Work Text:
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[GRIAN]
I don't even know why we're doing this. i mean surely it was just a - a weird shared dream? i mean-
[SCAR]
Grian.
[GRIAN]
Alright, alright! Fine.
Statement of myself, I guess? and Scar, my assistant-
[SCAR]
Your assistant? I mean, come on, I'm more than that. Do you know how much I do around here? Don't tell me you forgot about the incident with Pearl when-
[GRIAN]
Scar.
[SCAR]
Okay! Shutting up now.
[GRIAN]
(Grian sighs.)
Let's start this from the top.
[click]
[click]
[GRIAN]
Statement of me - Grian (static) and archival assistant Scar Goodtimes, regarding the events of our follow-up with Scott S. Major, and what happened afterwards. Statement taken direct from subjects on March 27th, 2021. Statement begins.
Uh... quick note - very sorry about any audio defects, we run out of tapes pretty quickly here and this is an old one we dug up. Hopefully it runs well enough, considering its probably been in there longer than I've been working. Anyways-
So. This all started... let's say a week ago. roughly.
[SCAR]
Yeah. Exactly one week.
[GRIAN]
Alright. Exactly one week ago, we were going over some statements. Checking we didn't miss anything, seeing if we needed to follow up on stuff. The usual, you know?
And in the middle of that, we came across one - well, technically two - that piqued our interest. Mainly because someone-
[SCAR]
Hey! I was busy, alright. The Pearl situation didn't sort out itself!
[GRIAN]
Scar. Can you please stop talking about the incident with Pearl? I swear, this is why I don't ask you to help with things anymore!
[SCAR]
Alright... let's just continue on with - y'know - the statement? Maybe? Just a thought. We can talk about this later.
[GRIAN]
Agreed.
So as I was saying! A certain archival assistant of ours completely forgot to follow up on them! Now, we considered ourselves very lucky when we figured this out because one Scott S. Major - who had given one of the statements in question, and was involved in the other - hadn't given us a deadline for said follow-up!
Now, given what happened there, would we still have gone? Maybe. Who's to say there was anything supernatural about what happened?
[SCAR]
Me. Thats quite literally why we're recording this, Grian.
[GRIAN]
Alright, yes, but still. I digress. We found the statements without a follow up and decided 'Alright, yeah! I'm sure he won't mind us calling up now to schedule a follow-up! it's not like the last time we talked about this was seven months ago!'
[SCAR]
Well in my defense, he didn't mind, actually.
[GRIAN]
That's not the point, Scar!
[SCAR]
Then you should /get/ to the point and stop making slights at me! I can't change what happened!
(There's a beat of silence.)
[GRIAN]
You're right... let's continue on.
We call up Scott, and he's like "Yeah! No problem, drop by sometime soon and I'll tell you what I know." Which is pretty nice of him, all things considered.
(Grian takes a deep breath.)
Six days later, we head over to his house. Usually we'd ask people to come over to the institute, but I understand his reluctance. I wouldn't really want to go outside if had happened to me, either. So we walk up and ring the doorbell.
Now, there was nothing really to note about Scott's appearance except for how pale he was. I don't mean that in a rude way, of course, but it has to be said. He looked on death's door! I'm sure if someone breathed too hard in his direction he would have collapsed.
Naturally, we offered to come back at a later date.
He looked rather surprised when we said it, like he couldn't think of any reason we would hesitate. When I explained how sickly he looked, it was somehow like the rest of the colour drained from his face - not like there was really anything there to begin with, but still.
His breath stopped for a moment, and I honest to god thought I was about to witness this man's death right in front of me!
[SCAR]
Oh, don't be dramatic. He didn't look that bad.
[GRIAN]
'Didn't look that bad'? Are you kidding me? You could practically see every vein under his skin, Scar. I'm pretty sure you would have been able to see his heart beating through his chest.
[SCAR]
Okay. So admittedly he looked a little worse for wear - but that's not the matter! Just get on with the statement, would you?
