Knots IC

[Sir Dancealot]

Naomi almost glared at the watch. She almost threw it in frustration. But somehow, she knew that the watch wanted her to do just that. It wanted her to set it down and walk away. She didn't know why she thought this. Perhaps she was crazy. Perhaps she had finally snapped. Whatever it really was, she wasn't going to do what this watch wanted. Instead, she jabbed its face with her short index finger, speaking under her breath in time with her jabs. "Listen here watch. I may be insane, but you're hiding something. This'll go one of two ways, eventually you'll give up your secrets, or I'll break you in such a way that can't be repaired because I'm not a damn sentient-watch maker. It's your choice you shiny bastard."

She finished it all with a quick glare before she glanced up at Tilburr. "They?" she asked before looking back down at the watch. Wait. Was he fiddling with coal?

[Hazuki]

Michi grunted as she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her slender neck, eyes narrowing as she was cut-off mid-sentence and the creature bolted across the courtyard just to make her shut up. She hopped into the air as it attempted to strengthen its grip, make her fall to the ground, and slammed her leg into the side of its kneecaps, following the momentum up by pushing her body around with all her force to slam her elbow into the side of the monster's head. As it staggered and released her, she glared down at it and regained her posture.

"Listen next time, bitch." Michi spat at the creature, then span her head around in search of whatever escape routes happened to be available in the shop-lined street. Her mind drifted to her lessons, and what she should do when facing multiple assailants. Thin their numbers as quickly as possible, minimize their advantage, and commit as little as possible, because she would be punished if she gave them an opening. They had height, speed, and numbers, while she was all by herself...with an environment she could exploit. To get away, at the very least. And people that at least seemed to follow a logical baseline.

First thing first, distract the foe with the most common resource. "TERRORIST!" Michi screeched at the top of her lungs, pointing an accusing finger at the tweed-suited man as she backed a few feet away in a fake panic. "THAT MAN HAS A BOMB!" Given the fondness in America for guns, vigilante justice, and violence making heroes, she was confident that declaration would manage to set off the ticking timebomb that is the American people. Whether she got the tweed-suited creatures shot, or fleeing civilians bombard them and prevent their advancement, it was a good enough start.

Then, shops. They had plenty of things for her to use as a weapon, defense, or obstacles to put in her wake, but they were far more likely to have blocked exits, or repercussions for stealing even if she paid in a hurry. So alleyways become the next best option. The men in suits could only telepathically locate themselves, else they wouldn't have been spread all over the city in search of the "them" she was a part of, so they couldn't track her, but she could use the winding alleyways and further crowds, when she dashed between them, to lose the men. So that's where she started, dashing for the nearest alleyway with the sole intent to escape.

[Bladehunter217]

Play along Tilburr, you don't know if she might be violent. The quiet ones often are. "A beautiful watch to be sure. You said the bird dropped it? Was that the same bird Reed saw earlier or are there more than just the one?" Tilburr circles the room one last time, returning to the metal doors. "Come along Naomi, we've a conspiracy to prove." He frowns at Naomi's empty hand before gesturing for her to follow.

[Rith]

Tilburr cocked his head to one side as Naomi asked who he meant by 'they', "You know. Riggins and all the guys who were trying to catch Toby and put him in the special van. He must have hidden somewhere down here, because I didn't see him when they came back up. I hope he's not still around, because he was acting mighty strange, and strange means dangerous," he glanced sidelong at Naomi, "But let's find something worth finding in this big basement," and with that, he tossed the lump of coal off to the side, and turned around on the spot, between the walls of equipment towering to either side of him, looking as though he were trying to find something.

(Commentary: Tilburr only caught Toby mentioning the birdman for a single moment, and the corresponding crazy Tilburr never heard even that moment, as the real Toby had escaped into the basement by then. Thus, even though real Tilburr is talking about a birdman being related to Toby, crazy Tilburr doesn't have any info about that, and thus his comments and questions do not include any mention of Toby being related to the Birdman.)

---

Naomi perked up a bit when Tilburr said that he thought the watch was marvelous, "You can see it?! Tell me, what's it like? I know it's there, but I can't see it. I can't feel it either. It's like my hand is empty, but that would be crazy. I'm not crazy, Tilburr, am I? I just saw a big bird."

---

Toby screamed at the graffiti in rage as it seemed to mock him. Yet, even after he suggested that the post-apocalyptic world give him some advice, the graffiti sat there, mocking, asking him where he was going. Perhaps it might be a good idea to find an answer to that question. Find a goal. Maybe he could figure out where the ambulance had been going, and he could go to that hospital, and link back up with Collins. Or maybe there was some secret at the office which he could unlock. Or maybe he might just go to his apartment and see what he could find there. Maybe he might just try and leave the borders of the city, and see if he could find anything better out there. Heck, maybe it might be a good idea to just pick a building and search it.

