Book. Librarian. Star and City

*Bzt! Bzt!*

An alarm clock woke Gerald up from his two hour slumber, he looked around the room with exhausted eyes

Getting out of bed and changing his clothes, he dragged himself into the bathroom and began brushing his teeth before heading out

Looking around he tries to spot the nearest breakroom so he can make himself a cup of coffee

Man... I don't think I can seriously function off of 2 hours of sleep

Gerald continues stirring his coffee before a familiar face approaches him

"Hey Gerald! You're up early, that's surprising"

...

Regretfully so, yes

"Haha... yeah"

Lisa begins to make her own batch while humming a tune

"So Gerald, I heard that the manager called you in yesterday"

"Oh that? Yeah he did, why do you ask?"

Lisa looks a bit cautious

"Haven't you heard the rumors?"

"... was I supposed to?"

"Well from the clerks I've talked to, the manager seems like a madman."

"Right."

That was when Lisa stopped talking and put her finger to the side of her chin

"I'm not sure if they were being serious or just gossiping"

Gerald let out a sigh

"I dunno, well whatever the case is, he is our manager and theres not much we can do to change that."

Putting the top onto his coffee Gerald casually walks away while sipping it occasionally.

"We'll talk more later."

-

Gerald makes his way to the armory and he opens his designated locker, in there is a weird sort of staff that has a skull with a cross sticking through it, and a brown suit that looks fairly uncomfortable

What the hell is this?

Changing into the outfit he feels a bit stronger then he previously did

Further inspecting the weapon, he could've swore he saw it pulsate with a white aura

Before he could even swing it, some form of instructions crept it's way into his mind and he instantaneously knew how to use it.

So this is E.G.O?

Gerald nods before smirking to himself

Seems pretty handy to me

*Beep Beep*

(Please work with T-09-78)

Knowing his cue, Gerald began to walk out of the armory and onto his next destination

Finding the correct room, he walks into it and finds some sort of containment device with a notepad floating in it

This is the new abnormality?

Grabbing the notepad from it's holding place, a surge of inspiration runs through him

I... I need to work.

Gerald paces around the room before talking into his LC-230

"Manager, can you assign me some work?"

(You already have instructions now, work with T-09-78)

Gerald speaks with an impatient tone

"I already did!"

His voice grows even more demanding

"Just give me some damn work"

Moments later a ping to work on "Punishing Bird" resounded within his ears and he flew out of the room

(Pov: Manager)

The manager watches the screens with an unsure expression, his finger tapping the table rapidly

"Angela, give me a report on his sanity level"

The woman in question twitches her eyes before promptly responding

"His overall mind is at 89% It isn't decreasing from there though."

The manager sighs while switching the cameras, trying to get a good angle of Gerald as he zooms down the corridors

"What the hell is going on with him?"

Angela steps forward

"It may be due to the anomalous nature of the abnormality, Manager."

The manager nods and turns his attention to his assistant

"Do you have any guesses as to what it could be?"

Angela looks as if she was going to promptly respond, but stops herself midway through

"I'm afraid not, Manager."

The manager seems to get frustrated at his lack of information and control in this facility

"What sort of sick joke is this...*

The manager re-adjusts his position and looks at his screens with a solemn expression

"Angela, prepare the agents for a worst case scenario"

"Understood, Manager."

(Pov: Gerald)

As Gerald trudges through the facility, a deep yearning for knowledge sits at the pit of his stomach

Damn, my head hurts

One foot after the other, Gerald makes his way closer to Punishing Bird's containment chamber

After I do a bit of research, I'm sure I'll be better..

Opening the door to the chamber, Gerald looks at a black log like portusion sitting in the middle of the room, and Punishing Bird's tiny face gazes at him with interest

Gerald smiles and takes the notepad from out of his pocket and surprisingly he has a pen in his other hand

"Hey little guy, don't mind me I'm just gonna observe you for a little bit kay?"

The bird doesn't seem to understand but ultimately continues to preen it's feathers

Studying the Bird's features, Gerald notices something odd about it that he didn't see before

It looks like the Bird's red stomach is pulsating independently from the main body, and there are subtle divides in the skin, suggesting that the entire thing splits apart and opens

Huh? Thats a bit weird.. maybe if I just...

