Deep in the center of New York there //exists/imagines// a //building/portal// known to a select few as the //oldest house/home.//
This //hidden/missing// building is the Headquarters of the Department of Control, an organisation tasked with montioring and policing the existance of the //paranormal/supernatural//, by //The Board/us//.
Deep in the heart of the Department of Control, there is trouble brewing, an evil entity, that //is/can be/will be// known as the Hiss, is beginning to seep through the cracks in reality, and //infect/corrupt// the inhabitants of the Oldest House.
Soon a hero //will/must// rise against it, and become the new //Director/hand//.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[You are not that hero]
[[Begin->The beginning of the end.]]
(set: $key to false)It begins with a cold breeze. It starts at the nape of your neck, and drifts softly through your hair. You pause, amidst the process of compiling a report on the... //events// of last week.
[[Finish the Report->Death 1]]
[[Investigate->This is the Oldest House, Everything is Suspicious]]Your report, you decide, is more important than finding the source of a draught. And most important is assuring that the... //Misadventures// of last week are never repeated. Proper handling technique is essential in The Oldest House, where even the most mundane looking object could contain apocalyptic potential.
Still though, it had been a long day, between the report and the clean up, and you can feel your eyes beginning to droop. With effort you drag them open again, and push on into your report.
The next time they begin to droop, you can't force them open. you slump down in your chair, and a strange hissing noise starts to build in your ears, growing louder and louder, until you can't just hear it; you can feel it.
First in your skin, then in your muscle, until it works it's way into your bones. Or maybe out from your bones, maybe you can't hear the hissing, maybe you're making it.
You are washed away by the sensations, and surrender control to the Hiss.
[[Restart?->Start]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#ffffff,0,#e61919,1,#000000)))There is no such thing as //insignificant// in the Oldest House. Anything could be the beginnings of an Altered World Event, and ignorance was most definitely not bliss.
You stand, leaving your half redacted report, and examine the office around you. You were offered the space by the scientist who operated out of it, a british woman with a strange name, Fitz-something, you think, who you had never worked with directly, but often saw working on the same operations as you.
There's not much space in the office, and what little there is is dominated by the absurdly large desk you have been working off of, made of a dark undentifiable wood. Besides this there is a small sink with a cabinet underneath, and the door leading out into the corridor.
Nothing seems out of place, and you can't identify anything of immediate natural or supernatural threat.
[[Examine the desk->Fitssimmons desk]]
[[Examine the cabinet->Fitsimmons' Cabinet]]
[[Examine the room further->Fitsimmons Office 2]]
[[Try the door->Leaving Fitsimmons Office]]The desk is huge, and you wonder absently if Fits-whoever brought it from home, or if it was a mistake in ordering somewhere along the way. Maybe it was meant for one of the cushy spacious executive offices, on the upper floors of the building.
You snigger, amused by the image of one of the imposing beaureaucratic officials in their perfectly pressed black suits sitting behind one of the tiny cheap plastic desks that are usually found in this kind of office, in the center of their massive glass-fronted office.
This desk is impractical in the extreme, and this is made more obvious by how scarcely it's decorated. There is a single picture frame, a nameplate, which proclaims this desk as belonging to a Fits-Simmons, and six drawers, three to either side.
[[Examine the picture->Fitsimmons picture]]
(if:$broken_drawer is not 1)[[Try the Drawers->Fitsimmons drawer]]The sink is clean, if a bit cluttered. You find a bottle of painkillers perscribed to a Fits-Simmons, as well as high strength decontaminant soap, and a stack of plastic cups.
The cabinet beneath is stiff, as if unused for a long time. The door opens with a strangled creak, and you look inside, not expecting to find anything.
To your surprise the small cabinet is almost entirely full, crammed into the small space is a mess of metal, straps and wires. A musky smell rises from the cupboard, and you suspect the pipes may be leaking.
[[Remove the object->HRA Vest]]
[[Leave the Sink->Fitsimmons Office, Alt 2]] The office is small, and sparcely decorated, a number of framed certificates adorn the walls, including a PhD belonging to a Dr. Fits-Simmons. There are no windows, but this isn't unusual, given that at your best guess large parts of the Oldest House are either underground or in thresholds. No vents either, which was also a regulation, as they were a nesting ground for otherworldy activity.
Supposedly in the early days of the Department of Control, an agent named Jensen Adams had been sent into the buildings vents to capture a rogue Altered Item. He had never emerged, and eventually the vents were sealed off altogether and replaced with a different sytem altogether, which was explained to you when you first started at the oldest house, but you never really understood. It had a lot to do with the space bending abilities of the Oldest House, and it's ability to break into Thresholds -pocket dimensions that bordered the real world, which the Oldest House contained, or maybe produced, doorways into.
Besides the framed pages, all the room contains is the desk, the sink, and the door.
[[Examine the desk->Fitssimmons desk]]
[[Examine the sink->Fitsimmons' Cabinet]]
[[Try the door->Leaving Fitsimmons Office]] The silence of the corridor seems to overwhelm the silence of the office. pressing in on you like a weighted blanket. Or maybe it's not silent. You're not sure at first, but the longer you stand and listen, the more confident you are that the silence is growing into a sound. An unwavering, constant noise, like the hum of a fan in the background.
