Day 5
*yawns like a hell beast* Mmph. Too early. Need somethin' ta eat.
*munches* Still tastes like old biscuits and meat that done been out too longer in the sun.
Ain't so bad though - that dream 'bout being back on th' range was nice. Puts me in a better mood at least.
*otherworldly whispers linger at the edge of his hearing* Huh? What? Who's there?
*raises rifle*
Whoa man! Don't shoot, iz just me.
...Yeah. Alright.
*lowers gun with some hesitation* I see yer up. Where's Spigot?
Ya know 'im, still snoozin'. Old man n' all.
Figures. Well, I'm outta here. Work ta do.
*watches Bob leave*
*grabs some berries* Hey, these are pretty good.
...
*eyes keep unconsciously sliding back to the tome against the wall*
Mebbe... mebbe just a quick look. Couldn't hurt, yeah?
*goes to reach for the book as eerie whispers begin to echo around him, the markings on the book glowing as if anticipating his touch*
Wuz! Good morning
! *scarfs down an MRE* And Bob too! What are you two up to?
Haulin' wood. You slept late - Wuz was up 'fore you.
...I wuz just leaving.
*walks out the door*
Huh. I wonder what's bothering him?
Don't worry 'bout it none. Ya go tend to them plants, I'll rope Wuz into helpin' me haul. Git him to carry some steel, mebbe he might lose a few pounds.
A bit later.
Man dis shit iz heavy!
Put yer back into it. We got ta git a stone cuttin' table built. I ain't want ta live surrounded by flammable materials.
*drops the steel near the table's framework* Ugh, mah arms. Mah back. It all hurts.
Don't be sitch a crybaby and git yer ass movin'. More stuff ta haul.
*walking* Hey Bob, ya ever heard of an old game called SpaceChem? It wuz about automation n' chemical bonding.
I done told ya Wuz, I was a country boy out in the wild, never played any video games.
Yeah, but ya might like it. Iz a puzzle game more than anythin'.
I'll think about it. No promises. We ain't even got power yet.
Den build me mah damn research bench so I can figure it out already!
There's more important things ta do right naw, ya addle-headed ninny. Cuttin' blocks for buildin'. Puttin' together plans for private houses, 'cause yer snoring makes me sick. Mebbe a hospital type area for Spigot. And then defenses. Gonna build some embrasures ta shoot through.
Maaaaan, fuck you. I'mma go get me a soda.
Stupid idjit. Can't see th' forest fer the trees. Stones are necessary. One bad lightnin' strike and all o' our stuff goes up in fire.
Meanwhile.
Ah, Wuz! There you are. I was just cutting down this tree in the way of the potato field. How's things?
This n' that. Listen, Spigot - I think we should take another look at dat book. I mean, just da thought of it makes me all jumpy n' shit but... I can't explain it. It'z like a callin'.
...
*sigh* Look, friend. I won't say I haven't considered it myself. The whispers are... insidious. Unrelenting.
I know, rite? It's tempting. A promise of power that I've dreamed of every night since mah dad went out for cigarettes n' never came back.
...That explains a lot of things. Still. If you are really, ABSOLUTELY certain about this... I suppose we can take a look at the tome. Together, not alone. Deal?
Aight, deal. I'mma go get a snack.
*pipe fulla smokeleaf and puffing away* Howdy.
Hey Bob. Wut ya been up to?
Jes' got that stonecutting table done. Kin make some sturdy blocks naw.
Dat's good I guess. Ya gonna make dem blocks, rite? I ain't gonna do it. Wasn't mah idea.
Ya keep tellin' yerself that.
*chuckles*
Goddamn it! I ain't gotta take dis shit, I'mma go talk to Spigot. An' lay off mah smoke!
In the crop fields.
*digging in the soil and humming*
*goes to approach him but is suddenly overcome with anxiety and walks away instead*
Man, dis be some bullshit. I can't handle dis no mo'. First crash-landing here, den da cold, ain't got no privacy, and of course dat book... iz drivin' me mad. Make me wanna claw mah eyes out just to relieve the pressure. It ain't never gonna get no better.
*cutting stone blocks awkwardly* I got no idea how ta do this. Can't git Spigot ta do it - he's busy gardening. Can't get Wuz ta do it either - can't find th' varmint. Jes' gotta power through I s'pose.
An hour later.
*staring at the tome silently in the dark of the storage room*
...
Fuk it. Fuck all of it! I'M GETTIN' MINE, YA HEAR ME?!
*grabs the tome and runs for the workstation building*
Wuz? Th' hell are ya doin'? Ya look like yer being chased by Space Satan himself. An' why ya holding that weird book?
Just uh... just puttin' together a table to read it on! Ya know, see if it'z any good, might toss it out. Ya know.
*sweating profusely*
I done told ya that ya don't need any o' that stuff, boy. Jes' yer faith in the Gods above. Ain't nothing good come out of tinkering with any sorta outer space alien mumbo jumbo.
B-But it might have sumthin' useful in it!
Yeah, sure. Whatever. Jes' try not ta quake th' earth when ya haul ass fer once, thunder thighs.
Fuck off.
*leaves*
Elsewhere, dark forces conspire against Codexia...
Th' hell is that sound? It's like a cross between an old butter churn and a rusty gear. What in tarnation...
*raises rifle*
That's one angry varmint.
*fires a couple of shots, missing the tiny creature* Dammit!
*rat jumps on him, scratching up his left hand and arm badly* OW! Rotten critter
*punts the rat so hard in the skull it dies instantly* That'll teach ya.
I'mma put dis thing together, they'll see. Gonna build it nice n' good. Gonna read dat book, show dem all. SHOW DEM ALL! I'M WE WUZ KANGZ!
