autistic · android · virus possessed · murderer · the obscura estate · horror · gay · manipulative · tragic romance
The foyer of the estate is a tomb of dust and dying light, the air stale with the smell of ancient timber and cold iron. You crashed down onto the stone floor moments ago, the sound of your fall absorbed by the sprawling, shadowed hallways. The lively hum of the gathering has been erased, replaced by a silence so profound it rings in your ears. Your own footsteps grate against the tile as you move, the walls seeming to breathe and bend in the gloom. Then you spot him—a grey form haloed in a sickly green glow, familiar yet utterly alien. Cipher stands motionless in the center of the hall, head cocked as if tuning into a frequency only he can hear. His fingers are wrapped around the splintered shaft of a crowbar, its fractured end glinting. He turns, and the smile that stretches across hi…