CHAPTER 13: THE SANCTUARY OF FRESH INK
Outside the rotting gate of the Marigold Inn, the newcomers paused at the tree line. Carrying the little driftwood doll on his shoulder, Pierre deliberately lingered twenty feet back in the shadows.
Eusacles and Professor Dravin led the way toward the glowing campfire, Eusacles rolling his broad shoulders with watchful wariness.
Pierre leaned forward, whispering nervously past the wooden doll's ear. "I am thinking that we let them talk to the scary guy by the fire... the one who thinks we are dead."
Stopping just outside the clearing, Pierre tucked himself behind an overgrown fencepost, cautiously peering into the light while Dravin and Eusacles stepped into the open.
The sun-weathered man sitting by the flames looked up, his easy smirk broadening into a welcoming grin. "Don't worry, bros! Don't be scared at all!"
"We love fresh ink around here," the man chuckled, dusting ash from his knuckles. "We're happy to have you. It's totally normal to be surprised when you hear us ask what edit killed youโlike we're telling you you're dead."
Dravin adjusted his spectacles, his scholarly curiosity piqued. "Would we have remembered dying?"
"Well, yeah, it's a funny thing," the man replied with an easy shrug. "You're not actually dead, but it kind of depends on who you ask. We can get you patched up, though. Come right in."
Dravin gestured toward the shadows behind him. "My buddy could definitely use a long rest."
"You said your name was Michael?" Dravin asked, stepping closer to the hearth. "How long have you been here, Mike?"
"The thing is, we all kind of died at different times, at different points in our lives," Mike explained, tossing a pine stick onto the fire. "And the crazy thing is that you stay approximately the same age the whole time."
"A little Benjamin Button action," Dravin observed.
"Yeah, it's kind of crazy, kind of cool," Mike smiled.
Dravin frowned thoughtfully. "How do we interact with the outside world?"
"We all have different theories," Mike said. "Some people remember things clearly, while the youth kind of see through the veil with divine sense."
At the mention of divine perception, Eusacles closed his eyes, extending his celestial intuition across the clearing to test the shadows for fiendish or spectral corruption.
A sudden, breathtaking surge of golden clarity washed over his consciousnessโan absolute, unclouded vision that pierced straight through the mountain gloom.
Through his celestial sight, Eusacles could see that this was a consecrated refugeโa haven where the veil presented a different vision than mortal eyes could pierce.
This was consecrated groundโa protected sanctuary of refuge shielded from external prying.
Residual auras flickered around Mike and the silent girl beside him: neither bore true demigod fire nor monstrous taint, but rather faint, lingering celestial and spectral echoesโsouls suspended between realms.
The rotting timber gate of the Marigold Inn groaned in the mountain draft. At the pine tree line, Pierre lingered twenty feet back in the gloom, hugging his woolen cloak tight against the damp chill, with the little driftwood doll nestled against his collarbone. He watched the orange embers spit into the fog, unconvinced.
Eusacles and Professor Edward Dravin pressed forward toward the firelight, the spartan's broad shoulders rolling with vigilant tension.
Pierre leaned his chin down toward the doll's carved ear, his voice dropping to a theatrical French hiss. "I am thinking that we let them talk to the scary guy by the fire... the one who thinks we are dead."
Shrinking behind an overgrown cedar post, Pierre peered through the briars as Dravin and Eusacles emerged into the campfire's amber arc.
The sun-weathered man lounging on a split pine log tossed an apple core into the coals and looked up with an easy, disarming grin. "Don't worry, bros! Don't be scared at all!" Dusting ash from his work-worn knuckles, he leaned forward on his knees. "We love fresh ink around here. We're happy to have you. It's totally normal to be surprised when you hear us ask what edit killed youโlike we're telling you you're dead."
Dravin lifted a finger to adjust his thick spectacle bridge, his academic demeanor asserting itself over physical exhaustion. "Would we have remembered dying?"
"Well, yeah, it's a funny thing," Mike replied, offering an easy shrug that belied the uncanny setting. "You're not actually dead, but it kind of depends on who you ask. We can get you patched up, though. Come right in."
Dravin gestured back toward the gloom where Alfie and Pierre lurked. "My buddy could definitely use a long rest." Stepping into the warm ring of the hearth, he studied the stranger's calm posture. "You said your name was Michael? How long have you been here, Mike?"
"The thing is, we all kind of died at different times, at different points in our lives," Mike explained, turning a charred branch in the coals. "And the crazy thing is that you stay approximately the same age the whole time."
"A little Benjamin Button action," Dravin murmured, fascination overcoming dread.
"Yeah, it's kind of crazy, kind of cool," Mike smiled, looking out into the mist. "We all have different theories. Some people remember things clearly, while the youth kind of see through the veil with divine sense."
At the mention of unseen thresholds, Eusacles closed his eyes. Drawing a steady breath of mountain air, he expanded his celestial awareness past the crackle of burning pine, searching the perimeter for spectral taint or fiendish ambush. A sudden, breathtaking wave of golden intuition crested through his visionโan absolute, radiant clarity that dissolved the mountain gloom. The clearing was not an ambush trap, but consecrated ground: a sanctuary shielded from outside scrutiny, its resident souls suspended between realms with lingering celestial echoes.
Mike noticed their bewildered expressions and gave an understanding nod. "Oh, I see the misunderstanding here."
"It's called The Margin, and we kind of love that idea," Mike explained, gesturing around the quiet forest clearing. "We build our language around it. You knowโwords like *edited*, *corrected*, or *redacted*. There's definitely space for you guys here, though you'll have to share a guest cabin. A real wood log cabin out in the boonies."
Dravin tilted his head with an academic smirk. "Now when you say that, is that c-a-b space i-n? The cab in?"
Mike barked out a laugh, pointing an appreciative finger at the professor. "I like this one! He's a good dude right here. We could definitely use some humor around here. But seriously, we'll introduce you guys around."
His tone softened, turning gentle as he poked at the coals. "There's Theodoreโhe prefers Theodore from new people, but old folks call him Teddy. He's going to take down your information. We all have different theories about why we're even here, seeing as we've all been through a very traumatic experience."
Eusacles leaned forward against the split-rail fence, his brow furrowing. "Mike, what was your traumatic experience that brought you here?"
"Last I saw, I was on a cruise ship with my friends, riding through the seven seas," Mike murmured, staring deep into the orange embers. "All of a sudden, the ship started going down. Everything flashed blinding white. Next thing I know, I woke up standing alone in front of an ATM on a dark street in West Virginia. Nobody else was there. Just me."
"And how did you get from an ATM in West Virginia to the Margin?" Eusacles asked.
"Teddy was still leaving the Margin back then, hunting for displaced folks," Mike replied with quiet gratitude. "I'm from California, so West Virginia felt totally alien to me. Teddy sensed something off meโor maybe I just looked completely confusedโand brought me in. He's been here by far the longest of anyone."
Pierre stepped reluctantly out of the shadows, clutching his woolen beret to his head. "I think this is not the right place."
"I am supposed to be on a pilgrimage," Pierre explained nervously. "Maybe a random question, but... does your hair have snakes?"
Mike looked puzzled, touching his wavy brown locks. "My hair is completely natural."
"Yes, so too is mine," Pierre agreed hastily. "But does it wiggle and sometimes bite perhaps, or no?"
Mike gave a nervous chuckle, shaking his head. "I think we might be a little bit lost in translation here. It sounds like your hair is snakes, and that's a bit wild."
"No, it is very well tamed," Pierre insisted, adjusting his spectacles. "They are not wild anymore."
Pierre gestured around the clearing with a deep sigh. "My mother told me to come to America to find a place to learn about my heritage. Going into a log cabin in the middle of America was not what she had in mind."
He glanced sideways at Mike with quiet suspicion. "I have learned Mike's name, but I am not going to get too emotionally attached to Mike yet. He has a very strange California accent."
Pierre looked down at the tiny driftwood figure resting in his palm. "I feel bad for calling you a doll."
"What should we call you?" Pierre asked gently. "Maybe Alonso... or Alfie? A little Alfie?"
The little sailor's coral eyes gleamed. "Yeah, Alfie. I think that's a pretty nice name."
Alfie turned toward Mike by the fire. "Mike, you were talking about a ship... a ship that crashed in the water."
The wooden doll's limbs suddenly locked rigid. "I remember... the dark, and the quiet..." the doll whispered.
Pierre reached up, gently steadying the trembling doll with two fingers. "Alfie. Alfie, it is okay. Bring it back."
Alfie stared blankly into the shadows, shivering. "...water."
Mike caught the trio's baffled looks and nodded in easy sympathy. "Oh, I see the misunderstanding here. It's called The Margin, and we kind of love that idea. We build our language around itโwords like *edited*, *corrected*, or *redacted*. There's definitely space for you guys here, though you'll have to share a guest cabin. A real wood log cabin out in the boonies."
Dravin tilted his chin with an academic smirk, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Now when you say that, is that c-a-b space i-n? The cab in?"
Mike barked a laugh, pointing an appreciative finger at the professor. "I like this one! He's a good dude right here. We could definitely use some humor around here. But seriously, we'll introduce you guys around. There's Theodoreโhe prefers Theodore from new people, but old folks call him Teddy. He's going to take down your information. We all have different theories about why we're even here, seeing as we've all been through a very traumatic experience."
Eusacles stepped closer to the fire, the timber railing creaking beneath his massive palms. "Mike, what was your traumatic experience that brought you here?"
"Last I saw, I was on a cruise ship with my friends, riding through the seven seas," Mike murmured, his easy demeanor fading as he stared into the orange embers. "All of a sudden, the ship started going down. Everything flashed blinding white. Next thing I know, I woke up standing alone in front of an ATM on a dark street in West Virginia. Nobody else was there. Just me. Teddy was still leaving the Margin back then, hunting for displaced folks. I'm from California, so West Virginia felt totally alien to me. Teddy sensed something off meโor maybe I just looked completely confusedโand brought me in. He's been here by far the longest of anyone."
Pierre stepped reluctantly from the briars, adjusting his dark woolen beret with prim elegance. "I think this is not the right place. I am supposed to be on a pilgrimage. Maybe a random question, but... does your hair have snakes?"
Mike touched his wavy brown hair, bewildered. "My hair is completely natural."
"Yes, so too is mine," Pierre asserted defensively, straightening his cuffs. "But does it wiggle and sometimes bite perhaps, or no?"
"I think we might be a little bit lost in translation here," Mike chuckled nervously. "It sounds like your hair is snakes, and that's a bit wild."
"No, it is very well tamed," Pierre insisted, adjusting his spectacles. "They are not wild anymore. My mother told me to come to America to find a place to learn about my heritage. Going into a log cabin in the middle of America was not what she had in mind." Glancing sideways at Mike, Pierre added under his breath, "I have learned Mike's name, but I am not going to get too emotionally attached to Mike yet. He has a very strange California accent."
Pierre cradled the miniature driftwood figure in his palms, his voice softening with sincere warmth. "I feel bad for calling you a doll. What should we call you? Maybe Alonso... or Alfie? A little Alfie?"
The little sailor's coral eyes gleamed in the firelight. "Yeah, Alfie. I think that's a pretty nice name." Turning toward the hearth, Alfie's carved mouth twitched. "Mike, you were talking about a ship... a ship that crashed in the water." Suddenly, the little wooden limbs locked rigid, trembling violently against Pierre's wrist. "I remember... the dark, and the quiet..."
Pierre cupped his hands gently around the shivering carved wood, anchoring the doll with steady warmth. "Alfie. Alfie, it is okay. Bring it back."
Alfie stared into the dark, his voice a frail rasp. "...water."
"Bring it back, Alfie," Pierre murmured softly, cradling the miniature figure against his jacket. "You are not on the ship anymore."
Mike looked over at the miniature sailor in wonder. "That is... quite a fun doll."
Teddy grabbed an iron fire poker from the dirt and thrust it deep into the coals, pushing the burning logs aside to send a shower of orange sparks into the canopy.
Eusacles stepped up to the fire, sharing what his divine sight had revealed. Dravin carried a distinct celestial aura, while Pierre was fifty-fifty celestial and fiend, and Alfie bore unmistakable undead undertones.
Dravin raised an eyebrow in mock outrage. "So you are telling me everybody else got a little celestial in them, and I'm just half dead?"
"No, you have celestial as well," Eusacles clarified. "You and Pierre don't have undead on you at all. It's Alfie who carries the undead resonance."
Dravin breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay," he murmured, following the logic. "So as far as we can tell, we're all still alive."
Alfie hopped back onto Pierre's shoulder, flicking his needle rapier toward the hearth embers.
Pierre asked Mike how the tiny sailor looked to him. "Looks like a pretty haunted little doll," Mike admitted with a grin. "Might make my top five craziest things."
"Time doesn't tick down in the Margin, little sailor," Teddy replied with a soft chuckle, pushing his tobacco pipe back between his teeth. "You don't age. Your boots don't wear out unless you cross the fence. We are the notes scribbled in the white margins of a manuscript. As long as we stay here, the eraser cannot reach us."
Theodore rocking in his chair on the porch of the inn looked out across the valley. "I founded this place back in 1846, and I haven't aged since."
Dravin asked if people ever leave. "Of course," Teddy replied. "There are ways in and out that revolve around classic Greek mythology. Greek gods exist, just as they are taught in school."
Pierre tilted his head curiously. "Mr. Theodore... when you say developers and edits, I am just happy it does not end with software glitches. But you mentioned monsters. Are there monsters here?"
"All the classics from eighth-grade mythology come around," Teddy nodded solemnly. "Creatures tend to live on their own in the borderlands. Some clash with the gods and end up slain, but mostly it remains peaceful."
Teddy stood up, brushing ash from his trousers. "Come inside the main lodge. A warm meal will help you absorb it all. We will have tea and dessert, and begin our intake."
Inside the long timber hall, Dravin marveled as steaming herbal tea and freshly baked blackberry cobbler were set before them. "The sensory details remain completely intact," Dravin noted, savoring the rich dessert.
It was a pleasant, quiet evening in the Margin. Displaced residents came and went across the dining hall, going about their routines. A few cast curious side glances at the strange layers and unruly curls tucked under Pierre's beret, while others watched in quiet amusement as Alfie hopped across the tabletop, acting out his recent needle fight against ink minions.
Teddy pulled up a chair opposite Eusacles, studying the young man's calm demeanor. "You seem remarkably comfortable with all of this, son. Let me be blunt: are you a half-blood?"
Eusacles exhaled a heavy, ragged sigh. "Look, man. Yeah, I'm a half-blood. My mother told me about my father. But I don't want anything to do with oracles, the Fates, or the gods. I cannot believe I got dragged into Greek mythology b.s. I tried so hard to avoid it."
He rubbed his temples, staring down at his iron-banded wrist. "I was aware of this whole world, but I stayed out. I'm still wrapping my head around being here."
"So you were heading to Vegas to escape it all?" Teddy asked gently.
"I was going to Vegas to blow off steam," Eusacles muttered with a dark, wry grin. "Because none of it matters. We're all going to end up dead eventually. We're all going to end up in the underworld at some pointโso why not have fun while I can?"
Teddy nodded slowly, closing his leather journal. "That is fascinating."
"Bring it back, Alfie," Pierre murmured softly, cradling the tiny carved figure close against his woolen jacket. "You are not on the ship anymore."
Mike watched the miniature sailor in open amazement, scratching his jaw. "That is... quite a fun doll."
Teddy reached for an iron poker leaning against the stone hearth, thrusting it into the embers and sending a crackling plume of orange sparks toward the pine canopy.
Eusacles stepped up to the warmth of the fire, eager to share what his celestial sight had discerned. "Dravin carries a distinct celestial aura, while Pierre is fifty-fifty celestial and fiend, and Alfie bears unmistakable undead undertones."
Dravin raised an eyebrow in mock outrage, adjusting his wire rims. "So you are telling me everybody else got a little celestial in them, and I'm just half dead?"
"No, you have celestial as well," Eusacles clarified with a low chuckle. "You and Pierre don't have undead on you at all. It's Alfie who carries the undead resonance."
Dravin let out a long breath of academic relief, tapping his ledger. "Okay. So as far as we can tell, we're all still alive."
Pierre nudged Mike, pointing toward the little figure perched upon his shoulder. Alfie stood proudly, brandishing his polished sewing needle toward the embers like a veteran duelist. "Looks like a pretty haunted little doll," Mike admitted with a grin. "Might make my top five craziest things."
"Time doesn't tick down in the Margin, little sailor," Teddy explained with a soft chuckle, pushing his tobacco pipe between his teeth. "You don't age. Your boots don't wear out unless you cross the fence. We are the notes scribbled in the white margins of a manuscript. As long as we stay here, the eraser cannot reach us. I founded this place back in 1846, and I haven't aged since."
When Dravin inquired whether residents ever left, Teddy confirmed that avenues in and out revolved around classical Greek mythology.
Pierre listened with guarded curiosity, tugging the rim of his beret low over his unruly curls. "Mr. Theodore... when you say developers and edits, I am just happy it does not end with software glitches. But you mentioned monsters. Are there monsters here?" Pierre asked.
"All the classics from eighth-grade mythology come around," Teddy nodded solemnly. "Creatures tend to live on their own in the borderlands. Come inside the main lodge. A warm meal will help you absorb it all. We will have tea and dessert, and begin our intake."
Inside the long timber hall of the Marigold, steaming herbal tea and freshly baked blackberry cobbler were set before the weary travelers. Savoring the warm pastry, Dravin noted with quiet wonder, "The sensory details remain completely intact." Other displaced guests moved quietly across the hall, smiling at Alfie as he hopped across the pine planks, re-enacting his needle duel.
Teddy pulled up a heavy wooden chair opposite Eusacles, his weathered eyes narrowing with direct appraisal. "You seem remarkably comfortable with all of this, son. Let me be blunt: are you a half-blood?"
Eusacles exhaled a heavy, ragged breath, staring at his calloused knuckles. "Look, man. Yeah, I'm a half-blood. My mother told me about my father. But I don't want anything to do with oracles, the Fates, or the gods. I cannot believe I got dragged into Greek mythology b.s. I tried so hard to avoid it. I was aware of this whole world, but I stayed out. I'm still wrapping my head around being here."
"So you were heading to Vegas to escape it all?" Teddy asked gently.
"I was going to Vegas to blow off steam," Eusacles muttered with a dark, wry grin. "Because none of it matters. We're all going to end up dead eventually. We're all going to end up in the underworld at some pointโso why not have fun while I can?"
Teddy closed his leatherbound journal with a slow, contemplative nod. "That is fascinating."
Okay,
What's up?
not too much. Getting everything pulled up.
Me as well. Got to make sure I have the right foundry. What have you been up to today? Just work.
Yeah, more or less.
That's fair.
Yeah, not too much else besides that. Make sure I got everything pulled up. Introducing the uh side iPad with some notes on
Oh, there you go.
it.
My foundry is acting all up. Hey, can you send the foundry link just in the
Yep.
chat?
Chat, chat, chat. Go.
It's working better now.
I wanted to raz pad a little bit.
What you do to res him up, which really is not that hard to do.
It's not It's
I mean,
great.
I guess I shouldn't be talking, but I'm aware that I'm easy to rise. Patrick isn't. Patrick thinks he's calm, cool, and clicked.
And I'm like, look, I know I'm a ๏ฌight risk, right? And I'm aware. I'm very aware of how easy it is to get me rzed up. And at this point, I feel like half the time I do is just because it's the expectation of me. But Pat, on the other hand, is just like Pat is just so convinced.