---

Michi needed a way out, as abominations came in at her from all directions, the one which had clamped down on her neck already regaining it's posture to make another lunge for her, once again standing about twenty feet away, it's emotionless face trained on her. Some of the insane freaks milling about in the street, meanwhile, where turning to look at Michi as though she was acting strange. Out of all the people present, including the man wearing the striped blue & red stovepipe hat, that she was the oddity. As this attention was turned to her, however, it made it somewhat easier for her next move to work, as she pointed and bellowed words designed to induce panic.

It had the desired effect. People turned in the direction she was pointing, and screamed. The vast majority of civilians simply started sprinting away in all directions at once, but a few, including one man with a military bearing, barreled forward, looking about to tackle the creature head on.

Yet, they passed the monster by and instead tackled a confused looking college student behind it, prompting the monster to look back, "Silly mortal. These don't think. They obey their masters, and their masters don't see us. They believe you pointed at that poor mortal behind me. So the master acts on it's information, and these obey their masters, even though they can see us."

But, in all likelihood, Michi had already taken off for the alleyway.

It was a wide alley, and fairly well maintained, with only a small amount of trash laying here and there, and even paved completely, instead of some of those gravel alleyways in the city. It was easy to run down. However, as she was only halfway down, another abomination had appeared at exit, blocking her way. Glancing around, she saw three options: First, she could attack the abomination and see about breaking through. Second, she could break through a wooden door to her left. Third, she could jump onto the fire escape above her head and climb away.

(Depending on what you choose, you will earn your first skill. If you go with combat, it will be a combat skill. If you go with the door, it will be a physical skill. If you go with the fire escape, it will be an agility skill. Regardless, the roll will be 4d6-4. The idea is that she goes with what she's best at.)

[Hazuki]

Michi sprints as quickly as her lithe legs will carry her, loafers pounding against the paved alleyway and her eyes flicking from side to side in search of options even as she discovers the creature attempting to block her exit somehow. The efficiency of these creatures' telepathy seems awfully efficient to her, unless one of them already decided to take a shortcut through the alleyway, it would require the ability to single out a single one of them out of whatever crowd consciousness they have, as well as the ability to give explicit orders and knowledge along with their commands. Or perhaps they were simply that well-connected, in a non-physical manner, to the city.

The door will just lead to a cramped environment she can't even be certain will have an exit, while the fire escape will just make her an easier to spot target, and require her to leap across rooftops at some point. No, there's only one way out of this, and that involves besting another one of the walking abominations - and their wearers, too. As she keeps up her speed, arms swinging in the air to maximize her momentum, she remembers what she's already learned of the creatures; they're capable of bursts of speed, have a strong grip once it's been established, but their height makes them a little bit easier to stagger than most. Larger targets tended to have that problem, no matter their strength, if they didn't have much leverage against the ground.

So as Michi darts ahead, she drifts to one side of the alleyway to make as though she's going to try to slip past it, then pushes her foot hard against the wall and hurls herself across the last few feet, slamming her foot against the creature's knee as the rest of her body aims to land and keep on running on the opposite edge of the alleyway.

[Deathkeeper]

I sighed. I didn't know what to do. Where do I go? The construction site had nothing to offer. The graffiti there had been of the office, maybe there is where my next goal should be? I didn't know. I would get hungry and thirsty soon; I had to hurry if I was to go anywhere if that rule of nature still applied.
Home. That would be where things I could use would be, or at least useful things whose whereabouts I'm familiar with. It wasn't all that far, truth be told. Just a few blocks, a half hour walk really.
I started that way.
I could get supplies back home if this apocalypse filter hadn't destroyed the place. If I could get some food or water I could at least satisfy myself, and it I could grab a crowbar or something I would be at least better prepared for a possible raid on the office.
So down that way I went, although I kept a look out for any storefronts that seemed to still have anything useful still lying about.

[Bladehunter217]

Tillbur relaxed, apparently when Naomi goes insane she becomes a sweet innocent child. Grumpy Naomi or ceazy Naomi, I'm not certain which I prefer. Grumpy is more realistic but crazy is amusing. I've never liked children but a childish Naomi isn't completely horrid. "Its a nice watch, I cannot seem to make it out clearly, perhaps it doesn't want to be observed. Of course you aren't crazy little one, it's just been a trying day."

[Sir Dancealot]

Naomi frowned at the watch again, deciding not to smash it, yet at least, she stuffed it deep into a pocket, tapping it every now and again to make sure it didn't hop out. She blinked up at Tillbur as he spoke, and then actually looked at the room. Why the hell were there boilers down here? Had they hit part of the city that the building was being built over? "Uh. Yeah. Lets go do that then." She replied, keeping a distance between the two of them as she followed, looking around as she did. Had the birdman gone through here?

