Memory Lock's Guide

"We can go to the next memory now, whatever it is you care to show me," I told Papiya. She nodded and sent us to the next memory with a snap of her fingers.

She stared at a giant wall that appeared in front of us and stood silent.

"So, what are you waiting for?" I asked her.

"That's it. Your path ends here... but the game isn't over. This is what makes Memory Lock so strenuous." Papiya said. She turned back to look at me and when she did, she appeared... different.

"You're about an eighth of the way through Memory Lock. Now, you will experience memories much more terrifying than your own." She told me.

"Nice, so, this whole 'nice girl' thing was just a lie then? Because I'm really not understanding you right now. You have an inconsistent character that's kind of annoying at this point." I told her.

"Perfect. Looks like I'm doing my job. This is Memory Lock, this is how you want to perceive me. This is all in your head! You goddamn idiot. Let's see how you react to other memories from other people, and how they perceive you!" Papiya said while smiling widely.

I knew I shouldn't have trusted her. But... I wonder if that's how I truly perceived her. She seemed like the type of girl to betray her comrades, which is why I didn't like her from the get-go. But geez, if this is how I perceive her, then I'm playing myself within my own head.

Dammit... I hate this world.

So many annoying things. Zeus, Papiya, and probably Yggdrasil as well, all being annoying.

The wall collapsed down from the very top of the clouds and it disappeared into the ground, opening up a portion of the next set of memories.

They were separate rooms that I could see all together, pieced like the craziest house ever. In each room were my friends... so many people, and so many memories we experienced together.

I walked into the room on the far right first. It took around a minute of walking through each and every separate room before I stepped into a strange barrier surrounding the memory. There, Ruby sat on a bed. This bed was near our temporary house within New Olympia, before it was completely destroyed.

"He'll help me find my dad? He's ridiculous. Why would he be able to do that, when I've been trying for so long, yet haven't even gotten a clue yet?" Ruby asked herself.

That's right, this memory was when I learned more about Ruby. Her father had been lost, and I told her I'd help her find him.

"I don't really believe in him. I don't think he could find him. What has he done yet? He's not even that smart... or observant. I change so much and do so much for the group, yet he doesn't care. Why do I even care about him?" Ruby asked herself.

Huh...?

No... Papiya told me. This is how I think they perceive me... not how they actually perceive me, right?

I'll admit, hearing that I'm not worth caring about in Ruby's eyes hurt a little, but I had to be confident here and chalk it up to the way I perceive myself from her perspective.

Wow, this game is really confusing me. I know nothing for sure, and I'm not even sure if I'm able to believe everything Papiya has told me. What if that's how I perceive this game to be?

Blah blah blah, perceive, perceive, perceive! I'm starting to hate that word!

Maybe... maybe I should just take everything as it comes. Maybe there is a deeper meaning to this... maybe Papiya is telling the truth... I have no idea.

But, my brain will not let me just pass this up. I want to understand this game so I can escape... so, what do I know so far?

It seems that every point I think of is supported by an outsider to my memories, or rather, those who have given me these memories. My curiosity of Destiny showed me her fate. And, when I tried to make sense of it by reminding myself that her father was the one to die, the memory showed me how he died as well.

On top of that, it brought me back to Joro killing Daria and Shima. I need to know, why I was shown these memories. Well, because I'm shown whatever Papiya wants me to see that'll make me weaker... that's right.

Papiya said she needed something from me to escape. Well, that's really simple to get when I'm strained out of all of my energy. She's trying to show me memories that will hurt me in order to push me out of this game. I don't blame her, not one bit. In fact, it's actually a really smart strategy...

But I'm smarter.

Let's see, I'm seeing this memory of Ruby because I chose it. The rooms were lined up because I'm feeling conflicted. Whatever memory I chose helped me believe the person to who the memory is attached, and it would weaken my sense of self.

I got it. I understand now.

Just as I thought, this game is designed to make me weak and fear what everybody thinks of me, on top of getting me to offer my memories to Papiya in exchange for escaping.

Now that I know, it won't happen. I will get that ability, and Papiya will lose this game.

I listened to Ruby talk about how I was weak and dumb and stupid for having my character traits, and I could only listen. Sure, it hurts, but she doesn't mean anything bad by it, not to me at least. I want to improve so she doesn't think like that anymore, and I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means changing my entire personality.