Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Was I doing this? Abandoning the child my brother had brought into this chaotic world? 

 
Yes, yes I was. 

 
One of my visions had shown itself once again, my brothers called it my "Third eye". 

It was necessary, my visions were never wrong, and this was needed for the world to turn out the way it was supposed to. 

It was the middle of the night, it’s been hours since I took her from her fathers. It was raining and thunder echoed through the dark sky. I tried my best to cover the baby with my body. It was kind of a wonder she hasn’t awaken yet. Brother was right when he said she was a heavy sleeper.

 
I knocked on the door to the address I had been given, disguised as a twenty-year-old woman holding a baby wrapped in a white cloth. 

 
After several knocks, a woman, about the same age, opened the door in her nightwear, giving me a tired yet shocked look. 

 
”Oh dear.” She said. ”Come in, it’s freezing out here.” 

 
The woman, whom I already knew was named Ruby, led me inside and sat me on the sofa. 

A woman so charming and friendly you would’ve never guessed she was an assassin. Working at a bakery by day and being the ’invisible assassin’ at night, offering her service to the highest bidder.

"So what brings you here?" Ruby asked, handing me a cup of tea and sitting down beside me. 

"I was asking if I could just stay for the rest of the night?" I said, I had read the script over and over, and I knew every word by my non-existent heart. 

"Why of course. My home is always open to travelers." Ruby said.

"And another thing." I said, looking down at the baby sleeping peacefully in my arms. "I'm asking if you would want a child?"

"I had a miscarriage a couple of months back. My ex left me after that. The nursery is still intact." 

"In that case... would you mind taking her in?"

Ruby stared at me with an indescribable look, she looked at the baby and back at me. 

"Don't get me wrong, I love her. But I just... don't have the means to give her a steady life." I said that part was completely made up. 

"Well in that case." Ruby said, gently scooping the baby into her arms. "I'll take care of her." 

I smiled, already knowing Father made the right choice. 

"Well then, let me show you to your room." 

I slept the night there and ate breakfast there, I knew I had to be away soon, my disguise was wearing off. As soon as I had taken care of my dishes, I packed my stuff and got ready to leave.

"Wait!" Ruby called, stopping me in my tracks. "What's her name?" She asked, looking back at the baby in her chair. 

"Thelia."

A three-year-old Thelia was sitting against a tree in the front yard of her house, moving her fingers through her stuffed whale. Ruby came out and petted her head, causing Thelia to lean sideways before flopping onto her side. 

Ruby giggled before walking back into the house. Thelia sat back up, letting her bare feet swing back and forth. 

She suddenly heard noises from the tall grass surrounding the house, causing her to peak up in worry.  

Thelia walked over to the source of the noise while clutching her plush close to her chest. The grass was rustling even more violently until the young girl could see the grass moving. 

Suddenly something rushed out from the grass and tackled her to the ground. 

It was a boy, around her age. He was wearing a sweater and shorts and was completely bald. 

They locked eyes, staring wide-eyed at each other.

Chapter Text

”Thank you!” Thelia said, grabbing her warm drink and pastry. She paid and walked away, allowing Hank to place his order, unaware that someone was approaching Thelia.

”One simple coffee with milk.” Hank finally said after looking through the menu.

”Moment.” The cashier said, turning around. It had barely been ten seconds before they heard a commotion behind them.

Both turned just in time to see some random grunt rip the cup from Thelia’s hand and throw it in her face. She fell back, clutching her face in pain.

Hank and the cashier perked up on instinct.

Did that just happen? Did this fucker throw hot chocolate on her? Who THE FUCK do they think they are? Hank felt himself turn red with anger, his blood boiling.

Hank rushed over, wrapping his arms around her while she was still groaning in pain. He looked up to see the grunt who had assaulted her just leave.

The cashier walked over and offered a towel.

”Let me remake your drink, on the house.”

Hank looked at Thelia from where she was sleeping, wearing a pair of jeans, some blue plastic gloves, and a black tank top. He looked at the clock, 00:04.

Hank slowly opened the door leading to the hallway of the apartment building they lived in. It was time to put his plan into action.

Despite the fact the actual apartment was only meant for one person, they made it work. And as long as the rent was paid on time, the landlord wouldn’t kick them out. They had been talking about moving back to the outskirts where they grew up, but that meant the locals would faster catch onto them. Despite the fact there was an abandoned house far away from that.

The grunt who had assaulted Thelia found themselves waking up somewhere dark. They looked back and noticed their hands were tied to a metal post.

The grunt started panicking upon hearing footsteps. Looking up, they saw Hank approaching, silent, stoic, robotic. The grunt desperately tried getting on their feet as Hank closed the distance between them. They flipped to their side away from the looming threat, but their stuck hands kept them in place. Hank grabbed them by the shoulders and flipped them back before kicking their cheek, dislocating their jaw and causing them to pass out from the pain.

Hank knew those who passed out from pain only stayed that way for a couple of seconds, too bad that would be the only peace this guy would get. Hank walked over to a trashbag he had placed on the floor several hours ago and lit a torch blower.

Hank walked over to the newly awake grunt and gripped his head. The grunt squeezed his eyes shut and, Hank’s hold on the torch blower tightened as he neared it to the grunt’s eyelid, melting it off. They whimpered in pain and curled in on themselves.

Hank walked back to the trashbag and picked up a small concrete breaker. He switched the power on and drove it into the grunt’s back, severing their spine. The grunt let out a shout in agony, but couldn’t do much else due to his dislocated jaw. Hank pulled the concrete breaker out of their flesh, but they were unable to move.

Hank placed the concrete breaker down and grabbed a pocket knife. He blankly stared at the grunt who was whimpering in agony.

In one swift motion, Hank cut the ropes and grabbed one of the grunt's hands. He placed the hand on his palm and jabbed the knife into the hand. Twisting the knife, he pulled out sideways, severing the guy's thumb.

