Been dealing with an art block for the past 3 months so im breaking out of it by drawing Mads Mikkelsen all week. (Really just an excuse to stare at him for hours) i have so many sketches of him.. now i need to just paint them gawd
I can’t remember the last time i drew kaz from metal gear solid. I messed up the placement of his arm but that’s just going to be a learning experience for now. funny enough I saw the hard time news posting an article saying jared leto wanted to be revolver ocelot, and honestly? people are going to continue hating huey emmerich more.
Summary: Hecate has now traveled with Hank under the name Petra for a week now over rough and smooth terrain to make it to Central Knot city, where Bridges’ Headquarters is stationed at. After seeking shelter from Timefall in a cave, Hecate has a nightmare of a strange whole other reality. Unsure of its origin and its meaning, she doesn’t speak with Hank about it.
Word Count: 2900+
Warnings: These warnings apply to all chapters of this story, as related to Death Stranding, these chapters contain many upsetting themes, such as death, murder, suicide, terrorism, bombings, braindead mothers, removal of babies, pregnancy, insanity, mental health, the feeling of always being alone, throwing up, detailed descriptions of death, blood, gore, drugs, tobacco use, drinking, needles, dreams, and nightmares, ending of the world, disturbing descriptions of life and death, isolation, cussing, blisters, rashes, manipulation, incineration, hospitals, testing, dead animals.
ALL EVENTS IN THE STORY TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE GAMES EVENTS, HOWEVER, SOME INFORMATION DONE CLOSER TO EVENTS MIGHT BE USED FOR SIMPLICITY’S SAKE.
A smell pierced Hecate’s nose. A smell so terrible that Hecate started to tear up from how much it burned. As she opened her eyes, she realized she wasn’t in the cave she had fallen asleep in when she and Hank had to take shelter from Timefall. Instead, she saw nothing but miles and miles of black sand that then turned into cliffs in the distance. Hecate rubbed the sand off from her arms and face as she stood up. Where was she?
Hecate then turned to look towards the sound of water. But what faced back at her were thousands of dead sea creatures. Crabs, fish, dolphins, whales, others she couldn’t even recognize. All beached and rotting. Hecate gasped as her body wanted to scream. But nothing came out. Instead, her feet started to walk towards the water that was almost as pitch black as that night she first encountered that BT two weeks ago. She tried to stop, but her legs seemingly had a mind of their own as they continued until she was knee-deep into the water. Hecate was no longer in control of her body, but she continued to struggle free from the trance.
Hecate felt pressure on one of her ankles and was pulled into the cold, dark depths.
…
Hecate jolted awake, breathing hard at the nightmare she just had. It felt so real to her, like she was really on a beach with a bunch of rotting animals, the smell even seemed to linger. Hecate let herself slowly calm down. Her breath hung in the air for a few moments before dissipating. The cave was freezing due to the Timefall outside, but as Hecate listened, she realized it had let up and was no longer a problem for a few hours. At least, she hopes it wouldn’t be a problem for a while.
Hecate sighed, leaning forward to tie her boots and attached her carrier to her back, Hecate reached over, placing a hand on a rock to stabilize herself as she stood up. In the past week, she had been able to mostly keep up with Hank, only falling back a few times when the pain in her feet didn’t allow her to keep going.
Now that she was thinking about it, she didn’t see Hank where he had fallen asleep on the opposite side of the cave. His carrier was still there so he was somewhere in the cave or outside the cave. Hecate gripped onto her straps, climbing up the few ledges of rock that led to the entrance of the cave.
As if he had heard Hecate coming, Hank turned to face Hecate as she dusted herself off. “You know, there’s a reason why Porters always travel in groups.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well- imagine this. You’re traveling hundreds of miles on foot with nobody else to talk to. Only you and your thoughts with nobody to share them with,” Hank tapped the side of his head. “You know what that can do to a man?”
Hecate shook her head.
“Humans are social creatures, Petra. If you leave a person lonesome, they’ll start to go crazy. Which gives you MULEs. Cargo stealing bastards.” Hank growled while nodding towards the outside of the cave.
Hecate hesitated, slowly walking up the slope to see a person in a bright orange uniform laying on the ground.
“Bastard tried to sneak up on us. What he didn’t know was that I had woken up to see if the rain had let up so I could wash off in the river nearby.”
“I thought we passed MULE territory.”
“We did, which means he was following us yesterday,” Hank pressed his cuff links to his skin and pulled up a map. “At least 30 miles from the last MULE camp. And all we have is Metal and some Ceramics. Let this be a lesson to you Petra, being on your own, makes you a MULE one day, and if you become a MULE, you end up like him. Beaten.”
And with that, Hank walked past Hecate to go grab his equipment. Hecate walking over to the MULE, he seemed in a bad way.
“Is he dead?” Hecate called back to Hank, hesitating. She really didn’t want to carry a body.
There were a few moments of silence before he appeared again with his carrier.
“No, only knocked out, had to throw a piece of cargo at his face before I could even get a chance to punch him out without getting hurt myself. Anyway… we should get going, before the next MULE camp we can cut through the mountains to an incinerator, which will lead us to Central Knot.”
Hecate nodded, taking one last look at the passed-out MULE before heading off with Hank towards this road he mentioned.
