Veronica

## Personality

Veronica is generally relaxed. They are usually paying attention to other things while they are supposed to be paying attention to something else, and they saunter and float around a lot. She will talk easily when spoken to and isn't very shy, but may hesitate if she isn't quite sure who to trust. They get excited easily around things they enjoy.

## Appearance

Veronica is a very dark purple stick figure with white splotches all over it's body. They wear a T-shirt that is somewhat oversized to them and white pants. There is a black collar around her neck used for electrocution.

## Trivia

* Veronica is referred to as "Experiment #B121245A" by the scientists.
* Pearl is Veronica's best and only friend.
* Veronica refers to itself in third person.
* Veronica is artificial life, created by scientists and made specifically to experiment on, similarly to Glitch, except that Veronica has never had intent on escaping.
* Veronica goes by any pronouns but has a preference for she/her and they/them.
* Veronica seems to think of themself to be a thing of unimportance that could be replaced at any moment by the scientists. They don't care very much about this.
* Veronica has a Litwick that she has actually caught. It visits her often and is now her Pokemon partner.
* Veronica is actually afraid of children younger than the age of 13. She feels like she can't be around them or else something bad will happen. While Nyanza may be an exception to this, they're still a bit skittish.

## Backstory/Lore

### Lore Piece #1

A friend, a child. A flash of bright light. Screaming. Blood. That's all Veronica remembered from her interaction with the child. They sat on their bed, wondering what she did wrong. Why they had to be put in a cage.

### Lore Piece #2

Veronica was walking through the halls, which they often did. The scientists that were supposed to watch her cage were careless, and so he was able to get out rather easily. It passed Azalea- the boy with the strange eyes- in the halls.

The boy murmured a, "Hello..", but Veronica didn't respond. Veronica themself was afraid. Veronica didn't know why, Veronica didn't remember why. Perhaps it had something to do with the child that disappeared.

Veronica still remembered exactly what the child looked like, despite have only had one interaction with her. A small girl, maybe five or six, standing in front of Veronica. She had strange white splotches on her face and body, too. There was a black headband in her hair, and she wore a midnight blue dress.

The child had been crying. Veronica had only walked over to see what was wrong.. Why was Veronica punished for trying to make the child feel better? It wasn't Veronica's fault the child disappeared. It wasn't Veronica's fault the only trace left of her was a heavily bloodstained headband.

The child was so sweet, too.. perhaps that was why. The scientists needed someone to punish for the loss of their innocent, sparkling jewel. But all Veronica knew now was.. it wasn't. Their. Fault.

....or so she thought..

### Lore Piece #3

Veronica walked aimlessly through the halls. It wasn't very bright outside, Veronica could tell, but the white walls of the lab were almost blinding. The white splotches on her face and arms seemed to glow in the brightness.

Veronica continued to wander through the building, eyes blank. Their unattentive sauntering resulted with him bumping into someone. "Ah- Veronica apologizes!" Veronica cries, jumping backward.

The person Veronica had bumped into was a worker, and Veronica could feel itself becoming afraid. Would the worker set off the electric collar? Send Veronica back to their cage?

But the worker just stood up and dusted himself off. "Sorry 'bout that.. did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" Veronica nods. "Oookayyy. So I'm going to have a shot at this- is your name Veronica?" Veronica nods again. This was so strange.

A worker being *civil* to them? A worker *teasing* them? In a friendly way? That was just weird, and Veronica didn't like it. "Cool name! My name's Pearl." The stick figure held out a hand. Veronica shook it quickly and went to back up pretty quickly.

"Pearl?" Veronica echoes. "Veronica thinks it's nice to meet Pearl!" Pearl laughs. "Nice to meet you too." he says. Pearl points to Veronica's collar. "Is that.. a fashion choice?" he asks hopefully.

"No, the workers use it to electrocute Veronica and some of the other experiments." Veronica answers. "Experiment? You look alive to me." says Pearl, observing Veronica from head to toe.

