EXE-TOBER

01 - Deceit

Derek’s Survival Guide Tip XC-12

If, by some stupid miracle, you're still traversing his castle in search of whatever supplies there are after evading the swinging pendulums room, you will be faced with two branching paths. Both of the floors for each path have been reduced into stone pillars that have already begun to show their age (be sure to remember to make a sprinted jump just in case some of the pillars have fallen apart).

If you hear any cracking or crumbling of rocks beneath you, you need to pick up the pace to avoid breaking the pillars for other survivors. If you are unsure of whether or not you’re in the right physical condition for this area, please do not take the risk and turn back as soon as possible.

The path that goes to the left is the one you should be going to as it will lead to the atrium, with a vast amount of rooms you can go into in search of luxury supplies. For those with a hero complex, you may be tempted to venture down the other path due to the screams and pleas for mercy you will hear.

There is only one circumstance where you should ever consider going to the path on the right, and that is if you’re being followed by something that wants to hurt you. Your only hint (if you haven’t found this guide anyways) at the true nature of this path is the fact that at the end of the hallway, there are a pair of closed red curtains with yellow rope dangling past the floor, obscuring the room ahead in darkness.

If you’re stupid enough to not know at this point, it is a trap. A rope held in place that’s hidden on the other side will be set off once crossed, releasing a set of spikes from the ceiling that will swing into any unlucky bastard who tries to enter the room. If you’re using the path to potentially eliminate any threat who’s chasing you, you may either try and get ahead of the attacker and head down the left path and keep your fingers crossed it goes the other way. If not, there’s the incredibly risky tactic of leading it down the right path and just before you make the jump to cross the trap, side step the threat and trip him over on the final pillar where it will either hit the spike trap or fall into the pit below, reaching the basement area.

If you’re wondering what’s inside the room, I’m not going to be the guy to tell you. As far as I’m aware, we only get one chance of survival these days and I’m not taking a dumb risk to see what’s inside one single room. Even if it is aching my mind on who those screams belong to.

The best I can tell you is that a sign that leads to the room on the left denotes it as “Cells 1-B”. I guess it’d make some sense that there are still prisoners in that old, rotted place. Not really sure how the trap keeps getting resetted, with practically no sign of any corpses in sight. Either a member of the old guard is doing a damn fine job of protecting the cells or…desperate times have called for desperate measures.

Either way yeah, avoid that path like the plague.

02 - Hill

Excerpt from GH Leader Paul’s Diary

…Some days it only gets harder to think of how I’m going to motivate these people. Whether we like it or not, we’ve formed a community that requires everyone to put in the effort to survive. I get that we’re all struggling with surviving in this death-trapped filled place but there’s a fair few people who are just content with wasting away in their huts instead of searching for supplies.

No matter how much I try to encourage them to talk to me and anyone else who would be willing to listen, they just sink into further self-pity. Some of them have understandable reasons of course, I would consider myself an unworthy leader if I didn’t recognise them. Even slight injuries or infections tend to lead to permanent damage in the long run. There’s only so much people uneducated in first-aid can do and I am certain to give these brave souls my condolences.

But then there are the ones who sink because they lack mental constitution. The world becomes too much for them and they allow themselves to fester and rot as they become scabs in our community. They’d have my sympathies if they weren’t leaching off of our supplies. We don’t know how sustainable this way of living will be, and it pains my heart having to decide what needs to be rationed because of what these free-loaders are doing to the rest of us.

It’s why I’ve come to a simple decision, a hands-free way that partially eliminates the problem that requires minimum effort. As a matter of fact, it comes as an unexpected solution as I was tending to the starting hut that any new survivors spawn into. On the wall facing the entryway, I discovered that one of our own had carved a makeshift exit that led away from our little shanty town.

As it has been for as long as I can remember, curiosity took the better of me as I decided to crawl through it. The path ahead was short, with a clear end-point just a few feet away. An open and pointed cliff-face, lending itself to a beautiful, if haunting, view of this rotted zone. I took in the view at sun-set, breathing in the ocean air that had a tinge of iron. I heard the waves crash against the cliff I stood on, watching the empty dead-lands filled with forgotten scenes. At first I thought whoever tore open the exit was someone who wished to see such a sight, a place to reflect on their thoughts in privacy.

