See you around
FreedomCaged
January 31, 2012
Or maybe not
So I had a nice little boring informational post on the Year of the Dragon planned, initially planned to go up on the Chinese New Year. Anyone who knows when that is will probably notice I'm a bit late for it. In fact, I've decided to postpone that particular post even longer because I've had a bit of a long week, and I'm still too lazy to get both it and studying done. So instead of doing anything particulairly useful or intresting I'm just going to leave some music here.
January 18, 2012
Did I say seven?
Oh, I must have misspoke, I meant five. Seriously though, because this isn't really supposed to be a blog about me I'm going to go ahead and work a little moral into this story: When announcing plans online for dealing with someone in an aggressive nature, always lie about your schedule and/or specific plans. If you take them early they will be caught off guard before they're ready, and if you take action later than you said you would, then they will either be burned out from anticipation or believe you to have forgotten your plans. This is true for both the Hunted and Proxies, by the way, just so that's clear. Anyways, I'm sure you lot want the story so I'll go ahead and share it now.
It is astonishingly easy to find out all you need to know about someone when you know their name and location, which is why I've never been running around sharing mine (though the notably observant should have narrowed down my location to four or five states by now). Anyways, I was able to find Phillip's (that's the proxy's name for those of you wondering) room quite easily, and conveniently enough he didn't have a roommate. It was easy to ambush him after his last class, a rope around his neck cut off his oxygen supply, and when I had parked close enough to his dorm that getting him to my car without anyone noticing was simply a matter of timing.
You know the economy really has taken it's toll. It's almost a shame there are all these neighborhood filled with empty houses. After driving to the place I had set up for our talk I dropped off Phillip and made sure he wouldn't be leaving or alerting anyone in the area of his presence anytime soon and returned to school for a couple of hours, just to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. Around 3:00 in the afternoon I returned to the house to find my proxy friend awake and confused. The following conversation is not verbatim, but it is close enough to get the general idea across.
Me: (while removing a gag) So you're awake, good, we can have our conversation now.
Phillip: (glaring) What do you want?
Me: I want to know why you're here.
Phillip: (struggling against the ropes) I'm here because you kidnapped me you physcho! (remember this isn't verbatim, some of it has also been strategiclly edited to be more family freindly. In case you haven't noticed I'm not a very profane person.)
Me: There's plenty of people out there that would call you a physcho just as quickly. ( I retreived his mask from my backpack (yes he had a mask, it was in his room, not even well hidden)) I know what you are, I knew from the second I saw you, now why don't why try again? ( I flipped open my knife) Why are you here?
Phillip: (He showed surperise at first, followed by a breif flash of fear before he answered with an ovbiously false bravado) Oh so you're a runner ( Somehow it was both refreshing and annoying to be mistaken for a runner) you'll never get away with this "Father" (yes, he's one of those proxies) will protect me (he sneered).
Me: (rolling my eyes) Oh well, good for him. (I moved behind him so he couldn't see me) Do you know who I am, Phillip? Have you heard of (I said me real name here, I will of course not repeat it to the masses). Or perheaps "FreedomCaged"
Phillip: (he shook his head) No why should I?
Me: You shouldn't, and it's fortunate for you that you don't. (I leaned forward and put my knife against his neck) But I still need a reason to let you live, I've come this far, and to let you leave here would be a waste.
Unfortunately for dramatic timing this is when the Slender Man himself decided to make an entrance. I mean sure it was a good place for him to enter, but if I had been in charge of his timing he would have appeared a few lines later at a much more dramatic moment. Still, I suppose it was good enough placement to present adaquate theatrics. After I was informed it would be in my best intrest to let Phillip go I gladly cut him loose and sent him on his way. Admitadly he didn't have a car, and I may have been less than skillful when removing his binding, but I have no doubt he made it to a public road long before there was any risk of death by blood loss. After that the big guy and I had a little talk about boundries, by the end we of course hugged and made up, or at the very least neither of us treid to fattaly wound the other, so I'm calling it a sucess.
Long story short: it turns out the proxy was simply a spook, asigned to someone else in that class (I'm not sure who, yet, I haven't noticed any Hunted, but it gets easier to tell the longer they're exposed to Slender shenagians, so I'll figure it out.). So that's the story, I bet is was just riviting. I'd add a soundtrack, but my next class begins rather shortly, so I'll just say so long for now. The next post will be about someting other than myself, so rejoice in that.
It is astonishingly easy to find out all you need to know about someone when you know their name and location, which is why I've never been running around sharing mine (though the notably observant should have narrowed down my location to four or five states by now). Anyways, I was able to find Phillip's (that's the proxy's name for those of you wondering) room quite easily, and conveniently enough he didn't have a roommate. It was easy to ambush him after his last class, a rope around his neck cut off his oxygen supply, and when I had parked close enough to his dorm that getting him to my car without anyone noticing was simply a matter of timing.
You know the economy really has taken it's toll. It's almost a shame there are all these neighborhood filled with empty houses. After driving to the place I had set up for our talk I dropped off Phillip and made sure he wouldn't be leaving or alerting anyone in the area of his presence anytime soon and returned to school for a couple of hours, just to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. Around 3:00 in the afternoon I returned to the house to find my proxy friend awake and confused. The following conversation is not verbatim, but it is close enough to get the general idea across.
Me: (while removing a gag) So you're awake, good, we can have our conversation now.
