"He has a name? Is he a person we can reason with?"
"Can we reason with Michael Myers?" Charlie asks, incredulous. "No! He's pure evil! There's nothing behind that mask but an urge to kill! And if I had my stupid illusion powers in here, I'd show him Dr. Loomis, but all I can do is tell you that based on the bit of hay on the outside of his left shoe, he came here from the carnival!"
"All this is why I don't like to watch horror movies!" calls out Brian.
"It's not like the slasher films are the only kind of horror. I that particular genre isn't the worst, which is absolutely the body horror, but there are psychological horror." Kari says, as she can't actually stop looking at the mask-like face.
"That all sounds very complicated," Terry says. "I always think of ghost stories when someone says horror movies. Ghosts and monsters. Because I stopped watching those when I was a kid."
Charlie looks like he just got hit with a bucket full of understanding. "Ohhhhhh, that explains it." He keeps his distance from Michael, but never takes his eyes off him. "Okay, now Michael is technically human, but a chest full of bullets won't kill him. Also, if you lose sight of him for a second, he'll pop up behind you in the next scene."
Meyers seems uninterested in the conversation the group of teens in front of him are having as he attempts to murder them. But who can say, really, what his face looks like under the mask?
Charlie switches his attention to the knife, winding the whip around Michael's wrist for a disarm.
Terry shoots at the silent figure. "I'm not sure this is helping," he says.
Both Charlie and Terry's attacks seem ineffective - Charlie's whip skips off the broad chest of Michael Meyers, while Terry's shot makes an almost cartoonish noise as it ricochets off something in the distance. A cat yowls and knocks garbage cans over for added effect.
However… Kari does effectively shine her flashlight directly in Michael's face. He jerks his head away, raising his knife to stab at the target he can no longer see. And that's when Brian steps up to take his shot.
Since his track record with the staff here in Hallowe'en isn't great, Brian decides to try something different. He pulls the miniature disco ball out of his pocket and hurls it at the knife-wielding maniac. A very recognizable synth beat fills your ears, and Michael freezes in place, still blinded by the flashlight.
You all watch as Michael Meyers is forced to dance to the Eurythmics, and continue dancing as the song shifts mashup-style into the 'Love Shack'. His movements are as jerky as you might imagine for a man who has never known love nor rhythm.
You have one minute to leave the area while Michael Meyers is unable to resist the beat.
"...this is where we leave, right?" Terry asks the others as he holsters his (entirely ineffective) gun.
He matches pace with whoever is slowest, trying (and mostly failing) not to look impatient.
Kari moves as soon as she's certain Brian and Charlie are moving.
"Exit, stage left," says Brian, in a not too accurate impression of Snagglepuss. He moves as fast as he can with a knife wound to the deltoid.
Charlie's dice roll obscures the moon for a moment before disappearing again, and he .
Nearby, you distinctly hear the voice of someone calling "Help me! Please!"
It's in the direction of the circus.
After Meyers is clearly out of view, Kari stumbles to a stop breathing hard. "Terry, still got duct tape?"
If so she does a little sloppy medic-ing, sealing the wound with the tape. If not... she still takes a breather.
And then she runs towards the circus and the cry for help.
Aleph smiles sympathetically. "There's probably one of everything here. The Estate was definitely meant to be a home away from home for Agents, providing them as cushy a life as possible, considering how dangerous their missions can be."
"I'm glad I'm not the one who has to select agents, I know far too many people who would lean into the cushy and do nothing."
specifically, we do have a chef that cooks all of this
Kari grins at this, handing Dia the menu. "In that case, I'd love the meal that chef wants to make, their special for the day." A smile, "I've always wanted to go to a place where I could say that. And you can let them know I'm not picky."
it would be a bad time for both of us.
She holds up a hand, "I swear I'll do my best to not end up in the infirmary for myself. 'Course I'll be doing my best to make sure no one on missions with me needs the infirmary."
He pulls up a picture taken from the edge of Harmonious. Towers jut upwards into the sky, a glittering buffet for the eyes of neon lights and silver and gold extravagance. Transparent glass tubes connect buildings, and Kari can just barely make out silhouettes of people walking through them. There are flying craft everywhere, and she's pretty sure she can make out people flying as well, with neon-lit wings.
She doesn't seem to mind the break at all, her eyes following the neon bright wings.
Now that I know you're interested, I know just the place to take you. If you're interested in going with me, I mean." He adds, blushing slightly.
