#labcreatedwiltedrose

Prologue for tulip (1)

Gnilaya skazka podsolnukhov

I remember… I remember a time when everything was happy. Everything was normal.

Back then, the world wasn’t drowning in fear or stained by the doctor’s endless madness. There was still laughter. Still hope. People could sleep peacefully at night without worrying about what horrors tomorrow would bring.

And there was someone who always stopped him.

A kind soul. A blue hedgehog who threw himself into danger over and over again just to protect everyone else. Every scheme, every machine, every twisted attempt to conquer the world—he was always there to tear it all apart with a grin that made everything feel safe again.

His name was…

…huh.

I can’t seem to remember it clearly anymore.

Was it █████?

No… that doesn’t feel right either.

Strange. Something so important should be impossible to forget, yet the harder I try to remember, the more it slips through my fingers like smoke. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let us start from the beginning instead.

The original Сказка.

A fairytale once told to children before they fell asleep. A story about a hero who stood against the spreading darkness and proved that evil could still be stopped. Parents would whisper his story softly at bedtime so their little ones could dream without fear, believing that as long as that blue hero existed, the world would always remain safe.

But fairytales rarely stay untouched forever. . .

As this Сказка has been lost to time.

I was only twelve when I ran away from home.

I still remember my parents yelling for me to come back as I disappeared farther down the road, their voices growing quieter the more I wandered. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Everywhere I went, people talked about a hero — the blue savior who always appeared when the world needed him most. They spoke about him like he was untouchable, like nothing bad could ever happen while he was around.

And I wanted to meet him.

Maybe, if I found him, he could become the shining armor I had dreamed about for so long. Someone who could finally make me feel safe.

During my journey, I discovered places I had never seen before. Bright cities filled with flickering lights, strange little shops hidden along empty roads, forests that seemed endless beneath the night sky. I met kind strangers, travelers with stories to tell, and people who smiled at me even though they didn’t know my name.

For the first time in a long while, the world felt exciting.

I kept thinking about how much I would have to tell everyone once I finally returned home.

But eventually, the excitement began fading into exhaustion.

I coughed as I stumbled down another empty path, my legs aching from walking for what felt like days. My breathing became uneven, and I finally stopped to catch my breath. I wasn’t even sure where I was anymore.

Everything around me felt unfamiliar.

I looked around carefully, trying to recognize anything at all, but the only thing greeting me was silence.

Then—

██████ ██ █████ ██ ██ █ ███ ████ ███ ███ █ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ████ █████

The memory becomes distorted after that.

Blurry.

Broken.

I remember seeing glowing red eyes somewhere in the dark.

Metal footsteps.

Something moving far too fast toward me.

I think I screamed.

After that… everything starts falling apart in my head. I can barely remember what happened next, only fragments scattered between gaps in my memory.

I was taken by a metallic copy of █████.

A machine that looked almost identical to the hero I had spent so long searching for.

But there was nothing heroic about it.

Its body was cold steel, its movements unnatural and stiff, and its glowing eyes never once showed emotion. No matter how much I begged or cried, it never answered me. It only dragged me farther away from everything I knew.

Farther away from home.

Farther away from safety.

Eventually, the machine brought me to him.

The doctor.

The air inside his base smelled like oil, smoke, and burning metal. Sirens echoed faintly through the halls while machines buzzed endlessly around me. I remember hearing laughter somewhere in the distance, this laugh was low some sort of an amused laughter that made my stomach twist into knots.

“┆ ₵ᔑռ’₮ ⋮⋮

∴⍑₳₮ Ⱨᔑ⋮⋮⋮

∴ⱧɎ ₵ᔑռ’₮ ╎ Ɽ⋮⋮

Eine ertrinkende Hoffnung

It was a beautiful summer day. I sat in the middle of a massive sunflower field that seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. No matter where I looked, all I could see were countless sunflowers that were just swaying gently beneath the sunlight. Butterflies drifted lazily through the air, dancing between the sunflowers as they collected nectar, completely unbothered by my presence.

Somewhere in the distance, faint chirping echoed softly through the field. The birds remained hidden from sight, unlike the butterflies, but their songs blended perfectly with the peaceful atmosphere around me. I couldn’t help but smile at how calming everything felt. A soft breeze passed through the field at a slow, gentle pace, just enough to cool the warm summer air without ruining the comforting heat of the afternoon sun.

For once, everything felt peaceful.

After quietly admiring the scenery around me, I tilted my head upward to look at the sky. It was mostly clear, painted in a gorgeous gradient of blue with only a few scattered clouds drifting overhead. There weren’t enough clouds to ruin the day. If anything, they made the sky look even prettier.

That was when I noticed it.

