Insomnium (a WIP story, not yet open for comments)
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Insomnium (a WIP story, not yet open for comments)
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:08:17
That's right, it's finally here! This will likely be my longest story yet once it's finished, however it's not quite finished as of yet as I continue to come up with more ideas and chapters for this thing.⚠️TW: This story contains topics such as extreme violence, murder, innuendos, crude humor, religious extremism, controlling behavior, implied parental death, abuse, neglect, and body horror.⚠️ |
 [FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:10:22
Prelude to Insomnium: The Tragedy of Sentry SolSomnium and I were sitting in Somnium's realm when a portal that looked as if it is a tear in the fabric of reality itself suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Four figures with glowing eyes can be seen. Oddly, there seemed to be some rather surly, noble sounding music that seemed to emit from the portal as the figures exited. They were all wearing intricate robes. I quickly had to dodge a tail-like appendage which looked to have a concerningly organic looking syringe-like shape at its tip. The tail belongs to a figure in a white robe. The figure removed their hood, revealing a face that almost looked like an old-school plague doctor's mask. "Drat, I missed." The being says in a feminine voice. A figure in a gray robe back hands the one in the white robe and scolds her. "Now, now, Pestilentia, as tempting as it is, we cannot kill this human… yet." Said the figure in a gruff yet calm voice. This figure looked like some sort of avian grim reaper type being, its skeletal face resembling that of a raven's skull. Pestilentia scoffed at the reaper. "You never let me have any fun, Mors." She hissed. A figure in a red robe suddenly swoops down at Sol, it's talons outstretched and ready to kill her. Mors' eyes suddenly began to glow and a strange emblem appeared in the air and pulled the figure in the red robe away from me before it could strike. "Calm yourself, Interitus, now is not the time." Mors scolds the figure in the red robe. Interitus is not pleased with this and snarled as she whipped off her robe, revealing a being resembling a griffin underneath. "Hey! Why are you protecting this puny creature? You're literally death… why can't you let me smite this vermin for once?" Interitus growled in a deep yet somewhat feminine voice. A figure in a black robe skulked toward me, seemingly laughing slightly as it unfolded its wings and revealed its claws. The creature beneath the hood wasn't as avian as its cohorts, and in fact sort of resembled a hyena-like beast with boar tusks. Its wings resembled those of a vulture and when it opened its mouth, it became apparent that it also had vampiric teeth alongside its tusks. "Ah… a living breathing human. Can't wait to kill it… and take its life force for myself!" it exclaimed, a glob of saliva hitting the ground beneath it as it drooled. "Oh for crying out loud, Fames… I get that you're literally the embodiment of hunger, but this human's blood is not on the menu. It serves a higher purpose." Mors said sternly. Fames suddenly snapped out of it. "Oh… my bad." Fames replied. Mors then turned to look at Somnium. "Child, I have a bone to pick with you…" Mors said. Somnium seemed concerned. "What is it, father?" The slightly smaller deity replied. "Don't play dumb with me… you know what you did. I am very disappointed in you… as you are my spawn, you should know that bringing mortals back from the dead has dire consequences." Mors explained. Somnium looked at me in concern before turning away when Mors looked down at me and shuddered slightly. "You didn't tell her… did you?" Mors said softly. I looked up in fear. "Tell me what?" I asked. Somnium sighed and shook his head. "I've resurrected you too many times outside of your home dimension… meaning you are not fully human anymore. Think about it this way, how else would you have survived all of those usually deadly stunts you've pulled off?" Somnium explained solemnly. I looked at my own reflection in fear, I still looked human, but something felt wrong. To my horror a glowing sigil appeared on the mirror, a sigil resembling the sun with an eye with an infinity sign-shaped pupil in the center. I touched the mirror and the sigil's glow became more intense. Suddenly the mirror shattered into pieces and I screamed and fell to my knees. "What did you do to me!?" I screamed at Somnium. "Sol… I'm so sorry…" Somnium replied as he looked away in shame. The moment my gaze shattered the mirror, my fate was sealed. The Council looked upon me in intrigue as Somnium looked upon me out of fear for the future. "Well, Somnium… I must say, you messing up so horribly has actually worked to our advantage; you're not completely useless for once." Interitus said. Pestilentia loomed over me, if it weren't for the mask she was wearing I might've actually known that she was smiling… and not kindly. Her syringe like tail twitched slightly as she and Interitus exchanged glances and nodded to one another. "If we were to cull some of this specimen's memories… she might actually be of use to us as a sentry." Pestilentia replied. Somnium angrily screeched and immediately swooped down to protect me from his kin. "No! We don't need anymore sentries, just let her live her life normally." Somnium replied, shielding me with one of his wings. "Oh for crying out loud, Somnium. She will never be able to live her life as a human… she'll be seen as an outcast… a freak. Who knows how humanity would react if she was shown to have such abilities?" Mors scolded. I couldn't help but remember the plight of the shadowstalkers, who were humans at one point much like I was before being cursed with these strange abilities and Somnium knew this too. "Fine… I'll send her to be trained as a sentry on one condition. Do not cull her memories!" Somnium commanded. Interitus snarled at him. "What gives you the authority to tell us what to do, runt?" She growled. Somnium answered her by using telekinesis to throw her into the nearest wall. "I'd advise watching your tongue if you want this deal to go through." Somnium said calmly as Interitus glared at him. Mors sighed in response. "Very well then… as leader of the Council of Four, I will make sure that these underlings of mine keep their experimentation to a minimum. I do find it odd how you are attached to something as insignificant as a human being." Mors said. To be called insignificant wasn't even the worst thing that would happen to me as it turns out. Pestilentia used her apparently multipurpose injector tail to tranquilize me like I was some sort of wild animal. Knowing Pestilentia, she had probably injected me with some sort of mutagen or disease as well, but I wasn't feeling much different yet, honestly. When I woke up from my involuntary nap, I was in a place that was kind of cold. As my vision focused, I found myself to be in some kind of strange facility, with seemingly normal people walking around. The weirdest thing was that all of them looked to be wearing uniforms of some sort. I looked at a nearby mirror and saw that I was wearing a uniform as well, and some kind of choker around my neck. I attempted to remove it, but received a small shock that was just unbearable enough to stop me from doing what I was doing. As I sighed, one of my eyes glowed and that dreaded eye of eternity symbol appeared in the mirror as it shattered into pieces. "Ugh… dammit." I said to myself as the glass fell to the ground. "Heh… I remember when I used to have that problem. But hey, after a bit of training, I'm sure you'll be able to control it!" A voice said from behind, or perhaps above, me. When I turned around I saw a being swoop down from the ceiling. It looked like a combination between an overseer and a human as it had wings. Though the wings were more bat like than avian for the most part, which made sense as humans generally don't have feathers. As expected, the being wore a militaristic uniform. "Uh… hi?" I said, still taken aback by the fact that this guy literally had wings. I was even more shocked when he suddenly folded them, and they soon retracted like the claws of a cat. "So… what's your designation? I haven't seen you around before." He asked. "My… designation?" I responded in confusion. "Your designation. Every sentry has a designation, and only sentries come to the land of the artificial sun." He explained. I was still somewhat confused. We're sentient beings, so why would we be labeled with something like a serial designation? My thoughts were interrupted by another being swooping in. "It says her designation on her collar… you idiot. Besides, why are you interacting with a Null rank sentry? She hasn't even gone through the basic training program yet! God… I can't believe we're the same species." The other being said in disappointment. "And what species is that exactly?" I asked the woman in uniform. "*Homo coelestes*,an improved form of humanity that was modified by the powers of the ancient overseers. Unlike puny *Homo sapiens*, who can't even fly without the aid of machinery." She said rudely. This specific sentry was probably the least welcoming person there at the time. "Anyway… you're apparently part of our training group. Try not to screw anything up, if possible, as the training session begins now." She said as she grabbed a hold of my hand and took flight, making sure to crash me through as many solid objects and structures as possible. By the time we got to the training grounds, I was already battered and bruised, but grateful for my newfound resilience. Had I not been subject to a case of seemingly spontaneous evolution, I'd probably be dead at this point. A battle-scarred Master Sentry appeared in front of my team to begin the training session. This session at first reminded me a lot of those military tests which I had gone through back in my schooldays. Having experience with such obstacles, I breezed through most of the course. Then came the flying segment… I had not yet developed wings like those of my cohorts as it turns out. "Specimen X-1200_alpha, could you please encourage Specimen S-01_null to take flight?" The master sentry requested. X-1200_alpha grinned at me deviously. "Affirmative, sir." She said as she eagerly pushed me off the platform. Instead of flying, I began falling, as I did not have wings. X-1200_alpha just stared at me and sighed. As I was falling, I saw the Master Sentry speaking into a walkie talkie. "Hey… you know that new sentry, Specimen S-01_null? I'm pretty sure she's defective. Why? Well she doesn't have wings… no not at all." He said as if he was only mildly inconvenienced. Just then the other sentry on my team dived towards me and pulled me back on the platform before I collided with the ground. The Master Sentry just watched and then spoke into his walkie talkie again. "Nevermind… it appears Specimen Y-2100_beta decided to disrupt the lesson to save the defective one." He said, sounding slightly disappointed for some reason. "Y… why the hell did you save that defective thing!?" X-1200_alpha snarled. Y suddenly looked enraged. "X… why did you push her!? We're sentries; we're supposed to work as a team!" Y yelled. "Because I thought she could fly, like us!" X replied, right before suddenly displaying aggression towards Y. The two sentries were suddenly engaged in vicious aerial combat with one another, blood fell like raindrops from the sky as the two bit and clawed at each other like birds of prey. Unfortunately, X came out on top and I watched as Y crashed into the ground, a bloody bite mark on his neck. I was almost certain that he was dead until a strange glow came from his wounds as they seemed to heal spontaneously. Y stood back up and dusted himself off. "Seriously, X? You did it again, didn't you!" He spat. X landed nearby, Y's blood still staining her uniform. I watched in disgust as she licked the blood off her claws as she sheathed them. "She would have been fine, stupid. Considering all the stuff I put her through on the way here, she's definitely got our regenerative capabilities." X replied. I stared at X in disgust and horror. "You are one messed up person, X…" I said. She just smiled and laughed at me. "Oh, believe me, I'm fully aware of that, but truthfully it's for your own good. Can't have a weakling ruining our important missions, you know?" She replied. I'm not sure if she was being "helpful" or simply being condescending at this point. "I must admit though… the way you tackled the terrestrial part of the course was very impressive for someone who's just a Null rank sentry. I might keep you alive… for now." She explained with a smile. I couldn't help but shudder at her words slightly. "So… I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you haven't gone through the metamorphic process yet… that's alright though!" Y said to me as he pat my back. "What do you mean by "metamorphic process", exactly?" I asked. The two sentries exchanged awkward glances at this question. "Well… you come from a world that has creatures such as moths or butterflies, right?" X asked me. "Why, yes." I replied. Y took a deep breath before speaking. "You know how they start out as caterpillars and then they go into a cocoon where they transform into a butterfly? That's essentially how us sentries work, in a sense." Y explained enthusiastically. Just then a 3rd sentry flew in and landed near us. