A shot rings out. Captain San Calixto watches almost in slow motion as the shotgun’s discharge approaches its target. [player] is hit directly in the chest. They fall to their knees, dead.
[player] has died.
San Calixto lets out a heavy sigh.
And so, it is over. You have chosen … for yourself. I suppose it is only a natural choice, the primitive instinct is to survive by any means. However, we are no longer a primitive species, we are more advanced than that. Or maybe, it’s just that we think too highly of ourselves. We still haven’t outgrown our selfish, greedy, survival-first instinct. A survival of the self, and not of the species. How pitiful.
Zero walks over to [player] and picks up the shotgun.
I should probably just kill you now, but honestly, it wouldn’t do any good. Death to you would be mercy at this point. I suppose I’ll stick to my word and let you go free to claim your prize. A civil war has begun, and you’re to blame. But I suppose from your perspective so long as you win, who cares how much blood is spilt, right? Few are those who heed their moral compass, and even fewer are those who know how to read it. Now hear my words, and hear them well. You will live to reap what you sow. If you do not stand for others, nobody will stand for you in your hour of need. You have chosen the needs of the one over the needs of the many. Betrayal over trust. Selfishness over cooperation. In a zero-sum game, such traits are to be praised, but here’s the twist: life is only as zero-sum as you make it. Think of life not as a zero-sum game, and it is no longer one. Goodbye, [player].
He throws [player] a key and walks off.
[player] unlocks his shackles and leaves. A huge explosion rocks the tunnels shortly afterwards. Their generals have just breached the Wall to launch a surprise attack in declaring civil war. With [player] at the helm and a power vacuum on the other side, victory is only a matter of time. It would take four long years filled with violence, cruelty and bloodshed, but they would eventually come out victorious.
But all actions come with a price…
[30 years later]
[player] stands at the helm of the new Villdur. The citizens are oppressed by a cruel tyrannical regime with no civil liberties or political freedoms. What few elections there are have all been clearly rigged. But now is the time to strike. Neighbouring nations have decided that enough is enough and are staging a coup. They obtained enough inside influence to capture [player] and remove them from office, paving the way for new reforms.
As for [player], they were brought to trial in a modern-day Nuremberg trial. They are charged with crimes against humanity and crimes against peace. Despite the best lawyers, the evidence is insurmountable. TGS-1780’s memoir is the final nail in the coffin as [player] is found guilty on both charges. The sentence is public execution. In a cruel twist of fate, they are executed in the same manner that Zero’s parents were executed: burned and tortured at the stake in front of their own people.
San Calixto is away somewhere, having gone into hiding using his network of international spies to keep himself hidden. But perhaps he is watching under a fake name from somewhere in the shadows, knowing that the deserved end had come about. Yes, [player] had won, but at what cost? If one wins by making everyone else around them lose, are they really a winner? Or are they just the least of the losers? Similarly, just because everyone around you wins, does that mean you are condemned to defeat? Such arguments are only valid on the assumption that life is a zero-sum game, but if one has the perspective that life is not a zero-sum game, then such arguments become null and void. It is on this basis that the truth comes to light: by condemning [dead player] to defeat, they granted themselves a victory, but this victory was but an illusion that would eventually reveal its true nature as a crushing defeat. If the needs of the one are to outweigh the needs of the many, then the needs of every individual one within that many must be insignificant. But if this is the vision of everyone, then what is the truth? How much are the needs of the one really worth? Or maybe … it’s the other way around. Maybe it’s not the needs of the one that must outweigh the needs of the many, but the needs of the many that must outweigh the needs of the one. For if the community, the nation is placed before the self, then everyone can win in the life that is no longer a zero-sum game.
[GENOCIDE END]