Message The files in Brandon's USB were intriguing, at best. While the document entitled "letters.txt" was relatively easy to decrypt, "readme.txt" proved to be a more daunting task.

Who is this Master? What is this about Lower Ziara? And what could the readme file really contain? These are questions whose answers you may or may not eventually know.

With word that the Masquerade was extended, along with the influx of Lower Ziaran fashions into the Menagerie, courtesy of Adriette, fills many people with anticipation of guests from the underbelly of the magnificent lunar city. It's an unfortunate truth that abject poverty and counter-culture can be romanticised by those who do not truly understand what it means to live among the scorched earth of a dystopia.

How is it that these people were not brought to the consciousness of Ziara City's inhabitants? Perhaps this is why they chose to put up a clinic in the moon...

Just then, a stranger invites you to a dance. She hands you a bag of trinkets, and places something in your pocket. She instructs you leave the ballroom immediately, and not to take out the object she gave you while you're still within the premises.

When you leave the ballroom premises, safe from the prying eyes of any nosy bystanders, you take out the object your dance partner placed in your pocket. It seems to be some kind of rod, wrapped in white paper. You unfurl the wrapper on one end to reveal a glow stick. There also seems to be writing on the paper itself:

"You're invited to a night of music and friendship. See the side of Ziara you've never seen before. Trade the metallic colours of elite balls for the neon lights of the Ziara's vibrant nightlife. Head over to Club PLURality and bring this glowstick with you. If you're initially denied entry, tell them Big Al sent you.

PS. You might not want to wear clothing of the Overworlders. I've left behind a few things that can help you blend in on that bag."

** Participating on the link is completely optional, although story hints may be dropped there from time to time. **

After asking people who seem not to fit in the usual dress of the "floating city" for directions to Lower Ziara, something apparently only given in hushed tones and guarded whispers, you make your way to what appears to be a run-down garage, with a busted signage reading "Club PLURality." It is dark by the time you reach Lower Ziara, but there is an eerie silence in this part of Atebus, even though it is bathed in neon lights and bright colours. It reminds you of the illumination of casinos, but not quite.

As you walk closer to the door of the establishment, you notice a "Sorry, we're CLOSED!" sign on the front door. However, a touch-screen terminal seems to have been activated on the door, for you to leave messages to the people inside. It has an interface much like an old chatroom.

Thank you anon. I'm very headachy today again so this will have to wait a bit. Very interesting and it does make me wonder how they all were unnoticed for so long...

I didn't actually get to spend any time at the club last night because I came home from work and instantly started playing Zelda. But today is my husband's night to play so I'll be on the computer. (And sorry about two squids. Desktop and laptop. )

I went to the club for a little while when I first got the invite, but I've been sick and have forgotten to go back since. :(

Quote

Although Grace initially allowed you entry into the &quot;club&quot;, he warned you not to linger around the club as the anagram in Brandon&;s USB was close to getting solved. Exploring the rest of Lower Ziara until the end of Masquerade, you wait until the event is over before you check in on Club PLURality. The familiarly busted signage now reads &quot;lub PLURality.&quot; Close to the establishment&;s door, you find an unpowered &quot;C&quot; neon sign close to the welcome mat.</p>
<p>The sign on the front door still reads &quot;Sorry, we&;re CLOSED!&quot; There seem to be more people inside the club itself, judging from the shadows you can see through the touch-screen terminal. Just like last time, it displays what seems to be static. A chat-like panel displays a transcript of conversations audible through the speakers, which play music and loud conversations from inside.</p>
<p>There are buttons shaped like rewind, play, and pause buttons, below the display. Odd, those weren&;t there before.
<details>
<summary>PRESS THE REWIND BUTTON</summary>
You press the rewind button. You can&;t make out anything that the camera feed is scrubbing backward to, but it stops rewinding at a frame where Grace is visible.</p>
<p>You press the play button, and see Grace approaching the camera. He begins to speak.
</p>
<p>&quot;Oh man, this is making me nervous. Is anyone watching out there? Bella had gone missing after she performed a few surgeries during the last few days of Masquerade. I was giving patient consultations. I should have kept an eye on her.&quot; His voice seems to crack, and his eyes are damp.</p>
<p>&quot;I would leave this club, but E isn&;t here, either. This is bad... this is very bad... I implore you, I beg you, please help me! We closed the club a few days ago to evade the notice of the individual we only know as &;Master&;. It seems he is an entity from another world, possibly the one where Bella and I come from. If not, he may have captured one of our kind and controlled it for himself. When I solved the last part of the anagram from an epiphany while a patient consulted me, these disappearances happened. I am desperate...&quot;</p>
<p>The display fades to static, when a scream can be heard from the speakers.</p>
<p>&quot;It is done,&quot; bellows a deep, guttural voice.</p>
<p>After a few minutes of silence, Bella is audible through the speakers.</p>
<p>&quot;Grace! What have they done to you?&quot;</p>
<p>Once again, no sound comes out of the speakers. You then hear sniffing and faint weeping seemingly coming from behind you. You turn around and see no one, but take notice of a bloodied hydrus necklace.
</details>

