Before I go any further I want to point something out. I am going to lie to you.
Some of these lies will be my secrets, things that aren't important and don't matter to anyone but me. Some will be hints. Clues left behind because the only way you'll ever believe me is if you're proving me wrong. People suck like that. Finally some lies will be because there are things that once you learn you can't go back. Maybe I'm protecting you, maybe I'm just protecting myself. Either way pray you never discover those lies... or don't. Sometimes it doesn't matter.
The point is: I'm going to lie. Everyone lies.
This is rule #1.
Rule #2 is that eventually, however long we put it off, the truth comes out.
Looking for a new sign off,
FC
Showing posts with label Rule #1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rule #1. Show all posts
April 25, 2018
April 21, 2012
Something,. Improved...
How do I start this, I'm still so amazed, in awe. This was beyond anything I had truly expected, beyond anything I could have ever predicted. And I was there, at the start of something so... breathtaking, oh this is the start of something incredible my friends, take note of where you are, because this changes everything. I should start at the beginning, no point in spoiling such an incredible surprise without the proper buildup, is there?
It should not be an enormous surprise that I've had more than one of my midnight talks with the Slender Man and Phillip on the nature reserve. But tonight was different. It started out the same as it has so many times before, I arrived after Phillip, and then without warning he appeared before us, taller than ever before, looming over our heads with the sliver of the moon illuminating the tree behind him ever so faintly. Phillip knelt as he always does, he was dirty and weary, having not left the woods in over a week now. Yet still, as he knelt a sense of calm drew over his face, he knew this was where he belonged, and soon, so would I. The air that had been warm and humid just moments before was now cold and dry, but completely still. It was as though the elements themselves had calmed themselves, completely ceased there activity in honor of what was taking place. I stood, as I always have, a few feet behind Phillip: watching, waiting, and learning.
The first hint that something was going to be different happened when He moved. The Slender Man took two steps forward and placed a single hand on his shoulder and looked down at Phillip, and in return Phillip stared up into the eyeless face of something so much greater than any of us. He has been speaking to me less and less, and more and more quietly, to the point where I barely hear him at all when he does choose to speak, but when The Slender Man snapped his head up to look at me I knew he was instructing me with one simple task.
Watch
And that's when it all began. The Slender Man seemed to grow even taller and the tentacles began to pour out of his back, pulsing and writhing. They grew and multiplied until I could barely even see Him, just a pale face and a hand on Phillip's shoulder, surround by a mass of moving shifting blackness. Without warning one of the tentacles shot through his chest. I expected him to start bleeding from the wound, but instead a black oily substance began flowing from the hole. The appendage withdrew and I could see straight through Phillip's back. But that wasn't the end of it, The Slender Man had barely begun. A thinner tentacle snaked it's way around over the same shoulder that the Slender Man was still holding on to, across Phillip's back, over his neck, and up his check. It seemed to stay there for a moment, almost as if it was comforting Phillip. Then his neck snapped.
I could now see Phillips face, and as I watched more and more tentacles can forward and washed over his body, mapping themselves across him like veins. Then they all began pulsing, drawing from him all that was human, Phillip began convulsing and writhing, his mind was already dead, but his body still tried to reject what was happening. Tears of blood began streaming from his eyes as they grew cloudy and yellow, losing any resemblance to human eyes. The color drained from his skin until it was a uniform white, and then it started getting darker. Splotches of black and grey appeared across his face and arms, quickly dissipating and spreading across the rest of his skin in veins. And still He wasn't finished, more and more tentacles came and surrounded Phillip, consuming him until I could see nothing else.
Eventually the tentacles started pulling back, The Slender Man recalling them as he returned to his original form. Soon He was just a man in a suit again, standing with His hand on Phillips shoulder. But it wasn't Phillip anymore, all that was Phillip was gone. What remained was beyond human, All the fat and waste had been replaced with lean muscle, the eyes had been completely changed, removed of the iris and pupil, no more windows necessary, it was a body that housed no soul. And the skin, what was once soft and malleable was now hard as stone, yet somehow, still flexible to allow movement. The color was gone, replaced by a dark grey, literally glowing with power. In an instant it was standing, and so quickly I could barely follow with my eyes it had disappeared deeper into the woods.
I stood there in silent shock, unsure of what to do, unsure of what I could do. I looked at the Slender Man, a being of such power that it could create that out of what had once been human, and I did the only thing that occurred to me. I knelt.
I think it's about time I made a decision.
It should not be an enormous surprise that I've had more than one of my midnight talks with the Slender Man and Phillip on the nature reserve. But tonight was different. It started out the same as it has so many times before, I arrived after Phillip, and then without warning he appeared before us, taller than ever before, looming over our heads with the sliver of the moon illuminating the tree behind him ever so faintly. Phillip knelt as he always does, he was dirty and weary, having not left the woods in over a week now. Yet still, as he knelt a sense of calm drew over his face, he knew this was where he belonged, and soon, so would I. The air that had been warm and humid just moments before was now cold and dry, but completely still. It was as though the elements themselves had calmed themselves, completely ceased there activity in honor of what was taking place. I stood, as I always have, a few feet behind Phillip: watching, waiting, and learning.
The first hint that something was going to be different happened when He moved. The Slender Man took two steps forward and placed a single hand on his shoulder and looked down at Phillip, and in return Phillip stared up into the eyeless face of something so much greater than any of us. He has been speaking to me less and less, and more and more quietly, to the point where I barely hear him at all when he does choose to speak, but when The Slender Man snapped his head up to look at me I knew he was instructing me with one simple task.
Watch
And that's when it all began. The Slender Man seemed to grow even taller and the tentacles began to pour out of his back, pulsing and writhing. They grew and multiplied until I could barely even see Him, just a pale face and a hand on Phillip's shoulder, surround by a mass of moving shifting blackness. Without warning one of the tentacles shot through his chest. I expected him to start bleeding from the wound, but instead a black oily substance began flowing from the hole. The appendage withdrew and I could see straight through Phillip's back. But that wasn't the end of it, The Slender Man had barely begun. A thinner tentacle snaked it's way around over the same shoulder that the Slender Man was still holding on to, across Phillip's back, over his neck, and up his check. It seemed to stay there for a moment, almost as if it was comforting Phillip. Then his neck snapped.
I could now see Phillips face, and as I watched more and more tentacles can forward and washed over his body, mapping themselves across him like veins. Then they all began pulsing, drawing from him all that was human, Phillip began convulsing and writhing, his mind was already dead, but his body still tried to reject what was happening. Tears of blood began streaming from his eyes as they grew cloudy and yellow, losing any resemblance to human eyes. The color drained from his skin until it was a uniform white, and then it started getting darker. Splotches of black and grey appeared across his face and arms, quickly dissipating and spreading across the rest of his skin in veins. And still He wasn't finished, more and more tentacles came and surrounded Phillip, consuming him until I could see nothing else.