[GRIAN]
Well maybe if you'd stop interrupting me!
(There's an awkward pause.)
Anyways. Scott insisted he was fine and that we could continue the 'interview', as he called it, so we walked in and carried on. He said a few... interesting things during questioning, but that's already recorded. no need to dwell on it now. What's more important is what happened afterwards...
Hey, Scar?
[SCAR]
Yeah?
[GRIAN]
Did - did he seem... off? To you, at all? Especially towards the end. The way he was speaking just... it wasn't right, was it?
[SCAR]
Well... I wouldn't say I'm any sort of expert on this sort of stuff but. Yeah - he didn't seem to be... quite with us, don't you think?
[GRIAN]
Mhm. Thought so. just something to-
(Grian pauses)
Are you... alright? We can take a break, you don't have to do this now-
[SCAR]
His eyes. They went red.
[GRIAN]
What do you mean 'his eyes went red?' Scar? Hey, what's going on-
[SCAR]
They were red, Grian. Oh- oh no. This could have gone so badly. Grian, his eyes went red. Do you remember what was said in the statements?
[GRIAN]
Not... particularly?
[SCAR]
When - when Scott kept having the urges to...
(Scar takes a shaky breath.)
To kill someone.
Jimmy said that - his eyes looked red. And, and-
[GRIAN]
Hey! Calm. Deep breaths.
(They both go silent, save for the sounds of heavy breathing.)
[SCAR]
Remember the way he was acting? He was, like... sniffing us, almost. It was a bit gross. And he was so tense too, and all twitchy. It's like he was holding himself back. Then he asked us to leave early, and we were both sort of surprised, weren't we? But we understand now - well. I understand. Do you?
[GRIAN]
Yeah... I get what you're implying. Are you sure, though? There's gotta be a different explanation-
[SCAR]
No, I'm sure of it. He could have killed us if we had stayed any longer. Well, he probably would've done it while we were leaving if the whole 'passing out and waking up in a place that we don't know' thing didn't happen.
[GRIAN]
Speaking of, how about we get onto that? It's about time, that's what we're making the statement for after all.
[SCAR]
Alright. We can talk about Scott later.
[GRIAN]
So, Scott asked us to leave early, as Scar said. We obliged, of course, because we were about ready to go anyways, but it was still a bit unexpected.
But as we stood to leave, I was hit with a sudden wave of - well, it wasn't nausea? more like... exhaustion. Like the only thing I could do at that moment was lay down and let the floor consume me. Looking around, it seemed like Scar and Scott hadn't escaped it either, as I watched them both stumbling to the door.
[SCAR]
Yeah. It all felt a bit strange, really. Fuzzy, i would say? All the alarm bells went off in my head and - it was like my brain telling me I had to leave. I couldn't stay there any longer because it was dangerous. With all recent revelations, it definitely was, but I didn't know that at the time.
[GRIAN]
I tried to fight it, I really did, but i didn't make it more than a few steps onto the front lawn before I collapsed. Out like a light as soon as i hit the floor. I'm assuming Scar and Scott followed not long after.
[SCAR]
(Scar hums in agreement, though it sounds more like static.)
Barely heard you hit the floor before i was down for the count!
[GRIAN]
Now, I know this next part is very... out there. Almost unbelievable. But I swear that it happened, and Scar keeps insisting that it was too real to be a dream.
We woke up in a clearing, Scott's house nowhere to be seen. There were no houses at all to be seen, actually. Until there was.
It sort of just - appeared? Really? I dont know how else to describe it, but one moment it wasn't and the next it was. Just a small wooden shack with some chairs out front. It was a bit ugly, sure, but it didn't look strange by any means.
The people - actually, no. Certainly not people. The... entities, on the other hand? Yeah, they were a bit strange.
You see, when we woke up, Scott was already with them. But it wasn't our Scott, if that makes sense. He had... uh, claws? I guess? And he was prowling around, like some sort of animal. The things he was with were certainly not human.