…
Hecate could see a pillar that reached for the sky as they finally came over a slope on the mountain they just climbed. Hecate’s hands were hurting and had started to bleed as much as her feet did. The mountain had been a hard climb with the two of them needing a break every 100 feet. But they had finally made it to the top.
Hecate rubbed the sweat from her face as they walked up to the building. It had a gaping entrance with no doors to protect it from the elements. The floor and walls were cracked and the glass was smashed. Hecate could feel tears welling up in her eyes. But she quickly rubbed them away. Whatever was happening with her eyes had started ever since she left her home back at Mountain Knot, whatever it was, it probably was related to the new surroundings.
“Hey, you two! You probably shouldn’t be here.”
Hecate snapped her gaze to three men in bright orange suits, Hecate tensed. But they weren’t MULEs, they donned a Bridges logo on their uniform. Hecate let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh- someone flatline?” Hank asked as he stood near Hecate.
“Yup, we caught it quickly. It was an old lady, so Bridges was looking at her more closely,” The first man from a few moments ago said. “But, like I said, you two should head off to wherever you need to go, the place is about to spit out a lot of chiralium.”
“Won’t that attract a bunch of BTs?” Hecate blurted out.
“Well that’s why we brought some protection.” the man said, waving to the person next to him.
The younger blonde man tapped on a black pod on his chest, which suddenly opened to a baby openly floating in an amber-colored fluid. “BB-05, and one of the only BBs on the field.”
Hecate stared in shock, drowning out all noise after that as she stared at the small baby in the pod. It was a damn baby- in a pod- on a man’s chest. And supposedly helps this Corpse Disposal team with protecting themselves from BTs.
Hecate was broken from her thoughts and suddenly felt a small nudge from Hank, moving her forward. “We need to keep moving, we need to let them do their job.”
Hecate started to walk on again, still confused by the whole ordeal. She let everything sink in as they found a road and started their descent down the mountain.
“What was that?”
“What was what?’
“That baby thing? Is that not weird?”
“I mean, yeah? It’s new technology, so I’ve heard. I don’t know much about them.”
And then that was the end of their conversation. Neither of them spoke another word until the cliffs parted out of the way to reveal a large city in the distance. Central Knot City had finally come into view.
…
As Hank walked up to the gates of Central Knot, he stopped Hecate, looking at her cuff links with a worried look. “Are they still not working, kid?”
Hecate shook her head. “Not since it started to flash red.”
“Don’t know if it’ll identify you once you pass the gates, just stay close to me. If there are any problems then they’ll notice we are together.”
Hank walked forward, and Hecate followed close behind. Once past the gates, Hecate felt the wind suddenly knocked out of her like a strong force trying to push her over. But she quickly recovered from being staggered and followed Hank to the terminal.
“Finally here huh?” Hank smiled at Hecate. “You did it, Petra. I’m sure they’ll approve you in no time.”
Hecate nodded, removing the cargo from her back and placing it down on the shelf Hank had placed his cargo on. Technically, all the cargo was still his, but it felt like she had finally done something amazing in her life.
As the shelf disappeared below the floor, a picture of a Bridges member appeared out of the terminal. During the trip, Hecate had asked what the grainy images of people were when you dropped off anything. And in Hank’s words, said it was called a hologram, a live conversation with a person from somewhere in the building, as they weren’t normally allowed face to face contact with you unless there was a problem. It generally was a picture of the member, but apparently, some facilities had video calling that looked like you were talking to a real person.
<Thank you Hank for the delivery, they are in great condition!> the man from the terminal started to say before falling silent. <And who are you?>
“Petra Jones,” Hecate flashed up her red blinking cuff links to the camera in the drop-off area for the man to see. “I want to be a Porter, but back at Port Knot, my cuff links stopped working.”
There was a long silence from the man on the other end of the line. <Right! Uh, someone will be out to meet you soon Miss. Someone will pick you up to bring you to our Headquarters.> The man had a nervous undertone as he spoke, and then the call ended on the other end.
Hecate got slightly nervous. Hank wouldn’t be going with her to the HQ obviously, he needed to rest and make more deliveries. She’ll be alone. She was brought back to reality when Hank patted her shoulder, probably seeing the worry on her face.
“Don’t fret, they just need to register you in the system and fix that cuff link of yours.”
“That’s it?”
“Sure, it was as easy as that when I joined,” Hank said in a reassuring tone. “And hey, if I’m not here when you are accepted in, we’ll see each other on the field one day.”
As Hank turned his back and started to leave out of the small terminal area, he looked back over at Hecate. “Just remember all I told you. I don’t want anyone else turning on us.”
And like that, Hank went off to go look for a private room, meanwhile, Hecate left the terminal area and sat down on the steps up to the small delivery area. Hecate didn’t see anybody around, so she took off her boots to look over the damage on her feet. And as if it was normal now, it was all bloody and blistered. Hecate sighed, she had seen a river nearby where she could wash off the blood. So Hecate took one last look around while putting her boots back on and hurried over to the river. Hecate sat back down on the gravel-covered bank, removing her boots, and placed her feet in the water.