Phillip: (glaring) What do you want?
Me: I want to know why you're here.
Phillip: (struggling against the ropes) I'm here because you kidnapped me you physcho! (remember this isn't verbatim, some of it has also been strategiclly edited to be more family freindly. In case you haven't noticed I'm not a very profane person.)
Me: There's plenty of people out there that would call you a physcho just as quickly. ( I retreived his mask from my backpack (yes he had a mask, it was in his room, not even well hidden)) I know what you are, I knew from the second I saw you, now why don't why try again? ( I flipped open my knife) Why are you here?
Phillip: (He showed surperise at first, followed by a breif flash of fear before he answered with an ovbiously false bravado) Oh so you're a runner ( Somehow it was both refreshing and annoying to be mistaken for a runner) you'll never get away with this "Father" (yes, he's one of those proxies) will protect me (he sneered).
Me: (rolling my eyes) Oh well, good for him. (I moved behind him so he couldn't see me) Do you know who I am, Phillip? Have you heard of (I said me real name here, I will of course not repeat it to the masses). Or perheaps "FreedomCaged"
Phillip: (he shook his head) No why should I?
Me: You shouldn't, and it's fortunate for you that you don't. (I leaned forward and put my knife against his neck) But I still need a reason to let you live, I've come this far, and to let you leave here would be a waste.
Unfortunately for dramatic timing this is when the Slender Man himself decided to make an entrance. I mean sure it was a good place for him to enter, but if I had been in charge of his timing he would have appeared a few lines later at a much more dramatic moment. Still, I suppose it was good enough placement to present adaquate theatrics. After I was informed it would be in my best intrest to let Phillip go I gladly cut him loose and sent him on his way. Admitadly he didn't have a car, and I may have been less than skillful when removing his binding, but I have no doubt he made it to a public road long before there was any risk of death by blood loss. After that the big guy and I had a little talk about boundries, by the end we of course hugged and made up, or at the very least neither of us treid to fattaly wound the other, so I'm calling it a sucess.
Long story short: it turns out the proxy was simply a spook, asigned to someone else in that class (I'm not sure who, yet, I haven't noticed any Hunted, but it gets easier to tell the longer they're exposed to Slender shenagians, so I'll figure it out.). So that's the story, I bet is was just riviting. I'd add a soundtrack, but my next class begins rather shortly, so I'll just say so long for now. The next post will be about someting other than myself, so rejoice in that.
See you around
Caged
January 12, 2012
You Hav e On e Week
That's right, seve n days, to tell m e who you are b efore I catch you off gaurd, haul you som eplac e disc r e et, an d gut you like a fish. I thought I m ade it c lear that I didn 't wan t tab s kept o n me, I was sure I m ade it ov b ious that I did n ot wan t to b e ob serv ed without m y kn owledge, an d I kn ow I made it perfec tly well-kn own that I am n ot ab ov e killin g people who don 't ob serv e those sim ple rules. You thin k I didn 't n otic e you were a prox y the sec on d you en tered the room ? An d then you had the n erv e to sit down direc tly in fron t of m e? It's takin g phen om on al effort for m e to fin ish this post, when I would m uc h rather hun t you down right n ow. B ut for the sake of c iv ility, I'll hold off for n ow, after all, if you kn ow who I am, then you kn ow ab out this b log. An d if you don 't kn ow who I am, you're ab out to fin d out. Rem em b er, sev en days, if you haven 't given me a reason to let you liv e b y then, you won 't get the c han c e.
See you aroun d
C A G E D
January 11, 2012
The Aura Interview
Look at that, I am killing it with these creative post titles. Seriously though, this has been a good week for me, despite the thousands of miles transversed, I'm still in a good mood. The only thing I can account this to is how much I enjoyed my visit to Eden Two, so at this point, if I haven't done so enough already I want to again thank both the Overseer and Aura for allowing me to see the facility, and interview you both.
I realize that until now I have neglected to describe Aura's appearance, let me rectify that now. Aura was about my age, though she was a little shorter than me. She had short brown hair and very green eyes. She had a very casual feel about her, which was an interesting contrast to the Overseer's formality. Anyways, after the Overseer let her in I started the interview right away.
Me: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed.
Aura: Your welcome, it feels nice and interesting to be doing something like this.
Me: So what's it like living in the Eden facilities?
Aura: It's actually quite nice. I still miss the way I used to get to live when I was a kid but not all bad to live here and keep safe.
Me: So do you ever leave Eden Two, or are you just stuck here all the time?
Aura: There's a rare occasion every so often where I'll be allowed out for a bit. But it's rare and has to be in a controlled environment. Try to have no risks I guess.
Me: That makes sense. You work with the Eden Facilities on some of their projects, correct?
Aura: Every so often, I just like to see what I can do to help out while I'm here.
Me: So do all of the people rescued by Eden participate to a degree, or was it just something you decided to do?
Aura: I think I was the first to volunteer but a fair few end up helping out in some ways if they can. Like how Jensen is volunteering to help, too.
Me: How is Jensen coming along, by the way?
Aura: I haven't seen him in a while but I hear he's doing fine. He hasn't regressed or anything. He must really feel safe now here.
Me: That's good. So, what is your job here at the facility?
Aura: Oh, um, technically not a job per se. I sort of just drift from work to work. Like I help out sometimes with some of the paperwork or talking to new people like Jensen. It helps to have a friendly welcome and proof of safety I guess. Now that I'm on blogger I have been helping out with keeping watch though for more events going on.
