3472/IFOS: Lonesome

IFOS: Lonesome
Date of Scene:	02 December 2015
Location:	Amarillo-8 <A8>
Synopsis:	Ainsley investigates the community centre belonging to one Marie Smith. It's not very cultlike at all. But what IS that mysterious underground signal?
Cast of Characters:	151, 165
Tinyplot:	Invaders From Outer Space

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Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cS5aCozhcA
    Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight?
    written by Lou Handman, Roy Turk - 1960

    Welcome back to Amarillo.

    It's been a few days now since that first bizarre exploration attempt in the city, and as the month of December rolls in things have died down back to the uneasy murmur and rumble of crowds around diner tables.

    As the snow fails to begin to fall and the temperatures remain strangely mild for winter, there has been word that the vehicle gangs are planning something despite several arrests being made around the Big Texan.

    Ren has been busy elsewhere in town, flitting here and there as he establishes places and times and points of contact for other investigators- for example, he's not here, but he has found out when and who tends to meet at the strange community centre Ainsley discovered.

    He's also found out that whatever weird effect caused the Union members'... strangeness... to only be recognized after a certain threshold has somehow reoccured. So Ainsley may, if she chooses to go to the ... we're not gonna repeat their name, but 'the Elvis community group led by that strange womans meeting place, people may not freak out.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley had several questions that needed answered, and one of the most pressing was 'What is that signal beneath the community centre?' But she couldn't just go up to any of them and ask directly... and while she stares at the community centre again, she frowns at the idea of potentially stepping into the claws of a cult with no idea of their intentions. But she'll find out. She is confident that she is possibly the most difficult person to deceive that they will ever encounter, and so she steps up to the door and knocks again, just to see if that person that didn't answer before answers this time.

    She looks over her shoulder at the nearby Amarillo locals, keeping an eye on the ones that seem to be trying too hard to be normal, if there's any to be found. Just a quick scan for danger while she waits for someone to get to the door for a reasonable amount of time.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Around the back of the community centre Ainsley goes again, exactly as she did before. Only this time, there does seem to be someone there! Or at least a pair of eyes there, which could belong to a person, but let's not come to any conclusions too quickly.

    Yes, when she knocks on the door, there is someone who draws open a small slit of a viewing window to see who's knocking on the door.

    "You'd like to come in?" asks the person on the other side of the door.

    There's a shuffle and a rattle for a second, and then a sort of ... it's like a drum on the side of the door rolls around. It's like one of those rotating drums with a section taken out so that items can be passed between the wall...

    And there's a piece of paper in it.

    ...said piece of paper contains an assortment of wordsearches and word puzzles which seem to be taken from the back of kids' activity sheets from the T-wing drive-in. In fact, this IS a kids' activity sheet from the T-wing drive-in.

    Apparently you are expected to fill it out.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley stares passively at the bizarre sight. She smiles at the question and only nods, but soon there's some sort of exchange using the drum on the door.

    She pulls out an activity sheet and her brows climb her face like it was a monster about to eat them. Immediate skepticism aside, she turns it over and over in her hands, trying to see if there's some greater point to it. Being good with words to, well, a magical degree, she starts scanning it first for just plain bizarre words or anything out of place in the puzzle without even doing the solutions. It would be trivial for her to solve it so she expects there to be something more to it.

    She then turns away from the door, and activates her Arcane Sight to scan the piece of paper more thoroughly. Thanks to the calm and controlled setting and being able to hold it in her hand, it will be easier to read anything hidden in it that she's /expected/ to find, though she can't do anything about just plain obtuse nonsense.

    "Well... I know where I'm checking next, if this doesn't pan out," she mumbles, after a moment, noting the T-wing drive-in information on the sheet. It likely has the address and everything.

    Even if she figures out what it's for, she still fills it out, pulling out a pen to scribble in the answers using the door as a hard surface to allow for this. As expected of a word wizard, her handwriting is impeccable and it's unlikely to take very long to do. It would've taken way longer being baffled by the oddity and trying to investigate it than to solve the puzzles themselves.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    This sheet was copied on a 1967 Savin-brand liquid toner photocopier! It is from August's Games for Kids flyer at the T-wing drive-in, and features a music-themed word search and a 'ten things you might find on route 66' fill-in-the-blanks word puzzle, among others. There does not seem to be any outstanding or strange terms used and no secretly hidden memes or secret encoded phrases.

    Ainsley is able to finish it in record time.

