Chapter Text
[We will explain first, why this exists]
The narrator was stunned to have a hologram image of Stanley signing on the camera. He was visibly happy; He was smiling from ear to ear. The narrator immediately paused the video right there. He had no vivid memory of Stanley doing any of this, and he was sure his memory would carry something like that. He studied the paused frame. Stanley was in the middle of signing ‘exist’ with his hands. There was nothing off about the man except for his usual display of visible happiness. But then the narrator noticed something else. On the left edge of the hologram screen, he could see someone’s elbow. This alarmed him, so he pressed ‘play’ to see if he can see who this is.
…
It was him. The narrator in the flesh.
Except with some awfully minor, yet obvious changes.
The camera had turned to the side. Stanley presumably wanted to show who else was with him. The narrator on video looked like an almost identical version of himself normally, except for a few key changes. For one, the narrator's colour palette in clothing was pink. Normally the narrator would have brown and yellow-toned business clothing, here the same articles of clothing were now pink in hue. Even the one yellow streak on the narrator’s hair was pink.
Frankly, he wasn’t a big fan of the changes. But it wasn’t even the fact that his attire had changed colour just like that… No, far from it.
He was with Stanley, THAT was the problem.
A sense of unease spiked through the narrator. If these videos truly were real, that not only meant that he had changed into some ridiculous pink-loving lunatic, but Stanley had also seen him like that. It was a mortifying thought. The narrator checked how long the video would go on. 15 minutes, not too long. Stanley would be fine, would he not? But there were 4 more videos to go, and the narrator didn’t check how long those would last. ‘Oh well, Stanley better figure out how to entertain himself,’ thought the narrator. With a hesitant act, the narrator resumed watching the video.
“Hello there, uh, camera.” The narrator on video waved “Stanley, I honestly don’t see the point- “the narrator on video paused after he had spoken. It undoubtedly was he himself right there. The narrator seemed to focus on Stanley signing to him, although it wasn’t visible on camera. With a little ‘Ohh’ and a smile, the narrator on video turned back to talk. Stanley scooted right next to him and leaned his head on the narrator’s shoulder-.
The narrator in the current moment needed to pause immediately. With his jaw hanging open for a moment, he just stared at the hologram screen. A little longer than just a moment passed through, as the narrator was trying to process what is standing right in front of him. He himself, sitting down WITH Stanley, AND Stanley is leaning AGAINST his shoulder. ‘Why, how, and when did this happen?!’ thought the narrator. He felt rather bewildered seeing the unbelievable sight. But there it stood, very real. And as if things couldn’t have gotten more morbid for the narrator, the version of himself on camera… looked back at Stanley with such sappy, flustered-
“No, no no no this is NOT happening right now!” Colour had left his face, replaced by shock, confusion, and a mild frustration. “I’m out, I’m done with this, I’m going to ask Stanley what the hell is this supposed to be and pretend I never saw a thing! What a bunch of rubbish this is, really!” Rambled the narrator, and he closed the video. The narrator needed a moment to collect himself before he would confront Stanley.
…
…
…
…
…
No, he needed to see more.
Morbid curiosity took over, as the narrator couldn’t stop going through every detail in the video in his head. And besides, the very first things that were said (well, not verbally) was ‘We will explain first, why this exists’. So, consulting the current Stanley would probably be less helpful, than the Stanley and the Narrator on video who seemed to be eager to explain things. With a deep sigh, and reassuring mantras in the narrator’s head, he opened up the video, and began playing it from where he left off.
“Okay, so… In case this video ever ends up needing use, I will explain what happened on that day, I got attacked by malware.” The narrators interest immediately picked up even more.
Seeing himself act so sappy and unnaturally cheery was unnatural. The narrator got the uneasy feeling again. He had specifically given himself internal filters to prevent having strong, and distracting emotions such as happiness. All that mattered to him was his game. His beloved parable. Seeing him visibly feel something he had never felt before…The narrator mentally slapped himself for getting slightly envious. Was his filter broken?