"It's a date." She smiles, "Although we'd have to compare it to places in Earth's Japan at some point."
Do you still speak with your father?" He asks this last question with caution as well. "And I'm sure you know this, but you can tell me to buzz off if I ask something you're not wanting to answer."
"You aren't asking to find ways to hurt me later, so it's all good." Her hand moves up and touches a charm hanging under her shirt. "I haven't seen my Dad since the divorce. He'll send me packages or letter or emails every few months, but I don't actually know where he is." She smiles, the look fond if a little lost, "I think he lost the ability to be grounded when they broke up."
He smiles at her question about family. "It's a little different in Ruk than on Earth, as far as family is concerned. Children are raised communally, and maybe half of us are born in artificial wombs. I was one such baby. So… yes, I do keep in touch with the community that raised me, but it's not a close relationship. I sometimes wish I'd been born on Earth, so I could have had siblings to argue with, a dad to learn from, a mother, so I could have enjoyed a specific meal cooked just for a birthday. All of that. I had love, but it's definitely different. I was identified young as someone with a particular talent for healing, so I was conscripted around… eight or nine years old? To work for the Quiet Cabal and heal their soldiers."
Kari's hand reaches forward and touches Aleph's hand, squeezing it if he doesn't pull away. Softly, "I've had people who were surprised I've lived without family since I was eleven or so. I had it easy." Her face twists, not wanting to judge but clearly not at ease, "Conscripted doesn't give me warm and fuzzy vibes, are you ok talking about this?"
"Duct tape ... and a first-aid kit," Terry produces a roll of duct-tape and a small first-aid kit. "Antibiotic ointment?" He offers a small tube to Kari and then Brian.
Brian also takes the time to do a quick patch on the knife wound.
When Kari makes her roll, there's a deep, booming laugh that echoes through the town of Halloween.
And she disappears from in front of you in a puff of purple smoke.
You are now imprisoned until your group finds you. You are currently sharing space with a terrified looking teen boy, whose face you recognize from the art on the board before you were whisked away into Halloween land.
"Oh s~%$!" The boy says, bolting upright to his feet from where he'd been slumped against the wall when you appeared. "Are you… are you another player?" He asks when he sees that Kari isn't actually a monster.
You appear to be trapped in a funhouse; you're in a dark hallway with strobe lights occasionally going off, and smoke machine smoke occasionally mists over the ground at your feet.
If your group continues on the path to the carnival, it only takes you a few minutes of walking down a twisty, dark alleyway. The only lights are the occasional pumpkins you pass in windows, glowing with flickering candlelight within. You hear sounds behind you like someone is following you, but when you turn, they've either hidden… or they were never there at all.
"Do you think someone is actually following, or is it ambiance?"
Terry stops to look at a particularly vivid pumpkin on the way to the carnival.
Another roll of the giant die in the sky, another cough behind the group as they make their way to the carnival.
The alley opens up to a main avenue of closed shops, all decorated for Halloween, and the vibe is much more cheerful. Taking a left brings you to the end of the avenue, and a brightly decorated archway that opens up into everything you'd expect from a circus in Halloween.
There's a Ferris wheel, a fun house, several small roller coasters, a couple of 'kid' rides, food stands, all of that. You hear laughter, the voices of people playing carnival games, the voices of carnival barkers... but you see no one else around. It's all of the decoration and ambiance of a circus without the actual attendees.
Both Zaika and Aleph wave away Terry's concerns, though Aleph does so after hiding another yawn behind a closed fist.
"Okay, okay, yeah I should probably head out." Aleph concedes with a grin, running a hand through his perpetually messy hair. "I taught a class and had a long shift here, I'm preparing for a few glorious days off. Thinking about taking a recursion trip, but I haven't really settled on anything yet. Maybe it's time to try out something musical and see what all the fuss is about."
He turns to Zaika. "But let me know if Fenwick is discharged, just shoot me a message."
"Shoo, shoo," she says with accompanying hand gesture. "Get some sleep and stop worrying about other people for like five minutes."
"Thanks for coming by, it was great chatting with you!" Aleph says to Terry, then waves at them both and turns to leave the infirmary.
Zaika watches him go with a fond look on her face, then gives Terry an over the top eye roll.
"He tried to keep himself awake using cyphers when he first started working here. He's made comments about going back to Ruk to biomodify himself not to need sleep, but I think Abby and I talked him out of it."
"I'm glad I'm not the one who has to select agents, I know far too many people who would lean into the cushy and do nothing."
