[network] @jwatson; text [Night 367] [open/semi-open] [shadownet]

[jumpthegun]

[The second part of the message is OPEN. The first part is SEMI-CLOSED to anyone with access to the Shadownet - a text only app created by Winter. Winter is an NPC that you'll read about in the Survival Guide, but the basic primer is that she's a Russian AI who has been periodically contacting the Snowblind characters and trying to help them to some extent. She has been encountered in multiple events and aided characters in making private messages actually private.

Please see this post about Shadownet distribution. These are also characters who currently possess Shadownet. Anyone traveling with these characters will likely be able to read messages on Shadownet through their travel companions. We've found that a copy can be made for a character at the elementary school provided they have an existing copy and the keycard currently held by Ecks, which allows the characters to use the copy machine there.]


Shadownet Access Only
@dulcedeleche
Winter, it's John. I don't know what you did, but whatever it was, thank you. I honestly thought the Admin might be shutting everything down on us. I hope you can get back in contact with us soon and that you're okay. We did find Andromeda. Her body, at least. It's very likely there's a back-up of her elsewhere like you. I'm so sorry, but she was attacked and killed by the cultists. We downloaded some sort of program from her, though. We're trying to get it decrypted. Hopefully, that will happen soon. She gave this to us. Whatever happens when we make it through the bunker, she made it possible for us to keep going. We're going to make it to the center of Norfinbury and we're going to stop this for her and for you. I promise. Bullet points below covering Day 357 through Day 367.

Open to Everyone
This is Dr. Watson. Please find a summary update of recent happenings below. For anyone new, an archive of my previous summaries can be found HERE. I'm available for medical consultation as one of the medics here. Please let me know if you need anything. I'm running an on-again, off-again blood transfusion service for those with severe MN Poisoning. It's only a temporary reprieve from symptoms, but blood transfusions from healthy donors have proven to alleviate MN poisoning symptoms for up to two weeks.

• Every nine-to-eleven days we have new arrivals. The food situation remains stable, as far as I'm aware, but I'm afraid the medical personnel here are no longer able to prescribe medications. The pharmacy may still have repeat prescriptions, though. I have a supply of several varieties of painkillers. If you are in desperate need, please let me know, and I can see if I can get the Admin to deliver the supply to you. Otherwise, I'll need to arrange to leave it somewhere for you to find or meet up with you. If anyone else has medications available, please let us know. We're going to need to pool this resource now more than ever.
  
  
• Day 358, Junpei organized a meet-up for testing blood from a lot of different people under our shared microscope. The hope was that we might be able to see if there are any differences in the blood from people who have been affected by things like the red lines and the loss of their light. To my knowledge, there weren't any notable differences, but it may be a matter of the magnification power on the microscope being insufficient.
  
  
• Day 359, both Peter and Stephen came back from being killed with new memories. Years of them, by the sound of it. This has happened to me and Sherlock, as well as others. I don't know what to make of it. I gained five years the last time this happened and my body hasn't changed at all. It's like the memories just get downloaded into our heads, which, given what we know about how the nanomachines inside are basically us, that's not too far-fetched.
  
  In far less happy news, Ginger and her team found Andromeda's body in the cultist church. She was apparently killed and crucified by them, but I want to emphasize that we've heard from Andromeda before. There is some piece of her still out there, even if her physical body has been destroyed. She might be a back-up or she might well have escaped somehow, before she was killed. That's my sincere hope. Ginger was able to download a program from her body and we're working on getting it decrypted. If you have any programs or skills that could help with this, please let Ginger know.
  
  Also in the church, people found SD cards that show how Samantha, the Prophet, died. I've attached those at the end here. Please be aware that they're extremely brutal and that Samantha is a child.
  
  
• Day 360, Tess rescinded her request for blood sacrifice when she came back to herself. If anyone was taking this seriously, please look at this. That includes Brian Thomas. I'm sorry to report that he attempted to kill Rhys in an effort to sacrifice him for Tess. If you encounter Brian, please be very careful. He has been known to attack others previously while not under the influence of anything here in Norfinbury. I've attached his picture to the end of this message, but briefly, he's a young man in a mask and hoodie who's non-verbal and has some level of severe mental illness related to, I suspect, his physical seizure condition.
  
  In happier news, we also had Kunsel return. He was absent some memories as his death price. For anyone new, this is a fairly common one. When you die and get revived, you temporarily lose something. It might be memories, it might be one of your senses, but it's typically significant.
  
  Alfie also led everyone in a round of joke-telling. I'm sure he'd still be up for hearing some if you'd like to chime in. I think all of us could use a laugh.
  
  
• Day 363, Mr. Mycroft Holmes made an ass of himself asking who ate his finger when we were all trapped in the cells. On a more pertinent point, it does raise the question of what exactly happened down there. A lot of us are missing our memories.
  
  Which Dr. Hannibal Lecter has offered to assist with. Dr. Lecter is a trained psychiatrist who has practiced hypnotherapy before to try to bring out repressed memories. Recent events sidetracked his efforts, but if you'd like to have him attempt to hypnotize you to bring out the memories, please let him know.
  
  
• Day 364, the ADMIN sent out a message that resources were critically low. chaos noted later that day that we seemed to be having a communication issue. Whatever universal translator is in effect now broke. A lot of us speak English, but a number of people don't. I'm not sure what to do if we have this problem again. Maybe for those who don't know English, we can start teaching you now? At least some basic phrases.
  
