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Interview with RISK

Not really any risk - Ms. Jones and Mr. Atkins both seem to like Kari's pleasant demeanor and the questions she asks, and they let her go with a "If you think of anything else, don't hesitate to reach out, we'll be in touch with you in a few days!"

We can hand wave the in-game wait - Kari will hear back in two Earth-days' time that she got the job, and that if she's wanting to work remote, she'll at least need to show up at the hospital for a couple of days to get the lay of the land, introduce herself to people there. They'll say that they ended up calling references, and all of those references spoke glowingly of Sophie Higgins, and how lucky the hospital will be to have her working for them. So organized! So efficient! So friendly!

Don't take this to mean we can't flex out a hospital trip, I'm still down to do that, I just didn't want to lose track of in-game days and forget to post about this :)

Night at the Estate

Ms. Manners responds to Kari's question about visiting in person vs. a submitted report by saying;

An in person visit isn't necessary, but I do like to see my Agents from time to time just to make sure they're doing okay. So if not now, then please be sure to visit after your next mission. I believe your pod has taken and completed two now, right?

Fenwick

Fenwick does take a while to respond, likely to do with being asleep when the message initially went out. So it's a good an indication as any that there's a 'do not disturb' feature available for the Estate messaging system.

Thank you! What did they tell you? They make me sound like such a monster

I'm not gonna say no to a cookie or three, though, if you want to meet up soon? I'd be interested in hearing how you're finding everything now that you've got a couple of missions handled

Moira

There will always be a stronger knife-wielding psycho, but of course I have time to work with you! Glad to hear you made it back safely from the stabbing

Assuming you're not still stabbed. It didn't happen at the Estate, right?

Moira is free whenever you'd like to meet up with her for some sparring or whatever else it is you have in mind!

Aleph

So glad you made it back safely! I'll be hornet

Honest, good grief; I had some ramen without you. But I thought about you while I enjoyed it. Hopefully that mask

… makes it better?

Dinner from the Past

"I fully admit looking back, there were red flags, but I didn't see them. It is two-faced, its drawing someone in, getting them to like you and looking like you are the positive good person, when you don't like or even dislike them."

Aleph shakes his head. "What's the cliché, hindsight is 20/20? It's very easy, and normal, to overlook red flags when you're putting your best foot forward in a situation with another person." His eyes widen slightly, and he looks embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's been a while since I've counseled someone in official capacity, I don't mean to counsel when you're not looking for it."

Once Kari gets through her explanation of the food system, Aleph laughs.

"It's very different. There are a lot of things about the Estate that are really fun for a few weeks, and then you just sort of fall into a pattern of ordering the same few things, sticking with what's tried and true, and treasuring the times you get off campus to eat real real food. Made with hands, pride, and love, as you say." He frowns slightly. "Unless you're like Valen. They've made it a mission to try everything once and I'm not sure they know the meaning of the word 'routine'. But maybe that's routine for them. Anyway."

There is a pause, "I'm not good when I'm in places where I need to fake things in general."

He returns the gaze, and takes a few moments to decide on his response before speaking again, with a half smile.

"I'm not either," he says gently. "I hope you believe me when I say I've enjoyed this time with you, and would like to do it again sometime, then."

They are both from Ardeyn. Enya, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, is fae. I don't know her personally, but I know her surname used to be Eithne of Endless Oceans. Loreena McKennitt is human, but lived in a village near enough a fae settlement to have picked up… tendencies.

Eithne's music had a very different effect on those who heard it in Ardeyn. She was banned from Hazurrium for 'interfering with free will'. It wasn't her fault, it's merely the nature of the fae. But here she is, for humans on Earth to enjoy, hopefully for many years to come.

After maybe a half hour or so, Terry gets a response from Zaika as well.

Hi! I definitely didn't get a bunch of other weird texts from you before the greeting, so your retraction definitely worked.

Buuuuut I'm gonna try to guess the question to your first text

Is the answer: Why is Zaika so awesome, and why does everyone speak so highly of her?

Gavin the Nose

I do know that podcast, that guy's a loon. There have been a couple of maybe/almost stories he's touched on, but yeah, I think you're right. Knows things, but not even enough to be dangerous.

Is there something specific you wanted me to keep an eye or ear out for that might have been on his podcast?

Terry would be able to pretty quickly find an episode about people in Seattle "not showing up on cameras right" and "seeding the city with weird old stuff".

……."You want to know what's intoxicating? It's not your scent, it's not your wings, it's not your eyes, it's not the streaks in your hair, it's that. You've judged me worthy of your time, and I find myself wanting to spend every single second proving you right."

Sabine has only enough presence of mind to move off of the sidewalk onto a strip of grass nearby so as not to disturb people walking by the pair as they talk. While Charlie shares his feelings, her eyes widen slightly, but she's listening intently and without that sense of waiting for her turn to speak.

And once he tells her what he finds intoxicating, her face reddens progressively, her eyes sparkle, and she stands on her tip-toes to cover his mouth with a kiss.

It's not the hesitant kiss of someone unsure of how it'll be received, and it comes with nothing more than the faint floral hint of perfume. In this place, she is human. Her lips are soft, and she doesn't linger long enough for the kiss to turn into anything unseemly for a first embrace in a public location.

She steps back a little with a bright smile on her face, looking a little dazed.

"You, Charlie Speck, are not alone. I am here with you." She says quietly, locking eyes with him. "And this is a beautiful moment."

She seems to want to say a lot more about what he shared with her. She starts and stops several times, then shakes her head with a laugh. "I'm not a magical being of summer joy. I'm just a woman, one who is very much looking forward to eating too much popcorn and watching a very famous movie with a wonderful man." She tilts her head a little. "I hope I didn't throw a wet blanket over the evening?"

Excellent! Now I just need to figure out how to convey the concept of Ardeyn and Rukian music...

I'm not sure who either of those people are, so they might be.

After a few minutes...

Trent Reznor does seem a little Rukian, but I can't be sure from such a short listen. I'll ask Fenwick about it, and see if he recognizes him.

Another minute later.

Fenwick told me I'm 'ridiculous', which could mean yes or no.

Another minute.

I don't suppose you've heard of Enya? Or Loreena McKennitt?

Gavin the Nosy

Gavin responds almost immediately.

Oh man I thought you were just yanking my chain before, like when you ask a girl for their phone number, and then they give you a fake one, and then you have to find them on Facebook and ask why they gave you a fake number? Why not just be honest?

Anyway, you got it, boss. It seems like everything in Duvall sort of just... went away. If that was you and your group, good job. People are still in mourning but there's not this weird sense of dread hanging over everything.

Don't worry, I asked for two rolls for a reason, and this is not a place I'm going to be using a 1. At least not yet. :)

The interview proceeds without any major hiccups that Kari would be aware of. Paula focuses more on her background, comfort with repetition, while Michael asks a few softball questions around ethics and HIPAA regulations.

This is a fairly low to mid level role, so they seem satisfied with Kari's answers.

"We'll be in touch with you in a day or two with an answer, you're one of the last people we've screened for the role, so you'll hear back soon. Do you have any questions for us?" Paula asks after wrapping up their side of the interview.