He nods, and chuckles, though it's without amusement. "There's always a batch of Agents that do lean into the cushy and do very little. The bare minimum to afford the lifestyle. And that's their prerogative I guess, but… Katherine notices. And they usually get talked to." He takes another sip of his lemonade. "That's usually how we end up with so many freelancers, too. People who can translate but don't want to work for the Estate. They just want to moonlight every now and again, and keep some semblance of a normal life wherever they came from."
"In that case, I'd love the meal that chef wants to make, their special for the day." A smile, "I've always wanted to go to a place where I could say that. And you can let them know I'm not picky."
Dia looks more than happy to bring that request back to the chef. "There's honestly nothing more exciting for a chef than hearing that their customer isn't picky."
Aleph looks amused by the exchange, then hands his menu over to Dia.
"Adventure it is! I, too, am not picky… although I'll admit that as much as I like shellfish, they don't usually like me, so that'd be my only restriction."
Dia nods. "Got it. I'd expect the food in about forty minutes or so, so please let me know if you want anything to snack on in the meantime."
"It's a date." She smiles, "Although we'd have to compare it to places in Earth's Japan at some point."
"I don't mind that caveat at all." He says, returning the smile earnestly.
"You aren't asking to find ways to hurt me later, so it's all good." Her hand moves up and touches a charm hanging under her shirt. "I haven't seen my Dad since the divorce. He'll send me packages or letter or emails every few months, but I don't actually know where he is." She smiles, the look fond if a little lost, "I think he lost the ability to be grounded when they broke up."
Aleph looks like he wants to inquire further about her first comment, but settles on just responding plainly to it.
"It's easy for me to say I would never ask you anything to use it against you later, or that I would intend on hurting you at all, but… that's action and trust that comes with time."
"People sometimes have a very hard time balancing the people they love with the life they're choosing."
"I've had people who were surprised I've lived without family since I was eleven or so. I had it easy." Her face twists, not wanting to judge but clearly not at ease, "Conscripted doesn't give me warm and fuzzy vibes, are you ok talking about this?"
He does not pull away, and squeezes her hand in return, smiling at her hand in his before looking up to answer her.
"Count me among the people who are surprised to hear you've lived without family since you were that young. From what I know of Earth, that's fairly uncommon, no? And… well, it's a heavier topic, but I've never really been afraid to get into those."
He shifts slightly, as though careful not to break the soap bubble moment of his hand being held, and takes another sip of lemonade with his free hand.
"Before I get too into the story, do you know anything about the Quiet Cabal, or any other factions on Ruk?"
"It's not ambience. Michael's still out there," Charlie says.
Brian takes in the carnival. "...by the prickling of my thumbs..." he says.
He shrugs at looks at the other two. "Well, someone had to make the obligatory Bradbury quote."
A phantom carnival goer wins a big prize in the distance, complete with chiming bells and cheering friends. You still see nothing, except shadows in your peripherals. The scent of elephant ears and more savory fried foods fills the air for a moment, then disappears on a chilly breeze.
"It's not ambience. Michael's still out there"
Terry looks around at the deserted carnival. "Is he as likely ahead of us as behind us?"
"I think I liked the diseased carousel better, at least that had a carnival barker. This is starting to get creepy."
Terry looks entirely blank at Brian's reference.
Terry looks around at the deserted carnival. "Is he as likely ahead of us as behind us?"
"Yeah. In the better installments, the director would make use of that. You'd see Michael in the background of shots, out of focus, moving around. Basically, he's going to be in the one place you're never looking."
Charlie clears his throat, then, "So... are we just going to pretend Kari didn't vanish, or...?"
Charlie clears his throat, then, "So... are we just going to pretend Kari didn't vanish, or...?"
Terry shakes his head, then nods it, then realizes words are better.
"No, she vanished, all right," Terry says, a note of concern in his voice. "In a deep purple haze. There isn't anything I can do about it." A hopeful tone in his voice. "Is there something you can do?"
"He tried to keep himself awake using cyphers when he first started working here. He's made comments about going back to Ruk to biomodify himself not to need sleep, but I think Abby and I talked him out of it."
"That sounds dangerous. Sleep is amazing."
Terry holds up his fingers like he is about to count something off, then thinks better of it.
"Also, Ruk sounds intense. Not that Ardeyn wasn't intense." Terry remembers who he is talking to, and smiles at Zaika. "Which part are you from? We only visited a teeny part of the up top and a teeny part of the down below."
Terry shakes his head, then nods it, then realizes words are better.