  Later that night, the ADMIN sent out another message and the network shifted to text-only. I started tasting blood in the back of my throat.
  
  
• Day 365, all the power went out completely and the taste turned into actually coughing up blood.
  
  
• In the morning on Day 366, Winter sent out a message that we were in trouble and she was fixing something, not that any of us could see it at the time she sent it, I think. I don't know what she did, but we're back to where we were because of her.
  
  
• Earlier today (Day 367), Mr. Graham sort of announced that he's returned. To my understanding, he's down in the entrance area. He seems to be somewhat disoriented, so if anyone is in that area, please assist him, if you can. He'll be near the police station, as that's where people revive.
  
  Angel also informed us what was on with the galaxy app that downloaded onto everyone's tablets. Apparently that's from the program that was downloaded from Andromeda's body and it contains some sort of key. The key also downloaded a video file that showed Andromeda's death. That's been included as an attachment below.

New SD Cards

• Sam #1
  
• Sam #2
  
• Sam #3
  
• Sam #4
  
• Sam #5
  
• Sam #6
  
• Andromeda #1

Brian Thomas
[Attached to the end of the message is a photo of Brian that John obtained when he asked for photos of everyone during the red lines event. It shows a person in a hoodie with a black ski mask that has a red frowny face drawn on it.]

Comments

[howdull]

It might be worth researching, to see if the manner of attack or ferocity changes with different religions. Some might be more offensive than others to the consciousness of the Prophet cultists.

[He pauses for a second, and then tacks on a belated and rather bored:]

Of course I'm not suggesting that you put yourself in danger.

[sleight_of_fate]

Of course not.

[Sherlock would never suggest a thing, of course.]

I know the Catholic Rite of Exorcism, I bet that would be a hit. I can either give it a try next time I'm in the area, or I can type it out and someone else can try it.

[From the tone of Rhys's voice, it's exactly the last thing on his to-do list right now. But he'll offer it to Sherlock to keep him quiet.

After a moment of debating, Rhys flips the Private conversation switch on his tablet, for the last part he's going to add.]

By the way. I know the two of you had a nice chat, but trust me, Sherlock. It's not your friend.

[howdull]

Rather an unnecessary warning, as I already knew that.

[It's a cuckoo, or something similar, of course it can't be trusted. Besides which, even if it could be trusted, Sherlock was hardly quick to make friends with any old person.]

What's your point?

Private

[sleight_of_fate]

Consider it a standard disclaimer, then.

[This is why people sneak into the house to stab you, Sherlock.]

For my piece of mind because it's a part of my consciousness that eats people when it gets out and starts doing its own thing.

I know it can't do that here but I still like to keep an eye on what it's up to and who it's trying to con.

Private

[howdull]

Perhaps I'm trying to con it, and you should be attempting to warn your other self.

[He just sounds amused at that.]

But it's more likely that we're simply exchanging ideas, and your bias against it keeps you from believing it's not something more sinister.

Private cw: drug use

[sleight_of_fate]

[Bias. Right. It's laughing in his head even as he types.]

I'm not going to stop you, have all the chats you want. It's useful, it knows how to survive and it thinks about things without that whole "human bias" thing. I get his that would appeal to you.

But it's also a sociopathic addict. So, you know. Good side and bad side there.

[He's not going to patronize Sherlock. But he's pretty sure that his Shadow left out that little part about chemical drugs and life force being equal cravings.]

Private cw: drug use

[howdull]

I take drugs, though I'm not an addict, and so his behaviours are unlikely to repulse me.

I'm also a sociopath.

It seems I'm in good company.

[Sounds like he and the cuckoo have a lot in common.]

Private cw: drug use

[sleight_of_fate]

[Rhys isn't really sure if he should be reassured or not.]

It's not a matter of being repulsed, it's a matter of knowing exactly what its goals are. Remember, it doesn't have an existence of its own EXCEPT to manipulate and consume. That's just its nature.

[On the bright side, Rhys has burnt through his initial anger in favor of a weary resignation.]

Just try not to get me or anyone else I like killed, okay? Play all the weird mental chess you want, but if there's bodies on the floor at the end of it I don't want to deal with it.

Private cw: drug use

[howdull]

[The cuckoo is infinitely more interesting than Rhys, that's something that Sherlock decides there and then. At least a manipulative and dangerous sociopath is a challenge to pick at.]

Boring.

[Are these warnings done yet?]

If you have anything interesting to say, do it now.

Private

[sleight_of_fate]

No, I'm done. Said what I needed to.

[He'll be pissed if there winds up being a mess to clean up. The messes always suck. But at least now both Sherlock and his Shadow know he is paying attention to their shenanigans, for whatever good it's worth.

Not that Rhys's hands are all that clean either.]

If you come up with anything from the wound data, let me know.

[howdull]

[He already said that he would, and so he doesn't bother to reiterate it. Rhys deserves to know any data that he discovers, if only because he's been helpful in allowing Sherlock to investigate without a fight.

He simply hangs up at that point.]

[sleight_of_fate]

[And now that Rhys's blood pressure is through the roof again, he's also going to hang up, and mutter to himself about the exactly why he still bothers here...much to his Demon's amusement.]