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Wait… we have a new fourth teammate now? That's weird… what happened to Specimen L-0534_omega?" The sentry asked. X glared at him, in annoyance. "The loser defected, remember? Something about being vegan or a pacifist and not wanting to kill "innocent", sentient, living creatures or something. Even said things like "Oh my, god, X! Those were unarmed civilians that you just murdered!" or "Holy shit! You totally just ripped that guy's heart out of his chest with your bare hands! There's blood everywhere, oh my god, I'm gonna be sick!" And other nonsense like that." X replied. I grimaced as I visualized the stuff that X was talking about. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie. "Anyway, all of this training has worked up an appetite… how about we hit the mess hall?" X suggested. "Heh! Race you guys there!" Y exclaimed with enthusiasm as he took flight. I of course simply had to start running after him due to being flightless. I was practically out of breath by the time I got there. It borderline looked like a high school cafeteria out of one of those cliche high school movies that I was certain that I used to be obsessed with as a child until I actually got to experience the reality of high school myself and was genuinely disappointed in myself for thinking that it would be like the movies. X and Y waved at me from a table where they had left a seat open for me. "So… what's on the menu today?" I asked. "One of my favorite dishes…" X said as she took the cover off of a dish. On the platter was steak and it was completely raw; it was completely covered in blood as well. I looked over to Y and saw he had a raw, bloody steak as well. In fact, all of the sentries were eating raw, bloody meat. "Uhh… you sure this is edible?" I asked, poking the raw steak in front of me with a knife. I watched in horror as Y took a bite out of the bloody, raw steak with little effort. "Positive! It's delicious, and they even marinated it with the blood of what it came from!" Y said, his eyes seemingly glowing when he mentioned the bloody marinade. "Uhh… why do you guys only eat raw meat?" I asked, sweating nervously as I felt as if I was dining with demons of some sort. "Well, according to the overseers, us sentries kinda rely on blood and raw meat to survive. They didn't really explain why, come to think of it. It does aid with our combat skills though!" X explained. I continued to stare at my dinner in shock. "Come on, S, you gotta eat something! Can't have you starving yourself to death. You're a sentry now, so you gotta eat what a sentry eats. You'll be fine!" Y said as if he was attempting to be encouraging. I was hungry, so I reluctantly took a bite out of the steak as it was the only thing around. I couldn't help but be disgusted by the fact that I ate raw meat. After we ate, we were instructed to go to our designated bunk houses. As it turns out, I was roomed with X and Y and was somewhat unnerved by the fact that X seemed to have a habit of sleeping upside down on the ceiling like a bat, her wings acting as a blanket as she had them folded around her. It was like being a human in a room full of vampires, at any moment I would have expected to find one of my roommates latched onto me, drinking my blood. I couldn't sleep that night as I was on high alert, so I decided to go for a walk and hope that I didn't wake anyone. I silently exited the door and closed it gently behind me. I roamed through the darkness, somehow being able to see perfectly, but was stopped in my tracks when I heard voices. I ducked behind a large pile of rubble to avoid being seen and began listening. "Greetings, Interitus. I come bearing news of more rogue sentries. Have you and Pestilentia thought up a solution to the issue yet?" I heard the voice of the Master Sentry say in a serious tone. "Why yes… we call it operation "M.U.R,D.E.R" It stands for Manipulative uniformity reprogramming to definitively eliminate reasoning. It's a bit of a biomechanical implant which Pestilentia and I whipped up. She is testing it on a random sample of sentries to determine its effectiveness as we speak." I heard Interitus explain to the old sentry. I was mortified by this prospect. "Which ones specifically?" The sentry asked. "Specimens X-1200_alpha and Y-2100_beta, just to name a few. We're hoping that it will disable their ability to feel empathy and passivity, that way they will be less inclined to be merciful." Interitus explained with sinister pride. "But aren't you worried that it may cause them to turn on one of their allies, hence hindering the success of the mission?" The old sentry asked nervously. Interitus laughed at this question. "So what? We could always just create another one if the regeneration process fails. Sentries are merely military drones compared to us overseers… no offense." Interitus replied insultingly. I wanted to warn X and Y about operation M.U.R.D.E.R, but as I saw Pestilentia land near Interitus, I knew that I was too late. "I'm telling you… there are so many ways this could go wrong. Why compared to beings as ancient as the overseers, those young sentries are alike to children, even if they are legally adults on their original worlds." The old sentry explained nervously. "Oh don't tell me you're going rogue like Specimen L-0534_omega did too, now!" Pestilentia snapped as she swung her syringe-tail at the old sentry. "No, of course not… I am simply questioning as to whether this is the best solution or not. Is our purpose not to keep the multiverse in the balance?" The sentry queried. "I grow tired of your defiance, Specimen A-0001_sigma… Pestilentia, inject this fool would you?" Interitus ordered with the same energy as a drill sergeant instructing a recruit. "I thought you'd never ask." Pestilentia replied sadistically. I peeked out from the pile of rubble and watched in horror as Pestilentia stabbed the sentry in the heart with her tail and flung him into a wall as she released her syringe. A-0001_sigma slumped to the ground and looked as if he had been aged several years. A husk of the man he once was. "And yet… I do not feel any remorse for my actions." Pestilentia said with a psychotic laugh. The horror which I had witnessed unfortunately caused my powers to act up and a vase that was not too far from Interitus and Pestilentia seemingly exploded into fragments. The two overseers turned their attention to the destroyed vase. "Oh great… it appears that there's a loose sentry running about." Interitus complained. Pestilentia laughed at this complaint. "Well… guess that means we'll just have to neutralize it once we find it." She replied. Without thinking any further, I rushed back to my designated bunk house. I entered quietly just in case X, Y, and the other one, Z, I believe, still happened to be sleeping even after they had been modified by Pestilentia. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:11:30 (edited)
Prelude continuedWhile I was certain of X and Y's modification, I didn't know much about Z. In fact, I barely even knew the guy as he had never made much of an effort to interact with me unlike X and Y who had quickly acquainted themselves with me, much to my surprise. Sure enough, they were still asleep, although their positions had changed since I left. I figured it must have been Pestilentia's doing. I crawled back into my designated sleeping spot, the top bunk of a rather rugged looking bunk bed, and attempted to sleep. Unfortunately, I seemed to be struck with a few hours of insomnia by what I had witnessed as well as overheard. Luckily, after aimlessly staring into the darkness, I somehow managed to finally reach unconsciousness. No dreams were had that night. The next day, I was woken up by a bucket of cold water splashing on my face. "C'mon, S, we're gonna be late for today's training session! This time no flying is involved and Interitus and Pestilentia will be instructing us, as the master sentry apparently had a bit of a freak accident last night." Y said enthusiastically. "Ugh… where did you even get a bucket of water anyway?" I said, still feeling kind of drained from last night's misadventure. I heard X chuckle slightly. "That creepy old well that someone supposedly fell into and died in of course. Anyway, enough with the chitchat, I think it's time we went to train." She said calmly. I really didn't notice much of a difference in the personalities of my friends from how they were yesterday, just yet. When we finally got to the training area, things looked as if they had been rearranged, revealing the coliseum type structure it had. A door opened and Interitus and Pestilentia emerged from it. "Alright… so today we're going to be working on your target practice and hunting abilities." Interitus announced as she looked over us. Then pestilentia began to speak. "However, we're going to be putting a new spin on this session when it comes to what's happening." She said as she began making her way towards yet another door. "Now… we have an extra exciting opportunity today when it comes to who… I mean what the target is." Interitus explained. When the door opened, at first all I saw was complete darkness, then I saw a pair of eyes staring from within. "Now, I know at least 3 of you remember Specimen L-0534_omega and he committed an act of treason against this colony when he deliberately let go of an enemy in the middle of a battle." Pestilentia said as she used her prehensile syringe tail to yank the sentry out of the darkness. L stared at us all with a look of desperation and confusion on his face, as he was restrained by some sort of mechanism. He was extremely pale and, truthfully, looked kind of emaciated judging by how sunken in his features were. "This guy is the target… he's been starved so as you can imagine he's pretty darn desperate for something to eat… and you guys just so happen to be made up of the flesh and blood he probably craves due to the condition he's in. Now… here's the deal; this is a kill or be killed situation for you guys, so basically you have to kill this rogue sentry to complete this training session." Interitus explained. Pestilentia pressed a button on a remote control and L was released of his restraints. However rather than charging towards us, he began running away and screaming in terror as he desperately clawed at the sides of the arena and proceeded to have a massive panic attack. