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His first time going down to the destroyed Blacksite, Jakob had no idea what to expect. Quite literally. He couldn't hear his team, he couldn't hear the overhead speakers, he was a deaf man going into something absolutely blind.
He had been pulled from his holding area by a guardsman, practically dragged actually since he couldn't even attempt to read lips thanks to the helmet.
Not that he was any good at reading lips. Most people didn't enunciate enough to be readable.
He was tossed to a group of three others before a submarine, and he desperately began trying to ask what was even going on, where they were, etc etc. None of his teammates knew ASL, but they now knew he couldn't hear. Only one seemed to even have experience going through the Blacksite, giving him a half-dead look that sent chills up Jakob's spine.
The kind that got his adrenaline going something fierce, unintentionally leading to a smile that made the rest look incredibly uncomfortable.
He opted to follow the more experienced one, though he didn't understand why she picked up random files or videotapes scattered about. She seemed to share why with the others, but he was still at a loss.
Room after room passed, and still Jakob wasn't any closer to understanding what the goal of this journey through the ruined deepwater facility was.
It was at around the fifteenth room that he saw the others momentarily freeze up. The woman leading them suddenly yelled something, pointing towards the walls before running ahead. It wasn't until the others took the only two in the room that she was pointing to lockers.
He tried to run after the experienced EXR-P when he realized something was actually going down, but it was too late. The adrenaline suddenly vanished, and he felt light. Floating. Strange eyes in the darkness, a desk, a file opening up, blurred text… No, some of it became clear, somehow.
‘Pinkie.’
Jakob suddenly shot up in his cell's bed, gasping for air like he'd been holding his breath far too long. His body ached, shaking, and yet…
He was soon smiling. Grinning.
The guard came to collect him from his cell like before, the only difference being that they seemed to be keeping a slight distance from him.
Not that he cared. He finally found a thrill worth chasing. He died. He knew he had been torn to shreds in a fraction of a second. And yet, and yet, he lived. It was as if nothing had happened at all, like he'd never gone down to the Blacksite.
Another difference, he was ushered onto a different squad. Two rough-looked men and the third he couldn't discern, but they looked nervous as all hell. The men must have actually been hardened criminals, guilty of their charges, whereas Jakob and this other were likely innocent but damned anyway.
Jakob stuck close to the third. He attempted like before to communicate, but still no ASL understanding from any of them. Instead, Jakob could only offer reassuring smiles, certain that everyone was revived somehow upon death.
Though he couldn't tell if he was actually ‘revived’ or if this was some kind of Groundhog Day situation.
Things went mostly the same. The two men kept charging ahead this time, only really stopping when they needed a card or a code. He and the third were left to pick up whatever bits they could find, though Jakob still wasn't sure why he was gathering any of it.
This time, at around room nineteen, the lights dimmed and flickered. The other two were a couple more rooms ahead still, and the third made a mad-dash for a locker. Jakob did the same, opening his at the same time, only to stop when he saw black goop suddenly overwhelm the third and drag them in, definitely screaming by the look on their face.
He abandoned his locker to try and save them. He was once again torn to shreds the moment he gripped the handle.
That same floating feeling and those same eyes appeared.
‘Angler.’
A new ‘morning’, a new team, a new discovery.
‘Blitz.’ ‘Angler.’ ‘Angler.’ ‘Wall Dweller.’ ‘Angler.’ ‘Pinkie.’ ‘Frogger.’ ‘Pinkie.’
Ten deaths, some information learned, no real progress, no understanding.
‘Pinkie.’ ‘Chainsmoker.’ ‘Wall Dweller.’ ‘Eyefestation.’ ‘Angler.’ ‘Blitz.’ ‘Pinkie.’
He finally recognizes a face or two on his teams now. They recognize him. They look uncomfortable. He keeps smiling eagerly as they descend to the hadal zone.
‘Angler.’ ‘Eyefestation’. ‘Pinkie.’ ‘Blitz.’ ‘Angler.’ ‘Wall Dweller.’ ‘Frogger.’
Something changes on his 25th attempt. He has a team of familiar faces, and they all seem to be openly discussing something. They don't care that he's there, since he can't hear. But they keep glancing his way. Talking about him? He didn't know.
He didn't care.
‘Turrets.’
His first death to the environment rather than a monster he barely catches glimpses of. He knew at that point what the other three had been discussing. He was nothing more to them than a meat shield.
They had shoved him into a room, leaving him confused as they all dashed around him, spared from the bullet barrage a second after he was pushed in the way. Somebody else went down with him from the stray fire.
Not everyone here wanted to work together. Least of all with a man who couldn't sense the dangers. A man who couldn't be understood.
He decided then to try something else. He'd seen people go down on their own or in teams of two or three instead of the full four.