There were two of them, with eyes and wings and - eugh. Just trying to remember them gives me goosebumps. There was a blonde one, much too tall for a human, with wings and a few too many eyes to look at comfortably. Walked right up to us, he did, and introduced himself as 'Tommy Innit.' Said this place was his 'happy little world', or something like that.
His friend - I guess - and Scott followed him over. I think his name was... hm. Scar? Do you remember?
[SCAR]
Mhm. 'Jack Manifold', he said it was.
[GRIAN]
Great, thanks. So Tommy Innit and Jack Manifold had us trapped there, and it seemed like there really wasn't a way out.
As if this could get any weirder; it felt like there were eyes. Not just the twelve or so that belonged to Tommy, but many, many more. If i had to guess, I'd say there were millions, hidden, just watching us. It was horrible.
[SCAR]
Really! It felt like they could see right through me. And clearly, because we hadn't had a weird enough time, we started to talk. Not by choice, no, not at all. Something was forcing us. Like some sort of sick joke, a twisted form of entertainment.
Before I knew it, my body started moving on its own too. I really didn't like that. Do you know how weird it feels to have your body move without your will? You never really know how strange it feels until it happens!
Everything gets... blurry. After that. I'm not sure if I'd really want to know what happened, anyways. I think I'm better off without the memory. First thing I remember after that was waking up on Scott's lawn and-
[GRIAN]
Wait. You don't remember the rest?
[SCAR]
You do?
[GRIAN]
Yes! You died, Scar! I watched you die in front of me! That's very much why I assumed it was a dream!
[SCAR]
Well...
(Scar laughs nervously.)
Yeah. About that. I guess I have a lot to explain, huh?
[GRIAN]
Thats an understatement. Let me finish up the statement, but as soon as it's done you're explaining.
(A moment of silence.)
Alright. So, from what I remember of that day. After everything went blurry, probably a few hours after, I'd say - I sort of... gained back consciousness? Everything was clear again, is what I mean. I really didn't process much of their conversation, but I know I 'won' some sort of competition...
The prize was Tommy's wings. I thought - I thought it was a joke, really. Maybe some sort of metaphor? But no. The next thing I see is this creature ripping its own wings off. Like it was nothing but a minor inconvenience! And suddenly theres a weight on my back and it was so painful... it really felt like dying.
After I got over the pain - which took a few minutes and a lot of weird looks, I realised. I knew how to use the wings, like it was something I was born to do. And - and as soon as I realised I could escape I just... flew away.
But before I could leave properly I heard - I heard an explosion, and I looked over my shoulder. I wish I didn't really, because then I wouldn't have had to watch you and Scott die. And I tried to contact Scott, void knows how many times I called him, but...
I don't think he made it.
(Grian sniffles. There's a static-y sob.)
[SCAR]
Statement ends. I'll take it from here.
I did some research after I woke up on Scott's lawn. Wasn't sure how useful it would be, considering they weren't human, but I did manage to find a few things. Figured that I'd look through missing persons reports, seeing as they were young adults out in the middle of nowhere. Surely there was someone looking for them?
There was.
Two missing persons reports, both filed on March 27th, 2019 by Wilbur Soot: Tom Simons and Jack Manifold. Of course, one of the names isn't exact, but I didn't forget their faces. I know that's them. I've been trying for a way to contact Wilbur, but it seems he went off the grid shortly after filing their reports.
I had a quick look through the archives too, which led to a more interesting find. The name 'Tom Simons' comes up quite a few times. He sent about... five or so statements before his disappearance, one of which being mere days before the missing persons report. I didn't get time to go through them properly before Grian showed up, but I think we can find something in those.
(The audio turns muffled.)
Hey, Grian?
[GRIAN]
Yes?
[SCAR]
About... the wings.
[GRIAN]
Yes, I still have them. If that's what you were wondering.
[SCAR]
Can I see?
(There are a few shuffling sounds.)
Woah... Oh! The tape!
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