Villain Virus

When does music become merely sound? In the void, the music in our minds is amplified, contorted, accelerated, ground to a leaden halt. Just like this, memories are snatched from us and butchered until they are indistinguishable; we lose all that makes us ourselves. Aimless and helpless, we are prey to the Reflection, this void's callous and mocking heart. It bestows upon humankind the ultimate punishment: hypnotised, one emerges from their metamorphosis contented, unwittingly having been coerced into becoming everything they strove not to be.

... North-West Division; NW-C193-OC726 ... recovering entry...

Gen. Saito Tamura (after ST): Due at a bearing of 078, 11.195 kilometres from us. Appears to be a simple linear interference. First Sergeant, prepare for pulse jammer energisation.

1SG Arche Kerrigan (after AK): Ma'am, the void inclination forecast predicted an iniquity-level threat. For the sake of C Division, we need to find a more versatile method of breaking through than pulse charging.

ST: Let me check... 7 hours, 33 minutes on the dot, First Sergeant. That's how long the void inclination has agreed with my own previous predictions, every single second. I know you have little faith in me sometimes, but you must surely realise that your idea of initiating the defensive protocol, enabling the interference to edge ever closer, is riskier than mine by far?

AK: I see... Very good, ma'am. Well, would reducing provision to entry at South-East be our best option?

ST: With the distance between us and the interference, we'll have more than enough time for a mid-power pulse, which should disperse this sort of void density no problem. It won't even get close.

AK: Yes ma'am.

...

ST: No... wasn't it a hoax from 2 years ago?! The "Villain Virus"... an iniquity so laughable, no commander ever expected it to appear...

AK: Ma'am! Average void shift at 2.381 kilometres per second. Movement seems random, but it could obliterate South-East at any moms̥̟̝͍̩e҉̺̰̖̺̪̜̪͞ͅͅk͓͟%̭͎̱̻͚̙%͏͖̦͓͖̭̥̥~͍̘͕̲̼͞s̀͟҉̰̻̮̻̰̯͍͉n͈̲̠͢p̛̪͇͇̯̹̰̝͢9͖̳̙̪͙͡2̳͚̗̦͞m̨͕͖͈̟̭̲͓̣̀d̬̘̥͍o̮̤2̥̠͎̣̟̲͡p̧͍̭̼͕̲̻̙͉̯̕͡6̫̠̥̕͠͞x̸̴̤̪̮͓̪̥̘̹̳̟̱̗͇̟̰̥̱͔͘͟͝ͅw̥͍̙̫͉̪͉̝͉͢͠#̴̛̰͍̣͔͚̜̥̖͝k̘̯͕̩̗̣̙͡ṃ̖͖͈̰́͠e̴̯͓͓3̛̖̝̘̣̬͞ͅ0͝҉̻̯̞̦̯͔e̢̝̤̗̞͎͚̟,̼̭̀͠o̼̠͖̠̜͓͓͟͢͡/̸̹͇̠e̡̝̲͚͟l̵̛̩̥̲

ST: FIRST SERGEANT! ROUTE IT ALL TO EMERGENCY WARP!

AK: TH^͚̩͇̩̖̳̫͚̦g҉̤̮͙̪̱̀q̴̢̬͇͈̹!͘҉̢̬͈̭ḽ̖̩̥̕0̲̜̤̰̘͈̠̲͜͜ẹ̸̥͟͝:̨̤͇:̳̲m̸̹͝0̷̥͙͓ͅ3҉̧̰̹̣̻͈͙̱.̣̞̙c̡̟̘o͚͓̦͕̳͖ͅ-҉̷͚̲̺͞à͔̟͖͙3̷̡̳͎͕̻͎́E V*̶̬̠̪̯̳͉͔͕h̡̞̰̝̱̺̱̙2͇̤͍̘͍͔,̹̰̯͈͙̤̟S̺̺̩͙̯̥̠̙͕͝o͇͙8̠̥̀͠h̲͙0͏̴̢̘̘̭͎̫̪d̫̱̰̙̖~̦̬͓̮͇̦̙w̛̝̩"̨̝̖̱̲͉͜f̸̧͏͍̤̼̲̦̙̠̭ḳ̷̭̰̞̫̱͚͉̕z̫̱̙̖̙̜̞̜͝͝0̢͓͎͟n̥̰̭̼̤̘̝̩͢3̢͕͙̞̘͇͢͡ͅOID{̶̧̥̩̱̘9̶̫̻͕̻̥̝̗ͅk̷̨̛͓̲͕2̴̢̦͔͕͔̯̠͚̰͜}̨̠͔̲̙͟ͅz̢͈̭̘͎̠̞̀a͍̙̬i҉̳̥̹̫̰͔̫͢͡\̶̼̰̮ͅ0̡̼̠̫͜͞4҉̫%̢̩͙d͉͙̭̤̞̦͢2̬͇̳͡ḻ͓̟̱͠ͅv̷̦͔̱̱͙̣͈ͅ9̦̘̪͚̼̣̣#̸̭͔̳͎̺e̪̻̼͖̘̥͢5̼̣̟̥̰̣'S REF"͢҉̧̩͍̥̖͚̗̺̳k̝̥̻d҉̭̙̯s̶͏̬̳̥͖͈ͅ≯͈͇̙͓̗͓͞d̰̥̻̤̕p̶̘̘̤̟̳3̢͍̗̹̘̣ͅ}̘͔̬̝̺̗̭͇͘͟0̳̫͈̘̗̫d͏͏̰͔̰j̧̛̪̣̗̼͜w̨͏̖̞̳%͇̬͝n̻͙̰͔͉̣͜d̨̬̬̭́̕0̛͓͖̣̙͕2̮̬̀ͅLECTION . . .

to be continued

This Octo Tourney chart marks the start of a "semi-official" Cytoid AU I've been planning. Expect more details and a continuation of the story in due course!

I apologise for a lack of storyboard. Also, big thanks to PTB10 (https://cytoid.io/profile/ptb10) for the preview music!