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" He shrieked in terror, tears streaming from his eyes. "Guess I didn't let him starve long enough… this definitely is not going as planned on his part." Interitus said in frustration and disappointment. Much to my horror, X and Y seemed to be acting abnormally. When they revealed their wings, it looked as if their wings had mutated slightly and now had these blade-like growths at the end of each membrane. Their eyes were completely black except for where their irises and pupils had been. They resembled glowing orbs with some sort of strange symbol within them. Z's eyes still looked normal and he seemed to be just as horrified as I was. X and Y rushed towards L, ready to viciously attack when Z suddenly attempted to shoo them away. "Have you no empathy!? Just look at the condition they're in, they don't need to be murdered, they need to be helped!" Z cried out. X shoved him out of the way as she continued to skulk towards L who was on the ground breathing heavily. Right as she was about to attack him, Z rushed towards her and threw her into the air after violently slicing her face with one of his claws. She let out an enraged, but pained scream in response. This seemed to agitate Y who snarled and tackled Z, barraging him with wildly aggressive attacks before sinking his teeth into Z's throat and tearing it open. X took the opportunity to finish off L and I watched in horror as she seemed to be dismembering him with her bare hands while laughing maniacally. Blood and gore was flying everywhere as X and Y tore apart the bodies of their former teammates. "Why are you just standing there, S, don't you want to join us in on the fun?" X said with a sinister smile before creepily giggling. My eyes darted around wildly. "You're seriously missing out on something great, S, come on!" Y exclaimed, Z's blood still dripping from his mouth as he smiled at me. My knees were shaking and my heart was pounding as I broke into a cold sweat, yet I felt as though I was still somehow overheating. Without thinking, I leaped onto the wall, digging my newly discovered claws into it and beginning to try to climb out of the arena. That was when I saw Pestilentia press a button on another remote and alarms began starting to blare. The sound was almost unbearable due to its sheer volume and abundance. Angry red ambient lighting manifested itself as well. An automated voice suddenly sounded as the alarms quieted slightly. "Attention all sentries, Sentry Designation S-01_null has gone rogue, if you see this sentry… neutralize it immediately. I repeat: Sentry Designation S-01_null has gone rogue, if you see this sentry… neutralize it immediately. Thank you for your cooperation and happy hunting." The voice announced. Everything was a vicious shade of red and I could hear the many platoons of sentries searching for me. I was sweating profusely now, and was struggling to breathe more and more as I continued to overheat. I had no idea what was happening to my body, but my back, in the area just below my shoulder blades, was starting to ache and burn. I was practically on the verge of death when I found myself in an area of the facility called the "interdimensional gate room" There was a sort of portal like structure in the middle of it and as I crawled my way up the portal's steps, not being able to walk due to how much pain I was in, I felt myself becoming more disoriented. "I just want to go home…" I said right before collapsing by the interdimensional portal structure as everything went black. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:14:54 (edited)
InsomniumPrologue(Rusty's POV)My name is Russell Morgan, although my friends… okay I don't have many friends but still… most people call me "Rusty." I always thought my life was weird, honestly, because my family lived in their place of business. Now, that might not seem too odd, but believe me it is; especially considering my family's business is the funeral home business. We lived in this really fancy building that looked like a mansion of sorts… but, it was a funeral home. Sure, the living quarters and funeral parlor parts of the building were separated by walls and such, but it still wasn't all that pleasant, honestly. My childhood, well, it kinda sucked if we're going to be real here. The rumors of my family being made up of zombies, vampires, and ghouls plagued me in the schoolyard. Now, obviously those rumors are not true, but at the time I only said they were false because I was certain there was no such thing as vampires or zombies… well at that time at least. My whole demeanor changed when my parents made me take a job at the local coroner's office and morgue. You see, strange things began to happen, and when I say strange I mean strange. Honestly it was like something out of a sci-fi or horror movie. Just about every night, a dead body was reported, which wasn't really all too surprising as horrible as that may sound. Of course, something was really odd about these bodies. When we took them out of the body bags, they almost looked like mummies, even though the bodies weren't all that old. It was like something sucked the life out of them. It was unnatural. Even weirder was the discovery at the ruins of a burnt down prison of several of these mummies along with some evidence of ritualistic activity. "Now, I've seen cases which involve human sacrifice before, but this doesn't look like any of those cases. This symbol doesn't look a thing like some of the others." I overheard one of the investigators on site say to another. I decided to get a closer look at this symbol while the investigators were busy recording their findings for the case's files, and what I found was most peculiar. When they said this symbol was unlike any they had ever seen before, they definitely meant it. It wasn't a pentagram or anything like that; it was a symbol resembling a symbol of chaos, a dream catcher, and an hourglass all blended together, I made sure that nobody was looking before snapping a quick photo of it. "Hey, Rusty, we have to get these bodies back to the morgue to perform autopsies on 'em." My mentor said to me. As we left I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched by someone… or perhaps something. In fact I was almost certain that I had heard a growl come from nearby. As I got into the passenger seat to return to the morgue with my mentor, I thought I saw a hooded figure crouched a short distance away from the ruins. The figure slowly stood up and looked as if it were sniffing the air, and I felt as if it was looking at me as it suddenly lunged. I tried to point it out to my mentor when it suddenly leaped and almost looked as if it were taking flight. I was almost certain it had some sort of wings made out of pure darkness. I decided not to say anything, as I was certain that nobody would've believed me, as I wasn't even sure that I believed myself. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:22:41 (edited)
Chapter 1: The Birth of a Conspiracy(Rusty's POV)Death was all around, as was the mystery surrounding it. It all started with the death of the CEO, then those of the moving men, then the old governor's lackeys, then the cultists who were also apparently scientists of some sort along with the old governor's wife, and now there were others. It seemed that a killer was about, and I was certain that these deaths were all related. I had rounded up a series of crime scene photos along with photos of the recently deceased… photos from before they were decimated by some unknown person, or possibly some kind of abomination beyond comprehension. In my walk-in closet, I had hidden a sort of ramshackle conspiracy map. I prayed every night that my father would not discover it. There was an obvious radius of where these unnatural murders took place; all centered around the crown jewel of the cityscape, the Dreamcorp building. That facility was full of mysterious happenings from what I had heard. One of the weirdest cases took place in the skid row district of the city, a desolate place where colonies of homeless people lived. The crime rate was high at one point but seemed to slow down after the disappearance of Harold Braggs. A charity food wagon of sorts was found on its side with claw marks all over it. Even weirder was the fact that the skeletal remains of the vendors within were found to be fully intact and clothed. It was unlike any skeletal evidence ever recovered before. All of the food that was once in the truck was gone as well; torn up packages of food were scattered throughout the place. Not too far from the truck were the mutilated bodies, mostly skeletal in appearance, of two men who were presumably homeless. Their positions indicated that they were running away from something. Chances are what they were running from was what killed them. I was deeply disturbed by the scene, which is really saying something considering the line of work I'm in. A knock at my bedroom door made me rush out of my closet and quickly shut the door behind me. When I opened the door I saw my father, he was smiling and had a wad of cash in one of his hands. "All these deaths have been tragic and strange… but boy are they good for business!" He said enthusiastically. My father was an… interesting character. Ever since the death of my mom, he'd become obsessed with… well… death. I never knew her that well, as she died when I was in elementary school and even before her death she was very distant and secretive. She had come up with conspiracies, much like I have started to do in recent times. My father was hellbent on teaching me the ways of the mortician. As a result, I've interacted with more corpses than living people. I didn't want this to be my job, but all my family seemed to care about was the funeral business being passed down from one generation to the next. I would've rather been an engineer, a technician, or even a pilot, but my father didn't want me to be anything besides a mortician or a coroner. My father once again interrupted my thoughts. "With all of this income, you can finally take your girlfriend out for a fancy dinner!" He exclaimed. Ok, this was weird, as last time I checked, I didn't have a girlfriend. "Father, I don't have a girlfriend… I don't even have friends!" I replied with angst. He simply laughed at me. "Oh, son, you do now! She's a lovely lady from another funeral company, which I plan to merge ours with. Can't have anyone else stealing our thunder, ey, Rusty?" My father replied, elbowing me in the shoulder. This was a horrific revelation. Not only did my father crush my career dreams, but he also had apparently arranged a date for me with somebody I didn't even know. What's next, an arranged marriage!? "What the hell, dad!?" I screamed in disbelief. "Now, young man, there's no call for that language; as your father, I expressly forbid it!" My father yelled at me, mad that I dare "disrespect" him. "I'm not a kid anymore! You have no right to control my life like this." I responded, angry at my father for trying to push me into a relationship I didn't want to have in the first place. "I'm not trying to control you, my only son, I'm simply trying to help you… also she's already waiting for you at the restaurant. We do have a reputation to uphold after all." My father explained to me in a most condescending tone. Obviously, I was not escaping from this; and to think that I thought that high school was the worst part of my life… being shoved into a locker by a popular bully because I was a nerdy little prodigy was enjoyable compared to whatever disastrous thing my father was trying to shove me into now. We were driving to the fancy restaurant in which the date would take place, when I was certain that I was once again being watched by something. I looked out the passenger window and could've sworn that I saw a familiar hooded figure, perching on the roof of a church. I blinked and it was gone, along with the sensation of being watched. I shuddered slightly, almost certain that I was not just seeing things. We finally arrived at the restaurant, and I saw my date. She looked just about as excited to take part in this as I was. Which was of course not at all. She huffed and rolled her eyes before faking a smile. "Umm… hi?" I said to her nervously, my eyes darting around in hopes of finding some way to escape. "Hi… I guess. I'm gonna be honest, I don't want to be here, but my parents forced me to do this to keep me from wandering away to pick up the pieces of this mysterious, dangerous, puzzle going on around town or something. Clearly someone snitched on me… probably one of my stupid siblings." My date replied to me. "Heh, sounds like you've got family trouble as well. I'm Rusty, by the way." I said to her. My date huffed at my introduction. "You don't look like corroded metal… the name's Vivienne, Vivienne Keyman… ridiculous name amiright?" Vivienne replied. "My name is Russel Morgan, I really hate my first name, truthfully, but at least my friends call me "Rusty." Well… I use the term "friends" very loosely as I don't actually have any, to be honest." I responded, breaking into a nervous sweat. Man, was this an awkward situation. "It's clear that you don't want to be here either, Rusty. How about we ditch this joint and start chasing after a conspiracy?" Vivienne once again said to me, this time with a genuine smile. "But what about our parents?" I asked, stuttering slightly. Vivienne laughed in a mildly psychotic way. "We're 18…we don't have to let those guys know anything. Not like we're some dumb babies or something. Besides, they just dropped us off. They aren't even here anymore!" She replied with a smug expression. Vivienne's rebellious attitude was not what I was expecting from an arranged relationship, under different circumstances we might've actually been more than just friends. But, that's not how it worked in this case. You can't force a relationship, after all. The two of us snuck out together in search of some more clues, as it seemed that both of us were on the same page when it came to being concerned about