He finally managed to get a guard to give him a small notepad and a pen - temporarily, of course - to request either a smaller team or a solo attempt.
He was immediately shoved into the next group of four going down.
A deaf man going with fewer bodies to hopefully make him worth sending down in the first place was a waste of resources.
Jakob figured they should have thought that through before basically kidnapping him.
He never realized he was originally meant to serve a different purpose. A guinea pig for experiments that would no longer take place.
This next group lasted a bit longer. He was paired up with three veterans - he assumed they were, at least, from how cautiously they moved through the Blacksite. He wondered why he never saw them before, after all his attempts.
One stuck close to Jakob at all times, shoving him into lockers to spare him from the Angler and its brethren. Around room 43 - the furthest Jakob had ever gotten - he encountered something new.
There was panic this time as he was dragged towards a locker after a light flicker warned everyone of an incoming Angler, and she made a gripping motion before slamming the locker doors on Jakob and fleeing elsewhere. Seconds later came the familiar rumbling.
Then he saw a mouth full of eyes. A melting creature, shapeless, angry, throwing his locker to and fro in an attempt to tear the doors off. Jakob was nearly too late to grab the doors, riding the adrenaline high as he toed the line between life and death. It was the closest he'd felt to his skydiving days, smiling in the face of death should something go wrong.
Just as he decided to let go, to let the creature take him so he could learn its name and feel how different it might be compared to the various Anglers, it vanished. He opened the locker doors and turned on a flashlight he'd found a few rooms back.
His partner lay dead on the ground, mere steps from the next locker.
Jakob only mourned that he would have been happier to die instead of her for the experience of something new. He then gathered a couple items from her corpse and carried on, momentarily wondering if this was what others did to him after he died.
Now alone, Jakob chose to continue at his own pace while the other two clearly assumed he died with his unnamed ‘assistant’, since neither came back to check. Not that he minded that much. He wanted to try and be solo and actually explore a little.
Out of nowhere came a severe pain, almost like static ripping through him. For a moment, he thought he saw somebody. For a moment, his vision was green. He collapsed to his knees as he blinked it away, coughing as his insides burned, and realized he was reunited with the two in an unfamiliar room.
Both were startled to see him. They looked pale and maybe a little apologetic. Did they know that would happen?
His attempts to ask were pointless, yet again. Nobody could read his hands. He couldn't read anyone's lips.
They made it another ten or so rooms before reaching a tramline. The remaining two seemed to know the drill here, but Jakob had never gotten this far.
One fixed a nearby generator, reactivating the trams. The other searched the station for files or abandoned gear. Jakob just stood by, glancing back to the entrance door to be sure nothing was chasing them.
Maybe he was still buzzing from the strange Angler variant, or maybe he was too dizzy from the sudden teleport, but something made him feel ill about this place. Uneasy. Excited.
The tram came through a few moments later. They all boarded, and Jakob sat while the other two stood. Staring out the windows to the vast oceans let him see why he had the gut feeling he did.
A strange, boat-like creature, glowing yellow with tendrils dangling beneath it swam in the same direction they were traveling.
He wished he could get a closer look. That wish would be granted as they arrived at the next station, traveling through a couple more rooms followed by a much heavier containment shutter.
A guard lay dead on the other side of the door as what looked like a set of four searchlights wandered over. The corpse was illuminated by a searchlight a second later, and a hook suddenly shot through their torso, yanking them upwards. Jakob's eyes followed the movement to see the creature above.
The glowing he saw belonged to its four ‘eyes’, acting just the same as a searchlight, and those tendrils were like massive fishing lines. It was the fish, yet they were the ones being hooked.
The two beside him rushed in towards a damaged generator, one keeping an eye on the creature as the other focused on the repairs, and that was when Jakob understood what had to happen.
Wherever they needed to go, they couldn't get to it until they repaired the damages done here.
Feeling a renewed sense of thrilling danger, Jakob waited for the creature to make one more pass before running in. He chased behind it until he found a damaged generator of his own. He had no idea what he was doing, but he couldn't stay dead-weight forever.
He didn't notice the creature turning around in a new pattern. His teammates weren't close enough to grab him away from the generator.
He reactivated the generator just as the light passed over him. He felt the hook pierce through his chest.
Death gave him the chance to see the creature up close, but he didn't last more than a few seconds once he was pulled up.
‘Searchlights.’
Now Jakob knew there were greater dangers deep below, ones that didn't kill instantly. Some were far more agonizing than others, some could be seen while others only heard. He knew he could do this, believed he could, and needed to try.
Again he requested the guard let him go alone, or at least with just one other teammate instead of four. He needed somebody like before to warn him of audible threats, but he was confident he could handle the rest easily.