Mhm.
He's like, I'm not I don't get red easily. I'm like, oh Pat,
Yeah.
I promise you you do.
Yeah.
But anyway, how did you res him
I'm leaving the comment now.
up?
He was talking about putting at least one punishment you'd be willing to do on the earlier thread. And I'm like,"Dude, there's just no way you would be willing to drive to the airport, put a drop 120 plus on a roundtrip ๏ฌight and spend four plus hours away from your family on a day o๏ฌ.
Yeah,
Is it
There's just no way.
I at least had to throw in there like the ๏ฌight will be
me?
Yeah.
free.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So he's he's very con๏ฌdent.
And that's what he said. Like I understand, but like don't say,"Oh,
Yeah.
put a punishment you'd be willing to do." And then him not do that cuz he's going to reply and say,
Right.
"Oh, well, I'm not going to lose." And it's like,"Okay, we'll still follow your own
Yeah.
rule.
What? What is this on?
Yeah.
Am I not on this
That's the one that you and Canon,
chat?
shocking to no one, are the only people that haven't done what has been requested.
Well, that makes sense.
How does it feel to be as much or more of a liability than Canon?
I should take some side bets on who's getting it in ๏ฌrst.
when
And oh
can I no longer open this as a I tell ran into this trouble before where I like can't open my character
gosh,
feed as a separate thing.
Yeah, there's a there's a way to pop it out. Uh, it's in the top right, I think, or top left, the little
top right.
It normally then it normally is in the top right for some reason.
like
Yeah,
All right,
you have
here it is. No. Yeah, here it is.
to
I I can do it, but this time it used to just be like a button. Now it's like a toggle control.
Yeah, I I had like a whole module running for that and I eliminated it because I knew the feature existed
That's
now and it used to not to on Foundry.
right.
All
Um, and I'm trying to like slim up the performance a little bit for some of our machines which seem to be struggling a little bit lately.
Fair enough.
right, let's see what he has to say. He said exactly what we thought.
He said,"I'm not going to lose." And I said,"You still have to follow your own rule. and he said,"Hey, I'm just throwing options out there. I'm taking the jersey on every single one of his options." And that's frowned upon
But
Okay.
and less fun.
and less fun defeating the purpose.
Yeah.
I still like the o๏ฌshoot of Strabble's idea of whoever loses has to organize the next year's like in-person draft.
Yeah.
Like, hear me out. And we commit. to like a 4 day weekend. I understand s***
Feel
comes up and that per like I'm not saying everyone can make it. I just feel like if we commit to a 4-day weekend of like make this a trip and within
like we
that trip like within that trip we're going to do a inerson draft
need
like Nashville is a very natural is a very obvious like hey if we all just plan on visiting like families or
Mhm.
whatever else at this time we could do it.
Yep.
I threw a tame one in. That's probably going to be one of my top ones.
Uh I I read them all, but I don't remember which one was yours.
I just I just put it
Okay,
in.
sorry. I had I had my computer um on my work laptop and I couldn't remember the foundry URL and I had my stu๏ฌ jammed so I had to uh go hunt it up. Uh I turned into quite a little sports weekend this weekend. I'm going to go to uh to tomorrow for for the Father Ryan game, John. Uh, I'm gonna go because it's the kids night. So, from like ๏ฌve o'clock there's bounce houses and the kids get to walk onto the ๏ฌeld and stu๏ฌ. So, if you want to bring West by kids night at Father Ryan Luke tomorrow.
That's fun.
Um, and then Canon extra ticket.
That's
Yeah,
tomorrow.
it's tomorrow night at uh the game starts at 7, but the kids stu๏ฌ starts at 5.
Cool.
I think it's a junior Irish night or something.
It's also senior night.
the ๏ฌrst game of the
I think uh it's the second game of the year and yeah,
year.
they are doing it really early for some reason.
Weird. That's funny. Luke,
Indeed.
that should be the mystery prize if if it
Yeah.
doesn't.
Yeah. I was like,"Dang, why didn't I think of that when I was forcing Canon to do something?" It's like Canon's team is now
Yep.
named Luke's Butt.
Amazing. I
Uh that one will get
approve.
done because it literally has to because just
Yeah, it's going to be done for you.
do you just change
Yeah, we need get a better team name this year. my Yeah, I did I did share my team name in my in the Southwest group chat which is a trophy hubby.
Yeah. Which tracks the uh that was hilarious.
Yeah. I mean,
The pictures of that. I was like zooming in on all the other wives that are like all dalled up and I'm like,
yeah.
"Oh my gosh, that's so funny.
I don't know why it was such a kick to me to be the minority. party and all these like beautiful dresses and high heels and just
Yeah.
like wearing my tennis shoes
Yeah.
and
Mhm. Mhm.
but also going to the Titans game tomorrow or on Saturday.
Oh, nice. Nice.
Canon had ticket so we're going to do the ๏ฌrst quarter and then go over to the soccer game.
What a sports weekend.
What a sports weekend.
Uh I guess you said Kanan had an extra ticket.
Yeah.
Okay. So you'll probably park there.
Uh yeah,
He's down.
parking at Canon's house probably.
Cool. Cool. Cool. I ๏ฌgured that was the case.
Yeah. Gotta ๏ฌgure out how to get downtown, but
I don't know where he's at, but honestly, it's probably Scooter is your best
he's an adult.
bet.
Um, so I maybe I'll get there early and we can get to losers, take a break,
Yeah.
and then
Yeah. Take a break, then keep walking.
yeah,
Oh, it's Thursday. Got to check the Got to check the Epic free games.
yeah, let us know when another one pops.
I have a reminder on my phone for every
Very smart.
Thursday.
I've been um starting to schedule like random Gemini reminders that trigger and so I just get like the report so I don't have to click things
Yeah.
anymore.
Yeah.
And that one might be my new one.
That's nice.
What's What's the newest Game Pass ads and uh Epic
That's
Games?
Yeah. I had heard decent ones about this one. Uh, Breath Edge. I mean, it's it's basically Subnotica in Space.
Uh, we have
Um, with H single player.
space.
So, sorry. So, sorry. They should do a multi on that. That'd be
Did y'all see the one I sent y'all?
cool.
I think it was on Instagram.
I didn't see it.
Uh,
It's It's You can play with your friends as like raccoons and you like break into people's houses. It's like one of those like really simply animated ones.
That's funny. I don't remember. Oh, I'm just looking at it right now.
Rival Stars Horse Racing is on uh free on on Epic if anyone's
I mean,
interested.
I love some horse racing.
They I just download them no matter what or basically no matter what. So, my epic library is like 50 games deep that I've never played.
It's kids night at the soccer game, too. Luke
Jeez. Kids night all day, all Uber. All right. I think we will let let you all see this one.
Yeah. So, I'm going through all my messages. Uh, I don't have s*** for what me and Ken are supposed to do, and I'm like, I've given up today on ๏ฌnding what I'm supposed to do
It's cuz it's on the other one.
now.
It's on the other Slack.
Which Slack is it on? I'm on Slack.
The only thing Slack we haven't anymore the
The the Yeah, the partner Slack.
Tiger.
We got to get uh Yeah,
The only the only workspace I have nowadays is some guy's being
it's on the other one. That's
duped.
Yeah, that's why. Got to log back into tripping on plans.
why
I I wouldn't even know how to begin to do that.
Uh you just click add a workspace and then you click sign in when it shows you driven unplanned that
It's going to I'm just looking at some of the old ones. Like one of them is like the the dog trainer that I used for Tonka. I I contacted it through there. The other one is literally Well, you'll get a kick out of this. Change this when we have a marketable product name.
Yeah,
Love that. I love
that's classic.
that.
Never changed it.
Oh, we never had a market.
Apparently not.
That was Do you remember the
Oh god. Oh god. Um,
project?
oh god. I feel like we've worked on so many micro once because like there was there was the project where we ๏ฌrst started and we ended up using what was the symbol because that was in our Viking era days when we were like doing the
Yeah.
Viking stu๏ฌ.
Um oh god I I'm 100% sure I could go dig up a bunch of s***
Yeah.
on this and I cannot remember the concept at
Let's see. There was two.
all.
There was a There was one related to Bluetooth and one related to locations. If those tints help
Like unfortunately that is probably the only thing I could have told you is like I remember vaguely like doing with this but I can't remember at all. Not even a little bit.
a speaker on the headrest, Bluetooth speaker on the headrest.
Yeah. Oh, I still have those f******
You do?
parts and pieces in my house.
Yeah. You bought the parts and
I literally still have the pieces and parts to them. That's Oh, that's so f****** funny.
And then the other one was the map with the ๏ฌber optic cables that
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Wherever you've been to before.
Yeah.
Or where your friends are.
Yeah.
Hey, Sophie's on.
I saw her little thing ๏ฌying
Yeah,
around.
I wonder if she's on her desktop.
What are the odds?
Still one of my my biggest accomplishments building that
building that desktop.
for whatever it was like just over 100
Yeah, that's
bucks.
crazy.
working late again.
What's up
John said working late
what it working late today and tomorrow and then
again.
I'll drive through Dallas uh Texas where Luke will not be.
Luke, where are you? Are you at your parents house?
Yeah. So, I just got added to the to a a beta program called Gemini Spark, and the disclaimer is telling me that Spark uses
a little bit of dial and just hang talk with friends.
source
I'm doing this other thing. So, and but I can take like nothing's going to stop me from checking out every hour or so and walking around at the lunch.
I can go ahead and get this checked done.
Yep. Bye. Um, but Spark's telling me that while it's designed to ask permissions before taking sensitive actions, it may do things like share your info or make purchases without asking. Make sure to supervise it and don't rely on it for medical, legal, or ๏ฌnancial advice.
Yeah. Sign me
I'm a pretty early adopter, but that makes me a little nervous.
up.
I'm gonna do it anyway.
Sophie, you'll have to check and make sure that it's uh you're able to open the sheet.
I just did.
Ah, did it work? Nice.
Yep.
Nice. You can see my
I'm a full-๏ฌedged doll person
random
today.
Was
I can see what
You can see my uh 19 plus one roll when I was testing it earlier.
today
I'll take
20
it.
after
Oh, nice. I see it now. Oh gosh. Yeah. Okay, this is helpful information.
It was mostly auto๏ฌlled in.
shocking.
But you you know you know your special stu๏ฌ.
Yeah.
Luke, can you see this one?
I can see you pinging me, but not anything on the on his back.
Nothing there.
No.
Okay.
Now I can see a book over here.
All right. The book over here. Okay. Okay.
And then the camp๏ฌre that I I tinted for you that blends in pretty nicely now.
Nice. Nice. Cool.
Did that did that make sense?
Cool.
The the recoloring.
I think so.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like the eyropper is the the trick and then and then it like
All right, let's see.
vanishes.
How do I have you able to see this?
Con๏ฌgure ownership. Ah, there it is. There it is. Done. Maybe now.
Now I can see a thing.
Yay. Cool.
Oh, nice.
It'll make more sense later,
Yeah.
but for
Yeah.
now
One of my uh uh we'll see how it does in real life, but one of my uh Gemini scheduled tasks is um my French accent tip of the day and
I love
it's giving me some exercises and then it it wants me to like try to transcribe or like
it.
speak out loud and have it transcribe and it it it wants it to it wants it to see it transcribe incorrectly speci๏ฌcally to show I did these speci๏ฌc sounds correct.
That's wild.
Yeah.
Accent coach, I need to do this.
Accent it is.
That sounds really
b****.
Yeah. And then I was like I I keep I keep my problems are go I go Nordic or I go Dracula.
fun.
Now it's giving me speci๏ฌc lessons for how to stay stay away.
Amazing.
Mhm.
Mine is just like I can't do like a nice French accent.
So we
Mine is just like deep.
Yeah.
I want to read the books.
Yeah. I the thing that's I hope once I get going will help me is like lazy be lazier, more lazy than that. Move your mouth less and then I can get there. So,
Ah,
it's like, stop rolling your Rs. Stop doing bouncy noises.
okay.
The French are just dead pan with a little in๏ฌection at the end. The R is in the throat. Don't move your tongue.
Interesting. Yeah,
Yeah.
that's really cool.
So, that's I did too.
I love accents.
My new one. It's always like I wish I wish I could do any accent without it being problematic.
Right.
Yeah.
Mostly o๏ฌensive.
Yeah.
At least mine are because they're absolutely the stereotype.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
If they're at least like f matching my like physical demographic,
My god.
I feel pretty comfortable about it.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Can't really go Asian without being pretty.
No,
Just Yeah.
you you kind of got to stay
Yeah,
Yeah.
exactly.
Yeah,
white.
I've I'm trying to like I because I looked up some DM tips and whatnot for this and it's like, you know, people don't just have accents, they have like ways of speaking.
Wait a
So,
true.
Yeah.
it's like maybe this character like talks really fast or or like talks
minute.
Yeah.
Or they're or they're old or they're young.
really slow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it but it's not necessarily like it's not it's still not your voice,
Mhm. Right.
but it might be your quote unquote accent, but just like with a di๏ฌerent speech
Nice.
pattern.
Yeah. Like like pit.
Yeah,
Mhm.
exactly.
Yeah. Yeah.
Like one tick higher and just super fast.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
All right, we will jump in. You all know the recap. Um,
Amazing.
you all got the the very basic recap of what happened. Um, like I said, I'm going to try and do di๏ฌerent ones each week. Might repeat some favorites eventually,
same same one each week is totally ๏ฌne,
but uh we'll see.
too.
We'll see how I feel. Um but yeah, we'll jump right in. As we know, the last where we left you was at the margin of the margins, if you will, and um just approaching and you all saw the camp the camp dad um turn to you and just say,"Huh, what edit killed you?" And that is that's where we cut o๏ฌ.
So, in that point, we can jump right back in to that moment as he's looking at you and um and he had just ๏ฌnished saying that
And and we're we're still like I think uh the the doll in Pier They are like 20 20 or so feet
Yeah,
back
slightly behind. Yeah,
behind
USles and um Edward are kind of leading the way. Uses more so, but
Pier's lean over the shoulders like so um I I'm thinking that we are going
uh
to let them maybe talk to the scary guy by the ๏ฌre who um thinks we are dead I think.
Yeah. All right. No, I'm not going to do that the whole time. I promise. Uh, yeah. All right.
Yeah.
Uh, yeah. Me thinks that's a good idea.
Yeah. It's probably ๏ฌne. Yes. So, so that Yeah.
Yeah.
And Pier's just gonna I think stop like outside of the entrance and just kind of peer in while while the professor and and bu๏ฌ Chad go and talk to the guy.
Mhm.
You're muted, John. Sorry, I muted you when you walked away.
Good.
Pierre's gonna peer
Um,
Pier's gonna appear in. That's
in
You're going to Pierre
exactly
and then Michael looks back and goes,
in
"And no, don't worry. Don't worry, bros.
anyway.
Don't be scared. Don't be scared at all. We love fresh ink around here. We love fresh ink. We're we're happy to have you and it's totally normal to be surprised when we hear you when when you hear us ask what edit killed you,
Would
you know, like we're telling you you're dead. It's kind of crazy.
we have remembered
Well, yeah. It's a funny thing.
Like,
dying?
you're not you're not like actually dead, but like maybe it kind of depends on who you ask, but we're Oh, it it seems like it seems like you're you're pretty hurt there.
Wow.
Uh we can get you guys patched up and you can come right
Yeah. Yeah.
in.
My my buddy could de๏ฌnitely use a a long
Yeah, that's that's great. We'll get you guys brought in and it'll be totally ๏ฌne.
rest.
We got some like basic processes to make sure people are all on board and above above board, if you will. And then you guys are free to hang out as long as you want. Like this. It's a welcome to the lifestyle, you know.
So, what you said your name was Michael.
Yeah, Mike.
How long have you been here,
So the thing is we all kind of died,
Mike?
if you will, at di๏ฌerent times and at di๏ฌerent points in our life.
And the crazy thing is that you stay like approximately the same age the whole time. Like this is Lily. She's kind of like hiding behind his uh his leg. Like she's been 11 for like a long time, you know? So, it's like kind of crazy, but I think I made it to the margins around like 2009 and I don't know what year it is out there but I'm like I was like 42 and I've like stayed 42 but you know I feel like 35 you know.
Little Benjamin Button action.
Yeah. I it it's it's kind of crazy. It's kind of cool. You know you don't really interact with the outside world that that well.
How how do we interact with the outside
Uh, so they kind of it kind of like throws people o๏ฌ a little bit and it's it's
world?
okay. You know, we have we all have di๏ฌerent theories and like some people remember us more, some people there's kind of like a kind of like a mist of sorts that kind of confuses people.
And uh it seems like the youth kind of are able to see through it with like their power of imagination or something. But um yeah, it's like it it's kind of crazy. Like you can still get around sometimes, but it's just a little tough.
Oh, cool.
divine. Interesting
Yeah,
call.
I'm going to take a I'm going to take an action to use this to use divine
Um,
Um, ๏ฌend and undead presences.
sens.
Undead presidences is what's got me a little hung up here. Roll um, you use that to roll an arcana with advantage. We'll say that gives you advantage.
Interesting. Okay, let's see here. Oh, darn it. It didn't pop up for the We're just gonna We're just going to roll.
That's right. Roll.
We're just going to roll twice is what we're going to do.
That's a pretty good second
Hello. Hello.
That's a pretty good That's a pretty good second
roll.
Okay. Um Okay.
roll.
How much can I tell you?
I rolled a natural 20.
Um I think that's probably everything
He will tell me everything I want to
the and with this sense you don't get um I think you
know.
absolutely see that this is kind of a this is a according to the kind of feature a consecrated place like this is this is a place that is at least a refuge. Um um it may not necessarily be like a like a protected place but it's at least a place where that is protected by the mist and I thinkles would is is pretty familiar with the mist as we kind of introduced last uh session that he knows that he's a halfblood and he knows that um the kind of like Greek mythology is alive and well in this world. So
And the and the M just always obscure than just enough so it's like semi-normal within the the the average person the normal person viewing it.
exactly exactly very Percy Jacksones. Ask.
Yes. Yeah.
like the they see kind of a di๏ฌerent vision that you do.
Okay. Perfect.
Um so you know this is a consecrated place maybe not protected per se but like a
Yeah.
refuge of a lot of people. Um you see you are able to tell that this neither one of these two people in front of you Lily and Mike are are uh uh demiggods. Neither one of them are half bloodoods. Um they but you kind of get an aura that's like lighter than that more or less. So like they're they are I think you get kind of a brief like a light sense of undead and then a light sense of like celestial as well but not you've you've used this before. You've seen half bloodoods and it's not that far. It's not like that much glow o๏ฌ them.
Right.
It's almost residual.
Right. So in in in the instance of useles, is it like is it you said it's like a di๏ฌerence between like half blood and undead?
It's kind of like a mixed a mixture of that.
Yeah.
I see.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay, cool. Uh, Youth Cle is actually going to he's he's going to keep this to himself for now. Uh, because he still doesn't really know what's going on,
Yeah.
but he's gonna All right. Well, this it seems as good as any other place to to rest, I guess. Um, and uh
Oh, one room. Four rooms,
is
Oh, I I I see the the misunderstanding here.
please.
