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Biblioteca Prohibida
Security Clearance, High Inquisitor or higher
File - Children of the Deep
Status - Eradicated
Knowledge of the incident has been acquired through the regular interrogations of the Church of the Deep Cultists. The abominable intrigue in this case has been an attempt to incorporate seaborne DNA into the egg cells of Aegir to create a branch of seaborne menace that is both dormant enough to be imperceptible aside from the most complex medical examinations, and more disturbingly, inheritable, permitting spread of corruption through unaware populace.
Once the source of those experiments had been found in a remote coastal moving city, the project seemed to be a failure. Autopsies reveal dozens of “mothers” that were consumed from inside out by the feral offspring, despite continuous attempts to perfect the formula by local cultists.
All have been purged by flame. No survivors.
El Apéndice 1 - Clearance Level : Saint
All documents, whatever they may be, were found already destroyed. The corruption may be already present among the people.
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Luciana strolled warily within the church. She knew it was not of the Deep, or at least prayed it wasn’t. Before escaping she has memorised all the known hideouts to avoid them. She used to be one of them, or maybe still is, the uncertainty weighs on her soul.
There’s a tug on her long skirt, and when her mind snaps back into the reality around her, she couldn’t help but smile at her little daughter. Andreana. The joy of her heart, the sole reason she broke off from the deep.
“Mom, Mom! Look!” Andreana spoke in her lovely voice, pointing at a huge sculpture of a Sankta holding one of their peculiar weapons. She herself did not really see the appeal, but the sparkle in her child's eyes told her all she needed to know.
Without even needing to ask, she scooped the little cuttlefish off of the ground into her arms, so that she may have a better view of the imposing statue.
Yes, she may have been a devoted cultist at one point. Even signing up for that risky experiment to push the tendrils of the church deeper into Iberia. But once she gave birth to her little inkdot… hearing her childish voice cry out with her first breath… She just couldn’t. The Seaborn do not feel love, they don't care for individuality or their offspring beyond survival of the whole…
So, when opportunity was right, she ran, she ran deeper inland, away from the whispers of the seaborne that could destroy her little mind. To give her a chance, to give her a future.
“Mom!” Her child spoke with her voice, as refreshing as the cold sea breeze. “When I grow up, I want a lance just like his!” She pointed to the statue. A curious wish, one she couldn’t expect, one she didn’t even endorse but…
“My dear, reach for whatever You want, never let anyone say what you are.” Luciana spoke softly, lovingly. Such peculiar desire is what separates her from the utilitarian ocean. “Mom will always love you, and support whatever path you take.”
Andreana was too young to understand the nuances within those words, but regardless of that, they stuck to her, she never forgot those warm, precious words.
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Andreana was looking through her scope at the single-file lane through which sea terrors were creeping onto the land. While her precious gun couldn’t take them all out, she certainly could soften those bastards up for the operators ahead. It wasn't a common enemy for her, in fact, only recently has Dr. Kal’tsit permitted her to be deployed against those creatures. No matter, for some reason, just from glancing at the spineless monsters, she could intuit their weak points, where her ink shots could pierce the exoskeleton and membrane to make the guts pour out. The woman chewed on the hard candy within her mouth, annoyed at how those critters kept going even with their insides more on the outside, but the only thing she could do right now was to keep shooting.
Cuttlefish thought the spot in which she sniped was safe, but one moment, she felt an odd tingle in her senses, right behind her. Andreana tumbled sideways in reaction to that instinct, only to see the spot she was at moments ago get smashed by a translucent tentacle, with organs and tissues visible in its watery flesh.
The owner of the appendage looked like some sort of bizarre combination of jellyfish with a crab, tough exoskeleton body out of which numerous thin and thick translucent limbs poured out, their trashing somehow seeming both chaotic and meticulous. And without even a need for a glance, its intent was clear. To crack her open.
Another swing, this time of the thinner tentacles, whooshing through the air like cat-o-nine-tails. Andreana had no time to dodge this time, the only thing that could shield her was her rifle-
Positioning herself so that her left shoulder took the brunt of the hit. The attack ripped into her flesh with tiny barbs that stuck to her skin, and the corrosive excretion she didn’t notice beforehand gave her painful burns in that arm, as it was slowly dissolving.
The Sniper didn’t account for acid when intercepting the strike, but it was worth it regardless. “Go to hell” she spoke, before reading the rifle in her right arm to shoot at the weak spot in the terrors armor, ignoring the pain spreading from her left shoulder.
The black condensed ink splattered on the armor, crackling sound underneath the blotch from the inflicted damage. But, it didn’t pierce through. And the beast reacted.
