I̝̻̣̱͖͚͗̈̆̕T̤̞̠͎̘̜̤ͬͭ̋ͬ͂̃̇́ ̣̱̳̗̋̾̑ͥͥ̀B̮̺͇̝̼̺ͯ͌̾͗̿͋Ē̝̞̼̣̻͙̙̒ͭG͓̜̅͐̽̐͞Ï̜̳̥ͯN̯͙̮ͧ̀Sͫ͐̂͏͖

[strangerpeople]

I͔T̫͉̄ͮͮͪͧ ̲̜̪̥̓̈́͂̚̚B̫̲̼͕̦͓͕ͩ̏̊͆E̥̱͚̦͓̍G̠̬͓̟̥ͪͣ͆ͬ̓I̅ͯͣ̿N͐̉̎̂ͫͧS͑͆̒ͣ̆


[There is a blight in the vineyard.

It started without warning, deep into the crop. No one noticed. The blight was an insidious little thing, cultivating itself in the weaker vines over the long winter. Then, when summer came, it struck, and there was no stopping it.

The farmers could only watch the blight ravage their gardens. Grapes shriveled up by the bunch, day by day. Sometimes, it would be hours between the time a perfectly healthy vine caught it, and the time when the fruit was little more than black ash and slag. The problem was so serious that it threatened the very future of the business. It was all the farmers could do to try and isolate the sections of the vineyard still healthy, and the parts that were as good as dead.

Then, one day, it happened. The business recieved a phone call.

The blight was no longer just in their vineyard. It had spread to neighboring farms, and everyone was demanding answers. Yours could not have been where it started. It just couldn't have been.

Where did this pestilence come from? Could it be stopped?

You do not know, and you fear what the answer may be.



-



Good morning, Strangers.

Wake up. Look around. Do you feel like this might be familiar? Not your surroundings, but the circumstances. Do you feel the fear in your stomach? Do you sense the wrongness that permeates the air?

You should. Because your gut is right. You are exactly in what you think you are. Right now, there is no other explanation. There is only the sureness of experience informing you that you have been plunged into a game, once more without your consent. A game where blood will be spilled, and death will happen.

The only other thing you are sure of are the thoughts that pop up when you think of your circumstances. No matter what you do, you cannot shake the finality, the truth of what you are thinking. You cannot deny your own beliefs, after all, when they are so embedded, so imprinted on you, that they are as a part of you as anything else, like your face, or fingers, or hair.

And so perhaps you remind yourself, as you ready yourself to leave the house, of the truths you know to be real.



So steel yourselves, Strangers. You know what to expect; there will be others like you, trapped here. Maybe it will, this time, be for forever.

So welcome, one and all. Welcome to the City at the very End, in the eye, the center. A City that gave in long before the code distorted and collapsed and unleashed a virus on reality. Make yourselves comfortable.

You are not going


an̛͡y͠҉w̸h̢ȩ͢r̸͝e̸.]

Comments

[otherworldlyking]

[ McBurn was really getting right into it too, given that he felt that things were only continuing to heat up, considering the way the brunet was facilitating the fight. Though, to say he could anticipate Hiyori's next move would be a lie, and so he witnessed what happened when the other pulled that ridiculous move.

Or maybe he could term it as ridiculously clever, even if it was 'cheating', and as those black eyes meet with his, the two locked quite closely in their battle, he's more attentive than ever.

Though, the brunette's unexpected assist came right in just right about then, and even if McBurn didn't ask, he could see it's produced another interesting result. ]

That's too bad, I was gettin' real into it too.

[ But he didn't seem interested in attacking further. For now. ]

But that's your limit, is it?

[mermaidkin]

...I guess we'd... have to fight again to be sure.

[He sounds almost boyishly awkward, not used to so much stimulation and hesitant about the possibility of losing face.]

We have so many toys from all kinds of worlds, though we do try to converge on the optimal choice instead of waste time on variety. [That's some more salesman talk.

He puts the two rods back into the sides of his suit. He rebuttons it, lingering.]

To be honest, this might be the limit of how much time we have left in the schedule just to talk today. Link, what do you think? Have we verified that the strangers are likely to remain happy and comfortable?

[champion_link]

I believe so. They should be all right for now. Clothed, fed, with comfortable housing and some answers to their questions.

We have other things on our schedule, after all.

[mermaidkin]

Yup! On the second floor of the building! See you there, Link!

[And yet, they're beginning to walk off in the same direction, without losing sight of one another; by the time they get back inside the building, they're powerwalking with simultaneously reverberating footsteps at an eerily brisk speed, just above the level of a typical human sprint. The voices ring out, together.]

Have a pleasant night, strangers!

[champion_link]

[Of course they're in sync, the footsteps matching up perfectly. It's very fast, but still enough to be heard.]

Have a pleasant night, strangers!

[And away they go. Where to? Well, the door closes. After that... who knows?]