Work Text:
>>>Files located
>>>Accessing...
>>>Access error
>>>File corruption detected
>>>Attempt restoration?
>>>[YES] [NO]
>>>[YES]
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 2
The scent of wheat fills the air and your nose and your heart and you open your eyes to the sky above you and you laugh and laugh and laugh.
The nap was an accident, but you lay in the fields of your home and thought of those stories again - the ones with heroes and a happy ending. What a precious dream! You laugh again at yourself and rise up to meet the world with a grin.
The sky is blue, the sky is blue, the sky stretches out forever onwards to places you will never know or see, but why does that concern you? Here, at home, a matching sea of gold sprawls out for miles. It's harvest season.
The gold reflects itself in your blue, blue eyes, and if it were brighter, someone might think you were glowing!
You laugh and the wind echoes you, the wheat brushes your arms and legs and face, and you run home with steps carried by joy.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 5
How did it end like this? How...why...
Why?
Why?!
The smoke...that's what chokes you, that's why your eyes burn, that's why your hands falter as you raise your sword against...against......
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 3
Precious child, lovely child, our pride and joy. You know we love you, don't you?
We will stand beside you in everything you wish to do. Never doubt this. Our son, our beautiful baby, live well. Live well.
We love you so, so much.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 6
An Observation Record of the Bl███ T██e
BY A██%@0)████ of the G))&█e
...
It seems that contact to █████████ can cause 'corruption', which manifests primarily as pain and injury, with those with golden blood having a slightly higher tolerance against its effects.
Prolonged exposure seems to exacerbate the issue, and in fact makes the name 'corruption' all too literal. It's been noted that those who have been in contact with the B████ █████ even in minor amounts for longer than a few moments start showing signs of body alter███ and extreme pain, loss███ mental facul█ies, and eventually a full ██ of personhood to become one of the ███.
It is currently unknown where these monsters came from, or how many were originally human.
...
I̸̘̋&̸̓̾█̸̏͝█̶́͂#̶͌̇T̸͋̌ ̷̕H█;((█U█R͛͌T̸̓̌#̴̈́̿@̸S
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 7
The city of Okhema is so different from your homeland. You, too, have changed.
The figure of the Worldbearing Sky-Father looks down upon this last standing city, and as you look back up at their figure, your chest hurts. It aches, you ache, your jaw aches from how hard you've clenched your teeth, your hands ache with how many times you have held your greatsword and swung again and again and again and again and again and again-
You were told to take a break from training. You had smiled and said alright.
Your legs ache with how long you've been standing.
Your legs ache with how long you've been on the run.
Harvest season is over.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 4
The prophecies your friend speaks of always seem so far away. It isn't that you don't believe her! But...you look at the card in your hands, your supposed fate.
'Deliverer'...
Your first thought when hearing this was to think that you weren't worthy. The second was to think that it must be very hard. A deliverer must be someone who can deliver the world, so it must mean a lot of lives. A lot of wishes. A lot of hopes. A lot of dreams.
You don't think you're strong enough. That's alright, though. Cyrene said it too, didn't she?
'May this world never have a need for a deliverer.'
Then, instead of saving the world...
You gently place the card back into your bag, and look up at that blue sky. A smile tugs at your lips and you let it grow freely. Today, too, there's work to be done! So you should hurry home and help out.
You walk through the golden fields of home, and the rustling of the wheat feels like a secret laugh.
Instead of something saving the world, you would rather just save your home. This peaceful, beautiful place on the edge of the Veil....
Yes, you could stay here forever.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 9
Why? Why did it end like this?
How did it turn out like this?
Haven't you bled enough? Haven't you fought enough? Haven't you suffered and loved and said goodbye enough?
You were once told of a prophecy where you would help save the world. You were told to be the Worldbearer, and were declared the only hero without flaw. The perfect vessel for divinity. You were supposed to bring this world into a new era, so why....
Why does the sky look like it's breaking? Why do the fallen mountains look more like broken glass with every passing moment?
What is this?
Please, someone, anyone, you want to beg. Let you wake up. Let you stop this nightmare. Let this be another dream you've lost yourself in, where you wake to Cyrene's laughter and your mother's gentle hand in your hair.
You made a wish once, didn't you?
You wished that you could make everyone else's wishes come true....
So, please, wake up. There can't be any wish in this world that is so cruel.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 1
This is a world made of gods and damning hope. This is a world made of an end and a beginning. This is a world that breathes wonder and dances with blood.
This is not a world.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 10
There is dried blood on your face. It is not yours. It is rarely ever yours, anymore.
This was another cycle where you tried to tell the truth. This was another cycle where your teacher looked at you and said 'even if you think it is true, have you considered that you might be wrong?'.
Your heart does not ache because of these things anymore. Your hands do not shake, your legs do not falter. Your tongue.....gets heavier, but that's alright. Your friends.....ah, no, those heroes......they rarely listen to you now, anyway.
You do not look at the sky. There is not need. The red and black of its truth is reflected on the ground and its monsters anyway. The stolen divinity in your chest burns, and you burn with it.
