Game Over

Deviant pace back and forth in the main tent, the other three leaders watching him nervously. Deviant was the 'don't show emotion and it'll be fine' type. Pacing around while muttering incoherently to himself was totally out of character. Destroyer tried multiple times to get him to talk but it failed every time, Deviant just wouldn't listen. Mourner decided it was a lost cause to get him to snap out of it and left the tent to alert some of the search groups of the added mission.

"Deviant." Destroyer tried again, watching him as he stopped moving finally. The moment was short, as Deviant begun to move again. "Never mind then..."

Mystic rolled his eyes. "Deviant, who the hell is Andy and why the hell is he inside the game?"

Deviant stopped again, and remained still this time, slowly glancing up to meet his gaze. "I brought him here." He whispered softly, sitting on the ground. "He's... I don't know who he is, actually. He was some asshole beta tester that got the game after official testing, but before release somehow, and I... lost my temper and pulled him in."
"You brought a human into a video game. Do you realize how fucking dangerous that is?!" Mystic snapped, startling the two that remained in the tent. Mystic was known to be the more levelheaded of the group, not very easy to irritate. "Us four are the only ones in the game with any sort of consciousness of the real world, doing our job as support characters and you brought a human into the game. What the hell were you thinking?!"

Deviant shrunk back. "I'm sorry, I- I don't know. Okay? I don't know..."
"Well 'I don't know' isn't gonna do shit right now. We need to find that poor kid before he gets himself obliterated." Mystic hissed, picking up a bag of medical aid and leaving. Destroyer sat by Deviant quietly.

"I'm not mad at you, D..." He said quietly.
Deviant glanced at him. "I wouldn't blame you if you were."
"But I'm not." Destroyer stared at him. "Eve would have gotten hurt even if Andy told you, y'know. It's how the game is supposed to play out... She's supposed to be in trouble and you're supposed to save her. You're the hero in this world."
"And?" Deviant rubbed his eyes.
"What's going to happen now that you have to save two people?" He whispered. "We know the different endings of the game, but none of them include two hostages."
"Wait- hostages?!" Deviant's eyes widened. "Two- Is Andy taken hostage?!"

Destroyer smiled a bit. "No.. but- it's only a matter of time." He murmured. "You care about him, don't you. A lot."
Deviant pursed his lips, tensing. "No. Just because we have connections to the real world doesn't mean I have the ability to love anyone not in my program-"
"Oh shut up." Destroyer hit his arm. "Programming, shmogramming. You've already fucked up this universe, don't act like you're gonna let a game plot line stop you. Your person- the real you has a chance, even if the game world you doesn't."

Deviant narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Destroyer, I don't-"
"You better figure your feelings out, lover boy, because if you don't, you're going to end up dead, alone, with Eve, whatever ending this game gives us, and Randy or whatever his name is will be heartbroken." He stood, leaving as well.
"His- His name is Andy!" Deviant corrected, chewing his lip and looking back at his boots. "Andy... Shit, I'm so sorry, kid... Hang in there."

Once again, going against everything in his coding and his programming, he made the decision that Andy was his number one priority. He cared more about Andy, right now, and that was going to make the game a mess, but it's the way it had to be. It was Andy's one life, or one of Eve's many.

Andy, meanwhile, wandered through the desert, growing weary and tired, hungry, thirsty... It was hotter than hell out here, and of course he was wearing all black. He sat down and took the map out. If he was going the right way then he should have been there by now... Where was he? He stood and kept walking, suddenly being stopped, running flat into F.an invisible wall. "Ow.." He rubbed his nose. "Alright then, I'm really far off..." He muttered and turned to leave when he remembered that place Ashley showed him. He felt along the barrier wall, until he felt the out-of-place notch, grabbing it and opening it to reveal an entrance into- well, Andy couldn't remember what it was called. That place where all the off-duty characters went.

Andy's game was still running, so technically the game was on-duty, but... he wasn't a coded in character. He didn't apply to the rules. Or, he thought so. He hesitantly stepped inside, sighing in relief when nothing beeped angrily or set off any alarms or security or some thing like that. Maybe he was okay.

He sat on a bench, watching all the characters, all shapes, colors, and sizes and species, go in and out of different doors. It was cool, kinda, being a hardcore gamer and seeing all these different characters- antagonists and protagonists of all kinds interacting like they were.. friends... Was that what F.E.A.R. was like off-duty? Maybe it depended on the degree of conflict and tension...

"Hey!" A girl caught his attention, stopping in front of him. Andy looked her up and down, finding he didn't quite recognize her- until he saw the 'Game Control' badge she displayed. "You're from F.E.A.R., aren't you?"

Andy swallowed thickly. "Uh- kind of. Yeah."
The girl sighed heavily. "Look. Because your group is still fresh around here, consider this a warning. I'll pretend you didn't ditch your game, okay? But you better be gone when I count to ten." She crossed her arms, staring at him intensely. Andy nodded quickly, scampering back through the door as she began to count.

He rested against the invisible barrier wall to catch his breath, eyes closed. Damn, he almost blew it for everyone else. Wait... Maybe he could shut the game off and find Eve before the Game Control turned it back on! His face broke into a wild grin, settling on his new plan.

Find the in-game controls and turn off the game. But- where would the controls be?

"Excuse me?" He called out to a boy wandering around not too far out. "Hey- kid!" He shouted. The little boy looked up suddenly, staring at him in confusion.

"Are you lost?" The boy said once Andy approached. "Aren't you that Prophet guy? Deviant's been looking for you."
Andy rolled his tongue against the inside of his cheek. He didn't want to be found until he got Eve back. "No. Do you know if there's a way to shut down the game from the inside?"
The little boy's eyes bulged out of his skull, staring at Andy like he had just set himself on fire. "The only way besides the player shutting it down is to-" He hesitated, shrinking back. "The inner controls are hidden in the F.E.A.R. dungeons... B-But no one's supposed to touch them!"
"It's okay, kid, I know what I'm doing. Thanks." He looked up. "That's the place?" He pointed to the building a ways off. The kid nodded, quiet as Andy pat his shoulder and started to run in the direction of the oddly shaped structure in the distance.

This was either the best idea he had, or the dumbest. Which one it was, Andy had no clue, but if it meant Eve's chances of rescue increased, then he'd risk it.