Chapter 5: Before
Clunk…clunk…clunk…the sound of metallic steps rang in his ears, it echoed with each step he took. His vision, protected by the mechanical helmet, guided him forward through the warped hall.
Deep tears decorated the walls, yet it was not concrete within the gaps of the wall. Rather, they held images of the night and day skies, fat floating clouds and bright sparkly stars drifted across the rips.
Clunk…another step forward.
How long had he been walking? Minutes? Days? Years? It was impossible for him to tell. The hall was undeniably short, only about fifteen feet, yet it stretched out endlessly long. The constant hum of the mechanical suit was his only companion.
Clunk…another step forward.
It felt like he was walking through water, hopelessly wading forward. With each step, he sunk further and further, it was only a matter of time before he drowned. Ripped reality awaited his fall.
Clunk…another step forward.
The suit was failing, this he was certain of. It could only protect him for so long, especially under these conditions. Hume levels are critically unstable and only continues to destabilize, soon he'll become paste before he even reaches the door.
Clunk…another step forward.
No…he had to keep going, there's no other choice now. To fall back is certain death, to pause now would be his doom, only one path lies before him.
Clunk…another step forward…clunk…and another…clunk…and another…clunk…and another…
So close, yet so far. The slightly ajar door taunted him, it's presence mocked his efforts. His fingers curled and with herculean effort he strained to extend an arm forward, outstretched hand grasping empty air.
Clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…clunk…
His perception failed him as he ceaselessly stumbled forward blindly. What time was it now? How old has he aged? Where was he walking?! Who was here?! WHY HAS HE GIVEN—
His still outstretched hand comes into contact with something solid and with a great shove, the door creaks open.
Instantly the atmosphere changes, the distorted pressure vanishes and a homely feeling overcomes him. His eyes opened with new clarity and he stood up straight, sanity returned.
The room mirrored an exaggerated children's bedroom, furnished with a large bed, several toy boxes, little plastic chairs, among other stuff of such nature. Various toys laid throughout the floor and cracks littered every surface of the room.
On the bed sat a little girl, face pressed into her knees and arms wrapped around herself. Her blond hair fell over her knees and tears stained the bed sheets around her. He hears her whimpers and snivels as sobs wracked her tiny form.
'That's right…the reason I'm here is because…'
He gently moves forward, careful in his approach and tender with his steps. He strolls toward the girl…clunk, clunk, clunk…the sound reverberates around the room, but is drowned out by the weeping of the girl.
He stops at the foot of the bed and observes the girl. Silently his hand moves down to the side of the suit's hip and ghosts over the pistol holstered there. He had made it, he was here, he had survived. He was certain that she wouldn't be able to stop the bulleIt right now, it would take only a single shot.
He lifts the gun and points, a single life for the lives of possibly thousands, no perhaps millions…logically it made sense. It was all at stake, the veil and the lives, plus…orders were orders.
So why did his aim waver? Why did his heart falter? Why couldn't he pull the trigger?
'…'
He drops the gun and it clatters onto the floor…he always knew why. The girl's head jerks up, shimmering gray-green eyes stares at him in shock. Across her face was a long superficial horizontal cut with blood leaking out and down her face.
He climbs onto the bed as a deafening frightened scream escapes from the girl. The effect is instantaneous, the room starts to rumble and shake, gigantic spiderwebs of cracks form across all surfaces.
Reality rapidly unravels at the seams and the mechanical suit creaks and groans under the massive pressure. He buckles under the intense weight and drops onto the bed, his awareness blinks between conscious and unconscious.
Strength leaves his body, his vision dims and his motions slow. The wails of the girl become distant and faded.
…
…
…
What happened to the man who once dreamed…of a perfect future…
…
…
…
'No! Not now! No no no no no! Absolutely not!'
He forces his senses to return! He wills his body to rise! Agonizingly slow, he crawls forward!
'To falter now is failure! To give in now is failure! To die now is failure! Who was he to fail a single girl!'
He drags himself onwards! Bit by bit, inch by inch, life by life!
'Too much has he lost! Too much has been taken from him! He'll fucking show that thing! He'll spit in its face! He won't be broken! He won't be molded!'
As he advances, scraps of the suit are torn off of him by the crushing force. A great portion of the visor of the mechanical helmet shatters, revealing a single crazed eye staring ahead.
