Authors Note: Like many thoughts, this one just came to me; if Chapter 3 didn't work for me, why not make a Chapter 4 that does? Still revisionist of course, but what can I say? All the Smiling Critters got done dirty by their lack of usage in Chapter 3.
Please note this is not related to my Chapter 3 AU, the Player will have a name but it might be different, and their pronouns will be ambiguous to fit better with the concept of the Player being an avatar for the game player. Hope you enjoy this speculative story. If everything goes right, and the rumors from Mob Entertainment making Chapter 4 come out this year are false, this AU might get written before the actual Chapter 4 comes out! XD
Prolog: A Dog's Day is Never Over
Pain, agonizing pain. This was all he could feel. The mini critters crawling in his upper body, their many tiny mouths biting and clawing at his insides. This insanity was pushed as the one critter crawled into his eye socket, ripped through part of the seams in his head, and inserted itself between the cloth covering of his body and his brain. That's when he felt it; the clawed hand reach into his brain and destroy all semblance of sanity.
Hunger! Joy! KILLER! KILL KILL KILL!
The human ran fast but all he could feel was the drive to crawl after them! To devour him! Thoughts swirled in his mind, all centered around the desire to kill! Thoughts of grabbing this human, his big orange cloth hands clutching his throat and crushing it into mush, of devouring him headfirst, listening to their screams of agony as they died by his hands! It would bring him peace, all this would be over, he had one task to finish, and he had to complete it! But in the back of his mind, Dogday was screaming.
NO NOT THEM! ANYONE BUT THEM! NO! PLEASE! NOT POPPY'S ANGEL! I CAN'T! I DON'T WANT TO! STOP THIS! JUST LET ME DIE BUT NOT THEM!
But as loud as he screamed, his body refused to listen. It was the prototype asserting his control, rendering him just a passenger in his own mind as the rest of his mind worked to hungrily pursue the fleeing human. Down the dark slides and tunnels the battered half of a dog pursued, the human was always just out of the reach. A few flares shot into his face did nothing to slow him down. There was no Dogday inside, it was all animal!
Down the last slide they went, Dogday clawing after Poppy's Angel. They reached a purple hand pad and leaped across the gap. His puppeteered mind said he would make it, and so he leaped across after them! WHOOSH! A door appeared in front, cutting the sight of Poppy's Angel from his sights. His body collided with the door and he fell down into a deep pit!
The fall wasn't far, he felt the remains of some of the critters under his body squish. But this did nothing as the other started to feast on his body. It had been restrained before, and now it was unfettered. Dogday felt the hand of the Prototype slip out of his brain, leaving him in control again. In control, but unable to do anything. He couldn't help but scream in complete and utter pain, feeling his bot blood leaking out of his body, bones being broken as the mini critters feasted. He felt one critter pushing its face between his ribs while another went under them to eat his other lung! His screams became a gurgle then a cough, the pain became less, all the energy in his broken body was rapidly fading… bleeding away…
This is it… it's over… at… least Angel is safe… safe… friends….. I'm…. coming…. home….
.
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Only the sounds were the humming of computer fans, the clicking of circuits as they opened and closed, and mechanical buzzers that buzzed as processes were being performed. The state of the room was clean enough, despite the broken glass from shattered windows and doors, papers from the desks scattered to the floor and red stains that had dried and left trails leading towards the single drain in the middle of the room. Along the end of one wall stood a line of glass canisters, hung and mounted to the wall itself with wires and hoses going into them. The glass was smeared with this dark red liquid that had since dried out leaving clumps, looking like jelly jars had had just been emptied but not cleaned.
CRT screens attached to each of the canisters blinked readings out. Of the eight, 2 of them possessed blue colored graphics; the others were all red and the parameters being measured were blank. The other two logged such parameters like heart rate, oxygen intake, nutrition intake and others. Then the screen of one changed; a red box of letters filled the screen.
"Initiating Phoenix Protocols"
The chamber gave a rumbling hiss as the bank of computers buzzed to life. The lights flickered as the ailing power grid drew more electricity. The screen changed to display a new image; that of a loading screen which slowly stretched to fill the box. While this was happening, the heart rate monitor spiked as the subject within stirred violently. Whatever inside was reacting badly to what it was experiencing. The progress bar reached 100% and only then did the power level stabilize. For a couple moments the only sound that could be heard was the clicking of circuits, chirping computer banks, and a panicked thrashing from within.
The indicator lights on the chambers lock flashed from red to green and unlocked. The bottom opened, dropping down and releasing a torrent of red liquid with the consistency of slime. A red blob with a bundle of wires and hoses dropped down with it. The hoses went taut and yanked free from the blob, leaving behind a malformed face mask. Wires similarly went taut and snapped off.
The blob moaned and coughed, bedraggled appendages peeling out from it. Small hands sifted through the red slime, struggling to support, pushing it from the floor. The slime slowly began to drain from the blob, revealing its semi-humanoid body. It was small, about the size of a child though the size of the head off. The more of the red slime that drained off, the less human it looked. Feet became paws, an obvious tail stuck out in the back, and big dark orange floppy ears drooped down over its face. From just below this creature's neck, a metallic tag hung down. A sun-shaped tag.
The eyes of this being opened, big, black eyes with unnatural white pupils that seemed to glow in the dim lighting. The eyes pivoted around and looked upon his hands. Then the hands darted down to his chest and moved downwards, finding its legs, which it groped and stared down in dumbfounded shock. Its breathing increased before bringing its hands to its face and felt the features; the canine snout, the contour of a cheery smile that was partly frozen. But as it touched its face, the smile broke, fell, opened and closed, moving like a face. Its brow furrowed, glowing eyes darting in panic. It became too much and a child-like voice cried out.
"No! NO! How can I be back!? It's impossible!" cried Dogday.