A Voice Like Thunder by gresh

Any of You liked the games of The Lobotomy Corporation and The Library of Ruina?

well than this is the Fic/live quest for you

Link: https://fiction.live/stories/A-Voice-Like-Thunder/yyqrDKBBkjedy6b7r/home

In the unforgiving Megacity of a barren, hostile future, you must struggle and fight with all your tenacity. In order to carve your own path in defiance of the cruelty of the world, realize the Light within and manifest your EGO. It is your only hope.

"Oy." A fist butts harshly into your shoulder as the gruff voice rouses you. "Wake up. We're a few minutes out, and I'm not being dragged down by your lazy ass sleeping on the job."

You blink a few times, squeezing your eyes to try to wet them with moisture. It's been tough getting sleep lately; Life as a Fixer at the bottom of the barrel isn't even remotely easy. Between work keeping you up and stress keeping you up, you've had to catch your Z's wherever and whenever you can.

"M'up." You offer him groggily.

Yun, the only Grade 8 Fixer on this job and the provisional team leader of your raggedy crew of five, grunts in satisfaction and lets you wake the rest of the way up in peace.

"Fuckin Outskirts, man." Lee hisses, rubbing his shoulders as he looks out through the slit of the armoured car in worry. "Gives me the fuckin heebie jeebies."

Jae Sun shakes his head, snorting. "Coward. We'll be in, out, and back on the boat in no time."

Sitting next to you, David clicks his tongue. "Keep an eye out anyway. Locals are too afraid of the target to go anywhere near it; It's only an Urban Myth, but people say there's a monster prowling around."

Lee shudders, but shakes his head. "Fuckin monsters I can handle. I just hope we don't run into nuthin that talks."

David grunts at that. Across the interior of the APC, you notice Jae Sun leering at you. "What do you think? Is our otherworldly brother afraid of monsters~?" He snickers at your expense.

"Cut the chit-chat. We're almost there." Yun scowls from the driver's seat, reaching back to flail ineffectually at Jae Sun - unlike you, he's on an angle Yun can't easily reach, even in the cramped interior of the armoured car.

Then his arm reaches around to thump your shoulder again. "That goes for you too, Adrian"

"Got it, boss." You concede, giving Jae Sun one last contemptuous glare as Yun slows the APC to a stop. The entire trip - on the boat, then on the car launched from the boat when you'd reached land - this guy had been digging under your skin. He'd figured out who you were pretty quickly given you were both independents working in the same district.

Unlike you, Jae Sun was ex syndicate - once part of a gang now long broken by folks in the same career he was in now. A living example of 'If you can't beat 'em, Join 'em', and no Syndicate could ever hope to rival Fixers in their associations and offices as a whole, save perhaps the Hand itself.

He was one of the reasons you needed to move districts, and fast. There a number of reasons to want to leave the backstreets of District 23 - W Corp's domain - for another district; A life somewhere no one knew your face and name, reliable access to electricity, an escape from the rampant cannibalism…

That last one was a bit incongruous, and fucking revolting. A Star of the City by the name of the Eight Chefs had arisen some years ago. They'd declared human flesh to be the main ingredient of the perfect dish, and in the already gourmet crazed district 23 the announcement - coupled with reverence for the Eight Chefs - sent the entire backstreets of the district spiraling into a cannibalistic frenzy.

You'd already had to worm your way out of two life or death situations involving people coming after you for your 'otherworldly ingredients'.

The saddest part? Your 'Fantastical Isekai Adventure' into 'Night City on Steroids' had started in the most painfully stereotypical way.

After making a rapid escape from the situation you'd arrived into, you'd immediately found yourself homeless, destitute and without an identity on the kinds of backstreets you really, really didn't want to be homeless, destitute and without an identity on.

Fortunately for you, you'd had something that set you apart from the regular folks of the Backstreets from the very beginning. It'd allowed you to survive.

[QM Note; There are four core stats in this quest - these are known as your four Virtues. Each Virtue has 10 levels ranging through I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X (or EX). The chosen Virtue above starts at Lv. II, while the others start at Lv. I.

- Prudence controls your Sanity bar. When you run out of Sanity you go insane, losing control of the player character. Prudence also affects the strength of Insight checks, which let you analyze an environment.

