Act 3: Promised Land

Part 2: Re-Vision

I turn back, pointing both guns at my uninvited enemy. A sanitised Octoling, dressed in torn, dirty rags just like the other Traitors. He casually stands and looks at me, waiting for my move. I pull the trigger, but he teleports to the side and dodges the shot.

"It's pointless, V3. I'm an immortal monster. You are just another one of Tartar's victims, and there are no respawn points here. If you die, it's a permanent "you're welcome" from your older self."

W-wha? I lower my guns in a moment of confusion, but immediately shake my head and rush forward, shooting at him. He takes the barrage of ink in his face like it was nothing and teleports away when I get close. I turn around, waiting for his attack. In the meantime, I just scream.

"My old self?! V3?! Я не понял. Who the fuck are you and what kind of weed are you smoking?! Share that shit, I could use something to get me out of this hell."

He teleports in and charges at me. I start to shoot, slowly moving back, but he reaches my position in moments grabs my hands with an iron grip, moving them aside. His cold, emotionless face stares at me like a mirror. The bleeding eyes and ears don't help. And no matter what I try, I can't free myself from his grip. He talks slowly.

"It's not weed or any other drug. The name's Richard Streletskiy, test subject number 10008 v2. Or V2 for short. Nice to meet me again after that time with test chamber and CQ Cumber. I told my brothers and sisters that I'll kill you. But it looks like it's in our fate to be nothing more than failures…"

The fuck..? Test subject number 10008 v2? And I'm V3….wait, wha...

He loosens his grip and kicks me to the ground, but my backpack is strong enough to take the impact. My guns are still working, so I continue my attempt to shoot him down. Tough scumbag… and quick as diarrhea when you rush to work. Argh! Why won't he just stand quietly around? He's not even trying to kill me like everything else in this damn place!

He swings his hand and throws an ink projectile at me. I barely dodge the shot, but it explodes behind me and hit me… just a bit. Still, it hurts!

"You're not speaking much after I revealed the ground-shaking truth. I was expecting a different reaction. Nothing to say?"

I grin for a moment and smile weakly, taking the fighting stance.

"Oh, I got things to say. Lots of things to say. Come on, green guy. I'll show you how to get a discharge without being an athlete! First lesson is free!"

I charge in, shooting in bursts and dodging his long-range attacks. Unlike me he doesn't have an octo form nor an ink-tank, yet he tosses ink like… ah, gotta move! I don't have time for any references!

"You missed the punch line."

Does this brute have the audacity to correct me?! Ух, сука….I use my octo form to jump over him and transform back into a humanoid, showering him with ink in the process, before kicking his back with my foot. After that he teleports away as I speak.

"It's professional humor! Speaking of which - two languages and bad jokes are not enough to describe just how BAD the electricity is in this shithole!"

His back tentacles start to grow and he teleports closer to me, using them as whips. I have to stop shooting and retreat instead, refilling my ink and listening to him as he lectures.

"Ugh. Don't remind me of that high-voltage cable meltdown problem that inevitable comes up every time he does something in sector B. And that was pretty often. If you don't remember, I can refresh your memory real quick, V3."

For a moment, this feels less like a fight.

"Oh-ho-ho! Two madmen of different degrees of madness, but one profession! Short circuits, fires and equipment explosions. I know your pain, bro… V2, was it? Dealt with the same shit. Well, I can't kill you, but I'm not going down so easily."

I duck to avoid his tentacle swing. Damn, they're huge. Can't lie - I'm a little envious. How come his tentacles can do that while mine struggle to follow basic instructions?

"How can you do that anyway?! That's not fair! A-as I bloody say! How about a little conversation, while you beating the shit out of my determination and stamina with your "I'm sanitised so I don't give a fuck" style of acting?"

I toss a splatbomb at him and jump into the ink, trying to flank him without getting smoked out. He's still isn't really trying to murder me - it's more like he's toying with me!

"It's a neural implant in the cervical spine, responsible for manual growth of back tentacles and using them with precision. HE likes to experiment before sanitizing another victim. With sanitisation we all receive our basic number of implant augmentations, allowing us to teleport and be controlled. And why not - we'll see how long can you last."

We approach each other. He tries to grab me, but I fire at his tentacle and he steps back.

"Flexible and still going strong. Not bad. But not good enough if you want to endure the Promised Land and the hell within it. As for me, my brothers and sisters…"

"Control implants were made in China, thus they're broken. I already guessed."

He slaps me across the arena.

"Don't use bad jokes when you're fighting someone stronger than you, V3. It'll distract you and make you look stupid at the same time. China was destroyed in 2041 by the same anomaly that destroyed Chernobyl in 2020. If you remember your history, you should have already known that."

"I remember it all, thank you very much. And why're you call me V3 anyway?"

"I told you already. The truth you wanted from Machine."

"Yeah, I'm not that dumb."

"Yet it's true Believe me or deny me, we are still made from same frozen mind. I'm you, you're.."

I interrupt him with a splatbomb right in his face, followed by a series of punches with the octoshot grip and some angry screeching.

