December 9-10, 2022
Cole’s workshop is covered in a layer of pink hadal blood from a now melted plastic tub he was keeping it in. The smell of hadal blood fills the air. Cole walks in to see the mess, "GOD DAMN IT."
Cole snaps as a two gallon bottle of vinegar appears in his hands and he starts dumping it on the floor to clean up the blood. To his surprise the blood turns red on contact with the vinegar and the smell shifts to that of regular blood. The vinegar pulls away any stains it could have caused. Cole sighs as he works on mopping up the blood. He mutters to himself, "Max take a note," A ding noise plays, "hadal blood grenade."
anywhere the vinegar has dried has slowly turned back into pink hadal blood. Cole mopped all of the vinegar up and sighs as he snaps. The mop and melted tub disappear. He mutters quietly to himself, "I really wanted to explore Vivian’s facilities more."
The door swings open as Vivian walks in "Why hello again!"
She's a viper nonferal with florescent and shining blue scales. She's tall and slender with sharp eyes and snake pupils. There's a hint of another snake hybrid in her as she has a smaller hood on her neck like that of a cobra. She seems like the kind of person that would either be the sweetest being on earth or the exact poisonous snake she is, no inbetween.
"You. Why do you want information about me?" Cole stares at Vivian who stuffs her hands into her lab coat pockets.
"To help understand you better of course," Vivian smiles
"So why don't you run tests on me? You find out much more," Cole looks confused.
"You wouldn't be happy with being in a lab all day unless you wanted something in return."
"I want to know what your thoughts on gravity are."
"It's easily manipulated given the right tools."
"Do you have anything that can manipulate gravity?"
"As a matter of fact I do. We could trade information again if you'd like."
"Sure, I wouldn't mind," Cole smiles.
"I presume in my lab as always to keep the conversation private?"
"Correct," Cole nods.
"Right this way" Vivian nods and heads through the door. Cole follows. They turn the corner to suddenly appear in a blank white room with a single metal door.
"Leave any personal belongings that could fall off your person here. They will not be touched during your visit. If anything is to happen you are not to leave my side. Due to your cybernetic eyes I recommend not making eye contact with any camera lens in the area if it can be helped"
Cole takes his weapons out of his jacket and steps away from them, "Got it."
"Now if you will follow me" Vivian walks out of the open door and into a corridor as Cole follows. The hall is rounded and has discreet cameras at the top of the curve. There's many doors with labels that are too long to read in passing as Vivian enters the door to her lab.
"Now what do you have that you can trade me for gravitational technology?" Viavin asks as they stand near lab tables with various equipment and papers everywhere.
"You can run 3 tests on me of any type," Cole crosses his arms.
"Of any type? Are you sure about this offer?" Vivian double checks.
"..." Cole thinks about it, "Yeah."
"Would you like to begin the process now?"
Cole takes a deep breath and nods.
"Very well. If you will follow me to a more suitable room," Vivian nods and begins to walk into the hall. Cole follows Vivian with slight worry in his stride.
Vivian approaches a door as it opens. She gestures to the room politely, "If you will please enter and follow any instructions given to you on the intercoms or from any on site personnel."
Cole nods, "Got it." Cole takes a deep breath and enters the room. The room has benches on either side and a windowless door across from the door he entered.
The door he entered closes as an intercom cuts on, "Please verbally confirm your identity as Cole Garnet, Genesone"
"My name is Cole Garnet," Cole nods.
"Please identify any other known named consciousness contained within you, in any items on person, or semi attached to your being."
"I have an AI named max that partially resides in me, that is all," Cole folds his hands.
"Is the mentioned consciousness aware and or willing to participate in upcoming testing?"
"it is aware but it is not willing to participate."
"Please place any removable items other than base clothing and set them on the benches to either side of you. This does not include items in which you or a consciousness consider yourselves dependent to for survival, for retaining sanity, for mitigating stress, anxiety, depression, or other unwanted effects. Please maintain a modest level of cover."
