Chapter 8
What Lurks Beyond Convergence
A big flare from the maker breaks the window and a stream of fire explodes inside badly burning one side of Matland.
"Charles!" [Karrie screamed]
Karrie is also knocked off her feet incapacitating her, she crawls to Matland who lays unconscious with seeing his RIG flashing a dark reddish orange she turns him over revealing the left side of his face burned. Bastian falls to his knees as the pain gets worsens, he manages to get up to see his mimicry standing in front of him.
"At last it is here and we have you and Isaac to thank for it, at last we shall awaken."
"No" [Weakly]
"The only step left is to consume Isaac he shall be absorbed and we will be made whole."
He grabs Bastian by his neck choking him.
"You have been a fantastic servant now it's time for you to embrace us, let us in Bastian all you have to is let go cease your struggle."
Bastian's eyes open as if forced then the apparition flows into his body through his eyes. He screams in pain as it invades his body and mind, Karrie screams his name. As it fully enters him he falls to the floor motionless then rises with his eyes sporting an eerie dim yellow glow he begins to walk slowly in a zombie manner. Bastian struggles to free himself again this time having more control he begs Karrie to stop him, she objects believing he can overcome the markers whims.
"Karrie please… get away from me… I don't want to hurt you!"
"No I want leave you… I helped this happen now I will help stop it, I'm not gonna run away!"
He gets closer to Karrie and grabs her by the neck and begins to strangle her, he tires even harder to break the marker's leash.
"No… no!"
"Bastian… fight… I know you can." [Choking and gasping for air]
Her words empower him and finally he starts to hamper the marker's control, he manages to make himself release Karrie who drops to the floor coughing. Bastian holds his head as he and the foreign presence battle for control of his body and mind.
"No, we won't let go of you this time you belong to us!" [Said the whispers]
Bastian is warped into his own mind, as the blinding lights fade out he finds himself in a dark greenish void standing on a platform covered fully in marker symbols. He turns around and his doppelganger grabs him holding him up with one arm.
"You resist, admirable but futile you won't escape us neither will Isaac… he almost near we will feast on his flesh and convergence will be completed!"
He grabs his gun and shoot his double in the face making it let of him.
"Very well you shall perish with rest of them!"
His double blinks to different spots ad Bastian tries to stay away from it as it moves close him. He feels his head ache as it tries to kill him from the inside out, but he fights back his will getting stronger then the binding that try to hold him.
"No… you won't… you won't!"
"You will let me go!"
The marker increases its power as it attempts to control him, he weakens as its grip gets tighter and tighter crushing his mind.
"No… I can't… I won't!"
"Yes, give in Bastian let it flow let it go."
Bastian see his vision begins to fade into darkness, he sees his own memories as if its flashing before his eyes almost hinting at his approaching doom.
"No!"
[His double snickers]
"No… get out!"
With a loud roar, he rises and the darkness creeps away him as if fearing him.
"No, impossible!"
He bends and uses the marker's own power against it launching it by thought at his double which sends him flying, as a last desperate attempt to take him it takes the form of his father again he looks up seeing what he knows as a lie standing in front of a smaller in scale marker.
"You know I never truly loved Bastian you were nothing but a burden, a whiny little weak shit that would never amount to anything!"
Enraged by the pathetic lies of the marker he shoots the hazy imposter in the head making it shatter into fragment of yellow light and the marker too shatters into many pieces. They swirl in the air reform the marker further away from him, as he walks towards it another apparition appears taking his mother's form who hurls even more cruel lies.
"Your father and I we never planned on having you… you were an accident a mistake, looking back now that I realize the worthless thing we grew to be I should've had an abortion."
He shoots the imposter again shattering as before, the marker does the same trying to get away from, this time it sends a shockwave to push him back. This he sees the marker baring small glowing cracks as if its losing the fight.
The apparition takes Matland's form.
"Why did you come back here to Titan… why did you want to become a cop… was it the urge and yearning to be better than cops that failed to protect your father who because their failure he was killed?"
Another shockwave shoots towards him.
"Did you honestly think you would've been helping people being a cop, how pathetic… you share the same naïve delusions as every man and women has becoming a solider and such, and surprise you didn't help any everyone has died because of you!"
Shoots again and yet another appears, the crack on the marker are larger and more form of its surface. Finally, it disguises itself as Karrie.
