I drove up to the Meatpacking building, and got out. It was still dark so I had some leeway, and this was a shitty rundown industrial area where a lot of businesses had gone under. I could go further away, but I didn't want to lug two bodies several blocks. I had gathered extensive knowledge of the area over time and I was pretty sure I could sneak two people in. As I got out I felt a rumbling in my chest as my liver started to melt and dissolve under the acid, only slightly slowed by my Gamer Body and Poison Maniac and Plague Doctor

Plague Doctor had ticked up to level 99 but it wasn't earning exp any more or getting stronger. Ranking up substantially improved you, much faster than levels, so if I could do it it would be great, but I was missing some hidden step to advance. I ran my hand over my back, feeling the tendrils of the xenomorph, the way it broke into my flesh, the pulsating of its warm skin.

My flesh was crawling. At least it hadn't reached up yet.

I went to the boot, tossed it open, and saw two conscious but dazed victims. I popped open the front, ripped out some of the tubes and metal from the car, and used it to bind the pair of them.

"Let us go! We'll kill you! Said Rex." He struggled against his bonds.

"No." I gagged him and his wife, prepared to pick both of them up, hoisting one over each shoulder. This would be a difficult weight to carry if I was just me, but I had a perk to help me out.

Packrat C. You are skilled at holding objects, and can always find a way to balance or hold items, if your strength and materials permit it. You can carry three times your base carrying capacity. You can stabilise objects which are unsteady by spending stamina.

I glanced around. No cameras, but you never knew when you were being watched. I probably shouldn't do this. I was meant to be a mundane lawyer, not a weightlifter. I put them down, and dragged them across the ground, huffing and puffing as though they actually were heavy.

Stealth check failed. 37/45.

That was ominous. 27 wisdom plus a rank bonus from Omniscient Observer wasn't enough.

I glanced out. The corridor was dark, filled with shadows, with just a little bit of light from outside. There was a door up ahead. In the past corpses of animals would have been carried in for the slaughter. I could see just a hint of something.

My wisdom was 27 here thanks to the random award and the level up, enough for rank C perks. I bought an upgrade for 300 perk points.

Omniscient Observer D. You can see everything. Gain vision into the infrared and ultraviolet, low light vision, and generally enhanced senses. You can pierce stealth which doesn't conceal these as though your skills are a rank higher, and once per day you can overclock a sense. Upgraded into.

Omniscient Observer C. You can see everything. Gain vision into the infrared and ultraviolet, low light vision, and generally enhanced senses. You can turn off most of your enhanced senses to enhance a single sense. You can pierce stealth which doesn't conceal these as though your skills are a rank higher, and once per day you can overclock a sense.

Mad scientist was my strongest skill. A merger of observation, crafting, science and scavenging, it was immensely helpful in a world where I needed to find the slightest of advantages to survive.

My senses enhanced to a level above the norm. The smell of the meathouse grew thicker, death and decay. I could taste the different animals that had been slaughtered here. I could just see a flicker of wrong heat. It wasn't enough. Whoever was here was trained well enough to conceal themselves from soldiers with advanced military gear. I turned on the overclock aspect, and focused all of my enhanced senses on infrared.

This person was very good. They were probably a master, a rank above mine. They could conceal herself perfectly. Against my full power they weren't good enough. I could see her heat.

Amanda detected. Stealth breached. Master level Stealth broken by Mad Scientist. Mad scientist ranks up to Master. Gain 1 wisdom for an extreme feat of wisdom and unlock new perks.

My vision sharpened to an even greater level, and her form became as clear as day, a burning figure hiding behind the corner with a blade. She'd slowed down her own heartbeat and let her skin get cold to mask her presence, but it wasn't enough to stop me seeing her.

I walked forward confidently, dropped the knife and the plasma cutter, and then twisted around the corner slamming Amanda into the wall, slapping a knife out of her hand as I pinned her. She looked surprised. She was tired, broken, and clearly a bit off. I spoke calmly and firmly to her.

"This is Jigsaw's domain. Whoever you are, you're not making it out alive." I lied, squeezing my hands around her neck. I wasn't actually going to kill her, as that would break the timeline.

I looked her over. "Oh, it's you. We met earlier. I'm one of his new recruits." I let her down, and put out a hand. "Name's Art. I'm a criminal lawyer."

She rubbed her neck. "He's mine. I-"

John Kramer, a step above Amanda in stealth and undetected by my extreme feat of wisdom, stepped out of the shadows. "Enough." Amanda shut up, looking broken and unhappy. "Come with me. We have important work for you with those bodies."

I nodded. "As you asked. I caused a bit of chaos out there and I left my car outside. It's stolen. With this on my back, I had to rush." I patted the xenomorph.

"We can fix it. Amanda, go deal with the car. Follow me, Art."

John Kramer walked deeper into the meat packing plant, and I picked up the bodies, lugging them along for the slaughter.

"Did you face any problems?"

I shook my head. "I've helped enough criminals commit crimes. I can do them myself. There was a complication. I think someone warned them. They knew roughly when they were going to be abducted, and they were about to murder another family to disguise them vanishing."

My luck was presumably the reason I had arrived just when that was happening. It was a great aid in setting up random encounters, though less use in winning them. Feng Shui was about changing your environment to make life better, not just autowinning. Lucky for that family.

"Who could know that though?" I asked.

John Kramer was looking angrier and angrier as I spoke. "Macgyver. That monster, that devil. He's the worst of them all. He has no respect for what I do. I free people from the bonds they've made, make them better. He just waltzes in and…" He shook his head. "He's made an organization. They've been impressive in predicting things. I think they have some sort of prophecy power, or advanced hacking power. But, we are going to stop them. It's time to meet the doctor."