Me: So how much do you know about Eden's operations?
Arua: I know we're trying to help people be safe from Him, I know that they keep trying to make new technology to help with stopping Him. Umm, what else, what else? Oh, right, and Overseer recently got that goo thing to experiment with too. I don't really know much of the ins and outs I'm sorry.
Me: That's o.k., I didn't expect a full list of operations. I just wanted to see how well informed the average resident was.
Aura: Oh, phew, that's a relief.
Me: So you've been here 12 years now, correct?
Aura: That's right.
Me: Have you ever experienced the Product, as the Overseer calls him, since then?
Aura: Thankfully no, I haven't had any encounters or effects in all this time. The nightmares I guess but that's a given.
Me: Not even on your rare trips outside the facilities?
Aura: As far as I'm aware, no. Unless one of the guards saw him and didn't let me know, or none of us saw him, or I saw him and forgot. But as far as I know, I've been safe from him.
Me: That's impressive. Would you be willing to describe some of your nightmares? If not I would understand, but I'm naturally curios.
Aura: Oh, I'm (she pauses), I might at some point go into more details on my blog If I feel up to it. The most I feel like saying right now is, it usually feels like I'm on The Path. There's always black leaves. He's always there but yet not. Oddly the sky has usually been practically on fire during it too. They've always been the constants in it. There's differences as well though, sometimes everything is a wasteland, sometimes an abandoned city, sometimes no one, sometimes people I know (she pauses for a fair amount), sorry that's the best I feel like saying at the moment. They can get pretty vivid, too vivid for my tastes.
Me: I understand. I remember some of the dreams I used to have, it's not a pleasant experience. Have you ever had any contact with anyone you knew as a child?
Aura: Sadly, no, I miss everyone so much but I can't risk any danger.
Me: So what do you do here with your spare time?
Aura: Well I actually get supplied with some books, DVDs, Internet; although that one was obvious, even some games. So I tend to just relax with all that a lot.
Me: I understand that until fairly recently you weren't permitted to search out information on the Product. Why was that, and why did it change?
Aura:
Me: Well thank you for all that, and thanks for your time, is there anything else you want to say for the record?
(Aura surprised me here by actually having something to say.)
Aura: More people need to start offering sympathy for the actual severe problems and not just the soap opera stuff going on to everyone.
Me: (Slight chuckle) Yes the drama is a bit thick in this community, isn't it. Anything else?
Aura: Nope, that seems fine. Was nice to get to talk to you and take part in this.
Me: Thank you, it was nice talking to you as well.
After that I talked a bit more with Aura and the Overseer, but I elected to return to Memphis as soon as possible so that I could get my car and return home. Thus concludes my posts on the Eden facilities, for anyone who didn't get the link in the first post I'll plug the Overseer's and Aura's blogs again here.
I realize that until now I have neglected to describe Aura's appearance, let me rectify that now. Aura was about my age, though she was a little shorter than me. She had short brown hair and very green eyes. She had a very casual feel about her, which was an interesting contrast to the Overseer's formality. Anyways, after the Overseer let her in I started the interview right away.
Me: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed.
Aura: Your welcome, it feels nice and interesting to be doing something like this.
Me: So what's it like living in the Eden facilities?
Aura: It's actually quite nice. I still miss the way I used to get to live when I was a kid but not all bad to live here and keep safe.
Me: So do you ever leave Eden Two, or are you just stuck here all the time?
Aura: There's a rare occasion every so often where I'll be allowed out for a bit. But it's rare and has to be in a controlled environment. Try to have no risks I guess.
Me: That makes sense. You work with the Eden Facilities on some of their projects, correct?
Aura: Every so often, I just like to see what I can do to help out while I'm here.
Me: So do all of the people rescued by Eden participate to a degree, or was it just something you decided to do?
Aura: I think I was the first to volunteer but a fair few end up helping out in some ways if they can. Like how Jensen is volunteering to help, too.
Me: How is Jensen coming along, by the way?
Aura: I haven't seen him in a while but I hear he's doing fine. He hasn't regressed or anything. He must really feel safe now here.
Me: That's good. So, what is your job here at the facility?
Aura: Oh, um, technically not a job per se. I sort of just drift from work to work. Like I help out sometimes with some of the paperwork or talking to new people like Jensen. It helps to have a friendly welcome and proof of safety I guess. Now that I'm on blogger I have been helping out with keeping watch though for more events going on.
Me: So how much do you know about Eden's operations?
Arua: I know we're trying to help people be safe from Him, I know that they keep trying to make new technology to help with stopping Him. Umm, what else, what else? Oh, right, and Overseer recently got that goo thing to experiment with too. I don't really know much of the ins and outs I'm sorry.
Me: That's o.k., I didn't expect a full list of operations. I just wanted to see how well informed the average resident was.
Aura: Oh, phew, that's a relief.
Me: So you've been here 12 years now, correct?
Aura: That's right.
Me: Have you ever experienced the Product, as the Overseer calls him, since then?
Aura: Thankfully no, I haven't had any encounters or effects in all this time. The nightmares I guess but that's a given.
Me: Not even on your rare trips outside the facilities?
Aura: As far as I'm aware, no. Unless one of the guards saw him and didn't let me know, or none of us saw him, or I saw him and forgot. But as far as I know, I've been safe from him.