Making this case, the guard relented, and Jakob actually found himself paired with the same person who had assisted him before. She looked less than happy to be in a duo.
Or maybe she was less than happy to be with him again.
He did his best to be more active as they worked their way through the Blacksite, managing to convey a code to her in case he couldn't hear an incoming threat. A simple hand gesture of ‘hide’, which he could immediately process to duck into a side room or hide in a locker.
The method worked incredibly well. Whenever lights flickered, they'd be able to hide together. Puzzles and hunting were left up to Jakob while she kept an ear out for things he couldn't hear.
They reached the Searchlights at room 33, and she would pull him away from the generators to keep him alive.
This was the furthest he had gotten, and the look she had at the start was replaced almost with a form of pride.
He couldn't deny, she worked quite hard to keep him alive. He'd learned much from her, like how to find a way to communicate even without proper ASL.
Around the 42nd room, he finally learned why everyone before was so focused on finding files and tapes. A vent suddenly popped open, and Jakob would have missed it entirely had she not pulled his arm towards it. Crawling through led to a hidden, broken down room with a massive creature, almost like a serpentine merman.
Three arms, a long eel tail with an aquatic-mammalian fin at the end, three eyes and an angler bulb protruding from its semi-short black hair. It looked to be talking to them, but it was even harder to try and read its lips.
Jakob's partner approached the creature's tail, exchanging the collected data for items attached to it, while Jakob just… stared.
The creature eventually caught notice of this, getting a rather annoyed look as it tried to speak to him. He gave a quick sign, trying to explain his situation, but the creature merely squinted at him. His teammate must have spoken up by then, as the creature turned its attention to her instead and scowled.
A brief conversation was shared between the two, ending with the creature making a dismissive ‘go away’ gesture towards Jakob. He was then pulled away, back through the vent by his fellow expeditioner.
Once more, he was faced with new questions and no hope for straight answers.
They reached room 65 before having to go through a dangerous stretch of water. She had him hold on to her underwater glider, but he could see her shaking as they entered the water.
Again, he learned why shortly after entering the tunnel they had to travel through.
A monstrous sea creature, like some kind of freaky oversized crocodile, made itself known as it tore through an intersection just ahead of them, only to switch up and soon give chase. Not only that, but she had to steer them through still active fanblades, barely dodging collapsing tunnels - all the damages likely done by the creature hot on their trail.
Jakob didn't know if she survived, but the creature caught his leg, and he wound up letting go from the pain, being swallowed up moments after.
‘Abomination.’
It was the furthest Jakob had ever gotten. Far enough to realize that - somehow - in the realm between his death and reawakening, the fishman he met was the one revealing information about the creatures that killed him each time. Removing the blur to tell him more and more about it.
Except this time, there were now sticky notes. Additions telling Jakob how to avoid dying to what he had before, time and time again.
Anglers he already knew by now, just hide in a locker or side room, though there was no advice for Pinkie. Just “good luck.” Searchlights, stay out of its light-sight. Wall Dwellers, glance behind yourself frequently, just in case. Eyefestation, force yourself to look away, no matter how much she pulls your attention. Turrets, avoid the lines of sight.
Most of it was obvious, but it drew his attention to one fact. Despite the scowl, this creature didn't want him to die. At least, that's what he could guess.
He returned to four man teams, dying a few more times to various creatures. Most old, but a few new.
Falling down a pit in pitch darkness. ‘Pitfalls.’ Watch your step, idiot.
Getting killed by some person-shaped topiary. ‘DiVine.’ Keep off the grass, jackass.
Finally dying to the multi-eyed shape - God that was horrifically painful, worse than the Anglers; slow and acidic. ‘Pandemonium.’ Hiding in a room is best if you can't keep hold of the locker.
Most notes insulted his intelligence, but they were hints all the same.
Then came a huge error in judgement. He finally got to see the creature again, and tried again and again to communicate, only to be ignored for the sake of his teammates who were shopping. In a strange moment of irritation, Jakob grabbed a nearby light - a flash beacon by pure chance - and shot it to earn his attention.
He had no idea that the creature reacted so viscerally to the light. It whipped towards Jakob, grabbing him into the air and breaking the beacon, mouthing very clearly for him to understand.
Don't. Do that. Again.
Jakob was then thrown to the ground, with the rest of his teammates anxiously watching the ordeal. He was dizzied, but for the most part unharmed. Unfortunately, this also just irritated him further. He tried again to get the creature’s attention, to demand he finally get answers from the one being that actually could give them, but what he wound up inevitably getting was a glare that could kill. The creatures normally pleasantly blue eyes had turned near entirely black, the blue being the smallest dot of a pupil for each one.
A final warning to stop being irritating. The rest of his team quickly vacated, knowing what he didn’t.
