hehehe

This post will serve as a hub for Abien loreposts, and will be updated as more are made.

There are 3 main formats:

Notes: These are Abien's notes on the players and the state of the game. These will only happen when either something important happens or Abien completes a Player interview.

Game Records: These are short narratives that are meant to build up Abien's character and the characters relevant to her lore. Unlikely to have major plot ramifications(except for maybe some later on). These could be from Abien's perspective, the perspective of her siblings, or the perspectives of unwitting Players. These will happen whenever i feel like it lol.

Excerpts: These are short entries meant to define lore terms and expand on the history of Abien's people. These will happen whenever I think it's time to reveal something or elaborate on a specific detail.

There are also Wild Cards, which are posts that don't fit into the other categories. There will not be many of these(these usually do not include shitposts).

Notes:

Edition 1

Edition 2

Edition 3

Edition 4

Game Records:

Game Record 1

Partial Game Record

Game Record 2

Game Record 3

Intermission 1

Intermission 2

Excerpts:

Excerpt 1: An Inquiry into Gameboards

Excerpt 2: The Origins of Aliens

Wild Cards:

The Abien Rulebook

Blood Ranking

General Ruleset

Glossary

Also Just For Fun Here Are My Favorite Shitposts:

Meteor Shower

Click for Evil Plan

Correct

Insurance

(This takes place sometime after Game Record 1, from Squeeble's perspective)

"Can't you see it? Can't you feel it? Like a chill wind rolling over bones, made bare by the stripping of the skin.... Something is going to happen soon; I can hear it when I close my eyes. It's coming. Or, maybe it's already arrived, and it's not going to leave. An eternity... if we're not lucky, then an eternity's already arrived."

"But, you already knew that, didn't you? For a long time, eternity's been the only thing promised to you. An eternity of silence."

I slipped the thing in my hand into my pocket; it was warm from how long I'd been holding it, but it still felt like it was dragging me into cold waters.

I walked out the place I was hiding in; I would've said goodbye, but there was no one there. No one but a shadow.

-------

It's been an incomprehensibly long time since the day I promised I would end the game. Decades? Maybe centuries, but it feels longer.

If I died, then all of that time would be a drop in the bucket compared to the time I would spend suffering in some hell somewhere; because, after all this time, nothing had changed. I was stronger, and more-skilled, and that was it. The game had not even shuddered; I had simply gotten better at moving through it. Even then, I couldn't measure up to those players at the top, who were supernaturally talented.

After thousands of games, I was still just Squeeble.

And so, I continued to do what I did best... I continued to participate in the Games. I couldnt really said I played them... it just came down to surviving them.

But here I was. After an eternity, an end was in sight.

I was in a Game... and a few dozen feet away from me was... her.

Prime. GM-1. The rarely-seen creator of the Games, who's death might be the only path towards something else...

She didn't know I was here; she couldn't see me behind the tree. I couldn't see her, either, but I knew she was there. I could feel her presence, pulling in something like a whirlpool. Something like fate, maybe... or maybe just something like a mistake. One it was too late to avoid, for either of us.

Her back was turned. I could do it, take her out, and that would be it.

...

...

...

No one had seen her face in ages. For some reason, she decided to wear a helmet that concealed her face. Since the moment any of us first met her, an endless age ago at the moment of our birth, that helmet was all we had seen of her.

For the first time in my life, she had taken it off. Whether it was to survey the battlefield or to catch her breath away from prying eyes, I didn't know. What I did know was that, for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Not yet. I hated her, but I wouldn't take this last scrap of privacy away from her. I would wait for her to put back on her helmet, and then it would be done.

Not a moment before. Not a moment after. If she wanted to hide her face, I would give her that, even in death, but I would give her nothing else. Not even one second more of life.

And yet, because of this mercy, I knew I would fail. The second she put on that helmet, she would already be on her way, too fast for me to follow and far too fearsome for me to destroy.

I tried. I moved when I saw her reach for it... but she had slipped through my fingers.

She was gone before time knew to proceed.

Maybe next eternity. Maybe next lifetime. Maybe I could be free.