Teary eyes clenched shut and hands gripping her head, the little girl desperately wails. "G-GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"
A shockwave of invisible power erupts from the girl, passing over him and wiping all of the toys in the room out of existence.
Blood fills the mechanical suit as his body rapidly deteriorates, his skin decomposes at an alarming rate and his organs begin to liquefy.
"N-NO! NO! NO! P-PLEASE NO!" Another shockwave bursts out and the walls crumble away, revealing an infinite white void. His muscles rot and his bones become brittle, breathing now brings a burning pain.
One foot, eight inches, five inches, three inches! She's so close! Just a little bit more! With a great strain, he forces himself to rise and reach out with both arms!
The little girl flinches at his touch and lets out a final terrified scream as his arms envelop her, she waits for the stab of pain and pang of hurting and…
…
He holds her in his arms, chin resting upon her head as his body falls apart like runny slime. For several silent seconds, he makes no motion other than comforting the little girl as he breaks down piece by piece. Pulling back and looking down at her as fragments of suit began mixing with his broken body, he utters one last sentence.
"I'm sorry…"
And then Wyatt Oid dies.
A.D.1888 The Mist City: London
The sound of footsteps and clanking armor echoed throughout the dark smog. The group quickly advanced through the fog covered city, guard raised and careful of enemies.
"Alright, we're making good progress! According to our information, London's subways should be a few blocks up ahead. If Mr. Babbage's information is correct, then an entrance to the underground should be found somewhere around there!" Dr. Romani states through the communicator.
"Damnit, the fog here is so dense! We must be getting closer to that damn machine!" Mordred called back from ahead.
Gudao nodded in understanding, "Sanson is scouting ahead and Emiya is searching the west side for a possible entrance." he relayed back to the doctor.
"Please be careful when reaching the underground, we don't know what kind of forces they might have guarding Steam Engine Angrboda. We still have room for you to summon additional reinforcements even if it'll take a large toll on Chaldea."
"Understood, keep us updated doctor." Turning around, Gudao casts a worried look at Gudako, "Are you feeling alright? No problems?"
Gudako waved off his worries, "Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Stop worrying over me, this fog ain't gonna kill me."
Besides her, the purple cloaked woman spoke, "That definitely wasn't the case when we first arrived. Honestly master, you were on death's door and if I hadn't I rayshifted with you, then you may not have managed to survive." she chastised.
"Miss Medea is correct, we were lucky this time. You shouldn't push yourself too hard if you aren't okay, it's bad for your health!" Mash joined in on the lecture.
"Ok ok, I get it! But I'm still fine! Why don't we focus on the mission now, yeah?"
Gudao sighed and looked forward, but focusing on the mission was difficult for him. He remembered when they first rayshifted in. When Gudako had collapsed onto the pavement, desperately choking as the Demonic Fog slowly killed her.
If it weren't for Medea's immediate aid and treatment expelling the hazardous fog, then she would've certainly died there. He hated how powerless he had been in that situation, he hated how little he could do, forced to watch as others suffered for his inadequacy.
"—listening? Hey, listen to me you dork!" Gudako's loud voice in his ear broke him out of his thoughts. "I know that look on your face! You better not be thinking about how this is all your fault or some dumb crap like that!"
"W-what n-no—"
"Aha, you're stuttering! You are thinking about it!" she stuck a finger at his chest, "You always do this! Stop criticizing yourself! It's not like we're experts at saving the world, no one's gonna blame you for doing your best!" she berates him.
Besides him, Mash joins in, "Senpai…please stop thinking that way from now on. You are an amazing master a-and you've never led us wrong with your orders!"
'Mash…is that really how they see me?' he thought in surprise.
"Yeah, listen to your Kouhai!"
'How did I end up being the one lectured…' Gudao humorously thought to himself, "Ah sorry, you're right. I'm sorry for worrying you guys, let's do our best now!" he replied with a new confident grin on his face.
"Hahaha! You guys really are great! I'm really glad that I met y'all!" Mordred laughed boisterously from the front of the group. "Man you guys—"
She suddenly paused, stilling for a single second before entering a combat stance and raising her sword before her. "Enemies are here! Let's destroy them!"
"She's right! Multiple target signatures detected around you!" Romani's quickly reaffirmed. "Damnit, the fog here is too dense! I can't get exact readings!"
