Project MONUMENT 047: 7 August 2010-?, Paris, ?
INTERNAL MESSAGING - LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE REQUIRED - EYES ONLY
To: O5-3/780
From: SCP-780
The subjects decided that they had no other choice than to go into the Hedge to seek out Robert's kidnapped niece Eloise, though they also decided that Aðalsteinn was too injured to accompany them into the Hedge and would remain behind to convalesce at Dr. Freund's clinic. (Souna was also badly hurt, but the subjects needed her too much to leave her behind.) They gathered the gear they thought they would need and went to Genevre's home to attempt to enter after Eloise. However, when they tried to walk through the door, nothing happened. Souna concluded that the gate that had opened outside the apartment was only temporary, and that the subjects would need to find a more permanent entrance to the Hedge and try to pick up Eloise's trail from there. The subjects remembered the hedge gate near the Eiffel Tower guarded by the changeling Joël, and went there instead.
Near the Eiffel Tower, Joël was nowhere to be seen, but the gate was open and easily passable. Just as the subjects were preparing to enter it, Aðalsteinn walked up to them, seemingly in a trance, and carrying his torch, which was lit. He approached Souna and touched the flame of the torch to one of her injuries, and the flame briefly engulfed both of them and then guttered out. Aðalsteinn came to and realized that both he and Souna had been cured of the worst of their injuries, but the torch looked less ornate and more battered than it had before. Nobody really knew what to make of this, but were grateful that Aðalsteinn was now able to accompany them.
Led by Souna, the subjects passed through the Hedge gate and into a thick, jungle-like region where a winding path twisted through great walls of thorns under huge rainforest trees. Souna disliked the fact that the group would have to pass out of sight of the Hedge gate they came in through in order to locate Eloise, but she seemed confident in her ability to direct them. She warned the others that under no circumstances were they to step off the path, because the thorns would "tear away their soul" and eventually kill them. Everyone seemed to understand this except Robert, who appeared very disoriented as soon as the subjects walked into the Hedge and kept talking about seeing a city instead of the jungle that the others saw, and of needing to catch a train and go to work.
After some walking, the subjects were swarmed by a large group of colorful and strange butterflies. One of these butterflies called out to them, and when Souna allowed it to land on her hand, she saw that it had the head and torso of Lenore, the Autumn Queen. Lenore claimed that Alice Lapin, the Summer Queen, had attacked her magically upon entering the Hedge, and that Lenore had somehow turned the brunt of the blow but ended up assuming the butterfly form instead. Lenore also blamed Alice for kidnapping the people as sacrifices for the Gardener, who Lenore claimed Alice was working with. Souna asked Lenore if she could help them, and Lenore said that she could not because her current form made her very weak and susceptible to predators, such as a group of harpy-like creatures that were squawking in the trees overhead. However, she told the subjects to seek out "the birch tree" because he would tell them where to go, then flew away as the harpy-creatures swooped down.
A brief fight ensued in which the subjects were clawed, bitten, and vomited on by the harpies, but Roland's skills with his rifle dispatched them quickly. But when the battle was over, the subjects realized that Robert had wandered off, and that he did not respond when they called for him. They backtracked toward the gate and found a torn bit of his shirt on some of the Thorns, suggesting that he had wandered off the path despite all of Souna's warnings. The other subjects were both horrified and perplexed as to why he would have done this, and concluded that they did not dare to leave him behind. Since Souna could enter the thorns with less danger than the others in the group, it was decided that she would try to follow and retrieve him, while the others stayed outside.
Once Souna entered the Thorns, Aðalsteinn decided to help by trying to communicate with his torch to seek answers, since it seemed to have had some awareness of the fact that he needed healing earlier. He discovered that although the torch did not seem to use language, it was able to place impressions in his mind and pick up on his thoughts. Aðalsteinn asked the torch whether it was familiar with the Hedge, and while it seemed to have some understanding of the place, it did not seem confident in being able to guide them in more than a very limited fashion. He asked it whether it could provide more healing if needed, and got an impression of regrettable weakness from the torch. When Aðalsteinn asked the torch what it needed, it gave him a sense of being separated from the person it loved the most, which seemed to be contained within the gold that it pointed toward. Aðalsteinn promised the torch that he would do everything he could to reunite it with the person it had been separated from.