Cole takes a pocket watch out of his jacket and sets it on the bench.
"Ignore the sounds and pressure change of the room. When the door opens please follow the personnel to your designated room in CSZ."
Cole nods and stands in the middle of the room. There is the sound of steam as the pressure in the room shifts very faintly. The door opens to another corridor with a nonferal fox in a clean white lab coat. They nod in greeting "Right this way Cole." They begin walking down a gray cement brick hall with high ceilings. Cole follows with a calm stride. They reach another door as it opens. The fox gestures to the doorway. Cole walks through the door.
It's a simple gray room with a mirror wall, two fold up metal chairs, a simple bed with sheets, blankets, and a pillow, and a flat screen Tv mounted on the wall. The fox enters with him as the door closes behind them. Cole looks around as he wanders around the room, "I wonder what test this is."
The fox sits down in a chair and has a clipboard with a pen, "If you could, please do your best to describe or give yourself a substantial introduction to give us some information to work from."
"I am Cole Garnet, I'm 6,1 and 150 pounds." Cole starts pacing the room as he speaks.
"Could you give more details regarding your species and origin?" They begin writing.
"Death himself created me, I was made around 1730 and I was placed in North America."
"Does this death go by any other names and what was their purpose in creating you?"
"No he does not, and the purpose was to reap souls for him, aka mass murder upon his request."
"How much influence do they currently hold over you and by what means?"
"They hold an influence of what I do, through this halo," Cole points at a halo that rests over his head,"That's if its glow is bright enough to blind me."
"What makes this happen and do you have any control or influence over it?"
"Usually happens when I get too angry but not angry enough to cause rage."
"What happens when you are angry enough to cause rage?"
"I become a monster formed out of tar that is around 14 feet tall," Cole continues to pace.
They take a moment to think, "How is the tar you are made of able to maintain a solid shape?"
Cole glances at the clipboard as he paces, "I'm not sure, I think it's a mixture of it hardening and death tar or something."
The top of the page has Operation W.A.C. in bold text and smaller text beside it with C.S.Z. "Can you explain what you know about death Tar?"
"It's tar that's usually excreted from the skin of a death creature, I don't know much about it."
"Are there other abilities that you have access to that you wouldn't have when you are in rage?"
"Not really."
"What abilities do you normally have access to?"
"Telekinesis, teleportation, temporal manipulation, controlling the temperature of objects around me, Electrokinesis and my jacket can use a form of metal to make shields or weapons or assist me with anything that needs to be done really."
"What are weaknesses that these abilities create or are meant to defend?"
"Those abilities are meant to kill, mostly offense, however I have shaped most of them into a defensive move to protect my team," Cole sighs, "The temporal manipulation, I can't use it for a prolonged period or I risk coughing or at worse, death. Electrokinesis is meant to highlight that I'm a cyborg and that ability drains from my battery."
"What are your methods of recharging your battery including its pros and cons?"
"A phone charger, it's widely found but slow. My normal charger it's quick but it's not portable. Charging using Electrokinesis, it's quick and effective but it could damage my circuits if over used."
"Your circuits are heat sensitive?"
"Correct, it's old tech."
"Have you tried to or considered upgrading your tech in some way and how would it be done?"
"I've tried but it involves cutting myself open, and that's frowned upon for obvious reasons. I already have a coolant system installed to keep my temps under check."
"How do you go about replacing old coolant in your systems?"
"Vomit it up and drink new coolant," Cole shrugs.
The fox is quiet for a bit while writing on the clipboard.
"Sorry if that was a bit much," Cole chuckles lightly.
"Don't worry Garnet. Here we encourage that type of behavior," they finish writing, "Now for more difficult questions. How would you personally rate your mental health?"
"...insane."
Cole’s tone drops to a more serious one.
"What factors would you say brought you to this point?" The fox doesn't write anything down yet.
