Chapter 95 - The Shapes In The Mirror
"So, we just go… into the book?"
You and Angela are currently standing in the middle of one of the sealed containment cells within your Floor. The room is completely featureless save for two fluorescent light panels on the ceiling that paint the whole cell in completely identical lighting. At the center, sitting atop a plain gray plinth, is a book.
The book is large and bound with a thick leather cover. Stains dot its surface, highlighting the places where weathering has worn it down. Loose pages and other trash are scattered across the floor. The tome's outline is ever so slightly fuzzy, like an out-of-focus picture or something just in the corner of your eye. Despite all this, the words on the cover are still clearly visible.
Book of [CENSORED]
"It looks a bit damaged. Should I be worried about that?" you ask.
"While it might appear that way, it isn't. This is just how Censored prefers its habitat to look from the outside. The only part I am responsible for is the title." Angela answers. You nod thoughtfully.
"You'd think it would've picked something more psychologically damaging, all things considered." you joke, though a part of you is curious. Why does Censored prefer this appearance? It was the only Abnormality whose preferences you could never really discern. Every other Abnormality, even the very strongest, could be appeased with the right attention and care. But Censored was different. It was never happy, never satisfied with its interactions. That it actually has desires at all is a bit of a surprise.
"Anyways, we got a plan before heading in? Prep work is half the battle with Abnormalities like these." you continue, returning your attention to the task at hand. You already have some ideas, but they mostly hinge on how versatile Angela's powers are here in the Library. Assuming she can provide the correct gear, the best way to get around Censored's unique properties would be blocking every form of outside contact and relying on your conjured Soldiers for information. Their mindless nature should prevent them from being affected. While possible for Agents to avoid going mad when facing the incomprehensible Aleph in the Facility, you aren't certain how far its powers will stretch without the Qliphoth Deterrence. Better to be on the safe side and not take risks.
"Yes. I will be relying on you to execute it properly, though." Angela answers. A snap of her finger and dull orange symbols flare around her before slowly settling into a thin field just above her skin. "This barrier will filter out any stimulus that does not originate from you. As an Abnormality, you shouldn't be affected by Censored's unique properties any more than the others."
"Are you sure?" you ask. "I know I'm technically an Abnormality, but I'm not exactly the most typical example around here."
"Of course. Unless you have a better idea?" Angela says with a smirk. You want to say that yes,
you do have a better plan, but… this is Angela. If there's one person who could know Abnormalities anywhere near as well as you do, it would be her. You can trust her to lead for now.
"Don't you have any way to test this first? I'd rather not gamble what little sanity I have left on already being too fucked in the head to get any worse."
Even so, your previous statements about safety still apply.
"I believe there may be one method of estimation." Angela answers promptly. "You witnessed Censored's true form once during your time in the Corporation. Try thinking back to that memory and explain to me what you saw."
You do as requested, pulling up the ancient memory and the buried trauma within it. That had been a particularly unpleasant life. Not only in its ending, but also the days leading up to it. You had been suffering a rash of cynicism due to previous failures to make progress. Because of that, your regard for your coworkers and agents alike had… degraded somewhat. None of that, however, is relevant to the present.
You push further, trying to drag to light anything you can about Censored. Instead, all you remember is… nothing. Well, not
nothing exactly. There was definitely something that you saw. But you can't think of any features it had. No traits or descriptions come to mind. Even the word
it feels like a presumption. The only thing you can know for certain about Censored's presence in your memories is that it' exists.
"Seeing as you aren't reacting, I must assume that what I predicted was correct. You are not affected by Censored's unique properties." Angela concludes.
"Are you sure it normally carries over through memory?" you ask. That gets an interesting reaction. Angela nods, though for just a moment her attention seems to have drifted elsewhere.
"I declassified some of Censored's files received from other Branches after the Facility fell. One in particular performed extensive testing with it before it was moved." the Library Director answers.
"You've really been getting things done while I've been away." you comment absently. Your focus is more on the conflict ahead than anything else.
"We should go." Angela says without much actual urgency. "Assuming you don't have anything else to bring up?"
"Fair. Let's just get this over with."
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The inside of Censored's book is… bizarre, to say the least. You had no clue what Censored's ideal environment could be. In a way, you were excited. You're learning new information about one of your Abnormalities after years of it being a mystery. You have missed this sort of thing, and while Distortions are similar to Abnormalities the joy of discovery is dulled by the consequences of each new detail you find. But here?
It's just you doing the work required of you.
Surprisingly, you find yourself in a replica of the Library.
Not a perfect replica, but the basics are here. Elegant arches intricately carved with patterns stretch over every path. The halls seem to stretch and twist on forever, forming an endless labyrinth of books and false wood. Lanterns are fixed to the walls at even intervals, keeping everything equally illuminated. More distinct, though, are the signs of decay.
The normally bright, warm lighting is a dull flicker. The walls, floor, and ceiling have turned a dull, rotted grey. Spiderwebs and holes dot the scene. The books, normally disorganized but taken care of, are scattered across the floor in prices and floating in puddles of thick, black tarry fluid that sizzles slightly whenever something new falls into it. The hallway forward twists slightly as it goes, having fully turned upside-down by the time it breaks off into a T-junction. Everything looks blurry and far-away until you focus on it hard enough.
