Open Log~
Who: Alex Mercer, the local wildlife aaaaand totally open~
Where: The jungle around the temple.
When: Today~
Summary: Alex Mercer is brooding (so nothing new) and looking for a light snack. Getting hit by a nuke will really take it out of a guy.
Warnings: Alex's impeccable table manners.
Alright, so this was either an elaborate hallucination brought on by some kind of drug or... something. He'd eaten enough people who'd experimented with common hallucinogens (and several with a rather uncommon variety) to know that things were far too lucid to be something brought on by some kind of substance. The external stimuli were far too real and while he wasn't entirely sure how he worked, he doubted it had anything to do with his unusual biology. Alex was really quite limited on options, and now he was beginning to have to accept something while every fiber of his being screamed that it was impossible.
What that girl had said was true.
There. He admitted it. Not aloud, but Alex wasn't much of a talker anyway. Nothing here was particularly consistent with anywhere in the world that he knew of. Not that he had any experiences of his own outside of New York, but he did have a wealth of memories that weren't his own to draw enough of a conclusion that things were considerably off about this whole ordeal. None of the architecture rang any bells. No statues or symbols of any kind of familiar deity around the temple. The library was full of unfamiliar literature in a variety of languages, not all of which were remotely recognizable. He'd explored the area, cautious at first and then demanding answers from hapless passerbys. They'd been very little help, simply leaving him with more questions.
Realizing that he wasn't getting much out of the locals, and that he needed to replenish his biomass. After all, a crow had brought him back but he was still feeling a little off. Surviving a nuclear explosion would do that. So he'd headed off into the forest. If this worked, then he'd probably have to accept what that girl had said. If not, it would confirm he was in some kind of hallucination or delusion or something.
He was in the forest for a good couple hours. Video games could say what they would but actually hunting suitable large game was tricky. If there was suitable large game to be had... Alex really didn't relish in adding to the cacophony of voices in him. And Dana would probably be upset if he consumed more people than was necessary. After all, he'd gotten his answers and there was no reason his biomass couldn't be replenished by other organisms. For that matter, could he consume a tree? The inquisitive mind of the original Alex Mercer that had been pushed back now reemerged to the forefront of his consciousness.
The virus shook himself. He was getting off track, and he noted he was far too easily distracted. But that had always been the case hadn't it? Grasping at threads from a long frayed rope, trying to piece together answers long gone from his own messy psyche. Not that they were ever there to begin with. After all, most of the swirling chaotic mess of screams and pleas for mercy and flashes of experience and knowledge which constituted his own mind wasn't his. He had to remind himself that a lot. It was easy to get confused.
He skidded down a rocky slope and darted up the side of a large tree as if it were level ground, biomass around his feet shifting oddly. He hung onto the side when a branch had creaked a protest under his considerable weight, and he scoured the area for any signs of life.
There.
It was a family of deer feasting on grass, and more than sufficient to replenish his biomass. The stag was quite large.
The virus moved quickly, leaping from his perch and gliding a short distance before coming down hard right in front of the buck. He extended his arm which was no longer an arm so much as it was a mass of writhing black tendrils that ensnared the creature. Alex had long since learned not to draw out the act of consuming, especially when he found that the voices of his victims lingered long after. Something as simple as an animal was far easier- there was just the raw panic as the virus' torso exploded into an array of deadly looking tendrils and encased the animal, and then absorbed it into his body, reforming the mask of Alex Mercer flawlessly. All that remained of the buck were some bloodstains on the virus and his biomass shifted until that too was absorbed.
He gave a sigh of relief. No screams. No pleas for mercy or begging an uncaring god for help. No rush of unwanted memories. Nothing. Just pure instinct. It was the same as consuming the infected, really, without leaving behind the stench of decay. It was almost refreshing.
The sigh itself was a very human gesture, he noted as he watched the retreating doe and her fawn. But humanity had rubbed off on him a lot which was why he had spent the last few hours seeking out the deer instead of consuming some hapless local out of convenience. And his question had been answered at last. This was real. Eating the buck had proven that. His biomass was restored and as simplistic as the creature was, he'd absorbed some of it's consciousness. Enough to know he wasn't inside his own head.
His arm formed into a lethal looking claw, and he flexed the razor sharp digits. He was still hardly a hundred percent, but he was going to find whoever was responsible.