holy shit, that got spooky. I'll help, but... D: Noo, what happened? Also, the anagram was solved? What was it? I tried, but failed utterly

This is getting so scary, I hope everyone will be alright! : s

• Here's the solved anagram:

Ahhh I guess I'm lost because I didn't come to the Discord chat part of the plot. I thought I'd missed some stuff!

This doesn't sound good though! What's happened to Grace? I sure hope he's going to be alright!

Thank you anon! <3

Message Although Grace initially allowed you entry into the "club", he warned you not to linger around the club as the anagram in Brandon's USB was close to getting solved. Exploring the rest of Lower Ziara until the end of Masquerade, you wait until the event is over before you check in on Club PLURality. The familiarly busted signage now reads "lub PLURality." Close to the establishment's door, you find an unpowered "C" neon sign close to the welcome mat.

The sign on the front door still reads "Sorry, we're CLOSED!" There seem to be more people inside the club itself, judging from the shadows you can see through the touch-screen terminal. Just like last time, it displays what seems to be static. A chat-like panel displays a transcript of conversations audible through the speakers, which play music and loud conversations from inside.

There are buttons shaped like rewind, play, and pause buttons, below the display. Odd, those weren't there before.

Press the rewind button You press the rewind button. You can't make out anything that the camera feed is scrubbing backward to, but it stops rewinding at a frame where Grace is visible.

You press the play button, and see Grace approaching the camera. He begins to speak.

"Oh man, this is making me nervous. Is anyone watching out there? Bella had gone missing after she performed a few surgeries during the last few days of Masquerade. I was giving patient consultations. I should have kept an eye on her." His voice seems to crack, and his eyes are damp.

"I would leave this club, but E isn't here, either. This is bad... this is very bad... I implore you, I beg you, please help me! We closed the club a few days ago to evade the notice of the individual we only know as 'Master'. It seems he is an entity from another world, possibly the one where Bella and I come from. If not, he may have captured one of our kind and controlled it for himself. When I solved the last part of the anagram from an epiphany while a patient consulted me, these disappearances happened. I am desperate..."

The display fades to static, when a scream can be heard from the speakers.

"It is done," bellows a deep, guttural voice.

After a few minutes of silence, Bella is audible through the speakers.

"Grace! What have they done to you?"

Once again, no sound comes out of the speakers. You then hear sniffing and faint weeping seemingly coming from behind you. You turn around and see no one, but take notice of a bloodied hydrus necklace.

Thank you anon. Here's hoping that Grace will be okay. shudders

Not far off from where you found the hydrus necklace, which you decide not to touch, you see a dilapidated copper pipe. There appear to be flecks of a dark, wet substance on it. You similarly opt not to move it. You want to deny that the pipe has some blood on it.

The wind howling harshly against you gives you the realisation that you are all alone on the street. You then hear a distant siren. The sound becomes louder as a police car approaches you. It stops right in front of Club PLURality, where a policewoman alights from the vehicle.

"I'm Tanja Sugarvine from Neutral Force, did you call the emergency helpline?"

((cont.)) (( pls halp))

post!

4

You enter Club PLURality, trailing behind Tanja. She pulls out a pistol from its holster, and points it at the crowd that had congregated at the dance floor.

"All freeze!"

The club's patrons continue to dance, the music blaring from the sound system possibly drowning out Tanja's voice. You see a necklace with an eye pendant on the ground.

You consider alerting Tanja to the presence of the necklace when you see a trail of muddy footprints.

"I said, freeze!"

Tanja still does not get a response from the crowd. She storms off to the DJ booth, taking Vexera's headphones off of him.

"Stop the music, I NEED to ask the club patrons a question."

Shaking with fear, Vexera obliges. The crowd stops dancing, and stares at the DJ booth. Tanja takes the microphone, and begins to speak.

