Chapter Text
Wifies is a sea serpent, or whatever one chooses to call it. The leviathan, cthulhu, sea serpent, mermaid, the Loch Ness Monster, etcetera etcetera, It didn't matter much to Wifies either way. He was so far above what mortals called him, it didn’t really matter that much.
Well… he still found himself feeling something odd, Loneliness, as Hastur called it. Which felt silly, didn't it? He's practically a god by mortal standards! How could Wifies of all beings feel lonely of all things? Even if it felt silly, Squiddo did keep saying he needed to meet new people… so did Ashwag, really. Maybe he could find some other being to bother? Ugh, how would he do that, though…
Wait, there is one option he could pick. For the longest time, there's been this… tug, in his ribcage. A feeling he recognized in other gods, the feeling of being called out to by a mortal. There's been this mortal calling out to him for quite some time now, though Wifies never kept track of time very well. Maybe that could be the solution to his loneliness? Oh this could be fun, actually! Mortals were pretty funny sometimes, running around with no regard for their short lifespans…
…
Short lifespans… It wouldn't last, would it? Wifies would last far longer than any mortal would…
Well, at the very least it'll be a short term solution while he looks for something more… permanent.
Anyways, he's gonna ignore the curl in his chest at the thought of his– of THIS mortal that he's not even met being temporary! It's fiiiiine. Hm… He needs to find out a way to find this mortal without it being weird… he’s heard from Squiddo that just appearing to a mortal as-is can be… not ideal in most circumstances…
Oh, maybe the player interface? That thing mortals can use to scour the world and find stuff online.. Hm, that could work! He just… needs to be a player… that's.. that’s gonna be uncomfortable. The things he does to escape loneliness…
May as well get the process over with, though. Swimming to the surface of the deep ocean he resides in, Wifies hauls himself on land, ignoring the burning in his gills at the lack of breathable air.
Its an… odd process, one Wifies can never recall too well. Only the cracking and snapping of bones, the feeling of being poured into a vessel too small, cramming himself into a tiny, tiny false hitbox, the brush of fabric on raw skin and the settling of hair on a clammy forehead. Panting for breath, Wifies looks at the hands of this form, they are pale and clammy, shaking from strain. Sitting down on the sand and catching his breath, Wifies looks at the world around him through new eyes. It was… beautiful. He’d say it's just as beautiful as the ocean during a sunny day.
Sure, he's seen the surface before, through the lens of peeking above the surface with watery eyes, but…
Wifies never really got the chance to admire it before needing to go back under for breath and to heal his eyes from the strain of sunlight. He wishes he had the chance to see it like this sooner, maybe he could have appreciated it even more, seeing it for the first time instead of with fresh eyes.
Ew, fresh eyes. Where did that saying even come from?? Wifies has been hanging out with Squiddo too much.
He’s getting sidetracked, he should practice talking and walking, right? Standing up and bracing himself against a nearby rock, Wifies takes stock of his initial body-feelings. His legs are shaking and a little sore, his mouth is really dry, and his knees hurt. Oookay… This is gonna take a second.
Wifies briefly hesitates before beginning to walk shakily. His shoes grinding into sand and making an overly precarious first attempt at walking. The first step isn't too bad, nor the second or third. But after that, the sand and the waves combine to make a very poor experience walking for the first time.
Wifies falls into the sand with a loud yelp. Groaning, he pushes himself up so he's sitting with his legs crossed
“hhh… thss s’ dmm...” Wifies hisses out. Wait! He can talk! His voice, its.. It's kind of monotone and low, not unlike when he'd talk to other gods in his own tongue. Slapping a hand on his face and sitting up, he mouthes out the syllables of various words that are popping into his head. Is this part of being human? It sounds exhausting to suddenly have a human language to account for in your mind.
He starts with his name, simplifying it to human tongue. “Www. whhi.... wwwiff…wwh. wwwiffiee. hhh…. w. Wwwifiees… Wwifies… Wifies.” there we go! Mastery of the human tongue, right here! Now he just needs to do that with… every other word…
Wifies is fine with just being able to mutter out his name for now, he’ll settle for having a weird slur to his words for a bit while he practices his english. He doesn't have anything to brace himself with this time, but Wifies shakily stands up. Now he needs to get access to the player interface… How would he go about this? Is it just… Thinking and hoping?
Holding his hands out, Wifies strains his arms, trying to manifest what he’d seen from players venturing out to his waters.
It starts with what feels like pins and needles on his left arm, then a pale blue glow. Before that familiar screen of a player interface appears, glitching, but there. Success!! He's done it! Wifies successfully fooled the player interface! Ok, now he just needs to find this human who's been calling to him…
Well, if he were trying to find more information on himself, he'd start by running through the names he's been given throughout the years, most common to least common. Wifies would say he's been called Cthulhu and Leviathan the most, so he'll start with the latter.
He starts by finding some shade first, stumbling under a tree. The surface was warm, warmer than he’d thought it would be. Next, he starts scouring the “internet” as the player interface appears to be called. Various websites come up when he searches for both names, with Reddit having the most information.