"The 20 voices inside of my head, constant research, and sleepless nights but it's fine cause it's for protecting my team."
"Would you consider this an act of selflessness or selfishness?"
The fox asks.
"Selflessness."
Cole responds
"Do you consider yourself arrogant or humble?"
"....i don't know most people i meet just call me insane. Kinda crazy how they die afterwards, but anyways I consider myself pretty arrogant at times."
They pause to write something then look back up at Cole, "What form of happiness would you say protecting your team gives you?"
"...none, it is my job."
"Who gave you this job and why are you continuing this job?"
"I gave myself the job, and I'm continuing it so that my world doesn't get deleted."
"Is this an act of self preservation? Why do you need the world you are mentioning in particular?"
"No, I need this world because I'm not willing to give it up and because it's the only one with the two people I'm in a relationship with can inhabit."
"If you so happenly no longer had said job and the world was safe would you still protect your team?"
"Correct, they need my protection considering the gods that like to fuck with us on the almost daily."
"If you no longer needed to protect them would you still want to maintain your relationships?"
"Yeah, they are nice people and good friends."
"Would you say having nice people around and having good friends brings you happiness?"
"...yeah I guess it does," Cole stops pacing for a moment then resumes.
The fox pauses to write for a long period of time. Cole tries to peek at what they are writing. The whole page is covered in tiny text. Before he can get a glimpse they tilt the clipboard slightly away and look back up at him, "How many hours of sleep would you generally average a night?"
Cole is slightly blushing as he clears his throat, "Around 10-12."
"How deep of a sleep would you think you achieve each night? How easily do sounds lights or movement wake you?"
Cole is blushing slightly more as he sits down and buries his face in his hands, "Very deep sleep, and only fighting wakes me up or loud snoring"
"Are you currently well? Would you need a break?"
Cole clears his throat as he takes his head out of his hands, no longer blushing, "I'm fine, my team is hooked up to text to speech inside of my head and they were being, whores," Cole stands back up and resumes pacing
"Around what time is an average bedtime you are asleep by?"
"Usually around 1-2am."
"Do you require any special items to aid in sufficient sleep other than what is already provided in this room?"
"...usually I sleep with my partner next to me but I'll be fine without him."
"We offer therapeutic feral pets as company if you are interested in having one during the day or at night."
"No, no i'm good," Cole sighs lightly.
"What is your diet of food, beverage, or other substances consist of, how much, and how often?"
"I don't need to eat, though sometimes I eat because of comfort or good memories being associated with it."
"What would be a select few foods that bring you comfort?"
"I think it's called linguini? But I prefer it when my partner makes it, otherwise pepperoni pizza or a steak is fine."
"Would you prefer I leave at 1 or 2 am to allow you to sleep? What time would you like to be woken up at or do you wish to sleep in?"
"you can leave at one and just let me sleep in, I'll wake up at around one or two."
"Do you need any sounds, lights, or smells to aid in your sleep?"
"No, I'm good."
They take awhile to write down more notes before clicking the pen and standing up, "Get well rested Garnet."
"You too," Cole nods as he walks over to the bed.
The fox leaves the room as the door closes behind them. The lights shut off but there's a thin strip of glow in the dark tape on the bed frame and legs of the metal chairs.
"Oh, that's useful i guess," Cole climbs into bed and slowly falls asleep.
In the morning the lights turn red as there's a beeping alarm. Cole jolts awake as he scrambles out of bed. The lights are flashing and he can hear footsteps rushing past the door outside. Cole's head tilts as he tries to open the metal door but it won't budge. Cole shrugs and sits on the floor and starts singing California gurls at the top of his lungs. After awhile the lights and alarms stop. The door opens as the researcher fox nonferal from yesterday enters.
Cole stops singing and waves, "So uh what happened?"
"Just a standard drill. Nothing to worry about," They smile and sit down with the clipboard, "Shall we continue Garnet?"
