 Our fates was written by Kerr Q. You can find it on the scp wiki and a link in the description. It is under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Like 3.0 license. Sometimes I think back to that one day, that last warm autumn day when we were fishing together. I wonder how the animal saw the world, how the fish understood what was happening to it. When we pulled it out of the water, stared down at it. And it looked back at us. Back then I knew. I didn't have the words, but I knew. The real question was what are we, if not alien gods, cold, uncaring, tearing this animal out of his world, into a realm far past his comprehension, only to feast then on his body and soul. Up until the point the hook had pulled him out, even after the bite, he believed he understood the world, he understood the rules, he knew what was possible, and what wasn't possible. He survived endless amounts of moments, eating, fleeing, he'd done it hundreds of times. He believed that nothing could surprise him anymore, and just when he thought he had it all figured out, then this happens. The world is much, much larger than the river. And there are these powerful beings looking down at him. Not to judge him, not for any greater reason, just as food. I've been waiting ever since I thought that. When's it gonna happen? When will I get pulled out of my river? I can tell you each and every part of that journey from memory. I can tell you where the path winds and bends, where the wind blows, due to a break in the trees, the first corner you turn when you see it miles away, covered in fog, but unmistakable. I felt like I didn't have any agency, just being forced back and forth along that hellish path to damnation. The worst part wasn't the screams, it was the silence, because then I only had myself as company. Me and my thoughts left a bask in eternity while we contemplated my place in hell. And each and every day I told myself that I'd do something, that I'd quit, I'd leave, and I never did. I kept getting paid and I kept going home. And that is the worst part, living with it. It's not the knowledge, yet you're having a hand in the murder of. It's the fact that you can still sleep at night. As I close my eyes and all I can see is a structure of smoke exploding skyward against a red sky. And then the raining down of a thousand souls dancing in the wind. There comes a point where the faces of the people you've wronged become too many to recognize, even in a dream. When they merge, they change and they become all-consuming. No longer recognizable individuals, but an entire consciousness within your thoughts. I was once on a path when it began to snow, and from behind me I heard the laughter of a child. I shrieked her hand out and let a snowflake fall under her hand, melting into nothing with a few seconds. I'm against all the screams and the curses and the cries. The sound of that child's laughter was the most haunting thing I think I've ever known. I'm not going to ask for forgiveness, because I don't want it. God knows I don't deserve it. Whatever's coming for me after I die, it's inevitable. Thank you very much for watching. No, this is not the secret project that I was talking about on Tuesday. That's good timing. I don't know if you guys can try to suppress a cough and get through these lines, or I can just cough and then cut away. The important part is that I'm just a little too under the weather to do the big project that I was working on to actually record for the big project that I'm working on, so instead I did a reading, a fairly short one. This is the last video before the end of the year, so I wanted to say thank you to all of my patrons throughout the year who have really helped keep this channel going. If you'd like to join them, you can go to patreon.com forward slash de-samaritan and pledge at any level, like everybody here on the screen already has. There's a link in the description, and a special thanks to Sinjeriki who has pledged $100, and MC Cashmill who has pledged $50. It's nice to know that I'm not alone out here, and I will see you all again on Tuesday.