I blinked. Gordon Lawrence wasn't meant to be here. "Doctor who?"

He smiled at me, his face pasty and deathly. "You'll see."

He eventually led me into the freezer I had woken up in for Saw 3. I remembered hanging up between some pipes, cold water spraying on me to freeze me.

I saw a lot of weird corpses in this frozen area. There was a combat form flood, head drooping off, tendrils of flesh sticking out from their neck, a massive claw on one hand. There was what had to be a werewolf. Several dead minor forms of xenomorph. A bat like Infector, a human torso spread out to make it from Deadspace.

I was getting a bad feeling about this world. My face felt very itchy, and i scratched it. My hand came away with blood. Why had I done that. Why did I want to do more? I wanted to rip apart my flesh and reveal the beauty within. We were so much prettier on the inside. W̸͚̿̅e̶̲͓̒͂ ̸̘̤̈́w̶̛͓͙̓e̶͍͇͆ȓ̶̤̬̋e̷͇̻̍ ̵̬̭̽s̷̞̃o̴̧̱̔ ̸̙͌m̷̟̆͠u̵͙̺͂c̶͚̄͛ḧ̶̟̤̋ ̷̗̺͒̅p̴̪̌ͅr̴̳̭͝e̶̘̚ţ̴̝̑t̵̙̳̂͠i̴̯͒̕e̷͙̚r̵͐͝ͅ ̸̢̫̊ō̵̲̱̈́n̶͚̫͌̏ ̷̲̮̊t̶͉̾ͅh̴̛͜e̸̻̍͝ ̴͙̊i̴̺̼̇n̴̻̈͝ș̵̩͆͠i̸̛̘̝̐d̶͔̔̿e̸̱͊͘.̴̕͜ ̶͔̋W̴͖͋e̸̠̅ ̶̖̆͜ẅ̴̳͝a̴̝͝͝n̶̦̭̂͛t̴̥̖̋e̶͖͈͑̋d̶͍̲̄ ̴̳͎̈́̕t̶̯̻́õ̴̧̫̚ ̷̱̂k̷͍̀i̵̮͊̓l̷̗͔̊l̸̬̣͐͝ ̵͈̣̐̚å̶̘ṋ̶̉d̸̺͖̔ ̷̞̤͛͋m̴̛̦̠̕ả̷͙̠k̵͔̉ë̶͓̓ ̴̳͂͝ȇ̶̲̫́v̶̹̿ẻ̷̬͎̽r̷͕͊ȳ̸̫o̷̹͚͋̉n̵̡̈́e̷̖̓̇ ̴̺̫̈́͝b̴̢̨̅l̴̮̪͊͆ė̴̡̆e̸͙̊d̴̪̺̚͝.̶̲̍ ̷̞̲̅͌È̵͓͝v̸̡̓̈́e̴͖̕r̶̭̟̽y̵̜̖̑ŏ̵̟̉n̴̟͑̒ȩ̵̉́ ̵̫̾͛w̶̮̻̋̃o̴̤̙͒ǘ̵̢̢l̷̖̆͊d̶̰̽̕ ̷͖̌͑b̶̘̎̏e̷̺̥͑̿c̶͈̘͋ö̵̰́͠m̴̺̪̈́e̷̫̮̓̈́ ̵̥͔̀o̷̟̬̽n̷̫̭̐e̷̙͓͆,̵̝͆ ̴͖͉̔͛ḿ̶̮̼͑e̶̮͗r̵̮̆ḡ̵̯̙̿ë̴͚́d̴͖͎͒ ̶̢̠̈i̴͔̓͑n̸̺̄t̶̡͆ŏ̴͚ ̶̼̬̇ä̸̗́ ̶̻͇̅̅p̸̪̊r̵̢̈́̚i̸͔̺͛̐ṃ̴̀ä̸̟̤́l̶̓͗ͅ ̵̝̝͊f̷̪̈́ỏ̶̝r̶̻̃͘ḿ̶̰̽ ̵̪̘̀f̷̘͐o̸̩̰̎r̶̖̚̕ ̵̯̍̌t̶̨̆h̸̛͕̘̎e̸͇͝ ̷̛̛͚B̷͔̞̎͐ŗ̶̧̉͝o̶͖͕̎t̷̖̑͂h̷̯̀ĕ̴̲r̵̲̎͒ ̵̯͔̀M̸͎̄ǫ̸̱̓ô̶̳̞ṋ̴̜́s̴̛̮̰

Gamer's Mind A overrides Red Markers.

And I was back. I breathed hard, trying to regain some sense of balance.

"He has a weakness." Said a female voice. Jill, John Kramer's ex wife, walked in, a smile on her face and two red crystals in her hand. She rammed the red crystals into the bodies of the wife and husband, and they started to transform and shake as the Red Markers filled with them madness that was seeping into me by proximity. Their flesh bubbled and their organs began to crack and extend in weird directions as they became so much more monstrous and so much less human.

"He always appears in the bodies of those my husband John saves. We just need to infect them, and he'll die as soon as he comes."

She walked up to John, and hugged and kissed him.

They were back together. That wasn't good.

First a horror story, now a romance. See the next chapter on Friday (Saturday actually) where things get even worse.

And thank you dice, the very negative reviews can be demotivating, ita good to have people who value my work. For that, in the chaos of post saw iv, I'll make sure to do Don't escape and Michigan.

Next chapter, new perks and some more slice of life as a serial killer.