Chapter Text
Susie stood to their left. Ralsei stood to their right. Like Ralsei’s outfit, the room was very green—almost the exact same shade, too. Strip lights decorated the digital landscape, bringing attention to the keypad in front of Kris.
On the screen above was the phrase “GIRSFELFEBREHBER.” Kris didn’t know what this meant; they had greater worries on their mind. Yet their body moved itself, beginning at the letter “B.” The robotic voice recorded.
That didn’t seem like the right letter. Kris’s soul had messed up. Not a big deal, in the grand scheme of it all. It wasn’t the first time this had happened; the soul has let the Fun Gang fall dangerously low on health before. However, there was another layer in Kris's mind that kept them uncomfortable. The weight of the soul—as heavy as concrete—on Kris’s feet. Kris's legs remained unmoving for a minute too long.
Kris was almost losing themself in contemplation. Then, they were maneuvered to a diagonal tile. “E.” The autopilot continued.
The next was “S.” Hey, the soul seems to have gotten the prompt very wrong now. Kris reasoned that it’s looking for a secret.
Another. “I.” It seemed to know beforehand of secret locations in the dark world, this could be a code for a hidden door.
“R.” Kris hopes the soul isn’t too good at finding secrets; for their own privacy, and others’. Among some reasons that—no, Kris shouldn’t let themselves think that.
“E.” Kris decides it’s time to think about Temmie. They practiced mindfulness strategies for similar purposes before, but thinking about a friend of theirs seems to be the easier distraction.
For a moment, Kris doesn’t consider how long they’ve been still. Without autonomy over their movements, it’s hard for them to be fully present in the moment. Yet, they are staring. Staring for too long at the screen above. Eyes meant to be on the new word. A word of such importance, that Kris cannot turn away from it.
“BESIRE.”
They suppose the word didn’t have to make sense.
Kris grew ever more aware of each passing minute. They pondered what the soul could want. “Besire.” Kris doesn't think it's a word at all. It must just be gibberish.
That's what they tell themself when they squint just a bit, and the “B” almost looks like a “D.” Yet, their brain has already given the screen new meaning.
“DESIRE.”
Kris struggles to think of an alternative possibility. Nothing emerges. Maybe, then, they've found the soul's intended message. A desire.
What could the soul desire? Desire is a strong word. Love comes to mind first; it's most frequently coupled with the term. Yet, that string of thought ends frayed. Violence, could it be? For an entity like the soul, it seems right. With its power, of course it will drive itself mad. Kris remembers being younger and stepping on an ant hill, just to prove they could. Is Kris, in the soul's view, one of those squashed ants?
Kris is forced to stare longer. They feel Ralsei and Susie's stares chip away at the back of their skull. Susie, by all counts, has been more violent than the soul. She has swung at enemies, and ruined at least one cake. Kris, under the soul's control, has done none of that. The worst thing the soul directed them to do was flirt with some enemies earlier. Oh Angel, maybe they were right with the “love” theory.
Kris was not prepared to be the middleman in a soul-to-darkerner romance.
Unwillingly, Kris is still staring at the word. They are grateful for their bangs, because they’d hate for Ralsei and Susie to see the horror in their eyes. Their mind ran hypotheticals, guesses, and reviewed their whole journey up to this point. So lost in thought Kris had become, that they didn't catch themself being piloted around once more. Their feet moved fast, and they found their attention span again when the robotic voice called out “A.”
Then. “G.”
Kris was forced to see the screen again. “SBEAG.”
Maybe it was nonsense, after all. Maybe Kris made something out of nothing.
Then, they were moved again. The same rapid, planned rhythm in their step.
“S.” A moment. “B.” Their legs took them across the room. “E.” “A.” Running much further away now. “F.”
“SBEAF” was added amongst the other ramblings. The screen now read “BESIRESPEAGSPEAF”
The fervor in their body told Kris that this wasn't nonsense. Kris tried squinting again—then they stopped. Did Kris want to know? Did Kris want to understand the soul? They were on opposite teams, but Kris is a curious thing, and found themselves squinting again.
They saw a few words in each jumble. They started with “SBEAF,” since it was more recent.
Was the “B” another “D”? Sdeaf? Gibberish?
They spoke out the word. It’s difficult to get beef out of their head once they do, but Kris knows that’s not the word. Eventually it fades. “SBEAF” permeates their thoughts. It reminds them of spleef. Spleen, maybe? No, the soul could have done the double “E” but chose not to.
Their body holds them still, staring at the screen.
Kris tries the first garble of letters: “SBEAG.” At first it reminds them of the word big, if it were pronounced funny. It's hard for much else to come to their mind. The “G” sort of looks like a “C.” Kris feels the word in their mind, conjures it, rotates it.
“SBEAC” doesn't ring any bells either!
Their time is cut short. Their controller turns them around and exits the room, returns, then begins completing the puzzle.
“G.” The robotic voice calls out. “I.” It's hard for Kris to think amongst the sound. “R.” There has to be — “S.” — something linking the two words. “F.” They just can't think amongst the — “E” – action and the voice. “L.” Kris isn't enjoying this puzzle any more. “R.” If anything, it became annoying. Maybe a bit more annoying than the puzzle interrupting their thoughts. “H.” They wish it was just laid out right in front of them. “E.” It's part of their own fault for keeping their distance, solely metaphorically, from the soul. Just for a moment, a small moment, they wish the soul could speak. If it could speak, it could—
A celebratory sound played. Kris zoned in to see the soul had finished the puzzle using their body. They were now leaving the room.
Speak.
It sounds like “SBEAC,” and if you're generous, like “SBEAF” or “SBEAG.”
Speak — it's the word.
Their controller has them get in some teacups. Kris throws some flare in the action.
Kris can feel themselves letting out a deep exhale. They feel a relieved smile on their face; this stupid puzzle drove them crazy. Ralsei is giving them a look. Kris ignores it.
The two words make sense together. “Desire” and “speak.” The soul wants to speak. It wants two-way communication. This is a big request. There really should be something in it for Kris. On the other hand, they also don't want to go through more of those puzzles again—
Out of the teacup they went.
—So they try something. They look up to the other world, wherever it is. Just a quick glance at their controller.
It stops walking them. It opens their inventory. Items. Strange. The soul hasn't used any items this whole time.
They select the Choco Diamond—one of five Choco Diamonds. (“It's quite small, but some people REALLY like it.”)
Kris is given the luxury of consuming the Choco Diamond. +70HP.
Food, huh? That's what's in it for them?
Say no more.