[ Hello! This is Alex... She looks like a regular corporate slave here, looking a little worn, but alive and doing all right as long as she gets money. Something about her looks. Reliable. Like you can trust her. ]
Hey, Yuri. [ She looks to them. ] These two are your friends? Or are they new recruits?
[ Abnormalities are not easy things to handle, but that's life.
... For Nodd and Rosamund, they see a shift in what they see. They see Alex with her uniform in tatters, blood staining spots, but then it sets back into place. Normal. Fine. Safe. ]
[Oh, there it is. Her lips thin as the woman flips from bloodied to unscathed in the blink of an eye. Nodd may have a point though: Yuri hasn't noticed. And Almathea warned them about this, that they have to see the story through to each end.]
Sure! That would be great. A little tour around the place, show us all the good stuff.
That said, when it's my turn, if you see an elf lady, you knock me out.
[ whispered to rosamund before he directs his attention to the task at hand--which is what? exactly? felt a lot easier when they had amalthea talking them through the memory. ]
Bongy is... created from a distortion, so it's not like a full-fledged Abnormality.
[ Yuri leads them through the cold halls. There's quite a bit of a walk until they reach one of the rooms. Perhaps Yuri knows that it's just a memory and it isn't real, but back home, L Corp was exactly like this. That's why she's ignoring rules and letting outsiders come in and see this stuff.
She slightly opens a metal door and they will find this. Ppodae is a small, white pug puppy with "puppy dog eyes" and a curved in tail. ]
He's cute, isn't he? His name is Ppodae. Sometimes my coworkers fight to look after him for the day...
[ Rosamund and Nodd will find Ppodae to be a cute dog! That's about it. A very cute and ordinary dog. ]
[So much less cursed than Bongy, whose legends she'd heard of but had wisely avoided because capitalism pulled me away. Rosamund moves closer, extending a hand to sniff.]
[ This puppy yips a little, cute and harmless. Do they want to pet?
The surroundings shift into something dark, derelict, and abandoned. Blood smothered on the walls, the floor... For a second, the puppy grows large in their vision. Nodd and Rosamund can hear it crunch, crunch, crunch.
Very human body parts falling out its mouth... Company IDs showing these were employees. Yuri stands there like nothing is wrong.
[ It bork bork... And the scene keeps shifting where it's eating. It looks to Rosamund and Nodd, still hungry. What if it does breach containment. What if there's no bars as you can see in this demented vision?
Back to the puppy though, but Yuri will hear someone call for her back to the main hall. Shall we go return? ]
[ so it's not about guessing what bad went down. or didn't go down. or would have gone down? squinting at the doorway yuri left through. ignoring the menacing puppy. ]
[ When they get back, they don't see the same company at the start. Instead, there are support beams toppled down... Debris absolutely everywhere. Blood draped on the walls, the ceiling, on jagged metal sticking out here and there.
But toward the floor is their eyes trail over a hand, a leg, and bodies. So many company employee bodies.
There they see Alex trembling among the dead. Yuri notices nothing wrong here What she sees is her company... Before the collapse. The normal vision of it sifts in like sand, trying to fight for dominance. ]
--did Mike really have to fight over Ppodae with Eris again? They're both top dog lovers, so maybe their fight will actually go for a while... I'll brew you some coffee again. You probably have an overnight shift, don't you... Alex?
Rosamund is no stranger to gore, but the haphazard limbs and far flung blood are enough to make even the hardiest soldier faint. She holds her hand to her heart as she surveys the damage. There's so many people.
There's Alex. There's Yuri, talking to them like nothing's wrong.
She darts over, gently taking her by the shoulder.]
Yuri. There was a breach. All right? You're not talking to anyone right now. Except us.
[ at rosamund's side, nodd breathes. it's focused breathing, timed by arbitrary beats he counts silently as he softens his vision. that is a lot of blood. those people. what fresh hell did yuri experience that this was lurking right beneath? ]
[ Alex, to Yuri, talks to her about how she does have an overnight shift and she wished those guys could stop arguing over who loves the dog more... Yuri could have this memory—she could forget and the guilt inside her for being the only survivor of this branch can be erased.