Exactly. You get the idea. Terrible place.

While we're on the subject of music, then, there are a few artists on Earth that are actually from Ruk and Ardeyn.

She leaves this without follow up, in case Terry's "we can talk music anytime" was actually a subtle "I'm done talking about it for now, though".

Abby

Could be either, really. Lovecraft recursions usually have nothing but negative impacts on those of us who visit, or have it visited upon us

If you start having nightmares about the Ancient One, please visit the infirmary

It's hard to convey feelings over text, but given that this text came without joke or smiley face, it's easy to suss out that she's being serious.

Sabine

"God no. They looked like Klingon food to me. All right, whatever ritual you need to do, do it. You're about to have cha siu bao and it's going to change your life."

"Oh begonias, you're probably right! I bet it was something Star Trekky."

The ritual she observes before eating anything meaty seems to be quick and entirely internal. She closes her eyes, tilts her head upwards, then downwards, then opens them again.

"I'm so excited to try all of this, I don't think I can properly express it to you." She says, then takes a long sip of green tea.

The food arrives quickly, and Sabine looks like she's trying to restrain herself from putting everything on her plate, and then into her mouth, at once. She raises her plate to her face to smell most things before she samples them, and she seems to be trying to slow herself down so she doesn't look like an absolute monster at the table.

"These," she holds up the cha siu bao, "I would kill someone for."

"And these," she raises a piece of xiao long bao, delicately held between chop sticks, "reminds me a lot of something I used to eat when I'd visit Hazurrium. The ones in Ardeyn were mostly desert, and in the middle, a surprise flavor. One of my favorite treats there."

She looks at Charlie with a warm smile. "Now they're one of my favorite treats here."

"Which ones are your favorite?"

Texting with Abby

That might just be their faces. Men are typically fairly dense when it comes to how they relate to other people. Unless we're talking about Aleph, but he's the exception to the rule

Interview with a hospital

WHY WOULD YOU NEED NAMES? lol, sorry, of course it did, I should have posted that

Kari expects to speak with Paula Jones, one of the HR Department leads, and Michael Atkins, another lead in the same department.

I don't know how much of this you wanted to roleplay, but if you want to just give me two dice rolls for Persuasion/Deception/Conversation, I'll build the results off of that. Basically, I don't anticipate that Kari would so thoroughly botch the interview that she wouldn't get this job, especially with Estate-given credentials to bluff her way past the hard part of getting screened in the first place.

Abby

You mean you don't like vague references to menacing things? Strange

Practically, it means there is likely going to be an uptick of Strange-related, and likely dangerous, events happening on Earth, Ruk, and Ardeyn. Unfortunately there's not much to look for unless you are the overly cautious and suspicious type. In which case, keep an eye out for people who have technology that makes you forget what they look like, or who seem to disappear from sight when you spot them

Unfortunately, this is the part of working for the Estate where things get tricky. Karum agents are very hard to track down. We're more reactive than proactive in that way. We don't have enough people to do much more

Aleph

Hey Charlie Aleph responds fairly quickly, indicating that whatever time it is at the Estate when he receives the message, he's at least already awake

Ahhh the Quiet Cabal. Yes, I was conscripted to work with them when I was very young, and left the faction to work for the Estate a handful of years ago. They're one of the primary factions on Ruk, created to counter the Karum, and th

they seek to preserve Earth. We… they tend to believe that if Earth is destroyed, Ruk will follow

There's no single leek

Leader

Sorry, I'm terrible at this texting thing

No single leader, rather, it employs many people to accomplish its goals and try to challenge the Karum on all fronts

That's the long and short - are you on site? We could grab a quick drink and discuss further if you'd like

Sabine

"Oh, stop it," Sabine blushes furiously, but looks pleased. She waves her hands through the encroaching sunlit-forest that's creeping in on the pair, and it dissipates.

"And you're an easy person to forget myself around, Charlie." She says with a grin still dimpling her cheeks. She seems surprised to see his hands offered, and takes them with a nod. "Yes, let's!"

The translation is successful and quick, lasting not quite ten minutes. As Sabine doesn't know exactly where Charlie intends on bringing her, she focuses on Earth as a general location, trusting Charlie to be more specific in his thoughts.

With some poking around the Estate tablet, Terry finds and orders what he's looking for, with assurance that it will "pass most security checks", and especially when average people see the information.

Justin Timberlake, yes. I… might have continued listening to his music once he moved on to performing without the grounp.

Maybe.

I'll be honest and say I haven't heard any of the names you mentioned, but I'm going to research them after this conversation. Maybe it's the Qephilim part of my background. We can't get enough music. Whether this is a joke or not is basically impossible to tell through text.

There is a recursion that is structured almost purely on metaphor. You might actually bleed music there if you were cut. It's a silly place, and often, an unintentionally dangerous one.

Texting with Abby

No no it's fine, my line is always open for new Agents, don't worry

You should never feel like an idiot for asking questions! Are those boys bullying you? :)

Interview with a hospital

When the video conference starts, Kari is faced with two people - one, a matronly looking woman with plenty of wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, and the other is a slightly younger man who looks like he's doing his best to play the stern, no-nonsense hospital interviewer.

From information Kari would have received to prep for this call, she knows the woman is the hiring manager, and the man is just a colleague to help screen candidates

"Hi, Ms. Higgins!" The woman says, and her lips are only slightly out of sync with the audio for a moment before the internet catches up. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Your background is almost exactly what we're looking for, so we just had a couple of quick questions for you."

Dinner Dates in the Strange

"If you haven't had to deal with the mean girl syndrome, I'm happy."

His smile is a sympathetic one, but he shakes his head. "Thankfully, I haven't. At least not by that name. Do you feel like you've only experienced it with other woman? I've known plenty of people who were very… two faced, it sounds like the same sort of thing."

"Is one of the factions dedicated to raising children?" The smile turns impish, "Otherwise I have a hard time seeing truly dedicated faction members not trying to sway their charges to the 'correct' faction. Or have I misunderstood something basic?"

He laughs at this. "Those are good questions. You haven't misunderstood anything. The short answer is… yes, there is a sort of community faction based on raising the good children of Ruk. Mind you, this is mostly in Harmonious. There are little townships and villages and the like outside of Harmonious… not many, but they exist. So all of the other factions will do their best to start petitioning kids when they're around 17-18. Lots of propaganda. Like hey, join us, we'll give your life a sense of purpose!" He rolls his eyes but maintains the grin.

"The Karum plays dirtier. They try to catch kids using clever media plays, unexpected ads in public, that sort of thing. The Quiet Cabal has had to resort to similar tactics to sway kids away from that mindset. And the poor child-raising community, they have to try and protect the kids from all of that, while still raising 'good citizens'. It's… a bit of a mess."

As the dessert dwindles down to last bites, Aleph looks thoroughly pleased at the meal, and the experience of sharing it with Kari.

"I can't remember the last time I really… enjoyed the food here at the Estate. There's something about having immediate access to literally any kind of food I want that takes the joy of sharing a meal out of it. Thank you for joining me." He says earnestly. "And I hope we can take a ramen journey together sometime soon, too."