Eventually the tentacles started pulling back, The Slender Man recalling them as he returned to his original form. Soon He was just a man in a suit again, standing with His hand on Phillips shoulder. But it wasn't Phillip anymore, all that was Phillip was gone. What remained was beyond human, All the fat and waste had been replaced with lean muscle, the eyes had been completely changed, removed of the iris and pupil, no more windows necessary, it was a body that housed no soul. And the skin, what was once soft and malleable was now hard as stone, yet somehow, still flexible to allow movement. The color was gone, replaced by a dark grey, literally glowing with power. In an instant it was standing, and so quickly I could barely follow with my eyes it had disappeared deeper into the woods.
I stood there in silent shock, unsure of what to do, unsure of what I could do. I looked at the Slender Man, a being of such power that it could create that out of what had once been human, and I did the only thing that occurred to me. I knelt.
I think it's about time I made a decision.
See you around
Caged
April 20, 2012
April 19, 2012
It Actually Worked
Threatening someone through the blog actually got them to come forward and make things easier for everyone, about time. Anyways, it turns out that I was being followed by this guy who seemed to think I was somehow responisble for the vanisihing act his "apprentice" pulled some time back. I've been following his blog, but I had no idea who Joshua was and I told him as much. Actually the entire conversation was quite cordial, I'm almost disapointed this worked out so well. Shade said he was "going to keep an eye on me" but since he won't find anything I'm not really concerned about that right now, it seems I have bigger matters to attend to anyways.
See you around
Caged
April 14, 2012
Some Creative Title
So yeah, I haven't been posting much lately, partially because I don't really see much of a point in telling you all about every thing I protect Elizabeth from, and everything I have to do to put her in further danger, and partially because most of that isn't interesting enough to relate anyways. But I suppose there's no point in hiding this, so I might as well make another post while I'm here.
Elizabeth is in the hospital. In all likelihood she'll be fine, though, with luck she'll be a little fuzzy on what happened. I'm here, too, waiting for her to wake up. The doctors say it's a concussion, nothing serious but that they wanted to keep her for observation. I know I should be concerned for her, worried if she's o.k, but all I can think about is how stupid it was that she got it in the first place, and how if she had actually thought things through this wouldn't even be an issue. Instead she elected to take an action that could have major repercussions for both of us, when it would clearly have been safer to back off.
Right, you probably want the whole story. Elizabeth and I had been at the library studying, because an eldritch abomination isn't really proper motivation to ignore your schoolwork, is it? Well when we reached her apartment Phillip was leaving it. Now ignoring the fact that Phillip was being an idiot and should have told me about his plans to leave yet another creepy message in her apartment, I'd have to say that any one's first reaction to a masked man leaving your apartment late at night should be running in the opposite direction. That is, of course, even before you realize that said masked person is a servant of an incredibly powerful monster that just happens to be stalking you on a regular basis. And yet, she chose to chase him. I honestly had no idea she could even run that fast but Elizabeth almost tackled him before they reached the stairs. After barely a minute of wrestling she had gotten his mask off, and it was clear she recognized him. I'll give Phillip this: he knows how to take advantage of a shocked opponent. When she paused to wonder why he was behind the mask he kicked her legs out beneath her and threw her against the railing. The sound of her head hitting the railing was not a pleasant one, but her loss of conciseness solved a lot of short term problems. Unfortunately, Phillip, genius that he is, wasn't finished, evidently still in full on survival mode he took out a knife and was about to bring it down on her chest. Fortunately, I had moved close enough to grab him at this point and prevent that. I had to break his nose again, but I don't really consider that to be a negative thing at this point, in fact, I found it thoroughly satisfying. But at the end of it all, I sent the proxy on his merry little way and called an ambulance, and now I'm writing this on a tablet in a hospital room waiting for her to wake up. If she remembers too much I may have to have a Tall Gentleman ease her memory a little bit.
Speak of the literal dev il. Well I guess that m eans I don 't hav e to arran ge an ythin g m yself. I'll fin ish this later.
So yes, Elizabeth is fine and awake, and it's too late for me to care enough to go back and edit this post to reflect that properly. Basically she doesn't remember enough to point Phillip definitively, but it's looking like she knows "her assailant" from somewhere. I guess it's good they never actually interacted beyond being in the same class. But he's still probably going to be receiving a visit from the cops shortly enough, so there's one useless helper down the tubes. Not like he was ever really an effective proxy, I'm almost hoping they send someone competent to replace him. I'm just wanting this whole thing to be over now, it's getting tiring.
One last thing: bloggers new system for writing posts sucks, someone make them change it back.
See you around
Caged
March 11, 2012
No Turning Back
After my last post I called a "meeting" of sorts out on the campus nature trail. Fortunately for my that thing isn't used very frequently anyways, and no-one is ever there on nights when there's class the next morning. I met Phillip at the entrance and we went to a more isolated part of the trail where the Slender Man was waiting. He was standing under a tall tree off the main part of the trail, illuminated in the moonlight. As soon as Phillip saw him he knelt on the wet mud, and for a surreal moment I felt compelled to mirror the action. Just something about the scene, the light, the intensity, the silence, just the image of a fellow human knelling before something so much more powerful than him, something so sure of it's right the rule, it called to something primal in me. You know He's old, but if you've never seen him standing over someone he owns, you can't realize just how old he is. But I've refused the kneel before him in the past, and as long as I remain in control of my own mind I will continue to refuse.
After Phillip stood I revealed my plan to them both. I was... unsure about how the Slender Man felt, for some reason I wasn't able to read him as well as I have been in the past, though talking with him has never been easy. Phillip, on the other hand, was ecstatic, though it's become obvious that's he's accepted his role as my subordinate and it's unlikely he'll ever appose anything I'll say. So after a few minutes of collaboration with the two of them I left them to go walk the rest of the trail by myself. I needed to contemplate some things, and the trail was still the safest place for me to let Cage take control for a while. I've been keeping a tighter grip on him lately, because I can't allow myself to slip up, now more than ever, but the downside is that sometimes I need to simply give him complete control for a while, to balance things out. Free does not approve, but he doesn't approve of much of anything I choose lately, then again, neither does Cage, neither do I.
So Friday,yesterday assuming I start typing this faster, I met Elizabeth. That seems odd to say, because I do in fact meet her every day, as well as some others, I do have something of a social life after all. But this time I met her with a specific purpose, one script in my mind detailing what what going to happen. We "ran into each other" outside the student center, where Phillip had managed to delay her usual schedule to force a confrontation, and I asked her how she was feeling. She naturally responded with deliberately vague answers about how she had been a little stressed out, maybe a little tired, how it was nothing to worry about, and then she asked me why I asked. My response was also deliberately vague, I mentioned about how I was just feeling on edge for no particular reason, how I was tyring to figure out if there was something going around; I choose my words and tone carefully, designed them to set the idea in her head. We walked for a few minutes, talking uneasily, dancing around the thing we were about to address. When He showed up I started coughing, I almost ended up on my knees from putting so much force into it. Elizabeth turned to check if I was alright and saw Him standing in the trees, watching. When I recovered from my practiced episode I joined her in staring into the trees, still partially crouched. Then I repeated the question she asked me not two weeks earlier: "Do you see it?" When she answered her voice was dripping with fear:
"Yes."