"The workers call it artificial life." says Veronica. "Some of the experiments here are really alive stick figures, but Veronica is not." Pearl glances around. "You said the workers *electrocute* you?" Veronica nods. "That sounds a bit.. hostile." Pearl murmurs.

"Veronica thinks it's just harmful. Veronica used to know one experiment.. they were Veronica's friend, but they finally had enough of the electrocutions and..." Veronica trailed off. "And.. what? I don't think I'm going to like what comes after that 'and', but I'm kind of intrigued." says Pearl.

Veronica gestured to a small corner, splattered with a bit of red. "The workers wouldn't bother to clean it up.. It made Veronica cry for hours, what happened." Pearl looked to the corner, and his eyes widened. "O-oh.."

"Is.. that really how bad it is here?" asked Pearl after a couple moments of silence. Veronica nodded. She turned around and walked away, leaving Pearl questioning why he took this job in the first place.

### Lore Piece #4

Veronica sauntered their way to the breakroom. The breakroom wasn't a very nice room, but it had a couple of tables and chairs so the experiments could sit and eat, just like the scientists did.

Sometimes the scientists ate their food while watching the more dangerous experiments, even though Veronica knew very well that most of the experiments here would never try to escape or harm anyone.

Only two experiments have ever tried to leave. The Glitch, and one more.. one that was strange. Veronica didn't remember her name, but that one particular experiment seemed to be a trickster of some sort.

A trickster or a backstabber. Veronica remembered what happened rather vividly- the experiments whose cages and cells were near the incident got the news around.

The peculiar experiment was calling for help, but didn't seem to be in trouble. Actually, she'd looked rather relaxed, but she sounded like she was dying. When the scientists showed up to see what was wrong, she pretended to be hurt.

When one of the scientists opened her cage, she leapt for him. Veronica remembered the splatter of crimson-red blood that bathed the old, dusty furniture that night.

Five scientists were dead with pools of blood surrounding them by the time anyone could get help to restrain the rogue experiment, but she was gone by the time any help got there. She escaped.. somewhere. Veronica didn't know where. None of the experiments did.

The experience of watching it happen was terrifying and Veronica didn't sleep for days. It was all too vivid.. it all happened too recently.. Veronica could feel the worry coming back. Even if the escape happened only six months ago, Veronica still peeked over her shoulders when shadows moved around.

Someone poked Veronica's shoulder and Veronica jumped backward. "What's gotten you so scared today?" asks Pearl, helping Veronica back up. "Pearl wouldn't understand the horror of it." Veronica sniffs.

"The horror of what?" asks Pearl in a teasing manner, but he shut right up when he saw the haunted look on Veronica's face. "Pearl wouldn't understand. What does Pearl want?" asks Veronica, glaring at the scientist from the side of their eye.

"I leave you alone for three days and you go moody on me? Seriously?" Pearl asks. "Pearl left for more than *three days.* Veronica thought Pearl was fired."

Pearl looked momentarily frightened at the idea of being fired. "No. Absolutely not, I can't get fired, I need this job.." Veronica sniffs and then laughs. "So Pearl can't take a joke?" she asks through laughter,

"Of course I can take a joke. Just not ones about losing a job I need so desperately.." Veronica shushed him. "Pearl should *go back to work* if he doesn't want to be fired." she says in a bored voice.

"Fine, if you hate me that much." said Pearl in a jokingly sarcastic tone. He quickly walked away when he found other experiments approaching. "Hey! It's that one scientist.. the nice one. Pearl, I think it was?" asks one of the two approaching experiments.

Veronica nods. "Why'd he leave?" Veronica shrugs. "Perhaps Pearl got scared." The other experiment nodded. "I guess so. Doesn't seem that jumpy to me though." the other one nodded. "Is Pearl the other experiments' friend too?" asks Veronica.

