Characters: Zelda, Link, Max, Lea, Clayton, Clementine, and whoever these poor schmucks might hail on the network.
Location E10 (Building 50) + D11 (Building 58)
Date: Day 013, day
Summary: Using a key on a locked door is just common sense, right?
Warnings: Possible aggression and panic on the part of said poor schmucks.

(I've divided this log up into two parts to hopefully ease threading. Also if those on the door team want to make network posts about their shenanigans, just make sure to put NETWORK somewhere in the subject line! Anyone is free to answer threads marked as such, of course; hence why this log is 'semi'-closed.)

Characters: Clarke the girl (coleader) and Lea the boy (promises_to_keep)!
Location: building 30/school.
Date: days 10 & 11.
Summary: two-person Scooby gang investigate creepy school and hoard food.
Warnings: tw: spooky piano playing :c

( jinkies... )

[ the video opens shakily, the boy's face a little puffy and red, dark rings under his eyes like he hasn't slept over night. he's not entirely meant to turn the video on but he doesn't hustle to change it, either. it's early, maybe too early for most people to be up, he thinks. ]

What happens when someone dies? I... I have seen so many people come back, but how will we know if they will?

[ his voice comes out a little steadier than he'd thought it would, honestly. he takes a deep breath. ] How long did everyone have to wait before they came back? I... I think I'd just like to know.

And if they don't come back, what do you do then? How do you even get to say goodbye somewhere like this? Is there absolutely no way out when the doors are locked? When someone gets--

[ another deep breath. ]

Sorry.

[text - day 010, early evening]

[Posted first is a picture that Clayton's taken of the roof of house 60--more specifically, of a nearby crested window. The top of it is covered in snow, of course, but it isn't fresh, meaning that the uncountable number of tiny prints within it are well-preserved. Each is perfectly circular and roughly the circumference of a pen.]

Staying at a nice house next to the southern wall with fresh water tonight, and I found this hatch that has a view of the roof. These footprints(?) were on top of the window next to it.

Does anybody know what would make these? Some kind of animal?


[video - day 011, morning]

[When Clayton wakes up the next morning, he's feeling very different. This has nothing to do with the excitement from last night; it has everything to do with suddenly remembering four days' worth of information all in one go. It's like a brilliant epiphany, or like opening a musty album and finding an old, forgotten photograph--or something in-between. Clayton can't quite put his finger on it. But suddenly all those old posts have a real, tangible context for him to work with, all these meetings and relationships people keep mentioning connect. He remembers dying.]

[Holy shit, he actually died.]

[This is all a bit too much to take in at once. Clayton needs time to parse it. Or at the very least, somewhere to start. The whole "dying" thing demands his attention, but he doesn't feel prepared to tackle that right now. Still, he ends up watching his video from when it happened...several times. Settling in on specific conversations, laughing at depressing jokes, spending some silent minutes sifting through usernames and tracing them back to the obituaries.]

[By the time he actually thinks of something to say on the network, Clayton's eyes are puffy with tears. But for all the sadness he's just waded through, he's grinning, ear-to-ear, the epitome of happiness. There is nothing forced about this.]

Hey, uh...goodness.

[He has to stop, sniffle and quickly duck away to wipe his hand across his nose.]

...I'mma mess. Sorry 'bout that. I just, ah...heh. [Clayton chuckles and looks away in a desperate bid not to cry.] ...I remember! All four days. Still missin' the day after, 'fore I woke up by the west wall, but I was probl'y knocked out. Makes sense. If this's like the other symptoms folks're showin' after wakin' up, then good news is, it might not be permanent. So there's that.

[This infodump makes for a convenient lead-up to the sappy bullshit. Clayton looks away again, bites his lip, and prepares to switch tracks.]

That ain't...quite what I wanted to talk about, though. [He turns back and his smile wavers.] I was watchin' my, uh...my video I made. It'd odd, you know? Lookin' at it the day I woke up, it didn't really hit me 'bout just what y'all were doin'. Must've been 'least half'a us brought here--some ain't even with us anymore--come show up ta humor a dyin' man so he don't have'ta go alone--hot damn--

[Clayton's hand snaps up to cover the lower half of his face. He sits there, taking deep breaths, anxiously shifting position on his knuckles and furiously telling himself not to sob for a tense minute. Eventually he recovers enough to continue.]

...It don't hit quite so hard when you don't remember bein' there, see? [another nervous chuckle] Point is...we only known each other fer 'bout two weeks now, and whoever brought us here's tryin' their darnedest to keep us alone, but...ain't never felt more blessed to be workin' with a buncha folks I ain't never met in my whole life. [loud sniff, he's not even bothering to try and hide it anymore] With this bunch, we ain't gonna be stuck here forever. I know we ain't. All y'all stuck with me an' I'll stick with y'all, ain't no question. 'Bout the best way I can think to thank ya, 'sides from just sayin' it, so...

[This has suddenly gotten very awkward.]

...Thanks.

[Yup, he's done. Clayton flashes one last smile and the video ends.]

[The video feed comes on. Maybe it's someone recognizable, maybe not. Demyx hasn't met everyone yet, he's only talked to a handful of people. He's curled up as tight as he can be because it's freezing, just like every other night. His breath is coming out in little white puffs and he looks a little glassy eyed.

Just figuring out this much, how to broadcast, was a bit of a challenge. He draws himself up, looking into the camera, hopefully people can see his face and what he looks like.]

I need some help.

[He pauses for a moment.]

I don't know what's going on and I'm...

[Is this thing even working?]

Do you know who I am in there?

[So many people keep dying. This time, he knew three of the names in the obituary, even if he'd only spoken to two of them once. This is unacceptable. They need to find a way to stop this.

[The video feed opens on Lea's face, looking sort of stern.]