"Lower Ziarans, once again, I need your assistance. I am Tanja Sugarvine of Neutral For--" "Poes of, polisieman!" "Hey, it's someone from Neutral Force. Keep quiet!" "I received a call regarding theft occurring in this club. We also found a bent copper pipe and a hydrus necklace outside, both with blood. Is there anyone here who had witnessed such events?"

After a few moments of silence, a petite figure wearing an oversized pullover raises their hand. She has strawberry blonde hair tied in a bun, and large, sky-blue, circular eyeglasses. She almost trips over a few wires on the ground, when you quickly help her up. She walks closer to Tanja, and whispers something in her ear. Tanja nods, and motions for you to follow both of them to the back of the club.

As you walk away from the crowd, you notice that Tanja and the other girl are following a trail of footprints similar to the one you found next to the necklace. The diminute woman leads you to what appears to be a pantry. No one is inside the room, but a stove has been left turned on. Apart from the footsteps, which lead to another door, nothing else seems to be amiss.

You encourage Tanja to follow the footprints out of the pantry. They truncate close to a vacant parking lot. There are skid marks left by tires on the ground.

"I don't know exactly what happened. I didn't even hear anyone scream, but I noticed the footsteps after a while of dancing. I hope this aids your investigation." The petite woman smiles at both of you. "If you don't mind, I need to go back inside. I'm one of the club owners, and my companions aren't around. I'll be more vigilant."

Tanja thanks the woman, and turns to you.

"If you aren't busy, do you think you can help me investigate this matter? I know it's odd to ask of a visitor to Lower Ziara like you, but we're severely understaffed. Follow me to the car."

You follow Tanja through a path leading back to the front of the club without re-entering it, just to find that the police car is no longer parked in front of the establishment. Tanja pulls on her hair on both sides, visibly agitated.

"My car! What are we going to do now?"

"What?", 2B, 4 Well, I don't have a car either (nor a driver's licence, for that matter), so I guess we'll have to call a taxi or something? I don't think walking is an option if Bella and Grace are in serious danger...

Thank you Anon, as always, for the story and gifts!

(+Thank you Kaz for helping me out!)

(Thank you for the gifts! I looove the shoes!) "I was going to..." 3B, 3C

I don't have a car, I don't even have a license. D: Maybe avatar-me does. Maybe the club owner could help us? I mean, official Neutral Force business and all...

This is your first time opening this, so these items are now in your inventory!

Message (( Hastebin link for ease of copy-pasting: https://hastebin.com/owiriluqop ))

Not far off from where you found the hydrus necklace, which you decide not to touch, you see a dilapidated copper pipe. There appear to be flecks of a dark, wet substance on it. You similarly opt not to move it. You want to deny that the pipe has some blood on it.

The wind howling harshly against you gives you the realisation that you are all alone on the street. You then hear a distant siren. The sound becomes louder as a police car approaches you. It stops right in front of Club PLURality, where a policewoman alights from the vehicle.

"I'm Tanja Sugarvine from Neutral Force, did you call the emergency helpline.

"I was going to…" The suspicious pipe and the bloody necklace can potentially indicate that the outside of the club may have been a crime scene. Calling for emergency services may have been a good idea at the time. You tell Tanja that you would have called the emergency helpline.

"By chance, were you going to report a theft? That's the call that dispatched me here."

You remember the bloodied hydrus necklace and the bent copper pipe that you saw, and report them to Tanja. She scans the ground for both items, but she does not move them. Tanja then asks you to stay away from an area which she designates as a crime scene.

"Do you know what happened here?"

You inform Tanja about the closed-circuit footage you saw in the front door's touch screen interface. Instructing her to press the rewind button, she looks at the feed closely.

"If someone was put to this kind of danger, they should have stated this instead of theft. Unless the theft might be something else altogether. Please come inside the club with me for a few moments."

You enter Club PLURality, trailing behind Tanja. She pulls out a pistol from its holster, and points it at the crowd that had congregated at the dance floor.

"All freeze!"

The club's patrons continue to dance, the music blaring from the sound system possibly drowning out Tanja's voice. You see a necklace with an eye pendant on the ground.

You consider alerting Tanja to the presence of the necklace when you see a trail of muddy footprints.

"I said, freeze!"

Tanja still does not get a response from the crowd. She storms off to the DJ booth, taking Vexera's headphones off of him.

"Stop the music, I NEED to ask the club patrons a question."

Shaking with fear, Vexera obliges. The crowd stops dancing, and stares at the DJ booth. Tanja takes the microphone, and begins to speak.

