Louse

**Louse** (subtitled "a trip through rot") is a text adventure game, and acts as half of part 1.5 of ECKVA. Players were able to interact with it through Twitter polls on the SHawkins1926 account. Uploads of the playthrough are being created for the ECKVA YouTube channel, and a partially playable version is currently on the website. Reaching certain objectives in the game resulted in pages being released of the ARKlistener book, which is the other half of part 1.5 of ECKVA.

The game began on October 18th, 2020 and concluded on July 13th, 2022.

## History

Louse was originally developed by Galloway Games to be released on all major operating systems, although it is unknown if it was ever publicly released. Shortly before its planned release, an advertisement called TV SPOT C was presumably sent to television stations to promote the game.

ARKlistener ran into an error in September of 2020; recognizing no primary input to resolve the error, it required a secondary input, which was the SHawkins1926 twitter account. Players made communal choices that ultimately dictated what input was sent to ARKlistener, which was to allow it to reset itself, while also allowing it to output previous database history on the website.

Soon after this, an unnamed hacker was able to access ARKlistener, and attempted to get into its BIOS. It requested input as to whether to allow the person in or not, with players choosing to let it in. Given access to the system, the hacker chose to upload Louse to it, and then stepped back as the game was shown on the secondary display and played communally on Twitter. When Louse concluded, the secondary input method was disabled.

## Plot

The began with an unnamed character in the house of the Old Friend. As today was the beginning of Rot, it was time to leave. The protagonist chose to thank the Old Friend and go, leaving the house. As this happened, the Blot awoke in their left eye, asking why they sought Rot, to which they responded by saying that they wished to end it. Their body began to hurt as the Blot called them naïve and oblivious, saying that they would only have suffering as it retreated back into their eye.

Following this, the Old friend opened the door, and the protagonist left the house. Rot was open on the ground outside, and the protagonist chose to enter Rot. As they did, they turned back to see the Old Friend's house being taken by rot, with the Old Friend left inside. As they stepped into Rot, they sunk downwards into its thickening mass and came face to face with The Face of Rot. It welcomed them as a new pilgrim, proclaiming that it had a gift for all that arrived to its wonderful body. The protagonist chose to accept the gift. This resulted in a temporary break in the game as it output the first page of the ARKlistener book; pages were periodically released after this. After it returned, the gift of Rot melted into the protagonist's hand as The Face of Rot revealed it heard them say they wish to end Rot. It admonished them, saying that it is impossible due to it being endless, as something began to pull them down. The protagonist chose to let themself sink down, resulting in the Blot awakening. It chided them for failing so quickly, while choosing to intervene. Looking down, they saw the rotted Old Friend pulling them down, and watched as the Blot grew white branches that it used to decapitate him. As this happened, they slide through the walls of Rot into a large cavern.

The Blot retreated back into the protagonist's eye as they heard the head of the Old Friend whispering. Upon stepping closer to listen closely, they heard him say that they carried the Rot, and that they should give into its consumption. The head then liquefied as the red mass of Rot formed in their right eye. They chose to speak to it, asking why it was here; it smiled, saying that it's endless, while the ground above is being taken to be turned into its skin. The Blot then appeared, demanding they remove Rot; Rot, however, demanded that they remove Blot. They chose to give in to the Blot as branches spread out their eye, covering their arm to rip out The Eye of Rot. Upon seeing it on the floor, they chose to take the Eye with them; the Eye then grew small red tendrils and attached itself to the back of their right hand.

In the distance, a dark silhouette was seen walking towards the protagonist. They attempted to hide from it; however, the Eye said that it wanted them to meet its friends, and squealed to draw its attention. The rotted figure came into view, wearing a mask made of stone, and the protagonist somehow already knew its name: The Love of Rot. They chose to talk to it, and it told them that it wished for them to embrace Rot, as resistance is what caused pain. It then asked them to let it help them start their new life today. They chose to truthfully accept its proposition, resulting in their vision becoming unfocused as an overwhelming exhaustion overtook them. Before they completely blacked out, the Blot appeared to tell them that it saw their past, and knows they do not want this failure.

