[network] @hotstud_xxx; text; Christmas at Ground Zero [Day 248]

[rubikscomplex]

greetings, snowhellions
dr. house coming to you live from the belly of the beast
or at least the upper digestive tract
take a looksee at the latest map i'm sending out with this message

[There is, indeed, a map.]

@betterhalf and i have been filling it out
red means BAD
the entire area outside is red
didn't bother to fill that in
buildings i've found so far are yellow and green for the most part
food and water are red, though
mickey mouse found some place with rations
#276
bring your own food, anyway
not sure if it restocks, yet

i'm on the trail of some rando russian chick fangs found an sd card for

[House sends out the clip.]

translation:
"i don't think anyone else is here anymore
i haven't heard from anyone on this thing for weeks
i think they're all dead"

she's been leaving her mark on some of the buildings down here

[There's a shot of a door that has the following written on it: "жёлтый."]

translation:
"yellow"

it's yellow on the geiger app

found another sd card in there

[Another audio clip is sent through.]

translation:
"two weeks and he's not back
two weeks
he's not coming back
dammit
it was his idea to keep records, and now
this place is nothing more than a tomb"

discuss

Comments

@standardissue; text

[deus_ex_phs]

Previous session, maybe? Rather than an original resident?

[rubikscomplex]

she's definitely not local
and if she's not a previous session...
maybe someone who came in from the outside to investigate?

@totheark; text

[0thingsonmymind]

may be af ter
wint er @dulcedeleche
?

[rubikscomplex]

yeah
i'm thinking she came after everyone wiped each other out
maybe one of the first sessions
or someone who came in and screwed something up so the sessions actually started

[0thingsonmymind]

how

may be they still
can

*Maybe one of them really IS a mole.*

[rubikscomplex]

someone is leaving these sd cards for us to find
so either evie is having dissociative episodes
miller's doing it behind her back
or we've got a plot fairy
and she's sprinkling liberally lately

[0thingsonmymind]

iam not sure ifit is
two par ties

or one
and thisis
plan

*Just to fuck with them. Or some sort of test. But probably to screw with them.*

[rubikscomplex]

part of the experimental parameters?
possibly
the puzzles are absolutely contrived
the rewards could be, too

[0thingsonmymind]

yes, that

[rubikscomplex]

i'm open to ideas for how to narrow the answer down

[0thingsonmymind]

ido not know
but ifi
think of
iwill
share

[rubikscomplex]

gee
thanks, bro
i'll keep you in mind

[deus_ex_phs]

If Russia lost their AI here, it would make sense for them to send someone to look into it.

[rubikscomplex]

true
sounds like she and her buddy got stuck here, though
it's why i'm thinking she's probably more likely as an earlier session
why would she have a tablet, otherwise?

[deus_ex_phs]

If Norfinbury decided she was a citizen, she probably would have been provided with one. Or maybe she already had one of her own that only had to be connected to the network.

Or who's to say that the system bringing us here didn't pull from other parts of this world first?

[rubikscomplex]

"this thing" implies a lack of familiarity
maybe i'm reading too much into the tone
but somebody who grew up with that kinda thing
or had it regularly
seems like they'd just call it "the tablets"

i'd believe they were pulling from earth first
but it still doesn't answer the question of how the hell something went from basic transporter tech
to a freaking transdimensional body-snatching device

[deus_ex_phs]

Hm. Fair enough. I'll grant you that.

Maybe it always was a transdimensional body-snatching device, but no one realized it until after it ran out of easier targets.

[rubikscomplex]

what was it originally designed to do?
that's my question
you're playing the long as hell con if you're a scientist waiting to run out of humans on the planet
unless you're an evil scientist who helps set wwiii into motion

[Which... is a possibility.]

[deus_ex_phs]

I'm more inclined to think that the transdimensional part was unintended. The scientists involved didn't realize the full potential of what they built.

Or they harnessed the power of an alien horrorterror and stupidly thought they could bend it to their will without consequence. I suppose that theory could work too.

Either way, I'm voting human error over intentional self-destruction here.

[rubikscomplex]

you don't just accidentally invent a freaking time and space machine

we're not even going here
talk to becky if you wanna go with that theory

human error i can buy
but they might have been creating that kind of machine
humans have been after time machines pretty much since time began being relevant to us

[deus_ex_phs]

You never know. Human stupidity knows no bounds.

But no, I think you're right that they were trying to create something along those lines. I just also don't think they'd worked out all the bugs and possibilities yet.

Anyway, I wonder what other records your Russian lady or her partner might have left. My group's going to poke around there, too. We'll have to keep our eyes peeled.

[rubikscomplex]

fair enough

if you need anything translated
i'm around

we might have to dig at the walls around there like we did in hsiaoke pass

[deus_ex_phs]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

[And at some point they will contact House for some translations, but that'll happen later on.]

Dig deep, huh? Is this where I should suggest to "follow the spiral"?

[rubikscomplex]

yeah
if it really is a spiral
the next leg is somewhere toward the southern end of the area
then we'll finally curve north to the center of town

[deus_ex_phs]

You don't think it could be straight east from there? It would technically still be a spiral.