Legatus505

Sleepless Nights Art by Yukako:  https://x.com/kk_JN424/status/1789681950544003485   There was a time that I considered sleepless nights a curse. Sleep was an escape from the mortal coil. A temporary reprieve from the consciousness that inflicts us all. In sleep there was comfort. Trapped in a state between life and death where the mind powered down and the body allowed itself to recharge, there was little that could disturb me.    How long has it been now since the insomnia began? Before the slaughter, that much is certain. Had I still the heart to sleep at that age, I might have been kinder to the man who game me my eyes. Before the surgeries even. These cloudy windows into my soul matched the person I was by that time. Were I not already so drained and broken, how could I be resurrected as Frankenstein's Monster? Perhaps I never truly slept through a night. I only have a dream of sleep. Some artificial concept of human rest.    I take a swig of the clear...

Interim 2: The Sheep Descends With The Eagles Content Warnings: Child Abuse, Murder Art by Mori: https://x.com/moriartsu/status/1506874180146712576   The rumbling of the earth was all The Sheep heard in his ears. Crammed into the back of a convoy transport, vibrations shook him violently from side to side. Sat between two full-grown Auxilia, he looked even more a child than usual. Short brown hair fell barely into his eyes, the offset sides framing his face. Grey eyes, focused intently on the floor. His full attention was given to a bug that had stowed away with the soldiers. It appeared to be an ant from Before The Fall, yet with some notable differences. It's colour was white and it's body thicker and more chitinous to protect against the harsh environment.    It was rare for any form of life to survive outside of The Republic. The harsh environment made sure that anything without a proper exoskeleton or natural armour was doomed to fade away. Small, pale and weak, the ...

 Interim 1   "Why did you kill the I'mprint?" A deep, hearty voice asks as I continue scribbling down on the notebook.   "Kill it? I just broke a hard drive..." I respond nonchalantly, eyes focused on the task. The low hum of a computer's fans and the scratching of a fountain pen on paper were the only sound for several moments in the tiny room.    "But it hadn't done anything wrong. Couldn't you have just talked to it and calmed it down? Powered it down gently?"   I chuckle, set the pen down within the book and close it over.   "It's an I'mprint, Canis. What's the difference between shutting it down and breaking the hard drive? Either way it's gone and not suffering in a twisted form anymore."   Professor Canis is staring into my eyes, impassively. His short, brown hairline blends with his sideburns and beard seamlessly. Those golden eyes, framed by a tangled mess of wavy brown locks, burn gently like a distant s...