Hearing Mordred's shout, the group swiftly fell into formation. Mash stepped up next to Mordred, raising her shield in defense. Medea moved behind the two servants, lifting her staff while preparing spells. Tension filled the air as they awaited the appearance of the enemies.
"…!"
Mordred spun to the side, sword lashing out in a horizontal slash. Steel sliced through flesh, spraying blood through the air as the creature is decapitated, its head sailing through the air. With a thump, the body of the pale Victorian man drops onto the cobble floor.
The head hits the floor and rolls, slowly coming to a stop. Above the head, three figures shamble out of the fog, their movement slow and uncoordinated. Dressed in Victorian clothes, they lurched forward with their arms extended forward. Skins pale and bloody, they emitted low groans and hobbled at the group.
Mordred scoffs, "Ehhhhh, it's just some more pathetic zombies, this is gonna be too easy." She lifts her blade, "Alright! Let's clean this up!"
Mash prepares her shield, "Master, I'm moving to engage—"
The trio of undead comes to an abrupt stop, becoming completely still and silent. They make no further motions, as if rooted to the spot and they make no further groans, as if muted.
"What the hell? What's going on? Why did they stop?" Gudako exclaims from the back.
"Wait, they stopped? That's peculiar… Oh, you can use this time to get away from them! Let's run—Wait!" The doctor's proposal stopped abruptly.
"Eh? Let's wait?" Gudako parroted back in confusion.
"No, servant signature detected! It's right in front of you!" he frantically exclaimed.
Tap…tap…tap…tap
Rhythmic footsteps echo through the dark haze, the volume steadily increasing, and the group tenses in preparation. From the fog, between the trio of motionless undead, the silhouette of the being emerges and steps into view.
Tap…tap…tap…tap
A hooded ceramic avian mask appears from the smog, followed by thick black robes as the being steps forward and halts. Inquisitive eyes scan the assembled group, passing over each person and pausing at the masters.
"Who the hell are you! Name yourself!" Mordred demanded of the unknown servant, but was met with silence.
The masked being continued to scrutinize the masters as the surrounding undead began to twitch in anticipation, moaning and growling to themselves.
"I see…the illness, it clings to you…" Its calm voice echoed in the silence.
The beaked doctor extends an outstretched hand towards the group, "Come now…I will cure you."
And the furious howls of the dead fills the air.
Author's Note:
Wooooo, 100 followers! I'd never thought I would reach this far but here we are!
Well looks like the doctor is in, not that any of his patients voluntarily sought him out. Anyhow, here's the stats for our good doctor!
True name: SCP-049, The Plague Doctor
Class: Caster
Parameters
Strength: E
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Mana: B
Luck: C
Np: B
Class Skills
Item Construction: D
— A doctor always need his tools. The plague doctor can pull regular medical tools out of the pouch on his hip for operational purposes.
Territory Creation: D
— A doctor requires a lab, but due to 049's habit of constantly traveling, only a weak bounded field serving as a temporary lab can be crafted.
Madness Enhancement: E+
— While normally reasonable and intelligent, all reason evaporates when regarding the topic of 'the illness'. Those deemed sick by the doctor will be relentlessly hunted until they are 'cured' and subsequently operated upon.
Personal Skills
Hippocratic Malpractice: C
— Through countless experimentations, 049 had gained an abundance of knowledge on the anatomy of various creatures. With this skill 049 is capable of precise attacks, being able to identify points of weakness and such.
Grateful Patients: B+
— A skill that grants 049 the ability to reanimate deceased creatures. These undeads are mindless and aggressive, prone to attacking any perceived life around them. 049 is capable of directing these undeads through verbal and mental commands. With this skill, 049 isn't required to operate on the deceased entity to reanimate it, but oftentimes will still do so.
Gift of Small Death: A+
— A divine blessing. 049 shall never falter and never stop in the elimination of the pestilence, this skill reflects 049's success in this endeavor. The greater the quantity of reanimated creatures active, the greater the gain of magical energy becomes for 049. If the total of reanimated were to reach certain amounts, it's possible for Servant parameters to increase in rank.
Noble Phantasm
Mort Le Miracle
"The Cure to all Disease" (Anti-Unit [Self]): EX
— With a single touch, 049 is capable of causing all biological functions of any being to cease, inflicting Death to them.