I was so hungry. I reached forwards, and went to bite into the rich chest before me. I tore with powerful teeth into flesh, tasting sweet blood. I sucked down an intestine, draining it hungrily, the taste ever so delicious, my urges all consuming.
I looked up at Ethan. "I'm sorry-" He stabbed me in the neck with that cutter, again and again, and I faded. And again, I was eaten.
I died, and died, and died again. Sometimes I sneaked off, sometimes I managed to hold back the instincts long enough to run away, but I was always caught. They knew this place better than me, were stronger, faster. I died and died and died again.
I went insane with the pain of killing and dying a loved one again and again, and gamer's mind dragged me back to lucidity, to the knowledge that I was again killing Ethan.
And each time, disease resistance leveled up. Stealth leveled up as well.
It slowed down as I leveled up. The first ten levels took ten loops. The next ten took twenty…
I couldn't escape it. My body's instincts were overwhelming, and even my mind wasn't safe, the safety of a gamer's mind capsizing in the storm of pain and love and death and hunger.
I killed Ethan. I was killed, again and again. I couldn't be put down by brute force, but the family- and I could tell they were a family, they told me often enough how I had betrayed them by leaving them,- would capture me wherever I went. The smell and taste of his flesh called me even through that, and I never was coherent enough to stop myself for long. I tore my own eyes out, trying to protect myself from seeing him, but I woke wake up from a haze, a sharp pain in my head as my eyes grow back, the rich smell of blood in my mouth.
The last ninety were the slowest. As I stalked through the crumbling house they ticked up ever so slowly, longer than the previous ninety levels had taken combined.
I wish it was all a blur, but it wasn't. Whether it was my intelligence, which I was pretty sure was a lot higher than my own body's, or the photographic memory perk, I remembered every one of my 1024 deaths, and his 30 deaths. He escaped me, or beat me up a lot. Ethan was competent.
All this flashed through my head as I woke up again, his hand on my shoulder.
Level 100 disease resistance reached! You get a free perk choice. Your disease resistance evolves into disease control! 1% chance of resisting even uncommon mutations.
Level 92 stealth reached. Almost there!
And I didn't turn. My mutation condition that had turned me wasn't triggering.
I got up quickly. "We have to get out of here. How did you get here?" I asked, as a new pop up appeared.
Semi controlled uncommon mutations. Whilst slower, and more uncommon, these mutations will slowly turn you into an insane beast so long as you are within a mutation zone.
Crap. I needed to get out.
You have gained 1 int for a cutting insight you should have had 1024 loops ago. Fuck you, game.
I quickly summoned my status screen, as he spoke to me. Maybe one would let me delay diseases?
Zombie bite! You can inflict a controlled infection on someone, passing on a disease you have. With greater disease control-
No, don't want it. Might hurt Ethan.
Zombie spit! You can spit a glob of toxic disease fluids, likely infecting-
No again.
Zombie eyes. You can sense infections. More powerful infected may be able to hi-
Thank you, environmental mastery. I selected it and replayed mentally what he had said.
"Yes, back there." He had pointed to behind him and his right. "But the ladder is broken."
I nodded. "Don't worry, I can fix it. Let's go." I grabbed his hand and yanked him forward.
"We need to get out of here. Daddy- super zombie master- is coming. I'm also a zombie but a good one."
He looked skeptical, as I dragged him away.
"Zombies? You don't look like a zombie."
"Don't be racist, honey, we don't all look the same." I dragged him onwards through- I don't know, a decrepit underground mancave or something. Wisdom wasn't my best stat and my observation was shit. There was a toilet, there was junk lying around, the walls were packed in with wood.
Then a wall appeared.
"Err." I said.
"Under it." he gestured.
"Yes." I was good at following orders. Maybe I should have taken that special leadership perk.
I crawled under the disgusting smelling water, and bumped into a corpse- I nudged it away.
Then as I emerged, something in my nose twisted. I looked in front of me and saw Ethan. I remember that moment in Madagascar when Alex the lion was hungry and had seen Marty the Zebra and he looked like a steak. I related right now. I was pretty sure the gamer's mind was taking the edge off it, but that only reduced it by 10%. It was getting stronger. A more powerful voice, telling me to murder and eat him.
I needed to stop it. I staggered to a wall. The ladder up. It was broken. He couldn't carry me. I need more time. I pushed my greater intellect to it's limits, feeling my brain burn as I tried to find a solution that didn't mean me having to incinerate myself to protect Ethan.
Int check succeeded. 29/14. The prime vector of the infection seems to be through smell. Perhaps a pheremone based delivery system? Priming the emotional sectors of your brain to kill and eat, overriding the rational segments. For more than doubling an important check, you gain a new piece of information. Autoinducer pheromones are used, and the local density of mutamycete is what dictates the strength of mind control.