Hank grabbed a loose chunk of skin and started peeling it away like an orange. He watched intensely as the flesh and nerves became visible. Hank looked them straight in the eyes as he started slowly, achingly pulling out their nervous system.

The sudden clang of the basement door made Hank pause. He dropped the hand and reached for a Glock, picking it up with his gloved, bloodied hand. Not showing any emotion, he fired at the grunt so they wouldn’t rat him out.

He snuck over to the door so he would be hidden once the door to the room opened. Soon enough, the door opened and two people walked in, and gasped upon seeing the dead grunt.

Hank cautiously snuck away while they were distracted. He reached the main floor, but he knew for certain some sort of law enforcement was on their way, the landlord always did THAT before actually checking the situation. They would certainly get suspicious if they found Hank in the hallway.

But Hank was one step ahead. He threw the gloves onto the doormat of one of the neighbors and pulled the fire alarm.

A few minutes later, everyone was standing by the gathering spot and waiting for the go-ahead to reenter the building. Hank held Thelia closely on the bench they were sitting on.

Soon, the landlord, along with a few firefighters and policemen, exited the building.

”False alarm!” The Landlord called. Everyone collectively groaned and started walking in again.

”Wait, Toby!” The Landlord called, catching the man’s attention. ”The police would like to have a word with you.”

Thelia and Hank opened the door to their shared flat and stepped inside. But instead of going back to sleep, Thelia walked to the couch and turned the TV on. Hank looked at the time… 05:36. He shrugged it off and went to join Thelia on the couch. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, just casually watching whatever aired.

”Toby?” Thelia suddenly asked. ”Really?”

”Had to think fast.” Hank shrugged. ”Besides, it would probably do everyone a favor to have him behind bars.”

”You are right about that.” Thelia said, leaning against her roommate. ”How about I take you to that cheesesteak cart you’ve had your eyes on today?”

”Sounds like a plan to me.” Hank replied, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Chapter Text

The friends once again made it home to their apartment. They threw the duffle bag containing their disguises and threw themselves on the couch.

They had once again put a few kills to their names while robbing another store.

They would lie to the landlord, saying they were working on the other side of the city. But in reality, they just sat around a coffee shop for several hours until it was time to either steal some ID information or commit crimes. They would leave the ID on the crime scene to divert attention away from them and since central Nevada was so big, they were yet to be caught.

There’s always been something immoral and wicked brewing within the friends, even when they were children. They never liked school and dropped out when they were only eight. The only subject they ever liked was PE, so long as it meant they could throw balls at the other children.

Thelia’s phone suddenly lit up on the table with a message. The friends looked at it in surprise, wondering who could be texting at this hour, especially since they were freelance.

Thelia walked over to grab it. She immediately lit up and smiled in happiness. ”Mother’s calling!” She told Hank, who also smiled, sharing her excitement. Ruby was one of the few people he actually liked.

Thelia turned back to her phone and happily opened the message, waiting for what she had to say.

The moment she saw the text, however. Reading every word carefully… it was as if her heart wanted to stop… and never beat again. Thelia could feel the tears emerge from her eyes. Unable to fight against the overwhelming pain tearing at her heart.

Hank was reading a magazine when he suddenly heard Thelia wailing. He saw her crouch by the table, gripping the leg, her phone lay a few centimeters away on the floor.

”Lia… what’s wrong?” Hank asked, walking up and sitting down on his knees in front of her. He hugged her head and waited patiently for her to reply… but it never came.

Eventually, he looked over at her phone and picked it up, reading the latest message from her surrogate mother:

Dearest daughter.

I’m texting you all of a sudden to tell you I’ve unfortunately been diagnosed with a terminal illness. The doctors say I only have six months left to live, so I was asking if you could move back in and spend the last of my days with you?

Lots of love, mama Ruby.

Hank placed the phone on the table and resumed to comfort Thelia, whose sobbing eventually subsided.

”We should go back, it’s the least we can do.”

”Don’t have too much fun without me.” Thelia joked as she stepped onto the bus. Hank waved and stood at the bus stop until the bus was out of sight.

Hank leaned back against the couch with a sigh. The big house felt super lonely without his friend. He missed the tunes she would whistle, her tired eyes as they competed on who could stay awake the longest. Hell, even just her smile was something that made his day.

And like, sure, he was kinda bitter about it all, but even he had to understand she couldn’t be by his side 24/7.

Hank suddenly heard a clang from the hallway. Without hesitation, he took a knife out of his pocket and started sneaking into the hallway.

Despite the fact he and Thelia had been in many fights, especially in their youth, they had never been in any *real* fight. As in, needing to fight for their lives real. The police back in the big city were incompetent.

Hank made it to the door which the noise was coming from. He slowly twisted the doorknob, knife at the ready. When suddenly, he felt a pain in his back. Hank fell over with a wheeze, dropping his weapon. The knocked-down grunt tried rolling onto his side, but something heavy and blunt struck his head, Hank’s world spun before his vision started fading and he passed out.

When Hank came to, his world was a swirling mess of bright lights. There was a pain in his chest and head.

”Guys! He’s waking up!” A hoarse voice called. Hank finally managed to open his eyes and was met with two people.

One was larger than the other and had red spots on their face, mostly obscured by a medical mask. The other for the most part just looked like an ordinary grunt.

”Hey, big guy.” The smaller one said. ”We’re sorry for the trouble. We thought you were an enemy. I’m Sanford by the way.” Sanford finished, taking Hank’s hand and helping him sit up. Hank looked down and saw his chest was covered in bandages.

Sanford walked him over to another grunt, who was smoking while playing with a lighter.

”This is Deimos, he’s the one that knocked you out.”

