hmm.
Hypothesis.
What if this is about The blue man group?
To elaborate on this. What if, The lack of midnight for this ordeal is because The blue man group never reached their supposed climax.
Stage show of the blue man groupNever reached their climax to the public because the city folks never saw that climax. They disappeared into the library before the common folks ever see the end of show.
The abandonment of the flesh representing the distortion phenomenon and abandoning their old body and falling into the ultimate pleasure as following her word means nothing will ever bother them ever again.
After all to the public, they are just a bunch of mad men speaking the words of a clown.
The Crimson Troupe's Tropes are quite strange. The one that fits best is probably Oswald. Any other themes or characters or even events can't seem to embody it quite as well as Oswald does.
I guess that's just basic Clown to Clown communication.
Ok this completely confirms it. All of the Distortion bosses will be based on the Ordeals from Lobotomy Corporation. We've seen the Eternal Meal, and now the Helix of the End. I'm pretty sure that Quintus will be The God Delusion, but whether we see The Struggle at the Climax be embodied or not I'm not sure.
The God Delusion would be pretty weird since there are actual gods walking on Terra (the Feranmuts), though most of Terra's people are atheists despite that.
The saddest version of that is Kjearg who has a benevolent goddess who loves her people dearly and a devoutly religious population willing to kill each other to maintain their traditions on things their goddess cares not about it but their dogma does I.e. build the railroad bad or modern technology.
The Ordeals in Lobotomy Corporation can be traced to both Ayin's personal fears and trials in the Facility and in other Distortions, but in general represent the numerous fears and sins from the collective unconsciousness and of the City, aspects that permeate all levels of life within its walls.
To be specific, Binah explains that they are impurities that arise from the process of extracting Abnormalities from humans, a byproduct that draws their physical form from the collective human unconsciousness. It's why that they not only take on the shape of generic monsters but also specific entities like Sweepers and Claws.
CrimsonOrdealsannounce the drowning of reason and morality in bloodshed for the sake of pleasure, to endlessly indulge in pain and sensation of not only their victims but also themselves. They not only seek the mutilation of others but also of themselves, butchering their own bodies and minds for greater heights of ecstasy and will throw themselves into the jaws of death with gleeful abandon, a fact represented with how they all have effects that activate upon death. Sado-masochistic hedonists of the highest order, no depravity is taboo, as there is no higher calling than the pursuit of pleasure. Meaningless, unnecessary violence inflicted for no reason other than hedonistic depravity.
Bloodshed is a common sight in the world, so much that one can argue that blood is the secondary currency of the City. Every day there is an sudden spree of violence, an orgy of bloodshed that drenches all who lives, staining their lives with a stench that would not leave. So it is inevitable that some would adapt, and of those some would adapt too much. fighters that thrive off of the cutting of blades, chefs that literally make food out of suffering, artists that spend ages cultivating the perfect expression of agony, musicians that create music and instruments out of human flesh and bone... Even The Blood-Red Night once balked at the idea of taking another's life, and now revels in it, addicted to the hunt despite the fact that there were alternative, less harmful methods of feeding.
Bloodshed was equally present in Ayin's facility. The Agents that regularly suppressed any threats, the Abnormalities that sought their end, the Clerks that were inevitably caught in the crossfire. One must adjust to loss and violence in order to survive. But adaptation leads to familiarity, and familiarity brings callousness and desire.
Those who rush forward to carve another scar on the monsters that hurt you, neglecting to protect yourself and those around you in order to inflict more pain.
Those who joked about the deaths of others, brushing their loss away with words like, "Clerks don't count."
Those who watched with eager anticipation for the next tragedy to grace your eyes.
Exemplars are The 8 O'Clock Circus, The Eighth Chef and The Musicians of Bremen. The Blood-Red Night gets an honorable mention for her dedication to her Thirst, but is penalized for not committing to butchering her own body. She keeps calling everyone else "weirdos."
Amber Ordeals represent the banality of the world, the regression into primal instincts, the reduction to the most base of existences. Life is not wonder, or love, or beauty, or passion or the million other things people are always keen to sprout about the meaning of existence. Life is consumption. Life is competition. Life is eating and being eaten, killing and being killed. A world of survival where dog-eat-dog and worm-eat-worm, mindlessly consuming to live without thought or feelings. A world where you take your emotions, your morality, your ideals into your mouth and chew them up and spit them out because they hold you back from doing what you have to do. Devour both the past and the future for the sake of the present. An obsession with survival leads to an particular talent at clinging to life, whether through propagation or sheer tenacity. You ask, "Is this all there is?" and they say, "Yes. You get up. You eat. You shit. You sleep. You die. And nothing else." It is the waster of potential, the destructor of worth itself.
