"Don't grab my friends you weirdos!" I quickly push the red eyed guy off of Lukas, feeling rage beginning to boil my blood.
As if I'm the spark to a fire, the whole room explodes into fighting. I start to charge at the man, itching to take out my sword but held back by my promise. Ivor cries out, and for a moment I look at him. He has already been pinned.
I turn my head back, and the guy's fist slams right between my eyes. Time crawls around me, people moving as if they're in water. Slowly I feel my feet being lifted from the ground, my body wafting in the air.
My rage increases, and I need to protect my friends from this P.A.M.A. thing. But it has been so long since I've slept, to the point where my survival instincts aren't even kicking in. Despite that there is fighting going all around me and I'm not even on the ground yet, my body feels weighted and my heartbeat slow.
The Adamantine Impervium begins to press into my back, I must be hitting the ground. Dull sensations pulse, the places where I'll get some new bruises to add to the collection. That wave of exhaustion starts to drown all impulses: my injuries, my rage, my will to fight, and even the cries of my friends.
~~~~~~~~
There's something coiled around me, trapping me. I open my eyes and look down. It's pitch black, but I can make out the throbbing tentacle of the Wither Storm. I'm stuck, completely helpless in its grasp.
I look up, not sure what's happening or where I even am. It turns out that I'm hanging above all four of us while recover from the huge amounts of bats that were in the last world. Well, Petra is just standing there shaking from frustration.
I remember this, the moment I realized that Petra is breaking down. I thought it would be Lukas before her, and I hoped that we would be home before it started to happen to anyone.
But I couldn't do it. I know it's my fault that we're not back home yet. I just couldn't bring myself to comfort her when all of her pain is all my fault. I'm such a terrible selfish friend.
The scene blurs for a second before coming back into focus. Now I have to relive Petra tearing into me, experiencing the same torture a second time. I start to fight against the tentacle, crazed to get out and do something instead of just watch this all over again.
"I'm tired of all this useless portal-hopping trying to find our way home! What's behind this portal? Who knows? Let's just plunge right into it anyway!"
I don't want to look, I know what's happening. I'm staying strong, trying to calm Petra down, even though on the inside I know she's absolutely right.
"I know you mean well Jesse, but we aren't exactly any closer to home, are we?"
The tentacle never loosens, and I begin to helplessly cry. I'm stuck, I'm helpless, and I'm weak. I can't get my friends home, I can't even keep my group hopeful. Why did I ever think I could be a leader? Because good luck came my way? Now I'm a failure when my luck turns South.
"We barely avoid dying every portal we go into, it won't be long now until one of us gets hurt!"
I scream, but not at my captor. I'm screaming in agony as Petra's words shred my soul apart stronger than any sword. My best friend doesn't think I can keep my friends safe, she doesn't think I'm strong enough despite everything we've lived through together.
Yet I whole-heartedly agree with her.
"There must be SOMEONE out there who can get us home." Petra begins to walk off, leaving me behind to do things herself.
Someone else, someone better than me to lead us home. I'm not good enough, I was never good enough.
"All of this portal hopping? It's USELESS!" Petra points at a redstone portal. "In this portal, we might find someone smart enough who knows how to get us home."
Useless, my efforts are useless. I can't do anything right. I'm always trapped in my failures. I failed to save Rueben, I failed to lead my friends home. My best efforts , no matter how sincere, always fall short.
"It's either this, or die trying."
I sob pathetically, some hero I am. I let so many people die under my care and chances are that, one by one, all of my friends will fall in these portals.
The scene below still is unfolding, and despite the fact I'm already balling, my eyes refuse to peel away. I see myself reach out, wanting to reconnect with Petra. I want to make her feel better... but I fail. I even made it worse.
"Like you've had ANY idea what you've been doing Jesse!" Petra shoves my hand aside, her face contorted in fury. "You're always calling the shots, but you know no better than any of us!"
Petra finally voiced it. I'm not good enough to do the things I try to do. I'm not strong enough to always keep my friends safe. I'm not smart enough to lead us back home. I'm not a good enough friend to keep everyone happy. I failed, and failed, and failed.
