Up the stairs again and again, until finally, he slips up, letting the narrator’s voice in for the first time since he left the room.
“It looks like you wanted to make a choice after all. Well, this one is yours.”
It hurts. He isn't sure why, the Narrator has been downright cruel to him at some points. He was the very person who trapped Stanley in this hell that he called a video game. But sometimes, he suspected that the Narrator is just as trapped as he was.
Stanley’s body aches, every bone in his body sore. His body screams at him to turn around, go back to the pretty room, and be happy. But Stanley knows that happy isn't the same as freedom. So he finishes his thought. He moves the plot forwards.
And for the first time, as the world around him fades, he feels bad for it.