So, it was my sense of smell?
"Give me the chain cutters." I said to Ethan.
"What?"
"Give them to me now. I can't hold it back much longer. I'm sorry. GIVE THEM TO ME."
He handed me the thick, red chain cutters.
I turned them back to my face, and wrapped them around my nose.
"What are you doing-" He asked, horrified.
I ripped my nose off. Blades that were meant to cut through steel cut through cartilage like a hot knife through butter. Hot blood spurted out, but quickly cut off.
Disease control levels up! Disease control levels up! Disease control levels up!
"Smell based zombie virus." I said, holding one hand to my ripped off nose. "It'll grow back. Come on!"
I tossed the bloody appendage aside and stamped on it- I knew from experience body parts could reconnect in the strangest of places. The ladder was broken. Why did I say come on?
Wisdom check failed. 10/12
I needed a way out.
"I heal fast, I'm super strong, I'm smart. How do we get out of here?" He seemed to be on board.
I looked around. What could I use. Pipes? There was a corpse. Maybe I could fashion one of the bones or two into pick axes? Or maybe I could toss him up. He could let down something for me to climb down? When I failed wisdom checks, destroying things helped. Could I knock down a hole somehow? Smash a way up?
"Can you climb the pipes?" He asked.
Ah. Wisdom. Why build a tower when you can climb the pipes? I fear my racism against pipes was holding me back. I was the Pipeslayer.
"Yes!" I said. "Hold onto me."
He held onto my shoulder. I used my superior zombie strength to pull myself up, hauling my way out- and the local disease density started to increase.
A booming voice came behind them.
"You thought you could just slip out before dinner was done?"
I gasped. "It's daddy Zombie. I need to go faster." I really wished I'd taken the minion perk now.
I hauled myself up, and was almost at the entrance when-
He grabbed my foot. I felt my bones crack and break as his superhuman strength squeezed them. I kicked at him hard, but he just grinned. Ethan kicked as well, to no effect.
"This is the end, you know?"
"No it's not. This is Saw." I said. With inhuman strength, I pulled him and my leg up, and swayed down, one hand holding the chain cutter. I pushed it around my ankle, and tore it off. He hung there by a tendril of flesh.
Ethan kicked him again, and the flesh ripped and 'Daddy' fell to the floor, with a grunt.
Saw hidden quest unlocked! You've removed your first ankle. Gain one free perk relating to amputation. Gain 1 constitution!
