1st Puzzle | Action/Voice

[solvethepuzzle]

Action, Shepherd's Haven, Evening | Open

Shepherd's Haven is such an isolated little community that even Nathan doesn't worry so much about being out after dark. It isn't even particularly late; after all, it is winter on this side of the world and darkness descends early. He'd just finishing up a last bit of business for the day. Nothing terribly urgent, but there hadn't been any sense in waiting to do it, either.

He briefly wraps his arms around himself a little when a chilly gust blows over him, biting a bit through his jacket. It's fine, and expected. But the sight that catches his eyes in the next moment is not.

The figure he sees on the path up ahead is not one of any recognizable resident of the village -- and it's such a small community that Nathan would recognize any of them. A young man, not particularly tall, but easily having at least half a foot on Nathan. Chin-length blond hair, a ghastly-looking burn scar over the left half of his face. But that isn't the most disturbing thing about this sight; the young man is distinctly transparent, clearly not solid . . . like a ghost.

Nathan instinctively draws in a sharp breath, more loudly than he means to, and stumbles back against the wall of the nearest building. His stomach drops and he feels the thrum of an Echo goes through him. But he's so fixated on what is in front of him that he does not notice the small object that has appeared in his hand as a result.

Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths. He has to get this under control. In the meantime, he's still got his back pressed to the wall.


Network, August 7 | Voice

[Despite having been terribly frightened last night, Nathan speaks in that soft monotone than anyone who is familiar with him is well-accustomed to by now. It's his normal speaking tone. Whether that means he's recovered from the fear or not . . . is difficult to tell.]

We know the slime was a worldwide phenomenon. [That it has vanished is curious and something to be pondered, but it isn't Nathan's concern right now.] But has anyone outside New Zealand seen any apparitions? For those that have not and may perhaps be wondering: no, it was not my imagination. It triggered an Echo.

Comments

[speedpariah]

... Apparitions? No. I can't say that I have.

Can you describe them, exactly?

Voice

[solvethepuzzle]

[Not enough yet to say it is localized, but noted all the same.]

Recognizable as people, but distinctly transparent and non-solid.

voice

[speedpariah]

I take it that a hallucination is unlikely, then.

voice

[solvethepuzzle]

[Someone more temperamental would bitingly reiterate that they'd already said it isn't all in their head. Fortunately, Nathan is not temperamental.]

No. It had to be real. We cannot self-trigger Echoes.

voice

[speedpariah]

I see. I wonder if perhaps I should come to Shepherd's Haven and try to record the phenomena.

Video 1/2

[dictator_ko]

Apparitions? What, now after the slime?

Video 2/2

[dictator_ko]

But I haven't seen any in Gateway City. I'm not scared of ghosts, though!

[solvethepuzzle]

[That would make two negatives from people outside New Zealand.]

Even so, I would advise being cautious. [But Nathan is a worrier, so.]

[dictator_ko]

Are those things dangerous? The slime was just gross.

Permavoice on this end

[solvethepuzzle]

I cannot say whether they are dangerous or not yet. But as it's still an unknown, treading carefully would be a wise decision.

[text]

[lovesickkiller]

Who did you see?

[text]

[solvethepuzzle]

Someone important in my Other's life. I don't know that yours would have met him. [They don't even have any indication that theirs met. Not that it would make this impossible, but . . .]

[text]

[lovesickkiller]

What did he look like?

[text]

[solvethepuzzle]

About half a foot taller than me, chin-length blond hair, a burn scar on the left half of his face.

Who have you seen?

[text]

[lovesickkiller]

[Fairly distinctive. Misa stores that information away for later.]

I don't know for sure. I think I saw my Other's boyfriend.

Action

[numberedshepherd]

A certain insomniac is not getting any rest. There's a sick lamb, and while Lazarus is no trained veterinarian, he spends enough time around the animals that it's enough of an incentive to sit up with them. If that means bottle-feeding a baby sheep until it's sated enough to sleep, he has no qualms with it, and it's late when he's leaving the barn.

A diminutive, pale figure catches his eye, and he hurries toward it, recognizes it fairly swiftly. "Nathan," he greets, but he falls silent when he stares straight ahead at the blonde specter.

"Tell me you can see it too," he whispers.

Action

[solvethepuzzle]

Nathan isn't sure if he's relieved or not that it isn't just him. On one hand, that means he is not hallucinating. On the other, it means that the apparition really is there. Neither reality is very comforting.

He doesn't dare take his eyes off the blond figure, though. Just in case. They are dealing with an unknown. Watch it. Don't turn your back.

Shallowly: "I see it."

Action

[numberedshepherd]

Lazarus also has some complicated feelings on the whole "noncorporeal spirits" phenomenon. This isn't so far outside the range of what he experiences when he's off his meds, but he's on them now, so this just means that he's not crazy. It's everything around them.

That's worse, right?

He reaches toward his neck, pulling a cream-colored scarf away from it that wasn't there before. Some of the figures are strangers, others are people L and Near knew in their other lives. None of them are acknowledging the presence of the living, breathing young men, and Lazarus reaches out tentatively toward the nearby figure. His hand brushes right through him.

"They don't appear aggressive, and I got an Echo," he reports. "Did you?"

Action

[solvethepuzzle]

He cannot repress a shudder at watching Lazarus's hand go right through the figure. It does very little to make him feel better, though the lack of aggression is something of a comfort. But how long will the lack of aggression last? This is all still too new, too disturbing for Nathan to relax his guard.

But the question brings him back to himself, enough to register the small object in his hand and nod silently. He holds it up in better light -- a photograph of a blond teenager. An instinctive glance between the photograph and the ghost confirms it.

"... It's him."

Action

[numberedshepherd]

Maybe it was risky, to touch something that could very well have been dangerous, but Lazarus has taken bigger risks with much less trepidation. He's by no means relaxed even after they've proven to be relatively indifferent to him and Nathan.

First the slime, and now ghosts? What's happening to the world?

His eyes stare down at the photograph, then back up at the specter.

"Older, but... yes, it's would appear to be the case. May I...?" He holds his hand out, silently asking for Nathan to hand him the photograph so he can better examine it.

[Video]

[witnessme]

What? All over the world? And yeah, I... I saw some ghost things. Wasn't just you.

Permavoice, because he's Nathan

[solvethepuzzle]

The slime was, yes. We have reports of it showing up in many locations. [Nevermind Nathan. He pays attention to that kind of thing.]

Did they . . . seem familiar to you at all?

[Video]

[witnessme]

Some, yeah, d-did you see the big man in armor with long white hair? With the ladies in white? He's someone that my Other d-definitely knew. His name's Immortan Joe, is what I got back.

[solvethepuzzle]

I haven't seen that one yet, no. But this does suggest that the apparitions are generally tied to people that our Others knew.

[witnessme]

Oh. Well if you d-do, then he's hard to miss.

You think so? Who did you see that your guy knew?