(TEXT)

[hexrot]

FILE: RUNIC SCRIPT
FILE: TENANTS, 1-6

FILE: THAUMATURGIC REACTIONS & GLYPH COMBINATIONS – EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS PERFORMED BY JAYCE TALIS, OVERSEEN BY VIKTOR

OBJECTIVE OF TEST: To investigate the possible magical interactions between different runes, identify their combined effects, and assess their stability, potency, and potential applications.

[ there's more technical text such as an outline, hypothesis, methodology, a mention of using the combinations as a way to trigger a reverse transport and return people to their own world and time, etc, but that's mostly unimportant here. skip right to the personal entries: ]

ENTRY 1: COMBINATION 1A (MOTION + SPIRIT)
— Runic Script: Transcribed.
— These runes don't work with a channeling source. (Not needed? Or not the right one?)
— A burst of light, buzzing white noise and what felt like a psychical shock inside my head sprang after both runes were drawn together.
— Viktor did not experience anything of the sort. Sole user of the runes affected.
— Disorienting.
— 30 minutes post combination and I'm feeling restless. Can't keep still. I'll go for a walk.
— Result: unsatisfactory.
— Started feeling hungry again. It's different this time. Just what I needed.

ENTRY 2: COMBINATION 1A
— I had a dream last night.
— "Dream" feels fantastical. Felt more like a vision.
— They come in flashes: the moon breaks apart. Moon shards rain down on a cityscape and destroy it. A woman wails right before I wake up.
— Observation: Day 5 post combination and the same dream persists. Every night.

[ attached are sketches of the scenes, both on paper and a crumbling wall. ]

ENTRY 3: COMBINATION 2B (MOTION + TIME)
— Day 6. Dream persists, for the record.
— Immediate burst to the head similar to 1A. Difference is that I bled from every orifice (not as severely as 1° COD) and grew a rack of antlers.
— Health deteriorated near instantaneously, senses heightened and hunger escalated.
— Fed on blood. Health restored just as instantaneously. Never felt better (a scary thought, but one for another entry).

ENTRY 4: COMBINATION 2B
— The dream changed.
— I keep seeing someone tied to an altar. Can't make out if it's a man or a woman. They change into a monster before being sacrificed where they were tied. Also indistinct what monster. I can only remember an awful shape and sound.
— Day 8: Same dream.
— Day 10: It doesn't stop. I sleep but there's no rest.
— Day 13: I was tied to the altar this time. My body tore and broke itself apart to grow into something horrific. Six limbs, too many bones and rot. Couldn't stop screaming. Even the scream was ghastly. I was sacrificed.
— Day 14: Again.
— Day 16: Again.
— Day 18: We should terminate the experiment. I want to, but at the same time I feel like we're close to something we wouldn't have learned about this world otherwise. What if it's the key to returning?
— Got my hands dirty, might as well see it through. The safest option is a dead man doing it.
— "If you're going through hell, keep going."
— Remember your promise.
— All that remained were fields of dreamless solitude.
— I won't fail. I swore.

[ attached are more drawings of the dream. with each passing sketch, the imagery becomes more manic, messy and eerie. ]

ENTRY 3: COMBINATION 3C (MIND + LIFE)
— It hurts
— suspecting that there is no correlation to effects and glyph combinations i theorize that no matter the combo the effects will only get worse

ENTRY 5: COMBINATION 3C
It's all I hear all I hear is i need you i see you i need you i see you i need you i see you i NEED YOU I SEE YOU I NEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOU

[ it goes on for about 6 pages before becoming illegible. ]

CONCLUSION: FAILURE. GLYPH COMBINATION EXPERIMENT TERMINATED.
HAZARDS ENCOUNTERED: The following symptoms and events were experienced after Combination 3: explosive mental discomfort, incessant auditory hallucinations (SEE: NOTES, ENTRY 5, 3C), paranoia, disorientation, and insistent & focused monster attacks until sunrise. At dawn I heard the words: NEXT TIME YOU ARE MINE.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE SAFETY MEASURES: Immediate suspension of activity. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, ATTEMPT TO REPLICATE THIS EXPERIMENT!!

No more tests will be performed until further notice. If you still attempt to use glyphs in any way after reading this, the consequences are on you alone. Don't be a shithead.

The glyph for MOTION was found mostly by the gas stations and appeared with more frequency when the storms neared. Something to keep in mind.

If you have any inquiries, I'll do my best to answer them.

I'm sorry.

Comments

[hexrot]

Akechi did, but it can wait a minute.

I'm sorry.

[bufudine]

[It sucked ass, but...]

It's fine. I prefer this to what I was before.

[hexrot]

Doesn't make it less awful.

Akechi found a journal entry that speaks of the Moon as if it were in pain, and that a ritual would soothe it.

[ he'll get it. it's easier than leaving parts out. ]

"Moon mourns, call her down, ease her pain-"

"Need […] Better vessels from afar. Stronger souls-"

"Imbue with moon sigils, Give blessings of moon, share her pain. Put the ritual right."

If the Moon is their god, it lines up with the data base entry for the Silver Tears. Have you seen that?

[bufudine]

[This all feels so... familiar.]

The similarities this world has to the world I left is unsettling.

[Like he's trapped in another cycle...]

I haven't seen the entry.

[hexrot]

CONVOYDATABASE
Try that.
In what way?