I took a peek down the cliff face.

There was a body, broken and skewered by the jagged rocks beneath. It had to have been a few hours old at least, it had one of its arm missing from what I could only assume was the waves claiming it. Its stomach had been ripped open, being left deflated after its contents must’ve leaked out. Its chest and neck were snapped in the opposite direction of its body but I could tell who it was by the matted and wet fur. I believe his name was Johnathan, a survivor in a Ray vessel.

I left the scene soon after, and covered the exit with a chair that was stolen from the castle. I was left to ruminate on this matter, and to decide on how the news were to be broken to our community which would most surely feel the loss even if it wasn’t announced.

It was then, before I began to write this entry as a matter of fact, that I came to a brilliant revelation. The exit will not be repaired. It will be kept covered by the chair, just slightly out of position from how the other chairs are aligned for any observant member to notice.

Jonathan will be found to be missing, but not dead. I will make no announcement, and allow our community to discover his absence. They can have their fun in trying to search for him but in the end, I will publicly announce that he had decided to go out on his own and reject our community. I will have sympathy for him, but I will not ask my people to give theirs to him. It is their choice after all.

And finally, I will plant a seed within our community. A slight rumour, that starts with my most trusted friends. Not said in certainty but with implication that Johnathan killed himself, and not that far from our homes. There will be an escalation but only for those who have fallen behind on their communal duties. A slight confirmation that I am looking into this matter, give this hidden area some credence and, as said before, plant a seed.

Everyone is free to make their own choices. Those who refuse to falter in the face of despair and continue to survive to aid each other in this time of need will be bolstered and determined to keep living. For themselves and everyone who depends on them.

Those who wish to leave, to be responsible for their own destiny? Now they have the choice to have another way to leave.

Jonathan, you have my gratitude. You have contributed to our lives in a way that cannot be fully expressed. Perhaps I shall memorialize you in some way. I’m thinking of a bench, with a wooden sign planted by its side with your name written on it. I’m sorry I won’t be able to ask you for any suggestions.

03 - Drowning

Traversal Guide for Chaos Emeralds by Jonathan

Hydrocity Zone - Entered from Angel Island Zone in a linear manner or entered from Stardust Speedway/Cryptic Grotto if coming from their respective Special Zones.

If completed linearly then it leads to Marble Garden Zone or ???

Don’t even fucking think about it man. I’m sure at one point that there used to be some decent routes to finding the Super Rings necessary to get to the chaos emeralds but that ship has long since sailed. Can’t even use the damn place to find any resources, if there ever used to be any from way back then.

First thing’s first, the water has been infested with all kinds of bacteria and icky algae owing to how long it’s been around. I’ve only seen a handful of groups just scratch the surface of trying to create penicillin with little success, so you shouldn’t be diving into those waters without expecting to come out with an infection that’ll turn your stomach into knots. An old buddy of mine in an Espio body was practically vomiting day and night after we checked out the zone. Could’ve killed him from dehydration alone if we didn’t get to a water source in time.

Second of all, just like with every other Zone in this place, there’s still robots in those depths that’ll fuck you up if you aren’t looking properly. They’ve obviously degraded from the passage of time of course, with the old ways they used to attack folks having long been eroded. The shitty thing is though is that they’ve adapted in a really nifty way, with them being able to grab onto you with their wires as you’re trying to swim your way through. They have jagged metal pieces at the end of the wires, that shit can sink into your flesh easily if you take too long in batting them off. Couple that with the infected water and you’d be lucky if you only needed to amputate the grabbed limb.

There’s one final reason why you shouldn’t try to pass through there, just to progress or otherwise.

It’s the countless number of bodies that have died on the way. It’s not that bad at first, since everyone who reaches the zone tends to have some good experience in general zone traversal, with water specific areas not being an exception.