The City is one giant rat race. The endless drudgery of getting up, going to work, eating, and sleeping that grinds on the soul. Making money just so you can lose money so you make money to lose to make to lose. People screwing each other over because that's "just business." Rats feed on stragglers and harvest their organs to sell for a pittance for survival. Fixers must take an endless stream of tasks to pay their taxes and to upkeep their equipment, all to climb the rankings where they have to do it all over again. The Feathers live in relative luxury, but their safety relies on their job and how useful they are to their Wing, clinging to their occupation lest their place in the Nest is revoked. Only the truly elite could be said to be free of worries, and when you're at the top, why worry about those at the bottom? It's only fair. It's just how the world works.
Lobotomy Corporation is a company. It has a daily work shift, research to conduct, quotas to meet, forms and contracts binding employees to their employers, training videos, the works.
It also regularly features daily violence and a large loss of human life.
This is normal.
This is expected.
This is intentional.
Human suffering is incorporated into the company's daily cycle as part of it's ultimate purpose. It isn't a one-and-done tragedy, it is the desired result, baked into the system from the start. A never-ending hell of our own making.
You can ask, "Is this how it has to be? Is there all there is? Was it worth it?"
You can hate it, you can scream and cry and swear that you won't let this happen, but the choice is not yours.
You have choice but to take part in the cycle, and the wheel grinds on your soul and your heart grows numb until you are little more than a moving corpse chained to a desk, who can only say,
"That is that and this is this."
Exemplar is L'huere du Loup.
Green Ordeals embodies the lost, the purposeless, the outcasts, the abandoned, the betrayed, the used and abused, those left with nothing but a broken heart and an emptiness that is filled with rage and revenge at those responsible for their suffering. The weapon who wages war against those who wielded it, the tool who seeks to use others as others have used them, the creation rebelling against it's creator. The ones who were promised happiness and purpose, only to have that light snatched away. They tend to focus on inflicting pain and destruction onto others, their methods variable as long as they can bring ruin to their targets.
Humans love to talk about goodness. They talk about honesty, about proper behavior, about honor and trust and kindness. All that good stuff that gives you fuzzy feelings that helps you believe that there is something worthwhile in life and in other people. So most people don't see it coming when the knife sticks in their backs. The City is a society that encourages selfishness, and if other people gets screwed then it's their fault for not seeing it coming. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive, after all. Naturally, their victims disagree. Naturally, they want revenge for what was done to them, retribution for what they have lost. To become a sword of justice that falls upon all those that wronged them, a bullet that relentlessly seeks out their target, never resting until their quarry is slain. Whether innocents get caught in the crossfire doesn't matter to them. Only the death of the target matters, as the sword is not a tool that exists to protects the weak but solely to bring death to other humans.
Lobotomy Corporation is built on atrocities. Innumerable betrayals, regrets, failures and sufferings all condense into the foundation of our company, the countless sins of the past serving as the bedrock of the present, forged in the name of the future.
The massacre of the clerks, the peril of the agents, the trauma of the Sephirot, the repression of the Abnormalities, the loss and shattering of the Moon and the Sun, the unceasing toil of Angela...
Yes, it is only because of the suffering of the past may we reach towards the promised future.
But a reckoning is not to be postponed indefinitely.
The repressed agonies will come be a boil and overflow. This is not a possibility, but a certainty. A promise.
Here, it is impossible to escape the consequences of your sins.
Only when all wrongs are properly addressed may the wound begin to close.
But a single missed spot would fester and spread, beginning the cycle anew.
Exemplar is The Puppeteer.
Violet Ordeals are more complex. Part of it consists of an unrelenting curiosity, a drive to understand that is unhindered by reason and rejects the idea that there are things that mankind cannot know, the impossibility that there are things that cannot be understood. The other half involves a yearning for a higher power that will embrace us, the desire for something greater than you to exist and love you as much as you love them. The binding tenant is a sort of willful delusion, a denial of the truth in favor of a comfortable lie, endlessly reaching for an impossible goal while trampling over any limits and boundaries, represented in-game as lowering the Qliphoth Counter and opening containment cells in order to satisfy their need for answers and acceptance from beings that cannot do so.
Ultimately, they represent the fear of the unknown and the idea that we live in an uncaring universe with nothing but ourselves, that there is no meaning to life. When humanity is confronted with the unknown, they instinctively seek understanding. They observe details, seek patterns, catalogue the world into neat little boxes that makes sense. But there is always more. There is always something out there that we do not have the answer to, and when confronted with that truth humanity tends to bend. Some reject the notion and clings to their outdated understanding of the world, while others relentlessly pursue knowledge, crossing over all boundaries in the name of a world that makes sense. And when even that fails, they see patterns where there is not and invent a reason the world is the way it is, truth giving way to delusion, driven to abandon the knowledge they claimed to treasure in order to slake an ever-gnawing dread and desperation.
A desperation that gives birth to gods.
Being a cyberpunk dystopia, the City boasts many considerable technological marvels, most notably the Singularities held by the Wings. What is also considerable is the body count racked up in the process of creating, and often merely operating, said Singularities, moral guidelines and the worth of human life pushed aside in the name of scientific progress and making a quick buck.