(if:$hra is true)[[[Resist->Fighting the Hiss]]]
(else:)[[[Continue->Death 2]]]The picture is of Fitsimmons herself, looking considerably less cold and scientific in civilian clothes than she did in a lab coat. With her is a slightly taller man, her husband you presume, and both of them are gazing lovingly at the young girl sitting on her knee, wearing a blue dress, and a mischievous smile
Feeling suddenly like you're intruding on something personal, you put the picture back and move on quickly.
[[Try the drawers->Fitsimmons drawer]]
[[Leave the Desk->Fitsimmons Office, Alt]]The drawers to your right are all empty, however the topleft drawer is locked. you qucikly check the teo below it, which are also empty, and try the locked drawer one more time. it's locked, but loose.
[[Force the drawer->Fitsimmons Drawer, open]]
[[Examine the Picture->Fitsimmons picture]]
[[Leave the desk->Fitsimmons Office, Alt]] Squeezing past the desk, you consider your options. There is still the sink, and the cabinet underneath, or the door leading out into the corridor, or else, you could take another look around the office.
[[Examine the sink->Fitsimmons' Cabinet]]
[[Try the door->Leaving Fitsimmons Office]]
[[Investigate the room->Fitsimmons Office 2]] You grip the drawer handle with both hands, push it back as far as possible, and use all your strength to pull it out.
With an agonised creak the lock breaks free of the desk, ripping a splintered chunk out of the wood on its way. Inside there are an assortment of pens and pencils, a stapler, and a block of post it notes.
Realising with horrified embarrassment you have just vandalised a virtual strangers desk to get at stationery you quickly change tack.
(set: $broken_drawer to 1)
[[Examine the Picture->Fitsimmons picture]]
[[Leave the desk->Fitsimmons Office, Alt]] Reaching into the press, you find a grip on the tangled mess stuffed inside, and pull hard to get it lose. as it falls out, you feel a sharp sting on the back of your hand. You drop the object and lift your hand to your eye level. There is a vicious red mark, like a burn, between your thumb an dindex finger.
A sort of morbid fascination makes you touch the mark with your other hand and, indeed, it hurts a little as the red mark turns white under the pressure.
[[Examine the Object->HRA vest 2]]
[[Leave it alone->Fitsimmons Office, Alt]] Leaving the sink for the moment, ou turn and consider your options. you could go through the door out into the corridor, you could take a closer look at the desk, or you could investigate the room further.
[[Examine the desk->Fitssimmons desk]]
[[try the door->Leaving Fitsimmons Office]]
[[Investigate the room->Fitsimmons Office 2]] You examine the object, which appears to be a harness of some kind, wired into a large metal plate with glowing lights which flicker occasionally. you remember seeing a similar device being handed out by Dr. Darling last week. He called them HRA's, though you can't recall what the acronym stood for. You also don't recall whether or not his ones flickered, you think dubiously, whatching the lights dim and flare again.
Dr. Darling had claimed that the HRA's were a type of protection, from some vague threat that was coming. This was not, however, an unusual thing to hear from the man, who was well known for being a little paranoid, and his predictions were only occasionally right.
Still though, maybe any protection is better than none?
[[Put on the HRA->Sore but Safe]]
[[Leave it alone->Fitsimmons Office, Alt 2]] =|=
You spend a few minutes struggling with the HRA, and in the proccess recieve another small shock, this time to your shoulder, but in the end, you get it situated comfortably, with the metal disk projecting its faltering light out from your chest.
Feeling slightly safer and significantly more ridiculous, you shut the cabinet, and turn away from the sink
=|=
<img src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/control6745/images/5/5f/Arish2.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/247?cb=20190613230523">
|==|
(set: $hra to true)
[[Continue->Fitsimmons Office, Alt 2]]The noise you're listening to is almost melodic, despite being a single clear, unwavering note. you feel entranced by it, the same way you are drawn in by a song you once knew, but havent heard in years, a strange sense of familiarity and discovery.
Something is wrong though, every few seconds the feeling fades slightly, as if a jarring note has been added to the song. With a concerted effort, you drag your mind back to the present moment, and try to block out the noise.
[[Cover your Ears->Death 3]]
[[Talk loudly->Death 4]]
[[Recite song lyrics in head-> Beat the Hiss]]The noise you're listening to is almost melodic, and you wonder briefly what's making it, but excuse the thought as unimportant, instead letting yourself get caught up in its sound, flying deeper and deeper as the sound grows louder, until it consumes the physical plain, and you simply, aren't.
[[Restart->Start]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#ffffff,0,#e61919,1,#000000)))You raise your hands to your ears, and to your relief the sound is muffled, and distroted through them. You take a few steps down the hallway, but stop suddenly when something moves in the shadows further down.
Struggling to control your breathing, and the rustling sound of your hands over your ears, you scan frantically for the source of the motion. nothing seems to be there, but the shadows definitely moved...
Abruptly, you remember the flickering light of your HRA, and let out a nervous laugh of relief. The flickering light must have caused the shadows to move. feeling slightly better you prepare to move off, still wary of anythone or anything that may appear.
If only you could move your hands from over your ears, you might hear footsteps on approach, or maybe voices, or even the creek of the janitors cart, with it's eternally stiff wheels. Anything but the constant unbearable rustling that gets louder by the second.