”Wassup, big boy?” Deimos said casually, extending his hand. Hank merely sneered at him. ”No hard feeling I hope?”

”I thought this house was empty when I moved in, of course I will have some feelings about being knocked unconscious.”

”Look, we’re only staying here for a few more days.” Sanford said. ”After that, you can have the entire thing to yourself.”

”Can you shoot a gun?” Deimos suddenly asked. Hank looked at him with a questioning look.

”nnnnoooo…?

”Yeah, you fucked.”

”I can handle a knife?” Hank said as if hoping to remedy the situation.

”That’s not gonna cut it!” Deimos said dramatically, standing up and throwing the lighter aside. He harshly grabbed Hank by the arm and started dragging him down a flight of stairs, Sanford followed not far behind. ”If you don’t learn how to handle these shooties in a couple hours, you’ll be fucking dead by sundown!”

”Sorry about him.” Sanford said from behind as they entered another room. It looked like a shooting range. Hank hadn’t actually seen one in real life except in some comics he couldn’t actually read.

Deimos pushed him in front of a target and shoved a pistol into his hands before putting a pair of ear muffs on him. Hank stood there awkwardly for a while, just examining the weapon.

”Dude, those bullets ain’t gonna fire themselves.” Deimos pushed. ”Just hold it with both of your hands, focus on the target and shoot.”

”Sure… where’s your protection?” Hank trailed, noticing neither Sanford nor Deimos were wearing ear muffs. Sanford chuckled lightly.

”We grew up ’round here. These gunshots are basically lullabies to us.”

Hank swallowed his nervousness and turned to the moving target. His confidence rose as he managed to fire accurately for about 8 shots until it stopped. Deimos took the gun away, threw out the magazine and put another one in.

”Dang dude! You’re a natural!” Deimos complimented.

Just as Hank got the weapon back, a siren suddenly blared through the building.

”The base is under attack!” Sanford called, grabbing a rifle from the wall and rushing upstairs.

”This will be perfect practice!” Deimos excitedly told him as he dragged Hank up and outdoors.

Hank and Deimos made it out. Sanford was already dealing with most of the enemy forces.

Deimos dragged Hank behind a barrel and told him to crouch.

”Wait for an opening and blast ’em full of lead. And try not to commit friendly fire.” Was all Deimos said before rushing away with a battle cry.

Hank waited as Deimos said, but could never get a good enough opening. That is until he said ”Fuck it” to himself and fired a blind shot.

The unexpected silence is what caught Hank’s attention. He peaked up and noticed everyone was dead. Then the next thing he knew, Deimos was hugging him and cheering right into his ear.

”For a first battle, you did pretty good.” Sanford complimented.

The group, which Hank learned was called the S.Q., stayed until they packed their bags and left for another facility. Not until Deimos handed Hank a walkie-talkie.

”Keep in touch, big guys. And remember, training makes perfect. There’s still plenty of shells and what-not in the basement.”

They had been training Hank to handle more weapons than just pistols, such as rifles and even swords. He had made incredible progress for having trained just a couple of days. A testament to his previous experience. Every day he would get bolder and bolder until he eventually used real people as training dummies.

Hank threw his weapon away as he entered the house. He had just finished taking care of some intruders. He threw himself onto the bed.

There was this deep feeling of loneliness biting at his soul. He touched his chest where the heart would be, he felt hollow. He had been talking a lot with Sanford and Deimos along with someone called 2BDamned whom he had yet to meet in person. But Thelia’s six-month absence was beginning to take a toll on him. He reached for the empty side of the bed, grasping the sheets.

He suddenly heard a knock at the front door, catching his attention. Hank grabbed the rifle by the side of the bed and slowly crept towards the door. The knocking grew more insistent.

Hank counted to three in his head before flinging the door open and pointing the rifle outside, only to be met with another rifle pointing at his face.

The two rifles lowered as the holders stared ahead in bewilderment.

Thelia was standing there, eyes slightly red.

The friends shared a laugh before Thelia threw her arms around Hank.

Hank closed the door and led his friend inside. They stopped in the hallway near the sleeping quarters, still holding each other's hands.

”How did it go?” Hank asked.

”Fine. The house has been burnt mom’s buried. She finally let me enter the basement.”

”Oh?” Hank asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise. The basement in Thelia’s childhood home was always off-limits to everyone but Ruby. It was always locked with a big padlock and just trying to break it always seemed to summon Ruby.

”You know the story about the ’Silent Assassin’?”

”You’re not saying…”

”Yeah, mom was that person.”

Hank was silent for a beat, before looking out onto the landscape of rural Nevada, their home.

”Now what?” He asked, crossing his arms.

”I have an idea.” Thelia said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a condom.

Hank’s face immediately lit up in a bright smile.

Chapter Text

Thelia looked out the landscape as the bus rolled into her childhood street. Not much had changed from what she could immediately see. Nostalgia washed over her as she looked at the addresses, looking for Ruby’s house.

She pressed the button to stop the bus as they neared the bus stop near the house. Thelia grabbed her bag and hopped off. The bus sped off, causing her black hair to get blown.

Thelia counted the numbers on the houses. It would be impossible to know which was which as every single one looked the same.

She walked past several kids playing and a few adults. Until she reached her destination. Clutching the bag tightly, she walked up the small steps leading to the front porch. After many tense seconds, she reached for the knob and pushed it down.

The house looked mostly the same as it did in her childhood. The kitchen was one of the first things you would see next to a flight of stairs leading to the upper floor. Right next to the stairs was the door to the basement, locked as always. Thelia rounded the corner to enter the living room.

Ruby was sitting there, watching the TV while holding a mug. As she usually did at this hour. Her hair was grayer than it was before Thelia moved, despite the fact it had only been three years. Her face was pale and bony, her eyes tired.

Ruby inclined her head when Thelia entered her peripheral vision. She smiled a weak smile and patted the seat next to her.