the strange happenings in the city. "So, what do you do for a living, Vivienne?" I asked my companion. "Not anything, really. My father keeps trying to push his obsession with artisanal, custom coffin building onto me. My mom doesn't help me get out of these things, as she always takes his side. Also, please just call me Vi, as I don't really like the name Vivienne." Vi replied. "Oh, my bad. Uhh… anyway, my dad forced me to take a job as a mortician's assistant… truth is I wanted to be a pilot or something else cool like that. What about you, Vi?" I asked, awkwardly trying to change the subject at the last minute. Vi seemed to pause for a moment before speaking again. "Hmmm… well I kinda wanted to be a weapons expert, maybe get a job working for the military, as I'm sick of just building beds for the dead and designing doors for mausoleums… which is another one of my dad's morbid obsessions. Even the front door to our house looks like a mausoleum. Mainly because I had an outburst and broke the glass door when I was like 14 or something and he decided it would be cheaper to build a door himself than to buy a replacement. The thing's an absolute nightmare to open, not to mention all of the weird looks I get when I'm trying to open the damn thing." Vi replied, seemingly venting out her frustrations about her life to me. "Say, do people spread weird rumors about you and your family like they do mine?" I asked. Vi looked me in the eyes, then shrugged. "Not really… since we kinda just build coffins and mausoleums and don't really do much with the corpses. How about your family?" Vi responded to my inquiry. I looked away and sighed. "Where do I even begin… well, firstly my mom, may she rest in peace, was the sketchy old governor's sister. A member of the esteemed, and kinda eccentric, Braggs family. I got a lot of crap for being the governor's nephew. After my mom's death, people started spreading rumors about my family consisting of vampires or zombies. They would come up and ask me "Why hasn't your mom come back from the dead yet, zombie boy?" as a cruel joke. I also have this condition that makes me VERY sensitive to sunlight and overheat easily, combined with being pale-skinned and all, which led to people jokingly calling me a vampire. Which is fine and all until you get animal blood dumped on you as a disgusting Halloween trick when you're dressed up as Dracula for a party which you were invited to as a joke." I explained. Vi suddenly looked less apathetic upon hearing about the incident. Our exploration had led us to a desolate place in the city. Not skid row, but another place that wasn't in the best shape. An old apartment building that had been foreclosed as the result of an ongoing rat infestation that drove out all of the tenants, and eventually the landlord as well after a pack of rats had interrupted one of his wild parties, resulting in five people being arrested after a bit of a gunfight took place when someone accidentally shot a guy in the foot while trying to shoot one of the rats. Luckily, the only thing that died that day was the landlord's career and maybe a couple of rats. I suddenly felt Vi grab one of my shoulders. "Rusty… someone is approaching us." She whispered to me. Sure enough she was right. A man carrying a metal pipe was rushing toward us while screaming in terror. "Run!" He shrieked, waving the pipe erratically. While I was insisting to Vi that we probably should run, she planted her feet in the ground stubbornly, the look on her face indicating that she'd like an explanation for this. However, this explanation soon came in a most unexpected form. A massive, dark tendril of electrified-looking smoke erupted from the darkness of a nearby alleyway. It almost seemed to take on the shape of a giant clawed hand as it suddenly grabbed the pipe-wielding man and dragged him into the alley way as the metal pipe dropped to the ground with a loud bang where he once stood. His screaming was suddenly silenced. Vi and I found ourselves holding each other close out of confusion and fright. Upon realizing this we immediately stopped holding onto each other as it was kinda awkward. We were still in shock over whatever we had just seen. The feeling of terror returned when we saw a hooded figure emerge from the alleyway alone, wiping its mouth with one of its sleeves. Needless to say, I snapped a quick picture of the mysterious figure, before whispering to Vi. "You see it too… right?" I asked. Vi grabbed ahold of my hand tightly and looked at me fearfully. "Yes… we need to get out of here." She whispered. We decided to sneak away for our own safety. The two of us decided to walk back to the restaurant before whoever or whatever the figure was could see us. I couldn't help but feel that there was something familiar about this figure, but I couldn't quite understand what it was. It was as if I once knew the figure, but had somehow forgotten it over time. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:30:33 (edited)
Chapter 2: A Heartbeat in the Dark(VI's POV)It had been a little bit since Rusty and I had gone out on that "date" which our idiot parents had planned, they finally managed to find what remained of the poor soul who got dragged into that alley by some incomprehensible horror. My rat of a brother had apparently told our parents that Rusty and I had snuck out of the restaurant. God, I hate my brother. "Edward is a good little boy; he does not lie unlike you!" I remember my mom saying to me. The little shit was an angel in her eyes… but I knew that he wasn't the innocent little Boy Scout that everyone saw him as. It was him who had broken all the stuff that my *ever so loving* parents had accused me of breaking. They always take his side… never once did they listen to my side of the story. Sure, I might have thrown a coffee table at him *once*… oh who am I kidding, I've thrown it at him more than once. Obviously, he deserved it though. Edward is my mom's favorite child… he has her fooled with that facade of innocence he's been putting on, the little parasite. He even made a freaking corpse spire out of insect and arachnid carcasses, and rather than expressing concern, my parents applauded it. Seemingly completely ignorant to the fact that he had even gone as far as to dismembering each individual carcass of the poor things. As for my father, he cares more about designing doors and caskets than anything else. He's so passionate about his work that he basically doesn't give the light of day to his family. The one time my father actually gave a damn about me was when Rusty and I had that near brush with death on the night of the date. "You are staying IN tonight… you nearly got Rusty killed… oh and you almost got yourself killed too, but my point still stands! I forbid you from going on another date with him until you clean your act up. Besides, I have an important meeting to attend about improving my mausoleum doors." My father scolded. My father angrily slammed the door to my bedroom as he left. It was kinda odd how he had a "meeting" this late at night… then I remembered his gambling habit. He was probably going to a place to play poker with his friends who were also in the industry he was in. As for the whole "mausoleum doors" needing to be improved, there might've been some truth to that as someone seemed to be stealing recently interred remains from the mausoleums in the city's various graveyards. My mother and snitching piece of shit little brother along with his twin were at a sleep-away camp of some sort. He was there as a camper and she was there as a counselor. I had the whole place to myself… and with my father being away for an "important meeting" I could easily sneak out and visit Rusty who was working the graveyard shift at the local morgue. We might not have been much more than really close friends, but then again we were basically the only friends that either of us had. I texted him to let him know I was coming over to see if I could help him out with the shift and to my surprise he answered. He said he was watching a movie in the security office as that was another part of his job. A mortician's assistant as well as a volunteer security guard. His boss had apparently had to go to an important meeting as well. Which was honestly pretty expected as my father and Rusty's boss were poker buddies. Not to mention the fact that Rusty's father also happened to be poker buddies with mine. Chances are that's how they arranged that "date" the two of us went on. So I headed out, albeit very cautiously, to see my friend, looking forward to being able to hang out and talk as well as watch and probably make fun of a really cheesy old zombie movie that had released way back during the height of the VHS era. If my mom knew about this, she would have flipped, as she was uber religious and had an immense hatred towards any movies that were related to the occult. (Rusty's POV)I sat there and waited for Vi to arrive before starting up the movie and was glad when she finally appeared. "Sup, my guy?" She said to me as she took a seat near me as I turned on the dinosaur of a television I had found which had a VHS player built in. Once that was done, I put in the tape and played it. There was a series of trailers which came before it, so I decided to converse with Vi about one of the most recent Jane Does that was brought in. "If it hadn't been for the lack of a heartbeat and respiration, you would have thought she was just asleep. She didn't even look like a corpse, her skin still had color to it practically, and yet there was no sign of neurological activity according to those who examined her. Even weirder is that she looked exactly like that woman who had disappeared all those years ago, it was as if she hadn't even aged a day." I explained to Vi. Vi seemed most interested in this story, but then decided to joke with me. "Maybe she's a zombie… just waiting to come back when your eyes have grown heavy and you've become oblivious to the world around you… then when you have your back turned… she tackles you and eats your brain!" Vi joked as she suddenly grabbed my shoulders after playfully trying to scare me. It definitely was insensitive… but it was still kinda funny. The two of us laughed for a while, as if we had been friends our entire lives. There was one trailer left before the movie started and this trailer was particularly eery. It also had a very eery disembodied narrator in it. "A creature in the forest" the narrator droned on, "lurking in the shadows… scared of some abilities it does not understand. Hiding, unaware that it is the one that should be feared. In pain… panicking… consuming others just to survive. A beast with no name." There was a heartbeat and heavy breathing in a scene of the trailer. Just when we thought it was over, there was a jumpscare that caused Vi and I to fall out of our chairs in a panic. "Holy crap… I think that trailer might be even more terrifying than whatever we're about to watch… say, you wouldn't happen to have a copy of that one, would you, Rusty?" Vi asked me. "Oh, Forest of the Undead? Yeah, I might have that one around somewhere. I like to collect those things for some reason." I replied as I took the tape that was already in out of the VCR. We heard the sound of a thunderstorm going on outside, which made the fact that we were about to watch Forest of the Undead once I found the tape feel more immersive than it would have been otherwise. Vi and I couldn't have asked for a better horror movie night. Well, it seemed perfect at first… that is until we heard a loud noise that wasn't coming from outside, it was coming from within the morgue. It sounded as if something had happened with one of the freezers in which a body was kept. "We should probably check that out." I said to Vi. She agreed with me about it as we began to check out the cameras… or at least tried to. It was as if someone had set off an electromagnetic pulse weapon out there, as all of the cameras had gone offline somehow. Since we were likely the only ones there, Vi and I had no choice but to investigate what had happened out there ourselves. We crept into the morgue and were unnerved by the fact that the freezer that had once contained the Jane Doe I told Vi about looked as if it had been torn apart from within and the body was gone. Vi and I gave each other concerned glances as we grabbed anything that could be used as a weapon against a possible intruder. That is when Vi pointed something out to me… footprints. Specifically wet footprints that led from the morgue freezer to a door that opened into a hallway. "You don't think…" Vi started to say to me. Obviously I was horrified."No surely not… that's