Sea Terror noticed how the organism in front of itself prioritised the object in its hands rather than its own body, it also had felt the damage caused by the weapon, so its priorities shifted. Ripping the barbed tentacles, together with chunks of burnt flesh, and latched onto the gun, yanking it away from surprised Andreana, melting away the rifle in its grasp, then with one of its larger appendages, it struck her away onto a nearby stone, her right arm bending the wrong way from the impact with an audible CRUNCH.
--
There was a moment of darkness before she woke up again, confused, unable to move her arm, world in front of her blurry mix of soft blue’s and an inky black. What happened? There’s the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, the smell fills her nostrils too.
Precious moments passed before consciousness returned to Andreana fully, realising that she’s just been knocked out, and that…
“You bastard! How dare you!” She cried out seeing the state of her precious weapon, feeling burning fury only a human could, one that the creature in front of her could sense, but could not comprehend.
Instead of reacting, the sea terror was unmoving, confused. With the blood being exposed, it could feel a familiar scent of its kin in front of it. Why was it fighting? Was the kin hungry? Was this radiating sensation from its kin it’s expression of malnourishment? Jellycrab slowly approached its kin, its tentacles at rest.
Andreana in her hurt, and rage couldn’t notice the abnormal behaviour of the monstrosity in front of her, instead, all she could see was her now destroyed rifle, and the cracked spot in the exoskeleton. People always told her she was unusually strong, even if not as much as some insanely powerful operators. Time to use that strength.
Feeling as if her blood was boiling, the sniper got off of the ground, and charged at the creature in front of her, before jumping to strike with her unbroken arm, a hateful wordless scream on her lips, marking the moment.
The fist punctured through into the soft inside, into the acidic sac of this creature, killing it almost instantly. But the strike left her arm deep inside, chunks of armor cutting her flesh, and the substance clinging to her skin and meat, slowly burning both of those.
Despite the agonising pain, despite the cries escaping her throat in this moment, Andreana did not pass out, not yet, instead, she pulled her arm out of its foe, skin already scorched off by the liquid, revealing the bloody muscles underneath. “Fuck, fuck, dammnit, fuck…” Continuous muttering under her breath as she desperately tries to scrape off the ooze using the shell of the creature to prevent further damage.
Slowly, she was losing consciousness again, the adrenaline was slowly passing and the whole system couldn’t handle all that damage and pain, dark blotches covering her vision as it turned blurry again, a gripping dread shadowing her soul “That's it… I’m dying.” Words echoing through her mind. She’s dying, that's the end, nothing after…
In what she knew were her last moments, she looked around, searching for her half melted rifle. Once her gaze landed upon her beloved weapon, laying next to one of the massive appendages, she wanted to cry seeing the state of it, but her body couldn’t even give out a few tears with the damage her body had undergone. In all fairness, the gun still is in better off state than she is, prompting her to chuckle a bit at this fate, before slowly dragging her feet towards it. If she were to die, she would do it with this gun in her embrace.
Few steps, and her legs gave out on her. She no longer could even hear the battle raging out from where the seaborne poured. Or maybe it finally ended, with her being the only casualty? Who knows. Unable to walk, she crawled towards the sniper rifle, a bloodtrail left behind her from her numerous wounds and injuries, with her consciousness fading further and further, but she kept on, kept barely awake by her obsessive admiration. Until she came close to the monstrous tentacle of the corpse, and its smell hit her nostrils. Something previously dormant in her mind awakened, spoke up, screamed at her and overtook her nervous system. There was not enough will left in her to fight this unexpected instinct, and instead, she changed her direction, crawled towards the mass of flesh, before sinking her teeth in.
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Battlefield Report - Andreana
Operator Andreana has been found grievously injured by a corpse of a massive sea terror. Wounds included broken bones, punctured lungs, burnt limbs, broken teeth, multiple hemorrhages. Despite the fact that she should have died thrice over, she was breathing when found by the rescue team. Additional monitoring required.
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Medical File - Andreana
Available only for highest clearance members of Rhodes Island
During the medical examination that followed the rescue of Operator Andreana it was found that she had consumed meaningful amounts of Seaborne flesh. While by itself this is a worrisome occurrence, potential issues were further exacerbated by preexisting presence of Seaborn DNA within her body.
While Dr. Kal’tsit wanted to burn the body before it could cause any harm to Rhodes Island should the infection spread throughout the weakened body, both Amiya and The Doctor successfully pleaded for delay in such measures, and to try to find a solution that allows operator Andreana to survive the ordeal while reducing possible threat.
