02. video; un: jsims

[itknowsyou]

[ It's been months since Jon Sims was on the network, and this time, he's in the frame alone. The alleviation of Corruption couldn't come a moment too soon for this guy, apparently: he still has the haggard, hollowed-out look of a man who hasn't had a real meal in months. There's something profoundly unsettling about his eyes, which are too deep and too green. He never seems to blink. ]

Good afternoon. My name is Jonathan Sims. I am a researcher of what might be called 'the paranormal,' and... a survivor of the place known as Deerington. I've been working with several others to maintain an archive of topics and artifacts relevant to Sleepers, kept beyond the control of the Pthumerian Never Mind.

[ He doesn't even try to mask his distrust: he clearly isn't a fan of the patrons. ]

We are developing a secure location to the north of Trench, though [ impatiently ] I cannot recommend visiting without the use of traveling Lamps. The walk back to town is... not ideal.

More to the point, I am making a request for information. [ This is where he gets cagey, tense in the way of a man hiding something. ] The Archive is now undertaking an effort to create a comprehensive catalogue— a bestiary, I suppose— of recurring threats in Trench. If you have had a particularly upsetting or perilous experience with any being in this city, we would like the written record of your experience. Please submit accounts via text to this network address.

[ It's the second time he's hit the network to ask for personal stories. Those who respond might find themselves writing (or speaking) more freely than they planned to, flashing back to the memory in detail— though in this low-Corruption month, the effect isn't too intense. ]

Thank you.

Comments

voice; un: shiro

[shiro2hero]

Did something happen with Never Mind?

[Last he heard, the bird was just weird. But he could be out of touch.]

And what can I help with?

[itknowsyou]

It isn't just Never Mind I take issue with. Gaze... [ He gives a soft chuckle, surprisingly bitter. ] Well, I suppose it's in the name. We are constantly under their supervision, and I am not alone in distrusting our patrons.

[ He says patrons like it's a fundamentally heavy word. Guess who has baggage. ]

I, ah... If you have accounts to write, I'll take them.

[shiro2hero]

Ah. Got it. I don't know much about most of them. I'm more familiar with mine, and Moon Presence. But Gaze... why stay if it bothers you?

[Get out of there bro! Just leave!!]

I mean, at this point I'm probably classified as an account.

[Shiro that's not funny.]

video; un: polaris

[anbaric]

[ meanwhile, asriel lives in Gaze almost intentionally, but he has always been like this. the proximity to the libraries is also helpful. even so, this raises an interesting point. ]

I am interested in how you manage to keep it outside of Never Mind's purview. I imagine that when he doesn't know something, he continuously makes an effort to change that.

[itknowsyou]

That is an ongoing area of research. [ If he sounds exasperated and kind of defeated, no points for guessing why. ] Our attempts to ward against Pthumerian influence are, frankly, scattershot at best. But our location is well away from town, and associated with a figure detached from the central pantheon: she seems to be called Mother Mercy in her current iteration, but the site was dedicated to Mother Superior in her original form.

We do not do this in her honor, to be clear.

[ tone of: fuck her. ]

txt; @anonymous

[wrenchedup]

listen im new here and all but you might wanna stop alluding to where the location is if you wanna keep it an actual secret, dude. unless you figure your friend never mind isn't always watching.

[anbaric]

I've heard mention of that one, so I didn't think so.

[ he won't rehash his ongoing distrust of nuns and nun-adjacent entities right now, but his tone when he says that one is probably a hint. ]

I don't have much to offer you in terms of experiences with beings as I've only been here for a few months, but my research into materials and wards may interest you instead.

[ he had a purpose-built fortress intended to withstand angelic power; he's off to a good start with this. ]

Video | un: notbatman

[saltyadam]

[Jon isn't exactly Adam's favorite person, so his teeth grind a bit when he flashes on the screen. But he's been working on his urge to hold a grudge, and he feels the pull of something that nudges him to reply.]

Are you exclusively compiling from the Trench, or from Deerington as well?

[itknowsyou]

Both. Many of my memories from Deerington have become... fragmented, since arriving here. I recall bits and pieces, but certainly not enough to fill an archive.

Anything you'd care to contribute would be of use.

[saltyadam]

I've been here for awhile, and was at Deerington for quite some time as well. But Takashi was at both for ... the entirety of the time, so far as we can establish.

[A beat.]

A lot of it are experiences I'd rather he not have to relive, and I'm going to assume he'll volunteer to do it anyway if he hasn't already.

We have a mental link. I can do it instead of him.

voice; un: an.exorcist

[likethelight]

[ A pause before he responds, weighing something. Several somethings. ]

Why does it matter if it was particularly upsetting or not? That's relative.

[itknowsyou]

[ There is a tense pause on the other end, Jon weighing his answer. ]

If we mean to categorize every strange occurrence in this town, we'll quickly fill a library. We ought to prioritize the most significant... the most harmful.

[ This isn't untrue, but it's also not his primary reason. ]

[likethelight]

Isn't filling a library the point of one?