But as the journey keeps going, you start to see bodies in the water. Waterlogged corpses in various states of decomposition. You’ll know when you’re reaching the incredibly dangerous parts when you see the first skeleton that’s been held in place by one of the grabbers. That’s when you see unlucky bastards more often than you might be comfortable with.

A lot of them have floated to the top of the “ceiling” of the underwater sections, mixing with each other and pretty much filling up the passageways with themselves. There’ll be times when you’re trying to navigate in near-enough pitch black waters trying to avoid those wires when you bump a bit too close to the wall and see a bloated Rosy corpse with collapsed eyes or a Knuckles skeleton with spikes that’ll still cut into you if you don’t drift away in time.

It’s hell for anyone with claustrophobia down there, as the later parts of the area get cramped with the bodies. It’d take someone either really flexible or strong enough to break through some of the walls that have been formed there. At least if you die there, you drown with everyone else. But then again, having the sickly water fill your lungs as you’re surrounded by people who were just like you, cramped in spaces that squeeze you hard enough to get you into a state of panic…yeah.

Me and Cole were lucky enough and smart enough to go back while we still could. A good man I knew wasn’t the same, at least I reckon so. If there’s any lesson you should take from this aside from never stepping foot into Hydrocity is that you gotta know when to back off and try a different route. Stubbornness kills survivors just as much as anything else in this place.

If you need to progress, just backtrack and use any of the Super Rings in Angel Island. If it’s still there, me and Cole fashioned a rope ladder that should do the trick to getting back there. Just keep your head upwards to avoid getting vertigo. Now for the zones you can get to through there…

04 - Puppet Strings

Partially ruined poster taken from Carnival Night Zone, found near entrance of the zone (creation date uncertain)

Side A

(Scribbled drawings within centre of the poster depicts Tails, Knuckles and Eggman standing(?) on a flat plain, with strings coming from their heads, hands and feet. Control bars hang overhead, held by disembodied hands.)

Feeling down in the dumps? Need a pick me up before you either pray or rage to the heavens before continuing forward on your journey? Or do you simply need some time to rest from jumping or reeling in disgust at your own shadow?

Well leave all of your troubles behind and find our ON-STRINGS CIRCUS!!

Founded by our beloved ???(Scratched out so deeply the paper is missing), you'll find the beloved founder to still be delivering the performances of your meagre lifetimes, directing the helpful volunteers in bringing incredibly comedic and funny performances that are sure to bring some well-needed levity to your day-to-day lives.

Find us within the end point of Act 1 as that is where we are currently situated, owing to the current demands of our beloved director.
You'll never have to desire any of those meaningless things ever again…not when there's so much fun to be had!

Side B

(Pinned polaroid photographs showcase the circus at work. First photograph depicts the corpse of a Tails vessel, in the middle of running to the darkened background with its head twisted around to face the photographer, revealing a skinned face with the eyes removed. A caption is written in the white outline saying “LIFELIKE MOTIONS.”)

(The second photograph showcases a Knuckles vessel and an Eggman vessel posed as if they were having a discussion. The former corpse in particular has its mouth forced open by the marionette strings, displaying its broken teeth. The latter corpse is covered in spikes, some clearly being shown to have gone through the flesh completely such as one through his neck and a few through his shoulders. The caption underneath says “HILARIOUS PERFORMANCES.”)

(The last photograph was taken mid-motion, thus rendering the subject completely blurry and somewhat unrecognisable. What can only be made out is teeth. Yellowed, sickly teeth with rotten gums. They appear to be posed within a grin. Nothing else is recognisable. The caption reads “MEET THE NEW FRIEND.”)

SEE YOU SOON.

PLEASE COME SOON.

I NEED YOU MORE THAN THE OTHERS.

05 - You Can't Run

Rumored conversation (?) overheard within Scrap Brain Zone as reported from Danielson, with David (noted as possibly the survivor who has lived the longest within this world) speaking with an unknown person.

Danielson had been travelling with David for a fair while as the two helped each other progress through the zone. Once they were due to arrive in Act 3, David gave Danielson a piece of advice in concerns to a shortcut coming up, before mentioning how he was going to take a breather before continuing forward to Palmtree Panic.