The voices that haunt her can disappear.
For Rosamund and Nodd, they see Alex... Wearing the head of an abnormality. There's a reason for this, why she's still alive while the rest are dead. Despite being reliable, being trustworthy, being kind—she... ]
[ She could let it be this way forever. Even after being the sole survivor of this branch, she would be forever an outcast for something that she couldn't help. She wanted to live. She lived and she was punished for it.
Here, she could just live and experience none of that, despite the horrors of L Corp itself. She would rather face that than be reduced to nothing, to have her life not mean anything. She-- ]
[Rosamund looks between the two. Her immediate instinct is to get Yuri to lower the gun, which is followed at once by a second, crueler thought: she should shoot right away.]
No — no it wasn't wrong to want to live. But what happened here, Yuri? What really happened?
[ they're in a manor. they're in a spaceship. nodd attempts to hold onto what he recalls as the truth of things, but it feels far, then farther away as yuri lifts the gun. she'd wanted to introduce them to alex. wanted to show them the cute dog. ]
[ Alex looks at her, but it's hard to see her expression. This mask she wears represents the struggles she suffered. The struggles Yuri didn't. She lunges at her...
More abnormalities are found amok. Razing this skeleton of a building. They screech and groan, attacking nearby survivors who are barely holding on, then when they finish with them... The fresh smell of blood mixes with the acrid tang already in the air.
The monsters start crawling to Nodd and Rosamund, launching sharp tendrils blindly at their direction. They are not the only thing approaching. Something large, something ominous, creating large footfalls as it approaches beyond the two girls.
The atrocities can end if you accept the truth. It can also end if you accept the lie. ]
[ Yuri is immediately taken aback by Alex yelling at her. She's about to spiral, her single gray eye becoming the source of her tears running down her face. Her worst thoughts had been realized by a possible illusion. The Abnormalities continue to breach. The underground building is going under lockdown. Everything--Everything is happening all at once.
It was never wrong that Alex wanted to live, just like how it wasn't for Yuri.
But if Yuri had to choose, she would pick herself over her again and again.
Even if it was a temporary relief... that's all it'll ever be. The City is not so kind. She accepts the truth.
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Hey, Yuri. [ She looks to them. ] These two are your friends? Or are they new recruits?
[ Abnormalities are not easy things to handle, but that's life.
... For Nodd and Rosamund, they see a shift in what they see. They see Alex with her uniform in tatters, blood staining spots, but then it sets back into place. Normal. Fine. Safe. ]
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[ Yuri lets out a nervous laugh, because you're not supposed to bring friends here. But it's fine! ]
I wanted to show them around. I hope Malkuth [ their boss ] doesn't yell at me...
[ Then she turns to Rosamund and Nodd. ]
I also want to show you two one of the Abnormalities here. It's really cute and harmless.
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Sure! That would be great. A little tour around the place, show us all the good stuff.
[Help]
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[ whispered to rosamund before he directs his attention to the task at hand--which is what? exactly? felt a lot easier when they had amalthea talking them through the memory. ]
You mean like Bongy?
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Bongy is... created from a distortion, so it's not like a full-fledged Abnormality.
[ Yuri leads them through the cold halls. There's quite a bit of a walk until they reach one of the rooms. Perhaps Yuri knows that it's just a memory and it isn't real, but back home, L Corp was exactly like this. That's why she's ignoring rules and letting outsiders come in and see this stuff.
She slightly opens a metal door and they will find this. Ppodae is a small, white pug puppy with "puppy dog eyes" and a curved in tail. ]
He's cute, isn't he? His name is Ppodae. Sometimes my coworkers fight to look after him for the day...
[ Rosamund and Nodd will find Ppodae to be a cute dog! That's about it. A very cute and ordinary dog. ]
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[So much less cursed than Bongy, whose legends she'd heard of but had wisely avoided
because capitalism pulled me away. Rosamund moves closer, extending a hand to sniff.]He's so cute! No wonder they fight over him!
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cuteness aggression stop]Oh, he's nothing like Bongy. What makes him abnormal?
