Chiasmata: Found Footage

>Now that's settled let's get back figuring out who's real Bonnie.
>Maybe they're both real? What if a part of her split and regenerated on its own?

> Ask "Bonnie?" what she remembers happening, if she's the future Bonnie. Unless that would spoil things.

>It looks like...

DANIEL: "Yeah, that's gotta be Sam."
OMAR: "Wait, I meant-"
BONNIE: "Oh, and that other broken block thing has some green on it - that quiet girl from David's group, wasn't it?"
CLARA: "Ash, I think?"
BONNIE: "Right, so that's me twice, Daniel, Omar and Clara, plus Sam and Ash over there. That makes..."
DANIEL: "Six. That's half of us, I guess? I wonder where everyone else is? Elsewhere on these floating rocks?"
OMAR: "I'm sure I saw something, when the light flashed."
DANIEL: "So, is the other Bonnie from the future or something? Did we work that out?"









>Let's continue figuring out who's the real Bonnie

BONNIE: "I mean, I don't remember this happening, so I'm not from the future?"
BONNIE?: "Me neither."
OMAR: "Um, guys... ?"
DANIEL: "Hmm. What's your first memory?"
BONNIE: "Waking up in that grey, square room?"
BONNIE?: "Yeah, same for me."
CLARA: "We should probably question them separately if we're going to question them? Otherwise they can just compare answers."
BONNIE?: "Yeah, that's fair."
DANIEL: "What if... What if when Bonnie grew her arm back the first time, another Bonnie grew back from the arm?"
BONNIE: "Ew."
BONNIE?: "That sounds kinda gross."
CLARA: "Would it even work? That might mean that every time you, I dunno, lose a hair or something, you'd grow a new Bonnie. That hasn't been happening, though, so I'm not sure."
DANIEL: "Huh. Maybe we can test it?"
BONNIE?: "Yeah, no. Thanks, but no thanks."
OMAR: "Look! Are none of you seeing this?"
CLARA: "Seeing what?"









==~>

OMAR: "See! I thought I saw something behind the smoke!"
BONNIE: "Oh. What is that?"
DANIEL: "What're they talking about?"
CLARA: "I can kinda see something, out in the fog?"
BONNIE?: "Looks like a building, maybe?"
DANIEL: "Yep, that sure is a blurry splotch in the green stuff. Yup."
BONNIE: "Mate, what is wrong with your eyes?"
DANIEL: "No idea."

Whatever it is that is slowly emerging from the smoke is doing so in absolute silence, apart from the resounding clang of it hitting one of the floating rocks.

Footnote:

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SpoilerI actually expected people to notice the looming background shapes sooner.
But, now we've seen them! Surely nothing will come of this.
(Also, this is an actual Fortnightly Update Schedule. Terrifying.

>Wait until the floating building comes closer and climb in through the windows to explore it
>Find more weird death trap rooms with puzzles

Okay you can see the floating luxury fortress home mansion in the background if you know what to look for!

That looks like it's the same color and boxiness of areas of the Location we've already been to. Maybe we were in there before?

>Wait, is that the Location? If that's the Location, what location is this? Are there places that aren't locations?!

> are those windows?
> Why are there roman numerals on it?

>Watch the building coming closer

The building, or whatever it is, approaches. Inexorably.
The noise as it strikes the first of the rocks is tremendous.

You're Bonnie, by the way. You're pretty sure you're real, but you can't speak for the other version of yourself.

DANIEL: "Oh. Oh no."
BONNIE: "Wait, Sam and Ash aren't durable and they can't fly!"

You all watch, with a certain level of horror, as the rock fractures.

OMAR: "It's not... falling?"
BONNIE: "That's pretty strange, but at least the people on there won't fall?"
BONNIE?: "Dunno if it's weird, actually. The rocks are already floating, so why shouldn't they keep floating?"
OMAR: "That's a very good point, actually."
DANIEL: "I guess me and Clara are still stuck in the 'can't see' club, then?"
CLARA: "I think I remember having glasses. Did you?"
DANIEL: "No idea. Haven't been given my memories back spookily, remember?"

You watch a moment more, until you're sure that you see Ash and Sam moving about, safe, at least for now.









>So what is it, then?

That's the kind of very good question you have no idea how to answer.

DANIEL: "It looks big and grey and square, so maybe it's that place where we started? The Location?"
OMAR: "Did we ever leave the Location?"
DANIEL: "Is there actually an outside? That Archivist person was very confusing about some of the weird dimensional alternate-earth stuff."
BONNIE: "So this place, where we are, is a location that isn't the capital-L-Location? Maybe?"
OMAR: "That's kinda convoluted. What about the numbers? And some other symbol I don't know?
CLARA: "Mm-hmm. Those sure are some symbols I can't read from this distance."
DANIEL: "So, what's wrong with your eyes?"
CLARA: "Can you read it, though?"
DANIEL: "... no."

