Vanguard
"Very well. That too is an option." Vanguard looked at her flatly, amused at her response, as if he expected it. So she wouldn't even acknowledge him. Yes, a brilliant response, but one that carried risks. Because this was an outcome that was far more advantageous to him.
"Make sure that is not a path that will lead to regret." He told her truthfully, then left to his own devices, taking the opposite door to hers.
"It's almost ready..." A hand stroked the glass wall placidly, like a corpse, revealing a hollow stare into the unknown. Whatever was within the glass pulsated, silently, like an alien organism. And yet, it was the most human thing in this room. Unlike the pristine medical room, this laboratory that expanded far below the mountains was a forgotten lair of rust and metal. Unknown, unforgiving, and oh so cruel. But as the tentacles writhed around the room, staring back at the perpetrator with hateful eyes, he felt at home.
"How are you feeling? ...I understand. This prison must feel so restraining. So hateful. I truly understand your pain. How detestable it must be, to look at the world through a screen of glass, unable to do anything. I understand, because I have suffered the same way."
But the corpse didn't move. Even if the remains crowding the laboratory were as lively as ever, the droning of machinery silenced them.
"I understand. As the unused remains to create me, you must feel truly alone. I feel the same way. The difference was that I was chosen, while you were doomed from the beginning. They could never accept you as something that exists. But that is alright. I promise, in my world, I will grant your wish."
His voice bore no emotion, but there was a true infatuation in his words, as if the mass of petrified flesh within the glass container, contorted into these bizarre and inhuman shapes was a true object of affection. Even now, its eyes were still open. But without a proper host, they were no better than those of a corpse. How frustrating, he had retrieved the joker card, but had no suitable vessel to grant his wish.
"I will find your... no, our happy ending. No matter what."
