[IC] The SCP Foundation - Chapter 1: Trick or Treat

[WindStruck]

Atop the church tower, Thomas doesn't really see much interesting.. peering out below the tiny roof is a tad bit difficult in any case. No ominous mists rolling in, no suspicious cult activity as of yet, just lots of corn, the nearby village, and more corn. Noticeably, on getting higher, it's not like the reception of the phone improved that much. Still at two bars it seems.

[Plaids]

The voice comes in: "This is Mission Control. Dr. Curtis, not Director Lambert, here."

The radio comes via your phone seems to have some kind of interference and is rife with static. "What do you mean they are puppets or projections? Is King with you? Can he explain?"

"Extraction is risky and may have unintended consequences. What do you mean you need opportunities for investigation? I don't know what you are asking us. Can you elaborate?"

The town, King has telepathically probed the inhabitants and all but two we met were found to be mindless and controlled by some entity. All the puppets were keen on politely asking us to depart. The exceptions we have met are a young girl with her own mind unattached to any other entity and the towns pastor. Both of them were curious about us and invited us to stay longer in town. Both of them also mentioned a harvest festival that would happen tonight. We believe it has some purpose beyond entertainment or maintaining appearances. Mindless drones don't need entertainment and the town is isolated and even denying entrance to certain people. The girl and the priest are our people of interest and we will investigate this festival. If things go sideways we may want to extract the priest and girl for questioning and their own safety.

Could there be anything we are overlooking or an investigative avenue we have yet to explore? Otherwise we will continue observing our people of interest and the upcoming festival.

[JeenLeen]

With nothing of import to see, 5404 takes a few pictures just in case he misses anything, then climbs down.

Assuming the rector is still talking with the others and the can't be seen, he does decide to snoop a little. Glancing into the rooms he can to see if he sees anything interesting, with a focus on the priest's office or the church itself.

[WindStruck]

The town, King has telepathically probed the inhabitants and all but two we met were found to be mindless and controlled by some entity. All the puppets were keen on politely asking us to depart. The exceptions we have met are a young girl with her own mind unattached to any other entity and the towns pastor. Both of them were curious about us and invited us to stay longer in town. Both of them also mentioned a harvest festival that would happen tonight. We believe it has some purpose beyond entertainment or maintaining appearances. Mindless drones don't need entertainment and the town is isolated and even denying entrance to certain people. The girl and the priest are our people of interest and we will investigate this festival. If things go sideways we may want to extract the priest and girl for questioning and their own safety.

Could there be anything we are overlooking or an investigative avenue we have yet to explore? Otherwise we will continue observing our people of interest and the upcoming festival.

There is some silence but the radio eventually crackles to life again. "That is an interesting turn of events. We may consider extracting these persons of interest, a big maybe, as it likely too dangerous and unpredictable, but for now, we would like to see if there are yet any more special people in this town who are not acting as.. puppets, like you say."

"I would not know what you are overlooking," Dr. Curtis says over the radio. "You are the ones investigating there, not me. My advice is to try to find any innocent excuse you can to stay and continue investigating. I would also like to speak with King over the radio, but only if you have the chance to do so in private. Do not arouse suspicion."

With that the radio cuts out again. Looking around, it seems you stopped with your conversation just in time as you notice some other villagers approaching you now.

With nothing of import to see, 5404 takes a few pictures just in case he misses anything, then climbs down.

Assuming the rector is still talking with the others and the can't be seen, he does decide to snoop a little. Glancing into the rooms he can to see if he sees anything interesting, with a focus on the priest's office or the church itself.

The office itself seems about as underused as the church itself. It's a spartan affair with but a simple desk and pair of chairs, a low shelf with some religious texts, some religious effigies, a small window that lets in some light, and a lantern. Much like the rest of the church and other buildings in town, it's all just old, and it seems like it hardly gets any use.

[JeenLeen]

Figuring religious curiosity is an inoffensive excuse if he gets caught, 5404 ducks into the office and looks over the books and religious knicknacks. Are they dusty like he hasn't looked at them in a while? If one stands out, he'll pick it up and leaf through it (or look over it, if it's an object). He'll also glance in any drawers.

Otherwise, he heads back to the group.

[WindStruck]

Figuring religious curiosity is an inoffensive excuse if he gets caught, 5404 ducks into the office and looks over the books and religious knicknacks. Are they dusty like he hasn't looked at them in a while? If one stands out, he'll pick it up and leaf through it (or look over it, if it's an object). He'll also glance in any drawers.

Otherwise, he heads back to the group.

It does in fact seem that a layer of dust has settled on the books. The shelves as a whole look to have had some attention and been dusted, but since you're looking for it specifically, you can still see that many of the cracks and crevices and tops of the books are quite dusty, as if not having been touched in some time.

