Night 57: General Storage (Med Wing)
[From here]Just like the janitor's closet upstairs, the space was cramped. Unlike the janitor's closet, however, it looked like everything in here was a bit harder to get at. Most of it was packed up in cardboard boxes or in closed cabinets. From what she could see on the labels, though, at least some of the stuff looked like it might be worth
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--At least when it came to some of the outward damage. The inner damage on the other hand...
Meanwhile, that odd tingling sensation was growing in strength, causing the skin on his arm up to his neck to itch almost unbearably. The android's anxiety increased while his irritation levels perked up. What was going on with him...?!
The Replica was momentarily snapped out of his worried thoughts when Ritsuka spoke up with much concern in his voice. "Huh?" Sechs grunted, "Uh, yeah. Just pulled my arm a bit too much I think..." he replied uncertainly. The side of his neck was really bothering him, and instinctively Sechs reached up to scratch at the troubled spot. "Umm... Keep forgetting about how easy it is to wreck these organic bodies..."
At least that was what Sechs was trying to convince himself of. Something wasn't right here...
Yet once he withdrew his hand, Sechs felt something fall off his fingers. Something light yet instinctively very important tumbled down his shoulder. Blinking, Sechs glanced down to spot the fallen objects. His flashlight caught two small things, both of identical size and square shape. Frowning, Sechs stooped down to pick them up when he caught a look at his hand in the beam of his flashlight. The Replica froze instantly, his face completely blank yet his eyes wide and frightfully perturbed at what he saw.
Some of his fingernails had fallen off! Now only shallow pits of red flesh had taken over the spots where his nails once were. They must have been torn off when Sechs was scratching at his neck! But he didn't feel any pain, and his instincts knew full well that fingernails couldn't fall off that easily!
Now that irritation Sechs had been feeling was completely engulfed by his lingering panic. It was the tonic he had just taken that was behind this, wasn't it?!
With that horrible realization, the laughter of the spinal drug faintly returned, a distant cackling which Sechs recognized far too well to be the parasite's sadistic amusement. As the cruel imitation of Sechs' own laughter echoed louder between his ears, his fear grew as he watched the skin around his missing fingernails rapidly decay...
Lost for words and barely breathing, Sechs could only stand there, watching the rotting texture spread over his hand with utter disbelief in his eyes.
This couldn't be real! It had to be just another illusion! It had to be...!
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It was closed, however, and so Ritsuka had to turn back to Sechs, looking for help. "Hey, can you--"
The words died in his throat when he saw the way Sechs was looking at his hands. He seemed to be horrified at what he saw, but from where Ritsuka was, he had no idea what was going on. For a tense moment, Ritsuka feared that Sechs had been lying and that he'd really hurt himself, but that fear soon passed for something much, much worse.
There was something behind Sechs - in the darkness. It was a nightmare Ritsuka had seen before and he dropped everything in his hands, rushing forward. If he didn't hurry the spider would get him! "Sechs! Behind you!"
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--Only to find nothing but the door he had just closed behind them. "Where?!" Sechs' eyes rapidly searched for the danger. Finding nothing, he snapped his head up to the ceiling, again there was no sign of some monster crawling about the walls. Another quick scan of the room with his flashlight and the room appeared completely free of any anomalies. What the hell was Ritsuka talking about?
Aggravation boiled over the surge of panic that had overwhelmed Sechs' system, leaving him panting and snarling as he turned his head to shoot a glare at the cat boy. "What are you talking about?!" he snapped, "I don't see anything--"
Splat.
Sechs' angry words instantly halted behind his lips as the slimy sound of something organic hitting the ground directed his attention to his side. Was this the answer to what Ritsuka had spotted...?
But there was no monster perched on a stack of boxes to his side, its dripping drool being the source of the disgusting sound. Instead, there was nothing but an unnerving black lump upon the floor. Sechs warily looked down, his breaths quickening into shallow gasps. To his growing horror, there was a piece of flesh crumpled up on the floor near his feet; flesh that had come from his very own arm!