You grit your teeth against the sound, and close your eyes tightly. you drop to your knees, suddnely unsteady on your feet, feeling like your entire body is shaking inside and out.
You feel the urge to scream, but you're not sure whether or not you actually make the sound. You can't hear anything over the humming that has taken over your senses.
The last sensation you experience is your bones shattering, shaken apart from the inside out, before you slump into something deeper than unconsciousness, and darker than death.
[[Restart->Leaving Fitsimmons Office]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#ffffff,0,#e61919,1,#000000)))You wrap your arms tightly around your stomach, and start talking nonsense into the open air, runnng through your to-do list,, then your shopping list, and finally recitin gth ereport you had spent the last few hours writing.
Your steps take you a little ways down the corridor, moving quicker as you grow more confident. You barely notice the light of your HRA flicker, as you rattle off word-for-word the long and convoluted story of last weeks... mishap. you do falter in your stride, when your words halt suddenly, as you stumbleover the phrasing of a particaularly complicated bit of he-siad-she-said. Instinctively as you stand and ponder the grammatical oddity you've discovered, an low humming noise escapes your mouth. it is followed by a grumbled half sentence, and then another humming noise.
You don't know how long you stand there, turning the sentence over and over in your head, until the words lose meaning, and eventually are lost entirely. until all that's left is the constant hum you're emitting, and the blissful feeling of cold spreading through your body
[[Restart last Checkpoint->Leaving Fitsimmons Office]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#ffffff,0,#e61919,1,#000000)))Desperate to push back the noise, you focus instead on the first thing that comes to your mind- your favourite song; "Take Control" by the Old Gods of Asgard. The heavy bass and thundering drums drown out the hiss, and you move forward cautiously, advancing down the corridor, head bobbing unconsciously to the imaginary music.
A little ways on, the hall takes a sharp turn.
(set: $key to 0)
[[Continue->Hub 2]]You turn on the spot to face back the way you came, and walk immediately into a solid wall. The corner you turned to enter this hallway has become a dead end. You examine the newly appeared wall thouroughly, but find no way to activate it, or turn it back.
The Oldest House is an Object of Power, with the ability to warp space, and open Thresholds, maybe this is another ability it has? You don't recall it ever happening outside of the notorious shifting walls of the Ashtray Maze, but when an object of power is active, anything can happen.
(set: $way_back_blocked to 1)
[[Continue->Hub 2]]The four doors are identicle, apart from the images printed at eye level, in the exact center of each. To your left, the closest door has a simple silhouette of a tree. The door beyond has an upside-down triangle that you recall having seen before, but cannot quite remember where or when.
To your right, the first door has a circle, enclosing a square, the four corners of the square connect to the inner edge of the circle. the last door depicts a single verticle line, with three short horizontal lines drawn through it, one at either end, and one slightly above the middle.
[[Examine the Tree Door->Tree Door]]
[[Examine the Circle Door->Circle Door]]
[[Examine the Triangle Door->Triangle Door]]
[[Examine the Lines Door->Lines Door]]
[[Leave the doors->Hub 2]]Moving past the doors, you continue down the corridor. Further down, a corner turns sharply to the left, you edge cautiously around it, coming to a halt in a corridor identicle to the one you just left. The same four doors, the same dusty maroon carpet, the same dim lighting.
Is this a trick of the Oldest House? You can't be sure, but clearly something has changed, as you don't remember ever seeing this corridor before. This is definitely not the path you took to reach Fitz-Simmons Office earlier today.
[[Turn Back->Wall Appears]]
[[Examine the doors->Door Images]]
[[Continue down the Corridor->Repeating corridor]]
=|=
There doesnt appear to be anything special about the door in front of you. it is made of wood, with an old fashioned brass door knob, there's no knocker, instead there is a black transection of a tree. Upon closer inspection you notice that the branches and roots of the tree meet at their very tips, forming a sort of circle around the trunk.
You wonder if this is significant of anything, but fail to draw anything to mind.
=|=
<img src="https://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-000309037579-tedcsu-t240x240.jpg">
|==|
(if:$key is true)[[[Try the Key->Key fails]]]
[[Try the Door->Open Tree Door]]
[[Examine the other Doors->Door Images]]
[[Leave the doors->Hub 2]]=|=
Nothing about the door appears out of the ordinary, it's made of a pale wood, with an old-fashioned brass door-knob.
The drawing of the circle and square is geometrically pleasing, but the longer you look at it, the more something begins to irk you about it, as if its slightly disproportionate, too little to easily identify, but enough that you notice it subconsciously.
You deliberately look away.
(if:$key is false)[You notice a key in the lock, made of the same brass as the lock.]
=|=
<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTXmW6Off9j10b-aTjxQpDrj7Bb1c07kqbgdw&usqp=CAU">
|==|
(if:$key is true)[[[Try the Key->Key fails]]]
(else:)[[[Try the key->Gain Key]]]
[[Try the door->Won't Open]]
[[Examine the other Doors->Door Images]]
[[Leave the doors->Hub 2]] =|=
The door seems normal, as far as you can tell. it's made entirely of a light wood, except for an old-fashioned brass doorknob. The upside-down triangle image irritates you a bit. You feel like you're trying to remember a dream; the more you reach for the details, the less you remember.
