15strangers | W̧E̷E̡̕K ͡3̴

Entry tags:

*round 6,
*week 3

W̧E̷E̡̕K ͡3̴

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.]

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Lun!

[Lala she wasn't talking to you.]

[The screen shows the image of a planet - probably Earth, given how it looks - floating peacefully in space. Suddenly, a swarm of static shapes descends on a piece of it. The ‘camera’ zooms in, watching screaming people in city after city -

And then it suddenly turns to a cardboard planet against a black background that looks like it might be… construction paper? The hosts’ voices come from off-camera.]

Well, that was a little too intense for them, Hiyori. How about we go with Plan B?

It’s a real shame, Link. They keep saying they don’t need the guidance of IT to face reality... Ah, can’t be helped.

We’ve prepared a special presentation for you!

[Suddenly, there’s a… puppet Link in a strangely familiar (to some) blue tunic popping up on the screen? It’s not very well made, and there’s only two dots for eyes and a wobbly straight line of a mouth drawn on it. He’s standing in front of a paper plate covered like a planet with lush green forests. Shortly afterwards, a puppet Hiyori of similar make, full-length swimsuit underneath dots and glasses and no mouth at all, pops up next to him. Finally, a third puppet, a linefaced scarf lady. The puppets don’t move much as they ‘talk’. There’s clearly an attempt to make something like a goofy puppet voice, but it’s just… flat.]

[The Link in the tunic ‘nobly’ says,] “Oh no, my world is in trouble! What should I do?”

[Link’s hand comes down and puts a small bit of black construction paper over a part of the forest planet. The tape is visible. The hand withdraws.]

“Mine too!” [cries swimsuit Hiyori! A paper plate colored as earth, this focused on islands in the middle of the ocean, is added.]

”Mine too…” [laments Mikasa, voiced by Link. Her “planet” has a vast stretch of sandy plains.]

”Submit to IT! Just accept your fate! [Hiyori’s left hand holds the Hiyori puppet upright and the Mikasa puppet more loosely between his outer fingers as his right arm comes down with a sharpie to turn Link’s conflicted lips into a toothy smile and put the sly grin onto “his” own face.]

[Link, as Mikasa, says,] “Are there any other options…?

Wellllll... if you kill and get away with it this week, you can ask IT to spare your world or any other world! Only one, though.”

“Oh, wow, really? How can IT do that!”

”IT is the darkness between clusters! All Noise obey ITs whim!”

“Oh gosh, thank you for letting me know! I’ll be sure not to get caught!”

[Mikasa is left standing there in front of her world as Hiyori and Link start taping more pieces of black construction on their worlds, then adding more paper plates and more construction paper and more tape, with a whimsical excitement, for a good two minutes before the camera ends up tilting at a wonky angle and then the feed is stopped. This sequence is shown repeatedly in the theater until 3 PM Tuesday, but can also be watched again on the televisions for the rest of the week.]

M-Mikasa?!

[What. What the fuck... is all this...?

She hates this???]

...your idea of entertainment stinks.

Agreed. Do they seriously think this is going to convince anyone?

[ Guess who showed up late and is consequently irritated. ]

L-lu...

[Uh.

He might want to rethink that comment.]

Sorry. I guess I can't speak for everyone. They're really pulling out the stops here, aren't they.

[ Still annoyed but that can't be helped. ]

From promising they can give us what we want most to involving our worlds. Kinda seems like they're going backwards here.

They tried offering us something first so now they're making threats-lun.

[She might be freaking out a little bit.]

Yeah. Figuring that going from something nice to threatening us is going to work, and I'm guessing that someone probably will, even if they shouldn't.

[ Yeah she's definitely not the calmest about this. ]

If there's something you want to say, now might be the time.

I...

[She shakes her head.]

["Submit to IT!"]

Never.

[But the actual motive..... He recognizes the Noise. At the mansion, this threat would've tempted him something fierce. But now it's different. Arthur's eyes narrow. Don't give in. Don't be afraid.

Help is coming.]

They're lying.

[With that, he turns and marches out of the theater.]

... What the fuck am I watching?

Nonsense. They tried the carrot last week, so now they're trying the stick. But...they're either not really threatening our worlds, or they're not gonna stop - just put a prettier word on it.

[He won't listen to them. He refuses. Charles warned him.]

S-So it's a fake out? Great!!!

[he sounds a little relieved, if manic]

Probably? D'you really think they'd keep their promises? We can't listen to anything they tell us about IT.

[He’s not sure either, and though King is worried...he brought his Lite Brite again, so...]

KISS MY ASS PENNYWISE

[Why? Because even if this motive is real, he still has these sentiments towards the Hosts. Also, PENNYWISE is the only IT he can think of.]

....what's a Pennywise?

[Good thing he didn’t throw away his notepad and pen! (Yet, at least.)]

Creature from a book that’s more or less a god that eats fear. It’s usually called It, but It likes to appear as a clown called Pennywise.

Hopefully It is completely fictional.

[For the love of everything, please don’t let It be real...]

[The notebook is new. Huh.]

I already killed fear. If that's what we're up against, it'll be a piece of cake.

[~~holy shit dude~~

He’s kind of...frozen, for a second, before he’s able to write again.]

That sounds extremely impressive and I’d appreciate it if we could talk later.

[About fear killing and other things, since...you know...]

I got a statue and everything.

[Good feelings! Except for the part where he couldn't save Emma.]

Sure. We can talk whenever.

Correction, incredibly impressive.

Maybe near the houses if you’d prefer? Or in one of them?

[He’s open for the location, just wants to chat with Arthur.]

Depends how private you want? No one's got much reason to go to House 2 anymore, I haven't been staying there in a while.

[He had something he wanted to talk to King about anyway.]

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unwittingking - 2020-02-11 18:41 (UTC) - Expand

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incendiarize - 2020-02-11 18:55 (UTC) - Expand

...........

[does this mean... all worlds are in danger? or is it just those that were in danger before? oh, geez, Osomatsu is more confused than angry. he wonders about those tapes he viewed, and there are things that Link said to him before that make him very nervous]

I don’t like this....

[Eric came when he heard the scream. Who wouldn't? But all he gets is this (and a new interesting creative use for olives that perhaps he will keep in mind for later. In any case.)

Initial reaction: terrified. Furious. Clenching his fists and bowing his head so he doesn't lose it on everyone around him.

Then Arthur saying it's a lie reaches him, and he calms down somewhat...

...And then, he lifts his head, outright shouting. Hence the 'somewhat'.]

EVERYONE KNOWS I CAN REMAKE WORLDS, RIGHT!? YOU BETTER NOT FUCK THIS UP, ASSHOLES!

[Kurama's eyes are dark as he watches the video. Angry. He's familiar with this particular stick; it's the reason he's a Reaper instead of alive right now.

He takes a breath, since he has something to say and doesn't doubt they're all monitored.]

Fuck you.

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