Frostbitten (CYOA) #20

>>29694208

[2/2]

>None of those sound really appealing.
“Well, it wouldn't be right any other way, would it.”
>Mhmm...
A terrible thought invades your head. One you had no idea why you even thought of it. Sky has no family, probably no friends, probably no life. No one would probably notice if he was-
You shake your head and look back into the mirror. Into your eyes. Look at those beady, green things. With those eyes? Nah, you'd never do something like that. You couldn't. Ejecting the thought from your brain, and hoping it doesn't burrow it's way in again, you look back to Misty.
>Don't look at me. If I had a clue on what to do, I'd tell you.

>>29694210
I don't hear any screams for help, so at least there aren't more of these things nearby. Getting Sky into the bathroom and searching the hospital is our best option.

>>29694276
“Well I'm not hearing any screams for help, so at least there's no more of those monsters around here. Let's get sky to stay in here, since it's probably the only safe, half sanitary place in this hospital. Mind going and getting him for me?”
>Yeah, be right back.
And right back she was, with Sky in tow. You poke your head out the doorframe and speak to him.
“Hey, we're gonna look around the rest of this place and see if we can find you a coat or something. We didn't save you just to have you freeze to death out there.”
>Alright... whatever gets me out of here sooner.
“We'll be back as soon as we can, keep the door closed and only open it if you can hear us. Make sure it's us, too.”
>Got it.
Shutting the door and looking past the moldy corpse, you walk through the hallway and come to a T intersection, just like at the other side of the hallway. To one side, there's a stairwell going both up and down, however the stairs leading downward is blocked off by a gigantic wall of yellow, glisteningly damp mold. You're kind of glad, you're not sure you want to descend much more after the medical wing incident back at Peter's. In the middle of the hallway is the front door that was chained from the outside. No sense in trying that door. To the other side of the hallway, across from the stairs, is a rusted metal door only slightly mold-covered. You could probably break this open by bucking it with your hind legs, and with that thing dead, there's less of a chance of anything being attracted by the noise.

>>29694482
Try opening the door.

Say Misty, how does a death cult even work anyways? You have to have ponies born to eventually die and there can't be more ponies if they're all dead. I don't think recruitment rate would be great with all the members dead either. Besides, ponies die naturally anyways! Why do ya have to meddle with that? This place is fucked up.

>>29695123

[1/2]

You try to open the door, but to no avail, it's stuck. You thought as much, so you turn to Misty.
“Looks like we're gonna have to bust this open. You alright with that?”
>Yeah, I'll help.
“Thanks thanks.”
Positioning yourself with your hind legs towards the door, you look over to Misty.
“On three. One... Two... Three!”
The door squeals open as you buck your hooves towards it. It didn't make as much noise as you thought, but you're still cautious. You look inside and find a long room full of machinery and air vents. Like the machine room back at Peter's, only somehow more cramped. And actually lit well. The brown, rusted machines twisted around each other like a mechanical ecosystem of metallic vines.
“Let's see if there's something in there we can slap on Sky to get him the hell out of here.”
>Let's hope there isn't any more death cult members in here.
You begin to slowly weave through the machinery as you begin talking with Misty.
“How does that even work, anyway? You need living ponies to die, and there'll be no one to get new members if everyone's dead. Ponies die naturally too, so half of the work is already being done for them!”
>Well, would you call what that monster was doing “living”? I mean, who knows what was actually making that thing move around. Was it just a machine wearing a pony suit? Was it a horribly deformed pony that's only alive because of the mold? Is it a mixture of both? What even is “living”, or “life”? Certainly not being whatever the hell that thing was doing, right?
“Geez, this place is fucked. Maybe they have a different definition of “life” than us?”
>Certainly not a sound reason to turn ponies into monsters.
“I suppose we would just have to ask them ourselves, huh.”
>Yeah, I'll make sure to ask the next monstrosity we meet about the meaning of life. I'm sure that'll bode well. Hey, I think I see something.

>>29695459
Eventually making it to the end of the room, you open the door at the other end. Inside seems to be an equipment room, full of clothes lockers, shelves full of boxes of needles and other medical apparatuses. There's a gurney in the middle of the room but thankfully it isn't bloodstained like most of the ones you've encountered. The normal entrance to this room is probably in the hallway, too covered in mold to notice.

>>29695469
Oh nice. This'll work, dontcha think?

