AS ABOVE (game thread)

SALEM KICKS OPEN THE DOOR, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE ENTIRELY UNLOCKED. IT SWINGS OPEN. THIS ROOM IS EMPTY. THERE IS NOTHING HERE. A SINGLE BED. A DRESSER. A DESK. A DORMICILE FOR SOMEONE SPENDING AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME AT THIS FACILITY. BUT NOTHING ELSE.

SOMETHING PRESSES AGAINST THE BACK OF YOUR EYES HERE. THE VITREOUS HUMOR COMPRESSES, SPREADS, STRAINS. IT HURTS. JUST BARELY. BUT IT HURTS. YOU CAN FEEL IT TICKLING THE ROOTS OF YOUR TEETH. TUGGING AT YOUR TONGUE. A HARDLY-NOTICEABLE PULSE THROUGH YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM, LIKE WATER BOILING IN A POT, TELLING YOU SOMETHING IS WRONG.

IT'S HORRIBLE. SOMETHING ABOUT IT IS HORRIBLE. BUT WHAT?

"Th' fuck's goin' on?" Lycaon asks, his voice almost dropping into a growl. "Illusion or some shit? This can't be right."

"Let's find out." Bonham advances into the room, weapon at the ready. Tentatively, they press their free hand's fingers on the far wall, inspecting the solidity of it and nearby objects.

👁 Analysis reveals no physical irregularities.

Fact: This is a room. There is little to be said about it.

"Good job. Don't suppose you'd like to show yourself." Bonham grumbles, the latter statement directed at their ostensible target. The room is getting more and more inhospitable, like a sauna held in a microwave oven.

Annoyed,Bonham starts to turn out the desk and dresser, seeking out the slightest trace of anything that might yield a clue.

👁 Research indicates that the room is entirely bare. It has been stripped of everything that could make it even a livable space. There is nothing here. If there was something here, or if something happened here, it has gone, leaving only echoes and traces. Something rippling beyond the psychic veil, something vast... but absent.

After a couple minutes of silence, punctuated only by rattling drawers and shifting objects, Salem speaks.

"Well shit. That leaves Thrakkar's office and the woman." Salem turns to Bonham, slight smile showing. "Bonham, you seem pretty popular today! You wanna see if you can squeeze any info about the woman out of the staff?" He moves for the door. "I can take Erasmus and check out the office... that is, unless one of you has anything else they wanna try here? I'm better with the stuff I can see and touch, not so much with the esoteric stuff."

"So far, we know something about the shape and abilities of the SIN...But not how it came to pass. Medical files on the mother would likely shed such light."

Bonham's mind and body strain against the oppressive atmosphere of the room, veins bulging on their patchwork dome. They have been here before. Armed, armored, but with nothing to use it against. Watched, stalked by hostiles with the absolute worst of intentions, and no way to retaliate against them. Death at any moment, before you even saw where it came from.

They pick up one of the pulled-out drawers, resisting the urge to grip it hard enough to splinter, before setting it back on the desk.

"I'm going to sweep Thrakkar's office." They march sharply out of the room, clomping towards the office in question.

Lycaon watches Bonham stalk off with a shrug. "I dunno, I feel like somethin's still off here. Don't think henwas wrong, but..." He looks around the room like he was going to continue but thought better of it.

"I guess I'll go with 'im to th' office."

Watching them leave, Erasmus followed, bringing up the rear. Orion snuffled wetly around, still trying to catch one last scent of their prey before he left.