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The surroundings shift into something dark, derelict, and abandoned. Blood smothered on the walls, the floor... For a second, the puppy grows large in their vision. Nodd and Rosamund can hear it crunch, crunch, crunch.
Very human body parts falling out its mouth... Company IDs showing these were employees. Yuri stands there like nothing is wrong.
... The scene shifts and nothing is wrong. ]
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[ ...
Yuri laughs a little. ]
I don't know, actually. I've never seen him breach containment before.
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What...what do you suppose might happen if he did?
[How long are they supposed to keep this going?]
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I think we have to be a li'l harsher than that, kid.
[ clears his throat. ]
Hey, Yuri. He's breached containment, though, hasn't he?
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Back to the puppy though, but Yuri will hear someone call for her back to the main hall. Shall we go return? ]
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[ Yuri gives a small, lopsided smile. ]
There hasn't been a record of him breaching yet, but--oh, excuse me.
[ Yuri will go back out into the main hall. ]
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[The girl is already going. Rosamund looks back to the dog. The blood dripping from its maw keeps pulling her in. How many died here?]
It's going to get worse, isn't it?
[So they need to follow.]
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[ so it's not about guessing what bad went down. or didn't go down. or would have gone down? squinting at the doorway yuri left through. ignoring the menacing puppy. ]
Yeah, let's stick together.
[ hurrying along to catch up ]
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But toward the floor is their eyes trail over a hand, a leg, and bodies. So many company employee bodies.
There they see Alex trembling among the dead. Yuri notices nothing wrong here What she sees is her company... Before the collapse. The normal vision of it sifts in like sand, trying to fight for dominance. ]
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--did Mike really have to fight over Ppodae with Eris again? They're both top dog lovers, so maybe their fight will actually go for a while... I'll brew you some coffee again. You probably have an overnight shift, don't you... Alex?
[ Nothing is wrong. ]
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Rosamund is no stranger to gore, but the haphazard limbs and far flung blood are enough to make even the hardiest soldier faint. She holds her hand to her heart as she surveys the damage. There's so many people.
There's Alex. There's Yuri, talking to them like nothing's wrong.
She darts over, gently taking her by the shoulder.]
Yuri. There was a breach. All right? You're not talking to anyone right now. Except us.
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She's right.
[ he follows in rosamund's shadow. ]
The people here were killed. You saw it.
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The voices that haunt her can disappear.
For Rosamund and Nodd, they see Alex... Wearing the head of an abnormality. There's a reason for this, why she's still alive while the rest are dead. Despite being reliable, being trustworthy, being kind—she... ]
The abnormality needs a sacrifice.
[ She looks to them three. ]
I won't let it be me.
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[ She could let it be this way forever. Even after being the sole survivor of this branch, she would be forever an outcast for something that she couldn't help. She wanted to live. She lived and she was punished for it.
Here, she could just live and experience none of that, despite the horrors of L Corp itself. She would rather face that than be reduced to nothing, to have her life not mean anything. She-- ]
Was it so wrong... for me to want to live...?
[ The end of the gun is pointed at Alex. ]
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[Rosamund looks between the two. Her immediate instinct is to get Yuri to lower the gun, which is followed at once by a second, crueler thought: she should shoot right away.]
No — no it wasn't wrong to want to live. But what happened here, Yuri? What really happened?
Did Alex set something loose?
[Or did she?]
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You know the truth, Yuri.
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More abnormalities are found amok. Razing this skeleton of a building. They screech and groan, attacking nearby survivors who are barely holding on, then when they finish with them... The fresh smell of blood mixes with the acrid tang already in the air.
The monsters start crawling to Nodd and Rosamund, launching sharp tendrils blindly at their direction. They are not the only thing approaching. Something large, something ominous, creating large footfalls as it approaches beyond the two girls.
The atrocities can end if you accept the truth. It can also end if you accept the lie. ]
THEN IT SHOULDN'T BE WRONG THAT I WANT TO LIVE!
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It was never wrong that Alex wanted to live, just like how it wasn't for Yuri.
But if Yuri had to choose, she would pick herself over her again and again.
Even if it was a temporary relief... that's all it'll ever be. The City is not so kind. She accepts the truth.
She screams and shoots Alex with the blaster. ]
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