Thelia sat the bag down by the wall and sat down, Ruby was watching a movie with an evil doll. It looked like one of those movies she and Hank would watch whenever Ruby wasn’t present. And get an earful if they were caught.

”So, what would you like to do with your last months?” Thelia asked. Ruby looked to the side as if thinking of something.

”Before we go through that list… there’s something I want to show you… That you deserve to know now.”

Thelia raised an eyebrow as Ruby stood up and walked over to a drawer, producing a key. Thelia followed her mother to the basement door. Watching her insert the key into the padlock and unlock it.

Thelia stared down the stairs that led to the main room, it was like a big gaping hole, waiting to swallow her whole. The stairs creaked under their combined weight and dust flew in all directions with each step.

They finally reached the end, it smelled of mold and metal. Ruby reached for the wall behind them and flipped a worn-down light switch

Thelia shielded her eyes as the lights flickered on. Once her eyes adjusted, she was in shock from what she saw.

There were several work benches. All of them contained weapons ranging from shotguns to butcher knives, stacks of cash, or notebooks full of names.

• Aysha (Killed)
• Wildo (Killed)
• Jestin (Killed)
• Theophilia (Killed)
• Phobos (Thank god Christoff helped me)

Ruby stood silently as she let Thelia take everything in.

”What is all this?” She finally asked, still holding the notebook.

”You did hear the stories of ’Silent Assassin’, yeah?”

Ruby could almost see the cogs turning in Thelia’s head until she took a step back, dropping the notebook and crashing into one of the work benches.

”Yes.” Ruby said quietly as if reading her mind.

”Why would you hide this from me?” Thelia asked. Ruby took her around the shoulder and started leading her away.

”Because I wanted you to grow up with a… somewhat normal childhood.”

”You call dropping out of school at eight normal?”

”Well… that’s kinda what I wanted.”

”Oh?”

”Throughout your entire upbringing, I was hoping you would follow in my footsteps. And it seems you’re already on that path.”

”How did you know?” As far as Thelia knew, she had never told Ruby what she and Hank did for a living.

”Because you just told me.” Ruby sassily replied. Thelia stared in shock, to which Ruby laughed heartedly. ”Mama’s still got it.”

Ruby reached into her pocket and pulled out a handgun, placing it in Thelia’s hand.

”I’ll teach you how to become unstoppable.”

And that’s how Thelia ended up in this situation. Standing in front of a tied-up grunt with a big butcher knife, Ruby stood not far behind.

The grunt was wiggling in the chair, mumbling through the tape around their mouth.

”And now that you have them where you want, you murder them with extreme prejudices.”

Thelia gave her a weirded-out look while the grunt started wiggling even more.

”That means brutally killing them.”

”What did this guy do?” Thelia asked. Ruby pulled out a paper from her pocket and unraveled it, revealing a wanted poster.

”He touched little kids.”

”YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Thelia rushed forward and plunged the knife into their skull without hesitation. She kept going even after they stopped struggling and went limp, causing Ruby to chuckle.

Five months later

”You just sit there and I’ll get the orders.” Thelia told Ruby, helping her sit down by a table outside a bakery.

Ruby’s condition had only worsened to the point that even getting out of bed was a challenge. Her hair was now completely gray and she needed a cane to walk.

Ruby smiled as she watched Thelia get in the line to the front counter. Her training had been going so well. Her expertise in both melee and firearm was outstanding. Ruby had told Thelia that she may find weapons she wouldn’t be around to teach her, but Thelia was fine with that.

Her smile however faded once she felt a familiar presence behind her. Looking toward the corner of the building, she spotted a familiar face leaning against the wall, one now bearing a halo.

”What do you want, Christoff? Us killing Phobos was a one-time gig, and you know that.”

”Indeed.”

Flashback:

”So this is the place then?” Jebediah asked as they approached a bakery shop. They had been there many times and knew the owner fairly well.

”Bring back memories?” Hofnarr asked, tucking his hands in his pocket to protect them from the cold air.

”It’s just kinda hard to believe. I mean… Her?”

They entered the shop, the bell clinging to the door clanged. The two scientists approached the counter just as the owner got done handing out an order for another customer.

”Welcome back you two!” Ruby said warmly. ”What may I get?”

”Hi, we’re looking for something sweet that could get someone 'killed'.” Christoff whispered, leaning over the counter.

Ruby's whole demeanor changed, she narrowed her eyes at the pair.

”Understood, please follow me.”

Ruby stepped out and walked down a hall leading to the restrooms, Hofnarr and Jebediah following not far behind. She unlocked a nameless door while looking around cautiously. She ushered the two men inside and closed the door.

All three sat down on stools.

”I understand you two are busy, so I’ll make it quick.” Ruby said, crossing her leg over the other.

”We have someone we have to get rid of. A guy named Director Phobos.”

”Your boss?”

”Well… more like second in command.” Hofnarr said, scratching his neck.

”And why exactly do you want this guy dead?”

”There is this project that was started with the intent to save the world, but Phobos had other plans. He plans on using it to ascend godhood himself. Just the other day he tried…”

Christoff looked at Hofnarr as if unsure of how to say the following words. Hofnarr shrugged as if saying ’I don’t care’.

”…Having our daughter killed because our boss paid more attention to her than him. She’s one of the test subjects meant to be a vessel. I’m not sure what he expected since she’s only four months old.”

Ruby looked like she was considering the task.

”Well, my service doesn’t come for free.”

”I’ll pay you handsomely… IF you can get rid of him. I’ll help you.” Christoff said sternly.

Ruby once again looked in deep thought.

”Give me a deadline and I’ll get it done.

”How’s Hofnarr doing?” Ruby asked.

”Bad.” Jebus replied. ”It’s been twenty years yet he seems to get worse every day.”