While Aðalsteinn was communicating with the torch, strange things were happening in the Hedge around him. The light seemed to dim, the flock of harpies nearby rapidly took flight as if they had been frightened by something, and the sound of bells could be heard far away as the woods began to rustle distantly. Bo was concerned and told Souna to come out of the thorns, and she did. When Souna paid attention to her impressions of what was coming, she was struck with an enormous sense of terror, and told the others that they were putting themselves in great danger if they didn't leave the area right away. Though everyone was extremely reluctant to leave Robert to what they believed was probably his death, they agreed with Souna and ran away from the area as fast as they could.
In the meantime, Robert believed that he had found his train, boarded it, and taken it to his workplace, which was a tall building that he had been seeing in his hallucinations for more than a week now. He was doing his job as normal when a young woman who he innately recognized as Conscience despite never having seen her before walked in and told him that a Mr. Thorn was there to see him. Mr. Thorn turned out to be a satyr wearing a construction helmet (with little holes cut out of it for his horns) who was trying to build a homeless shelter that would get most people in the city off the streets and back on the right track. However, according to Mr. Thorn, "the construction project has been plagued by mishaps. Equipment has failed. There have been many injuries. The construction union is going on strike until these problems can be resolved." Robert promised Mr. Thorn that he would do everything that he could to get the union back to work and the project back on schedule, which made Mr. Thorn very happy.
Robert looked into the problems with the site and learned that things were very strange there. Some toads fell out of the sky, which happened sometimes, but three times in one summer is really unusual. Robert tried calling some of his contacts to get help with the issue, but every time he tried to call someone, their number was listed as being out of service - which alarmed him greatly. So he hadn't gotten very far when Conscience sent in Mr. Argent, a centaur wearing a business suit, who said he represented the union on strike. Mr. Argent was very angry with Robert for not taking the union's needs seriously and trying to get them to return to an obvoiusly unsafe setting. Robert did his best to placate Mr. Argent before he sent him on his way.
The rest of the subjects ran down the pathway through the Hedge at top speed, until they finally believed that they were safe. The subjects took a brief break to discuss what to do next. Although they were still not entirely certain that they trusted Lenore, they did not see a better option than trying to locate the tree that she had mentioned. With a combination of her directions, Souna's innate sense of the Hedge, and hints that Aðalsteinn asked his torch for, they worked their way toward the area where they thought they could find "the birch tree." Indeed, the forest began to change from tropical to deciduous, suggesting they were on the right track. As the subjects continued, they heard a sound of weeping and moaning ahead, and saw what looked like a hunched-over figure huddled naked at the base of a tree. The subjects called out for Eloise, but the figure did not respond, and nobody knew what Eloise actually looked like to identify her.
Though some of the subjects feared a trap, Bo could not in good conscience walk past. She approached the figure, but when she reached out, a gelatinous mass rose up from the ground around her and engulfed her. The other subjects waded in to cut her out, and were attacked by the gelatinous mass as well, which either walloped them with heavy pseudopods or tried to swallow them as well. Finally, the mass expired and the subjects pulled Bo out before she suffocated. Upon cutting the rest of the mass away, they established that what they had thought was a person in danger was actually a lure meant to draw in unwary travelers like themselves.
Back in the strange city, Robert was now beginning to suspect that a curse or something similarly supernatural was at work, so he set out for a nearby library to do research. Before going there, he asked Conscience to go to lunch with him, since there appeared to be no one else in the office. The city itself was likewise empty, to the point that a machine seemed to cook all the food and wash all the dishes. During lunch, Conscience told Robert that he was working too hard, and that if he relaxed and took his time, most of the problems he was currently experiencing would take care of themselves somehow. Robert did not want to accept this answer, and said that with circumstances being what they were, he was the only one who was going to to anything to make the city better. Conscience did not argue with his decision, but warned him that it would have many consequences for his life in the future if he continued to pursue these things.