- Fortitude controls your Health bar. When you run out of Health you die, ending the quest (unless I'm feeling merciful). Fortitude also affects the strength of Instinct checks, which let you perform non-combat physical tasks.

- Temperance doesn't control a secondary stat. Instead, it sees extensive use in affecting the strength of Attachment checks, which are your social checks for understanding others and convincing them to see things your way.

- Justice doesn't control a secondary stat. Instead, it sees extensive use in affecting the strength of Suppression checks, which are your combat checks for restraining, subduing, controlling and defeating opponents in battle.]

The car comes to a stop, Yun presses a button on the dash that opens up the large door on the back, and the lot of you pile out of the APC. You take a deep breath, glad to be out of the dank, musty interior of the cramped APC packed with five grown ass men. The air is clean here, and salty, and you can hear the crashing of waves in the distance. It's only ten minutes or so by APC up the beach from where the boat made landfall and spat the vehicle out.

In front of your group lies a set of hollowed out, abandoned office buildings.

"This?" David demands, incredulous. "This is our target? This is the site we're getting tens of thousands to clear out? Not that I'm complaining, but still."

"Call it our fee for having to operate in the outskirts. Now remember, we do this quick, like I planned with you all." Yun begins. "We go in, we find anything that might be important to our client - books, records, pictures, paraphernalia, computer hard drives, whatever - and when we get them?"

He pauses, looking around the group.

"I ain't saying it." Lee complains. "I ain't no fuckin kid."

Yun shrugs. "When we get them," he continues, "we put them delicately into the duffel bags. No stuffing; We're not out to rip any bits of paper or break any electronics, understood?"

The four of you nod, giving various noises of assent.

The fact of the matter is that even outside the fact that Yun is a grade 8 fixer and the rest of you are grade 9s, Yun is the one responsible for the paycheck this time around. He's the one you're contracted to, not the actual client; Yun's the manager of the original client, and he's contracted additional support out to the four of you. Technically speaking, it's a sort of temporary fixer office, which isn't actually an uncommon way of doing things between independents, and you've heard that it's a well known way senior independent fixers try to take care of their juniors.

Being an independent fixer working without an office or association can be rough. You'd have joined one if you could, but outside of the top tier offices and associations that recruited people based on auditions, entrance exams or good old fashioned headhunting, it was all about connections - who you knew.

And being a less-than-a-month-old traveler from another world, you knew pretty much nobody.

"You four search the two building complexes in pairs; I'll stay on comms and go between where I'm needed." Yun announces, handing you all radios and earpieces.

You wind up partnering up with Lee, and the two of you root around in one of the hollowed out buildings, looking for anything of value; Documents, hard drives and the like. The hallways have long fallen into dilapidation and decay; Peeling wallpaper, rotting carpet and patchwork ceiling panels watch the two of you work in silence, and as you investigate the ruined offices, you can't shake the feeling you're being watched.

You're not the only one, clearly. Lee is nervous; High strung. As he rifles through another empty work station while you watch the door, you notice him jump in startlement as he pulls a drawer a bit too far and it comes out of it's desk, clattering to the ground. "Fuckin hell!" He hisses through clenched teeth.

"So what's your story, huh?" You try to inject something that might ease the tension and help him relax. It backfires fantastically.

"What's your fuckin story, prick?" He snips back.

"You really wanna know, or are you just being a prick now too?" You retort. People in the City are callous and cold, especially in the Backstreets. Fixers most of all. You'd had to learn to harden up very, very quickly.

Lee pauses at your retort before shrugging. "Fuck, why not? Jae Sun was talking about you being 'otherworldly' or some shit like that?"

You nod, though he can't see it with his back turned to you. "Last I remember it was the year 2022 A.D. Humanity was spread across the whole world, instead of this one city. There were no Singularities, except maybe our computer technology, which might count, and we had no reality breaking eldritch abominations like the ones beyond the city's outskirts."

"The magic and shit? And you had none of that? Sounds nice. What were your cities like? Who was in charge of them?" Lee prompts you. "And how'd you wind up here? Was it a Wing?"

"Our cities were controlled by countries, which… You wouldn't know what that is; It's like if the Head controlled multiple cities spread out across a large area. Although, to be frank, the City is about the size of a small country in and of itself." You muse.

"Okay, now you're just being deliberately confusing, so fuck off." Lee snarks.

You snort. "Fine. You're gonna love how I wound up here, though."