Clara giggles.

CLARA: "But, seriously, where do we go from here?"









>Through one of the windows

A plan occurs to you.

BONNIE: "Daniel, do you reckon you could get us up there?"

He winces.

DANIEL: "Yes? I think I could get there?"
OMAR: "Wait wait wait, I don't want the only thing between me and falling to my probable death to be Daniel's magic powers. No offense, Daniel."
DANIEL: "Some taken?"
BONNIE?: "You can carry us all at once?"
DANIEL: "Actually, I can avoid that! The rocks float on their own, so if I break off a chunk small enough to easily propel and large enough to hold us up when I need to take a break, it should be easy!"









==~>

BONNIE: "You doin' okay, Daniel?"
DANIEL: "YepI'mfineokay. Where... do you want to go?"
OMAR: "Ash made a hole down there - we should follow her and Sam, stick together."
DANIEL: "Okay... Gimme a sec, and we'll go down."









==~>

You're not sure, but this doesn't look much like the Location you've been in. Darker, for one. Less clean? There's actual dust you can see in some places, and you're only now realising that the rest of the Location had no dust at all.

OMAR: "Huh. Dark. That's strange."
BONNIE: "Yeah, I don't think this is the Location."
BONNIE?: "And where've Sam and Ash gone?"

Footnote:

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SpoilerThis place looks fun and not at all hard to draw. An entirely different kind of ontological mystery approaches...
And this is Fortnight Three of a every-other-week update schedule!

> Check out those papers on the desk.

(Nice job on the lighting!)

> Enter.
and after doing so:
> Check out those wall posters.

>Look behind you.
>Examine architecture.

>These quarters look made more for humans than weird multidimensional aliens, which is kinda unsettling. Were there people living here before you?

How come there are six figures on the rock Daniel propels? I can count only him, Omar, Clara, and two Bonnies which makes for five.

This is cool and all, but we are going to rescue Sam, right?

What's with the green goop by the hole?
Did we make the hole?

>What's the goo?

It's bright green, and is smoking slowly as it eats through the wall. The smell is strongly metallic.

DANIEL: "That's gotta be Ash's power."
OMAR: "The right colour, at least."
BONNIE: "Mmm. Well, be careful stepping through the hole, then, if this stuff can eat through the wall that easily."








>Yeah, where are Sam and Ash?

... Nowhere to be seen, apparently.

BONNIE: "They did go through this hole, right?"
CLARA: "Are there any other holes?"
BONNIE?: "I mean, the hole wasn't there before. I didn't catch them making it, but I'd think that this is it. Maybe they didn't know we were right behind them?"
DANIEL: "Any idea which way they went, then?"
OMAR: "No idea. What is this place, anyway? What're all these things on the walls?"









>Have a look at some of those posters

It seems like it's... motivational?
What's this doing here?

CLARA: "I swear I've seen that logo somewhere before."
OMAR: "The 'Rightwards Research Facility'? What the hell is that?"
DANIEL: "The talk about 'space between worlds' reminds me of what that weird tall Archivist person was talking about, but this seems... different?"
BONNIE: "What's this even doing here? Why are there posters?"










~==>

DANIEL: "Hmm. Ominous. Can't say I like this place much, already."
OMAR: "Warning, unstable reality matrix. Evacuate using the... something?"
DANIEL: "Well, that's helpful of it. Evacuate using something that's been completely obscured. How helpful."









>Check out those papers on the desk

It's Clara who first takes a look at the weird papers.

CLARA: "Hmm."
BONNIE: "Anything interesting?"
CLARA: "Not sure? I mean, it's definitely in English, and I understand most of the words, but putting them all together? Bit tricky. Plus, there's all these black bars over bits of it."
OMAR: "Are they about anything in particular?"
CLARA: "Well, this one's called 'design of the Reality Engine', and uses the word 'quantum' a lot, I guess? There's some pictures of weird machines, I think, and something like a more complicated version of that three-circles picture from the poster. Fuchsia, Crimson and Scarlet are what they're called, apparently? Maybe? The labelling's a bit weird."
DANIEL: "That's more of the alternate-Earths names that Archivist used, I suppose? So this place is supposed to be between two worlds, I guess?"
BONNIE?: "Then why is it here?"

Footnote:

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SpoilerBack by popular-or-unpopular demand: this.

How come there are six figures on the rock Daniel propels? I can count only him, Omar, Clara, and two Bonnies which makes for five.

Huh. Weird.

(Nice job on the lighting!)

Thanks!

> Maybe these stripes represent the people who went in which direction? That must mean Jacqueline and Anders (maybe Leo too?) met Sam and Ash and split up...

