⚠️ Content Warnings ⤴
Info
Content Warning:
This article contains depictions of abuse and violent behavior, specifically on the second offset. Reader discretion is advised
Written and conceptualized by ReyDay
The sequel to Silent Knight by Spectre48 that no one asked for
AC Theme made by Praetor3005, translated by
ReyDay
Offset timeline made by the incredible Abdallah Amr
Critics/Reviewers:
Praetor3005
Mel-Raspberry
Spectre48
LiminalDoctor
Super-Robot14
| Page Type | Articles |
|---|---|
| Author Page | ReyDay |
| Levels | Level 988 - “Belphegor’s Nightmare” |
| Unnumbered Levels | Death’s Door, The Celestial Cathedral(translated) |
| Sub-Layers | Level 800.1 |
| Entities | Coming Soon! |
| Unnumbered Entities | Coming Soon! |
| Objects | Object 48 - “Liquid Pain”, Object 33 - “RoboPets”, Object 64 - "Whisperers", Object 5-FR - “Anemophosis”(translated) |
| Phenomena | Phenomenon 28 - “Mourning Nothing In Particular” |
| Tales | The Echo of Creation, Five Years Since You Went Missing, Knight’s Gambit, INFINITY, For Christmas(translated) |
| Groups | Ariane Circle(translated), The Black Knights(owned) |
| POIs | Nyx(translated) |
| Canons | Black Knights(owned) |
| Joke Pages | Coming Soon! |
| Tech | Enchanted Forest Theme, Music Theme, Deep Sea Theme, Tesseract Theme, Ariane Circle Theme(translated) |
| Guides/Essays | Coming Soon! |
| Art | Diana Evelynn, Fia, Tess Welcome Banner |
Offsets
Offset 0
Name: White’s Move
Offset 1
Name: Black’s Move
Life isn’t easy when your boss is a raving prick. It especially isn’t easy when you’re your boss’s favorite person to mess with.
Samuel Hoffman pulled up to a coffee shop on the outskirts of Schaumburg, Illinois. Having to visit it at least twice a day to satisfy Dr. Mantell's incessant caffeine addiction is arguably terrible. Yet, the fact that he was expected to make these 30-mile drives to the only Starbucks in town that served peppermint mochas out of season without reimbursement is what really ticked him off. He parked his 2004 Toyota Highlander, albeit not exactly doing a great job of doing so, and walked inside. He rehearsed the same order in his head as he got in line, like he always did: 4 large peppermint mochas and a medium black decaf. Before he knew it, it was his turn to order. Finally, he'd get to see the one person that made these trips bearable.
“Sam! How’ve you been?” Oliver, the shop barista, finished clearing their workstation and turned to face Sam, getting ready to take his order.
“Oh, just same old, same old, thanks. What about you? How are you holding up?”
“I’m good, very good! Things are as busy as ever here, but I’m getting by. Same order as always?”
“Haha, yeah. You know how the boss is.”
“I know the feeling, but I’m sure you can handle it.” The barista assured him while punching the order into the computer.
“Eh, not really. Not today, at least. I’ve got to break some bad news to him, and he’s not exactly great at dealing with things he doesn’t like…”
“Yikes, that sounds rough. That’ll be $30.04.”
Sam pushed his card into the card reader and quickly removed it after the beep.
“Thanks! I’ll probably see you later; bossman tends to blow through these.”
“Oh, I’m sure he does. Have a good day, and good luck!”
“You too! Well, I-I mean—“ Sam proceeded to stammer over his words while making awkward hand gestures, before finally giving up and walking away.
Sam sat at one of the few available tables while waiting for what seemed like an eternity. This particular coffee shop was miserable during rush hour, yet another item on the list of things he hated about his job. He put in a singular earbud and turned on some music as he waited, attempting to drown out the chatter of the shop regulars.
I used to think I was smart
But you made me look so naive
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
Bloodsucker, famefucker
Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire
He heard someone shout “Order for Sam!” at the pickup counter, and he got up to grab the tray of coffee. “Thanks so much! I’ll see you around.”
“You too!"
Sam mumbled to himself, checking his watch. “Let’s see, what time is it…”
9:02 AM
“Crap! I’m late!”
Sam proceeded to rush out the door, jump into his car, and hurriedly pull out of the crammed parking lot. As he swerved and steered to make his way out without getting hit by any neighboring cars, one of the cups of coffee fell over and spilled its boiling-hot contents onto Sam’s sweater vest.
“Ah, fuck!”
He winced and breathed out sharply, stifling a pained and frustrated scream. Just his luck; now he’d certainly have to make another trip on top of being late and what would surely be a miserable conversation with Dr. Mantell. Yet, there was nothing he could do but continue driving to the office.
