Changed - Awakening

16. Everything

Special thanks to Delta, Lil_Proto, McHanz and Kranfoel for their continued support of proofreading the chapter! You guys are proof that every writer needs some proofreaders!

The small corridor quietly echoes as you make your way down, aimlessly turning in random directions, only considering the paths that have the least amount of latexes as possible. So far, luck seems to be in your favour as there have been no latexes curious enough to try and confront you, leaving you alone with plenty to think about.

You don't exactly care where you are going right now, wanting to tackle the complex questions and feelings about...well...everything.

Ever since discovering yet another unfortunate memory of your past, you find yourself struggling to find a clear and fair view of the latexes as a whole. Finding out that Trixie was responsible for the assimilation of your forgotten girlfriend has definitely put her in a bad spotlight, yet she had absolutely no control of the situation.

And to make this even more confusing, those...emotions...the very ones that Trixie has shown you, unlike anything you have experienced before. You don't know how, but you know that those feelings are from Ellie. Not only that, but the regret and concern from Trixie herself are strikingly similar to Ellie's.

The strangest part? You know that all of these emotions are real, they just can't be faked in any way possible. What does all of this mean? How should you take this? Never have you thought when waking up from that stasis pod you would be in such a bizarre position like this, but here you stand...torn apart by conflicting viewpoints.

You...maybe you...

...

'Why can't I just make up my mind?' You mentally groan, collapsing onto the wall.

...

Maybe you just need a drink.

'Yeah, a nice glass of juice sounds great right now.' you mentally agree with yourself.

With a new plan in mind, you set out to return to the greenhouse to find that 'juice bar' again, recalling Blue's talent with her drinks. Although...there is one...teeny tiny...

'Where the heck am I?? I didn't wander for THAT long, did I??'

To your misfortune, you have no clue as to where you are right now, lost to the labyrinth of the institute full of potential latexes that are too curious about you, and unfortunately for them, you are not in the mood to deal with their shenanigans right now.

'Alright, I came from...that way...I think?' you guess, taking a turn to try to retrace your steps.

'And after that, I went...did I come through here?'

Unfortunately, your surroundings are too unfamiliar for you to get a sense of where you are right now. Taking many steps before turning a corner, you jump back just in time before you step on an all too familiar sight...

'... Really?'

The brown latex bear trap.

Either this institute is smaller than you think, or it is just that good at tracking you. Then again, Trixie had a knack for finding you no matter where you are in the institute. Glaring at the latex judgingly, you make your way around the trap before walking past it.

After taking a few turns and pushing through some doors, you find that you are nowhere near finding your way out. Looking down to the left, you see a small group of white anthropomorphic wolves patrolling their area.