Robert went to a nearby library and began to peruse the shelves for books about exorcism, hoping to learn how to break the apparent curse on the site of the homeless shelter. While browsing the stacks, he was interrupted by a merman in a battle tank who introduced himself as Mr. Towers, representing the non-unionized construction workers of the city. He said that people who were not members of the union wanted to work at the site, provided it was safe, and that by bowing to the union's demands Robert was keeping him out of a job. He also accused Robert of being prejudiced against merfolk. Robert did his best to calm down Mr. Towers, referring him to the city's Disability Services department and repeating that if the curse could be broken, it would surely lead to an outcome that was good for everybody involved. Once Mr. Towers had left, Robert found a book that he thought could help - but it was in a language he could not read. Robert then left the library, hoping that Conscience could help him.
Back in the Hedge, after the fight with the tree, most of the subjects were badly hurt. They took a longer rest while Souna searched the Hedge nearby for goblin fruits that could help to heal their injuries, since all the ones they had remaining were either irrelevant or potentially harmful. She found some fruits that would heal their physical injuries at the cost of mental exhaustion, and some of the subjects who were most injured partook. When they started moving again, they soon found themselves in a peaceful swamp where they came across a three-meter-tall birch tree with vaguely humanoid features, who spoke to them as he dangled his roots in a pool of clear water. He introduced himself as Billy Birch, and when Souna mentioned Lenore, he said that he knew her and that he was willing to help. Billy said that he knew pretty much everything that went on in this area of the Hedge, that he had seen Eloise pass nearby, and that he would tell the subjects about her if they would tell him a story first, as a sort of trade. The subjects told him the story of their dealings with the Prometheans, and Billy then gave them very clear directions about where he had seen Eloise wandering most recently. They thanked him and hurried in that direction.
In the strange city, Robert left the library and saw Conscience on the sidewalk. When he explained to her that he could not read the book, she told him that he would be able to figure it out if he found his strongest connection and asked for their help. Robert was about to say that this would be impossible with no one in the city, until he realized that the streets were once again populated. This time, he saw that everyone in the streets was someone he had at least a passing acquaintance with. He checked his phone and saw that the address book contained phone numbers for every currently living person he had ever known. Robert was particularly shocked when he saw the name of his wife, Marie-Julie, who had been presumed dead for more than 20 years. He called her number and she answered immediately, telling her to meet him in the place where they had first been introduced, a cafe called Café Cannibale.
Robert took the train to the café and was stunned to see Marie-Julie through the window. He approached her, and she immediately stood up, kissed him, and said, "You're finally understanding what you deserve." Then it was as if she was absorbed into him, and he was alone in the café once again - but with an innate knowledge of how he could break the curse on the site of the homeless shelter. He went there promptly, did the method laid out in the book, and could tell right away that he had succeeded and that the city would be better because of it. At that time, Conscience walked up to him, and asked him if things like this were what he really wanted to spend the rest of his life doing. Robert reiterated that he did, because no one else would and he felt an obligation to make the world better however he could. Conscience nodded and said, "If that's the case, I just need you to sign some paperwork."
Robert and Conscience returned to the high-rise where Robert's office was and went up to the penthouse conference room, where Robert could see that the city through the windows already looked much better and safer. He was given a lengthy contract with something called "the Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn" and shown the places where he should sign it. When he was done, he took out his phone and called Bo - which apparently came through as a direct mind-to-mind connection with Bo in the Hedge. When Bo explained to the others what was happening, Robert "put them on conference" so he could talk to all of them. They updated each other on what had been going on, and were surprised to see Robert suddenly appear on the path before them, none the worse for wear. The subjects decided that since they couldn't explain any of this, they were better off not trying at all. They continued in the direction that Billy Birch had indicated, not certain what they would face next.
SYSTEM GENERATED TRANSCRIPT
TELECONFERENCE BETWEEN O5-3/780 AND SCP-780
CONTACT BEGIN: 2010-09-10 01:24:32 UTC
O5-3/780: Good morning, Peach.
SCP-780: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]
O5-3/780: Excuse me?
SCP-780: Oh. Hi. Sorry. I just didn't know that wall could be a screen.
O5-3/780: You'd be surprised how much you don't know about Site-19.
SCP-780: Wait, who is this?
O5-3/780: This is Malus Sylvestris, Peach.
