River’s Notebook
-> Two groups with their own goal
Our goal: Complete ritual
-> Map: Building, ground floor off limits
-> Length: Seven days, no repeats
-> No shadows – real setting
Rules
-> Be social/communicate
-> Don’t try to leave
-> Don’t walk around at night
-> Don’t enter another person’s room
Other Group
-> Papyrus (Strength), Soot (Knowledge), Acorn (Social)
-> Goal: ???
Situation
-> Morning bell with meals together on second floor
-> Seven floors + open rooftop
-> Feeling watched/observed?
-> Miles some sort of leader? Talks about other people’s lives
-> Possibly two opposing cults in here?
-> Security walks around at night, once an hour, go for the parts
Building
-> Ground floor ng (Fingerprint lock)
-> 1. ??? (locked), infirmary (with unfriendly/suspicious doctor?) (Selene, is nice to Acorn)
-> 2. Meals, meditation
-> 3. Rooms
-> 4. Rooms
-> 5. Library, open rooms (also sports)
-> 6. Some rooms + ??? (locked)
-> 7. ??? (locked) cultist room? Miles talks in the evening (no symbolism?)
Incidents
-> Night 1, Logan lost tongue (is conscious, otherwise unharmed? Accident?)
-> Night 2, Vanessa lost fingers + Iris lost tongue
“Alright, alright, now would all of you please leave?”
Selene’s harsh voice caused those that had not left yet to flinch and run away. She was late, and in a visibly bad mood, her expression unreadable as she approached the corpse and gently wrapped up the sides of the fabric sheet to cover it up.
Miles appeared out of nowhere to help her, bending his old body to carry the stiff dead man into the infirmary, where Vanessa’s surprised and worried voice could be heard.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
River made further mental notes, staring at this scene. Not only was it odd that Selene was late – people were never late here – it was also odd that Miles and all the other staff had not intervened in the slightest when people had come downstairs to gawk at the newest accident.
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This was a normal person’s reaction, River acknowledged with a bit of self-mockery. Papyrus was fine because he must have gotten used to it, but normal humans would react like this to the terrible view they had witnessed.
How had River reacted to his first corpse again?
…Couldn’t even remember.
Selene reappeared at the door. She looked just about ready to shout in anger, but instead took a deep breath. Her lips were pressed shut together tightly for a moment. “Can you at least come back later? Let me take care of him first.”
Her visible exhaustion had all 5 players nod without thinking.
An uncomfortable silence reigned in the hallway. Aspen was gazing at the closed door, head cocked to the side in thought, while everyone else was caught up in a staring contest.
There was no real breakfast that morning. People could get food, but they didn’t sit together, most of them hiding away in their rooms or huddling together in the open areas.
Those that were around had glazed-over expressions or were crying.
Stories were shared. River didn’t know the man, so he simply listened in quietly.
Marcus was his name. He was a volunteer worker – more than one person around knew him from various institutions where he helped out. His main job, it appeared, was taking care of older people that needed help at home, but he also went around orphanages.
He was a poor man, not because he didn’t earn much, but because all of his money ended with those in need.
He supported five different charities with manpower and money, and again, more than one person around had borrowed money from him at some point.
He was so saintly it was almost ridiculous, but this was Marcus’ repentance – he had been a burglar as a youth. During one break-in, he had met the owner of the house, and the following fight had resulted in the owner’s death. It shocked him right out of the desire to commit crimes.
Marcus never made a secret of his path.
He embraced his sin, and worked hard to repent.
“I need some time to think”, River whispered to Aspen upon hearing that.
“You’ve got something?”
“Maybe. Wait for me?”
“I will.”
The smaller man grasped River’s hand momentarily, giving him a trusting smile.
River specifically took several medical books into a work room so he could quietly take notes without anyone bothering him.
The cleanliness of the last victim had surprised him, and something had flashed through his mind right then – professionally. Open chest surgeries weren’t a thing anymore nowadays, but they had been once.
Thankfully, the library was well-filled with all topics, including surgical methods.
River read the explanations filled with medical terms and worked his way through taking his notes in a simpler way.
An actual surgery would not leave the chest open, obviously. It was done with a single, around 20cm long cut, in great contrast to this case where someone had just completely cut out a decent chunk of skin and other tissue.
But what bothered River was the next part explained in the book.
To reach the heart, you had to get past the ribs. This was done by cutting the sternum, the breast bone, neatly in half and pulling it to the side.
That, he had seen.
A neat, perfectly straight line on the man’s bone, with wire wrapping it to put it back into position.
Almost as if someone had planned on closing up the chest again, only to then remember there was no use in it.
There was no rough breaking apart the ribcage. This was had been with the thought to fix things in mind, to cause as little damage as possible.
It seemed that whoever had done this had an actual bone cutter at hand. And that was beginning to paint quite the picture: The anesthesia used on all victims, adjusted in amount to them personally to work correctly, the neat removal of the parts, the tools used for it…
It was very… how should he say it? Gentle?
They could have not cared if someone died after losing their tongue. They could not have cared about putting down the last victim so peacefully.
But they did, and it showed, an odd, twisted kind of respect for the people whose parts they were taking.
And respect was beginning to show up quite often. The respect that everyone showed to each other. The respect that was given to everyone’s experiences, whether positive or negative. The respect that Miles asked for everyone to hold dear to their heart.
Yes, this ritual was done out of respect, River was sure. These offerings, the victims, it was all a sign of respect for…
And once again, just that teenage girl messed with his pattern.
But he was sure of it. He was going to put her aside for the moment.
He had a strong suspicion he knew what to look out for now when it came to the victims being chosen, even if he had no clue on the order yet.
He used a completely new page to start a different list.
- Logan. The tongue of a man who connects with others and shares knowledge.
- Vanessa. The fingers of a woman who crafts and writes down knowledge.
Iris.
- Marcus.
He paused and left a short space, then used a pencil to write the following words.
The heart of a man who lives to support others with his knowledge.
If he was right, and he was quite sure he was, then calling them “victims” or “sacrifices” wasn’t correct from the view of the cult.
This was being given an honor. An acknowledgement of their way of life. It was by no means a punishment, and so they were treated gently-
The pens and pencils clattered to the ground as River jumped up from his chair.
He blankly stared at the way.
“Punishment”, he whispered to no one in particular. “Punishment! The tongue of someone who shares knowledge… and the tongue of a liar?”
The images and words connected to the injured girl appeared in his head like a video with sound.
They have been unsettled all day already.
The way the group stuck to Logan, constantly asking him for support. The way they called out River and Aspen. The way they fought with the others during meals.
Unrest and lies.
It was the polar opposite to peaceful connection and a sharing of knowledge.
So if one was an honor, the other was a punishment.
That was why she didn’t match the pattern! She wasn’t being acknowledged for her good behavior! She stood out, and too much so, which was why she got her tongue cut.
Involuntarily, River’s hand jolted up to his throat.
If they acted too nicely, they might become an honored member. If they acted too roughly, it might be an unwelcome one. Between punishment and reward, the players had to balance so as to not become a sacrifice themselves.
The punishments would obviously mess with the perception of the players. You had to learn about the members to make sure whether something was a punishment or not, only then could you cleanly work out the pattern.
There should be four more victims, with the last one being the one they had to find. With how much he knew right now, his best bet was to get close to the members that stood out: Those that everyone knew about, that had a talent. Logan, Vanessa and Marcus all fit into that type.
A first approach would be to see if they could tell who might be the next victim, and from there on figure out who the final one would be and what their part might be.
