065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 065-071
WHAT: The residents of Mathias reunite under unnerving conditions.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross "Outside"

DAY 065-071
ASSIGN TO OBLIVION
“No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes
place in the interim, there are some things we can never
assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.”
— Haruki Murakami

Only two days have passed since the town was fractured, leaving residents cut off from those they'd come to know and even care for. A mere two days of wandering the new streets, uncovering more secrets that continue to make little sense of this strange place. Two days with sunrises, sunsets, and nights that seem like any other.

And yet.

When residents wake on this third day, they will find that much has changed. All around them, wherever they may be, there are signs that time has passed without them. Dust covers everything, indoors and out, even areas that were spotlessly clean seemingly hours ago. The residents themselves are covered as well, dust clinging to their hair, skin, and clothing—

Clothing that they may not have been wearing when they went to sleep. Each resident, regardless of the state they were in previously, is now clad in a pair of white pajamas, with long pants and button-up shirts. Those who thoroughly explored Baneberry Hall will easily recognize these articles as identical to those well-stocked in the decaying great house. On top of this, the clothes they wore from home have disappeared, along with anything else they may have brought with them when they arrived or items from home that have been found within the borders of Mathias.

There is no sign that anyone has entered their place of shelter, nor is there any sign of what may have been done with these items or how they came to be wearing these clothes. The dust all around them is undisturbed, almost as if they had been sleeping there for quite some time, though it seems impossible for such a thing to have occurred naturally.


THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the lawn of Town Hall, at the center of the little town square. They, too, are bereft of any items from home and clothed in the identical white pajamas. There are shops all around them, with houses just beyond, and at first glance, everything seems almost picturesque. Except for the silence that is at times so complete as to be maddening... Welcome to Mathias.

---

SUMMERTIME
— When summer arrives, so too does an outdoor stand in front of the General Store. Sporting a handpainted sign proclaiming Whateley Farm, the stand is overflowing with a variety of produce: berries, plums, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, green beans, leeks, onions, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic bulbs. These do not replace the produce offerings normally found inside the market, but they do behave strangely. The stand replenishes sporadically, sometimes every other day or every five days. There is no discernible pattern to when it replenishes, nor is there any sign of how it came to be there at all.

— With the now-complete reverse change of season, much of the autumn debris has cleared from around town. Only a few stray leaves and fallen branches remain, their crisp colors at odds with the warm summer days. The forest has also cleared of much of the fall detritus, making it easier to both follow the paths and potentially spy things that might be out of the ordinary.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER Summer has arrived in Mathias, bringing with it warm days that average 70°F and comfortably cool nights. The skies are clear throughout the week save for Day 68 when a light rain falls from a grey sky throughout the day.

— THE FOG has maintained its new boundaries.

— Residents may now wander the southern stretch of the forest surrounding Mathias Township — it is possible to leave the paths but potentially unwise to do so.
— The fog has also retreated from the western section of town entirely.
— Access to the northern section of the forest is still blocked beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline; this section of fog will urge residents to stay huddled within the town proper by inducing a physical reaction of panic and fear.

— DISAPPEARANCES AND DEATHS continue! Max Guevara and Liz Brundy have disappeared, and now that everyone is back together, residents will notice that Yennefer, Number Five, and Tony Stark have also vanished.

— ALCOHOL supplies have run dry, save for any dregs that have been squirreled away by individual residents. Moonshine can still be acquired by those in desperate need.

---

OOC NOTES

— UPDATES Don't forget to report updates as they come up! Changes to locations (like toppling a few bookshelves in the library), big plots you have coming up that will affect the game (parties, major property destruction, etc), or exciting discoveries that may tie into the game's mythology (even the things provided by the mod) are very helpful to have in one place so relevant page updates can be made. IC events are also helpful to know about in advance so they can be included in the log write-ups.

— MOD STATUS My non-RP life is busy and chaotic and I continue to ask for your forgiveness and understanding as game things continue to be slower, as I cannot promise timely mod responses beyond weekends and even that is not wholly guaranteed.

