You may be searching for Mental Assistance Department (Group), the group associated with this game.
"The Mental Assistance Department was founded by Ipiprix, Graves, and Bart as a way to pool their collective talents together to help save the human race from themselves. There have been many attempts to create the ultimate cure for humanity, but they all fell short. However, new developments have led to something truly unique." ― Description of Mental Assistance Department
Mental Assistance Department functions as a "hub" for more games in the series, with specific things leading to different “memories” of the characters that must be obtained in order to complete ALL, before serving to teleport players to the continued story, In Ruina Eius De Nephilim. The Mental Assistance Department contains an office building and a forest both nearby and surrounding it, complete with a cabin in the woods and a well close to it. There is also a large maze underneath the Department which the player will use to understand the events that have taken place in the story, while also hosting a final challenge to those that have obtained the four memory cubes.
Overview[]
The Mental Assistance Department was created by Head Doctor Ipiprix to secretly find a way to make humanity immortal. With the assistance of a friend named Doctor Enrique Graves and someone Dr. Graves taught, Bart Montgomery, they scour the world in search of methods for extending the lifespan of humanity, but nothing they had found or done experiments with will have shown proper success. Thanks to some of his very dedicated studying, Doctor Ipiprix had located the birthplace of a species known as the Mindwalkers. Through experimentation, they learned that the Mindwalkers could siphon the happy memories of people, and create a sort of liquid known as ‘Refined Happiness,’ or classified as Cure #49. This allowed for people’s memories to live on after their death, which was deemed immortallity by Ipiprix.
Ipiprix traveled to the Mountains of Madness, the place Mindwalkers originated, in order to try and capture one. This goes terribly wrong, as he’s attacked by a Mindwalker and killed. Something is special about the Mindwalker that killed Ipiprix, however, as instead of leaving the body to rot, it left a mindwalker inside of his skull, which then paraded the corpse around in order to fool future victims and kill more people. Ipiprix was no longer himself.
Ipiprix went on to bring more Mindwalkers to the department, and claimed he wanted to test them on someone. Dr. Montgomery suggested a man named Drew, or True_Faces.
After the testing of Cure #49, Bart was extremely alarmed at what it did to True_Faces. Ipiprix, hellbent on extracting as much memory as possible, kills Bart Montgomery. Before he could die, Ipiprix had his happy memories siphoned. After hiding Bart’s body inside his safe, Ipiprix would send out the message that Bart had simply gone on vacation to Australia. Enrique Graves was growing tired of Ipiprix’s sudden wickedness, so he went to the same Mountains of Madness that Ipiprix went to, hoping to find what caused the Head Doctor to change, which led to his demise via Mindwalker. The player arrives after all of these events have transpired, Ipiprix has gone missing, and the player pieces together the story of what occurred at the Mental Assistance Department by collecting memory cubes and sifting through the memories of those involved with the Department. The player will need to locate keys to the offices, and utilize the tools in their environment to locate the expansive maze dedicated to storing failed cures, and once there, the player will search for what happened to some of the characters involved in the story, such as Bart Montgomery, True_Faces, and Enrique_Graves, and taking what pieces of memories they have found and combining them to learn it "ALL".
Walkthrough[]
Mental Assistance Department (Main Game)[]
The player spawns outside of an office building labelled “M.A.D.” surrounded by a fence and a large forest. If the player walks down the street, moving further and further away from the department, they will come across a barred well in the forest, and further down, three red dots on the fence with the phrase “STAY AWAY” written below.
On either side of the walkway leading into the department are rows of hedges. Behind the left side is a note written by Graves reading “DON’T TRUST HIM”. Coming through the glass door of the building, a desk sits to the left. By it are several posters: one of Dr. Ipiprix hanging up, one of Dr. Enrique Graves with a red question mark painted over (Gone missing), and one more of Dr. Bart Montgomery with a red X mark painted over him (Dead). A computer depicting a brain on it’s screen sits on the desk, as well a telephone- the player has the option to press “E” to call for help. The person on the other side of the line, “Grumpy Helper, will ask “Who’s this???? I am trying to get some SHUT-EYE.” This helper and the phone are merely an ingame walkthrough, that gives the player hints on what to do depending on what they are stuck on. By clicking “Asking what you need to do” the player can find hints for the department and maze, hints for REJECTION, You Look Happy, and SOURCE. If the player clicks “Flail your arms and scream about ALL”, they may receive hints for the three sections in the game. By “Calmly requesting for hints about what to do with your knowledge”, the player will be given hints for completing In Ruina Eius De Nephilim and Castaway. And lastly, by “Whispering for hints about the FINAL ZONE”, the player will be given hints for each of the major puzzles in Jalcrl Nwm.