"…" He doesn't take the bait, continuing to rifle through the workstations in the room.

"…" You remain silent as well.

"…FUCK! Fine, I'll bite!" The man snarls, standing up from the last workstation. "Not like there's anything in this useless fucking wreck anyway!"

You have to stifle a snicker. "I actually woke up on a Warp Train."

Lee pauses. "…No shit? WARP corp? The 'get anywhere in the city in ten seconds flat' guys?"

"Yep." You nod. "The WARP Corporation staff were confused. Apparently, I wasn't on the passenger manifest."

Lee stares. "I am fucking amazed they didn't abduct you or some shit." He notes, so dumbfounded that he manages to curse properly.

You shrug. "They escorted me away for a checkup. After I was found to be 'certifiably human', they told me to wait. I was questioned, asked about my memories, and they did all sorts of scans, but they were forced to let me go after someone from the Head arrived to take me to get my 'citizenship'. That scared them all right off, and they just let me go. The guy from the Head was pretty courteous; Just took me down to a bank and got me to sign some forms."

Lee nods a little at that, dusting himself off as the two of you leave to investigate another room. "Okay, yeah, I can get that. I'd have a fuckin' heart attack too if some fucker from the Head showed up in my office unannounced."

"I've been avoiding the WARP people ever since." You conclude. "Not that they've been looking for me too eagerly, far as I can tell."

Lee laughs at that. "Ah, fuck. Welcome to the Backstreets, brother. Even the dude from another world is only worth so much trash in the eyes of the Wings."

[QM Note: Time for a Check, son. Checks are made for one of four actions that involve a Virtue, with each action controlled by it's respective Virtue. For what those checks and Virtues entail, see the Virtues section with the coloured text above.

We'll be using a D6 system. The number of dice you can roll in a check is equal to your Virtue level plus or minus any modifiers from equipment, enhancements, status effects, etc. There will be DC that individual dice need to pass in any check, as well as a minimum number of dice you need to have rolled that pass that check.

Depending on how well this system works, I may change it in the future.]

[Make an Insight check to find anything of use. Roll Prudence (Lv1): Roll 3 1d6, Pass DC2, Dice DC1]To help stave off boredom, you've taken to tapping on the walls while you look through the facility; The idea is to see if you can find any hidden rooms or anything.

Imagine your surprise when you hit paydirt.

*CLANG!*

You immediately hiss, clutching your knuckle. You'd expected wood under that wallpaper, not- "The fuck was that!?" Lee demands from further down the hallway.

"I think I found a hidden door!" You call back to him. "Come and help me get this wallpaper off!"

***

Lee grins in smug satisfaction, looking for all intents and purposes like the cat that got the cream. Yun acknowledges his look, glancing between him, you and the metal door built into the wall. Jae Sun and David look on in a mix envy, annoyance, and cool disregard.

"Good work, you two." Yun notes. He takes a couple of steps over to the door and places his hand over too it, silent for a moment. The glove on his hand starts whining oddly, before the lock on the door clicks and the whole thing creaks open.

You notice David stiffen in surprise, eyeing the glove with a startled expression, but Jae Sun and Lee both seem unperturbed, and the four of you follow Yun as he silently gestures you to descend down the stairs behind him.

What you find is no normal office. It's the ruins of an old laboratory.

"Shiiiit." Jae Sun whistles, looking around. "There was big money being poured into this place. Shit's swanky."

He's not wrong, but all the bright, expensive linoleum in the world can't distract you from the dried bloodstains. It's everywhere. You click your tongue at the sight of it. "It's like some kind of living blender tore through this place."

Yun hums darkly at that. "Be on your guard." He warns. "The mission is unchanged; Recover documents, data, any paraphernalia. The sooner we have something valuable we can show the employer, the sooner we can leave."

His words, grave as they are, put an icy cold dampener on the mood of the group, and you all proceed in silence.

Eventually, after no signs of anything hostile, Yun splits you back up into your previous groups so that you can cover more ground. It's shortly after that when you make your second discovery in the laboratory's locker room.

It's tucked in the back of an old, abandoned locker. You initially think you have to break the lock with a dagger, but the rusted thing comes apart with barely any leverage.

There's nothing inside the locker but a big, worn, tatty notebook and a syringe full of an odd clear fluid.