It was like instant relief as the freezing water numbed the pain in her legs entirely. Hecate leaned back on the gravel, staring up at the sky above. It was so empty… so devoid of life. She had read about animals called birds before, and she saw a lone one in a cave when she and Hank took shelter. Hecate always wondered what it would be to fly high above the sky and reach for the heavens above.
Hecate sighed, sitting back up again after a few minutes, she looked towards the road that had led out of Central Knot towards the small terminal. And in the distance, Hecate noticed a small spec coming down the road. Assuming it was whoever is grabbing Hecate, she removed her feet from the water and got her boots back on before quickly going to meet the person.
As it approached, Hecate was slightly surprised it looked like trucks she had seen in photos before. She could have never guessed anybody would still be using them. She waved at the driver, stopping at the edge of where the road began, and waited for the truck to come to a full stop.
The man who stepped down from the driver’s seat was the same man from the hologram on the terminal and looked rather out of breath. “So, you’re Petra? We have been waiting for you ever since you left Port Knot,” He explained. “Please, step into the truck, I’ll explain the process to you as I drive- wow you are tall.”
Hecate blinked in confusion but followed the order, stepping up to the truck, and plopped herself in the passenger seat as the man got into the driver’s seat. “I should introduce myself- my name is Sebastian”
Hecate nodded. “You can call me Petra.”
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Anyway, Petra. You’re really young to become a Porter, I hope you know that. We normally don’t accept anyone under 18 due to not being an adult, but we tracked your cuff links since you left Port Knot and we could make one tiny exception.”
“You tracked me while I had broken cuff links?”
“They aren’t entirely broken. We can still track you and watch your vitals, but we were unable to contact you, and you were unable to use it at all.”
“So- why exactly is it flashing red?”
“Just some fine-tuning needs to be done, your body didn’t sync well to it, so we need to fix that and connect it to you manually.”
Hecate listened closely to Sebastian as he clearly did his best to explain their plans to help her in simple terms. He did have a nervous look on his face while he talked, but Hecate shrugged it off.
“The process may take a few days, however, which is the only downside. Or upside? You get to rest is what I’m getting at.”
That would mean Hank wouldn’t be there when she left, but Hecate kept her face neutral and nodded. “I understand.”
“Great!” Sebastian exclaimed, the truck then came to a stop. “You know- there’s always a need for scientists and researchers for Bridges.”
Hecate’s brow furrowed slightly as she blew the strands of hair out of her face. Did she really seem like she couldn’t handle herself that much? “I’ll be fine as a Porter.” Hecate huffed, opening the truck and shutting the door before turning around and stared up at a huge triangle-shaped Building. Bridges HQ.
…
Hecate felt sick all the time now. Instead of testing her abilities to be a Porter like how much she could carry and how far she can carry it, they sent her right to the hospital wing of the HQ, forcing her to stay in a single room for hours a day for testing and blood samples, and well, other samples of bodily fluids. It was all humiliating. Hecate’s left wrist seemed to be numb 24 hours a day ever since the testing had started. Not only numb but it was also bruised up to her elbow.
How long has it been?
She had grown so tired and sick feeling that she didn’t protest when they would come in and take another round of tests. But today was different. In the morning when she woke up, they made her take a shower, which was a part of these tests. But instead of giving her dry or canned food to eat for breakfast, they gave her something rather different. Hecate didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t care, it tasted wonderful.
And for the afternoon, they finally got around to fixing her cuff links, which no longer flashed red. And hell, they let her pick out a new uniform that would actually fit her and not be too big on her, and her boots would actually make sure her feet weren’t sliding everywhere. But she was still in the room until late evening when a woman entered her room. A kind and soft-looking smile on her face made the wrinkles on her face stand out. She had dark gold hair that went down to her shoulders and wore black-framed glasses. Her bright blue eyes filled with amazement when she saw Hecate fit so well with her bright white outfit with a pink scarf draping down her neck. Hecate sighed, sitting up straight for some kind of test, but it didn’t seem to come.
“Look how lovely you are, Petra,” the older woman finally cooed, standing next to the bed Hecate had stayed in. “My name is Bridget Strand, it’s nice to finally see you here,” She went quiet, leaning over so only Hecate could hear. “I know your little secret, Hecate,” Hecate looked dumbfounded, and Bridget smiled. “It’s safe with me.”
She spoke as softly as the wind swayed the grass. Bridget cupped Hecate’s face in her hands, leaning over slightly to stare right into Hecate’s eyes. “You are so very special, Hecate, so, so very special…”
Summary: Hecate wakes up on the boat she had snuck on in a daze, meeting a porter, the second person she has ever been up close to other than her parents. Hecate slowly starts to adjust to how big the world truly is and learns of new technologies and sees things she never thought could exist.
Word Count: 2700+
Warnings: These warnings apply to all chapters of this story, as related to Death Stranding, these chapters contain many upsetting themes, such as death, murder, suicide, terrorism, bombings, braindead mothers, removal of babies, pregnancy, insanity, mental health, the feeling of always being alone, throwing up, detailed descriptions of death, blood, gore, drugs, tobacco use, drinking, needles, dreams, and nightmares, ending of the world, disturbing descriptions of life and death, isolation, cussing, blisters, rashes, manipulation, incineration, hospitals, testing, dead animals.