To the right of the glass door is a waiting area, chairs situated in a rectangular formation around a table. Sitting on the table are books by H.P. Lovecraft: “The Color out of Space”, “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, and “The Tales of H.P. Lovecraft”.
Continuing down the hallway, there are tables on each side and 4 locked doors: the storage, Enrique Graves’ office, the operating room (a “surgery in progress” sign hangs on the knob), and Bart Montgomery’s office. A sign on the left side of the room depicts the department’s “happiest patients”, one notable person being true_faces. On the right side of the room hangs a pain meter, 0 being “no pain” and 10 being “unimaginable unspeakable”. There is some kind of large stain on the floor in front of Bart’s office. (Most likely Bart’s blood, which spilled as he was dragged into Ipiprix’s office. An attempt was made to clean the carpet using the bleach the player can find in the Storage room. This will all make sense later when the player enters Bart’s office and opens the safe inside Ipiprix’s office.)
When looking at the ceiling, the player should spot a vent above the pain meter. Both tables can be pushed around, and pushing one under the vent allows the player to access Enrique Graves’ office. They will drop directly onto a desk containing a computer stuck on the “American Airlines” site, a stack of papers, a photograph in a drawer, and a key to room 101 (storage). A corkboard hangs on the wall near a few more stacks of papers, written on it “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO THEM” in a red substance. The photos on the corkboard are of true_faces and his house, Ipiprix, Bart Montgomery, the brain depicted on the laptop, a mask, a headline reading “STRANGE ANIMAL SEEN BY HUNTERS”, a card reading “Cure #49?”, a photograph in the back room of SOURCE, and a photo of an eye (Mind Walkers and their eyes are all over MAD). At the back of the room sits a couch holding three papers and a key out of Enrique’s office. The player simply has to have the key in their hand to unlock the door (Room 101 Key).
Straight across, the player can now use the room 101 key to access the storage. A single light bulb flickers over racks containing various items such as bleach cleaner, cotton swabs, stethoscopes, and green packages carrying unknown items. A sink in the floor holds a blue bucket that contains the key to room 104.
Walking diagonally to the left, the player can now access Bart’s office using the room 104 key. The door opens up to a huge blood puddle and a bloodied note reading “Cure 49 is not a success. I recommend it be discontinued.” A couch is knocked over to the right of the room with a safe key laying behind it, and to the left, bloody footprints lead to a knocked over computer and chair, spilt coffee, and a blood stain on the wall. Bart was murdered in his office, but where is his body?
Before using the safe key, the player should turn left and continue through the glass door out of the department, crossing the road. Continuing to the left, the player will find a wooden shed containing a crowbar on a table. Walking over the item will give it to the player. The tooltip of the crowbar is: ‘Useful for breaking things.’
Re-entering the department and continuing to the very back area opens up to a poster reading “Stars Can’t Shine Without Darkness.” To the right of this area is a couch and a chair on opposite ends of a table holding several papers. To the left is a doorway to a smaller room, Ipiprix’s Office. A large photograph on the right wall depicts some kind of structure with 3 legs sitting in the center of a mountainous area later revealed to be SOURCE. Two monitors sit on a desk, one depicting a sunny sky with clouds and the other with “M.A.D.” typed on it. A container of bleach cleaner sits beside the desk and directly above on the ceiling is a large dark stain. At the back of the room sits a filing cabinet, a radio, and a drawer holding a degree belonging to Ipiprix from the Medical College of Georgia, citing him as a doctor of medicine. When holding the crowbar, the drawer with Ipiprix’s degree can be broken, revealing a safe. Using the safe key, the door opens to Bart Montgomery’s mangled, bloody body holding a key to room 103. Beside him sits the Australian flag.
