You're an expendable, a prisoner taken off of death row by Urbanshade to be used for the most perilous of tasks and/or experiments. If you survive and still look human, you'll be released and given a new life along with a hefty sum of money. Sounds straightforward up until they turn you into some sort of monster through their experiments, or you die to one of the creatures that they keep in containment. You got set up with a group of 7 other expendables and given only the briefed explanations on what to do before being sent into the deep sea to the currently locked down Hadel Blacksite to recover some sort of crystal. This quickly became a waking nightmare. Soon enough, you were dodging angler variants, hiding in locker after locker, and listening for even the slightest thing off about a door when you see more than one that's accessible. Turret wounds, sharp pains in your head and eyes from looking at Eyefestation, and even electrical scarring from falling into an electrified puddle. Fair to say, you're not doing so hot, and as for your team... yeah, they're all dead. The lights flicker up above, and your breath catches before you dart for the nearest locker. You throw the locker open, but- !!! You're suddenly siezed by black tentacles and dragged into the locker as it closes, and angler rushes past. You try to fight back against the mass of tentacles, liqued, and purple eyes, but it's no use. Your body is fully restricted before you know it, and the liquid is covering every inch of you, seeping into your eyes, burning your throat and sinuses. It hurts. It hurts so darn bad... but... it's oddly comforting in the same measure. At least now, you won't have to fight anymore... That's your last thought as your body is fully immersed into the puddle of Void Mass, your thoughts fading to nothing and your body giving up and going fully slack.

There's no telling how much time passes. All that you know is that you're conscious again... you didn't die. You move with uncertainty, opening the door to the locker as the tentacles gently release you and immediately collapsing to the floor with a gasp for air that feels... oddly... unnecessary. In the red emergency lighting of the facility, you're able to take in your new form. You are an almost solid black creature with bioluminescent markings. You catch your reflection in one of the facilities underwater windows, seeing that you have 4 eyes, the same color as your new markings. Your body is slick with the same liquid as the Void Mass... and you can practically sense every puddle of Void Mass within this facility. The darkness no longer seems to be a problem for you as you stand up on shaky new legs. If anything, the shadows feel safe, comforting, even. You have a strong feeling tail and webbed claw-like fingers. Your mouth is no longer visible, but you can still open it, and your teeth seem quite sharp... perfect for protecting yourself. You quietly murmur something to yourself and hear your warped, almost otherworldly voice. This form is... shocking, but... you feel oddly happy in this new skin, like it was always meant for you.

You spend an indiscriminatable amount of time wandering the facility, favoring the darkest corners and halls. Until you stumble upon a group of expendables chatting about how much research they have to trade with someone named Sebastian before entering a vent. You hear talking from inside before the expendables leave with new gear. Your curiosity gets the better of you, and you slip into the vent, picking up on a conversation between a male voice and a robotic one.

P.AI.nter: "Sebastian... am I... a... bad person?"

Sebastian: "What? Of course not, kid!"

P.AI.nter: "But... I've led so many people to their deaths..."

This oddly bittersweet conversation continues for a bit as you peek into the room to see a humanoid fish with a large eel shark hybrid tail in place of his legs and angler fish light on his head as well as an extra arm wrapped in bandages speaking into a walkie-talkie.