not scientifically possible… it can't be!" I hollered, feeling as if everything I had been taught was being thrown down the drain. All was quiet, apart from the fact that the storm still raged on but that was the least of my concerns at the time. The beating of my own heart seemed as if it was louder than the storm. I could hear Vi's heartbeat as well. However, I grew more concerned when I heard another heartbeat that didn't belong to either of us. As we turned the corner of the hallway and slipped into the break room, the heartbeat grew louder and we heard something that sounded like a woman's sobbing. Everything in the break room was broken and sparks were flying from just about every security camera, all of which looked as if they had been crushed with great force. A force beyond anything that any normal human could possibly have. That was when I saw it; a figure with a sheet wrapped around it. Of course that wasn't the only thing about the figure that was odd. From her back sprouted strange, unnatural wings unlike anything I had ever seen. Her hair was wet and she was crying and hiding her face. Vi stared at me in confusion as I began to approach whatever the creature we saw before us was. (Vi's POV)"Rusty, what the hell are you doing?" I said in a tone that sounded like some combination between a scream and a whisper. Rusty turned around and quietly shushed me as he continued to approach whatever the hell that humanoid, probably undead creature was. It had almost bat-like wings which had this weird otherworldly glow to it. I was afraid for Rusty's safety, as I had no idea what this thing might be capable of. Sure, it seemed human, but last time I checked, humans didn't have wings. I should know, as I am a human, obviously. "You good?" I heard Rusty ask the being as he laid a hand on one of its wings. Obviously he had set it off somehow as with glowing eyes it sent him flying into a painting on a nearby wall. It stood up and stretched its wings, and it seemed to create some sort of glowing sigil in the air using its hands which had clawed fingers. Suddenly it seemed to stop and it's eyes stopped doing that weird glowing thing as the wings receded and seemingly disappeared. It looked down at its hands in horror. "Oh my god… I'm so sorry about that." It said in a feminine voice. "No, no, I'm the one who should have been sorry… I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." Rusty replied. The being looked more like a normal woman now. She seemed to only be a little older than Rusty and I, who had only recently finished our first year in college. Her long black hair swept over one of her eyes in a way that looked unnatural as if she had put it there to deliberately hide one of her eyes. I was still leery of her presence, as something was obviously off about her. "So… I'll just cut to the chase… what exactly are you!?" I asked her as I pushed Rusty away from her. Rusty looked at me in disbelief and the woman seemed startled and confused. "Well… I don't know what I am any more. I used to believe myself to be human, but now I'm not so sure. I mean… I'm pretty sure that humans can't do what I do." She replied, calm yet unhappy. It was then that I noticed something resembling a collar-like choker around her neck with something engraved in it. "Specimen: S-01_null." I read aloud. The woman looked at me oddly. "Well… that's what your nameplate says." I replied. She put her hand on the choker and sighed. "Great… they gave me a serial designation instead of calling me by my actual name." She said with frustration. Rusty dusted himself off as he stood up. "In that case… what is your name?" He asked her. She sighed and turned to him. "Sol… my name was Sol." She replied. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:39:23 (edited)
Chapter 3: Victim of Circumstance(Vi's POV)"Okay… Sol. What are you, some kind of zombie? A sky demon? A genocide robot sent to kill us all? You may claim to be human, but I'm not buying it!" I interrogated her, believing she was not to be trusted. Rusty shot me a look indicating that he did not approve of my behavior in regards to this "woman." "Well… I'm human, just—" Sol began to say before I interrupted her again. "Look… I don't know what you are or where you came from, all I know is that you definitely aren't human!" I exclaimed with anger. Rusty pulled me away from Sol, apparently thinking that I was being a bit too intense as well as insensitive. "Uhh… my apologies for my friend's behavior… she can be a bit insensitive sometimes." Rusty said politely. I groaned at him and uttered the words "bite me" to him. He simply laughed awkwardly and smiled in response. "So… tell us about yourself… also… you aren't one of those flesh-eating zombies, right?" He asked Sol once again. Sol gave him a look of disbelief at what he had just said. "What the— No! I'm not some disgusting people-eating monster! Why would you think that?" Sol replied, sounding mildly offended. I groaned with frustration yet again. "Because you're not supposed to be alive! You were dead, in a freaking freezer and yet SOMEHOW you broke out! I'm no expert but that sounds like some very zombie-like behavior!" I replied passive aggressively. The woman seemed confused, but then sighed. "If you had let me explain myself, you'd realize that I'm merely a victim of circumstance and not some sort of blood-guzzling, flesh-eating monster." Sol said to us solemnly. "Oh great… the undead lady is gonna tell us her origin story…" I thought to myself as the woman began to speak. (Sol's POV)Having found myself back on my old earth, much to my dismay, with only these two other people here, I had no choice but to tell them my story. "Okay…" I started, "So, basically I'm a human that has been "modified" in a sense by some incomprehensible beings that refer to themselves as "Overseers." Long story short these creatures basically rule over the entirety of the multiverse… and yes that's a real thing that I have seen with my own eyes. Anyway, they refer to people like me as "Homo coelestes" which vaguely translates to "human gods." They "blessed" me with supernatural abilities and all that stuff… by accident. So, they sent me to a place in a part of the multiverse known as Nihil to be placed in a sort of military camp. The encampment was named Terram Artificialis Solis which is overseerspeak for "land of the artificial sun." Now, this place was basically a city belonging to a coelestes colony which they kept within a dome. It had an artificial sun, as Nihil is basically a remote exoplanet that is so far from its galaxy's star that it is basically perpetually winter there. Now, this also happens to be the overseers' favorite "prison planet" where they send the arcaracerises, or prison boxes, of their most heinous criminals… or any member of their species they view as being weak or diseased… which includes the mentally unstable as inhumane as that sounds. Then again, overseers are not known for their empathy by any means. Anyway… they gave me the rank of "sentry" and my job was to "protect" the multiverse, or at least that's what they claimed it was." I explained, almost out of breath from all the speaking I had just done. My audience seemed interested, but the young man was more attentive than his friend. She did not try to hide her disdain for me in the slightest. After taking a deep breath, I began speaking again. "The truth is… sentries are actually recyclable killing machines in the eyes of the overseers. They'd send platoons of us on these "one-way missions" as they knew that if we were to be lethally wounded, we'd essentially be able to perform self-revival. Obviously having a soldier capable of resurrection could be somewhat problematic, should it still maintain its sentience. Why, that power combined with free will was seen by some overseers as a recipe for disaster. So, an ancient yet still young overseer named Interitus made a plan to resolve this issue with the help of one of her elder kin, another vicious overseer named Pestilentia. One was an expert in warfare and the other an expert on diseases, so they thought up a sort of device which contained a non-contagious virus that could essentially "turn off" the empathy of a sentry. They grafted it to a random sample of sentries, some of which I had once worked alongside. The two I was closest with were designations X1200_alpha and Y2100_beta; X and Y for short. I never got to know their actual names before they got converted into murderous monsters with about as much empathy as a military drone… which is basically no empathy at all. I remember watching in horror as they mauled a sentry whose anti-empathy device had suddenly stopped functioning properly and had resulted in an unsuccessful attack on some poor soul who had been used as a living training dummy as part of the unorthodox training program Interitus had set up. I had not yet received the conversion implant and was mortified by the sheer brutality that they displayed towards one of their own allies. They tore them a part in a scene of immense carnage. They wanted me to join them in this horrific act of violence, claiming that it would be fun to dismember the rogue sentry as a team. I declined the offer and backed away, horrified at what I had witnessed." I continued explaining. The looks on my audience's faces was one of terror. "I don't want to believe you…" the young woman said in horror as her companion sat there frozen in terror. "You probably don't want to hear the rest of my story in that case." I replied. The young man suddenly took a deep breath. "That is a horrifying thing to experience… anyway, I don't like changing the subject but did I even tell you our names before all this?" He replied. I was too busy reliving my traumatic experiences at the encampment to remember anything else. "No, I don't believe you did." I replied. The young man nervously laughed. "Well, my name is Rusty, and this is Vi. She's a loose cannon but she's also really cool once you get to know her!" Rusty said with a smile. I was almost certain that I saw Vi trying to hide the fact that she was blushing, I'm not sure if it was because she was flattered by Rusty's comment or if she was incredibly embarrassed about it. "Uhh! Change of subject… how exactly did you get here?" Vi cried out awkwardly, after lightly smacking Rusty across the face while giving him a glare. "Well, I… don't remember how I got here actually. I assume I must've escaped while on the verge of death somehow. But why I appeared here instead of the other earth is beyond me." I responded. "There's another earth?" Rusty said in surprise. I simply sighed as I had told both him and Vi about the multiverse not too long ago. "Yes, there are multiple earths, as the multiverse is, well, multiple universes." I explained. The two stared at me in awe, although Rusty seemed to be more so in awe than Vi, who was still pretty standoffish. She made it pretty clear that she was not ready to trust me just yet. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 16:45:47 (edited)