SCP-780: Oh! Okay. That's what I thought. Maybe. I just kind of... [2 SECOND PAUSE] Well, I thought. [3.5 SECOND PAUSE] I thought you were a guy.
O5-3/780: [LAUGHTER] A lot of people make that assumption. It's okay.
[7 SECOND PAUSE]
SCP-780: Why are you calling me anyway?
O5-3/780: I already told you, didn't I? I thought it was best if we spoke in person.
SCP-780: Oh. Okay. [1.5 SECOND PAUSE] I thought that meant you were going to come to see me or something.
O5-3/780: That's not really possible for me right now. Even if it were, I'm not sure it would be a good idea.
SCP-780: Okay. So is that why you blacked out the video on the wall too? I just see a thing that says "Video not available."
[11 SECOND PAUSE]
SCP-780: Fine! You don't have to actually tell me anything or trust me or anything. I'm just here for your amusement I guess. To watch these people, day in and day out, and tell you everything about all of the stupid stuff they do. I probably know more about them than you do, but you don't care about that, do you? No, you're just paranoid like everyone else around here that I'll somehow get my hands on a picture of you and know everything about you. That's why you locked me up like this. Nobody cares what I think or that I might want to help-
O5-3/780: Peach.
SCP-780: -or that I don't want to misuse what I can do, or that I never did before you people found me somehow and decided that I was dangerous-
O5-3/780: Peach.
SCP-780: -and put me here. And then when it turns out that what I can do is actually useful to you, you let me off the leash. Like I don't know well enough already how I should and shouldn't use it, and you do. You're all a bunch of hypocrites!
O5-3/780: Peach! Calm down!
SCP-780: [DEEP INTAKE OF BREATH] Sorry. I just try not to think about this stuff too much, you know. And then when I do it just makes me so mad.
O5-3/780: I understand, Peach. Better than you know. In fact, that's part of why I wanted to talk to you today.
SCP-780: What do you mean?
O5-3/780: Peach, something very bad is happening in the Foundation. Things are changing in ways that we can't fully explain - and, as you can imagine, this comes as a bit of a shock to some of the Overseers. I understand that you may have seen some of that earlier in the messages you exchanged with somebody who had access to our systems by a means I couldn't identify.
SCP-780: You mean the Founder?
O5-3/780: I don't think you should say that name again on this call. I've taken precautions, but I don't know to what degree we're being monitored.
SCP-780: [NODS ASSENT]
O5-3/780: The person you communicated with is only one manifestation of the things that are changing inside the Foundation, Peach. The worst part of it is that the people in power - the people who oppose me - don't seem to understand how much things are changing. They'd rather stick their heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening - or maybe that's just a cover for what they really want to do. This goes all the way to the top, Peach. And it seems like I'm the only one who really understands the direction that things are taking. I don't just mean Project MONUMENT - I mean the whole world. And I'm starting to think that you're one of the very few people inside the Foundation who might have the desire and the wherewithal to help me to do something about what's happening. That is, if you'll let me tell you what I think is happening, and what we can do about it - and keep it all a secret, of course. [1 SECOND PAUSE] What do you say? Are you willing to hear me out?
[23 SECOND PAUSE]
SCP-780: I'm listening.
[TRANSCRIPT CONTINUES]
Holy yikes, this is like the longest plot summary I've had to write in AGES, so I will have to keep the notes good and short.
As you will see, we're right in the middle of not only a very dramatic trip into the Hedge, but Robert's Awakening. I was quite surprised that he got through the entire thing in one session, though it certainly does make future things in this little story arc a bit easier to deal with. I'm also relieved that we're past it and that it went well, since I really wanted to give dayzdark a memorable experience for this major milestone in his character's life. Much of the details of his Awakening (including the absolute genius method by which he inscribed his name on his Watchtower) were the ideas of the wonderful jinxgcp. The mermaid in the battle tank was invented on the spot, however, in keeping with the players' original misinterpretation of what was supposed to be a tank of water.
The rest of the stuff that happened was also enjoyable, though the PCs are pretty beaten up now. I'm looking forward to the mage in the party ramping up the power level a bit, so I can play a little rougher with the encounters in turn.
Off to run the exciting conclusion now! Wish me luck.
What is this?
