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[stolenface]

Who: The Alices
What: The next World's door isn't opening, but the Cat's left something open behind him instead
Where: ▒▒▒▒▒
Warnings: Potential for (non-permanent) death, there's a few body parts around, an eye in a jar, and also mentions of a sewing needle; will update with further info

The Cat hadn't shown up the entire time everyone was in the Hub. It probably was a tiny bit disconcerting. But still, they are ushered on to the next World. But as they go, they'll be greeted with the Cat... Walking away with his back turned to them. He steps through a literal hole in the wall, perfectly round, on the far side of the room where the doors are. And then, it stays open. Should they try the doors, only the ones they've been to previously will open. That hole must be awfully tempting, if the Cat left it.

When they enter, they awaken to a very odd place indeed. An alleyway with one end fenced off and a large grave in the middle of it. The only other way to go is an old factory. Upon entering, they will find the space is off in itself. The machinery is all rusted, but there's the sense that touching the controls could turn it on. And in one corner, in an area that's far more warehouse because this place seems to be patched together from a factory, warehouse and basement, is an old mattress with bloodstains on it and the floor around it. Various body parts, some fresh, some far more decayed and only bone, all seem to be scattered around. There's thick thread--almost like wire--and a large sewing needle that's definitely seen use. On a stand next to the old beat-up mattress is a jar with a single eye in it, red in iris coloring. All of the text everywhere is garbled and unreadable, and the entire world is inverted in coloring. It's probably disorienting.

The Cat doesn't seem to be anywhere they can find, although scraps of cloth in a few places look similar enough to what he wears. There's definitely more to this place beyond the fence outside, but there's no discernible way to get past it. No powers that could help them get over it are accessible, and trying to use any extrasensory powers will earn a splitting headache and nausea similar to that caused by the mysterious voice from before. In fact, the entire area gives the sense that they're not normally supposed to be here.

Where did they get to now...?

Comments

[bakegarasu]

[... Well, Otoha will pick up the jar and look at the eye inside of it.]

[worldkeys]

[ The eye is just an eye. But it, like the other body parts scattered around, is not inverted or washed out in color. It looks well taken care of and even fresh. But more than that, while he holds it, he gets the impression this belonged to a very strange girl whose life was taken from her by the Cat. ]

[bakegarasu]

... Huh.

[It's hard to get worked up about it - if she got herself killed, that must have been her fault. But he sets it down and prods the mattress, trying to see if either he can learn anything more from it or if there's anything underneath it.]

[worldkeys]

[ He'll receive the impression that the Cat occasionally sleeps here. Also, very suddenly, he'll be hit with the smell of rotting flesh and indistinct muttering. ]

[bakegarasu]

[Well, the muttering is weird, but the rotting flesh... huh. It doesn't really bother him.]

[He stands up and heads over to the needle, touching it on the not pointy end.]

[Maybe he's seen too many bad horror movies, but with body parts and thread around...]

[worldkeys]

[ The needle receives a much more clear vision. The Cat is sitting on the mattress. ]

With the way the Rabbit's treated, you'd think I wouldn't be left to rot... Maybe an Alice will be nice enough to...

[ The vision ends there. Most notably, though, if Otoha pushes at the vision for a clear look at the Cat while it's going, is that he doesn't look like he currently does--instead being a patchwork of body parts with white and black hair. ]

[bakegarasu]

[Poor Cat... but he definitely looks different. That's... really odd.]

[Okay. Leaving that alone for right now. He walks over toward the grave, considering it for a moment, before going to the fence and touching that.]

[worldkeys]

[ Nothing off the fence itself, but there is obviously more to the World beyond the fence. There is no discernible way to get over or around it, though. ]

[bakegarasu]

[... Well then. He'll draw his sword and try to cut through it.]

[worldkeys]

[ His sword will clang against the metal and then be repelled, sending Otoha backwards as if something pushed against him with extreme force. ]

[bakegarasu]

[He lands hard, and sheathes his blade. Some kind of barrier... hm. Time to go look at the machinery, though he doubts he'll know what he's looking at.]

[worldkeys]

[ The machines themselves are old and rusted, but they seem to be used to make something. The entire place is too old and dusty to make out what it is, or perhaps the memory is too muddled. Among the rust and dust, he might notice a few bloodstains on gears. ]

[bakegarasu]

[Gonna poke the bloody gears... with the end of his sword. He does not trust this thing to not take his hand off, and since he can feel pain right now...]

[worldkeys]

[ He'll suddenly hear a child's screams echoing in his head--and someone else yelling to turn off the machines. ]

[bakegarasu]

[... Okay, that actually spooks him slightly. He backs away...]

Someone died in this.

[Going to look at the rest of the machine... hm... wait. Can he look under it, or does it go all the way to the floor?]

[worldkeys]

[ This particular machine does go to the floor. But as feared, there is blood on the floor. ]

[bakegarasu]

[As he suspected. Is it just a pool of blood, or does it lead somewhere?]

[worldkeys]

[ Given the way the blood pooled and the stains on the machinery, it appears to simply be from the accident he heard moments ago. ]

[bakegarasu]

[Hm. Fine. He wanders off to see if there are any other machines. Probably not wise to lose his hand here.]

[worldkeys]

[ The moment he turns around, there's the shade of a child standing there. No features to speak of, almost like a silhouette. It's clear, though, that its entire arm is missing. After a moment, the shadow will turn and run away. It leaks a dark kind of substance from its stump of an arm and disappears off toward the warehouse section. ]

[bakegarasu]

[The child. He darts off after her, hoping that his speed is enough to keep up. Where could she be leading him?]

[worldkeys]

[ the child has vanished, but led him in among the boxes to another patch of factory. There, he can hear whispering. ]

Did you see what happened today?

That girl died because she lost her arm in the machine, right?

Yeah. One day, I'm gonna just run away. Don't want that happening to me.

Where would you even go?

Somewhere! At least I won't have to die here and get tossed out.

--Shhhh. The foreman's coming!

[bakegarasu]

[The voices aren't recognizable, are they? Hm. He attempts to look into the boxes to see what's in them.]

[worldkeys]

[ Dusty and old spools of thread in most of them. Some contain bolts of cloth. Otherwise, nothing remarkable at first. ]

[bakegarasu]

[Gonna go digging in the cloth. It'd be a perfect place to hide something.]