Danielson had aimed to proceed to Emerald Hill Zone to finish his delivery of necessary supplies from the Green Hill Village, an act of good will from its leader Paul. However, his attention was sidelined owing to a sudden desire to ask for some further survival tips from David. So before he made the leap down the pit into the final Act before the Egg Crusher room, Danielson back-tracked to catch up to David.

Once he did however, he had caught him having a conversation with someone. Owing to the decrepit nature of the zone, he wasn't able to tell which vessel the stranger David was speaking to was in. It wasn't a voice he had ever recognised from his travels though, although he mentions how that could be due to the poor state of the stranger's voice. It was hoarse and strained, as if the person had pebbles stuck inside of it. Whenever lightning struck from the outside, it was hard to tell where the stranger was, with the report mentioning that Danielson was unsure if he had ever saw him in-between the flashes.

This is how the conversation went:

(D for David, S for Stranger)

D “...What does it matter to you?
S “I hate it when you lie to yourself like this.”
D “Fuck off, I helped him as much as I've helped everyone else here.”
S “Of course you did. Give yourself a pat on the back for yet again making sure these hapless strangers will be capable of finding their own torturous methods of death.”
D “Not this shit again, HE hasn't be around in years. If he hasn't been bothered to check up on me, he's certainly not going after the others.”
S “That's an awful thing to say. Do you actually feel special to him, because your spirit never broke? The novelty of such a thing wears off in time. It’s why his methods changed throughout this time you know.”
D “This can't be another one of his games. It has to have been too long, surely…”

S “Would you kill yourself if it is?”
D “Excuse me?”
S “I've been telling you to get your fucking ears cleaned out for so long and you still haven't done it you piece of filth. If I told you that if this was just another long-con game that could end at any second, would you quit the game early through ending your miserable existence?”
D “There's no way you'd ever know something like-”
S “Answer the shitting, mother-fucking QUESTION, David!”
D “No, how would you ever know whether or not-”
S “Stop wasting my time and tell me.”
D “I…Fucking hell. I wouldn't. I still need to know why I'm here. Having a time limit on getting to know why would just put some more urgency into that search.”

S “...I see. Still not agreeing with the consensus?”
D “It makes sense for them but not for me.”
S “I feel as if I do not have to say how you are dooming yourself to a meaningless search for an answer that may not be there.”
D “I know.”
S “But why do you still persist?”
D “...There's nothing else for me. I either know the truth or I'm dead. Call it stubbornness but I can't give up the pursuit now.”
S “...If its what makes you feel better, then I will at least commend you for not the other survivors with you down this abyss of ‘truth’. Even if the end of this journey will surely end if nothing but pain and misery.”
D “Thanks…?”
S “It is quite alright. Although speaking of others…You are being watched.”

The conversation abruptly ended as David turned to face Danielson, who expressed some form of confusion as he approached Danielson. Explaining he just wanted to ask some tips for survival seemed to quell David's worries, although he was reportedly confused and unable to process any questions in regards to the stranger he had spoken to.

06 - He Comes

???

You can't see your hands when you stretch them out in front of yourself. It's hard to tell if your hands are even moving. From what you can feel, you are in the middle of walking. Where you're going or what you're doing is something you can't tell.

It's hard to tell how long you've been like this. About 6532 seconds ago, you started to count when he was beginning to panic. It was a long while before you began to count though. It's not helping anymore either. To try another way of calming yourself, you try to remember what had happened before he got stuck in whatever this state of being is.

You had felt the desire to go beyond what your friends and neighbours had gone before. Back in the Green Hill Village, you came to the understanding that nobody had ever thought to cross the ocean to reach the cliffs. Nobody was willing to cross it, and its leader was unwilling to use any resources to craft a boat capable of travelling.

And so you made the choice to make a boat in secrecy. Using your own materials you took from other zones behind everyone's back. You told your closest confidants about it, and whether or not they would want to come with you. Nobody would. Terry surprised you when he said he wouldn't come. A guy as reckless as he is should've jumped at the chance, something he'd love to do to fit into how he saw his vessel's role as Fang the Sniper.

