15. hp lovecraft's "the shadow out of mayfield"
[filtered from drones and NPCs, the usual suspects, etc.]
Mayfield?
This is Veidt.
[His voice sounds very tired- not just needs-a-nap tired, but kind of thin and weary and not much like his usual self.]
I trust that most of you heard the leaked call this morning. I have given it a great deal of thought, and I have come to a few tentative conclusions.
This is a simulation that has been run at least once before. I know that this does not answer enough important questions to really solve anything, but I can't see any alternatives. The Smiths, the Milkman, the Postman, Grady are projections, of exterior users or perhaps other captives. The other towns are perhaps other simulations.
The visitor from Maipole was just a captive from another simulation.
This still leaves the open question of how we have been brought here, but I believe I may have a slight grasp on that concept too. There's a chance that none of us may be here bodily at all, but are instead either technologically or psychically wired to avatars of ourselves in this virtual world. We might all be in some sort of holding chamber, or we might be droned back in our own worlds while our consciousnesses are awakened here. Given that I understand some of us have died and come back after experiencing long stretches of time in our own worlds, I think this concept is beginning to hold more water than the powers that be here would want it to.
[His voice is beginning to take on a rather compelled, driven edge.]
Clearly, we are dealing with something far greater than ourselves.
I do not think, however, that this should be seen as an impediment. It gives us a challenge to rise and aspire to.
Do not go near the highway.
Test the boundaries of Mayfield on a smaller level. If you die, try your damnedest to recall what happened while you were gone. Exchange information with one another.
[He inhales sharply, and there's a long silence. When he speaks again, his voice is particularly drained-sounding.]
And don't fear.
I know... better than anyone... what a good manipulator fear can be.
In these circumstances, we cannot afford fear.
Fear is what I wante-
[His voice breaks off, and he corrects himself.]
-they want.
[There's a long period- severely long by phone standards, around fifteen seconds- in which his slightly wheezing breath can be heard, before the click of the phone being hung up.
If you call him back, he'll answer, but he won't sound any more like he usually does.]
Mayfield?
This is Veidt.
[His voice sounds very tired- not just needs-a-nap tired, but kind of thin and weary and not much like his usual self.]
I trust that most of you heard the leaked call this morning. I have given it a great deal of thought, and I have come to a few tentative conclusions.
This is a simulation that has been run at least once before. I know that this does not answer enough important questions to really solve anything, but I can't see any alternatives. The Smiths, the Milkman, the Postman, Grady are projections, of exterior users or perhaps other captives. The other towns are perhaps other simulations.
The visitor from Maipole was just a captive from another simulation.
This still leaves the open question of how we have been brought here, but I believe I may have a slight grasp on that concept too. There's a chance that none of us may be here bodily at all, but are instead either technologically or psychically wired to avatars of ourselves in this virtual world. We might all be in some sort of holding chamber, or we might be droned back in our own worlds while our consciousnesses are awakened here. Given that I understand some of us have died and come back after experiencing long stretches of time in our own worlds, I think this concept is beginning to hold more water than the powers that be here would want it to.
[His voice is beginning to take on a rather compelled, driven edge.]
Clearly, we are dealing with something far greater than ourselves.
I do not think, however, that this should be seen as an impediment. It gives us a challenge to rise and aspire to.
Do not go near the highway.
Test the boundaries of Mayfield on a smaller level. If you die, try your damnedest to recall what happened while you were gone. Exchange information with one another.
[He inhales sharply, and there's a long silence. When he speaks again, his voice is particularly drained-sounding.]
And don't fear.
I know... better than anyone... what a good manipulator fear can be.
In these circumstances, we cannot afford fear.
Fear is what I wante-
[His voice breaks off, and he corrects himself.]
-they want.
[There's a long period- severely long by phone standards, around fifteen seconds- in which his slightly wheezing breath can be heard, before the click of the phone being hung up.
If you call him back, he'll answer, but he won't sound any more like he usually does.]