“This malware attached right into me, and my very being that consisted of all possible files relating to me directly. When scanning this, I discovered it was called ‘Lovebug.exe’. We… still do not know who might have made this program, but this thing has proved itself to be rather… harmless, actually. While the initial kick to being attacked by it did kind of ‘hurt’ when I woke right back up, analyzing the code and every function, there are only a few things this program even does.”
That slightly lifted some pressure from the narrator. Knowing that the narrator in this video had apparently been coherent enough to study it and got the explanation down, was relieving. However, this carefree attitude he had in this video promised no good.
“For one, it removed my emotional filter- “
“IT BLOODY FUCKING HELL DID WHAT?!” the narrator basically slammed the video shut, to put it in a way that can be visualized. ‘Oh no no no no no no no this is not good, of for god’s- this can’t lead to anything but some absolutely nasty situations. This is dreadful, I set that filter there on purpose! Is this why the me in there looked so awfully happy?! Good grief what has happened?!’
Maybe a bit of an overreaction, but the narrator couldn’t help himself. He was extremely stressed right now. He quickly opened the video right back up and continued watching with digital sweat forming on his forehead.
“-which did result to my emotions running more freely. And for second, this program amplified it to go in a standard, maybe even a bit of a big rate alongside with even outright altering some behavior. This means that all my feelings function just like a normal humans-“The narrator on video turned to look at Stanley who was signing
‘[As if before this you weren’t already a rollercoaster of explosive emotions]’.
The narrator on screen, as well as the one in the current both scoffed at that comment. But unlike the current narrator who did that out of annoyance, the narrator on video had a smile while doing the scoff with a playful attitude. Also an incredibly embarrassing “Stanleyyy” that the current narrator physically lurched backwards from.
“Anyways, moving on- alongside with those, also a more obvious change, the colouring in my character model has been set to go to pink hues. Then there is the fourth change which… well heh, it occurred more as a… consequence to these changes.” The narrator on the video giggled, and looked at Stanley with a certain look in his eyes. Stanley just laughed and shook his head.
The narrator could not put his finger on the emotion the video narrator had, but he already didn’t like how intense it looked. 3 minutes of the video passed, and twelve more to go. The narrator continued watching.
‘[I asked for this camera, so I can record the moments I have with the narrator. The lovebug.exe command only lasts 3 months, and I want to keep videos for myself for after this…fades.]’ Stanley looked rather sad signing that, and the narrator on video put an arm around Stanley to comfort him.
The current narrator got another ick from that.
‘[So while this video is just meant to clarify the existence of any future videos, the next ones… you can take as diary entries off sorts]’ Stanley smiled, and looked back at the narrator with an unusually content face.
The narrator had to pause the video to gather his thoughts. This video camera he had found was most likely the reason the parable was so laggy right now. The folder memory size was quite hefty when he had quickly glanced at it. The narrator knew that if he removed this video camera, there would be two things to happen. 1, the parable would be all fine, but 2… Stanley would not be. Stanley must have stored this camera somewhere for later use, having it disappear… the narrator knew better. He shouldn’t remove this.
Although he wasn’t exactly sure why he even cared.
Before he would resume looking at the 15-minute video, he would create more space in the parable to at least fix the problem before he forgets about it. So, the narrator left the file for a moment to create more storage room.
It took fairly long, not only having to make the room but also making sure everything else in the parable archives worked alongside it. The narrator felt satisfied after a long work and decided to check up on Stanley.
Stanley was bored out of his mind. The things he had in his office no longer entertained him. But as if the narrator had the timing of Dracula, the pompous voice just came back.
“Hello Stanley, you’ve been alone for quite a while, I can see you already miss me so much. But be prepared to be alone for longer, because erh….um… something came up! Yes, there is a big, very, VERY big problem in the parable. And it is very urgent, I need to make a hasty leave right now-!”