Then He was gone, having full filled his role in a plan he had agreed to, the Slender Man was content to leave the rest to me. My dorm was closer, and my roommate was already gone for the weekend, so we went to my room and discussed our options. I played some music to try and get the image out of her head and calm her down and asked what was going on. She only told me things I already knew: She was being hunted, she couldn't sleep without having nightmares, she was receiving threatening messages and signs, and she was trying to find an answer, but I listened as though I was hearing it for the first time. At first I pretended to join in her fear, to make it seem as though I was even more confused and lost than she was, I even acted as though I couldn't believe it was real. Then I got angry, I told her that we couldn't lose to Him, that we would find a way to escape whatever was going on. As we discussed options she mentioned that she had stumbled across a few blogs that seemed to be dealing with him, at first acted was skeptical, but then I had her tell me all she knew about the blogs. I convinced her to go home for the weekend, and I told her that I would take over looking at the blogs for her, that she should focus on watching the various vlogs instead to see if she could find out anything there. With our labor divided so that there was no risk of her finding my blog I decided it was best to wrap things up before she could suggest anything different. I told her I had one last class I had to go to (which was, incidentally, the truth) and that she should go ahead and go home, that maybe getting out of the area would provide some relief for the time being.
So now I'm being "Hunted" along with Elizabeth, the good news is that I can keep her from finding out who and what I am, but the bad news is that I now have a much greater role in her active psychological torture. And now she knows, for better or worse, that I can see him too. This means that I'm now entrenched in this mess no matter what, there's no walking away to save myself and still not serving Him, the two options before me are more clear than ever before, and I'm far closer to having to choose one of them. Somehow it seems that this happens every time I try to buy myself time, but my options beyond that are have always been few anyways. I suppose that if I have to dig myself a deeper hole than there's something comforting about being the one holding the shovel.
After Phillip stood I revealed my plan to them both. I was... unsure about how the Slender Man felt, for some reason I wasn't able to read him as well as I have been in the past, though talking with him has never been easy. Phillip, on the other hand, was ecstatic, though it's become obvious that's he's accepted his role as my subordinate and it's unlikely he'll ever appose anything I'll say. So after a few minutes of collaboration with the two of them I left them to go walk the rest of the trail by myself. I needed to contemplate some things, and the trail was still the safest place for me to let Cage take control for a while. I've been keeping a tighter grip on him lately, because I can't allow myself to slip up, now more than ever, but the downside is that sometimes I need to simply give him complete control for a while, to balance things out. Free does not approve, but he doesn't approve of much of anything I choose lately, then again, neither does Cage, neither do I.
So Friday,
"Yes."
Then He was gone, having full filled his role in a plan he had agreed to, the Slender Man was content to leave the rest to me. My dorm was closer, and my roommate was already gone for the weekend, so we went to my room and discussed our options. I played some music to try and get the image out of her head and calm her down and asked what was going on. She only told me things I already knew: She was being hunted, she couldn't sleep without having nightmares, she was receiving threatening messages and signs, and she was trying to find an answer, but I listened as though I was hearing it for the first time. At first I pretended to join in her fear, to make it seem as though I was even more confused and lost than she was, I even acted as though I couldn't believe it was real. Then I got angry, I told her that we couldn't lose to Him, that we would find a way to escape whatever was going on. As we discussed options she mentioned that she had stumbled across a few blogs that seemed to be dealing with him, at first acted was skeptical, but then I had her tell me all she knew about the blogs. I convinced her to go home for the weekend, and I told her that I would take over looking at the blogs for her, that she should focus on watching the various vlogs instead to see if she could find out anything there. With our labor divided so that there was no risk of her finding my blog I decided it was best to wrap things up before she could suggest anything different. I told her I had one last class I had to go to (which was, incidentally, the truth) and that she should go ahead and go home, that maybe getting out of the area would provide some relief for the time being.
So now I'm being "Hunted" along with Elizabeth, the good news is that I can keep her from finding out who and what I am, but the bad news is that I now have a much greater role in her active psychological torture. And now she knows, for better or worse, that I can see him too. This means that I'm now entrenched in this mess no matter what, there's no walking away to save myself and still not serving Him, the two options before me are more clear than ever before, and I'm far closer to having to choose one of them. Somehow it seems that this happens every time I try to buy myself time, but my options beyond that are have always been few anyways. I suppose that if I have to dig myself a deeper hole than there's something comforting about being the one holding the shovel.
See you around
-Cage
March 7, 2012
Running Interference
You know, throughout my life I've found several things that should require effort or concern are in fact relatively easy for me to do. Murder, for example, is easy, you just stand there and push the blade into someones chest, you don't even have to know their name. Lieing is incredibly easy, you just need to imagine that you truly are speaking the truth, and false information flows from your lips without so much as a waver of the voice to betray your dishonesty. Running is far easier than some of you make it out to be, you just forget what you had and who you were and go. Manipulation by itself is not all that difficult, identifying a target, predicting a persons reactions, leading them where you want them; these are all things you can learn without too much difficulty. However, doing any of those things becomes difficult if your goals include not letting anyone know you're doing them, and when you're trying to exert complete control over someones life, over multiple people's lives, without anyone realizing that you're trying any harder, that isn't easy. Though I suppose that when one of those people is Hunted and the other is Hollowed that helps.
Every Tuesday and Thursday I go to a class that I share with both Phillip and Elizabeth. I sit maybe 15 feet away from either of them, and spend the majority of my time trying to figure out how to trick them both into staying away from each other. Honestly it doesn't really help that things are accelerating faster than I had planned. Elizabeth pretends that nothing is wrong, she hasn't mentioned the Slender Man or anything resembling him to me or any of our other friends, yet, but I can tell she's already seeing him on a regular basis. Phillip, on the other hand, is very vocal about his plans and schedules and ambitions. He can talk for thirty minutes straight about how much work he put into the letter he slipped under Elizabeth's door (I retrieved it before she saw anything), or how honored he is to be working for "Father," but beyond that he seems incapable of casual conversation. I've had him go on at length about his agenda, but as soon as he's done he just stops talking and stares off in the distance, unable or unwilling to react to anything else for a very long time. Sometimes I'm really glad I can't see what he's looking at, I promise I'll never envy anyone whose mind has gone through that much trauma.
It's complicated keeping both of them at arms length while trying to make sure neither one is ever within arms length of the other. I have to monitor my calls with either of them, and I try to never interact with Phillip when Elizabeth is around, if she ever figures out what he is then I don't want her jumping to any conclusions about me. I've found that as a neutral party I'm not capable of being a very effective buffer, but I'm still faced with my original dilemma of being unable to directly show support for Elizabeth. This has ended up with me doing a lot of very minor sabotage of Phillip's activities, of course because my role in our perceived partnership is to keep a closer eye on Elizabeth and gauge her reactions I'm able to convince him that the notes he's been trying to leave around have reached her. The good news here is that Phillip is very easy to manipulate and deceive, he's a predictable element with nowhere near the amount of creativity or depth your average human should posses. The bad news is that Elizabeth isn't, even with as much as I know about her I can't prepare for her every reaction, and being Hunted makes her much less predictable.
