Sentience
You do not know who you are.
Your memories only go five years back, to when you woke up in a subterranean tunnel system with nothing but a name. Now you reside in the Holy City, capital of a post-apocalyptic world ruled by a faction called the Religious.
After a near-death experience at the hands of a crazed angel, you're suddenly thrust into a building conspiracy surrounding a corpse-worshiping cult, divinely mad saints, and something buried far, far beneath the earth.
To top it all off, you're being plagued by nightmares you can't explain, as well as your rapidly returning memories.
Or… someone's memories, anyway.
Features
- Choose your first name, gender, and appearance.
- Customize your character's personality, including their opinions on magic and the Religious.
- Make choices that affect the plot, other characters, and even your own sanity.
- Unravel the history of the Religious and the apocalypse they claim to have brought the world back from
Characters
The Mercenary: Val (nb/m/f)
A hired blade with a chaotic streak, as well as the closest thing you have to a friend. Easy-going and unpredictable, Val is usually the one to get you into trouble, but is always there to get you out of it.
The Handmaiden: Klaus Kirkhall (m)
A high-ranking member of the Religious. Klaus is pragmatic with a dry sense of humor, but takes his responsibilities deeply seriously. You get the intense feeling he know something - many things - that you don't.
The Priestess: Ira Auclair (nb)
A priestess working in the lower districts of the Holy City, extremely devout and deeply interested in the history and lore of the Religious. They spend their time searching archives to fuel their (slightly blasphemous) theories.
The Spy: Kat Saxon (f)
Claims to be a priestess, but is barely trying to hide the fact that she's clearly anything but. Her merciless stare and unshakeable confidence dare anyone to call out her suspect nature.
The Muscle: Dane/Dana Constantine (m/f)
An officer of the Blessed Guard, working directly under Klaus. Constantine is quick to anger, and is an absolute brick wall when challenged. While deeply loyal, Constantine isn't afraid to give their employer a piece of their mind.
Available: Prologue, Chapters 1-5, ~190,000 words
Content warnings: violence, blood, heavy religious themes
Follow along on tumblr: sentience-if.tumblr.com
Development log
- interlude #126 days ago
- Chapter 547 days ago
- Chapter 4Aug 18, 2024
- surpriseApr 14, 2024
- Chapter 3Oct 04, 2023
- Chapter 3.5Jul 23, 2023
- Chapter 2Jul 08, 2023
Comments
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I am just gonna be sitting at my computer staring at this tab until chapter 6 comes out istg im going insane
OMG THE INTERLUDE IM EXPLODING ( ´ཀ` )( ´ཀ` )( ´ཀ` ) Val's so sweet I'd kill for him frfr
WHATTTT THIS IS A ANOTHER MASTERPIECE WTF IM LOVING THIS SO FAR OMGGGGG
That interlude!!! So excited for more!
OH MY GOD THE INTERLUDE IS DRIVING ME INSANE!! /po
THAT INTERLUDE. HAS GOT ME GOIN. FCKN NUTS!!!! How am I meant to pick anyone else but Val, how.
THAT ENDING UGGHHH I GOT SHIVERS... val just give me ONE chance 🙏🏻
Update was absolute brilliance
Oh yeah, I just wanted to comment as a "I knew it" if it turns out to be true, but (spoilers) IO is In Out Device (input/output) isn't it lol
;)
That first string of binary saying "io r u there" !!!! You clever clever bastard-
The binary codes actually translate to something? Wtffff how do we translate
Binary represents data, and you can translate sets of ones and zeros into letters. For example "01001000" is the letter H so the word hey would be written as "01001000 01100101 01111001" with spaces separating letters. You could manually translate it but I'd recommend just using an online translator.
omggg used a translator, actual chills
Just read this IF in one sitting and I have a feeling I'm gonna dream about this (it's 3 am rn)
I absolutely loved every second of this and I can't wait for chapter 6 to leave me with even more questions!!!
HOLY CLIFFHANGER!!! I am so sad that I found this as soon as I did because this just means that I have to wait for more, haha. Seriously, this is so good! I love being a little strange creature that is actually super important. I'll be patiently waiting for more!
