(set: $heart to 5)
You are a new employee at a company called NewLife. At NewLife, scientific discoveries and biological advancements are made at a facility located away from any major city or town.
The building has 5 floors and a basement and as a new employee, you work on the 3rd floor as an assistant to one of the researchers Dr. Simmons. The first floor where employees check-in and there is a cafeteria too and some storage but no work done. The second floor where you work is the testing floor, the third floor is the research floor, the fourth floor is where the tech department is and the fifth floor is the executive floor.
As an employee you have access to all 5 floors but not the basement. Only those with special clearance are allowed to enter and any information regarding what goes on down there is not available.
Your first week goes well, you don't do much as an assistant outside of fetching items for Dr. Simmons and helping him with paperwork he doesn't want to do. You enter the office for your second week and check-in and head up to the 3rd floor to begin your workday. Dr. Simmons asks you to grab him some test results from the testing department to help him with his research.
[[Arrive at the 2nd floor]]
You arrive at the 2nd floor and notice that nobody is there to greet you. Being a bit confused you walk around the floor but still notice nobody. You decide to get the results yourself and walk over to the file room but then you hear a sudden ding coming from the Testing Lab.
You are curious what that sound was so you decide to go to the testing lab. You arrive there and decide to explore it and you strangely notice how all the equipment is on but no one is there. Seeing a computer on, you decide to go over there and figure out what is happening.
You go through the computer but intially notice nothing out of the ordinary and find no information regarding where the testing team is. The only detail that you find interesting is that the tech department got told last night to not come into the facility today but with no reason why.
Finding no information or reason for the noise you decide to grab the files and head back to Dr. Simmons. You arrive at his room but suddenly he is no longer there too. You start to question what is happening so you look for clues around his office. You look at his computer and you see an email from the founder and leader of NewLife Charles Freeman with this message.
"Our fates have been judged"
With this eery message and no clue about what is going on you have a decision to make
[[Explore the Executive Floor]]
[[Leave because this ain't worth it]]You arrive at the executive floor and again notice everybody is missing. Looking around the floor, you see it is alive like the testing lab but without the people.
You head to the office of Charles Freeman and notice the door is slightly opened. Inside it is a mess and you notice a secret safe was emptied. You go to his computer and try to find some information and you notice some interesting details.
The first detail is an email from one of the basement members Dr. Cryer who asks Charles for a new shipment to be delivered by the end of the week.
The second detail is a picture of Charles and a young girl that looks like his daughter. You were previously unaware of anything regarding his personal life.
The final detail is a note from the IT team telling Charles his ID has been fixed and it's waiting for him on the 4th floor.
With this new information you head to the fourth floor and to no surprise the IT team isn't there as you've already learned. Unlike other floors though, this floor isn't operating at all. The lights are off and no computers are on. You make your way to the IT leads office.
All of a sudden, you get this sudden cold feeling and you feel like something is behind you. You quickly turn around but see nothing and the cold feeling is gone.
Shaken, you decide to hurry up and grab the card and head to the elevator. You scan the keycard to go to the basement
[[enter the basement]]You decide that whatever is going on isn't worth figuring out and you leave the facility for the day. You hear nothing from Dr. Simmons and there is no news about the facility. You decide to go to work the next day but it is swarmed with agents who tell you to stay away from the area. You tell them you are an employee and ask why you have to stay away and the only answer you get is
"This facility and NewLife have been permanently shut down. We suggest you find a new job"
You leave the area and go home to find a new job.
Congrats, you have beat the game. You decided that whatever was going on wasn't worth it but you ultimately end up having no idea what actually happened at the facility and where everybody went.
The EndYou arrive at the basement to realize it is just a mid-sized lab with an office to the left and an entrance on the right for vehicles and trucks. There is a glass cage in the middle of the lab that has been opened.
Then, you hear a squeaking sound and notice a test mouse. At NewLife, test subjects that are not in their controlled environment are deemed hazardous and therefore they must be eliminated. Each test subject has a chip implanted that tracks vitals to record data but there is also a failsafe. You see the device to activate the failsafe on the table to your right.
(link: "Activate the failsafe to kill the mouse")[
(set: $heart to 2)
(goto: "Go to Office")
]
(link: "Ignore the mouse")[
(set: $heart to 5)
(goto: "Go to Office")
]In the office, you go straight to the computer but this time, it is locked. There is a file cabinet on the left and you use the keycard to open it up. There are 2 files titled titled NewLife History and Project Genesis.
The NewLife file reveals that Charles Freeman had a daughter who died 25 years ago due to an unknown disease and this lead to him founding NewLife. While to the public NewLife was a company that did biological research and testing to discover cures, NewLife's true intention was to find a way to bring Charles daughter back. Your work was simply nothing for than a front for the true work in the basement. This allowed Freeman to make massive payments and shipments without anyone asking questions about why.
In the file, it mentions Project Infinity. Shortly after the opening of NewLife, Freeman put together a top secret team of 4 researchers to find a way to bring his daughter back to life. Billions of dollars and 15 years of time were spent but ultimately the project was deemed scientifically impossible and shut down.
You then open the Project Genesis file and learn the truth. Project Genesis was a new direction following the failure of Infinity that seeked to clone Charles' daughter instead of reviving her. The first 8 years of this project led to nothing as the team could not replicate a human and then genetically modify them to be like his daughter.
A breakthrough came two years ago when a researcher suggested a radical idea to use actual humans and then genetically modify them. Freeman found a pregnant woman and offered her a large sum of money to hand over her baby at birth. Freeman took advantage of her struggles financially and she agreed.
Genetic modification was done before birth and the baby was born exactly like Freeman's daughter. The lab became her home and she had been living there for a year. While intially she seemed normal, the researchers quickly noted some things. They noticed how she aged way quicker than normal, after 6 months she was 6 years old. She was also extremely smart and quick to adapt to any situation. You then read about how she also had mental abilities, and the researchers noted she could get into someone's mind and mess with it. The last thing you read is how Freeman was starting to question his work.
You close the file and then see a girl staring right at you.
(if: $heart < 3)[
[[Run]]
]
(else:)[
[[Talk to the girl]]
]
You run away from the girl and the cold feeling returns. She stops you at the elevator and says "You are just like the rest of them"
Your eyes fade to black.
The EndRealizing who the girl is and the tragedy behind her life you ask the girl her name. She says "Rachel" and tells you she has been watching you.
She reveals to you that last night Charles Freeman came down to the basement with his researchers to shut down the project. Freeman told her that he was living a fantasy and that he could never bring his daughter back. He went to activate the failsafe in her head but she got into his mind and stopped him and instead had him open the cage.
Rachel then explains that she has the ability to absorb people physically and mentally into her mind and she considers this a prison. She did this to the researchers and Freeman and then decided to do it to everybody at NewLife based on how good they were. She talks about the testing team and how they mistreated animals, how Dr. Simmons was intially a part of Project Infinity and he secretly did research for Freeman regarding Project Genesis without asking questions, how the executives were all money hungry people who took advantage of people without power and how NewLife was built on a life. She said that she sent the email last night to the IT team since they had no idea what was going on and were just good people.
She goes on to explain that she did not know about how good you were and so she watched you. Your decision to spare the mouse is why she considered you good. You valued the life of something that is perceived as lesser.
She asks you to leave the facility and go on to be good in your life. You ask her what she is going to do and she tells you first destroy this facility and then she isn't sure.
You leave and her final words to you are "Thank You for being good"
The End