SAKROSANKT

Prologue

Based on the horror game "SIGNALIS" by rose-engine


SAKROSANKT

written by Matthew Leonard Oliver Adam N.




AKT-EINS: VINETA

PROLOGUS

>SYSTEM WIRD HOCHGEFAHREN. . .

>34%

>87%

>100%

>BETRIEBSSYSTEM: BÜROADMINISTRATIONS-/ ELEKTROTECHNIKER REPLIKA "AMEISE"

>ID NUMMER: AMSE-4496

. . .

Prompted by the completed start-up process, his eyes slowly snapped open, blue irises scanning the surrounding area. He had awoken from another sleepless dream, for Replika's need no dream, only recharging. No signs of fatigue. All systems nominal. Oxidant fluids in regular levels. Another cycle had begun. Shifting sideways, he hopped out of his bed, steel-covered toes touching the carpet-covered floor before the sole of his foot stepped down. Taking strides to head out to his designated workplace, he passed a mirror. Light blue shirt, adorned with a yellow tie, twin stripes emblazoned upon the shoulder, the telltale symbol of Vineta, the Cradle of Humanity, as the Nation called it. Upon his legs, dark, indigo colored trousers, each outer thigh adorned with an ivory colored stripe, seemingly to symbolize the Vinetan sigil. A peachy skin complexion, with a long, bushy tuft of reddish hair sitting atop his head, a beard of equal color on his chin. A trait that made him look surprisingly human, but the titanium, silver colored plating lining his neck and cheeks betrayed his true nature. He was a Replika, no more, no less. And as things stood right now, he had a job to do. He left the room, take a left down the hall. The hall, which under normal circumstances would be busy and bustling with both Gestalt workers and Replika staff in equal measure. Yet. . .there was none. AMSE-Units were designed specifically for remembrance of finer details, to make note of the everyday, and to check for discrepancies in behavior to report. And this was one example of a discrepancy if Ameise had ever seen it. The time was 0738 of today's cycle. During the past cycles, Ameise had noted that around this time, several Gestalt workers would engage in what was colloquially known as a "Wasserspender-Gespräch", before being chased off back to their posts by the overlooking STCH-Units that acted as the buildings security force. But as he passed by the water machine, no such thing occurred. No sight of the Gestalt workers, no overseeing, dominating presence of the unusually tall STCH-Unit, none of it. Despite being designed to keep a calm head and rationale in otherwise distressing situations, this was beginning to unnerve Ameise. It had dawned upon him how deserted the entire building was. Where was everybody?

Breaking off his routine walk to his cubicle, Ameise took a glance outside to the Vinetan outside world. Azure ocean as far as the eye could see, with several ivory skyscrapers dotting the landscape, the sole pillars that provided any sort of refuge from the waters below it. As the Sun reflected its rays off the crystal blue waters, Ameise noted the presence of ships outside, the ones both Gestalts and Replikas used to travel betwixt individual buildings. These gunmetal grey aquatic vehicles, too, seemed untouched. Was there a system failure? He had begun to wonder as he resumed his walk. Was there a glitch in the system, preventing him from waking and heading off to wherever everyone else had left? I couldn't have been a hurry, everything looked cleaned and proper. Quite contrary, it looked as if everyone had spontaneously vanished, or simply left whatever they were doing and. . .just left. . .

>DISCREPANCY DETECTED

Confusion settled in. This was HIS cubicle. It was engraved, clear as day.

>OFFICE SPACE FOR ELEKTROTECHNIK AND POWER SUPPLY INTEGRITY. DESIGNATED WORKER: AMSE-4496
DESIGNATED GESTALT OFFICER: RICHTER, NATHALIA

Ameise's eyes narrowed as he combed through his mental databank, digging through his memories, as it were. And he immediately knew what the discrepancy was. The door is white, as it was for any other cubicle. It has always been this way. So why was his door all of a sudden red? It looked like a scarlet blemish in an otherwise pristine, white-doored order. His silver, titanium clad hands reached for the doorknob. With a twist, the door opened, Ameise's eyes narrowing upon withnessing a severe discrepancy.

The office was now gone. Instead, the room was rotund, lacking any edges, as everything smoothly curved upwards, an unknown light source casting an eerie, red light. There was a perfectly smooth hole in the ceiling. Metal slat, unconnected, spiral upwards to the top. Upon making his way upwards, Ameise noticed a door at the top, just large enough for him to enter.He couldn't turn around, he couldn't turn to the side, he could only go forwards. Upon trespassing, the door fell shut behind him, and Ameise could see a desk, with an old TV model resting atop it, and a telegram machine just beside it. There is an armchair with a warm blanket, and a safe, welded shut, impaled by several oversized keys. 5 keys in total. Faded propaganda posters of the Nation plaster the walls. A yellow window. The door is missing. There was an entrance here – but now it's gone. On the desk lays a dusty book, grey cover with a red figure. Clawed hands and a tendrill, where the head is supposed to be. Ameise picks the book up, and the kiryllian title reads "MOON HOWLER". The telegram stirrs to life. . .

NULL. NULL. NULL. NEUN.
EINS. NULL. EINS. VIER.
EINS. FÜNF. ZWEI. NULL.
ZWEI. EINS. ZWEI. VIER.
ZWEI. FÜNF. ZWEI. NEUN.
DREI. NULL. DREI. VIER.
DREI. FÜNF. DREI. NEUN.
VIER. NULL. VIER. VIER.
VIER. FÜNF. VIER. NEUN.
FÜNF. NULL. NEUN. NEUN

ACHTUNG. . . ACHTUNG. . .