"He's everybody's friend. Poor guy, hope he won't get fired for interacting with us like that." Veronica nods. "LUNCH!" called one of the scientists in a bitter voice. Everyone started lining up.

"Welp. See you later, then." said the experiment who'd spoken first, and then they both walked into the line. Veronica nodded at them as they walked away. Not a lot of the experiments were that friendly anymore. Everyone kind of kept to themselves after the incident.

The memory started haunting Veronica again, and they went back to thinking about how traumatizing that was. The treatment after that was horrible and no one got food for days.

But Veronica could get into those memories another day.. he was traumatized enough for one. She took her tray and sat at a table, alone, just like it always was. Just like they always did. Just.. like.. always..

### Lore Piece #5

Veronica doesn't remember what Veronica did.

Veronica doesn't remember how it happened.

Veronica doesn't remember why Veronica did it.

Veronica doesn't remember.

But now even Pearl seems upset with Veronica. She mentioned it to him earlier today, and he left his shift early. The incident will never stop haunting Veronica. Never. Veronica didn't mean to do what they did. Veronica didn't mean to lose the little girl.

Veronica doesn't know what happened to the girl. Maybe she ran away, maybe Pearl went to look for her. But Pearl would certainly have the sense to know that if she did run away all that time ago, she wasn't going to come back?

Then there was only one answer. Pearl was upset with Veronica. Pearl thought Veronica was a murderer. Just like every other scientist. Would the incident follow Veronica forever? Would no one accept her?

The questions filled up her mind, and Veronica balled up their hands into fists. After punching one hole through the wall and beating up the barely-mattress that she slept on, Veronica clutched her small teddy bear and laid silently.

Silently. Silence.

Something Veronica needed right now.

### Veronica lore #6- TOLD FROM PEARL'S PERSEPECTIVE!

I raced through the hallways in a panic. I still remember the exact conversation with Veronica, despite it being yesterday afternoon.

I mentioned a child that went missing around our area, which made her muse about how the lab punished her for the child *she* lost. Veronica explained to me that a child was lost, and Veronica was still allowed to roam the halls at that time.

From what I could tell, Veronica thought they were helping, or trying too. I think it's much worse than that. Veronica said they don't remember what happened, which might be why I feel like I need to figure it out.

The other reason might also be the fact that Veronica mentioned a blood-stained headband. Maybe I just wanted to know why the headband was blood-stained.

Finally, I made it to the security room. I scanned my ID and the door opened, and I walked into the room and tried to pretend I wasn't sprinting before. I sat down at a desk and started the desktop, but when I powered it on, I was met by a semi-terrifying sight,

The camera was on Veronica's pod. She was just.. staring at it. Not moving or anything, just dead staring. Was this what they did when they were bored? Stare at the camera like a lunatic?

I can't dwell on that. I need to figure something out. That's why I'm here. I started going through past recordings, not that I really knew what I was looking for.

For some reason, all of the recordings seemed to be named. "Recording\_4534.mp4" , "Recording\_7652.mp4". Maybe that was just the filenames.

After a couple minutes of scrolling, I think found what I was looking for. Somebody clearly renamed it. "Their\_fault.mp4" was the filename. Why would anyone rename it to something so creepy? Who was even in charge of these?

I clicked on it. There was a hallway, one that was probably on the other side of the lab. Veronica seemed to be wandering around, although she looked *drastically* different. Maybe this happened a long time ago.

Anyways, the recording. There was a small girl, maybe five or six, with tears running down her face. Veronica stopped, seeming concerned, and went up to the girl.

I couldn't hear very well, but the girl seemed to be lost. So Veronica remembered that part alright. Veronica murmured something, and then the girl nodded solemnly.

After that.. something happened. I don't know what. Veronica's eyes changed. They're a different color now, like red or orange. A malicious grin cut Veronica's face.

And then that same dead stare at the camera that Veronica was doing earlier, only 10 times more terrifying. For some reason, I backed away from the screen a little bit.