This entry was originally posted at http://gamerchick.dreamwidth.org/585255.html. You can comment on either journal. Number of comments on Dreamwidth:
To: O5-3/780
From: SCP-780
The subjects decided that they had no other choice than to go into the Hedge to seek out Robert's kidnapped niece Eloise, though they also decided that Aðalsteinn was too injured to accompany them into the Hedge and would remain behind to convalesce at Dr. Freund's clinic. (Souna was also badly hurt, but the subjects needed her too much to leave her behind.) They gathered the gear they thought they would need and went to Genevre's home to attempt to enter after Eloise. However, when they tried to walk through the door, nothing happened. Souna concluded that the gate that had opened outside the apartment was only temporary, and that the subjects would need to find a more permanent entrance to the Hedge and try to pick up Eloise's trail from there. The subjects remembered the hedge gate near the Eiffel Tower guarded by the changeling Joël, and went there instead.
Near the Eiffel Tower, Joël was nowhere to be seen, but the gate was open and easily passable. Just as the subjects were preparing to enter it, Aðalsteinn walked up to them, seemingly in a trance, and carrying his torch, which was lit. He approached Souna and touched the flame of the torch to one of her injuries, and the flame briefly engulfed both of them and then guttered out. Aðalsteinn came to and realized that both he and Souna had been cured of the worst of their injuries, but the torch looked less ornate and more battered than it had before. Nobody really knew what to make of this, but were grateful that Aðalsteinn was now able to accompany them.
Led by Souna, the subjects passed through the Hedge gate and into a thick, jungle-like region where a winding path twisted through great walls of thorns under huge rainforest trees. Souna disliked the fact that the group would have to pass out of sight of the Hedge gate they came in through in order to locate Eloise, but she seemed confident in her ability to direct them. She warned the others that under no circumstances were they to step off the path, because the thorns would "tear away their soul" and eventually kill them. Everyone seemed to understand this except Robert, who appeared very disoriented as soon as the subjects walked into the Hedge and kept talking about seeing a city instead of the jungle that the others saw, and of needing to catch a train and go to work.
After some walking, the subjects were swarmed by a large group of colorful and strange butterflies. One of these butterflies called out to them, and when Souna allowed it to land on her hand, she saw that it had the head and torso of Lenore, the Autumn Queen. Lenore claimed that Alice Lapin, the Summer Queen, had attacked her magically upon entering the Hedge, and that Lenore had somehow turned the brunt of the blow but ended up assuming the butterfly form instead. Lenore also blamed Alice for kidnapping the people as sacrifices for the Gardener, who Lenore claimed Alice was working with. Souna asked Lenore if she could help them, and Lenore said that she could not because her current form made her very weak and susceptible to predators, such as a group of harpy-like creatures that were squawking in the trees overhead. However, she told the subjects to seek out "the birch tree" because he would tell them where to go, then flew away as the harpy-creatures swooped down.
A brief fight ensued in which the subjects were clawed, bitten, and vomited on by the harpies, but Roland's skills with his rifle dispatched them quickly. But when the battle was over, the subjects realized that Robert had wandered off, and that he did not respond when they called for him. They backtracked toward the gate and found a torn bit of his shirt on some of the Thorns, suggesting that he had wandered off the path despite all of Souna's warnings. The other subjects were both horrified and perplexed as to why he would have done this, and concluded that they did not dare to leave him behind. Since Souna could enter the thorns with less danger than the others in the group, it was decided that she would try to follow and retrieve him, while the others stayed outside.
Once Souna entered the Thorns, Aðalsteinn decided to help by trying to communicate with his torch to seek answers, since it seemed to have had some awareness of the fact that he needed healing earlier. He discovered that although the torch did not seem to use language, it was able to place impressions in his mind and pick up on his thoughts. Aðalsteinn asked the torch whether it was familiar with the Hedge, and while it seemed to have some understanding of the place, it did not seem confident in being able to guide them in more than a very limited fashion. He asked it whether it could provide more healing if needed, and got an impression of regrettable weakness from the torch. When Aðalsteinn asked the torch what it needed, it gave him a sense of being separated from the person it loved the most, which seemed to be contained within the gold that it pointed toward. Aðalsteinn promised the torch that he would do everything he could to reunite it with the person it had been separated from.