"You really are-" He said, looking nervous.
"I'm still your Mia. Just with upgrades. Let's get out.
There was a constant, stabbing agony from my face. My heel burnt, like a thousand burning needles being repeatedly shoved into my flesh. It was shitty.
I just didn't care. I had endured worse, and would endure more to survive.
I pulled us up into the house, and staggering forward on my jagged stump, leaning on Ethan for support, I headed forwards.
Suddenly, the disease concentration spiked.
I̶̖̊̾̔̇͜ ̴͇̘̝̪͔͈̗̻̣͔̽͌̏̂̒͗̓̏͘͘s̵͈̮̟͌́̽̓̚ȩ̸͉̲͇̩͑̋͛̀̏̕̕͝e̶̡̤̻̣̙̿̔̐͂͂̍̈́̎͗͝ ̶̖̝̯͙̺̜̙̱͔̰̼̋͊̈̈́̈́͒͑͝ẙ̵̩̱̗͔͈͇̘̻̒̽̈́̒̀̍͌͜͠o̸̭̣̜̽͐͝u̷̢̧͍͍̤̦̤͚͚͈̞̎ ̸̧̧̛̹̰͕̣̜̣͖̺̫̀̾t̵̠͇̞̩̐̃̋͐͂̃̔́͘r̵̝̱̩̠̮̱̬̄̃̓͠ẙ̷̢̰̞̣͖̱͈͎̭̆̋̽̽̉͂̆i̷̡͎͚͎̤̠̟̲̗̭̳͑n̷͇͇̼͇̞̏̔͆͛͗̐̎̿͊̉g̴̢̢̰̞̬̗͎͙̪̱̐̉͐ ̵̩̙̙̬̞͚͌̇̇̔͌͊͂̈́͘t̴͓̯̂̔̏̊̑̓ǫ̶̣̼͎̹̙̀͂̒͆̋̂̏ ̴̰̹̭̹͙̖͉̬͔̪̥͋̍́̿̊̀̕͝ŗ̶̜͙̥̟͇̟͙͍͉̈́̀̇̌̆̐͆͊͝ͅu̶͎̖̓̀̓͌͌̄͋̚n̵̠̥͕̾̆́̽͌́͆,̷̧̗̱̺̣͕̔̍̃͐̿͂̑͘ ̷̨̩̩̈́̚m̴̨̟̝̪̺͉̥̖̊̊̒̃̂̈́͂̓̒o̵̢̮͖̻̼̞̱̾̈́̅͂̋̄m̸̺̺̬̓̈́̊̚̕͝ͅm̴̩̠̲̹̦̫͎̥͉̓̃̉̄͒y̵̢̩̗̜̪͈̬̦̮͗̔̇̋̂̈̇̋̀͒.̷̬̤͈̮̞̦̇͂̓̄͛͆ͅ ̶̞͕̠̝̍̅̚̕̕͜ͅI̸̳͖̭̙̠͉̩̦͓͉̒̆̏̐͌͆͋̈́͠ ̷̼͆͊̃̓̃̽̀͒w̵̘̝̭̕o̶͓͚̟̮͔̺͊̄̓̕n̴̼̬̜̼͓̓͂̒͐͑̐̋͗̚͝'̸̡̢̯̺̜̼͔̝̫͍̪̒t̴̻̹̦̘̯͎͇͔̽͆ ̵̪̝̞͎̳̖͚̺̫̟͕̅̅̾̕̕l̴̪̗̪̫̯̯̤̝̳̓̀̀̒̆̿̀̔̏̓͠ë̶̠̬͚͔́̊t̵̫͌̆̽͑̓͑͂ ̸̡̥͎͍̞͇̝͇̻͓͒̿̇̄͑̍̓̔̕ͅt̵̥͕͖̳͌̓̐͊̐͘ḩ̶͈̣̹̗̺͍̮́̑̓́̉̾͆͝͝ͅä̸͉̠̬́̋̇t̴̲̞͇̬̫̂͒̂͒̂̈́̿͠ ̴̧̯͎͎̣̖͚͔͂͒͜͝ͅh̴̪̰̱̤̱͙̱̎́͛͌̏͘ă̴͓̄̑̆̀̈́́̀ṗ̶̣̮̣̈́͘ͅp̴̧͙͓̞͔̰̪͙͚͒̒̈̒e̵̪̼̦͉̳̱̓̒͂̐͛n̵̹͎̠̠̝̊ͅ.̴̰̟̳̭̼̫̦̯̆̑͒ ̴̛͍͈͓̠̀̓̐̋̅͆͝͝͝͝
Shit. It was here.
"We need to move it! You have our car?" I asked.
He nodded.
"Who is it?"
"Super magical queen infection zombie." I had no fucking clue.
Mental combat initiated. Gamer mind attempting to fight off incursion.
We got out of the house. We were in some swamp. I staggered forward. I needed to move faster. I focused my will, my desire, to heal quickly. I could control the disease. I would escape with Ethan. Family was all that mattered. Fuck the world. Families made it, and they would remain whatever else came. My leg wet, gooey, in flux. I used that. We would not be stopped.
Constitution check 31/30 succeeded. You have grown a new foot.
I felt increasingly hungry, as my own body's fat reserves were tapped to regenerate me. Like a cancer growing beneath my skin, the foot ripped it's way out of the bloody gap, and I stood firm. I started dragging Ethan faster until-
A girl stood in front of me. Black haired, pallid skin, creepy green eyes. Images of every horror film with a creepy kid in it flashed before my eyes.
"Not today Satan!" I said, lashing out with the chain cutter. It went through it like a mist. I shook my head.
"What was it?" He asked.
"Magic Zombie hallucinations. Some creepy girl." I said.