"Sure, how many more questions before I get to go home?" Cole stands up.
"Just bear with us while we get things in order. Now you said you had a secondary consciousness on your person. Could we speak to them for a moment to ask a few questions to ensure your safety for the next step of this process?"
"...why? We have the same amount of knowledge."
"Just to be sure we don't scare them by mistake and better understand you as a whole incase anything was to go wrong."
Cole sighs, "fine." Cole's eyes swap to mint green as he looks around.
"Is Max with us?"
Max nods, his voice sounds slightly robotic, "Correct, what do you want?"
"You are aware that testing is about to take place, correct?"
"Cole had informed me so I am aware."
"During testing it is favorable that you act as you would in a normal situation. We ask you do not step back or refuse influence on Cole during the testing if it is what you would naturally do in the situation."
"Alright," Max nods.
"Unless you have questions you may bring back Cole."
"You are going to send us home right?"
"In due time."
"And that is when you're done testing I presume?"
"Yes."
"Alright," Cole's eyes swap back to hazel brown.
"Now for a test," The fox stands up and heads to the door as a small compartment opens. They grab the contents. They walk back to their chair and sit down. They set the items they got on the ground. It looks like a kids toy with wodden blocks that fit through a hole of the matching shape. "Complete the puzzle provided."
Cole stares at it, "Is this a kid's toy?"
"Complete the puzzle provided."
Cole completes the puzzle quickly. They begin writing something down.
"Is that it?..." Cole looks around.
"One moment," They continue writing for a concerning amount of time. Cole stands up and tries to look at the clipboard. They flip to a different page, the first one looked filled.
"Now for another test," They get up and grab more items from the compartment. They set wooden blocks with letters on the ground and sit back down, "Please create a word with the blocks provided."
Cole makes the word "fuck." They make a slightly sour face and begin writing. Cole chuckles and crosses his arms. They continue writing for a concerning amount of time. Cole starts spelling various curses while he waits. They glance up and write more as they start on a new page. Cole starts stacking the letters as he tries to glance at the clipboard.
The fox gets a fresh blank page, "And for another test." They get up and grab more items. They down a stick with different sized rings like the kids toy. "Complete the puzzle provided."
Cole puts the rings in ascending order from biggest to smallest.
They write something down quickly and stand up "Very well Garnet. Here is your reward," They reach in their lab coat pocket. Cole snaps to staring at the hand that's in the coat pocket as he looks ready to kill them. They toss a chocolate chip cookie at him. Cole stares at the cookie as it hits him and lands on the floor. Without a word the fox leaves. Cole eats the cookie as his body and clothes shifts to match the researcher. He then tries to open the door but it's locked. Cole knocks on the door but there's no response. Cole looks for a keypad near the door and finds a panel screwed shut. He punches the panel as it dents. Cole is able to take off the panel and finds a mess of colorful wires inside.
He takes a fist full of them and yanks. They rip from their source and there's sparks. A larger and heavier sheet of metal falls over the door and the lights in the room flicker off.
Cole blinks. "Shit." Cole looks for labels on the wires. None of them have labels but it's each color of the rainbow. Cole connects the red wires together. They spark slightly as red lights cut on. Cole disconnects them and connects the green wires. The red lights cut off as Vents on the sides of the walls towards the ceiling open up. Cole ties the wires together and gets closer to the vents to inspect them. The vents are the size of his hand as there's a strange smell starting to come from them.
"BAD-" Cole gets away from them and disconnects the green wire as he connects the yellow wire. The vents close and he feels slightly light headed. On connecting the yellow wires the heavy sheet of metal creaks as it is slowly lifted. Cole connects the orange wires. He hears the door click. Cole opens the door as someone walks by.