Abby

They're anti-Karum, basically

Focused on preserving Earth and its inhabitants from destruction, as they believe Ruk and Earth are now inextricably tied together. Aleph was part of that faction before he came to work for the Estate, he'd be able to give you more detail from the horse's mouth, if you're interested

Sabine

Sabine does send him a text, but it's just I'm ready! Meet in 30? so, she shows up on the quad to meet Charlie. She's wearing something more distinctly faen - a gossamer dress that looks like it should reveal a lot more than it does, colored a vibrant purple to compliment the color of her hair and wings. She's also barefoot, carrying a small purse that looks like it might actually just be made from leaves.

"I know this'll all go away when we translate, but…" she says, suddenly a little self conscious. "Hopefully, in translating, I can impart the date-yness of our trip."

When she goes in for the hug this time, she gives Charlie a quick kiss on the cheek.

"For the gift. And the consideration at lunch. And other things." She says gently, trying her best not to be awkward about the whole thing.

That's some proper Agent action you've experienced, then. And between you and me, sounds more fun than filing reports

Baruchiel takes substantially longer to respond.

I can't believe Abigail said anything about that in front of you. Is what she settles on, giving Terry the impression that the only reason she took so long to respond was to debate whether or not she should pretend she didn't see the question.

I enjoy the Backstreet Boys from time to time. Abigail introduced me to several others, but they were the only ones I heard that sounded like they had particular talent as a whole.

She seems to have decided to go all in on the answer.

N*SYNC is fine. One or two very talented voices, but in general, it appears they were thrown together more for their ability to dance than for their individual voices.

98 Degrees had one or two enjoyable songs. But overall, I think they weren't strong contenders and do not last the test of time.

I should explain - I am enamored of what only a voice can accomplish musically. I very much enjoy a Capella music, and so vocal groups attract my ear.

It would be very easy to have a spoiler going with like five different conversations, yes, 2-3 is probably a safe cap for spoilers, lol

Ah, Halloween. It's a fun place for a few minutes, but it wears thin pretty quickly

What other things might that be? Karate chopping a debrief?

No worries about splitting spoilers for NPCs :D I figured I'll just use their avatars if I post something that's just to a particular player, you know, to make running this game more complicated for myself!

Abby responds after a few minutes.

Woohoo! Look at you, cooking with gas

I'm glad to hear it. Where has your second mission taken you?

Sabine returns it, almost as awkwardly.

"Thank you for joining me for lunch. I…" she hesitates, then plows ahead, "I can't wait to see you later."

She watches him go, then disappears to attend to her lab and whatever else it is fae women do in their downtime.

The job board looks much the same as it did before, including the murders taking place down in California (which is now in the top slot), and another mission to protect the monks that guard reality seeds out in the Strange. This time, however, there is a notification posted that all Estate members should be on the lookout for increased Karum activity that seems to be occurring in all major locations.

"Honestly, that's part of why I enjoy talking to you. You say things that help me look at the work I'm doing a little differently." She says. "Like some sort of muse for research."

"So, I'm hoping that my pod is still busyish enough that I can take you on our date this evening. A walk, dinner, movie in some order? On Earth? Before you send me off to potentially catch a serial killer?"

She looks surprised for just a moment, then pleased, like she didn't expect Charlie would want to continue being in her company for more than just the lunch.

"Well! I'd love to go on a date with you this evening, Charlie Speck. Especially the one you just described. It sounds like a proper Earth date." She pauses. "I do have something in my lab I need to attend to before we go, and I'll need to get ready... maybe just give me a few hours?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I simply ordered your favorite thing on the menu and realized I wasn't as hungry as I thought. Simple mistake." He almost fights the smile that threatens to escape. Almost.

Sabine beams at this, taking another bite and seeming to enjoy it all the more. The air is thick with the scent of summer, and at his peripherals, he gets a distinct impression of trees and sunlight from another world. She coughs a bit on a piece of pepperleaf, and the image disappears, leaving the two back in the café again.

"Thisisreallygood, thankyou," she says brightly, and turning her gaze to the ceiling. "Much better than the noodles." She says, once she has breathed deeply a few times.

"When you're ready, you can tell me about what you've been hinting around. I promise you I'll listen."

She takes his hand, squeezing very gently when she feels the tremble, and locks eyes with him.

"It's not that big a deal. But… yes, I'll tell you. Another time. I'm not quite ready to raincloud a sunny day with you just yet." She squeezes his hand again and offers a reassuring smile.

"Tell me. I know nothing about it. My only frame of reference are either my pod or the people around the Estate I meet."

She seems almost relieved to hear Charlie describe his powers as non-violent, and excited when he asks to hear more about her research.

"My colleague, Oren of Last Autumn Leaf, used to work on site here at the Estate in the labs before he transferred to act as a liaison in Hazurrium. He tended to study the people-side of things, where I fell more on the recursion end of the spectrum. He would interview new Agents when they first arrived, talk with them again after a couple of months, and then once more after some number of years. Forgive me, I can't recall all the specifics."

She takes a hesitant sip of her milk-looking drink, relaxing when she realizes it's not something terrible.

"When people learn about the Strange, and learn all the powers they have access to, there is a type of person that does everything they can to learn about their own powers, and use them as often as possible. They'll use as many cyphers as they can find, and they often will find reasons to use their powers in mundane situations. Which can, and does, put them at risk, depending on what recursion or world they're using them in. There are Agents who almost refuse to use their Strange gifts, instead relying on things they understood before joining the Estate, like weapons. Oren found, after many years of these interviews, that the Agents who had the most success were the ones who accepted their gifts, didn't abuse them, and still made use of other tools when the situation called for it." She pauses for another drink. "As you've seen and as we've discussed, there are very few rules here. No one is going to police a person for using their gifts. But it has… become a problem in the past, when a person was given power and they sought little else."

"It's led to Agents and other Strange-touched people to try and become Planetovores themselves."

Charlie's eyes bug out. "There's a good chance this was a mistake."

Sabine laughs, and seems slightly more at ease with the questionable bowl of noodles sitting before her.

"I'm pretty hungry," he says nonchalantly. "Maybe I'll order something else. What's good?"

She looks down at her bowl again, completely unaware of the attention he's been paying her.

"Well, once these stop moving, I'll let you know if this is good?" She says with a hopeful upturn at the end of the sentence. "But if you're feeling like you want to adventure away from Earth, culinarily speaking, there's a pepperleaf wrap from Ardeyn on the menu that I usually have when I'm feeling homesick. Don't worry, it's more substantial and filling than it sounds."

After food shenanigans…

"Okay, to answer your question. It's a big one. The short version is that I don't know exactly. The longer answer is a combination of things. I like helping people. Saving those kids felt good. I also think I need to get out of myself a little, maybe to see what I am from the outside. Learn who I am and grow into it, if that makes sense?"

She nods, idly twirling her noodles while giving Charlie her full attention.

