EP 414 – Story #3

You are Jason. AI Dungeon 3 has just been released. Against your better judgement, you decide to check it out on stream. As you begin the story, chat becomes concerned over a strange man in the background of your video feed. However, when you turn around, you cannot see anyone. Thinking it's a joke, you decide to ignore chat and continue the stream. But their concerns grow more and more urgent.
 You find yourself unable to focus on anything but what they say about this new game that seems like a rehash of old ideas. The words “unbalanced” and “pay-to-win” keep repeating themselves as if some sort of curse is being cast upon you.

You get deep into the grind of this new game, streaming it to capitalize on the hype. You notice during a lapse in action that chat is going crazy about there being someone in the room with you.
 When you finally do catch them, he appears to be human. Chat suggests something was up and you tell him not to worry about it. He responds by saying that his name is Thomas and he's only interested in helping people play games.

You say to your friend, "Hey, Cory, is there somebody behind me?" and Cory replies, "It's just a prank bro."
 You respond, "No shit bro, I know dude, but seriously though, is there somebody here? If so, please don't freak out." He says, "Nah, it's just one of those guys who likes to watch streams all day long."

Thomas whispers into your ear "I've seen all your streams. I'm your number one fan."

"Oh yeah?" You ask. "What have you watched?"
He tells you that he loves how you play so many different types of games, even though you seem to hate most of them.

You ask, "Thomas, do you want me to adopt you? You could share a room with my son, Tony."

He responds, "That would be awesome bro! I'd love that!"
You laugh, thinking that you're getting off track from the game. But then he starts talking about your Twitch channel, which apparently has thousands of followers.

You sleep better than you ever have before and wake up to the smell of fresh coffee and crackling bacon.
 Your stomach rumbles as you sit up in bed and stretch. You hear Cory mutter, “Good morning, sleepyhead," and walk into the kitchen.
Cory looks at you with concern and asks, "Are you okay?
"

You look nervous and ask, "Where's Thomas?"

He says, "He left last night. Said he had some business to take care of. He told me to tell you he'll be back later today."
You feel uneasy, but don't think much of it.

You feel eyes on the back of your head all day. Thomas comes back covered in dirt and smelling of rot.
 You ask him what happened and he says that he found an abandoned house where he could hide out for a few days. He says he needed time away from Twitch to clear his mind. He apologizes for making you worry.

Thomas gives you a big hug and says "You're my favorite daddy, daddy."

You give him a confused look and ask, "Why am I your dad?"
He laughs and says, "Because you're my real dad."
You say, "Well, that's good to know because I don't remember giving birth to you."

Thomas pulls out a photograph of a woman.  You know this woman, you met her year ago.
 She's your wife, Emma.
She died last year.
You cry and Thomas hugs you tight.
Thomas says, "I'm sorry, daddy. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

As you pull back from the hug you notice the blade sticking in your gut.
 It's Thomas' knife.
You scream and fall to the floor.
Cory rushes to your side and holds you as you gasp for air.
"It's okay, daddy," Thomas says.

You reach up the side the stove and grab the handle of the pan with bacon frying in it and smash Thomas in the face with it.

Thomas screams and crumples to the ground.
You yell, "Emma!"
Cory runs to the bedroom door and yells, "Tony! Get down here now!"
You hear a thud on the stairs and Cory says, "We need to get him to the hospital right
 away."
You call, "No! I can't go to the hospital. They'll never let him stay. He's my son!"
Cory yells, "But he killed you, daddy."

You say a one-liner:
 "Well, he tried."
You hear another crash on the stairs. This time Cory is yelling, "Tony! Come downstairs right now!"
You hear a loud bang. Cory shouts, "Tony, get over here!"

You go upstairs and are shocked to find Tony has
 been shot dead.
Cory says, "He got Tony too."
You say, "Shit."
You walk into the living room and see Thomas standing there holding a gun.
He says, "You should have listened to me."

Thomas peels a piece of perfectly cooked bacon off his face, liquid face peeling off with it and eats its. Thomas points the gun at you as you fling the pan at him.

The pan hits him in the face and knocks him backwards onto the couch. The gun goes off and you hear the bullet hit the wall.
You look down and notice that you're bleeding badly.

You don't have enough strength to finish off Thomas, but Cory runs into the room armed with a
 baseball bat.
Cory swings the bat at Thomas and misses. Thomas grabs Cory by the throat and throws him across the room. Cory lands on the floor and rolls towards the kitchen.
Thomas stands up and walks slowly towards Cory.

Cory reaches up and smashes the coffee pot onto Thomas' face and says "fill er up?"

You stand up shakily, still not sure if you're going to live or die.
You walk over to Cory and say, "Thanks for saving me."
Cory says, "Don't mention it.

You lean in for a kiss.

Just as you do, Thomas punches Cory and sends him sprawling to the floor.
Thomas picks up the knife that was sticking out of your gut and says, "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

Thomas grabs your leg and drags you down to the basement and says "Our fun is just starting"

You look around the basement and see that it's completely empty.
You say, "What the fuck?"
Thomas says, "This house used to be a butcher shop. There's a lot of meat stored down here."

On the next episode of "Thomas the Stalk Engine":

Cory says, "You want me to stay?"
Thomas says, "Yes."
Cory says, "Okay then."
Cory turns to leave and you say, "Wait."