Play@YSDC

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 47) for hearing [b]Ray[/b]'s description: [dice]0[/dice]

Sanity roll,Roll: 9%

OOC,Let's say Julie gave this information to the Doctor before he called the emergency services, and relayed it to them too.

OOC,Sorry, I'm still very busy at work and in general in life! Next, I want to move on to the next scene, which will be your night-time vigil over Elizabeth's sickbed! Stay tuned!

Julie,Julie cannot resist the uncanny gravity, and falls forward --- she sees the black void closing in --- then the blackness extends, it becomes malleable, a warm, tar-like substance, and takes Julie in its welcoming embrace. Then there is no more ground or up or down, just a lightless void. [b]Elizabeth[/b] stands there. [i]"The guiding light is gone. The others are all gone too. I've never been alone here before,"[/i] Elizabeth whispers. Her lips don't move. Her eyes - glassy, unblinking. [i]"Have I crossed the threshold? Is this the final stage? Am I to proceed alone?"[/i] She is just an arm's reach away. [b]Julie[/b] is paralyzed - or her body is not even present. But perhaps if she talks, or thinks hard enough, Elizabeth might hear her...

Nat,Nat thumbs through the journal, and tries to concentrate on the fascinating world of motorcycles and the occasional topless model. In this issue of [i]Easyriders[/i] ("Bikers protest mandatory helmet laws!!!"), a young lady called Valerie is posing in the desert, next to a shiny chrome chopper. She holds up the skull of a bull (complete with horns) against her chest, and stares into the camera with hazy eyes. There is something menacing about the whole scenery. Nat's attention is drawn towards the rocks in the background. The cracks in the rocks call out to him, vibrate before his eyes--- No, no! His eyes are just fine, and the magazine isn't spiked with LSD either. But the lights in the room start to flicker. The dimmed overhead lamps go out then come back in quick succession. The indicators on the artificial respiration unit standing next Elizabeth's bed blink out of rhythm. All the wires in the room start buzzing, and the noise grows louder every second... [b]Elizabeth[/b]'s body thrashes on the bed --- [b]Julie[/b]'s body thrashes on the bed ---

Julie,[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Spenard_Itch_1.jpg/120px-Spenard_Itch_1.jpg[/img] [color=orangered]"You're not alone, [b]Liz[/b],"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b]. [color=orangered]"It's me, [b]Julie[/b]. I'm right here with you. Come with me."[/color]

Julie,Elizabeth's silhouette vibrates against the darkness. [i]"J-Julie? Here? But how? Without initiation? Without going through the steps? "Where do you want to take me?"[/i]

Nat,Nat leaps to his feet, the magazine falling to the floor. His first thought is that a bad electrical storm is hitting the hospital but why are the girls thrashing on their beds? "Nurse! Doctor!" He shouts. He grabs first Liz and then Julie, "Julie, wake up!" He holds her by the shoulders but also watches Liz trying to ensure they don't fall off the beds and hurt themselves.

ooc,And Nat was just getting into that magazine too!

Julie,[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Spenard_Itch_1.jpg/120px-Spenard_Itch_1.jpg[/img] [color=orangered]"I don't know how I got here,"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b]. [color=orangered]"I want to take you home, [b]Liz[/b]. Your family misses you. I miss you."[/color]

Julie,[i]"No. I want to know what's further, even if the others didn't make it. Or maybe I will meet them on the other side. I worked so much to get here ---"[/i] A ripple runs through the void and distorts Elizabeth's image. Her head and hands seem bloated, like in a funhouse mirror. Her voice (or thoughts?) reach Julie's consciousness in distorted, jumbled echoes. [i]" --- this must this this this this must be the inner inner this must be the inner this be the inner wake sea up inner WAKE sea UP sea --- "[/i] [b]" --- WAKE UP!"[/b] There is a sudden shock, and Julie is yanked out of the void's embrace. Her mind is reeling, and she feels the pull of the void; she sees the blackness on the edge of her vision... She is back in the hospital room. [b]Nat[/b] is leaning over her, holding her by the shoulders, trying to wake her up. Julie instinctively glances to her right: [b]Elizabeth[/b] is there, on her bed, her body shaking and thrashing around in convulsions! --- Make a [b]Sanity (1/1d3) roll[/b] for the crash-like transition between the unknown void and the unstable real world... [attachment=0]Void.jpg[/attachment]