"Saying "I don't know, but I'm learning about it along the way" is one of the most important things to get comfortable saying as a researcher. Even more so as just a person tending to their own personal devleopment, really." She says approvingly. "There are people who come to the Estate and work here for a variety of reasons. To be the hero, whether or not someone needs it. To acquire power, which is always relative. To explore the unknown."

"Have you learned anything new or surprising about yourself yet?"

Ms. Manners

Katherine sits back in her chair, hands still clasped on the table before her.

"If they don't reach out to me soon, I'll reach out to them just to make sure they're settling in okay." She nods once. "Thank you, Charles. That'll be all for now. I appreciate you getting this artifact back to me so quickly."

She waits until he's most of the way out of the room before pulling up the work she was doing when he first arrived.

Let me know if you want the hospital interview in the public eye or not!

Sabine

"What drives your interest in taking on missions for the Estate? You could just be… a traveler." There's no judgment in the question or the follow up comment, merely an intellectual curiosity.

She pulls the menu toward herself, absentmindedly tapping the screen while keeping her attention on Charlie.

There's a little ding noise after they've both placed their orders, and a polite voice says one moment, please. Rather than the immediate appearance of their food and drinks, a small robot on wheels, carrying a tray laden with items, rolls over to the table. The robot has a smooth glass face with no features, rather, there is a flickering cloud of rainbow light brewing behind the glass like a storm.

"Your order," it says politely in the same gender neutral voice as what came from the table moments ago.

In front of Charlie, his turkey sandwich, chips, fruit, and a tall drink that's glowing a violent orange, reminiscent of a volcano about to erupt. There's even a little steam issuing from the top.

"Give your xortzsnchaf approximately one minute to settle before consumption," the robot says to Charlie.

In front of Sabine, the robot deposits a bowl of noodles that are writhing of their own accord; inky black noodles with a generous dollop of vibrant yellow sauce. Sabine doesn't say anything about it, but the look in her eyes screams oh no. She clearly didn't look at what she ordered from the menu, and seems unwilling to send it back. Her drink appears to be milk.

"Would you like any pepper?" The robot asks Sabine blithely.

"N-no, thank you, this will be fine." She says, lips firmly pressed together, forced upwards into a smile. The robot's color cloud flashes a few times, then it rolls back around the corner to the hidden depths of the café's … kitchen?

"Anyway, sorry, back to the question," she says with great cheer, while absentmindedly spearing the noodles in the bowl until they stop moving.

Ms. Manners

Katherine nods her head at various points in Charlie's lengthy response.

"Getting out of working at the Estate is easy. We have no binding contracts. Getting back in after that? Much more difficult."

"I... I don't know who you would choose, and I understand that disclosing this information is unnecessary since you don't have a Human Resources department, but you should not choose Sabine of Summer Meadows. She and I have gone on a date, and we have plans for at least one subsequent date. I have the utmost respect for her judgment, but I believe in this case there is a conflict of interest, and I would not want to put her in that situation regardless."

Katherine looks surprised, then smiles, just a little, before resuming her professional stoicism.

"I trust Sabine, but I also think her work here is too important to start sending her out on field missions. Put your mind at ease, and thank you for the transparency. It makes our work together easier. No, I have someone else in mind. I would prefer not to say who until you've spoken with them and accepted the choice. They'll reach out to you within the day. Fair?"

Sabine makes a little eek noise, then covers her mouth and lets out a nervous laugh. "Michael Myers is probably the last anything I'd want to encounter in a recursion. I'm glad the pod is mostly fine," she says carefully.

"I'd be traumatized too, thinking I was playing a board game and ending up in anything Crow Hollow produced," she grimaces a little. Then her features settle into something softer… then curious. "I have a question, and I hope it doesn't offend."

There's a digital menu on the table with a list of drinks and a very truncated, but still overwhelming, list of foods available to order. The menu in front of Sabine has been left untouched so far.

Ms. Manners

Katherine Manners listens with her full attention as Charlie explains first about the artifact, then about the potential issues arising in his pod.

At the comment about Crow Hollow, she frowns. "A wonderful recursion. And a recursion I badly wish I could ban without consequence. The Karum frequently visit there, finding artifacts and cyphers from all over the Strange, and beyond. It's a hotspot of activity and no matter how many Agents we station there, it doesn't seem to matter. It's nearly impossible to track people who have traveled through Crow Hollow. So yes, it does point to a more sinister origin, unfortunately. Thank you for the full report."

Without asking permission, Katherine pulls the artifact towards her, examines the outside of the box, then sets it to the side. "I'll bring it to the lab myself. Maybe there's something they can learn from it there before they file it away in the "junk no one is allowed to touch" pile."

She clasps her hands together and folds them on the desk, leaning forward slightly. Charlie again notices, especially after his visit with Sabine, just how antiseptic Katherine's office is. How absent of smell, absent of anything personal.

"The nature of the Strange, the Estate… it can be too much for those who end up here, working for us." She says, tone indicating that she's taking his observation very seriously. "Too many options. Too much power. Alienation can manifest in any number of ways. And I have cut off, mind wiped, and banished... a large number of people who couldn't handle it."

She pulls the digital HUD up again, quickly tapping a few symbols that bring up a document Charlie can't read from where he's sitting. Katherine's eyes flick over them, she nods to herself, then closes the file.

"Kari is also fairly young, which can be even more challenging. You take someone who still hasn't quite figured out who they are, and you give them the opportunity to be virtually anything or anyone else?" She'd be peering at Charlie over her spectacles, were she wearing any. "Do you need or want me to send someone I trust with your pod on your next mission? It would be done in good faith; not to babysit, merely to observe. If you decline that option, I trust you'll let me know if the problem becomes unmanageable. I know that you and your pod have not been acquainted long."

"It gave me an appreciation for choosing to be around people who wanted me to be around rather than those that say one thing while not meaning it."

"I like to hope that, for the most part, that happens because someone is trying to be civil, or polite. Or because they don't know how to communicate effectively. That's pretty common for kids, too. Hopefully that happens less often to you now."

"How all encompassing are these factions on Ruk? I mean it sounds like if you hadn't become a part of the Estate your life would be heavily controlled by the needs and focus of the Quiet Cabal. Is that because of the importance of their task or are all the factions as consuming? Your experience seems much more than a job."

Aleph gets a little more animated at this question/observation, and while still holding Kari's hand, he's bringing her a little along for the ride as he starts gesturing while he responds.

"Factions on Ruk are about as close to mandatory as can be. It's near impossible to make a life for yourself there if you haven't pledged allegiance, or contract, to one of the major factions. So yes, if I hadn't moved over to work for the Estate, my life would have been tied to the Quiet Cabal until whenever it ended. And my general understanding from the friends I still keep in touch with there, and a long history to look over, is that every faction is like that. It's not quite like every day would be Quiet Cabal this and Quiet Cabal that, but… it would have been ever present."

"Just water for me," a grin, "I'd hate to change Chef Meric's flavors with an off choice."

After Dia delivers both meals, Kari pauses with utensil in hand. She looks at Aleph, "Do you want some of any of my dishes before I start? I know there are people who are uncomfortable with food off a plate that been eaten from."