"Lower Ziarans, once again, I need your assistance. I am Tanja Sugarvine of Neutral For--" "Poes of, polisieman!" "Hey, it's someone from Neutral Force. Keep quiet!" "I received a call regarding theft occurring in this club. We also found a bent copper pipe and a hydrus necklace outside, both with blood. Is there anyone here who had witnessed such events?"

After a few moments of silence, a petite figure wearing an oversized pullover raises their hand. She has strawberry blonde hair tied in a bun, and large, sky-blue, circular eyeglasses. She almost trips over a few wires on the ground, when you quickly help her up. She walks closer to Tanja, and whispers something in her ear. Tanja nods, and motions for you to follow both of them to the back of the club.

As you walk away from the crowd, you notice that Tanja and the other girl are following a trail of footprints similar to the one you found next to the necklace. The diminute woman leads you to what appears to be a pantry. No one is inside the room, but a stove has been left turned on. Apart from the footsteps, which lead to another door, nothing else seems to be amiss.

You encourage Tanja to follow the footprints out of the pantry. They truncate close to a vacant parking lot. There are skid marks left by tires on the ground.

"I don't know exactly what happened. I didn't even hear anyone scream, but I noticed the footsteps after a while of dancing. I hope this aids your investigation." The petite woman smiles at both of you. "If you don't mind, I need to go back inside. I'm one of the club owners, and my companions aren't around. I'll be more vigilant."

Tanja thanks the woman, and turns to you.

"If you aren't busy, do you think you can help me investigate this matter? I know it's odd to ask of a visitor to Lower Ziara like you, but we're severely understaffed. Follow me to the car."

You follow Tanja through a path leading back to the front of the club without re-entering it, just to find that the police car is no longer parked in front of the establishment. Tanja pulls on her hair on both sides, visibly agitated.

"My car! What are we going to do now?"

Curiouser and curiouser... seems like a lot of thievery going on...

Thanks so much anon. This is a most interesting plot.

Too long to paste here, and I don't have someone to ping so I can post the rest! But wow, two very similar calls. D: Who was the second person? Also, HELLO, E, nice to meet you!

(Ok will help me out once again so I can post the whole story~)

You tell Tanja to calm down. Panicking will just cloud her judgment (and possibly your own, as well.) She fans herself with both of her hands for a few moments, and blows some air through pursed lips. She then digs for something from her pocket, taking out a phone.

"Hello, Carlos? Someone took my cAR, I WAS JUST INVESTIGATING SOMETHING IN FRONT OF CLUB PLURALITY PLEASE HELP ME I CAN'T BREATHE SEND THE CAR PLEASE WHAT AM I GOING TO TELL OUR SUPERIOR WHAT DO I DO WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO--"

Tanja rapidly withdraws the phone from her ear. The phone seems to be on loudspeaker, since you can hear someone speak through the line.

"Calm down, woman! You realise we're understaffed and have a lot of emergencies, right? You shouldn't have left the car running--" "HOW AM I GOING TO CALM DOWN I'M DEAD I'M SO DEAD I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS--" "Stop yelling into the phone and take some deep breaths. And please don't tell me someone else can hear you panic--" "JUST COME HERE, QUICKLY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE" "Okay, okay. Club PLURality, right?" "YES. THANK YOU!"

Tanja taps a button on her phone's screen, and screams loudly. She then excuses herself for a few moments to lean against a lamppost and take some deep breaths, just as her colleague suggested. You then hear what seems to be a car approaching your general direction. Tanja walks closer to the middle of the road, and heaves a sigh of relief as a dark red car stops in front of the Club. A man alights from the driver's side of the car.

"Carlos, why aren't you wearing your uniform?" "I was supposed to be off-duty today, but I had no time to change when they told me to report." "That doesn't matter now. Were you headed somewhere?" "Yeah, you're conveniently on the way. I received a distress call from ChouChou, close to the industrial district. Now get in the car."

Tanja enters the door opposite the driver's seat, and you take your seat in the back. Carlos then begins to drive.

"Tanja, forget about the car for now. We'll think of something later." "I'll try. I'm still nervous. But I need to find a different vehicle. There were these muddy footprints in Club PLURality which abruptly ended in a parking lot where I found a few tire marks." "Where are you both headed?" "Can you keep your eye out for any tire skid marks on the road?" "That's awfully vague, Tanja. Besides, the road is somewhat damaged along these parts." "The people inside the club were unhelpful. I don't think anyone noticed one of the patrons possibly get assaulted, because the music was too loud." "And how would you know someone got assaulted? I distinctly remember the call from the club to be about theft."