”You know, I think you're trying to forget you ever had a daughter so you don’t have to remember your sorrows.”

Jeb was about to reply when Thelia walked out with a box and approached the two. She and Jebus locked eyes for a while before he slinked back into the shadows.

”Who was that?” Thelia asked.

”Just an old acquaintance.” Ruby replied, standing up and walking away.

Thelia held Ruby’s hand as she lay in her bed. She had stayed there for the entire afternoon, too tired to get up.

”But wait, it gets better.” Thelia said while Ruby smiled to herself. ”When the teacher came back, the fuel was gone… and it had already sold to some street hobos!”

The two women laughed heartedly.

”Anyway, that’s how I lost my driving license even though I never had one.”

Thelia reached toward her mattress and picked up the stuffed whale she’d had ever since she was little. But when she turned around… Ruby was still. Her empty eyes stared at nothing.

”Mom?” Thelia asked. She reached for Ruby’s hand and picked it up… it was already stiff.

”Mom..?” Thelia murmured, not wanting to believe she was dead. Until she remembered it was only two days away from her due date.

Thelia stepped out of the house, tightly clutching a package of matches. Grasping the strap on her shoulder, she pulled out a match. After a few failed attempts, a spark lit up. Thelia stood motionless as the fire neared her fingertips. She made sure no one was looking, and threw the match indoors, quickly closing the door and walking away.

Thelia saw flames rising in the window from the bus stop. The gasoline made quick work of engulfing the house, and especially, the basement.

Thelia thought back to her childhood. Meeting Hank, becoming the neighborhood rascals, moving to central Nevada while waving goodbye to a teary-eyed Ruby.

A Ruby she would never see again.

Chapter Text

Name: Dr. Hofnarr.

Lab partner(s): Dr. Christoff and Director Phobos.

Lab experiment: 001.

Introduction: Create suitable vessel(s).

Purpose: We aim to create a vessel strong enough to sustain otherworldly forces.

Materials: A 500-liter test silo with see-through glass. The vat is to be filled with cryo-fluids to keep the test subject in stasis while it grows. There is to be access to nutrition and oxygen tubes from the top. Lastly, a test subject.

Procedure: Take the subject and hook it up to the nutrition tubes, the oxygen tube is to be added later on. After that, we can only wait a while and see what happens, if the test subject even survives.

Analysis: After only two days of being in the vat, the subject imploded. We still don’t know why it happened, but we might need to change up the chemicals we use.

Conclusion: A total failure.

Name: Dr. Hofnarr.

Lab partner(s): Dr. Christoff and Director Phobos.

Lab experiment: 002.

Introduction: Create suitable vessel(s).

Purpose: We hope to create a vessel strong enough to sustain otherworldly forces.

Materials: A 500-liter test silo with see-through glass. The vat is to be filled with cryo-fluids to keep the test subject in stasis while it grows. There is to be access to nutrition and oxygen tubes from the top. Lastly, a test subject.

Procedure: Take the subject and hook it up to the nutrition tubes, the oxygen tube is to be added later on. We added extra chemicals as per the employer’s recommendation to hopefully make the subject survive longer. After that, we can only wait a while and see what happens, if the test subject even survives.

Analysis: It looked promising from the start, but after two months, this subject to imploded. The Auditor is getting impatient.

Conclusion: Failed.

Name: Dr. Hofnarr.

Lab partner(s): Dr. Christoff and Director Phobos.

Lab experiment: 003.

Introduction: Create suitable vessel(s).

Purpose: We hope to create a vessel strong enough to sustain otherworldly forces.

Materials: A 500-liter test silo with see-through glass. The vat is to be filled with cryo-fluids to keep the test subject in stasis while it grows. There is to be access to nutrition and oxygen tubes from the top. Lastly, a test subject.

Procedure: Take the subject and hook it up to the nutrition tubes, the oxygen tube is to be added later on. We changed the chemical proportions as per the employer’s recommendation to hopefully make the subject survive longer. After that, we can only wait a while and see what happens, if the test subject even survives.

Analysis: I don’t know what to say. Late last night there was a power outage. While the Engineers were fixing that up, I wasn’t in the room where test subject 003 was. When I came back, I found the vat broken and the test subject on the floor. There was glass and cryo-fluids everywhere, but no sign of a break-in. Nothing else seems to have been stolen or broken. I have no idea how they got into the building and there’s nothing on security footage.

Conclusion: Failure (maybe).

Dear Diary:

This… baby. I don’t know what it is about her, but being in her presence makes me feel… calm and happy. I’ve been under so much stress lately, drowning in deadlines, chemical formulas and The Auditor’s growing pressure. But as soon as I picked her up from the floor… it just vanished. Like all the pent up anger and stress just washed from me like a warm shower. I have to keep this a secret from the others, not even Jeb can know. Thankfully my room is soundproof, so hiding her should be relatively easy. Besides, I spend most of my time in my private quarters anyway so I won’t be leaving her for too long at a time. She’s a good girl, doesn’t even cry much, just spends most of her time sleeping. I swear I sometimes need to check if she even breathes. I swear I forgot to feed her for three days straight and she didn’t fuzz even once. I have yet to think of a name, but I’ll come up with something.

Signed Dr. Hofnarr.

Chapter Text

Personal information:

Name: Thelia.

Age: 10 years, 3 months.

Sex: female.

Educational level: 3rd grade.

Examiner: Dr. Gonne

Reason for administration: Hallucinations upon exposure to a lot of stress.

Tests administered:

1. Intelligence scale for children.
2. Rorschach test.
3. Social maturity scale.
4. Scans of the occipital lobe.
5. Blood tests.

