Almost Fully Baked, Please Stand By (Patreon)

Cryptic title aside, my goal is to have everything (yes, EVERYTHING) posted by New Year's Eve tomorrow. Should be possible. I'm trying to make it possible, and have spent the last twelve hours in front of my computer today making it possible. My mom has been slipping encouragement cards beneath the door into my office, which has been super sweet and motivating <3

Until tomorrow, however, have an epilogue (spoilers abound for Vengeance route, so be forewarned reading from this point on). The epilogue is coded, but I left in all the variables so that you can see which different factors alter the aftermath (i.e. you get three different options for henchperson, decided in the final chapter). The Vengeance Route also has a secondary epilogue should Button choose to fake their own death.

The non-Vengeance routes have over 20 different epilogues files, just in case you don't want to become an evil politician/lobbyest.

. . . I want to write more but am going to forcibly stop myself and go back to fixing Interpersonal Button. (High Interpersonal skill is basically a cheat in some endings, as it means that you're a very convincing liar and can bypass other requirements in order for people to believe you. However, those absent conditions need to be reflected in dialogue which is something I completely overlooked while writing and am now fixing.)

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VENGEANCE EPILOGUE #1

*if (publicface)

“Senator, it’s time to wake up.”

*elseif (Borisminion)

 *set ${Andy} “Boris”

 “${Name}, it’s time to wake up.”

*elseif (ALminion)

“${Name}, it’s time to wake up.”

*else (Calebminion)

*set ${Andy} “Caleb”

“Wake up, ${Boss}!”

You groan and roll over, folding your pillow around your head like a feather taco. You’d been in the middle of a particularly nice dream and have no desire to return to reality. Why couldn’t you come from a normal family? Have a normal alarm clock that you could smack or throw across the room in order to . . .

Your eyes snap open at the belated realization that the voice bidding you to wake up is doing so out loud. Nor does belong to Nick.

A quick glance over at your nightstand confirms that the intercom is lit green.

*if (Borisminion)

“You have an early brunch with Senator Shelby, as well as a ten am meeting scheduled with the League of Voluntary Ex-Ments,” Boris continues, his voice way too energetic for—you squint at the alarm clock—six am in the morning.

*elseif (ALminion)

“You have an early brunch with that witch Senator Shelby, plus a ten am meeting scheduled with the League of Voluntary Ex-Ments,” ${Andy} continues, ${khis} voice way too energetic for—you squint at the alarm clock—six am in the morning.

*else

“Sorry to bug you, but you have an early brunch with Senator Shelby, plus a ten am meeting with the League of Voluntary Ex-Ments,” Caleb continues, his voice way too energetic for—you squint at the alarm clock—six am in the morning.

You groan.

*fake_choice

#“Does L.O.V.E. have another idea for a fundraiser? Their last attempt with the dolphin did [i]not[/i] go well.”

*if (Borisminion)

Boris echoes your groan. “Don’t remind me. I still have nightmares about all the phone calls that I had to fend from animal rights activists.”

You shudder and bring the blanket up to your chin as if the fabric can protect you from PETA’s wrath.

*elseif (ALminion)

${Andy} snickers. “I dunno. It was kinda funny, even if the animal rights activists were a pain in my ass to deal with.”

You roll your eyes. Only ${Andy} would find joy at something that caused an entire class of first graders to burst into tears.

*else

Caleb sighs sadly. “Those poor creatures.”

Those poor creatures indeed.

#“Can I skip the meal with Shelby? The woman somehow lived to be eighty-two without learning how to moderate her mimosa intake.”

*if (Borisminion)

“I’ve ensured that today’s restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol,” Boris says. “It should be fine.”

“Boris?”

“Yeah, boss?”

“Give yourself a raise.”

Boris’s smugness comes through the intercom. “Already did.”

*elseif (ALminion)

${Andy} snickers. “At least the meal will come with a show.”

“Then you go,” you grumble testily.

“Not the elected official!” ${Andy} says cheerily. “That’s all you, boss.”

You groan and burrow beneath the blanket as if the fabric can protect you from the reality of your job.

*else

“She’s really nice, though!” Caleb says eagerly. His voice drops to a mortified whisper over the com. “Although she keeps asking to see photos of my cat.”

