001 | video

[oracledriven]

[Alright. This isn't something he normally does, but everyone else has been so quiet about it that it's starting to drive him a little nuts. So in the true form of someone who can't keep their mouth shut— here's Noel.]

Okay, so. Who else stayed in town when people went out to the desert? I can't be the only one who noticed the people in town acting strange, right?

[He frowns a little, thoughtfully crossing his arms over his chest.] It was like they couldn't figure out what to do with themselves, but even when I ask them what happened, they look at me like I'm crazy. [Which he's not. Right??] Like they don't even remember it happening.

Anyone else notice anything strange happening back then? And for everyone who went out to the desert— anything strange happen with people out there? Anything see anything like that happen since you got back?

[He's about to cut it there, no introduction, no nothing, but he pauses to add:] Thanks.

Comments

[bulleting]

Maybe? After they calmed, I tried asking them questions. They couldn't remember anything about their life there. A few followed us back to Aldrip. You can try asking yourself, but I wasn't able to get anywhere with them.

[Peculiar, if you asked her.]

That's what I wondered, though. Unfortunately, it was before my time here, so my comparison is all second hand.

[oracledriven]

That's right-- some of them came back to Aldrip, didn't they? They've been helping with building and things like that.

[But the memory thing...that makes him frown a little, concerned.]

When it happened before, no one lost their memories because of it. Maybe if we had been infected longer, it would have, but...I didn't have trouble remembering anything at the time -- or afterwards.

[bulleting]

Someone-- [what are her and vi lmao]-- someone I'm close to was here and was branded as well. Her memories are also fine. But as you posed, it was only a short period, and the creature that started it was defeated. Given the state of the other town, it makes me wonder if they weren't able to stop the creature that infected them, therefore losing their memories in the process.

[It's all guess work at this point. She's trying the best she can with the pieces of the puzzle she's been given, though.]

[oracledriven]

That's what I'm thinking, too. Either it's the same creature, and we defeated it finally...or it's the same kind of creature, and there's another one out there. Possibly more than one.

[His mouth sets in a grim line. It's not a very pleasant thought, but it's on his mind anyway.]

It's unsettling, thinking that this has happened before. But it's also possible that if we go to other new places, we'll be able to uncover things that happened there, too. Maybe even prepare ourselves better for whatever else might be out there.

[bulleting]

I'm leaning towards a second one. When the one here was defeated, those branded were freed. But those in the other town remained branded until we freed them. If it was caused by the same creature, logic would suggest they would have been freed as well. Only they weren't, until those of us there interceded.

[What's worse than one monster with the ability to possess people? Two. Or more.]

It's definitely unsettling. I hope this is all that we'll find, but I fear that won't be the case.

[It would be too easy if it that was it. Sigh.]

[oracledriven]

That's a good point. Unfortunately, I think the natural follow-up question is: what happened to that creature? You guys didn't happen to see a giant monster in the desert, did you?

[Because if not, then they also seem to have a missing old cthulu monster to contend with.]

I can't disagree, unfortunately. At this point, I think all we can do is keep pooling our information. The sooner we figure some of this out, the better chance we'll have of uncovering anything else we might need to be ready for.

[bulleting]

No, we didn't. [Which means there's an unaccounted for monster out there somewhere. Yay.]

I agree. I've been grateful to compare notes with everyone else so far. Especially those with information regarding things that happened before my arrival here. It's been helpful, even if we don't have all the answers yet.

[And she's keeping detailed notes of all of it. It helps her, to see it laid out in front of her. Maybe she'll be able to connect a dot they hadn't noticed yet.]

[oracledriven]

Great. So we're missing a monster. Can't see that going wrong at all.

[THIS WILL END WELL.]

To be honest, having someone to talk it out with is pretty helpful, too. I'm guessing some of us have been here long enough that we're taking things for granted, so it's hard to figure out how to start putting it all together.

[Translation: he's not exactly the thinker in most of these situations.]