[Rith]

"You're right. It doesn't want to be observed," Naomi replied to Tilburr, pausing for a few seconds as she stared down at her empty hand. Then, pantomiming putting the invisible watch in her pocket, she seemed to perk up, "Well, I'll figure it out later. Let's take a look in this weird basement," and walked past Tilburr into the spacious, empty place. However, as Tilburr watched her walk, she was walking in a strange manner as well. Instead of roaming across the blank canvas of a basement, she went down a few feet, and turned, as though finding a corner, and then again elsewhere. She even doubled back a couple of times in response to what must have been a dead end. This was odd. What could cause a person to perceive an open space as a maze? Though, after a while, Tilburr watched as she came up on side of the basement, and heard her say, "Talking door."

This was a good twenty minutes in. Chance were that Riggins would be coming down soon to try and fetch them. In fact, it was amazing he hadn't already.

---

There were far fewer clues in this basement to track the birdman by. The floor was newly hardened concrete, and the walls of this bizarre maze were all metal. In didn't look like he had left any trace behind, and neither had he dropped any more watches. To make matters worse, the basement was in fact occupied by a maze of equipment, and Naomi had to wander about aimlessly to even hope of gaining the trail of the birdman again. Tilburr, behind her, did not seem to be too focused on keeping up. Then again, if Naomi decided to actually take a closer look at the boilers and ancient refrigeration units, she'd find all sorts of stamps listing where they had been constructed, and when. There were a few that were completely nonsensical as well. For example, one furnace had a stamp on the inside of the door which read, "Made in Kitchen. 1213 BC." A unpleasant feeling crept up the back of her neck as she put her head close enough to read that stamp, as though the furnace was waiting for her to lean a few more inches forward so it could bite her head off. Why this particular mental popped into her mind was anyone's guess.

Then, aftera while, she came across something really unusual. One passage in this labyrinth led directly to the wall, and on this wall, there was a tiny door, about a foot tall, looking like an old Victorian-style door in this modern office building, and it had no handle, but instead possessed a bright gold lion's head knocker. However, as soon as she had finished taking this sight in, the door knocker spoke, "Oh hi! More mortals? What an eventful day. Are you wanting to take the elevator too? Or are you here to chat. I should warn you, of course, I am terrible at conversations. I never have any material to bring up. I mean, there's not much to being a door. Oh, but that sounds like I'm depressed. I'm not depressed, I'm really quite happy to be a door. Especially a talking door. How many doors get the opportunity to talk. Not many, I bet. I wonder if I'll ever meet another talking door. I bet I'd have some good conversations if I did. Oh, but listen to me, I'm attached to the wall. It's not like I can go and find other doors to talk to," and did not look to be taking a breath any time soon.

---

The tweed abomination seemed ready to lunge at Michi when she passed by, but then the office girl used her ninja skills to completely wreck the abomination's life. Then, as quickly as she had spotted the figure in her way, it was laying on the ground and she was past it, breaking out into a back street, with much less foot traffic, though it was a little more congested due to the screaming people running by in fear of the false terrorist. Maybe the civilians present would have figured out that the stranger did not in fact have a bomb and come after her to give her a stern talking to, but she was running with everybody else. Probably not a priority for them.

However, as Michi ran and evaluated where to go next, she kept spitting more of those pale, eyeless men in the crowd, making their way for her, and never running, only walking, calmly and patiently, towards her. Yet even as she ran, she never seemed to be getting farther away. How many were there? Where did they keep coming from? There had to be at least two dozen total that she had seen already, and they did not appear to be thinning anytime soon. Maybe it was time for a change of tactic?

---

The apartment building where Toby lived was halfway across the destroyed city, so Toby had quite a bit of walking to do. By anyone's estimate, he'd be able to get there by sundown at least, of course. However, it was quite the ways to walk, and there was not much to do in this place. The office and hospital were both closer, but, really, there was more familiarity and reliability in his own home. Once he got there, there were all sorts of things he could grab, including an old baseball club, in case monsters in the darkness came after him again. Crowbar would still be better, of course.

Even so, as he walked, his spirits might take a bit of a beating, as it looked like everything, storefronts, apartments, even the police department, had been looted, overrun by gangs, and then abandoned years ago. Why would his place by any different?

However, when he was about three blocks from the apartment, and the sun was dipping pretty low over the horizon, something happened which he might not have been expecting.

"Come on, we're going to be late for class," came a voice to his right. Looking over, he'd spot a girl about his age, with burgundy hair and pale skin, wearing a black, spaghetti strap tank top, and some tight jeans, and a book bag, a notebook clutched in one hand and a pen in the other. The iconic look of a college student. A strange mirage of perfection in a blasted world. The girl raised an eyebrow, "What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost... Come on, class starts in 10 minutes. You don't want to be tardy, or Dr. Fehoose will give you extra assignments."