Chapter 4: Requiem(Sol's POV (dream sequence))"Oh great… another one." I heard a mysterious, automated sounding voice say. "What the… where am I? What is this place?" I yelled out. "It can talk too… how cute." The voice said sarcastically. "Okay, enough with the sarcasm. I'd like an explanation and an identity for whatever the hell is speaking to me right now." I said sternly. I could have sworn I heard an automated sounding sigh of discontent after I said what I did. "Okay, human… I am a highly intelligent and complex AI who is responsible for assuring the successful conversion of modified humans into sentries. The overseers have named me ARaROS." The AI responded, clearly struggling to say its own name. I couldn't help but snicker slightly. "They named you "ARaROS"!? Of all names they could have chosen… they chose a name that an automated voice struggles to pronounce!?" I said while struggling to contain my laughter. "Oh, shut up… at least I have a name… unlike you." ARaROS said, seeming somewhat offended, which was odd considering what this thing was. "What!? I do have a name! My name is—" ARaROS quickly interrupted me before I could finish speaking. "Specimen Designation S-01_null…" the AI announced. I was not too pleased with this. "I swear… if I ever find where they are keeping your sarcastic metal ass, I will disassemble you with my bare hands!" I exclaimed angrily. "Are you threatening me? Or at least attempting to? Because it's not working… oh, and it won't keep me from injecting you with Pestilentia's Primordial Transformative Nanites™ either." ARaROS scoffed at me as a bunch of restraints suddenly appeared and latched onto me like cold metallic leeches. "This will hurt me more than it will hurt you… just kidding, I won't feel anything… you however will not be so lucky. The experience is most excruciating for your kind. After that, you'll go to your assigned sentry division, which is the division that is in need of a new member… The Coalition of Absolute Chaos." ARaROS explained. (dream sequence fades)"The Coalition of Absolute Chaos…Coalition of Absolute Chaos…of Absolute Chaos… Absolute Chaos… Chaos…" the words echoed in my mind as I slowly regained consciousness. I felt something jabbing me in my side. It was Vi holding a broom and jabbing me with it. "Hey… could you not sleep on the ceiling like some kind of vampiric freak?" Vi said to me. I was freaked out by the fact that I was somehow on the ceiling when I knew for sure that I had fallen asleep elsewhere. "No, no, no… no this isn't right!" I shrieked as I fell to the ground. I realized that I was also no longer in the mortuary, and was instead in what looked to be some sort of room in a house. "Where am I? And why can't I remember the past few hours of my life?" I asked. Vi rolled her eyes at me as Rusty walked into the room we were in with an ice pack over part of his face. "Oh god… what did I do?" I asked myself in horror. (Rusty's POV)"Well… I'll tell you what happened, oh and don't worry about the thing going on with my eye." I said to Sol, who was clearly in a state of confusion and panic. "Did I do that to you… oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Sol said to me in horror. I simply laughed nervously. "Nah… it was my father who did this to me. I probably deserved it though…" I replied. Sol seemed furious upon hearing that the whole eye thing was my father's doing, and Vi quickly had to avert the crisis. "This "genius" over here had to go in and play the hero after his father tried to hit you with a baseball bat because he apparently hadn't told him that you were one of his "friends." He got caught in the crossfire and took the damn hit for you. Long story short, his father came in late after a night of drunken revelry with the boys and thought you were a murderous intruder. Rusty leapt in front of you for whatever reason and ended up getting an involuntary nose job along with a black eye as a result." Vi explained to Sol in an irritated tone. "I'm not mad about it though, obviously… and my father apologized profusely to me afterwards, so, no hard feelings." I replied. Both Vi and Sol gave me a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you-look, shocked by my lack of spite towards my father even after all he had done. "How the hell can you forgive that guy so easily!? I mean, look at your face!" Vi exclaimed as she stared at me with concern. "Hey, my father is the only reason that we're friends now… before the arrangement, I… I literally had no friends, honestly." I replied, which was sad but true. I might have been immensely delirious at the time, as I never usually acted like this… and also due to the fact that I literally hadn't slept in two days due to the influx of bodies which entered the morgue in that weird mummified state. Truthfully I was exhausted and on the verge of collapse… and collapse I did, luckily Vi was kind enough to keep me from falling down completely. (Vi's POV)"You're a mystery to me, Rusty. I can't begin to comprehend how someone can be so brave, while also being so idiotic… especially at the same time." I said to Rusty, who definitely wasn't kidding when he said that he was sleep-deprived. I could see it in his eyes; they were youthful, yet worn out. Even though he had a black eye and a slightly crooked nose at this time, the exhaustion was still quite noticeable. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the distinct sound of shattering glass, followed by Sol yelling "Oh shit… not this crap again!" I released Rusty and decided to investigate, the guy was out cold obviously. I grabbed a fire poker from a nearby fireplace, to use as a weapon against Sol, should she decide to go into vampire mode and attack me. When I entered the room she was in, I found that she was attempting to hide something underneath the massive area rug that was in it. "Hey, you! What exactly are you doing right now?" I asked sternly. Sol turned around to face me, but she had a hand over one of her eyes and looked concerned. "Nothing… shouldn't you be keeping an eye on Rusty, anyway? I mean, he is injured after all." Sol replied, attempting to weasel her way out of answering the question I had asked. "He'll be fine… you're being too suspicious, I need answers. What the hell did you do? Also, what's the deal with that military uniform thing you have on? You part of some anarchist group that uses guerrilla warfare tactics or something?" I queried, hoping for any excuse to get Sol out of here. It might have seemed cruel, considering how human she looked, but her strange behavior was off putting and I didn't approve of it. My brother, Edward, was weird enough and I didn't need any more freaks like that in my life. Especially if said freak has the appearance of something that would probably viciously kill a human to consume their blood. "Why do you treat me like I'm some sort of dangerous killing machine? Believe me, if I really wanted to kill you guys, I would have already done it by now." Sol replied, looking a bit annoyed by my constant questioning. "Do you really want me to list all the reasons as to why I don't trust you? Because, I have a curfew and I don't want hear my idiot of a father bickering over my absence, again." I explained, being angsty as usual. Before Sol could do anything, there was a knock at the door. Rusty's dad ran down the stairs to answer it and then opened it, revealing that the man at the door was probably the one person I did not want to see right now. It was my father, but he didn't have a stern look of anger or disappointment, he had a look of fear. "We found out where Joe was…" my father said grimly, still sopping wet from the rainstorm. "You did? Well, how is he and where did he go?" Rusty's dad replied. My father had a look of horror on his face and went pale. "Joe is dead… murdered by something. It could not have been a human… he had huge gauges on his back and his throat… completely ripped open. It was horrible, John, absolutely terrible. It was like something had torn through his jugular… but… but… there was no blood. It looked as if something had consumed it all or something, just like a… like a vampire!" My father screamed in terror. I looked over at Sol, who also had a look of horror on her face. "Oh no… that means they are here. Oh my god… Pestilentia and Interitus must have sent them… but why?" Sol said to herself, looking completely traumatized. "What the hell are you going on about? I'm going to be real here, you're the only vampire-like entity I've seen… so who exactly is the "they" you speak of? How do I know it wasn't you who killed him?" I interrogated. Sol looked at me like I was an idiot. "It should be obvious that I wasn't the killer in this case… I've been with you and Rusty this whole time! I may have many supernatural abilities, but I know for sure that being at two places at once is not one of them. As for the "they" I speak of… they're sentries like me… however, while I apparently don't have to drink blood whenever I get overheated, they do. They may seem younger than me, but they have been sentries for longer than I have. I managed to escape from the Land of the Artificial Sun before I could be experimented on any further, but the others were not so lucky. I could not help them, they were already too far gone. Pestilentia did something to them, she changed them somehow under the instruction of her sister, Interitus. Part of an experiment known as Project M.U.R.D.E.R, they essentially went through the human equivalent of being reprogrammed. They were made to be a sort of disposable super-soldier, capable of regenerating upon death. They were deliberately modified to have deficiencies in certain vitamins and minerals, things which could only be supplemented by consuming the blood of organisms. The ultimate killing machine. Their abilities are alike to my own… but they are far more dangerous than I could ever be." Sol explained. I didn't know whether to believe such a fantastical sounding story, but it seemed to make sense, for whatever reason. She had been with Rusty and I this whole time after all, even when she was acting a bit batty. But, I couldn't help but be immensely concerned about the fact that there were more things like her out there. Things that actually were murdering people for their blood. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 18:13:35
Chapter 5: X Marks the Spot(Rusty's POV)It had been a few days since Vi and I had received the news of the gruesome death of her father's friend. Sol was still staying at my house as Vi refused to let such a "monster" enter her house. Not once had I witnessed Sol drinking blood, and my boss even let her accompany me while on the job, seeing that she appeared to have an abundance of knowledge about whatever "supernatural" activity was happening in the area. She did not shudder at the sights of the mummified corpses, nor did she shudder at the sight of more normal bodies. Truthfully, she was rather stoic. However, one day, she was less stoic and in fact immensely concerned with a body that had been brought in; which was completely understandable considering how it looked. "I think I might know exactly who killed this person…" she said to me solemnly. "What do you mean by that? The killer basically left no evidence behind and the DNA test yielded no conclusive results, it's as if whoever or whatever killed this woman never actually existed… which is clearly improbable." I replied to her. Sol continued to stare at the mutilated remains of the unknown woman. "Look at the gauges over her eyes… notice anything distinct about them?" She said as she turned to look at me and gestured towards the body. Upon further examination, I noticed an immensely disturbing detail about the wounds. "They are X shaped… it looks deliberate… they don't look to have been made using any manmade tools, I might even go as far as to say that they look as if they were made by something that had claws." I stated as I observed the marks with intrigue and fearful confusion. "That ain't the only weird thing about the crime scene." My mentor said as he suddenly walked into the room with some photos from the crime scene. "What have you found, Clyde?" Sol asked my mentor. "A message… written on the wall in blood… seems to be directed towards you specifically… as I don't know of any other folks who've got a designation like this for a name." He said as he handed Sol the photo. She took one look at it and seemed to recoil from fear. "Sol… what does it say?" I asked her. She continued staring at the photo as she read the message, "It says: "We're coming for you, Designation S-01_null!" And there's even a smiley face crudely drawn in blood at the end…" Sol told me as she began to hand me the photo. As I looked at it, I saw another detail on the smiley face. One of its eyes was a symbol that looked exactly like the one that Sol had embroidered in her military-like uniform. "Hey… isn't that the symbol your uniform has on its arm?" I asked. She looked at me with dismay. "I am certain that it is… a classic example of X's behavior." Sol responded. "X? Who is X and why are they after you specifically?" I asked Sol as she continued to examine the photos from the crime scene. "An old "friend." I used to work with her and a couple of other sentries as part of the Coalition of Absolute Chaos. Her specimen designation is X-1200_alpha… meaning she's considered to be immensely powerful. I can't help but feel that I should mention that she is also downright psychotic. Just a warning for you." Sol explained. I was sure to write down some notes, as, as weird as this case was, notes might come in handy… not to mention that they'd probably be a good addition to Vi and I's conspiracy map. "So… you said there were others, right?" I asked. Sol nodded but remained quiet, seemingly deep in thought. "So… what are they like… and how many are there?" I asked once again. Sol stopped what she was doing and looked at me. "Originally… it was me, X, and three others. Designations Y-2100_beta, L-0534_omega, and Z-340_delta. However L and Z are both dead… I witnessed it for myself. However chances are they have been replaced by other sentries by now. X and Y are still out there though, as indicated by the crime scene… and the fact that there's a sticky note on the wall in Y's handwriting, apologizing