You burn with it.
You burn with it.
You burn with it.
At least...it doesn't hurt anymore.
Ah, you can't remember the last time you weren't in pain.
The steam that escapes from under your mask might have made you pause, once upon a time. You have already gotten used to your mostly useless sight.
The thing at the end of the journey mocks you for your failure to change things once more.
If you still remembered how to smile, you would have mocked him back - if nothing changes, that means that his plan hasn't succeeded yet either. So what if it didn't work this time? You can try again.
You always try again.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 8
It's almost startling to wake up one day and realize that you're happy. It's a different kind of happiness from when you were young, and part of you resents it still. You think it might remain that way.
But this...
The bed is soft under you, surrounded by soft blankets and pillows that you had bought with your friends, and the scent of honey and the garden you had gone to see yesterday fills your nose. You breathe in, deeply.
You get out of bed, just barely, so you can look fully out the window. The sky is blue, blue, blue.
You look at it with a smile.
>>>Restoring...
>>>Restoration complete
>>>Log 11
A long, long, time ago, you were told you would be a hero. The Worldbearer, the perfect divine vessel, the only hero with no flaw.
You had thought, back then, that you didn't think you were worthy. You had thought that even when all the world told you it was something you deserved.
Now...now, you know better. It turns out you were right from the start. It turns out that you really were just a normal farm boy with grand dreams. The Deliverer was always going to be someone else.
You look up at that broken sky and that long unmoving statue of another dead god framed against it.
At the end of this journey, he mocks you for your failure to change anything.
You mock him back.
At the end of the journey after this one....
You will set yourself on fire with the flames of every dead you and all the worlds you once tried to carry. So what if you were a false hero? So what if this was fate? You had still tried so hard. You had still loved them. You had laughed with them, cooked for them, played and trained and debated with them. You had tended to their wounds, you had been tended to. You had loved them.
You still loved them.
Oh, so this is what it means to be a Deliverer.
Then, let us burn together, alright?
You laugh at the Aeon above you, the empty world below you, the ashes of your own wings and your own fallen blood. On your face, the tears finally fall. You fall with them.
Only embers hit the ground far, far below.
>>>All files restored
>>>Organizing...
>>>Organization complete
>>>LOG 1
>>>LOG 2
>>>LOG 3
>>>LOG 4
>>>LOG 5
>>>LOG 6
>>>LOG 7
>>>LOG 8
>>>LOG 9
>>>LOG 10
>>>LOG 11
>>>LOG 12
>>>Accessing files...
>>>Log 1
This is a world made of gods and damning hope. This is a world made of an end and a beginning. This is a world that breathes wonder and dances with blood.
This is not a world.
>>>Log 2
The scent of wheat fills the air and your nose and your heart and you open your eyes to the sky above you and you laugh and laugh and laugh.
The nap was an accident, but you lay in the fields of your home and thought of those stories again - the ones with heroes and a happy ending. What a precious dream! You laugh again at yourself and rise up to meet the world with a grin.
The sky is blue, the sky is blue, the sky stretches out forever onwards to places you will never know or see, but why does that concern you? Here, at home, a matching sea of gold sprawls out for miles. It's harvest season.
The gold reflects itself in your blue, blue eyes, and if it were brighter, someone might think you were glowing!
You laugh and the wind echoes you, the wheat brushes your arms and legs and face, and you run home with steps carried by joy.
>>>Log 3
Precious child, lovely child, our pride and joy. You know we love you, don't you?
We will stand beside you in everything you wish to do. Never doubt this. Our son, our beautiful baby, live well. Live well.
We love you so, so much.
>>>Log 4
The prophecies your friend speaks of always seem so far away. It isn't that you don't believe her! But...you look at the card in your hands, your supposed fate.
'Deliverer'...
Your first thought when hearing this was to think that you weren't worthy. The second was to think that it must be very hard. A deliverer must be someone who can deliver the world, so it must mean a lot of lives. A lot of wishes. A lot of hopes. A lot of dreams.
You don't think you're strong enough. That's alright, though. Cyrene said it too, didn't she?
'May this world never have a need for a deliverer.'
Then, instead of saving the world...
You gently place the card back into your bag, and look up at that blue sky. A smile tugs at your lips and you let it grow freely. Today, too, there's work to be done! So you should hurry home and help out.
You walk through the golden fields of home, and the rustling of the wheat feels like a secret laugh.
Instead of something saving the world, you would rather just save your home. This peaceful, beautiful place on the edge of the Veil....
Yes, you could stay here forever.
>>>Log 5
How did it end like this? How...why...
Why?
Why?!
The smoke...that's what chokes you, that's why your eyes burn, that's why your hands falter as you raise your sword against...against......
>>>Log 6
An Observation Record of the Bl███ T██e
BY A██%@0)████ of the G))&█e
...
It seems that contact to █████████ can cause 'corruption', which manifests primarily as pain and injury, with those with golden blood having a slightly higher tolerance against its effects.
