This new set has no reason to contain a cookie. Hence, it does not. It does have squirrels though.
4.01
Awakening, Corvo faced the tainted walls of his very own cell in Coldridge Prison. Back to his home loop, once again.
The royal guardian stood up and smiled lightly. Sure, he would miss Hogwarts and the Potter guy, but classes were starting to bore him and he was longing a good sword-fight. Beside, it surely wouldn't be his last fused-loop with him.
Quickly dumping his rags for a more convenient outfit, he then reached for his key-chain and sword in his subspace pocket, before going out the door with a nasty smile.
After the sparkles and almost-too-kind spells, it was time to get bloody.
4.02
"Sorry to bother you Piero, but can you craft me something?"
"Of course Corvo. What is it that you need?"
The royal bodyguard's only answer was to extend his arms over the near workbench, before dropping a blueprint and some metal parts on the oil-soaked wood.
Catching the plan, looking over it, the engineer froze as his eyes widened.
"Where is this coming from?" he asked with a shaky voice.
His only response was a beaming smile.
Knees on the pavement, Dunwall's Anchor was whistling while filling whale-oil containers and dumping them in subspace.
For three loops already, the city's streets had been sparkling in residual static electricity. The arc gun had taken three visit from the Outsider to three different Pieros for him to came up with a doable design, and seven more loops to make a 'non-exploding-on-firing' model. But Corvo simply loved the sight of small ashes heaps where once stood the city guards.
He would eventually get bored of it. But right now, it was just too much fun.
4.03
"So, time is repeating itself." stated Jessamine Kaldwin matter-of-factly.
Her faithful guardian simply nodded.
"Those men" she turned her chin towards the three unconscious assassins on the floor "were hired by conspirators to kill me and kidnap Emily."
Another nod, concern showing on his face.
"And since you prevented my death, you want me to end this putsch myself."
Silence there, as if he was apologizing for what he was asking her to do.
"So you can go on a vacation!" ended the empress, almost shouting.
"Yes." shone Corvo.
Okay, so he was not apologizing, at all.
Looking at her personal bodyguard, then at her daughter poking the cuffed assassins with a stick, the woman let out a loud sigh.
"You'd better pay me back in your next loop."
"I'll take you and Emily on a trip to the Southern Islands."
"Deal."
4.04
After so many loops, Corvo was positive that nothing could ever startled him again.
He was so not prepared for what happened next.
The assassin had just casually escaped the prison without any bloodshed, and he had done so with his eyes closed, literally. Blocking his reiatsu and magic, to prevent himself to sense anything, he minuted his escape from memories only.
It had gone wonderfully, until he reached the sewer exit and got crushed in a bear hug.
"Corvo, you're here."
Okay, whoever that was, he/she/it had just crushed his rib cage.
"Ho Corvo, I don't know what's going on."
From the deep haunted voice, it was a he. Struggling, the royal bodyguard saw the assailant's eyes for the first time. They were swinging madly and adding to his face's porcelain taint, positively making him appears as a lunatic.
"They all forgot. All but me. But you remember too, right?"
He finally connected the dots and took full measure of what was happening.
"Please, tell me you remember." begged the almost-beggar.
"I do Samuel, but please, release me before you break my spine." he chirped happily.
"You... you do? Then... I'm not going crazy?"
"You're not and I'll explain everything, but it will take some time. Let's get back to the Hounds Pits."
Gently pushing Samuel away, leading him to the boat, Corvo could only smile. He had every rights to, as the man was now officially his very first fellow Dunwall looper.
Boarding, his smile wagered a little. Yeah, the boatman would need the speech... and a good bath. Definitely not in that order.
Corvo's meeting with the loyalists had been brief. Claiming the need for a good night sleep, he promptly got to his room, discreetly dragging Samuel along. Said man was now looking at him with begging eyes.
"So, what's happening?"
The assassin decided to go smoothly on him..
"I'll get to it. But first, tell me everything you remember of before you Awoke."
Oblivious to the emphasis on that last word, the boatman started speaking.
"Well... you broke out of prison, came to the Houds Pits, took care of the High Overseer, Lord Pendleton's brothers and saved Lady Emily. Then you kidnapped the royal physician and disposed of Lady Boyle."
"Which Boyle was it? Esma, Lydia or Waverly?"
"You never said."
Too bad, it would have narrowed the list of Samuel's possible first loop.
"And how come you don't know? I though you only killed the Lord Regent's mistress."
He had killed her? Well that narrowed the list.
"It keeps on changing and... never mind, go on."
"Not much to say, I just dropped you at the palaces and was waiting for your return. You were in there for less than ten minutes when the whole city started to burst into flames in the distance. The next thing I know, I'm in the Houds Pits Pub again and Admiral Havelock is sending me to pick you up."
Corvo sighed. So it was that loop. Among every loops he had gone through, it just had to be that one, how lucky of him.
"I though that with your connection to the Outsider, you had to know something. So I came to the sewer's exit, hoping that you'd remembered."
The royal bodyguard raised an eyebrow. "How do you know about the Outsider?"
"You kept teleporting all around the pub."
"Oh... right."
"Now, care to tell me what is happening?"
"Sure thing, but before that..."
Corvo pulled a brandy bottle out of subspace, along with two glasses and an ice bucket.
Samuel's jaw dropped.
"We're gonna need this."
"And we get back every six days?"
"six, seven, ten days, it depends. Usually, it ends during Emily's coronation or when Piero and Sokolov manage to make their antidote to the plague. But we do have extra time every few loops, thanks to variants. Hell, it once last until I died of old age."