He searches and searches, coming across very… questionable posts regarding himself, obviously faked. Until he sees it. A post by user Hummer5718 about himself, referring to the name “Leviathan.” This is it. Wifies doesn't know how or why he knows, but this is the mortal that's been calling out to him for so long. Now he just needs to get into contact… Using the “Email” he was given upon accessing the internet, Wifies drafts up a message to Hummer5718, sending it once he deems it normal enough.
“Best,
Wifies.”
A sign off he's unfairly proud of, so normal! Hummer5718 will never know they’re talking to their god until Wifies wants them to know.
Now, Wifies just has to wait. Wait for a reply
And wait he did
He waited…
…
And waited…
…
“Yours,
Hummer5718”
Finally, something to work with! Wifies had spent the days following his email learning more speech, making a cover story, and learning human social rules. He’s decided that he could use the cover of being “autistic” to cover his… everything. And really, it wasn't inaccurate. So Wifies isn't even lying, it was the perfect cover.
Now, to follow the emails directions and join Hummer5718’s world, and life.
—
He decided from the get-go that he needed to separate himself from the ocean and specifically sea creatures. He’d seen players with animal features before, so he decided to alter this disguise to have some as well. From what his research leads him to see what animal is the least oceany, Wifies bestowed his disguise dog and dog-like features, like ears and a tail, as well as a softer face and body. His hopes with this disguise it won't be painfully obvious that Wifies is not a real player, he already doesn't have a real hitbox. He just hopes that nobody notices.
Manifesting in the world, Wifies quickly constructs a false join message. He’d learnt quickly that his method of joining worlds, and his nature of not being a player, meant he had no real join message. Instead, while testing joining and leaving worlds, he needed to send fake ones into the player chat.
Checking the player list, Wifies is delighted to see Hummer5718 on the list. Now, where are they…
‘Hello?’ he sends in the chat, looking around, seeing nobody.
A player appears behind him when he turns around, this must be Hummer. He looks.. Interesting, he never thought players could be mechanical. How is a robot sending pleas to a god surrounded by water? Ah, questions for another day, he supposes
“Hello, nice. to meet you.” Wifies says, remembering to talk after realizing he was staring
“Nice to meet you as well, uh. Welcome to my world!” Oh, he's shy. Cute.
“Of course, thank you. for having me. This world is it, right? The 20-thousand, 20-thousand ocean?” Remember that he’s here for investigation purposes, and Hummer5718 doesn't know he's his god.
“Sure is, and no– no problem, thanks for joining” Wifies smiled softly to himself. This mortal was so soft and fragile he might as well have been a marshmallow that Wifies longed to crush in between his jaws. In fact, he swore he felt his mouth begin to unhinge with rows of sharp teeth that he had to bite down to keep shut.
“Of course... Before we get started, do you have any name preferences..? Does Hummer on its own work for you?” He remembers that most players have a name tag, and a real name. Hummer5718 didn't specify what he went by, so he’s just been using the name tag. He wonders if this mortal has a silly little nickname, even though he seems to be the type to go by something more efficient.
“Oh- yeah! Uh, Hummer works, 5718, whatever you want to call me, really.” Oh. Oh that's adorable. Hummer is the perfect mortal already.
“Alright then, perfect. I am here today because I wanted to ask you some questions about your post if you did not mind? I saw your post and I was like… ‘Oh i gotta message this guy.’”
“Uhm, yeah of course. Are you some kind of Journalist or something?” Aha, perfect! Now he gets to use his cover story.
“Tech-ni-ca-lly speaking, yes. I make videos and post them on the internet regarding different rumors. So when I heard of the leviathan, I deciiiided to cover it next.” Wifies doesn't actually make videos, he needed a good cover story for investigating his follower, and he decided this was his best bet. It feels odd talking about himself in the 3rd person and as if they aren't the same entity, but it’ll work for the time being.
“I see… Interesting.” The TV in front of him tilts his head, antennae twitching. An odd reaction, maybe internet video people are looked down upon? Hm, that could compromise his disguise. Best to tread carefully.
“So… Have you been searching for m- for the Leviathan for a while?” dont notice his slip up, dont notice his slip up–
“Uhm, I’d say I've been looking for Levi for.. Gosh, around a year now? Maybe two?” Levi? Oh, does Hummer have a nickname for him? Oh, how sweet… he should get Hummer a nickname too, return the favor.
Still, he can't help but tease the mechanical player a little bit. “Levi?” Wifies unfortunately wasn’t able to hide the uptilt in his voice, sounding out the unfamiliar word with amusement coloring his tone.
Hummer sputters a bit, obviously having caught himself before muttering. “It- it’s just a nickname, nothing special.” Wifies has to hold back demons to not reveal himself to Hummer right then and there.
Oh it would be funny… Hummer frozen up in shock realizing he called his god a silly nickname right to his face. Wifies never truly cared what mortals called him, but with Hummer it feels different. It feels more special.