Me: That's impressive. Would you be willing to describe some of your nightmares? If not I would understand, but I'm naturally curios.
Aura: Oh, I'm (she pauses), I might at some point go into more details on my blog If I feel up to it. The most I feel like saying right now is, it usually feels like I'm on The Path. There's always black leaves. He's always there but yet not. Oddly the sky has usually been practically on fire during it too. They've always been the constants in it. There's differences as well though, sometimes everything is a wasteland, sometimes an abandoned city, sometimes no one, sometimes people I know (she pauses for a fair amount), sorry that's the best I feel like saying at the moment. They can get pretty vivid, too vivid for my tastes.
Me: I understand. I remember some of the dreams I used to have, it's not a pleasant experience. Have you ever had any contact with anyone you knew as a child?
Aura: Sadly, no, I miss everyone so much but I can't risk any danger.
Me: So what do you do here with your spare time?
Aura: Well I actually get supplied with some books, DVDs, Internet; although that one was obvious, even some games. So I tend to just relax with all that a lot.
Me: I understand that until fairly recently you weren't permitted to search out information on the Product. Why was that, and why did it change?
Aura:
Me: Well thank you for all that, and thanks for your time, is there anything else you want to say for the record?
(Aura surprised me here by actually having something to say.)
Aura: More people need to start offering sympathy for the actual severe problems and not just the soap opera stuff going on to everyone.
Me: (Slight chuckle) Yes the drama is a bit thick in this community, isn't it. Anything else?
Aura: Nope, that seems fine. Was nice to get to talk to you and take part in this.
Me: Thank you, it was nice talking to you as well.
After that I talked a bit more with Aura and the Overseer, but I elected to return to Memphis as soon as possible so that I could get my car and return home. Thus concludes my posts on the Eden facilities, for anyone who didn't get the link in the first post I'll plug the Overseer's and Aura's blogs again here.
See you around
FreedomCaged
The Overseer Interview
After the tour of Eden facilities we all went up to the Overseer's office, which was on the 47th floor. It was larger than any of the offices on the lower levels, and it had an almost "working from home" feeling about it. The Overseer sat at his desk and I sat across from in him, where I assume that his subordinates and colleagues sat when giving updates or receiving orders.
Me: I want to thank you for letting me take a tour of your facility, I enjoyed it.
Overseer: As did I in getting to allow someone to participate in a tour. I want to thank you as well for showing such an interest.
Me: Of course, your facilities have interested me for a while now. My first question is this: where does all of your funding come from? Obviously the law firm downstairs provides you some income, but I doubt it would be enough to pay for all this, plus eleven more.
Overseer: Some of it has been provided by myself personally through the claiming of a particularly large inheritance. Some additional funding is provided by a supporter within the American government itself. A few other facilities have cover much like this one that helps provide income as well.
Me: So when was the first facility built, and how long was it before you began to make more?
Overseer: We had the first finished for the most part during 1999, work was already beginning on the others but slowly. It took us most of the remainder of that year to finish up the last details on Facility 1. After that particular incident in the Millennium; the other facilities stalled temporarily so we could make sure. Within two months we felt assured that Facility 1 was a success and so continued on to make the others.
Me: So why are you based here if the first facility was built in England?
Overseer: Part of Project Destiny, the starting part is located here. I wanted to oversee it as much as possible personally. It is also because a vast majority of those involved in this battle tend to be in America. In fact, I notice a fair amount seem to be from the east coast, too.
Me: That is a valid point. So how do you keep track of all your different operations, the number you have in this building alone must require a lot of time and oversight.
Overseer: Each department usually has it's own head to report to who will gather the information and file it to me. It takes a while to look through which is why I don't have time to regularly post and comment many times. Each facility also has their own head when I'm not there. Their own sub-overseer I suppose we could put it as. Who will help manage the projects there and report directly to me.
Me: So how much does each person know about projects they aren't involved in? They clearly know other projects exist, but if they wanted to could they learn of another projects focus or successes?
Overseer: Likely not, for security reasons we tend to keep as little information shared as possible between the sections. Certain projects tend to mix together so more info will be shared but never outright knowledge is given. The heads however tend to know more to aid further with the planning but even then they don't gain the full picture.
Me: So you're the only one with the full picture?
Overseer: Correct.
Me: So now for one of the bigger questions: How do keep your facilities safe from the product?
Overseer: The perception filter plays a key role in that but also so does the way we manage our operatives. We tend to make sure they don't go on a direct path back to facilities. They are usually required to meet up with a security member from a facility on the way back. They'll usually make sure that no one else is with them or following them as well as perform a psyche evaluation on the operative. But I do think that the fact we haven't yet taken a full on offensive role against The Product has tied in to the lack of danger.
Me: So it's more of a common sense and good fortune routine than an actual secret defensive weapon. I'm sure some people will be disappointed to hear that.
Overseer: Well we do have manners of defense prepared but we haven't yet been required to use it.
Me: It's always good to have a back-up plan. I suspect if I ask you won't tell me exactly what that defense is?
Overseer: [chuckles lightly] I'm afraid not. I'm sure you understand.
Me: Of course, what about the other supernatural creatures that have a tendency to spring up and terrorize people, do you have projects dedicated to them or are you focusing exclusively on the Product for now?