[bufudine]

[Interesting... The steel wardens would likely be behind those creatures of metal, then?

Where does he even begin? He'd said when they first met that the situation was familiar. That feeling has only grown more intense as he learns more of this world.]

The sun is where God resides.

Something happened five years ago that caused God to go mad, turning the sun black. I believe it lead to someone being turned into a demon, possibly by God, who then killed everyone around him before being terminated. After that, the demon virus was created using God's data. As humanity now faces extinction, the organisation involved with this uses Sera to soothe God and the virus to survive the harsh environment.

My directive before and after I was transformed into a demon was to reach Nirvana. If we hadn't disobeyed at the very end, we would have been unknowingly sacrificed to enhance soldiers of Nirvana.

Even if the specifics are different, it's remarkable how much this world has in common with what I left.

[A broken moon worshipped as a god. A black sun containing God. Sigils that marked those blessed by the moon to change into monsters. Brands that marked those with the virus made from God's data to change into demons. The moon in mourning. The sun enraged. Humans turned into still husks. Humans turned to stone. Both worlds urging them to seek Nirvana. Monsters easily capable of surviving the changed environment. Lives sacrificed for the benefit of those of another world.

He hesitates briefly before he types.]

It feels like I am walking the same path again.

[hexrot]

[ it's eerily too on the nose to simply say "it's a coincidence", even for jayce. different timelines, different verses . . . similar paths walked. identical consequences. ]

I don't believe in coincidences. Only effects that are catalysts to similar results.

There's a reason why I don't fully trust this convoy. That I believe we should find our own way back instead of being [ for lack of better wording, ] passengers.

[bufudine]

[Can he even go back if he's dead? Serph doesn't voice the thought; it ultimately doesn't matter. There's plenty of people here who have things to go back to and for them, he'll make this journey.]

Is that why you tried to find a trigger for transportation in reverse?

[Cause yeah, he read the report in its entirety. He's not exactly going to tell Jayce to stop, but...]

Don't forget your promise. I can take your place in future tests.

[hexrot]

Yes.
I had a theory for the same instance.

[ interdimensional travel is not . . . as new a concept. but that, that offer there gets jayce to grimace off screen. ]

My promise is why I stopped. I'm not going to transfer that responsibility to anyone, much less you.

[bufudine]

[But if the risk ever becomes worth it... It's a thought he keeps private, for now.]

If I find anything else, I'll let you know.

[hexrot]

You have my thanks. I mean it.

[bufudine]

It's no trouble.

[A pause before there's a follow up message.]

Try not to get eaten again.

[hexrot]

I should start eating more to counteract.

[ he doesn't know if that should be a vore joke or a point of concern. now that he sent it, there's no way back, so . . . ]

I have a question.

[bufudine]

[Hm?]

What is it?

[hexrot]

Personal. Has to do with feeding.

Would you answer?

[bufudine]

[Well. He has an idea of where this is going.]

Yes.

[hexrot]

Have you ever had a preference?

[bufudine]

[...Not a question he was expecting. And not one that he's thought much about. But reflecting on when he shared a meal with V -- a rare moment where he could devour leisurely instead of in a hurry -- he can say...]

Yes.

[hexrot]

Was it ever a problem?

[bufudine]

[The nature of devouring is inherently a problem. But if Jayce is asking this sort of question...]

Let's talk in person. I'll come to you.

[hexrot]

Alright.

Truck.

Action

[bufudine]

[And so Serph soon makes his way over to Jayce's truck, which is starting to become an increasingly familiar sight. Still in that same serpentine form that Jayce had last seen him as, there are no footfalls to announce his approach. So once he spots Jayce, Serph makes his slithery approach and greets-]

Jayce.

[He doesn't elaborate further for now, waiting for Jayce to elaborate on his line of questioning; it sounds like Jayce has found a preference that's causing some personal turmoil.]

[hexrot]

[ jayce is laying with his back against the cargo bed, out under the stars, notes held up over his head to read while laying down. its the tips of his antlers and a hand with paper in his hands that may be seen first, but the sound of his name lifts him fully like a zombie out of the grave. an affirming nod comes, and jayce skoots over to the left side of the truck bed to make room. ]

Come in.

[ he'll put his notes to the side, in the meantime. it looks like he's making blueprints for a pump. ]

[bufudine]

[Serph looks a little dubiously at the offer; there's only so much space on the cargo bed and with him having six wings and a very, very long body, there's just no way he's going to fit the entirety of himself on there. Also, it's not exactly easy to get on there without any legs.

Still, Serph nevertheless slithers close, raising his body up high enough so he can simply let himself fall onto the cargo bed -- with a noticeably weighty thump -- before he slides the rest of his long body up as he inches his way into the available corner of the cargo bed.

His gaze slides to the blueprints.]

Keeping busy?

[hexrot]

I don't think I'd function, otherwise.

[ no, he'd spiral. out of one project and into another. jayce's mental health wasn't fullproof since his academy days; today, while guarded, it's even more fragile. too many new traumas piling on each other, too many instances where he avoids mirrors or even examining himself. the only reason he doesn't actively look for and pave a way out is because of viktor. as long as he's in his orbit, jayce has more than enough reason to keep living.

or. whatever it is that he's doing. which brings him to the topic. ]

I had my first blood after the second experiment.