Gerald moves closer to touch it's stomach, and he gives it a push with his finger

The bird wobbles around, clearly disturbed before it looks at Gerald with a fury

Flying upward it begins to peck Gerald's head

"Ow Ow Ow! Sorry Sorry!"

But unexpectedly, a sudden rage floods Gerald's mind

This little shit dared to fight back when I'm in the middle of research?

Maybe I should teach it a lesson so it'll keep still next time

Grabbing his E.G.O weapon Penitence from his hip, he raises it high above the Bird's head before..

Punishment shall begin to rain down

Punishment... yes punishment for this little bird who doesn't know its place...

Swinging downwards, the cross part of the weapon hit the Bird's tiny head making it slam into the ground with a thud, it's wings crash into the floor causing them to ceace their activity before a few guttural sounds begin eminating from within it's body

"That'll teach you to-"

The bird shot up from off the ground, and it's white skin began changing to form a deep red hue, veins that shouldn't even be on a bird of such a tiny statute rise out of its plumage and it begins to rush over with an anger

But then it's stomach... its goddamn stomach opened up into four sections with razor sharp teeth bigger then it's entire body about eight times over began to close in

Throwing my entire body in an attempt to evade the attack was unfortunately... ineffective, it's teeth started sinking into the suit with no resistance, unnaturally strong jaws going through my defenses and making it's way to my skin

Ripping through the suit as if it was paper, it completely separated my upper half from my lower half like it was child's play, I crept deeper and deeper into it's mouth while screaming in pain so loud, I swear my voice shredded itself apart like the rest of my body

It was red, red and more red surrounding me in an expansive cavern, I fell down from the ceiling into an expanse of what I could only presume to be stomach acid

With no resistance I fell into it and began to be dissolved apart, every excruciating moment dragging out for what seemed like hours, until my brain finally gave up

-

*Bzt! Bzt!*

The alarm clock went off mercilessly, drilling a sharp pain into the head of whoever heard it

AHH FUCK FUCK!

MY FUCKING FACE IS MELTING!!! FUCKKKK!!!

...

Gasping for air, he looks around the room expecting to see that same deep red painted on the ceiling and walls of the cavern

But instead he finds himself in the room he woke up in this morning

What just happened?

I... I think that was just some nightmare...

Yeah.. it was just a nightmare...

*Bzt! Bzt!*

Gerald gets startled and smashes his hand into the alarm clock, making it produce a distorted sound before whirring out

Shit, well thats great.

Walking into the bathroom, he brushes his teeth and looks at the reflection, he has the same eyebags from his dream with the addition of bloodshot eyes

Spitting out his mouthwash, there seems is a red hue to it

What the fuck?

Gerald swabs the roof of his mouth and there seems to be blood on his finger

Man.

Why can't anything go right?

Gerald decides to ignore this and sluggishly walks to the nearest breakroom, which gives him some déjà vu

He walks to the same coffee maker and brews himself a batch of some much needed coffee

"Hey Gerald! You're up early, that's surprising"

...

Yep, definitely not a coincidence

"Yeah..."

Lisa begins to make her own batch of coffee while humming that same tune she did before

"So Gerald, I heard that the manager called you in yesterday"

Gerald looks around in a stupor before deciding to answer the same

"Uhh yeah, he uh... he did."

This time Lisa looks at him with concern

"Hey, you don't look like you're doing all that good, you okay? Did something happen?"

I'm glad that she atleast cares.

"No nothing like that, I'm just a bit tired is all."

"And the thing with the manager, nothing much happened."

Lisa opens her mouth as if to say something important before ultimately deciding against it, turning back to her own batch that was brewing

After a few minutes, Lisa finishes her coffee and hesitates to start a conversation

"W-Well, I wish you good luck today Gerald, We'll talk more later."

And just like that she walked away

Was I being too obvious?

Sigh

Man, this makes me sick to my stomach...

What are the implications of this?

