entranceway | Juego [video]

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Juego [video]

[The video opens up to the beach. Still just as pretty as anything else Wonderland has to offer on the surface. Nice weather, beautiful and clear waters. And a masked, 4th wall breaking merchant.

He's sitting in the sand near the edge of the water, back to the camera and a little ways from it. One might think he set it up so he was filmed this way but judging from awkward angle it's more likely Zacharie simply dropped it and it turned on randomly, as Wonderland's communicators tend to do. Zacharie himself seems fairly relaxed yet is dripping wet. Evidently someone decided to go for a dip, even though one might question why you'd go swimming in a sweater and jeans.

Then again, Zacharie's a weird guy. He claimed to be from a video game so maybe he just like swimming in heavy clothing.

The feed continues to record him simply staring at the sea before him. Nice weather today. Always nice.]

....A-a-a query, Wonderland. [Was he someone who stuttered like that?] Would you all leave here if you could? Could? Switch strings to something else? I know some of you won't leave. Won't walk away or Qu-

[Whatever Zacharie was about to say is cut off by a sudden burst of static. If any Wonderland's residents remember a certain man and a certain entry he made a long time ago might recognize it.

Something is wrong here and something is very wrong with Zacharie.]

--at is fine. That is why we are here. So we are fine and we should not worry. Everything is fine. It's okay, it's all okay. I promise, I mean it I͟ ̴̧͝me̸a̕͢n͞ ͞͡i̛͏t̢ I̴ ̷̛m̴̡ęàn ͝ì́̕t̵̀͜ ̢I̶͠ ̵͢͢m̴e̵an͘͟͡ ̴i̷̧͘t͞ ̡̢I̧͘͞-̸͟

<̴͢>͜͠M̨̕͟e̸s̡̛s̡͠͞a͞g̷̀e:̶̴ ͜T͞ó̡ ̶͝m͘u̸̵c͟҉̀h.̴ ͢͞Th̵͡er̛e'̴̢̀s͝͡ ̷to ḿ̡u҉ch҉͜ ̛o͜f̵ ̢̨i͢͠t͢͢. ̢Į̶ ̴̷t̨͘h̶͡i̷̛͏n҉ḱ̴ ̶̛I͞ ̷̷un̛d̡̛ę̵͞ŕst̢̀á̴́nd̶ ̧t̢̨h̵̀͠e̢͜m̕ ̵̢ņoẁ̴.͞

[The audio begins to glitch out as another distortion kicks in as Zacharie sharply turns to look at something that's behind the camera before it cuts out. Quickly words flash on the black feed:

'HELLO AGAIN'

The feed re-appears and Zacharie is walking down one of the many hallways of the mansion using the camera as a recorder. He turns to one of the doors, although the camera fails to catch the number, and tries to yank it open. Locked. Then the camera freezes and the action repeats. Still locked! An unpleasant screech distorts the audio as it cuts out once again.

It picks up in the forest. Zacharie walks through it quietly but there's still something wrong the audio. For some reason it sounds like there are two sets of footsteps despite the merchant being the only one there. He doesn't seem to be looking for anything in particular and at one point Zacharie turns around and the camera catches the still-visible mansion in the background.

He's not that far away. But again a distortion corrupts the image and a few more words appear before it ends for good.

'DtDtDt

* HERE WE ARE

SWITCH IS off']

[ooc: as the links suggest, thanks to an overdoes of DT and interactions with the Operator Zacharie's not doing so good. Zacharie may or may not respond to this, so feel free to threadjack if you like!]

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[The Judge winds his way around Zacharie, and lightly drags the tip of his tail under his chin.]

If you go to the end, will the game start again?

[The first thing you should do when a game misbehaves is to turn the console OFF, and then back ON again.]

[That certainly is one way, hence why the last time something of this sort happened Zacharie had called it 'crashing'. It was close enough to that unpleasant sensation when the game froze. Not fun.]

Perhaps. I-I do not die unless the end is reached. But I hope that is not the sort of ending I need.

[His Mirror may want it but Zacharie himself does not.]

...and I am sorry, Pablo, for how things turned out. W...with our game, I mean.

[It was inevitable, but that doesn't mean Zacharie didn't feel bad about it.]

I would prefer it if you did not. It wouldn't be the kind of death a Joker can cure.