Rifling through the drawers, you find several letters addressed to someone named William. Just skimming through them, the content seems to be heavily-related to scripture. The letters express varying degrees of condolences and encouragements. Each letter appears to have been penned by the reverend himself, though oddly enough, they haven't been delivered...

[Ameraaaaaa]

King get's bored and decides to wander around.

[JeenLeen]

5404 snaps pictures of a few of the letters, and of the books to show the lack of actual use, then tries to put things back where they were and rejoin the group.

A meat puppet wouldn't write letters (right?), but the office looks unused in a way he wouldn't expect a real person to use it. Odd.

[WindStruck]

King get's bored and decides to wander around.

Being unattended and pretty much unnoticed, King slips away from the others as they talk.

King slinks along the western walkway (heading south), passing by a few houses. He notices one house has a window about one-half to one-third of the way open. Plenty of room for an ordinary housecat to squeeze in through.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the Church

Thomas returns, not having taken an inordinate amount of time. Seems the others are still chatting with the reverend.

[Ameraaaaaa]

Being unattended and pretty much unnoticed, King slips away from the others as they talk.

King slinks along the western walkway (heading south), passing by a few houses. He notices one house has a window about one-half to one-third of the way open. Plenty of room for an ordinary housecat to squeeze in through.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the Church

Thomas returns, not having taken an inordinate amount of time. Seems the others are still chatting with the reverend.

And so king enters. let's see what's here. Perhaps there'll be something to eat or drink. Who knows? Maybe there'll be cat nip. It's honestly pretty boring not getting to read peoples minds and laugh at their misfortunes. That priest was pretty annoying for not letting me read his mind. Maybe i should trash his place before this mission is over. He almost made me feel inadequate.
That can't go unpunished!

[hand ax ranger]

Dr. Kalispell Hagerty - SCP scientist
Guise: Kali Simmons - The loving mother



That was it, this was getting too suspicious.
Excuse me father but the dust is prompting my allergies I'll be getting some fresh air just on the porch.
Dr. Hagerty proceeds towards the front of the building and while gently tugging Kuzmo's shirt to direct him to accompany her. Splitting from the group on her lonesome had already brought an uncomfortable experience. It would be best to not do so again. She pulls out her phone hoping for a signal and belts out the group's progress while cupping her mouth with her free hand to provide some degree of discretion.

Director, we've made some progress. King has discovered most residents seem to be puppets or projections of some entity trying to dismiss us. The exceptions are our persons of interest. First is a young girl with a mind of her own next a middle-aged priest. Both showed keen interest in us and pursued further interactions. We can extract them if needed but we still opportunities for investigation. Any suggestions from command?

As the rest begin looking into the church and what not Kuzmo himself gets bored and frustrated with what feels (at least to him) like a lack of results. With this in mind he wanders off to try and communicate with the more mundane townsfolk.

Or at least he would of, had the scientist playing the part of Kali not tugged his shirt and lead him along to somewhere. With his bag in hand he follows, thinking it will at least go somewhere of interest.

[Esprit15]

James looks to Thomas as he returns. ”Any luck?”

[JeenLeen]

James looks to Thomas as he returns. ”Any luck?”

He shakes his head. "Nah. Did get a pretty picture of the view while I was up there, though." He hands back over the phone.

[Esprit15]

James nods affirmatively as the phone is returned. He makes a mental note to comment positively on 5404’s cooperativeness during the job and ability to be trusted with a degree of freedom. ”Well damn. Er, darn,” he says, looking to the pastor. “Well, day’s starting to stretch on. We won’t take up more of your time, Reverend. Thanks.” Unless the reverend has anything more to say, James heads out to… just kinda wander, see what catches his eye in town.

[Plaids]

Dr. Kalispell Hagerty - SCP scientist
Guise: Kali Simmons - The loving mother

With that the radio cuts out again. Looking around, it seems you stopped with your conversation just in time as you notice some other villagers approaching you now.

No way was this doctor going to talk to the local marionette troupe without the rest of the group. Besides there was an important task to complete involving King. As she begins turning Dr. Hagerty's turns to her flank.
4500 will be fine nothing shows the locals could actually do anything to him. The worst that could happen is he gets booted and has to wander a ghost town. ... Fine, you can stay with him Maribel, just don't get too intimate Dad taught us how avoid a philanderer. This mission is to get us back to where we belong be careful. It wouldn't be worth it without you.

Dr. Hagerty focuses on SCP 4500 Kuzmo, although "Casanova Croc" came up on occasion, as she addresses him.
Kuz, I'm heading inside to get King and relay his investigations to HQ. You can stay here to talk with locals or investigate at your discretion. Maribel will be with you if need a second opinion or pair of eyes.

