Brace yourself, new loops are coming… wait, wrong branch.
11.01
"And… it's legit?"
"I'm afraid so." replied Hecate, looking quite grave.
Facing her, seated in one of the Hound Pits pub's banquette, were a grim-faced Anchor and his daughter. On nearby stools, Samuel and Daud were respectfully staying silent, while the pub's staff and the loyalists were shamelessly listening-in from the door.
Calling the goddess could look like an immoderate act, but with what the two Attanos had discovered in their Hub-loop, it had been necessary.
They were getting an extension.
Corvo and Emily had successfully reached Lyon, in France, and located Arkane Studios. There, they'd proceeded with their intended courses of actions. The first one had come to threaten the game creators, while the second only wanted to moderate her father's actions
They'd barely entered the building when they'd seen it… a small cardboard inviting them to relocate to a nearby room to see and comment on the new Dishonored 2 trailer.
Their original plans were disregarded in the blink of an eye, and they'd followed the sign, apprehension slowly growing in them.
How right they'd been.
Like their original back-up material, this new Dishonored 2 game looked quite bloody. The Empire would apparently go through the turmoil of yet another plague. The southern isles would fall. Of Corvo, there was no trace other than his mask. Instead, Emily would be the main character, apparently portrayed as a murderer by conspirators. Marked by the Outsider, she would probably have to prove her innocence and regain her throne, like her father before her.
And now, their Admin had confirmed the authenticity of this new extension.
Finally verifying the origin of Emily's Shadow Coil was good.
The rest… not so much.
"For the time being, I can't do anything but pray that it won't be too bad." admitted Hecate, looking compassionately at her loopers. "And be sure that at the first sign of Yggdrasil fixing new content, or any activation attempt, I will warn you. I'll also try to patch whatever I can, but I can't promise anything."
Corvo nodded, knowing that nothing more could be done.
"Thank you."
The Admin smiled sadly, and rose from her seat.
"No, thank you. Now, if you would be so kind…?"
"Right, your sisters."
Whenever their Admin came to Dunwall, the Leviathan tried to interfere, and had to be baited elsewhere. Her sisters usually came with her for that reason, and then needed Corvo's help to flee, least they would destabilize the entire loop by escaping with their own unrestrained powers.
"Sister this time, Artemis was busy." corrected Hecate.
"Good, it'll be easier. Now, Daud, give the plague's antidote to Pierrot and start mass production."
"On it." replied the Assassin, vanishing in a Blink.
"Samuel, can you keep Lady Hecate company?"
"It will be my pleasure." beamed the boatman, showing the goddess out of the room.
The Anchor then turned to his daughter, and a bright smile appeared on his face.
"Emily, you're with me… we're going whale-hunting."
11.02
"Mom, what are those men doing on the rooftop?" asked the little princess, fear making her voice shake.
Corvo simply came closer to hug her, blocking her field of vision with his larger body. A wet sound suddenly made itself heard, strangely bubbling… then the screams began. They morphed quickly in deformed moans of insufferable pain, and the imperial bodyguard didn't let go of Emily until they properly ended.
"Corvo, what is this thing?" asked the little princess, pointing to the weird goo that covered the roof, and the strangely organic-looking rock that had appeared like a mirage and was now oozing a green acid.
"That's a river krust, sweetheart."
11.03
The Overseer may have been trained to respond to that kind of threat, but a part of his mind – getting bigger by the minute – was frantically shouting at him to get the hell out of this place.
No matter how he looked at it, something definitely wasn't right around headquarters.
For hours now, walls and floors had been cracking, as if the entire building had been slowly awakening and was about to break into thousands of pieces. Shadows had seemed more opaque, almost alive, as if lying in wait for an opportunity to catch him off-guard and swallow him whole. Even more unsettling was that nagging sensation of being under the scrutiny of something unfriendly. Every time he turned around, he half expected to meet face to face with some kind of hostile beast out for his blood. But the worst of it all were the other patrols who had been slowly disappearing all night, in nothing more than a whisper. He was all alone to face this nightmare.
Overseer vow of not, the man would have run away screaming like a little girl… if he hadn't been completely lost. He couldn't understand how such a thing was possible since he knew the building layouts by heart, as all Overseers were required to, but he kept ending up in rooms he wasn't even close to in the first place. He also couldn't find a single damn door leading outside the mansion. Windows weren't an option either, they had vanished all the same.
A yet unseen hex, used by some Void zealot, that was the only reasonable explanation for his current predicament. It was obviously a twisted plot, made by some vile forces worshiping the Outsider, to drag him into paranoia and madness…
And it was working!
The Overseer could feel his heart running like a galloping horse, a mad one.
He was in desperate need of a Holger's device. If he could find a music box, its pure melody would prevent unholy magic.
