Chapter Text
It was 1:30 AM on a weekend night.
Victor was pacing around the kitchen island as usual, his mind restless for reasons unknown to it or the others within. Everyone else was surprisingly asleep in the house, it was a rare thing that not even his father was awake. It was trying to get his energy out before going back to bed. It had his favorite purse on it, he truly did love that it got such a thoughtful gift from his grandma- specifically made to carry its sketchbook!
He continued walking around a bit more before the Kettle began to whistle, pouring some water into its favorite mug- one based off of Lobotomy Corporation, Chesed's mug - and beginning to make some hot cocoa with the instant mix. Once he was finished making the cocoa, it began to walk to his room once more, before noticing something… odd.
It was very certain that some elevator doors were replacing the door to his brother's room.
Now, Victor was very confused. That was certainly not there two minutes ago… hm. It went to grab some essential things from his room before putting on its hoodie, robe, shoes, and belt. He then came back out as it heard a ding, seeing that those strange doors were now open… that was an awfully familiar interior to many a roblox player. Well, he guessed if it didn't enter someone else would… he sipped on its cocoa, stepped on.
And then, when the doors closed, felt the floor drop.
-
— [???] —
-
It had been quite a while since the elevator had a new subject, especially one so normal. It was the perfect subject- a perfectly intact, complete and fully organic human. They were quite a rarity nowadays, with most of the population having already evolved into 'robloxians' or having been infected, so having that elevator seek one out with one of those… tickets was a stroke of genius on their part. They had already took plenty of samples, so they decided that it was about the time to do the interesting part- experimentation.
Those that were a part of the select few that MR graced with knowledge were quite aware that humans had extreme amounts of underlying magical and supernatural energy latent to them, but were unable to use it on their own without having it unlocked somehow. This one was no exception, in fact- this one had such an incredible attunement that they could rival gods in power, if it was just unlocked and guided to the path of enlightenment. Ah, praise be, this human could be the savior that could seek out the party goer once and for all!
They paced around the test tube, the human being in suspended animation meant that they couldn't move or wake up from their slumber. Whoever this human was, one thing was for certain- they wouldn't be human when they woke up. Not anymore, no, they'd become something far, far greater. Hm, but something did feel quite off, they did notice something strange about this human's soul…
Ah well, it will manifest itself in some form anyways once this is done.
— [IN>NOVA<TION] —
"Do you think you can't help anyone? That you're nothing but a blip in a radar, unable to do anything but be a statistic?"
"Y-yeah… a little bit…"
"Do you think you're powerless? Helpless?"
"… Yeah…"
"Do you have trouble with agency? You're terrified of saying no, aren't you?"
"… Mhm…"
"There's no hope for you, is there? Not for you and not for those you care about, they will all die someday, you know."
"… No… there's hope, it… it comes from the darkest of places, and it grows like what people call weeds… even if people die someday, there is still hope, if we just… try…"
"… hm. Are you sure about that?"
"… many places… are filled with pain… and while a false hope can be harmful… hope is something better to have than not… hope is a drive that… we always… try… to hold out for it… even whenever our brain… tricks itself into not…"
"… I see. I understand that. May you use the power I will give you well."
"… what's your name…?"
"…Well… That's the first time someone has genuinely asked… it's ██████."
" … heh... Knew it…"
"I had a feeling. Good luck, and… keep learning."
"Wha…t…?"
"… and he's asleep again. I can only hope it has a good dream, the last rendition of his world had the unfortunate phenomenon of 'de-canonizing' due to that… I don't even wish to mention it. Such a terrible thing should not be spoken of. Perhaps this time it will be a tad bit luckier."
-
— [???] —
-
They calculated everything, the ratios of how to make a perfect 'form' for their little test subject. They only had one shot to do this, so they must nurture them correctly and with diligence. Sure, while this is the perfect slurry to resonate with the frequency the subject's soul gave off, it still had to be very strictly monitored to make sure nothing went wrong. They adjusted the device keeping the subject in suspended animation quite a bit before being satisfied.
Finally, they registered the slurry to the subject. They watched as the glorious transformation began to take place, the humanity melting and blending with the stra…
Wait. This formation… they've been warned to terminate anything that took such a formation, but this- this is the first time they've truly seen it happen WHILE an experiment was being conducted and not as the end result. They watched as the dangerous form melted away as well, and the subject began to become… something. Something that they have never seen before, something terrifyingly foreign and so terrifyingly bearing the resemblance of something scriptures spoke not to invoke their names.
This… this was dangerous, they had to-
The glass on the test tube was cracking.
It escaped.
There was the ding of an elevator, as the blood of one once devout coated the floor, and a 'demon' crawled onto the elevator in pain.
-
— [MELANIE] —
-
Melanie knew that the elevator could be weird. But she also knew that it doesn't do anything odd without reason somehow, from what DR. RETRO said. And a half-melting, seemingly in excruciating pain figure was certainly an oddity. They had already called for Mozelle after finding the strange being at the elevator's entrance to her castle, but now she was more concerned as to why they were feeling this… strange, comforting presence around the figure. As if the stranger knew something, and wished to comfort her.
"This isn't good…" Mozelle spoke using her TTS program, "Whoever this is had some sort of genetic slurry injected into them… my lady, would you mind calling DR. RETRO for a better analysis?"
"I-i don't mind! This s-seems pretty major…."
What was that number again? Where was it, where was it… aha!
