Cub rode his donkey up to the gates of Area 77. It seemed oddly bright, despite being the place where Ren... Where Ren died. Scar smiled tiredly at him as the first bollards were lowered.

Scar set to work searching the donkey, looking at Cub with a deadpan expression every time he found contraband. It honestly looked like he had more important things to do.

Scar guided Cub through the gate, and allowed Cub to demonstrate the pineapples. He stared at the object in fascination as Cub quietly slipped away, hiding under the shelves. Cub winced as he heard Scar realise, hearing the mixture of fear, anger and sadness in Scar's voice.

When Scar was gone, the first place Cub went was the elevator in the middle of the bunker. He rode it down to the bottom, entering an airlock of some kind. Gas masks were lined up on the wall, beside a note in Scar's handwriting.

Dear Scar.
Please remember to wear the mask. Those spores are horrible and the antifungal is worse. Let's prevent that Scar Mistake in the future.
-Scar.

Cub nodded at the message as if it were a person giving him instructions, putting a gas mask on, albeit clumsily. He entered the area, noting a sign that read S4-1: Subject 11. There was something behind Subject 11, but Cub couldn't make it out.

Curious, he went in. Looking around, he marveled at the intricate patterns of fungus growing on the walls. It was beautiful, in a twisted kind of way. The reds and greens and blues and browns and yellows blended almost seamlessly.

Cub stopped suddenly when he heard an odd kind of shuffling noise. It was like something was walking by dragging its feet on the floor. So this was whatever Subject 11 was.

Cub rounded a corner in the fungal jungle, and found himself suddenly face-to-face with Subject 11. It took or friend the Vex about 5 seconds to figure out who it was, mostly because of the light blue fungus covering half of the subject's face. But there was only one hermit who'd wear suspenders and a belt at the same time.

"...Ren?"

'Ren' looked at Cub with unfocused eyes, barely a glint of recognition and that was mostly from Cub's voice. Ren blinked a few times, and all recognition was gone.

Ren charged at Cub, a feral expression breaking across his face. Cub ran, throwing up Vex magic obstacles as he fled. But Ren was relentless. Ren pounced, pinning Cub against a giant mushroom.

"Ren! Stop! It's me, Cub!" Cub cried out in desperation.

"C-C-C-C-C-ub?" Ren asked, his voice raspy and speech broken. His confused expression vanished as he went back to attacking Cub.

Cub closed his eyes, expecting the end, but instead he felt Ren being ripped off of him. He looked up to see Scar with a gas mask of his own on. He waved, before whispering an apology.

Before Cub could ask what the apology was for, he felt Scar's hand fall against his forehead. The Vex magic numbed his mind as he slowly went out like a light.

Cub woke up in his motel room with no memory of the previous hour. He looked in his journal to see if he'd written anything. He found almost nothing, just one small thing that could be a clue.

R Lives

What this meant, Cub did not know. But he needed to find out, before this had consequences. He stood up, vertigo forcing him back down as the room span and the pattern of Vex magic flashed before his eyes. Memory spells always did a number on him.

Cub rolled over and went back to sleep. Whoever R was could wait until Cub felt better, surely.

That's right! I'm developing this timeline! At this point, in just saving it until the cursed portal is finished. And then we'll have since fun with my alternate timelines.
OdalRune, signing off from the past!