But he couldn't find any. The ones once stationed in the hallways were lacking, the ones carried around by other Overseers had went MIA with them, and he couldn't retrieve a stored one with the building's inner structure so thoroughly twisted.
The voice in his brain was bigger and louder now.
The Overseer was alone, with no way out, and no other weapon than the sword he was holding in his shaky hand. He wasn't even sure he could strike anything in the state he was in.
The man wanted to cry… to yell… to curled up in a corner… to pray for death to come and free him.
He was suffocating, he was drowning, he was… right before a device, apparently.
The Oversee had just turned a corner – how he had done so in a straight corridor was a mystery – to find himself before a music box resting on a table.
His fragile mind immediately began to send way too many conflicting messages to him. He wanted to flee from this trap, and at the same time, he wanted to throw himself at it. He wanted to play the partition, but he also wanted to set it on fire.
He blinked, only to find his hand on the Holder's device controls. He wasn't sure how, but he'd manifestly taken a decision.
Relief washing over him, the man moved the handle, making the box crack up.
His hope shattered in a million pieces when a catchy song began to play.
"We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I…"
He began to cry.
On a nearby chandelier, a lone Anchor concealed in the shadows snickered.
He should really drive Overseers insane more often, it was fun.
11.04
Emily Kaldwin, sweet and innocent heiress to the imperial throne, was happily terrifying the poor staff members of the Hound Pits pub.
Piero Joplin had barricaded himself in his workshop, Callista Curnow was looking on the verge of quitting whenever she came back from a tutoring session with the young girl, the three traitorous Loyalists were keeping to their living quarters, and all the other employees were avoiding her just the same.
Samuel Beechworth, had previously applied an old Space Wolf philosophy that could be summarized as 'Choose your battle.', which basically meant that he was scared senseless of her and didn't want to face her wrath.
But eaten away by curiosity as he was, he finally yielded. He absolutely needed to know what had managed to put the young looper in such a sour mood and thus, went straight to his Anchor to get the full story.
At first, Corvo discarded his question with a simple "She's just venting, let her be."
Samuel didn't give up though, and after being forced to look at the inside of a Gauss rifle's barrel, the Anchor finally saw reason.
"You remember that loop you had with her, in Ancient China?"
The boatman nodded gravely.
How could he have forgot, when that loop had had such a deep impact on Emily, even pushing her to face Daud by herself – and win!
"Well, this branch is recorded in the Hub as an animated movie called 'Mulan', and produced by the Disney company. The thing is, they produced quite a number of other movies, almost all of them gravitating around a princess or a queen, and all those universes are looping. The Disney Princesses live quite the adventures, and with Jessamine for mother, Emily is basically a princess herself. She keeps on replacing them."
"Oh… so she didn't just have a bad loop, she had a number of them?"
"Well, they're not bad loops per say. There's only a couple of kidnappings, murders, betrayal, manipulation, and evil sorceresses throwing hexes around. But it's fairly easy to get friendship, love and a happy end, even without any pocket or out-of-loop abilities. Take the one we're just coming back for instance, she only had to kiss a frog."
"… did you just say –"
"That she had to kiss a frog? Yes, I did, though it was an insufferable prince unAwake me had cursed earlier, and she had the excuse of being a frog too at the time."
"I… suppose that it could have been worse. It does explain her anger though…"
The building shook on its foundations. Samuel wisely decided no to comment on it, and carried on with his questions.
"If you unAwake self had turned the prince into a frog, couldn't you have undone it yourself?"
"It would have been with pleasure, but I didn't perform the spell myself at the time."
"Then who did?" asked Samuel with an inquisitive look.
As another tremor shook the area, the Anchor stole a glace at his shadow, cast on the aged wall by the sunlight filtering through the veiled window. Said shadow seemed definitely darker than the others, and as Corvo looked back at Samuel with a perturbing smile, the shadow could briefly be seen smirking wickedly itself.
"Just my friends on the other side."
11.05
Corvo Attano was a happy Anchor.
His branch wasn't that bright, he even had to admit that it was downright bloody and depressing, but he had been blessed with three wonderful loopers: Samuel Beechworth, trusted friend; Daud, redeemed kindred soul; Emily Kaldwin, dear daughter.
And because he wanted to share his happiness, he decided to buy them presents.
"Is that a… cog?" asked Samuel.
And indeed, the boatman's gift was a small steel cog, gleaming in the sunlight.
Why was Corvo giving him this?
He expressed his confusion, and his Anchor 's reply left him quite confused.
"It's something of a memorial." began the imperial bodyguard. "You know how Emily's studying Bone Charms? Well, it made me want to try my hand at enchanting, and I had this project to try and ward your boat against explosions as an apology for the many times I caused it to blow up. It's not working perfectly right now, as I retrieved this cog in yet another Amaranth's wreckage, but this time around, the enchantment was anchored on it and as you see, the piece itself is not even indented, so that's really encouraging. Please, accept this as my promise that I'll work hard to avoid further harm being done to your boat."