Sam hurriedly pulled into the parking lot of Heimwehmut Industries Building 3, somehow doing an even worse parking job than before, and rushed inside the building while holding the coffees and a stack of napkins. He quickly scanned his ID, ran into the elevator, and pressed the “9” button. He breathed a sigh of relief as the familiar, cheery music played as the elevator started moving upwards. He patted himself down with napkins to try and preserve whatever semblance of professionalism he still had, before shoving them in his pockets as the elevator came to a halt with a beep! He scurried to his cubicle and sat down, immediately burying his head in his work as if he’d been there all along. Suddenly, he felt something small lightly hit his head.
"Dude! Where have you been? Mantell’s been asking about his coffee for like 20 minutes."
He looked up to see none other than Reymond Day, a newer computer engineer following the disappearance of Marie Hylius, looking down at him from above the cubicle divider.
"Is me being a bit late really that big of a deal?"
"Apparently. He’s been pissy ever since he came in today, so go give him his coffee before it gets too bad."
Sam groaned. "Ugh, I don't want to talk to him right now. I need to mentally prepare myself before I, y'know, break the bad news to him."
"You can't wait around forever, or else he'll take it out on all of us."
"He's going to take it out on all of us regardless, Rey. I just don't want to have to deal with his temper right now; today has been pretty crappy so far."
"You still gotta tell him! The longer you wait, the worse it'll be. Just get it over with so you don't have to worry about it later."
"Yeah, you're right." Sam sighed. He sluggishly got up from his desk and picked up the tray of coffee cups. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck, and try to not get killed."
Sam knocked on the already ajar door.
"Sir? Would you—"
"WHAT?!" Dr. Jonathan Mantell furily whipped his head around to face the door, then was overcome with relief upon seeing Sam.
"Oh, thank god, it's just you."
Dr. Mantell hurriedly got up and approached Sam, snatching one of the coffee cups from the tray and chugging down its contents like his life depended on it.
"Sir, are you alright?"
"The investors are just breathing down my neck about this project, is all. I've told them countless times that it'll be a large improvement to the company, but they still insist on monitoring my every move. I'm not a zygote."
"Mhm." Sam put on an awkward smile. "So, uhm, how are things?"
"I never pegged you as the type to engage in small talk. Things are fine I guess, as well as they could be. I'm just waiting on those dimwits from the genetics department to send me the results for the DNA testing with our little entity friend. Have you heard anything about that?" He eagerly questioned him as he grabbed yet another cup of coffee.
"Oh, erm. Sir, well—"
"What? Is something wrong? Don't tell me that they fucked up the exome sequencing again."
"No no, not that. It's just that… well…"
"Spit it out, Hoffman."
Sam gulped. "The reconissance mission failed, sir."
Dr. Mantell sat in utter disbelief for what felt like forever, before finally muttering, "I'm sorry, what?"
"The Knights failed to capture the test subject, sir."
"No. That's impossible. Is this a prank? Is this for April Fool's or something?"
"Sir, it's October, and I wouldn't joke about something like this."
"You mean to tell me that the soldiers that we've genetically engineered to be as strong as humanly possible couldn't capture one measly alien?"
"That is c-correct."
"Are you fucking kidding me? I gave those idiots ONE FUCKING JOB and they couldn’t even do that right?!" Dr. Mantell then proceeded to grab a nearby vase and throw it against the wall, causing it to shatter into hundreds of small fragments.
"Sir, please forgive my bluntness, but why do we need this specific entity? Why couldn't we use something a bit more… common?"
Dr. Mantell huffed and gave Sam a wide-eyed stare, seeming to reach for something in his pocket before stopping himself. “Hoffman, tell me, do you know exactly what this creature is capable of?"
"No, I do not. I haven’t quite read the file yet, sir." Sam’s hand shook and twitched violently as he carefully offered Dr. Mantell another cup of coffee, which he immediately grabbed and took a large gulp.
"To put it briefly, it can't die. This creature is fully immortal and possesses more knowledge and raw power than someone with a perfect 10 on the scale. Could you imagine if we obtained the ability to harness that? To create perfect soldiers that will always survive?"
"But sir, that would take months to—"
"I DON'T CARE." He took a deep breath. "Now, please, get out of my office and do something actually worthwhile before I go out there and show people what happens when they fuck up THIS GODDAMN BADLY."
Sam rushed out of the room, leaving behind the tray of now room-temperature coffee, and Dr. Mantell alone with his thoughts.
Imbiciles. Do they really not know something bigger is at play? He dusted of his HELM device, logging into the terminal for the first time in ages. With these Knights, we could modify the Headspace as we please, and anything that can be modified can be erased. I'll finally catch the Foundation’s attention, and maybe, just maybe, I can see him again.
He sighed as he put in his access code and connected to Monarch 005.
I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way.
Offsets
Offset 0
Name: White’s Move
Offset 1
Name: Black’s Move