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The crashing waves of the inhuman instinct crashed against the light of Andreana’s consciousness. She was tired. The light inside of her mind slowly drowned within the crushing depths of the Seaborne infection invading her body, mind and soul. Like a stone being eroded by hundreds of years of moving water, so was her mind being reduced close to nothing by the Will of Many. That was, until one precious memory was beginning to drown. “Mom will always love you” the vague memory echoed. The darkness of the subconscious has turned a bit brighter. “Mom, Mom! Look!” The flickering flame of individuality that is Andreana burnt up in response to the idea, of this thought, scene, moment, so heavily imprinted upon her soul, would just be snuffed out by the uncaring utilitarianism of the seaborne. And it has become her anchor, the safe port upon which she could rest and resist the onslaught of the uncaring sea.
Andreana woke up to the sound of beeping machinery, and a smell akin to a gas leak. Her eyes were covered, but she could feel that she was in one of those uncomfortable hospital beds. Aside from the scent of gas, she could sense notes of a living, breathing creature nearby, so with calm that surprised herself, she asked. “Who’s there?”
The first response she could hear was an inhuman growl, that was followed by a very matter of factly sounding voice. “At ease Mon3tr” The source of the original growl made a clicking noise, followed by the disappearance of the smell of the gas.
The cuttlefish girl never heard this voice before, but she has heard stories about the Dr. that uses a creature called “Monster” to fight. “Dr. Kal’tsit?” She asked, once again, surprised by the calmness of the voice that came out of her lips.
“Indeed. Andreana, you have put yourself and Rhodes Island in a peculiar position, and the only reason you are still alive is due to multiple requests.” Kal’tsit answered, in a monotone voice that hid information and intent. “The dormant Seaborne genes that were present within your genetic code have been awakened during your last battle, and the consumption of flesh of a Sea Terror has massively accelerated the conversion process. We have been able to somewhat halt it using unconventional means, but it still has majorly affected your body, which is why your eyes have been covered, to prevent confusion and surprise upon awakening.” There was a moment of silence neither of the women filled in, before Kal’tsit continued. “You have been in a medical coma for the past month. Your body should have been still under effect of sedatives, which instead have been dissolved by your immune system.” The second pause was longer, letting the patient digest the words she just heard.
“I remember… a dream. Like I was drowning, lacking energy to swim above the current, but at the end, there was something that pushed me over the waves, letting me breathe.” Despite the anxiety Andreana felt in her heart, her voice still couldn’t express anything but calm indifference, causing her panic to rise, which was reflected in faster beeping of nearby machines.
“That means your consciousness fought back against the call of the seaborne. Skadi and other Abyssal Hunters described similar experiences at times. It means you are still yourself, Andreana.” In response to the raised heart rate, Kal’tsit used a softer, more reassuring tone, and put major pressure on her name. ‘Andreana’. That has managed to calm the cuttlefish down, her pulse stabilising once again.
“Can I… Can I take the blindfold off and see the… changes?” She asked. “Yes.” Was the answer. “No matter how the body has changed, your mind is still your own, remember that.” Kal’tsit added.
When lifting both her arms up to lift the blindfold off, she already could tell there's a difference. Her left arm… felt… lighter? More dexterous? Less limited. After a moment of mentally exploring the sensations in it, she could tell, she definitely has more than 5 fingers. Having taken the blindfold off, she saw that her arm became a translucent, pallid blue shape, flexing and shifting with sheer muscles without aid of any bone, and at the end, multiple small tentacles grew out of where her hand ought to be. She knew she should be disgusted or sickened, but instead, what she felt was curiosity at this new appendage, at its flexibility and functionality. Having realised her own reaction, she retreated her mind back to her mental safe dock, from which she could look at the change with resentment it deserves.
Andreana has been slowly exploring the changes, her upper left half, up to and including her throat, has been completely transformed. With each change, she retreated back into recesses of her mind to feel the correct, human emotions at the infection that overtook her body, all the while Kal’tsit observed her behaviour.
This dance of observe, retreat, feel, observe, retreat, feel, has taken about half an hour, during which The Feline hasn’t spoken a single word, instead letting the Aegir go through this experience at her own pace. Finally, after the period of self-inspection had passed, Adranea spoke, once again with an uncomfortable calmness. “What’s the treatment? You mentioned some unconventional means Dr. Kal’tsit.”
Once more, a moment of silence happened between the two women, Kal’tsit not answering as if to preserve her patient from bad news just a moment longer. “The Seaborne prioritise Originium as the primary threat to your, and thus as its host, its own existence, focusing its efforts on dissolving the substance.” She followed up shortly with “We couldn’t find any other effective means of halting infection such as yours at this stage. The Seaborne part of you is suppressed by injections of liquified Originium into your system.”
