Crystal Chaos Infection

by FlamingRedAnon

Summary:

Something strange is happening to the Toppats with chaos abilities, something that Reginald Copperbottom is documenting just in case.

Chapter 1

To anyone that has found these audio recordings, my name is Reginald Copperbottom, one of the top special operatives of the Toppat Clan and adviser to the current Toppat Leader, Chief Henry Stickmin, and this is my documentation on the strange phenomenon going on regarding those with the ability to harness chaos... myself included.

 

It had been almost a year since the clan got to space, things were looking up for us and it had been business as usual for us Toppats.

 

That was when the first symptoms struck.

 

Those that actively used their powers to help out around the clan had noticed colored veins around their hands or around their eyes appearing, the color being different for each person based on their chaos, with mine being black on my hands while the Chief's eyes were light blue and so on.

 

Thankfully my Right Hand Man and the Chief's Ellie Rose hadn't developed these symptoms yet, since they rarely used their powers.

 

Other than the effected area being more sensitive to touch, it didn't seem like much, with the Witch and the Paranormal Division coming to the conclusion that we just needed to stop using our abilities for awhile and this would just fade away.

 

They didn't.

 

Those that kept using their abilities like Five Eyes had the veins starting to spread, getting slightly brighter than they once were.

 

They also were starting to develop a compulsion to having to need to use their chaos more, like the feeling you get when your legs get restless and you need to just walk around and move them, and in turn the veins would spread slightly further and glow slightly brighter.

 

This would eventually be the stage two of this thing going on.

 

The Chief, myself and the Elites, minus Poshley, had an emergency meeting on what to do.

 

As much as we wanted to just order everyone in the clan with chaos abilities to just not use their powers, a lot of those people use their powers to directly help the clan or take on those Government dogs in battles where otherwise we might not have won.

 

Not to mention at the time, this wasn't contagious to anyone, so there wasn't any major threat, just an unknown on what these symptoms would turn to.

 

So we came to the compromise that Toppats were to only use their powers if absolutely needed, while making a task force to investigate this strange chaos phenomenon further and possibly seek a cure or suppressant if needed.

 

But despite our best efforts, people got worse... this whole thing got worse.

 

Poshley was the first to start exhibiting what would be known as stage three, where his arms had started to actually glow where the veins first started and his ability to make coins had gotten stronger, at the cost of his mind wanting to do nothing but create and get rich.

 

I had never seen the usually jovial Fredrickson look so pale and heartbroken after trying to talk to him.

 

Five Eyes was another that fell into stage three, his eyes fully glowing and his face was almost painfully bright to look at, with him mindlessly rambling on about the spirits and needing to bring the other side to the living.

 

All those that went into stage three were placed into isolation for the safety of others and especially themselves.

 

The task force was hard at work, taking blood and other samples when they safely could and monitoring those they had for worsening symptoms.

 

It was all they could honestly do.

 

There was an air of... unease in the Space Station growing at the time, with Toppats avoiding their peers with chaos abilities... maybe out of fear or maybe on the side of caution... whatever the reason, things were tense.

 

To say the Chief and myself were busy trying to keep the situation from getting worse while still trying to lead the clan was... hectic.

 

And then things only got worse.

 

Five Eyes hit what was stage four as his body was fully engulfed in this glow and was able to use his heightened ability to open his cell from the outside, escaping and attacking anyone that tried to get near him all while just screaming... like he was in some horrid pain.

 

A few members of the task force tried to get close with some tranquilizing needles, but they found that Five Eyes' skin was strangely hard and almost gem like.

 

And bullets just either bounced off or chipped away at what was once his skin and Right's laser was basically absorbed into his body.

 

Before things got even worse, Five Eyes just stopped his rampage, laying on the floor and curling up before getting even more brighter...

 

...and then eventually revealing a large gemstone in his place.

 

After the mess was cleaned up, security was bumped up on the rest of the isolation pods and those injured were checked out by our medical team, finding out that where Five Eyes had struck had left faintly colored veins and later that week that they could suddenly see ghosts like Five Eyes once could.

 

This was not foreseen in the slightest...

 

To make matters more dire, the gem that was once Five Eyes was shown to be purely a gem, with no life force to be had within and possibly no way to reverse it.

 

...May his soul rest in peace.

 

The tension in the air got worse, with Toppats leaving for either the Airship or other divisions back on Earth so they didn't have to be around this mess or outright alienating those they once considered their comrades.

 

And if things couldn't get any bleaker, the Government of all people requested a video meeting, with that Galeforce bastard revealing that what we had been dealing with was happening on Earth as well, with the General himself showing glowing green veins starting to grow on his face.

 

They want a truce and to share research points on this chaos phenomenon, which we haven't decided on yet due to the Government being... the Government and the fear that they would either backstab us in the end or place whatever cure or vaccine to this with a price tag that very few could afford or outright not give us.

 

There is also the Center for Chaos Containment to think about making an alliance with, if they aren't somehow responsible for doing all this, though that comes with a whole new can of worms that Ellie isn't fond of opening.

 

As for this moment, my veins have spread despite almost completely not using my abilities, with a nagging itch in my head of wanting to use my strength to make lifting something like heavy paperwork easier despite how tired I've been.

 

Chief has been roughly the same as me, his veins around his eyes growing but he hasn't had the itch to use his chaos like I've had... heh, he is our Toppat Leader for a reason.

 

Despite their best efforts, Ellie and Right have started to show signs of stage one with faintly colored veins appearing on their hands, but nothing else too drastic.