After a brief loading screen, the game returned to a flashback with the protagonist at the base of the mountain. They were traveling to the Old Friend on the last day before Rot began. Climbing to the peak of the mountain, they saw the Old Friend in front of a fire; he was not as remembered, with the bitter wind having taken a bitter toll. He said he was glad to see them, explaining that the voice of Rot told him it would break through the surface the next day. He continued to explain that he could not nullify Rot on his own, but that there was time to rest before it broke through. He also offered the affliction of the Blot, saying that the Blot hated everything below the surface. They accepted, and it branched out of the Old Friend's eye and entered theirs. The Old Friend warned them not to let its hatred drain their soul.

Before going to the house to rest, the Old Friend told the protagonist that he would likely be taken when Rot began tomorrow, and said that he would not stop them from nullifying him. In this flashback, they successfully convinced him to instead leave the mountain to escape Rot. As this happened, however, the sky began to look wrong as the Blot appeared to cover the sun, intervening to tell them that no matter what they wished happened, they could never go back. The protagonist is instead forced to relive that they said nothing in response to his offer. After a long silence, the Old Friend said that Rot was speaking to him, and left. The protagonist lies down in the house to fall asleep; however, after some time, they stirred from movement. They awoke to see a nightmare of the half-rotted Old Friend in front of them, telling them that they are nothing more than a single louse crawling through the filth of the surface, but that soon they would see what's truly important. They blinked to see the room empty once more as the Blot entered. It informed them that they regret what happened, but that this is not an excuse for giving up. They chose to get up and join the Blot, the flashback disappearing as they and the Blot fell through a void. It told them that it was almost impossible for someone like them to end Rot, but that they were the last chance, and that they should not let the disgusting growth take them.

The protagonist's eyes then snapped open, with them re-awakening on the floor of Rot. The Love of Rot was standing above them, telling them that the healing process had begun. They instead stood up from the floor to nullify it, leaving it confused. Pulling out a vial of blue liquid, they threw it at the Love, hitting just above its mask. Its smile faded as it realized they lied, and told them that it protected those it loves from those it hates. However, before it could continue, it frozen in place; its mask fell to the ground and shattered as it crumbled to dust. Among the remains was a sharp shard of the Love's mask, which they took.

After picking up the shard, the protagonist realized it could be used to stab the eye out of their hand; however, the Eye realized their intention, and fell off before they were able to hit it, leaving them to instead stab their hand. It then gathered mass to construct a much larger body as it gloated, saying that they would not be able to stop its endless spread. It explains that it was originally concerned that they were not like the other pilgrims, but no longer holds any fear after they barely killed the Love, while informing them that another was growing. They then chose to throw a vial to nullify it; before it disintegrated, it said that it saw how many were left, and that there were not enough. It then turned to dust, leaving their eye behind.

The protagonist chose to step on it to remove any further risk; however, before they could, a figure in the darkness asked if they could have it. The figure had a faint glow coming from their left eye. When asked who they were, they approached to say that they did not have a true name, but were called Turmoil by Rot before it stopped talking to them; it then asked if the protagonist was lost. The Blot took a moment to remind them that all of Rot needed to be ended. The protagonist chose to tell Turmoil the truth, that they were here to end Rot. Turmoil grew quiet before saying that they were not like the other pilgrims, and that they could help them if they gave them the eye. The Blot warned against doing so, but they chose to do so anyways. Upon putting the eye in the socket with the glow, a bright light shone out.

The light faded after a moment as Turmoil apologized, explaining that they weren't used to having a new eye. They then turned to illuminate two branching paths. The one on the left led to The Bones of Rot and The Heart of Rot, while the one on the right led to the Face and The Brain of Rot. After choosing to go up to the Face and Brain of Rot, the Blot appeared in the protagonist's vision, warning them to immediately end Turmoil once they were no longer useful.