ALL EVENTS IN THE STORY TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE GAMES EVENTS, HOWEVER, SOME INFORMATION DONE CLOSER TO EVENTS MIGHT BE USED FOR SIMPLICITY’S SAKE.
Hecate was startled awake when she heard a booming horn from above as if a monster was searching for her. Where am I? It took Hecate a few heartbeats to remember all that had happened over the last few nights. She had ran away from home. Were her parents looking for her? Or were they sitting on their asses like always because they were too afraid to say anything? Probably the ladder.
She snapped from her thoughts, looking up to see a Porter staring at her, confusion plastered all over his face as he held a few cargo boxes in his arms. He was wearing a deep blue uniform with the logo “Bridges” on the sleeve. Hecate stared back, petrified like a statue for a moment before quickly standing to her feet, scurrying off the boat. And once on the deck, what she saw filled her with amazement.
The port was way bigger than Lake knot, in the distance, she saw boats of all sorts of sizes lined up by the port. Small tiny ones that could fit a few people to giant boats that could be a city on water. While awe-struck, she saw the same man from a few moments ago walking by, the cargo that was in his arms was now attached to his back. Without thinking, she quickly ran up to the man, grabbing his sleeve.
“What is this place?” She asked in a slightly excited tone.
The man stared at her again for a moment before clearing his throat. “This is Port Knot City,” Hecate could’ve guessed. “Why? You lost or something?”
Now he’s asking questions. Hecate thought nervously, trying to think of some kind of answer. “I- uh- no- I was sent off by my parents for work as a Porter.” Hecate said quickly. She knew it was unlikely. Who would send off their child to work at such a young age?… or rather, who would send off their child to work in a world where every day is Doomsday?
The man didn’t seem convinced. “Your parents want you to be a Porter? You look no older than 16.”
“I’m not, I’m only 14, but as you can see, I’ve handled myself well for the past week it took to get here.”
“A week on your own? Doesn’t seem likely for some youngin like you, but I’ll take your word for it,” the man said with a chuckle, still clearly not buying her story. “Here, follow me, the facility is at the end of the port, and I’m handing these packages to them, there you can get a cuff link and maybe start some Porter work.”
Before Hecate could ask what a cuff link was, the man was already heading off in the direction that he had nodded towards. She had so many questions to ask, this was all so new, it made her all dizzy at the sights that she was seeing, like she was some newly hatched baby duckling seeing everything for the first time. That’s because she was seeing everything for the first time. But she walked in silence, her feet still hurting from the journey she had just endured. Hecate just wished she’ll be able to rest soon on a soft bed.
Hecate lost track of time because soon enough she was standing in front of a facility that looked like the ones at Mountain Knot and Lake Knot. Small, and nothing special.
“You go on ahead to one of the terminals, I got some stuff to deliver.” The man said before heading down. Hecate quickly followed but was greeted with a sudden mist being blasted at her from all sides, making her let out a surprised noise.
“You’re fine, it’s just disinfectant. It’s to make sure you don’t drag in any infections or chiral dust, or something or other.” The man called back, waving his hand slightly before stepping onto ground that flattened out below. Hecate quickly scurried down, looking around at the walls that surrounded her. Most of it was dark tinted glass with what looked like a bunch of cargo behind it. It was so much cargo, that it looked like it went on forever.
Hecate spotted the man she was walking with had stopped, setting cargo down and talking to a screen with the photo of a person. “Wait…” Hecate mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the screen. It was all grainy and static, and from the bits and pieces of the conversation she could hear, the person’s voice was static too. She quietly went to the next, what she guessed was a terminal. She stared at it, confused for a moment about why it wasn’t turning on or something. Until it sprung to life, seemingly greetings her.
After a few moments of fiddling with the thing and trying to find some sort of activation, it blurted out “Unknown ID, requesting help.” Before it went quiet. She stared at it, confused about its voice, it didn’t sound like a human. It sounded like a robot voice, like something she heard out of a cartoon or movie that she watched when she was younger.
Hecate looked over after hearing a swoosh noise, seeing a person in Bridges uniform come out from a door that was cut out of the tinted glass wall. “Sorry, the thing must have broken again- aw hell, I had told them to fix…” The man trailed off at the sight of Hecate, looking her up and down, confused for a moment before speaking again. “Hey- where is your cuff link?’
Hecate shrugged. “I don’t know what a cuff link is…”
The man looked dumbfounded before taking a second look at Hecate. “Well, I can see now you definitely ain’t no Porter… Who are you?”
Hecate froze. Should she tell him her real name?”
“Petra- it’s Petra Jones,” She cringed internally, she knew she could have come up with something better. “I’m from across the lake to get a job as a Porter.”
The man seemed to be connecting the wires in his head for a moment before nodding and heading back through the door.
Hecate stood there, looking over her shoulder to see what the man she had been with earlier was doing, and saw he had finished delivering whatever was on the boat but was still at the terminal, fidgeting with a few things on his wrist before walking to the center of the room. And the floor started to move underground.
What the hell have I been missing?
After some time had finally passed, the second man came back with some weird- thing in his hands. “Hold out your dominant hand that you use to write with.”