=|=
<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSkJrQmiSYSAf2eTRRoJkFem9VD4nrqOdRhww&usqp=CAU">
|==|
[[Leave the doors->Hub 2]]
(if:$key is true)[[[Try the Key->Key works]]]
[[Try the door->Won't Open 2]] The door appears to be perfectly normal, but no matter what you try, it wont move so much as a millimeter. You run your hands over the lock, which feels exactly the same as the rest of the door. You try to feel for a gap between the door and the frame, but although you can see it with your eyes, you feel no seams.
(if:$key is true)[[[Try the Key->Key fails]]]
[[Examine the other doors->Door Images]]
[[Leave the Doors->Hub 2]] Nervously, and ever so slowly, you reach out and grip the door knob.
Nothing happens.
You turn the doorknob, and push gently on the door. It glides open smoothly, and completely silently. Beyond the door there is a corridor, running parallel to the one you are currrently standing in. There are two doors in the wall opposite, both cast in shadows.
[[Step through the door->Tree Door Trick]]
[[Examine the other doors->Door Images]]You pass through the door in a single stride, entering a corridor similar to one you have just left. It takes you a moment to orient yourself, and when you do, you realise the corridor is not just similar to the one you have left, it's identicle in every way. The same maroon carpet, the same dim lighting, everything. You look back through the door, and try to picture the floor plan that would allow for such a layout, but it quickly begins to make you nauseous, so you stop.
Closing the door behind you, you return to your original position, facing the four doors, with your back to Fits-Simmons office, and resolve to forget the entire event.
[[Turn back to Fits-Simmons office->Wall Appears]]
[[Examine the doors->Door Images]]
[[Continue past the doors->Repeating corridor]]The key is heavy in your hands, and refuses to turn in the lock. It comes out of the lock easily enough, and you shove it into a pocket. It may be useful later
(set: $key to true)
[[Continue->Hub 2]]Focusing carefully on the doorknob, to avoid looking at the drawing anymore, you reach out and give it a sharp twist. the knob turns, bu tht edoor doesnt move. you try to push it inwads, and then to pull it out. eventually, after several minutes, you give up, frustrated.
(set: $Circle_door_wont_open to 1)
(link-undo:"Return")The key slides easily into the lock, but refuses to turn
(link-undo:"Return")=|=
(align:"<==")+(box:"X=")[You stand and consider your options, facing down a hall with two doors on either side. On each door is an image, drawn on in what looks like black charcoal.]
=|=
[<img src="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0a/de/2f/0b/creepy-haunted-hallways.jpg">]
|==|
(if:$way_back_blocked is not 1)[[[Turn Back->Wall Appears]]]
[[Examine the doors->Door Images]]
[[Continue past the doors->Repeating corridor]]To your surprise, the key turns smoothly in the lock. there's a muffled clunk, as the lock opens.
With one last glance at the strange symble imprinted on the door, you take a deep breath and push the door open ahead of you.
You seem to have opened a janitors closet, although it's strangely empty.
Empty shelves line all three walls, and there's just barely enough space left in the small room for a person to stand upright.
You're about to enter the room, when a small voice in your head gives you pause. this is a bad idea. What if you get locked in the room? or what if someone comes along and sees you, just standing in an empty closet? there's nothing in there anyways.
[[Walk away->Hub 2]]
[[Go through the door->Black Pyramid]]The door rattles a little in it's frame, but stubbornly refuses to open.
[[Kick it down->Death 5]]
(if:$key is "1")[[Return->Triangle Door]]
[[Leave the doors->Hub 2]]Frustrated, you lift your foot, and, without thinking, you lash a kick against the door. Just as your foot impacts the door, it occurs to you that maybe this isn't a great idea.
You feel a pressure in the center of your chest, like you've been hit, hard. the wind is driven from your body, and you bend over, gasping deeply.
Despite your wild gasping you can't seem to draw any air into your lungs.
You fall to your knnes, arms crossed over your stomach, feeling lightheaded and dizzy.
No matter what you try, you can't draw breath. you realise that at some point you lay down on the corridor floor, though you don't remember doing it.
Your lungs burn and scream for air, your throat is raw from your attempts to make it work. Light fades from your watering eyes, as you lay there, dying, dry drowning in an office corridor.
(set: $key to 0)
[[Restart from last checkpoint->Hub 2]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#e61919,0.5,#000000,1,#000000)))The moment you step through the door, you feel another small shock from the damaged HRA, as a moment of clarity hits. Of course you recognised the upside down triangle. It was the black pyramid, which supposedly housed the many voiced entity known as the board. The symbol represented the federal bureua of control as much as any other.
Why would you have forgotten that? A sense of urgency sets in. Something is definitely wrong, and whatever it is is clearly effecting your mind.
Luckily it seems that the door has brought you to Central Executive, the bureaucratic heart of the Oldest House. If there was anywhere you wanted to be during a crisis, this would be it.
[[continue->entering central executive]]Central executive is a large open-plan space, split into two levels by a balcony. There are a variety of small offices dotted around the edges, with glass walls and plush carpets. Absently you compare this to the cramped hallways and worn flooring of the lower levels, where you normally work.