The player can now use the room 103 key to access the Operating Room. The door opens to a red-lit room with four bodies lying on operation chairs, the shell status of each reading deceased. A hole in the center of the room teleports the player to Mortality Advancement Division: Cure Containment.
Mortality Advancement Division: Cure Containment[]
Click "Show More" to view more information about Mortality Advancement Division: Cure Containment.
An annotated version of the map given to you by Dr. Montgomery after completing R E J E C T I O N, complete with attempts to show the walls in the dark areas as well as correcting certain inaccuracies.
The player spawns in a dark stone room lit by torches and a map of a maze and important locations in their inventory. The maze itself contains entities made of stone that follow the player and hurt them upon contact. Due to the complexity of the maze, each location will contain directions starting from the spawn point (with some exceptions), which is marked as a green box on the map. Be aware, by nearing the exit/door key, the player will begin to be hunted down by a Stoneman, who can kill the player if he hits them enough times.
Grey Question Mark (REJECTION):[]
The player must take the following path from the start of the maze: move left and continue until the next fork in the path, take another left and continue until the next fork, take one more left and continue (in simplified words, take every left possible). (To make it simpler, simply follow the torches when the player leaves the spawn box.)
The player will end up in an area containing a vial of a colorful substance, a photo of Bart Montgomery and his baby, and a note reading: “BART MONTGOMERY’S MEDDLING WAS UNFORTUNATE, BUT IT DID PRODUCE AN EXCELLENT SAMPLE OF CURE #49. ALL WILL BE IN A L L.” Stepping on the substance will equip the player with a mysterious vial and drinking it will teleport the player to REJECTION.
Completing the game will equip the player with a flashlight and an accurate map of the maze once they revisit the Mortality Advancement Division. Pressing F on the player’s keyboard will activate the flashlight.
Black Square (Blasted Heath/Red Memory Cube):[]
The player must take the following path from the start of the maze: move left and continue until the next fork in the path, take another left and continue until the next fork, go straight and continue until the next fork, take a right and continue until a large dark pit is spotted in a corner. Hop into it and at the end of the player’s descent, they will see a red room full of the bodies of people involved in past ‘experiments,’ involving the Mind Walkers, with a sign above the entryway reading ‘Blasted Heath.’ Each body inside the room has a hole jabbed into their forehead. There is also a large neon red cube in the room, touching it will grant the player this message:
You have found a Memory Cube:
Collect all 4 cubes to understand everything, and to put an end to this madness.
“So many bodies have holes in their heads, what could have done this?”
Dark Yellow/Greenish Square (Eye Wall/Entrance to In Ruina Eius De Nephilim):[]
Move left and continue until the next fork in the path, take another left and continue until the next fork, turn right and continue until the next fork, take a right and continue until the next fork, take two more right turns, continue past the dark pit and take a right until a rock wall with a red eye on it is seen. (This wall will be more important after the player completes ALL, for now it remains unopened.)
Yellow Question Mark (Graves’ Door Key):[]
The player must take the following path from the start of the maze: continuing straight, past the first fork, until they reach the second fork. Take a right and continue until the next fork, take a left and continue until the next fork, take a right turn and continue until the next fork, and finally keep taking left turns until the key is reached. Beside the key is a picture of the landscape from SOURCE with the following sentence written in big red letters: “STOP THEM AT THEIR SOURCE -GRAVES”.
Red Square (Exit of the maze, leads to You Look Happy, S O U R C E, and A L L):[]
The player must take the following path from the key: move right and forward. Continue this pattern until the player is presented with the choice between two paths: one directly in front of them and one on the right. Take the right. Keep on going on the path, this choice will repeat twice more as well as the right/left choice. Take the right for all of these. Continue going forward even if the player will be presented with the choice to take a left turn. After two left turn choices, take a left. A stone figure should be on the wall. Make a right-left motion until they reach the door.
The exit of the maze is lit by two torches across from each other, and the player will see a red cube giving off light between the two, signaling that they are in the right place. By entering the exit area, the player will find two operating rooms, the first room contains a large Mind Walker, which the player will have heard mention of a few times before this with an eye above its core. In the second operating room, they will find a Mind Walker with its needle puncturing the character true_faces, spewing blood all around it. If the player stands on/near true_faces in the area, a GUI prompt will appear stating: “Do you wish to go beneath the True_Faces mask? (This action will teleport the player.)” With the choice of No, or Yes. Saying yes will take the player to You Look Happy, where they may begin to piece together who true_faces is and what his relation to M.A.D. is. Completing this section will reward the player with a memory cube, one of four others which is required to complete the final trial.
