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]

cat cafe

[poorlovefool]

[he is just here to check on the cats! see if they're still okay, and if anything has actually been done to make them 'officially adoptable' yet.]

[strangerpeople]

[Most of the cats are still ok. The two brainwashed properly rehabilitated ones, though?

Deeeeeefinitely giving Eric the evil stinkeye.]

[poorlovefool]

[well.... what if.... he runs this fluffy fox tail along the ground!!! looks pretty chaseable right!?]

[strangerpeople]

[Most of the cats start to chase! Meeeeooooow! Not all. The cross-eyed cat attempts to and runs into the honker, causing them to tumble away.

The two cats that were "fixed"?

Nope. Still giving Eric a death glare.]

[poorlovefool]

Heheh! [the clumsy kitties are so cute. he'll keep playing with the regular cats until a few of them lose interest. it's nice to see them so energetic... his idea of giving them various forms of enrichment seems to be working out.

but he's not going to give up on the evil cats either. trying the same method of hugging seems like it'll get him maimed and piss off link, but he's got another toy up his sleeve....

decorative olives!!!!

what? they look jingly. maybe the fixed cats will like this more if he gently rolls a few at them.]

THEATER

[relieable]

[look at this cushy room! kind of cool-looking. Osomatsu wants to learn its secrets. before one can use the theater, one must properly investigate the theater, right? it's not like Cartesio's movie theater, but... maybe there's something in here.

for starters, upon entering the room, does anything look weird or strangely out of place?]

[strangerpeople]

[Nope. Nothing in the theater.

Maybe he wants to watch a movie anyways from the Betamax storage? Or will he go elsewhere?]

[relieable]

[movie time will commence! maybe while he's watching movies, he'll do some searching through the couch, and stuff. anyway. into the Betamax storage! what have we got in here?]

[strangerpeople]

[As he scours the pile of baby tapes, he will find, much to his surprise, that it is will organized. It's all in alphabetical order and even the movies with THE at the beginning are in their proper place on the shelves.





so...what are these unmarked tapes doing scattered everywhere??]

[relieable]

[thank goodness everything is organized, and the THE titles are not in with the Ts. that's just stupid. also this place smells like cigars. not that he minds, but it is a little cloying.

the unmarked ones, though... home recordings? or something more sinister? he doesn't know, but he gathers up several of those unmarked baby tapes and goes back to the theater. he'll put in one that he's holding into the Betamax player, and pray that it's okay to watch this television.

aaaaaand... START-O]

several locations, eventually....

[backuphero]

[First, around the house. Are there pencils in among everything? And/or a razor with removable blades? How about a safety pin? Some thumbtacks? The whole place is metal, so that makes some of this easier... maybe. If he's remembering how to do this right.


And then... to the library. Even if there isn't a single Boy Scout handbook in sight (he's still going to look, though), there are headphones here, right? Attached to... well, what the future tech is isn't the important part.]

Re: several locations, eventually....

[strangerpeople]

[Yes to all of those questions, incidentally!]

Re: several locations, eventually....

[backuphero]

[Perfect.

So... the gymnasium, since he's just downstairs from it and all. He's not going to tear anything up, but are there any loose boards laying around, given the state of the place?]

Re: several locations, eventually....

[strangerpeople]

[A disturbing amount, actually. This place has them a plenty.]

[backuphero]

[So a piece of wood going missing probably won't be noticed? Good.

These boards don't seem to be claw-marked, do they? Though with that in mind... does it look like something exploded in here, or more like the place was damaged by combat?]

cat cafe II: the cattening

[touchsensors]

[So, Lala has something to try in here which seems very straightforward to her. She's going to bring Kyuu to the cat cafe and set him down, and see how it and the cats react to each other, if at all.]

[cuteandinnocentpet]

Kyuu...

[The cats all seem to ignore Kyuu....except for the honker. The honker starts to circle it, sniffing it.]

[touchsensors]

[Lala watches this carefully, interested in seeing where this goes but also a little worried about where it might actually be going.]

[cuteandinnocentpet]

[After a few moments, the cats part.

Kyuu-kun goes back to Lala, rubbing against her leg.]

Kyuu~

[touchsensors]

[...okay! She'll call that an extremely specific success. Kyuu is not evil in a way that sets cats off. She rewards it by picking it up and petting it.

Hm, but maybe this cat is worth looking into. Does anything happen if she takes a moment to crouch back down and reach in the honker's direction?]

BETAMAX HELL

[necroyalty]

[ Okay yeah she'll bite.

Anything of interest here? ]

[strangerpeople]

[Well, there's CATS!







Ok there is a tape that has its label scribbled on with a Sharpie.]

[necroyalty]

[ Oooookay, she'll have a look at that.

What's the scribble say? ]

[strangerpeople]

[THE PARABLE OF THE GRAPES.]