Asunder

Buried secrets are coming to light. Asunder is what happens when they emerge. The Chthonic is sailing toward an uncovered archaeological site — this is At the Mountains of Madness with a global warming twist. A lot more than permafrost is melting.

The passengers are summoned to a midnight ceremony led by Captain Dyer and Olivia, the ship's Cruise Director. The bride Emma stands trembling on the threshold of the ship's altar, surrounded by bridesmaids who chant in voices that are no longer their own. It's very unclear if they're still entirely human. The ceremony reveals the bride's secrets as well, inside and out. Hymns, harmonics, and tentacles all mingle around and inside her. Their supernatural guest warns of what lies down one more level — and the warning is prescient. The next level of the ceremony shows the new order blueprint behind the Dagon Dream Group, and it's at least as unsettling as the name indicates.

Within the Neuralverse, Asunder is a pivotal revelation. It exposes the dystopian vision at the heart of Deep Dream State and foreshadows the darker architectures of Incognitoh and Sitri Center. Every arc carries its fingerprints: ancient covenants and ecstatic surrender to a community bound together by darkness.

Series artwork for this arc was created by Echo Doll in collaboration with Neural Nets and Pretty Patterns. Deep Dream State uses human art at every stage of the creative supply chain.