"Then... why did it end when I left you by the palace?"
"It was a crash." deadpanned Corvo.
"A crash? What caused it?"
"I was a little too excited. I wanted to go baseline for a loop, as I had cast Diffindo and Incendio on everybody for three loops straight, and... I didn't take the time to check on my pocket. It was definitely glitching, because I had lost all my whale oil stash after the crash, along with my custom arc pylon. The Void must have turned into one hell of a barbecue."
"You blew up the Void?" whispered the boatman.
"It blew spontaneously, or the Outsider played with the arc pylon and turned every altar across Dunwall into a blazing inferno by himself. I swear, the guy may be funny but he's too curious for his own good."
Funny? The living embodiment of the Void? Since when was Corvo so... childish?
"So... what now?"
"Well, I was planning to spend the loop blindfolded."
"Blindfolded?"
"I know, boring. But since you're here, what do you think about pranking the Outsider? The paint-covered Leviathan is getting old and I need someone to try some new ideas."
"You painted the Leviathan?"
"Welcome to the loops." replied the assassin, smirking
4.05
The newly appointed head of the guards was nervous. It was not everyday that you were promoted and convoked to the Lord Regent's chamber in the span of a few hours.
But with the multiple disappearances across the city, and the servants gossiping of moving shadows all around the building from now three days, he couldn't resent his predecessor for quitting. In fact, he would have done it himself if not for the man's parting gift and the Lord's new policy. Nobody could quit, unless said person wanted to be beheaded in public for treason. And he really wanted to keep his head on his shoulders, so he had to bear with all the new responsibilities he'd never wanted, including the current summoning to the Lord's chamber.
Entering the bedroom, his worries flew away and he found himself dumbfounded at the display before him.
The intertwined and almost naked bodies of the Lord Regent, the Pendleton brothers, the High Overseer, the Royal Scientist and all three of the Boyle sisters in fine lingerie was not something you'd expect to run into.
Looking from atop the hall's chandelier, Corvo and the Outsider were enjoying the sight. Sure, they had had to hang around the palace until the Regent was paranoid enough to cloister himself in his room, plus mess shamelessly with his head until he had felt the need to call someone. But now that they had rearranged the scene, it was simply priceless.
As his partner in crime dissolved back into nothingness, the royal guardian could only smile. It truly was amazing what you could do with a glitching pocket and the Void's envoy willing to host all those peoples in stasis for a few days. Next time, he'd love to repeat the event at the Boyle's party. That would surely make a good impression for the guests.
4.06
Waiting by the sewer's exit, Samuel Beechworth was casually flipping a coin. To any onlooker, it wouldn't have been so casual, as the boatman was storing it in his subspace pocket between every throw.
Seeing his Anchor stepping in the sunlight, he stopped his training and climbed back in his good old Amaranth. The royal protector did the same, and the engine started to roar.
"So... Bad loop?"
"How can you tell?"
"It's seven a.m. and you're drinking bourbon." stated the boatman.
"True." laughed Corvo, sadness in his voice.
"Want to talk about it?"
A whisper exited the ill-looking man's lips. "Check your in-loop memories."
The boatman did... and nodded. He understood.
Jessamine had died again and for the first time in forever, Corvo had felt something. After all those deaths, all those murders and bloodbaths, a tiny spark in him had awoken. But he was feeling hollow, as rather than sadness, it had been relief.
Since his fifth loop, he wasn't letting Daud's assassin startle him anymore. Blocking his sword on Awakening, he punctured his throat and quickly shoot the other assassins. Summoning a second sword from subspace, he stepped forward and as soon as they appeared, severed Daud and his last man's heads from their bodies. The plaza once more safe, Corvo turned to the empress and the young heir and proceed to hold them tenderly.
That's when his in-loop memories hit him.
Releasing his grasp over Emily, he summoned another sword and started to cry. He whispered in Jessamine's ears and her eyes widened.
"I'm sorry."
His blade pierced her gut.
Yes, he'd killed her. For the first time, Corvo Attano had willingly ended Jessamine Kaldwin's life. But he was relieved, as in a way, he had saved her. In this variant, she was too cold toward her citizen, compassionless, brutally efficient... she was a tyrant. Her similar behavior toward her own daughter had convinced Corvo that he was doing it for Emily's sake.
The Regent was rightful this time, and more than capable of handling the city. Emily would be adopted by the Pendletons who were (surprisingly) owning an orphanage. If not for the Loyalists who were probably as bad as their late empress, and checking on Samuel as he was not confortable with pinging yet, Corvo would have been more than happy to spend a few days in prison, for the sake of Dunwall. His only regret was that Emily had to witness her mother's murder by her father's hand. The loops sometimes had a twisted sense of humor.
4.07
After murdering Jessamine, he had wanted to change his ways. For thirty loops, he had been pacifistic. But since this variant of the plague was inducing what Potter had called a large-scale Zombie Loop, worst than the baseline Weepers, Corvo was way too eager to use Devouring Swarm and call forth his trusted bone-cleaners.
As predicted, it was working perfectly... but why the hell was he summoning squirrels?
Aaaand cut. Perfect, I love it. It's a keeper.
4.01 - Hey honey, I'm home.
4.02 - What's better than a gun-sized arc pylon?
4.03 - Great deal for Corvo, it simply means that he gets two vacation loops.
4.04 - Welcome, little boatman. I still wonder how you'll turn over time.
4.05 - A sleepover, nice.
4.06 - Killing for others, not the easiest thing to do.
4.07 - As promised, squirrels.