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

[necroyalty]

[You know, it's unlikely that Idris Elba would make anyone want to claw their eyes out, but here we are.]

At this point, I would believe it if someone said this abomination just. Willed itself into creation.

[unwittingking]

I’m now worried about what’s in my world’s future, if this is supposed to come out in two years.

[He’ll deal with time travel crisis later, this is just...bleh]

Also, I’m sorry for judging your...raising the dead stuff before. No matter what it’s like, I’m a hundred percent sure it’s better than this.

[necroyalty]

[She sighs, and there's a distinct done-ness about her voice that suggests this misunderstanding happens a lot.]

No, you're quite right. Millennia of cultural tradition up against... whatever this travesty is.

[unwittingking]

I might even take a zombie I’m used to trying to naw my face off...seriously, who even makes a movie about incidents like that?

[...huh?]

[necroyalty]

...what, like the zombies, or like whatever bizarre blood sacrifice ritual this play happens to be about?

[unwittingking]

Well, both, actually. But in my world, zombie movies are a dime a dozen. Pretty much anyone can make them.

This movie? Well, back where I'm from, this stuff happened. And it wasn't as bright and happy as this.

[necroyalty]

...so.

Cats run blood sacrifice cults where you're from.

Why am I not surprised.

[unwittingking]

Hey, it's not so much something that happens often as it is something that happened for a while under people's noses. And they were explicitly "sending their members to Heaven."

I'm pretty sure they're all gone now, after they were discovered.

[necroyalty]

...please tell me that the general populace was every bit as baffled as I am over this current travesty.

[unwittingking]

Considering it was the cat equivalent to a cult that sacrifices people "for the greater good" and only really got caught because they tried to sacrifice their honorary human member?

Yeah, pretty much.

[You've got cults where you come from, right Ambrosine?]

[necroyalty]

It would not be the first time I heard of such madness. Demon cults, mad gods, or whatever, they're all the same in the sacrificing people front.

[unwittingking]

Let me guess, though; in your world they had a chance at actually succeeding and bringing a demon or something into the world?

[Wild guess, but hey, she’s from a world like Caleb’s; why wouldn’t it have honest to goodness demons?]

[necroyalty]

If you're talking about a demon lord or prince, the number of times that's happened since the Revelry can be counted on one hand, and even then, it was an aspect of the lord rather than the lord themselves.

Ordinary demons, though? Happens all the time.

[unwittingking]

Of course it does.

[Just. Very tired sounding.]

I’m gonna have to say that I don’t want to visit your world, then. I’ve never been in the mood for cult sacrifices before, and I never plan to.

[necroyalty]

...a shame. It really is lovely, once you grow accustomed to the sight of skeletons everywhere. The weather does have a reputation for being a bit more dreary than many people would prefer, but I've never minded that too much.

I suppose I make it sound like a dreadful place, but get into politics and your whole life is consumed with the problems of others.

[ Being a queen and all, it's not like she could escape it. ]

[unwittingking]

It...probably is nice, I just prefer to not deal with crazy stuff like that all the time. I may be starting to get used to horror from seeing it so much, but I’m never really going to accept it fully. That includes cults and walking skeletons.

[He looks at bodies because he doesn’t want children doing that. He doesn’t just like to do it for fun.]

You’re free to visit my world though, if you don’t mind talking animals and politics that are still a mess.

[He’s from 2017. He’s lost a bit of faith in who gets voted as the president.]

[necroyalty]

[ Her world doesn't have Donald Trump and that is one small blessing. ]

...tell me it has better movies than this, at least.

[unwittingking]

[Every world has something good, apparently]

Yes, thank goodness. If all movies were like this, I’m pretty sure the film industry would’ve died long ago.