Nat,When Nat grabs Elizabeth, a sudden current or electric static runs through his body. The girl does not respond. Her seizure intensifies. Nat jumps over to [b]Julie[/b], shakes her by the shoulder --- --- and Julie's eyes pop open, and Nat can swear that he sees a weird black oily film dissolving on the surface of her eyeball --- [color=orangered]"...the inner sea!"[/color] Julie blurts out, heaving, then looks at Nat with bewildered eyes - luckily, these eyes are hers... Then she looks to her left, where Elizabeth is struggling on her bed... --- Make a [b]Sanity (0/1) roll[/b] for the weirdness... [attachment=1]Void Eyes.jpg[/attachment]

Everybody,The emergency care unit is becoming a nest of chaos. The dim overhead lights are flickering, and there is a growing hum coming from the medical machinery. [b]Dr. Jacobson[/b] comes running in, followed by the orderly. They go straight to Elizabeth's bed, and try to restrain her. The poor girl's body is still shaking. [color=#4000BF]"Elizabeth, can you hear me?"[/color] he shouts, but there is no response. Dr. Jacobson barks a few commands, calls for a tranquilizer, and the orderly hastily starts preparing an injection. Elizabeth starts coughing violently, and there is a burst of dark vomit out of her mouth. The substance splatters Dr. Jacobson's coat and the floor between Elizabeth and Julie's beds. [color=#4000BF]"No, no,"[/color] Dr. Jacobson mutters, and tries to hold Elizabeth's head so that she doesn't choke. Then he suddenly pulls back, startled. [color=#4000BF]"What is this?!"[/color] He looks at Elizabeth's arm. In the flickering lights, you all see black drops forming on her skin, the same pitch black substance oozing out of her pores... Dr. Jacobson stares at the drops in disbelief. The orderly stands next to the bed, with a loaded needle in hand. He is frozen by the shock. --- Make a [b]Sanity (1/2) roll[/b] for seeing the black substance... [spoiler]NPC rolls,Dr. Jacobson SAN 50 [dice]0[/dice] Orderly SAN 40 [dice]1[/dice][/spoiler]

Sanity rolls,San:60 Roll: 87,27 sanity loss:1+1 Nat is horrified and sickened to see that Julie has somehow been affected too- does this mean she's going to become an automaton like the cultists? And then he pulled into the present by the rush of medical staff."

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 46) for the transition: [dice]0[/dice] Sanity roll (current level 45) for seeing the black substance: [dice]1[/dice]

Rolls,Dr. Jacobson SAN 48 [dice]0[/dice]

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 43) for seeing the black eyes: [dice]0[/dice]

sanity,(58) roll:53... lose 1 point.

OOC to aine,If you rolled 53 under 58, you are not losing any SAN! The roll was a 0/1.

Sanity,Seems a good point for a life changing decision by Nat so I'll take a fail.

OOC,I'll automatically succeed, as knowing that we managed to save [b]Elizabeth[/b]'s life is very reassuring, in spite of the fact that the others died. Sanity reduced to 41.

OOC,I assume Julie will try to enter Liz's dream again?

