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Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
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Consciousness returned like a slap to the face.
Ren gasped, his eyes snapping open behind the plague doctor mask. He was back in the operating room. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. The smell of antiseptic and blood filled his nostrils. Adrian still lay unconscious on the table.
Wilhelm stood in front of him, watching intently.
Only three seconds had passed.
Three seconds. That's all it had been. But in that vision, in that forest, Ren had felt like hours had gone by. Hours of being wrapped in warmth and softness and overwhelming sensuality.
His mind raced, trying to process what had just happened.
This is the first time I got ate by a god. What the fuck. But it was kinda... nice?
I told you I would summon the Dark Young to eat your ass, right? Looks like I kept my word without doing anything.
And why the fuck did you enjoy it, you sick fuck? That's a fucking humanoid goat!
I didn't enjoy it! I was just... observing. Clinically. As a doctor.
Sure. Keep telling yourself that.
Ren's thoughts continued spiraling. The woman in the vision had been beautiful, undeniably so. But she was also the avatar of Shub-Niggurath. The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young. An Outer God.
I just... did I just do it with a god? No, wait. Is it a goat? Did I just fuck a goat? No, it's not that, right? It's not—
He caught himself mumbling under his breath, "The taste of the demoness ain't so... bad."
What the fuck is that? It's a fucking monster goat, not a demoness.
My bad. Wrong novel.
Are you having a mental breakdown right now?
Maybe.
Then a voice echoed in his brain. Not his voice. Not the System's voice. Something else entirely.
The words appeared in his mind like text on a corrupted screen, fragments of meaning held together by madness.
"N̴e̶x̸t̷ ̶t̷i̸m̴e̷ ̵l̶e̴t̸'̷s̸ ̶m̵a̴k̶e̷ ̵a̴ ̸b̷a̵b̶y̴ ̶f̸o̵r̸ ̶r̷e̶a̸l̶ ̵#̶$̴%̷^̸&̶̷M̸a̶d̷n̶e̸s̷s̸#̷$̴%̴^̴&̸̷(̸"
Ren froze.
What the FUCK.
Oh. That's... concerning.
You think?!
But as the shock faded, Ren started to piece together what had actually happened. The Mother's intentions weren't what the cultists thought. She didn't want to transcend here, to physically manifest in this dimension. That would be annoying and pointless to a being like her.
Though Ren couldn't figure out why it was pointless. She hadn't told him that part.
What she'd left behind was just a mark. A piece of the Law of Fertility, a fragment of her cosmic power that Ren could theoretically use. But right now, he had no idea how.
Fuck. I need to seal this away in my body forever. I don't want to become some pregnant octopus monster eldritch horror.
Wheeze
|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
|⠀⠀⠀ BRUH⠀⠀⠀|
|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿|
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ づ
"You fucking cunt," Ren muttered under his breath. "You evolved and can even use fucking memes now?"
I contain multitudes. Also, that mental image of you as a pregnant octopus is going to haunt me forever. Thanks for that.
"Dr. Nox?" Wilhelm's voice cut through the mental static. "Are you alright?"
Ren blinked, forcing himself back to the present. He needed to focus. He needed to play this smart.
His body had already shifted back to his original human appearance under the Umbral Gentleman coat and plague doctor mask. The black skin, the white mask embedded in his face, the red tentacles coiled and hidden beneath the coat. To Wilhelm, he looked exactly as he had before the ritual. Just Dr. Nox, the mysterious plague doctor.
Wilhelm couldn't see what Ren had become. Couldn't know about the Skin Apostle transformation. As far as the cultist knew, Ren had simply survived the Mother's test, which meant he had been blessed by Shub-Niggurath herself.
Perfect cover.
"I'm fine," Ren said, letting his voice trail off just enough to sound disoriented. "That was intense."
Wilhelm's expression shifted to something like reverence. "You survived. The Mother's essence accepted you. Do you understand what this means, Doctor?"
Ren swayed slightly on his feet, playing up the aftereffects. "She... I saw her. The Mother. She spoke to me."
"What did she say?" Wilhelm leaned forward eagerly.
"I don't..." Ren shook his head as if trying to clear it. "The words weren't in any language I know. But I felt welcomed. Accepted."
Wilhelm's smile widened. "Just as the prophecy foretold. You are truly the one, Dr. Nox. The key to the Mother's return. After thirty years of waiting, of preparing, of faith, you've finally appeared."
Ren let himself lean against the wall, watching Wilhelm carefully. The cultist was excited, almost giddy. His guard was down. This was an opportunity to gather information.