The fact that this day seems to be repeating after my death is very concerning.

Maybe it's the product of that "Wing" experiment that Lisa was talking about yesterday?

Nah, that seems a bit farfetched

Whatever, I guess there isn't much I can do sitting here thinking about it, it's not like my situation will change

-

Making his way to the armory, there were a few unfamiliar faces like last time now that he was focusing on the details he skimmed by, he entered his personal changing room

Opening his locker were the same Penitence ego gear he had remembered from before he died, not a single thing out of place

Once again putting the gear on, that same feeling of strength along with the instructions on wielding Penitence came back to him

Sweet, although the armor didn't do much to help me from being eaten.

It was to be expected since it originated from a Zayin class abnormality

He then held the ego weapon in his hands before inspecting it thoroughly

Maybe there's some kind of special function this thing has?

Looking around, it's awfully ordinary... well as ordinary as an E.G.O weapon can be

But grazing his finger on the cross part of Penitence, he feels as if his mind got forcefully refreshed, clearing up a bit of his drowsiness from not getting enough sleep

Whoa, I didn't know it could do that

...

This gives me an idea

Gerald finishes adjusting his suit before exiting the armory

*Beep Beep*

(Please work with T-09-78)

And there it is... I guess it's time to put my idea into practice

Retracing his steps towards where he remembered the new abnormality was, he began to analyze it before doing anything

Huh, it doesn't look like anything is wrong with it, then again everything is deceiving in this place

Man.

I really don't want to pick this thing up

*Beep Beep*

(Please start work with T-09-78)

Fine.

Slowly grabbing the notepad and putting it in his pocket, he waits fo-

Born Again

That same violent surge of inspiration runs through him

Gerald closes his eyes to try and quell his unstable mind, but ultimately comes to a Realization

These are not my emotions.

The urge is too strong, Gerald begins to walk out of the room before he sends a message to the manager

"Work is done manager, assign me the next abnormality"

...

(... Alright, please start Insight work with O-02-56)

Gerald promptly exits the room and makes his way over to punishing bird's containment chamber

As he was about to enter the room, he stops himself

Shit I almost got swept up in the moment

He then reaches for his E.G.O weapon and holds it infront of himself

I hope this works

*CRACK*

Stumbling backwards into the wall, he falls to the floor with the weapon clanging on the ground

Fuck...

Gerald looks up to see a mortified Clerk who quickly shuffles away

Closing his eyes and focusing on his mind, there isn't any incoherent ramblings anymore

Great, I have a bit of time on my hands now

Getting up from the ground he puts a finger to where he hit himself, and surprisingly there is no physical pain in that area, although he has a bit of a headache now.

Opening the door to the chamber, Punishing bird gazes at him with its innocent face like it didn't just consume him whole last time he was in here

Gerald's body unintentionally trembled upon thinking about what happened

Alright focus gerald, you might not have enough time to get this done before the effects kick back in

Gerald grabs a broom and dustpan before silently walking around the room, sweeping any feathers he saw on the floor

This goes on for some time before the bird lazily jumps off of its perch and flies over to Gerald, its claws gripping onto Gerald's arm, making him it's new perch

This startles him but he quickly composes himself, the pain of being eaten alive still sitting on his consciousness

"What do you want?"

The bird stares at him with no response, it tilts it's head before pecking Gerald's arm a bit

Not knowing what to do, he places his hand on top of the Bird's head and gives it a few rubs

The bird lowered its body in response and closed its eyes

Huh.

It just wanted headpats?

Seemingly content, it shot up before going back to it's perch and sitting down on it

Feeling something in his hand, he raises it up to his face in order to inspect it

It's was a red feather, seemingly coming from its... stomach

Looks like it has a special property to it, the red pulsating seemed to give itself away

Maybe this was another E.G.O gift?