Look through the supplies to see if we need anything here. Still plan on checking upstairs.

>>29695469
Nice. Get it and check the lockers for more clothes. Maybe we even find something valuable in those boxes. Medical equipment must be worth a lot, back at the market.

>>29695563
>>29695568
“This looks promising, how about you check the boxes and I check the lockers?”
>Sounds good.
Walking over to the lockers, you open one up with a creak and peek inside. You weren't expecting to find a full-on fur coat or anything, but you're hoping for something substantial at the very least. Inside the locker, you find a dark blue jumpsuit, one you'd find engineers wearing, most likely. Before you make a concrete decision, you check the other lockers. Sadly, there's nothing in any of them besides one of them holding a sheet of paper. You take out the paper and examine it's handwritten words.
“Hey honey! Hope your new job in the big city is paying well. Your daughter misses you very much, and she can't wait to see you next su-”
...You put the page back. You don't have the heart to read the rest. Clearing your throat, you turn to Misty once more.
“Find anything useful?”
>I guess not. All the needles here are either broken or dirty, and most of the boxes are empty. I don't know what I was expecting though, hospital supplies in a place like this definitely won't last long. You find anything?
“Nah, just a dirty old jumpsuit. Not much in the way of wind or cold protection, but it's better than nothing. All the other lockers are empty though.”
>Wanna risk checkin' upstairs next? Might be more stuff up there, but who knows what “stuff” there could be.

Only got about an hour left to run.

>>29695859
Lets keep looking.

>>29695859
Yeah. That wont be enough for the whole way back. Lets go upstairs.

>>29695888
>>29695974
“Let's keep looking for stuff. As much as I'd like to get outta here, I'd also love to not have a frozen pony on our hooves, and that just won't cut it.”
>Alrighty, lead the way.
On your way out, you hear the air conditioning start up. It's amazing that ponies still have power around here. You make it to the stairwell and carefully trot up the staircase, as to not slip because of the mold. If you remember correctly, the building only had 3 floors. You're not sure whether the smaller size of this building is a blessing or a curse. In a short amount of time, you make it to the second floor. Surprisingly enough, the mold only got worse. Tube shaped extremities full of red liquid rise up from the coated floors as fleshy yellow stalactites hang from the ceiling. There's only two doorways that aren't covered in mold, and the only reason that is, is because the doors that usually would be there are now rotting away on the floor. It feels like the floor is silently and steadily moving beneath your feet. Small holes in the ground littered around the hallway inhale and exhale steadily, blowing air in and out of them.
It's like the building itself is alive. Breathing.

I'll continue from this tomorrow if I get the chance. Thanks for playing.

>>29696057
We might want to grab a couple masks considering how moldy everything is.

>>29696057
If there are still creatures around, chances are they can use the mold to 'see' like the other one. Throw something heavy on the mold and wait till the coast seems clear.

Running in half an hour as always.

>>29696096
>>29696142
“Remind me to get us some gas masks or something. This can't be healthy to breathe.”
>What now?
“I'm going to try something. If there's something in there, maybe it works like the thing downstairs.”
You look around the hall for something heavy to throw onto the mold. There might be more creatures that see through the mold like the other one did. A quick search around downstairs later, you find yourself with an IV bag stand.
You take a deep breathe and chuck the stand across the room into the breathing hallway. It falls to the floor and stays there for a while. Surprisingly, a whole lot of nothing happens.
>Well, that's good, right?
“I think? In any case, it can't be good to breathe whatever stuff this place has in it.”
>You sure you wanna go forward? I know we don't have a lot of options, but would it be better to just cut our losses?

>>29701081
If you want to go back just let me know. I want to see if we can find him.

>>29701081
Didn't we find medical masks?

>>29701081
Bind a rag around our muzzle and explore at least one of the rooms.

>>29701115
>>29701184
>>29701206

[1/2]

“If you want to go back, let me know and we'll be out of here.”
>It's not that, I just that I don't want to go back home and wake up to a Chance covered in mold. There could be spores in the air or something.
“Right... well, you didn't happen to find any medical masks or anything downstairs, did you?”
>Nope.
“Well, how about rags?”
>Well, yeah actually, there's some medical rags in the room downstairs. You're thinking about using that?
“Think it'll be enough?”
>”Enough” is better than nothing at all.
“Very true.”
>I'll go get them, you hang here, alright?
“Alright. Be careful!”
>Oh, I'll be fine.
A minute or so passes as you stand around awkwardly in the middle of the room. You look back over to the breathing hallway. It's like looking into the gaping mouth of a gigantic beast.
Gross.
Misty soon returns with two rags on her neck. You take one and begin to tie it around your muzzle, Misty doing much the same. The smell was less pungent at the very least.
>Alright, are we ready now?
“I think so. Let's explore at least one room.”
>Sounds good.