[ He sounds a bit uncertain though, not so much contrary, and quickly continues on. ]

Miss Luna has already compiled quite a large book on beasts and other phenomena and how to avoid or help them, and Mr. Shen Yun writes to everyone every month of everything that's been known to happen. [ In fact he literally just did. ] Both of them ask people for their input and stories too, so I'm sure their papers include the "most harmful" things that can happen.

What more is it that you're hoping to find?

un: hoody | video but the Omni screen is placed facedown

[theflyingone]

[ That's his Patron... But he has no strong feelings about Never Mind (yet). ]

I'm more in favor of freedom of knowledge. Are you saying Never Mind tampers with records?

[itknowsyou]

Tamper might be a strong word, though I wouldn't be surprised. He certainly seems happy to shuffle them around the moment someone wants to find anything of use. Have you spent much time in the Archives at Gaze?

[theflyingone]

I have. It is not organized like any proper library, it is true... The less I try to look for an organized system and instead walk through it like a personal library, I find what I am looking for.

[ Every library he visits is organized differently. One of the "perks" of the middle ages. ]

Except when a hall is blocked off.

[ Annoying, but understandable. ]

Voice;

[wapples]

What about, like, sentient zucchinis? I mean, I guess it could happen again. They're so stupid, they don't even care when you stab them.

[itknowsyou]

[ what ]

You were attacked by sentient zucchinis.

[ This isn't even a proper Archivist question: it's too deadpan to count. ]

Video; un: darkness

[survivalthroughhate]

It is an unfortunate pattern around here that the most dreadful monsters tend to be the sapient ones in the form of Sleepers.

[Maul didn't forgive and he didn't forget, especially when it came to feeling terror like nothing before. The anger was clear in his eyes as they'd shifted from grey-brown to gold.]

[itknowsyou]

[ Jon has been dreading this. Which seems, on its face, ridiculous: after everything, it is exhausting to find himself still frightened of an alien with a glowing sword. But every Statement he took back in the dream feels incomplete, a taste just on the edge of awareness and an image just beyond his grasp, and he itches— suicidally— to grab for the details and pin them down. To pry Maul open again and catalogue his insides.

On the video, he is tense and unblinking. ]

I'm aware. [ This he says too soft and low, like he means it. ] But as all Sleepers seem to be forced into proximity, we seem to have little choice but to... focus on the external threats.

un: dust2dust

[cynomorpha]

[ He is, to be quite honest, too lazy to have a face-to-face conversation right now 🦊 ]

Both warding and creature taxonomy are specializations of mine.

[itknowsyou]

Good. You certainly won't lack for work in Trench.

I suspect this won't be the best month for hands-on collaboration, given the likelihood of death by feral dog on the roads north of town. [ ask him how he knows ] But, given no better option, I can generally be found in the Archives at Gaze.

video | un: graham crackers

[possessum]

( This very much speaks to Peter, who has recently begun his journey finally (willingly) dipping into learning about the supernatural, and who has steadily begun distrusting the Pthumerians in deeper ways. A base of research kept away from Never Mind? Hell yeah.

(He finds himself hesitating a beat or two to answer, though. He's seen this man before, over time. Only ever through the network, but that always felt like close enough. And something about him now seems.... more. It's hard to look at his eyes. Something inside of Peter widens its own.) )

Hi, Mr. Sims— I'm Peter. I've seen you around before, but I don't think I ever introduced myself.

( He's visibly nervous (and never really looks all that great himself, team I Desperately Need Some Sleep, assemble) but offers a little smile. It looks slightly nauseated, but that's just Peter. )

It's a really good idea. A place like that. I've been hoping to learn more, too— about the... paranormal. Not just what goes on in this place, but.... everywhere. Like in people's homeworlds, since a lot of that shit seems to follow us here, too.

( There is an uncomfortable, sudden awareness that he might constitute as one of those upsetting things that others have had a run-in with, in this city. )

Is that what it's going to be called? The Archive?

[itknowsyou]

[ Something in Jon rears up in interest, even separated by a screen and most of a city. There is a flicker, a speckling of static at the edges of the feed, as something in his pupils seems to change depth— but he blinks it away like a creature rousing from a trance, gone from too-still to awkward.

The question makes him only seem further uncomfortable, but maybe that's just how he always looks. ]

To be determined, I suppose. The project has been called the Sleeper Archive rather informally, but I can acknowledge that it might be confused for the Archives at Gaze.

video; un: blackwater

[ex_sink985]

[ He so prefers when people don't text. ]

I suppose you've already received information on the Pthumerian with the chocolates.

[ The man on the screen is a vaguely eldritch being, greying skin and yellow eyes and a hint of ridges to the ears, a hint of pointiness to the teeth. Jon will likely Know it's more a natural state than the result of corruption: he is old and inhuman. ]

It's been a long time since I was any sort of scholar, but this seems useful. I imagine you are also in touch with Shen Yuan, who so helpfully attempts to share the possibilities each month may hold based on his research into past years.