Where: The jungle around the temple.
When: Today~
Summary: Alex Mercer is brooding (so nothing new) and looking for a light snack. Getting hit by a nuke will really take it out of a guy.
Warnings: Alex's impeccable table manners.
Alright, so this was either an elaborate hallucination brought on by some kind of drug or... something. He'd eaten enough people who'd experimented with common hallucinogens (and several with a rather uncommon variety) to know that things were far too lucid to be something brought on by some kind of substance. The external stimuli were far too real and while he wasn't entirely sure how he worked, he doubted it had anything to do with his unusual biology. Alex was really quite limited on options, and now he was beginning to have to accept something while every fiber of his being screamed that it was impossible.
What that girl had said was true.
There. He admitted it. Not aloud, but Alex wasn't much of a talker anyway. Nothing here was particularly consistent with anywhere in the world that he knew of. Not that he had any experiences of his own outside of New York, but he did have a wealth of memories that weren't his own to draw enough of a conclusion that things were considerably off about this whole ordeal. None of the architecture rang any bells. No statues or symbols of any kind of familiar deity around the temple. The library was full of unfamiliar literature in a variety of languages, not all of which were remotely recognizable. He'd explored the area, cautious at first and then demanding answers from hapless passerbys. They'd been very little help, simply leaving him with more questions.
Realizing that he wasn't getting much out of the locals, and that he needed to replenish his biomass. After all, a crow had brought him back but he was still feeling a little off. Surviving a nuclear explosion would do that. So he'd headed off into the forest. If this worked, then he'd probably have to accept what that girl had said. If not, it would confirm he was in some kind of hallucination or delusion or something.
He was in the forest for a good couple hours. Video games could say what they would but actually hunting suitable large game was tricky. If there was suitable large game to be had... Alex really didn't relish in adding to the cacophony of voices in him. And Dana would probably be upset if he consumed more people than was necessary. After all, he'd gotten his answers and there was no reason his biomass couldn't be replenished by other organisms. For that matter, could he consume a tree? The inquisitive mind of the original Alex Mercer that had been pushed back now reemerged to the forefront of his consciousness.
The virus shook himself. He was getting off track, and he noted he was far too easily distracted. But that had always been the case hadn't it? Grasping at threads from a long frayed rope, trying to piece together answers long gone from his own messy psyche. Not that they were ever there to begin with. After all, most of the swirling chaotic mess of screams and pleas for mercy and flashes of experience and knowledge which constituted his own mind wasn't his. He had to remind himself that a lot. It was easy to get confused.
He skidded down a rocky slope and darted up the side of a large tree as if it were level ground, biomass around his feet shifting oddly. He hung onto the side when a branch had creaked a protest under his considerable weight, and he scoured the area for any signs of life.
There.
It was a family of deer feasting on grass, and more than sufficient to replenish his biomass. The stag was quite large.
The virus moved quickly, leaping from his perch and gliding a short distance before coming down hard right in front of the buck. He extended his arm which was no longer an arm so much as it was a mass of writhing black tendrils that ensnared the creature. Alex had long since learned not to draw out the act of consuming, especially when he found that the voices of his victims lingered long after. Something as simple as an animal was far easier- there was just the raw panic as the virus' torso exploded into an array of deadly looking tendrils and encased the animal, and then absorbed it into his body, reforming the mask of Alex Mercer flawlessly. All that remained of the buck were some bloodstains on the virus and his biomass shifted until that too was absorbed.
He gave a sigh of relief. No screams. No pleas for mercy or begging an uncaring god for help. No rush of unwanted memories. Nothing. Just pure instinct. It was the same as consuming the infected, really, without leaving behind the stench of decay. It was almost refreshing.
The sigh itself was a very human gesture, he noted as he watched the retreating doe and her fawn. But humanity had rubbed off on him a lot which was why he had spent the last few hours seeking out the deer instead of consuming some hapless local out of convenience. And his question had been answered at last. This was real. Eating the buck had proven that. His biomass was restored and as simplistic as the creature was, he'd absorbed some of it's consciousness. Enough to know he wasn't inside his own head.
His arm formed into a lethal looking claw, and he flexed the razor sharp digits. He was still hardly a hundred percent, but he was going to find whoever was responsible.