"Same," Aleph says, finally relinquishing the light grasp he'd maintained of Kari's hand to move utensils around and position his plate in front of him. "Water is great. Thanks, Dia. I'm excited to see what adventure Meric planned for us." She inclines her head politely, smiles, and walks away from the table.

"I won't get into details while food is sitting before us, but… I lost any sort of squeamishness about sharing food and all of that a long time ago in my line of work." He says with an almost embarrassed smile. "Eat what you'd like to first, if there's any left over, I'd love to sample it."

He offers the same for his food; whatever Kari's preference is, as he has no particular concerns with sharing food that's been nibbled on or eaten around.

Although the dishes in front of the pair don't look like they'd work at all, tastewise, they do. The tart flavors of the first dish work miracles with the richness of Kari's caviar, which builds on the taste of the Peruvian noodle dish, and so on. It's a symphony of flavors, and Meric clearly makes art of the food he prepares. Aleph is eating with relish; not messy, but also not finding a lot of time to hold lengthy conversations beyond the occasional "oh wow, you really need to try these two things together, I don't even know how to describe the flavor".

The only thing he doesn't eat until Kari's at the same point in her meal is the dessert.

"That looks uncomfortable. I have been in my share of photos like that," he cocks his head to the picture, and nods, once. "I learned how to cut back before cell phones were a thing. Just Polaroids for a much younger me."

"Thankfully, I don't remember the actual discomfort. Only the discomfort of seeing the picture when I was sober, and wondering what sort of monster would call themselves a friend and take a picture like that one." She says this with mock outrage. "What's a polaroid?"

"I guess you're right about the new place shiny. I'm sure our next visit to Ardeyn will take us to the dim back alleys of Hazzurium -- or the rolling cornfields. Either/or."

"I hope not, they absolutely reek of pee. Yes, the alleys and the fields." She says with a chuckle. "But it's something I've thought about a lot. When we see a place over and over again, do we stop seeing what's special or beautiful about it?" She's picked up a pen and is tapping it against her chin in thought. "There was a village I stayed in for a while. It was… quaint. Little cottages, a market open during the day where everyone did their shopping. Boring conversations, lots of routine and repetition. If someone changed their hair a little, it stirred gossip. And if that's more what you mean… then yes, Ardeyn is full of places like that. Places that say PLASMA on them."

"So I was right after all. Now I know what cherubs look like when they grow up. Pleased to meet you again."

Zaika doesn't notice the slightly too long handshake, as she seems to have become flustered for some reason, and her cheeks are definitely rosier.

"I'll get back to you on that when a clever comeback wakes me up in the middle of the night in like, two weeks from now." She says, finally, with a grin.

"I will do my best to keep my own butt out of there,"

She opens her mouth, then closes it with a shake of her head and another smile. "More's the pity for me." Half a second later, "but okay, serious for a moment, do take care." Then, because she can't help herself, "or if you do break your butt, try do it on my watch. Aleph and the others probably won't have as good a time making fun of you for it."

Sabine shows up to the café wearing a yellow sun dress and sandals so minimal that they might as well not be shoes. They look like the sassy response to someone telling her "no shoes, no service". She also does the hesitation before sitting down, mirroring Charlie in her lack of certainty in hug etiquette.

"I'm back. Which you can see by looking at me being here. How are you?"

"I can see you here, yes, and in one piece, too! Which is all I could hope for." She smiles at him, reaching ineffectively for the cloth napkin that's about three inches further to the right than she was blindly grasping for as she maintained eye contact with him. "I'm doing well, thanks! I've been keeping busy with the whole… flower thing," she mumbles the last bit, dropping her gaze and blushing fiercely. She coughs a little and looks back up. "How are you? And the pod, and the kids?"

Ms. Manners

Very good. See you soon, Charles. Is her only response.

The office door is wide open when Charlie arrives. Kathrine has a holographic HUD up in front of her, and she's rapidly sliding documents around on the virtual overlay. Although she doesn't seem to notice Charlie, she does greet him.

"Hello, Charles. Please, have a seat, I'm just wrapping this up."

If you want to roll Perception to see if you can suss out any of what she's looking at, be my guest. If not, also fine!

True to her words, a few moments later, with a downward sweeping gesture, the HUD disappears, and there's nothing between Katherine and Charlie but the desk.

"I appreciate you making time to see me in person. I'm sure you've been told that I don't require it, but I do very much appreciate seeing my Agents in person from time to time, so I can be sure they're still… well. I'm sure you know why." She gestures to the desk, indicating that Charlie should place the artifact there between the two.

I'd love to. See you soon!

Ms. Manners

Charlie doesn't receive a response from Katherine until just after translating back to the Estate.

So formal! Have you ever considered teaching an etiquette class here at the Estate?

If you have time to swing by my office to discuss the artifact, that would be ideal, but if you're busy, go ahead and take it to the R&D labs. They'll secure it for study or disposal, depending on the effects of the item. Thank you, Charlie. We at the Estate appreciate the work you're doing for the good of all.

There are plenty of nature-y spots nearby Greenlake. You can either walk to the lake (which is only a few blocks away from Gwen's house), which has ample space. At this time of night, there would probably be a few homeless folks out and about - it's still too early for runners. But Kari would be left alone.

There's also the Woodland Park Zoo nearby, which would definitely be closed, but also has outdoor park space near it, along with free wifi from the zoo.

Otherwise, there are several very non-corporate hotels in the Ballard area, mostly those small little boutique type places. In particular is the Ballard Inn, which is surrounded by good places to eat, and is a beautiful historic building with fairly good wifi.

I'm going to head back now. I don't think this thing can be activated on its own, but it's worrying enough that I'd rather not have it. And I own a Lovecraftian text.

Good idea. Being cautious in this line of work will ensure you don't burn out or... well, worse.

I really don't want our dates to have a Kari section. The upside is that I don't think I'm dealing with anything again, exactly. It's new! What time is it at the Estate, anyway?

We're on the same page, then, but if you need to talk, I'm here to listen.

Translating alone, it would take you around an hour; you're becoming more familiar with the Estate, but it's still no where near as familiar as Earth. Not yet.

Abby takes a few minutes to respond.

No, as long as you've got the details of whatever Earth account you're using logged at the Estate, it'll just kind of be treated like the things you order and eat here

Another minute later;

But maybe keep the ritzy stays to a limit. A couple times a year

I think it's fair to assume that in Kari's admin stuff while she was at the Estate, this would have been included. So the group has carte blanche to find hotels and transportation included as a benefit of the job.

Understood. This seems like a minor mission, but it did include the recovery of a potentially dangerous artifact.

I don't know that I'm going to rush back, but believe me, I want to. Kari's just decided to find a new way to be unpleasant. Always an adventure out here.

Is there any danger of the artifact activating without someone's intervention? If so, it should probably be taken back here immediately. Otherwise I think you've got some time.

And to his second text:

Well, I'm not going anywhere. And I'm sorry you're dealing with that again. Do you want to tell me about the recent unpleasantness now, or wait until we can see each other again?