'Cogito' reads the label on the syringe. You flash it to Lee, who nods and reports it on the radio, and then you pocket it. Then you blow the dust off of the cover of the notebook and shut the locker, rereading the faded nameplate.

"…And who on earth are you, 'Elijah'?" You murmur to yourself, before deciding to open up the notebook and find out.

Page 001

-Note to self; It's your first day! Isn't that exciting!? Make sure to get pumped up, and put your best foot forward with everyone!

…

Page 013

-Note to self; Remember to talk to Carmen about the permit papers for the construction company! The third, fourth and fifth floors of the office won't build themselves!

-Note to self; For future reference: Ayin is the one responsible for construction. AYIN.

…

Page 044

-Note to self; You might not have been able to pass any Wing examinations, but Carmen saw something in you, and the goal you're working toward is worth fighting for! You need to work harder!

- Talk to Michelle some more. She seems nice, but she's very shy and she doesn't know anyone. Big sis Elijah will take her under her wing!

…

Page 087

-Note to self; Remember to talk to Benjamin about organising that party. It's hard with how little results we've seen so far, but that's even more reason to work hard to keep everyone feeling hopeful.

We're so much closer now than we were.

…

Page 154

-Note to self; Remember to get Carmen lunch. After Enoch… She's to distracted to remember to feed herself; Ayin's counting on you.

Even if he can't deliver it himself because he's too much of a cowa

Come on. Even if delivering people food is all you're capable of, at least you can do this much, right?

…

Page 162

-Note to self; Remember to retrieve storeroom keys Ayin left lying around to steal sample of Cogito. According to the criteria, the most important thing to use it successfully is to have a strong positive outlook and a lot of light in your heart. It's why Carmen was the prime candidate, and why Enoch was the second best option.

They were wrong about me. I know they were. I'm the most positive person in this entire facility. I can do this. I know I can. I'll make Michelle feel better. I'll prove it can be done.

I'll prove it.

Maybe Ayin will even look at me like I'm not a disappointment for once.

***

You read the last entry, grimacing. While the extensive 'notes to self' give a good working model of how this facility was run, it doesn't go into much detail about what they were doing.

Whatever it was, it involved 'Cogito', which can't be used successfully unless one has enough 'Light' in their heart, or whatever that means. It sounds like magic, honestly; Like Kingdom Hearts style bullshit.

Considering the subject of Elijah's last entry, you suspect that 'unsuccessfully' using Cogito will kill.

You sigh, shutting the notebook you'd been skimming through as Lee had been checking the other lockers. "You do-"

"Hey guys! We've found something!"

You're cut off as Jae Sun's voice sounds through the earpiece.

"Found what?" Yun immediately replies.

"Some kind of animal den, I think." David reports cooly. "There's evidence something has been living here. It's made it's den out of, amongst other things, paper and books. We've hit the motherload, but it's more than we can carry."

"…Excellent. Keep your eyes peeled and give me your position." Yun dictates. "Lee, Adrian, head toward their location immediately - I don't want to find out if whatever made that nest is still kicking around."

The two of you move quickly, heading toward the part of the laboratory David had described as fast as you can manage while still staying quiet. Then, in the distance, you hear something roar.

"FUCK!" Jae Sun cries out over the radio. "Contact! Fucking contact! What the fuck is that-"

His voice abruptly cuts off, and you hear a scream echoing from the same direction as the roar - keening and terrified. Despite the pitch, it's unmistakably Jae Sun.

"David!" Yun roars. "Talk to me!"

"I don't know! I barely saw it! Jae Sun was talking, he went to hit it but it smacked him aside like a doll. It's the next room over; I think I can hear it breath-"

Another roar - quickly followed by an anguished cry - echoes through the corridors.

"Nope!" Lee declares, stopping in his tracks. "Fuck no!" He turns his mic on. "Boss Yun! I say we get the fuckin' hell out of here right fuckin' now! Adrian's got a book and some paraphernalia, so it's not like we won't have some news to report to the employer! At least this way we get to keep our fuckin' lives!"

"Y-yun…" You hear David rasp over the radio seconds later. "It… It got my legs… It's toying with me… Please… Save me…"

There's a couple of beats of silence. Then Yun speaks. "Sorry, David. Cost of doing business. Lee, Adrian, meet me at the APC; Move quickly."