Also in the bad news pile is the fact that she's started doing research. A couple of nights ago we were with a few friends at her apartment for a movie night. I'm never very comfortable in groups, but I went anyways, both for the sake of seeming normal and to use the opportunity to keep an eye on her. Throughout the movie I saw her look out the window several times, even though her antagonist never made an appearance. Part way through the movie I excused myself to go to the bathroom and covertly checked the search history on her computer. She had been looking up Slender Man. If she finds the blogs I'm in trouble, I haven't said anything here that could guarantee she would know it was me, but that's not something I'm willing to risk, I have to find a way to control what information she gets. I have a plan set up, but it's not one I'm excited about putting into action.
I haven't been Hunted in a long time. It hasn't been long enough.
Every Tuesday and Thursday I go to a class that I share with both Phillip and Elizabeth. I sit maybe 15 feet away from either of them, and spend the majority of my time trying to figure out how to trick them both into staying away from each other. Honestly it doesn't really help that things are accelerating faster than I had planned. Elizabeth pretends that nothing is wrong, she hasn't mentioned the Slender Man or anything resembling him to me or any of our other friends, yet, but I can tell she's already seeing him on a regular basis. Phillip, on the other hand, is very vocal about his plans and schedules and ambitions. He can talk for thirty minutes straight about how much work he put into the letter he slipped under Elizabeth's door (I retrieved it before she saw anything), or how honored he is to be working for "Father," but beyond that he seems incapable of casual conversation. I've had him go on at length about his agenda, but as soon as he's done he just stops talking and stares off in the distance, unable or unwilling to react to anything else for a very long time. Sometimes I'm really glad I can't see what he's looking at, I promise I'll never envy anyone whose mind has gone through that much trauma.
It's complicated keeping both of them at arms length while trying to make sure neither one is ever within arms length of the other. I have to monitor my calls with either of them, and I try to never interact with Phillip when Elizabeth is around, if she ever figures out what he is then I don't want her jumping to any conclusions about me. I've found that as a neutral party I'm not capable of being a very effective buffer, but I'm still faced with my original dilemma of being unable to directly show support for Elizabeth. This has ended up with me doing a lot of very minor sabotage of Phillip's activities, of course because my role in our perceived partnership is to keep a closer eye on Elizabeth and gauge her reactions I'm able to convince him that the notes he's been trying to leave around have reached her. The good news here is that Phillip is very easy to manipulate and deceive, he's a predictable element with nowhere near the amount of creativity or depth your average human should posses. The bad news is that Elizabeth isn't, even with as much as I know about her I can't prepare for her every reaction, and being Hunted makes her much less predictable.
Also in the bad news pile is the fact that she's started doing research. A couple of nights ago we were with a few friends at her apartment for a movie night. I'm never very comfortable in groups, but I went anyways, both for the sake of seeming normal and to use the opportunity to keep an eye on her. Throughout the movie I saw her look out the window several times, even though her antagonist never made an appearance. Part way through the movie I excused myself to go to the bathroom and covertly checked the search history on her computer. She had been looking up Slender Man. If she finds the blogs I'm in trouble, I haven't said anything here that could guarantee she would know it was me, but that's not something I'm willing to risk, I have to find a way to control what information she gets. I have a plan set up, but it's not one I'm excited about putting into action.
I haven't been Hunted in a long time. It hasn't been long enough.
See you around
Cage
February 14, 2012
Insects of Stone
Hey there, I know I haven't been around much lately, but to be fair, the most I'm used to on this end is classes and tests and the occasional social obligation. Lately, however, I've found myself running interference between Elizabeth and Phillip (fortunately the run away mannequin from Men's Warehouse hasn't gotten involved just yet). I've already talked about my first technique to buy myself some time: introducing Elizabeth to Marble Hornets. So far that has worked about as well as I had predicted it would: Beth has admitted to me that she has felt a bit paranoid because of the videos, and even experienced a nightmare based on them. I was concerned at first, but after listening to her description it sounds like something concocted by her own mind, rather than a dream implanted by, well, I can't think of a clever moniker right now, but we've all read some version of this sentence before. We only got to about entry #18 before she decided she was too creeped out to continue watching. It's not that surprising, considering we were watching it at night, some of those videos even creeped me out a little, despite the fact I've dealt with the real thing. Still, I think we might watch some more entries this weekend, Elizabeth said she wanted to see where it was going, so I guess I have no choice but to ride this decision out, hopefully it won't backfire too terribly.
On the other hand, this seems to have given me a little leverage when dealing with Phillip, which is now an almost daily chore. I'm going to be honest, Phillip isn't that clever. I suspect he's been hollowed (or whatever term you want to use) enough that he can't think that creatively, on the whole he's actually been inclined to believe whatever I've told him. When I told him about Marble Hornets it was enough to convince him to back off his own plans (breaking into her apartment and leaving cryptic messages, like I said, he's not that clever). Right now he looks at me like I'm a superior, he was led to believe that I was going to be his partner and handler for this assignment, and that it was my job to train him. He's still a little upset that I broke his nose and forced him to walk a mile to the nearest road, but "infecting" Elizabeth has convinced him I'm on his side (thank goodness he doesn't actually check this blog). He remains loyal to me and what he knows of my plans, and I can use that to my advantage in the future.
I've considered talking to Him about all of this, but right now everything is still fairly safe and simple, and I'd prefer to keep it that way, at the expense of potentially finding out more on the situation. Look at me, taking the safe route, aren't you all so proud.
I know I haven't been active much lately, but I'll try to get on more often in the future. Hopefully I'll even get better about making posts about what's happening, even though I haven't gotten much practice at that until now. You know, I always knew this was coming, I had just never let myself believe it would be happening so soon.
On the other hand, this seems to have given me a little leverage when dealing with Phillip, which is now an almost daily chore. I'm going to be honest, Phillip isn't that clever. I suspect he's been hollowed (or whatever term you want to use) enough that he can't think that creatively, on the whole he's actually been inclined to believe whatever I've told him. When I told him about Marble Hornets it was enough to convince him to back off his own plans (breaking into her apartment and leaving cryptic messages, like I said, he's not that clever). Right now he looks at me like I'm a superior, he was led to believe that I was going to be his partner and handler for this assignment, and that it was my job to train him. He's still a little upset that I broke his nose and forced him to walk a mile to the nearest road, but "infecting" Elizabeth has convinced him I'm on his side (thank goodness he doesn't actually check this blog). He remains loyal to me and what he knows of my plans, and I can use that to my advantage in the future.
I've considered talking to Him about all of this, but right now everything is still fairly safe and simple, and I'd prefer to keep it that way, at the expense of potentially finding out more on the situation. Look at me, taking the safe route, aren't you all so proud.
I know I haven't been active much lately, but I'll try to get on more often in the future. Hopefully I'll even get better about making posts about what's happening, even though I haven't gotten much practice at that until now. You know, I always knew this was coming, I had just never let myself believe it would be happening so soon.
See you around
Free
February 3, 2012
Not A Coincidence
I learned something interesting today, I learned who was being hunted in my class. Sadly it was not the teacher, it might of been amusing to watch his lectures and examples slowly become filled with ramblings and operator symbols. Instead it was someone else, someone I knew of all things. Her name is Elizabeth, and we've been friends for a while now, she is, in fact, the only person in that class that I actually know. Naturally I refuse to accept this as a coincidence, I believe in luck, but it's looking more and more like He's trying to force my hand.