It is natural to seek security and stability in numbers. Humans rarely make it on their own an rely on banding together in order to survive. The City is no different, boasting an unceasing multitude of organizations, where one may join up in hopes of finding support to foster their strength and a shelter from the outside world. If they are lucky, they might wish for a place to belong, somewhere that would recognize their worth and treasure them as they are.
The City laughs at such an idea. Here is the place where the individual goes to die, sacrificed for the good of the group. This is most evident in the corporate Wings, but is also evident in Syndicates such as the Thumb and the Index and cults like the Church of Gears. The common individual struggles to grasp the rationality of those organizations, who in turn make no effort to understand; they do not expect understanding, only compliance. To offer endless dedication and love to something that will never reciprocate.
We cannot understand them. They cannot understand us.
We just hoped that they would love us as much as we loved them.
While Lobotomy Corporation is primarily an energy company, they also conduct much research as well.
The Abnormalities require observation and categorization in order to identify optimal working conditions, and such a task does not come without pain.
Unbound by conventional physics and armed with a myriad of abilities, even the weakest Abnormality can kill a man several times over or drive them to madness.
The body stills, the mind breaks, the heart collapses.
As the employees suffer the slings and arrows of misfortune, they cry out for salvation.
But there is no answer.
The company will not save them, for the employees are mere tools for their great work.
The Sephirah cannot save them, limited by their roles and entrenched as they are in their own traumas.
The Abnormalities cannot save them, for in their separation with humanity they lack understanding and offer only torment.
So they left their faith in the Manager, who offered freedom and salvation, even as they all began the cycle anew.
Entangled in the chains of false promises, the facility endlessly pursued the horizon, lured by the promise of the Sun for a dawn that will never come.
Why do they persist with this cycle of torment?
This, at least, has an answer.
This pursuit is a prayer.
A prayer that everything that came before had worth.
Exemplar is The Church of Gears.
The other two are weird.
Indigo is... Sweepers. They're just Sweepers. Nothing else.
Sweepers are essentially the City's public cleaning service, except instead of trash they clean bodies, both living or dead. They are only active during a certain period of night dubbed "Night in the Backstreets" and anyone who is outside during curfew is essentially free game. If someone you know didn't make it inside in time, better kiss them goodbye. They probably won't be there in the morning. No body left behind. There's some other stuff about their anatomy and language but that's probably not relevant.
Lobotomy Corporation does not have Sweepers. It is indoors. It is underground. It technically does not have a "night," so to speak.
What it does have is a schedule. A daily work cycle where Agents are assembled, EGO gear is passed out, work is conducted, clerks are massacred, Abnos are suppressed, energy is collected, quota is reached, and the day is ended all the Abnormalities are back in their cells, the Agents are off the work floor, and the bodies are cleaned up and come morning everything was just like it was before. A new day. A fresh start. Then we do it all over again.
Sometimes it goes further. When the blood stains a little too much, when the bodies pile on too high, when things become too chaotic so you just-
Stop.
Stop moving forward, stop looking for safety, stop trying, and just let the tides of time sweep you away, remove the bodies on the floor, put the cells back in the bag to be pulled out again, scrub away the blood and the memories, putting everything back the way it was. Like there was never anything there.
A new day. A fresh start.
Then we do it all over again.
White Ordeals are special. They only show up during the final days when completing Keter and suppressing The Pieces of The Mirror the fragments of A. Comes in the forms of 4 flavors of Fixers, one for each damage type, and A Claw of the Head. They are not real Fixers, like the Sweepers before them, just the dredge from extracting Abnormalities taking the shape of them. So the Head isn't going to bust down the door and lay down the law. This time.
They're, well, they're Ayin's fears of the Head finding out the Plan and invading like last time in the Outskirts Lab. They could symbolize a fear of general outside interference, but mostly it's about the Head. You're near the finish line, the pressure is ramping up, so naturally you start wondering about what could go wrong. And then you remember what happened last time...
It could be a last hurrah sort of thing. In order to complete the plan which required you to learn and grow into a better person you have to overcome what laid you low in the past. Symbolically, because fighting two Claws and An Arbiter along with EVERY ABNO IN THE FACILITY sounds like a nightmare.
Their text talks about how they are everywhere, they do anything and everything, and will pretty much endlessly throw themselves at a problem until they get what they want. The Head is mentioned has having absolute knowledge and control over the world, and as long as they are around nothing is going to change. It's pretty much painting that they are an insurmountable yet unavoidable adversary, so someone is gonna have to take them out. But who?
Exemplars are, well, Apocalypse Bird is right there. But otherwise the Head is the Head. They speak for themselves.