You frown. Pausing as Lee turns to run off. "What the fuck are you doing man!?" He demands at your delay.

A loud part of you is insisting you go back and at least see the situation for yourself. You're not stupid enough to think you can take on whatever killed Jae Sun and David in a fair fight, but creeping around it isn't out of the question - at least you should find out, right?

But this is the City.

You're not from here, and your well wishes, your sense of right and wrong, your moralistic impulses… They might have accomplished something, and be worth something, and be valued back home.

Here they're meaningless. Going back for that guy wouldn't make you heroic, wouldn't make you selfless. Not by the standards of these people. It'd make you insane.

So, even as your conscience digs it's claws into your heart and shrieks in rage, you shake your head. "…Nothing. It'd just get me killed anyway."

Lee nods at that. "It's a shame he's dead, but that's just how it is in this business. No sense putting yourself at risk for someone you don't even fuckin' know, and even if you did? You can't trust people in the City." He points out almost chidingly. "Even if you'd tried and succeeded, the fuck do you think your help would be worth to him? He'd turn on you as soon as it was convenient. Now come on!"

The two of you beat feet, ignoring David's occasional pleads for help over the earpiece. You can't rip it out no matter how badly you want to, though; Yun might have additional instructions.

***

The two of you make it to the Laboratory exit intact. Lee's a few steps ahead of you, but he judders to a halt at the foot of the stairs, and you almost crash into him. Lee picks at his mic as you look over his shoulder.

"Hey, Yun, did you close the fucking door on us!" He demands.

The steel door, it appears, is firmly shut. Lee hisses, and rushes to the top of the stairs to try to open it. As he tries to push the door open, you observe the distinct lack of an answer from Yun. You aren't the only one.

"You fuck!" Lee roars. "I should'a fuckin' known you'd try to rake in all the money for yourself! Why'd you even hire us in the first place!? As your fuckin' meat shields! YOU WORTHLESS FUUUCK!!!" He screams, bashing at the door.

It creaks open a little, and he pauses. "Wait… of fuckin' course. It's pull from this side, not push." Lee turns around and grins at you as he opens the door, the most exasperatedly amused expression of relief on his face. "Well aint' I a fuckin' dunce?"

Smiling down at you, he doesn't see the thing looming on the other side of the door. He does see what it throws absentmindedly over his shoulder, and the two of you watch in horrified silence as Yun's head bounces down the stairs to come to a rest at your feet.

Lee turns his head back to face the monster, sees it, and screams.

A beat passes, and then it tears into him too.

You only get a glimpse before you start running. It's-

She'd been floating there, staring down at both of you. There'd been something - a ripple in the air - and Lee had been torn limb from limb as soon as he'd screamed.

You bolted.

[Make an Instinct check to find outrun the straightjacketed Angel-magical-girl-thing. Roll Fortitude (Lv1): Roll 3 1d6, Pass DC4, Dice DC4]

You make it about three steps before an intangible force seizes you and pins you in place. Slowly, you're picked up and held in the air, rotating to face the straitjacketed figure.

"P…Please." You whisper. The thing watches you with empty, unseeing eyes.

'There will be Quiet in the Church'

The force shoves you abruptly, and your head slamming into the wall is the last thing you fee-.

***

You wake up to the feeling of paper, carpeting and cushions. You slowly, woozily come to realize that your body is screaming at you in pain. You start breathing short, quiet breaths - doing your best to keep it down.

You remember the 'words' the thing had spoken to you.

Fighting through the pain, it takes you a few while to categorize the harm done to your body. It's… not good.

The bad news is that you've been left for dead in the 'den' David described, if your surroundings are anything to go by. Helping this fact is David's corpse lying a few feet away from you. It'll be a long way out if you want to escape.

The worse news is that you really have been 'left for dead'. Your legs have been broken in several places to keep you from escaping, and blood is seeping out of dozens of rents and breaks in your skin. One of your arms is broken as well. You fumble around on your person for something - anything.

All you have is Elijah's notebook…

And that vial of Cogito.

You start to feel faint. Woozy. Floaty. Cold, exhausted and dizzy. You know what this is; You'd learnt about acute blood loss. 'Anemia'.

All things considered? You're probably dead already.

So why not. You fumble around with your one good arm for the syringe. You hold it up to the dim light of the laboratory's fluorescent lighting, a distant part of you noting that it's amazing the lights still work down here.

