Track: grave
It begins with the tolling of a bell.
Soft and distant, it echoes towards you like a wave, growing and stretching until it sounds like the guttural groaning of some great beast, and then receding before repeating the cycle all over again. A faint chant, reminiscent of those one might hear in ancient rituals, winds its way through the monotonous sound.
Your brow furrows; you look around you, confused.
Mori does not seem to have heard anything: his eyes are focused ahead of him. Neither have Tokigawa or Okuyama. Or Maeda, or Taketatsu. Or Sakimura.
Uehara’s face is paler than usual. A drop of sweat runs down her cheek. Her eyes dart from side to side, and she catches you looking at her. “What’s the matter, Shinoseki-san?” she says, without any of her usual conviction.
“D-Do you… hear something?” you whisper.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Uehara replies hastily, the uncharacteristic frown on her face betraying her distraction. She mutters something under her breath; you cannot quite make out the words.
“Is there something wrong, Shinoseki?” asks Mori suddenly.
You almost jump out of your skin, startled by his question. “O-Of course not… nothing is wrong, I think.”
“Really?” Mori seems unconvinced.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the chant stops, leaving only a headache-inducing ringing bouncing in your skull.
Track: predator
The lights flicker.
Okuyama shrieks.
The atmosphere in the room dissolves into chaos.
Before you, the cooling corpse of Dr. Usui has seemingly come back to life. The former doctor lets out a high-pitched whine, expelling whatever air remaining in his lungs, as his fingers close around Tokigawa’s calf.
“Wh… What the hell is going on?” screams the trainee doctor as Okuyama tries to pull him away.
Mori rushes in quickly. Drawing his leg back, he lets out a shout and throws a powerful kick at Dr. Usui’s head. You hear a soft thud as the corpse’s head is thrown limply to the side by the impact, but that does not seem to stop it. It begins crawling up Tokigawa in a disjointed manner, moving like a broken puppet while using its grip on Tokigawa as leverage to draw itself upwards. There is a disconcerting, hissing noise from between its clenched, bloody teeth; the muscles that control its dull, fish-like eyes are spasming and have rolled off to the sides, making the corpse look like it is staring in two different directions at once.
You breathe in deeply, trying to take in the scene before you. The noise in your ears becomes muffled, as if you are underwater, and you focus.
Tokigawa is currently under assault by the corpse, while Okuyama is trying to pry him away.
Mori is attacking the corpse.
Maeda and Taketatsu are still rooted to the spot in shock and fear.
Sakimura is rushing forward to assist Mori.
Uehara is backing towards the door, her eyes wide with surprise.
***
01:35
A. You help to get Dr. Usui’s corpse off of Tokigawa by:
1. grabbing its body from behind and pulling with all your might.
2. helping to pry its fingers off of him.
3. stabbing it in the ear with the thermometer, and then the flashlight if that is insufficient.
4. choking it with the stethoscope.
5. twisting and breaking its neck with your bare hands.
B. You take advantage of the chaos to steal Mori’s gun and:
1. hide the fact that you took it.
2. brandish it in order to threaten them.
3. run out of the room after taking it.
4. shoot the corpse in the head.
C. You can’t help but scream for help as loud as you can. Maybe there might be help from an unexpected source?
D. You stay quiet and stand where you are, doing nothing but watch. This is not your battle to fight.
E. You take the chance and run out of the room to reclaim your freedom.
1. You tell everyone to run while you are at it.
2. You grab Uehara's hand - she seems ready to flee anyway - and take her with you.
3. Screw them, they're on their own.