 

And despite the task force's efforts and Fredrickson visiting him everyday, Poshley succumbed to the chaos, his golden like gemstone is being kept with all the others that have turned for research.

 

Nothing in the form of a cure or even a vaccine has been made yet as the nature of chaos is a fickle thing, but I believe in our fellow Toppats that something could be done.

 

I guess that is it for this recording... if anything changes there would be another recording to be found but for now, this is Reginald Copperbottom signing off and going for a walk to... see if there is anything I can do to help around and... distract myself from this.

Chapter 2

This is the esteemed Reginald Copperbottom providing another updated audio log on this chaos crystalization infection.

 

It has been roughly a month since the last log and things have been... mixed.

 

The Toppats have agreed to a temporary truce with the Government for now, with our task force having met up with the Government's doctors to share notes and discuss plans on how to tackle the infection.

 

Apparently those dogs got desperate enough to recruit that Dr. Vinschpinsilstien to help with their research, which makes things just slightly awkward after the last encounter we had years back, but with a bigger threat going on we've both held our tongues when we've needed to communicate.

 

Some notes that the Government had provided shows that amputation doesn't stop the infection, as weeks later colored veins would start appearing past the lost limb... which makes sense with the fact chaos energy is flowing through our blood and those with the infection starting near their eyes... couldn't really benefit from that tactic anyhow.

 

Though I don't like how the Government will just ship off their infected to the Wall once they hit the later stage of stage three. I know we have to quarantine them before they fully hit stage four and start attacking people, but they are still people somewhere inside, not prisoners to just toss away.

 

But I digress.

 

On the slightly brighter news, thanks to the alliance we have the first batch of suppressants for this phenomenon created... though it only works on those infected with stage one at the moment and we don't know if the risk of tolerance to the drug is a thing or what possible side effects could happen.

 

But Ellie's and more importantly Right's veins have almost completely faded for the time being... thank Puff for that at least.

 

Hopefully this boom in the research could lead to a more powerful suppressant being made and maybe even a cure found!

 

Things are still tense in the clan but that is to be expected with the situation at hand... and luckily there hasn't been any acts of aggression on either side about the matter.

 

We just have to be keep strong and do what we can...

 

Just... be strong...

 

and have... the strength...

 

to stay...

 

strong...

 

...stay strong-

 

Shit! Get it together Reginald, don't think about the s words and slip up again...

 

So as you can tell... stage two is a bitch to fight, especially the urge to just use my strength at random. It makes trying to sleep without some kind of medication or warm tea nearly impossible.

 

Thankfully my veins haven't really spread too far and I still have my facilities in check so... all things considered I am as well as could be.

 

The Chief on the other hand has only started to have the urgings of using his powers, but he powers through them by the massive amount of paperwork and meetings he has to deal with, only sleeping when the exhaustion kicks in.

 

Is it healthy?

 

Probably not, but what choice do we have right now? We either have to distract ourselves for the time being to fight that feeling of wanting to use what has been gifted to us or we just succumb and lose this battle.

 

And Reginald Copperbottom is no quitter, the Toppat Clan are no quitters!

 

Anyways... that is all there is to be reported for now. We still don't have a clue on how this even started yet, but I'm sure more digging into it will find the answers.

 

For now this is Reginald Copperbottom logging off, hopeful that if there is another recording in the future that it will be because of triumph.

Chapter 3

This is Reginald Copperbottom with another audio log update on this chaos crystalization phenomenon...

 

It has been around two months since the last log and so far the current suppressant that was made is still currently working at this time... though some people have had to increase their dosage which is a worrying sign.

 

Still no cure or stronger medicine to combat the later stages... but the Paranormal Division has made a discovery that this phenomenon has happened in the far past, though right now those are the only records on hand about this.

 

It did point to the Center for Chaos Containment being the cause of the original event, though whether it was maliciousness or a terrible accident has yet to be determined.

 

The Government doctors and our task force are still working together despite having a few differences in their methods... which is better than nothing.

 

A few more Toppats have fallen to this thing including The Witch and Bookie... may they find the rest they deserve... but thankfully no one else has hit stage four for the time being.

 

Right needed to have his suppressants increased... but he has noted that his cybernetic side is keeping the chaos in his blood in check as well, letting the task force occasionally take his blood and download his cybernetic specs to see if something could be made from that.

 

The Chief is still holding strong... he... he keeps himself busy still with dealing with Toppats, keeping heists and raids going to keep some semblance of... normalcy in the clan and dealing with... all this mess.

 

Though the poor sleep is starting to get to him.

 

As for myself... could be doing better...

 

It's just... so hard to keep fighting this... I find myself slipping more and more frequently...

 

All this power...

 

...all this strength...

 

It would make things so much easier...

 

No no no no no...

 

No!

 

NO!

 

...

 

Sorry about that...

 

Like I've noted before, this is much harder to fight with pure willpower alone, that distracting myself with work is starting to... not work... and even the urge to use my mighty strength has started slipping into my dreams...

 

But I have to hold on... for the Toppats, for the Chief...

 

...I have to hold on for Right.

 

I can't succumb to this.

 

Though this talking has made me remember that we have some old confiscated CCC handcuffs and strange bands that completely nullified those with chaos abilities in storage... maybe we could mass produce those after finding out how they were made and... and at least stop the infection from spreading for those with later stages.

 

This is Reginald Copperbottom logging off for now... I just hope things get better from here... as I don't know how much of me will be left if it doesn't...

Notes:

Meant to post these two chapters yesterday but storms smacked our area and I got distracted so yeah.