While Aðalsteinn was communicating with the torch, strange things were happening in the Hedge around him. The light seemed to dim, the flock of harpies nearby rapidly took flight as if they had been frightened by something, and the sound of bells could be heard far away as the woods began to rustle distantly. Bo was concerned and told Souna to come out of the thorns, and she did. When Souna paid attention to her impressions of what was coming, she was struck with an enormous sense of terror, and told the others that they were putting themselves in great danger if they didn't leave the area right away. Though everyone was extremely reluctant to leave Robert to what they believed was probably his death, they agreed with Souna and ran away from the area as fast as they could.
In the meantime, Robert believed that he had found his train, boarded it, and taken it to his workplace, which was a tall building that he had been seeing in his hallucinations for more than a week now. He was doing his job as normal when a young woman who he innately recognized as Conscience despite never having seen her before walked in and told him that a Mr. Thorn was there to see him. Mr. Thorn turned out to be a satyr wearing a construction helmet (with little holes cut out of it for his horns) who was trying to build a homeless shelter that would get most people in the city off the streets and back on the right track. However, according to Mr. Thorn, "the construction project has been plagued by mishaps. Equipment has failed. There have been many injuries. The construction union is going on strike until these problems can be resolved." Robert promised Mr. Thorn that he would do everything that he could to get the union back to work and the project back on schedule, which made Mr. Thorn very happy.
Robert looked into the problems with the site and learned that things were very strange there. Some toads fell out of the sky, which happened sometimes, but three times in one summer is really unusual. Robert tried calling some of his contacts to get help with the issue, but every time he tried to call someone, their number was listed as being out of service - which alarmed him greatly. So he hadn't gotten very far when Conscience sent in Mr. Argent, a centaur wearing a business suit, who said he represented the union on strike. Mr. Argent was very angry with Robert for not taking the union's needs seriously and trying to get them to return to an obvoiusly unsafe setting. Robert did his best to placate Mr. Argent before he sent him on his way.
The rest of the subjects ran down the pathway through the Hedge at top speed, until they finally believed that they were safe. The subjects took a brief break to discuss what to do next. Although they were still not entirely certain that they trusted Lenore, they did not see a better option than trying to locate the tree that she had mentioned. With a combination of her directions, Souna's innate sense of the Hedge, and hints that Aðalsteinn asked his torch for, they worked their way toward the area where they thought they could find "the birch tree." Indeed, the forest began to change from tropical to deciduous, suggesting they were on the right track. As the subjects continued, they heard a sound of weeping and moaning ahead, and saw what looked like a hunched-over figure huddled naked at the base of a tree. The subjects called out for Eloise, but the figure did not respond, and nobody knew what Eloise actually looked like to identify her.
Though some of the subjects feared a trap, Bo could not in good conscience walk past. She approached the figure, but when she reached out, a gelatinous mass rose up from the ground around her and engulfed her. The other subjects waded in to cut her out, and were attacked by the gelatinous mass as well, which either walloped them with heavy pseudopods or tried to swallow them as well. Finally, the mass expired and the subjects pulled Bo out before she suffocated. Upon cutting the rest of the mass away, they established that what they had thought was a person in danger was actually a lure meant to draw in unwary travelers like themselves.
Back in the strange city, Robert was now beginning to suspect that a curse or something similarly supernatural was at work, so he set out for a nearby library to do research. Before going there, he asked Conscience to go to lunch with him, since there appeared to be no one else in the office. The city itself was likewise empty, to the point that a machine seemed to cook all the food and wash all the dishes. During lunch, Conscience told Robert that he was working too hard, and that if he relaxed and took his time, most of the problems he was currently experiencing would take care of themselves somehow. Robert did not want to accept this answer, and said that with circumstances being what they were, he was the only one who was going to to anything to make the city better. Conscience did not argue with his decision, but warned him that it would have many consequences for his life in the future if he continued to pursue these things.