Bicker about what that obscure word could be, or try and find something that resembles the word itself.

Also, not so subtle foreshadowing about six figures.

> The lines seem to be for navigation, leading to places, like "follow the red line to get to the cafeteria". Maybe you can find a legend or map that tells you where each colour leads?
> Look for where the dust is disturbed, that should tell you which way Sam and Ash went. Maybe they went up into the ceiling via that hole?

Try rubbing the obscured spot. Maybe the obfuscation will rub off.

Bonnie, why did you know that the hole wasn't here before? Your view of the hole should have been blocked by the rocks.

It's very strange that we came through a wall, yet the colored lines expect us to start here. Was this a lobby, or a help desk or something? Did they expect a hole to eventually be made in this wall?

~==>

Daniel is prodding at the screen thing.

DANIEL: "I have no idea what this thing is trying to say. Maybe it begins with an 'l'?"
CLARA: "I don't think you can rub the distortion off of a broken screen, Daniel."
DANIEL: "Well, I know that now."
BONNIE: "Wait, are you sure that hole in the wall wasn't there before? I mean, I didn't see it earlier, but it could well have been hidden by the island Sam and Ash were on."
BONNIE?: "Hmm, you might be right. I'm fairly sure it wasn't there before - above the top row of windows, and so forth, but yeah, I've got no way of knowing."
DANIEL: "I mean, the remaining fresh acid stuff tells a certain story containing Ash, at the very least?"
OMAR: "Well, she definitely came this way, and the important thing is now to find Sam and Ash, and keep gathering as many of us as possible. There's strength in numbers and we still need to work out what's going on here and, hopefully, how to actually get out."









>What's with the wall stripes?

There are four colours of stripe visible, extending along the walls, down the three visible corridors and out of sight.
Their purpose isn't particularly obvious.

CLARA: "Wait... I think this thing here's a map! Look, it's got a marker where we are, and - whoa. It's a touchscreen!"
BONNIE: "Does it say anything about the coloured lines on the walls?"
CLARA: "I'm... not sure? It doesn't say. I think they might lead places."
DANIEL: "So why do they start near here, mostly?"
CLARA: "I guess it could be because the map's here?"









~==>

OMAR: "Are 'Ash' and 'Sam' some of the places?"
CLARA: "Well, no, but there's a floorplan, at least of this floor of this... section? Oh, it's called 'Labs II'."
OMAR: "It's Labs II, not labs two."
CLARA: "No, it's Roman numerals for two."
OMAR: "What's a Roman?"
CLARA: "I'm... not sure."









~==>

CLARA: "So, hmm. All these rooms have names, which I can make it display, but I can't get it to change floor or zoom?"
BONNIE: "Hmm. So should we just... pick a direction? Pick a coloured line and start searching?"
???: "The dust is disturbed over here. Maybe they went this way."
OMAR: "The dust... is disturbed? Maybe they... maybe they went this way?"

Footnote:

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Spoiler

Also, not so subtle foreshadowing about six figures.

Yeah, too bad that plot point was dropped without anything ever coming of it.

Well, what are you waiting for? Let's follow the nice person's directions, and go down the hall towards Lab A.

>Check out the security next. It'll make you feel safer.

???: "The dust is disturbed over here. Maybe they went this way."

Wait... Who said that!?

>Wait, who said that?

CLARA: "Is there an echo in here or something? Who said that?"
OMAR: "What?"
???: "Omar said it."
OMAR: "I said it."

Yeah, now you think of it, Omar did say that.

BONNIE: "So, down this corridor, towards..."
BONNIE?: "'Lab A', apparently."









>Lab A

As the group of you heads down the corridor, you hear the crash and feel the floor vibrating as the building ploughs through another floating island.
The light above the door to Lab A flickers.

BONNIE?: "Hang on, there's a sign on the door."









~==>

BONNIE: "What's 'McBrae Radiation'?"
OMAR: "Clara?"
CLARA: "Don't look at me! I've got no idea what it's talking about, either!"
OMAR: "You knew about that radioactive-life thing in Jacqueline's puzzle, earlier, though."
CLARA: "Well, this has nothing to do with that, then. I've no idea what that means, or what the symbol is."
BONNIE: "Maybe we should have gone to 'security' instead."

Footnote:

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SpoilerI will be busy soon, for a couple of months.
Updates might become sporadic until September? They might not. We Shall See, but thank you for your patience and enthusiam!
At some point, I also want to launch the Full Chiasmata Website, which I've been working on for a while now. It'll have all the fun CSS tricks the mirror has, but even more so, and will take the place of this thread in being the Primary Place I post these updates! I'll likely end up simply posting update links here, so don't be concerned about this thread becoming inactive or anything.

Hey, Daniel, can you sense beyond the door with telepathy? What's in there?

Security it is, I guess.