But this is everything I've done so far with this Infection AU. (though if inspiration smacks me with a chair I may at least finish up Reg's story and maybe even expand on the idea)

Chapter 4

This is the dashing Reginald Copperbottom with another one of these logs on the phenomenon that I'll be temporarily referring to as the Crystal Chaos Infection.

 

It has only been a few weeks and the only thing to really report here from me is that Sven Svensson and his Tech Division has gathered up all the CCC anti chaos devices we've had in storage and are in the middle of figuring out what metals or materials they used to suppress one's chaos from being used, with the plan after would be making things like arm, head and neck wear that would at least keep any chaos from spreading further and hopefully stop the person from being able to use their powers.

 

I may have snuck out some old larger wrist cuffs for myself and a collar for the Chief to have and so far... it has been a success in at least stopping our infection from spreading any further and stops us from accidentally using our chaos.

 

The urges and sleep disruption are still present but... not as bad as a few weeks ago... making doing our duties slightly more manageable, so that we can be there for the Toppats who need their leader and advisor to be strong for them during this time.

 

...

 

But that wasn't the main reason for this update, for one of our Wall spies, Wallace Pemberton, has sent us an update on what is going on down there near that damned prison and... well I'll just let the audio speak for itself.

---

Well howdy there boss, Wallace here and sorry for not giving out the usual timely reports recently, but things aren't good here.

 

It seems that whatever darn chaos infection has hit y'all has also hit here, except it is much worse here.

 

The Wall is half filled with prisoners and half filled with people who are starting to be covered in crystal or have hit what I think you referred it to as stage four, lots of yelling and screaming from people who ain't quite themselves anymore.

 

But the weird thing is that no one has did the thing where they turn into a rock, probably because it is so cold here that they never warm up enough to do the thing they do I guess.

 

And that wouldn't be a problem here where they are all locked up and away, but the infection has hit towns, cities and lone bars nearby here, crystalized monsters that were reckoned to be people once roaming everywhere and attacking anything and anyone that isn't one of their own, with others either fleeing to somewhere safe or getting infected and just not knowing how to control their new powers, which leads them to losing their noggins and eventually turning as well.

 

The only way to leave the Wall now is either by helicopter or boat... as trying to drive or walk has proven to be extremely dangerous.

 

That old grumpy warden made a mention over announcements that we may just start releasing prisoners just so there is more room to put infected... which I don't need to tell you how bad of an idea that is, but I'm just a spy posing as a guard after all.

 

Speaking of Mr. Petrov, no one has actually seen him at the Wall for weeks now, not even his right hand and personal bum kisser Grigori. Absolutely not worrying in the slightest, no siree.

 

Also ain't seen Smith in the past few days which worries me, but maybe he saw how dangerous things were and went home to his family, wouldn't blame him one bit honestly.

 

Either way I'm just going to keep up my duties as safely as I can and hope that these grey clouds roll away for some brighter days.

 

For now this is Wallace Pemberton signing off.

Chapter 5

This is the exhausted but esteemed Reginald Copperbottom back with another audio log on this Crystal Chaos Infection, with the occasional snores coming from my Right Hand Man as he didn't want me alone and awake for too long tonight.

 

Sven and his team has figured out that it is some kind of specialized metals the CCC used in their anti chaos devices that causes a person's chaos to stop working, basically absorbing the energy from inside the body.

 

The metals however are hard to find and even more expensive to buy, not to mention that they cause great pain without reducing the crystal growth to those in advanced stage three, bless Geoffrey Plumb for still hanging on mentally as best as he can and letting the task force experiment and try whatever they can on him, and that ingesting the metals won't work as it eventually works its way out of a person's system.

 

For now we are looking into either somehow replicating the metal or finding something similar that can bring out the same effect.

 

The task force's progress has stalled at the moment, as trying to take this infection on in the later stages is a lot harder then it looks, especially when most of those that hit stage three are losing the battle of their minds to their chaos and become combative and dangerous without heavy sedation... something I never want to experience... if I can try...

 

...anyways...

 

They have discovered somewhat that the chaos inside a body is mainly found in the bloodstream, that this infection tells the body to basically create more chaos then normal and that causes our brain to want to use it more, which causes things to spread and even more chaos to be created... and you can see where this goes, with the chaos eventually building up around the infected area and start crystalizing.

 

The cause of the infection however is still unknown other than the CCC had some kind of hand in a similar infection long ago, with no records of any type of cure, vaccine or medication to control the thing on any modern record.

 

The Government hasn't been much help either in any sort of cure or suppressant, but they have shared a few warnings with us.

 

You remember that old report about amputation not being an option, well that gets worse as eventually crystals will begin to grow to replace the lost limb, sending a person straight to stage three if they weren't already. Also wounds on an infected individual tend to heal faster then normal, but sometimes comes at the risk of another vein site appearing.

 

Worse yet, while Wallace's reports talks about how the cold will prevent a stage four from hitting stage five, it seems that too much heat from either a hot and humid weather or from artificial means like say... a flamethrower... as cruel as that sounds... will cause a stage four to continue to be aggressive and cause the crystals on a stage four to keep growing as they keep attacking, possibly because whatever this infection is doing to us needs to create the heat itself from the inside... and trying to make the heat from the outside causes a reaction and more crystals to grow over the other crystals and thus possibly needing more heat to reach stage five.

 

But in possibly less grim news from the dogs, Galeforce plans on contacting the CCC soon and forming a liaison with them, and while I wouldn't say that is wise... we really don't have much of a choice... and better the Government then us for the situation at hand.

 

And hey, they could be nice and pony up what they know and we can get this all fixed and all our lives go back to normal!