Adranea felt ringing in her ears when she heard this information, the sheer shock causing her to zone out completely, to retreat once again to the comforting memory of her mother cradling her in that church. Only when she vaguely realised that the Feline had approached her closer, did she snap out of it. “Effectively, you won’t contract Oripathy. The Seaborne ability to dissolve Originium prevents your body from its effects, unless it would be in such a massive dosage that it’d kill you outright.” Elaborated Kal’tsit, partially allaying the primal fear that flared up within the Aegirs heart.
“Now rest, you will stay under monitoring, but your ability to reach into yourself to counteract the seaborn influence is a promising sign. I will come by every day to adjust the liquid Originium dosage that you’re being injected with until we find appropriate equilibrium between both conditions.” Andreana nodded, suddenly realising that at some point the monster that Kal’tsit summoned had disappeared at some point in the past half an hour. As if Kal’tsit followed it, so did she disappear soon after that realisation.
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Several weeks passed by until Andreana was allowed to administer her own Originium injections and leave the hospital room. She still had to make weekly trips to Dr. Kal’tsit, effectively becoming one of her regular patients. When stepping out of her room, she has taken to wearing a shawl covering her whole left side on top of her usual clothes.
She still struggles to feel emotions, but has learned how to enter her private mental safe port faster, allowing her to talk with people without being awkwardly slow in conversations. Well, it was still awkward, people kept asking what exactly happened to her, and she refused to divulge that information, constantly coming up with different excuses for why she began to hide her arm or how she survived.
On the topic of her arm, as much as she felt disgust towards it when retreated into her mind, she couldn’t deny its utility. Ever since the change she became more reclusive, and with lack of any assigned missions due to adjustment to her current condition, that left a lot of time on her hands… hand. And here is where the arms' usefulness comes into the picture. Its precision and dexterity is incredible , astoundingly helpful in recreating, rebuilding, refitting and refurnishing her gun. With it, she could much more precisely tune its specs. What’s more, she could add additional functionalities that were usable only with the versatility awarded by the jellyfish-like arm. The irony of this curse being so useful to one of the two things that kept her sane did not miss her. “See that, dad? You were so opposed to me learning gunmanship, yet it is what kept me myself, hah” Andreana murmured to herself.
On one of the regular visits to Kal’tsit, before even entering her office, her blood burned up with a sensation similar to kinship or loyalty, before she managed to recenter herself with memories of her own humanity. When she entered the room, aside from Dr. Kal’tsit, there was also Skadi in there.
She did not see any of the Abyssal Hunters ever since her incident, but now being with one in the same room was overwhelming for her senses. She felt a deep bloodbond for her, she could smell the scent of sea breeze and the quiet melody of a mournful song from Skadi, who in turn looked at her with what may appear as blank face, but Andreana could tell, she felt sad sympathy for her.
“Andreana, I believe enough time has passed for you to be officially introduced to Abyssal Hunters, with Skadi being present as de-facto representation due to her…” Kal’tsit paused for a moment, searching for an appropriate word to use. “Agreeable disposition, at least compared to others.” As if to reaffirm what the Feline has said, Skadi has gently nodded and shot her a weak smile. The depth of emotions Andreana could feel from this seemingly minor expression struck like lightning on a stormy sea through her back, shocked by how much she could feel in this situation even without retreating into her mental safe harbour.
“Greetings Dr. Kal’tsit, Skadi.” She said with the monotone voice which she first hated, but now got unnervingly used to. The cuttlefish shifted uncomfortably, placing her arm against her stomach, before continuing. “What do you mean by ‘Introduced to Abyssal Hunters?’”
This time it was Skadi that answered. “After Dr. Kal’tsit informed us about your change, Gladiia wanted you dead” She spoke bluntly. “but me and Laurentina wanted to help you instead.” Despite very little information conveyed through the body language, Andreana felt sympathy, and possibly even a bit of sense of sisterhood from the soft humming that came from the orca. This tune almost brought tears to her face, but she stopped herself.
Kal’tsit continue for Skadi. “We believe that the best environment for you is with people who share the same struggles, and all have their own ways of handling those… calls.”
The Aegir retreated into her mind to properly sense what her emotions about this idea were, and what she felt was… comfort, longing, desire for belonging. Even before this, back when Skadi was avoiding everyone but Spectre, she felt kinship to those two. She wanted to join them, to belong, but…. There was one question that still needed to be asked if she were to go through with it.
“I get to keep my gun, right?”