"U-um, hey Doctor? It's Melanie… Me and Moz found someone uh… melting? Th-they were barely conscious when we found them… uh- what do they look like? I-i can only describe it as… star stuff with some strange wood? Th-they're humanoid though! Oh, I guess s-see you in a minute? O-okay…"
They hung up, and she looked towards Mozelle.
"The doctor is coming, s-she sounded really, really panicked for some reason…"
"Anyone would be when hearing about such a thing- oh dear… I do believe this individual used to be a human as well…"
"A-a human? Aren't they 'e-endangered'?"
"Exactly why this is so concerning! Why, it's considered the tippy top of the list of things NOT to do for a good reason! And I can tell from a glance there was an attempt at meddling with their soul…s? Strange, their soul seems to be of many stitched together…"
"O-oh…"
A little while after the doctor arrived, they managed to get the stranger stabilized. She watched as the stranger began to stir…
— [V█████ VEX?] —
God. Fuck. Ow. Everything kinda hurt like hell right now. Right right- retracing his steps… it saw a weird elevator and got on because otherwise someone else in his family would get taken… then it heard a weirdly familiar warm and comforting voice saying the most depressing shit imaginable and managed to resist SOMETHING… then he felt something poke it and then felt REALLY intense agony and the rest was blurred by pain.
He stirred a bit more, feeling more of a low, warm comfort throughout its body than the normal constant discomfort a human form gave. Honestly it was kind of nice, a simple and borderline euphoric feeling of feeling unbound by what formerly felt like a prison. Slowly, senses started to fizzle in… the first of them was sound.
"Mrow… mrrp meow… (Hey… wake up…)"
Huh? Was that a cat? But how can he…
"Now now, doctor, they might be a little startled when they do wake up, it might be best to take it slow. Since they have gotten care here, they are one of my subjects by proxy!"
Was that a Text-to-Speech voice? It was quite nice.
"I-I really hope they're okay with the outfit w-we put them in, but I guess it's better than nothing…"
That voice felt anxious, yet well-meaning and kind. There was a clarity to it that almost reminded it of a vocaloid.
The second sense that returned was smell, probably the sense that he was most unfamiliar with. It doesn't really use his sense of smell often ever since everything started smelling off from covid. It could smell a very nice incense, lotus was it? There was also the smell of a nice, crackling cedarwood and pine-fed fire. The third sense was taste, as the air tasted crisp- like an autumn day, or whatever part of the year had the least pollution in the air. It was nice.
The fourth sense to return was touch, as he twitched its hand a bit and felt the fabric on his body, tail flicking and wings flexing. Wait… tail? Wings? Okay that's… not normal but that explains why it felt way more comfortable now.
"Oh, Th-they're waking up?"
He grumbled a bit, honestly it didn't want to get up, this is the first time he's woken up and felt comfortable in the body it inhabited with the rest of the system. Unfortunately, can't really sleep forever… the fifth sense that returned was sight. He slowly opened its eyes, blinking a few times. This room was… very pink. Very, VERY pink. It shifted up in the bed, struggling a bit from not being used to the sense of balance of whatever this new form was.
"Mew, mrow mmrp? Mrew mew! (There we go, you feelin' better sugar? You looked real rough when Melanie found you, that's for sure!)"
"Urrhgg… where- huh? What happened to our…" Holy shit. This was an amazing change, that sure is a voice that he could get used to having.
"Do take it a little slow now, as the newest subject under my care, it is my responsibility to see that you are able to move properly and live comfortably!"
"Um… thanks…? I don't… exactly remember how we got here…"
"W-well, oh, how do I explain this…"
As Melanie explained the situation, it began to really sink in what kind of situation it was in. He certainly had plenty of questions, the how, the what, and the why- but it was more concerned as to the motivations of whoever brought him to the elevator in the first place. Knowing about the lore, there was a good chance they were related to MR's cult- it was mentioned that they had some sort of lab… if only Bive was in front, but she was oddly absent. Hm. Poob and NULL weren't there either, not even Kasper or Infected, odd. And suspicious. That seems like something to ponder later.
"So… when we came here, we were practically crawling on the floor from agony… so that means we have to wear this weird mask to keep our body in a stable state?"
"Mrow mrrp! Prrr mrrp meow. (Yeah, pretty much! It's important that you don't take it off unless you're eating or drinking for a while, or else you might start melting again and end up in a lot of pain.)"
"Okay, makes sense. Why does it look like this?"
It was genuinely curious as to why the mask somewhat resembled the one the Pandora script used.
"O-oh! It's supposed to look like a mask from a-an old mythology book I read… I-i thought it would look c-cool…"
"Well you were right, it does look cool as hell. In fact, it's giving me SEVERAL outfit ideas…"
"Mrow meow? (Oh, are you a fashion designer?)"
"No, but I AM a character designer, which does involve some fashion design knowledge."
"H-huh…"
Mozelle spoke up, "Well, since you are awake now, I would like to inform you that this room will be all yours until you are able to get your own place to stay, so you need not worry about lodging for now. As one of my subjects, you will be given plenty of food and amenities until you are feeling quite better."
"Oh- thank you…!"
After a few more introductions, he was left on its lonesome in the room. Honestly, he didn't really care much about what happened to its body, just that he looked cool as hell now and it could definitely make a just-as-cool outfit in due time. For now though, he was more worried about something else.
Where did it's stuff go?
He fumbled about in the pockets of the outfit it was given, having no luck until a flash of light appeared and brought forth… his phone? It looked at the device a bit, noticing that the phone was most definitely upgraded by a significant margin.
He should talk to its friends later, for now, he just wants a nap.