"No, she vanished, all right," Terry says, a note of concern in his voice. "In a deep purple haze. There isn't anything I can do about it." A hopeful tone in his voice. "Is there something you can do?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"Oh s~%$!" The boy says, bolting upright to his feet from where he'd been slumped against the wall when you appeared. "Are you… are you another player?" He asks when he sees that Kari isn't actually a monster.
Kari gives the boy a look up and down checking for wounds, hands up where he can see them, holding the flashlight in a non-threatening way. She moves her free hand in a kinda-sorta wave. "In that your friend Amelia hired us to find you all and we had to play the game to do that, yes." A pause, "She didn't give us all of your names, are you Gwen Delfino or one of the other people who decided to play horror Jumanji?"
A pause, "I'm Kari." She looks around, "And we should try to find a way out of here and find the rest of my team. And your friends. My team was headed to the carnival and hopefully this fun house is in the carnival, so we can totally work on rescuing ourselves, right?"
A pause as Kari takes in the hallway then, "Can you give me a quick recap of what happened to you all when you started to play?"
"I'll just ... keep looking ... then?"
"Is there some horror movie way to improve our odds? Like we hear a spooky noise and it's just a cat and the monster is right behind the cat. Except the cat is Kari?"
"Is there some horror movie way to improve our odds? Like we hear a spooky noise and it's just a cat and the monster is right behind the cat. Except the cat is Kari?"
Charlie is momentarily stunned. "Okay," he says, the annoyance bleeding through, "if we're going to be in worlds governed by fiction, I'm going to need you to watch a selection of movies and TV shows. I'm going to make a list. A list."
"Start with the ones that have a good sound if you want to hold my attention," Terry says, peering into shadows as he moves toward the carnival.
He shrugs and gives Charlie an apologetic look. "Just being honest. I know my limitation there."
"I'm not mad," Charlie says carefully, "I'm just disappointed."
Terry looks entirely blank at Brian's reference.
"Something Wicked This Way Comes," explains Brian. "They made a movie of it starring Jason Robards in the '80s. It's about a haunted carnival. Aside from the Halloween films, it's the horror vibe I'm getting most of here."
"I'm not mad," Charlie says carefully, "I'm just disappointed."
Terry laughs. Not uproariously, but an honest laugh in a stressful situation. "Have you met me?"
"I haven't seen that one," he says to Brian. "I have seen Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park because it has a rockin' soundtrack."
Terry wrinkles up his face for a moment, then shrugs. "Haunted carnival does sound more useful here."
Brian nods.
you notice a pattern in how the pumpkins are laid out at the circus. It's not as random as it appears at first glance - instead, you see that if you followed them, they'd lead you straight to the Fun House on the opposite end of the circus grounds from where your group entered. Your gut tells you that you're likely to find Kari, and possibly one of the missing teens there.
Brian rolls his die, and one of the carnival games nearby flashes to life, bells clanging and lights blinking.
"Lucky 13! Lucky 13" An invisible barker's voice calls out, the sound fading away in an eerie echo.
Brian's attention is drawn to the empty game booth where his 'Lucky 13' call originated. On the counter there is a piece of paper, with a grainy picture of two of the kids - you recognize them from the art on the game board before you entered Halloween. Underneath them, in Halloween-appropriate font, are the words HaVe YoU SeEn TheSe HoOLiGaNs?
Underneath that, an address. You have the location for the home in which two of the four teens can be found.
The boy looks like he's ready to collapse with relief. "I'm Kyle Langston, and yeah, Amelia's a friend. I have no idea where Gwen went, or Eric, or Izzy. I've been stuck in here for…" he trails off, shrugging helplessly. "It's so weird, I haven't been hungry or anything, just bored out of my mind, and… man, I don't want to be in here anymore." He seems to be teetering between macho enough not to admit he's scared, and throwing all that aside because he's tired of being stuck in a funhouse.
"Yeah I dunno what else you could do in here that I haven't tried. It's like no matter which direction I go, I just can't find an exit." He gives Kari another lookover. "You look a little young to be on a rescue team. Uh, I don't mean that offensively. You're cute, but like, do you have a gun or a key or…?" He babbles. "Sorry. I don't know how long it's been since I've been able to talk to someone else."
He takes a breath to steady himself to answer Kari's final question.
