Object 1782: The Holder of the Tongue

I woke up on an orange circle on a smooth black field. The only light came from a large white key I was holding - Object 1782 of 2538. I knew only one thing - if the first sentence the Seeker said started with "I have longed...", then I would give them the key. Otherwise, I would curl my tongue. So I patiently waited for a Seeker to arrive, not even moving from where I'd woken up.

The first Seeker I saw failed to obtain the key. When I curled my tongue, they fell to the ground, and the terrifying expression on their dying face plagued my mind long after their corpse vanished from existence.

I walked to the left in a rudimentary escape effort, but without any landmarks to guide me, I always ended up back at the orange circle.

When the next Seeker approached, I resolved to give them the key no matter what they said. This Seeker also failed, but when I tried to give them the key, my tongue curled on its own. Even though I closed my eyes, I still heard their screams of agony.

After that failure, I decided to run from the next Seeker I saw, but when I tried that, my legs didn't move. I closed my eyes, heard the Seeker's incorrect sentence, and curled my tongue.

I didn't know how to speak or write - I only knew how to listen for the words "I have longed" - so I couldn't communicate with the Seekers. Whenever I tried to get rid of the key, it found its way back into my hands in a matter of seconds.

I gave up for around five more Seekers before noticing they all came from the same direction. Hope flooding through me, I started walking toward the Seekers upon seeing them. I still flinched whenever they died, but at least I had a plan to stop it.

After 253 more Seekers had met their end - each death just as horrible as the first - I saw a faint light coming from the ground. I ran toward the light, marveling at the source - a hole large enough for two people to fit through. But when I started descending, a monster with six bulbous eyes materialized, swallowing me whole. It stalled for a moment before crawling up and into my dark prison.

I panicked, unwilling to return after trying to hard to leave, and frantically stabbed the monster's gut with the key. It wasn't working until the monster roared, at which point my tongue curled and the monster began its death throes. Once it finally stopped moving, I squirmed out of its mouth and rushed toward the light at the end of the hole, knocking a Seeker to the ground as I passed them.

I emerged into a cramped hospital hallway. When the staff saw me, they began pushing me back into the hole. Their angry shouts made my tongue curl, and as they writhed on the floor, I ran through the halls until I spied the natural light of a window.

I rammed the key through the window, then tumbled out onto the grass. I dashed away from the wailing alarms into a new life.

For years, I hid in dark corners, listening to people talk until I understood them, but I couldn't make the sounds, and the few humans who spoke to me ended up victims to my curling tongue. I periodically wondered if I should have escaped my dark birthplace, until one glorious day, someone grabbed me by the wrist and said, "I have longed for years to obtain the Objects."

I gladly handed him - none other than the fabled "Legion" - the key, and as he left, my tongue loosened enough to slur, "Thank you!"

Due to converging directly with humans, my speech has since improved and I've learned to read and write. Still, I cannot escape what some Seekers consider my "rightful place". The monsters tell me my savior Legion is a madman who doesn't deserve the Object, implying I should become the Object's servant just so they may obtain its elusive power.

I kill them once they peddle this disgusting argument. I don't care what powers the Object grants as long as it doesn't bind my tongue, and if that means I must murder, so be it.