When continuing down the hallway, there will be red text splattered on the wall to the left stating “Find my key -Graves”. With the key held out, the player must approach the door at the end of the hallway to unlock it. Inside this new room is a large barrel of rainbow fluid which is linked to some tubes. The barrel has the number 49 written on it, which the player will begin to understand when they read the document sitting on a table next to the machine:
"Cure #49
“Refined Happiness”
Do Not Ingest
Shortly after discovering the [REDACTED] it was learned that they were able to extract [REDACTED] happiness and turn it into liquid form. Memories, thoughts and [REDACTED] can be converted in this process. This allows the best parts of a person to continue in [REDACTED]. Numerous vials from various subjects can be combined and even [RECATED] through the use of [REDCATED] in a place called [REDCATED]. The process is painless and has absolutely (Page cuts off) NO SIDE EFFECTS."
“IPIPRIX, IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR YOUR CAR, I JUST STOLE IT. I’M TAKING IT TO THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. I KNOW THAT’S THE SOURCE OF ALL THIS MADNESS. YOU HAVEN’T BEEN THE SAME SINCE YOU CAME BACK.
-GRAVES
Assuming that the player has collected the memory cubes from REJECTION, Blasted Heath, You Look Happy, and SOURCE, they will be able to utilize the second room which can be accessed at the maze’s exit. This room houses a Mind Walker with an operating table underneath it, as well as a progress bar to the right of the room when entered, containing the four memory cubes if the player has collected all of them. Step up to the Mind Walker, and be prompted with: “Do you wish to challenge this final trial?” Answering yes will teleport the player to ALL, the final trial players will face within the Department.
A L L[]
Spawning inside of ALL, the player will find three portals which represent the memories of some M.A.D characters, yellow being for Bart Montgomery, blue for Enrique Graves, and green for True Face. As challenges are completed, red blocks will spawn in an empty area which will lead to the end of ALL.
Click "Show More" to view more information about A L L.
Starting with Bart’s memories, the player will spawn next to a house and a few trees with an archipelago of pillars surrounding it. The player must collect nine puzzle pieces by physically touching them. They will be hidden inside a tree, on top of the house, underneath the house island, and within the archipelago of pillars. After collecting all nine pieces and returning to the house at the center of the archipelago, a room will have opened for the player to access. Inside of the room, the player will see Bart Montgomery getting a photo taken of him and his newborn son. By walking up to Bart, the player will be prompted with an input box stating: “Unforgettable Moment.” The answer to this statement is 080898, corresponding with the text behind the painting the player will receive at the end of REJECTION, August 8th, 1998. Pressing confirm after correctly entering in the information will transport the player to a darker, sinister variant of the room, which now glows red, Mind Walker eyes can be seen outside of the windows of the house, and Bart is now wearing a mask, there is a large mask on the right wall of the room, clicking on that mask will end Bart Montgomery’s trial, returning the player to ALL's spawn point. (Dying at any time during any trial will simply respawn the player at ALL’s spawn point as well.)
Moving on to Graves’ memories (the blue portal), the player will spawn in a desert looking area with an outer ring which contains what look like locks with various ring colors attached to them. At the center of the map, the player will find a rock with five colors lined up from left to right inside of it, the order of these colors will change each time the player enters ALL. To the left of this stone, the player will see Graves, Bart, and Ipiprix standing over a large red eye bleeding into the ground. And, lastly, all along this center island, the player will find large Roman Numerals made of stone. To tackle this trial, the player must enter the outer ring away from the center island and click on five colored lock handles, red, orange, blue, yellow, and green. After clicking on each of these, if the player returns to the center island, they will see streams of light and color flowing into the Roman Numerals. What the player must do is figure out the value of each color by seeing what stones the lights flow through. These values, however, will not change, so here they are now: Red = 12, Green = 5, Orange = 18, Blue = 16, Yellow = 15. With these values in mind, the player must look to the stone with the five colors on it, and they must determine what colorum code they have. As an example, say the stone the player is seeing from left to right displays orange, green, yellow, red, blue. The player must take the values of said colors and write them out left to write. So this set of colors would be written out as: 185151216. For the player to input their code, they must step onto the large bleeding red eye in the ground, to be prompted with ‘Colorum.’ The player must enter the code they gathered here and press "Confirm". If correct, the player will once again be transported to a similar space, but more sinister. Ipiprix and Bart’s faces have been replaced with three red eyes, and in the distance, the player can see the eyes of a Mind Walker staring at the bunch. Graves is now wearing a mask and clicking on the mask will complete Graves’ section of ALL and return the player back to the spawn.