Also, I named my character Saint as a joke, but...
I need a walkthrough fr😂
The update was amazing as always! I absolutely love this so much and cannot wait for more!
Ending had me absolutely frothing at the mouth and screaming. Excellent as always, can’t wait for chapter 6!
Great read! super excited for the next chapter
this is SO interesting. i'm a massive fan of theology-based worldbuilding and the protagonist is so unique and fun to characterize!! huge huge fan of being able to make them less human lol
additionally, i love the way the relationships can be approached! the characters all really feel so vibrant and new
genuinley, this is one of the best pieces of fiction ive literally ever read. what the fuck. so many parts of this hit so hard and the fucking prose. jesus. wow. im absolutely vibrating in place because i neeeed more. like take your time and breaks and such but also. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was great to read! I can't wait to see more of this beautiful worldbuilding, as well as the characters you've managed to make so interesting. This is definitely going to be an IF I'll be thinking about for a while :)
I'm so excited for the next update! I love this wip
Same! This is already so good, and I'm already so invested!
Val is so very dear to me; if they were a worm I’d carry them in a comfy little jar in my shirt pocket
Very alien horror movie, i love it
going feral for this IF istg, i love the drama that stirs between mc and Constantine(?[forgot how to spell]) when specific choices are chosen. i need more
substancesustenance, please /nfThis IF is so good!! Utterly obsessed with Val AND whatever the MC has going on, I can't wait to find out more about them! Also as a mf with religious trauma all the eerie religious themes hit close to home in a really good way lol. Can't wait to read more, definitely putting this on the list of my favourite IFs omg
Wow, this is so aweseome.
The mystery about MCs past (I love stories where you discover parts of your MC), and the ROs that feel really fleshed out.
Also the dialogues with the ROs feel lively and I'm sure each RO has so many character traits to discover. In other IFs when there are scenes with more ROs they sometimes feel hollow because they don't interact with each other (because it's harder to write with all the RO variables), here it doesn't feel like that at all and you can see that the scene where choosing a companion to go back to the theater are written for every RO extra and not written once and peppered with random comments of ROs. This takes much more effort, but it shows in the quality and is appreciated.
yipeee more of my favorite game about pretty women watching me have a very gradual mental breakdown.
Also, it seems like the pronouns for Constantine weren't properly assigned for them rewrapping your bandage.
lmao thank you :^). and the pronoun issue should be fixed
did i find an easter egg?
😭 it means I didn't find all the loopholes for getting out of a certain conversation
Update was amazing as always! So excited for this story and to see where it goes!
:) :)
Absolutely loved the update! Excited for more!
UPDATE 🤩🤩🤩🤩
I will look forward to the day of an update
I need more of that dumbass Val
😏
I need more!!!
This is amazing!
GODDAMN this is good, the player is a menace (affectionate) and i wont lie. i played this multiple times bc the premise and the writing and the plot is fucking AWESOME and i love this a lot. love annoying constantine and will continue to do so because its very funny to me. hope your life is doing good and remember to take breaks !! <3
thank you!! :)
give
me
more
😭💕 That ending cuddle scene with Val is just UGHHHH
well if you insist 🤔
This game has given me brain rot, I'm obsessed with this entirely and am foaming at the mouth for more. I need to know everything about this. Love the story and can't wait to see what you do next! :DDD
<3
if u like this if and haven't seen the author's blog i think you should, she posts a looot of cool lore and sometimes pieces of chapters yet to be out
<3
I adore the creechur vibe the mc has, and how they don't understand why people stay indoors at night because they were 'born' underground wandering in the dark xD I've always craved for an IF where you can innocently be not quite human like -- ever so slightly uncanny. Like how I often felt as a neurodivergeant person.
Hi! I'm loving the story so far and cant wait for more. With the newest update where you stay with Val if you choose that you're "bullied into taking the bed." after the nightmare thing it still has you on the couch after waking up. As if you didnt fall asleep in the bed. (This maybe an error or I missed something.)
whoops, yeah that was an error. Should be fixed now!
The update was great and I look forward to each one!