Lost and Found [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 23-30.3.19
Characters: Open

---

It starts slowly, one by one: Items are being returned to people. Specifically, they are delivered to their mailboxes.

The items are very varied, and either pushed through the letter slot in the door or, if they're too big, just left on the doorstep: A wallet that was stolen last year, a coin that was dropped into the sea last week, or a toy that was left on a bus, a time capsule buried in the ground, an unwanted present purposefully forgotten at the train station. The only thing that they have in common that they are never perishables. It's all non-food items.

All items that are being returned must have vanished within the Mossgate Echo Boundary, but they can have vanished long before the person whom they are returned to gained their first echo/got access to the network.

They appear throughout the week, and then abruptly stop the evening before Mother's Day.

Comments

Closed Action + Network OTA

[iamnotgod]

[The 23rd; Closed for Russell]

By now Walter has properly integrated the webcam-and-glasses setup into his daily life, as well as figured out how to adjust the former with minimal movements and attention drawn.

But as he stands outside the door to the flat today, he's forgotten about that, simply staring down at the blue blanket in his hands as if he'd been frozen in time.

"Didn't we give this away?" he asks aloud, not expecting any response. True, he'd never seen what his parents had done with his childhood belongings when they'd left Mossgate, but a furtive dive into his memories and repeated strokings of the soft fabric, the fraying at the edges assure that yes, this is the same blanket he'd had until he was five-

"And how did it even get here?" he asks, louder and more intentionally (and subsequently more rushed).

[The 27th; Network Text]

This isn't city-wide, is it? People having lost items returned?

Because it's starting to get annoying.

[scarsolderthanyou]

I. Closed probably, unless anybody walks by

Sam wasn't expecting any packages. Really, he didn't do a lot of ordering anymore, preferring to go out and do things instead, and he didn't need much. So stepping outside that morning and finding a box on his doorstep makes him pause, squint, and take a careful sniff.

Doesn't smell like Mr. Evil (harhar, he still doesn't buy that name). Smells like... Amy. He drops to a crouch to tear it open and scowls at the small collection of his wife's things, which he'd donated, sold, or thrown away-- and had honestly not wanted to see again. He stared at it for a long moment, then picked up the box and headed inside.


II. For Family

The box comes with him to Mary Ann's house, where he grouchily drops it on their couch and asks anyone, "Did you send this, or is this numbered crap messing with us again?"


III. OTA

With his family not to blame, the only other option is numbered crap, so Sam is prowling around looking for the source of the non-Amy scents on the box. He knows he's smelled it before... mingled with something less pleasant, but he's unable to put the right memory together just yet. He can be found walking in any part of the township trying to catch a hint of the owner of that smell.

Fellow Numbered people will probably recognize the determined look on his face as him hunting.

[Network, audio]

[scarsolderthanyou]

So it is numbered crap.

Someone or something collected a bunch of my dead wife's belongings and returned them to me.

[He sounds annoyed, too. Maybe a little angry.]

III

[saveournpcs]

Out near the pier, a man is crouching in front of a crying child, speaking to the little boy in soft tones.

As he's upwind of Sam, the widower might get a wiff of his scent - and it is the exact scent that he is looking for. The wind also carries pieces of what the man and the child are saying, making it clear that he's trying to help the child to find his parents, with little success.

[lovedramamoron]

1.
Jimmy had taken on a seat on the front steps of his host family's house as he investigates the box that had appeared. To his left is a small and growing pile of objects. A box of pencils, a hairbrush, a left glove and a small stack of notebooks and paperback novels.

2. Network
So this is kind of weird. Did anyone else get a box with a lot things you've lost inside it?

[scarsolderthanyou]

Interesting. Not as immediately off-putting as Mr-I'm-too-stupid-to-come-up-with-a-decent-name, at least. Sam doesn't even hesitate, he just heads right over to join the conversation. Maybe he'll even recognize the kid, and be able to help. "There a problem over here?"

Re: [Network, audio]

[iamnotgod]

That's horrible.

[Walter definitely sounds disturbed by the prospect.]

I'm sorry. ... It wasn't anything from the gravesite, was it?

[Because he can no longer Not Think about things like 'what could possibly make this worse?'

[Text]

[iamnotgod]

Box, no. Things, yes.

At least it's not extending to food so far, though.

[It's a very minimum standard, because otherwise their homes would really look like reverse garbage cans, and... they could probably do without that.]

[saveournpcs]

"This young fellow here seems to have lost his parents." The man has a light local accent, just strong enough to be identifiable but light enough that there are no issues with understanding it at all.

2

[catted]

We keep getting onsies that may or may not have lived in this household once.

[She doesn't really remember every single piece of children's clothing that were ever put on her children.]

network

[channingchanningchanning]

What items?

[He's lost quite a few much beloved toys over the years! Because his owner deemed them too gross and ruined to keep them. He'd like them back!]

[Audio now, I presume?]

[iamnotgod]

Clothes, pencils... a blanket.

And a mug, though I don't remember exactly keeping that one in the first place.

[If they can be restored still, MAYBE Chad's owner will get an unpleasant surprise???]

yes!

[channingchanningchanning]

Things that you liked?

[Network, audio]

[scarsolderthanyou]

No. Just things I gave away or threw out.

She's already been dug up once. If it happened again....

[He can't even finish that. The thought makes him too angry.]

[scarsolderthanyou]

First things first, then. He joins scent-man in a crouch before the boy. "What's your name, son?"

Re: yes!

[iamnotgod]

Not necessarily.

[Considering it only seemed to be Things Lost in Mossgate, however, it was something of a relief compared to what else Walter could have gotten back.]

Re: [Network, audio]

[iamnotgod]

[Walter sighs.]

I'd better not have jinxed it for you.

Is it only things you gave away during your time here in Mossgate, too?

Re: [Text]

[lovedramamoron]

I got a bunch of things in a box. I had no idea I'd misplaced this many things since I got here.

Re: 2

[lovedramamoron]

So its not just me. I'm not sure whether that is reassuring or worrying.

Re: [Text]

[iamnotgod]

It is surprising, in some cases. Though, most of these things are easily replaced. That reduces the shock value for those who haven't been here long.

[Or, uh... had to bury a loved one here. Because that's a thing.]

[catted]

It's like a more individualised version of the coal we got for Christmas.

[channingchanningchanning]

...But also things that you liked?

[Just tell him that he can hope!]

[saveournpcs]

The boy ducks his head even further, looking first at the younger, then at the older man, and then hiccups: "Benjamin."

The man nods. "And you came here with your mum and dad and your little sister, but then you looked at a dog and then they were gone, right?"

The little boy nods.

[iamnotgod]

That I once liked, yes.

[That's probably the best way for him to put it. He's not certain how he feels about the blanket now.]

[lovedramamoron]

But maybe a little more useful. I think I'm stocked for pens and pencils for a while now.