 

Yeah right... this is the Center for Chaos Containment, being unhelpful for anyone but themselves is basically their job.

 

But anywho, myself, Chief, Right and Ellie are doing the same thankfully, our infections haven't progressed further and Right's suppressant dose hasn't changed anymore.

 

I know you probably can't hear it well, but Right's snoring sounds like one of those dogs with the massive jowls that vibrate when they are asleep and it is the cutest thing ever, at least to me.

 

...I should probably try to get some rest now that I'm talking about it... while it is easier said then done... Right is right there on the floor... and I can easily slip into his sleeping arms... getting to listen to... yawn...his body as my... eyes get heavier...

 

...Reginald Copperbottom yawn...signing off to fall asleep... in the arms of... yawn ...someone important.

Chapter 6

It is I, the supreme esteemed king of the moustaches, Reginald Copperbottom-

 

I can't keep a straight face, oh Puff that was probably the best and worst Reginald impression of all time.

 

It's actually me, Ellie Rose here! Right hand lady of Henry Stickmin and apprentice to Right Hand Man, stage one infected that is currently being managed by suppressants.

 

I heard Reginald make these audio logs about this crystal infection thing going on and decided to attempt one of these, mainly because he and Henry are stuck in a meeting with the rest of the Elites and the right hands aren't allowed in because of something Right did long ago that involved threatening to throw Poshley out of one of the Airship's windows or something.

 

So Right is visiting with Geoffrey at the med bay and I am here.

 

Anyways, things have been as steady as they can with the whole turning into a rampaging crystal zombie monster virus or another thing here, though I still think those bastards at the CCC has something to do with it.

 

I don't have any real evidence or anything other than the CCC has never really been a fan of those with chaos powers and they seem to always go to the extreme when what they deem chaos events happen.

 

Although...

 

This might be a stupid idea, but there is a CCC base roughly near a small town a travel from the Wall, if I remember my intel correctly that the entrance to the base was underneath a bar, and with the information that shit has hit the fan near the Wall and the surrounding areas, maybe I can gather up a group of people to try to check it out.

 

Worst case scenario is that those CCC cowards are alive and hiding away while people outside are suffering and the best case scenario is that we can get in and gather information and maybe even find more of those anti chaos cuffs and stuff that Sven and his nerds are researching for others to have.

 

...I don't want anyone else to lose themselves to this infection, especially with how close Henry and especially Reginald were to losing themselves before they found those anti chaos things in storage.

 

...

 

And hey, as long as we keep well clothed enough to where those stage three and fours can't draw blood by scratching or biting and keep our faces safe from shrapnel we should be fine, I would just need to recruit a few people and get permission from Henry and Reginald.

 

Maybe even some of the bozos at the Government would want to help as well, since we are under a truce and all that.

 

...

 

Don't really have much else to say for now, not sure how Reginald does it, though he does keep up with way more things and could talk an army to death so maybe that is it.

 

Hopefully whoever is listening to these in the future is having a much better time and this crud is eliminated or at least manageable in the future...

 

Oh hey! Henry texted that he and Reginald have just escaped hell so I'm going to gather Right and meet up with the bosses to discuss things.

 

So this is Ellie Rose signing off for now!

Chapter 7

Once again this is the always good looking Reginald Copperbottom, still here with this Crystal Chaos Infection around.

 

First of all, I never expected Ellie to make a little recording of her own, but history is told with many voices and maybe in the future these can all come in handy for the next generation if needed.

...Heh, for the first few weeks of knowing her I had a habit of calling her Miss Rose out of respect that would be expected from myself, but she was insistent of me calling her Ellie, saying she is just like every other Toppat here besides being Henry's right hand lady.

Still feels weird calling her by Ellie to this day but I am not one to force a title on someone they didn't want.

 

Second order of things that are slightly related to the first, the Chief and myself have cleared Ellie's little mission as long as herself and whoever she chooses knows the risks and wears protection just in case.

Hopefully her mission is a success and we can get some information and supplies, but I am making sure not to get my hopes up in case either those Center for Chaos Containment prudes empty the base or the Government might try something or take something important without telling us.

 

Speaking of the CCC, that General has headed off today to one of the biggest headquarters they have, hoping that they will cooperate with them and in a roundabout way, us.

On the one hand Galeforce is a Government General that has done good for his country and other boring patriotic things that no one else in the world cares about, so that could mean the CCC would be willing to help such an "honorable soul".

But on the other hand, Galeforce is at stage one still, and who knows how these secretive agents would react to seeing that at their front door.

Maybe the old man could get a decent makeup routine to hide his green face veins and maybe not look so hideous...

 

Anyways.

 

Nobody here has progressed further in their infection and it has been discovered that at the very least, those in their teens and under are immune to the infection, which I am very thankful for as no child here deserves to suffer from this...

...But we need to do all we can so the future generation has a future not covered in crystal infected.

...

And in even more hopeful news, the Witch and Geoffrey have seemingly halted their stage three progression thanks to some of the experiments they've volunteered in, with Geoffrey even showing signs of the crystals not growing anymore but even starting to recess.

I'm remaining slightly skeptical but also slightly optimistic, if things continue the way they are then we might not need the Government or those CCC chumps in possibly making a cure.

But that's if things go well... as I've said before, chaos is a fickle thing and we still don't know how this infection even started.

 

We just need to take things a step at a time and hold on for those that we care about.

 

For now though, this is Reginald Copperbottom signing off to check in on the recon and Sven's team and hopefully get some more good news.

Chapter 8

Once again this is the always handsome Reginald Copperbottom with another update on this infection business.