As the two traveled up, Turmoil asked the protagonist what their name was. They chose to answer with their true name; however, in attempting to do so, the game glitched, with the only option for players to select being [null]. Selecting [null] resulted in the Blot filling the protagonist's eye as the game broke, jumping between multiple alternate paths as it tried to load the correct one. The first one showed what would've happened if the protagonist didn't enter Rot. They instead cowered in the Old Friend's house after he was taken, with their left eye and the Blot falling out to run away, before resulting in a game over. The second one showed the protagonist approaching the mountain in the past, further back than the Blot's flashback, revealing that all the vegetation around the mountain has died. The third showed what would've happened if they had immediately nullified Turmoil; the protagonist crushed them with no hesitation. The Blot commended them for their decisiveness, saying that it finally understands they are the one to end Rot.

The game took a moment to resolve the internal error before continuing, with Turmoil thanking the protagonist for letting them know that their name was Null. The Blot, now calmer than before, told Null to be careful about what they said to Turmoil, as Rot will use everything against them. Soon after, the two entered a large, cavernous room, with Turmoil saying they may be able to sneak by; however, Null heard humming behind them. They chose to look behind them and saw The Sound of Rot at the edge of Turmoil's light, humming in the darkness. Null chose to get Turmoil's attention, and when they turned to face the sound they grew still, and whispered to slowly move backwards. However, the Sound immediately lunged at Turmoil, wrapping itself around Turmoil as The Face of Rot descended to reveal itself.

It told Null that they found one of its wonderful children in Turmoil, and is glad they returned them. Turmoil shouted at them to do what they came to do, but used their name in the process, which The Face makes note of. The Blot then claimed that Turmoil betrayed them, and that Null should end them all. Instead, they chose to nullify only The Face. It expressed disbelief at their actions as it told them that it is endless; however, it was ignored as they threw a vial directly into its mouth. It began to shake violently as it began to dissolve, before shouting that nothing would stop its endless spread, and that it would give them suffering. It then grabbed them.

After doing so, it turned them around to see that Turmoil had been partially absorbed by The Sound. The Face shouted that Turmoil belongs to it. The Blot then appeared to warn that the vial needed more time to end The Face, and that it would intervene. Null chose to give it control; it nodded, and told them that it may save Turmoil. It then left their eye, wrapping around the face in order to constrain it as the vial spread. Looking at both, Null saw that Turmoil was almost completely absorbed; however, the vial was beginning to eat away at the Blot too. Having to choose between the two, they chose to save Turmoil, using the shard to stab The Sound through its mask, while feeling immense fury course through them. It screeched as it got stabbed, letting go of Turmoil as its mask shattered, revealing a gaping maw underneath. They then chose to help Turmoil instead of finishing The Sound off, helping rip off the remaining tendrils; they are scarred, but otherwise okay, as The Sound disappears. Meanwhile, something was heard crashing in the darkness nearby.

Turning around revealed that The Face was dead, having collapsed to the ground; however, the Blot was almost entirely dissolved and left on top of it, not moving. Null chose to investigate and saw that it was still alive; upon seeing this, they let it slowly crawl back into their remaining eye. It told them to end Rot before moving to the back of their eye to recover.

Turning to the remains of The Sound's mask, Null thought that it looked like the other pilgrim's masks, and experienced multiple flashbacks. They first remembered carving a mitestone mask that looked very similar to The Sound's; they were making it for the Old Friend, who was leaving the next day. Upon seeing it, the Old Friend smiled and said that Null had done wonderfully, and that he was happy their first mitestone mask was going with him on his journey. Null then remembered back to when they were journeying to Rot to the bodies of three dead pilgrims around them; they were catching their breath as a fury still raged within them. They realized that they could never go back. They then remembered approaching the mountain, with the world fading to grey; they thought that it had been 10 years since the Old Friend went through here. They then thought that he wasn't taken, and that they were supposed to be the only one that knew.