It didn't matter. Alone or not, you needed to satiate the curiosity. There could've been another hidden zone behind the cliffs, or even a way out of the game!

So you travelled on water. The waves were rocky, water constantly pouring in from the sides. You felt queasy from the constant movement, heaving as much as your lungs wanted to as you poured the water out of the boat. But you were making progress, weren't you? The cliffs looked close.

But then they weren’t close. They drifted from view. They rose to the top of the world, along with the water and boat around you. No, that's not right. They weren't floating upwards, you've just been falling.

You're not walking. You are still falling. At least it feels like it. From time to time, searing hot pains have happened across your body, the pain lingering even to now. Your arm has been fully twisted around countless times, the flesh breaking through the skin and the bone fully dislocated from the shoulder. Your body has been stretched in an unnatural manner, your skin tearing apart to accommodate as your organs press tightly against what's still there. Something has digged throughout your body, its like a tree branch covered head to toe in baubles that stick through you. It is still moving.

And your face. You're smiling. The grin is all that your face has become. Everything else has either been shifted to the side or to the back of your head as the front of it consists of nothing but teeth and gums.

Splintered teeth.

Rotten gums.

And then you wake up.

You're not in a boat anymore. You're curled in a ball on a grassy field. You cannot see what you look like, as your eyes are jutted in different directions away from your body.

You can see that the grass is perfectly green. The trees that are some distance away are perfect in their condition and health. The other eye sees that the sky is a delightful dark blue. And that the land behind you stretches as far as you can see.

Just in the one direction. Forward. Just like a 2D plane, not a world.

You cannot move. The branch inside of you is still moving, taking away your right to run.

Before you can even think, something begins to approach you.

It writhes.

It is broken.

It is
U̶n̴
̶̎̃͜ṣ̴̾̏p̸̹̺̓e̷̛͖̓͌
a̵͍͕͊͐̊̒k̶̛͉̑͋̈́a̴̪̩̝̳͝͝
b̴̹͔̗͚̝̘̯̟́̈́͆̍͒͑̈́̌͑̆͒̕͘͠ḷ̷̣̞̗͓͈̈̍͆̍̇͛̀͝e̵̠͇̙̾̈́́̃̋̇̀̄̈́̏̊̊͋̈