Now the curious are probably wondering how exactly I know this, and the epically observant might even notice that I discovered this on a Friday when the class we shared was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Elizabeth didn't come to class this past week, evidently she was recovering from a mild cold. This morning she texted me, asking if I wouldn't mind coming over to her apartment to share notes from our mutual class, I of course accepted. When I went over there I didn't notice anything at first, and when I did it was so subtle that I couldn't even identify it right away.
Perhaps I should explain here. I'm sure that by now most of you know what Mr. Talls presence feels like, there's the paranoia and fear, yes, but there's more to it than that. It feels like he's physically projecting something. I believe he is, I'm not sure what, but what ever it is leaves something behind, it's like this smell that just lingers long after the product is gone. It's like radiation that never goes away, a sensation that something is wrong, and if you know what it feels like, you can figure out when someone has been hunted by him. That feeling was there, with Elizabeth, and it was so faint I almost missed it. I'd be surprised if she had even seen Him yet.
After I realized what was going on I realized what was going on: He wants me to choose. The Slender Man is tired of having this little neutral person off in his own corner making a ruckus, and he's devised a lovely little situation designed to either bring out the worst in me, or the best. He knows that this is something I can't ignore, I know the victim, and that means I have to get involved, one way or another.
Like I said, I can't just ignore this, it will be literally impossible to ignore this because Beth and I are close (as much as that can mean for me). When things start getting worse she will most likely come to me, and I will either have to help her or sabotage her, the line between those options is so narrow even I can't maneuver it safely. If it comes down to it I'm not sure I would be able to sacrifice Elizabeth for my own safety. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'll ever be willing to surrender what I know, knowing full well it would mean a quick death for the both of us. For that matter, I'm sure any kind helpful behavior would be bad for both of us. So, this time at least, I took a different route: I introduced her to Marble Hornets.
I know that what I did didn't really buy me much time, if anything, things will escalate more quickly now that she knows what she's dealing with. But now she knows what she's dealing with, she'll have some idea of what's going on and what she needs to do. I still earn points because this does drag her in deeper, it does make her an easier target, and it does make her more paranoid. But in the end, she won't be flailing when He starts showing himself, and she'll know where to look to find more information.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull something off like this every time things start to escalate, but right now I don't know what I'm going to do, so I need to find a way to put off this confrontation for as long as I can.
EDIT: You know, looking back on this a few days later I realize that this was written up pretty poorly. I suppose it's good it's an account and explanation of what I know, rather than a piece of fiction brought before an audience of talented writers for the sake of entertainment. That would be rather embarrassing. Still, I'll try to make future updates more acceptable, I do try to hold myself to a certain standard of writing, even if it is a personal story.
Now the curious are probably wondering how exactly I know this, and the epically observant might even notice that I discovered this on a Friday when the class we shared was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Elizabeth didn't come to class this past week, evidently she was recovering from a mild cold. This morning she texted me, asking if I wouldn't mind coming over to her apartment to share notes from our mutual class, I of course accepted. When I went over there I didn't notice anything at first, and when I did it was so subtle that I couldn't even identify it right away.
Perhaps I should explain here. I'm sure that by now most of you know what Mr. Talls presence feels like, there's the paranoia and fear, yes, but there's more to it than that. It feels like he's physically projecting something. I believe he is, I'm not sure what, but what ever it is leaves something behind, it's like this smell that just lingers long after the product is gone. It's like radiation that never goes away, a sensation that something is wrong, and if you know what it feels like, you can figure out when someone has been hunted by him. That feeling was there, with Elizabeth, and it was so faint I almost missed it. I'd be surprised if she had even seen Him yet.
After I realized what was going on I realized what was going on: He wants me to choose. The Slender Man is tired of having this little neutral person off in his own corner making a ruckus, and he's devised a lovely little situation designed to either bring out the worst in me, or the best. He knows that this is something I can't ignore, I know the victim, and that means I have to get involved, one way or another.
Like I said, I can't just ignore this, it will be literally impossible to ignore this because Beth and I are close (as much as that can mean for me). When things start getting worse she will most likely come to me, and I will either have to help her or sabotage her, the line between those options is so narrow even I can't maneuver it safely. If it comes down to it I'm not sure I would be able to sacrifice Elizabeth for my own safety. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'll ever be willing to surrender what I know, knowing full well it would mean a quick death for the both of us. For that matter, I'm sure any kind helpful behavior would be bad for both of us. So, this time at least, I took a different route: I introduced her to Marble Hornets.
I know that what I did didn't really buy me much time, if anything, things will escalate more quickly now that she knows what she's dealing with. But now she knows what she's dealing with, she'll have some idea of what's going on and what she needs to do. I still earn points because this does drag her in deeper, it does make her an easier target, and it does make her more paranoid. But in the end, she won't be flailing when He starts showing himself, and she'll know where to look to find more information.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull something off like this every time things start to escalate, but right now I don't know what I'm going to do, so I need to find a way to put off this confrontation for as long as I can.
EDIT: You know, looking back on this a few days later I realize that this was written up pretty poorly. I suppose it's good it's an account and explanation of what I know, rather than a piece of fiction brought before an audience of talented writers for the sake of entertainment. That would be rather embarrassing. Still, I'll try to make future updates more acceptable, I do try to hold myself to a certain standard of writing, even if it is a personal story.
See you around
Free
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 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
November 24, 2011
The Interview
Hello everyone, guess what, I decieded to stop procrastinating for once and actually did that interview with Dia I've been talking about. As you probably already know, Dia runs the blog Be Wary of These, and she is a regular commentor on several blogs, including this one from time to time. After reading all of the interviews she has done I decided it might be intresting to here her side of the story, so I contacted her through her e-mail and we did the interview through G-mail's chat function. I have to say, I'm glad I decided to do this, I learned a few things, and got a chance to speak with her more freely. But that's enough prolouge, here's the interview:
Me: I guess I'll just start then, I apologize if there is too much in here that you have already answered on your blogs, I guess my goal is, as much as anything else to just compile all of the information in one spot, and maybe get you to expand a bit more on those blurry areas.
Me: First question: When and where did you first discover the mythos?
Dia: Oh, let's see...
I'd have to say through a friend that had stumbled into a sticky situation with the Wooden girl.
She asked me for help figuring out a series of puzzles that The Wooden Girl's puppet, the Jester, had started putting her through.
I started... I'll say doing research on the people and things that were connected to "Grace Smith" and wound up tripping over face-first into the Fear Mythos.
Me: So you knew right away that it was all true?
Dia: People... can't make up the kind of pain that girl and her brother were going through.
Besides, who wouldn't want to know more about the things that make up their nightmares?
Me: And how is your friend now, if you don't mind my asking?
Dia: Surprisingly, she's fine. She didn't wind up with the Compulsion like most people do.
Though.. well, she's getting curious.
She's starting to ask the same questions I did when I first got into all of this.
Me: What will you do if she gets sucked back in?
Dia: Well... I'll help her. That's what I try to do, though most of it stays behind the scenes. If I said 'everything' I knew publicly, it would no longer be able to help people.
Me: That's as true a statement as any.
