sing, swing, savour the sting.

Name: tango
Personal Journal: polizei
Contact Info: humanedfailure | exec.ashes@gmail.com | sakugarne
Invited by: Rosh

Name: Vice
Source: Fleshchild

History: "It's your growth polyp, you just broke free from the flesh prison only moments ago."

On the day of Vice's birth, he is known as Vis - a genderless creature, composed only of flesh. His mother, called by fans as the 'Fleshmother', tells him that it is time for him to grow. Passing by other polyp's that he does not recognize as potential siblings, he moves through their fleshy world and to the world above. Climbing a ladder and entering the city, it seems the 'flesh' world is below a sewer grate, hidden from the rest of the world above it. Vis makes his way toward the open back door of a laboratory; a sign reads 'Sitismos Science'. This, along with notes gathered in the labs themselves imply that the doctors here are studying parasitism - the word coming from the Greek παρά (para) and σιτισμός (sitismos) meaning "feeding, fattening". Here he finds a scalpel and a key card, and uses said card to uncover his prize - two brain specimens in a locked-off room.

By picking the left male brain over the right female brain, Vis becomes 'Vice' - now male. His body grows into the vague shape of a human, his formless body now sprouting vague 'arms' and 'legs' for him to walk and touch with. With his new brain, he can now properly read, and notes around the Laboratory show that in the Marigold district of the city, disappearances have been happening, and police suspect murder. The Fleshmother (so large she is only shown as a giant eye) calls him home, praises his 'splendid choice of intellect' and tells him to rest his weary flesh. Sleeping in his polyp, Vice dreams - and possesses a fully human body. Exploring his very first dream, he goes into the labs, and into a previously locked door. Here he wanders among pipes until he comes across a tiny Automaton, and gains an effect of the same name. Now able to communicate with the automaton in his new form, he returns to his wandering in a new area of the labs, until he finds another Mutation - a large polyp with another fleshchild that fuses to his body, creating the Conjoined mutation. Here, he wanders with the other fleshchild, until they leave the lab, and walk along a rainy stretch of road until Vice awakens.

"Whether or not this is a womb remains to be seen."

Vice's travels this evening take him to the nearby Woodlic Heights apartment complex, where he takes the keyring to a few of the apartments, and spends his time sneaking about. In various rooms clippings are found that tell of meticulously severed limbs in the apartment complex, and that none of the limbs have been found. Vice also finds a key to the 308 complex in the body of a forgotten stuffed bear, and a note about someone wanting to 'murder' a man named Richard (hilariously changed to 'chat with Richard' the second time you read it) who is the father of the child who lost the bear with his apartments spare key. In room 302 he finds the spare key to the room of a young woman's lover, room 107, and takes it before venturing to room 308. Room 308 holds something wonderfully useful - a butcher's knife, with it in hand Vice heads to room 107 to seek out the lover of the woman living in 302. In 107, cleaver in hand, he saws off the terrified head of the previously-sleeping young man, and places his head on his own shoulders, absorbing the limb and making it his own. Called home yet again, Vice returns with his new head to the Fleshmother to rest and dream.

Exploring his dreams version of the apartments, Vice spots a young fleshchild, possibly himself, playing with torn toys on the second floor. In room 107, where he murdered the young man, the floor is filled with blood up to his waist, and the sad form of the man's lover is shown sitting on his bed. Face off, smile on - when he talks to the woman, he gains the 'Faceless' effect, and heads out of the apartments via a back door. Heading into an antique shopped filled with disturbing toys, severed doll limbs, pictures of limbs and bodies on the walls, regular childrens toys; and clocks, he comes upon the Doll effect, changing him into a cute doll, with one exposed eye. He then travels into what appears to be a crawlspace or attic, and awakens.

"Being out of this thing is invigorating."

Awakening this evening with new-found disdain for his polyp, Vice's story comes to an abrupt halt for now - because Fleshchild isn't a fully completed game - and this is where I will be taking him from.

Personality: Vice's personality grows with every day that he is alive, and with the limbs he steals away and takes into himself. A fact of his personality that is never-changing, however is his Blue and Orange Morality - his reasoning for the things he does as a fleshchild are so alien to us as humans that just why he does things is so incredibly foreign to us that we cant understand it. Stealing and killing don't phase Vice one bit, and its even shown via the Fleshmother that he is incredibly pleased when he comes home with his new head ("Oh such a crafty smirk on your face."). He's happy he was able to get his second body part so quickly; pleased he is that much closer to perfection; and - assuming - he's pleased that his mother is pleased with him.