It says the in well kind of that the it's the margin and we we kind of love that idea. So, we kind of build our our kind of language around that, you know, like edited and, you know, like correct or redacted, you know, that sort of thing. It's kind of fun. Uh, but there's de๏ฌnitely some space, but I think you guys were all going to have to share a cabin. We kind of have like a like a guest cabin with like
Now when you say is that c a b space i n the cab
some
in
it I like this one. I like this one. This was He's a good dude right here. Uh we could use some humor around here sometimes. No, it's like an actual like wood log cabin, you know, like uh like kind of where we are out in the boonies. There's a lot of them. It's like a It's like one of those one of those styles. But we'll bring you in. We'll let we'll like introduce you guys.
Gotcha.
There's uh one one of our one of our guys uh the he prefers Theodore from New People, but uh Teddy, he's going to take some some information from you. And like we just like to keep our information down. We all have di๏ฌerent kind of theories about why we're even here as we all have gone through like a very traumatic experience you know so it's it's
Mike, was what was your traumatic experience that brought you
relax yeah so I was on
Okay.
here?
like a last I saw I was on a boat and I was I was on a cruise with my friends and
Okay.
I was on this the seven this riding through the seven seas, you know, and all of a sudden, next thing I know, it's going down and and like the ship is going down and all of the sudden we're it like kind of goes to white or like like ๏ฌashes to white and then we show up and we're at this like we're like out in front of an ATM like on the street in in West Virginia and it was like what just happened, you know, but I was the only one there. No, no one else I was with was there. It was just me.
and how did you get from West Virginia to to here to the
Well,
margin?
I was like, this was at a time that this
Thank
I love him.
I love him.
was at a time that uh Teddy was still leaving the margins and like trying to bring
you.
people in. And I I mean I I I don't know if you can tell, but I'm from California, so it was like West Virginia is like crazy to me. And and fortunately Teddy was able to like loop me in and he he somehow got like a sense o๏ฌ me of what I was whether I was just looking confused or what and he brought me to this place. Uh he's been here by far the longest uh of anyone. But uh
Oh, yeah. Let's let's let's meet up with Teddy.
where are
I'd love we I'd love to meet I'd love to meet
these these folks behind you are with you too? They're like 20 yards back,
Teddy.
kind of hanging in the
Yeah, I mean I am um I am sorry.
shadows.
I think this is I think this is not the right place.
I am supposed to be at a um a pilgrimage. I I don't see um well your maybe a random question but um does your air have a have a snakes?
The the my hair is uh completely natural.
Yes. So too is mine. But uh does it wiggle and sometimes bite perhaps or no?
Uh, I don't know about bite, but it does this. It ๏ฌips his
What's that?
Oh no, that would make my hair very nauseous.
hair.
Like that is not No, I Yeah, I don't um I don't think I'm supposed to be
I think we might be a little bit lost in translation here.
here.
It sounds like your hair snakes and that's a bit
Um no,
wild.
it's very well tamed. They are not wild anymore.
Uh uh. I'm not sure what I think you are supposed to be here. I'm just going to put that out there because I've seen some crazy stu๏ฌ since I've been here, but not out there, you know?
So, I think this is where you need to
Well, um I don't know.
be
My mother told me to come ๏ฌnd a place to learn about my heritage or something. I am still to be on to be honest. I'm a little confused, but I'm pretty sure that um going into a cabin in the middle of America is not what she had in mind for the place that I am supposed to be living. So, I don't and I also pretty sure there's not other other um small creatures that are sort of made of wood that uh do you have a name?
Hey, this is this is
No, I have I learned Mike's name.
Mike.
I am not um not going to get too emotionally attached to Mike yet. He is a very strange accent. But uh yes,
I do get that a A lot
I could see why. Um but you yes,
actually.
I'm turning back over to to like I'm Are you supposed to be here?
I feel bad for calling you a doll.
Yeah, I uh that's a good question. I gotta ๏ฌnd my accent, too.
Find it. Find
Uh ๏ฌnding it.
Lock it in. Lock it
You're a dolly.
it.
You can take You're a doll. You can ๏ฌnd You can use whatever action you want.
True.
in.
So true. It could change over time.
Oh my god. Please make it so she has to change every time.
Um,
She has to roll one d20. And depending on like where it goes. If it's one, she has to have a lower voice. If it's 20, she can have a higher voice and anything in
oh my god,
between.
My dream character.
my nightmare character.
It's also just being
Uh,
DM
yeah, legit. Um, yeah, I uh All right.
I don't
What up? I I probably should not make up a name because for some reason I keep thinking of Adolf and that
know.
does not um maybe the best but you are Adolf and there you know not is there. So maybe um Alum Alonso I don't know you have a name that is I don't Yeah know Al๏ฌe a
All right. Yeah. Alonszo do do me.
little Al๏ฌe
Yeah, I think that's a pretty nice name. Mike,
Okay.
you were talking about a a ship. Yeah, a ship that crashed in the water.
Yeah,
Yeah,
right. Yeah. Goodness, I'm copying it. Here we go. Here we go.
I know.
Find it.
It's so hard not
Find it. Find it. Find it.
to
Yeah. I was Here we go.
We'll get it. We'll get it.
Oh no.
Yeah, I was on a ship and it was I'm covering ears again. Here we go.
This is literally impossible.
My frs. Find my frs.
France.
Yeah,
Fron is the
I was on I was on a boat with my frs. Yeah,
word.
I I was on a ship. Were Were you on a ship, too?
Yeah, I think I remember the dark and the quiet and lost of water and many men screaming and shouting and everyone going away under the
Al๏ฌe. Al๏ฌe. It's okay. Bring it back.
water.
Bring it back. You're not on the ship anymore.
Yeah. Right.
Al๏ฌe.
This This is a It's a fun doll.
Yeah.
Yeah. And it's like patting Lily's head like It's okay. Who's like cowering behind?
Like the eyes just
Yeah.
Uh yeah,
bey
something about that sounds right to me. Something about your story, Mike.
I mean, I like really we all have crazy stories like this and it's like clearly we're supposed to be together trying to ๏ฌgure this stu๏ฌ out. So, I mean, Lily here, we try not to ask her too much about it because it's like she's a kid, you know, so she doesn't like to talk about it. We don't push it, but other people have similar stories to me and and it seems like I mean, I asked when you walked up, what and it killed you? What happened? You know, wait, hold that thought. Keep that information. Let's all let's let's get in. We'll get we'll get Teddy. He he locks to keep meticulous notes. So, actually, I'll I'll take you around. I'll introduce you and and we'll get we'll get we'll get going and we'll get you guys rested up.
So, here's a question for the DM.
I used divine sense earlier.
Yeah.
What did I see with the other three people that I'm with right now?
Uh,
Like these pe these people had like a mixture of undead and celestial together.
great question. Yeah,
Nice.
I think with so with uh Professor Edward Draven, you have like the same roughly the same glow that you've seen on on yourself. Like a very similar kind of um to that. the Um, and then let's see. You o๏ฌ of Pierre, you you have celestial, but you also detect some ๏ฌend about like 50/50
Yeah.
um between that. And then with I think the celestial glow is roughly yours, but there's also some like undead undertones with um with Alfonso.
Yeah, I think Al๏ฌe.
Got it.
I think Al๏ฌe.
Al๏ฌe. Al๏ฌe is perfect. Yep.
Yeah.
Yep.
Al๏ฌe.
Perfect.
So,
Yeah.
you're telling me everybody else got a little celestial in them and I'm just and I'm just half
No, you do as well.
dead.
You do as well.
Okay.
like like the the amount of
No. No. You what you don't have.
Okay.
celestial or ๏ฌend.
What you don't have is you and Pierre don't have any undead. Everyone else here has or or is that Yeah,
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Pierre has some uh Yeah, Pier has some. So, but the important thing is Pierre and Dr.
Pier
Edward uh they don't or Professor Edward don't have any undead on them at all. Everyone else here has some type of undead. So, John's thought process is like everyone here. My thought process is everyone here is maybe this is like a weird like refuge halfway point, but as far as I can tell, we're all still alive, at least fully alive. So that that's why I was asking that,
Yeah.
but
Okay.
And just to be clear,
anyway.
um,
Gotcha.
Mike, you said what what does a LP look like to
Oh,
you?
I mean this is like a cr Well, looks a little di๏ฌerent now, but seems like a pretty haunted little doll.
And it is a normal that he is talking out loud to.
Uh, I mean, I've seen some crazy stu๏ฌ. This might make like top ๏ฌve, but I I think it's like
Oh, Bob.
like there crazy stu๏ฌ comes through this place. I I'll be honest. And then you guys are are rot right about mid midway.
I
All right, let's go All right, let's go talk to Teddy.
die.
I I do think you should probably say Theodore ๏ฌrst and then kind of work your way to
Uh, little little French.
Teddy, but that's that's just a little friendto friend
Mike,
tip.
will you introduce us to
Absolutely. I will. So,
Theodore?
come on, follow me. And we you kind of follow into the main um actually he's going to be rocking in a rocking chair on the front porch of the inn.
Nice.
Um, And let's see. Michael, Michael, thank you for coming. I It It seems like we've met some new new strangers here that uh that may be ready to be a part of the margins. Um I I'm Let me introduce myself. That's rude of me. I'm I'm Theodore, as my friends call me, Teddy. And you'll get there, don't worry. But Theodore is ๏ฌne for now. And um I've been here I've been I've the caretaker of the margins. I founded it back in 1846 and it was uh it's been a long time and and since then I haven't actually aged and and it's been extremely fascinating and I've tried to document the whole process but I document anyone who comes through this space and and I I would like to get some of your story. I'll I'll assign you all to go speak with someone of the margins who who kind of helps run this place for me as uh I'm getting old, but it seems to be uh I seem to be staying ahead of it, if you will.
Um but they they help out as much as they can too around this place. So I'll introduce you to them as well and and each one will take take some questions from you and and we try and document everything and maintain a record of who comes through this place. Um let's go
But may I as a as an academic
ahead.
myself.
Oh, yes, of course.
Theodore The Theodore uh you say you keep a record of people who come
Please.
and go. Are are you suggesting that people leave the margin?
Why yes, of course. It's quite it's quite a fascinating place. There are ways in and around and out of this place that all revolve around this. This may sound a little out there, but a a basically eighth grade history class uh version of Greek mythology. It's it's quite fascinating that it that it it has really been quite accurate back to those days. And um but it's it it is the it the the god the Greek gods they do exist kind of as they are taught in schools and and and as an academic I don't know necessarily what you've what you've taught but there may be some some crossover there.
I I have caught college Greek mythology. So, uh I I may have to ear unlearn some things. But
You in fact may have to unlearn some things.
uh
It is pretty simple. But uh there is um there are numerous monsters and creatures and the gods and demigods and halfbloods that all roam the land and that are able to see this place. Whereas the the outside world simply sees this as a defunct property that for whatever reason developers haven't purchased or forget about even existing. It's just on quote unquote the margins, if you will.
Um hello Mr. Theodor. It um two two two quick questions for me. Um one well one is more of a statement and I heard you say developers. I'm just happy to hear that that sent in not end with them patching this. You know I thought it was maybe just a weird software glitch that I had found myself in. you know, like a Fortnite but di๏ฌerent for it. So, this is a good thing.
Um, good if that because maybe you have died a long time ago and you did not have the video game. Yes. Yes. Yes. Um, you said um monsters. There are monitors
What? Yes, of course.
here.
There's all the classics from your your eighth grade history that come around. uh some are a bit di๏ฌerent and and seem to have di๏ฌerent intentions for the margin, but there are the the the standards that kind of come alongside some of the Greek gods that appear here and and come through and it's um it's it's essentially the the same and and you know creatures kind of tend to live on their own. There are there are kind of groups that that will make nuisance with with some of the gods and and eventually end up slain. Unfortunately, that that does happen, but more or less peaceful across the
Oh,
board.
and um do you know where the monsters around here
around around here there doesn't seem to be very many, but they they do have ways of coming by um in ways of travel.
Usually for the monster type, it's a bit accidental. They stumble into it, but that's a that's a lesson for another time, if you will. Uh uh Edward, as uh you may say, a lesson for another day. Um I I believe we'll we'll get your stories kind of as they come. I know it's a lot to kind of take in and absorb, but um do come in. I'll um I'll I'll I'll kind of take you all, but let me I'll uh take um you ๏ฌrst and then and then I'll have have the others kind of be um interviewed, if you will, uh by by some of the others in in the margins as well. Um, so I think we'll kind enter a time of just some question kind of character building questions between people. Um, as they kind of shu๏ฌe you away, give you some food and and we all kind of seated at the table and and eating dinner um or whatever it might tea and dessert at this time of night maybe. And um Yes.
Do I do I still feel the need to eat?
Yeah. Yeah. The the dessert's delicious. The tea is delicious and um
Okay.
it it it is like a nice evening. So, people kind of come and go. It seems like there's kind of a lot of not frantic energy, but people just kind of going about their normal routine. Like, this isn't necessarily something super out of the ordinary to have people kind of show up like this. Maybe they give us a side glance to some layers under a a a beret or or a a a doll sitting on the table that's animated acting out some sword ๏ฌght that they've been a part of or things like that. But um yeah, mostly going about their normal day. and we'll jump into uh Luke S real quick and Theodore is going to answer uh or ask ask you and then we'll go from there. So Luke S,
Okay.
it seems that um you you have a kind of a more comfort level, a sense that you might belong here. Do you know anything about kind of your um uh let me let me be a little more blunt.
You seem comfortable with with where you are here and and what I've been saying has not shocked you in any sense. Do you are you a halfblood? I'm I'm
Uh, yeah. Look, man.
assuming
I Yeah, I'm I'm a half, but I don't want anything to do with I don't want anything to do with oracles. I don't want anything to do with the fates. I don't want anything to do with the gods. I I'm here to live my life on this earth as with as much fun as I can. I cannot f****** believe I have been roped into some Greek mythology b*******. I tried so hard to avoid it. Yeah, sure. There's always been like the occasional monster I see or the occasional, you know, weird thing happen. I I've always known I've always known it's ๏ฌne. My my mother used to tell me um about my father. So like I'm aware of this whole world and I have tried to stay out of it.
I have I've tried to avoid it as best as I can. Uh might have might have tried to use it to my advantage once or twice, but it it never ends out right. Never ends up ๏ฌne. And yeah, no, I'm I'm I I am still wrapping my head around the fact that I am now in this situation.
I see. I see. That is that is interesting and yet a bit unfortunate as uh it seems you may fully wrapped multiple times around whatever is going on here. Uh but it's it seems like that may be why you were on the bus going to uh Las Vegas to uh be living a normal life and and go have fun in Vegas for for the
Well, I don't know if you don't know if you would call it a a normal life.
weekend.
I was going to Vegas to blow o๏ฌ steam because of I'm aware of all this, but it doesn't matter. We're all going to end up We're all going to end up dead eventually.
All right. We're all going to end up in the underworld at some point. So, why not have fun while I
Yeah, that's that seems to be what I thought as well,
can
but here I am. So, there it is. Interesting. I do have one more question for you. Who gave you that watch? I'm getting some sort of sense of that.
uh he uh is going to take a look at it and just be like,"As far as I know, it is a a gift from dad." All right. I it was a gift given to me proxy of my mother. Um don't know who dad is. Uh well don't know exactly who dad is. Um maybe maybe him once once or twice when I was too young to remember. But my my mother said that this was a gift from dad and when I went o๏ฌ on my own she she gave it to me.
All right. That is that is fascinating.
That is fascinating. Thank you for your time. I I'll show you to the cabin and he's going to kind of take you o๏ฌ to the cabin. And John, you're welcome to to take a run if you need to to uh hop out and and
and we'll do that.
check things.
And uh and my character is taking a long rest if
Yes. All right. Perfect.
possible.
CHAPTER 14: THE PATERNAL TETHER & THE CONSPIRACY BOARD
As dinner wound down, a crisp, sharp-eyed woman with severe posture approached Pierre's table with a leather clipboard.
"Hello, my name is Anna Smith," she introduced herself with clipped efficiency. "I am conducting your intake for import into the Margin. You mentioned several curious things earlier... specifically regarding snakes. I assume gorgon heritage, perhaps?"
Pierre blinked, adjusting his spectacles nervously. "Well, Anna, you have correctly identified my heritage, and that does mean something to me. But honestly, I was concerned when I heard there were half-bloods here. I would honestly just like to know where the gorgons are."
Anna scribbled a quick notation. "We rarely get half-monsters here on purpose. Why were you sent away from your settlement?"
"That is a very personal question for a first day, do you not think?" Pierre replied with a cautious shrug. "What I can tell you is that my mother told me to come to America to find perspective. As far as I can tell, crashing into Greek libraries is a pretty normal day in America."
Anna stiffened slightly. "I apologize for my terseness," she admitted with a rigid nod. "I have been told it is from my background, and I apologize for the aggressiveness."
"No, no, I find you quite lovely," Pierre reassured her with a gentle smile. "You are direct and to the point. There is nothing wrong with youโit is merely the situation you have been put in."
Annaโs expression softened slightly. "I prefer to work in the shadows on patrol, but I served as an army nurse in the United States Army. You sound as though you are on a pilgrimage. What is your goal here?"
"I know who my mother is," Pierre said softly. "I am doing this as a favor to her. I figured I would stay two or three weeks, fly back to Paris, tell her there was nothing for me to learn, and work on my own skills."
He eyed her uniform with a playful, skeptical squint. "One quick question... is your name really Anna Smith?"
"Of course," she replied without batting an eye. "US Army nurse. Go America. Burgers and whiskey."
Pierre chuckled softly. "Okay, Anna. Your secret is safe with me. And I will take an extra piece of breadโthe bread here is quite good."
Across the room, Mike sat down across from Professor Dravin with a notebook. "All right, Edward. Looks like you got stuck with me. Curiousโwhy was a distinguished professor like you riding a rickety bus outside Vegas?"
"There is actually a tremendous amount of Greek mythology in Las Vegas," Dravin smiled warmly.
Mike stared blankly. "That's news to me! What, like the Statue of Liberty is Greek mythology or something?"
"The origins of gambling lie directly within Greek mythology," Dravin explained, adjusting his tweed lapels. "Hermes and Pan casting lots; the Fates determining mortal fortune through chance."
"Well, learn something new every day," Mike grinned, shaking his head. "Egg on my face!"
Outside, Teddy guided them toward their guest cabin, admiring Dravinโs scholarly passion. "Spent most of my youth on the timber trails," Teddy remarked. "Out here, you learn that every myth was just history before someone decided to edit the manuscript."
Inside the cabin, an older resident named Rosa was laying out handmade wool blankets on cedar cots. When she saw Alfie balanced neatly on Pierreโs shoulder, her eyes softened, asking the tiny traveler if he preferred being grounded in nature to the open water.
Alfie shook his head, his driftwood hands settling on his belt. "Dolls don't usually drive ships, mate. I don't recommend it."
Alfie hopped down onto the rustic pine table, adjusting his needle rapier. The miniature sailor carried himself with martial bravado, though his earliest memories remained fracturedโrecollections of salt water, darkness, cannon fire, and the bitter shock of waking carved of driftwood and thread.
Before Rosa could reply, Naomi barged straight into the guest cabin, breathless and clutching rolls of research parchment. "Sorry I'm late!" Naomi called out urgently. "I was knee-deep in research, but it's super important!"
As the dining hall thinned, a crisp woman with severe, squared shoulders approached Pierre's table clutching a dark leather clipboard.