    When the item is passed back through the drum, a minute passes before the door is unlocked, and...

    

    It's that happy-looking short woman that the group met the first time around, along with an elderly man with a spotty nose and thin hair around the back who has been watching the door.

    "Oh! Darling, hello! I remember you!" the lady says, her southern belle voice ringing like a bell as she clasps her hands together. "It's so good to see you!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley clasps her hands together in front of her, the appearance of the lady spawning a polite smile and a little tilt of her head. "I'm glad. I was here to get a look around the community centre and ask a few questions. May I come inside?" She looks away from the lady and to the old man for a moment. The oddity is just... slightly off. She isn't comfortable with these people, but she can fake smiles better than she can fake words.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    "Oh, certainly!" she replies.

    "Did I ever introduce myself? My name's Marie. Marie Smith. And this is John."

    The old man gives a perfunctory wave to Ainsley, but is far more interested in listening to his radio.

    Through the door, this looks like... well, like just about every community centre entrance hall you've ever seen, really. The reception is practically a hole in the wall, and there's a thumbtack-covered pair of message boards detailing various bingo nights, dances, quizzes, morning mother's meets, and other assorted community functions. Of particular note is a sign detailing a family roller disco tonight.

    "Did any of your friends come as well?" she asks.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Stepping inside of the building, Ainsley's smile fades momentarily at how normal it seemed. It was almost disappointing to see it all so clean and ordinary, so she started to walk around where she felt she was allowed, and read the message boards. It was a glimpse into people's lives. And pretty soon, she can't help it.

    "Alright. Why do you have a door like that for such a mundane building? Why did I have to do that puzzle?" She even frowns to punctuate it. There's a lot pointing toward this being normal, but just enough telling her that it's not. "I can understand the idea of community socialization, and all of this seems above board, except... it strikes me as incredibly unusual that there is nothing strange here, after everything else I've seen. It makes me feel like I'm not getting the whole picture. It's clear you may have some idea of what's going on in this town; your big loud rant, for instance." Nevermind the bizarre signal below the building. "Who /are/ you people? What is going on?"

    She glosses over the question about her friends. She doesn't feel it relevant to this... and she doesn't want to tip them off that she's vulnerable or that she's alone, because that's not really true and because that's dangerous.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Marie looks... a little crestfallen for a moment. "I'm right sorry, dear."

    She looks a little behind her, for a moment- down the hall are some double doors to one of the main rooms, and as a couple swing open the doors to cross to the bathroom the sound of contemporary music can be heard coming through from inside.

    "...we've had a lot of trouble recently, don't you know? A lot of people... up until recently, people came in here to cause trouble. They made a nuisance of themselves, actin' all like louts and defacing the place. We needed a way to make sure people were genuine."

It's the 1960s version of a captcha, basically.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley rubs at the top of her head, ruffling the colorful feathers and giving a defeated look at Marie while she replies. It doesn't answer what she was looking for, and so she just accepts what she could get and shrugs at Marie. "Alright. I can understand the need to keep the place civil and keep out ruffians," she replies, more quietly, then she turns to find a chair to sit in, since there's bound to be one. Then she turns her attention downward, and activates the Arcane Sight again.

    While she's here, she tries to get a better picture of the signal coming from below the building. It was indicative, perhaps, of it being a much larger complex than it first seemed... but now it seems like these people could just be victims of the same problems trying to find a safe place.

    It almost makes Ainsley scowl.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
The signal below the building continues to... be below the building. It's several floors below, as it always was, making a low 'hum' that it doesn't seem as if anyone else but her can pick up on. It's kind of like modem noise as heard through a layer of paraffin jelly, or what you'd get if you played a recording of a man with a lisp reading klingon, autotuned. And backwards.

    Marie looks at her a little curiously as she sits down. "...did you come for the disco, dear? If you're a little shy, I can accompany you inside," she says. "We were all new once. Everyone likes to feel as if they can have someone they can stand next to in times like these..."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    She can't really 'hear' it, but she can see it's something weird and foreign and possibly masked. Ainsley clicks her tongue and replies to Marie while she continues taking in the signal, "I came to town to help with whatever is troubling this area, and not for the dance," her voice a little distant. "I need to think on this." She's a word wizard, she can figure out what sort of message it's sending. She starts her experiment, mouthing words to herself to try to use subtle spells to shape the signal as it passes by her, so that she can get a better look at it. Maybe so she can crack it open and get to the gooey information core.

