FIRST | HOME | NEXT 12. Nelson learns what is going on in the orphanage

< According to the map of the orphanage, this should be the nursery. < Oh, hello! How are you doing, little fellow? < SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE! < He is doing fine. He does not need my help right now. < To the bedrooms it is, then. Hopefully we will have better luck there. < Thank goodness, a normal one. Hello? < Hello, sir. Are you okay? < Yes, yes, thank you. Just a bit startled, that's all. And you? No monsters around here? < Uh... No more than usual, I think? < You know what, good enough. Do you know where your friends are? I'm here to rescue you all. < I'm sorry, I can't leave yet. I have to finish this drawing first. < Surely it can wait until we are somewhere safer. < Not this one, sir. You really need to see it finished. It explains the damage you have done. < What? < Yes, I don't know what that means either. Can you help me find the red crayon, please? Bunny took it and won't give it back and I really need it. I think he's in room 2, but I can't get inside. < Uh, alright. I'll see what I can do. < Damn. Are you the least creepy child in this orphanage, Almost? < So what is this one going to be like? Monster or just weird? < hsssss... < Fuck! < Damn it! This shit better give me extra loyalty points because it is officially no longer a fucking simple retrieval mission! Pardon my French. Hey, where are you going now? < Can you please behave for a damn minute so you don't get us both killed? < Almost? < Where th- Holy shit! < What's happening? Why aren't the enzimes working? < I don't know. It seems to be fighting back somehow. < But how? It should not be able to do that while deactivated. There must be something wrong with the gauges. Either that or we're in the same room as an intelligent bioweapon that we can't control or destroy. < Don't be so dramatic. You know how it is with defective prototypes, surely this is just a... Wait, what the...? < What's wrong? < It has just bypassed the safeguards! Just now! < What?! But that's impossible! < There has been an imprinting! It's chosen a target! That thing is active! < Oh no, no, no! Merce, quick, get away from...! < Merce!! < H-holy sh...! Huh? < Hello, sir! Thank you for finding Almost. Are you here to adopt us? < Adopt you...? < Er, no. Not exactly. Your name is Mercedes, right? < Yes! But everyone calls me Merce. < I am pleased to meet you, Merce. My name is Nelson. Do you have any idea why this place is crawling with monsters? < Monsters don't exist, sir. Are you sure you saw any? < To be honest, I am currently not sure of anything at all. Either way, I am here to rescue you all and take you to Esperanza. < Will we be adopted in Esperanza? < Hopefully you will. At the very least, you will all be much safer there than here. And there are really good doctors there, they surely will be able to help you with the missing body parts issue. < That's great! I can't wait to tell Cris and Bunny. < I tried to talk to Bunny a moment ago, but he seems to have become rather... feral. < Oh, right. That happens all the time when he loses his medal. He got really angry when Cris stole it from him. < Why would he do that? < I don't know. Every time he does something mean, he blames his imaginary friend. He now says he can't remember where he left it. < Good grief... Alright, I will see if I can find it. Will you take care of Almost, please? < Sure, sir! We'll be here. < So it would seem like something is turning these orphans into ungodly beasts, but they can be brought back to their normal selves by triggering an emotional response with familiar objects. I will need that medal, but it could be anywhere. I can only hope that it is still in the orphanage. I guess I have no choice but to look everywhere and hope I find it. Where do I even begin? That room. For some reason I feel confident about that room. < I do not feel confident about this room. My goodness, this is a mess. What's that glint? < Wow, what are the odds? That was way too easy. Not that I am complaining, that's one less problem to worry about. < Alright, Bunny. This time I'm ready. < I really hope this works... < KHHSSSSSS!! < Hhssssss…!! < Ooof... I am getting really tired of whatever it is that those things are. Hello, Bunny. Where did you even get that knife? I will take that with me, alright? We do not want any more stabbings nor attempts thereof. < ... < Thank you. I will also need Cris's red crayon, if you'd be so kind. < Excellent, here it is. I, uh... Stay here, please. I will be back in a moment. < That's only one monster left to go, I think. This mission is going to be the end of my sanity. < Okay, Cris, here is your crayon. Will you finish your picture now so we can all leave, please? < Thank you, sir! < Here, it's done now. The dark truth shall now be revealed. I don't know what that means. < You really worry me, child. < What am I even looking at here? I am now more confused than before. < That doesn't surprise me at all. < I hope you're really proud of what you've done, you fucking jackass. < Okay, what the actual fuck now? < I am Norbak. That is the name I chose for myself, for no one ever bothered naming me. I am but a born slave, a thing to use and abuse. I am nothing. I am filth. I am what shit looks down on. < Pleased to meet you, Norbak. Now, where the hell did you just come from? < I have been here the whole time. You just needed the right motivation, to tune your mind properly so you could see me. That picture helped you focus and look at what was already right in front of you. < Alright, I'll pretend that makes sense. But why are you in this orphanage? < Not in this orphanage, Mr Nelson. In that cripple child. I must be where he is. < Why so? < A botched invocation ritual. I was supposed to be a slave imp for his parents, but they fucked up, so I eviscerated them and got trapped inside the sacrifice. Or so I think. The rules of interdimensional teleportation are very confusing, especially since most of them are disguised as ridiculous arcane spells. < Teleportation? < From what your people call Hell. Not the religious construct, but a very real neighboring dimension of undying horror and suffering. < That's a brave boy. Mom and dad are very proud. < We're almost done, my dear. Just a little more, you can do it. < Do you know how the orphans became monsters? < I do, I made them so. Turning any creature into a raging abomination is very easy if you tamper with the right spots of their psyche. < Why would you do that? And why everyone but Cris? < Because I can't twist the mind I inhabit further than I already have. This poor bastard has had no choice but to learn how to contain my desire for destruction. And because the invocation spell has some very strict rules. If the kid dies, I have to go back to where I came from. And being trapped here is much more comfortable than being inventively tortured on a daily basis. < Okay, checked it three times, it's safe. Are you ready, honey? < Ready as I'll ever be. Here I go. < I don't think I follow. < Yes, of course you fucking don't. I unleashed the raw power inside those other kids to protect my vessel. To keep away a beast that's been hiding for months, licking its wounds. But it is now ready to complete its foul mission. It remembers the scent of its prey. It is coming, Mr Nelson. And you have torn down every barrier I crafted. Great work. < Wait, stop! Stop! What the hell? < What? I can't stop now! < Does that have anything to do with those creepy black wolf things I've been seeing around? < I have no idea what you're talking about, those must be figments of your own deranged imagination. < Very well then. Since whatever you were planning is already ruined, can I have Robbie back to normal, please? < All yours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a happy memory to relive. Enjoy the show, Mr Nelson. < It's broken! I checked it, it was complete a moment ago! How did it...? < No! Without the circle, the entity will...! < Aaaaargh, my face! My face! < Kill it! Kill it before it...! Eeeee! < Urgh...

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