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[???] <span class="mu-s">Drink from the ichor, Nicole.</span>
[???] <span class="mu-s">You're not the only one who wants to, you know.</span>
[???] <span class="mu-s">It'll wash away your fears. Your dread. Your pain. You'll be happy.</span>
You whip your head around to check on Maruyama.
His eyes are glazed over and unfocused. "I- Maybe we should get closer. To the River. It couldn't hurt, could it?"
"I would implore you to reconsider." Anderson dryly responds. "That River would rip you to shreds."
"N-no. It's fine. I can handle it." The grip on his katana is weakening. The PARADIGM is beginning to flicker in and out of existence. "Her voice's so quiet. Yet it's beautiful like I remember it. Her pristine, jade-like voice."
"No!" Lex grits his teeth. "No, no, don't fucking listen to it!"
He shuffles closer to the River despite the warning. Lex tries to reach a hand out but his body refuses to listen to him. His veins launch out of his veins and promptly imbue themselves into the ground.
Anderson quickly picks up on what's going on, "OTTO! ADAM! MOVE!"
The two non-SHIFTers scramble over to stop Maruyama. Unlike Lex, they manage to grab onto the delirious Maruyama without any real issue. They promptly drag him as far from the River as possible.
You tighten your hand into a fist. That damn voice. Something about it is familiar in the worst way possible.
The hotel back in A-Corp. Where a man twisted into an anomaly through a desperate ritual.
The voice you know Lex heard back in I-Corp.
The mentions of a woman's voice talking to someone in their lowest moments.
You have to do something. Anything. The River seems to be tied to this mysterious voice somehow.
"Adam, check the bodies." You yell out a command before scrambling your way over to Maruyama. He's currently resting against a wall. One hand tightly gripping his flickering PARADIGM and his other is used to prop himself up.
"Her voice." His voice is starting to slur like he had one too many drinks. "I. I'm not good enough, Nicole, I know it. I'm a fake. I've been faking this whole time. This sword isn't mine, it's a fake."
Fuck. Whatever that voice said to him must've rattled him something fierce. You take a deep breath. Okay. Let's do this.
"Maru. Tell me where we're at."
He doesn't answer.
"In case you forgot, we're in the belly of the beast. A SPOOK base that is apparently so important to the Stille Dag, they're willing to send a CEO down here to protect it."
"And you managed to survive all of this. Whatever the voice is telling you, it's wrong."
"It. It's her voice. My iwfe. Yur...Yur..." He stammers, unable to even remember his wife's name. "It's been so long since I heard it." <<span class="mu-b">[???] Daido. Sweet, sweet Daido. She pities you. She doesn't actually believe in you. Not like I do.</span>>
"It's not her. It's whatever is in that fucking River. It's messing with you." You grab him by the shoulders. "You've made it this far! I believe in you! I don't care if you're fake, you managed to make this fair, yeah?"
"You're. You're right."