Stanley was trying furiously to get the narrators attention, jumping around his room and waving his hands around, but to no avail. The narrator already left. Stanley dragged a hand through his face, frustrated with the situation. Looks like more loneliness for him, and only that for a while.
The narrator hurried back into the game archives, to avoid Stanleys relentless questioning. Now being back here, it took a while, but the narrator managed to locate the camera file again. Going back to look, he now checked the length of the other videos. 5 more videos, each between 30 minutes and even up to 2 hours long. The last video however was even shorter than the 15-minute introduction video, being exactly 4 minutes and 12 seconds. Curiosity was basically eating up the narrator, especially since the file was titled “Goodbye.mp4”.
But all in due time, the narrator figured.
The video now had 10 more minutes to go. The narrator wondered what else past him and Stanley had to say, so he pressed play. The following 10 minutes followed as such:
The narrator looked at Stanley fondly. Stanley finished explaining why the video camera existed. The narrator was visibly almost overwhelmed with new emotions. He could almost cry from the relief of all the pent-up feelings now released from the filters tight grip. He even found himself secretly happy that malware attacked him.
Stanley looked back at the narrator and smiled. This made the narrator have butterflies in his stomach. He smiled back and blushed slightly. He adjusted his now pink-tinted suit, in an attempt to make sure he looked good. All these new emotions and feelings had him incredibly anxious, yet wanting around Stanley. Stanley somehow could see all of this happening in the narrator. Probably a weird quirk about humans, the narrator thought. Then, Stanley turned back to face the camera, and signed the following.
‘[Narrator is probably too embarrassed to admit it, but we… kind of got together?] Stanley had a bit of a perplexed face. He couldn’t properly explain their relationship as it was a little complicated. So, Stanley turned to look at the narrator with a pleading face for help. The narrator swallowed his embarrassment and turned to face the camera with a slightly more red face.
“Ah, um…yes. Like Stanley said, we are in a sort of…relationship? Well, I’d preferably call ourselves ‘lovers’ of some sort, knowing this virus in me affects only for so long. But… If normal me is to not remember these times… me and Stanley… we are very affectionate with each other. Yes, that’s the best way to explain it.”
Stanley had a sickly-sweet smile on his face, as he leaned in to give the narrator a kiss on the cheek-
…
The best way to visualize what just happened for the video to pause at the nearly 8-minute mark, is as following:
The narrator punched the pause button with all of his strength, fell on his own ass, covered his mouth in pure bewilderment and felt his internal filter struggle and horribly fail to keep his emotions in check. He honestly felt like crying, and he didn’t know why. So, the filter just… stopped working and let the poor old fella struggle with the strongest bunch of emotions he’s ever had the displeasure (or pleasure) to experience. He needed a moment. He honestly should’ve expected something like that to happen, but to actually see it from a 3rd person perspective happen, without even having prior knowledge of it happening… It felt very stressful, in an odd way.
But the narrator couldn’t deny he secretly felt giddy. Very giddy, in fact. Maybe it was because the filter just refused to cooperate anymore, but narrator felt so goddamn happy and satisfied seeing that. Which this in turn made him feel mortified. Strong emotions from different extreme ends were pulling him around, and that made the narrator feel like an actual wreck. Yeah, he needed maybe another moment. Or a third, or a tenth.
…
With a shaky hand, the narrator dared to play the play button again.
The narrator closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss with a beaming smile. For the next minute or two, the two simply talked about feeling so relieved their feelings were now out. Stanley even managed to fit a small confession of feeling desperate for touch after the years at the parable, and developing feelings for the narrator. The video cut off into a black for a second a little after 10 minutes.
The video continued with Stanley smiling at the camera, then turning it to look at the narrator rambling about something incoherent in front of him. Stanley sped up his walking and reached for the narrator's hand. The narrator jumped a little, but quickly took Stanleys hand and smiled at him. The narrator leaned off from the camera view, and an audible kiss could be heard. Then, narrator came back on view, and began talking.