Me: In one of your posts you said you knew more about “The Bogeymen” than you had any right to, what did you mean by that, was it just a way of saying you looked in to deep or was there something more.
Dia: Oh lord. Do you want the official PC version, or do you want something a little more truthful?
Me: I'd prefer the truthful version.
Dia: Well, for one, I use the term 'Boogeymen' because there are more Fears than we officially recognize. There are plenty, lord knows. The truly strong, the old ones, the ones that have infected enough to no longer be able to contain... they are the ones that deserve the label "Fears."
And well... I'll put it this way, love. The Boogeymen, the Fears, the nightmares... hell, even the proxies don't always kill the people they torment. Sometimes they prefer to leave them alive.
Me: They are the true definition of "A fate worse than death," aren't they?
So you're saying that you regret finding out just how bad some of these creatures are?
Dia: Oh yes, you caught that? I continuously leave statements about them in my blogs, but I normally don't say anything too specific.
Dia: Damn the typos. Anyway. I don't regret finding them whatsoever. My being involved in the Fear Mythos has helped save more than one life. Why on earth would I regret that? Out of some silly wish that I didn't have to deal with pain or discomfort from dealing with them or their victims?
Even when the Fears aren't involved, we have to deal with things that cause us pain or break our lonely hearts. So this, to me, is no different.
Me: Well it seems to me that most of the fears are higher up on that level of pain.
You surely know that and yet you keep writing to help others.
Dia: I've been dealing with pain in one form or another all my life. Not all pain is physical, and not all the pain in our lives is caused by the Fears. I have scars from a few months ago to prove that.
We deal with it and try to make our loved ones' lives better, or we roll over and die. Honestly, I don't feel like watching people go through the same shit I have, and much worse, and know that I could help them... and not out of some kind of preservation instinct.
Dia: That would be cowardly.
Me: Fair enough, I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be so noble about it myself, but I certainly respect your attitude.
Dia: I'll answer any question I know the answer to. Unless it'll get someone killed. Then you're shit out of luck.
Me: Let’s talk about your stalker, the one leaving you all these messages, what do you know about this person?
Dia: My...stalker?
You mean the guy with the envelopes that showed up before the... David incident?
The police caught him shortly after I was released from the hospital.
Me: You're sure?
Dia: Of course. I hear from them regularly. They pinned the incident on him, and he left prints on the letter, along with saliva on the envelope itself.
He's going to be gone for a very, very long time.
Me: Very well, what do you do for a living?
Dia: I help people. I wake up, go and help people and watch their pain destroy them from the inside, and try to help them the best I can. I come home, and try to keep people from dying from the supernatural ailments that find them.
Dia: Someone already found me from being careless about where I lived. If I gave them what i did for a living combined with that knowledge, my life would be fucked.
Me: Fair enough.
Dia: I'm not trying to hinder your research, love. I just can't tell you things that would be nailing myself on a cross, that would make my 'real life' a giant target.
Ask the right questions.
Me: You said your nightmares have been getting better, have they gone away entirely?
Dia: Oh lord no! I've just gotten used to them. I realized that fighting them was causing me pain. I was waking up to scratch marks on my arms, weapons by my bedside, and some kind of demented version of them written down in pages I would find lying scattered around my house.
So I just... how do I say this? Let myself dream. I use it as a learning exercise. And so, I never dream the same thing twice.
Me: What are some of the dreams you've been having then?
Dia: Not all of them are nightmares, anymore. Sometimes... I dream of love. Sometimes I dream of people I swear I should know.
Me: What do you mean "should know," do you recognize them?
Dia: Never seen them before in my life. But... it's like deja vu, and most of the time it's happy when that happens. People that...
How do I say this? Have you ever met someone and known if they were to hold you, you wouldn't scream? Something like that.
Me: Not quite, but I see where you're going... you feel comfortable around them.
Dia: Ha. You must have had a very different kind of life than mine.
Yes. Then again, I feel comfortable around baby killers and rapists.
So that statement doesn't mean much in context.
Me: Heh, well I rarely feel comfortable around people I genuinely enjoy, so I can imagine the other extreme.
Does that mean your dreams include those you interact with through the blogs?
Dia: I've never thought of it that way. I've technically 'met'
two of the people I know through the blogs, and only one of those was a 'happy' encounter.
Though, I can hardly say the KK interview was a happy experience. *laughs*
Me: Well if it wasn't happy than at least it wasn't as miserable.
Dia: The bitch brought a government issue weapon to the table, and only told me afterwards! Jeezus.
I was at least lucky enough to meet her before she became Blight.
Me: Small victories are to be praised, I suppose.
Me: I'm sorry if this is a sour subject, but how do you feel about the David incident, now that some time has passed?
Dia: I leave the radio on constantly to help deal with the...after-effects.
I do dream of him sometimes, though the dreams are different. I remember things I wish I didn't. And sometimes, well, I remember David in a positive way. It's an odd experience.
Me: How is it positive, is that just a feeling or is there something specific?
Dia: He taught me a few things. He was very cruel, but very kind. He spoke like a lover, acted like a lover, and well... you can imagine the rest.
Dia: He knows how to fuck with people's minds, and he is very much an expert at it.
Me: I see.
Dia: Mostly, he taught me to stop trusting anyone besides myself. And to stop being so soft.
He was a very good teacher in that way.
Me: So you believe he helped you better yourself, and you feel grateful.
I can understand that.
Dia: You could say that. That's a very nice way of saying that he taught me I was going to die if I didn't stop being so fucking stupid. Torture is a very good motivator at times.
Me: How has your memory been?
(There's a pause)
Dia: It's been...about the same level of oddity as my dreams.
You have to understand.
I sleep at most 3 hours a night, and I should probably be sick by now.
I half believe this is a dream. So half of what I DO remember, I chalk up to another dream or a foolish fantasy.
Me: That's interesting, are you losing time at all with this, or are you just unsure of your reality?
Dia: That brings to mind a certain quote.
Me: I love a good quote.
Dia: "Of course this has all happened in your mind. That doesn't mean it isn't real."
Forgive me for the loose translation, it's from my memory.
Me: That's o.k., it carries quite well.
But you still didn't answer my question about losing time.
Dia: Losing time? I feel every moment.
Do I understand them? No. Do they mesh with what I've apparently been doing? No.
I've "woken up" to some extremely odd situations in the last few months.
Me: That would be...disconcerting.
Any examples you care to share?
Dia: Oh sure. I've woken up to acting like it was a zombie apocalypse, boarding up walls and windows and having a full fucking arsenal beside my bed.
How I acquired these weapons, I have no freaking clue.
I've woken up naked standing in front of a mirror, with what looked like a nightmare standing behind my shoulder.
Nothing was there when I turned around.
Let's see.... I've also had some of the silly ones. The remote in the icebox, the mail in the garden, blood on the front step. You know. The normal.
Me: And you remembered events up to those moments, but they don't match with what actually happened?
Dia: Not whatsoever! But I don't really care. I've never hurt another soul during my wanderings, and anything to myself has been easily covered.
I'm generally pretty nonchalant when it comes to my own self-destruction, dear. You aren't going to find any fear or regrets with this line of questions. I'm sorry if you were expecting some.
