W̧E̷E̡̕K ͡3̴

[strangerpeople]

W̛E̷͞E̶̵K͏͘͠ 3̸̡

[You got a phone call that morning. It wasn't the realtor for the vineyard, like you had thought. Instead, it was a scientist.

She offered you something you hadn't ever expected: hope.

"I think I've pinpointed where this blight has come from, and how it became so virulent. You were among the first whose crop was infected-I wish to speak to you personally about it."

You meet in a car, and drive to an isolated road. She will not take any chance to speak publicly about it-not yet. She doesn't want to release the information until she is certain. But she felt honor-bound to explain to you, given your own importance in her research. You hadn't known she had sampled your dead and dying grapes, but she did.

"This blight..." She opens a folder, showing you the photos. "Started with a gopher, several years ago. I know, it sounds insane. This disease should only affect certain animal species. But one day, it jumped into vines...the original gopher died a long time ago. But not before it had eaten an entire cluster of grapes in one swallow. It ended up scratching itself on the trellis of the grapevine as it choked to death. Its blood, its body decayed, and helped to water and fertilize that strain of grapes the next year or so, and...well, the seeds from those buds that resulted were sent out to every farm in the area. Then, to every farm in the country, different regions..."

That sounded insane. This woman's theory sounded utterly bonkers. But you can't dismiss it out of hand-you have no better answer.

Before you can say anything more, the woman's phone rings. She answers, and you see her face turn white. You don't have to guess why.

Before, the theoretical gopher had infected the grapes with the blight.

Now, the blight had claimed its first human victim.


-


[The morning hurts. It hurts to know that, even dead, there was that final, terrible moment for the Embarrassing and the Nagging. It must hurt more to know that this will continue, and that there is something out there that is invested in ensuring each and every last one of the Strangers are, if not dead, than broken.

And then, there is IT. IT is the enemy, it seems. But...what is IT? Is IT the one truly responsible? How?

As you try to think on it, you remember your truths, and suddenly, you realize, another has changed:




[That you would. Can you? You know that, whatever your answer, you must find a way to the truth. The alternative is too horrible to even contemplate-if it is even possible to be comprehended. After all-if what you saw is what happens to the dead and condemned, what will become of the living at the hands of the terrible, unknown IT who is your jailer?

Hope that you do not have to find out. Hope there is an answer in the new floor that has opened up in the Building. Otherwise...otherwise you really are doomed.


There are 13 strangers in this place.]

Comments

INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

ROOM FULL OF LASERS

[carryabigstick]

[Hooooooly crap! This is like. The ultimate training situation. With bo staff in hand she's ready. All of her Bracer training has prepared her for this moment.

Traps and lasers prepare yourself. She's ready for you!!!]

1d100 = (94) = 94

[strangerpeople]

[FIRST HURDLE: CLEAR! Very clear. The first set of lasers don't even get near to touching her!]

[carryabigstick]

[Heck yeah!! One down, nine to go-- gotta keep it up!]

LABORATORY

[katzenpfote]

[... Huh. What’s this? He steps in and looks around. Does it look like the apocathery from their first stop?]

[strangerpeople]

[Yes.]

[katzenpfote]

[Are there any recipes around?]

GYM

[otherworldlyking]

[ What a nice place to come in for some sparring...so let's check it out.

First, though. Anything of note besides the dried blood? ]

Re: GYM

[strangerpeople]

[It's definitely abandoned, for some reason. And in some of the lockers and cubbies, Burnie will find some school uniforms.

They don't seem to be related to anything, though, other than...whoever abandoned these uniforms abandoned them some time ago, and are covered with dust.]

[otherworldlyking]

[ That's interesting and surprising.

You'd think someone would want to get a lot of use out of this gym, but eh...oh well. He'll take a picture of the school uniforms.

Anyway, anything odd about those dried blood stains by the by? Now that he's checked out other things that were immediately obvious. ]

BALLROOM

[poorlovefool]

[this looks like a good place to listen to fly me to the moon!! although he's a bit sad he doesn't have a partner, it's fine cause he can't dance that well anyway. still, what's around. any witches to tango with]

[strangerpeople]

[Funny you should say that, Eric.

As he walks around, he will notice a cupboard. There is something gleaming in there.]

[poorlovefool]

[ i see, something shiny is in that cupboard over there. perhaps he can add it to his small collection of light-themed paraphernalia...?

but assuming this is a glass cupboard, he'll approach and look at it through the glass first.]

Vision attempt

[incendiarize]

[Are you there, Mr. Angel? It's me, Arthuret.]

Belligerent and Uncooperative (cw: mind control) (A Wrinkle in Time spoilers)

[strangerpeople]

[He was slipping fast.

He had been way too arrogant, and now, he was paying the price. He should have listened to the warning he'd been given as they'd come here. They were in a room similar to the one used for the trial, but really, he wasn't there anymore with his sister and her friend. Physically, maybe.

But otherwise? He was a fool.

"...the danger here is greatest for you.”

“Why?”

“Because of what you are. Just exactly because of what you are you will be by far the most vulnerable."

And here he was. The red fog overtook him, because he had willingly let it. He thought he'd be able to get out on his own, but the Man With The Red Eyes was a direct conduit of the monster that ruled this planet. Camazotz. It was named so aptly.

The evil filled his mind, stifling him until he could only drown in darkness, clawing ineffectually at the wall, and soon, it was not him in control anymore.

"Beware of pride and arrogance, Charles, for they may betray you."