Corvo's voice seemed genuinely compassionate, but his eyes were almost twinkling at the prospect of turning even more Amaranths to ashes.
During this unnatural exchange, Daud had unwrapped his "I don't give a fox" shirt, and thus wanted nothing more than to brutally murder Corvo. In fact, he'd just mentally added it on his list to Santa.
As for Emily, she was glaring alternatively at her father and the bright pink toy princess' crown she'd received from him. She was contemplating which humiliating loops anecdotes she would need to relate to her mother.
Samuel finally registered what his Anchor had just said. He'd been blowing up the Amaranth, repeatedly, supposedly to 'prevent it from blowing up'…
He didn't manage to contain his anger any longer, and his outcry mixed perfectly with Daud's own bloodthirsty "CORVOOOOO!"
Emily's "DAAAAAAAD!" added, for its part, a most needed touch of femininity to that tense situation.
The Anchor was soon Blinking away, three loopers out for his blood hot on his tail.
11.06
As Anchor, Corvo had had infinitely more time to attune himself to the Void, which meant that he had more control and way more power to put behind his spells than the two other bearers in their little looping group. But no matter how many times he'd tried, he'd never managed to use Daud's version of Blink when he wasn't actually replacing the man, pretty much like Emily who was limited to her Shadow Coil.
Daud's Blink ability was so over-powered that it wasn't even funny.
It had the side-effect of actually stopping time whenever it was cast, letting the user all the time in the world to take a decision as to where he wanted to land.
And now that he was looping, Daud was capable of maintaining a half-cast Blink to create a time-freezing effect while focusing on another thing entirely. Naturally, he was completely abusing this.
It was rather usual by now to see him stopping time simply to meditate, and Corvo couldn't really blame him, as he was doing the exact same thing every time he entered Jinzen to talk with his sword.
But that... that was definitely too much.
The Anchor could only watch, defeated, as the hundreds of Void studies and other Mark-related grimoires he'd gathered across just as many variants were grabbed and discarded by the dozen, the assassin casually reading through them in what appeared to be mere seconds. By the end of the day, the looper would have caught up with him.
That just had to be cheating.
11.07
Coughing blood, the empress's face twitched nervously. But despite her obvious pain, her eyes were focused, like in an attempt to carve her loved and trusted bodyguard's face in her mind.
"Corvo... It's all... coming apart. Find Billy. Protect him. You're the only one. You'll know what to do. Won't you? Corvo?"
With those last words, Empress Jessamine Kaldwin died in her bodyguard's arms, who, indeed, knew exactly what to do… namely, find the nearest Outsider's Shrine and stay in the Void for the rest of the Loop.
He was used to dealing with conspirators and a zombie-inducing plague, he didn't do unnatural catastrophes.
11.08
Emily Kaldwin was quite happy with herself.
This new loop had began a handful of days ago, and she'd dealt with every single problems by herself. The plague had been cured, every Weeper had been wiped out, and the traitors were in prison, waiting for judgment. Dunwall was now an extremely peaceful city.
Yet, it had nothing to do with the heiress' mood.
If Emily was now sporting a proud smirk, it was in fact due to the glare sent her way by her Anchor.
With the epidemic threat gone, what's more thanks to the heiress, the counsel had found adequate to order a commemorative painting of the imperial couple and their daughter, savior of their great city. Painting she'd discreetly asked a copy of. Copy she'd just retrieved and immediately Pocketed, under her dear mother's wrathful eyes.
Emperor Jessar Kaldwin was, in all honesty, slightly panicking, alternatively looking at his wife and daughter and repeatedly asking them why Anton Sokolov's masterpiece had suddenly disappeared.
Of course, he received no answer.
Reaven Kaldwin, nee Attano, was just too busy glaring at her daughter, who for her part was trying to stifle a giggle, already picturing the face her Anchor of a father would make when the painting would be presented to her mother.
She'd warn him that there would be a price to pay for that toy crown.
11.09
Emily Kaldwin blinked Awake, but it most definitely wasn't in the palace's gardens, nor to her usual room at The Golden Cat. Instead, she was standing in an entirely different cell… her father's cell. She'd barely recognized the place that, already, memories assaulted her. Emperor Jessar Kaldwin's death, young Corvo's abduction, the Lady Regent's treachery, being send to Coldridge Prison… Yup, she had replaced her father… well, her son now, the son she'd gave birth to… Damn tree, that memory was way to clear for her taste.
Anyway, Corvo had to be there too, or the loop wouldn't run, right? She immediately pinged, receiving no answer back.
Strange… he wasn't Awake? So… were they hosting a stealth Anchor then?
Well, she would just have to deal with the conspiracy by herself. Baseline style, apparently, as her abilities and subspace pocket were annoyingly locked.
