i that one e-pda email </3

I love this. Proof that not all humans in the Expie lab are heartless monsters.

It wasn’t much at all. An outdated MRE, dusty instant ramen, along with a water bottle. Things that wouldn’t be missed by the bean counters. He’d observed this Milkie, as he’d called it, for weeks. From the moment it stared into his eyes from behind ballistic containment glass, eyes filled with desperate, pleading longing, he knew he couldn’t just sit idly by. It was visibly emaciated. Starving. To hell with orders. While everyone else saw the Milkie just another experiment, another meaningless number, he saw an intelligent being locked in a cage, crying out for help in a world of deaf ears. At first, the Milkie had no words regarding this unexpected banquet; more food than it had ever received in a single sitting. It had never experienced kindness or had any reason to express gratitude. Such a simple gesture carried with it infinite meaning, more than the lowly guard would ever know. Perhaps, the Milkie thought, humans weren’t all bad. This one had helped for no other reason than out of the goodness of his heart. Throwing its arms around the human in a trembling embrace, the Milkie sobbed with abandon in their secret meeting space, not knowing how else to thank him. The human embraced the Milkie back, whispering words of assurance he was unsure he believed. Their relationship, if one could call it that, couldn’t stay hidden forever. The Milkie deserved better than a life of unending misery, which would inevitably end in a painful, unceremonious death. Somehow, the guard promised, they’d find a way to beat this place, this sadistic game. Perhaps one day the cycle could be broken.

Spoiler: they won't get through this

flamethefirederg said:
Spoiler: they won't get through this

i don't have the heart to give my characters a bad ending, so, they'll get out of there-- somehow. like i always say, trust the process. maybe one day i'll get to the point where i can illustrate the break-out, who knows

warjenkins said:
i don't have the heart to give my characters a bad ending, so, they'll get out of there-- somehow. like i always say, trust the process. maybe one day i'll get to the point where i can illustrate the break-out, who knows

I'd love happy ending for expies as well! But knowing the lore, it's almost impossible tbh. If the guard became whistleblower and leaked what corporation is doing to the public, maybe that would save them

My new favorite artist <3

I don't know how to describe it, everything they draw is just so 🫂💖🥹

This is cute and sad.

flamethefirederg said:
I'd love happy ending for expies as well! But knowing the lore, it's almost impossible tbh. If the guard became whistleblower and leaked what corporation is doing to the public, maybe that would save them

Or the corporation would make the guard ‘disappear’ in order to prevent the information from going public. According to the lore, the corporation would rather detonate a nuke on themselves and erase all evidence of bioengineering than let the outside world know what they’ve been up to. If that means disappearing one lowly guard and Milkie to protect their operation, it sounds like they’d do it in a heartbeat.

warjenkins said:
i don't have the heart to give my characters a bad ending, so, they'll get out of there-- somehow. like i always say, trust the process. maybe one day i'll get to the point where i can illustrate the break-out, who knows

I had a whole story idea rolling around my head where a sympathetic guard has slowly been helping Expies escape one by one. It’s a slow, months long process that takes a lot of coordination, but it’s not impossible. Thus far 11 have escaped and are living a new life on a faraway planet, where the corporation has no influence. It follows a pair of Expies, not just one. A pair of lovers who’ve been able to see each other on a regular basis thanks to the guard arranging secret meetings between guard changes and surveillance lapses. Eventually both express their desire to run away, especially when they find out they have twins on the way. They won’t let any kid or theirs grow up in the labs and risk life and limb in the caves for no benefit to them. The plan is for them to reach the surface during their next deployment, which the guard discovered will be a t drop, just as a friend of the guard, who flies a small cargo hauler, dumps off his next shipment of junk on the gray planet. They’ll have a very, very narrow window to reach the surface and get on the ship before the pilot is forced to leave without them or risk drawing undue attention. The guard stresses how dangerous it will be. If they’re caught, he’ll have to throw them under the bus to save his own skin if any evidence traces back to him; he’ll do it in order to keep his rescue operation secret. They’ll have to be prepared to kill their way out of trouble if need be. The two Expies accept. After all they’ve endured, they have nothing more to lose.