Something tells me that we're not going to be able to undistort this one, primarily because we don't know shit in-character. We don't know what or where Ursus is, or how far away from Kazimierz it is, we don't know who Koshelna is, we don't know who the deathless black snake is and we don't know that it can't ever die. Additionally, we're already trying to thwart Adam's plans, and now we have to watch out for the Library too. We also can't just up and go there like we could with Iberia. We work for Rhodes Island now, remember? If they choose not to deploy there, we're sunk.
Unless Sieg is able to get the full story on the way there (if RI decides to assist) then there's no way he's going to be able to get through to her. Koshelna is a lost cause.
Sieg has been in Terra for a month now, he must've picked up a map and a history book if only to keep his lies straight. He is probably as familiar with Ursus as someone who has no particular interest in the nation.
This problem can probably be solved by Sieg's connection to Light and Distortions. Sieg IC knows more about Koshelna than most people because he got a brief summary from Abel because voices in the Light probably has access to others memories and stuff.
Even with these I agree that we probably can't reverse Koshelna. She is too far gone and death would probably be a mercy than to let her live with the guilt of all that she has done as The End of Ursus.
Something tells me that we're not going to be able to undistort this one, primarily because we don't know shit in-character. We don't know what or where Ursus is, or how far away from Kazimierz it is, we don't know who Koshelna is, we don't know who the deathless black snake is and we don't know that it can't ever die. Additionally, we're already trying to thwart Adam's plans, and now we have to watch out for the Library too. We also can't just up and go there like we could with Iberia. We work for Rhodes Island now, remember? If they choose not to deploy there, we're sunk.
Unless Sieg is able to get the full story on the way there (if RI decides to assist) then there's no way he's going to be able to get through to her. Koshelna is a lost cause.
Sure, our chances now aren't good mainly due to our lack of knowledge, but that can be rectified. Among Rhodes Island are several individuals who have relevant information, and even just giving some pointers can be vital. Geography can be looked up easily, and there are some people who know who the Snake is on board. Sieg's own ability to connect with Distortions is also on the table and can be used to establish empathy and understanding on both her past and her powers. We don't know if coming to blows with the Library is set in stone, and there's a good chance we can team up if at least to stymie Adam and Carmen.
Heck, Capone was literally Just Some Guy we were supposed to beat up who we knew for the span of one night, and we still undistorted him and now he's one of us.
Getting over there can be a problem, especially with our contract with Rhodes Island, but we don't know what their future destination is. I mean we just hopped on the ship for medical treatment and hey, they were headed to Kazimierz anyway. Just where we needed to go. Even if our itinerary don't match up we probably would still have options. I doubt the QM is going to say, "Here's some important stuff that shows up in the world, but you're never gonna get there. Whoops."
Yeah, it's not gonna be easy. Backbreaking difficult, really. But I won't say it is impossible.
I know it doesn't look good, and the possibilities of getting through to Kolshena is low, but I still think it is too early to write her off just yet.
Even if it is only a chance, I think it is worth trying.
And if things don't work out, then, well, that's just how it goes sometimes. We need to resolve this situation one way or another.
But until that failure becomes a certainty, we should strive forward with that goal in mind.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, right?
I think the funniest thing would be if when we get to Ursus, we accidentally team up with Koshei the worst boomer to help murder Koshelna since he definitely more bodies than 2, and him just being inside an Ursus officer leading a quarantine or resistance effort which we hook up with would be a neat twist.
Well, while I get around to finally beating Big Sad Lock and finishing the next chapter, I'd like to hear out your opinions about the story's progress? Who's your favorite character, and what did you think of the last two arcs? If you have any other thoughts on It's Turbin' Time, I'd love to hear them.
Is hard to say who is my favorite character, which is more of a me problem, since I usually have a hard time coming to a conclusion on such thing. Mind you I'm separating LoR from this since otherwise it just default to Roland. I like the last two arcs, for me who know both series it was easy to follow with nothing giving me pause; which I feel in most crossover author like to over overcomplicate things more than they should/necessary. I do somewhat feel like some characters are being underutilized but I believe that's more due to the nature of our vote rather than anything, we mostly tend to stick to ourselves, which I can't really blame.
Who's your favorite character, and what did you think of the last two arcs? If you have any other thoughts on It's Turbin' Time, I'd love to hear them.
Well, while I get around to finally beating Big Sad Lock and finishing the next chapter, I'd like to hear out your opinions about the story's progress? Who's your favorite character, and what did you think of the last two arcs? If you have any other thoughts on It's Turbin' Time, I'd love to hear them.
My greatest criticism of the quest is that it relies a bit too much on canon for story progression. We subvert the rails of course, especially in Iberia where a lot of things changed, but I can't help but feel that hopping from canon event to canon event leaves little breathing room for Sieg and co. to actually explore the world they're in.
He mostly spends time fighting or planning fights rather than getting to know what life's like in Terra and how it compares to the City as that mostly happens off-screen. That's a big shame, I think, since both works tackle societal problems and how they shape the characters pretty heavily.