They then faded back to reality and grabbed a shard of The Sound's mask. Turmoil told them that The Brain was in the next room, asking if they needed to rest; they chose to keep going, and gave a shard to Turmoil. As they approached The Brain, Turmoil said that they had never seen it before. After walking through the opening of the tunnel, it sealed behind them as The Brain of Rot asked them to continue, as it wished to speak to them both. When they reached it, it told them that it knew they had the means of ending it, but asked that they resist attacking it for the time being. Null chose to listen.

It explained that it knew Null came a long way to be there, and revealed that it knew they killed those that accompanied them to the mountain. They flinched, but remained silent as it said that it didn't matter whether they were guilty or remorseless, as it knows the Old Friend didn't tell them to do so; in fact, it knew what the Old Friend was telling them. It then reminded them that they could end it whenever they chose to, but looked at Turmoil as it said that there would be consequences. Instead of listening further, Null chose to immediately nullify it. Upon realizing their plan, The Brain expressed disappointment, saying that regret would soon follow. After throwing a vial at it, it smiled, asking how many bad decisions they could survive. It then looked to Turmoil, saying that their true name would be revealed; Turmoil ends.

Once The Brain dissolved, Rot began to grow uncontrollably, causing the room to grow smaller. Turmoil was shocked, apologizing for not knowing that Rot would do this upon The Brain's death. Null attempted to stab their way out of the encroaching Rot, but failed as it grabbed them; however, before they could be fully taken, Turmoil entered the shell of The Brain. Upon entering, a blinding, white light filled the room, with Null left to float in an endless white void.

A giant eye appeared in front of them as Turmoil spoke, explaining that they have slowed the spread of Rot. However, The Brain's influence still surrounded it, so it asked that Null hurry to The Heart. Upon asking where they were, Turmoil answered that this was where a vast network of connections were made to the rest of Rot. The connections were erased when they nullified The Brain, but Null chose to let it rebuild any connections that may help. The light then subsided to reveal Null back in the room with Turmoil, who had replaced The Brain; they explained that they would stay there to regulate Rot's spread.

The Blot then appeared in their eye, having only somewhat recovered from near nullification. It revealed that The Brain spoke to Turmoil in a way only it and Turmoil could understand before it died, but that it was unable to hear what was said. Null asked Turmoil what it said, and it revealed that The Brain told it that its true name is The Seed of Rot, but that it rejects this name, instead choosing to be Turmoil. As they left, the Blot said that something else was said to them; however, when Null turned around to ask, they saw that the way back to The Brain was sealed shut.

Null had another flashback from when they were traveling to Rot with the other three pilgrims. Pilgrim Crine woke them up to ask why they had two vials when it's their most closely guarded resource; they lied and said it must've been a mistake, which did not convince Crine or the others. As they advanced, Null took off their mask and threw it at Crine, killing him. They then picked up a shard and murdered the other two pilgrims in a whirlwind of overwhelming fury, only faintly hearing their screams. Looking down at the broken mask, they noted that they no longer felt its tranquil effect, before wondering if it ever had such an effect, or if it was in their mind. They then looked at the shard in their hand and realized that they had never felt that fury before that day. They dropped the shard as they looked at the bodies of the dead pilgrims.

They then flinched back to reality, and continued to walk through the tunnels of Rot, but grew exhausted. The Blot told them to take a moment to rest, which they did. As they did, they heard a faint, pained humming coming from further down. Continuing, they saw The Sound of Rot on the ground, close to death; they chose to sneak past it and avoided detection. They then ended up back at the intersection Turmoil pointed out before, with it being noticeably darker, and continued towards The Bones and Heart.