[Deathkeeper]

What.
I mean, it should have been really simple. A nice, pretty girl should not have felt like one of the weirdest things I've seen all day. And yet she did, if only due to how incredibly out of place she was, and how she seemed not to notice the complete devastation around her. Was she human? Or just something to lure me away somewhere? I couldn't know for sure, and every alarm in my brain screamed at me, but I couldn't let go of this chance at normal human interaction, this possible vestige of sanity.
"I think you're mistaken. I don't know you, and it's a little late for classes to be starting. Who's Dr. Fehoose? There aren't any schools around here, last I checked..." I said, just barely managing to control my voice enough to keep it steady.

[Hazuki]

Michi darts through the crowd, using some fancy footwork to dodge through them and target one of the Slendermans closest to her. She slams her foot into the front of its knee and attempts to snatch whatever device they use for communicating from its head, assuming it's an earpiece from the last one she got a good look at. Then, she takes off, pulling out her cellphone, she flicks to the loudest, screechiest music clip on her phone, then holds down the communication button on the device, turns her cellphone up to the loudest volume it can go, and clutches them both together in one hand, phone speakers pushed against the mouthpiece. With any luck, it will create a potent feedback loop.

(4d6)[14] (Bonuses unknown)

[Bladehunter217]

Trapped in a maze? Wonder if there's cheese at the end. Tilburr follows Naomi, trying to step into her imaginary maze. Maybe he hit his head and this was what happened when you were in a coma. Tilburr felt his blood pressure rise, all this insanity was grating on him. He came to America to live a normal life not test how many people can have mental breakdowns before their employers offer decent health insurance. "You lead the way little one. Labyrinths have never been a great interest of mine."

[Sir Dancealot]

Naomi blinked slowly as the door garbled on. The fact that it could even do so was a bit strange. But, by this point, strangeness seemed almost normal. At the moment, she was just trying to figure out how to interupt the door without being rude. There didn't really seem to be a way. She could always just leave, but she doubted the sort of crazy around her would let her go that easily. Idly, she wondered how most people would react to being talked at by a door. They'd probably freak out a bit. That would be nice wouldn't it?

But alas, freaking out could get her eaten by a door. That would be a slightly silly headline wouldn't it? "Excuse me uh... Friend Door, you spoke of another mortal, might you tell me who that was? But first, might you have a name?" Great. Now she was talking in a strangely proper fashion. If she kept up with that, she'd revert to thee and thou.

[Rith]

"Name? Me? Oh, don't be silly. I'm just a door. Doors aren't important enough to have names. But I'm flattered that you would think I had one. You mortals sure are silly like that, though. The guys who built the wall I'm attached to called this place the 'creepy basement.' I don't understand why. It's just full of memories and machines. Those don't creep. They hardly even move at all. How could the basement be creepy if nothing creeps? Like I said, silly mortals. Like that guy who came through here, he wanted to go through me, and said that another person had gone through me, which is just stupid as persons are too big to go through me. I sent him down the elevator a while ago. Never got his name, though. He must be a really important thing, that he gets his own name. Then again, all persons give each other names, and I don't know that half of them really warrant names. Maybe he was really important, though. After all, he did go down the elevator with no complaints. Though, I still wonder if the elevator goes sideways or back and forth. Hope he's important enough to come back up the elevator as well. Oh, right, who was he? Haven't the faintest clue, but he was a he-person, and had brown hair with blue eye... then again, it might have been blue hair and brown eyes..."

---

Stress was mounting upon Tilburr as he followed Naomi along in her invisible maze. Half the people who had gone on this trip had flipped out. There had to be something going on here. The one thing all three cases, Oliver, Naomi, and Toby, had in common, were that they had been by themselves for a noticeable period of time...

Tilburr's eyes were playing tricks on him, as he caught things in his peripheral vision, but turned to find nothing there. Then he heard something. A voice, very distantly, "then again, it might have been blue hair and brown eyes... say, are you going to take that elevator?"

There was what looked like the afterimage of an elevator showing up on the wall behind Naomi, and those things in his peripheral vision kept coming closer.

---

"...say, are you going to take that elevator?" the lion door paused. At the same time, Tilburr showed up behind Naomi... except he wasn't muttering like before.

---

Michi was in a bad spot. Monsters were coming down on her from all directions, the world around her was in a panic, meaning that she was in mild danger of being knocked down, and she could perceive a way out. However, with a quick wit, the adaptive Japanese woman decided upon a plan, and shot out across the street, but instead of running away from the abominations, she was running towards one.

If the figure she was charging felt any surprise at it's quarries actions, it did not show it. Perhaps it's failure to respond as Michi kicked it's knee out was a sign of bewilderment, but it's facial expression did not change. Not that it possessed that many facial expressions to display, with that pale, grotesque face poking out of that tweed suit.

A tiny earbud sat in it's left ear, with deft hands, Michi removed it, pulled out her phone, and, in a move worthy of James Bond, poured the most overwhelming sound into the ears if all the abominations listening. As she held the two together, she could see the abominations on the tops of the stores doubling over and collapsing. Well, they might be eldritch abominations, but they were still using real-world technology, which might be perceived as a little odd, at the very least. Well, the job was done, and she had about 10 seconds to act before they recuperated, as she could already see a few taking out their earbuds.