Me: I don't mind terribly, I'm not here just to feed off of your fear.
I just wanted to know more about you, and now I do.
Dia: Was that really all you had to ask?
Me: For the sake of this interview, yes, I think its quite long enough to torture my readers.
Dia: If you say so, love.
Me: Anything else you want to say for the record?
Dia: That you should be extremely careful what you label the truth.
I've always told the truth, but you would be surprised what people can omit when they have the ability.
I see a bit of that from you, in fact.
Me: My tide, that warning is in the second post on my blog.
And it's not just a warning about me.
(These next two were posted very close together, so my next comment is more of a continuation of this statement than a reply.)
Dia: *laughs* Making sure you remembered, is all.
Me: It's a reminder.
Dia: Yes.
Also, if within reason you need help or want to trade some day... let me know.
You aren't a fool.
Me: I will, thank you.
We talked for that a bit afterwords as well, but it was "off the record," and no matter how dubious I might be about telling the truth, I do not renegade on my word. If you want to know anything else about Dia, she always encourages asking questions, so ask her yourself. Anyway, that's all I have for you this time, but if anyone else wants an interview let me know and I'd be glad to do this kind of thing again.
Me: I guess I'll just start then, I apologize if there is too much in here that you have already answered on your blogs, I guess my goal is, as much as anything else to just compile all of the information in one spot, and maybe get you to expand a bit more on those blurry areas.
Me: First question: When and where did you first discover the mythos?
Dia: Oh, let's see...
I'd have to say through a friend that had stumbled into a sticky situation with the Wooden girl.
She asked me for help figuring out a series of puzzles that The Wooden Girl's puppet, the Jester, had started putting her through.
I started... I'll say doing research on the people and things that were connected to "Grace Smith" and wound up tripping over face-first into the Fear Mythos.
Me: So you knew right away that it was all true?
Dia: People... can't make up the kind of pain that girl and her brother were going through.
Besides, who wouldn't want to know more about the things that make up their nightmares?
Me: And how is your friend now, if you don't mind my asking?
Dia: Surprisingly, she's fine. She didn't wind up with the Compulsion like most people do.
Though.. well, she's getting curious.
She's starting to ask the same questions I did when I first got into all of this.
Me: What will you do if she gets sucked back in?
Dia: Well... I'll help her. That's what I try to do, though most of it stays behind the scenes. If I said 'everything' I knew publicly, it would no longer be able to help people.
Me: That's as true a statement as any.
Me: In one of your posts you said you knew more about “The Bogeymen” than you had any right to, what did you mean by that, was it just a way of saying you looked in to deep or was there something more.
Dia: Oh lord. Do you want the official PC version, or do you want something a little more truthful?
Me: I'd prefer the truthful version.
Dia: Well, for one, I use the term 'Boogeymen' because there are more Fears than we officially recognize. There are plenty, lord knows. The truly strong, the old ones, the ones that have infected enough to no longer be able to contain... they are the ones that deserve the label "Fears."
And well... I'll put it this way, love. The Boogeymen, the Fears, the nightmares... hell, even the proxies don't always kill the people they torment. Sometimes they prefer to leave them alive.
Me: They are the true definition of "A fate worse than death," aren't they?
So you're saying that you regret finding out just how bad some of these creatures are?
Dia: Oh yes, you caught that? I continuously leave statements about them in my blogs, but I normally don't say anything too specific.
Dia: Damn the typos. Anyway. I don't regret finding them whatsoever. My being involved in the Fear Mythos has helped save more than one life. Why on earth would I regret that? Out of some silly wish that I didn't have to deal with pain or discomfort from dealing with them or their victims?
Even when the Fears aren't involved, we have to deal with things that cause us pain or break our lonely hearts. So this, to me, is no different.
Me: Well it seems to me that most of the fears are higher up on that level of pain.
You surely know that and yet you keep writing to help others.
Dia: I've been dealing with pain in one form or another all my life. Not all pain is physical, and not all the pain in our lives is caused by the Fears. I have scars from a few months ago to prove that.
We deal with it and try to make our loved ones' lives better, or we roll over and die. Honestly, I don't feel like watching people go through the same shit I have, and much worse, and know that I could help them... and not out of some kind of preservation instinct.
Dia: That would be cowardly.
Me: Fair enough, I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be so noble about it myself, but I certainly respect your attitude.
Dia: I'll answer any question I know the answer to. Unless it'll get someone killed. Then you're shit out of luck.
Me: Let’s talk about your stalker, the one leaving you all these messages, what do you know about this person?
Dia: My...stalker?
You mean the guy with the envelopes that showed up before the... David incident?
The police caught him shortly after I was released from the hospital.
Me: You're sure?
Dia: Of course. I hear from them regularly. They pinned the incident on him, and he left prints on the letter, along with saliva on the envelope itself.
He's going to be gone for a very, very long time.
Me: Very well, what do you do for a living?
Dia: I help people. I wake up, go and help people and watch their pain destroy them from the inside, and try to help them the best I can. I come home, and try to keep people from dying from the supernatural ailments that find them.
Dia: Someone already found me from being careless about where I lived. If I gave them what i did for a living combined with that knowledge, my life would be fucked.
Me: Fair enough.
Dia: I'm not trying to hinder your research, love. I just can't tell you things that would be nailing myself on a cross, that would make my 'real life' a giant target.
Ask the right questions.
Me: You said your nightmares have been getting better, have they gone away entirely?
Dia: Oh lord no! I've just gotten used to them. I realized that fighting them was causing me pain. I was waking up to scratch marks on my arms, weapons by my bedside, and some kind of demented version of them written down in pages I would find lying scattered around my house.
So I just... how do I say this? Let myself dream. I use it as a learning exercise. And so, I never dream the same thing twice.
Me: What are some of the dreams you've been having then?
Dia: Not all of them are nightmares, anymore. Sometimes... I dream of love. Sometimes I dream of people I swear I should know.
Me: What do you mean "should know," do you recognize them?
Dia: Never seen them before in my life. But... it's like deja vu, and most of the time it's happy when that happens. People that...
How do I say this? Have you ever met someone and known if they were to hold you, you wouldn't scream? Something like that.
Me: Not quite, but I see where you're going... you feel comfortable around them.
Dia: Ha. You must have had a very different kind of life than mine.
Yes. Then again, I feel comfortable around baby killers and rapists.
So that statement doesn't mean much in context.
Me: Heh, well I rarely feel comfortable around people I genuinely enjoy, so I can imagine the other extreme.
Does that mean your dreams include those you interact with through the blogs?
Dia: I've never thought of it that way. I've technically 'met'
two of the people I know through the blogs, and only one of those was a 'happy' encounter.
Though, I can hardly say the KK interview was a happy experience. *laughs*
Me: Well if it wasn't happy than at least it wasn't as miserable.
Dia: The bitch brought a government issue weapon to the table, and only told me afterwards! Jeezus.
I was at least lucky enough to meet her before she became Blight.
Me: Small victories are to be praised, I suppose.
Me: I'm sorry if this is a sour subject, but how do you feel about the David incident, now that some time has passed?
Dia: I leave the radio on constantly to help deal with the...after-effects.