Overseer: We do have some small projects putting time into learning about them. The Product is our sole focus but as seen by what Aura said in her story. Those other beings were involved too. We try to be more discreet with our investigations into them though. These facilities are aimed at defence from The Product. We're not overly keen on testing the effects of attention from the others.
Me: I noticed on the post where you invited me to this facility that you recently had a problem with some of your scientists involved with testing the Azoth. Would you care to elaborate a bit on what happened?
Overseer: Ah yes, Dr. Fei Wong has been a long time colleague in this project. Occasionally my employees will recruit new workers into our midst. I will usually screen them myself too. I made a mistaken in treating this too personal as I had good faith in his judgement and didn't screen the new scientist he employed two weeks ago. Dr. Gordon Knox it turns out was someone not affiliated with this project but with someone else's efforts to fight back against The Product. Corporate Espionage even in this fight it seems. He tried to steal a sample of The Azoth and somehow much to my disappointment got past the other scientists. Fortunately security was not lacking in their own job.
Me: That seems like an interesting turn of events, do you know who he was working for?
Overseer: Operative: Spiral is currently investigating the matter. I'm aware of the existence of a few government agents that are fairly well-known and have interest in The Product but I strongly doubt that people like Fisk have anything to do with this. It's likely someone low down. It's possible it might not even be a government agent. As you've no doubt seen. There is a structure for many who serve Him now. Their own corporate ladder for lack of a better term.
Me: I've noticed. How did you find runners and proxies to "rescue" before you began your blog?
Overseer: Mainly through operatives out in the field and again through our employees keeping an eye on the news of different locations. Especially different towns local news. It's interesting how much that involves The Product fails to make mainstream news. Some were easier to locate due to their insistence on wearing symbols like that Operator symbol on their clothing.
Me: Why did you begin all of this, what was your thought process or end goal behind starting the facilities?
Overseer: [there is a slight pause] I'd like to say it was out of a sense of justice or "that it was the right thing to do." I do feel attached, I do feel a great pride in what I'm doing. But admittedly it started off so I could prove that I could. The standard drive behind most actions a scientist will take, even if some won't admit that. It is always what fuels the desires of a scientist, to prove that they can.
Me: (Slight chuckle) That's what fuels an alarming number of people, I'd suspect. Tell me about Eden Eight, how, or possibly why did it fall?
Overseer: Le Fay, short for Morgan Le Fay was the sub-overseer of that particular facility. It was her actions that led to a lot of my current decisions when it comes to security. She put too much of her personal bias and judgement into the role. Far, far too much. In her rash decisions; she ended up bringing in those on the Agent level of servants. Ones that had no real desire to change and to make matters worse. She had given them directions, she had made the location known. They called The Product to that facility and he destroyed it.
Me: Why would she take such action? Surely even personal bias can only account for so much of such drastic actions.
Overseer: I'm not quite sure. I have a feeling her desire for the project shifted in some way. Her contacts with me seemed to bear a tone of hostility in those last few days before the fall. But, she died with the fall of that facility so I'm not quite sure on what exactly changed.
Me: Well, you'll remember the posts she made in November, do you have any idea how she's still alive, or who might be impersonating her?
Overseer: That I'm not sure on. Although there is one possible theory: Le Fay was always (he pauses) fearful of the possibility of things to come. Worried about what could happen in the future if this project was to fail, what could change in times to come. She feared the future. When my operatives investigated the ruins of Facility Eight, Le Fay's body was found in one of the labs. Near one of our hypnotic devices. These devices were electronically operated. Bear in mind this is just a theory and to me it sounds unlikely but, I sometimes wonder if her mind was fragmented into the electronics, and that recently The Manufactured Newborn, as it is known, came into contact with her. It seems impossible though so I don't quite know what to make of these comments. Regardless, whoever it is has clearly learnt to manipulate a perception filter as I am still incapable of seeing them.
Me: Let's see, that's all I have on my agenda, unless there's something you'd like to add for the record?
Overseer: That seems to be all that comes to mind for myself, too.
Me: Very good, do you mind if I use this office for my Interview with Aura as well?
Overseer: Not at all, feel free.
Me: Thank you, and thank you for your time.
After that Aura came in and I interviewed her as well, I'll try to have that post up later today.
See you around
FreedomCaged
January 10, 2012
Visiting Eden
As you should know if you've seen the comments in my previous post, I was recently invited to visit the esteemed Eden facilities, run by a man who calls himself the Overseer. For those who don't know, the Eden facilities are a group of 12 facilities that are run as safe-houses and rehabilitation centers for both runners and proxies, in addition to researching the Slender Man, or the Product, as the Overseer calls him, and incidents relating to him.
Out of consideration for my recent trip to California, the Overseer offered to provide me with transportation to New York, where the facility I was going to be visiting was located. Of course I agreed, however I am a bit paranoid over advertising my exact location, and so on Friday, January 6th, I found myself returning to Memphis to meet with some new. I naturally arrived at the rendezvous point early, but not five minutes after I found myself a nice all-day parking spot the limo arrived. I'll say this much, if you visit Eden Two, you visit in style. But you aren't here to hear about the accommodations, so I'll skip forward 24 hours to the next morning. After a quick breakfast I left my hotel to meet the limo again and we headed straight to Eden Two. Honestly I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'll confess to being somewhat surprised when we stopped right outside what appeared to be a typical private law firm. I got out and approached the well dressed man standing out front, who I knew from our correspondence to be the Overseer.