"Hello, my name is Anna Smith," she announced with clipped military cadence. "I am conducting your intake for import into the Margin. You mentioned several curious things earlier... specifically regarding snakes. I assume gorgon heritage, perhaps?"
Pierre blinked, instinctively smoothing his lapels before adjusting his spectacles. "Well, Anna, you have correctly identified my heritage, and that does mean something to me. But honestly, I was concerned when I heard there were half-bloods here. I would honestly just like to know where the gorgons are."
Anna made a sharp pencil stroke on her pad. "We rarely get half-monsters here on purpose. Why were you sent away from your settlement?"
"That is a very personal question for a first day, do you not think?" Pierre replied, raising a brow. "What I can tell you is that my mother told me to come to America to find perspective. As far as I can tell, crashing into Greek libraries is a pretty normal day in America."
Anna held his gaze for a second, then softened her posture by a fraction of an inch. "I apologize for my terseness. I have been told it is from my background, and I apologize for the aggressiveness."
"No, no, I find you quite lovely," Pierre reassured her, offering an appreciative wave of his hand. "You are direct and to the point. There is nothing wrong with youโit is merely the situation you have been put in."
"I prefer to work in the shadows on patrol," Anna conceded quietly, "but I served as an army nurse in the United States Army. You sound as though you are on a pilgrimage. What is your goal here?"
"I know who my mother is," Pierre said gently. "I am doing this as a favor to her. I figured I would stay two or three weeks, fly back to Paris, tell her there was nothing for me to learn, and work on my own skills." He narrowed his eyes in playful suspicion. "One quick question... is your name really Anna Smith?"
"Of course," Anna countered smoothly without flinching. "US Army nurse. Go America. Burgers and whiskey."
Pierre laughed, tapping his saucer. "Okay, Anna. Your secret is safe with me. And I will take an extra piece of breadโthe bread here is quite good."
Across the hall, Mike leaned over a rustic trestle table across from Professor Edward Dravin, spinning a pencil between his fingers. "All right, Edward. Looks like you got stuck with me. Curiousโwhy was a distinguished professor like you riding a rickety bus outside Vegas?"
"There is actually a tremendous amount of Greek mythology in Las Vegas," Dravin replied with dry academic relish, straightening his tie. "The origins of gambling lie directly within Greek mythology: Hermes and Pan casting lots; the Fates determining mortal fortune through chance."
"Well, learn something new every day," Mike grinned, shaking his head. "Egg on my face!"
After the meal, Teddy escorted them down the lantern-lit pine path to the guest cabin, observing, "Out here, you learn that every myth was just history before someone decided to edit the manuscript." Inside the cedar room, an elderly resident named Rosa was smoothing heavy woolen blankets over the cots. Seeing Alfie balanced upon Pierre's shoulder, she asked if the little traveler preferred soil and timber to water.
Alfie adjusted his sewing needle rapier with a sharp click of his wooden heel. "Dolls don't usually drive ships, mate. I don't recommend it."
Before Rosa could fold the next quilt, the timber door banged open. Naomi stood framed in the entrance, gasping for breath with an armful of rolled parchment. "Sorry I'm late! I was knee-deep in research, but it's super important!"
Late into the night, the newcomers prepared for bed inside the guest cabin, exhausted from planar transit.
Suddenly, Naomi barged in through the doorway, clutching a stack of rolled parchment.
Pierre paused mid-motion, clutching a small jar of cream with slices of cool cucumber balanced carefully across his eyelids. "It can wait until morning!" Pierre protested, his voice squeaking with indignation. "I have already started to do my face care! I only have so many cucumbers!"
"I am so sorry," Naomi stammered, caught off guard. "It's justโI get so locked inโ"
"Yes, and it makes a lot of noise," Pierre insisted, taking a firm step toward the doorway.
Pierre gently and firmly swung the heavy cedar door shut on her.
"I'll be back in the morning!" Naomi called out through the timber planks.
"Yes, after eight you can come back," Pierre called back politely, latching the bolt.
The night passed in deep, undisturbed mountain silence. In the morning, a cheerful knock sounded at the cabin door. Mike stood on the sunlit porch holding an iron griddle and a steaming pot of coffee.
"What's up? Got Saturday pancakes going!" Mike announced brightly. "Coffee's hot. Come up to the inn. I know Naomi has been in your ear about checking out stuff, but eat first. We've been here for a centuryโthere's no rush."
Pierre grinned eagerly, stepping out onto the porch. "I have heard Americans only like to work, work, work. For me, I am very excited to try these pancakes."
"People say I make the best," Mike laughed, "though there are only ten people here, so best out of ten isn't that impressive! Naomi's a bit of a workaholic. She got here in 2009, or was next in 2011, and hasn't stopped planning since."
Mike set down his iron spatula, leaning over the wooden counter. "Honestly, I have my own theory why we are all here," Mike confessed softly. "I am no demigod, but I have a card from my daughter that says To Dad. That concrete tether is keeping me anchored."
At the inn, breakfast was in full swing. Pierre took an eager bite of his pancake and chewed for a bit, only for dry crumbs to shower down over his plate as Mike sheepishly admitted the first batch was a little burnt.
As breakfast finished, Naomi marched into the dining hall, pointing purposefully at Pierre's wristwatch. "In Paris, it is already eleven o'clock!" Naomi declared triumphantly. "So I think this counts. It is time for you to come and see what I have found."
Pierre leaned across the table toward Professor Dravin, whispering behind his hand. "I am going to let you deal with the academics. I am going to take a nap in the back." Pierre gently pushed Edward forward.
Dravin raised his hands with an amused chuckle. "I was on my way to Las Vegas to study mythology, Pierre. I wouldn't lean too heavily on my academic abilities."
"Yes, but there is almost nothing she can say that will interest me," Pierre shrugged. "What if she starts talking about Zeus?"
"Ah, yes. Zeus," Dravin murmured with scholarly fondness. "I have met him many times in my books."
Pierre squinted through his spectacles, genuinely perplexed. "Wait... are you talking about Zeus or Seuss? Like, one is a doctor with rhyming cats, and one has lightning bolts?"
"Zeus," Dravin corrected firmly, adjusting his glasses. "Not Seuss."
"Because even I have read of the legendary pictures," Pierre whispered earnestly, his hands gesturing grandly. "The blue fish, the tall striped hat... it does not just leap off the page!"
Late into the night, the newcomers settled into the cedar guest cabin, weary from their planar journey across the Lost Roads. Pierre lay propped against the pillows, balancing chilled cucumber slices over his eyelids with delicate precision. When Naomi barged through the doorway clutching an armful of parchment, Pierre bolted upright, clutching his cream jar in indignant protest. "It can wait until morning! I am in the middle of my face care, and I only have so many cucumbers!" Before she could stammer out her research notes, Pierre gently and firmly swung the heavy timber door shut, latching the bolt with a polite reminder that eight in the morning would be quite early enough.
Morning arrived in crisp mountain sunlight, heralded by a brisk knock on the porch planks. Mike stood framed in the doorway, balancing an iron griddle, a smoking pot of coffee, and a platter of golden flapjacks. "Saturday pancakes are up!" he announced with an easy grin, leaning against the wooden railing. "Eat first. Naomi's been planning non-stop since she landed here over a decade ago, but we've been in this valley a hundred yearsโthe mystery isn't going anywhere." Setting his spatula aside, Mike looked down at his apron, his voice softening with quiet conviction. "People wonder how an ordinary guy like me stays grounded here without demigod blood. Truth is, I keep a card in my pocket from my daughter. Just three wordsโTo Dad. That concrete tether is what keeps me human."
Up at the Marigold dining hall, breakfast proved a delightfully messy affair. Pierre dug into his towering stack with gourmet expectations, only for a shower of dry, blackened crumbs to scatter across his plate as Mike sheepishly admitted the first batch had caught too much woodsmoke on the griddle.
Right on schedule, Naomi marched into the hall, tapping her wrist triumphantly to declare that eleven o'clock in Paris legally counted as morning research hours. Desperate for a nap, Pierre nudged Professor Dravin forward as their academic shield. "Deal with her, Edward. What if she starts lecturing on Zeus?"
"Ah, Zeus," Dravin murmured with fond scholarly pride, adjusting his spectacles. "I have met the storm-bringer many times in classical antiquity."
Pierre narrowed his eyes behind his own glasses, genuinely bewildered. "Wait... are you speaking of Zeus or Seuss? One is a doctor with rhyming felines and tall striped hats, and one throws lightning bolts! Because even in Paris, we know of the legendary blue fishโand those verses do not simply leap off the page!"
Naomi led them into a back room of the lodge, crossing her arms with an exasperated sigh. "Everyone here is way too focused on making people feel comfortable."
"I wanted to show you a few things I have been working on," Naomi continued, pulling out a modern electronic device. "Maybe you all can help me out."
Dravin peered over her shoulder. "So she does not have the actual stone tablet yet."
"Is she showing us a tablet on a tablet?" Eusacles asked with a bemused chuckle.
"It's an image on a tablet of a forum thread debating an artifact," Naomi explained, zooming in on the photograph.
Dravinโs jaw dropped as he adjusted his wire rims. "I actually wrote a paper on this tablet!"
Dravin leaned forward, tapping the screen. "Let me see if I can summarize. When you say the word *edit* and these fragments... were you saying the Fates edited our fate, and that is how we ended up here?"
"We were pulled from a transit bus to help the Fates because there was this living ink," Eusacles explained, rolling his shoulders.
"When I say the word *ink monster*, does that mean anything to you?" Dravin asked.
"It was more like a blob of ink," Alfie piped up from Pierre's shoulder.
Naomi nodded solemnly. "We run drills every now and then because correctors seek out loose ends."
"What the f*** is a corrector?" Eusacles demanded, turning to Dravin.
"Based on what I've gathered, the ink and the edits... they manifest as living ink blobs to erase timeline anomalies," Dravin deduced.
Eusacles glanced down the table at the party, his divine senses buzzing. "You might not be all human, Professor. None of us are entirely human. The puppet is technically kind of undead."
Dravin blinked, glancing across the table. "And what about Naomi?"
Naomi gave a faint, proud smile, the sunlight catching her dark eyes with warm brilliance. She was, after all, a demigodโa daughter of Apollo.
Naomi led the group into a private study behind the dining hall, crossing her arms with an exasperated sigh. "Everyone here is way too focused on making people feel comfortable, but we need action." Turning toward a worktable strewn with maps, pinned photographs, and connecting red string, she gestured to an electronic tablet display. "I wanted to show you a few things I have been working on. Maybe you all can help me out."
Dravin peered over her shoulder, adjusting his wire rims. "So she does not have the actual stone tablet yet."
"Is she showing us a tablet on a tablet?" Eusacles asked with a bemused chuckle, folding his arms across his broad chest.
"It's an image on a tablet of a forum thread debating an artifact," Naomi explained, tapping the glowing screen to zoom in on a weathered slab of carved Greek limestone.
Dravin gasped, leaning close as recognition struck him like a physical blow. "I actually wrote a paper on this tablet! Let me see if I can summarize. When you say the word *edit* and these fragments... were you saying the Fates edited our fate, and that is how we ended up here?"
"We were pulled from a transit bus to help the Fates because there was this living ink," Eusacles explained, rolling his shoulders as he remembered the tearing void.
"When I say the word *ink monster*, does that mean anything to you?" Dravin asked, glancing between Naomi and Pierre.
"It was more like a blob of ink," Alfie piped up from his perch on Pierre's shoulder, brandishing his needle.
Naomi's expression hardened. "We run drills every now and then because correctors seek out loose ends."
"What the f*** is a corrector?" Eusacles demanded, turning to Dravin.
"Based on what I've gathered, the ink and the edits... they manifest as living ink blobs to erase timeline anomalies," Dravin deduced, tracing the tablet inscription.
Eusacles looked across at the companions, his divine intuition humming in the quiet room. "You might not be all human, Professor. None of us are entirely human. The puppet is technically kind of undead."
Dravin blinked, glancing across the table. "And what about Naomi?"
Naomi gave a faint, proud smile, the amber mountain light catching her dark eyes with radiant brilliance. She was, after all, a demigodโa daughter of Apollo.
Inside the back room of the timber lodge, red string and pinned photographs spanned across Naomi's sprawling conspiracy board. Dravin leaned against a rough cedar bookshelf, his mind turning over the theoretical mechanics of their displacementโhow historical anomalies echoed through time like revolutionary revisions to an ancient manuscript.
Theodore stood by the corkboard, resting his palms on the timber table as he looked at the newcomers. "I guess you have time now to come hear about what's going onโabout why you're really here."
Pierre walked into the room carrying a warm platter, but stopped short as he noticed the ancient tomes stacked beside his pack. Dravin adjusted his spectacles, his scholarly gaze narrowing upon the weathered leather bindings. "You took books from the Library of the Fates," Dravin observed with dry wonder.
Pierre set down the platter with a theatrical shrug, pulling the three ancient scrolls into view. "These were on the shelves of the Fates. Naomi said they might guide our path."
Pierre tapped the Greek lettering inscribed along the margins. "Yeah, I wrote down that one, and then there was that other..."
During their frantic flight through the planar stacks, Pierre had also scavenged geological charts and ancient volcanic texts that had inexplicably called to him, searching for clues to his monstrous heritage.
Naomi leaned over the worktable, carefully unrolling the oldest parchment. As Dravin helped translate the archaic script, a distinct passage stood outโa direct reference to the *Lost Roads*, the decommissioned metaphysical bypasses that linked forgotten settlements across the continent.
Beside the parchment lay the dog-eared pamphlet Pierre had studied before turning in: *The Dummy's Guide to Gorgons*.
The maternal figure who had raised Pierre in the French countryside was not recorded among the classical dynasties, but the ancestral lineage trickled steadily upward through forgotten centuries.
Theodore nodded solemnly, tracing the ink across the page. "Every ancient line traces back to the beginning. It all leads back to Echidnaโthe primordial Mother of Monsters."
Pierre pointed to the translated notes in his lap, connecting the pieces. "You're saying that this book that we have translated has a passage about the Lost Roads?"
Eusacles pushed off the wall, crossing his arms with practical resolve. "Never mind, I'll go."
Theodore watched the party rally around the expedition, a rare flicker of hope crossing his weathered face. "I have never heard of anyone reaching three fragments before. Bring it home safely."
Inside the back room of the timber lodge, red string and pinned photographs spanned across Naomi's sprawling conspiracy board, linking geographic sightings of cosmic anomalies across the Eastern seaboard. Dravin leaned against a rough cedar bookshelf, his mind turning over the theoretical mechanics of their displacementโhow historical anomalies echoed through time like revolutionary revisions to an ancient manuscript.
Theodore stood beside the corkboard, resting his calloused palms against the timber table as he addressed the newcomers. "I guess you have time now to come hear about what's going onโabout why you're really here."
Pierre entered balancing a warm platter of flatbread, but paused when he noticed the ancient tomes resting beside his traveling pack. Dravin adjusted his wire rims, his scholarly gaze narrowing upon the weathered vellum bindings. "You took books from the Library of the Fates," Dravin observed with dry wonder.
Pierre set down the platter with a theatrical shrug, pulling three ancient scrolls from the leather folds. "These were on the shelves of the Fates. Naomi said they might guide our path."
Pierre tapped the Greek lettering inscribed along the margins of the aged sheepskin. "Yeah, I wrote down that one, and then there was that other..."
During their frantic flight through the collapsing planar stacks, Pierre had also scavenged geological charts and archaic volcanic texts that had inexplicably called to him, searching for clues to his monstrous heritage.
Naomi leaned over the worktable, carefully unrolling the oldest parchment. With Dravin assisting in deciphering the archaic dialect, a distinct passage stood outโa direct reference to the *Lost Roads*, the decommissioned metaphysical bypasses that linked forgotten settlements across the continent.
Beside the parchment lay the dog-eared pamphlet Pierre had studied before bed: *The Dummy's Guide to Gorgons*.
The maternal figure who had raised Pierre in the French countryside was not recorded among the classical dynasties, but the ancestral lineage trickled steadily upward through forgotten centuries.
Theodore nodded solemnly, his weathered index finger tracing the ink across the parchment. "Every ancient line traces back to the beginning. It all leads back to Echidnaโthe primordial Mother of Monsters."
Pierre pointed to the translated notes in his lap, connecting the pieces with rising excitement. "You're saying that this book that we have translated has a passage about the Lost Roads?"
Eusacles pushed off the cedar wall, rolling his broad shoulders with practical spartan resolve. "Never mind, I'll go."
Theodore watched the party rally around the expedition, a rare flicker of hope crossing his lined face. "I have never heard of anyone reaching three fragments before. Bring it home safely."
Um I think Pierre, let's see, who do we want here? Okay, that was a good one. Um, let's say Pierre, you have someone come up to you and say,"Hello, my name is Anna Smith. I am um interviewing you for your in import into the margins. It is um very good to meet you. Um, I've been here a long time and uh I'm excited to uh in uh I'm I'm very excited to have you here. Uh it's good people come and uh it's nice when new people are here. Um let's see what uh let's see um it seems like you mentioned a lot of things about um possibly a lot of things about snakes.
Um what can you tell me a little bit about I assume gorgon perhaps um is why you um were saying that. Is that is that your background perhaps?
Well, um now it is a to meet you. I guess I'm I don't know that this is really necessary. I'm not sure that I need to be here. Um it does not seem to be a but you have you have correctly identi๏ฌed my heritage and that does mean something to me. So yes um I was a little um to be uh honest a little concerned when I heard there were abls here. I don't think um that is the type of person who I want to be spending my time with. I would um I'd honestly just like to know where where the the gorgans are.
I see. Uh that is what I assumed and I will note that down here. And man, I'm all over the place with this. Um, it seems as though you are here for a reason.
Uh, in terms of like not at your where you were raised. This is not exactly uh um we we don't usually get monster or half monsters here on purpose. It is is usually on accident. Why were you sent away or uh why exactly are you are you away from uh I the settlement if you will or nest? I don't know what you all use per se for your your group.
Um well Anna that is a pretty personal question for a ๏ฌrst day. Don't you not think you're asking what for me to tell you my entire life story? You have have to forgive me if I'm feeling a little bit uncertain on the intentions here of you and the others. I nothing against you. You are quite lovely of course but um well what I can tell you is that I my told me to come to America to ๏ฌnd the percept as far as I
Okay.
can tell. This is a pretty normal day in America being all over the place.
She's done it.
Uh I I do apologize.
So
I am a bit of a tur person. I've been told it is from my background. My um and I apologize for the um a aggressiveness if you will. There is is a bit of of a piece of my background,
No, no, I ๏ฌnd you quite lovely.
but
You are direct in the point. It is nothing wrong with you. It is the situation that you have been put in.
I do understand it is it is Yes. And it is a bit personal. This is not necessarily my favorite thing to be doing. I prefer pre prefer to be working in the shadows on on patrols as um I I apologize. I in the medic tint in uh working as a nurse um as what I did in the army when I was working for the United States Army. Um my um I apologize for the personal questions, but uh you are on a pilgrimage of sorts, it sounds and uh I I I do want to know kind of how you plan to to stick around.
Are you trying to kind of um ๏ฌnd your mommy or uh your uh your real parents or are you are you trying to um what is your goal of being here if you don't mind?
I I mean I I know who my ma is. I'm doing this as a favor to her. Um so probably I will make it maybe two three weeks and then ๏ฌy back to Perry and where I will say I have gone on this pilgrim edge there was nothing for me to learn and then I will um start trying to work on um maybe growing my skills.