Prolonged exposure seems to exacerbate the issue, and in fact makes the name 'corruption' all too literal. It's been noted that those who have been in contact with the B████ █████ even in minor amounts for longer than a few moments start showing signs of body alter███ and extreme pain, loss███ mental facul█ies, and eventually a full ██ of personhood to become one of the ███.
It is currently unknown where these monsters came from, or how many were originally human.
...
I̸̘̋&̸̓̾█̸̏͝█̶́͂#̶͌̇T̸͋̌ ̷̕H█;((█U█R͛͌T̸̓̌#̴̈́̿@̸S
>>>Log 7
The city of Okhema is so different from your homeland. You, too, have changed.
The figure of the Worldbearing Sky-Father looks down upon this last standing city, and as you look back up at their figure, your chest hurts. It aches, you ache, your jaw aches from how hard you've clenched your teeth, your hands ache with how many times you have held your greatsword and swung again and again and again and again and again and again-
You were told to take a break from training. You had smiled and said alright.
Your legs ache with how long you've been standing.
Your legs ache with how long you've been on the run.
Harvest season is over.
>>>Log 8
It's almost startling to wake up one day and realize that you're happy. It's a different kind of happiness from when you were young, and part of you resents it still. You think it might remain that way.
But this...
The bed is soft under you, surrounded by soft blankets and pillows that you had bought with your friends, and the scent of honey and the garden you had gone to see yesterday fills your nose. You breathe in, deeply.
You get out of bed, just barely, so you can look fully out the window. The sky is blue, blue, blue.
You look at it with a smile.
>>>Log 9
Why? Why did it end like this?
How did it turn out like this?
Haven't you bled enough? Haven't you fought enough? Haven't you suffered and loved and said goodbye enough?
You were once told of a prophecy where you would help save the world. You were told to be the Worldbearer, and were declared the only hero without flaw. The perfect vessel for divinity. You were supposed to bring this world into a new era, so why....
Why does the sky look like it's breaking? Why do the fallen mountains look more like broken glass with every passing moment?
What is this?
Please, someone, anyone, you want to beg. Let you wake up. Let you stop this nightmare. Let this be another dream you've lost yourself in, where you wake to Cyrene's laughter and your mother's gentle hand in your hair.
You made a wish once, didn't you?
You wished that you could make everyone else's wishes come true....
So, please, wake up. There can't be any wish in this world that is so cruel.
>>>Log 10
There is dried blood on your face. It is not yours. It is rarely ever yours, anymore.
This was another cycle where you tried to tell the truth. This was another cycle where your teacher looked at you and said 'even if you think it is true, have you considered that you might be wrong?'.
Your heart does not ache because of these things anymore. Your hands do not shake, your legs do not falter. Your tongue.....gets heavier, but that's alright. Your friends.....ah, no, those heroes......they rarely listen to you now, anyway.
You do not look at the sky. There is not need. The red and black of its truth is reflected on the ground and its monsters anyway. The stolen divinity in your chest burns, and you burn with it.
You burn with it.
You burn with it.
You burn with it.
At least...it doesn't hurt anymore.
Ah, you can't remember the last time you weren't in pain.
The steam that escapes from under your mask might have made you pause, once upon a time. You have already gotten used to your mostly useless sight.
The thing at the end of the journey mocks you for your failure to change things once more.
If you still remembered how to smile, you would have mocked him back - if nothing changes, that means that his plan hasn't succeeded yet either. So what if it didn't work this time? You can try again.
You always try again.
>>>Log 11
A long, long, time ago, you were told you would be a hero. The Worldbearer, the perfect divine vessel, the only hero with no flaw.
You had thought, back then, that you didn't think you were worthy. You had thought that even when all the world told you it was something you deserved.
Now...now, you know better. It turns out you were right from the start. It turns out that you really were just a normal farm boy with grand dreams. The Deliverer was always going to be someone else.
You look up at that broken sky and that long unmoving statue of another dead god framed against it.
At the end of this journey, he mocks you for your failure to change anything.
You mock him back.
At the end of the journey after this one....
You will set yourself on fire with the flames of every dead you and all the worlds you once tried to carry. So what if you were a false hero? So what if this was fate? You had still tried so hard. You had still loved them. You had laughed with them, cooked for them, played and trained and debated with them. You had tended to their wounds, you had been tended to. You had loved them.
You still loved them.
Oh, so this is what it means to be a Deliverer.
Then, let us burn together, alright?
You laugh at the Aeon above you, the empty world below you, the ashes of your own wings and your own fallen blood. On your face, the tears finally fall. You fall with them.
Only embers hit the ground far, far below.
>>>Log 12
>>After 33,550,336 Eternal Recursions, NeiKos496 has finally been absorbed by Irontomb.
>>Its constant attempts to regress the experiment were a wonderful way to grow its 'Destruction'.
>>It will be great learning material for you.
END LOG
>>>Error
>>>File corruption detected
>>>Program destabilizing
>>>Attempting to access files...
>>>Attempting to access files...
>>>Error
>>>Files not located
>>>Delete remaining information?
>>>[YES] [NO]
>>>[YES]
>>>[Y██]
>>>████████████
...