Maybe.

Maybe that was all my life was now.

I turned to leave... but something was wrong.

I looked back to where she had stood... and, on the ground, was something that shouldn't have been there.

2 strands of hair. One gray. One orange. Each curled around each other.

Aliens(the species) don't naturally have hair, but it wasn't uncommon for some to wear wigs or to have a hair transplant.

But... why would she? Her entire head was hidden beneath that helmet, not just her face... no one would see it. So, why waste time and effort on a cosmetic choice that was functionally invisible, nonexistent?

I reached out to it... for some reason, it hurt to look at. Almost like trying to remember something while you had a migraine.

As I touched it, my vision narrowed, and I began to remember something I shouldn't have.

Something I can't say, that can't ever be put down here.

I fell backwards, tried to scamper away, but it was already done. I had already seen what shouldn't have been seen, and the strand were picked up by the wind and gently carried away.

Carried to somewhere I couldn't follow.

...In that moment, I knew. Stopping the Game couldn't be some whim born of revenge, or of grief from... Cammy.

It was a necessity.

The Game had to end, and, next time...

(This takes place in present day, from Abien's perspective)

I was lying on hard, solid ground.

But, also, I was floating in shallow water.

But, also, I wasn't anywhere at all.

I slowly opened my eyes, although they remained closed. It was too bright to see, so I was glad I had kept them closed. I could see clearly, because the amount of light was the same as on an overcast day. It was so dark, I couldn't tell if I had opened my eyes at all.

Everything was like this; my every emotion, stimulus, experience was trapped in superposition. I had never felt anything like this before, but it wasn't as bad as I might've expected. It left me slightly nauseous and foggy, but not much else. Strangely, this reaction was the only non-contradictory thing I could feel.

It didn't take long for me to figure out what was happening; in fact, I got it right on the first guess. However, I still spent several minutes denying it; it shouldn't have been possible, after all.

I can't dream... Aliens can't dream. And yet...

Clearly, I was dreaming.

Almost immediately after I finally stopped denying it, I realized that someone was cradling my head, and had been for some time. It felt like she was wearing gloves, and yet I could still tell that her hands were familiar.

I couldn't see her face, but I could see a light shining from where it would've been.

I couldn't move, but I didn't really want to, either.

"...There's not much time left. It's been a while since I last saw anyone, so I wasted so much of what little time we had remembering what it was like to speak... You don't have to say anything. You don't have to remember anything, either. You couldn't, even if you tried. No one remembers their dreams."

She shifted her right hand to block my sight.

"Just listen. If you can do that, then you won't have to remember my words."

...

"Just this... just this is what I have to say to you: you came to Earth for a reason, right? You couldn't continue The Game normally anymore... you hoped this would kickstart the person you used to be. But you can't do that, and you shouldn't. That feeling, that something wasn't right? Hold onto it; it will lead you where you need to go. Once you find that place... you'll be able to end this Game."

I began to feel lightheaded(or, at least, lightheaded compared to how I already felt). We both knew what was happening, instinctively; the dream was ending.

"I had hoped to say more, but I have nothing left. All I can give you now is the promise that this will all make sense one day."

"It will all make sense, so long as you find Ec-"

I suddenly jolted upwards, leaned over, and retched; I was coughing out moon dust. At some point, I had woken up; I guess I had slept with my mouth open, because my throat was coated in moon dust.

When I was done, I tried to get me bearings; I was still here, of course, in the place I had gone when I....

I had gone to the moon; I didn't have anywhere else to be, so a place where I could be alone was all I had looked for. For that purpose, there was no better place.

I looked towards Earth. I traced the landmasses until I found Eternia... then I looked away.

I had already spent too much time here; I may not have had anything left to say or do, but I still should've left ages ago.

For some reason, I couldn't shake that feeling that I had a responsibility to leave. If I didn't know better, I would've thought that I had somehow come to some resolution while I had slept, but I knew that couldn't be true. Aliens can't dream, and I had no memory of a dream where I might've decided on some course of action... But I still couldn't shake the feeling I had somewhere to be.

I turned in the direction where my ship was.