Going deeper, they heard something move above them as a viscous fluid dripped onto the floor nearby. They passed by it before hearing a wet mass hit the ground right behind them. Rather than face it, they chose to run from it, breaking into a sprint before they fell into a large pit, landing face first in pitch black. Blood filled their mouth as they heard a voice next to their ear and claws dig into their back, lifting them up. The voice told them to give into the pit of bones. Null called to Turmoil and managed to get a response, as they tell Null that they were attempting to find them, and that they would assist them with a new connection to the pit of bones. A bright light shone down to reveal The Bones of Rot. In an attempt to escape its grip, Null thrust the shard into the arm that was holding them. This only caused The Bones to grow angry, however, as it swung its tail at their head. They managed to dodge at the last moment, resulting in The Bones instead severing their right arm, causing them to collapse to the ground.

The Blot then appeared, still damaged and weak, as it explained that they were close to ending Rot. It then said its purpose would soon be fulfilled, and that it would intervene. It disappeared from Null's vision as threads extended from where their arm used to be, with The Bones surprised to see that the Blot had sacrificed itself to become their new arm. The Bones attempted to attack with its tail again but the Blot arm caught it, and then tore its tail off, before stabbing it through the mouth with it. Null then retrieved the shard and used it to cut The Bones into pieces.

As this happened, Null began to flash back once more, as they thought about what created the society they lived in. They remembered that currency became useless as disease ravaged the land, while The Creator did not care. Pilgrim Mite journeyed to Rot and then emerged onto the surface, traveling to the remaining people to share that The Creator had abandoned them. They revealed that all that remained is what the people stand upon now, and that they must forever toil upon the single gift He had bestowed upon them, as the voices below demanded. They heeded Mite's words and began praying to the ground, dismantling mountains to build their new settlements, while sending pilgrims to Rot to feed it, as the voices below commanded.

The flashback ended with Null realizing The Bones of Rot was now a pile of flesh and gore on the ground. They then collapsed, completely out of energy, and looked to the wall near them. To their surprise, they saw the skull of the Old Friend. It whispered to them, telling them that it could help, and that they needed to take it from the wall. It used Null's name in its plea, convincing Null to remove it form the wall. When they reached for the skull, however, it bit down on their hand, and the Rot's voice echoed in their head, chiding them for falling for its trick, before reminding them that the Old Friend was taken and that they could never go back.

After jerking their hand back, Null saw that Rot had began to spread from the point of The Skull's bite. Choosing to remove the arm before Rot could spread further, they were interrupted by Turmoil, who told them that they could make a new connection to their arm to let them take control of it. They chose to allow them. The process was taking time, resulting in The Skull snapping at Null multiple times, with them just barely managing to get out of the way as the last of their energy was drained. After this, Turmoil formed a connection to their arm; however, they then revealed that they were now overcome with the desire to spread, which they would do unless stopped. Rather than choose to stop them by nullifying their arm, Null chose to let Turmoil spread.

Turmoil spread until they completely overtook The Skull, killing it. They then explained that The Heart of Rot was nearby, and was the last of the old flesh that needed to be stripped away to allow for new growth. Giant arms grew from the ground as Turmoil shifted through the remains of The Bones to find The Heart. Null approached it, and it weakly explained that although it may die, new growth would soon begin, meaning their journey changed nothing. Turmoil then asked them to use the vial to nullify The Heart, fully stripping its growth away; however, they instead chose to use the shard to kill it, forcing Turmoil to finish clearing out the remains of the old flesh.

Confused by their decision, Turmoil asked Null if they didn't trust them, but chose to spare them, explaining that they were a part of the new growth. They melted off of The Skull as they revealed that the connection it formed to us made us the new Seed of Rot. A portion of the wall then crumbled away, revealing light from outside, as Turmoil told them to go and plant themself to spread new growth. However, Null instead remembered what the Blot said: all of Rot needed to be ended, with no exceptions. They chose to run back into the darkness to end Rot once and for all.

Climbing out of the pit of bones, they ran past The Spread of Rot, seeing as it died with the rest of Rot. They then passed by the decaying remains of The Sound, and noted that they were glad its humming would never be heard again. After this, they managed to reach the sealed chamber Turmoil resided in. They begged one last time for Null not to do this, saying that it would be better for everyone if they didn't, but they chose not to listen and instead cut the door open. This revealed Turmoil, having fully settled into their role as The Brain of Rot. They said that they expected Null to end up back here, and asked if Null intended to nullify it, which they said they would.