>>29701357

[2/2]

You take your first steps into the gaping mold-covered maw. The air felt thick enough to slice with a knife. You feel unclean just setting foot inside it. You make it to about the middle of the hallway before finding a door that looks like you're able to open it. You put your hoof on the doorknob and pull, expecting it to simply open. It falls right off of it's hinges instead. You raise your hoof to keep the door from landing on your head, then push it aside, it making a gross, moist sound as it hits the ground. You look inside and find a mostly empty room except for a mold-coated black jumpsuit in the corner, barely visible beneath the fungal rot. You examine the room's ceiling and notice that it's about twice as tall as any other room You deduct that the room above this one must've collapsed into this one. Is it the mold making the place more brittle, or was it like this as a result of the collapse? Misty speaks, muffled by the rag.
>Think that thing's safe to wear? Sky was covered in the stuff earlier and he seemed fine.

>>29701362
Ehhh, I'd rather not.

>>29701362
I don't think we will find anything better. Let's take it and leave, this place isn't worth the trouble.

>>29701362
Maybe if we get all of the mold off.

>>29701397
Lets keep searching ya pansy. It's not like anybody else will be coming here before the entire building collapses, so this is literally the only chance to find something useful here.

>>29701441
“I would rather not, but I doubt we're just going to find a perfectly intact coat in here. I think this is as good as it gets.”
>Well, we can probably get all of that mold off anyway. Think we should keep searching?
“This might be the only chance to get anything useful. Even though it might not be worth the trouble, let's take this chance that it might.”
>Let's hope so. Don't know how much more I can stand this smell.
“I'm right here with ya. Let's get the top floor done and over with.”
Even in this place, there's ways to feel hope. Hope that maybe there will actually be anything but garbage. Misty takes the moldy jumpsuit and hangs it on her back, then follows you out of the room and back into the hallway. After a short ascent up the last flight of stairs, you finally reach the last floor. There's quite a lot less mold up here, surprisingly. But even more surprising is the hallway. The entire left side is completely gone, exposing it to the harsh wind and snow of the outside world. Quite the sizable amount of snow has gathered up on the floor. A welcome change of scenery, you reckon. At the very end of the hallway lies what looks like a prison cell. You can't tell from here, but something seems odd about it. On the other side of the hallway are two doors, but you know that one of them just leads back to the room you just got the jumpsuit in.

>>29701607
Check the room before checking the cell.

>>29701607
Normal hospitals don't have prison cells. Check the room we haven't been on first, then inspect the cell.

>>29701639
>>29701642
To the first door you go. Thankfully this door actually opens normally instead of almost giving you a concussion. Inside, you find a room with a desk and a computer monitor facing towards the back wall. You walk behind the desk to examine it only to be met with blackness. The computer underneath the desk has the side of it open and bare. Misty comes over to your side and looks at the computer as well.
>Huh.
“What?”
>Power supply's gone. You'd think whoever gutted this thing would take the whole thing for scrap parts.
“Maybe they aren't smart inventors like you?”
>Pfft. Even then, why take a power supply and nothing else? You could at least sell them.
“I don't think it's worth the time to question what any pony does around here.”
>Probably not. Oh well. I'd take this if we didn't have better things to do.
“Maybe one day we'll come back for it?”
>That'd be rather nice.
Finding nothing of use- well, nothing of use you can efficiently carry, you exit the room and head for the severely out of place prison cell. There's a symbol on the wall. The same symbol you saw downstairs on that door.
You feel bad already.
Walking in the wide open door, you look around the completely empty room. Not even a bed? You're about to say something when you notice an open floor safe in the corner of the cell. Next to it is an unlit, black lantern. Looking at it makes your vision blurry. You trot over and notice that the inside is full of some kind of dark, wet substance. There's a stone tablet with the imprint of an elegant looking key in it. It also has some writing on it, which reads as follows:
“The destined end of all beings is the void. The void was never meant to have a passage. The void was never meant to be tampered with. But at the hour of the collapse, we discarded our fears and descended.
We are so sorry.”