"I am you. You are me. We are fucking family! BULLSHIT! By the fucking way, how the shell did the kids get here anyway!? I mean come on, everything on the surface is destroyed! We can't have kids! Yet those bloody maniacs are everywhere!"

He tossed me way and launches an ink projectile at me, causing me to fall to the floor. And the ink hit my ey-aaaah! My eye! That fucking hurts! I struggle to get up, picking up my weapons. He sits and watches.

"How much does it take to break you? How long can you hold off pain, keep your sanity, check and follow your moral code? You think you're doing your best. But you need to do better. You must push harder."

Well, that's a damn good questions… argh, my eye's gone blind and it hurts.

"Don't teach me how to deal with this shit! If you dare to take my name, then you must know the answers. I'm not one who likes to press the "give up" button and die. Now answer the fucking questions I asked!"

"It's simple really. Same way everyone got here. You, me, other test subjects before and after you - HE kidnaps innocent octolings from the surface. There were other species at one time, but octolings have proven to be most successful in that damned project."

Wait, what- oh suka! Left hook right in the stomach… I didn't see that one coming. Damn it! That hurts a lot. I drop my guns and grab my stomach, whining in pain. He stops, watching me and waiting.

"...that's dirty, you bastard!"

"Dirty? Ruining lives and families, sacrificing innocent in the name of science. And for what - Promised Land? HE tries to make a chicken think she is an egg and calls it success. Now that's dirty. It's pointless and solves nothing. And HE knows that. We know that. But no one can do anything about it. A cycle of blood and ink as I call it. People get here. People suffer. People die… and puppets remain."

He's talking about some really interesting shit and I would LOVE to think about it it and be shocked to the core. But… I'm busy losing a fight for my life here!

I rush in with a battle cry, grabbing him by the shoulders and smashing his nose with my forehead. Again. And again. I follow up with a quick punch and an elbow jab in his ribs. But he simply strikes me on the back of the head with his hand and kicks me away - he's not even trying.

"Still trying to fight? Good. Good. Tap into your rage, hatred and fury. Let the adrenaline do the heavy lifting. And then, maybe you could do what I failed to do over 400 years ago..."

"Old sanitised fart! Enough with that chit chat and playing around. Fight me!"

He stops. His tentacles start to burn with power… and his hands, too. Oh, no. No-no-no, don't you fucking dare use specials on me! He punches the ground and a line of ink-geysers start trailing towards me. I run to my guns and fall on my naked belly, sliding in my ink. Finally, I pick up at least one octoshot and retreat. And I hear laughter around me. Who's laughing?! I jump back on my feet and look around, but there is only that V2 bastard and he's not speaking. My head hurts, but I gotta ignore the pain for now. Shooting, dodging, explosions. In the confusion, I manage to pick up my second weapon. The battle changes - no longer is he toying with me. Now it's a dance with reckless death. The voices and laughter grows louder. Among the chanters, I can hear Agent Asshole. Just perfect.

"Human in your mind,

Living on the edge

Split yourself in two,

Death is all around.

Summoning the power,

Drag yourself through pain.

Rising from a grave,

Off from hell to light you go

Human in the Dark

Fight for your life!

Octo in the Light

Fight for your life!"

Fight for your life…

Fight for your life."

I toss one of my octoshots at V2, blocking his ink projectile, and begin to rush at him, unwittingly singing in my madness. He teleports outside my shooting range and points at his nose with two fingers:

"You are bleeding. And I tried, V3. I tried to fight…"

I stop to wipe my nose without taking my eyes off him. The pain and the blood bring back memories…

"But I couldn't do it, you know. I knew what I was, yet I can't bring myself to murder a human. To murder someone like myself… even if I barely knew the guy. And even after sanitisation, I couldn't do it. I can't do this to him. I can't do this to you. But maybe you're insane and broken enough to put him out of his misery."

"Wh-what are you talking about anyway? Whatever! Just get the fuck out of my way or kill me already!"

I charge forward, trying to ignore all the musical in my head, but he simply grabs my neck and lifts me up. I try to break free, but his grip is firm, merely holding me in place like he's pushing a small child away.

"I'm talking about Richard. Not you, or me. The real Richard."

"Look, I'm not gonna take your bullshit as some revelations from above about mental clones and döppelgangers. Nah. That ain't gonna work on me! I told you that. If you even remember, that is."

"I'm not trying to convince you. I'm testing you."

He teleports front of me and quickly punches me in the face. I can't even react before he grabs me with his tentacles and slams me into the floor. In return, I flip him off and spit a mouthful of blood into his face.

"Fuck your tests. Fuck the Machine. Tell everyone to fuck themselves for me. Humanity is dead and I'm going down with it, knowing that I-"

He forces my mouth to close.

"I did what I did to prepare you and test you. You want to see everything with your own eyes? So be it."

With his last words, he lifts again and bashes me into the ground - harder this time. The last thing I hear is the voice of my wannabe.

" Doc. I think he's worth a shot. Patch him up and…"