There are only two ways out of central executive, the service elevator, which achieves the geometrically dubious feat of reaching every floor of The Oldest House, and the path through the executive offices, where the director and his immediate subordinates work.
The bulk of the available space is dominated by the tip of an enormous black pyramid, a replica of the one the board occupies, which hangs down from the ceiling in the center of the room.
[[Continue->hub 3]]You consider what you should do next. On the top floor there are offices you could search for help, or at least another person. Otherwise, you could descend to the lower level, and plan your next move from there.
[[Explore the offices->central executive offices]]
[[Move downstairs->central executive lower level]]
(if:$janitor_closet is not true)[[Turn back->Janitor's Closet]]The bulk of the rooms are conference rooms, empty but for large tables surrounded by chairs, and the occasional whiteboard full of some half-erased graph or other.
There are only three permanently occupied offices, two side by side to your left, and one across from you.
[[Examine the nearby offices->office options]]
[[Examine the furthest office->darlings office]]
[[Go to the Lower Level->central executive lower level]] As you approach the offices, you notice a strange green-grey substance on the ground next to the office on the left. Gingerly you press down on it with your foot. it squishes, and then slowly rises back up.
It looks like some kind of mold, though not one you recall having seen before. There might have been a memo relating to this that circulated a few weeks ago, but you hadn't paid it much mind. These things happen semi regualarly in the Oldest House.
[[Explore the left office->Death 6]]
[[Explore the right office->Password]]You move quickly around the balcony that circles the room, and approach the office. a plate, bolted to the wall beside the door proclaims this is Dr.Darling's office, and for a minute you're hopeful. maybe he can explain whats happening, or at least fix your damage HRA, so it willl stop shocking you.
The door is locked, but peering through the window is enough to tell you the office is deserted. Every wall is plastered with papers, too far away to read clearly, but obviously not in any sort of order. Several, you notice, feature large drawings of odd geometric shapes, or maybe of one geometric object, from different angles? it's impossible to tell at this distance.
Giving up on the office, you turn away.
(if: $offices is <1)[[[Explore the two remaining offices->office options]]
[[Explore the lower level->central executive lower level]]
(set: $darling_office to true)As you walk down the stairs you take a closer look at the equipment set up in the center of the room. It seems to be some kind of containment array, which are a common sight in the Oldest House. They can contain paranormal phenomenon, making it safe to study altered items.
It is unusual that an altered item would be up here in Central executive, but it's not unheard of.
Approaching cautiously, you're relieved to see that the containment gear seems to still be working. A table has been set up in the center of the array, and there are two items on it. A smartphone, Trask brand, and a newspaper, folded back neatly.
The closer you get to the table, the quieter the murmuring noise in the back of your mind gets. Maybe one of the altered iems is able to ward it off.
It's very risky, but you recall how the noise made you forget about the black pyramid earlier, and decide that you have no choice. You'll have to try and take one with you.
Steeling yourself, you reach for...
[[the phone->death 7]]
[[the newspaper->foresight]]
(set:$crossword to false)
(set:$obituary to false)Turning back to the door you came in through, you open it again. inside appears to be a janitors closet, this time stocked with a variety of cleaning products and a frankly unnessecary number of mops. It'll be tight, but you think you'll manage to squeeze in.
You awkwardly finangle your way around the mops, and bang your head against a shelf, but you make it into the closet. You stand there for about twenty secnds, before you realise that whatever had brought you here, isn't going to send you back.
You move to leave the closet, but your ankle catches on something unseen, and you tumble out in a shower of mops.
You pick yourself up, and shove the mops back into the closet, shutting the door firmly.
Hoping no one saw that, you resolve to pretend it never happened and turn back to Cenral Executive.
[[Continue->hub 3]]
(set:$janitor_closet to true)You enter the office slowly. The strange mold covers every surface in the room, floor to ceiling. A sweet scent wafts out from it, and you wonder absently what it would taste like.
Your hand brushes along the wall, enjoying the silky springy texture, as you walk towards the desk.
There are a few pages on the desk, all unreadable now. A cup full of pens that declares this room belonged to the "World's Okay-est Boss", and a notebook. You pick it up, and start leafing through it. Its an address book, but the handwriting is barely legible.
Absently, while trying to decifer a particular entry, you lick your fingers to turn the page.
Deciding it's not going to be any help, you put it down and move to leave the room.
Suddenly, you're wracked with an intense pain in your stomach. you sink to your knees, arms wrapped tight around your stomach. The sweet smell seems to be growing stronger, and you feel something moving over your hands. forcing your eyes open, you watch in paralyzed horror as the mold grows impossibly fast across your skin, spreading down your limbs and up your torso.
Your last thought before it covers your head, and your consciouness fades away entirely, is "well, fu-"
[[Restart from last checkpoint->hub 3]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#e61919,0.5,#000000,1,#000000)))Th eoffice is neatly organised, in the extreme. The pens are layed out in perfect parallel with each other and the desk, th ebooks are arranged on the shelf in order of colour, and the desk lines up perfectly with the floor boards.
You're almost scared to touch anything, for fear of angering the owner of the office.