— ITEMS FROM HOME All items from home that characters would normally possess have vanished for this log and will return in the next. This includes clothing and possessions they had when they arrived in Mathias, items that were found in the rain, and items that were found in Baneberry Hall and removed from the property. Items from home that were left behind by other characters no longer in the game have also vanished. (All other items and clothing still remain, it is only items from characters' homes that have disappeared.)

— BANEBERRY ITEMS The items from home that were not removed from Baneberry Hall in the last log have vanished from the property. These items will not reappear in the next log. (Please be sure to comment in the appropriate spot on those logs about the state of your character's item for inventory purposes, ie whether they were removed from the property or left behind.)

— ACTIVITY CHECK Beginning with June's AC (posted at the start of July), all tags that consist of only dialogue will count as 0.5 points, not just those that occur in an inbox thread — this applies to both AC and AP totals. This adjustment is an extension of what has been in place since the start of the game: that all dialogue-only inbox tags counted for a half-point. Since such tags have occurred regularly in log threads as well, the half-point status is simply being extended to all tags regardless of location in order to be fairer in point distribution. (Examples will be provided in the AC post to assist with proper counting.)

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Comments

[welladjustedwhitly]

"But it did, for me... so how will change, if it's both not happened at all and already happened, at the same time?" She frowns a little. This stuff is so confusing and out of her scope of understanding.

[abrightboy]

"Maybe if I can change it, you'll wake up back there not covered in a bad man's blood," he suggests. He frowns faintly. "I wonder how I did it. I mean. You said I had a gun but if you were spattered like that, I must have hit an artery. I must have ended up using a blade for some reason."

[welladjustedwhitly]

"Maybe..." She doesn't really understand how all the time-whatever works. Or how much she even really believes in it, even though she and Malcolm's memories don't match up.

The thought tugs at something in the back of her mind, like the name of a song at the tip of your tongue that you can't quite reach, but... she can wrap her fingers around it. "I don't know..." she says quietly, frowning a little. "You think, like, a knife or something? I mean, we were at mom's, so it's not like if we were at your place." All those weapons, easy for the taking...

[abrightboy]

He’s rocking faintly when he answers “Mom has knives.”

[welladjustedwhitly]

"Doesn't matter... you haven't done it. Not you. Not yet." she presses her hands to either side of his face. "Maybe you're right. Maybe knowing now gives us a chance to change everything."

[abrightboy]

He wraps her into a tight hug, suddenly earnest.

“If thing turn out that… it’s the only way to save you,” he murmurs into her hair, “I won’t change a thing.”

[welladjustedwhitly]

She clings to him tightly, and presses her face into his shoulder. She doesn't know what will happen, if they even can change anything, but that? That doesn't surprise her at all. "I know." She says softly. "I know..." she drags her fingers through his hair. "You have always made sure I was okay."

[abrightboy]

"It was all I could do," Malcolm tells her.

Indeed, says his father from behind him. After you ruined everything by calling the police. After you destroyed our family.

He squeezes his eyes shut tight.

[welladjustedwhitly]

She presses a kiss to his temple. It's foreign, still, this kind of affection with each other in a family that isn't always, but it feels like the right thing.

"What is it?" She whispers after he tightens his grip on her.

[abrightboy]

"He's there," Malcolm whispers shakily. "I mean. He's always in my head but... he's... out here with us a lot more lately and he likes to remind me how it was me that ruined our family."

[welladjustedwhitly]

"You did not. He did that all on his own. He made those choices, you were just a little kid." She knows he can't stop it, no one really can, and especially so without all the appropriate medicines in their proper dosages, but she hates that he has to deal with Dad, even here.

[abrightboy]

“He made me make the choice. That’s what he does. He plays god.”

Malcolm gets up, pacing a tight circle in the room, pushing his hands through his hair.

“This is so messed up. What did Endicott do? Why are we even involved with him?”

[welladjustedwhitly]

She watches, feeling helpless, as he moves away and starts pacing. She rolls her lips together as he starts asking all the questions she knew he'd want to know eventually. "It's complicated... you know the way things just kind of knock together and get tangled up everywhere?"