"Sh-SHIT!!" Sechs stumbled back, raising his arm to find a huge chunk of tissue had fallen off his limb! The black sleeve of his outfit had been affected as well, its thick material shriveling back as though burned by acid. "Ritsuka! T-tell me I'm just seeing things!" he cried as a sliver of bone was revealed by another layer of tissue slipping off his arm.
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The question came as Ritsuka drew closer, wanting to pull Sechs further into the room, away from the-- Monster? He stopped halfway between the boxes and Sechs, staring at the open door. There was nothing there. He could have sworn he'd seen a spider almost bigger than Sechs himself and now there was nothing there. Even Sechs seemed confused, moving his flashlight around the room to check for whatever creature it was that Ritsuka had seen. Ritsuka himself had no answer for Sechs, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to find words to fit an explanation he did not have. He had seen a spider right behind him just a moment ago!
But that hardly mattered when he heard the sound of something thick and slimy hitting the ground. Ritsuka jumped, thinking that perhaps the creature had gotten inside somehow. Sechs looked down and Ritsuka followed his gaze - only to instantly regret his decision. The black mass on the ground was unidentifiable at first, but the sight of it caused Ritsuka's stomach to turn in an almost visceral reaction. His mind couldn't understand what he was seeing, but his body did. And as Sechs backed away from the thing on the floor, Ritsuka's mind caught up with what he was seeing.
"What...." That was flesh. That was Sechs' arm. It was rotting and so were his clothes. Sechs was decomposing before his eyes and Ritsuka had no idea why. Muscle and skin were sloughing off him, turned green and black as it hit the ground and Ritsuka didn't know what to do. He'd seen this before - that night in Doyleton. The horrible night when they'd been stuck in town and all the people had turned to undead nightmares. But this wasn't some mindless townsperson in front of him. It was Sechs - who was still alive and rotting away. He took a step back, hesitated, took one forward, hovered between screaming for help and getting supplies to do....something. Anything. First aid wasn't going to help someone if their body was dying on them. "I-I don't know... I don't know! What the hell is going on?!"
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If this was an illusion from the drug in his spine, it was the most elaborate one he had witnessed so far. Yet the way Ritsuka's eyes stared at Sechs' arm in horror told him a different story; one that meant that what was happening to him was real and not a harmless hallucination...
That realization sent a wave of terror to engulf Sechs' senses, drowning him in near mindless panic as he dropped his machete and clutched at his rotting arm in desperation. "No! NO!" he cried, "This can't be real--!"
His nightmare of an arm reminded Sechs far too much of that creature from the mirror he encountered weeks ago. The sight of seeing his reflection decomposing before his very eyes was his first horrific welcome to the institute. He had thought that the trauma of being compared to a rusty piece of junk discarded at the Scrapyard had ended once he fought that monster a second time, but it all came back in full force as he himself seemed to be turning into that same creature.
Another chunk of flesh hit the floor, this time Sechs saw that it was a part of his scalp and ear. "NO! MAKE IT ST-STOP!!" Sechs yelled through heavy gasps of terror. In his fit of panic, Sechs stumbled away from the growing mess until his back slammed into a stack of boxes, sending them crashing down around him like an avalanche. Tumbling down like boulders, the heavy containers slammed down on Sechs' head and shoulders, knocking him face first on the floor.
The chaos of the falling boxes was brief, but the storm was not over for Sechs. His head was spinning from the impact while his lungs fought to regain his lost breath. He could feel more of his flesh decaying as he struggled to his hands and knees, the infection wasn't done yet and it was getting dangerously close to his spine--
Then PAIN! Nothing but ICY FRIGID PAIN!
"ARRRGGHHH!!!" Sechs screamed, his back arched as the effects of his M-U impaled his spine with an icy spear of agony. His eyes rolled up and saw nothing but unnatural darkness, everything around him no longer ceased to exist, not even Ritsuka or himself.
