#kernart

so yeah, i've been watching this tag like a hawk for like at least a week since the demo came and went and ever since then, i have eaten all i could;

youtube demo clips

the ao3 tag

searching the game on search bar

the tags (unrelated but the legal full name is a looong one)

and i'm like... "omg there's pockets of oasis in this desert" while my brain proceeds to rumble about details details details lore headcanons plotlines i wanna make because headcanons go WEEW

i'm just gonna say it outright, i MAY have gotten a little INSANE about this demo. and i MAY have filled in like, AT LEAST A DIGITAL CANVAS AND SEVERAL PAPER PAGES about this. i literally am rattling my bars broooo like LOOK AT THIS PAGE

THIS IS ONLY A COUPLE DAYS AGO AND IT'S Already MOSTLY OUTDATED. I CAN'T EVEN TELL IF YOU CAN READY ANY OF THE SMALL TEXT BUT BLEEHHEHEHH MY RAMBLING AHAHAHA

look i have a vision for why the on guard cast are in techocolor while others outside the simulation (if i EVER draw them 😔) are more "human." it's like the equivalent of how we see drawings and such compared to how we see each other, a representation vs a fellow living being!

that being said, with the latest technologies, the line between what's real and what's fake is starting to blur together

don't worry though! by the time those world breaking anomalies are found, no one will remember them! resetting things to factory setting has been happening a lot lately, but so has a LOT of other troublesome issues that require more focus, so let's just not think TOO hard about whether holograms can dream, okay?

"We'll have you back in this bad bean real soon, haha! Thanks for playing!"

by this purpose alone, unlike the others, who get to have autonomous action and preset reminders to live and be alive, guard doesn't have ANY of that because all of those functions belong to the player instead (it's MIRA's way of saving on server and water costs by hosting one less 24/7 simulation clock.)

remember what i said about guard being a special case? well if you don't, i basically stated that they're more like a "vessel" for getting inside the program, a "host" for the "player" (operator in this case) to experience and become, like a "placeholder" for their involvement.

they still run under the base code present in all AI on board however; they exist, they can follow orders, they can even complete as many tasks as they want, but they will NEVER experience what it's like to feel alive... unless they are wired and controled by a player who does not know any better.

without hands to press keys, without eyes to look upon screens, without a pulse of another being, they might as well be a crewmate shaped cog in the machine that is the simulation program, a lifeless puppet without a soul.

so when the demo ended and operator went to sleep, they had no one left, their vision danced and they couldn't move anymore. they were forced to stare at cook's cold corpse, forced to collapse and drown in their spilt blood, nerves disconnected as the captain dragged their slack body back to their room and left them bound by their loss of control.

even as their familiar security office started to lose form and turned reverted back into a featureless white room, they couldn't do anything. even as that same pale room flickered into an endless dark void, they couldn't do anything. they weren't even tied to their chair anymore and they still couldn't do anything.

they stood there, unable to hear their voice, their breath, their own heart! they should be panicking, running around in circles! wailing! screaming! and yet... none of that happened. and yet, they're still awake, slowly realizing that... they should have fainted by now, asphyxiated, choking in pain, and yet... nothing happened.

they couldn't even suffocate.

...is this how it's going to end? trapped with their thoughts? stuck in this hell-ish purgatory?

are they just going to rot here...

forever?

no... this can't be it, there has to be a way out...!

there just HAS to be! not like this! no.. not like...

...

recently gotten obsessed over cutie mew mew magic and it has NEVER gotten out of my darn head, and it has occured to me that one of the questions that can be asked before stepping into the simulation was "can i fall in love?" AND the boss fight massively centered AROUND a visual novel.

plus, look at these two:

- purple (just look at them)

- big angry brows (JUST LOOK AT THEM)

- always tense and on guard (pun limbo) (guard always susses things out and is on constant watch for impostors + ghost retains her aggressive front and is adamant about taking down the lightners even when body doesn't agree on it)

- has trouble trusting others (guard doesn't mingle with the rest of their crew very muchband only trusted one member, cook and they're DEAD + doesn't understand that body is her own person and takes a good while for ghost to admit her feelings of abandonment to body)

- shares a body with another person in a host/ghost situation (on a technicality; operator uses guard's body and is inserted into their role in the simulation, but can ALSO have moments where they comment on guard's responses because they didn't say it themself. whether or not guard themself is aware of this dynamic is YET to be known... if they can even DO that + pink is the more straightforward case with the original mew mew doll turned darkner and the lightner ghost heavily implied to be deltarune's mad dummy)

i could make up even more similarities between these two, but i digress, i'm the ONLY person tweaking out about this by the way, like I AM the only one

lots of more stuff about that au (which is slowly turning into my main interpretation of the game THAT ISN'T EVEN OUT YET)

a lot of what i want to say is already in the images themselves, and it's basically me deciding "hey how much angst can i cram into this bean that has a couple mentions of rough family relations both in and out of the sim??" (the crossed out mate in the wallet vs admin not raising a quitter??)