Onto the last trial, True Face’s memories. When the player enters the green portal, they will be transported to an archipelago of 8 inverse stone pillars, across from the spawn being a small kitchen with True and a white figure (his wife) standing over 8 cookies (which the player can click on). Above the fridge to the right of the room is an Enter and Clear button. To put it simply, each cookie corresponds with one of the inverse stone pillars. The player must go to the pillars and pan their camera over their sides to see how many layers of stones are present on the pillar. Begin by writing down the number of layers on the top four pillars closest to the kitchen from left to right, then do the same with the bottom four pillars from left to right. An example code: 8 5 7 2; 1 3 4 6
After obtaining the code required for the puzzle, the player must click the cookies starting from 1 and clicking in order till they reach the eighth cookie. Click each cookie once in said order, not multiple times. Once the player believes they have entered the correct combination, they may press enter, (If nothing happens, press reset and retrieve the combination again or attempt to retype it in.) If correct, the player will be transported to an area similar to the kitchen, but glowing dark red, Mind Walker’s staring on the outside looking in, and True will then be wearing a mask. Behind True and on the oven top, the player will find a mask as well, clicking on this mask will end True Faces’ trial and return the player to ALL’s spawn.
With all the available trials complete, a new red portal will be accessible to the player. This portal represents Ipiprix’s memories. After jumping across three red blocks, the player will be able to enter his memories.
Inside the first room, the player will hear a slowed version of Bioshock Infinite’s cover of Tainted Love, and see True, Bart, and Graves face down and oozing out their own Cure #49, with baby Mind Walkers feeding on the puddles. Proceeding forward, there will be a large red door with three red dots above it, entering said door will teleport the player to a memory of Ipiprix at the SOURCE. Cornered by a Mind Walker, Ipiprix was stabbed in the brain by the Mind Walker’s needle, however instead of it draining him of his happiness, it did something else- it seeded him with a Mind Walker, which would go on to experiment on dozens and lead each character involved with Ipiprix to their doom or to the depths of despair. After this cutscene, the player will be transported to a dark red room with an undulating wall which seems to be living. The player will find the now Mind Walker infested Ipiprix standing over the spirit/memories of Ipiprix, being devoured by the Mind Walker’s children. The player will find at the opposite end of the room, a sheet of paper which reads: “Your secrets are laid bare. Vengeance will be had by those you have wronged. -C.” Stepping on said paper will prompt the player with the message:
You understand everything.
But at what cost?
“No trace of happiness remains in this accursed plane. The walls in the maze begin to shift...”
Going through the fresh hole opened into the wall, the player will arrive in a hallway containing three doorways which are labelled: Cure #28, Cure #4, and Cure #43 respectively. Each cure is labelled as a failure. After some of the redacted text, there will be words in brackets explaining what was most likely redacted.
Cure #28 contains a document sitting on a table, reading:
Cure #28
The Castaway
Discovered by: [REDACTED]
After years of investigating rumors of an immortal man on a deserted island, Dr. [REDACTED] managed to successfully pinpoint the location in the middle of the [REDACTED]. However, contact with the immortal man, known as [REDACTED] has proven to be completely fruitless. Whatever made the man immortal has clearly done tremendous damage to his mind. He is unable to talk about anything without bringing up his pet lobster Shelly and how they [REDACTED]. Naturally, further questions were ultimately fruitless.