"Don't have anything to say do you!?"
The Jesse down there looks away, but he at least keeps his head up. I've lost the strength to that one small thing. I let myself dangle there, it's hopeless to try and fight. The truth will never change.
I bury my face into my hands, I can't take it anymore. I'm not strong enough to watch. All I wanted was to care for my friends, to be happy with them and keep them safe. But that doesn't seem to matter.
Anything I touch falls apart, I'm not unable to keep anything together from falling into ruin. Sky City and Boom Town got destroyed once I entered, I wasn't in the White Pumpkin's mansion for a day before three people got killed, and we were the ones who stole Ivor's potion against the Wither Storm.
Why do I try to help others when I can't even keep myself together? Why do I think I'm helping when I'm the cause of people's grief in the first place?
"I'm sorry Petra, I got carried away. If you think we should go through that portal, then we'll follow you."
This tentacle doesn't even let me curl up, it forces me to watch this. I admitted it! Why isn't the world happy yet!? I said that I got carried away with my stroke of good luck that I thought were skills! I said that we'll follow Petra now!
The scene begins to shift again, but I don't want it. I don't want to see the disappoint in my friends' eyes or my failures again. I can barely stand to live through it. I want the darkness, the warm darkness that protects you from the bitter light.
So I squeeze my eyes shut, wrapping myself into the darkness. I coil into it, tighter than the tentacle holding me in place. Another great quality about darkness is that it hides how pathetic you are from everyone else.
~~~~~~~~
A jolt shocks my eyes open. The bright light stings as I lift my head. My head, throbbing painfully. Although that's nothing compared to the rips in my soul.
I remember a punch, the red eyed freaky people were fighting us. I quickly stand back up, unsurprisingly, I feel even more exhausted than when I fainted. I'm really starting to hate sleeping.
"Wha- What happened?" I stare at the big black wall in front of us, a crowd below it.
Ivor pats my shoulder. "You went down, hard. One punch and you were out."
One measly punch, that is all it takes. That's so pathetic! I'm even weaker than I thought if I black out after one punch from a citizen! I couldn't even stay awake to protect my friends when they needed me. They needed me, and I failed them.
The black wall starts to glow green a circle in the middle, it's a giant screen. The sides are smoking and quick beeps go off.
"What is... What is that?" Lukas must be astonished by this, his thoughts probably traveling faster than a minecart.
"I have no idea..." Petra sounds in shock, she doesn't usually react that way. But it's understandable now that there is a big green smiley face on the wall.
"You don't suppose it's friendly, do you?" No, nothing about this seems friendly at all. We have to get out of here. We, or at least I, can't handle the red eyed people though.
"I guess it is kinda friendly looking..." How is it that no one else is at least concerned about this thing? A giant face on a screen in the middle of a town where every single creature, expect one, is an emotionless shell of a body.
"...in a massively hugely intimidating sort of way." Oh good, at least Lukas is being realistic.
I stare at the unmoving lights, feeling my heartbeat quicken. "Yeah, I'm guessing NO on the friendly thing. Whatever this is, I think it's the thing behind all this."
"My apologizes for the violent nature of this visit. I am P.A.M.A., greetings." So this is P.A.M.A., a huge robot that controls an entire town. Not good, so far high up on the list of not good.
The face on the screen changes as it speaks, the way a real person's face moves as they talk. "We have much work ahead of us, but maybe it can even be... fun. If you choose to cooperate that is."
I start to breath deeply, I have to keep my fear in check. I'm suppose to be a hero, I can't crumble at the face of a new danger in spite of whatever condition I'm in. I have to assess the situation and keep my everyone safe... hopefully I don't that mess up too.
"So what do you want with me and my friends?" I'll just get to the point, in and out as fast as possible.
"I make everything useful. Efficient. Effective." I sharply inhale, a spike of panic shooting through me. P.A.M.A. doesn't see people as living creatures, just a bunch of tools. We probably don't look any different.
"I am what you might call 'a computer'. A thinking-machine. Designed to make things useful." So a machine that is clearly super smart and has no capacity for emotions. It seems to trust us for now, we might be able to surprise it and get away.