But she supposes she can't get out of it at this point, so she takes in a breath and tries to put all together in a way that makes sense. Sort of. "Mom reconnected with him at a banquet. A dancer died... you were on the case. Endicott and Dad had some... deal. It's why he's at Claremont and not in prison, Endicott pulled strings for him. One of Endicott's guys ended up dead, and he framed you for it. He stabbed Gil. He–" She pauses and shudders at the memory. "He advanced on me.... made me text you, to get you to come to Mom's, so he could gloat about how he was ruining our lives and gonna get away with it and–"

And that's where her memories end, mostly. Besides the gun in her brother's hand and the blood she showed up covered in.

[abrightboy]

"He stabbed Gil?" Malcolm echoes, turning on her with wild eyes.

Maybe that was why he'd done him with a blade in the end. Take that.

A lot of killers start that way.

[welladjustedwhitly]

"Yeah," she nods a little. "He's in the hospital. I don't know..." If he's okay. If he's going to make it. But she can't make her mouth say the words.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s hand is shaking and he clenches it tightly.

“That’s the thing we have to stop,” he says urgently.

[welladjustedwhitly]

She nods a little, "Okay... okay, Malcolm, we will." She tries to put some conviction behind those words, so maybe he'll believe her. If anyone can stop it, it's them. They will.

She has never understood the relationship that she witnessed between her brother and the cop that had taken their dad away in cuffs, but a part of her had always been a little jealous of it. How was it fair that he got to have a dad, and she never did?

[abrightboy]

Jessica Whitly had been just as relieved to take a break from Malcolm and his needs as she was fiercely invested in controlling Ainsley’s. There was no saving Malcolm, so there was no harm letting him hang around someone who was at least a good male role model. Ainsley, on the other hand… Ainsley could have the normal, proper life the rest of them had been denied.

Except that was a plan always doomed to fail. Her father is a serial killer too.

“If he hurt Gil like that and then threatened you… I would do it,” he whispered. “I’d do it. Of course I did it.”

[welladjustedwhitly]

"We'll figure it out, Malcolm. All of it. We'll change it when we go back, it'll be okay." It has to be. Because her brother can't fall even more apart. She's not sure any of them can handle that, least of all Malcolm himself.

[abrightboy]

He nods, covering his mouth with his hands for a moment and then threading the fingers of both hands into his hair.

"It's my worst nightmare," he whispers. "Becoming him. For any reason."

[welladjustedwhitly]

"Stop," she gets up and goes to tug his hands down away from his hair. "You're not. You won't become him. Look at this– look at you... do you think Dad would ever feel like this over even the thought of anything?"

She takes his face between her hands and makes him look at her. "Malcolm... you're not the same."

[abrightboy]

“He’s… not capable,” Malcolm mumbles, falling back on diagnosis, analysis. “He can’t… there’s no remorse.”

[welladjustedwhitly]

“Right.” She nods, glad he did what she expected he might. Malcolm works is logics and analytics, and sometimes that’s really annoying, but this time it’s actually in her own favor. “But you do— you feel, Malcolm. Ways he never would. Can’t.”

There’s a waver in her voice but it has nothing to do with Malcolm. It’s a sort of slow, sinking realization about herself that she’s never had any reason to look at very hard or in any particular way.

(But I don’t always feel the right way at the right time…)

That’s a thought track she absolutely does not want to follow, but the leaps are already right there, so easy to grasp, barreling through her mind like a train with no breaks.

But it’s all calm on the surface, and she gives her brother a smile, “You’re not like him… you never will be.” Her voice is light, but so sure, like she’s stating any number of easy facts: The sky is blue, the grass is green, and her brother is nothing like her father.

[abrightboy]

He nods, wiping his his cheeks with the heel of his hand almost impatiently.

"I need to tell Raylan. We need to tell him it was me, not you."

[welladjustedwhitly]

"...Are you sure?" She frowns a little. That seems like a thing that would wreck that perfect little bubble of his. "Aren't you worried... what he'll say?"