However, there was one abomination who was not affected by the sudden explosion of screeching noise in it's ear. Sure, it was suffering from a damaged knee, but it had Michi within it's reach. And lashed out, trying to damage her knee to bring her down like him. (Roll 4d6-5 to try and evade the attack. If you roll 10+, you get hit. Also, include 4d6-4 for your next action as well, whatever it may be.)

---

The girl cracked a smile at Toby's words, then actually laughed, a beautiful, genuine laugh, that would make anyone at least smile a bit, "What are you talking about, silly? The university is right there," she pointed over her shoulder, at a building, which, honestly, looked to be in better condition than the others around it. Stepping forward, she went on, "Dr. Fehoose is the professor. He's a very clever man, and has mastered many different subjects. He'll be starting his lecture on architecture here soon. You don't want to miss it either. I hear he really knows some fascinating stories about the Sydney Opera House."

The girl was close now, and looped her arm around Toby's arm, "And no, I don't know you, but I'm not mistaken. I could tell you were looking for answers, so I came over to help. You are looking for answers, aren't you? Then come on, class starts in only 8 minutes!"

[Hazuki]

Michi lets out a grunt as the Slenderman lashes out at her leg, feeling its hand slam into her leg. Rather than attempt to punish it for its offense, she keeps sprinting towards the nearest subway entrance. She keeps a tight grip on her impromptu screw-the-Slendermans device, knowing that she can at least stop their devices from helping them navigate, even if they don't stay debilitated.

Spoiler: Rolls before hoes.

Show

(4d6-5)[10]
(4d6-4)[10]

[Deathkeeper]

I felt better as she laughed. I felt like I should not be letting my guard down, but I did, just a little. Maybe there were normal people on this side of things? Or at least somewhat benevolent beings that looked like them. I'd gladly take either of those things.
And if it's a trap, well, my chances of survival didn't seem that good to me anyway.
I looked down at the arm looped around mine, then back up to the girl.
"Well alright, but at least give me a name to call you by, Miss." I tried to ask politely.

[Bladehunter217]

Paranoia is healthy, keeps you out of all kinds of trouble. Seeing things just out of sight for instance was good, made you suspicious of the things around you, kept you from getting caught in a trap. At least that's what Tilburr used to think. Now things weren't as clear.Could be anything, I'd better not be crazy. I may have backup plans in case I ever lost my job but not all of them would be worth anything if I were mad. This is all a load of ****, don't care how you look at it. Time to get a few answers. "Naomi, this is a tad ridiculous, would you mind explaining why an elevator only half exists in front of us? What of that voice and you were able to find your way through the maze that wasn't there. You must know something. It appears as though we are stuck in the twilight zone." It really is isn't it. Two objects trying to fit in one place, makes the people who see both think they are mad. Next thing you know we'll be locked up and new versions of us will replace us.

[Sir Dancealot]

Naomi listened to the blathering door, trying to catch everything. It was working... Mostly. She missed some, bu thay was to be expected when confronting a babbling door she supposed. There were a couple of things that caught her attention. Well, mainly one. "Memories? How is the room full of memories?" Yes, out of all of that, that was specifically what she latched onto. To be fair, any room could hold menories.

But she had a feeling that this room held them in a different way than other rooms. Of course, that was when Tilburr started speaking. At least he wasn't muttering anymore. She turned slighty, "Please Tilburr, can't you see I'm talking to the door?" She admonished him before turning to listen to the door.

[Rith]

Tilburr's vision and hearing continued to play tricks on him. At one point, the elevator was an afterimage, then it wasn't there at all, but there was a much smaller door there, with a lion's head door knocker, it's jaw moving in time with that voice which grew closer with each passing moment, "Halfway existing? That's a neat trick. Where is that elevator. Everything I know either exists all the way or doesn't exist at all. But, I suppose I don't know any things that don't exist at all. Nor do I know any things that exist only halfway either, but then again, existing is weird. Like, I exist. How does that work?"

Then the little door was gone, and the elevator was back, now in sharp focus, but now Naomi was gone, and the elevator was on the side of a large rock, while, all around Tilburr stood ancient trees, bare of leaves, and, to his left, a man-sized, leather shoe balanced on it's toes. Meanwhile, that voice continued, but moved much deeper and booming overhead, as though it were the voice of some deity, and it spoke in reverse, "?work that does How .exist I Like,"

Then Tilburr blinked, and he was back in the basement. Or, at least, the basement that Naomi was in, with the maze of machine and Naomi kneeling before a talking door, whom she was listening to speak, "Like, I exist. How does that work? Whoa. Deja vu. I feel like I've said that before," but as far as Naomi had heard, he had only said it once, "Anyways, what? Oh, memories, right. It's weird how those things exist too. I don't know how they exist or how they're here, but they do, I know it, it's a thing I know. I think it's something to do with words. Memories are always memories of things, places, or events. A moment preserved into existence, a memento within the mind. Mementos are connected to memories, each memento containing within it a connection, purely mental, to a memory. So it stands to reason that memories can be connected to objects. A place and a point in time is all that is truly needed and a memory can be located. Strange that an existence can be summed up thusly. 'Thusly?' What a weird word. I was talking kind of funny for a moment there. Moment, memento, memory. Words are weird. You know, I can't keep the elevator up all day, and I'm not supposed to even know it exists, so yeah, you gonna chase after that guy, or can I let it drop?"