 

First, for the most part our infection status hasn't changed between myself, the Chief, Ellie and Right, which in the current situation is good news overall.

Though there is talk in slightly upping Right's suppressant dosage out of caution due to the fact that his lower half is all cybernetic so the crystal chaos infection can possibly grow faster if he somehow slips up and uses his chaos abilities. Right has sworn to not use his powers and hasn't done so as far as I know, but I would rather be safe then sorry.

...

...I don't want to think about losing Right of all people to this thing...

 

And speaking of Right, he is the only one that doesn't seem too convinced that Geoffrey and The Witch might be getting better, mentioning to me and the recon team that while their crystalizations have recessed even more then the last update I gave, that their chaos levels are still rising.

The Witch agrees with Right and has voluntarily placed herself in the maximum security cells while continuing treatment, while Geoffrey... the stubborn mule that he is... is far more optimistic about this test treatment, even talking with Macbeth with possibly coming back to the Train Division on Earth if there isn't anymore crystal growth.

...

...I would say that Geoffrey's idea seems like beyond a bad idea... but chaos is a strange thing and maybe it rising still is like a bad fever just about to break.

...

 

Anyways, no word from the Government about Galeforce's trip so far, but they have loaned two soldiers in helping Ellie with her raid on the CCC base in Canada, though she knows that in the first sign of possible betrayal that her and the Toppats she has chosen can take action for their safety, that we can just claim that they were attacked by stage fours so that we can keep our flimsy treaty going.

But hopefully those two Government soldiers know better then to stab us in the back and that the raid on the base proves fruitful.

 

Speaking of fruitful, Sven has a lead on where to get some of the special metal those CCC fellows use for their restraints, and he is hoping his team's research into replicating the metal reaches a breakthrough soon, that at the very least would buy so many infected Toppats more time.

For now we can only keep up with our alliances, keeping things as calm as we can here between infected and non infected and hope a breakthrough in fighting back against this infection is coming soon.

 

This is the valiantly beautiful Reginald signing off for now.

Chapter 9

This is Ellie Rose back again with one of these voice messages.

 

My infection is still under control, Right had his suppressant upped a dose to be safe and Reginald and Henry are still at their stage two infections.

 

Honestly I don't have much else to say since I've got to head out on hopefully a successful and fruitful mission in a few hours, but I saw that Reginald got a message from that Wallace Pemberton fellow he has at the Wall and I'd figure to give it a listen since the mission is near that area anyways.

 

---

Well salutations boss, Wallace here and things haven't changed a darn bit too much.

 

I can at least start with the good news, and that almost all the regular prisoners have been either given a flight or boat lift either back to their homes or to somewhere safe, which includes our fellow Toppats that were locked up here.

 

I know that means that technically my little ol mission is complete, but with everything going on, I figure that I can still stay for now and give reports of the situation down here.

 

And there are a few prisoners that have decided to stay and help out where extra help is needed also, figuring the Wall is just a plumb prison for everyone right now and a helping hand or two is better then nothing.

 

Our new Wall boss, grumpy Grigori, hasn't figured out what to do with the prisoners that are here for more... evil things that they don't regret doing, but we might just loan out a bunch of the laundry vans and let them drive away from the Wall at their own risks.

 

At least the Government haven't been sending too many more infected here, so running out of room isn't an issue at the time.

 

As for Dmitri, well no one has directly said it, but most of the staff have figured out that he is probably either dead or a late stage infected.

 

I'm guessing the latter since Mr. Halberd's son got infected trying to explore the main upper office area where Dmitri had locked himself in despite being told not to.

 

In other news, a few brave guards have figured out how to traverse the areas nearby without drawing too much attention to themselves, carrying matches, lighters and anything flammable to use to distract the infected that roam the areas, so that is maybe usable information for you all.

 

Minus all the deranged yelling from the infected locked up inside, the horrifying sounds of infected crunching around outside in the distance and both of those sounds combined haunting almost all our dreams, things are ok here for now, and while it could be better I ain't licking a gift horse in the mouth and jinxing anything

 

For now though, this is Wallace Pemberton signing off with my report.

Notes:

Sorry about this coming out so late, February just ended up being quite the wacky winter weather month here.

Chapter 10

Oi, this is Right Hand Man and I guess this is my turn on this recording shit about the ongoing infection.

 

Honestly I just need to talk, and with El out on her mission, and Reg and 'Enry busy with meetings and consulting with the recon team, I guess this is the next best thing.

 

You ever been right about something... but you really really wanted to be wrong about.

 

...

 

Well basically this morning, things with old Geoffrey went south straight to shit creek.

 

I went to visit him for breakfast in the med bay and try to talk him down on that stupid idea of his going and seeing Macbeth, and at first everything seemed fine minus him being stubborn and not budging on him going.

 

But as he got up to go pack his clothes, he started complaining that his stomach was feeling upset.

 

And before anyone could get him to sit down or reach for a trash bin of some kind, he upchucked shards of crystals.

 

Obviously this wasn't good, especially when round two hit Geoffrey harder, causing him to start getting unbalanced on his feet and for sweat to start pouring from him.

 

I saw through my cybernetics that his chaos levels were rising fast, causing me to just act as I started grabbing nearby doctors and nurses, putting my shield and yelled for everyone to either run or hit the deck before it happened.

 

...

 

One minute Geoffrey was there... and then the next minute he wasn't, crystal shards flying everywhere in the area.

 

A few Toppats got struck by the crystals and are now under quarantine while starting suppressants, with this possibly being a new strain, and that area of med bay needs cleaning up... but it could've possibly been so much more worse if I didn't react when I did.