Zaika laughs. "You saw like two places!" She taps her device a few more times, bringing up a picture of a topless Zaika, face down in what appears to be a cobblestone alleyway next to an elf woman that appears to be likewise passed out. There's nothing lewd on display, but Zaika is ample enough that there are some… side views.

The picture is a little blurry - the kind of picture that's taken in haste, or while someone is laughing.

"This is probably the most boring location I have a picture of. Just some dirty alley I probably shouldn't have 'fallen asleep' in." She says with an eyebrow raise on the words 'fallen asleep'.

She seems completely unphased about showing the picture to a mostly-stranger.

"But to actually answer your question, I'd ask the same of you: are there any boring or banal places on Earth? What little I've seen of it was all beautiful. I think it's just… that new location shininess."

"It looks like an amazing place to grow up. I think I would like to visit, but not when there's a plague."

At this, she gives a smile that's a little sad. "I'd love to visit when there's less plague, too. It's been a while since I went home."

After Terry gets through his description of cherubs, and then talks about filters, she maintains a mostly straight face, though there's a smile crinkling her eyes and threatening to make its way down to her lips. Although he does notice that her cheeks are a little rosier than before. She holds out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Zaika, and if you think anything about bodies would bother someone working in the medical profession, I'd invite you to work a shift with me. You'll see so many butts." She adopts a thousand yard stare. "So many butts."

Then she grins. "You aren't wrong, though. When I was born, I had the audacity to come out totally nude."

Is there someone in charge of ethics at the Estate? Roving philosophers would be so helpful right now.

Oh, that'd be amazing. Unfortunately, no. It's left up to us to determine what's ethical. It's… caused problems in the past.

Oh god.
I'm sorry. I didn't realize how that sounded.
Not that I'm not interested. I mean, you're gorgeous.
I wasn't asking here in this context. On IM.
Oh god.
A pause.
Hi, I'm Charlie. It's so nice to meet you for the first time.

So nice to meet you! I'm Sabine, and I know how to talk to people.

Are all debriefs in person?

That's another thing left up to the discretion of Agents. You're free to log your more cut and dried missions by Estate system. But I'll warn you that if you put off seeing Manners in person long enough, she'll come find you for an update instead. And she has a knack for picking very inopportune times.

Kari finds no mention of Crow Hollow Games on Google.

But! If she uses her Estate tablet, so does find information from the Estate about the Crow Hollow recursion. It's renown for its Glittering Market; an always-open bazaar where shopkeepers from alternate recursions go to sell… anything they want.

After having spoken with Aleph about the Karum, she might be safe in the guess that the board game ended up on Earth via those channels.

The recruiter responds quickly, letting Kari know that the conversation will be a video call with the hiring manager for the role, and she can expect it to last about 30 minutes, at Kari's convenience.

Right. And then there's the moral component. What right do we have to modify the reality of thinking, feeling beings? Or is it a bigger moral question not to, simply because our enemies aren't bound by conscience?

I mean, obviously planting petunias at Buffy's house doesn't really have a moral component. Maybe for the bees? I'm overthinking it.

You're asking all the right questions. The moral component is one I feel like must be tackled at some point, so we fully understand the ramifications of the changes. But I'm not there yet. And you definitely aren't overthinking it. As much as I hate the term, it's the butterfly effect, potentially. New flowers for the bees, maybe their honey tastes different. Maybe that honey is used at a local diner, maybe someone is allergic to petunias, or maybe there are more bees in the area and they sting someone and kill them. Honestly, starting with something as big as flowers might have been a mistake. Too hasty.

I'd like to see your flowers sometime.

There's a slightly longer pause here.

Wow, I don't know what to say. I mean I don't mind, but you're not usually so forward, and the text is cut off without her usual punctuation. And the next several texts are rapid fire.

Wait, you meant Twin Peaks flowers.
Can I unsend a previous text? Unsend unsend unsend.
Yes, whenever you're free, I'd love to show you the flowers I planted in a Twin Peaks recursion. They are just regular flowers. In public. Very pretty. But nothing special with no meaning attached. Very scientific.
I'm fine, how are you?

And then after all that…

Looks like this thing is manufactured from Crow Hollow Games. From what I understand, Crow Hollow is an interdimensional Casablanca. Are they the Karum you're talking about? In any case, I have the address of the Goodwill where the game was obtained. If I put that in the report and flag it for Manners, is that enough for follow up, or is she going to want us to look into it there?

Oh dear. Yes, you're right, Crow Hollow features an always-open bazaar with shopkeepers from thousands of alternate recursions. The Karum, however, are a faction from Ruk that have made it their mission to destabilize recursions around Earth, or destroy Earth altogether.

Putting that in the report and flagging it for Manners is enough - the Estate has not yet found a good way to track Karum agents when they've indirectly attempted to hurt someone by way of depositing dangerous artifacts on a Prime world.

There is activity! She was reached out to by a recruiter who wants to set up time to chat with her about the role. Thought her background was a 'perfect fit' for what the hospital is looking for.

There's also a not insignificant amount of spam that the filter is doing a surprisingly poor job of relocating to a spam folder.

Flattery gets you plenty of places. Is her first response. Then, a minute later:

That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out. The potential for change is... fascinating, but terrifying. It might be that smaller recursions are slightly easier to modify just by the nature of how they were created, and the size of them. It might take bigger minds, or more of them, to affect any change on Ardeyn or Ruk so directly. Earth is constantly in flux - if I plant a flower there, it lives or dies based on the environment, the care it's given, all of that, so it's harder to detect, since the changes don't revert on a Prime world the same way they do in a looping recursion.

The experiment needs care and time. I'd never want to destabilize a recursion this way, but that's precisely what I need to find out, too. I might need to make a trip to retrieve a reality seed and create my own test environment. Because if I can alter a recursion directly that way, what stops a Planetovore from doing the same?

Much the same as I left them. I'll be showing you around a little soon.

I can't wait.

I'd call this thing fairly dangerous. It traps you inside with some off-brand horror icons and hunts you. I don't know that it has a purpose outside of research.

There are Karum agents out there who bring dangerous artifacts to Earth specifically to hurt people. It sounds like this might have been one of those. I'm glad you all made it out safely.

Gwen looks like she wants to maintain the "I can handle this" facade, but after a hesitation, she simply tucks the paper away into her pocket and nods, fresh tears popping up in her eyes.

"Thank you. I think uh... Kyle and Eric are gonna pretend it was no big thing, and Izzy is probably going to want to pretend it never happened. It was a big thing, and it did happen. I can't really talk to a therapist about it."

She wipes at her eyes. "They are definitely family though," she says with a small, but genuine smile. "Idiot family."

She hesitates again, takes out the paper Kari gave her and puts the number in her phone immediately.

"I'll try not to bug you too much."

With Kari's words of encouragement and offer of a digital shoulder to cry on, Gwen seems more at ease than she did when she disappeared into the bathroom.

Kyle is watching their short exchange with something close to a frown on his face.

And Eric's eyes are only for Izzy.