I do dream of him sometimes, though the dreams are different. I remember things I wish I didn't. And sometimes, well, I remember David in a positive way. It's an odd experience.
Me: How is it positive, is that just a feeling or is there something specific?
Dia: He taught me a few things. He was very cruel, but very kind. He spoke like a lover, acted like a lover, and well... you can imagine the rest.
Dia: He knows how to fuck with people's minds, and he is very much an expert at it.
Me: I see.
Dia: Mostly, he taught me to stop trusting anyone besides myself. And to stop being so soft.
He was a very good teacher in that way.
Me: So you believe he helped you better yourself, and you feel grateful.
I can understand that.
Dia: You could say that. That's a very nice way of saying that he taught me I was going to die if I didn't stop being so fucking stupid. Torture is a very good motivator at times.
Me: How has your memory been?
(There's a pause)
Dia: It's been...about the same level of oddity as my dreams.
You have to understand.
I sleep at most 3 hours a night, and I should probably be sick by now.
I half believe this is a dream. So half of what I DO remember, I chalk up to another dream or a foolish fantasy.
Me: That's interesting, are you losing time at all with this, or are you just unsure of your reality?
Dia: That brings to mind a certain quote.
Me: I love a good quote.
Dia: "Of course this has all happened in your mind. That doesn't mean it isn't real."
Forgive me for the loose translation, it's from my memory.
Me: That's o.k., it carries quite well.
But you still didn't answer my question about losing time.
Dia: Losing time? I feel every moment.
Do I understand them? No. Do they mesh with what I've apparently been doing? No.
I've "woken up" to some extremely odd situations in the last few months.
Me: That would be...disconcerting.
Any examples you care to share?
Dia: Oh sure. I've woken up to acting like it was a zombie apocalypse, boarding up walls and windows and having a full fucking arsenal beside my bed.
How I acquired these weapons, I have no freaking clue.
I've woken up naked standing in front of a mirror, with what looked like a nightmare standing behind my shoulder.
Nothing was there when I turned around.
Let's see.... I've also had some of the silly ones. The remote in the icebox, the mail in the garden, blood on the front step. You know. The normal.
Me: And you remembered events up to those moments, but they don't match with what actually happened?
Dia: Not whatsoever! But I don't really care. I've never hurt another soul during my wanderings, and anything to myself has been easily covered.
I'm generally pretty nonchalant when it comes to my own self-destruction, dear. You aren't going to find any fear or regrets with this line of questions. I'm sorry if you were expecting some.
Me: I don't mind terribly, I'm not here just to feed off of your fear.
I just wanted to know more about you, and now I do.
Dia: Was that really all you had to ask?
Me: For the sake of this interview, yes, I think its quite long enough to torture my readers.
Dia: If you say so, love.
Me: Anything else you want to say for the record?
Dia: That you should be extremely careful what you label the truth.
I've always told the truth, but you would be surprised what people can omit when they have the ability.
I see a bit of that from you, in fact.
Me: My tide, that warning is in the second post on my blog.
And it's not just a warning about me.
(These next two were posted very close together, so my next comment is more of a continuation of this statement than a reply.)
Dia: *laughs* Making sure you remembered, is all.
Me: It's a reminder.
Dia: Yes.
Also, if within reason you need help or want to trade some day... let me know.
You aren't a fool.
Me: I will, thank you.
We talked for that a bit afterwords as well, but it was "off the record," and no matter how dubious I might be about telling the truth, I do not renegade on my word. If you want to know anything else about Dia, she always encourages asking questions, so ask her yourself. Anyway, that's all I have for you this time, but if anyone else wants an interview let me know and I'd be glad to do this kind of thing again.
See you around
FreedomCaged
October 28, 2011
A note to future readers
Hello all, most of you by now have hopefully learned enough about me to know that I am a creature of knowledge, I love discovering new facts. One of my favorite ways isn't through reading some long generally purposed book or website or even a blog post that is aimed at a large group of readers, rather, I prefer personal interactions, I like meeting and interacting with people who have their own ideas or personal experience. Therefore I am putting this post up as an open invitation to all future readers, if you have anything relevant to add to a post, or need any questions answered that relate to it please feel free to comment on that post, no matter how old it is. I have set up my system specifically to notify me of any comments on my old blog posts so I will be able to respond to them without having the check through all of my postings regularly. I realize that right now, while I can simply scroll down the page to see if the number of comments is the same as it was yesterday, this seems a bit like a pointless post, however I want it early enough that anyone trying to catch up on my blog is able to react to all of it as a current reader would.
I also want to make sure that this isn't just a useless post, for now, so I'm letting all of you current readers know that I am currently working on a post about communities, how they develop, the psychology of their members, and the different types. After that I'll probably move on to hive minds, mostly in animals, so don't get your hopes up too very much, I am also welcoming any suggestions of places to research for these topics if you have ideas. And finally, I am opening the comments for you to ask questions about me, this isn't going to be a highly personal blog, at least not in the posts, but I think that it is important we all get to know each other a little better. Be aware of Rule #1 as The Gargoyle so aptly called it, I may not be able or willing to answer all of your questions honestly, but I will try to give you a good idea of who I am.
See you around
-Freedom
I also want to make sure that this isn't just a useless post, for now, so I'm letting all of you current readers know that I am currently working on a post about communities, how they develop, the psychology of their members, and the different types. After that I'll probably move on to hive minds, mostly in animals, so don't get your hopes up too very much, I am also welcoming any suggestions of places to research for these topics if you have ideas. And finally, I am opening the comments for you to ask questions about me, this isn't going to be a highly personal blog, at least not in the posts, but I think that it is important we all get to know each other a little better. Be aware of Rule #1 as The Gargoyle so aptly called it, I may not be able or willing to answer all of your questions honestly, but I will try to give you a good idea of who I am.
See you around
-Freedom
October 11, 2011
Let's be honest here...
Before I go any further I want to point something out, this is an important issue to understand regardless of weather you are proxy, runner, fighter, or something else entirely: I am going to lie to you. I probably won't spend my nights trying to figure out how to mislead you, in fact I probably won't even be dishonest most of the time, but I am going to lie. I have my own agenda and plans outside of this conflict, or at least on a different level of it, the Slender Man isn't my life right now, but one way or another he is going to play a large role in my future, and I need to be prepared for that. To be honest, most of my lies will be small things, nothing that will help or hurt the majority of you, lies of omission will be by far my greatest sin.
I don't want to turn any of you away from this blog, the more people who are here the easier it is for me to see the big picture, I may even help you from time to time, but it is important coming in that you all know what you are getting yourself into. I am no saint, I am no savior, I am no hero, and the day any of those change my life is put in serious jeopardy. When I safely can I will fight the tall one, when I have to, or when it does more harm than good I will help him, this does not mean I am on his side, this does not mean I'm getting involved, it just means that I am moving closer to one of my goals or to choosing a side.
On a different note, I realize that I am preaching to a very small choir here, and I do plan on trying to expand my little blog's membership, but I am not eager to self-promote, and most of the people I would tell are preoccupied with more important matters right now. I suppose that I will advertise later, but until then I am more than satisfied with my current members, and I look forward to interacting with each of you.
See you around
-Free
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