 

...

 

May that old bastard rest in peace now.

 

After finding out what happened with Geoffrey, The Witch has requested her isolation chamber be reinforced as to... contain her eventual fate, which I can't blame the gal for.

 

Honestly this whole shit sucks, Toppats are afraid of other Toppats, the world is basically at a standstill and we still don't have a clue on what or how to cure this.

 

But... we're the Toppat Clan, we've dealt with Terrence and his impulsive grief stricken reign, we've dealt with TRNK's rampage among the old Airship, we've fought against Governments, rival organizations and every breed of law enforcement thrown at us.

 

We can kick this crystal chaos infection in the teeth and eventually get back to doing what Toppats do best.

 

...because I don't want to imagine us failing... the nightmares already do that for me.

 

Bleh, getting all sappy and sad here.

 

Anyways, I should head on and see what help needs to be done before getting back to Reg, so farewell for whoever is listening to this.

Chapter 11

This is the still very handsome Reginald Copperbottom here with yet another update on this crystal infection situation.

 

Mr. Macbeth and the Train Division have refused to take orders or speak to anyone on the space station unless they aren't infected, blaming us for what happened to Geoffrey and thinking we wanted that to happen to him, despite us very clearly not wanting that outcome that we couldn't even of predicted happening.

 

Frustrating old fool that one...

 

And speaking of old fools, that General Galeforce has returned from his trip to the Center for Chaos Containment, with them having nothing on file on anything like this infection in the past and the General mentioning that the Corporal he met with, some guy named Bill Bullet, didn't want anyone digging any further about things and to only focus about the current situation.

 

Galeforce might be a Government lap dog, but even he knows that something is fishy, that these CCC are hiding something.

 

Apparently Galeforce wants another meeting with us tomorrow, only asking us to record everything from his end as he has some plan on how to get some information on the past about this.

 

Don't know what the old bastard is up to, but at this point we need any sort of clue on how this came to be.

...

 

In slightly better news, Svensson has figured out that the metals the CCC use in their anti chaos restraints work by prohibiting crystalline growth, giving his team a much better idea on how to replicate this stuff.

 

It is far from a cure, but right now anything is more helpful then doing nothing.

 

No word from Ellie yet on her mission, but considering how far off they are in Canada it makes sense, and I trust that she and her team can handle themselves and come back with helpful information or supplies.

 

All we can do is hold steady on our end and hope that this nightmare eventually comes to an end soon.

 

For now, this is Reginald Copperbottom signing off for the day.

Chapter 12

[REC ON]

*The sight of TV static first fills the screen before slowly clearing up to a video of General Galeforce sitting behind a desk inside a Government tent, a faded name tag and an old blue jacket are the only objects on the desk*

 

This is General Hubert Galeforce of the US Government Military. The time is currently fourteen hundred hours and thirty one minutes. I am at stage one of the crystal chaos infection but by the end of this I know that my infection will get worse.

 

Before I proceed any further I would like to state for the record that my actions are currently of my volition and I am aware that once I've done what I've done that Captain HJ Canterbury is to temporarily take up my General role until further notice and that he is to continue the current alliance with the Toppat Clan until a cure is found.

 

...

 

With that out of the way, the world is currently facing an unknown infection that has no known cure. We do have a few ways to either suppress the infection or to stop an early infection from progressing further, but these are only a temporary bandaid to the situation.

 

I've tried in good faith to contact the organization known as the Center for Chaos Containment in hopes of either finding out something new or even enlisting their help, but the Corporal that heard my request, Bill Bullet, has denied both, stating that it would be more fruitful to keep our current alliances, to just focus on the crystal chaos infection and not look into matters that should stay in the past.

 

It is clear that they are hiding something and during my short stay there at their facility I quietly commandeered several items like an old name tag and a jacket that belonged to a father or older figure to Corporal Bullet.

 

So as much as I don't want to use my powers to peer into the past in hopes of finding something, the CCC has left the US Government with no choice but for me to act in good standing.

 

*General Galeforce places his hands on the jacket and name tag, closing his eyes for a second before shooting them open again, now glowing bright green.*

 

I see flashes of an older man that resembles that Corporal Bullet... flashes of a lab of some kind and of some other figure with a blue hat and a goatee occasionally with him...

 

I see the two talking... about being able to control and wield chaos... an alliance made in secrecy of their own groups...

 

I... see...

 

I see...

 

I see crystals and powers... being able to command such power on call!

 

I see success on the faces of the two men... of their names Banzai and Jaques!

 

I now see failure... of corruption and growth...

 

Banzai is calling for help as his body is being consumed by dark purple crystals... he was clearly weaker and undeserving of the gift given to him!

 

I see the one called Jaques looking onward... knowing that he was stronger... that he only was worthy of the chaos he naturally had!

 

I...

 

I see...

 

...focus Hubert... focus...

 

I see a journal that was written in code... hidden away somewhere in the cold... an alliance and betrayal never to be known by history...

 

And I see a dark purple crystal shattering among a fire fight between several officers and criminals inside a museum... the same color that took Banzai... tiny shards scattering their presence on those on the makeshift battlefield... the first to earn what Banzai couldn't wield...

 

*Suddenly Galeforce throws the desk and objects away from himself, slumping down on his chair and hiding his face away from the camera.*

 

I have to go now... before the calling of my gift gets even worse... this was all accounted for before the recording...

 

Do with the information as you will...

 

*The screen flickers back to static*

 

[REC STOP]

Chapter 13

This is the always dashing Reginald Copperbottom here with... quite the surprising but small update on this crystal chaos shit.

