SPINACHZONE

You've made your way in.

Spinach's mind greets you like a jagged cliff face. The atmosphere is stifling, but just cold enough to feel unnatural. A dilute wash of light squeezes in through the caged door, illuminating things just enough to see clearly.

Look around?

Somebody materializes behind you.

It's commendable that you're here. You managed to circumvent my defenses so cleanly that I barely had time to empty out this cell before you entered.

Were there things in here before, other than me...?

Oh yeah, there are extremely dangerous things in all of these rooms. This one used to hold every possible Craigslist ad that could ruin my life. Had to hurry to cram those all into the cell with all the FDA recalls in the last 10 years.

It always strikes me just how many things land-folk worry about all at once.

This whole debacle isn't personal. I want you to know that. I hold nothing against you, but I don't blame you if you hold anything against me. This is just... It would be somebody's responsibility either way, and I guess, in this case, that somebody had to be me.

What are you talking about? What would have possibly been solved by-

It locks its gaze into yours.

Gareth.

You have an impact on the world, you know?

Well- I mean- o-of course I do, everyone does, how does-

In my contractee's investigation of a recent temporal anomaly, they found the data alarming. When divining the causality of all potential observed futures, many of the worst ones had you as a key player.

I- Is this just an attempt to prevent something that might not even happen? Real extreme-

Listen to me. You can't keep living in this idyll if what comes of it is an attempt to impose it on the world. You can't just expect to fix problems in this world through increasing the control you exert.

I know that, okay?! Maybe my idealism is a little unrealistic for land standards, but I'm not a moron! Why are you going this far to dispose of me when you could just deliver me a cease-and-desist and huck me back into the sea?!

A frigid lurch makes its way up the core of your spine as the words leave your mouth. It comes to rest beneath the base of your skull, and you're all too aware of the flaw in your argument. But you keep talking.

It won't be much of an ordeal to find another fish-society to reintegrate myself with! I'm far more acquainted with them, anyways - all I'll need to do is find another reef! And then, surely, it will be like I've lived there my entire life! I'll-

Gareth. We both know that's not an option.

I'm... going to show you something you know you don't want to see.