Having defeated Margaret, I join Mia and Evelyn to unlock the double-headed crow door. As we slip through, sharp pain shoots through both hands, forcing me to stop.
"Ugh…"
"Those bug stings are swelling…"
"Ethan, you okay? Your hands…"
"I'm fine. Some first aid—"
I fumble the medkit, dropping it. The choking damage is hitting hard. As I reach for the rolling medkit, Mia picks it up, applying it to my hands with a sad look.
"Ethan… you got this hurt for me?"
"No big deal. I came here to save you. …This the thing we need?"
I flex my healed hands and look ahead. There's Margaret's altar, a heavy box at its center. Creepy dolls hang around, and… a bicycle? As I try to open the box, a shrill sound rings out.
"What's that?"
"Ethan, the Codex! It's reacting?"
"What's that?"
"It's called a Codex… TARGET?"
The Codex flashes "TARGET," unlocking and opening the box. Inside, a mummified baby or dwarf-like figure and a paper on the lid.
"What's this…?"
"No idea. But… [Document: On the 'Serum' for Type Bodies. The following are required to refine the 'Serum': 1. Type-D Subject Brain Nerve, 2. Type-D Subject Peripheral Nerve]… This must be about the serum."
"Type-D Subject, huh…"
Evelyn, floating beside me, reads the paper with a sad expression, like she's remembering someone lost. A phone rings—brrrring! I search and find it on a desk by the entrance, next to a candleholder, and answer.
"Hello? Zoe?"
"Did you find the serum?"
It's Zoe Baker, our ally. Does the Codex transmit info?
"Yeah, reunited with Mia, fought your brother and mom, and found something serum-related. Bugs? No heads-up."
"Seriously, no heads-up!"
"Sorry, should've warned you. Mia's back? …Complicated, but congrats."
"Lucas fled after I torched him. Margaret's down, I think."
"Ethan, stop casually saying you burned people."
"Torched, huh? Poor Lucas. The serum?"
"Not yet. Got the materials list. Zoe, you mentioned having something. Type-D subject's brain nerve—'head'? Or peripheral nerve—'arm'?"
Evelyn goes silent, visibly annoyed. What's with her?
"Thought so. 'Head' is what I've got. No clue about 'arm.' Checked the whole guest house?"
"Just the first floor. I'll try the second."
"Look there. I'll check my leads. Meet at the trailer if you find it. Oh, and… don't trust Mia with your back."
Zoe hangs up. Don't trust Mia? I recall our deathmatch in the dump—her sudden change. No, she's calm now. It won't happen again, Ethan.
"Self-reassurance isn't reassuring. I'll watch her, don't worry."
"Who was on the phone?"
"Said to search the guest house for the 'arm.' Up to the second floor."
"Then… this could be a weapon. I'll take it."
Mia grabs a metal bat from the altar. Scary, but better armed.
"Want my handgun?"
"I'd probably fumble it, so no thanks."
"A system engineer using a gun is weirder."
"Shut up." We climb evenly spaced stairs. In a room, I find Margaret's diary. I tell Mia and Evelyn to call if needed and read. Time's tight.
"[10/11: All-day tinnitus, can't sleep. Since she came. Zoe's right, something's off with her and the woman.] …'She' and a woman?"
The mastermind's clear, but a woman?
"[10/15: Hallucinations, nausea, can't stop vomiting. Town doctor took X-rays. What's happening? 10/23: She gave me a gift. 10/: Second floor, farthest room, gift in a secret room. Won't let anyone have it. The 'arm' is her trust, leading us to happiness. I'll kill anyone who defiles it.] …No date? Second floor, secret room."
The 'arm' must be there.
"Ethan! Can you come here?"
"What's up, Mia?"
At the passage's end, Mia's stuck at a door. Evelyn pops out, teary-eyed.
"This door won't budge."
"Went to check… too scary for me."
"For you?"
Puzzled, I inspect the door. A heavy lock, connected by threads—wires?—to a scale with a familiar lantern, balancing it. I try removing it, but it's fixed.
"So, get the lantern?"
"That monster had it…"
"It's by Margaret's body."
"Back we go."
We return to the crow door. Margaret's gone. I ready my handgun, Mia grips her bat, and we stay alert.
"Evelyn, scan!"
"Weird rustling noise!"
"Rustling?"
I listen. Something moves fast. Spiders?
"HAHAHAHA!"
A bug swarm dives from the ceiling. I holster my handgun, torch them with the burner, and light the ceiling. There she is.
"Margaret?"
"Human-faced spider!?"
"Thanks, Ethan! You made me one with my precious bugs!"
Rustling, a three-meter black fluid spider appears. Human-shaped limb tips, a nest-like abdomen spitting bugs, a lantern embedded in its torso controlling them. Worst, Margaret's head, rotating 360 degrees, shifting her face's position.
"You want my lantern? No way! I'll savor killing you!"
"Margaret, I didn't know you like this… Did we change fate?"
"No thanks!"
I fire the burner, but it doesn't reach. Margaret crashes through the ceiling, vanishing, then bursts through a wall, tackling me. Her eight hands pin my neck, face, arms, legs, torso—I'm trapped.
"Take my children!"
"Uoooh!?"
"I can't help now… Please, you can't hear, but help!"
Centipedes, spiders, worms pour from her mouth, nearing my face. Then, Margaret's flung sideways—Mia's bat strike. She pulls me up.
"You okay, Ethan?"
"Yeah, thanks, Mia."
"You two are perfect together."
"We're at a disadvantage here!"
Margaret dives into the board hole, escaping a side tunnel. Mia and I chase her into an old building connected to the guest house.