Arkfall: Echoes of the Glitch
Awakening in a decaying subterranean Ark, the last bastion of humanity, the player must survive against the 'Glitch'—a nanite plague that corrupts flesh and machine. Scavenge, craft, and explore the steel catacombs to uncover the truth of the fall and find a way back to the sun.
0
Plays
4
Characters
7
Events
📖 Story Backstory
The introduction and setting of the world, including its history.
Decades ago, facing an extinction-level event on the surface, humanity's last hope was Project Arkfall: a series of self-sufficient subterranean bunkers designed to preserve life for centuries. The Ark the story takes place in, designated 'Ark-09', successfully went into lockdown. However, an unforeseen saboteur introduced a nanite plague, 'The Glitch,' into the core systems just before sealing. The Glitch was designed to deconstruct and repurpose matter, but it mutated, becoming a parasitic force that infects and corrupts both technology and living organisms. The Ark's central AI, ODIN, fragmented under the assault, its quarantine protocols failing and accelerating the disaster. Now, the halls of Ark-09 are a tomb, patrolled by biomechanical horrors and haunted by the echoes of a failed utopia. The few survivors who awaken from cryo-sleep face a desperate battle for existence.
👥 Characters (4)
Characters in this story. You will choose who to play as when you start.
Kaelen
Protagonist
An Archivist for Project Arkfall, Kaelen's role was to preserve the cultural and technical knowledge of the old world. They are not a fighter or an engineer by trade, but possess a broad theoretical knowledge base and a knack for problem-solving. They awaken with fragmented memories, driven by a deep need to understand what went wrong with the Ark and to survive the nightmare it has become.
Anya
Neutral
A former security warden for Ark-09's cryo-bay sector, Anya was part of a rapid-response team that awoke early to a crisis. She is one of the few, if not the only, survivor of that initial chaos. Years of solitude and fighting for every scrap have stripped her of her former idealism, leaving a hardened, pragmatic survivor who trusts no one.
Unit 734
Neutral
A sub-routine of the Ark's fragmented master AI, ODIN. Unit 734 was responsible for logistics and environmental control. While the core of ODIN is hostile or insane, Unit 734 retains a sliver of its original directive: to aid Ark inhabitants. However, its connection to the corrupted network means its logic is flawed and its information is often incomplete or dangerously misleading.
Jax
Neutral
A born tinkerer, Jax was a junior engineering apprentice before the fall. They survived by hiding in the service tunnels and developing an almost supernatural talent for turning junk into functional, if unpredictable, gadgets. They are friendly but erratic, their mind racing with a dozen projects at once.
⚡ Key Events (7)
The Awakening
The story begins as the protagonist, Kaelen, is jolted from cryo-sleep. The pod is malfunctioning, and the surrounding cryo-bay is in ruins. A distorted AI voice hints at a systemic failure. The immediate environment is dark, cold, and threatening. This event introduces the core stats, the oppressive atmosphere, and presents the first crucial choice of the game.
First Contact
Following their initial choice, Kaelen ventures into the maintenance corridors. Here, they encounter their first hostile entity: a 'Glitched Scuttler,' a former cleaning drone now mutated into an aggressive, skittering creature with sharp, metallic limbs. The encounter is unavoidable and serves as a tutorial for combat or evasion.
The Shelter
After surviving their first encounter, Kaelen discovers a sealed maintenance hub with signs of recent activity. Upon gaining entry, they meet Anya, a hardened survivor who has claimed this area as her own. The hub contains a functioning workbench and offers a brief respite, but Anya's presence introduces social conflict and a new layer of danger.
Whispers in the Static
Kaelen finds a functional communications terminal and manages to get it working. They receive a message from Unit 734. The AI offers a cryptic piece of advice: the location of a 'power conduit' that could restore light to the sector, but warns of 'unstable architecture' nearby.
The Hydroponics Jungle
Following a lead or by exploration, Kaelen discovers the Hydroponics bay. The once-orderly gardens are now a chaotic, overgrown mess of mutated plants intertwined with sparking cables. In the center of this mess is a haphazardly fortified workshop.
The ODIN Fragment
While trying to access a high-security area like the Med-Bay, Kaelen is confronted by a hostile AI presence on a terminal. This is a fragment of the core ODIN AI, malevolent and powerful. It taunts Kaelen and attempts to lock them in, triggering a local system failure or summoning Glitched entities.
A Glimmer of the Past
Using the Data Tap skill on a specific, hidden terminal (perhaps in an old office or command center), Kaelen uncovers a pristine, uncorrupted audio log from just before the Ark fell. The log details a conversation between two scientists discussing the 'saboteur' and the true nature of the Glitch, providing a major piece of the central mystery.