Zaika laughs. "The down under," she says with a chuckle. "That's a good name for it. But very technically, if you were underground, it was probably part of what we called the Night Vault. It's a lot of… well, it's a world. Tunnels, caverns, seas, rivers, vaults. The roads are technically called the Roads of Sorrow, but… anyway, you didn't need all that. The outside-parts of Ardeyn are more fun, less dangerous. Usually."

She leans against the podium again, poking at her tablet and bringing up a picture of a very large airship, one that looks more like a city with the capacity to float through the air. She scrolls through a couple more pictures that are more personal/touristy - a picture of a hallway filled with stained glass windows and rainbow light, a picture taken from a window inside the Ziggurat as the craft floats over a forest that might as well be an ocean for how it stretches past the horizon, sunset painting the forest in beautiful golden light. A picture of her and someone else balancing precariously on a railing at some edge of the Ziggurat, looking elated and terrified at the same time.

"The Sunflower Ziggurat is currently plagued, which is how I ended up at the Estate. Most people in Ardeyn think it an anomalous structure used for trading, but the truth is that the Estate took it over as an outpost for Agents to keep an eye on things there. But last I heard, no one can stay on the craft until the plague is healed. So that's what I meant by sky baby, I was born on the Ziggurat, in the sky."

"What are cherubs?" She asks, picking up on the look on his face.

Chatting the day away

"I flew down at Christmas and spent that time with Mom and, once they were around, my much much younger siblings. One summer I was supposed to meet Dad in France, but it fell through and I ended up using the money for my security and first month rent."

Aleph listens closely as Kari explains what boarding schools are, and talks more about her childhood and direct experience with said schooling.

"A pragmatic choice." He says with a smile once she finishes. "Do you have any particularly fond memories from your time there?"

"I mean I've seen studies on the changes in brain structure in humans when we're exposed to things our bodies and minds aren't ready for, as advanced as Ruk is technically, it seems odd that they'd possibly handicap their population."

Aleph nods, looking impressed by the end of her response. "That's absolutely right, on all counts. I was a special case - my knack for healing isn't common. I've known maybe a handful of other Agents or Strange-touched folks that can heal without cyphers, to varying degrees. One person couldn't manage much more than healing papercuts, and still yet, another Agent who could damn near bring back the dead."

"I think most people tend to need to side with a faction by adulthood, which is around 25 years old, to go further into what you read about brains not being quite finished before that age. There are always special cases, and the Quiet Cabal in particular tries to conscript people earlier than 25 all the time, but in my case… the request was granted. I'm sure it at least had an impact on me as far as my love of Earth goes, and I'm sure this extreme prejudice I have against those who would join the Karum is a result of my conscription, too. But I like to think that even if I'd not been conscripted, I still would have stood firmly on the side of not massacring an entire planet's population. Or even just one of those population."

And I'm including the arrival of the food here; don't feel rushed to end earlier conversations in this thread!

The food arrives, on time nearly to the minute from Dia's estimate. She brings out Kari's food first, the aroma of it preceding the dish itself before Dia sets it on the table.

"The chef, Meric Alsip, wanted you to know that this dish is best eaten in a specific order." She says, then proceeds to point to the five different foods on the plate. The portions aren't stingy, but neither are they American sized.

First, a little pile of colorful leaves with a nearly transparent dressing on them. "Rainbow salad, from Ruk, dressed in lemon-nut vinaigrette." Second, something that looks like purple paste in a decorative bowl, with a ring of crackers around it. "Sunfish caviar from Ardeyn, a first harvest. It's rich, so don't feel bad if you decide you don't want to eat all of it." Third, a small helping of noodles that look like they're coated in pesto, with delicate pieces of chicken nestled in the strands. "Tallarines Verdes, from Peru." The fourth, a whole fish, six inches in length and breaded in something that glitters. "Fetterfish from Harmonious, sustainably grown in a fish farm, rather than cloned or genetically modified." Lastly, a little oatcake square with dried fruits on the top. "And because Meric is a fan of Redwall… Sweet Oatcake with dried fruits straight from the recursion itself."

She leaves, then brings back a plate for Aleph. His plate is laid out the same - five different dishes, to be eaten in a specific order. Dia outlines these as well, as the meals follow the same pattern as Kari's but come from different locations. Salad from Ardeyn, an appetizer from Earth, a noodle dish from Ruk that seems to be sprinkled with fish eyes, a well marinated piece of steak from Ardeyn, and a piece of "imaginary" pie from the movie Hook. Blueberry filling inside, rainbow colored whipped topping.

"Need more to drink?" Dia asks while Aleph takes in the food in front of both he and Kari.

There is enough on both plates to share at least a little of each dish, should the other person be offered a sample.

Glad to hear you're alive! I assume that means the kids are okay, too. Katherine will want to log whatever it is you found and probably send it over to R&D. Or secure it away if it's especially dangerous. Do you know where it came from? Comes Sabine's near immediate response.

He also notices the older message from her about the work she was doing while he was gone, the experiment she ran with growing flowers.

Michael Myers isn't the talking sort. But as the knife pierces your skin, you get a Flash of Insight.

You're someone's Laurie Strode

You missed the forest for the trees when you stepped inside the house, and Michael Myers, for the moment, seems completely unphased by the note you're carrying in your pocket.

However, his next swing of the knife is stopped by the LED cypher you've activated, taking you out of phase and unable to be attacked.

Kyle gives Eric a look that indicates that he was paying more attention to Eric than any studying they were trying to do.

I figure there's no need to draw this out further - you can see Terry and the rest of the group approach if you're looking out the window.

"That sounds dangerous. Sleep is amazing."

"Right?" She throws her hands up as she says it. She's definitely a hand talker. "Who could go without dreaming?"

"Which part are you from? We only visited a teeny part of the up top and a teeny part of the down below."

Zaika laughs. "Ardeyn can be pretty intense, even for those of us who lived there. Ruk is a whole different thing. I'd say it's more intense. Did I say 'intense' enough times?" She shakes her head. "Anyway, I'm from the Sunflower Ziggurat. I'm a sky baby," she wiggles her fingers in an upwardly direction. "What teeny parts of the top and bottom did you see? And did you like what you saw?"

One million questions!

Aleph agrees that he'd rather not ruin his appetite before a big meal, but thanks Dia just the same.

"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."

Aleph says 'ah' in the way that's almost noiseless. "Intent should matter to more people."

"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."

"That doesn't sound so different from being conscripted to join a faction," he says, crossing his arms on the table and leaning forward slightly. "How often did you see your family while attending boarding school? I don't know much about education structure on Earth other than it exists."

"The sheer options of what there is available to learn makes it really easy to skim right past things that might be more useful."

He nods. "Plus, you were introduced to the Strange what… a week or two ago? There's no reason for you to cram all of that information into your head, I just wanted to make sure I didn't tell you something you already knew a lot about." He smiles, then continues.

"So in a nutshell, a lot of the comfort that people enjoy in Ruk comes at a bit of a cost. Everyone usually must pledge allegiance to a faction. Factions are… political, corporate, religious, all of that sort of mashed together. In particular, there are two of these factions that are directly opposed to one another. The Karum, which are a group of people that believe Ruk's destiny can never be fulfilled while we… they are tied to Earth. They're extremists for the most part, they often attempt to infiltrate Earth, and they're doing their best to draw Planetovores to Earth by way of destroying recursions or bringing cyphers back to Earth to use maliciously."