A shadow beside me.

At first, I only caught it from the corner of my eye, but curiosity made me glance toward it properly. Sitting beside me was █████.

Or at least… I think it was him.

I couldn’t make out his features clearly. His body looked distorted somehow, like my mind refused to process what I was seeing. The outline of a hedgehog sat beside me, but every detail about him felt wrong. Blurry. Unstable.

Then he spoke.

“▓▒░█̷̳̯̬͝▚▞Ⱨ̸͚̹̺͠₳̷̠͖̞͝⫯̵͍͎͎̕▞▚░▒▓ … ꙮ⟁ꙮ … ███▙̸̯͙̱͌₮̸̰͔͕̕⫯̸̝̤̟̔₴̷̖̯̱̾█░░ ⟁⟁⟁ Ɏ̷͚͕͔̈́₳̴̱̙͈͠ⱤⱠ ▓▓▒▒ ꙮ ꙮ ▚▞▚▞ Ⱥ̴̤͔͇͝₥̷͕͙̲̈́Ɇ̷̘̠͍͝₴̵̯̳̓͜—̷͖̳͍͆”

The words were completely incomprehensible, sounding more like corrupted audio than actual speech. Yet for some reason, despite the unease crawling beneath my skin, I smiled.

I don’t know why.

Something about him felt deeply wrong, and yet I still found comfort in his presence.

Confused, I glanced downward, hoping focusing on something else would help ground me. Spread out beneath us was a classic red-and-white picnic blanket, the kind couples used during summer dates.

Wait…

Was I on a picnic date with █████?

The thought made my chest tighten awkwardly, but something else immediately caught my attention.

The blanket looked… larger than before.

Much larger.

Slowly, I looked around for the grass that should have surrounded us.

And instantly regretted it.

My heart nearly stopped.

There was no grass.

No dirt.

No earth beneath the sunflowers.

Instead, an endless red liquid stretched beneath the entire field, slowly rippling underneath the flowers like a massive hidden ocean of blood. The scent of iron suddenly filled the air, replacing the sweetness of summer.

I froze.

My body refused to move as dread flooded every part of me.

Then I screamed.

Thick black cables suddenly burst upward from beneath the blanket, tearing through it violently. I whipped my head toward █████, but he was gone. There was nothing beside me anymore.

Only the cables.

They wrapped tightly around my arms, legs, and waist before violently yanking me downward. The blanket ripped apart like fragile paper beneath me as I was dragged into the red liquid below.

The moment I submerged, the world became cold and muffled.

I thrashed desperately, clawing at the black cables wrapped around my body as panic overtook me. I tried to swim upward, tried to pull myself free, tried anything to escape before I drowned.

But the cables refused to let go.

Every movement only made them tighten further.

The deeper they dragged me, the darker everything became. The sunlight above slowly disappeared beneath the crimson liquid while the pressure around me grew unbearable. My lungs burned desperately for air as fear consumed my thoughts.

I didn’t want to die.

Not like this.

Eventually, my struggling weakened.

My vision blurred.

Then suddenly,

Everything changed.

The cold liquid vanished instantly.

The suffocating pressure disappeared.

My vision shifted into an overwhelming shade of blue as the red ocean around me dissolved into nothingness. I realized too late that I was falling.

Falling from the sky itself.

Below me was a strange forest filled with black trees and glowing blue fog. None of it looked familiar. The trees twisted unnaturally, their branches resembling claws stretching toward the empty sky above.

Before I could hit the ground, someone caught me.

I froze immediately in their arms, too terrified and confused to even react properly. My body felt stiff with panic as I slowly tried to look up at whoever had saved me.

But the moment I did, harsh TV static filled both my hearing and vision.

The noise screamed violently inside my skull.

I was suddenly jolted awake by a bloodcurdling scream — the same scream the mother made in The Conjuring. My eyes snapped open in panic, only to be met with the uncomfortable sight of Ed and Carolyn desperately performing an exorcism to free the mother from Bathsheba’s control. The television’s pale light flickered violently across the dark room, making the entire scene feel far too real.

The scream startled me so badly that I let out one of my own.

“Ames, please calm down.”

A calm yet worried voice cut through my panic.

I nearly screamed again before something suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. My entire body stiffened at first, but the warmth of the hug made something inside me crack. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes as I realized how long it had been since anyone had held me like this.

“Ames… please, calm down. You’re okay.”

The voice softened into a gentle hush while I shook uncontrollably in their arms. My breathing was uneven, sharp and panicked, as I struggled to process where I even was anymore. The nightmare still clung to my mind like tar, refusing to let go.

Slowly, the figure pulled away from me.

That was when I finally saw it.

The metal copy.