You observe the buildings and establishments that the car is passing by, through the window. The street you're passing by appears to be part of an eerily quiet commercial district, lined by noodle shops and clothing stores. Dazzling neon signs and bright lighting from the stores illuminate an otherwise dark and worn road. Up ahead, you see skyscrapers and a wide bridge with a steep slope. You hold on tightly to the headrest of Tanja's seat as the car makes its ascent through the bridge.

You fall asleep after a few moments, at a time when it seems as though the car is passing by a flat stretch of road. By the time you awake, you feel Tanja nudging you gently.

"We're here. Welcome to the heart of Lower Ziara."

Carlos opens your door, and escorts you up and out of the car.

"I hope you don't mind walking, because that's the only way we can get to ChouChou from here." Carlos' words seem to be an overstatement, as you immediately see a neon signage for ChouChou.

((cont.))

Post! :D

You pass by an alleyway, which is blocked by a stray hospital bed. Though it's strange, you don't pay it much attention. A white van is parked in front of ChouChou, and from the driver's side, you spot a few more muddy footprints. A coincidence, perhaps? They truncate just before a muddied doormat. Carlos and Tanja try to head straight into the club, when a bouncer denies them access.

"We're from Neutral Force--" "Get out. You're not welcome here." The bouncer sneers at the three of you, and shoves your two companions away, one hand pushing each person's chest. "We'll escalate if you don't let us in."

The muscular man by the door hastily opens the door. Tanja takes you by the hand and pulls you inside, presumably so that the bouncer can't stop you from entering ChouChou.

A giant mirror ball is suspended over neon lights bent into the shape of curves, vaguely forming fragments of a circular outline. There is a mini-bar at the back of the dance floor. Instead of drinks, the counter has multiple bottles with orange butterflies lined up on it. The barkeep hands each of you a bottle, instructing you to release it as soon as the DJ announces, "unleash your chouchou."

Carlos leans close to the barkeep, asking, "Were you the person who called the emergency helpline earlier?" The barkeep nods wordlessly. "Okay, where did you see the suspicious person go?" The barkeep points to an elevator and instructs all three of you to go to the fourth floor, which he states is surrounded with glass walls. He points at something to the direction of the mirror ball, but due to the amount of glaring lights, you can't quite make it out. Tanja thanks the barkeep, and leads you to the elevator. You press the button, and the elevator doors slide open to reveal a young man.

"The barkeep did a good job, huh? I told him to make the distress call on my behalf." "E, is that you?" Tanja appears to be shocked. "Yeah." The man Tanja just called E looks at you. "You a friend of Grace and Bella?"

Good thing I didn’t have to drive a car myself, that would have been a disaster lol

And finally we get to meet E properly! I wonder what he’s doing here… And why is he looking so worried? Does he know what happened to Bella and Grace?

Thanks again anon. :)

Same as Yuzuru...

I wonder where/if we'll find the car, and what is E doing and what has he been up to?

Oh my gosh I am so sorry I've been so absent I'm like the worst I'm just so exhausted forever

/edit (Shrieks because I thought E was talking about killing a bartender) Oh not that kind of server....

I'm at work right now but if no one posts the next edition by the time I get home I will do it.

omg, the gift with today's story! I haven't read that yet, but I will in a moment, and then edit to respond to that. BUT. I just wanted to thank you for this, and I am def keeping this one because it's cute af. Usually by the time I finish the text, I'm too wrapped up in the story, so I want to get this out of the way first. (and then I want to see if I have the creativity today to make a new avatar when I'm done with that because CUTE) ok. i'm gonna go read now edit: I've been thinking of E as this all-powerful, invulnerable, master, idk why. Is he the one who turned off the power in the elevator, so we could talk without being recorded? Interesting revelation about Brandon, too. I had assumed before that he was realizing what a shithead he was being because he missed Anjy, not because the "master" was making him do something. Hmmmm

Also, I hope we can save Bella and Grace! The hooded figure must have something to do with it, I'd guess it was Bella's diary he was reading. We should chase him!

Wow I'm pretty behind on this! ^^;

Sorry anon! I haven't been able to get as involved with the plot this time. But I'm reading and enjoying the story. Looking forward to seeing where it goes. c: Thank you for all the lovely gifts, and a wonderful plot! <3

OMG! Thank you so much anon, and whoa, this is so interesting. What an enjoyable plot. :) I think they need to go grab that diary.