“Ahem, so. Right now, me and Stanley are heading down the path of the right door. Very shocking, isn’t it?" Sarcastically remarked the narrator. "I mean, I am down here, and not straight up pushing Stanley to the left door! Honestly, I find that quite- Stanley, put that middle finger down, it’s rude.” The narrator's face went a little exasperated, and the camera shook from Stanley's silent laughing. Then, the narrator smiled a little seeing Stanley laugh, and turned his gaze back to the camera to keep explaining. “Ah, anyways. So, the reason we are heading this way at the moment is because I figured we could use something. You see, the bucket apartment ending has a very fancy place that both of us favour over the regular ending. Yet, getting to that apartment is a hassle, and sometimes we just want to exist together without the story! So, what I did in the game files was that I added the bucket apartment behind a door in the right-door hallway. This way, it is far more accessible, and me and Stanley can live our happy, domestic moments!”
And just as the narrator finished explaining this, they appeared to the door 446, now re-labelled as ‘Home’. The narrator opened the door rather dramatically, to reveal- what a shocker- the bucket apartment. The narrator smiled as Stanley walked in with the camera. Stanley walked over to the kitchen, and the camera picked up the sound of the front door being closed. Stanley turned himself and the camera to face the narrator now. The narrator walked up to the camera, gently took it from Stanleys hands, and placed it on the kitchen counter. Now Stanley was on the view again.
Stanley hugged the narrator from behind, making the older man a little surprised. The narrator leaned against Stanley and turned his head to look at Stanley. Both of them had almost grossly passionate expressions. They shared a kiss, nothing too long but it lasted for a while. The narrator held onto Stanleys hand that was wrapped around him, and Stanley smiled into the kiss. Eventually they separated, and Narrator began talking again.
“Heh, Stanley… Oh, don’t mind us! Now, Stanley is going to use this camera as a sort of diary. For the course of the next 3 months, so that these memories can be forever recorded. You happy, Stanley? I actually complied and gave you something for once!”
Stanley silently chuckled and laughed. They shared another kiss, and eventually, Stanley reached for the camera to end the recording.
…
The narrator was speechless. He just kept staring at the frozen screen now that the video had ended. The narrator for a moment wondered if all of this was just a big bunch of bollocks meant to confuse him, but he found that hardly likely. Especially looking back at how Stanley was behaving. These conflicting feelings had the narrator go down an anxious spiral, he was so confused. This is what supposedly happened. And the thought that moments like those lasted for 3 months at least… The narrator didn’t know if he hated or loved the thought.
He needed another moment of silence.
…
Okay, the moment was over, time to panic again. Thoughts rushed in the narrator’s head, alongside with feelings, fears and questions. Mainly the same bullshit the narrator had already asked himself about 17 times, but since he never got his answers, he just kept asking. And God forbid he was going to ask Stanley. ‘Well, the man won’t really talk anyways, so what use will it be?’ the narrator thought bitterly. Really, Stanley’s character design was a blessing and a curse at times.
The narrator went back into the folder where the rest of the videos stood at. 5 more videos, and the next one stood at an impressive hour and 20 minutes in length. The narrator took a breath, and pressed play.
It opened to footage of the narrator himself Standing in front of a mirror, checking a sweater that was on his body. It was a casual sweater made from wool, but pink in colour and with a simple, subtle heart pattern around the seams of the sweater. (Seeing that, narrator thought back to his internal comment about being a pink-loving lunatic and began agreeing to the thought) The video started off with that, and a simple shy wave from the bugged narrator.
Stanley was holding the camera, waving back at the narrator. He was smiling uncontrollably, seeing his lover go out of his way to test new things such as different clothing and such, he was adorable. Especially in that sweater, he was captivating. Stanley walked closer to the narrator, and placed a kiss on his cheek, which was visible and recorded on the camera. Stanley signed off camera with a quick ‘You okay?’ which the narrator then responded to.