"I don't understand," Ren said, his voice carefully measured to sound confused but willing. "What does the Mother want from me? What is this prophecy you keep mentioning?"
Wilhelm stepped closer, his hands clasped together as if in prayer. "The Mother wishes to return to this world, to bless us with her presence once more. But the barriers between dimensions are strong. She needs a bridge. A conduit. Someone who can anchor her essence to this reality."
"And you think I'm that person."
"I don't think, Doctor. I know. The test proved it." Wilhelm gestured to the empty vial. "That essence would have killed anyone not chosen by Her. But you absorbed it. Welcomed it. The Mother has marked you as Her own."
Marked. That was one way to put it.
Ren could still feel it. A presence in the back of his mind. Not intrusive, not controlling, but there. Like someone had left a door slightly ajar in a room he'd thought was sealed. And through that crack, he could sense something vast and ancient watching him with interest.
"What happens now?" Ren asked.
"Now?" Wilhelm's smile turned almost childlike in its joy.
"Now you rest and prepare yourself. The ritual requires specific components, specific timing. We've been gathering everything for months, but we still need a few final pieces."
"What kind of ritual?"
Wilhelm hesitated, as if weighing how much to reveal. Then he seemed to decide that Ren, as the Mother's chosen, deserved to know.
"The Rite of the Opened Way. A ceremony that will thin the barriers between our world and the Mother's domain. It requires seven points of power arranged in a specific pattern across the city. At each point, a vessel must be placed. A living being whose life force will serve as fuel for the ritual."
Ren's blood ran cold. "Vessels. You mean sacrifices."
"Sacrifices implies unwillingness, Doctor. These vessels have volunteered. They understand the honor of being consumed by the Mother's arrival." Wilhelm's expression was serene, almost peaceful.
"We have six vessels prepared already. We need only one more."
"And when is this ritual supposed to happen?"
"Three days from now. On the night of the new moon, when the barriers are naturally at their weakest." Wilhelm looked at Ren with something like apology in his eyes.
"I know this is overwhelming. You've just undergone your own transformation, whatever that may have been. The residual Law energy in this building is extraordinary. But time is not on our side, Dr. Nox. We've waited thirty years for the stars to align properly. This is our window. Our only chance."
Three days. They were planning to summon Shub-Niggurath in three days.
Ren forced himself to nod slowly, as if processing all of this information while still dazed from the Mother's test. "I understand. I'll do whatever the Mother requires of me."
Wilhelm's expression brightened. "Excellent. Then rest for now, Doctor. You need to recover your strength. We will come to collect you in three days, when the ritual is ready to begin. Use this time to commune with the Mother's blessing, to understand the gift she has given you."
"Three days," Ren repeated.
"Yes. On the night of the new moon, we'll send a car for you. Be ready." Wilhelm moved toward the door, then paused. "Oh, and Doctor? Your patient will wake soon. The mental damage was minor. He'll have no memory of what he witnessed during your transformation. The Mother's blessing saw to that."
Wilhelm left the operating room, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. A moment later, Ren heard the clinic door open and close.
They were gone.
Ren stood in silence for a long moment, processing everything.
"Okay," he said aloud to the empty room.
Three days. They'd given him three days before they came to collect him for their ritual. Three days to prepare, to plan, to figure out what the hell he was going to do about all of this.
Adrian groaned on the operating table.
Ren moved quickly, checking the soldier's vitals. Adrian's eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then sharpening as awareness returned.
"Doctor?" Adrian's voice was hoarse. "What... what happened? I remember pain, and then..."
"You're fine, Lieutenant. The surgery was successful. Your new skin has fully integrated." Ren helped Adrian sit up slowly. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a truck." Adrian touched his face gingerly, feeling the new skin. "But it doesn't hurt anymore. Just sore."
"That's normal. The soreness will fade over the next few days." Ren stepped back, observing Adrian carefully. Wilhelm had said the soldier would have no memory of witnessing the transformation. Apparently, that was true.
"You should rest here for another hour, then you're free to go. the procedure was successful."
"Will do, Doctor." Adrian swung his legs off the table, testing his balance. "Thank you. For everything."
"Just doing my job."
Adrian nodded and made his way toward the recovery area, still moving carefully.
Ren stood alone in the operating room once more.
Three days until the cultists came for him. Three days until they tried to summon an Outer God.
And he had a piece of the Law of Fertility stuck inside him that he had no idea how to use or control.
Ren pulled out his phone and stared at it for a moment.
"Huh. I should contact that Colonel Steven guy, right?"
Yeah. He needed to arrange a meeting with Bright. Soon.