Julie,Sleep doesn't come easy. Julie lays for some time in a strange half-asleep, half-awake borderline condition. In her mind, she is replaying and imagining conversations with Liz, like we do when our concerned about something. But then exhaustion takes over. Nightmares come first. Julie is out in the desert, chased by an unseen force. It's getting closer and closer. A dark voice echoes in Julie's mind. [i]"I'm lost... where are the others?[/i] The horizon is no longer fixed in the distance. It is the edge of the world, overhanging the abyss, and it's getting nearer. The unseen force is extending its warm appendages. The void is calling. And she is suddenly in the black void again. But her position is different. Directions don't make sense in this space, but Julie's feeling is that she is suspended, as she sees Elizabeth from above. The girl is slowly turning around her axis, whispering [i]"I'm lost... where are the others?[/i] Then she looks up, straight at Julie, although her eyes --- black, like the void all around --- don't focus. [i]"Is... is that you, Julie? You came back! I thought you were gone too, like the others."[/i]

Nat,Julie goes back to the bed. It takes quite some time for her to fall asleep properly... But eventually, she stops wriggling under the cover, and her breathing becomes more stable. About 30 minutes pass. Then suddenly Julie's body twitches - violently, but just once. Nat jumps over to check on her, and carefully lifts her eyelids... The black oily film is back, covering the whole surface. But Julie (or Elizabeth for that matter) seem to be calm, they are not in convulsions.

Julie,[color=orangered]"Yes, [b]Liz[/b], it's me, [b]Julie[/b],"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b]. [color=orangered]"I didn't want to leave. I was pulled away, but I came back for you. I won't leave you if I can help it. I found out what happened to the others. Most of them died, and the rest ran away."[/color]

Julie,[i]"Died?! How? And ran away? What happened? Where is ---"[/i] the last name remains unsaid, just a tangible pause. A ripple runs through the void.

Nat,Nat shudders as he sees the black pools again, "Jeez, what dreams must she be having!" He thinks. But as she is calm he leaves her be. He looks around to see if a stethoscope is lying around, failing that he takes Julie's wrist and feels for her pulse as an indication of her stress levels. He also keeps an eye on Liz.

Nat,There are no stethoscopes lying around, but Nat's First Aid training is sufficient to monitor one's heartbeat. Julie's pulse is... erratic and off-beat. When Nat touches her, he feels that (although it is not visible) she is slightly trembling. But nothing as violent as previously. Elizabeth seems to be in a similar state.

Julie,[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Spenard_Itch_1.jpg/120px-Spenard_Itch_1.jpg[/img] [color=orangered]"I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it was bad,"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b], [color=orangered]"Come with me, and we'll find out what happened to them together."[/color]

Julie,When Julie submerged herself into the black void, she saw Elizabeth from above. But now Elizabeth floats and turns to face Julie completely. Her face is devoid of emotions, but her voice - or thoughts? - vibrate with sadness and dread. [i]"Julie... I don't know how to leave. The guiding light is gone. Can... Can you take me with you?"[/i] She reaches out towards Julie. --- Julie can attempt to concentrate her will - make a [b]POW roll[/b]!

Nat,Nat runs his hands through his hair, the stress is almost unbearable. How long does it take to find someone in a dream? How would of he know when it was time to wake Julie? What would happen to her if he left it too late? He takes both girls' pulses again and then sits watching. He looks at his watch to see how long it's been so far.

Julie,[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Spenard_Itch_1.jpg/120px-Spenard_Itch_1.jpg[/img] [color=red]"Yes, I will guide you back,"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b], reaching out to [b]Elizabeth[/b] and focusing her will on bringing them both back to the waking world. [spoiler]POW roll (50% stat) to concentrate her will: [dice]0[/dice][/spoiler]