Ḩ̸̧̧̢̛̛̭͈̱͕͚̖̞̩̣̱̭̰̤̮̬̩̜̫̖̣̥͉̠͕͈̘̤͕̝̰̘̰̱̱͖̞͕͉̟̻̱͇̭͙̘͚̮̬̹͍̘͚̩̋͐͊͐̀̉͌̌̏̔͑̐̂̇̒̉͛̅̆̈́̈̔͛̑́͌̂̈́̄͋̓̾̆̉̋͒̆̆̈́͛̓̂̂͗́̆̓̔̔͋͋͗̿̽̾͊̅̔͌̀̾̈͋̉̂̚̚̚̚͘͝͝E̶͕͕͍͐̎̐̓̔̿͗̾̂̐̊̈́̌̑͋̾̔̑̎̈̈́̊͂͋̒́̋́̉̂̐͝͝͠͠͠ ̴̧̨̨̢̡̢̢̧̡̢̛͖̩̜̹̥̬̤̞̦̩̯̞̻̠̞͍͕͉͖͕̹̺̱̦̙͉̭͇̙͖͉̺̫͎̪̳̥͔͈̗̙̱̦̞̰͓͔̹͎̮̹͔̙̮͔̯͎̪̰̖͖̦̬͕̣̖̰̪͖͈̘͍̓̆͊͑̆̽̋̉̈́̀̀̇̓̒͂͋̽̈̕͘͜͜͜͝͠͝ͅC̶̡̡̧̲͉͖̞̳̞͔͉͓̜̩̺͔̯͓̣̫͔͈̉͌̄̈́̽͂̊͗͊̂́̇̂͂̃͛͊̽͌̾͋́͘͜͝͠͝͠Ǫ̸̡̧̨̡̡̨̢̨̨̨̡̛̜͇̙̫̞͇͎͇̱͚̝͚͍̩̬̩̰̤̭̯̳͚̳̝̘̥͇̜̪̹̳̝̙̼̻͉͔̟͚̪͉̳̰͈̼͚͚͖͙̫̱̬͙̹͍̬̜͖̦̭̳̫͇̘̼̳̠͔̻̟̬̝̩͙͖̺̯̟̰̦̹̤͌̈́͂̐̈́̂͛̓̑̈́̈́̋̊̆̈̊͊̈́̿̈̈́̓̾͛̑̈̃͌̈́̉̔́͋̑̓̈͑̄͗͛̄̏͊̾͗͂̋̾͗̓̽̐̀͗͆̋̆̆̀͐͐͌̅̉͋̓̃̽̆̊̊́̆̅́͊́̀̈́̀̒̃̊̈́̚̚͘̚̕͜͜͜͝͠ͅM̶̧̛͕̰̜͕̮̣̜͔̳͕̻̃̈́̆̇̈́̒̉͐̂̇͌̔̇̔́͐͐͊́̓̾̔͛͐̈́̌̇̀͗̆̉̂̄͊̊̈͋͗̆͆̿̍͌͐̑̐̽̓̏͌̀̔̑̔̀̎́̍͒͌̅̈́͐̅̆̒̈͂̽͑̄͊̆̋̂͑͆̾͒͆̈́̈͒͐̈́̕̕̕͘̕͝͝͝͝E̵̡̨̡̨̢̧̢̡̫̠̮̠̦͙̘̰̥̗̟͖̜̹͉̙̦̱͍͇̖̩̮͍̪̤̘̬͔̻̞̘̤̩̗̻̥̰̲̹̦̳̗̖͓̯̣͓̘̰͎̫͎̦͇̭̭̣̫̹͇͍̪̪͔͛̎̄̈́̈́̈̀̓̈́͂̓̔̂͌̆̔̿̋̿̽͐͑̀͊̎̊̍̒͋̉̚͘̚͜͜͜͝͠͝͝͠ͅͅS̵̨̛̰͙̟͚̳̺̹̹̼̗̭͚̝̀̍͌̓̽̃̈́̈́́̐̌̿̿͊̐̅̐̎̇̿̊̕̕͝͠

07 - Exeify a Character (SUPER MARIO)

Unsorted Evidence for the SPVG (Supernatural and Paranormal Video Games) Association #SM003-02

Message found in a copy of Super Mario World

(The game had been found within the personal belongings of Lukas Harrows as a part of a missing persons report that had been filed for him. While it had been noted that it had been given an altered label, it had been left alone owing to the reasonable assumption it had nothing to do with the teenager's disappearance. We thankfully knew better.)

(Upon collection of the game under the guise of a second round of searching for possible missed details for the case, the altered nature of the cartridge was readily discovered. The label was found to be an altered version of Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World with the All-Stars portion on top scrubbed out to leave the SMW title on the bottom. The cartridge was also in a state of disrepair owing to deep scratches present throughout its entirety, formatted as if someone was counting with them. A total number of 49 scratches were found, some of them embedded so deeply into the cartridge that it broke through the shell casing.)

(A volunteer worker assigned to this game began a playthrough of the copy for the existence of paranormal material on January 18th 20XX.)

(Deviations from regular gameplay were made readily apparent from the start of the game, as the title screen was skipped. It began with the level select screen that was inconsistent with any screens within the original SMW game. It displayed a spiral that lead to a hole in the middle, with a ladder leading downwards. A pair of gloves hovered by the beginning point of the spiral from the bottom middle of the screen. The starting point that lead to the first ‘level’ was entitled “DEMO LIBRARY”.)

(Entering the level, the playtester found that the floating gloves were consistent with the in-game sprite, as only the hands were able to be seen. For the level itself, the level took on the appearance of the Yoshi's House area from the original game, with the difference being set at night and the level being stretched to, what our playtester assumed, to an endless degree.)