Hecate held out her left arm, confused. “Why? I don’t see how this answers- hey what are you doing!?” He grabbed her arm and locked the weird thing he had in his hands onto her left wrist. A sharp pain stabbed through her wrist as if needles were stabbing into her skin and a screen flashed up out of nowhere out of the lights. There were so many things going on on the screen that it made Hecate feel dizzy.
“This is a cuff link,” The man said in a calm, almost bored tone. “Under Bridges, all civilians and Porters need to wear one for the protection of others and it monitors your vitals, yadda yadda, stuff like that,” he sighed. “All it does is monitor your heart. If you flatline then Bridges will be notified. Understand?”
Hecate looked at the cuff link, they just look like normal handcuffs, but more tech-like with two blocky lights and could produce an image from thin air. “I guess so-”
“Great. You need to stay in Port Knot for the night, it needs to gather a few other bits of information, and in the morning, you need to head straight to Central Knot, because in reality, I can’t assure the job as a Porter to anybody, I can only give you cuff links and access to a private room.”
All of this was going right over Hecate’s head. She didn’t really get much of it as this was all new. “Oh yeah- can I go to that private room you mentioned?”
“Course, just stand on that pad right there and I’ll send you down.” The man said as Hecate walked over to the place that had gone down earlier. And sure enough, after a soft jolt, the pad started to sink further and further underground.
Hecate let out a sigh. She is here now… And was known as Petra Jones. “You really could have thought of something better.” she hissed at herself.
After another jolt, the pad stopped moving downwards, and a door to a room opened. Hecate went inside, getting a look at the layout of the private room. Hecate dropped her bag the moment she saw the shower, quickly going over, getting undressed, and turning on the water to the hottest she could make it. Hecate just sat there on the floor of the shower, boiling water fell onto her and then slid off her body. The aches and pains slowly disappeared, as well as the grime, and blood from travel washed away.
Hecate turned off the water, surprised as air blasted her, drying her off, and within seconds she stepped out like she never had taken a shower at all. She went to put on her clothes before she noticed new, cleaner ones hanging up behind a glass closet. Hecate shrugged to herself, opening the panel with a bit of struggle from this new technology she was experiencing for the first time on her cuff links, and grabbed the sleepwear. Or what she guessed was sleepwear because a Porter uniform was hanging right next to it.
She got dressed into the slightly snug but slick clothing, her shoulders felt instant relief as the pads on the top seemingly pressed into them, making all the pain go away. Hecate took a lap around her room to look it up and down before heading over to her bed. As she laid down, she was discomforted by the fact that it wasn’t exactly soft as she was hoping. She huffed. This is my life now, and I’m going to have to get used to it. Hecate looked over to see a bar that extended out slightly from under the bed and then at her cuff links. She unlatched one cuff well enough, and then she tried the other. It didn’t budge.
With another huff, Hecate latched the other side of the cuff links to the bar, the pain of needles still stabbing into her wrist. Hecate laid down on her side whispering different things to herself that usually helped her fall asleep… but it wasn’t needed, as she quickly drifted off.
…
Hecate didn’t move as she slowly woke up to the bright lights of the private room. But she knew she couldn’t stay there forever, so after a few minutes, she sat upright, uncuffing her cuff links from the handrail under her bed and attached them back to her wrist. She looked around briefly before getting up to take a shower again to help herself wake up. Like clockwork, the same process happened just as it did yesterday. She noticed the needle-like pain was gone now, but her left wrist was all numb and she noticed bits of bruising under the cuff links.
As Hecate left the shower, she went and grabbed the Porter uniform from the stash and of course, struggled to figure out how to put the damn thing on, trying to figure out which hole is which. But after a bit of trial and error and putting on a bunch of tight equipment, she looked over at the mirror in the room.
“Well look at you,” Hecate spoke to herself while looking herself over. “You look like the best Porter around.”
Hecate looked over the last bits of equipment and then over at her backpack and old clothes. She took a few things out of her backpack and stuffed them into bags on her new uniform and put the backpack on the shelf, along with her old clothes to be disposed of. Hecate patted the spot her journal was stuffed into before grabbing some dried food provided for her as breakfast and headed out to the platform again to bring her back to the lobby of the facility. But she wasn’t alone as she walked onto the lift, as the man from the boat yesterday was there, fitting on the carrier on his back.
“Hey kid, never got your name, what was it?” The man asked as he noticed Hecate.
“It’s Petra. And yours?”
“Hank. You know, Petra, you got some guts to join Bridges to become a Porter.” Hank said, looking over to Hecate.
“Well, you know, I wanted to explore the world. Even if it’s infested with BTs.”
“Why don’t you become a scientist instead? Heard that they need a bunch of those for researching this shitshow.”
“I was thinking about that, I have read a lot on science and things like that, but I don’t know if I could ever research this other world stuff…”
“Good point, Petra. But if you ever get bored of being a Porter, why don’t you try it out. Or some other profession.”
There was silence after that. The two of them, just on a lift. And after the last jolt, Hank went to a terminal to grab a few bits of cargo. Meanwhile, Hecate was messing with her cuff link until a map showed up, and yet again, awestruck by the fact it was just coming out of a tiny light on the cuff links. Hecate took a moment to look over the region, not any mountains like back home, but it seemed to be just grassy plains, rolling hills, and some mountains from here on out.