While Vice's dreams can be almost confusing, or seem to have no point, various little bits of symbolism or Vice's innermost thoughts can be seen in them. The Mutations are a good show of this - the 'shambling brasswork' Automaton can easily symbolise Vice's feelings that his current body is incomplete, and how he strives for perfection. The Doll effect may be another example of this - 'all dolled up' gives the impression that Vice feels better about his body, and happy with his progress. 'Two heads are better than one', the Conjoined mutation is a good example of Vice's lingering thoughts about the female brain - what he could have been, and the feeling that he would have liked to have and experience being both male and female. Becoming Visi, instead of Vice, or even the idea of being separate from on another, and being able to explore together, are possible interpretations. 'Face off, smile on' - the Faceless effect gives the impression that Vice does not, and does not wish to, feel like a human does. The grieving face of the young man's lover does not sadden him - and instead he is glad. Glad his body is steadily coming together, and glad that he can smile like he wants to.

On his third night of being alive, it is clear that Vice is beginning to change and grow, like a normal child would have - he expresses his disdain for his polyp, and how nice it is to be awake. In his dreams the young form of a fleshchild with eyes like Vice is possibly a metaphor for growing up as well - torn up teddy bears strewn about the floor, and a bored-looking fleshchild sitting. Vice is done with being coddled and called a child, and wishes to grow and be the young man that his brain and body are rapidly shaping up to be. He dislikes being unable to go where he pleases, and being unable to sate his curiosity.

Biggest Fear: Being unable to 'perfect' his body; aka being unable to gather human male body parts to hide his body of mere bare flesh.
Powers: Can turn into a puddle of 'mashed meat', and slip under doors and other objects; absorb human male body parts into himself; physically very strong, can cleave off a head with a butchers knife easily, and can use his fleshy body almost like a tentacled 'whip', as shown when he smashes the glass jar holding the male brain.

In the dream world aside from having a fully-formed human-looking body, Vice also gains cosmetic effects. Automaton turns him into a brass automaton, also letting him communicate with robots; Conjoined makes another fleshchild grow from Vice's side; Doll turns him into a ball-jointed doll; Faceless takes his face away, shrouds his eyes with shadow, and only his smile is shown.

Third Person: His new brain could read, and gave him a form that could walk on two flesh legs, and touch with two flesh hands. His new brain did not like hospitals, and as such he did not like them either. He found he liked reading things, and liked his new name. He liked being a man, and now he had to make his body match that.

He needed a head, and legs, and arms, and a body. Then he would be perfect - he wanted to be perfect. He liked that idea more than anything, now that he could think about it. He would love perfect. A new word. He knew he was using it properly, because it was a word that his brain thought of right away. He knew and understood the word, and he liked it.

Vice liked to be awake more than asleep, he liked to walk and think and touch - and he touched everything. The floor, doors, paper, teddy bears...

A cleaver.

It was sharp and felt nice in his flesh. It was slightly heavy, and swinging it had a nice feeling to it. This would be helpful to cut off limbs he needed. He liked the cleaver - loved the cleaver. He sets off with the nice-sounding keys in his hand, back down down down to the first floor. A lady lived on the third floor, and she loved the man on the first floor. Vice didn't understand this type of love.

His new brain explained it, but he did not agree with it. He didn't like it. He didn't like that type of love, it made no sense to him, so he chose not to feel it. He didn't love the man or the woman.

Unlocking the door to the man's apartment, and walking silently over to the side of the bed, he places a hand on the man's head. His hair was soft, and brown. He liked soft. He didn't like brown - black, black was good. He liked black.

As the man started to turn, now awake, Vice decided that he liked this head. He liked it a lot.

He loved the head.

So he swung the cleaver down, and took it.

Journal Sample: I do not like to rest my flesh, unless I need to. But the way they scream and shake me during the day makes it hard to fall into sleep. I think that I would like to visit them when they are asleep, too.

[ a young boy in a blood-stained smock is staring straight ahead at the communicator, his red eyes and the black cross marks over them mixed with his extremely pale skin are alarming on their own, if the pink, fleshy 'arm' that comes up to touch his hair wasn't seen just now. ]

It is best to start at the 'top' and work your way 'down'.

They have strong arms, I think they will be a good match.

Notes: Vice will arrive clothed in a white smock, with cut-off arms and comes to about his mid-thighs. He will also have a keycard to the S. Science Laboratories, the W. Heights keyring to the Woodlic Heights apartment complex, a scalpel, and a butchers cleaver.