The usual imperial heir, now imperial bodyguard, grabbed the lock's key brought by currently still helpful loyalists and began to stealth her way out of the building.
Emily was moving across rooftops, passing by oblivious guards. It was pretty easy, as she knew all of their rounds by heart.
Yes, she'd exchange place with her father, and her mother had been male while the Lord Regent was now female, but other than those two switched gender, Dunwall was pretty close to baseline. The sewers, the rats, Samuel, the Loyalists, the weepers, the guards… the loop was mostly unchanged.
Except for one thing…. the rats were no rats. The little monsters were nowhere in sight, replaced by even more terrifying creatures.
Short black fur, thin muzzle, lean body, two void-black eyes, and four thin membrane acting as wings. They were known as Bloodflies, but the citizens simply called them 'Nightmares', because those things weren't natural. The Outsider had apparently created them on a whim and unleashed them on the world, propagating his unholy plague through them.
Their presence was unexpected, as they were native to Serkonos, but not so strange when she thought about it. After all, those things had already appeared in their extension's trailer, and Yggdrasil usually needed way less material to mess around with the loopers.
And still, Emily couldn't help but shiver every time she came across one. Because they were a constant reminder that this extension was coming. That their already messed up branch would be twisted even further. That this endless circle of blood and betrayal that Dunwall was already going through in the initial baseline would, in the end, teach nothing to their Branch's inhabitants.
Repressing her anger, the assassin dropped on another building and grabbed a nearby balcony with a Shadow Coil. If she had had time, she would have vaporized the things to vent her frustration, but her kidnapped son of a father was a priority.
Daud was screaming.
Killing Jessar and kidnapping Corvo hadn't been enough for this version of the assassin. He was violent, bloodthirsty, barely human… he'd tortured the boy into insanity, even though the conspirators had never asked for it. After all, they needed a puppet, not a broken toy.
And so, Daud was screaming.
Again. And again. And… he was dead now, his body slowly being munched on.
Gently holding the broken body of her son, doing her best to ignore the mad laughter mixed in his screams and sobs, Emily walk out of the room. She had to return to the Old Hounds, Corvo would need Samuel and Callista's gentleness to recover, even just partially.
Her?
She didn't need gentleness. She needed to unleash her fury on those other bastards who'd hurt her son. Because even if they'd never asked for that, they were still responsible.
As if reflecting her current murderous train of thought, her mark pulsed ominously. The night would be bloody, and the Bloodflies would feed.
11.10
Daud Awoke and was immediately assaulted by his loop memories.
Apparently, it was pretty much baseline. Okay, not really, there was that one tiny little detail...
The Whaler instantly dropped his bloody sword, grabbed the Arwing spaceship he'd pocketed in the Starfox Branch, and escaped the planet's atmosphere not ten seconds later.
Dog-sized plague spiders in place of the usual plague rats?
Nope.
So much nope.
11.11
"Dad, what are those men doing on the rooftop?" asked the little princess, pointing at the approaching Whalers.
"Trying to kill your mother, I suppose." calmly replied Corvo.
"I'd figured that out, thank you." replied Emily, rolling her eyes. "But why would they think that upsetting Flappy is a good idea?"
As to answer her, the hired killers started to scream when the furred and winged monstrosity which nest they had disturbed began to assault them.
A horrified Jessamine Kaldwin could only gasp in fright when the thing returned to its nap a few seconds later, leaving but chewed bones and disregarded clothes on the rooftop. It had eaten so cleanly that not a single drop of blood had stained the tiles.
The Anchor, despite his many loops, was equally disturbed. Not by the macabre show, but rather by the perpetrator. Seriously, what was wrong with his daughter's choices of pet? She couldn't have chose a hamster?
Of course not. Bloodflies… it had to be Bloodflies.
11.01 – Dishonored 2 is coming… can't wait.
11.02 – Whalers' sundae… ew!
11.03 – Sorry for the rickroll, but the Overseer totally deserved it… probably.
11.04 – Emily has no animal joke for now, but she'll get her fair share of princess joke. Poor girl.
11.05 – Trolling others is every looper's privilege, but it's especially true for the Anchor.
11.06 – Daud's Blink is OP.
11.07 – For those wondering, Billy comes from "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". In the loops, he's causing so much damage just by being utterly stupid, that he's been labeled as an MLE, or Malicious Looping Entity. If you come across an MLE, avoid it, kill it, trap it, but don't let it out of your sight, or your loop is doomed.
11.08 – She's already blackmailing her fa… mother. They grow up so fast.
11.09 – Much like how Corvo and Daud can summon rats, Emily can now summon Bloodflies. They'll be a gory, if sometimes necessary answer to Dunwall's darkest moments.
11.10 – I really love spiders… Daud obviously doesn't.
11.11 – The daughter is now officially as messed up as the father.