Basically, it'd be nice to have some downtime between each big event, if nothing else, just to explore the characters' personal feelings in the world they found themselves in. Kind of like the OpRecords in Arknights or the cutscenes in each floor in LoR where the Librarians just kinda hang out and talk smack about each other.
It would be nice, yep. It doesn't need to be pure Slice of Life either! I think spending some downtime between each event can also be used to do several things that affect the next big event Sieg and co. tackles.
Like for example, we can choose to have Sieg hang out with certain operators he already met, and do it enough times, maybe he can ask them to help him out with the next big event. It'll be harder for some characters who have prior commitments (The Abyssal Hunters), but someone like Mostima or Texas might be up for it.
That, or Sieg can go shopping to buy stuff that may or may not affect the next big event. Buy things like grenades or request a weapons upgrade from Engineering.
Character-wise, between Sieg's general unflappability and the bursts of emotion beneath the mask, like caring for Anita or horror/disbelief/disgruntlement with anything Lob Corp. Also Wympe is very good and Capone and Abel are excellent Straight-Men to Seig's casual absurdity.
I liked how you explore more of how the City works through Seig's past experiences and explore the juxtaposition of two worlds that are both awful in their own ways yet possess things that are worth fighting for. There was a bit in Lungmen how Seig arrived during a festival and explained a little of it, a small thing that made the world seem more alive.
These are mostly just little things, but I quite liked the "Casefile 311-5", I liked the moment of banter between Abel and Sieg (Forgot which part and I haven't found it) where he made the joke about the researcher opening fire on a store and Abel not realizing it at first, I liked the moment in 1.3 where Seig took a moment to figure out how to dodge the crossbows without exerting too much and activating the fairy. I liked when in 3.3 you could easily tell that Seig was acting different because he was talking to a child, Bishop Quintus having a meltdown in 2.10 and 2.11 was pretty fun.
On the topic of the wider storytelling instead of just the little moments, I liked it when the Fairy was an issue (Though I imagine having every fight followed up by "And Then Seighart Went To The Hospital" could easily get repetitive fast) and Seighart had to more consider carefully how much he is exerting himself and how. I feel like with there being 4 new distortions the amount of plot threads might be getting a little excessive (Or maybe it's just my reading comprehension being in the negatives as per usual) though I do like how there is a crisis going on that we can't possibly do anything about ourselves without leaving the possible crisis already unfolding. Unless I forgot some key details, I'm pretty sure Seighart couldn't really explain how he knows that there's a Distortion happening out in another country to people outside Turbulence Office without making himself incredibly suspicious. Pardon me if any of these ideas and sentiments has already thrown out by someone, I mostly just read the threadmarks.
It's somewhat harder to breathe, and you can feel the sweat dripping from your forehead. Your heart is still beating madly from all that emotion you just experienced. All of that, just being poured out into the ether… and you felt it as if it was a feeling from your own heart. But they're not yours. These emotions.
That hatred.
The Distortion Phenomenon… you never thought very deeply about it, until you got tangled in all this mess. You were curious, but you never actually went out seeking answers on its inner workings.
But it's hard not to realize some common traits that all Distortions seem to share.
They're not hiding anything. Everyone hides things- no one is truly comfortable with letting out their entire self into the air. But they are.
All that hate… all that anger. Utterly unrestrained. A potential pot of agony and spite and fury and bitterness, always holding onto that potential, but always held back by this… Deathless Black Snake.
This person. This "Koshelna." She had utterly collapsed before. She had sunk into complete and utter despair, and allowed this entity to puppet her body freely.
When Carmen came, Koshelna didn't simply awaken- she exploded.
And then she laid the blame onto every single citizen of Ursus, every soldier, every factory worker and miner and student, everyone.
You don't know much about Ursus. The textbooks you've sorted through- to get your lies working reasonably well- told you that it was a very mineral-rich country with a very bloody past, but you very much doubt everyone in Ursus was complicit in whatever happened to "Koshelna."
And it seems she doesn't care.
You sigh.
These sorts of events are always troublesome. You never liked seeing indiscriminate killings.
It is our land, and it is my duty to render It all into ashes. Have you ever heard of slash-and-burn agriculture, Fixer?
She loved me! She loved me, and you took her from me! You're all going to pay…
If the Prescript commands- we follow. There is no room for hesitation, and our feelings do not factor in the pristine equation of the Prescripts. And yet, and I cannot say I won't feel a special sort of pleasure at slaughtering you all.
You lot ain't worth anything as people. Might as well serve as an ingredient for me. I'm feelin' like I should go out and try making a serving of meat cake, you know, for that buffet next week- I think you'll all do nicely.
I needed the money. I'm sorry.
I will render it all into a beautiful forest. I will bleed for you, so you can rise again as one of mine. And you will… no longer be so cruel to me. Once you have paid for your many, many sins, you will take a seat and our table, and you will eat with us.
Well, we did have to test the new corrosive grenades, didn't we?
