vestigenet | video; un@phosphrous

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video; un@phosphrous

[The camera captures him from a downward facing angle, like he's holding it up to take a selfie. His expression is almost entirely blank. Devoid of emotion]

Hello. My name is Kane. I woke up here maybe three hours ago, if my sense of time is correct. I've been exploring around my cabin, but most of what I've found is trees.

Can someone, if there is someone out there, tell me where I am?

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Hi! I'm Rhys. I wish any of us could tell you, but as far as I know, none of us have found out. You're stuck here like the rest of us. There's more stuff beyond the trees, like a lake, and a town with plenty of resources.

Is there something keeping us here? I haven't gone far, in my explorations.

Oh, sure, just a big invisible barrier.

Oh, sure. [Kane sighs and rubs the back of his neck, feeling tired.] Variations on a theme.

Not your first rodeo?

[Kane will receive a helpful couple images that are the pamphlet that Song Lan keeps on his person. He's made a minor edit to it as the gas station is no longer useful.]

beyond Earth we do not know where this is or what it is called
only that we are here against our will

[Well if this person is going to use the text feature, Kane will respond in kind]

Thank you
I saw the pamphlet, but I was wondering what else I could learn from people who had been here longer than I have
Unless we all arrived at the same time

[A gentleman.]

I believe the longest any have been here is around half a year
most have been here at least a handful of months
people seem to come and go at the will of the technicians

the best advice I can give you is to never forget why we are here
do not trust the technicians

To prevent the apocalypse, it says
What, other than the technicians, is keeping us from leaving?

who knows if it is the truth or not

there is a mostly invisible barrier that surrounds the entirety of the land we are allowed to travel
it has been marked by a handful of us to keep people from walking into it

it won't hurt you if you do not try to force yourself through it
anything beyond a light touch will push or throw you back

A mostly invisible barrier

[It's typed more as a statement than a question. He believes that there's a barrier, it's just... well, not funny that he's in this situation again.]

Have you noticed anything strange inside this barrier?
Plants, even animals that couldn't possibly exist in nature
Have you seen anything change or mutate since you arrived here?

[Sorry for your shit luck, bro.]

there are always strange occurrences
evil beasts and demons that try to hurt us
if not that something that messes with our minds and bodies always fleeting but no less terrible

from what I've observed the plants and animals seem normal

Evil beasts and demons that attack you, but the animals are normal
That feels contradictory

how so? I've only seen or heard of animals attacking people if provoked

the strange beasts and demons that the techs use to mess with our minds and tear us apart are something different

I've seen creatures that could be considered both
Animals have have turned into monsters
Ones that hunt humans

I would not put it past the techs do such a thing
it is unfortunate that you have dealt with that before

I haven't been home in a year
I was just waiting to be discharged so I could go home with my wife
But now I'm here

let us hope your wife has not been brought here as well

unfortunately as you are here for however long the technicians decide if you need any help I will assist as I can
you should have some supplies in the cabin you woke in
there is more in the town east of the cabins and the lake

[ The blank face doesn't catch Renfri's attention, that's common enough. But that he has figured out how to use this contraption within three hours? Now that's remarkable enough to speak up. ]

There isn't much else to see here. You will find trees and more trees, and finally an abandoned village.

[Kane sighs and drags a hand over his face, rubbing at the back of his neck.]

This is all starting to feel very familiar.

[ Wait. Wait. She is going to need a moment to let that sink in because ]

Are you saying you had this happen to you before?

I was in the army. Still am, I suppose, for all intents and purposes. They sent me on a mission. A place taken over by a near-invisible barrier. We remembered starting the trek towards it, but we all woke up with no memory of how we got in there.

There was a vast forest. Abandoned villages. And no way out.

[ Well. Fuck.

She's going to need a moment. ]

That sounds exactly like here. Only I wasn't sent here by anyone. I went to sleep in another forest, then I woke up in this one. That was a couple of weeks ago. I'm still not sure this place is real but if it is... It doesn't make me feel better to think there are more than one places like this one. Did they keep you prisoner to torture and kill there, too? That's supposedly the goal here.

I'm sorry I can't be more reassuring. [It's hard to tell if he's being genuine or not, due to the flat affect of his voice.]

The goal was to discover why the place existed. But most of us ended up being tortured and killed there, yes. I was the only one to make it out alive.

That sounds like these kinds of things usually go. If you step into a monster's lair, you play by its rules.

[ Both literal and proverbial monsters. Certain mages, too. ~~Her, too, if driven to it.~~ ]

For what it is worth, I'm sorry for your companions. And I'm sorry the place you ended up in next isn't any better.

My name is Jiang Wanyin. I have been here since summer. There is an abandoned town from what I have been told is the future to the east of the cabins at the lake, as well as mountains and a swamp. We can't leave this area, there is a barrier nobody has been able to breach yet.

[ So much for the decent information. And then ]

You have been brought here to be tormented and killed over and over again.

A swamp? [He thinks of the alligator with its rows and rows of shark teeth and shudders.] I'll avoid the swamp until I find a decent weapon.

That part I read in the pamphlet. How we're to be killed to prevent the apocalypse.

[ He snorts in disdain. ]

As far as the excuses evil, cruel people come up with, it's one of the more creative ones I have seen. I will give them that much. But whatever their delusions, they are powerful.

Hello, Kane.

I'm afraid you'll find mostly more trees as the forest in this area is fairly dense.

This place doesn't have a name yet, unfortunately, but it does have a small, friendly community.

People seem to be helpful, so far. So you're not wrong about that. It's for the best, probably, that you've banded together in the face of -- whatever all this is.

The resiliency of organic beings is such a remarkable thing! I'm honored, honestly, to get to witness it in real-time. It's making for some fascinating data.

Beyond 'here' with the rest of us? I'm afraid there's no telling.

[Daemon's relaxing somewhere indoors. He salutes him with the mug he's holding.]

Welcome, such as it is.

You look like you've accepted your circumstances, at least. Maybe that's the thing to do.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. I would encourage you not to deny yourself comforts simply because you're trapped, however. There's an art to long-term caging, I've found.

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