Sechs' body reverted to a seizure-like state, rigid and twitching on the ground as more bits of flesh rubbed off his arm and soiled the floor. The "Dark Side of the Moon" that had been injected into Sechs' body nights ago was reaching full power. It laughed at Sechs' pain and horror as its inky tendrils reached farther into its host's brain. "Foolish copy!" it cackled, "There will never be a cure for you! You've lost the fight!"
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Move. Move! You need to move!
It wasn't until the stacks of boxes came cascading down, crumbling towers bouncing here and there that Ritsuka snapped out of his trance. Whatever was happening to Sechs, it was painful and he had to help! Even if... Even if he knew this disease. He'd seen it in town. He'd seen in when...
One step forward, then another, fingers gripping the backpack so hard his knuckles were turning white. "...Sechs...?" He'd been screaming and now he was silent, rigid, barely breathing. Had he...died? Was he dying? "...Sechs? What..." What is going on? he wanted to say, but nothing more came out. His throat felt dry and thick and he took another step forward, reaching down with a trembling hand to try and push some of the boxes off his friend. "...Sechs?"
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The Replica's terror and despair, accompanied by the spreading decay, quenched the drug's thirst for all that it represented, giving it the power it needed to break Sechs' consciousness with a mental snap of agony. Sechs gave out a rattling gasp before dropping his head to the floor. The android was no longer awake, unaware of what was going on around him. It was his living alter ego that was in control now, no longer just a passenger in Sechs' head...
As the infection of the Replica's upper right side reached its peak, the black, oozy form of the drug was squeezing into every nook and cranny of Sechs' brain until it had possession of all the strings to its puppet's limbs. Any moment now and the drug would be able to move freely and prove its destructive superiority over its host...
Meanwhile, the cat boy was tentatively approaching Sechs' prone body. The drug couldn't help but bring a smirk to Sechs' lips. The poor little boy had no idea what was going on here! It was a shame that it wasn't that irritating Kaioshin who was in the same room; the living drug had a few choice words for that pointy-eared wimp! Not to mention its desire to kill him for nearly scorching it to death with his damned Ki energy! For now, the drug would just have to settle for this kid...
The body of Sechs was kept still and quiet, harmlessly sprawled on the floor while soft gasping could be heard from his hidden face. Ritsuka's approach was sensed by the drug, and once the boy's hand got close enough, Sechs' rotten limb suddenly snapped up and grabbed for Ritsuka's wrist.
A raspy chuckle was forced out through Sechs' throat as his body was slowly shifted back to his knees. His head remained bowed, completely hidden behind a curtain of messy black hair. "You stupid little freak!" came the words through Sechs' voice, words which seemed to echo from some distant plane of darkness and not from the android himself. "You think you're some doctor who's gonna save everyone?! HAH! You can go and help the institute's lab rats once their doctors are done with them all you want, but your efforts mean NOTHING! You're no Saint!"
There was a nauseating crackling of bones as the drug snapped Sechs' head up with an unnerving jerk, revealing a face deranged by cruel and sadistic darkness. There was all but a terrible black mask to greet Ritsuka, a beastly grin full of sharp teeth and two yellow irises spared by the blackened eyes were the only recognizable features of a human face. The one clutching onto Ritsuka's arm with a decaying hand was no longer Sechs, but something far more sinister and dangerous.
"Your little band-aids can't stop what is destined for everyone here!" the drug taunted with its host's mouth, "Those dear people you wanna save are all but lab rats who are made for whatever happens to them! Even the ones who die here!" There was another horrible cackle as Sechs' arm was commanded to give Ritsuka a rough shake. "You're nothing but a lab rat yourself! Running around with your tail between your legs in a maze you can never comprehend! You're running away from the truth!"