in addition, there's even more "real cook" doodles being friends with operator because I WANT THEM ALIVE DAMMIT!! THEY'RE REAL TO MEE, TOO MEEEE!1!! I ALSO DON'T WANT OPERATOR TO BE LONELY AND THEY'RE RIGHT THEREEE

there's also a funny rant about me struggling to adapt the lineless artstyle into my lineful art- (OUGH IF ONLY I DOWNLOADED THE DEMO AND LOOKED AT THE GAME FILES I WOULD BE MORE COLOR ACCURATE I'M CLAWINF RHE AAALLZ)

an infected crewmate! or an "impmate" as the more distrusting call them. they still have the conscience of a crewmate, but features of a stunted impostor. long story short, they were infected as a mini and ever since then, had to fight back against it, or they will cause a hide and seek round. (it happened before.)

you know how the mini crewmate sits next to their owner's corpse if they die? well, someone's gotta care for them. if and WHEN these minis find their new parents, they'll colorshift into whatever shade their caretaker is and forget about what happened before!

whenever they're in danger however, their bodies briefly return to their dead parent's colors and cause a stress response by rapidly extenuating the animalistic side of them to defend themself better. (claws, fur, flight/fight response) dubbed "crewmeleon syndrome," these cases of orphans developing this has only exponentially risen due to rising work deaths...

they look familiar, don't they? well, the simulation needs a little bit of source material (read: neural scan) from the player so that their experience is more genuine AND so that their mind can more easily accept the generated personality their avatar comes packaged with! (earlier tests showed that conflicting personalities between the avatar and the player makes it more likely the player suffers severe whiplash and comatose in the middle of a session, which is BAD for keeping the project funded!)

egg pin... a friend of theirs gave it to them a long time ago back when they were just starting out and had no one else to talk to, right before they had to be moved to another office miles away, but they never wore it due to strict dress code. nevertheless, they've always had it in their pocket to look back and remind themself that someone cares for them out there, even if they're several divisions apart...

the fear that they might be secretly dead haunts them though, as they haven't been responding to their emails lately, and the fact that the simulation showcased a yellow egg topped cook as its first murder victim has not gone unnoticed. ever since then, it's displayed boldly on their weathered hoodie, that promise of a return, that promise that they're not gone.

can you believe i did all of this just because of this one off comment management made? then again, fortegreen in other media has always been a little... different. Hrmmm... 🤔

Operator/"Forte"/Emerald Green

preeety basic, but also comfy; no notes other then additional belt and a portable version of the simulation! (surely this has no consequences...)

absolutely loves beans, jelly beans, baked beans, packing beans, paw beans, you name it! something about round squishy things brings happiness. currency beans just NOT it though, those things are copper nuggets! not beans!

jack of trades, master of none; they do their best, but more often then not, they fumble at least one task. regardless of their shortcomings, they always prove to be resilient. although they're a self-described coward, by putting a brave face to the turmoils ahead, they strive to do what's right for others. no matter HOW much the world pushes back. they'll fight tooth and nail to keep others safe, even if it means they suffer in the process.

the eldest child of the Greens (adopted). after Clover became their new "mother" (read: caretaker) and took them to their home of WormHill, they meet their "father-to-be" (read: mentor) Sheriff Forest scrambling to chase after an energetic green bean... their new sibling.

despite growing up in a worm farm, they have severe scoleciphobia, to the point that if a worm suddenly appears out of nowhere (whether that be from the ground or from someones hands) they instinctively jump out in a cold sweat and shout "I HATE WORMS! THEY'RE WRIGLEY, THEY'RE SLIMEY, AND THEY TASTE HORRIBLE!"

"Forte" was a nickname given to them by the other children in their town as a malicious rumor of them being the... "Four Tailed Beast" that kept mangling the livestock in the fields. some say that the creature had green scales, others say it had purple scales, whatever the case will be, it kept leaving behind blood trails, footsteps leading into the back of the sheriff's home and...

in the current day, they keep a pack of sour candy in their pockets to help satiate their... hunger. after a surprise takedown and a lemon in their throat, they try REALLY hard not to slip up again as their guts twist at the sight of blood and flesh. (really bad days force them to wear a face mask to hide their torn mouth scars)

many of their coworkers don't like working with them for some reason... something along the lines of "they seem suspicious..." "their mouth's too big!" "have you seen how pointy they are?!" "they keep staring at me..." either way, they're not really popular with others, preferring to isolate and mingle with just a few.

it's gotten to the point where sometimes they're confused for a new hire! then again, it's been a long period between their previous leave and their return to HQ. why they left...? they, don't really want to talk about it. something about work stress culminating into a freak accident at the office, a dozen injured & one dead, and a forced year long mental leave compromised from being fired permanently. they're doing better though! they think. (totally not me forgetting about the intro bit about them being a new hire ahaha, awkward...)

has repeatedly refused medbay scans time and time again, it's unknown why they refused to be scanned, could it be they don't trust the doctors? are they weary of their biological data being taken by the higher-ups? are they... harboring a parasite slowly mutating them into a horrifying monster? Who knows...