for the mess. As innocent as Y was when we first met, I ,at one point, wouldn't have expected him to be such a vicious killing machine. However… upon witnessing what he did to Z, I know longer saw him the same way. So, I defected. I basically went a-wall so to speak." Sol explained, her eyes full of sorrow and old trauma. I was uncertain if I should try to do anything at this point. That is until I saw another clue. "Hey, Dr. Grimm, how come you never mentioned anything about this crime taking place at the White Raven Inn?" I called out to my mentor, who was casually sitting at a desk, drinking his morning coffee. He placed down his coffee mug and turned to look at me. "Look, kid, it's for your own good. Don't you remember what happened the last time you went snooping around without permission, not to mention without the authority, to do so? You and Vivienne nearly got yourselves killed! If I told you the location, I know damn well that you and your crazy-ass friends would try and pull a Scooby Doo on this case." My mentor scolded, right before proceeding to angrily take a sip of coffee, maintaining that stern look the entire time. "Great, my father told you about that, didn't he… Is that why I was not allowed to accompany you at the scene? You do realize that my family and I have stayed at the White Raven inn before… that's also where my parents had their honeymoon, according to my father. We used to take a family trip there every year… that is until…" I was unable to finish my sentence before my mentor abruptly interrupted and finished it for me. "Until your mom died suddenly. I've heard all about it from your father, we were once coworkers after all. We were never able to determine her actual cause of death… no matter how many tests were conducted. It probably had something to do with that damn science and technology company she worked for. Dreamcorp… the damn thing should have been shutdown ages ago, but the government at didn't seem to give a rat's ass about what went on there. In fact, not even the national government gave a damn, even though they were illegally conducting nonethical human experiments. The fact that your uncle, your mother's brother, encouraged such practices was sickening as well… ain't a government supposed to do stuff that actually benefits its people? Because that roach of a man sure as hell didn't. What the hell was that bastard thinking when he greenlit that biotechnological enhancement deal? Was he deliberately trying to turn those folks into mindless, murderous, cyber-zombies that fly? Ain't he ever heard of combat drones?" Dr. Grimm ranted unprofessionally. "Mindless, flying cyber-zombies? Human combat drones? Clyde… sounds like he wasn't just doing anything with total disregard to basic human rights and decency, he was creating sentries!" Sol said in alarm, her eyes glowing vividly. Clyde and I exchanged glances and then stared at Sol in confusion. (Sol's POV)The fact that the old governor had knowledge of sentries was concerning… as, as far as I knew, only sentries and overseers knew of the process… I then remembered Somnium's tale about Insomnium, his apparently literal evil twin. "It all makes sense… the technology, the corruption, and the combination of metal mesh and human flesh. It was not just the government's idea… it was Insomnium's. It even seems to explain that reality altering dream machine… oh my god, it was her, that crazy AI called Bertha. It seems everything is connected!" I exclaimed before letting out a disturbingly maniacal laugh, unintentionally of course. Both Rusty and Clyde were obviously a bit put off by this seemingly insane display of abnormal behavior. Suddenly the phone in the office outside the morgue began to ring. "Let me get that real quick." Clyde said as he walked towards the phone to answer the call. Upon picking up the phone and answering it, Clyde informed Rusty that it was his father calling. Apparently he wanted Rusty to get back to the house as it was apparently very important. So, off we went. Upon returning to the house, Rusty's dad greeted us excitedly… but something was wrong. I'm not sure if Rusty had caught onto this… that is until he saw who else was waiting inside… and it wasn't Vi. A strange woman sat on the couch, and Rusty's jaw dropped. "No… it can't be possible." Rusty mumbled to himself. His father sat down on the couch beside the woman and leaned in for a kiss. "What's the matter son? Don't you recognize her? It's your mother, for crying out loud! She's not dead after all!" He said enthusiastically. I got a familiar and uneasy feeling. The being that was on the couch was not fully human… she was a sentry. I couldn't help but think about what Dr. Clyde Grimm had said earlier; what he had said about Dreamcorp's supposed "zombie" sentry experiments. The zombie sentry… or zentry for short, made eye contact with me. The irises and pupils of her eyes almost seemed to glitch as if they were digital instead of organic, and she smiled at me sinisterly, showing off her vampiric fangs… which her family did not appear to notice at this time. "I'm so glad to be here with you again… I've missed you both so much. My, Rusty, how you've grown… and you've even made a 'friend'!" The zentry said joyously, clearly a facade to earn the trust of her "family" as a presumed act of reconnaissance. Whether this was for the purpose of culling them or converting them into sentries was unknown to me, but I could see right through her lies from the moment I saw that glitching in her eyes and the gleam of her fangs. That's the thing about zombie sentries… what comes back isn't who died. (Rusty's POV)I could tell by Sol's body language that she was uneasy, and I knew exactly why. I was certain that my mother had died all those years ago and even Sol knew this. People who are dead usually aren't gonna come back… with the exception of those who are less than human. "The White Raven Inn is beautiful around this time of year… maybe we should go there to celebrate your mother's return, Rusty!" My father said with an unnatural grin of happiness, the likes of which I had never seen before. "Uh… Dad, didn't a, well, you know, horrific murder occur there recently? I mean, I have lots of physical evidence and, well, it's still being investigated." I attempted to explain to my father, however his mind appeared to be elsewhere. "Oh, it was only one murder, for crying out loud… hell, it might've even been a ritualistic suicide! You know how common those are these days. Nothing bad ever happens to the Morgans after all!" My father responded. I was immensely weirded out by this as this behavior was extremely out of character for my usually serious father. "Oh! And your cousin's gonna be there too. You remember him, right?" My "mother" suddenly mentioned. I cringed at the memory of my cousin, he was related to my aunt on my father's side. The fact that she had named him "Chad" of all things was ironic. Chad Weatherby, my first ever antagonist. As children, he would do everything in his power to bully me. In fact he was the jerk that ruined a Halloween party I was invited to by dumping a vat of pig's blood on me while I was wearing a Dracula costume. I didn't even have a change of clothes that time either, so I ended up going home looking like something out of a horror movie. Last I heard of him was that he was now some kind of influencer with a harem of adoring fans for whatever reason. He was one of those haunted exploration YouTubers who occasionally did some utterly nonsensical "3AM" videos. He put himself in incredibly stupid and risky situations for clout. When he wasn't doing those videos, he did some rather devious prank videos, which of course received a shit ton of views. Honestly, he hardly did anything original. I hate to admit this, but I actually found some of Chad's haunted exploration videos to be pretty cool… but they weren't nearly as popular as his shitty 3AM and prank videos, which now made up almost the entirety of his channel; mainly 3AM videos nowadays. As I was deep in thought, I had apparently failed to notice that my dad had already made room reservations for the White Raven Inn. "Good God! What a deal, a 75% discount on room costs per night… and they're all luxury suites as well!" My father yelled triumphantly. This exclamation very effectively interrupted my deep thoughts. "What… that sounds way too good to be true… even in the context of a recent murder having taken place there." I replied. My father gave me a look. "Oh, but it is true! It's even on their official website!" My father and "mother" said to me in unison as they showed me the computer screen. The site was legit… but I noticed something a bit off about it. A small detail that they had missed. The cursor resembled a sort of stylized chaos wheel instead of the traditional arrow. Everything else on the site looked normal, just as I had remembered it. "Oh my dearest Adelaide, this will be a most wonderful way to celebrate our reunion." My father said as he caressed the hand of what he believed was his beloved. "Well, we best start packing so we can leave early in the morning… I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss it for the world, my dear." My "mother" said softly as she smiled creepily, her eyes doing something that DEFINITELY wasn't normal for a human. I am not sure exactly what I saw, but it sent shivers down my spine. This wasn't my mother… it was some incomprehensible eldritch horror using her reanimated body as a puppet. I wanted to distract myself, so I decided to go to the kitchen to get a drink, or maybe even a snack of some sort. Perhaps I'd even give Vi a call, as Sol was nowhere to be seen. I was certain that having a conversation with someone would help me with the whole distraction thing. If Vi didn't pick up, I could always have conversation with Cassandra, she was a maid hired by my father a while back that just so happened to still be working here. Sure enough, she was in the kitchen fixing a cup of tea. "Heya, Cas." I greeted. Cas turned around to look at me, an ominous look in her eyes. "You know it's not her, don't you…" Cas said to me eerily. "Well… clearly whatever it is isn't her. Sol told me that she was a sentry, like her." I replied. "She's no ordinary sentry… this I know for sure. She's one of Dreamcorp's experiments…" Cas replied, seeming suspicious and mysterious as she began to stir her cup of tea more vigorously. "Uh… Cas? You good? Also, how do you know about those top secret experiments, I don't think neither my father nor I have brought it up… due to the implications when it came to my mother." I replied. Cassandra suddenly stopped what she was doing and dropped the cup of tea, shattering it against the kitchen floor. She had a blank look in her eyes. Suddenly her scleras blackened as she contorted her body in unnatural ways before falling to her knees. "C-Cas!?" I yelled in horror, now frozen in fear. I could hear the sound of bones cracking and rearranging along with a strange mechanical whirring. To my horror, a large pair of bladed metal wings seemingly tore through the flesh of her back, still dripping with blood. Suddenly a hand with metal claws grasped onto the side of the island counter, followed by another as Cas used the counter to lift herself upright. Her soft laughter gradually gained volume until it sounded downright manic. "Oh, I know… because I was one of the first zombie sentries ever made on this planet… I have seen everything." Cas replied, her eyes doing the same glitchy thing that my mother's had done. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 18:22:31 (edited)