The only thing that seems out of place is a small cactus, left to one side of the desk. A piece of paper is stuck onto one of its spines, and in the obsessively organised office, it stands out like Beyonce riding a dinosaur through times square.
taking long, careful steps, you cross the room in two strides, and gently pull the piece of paper free. You get stabbed in the thumb, and rub it firmly against your index finger as you open the paper wiht your other hand.
Written in big red block capitals are the digits 0451.
Wondering what they could mean, and still scared of disrupting the office, you leave quickly.
(if:$darling_office is false)[[Explore the further office->darlings office]]
[[Explore the left office->Death 6]]
[[Explore the lower level->central executive lower level]] You reach for the phone, reasoning that even if it turns out to //not// be an altered item, you can try and call for help. You hesitate a second before picking it up, but when you do, you're relieved to find that nothing happens.
Lifting the phone up to better examine it, you accidentally turn on the screen. As the harsh blue artificial light hits your face, you feel a strange tingle through your fingers, like static passing from the phone into your hand.
You wonder absently if phones even //can// cause static. As soon as the thought passes through your mind, it is chased out by the answer. No they can't, but there have been reported case of faulty phones loosing small electric shocks. You don't even need to wonder what that would look like, before an image appears in your mind. A grainy twenty three second video clip of a man getting shocked by his phone, and dropping it into a river.
It's followed immediately by another, and then another. It occurs to your that something is wrong, and immediately the answer comes to you. You're suffering from information overload. You know instantly everything about the condition, including a rough projection of what will happen to you in the next few seconds.
Something runs down your from one of your frozen eyes, and into your slightly open mouth, bringing with it the metallic taste of blood.
The information flooding your mind seems to be accelerating, faster and faster as each answered question brings with it a slew of new questions.
There is a dull thob, as a blood vessel in your brain pops under the pressure, and you slump to the ground, dead.
(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#e61919,0.5,#000000,1,#000000))[Your Text Here]You don't even consider picking up the smart phone. Microchips don't react well with paranormal activities, and anything with a direct connection to the internet is almost certainly a death trap. Instead you reach for the newspaper.
At first glance it seems like a perfectly ordinary newspaper. There are a couple of ads for varous products, a news story entitled //"New Direction; P7 Landing"//, which you assume is to do with a new motorway being built somewhere.
Turning it over reveals a half complete crossword and, at the fold of the page, the heading of an obituary section.
[[Examine the front page story->front page]]
[[Examine the crossword->crossword]]
[[Examine the obituary->obituary]]The article is accompanied by a photograph, of a dark haired young woman in a leather jacket standing outside a glass door, the kind that are often used in the front of government buildings. It looks like it has been taken from a security camera, and no other detail is visible.
Grudgingly you start scanning through the articles print, not paying any real attention, until something jumps out at you. You re-read the sentence several times, to be sure you understood it right.
//Jesse Haden(24) rose quickly to the position of Director of the Federal Bureau of Control.//
There hadn't been a female Director for over ten years, and even then, most directors were middle aged before they obtain the position. suddenly suspicious, you check the date on the newspaper.
Your suspicions are confirmed, when you see the newspaper is has apparently been published two days into the future. Definitely an altered item, but has it always shown this date, or does it change day to day?
You read the article thouroughly, and each line makes you feel slighlty colder. According to the paper, the Oldest House is being over-run by a para-terrestrial entity, and Jesse Faden will arrive at the mostly empty building and begin systematically cleansing the intruders.
Finished reading the artcle, you look again at the grainy- black and white picture. thsi time however, a dot of colour catches your eye. Impossibly, the black and white security camera has captured the green light that signals the door is unlocked.
Which you realise with dawning horror, it won't be. If everyone is infected or hiding from the Hiss, this Jesse Haden person won't be able to enter the building.
A sense of calm settles over you, as you drop the newspaper back onto the table; Your path is clear to you now.
[[Continue->which way]]The crossword is about half filled in, albeit badly. You notice several boxes have been filled in, and then struck through, sometimes multiple times, as several wrong answers found their way into the crossword. Whoever was filling it in had probably gotten frustrated or bored, and given up, you reason.
The most aggressively altered answer is nine down and out of idle curiosity, you read the question.
(align:"<==")+(box:"=XX=")[Anger(5)]
peering through the scribbled out letters, you see that whoever was fillign it in had tried the words //IRATE//, //VEXED//, //SHORT//, and //CROSS//
The crosswrod is too badly abridged for you to fix, and provides no further information.
(set: $crossword to true)
[[Examine the front page->front page]]
(if:$obituary is false)[[[Examine the obituaries->obituary]]]You flick open the folded paper to view the obituary section. Places where life and death interact are often hotspots for paranormal activity. if this is an altered item, you reason, this is where it will be most apparent.
There are a couple of older people who died in a nursing home, a car accident that claimed two more, and one cancer patient. but it's the last two entries that bring you to a full stop.
Second last is the current director of the bureau, Zachariah Trench. The date underneath claims he died today. The cause of death ~~has been~~ ~~(will be?)~~ is left blank.
This is enough of a shock that you pause before you read the next one.
however, any thought you have of the director's fate is driven from your mind, when you realise the final obituary entry... ''is your own.''
[[Read the entry->my obituary]]
[[Don't look at it ->wisdom and cowardice]]
(set: $obituary to true)Actually, maybe you don't. You knwo what your goal is overall, bu tthe actual path to get there is still in question.