The Overseer looked to be in perhaps his late forties or fifties, I've always been bad at identifying age. He had gray hair and gray eyes, and was already smiling kindly as I approached. After we got formally reacquainted he welcomed to into the building. The lobby was exactly what you'd expect from a legitimate law firm: a reception desk, a few chairs, and some plastic plants scattered about, and after a quick look around I joined my host at the elevators. The Overseer informed me that from floor 19 down the building actually was simply a law firm, then he produced a small key and inserted it into a small lock in the elevator, lighting up the buttons for floors 20 through 48. Floors 49 and 50 however remained inaccessible, their contents confidential.
We began by going up to the 20th floor, where several of the offices for workers in the Eden facilities were located. It wasn't until the elevator doors opened that I truly appreciated just how big this operation was. The 20 and 21st floors were connected through a sort of balcony in the middle of the entrance area. There was another reception desk here as well, set up for when visitors from other facilities came through, as well as several hallways containing offices.
And people, lots of people. Well that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but there were several people moving around, and a few working behind desks. Most of them seemed very focused, and even a bit on edge, they went about there tasks without even appearing to take much stick of their surroundings. Evidently these floors were used to keep track of field agents, investigate potential and confirmed "Product-related activities," and mange office paperwork that's inherent in any business, regardless of how public it's existence. It was the sheer fact that there were several more floors like this, filled with people and offices, that made me realize just how large this operation was. Even when you understand how big something is in theory, seeing it in person adds a new level of understanding.
But I digress. Next the Overseer offered to show me to one of the offices, and naturally I accepted. We walked down one of the halls and he opened one of the doors to an office. It was a nice enough space, though it was shared by three different people. It had a very professional feel to it, two of the men were typing away at computers, while the third had just stood up to get a file. While the office was certainly big enough for the three men, it still felt a little small with all three of them in there. This group of men was responsible for keeping tabs on one of the field agents in England, keeping him informed on important occurrences in his area, while at the same time staying aware of everything he was doing. They seemed a tad uneasy, and one of them kept tapping his desk nervously. I imagine they didn't report directly to the Overseer himself and weren't used to his presence in their workspace. taptaptaptap
After that we went to visit an office built for one of the Operatives. While the office itself was smaller it felt much more comfortable, and even had a picture vase with flowers in it sitting in one of the corners. While the person to whom this space belonged clearly didn't spend all of her time there (she was "in the field" during the tour), she had still taken steps to make sure it was identified as her own space. After we were through looking through her office we returned to the elevators and went up to the 27th floor, which was the first of the lab areas.
The Lab floors were naturally a bit more sterile. The walls and floor seemed much more clean and several even appeared reinforced. There were also more cameras on this floor, and keycards were required to enter most of the rooms. The first lab we visited was the room where the Azoth experimentsAzoth, which I found quite surprising, of course I'll let the Overseer explain exactly what the results were if he wants it shared.
Then we looked at one of the rooms where the perception filter was tested, which I also found quite interesting. The lab was set up roughly the same as the other one, with an experimentation area and an observation area, however in the experimentation area there were several mirrors set up, so that the subject of the perception filter could be viewed indirectly. The filter itself seemed to be set up on two stands in the center of the room, though I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It looked very technical and complicated, though most of the actual components were inside the device. When one of the scientists in the lab actually stood between the stands I lost track of him for a moment, and it took a lot of concentration to focus on him again, which I was really only able to do because I knew what I was supposed to be looking for and where it was supposed to be. Still, I haven't looked that hard to find something right in front of me since I gave up on trying to find Waldo.
Then we went to one of the security rooms, it also required a keycard to enter, and when we stepped inside we were again casually greeted by the security officers assigned to that room. Most of the monitors showed hallways, and the rest showed several labs, both the experimentation and viewing areas. A few of the monitors were turned off, I was assured that these were associated with rooms that no longer got use, and they were turned off for power reasons. The room itself was fairly nice, it was large enough for both of the men working there to move around a bit, but other than the screens there really wasn't a whole lot to the place.
The last place we visited was the residential floors, which were dramatically different from the two floors we had previously visited. The whole area was very "homey." There was wood flooring, wide comfortable hallways, a more natural color scheme, and even some paintings here and there. For a moment I almost forgot that I was 40 something stories high, the only reminder that we weren't in an actual house were the occasional signs directing people unfamiliar to the layout towards places like the indoor gardens, the cafeteria, and other notable areas. The Overseer then took me into Arua's room. Aura, if you're reading this I apologize for entering your room without your permission, in our defense it was the closest door at the time. However, out of appreciation for your privacy I won't be to specific about the room, instead I'll just say this: it was very comfortable. Aura had been able to customize the room in a way that gave me an insight into her personality and interest, and had arranged the layout in a way that was comfortable and casual.
After a few moments in the room Aura entered, and scolded us for looking inside without her permission. After I had reacquainted myself with her, we went up to the Overseer's office, which was on a separate floor, and I had the pleasure of interviewing them both. I'll have those interviews up sometime tomorrow, I still need to transcribe them from the audio recordings. Anyways, that's the basic rundown of Eden Two, at least that's the tour I got, it was an interesting experience, and I enjoyed the chance to see it for myself.
