[log] Disappear [closed]

[thewarningafter]

Characters: Stephen, Peter, Bucky, and Steph
Location: The area that once contained building 279
Date: Morning 265
Summary: This building is pining for the fjords
Warnings: Mass confusion

[279: THIS BUILDING DOES NOT EXIST.

This looks like any place in Norfinbury that doesn't have anything there: just empty snow and rubble. When a person tries to traverse it, they will realize that they've gone around the area instead of through it after they have gone around.]

Comments

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen makes for a lonely figure out in the snow. He's moving slowly, unsure of where he's going -- he only saw this area briefly before he was taken, but he has the map from the network to work with. He keeps pausing and turning back to look at the buildings he can see from here, at the footprints he's left in the snow himself, then down again at his tablet.

When he spots another figure (or more than one) he halts again, standing and watching for their reaction, initially unsure if they're really a fellow human being or if he'll have to turn and run. He raises his voice; it carries well enough across the rubble-strewn landscape.]

Hello?

[spoileralert]

Hey!

[ Steph waves a hand high overhead, making sure he can clearly see that she is, in fact, a human person. With her hood up and a mask over her face he might need the reassurance. ]

Who's there? It's Steph!

[thewarningafter]

[Relief floods him and Stephen comes picking his way through the rubble toward her, still glancing around. He's notably without his cloak and he's wearing a pair of rubber kitchen gloves, but he's otherwise not given way much to hobo chic. Only his face and neck are exposed, so only the small scars from where the stitches held his hands to his face will be immediately apparent even when he gets quite close.]

It's Stephen! Stephen Strange.

[spoileralert]

[ She waits until he's closer to talk to him again. ]

Checking out the building too?

[thewarningafter]

Trying to. I thought it was right around here, but....

[He gestures vaguely at the empty landscape.]

[spoileralert]

It was. I've been making this trek every day since this whole mess started.

[ She keeps walking in the direction she was pretty sure the building was in. At some point she turns without realizing it. ]

It should be right around here...

a bit later, so I can thread with Steph

[advanced]

[After Stephen has discussed the missing building with Steph, Bucky reluctantly approaches her to report the same sort of findings.]

There's nothing here any more.

[spoileralert]

[ She huffs a sigh, hands on her hips as she glares at the empty space where the building should be. ]

One of these days I'll get to set something on fire. Thanks for trying, anyway.

[advanced]

They got out.

[He shrugs, voice and expression neutral.]

If we didn't manage it, at least it wasn't too late.

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen watches her for a couple seconds, squinting at the path she takes. He looks down at his own footprints again, turning in place as a thought occurs to him that his directional sense can't quite parse. Stephen squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head,
but when he opens them again it's all still there. He trudges after Steph, raising his voice.]

We're going around it.

[spoileralert]

What?

[ She turns to stare at him, confused. ]

What are you talking about?

[advanced]

[Bucky is staying as far away from Steph as he possibly can while still investigating the same general area, so it's a little later when he comes across Stephen during the slow trudge through the snow.]

There's nothing here any more.

[That's even more disturbing than it just being impenetrable.]

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen's no less puzzled, no less troubled than he was when he first noticed the problem with Steph. He watches Bucky approach, staring openly as he watches the path the other man takes.]

...I don't think that's actually true.

[advanced]

What makes you think that?

[He glances back over at the snow, but he can't see anything that even hints at the building still being there.]

[thewarningafter]

The footprints. I've tried walking a straight line through this place, and when I look back, my tracks curve.

[advanced]

How about you watch me walk it? See if you can tell if I'm going in a straight line.

[thewarningafter]

I was. You hadn't turned yet that I saw. I'm kind of turned around, though; I'm not sure exactly where it's supposed to be anymore.

[advanced]

It should be right there where I was.

[At least according to his mental map.]

I tried digging down, but I can't find the tunnels either.

[zunesareawesome]

[Peter's stomping around the other side, while the others meet up with Stephen, and comes around the opposite direction as he walks around the building. Or what was the building.]

The hell...?

[He realizes he's just reached the exact same place he started in.]

[thewarningafter]

[They come, they go, and Stephen's thinking of packing it in -- he's turned northward (he's pretty sure it's northward) when he catches sight of Peter in turn.]

You noticed, too, huh?

[zunesareawesome]

[Honestly, Stephen's a little taller than he expected. He's looking to see any signs of what happened to him, at least all that he could see out here in the snow. At least he's recovered physically from whatever they did.]

I don't get it. How is any of this even possible!?

[Peter's wearing the lame issued Norfinbury coat over his red Ravagers jacket, but that's about it when it comes to the snowbo look. He hasn't had much time for collecting items.]

cw reference to torture

[thewarningafter]

Altered mental states thanks to medical technology? That's usually my guess around here.

[Stephen's wrapped up in his own standard issue coat over his blue tunic and trousers. His biggest concession to snowbo chic is the pair of rubber kitchen gloves he's wearing to keep some of the chill off his hands, and the hand towel shoved in around his collar like the world's cheapest scarf. There are small, irregular scars strewn around the outside of his face and up the bridge of his nose, little marks here and there from where the stitches holding his hands over his eyes pulled and tore at the skin, small enough that someone who didn't know what he was looking at might mistake them for birthmarks or old scars from acne. The other scars are hidden by his clothing; Peter might catch a glimpse of one of the lines that run down his neck when Stephen turns his head, but the towel largely covers even those.

He eyes Peter, surprised somehow to see him here and to recognize who he is.]

You're shorter than I thought you'd be.

[zunesareawesome]

[He certainly didn't like the idea of his head being messed with, but to see evidence of it first-hand was kind of a kick in the pants. The last time that happened was with Ego and that did not go well, he hated to think what would have happened if he didn't break out of it...]

Well, that sucks.

[Shots fired!]

I'm just standing in a low spot. [A grumble as he tries to stand up straighter.] You look less wizardly than I was expecting.

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen gives him an incredulous look, then looks down at himself, gesturing at his clothes. The coat unfortunately covers up most of his tunic, but the dangling parts of his elaborate belt and the excessively strap-laden boots are still in evidence.]

I think the admin thought of a new way to keep us out of places she doesn't want us going. Kind of worrying, when you think about it.

[zunesareawesome]

[Seriously, what is up with all those accessories? To be fair, it wasn't as if he'd actually met any wizards before, he was just taking a cheap shot.]

What if there are other places that are disappeared around here and we don't even know about it?