Cure #4
“Eye of Immortius”
Administered by: [REDACTED]
[REDACTED] taken from an immortal being unfortunately. Instead of granting [REDACTED] the cure causes spontaneous combustion shortly after treatment. [REDACTED] thinks that it might only work for the [REDACTED]. Obtained at the Nephilim ruins in the [REDACTED]. The eye was forcibly removed from the [REDACTED] the last of the Nephilim.
Credit for this find goes to the Mental Assistance Department.
Cure #43
“Stoneman Potion”
Administered by: [REDACTED]
Immortality formula created by [REDACTED] by calcifying the subject’s tissues. This gives the subject a stony exterior, protecting them from danger and drastically increasing their life span. Unfortunately, testing has resulted in the subjects suffering [REDACTED] possibly because of the potion’s effect on the skull. Many subjects were rendered completely brain dead as a result. [REDACTED] believes that it would take an extraordinarily strong mind to survive. A few subjects were able to retain some basic low-level intelligence and appear to be able to move through the stone without consequence. [REDACTED] uses these subjects for manual labor since they are completely unable to return to society.
-INCIDENT REPORT-
Unknown intruder suspected to be [REDACTED] was caught investigating the vacation of an employee and drank some of the formula when cornered, allowing him to [REDACTED]. Current location unknown.
To proceed with Mental Assistance Department’s story, the player must return the immortal Nephilim, Immortius, his eye, by heading to In Ruina Eius De Nephilim.
History[]
Mental Assistance Department was created on June 27th, 2018. It has gone over quite a significant change since its inception, some videos revealing what M.A.D. looked like before it was remastered (Rover Myths’ video). Something that did not make the cut of these videos was the original Blasted Heath, which was accessed by obtaining the hammer and hammering at the well and hopping in. The game contained a block at the center of a room, clicking it caused many bodies to rain down on the player, burying them in the Blasted Heath. Not much else was of importance in that area, other than the cube itself. Besides the big changes, a more recent change was the telephone being added to the Department: an ingame tutorial. The latest update for the game took place on June 18th, 2021.
Trivia[]
- H.P. Lovecraft, whose books sit on a table in the offices, is known for the cosmic horror themes in his writings. These themes are also very prevalent throughout M.A.D (As they were Ipiprix’s main inspiration points when crafting the games, such as the Blasted Heath, Mountains of Madness, and Ipiprix’s Mind Walker possession).
- In each Mental Assistance Department game, the creatures known as Mind Walkers are hidden all over.
- A hammer can be found somewhere within the department. This is used in order to gain a certain secret item belonging to a series of items that are present in a few other M.A.D. related games.
- The Happiest Patients board includes the developers, people found in Ipiprix’s friendlist and True_Faces, a canonical patient.
- If the player attempts to access ALL before collecting all four memory cubes, they will receive a message on their attempted entry, and if players proceed into ALL, they will be kicked out momentarily with another message.
- After completing ALL, if the player returns to Mental Assistance Department, they will now have a red hole pierced into their forehead, from the Mind Walker that sent the player to ALL.
- By completing a certain prerequisite in the final M.A.D game, Jalcrl Nwm, a portal will have opened up near the well’s side of the Department, behind some rocky hills.
Theories[]
- The Mind Walkers seen all over M.A.D were the Travelling God, Corlonisk’s, Greatest Gift, a gift given to planet Earth.
- Hidden in a few locations inside of Traveler’s Sanctuary, the player will be able to locate some hidden notes from the group that supports Corlonisk, known as the Order Of Gifts. One of these notes states that after delivering his Greatest Gift, he rested for a long time. This gift could have possibly been inspired by/taken from bits of the other gifts, to conglomerate and become one large gift, and, theoretically, what the Mind Walkers are now.
- The first four gifts the player learns of in Traveler’s Sanctuary are the gifts of: Creation, Reality, Light, and Guidance. And each one of these gifts, in some way, can be connected to either how the Mind Walkers behave, or what abilities they have.