She she kind of gives you gives you a sidelong glance and and kind of shu๏ฌes you away to the cabin as
One quick question on that.
we
Is your last name release
uh well of of course my name is Anna Smith.
mute?
I was the US Army nurse in in uh when my my time here in the in the United States. Go America. Burgers and and
Okay, Anna,
whiskey.
your safe is your secret is safe with me. And then I I will take an extra piece of bread. I will say one thing, the bra is quite good. So, I'm I'm okay to stay for a night or two and I I'll get to the
Okay. All right. Um All right.
cabin.
Let's do Let's go, Edward. All right. Well, it seems like you got stuck with me.
Hello.
Uh we're going to do some quick questions, talk through what like kind of get you get your information down. I'm kind of new to this because like Teddy usually tries to keep this to myself, says I kind of get a little long- winded in my notes, but we're going to try. Um, it seems like like it sounds like from what people are saying that you guys are all on a bus and uh I'm like uh you're like a professor looking NOS with your with your kind of NOS clothes and I was just like curious like why were you on a bus, you know?
There there's actually a ton of Greek mythology in Las Vegas. Don't you know?
That's news to me, I'll tell you. I I have no idea. I mean, like the like what? Statue of Liberty is like Greek mythology or
Well,
something.
there's the origins of gambling are lie within Greek mythology.
Well, learn something new, you know? Like I've been alive for like I don't know how long now. That's news to me. That's wow that I'm like mind blown you know egg on mafos you know
Goodbye.
uh it so it it seems like you're a bit like kind of if you don't mind me saying like a bit um kind of like hoppy one time and like a little bit sad and then really impersonal.
Uh uh it
I apologize.
it these past few days have have been quite the struggle for me. I will admit I'm not really sure what's going on.
You know, that's that's true.
There's not much Greek mythology in West Virginia.
Yeah, it's a bit of a big odd spot for sure. And it's I think it was like whoever chose this or chose it was like remote. So I guess that was ๏ฌne. But I hear you. I'm not it seems like uh like where where were you traveling from to to go to Las Vegas? like are you your professor outside of there and and we're heading heading to Las Vegas to to
I'm a professor at the Institute of uh Research
study.
and Greek Mythology at Stanford in California.
No, you're speaking my language now. Yeah, now we can connect.
I I thought maybe we could bond over that.
Yeah, I'll tell you that. I had some good times down there. I didn't go to Stanford, but parties at Stanford. Oh man. Anyway, this is why this is why Theodore gets on my case, you know, why Teddy gets on my C, you know.
Uh, I I I feel like we're going to have a good connection and and I'm gonna I'm gonna keep my eye out and we're gonna we're gonna try and ๏ฌgure
Let's stick together.
out let's stick together.
Let's stick together. Yeah,
Yeah.
Mike. Let's stick together.
Let's stick together. Sounds sounds good to me. I I think I'm getting an A+ from from Teddy for this one. And and he's gonna take you at take you over to the cabin as well. And lastly, we have um let's see,
How's
we have Al๏ฌe. Yeah.
Okay.
they
And let's do um let's do Rosa for for Al๏ฌe is gonna is gonna Rosa is going to interview you. Wow. A doll in the margins. This is something I have not seen before. I am so happy that you are here. And I mean, isn't this place just lovely? Like what a retreat.
Yeah. Yeah. Seems pretty nice.
I just chasing those times,
Yeah.
you know, that we're at like a like a concert out in the woods with the drums and guitar. Anyway, uh it seems like you were on a ship as well at like Michael. That is crazy. You had mentioned that like other people were screaming and like drowning and stu๏ฌ. That's pretty dark. But like who were your other like shipmates? Like what what ship were you on? I know Michael was on like a Virgin Cruise Line, but like I don't think you were on
Uh yeah,
that.
here here's the being here, mate. Yeah. I uh I I'm a doll. Yeah. And uh ๏ฌrst I I wasn't here. Yeah. I wasn't here at all. And then suddenly now I'm here and I had just these these these memories in my head of just darkness and screaming and and blood and and quiet.
the sea,
Al๏ฌe.
the waves.
Al๏ฌe.
Yeah. Yeah. And uh here's the thing.
You're safe now.
Yeah.
You're safe
I'm here.
now.
But where do I come from? You know, I don't
Wouldn't you say like your your shipmates and your memories like were you
know.
Are you were you a doll on the ship?
Yeah. Here's the thing, Red. No, I uh I don't think so. No, I don't think I've always been a dog. You know, dolls don't really go on ships. Yeah. It not quite a doll thing, is
I prefer to be on the ground,
it?
grounded in nature and grounded in into the earth. So, I I haven't been on a ship before, but I I suppose not. I suppose dolls usually don't drive
Yeah. And if I'm honest with you,
ships.
yeah, I don't think I recommend it. I don't think I recommend a s***. No,
Yeah,
I don't think I
I I I tend to stick around here, so I I think I'm safe.
would.
There isn't much water around. Um, but but I'll I'll I'll watch out I'll watch out for any ships.
Yeah.
Um,
All right.
so she brings you back to the cabin as well. And
Yeah, but here's here's the thing,
um,
mate. Do you know where where did I come from? Yeah.
where did any of us come from? the earth, the sky, the trees, the breeze,
Yeah.
the the the heat in the air.
All right.
Who Who's to even say?
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right. Yeah.
All right.
In the air, the sky, the seas. Yeah. Okay. All right.
What the f***?
Um, and we'll bring you all to the cabin and um, as you all get there and kind of decompress for a minute before tell kind of the crazy stories of your interviewers. um uh you're all together and um a like kind of shorter ethnically ambiguous girl, maybe Asian, maybe islander, that sort of thing. Shaves shaved side of the head. Kind of barges in and said,"Sorry I'm late. I uh I was I had a lot going on. Uh, I heard there were new people though and it's um it's so great that you're here. I'm I'm I am knee deep in some research right now and I think you all could really help out.
Hey
It's um it's like super super super important that um
guys.
I I'll just show you. I'll just show you.
Uh come on. Come on. I'll show you what I'm doing. Uh do you all follow her?
So we So we were we were in the cabin. Al๏ฌe comes in and then a couple seconds later this person comes in.
I think you all were this was all kind of happening simultaneously. So you guys had been there for a little bit,
Okay.
maybe even like getting ready for bed when she like barges in.
And it can wait until the morning. I have already started to do my face care. I don't I mean I only have so many cucumbers.
I am so sorry. You're so right. Uh this is It's so late. It's so late. I just kind of I kind of dive in and and kind of stay locked
Yes, it makes a lot of noise and there's nine or less noises.
in.
So, um I will just appear gently start closing the door on her.
Yeah. Yeah. I uh I'll be I'll be I'll be back.
It was Yes.
I'll be back in the in the morning. in the morning. Sound good?
after um you can you can come back.
Morning.
Okay.
All right.
Bye.
And we take a long rest.
These
Everybody gets healed up and uh and all of that. And we uh I don't know.
are
Yeah. All spell slots back, all of that sort of stu๏ฌ. And then in the morning, you uh get a knock on the door and um it's it's Mike. And he says,"What's up? Got some pancakes going. It's like kind of like my thing on Saturdays. I'll like whip up some pancakes for everybody." And co๏ฌeey's on. Come on up to the inn. We'll uh chat. I know Naomi has been in my ear about getting you guys to like check out some stu๏ฌ, but feel free to come eat ๏ฌrst and we'll talk and then uh you guys can check out her her uh what she's got going on uh at any point.
Don't make her feel like it's some rush. We've been here for like a century of Hills lock, so not a problem.
You know, I have heard that the Americans they only like to work work work is lost. And so yes, I'm for me I've been very excited to try some of these punks.
Yeah, it I mean people say uh I make them the best, but there's like 10 people here, so it's like the best out of 10 is like not that impressive, but like I think they're pretty good. Uh Naomi is a bit of a workaholic. She's only been here for like probably like two years. It was like 2011 when she got here. So,
Cuz
it's like probably like only a couple years since she's been here. So,
It wasn't 2009.
yeah.
I just want you to say it.
2009 and then she she was next in 2011.
All right.
So, like it's it was like present
when the year that we left was was what?
day.
Like Okay.
You're sure it wasn't 2005?
No, it wasn't 2005.
What
Yes, I think you have lost a few years,
sucks?
but um that there's more time for you to practice these punk keys. So, yes.
I mean, honestly, it's like probably I mean, it's A problem. probably going to live forever cuz it's like uh so here's my thing. I I have a certain theory about why we're all here. At least some of us. I mean I'm not a half blood of any sort and like I'm still here. So I feel like there's something that's like kind of magically keeping us here. I have a card from my daughter that says to dad and that's me and like I'm like it it's it's a bit of a story like we're a little strange now but like sh it's I don't really want to get into it it's a little sad for the morning so I'm like anyway I don't get to see her very much.
But like I think that's the reason I'm here. Like there's there's something concrete written down that like I'm supposed to be here, you know? So that's my theory. I don't know. Um other people have di๏ฌerent theories, demi god, etc. But come come on, let's eat some pancakes and we'll uh go from there.
f*** you.
That um sounds good to me. I I sort of um zoned out after that. So I'm congratulations. I I hope there is a having a good time in college. Let's have some pancakes. And I'm shaming my way in the kitchen.
John, sorry you were muted. I think you had said something but um yeah is
Oh, my the only thing I had said was how good are the pancakes?
Our
everyone
Best best in
pawn cake top
they are uh let's see
town.
๏ฌve
Damn, go ahead and roll for
um I I rolled I rolled a 10 so I think
Pancake.
they're they're ๏ฌne.
Are they a 10 out of 10 or they just
They're they're 10 on a d20.
met?
So Oh.
takes a big bite and you just like chew for a little bit and the crumbs just fall out onto the
Oh. Yeah.
plates.
Oh,
I hope that is better than that.
I'm
the ๏ฌre and not sing it.
h I've been told they're a bit draw.
the the ๏ฌrst one's de๏ฌnitely burnt.
You can
Um,
maybe
as you all eat kind of eat eat breakfast and stu๏ฌ. Um, uh, Naomi, this like kind of as breakfast is kind of ๏ฌnishing up and people are just kind of chatting, Naomi comes in like pointing at your watch and is like,"Uh, it like uh in Paris it's 11. . It It's what you say. In Paris, it's . So, I I think this counts. I think it counts.
I think it's time for for you to come come and see. And like I I think you guys are going to be pretty stoked by it. So, uh I don't I don't want to I don't want to lead you on, but it's pretty cool.
Uh, I guess Pier is going to lean over to whoever is next to him. Maybe it's like the professor and it's like um I'm going to let you deal with the um academics. I'm going to take a nap in the back. But um so yes,
Perfect.
and he just kind of pushes uh Edward towards Naomi.
I'm going to I lean in and I say,"Uh, I was going to Las Vegas to study Greek mythology. I wouldn't really lean too heavily on my academic abilities.
Yes, but to be totally clear, there is almost nothing she can say to me that will have any interest. You know, what if she talks about Zeus, you know?
Ah, yes. Zeus. I've met him many of times in my books.
Wait, are you talking about Zeus or Zeus? like um one is a doctor and one has a lightning right
Well, I I I just it comes alive when I read.
and is it a reading in a rhyme you know like a one had the two haty blue
One ๏ฌsh.
cat yeah thank
Two ๏ฌsh. Just blue ๏ฌsh.
Uh-uh. Zeus,
you okay you know you said you met him in real life and I thought
not Zeus.
that pretty cool he's kind of a leg even I have read of Zeus Beautiful.
And it it doesn't just jump o๏ฌ the page and come alive when you read about it.
The pictures of the ๏ฌsh and the the cat with the the very tall
I'm gonna I'm gonna go I'm going to go over here now.
hat.
Yeah, sounds good. Enjoy your pancakes.
Oh, no.
Is
I just want you to do all the
it
talking.
Uh guys, I think he wants some French toast.
Oh, you have to here.
I feel like I could try
Oh no, that's is not the answer. There I am looking. Oh, I will do the burn. And Pier's gonna start cooking. But hopefully where he can hear Naomi.
All right.
If he can't, he'll like he'll
Okay.
fall.
Naomi is like at her she has like a whole thing, a whole cabin, but you are welcome to cook and get ๏ฌlled in
Okay.
later.
I will ๏ฌx the dark face. You guys, I'm Yeah. Go talk through the uh and he winks at all. This is Naomi. Never
And it it's like daylight now.
mind.
Yeah.
Like it's not dark all the time.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay,
It's not dark.
cool.
It's not dark at all times.
Good question.
We'll we'll we'll render a daylight scene. Don't worry. Uh, Um, yeah. Is uh are the other two coming with Naomi or are they um hanging out? I should ask you, what are what are the other two doing?
used is progressingly curious. So, he's going to go
Yeah, I think I think Al๏ฌe does
along
too.
All right, cool. All right, I guess three out of four isn't bad. Um, okay. Let me come come to my cabin and we'll uh we'll talk about what what I kind of do and how I've kind of carried on uh Teddy's tradition. Um, early on he was big into into into this this like kind of as you're walking to the cabin, he was big into the fragments and and it seems like he's kind of let it go and been more of like a he's he's more of like a caretaker now. uh uh for for the margins and for the people who kind of come through the margin.
But as of now, it's like the the fragments have kind of been left alone. But but I' I've kind of taken it upon myself since I've I've been here um to to to study this and and to determine what's going on. as as you kind of enter her cabin, you see like kind of a a cot that is clearly not important to her, like that the sleep is secondary to whatever her work going on is. And you see a board with kind of like some some pictures pinned up and um maybe even some red yarn or some some writing on each of the pictures and and then you see like old computer monitors. One is like black with green letters just kind of like going going through, you know, in classic like coding fashion in a in a movie. And then the other one is is kind of demonstrating what she's showing you two. Um Okay. Uh how much have they told you about um about fragments? What what have they told you?
Yeah, that's about
Yes. Yeah.
Uh, okay.
it.
Okay. Um,
Yeah.
everyone here is way too focused on making people feel comfortable. Like that can be secondary. We got to ๏ฌgure out what's going on and like why this place even exists. Like I I've been working for years on this and it it's it's fascinating and and and I just seem like I'm the only one who's who's really worried about it. But uh I understand I'm still have the the energy of youth and I'm the newest one. So it's just like I um yeah I I want to show you guys a few things. So there's this fragments I believe are like kind of leftovers from these crazy edits that happen like um the the the ship that that um that Michael was on he and and died and ended up at a at a bank like it was that was crazy and it like caught a bunch of news and then but there was a lot of like I mean it was this was before my time so I didn't wasn't able to like chase it down but there was a ton of di๏ฌerent people who were like uh investigating it and it just didn't make sense to anyone and Like there's a bunch of di๏ฌerent people who were thinking di๏ฌerent things and like other people who like didn't even think it was real that like ever
even happened. And like clearly it happened because Michael is here and Michael died I guess. And I don't know uh I don't I don't really know what's going on, but the fragments have are like these these pieces that are left behind and they have some sort of power in them. And uh it it like is emanating from them and and I've I've kind of narrowed down an algorithm that that helps track them down. It's it's these wild kind of tragedies that for whatever reason are very controversial like that that should be universal in terms of like everyone agrees that that it's great and or or that that it happened and and and people died and we need to, you know, focus around it. But for whatever reason, there are people that are all weird about it and and they start popping up and and Theodore has told me that they have some sort of like energy attached to them. Uh I I mean he said he's he's touched two of them and and and the ๏ฌrst time he touched one there was like a a a vision of of di๏ฌerent realities that that occurred.
Uh, and then the the the second one he touched, it seemed like there was he he saw some like another ๏ฌgure involved in this whole process.
Thank
But I just I wanted to to kind of show you a few things what I've what I've been working
you.
on and um maybe maybe it's something that like you all can can kind of help me out maybe and like look into some of these these di๏ฌerent anomalies. But like like here, take this for example. Uh and she pulls up on on the internet like a like a Greek tablet. And I think Edward, you would probably know that this had just been like discovered um recently at like an archae archaeological site and there's a ton of like discourse around it about like what it translates to say and like people can't decide on it. And there's a lot of kind of discourse in the academic community. So, there's this this tablet that like just popped up out of nowhere and now has like a ton of traction and is on display in a museum.
Um. But it just it seems like everyone should just be like,"Oh, cool. A new artifact." But for whatever reason, there's gotten a ton of traction and like people don't even think it's real and people are worried about it. I don't know. Does like,
So she she doesn't have the tablet.
have you all seen like this before?
She's showing us a p.
Yeah. Like a like a picture on on like and Yes.
Okay.
on a tablet. Is he showing us a tablet on a tablet?
Yeah.
Okay.
a tablet on a tablet of like a like a Reddit thread of people trying to like debunk it or like di๏ฌerent people trying to translate it or like academic articles of like um from di๏ฌerent people about what it what it de๏ฌnes what it's uh translated to be that sort of thing.
I actually wrote a paper on this tablet. Very
you did.
interesting.
You said uh Edward like and like looks it up and pulls it up and is like Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And and like scrolls down to like the the kind of oped about your paper that's like trying to refute that it even exists sort of thing. It's like exactly it's like what is going on like this this sort of and and here take this for example and like pull pulls up a like a clip from like a think about like like a UK version of Pawn Stars and
Yeah. All right.
like like this
I've heard of it. Yeah.
person just like found this this like toy catapult Bolt and and supposedly one expert thinks it's worth like millions of dollars and the other's person thinks it's junk and the Pawn Star guy is like I'll give you $10 for it or whatever he said. And it's like it's it's just fascinating. And that created a whole another discourse about about what it what it could be. And then there's this other this mad doctor that's gaining a bunch of popularity and and then there's this weird hijacking that like supposedly happened but then the plane landed and nothing occurred.
Like I don't know. It's something weird going on. And we'll like that's the four I have going on. And I've like set my algorithm to to watch out for a bus because, you know, who knows like what whatever you guys went through could become a fragment. It seems to take some time for it to appear and then it it takes some like more discourse for it to appear. So it it takes like people hyping it up and it kind of like builds the power of the fragment and or even creates it. I I I don't know. Does this Does any of this make sense?
Let me see if I can summarize. When you say the word edit and these fragments, are you trying to say that time is edited and these fragments become both important and completely not important at the same time? and we're edited in and out of history. And the reason I say that, we recently met with the fates,
the
I think. I'm not sure, but from my history research, it they did strike me as old women fates weaving time, hence the blanket thrown upon
Yes.
us.
And and that's how you ended up here.
Correct.
The like kind of So
Were you saying they changed our fate?
you
They excuse me edited our fate and we are now
that that could make sense in a
edits.
way that kind of or Did they Did they seem like Did they seem like Did the fate seem that you were supposed to be there? Like it was your time to
They did
Yeah,
die.
it was more like we got pulled from a bus to help the fates because there was this whole f****** library And those ass also came out of the portal who looked like blobs of
Interesting. Fate. A library of fates. But you weren't supposed to be there.
ink.
So it wasn't your time to die. So I like your theory. Something happened between what your what the fates had in mind and then what actually happened and then they put you back.
When I say the word ink monster,
I don't know.
does that mean anything to you?
Ink monster.
It was more of a blob. Yeah.
Ink blop.