Dr. Hagerty returns to the church to convene with King and provide HQ with a primary source regarding the towns inhabitants.
OOC: I'm not sure if King is easily reachable but the gist is going to be "Hey King, I need you to talk into this phone to tell Dr. Curtis about the people in this town." if not easily reachable she'll ask around or just start hollering for King.

[JeenLeen]

After Dr. Hagerty leaves, 5404 looks to the disguised lizardman then towards the Task Force Leader who is starting to wander off.

Assuming the Reverened has left (or after he has), 5404 asks, "Okay, I get if this is above my clearance, but who or what is Maribel and is something wrong with doc-- with mom? Like, y'all are hearing her talk about someone else, too, right?"

(If needed, he'll instead run up to Task Force Leader to ask.)

[Esprit15]

”Her sister,” James says simply. He frowns, given what little he does know about the Doctor. “I’m not at liberty to discuss much more, sadly. It’s… well, as everything else is with us. Redacted. But I’ll talk to her about confusing then SCPs by discussing off topic matters.”

[WindStruck]

That Darn Cat

King leaps though the open window, intent on causing more mischief and mayhem just because he can, out of spite. Inside appears to be even more rustic furniture and odds and ends. Unlike with the Becket home, where Lily lived, the place seems more ill-maintained, with dust collecting in places and a few spider webs here and there. It's like the people living here don't actually live here.

Speaking of which, you see an old man sitting in a big recliner in the living room. He seems to just be staring ahead out towards another window, or perhaps, he's just asleep.


Those Mundane Townsfolk You Ordered

Kuzmo was out with Dr. Hagerty, but with her conversation on the radio over, she quickly goes back to reconvene with the others as the group of villagers approaches. Since you wanted to speak with them, well, here they are if that's still what you wanted to do!

"Hey," one of them calls out. It was Peter from before, the first guy you met, though Kuzmo hadn't talked to him yet. "Y'all doin' alright? You manage to get your phones working?" There's two more men accompanying this one, and one quite large and burly female as well. They all look like manual laborers or some kind of farm hands.


Leaving the Church

Seems Kuzmo has the closest group of villagers occupied, so you are able to have a brief, yet discreet conversation amongst yourselves. It's around this point, after Dr. Hagerty aka Kali mentioned getting King to relay his investigations, that you all realize... King is gone!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adopt a Dieway

The sun has past its zenith in the sky. It's still about the warmest part of the day, though. Marianne now complains that it's too hot out here. Probably understandable, seeing as the sun is beating down on you, and you're out walking doing a bit of labor.

All the idle conversation has died down now, as there's just, literally nothing happening. Expansive prairie is all around you, the flat highway stretches forward and behind you, and the corn fields are much closer. Now perhaps they are merely 100 yards away. Benjamin can almost taste that delectable corn, which surely is not poisoned, GMO, or otherwise deadly. At the very least, it's certain there's no MSG in it.

One of the SCP guards walking behind you and keeping an eye on you radio in something very brief. The corn up ahead still does seem a little ominous, though...

You find yourselves subconsciously pairing up: Cecily with Hank, Tom with Tater, Benjamin with Chris, Marianne with Cheryl. Their sour moods seem to compliment each other. At least the complaints might be keeping your mind off the impending doom ahead.

[Ameraaaaaa]

King heads to old man and does his best hungry cat impression meowing and all that. I'm hungry. You better feed me old man or I'll do this all day. I won't stop meowing until you feed me.

[WindStruck]

That Darn Cat

It's a while until King gets a response. An abnormally long while...

Eventually the old man blinks and looks down at you. His expression is more perturbed than surprised or delighted.

"What are you doing here..?" he mutters to himself. The old man clambers to his feet and attempts to pick King up.

Spoiler: mind reading stuff

Show

At first King feels absolutely nothing, no mind at all, not even the strange background presence.

When the man activates, coming to life, however, that's when you feel that strange presence again, lurking somewhere in the deep deep subconscious. But there's still apparently no mind to this guy.

[Ameraaaaaa]

King runs to the kitchen. And starts pawing at the fridge you better get the hint old man.

[WindStruck]

That Darn Cat

"What in tarnation..." the man says as King scurries away. He hobbles after King, shaking his fist. "Get away from there! I mean, get back here!"

"Ain't nothin' in there for you!" he says, again trying to grab King.

[Ameraaaaaa]

King jumps on the old mans face and scratches it up good before jumping off his head and running out of the window he came from.

dumb human deserves the wrath of my claws if he doesn't feed me. Humans are only good as obedient slaves afterall.

[Esprit15]

James looks around as he realizes that he didn’t properly track the SCP. “Hey, y’all seen King anywhere? I thought one of you had him at the church.”

