OKAY SO GROUNDED SPOILERS AND ALSO OK KO SPOILERS BECAUSE YEAH
WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:
- Corprate neglect leading to death
—> Idea / Invention theft
- Death / Corpses
—> One corpse is heavily implied to have been severely mentally ill (the intern)
—> Mentions of stalking
- Experimentation (on both bugs and humans)
- Potentially other triggering subjects, if I missed one please let me know!
ANYWAY ON TO THE CORPSE TALK ITS A LONG RAMBLE AND IM NOT SORRY
also please feel free to send me any further questions about this
So it's known that there's several corpses in the game— most of which come from Ominent workers!
The Biomedical Engineer (Name: E. Ferrier) — Who was found in the Sandbox, chasing Tully. "The blundering scientist flees across the desert, and the rasined engineer follows!"
The Entomologist (Name: J.K.) — Found under the grill, and had been planning to bring fire back to the group.
The Compliance Officer (Name: A. Miller) — Found near a power outlet, and had been keeping track of the illegal things Ominent had been doing. She died climbing to see something closer.
The Intern (Name: Exhaulted Nugget B. Stava) The intern is known to have been sharing lunches with ants, and then slowly claiming himself to be the Ant King, and later on the Creator. This is actually my favorite corpse, as he seemingly knew he was going to pass away in his sleep. His last notes are pondering what the reader is doing, why they're small, and if things are any better in the tiny world. It's the only death to have made me and my friend actually think "Oh.. That's sad.." when we read the notes.
Special Forces Officer (Name: D. Reid) — was there to help protect the others and keep them alive in the yard while laying down the groundwork for Project O.R.C.
Toxicologist (Name: D. Spencer) — Died in a pond lab collapse, and hat deemed the Koi fish less dangerous than the intern for some reason.
Health And Safety Officer (Name: R. Weiner) — Died being stabbed in the neck by the Wasp Queen after attempting to chip her with an O.R.C. Receiver. They state that the bugs REALLY hate being chipped as well.
It's worth noting that few of them specifically died alone (the compliance officer, health and safety officer, the entomologist, the biomedical engineer, and the intern respectively) but some of them died in labs (specifically the Toxicologist and Special Forces Officer.) This is important because for the Toxicologist it's safe to assume other people were in the lab too, but couldn't be recovered amongst the wreckage. The others died on missions from Ominent, which typically related to stalking Wendell Tully or working on Project O.R.C. with the exception of the Intern, who they just abandoned and left to the ants. (Side note, the Entomologist had similar ideals to the Intern and disliked them splitting up!)
These are the known people who died. There are more deaths that are caused by Ominent. This is canon. They include an unknown number of missing teenagers— at least four. This is stated in the beginning of the game, but reinforced later on with the Milk Carton that shows the photos of four other, missing and presumably dead, teenagers.
They talk about how the enbiggening process is more dangerous and complicated then they realized, well, they had to find out somehow. They have to have experimented on someone. And do you know what happens when you do the enbiggening process wrong? You explode.
There's no direct body count for Ominent, though the count has to be over eleven (the amount of Ominent corpses, plus the known other missing teens) It's also worth noting that there are three unnamed corpses in the Red Ant Hill which could be the other missing teens— they have no Ominent items, but have Rotten Bee Armor instead. They could also be random shrunken people too.
There's also another corpse, or... corpses— if you count the many, many bugs, which is found near an Intern Note. In a cave, known as the Ant Totem Cave. This cave is full of ant heads stuck on sticks, an abandoned back pack, and one human skeleton stuck to a wall and arranged into a disgusting amalgamation combined with any parts. The ground is also covered in ant blood. It's safe to assume this is a teen, as they have an abandoned back pack.
This adds up to anywhere from eleven to fifteen known deaths caused by Ominent in some way, shape or form. This doesn't include the bugs that Ominent experimented on and killed as well. Or the fact that Ominent was going to terminate the main four kids in the game Grounded too, only for one scientist to throw them into the yard before they could.
You may ask: How does this play into the Grounded!AU?
Oh boy it. It doesn't go well for poor KO, TKO, Rad, Enid and Dendy. These corpses are still there, though due to being in a different universe their locations may be different! I haven't worked out where all the labs are exactly yet, as Boxmore isn't exactly the same as Tully's house (side note: I am thinking of having a Sewer Lab (maybe in place of the Pond Lab?) and still having a Haze and Hedge Labs somewhere else)
But during their adventures traversing the terrifying backyard / parking lot of Boxmore, and the various labs all suspiciously labeled POINT and POINTINENT, they come across the various corpses— taking their badges, notes and photos for clues as to what happened, and what led to them being small. This.. This really just becomes a normal thing for them, and they're mostly unfazed by the skeletal remains. At first it's shocking, but when you stumble upon your fifth corpse, most shock has already gone away— especially when you've killed things yourself.
Either way, they manage to use these to piece together that Pointinent is stalking Professor Venomous, as well as bits and pieces of what Project G.L.O.R.B. is and some of the experiments that had been performed on Ants, Spiders, Bombardier Beetles, Ladybirds etc. They learn what the G.L.O.R.B. Bugs are weak to, which helps them later on with the G.L.O.R.B. Soldiers... Maybe a little too well.
Regardless, Pointinent has caused more deaths than Ominent has— though the number isn't yet known, they are equally neglectful, if not more, with their own employees. Ignoring any morals they used to have in pursuit of their goals of tracking down Professor Venomous and being the strongest and best "heroes" while collaborating with Shadowy Figure.