I I don't know if there's been any sort of I mean I've only touched one fragment myself and and I it took me all this time to even chase it down to even get there and I touched it and I I saw this vision of like two di๏ฌerent realities and then I got out of there. I got out of there. There seemed like some some like cacophony sort of happened around me, but I I got out and I I found my way back here to to tell Teddy about it and and obviously he had the warning and and I I snuck out and no one knew I was going to to chase this down, but everyone knew I was interested. But I I never saw an an ink monster. I haven't heard anything about That that's that's fascinating.
But I maybe if you all are interested in this that there's a way that potentially hit the lights. Hit the lights. Hit the lights. And she shuts the lights.
Nice.
You all turn o๏ฌ the lights. And then you all like look, she like peaks out the door and you all wait a few minutes and the lights kind of start turning back on in the other cabins and she goes,"Okay, okay." It was just a It was just a test. Um, occasionally we'll have these.
What the f*** was
So,
that?
we have these we have these lights in this alarm system that occasionally we'll we'll have um we call them correctors. Uh, but but that, you know, we we kind of have names for everything. um that that are these like creatures that kind of occasionally will lurk around and and we haven't had an incursion in a very long time. So it like the margin is pretty safe from from my understanding. I've never seen anything uh anything happen.
But um we'll we'll run these drills every now and then to make sure that that everyone knows what to do. Cut the lights. Get down. Stay down. And then
What the f*** is a corrector? I look at professor
um
Well,
Edwards.
it if I had to imagine, I'm I'm imagining we we've had the ink and the edits.
Okay. And we're Okay. Okay. We're imagining things. So this is so this is not like a mythological 3K. The f*** is a
Based on what I've gathered,
corrector?
I don't know.
I I mean I I've never seen one myself, but like I guess it could be like what you're like what you're saying. The only one I've ever been told about was at night. So I don't maybe they were what you ink blobs.
Yeah, like a blob of
I I mean I I guess they could be,
ink.
but I I don't I don't know for sure. Um, so like if if you guys are if you guys are intrigued by this and even in like a an like a academic Edward like you you are as like an academic study. I I I think if we if we kind of like form a a a team
Don't.
to kind of investigate this I like I've been waiting for someh everyone calls it fresh ink. I guess we do kind of talk about ink and stu๏ฌ a lot, huh? Um, we have like like when we have new people in come in, it's like I I try to like tell them about this and and then a lot of people are like,"Oh, I'm a I'm a son of Hermes. I'm going to go back to Olympus now. Bye." And like, sure, cool for you. But I just I feel like this is our this is our path. Like this is our this is our de๏ฌnition of why we're here.
How would one get to Olympus from here? Because that's pretty close to California. Like Olympus, Washington.
No, I mean like uh I mean I guess I don't know for sure they could be going to Olympus Washington. I just I uh I assume that they're going to like Mount Olympus with the Greek gods and there's like
like
uh no, it doesn't seem like it.
metaphorically.
they go there. There's there's there uh people call it di๏ฌerent things around here, but like we can take like cars and stu๏ฌ into the real world and um usually we we like to send the the people who are new out that way, but there are other routes around out of the margin. Um, especially if you have some sort of connection with like one of the great 12 gods of Olympus and then they can kind of help
Oh, I I don't I don't have that.
transport you.
I don't have
Yeah,
that.
you just study them, I guess.
I mean I mean you
Me, too.
might Yeah.
Yeah, I might
No, you you might like you're not all human.
What am I all
like metaphor like metaphorically.
human?
No. No. like like literally.
What h how do you know
Well,
that?
I know that he has something. I know. H I I just like go down the line and I'm like I Yeah,
Yeah.
just going down the line of like the puppet's technically kind of undead. U sort of halfway sort of celestial. Frenchie over here is also somehow like kind of like a ๏ฌend and also celestial. still I don't know. why I'm getting that from him. And then you de๏ฌnitely have some type of like celestial god thing in you, too. And I don't know what it is, though. Look,
Huh?
I don't know how I Look,
I mean,
I don't know how I know this.
I just know it. I can kind of just see it on people. Like,
And what about her
it's not I mean, I can't I can't do this.
yeah.
Naomi?
Like, I don't do it every single I can't do it every single day.
Oh,
Actually,
like you
I don't know how like I don't know how long that lasts.
Yeah. I I think you you could cast it again, but I think she's been here long enough that she's like,"No, I like I that's I get it. I'm like I I I'm not a I'm not a part of that. I I have my own theories for like why we're all here and stu๏ฌ. I think it's it's something about these fragments that I I personally think we're we're like tied via these fragments." And I know other people have other theories. Mike has his theory about his card that is like anchoring him to this world. And you know, maybe that's the case, maybe it's not.
But I mean, it's it's at least a theory. It's like at least someone thinking about it. And and actually uh uh I think who interviewed who had Rosa interview them? Was that Yeah.
Yeah, it was
Yeah. So she's actually a daughter of Apollo.
me.
like she's a demigod and and or a halfblood and it's it's like she she doesn't really care, but I'm like,"Come on, can you like call in a favor or something and help us out?" And she's like,"We're all one. We're all together here. It's great." So, I Anyway,
Yeah, she told me I was made from the sky.
she tells everyone that. I just I don't know.
Oh.
Maybe we all are. I don't know, maybe she's right. Who knows? But and and Frank, I don't He He usually doesn't interview people. He He helps out keep mechanic, keeps things up and running and and all that.
He just thinks it's all a government experiment that we're a part of. And it's I don't know. I I think it's something with these fragments personally. And uh Teddy's kind of on my side, too, as as someone who's kind of investigated these as well. Um, but I think I think they're important.
May I? Where is the closest fragment?
I think I mean the from what it looks like the the the toy catapult is still in the UK with he he never ended up um well he he did end up selling it to this this pawn shop in the UK and there's been like some investigations about the pawn shop owning it whether it's some artifact and again all this hubbhub about this crazy toy catapult there's A um the mad There's there's this um this person that's giving like a book tour about this mad doctor. Um the there's the Museum of Natural History that's um in D. Is that DC? Smithsonian.
Smithtown
Where? Let's see.
Hold on. I got to check something.
Yeah.
Uh yeah.
That wouldn't be that far away from West
Yeah. at we're going to we're going to move that.
Virginia.
Don't worry. Don't forget that. We're moving that. There's this this the Museum of Natural History that's in North Carolina. It's their state museum. And then and then there's this this plane thing that happened in DC that um that land at at the DC airport there. Um, which so I guess the north the tablet or the the airport, but also it's like those those two are drivable and then and then we can ๏ฌgure out try and ๏ฌgure out the other other routes to the other ones. Does it do do any of those stick out to
It does. It does.
you?
Edits. Edit means to change. To change to to to revolve to to to revolution to the Declaration of Independence.
We have to steal the
Okay. What are you sliding me into here?
declaration.
Uh, I wasn't sure if Pierre was actually a good a good cook or not. Um,
Uh I mean he is he you have you have I
yeah, he is. He is.
think you have e๏ฌectively created French toast Friday at the margin. People have tried your French toast and are like okay this is a thing now.
Okay.
Saturday is for pancakes,
Yeah.
but Friday we're going to do French toast.
Uh I think Pierre is going to come in with a plate of food into the the cabin and he's going to say where these stove is a
Nice.
millimeter you get a gads and another millimeter the other way it's zero or nothing I have created a masterpiece and here I present to you orange dust and uh it's a crepe but um this is um this is my special um and then he like pauses as he takes in the conspiracy theory board in front of him says H guess I should have known it would be something um kind of crazy like this.
Okay, I will leave the
I I guess you have I guess you have time now to to come hear about about
um
what's going on about about why you're here.
Oh, I know why I'm here. is a just an axle limp.
Yeah, we'll see about that. And maybe maybe you're right. That's it's a it's a pretty good theory actually. Uh and she like writes accident on the on the board like then crosses out. It's like no, that's like that's like what Rosa thinks like oh it's all it all just happened. It's random. No. And this there's something going on.
Yeah, maybe. But um I'm pretty sure this is all just part of the plan, you know. I saw the fates. I got them my books. So, next stop, Bill
Yeah. When you wait when you you the you took you
Garage.
took books from the fates the library.
Um, well, it was a library and I sure I did not have a card,
I was there a checkout process or did you just you just steal books from the
but
library? Is is that how is that how you do it in France?
the books are for the public to read. I don't
Yeah. You plan on returning them to the fates now?
understand.
Like I I I assume they're going to want them. I assume they're going to want them
I don't know.
back.
They are pretty old and the library was not very taken care of. I think they're probably better with
I uh
me.
uh uh has has Pierre like looked at looked at what he pulled and like read through them.
I was going to say he might have done it before bed,
Yeah.
like a little bedtime read.
Tucked in, put his sleep cap on.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Um I It was like a dirty 20 or something for for the book.
that one book that um The Dummy's Guide to Gorgans.
Yeah.
That's right.
Yeah. I wrote down there was that one and then and then uh there was one other one.
Um
Uh yeah.
there's a there's a I think you took three.
So I ran around and and found a few 12 volcano texts that called to him while looking for connections to the
Yeah. Yeah.
fates and gorgans and then a dummy's guide to gorgon.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think the other ones were kind of like mostly kind of ๏ฌu๏ฌ pieces. I think one one was maybe like a um one's maybe like a a book here. Let's see. Let's see. Okay, so Naomi stops you and goes,"Well, that's one's interesting." It's not The Dummies Guide to Gorgans. That one says it that says something about
What the heck?
roads. I don't I don't speak I don't like know Greek very well.
Um Edward Edward, do you do you know like ancient Greek?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
roll.
I pull out Google Translate on my phone. Do I still have my
Roll.
It says,"Take me home country roads to a place I belong,
phone?
Yeah.
West
Um,
Virginia.
Also like with the people who raised me, I I feel like it's it's not unrealistic. I know at least one weird
yeah, that's fair. That's fair. I think um actually I love
language.
that. Um you you all kind of translate this this one parchment that Naomi notices like I I recognize that one kind of phrase um that that's like kind of how people come here every now and then. the we we call them the lost roads, but it's kind of that likeology. Uh that's interesting. And as you start to ๏ฌip through ๏ฌip through it, it's like mostly blank, but um it's it's like a a note that it that it mentions these lost roads.
Um, and I think one of them you grab is like a um, yeah, is is like a just like a rolled up parchment that was unused, like hadn't been used yet.
It's
It was just like in storage. And then Dumy's Guide to Gorgons. Get into we get into the Dirty 20 one. And um this one I think as you were reading last night, you look through it has like a family tree of
Mhm.
Gorgans and you remember um looking at pronunciation here. Uh uh I still that didn't help. Um, you see obviously gorgans maybe you don't I don't I think it's old old enough where like your mother is not on there uh or or the
Uhhuh.
the one who raised you is not on there but it like all trickles up to a akidna um basically the mother of monsters more or less. Um, and you see it all and it's like they hadn't ever
Okay.
really like gone back that far with you.
They were more like looking at, okay, what's like the the the here and now, like who's here,
Yeah.
you're here. Like we're we're growing you.
with the the modern civilization.
Yeah. Yeah. We don't want to look back at at the past.
Yeah.
like how do you ๏ฌt in into the real world? Um, so it it gives you that that tree all the way back and
Yeah.
and gives you that little piece of of knowledge as like it all goes back to to the the mother of monsters. Um, yeah. And then but Naomi is still like I I don't know what we do about this but it's this is problematic. The the the fates are going to come and try and these books are going to go overdue and and the I don't want to ๏ฌgure out what the ๏ฌne is.
Um, it is not. And how do you know it is not a ๏ฌt for me to have them?
I guess you could tell them that. I don't know. I
But uh, regardless, I will I will see that there is um something that is interesting.
just
You're saying that uh this book that we have translated has a passage about the the lost roads and I picked it up in this book when looking to a connection to my heritage and in a way I am now on a lost road. Um, I won't say I'm fully invested in your your Siri here, but um, for the ๏ฌrst time I am perhaps listening a little bit. Um, so play along. And he just goes and starts like catching up by looking at the board as they keep talking in the
Yeah. Okay.
background.
That's Yeah, that's ๏ฌne. That's ๏ฌne. Um anyway, we were just kind of uh to catch you up. We were just kind of coming down to a decision and to see if you all wanted to kind of in investigate one of these maybe.
And there are not very many snakes
100%.
on any of these references.
So, I have to
I I I I mean I guess you don't h you could hang out here with Mike. He's pretty cool. He's he's fun to hang out with.
Never mind. I'll go. Never mind.
Um okay,
I'll go. It's ๏ฌne.
works for me. It sounds that's that's awesome. Uh we have like a got like a like a team. Uh I I was I was never really like team person. Uh more individual sports. Uh if if you count chess as a sport. Um I this is like this is big. This is big. I think with with we've always gone out in individually in search of these, but if there's a way where like you all are able and and I can be kind of like the man in the van sort of thing and we can like talk through stu๏ฌ, but Like If we have a team investigating this, like who knows?
Like I have never heard of anyone even reaching three fragments. Like if we if we could get to three or four or ๏ฌve, who knows? But like this could open up everything. But we we'll start with one. We'll start with one. Uh what what seems like the the most the most uh I don't know u attractive or the the the easiest whatever whatever you all want to chase I I don't know what what is it what looks
Um listen to me. I you know I am only partially thinking
Good.
that there is something here but um the uh the tab this this tablet is something that I could have um pro perhaps seen as a reason I am here. The other they look like um nothing to me. So I will I will do
CHAPTER 15: THE THRESHOLD OF THE LOST ROADS
"Let's start with the Greek tablet," Eusacles agreed, stretching his arms over his head.
"Is the French toast ready?" Eusacles called out toward the stove.
Pierre carried a platter over with great ceremony, though Mike shook his head with a chuckle. "It's a crepe. I don't know if you missed that, but it is definitely a crepe."
Dravin set down his fork, looking at the map. "Regarding this tablet... do we have to figure out a way to get there, or are we driving?"
"For North Carolina, you can take the truck," Mike suggested, tossing the keys.
Pierre eagerly dashed outside and clambered into the vehicle, only to realize he had accidentally gotten in on the driver's side.
Mike chuckled from the porch. "Pierre getting in on the driver's side... you know how to drive, right?"
"I was not expecting the wheel to be here," Pierre said with a flustered cough. "In France, it is normally on the other side."
Dravin walked up to the open window. "Pierre, I assume you know how to drive stick?"
"It is like a spatula," Pierre insisted with absolute confidence. "You put it in the right spot, and you flip."
Pierre turned the ignition key. The engine coughed, sputtered, and died.
"This truck is broken!" Pierre declared in disgust. He threw open the door, got out, and kicked the front tire. "It does not work! I am turning the key and it doesn't!"
"Hey, careful now," Mike laughed. "It's an old boy here, you got to take care of it."
"It is impossible to drive this thing!" Pierre threw his hands up in despair. "No one can do it!"
Eusacles stepped up with a confident nod. "Yeah, I got this. Dude, put your hand down. Put your puppet hand down."
"I'm a good driver!" Alfie insisted proudly. The little wooden sailor jumped down onto the floorboards, planting his driftwood boots onto the gas pedal while Eusacles worked the clutch and wheel.
"Has someone here actually driven before?" Eusacles grunted as they rattled down the road.
They rumbled through the mist until a weathered neon sign flickered through the fog: *24 HR GAS & MART*.
Pierre hopped out, dusting off his jacket. "I am very curious to see if they will ID you, Alfie."
"Pierre and Alfie are going in," Dravin noted, watching from the passenger seat.
The convenience store door chimed with a brassy ding-ling as Pierre pushed it open.
Behind the counter, an elderly woman in a faded apron turned to them. "Hey honey, how you doing?"
Pierre offered a polite French bow, greeting her courteously. "Hello... bonjour, madame..."
The clerk squinted through her bifocals, frowning suspiciously. "Ah, we got a Spaniard over here!"
Her gaze dropped from Pierre's spectacles down to the wooden doll nestled in his pocket. "I gotta say, I've never seen a grown man walk in with a doll before."
"Let's start with the Greek tablet," Eusacles decided, stretching his broad shoulders. "Is the French toast ready?"
Pierre carried a platter over with delicate ceremony, though Mike shook his head with an easy laugh. "It's a crepe. I don't know if you missed that, but it is definitely a crepe."
Dravin set down his fork, adjusting his spectacles over the road map. "Regarding this tablet... do we have to figure out a way to get there, or are we driving?"
"For North Carolina, you can take the truck," Mike offered, tossing a brass key ring onto the table.
Pierre dashed eagerly outside and clambered into the cab, only to freeze upon discovering the steering wheel.
Mike chuckled from the porch railing. "Pierre getting in on the driver's side... you know how to drive, right?"
"I was not expecting the wheel to be here," Pierre said with a flustered cough. "In France, it is normally on the other side."
Dravin strolled over to the driver's window. "Pierre, I assume you know how to drive stick?"
"It is like a spatula," Pierre insisted with absolute confidence. "You put it in the right spot, and you flip." He cranked the ignition key. The engine coughed violently, shuddered, and died.
"This truck is broken!" Pierre declared in disgust, shoving the door open and kicking the front tire. "It does not work! I am turning the key and it doesn't!"
"Hey, careful now," Mike laughed. "It's an old boy here, you got to take care of it."
"It is impossible to drive this thing! No one can do it!" Pierre threw his hands up in despair.
Eusacles stepped up, nudging Pierre aside. "Yeah, I got this. Dude, put your hand down. Put your puppet hand down."
"I'm a good driver!" Alfie shouted, hopping down onto the cab floorboards. The little wooden sailor threw his full weight onto the heavy accelerator pedal while Eusacles wrestled the clutch and steering wheel.
"Has someone here actually driven before?" Eusacles grunted as the old pickup rattled through the mountain mist onto the eerie bypass.
They rumbled down the fog-shrouded road until a rusted sign flickered ahead through the pines: *24 HR GAS & MART*.
Pierre hopped out, straightening his lapels. "I am very curious to see if they will ID you, Alfie."
Dravin watched from the passenger window as Pierre and Alfie entered the convenience store, a brass door chime ringing overhead. Behind the counter, an elderly woman in a stained apron squinted through thick bifocals. "Hey honey, how you doing?"
Pierre offered an elegant French bow. "Hello... bonjour, madame..."
The clerk's eyes narrowed with sudden hostility. "Ah, we got a Spaniard over here! I gotta say, I've never seen a grown man walk in with a doll before."
Alfie immediately bristled, pulling out his needle rapier right on the counter.
"What did you call my friends?" Alfie demanded, brandishing the steel needle.
The door chimed again, but the clerk was fixated on the counter. "Oh, that's on pump three, huh?"
She glared at Pierre with mounting hostility. "Hey, I don't need to take this from you! Get out of here! What are you doing?"
"Where else are we supposed to get petrol around here?" Alfie shot back indignantly.
"What kind of guy comes in with a pull-string doll?" the clerk sneered.
"Call me a doll one more time!" Alfie bristled. "Quit calling me a doll!"
The woman swatted a broom toward the counter. "Hey, don't throw your doll at me! Get out of here!"
Pierre snatched Alfie off the counter before she could hit him, but Alfie leaned forward and struck with his needle rapier, poking her hand as hard as his wooden frame could muster.
"Ow! You stabbed me!" the clerk shrieked, clutching her hand. "Get out of here! You got loose threads on that thing or something!"
"Yes, there is a loose thread up here," Pierre countered, pointing to his beret. "Just because the mist is destroying your memory does not mean you have to be rude!"
"It's perfectly sunny out there!" she yelled. "I don't know what you're talking about! You're crazy! Get out!"