>>29701947
Lets see if we can find something to fish the tablet out with. Also, lets find a sheet or something to cover the lantern with so we can bring them both back for Wallace to identify. Lastly, we can grab the hard drive out of the computer so it's data can be analyzed. One reason to remove the power supply is to make the computer unusable after all.

>>29701947
So someone went down the cracks that destroyed the city, which might have been created by tampering with the void? Sounds like they even where the ones responsible for it.
Nice to know they are sorry about it and it was an accident. But finding it in a cell of all places has me worried. What does Misty think about this?

>>29702027
>>29702041

[1/2]

“What do you think of this, Misty?”
>This... This cell wasn't meant to keep ponies in, it was meant to keep them out. So the fact that the Carrion symbol is on the wall inside, as well as that tablet having a missing key, well. I have so many bad feelings about this. I have a feeling that the asylum, your memories... I have a feeling it gets so much deeper than that. So much worse. We can discuss more later but let's just get what we need and get out.
“Yeah... yeah, alright.”
You try your best to put your hoof in the safe without touching the substance inside. You pick the tablet up from the safe and set it on the floor. It doesn't seem like you unearthed anything new though, just seems to be a normal stone. You decide to bring it with you anyway, though.
Next, you take the cloth off of your face and wrap it around the lantern. It covers enough of it that it gets rid of it's vision blurring.
>Why bother taking that?
“For Wallace to look at. It might be something important. Would you mind getting the hard drive from the computer as well? Might be something useful on it.”
>Yeah.
With a hard drive in your saddlebag and a lantern in your mouth, you head back down to the first floor.
After picking up the second jumpsuit, Sky is quite happy to see you when you open the door.
>Alright, are we ready to go?
>Yeah, just let me scrape this mold off of this jumpsuit first and we'll be off.
>Nothin' else but jumpsuits? Should've known.
With mold successfully scraped off and jumpsuits successfully worn, you stand at the back door.
“You ready, Sky? We'll go as fast as we can, just cover your eyes and keep moving.”
>Got it. Let's get out of here.
The next half hour goes by in a flurry of whiteness, shivering and freezing. No thoughts. No queries. Just. Keep. Moving.

>>29702473

[2/2]

The squealing of metal destroys your ears as you stumble inside Peter's abode. A couple guards come barrelling around the corner, but once they notice it's you they go back to where they once were. The trio sits and breathes heavily. Sky is the first one to speak.
>Well. Th-That was awful...
>I'm really sorry, Sky.
>It's fine, really. I just... I'm going to go.
“Where are you going?”
>I-I'll find out where to go. I don't need help with this. You guys saved my life and I'm not sure if there's anything I could ever do to repay that, but I'll f-find a way.
And with that, he departs. You sit in silence for a while before you get up and close the giant metal door.
You slump back down.
>Well...What now?

>>29702483
To Wallace we go. I want to get rid of this lantern and the tablet asap.

>>29702483
Lets go see Wallace.

>>29702483
Go to ol' Wally.

>>29702523
>>29702516
“Wallace. I want this tablet and this lantern as far away from me as possible. I don't want some ghost to curse me because I have it or something.”
The walk back to Wallace's quarters was extremely silent. Besides the howling wind outside, of course. Everything feels... off. Wrong. You feel like there was a shift in everything. You sure do wish your feelings weren't being so vague. It'd help with identifying and solving the problem.
You make it to the bottom of the stairs leading down to Wallace's room, and stop in your tracks.
At the end of the hallway is a dark grey pony with a long black tail. It's almost as tall as the roof, taller than you imagine most Alicorns are. It has multiple brown bandages covering the entirety of it's head.
It isn't moving. And it doesn't move until you and Misty look at eachother.
>You're seeing that too, right?
“Yeah, what the-”
You look back towards where it was once standing to see it's no longer there.
>I thought you were joking about the ghost thing.
“I thought I was too.”

That's it for me today. My will to run has plummeted, but thankfully it wasn't because of anything relating to this CYOA. I'm not sure if I'll be free next weekend, but if I'm running I'll tell you the day before in /cyoad/.
If you're able to see my post through all the... things going on in it.
Have a nice life, and thank you for playing.

>>29702956
It was nice to play again.

>>29702956
>missed both sessions this weekend
Oh. Well, there's always next week. See you there

>>29702956
Continue

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