G-Corp is growing desperate- they've drastically lowered the standards for the mimicry procedures. Any civilian can be recruited now. If we are to finish this war now and preserve the infrastructure, we will need to remove their stockpile of future soldiers.
Initiate the purge.
The Sottocapo declared every single one of you trashbags gotta die for that disrespect your friend pulled. And boy, am I going to have fun doing it.
This place is Hell. It is my duty to free you from it.
According to the terms of our contract, we are not to allow any survivors. That's just how Fixer business is, kid. Don't feel sad about it.
You know that human beings are complex. That they're messy, complicated, ugly things. That they lie to themselves and others. But how can be the Distortion be any sort of solution to this?
You don't know how many are going to die.
Over three hundred thousand people died through the Pianist's melody.
Over seventy thousand people died through the Crying Children's flames.
Four thousand and three hundred people were consumed by the Bleeding Heart Forest.
And now the woman known as Koshelna will slaughter many more.
Is it your responsibility?
Is it your fault?
…Abel?
"...I saw it, too."
…Like you said before. She made her move. What to do now?
"We cannot do much. We can only hope Ursus will be able to confront her."
Yes, it's true. Even if you dropped everything and sped towards Ursus right now, it would just take too long to get there, and then you'd have to fight your way through an army of machines with no backup. And you don't think you can tell anyone else about your issue without sounding like a loon.
Turbulence Office would follow, yes. But you don't want to rope them into this without explaining everything.
You're probably going to have to do that, at some point.
Nicole…
"Perhaps… not everything needs to explained, no?"
…such as his involvement in the Smoke War? His responsibility in the Distortion Phenomenon's creation, via Lobotomy Corporation?
"...indeed."
…you'll cross that bridge when you get to it. For now, you need to make sense of things. The number one priority is stopping Adam.
You straighten your posture- it seems that you did manage to spend the entire night sleeping here, standing against the wall with your eyes closed, without anyone coming in to harvest your organs or shank you when you were unprepared.
…you're still not entirely used to that.
It would be best if Abel left, right now.
"Why?"
You're about to seek an audience with Carmen. You want to talk to her.
"...very well."
His presence grows fainter. And you feel another one seep into your mind. That voice- the voice, warm, warm like the sun. So inviting. But you know that this kindness is in truth the most cruel of lies.
Hah, you're just being pointlessly overdramatic.
The Voice… or Carmen, now. You thought of them as something normal, really. A source of battlefield advice, and an advisor who just tended towards being really annoying at times. But turns out she's not at all trying to help you.
You won't lie. You did feel a little bit betrayed, seeing the scene of the girl's' Distortion.
"I'm sorry. But you did see what was happening to her, didn't you? And you know very well what I want."
How can it this worth it?
"Can you say… if your friends were at stake… would you really not do the same thing?"
That is not remotely comparable.
"It is what you want. And that is what truly matters." she says, before pausing. "We're all selfish, like that. But tell me. Have you ever felt… despair?"
Who has not?
Who hasn't felt, at some point in their lives, that they had nowhere to go?
But that is no reason to go mad. There is always hope. You remember your darkest depths, and they taught you exactly that lesson.
You lost your eyes, once. You climbed out of Grade 9 and bought new ones.
You lost your limbs. You fought, claimed them back, and stitched them back into your body.
You lost your home, your friends, everything you had. You doubt you will ever return to the City. But you can earn everything back.
As long as you're alive, there's hope. The mad can claw their way back to reason, the sick can be cured. Everything is a matter of hope.
"That's a beautiful way to think, Sieg. But you're in position to hope. You have strength- power. Koshelna had nothing, you know. The Snake crushed her so utterly, so completely, that she could no longer resist anything."
"Again, and again, it spoke the same words. Each new heir understood these words, in time."
"You will become me."
"There is variation, of course. But the truth is, the Deathless Black Snake is a being that has existed for a long, long time. And each time it does the same thing. It waits, and it crushes the soul of those who it has chosen as its heirs."
You oppose it, then? This creature. Koshelna was one of its heirs, someone who lost control of their own body?
"No, not really."
…uh?
"I'm not exactly opposed to what the Snake wishes. All I do is talk, so people realize their own wishes. In a sense, I'm no different from them." she tells you, then. "The snake cannot touch its heirs. It is only when they succumb- when they at last give up, and accept its words, that it can gain control. All it took for them to lose their body was a few words."
You still don't understand much. You feel like you're not being told the full story.
You've been feeling that specific sensation a lot, recently. Ugh.
"Well, it's a bit complicated, all in all. It involves a young history student, and her mentor- a nobleman called "Kashchey." But it's not what matters, now. What matters is that I finally did what I wanted to do. The Light is here, Sieg. It's here to stay."
How… how did it become possible for her to Distort anyone, this far away from you? In an entirely different country?
"Heh. Well, you can blame the Library for that."
…what.
"They're all made of Light, and they spread it everywhere they go. And Adam has been doing a great job. We talk, you know! He missed me, and I missed him."
Dammit. That's another thing for the list of stuff to talk about with the Library.
"Well. I'm sorry, Sieg, but we can't keep talking for now! I'm a busy woman, you know. I have so many things to see! Don't worry, though. I can't speak with anyone who isn't already aware of me. I'll have to wait for the Light to build up again. So see you!"
…and then, she is gone. Faint images of disturbing creatures flash behind your eyes.
Some sort of gigantic serpentine Sweeper, curling around the body of a young man in a protective manner. The young man rests peacefully, holding onto a bladed appendage. But the blade refuses to cut his skin.
The vast wreck of a gigantic bear puppet. The mutilated carcass of a man who was once clad in an elaborate costume. A writing quill ran through a man's eye. A castle burns. Someone holds a red jewel in their hand- and crushes it.
A puppet, made from the mangled corpse of a man, made to dance for the amusement of a liquid crowd. The strings that hold it up are human spines.
…other Distortions. She Distorted more people.
You slam your hand against the brick wall in rage, making a huge, obvious crack on it as you do so. The sound is not particularly discreet, either.
A man who was just crossing the street stares at you, and runs away.
Shit.
The Library staff is in a very important mission to retrieve enormously important books, and uncover a mystery relating to Turbulence Office's disappearance from the Library.
Obviously, they would spend their free time doing important things. Like reconnaissance, or investigation, or obtaining resources.
Or perhaps, they could be playing poker after getting breakfast.
"I'm in. Call." says Chiyo, her face a block of stone.
She lays a few chips on the table, and goes back to sulking in her chair. She has not changed the expression on her face since the tournament began, nor have the other players caught so much as a twitch.
Or so she thinks.
"I'm just going to say using Philip is cheating." mumbles Tatyana, already busted out.
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to play poker at nine in the morning." counters Roland.
"Well, you can't say he's wrong~" says Chesed, toying with a red chip. "It really could be considered an unfair advantage, you know?"
"Yeah, probably. Call."
"I call~."
"I… I think I'll raise." says Paul, adjusting his red hat and showing his chips
"Bong!"
"...what does that mean again? I think the first bong is a call?" asks Roland, puzzled. He still hasn't quite got the hang of this particular Assistant Librarian yet.
"One bong's call, yeah. Two bongs are a raise, three a check. If she says nothing and lifts her hands up, it's a fold. The specifics, you'll get from the chips she lays out." says Tatyana, before taking another sip of her coffee. "Damn, this stuff really is trash. What a disappointment this place turned out to be."
"I don't know what you were expecting." counters Paul. "It's a cheap bed and breakfast. Of course it wouldn't compare to what Chesed brews. And the coffee on those was trash back in the City, too. Like you, Chiyo."
The aforementioned woman looks at him, and their eyes cross. The emotionless look does not seem to waver- but below the surface, they're barely holding themselves from pulling their weapons on each other.
It's a well-known fact amongst Librarians that these two despise each other. Not enough to hinder them in battle- they're professionals, that wouldn't do- but enough to make them nearly unbearable to be around when they're together.
Three more cards are dealt out by Louise, who remains utterly silent as the dealer.
"Dammit. Fold." says Roland, reclining himself on his seat.
"Oh? Check." says Chesed, with a smile, placing quite a few chips on the table.
Chiyo glares at him for a fragment of a second, and a vein in her wax hand burns faintly with orange light.
Paul smiles.
"Raise. Again."
"Bong." says BongBong, shaking her head.
"Raise." says Chiyo, dropping a few chips on the table.
"...Roland's the first to drop out in the round, then~"
"Oh, come on. You'd do it too if you got these cards."
"Bluffing is the most fun part of the game, though." says Tatyana.
"Your ridiculous bluffs are why you lost in the first round." notes Paul, obviously trying to goad her into a fight. Tatyana sneers, but doesn't fall for his trap.
"How's the Major going? I didn't get to see anything." asks Chiyo, as Louise deals an extra card.
"It's an interesting tradition." notes Chesed, placing more chips on the table, raising the bet. "Well, I'm feeling rather confident today~"
"The arena food sucks, though. And we can't even bet any money on anything."
"Because we don't have any documents?" asks Louise, raising an eyebrow.
"Not like we're supposed to stay here for that long."
"...how do we even have money." questions Chiyo, in the same dull tone as always. "We're betting with Ahn right here. I don't think there's an exchange rate."
"Chesed paid, I think? We can materialize stuff out of Light here, can't we." asks Paul. The blue-haired Librarian takes a sip from his own mug of coffee- carried here directly from the Library, and nods. "Yeah, we can just make more money. Doesn't last long, but it's not like anyone's gonna notice once it disappears, right? Anyway… I raise."
The man places nearly his entire stack on the table, grinning like a loon. Roland is… slightly uncomfortable at how closely his deranged smile resembles the face of that man- Pickman. What even happened to them, he wonders.
He won't lie, the world is better off without that guy on the streets.