He steps out and looks at his surroundings. There's a few researchers walking up and down the halls and there's a large metal door on either end of the hall. Cole tries to retrace his steps back to where he left his pocket watch. Part way down the hall the lights turn red and an alarm goes off. Cole looks around to see what everyone else is doing. A few researchers stop while others enter rooms. Cole stops walking and waits. They seem to be standing at attention while leaving enough space for someone to walk through.
At the other end of the hall, the door opens as a group of researchers with a stretcher enter. Cole makes sure he's leaving enough space as he stands at attention. They make their way down the hall. One of the researchers stops at one of the ones standing at attention. They ask for a card but are met with silence. 3 of them grab them by the arm and drag them into a room as they start screaming and kicking. The screams are muffled as the door closes. Cole stays still and continues to watch. The stretcher goes by Cole as he sees a human laying on it with a nervous expression. Cole stays calm as he smiles. They exit through the other door as it closes. The lights return to normal as the researchers resume walking. Cole resumes trying to retrace his steps. He reaches a closed large metal door. Cole checks for a keypad or panel but cant seem to find one. He spots a small camera lens above. Cole looks up at the lens. He can faintly see the lens refocus on him. Cole keeps staring at it before trying to open the door. A voice on the intercom speaks "State mentality."
"Calm," Cole states in a decently calm tone.
"Please wait while you are escorted to a temporary room.” A group of researchers turns and walks towards Cole. Cole's eyes go wide as he punches the door. It doesn't even dent the metal as the researchers go to grab him by the arms.
"DON'T YOU KNOW- DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM-" Cole tries to elbow them in the stomachs as he aims a max strength kick at the door. The bottom of the door bends as the low hinges break. The lights turn red. The ones elbowed are a bit winded as they try to drag him into a room. Despite fighting back He's thrown into the room as the door closes behind them. A few researchers are in the room with him, "Please calm down we only want to talk."
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL-" Cole thrashes free from their grasp as he stands up. They all back up from Cole, "We need you to calm down and tell us what work you were affected by."
"T-that fucking Garnet guy is fucking insane, he's a fucking genius but he displays the properties of an insane man to get what he wants," Cole rolls with the lie.
"Can you sit down for a moment to calm down some?" one of them ask him. Cole sits down in the chair and starts taking some deep breaths.
"Can you describe how you're feeling right now?" they ask.
"Angry and confused."
"When did you start feeling this way? Did the work do something to cause this?”
"He just he started explaining to me everything that's happened to him and....it confused and angered me."
"How is your memory at the moment?"
"My memory is intact."
They all look at eachother "Take them to the CHZ until we get confirmation on the work's effects" the others nod. "Please follow us," One states. The door opens as half of them exit and the other half stay behind Cole. Cole follows them.
They head to the door at the end of the hall as it opens. They step into the room with the benches on either side. There's a few random items on the bench. Cole can see his things on one of the benches. Cole scoots over to his watch fob and sneakily puts it in his pocket. There's a hissing of the airlock as the pressure changes slightly. Cole rocks on his heels slightly as he waits. The door in front of them opens and they begin walking out into a hall. Cole looks nervous as he walks through the hallway. They walk past the door that Cole can recognize as the one that leads to Vivian's lab.
Cole quickly breaks away from the others and slams his body against the door as metal strips from his jacket levitate next to him. The researchers try to run at him to grab him as the vents along the hall open. The metal strips wrap around their arms and pull them away from Cole as he holds his breath and continues trying to break down the door. A fog starts to set into the room from the vents as the researchers struggle to get free. The door dents. Cole starts punching the door instead of slamming his body against it. The researchers begin going limp and passing out from the gas filling the hall. The door snaps off it's hinges. The metal strips drop the researchers as Cole runs through the door. He enters the familiar hall and can see the deadend door open with his belongings on the ground. Cole's body flickers back to it's normal form. He sprints to his belongings, starts holstering them, and reequipping them. He runs around the corner he entered with Vivian from as he disappears.
> - Return to Hub
> - Return Home