Before Hecate could silently complain about the trip to Central Knot, as it was all the way upwards and across a small mountain range, Hank approached her with a carrier. “Put this on your back, you’ll help carry some cargo to learn how to get around with it.”
“You want me to carry your stuff?”
“Half of it, and only the light packages, but they’ll add up.”
Hecate took a moment to think about it before taking the carrier from Hank’s hands and strapping it to her back. Now her movement was really restricted. Hecate then stumbled slightly at a sudden weight pressed into her back and the straps dug into her shoulders.
“You’ll need to be more stable if you want to be a Porter, you’re going to be climbing through a bunch of shit y’know,” Hank chuckled. “Try this, it’ll help you keep your balance.” Hank then grabbed both the straps on his chest that connected to the carrier.
Hecate followed his instructions, standing up straight and grabbing both the straps. Hecate blew the few strands of hair out of her face that never seemed to be able to stay up with the rest of her hair. “Are you heading to Central Knot too?”
“I wouldn’t have put my cargo on your back if I wasn’t, I need to deliver all this stuff to the capital. Which is weird because Central Knot is the capital, but Capital Knot isn’t… I don’t get it.”
“Oh- thanks for coming with me, don’t want to be consumed by a BT on the way,” Hecate laughed at the weird naming of the cities, but also the comment she made. “The cuff links said it will take a few days until we get to Central Knot.”
“Wouldn’t be a first,” Hank chuckled along before gazing at Hecate’s cuff link. “Hey, uh speaking of cuff link, why is your’s flashing red?”
Hecate quickly looked down to see, in fact, her cuff link was flashing red, even if a few moments ago it was a pleasant blue. “Weird… maybe it’s broken?”
“Maybe? But those things don’t break too easily. When you get to Central Knot, you should get that checked out with Bridges at the HQ.”
“Yeah… Well, we should start our way to Central Knot. I don’t want to waste any time.”
Summary: Hecate, a 14-year-old girl born in Mountain Knot City has lived in a shelter all her life, never having seen the stars in the sky. But the smart and curious Hecate hates life within the walls of her home, and her parents controlling attitudes. So one day, in the dead of night, Hecate finally opens the door of her shelter and goes on the run.
Word Count: 2700+
Warnings: These warnings apply to all chapters of this story, as related to Death Stranding, these chapters contain many upsetting themes, such as death, murder, suicide, terrorism, bombings, braindead mothers, removal of babies, pregnancy, insanity, mental health, the feeling of always being alone, throwing up, detailed descriptions of death, blood, gore, drugs, tobacco use, drinking, needles, dreams, and nightmares, ending of the world, disturbing descriptions of life and death, isolation, cussing, blisters, rashes, manipulation, incineration, hospitals, testing, dead animals.
ALL EVENTS IN THE STORY TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE GAMES EVENTS, HOWEVER, SOME INFORMATION DONE CLOSER TO EVENTS MIGHT BE USED FOR SIMPLICITY’S SAKE.
“I was the first person born in Mountain Knot City in the Second Generation. Ever since the Death Stranding, people stopped traveling and hid away from the world, they stopped having kids. Or, at least, their children wouldn’t last longer than a few years. Hell, even for a few days. Or the mother would become weak and die in delivery, or would become brain-dead, suicide was on the table as well. Everyone just wanted to keep to themselves and fear whatever was on the other side of their walls. Nobody could trust anyone anymore. You never knew if the person who lived next to you was going to kill themselves and blow everyone into the world of the dead.”
“But not me… I always wanted to know what was beyond the walls of the shelter I lived in. But I was told to never even get near the door that would lead to any sort of freedom that could be on the other side. I wanted to see the land of what used to be known as a country called the United States of America. But my folks would tell me that nightmares and death awaited me on the other side.”
“To say my parents and I never saw eye to eye was an understatement (They were only kids when the Death Stranding happened, or they were better known as the First generation). As I got older, maybe 10, I was reading as much as I could, looking at all the pictures of animals, plants, and so many beautiful things. I always asked my parents to request more books, as within weeks I could finish the last supply we were given. I started to learn what life was like before the Death Stranding, but I was never allowed to read anything about today, what it was truly like. But I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t somehow sneak information inside our shelter. Even if it had the slightest traces of what Fragile Express was, or Bridges, or anything, I would read it over and over until it got stuck in my head. And in those times, I learned of magic men, which is what I call them. Or their real name, Porters.”
“I’m doing this not only for my sake, but for maybe their sake, and that one day they’ll understand that the world is too large for them to stay in a small hole in the ground until we all go necro (Another thing they had also warned me about). They would say if I went out and died, I would either cause a giant void-out, or I would necrotize, bringing BT’s into an area that could put others in danger. “
“One day when I was 12, I was supposed to be asleep, but was restless. My parents were already asleep when I sat up from my bed and carefully ventured out into the main living area towards the door. As I reached for the handle, I didn’t have a second thought before the thing was wide open. What I saw before my eyes was exactly what I’ve seen in books. Snow. I felt my body go numb at the thought that we lived in the high altitudes of mountains, (I mean, we lived in Mountain Knot City, I could have guessed now that I’m 14.) but it was a clear night and I could see the peaks all around me. So I took one step at a time. The snow was freezing, and so was the air. But compared to the shelter’s air… Well, I say it’s an upgrade with how nice it felt to pierce your face and how fresh it was to breathe in. I thought my lungs might have blown. I would go no further than 10 feet before I saw a porter leaving a larger building in the center of the clearing.”