You're so tired… Maybe it's a good thing you're dying. You're alone, far from home with no way back that you know of. This City, it's… it's evil. Cold and apathetic to the core.

Maybe… maybe it's better this way.

Some half forgotten instinct has you guide the needle to your neck, the prick in your carotid artery barely even felt as you gently push the contents into your veins.

…It's too late, though, and the syringe - nearly emptied - falls from your numb fingers.

You can feel death's embrace upon you.

It isn't cold anymore. You feel warm. Peaceful.

You've read about this; On the moment of death, the brain falls screaming into the void, dumping neurochemicals like it's no one's business. You've heard that it must euphoric.

It's comforting.

God, the amount of endorphins, the dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and enkephalin that must be flowing through your neurons right now…

You drift off, and a final, beautiful feeling suffuses you.

"The next thing I saw was this. When the lamb had opened the first of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, 'Come!' And, as I watched, there was a white horse. Its rider was holding a bow. He was given a crown, and he went off winning victories, and to win more of them."

You gasp, as something seems to fill you.

You see something; A vast, impossible ocean that you've sunk to the bottom of. An ocean full of-

You… You can't. You refuse. Why should you die here? When there's so much left to do, to see, to experience? You haven't made your mark on this world, or your original one. You haven't touched anyone's life.

There are so many things left to live for.

You have to get up. You have to fight. It might be selfish, but you want to live. To do something impactful. Even if it inconveniences others. To overcome. To know success, triumph, victory.

You refuse to die; To Lose. Not here, not like this and not today.

So you lie there, silently screaming at yourself to get up; To go forth and conquer.

And so you do.

Your wounds seal shut in an abrupt flash - not quiet healed, but somehow at bay. Strange, unfamiliar clothing drapes itself over you, feeling like a second skin. White robes, and shining armour plating. Only your face and head are left uncovered.

You stand, propped up by your drive to survive and overcome. It hangs over you, cloaking you like a mantle. You curl your hand, finding that conviction clutched there too.

A bow. It seems to glow with assurance as you regard it.

The impulse strikes you to escape; To leave, to get out of here. You're healed, aren't you?

Almost immediately the fabric of your robes seems to weaken as the armour turns dull; The bow, taut in your hand, seems to slacken.

No… It's not enough to escape with your life. You need to win. It's the only way to hold onto this strength, whatever 'this' is. You take a deep breath, and silently set off into the laboratory.

[Make an Insight check to find the monster before it finds you. Roll Prudence (Lv1) +1 (EGO Suit: Triumph): Roll 3 2d6, Pass DC2, Dice DC2]

You find it floating down one of the hallways, and immediately you grow silent. You still remember the words it'd 'spoken' somehow into your mind. It notices you anyway, turning to face you.

You're taking a gamble here; If it doesn't pay off, you'll run - or at least 'tactically retreat', you mentally reassure the grumbling clothing and bow - but if it does pay off, then this monster might have a glaring weakness.

'There will be Quiet in the Church'

It watches you silently, utterly unmoving. But then, you're utterly silent and unmoving too.

…And it does nothing.

You can't help the smile. Noise, and possible movement; They're what set the monster off, and-

You flinch, almost staggering as something slams into your mind. A choir of voices, almost screaming in rapture. The sound is horrifying and it digs into your mind in a way that you've never experienced before, tearing your thoughts apart as you open your mouth to screa-

Your jaw clicks shut as a cool, soothing sense of assurance flows inward from your robes and armour. The voices feel quieter now; More distant.

Trying to keep a rational mind and ignore them - something the robes and armour make infinitely more doable - you draw the bow and take aim.

Slowly, your convictions and determinations begin to pour into a steadily forming arrow of light. The monster doesn't even twitch.

You have time; All the time in the world. You stand there as seconds pass - then minutes - pouring more and more into that single arrow, all your hopes, dreams and resolutions; Your Will. It gets to the point where the light is blinding, and your knees are weak, but the corridor remains utterly silent, and the monster continues to thoughtlessly stare.

The choir of voices redoubles it's assault once or twice, but something about the clothing you're wearing makes it far, far easier to wear.

