STORY ARC #4 HERO OF PENDOWN
A Painful Ruse
“I was gifted with…powers”
This is a continuation of Inspecting the Prison Hold, part of a collaborative ‘Choose Your Own’ tale titled The Hero of Pendown. Check out how you can contribute, as well as read other amazing entries here.
You decide not to let slip what you know.
This could be a terrible mistake, but the chance to uncover critical information that could save you, Eshami — and the ship, and even Pendown — is too good to ignore.
“Everything is fine,” you say back. You introduce yourself and Eshami, who seems to be following your lead for now, but she is quite observant and could blow your cover if you don’t act fast.
“And your name is…?”
She smiles broadly, adjusting her jumpsuit’s shoulder strap as she does so. “My name is Koriya,” she admits with a giggle. “I’m the Ark’s communications officer.”
“Is that how we can understand you? Your compatriot whom we’ve already met used some kind of technology to speak to us.” You grip your sword tighter. Was Eshami going to spoil things right here and now?
“Yes, I was gifted with…powers,” Koriya answers with another giggle. “I can understand all languages, and can even read surface thoughts…” She turns away from you and towards Eshami.
“Koriya?” You blurt out suddenly, pulling her attention away from your companion. She turns to regard you curiously.
“Yes, darling?” she asks with seductive eyes.
You feel her glowing eyes boring into your core, trying to stir up feelings that you know you don’t have — to aid her, to protect her, to love her! You can’t risk these thoughts taking control!
NO!
You must keep Koriya focused on you, you repeat to yourself over and over, until it becomes like a mantra in the back of your mind.
“We should look for those escapees,” you say as calmly as you can through gritted teeth. “Would you accompany us? Then we can head up to the safety of the Control Room.”
Eshami raises a curious eyebrow at you, and you hope she understood your cryptic subtext. You tried to pick your words carefully, despite feeling like you’re a hair’s breadth away from losing your mind.
“Which way did they go?” you ask her.
Koriya would likely either lead you on a wild goose chase or into a trap, so you decide it’s best to make it a trap of your choosing.
“I saw them head down here!” she says as she takes hold of your hand, guiding you down a dark hallway.
You steel yourself and grip your sword tighter. “Lead the way then, Koriya…”
She walks just slightly ahead of you down a long corridor for several minutes in silence. You suspect she’s plotting something, but can’t figure out what.
Eventually, she stops at a T-intersection — you could continue left or right. “I guess I've lost them,” Koriya sighs. “Shall we head to the Control Room now?”
What do you do?
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