Notes: Thelia briefly talked about her home life, stating she has a good relationship with her mother and Hank (her best friend). Ruby (Thelia’s surrogate mother) has a well-paying job as the owner of a bakery. Ruby described Thelia as upbeat but prone to getting into fights with no history of mental illness, accidents, or other major problems during her upbringing. She noted that both children seemed to like causing trouble for the community, but Thelia is the more cautious of the two. She described her daughter as energetic, outgoing, and being capable of being genuinely nice when she wants to. Ruby stated that Thelia is comfortable in most situations and has no problem expressing herself, but can get very aggressive and will not hesitate to resort to violence.

The first-ever incident involving hallucinations was back when she was eight years old, shortly before she and Hank dropped out. She had attacked a teacher with a pair of scissors. The teacher was reportedly pressuring her because she wasn’t following the dress code. When asked about this, Thelia replied ’he had five heads’. It is to be noted the hallucinations go away by themselves after a few minutes or once she’s calmed down. Ruby doesn’t know if Thelia has any history of mental illnesses from her biological family.

Thelia’s test results came back negative for any symptoms of schizophrenia, but tests revealed signs of high-functioning autism. Further tests are not expected. This may just be the chemicals in the brain going haywire and is most likely nothing to look into.

Chapter Text

Hofnarr entered the hallway leading to the living quarters, holding a big box of supplies. What was in the box he wouldn’t tell anyone right now, but it was supplies for taking care of his baby, whom he’d named Thelia. Hofnarr had read somewhere that Thelia meant healer. Considering she can manage to make others happy by just being present, it was a perfect fit.

Hofnarr wasn’t looking at what was ahead of him, leading to him bumping into someone. Jebediah Christoff, Jeb for short, stumbled back, almost dropping his mug of coffee. He and Hofnarr awkwardly locked eyes. Jebediah eyed the box before looking back at his colleague/friend.

”Renovating once more?” He asked.

”Yeah.” Hofnarr said quickly and sidestepped his friends, scanning his keycard and entering his room. Jebediah eyed him in confusion until he was out of sight. Sure, Hofnarr was socially awkward and even shy, but recently it’s been to a much larger degree.

”There we go.” Hofnarr cooed as he gently laid Thelia down in the crib he had assembled. She looked so peaceful as she lay there sleeping. The fabric of her lilac dress rose with her chest, and her black hair curled around the crown of her head despite only being three weeks old (when her vat was destroyed).

”Hofnarr, I-”

Hofnarr whirled around to face a shocked Jebediah. Jeb dropped the papers he was holding, the stacks landed on the ground with a mighty thud like thunder, he looked from Hofnarr and back at the sleeping infant. Hofnarr awkwardly pressed both of his hands against the brim of the crib and stepped in front of Thelia, as if it would magically erase what Jeb just saw.

”This is not what it looks like…” Hofnarr whimpered, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

Jeb took a few steps and gently pushed Hofnarr out of the way. Continuing to stare at the baby with utter bewilderment. Jeb slowly glanced over his shoulder to look at the door as if to make sure it was shut, which it was.

”WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?” Jeb yelled out of nowhere. Hofnarr flinched back, hurriedly picking up Thelia and cradling her against his chest.

”Let me explain!” Hofnarr called, taking a few steps back.

”You better before the boss finds out and blows a gasket.” Jeb said, pointing at the door.

”Well…” Hofnarr trailed, rocking his feet back and forth. ”This one was kinda born early.” An awkward start to the conversation, he internally admitted. He petted Thelia on her head, by some miracle she had yet to wake up.

Jeb eyed her with his hands on his hips.

”Was she meant to be born early?” He asked with a questioning shrug.

”No, her vat was destroyed during the power outage.”

”What are we supposed to tell the others? Does anyone else know?” Jeb asked, stepping closer.

”The Auditor told me to dispose of her since she’s technically a failed experiment… but I just can’t.”

”Hofnarr, what do you mean you can’t?” Jeb asked.

”I just feel terrible whenever I even think about it.” Hofnarr replied, dragging his fingers through his hair.

”You’ve euthanized test subjects be it rats or something else without issue in the past, what makes her different?”

”Need I remind you you’re the one who removes unborn children from their mothers?”. He looked down at his ’daughter’. ”Doesn’t all this feel so petty right now?” Hofnarr asked, fiddling with the cloth as the baby started stirring awake, mumbling incoherently. Jeb leaned closer to the baby until he was basically in her face. Thelia looked at her for a while before reaching her little pale hands out to grasp and caress Jeb’s nose.

A stranger warmth sprouted from Jebediah’s chest. The ever-present stress he’s been under for a while now, gone in an instant. Her presence was a breath of fresh air.

The labs in the Science Tower were always unsafe, and he always felt like he was walking on eggshells whenever he worked. But when he was around the baby, he actually felt  safe;  her presence was cozy like an electric blanket. The baby was otherworldly, yet her touch was the most real thing he’s felt in a while.

”Yeah… but how are we supposed to take care of her? You know The Auditor doesn’t take kindly to disobedience.”

”I’ll figure something out.” Hofnarr said before gently tapping Thelia on the nose, causing her to giggle. Both sat down on Hofnarr’s bed.

”Very well, have you thought of a name?”

”Yeah, Thelia.”

”That’s a cute name.” Jeb complimented, running his finger through the now-sleeping baby’s hair.

The door once again clicked open before the scientists could react. In the doorway stood a shadowy figure with piercing red eyes. The dancing flames on its head died down slightly as he caught sight of them.

”What have you been up to?” He asked in a defeated tone.

Chapter Text

”Sleep tight, sweetie.” Ruby told her daughter, patting her on the head. Hank was lying on his mattress on the floor, pretending to sleep. Ruby grabbed some of her things and exited the room. A few moments later, the teens heard a door further away opening and closing, symbolizing Ruby had gone to bed. They waited for another half an hour to ensure Ruby was asleep before Hank climbed onto the bed.