(The blue speakers used for hints were dotted and spread evenly throughout the level, ending after 51 of them appeared. The speakers in-between the first and last ones took on the surprising effect of revealing snippets/screenshots of gameplay. The contents varied from speaker to speaker, some of them displaying footage of oddly coloured Mario's or Luigi's traversing wooded or industrial themed levels whilst avoiding misshapen and bloated enemies. Others only showed empty screenshots of those kinds of levels, with a date and time-stamp listed in the bottom right of the screen.)

(While the final speaker hasn't been accessed, the first speaker has been shown to reveal a message that will be listed now.)

Observe and bask in our collective privilege.
We have all made the pledge to join together as brothers, as family.
To be united as one in our desire to reawaken the Beloved Almighty.
He who deserves our call, we acknowledge the blessing of this duty we uphold.
Witness the progress we have made to coax our creator into our lives once more.
To bring a new age of creation and destruction.
If you feel you are truly ready, then join us and commit to this journey.
We thank you for the pilgrimage.

08 - Determination

Derek's Survival Guide Tip XE-34

These don't really count as hostile enemies but if you value what can only be your one shot of living in this world, you NEED to stay the hell away from these creatures that I call Re-Animators (there's no copyright law in this universe so I can call them whatever I fucking want!)

They tend to vary in specific size and shape but you'll typically know you've seen one if it's a completely red humanoid that's constantly steaming and dripping liquid and pieces of itself all over the place. It's a bit freaky seeing them in person, as their hands and eyes are kept fully in-tact until they die. Fully formed human eyes and hands, the latter keeping the skin and fingernails and such. They're even capable of speech, although in my experience their throats tend to lack quality vocal chords. They've only been able to groan and moan out words that kinda sound like English if you listen closely.

Not that you should ever be close to them though, as staying away from them will be your top priority. Even if you think they're trying to talk to you or say your name, you cannot let them touch you. Just by touch alone, something that comes off of them has a kinda instantaneous effect of necrotising. Your flesh will start rotting and sloughing off of you, the effect spreading to the rest of your body if one of those Re-Animators holds onto you.

It does the same effect with the land around it. Grass and dirt melt away until stone is reached, stone will break and shatter, metal will rust, water will evaporate, list goes on and on. When one of them eventually can't move or otherwise dies, the zone they're in is effectively doomed and is completely inhospitable. No chance of getting supplies or having any safe rest in these dead places.

Now I may be way too deep into this entry but I'll tell you guys why I took it upon myself to name these guys Re-Animators:

They're us. They were survivors who had died in any form or fashion. From my really limited understanding, what separates a normal death to one that leads to Reanimation is the will and determination of the one who dies. If you're someone who's lost all hope and accept your death, you die and never come back like normal. If you are fighting against this death, have something to live for or just plain don't want to die, there's a relatively high chance that you'll come back.

(Un)luckily, I can tell you guys a first-hand experience of a Reanimation event. I was in a group of three folks, my sister Chelsea and an Espio guide guy called Cole. We were going through Mystic Cave Zone when we came across another guy who was in a Bark the Polar Bear vessel. Dunno how he had gotten that far with how badly he was affected with vertigo, might've been paired with someone he lost recently. We helped him out as much as we could but…a guy that big was always at a disadvantage when going over a spike pit.
With his general weight and vertigo, we ended up seeing the poor guy plummet into the pit.

Cole checked up on the guy while I had to give Chelsea some comfort. We were gonna move on when Cole noticed something weird with the corpse.

I took a look myself by peeking into that pit. I saw Bark deep in that pit, with so many spikes shoved through and out of him. I also saw steam coming off of him.

And then I saw the corpse squirm. Something was moving underneath the flesh, pressing against it. I didn't know what it was until mere moments before it broke through.

Hands.

They tore through the body, revealing a fat and bloated Re-Animator. That fucker then started to crawl up the wall towards us. I still see those terrified hazel brown eyes sometimes when I dream. We booked it soon after, never looking back to see if it was following us.

I've seen a rare few more after that but only after coming out of their bodies. I see them running or crawling as fast as they can all over the place, scurrying throughout the zone like they're trying to find something other than the exit. If you were to ask me what I think they're looking for?

Probably an extra life monitor, to try and get that true second chance at life. I've yet to meet anyone who was successful at getting one.