"Sure yeah. I mean you must have seen the rules too - you have to finish once you start. That's why we played it, it's like you said: horror Jumanji. We all rolled a few times, there was this crystal globe in the middle of the board where a carousel would pop up a few times, but then Gwen was just… gone. I don't even remember what she rolled. Amelia wanted us to stop playing, but like, we thought maybe if we got to the end, Gwen would just reappear? So obviously that didn't happen. I ended up here before I saw anyone else disappear, so I'm glad to hear Amelia got in touch with someone to help."
Something having grabbed his attention, Brian walks over the booth where the voice calling "lucky 13" came from. He picks up and scrutinizes a piece of paper.
"Huh," he says.
He holds up the paper for Terry and Charlie to see. "I've got an address where two of our lost lambs can be found."
[on the piece of paper is] a grainy picture of two of the kids - you recognize them from the art on the game board before you entered Halloween. Underneath them, in Halloween-appropriate font, are the words HaVe YoU SeEn TheSe HoOLiGaNs?
Underneath that, an address. You have the location for the home in which two of the four teens can be found.
"You look a little young to be on a rescue team. Uh, I don't mean that offensively. You're cute, but like, do you have a gun or a key or…?"
Kari gives him a flat look, "I'm not this young in reality, just here. I'm old and not cute." She swings the flashlight, "Terry has the gun, I have a flashlight. Which doesn't sound impressive but its one, a bludgeoning tool which is nearly always handy and two, this one can blind the monsters in the game."
"Sorry. I don't know how long it's been since I've been able to talk to someone else."
"It's ok. I think because our intent was to rescue you all we came into the game together and it was really a bad roll that got me separated from the group, each of you appeared at your own place in the game which is much harder." She gives him a reassuring, totally a 'I'm an adult and know what I'm talking about look', "You've done really well keeping yourself safe from the monsters."
Kari looks at the lock, annoyed. "Lockpicks, I'm going to start keeping lockpicks in my bag." She looks around for a piece of metal she can use as a lever to force the door open. Or thin pieces that could be used as lockpicks.
.
Dia nods. "Got it. I'd expect the food in about forty minutes or so, so please let me know if you want anything to snack on in the meantime."
Kari waves her hand at Aleph to see if he wants to order anything, "I don't want to spoiler my appetite." She says to Dia.
"It's easy for me to say I would never ask you anything to use it against you later, or that I would intend on hurting you at all, but… that's action and trust that comes with time."
Kari shakes her head, "Intent, you aren't asking with the intent of harm. People get upset, they say things they don't mean to, that happens. Intent matters to me."
"People sometimes have a very hard time balancing the people they love with the life they're choosing."
Kari nods, "And I wasn't abandoned, I'd gotten accepted at a good school right before my parents split and they both made it so I could still do that even with their relationship falling apart."
"So boarding school, controlled environment, lots of dealing with people 24-7 even if when you wanted to scream. Great training for dealing with retail customers." She says this last with a deflecting ease, because of course that's all it was.
"Before I get too into the story, do you know anything about the Quiet Cabal, or any other factions on Ruk?"
"Absolutely nothing," Kari says easily. "The sheer options of what there is available to learn makes it really easy to skim right past things that might be more useful."
"The pumpkins," Terry says, pointing. "They look like they lead to the Fun House at the end of the grounds. I think we'll find someone there."
He starts to head toward the Fun House. "Fun House first? Since we're here?"
"Yeah, let's start with the 'Fun' House." You can hear the scare quotes as Brain says "fun".
"I haven't seen that one," he says to Brian. "I have seen Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park because it has a rockin' soundtrack."
There's a small, defeated sigh from Charlie.
He holds up the paper for Terry and Charlie to see. "I've got an address where two of our lost lambs can be found."
Charlie frowns. "I'm sorry, I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around the idea of there being mailing addresses inside of a board game." He considers. "Then again, I'm in a board game, and until recently I had a mailing address. Okay. I think I've suspended disbelief. Is the address in the fun house? Or are you just looking to clear all areas first?"
"More of a we're here, let's investigate the close thing first gut feeling," Terry says.
"...you don't have a mailing address any more?"
Terry gestures to himself. "I'm a PO Box guy. You're welcome to use my box number if you need an address out there."
"I think the address is in town," replies Brian.
"More of a we're here, let's investigate the close thing first gut feeling," Terry says.
"...you don't have a mailing address any more?"
Terry gestures to himself. "I'm a PO Box guy. You're welcome to use my box number if you need an address out there."
"I kind of abandoned my apartment and my... well, I didn't have much of a life to abandon, but I did it anyway. And I appreciate the thought, but I'm not planning on getting any more physical mail. I imagine you'll get more use out of Columbia House spam than I ever did."