 

That Galeforce used his powers to look into the past after "commandeering" some old CCC stuff in secret and...

 

While I don't know any Banzais... the only Jaques I could potentially be aware of that wore a blue hat and had a goatee would be the former leader, Jaques Kensington.

 

And while he was known for being eccentric and eventually trapping himself inside a cursed painting frame as the story goes, would he have gone so far as to help create this?

 

An attempt to control the uncontrollable, hidden from the eyes of the very Toppats he was possibly leading...

 

As much as I would jump to defend a fellow Toppat or even point the blame on, we just don't know all the information, not until we find that journal.

 

For all we know this Jaques could be an entirely different fellow all together!

 

Heh...

 

Well anyways... in some slightly better news, Ellie Rose is returning from her mission tonight, with her and Miss Ivy doing fine and no Government shenanigans happening from what she reported.

 

She is bringing back a few things that they collected for us to examine and I'll let her tell the debrief if she so wishes.

 

But for now, this is Reginald signing off.

Chapter 14

This is Ellie Rose, back from my mission to infiltrate the CCC secret base that was near the Wall.

 

So to ease the minds of anyone listening, myself, Ivy and the other two Government guys... I think their names were Calves Buttski and Victoria Grit... all came back no worse for wear, no worsening or new infections and no backstabbing from anyone.

 

But there were tension between us Toppats and those Government guys, since we are enemies and we are in the middle of an infection that no one knows who caused, but no fighting or problems as those CCC fucks are kinda even more enemy number one at the moment.

 

Anyways...

 

Ivy and I teleported to Canada near some old train tracks the clan used to use and then made our way to the rendezvous point to meet the other two, nerve racking to say the least as you can kinda hear faint clanking and screaming from the infected no matter where you were at, which didn't lead to much sleep.

 

Thankfully we didn't run into any of those crystalized zombies and we met up with the Government allies and we headed straight into our second rendezvous point near some thick forests and rocky hills, safer to make a temporary camp then in a flat area with the amount of people with us.

 

As we were walking, Canine was making small talk and trying to make small jokes here and there, I guess he was trying to distract us from the wonderful sounds of the infected provided to us which did work, though later Victoria told me in private that Carlson was trying to distract himself because his twin brother was one of the first to be infected after getting bit from an infected security guard and that he hadn't heard anything from him since.

 

Soon we made it to the planned rest area as the sun was starting to set and we made camp, though it was a camp without fire due to not wanting to fight giant crystal monsters in the dark.

 

None of us really slept, maybe a few minutes of shut eyes each, but between past animosities and such pleasant sounds gracing all our ears, any solid rest wasn't happening.

 

So once the sun started to rise we all just silently gathered up gear and headed out to where that snowy old town was at.

 

After having climbed up and down several rocky hills and a few close calls with some infected, we eventually made it there.

 

As expected, the town was empty beside a few animals rummaging through houses, everything looking to have been vacant for a good while according to Victoria.

 

So after the four of us made sure things were safe, we headed inside to the bar that the CCC uses as a cover for their base.

 

The bar looked just as ragged as everything else which was surprising due to who really owns it, but at the time I just thought those CCC shit heads were just keeping themselves from looking too sus.

 

It didn't take too long to find the floor hatch that would lead to the real base, with Collins struggling to pull the thing open before Victoria and Ivy stepped in and ripped the hatch straight off.

 

I was worried about alarms going off or CCC staff being alerted to us, but as we all made our way inside, there was none of that.

 

The whole place looked wrecked and abandoned... no power on and no signs of life besides some large gem like stones that told us roughly what happened to the employees.

 

We decided to split up into two teams to scour the place, with Ivy and Cavern taking one half of the base and Victoria and myself taking the other half.

 

You think four people rummaging around everywhere would be loud, but there was this creepy silence that sorta followed us around if that makes sense.

 

It just got so creepy that Victoria and myself would alternate just talking about something or nothing, just to have something different to listen to then cold silence.

 

Though I would take the silence over the screaming and clunking of crystals.

 

Victoria did find some papers about the infection and what the CCC here was trying to do about it, though it didn't really show any hopeful research or anything new about the thing, but she still took it just in case there was something in between the lines.

 

And I found a creepy old locked box that was shoved away in a sealed locker belonging to someone with the name Ban.

 

The last thing we needed was to try to brute force this open and somehow open the gates to hell or to find some embarrassing photo of someone at a Christmas party, so I decided to take the box so that it could be carefully opened here at the space station.

 

Conrad and Ivy found a few hard drives and storage devices over on their side of things, with the two splitting up things to which side would have the better tech to see what could be hiding in those.

 

And after doing one more clean sweep of the place, we decided to head back so we could make camp for one more night, though before leaving Victoria took a minute to give respects to the lost employees... because while the CCC sucks eggs, those employees didn't really deserve to be infected and possibly stuck down there for who knows when.

 

We all joined in the minute of respects before leaving.

 

After travelling for as long as there was some kind of daylight, we all eventually made camp together for the last time.

 

Since we knew we weren't sleeping, we decided to start telling stories about stuff, going from Victoria, to Ivy, to Calcium and to me before circling back.

 

I wish I could tell you that we all told our life stories and could now understand the other side just a bit more, but that didn't happen and honestly why would Ivy and I tell two Government dogs about our pasts.

 

I did find out that Cranberry and his brother once stole every piece of underwear and boxers from their higher ups and strung them up like a large flag that was shown off from the flag pole because they were tired of eating beans for two weeks straight, and that is hilarious.