Out of consideration for my recent trip to California, the Overseer offered to provide me with transportation to New York, where the facility I was going to be visiting was located. Of course I agreed, however I am a bit paranoid over advertising my exact location, and so on Friday, January 6th, I found myself returning to Memphis to meet with some new. I naturally arrived at the rendezvous point early, but not five minutes after I found myself a nice all-day parking spot the limo arrived. I'll say this much, if you visit Eden Two, you visit in style. But you aren't here to hear about the accommodations, so I'll skip forward 24 hours to the next morning. After a quick breakfast I left my hotel to meet the limo again and we headed straight to Eden Two. Honestly I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'll confess to being somewhat surprised when we stopped right outside what appeared to be a typical private law firm. I got out and approached the well dressed man standing out front, who I knew from our correspondence to be the Overseer.
The Overseer looked to be in perhaps his late forties or fifties, I've always been bad at identifying age. He had gray hair and gray eyes, and was already smiling kindly as I approached. After we got formally reacquainted he welcomed to into the building. The lobby was exactly what you'd expect from a legitimate law firm: a reception desk, a few chairs, and some plastic plants scattered about, and after a quick look around I joined my host at the elevators. The Overseer informed me that from floor 19 down the building actually was simply a law firm, then he produced a small key and inserted it into a small lock in the elevator, lighting up the buttons for floors 20 through 48. Floors 49 and 50 however remained inaccessible, their contents confidential.
We began by going up to the 20th floor, where several of the offices for workers in the Eden facilities were located. It wasn't until the elevator doors opened that I truly appreciated just how big this operation was. The 20 and 21st floors were connected through a sort of balcony in the middle of the entrance area. There was another reception desk here as well, set up for when visitors from other facilities came through, as well as several hallways containing offices.
And people, lots of people. Well that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but there were several people moving around, and a few working behind desks. Most of them seemed very focused, and even a bit on edge, they went about there tasks without even appearing to take much stick of their surroundings. Evidently these floors were used to keep track of field agents, investigate potential and confirmed "Product-related activities," and mange office paperwork that's inherent in any business, regardless of how public it's existence. It was the sheer fact that there were several more floors like this, filled with people and offices, that made me realize just how large this operation was. Even when you understand how big something is in theory, seeing it in person adds a new level of understanding.
But I digress. Next the Overseer offered to show me to one of the offices, and naturally I accepted. We walked down one of the halls and he opened one of the doors to an office. It was a nice enough space, though it was shared by three different people. It had a very professional feel to it, two of the men were typing away at computers, while the third had just stood up to get a file. While the office was certainly big enough for the three men, it still felt a little small with all three of them in there. This group of men was responsible for keeping tabs on one of the field agents in England, keeping him informed on important occurrences in his area, while at the same time staying aware of everything he was doing. They seemed a tad uneasy, and one of them kept tapping his desk nervously. I imagine they didn't report directly to the Overseer himself and weren't used to his presence in their workspace. taptaptaptap
After that we went to visit an office built for one of the Operatives. While the office itself was smaller it felt much more comfortable, and even had a picture vase with flowers in it sitting in one of the corners. While the person to whom this space belonged clearly didn't spend all of her time there (she was "in the field" during the tour), she had still taken steps to make sure it was identified as her own space. After we were through looking through her office we returned to the elevators and went up to the 27th floor, which was the first of the lab areas.
The Lab floors were naturally a bit more sterile. The walls and floor seemed much more clean and several even appeared reinforced. There were also more cameras on this floor, and keycards were required to enter most of the rooms. The first lab we visited was the room where the Azoth experimentsAzoth, which I found quite surprising, of course I'll let the Overseer explain exactly what the results were if he wants it shared.
Then we looked at one of the rooms where the perception filter was tested, which I also found quite interesting. The lab was set up roughly the same as the other one, with an experimentation area and an observation area, however in the experimentation area there were several mirrors set up, so that the subject of the perception filter could be viewed indirectly. The filter itself seemed to be set up on two stands in the center of the room, though I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It looked very technical and complicated, though most of the actual components were inside the device. When one of the scientists in the lab actually stood between the stands I lost track of him for a moment, and it took a lot of concentration to focus on him again, which I was really only able to do because I knew what I was supposed to be looking for and where it was supposed to be. Still, I haven't looked that hard to find something right in front of me since I gave up on trying to find Waldo.
Then we went to one of the security rooms, it also required a keycard to enter, and when we stepped inside we were again casually greeted by the security officers assigned to that room. Most of the monitors showed hallways, and the rest showed several labs, both the experimentation and viewing areas. A few of the monitors were turned off, I was assured that these were associated with rooms that no longer got use, and they were turned off for power reasons. The room itself was fairly nice, it was large enough for both of the men working there to move around a bit, but other than the screens there really wasn't a whole lot to the place.
The last place we visited was the residential floors, which were dramatically different from the two floors we had previously visited. The whole area was very "homey." There was wood flooring, wide comfortable hallways, a more natural color scheme, and even some paintings here and there. For a moment I almost forgot that I was 40 something stories high, the only reminder that we weren't in an actual house were the occasional signs directing people unfamiliar to the layout towards places like the indoor gardens, the cafeteria, and other notable areas. The Overseer then took me into Arua's room. Aura, if you're reading this I apologize for entering your room without your permission, in our defense it was the closest door at the time. However, out of appreciation for your privacy I won't be to specific about the room, instead I'll just say this: it was very comfortable. Aura had been able to customize the room in a way that gave me an insight into her personality and interest, and had arranged the layout in a way that was comfortable and casual.