    It just looks like she's thinking to herself, with any luck. Or that she's a little unhinged. Either way she's not moving from her seat.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
...unfortunately for Ainsley, it seems that Marie's interest has been piqued. She only gets so far as a cursory examination, a glance at the buzzing not-sound below the building, before Marie is sat down next to her.

    "...can you explain to me what you mean? I'm terribly sorry, dear, but I just don't quite understand where you're comin' from... I... could you explain what you're wantin' a little more to me? Or, could I maybe explain a little more to you?"

    And it's at this distance that Ainsley might be able to hear the faintest hint of that same buzzing deep in Marie's voice, as earnest and innocent as it seems...

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    And then Ainsley raises her Sight away from the signal and toward Marie. The piercing gaze is held for a while, trying to discern the source of the signal. Something that might be there... the source of the buzz. She knew there was something strange here. "I cannot. I'm sorry. You have your vetting process, and I have mine." She smiles lightly.

    "I do have another question, though: Why is there a signal coming from below this building?"

    She maintains that smile and her Sight on Marie. If she's really speaking English, genuinely, it would be easy to see. If there's something there, she will see that too... A translator, a medical device, a more supernatural effect on her voice, whatever is creating that buzzing.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
There is... something there. But it's hard to determine what, exactly. Imagine if you could smell cigarette smoke on a person's clothing. How could you determine if it was because they are a smoker, if they've been around smokers, or if they were just in a room with a smoke machine, by your nose alone?

    Marie is beginning to look a little bewildered and uncomfortable. "Darling, I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is you need..."

    But when Ainsley asks her question, her expression shifts from bewilderment to pure confusion. "A signal? You mean like from a radio? I don't reckon I know why anything like that would be, miss... John's got a radio he listens to but it's back there at the reception, and the building's only got the one basement..."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "May I get a look at the basement? I apologize for all of the trouble, ma'am." Ainsley is genuine about that, her face showing a bit of unhappiness at the sight of the lady growing uncomfortable. She didn't want to unnerve anyone. "Think of me like a concerned private investigator. It is not that far from the truth, really. All I want is information, and you have been helpful enough so far. Pleasant, even." She tries an encouraging smile. "My name is Ainsley, by the way."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    "Alright..." Marie replies. "I don't want any trouble for the others."

    "Come with me, Ainsley," she beckons, and is happy to lead her down the stairs to the basement. It's not really a ... used part of the community centre, at least so it seems. A lot of the doors are locked- and she claims to not have the keys- and seem similar to the environment upstairs as far as off-whitewashed walls and simple town-council-purchased chairs and tables go. Half-empty boxes mingle with some more recent unopened boxes containing papers, stacks of records (mostly Elvis'), books about Elvis and odd things like art supplies and books of sandwich recipes.

    From what can be seen, it all seems quite pedestrian.

    Marie is happy to show Ainsley whatever she's capable, bustling along with her flashlight when necessary (because someone didn't replace the bulbs down here), only occasionally tripping on things which make clunking and rustling souns.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Nothing seemed really out of the ordinary. The locked doors get catalogued for later thought, but overall nothing seemed strange. Ainsley carefully poked around while she continued to ask questions to Marie, more relaxed than before. "What do you know about all of the strange events happening around Amarillo? The, uh... out-of-towners causing trouble and the recent news, all of that." She examines one of books about Elvis, quirking a brow at the bizarre nature of finding something like this in another world. It would've been infinitely valuable in her world.

    "Have any strange people moved into town recently?"

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Marie explains things to Ainsley in a way that touches upon what she's already found out- that some time ago, earlier this year or thereabouts, Elvis Presley was moving through the city on tour when terrible circumstances caused an oil field near the city to erupt into chaos. His tourbus was overturned, the area erupted into oil fires, and Elvis died... well, of course he did.

    And ever since then there has been uproar. The city and its people has had to defend itself from the slings and arrows of hate flung at them from other people in the country, and even the active troublemakers of vehicle gangs. Sometimes they roam through, others have been rumored to take up residence in abandoned buildings or some of the ghost towns along route 66 or the interstate, and a community of fear exists.

    People have begun to see her, one of the city's most active community leaders and most gifted speakers, as a leader, but although she can hold the people together she is beginning to wonder what more she can offer them...

    And it's around about that time that John makes himself known, walking down from upstairs to let Marie know that more than one person is offering to dance with her and what's she doing moping around down here anyway.