No-IT was him now, embedded deeply under his skin and in his mind, clawing at his memories and emotions, mining for the things that made him him and weaponizing them for ITs own use. This was what they had meant. He was special, different, and now...now...

He could only watch, like a spectator in a movie, as he turned away from the Man, a sharp smile on his face, his irises little more than swirling blue in his eyes. It was a horror to experience, and he tried to leave. The Man was wrong about what would happen after he turned to IT, have himself to him to try and understand what IT was-he wanted to leave this.

But he couldn't.]

Co̸̕M̨e͠ ̢O̢͠ń͡ Ḿ͢e̶͟G̴͝.͘

[Oh God no. This was not his voice, he was not speaking, and the look on his sister's face was proof that she knew.]

ę̢̀A̵͞t̢ ̵̛Th̷Is͠ ̛De͏̨LiCì͠͞O̸̢͠ù̡S̸͡ ̡̕͠f̡O̧̕ò̡D͠͏ t̷H̨́a̶T҉ ̨͘҉h̀A͜͏́s͟ B͘͝éE͟n̷̨͞ ̨Pr̴͢E҉p̶̕A͘͜r̷E͢͞d̶͞ ͏͘͝F̧̀o̸Ŗ͜ ù͟S̸͢~̀͘

[Then, all at once, a blink. Arthur is no longer seeing it through red fog, but from a passive distance, as the frizzy-haired girl shrieks "No! NO!!" and dashes a plate of turkey and sides on the ground. Shadowy smocked men come in to replace the plate, and the little boy he'd been seeing in most of his visions devours it hungrily, eyes practically glowing from the lack of pupils. The girl cries out as she turns to the other, older boy.

"That isn’t Charles! Charles is--!”

Then, the boy named Charles stops, neatly putting his utensils on the table, and shakes his head. Everything freezes like a 3D mosaic in all its horror and sadness, and he looks up, his eyes back to normal.]

Listen...I really am sorry you have to see this part of my memory. But I anticipated you'd jump back through with your power, so I wanted to try and follow you. Be ready with something more proper to your situation, I guess, knowing what I know. Not that any of this is really proper.

I wish you could stay longer and I could tell you everything more fully, but I know the enemy is going to try and hijack you if I do that. Still...let me tell you this.

Whatever you're being told about IT?

Don't listen. Please. If you do...

[The vision begins to recede. Howling blackness begins to seep into the corners of the memory, and the boy's eyes widened.]

...It will be bad! Quick! Back to the present!!

[A shove like into cold water, and suddenly Arthur is back in the present. He can almost still smell the turkey in the air as he adjusts back to his true location.]

[incendiarize]

[He shouts. He can't help it. He'd been smart and stayed seated this time, safe on the couch in Caleb's house, no risk of concussion. It wasn't nearly as sudden this time, either.

But all the same, the mental water is frigid and the content of the vision disturbing. There's a lot to unpack. There's so much there. But for now all Arthur can do is lay back and tremble. For many, many reasons.]

TOY IS YOU

[unwittingking]

[He’s not actively seeking people out today. Not after the trial’s disaster. Instead, at one point, he’s looking around here, to see if the people behind this decided to leave clues in the most innocuous place. After all, why would anyone search a toy store?

And...maybe a toy from here would be nice. Just a little bit.

So, anything special here?]

[comesaround]

[ The only thing he's going to find is a certain red-head walking in, stopping short when he saw King here already. He at least seemed as if he was doing a little bit better than he'd been yesterday, though there's something still a bit subdued in his eyes. ]

Oh, hey. Here I thought I was the only one who had an idea to check this place out.

[ It's very familiar to him so he had to come here, but more importantly? He was in search of something that might be present in here if it was an exact replica of the one in the mall. ]

[strangerpeople]

[Would Karma be searching for a certain game, by any chance?]

[unwittingking]

[He gives a small, subdued smile of his own, before writing out a note and offering it to Karma.]

Nope. I’m pretty sure that, if they’re going to leave clues anywhere on purpose, it’ll be here.

I’d ask if you’re feeling okay, but I’m pretty sure that’s a stupid question.

[strangerpeople]

[As Karma has learned, unfortunately no.]

Various

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama isn't doing an intensive search of any particular location today. Instead, he's silently and distantly walking around everywhere open to him, Scanning.

One thing he's checking is whether the Noise concentration is just as thick everywhere.

But he's also looking for any sign of the dead souls.]

Re: Various

[strangerpeople]

[The Noise concentration is the same everywhere. Thick, strong, and threatening to overwhelm.

There is no sign of the dead souls.]

"Beyond the walls"...?

[backuphero]

[It's a Sunday afternoon, but Jonathan is doing something decidedly not lazing. He's reluctant to leave Vita alone, but if they're going to basically make the house a hermitage, they need a stock of those pills from the automat...

...but he's not headed to Central now, he's on his way back when he pauses at the house he woke up in, considering something. Crossing a barrier spits you out at your doorstep, just... cold. Worst case, he'd just end up out front here. The barriers start where the houses stop, right? So level with the back of the houses, between numbers five and nine, there's an exposed stretch of invisible wall?

He's gonna touch it. Just holds out his right hand (the left being occupied holding a covered dish of pills up against his chest) and presses his palm forwards where he guesses the wall must be, and focuses, like he did on the nameplate.]

cw: brief existential pain

[strangerpeople]

[He will try. But he will be absorbed.

An icy cold like he's never felt tears through him, and just before he finds himself being ripped apart by the blackness and static...he's stumbling through his front door and into the outside.

Damnit.]