Just then, the metal doors at the entrance of the basement could be heard opening, and Riggins could be heard, "Tilburr, what are you and that woman doing down here! You should have left by now!"

---

The girl with burgundy hair smirked at Toby, "You can call me Viola. Now, just walk with me," and with that, they were off, taking a nice stroll through the deserted street towards the pristine university, with it's large front doors, standing proud behind green-and-white painted pillars easily forty feet tall, and it's great, sweeping arches. There were still a few people trickling inside when they reached those glass front doors, and it looked like most students were already inside, but as Toby approached those doors, and spotted the distorted and dim reflection of himself and Viola walking forward, he there was something he wasn't perceiving correctly, as though he heard an echo in what was supposed to be a small room. But then he crossed through this doors and the feeling was gone.

Beyond the doors was a long hallway, with plaques and banners lining it to either side, but no doors. No, the only doors in this hall were the ones he had just walked through, and a set of double doors at the far end. It was towards these small doors that they now progress, passing by other students, each looking perfect. There were buff guys with nice haircuts and polo shirts, blonde guys with beanies, dreadlocks, and scruffy beards, girls with glasses and odd hats clutching heavy stacks of books, and cheerful sorority girls who moved about in small gaggles. It was a pristine depiction of a college campus. In fact, it might have even been a parody, as everything might be said to be just too perfect.

Beyond that second set of doors was a college classroom, shaped in the memory of a classic amphitheater, with each row of seats being higher than the one in front of it, and down at the bottom of the semicircle of seats, was a raised stage, with a wide desk on it, and a man in an all white suit. He looked normal at first glance, but then, after a few moments, Toby realized that his great, bald head was easily three times too large for his regular body, and covered in gray skin and dotted with piercings here and there. He wore a giant pince nez, which concealed his eyes behind two shadowy black lenses. After a moment, the bobble-headed man spoke, his voice delicate and calculated, as though he balanced each word on his tongue before tossing it out, "Alright everyone, one minute until class begins, take your seats, please."

---

Michi was practically knocked to the ground by the force of the abomination's swipe, but kept her footing due to her martial arts training, sliding back into a standing position just as quickly as her leg had been knocked to the side. Limping, she made her way as quickly as she could towards the subway entrance a few hundred feet away. The one who had harmed her brought it's hand up to it's white-pale face, and licked it's hand where it had touched her, it's tongue just as white as it's flesh, in lieu of chasing after her. The others, atop the buildings and in the streets, were preoccupied tearing out their earbuds and scoffing, yet their scoffs seemed animalistic, more like a gorilla grunting or a horse snorting than a man expressing disdain. They were too far behind her to catch up before she jogged down the stairs into the underground.

Down below, there was the same panic as above. Some people running down, thinking that being underground might shield them from the non-existent bomb, some running up, trying to get away from the confined space and collapsing hazard, and some arguing with one another about the best place to be. Beyond that, it was a quick act to take in the scene. There were two train tracks to either side of the platform. To Michi's left, there was a train looking just about ready to depart, and to her left, she spotted a door to a service tunnel, which immediately jumped out at her, as it was hanging off it's hinges, and was not locked. At the same time, there could be heard the shriek of a breaking train incoming from the station that the departing train was heading towards, or perhaps some other, distant station, and it would be passing through in a few seconds.

Meanwhile, the abominations could be spotted at the top of the stairs into the underground, now, making calm and orderly steps down towards the office worker.

[Hazuki]

Michi hops on to the train that's just about to depart and turns her phone's music off, after tossing the earbud at the tracks.

[Deathkeeper]

It was a bit bizarre. I mean, I couldn't help but feel like this all wasn't what it appeared. I was still waiting to find out that I was the only human here or everyone around me was secretly a werewolf or something. The place just seemed too perfect, and just a little bit off. But people beats being alone and possibly dead any day, even if it might be a trap. I just didn't have the will to deny the opportunity based on my paranoia. And truthfully if they weren't human, as long as no one was trying to eat me I couldn't care less. I turned to Viola as we found a seat.

"Okay, one minute. What is this place? I don't remember there being a college a block from home before. And what's this lecture on, anyway?"
I realized I should have looked around for a water fountain. I was getting awfully thirsty after all that walking.

