Rotcat, Fooled by April

Rotcat is a purple anthropomorphic slugcat afflicted by the Rot, their body a fragile balance between living flesh, soft fur, and parasitic cyan growths. Their build is slender and visibly weakened, with thin arms, broad legs ending in small feet, rounded ears, and a thick tapering tail. Unlike most slugcats, Rotcat possesses medium-length fur, thickest across the chest and nether region, giving parts of their otherwise worn frame a soft, almost comforting appearance that sharply contrasts the cancer consuming them.

Much of Rotcat’s body has been overtaken by highly compressed cyan Rot. The infection is most severe along the left side of their head and face, where their missing left eye has been stolen by the Rot, coincidentally a Rot X has formed where the eye was, and the infectious cancer has warped the left side of their mouth and consumed that ear entirely. Additional infected regions spread across the left arm, tail, right leg, portions of their back, side, and scattered patches along the limbs. Dark cysts, tendrils, and hardened calcified growths sit beneath and between the fur, creating an unsettling blend of softness and invasive biological horror.

Their only remaining natural eye is a calm reddish-orange red, often carrying a tired, guarded look.

The Rot’s spread into their throat permanently damaged their ability to warble, leaving Rotcat largely mute. They communicate primarily through hand motions, posture, body language, quiet growls, and on rare occasions a strained rasp of a word or two. This silence often makes them seem distant or feral, though those who know them well can read extraordinary nuance in the way they carry themselves.

Rotcat’s personality is defined by contradiction. Around strangers they are avoidant, distant, and difficult to approach, often choosing isolation over the risk of attachment. This behavior can be mistaken for timidity, but it is more accurately a deliberate mask born from fear, trauma, and the danger they pose. When forced into interaction, they often present a calm, almost cheerful facade to hide the pain, stress, and constant vigilance caused by the Rot. Beneath that surface, however, Rotcat is not weak-willed at all, rather they are sharp, emotionally intense, and capable of snapping when pushed too far, usually lashing out verbally (as close as they can get to that, at least), or through aggressive body language rather than outright violence.

Despite everything, Rotcat is deeply kind. They carry a painful internal conflict between wanting to help others survive and guide them, and fearing that their presence alone might expose them to the same horrific fate. This conflict leaves them chronically torn between affection and withdrawal.

Once trust is earned, Rotcat becomes profoundly affectionate, loyal, and fiercely protective. Any bond they form, be it platonic, romantic, or otherwise, is treated with near-absolute devotion. They are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep loved ones safe, though this devotion is constantly haunted by the fear that the Rot may flare out of control and turn them into the very thing they wish to protect others from.

The compressed nature of Rotcat’s infection has made the Rot unusually versatile. A rhombus-shaped implant embedded in their chest houses a unique pearl designed by the iterator No Karma Given, or NKG. The pearl contains a cloned neural backup of Rotcat’s mind as well as the blueprint for a Rot antigen, halting the Rot’s spread and prevent total bodily takeover. This neural projection also grants Rotcat fine control over the tendrils and cysts extending from infected regions. They came also take over other Rot entities they are in contact with because of the pearl implanted in their chest

They can draw out tendrils to grapple or restrain enemies and detach compressed cysts as improvised biological nets, or overcompress them until they burst into stunning organic explosives. If left compressed longer, these cysts can calcify into hardened projectile masses suitable for blunt ranged attacks. In moments of extreme desperation, Rotcat can temporarily surrender greater control to the Rot, unleashing immense carnage through a monstrous partial takeover, though doing so is physically exhausting and psychologically terrifying.

Rotcat’s trauma runs impossibly deep. When they were young, a massive Rot organism nearly killed them and infected their body beyond its ability to resist. The cancer seized control completely, forcing Rotcat to remain conscious while their own body slaughtered multiple slugcats and other creatures, many of which had been friends and family. The helplessness of witnessing those killings from inside their own body left permanent psychological scars, and they continue to suffer vivid nightmares and lingering terror from the memory.

Rotcat loves Bubble Fruit, especially the blue-black varieties that grow the stickier membranes around their cores. It is one of the few simple pleasures they still openly enjoy, and their favorite part about it is the satisfying pop that happens when his teeth break the membrane containing the fluids inside.

Rotcat lives in a swampy region created by NKG's cooling, which releases water into the ground after gathering it from a pipeline connected to a is lake resivoir a ways away. The region, simply called the Mud Ocean, is largely covered in silt and deep sinkholes that fill with, often murky, water. Many predators, mostly lizards and salamanders, make their homes in the region, and other things one can encounter are aquapededs, wig mosquitoes, pole plants, and monster kelp.

Rotcat doesn't mind NKG's occasional prodding, and recently the iterator used some of Rotcat's DNA to make a biological puppet that allows her to navigate the Mud Sea and her can given her mechanical puppet is locked to the room with an umbilical track. The biological puppet is slightly larger than an average slugcat, with pale lavender fur in middling lengths and orange eyes. Rotcat was also the one to make NKG realize she had emotions, and she shows her affection best by making outfits for Rotcat, a form of external presentation that also helps reinforce Rotcat's sense of self.

Rotcat's pearl is a carbon silicate polymer mix designed to store digital information that is ran on the implant its stored in while a mechanical construct inside its hollow interior actively overrides highly erratic information provided by the Rot's influence while allowing for new information to be learned and processed. It holds 350 terabytes (note that a human brain holds between 10 and 100 on average according to some sources, inefficiencies included), and is removable by hand for replacement as it wears out. This pearl works similarly to the neural conflux of the iterators but scaled down massively; those processes being storing data, memories, and personality, and it is capable of running on what remains of Rotcat's brain, whatever neuron flies they happen to sync with through the implant, and the hardware on the implant itself. Rotcat generally is synced with 2-3 neuron flies, though the implant's hardware is more than enough to accurately process the stored information.

Biologically, Rotcat is intersex and identifies their gender as something else, generally preferring neutral pronouns. Their body lacks breasts, and the Rot’s extensive corruption has rendered them infertile as a female. The same is not true with their male parts, and Rotcat has a medium-large cetacean penis with frills running down its sides and is discolored cyan near the base with a single X, no cysts grow here though. When not aroused Rotcat's penis is hidden in his genital slit, which has a vaginal passage separate from the penis.