“You have a cat?”

“No,” Caleb confirms. “Do you think I should get one?”

“You want to get a cat because the Senator thinks you have one?”

“Not really,” Caleb says. “I just think it would be kinda cool to have a cat.”

#“You know that I can wake up by myself, right? If this keeps up, I’m taking back my house key.”

*if (Borisminion)

“Remember that paper I had you sign a month ago?” Boris asks.

“You shove a lot of papers of papers in front of me.”

“True,” he agrees easily. “Anyhow, it was a renegotiation of my employee contract. I’m legally obligated to wake you up should you ever be in jeopardy of missing an important meeting.”

“I’m guessing that you also gave yourself a raise?”

“Of course.”

You chuckle. Whatever extra Boris is making you pay him, he’s worth every penny. “I’ll be down in a moment.”

*elseif (ALminion)

${Andy} snickers at the oft-repeated threat. “Whatever you say, boss. Want anything for breakfast?”

Traumatic images of ${Andy}’s last attempt at “breakfast” flash through your mind.

“I’ll just wait for brunch with Shelby,” you reply.

*else

“I’m sorry!” Caleb exclaims. “You asked that I come in early to arrange the documents that you needed for today, and I noticed that you weren’t up yet, and I just—”

You heave a sigh. “It’s fine, Caleb. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Can I make you anything for breakfast?”

Traumatic images of Caleb’s last attempt at “breakfast” flash through your mind.

“I’ll just wait for brunch with Shelby,” you reply.

*if ((ALminion) and (dumbcrush))

#“${Andy}, I already told you: now that we’re dating, I want to be woken up with kisses instead of a to-do list.”

${Andy} laughs. “I’ll make it up to you tonight, but your schedule today is packed. I had to get an early start.”

You heave a sigh. “I’m on my way down.”

“Can I bring you up anything?”

Traumatic images of ${Andy}’s last attempt at a “romantic breakfast in bed” flash through your mind.

“I’ll just wait for brunch with Shelby,” you reply.

*page_break

*if (Calebminion)

“Oh! I almost forgot about that thing you told me to research!” Caleb exclaims over the intercom as you get out of bed. “I found something.”

*elseif (ALminion)

“By the way, remember that thing you told me to research?” ${Andy} adds over the intercom as you get out of bed. “Caleb found something.”

*else

“By the way, remember that thing you told me to research?” Boris adds over the intercom as you get out of bed. “Our people found something.”

Your heartrate quickens at the possibility of finally, after all these years, learning the identity of the Ment that used you to bomb Aeon. The Ment to whom, ironically, you owe your current power and status.

Also payback. You owe them lots and lots of payback.

“Do you have a name?” you ask ${Andy}.

“More like . . . a potential lead,” ${Andy} hedges. “Just as you suspected, most of the victims from the Vancouver bombing had Ment family members, but none had immediate connections who were in the Chicago area back when you were attending Aeon.”

*fake_choice

#“That sounds like a dead end.”

“It was,” ${Andy} confirms, “but Unity recently updated one of their employee files.”

#“There better be a ‘but’ in that sentence, or I’m docking your wages.”

“There is,” ${Andy} confirms. “Unity recently updated one of their employee files.”

#“Could the Ment have just had a freakishly wide brainrange?”

“Maybe they were able to control me despite staying outside city limits,” you suggest.

“I considered as much,” ${Andy} replies, “but found a more likely possibility after Unity updated their employee files.”

#“Get to the point, ${Andy}.”

“Unity recently updated an employee file,” ${Andy} reveals. “There’s a previously overlooked connection.”

#I wait patiently, not wanting to disrupt ${Andy}'s explanation. 

“Unity recently updated an employee file,” ${Andy} reveals. “There’s a previously overlooked connection.”

You freeze with your shirt half over your head.

“The documents should already be in your email,” ${Andy} says. “Let me know if it’s an angle that you want to pursue. Personally, I don’t see how it could be a coincidence.”

(Yes, Vengeance!Button can choose to date Andy/Liz in the future. You already sided with Vengeance, so why not make even more bad decisions? AL may be an unhinged psychopath, but they can be YOUR unhinged psychopath.)