“He came rushing over after he noticed me, confused why a young girl was out of her shelter in a dangerous world. (His words, not mine.) But I ignored his question. I asked him if the world he traveled was as beautiful as the photos. I saw him hesitate before saying, ‘even better.’ That was all I needed to hear. I was going to prove my mom and daddy wrong. I would become a Porter one day.”
“Boy, my folks sure didn’t like hearing that in the morning over breakfast. My mom had begun to cry, while my dad yelled at me, ‘why would I ever want to be a part of a burning shithole that was Bridges and be a loner with no life other than to serve others and not have my freedoms.’ Did I mention that they hated Bridges? Well, they do, (Fragile Express got a pass since we needed to live somehow) and they found out that I knew who they were. I had yelled back that Porters were what fed everyone and made sure we, as cowering people, were safe.”
“After that day, they got rid of most of the books that contained anything with BT’s, Bridges, anything, telling me to stick to math, science and engineering. (interesting, but I wanted more than that.) As I watched the books become ashes in the fireplace, I promised myself that one day, I would leave here forever. And now I’m 14, today is the day.”
Hecate carefully put down her journal, staring at the rant she had written on the page. She sighed, looking up to the backpack she had kept in the corner of her room for two years, preparing herself for this moment, it had been gathering dust like a forgotten piece of gold. It would be the second time she was ever going to be outside, and this time she knew it was going to be for good.
Hecate got up from her bed, walking over to the backpack, stuffing her journal in a free compartment. Other than that, it was filled with enough food to last her a week and some warm clothes were stuffed in as well. And in another part of the bag was a map of the whole region she lived in, from the mountains to Lake Knot City. It was the only thing she thought to save from her parents destroying all traces of the outside world. It was going to be a few day’s journey if she kept a steady pace, but really, she was in no rush if she was able to space out food and water, after all, she lived in a single, isolated space all her life and sometimes they went weeks without a new supply of food. Hecate had traced the route she would take, staying far from BT areas, and trying her best to stay away from MULE’s. They just wanted cargo, not her. But it would be risky to test getting a backpack through their territory.
Hecate picked up the backpack, placing it on her bed as she got changed into warmer slick clothing and tough boots to protect her feet. Another problem she had to think about was Timefall. It ages anything and everything rapidly, and she definitely didn’t want to get soaked in the Timefall or snow and be turned into an old woman. She shivered at the thought before putting the straps around her arms, hoisting it securely on her back. Now that she had the damn thing on her back, it was heavier than what she was expecting, but she needed everything, nothing more, nothing less.
Hecate crept to her door, quietly opening it and then closing it behind her, it would take ages for her parents to figure out she was gone, as they slept in late until the day most of the time. She walked over the concrete floor, then she made her way to the door as she did two years ago. Hecate reached for the door handle, opening it to see what it was like outside. Hecate saw dark clouds in the distance that blocked out the stars, but it was hours away. She was in the clear. After one last bit of reassurance, Hecate stepped out in her boots into the snow. She let out a sigh of relief to know her warm clothing was doing its job against the air of Mountain Knot City.
But Hecate had a dizzy feeling, her head spun at the sudden realization of how large everything was, but she knew there was no time for stops until Mountain Knot was out of view. She closed the shelter door behind her, grabbing out the map, tracing her finger on the line she had drawn. If she walked 7-10 hours a day, she could make it to Lake Knot in 5 days. Hecate knew it would be pushing luck if she could ever manage to do such a thing, but determined, Hecate walked to the central building and then onto the other side where her journey started.
“This is it,” Hecate said softly as if she was not to disturb anyone or anything that is.
She then started her long walk.
…
What was supposed to be a 5-day walk for 10 hours, quickly turned into a week of nonstop walking for more than 16 hours. Hecate has had a very smooth time so far on the route that she had picked, only getting caught in Timefall a few times, which she was able to shield herself successfully from, and when she had grown tired, she was able to stop and rest under shelters Porters had built in the past or hide in caves.
Here Hecate sat under one of these shelters, chewing on the last bit of dried mango pieces. There was still 3 days’ worth of jerky and nuts, and of course, water. Not only is the looming sensation of running out of food and water starting to creep up, but Hecate had also only traveled a little over 75% the distance from Mountain Knot to Lake Knot. This was caused by storms, but at this point, it was caused by the route Hecate decided to pick. It was much longer than she was expecting and the map wasn’t exactly accurate. The MULE camps and BT’s have seemed to grow larger since she had grabbed hold of the map, throwing all that planning out of whack.
Hecate cursed herself, then realized she had now finished all her dried fruit. She knew she needed to change course to get to Lake Knot faster, but that would mean going through BT territory to get back on a road that goes right through a MULE camp into Lake Knot. The MULE camp, she knew from the start she would need to pass through, but the BT’s is what scares her. Hecate looked back in her bag.