[Bladehunter217]

Tilburr stands traight, turning on Riggins, looking dead eyed at the other man. "Riggins, you have absolutely horrendous timing. We just found something quite interesting. I believe I know what made my intern lose his mind." Damnit Riggins, I was quite curious about this whole twilight zone thing. Hopefully Riggins leaves, this door is rather interesting. Naomi might even be small enough to slide through it.

[Sir Dancealot]

Naomi continued to ignore pretty much anything that wasn't the door. The door was particularly interesting in the fact that it could talk, and it seemed incapable of stopping. No doubt she could talk to it for hours. "I think Tilbur, the man yelling behind me want to go onto it." She said to the door, trying to keep the elevator up a bit longer. "How do words effect the memories? And how are you keeping the elevator up? Do mind if I call you Jim?"

[Rith]

The train slowly pulled away from the station, sliding Michi into the tunnel as she limps across the virtually empty subway car, towards a seat, collapsing into it, her leg throbbing in pain. Maybe she had never had a bruised bone before, but, there's a first thing for everything, and as soon as her adrenaline faded, that leg would hurt.

However, the abominations were not going to give up that easily, as they stopped in the middle of the subway platform, and their leader looked about for a moment, taking in the broken door and the train leaving the station. After a few moments of calm contemplation, it spoke, "She either is on the train or in the service tunnels. Half go to train and half go to tunnels. Be careful in tunnels. If you slip, we cannot send ones to recover you."

Another abomination replied, it's eyeless face staring away from the leader to whom it was speaking, "Too few people on the train. We cannot send half."

The leader considered the world for a moment, then answered, "Yes, only twenty four total. Send two of our number there. The rest of that half go towards platform where the train will empty out at."

A third spoke, "The tunnels have no people. We cannot move easily within them."

"Yes, tunnels are dangerous. Keep trying your earbuds, in case the sound stopped."

Meanwhile, Michi sat there, thinking whatever it was that she was thinking, and, a few moments passed, when she felt a tug on her sleeve. Turning, she'd find herself face to face with a dirty child dressed in what looked to be a large plastic bag. After making eye contact, the child pointed to the back of the car, and, if she turned to look, Michi would see two pale, eyeless faces pop out at her, two car back from the one she was in.

---

Viola turned her kind eyes towards Toby as he asked his questions and expressed that he did not remember a university so close to his home. She cocked an eyebrow in confusion and smiled, bemused, at this as she settled into a seat next to Toby, sliding up close to him, so that her warm legs were touching his and he could smell what seemed to be peach perfume from her, "What, do you think you live near here? Nothing lives near here except us students. Really, I don't see why anyone would live anywhere else either. Now chill with the questions, the lecture is starting, and it's on architecture."

Indeed, the man with the head as large as his body had begun to speak, his voice reaching to every corner of the impressively large amphitheater. Toby caught what he was saying halfway through a sentence, "…a fascinating subject it is. Architecture is not exactly the art of construction buildings, such as this beautiful university, but of shapes. Shapes and purpose. Nor is it limited to buildings. You can have the architecture of a city, the architecture of a society, the architecture of a world, and the architecture of the mind. In all cases, the fundamental issue at hand is still the shape of the thing, and the purpose of it as well.

"For example, the flying buttress can take many ascetic appearances, but it's shape remains constant, as does it's reason for existing. Note that when it comes to structures, architecture is very static. Now, for the mind, a memory can both change in shape, where one year you could recall running from a small dog, and then, the next year, you could swear it had been the size of a bear, and in purpose, as, at certain times, a memory can uplift the soul, while others, it can depress it. The architecture of the mind is very morphic.

"Now, as I stated, there are the different central kinds of architecture: building, city, society, world, and mind. There are also the outlying kinds of architecture: Delphine, Te-tum-a-toodle, Unbrave, Sliry, Kolavant, and Harse-Moot. These are advanced forms, and we won't be covering them today, but do make note of them. As they are important."

Voila nudged Toby a bit, "Why aren't you taking notes?"

---

Riggins could be clearly heard even through the walls of machinery, and... for some reason, he was singing his words, as though he were in the opera, "I don't care what's you've found. You were supposed to leave twenty minutes ago. Now will you leave or do I have to forcibly remove you?!"

It was then that he came around the corner, and Tilburr caught full sight of him, high stepping like the leader of a marching band, and waving a baton about. Honestly, his choreography was superb, but the entire sight was unsettling.

Behind the two men, where Naomi was focused upon the door before her, well, if a door could blush, that's what Jim would be doing right now, "Jim? Do you really think I'm important enough to have a name? Well, if we're naming me, I suppose Jim is a nice name. What does it mean? Is it the name of a great traveler? Or was there some doormaker named Jim? I swear, I'm not important enough to be named, I'm just a door. It's just like you persons, to give a name where it's not necessary."