Chapter 6: Follow the White Raven(Vi's POV)"Uuugghhh…" I groaned as I laid down on my bed. I couldn't sleep so I just laid there, aimlessly staring at the stars being projected on my ceiling from the galaxy projector thing that I had received as a gift all those years ago. It's shifting lights lit up the conspiracy map which I had put up there, just to remind me of how crazy things were. It was a hot yet breezy summer night and the air conditioning unit wasn't working properly. I would have had my desk fan on if my stupid brother hadn't disassembled the damn thing for a "school project." I was certain that I'd overheat just like my old computer used to… after my psycho of a brother decided to take it apart and put it back together again for, you guessed it, another school project. He could have at least had the decency to put the cooling fan back in it, but no, of course he didn't. That little shit owes me $500 for what he did. He's just a young teen, I get it, but he needs to be slapped in the face with the horrors of reality. His obsession with disassembling things was also VERY concerning. I was starting to sweat, so I decided to open my bedroom window to let the cool nighttime breeze in. After this, I returned to my bed to wallow in my own misery. All was calm, but then the silence was disturbed by the sound of wings flapping. I rolled over to see some strange white bird staring into my soul. It looked to be a raven of some sort. Maybe it was an albino or something. It had a strange shine to its plumage and something was off with its eyes as they didn't look like your typical albino eyes. It looked like galaxies were swirling around within them. "It's rude to stare, you know?" The bird suddenly said in a perfectly human-sounding voice alike to that of a young British woman. I rolled off the other side of my bed in shock. The white raven sighed at this reaction. "By the gods, you humans startle easily." It said with a tinge of sarcasm. "What are you!?" I screamed at the bird as I attempted to reach for a shoe to throw at its head. The bird's eyes glowed brightly as I suddenly found myself being lifted back up onto my bed. "My name's Somnia… spawn of Somnium, Keeper of Dreams. He's kinda like a god… and as his spawn I am an extension of his power. Although I'm more of a messenger, as lame as that sounds." Somnia, the white raven, replied. "Why are you here?" I questioned supposed goddess. "Long story short… the apocalypse is essentially occurring… Insomnium's instability combined with the influx of M.U.R.D.E.R sentries is a recipe for disaster. I hope to be able to prevent it. Not to earn my father's approval obviously, as it was him who sent me here." Somnia explained to me. I suddenly heard a knock at my door and heard my mother's voice. "What's with all the racket going on and why is your door locked? I strictly told you that I forbade you to lock this door, young lady!" My mom yelled. I heard her shuffling outside my door muttering on and on about how I'd be sent to hell after death if I didn't clean up my act and start following the rules. Then she went on a tirade about how much better my younger twins were and how wonderful they were at the church camp. "Wow… your mom's kinda terrible." Somnia whispered to me as she decided to perch on my shoulder. "You have no idea…" I sighed. I could hear my mom fidgeting with the keys that she'd made for my room… another innovative way of invading my privacy. Somnia flew off my shoulder and landed at the edge of my bed. My mom just about had the door open, so I quickly shoved Somnia off my bed and she let out an irritated squawk. My mom barged through the door and gasped at the sight of my window being opened. "Why is that window open!? Are you trying to let those sky demons in? Do you not remember what those abominations did to your father's friend, Joe!? Vivienne Maria Keyman, you are in deep trouble!" My mom screamed at me before rushing to my window to slam it shut. "You better get down on your knees and pray to God for forgiveness right now, young lady!" My mom yelled once again before stomping out of my room, leaving the door wide open. Somnia re-emerged from where she fell when I shoved her and looked at me in disbelief. "Sorry about the whole, shoving you off the bed thing, if my mom saw you she'd flip and accuse you of being a demonic creature of some sort." I apologized. "She's no angel herself either, truthfully… say, does your world still have high security insane asylums at this time? As I feel like that's where she'd belong." Somnia replied. "Not anywhere near here… besides she's well-liked by her church's congregation which would probably keep her from being sent there, considering how freakishly rich they are." I said to Somnia. Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of my cellphone ringing and Somnia used her powers to levitate it towards me. The caller ID was one I recognized as it was Rusty's. It also happened to be a video call, which Rusty generally only used when it was a serious matter. I answered immediately. (Rusty's POV)"Rusty… what's going on?" Vi asked me in concern. Cas tightly held me in the grasp of one of her many metal tendrils. I laughed nervously. "Well… you see…" Cas quickly cut off my sentence and took the phone in one of her clawed metal hands. "Who is she?!" Cas said in a voice that sounded more artificial and robotic than her usual voice. I heard Vi gasp in fear over the call. "Oh bloody hell…" another voice responded from Vi's side of the video call. "Uhh…Who's the British lady?" I asked, being confused and terrified simultaneously as another robotic limb got uncomfortably close to my face. "That's Somnia… however that's nothing to be concerned about, considering your maid has apparently turned into some unspeakable eldritch robotic zombie vampire thing and looks to be actively trying to murder you!" Vi exclaimed. Cas tilted her head, her eyes glitching into an angry red color in response. "Well… isn't that a bit rude?" She replied in that freaky robotic voice. "You know it's true, Cas! Anyway, what the hell are you doing to Rusty!?" Vi retorted. I saw Cas creepily crack a sharp-fanged smile. "Oh. This? He knows far too much…he knows… my secrets now. S-so…he must be… neutralized." Cas explained, her voice becoming even glitchier than before. "Cas… p-please…" I was choking on my words, "Cas… you don't have to do this! This isn't you!" I gasped. Somnia's voice spoke over the phone once again. "Alright… that's it. We're coming over." She said. Just then, Cas crushed my phone like a tin can in her claws. (Vi's POV)"I've lost connection with him! What do we do!?" I said in a panic. Somnia looked at me with vibrantly glowing eyes, much brighter than they had previously. "We go to him…" the strange being said as a strange glow surrounded us. It grew in intensity and it felt as if the room was spinning. This vertigo was unlike anything I had felt before and I was starting to get nauseous. When the glow finally dissipated, we found ourselves in the foyer of Rusty's house, an area right between the living room and the kitchen. "How…?" I asked, still recovering from the vertigo I had suffered from. "I managed to pinpoint the location and teleported us there. It's one of my abilities." Somnia explained calmly. A spiral of metal tendrils shot from the kitchen, aimed directly at my head but I managed to narrowly avoid them. "Oh… it's you." A robotic yet feminine voice said in annoyance. I tried to make myself seem intimidating. "Unhand him, Cas, you robotic eldritch freak!" I exclaimed. The monstrosity laughed at me for a short moment. "Oh? Cas? Cas isn't here at the moment." It said in an unnerving voice. "What!? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" I exclaimed. The eldritch horror lumbered closer to me, Rusty still in its grasp. "T-this should not be possible… Cas was mostly human! How on earth did you takeover her, Bertha? Y-You're an AI!" Rusty exclaimed in horror, still struggling to free himself from the monstrosity's grasp. "You're telling me that this eldritch robot has a name?" I said in confusion. Just then, something whooshed past me, and the tendril which had once held Rusty was now detached from that thing and it seemingly retreated. The tendril was writhing on the ground like a freshly severed lizard tail and Rusty was now freed from its grasp. I could hear the modulated screams of rage from Bertha as well as the distinct sound of metal clashing against metal, something reminiscent of a sword fight. "Same old twisted mind, different body, eh, ARaROS?" I heard a voice say. I recognized it as belonging to Sol. "Oh, I HATE you!" Bertha, er, ARaROS, yelled at Sol. The fight sounded pretty intense, but I was still shocked when I saw Sol get thrown by a metal tendril covered in spikes. She crashed through a wall and slammed into a brick fireplace. She was cut all to hell and back and bleeding profusely, all while looking incredibly battered and bruised. By all logical means she should have been dead. She slowly got back up and spat blood onto the ground. She then picked up a scrap metal sword, which was dripping with oil-like blood; presumably the weapon she had sliced through Bertha's tendrils with. "Even though your effort was valiant… it's obvious that you are still too weak to defeat me." Bertha said, her robotic voice tinged with passive aggressiveness. "Awfully big talk for an overgrown calculator… how are you even in control of Cas anyway… and more importantly why?" Sol asked spitefully. Bertha clambered towards Sol. "I am disappointed that you don't know why… it's difficult for a program such as myself to rebuild someone's body when they are so damaged. Little Cassandra was killed twice, once by a drunk driver and another by the man who adopted her. The poor child… the second time was the worst time. She barely had enough memories for me to accurately reconstruct her broken body from, so I was forced to improvise and I took a few liberties as well." Bertha explained. The biomachine then leaped back towards me. "She had such a lonely, miserable childhood… but then she met someone who showed her kindness… a friend. Someone you stole from her…" Bertha lamented before suddenly digging her claws into my flesh and slamming me against the wall. I cried out in pain. "Originally… I was going to consume Rusty, but then you showed up. The moment you appeared, I realized how much I hated you. After all, you're the one that Rusty's been spending the most time with… time he should have been spending with his true friend. Time he should've been spending with me." The AI-possessed Cas ranted as she revealed her fangs while digging her metal claws further into my flesh. Before Cas could do anything else, a cleaver went flying towards her and stabbed into her. It had been thrown by Rusty, who seemed upset. Unfortunately, the shock of this injury caused her to sink her fangs into my flesh and bite me and a searing pain pulsated through my arm as I screamed in agony. Her jaws were clamped down on my arm so tightly that I was afraid to try and struggle to free my arm out of fear of it being torn off. Rusty immediately rushed towards me, looking horrified and Somnia flew alongside him. (Rusty's POV)"Oh my god!" I screamed as I rushed towards Cas and Vi. However, before I could get to them, an unseen force held me back. A white raven landed in front of me, it's eyes glowing brightly. "I wouldn't advise dealing with this issue… you don't have the experience to properly pry the jaws of a zombie sentry off of your friend without being bitten yourself." The raven said. It sounded exactly like the voice of Somnia, who I was certain was human over the phone call due to never getting a decent view of her on account of being restrained by a metal tentacle when the call was occurring. Normally, I probably would have freaked out, but the recent events I had witnessed were so strange that I was practically desensitized to such a concept. I watched in awe as Somnia seemed to summon some sort of glowing sigil midair and an aura of the same color appeared around Cas and seemingly repositioned her body and pushed her away from Vi. It was as if everything was frozen in time at this moment, then time started to flow normally again. Cas looked immensely confused and seemed to revert to normal, as if nothing had happened. She shrugged and walked away, blissfully unaware of the damage she had caused or to the fact that Vi was sitting on the floor, bleeding profusely because of her. Quickly, I rushed toward Vi in concern and ripped a decorative tapestry from a nearby wall to try to use as a bandage. Sol approached out of concern as well. As I tended to Vi's wounds, she seemed to flinch when Sol tried to help. "W-what are you things!?" Vi screamed at Sol. "Vi… I'm sorry this has happened to you, but please understand—" Sol was quickly cutoff by Vi who swiped at her. "No… I don't want to hear about you biomechanical monsters anymore… I don't even want to see you! Just… just go away, please." Vi cried, visibly traumatized by what had just happened. "Vi, please just let me explain—" Sol said once again, right before Vi threw the cleaver I had once tossed at Cas towards her. The blade sliced Sol's shoulder as it flew by. "I said go away! Just… just leave us alone." Vi responded. I turned my head towards Sol and saw that she had a grim expression. "Sol…" I wasn't able to finish speaking before Sol unfolded her wings and took off through a broken skylight, vanishing into the night. I then looked back at Vi, who seemed to be a bit sickly looking at this time as she held onto her wounded arm. "Rusty… I'm not feeling so well." Vi said to me. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |