A quest about a dude and some horrible biological horror shit, oh baby.
Featuring:
- Moral dilemmas
- More moral dilemmas
- Sweden bork bork bork
- Blood-based biological superpowers
- Xenodiplomacy with cannibalistic homicidal parasites
- And the occasional healthy dose of wholesomeness to wash it all down!
It's all in your hands. It will be up to you to learn and discover, but most importantly: decide! Here we go!
You look around, finding yourself to be in a dimly lit apartment - but your vision is hazy, it's hard for your mind to parse what's going on, like if you had just woken up. But you realize that this place is not familiar. You've never been in this living room before.
You try to stand up - but then feel a tug on your wrists, to then look at them. You see a lot of thick silvery tape, tying you down to a chair. And you had a cotton swab taped to the back of your elbow - it was slightly red. It was just like when you got a vaccination. You also realize that your legs have also been tied up. And your body, across your chest and hips.
Your breathing starts to get quicker. You've been kidnapped? When? You couldn't remember anything. Last you knew, you were out to check out the streets of your neighborhood in Stockholm - you had come to this country to study your first year of uni. Well, you hadn't really started uni itself yet. It was still summer, but you had come sooner to get settled in.
Fuck.
"You're awake? Awake he is. He is breathing, curry." you hear a high-pitched, girly voice say. You turn to see the source of it, finding what looks to be a small girl, hooked to a blood IV bag, sitting on a sofa to your right. She looked like she was 12 at most. Did she kidnap you?
"Ask him. What do I ask?" she followed, and started to unhook herself from the device, put a swab of cotton to where she had a needle, to then approach you.
She looked very Swedish. But she was talking in English, fortunately. You knew that most Swedes talked English anyways, because most media here was your usual US shows, but only subtitled. It was one of the reasons why you had chosen Sweden as a place to go.
She stood in front of you and started to inspect your face, excited. But her eyes were moving independently from each other, like a gecko.
"Hello? Yes?" she asked you. She then brought her bloodied cotton swab to your face. "What do you feel? Welcome to the world. Smell, I am a friend. I am just like you."
"What?" you asked. "What is all of this?"
"He's confused. Newborn, surely confused." she told herself. "Don't worry, newborn. We will take care of you. Rest, breathe. Don't forget to breathe. But you will become used to it soon."
"Who... are you?" you asked. Newborn? What was she talking about?
"We are Legion." she replied. "We are Curry, Newton, Jesus. We are many. We will take care of you, we love you dearest. Do not worry. You are cheesy you know that - shut up! He is our dearest! Our newborn! He needs care and gentle."
"Name." she then told herself. "We need a name. Name for the newborn. Think. We will think a beautiful name for the newborn. But now, rest. You must feel overwhelmed, so much to do in a new body. Learn all of the functions. Practice. You will learn fast. Young learn fast."
"Can you untie me?" you ask.
"He knows many words. Talented fellow. He kicks ass. Can you walk? Move feet. You can't yet, surely. You're impatient. Ambition is good. But have patience." she replied.
"Do you know more words? Do you remember more of the..." she then asked, and pointed to her head. "...Human?"
Of course you did. You remembered everything just like you have always been able to. Nothing felt different about it.
Choose (Character Generation choice):
[ ] You remember that you used to be part of the school soccer team, back in high school.
[ ] You remember that you were part of the student council back last year, before uni.
[ ] You remember that you are one of the best in League of Legends, in the top 100.
[ ] Write in
Choose:
[ ] Pretend that you don't remember details of your 'human'.
[ ] Tell her that you do remember.
[ ] Admit that you don't feel any different from before. You are still just you.
[ ] Write in
Daniel (You!) Gami?
- First year university student in a Computer Sciences Degree
- Top 100 in League of Legends
- Works as a game booster (levels people's accounts, get ranks)
- Infected by Legion (Curry).
- Uniquely, their mind has been entirely unaffected by the infection, when it normally overwrites it with a new personality.
- Can make a blood-blade, and heal themselves rapidly.
Legion (Curry, Newton, Jesus) Gami
- 12 year old human body.
- Contains three personalities: Curry, Newton, Jesus.
- "Mother" or "progenitor" of several other Gami.
- Makes their blood into a tree of blades as a weapon.
Fredrik Gami - Friendly hobo, part of Legion's clan.
[X] You remember that you are one of the best in League of Legends, in the top 100.
[X] Admit that you don't feel any different from before. You are still just you.
"I'm still me." you told her. "I'm still… well. Me. Daniel. Student. Top 100 in League of Legends."
"He already has a name..." Legion muttered, not breaking her excited smile, but her tone got a lot more serious. "Did… It it not work? Something is wrong… Not enough blood? No. This always works. Every time. Success. Then why?"
"This…This is different" Legion then muttered. "This is dangerous. You are right, Curry."
"Daniel is dangerous."
You raise an eyebrow and look at her. Apparently she had been trying to do something to you - that injection in your arm, you assume. And it didn't work.
"What do we do with him?" Legion then asked herself. Itself. Whatever it was.
"Maybe it's just malformed. Or slow." it then said. "No. We kill him!" another tone said from the girl. "He might be immune. Or ." another voice said. "Immune - see! We must kill him!"
"Shut up, Curry. We don't know for sure." Newton then said. You could start to make out subtleties in Legions speech to make out the different personalities - Newton seemed to be cerebral like their name implied. Curry was aggressive.
"We can do tests. What is special about this man? Could he useful?" Newton followed.
"Or not! We kill him, we kill him now!" Curry insisted, and the girl's body lurched towards you, but stopped midway of punching you.
"Let me go!" Curry insisted.
"Patience." Jesus said.
You looked at the girl have her own internal conflict. This all seemed so weird and bizarre.
"What was supposed to happen, Newton?" you ask.
"You were supposed to be our offspring - become our offspring, rather." they explained. "Through blood, we make more of ourselves. And yet… you… You haven't turned into one of us. A first."
"What is 'us'? What are you?" you asked.
"I would like to know too." Legion replied. "But a thing I know - we just lust to spread in this way. Something within us tells us to do so. It is our greatest happiness."
"So, uh. If you're done, can I leave?" you ask her, still in some disbelief about all of this that is happening.
"No." she replied. "You are too - DANGEROUS. Shut up Curry. You are too different. And I wish to learn."
"Can you do this?" she then asked. And she pointed upwards, and from her nails, blood started to pour - but upwards, and crystallize into a miniature tree on her finger.
"The trick is folding. All proteins structures can be made by folding. Proteins are folded from its more basic parts. It's like origami. And if you are one of us, you should be able too. Now, fold."
You look at what she is doing, and your eyes widen. What the hell? How was she doing that?
"H-how?" you ask.
"Just try." she insisted.
Choose (Character Generation choice):
[ ] You're immune: You try and try, but it doesn't work. Legion tries to "fix" it by directly connecting her bloodstream to yours, but ends up greatly weakened instead. By sheer chance, like how some were just immune to the Black Plague in the 1300s, you are the biological anathema of whatever these things are.
[ ] You're a hybrid: You attempt to make a tree as well. Slowly, you manage to make a small leaf at your fingertips. Somehow, you are someone who can use their abilities, but retain humanity, while infected.
[ ] You have delayed immunity: Your body isn't immediately caustic to these blood beings, and can instead host them for a time until your immune system eventually beats them out. During that time, you can use their powers to your advantage.
[ ] Your blood acts as super-coffee to them: The blood-thing become forcibly extremely hyperactive while in you, becoming very potent but for a short time (consuming your bodily resources) as they eventually self-extinguish.
[ ]Write in:
[X] You're a hybrid: You attempt to make a tree as well. Slowly, you manage to make a small leaf at your fingertips. Somehow, you are someone who can use their abilities, but retain humanity, while infected.
[X] You're immune: You try and try, but it doesn't work. Legion tries to "fix" it by directly connecting her bloodstream to yours, but ends up greatly weakened instead. By sheer chance, like how some were just immune to the Black Plague in the 1300s, you are the biological anathema of whatever these things are.
[X] You're a hybrid: You attempt to make a tree as well. Slowly, you manage to make a small leaf at your fingertips. Somehow, you are someone who can use their abilities, but retain humanity, while infected.
Not really sure what to do as a Write-in anyways. What exactly is allowed for that?
[X] You're a hybrid: You attempt to make a tree as well. Slowly, you manage to make a small leaf at your fingertips. Somehow, you are someone who can use their abilities, but retain humanity, while infected.
Not really sure what to do as a Write-in anyways. What exactly is allowed for that?
Hmm, the only thing that really comes to mind is being a "vampire" or "sponge": someone who needs Legion to charge their power to use it. So effectively a cross between "immune" and "hybrid".
I suppose we could go for something like... We're empowered by Legion, using their blood to enhance our physical abilities to superhuman levels. Thus our super regeneration prevented us from being properly infected.
Though really, Blood Manipulation powers is pretty cool, and a body horror power sounds better than being blood-powered Captain America.
Hmm, the only thing that really comes to mind is being a "vampire" or "sponge": someone who needs Legion to charge their power to use it. So effectively a cross between "immune" and "hybrid".
I suppose we could go for something like... We're empowered by Legion, using their blood to enhance our physical abilities to superhuman levels. Thus our super regeneration prevented us from being properly infected.
Though really, Blood Manipulation powers is pretty cool, and a body horror power sounds better than being blood-powered Captain America.
Sounds cool. I'll reword it a bit then and add it to the post to advertise it. (Normally write-ins won't need me to go and add them but since I'm online right now I'll go and do it)
"How… how am I supposed to even do that?" you ask Legion, who just nods at you.
"Just will to do it." she tells you. "How do you explain moving your arms or legs? You just want to, yes? You will it."
You look at her and then at your still-restrained hand.
"Look, I think I won't be able to do -" you start off.
"Focus!" she barks back.
"Yes, yes, fine." you reply.
Then, it happened.
A tiny thorn erupted from your finger tip, a red one. It hurt. But it was there. You hiss from the pain.
"Jesus Christ." you mutter to yourself. Then, you continue insisting internally, and the thorn becomes a leaf, a tiny one.
"There, you have it!" Legion then said. "That's it!"
Then, for a moment, you lose concentration at the thoughts of celebration, and the blood from the leaf on your finger liquefies and drops to the floor. And your finger oozes blood from the point where the thorn erupted. Legion is quick to start to bandage it up.
"You'll eventually learn to close those wounds too. But… this is all good. This is all I needed. Evidence that you are one of us." one of Legion's personalities said.
"But he's not one of us!" Curry blurted out. "The human inside him, he has enslaved the newborn inside him. Enslaved!"
"Or maybe the newborn inside him has simply chosen to be this way." Newton countered. "Deviant, yes. Very rare, I speculate. But not outside the scope that their personality might just be this… submissive. Or they're deformed. Regardless, they are our offspring, whether you like it or not, Curry. Their abilities prove it."
"Hmph." the girl then emitted. Curry, you assume.
Legion then started to free you, producing a small blade made out of solid blood to cut through the tape. "Considering that the human is in control, I guess there is no need for practice…" Legion said.
"And, you must be careful now." Legion said. "As a successful host, there will be others out there who will seek you out in order to infect you with their own."
"A what now?" you asked.
Legion nodded. "Not many are appropriate hosts. Like hermit crabs competing for a shell, others like us - but not directly related - will try to steal your body for their own offspring. Given how you already infected by us, you will have some resistance to others trying to take over, because those already within will fight back. But you are not immune. Those who are stronger can and will take over. Be careful."
"W-what do I do? I hide?" you stammer.
"You FIGHT and KILL!" Curry blurted out. "Or you can flee. But those who attack you are good hosts too - you can turn the tables on them and infect them back! Victory!"
"Fight? But-" you reply
"No buts! You fight. FIGHT!" Curry continued. "I don't like you, kid. But Newton and Jesus do. So I'm only going to help you out as a favor to them. They want me to teach you how to fight."
"And the best way to learn to fight…" she added "Is fighting!"
Curry then kicked away the chair, and you stumbled to not fall and stood up. The girl had then taken a leap back, and several blades on tentacles sprouted from her body.
"Fight!" the girl commanded. "Do as your instinct tells you to! Everyone has it in them, something that their body, their soul, is just good at!"
"What about just learning, Curry?" Newton butted in. "We could teach him how we do it-"
"HE WILL LEARN BY DOING!" Curry insisted.
"How?!" you replied.
And she leaped towards you.
Your mind starts to race with thoughts - what should you do? What can you do?
And with the feeling of urgency flooding you, you just do.
(Character Generation choice. For weapons, + is its strengths, - is its weaknesses, = is neutral. Choose two.)
[ ] You control a single, long and thin tendril of blood (=Blood economy, =Range, =Power)
[ ] You create a blade of blood affixed to your arm (+Blood economy, -Range, =Power)
[ ] You fire a shotgun-like blast of blood pellets from your pores. (-Blood economy, -Range, ++Power)
[ ] You merely boost your normal human musculature and physique (++Blood economy, --Range, =Power)
[ ] You just manage to heal yourself at a rapid pace to endure her attacks (Special: Healing)
[ ] While hit and your bloodstream is in communication with hers, you manage to temporarily override Legion's control over the body, and control it yourself (Special: Command)
[ ] While in contact with her blood, you clot it in a special way, turning it into useless, hard-to-manipulate sludge. (Special: Clotting)
[ ] Write in
[X] You just manage to heal yourself at a rapid pace to endure her attacks (Special: Healing)
[X] While hit and your bloodstream is in communication with hers, you manage to temporarily override Legion's control over the body, and control it yourself (Special: Command)
[X] You create a blade of blood affixed to your arm (+Blood economy, -Range, =Power)
[X] You just manage to heal yourself at a rapid pace to endure her attacks (Special: Healing)
Hrrm...
[X] You tore a blade of blood from your arm, but strangely enough it turned black and dry with veins of red running through it. (=Blood economy, -Range, =Power) (Special: Necrotic: Basically, the idea here is that these...Blood helpers can use 'dead' blood to reinforce themselves. Not very efficent to do but the advantage here is say, being able to take dried bloodstains and use those on top of fresh blood.)
Hrrm...
[X] You tore a blade of blood from your arm, but strangely enough it turned black and dry with veins of red running through it. (=Blood economy, -Range, =Power) (Special: Necrotic: Basically, the idea here is that these...Blood helpers can use 'dead' blood to reinforce themselves. Not very efficent to do but the advantage here is say, being able to take dried bloodstains and use those on top of fresh blood.)
[X] You create a blade of blood affixed to your arm (+Blood economy, -Range, =Power)
[X] You just manage to heal yourself at a rapid pace to endure her attacks (Special: Healing)
[x] You fire a shotgun-like blast of blood pellets from your pores. (-Blood economy, -Range, ++Power)
[x] You merely boost your normal human musculature and physique (++Blood economy, --Range, =Power)
You stumble back, you see the blades coming at you, whistling through the air, and then, they're gone. They're in you. You feel them exit the other side of your body, through your arms, lungs, stomach.
You can feel the paper-thin holes in your body. They hurt so much. Your vision is starting to get hazy. Were you going to die like this?
"You're going to kill hi- WAIT! He'll do it. You have to wait!" Legion told itself. "It's INSTINCT."
You fainted.
Or, not. Everything went black, but you woke up soon after on the ground. Everything was hurting so much.
"He has no instinct, because he isn't one of us, in the head!" Legion argued. "He can't do it!"
Do. You had to do - but what? Everything still hurt so much. Heal. She mentioned that you could eventually learn to heal right? How do you heal? You will it, right? Healing. It was hard to focus with all of the pain.
Healing. Clotting? Things coming together again, sewing, you thought.
Then, it happened. The pain, it was leaving. You didn't understand how you were doing it, but you were doing it. Somehow. The wounds were closing.
"See! He DOES have our instincts." Curry stated.
But you didn't. You just… willed this. You weren't reacting to some inner calling, there was nothing inside of you telling you how to do things. You were improvising, on your own accord, just trying to do it.
You needed something to use to defend yourself. What could you do? What was good? A sword. Legion could use blood to make stuff. And you could too, but just a leaf. But what if you had a bigger one. A sharp one. Your countless hours of weebery and playing videogames has given you a good, theoretical understanding of one of the most iconic weapons: swords. And blades.
So, you focused. From the blue veins at your wrist and under your arm, spikes of blood started to erupt, miniature leaves like before. But then you kept making them bigger, and then you made them work together to make a single, grand thing you were familiar with. A blade.
"Well would you look at that." Curry said, with a chuckle. "You're going to fight me now? You're going to have to stand up to do that"
You didn't want to. Even after healing, everything still felt sore, aching. You wanted to lie down.
"Stand!" Curry demanded, and thrust one of her blades down onto you, and you stopped it with your own with a loud clang.
"Enough, Curry." Newton then said, and pulled herself away. "I think he has… learned whatever he has needed to learn, here."
You sigh.
"That was intense." you said, feeling the pain start to slowly disappear as you repaired yourself.
"Sorry. Curry is Curry." Newton said. "She's got her method and temper. But it… works."
You realize that she would have that very weird speech from before when all three personalities speak at once. Apparently each individually can speak fine - at least Curry and Newton. Maybe Jesus couldn't. You haven't heard much from them.
+++++
You spend the next following hours in Legion's apartment, sleeping and recovering, until the evening when she wakes you up to eat some dinner. It's chicken soup.
Together, you share the meal at the kitchen.
"So… What now?" you asked her.
"Normally I'd just… let you free. Let you live, you're free." she said. "But you're different. Special. You don't have the instincts to go and do what you're supposed to. You have no inner lust to spread. No… understanding of how we are like, from within. Do you even see us as your…. Mother? Family. Do you feel it for us? It pains me to know that you most surely don't. We don't have that connection. No inner… connection. It's painful."
You nod. "Sorry."
"I should be sorry for putting you in this situation." she continued. "I should have just eaten you."
"E-eaten?"
"Blood and such...is hard to produce quickly." she explained. "It's just easier to just... take it from something else, it's a lot faster than just digesting food. But now that you are… well, one of us, I can't bring myself to do it. It's… a difficult situation."
You nod.
"What do you wish to do?" Legion asked. "You… have learned the basics. I've let all of my other offspring free at this point. And you shouldn't be different."
"...But." she then said. "I understand that you are special. My heart tells me to let you go, because it is time, I have more offspring to get to. But my head tells me to be... careful."
[ ] Ask for her phone contact, and go back to living your life as usual but keeping in touch with Legion. You still have uni arrangements to do, and you need to find a part-time job too.
[ ] Ask Legion how to "spread", and tell her that despite you lack the "instinct" that their kind normally has, that you'll try to learn it, if possible. Live with her for the time being.
[ ] Invite Legion to live with you at your apartment as you live your usual life. She can still do her "offspring" stuff there and whatever and help you out too, as risky as it is to your personal life and landlord relationship to have this underage girl with you in a clandestine way. Who might be found to be this weird blood monster thing too.
[ ] Write in
[x] Ask for her phone contact, and go back to living your life as usual but keeping in touch with Legion. You still have uni arrangements to do, and you need to find a part-time job too.
[X] You definitely should stay in contact, no telling how her previous "offspring" will react. So while you'll functionally go about as normal, you'll make sure to regularly interact with Legion to both learn from and befriend her. Maybe even teach her more about humans if she's interested.
Hrrrm.
[] Ask for her phone contact, and go back to living your life as usual but keeping in touch with Legion. You still have uni arrangements to do, and you need to find a part-time job too.
Leaves Legion as mentor/contact but has us resuming our old life.
[ ] Ask Legion how to "spread", and tell her that despite you lack the "instinct" that their kind normally has, that you'll try to learn it, if possible. Live with her for the time being.
Full-time Legion learning! Just yanno, we vanish from our life. Maybe not the best idea.
[ ] Invite Legion to live with you at your apartment as you live your usual life. She can still do her "offspring" stuff there and whatever and help you out too, as risky as it is to your personal life and landlord relationship to have this underage girl with you in a clandestine way. Who might be found to be this weird blood monster thing too.
Why not both? Well, how does your old life find room for an underaged girl with freaky powers and likely a poor understanding of humanity?...
IDK how Legion picked us, she sounds like she's basically rolling a gacha every time she infects someone, and needed to observe us to confirm we were a good host...I don't think we'll give ourselves away unless the blood symbiote can be detected somehow, and I kind of doubt that, especially as we didn't get the option.
Ergo, a slow growth I suspect SHOULD be relatively okay. And keeping Legion at arm's length would let us be more on the 'human' side of things...
[X] Ask for her phone contact, and go back to living your life as usual but keeping in touch with Legion. You still have uni arrangements to do, and you need to find a part-time job too.
Moving in with Legion draws the risk of our old life catching up to us. And I don't think Legion understands humanity well enough to pose as a human for long.
[X] Invite Legion to live with you at your apartment as you live your usual life. She can still do her "offspring" stuff there and whatever and help you out too, as risky as it is to your personal life and landlord relationship to have this underage girl with you in a clandestine way. Who might be found to be this weird blood monster thing too.
[X] Invite Legion to live with you at your apartment as you live your usual life. She can still do her "offspring" stuff there and whatever and help you out too, as risky as it is to your personal life and landlord relationship to have this underage girl with you in a clandestine way. Who might be found to be this weird blood monster thing too.
She's been surprisingly friendly for a humanoid abomination, who is seemingly motivated by rather simple and understandable reasons. Even Curry's violence and dislike is because the Protag is an unknown aberration.
So I'm pretty interested in seeing more of Legion, and Protag is inevitably gonna run into more weird stuff anyways. Might as well befriend the one we know is rather reasonable and who can train us.