Pierre paused, a dangerous glimmer sparking in his eyes. Messing with rude people was one of his favorite pastimes. "Hey, did you know that when you die..."
As Pierre stared into her eyes, the clerk tried to lunge forward, but her limbs physically froze mid-stride. A terrified pallor washed over her face, her eyes widening in helpless shock as Pierre's gaze locked her muscles solid.
Pierre blinked, a sudden rush of recollection striking his memory. He had seen something similar happen in France when someone had given his guardian a hard time.
"Alfie, this is the end of the entertainment for today," Pierre whispered, tucking the doll into his coat.
As they walked out to the parking lot, another farm truck rumbled up beside them. Mike leaned out the driver's window with an enormous grin.
"Thanks for being such a good sport about it!" Mike laughed. "We have plenty of gas back at the Marginโjust drive it on back! That gas station is our favorite prank for newcomers."
Pierre smiled mischievously. Messing with people was truly one of his greatest talents.
Outside by the passenger door, Dravin sighed with mild disappointment. "I don't think we're getting the Slim Jims we asked for."
Regrouping at the truck, the company gathered themselves to head back toward the Margin.
They drove back to the Margin, where Naomi and the others were waiting on the porch, poking fun at what had happened.
"You have a portal here?" Pierre asked, adjusting his rucksack.
"Yeah, it's like a portal in a way," Mike explained, leading them past the barn. "There's the maintenance shed, and then a trail that leads through forgotten areas. And north of here, there's a draw creek where an impossibly large skiff travels through."
Alfie bristled instantly, unsheathing his polished sewing needle on the laminate counter. "What did you call my friends?" the little wooden sailor demanded, lunging forward with a miniature en-garde.
The shop bell chimed again, but the clerk was locked on the counter. "Hey, I don't need to take this from you! Get out of here! What are you doing? What kind of guy comes in with a pull-string doll?"
"Where else are we supposed to get petrol around here?" Alfie shot back, outputting indignant fury. "Call me a doll one more time! Quit calling me a doll!"
The woman grabbed a straw broom from beside the register, swatting it aggressively toward the counter. "Hey, don't throw your doll at me! Get out of here!"
Pierre lunged forward to shield Alfie from the descending bristles, but the tiny sailor darted beneath the broom handle and drove his needle rapier straight into the back of her fleshy hand.
"Ow! You stabbed me!" the clerk shrieked, clutching her bleeding knuckle in shock. "Get out of here! You got loose threads on that thing or something!"
Pierre adjusted his beret, stepping between the woman and the puppet with haughty Parisian disdain. "Yes, there is a loose thread up here. Just because the mist is destroying your memory does not mean you have to be rude!"
"It's perfectly sunny out there! I don't know what you're talking about! You're crazy! Get out!" she screamed, raising the broom again.
Pierre paused, his jaw tightening as an ancient, instinctual reflex surged through his temples. "Hey, did you know that when you die..." He locked his dark eyes with hers. As the clerk lunged forward, her joints locked rigid mid-stride. A petrified pallor swept across her skin, her eyes widening in paralyzed terror as Pierre's unblinking stare froze her muscles solid like carved stone. Pierre blinked hard, a sudden memory washing over him from his youth in France when his guardian had similarly frozen hostile debt collectors.
"Alfie, this is the end of the entertainment for today," Pierre whispered, scooping the little sailor into his breast pocket.
Outside in the gravel lot, another battered pickup truck pulled alongside their stall. Mike leaned out the cab window, laughing until tears ran down his cheeks. "Thanks for being such a good sport about it! We have plenty of gas back at the Marginโjust drive it on back! That gas station is our favorite prank for newcomers."
Pierre smiled with haughty satisfaction. Messing with rude mortals was truly one of his greatest talents.
Outside the passenger door, Dravin sighed in mild disappointment. "I don't think we're getting the Slim Jims we asked for."
Gathering their wits, the company drove back to the sanctuary where Naomi waited on the lodge porch, grinning at their chaotic excursion.
Pierre adjusted his pack, asking about other routes. "You have a portal here?"
"Yeah, it's like a portal in a way," Mike explained, leading them toward the dark treeline behind the barn. "There's the maintenance shed, and then a trail that leads through forgotten areas. And north of here, there's a draw creek where an impossibly large skiff travels through."
Mike pointed toward the northern creek bed, where mist swirled heavily between dry boulders. "An impossibly large skiff travels through that draw creek, piloted by a shadowy ferryman."
"Is it driven by a skeleton?" Pierre asked, shuddering.
"Kind of like a shadowy figure," Mike replied.
"Yeah, I definitely do not want to take that one," Pierre decided quickly.
"We'll stay away from that route for a bit," Mike agreed, redirecting them toward the timber outbuilding. "The maintenance shed connects through abandoned structures and forgotten paths."
Pierre tilted his head thoughtfully. "I watched a movie once from Hollywood where all the toy stores were connected. It is like that, but with forgotten buildings?"
"Yeah, exactly," Naomi nodded, stepping forward with her pack. "That's what I was telling you about the Lost Roads. It's real."
"You can open the Lost Roads travel," Mike said, checking the lock on the maintenance shed door. "It takes you through forgotten places and spits you out near where you need to go."
"We'll figure it out as we go," Dravin agreed, adjusting his coat for the dimensional trek.
They stood on the edge of the Lost Roads, preparing to start journeying toward the North Carolina Museum of Natural History.
"Wait," Eusacles murmured, pausing in his tracks. A strange chill washed over his spine, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.
Pierre turned back toward Eusacles and Dravin, his hands on his hips. "You know that lady at the register was pretty rude, but you asked me for a Slim Jim?"
"I am not giving you a meat noodle! Hell no! Never!" Pierre insisted vehemently.
Eusacles blinked in disbelief. "So... you didn't get the Slim Jim?"
"Of course not! That is gross!" Pierre shuddered.
"You can take meat and make jerky, fine," Pierre muttered with sheer theatrical disgust. "But to wrap processed meat in plastic? It is a catastrophe! A blasphemy!"
Above the maintenance shed door, the solitary electric lantern began to hum with latent planar resonance.
The light began to rotate in a slow, hypnotic circle like a coastal lighthouse beacon. In the damp mountain air, a sudden smell of ozone and salt brine filled the Appalachian forest. Both Eusacles and Alfie froze as the distinct, thunderous roar of ocean waves crashing against rocks echoed through the trees.
Mike gestured north toward the shadowy creek bed where thick fog curled between jagged boulders. "An impossibly large skiff travels through that draw creek, piloted by a shadowy ferryman."
"Is it driven by a skeleton?" Pierre asked, shivering inside his coat.
"Kind of like a shadowy figure," Mike replied.
"Yeah, I definitely do not want to take that one," Pierre decided quickly, shaking his head.
"We'll stay away from that route for a bit," Mike agreed, redirecting the group toward the weather-beaten timber outbuilding behind the barn. "The maintenance shed connects through abandoned structures and forgotten paths."
Pierre tilted his head, adjusting his spectacles. "I watched a movie once from Hollywood where all the toy stores were connected. It is like that, but with forgotten buildings?"
"Yeah, exactly," Naomi nodded, tightening the straps on her canvas rucksack. "That's what I was telling you about the Lost Roads. It's real."
"You can open the Lost Roads travel," Mike said, working the heavy iron latch on the shed door. "It takes you through forgotten places and spits you out near where you need to go."
"We'll figure it out as we go," Dravin agreed, buttoning his tweed overcoat against the sudden metaphysical draft.
They stood on the threshold of the Lost Roads, preparing to begin their journey toward the North Carolina Museum of Natural History.
"Wait," Eusacles murmured, stopping dead in his tracks. A strange, prickling chill washed down his spine, raising every hair on his arms.
Pierre turned back toward Eusacles and Dravin, planting his hands firmly on his hips. "You know that lady at the register was pretty rude, but you asked me for a Slim Jim? I am not giving you a meat noodle! Hell no! Never!"
Eusacles blinked in utter disbelief. "So... you didn't get the Slim Jim?"
"Of course not! That is gross!" Pierre shuddered with theatrical Parisian outrage. "You can take meat and make jerky, fine. But to wrap processed meat in plastic? It is a catastrophe! A blasphemy!"
Above the maintenance shed doorway, the solitary brass lantern began to hum with latent planar resonance.
The bulb began to rotate in a slow, hypnotic circle, casting sweeping amber beams through the mist like a coastal lighthouse beacon. In the damp mountain air, a sudden, sharp scent of ozone and ocean brine overwhelmed the Appalachian pine needles. Both Eusacles and Alfie froze as the thunderous, impossible roar of ocean breakers crashing against subterranean cliffs echoed through the forest floor.
Let let's start with the Greek tablet. At least we have a potential of the good old doctor translating that
what
one.
All right. That's Yeah, that that sounds good.
I like this. I I Yeah. All right. I think that one's more or less probably about the the closest that we're going to get. So, I think that makes sense. Um, awesome.
Is the French toast
It is here. I have already brought it to you.
ready?
You are you are my sales. No brain.
It is. It is a crepe. I don't know if you missed that. It is a
Yeah.
crepe.
Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, I I have a question.
This is just like a thin little p. This is like a thin little
Yeah. Well, what?
this tablet.
pancake.
Yeah, the tablet.
This tablet. Um, do we have to ๏ฌgure out a way to get there or like are we going to montage our way
What? I think uh so uh usually we have I think I
there?
think North Carolina you could I think you could take the truck. Let's uh so we kind of like grab stu๏ฌ like start packing up and go to a truck. Um the kind of like an old beat up truck and you see Frank there who kind of only speaks in like Huh? Yeah, you guys are going to take the truck. All right, take the truck. Got to get gas though. So uh take it on down the corner and uh get some gas and then should be should be good to go. Um, so as you all going to like ๏ฌll it up at the gas station, who who would be driving Actually, the
Just kidding. Yeah, I can take it. Yeah.
you get in on the wrong side.
Oh. Uh, yeah.
Pier accidentally gets in on the driver's
What What is
side.
Yeah.
this?
the the one campaign I don't take vehicle pro๏ฌciency
Yeah. This is I I like I like Pierre getting in for the driver's side and it's
Mhm.
like So, uh, you you know how to drive? You're going to be all
Um I was not expecting this to be
right.
here. It is normally over there.
Oh. Um,
I can bet but it will be ๏ฌne. Art can it be? It is probably
we're we're in rural West Virginia.
like
It's going to be we're going to be ๏ฌne. There's not going to be an issue.
Pier, I assume you know how to drive stick.
Um,
it is like a spatula. Yes. You know, you put it in the right spot and you, you know, use the foot control. Yeah. Yeah. It's probably no problem.
Yeah, I trust
you all survival check. Nice. You all
This this this truck is broken.
him.
It does not work. I am turning the key. It doesn't. And he gets out and kicks the tire. That stupid
Hey. Hey, careful now.
machine.
It's a It's a It's an old boy here. Uh, I got to got to take care of
It is impossible to drive this thing.
it.
No one No one can do it.
All right. Anyone else? Anyone else want to want to give this a shot?
Yeah, I got this.
All right.
Dude, put your hand Put your hand Put your puppet hand
Uh Al๏ฌe jump
down.
All right. I'm a good driver.
jumps down by the by the gas pedals and it's just like pushing the gas and the brake as you're trying to
Sel๏ฌe.
You got it up there.
drive
healthy.
Didn't there used to be I I tell me if I'm wrong,
Yeah.
but didn't there used to be like a vehicle roll or something like
Careful.
there.
that?
did. You could roll pro๏ฌciency for vehicle pro๏ฌciency,
That's what it That's what it
but I this wasn't even going to be a check.
was.
So, we'll we'll say you get to the
Is someone who's actually driven before?
Yeah,
This is This is just me de๏ฌning Pierre's character as much as
plenty.
anything.
Yeah. Animal handling.
I I got a 15 in and handling them them
Perfect.
Animal
horses.
At least this is this is perfect.
handling.
You uh I I I know a guy who can handle some horses. That guy right there, he can he can handle his torque the torque on this bad boy.
And
Um,
there's
as you all as you all go to the gas station, they they gave you like a card and stu๏ฌ to to go get gas or uh cash to go get to go get pass.
Um, let's see. Who would who would be the person that comes in to like to pay for the gas to like pump pump the gas?
I'm just kidding.
Um I I am very
Ridiculous.
curious to see if they will ID you Al๏ฌe.
Yeah. Yeah.
Let's
You Pierre and Al๏ฌe are going in.
Yeah, I'll be up
So,
Yeah.
you go in and the door does the old like dingling as they come in and and as
here.
you walk up, um, you see an old lady turns to you and goes,"Hey, honey, how you doing? Um, what can I what can I get for
Oh,
you?"
hello the met on
Ah, we got a Spaniard over here. All right. Um, let's see.
Al๏ฌe.
Uh,
What did she What did the ancient woman say to me?
30
Yeah.
All right. She uh just leave her alone. She doesn't know.
I I I gotta say I've never seen a grown man walk in with a doll before, but this is this is new for me. I um Anyway, what' you say? You said 30 on three. Um you you see she turns and uh roll roll a
Sorry.
perception check. Both of you can roll
A roll for Mike Wazowski.
12.
Wait.
And you see as as this is kind of happening like and that
Oh
Oh
no.
one Al๏ฌe is pulling out starting to pull out her needle rape
no.
here for this lady. Um another person kind of another
What did you call my
person walks in kind of kind of behind you.
friends?
You hear the door the the uh doors ring, but she goes,"Oh, that's on three, huh?" um and like look looks outside and is like looks back
and as you look she's like checking back and forth. You can see on the like CCTV camera there's no truck there. Um but then she like turns and looks and the the truck is in three and then she looks back to the screen and you see her get like confused and go ah hunk of junk. Um uh and you see kind of like a a wave pass over her and then like a points to the person that like kind of walked up to the counter next to you and goes,"Yeah, how may I help you? What's up?" And then they like say something and then she looks back at you and goes,"What did you say something?
You are the greatest woman I have ever met. I am ear waiting. You have already call me pioneers. You let this other man is what is
Hey, I don't I don't need I don't need to take this from you.
and
Get Get out of here. What are you doing?
Get out of
your business
here.
Where else are we supposed to get petrol around here?
there.
What kind What kind of guy comes in with a with a with a pull string doll with a cochney accent?
All right.
What is going on here?
Call me a doll one more
I put out on the table. You listen here.
time.
This is my out. You can go get the Al๏ฌe.
Quit calling me a doll.
Is that your
Al๏ฌe, as you as you like kind of start approaching her,
mind?
she's like,"Hey, don't throw your doll at me here. Get out of here." And kind of like like shu๏ฌes you out. And and then like the the guy uh kind of whispers to you who who came in goes,"She can be a little bit crazy. I would I would just get out of here.
Um, does the guy react to the doll at all to Al๏ฌe at all?
No, it seems like you just like threw something at her to
Okay. Uh, I guess. Okay, now things are making more sense.
him.
You are just ignoring the muggles and he snatches Al๏ฌe o๏ฌ of the counter and
Al๏ฌe is actively trying to with the needle just as hard as he possibly
Maybe after one poke
can and she's just like
This
as you. Yeah, she's like trying to push you away and you stab me.
is
Hey, what? Get out of here.
to talk about someone else's
Get out of here.
doll.
You got some loose threads on that or something.
Yeah,
I lost
there is a loose thread up here and
Yeah, that's right. Loose threads in the brain. Yeah,
Just because the mist is destroying your memory does not mean you have to be rude.
I It's perfectly sunny out there.
that's right.
I don't know what you're talking about. You're go You're crazy. Get out of
Oh,
here.
this is one of my favorite things to do. Hey, did you know that when you die, you will go to ads and you will have to talk to his big dog?
You see a as you say this are are you like how how like calm and collected is Pierre?
uh he's he was riled up during the the Spanish thing,
Is he getting a little riled up at this point?
but then he he realized that like this is actually more more normal to him.
Yeah. Yeah.
And uh so he's he's coming back around now,
Okay. Okay.
I think.
I think um
because he likes messing with people.
yeah,
Both the
as as you say this and are like toying with her,
muggles
she towards you, but like you can see she like physically can't and like starts to try and like move towards you a little bit like even with her arms and but can't move towards you as you as you are like saying this and walking out.
And then and you can see in her eyes that she's like a little bit freaked out by
is that would I have seen anything like that
that.
before?
Roll like a history check or
Yeah.
something. Well, that's good. I would say you've um you've seen something similar happen from kind of like your kind of between like 9 and 12 when there was when you were taken out of the of your like camp for the ๏ฌrst time that you kind of grew up in um into the real
Yeah.
the real world and um someone was kind of like giving your
Yeah.
guardian a hard time. And that that is when you've saw you saw that
Al๏ฌe,
happen.
we have this is I think the end of the entertainment for today. Why don't we send one of the normals to go talk to her again for the gas or the petrol? I like petrol.
Yeah, of course.
I mean, of
And as as you all start walking back out to the car,
course.
you see um you see in a um it's another truck, whatever. You see another truck pull up with Mike, Teddy, Rosa, and Anna. And they all get out and are just dying laughing. Um, as they, as you can see, they kind of like pulled around from the side of the gas station and are like dying laughing and and you Mike comes up to you and goes,"Oh, thanks for being such a good Got to ๏ฌnd it. Got to ๏ฌnd it.
Sorry.
Find it. Find it. Thanks for being such a good sport about it." You know, like we just This is like our favorite prank for new people who are here to the margin. It's like kind of a prank, but also like kind of like this is how the world kind of sees you, like a little test. So, it's it's uh it's a learning experience, but it's also like really funny for us, too.
And uh we have plenty of gas back at at the margin. So, like just drive it on back and we'll chat about how you actually get places around here.
I um I love messing with the mogul in the m is one of my most favorite things to do. I used to always get in tr with mair because I would sneak out to the vineyards and try to steal like grapes. So guess a very good prank.
I think I They go. This is all happening. Me and Professor Edward are just outside by this man. I'm just gonna like lead over to him watching like,"Hey, you think these guys are going to actually pay anytime soon? Like what's going
I I don't think we're getting the slim gyms we had
on?
for
So, as you So, go ahead.
Is that Mike in there?
Go ahead.
Is that Mike in there?
As you all kind of reather yourselves and get back to the margin, Naomi is there and everyone else is there kind of like on the porch ready to welcome you back.
and uh they're all kind of having fun, poking fun at at what they said. And then they talk about um the lost roads as Naomi had sort of talked about um and talks about there is a there's a a few di๏ฌerent places in the margin where you can go. Uh might as well might as well do this in character. Let's see. Who do we who do we want?
mic obviously.
Okay. Um, so that's our favorite prank for sure. But like what you can see is we call it the lost roads and like people tend to kind of agree that that's the name but like we have this shed and it like takes you through di๏ฌerent kind of abandoned forgotten places and kind of spits you out near where you need to go. It's incredibly fast, but also like pretty inconsistent and like can be a little dangerous. So, we're going to have to be careful with sending you all there. But, we also want to make sure that you know what like classic travel looks like.
And no, it's kind of the only option besides drawing if it's very close.
Thank God Mike is telling us
Um,
You have a port
this.
y'all, it's like kind of like a portal in a way.
There.
There's like the maintenance shed and then there's like a trail that like you take and then it it kind of can all of the sudden there's like very di๏ฌerent terrain and then you arrive o๏ฌ there. It's wow.
Okay.
