Archive of Our Own

This abnormality is capable of breach.
This abnormality is capable of employee alteration .
This abnormality is capable of altering the Facility.
This abnormality is capable of interfering with the TimeTrack protocol.

“                               please      ”

A tree. A single moth sits atop a branch.

Subject Number: T-02-172 (-A)
Risk Level: ALEPH
E-Boxes: 30
Damage Type: White (6-8)
QC: 3

That Old Yearning favours a completely random work each time (at 80% chance to succeed). All works of that kind will succeed. All others will face difficulty (30% chance to succeed). The correct work can only be ascertained by the state of the tree. Repression is not included; Repression possesses the same success rate as the chosen work (80%).

Ability

At the start of the day, a completely random work type (except for Repression) is chosen. The tree will then change slightly based on the work type. 

• A tree with no leaves or flowers requires Insight work.
• A tree with flowers but no leaves requires Attachment work.
• A tree with no flowers but with leaves requires Instinct work.

Upon being worked with the correct work type, That Old Yearning will enter a new, randomly chosen state, either growing flowers/leaves or shedding them. States can be repeated. The flowers and leaves that were shed will remain in the ground of the containment cell. The employee that was worked on will be marked, and will begin to steadily lose SP at an increasing rate (this is not counted as White Damage). Selecting Repression works will reduce the counter by 2 but will have no further effects.

When that employee panics, they will enter the specific Yearning panic state. Employees that are Yearning will run to That Old Yearning's containment cell. If they enter the cell successfully (and are not stopped by being killed) they will have their SP restored, their panic state cleansed and the moth in the tree will grow larger. Then, the Qliphoth Counter will decrease by 1.

That Old Yearning's Qliphoth Counter can only be restored by passing the day or suppressing it. It will not be restored if the day is reset.

Breach

When the Yearning's QC reaches 0, it will wait for around ten seconds to breach. The tree will grow its leaves and flowers, a wind-styled effect will appear in the containment cell, and a hostile entity will spawn in the room as the moth grows too large for the tree. It will then leave the room to wander.

The hostile entity is a large moth, though its eyes are blue-colored and photorealistically human. Its wings have similar eyes of varied and shifting colors, turning and looking from side to side. It has 1000 HP and will inflict continuous White damage (1-4) to all entities in the same department as it every second. Employees that panic while That Old Yearning is breaching will enter Yearning panic. This includes clerks.

That Old Yearning possesses the following resistances.

• Red: Endured (0.7)

• White: Immune (0.0)

• Black: Endured (0.7)

• Pale: Endured (0.7)

During a breach, employees that enter Yearning panic will wander the facility aimlessly and inflict the same department-wide damage effect as That Old Yearning, with multiple effects stacking up to a maximum of 5 stacks.

That Old Yearning will wander around the facility aimlessly at high speeds, as if searching for something. It will not attack employees until it is attacked first- then it will enter a "rage state" where it possesses 4 attacks. It will use an attack every 5 seconds. If it is not attacked in a minute, it will return to its search and heal all HP.  If the Manager has stopped time and remained as such for 10 seconds, it will start to quickly heal at 25 HP/second, and its attack cooldown will also continue to tick (though it will not attack in stopped time, it will do so the second the Manager's time stop has ended). It will also move in stopped time, but not to move out of place- instead, it will appear to be struggling and stirring on its place, opening and closing its wings and looking around in all directions as if trying to break free. If the attack cooldown ticks down entirely during stopped time, and time remains stopped for 3 seconds after that, it will reset and tick down again, allowing That Old Yearning to attack multiple times in quick succession (essentially allowing it to "store" its attacks during stopped time), with there being no limit to the amount of attacks that can be stored. It will even store attacks if time is stopped when it is not being attacked, allowing it to quickly unleash a barrage of attacks immediately after combat is initiated.

Its attacks are:

• Manifests 4 white flowers in the room that, if not destroyed in 2 seconds, bloom, inflict heavy White damage around themselves (30-60) and cause Agents whose level is III or lower to to enter Yearning panic instantly. Those flowers, after blooming, continue to release a copy of the Yearning's White damage aura.
• Takes flight and swoops into the nearest enemy, dealing Red damage (20-40).
• Leaps back and opens its wings, revealing a hypnotic pattern that sends employees that are in front of That Old Yearning to sleep. Akin to Void Dream, clicking in an employee will awake them. Unlike Void Dream, sleeping employees do not awake with damage as long as the damage is White.
• Says the word "please" in a sing-song tune, dealing 100 White Damage to sleeping employees. This attack is only used if there are sleeping employees in the room, but it can be "stored" if a previously stored attack would cause the sleep effect.

Equipment

Weapon: Howling Heart

Grade: ALEPH

Cost: 222

Max Amount: 1

Damage: White (11-33)

Attack Speed: Fast

Range: Very Long

Weapon Type: Pistol

Appearance: A large white pistol, decorated with a moth wing pattern. Has an ebony wooden grip. Fires bolts of white light. Has a semi-transparent bayonet attachment.

Special Properties: Requires Prudence V. Can be used at close range for 40% less damage, but twice as much attack speed. Agent's attack speed increases further as their SP decreases (upon to +150% at 0 SP). Upon panicking, if they would die, they do not. Instead, enter Yearning panic. Employees using this weapon are still controllable during Yearning panic (as long as the Abnormality is not breaching), though they will return to usual Yearning panic behaviour if they have been given no task, and cannot perform works on Abnormalities. If under Yearning panic, constantly heal HP. Special Ability only works beyond the close-range attack if That Old Yearning is in the facility.

Know that the bayonet is meant for carving holes into hearts. Yours will not be the exception.

Suit: Howling Heart

Grade: ALEPH

Cost: 120

Max Amount: 1

Resistances: Red: Resistant (0.3) - White: Vulnerable (3.0) - Black: Resistant (0.3) - Pale: Endured (0.5)

Appearance: A black suit that is covered in dizzying moth-wing patterns in lines of white. The tie is ebony and wooden-looking.

Special Properties: Requires Prudence IV or higher.

Gift: Howling Heart

SP -20, HP +24

Slot: Head

Appearance: A white moth hanging on the user's head.

If used with the Howling Heart suit and weapon, unlocks a rare special attack where a flower launches out of the gun's barrel as a whip, then dissipates, dealing 40-60 White damage in an area.

Flavor Text

[Working]

"[name] wants."
"[name] lies down in the ground for a bit."
"To live is to want. To want is to live."
"Sometimes we would wish for things so much that our breathing would get quite agitated."
"[name] asks themselves what is this feeling. They know."

[Breaching]

"[random employee's name] wants."
"I want."
"It's been on my mind ever since, honestly..."
"Some kind of longing has me. I feel that I want to do... something. What, exactly? "
"                 please                          "
"I've wanted it ever since that day."
"want want want want want"