[The kind of death Valerie suffered. Beings like them-- NPCs, Zacharie called them-- were not so easily revived. Their ends held too much significance to the all-important narrative.]

You played your role magnificently, Zacharie. The helpful merchant to the very end. I hold nothing against you.

[Their game had no room for the man who slew the Toad King.]

( jay does wait, and he watches, with a mix of morbid curiosity - one that had always stalked him as he'd made his tapes - and complete terror coursing through him. all these similarities are too hard to miss, and it makes his heart leap into his throat and chest seize up when he thinks about what it could mean.

he doesn't want to think about it. that usually brought It along. but with all of this—? this strange guy and the strange happenings... it's too much. )

We? There's only one of you there. ( if his frown could deepen any further, it probably would. ) What's happening to you?

There's always two 'me's. The toad or the cat. Can't tell which one is which. Glitching. Warping. Crashing. Blurring.

[He's knows it's not helpful but it's the best way Zacharie can put it.]

What made this feeling happen to you? Not knowing which is which.

( he pauses then, shuffles in discomfort, because as much as he doesn't want to know more about the static, the glitching - he's never been able to look away from things like this. it's as much of a curse as it is a necessity, or was at the end of it. )

And the... the glitching? And everything else.

[If an NPC was going to die, generally it was not a meaningless death. Certainly in the context of the story it could be meaningless, but it was not something that you could walk away from. Only the protagonist could and that was only because of the Player. If the Batter died in combat and the Puppeteer choose to walk away from that....Game Over.]

Ehehehe. Wonderland does not seem to like to be cheated out of suffering so my Jokers do not work like normal anyways.

[Which is a rip-off, let him tell you. But Zacharie's body glitches out again and he digs his fingers into the dirt just a little more.]

I know. But you, Valerie, Hugo and Sucre are my dearest friends. I took no joy out of the suffering the plot heaped upon your shoulders.

[There was no room for that man, no. Zacharie had already stated to another friend of his that he had no desire to go back to it. It's better like that.

Probably.]

[There's quite a bit of a delay before Jay gets a response. It's another video.

Two masks are on the ground, one that looks vaguely like a toad and the other a cat. Zacharie's not filming himself - for reasons that are obvious only to him - but his hand can be seen pointing to the masks.

It's pixelating, like something you'd see in a video game.

He speaks and Jay will have to try hard to hear what he's saying. There's some audio distortion going on.]

Trying to find which me is me in Wonderland for awhile. And then puzzles. And then a dream. I saw It both times.

[Jay probably doesn't need too many guesses to understand what "It" is, right?]

Last event. Glitches from a machine. Not his fault. An accident. Didn't mean for it to happen.

[Don't blame Tim. It's not his fault.]

We suffer together, friend. [The Judge sits, and rubs the top of his head against Zacharie's chin.] I doubt what you are forced to watch is pleasant. You have lost as much as any of us. And you have no choice but to accept that brute's credits.

[Dorian blankly stared at the text on the screen.]

[Now this was rather annoying, if not creepy. Dorian attempts to ignore the text and continue eating, but really, the thing was an eyesore. He had to reply.]

Zacharie, I am trying to eat. Could you please text me back after supper?

Edited (How did I only catch this formatting error NOW?!) 2017-04-14 18:06 (UTC)

Zacharie, what's happening? Where are you?

[Mettaton gets an answer in the form of a video. Places in Wonderland - places that the residents could get into anyways - flash by at an incredible speed.

It ends with Zacharie apparently falling into the waters of the beach. If Mettaton sticks around he'll get a text, although it's mostly just stating the obvious.]

i dont know where are you i dont know me i dont sorry i dont i am sorry i am so sorry

[Zacharie laughs quietly and, after wiping a hand on his leg to get rid of the dirt, brushes it against the Judge's fur.]

Perhaps I am finding difficultly with burying my regrets when I do not possess a shovel. Or that escape is well and truly impossible for someone like me.

[Zacharie, unlike his Mirror, did not put much stock in the Batter's final words when he won. However, he was thinking of them more and more lately. Wonderland gave him a place where he knew as little as anyone else, yet stuck to his role. There was a door, so to speak, but Zacharie didn't walk through it.]

I too, lack the dexterousness to handle such an instrument. What sorry creatures we are.

[The Judge heaves a sigh like a bellows.]

...Seeing you in such a state makes me glad of the things I don't see, and what I forget. Please forgive me for this moment of schadenfreude.