Robert went to a nearby library and began to peruse the shelves for books about exorcism, hoping to learn how to break the apparent curse on the site of the homeless shelter. While browsing the stacks, he was interrupted by a merman in a battle tank who introduced himself as Mr. Towers, representing the non-unionized construction workers of the city. He said that people who were not members of the union wanted to work at the site, provided it was safe, and that by bowing to the union's demands Robert was keeping him out of a job. He also accused Robert of being prejudiced against merfolk. Robert did his best to calm down Mr. Towers, referring him to the city's Disability Services department and repeating that if the curse could be broken, it would surely lead to an outcome that was good for everybody involved. Once Mr. Towers had left, Robert found a book that he thought could help - but it was in a language he could not read. Robert then left the library, hoping that Conscience could help him.
Back in the Hedge, after the fight with the tree, most of the subjects were badly hurt. They took a longer rest while Souna searched the Hedge nearby for goblin fruits that could help to heal their injuries, since all the ones they had remaining were either irrelevant or potentially harmful. She found some fruits that would heal their physical injuries at the cost of mental exhaustion, and some of the subjects who were most injured partook. When they started moving again, they soon found themselves in a peaceful swamp where they came across a three-meter-tall birch tree with vaguely humanoid features, who spoke to them as he dangled his roots in a pool of clear water. He introduced himself as Billy Birch, and when Souna mentioned Lenore, he said that he knew her and that he was willing to help. Billy said that he knew pretty much everything that went on in this area of the Hedge, that he had seen Eloise pass nearby, and that he would tell the subjects about her if they would tell him a story first, as a sort of trade. The subjects told him the story of their dealings with the Prometheans, and Billy then gave them very clear directions about where he had seen Eloise wandering most recently. They thanked him and hurried in that direction.
In the strange city, Robert left the library and saw Conscience on the sidewalk. When he explained to her that he could not read the book, she told him that he would be able to figure it out if he found his strongest connection and asked for their help. Robert was about to say that this would be impossible with no one in the city, until he realized that the streets were once again populated. This time, he saw that everyone in the streets was someone he had at least a passing acquaintance with. He checked his phone and saw that the address book contained phone numbers for every currently living person he had ever known. Robert was particularly shocked when he saw the name of his wife, Marie-Julie, who had been presumed dead for more than 20 years. He called her number and she answered immediately, telling her to meet him in the place where they had first been introduced, a cafe called Café Cannibale.
Robert took the train to the café and was stunned to see Marie-Julie through the window. He approached her, and she immediately stood up, kissed him, and said, "You're finally understanding what you deserve." Then it was as if she was absorbed into him, and he was alone in the café once again - but with an innate knowledge of how he could break the curse on the site of the homeless shelter. He went there promptly, did the method laid out in the book, and could tell right away that he had succeeded and that the city would be better because of it. At that time, Conscience walked up to him, and asked him if things like this were what he really wanted to spend the rest of his life doing. Robert reiterated that he did, because no one else would and he felt an obligation to make the world better however he could. Conscience nodded and said, "If that's the case, I just need you to sign some paperwork."
Robert and Conscience returned to the high-rise where Robert's office was and went up to the penthouse conference room, where Robert could see that the city through the windows already looked much better and safer. He was given a lengthy contract with something called "the Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn" and shown the places where he should sign it. When he was done, he took out his phone and called Bo - which apparently came through as a direct mind-to-mind connection with Bo in the Hedge. When Bo explained to the others what was happening, Robert "put them on conference" so he could talk to all of them. They updated each other on what had been going on, and were surprised to see Robert suddenly appear on the path before them, none the worse for wear. The subjects decided that since they couldn't explain any of this, they were better off not trying at all. They continued in the direction that Billy Birch had indicated, not certain what they would face next.
SYSTEM GENERATED TRANSCRIPT
TELECONFERENCE BETWEEN O5-3/780 AND SCP-780
CONTACT BEGIN: 2010-09-10 01:24:32 UTC
O5-3/780: Good morning, Peach.
SCP-780: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]
O5-3/780: Excuse me?
SCP-780: Oh. Hi. Sorry. I just didn't know that wall could be a screen.
O5-3/780: You'd be surprised how much you don't know about Site-19.
SCP-780: Wait, who is this?
O5-3/780: This is Malus Sylvestris, Peach.