“Yup… only 3 days,” She muttered in frustration before grabbing a marker and drawing a new route through the BT territory. “If I don’t make any stops, I can get to Lake knot before dawn after tomorrow,” Hecate said before looking up at the afternoon sun. She squinted her eyes before looking down at her feet. Under the new stress of walking, they had begun to blister and grow raw. It caused great pain, but she needed to get as far as she could before anybody found out where she was heading. But who would risk their ass to go after some kid? At least, it’s what daddy would probably say.
Hecate pulled on her boots, wincing at the pain of them rubbing on her skin. She neatly placed everything back in the bag and folded the map to shove in her pocket. With a final check, Hecate hustled to be able to make it to the lake.
…
Here she was, right on the edge of BT territory. Timefall was pouring down hard, hard enough that it started to sting, even through her clothes, but with Hecate’s slick clothes, she should stay dry, as long as she didn’t fall on her back at least. It was pitch black and mixed with the rain, she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her, at least, until the sky flashed brightly at what she believed was lightning. Hecate did her best to calm her nerves, as long as she didn’t run into any BT’s she should be fine. Right?
After a few minutes of pacing, Hecate stepped forward into the darkness, keeping her eyes open for any movement between flashes and claps of thunder. She didn’t know what BT’s even looked like, but in a few books, she used to have, they look like humans too from Porters who willingly shared their experiences. But their most recognizable feature was the tracks they left. It was… Otherworldly. Human handprints with tiny claw points at the fingertips. And the final touch, all the prints were filled with tar, or at least, some kind of dark liquid. It would leave impressions no matter what material it was.
Hecate was broken from her thoughts as a shock sent shivers down her spine. It was like nothing she ever felt before. “No cold spike caused this…” Hecate’s thoughts sped up as she started to look around wildly. As she looked around, sealing her mouth shut, listening as best she could over the Timefall and seeing through the darkness.
Until that’s when she heard it. The shifting of dirt, the sounds of sloshing after each step. Hecate’s blood ran cold as she instinctively crouched close to the ground, the hair of the back of her neck stood on end as she scanned the area for signs of anything.
And then she saw it, as a bolt of lightning struck the ground, the sky illuminated the area. And illuminated by the flash, some sort of figure had appeared from the darkness. It was no human though. The sight of it made Hecate almost tremble, any description of BT’s didn’t give it any justice in her books. And the fucking thing was approaching her, feeling around with its hands for any signs of life. Hecate never read anything on how to escape a BT, but if it was looking for life… Hecate quickly covered her mouth, panicking about what to do, it was listening for something, the sounds of a human to consume and bring upon the world another void-out.
Hecate then remembered the sloshing sound the BT’s hands were making. She looked down at her boots and then at a stroke of genius, she timed each handprint coming down into the earth with her footsteps. And bit by bit, Hecate slowly sidestepped the BT, each time the BT would move forward, Hecate moved away, matching the steps of the monster. But then the BT seemed to hesitate as if on purpose to see if something was avoiding it, but before Hecate could stop herself, her boot splashed into a puddle, soaking her foot and chilling it to the bone.
Hecate froze in place, feeling herself starting to turn purple with how long she had held her breath. The BT had turned in her direction, stepping straight forward, but as it did, Hecate started to get a burning and itching sensation all over her body. Hecate kept silent as it looked directly at her. Its dead stare could drive someone mad, but Hecate wouldn’t let herself up. A few heartbeats passed before the BT suddenly moved along. It couldn’t see her, but she could see it.
Hecate quickly made her way to the other side of the territory, her legs were shaking as she finally breathed for air at a steady pace again. Tears of relief and joy flooded down her face. However, victory was short-lived as she hurried along.
“Next destination, Lake Knot City.”
…
As Hecate predicted, she made it to Lake Knot before dawn. She saw a few Porters going between a building and what was probably the docks, but while the Porters were gone, the lights shining down made it… eerie… Hecate quickly shook off the feeling. “For fucks sake, Hecate, you were faced by a BT earlier…” she snapped at herself but felt pride growing in her chest.
She tightened the backpack to her shoulders, quickly scouting for a path to a boat in the port, and to her luck, there was. In the cover of the shadows, she quickly, but silently made it over to the boat. She looked around first for others before moving to a hole in the deck of the ship. With a deep breath, Hecate looked back towards the mountains. The sun had only just started to turn the edge of the sky pink, which outlined the snow-covered peaks.
Without another word, Hecate carefully and silently went below deck, using the little light she had, Hecate let herself adjust to the low light. A few moments of feeling around rows and rows of cargo, she found a spot large enough to fit herself. Hecate squeezed herself between a few crates, settling down and getting comfortable. Now… All she needed to do was sit and wait for wherever this boat was going.
Metal Gear Solid di Hideo Kojima (sia quello classico per PS1 ed il The Twin Snakes della GameCube, rispettivamente usciti nel 1998 e nel 2004), hanno risentito molto del film di Oshii.
I feel like anyone who calls the dialogue in kojima games “contrived” or any variation thereof is simultaneously missing the point and denying themselves the fun of watching an extremely long game-movie, but also, the man literally just tweets like this
exhibit B
Please know that second one is about him being locked out of his instagram account for 15 minutes