So I say this is getting out of hand, who's with me? [He lifts one finger as if to call for a show of hands, then lowers it and shakes his head.] People keep getting caught outside after dark, and it's gotta stop. We need a map, even a crude one, so people have some idea how far they're gonna need to travel to find shelter and food, or this is just gonna keep happening.

[The view shifts away from him and downward, to show a page in a spiral notebook. It has some boxes and squiggly lines on it. Lea's no cartographer, but it's something.]

( [Map Image Under the Cut] )
[The feed stays on this doodled map while Lea continues speaking.]

On the far right is what's believed to be the southeasternmost corner of this town. It's a veterinary clinic that's apparently cornered in by that huge snow wall. To the south is the wall. Everything westward of it I've mapped as I've traveled around, though I can't guarantee the scale by a long shot. I marked each house with a noteworthy feature, in case anyone happens upon it, so we can try and cobble the rest of the map together based on who's traveled from where.

This is about all I've got--nothing else I've noted has any orienting landmarks--but if anybody can expand on it, we might be able to figure out where other people are in relation.

[The feed comes back around to Lea, and he frowns darkly.]

We've got no choice but to work together, or people are just gonna keep dying. Anybody got anything?

@SummerVacation; 11:45PM, Day 08

[ Here's the boy a few of Norfinbury's victims have been looking for. In the poor lighting of the chapel, the optic light of the tablet on his face, his skin is pale and his blue eyes are very noticeable. He has an odd look on his face, distracted, eyes dull. Maybe he's a tad groggy after lying dead on the slab for so many days. ]

How did I get here? I was trying to leave town. It was really cold, and now it's...

[ He trails off. Looking around himself, the stone-hewn chapel is dark, there's no fire there to warm the place. He should still be cold. ]

...I don't like it in here.

---

Characters: Anyone who wants to stop by.
Location Chapel (96 - T7)
Date: Day 09
Summary: Back out into the world.
Warnings: N/A

( Read more... )

Characters: Lea, Zelda, and Link.
Location m11, building 61
Date: Day 008; late afternoon.
Summary: Link stumbles in on two exhausted travelers. He's lucky he knows one of them!
Warnings: n/a

( Read more... )

There were more announced deaths today. One of the names on the list is someone I recognize. Has anyone talked to or meet a boy named Roxas? [She's been trying to ignore how she feels about this recent discovery, but it's affecting her more than she wants to admit right now. How did she miss him here? How did he die here?]

[Forgive him, the piano is not quite in tune but Demyx has been holed up in the same place since the end of Day 003 simply because there is a piano here. Instead of speaking at first, he begins to play a simple sonata, nothing terribly complicated in its composition but unique all the same. It's taken him awhile to figure out which note is which and complicated chords are a bit beyond him, but face it - it's not his instrument and the basics are all people are going to get.]

It's really too bad I can't stay here for awhile longer, but I'm going to need food or supplies soon. All there is in this house is shelter and a piano.

[He sounds a little regretful, but he'll play the piano for a long time unless people complain otherwise. Consider it the gift of background music for the afternoon/evening. Expect a few mistakes here and there, he's just not nearly as skilled on it as he would be on his sitar.]

[It's video. Feed blinks open and he's looking down at it. Blinks once at the camera, is it on? And then yes, yes, it is on.

So then the video flicks over to where a life sized clown statue- yes, a fucking life sized clown statue is sitting in the corner of the living room.

Yes, guess what unlucky son of a bitch happens to be sleeping with Ronald as a roommate tonight?]

Think I'd be doing us all a favor if I tried to burn it?

[Just saying.]

[ Video ]

[ Steph flashes the camera a smile - she's starving and horribly cold, so it isn't as friendly as it might have been. It fades quickly. She keeps her eyes on the camera, as one accustomed to video phones. ]

Hi. I'm Stephanie, and no, I don't know how we got here, where we are or why we're here. I'm working on those last two, though. So in that interest, I have two requests. The first is that you answer a survey: nothing somebody who kidnapped you wouldn't already know or be able to find out easily. So far I haven't seen that we have much in common with each other. For that matter, it seems like we might not have, like, planets or time periods in common. [ She grimaces apologetically. ] Which is weird, so feel free to take your time with that one.

The second is this: Try to map your location. These are all going to be disconnected for a while, but given time they might come together. There's a program on your tablet that lets you draw pictures - use that. Let's assume that the sun rises in the east and north is up. Uh... if you don't usually have a north that's left-east up-north right-west and down-south. Make a note if you run into someone, and list what you find. That includes those massive snow walls people have been talking about.

On that note, a third thing: don't go wandering out into the snow if you're not sure you'll be able to get someplace warmer before nightfall. People get lost in snow easily, and tend to go a little crazy if they get cold enough. I don't know what last night was about, but it's insane to wander out in the snow at night if you don't have the right gear or know where you're going.

[ Finally she takes a breath and lets it out in a long sigh. She managed to sound pretty professional for a terrified, starving, seventeen year old girl. ]



So that was a mouthful but I'm done now. I'm going to attach the survey as text. Respond however you like, and feel free to ask if you have questions.

[ Text ]

Name:
Age: (on a scale of pubescent to menopausal, if you want)
Place of origin:
Place of kidnapping:
Year of kidnapping:
Occupation:

Name: Stephanie Brown
Age: 17
Place of origin: Gotham, New Jersey, USA
Place of kidnapping: Gotham, New Jersey, USA
Year of kidnapping: 2015
Occupation: Student

Characters: Lea and Zelda
Location U11, House 121
Date: Day 002; evening
Summary: A princess and an ex-assassin find themselves as unlikely roommates for the night.
Warnings: Proooobably nothing.

( I'm lost, and these shadows keep on changing... )