Your attention is more drawn to the creatures, however.
Three humanoid things stand hunched over one of the puddles of tar, staring down at a falling piece of wood. Even at a glance, you can tell something is horribly wrong with them. Each creature looks less like it's actually there are more like a hole in space leading to a person, with every angle of that person facing you no matter how little sense it makes. The more you try to pick out the individual details, the more fuzzy and unfocused the creatures' bodies get.
Angela stops behind you, having seen you pause to examine the things. "Is something there?"
"We've got subordinate entities." you report, rifle already in hand and soldiers fanning out behind you to form a firing line. Angela sighs and raises a hand.
Light flickers around her, and her faint purple dress is replaced by an elegant black and white one decorated with musical symbols. The book under her arm vanishes, replaced by a stylized black scythe.
The Aleph's spawn start moving towards you, and any resemblance to a person disappears. They don't so much run forwards as they do shift through space, folding and rippling in uneven patterns as their forms splay put into nonsensical shapes. You fire, tearing holes in the bizarre creatures with each volley. A high-pitched whine sounds out, like metal wire being fed through a blender. You're not sure if it's the sound of the creatures' bodies being punctured or just them screaming.
Angela hasn't been idle either. Each swing and sweep of
Da Capo slicing into the approaching beast with an elegant note despite the distance between her and her targets. Their movements lag and stutter with each strike, trapped by the weight of the performance. A final swing, and the pressure explodes in a glorious crescendo that send the creatures flying back through the twisted halls.
Before the sound has even faded, another three creatures burst from the walls to your side. You give a quick call of "Left!" before drawing your rapier and skewering the nearest one. Apathy sinks through its disjointed body, and it sinks to the ground even before your heel crushes the part of it that looks most like a skull. It's a point of mild interest; the opponents you've fought up until this point haven't given you a chance to appreciate what heavy white damage does to a sapient creature. It's not the easiest thing to test ethically, to be fair, and most of the acceptable targets die before anything becomes apparent. Your current foes, however, can take that punishment. The creature half-crushed under your boot lashes up at you, only to take a swing of
Mimicry through what looks like center mass for its trouble.
The next thing flits towards you, deterred by a pulse of starlight. The next pulse splits the abstract mess of shapes into an even messier, more abstract corpse. The third, unfortunately, slips past your guard and jabs a pair of ribbon-like appendages towards your chest. They just barely force their way through your skin, buzzing and burning against your flesh. You grimace and pull back, but the thing continues to press its advantage and forces more of its disjointed body towards you. Teeth gritted and breathing heavily, you call up
Sound of a Star and blast the intruding beast away. Its bizarre whine continues, only to be abruptly silenced. A sound like a chiming bell signals the death of the creature in a flash of fluttering white wings. Whatever attack Angela just used, only a few scattered particles remain as evidence. Your sister stands practically untouched, walking over to dust you off as you lean against your rifle for support.
"Are they all gone?" Angela asks as a small white pebble appears in her hand. As the rock twinkles, the scant few wounds you received close and fade. You nod silently as you scan the surroundings. Censored's spawn are already fading away, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces until nothing is left. The wall they broke through is full of oddly geometric holes, without much other damage that wasn't there before.
"Yah, we got 'em. They're pretty fast and tough, but doesn't seem like they have many special properties aside from how they look. Extended contact seems to be corrosive, so they broke through the wall and got the jump on me. Still, as long as groups don't get much bigger than that, we should be fine."
It is in that moment you recognize that you've made a mistake. If Angela's deeply unimpressed stare wasn't enough of a hint, the bizarre screeching as eight more of the monsters finish tunneling through the far wall would be a pretty helpful sign. In a situation like this, there's only one thing to say.
"Fuck."
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With a second pack of living nightmare fuel cut down, and you're breathing heavily again. No injuries this time, on account of being able to pin down the enemies at a distance. Angela might not have been able to properly see them, but between you playing spotter and the legitimately absurd number of massive, wide-range attacks she could use it hardly mattered. Unfortunately, you have now run into a new problem.
"I'm not sure where to go next."
Angela frowns at your statement. "It's unusual that we weren't faced with Censored from the start. Normally, the Librarians appear directly before the Abnormality they're confronting."
"Well, I don't see anything. Let me try something else…"
You open your senses and scan for the mysterious Abnormality. It's not hard to find; the intense mass of
somethingsitting just above you is rather noticeable. The question is, why is it there?
"It's just waiting above us." you report to Angela, and she turns her eyes up towards the ceiling. "Not doing anything right now, but that could change any time."
"Could it be afraid?" Angela proposes. "Censored might be one of the more powerful Alephs, but we are in a much better position to face it."
You should…
[] Take Initiative And Strike
[] Try to Communicate?
-[] How?
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Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Writing incomprehensible horrors beyond human imagination is difficult for a comprehensible being who exists entirely within the bounds of human imagination.
On another note, we've got a new
Ruina Quest on-site! Go check it out.
