Noir

So I have a detective sleeping on my couch.

He arrived at Lyttelton tonight. I wasn't expecting him to come by ship, but I rented a car and was at the docks holding a sign with his name written on it, purely because that's what they do in the movies. He was pretty easy to spot with his trademark hat and coat, and I waved him over.

Me: Hey, you Noir?
Adam: And you must be the one they call Med.
Me: That I am. The car's over this way.

We shook hands and I started driving him to my place, just as it started to upgrade from drizzle to rain. On the way we talked. I offered him a room, but he preferred the couch, which was fine by me. I joked that things would be weird with two Blacks around.

Me: So why are you here in good ol' Godzone? A place to avoid the heat, or on business?
Adam: It was the only boat leaving that night.

It was pretty much obvious that was a lie.

Me: Good, I'd hate for something to be going on right under my nose, so to speak.
Adam: Yes, that would suck. You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you?
Me: Oh, has Google crashed? Yeah, I have maps. Bushwalking tracks, that sort of thing.
 Adam: Google? Oh, that internet thing.

I couldn't help thinking 'oh, you poor man' for a split second.

Adam:Good, I need to find my wa- Just would like to know the area.

He really is a terrible liar. I sighed.

Me: Okay then. I've got a few that'd do you well, got some things marked on there that aren't on the official maps. Don't get excited though, it's nothing classified. Just things like hot springs and glow worm caves and good fishing sites. Places to camp, whether the water's undrinkable, that sort of thing.
Adam: Anything in the Hunter Mountains?
Me: Oh, I don't know. Another lab, maybe? On my turf? ... Yes, my maps cover those too. You're in luck, they're probably the most comprehensive I have. I grew up around there.
Adam: Med, I am going to level considering the fact that New Zealand is your home. Yes, another Lab House is in the mountains, I am going to be going there... alone.
Me: Hell no.

He paused for a bit.

Adam: Look, if it wasn't so dangerous then I'd let you go senza problema but it is very dangerous and I don't want to be responsible for your death or injuries.
Me: Ha, when has the possibility of death or injury stopped me? Look. I know the area. I know labs. I can help. I'm not asking you to involve me in a firefight, just to let me search the place when you're done.
Adam: No.
Me: Fine! Fine.

I may have driven faster and braked harder than strictly necessary when going up the driveway. I deactivated the traps on the door with my iPhone, unlocked it, and checked on Black. He hadn't spontaneously combusted while I was gone, so I asked Adam what drink he wanted and then went and got  the maps.

I walked into the lounge with both to find Adam and Black reading paperwork. It was a list of names; some of the patients that the doctor whose journal Adam held had worked on, so I don't think much damage was done, but I still asked Adam not to give Black any more things to read. Then I set about spreading the maps all over the coffee table and getting them to line up.

Adam: Always this frantic here?
Me: Don't always have visitors. These past two weeks have been a surprise. Got it. Here is where we are, and here are the Hunter Mountains. Closest town, unless you count Monowai as a town, which I don't, is Manapouri.
Adam: Hmm.

He started writing in his own journal, a black leather thing.

Me: It's a full day's drive, maybe two. You're probably going to have to stop in Queenstown. Do you have a car, Mister Alone?

He said he'd walk.We discussed what he'd need and what the town was like, he tricked me into drinking vodka from his hip flask, I managed to stop him getting Black to drink from it, and he gave me the doctor's journal for study.

That's everything up to date. Time for bed. He's leaving for the lab house in a few days, which should give me enough time to prepare.

Experiment 3: Capture

Music!

For your viewing pleasure, I'd like you to read this post in the tone of voice someone selling a giant robot uses just before it steps on them.

From today I will be testing my… well, I hesitate to call it an invention. It borrows heavily from existing devices. But none of them were modified for the purpose I intend to use this for; a way of capturing Slenderman.

Ambitious, I know! And very likely to result in my turning into a bloody smear.

I recommended Dead Man’s Posts to Carter, and I’ve set up a separate one in case this all goes south. Since I don’t want to reveal my plans before they’re executed in case of proxy sabotage, my method and reasoning will be revealed either by it in a week or me if all goes something approximating well.

Today, I activate the project. Wish me luck.

Vandalism: Round 1 Aftermath

Now I know there's Proxies in the area, I've been busy taking precautions against them.

The first thing I did when I was able to get up and walk without reeling and leaning on the nearest object was return to the old warehouse with a rag and a water bottle to clean off the symbol. No unauthorized memetic hazards allowed in this city on my watch! You have to fill out a form for that sort of thing. Signed by me. In triplicate. One to me, one to your immediate superior, one you keep, maybe on some kind of spike.

Sorry… got sidetracked again. This time, I checked to make sure no one was nearby before I went over to the mark. I’ve learned that particular lesson. My bike, needless to say, was gone. Probably taken by some lucky opportunistic passerby. I guess I’m walking everywhere from now on.

During my couch ridden state I took the opportunity to review some of Experiment #1’s video footage. Nothing definitive in terms of Slenderman sightings yet, but eight days is hardly enough time for that. What annoys me is that some of the symbols have been tampered with; the duct tape has been stripped off the covered ones and all but two of the uncovered ones have scratches in them. Unsurprisingly, the Operator symbol and Setoth’s symbol were the intact ones. Rewinding the footage just shows someone in a dark grey hoody with an orange box cutter, not enough of their face showing for me to know if he or she is one of the ones from earlier, or someone new.

(If I have to make a guess though, I’d say it’s Smugface at the very least. Bailey’s wounds are not the kind of thing that would heal in this period of time, unless he has a mysterious Proxy healing factor in which case all bets are off.)

What this implies is that Proxies either read my blog or just happened to come across one symbol (and I hid them pretty effectively) and deduced there were others. Which means I’m going to have to be more careful with the information I post here from now on.

In any case, I’m going to leave those symbols up to see if the damage has any effect on them and create a new set. Now that I know people will be looking for them to further mess with the validity of the experiment, I can keep that in mind with regards to where I place them.

No clues for you, I’m afraid, if you happen to be reading this. I’m not making it any easier for you than I have to.

I’m currently gathering supplies for Experiment #2. I should be able to have them within the week if I’m lucky, the month if I’m not. Speaking of, if anyone has any azoth, aka ‘that disgusting black gunk people throw up sometimes’, I’m also looking for that in addition to Proxy blood. I’m steadily chewing my way through the many, many blogs, but that’s going to take even longer.

~Med

EDIT: Oh god, just started reading Zero's blog. Everyone was so... hopeful, then. I just...

...

S'funny. Read through numerous tales of despair and woe, but the one that really cuts to the heart is the one where there was hope. Because it wasn't enough. Makes me start to reconsider just what I'm hoping to achieve here.

There's so many things happened since not three years ago. I was alive then. These things were happening and I had no clue. I could have helped. Reading these blogs, I want to help. But the past is another country with closed borders, and besides, the men are dead.

...shit, I'm crying.

Med out.