You could take the service elevator down to the lobby, and open the doors from there, but you've never taken it fom this floor before.
Your other option is to head through the directors offices, and into the head of security's office. where there was a master override to unlck the external doors, in case of a fire.
[[Take the service elevator->service elevator]]
[[Try the security office->directors offices]]Steeling yourself, you read through the entry.
It's mostly generic nonsense. it mention syou worked for the government, though not for which department, as was the protocol for dead bureau agents, the date of death is today, and the cause of death is listed as; Misadventure.
Overall it tells you nothing useful, and when you finish reading you wonder if maybe it would've been better not to know.
You're not feeling particularly like a crossword, so you flick back to the front page, to examine the headline article.
[[Continue->front page]]You consider it carefully, but eventually decide that no good can come from reading your own obituary. Whether it was real or a joke, that's tempting fate in a way that you cannot risk, especially in such a paranormal setting.
Shaking your head, you move on and try to put it out of your mind
[[Examine the front page->front page]]
(if:$crossword is false)[[[Examine the crossword->crossword]]]You stride pruposefully accross the floor, and press the button for the service elevator. There is a loud beep, and a keyboard phases into existence beside the button.
"SWIPE CARD OR ENTER CODE" is says, in a repeating loop of text.
[[Swipe your card->denied]]
[[Enter code->Code entry]]
[[Give up->directors offices]]You head for the imposing wooden doors that lead to the director's offices, and as you push through them, you hear a loud bang coming from a door to your left.
The Director's Office. Home of Zachariah Trench. Trench who will not be the director in the near future, according to the altered newspaper.
(if:(history: where it is "obituary")'s length >= 1)[Unbidden, the newspaper comes to mind. You know the Director's ultimate fate. You could warn him maybe?]
Something deep inside of you warns you off.
(if:(history: where it is "obituary")'s length >= 1)[[[Warn the director->short]]
[[Keep going->Security offices]]You swipe your trusty employee access card.
The screen turns black, then starts flashing red. "DENIED", scrolls on repeat across the console,
You must not have high enough credentials to access the elevator from this floor.
You turn back and head into the directors offices.
[[continue->directors offices]] (input-box:2bind $elevator_code,"=XX=",1,"ENTER CODE")
[[[Enter->elevator opens]]]The keypad flashes three times, as it processes the code.
There is a moment of deathly stillness. As you wait you contemplate how ridiculous this is as a system. why a code and a card? surely one or the other works fine.
(if:$elevator_code is "0451")[[[Continue->elevator down]]]
(else:)[[[continue->Denied]]]The screen turns black, then starts flashing red. "DENIED", scrolls on repeat across the console,
You must not have the right code to access the elevator from this floor.
You turn back and head into the directors offices.
[[continue->directors offices]] The elevator doors open, and you waste no time getting in and jabbing the button for the lobby.
It feels strange to be standing listening to mildly irritating elevstor music, when you have such an important task to complete.
Just as you think this, the elevator judders to a jarring stop. the doors slide open, but stop halfway. There is a wall opposite them, that stops barely a foot off teh elevator floor.
Kneeling down to peer through the gap, you see that the elevator has stopped just above the lobby. Across the room, you see the desk that is usually manned by the receptionist where the door controls are hidden.
You spend another few minutes looking for a way out, but eventually the truth is undeniable. The only exit is through the tiny gap between the doors.
You're fairly confident you can fit through, and survive the eight foot fall to the floor below.
You are similarly sure your HRA will not.
[[Do the Right Thing->Lobby sprint]]
[[Wait->change your mind]]It's strange how dependant you've become on your HRA, which you're not even sure is helping you.
Still though, wearing makes you feel at least a little safer, and you're loath to lose it.
You feel a little less bad after it shocks you while your taking it off.
Taking a deep breath you drop the Hra, and try to squirm out the tiny, tiny hole. It's tight, and uncomfortable, and youre pretty sure your bleeding from your side by the end, but you do make it out. the drop seems a lot longer than you thought, but you don't have much choice, as, once you're out of the hole, theres no way to support yourself in the air.
You land roughly, and struggle to your feet. Already you can hear the whispering noise getting louder in your ears. With one last glance at the elevator, and the HRA within, but out of reach, you turn and start to run for the desk.
You're only a few feet away, when the whispering noise gets suddenly louder. Suddenly you become incredibly dizzy, and fall to one knee.
You're so close. You can 't stop now.
Focusing on what you rememeber from the newspaper, a memory That's slipping away by the second, you force yourself to your feet.
You reach the desk before you collapse again, the noise in your head like a physical barrier between you and the big red button you can see only feet away.
In a herculean effort, you make one final lunge, and with the barest tips of your fingers, you manage to press the button.
[[Continue->Endgame]]You decide to wait.
No one comes.
Starvation is not a nice way to go.
You change your mind quickly.
[[Continue->Lobby sprint]] You lay still on the ground, having completed your final act. A sense of contenment settles over you, as if somewhere, someone or somehting is praising you for doing your part. For setting events in motion.
You're not sure which is your last thought, but at some point, you must have had one. Seconds, minutes or hours pass, as the hiss works it's way into your body, into your mind.
It takes you over completely, wiping away every thing that was you, and is no longer.