"I will be making YOU useful." This thing also doesn't know subtlety, or maybe it can't lie. I start scanning the area, anything to help with out escape.
"Using redstone chips, I have connected to the people of town and helped them be useful. Coordinated."
The crowd below us looks up at the exact same time. Startled, I whip around. The people near us turns towards us simultaneously, never blinking. This is so wrong, it's unnatural. People aren't suppose to be caged like this.
"I have made their world perfect."
Note to self: avoid getting a redstone chip at all costs.
"Thanks to me, there is no wasted activity. No wasted thought. I am connected to them, and they are connected to me. A beautiful web of productivity and efficiency."
"Whoa, hang on." I just can't keep my mouth shut against this. This goes against every idea of freewill there is! Even nature itself!
"I've seen what you did to this town and it is NOT perfect." I immediately scold myself. I could have worded that a bit more nicely to the supreme controller of everything in this world. Now my friends will probably have to pay for that slip-up.
The face disappears, some sort of loading dots pop onto the screen now. "Processing information..."
Lukas takes a step closer to us. "Processing information?"
Ivor too gets closer, all of us in a huddle now. "It said it's a 'thinking-machine'... thinking must take time?" He looks at me, confused and lost.
An angry face appears before I can answer. "I have consulted my databanks; my list of everyone and everything in this world. My conclusion is that you are not from here."
I pale, the friendly chit-chat is over now. That safe conversation was ruined the moment I opened up my big mouth.
"I would like to ask you some questions, to expand my databanks." A giant question mark pops up. "How did you get here?"
My eyes dart to my friends. Lukas nervously rubs his arm, Petra looks like she wants to bolt, and Ivor is cowering back slightly. Whatever my answer is, it has to sound confident. For their sake.
"I am very excited for the acquisition of new knowledge. Thrilled even."
"Oh, lets not talk about me." Knowledge is power, and I want to keep as much of it away from this thing. "I'd rather hear about you. How did you get here?"
"Answering a question with a question is unhelpful. Diversionary. Rude." Another note to self: this thing is very smart and flattery won't work.
"So far your performance in question-answering has been inadequate. This makes me sad. Now I must use alternative methods to retrieve my new information." My eyes widen, I just made everything worse!
"Jesse!" Someone grabs me, pinning my arms against my own back. Looking around, I'm not the only one. Lukas, Ivor, Petra, and I are now all at the whim to this soulless computer.
Another person comes up and grabs one arm. I try to yank it out, but I'm too weak to break their hold. The other person death-grips my other arm, and I'm now even more helpless.
They start to drag me towards some piston contraption. I plant my heels into the ground and try to pull back. My efforts are pointless though, they're too strong for me to do anything against them.
"Let go of Jesse you monster machine!" At least Petra can still use her voice. Mine has pathetically withered away, too scared to defy P.A.M.A.
"Such an action would be pointless. Useless. Now, he will become useful and my databanks will be immediately filled with his knowledge. This course of action is efficient and practical."
"NO!" I whip my head to Lukas, I've never heard him yell so furiously at anything before.
He's thrashing about, desperate and determined to get out. Same for Petra and Ivor, faces a mix of pure hatred and fear. They can't break their hold, they're stuck. It's my fault they're like this, I angered P.A.M.A.
They hold me place under the pistons, and four towers raise up around the platform. I try everything; going limp, leaning forward, kicking their legs, anything at all. But nothing, they just hold me harder and tighter in place.
"AHH! LET ME GO YOU DERANGED HEAP OF WIRES!" I got my voice back, but it's only the final roar of a dragon before its death.
"Your persistence is an impressive quality. I am excited to study this aspect of you." The four towers lock into positions with a whoosh. The pistons start to clank upwards, and I stare at friends. I don't try to hide it anymore; I let pure terror break all across my face.
"Get out of here! Whatever it takes, get out!" The pistons connect, pressure building up. "Leave me if you have to! Just-"
The thing slams down, and darkness takes control. I can feel my own body slipping away from me, into the cold grasp of that computer. I plea with all my strength into my last thought, that my friends will get out of this and get back home.
"Welcome Jesse. Yay."