Nat,An hour passes... The girls' pulses remain normal, but sometimes with irregularities... At one point Nat even risks shaking Julie a bit - but she just cannot be roused. [b]Dr. Jacobson[/b] is summoned. He examines both of them, and declares, that they are now in a very similar coma state. He tries to comfort Nat, tells him that everything's gonna be fine, but when he sees that both girls' eyes are [b]black[/b], he collapses into a chair and just sits there for a moment. [b]The morning comes[/b], and there is no change. Dr. Jacobson's colleague arrives, a stern, older man, [b]Dr. Tate[/b], and takes over. Then the county sheriff arrives, with a small army of deputies and county legal specialists. [b]Ray[/b] and [b]Nat[/b] are questioned, both separately and together. The police examination is long and exhausting, but [b]Nat[/b] cannot really keep it together - he is still tired from the night's ordeals, and very, very concerned about his friends. The sheriff is quite hostile towards the Investigators. He openly accuses them of provoking the situation at the compound. Luckily, [b]Ray[/b] has already called one of his lawyer friends, so any accusations are cut short. The sheriff cannot charge you with anything - but he is NOT about to let you off in the future. Then two Federal Agents show up. Circles under their eyes from driving all night to get here. One of them, [b]Agent Holmes[/b] is skeptical about anything you say. But his partner, [b]Agent Russo[/b] takes notes meticulously, and she spends quite some questioning you about the details the sheriff dismissed right away - like what Ray saw in the hangar, or what the black substance is like... In the evening, [b]Elizabeth's parents[/b] arrive, followed shorty by [b]Julie's parents[/b]. The [b]Sandovals[/b] are extremely grateful for bringing their daughter out of the church, and won't stop hugging Nat and shaking Ray's hand. But then their mood is of course ruined when they learn about Elizabeth's and Julie's unstable condition. [b]Day two.[/b] Everybody takes up residence in a dingy hotel near the hospital. Everybody takes turns staying at the girls' room, in case one of them wakes up. There is more questioning by the authorities. The doctors are considering moving the girls, who are still unconscious, to another, better equipped hospital. The first news item about the cult appears, then it spreads quickly nationwide. They are calling it the [i]Salton Sea Cult Mass Suicides[/i]. [b]Day three.[/b] Journalists learn about "a potential survivor of the cult", and start sniffing around the hospital. The county sheriff turns out to be useful for once, and sets up deputies to guard the entrances. No change in the girls' condition. They are fed through tubes, and are constantly on IV. Electronic monitoring devices malfunction near them, although not as violently as before. The Federal Agents set up a couple of their own machines, with dials and little screens, but take them away after a while too, shaking their heads. You talk to the girls, play their favorite songs while they sleep. [b]The night of day three.[/b] [b]Nat[/b] is on duty. He has a spanking new issue of [i]Easyriders[/i], but instead he tries to study a law book. He wants to understand his legal responsibilities better. But it's just making him sleepy. He starts drifting into sleep... ... ...And wakes up, suddenly, startled --- Only to see that at that very moment both [b]Julie[/b] and [b]Elizabeth[/b] take a deep breath, like when somebody emerges from underwater, and sit up on their beds, simultaneously!

Julie,Elizabeth reaches Julie. Their touch is like static electricity. No softness or bodily sensations. Julie concentrates. The void resists. Julie and Elisabeth move through the blackness, but it doesn't give way, just stretches like resin. Then the substance changes. There are currents and whirling spirals. Julie swims through the void, but at the same time she feels that the void is flowing through her as well, tainting her from the inside... Everything is still black - but there are different shades of it, sometimes Julie can discern silhouettes or shapes in the stygian mass. Huge, skeletal structures. Buildings? Remnants of creatures? Inhabitants of this void, or prisoners? Julie hears [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vwHXV_ShaI]voices, garbled, distorted talking, and chopped up sounds of music[/url]. Finally, there is a warp in the blackness. A soft spot. Julie floats towards it, dragging Elizabeth along... --- Even with concentration, traversing the black void takes its toll. Make a [b]Sanity (0/1d3)[/b] roll!

Everybody,Julie suddenly sits up in her bed. Nat drops his book, and jumps up from his chair. Julie looks to the side --- Elizabeth is there, awake, sitting on her bed, shaking!