He stood his ground, glaring back as he again signed for answers, attempting to threaten the being by reaching for another light source. The third arm suddenly moved behind the creature.
It was too fast for Jakob to see, but he’d been shot square in the chest, dying in seconds.
‘The Saboteur.’
The accompanying image of this file was different. There was a human beside the creature, holding up a criminal placard with the name ‘Sebastian Solace.’ He barely managed to skim enough to know the creature - Sebastian - had once been a human. Supposedly, a murderer. And Urbanshade had turned him into this monster.
Sebastian’s hand suddenly slammed the file closed before Jakob could read anything further, leaving behind another sticky note. Don’t fuck with me.
Looking up, Jakob could finally see Sebastian in full, no longer blurred by shadows, with that same scowl on his face. Jakob made a hand sign anyone could decipher: a ‘fuck you’ middle finger.
By now, most people who have gone through and died as many times as Jakob had either gone insane or lost all hope of ever reaching the goal - whatever that actually was, since he still couldn’t get any answers.
Jakob, however, still loved the fresh thrill of a new descent, no longer intending to embrace each death, but rather eager to see if he’ll make it any further than the previous attempts. Each failure only spurred him on to try again and again.
‘Pinkie.’ ‘Frogger.’ ‘Abomination.’ ‘Turrets.’ ‘Landmine.’
Room 58. Room 63. Room 47. Room 56. Room 72.
A new encounter today: a path leading them through an obstacle course. His teammates were more cooperative than most, all three managing to get him and each other to room 74. They helped him get the specialized suit on required for the course, one showing him how bits of it worked.
He could jump higher and activate a brief rocket thruster to send him up a second time, though it needed a short recharge after each use. In the short test-run area, he found it was smooth enough to allow him to run and slide beneath low openings in walls, and he could use a boost at his back to shoot him a couple feet forwards when in the air.
He and the other three then lined up at the starting line. Jakob’s focus was on the path ahead, until one of his teammates hit his arm and pointed up to a screen on the wall. A strange 2D face that looked like it was made in some standard default painting program on a computer appeared with a smug looking expression, a wall of flame pouring down from the ceiling a few yards behind them.
The starting gate opened. The three took off. Jakob stumbled in surprise, dashing after them soon after. This was a typical kind of adrenaline, simply running rather than the ever-existing anxiety of is there going to be a creature behind me. No creature this time. Just fire.
Spoiler alert: he failed to keep up, the flames moving faster than he expected, and his stumble costing him greatly. He was just about to catch up to the others, he could see the exit, when he was engulfed in fire.
‘Firewall.’
The days and runs and deaths all blurred together by now. A few of the more frequent teammates of his were slowly starting to learn enough basic ASL to communicate in very small amounts.
They all began to look more tired with each failure. He still looked as eager as his second day.
The promise of more that he was likely yet to find kept him going, again and again, his carefree smile giving way to a serious determination. It was only a matter of time before he finally figured things out on his own.
He and Sebastian greeted each other with the flipping of birds, their interactions kept brief. His teammates were a toss up between incredibly helpful - the ones who would learn ASL - or utterly uncaring, tossing him at turrets or simply leaving him behind.
He tried to bolt for the sub and activate it on his own one day. He woke up in his bed before the door even closed.
‘Prisoner Diving Gear.’ They can just blow you up if you don’t behave.
They’d have to tire of it eventually.
Jakob lost count of how many times he tried - how many people he definitely traumatized - before the guards finally just let him take the damn sub alone. They probably expected him to realize he’d just die and come back.
But something told him this run would be different. Something told him he’d make it further than ever. He moved cautiously. Stepped slowly. Learned to feel the vibrations of incoming anglers. Blitz was a particular concern now, but he was always aware of nearby lockers. He was going to do this.
He was going to see the end of this insanity.
He was going to survive.
This run, he was determined to make use of his adrenaline rushes and temper his excitement, grinning boldly at Sebastian when he got the chance to meet him, slowly fixing the generators and dodging the Searchlights.
What Jakob never anticipated was the chance to see a creature he’d never imagined before. One that actively tried to avoid him rather than hinder him.
One that Jakob would forever, this day on, seek out and attempt to befriend.
Still unaware of what his true end goal was, this creature had now become it for Jakob, even if he couldn’t explain why he was so fascinated. It reminded him a little of Sebastian, having clear sentience enough to avoid Jakob as he tried to follow.
Maybe it had a name, too. An old life.
Maybe it could understand him. God, he hoped somebody here could.
In the end, he died on a landmine, unable to ever reach the strange mass of pitch-black tentacles and multicolored eyes covering its body.
He could only hope he might meet it - no, them for now - in future runs. But today, he would return to teams of four once more, continuing the cycle in what had become a fairly relaxing routine now.