- Starting out with the gift of Guidance, a gift that was originally meant to lead the people of Hydrown to safety, became a lure, promising all who reached it anything they desire, while leading them into its gaping jaws, ready to receive another meal. This emotional manipulation, the way the gift began to lure others into becoming its next meals, are one of the Mind Walkers tactics when seeking out prey. They offered Immortius power unfathomable, and tricked him into killing off the rest of his kind, and in his distraught, unstable state, they leeched him of his happy memories and trapped him to be a meal for their kind for ages. The tower of liars, a tower of Mind Walkers taking advantage of Immortius. Besides this, the Mind Walkers used this same luring tactic with True_Faces, offering him a way to preserve the memories of his wife forever, a way to heal from the loss he incurred, but instead of delivering this wish, they trapped him for who knows how long, draining him of any happy memories, to be consumed by the children of the Mind Walkers.
- Secondly, the gift of Light was given to those that reside in Umbra, the Shade Lurkers. The world itself along with its residents rejected the gift, and tore it apart. The gift of Light only knew of Corlonisk’s grace in providing it to the Shade Lurkers, so to be rejected as it was, it developed its own form of disobedience. When the gift was made whole again by the player, it wished to erase the people it was meant to serve. The Shade Lurkers were seen as disgusting, dreadful traitors to Corlonisk by the gift of Light, so it wished to destroy all of Umbra and fill it with the light that Corlonisk had deemed what the world needed. Perhaps at some point, the Mind Walkers also wished to serve humanity, but were rejected, or perhaps misused, and they grew hatred for humanity, and wished to assimilate all into being food for their legion. Eventually they grew so corrupted that they no longer viewed the one who made them as a savior, or a graceful God, but a fool which made a mistake.
- Thirdly, the gift of Reality was initially meant to stabilize Abstrusia, a place which used to simply be streams of thoughts and colors which were unable to be properly perceived, everything was temporary, and thus ever chaotic. The gift of reality put the world into focus, allowing the chaos to settle and become what the player sees now. But something was leaking into Abstrusia, something that wished for the core keeping the world beautiful to die, it wanted to oversee control of Abstrusia on its lonesome without the core to remain as a guardian. When the player defeats the Core of Abstrusia, they expedite the wish of this ‘Urge’ to gain complete control over the land. Abstrusia went from a happy village of Klowns, to a large business conglomerate dedicated to siphoning and selling the happiness of its residents. The siphoning of color within the minds of the Klowns who wished to be happy once again, is essentially what the Mind Walkers were doing to True_Faces, they were siphoning him of his happiest memories, Cure #49, to keep their young fed while promising that the memories of his dead wife will be preserved for eternity.
- And lastly, the gift of Creation. This gift was given to Plectrum, a world of living instruments which lived happy lives, but were unable to reproduce. An infertile species doomed to extinction was saved by Corlonisk, who provided the instruments with The Woodworker. By feeding the Woodworker the wood within the tree it was residing in, it would produce living instruments for the townspeople. For a while this was a pure and simple process, but someday due to a corruption that was slowly but surely affecting all the gifts (The Urge), the Woodworker began to devour what seemed to be living wood, wood that we would see as human beings trying to live their own lives. The Woodworker would strip the wood and the string it up, and fill the wood with its own sound, an overriding music which would essentially take over the wood used in the process and control its thoughts and actions. The Mind Walkers did something similar to Doctor Ipiprix. By infesting his body with a Mind Walker, they were able to control him fully and used him to gain dozens more victims, to be food for their species. The Mind Walkers used people as tools to reproduce and maintain their species, just as the Woodworker used the living wood to reproduce living instruments.
- So if all of the gifts listed before had their original purposes changed over time, what was the original purpose of the Mind Walkers? Or, what gift did Corlonisk give Earth? Technology? Perhaps it was Technology, something which humanity uses to create a better world, but also something used to hurt, the nuclear bomb, firearms, created with the idea to hurt one another. How could the gift Corlonisk gifted to Earth sit and watch as it became the sole destructor of those it was meant to aid? It began to work to try and stop humanity from destroying itself, if everyone’s memories were preserved, perhaps we could start over? But the gift was corrupted, it began to grow a hatred for its God, a superiority complex over the people it was made to serve, and it wished for all to submit to its power. A legion dedicated to its own interests, a hivemind of creatures who wish suffering upon those that disobey them
Gallery[]
References[]
M.A.D. Before Remaster (Rover Myths)
ALL Before Remaster (Rover Myths)
Podcast with Mental Assistance Department
RMH Investigation Report: Mental Assistance Department (Game)