Connection with Unknown

RINGING...


INFILTRATION BEGIN. | ∆∆∆∆∆

"Are we ready?"

Sarah nods.

"No better time than the present."
Yves drove the three of you. The car is parked a couple blocks away at what you judged to be "the most unsuspicious" location.

You're standing at the edge of the woods. The front of the church is protected by a gothic fence, but the back is free as a pigeon! You've done this a few times.

Taking a few steps out of the woods places you right on the grounds, next to a deeply shitty and unfufilling playground meant to break the spirit of any child young enough to believe God has anything good for them.

No shade to your babe, of course.


The rest of the grounds is basically an open field, save for the building itself in the center.

Then, the fence.

You look at the windows of the Bright residence... You hope Sarah's right about this whole Movie Night thing. It'd suck if she wasn't!

It is a humid April night. The midnight air smells of petrichor.

The two ladies await your directive.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• YourBuddyCatalina (Cat) - ">examine"

HAVEN'T YOU READ METAMORPHOSIS, CATI-CHAN? | ∆∆∆∆∆

Examine? The fuck?

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - "SIGH this is what I get for trying to be clever. >examine the playground"

SAD, BAPTIST PLAYGROUND. | ∆∆∆∆∆

It's utterly dismal. It's sad. And deeply baptist. You know how baptists believe that any real architecture or design or, you dunno, BEAUTIFUL ANYTHING is an affront to God equivalent to idolatry? Apply that to a playground. It's covered in lichen and shit too. It's so, so sad. It's got a slide and a see-saw and, like... The Saw 6 merry-go-round shotgun trap merry-go-round.

You cross your arms and shake your head just looking at it. Sad.

Yves is chuffed at your behavior, snickering.
"Sad there's nothing for you here?"

"Not even a single monkey bar in sight..."

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">items"

BACKPACK^1 | ∆∆∆∆∆

You investigate your monkey-less pack.
- (6) MEDICAL MASKS (1 PACK)
- BOX OF MEDICAL GLOVES
- (3) HEAVY-DUTY FLASHLIGHTS
- ELECTRICAL TAPE
- SOME ROPE
- YOUR TASER
- (3) FLASHLIGHT BATTERIES

You feel your pockets.
- KNIFE
- CELLPHONE

You inspect the crowbar in your hands.
- CROWBAR

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• jakethelake (Jake) - ">Put the mask and gloves on and head towards the storm cellar"

2019 BTW. | ∆∆∆∆∆

You pull out the masks and gloves, handing them out to Yves and Sarah. It feels foreboding despite it's utter irrelevance in your current life. 

"Mask up, my sneakalicious pack. We've got some stalking to do... Through the underbrush..."

Sarah is as silent as a mouse. She looks at you and you can't tell if she's mystified or scared.

Yves does as you say.
"Wolfmodeing again, huh?"

"It's the mascot! I love the mascot."

"You made the school's mascot your whole personality."

"That's so unfair! God forbid a guy finds his howl..."

You decide that Sarah is certainly mystified.
You sigh and put your mask + hood up.
"Heist time."

The 3 of you move along carefully through the field towards the Church's storm cellar. The earth is damp, but not enough to where the mud will be an issue once you're inside.
It barely even takes a minute to reach the entrance. It's a classic cellar door. The grey metal has gotten rusty and weathered over the years and, just like you expected, it doesn't even have a lock on it. The doors are held shut with a latch that you remove as easy assss...!

"There."

With a grunt of effort and the screeching of its arthritic hinges, your path is open.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• the junekler (June) - ">ITEMS, distribute flashlights"

FLASHLIGHTS, DISTRIBUTED. | ∆∆∆∆∆

You retrieve the flashlights and hand them out. 

Sarah gets a simple maglite, Yves takes her usual, and you're left with a heavy duty lantern-type flashlight. Real club-thing. One of those ones held by a handle along the topside. That sorta light.

Everybody tests theirs, then clicks it off.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Jake - ">head down into the cellar"

INTO THE DEPTHS, WITH THREE. | ∆∆∆∆⊗

All three of you walk into the depths, leaving the cellar door open.

Flashlights, on!

Your footsteps on the stone beneath you echo out into the dark space. As the trio of beams illuminate the pathway ahead, you catch nothing in the light. A space that you'd think'd be good for storage or something has been left empty, yet there's not even a speck of dust.

"Fucked up... Who cleans this place?"
You whisper, looking to Yves.

She shrugs.

At the very end of the cement hallway, to the left, is the door into the 1st floor of the library. 

As expected, it is unlocked.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">go to the library"

LIBRARY F1, WITH THREE. | ∆∆∆⊗⊗

The door opens with a creak.