You close your eyes, but it's the hiss that opens them.
and Jesse Faden walks into the Federal Bureau of Control
[[End->credits]]You push open the door, but what you see inside doesn't bear thinking about.
The director is dead. His obituary was true.
[[Continue->Security offices]]
(enchant:?page,(background:(gradient: 0, 0,#e61919,0.7011,#000000,1,#000000)))Turning away from the director's office, you notice the door to the security hub is ajar. This could be very lucky, or very very bad.
The door creaks loudly as you lay your hand on it, and the noise sends shivers through your body. The room is small, dark, and full of ominous shapes. you see what you think must be th econtrol console, against the wall to your left.
You try the lightswitch, and as you click it down, a shower of sparks bursts from the wall oppodite you.
You hope it's a fuse box, because without power you wot be able to lift the emergency override.
[[Approach the fuse box->fusebox]]
[[Approach the control console->control console]]Stumbling blindly, you cross the room, and get a closer look at what is indeed a fuse box, according to a label printed in large letters across the front.
Inside there is a single large handle, that you decide must be a switch.
You push it up, into the on position, adn for a second the lights flciekr to life, and a wall of monitors start playing to your right. however when you let go of the switch it flciks immediately back down to the "off" position.
As fast as they appeared, the lights are gone.
you examine the fuse box for another few minutes, but it becomes clear to you that you need to hold the switch up somehow to keep power in the room. It won't be good for the systems and circuitry, but it should give you the power to unlock the doors.
(if:(history: where it is "control console")'s length >= 1)[[[Continue->a way out]]]
(else:)[[[Continue->control console]]]Sticking close to the wall to avoid tripping over something unseen, you approach the control console.
there are a variety of switches and buttons, all unlabelled. Right in the center of the console is a clear case covering three bigger buttons, labelled;
"//Fire//", "//Invasion//", and "//Einstein-Rosen Bridge Collapse//".
Below them is a four smaller button, simply labelled "//Other//"
You're pretty confident that the button labelled "Fire" shoul dunlock th e exterior doors, but without power the console won't work.
(if:(history: where it is "fusebox")'s length >= 1)[[[Continue->a way out]]]
(else:)[[[continue->fusebox]]]Looking between the fusebox and the control console, an idea starts to form. A terrible, horrible, very bad idea.
But an idea that just might work.
If you use your HRA to trap the fusebox in the "on" position, you could press the button and open the doors.
You look dubiously down at your HRA. You're not sure it even provides you any protection, and it's light still flickers occasionally, but it's providing a strange sort of placebo comfort anyways.
[[Do the Right Thing->HRA fix]]
[[Look for something else to use-> Hiss attack]]Your traitorous hands shake, as you undo the straps of your HRA, and struggle to afix it to the switch.
Immediately after taking it off, you notice the whispering sound begin to build. It doesn't help your focus, although it is quite soothing.
Finally getting the last strap in place, you turn and move towards the console in a ponderous meandering way.
When you reach the station, you stare down at the flashing lights and buttons, trying to remember what you... why you...
Your head has become cloudy, fuzzy, and you lean against the console. The tiny burn on your wrist presses against the cold metal, shocking you with a burst of painful sensation.
That is enough to clear your head a little bit. There was something you needed to do, something urgent. Something, something... what?
Wwith an effort so intense it feels physical, you push through the mist enough to remember. The button. You need to press the button.
You can barely force your eyes to focus, but you slam your awkward uncoordinated arm onto the center of the console, where the buttons were.
Exhausted from the effort, you slide to the ground, and lay immobile on your back.
[[Continue->Endgame]]There's nothing in the security office you could use to prop up the switch, so you decide to head back to central executive, in search of something you can use.
As you step out the door, you notice that the strange hissing noise is getting louder.
movement in your periferal vision draws your attention, adn for the first time since this whole mess started you see another person.
Mrs. Gladdis, an older woman who had been the directors secretary for almost as long as he'd been in office. you didn't kno wher well, but she had once spent twenty minutes at a work party telling you about her various pet corgi's.
It had been an enlightening experience.
She is walking with a strange uncoordineated shuffling gait, like her whole body has gone unexpectedly numb. As you watch she turns on the spot and begins walking back towards you, and you notice for the first time, her face.
Pulsing neon red lines have pushed to the surface, in strange, arterial patterns. her skin in between looks sunken and grey by conparison. Clearly something is wrong with this woman. The newspaper had mentioned that Jesse Faden would cleanse //"the Infected"//, could this be what it meant?
Just as you're deciding to try and sneak past her, just in case, your HRA gives a loud and painful shock to your shoulder.
Mrs.Gladdis turns towards you, and in a second has closed half the distance between you with an inhuman predatory sprint.
You panic, and slam the door shut. you hear a slam , as she ploughs into it, and then all you can hear is the constant undertone of Hissing that is everywhere now.
Is she still there? You can't be sure. you decide not to risk it.
You have no other choice, you'll have to use your HRA.
[[Continue->HRA fix]] (align:"=><=")[Thanks for playing.
(enchant:?page,(background:white))
^^This work of fiction, based on the intellectual property of Remedy entertainment has been prduced by Seán O' Malley, for the sole purposes of entertainment and evaluation.^^]