Fueled by its hunger for destruction and the infection's cravings for flesh, the empowered drug prepared its new body for the attack. "It's all for nothing, and you KNOW it!" it jeered, "So how 'bout I take you out of your misery, kid?! I can start with that stupid tail of yours!" A dark tongue slithered out of Sechs' mouth and hungrily licked his glinting teeth. "It sure looks scrumptious there..."
With those words, the drug reached out with Sechs' uninfected arm towards Rituska's back, snarling and lunging forward with a gaping mouth while the less muscled arm kept its grip upon its prey. Unlike its unconscious host, the drug completely despised any sort of ally, seeing them as only targets to be destroyed, or in this case, devoured...
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He knew he should move. He knew he should fight back and run, wrench his arm away and flee, get as far from this place as possible, and yet Ritsuka couldn't do a thing. Sechs looked up at him, a dark horror replacing the man's face, and Ritsuka could do nothing to get away. Not everyone here is your friend. You trust too easily. You should be careful. Words he didn't recognize but he knew were true. He shouldn't have trusted someone he didn't know here.
"--how 'bout I take you out of your misery, kid?" The weight of Sechs' words came crashing down on him, crushing him under the truth of it all, but at the same time, it woke him from his fear-induced stupor. He had to run or he'd break his promise to Soubi and Alfons and Albedo and Miku and everyone else who had ever cared for him here. "...looks scrumptious there..."
"No! Get away from me!"
As Sechs lunged forward, Ritsuka swung the backpack at his face and wrenched his hand free. He hated using violence, but... survival. Survival was key here. He had to run and as his hand came loose from Sechs' grip, Ritsuka bolted for the door.
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Whatever pain resulted in that attack did not register for Sechs' living alter ego, it was far too enthralled in its berserk state to care. A beastly growl escaped Sechs' mouth as he was commanded to scramble back up to his feet. The drug realized that its host's right arm had been too disintegrated to keep a good grip on the kid. It didn't matter though, the rest of Sechs' body was still intact, and the drug had every intention of using it to its full ability.
"C'mere kitty!" Sechs' voice jeered as Ritsuka scampered off, his amber irises locked onto his prey's retreating tail. Sechs' towering body lifted itself up with a deranged stumble, his whole body hunched over like a beast prowling upon its hind legs. The sudden thrill of the hunt released a maniacal cackle from Sechs' throat, a terrible laugh which did not belong to him. With no mercy to spare for Ritsuka, the black poison possessing Sechs instantly gave chase, its balance over its host's body wavering slightly as it threw Sechs' left arm forward to claw at Ritsuka's back.
As Ritsuka dashed through the door and out into the hallway, Sechs' manipulated body was just a second behind, slamming the same door open against the wall with a resounding crash. "It's all useless, y'know!" called Sechs' voice as he stumbled out into the hall with his right arm hanging limply by his side. "You and everyone else will die! ALL OF YOU!"
And then the frenzied Replica rushed forward, his vision focused on Ritsuka with nothing but murderous intention. The drug laughed with sadistic glee, knowing its body was far faster and stronger than its prey. It was like a game of cat and mouse, except in this case the mouse was a bit of a feline himself! The living poison increased its host's speed. Any second now and it would have Sechs' hands and teeth digging into Ritsuka's flesh...
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Panic ate away at his system and from the corners he thought he saw monsters clawing through the walls. The world was turning black around him and still he ran, slamming his shoulder into the wall as he skidded around a corner. It threw him off and his hand hit the ground, but he used it to push himself forward again. Always forward. He couldn't stop. If he did...
"You and everyone else will die!"
Breath catching in his throat, Ritsuka ran as fast as he could but that thing was right behind him. It was catching up. Soon enough, those half-rotten fingers would dig through his back and rip him to shreds. He tried to scream, but he didn't have the luxury as the intercom overhead clicked on. The dark that had eaten away at his vision suddenly overtook him completely, draining consciousness from him along with the rise of the sun.
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