“Relax, I do not mind. It is kind of cool.” Wifies grins, he has not mastered expressions just yet, but he hopes it looks reassuring. Though Hummer stiffening up tells him otherwise. Darn it.
“Sorry– can I ask, why did you reach out, by the way?” Wifies is very glad for the change in topic, he leaps at the chance, even.
“Well, Like I mentioned earlier,,, I just wanted to ask you questions about your screenshot and this ocean, if you did not mind?” Wifies tilts his head to punctuate the question. He heard some players have difficulty recognizing questions, so he’s been developing a set of body expressions (Or body language as he’s heard it called) to express himself better, even though he still struggles with the face a bit. Words as well, he has this odd slur to his speech in certain words, and he's practically given up on understanding contractions.
“Uhm, yeah go for it, what did you want to ask?”
“This is the ocean where. you took the photo, right? The 20-thousand by 20-thousand?”
“Yes, why?”
“Would you mind taking me… to where you took the photo from. your post?”
“... I’m sorry, I can’t.”
That confirms Wifies’ suspicion. He had noticed that Hummer’s photo was edited when he first stumbled upon the post. Edited to appear as if a cold ocean had developed right next to a coral reef, which isn't possible. Wifies of all people should know how oceans work, and this isn't it. Really, the true mystery is why Hummer did this in the first place. Could it be some sort of test? Some strange way of checking who truly wants to see him?
Hmm, Wifies shuffles in place, looking at Hummer. It’s clear to him that Hummer is dead set on this lie, even if Wifies chooses to confront him about it.
“Why did you edit your photos, Hummer?” Best to be blunt, get it out of the way.
“I… I didn't? What do you mean?’
“The coral reef. Those are not able to form naturally right next to a cold ocean, where you took that picture... Look.” Wifies takes out his player interface and pulls up the reddit post to show Hummer. The TV head is suspiciously quiet and staring at Wifies. He doesn't really know what to do, should he keep talking? Hummer being quiet feels wrong.
“I do not mind if you faked them… I just want... to know why, Hummer.” Wifies internally curses his inexperience with english, his tongue feels heavy and clumsy in his mouth and the teeth are too blunt and too sharp at the same time.
“... Because. Because I was waiting for something like this to happen.” Oh? “I’ve been looking for someone that cares about finding Levi just as much as I do. Most people, they just– they look into Levi just to disprove him, to look around, find NOTHING, and conclude he isn't real.” Hummer waves his hands around as he talks, beckoning Wifies to follow.
The two walk to Hummers house and continue to talk. It’s… nice. Hummer defends “Levi” so passionately. And even if Wifies playfully sets himself up as a skeptic, a devil’s advocate, Hummer continues to be patient, “convincing” Wifies to believe in himself. Its painfully sweet.
“So… yeah, what's mine is yours. All of my research from the past 2-ish years is here, all carefully catalogued and ready to be combed through once again.” Hummer spreads his arms out, gesturing to the basement of his home, a warm library full of documentation of Wifies, of himself, of Levi. It’s fascinating from an outside perspective. Wifies never knew mortals could get so passionate… Its admirable, really. That feeling of wanting to squeeze Hummer until the TV short circuited returns, and Wifies has to sharply bite it down. No need for that just yet.
“These are all… reports about Levi, yes? How many are there? Most of these bookshelves look full.” Wifies gently takes out one report, combing through it briefly before putting it back.
“About.. 689 last I checked. The oldest dates back to about 2024. August to be specific.” 2024? The current year was… 2026. Huh, that's far older than what Wifies saw from his own brief research on himself.
“2024? That is much older than what I saw from my own research…”
Hummers chest puffs up with pride. It reminds Wifies of birds he’d see sometimes courting each other, it’s very charming and he can't help but be more endeared than he already was.
Oh Hummer, how quickly you have wormed into Wifies’ heart… not like he was guarding it much, anyway.
“I’d hope so! I’ve been searching for Levi longer than I think anyone else has. Everyone always falls for the spectacle, the allure of a mystery to solve, but nobody ever sticks around long enough to really find the truth.” Hummer punctuates his sentence by snapping a report shut.
“If I may ask… You seem to have Levi mostly figured out, why do you need me...? Anyone, really?” Hummer pauses a moment, considering. His screen briefly has a stronger static effect while he thinks.
“Because… Well, my information isn’t perfect, I bet you have a perspective on Levi that I don't. “ You could say that. “And well– there's some things I want to try that require two people… so, uh, if you’re down to research with me, I'd love to have you as a– research partner.” Wifies fakes considering for a moment, glancing off to the side in ‘thought.’
“Well.. alright... They say two heads are better than one, right?... I will help you find Levi, Hummer. You have my word.” Pressing a hand to his chest, Wifies smiles at Hummer, his other hand folded behind him.
This may not last forever, despite how much Wifies desperately wants it to, but it will last long enough.
Oh Hummer… your devotion is a wonderful thing, your belief will get you far.
Wifies wasn’t guarding his heart much, anyway. No harm in letting someone in…