Interview With the Gamemaster

In the first moment after hearing Scott Gallagher’s words, John stood in disbelief. There, sitting before him, was the man who had caused everything he had endured. Both him and his family had been placed into a terrible situation, caused an undue amount of stress, thrown onto a rollercoaster they had never purchased tickets for, and the only man who could be held accountable for all of that was right there. Almost as if he was waiting for him to do something. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to do something. The indecision paralyzed him so much that, instead, he listened to the man’s instructions. He walked around the various desks and precariously laid wires until he found a secondary seat behind Gallagher’s own, which gave him a much better view of what the gamemaster was looking at.

His suspicions were confirmed. The monitors were either showing locations with the names of the players of Gallagher’s game, news reports related to the game, or, most alarmingly of all, camera footage directly from the homes of the players themselves. It was incredibly extensive in a way he hadn’t fully considered and his fear of Gallagher was renewed, covering any hatred and making him want to bolt for the door. He would have if not for the fact that he didn’t know the way back to the mansion. He was effectively trapped with the puppeteer of his pain.

After a moment, Gallagher swiveled around and said, “I’m sure you have many questions for me.” His voice sounded the same as it had a mere day prior. It was hard to believe it had been such a short time ago.

“Just one, really,” John said. “Why me?”

“Yes, I suppose that makes sense,” Gallagher mused. “After all, you’re not particularly rich and my requesting you does seem odd, I’ll give you that. Your crimes are noteworthy, and you certainly were able to figure out what it was I had issue with that you had done, but you certainly aren’t on the same level as some of the others.” He folded his hands together. “So why you indeed?” He let out a chuckle. “You figured it out earlier, actually,” he continued, turning back around and pressing a key on one of his keyboards, revealing something that turned John’s blood cold.

John tried to say something, but his command over the English language failed him in that moment. The monitor showed a feed of his in-laws’ house. That home had never been safe. His family had always been in danger no matter how hard he had tried.

“Yes, I had your family’s house bugged too. You’d be surprised how many connections I have and just how easy it is to set up a small camera in an unassuming corner of someone’s house. You’d be even more surprised at how easy it is to…”

Reinvigorated by anger, John jumped out of his seat and lifted Gallager up by the shirt. “If you do anything to my family, I swear I’ll- “

“You’ll what? Become a corpse in this maze of mine? There are no maps anywhere to be found. The only way you’re ever getting back is if you consult the guide found,” he tapped his temple twice, “right here.”

John released Gallagher and sat down. Gallagher dusted himself off before returning to his own seat.

“I will say, for someone who sits behind a computer all day, you certainly do have a lot of strength when given the right motivation,” Gallagher said. He was trying to get a rise out of him, but John put a lock on his emotions.

“Anyone can be when they’ve been pursued by the public.” John clicked his tongue. “You said I figured you out, but you’re wrong about that.”

“Oh, how is that?”

“I might have an inkling, but I don’t know everything. For instance, I might know that you seem to agree on some of my ideology, but I still don’t know the major reason why you disagree with my methodology.” He let out a breath disguised as a laugh, trying his best to calm down the running heartrate that was throbbing in his ears. “Your journal leaves a lot out and as a result I really only have a half-finished picture. If that.”

With a sigh, Gallagher spoke. “You have me there. In order to answer your question, however, I have to go back. Everything you read was accurate, about my mother and my family. The thing is that I wanted to leave out elements in case it wasn’t you who found it. I just happened to be lucky that my understanding of the human psyche was correct and it was only the person with more curiosity than anyone else who would dare to return to the place where it all started. Twice over, even.”

“So tell me, then,” John said, leaning forward. “Tell me what your journal didn’t.”

“In truth, I do remember a lot more than I let on,” Gallagher began. “For instance, I remember that my mother worked herself nearly to death trying to afford rent. She barely had time to rest, let alone spend time with me, yet she always found a way. That time we had together was scarce yet magical. They are some of the few happy memories I have within my lifetime.”

“You don’t consider yourself happy, even with all of your success?” John asked.