 

So once the sun started peaking up from the night sky, we all gathered up everything, making sure the Government guys only took what they had and that we weren't missing anything on our end, before saying our goodbyes and making our separate ways back to our homes.

 

So that was basically the mission in a nutshell, while no CCC member was punched to death and no super secret information out in the open was to be found, maybe the box and other things could lead into something, though that is in the hands of Sven and his nerd squad to figure out.

 

Tomorrow I'll poke Henry and the others and see if they have any sort of update from their side of things, but tonight I'm going to lay down in my own bed and get some much needed sleep.

 

So goodnights to anyone listening and I hope things get better soon.

Chapter 15

This is the always good looking even on my worst beauty days Reginald Copperbottom here with quite the strange update of this ongoing crystal chaos infection.

 

First myself, the chief, Right and Ellie are doing well with no worsening infection for now. Right's chaos levels are holding steady and even slightly declining on the current dose of suppressants so that is also a good sign.

 

Secondly is that while no cure or vaccine has been found yet, Sven and his team have figured out how to replicate the anti chaos material those CCC bastards use!

 

Most of the materials are either already here or easily obtainable, but there is one ingredient that normally would be easy to get, but because of a CERTAIN STUBBORN OLD BASTARD THAT LEADS A CERTAIN TRAIN DIVISION, getting this item is going to be a lot harder.

 

...I apologize for that outburst but Mr. Macbeth is just a pain in my side at the moment.

 

Switching subjects, Sven's team has also opened the box Ellie brought back, revealing inside only a journal that has not just been written in code, but each page has been written in some type of new code or language, with some of the pages showing off drawings of things like crystals and veins and scientific formulas.

 

It might be a stretch, but there could be a chance this journal might have some information on the infection and if so, could finally lead everyone to a breakthrough!

 

But we won't know until the pages are all translated, and those won't happen until the communication team has all the pages digitally scanned in our computers so the journal doesn't get potentially damaged in the process.

 

For now we just have to keep doing our parts and keep up the routine the best we can.

 

So this is Reginald signing off on...

 

...was that black vein on my upper arm always there?

 

...

 

...It is probably just my imagination but I might see Sven's team later to see if they can't tighten my arm restraints as I haven't been doing my usual workout routine in a good while to be on the safe side, and maybe also swing by the med ward to check on things.

 

...

 

This is Reginald Copperbottom signing off for real now.

Chapter 16

Greetings, hello, salutations and other fancy words to say hi, this is Ellie Rose providing a small update on this infection shit.

 

The first page of that journal has been translated and the other pages are slowly but steadily being picked at according to Burt, but this Ban person really didn't want reading his dear diary stuff to be easy.

 

Still no progress on a cure or vaccine yet, but Sven's dorky team was able to get some of whatever it was he needed and is doing a few test runs with the imitation chaos stopping metals to make sure the things work.

 

Speaking of those chaos metal things, Reginald has had his arm cuffs adjusted to be much tighter and is staying in med bay to check to see if his infection is actually progressing or if it is from how flabby his arms have gotten for the cuffs to not fit as snug.

 

I really hope it is the latter... we are already on borrowed time as it is... and I don't want to lose anymore friends.

 

...

 

Well myself, Henry and Right are still stable in our various infections, so there is some good with the unknown, and Right says Reginald is nervous but in mostly good spirits despite his conundrum.

 

The Government is still honoring their truce despite the change in leadership and the CCC are still filled with bitch ass cowards but what's new there.

 

And I guess that's it for now, unless something happens this Ellie signing off for now.

Chapter 17

Banzai Bullet Journal Entry Number One.

 

For however long it has existed, the mysterious energies known as chaos is still mostly unknown in nature.

 

Throughout history people have called chaos many things, a gift from the gods, a curse from the devils, something not from this world and even something as natural as the world.

 

But it still doesn't explain what it truly is, why there are people, plants, animals and even objects with chaos abilities beyond understanding, what allows a person to gain these abilities at birth or even among blood and organ donations, and why others never see a drop of this chaos in their lives even if a blood or organ donor had chaos abilities themselves.

 

Sure the Center for Chaos Containment is always studying chaos and teaching those with abilities how to control such powers, but there is so much more to do.

 

Imagine the day we can fully pluck out chaos from someone or something without hurting them, to study the energy in its rawest form and even place chaos into another person to make them stronger, help cure diseases and cancers, or even make the life of someone disabled just a little easier.

 

Or imagine being able to bring extinct plants and animals back with chaos, to be able to bring a new balance to areas of nature dealing with invasive species without harming anyone and using chaos to solve food and water supply issues around the world.

 

But that day seemed so far away.

 

Until a few days ago.

 

I've been approached by an eccentric individual named Jaques Kensington, a member of the Toppat Clan, who also wants to know much more about chaos, to be able to truly understand such a thing as I do.

 

Despite Jaques being apart of a criminal organization, I've agreed to a secret alliance with him separate from our groups, knowing that what we need to do would be frowned upon by both our groups.

 

But by the end of our goals, we would be able to at the very least give people the ability to use chaos, to take the first steps into truly understanding the nature of chaos and maybe even expanding our experiments so that we don't have to hide what we are doing for the world.

 

I am using this old journal to document our findings, making sure that each entry is translated into some sort of code or language in case this project ever gets compromised.

 

But whatever happens next, there is work to be done and chaos to be controlled.

Notes:

Sorry for taking so long with these chapters, bronchitis decided to pay a visit around the middle of August and beat my lungs with a steel chair.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Crystal Chaos AU