They had been planning this for days, weeks even. It all started a little under a year ago when late during the night, they walked in on Ruby watching something very peculiar. Now, they didn’t stay in school long enough to have sex education of any kind, but they knew how grunts came to be. What was displayed on the screen was definitely close enough to what their limited knowledge knew. Ruby did notice them eventually and led them back to their room.

But they got too curious for it to be ignored. They researched a little when Ruby was out of the house (deleting the search history afterward of course). They learned more about what they had seen and a few more things like how to prevent pregnancies. Thelia had yet to get her period, even at sixteen, but that didn’t mean it WOULDN’T happen. Some charity fraud later and Thelia had scrapped up enough money to buy birth control pills. Thelia had been taking them for about a month now.

”Kinda funny we managed to get better sex ed by searching things up than the ones that stayed in school.” Hank muttered, making sure to keep his voice quiet to not wake Ruby.

”It sure is.” Thelia replied, already starting to take off her tank top. She looked up only to see Hank with his back turned, covering his eyes.

”C’mon Hank. We’ve seen each other naked before.”

”I know, it just feels kind of…” Hank struggled to find the right word. ”Embarrassing?”

Thelia wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her bare chest. A crimson blush rushed to Hank’s face.

”If you want to, we could do it under the bedsheet.”

”Yeah.”

Thelia pulled the cover over themselves. They shuffled around for a while, throwing their sleepwear onto the floor after they were done.

”Don’t you think it will be tiny?” Hank asked, still under the cover.

”I think you’re pretty big.”

”I was talking about you.”

Thelia smacked him on his forehead, knocking the cover away slightly. Hank was still clinging to her neck as they sat up. Slowly but surely his hand started to travel down the side of Thelia’s neck towards her chest, causing her to shiver. His hand grasped around the bundle of flesh and gave it a squeeze. Hank leaned forward, his teeth biting softly into a breast as his hand squeezed the other. Thelia let out a trembling moan as he ran his tongue over her nipple.

One of his hands moved from Thelia’s chest down to his crotch, palming his growing erection. He scooped her up in his arms, laying each other down fully. Thelia clung to the front of his shoulders, her plump face beet red as she trembled. But Hank was growing impatient.

"Get ready.” he grunted breathily, positioning Thelia’s entrance in front of his cock. She barely had time to register his words before she was stretched open on his length. The feeling made her bite her finger in ecstasy and pain, trying to stay quiet, her tight pussy painfully stretching to accommodate him.

"OOHHG-!! Oh, oh god-" Thelia whined, squirming as he slowly, but awkwardly began exiting before slamming in again. Blood leaked slowly out of you, an indication of your freshly taken virginity. Hank panted and groaned as he pumped in and out of her cunt, his hips bucking with every downward motion. The lewd sound of skin slapping together filled the room and tears began to develop in Thelia’s eyes.

”Uuhhnng, ohh- f-faster, please, pleeease!!" She silently begged desperately, moans and yelps forced from her lips with every thrust. Hank complied, bouncing you on his cock vigorously as drool ran down his chin. They could barely think straight as he slammed into Thelia, completely drunk on the feeling of filling each other up.

Soon, Hank's fingers began to dig into her slightly, his breathing growing ragged. He nuzzled his face into her chest, suckling on one of her breasts. Thelia could feel herself getting closer to the edge as well, whining and wailing in pleasure as tears dripped down her face.

Hank exited completely out of her pussy before slamming right back down, growling as he unloaded inside of her and kept thrusting through it. The feeling made Thelia cry out, Hank only thrusting a few more times before she came undone as well. Her muscles went slack as her body was wracked with the orgasmic feeling, panting heavily as the moans and whines grew quieter.

The next morning, they walked down the stairs as usual, trying to act as normal as possible. Ruby was standing by the stove, making some semolina porridge, like she usually did on these days.

”Good morning.” She greeted them with a hint of mischief in her voice, she didn’t even look back, which struck them as odd.

”Morning.” Thelia greeted back unsurely, both sitting down at their seat. Ruby finally turned around with three bowls in her hands, with an unnaturally wide grin.

”Is something wrong?” Hank asked, getting a strange feeling in his gut.

”Do you guys know how to hide secrets?”

Hank and Thelia exchanged worried looks.

”Yeah?”

”Oh really?”

Ruby dug into her pocket and threw something onto the table. Thelia birth controls. The teens felt their blood run cold.

”I’m not mad, just so you know. But did any of you get STD checked?”

Everything went so quiet that you could drop a pin six feet away and they would still hear it. Hank stood up so fast he knocked the chair down before grabbing Thelia by the wrist and rushing out the door. All the while Ruby laughed like a drain.

Chapter Text

Phobos was growing more and more suspicious. He would appear normal to anyone working in the tower who didn’t know The Auditor outside of being the boss of bosses. But Phobos has worked alongside him for several years and knew him to at least some degree, and he’d been acting weird lately.

He’s been more… ditzy lately and chummy with Dr. Hofnarr and Dr. Christoff. Usually, The Auditor and Jebediah would butt heads constantly due to their opposing ideologies, but it seems to have mellowed out overnight.

Phobos tried investigating but got no answer. Their private quarters were completely off limits without their direct permission, and Phobos, despite being the director, didn’t have the keycards or codes to everywhere in the tower.

He discovered what was going on by accident. He had stepped into the kitchen, looking for The Auditor.

Dr. Hofnarr and Jebediah were drinking coffee at some tables, but The Auditor was kneeling in a high chair.

Occupied. By a baby

A baby with skin paler than freshly fallen snow and hair darker than night was swinging her legs while chewing on some of those bland cereals Jebediah ate for breakfast every day. The Auditor was holding a bottle filled with some white liquid.

Everyone locked eyes with Phobos. Even the baby stopped chewing, wondering why it had become so quiet.