"Why didn't you kill me, why did you keep me with you afterwards upon discovering I had e a direct hand in causing all this death and strife… just like everyone said you are nothing… you and everything and everyone will soon be nothing as well!"
Bastian punches the false Karrie knocking here back into the marker shatter it and the background of the void, he covers his face as shards fly towards. He gets up and is confronted by a horrific sight, he looks up and sees dozens of planet sized entities with many tentacles swirling out of them like a slowed water fall. Their presence reddens the haze everywhere.
"What how did you…" [Said the beings]
"What… what the hell are you?"
"This changes nothing you've broken our mask but you will die as will Isaac!"
Bastian comes to the realization he stands before the true intelligence and forces behind the marker and that the marker itself its tool and to the master. The red haze clouds and conceals the moon-like beings and a distorted apparition of himself stands before him.
"You must submit you must help them they need us and we need them!" [It screams at Bastian]
A deadly and furious fight ensues as he battles the being that is the embodiment of his own insanity bred by the marker and himself who represent his sanity. Many shadow packs appear to attack Bastian as well as other necromorphs, he quickly dispatches them shooting his dark self momentarily dissipating. The marker then breaks into many fragments as a huge yellow beating heart is exposed, straining his vison Bastian can see in a distance another floating island with Isaac fighting Nicole occasionally seeing the blue flash of his helmet's visor and fire from his plasma cutter. Both Isaac and Bastian fire upon the heart but it recovers pulling itself back together, the doppelganger seizes and throws him nearly over the edge.
"I won't let you take what is theirs, Isaac must be absorbed!"
"Fuck you!" [Pulls himself back up]
His double screams inhumanly as it charges at him, he shoots it in the head multiple times. Each time it takes a hit its entire body becomes more rotted like a corpse another hit cripples it making crakes visible on its body.
"No, we've come so far we can't fail now not to the likes of you!"
"Get used to disappointment." [Fires]
He shatters and the marker's hearts is exposed again, both Isaac and Bastian fire the last of their shots at the heart. Bastian's double recuperates but only too late as their last shots destroy the marker, Bastian's double falls to its knees screaming as its engulfed in a fire and dissolves into ash and ember. Having conquered his insanity and the marker vanquished red haze surrounds him as strong gusts of wind hinder his movements and the entities show themselves again.
"Neither one of you have won nothing but a temporary stay of execution… the time of respite your earned will not last long we will find another way to awaken and we will be made whole… WE ARE COMING… WE ARE HUNGRY… WE ARE HERE!"
He snaps out of it as he's finally free and the pain in his head has gone. He looks around for his friends seeing Karrie in the corner with Matland with her head down on her knees as she rocks back and forth breathing heavily.
[He walks to her carefully and knees to her]
"Karrie?"
She stops rocking and slowly raises her head gazing into his eyes in near disbelief with tears running down her face, she hugs him tightly.
"God Karrie I'm so sorry… I'd never hurt you never."
"I was so scared when it tried to take, when it tried to make kill us."
"It's over now we made it."
"Warning reactor containment destabilized, a reactor breach is imminent… evacuation of all personnel is required this is not a drill." [Said the emergency announcement]
"We're too late the reactor is going critical its gonna blow."
"No there's a hanger up above us we can get out there but we have to quickly."
"Oh, god Charles…" [Seeing Matland's burns]
"He's alive but he got burned bad." [As they help him up]
They move as fast they can to the last level of the sector tower to the private hanger before going up the last flight of stairs Bastian catches sight of Isaac at the bottom of the chamber.
"You both did it… but how is he going to get out of here?"
Right then a gunship bashes through the dome's roof.
"I think he's covered let's go."
"Warning catastrophic failure in reactor containment reactor breach imminent… evacuate immediately."
The entire government sector begins to break up as explosions break out everywhere.
[Matland groans at his burns]
"Hold on Charles we're almost there it's just straight ahead."
They enter the hanger and make their way to one of the shuttles passing many dead necromorph corpses by. Conveniently, the shuttle was already online they get on board and hightailed out of the station. As they speed away Bastian looks to the side window at the doomed station and in the distance the gunship carrying Isaac and Ellie also speeding away, then the station finally explodes destroying everything and leaving nothing behind.
"I still can't believe we made it hard to believe all that happened in one day, it felt like a few."
"Yeah… one hell of a first day at work huh." [Karrie laughs]
"So much for a career in law enforcement… how's Matland?"
"He needs medical attention those burns are severe, second degree."
Suddenly the ship is seized by gravity tethers of a large EarthGov ship.