( the masks, while they aren't blank and lifeless, make him jolt. maybe it's just masks as a whole that make him remember home and being stalked, but it's an uncomfortable reminder, a terrible feeling that courses through him. the only thing that's more reassuring is that it doesn't look real.

but that's still a small thing. )

It— ( jay could almost stop breathing then, because of course he knows. of course he should have figured it would be here. of course tim wouldn't tell him, because why would he? what would be the point?

a warning, maybe. )

It's been here? ( it's said weakly, and his face has gone pale. for a moment he'd let himself believe he would be safer here. that's just lying to himself. ) Tim— he knew. How did it happen? How did It get here, if it wasn't down to him?

Ah ah ah. We are. Perhaps we should attempt to invest in metaphorical thumbs one day.

[But it's hard to let go of the many regrets that piled up on their shoulders. Same as Zacharie's attempts to metaphorically remove his mask and find out who he was without his roles.

Nothing remains and no escape. Hard to find the land in-between the sharks.]

It's okay Pablo. As I have said to a few others here, I would not give this role and knowledge to anyone else.

[He knew how the story and game would end. And, while Zacharie wasn't happy with it, he didn't wish that knowledge on anyone else.]

Someday when we are all freed from this horrid karmic cycle, you will be our saint, Zacharie, for all the burdens that crawl upon your back. And not just from what results of carrying around that endlessly deep bag of yours. Someday when my judgement comes at the correct moment, and that Child's true mother finally takes him away from that Room.

[The beach. Mettaton feels nervous just seeing it, especially seeing his friend be so... hurt? In its vicinity.]

Did someone do something to you? Can I help you at all?

[He knows that the Judge means it to be kind, but Zacharie barks out a laugh.]

I am the last person to stand as a saint, my friend. One couldn't call the Masked Man a hero as no one could say his motives.

[Zacharie's not one to talk about that openly, but it's a point that anyone could draw from reading the text. It never touches on why that man slayed the Toad King.

As always...before you crown a king slayer, make sure they are no worse than the toppled tyrant. There was a reason he vanished once the body cooled.]

Maybe one day Hugo could become King. But in the end, this is just a video game.

[If he could unscramble his code enough to port himself into the water, he'd stay there. He saw It and he won't

let

it

stay.]

Dt Dt Dt Dt Not his fault.

[Zacharie's about to answer when the feed glitches out and he's sent off again on a merry go around of Wonderland.

Give him a bit Jay.]

Not his fault not his fault not his fault not his fault not his fault not his fault not his fault not his fault not his fault Dreams. Just dreams. Puzzles. You'll have to ask.

[hey jay what's good

Just kidding, nothing is good. Tim is panicking, and it's clear enough in the fact that he thinks to toss up a filter before initiating a conversation, his voice trembling. The camera isn't directed at him. It's a wild shot of the hallway, the camera jerking sporadically as he moves.]

It - I couldn't be sure if It was real. I thought It wasn't but -

[Apparently not.]

( HEY TIM NOTHING'S GOOD AT ALL

jay almost wishes, just for a moment, that he was at home again - or wherever he ended up, after being shot by alex. it would make things easier. he wouldn't be here, dealing with It again, dealing with the anxiety and the paranoia and the overwhelming feeling of terror. it would be easier.

but he'd also be dead, and he wonders which option is better. )

This place brings monsters here, Tim. I've been here for-- for a lot less time than you have and I know that. ( he dumps his phone somewhere next to him on his bed and buries his face in his hands, taking as many deep breaths as he can without feeling dizzy. ) Even if you thought It wasn't real, you should have told me about it. Just in case.

[Boy, is he regretting that self-righteous burst of anger the day Jay showed up. The panic is, apparently, damn near contagious, and the fuzz of static as Jay just breathes is palpable.

He did this. He did all of this. Ruined Zacharie, and then that machine bled itself all over him, and now whatever comes next - that's on him. It's always been on him.]

I know, okay? I know. It wasn't real, It didn't stay.

[Then again, It never has to stay to make Its presence known. It just coils itself into some part of your mind and burrows there. Forever.]

[DT.... Does he mean Determination? Oh goodness. Did he use the machine during True Lab? And who is he?]

Oh Zacharie... when you say DT, do you mean Determination??

[There is no way Mettaton could help with that at all. How could he? He's not a scientist. But maybe he could do something?]

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