((CW: vomit / medical trauma / all that lovely outlast stuff))
Below is some writing I did of an in-universe document in the style of Ex-Pop Classification Documents.
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Leper, baptizer. A preacher of the end times, wallowing in sickness and debasement.
A former member of Sinyala's cleanup staff, Ellis Fisher was fired after having been found tampering with trials whilst on duty and expressing anti-Murkoff sentiments to coworkers. Mr Fisher was subsequently repurposed as a member of the experimental population. Fisher reacted well to surgical behaviour adjustments and proved to be remarkably effective as a hunter of reagents.
However Fisher became seriously ill after falling into the water of The Docks trial environment, likely contracting gastroenteritis from ingesting contaminated water. Surprisingly, Mr Fisher would eventually go on to recover, despite minimal intervention from medical staff, but the experience left him in a unique delusional state, a state which observing staff sought to take advantage of as a means to embody archetypal fears of disease in reagents and further their conditioning.
After having observed Fisher repeatedly inducing himself to vomit, Dr Kerrig from R&D was inspired to fit The Purger with a mechanical neck-brace, fitted with a central line into the subjects esophagus, delivering chemical agents that automatically induce extreme nausea and projectile vomiting. Chemicals sourced from Kress Precursor, coupled with additives to a create a highly distinct odour.
After notifying the project lead on progress, Dr Easterman issued a requirement for The Purger to be equipped with a medium to large handheld bell, in order to truly capture the quintessential image of the leper in the minds of reagents. The bell has been reinforced to function as a bludgeoning tool, and subject has self-modified by wrapping the weighted bell in barbed wire.
Fisher remains convinced that he is still infected by some terrible ailment, and as stated previously, continues his habit of forcing himself to puke, both as a cleansing ritual and as a way to share his misery with others. The augmentations have helped to encourage such beliefs even further, to the point Fisher believes himself to have been cursed via the supernatural, be that spirits, witches, Skinner Man, etc;
It is important that any subjects that contract genuine pathogens be sterilised, quarantined, or retired. All staff must refer to proper procedures in the event of an outbreak. We will not have a repeat of LATHE 1's failures. That said, Reagents and Experimental Population subjects should be kept in the dark on these accounts. It will be interesting to see if Fishers psychosomatic condition will "catch." The placebos in our Reagents daily pill regiment may start to see a lot more mileage.
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In the actual gameplay, Fisher would vomit on reagents after catching them (the animation would play as him wacking the player with the bell to disorientate them before grabbing them by the collar and throwing up in their face).
I have two different ideas for what effect this would have.
The player would be marked, the distinct stench drawing in enemies. As long as the player is coated, expop can find you in the dark or in hiding spots. The effect wears off eventually, but the player can speed this up by jumping.
The players nightvision-goggles are coated in viscera, leaving them blind in the dark. Basically like the squid in mario kart lol.
ANYWAY thank you for reading. I might post some dialouge concepts for stuff Fisher could say whilst patrolling or chasing you. Maybe even his thoughts on prime assets if I'm feeling indulgent enough.
Also I found a template for making your own murkoff document posted by @chocohybrid, I'm thinking I'll give that a go. I have other Expop ideas I wanna make so it won't just be Fisher.
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