Marco's Heart

[peccatore]

You find yourself in a bright white, circular room. It's nearly empty; too bare, almost clinically so. But the bareness of it means that what is visible here stands out:

A podium in the center, where a familiar figure sits, head buried in his hands. Three paths running from the podium to three different spots near the edges of the room - not corners; circles don't have corners - where three doors leading seemingly nowhere stand with no regard for their complete lack of structural support.

It doesn't take you long to figure out where you are, does it? You only have to decide where to start.

Comments

[too_cleverfox]

You're so hell-bent on your guilt and your penance. I would think that you'd actually try to do something about it.

Or is what you want to have people tell you that you are a horrible person to exist?

[peccatore]

"I did do something about it. That's the problem."

[too_cleverfox]

Show me, then.

[peccatore]

He sighs.

"There's another door," the Father says.
"But it STARTS in this one," the Mother says. "Are you tired, noble young man? How much do you want to know? How much do you want to see?"

[too_cleverfox]

Enough to understand the situation.

[peccatore]

Marco glances at the Parents, as if seeking reassurance. They do not seem to react in any visible way, but this is enough for him - he nods.

"Then take these," he says, handing Nikolai a solid pile of documents, files and scattered notes. "And go to the door guarded by the green-haired man."

[too_cleverfox]

[Nikolai's going to rifle through the documents first, to get an idea of what they are.]

What are these?

[peccatore]

Some of the files appear to contain news articles about mysterious phenomena. Part of them certainly sound supernatural in nature. Others could very well be talking about the weather.

Some of the documents appear to contain drafts for a 5-to-10 year timeline - a mission plan of sorts. They're full of handwritten notes. The year 2016 is circled and underlined on one of them. The word "PUBLIC" is right next to it.

The smaller notes are all handwritten, and quite hard to follow. They appear to be collections of thoughts.

Marco seems reluctant to explain any of then.

[too_cleverfox]

[personal thoughts it is. Going to starts reading those.]

... So where's the exit here?

[peccatore]

The notes are filled with loosely connected logic. The ideas of redemption, of atonement, of divine will keep coming up, but they don't ever seem to coalesce into something coherent. no longer human = fallen == distance > soul, one of them says.

"... Just keep walking," Marco says. "You'll find your way out."

[too_cleverfox]

[he shrugs, giving Marco one final curious look, before he does retreat from the alley and head to who knows where.]

[peccatore]

Thanks, perhaps, to the notes Nikolai holds, he soon finds himself here...