Eventually, your fingers are just too numb and sore to take it any more, and they slacken, letting the arrow fly loose. It strikes the monster silently, exploding into a brilliant flash of White - you hear a muffled scream, seeing the straitjacket burn away as some deeper horror blossoms from within…

But it isn't enough, and the monster collapses to the ground, an unmoving wreck.

For a moment, you're tempted to leave. You did it; You won. The bow and robes and armour seem satisfied; Approving, even. But at the same time… You feel their siren call, urging that you aren't done here yet.

All the while your rational mind is screaming at you to leave.

[Make an attachment check to navigate the odd impulses the odd gear is sending you. Roll Roll Temperance (Lv1): Roll 3 2d6(whoops), Pass DC3, Dice DC1]

You take a deep breath, trying to focus on what the gear is telling you. Your muscles slacken and you find yourself walking over to the prone, collapsed form of the monster. You reach out for - it has to be some kind of weak spot; It's important - it's neck, gripping the abnormality there.

You can feel something flowing out of you, into the monster. You start to feel weak, and oddly lightheaded, but you persist; You're so c̷l̸o̵s̶e̶…

And suddenly the monster is yours.

Everything it is, everything about it, belongs to you - or something squatting within you.

It has been Conquered.

And then the monster bursts into nothingness as you abruptly lose the strength to continue sustaining it's physical presence, sagging to the ground with a groan.

['Bishop of Zealotry (Complete)' has been added to ??? ????? ?????]

It takes you a few minutes to catch your breath. The burden of sustaining that thing's corporeal form - because somehow you knew that was what that sensation had been - had felt like holding up a mountain. Maybe… Maybe you'd be stronger one day. Until then…

You pick yourself up. With the monster dead, you've got time before you need to leave this place. You do still have a request to fulfill even if you don't know the contractor yourself. And then there are the corpses of the others.

You manage to find a discarded bag, and load it up with documents and books. For a moment, you consider adding Elijah's notebook, but decide against it.

And you're definitely not tossing the used syringe in there. No one needs to know you used that. Ideally, no one will even know you had it. Once you're done with the books, you move onto David. You… You feel bad for him. The way he begged and pleaded over the radio - and now that you can afford to help, at least you can get his corpse somewhere it can be put to rest.

He gasps just a little and his eyes flutter weakly when you try to pick him up. Your mouth falls open. "Holy shit." You hiss.

He'd been alive this whole time!? You hadn't… how hadn't you noticed!?

…Then again, you'd literally been within inches of dying when you'd checked his still form.

"P-please…" He whispers. You cradle him in your arms, bag slung over a shoulder.

"Don't worry." You murmur. "I'm getting us out of here."

You look around, spying the empty syringe on the ground. You don't even have to take a single step from where you've picked David up, so you shift your leg slightly and stomp on it, crushing the glass syringe to pieces beneath your boot.

It's only after you've gotten out of the laboratory, stashed David in the car, and treated his injuries with the first aid kit there as best you could that you finally return. You try not to throw up at the unsightly image of Yun's corpse, headless and limbs all bent and broken askew.

Then again, you are from district 23. Even if it's only been a few weeks since you'd arrived, you've still seen far worse.

But - you remind yourself, bending down to rifle through his suit - not quite this close up. You find a small booklet in one of his coat pockets, containing a set of phone numbers.

It's short work to find the contact number for his client for the job, as well as a folded copy of the contract, and his contracts with you and the others. It's a shame; Knowing how things work in this city, the contractor will refuse to pay up even with the work done, now that the fixer they hired is dead.

Then again, you have what they want, so maybe you can do some negotiating.

Then you notice the name of the contractor, and all such thoughts flee your mind.

What the fuck kind of business does a Wing of the World like Lobotomy Corporation have hiring an Eighth Grade Fixer to explore the ass end of the Outskirts!?

Something is terribly, terribly off here. Shaking your head, you fold up the contracts and pocket the booklet before lifting his wallet - you might need his ID, and he sure won't have any use for any of the spare cash inside it - and make your way back to the APC. It'll be a long drive back to the boat, but at least you've got a decently good idea of how to drive it.

The nighttime moon hangs silently over the Outskirts as you drive off, away from the hellish laboratory, thinking about the strange, alien power you'd tapped into.

Even now you can feel it waiting contentedly inside you, ready at any moment to rise to the surface.

On the one hand, you don't know how to feel about that.

On the other hand? Maybe this is the edge you've been looking for.