A very merry Halloween! [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 31st of October
Characters: Open!
Warning: Non-sexual desecration of formerly buried corpses

---

On the morning of Halloween, when people first step out of their houses, they will almost step into something.

A bucket of water. Every flat and every house in the Mossgate Boundary has a bucket placed in front of its entrance door (and sometimes, especially in Folkton and Moss Manor, the back door too), in which scary apples are floating. A little sign taped to the bucket reads: Have fun bobbing!.

But that's not the only thing that happened. The second thing that people will notice is that there are billions of spiders of all sizes crawling all over the town and villages, the military base, the Manor House... everywhere. And they certainly did their job - trees, lanterns, the higher attractions on the pier, and everything else that is high all over Mossgate Council is covered in thick layers of cobweb.

And lastly... those who pass by a church will notice something about the graveyards around them. Namely, that someone placed skeletons on top of most of the graves... Awfully real looking ones. Really, really awfully real looking ones. To some of them, the soil of the graveyard still clings, and the graves underneath them are in a state that betrays that they were dug up during the night. DNA tests would show that, indeed, the skeletons belong to the individuals buried in the graves.

Comments

[iamnotgod]

"Assuming the webs, the apples, and the skeletons all happening today aren't a coincidence? I should think not."

Or hope, more like.

"... It's not centering on houses of specific people, though that's not all that reassuring on the whole."

[fairfeste]

"I mean. It would definitely be creepier if it was, wouldn't it?" Maybe imply that someone was trying to curse certain people, or something. Or maybe they're trying to curse the village? With... spiders and creepy apples? They sigh, a slight pout on their face.

"I bet we're not even going to find out." How rude. That's rude, whoever did this.

Since I think Walter would have learned their name from Mary by now, if nothing else.

[iamnotgod]

"You might have just jinxed us, Feste."

That said slightly less seriously than the tone of the previous discussion.

"But yes, it'd definitely be creepier... even if the apples don't seem to have any deeper implications."

Apart from looking like skulls.

i think feste introduced themselves at the casting call so you're good

[fairfeste]

Feste grins. "I'd only jinx you if you were mean to me," they say chipperly.

But... then the chipperness fades, and they blink, hard. Why are they so dizzy all of a sudden...?

[iamnotgod]

Walter takes note of that sudden lull in conversation.

"Feste...?"

Was it the webs? The apples? Or something he said?

[fairfeste]

"Sorry..." They put a hand to their head but try to shoot him a reassuringly smile. It probably doesn't work, since they suddenly really don't feel well. "I just got kind of dizzy all of a sudden. I probably need to eat something." Just maybe not apples.

[iamnotgod]

Walter's response is more of a flat look.

"While that would probably help... did you happen to get a sense of feeling hollow along with the dizziness?"

His tone now is less suspicious and more outright concern - and empathy, possibly to Feste's surprise.

[fairfeste]

Feste blinks at him, mouth slightly open. "Uh... yes?" Oh god, is this is a specific new thing they haven't heard about? Because this is the second time this has happened, are they sick???

[iamnotgod]

"Seeecond question, and I swear I wouldn't be asking this if you hadn't said yes; you don't happen to have a Number you can't forget no matter what anymore, do you?"

Now he's just quietly glancing around, making sure there's no one paying an unusual amount of attention to them...

Or at least any familiar strange bald men.

[fairfeste]

Hoooow is he doing that. Oh god, is that related too? Are they dying because of numbers??? "Y...yeah...?"

[iamnotgod]

"The good news is, you're definitely not alone. I can show you what happens if you type up or write down the Number anywhere, even."

He shifts in place a little.

"The bad news, though, is that no one knows why it's happening, not for certain, and the longer you have a Number the more bizarre things are likely to get for any one person."

At least no one's died yet...???

[fairfeste]

There is a long, long moment where Feste just stares. They think that's probably justified because--

"Are you crazy?"

The way they say it is not accusatory- they just sounds genuinely curious. Because that sounds pretty crazy.

[iamnotgod]

"That'd be the easy way out."

Said as flatly as possible.

"But I've been trying to not get into anything crazy for well over ten years by this point - if there was a sane explanation for this, we'd have found it by now. If it was just me, I'd have gone back to London."

He shakes his head.

"But nope, this is just... reality, now. That sense of hollowness hits you, you hear a heartbeat - next thing you know your eyes or your voice has changed, or you can run faster than the proverbial speeding bullet."

[fairfeste]

Oh, right. Walter did also say something about writing the number now. They sort of ignored that, in favor of assuming crazy.

"That's, like. Super creepy. Really super creepy." They don't like it. Not one bit. But... they'll pull out their phone, frowning as they type in the number that's been swimming around their head for weeks.

[iamnotgod]

"No argument."

It's more of a grumble than a statement by this point, but Walter shakes his head and sighs.

"Right, right. What are you seeing, right now? On the phone?"

Though it could also be audio.

[fairfeste]

Feste is looking at it, frowning. "Some sort of audio post, I think?"

He pushes play on it, listening- and then jaw dropping as he hears two very familiar voices. "Is that Nel? And Mum?!"

[iamnotgod]

Walter hesitates for what feels all-too-noticeable... to his perception of time, anyway.

Feste may or may not catch it, given how distracted they've just become.

"Yes. That'd be their first interaction with the Network, too. You should probably tell them," he continues.

"Have all your cards on the same table and whatnot."

Feste could troll their family, perhaps, but given that their Mum is involved that would probably backfire terribly.

[fairfeste]

Feste absolutely does not notice, a little too caught up. They're kind of surprised Nel hadn't said anything... they're not sure if they should be impressed or worried about when she hits teenage years.

"Yeah... I guess so," they say, still staying at their phone. This is a lot, ok.

[iamnotgod]

Both, Feste. When in doubt, go for both.

"... You want to sit down anywhere?" Walter asks, keeping his gaze on Feste for now, instead of nervously gazing around like he feels like he should.

It's probably just nerves. Probably.

[fairfeste]

Feste shakes their head, a little more vigorously than necessary in order to get themselves out of this. "No... No, I'm ok. I just. Don't really know what to do with this."

[iamnotgod]

"Welcome to the club, then, Feste," Walter says, and can't help an ironic smile as he does so.

"We're mostly left making things up as we go along."

[fairfeste]

"Great." Not great. They like clubs where people know that they're doing. There's a bit of a pout on their face now. "So... what? We know nothing?"

[iamnotgod]

"Not nothing, exactly. We know this effect is limited to within six miles of the Mossgate river, one doesn't have to have been born in Mossgate to be affected, and," Walter hurriedly explains,

"Whenever accessing the Network, anyone who doesn't have a Number can't tell anything is suspicious. It only looks like words, or whatever we're working on, or a normal phone call depending on what you're using."

He sighs.

"But as for who or what is causing us to be like this... that's a bit of a blank wall."

[fairfeste]

Walter is saying words, and they are constructed in a logical order, and yet somehow he's still not making any sense. So Feste just blinks at him again.

"...Right." They totally got that. Definitely. They're definitely still not super lost. "So, what. It's magic or something?"

/pats Feste on head/

[iamnotgod]

A part of him defaults to 'Magic is science we just don't understand,' but Walter doesn't know enough about what's going on to feel that's the right answer either.

He really doesn't like that fact.

"Possibly."

And he's just pinching the bridge of his nose now.