What. The hell. Is that thing?” Phobos stammered, pointing at the youngling. They locked eyes, and for a second, something shifted inside Phobos. This small, defenseless creature was making him feel something he hadn’t felt since forever and hated to feel: helplessness, anxiety, and paranoia.

”It’s not a thing.” The Auditor rose, the flames on his head and shoulder dancing higher. ”It’s our child, her name is Thelia.”

”And you gave it a name!?”

”Yes.” Jebediah crossed his arms. ”Something wrong with that, Director?” He asked with faux respect.

”You don’t name these things. If they have names, you get attached to them.” Phobos’ voice held barely contained fury laced with something deadly. ”You’ll go from someone doing great things to packing lunches and cleaning scraped knees.”

”We can manage both.” Hofnarr said meekly.

Phobos was about to object when Thelia started waving her whale plush around while making incoherent baby noises. Almost as if mocking Phobos for everything he is, was, and will be.

Phobos, furious, stormed off and slammed the door shut.

”Phobos.” The Auditot mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. ”Don’t make me rip the eye of your face.”

The Auditor had decided to take Hofnarr and Jeb to this recently opened restaurant with good reviews. Begrudgedly having to bring Phobos along (i.e he was annoyed into letting him come along).

Phobos wasn’t happy that they brought Thelia along. Hofnarr looked so stupid with her strapped to his chest. Jebediah and The Auditor were doting on their happy accident as she tried vainly to chew on a breadstick while possessing no teeth.

”I don’t know what to order.” Hofnarr expressed while scanning the menu. ”I’ve never been here before.”

”Don’t worry, Doctor.” Phobos boasted. The Auditor felt like puking. ”I’ve been here many times before.” Jebediah and The Auditor exchanged glances that said the same thing: this place opened two days ago. ”You should get the orange soda, it’s quite exquisite.”

”Sure, whatever.” Jebediah said dismissively, not even looking up from the menu. Phobos narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, his annoyance evident.

Soon enough, a waiter came around with a notepad. ”What may I get for you gentlemen tonight?”

”Orange soda.” Phobos snapped, as if too important to say please.

”I’ll have a strawberry soda, please.” The Auditor said, even though he had no mouth, you could make out the silhouette of a smirk.

The air in the immediate area dropped several degrees as Phobos snapped his gaze toward his superior and bore his gaze into his soul.

”Me too, strawberry.” Jebediah calmly inquired, closing his menu.

”Make that three.” Hofnarr said. Everyone could see the metaphorical stream escaping Phobos’s ears, and the waiter had seemingly seen this before.

They gave what they wanted to eat and the waiter left. When he was out of earshot, Phobos launched over the table and got into Jebediah’s face.

”I told you very clearly to order the orange soda.” He muttered through gritted teeth. Jebediah acted unbothered as he continued to fold origami with the paper wipes.

”We changed our minds.” Hofnarr told him as he fed Thelia from a jar pureed something-or-whatnot.

”You said you were getting orange soda.” Phobos hissed.

”Strawberry is better.” Jebediah said bluntly.

Phobos’s professional facade cracked at the seams. ”Whatever.” Phobos stood up so fast his chair hit the floor. He stormed off to the bathrooms as the three looked after him.

”Seriously!?” Jebediah called after him as the door slammed shut, echoing throughout the establishment.

”This is stupid.” The Auditor muttered. They could basically hear Phobos wailing from the other side of the building.

”He’s such a crybaby.” Jebediah commented, earning a nod from The Auditor.

”Should we check on him?” Hofnarr, always the mediator asked. At this point, he’d forgotten to put the spoon into Thelia’s mouth due to being too busy observing the drama around him. Thelia finally got annoyed. She grabbed his hand and forcefully made him shove it into her mouth.

”No.” The Auditor told him, fighting a smile. ”If we do, I’ll start laughing.” Jebediah and Hofnarr looked at him weirdly. Meanwhile, Thelia was too busy licking the spoon clean. ”Phobos crying is the funniest thing ever.”

Hours later, Phobos had finally calmed down and stepped out of the stall, ready to face his inferiors.

Only to return to an empty table with the bill already paid.

”Where did they go?” He wondered to himself. ”They were my ride.”

Elsewhere, the group was sitting in a car on their way to the tower. Hofnarr and Thelia were asleep in the back, seemingly competing on who could snore the loudest.

”Did you actually mean it?” Jebediah asked, looking up from his phone.

”I told you I couldn’t watch Phobos crying.” The Auditor didn’t even bother hiding his satisfaction.

”So we ate and are on our way home?”

”So we ate and are on our way home.”

Phobos remained there even as people filed out and closing time grew near like a judgment call.

”What the fuck?” He cried to the heavens.

I had to walk across the city. In the rain. Like some street-wandering vagrant. Blasphemy. Absolute, filthy blasphemy. And whose fault is it? It’s.

That thing has infected everything. I feel it in its skin, in its bones. It radiates something unnatural. Whenever I’m near it— my stomach twists like it’s trying to escape. Just the sound of it breathing makes my skin crawl.

They parade it around now. They’re proud of it. Hofnarr straps it to his chest like a badge of honor. Jebediah lets it play with his gloves. The Auditor feeds it. Feeds it like some... sacred calf.

They let the GOL3MS babysit it now. My GOL3MS. They used to protect high-level documents and labs. Now they entertain this... creature, crawling on the floor like some gelatinous parasite. And the way it looks at everyone. Like it knows something. Like it’s above us. All the while chewing on one of those insufferable binkies.

I can’t take it anymore. I won’t.

They all fall under its spell, becoming docile caretakers and gooey-eyed fools. I am the only one who sees it for what it is.

A mistake. A disruption. A threat.

I’m going to make them pay. I’m going to wipe that smug little look off its face. I'm going to kill that thing.

It needs to die. It was never supposed to live.