[Metastachydium]

Cecily finds that she's mighty pleased with her instinctive forward thinking. Poor Tom! No one really deserves getting stuck with Tater like that. But hopefully that's final. She shifts a few inches closer to Hank, nevertheless, just in case.

Still, content as she is with the understanding that her lot could be way worse, a number of circumstances continue to bug her all the same. The unladylike, fat drop of sweat she feels creeping down along her spine is surely an annoyance, for starters, even more so than the thin film of transpiration slowly taking shape on her scalp – she could use some lighter clothes; this trek could be halfway nice that way. Except… What if she began celebrating early? Yes, the guards are not yet fleeing for their lives, but the creepy corn's still ahead. And the guards? Behind them. Despite her best judgement, she tries to strain her ears in hope of catching the words radioed back to base through the noise she unwittingly makes tapping her stupid pointy stick against the asphalt nervously. A brand new gross bead of sweat joins the first one en route to her waist. She inches closer yet to Hank.

[hand ax ranger]

Those Mundane Townsfolk You Ordered

Kuzmo was out with Dr. Hagerty, but with her conversation on the radio over, she quickly goes back to reconvene with the others as the group of villagers approaches. Since you wanted to speak with them, well, here they are if that's still what you wanted to do!

"Hey," one of them calls out. It was Peter from before, the first guy you met, though Kuzmo hadn't talked to him yet. "Y'all doin' alright? You manage to get your phones working?" There's two more men accompanying this one, and one quite large and burly female as well. They all look like manual laborers or some kind of farm hands.

As the group moves up to Kuzmo he clears his throat lightly and assesses the risk. Thinking there is no danger here he nods to them and shrugs. "Ehhhh I dunno..... I left my phone with the others cause I was getting frustrated with it. For now I figure I'll walk around and see the sights. It's a lovely town and all that after all." He smiles to them, for now letting natural charisma and an at ease attitude lower their possible suspicions.

[JeenLeen]

5404 simply nods at the explanation about the doctor leading the expedition. Annoying, but oddly reassuring that it's just another crazy thing apparently accepted by the higher-ups.

When King's absence is noted, he looks around, but of course doesn't see the feline. He has a mix of anxiety about mission failure or overall group punishment if King has run off, and the slight sense of hope at an SCP getting free. Even if King does seem a selfish, entitled... well, typical cat, just talking and immortal. "I didn't notice. Sorry..."

[Plaids]

Dr. Kalispell Hagerty - SCP scientist
Guise: Kali Simmons - The loving mother

Kali Simmons begins looks around the church squinting as probes the room looking for King.

King jumps on the old mans face and scratches it up good before jumping off his head and running out of the window he came from.

dumb human deserves the wrath of my claws if he doesn't feed me. Humans are only good as obedient slaves afterall.

The quiet search for King came to a dull end as a clattering and shout interrupted the peace. What was that? Hopefully things weren't escalating already. Dr. Hagerty strides towards the disturbance. As she rounds a corner reaches beneath her jacket palming a discrete bandolier of foam grenades.
Has anyone King? Hopefully he hasn't gone too far. Might have to use the cat carrier if he's too restless.

[WindStruck]

King jumps on the old mans face and scratches it up good before jumping off his head and running out of the window he came from.

dumb human deserves the wrath of my claws if he doesn't feed me. Humans are only good as obedient slaves afterall.

"Gyaah! Goddammit!!" the old man cries, briefly clutching his face and then moving over to pick up a broom. But by then King is already gone.

Outside, King continues stalking along the walkway. If he's looking for food, he sees a garbage can with its lid partially on. Might King be interested in some nice tasty garbage?

As the group moves up to Kuzmo he clears his throat lightly and assesses the risk. Thinking there is no danger here he nods to them and shrugs. "Ehhhh I dunno..... I left my phone with the others cause I was getting frustrated with it. For now I figure I'll walk around and see the sights. It's a lovely town and all that after all." He smiles to them, for now letting natural charisma and an at ease attitude lower their possible suspicions.

"Ah, well uh, I dun think the town's all good for sights and all, mister," one of them says.

Another smiles. "We'd be much obliged if there's anything we can do to help get you all on your way."

[Ameraaaaaa]

"Gyaah! Goddammit!!" the old man cries, briefly clutching his face and then moving over to pick up a broom. But by then King is already gone.

Outside, King continues stalking along the walkway. If he's looking for food, he sees a garbage can with its lid partially on. Might King be interested in some nice tasty garbage?




"Ah, well uh, I dun think the town's all good for sights and all, mister," one of them says.

Another smiles. "We'd be much obliged if there's anything we can do to help get you all on your way."

King decides to check out the trash. while i deserve better then trash this will do for now. Silly humans throwing away good food.