Ī̵̢̡̙̟̞͉̳̞̞̖'̷̧̼̞̘̌͛́̿͒̔̕͘m̴̘̭̥̼̟͇͇̓̄ ̶̛̠͔̳̆̆a̸̛̫͂̀͛̚͝ş̵̬̻̺͍̞̜̼̂̾̏͛̾́̚s̸̢̙̰͕̀͐́͋̒̿͛̀͜͜͠͝ͅủ̵̧̼̭̲̞̠̈̅̾m̴̦̦̖̜͚̱̼͓͙̝͌̓̆͘͜į̶̦̬̰͇̯͉̗̣̄̒̍͛̈́͆̚͘n̴̛̤͙͐̀̉̒͌̋͝g̴̯̮̟̱̑͋̂͐͂͒͌̏̇̚͜͠ ̶̨̺͎̱̯̪̘͇͖̆̓͋̄͛̑ͅd̵̢̻͇͇̗̥͎̈́̏͑̈́̆͆̋̚i̸̤͉̩̩͕̙̮͙̦͖̮͒́̐͆̑͛r̴̳͎͔̮̮͉̿̉̽ḛ̶̥͉̿̃̚ç̶̨͖̱͉̣̳̠͋̇̃͂̒̔͐̈́̽́͝ͅt̸̠̋̏ ̸̢̱͕̖͓̾̍̈́̊̍̇̒͑͛̈ć̴̯̝̪̦̯̥͖̗̪̍̀̾͘ǫ̶̝̭̞̋̄͑͐̕̕n̴͍̬̝̞͕̝̳͗̌̊͌̽͝t̵͎͕̣̳̙̲̩̗̣͓̿̉̿r̴̡̛͇̰͉̮̼̠̼̙̈́̆͘ͅǫ̵̦̎̿̔̔̾͐̚l̴̪͎͉̳͎̳͛̑͒͗̈́͒̎̈̊̂ ̵̡̡̧̬̘̰̤̣̪̫̻̎̏͛̿m̴̪̠̻̭̮͙͙̣̰͙͑̐̓͐̓͝͝͝o̵̩̖̾͠m̴͇̞̦̳̰̜͚̙̮̿̓̄̈̄͐͑m̸͔͉͎̠͕̻͋͋̿̀͐́͌͊̽̕͝y̸̬͖͍̤͈̥͔̜͊̎͊̽̏͌̐̈̕.̴̢̼̬̥̲̪̦̠͑́́͝ ̷̜̖̖͓̼̺̺͕͓̼̾̏̓͒
Gamer's mind collapse imminent. Journeyman level mind control.
I saw a vision of an island in the darkness. A shield of metal and glass and flesh shielded it, and a fist squeezed, ever tighter. It snapped. My head burnt as the gears and cogs flew every way.
That certainly didn't sound good. Or look good.
There was a cliff. It looked tall. I could climb up it but-
"Do you trust me?" I asked him.
"A bit less today." He said, honestly.
"Good enough."
I picked him up, and tossed him over the cliff, and then leapt over to reach him. Inhuman strength was great. There was a passage of trees, and up there hopefully-
"Are you mad at me, mommy?"
Then I felt a sharp stabbing in my head. Then a quest popup appeared in front of me.
New quest. Return to your daughter. Reward. A bazillian love points.
New perk achieved. You broke my heart.
New quest. I'm tired of waiting. Reward. Damn you!
New skill not learned! Being a proper mommy. Try harder.
The girl appeared before me again. I could feel her touch on my head, like her fingers were digging into my brain
"What's this in your head? Such a messy web of knowledge."
Crap. I had to- Ethan was looking at me.
"Carry me to the car. And… sorry for this."
Sorry for what?" He said, increasingly horrified.
Increasingly absurd popups continued to fill my view, no doubt her mind control. This was bad. Very bad. I was trying to avoid anyone getting access to the gamer system. I took the chain cutter, and turned it around, to face my face.
Invite Eveline to your party? Y/N
And I rammed it into the broken hole where my nose had been, stabbing it deep into my brain.
They have escaped the dreaded dungeon, so well done them. Will there be any consequences? Maybe. But he's a big boy, he can take a bit of suicide. Now they're away from the cutscenes, having broken sequence and escaped when they were not meant to by climbing pipes, and now the technological renaissance can begin.
Toobad69. I have the future plotted out, but the precise direction is flexible. Giving my SI zombie powers was always part of the plan. I was flexible where they get it. What goes better together than Zombies and Saw?
Dr. Cookie Cutter. I am glad to please. I try to make each chapter exciting, and teach something new.
Zackman2k12. I try. Fast pace is good. Though next chapter they'll get some time to chill.
Dragonbornsam. All indeed is well.
Revelash. That is totally planned, though part of the story is the fun of dropping into the heads of random people and working out what is going on. That's a common fun thing in video games, but I have seen few SI stories cover it. But yeah I'm planning a perk where the SI can temporarily take his true form. I'll be focusing more on the human enemies here, and avoiding the grind. Mia is a tough lady, she can fight well. He has apprentice level gamer's mind, grandmaster level gamer's mind would make him untouchable, but he has the cheap corner store version. Which still stood up to a resident evil boss for a while when she was like thirty feet away, props to it. His conditions also caused more than 10% changes. Adam never met his mother or anyone he cared about, so it never came up for him. He was dropped in a room with a random stranger who he didn't like much, and he was a mentally healthy person who didn't deserve to be there and had no real issues. Mia is not mentally healthy, and has major issues. Plus some stuff that will come up next chapter.
Guest. SCP would be great. But what game or story should he go into?
See you next chapter.