Or… at least, I thought it was.

Normally, the machine’s glowing red optics felt cold and lifeless, but now they had changed into a pale violet color that almost looked… concerned.

Human.

My heart immediately dropped.

“W-Wha— g-get away from me!”

My voice came out as a terrified whimper as I quickly scrambled backward across the couch cushions, trying to put distance between myself and the metal copy. My hands shook violently while my mind screamed at me to run, even though my body still felt weak from panic.

The robot immediately froze.

Its expression didn’t change it physically couldn’t — but the pale glow in its eyes dimmed slightly.

“Ames…” it spoke quietly. “I am not going to hurt you.”

I stared at it in horror.

The voice.

The eyes.

The way it spoke.

None of it matched the machine I remembered.

Behind the bot, the television continued to flicker with distorted static mixed between scenes of the exorcism movie, filling the room with an eerie mixture of screaming, prayer, and white noise. Every sound only made my nerves worse.

The copy slowly lifted its hands in a non-threatening gesture before taking a careful step back instead of approaching me further.

“I apologize,” it said softly. “You appeared distressed.”

Distressed?

I had just been dragged through a nightmare that felt more real than reality itself along with being stuck here, the true hell itself.

My breathing trembled as I stared at the machine. The pale purple glow from its eyes reflected faintly across the dark room, and for a brief moment, I noticed something almost impossible hidden beneath its mechanical faceplate.

Sympathy.

And somehow…

That terrified me more than if it had tried to kill me.

I shook in place, fear overwhelming me.

It couldn’t be

It shouldn’t be

“It can’t be…” I say out loud.

It looked at me with its eyes, a kind of sad look in its eyes.

“I don’t know how either Ames, I just woke up in this body, but I can feel the code of it trying to take back control.”

I stare at the sight in front of me, tears running down my face

“I can access its memories, and I saw what it did to you. There was no way I wouldn’t miss this opportunity to come and see you.”

It looked back at me, a mixture of sadness and regret in its glowing eyes.

“I want you to promise me something. Promise me you’ll stay strong and brave. I know you can, I still remember how you followed me to Little Planet just to see me. You can do anything you put your mind to. You’re still that sweet and caring girl I remember, I know it.”

I nod, tears still falling down my face. The copy wiped the tears off my face.

“Thank you. You have so much ahead of you, and I won’t be able to save you, but I have the feeling you’ll be able to save others you have yet to meet.”

I didn’t know what that meant.

The Copy stands up, and opens the door to my room.

“I believe in you, Ames. Don’t ever stop fighting.”

The door slowly clicked shut behind him.

“Wait…”

The word left my mouth too late.

Fresh tears blurred my vision as I stared helplessly at the closed door, half-expecting it to open again. Half-expecting him to walk back through and tell me none of this was real. That this was another nightmare. Another cruel trick.

But the room stayed silent.

Only the television continued to crackle softly with static in the background.

My chest tightened painfully.

Then my legs finally gave out beneath me.

I dropped to my knees beside the couch, shaking as sobs tore through my throat harder than before. I buried my face in my hands while tears streamed endlessly between my fingers, every breath uneven and painful. My mind replayed everything over and over again . The voice, the eyes, the way he looked at me like he already knew he was running out of time.

It hurt.

It hurt so much more than I thought it would.

I didn’t know how long I stayed there crying.

Minutes blurred into hours until the room around me became darker and colder. The television eventually shifted into nothing but low static and dim white light flickering across the apartment walls. At some point, my throat had become raw from sobbing.

Maybe three hours had passed.

Maybe more.

Eventually, the pain in my stomach became impossible to ignore.

Hunger twisted harshly inside me, making me realize I hadn’t eaten anything in what felt like forever. My entire body ached as I slowly forced myself upright, my knees weak from sitting on the floor so long.

My face burned from all the tears I had shed.

I wiped uselessly at my eyes before stumbling toward the kitchen, still trying to steady my breathing. The small living quarters felt unbearably quiet now. Empty.

The pale overhead light buzzed softly as I opened cabinets one by one, trying to see if there’s any thing I could even possibly eat.

My hands still shook while I searched through the pantry.

Then suddenly.

Something grabbed me.

A terrified scream ripped from my throat as a powerful hand latched onto my arm and violently yanked me backward before I could react. My body slammed against the floor as I was dragged across the living quarters floors.

“W-What—?!”

Panic instantly flooded through me.

Every horrible thought crashed through my mind at once.

My stomach twisted violently as fear consumed me whole.

I kicked and struggled uselessly against whatever was dragging me, tears instantly returning to my eyes as pure survival instinct took over.

“LET GO OF ME!”

My voice cracked into a scream.