Guard/#9B8DD8/Peri Winkle

mostly accurate with color adjusting for the back and additional colors to help flesh out the fit, had to take VERY creative liberties with the badge and hat however... please do not look at the hat from any other angle then the front 😭

absolutely loves beans, COFFEE beans. they make the most coveted substance of all galaxies... that dark roasted, shade grown perfection that is... 20oz cup of glory.

a direct neural scan of operator's memories and (repressed) emotions generated as part of the initiation process. a long process short; they are what operator could have been had they've never been traumatized and reached their dreams, the "idealized what if" to their "current reality"

they've never existed before operator began testing, so technically they're the "youngest" (they and operator share the same mental age though, as well as likes, dislikes, and Fears)

they are the estranged spawn of Admin Roseus, initially created as an unnamed clone incase they died, but diverged in personality the moment their "mother" (read: spouse of Admin) was killed by An Impostor Hive BIG WORM... here they keep their openly bold outlook from before the Hive could take them in

in the rare event that they HAVE to be called something besides their passionate profession, they prefer to just be called "Peri" as they view their last name to be "too silly to be taken seriously" (and do NOT bring up their hex name. AT all. it's dead for a reason.)

they're never seen without their purple gloves (which happen to look like their suit color) off. main reasons citing to keep their hands clean incase they have to come in contact with corpses during a murder case or two. they also have several spares in their belt incase their usual pair get shredded/stained beyond repair or if other crewmates need to get their hands dirty as well.

they're also good at hiding things. lots of things. and this isn't just about the gloves... asides from that, being intimately aware of how secrets form gives them the home advantage of knowing when people lie and snapping them back to reality.

due to their unique position as the simulation avatar, they do NOT have any trace of independent AI that automatically runs life simulations, instead they are filled in by whoever is wearing the headset. this means that if they are left idle and alone in a room long enough, they'll eventually cease replicating a living being and freeze in place like a metal crate. this can terrify any holoforms crewmates that come across them in this state and confuse them for a statue, or worse, dead. best disconnect and power off inside a secluded area (like the cam room) so that nothing goes wrong.

are they a living being? are they just a vessel? do they have a mind of their own, or is it the result of a million neurons plucked like strings to a harpsong? they are... alive to a degree, but in the subconscious way, like another angle to a problem, a microphone to that inner volition, but how much is which is still in the air... after all, matey DID say that "Sometimes Guard says things!"

Management/"Mod"/Dr. Eliza Grey

LOTS of liberties taken and they're not even close to accurate! i REALLY need to make a do over but not rn. good lord they were the hardest to make, and they look sooo wrong but this is the closest i can get. due to accessory constraints, their backpack instead matches their glasses, but this is NOT canon! expect a rework at some point!

a certified MIRA HQ™️ researcher (and psychiatric) from Research & Development, they serve as the semi-independent lead for the upcoming designed to help transition unpaid interns and workers into competent employees that can not only get the job done, but NOT die in the process! current processions dictate that the project is currently in "beta testing" (that being; only selected individuals observed to be "interesting" or "exceptional" are enrolled to test if virtual reality is safe enough to implement into the workplace

for even more proof that they are a tech wizard, look no further then matey (the virtual assistant). with meager funding and a lot of head scratching, pen bitting, glasses pushing, finger tapping later, they've also managed to create the first "general" AI in circulation (there were others before, but they were canceled private projects)... they are about as smart as your average GPT bot

a heavy stickler for MIRA policy, "don't let emotions drive you, let the grind hit the wheel, and never look the other way" ...or something similar, one does NOT get this high of a position without bending over and kissing the shoes of the CEOs. despite that, there have been several times that management was a hypocrite... for example-

management kept the first successful copy they've constructed in a specialized robotic shell (a silver whale/seal build) to remind themself of how far they've pushed developmental technology, the First artificial lifeform... since then, they've pushed the latest updates from other technicians working on the AI into this particular model of theirs... they may or may not have developed an attachment to it similar to a pet and its owner, but they insist it's just an assistant they use daily, they TALK to crewmates, and they are DEFINITELY not lonely

"eliza" is a VERY uncommon name in a society where color names are the regular. usually these kind of "unique" names are reserved for the upmost important figures of history, or as the current rich% calls... "any famous person born into a very wealthy home." in their case, they're part of a lineage of tech industry's most prodigious inventors ever, spanning through the equivalent of alan turing and albert einstein... they've got quite the big shoes to fill.

not much else is known about management, after all, what they do is ultimately just a full time job to pay whatever the bean rent costs each month, no need to get personal, and no need to get close to anyone. no need for friends when coworkers do just the same, if not better because they don't have to think about friendships...