Gerald decides to tuck the feather behind his ear, and immediately he noticed a difference

He felt strong, much stronger then he did before

Nice, well I guess there were a few bonuses as compensation for being eaten alive

Smiling he exited the containment chamber and sat infront of the performance chart to gage his work

*Ding*

It was a good work result with 25 PE boxes next to the green happy face

On closer inspection, there was a marker at the top of the green chart which had the number 12 next to it

I wonder why my performance is always so high, I mean it's literally two times the highest score I can get

*Beep Beep*

(Good work, now please return T-09-78 back to its containment chamber)

Finally, I can put this stupid thing back

Walking back to the containment room, Gerald takes the notepad out of his pocket before dropping it in the middle of the stasis chamber

*Scratch Scratch*

Huh, why do I suddenly feel itchy

Gerald's skin began to swell as the itchy feeling began to progressively get worse

Fuck, what the h-

*CRACK*

First, all of his bones dislodged from his body and shot out at staggering speeds, then the flesh began to expand like a balloon before exploding into a fine red paste

-

*Bzt! Bzt!*

The same blaring sound comes out of the alarm clock, making Gerald shoot up from his "sleep"

Quickly, Gerald throws his arms around himself in an attempt to prevent his flesh from exploding, or bones from popping out of their sockets

Sitting there on the bed, Gerald doesn't dare to move an inch, not willing to risk dying again

I don't want to be here.

I want to leave, I want to leave now.

Slowly making it off his bed, he doesn't bother washing up in the bathroom

He sloppily throws on a uniform before making his way to the manager's office

(Pov: Manager)

After pressing the button which restarts the day, he begins to massage his forehead

"What the hell happened there?"

"He completed the work, even got another E.G.O gift that wasn't registered in the system"

"He puts that damn notepad back, and Explodes?"

Letting out a sigh he takes another swig of wine from out of the bottle

"Do you have any idea on why this happened, Angela?"

Stepping out from the shadows, the assistant made it's presence known

"It may have to do with its anomalous ability and containment conditions"

She takes a step forward while slightly opening her eyes to shoot a glare at the manager

"Have you reviewed the abnormality details page to its entirety?"

With a sigh the manager navigates to the file on his screens and begins reviewing it from start to finish

"Wait a second, some of this information wasn't here before"

Angela closed her eyes before explaining

"The manager is expected to perform their job even with a lack of critical information"

There was a pause in-between

"Each test you run on the abnormalities will be automatically logged here for further reviewing"

Growing impatient, his fist slams down on the desk

"What the fuck is this shit!?"

"I'm expected to do my job, even without knowing the things I SHOULD know?"

Taking a second to calm down he grabs the wine bottle from off of the desk and takes one last swig of it

"Angela, could you tell me what my purpose is here exactly?"

With a perfunctory response Angela speaks up

"You are the manager who is tasked with leading the facilities energy production to an acceptable level each day for 50 total days"

"Now, can you explain to me why I have such a lack of critical information that could assist me in doing my job?"

The assistant appraised him for a moment before speaking

"You are the manager, it is your job to get such things done yourself."

...

*BANG BANG*

A very loud banging sound eminated from the door of the manager's office

A familiar voice could be heard coming from it

(Pov: Gerald)

"Manager!? Can you please open the door?"

"I need to talk to you about something important"

Gerald continued knocking like a madman before Angela opened the door

"Please take a seat"

The assistant held the door open while gesturing to the chair across from the manager himself

Quickly entering and taking a seat Gerald was quick to announce his purpose for coming

"Manager, can I please submit my resignation notice?"

The man in question looks at Gerald as if he's grown a third arm

"Now why would you want to leave on your fourth day here? More specifically your second day working as an agent here?"

Gerald looks very impatient at this comment

"Second day my ass! This has felt like a fucking eternity!"

Gerald blurts his issues out without thinking

"First, I've gotten eaten by an innocent fucking bird in the most horrific way possible! It's GODDAMN STOMACH opened up to swallow me whole."

"And let's not even talk about how I EXPLODED from putting a shabby ass notepad back from where it belongs"

"I HATE working here."

The entire room grew silent, and Gerald could swear it got 10x colder with the manager staring him down

The manager leaned in with the most serious look on his face

"Agent, you can remember the loops...?"

...

Shit

I fucked up.

.

.

.

You can support me at,

p-atreon.com/Ace_Inferno