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 41) from the void: [dice]0[/dice] Sanity loss: [dice]1[/dice]

Julie,The terrible, inevitable, unquestionable [i]reality[/i] of the void dawns on Julie. What she and Elizabeth experienced wasn't a hallucination or a fever dream. That black substance exists. It had always existed, before humanity, before everything came to be. An infinitely deep tar pit, containing the memory of every consciousness it ever swallowed; and much, much more, dark, cosmic secrets. And Cavendish sought access to this darkness, by bringing it the bodies and vitality of others as sacrifice. This is not something one can simply learn. Julie filtered the black matter through her own body. This is not knowledge. This is residue. --- Julie gains [b]5 points of Mythos[/b]. Having lost more than one-fifth of her starting Sanity, she enters the state of [b]Indefinite Insanity[/b]. For a couple of minutes she will now be catatonic, unable to move or speak while she ponders the terrible nature of the void.

Nat,It is the two FBI agents, [b]Holmes[/b] and [b]Russo[/b]. How did they learn about Julie and Elizabeth regaining consciousness and get here so quickly? The girls' parents aren't even here yet, although they were notified as soon as it was possible!

Nat,Nat walks out into the corridor. The two agents stand up, but when Nat shuts the door, they take a step back. [color=#800000]"Ah, Mr. Waldon! Nice to meet you again,"[/color] says [b]Agent Russo[/b]. [color=#800000]"How are your friends?"[/color]

Julie,Elizabeth shakes her head. [color=#00BF00]"No, no, it wasn't like that. True, [b]N'[/b] is strong. But ---"[/color] Elizabeth pauses, breathing out, as always when [i]not[/i]-uttering their leader's name. Then she hesitates for some time, clearly going through some inner conflict. [color=#00BF00]"...the man you know as [i]'Cavendish'[/i]? I was so stupid to believe him. He preyed on us, used us. He was our guiding light. The center of it all. "N' gravitated towards this center. She achieved a deeper state than most. She is the first of us to enter the inner circle... But her face being like the void? I don't know... Are you sure it wasn't just you, maybe, uh, hallucinating? I've never seen her like that..."[/color]

Nat,[quote]"They are alive, just."[/quote] [color=#800000]"Well, we are glad to hear that. Actually, we were hoping to talk to them, you know, get a first-hand account."[/color] [quote]"What was going on there- did you find out?"[/quote] [color=#800000]"This is still an ongoing investigation. Forensics have turned up some rather... interesting details. But so far our guess is as good as yours. By the way... What is your guess? You know, strictly off the record? I'm not judging you if you, you know, have 'weird' ideas. I have a holistic approach,"[/color] Agent Russo says, and Nat recalls her taking meticulous notes during every second of their initial interview. She took in every detail with equal interest. [quote]"And Cavendish and the 'N' woman have you caught them yet?"[/quote] "Cavendish and Anne Spencer - oh, by the way, that's N's real name, are still on the loose. They went underground. But don't worry. There's a nation-wide search going on. Some departments of the FBI have a long-going interest in Mr. Cavendish's activities... But this is not something I can disclose. Sorry."[/color]

Julie,[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Spenard_Itch_1.jpg/120px-Spenard_Itch_1.jpg[/img] [color=orangered]"That's what I saw,"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b]. [color=orangered]"I didn't take anything that would cause me to hallucinate. Maybe I'm going crazy, but that's what it looked like to me. And there's more. She weakened me and robbed me of my speed somehow. I was like an old woman trying to get away from her, not a star jammer."[/color]

Nat,Nat scratches his head, "Id like to help but I don't know that much; I was on look out mostly. You could speak to Ray. All I know is that a whole heap of people got ill from that radiation. There was something else funny going on though. That Anne Spencer was really strong, you know, like a weight lifter. And she did some odd hypnosis thing on Julie so Julie couldn't walk. And then Julie had a dream about a big black void and she saw Liz there and then they both woke up. I haven't spoken to them either so I don't know exactly what happened. Can you meet someone in a dream if you're sleeping next to them?"