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

Static Items

[katzenpfote]

Has anyone found any of those strange items that looks like the ‘static’ on the television before you touch it? I found this in the duty-free shop.

[He holds up a book.]

[incendiarize]

Actually, yeah. I didn't find it, Osomatsu did - but a tunic, like the one the little puppet-Link was wearing. I guess it was his.

I tried using my power on the tunic and didn't get much, though...but if the tunic was Link's...

[relieable]

[he even brought the tunic after he saw it on the screen! he holds it up]

It was definitely static-y before it was like this. I found it in the dressing room.

mod ping

[touchsensors]

[...hm.

Lala gives the tunic a careful look-over now that she's seeing it in person. Hoe does it compare to what she found in the extra house?]

[strangerpeople]

[Waaay too big.]

[illusionarymelody]

[Vita decided to show, but she's definitely sitting in a corner, on the ground and is pretty much right up against Jonathan. She'll speak up when she sees that, but it's pretty clear her voice is nearly devoid of emotion, not even her normal cool and calm tone. She's definitely still not doing well.]

Link was wearing something like that on the plane.

[relieable]

So it was his...

[he'll grin over at Vita, even though she is sad. maybe it's because she is upset that he offers a:]

Thanks.

[illusionarymelody]

[She just nods in response, not really up to saying much more. As it is it was a lot just to get her to even show up and listen.]

[poorlovefool]

Is that... The Little Mermaid, or something?

[he can't read japanese, but it's a mermaid, and it's little]

[relieable]

[haaa]

Ningyo Hime. Mermaid Princess. Yeah, I think it's the same thing.

[poorlovefool]

So we have a fairy tale book and a tunic...? What the hell. They're just personal items, aren't they.

[katzenpfote]

But from who?

[relieable]

[a long pause]

If the tunic belonged to Link, then maybe this book belongs to Hiyori? He was wearing a swimsuit in today's motive video.

[touchsensors]

Like static-lun?

[No, she hasn't, but she's intrigued. Which is good, it means she's not thinking about planetary destruction.]

[katzenpfote]

Ah... fuzzy? Visually fuzzy, like black and white.

[touchsensors]

Like those things from that "execution"-lun?

[Hm, bad.]

[katzenpfote]

More like moving black and white dots.

[touchsensors]

I know what static is-lun. I was just wondering if there was a connection-lun.

[Lala you don't have to be so defensive-lun.]

[carryabigstick]

Yeah. It's like... black and white and gray and kinda grain-y looking.

[touchsensors]

It sounds like looking at it would give you a headache-lun.

[carryabigstick]

Oh! Yeah, I found one too earlier! It's a photo actually--

[She pulls said photo out of her pocket and shows the others.]

Here.

[comesaround]

Hmm... if I had to guess, I'd say this is something of Hiyori's by the look of it.

[ Especially considering how the 'motive' announcement went earlier. ]

[katzenpfote]

The swimsuits would match up.

But why are they here? Do random items not usually come out of the empty house?

[comesaround]

Don't think so. I'd guess they're here but hidden because our hosts might need some reminding of the lives they lived before having this happen to them.

[katzenpfote]

... We might have to get them to them, in that case.