SCP-780: Oh! Okay. That's what I thought. Maybe. I just kind of... [2 SECOND PAUSE] Well, I thought. [3.5 SECOND PAUSE] I thought you were a guy.
O5-3/780: [LAUGHTER] A lot of people make that assumption. It's okay.
[7 SECOND PAUSE]
SCP-780: Why are you calling me anyway?
O5-3/780: I already told you, didn't I? I thought it was best if we spoke in person.
SCP-780: Oh. Okay. [1.5 SECOND PAUSE] I thought that meant you were going to come to see me or something.
O5-3/780: That's not really possible for me right now. Even if it were, I'm not sure it would be a good idea.
SCP-780: Okay. So is that why you blacked out the video on the wall too? I just see a thing that says "Video not available."
[11 SECOND PAUSE]
SCP-780: Fine! You don't have to actually tell me anything or trust me or anything. I'm just here for your amusement I guess. To watch these people, day in and day out, and tell you everything about all of the stupid stuff they do. I probably know more about them than you do, but you don't care about that, do you? No, you're just paranoid like everyone else around here that I'll somehow get my hands on a picture of you and know everything about you. That's why you locked me up like this. Nobody cares what I think or that I might want to help-
O5-3/780: Peach.
SCP-780: -or that I don't want to misuse what I can do, or that I never did before you people found me somehow and decided that I was dangerous-
O5-3/780: Peach.
SCP-780: -and put me here. And then when it turns out that what I can do is actually useful to you, you let me off the leash. Like I don't know well enough already how I should and shouldn't use it, and you do. You're all a bunch of hypocrites!
O5-3/780: Peach! Calm down!
SCP-780: [DEEP INTAKE OF BREATH] Sorry. I just try not to think about this stuff too much, you know. And then when I do it just makes me so mad.
O5-3/780: I understand, Peach. Better than you know. In fact, that's part of why I wanted to talk to you today.
SCP-780: What do you mean?
O5-3/780: Peach, something very bad is happening in the Foundation. Things are changing in ways that we can't fully explain - and, as you can imagine, this comes as a bit of a shock to some of the Overseers. I understand that you may have seen some of that earlier in the messages you exchanged with somebody who had access to our systems by a means I couldn't identify.
SCP-780: You mean the Founder?
O5-3/780: I don't think you should say that name again on this call. I've taken precautions, but I don't know to what degree we're being monitored.
SCP-780: [NODS ASSENT]
O5-3/780: The person you communicated with is only one manifestation of the things that are changing inside the Foundation, Peach. The worst part of it is that the people in power - the people who oppose me - don't seem to understand how much things are changing. They'd rather stick their heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening - or maybe that's just a cover for what they really want to do. This goes all the way to the top, Peach. And it seems like I'm the only one who really understands the direction that things are taking. I don't just mean Project MONUMENT - I mean the whole world. And I'm starting to think that you're one of the very few people inside the Foundation who might have the desire and the wherewithal to help me to do something about what's happening. That is, if you'll let me tell you what I think is happening, and what we can do about it - and keep it all a secret, of course. [1 SECOND PAUSE] What do you say? Are you willing to hear me out?
[23 SECOND PAUSE]
SCP-780: I'm listening.
[TRANSCRIPT CONTINUES]
Holy yikes, this is like the longest plot summary I've had to write in AGES, so I will have to keep the notes good and short.
As you will see, we're right in the middle of not only a very dramatic trip into the Hedge, but Robert's Awakening. I was quite surprised that he got through the entire thing in one session, though it certainly does make future things in this little story arc a bit easier to deal with. I'm also relieved that we're past it and that it went well, since I really wanted to give dayzdark a memorable experience for this major milestone in his character's life. Much of the details of his Awakening (including the absolute genius method by which he inscribed his name on his Watchtower) were the ideas of the wonderful jinxgcp. The mermaid in the battle tank was invented on the spot, however, in keeping with the players' original misinterpretation of what was supposed to be a tank of water.
The rest of the stuff that happened was also enjoyable, though the PCs are pretty beaten up now. I'm looking forward to the mage in the party ramping up the power level a bit, so I can play a little rougher with the encounters in turn.
Off to run the exciting conclusion now! Wish me luck.
What is this?
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