"What the hell!?" [Karrie exclaimed]
"What now?" [Bastian thought to himself as the ship is pulled into the larger one's hanger]
What Lurks Beyond Convergence
-Bad Ending-
-I wanted to make a good/bad ending sort of thing since I never done so before, so I went and did it enjoy!-
A big flare from the maker breaks the window and a stream of fire explodes inside badly burning one side of Matland.
"Charles!" [Karrie screamed]
Karrie is also knocked off her feet incapacitating her, she crawls to Matland who lays unconscious with seeing his RIG flashing a dark reddish orange she turns him over revealing the left side of his face burned. Bastian falls to his knees as the pain gets worsens, he manages to get up to see his mimicry standing in front of him.
"At last it is here and we have you and Isaac to thank for it, at last we shall awaken."
"No" [Weakly]
"The only step left is to consume Isaac he shall be absorbed and we will be made whole."
He grabs Bastian by his neck choking him.
"You have been a fantastic servant now it's time for you to embrace us, let us in Bastian all you have to is let go cease your struggle."
Bastian's eyes open as if forced then the apparition flows into his body through his eyes. He screams in pain as it invades his body and mind, Karrie screams his name. As it fully enters him he falls to the floor motionless then rises with his eyes sporting an eerie dim yellow glow he begins to walk slowly in a zombie manner. Bastian struggles to free himself again this time having more control he begs Karrie to stop him, she objects believing he can overcome the markers whims.
"Karrie please… get away from me… I don't want to hurt you!"
"No I want leave you… I helped this happen now I will help stop it, I'm not gonna run away!"
He gets closer to Karrie and grabs her by the neck and begins to strangle her, he tires even harder to break the marker's leash.
"No… no!"
"Bastian… fight… I know you can." [Choking and gasping for air]
Her words empower him and finally he starts to hamper the marker's control, he manages to make himself release Karrie who drops to the floor coughing. Bastian holds his head as he and the foreign presence battle for control of his body and mind.
"No, we won't let go of you this time you belong to us!" [Said the whispers]
Bastian is warped into his own mind, as the blinding lights fade out he finds himself in a dark greenish void standing on a platform covered fully in marker symbols. He turns around and his doppelganger grabs him holding him up with one arm.
"You resist, admirable but futile you won't escape us neither will Isaac… he almost near we will feast on his flesh and convergence will be completed!"
He grabs his gun and shoot his double in the face making it let of him.
"Very well you shall perish with rest of them!"
His double blinks to different spots ad Bastian tries to stay away from it as it moves close him. He feels his head ache as it tries to kill him from the inside out, but he fights back his will getting stronger then the binding that try to hold him.
"No… you won't… you won't!"
"You will let me go!"
The marker increases its power as it attempts to control him, he weakens as its grip gets tighter and tighter crushing his mind.
"No… I can't… I won't!"
"Yes, give in Bastian let it flow let it go."
Bastian see his vision begins to fade into darkness, he sees his own memories as if its flashing before his eyes almost hinting at his approaching doom.
"No!"
[His double snickers]
"No… get out!"
Having failed to overcome his own insanity the marker takes him. Bastian falls to the floor motionless as he lays in a dark void as crimson marker symbols snow down on him.
"Yes, give in just let go we will do the rest… you've worked hard Bastian now it's time to rest and be reborn."
Bastian's eyes finally close.
"Rise Bastian rise and find Isaac… find and kill him make us whole."
His eyes open seeing everything in a reddish orange vision, making monstrous noises. He looks towards Karrie who sits distraught at Matland who appears to have died from his burns, she looks to Bastian and begins to cry in horror.
"No Bastian… no, no, no!"
Karrie having lost all hope runs away back into the facility, Bastian seems to ignore her and enters a vent before he stops for a moment and looks briefly at Matland's corpse. Later as Isaac runs being chased by the Ubermorph on his way to the marker, suddenly a vent in front of him bursts open as another necromorph emerges. Isaac sees a fragment of armor daggling from its upper arms and can barely read it but upon focusing he learns a horrible truth, he sees a name on the shoulder plate.
"Oh, my god… Ryder!?" [Shocked]
Realizing Bastian has been consumed by the marker and had become a second Ubermorph making two problems that stand in Isaac's way to Nicole and the marker. Isaac who aims for him still shocked by what happened to Bastian as he sprints to him arching his upper pincers to attack Isaac.
END