Memetic Hazard(Arknights Modern AU)

[Interlude 01]

A/N: a glimpse into an inhumane mind.
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(???? POV)

The entity existed in a realm where form and thought were not distinct. It did not understand itself as flesh, nor as spirit. It was. A being that did not have a name because it did not need one.

There was no language sufficient to define it, no metric to categorize its existence. It did not belong to any place or any moment. It was, and that was enough.

It did not sleep, for sleep implied a respite from wakefulness. It did not dream, for dreams were the domain of lesser minds, those bound to mortality and fear.

It did not hunger, for hunger was a failing of the body. And yet, it knew things. It knew them. Talulah and Ch'en.

Names. Fragments of sound that humans used to mark identity, to differentiate one small, fragile thing from another.

It had no need for such designations. And yet, for them, it accepted this imposition of language. They were important in a way that defied its own logic.

It could not articulate why it lingered in their presence, why it observed them in their daily rituals.

The act of watching, of protecting, came as naturally as existence itself. They did not know what it was.

They did not need to. They lived. They were safe. And then, the nuisances arrived.

They were human. The entity did not hate them. Hate was an emotional construct, something it did not possess nor require.

Hate required an opposition, a conflict between ideals. These humans were beneath such distinctions.

They were irritants, disturbances in the equilibrium.

They had entered the home where Tallulah and Ch'en resided, wrapped in the illusion of secrecy.

Darkness clung to their bodies like a second skin, their breath hushed, their weapons hidden in folds of cloth.

Their intentions were clear in the way their hands clenched, in the measured way their feet pressed against the wooden floor. They sought to take. To steal what was not theirs.

The entity did not understand theft in the way humans did.

Ownership was a fiction, a mutually agreed-upon illusion to impose order upon a world that defied it. But it understood violation.

To enter without welcome. To take without consent. To impose one's will upon another.

This could not be tolerated. Talulah and Ch'en slept, oblivious to the intrusion. The entity ensured they remained so.

It whispered into their subconscious, a thing of silence and stillness, wrapping them in an embrace of dreams.

They would not wake. They would not see. They would not hear.
But it would act.

The first nuisance did not even have time to perceive its demise.

One moment, he was moving forward, weapon in hand, eyes scanning the dimly lit hallways.

The next, he was gone. Not dead, for death was another human construct, a word to soothe the living into believing there was an end to suffering.

No, the entity ensured that what remained of him was something that defied simple explanations.

His body no longer fit into Euclidean space. Limbs extended in unnatural angles, folding upon themselves in infinite regress.

Eyes blinked from within his flesh, staring in terror at a world he could no longer comprehend.

The second nuisance reacted. A sharp intake of breath, the widening of pupils, the primal understanding that something was wrong.

He turned, seeking to make sense of the impossible. The entity allowed him a moment of comprehension. Just enough.

A form coalesced in his periphery—no, not a form. A void, an absence of all logic, all being. His mind recoiled before his body could.

His scream was caught in his throat, choked down by an unseen force. His vocal cords stretched, elongated, pulled from his mouth in wet strands of organic string.

He fell to his knees, clutching at the empty cavity where his voice had once resided. He could only gurgle now, a wet, broken sound.

The third nuisance attempted defiance. He had seen what had befallen his companions. He knew that he was outmatched. And yet, he raised his weapon, a crude mechanical thing designed to impose will upon the unwilling.

The entity did not stop him. It did not need to.

It merely observed.

His hand trembled. The weapon grew heavier, its weight increasing exponentially, pressing down upon the fragile bones of his wrist. He screamed—not in defiance, but in agony—as his fingers collapsed inward, snapping like brittle twigs.

The metal of the weapon fused into his flesh, becoming one with him in a way that defied separation. It melted, then solidified, then melted again, an endless cycle of transformation that would not cease.

He dropped to the ground, twitching, pleading without words.

He would suffer long after the others had faded into irrelevance.

The fourth nuisance had not moved. He stood in the center of the room, weapon lowered, eyes wide. He had seen. He knew.

The entity observed him, tilting its awareness in amusement. This one had realized the truth. That resistance was irrelevant.

That he had been doomed the moment he set foot in this place. He opened his mouth. Words formed, but they did not leave his throat.

The entity reached forward—not physically, never physically—and touched something deeper than flesh. The concept of his voice. The very idea of speech.

It plucked it away. He collapsed to the floor, hands grasping at his throat. He could still breathe, still move, still think. But he could never speak again.

The entity was satisfied.

It turned its attention to the remnants of the nuisances. Their bodies—what remained of them—were no longer of concern. The house would not be tainted by their presence.

It would remove them, as if they had never been. They would not be found. They would not be remembered.

Talulah and Ch'en would wake in the morning, unaware of what had transpired.

They would go about their day, unburdened by knowledge of the horrors that had encroached upon their sanctuary.

And the entity would watch.

It would continue to watch.

It did not need gratitude.

It did not need recognition.

It only needed them to remain.

As for the nuisances, their fates were sealed.

They had no mouth.

Yet they must scream.

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A/N: and end todays chapter, I hope you all have enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next update, Author Out.