“Oh- uh, yes Stanley, I’m feeling splendid, as of fact. Even with the odd little bug causing me to feel like I have actual butterflies in my stomach, I find this moment quite pleasant. Hm, I wonder who had the idea of making this bug in the first place, and why attack me?”
The narrator looked thoughtful, trying to gain some idea of an understanding on their new situation. It’s not like he minded the predicament he has found himself in, it’s just a tad bit strange. Well, more weird than anything else really, but he doesn’t find himself upset over it. Stanley seemed much less bothered, if at all.
Speaking of said protagonist, he had a wide smile, and his body seemed relaxed. The narrator in their whole time spent together in the parable had very rarely seen that happen, so he was more than delighted to indulge Stanley in his positive feelings.
Stanley saw the narrator shift into a more comfortable stance as well, and he decided he might as well record this moment completely. All for the sake of immortalizing a memory and creating something he could look back to with a fond smile. If things never return this way once the bug disappears.
Stanley walked a bit in the shared apartment and found a surface for the camera to rest against, pointing its lens towards the big, open living room. The narrator watched curiously as he began walking back with an unusually smug smile. The narrator let out a surprised yelp as the man suddenly held the narrator tight, bent them down, and gave the poor man an intense kiss. It was a passionate kiss, that had the narrator grow red in the face. Stanley enjoyed manhandling his lover. After the quick surprise, he helped them both stand back up and picked up the TV remote. After the quick surprise, Stanley helped them both stand back up, and he made his way to the TV remote.
The narrator just stared, wide-eyed like a deer caught in headlights.
“…..”
….
“:.. What was that for, dear?”
Stanley's smugness swelled like a balloon as the narrator asked a bit dumbfounded. He just shot the narrator a narrow-eyed, sly expression as he kept searching for something on TV. Stanley logged into YouTube searched ‘Romantic ambiance music’ and let it play quietly in the background. His lover was going a little red in the face and sending a confused glare at the man on the couch. The room was now filled with ambient jazz, creating a fluttering atmosphere, something you would hear at an expensive diner, something a rich man would take their date to dine at.
Stanley was looking at him with an expecting stare, yet his eyes were a bit soft. The narrator shook his head and tried his best to speak coherently in the middle of his flustered state. “S-Stanley, what is this for…? Is there something you’re planning? Stanley, could you, p-please use your hands and sign for me. “Suddenly, when the music played, Stanley pushed him onto the couch with a playful expression. Tinted with something less smug, but somehow so…. the narrator couldn’t describe it. It was all new, and then-.
Pause.
And a long silence.
The narrator was completely red in the face (metaphorically, since all of this existed within the games code, a space that could be considered ‘non-physical’), and he had to take another breather. He wasn’t dumb, he has read plenty of romance novels before, even the more intimate ones and he had a general idea where that would head over, and he wasn’t quite ready to see that.
He felt embarrassed. Had he really done that with Stanley…? He couldn’t help but smile a bit dumb. Mortified yet curious about his own feelings, the narrator tried to think about anything else. Flying sheep, a motorcycle wheel made out of bananas, anything! He couldn’t bear to acknowledge the butterflies in his current (metaphorical) stomach. And besides, his game is supposed to be PG! He would definitely confront Stanley about this once he was done checking the rest of the videos.
For now, he just swiped the hologramlike screen away and hovered his finger over the third video. His mind was racing over the possibilities of what it could contain, and if it would start just as… suggestively as the last one ended. He hoped not. Though secretly deep inside, he couldn’t help but be curious and entertain the idea. He hoped that at the very least, the next video would contain more information about this virus program, maybe he and Stanley had laid his code out, caught the wretched little thing, and investigated it? He certainly hoped so, but seeing the last video, he was uncertain. The narrator found himself praying that the bugged state of himself was at least clever enough to think to do that.
With a sigh and a hopeful mind, he pressed play.