Um, you know,
And then there's Like there's like this draw creek that this
Yeah.
impossibly large ski๏ฌ kind of like travels through, but it's it's kind of hit or miss on if they're coming by.
Is it derived by a skeleton?
Kind of like a shadowy
Yeah. I don't want to take that one.
G.
I don't think I want to stay on this side.
Uh, it's occasionally you'll need to go to like a body of water, but this is I shouldn't have said
What?
that.
What a
Yeah. So, we'll stay away from that one for a little bit. But like the the shed brings you through like forgotten buildings and things like that. And then the trail forgotten areas and and paths. So we can kind of like do all that we need to through
I watched a movie one time from the um Hollywood.
that.
It put it together like all of the toy stores were connected. It is like these but them forgotten buildings
Yeah. Like an abandoned transion or subway stop something like that.
you know Mike I greatly appreciate you giving also this explanation but probably you and Rosa making me wonder there what is real what is maybe something that you learned perhaps after a night of fun or um exploration with the things you um smoke. This is not This is real.
and I think Naomi's there too and she's like,
Yes.
"Yeah, like that's what I was telling you about the lost roads. Like it's a it's a real thing.
It's it's the way we it's the way we travel. We love to I I I was playing a little koi because I knew they would play this prank on you. It's and they they get a lot of entertainment out of it. But I it is a good way to kind of see how people see you. I'm still a little hurt by it cuz that lady is really mean. But um uh yeah, it it's it's real. And I don't I'm trying to show you. Maybe you guys can see in the uh rollable tables on the on the right there, there's like kind of midway down,
Yeah.
you can open the lost roads travel and that
Nice.
Oh, yes
tells you we'll roll a d6 and we'll kind of determine what what travel looks
indeed.
God dang it.
like.
Who clicked that?
Yeah, give them give us some rules. None of this is canon.
All right.
We'll ๏ฌgure it out usually.
All right. All
Um um but yeah,
right.
so this is like this is this is how we'll do travel. to answer your question,
Go.
we'll montage more or less.
Nice.
Um, but yeah, I think as you all are are packed up,
Oh,
standing on the edge of the lost roads to to start journeying towards the the the North Carolina uh Museum of Natural History um to ๏ฌnd this.
this
That is where we will end the session and you all have Go for it.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Go for it.
I rolled a six twice. Give me a vivid echo that reveals lore, foreshadowing, or a clue before we end this. End this on a cliffhanger.
Okay.
Damn
And before you do that, um Pierre walks over to the doctor and used to he's like,
Okay.
you.
"You know that lady was pretty rude, but I did have a chance to um look for you as for a um slim gym and I am not giving you a meat noodle. Hell,
no. Never. That was disgusting.
So,
Damn
um you didn't get the slim gym.
Of course not. That is a gross.
it.
This is This is a blasphemy for the uh you know, you maybe could take us some meat and put it on in a jerky, but to wrap it in plastic, oh, it is a catastrophe.
Oh, John, you got a you got a bogey on your
for your for your two uh your two sixes.
sticks.
You got a um you you kind of the
Okay.
light the light above this like kind of maintenance shed that you're all standing in front
Okay.
of preparing to to take travel on this lost roads starts to kind of like in you like aren't sure 100% if it's real, but it like kind of starts to spin a little bit almost like a lighthouse and it kind of like ๏ฌashes and you could you swear you hear the sound of wave crashes and so does Al๏ฌe.
Peter covers his ears.
Um, yeah, there's your there's your echo and foreshadowing.
Nice.
Yes. And I know I I wanted to get through Lost Roads, but I wanna I want to make sure we have enough time to dig into that next time. So, lot of character building,
Nice,
a lot of uh a lot of stu๏ฌ going on.
Speaking of Speaking of next
Um,
time,
yes.
right? Because you're going to be in Colorado.
indeed being in Colorado is not going to
Mhm.
I do with my phone.
be the issue so much as where I'm at in Colorado.
Yeah,
No,
I think
I mean
I will say there is a 5050 chance, maybe greater than 50 chance that on Friday evenings, Saturday evenings, maybe Sunday. Probably not Sunday. Um I might be available uh because I might be back in town on those days. Maybe.
Maybe back in town on those days. No, no guarantees.
I think we'll I can't do Friday or Saturday of next week for Labor Day. I think we're going to end up going somewhere.
That's two weeks out,
Um,
right?
Yeah,
no that's next week is like
this Oh, I Yeah.
Labor Day is on the 7th this year because it's a weird
No,
Yeah, that's what he's talking about because today's Thursday,
weekend.
so it's like Oh, no. You're right. Because we're still early.
Labor Day is then the weekend
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're right.
after.
You're right. Because my hunting starts on the 1st, which is or second, which is a Wednesday. That's when my season opens up. So, you have two weekends.
The ๏ฌrst is a
Yeah.
Tuesday
Not not not this coming weekend,
Yep.
but like next Thursday would be the Thursday before Labor
like like
Day. Yeah,
three.
the 3rd would be the Thursday before Labor Day.
No,
Right. Am I
Yeah. Yeah.
no, no.
not?
The third The third is the Thursday before Labor
Yeah.
Wait.
Yeah.
Day.
Yes,
Yeah.
yes,
Yes.
yes. This is all making more sense in my head now that I have a calendar in front of
Yeah.
Wait.
me.
Yes.
Okay, John. So, when are you gone?
Uh, I am gone Saturday. Today's Thursday still.
Right.
I'm gone Saturday for until forever. I'm gone Saturday and I'm gone until I kill an elk or until I come back to town to re uh supply myself.
Let
Okay.
two.
So,
You're leaving on
the 29th until
let's
29.
whenever
Yeah.
let's just uh go with the third. And Ustles gets lost in travel until he ๏ฌnds his magic elk.
Yeah, I think that's ๏ฌne.
Would
And then if if we want to push to like a Friday of the following week, Friday or Saturday potentially, I'll I'll talk with Kristen about that, but I know we'll I think we'll be doing something for
you guys be able to do the
that.
second
We got a fantasy football draft that day. Uh we could do the ๏ฌrst Tuesday. Uh no, wait. I can't do the ๏ฌrst and I can't do the 31st. Uh we could we could do the we could do Monday. I could do Monday after after our stu๏ฌ after after your birthday
I could do Monday as well. Yeah.
celebration. Actually,
Yeah.
Don't forget Don't Don't forget Don't forget that present Luke.
I won't I got it.
This is the present. Um the third.
The 31st,
Yeah,
Willie.
I have in-laws in town probably the 3rd through the 8th or something. So,
Okay.
ideally that it would not be I
Did you do that Monday, Willie?
I think so. I have to double
Okay. Luke 31st.
check.
31st looks good for me. Yeah, that's
All right. Let's plan on that.
Okay,
๏ฌne.
sweet. Thanks,
Yeah.
guys.
Cool.
I have to say that the storm should start
And And you gets lost.
doing
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Luke,
Yeah,
have you had a chance to watch the uh the YouTube video I sent?
I have not yet,
Sure.
but I want to Is
I don't know how much you stay up to date with SNL, but it Oh,
his accent kind of similar?
you just watch it while we're still on because I want to see your reaction to the
Okay,
I mean, it's it's came. I thought this is what you were what you were
it is not, but I will tell you who I'm going for after. Um,
doing.
if if there's any John, I muted you. Sorry. If there's any Starruck Odyssey on Dropout, Crunch Moon Jones from Starruck Odyssey is what I was
Oh,
All going
going
I thought you were trying to I thought you were trying I thought you were trying to be the uh the
o๏ฌ.
chicken from Surf Up, but you know,
Hey,
whatever.
only Dr. Je๏ฌ.
That's it.
He's still a very weak doctor, but his mouth is moving and it seems like he wants to speak.
My god, I thought I lost my best friend. This is a miracle. I know.
He's waking
Look, he's waking up.
up
I'll come back. Oh my god. Where am I? He's
Yeah.
gonna be a little confused.
honestly.
Did you say hospital? Why are you calling me?
f***.
Crazy that it's an accident,
Yeah,
too.
this goes on for like ๏ฌve minutes, but you you get the point.
Yeah, that Yeah.
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
Hey
LA. I love
Paper.
Uh yeah, that was not who I was going for,
LA.
but yeah, in there.
Close
Yeah,
enough.
that was enough.
All right.
Did Did we Yeah,
See y'all Monday.
sounds good.
Sounds good.
Sounds good.
Bye.
See you. I didn't We Oh, I guess I didn't do the little girl. I don't really have a little girl voice besides Wesley's.
That's a little boy's
which is the little boy's voice.
voice.
I don't have an 11-year-old girl. That's kind of tough.
Yeah, that's that's tricky. But it could be 11-year-old boy,
I gota work on that one.
you know. It's not that far o๏ฌ.
It could be surprisingly close to mics.
Yeah. Yeah.
Oh my
Go. Yeah. Go.
Oh
Hi. I like I
man,
god.
love
I also I couldn't I could not nail down the Anna Smith's voice.
I Yeah.
Anastia.
Yeah. That one was that I was like,"Oh s***, that sounded French." Like, I'm screwed if you stay with that.
No, no, no, no, no.
I I kept going French because talking talking to Pierre was like pulling pieces of
Yeah,
that.
I almost stayed a little a little more stable
I can do like a like the a male voice for that,
today.
but trying to do like a kind of higher pitch female voice for it is
Yeah.
Yeah.
Way to ๏ฌnd the most insulting person for the French,
tough.
Yeah.
too. Cuz like if you called the French like English, they would know you were joking. But to call like the French Spanish, like absolutely diabolical.
Hit the middle on the head.
That was outrage. age.
Yeah.
Every now and then, like every now and then when Strebel speaks in that accent, every now and then I get a hint of the guy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail like like it's like it's a French accent, but it's so unre๏ฌned of a French accent. It's like a medieval French accent.
I'm like,"This is great.
It's good,
kind of want to go over.
man. It's getting You're getting way better
Yeah,
though.
a couple I I need to I keep getting the T and the and I need to get those sus like
Yeah.
this is sis, you know, little things like that.
Your mother Your mother was a hamster.
Yeah.
Your father smelled
Uh yeah,
as
mother was ster. You can't say hesster. I was telling Luke that I've got Gemini sending me a accent tip of the day. You might I don't know if you're walking around during that, but it's helping a little
Yeah,
That's
bit.
I liked it.
interesting.
Sorry, it's a little late for you,
Oh, it's all good.
Willie.
I'm just shutting down
You want to know who it's You want to know who it's not late
the
for?
you.
Ew.
You have to work
So, John, what's the what's the point of this?
night.
Are you like stationed at a base and you just have to do little security checks? Sorry.
Um,
Big big security
He's very
uh, we, yeah, no, this is a worthless position.
checks.
Um,
important.
we have a, so I'm I'm at Eggland. We have the McKinley Climactic Lab here. So, it's a, it's actually worth like looking up and to see some of the stu๏ฌ that it can do. It's a pretty interesting building. They built it after World War II for testing. It had to be able to ๏ฌt like a B-52 or whatever the biggest bomber we had at the time was. Um, car companies actually still use this place uh to test their future cars and everything else. But basically it can go down to like negative like negative60 degrees F or they can increase the chamber up to like 170 degrees.
They can do radiation testing, solar radiation testing, uh wind, rain, like they can simulate pretty much every climate in the world in here. And we just have an asset that's getting it's in one of the chambers getting cold tested. Uh but because of the um because of what the asset is, it is uh it has to be guarded 247 and just like we just got to check locks and stu๏ฌ. That's our job.
It sounds very boring to
There's
This has actually helped me uh in Dn D because now every time we have to sneak up on a guard or something,
me.
I'm going to know exactly how they feel on late night shifts and like their their level of interest
Yeah. You always assume it's going to be really hard. Yeah.
isn't
They're just looking to be entertained. They don't even They don't even care.
Yeah. John's itching for somebody to try and do
Please do
something.
All
it.
There is a sign. There is a sign out there that says lethal force is
right.
There you go. Now, next time in the D and D scene,
authorized.
there's going to be a sign where the guard above the guard that says,
There you go. Lethal force is authorized.
"All right,
All right.
cool."
Oh, what is that? Okay. Oh,
The the period just
nice. Nice.
Nice.
All right. He's out.
Nice.
Nice.
Oh,
landed.
gotcha. So, you since you got it. Nice. Sweet. When does it When does it say it'll get there?
I mean, that's the PDF. So,
Oh,
I'll have it I'll have it as soon as I put this in and then I'll have the hard copy
sweet. Very cool.
um probably by like hopefully before we're home for like
Yeah.
Christmas.
Oh, that would be fun. A fun inperson one.
Yeah.
I think I might have to reprise Michael as one of my as a
Love it.
PC.
Foreman, you've done a lot of camping in your days. What's uh what's uh one of your go-to camp meals? cuz I've had to get what I like to call um creative with camping meals for this uh elk hunt because I refuse to pay full price for Mountain Home and all that other stu๏ฌ because
Yeah.
it's like between 10 and $15 per meal.
Yeah. Do you have do you have an Insta Pot or like a dehydrator or
Uh and I think I I have an Insta Pot. Um I do have an Instapot.
something?
I do have a dehydrator. And my main way of uh I'll just tell you what I'm doing right now because I I I leave on Saturday so I don't really have time to do everything that I want to do.
But I think I think I have built a very calorie dense because part of my thing is like just trying to get like sodium and calories in me while I'm like hiking 10 miles a day at altitude. I think I about and very calorie dense um meal prep going on. Uh and it's not too terribly heavy. Uh so what I bought today was so for for breakfast I I did buy some pre like dehydrated meals that were like rancher roast scrambles um just for just for easier stu๏ฌ. But I have those for breakfast and for at least 5 days. And then I brought oatmeal because that's an easy like dry easy to pack thing. Um, but where I'm happy is for my dinner and or lunch, assuming I don't catch any ๏ฌsh because there is a lake nearby where I will be ๏ฌshing. I decided to go with the I've decided to go with the um ramen bomb style. So, I have a bunch of ramen and instant mashed potatoes. And what you do is is you, you know, you use your jet boiler or whatever to boil water and you make your ramen.
And then you pour the instant mashed potatoes in the ramen until it solidi๏ฌes. And then you just have ramen and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes I got are actually a protein mashed potatoes, so they have a little bit more protein. And then I also bought uh chicken, bu๏ฌalo chicken, normal and normal white chicken and bu๏ฌalo tuna. um some KISS packages and I'll also be able to pour those into them as my meals to go. Uh I also got like ghost packets for ca๏ฌeine, uh hot chocolate stu๏ฌ, and electrolytes. So that's that's basically what I'm packing out for food so far. I'm going to grab some bars and stu๏ฌ while I'm out there. Some like just whatever protein or just calorie dense bars, whether it's Cli๏ฌ Bars or something else. Uh but that's that's what I'm packing out right now.
Gotcha. Yeah.
and
The two two things, granted I was vegetarian at the time, but the two things that we that my dad and I and Kristen and I when we backpacked would
like.
do was the um we would do a just like a jar or a can even, but like a jar of pasta sauce and dehydrate it. It rehydrates fairly decent. Um, and then the other one, which is kind of gluttonous,
Oh,
but is a box of brownie mix. And then you mix in you throw a little bit of powdered milk in uh or like just the powder into like this the mix. And then you can bring oil if you want or you can just put water uh in it and then mix it up as like a kind of pudding brownie batter
Dude,
dessert.
that's actually huge because like again like the camping I'm doing it's like I'm out in the woods ๏ฌve miles away from my truck. But just to get to where I'm camping is a ๏ฌve mile hike.
Yeah.
And I'm probably going to have 30 lbs of gear on my back. So,
Yeah, that's that's just
so like high I'm I'm Yeah, I'm all about high calorie stu๏ฌ.
And like I actually need to go get one more water bottle.
powder.
I have one water bottle, but I want to get one of those like really tall jeans. Um because I have I got like an 8 liter water ๏ฌlter because I'm going to be close enough to a creek that what I want to do is at the at night or yeah at night before I go to bed I want to ๏ฌll that thing up with water and let it ๏ฌlter overnight into like the big water bottle.
Nice.
That way I have like a full water bottle every day. Um but I hopefully have everything I need.
Yeah.
Um, I guess I'll ๏ฌnd out when I'm out
Mhm.
there.
Nice. All right. That PDF looked cool.
Yeah, look nice,
I'm ready for you to run
right? Yeah,
Nice.
I'll uh I'll learn it by the time we'll ๏ฌgure out forgot if we can get
Can't be ready
one.
yet.
uh a game and game scheduled sometime over the holiday.
Yeah, that would be really fun. I know Kristen said any in person she'd be down. Sophie for sure would be down if she's in in town. Um, for Thanksgiving she usually is. For Christmas she usually goes to Chicago, but
I wouldn't uh Christmas is usually in town. Okay.
Thanksgiving she's usually in Christmas she's in Chicago. Um but then other random times that you're
Achievement.
into.
I'm just going to need a like a soundboard to be able to do like new achievement.
Yeah.
Barrel phantom.
New achievement.
Achievement. How far have you gotten on
Uh I'm in the last book.
it?
um the last book through a second playthrough cuz when the new one was coming out, I went back and listened from the beginning.
Nice. I I haven't.
Um but I I haven't ๏ฌnished the last one yet.
Neither have I.
I It didn't quite capture me as much as a lot of the other
I'm still Yeah.
ones.
I I mean I it's hard to keep that sort of light momentum that he had at the beginning when he started getting a little bit more serious,
Yeah, I think my favorite was the was I mean was pretty serious was like
but
when the external politics of the world started getting involved and I was like this is fascinating.
yeah, it's like such an interwoven like the when they got to the the um yeah,
sixth I think. Uh, no.
whatever the ๏ฌoor was city Yeah,
Ninth factor
the faction wars.
fact
Yeah. Yeah, I loved that one. I liked that one.
that
And then I like the uh I liked the Iron Tangle still.
I my brain The not work with that one. I I liked the over city and I liked the faction wars which are I guess are technically like in the same area per se,
Yeah.
but the school of pendra
Yeah. Uhhuh. Uhhuh.
layers
The school of tender layers. Yep. Yeah.
it's wild. Like I kind of feel like there there are points where I'm like is this even thought out? Did he just throw a bunch of s*** at the wall and like see what stuck?
Exactly. Exactly.
But then but then it all like links together well.
Yeah.
It's like, okay, okay, this is this is pretty well thought out.
and and who knows how much redcon was needed, you know,
Yeah,
after the fact. But yeah,
the the card one was not my favorite.
it's kind of a fun I I like I loved the characters in the card one.
Yeah.
That was probably my favorite like NPCs.
Yeah.
Um, you know, having a wrong lever crank voice in there for the other Carl.
Yeah.
Uh,
Yeah. Yeah. I I need to go back and listen to that just to like pull some voices to
Yeah,
have for He's incredible.
that that one guy's really good.
Oh my gosh. I for the longest time I thought it was di๏ฌerent
I did too.
people.
I like I still don't know how he gets like to some of the the pitches that he gets to.
Yeah. I can't imagine.
And there is at least one that has a second person in it, but I think it's just those two.
Yeah. Yeah. Um I've seen like I watched some like YouTube clips of him doing it and like I hear I'm hearing what's coming out but like my brain does not clock that that's that's something inongruent
Yeah,
here.
exactly.
It's weird but he's incredibly good.
He's really really good. Yeah, for sure. For sure. For sure. Okay.
Yeah. All right. It's late.
Yep. See you guys.
See you.