"Just ... be careful if you need to re-enter that life," Terry says. "Exes won't care, but the IRS remembers." He says this with a slight frown on his face.
"I didn't abandon mine, just took a leave of absence. Union dues well spent."
"I'm not this young in reality, just here. I'm old and not cute." She swings the flashlight, "Terry has the gun, I have a flashlight. Which doesn't sound impressive but its one, a bludgeoning tool which is nearly always handy and two, this one can blind the monsters in the game."
Kyle puts his hands up and takes a half step back. "Whoa sorry, okay. And yeah, totally makes sense."
"You've done really well keeping yourself safe from the monsters."
"I dunno, man. Ma'am? Miss. I think there might be something in the funhouse, but it hasn’t come at me directly yet." He looks behind himself as Kari investigates the door. "It might just be atmosphere or something. There are a lot of weird noises in here."
To punctuate his statement, a very unpleasant child's giggle comes from somewhere in the shadows down the hall. And then Kari hears the outside of the funhouse come to life, with the barker's voice trying to attract visitors, and the sounds of the recordings of animatronic monsters leaning outside of the funhouse's windows.
After Terry's roll, a cloud of bats descend on the group once more, still with their childlike faces. They seem content merely to dive at you all, rather than engage you in combat. They also don't seem inclined to leave the area without further encouragement. They fight amongst themselves, squealing and giggling and crying all the while.
One of them seems to be carrying something in human-like hands. As the bats fight each other over your heads, a foil wrapped skeleton chocolate drops to the ground in front of Terry.
When Charlie makes his roll, he gets a sense that it's not only Michael stalking his group from the shadows now. He gets a flash of a machete… a hockey mask.
And he sees Michael heading towards the funhouse, knife raised, stalking someone inside.
Two someones inside. His insight tells him that Kari isn't the only person trapped inside the funhouse.
Charlie's die rolls across the starless sky, and the funhouse comes to life. Animatronic monsters leaning out of the funhouse windows start encouraging you all to 'stay away', while the carnival barker's voice dares you to take a chance inside.
When Brian rolls, the funhouse punctuates the sound of the die with a particularly gruesome cackle.
Kyle puts his hands up and takes a half step back. "Whoa sorry, okay. And yeah, totally makes sense."
She shakes her head, "To use on monsters, not on the teenagers we are here to rescue."
"It might just be atmosphere or something. There are a lot of weird noises in here."
"Then lucky. There is nothing wrong with being lucky." She says with a smile.
"Life lesson. If you don't know how to pick locks and you get locked in somewhere, try to go for the pins. If you can get them out, the door can be opened backwards. Assuming you have enough force to get the pins out of a rusty metal." If she manages to pry the piece free, she uses the piece in an attempt to wedge the pins free from their holding.
"Oh. Uh oh. That's not good." Charlie points at the funhouse. "Michael's stalking someone in there. My guess is it would either be Kari or one of the kids we're supposed to rescue. Also, Jason's out there somewhere too. So... you know... FYI."
Absolutely Terry goes to pick up the TREAT.
Charlie points at the funhouse. "Michael's stalking someone in there. My guess is it would either be Kari or one of the kids we're supposed to rescue. Also, Jason's out there somewhere too."
"So we do need to get there soon," Terry says. "Kari might want our help, but kids would need it. Jason is the one with the breathing music, right? Can he be reasoned with?"
"So we do need to get there soon," Terry says. "Kari might want our help, but kids would need it. Jason is the one with the breathing music, right? Can he be reasoned with?"
"Goddamn it, Terry!" Charlie shouts. He collects himself. "Okay, depending on where you are in the continuity, Jason is either a profoundly developmentally disabled man who has been living in the woods alone for a decade, that same man with catastrophic brain damage, a literal indestructible zombie who can still use tools, or a demon-thing that possesses people. Now, that last one was part of an ill-advised sequel, but it's still out there! And recursions don't respect canon!" He says this last sentence with the ironclad surety of a priest talking about heaven or hell.
Terry cocks his head to the side like an English Bulldog being spoken to in German.
"That sounds like a probably not," Terry says.
His face shows that a sudden light is dawning behind his eyes. "Wait -- are these classic movie monsters because they can't be reasoned with?"
His face shows that a sudden light is dawning behind his eyes. "Wait -- are these classic movie monsters because they can't be reasoned with?"
"That sounds about right to me."