Some *really* bright flashed and the camera glitched out. I was sitting there for around 10 minutes before anything happened other than white noise and a blank screen.

A scream. A child's scream, and the child sounded terrified. I knew who that child was now. That little girl that couldn't find her parents. I could practically see her horror, just from the terrified screams.

After a while, the camera unglitched. Veronica was sitting there alone. She looked so distraught, too. "I'm sorry." she whispered. I could barely hear it through the faulty audio of the desktop.

But they got louder. "I'm sorry I'm sorry *I'm sorry **I'm sorry I'M SORRY-***" And then she blacked out. I paused the recording there, and studied the hallway. There was blood everywhere. Lots of it.

It was dripping down walls and it nearly coated the floor. Actually, I think something was *written* in blood on the wall. There was weird symbols, anyway.

∴⍑|| ↸╎↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ!¡!¡ᒷリ?

∴⍑|| ↸╎↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ!¡!¡ᒷリ?

╎ ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ⚍リ↸ᒷ∷ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑリ↸..

╎ ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ⚍リ↸ᒷ∷ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑリ↸.

!¡ꖎᒷᔑᓭᒷ ⎓𝙹∷⊣╎⍊ᒷ ᒲᒷ.

╎'ᒲ ᓭ𝙹∷∷||.

I want to decipher that now, but I don't think I can. Actually, I want to talk to Veronica, but I can't. I can't. She didn't do it on purpose. But I can't. I'm afraid.

I'm afraid of Veronica. Afraid of my best friend?

Afraid of my best friend.

## How Veronica met her Pokemon Partner

Veronica sat in her pod, bored. Like any normal day. But Veronica knew it wasn't going to be a normal day. It was in the way the wind seemed to fly through the windows, in the way the candles flickered and leapt.

Veronica shuts her eyes for a moment. It may have been more than a moment, Veronica didn't remember. But when she re-opened them, Veronica found a strange-looking candle in the corner of her room.

Candles? In *Veronica's* pod? Candles in the hands of any experiment were strictly forbidden, and candles in the lab at all were a rare sight.

Veronica only knew what a candle was and what it looked like because a scientist had left one in Veronica's room and when Veronica had found it, the scientist snatched it away.

Pearl told them what it was called the next day, after specific details were pointed out. Veronica walked up to it. The candle had a *face,* and a purple flame.

It turned around by itself, and whatever this thing was, because it wasn't a candle, was adorable. The thing floated up and placed itself on Veronica's shoulder.

To Veronica's surprise, it wasn't hot. It was, in fact, rather cold. Veronica laughed as it seemed to walk around their shoulders and head, and then made a squealing noise that almost sounded like "Lit!".

"Is this what having a pet is like?" Veronica asks it, half paying attention. "Am I supposed to name you?" The small creature danced around the floor, but at Veronica's second question, it responded. "Litwick!" the candle-like being squealed, but the cry seemed to echo at the end.

Maybe that was just how the little creature sounded. Either way, Veronica already loved it, and it seemed to love Veronica. "Litwick?" Veronica asked. The small being danced around the floor again, so Veronica just assumed that was a yes.

After maybe an hour of playing with Litwick, the scientists barged into the pod, seeming furious. They scared away the small creature, to Veronica's dismay. After doing what the scientists had wanted, Veronica returned to her room and Litwick was back.

Maybe it was just timid. Veronica held out a hand to it, and Litwick squealed happily again and climbed onto her arm, resting itself onto her shoulder.

The Litwick continued to visit when the scientists weren't around or the scientists watching them were asleep, and so Veronica saw it almost every day. This Litwick, one day, brought in a Pokeball to Veronica's room. At first, Veronica didn't know what to do with it, but the Litwick tapped itself against the Pokeball and now Veronica has a Litwick. But generally, the Litwick tends to stay out of it's Pokeball, seemingly so it can wander around the lab or run away when the scientists come to test on Veronica.