“No, not really,” Gallagher answered before he continued. “The complex we lived in wasn’t owned by Lee Adams’ company at the start, but at some point, he did purchase it. The exact point is something which I genuinely don’t remember. When he did, he made sure to come in and raise rent to extreme prices while yelling at all of us to get out. Once we couldn’t afford the rent anymore, we left. That lowlife proceeded to demolish the complex and sold it to another company so that a mall could be built. From that day forward, I harbored nothing but hatred in my heart towards Lee Adams.” He went silent for a moment after that.

“This makes no sense, Gallagher,” John interrupted. “It contradicts some of what’s in the journal and doesn’t seem like enough to justify your game.”

“Please, call me Scott,” Gallagher replied. “Let me continue with my story, then. When we were homeless, we stayed on the move, living under bridges and whatnot. Even then, my mother still tried her best to provide for me so that I could keep going to school. One day, she got deathly ill and we were too poor to afford treatment. None of the public healthcare programs that we were able to find were willing to pay for her treatment, either. My mother died alone in an alleyway.” There was a hint of quiet sadness in his voice, as if he didn’t want to let on that he missed his mother, even if she had been such an influential figure in his life. “I didn’t want to leave her side when she passed. My hunger got the better of me, but when I returned after getting food, her body was gone.” John noticed that Scott’s hands began to shake ever so slightly. Again, like he was trying to hide some of his grief.

“I’m… so sorry for your loss, Scott,” John said solemnly. Despite himself, he was beginning to feel sorry for the man.

With a sad smile, he replied, “Thank you.” With a breath, he was back to his trademark professionalism, as if the grief had never been there to begin with. He then continued telling his story. “The next day, another well-to-do individual – another person who I can’t remember – stopped by my school, announcing that he was donating a great deal of money to the institution. His speech was incredibly self-aggrandizing, praising himself for how generous and kind he was. While my peers applauded and cheered, I could do nothing but hate. Where was this “generosity” when my mother was sick and dying? Where was it when we were struggling to afford rent?

“I realized in that moment, that these people are nothing but the embodiment of evil and corruption. They are parasites whose only pursuit in life was personal glory and fortune. Everything else in life, if they even had anything else, is secondary to them. I realized that there was something genuinely wrong with a world where people like Adams rule at the top while kind and loving people like my mother can die like nothing. I promised myself that I would become more powerful than any of them and make them pay dearly.”

“It was then that you began to pursue school more seriously, I presume?” John asked.

“Exactly. I was able to take up grants, began my own business, profited off of patents, and so on. I learned every trick they used and was able to use them in my own playbook. It’s why I maintained my air of mystery, because I knew it would get them all to invest over time. When the time came, I made sure that all employees of Gallagher Technologies, including the servants you saw the night of the event, were dismissed and given a full retirement which will leave them off incredibly well. As we speak, I am effectively penniless. All that I own is what you see in the house we’re sitting in now.” Crossing his legs, Scott asked, “Any further questions?”

“One more, I suppose: Aren’t you a hypocrite since some people, like Abel LeMasson, for instance, were doing some genuine good with their wealth?”

“I had considered that as the years went on. I determined instead that the evil outweighed the good. It’s not like every single rich person in the world was a participant and those whom I invited were all those I’d personally chosen based on their crimes. Your friend might be counting up his sins as we speak, in fact. He’s laying in a hospital a few miles away from here. Perhaps, when this is all done, you can give him a visit, and he’ll tell you all about them. Trust me, there are many such cases as his, or need I remind you of Mishka Gomez and his many crimes?”

“No, you don’t,” John replied, gritting his teeth. “Then I’ll ask again: why me?”

“I wanted you to see the ultimate realization of your ideals in a way you were too cowardly to commit to. It’s not your fault; it’s simply the nature of your profession. In a way, I also hoped that someone would survive to document the experience of being a participant in this once-in-a-lifetime experience, even if getting you to do so might have to be done unwillingly.” He held up his wrist and continued, “Finally, I’m not a hypocrite because I also signed myself up for the game. I would be if I didn’t. There was one rule I didn’t reveal last night which you might find interesting: if you, specifically, John Matsumoto, manage to kill me, then the game is over prematurely, and everyone gets their property back. In fact, you also get what little remains of my own fortune, including this house.”

He set a revolver on a desk to the side of them. “If I’m not making myself clear, then let me spell it out for you: I want you to kill me.”