After a few moments in the room Aura entered, and scolded us for looking inside without her permission. After I had reacquainted myself with her, we went up to the Overseer's office, which was on a separate floor, and I had the pleasure of interviewing them both. I'll have those interviews up sometime tomorrow, I still need to transcribe them from the audio recordings. Anyways, that's the basic rundown of Eden Two, at least that's the tour I got, it was an interesting experience, and I enjoyed the chance to see it for myself.
See you around
FreedomCaged
January 4, 2012
Road Trip(s)
Hello and a Merry 2012. How were your perspective New Years, I heard about the proxy party and all that excitement, I've got to get invited to one of those things, they sound like a blast. Anyways, I spent my New Years on the highway, trying my hand at being the good guy for a bit. It didn't exactly end well. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
It turns out that one of the many bloggers I regularly chat with, Robin, of Butterfly Boy, was in a bit of trouble and needed a ride. Normally I would have let the responsibility fall to someone else, but he was relatively close and I had no other obligations I needed to fulfill for the next few days, so I decided to give him a lift. I thought surely there was nothing wrong with helping out a friendly guy, I could learn a few things in advanced and trick all of you into thinking I was a decent person.
I woke up early the next morning and drove out to Memphis, to a school where Robin was waiting, I got there a little early and saw a a big tall guy leaning against a tree, half asleep. Sure enough it was Robin, he was a little wary of me a first (probably just freaked out by my appearance) , but after he calmed down and had eaten a bit he was excessively grateful. Seriously though, Robin, there is actually such a thing as too much gratitude, and you really don't have to pay me back for the trip at all.
Anyways, the trip itself was uneventful for the most part, we talked some, but nothing really substantial was said. I wanted to get to California in a single trip so there really wasn't all that much regard for the speed limit. We finally made it to Robin's apartment around four or five in the morning on New Year's Day, and by that point I was pretty sleep deprived, so I agreed to come in for a soda before going to find a hotel to stay for the rest of the day. That's about the time things went bad. I'll let Robin elaborate on it if he wants, but I'd rather not get to into it, the whole ordeal just gave me a migraine. The short story is that his roommate, Jenna, didn't take a shining to my irresistible charisma, and she made a slight mistake as to where exactly my alliances were. It was an understandable mistake, but one I've grown tired of people making, and as I said, I was sleep deprived. I... Lost control for a brief moment, fortunately I recovered and left before any permeant damage was done.
After that I spent about a day recovering, and then roughly half a day in California, and then yesterday afternoon I headed back home I got back late this afternoon, and have since been catching up with everything going on in the community. I have to hand it to the proxies, they sure know how to spend New Year's Eve.
And now for some exciting news: The Overseer has finally decided to open the doors to one of his miraculous facilities that seem to be capable of warding off The Product, as he calls him, and let me get a tour of the place. I've been looking forward to this, and I'm hoping he'll submit to an interview while I'm there, so you can look forward to one or two posts about that when I return.
This is looking to be an exciting new year, and I can't wait to see what it brings. Here's hoping at least two or three of you are still alive next year.
See you around
FeeedomCaged
It turns out that one of the many bloggers I regularly chat with, Robin, of Butterfly Boy, was in a bit of trouble and needed a ride. Normally I would have let the responsibility fall to someone else, but he was relatively close and I had no other obligations I needed to fulfill for the next few days, so I decided to give him a lift. I thought surely there was nothing wrong with helping out a friendly guy, I could learn a few things in advanced and trick all of you into thinking I was a decent person.
I woke up early the next morning and drove out to Memphis, to a school where Robin was waiting, I got there a little early and saw a a big tall guy leaning against a tree, half asleep. Sure enough it was Robin, he was a little wary of me a first (probably just freaked out by my appearance) , but after he calmed down and had eaten a bit he was excessively grateful. Seriously though, Robin, there is actually such a thing as too much gratitude, and you really don't have to pay me back for the trip at all.
Anyways, the trip itself was uneventful for the most part, we talked some, but nothing really substantial was said. I wanted to get to California in a single trip so there really wasn't all that much regard for the speed limit. We finally made it to Robin's apartment around four or five in the morning on New Year's Day, and by that point I was pretty sleep deprived, so I agreed to come in for a soda before going to find a hotel to stay for the rest of the day. That's about the time things went bad. I'll let Robin elaborate on it if he wants, but I'd rather not get to into it, the whole ordeal just gave me a migraine. The short story is that his roommate, Jenna, didn't take a shining to my irresistible charisma, and she made a slight mistake as to where exactly my alliances were. It was an understandable mistake, but one I've grown tired of people making, and as I said, I was sleep deprived. I... Lost control for a brief moment, fortunately I recovered and left before any permeant damage was done.
After that I spent about a day recovering, and then roughly half a day in California, and then yesterday afternoon I headed back home I got back late this afternoon, and have since been catching up with everything going on in the community. I have to hand it to the proxies, they sure know how to spend New Year's Eve.
And now for some exciting news: The Overseer has finally decided to open the doors to one of his miraculous facilities that seem to be capable of warding off The Product, as he calls him, and let me get a tour of the place. I've been looking forward to this, and I'm hoping he'll submit to an interview while I'm there, so you can look forward to one or two posts about that when I return.
This is looking to be an exciting new year, and I can't wait to see what it brings. Here's hoping at least two or three of you are still alive next year.
See you around
FeeedomCaged
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