"And now, for the latest work of Pickman's Gallery, the painting known as "Waterfowl." Starting bid is 120 million Ahn." says the Ring member conducting the auction.
The aforementioned man is sitting next to his painting, eyeing the buyers for anyone who can pick his interest.
Oh, how his knife hand is itching.
"And I'm the one who's bluffing too much?" roars Tatyana.
"Hey, don't get angry at me for your shit luck on the cards!"
BongBong just stares dejectedly at the pile of stacks in the table, and lifts her hands. Louise blinks.
"Honey?"
BongBong shakes her head.
"Folding now?" asks Chiyo. BongBong nods. "Okay."
She pauses for a second.
"If you think I'm going to fall for your tricks, Paul…" she says, glaring at the man all the while. "You're completely right. Fold."
Her face seems to practically melt back to what it originally was. Philip's dull and rigid mannerisms vanish entirely, and she slumps over.
"That was soul-crushing, by the way. Don't know how the guy handled being so damn dead inside."
"He didn't." notes Roland.
"Fair."
Louise draws another card, revealing it to the remaining players.
"Heh." says Paul. "Raise again- all in."
Chiyo whistles. "That's some confidence, alright."
He puts the rest of his pile on the table, before pausing.
"My face hurts. What's with this smile? It's creepy."
"It's a psycho murderer's smile. And it's an improvement on that ugly mug you sport, because at least it's not yours."
"Oh, come on, Chi."
"Do not call me that."
"Heh, like you can order me around. Chesed?"
"Call~."
Paul smiles again. The grin seems to almost stretch out of his face and into nowhere. It's, as with everything else about the original owner of his page, incredibly creepy.
"Oh, we're doing this. Hey, how's the rat ears going, by the way?"
"They're itchy, and somewhat uncomfortable. I'm not used to them, after all~"
"My cat ears too. Why did Angela have to give me those? I swear, if those things can catch fleas…" whines Roland.
"The horns are pretty okay. I had those back in Lobotomy Corporation anyway." notes Louise. "What about you, Tatyana? You took Pluto, so you got to be one of those guys who everyone seems to be racist as fuck to. Devil, really?"
"Was talking about that yesterday with Chiyo, actually. It sucks being a skeleton man. The tail's a huge nuisance. Everyone being an asshole to me isn't new, though."
BongBong just shrugs. Her body is used to having dog ears anyway. Tanya didn't seem to complain about the canine parts when she was alive.
Chiyo didn't get to take any additional body parts, unfortunately for her. Something, something, they'd look too suspicious because somehow everything Angela tried adding- after they got in their new dimension and found out everyone was a furry here- ended up turning out entirely made of wax and melting off in a few minutes.
She figured out that if anyone asked, she could probably just manifest the angel wing and say it's a bird trait or whatever.
"...well, we've talked for long enough." says Louise. "Show your cards."
Chesed and Paul comply shortly after.
"And Chesed has… a pair of tens. Paul has… two pair." she says, pretending to throw invisible confetti at the winner. "Paul wins the hand. Congratulations!"
"Woohoo!" says the winner. "And that's my vacation train ticket paid for!"
The entire table flinches.
"Sorry. Maybe I can make it a first class?"
Your name is Sieghart. You're going to grab some breakfast right now.
Hibiscus is there, you note, looking a bit dejected.
"Good morning."
"Oh! Good morning."
You sit on the table and take a ration bar from your pocket.
It's just as terrible as always.
You take a look at Hibiscus' food. It's a small plastic container filled with minced vegetables, some sort of paste, and some sauce you don't recognize. One of them looks like some sort of pink broccoli, for one, and there's a leaf that vaguely resembles chard, but yellow instead of green. Some parts are mashed, too.
"I left this for a patient's breakfast, so she could have some healthy food, but she didn't like it- she just ate the regular hospital food. No one likes my food…"
You blink. It doesn't look that bad.
"Can I try it?" you ask. She seems to have bounced back very quickly from her assassination attempt...
"...well, if you want to."
You take the container in your hands, and pick up a fork from the table.
You take a bite out of Hibiscus' food.
You take another.
"...this is pretty good." you say. "She doesn't know what she's missing, Hibiscus. Are you okay? Last night must have been rough on you."
Hibiscus stares in disbelief at you for some reason.
"You like it?"
"Yes, it's great." you say, between bites. You can't exactly say what this is- there's a lot of ingredients you don't recognize- but it leaves you full of energy. "It's excellent for breakfast."
She smiles.
"I'm okay! It was tense last night, but everything ended up going right! Thanks to you!"
You wave her off.
"Just doing my job. By the way, is there anything that needs doing now?"
"We're going to be working here with the patients until it's time for lunch. Then we'll have a break, and then we go out to work with the patients who can't be here yet!"
Hmm. You see.
You're more or less free to act for now, as long as you keep an eye on the building. There might be more attackers. Nicole's probably sleeping by now, same with X.