The walls and floors are wooden, while the ceiling is that disgusting paneling that all church basements have where you can just push up on them and they'd move.

To the immediate right (North Wall) is the stairway up into the main church. Straight ahead (Looking West) in the middle of the space is the desk where Faith works, where books get checked out and the like. 
Looking to the left (South), you find the public books. They are organized via Dewey Decimal, of course. 5 columns (N-S) of shelving fill the space. 

You don't see the any other doorway in your immediate sightline. The lights are off, anyway.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">go south"

LIBRARY F2 DOOR, WITH THREE. | ∆∆∆⊗⊗

You head deeper into the library, walking along the shelves. Sarah is reading the titles as you pass them.

Yves is the first to speak in a while.
"Should be around this corner."

Lo and behold, it was. Once you reach the end of the shelves, turning right reveals the door down into the second floor on the western wall.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">examine door and possible stuff like sound of footsteps is there is to make sure we’re clear to go ahead"

EXAMINING F2 DOOR, WITH THREE. | ∆∆∆⊗⊗

It's wooden and locked. You don't hear any footsteps. 

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">send Sarah to search the desk for keys but also look around for stuff that could serve as a lockpick in the area with yves"

EXAMINING F2 DOOR, WITH THREE. | ∆∆∆⊗⊗

Fuck.
"I forgot my lockpicks. Uuugh."

Sarah walks over.
"Oh, god. I forgot to put them on the list, that's my fault."

"It's fine. I should've remembered. Can you go check the desk...? Maybe there's a set of keys."

Sarah nods and hurries off.
You're left alone with Yves.
Ooh gaga.... Haha.

You huff and put your arms around her.
"Having fun?"

She snickers.
"Committing crimes? Yeah."

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">SPEAK “how about we look for something to pick the lock with?"

CROWBAR. | ∆∆∆⊗⊗

You do have a crowbar.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">wait for Sarah"

KEY! | ∆∆⊗⊗⊗

Sarah returns with the key, yet seems panicked.
"Faith's purse was there."

Yves looks at you.
"Iiii... think that's fine?"

"She's not here, so."

Sarah doesn't seem very relieved, but hands you the key anyway.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">go in"

OPPOSITE THE STORM CELLAR. | ∆⊗⊗⊗⊗

The door opens smoothly and without a sound.
This hallway space is essentially the same as the storm cellar. It's empty and clean, but...

"Is that a fuckin' carpet...???"

There's a random carpet at the end of the hallway.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Matthew Mcshroom (Shroom) - ">Examine Carpet"

SECRET HATCH. | ∆⊗⊗⊗⊗

You kick the carpet away, revealing a wooden hatch beneath it. It's unlocked.

Sarah and Yves are right behind you. 

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">enter the hatch"

LIBRARY F2, WITH THREE. | ∆⊗⊗⊗⊗

Beneath the hatch, you find a spiral staircase. This motherfucker is steep enough that you have to tap into hidden goat ancestry to properly climb it.

Luckly, that's not an issue for you. Heh Heh.

Anyway, you make your way down.

The second floor is gigantic. The staircase leads down into the very center of the seemingly pentagon-shaped room. The floor is hardwood. Your flashlights illuminate tapestries that cover every inch of the walls.
5 sets of double-sided bookshelves (matching the pentagon shape of the room itself) standing in the middle of the chamber divide the space into an inner and outer ring, connected by the space between the shelves.
The outer ring contain altars that haven't seen use for years, as well as collections of occult-looking artifacts laid out to see.

The books you can see in the center-facing shelves look fucking ancient. Real dusty and musty shit. You wanna steal one so bad.

> ITEMS
> SPEAK
> EXAMINE
> CUSTOM INPUT

• Cat - ">speak “ok guys. how about I look around the outer ring and you two take care of the inner one?” with like a super charming smile to make this sound like a good idea. and to persuade them to be nice to each other"

CAUGHT. | ⊗⊗⊗⊗⊗

"I'll investigate the outer ring, you two take the inner, alright? Go!"

Sarah and Yves look at you and then to each other.

You head off to do some shelf reading!
The books are significantly newer here. In fact, as the labeled dates on them get closer to modern day, there's less books and more files. Binders, manila folders, shit like that.
And, as you reach to grab one...

SLAM.

Sarah yells. You run over. The hatch is closed.

From above, you hear a voice.
"I- I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

Fuck.


BAD END.


You didn't leave a watchman, you left every door open, and you had to go back for the key. 

You got caught and your journey ended early.

Isn't that just a shame?

Lucky for you, Convalescent...

I give second chances.

DIAL TONE.