An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
It's finally finished. My personal love letter to Zero Escape is complete, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Give it a read if you like!
Characters: The gang is all here for the most part!
Summary:
Six espers, three SOIS agents (two of whom are also espers), a detective, and a GAULEM walk into a conference room to try and figure out who broke the coffeemaker, only to stumble upon a clue that leads them to the location of some dangerous cultists.
It sounds like the setup to a joke, but really, it’s just another day at the Crash Keys headquarters.
Six espers, three SOIS agents (two of whom are also espers), a detective, and a GAULEM walk into a conference room to try and figure out who broke the coffeemaker, only to stumble upon a clue that leads them to the location of some dangerous cultists.
It sounds like the setup to a joke, but really, it's just another day at the Crash Keys headquarters.
Holy shit, she did it on time! Someone give her a medal or a little treat!!!
Thanks to @tallmatcha for tagging me in today's WIP Wednesday. Today's excerpt is from my ongoing Zero Escape longfic, The Curious Case of the Crash Keys Coffeemaker (which you can read here).
A stab wound in his back, the twist of a knife in Ace’s hand. The heady sensation of drowning as he bled to death. The sudden fiery blast of an atomic bomb leveling his world. Chains encircling his wrist, tethering him to a porcelain sink. Poison. An axe to the arm. Carbon dioxide. Bullets turning him and Carlos into human Swiss cheese.
Suffice to say, this was far from Junpei Tenmyouji’s first brush with death. He couldn’t remember each time in perfect detail, but the sensations stuck with him like phantoms. Shadow feelings that brushed against him every time he came too close to a passing car while crossing the street or sliced his hand when cooking.
When Delta revealed the electric chair and informed them that they were to pick one person to sacrifice, it was as if every single time Junpei had died in and out of time had fused into one horrible, sickening pit that lodged itself firmly in his stomach. Unlike Akane, the thought of being alive in another history was not a great comfort to him. In fact, he rather liked this particular timeline. He finally had his shit together, he and Kanny were happy, he had meaningful work to do, and he damn well wasn’t about to let some trigger-happy, wrinkly old fuck get in the way of that.
“Oh, hell no.”
Tagging @gilgamish, @cavewaifu, @raunchyandpaunchy, and @darklight-tower
Listen I'm never going to do these on time. It just be like that.
Thanks to @sibbisextape for the tag and wonderful snip! Check her work out for some fantastic TES fics. In addition to those who have already been tagged, I'd also like to tag @glaukobiblion, @tarangifer, and @sneezewizard to share if they're so inclined!
This snip is from my current Zero Escape multi-chapter titled "The Curious Case of the Crash Keys Coffeemaker." Snip is below the cut for anyone who wants to avoid spoilers for the ZE series!
During his tenure at Crash Keys, Carlos had realized there was a difference between holding a gun for practice and pointing one at someone with the intent to kill. The feeling of the finger on the trigger was the thing, the knowledge that slight pressure could end a life.
The first time he’d felt it was in the dark and troubled conclusion of the Decision Game, when Delta had given him an impossible choice. Kill or spare. Deliver justice or mercy. On the surface, it was a simple choice, but Carlos knew that nothing was ever that easy with the man they’d come to know as their personal grim reaper. He’d learned from Akane that every decision he made would inevitably split on and on into infinity, each with their own consequences.
But in the moment, in that singular instance, he couldn’t bring himself to kill another human willingly. Even one as vile as Delta. So he’d dropped the gun to the sand and let Delta congratulate him. But as they piled into the vehicle he’d provided for their escape, he had questioned Carlos’s decision.
“Did you make the correct choice?” he’d said, gaze inscrutable as ever behind those sunglasses. “Only time will tell. Remember the snail.”
Carlos found himself awash in the feeling of déjà vu as he pointed another pistol at someone, the possibility of death lingering in the air. His finger positioned on the trigger, he stared down his adversary—a wiry, timid man in a lab coat that had an untamed gray mop for hair. The man trembled where he stood, eyes flicking back and forth between Carlos and the adjacent hallway, probably to calculate his odds of escape, and his glasses slipped on cold sweat down his nose. Assuming he was one of the geneticists working for the Myrmidons was probably a safe bet.
Tagged by some cool homies @memaidraws and @eegplamt to do this game in which I will list a WIP and write a bad summary of it.
Except fuck the rules, I'm picking from my entire catalogue of works because I have some that I think would make for worse summaries.
Without further ado:
Hard Sun - Shane from Stardew Valley gets drunk and complains to his girlfriend for twenty chapters.
Come Hell of High Water - A Nord named Ruhnjolf commits theft and subsequently discovers that he's a Chosen One and meets the love of his life who is trying to arrest him for crimes.
The Curious Case of the Crash Keys Coffeemaker - A bunch of traumatized psychics spend lots of time arguing with each other and tracking down a terrorist based on the word of a man who has self-professed "cOmPlEx mOtIvEs"
Tagging @darklight-tower, @raunchyandpaunchy, @captainmarkarth, and anyone else that wants to participate!
