[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...

[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.]

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.

[spoileralert]

[ They got out. In the end she was totally fucking useless.

She takes a deep breath. Now isn't the time for self-pity. ]

I get the feeling it's still there. Did you notice anything weird when you were looking around?

[advanced]

No, not really. I tried to dig down to find the maintenance shafts, or any clue of a way in, but I didn't get far.

[It's just like any other compacted snow now, at least as far as he can tell.]

[spoileralert]

[ She chews her lip thoughtfully, not that he can see it under her mask. ]

Maybe it's just my imagination. I feel like I've been walking a lot more than I remember doing.

[advanced]

What do you mean?

[He hasn't noticed any additional fatigue, but then he's fighting the effects of the pain MN poisoning brings, so most everything else is muted out.]

[spoileralert]

I mean, I can't have walked much more than a couple of yards, but I feel like I've walked at least a few blocks. I've just been kind of going back and forth over the area, it's not like I went very far.

[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.]

[advanced]

[He tilts his head to look back out at the expanse of snow.]

I didn't notice, you sure you're not just tired?

[spoileralert]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I'm not sure. It's just a feeling.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[spoileralert]

What?

[ She turns to stare at him, confused. ]

What are you talking about?

[thewarningafter]

We're not -- none of these footprints are in a straight line. You see it? Tell me you see that.

[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.