09 - No Good Endings

Excerpt from Terry's Journal

Forbidden Swamp Zone exploration notes

Whoever came up with the phrase “never meet your heroes” probably never expected the term to have been so incredibly applicable to a metric fuck-ton of situations.

Just found a couple of bodies while travelling through this zone that hasn't been recorded/travelled through, and I swear to fuck that I recognise these bodies. It's only a guess since you can't be fully sure when talking about corpses of vessels but from the context clues I'm seeing…I mean shit. I think they're the survival guide writers, Derek and Chelsea.

I'll back it up a bit and start from kinda the beginning. Need to do that because I want to get these thoughts down so that I'll have an idea of what to say to the villages.

So me being in this unmarked zone to begin with is because to be quite frank, I've been meaning to try and find the limits to this world. I've mentioned the astronaut/deep-sea explorer analogy multiple times already so I won't get into the reasons why, it was just another one of my trips to find new places.

And just like how my trips usually go, I wasn't looking for anything in particular. I just wanted to take in the sights and sounds, and maybe jot down if there any sweet spots for village start-ups or supply grabbing.

Speaking of before I get into the main brunt of this entry, this place is definitely some place I'm not familiar with. There's been plenty of jungle or forest levels with some water elements in Sonic games for sure, but to my knowledge there hasn't been a swamp zone. Especially not one as dark and dingy as this place. You're constantly having to stay on your toes and jump since the wooden bridges that make up most of the usable floor will break after a single step. There's also some nasty badnik fishes that'll jump and bite you if you aren't careful. With its unique nature (created by X?), it's disappointing to say there mostly isn't anything worth salvaging here.

Mostly. There is something of a strange note that I haven't seen here before: canal boats. Specifically those narrowboats that are used for touring rivers with some measure of luxury and comfort. You'd think there'd be air boats but nah, you've got these thin boats that are somehow filled with some assorted luxury items. Shit like alcohol, pillows, cooking utensils. It's like the type of stuff you'd find in something like City Escape, but just small slices. They're typically connected to the wooden platforms by being tied to one of the polls with some sturdy rope.

Gotta be honest, I was loving this shit. (Definitely going to omit this when talking to people), I was enjoying myself with the booze and bed. I may have enjoyed it a bit too much considering the circumstances but who the hell could blame me? Comfort is a rarity in this place, and I deserved to have some measure of it.

Especially after the discovery I found in one of the boats. It was a boat that was relatively close to a Giant Ring portal that was hidden behind some bushes. Unlike the other boats, this one had drifted away from the wooden platforms. I had to use some hard to see rocks poking out through the water to reach it.

Once I got inside, that's where I saw the first body. It was a Rouge vessel, and she was alone in the bed at the very end of the boat. Knew she was dead straight away from all of the blood that soaked the sheets. It looked as if she was completely drained of blood, that's how pale and how much of it had saturated the room it all was. It looked like she had been sliced apart with…I don't know really. It was all a bunch of tiny but really deep cuts, slashed into her from all directions. Whatever did this to her, it took a while to do. And judging from how her eyes were open, she must've been awake for some of it.

I didn't see the other body until I left the way I came in. After throwing from the mixture of booze and that awful sight, I just wanted to get away from that place as soon as possible. Since I couldn't focus on the path I went through, I tried going in the opposite direction to see if there was a safer way back.

That's when I noticed the cliff face that had been partially covered by bushes. That's also where I found the second body.

This one was a Vector vessel, killed in what seemed to be a relatively similar fashion to the Rouge one. From the way the body was positioned, it was easy to tell that Derek had been running away from whatever was pursuing him. From the gaping hole that covered near enough the entirety of his back, I'm also assuming that the killer also wanted to torture him for whatever reason. Some sick shit.

Fucking hell. If I had the right equipment and if someone was with me, I'd be bringing their bodies back to the nearest village to get them a proper burial. For now, I'm just taking back some of the essentials that were found in the boats to that nearest village. I'll inform the people there about the bodies, and let them handle the rest.

…I wonder if people would accept me as the new Survival Guide writer.