He takes another sip of sparkling lemonade. The scent of lemons in both drinks complements the faint scent of whatever it is Aleph is wearing.

"The Quiet Cabal exists to challenge the Karum. That faction works directly with the Estate, and houses some Estate members to keep a watch on Karum activity on Ruk and elsewhere. So I feel very fortunate that at least, I was conscripted on what feels like the 'right' side of things." He says with a wry smile. "But patching up genetically modified, or bio modified people is a lot of work for a kid. I got a few updates of my own," he holds his free hand out. It's steady as stone. "The hands of a sculptor… or a surgeon. I had to go through medical schooling to get the technical details, but my innate ability means that I don't necessarily need to know which bone connects where to figure out how to help someone heal." He doesn't elaborate on any other updates in particular, but more because he doesn't want to wall of text Kari, rather than he's being shy about sharing details.

"So that's how I ended up at the Estate. My faction already worked with them, and when Katherine caught wind of my abilities, she asked Ruk to lend me as often as possible, and that turned into a conversion into Agent-hood and, oddly enough, my personal freedom. I still help fight Karum whenever I can, but… I owe my freedom to Katherine and the Estate. And so, here I am."

"Well that sucks," Kyle says, succinctly. "I'm even more glad you and your team showed up, then. I can't imagine staying in here forever. Did you know fu… freakin' Jason Vorhees is out there? I saw him before I got stuck in here, and I've been afraid he's somewhere in here with me ever since."

He crosses his arms against his chest. When Kari offers one of her TRICKS or TREATS, he holds up a foil wrapped key. "I got one of these, so I think I have at least one of what I need? I don't know."

As long as all the teenagers, and Kari's group, have at least one of either a TRICK or TREAT, I'm going to allow that you can all exit since Terry summoned the beacon. I think this would go on too much longer otherwise :D

"I'm not at all against the idea. I tried to kick through a few doors before, but couldn't find any that gave way, even though they all seem so rickity."

He seems totally game to help Kari punch or kick or bludgeon through some doors.

… Which turns out, thankfully, not to be necessary, as she hears the click of a lock disengaging.

Eric seems to calm by degrees as Brian talks. "You uh… yeah. Totally makes sense. A game came alive and ate us. Why not."

A 20, now? Lol. Well, Eric definitely trusts you. With your 20 in Persuasion, you've also given yourself a bit of an aura. Anyone standing within ten feet of you will be immune to fear effects for the duration of the Halloween adventure. If it doesn't get put to use… I apologize!

You are also aware that the house with the two remaining teens is not very far away from yours.

Brian and Eric are standing in the nondescript and non-decorated living room of a house. The front door is locked if Brian tries it, and through the windows, he can see out onto a leaf-littered street. There are glowing pumpkins outside the door.

So not the funhouse, but definitely a house in the village part of Halloween.

"I'm glad Amelia didn't play then. Gwen teased her a bunch for it, but Amelia is pretty stubborn about shit … stuff like that." He looks quickly to Brian after the cuss. "I don't mean to be rude, but uh… you don't sound like a teenager. You kinda remind me of the principal at my high school."

Give me an investigation/perception roll if you'd like to try and escape the house. Kari was just rescued, so it might take a couple of posts to get the group over to where you're located.

The note has "Charlie S" written on the front of it in cutesey, curly lettering. The handwriting inside is very neat, and very feminine.

... There are little hearts and stars on it, as befitting a folded up note found inside a Lisa Frank trapper keeper. The note says:

Oh paradox, he fligglesniffed
Waving fingers by my ear
A breath, a baskell baited breath
Dapplebeen in sunnywise
We twixt thine being vineously
Pining though and podding scanting
His smile like a hidden light
Moonsy in the gloaming night

I owe you an actual poem, but I couldn't resist Vogoning a little bit. Enjoy your trip... be safe.

Elswhene, Sabine

The note smells very faintly of sunny summer meadows.

The note gives an aura of Vogon - while Charlie has the note in his possession, it will be three steps more difficult for monsters to attack you and anyone Charlie is near while in Halloween. It will revert back to a regular ole' note when he's translated out of Halloween.

The panicked teenage boy lowers the comically large butcher's knife, clutching his chest with his free hand.

"Jeez, guy, you almost got stabbed." He says with bravado that's one octave too high. He doesn't relinquish his hold on the knife, but he does relax slightly when he sees Brian.

"Yeah, I am. I'm Eric. I don't know you… how do you know Amelia? Do you go to our school? Where are we, anyway?"

From inside the house, you are able to hear the 'WINNER, WINNER, WINNER' coming from somewhere in the not-so-distance.

"Thanks, I'm really glad Amelia found someone who could help us." He shuffles his feet, trying halfheartedly to pull random things off the wall as he finds them. He seems to be drifting along the edges of the funhouse, checking to see if Kari is following or going elsewhere.

Find a pokey thing?: 1d20 ⇒ 6

There's no such thing as luck in a funhouse, apparently!

After poking around in the walls and nooks and crannies of the funhouse... Kari does press her hand against a little toy that buzzes her and gives a very clownish laugh.

Kari has found a TRICK in the Funhouse!

"So uh… do you know where we are? Are we still in Gwen's house, or somewhere else?"

Since you are in the circus, you hear the WINNER, WINNER, WINNER very loudly, coming from just outside the walls of the funhouse.

Unfortunately, Kari is unable to pry the piece free. It's rusted, but not THAT rusted.

But Kyle steps in and asks if he can have a go at it.

Mighty teenager?: 1d20 ⇒ 8

Not mighty enough. He makes a frustrated grunting noise, unable to find another piece of wall in the immediate area that either he or Kari can pull at.

"I hope never to need that knowledge again, but it's useful, so… thanks." He says to Kari as he stares at the wall.

The funhouse is surprisingly clean of things that would be useful to help teenagers escape if they were locked inside.

Make one more perception check for me, or let me know if you'd like to try a different approach

Alas! Your 1 on the board has caused you to be whisked away to… where?

You're inside a house that looks like it belongs in a furniture catalog. There are absolutely no personal touches in the room aside from generic Halloween decorations.

"I have a knife, don’t come any closer!" You hear the voice of a panicked teenage boy coming from the kitchen. "I'll… stab you!" He definitely does not sound like he's actually going to stab anything.

"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.

The pins for the door are on the inside; you don't see anything that jumps out at you immediately, you do spot a piece of the wall that's sticking out just enough for you to try and work it away to use as a lockpick of sorts. Give me a Might roll if you want to try that!

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.

With your 20 (!) on perception, 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.

With your 19 on Perception, 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."

With your 15, you'll be able to navigate to an exit after several backtracks and false hallways. Once you do find the door though… the exit is locked and you'll either need to figure out how to unlock it, or find another way out. Kyle looks impressed that you even found a door at all.

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."

What does the charm look like? Is it something that might be identifiable as Rukian?

"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?"

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 shit!" 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.