Jim paused for a few seconds, before murmuring, "Jim..." and continuing on, "Well, I suppose doors can't hold up elevators for so long either. Or at all. I don't know how I do it, I just was able to do it from that awkward moment where I started existing, but I do know I can't hold it forever, so, if your friend wants to go, he has to go, like, now. I suppose I can talk a bit more, though, while I'm here. How do words affect memories? Well, loads of ways. If I say I remember a lot of things from shortly after I began existing, a lot of memories come to mind. If I say I can't remember anything from shortly after I began existing, I fail to remember anything. If I recount a memory using a lot of angry or negative words, the memory will be different within another person's mind. The exact same is true in reverse if I use happy or positive words. Even the words within the memory can affect it, especially if your memory of the meanings of words change."

[Hazuki]

"Then show me where to go." Michi whispers to the child, taking off for a few cars ahead if the child doesn't.

[Deathkeeper]

Warning: Error. Error. Does not compute. Attractive girls do not willingly get that close to me. I had ten years of evidence for that. She's clearly an alien or something. Errorrrr!

The lecture seemed straightforward enough, actually. Some of those words were getting pretty out-there, but the basic concepts of structure and such actually did make sense. Which was probably something I didn't expect to say ever again. Then Viola nudged me. I mean, I really didn't think that this would be important since I was no student here, but I guess I might as well play along, right? I hastily grabbed my notebook from my bag and one of my favorite four-color pens. If I was good at nothing else, it was taking notes and writing quickly.
Architecture -> Shape and Purpose, For Anything
Building Arch = Static Mind Arch = Morphic
Main Categories: Building-City-Society-World-Mind
Advanced Forms (???): Delphine, Te-tum-a-toodle, Unbrave, Sliry, Kolavant, Harse-Moot (How do you spell these!?)

[Sir Dancealot]

"So the very words you use can change memories? Do you think with the right words you could change a person?" Naomi asked Jim before turning to Tilburr, "Tilburr, get in the elevator, I'll be right behind you." She turned back to the door for the moment, "And of course you should have a name. All living things should have a name. And talking things." She smiled at the door before she realized what she was doing. "Do you think I could fit through you?"

[Bladehunter217]

If you would excuse me for a moment, I would like to ponder something Mr. Riggins. Good day to you Jim and if anyone could fit through your portal and return to tell the tale, I believe Naomi would be the one." Tilburr tips an imaginary hat and steps into the elevator, looking for any buttons to press.

[Rith]

The child in the plastic bag turned around and pointed towards the front of the train. Looking that way, Michi could spot what looked to be an emergency stop lever a few cars up.

---

Doctor Fehoose continued on, "Now, understanding these architectures, that's what we're here for, today. But what does that knowledge earn you? Well, it can be used in two ways. One, it can allow you to see something and see what it was meant for, therefore allowing you to discern something about the thing you are observing which you couldn't have discerned without this knowledge, or it can allow you to spot weak points in something. I wonder which one you all seek?"

The entire classroom laughed at this last sentence. That was strange. It wasn't exactly a joke... was it? No time to think about it, as Fehoose was continuing, "Alright, let's begin on the topic of building architectural basics..."

The next hour was filled with ranting about different types of architectural staples. Supports, archways, and suspension bridges all detailed in brief, but impressively precise ways. Toby would find his head hurting as Fehoose went exceedingly quickly though the subject, hitting everything that existed in the topic of building architecture.

At long last, the giant-headed man paused for a moment, "All right, let's move onto mental or world architecture next. Which would you prefer?" and hands started shooting up.

---

Jim frowned at Naomi for a moment, and , for once, was silent. It looked like the door was thinking very hard about something. Meanwhile, Tilburr had stepped into the elevator, to find that it was ancient, but must have once been at the height of luxury. Faded velvet, an old gas lamp, the glass turned black after years of use, and even a lever, the kind you'd find in an old twenties elevator, where it went the direction you pulled. However, this one was stuck, and wouldn't allow anyone to pull it except in one direction.

After Tilburr stepped into the elevator, however, Jim finally spoke up, "You know, I'm pretty sure you're too big. I exist without a handle, to deter mortals from stepping inside, and I'm too small for a mortal to step through. Then again, I like you. You gave me a name, after all. I can't wait to tell someone about my new name, too. You'll have to crawl on your belly to get through, I think, but yeah, I'll allow you past."

With that, Jim, the door, swung forward without a sound, revealing, beyond, a long tunnel of the same vertical and horizontal dimensions as Jim, extending as far as the eye could see forward, cast in complete and total darkness, with only the light from the basement revealing a few marks on the walls near the front. Strangely, those marks reminded Naomi of equations. Really, this sight was the claustrophobes nightmare. Off to the side, Jim was still talking, "I don't know who I'm going to tell me name, however. Maybe another mortal? I don't see that many of them, except recently. Maybe it's a trend for the future. Maybe I'll meet dozens of mortals from this point forward, and they'll all know me as Jim."

Riggins, meanwhile, seemed to be frozen, staring patiently at Tilburr, as he stood in the elevator, and Tilburr decided to depart with or without Naomi.

[Hazuki]

Michi goes and pulls it.