Leyak

Leyak is a hostile entity that appears after entering XR Containment in Cascade Laboratories.

Description

The Leyak is an entity of flesh, appearing to consist of a reddish flesh-covered skull with three eyes, with matted locks of black hair hanging off its scalp, as well as a partial spinal column and six ribs (three on each side). The top of its half mouth consists of sharp, fang-like teeth. It has multiple whitish tentacles hanging from its head and appears to have a large pair of lungs.

It traverses the environment by hovering. It will almost always face the target player, even when the player is not within line of sight of the entity unless it is being observed. It may, however, turn if the player gets too close.

Mechanics

The Leyak will move only when not within a direct line of sight or if beyond a certain distance. This includes when it is slightly obscured via windows. It cannot pass through walls, but it can pass through player-placed deployables and open doors. Despite this, the Leyak cannot kick doors. Using a Deployable Object to prevent the door from being fully opened will stop the Leyak. It emits a variety of short vocalizations that resemble sighs or moans.

It can be repelled with the X-Ray Tower or X-Ray Lamp (dropping Leyak Essence after doing so) or by the player staring at it unobstructed by any objects. Doors, windows, and fences do not seem to count. It will de-manifest and vanish after approximately 10-30 seconds in direct line of sight.

It will seemingly only target one person at a time, and during that time it will only be visible to that player. Additionally, it will continue to target that person for a long time but eventually does change the target, even if the current target remains available and no one eats any Greyeb. It changes the target if its current target goes into a portal world or is killed.

If the Leyak appears and its target goes to sleep, a pixelated sprite of the Leyak will appear in the target's dream. The dream equivalent will eventually catch up with its target (moving based on the distance of the actual Leyak), waking the target in the process.

Should its target get too close, the Leyak will begin to attack them, emitting a wheezing sound. This attack ignores armor entirely. It will give chase if the player manages to distance themselves from this attack, even if the player is staring directly at them. When this occurs, an x-ray device is the only way to stop the Leyak from moving. However, staring will still make it disappear.

It cannot be harmed by conventional means and will re-manifest every 7.5 in-game hours (15 minutes of real time). It is also attracted to anyone who consumes Greyeb or Greyeb Chowder. It has not yet been verified whether this will enable it to switch targets. It also seems to have a smaller rest period between manifestations when the target is under the effect.

Equipping the Sensory Companion will mostly protect the player from the Leyak, as it always acts as if it being observed, though an unwary or unlucky player may still trigger its aggression by approaching or rounding a corner. Kylie also indirectly offers some protection, as she will comment on (somehow) hearing it approach.

The Leyak can be contained with the Containment Unit: 91 by drawing the Leyak near and blasting it with an X-Ray Lamp or X-Ray Tower. If done correctly, the Leyak will be seen inside the Containment Unit: 91. However, the containment needs to be regularly fuel with Greyeb to keep the Leyak from escaping. The amount of Greyeb will be shown by two red bars, with multiple segments. One segment will deplete each day, with a fully fueled Containment Unit: 91 lasting one in-game week. Only two Greyeb are required to fully fuel containment. Leyak Essence will drop every once in a while from the chute.

Trivia

• The Leyak is based on the creature of the same name from Balinese folklore. According to legend, the Leyak takes the form of a severed head attached to dangling entrails, similar to the appearance of IS-0091 in-game. Recordings by Dr. Manse confirms this connection, stating that IS-0091 was discovered in Indonesia and received its name from the locals.
  • The death message ([player] was widowed) points that the Leyak is connected to Rangda, the demon queen of Leyaks, whose name translates to "widow."
• Despite first being seen by Dr. Stern, Dr. Riggs is given the credit in the files. It is unclear whether this is a result of the physio-psychological trauma induced by the Leyak during its containment because Dr. Riggs was the head of the team that encountered it or some other reason. It is also implied in "The First Week" update that Dr. Stern is seen as a go-to to inquire about the Leyak, despite him suffering a panic attack.
• The update notes for v0.8.1 explain the increased appearance rate of the Leyak as Dr. Thule installing a device called an "X-Resonator."
  • Before this update, the Leyak appeared less often and stopped appearing entirely after a few hours of gameplay.
  • Thule is mentioned again in the notes for a hotfix for this update, which fixed multiple instances of the Leyak appearing at once, one right after the other; Thule has adjusted the "XR tracker" to fix it. Curiously, this note mentions the possibility of two other Leyaks existing, not even Manse knowing where they are.
    • This is yet another tie-in to Balinese folklore, which includes three legendary Leyak.
• Given the effects of Greyeb, as well as the fact that IS-0098 can yield Leyak Essence when butchered, it is probable that the Leyak shares the same origin: Anteverse 33, also known as the "Flesh Dimension."
• Before 0.8.2, the Leyak made a feminine-sounding soft scream when spawning.
• If a player being followed by a Leyak goes to sleep, it will appear in the dream, as it is purely based on the Leyak's proximity to the player.

Gallery

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  The Leyak being observed after opening a door.
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  The Leyak from the side.
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  The Leyak from a back view.
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  The Leyak's compendium image.
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  The Leyak as seen in the Sleeping Minigame.