Finally I get to exercise my skills. Wasn't expecting to do so for this, though. Now stay still.
I don't get why ya needed me ta lie down, it's some scratches and a lil' bleedin'. I'm fine.
Hush. Here's some antiseptic and bandages. The damage is mild, should heal up in no time. You're quite lucky - I've heard many a story of small creatures gone mad that have torn out eyes, bitten off fingers, and ripped open jugular veins.
...Iz done. Just like da book told me. I'm outta here.
Wuz! Hello!
...
Are you alright?
Y-Yeah, fine. What are ya doin'? An' where's Bob?
I'm just marking out embrasure locations and hauling wood to them. Bob's resting - he fought a maddened rat and took a few deep scratches. I insisted he get some sleep after I patched him up.
I uh, I... I...
You what?
The air trembles. Whispers fill the area, audible to all. Voices from beyond time and space echo sporadically, howling into the void. Suddenly all three colonists feel in the darkest depths of their minds a massive horrifying psychic network emerge that irrevocably links them together. A hivemind of sorts. But the whispers continue unabated, now following along this intrinsic chain, albeit at a dull roar.
*suddenly gasps as though his breath had been stolen from him during the event* Wuz! What have you done?!
I...
I only did what the book told me to do!
Wait... You only did what it told you? It told you something, Wuz?
I dunno! Maybe?! This iz all too much!
Just calm down, Wuz. It'll be alright. But these whispers, these voices... can you hear them too?
*simultaneously concerned, jumpy, and down at the same time* Fuck yeah I can hear them. Holy shit. What did I do?
*trying to keep himself composed* Just relax. Relax. I have no idea what's happening. Just go do something to take your mind off it. I'll go... uh... I'll go butcher that rat carcass. *flees*
*moves restlessly in his sleep riddled with nightmarish visions*
*desperately grabs his head and moans lowly* Agh... da pain, these voices are filled wit so much hate... it hurts!
A little later.
*hauling wood to the embrasure sites* Oh... hey Spigot. What are ya up to?
Hey. Just... going to go get a snack. Probably some berries. We have a lot.
Sure, dat's good.
Wait, wuz dat comin' out da sky?
Cargo? Wonder wut's in it. Better go check.
Ugh. Fuckin' fish eggs. Nasty.
*pacing outside* I don't know what he's done, but whatever it is has changed something within us forever. Spiteful whispers sit just at the back of my mind, while other ones coax me towards knowledge I know is sanity shattering. Yet... the allure is almost irresistible now. Perhaps it was the right thing to do after all.
*clenching his head so hard with both hands it seems fit to crack* I can't... I can't take it no more man. Dat fuckin' book. Dat goddamn fuckin' book did all dis! These voices iz drivin' me crazy! I CAN'T TAKE IT NO MORE!! I gotta go smoke!!!
*rushes to the storage room and lights up*
It ain't enough! It AIN'T ENOUGH! But there ain't no more left!!
*enters the storage to grab some food* Wuz? Th' hell is the matter with ya?
*voraciously shoving meal after meal down his throat*
Alright... jes' don't eat everything ya hear?
*doesn't respond, just keeps forcing food down*
Wuz? WUZ! HEY WUZ! Snap out of it!
FUCK OFF BOB! YA DON'T KNOW MAN! YA JUST DON'T KNOW! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!
Hell's bells, I can't git him ta stop. Need ta go git Spigot.
*passing by* Oh Bob! You seem upset, what's the matter?
Jelly roll in there is flippin' his lid while jamming eats down his neck and I can't make him stop. Can't act like a man an' handle reality fer even a minute it seems.
Bob... the reality of the situation is far more grim than you even realize. For once, just keep your mouth shut and walk off. Let me handle this. *goes in the storage room*
Wuz? *gingerly approaches* Come on Wuz, it'll be okay. Let me help you.
*sitting blankly in a barely illuminated corner* Go away Spigot, I don't wanna talk to ya.
You NEED to! You're spiraling out of control! Please. Just give me a chance. I am not your enemy.
...I don't know who's my enemy right now. The world is wrong and everything in it. And includes YOU. *shoves his way past Spigot and out of the storage room, passing Bob busy building embrasures*
*wanders aimlessly in a daze as voices and visions cloud his mind, chattering secrets and symbols in equal measure*
*spots Wuz* Wuz! Hey! Are you feeling any better?
*just keeps walking away*
...Wuz?
An hour later.
Iä.
Iä! Iä!
*standing near an old oak tree staring over at the workshop* What have we done...?
I need a drink. *considers the wine for a very long moment but opens a soda instead*
*mumbles* In strange aeons even death may die. A calling to the deep. Swaying feline darkness. An ancient lost city, ruled by a monarch wreathed in gold...
*suddenly overtaken by a fit of hard coughing* That's strange. *pulls his sleeve from in front of his mouth to see it spattered with blood*
Oh no. Not again.
*runs to the storage room and grabs a medical kit* I have to treat myself now before it spreads. Space Gods watch over me.
I feel faint... I need to go lie down.
This... this can only be the beginning of something vast and terrible. I feel it in my bones. HNGH! The pain!
The frog god sleeping on mountains beyond existence. R'lyeh wakes from darkest depths. The foretold prophecy of-
...Huh? Wut? Where am I? Wut's goin' on? Ow my head...
Shit, iz late as fuck. Better go grab a snack an' go to bed.
*enters the barrack* They's already sleepin'. Figures as much.
Shit... Spigot ain't lookin' so good. I hopes he's a good a doctor as he says he iz.
And somewhere, out in the darkness, a grimoire of forbidden knowledge sits restlessly on its table, waiting patiently.
It's been so long.
But its got a foothold now. A way in.
It can wait a little longer.
.