Their expression softened after as they explained that they understood, as it was Null's quest to destroy Rot. They then explained that they had a strong desire to escape as they survived off of the remains of the pilgrims that Rot consumed; they now understood that desire to be born out of the desire to spread. They then explained that they fulfilled their purpose by turning Null into the new Seed of Rot. No matter how they resisted the call, they would eventually succumb to the eternally present voice of Rot. They apologized for having burdened Null with this, but said that it was what they were born to do. At this point, Null chose to nullify Turmoil with the Blot arm.

The Blot arm detached itself from Null as it spread through Turmoil, killing them. It then began to grow and engulf everything, covering the remains of Rot with its white threads, as it awoke once more. Speaking, it let Null know that Rot had ended, and that it would stay there until all of it had dissolved. It then looked at their arm, and noted that they had been infected by the new growth, which was still Rot.

It then told Null that although it could nullify them itself, it would instead let them choose what happened next, as they had proven themself to its ally. It explained that they were uncompromising in their quest to end Rot, taking the path of fury throughout it, so they could now choose to end it now with themself. However, they could instead choose to leave the mountain with the dormant Rot, which would still call to them forever. If they ever succumbed to the call, the Blot would then intervene. Upon being given this final choice, Null realized that they had to end Rot, and that wished to avoid hearing it call to them for the rest of their life. They then crushed the final vial in their hand.

As the vial began to spread, Null was surprised to realize that it did not hurt, while the Blot grew somber. It informed them that it expected this outcome, and that with their action, both their and it's purpose have been completed. Null then collapsed to the floor as the vial continued to dissolve their body, able to see the dust from it collecting on the ground below.

Before they died, Null saw a final flashback of them as a child. Their parents had just left their settlement on a pilgrimage to Rot together, leaving Null alone. They attempted to stay strong, but couldn't help themself from crying. As they watched, however, they felt the hand of the Old Friend on their shoulder--the last mitestone carver in the settlement. He was accepting Null as his apprentice, and told them that they had unending courage within them. He said that they would go on to do wonderful things, and that their parents would be proud of them, before reminding them to get some sleep, as they had work to do in the morning. After this memory, Null's vision faded to dust as the last of their body was dissolved by the vial.

## Characters

* Null
* Old Friend
* Blot
* Rot
* The Face of Rot
* The Eye of Rot
* The Love of Rot
* Turmoil
* The Sound of Rot
* Pilgrims
* The Brain of Rot
* The Spread of Rot
* The Bones of Rot
* The Creator
* Pilgrim Mite
* The Skull
* The Heart of Rot

## Theories

Louse appears to be vaguely representative of several things in the ECKVA universe, rather than being a direct explanation of the world or events that happened within it. Several parallels can be drawn from different parts of it; for example, the Blot shares a name and placement in the human body with its ECKVA counterpart. Rot is likely representative of the Ark, a realm that has appeared in Marble Hornets, Clear Lakes 44, and ECKVA; both the Ark and Rot are organic holes in otherwise grey, dead landscapes that appear to call for people to fall into them to feast upon them. There are also beings that appear to collect bodies for the Ark, such as The Operator in Marble Hornets, which may tie into creatures such as The Love, The Sound, etc. appearing to wander the tunnels of Rot to collect people to feed it.

There are also several direct references to ECKVA in Louse. An example of this is The Love of Rot asking Null to let them help start their new life today, which is the slogan of Preaxin, the medication SHawkins formerly took. The half-rotted Old Friend said that it would show Null what was truly important, which is a phrased used commonly by The Broadcaster.

However, it is clear that not everything in Louse has a direct parallel to events or concepts in ECKVA, and as such, Louse should be viewed as more of a supplementary and self-contained spin-off instead of a full guide to the ECKVA world.