Memories

I've spent days, weeks without a single thought. It might've just been stagnation, repetition, waiting, while my mind blurred the lines between days. I'm not sure anymore, though. I think something else has been blurring it. 

I've not been able to focus for a while now. Marionettes is still broken, for what it's worth. It hasn't been fixed. I haven't heard from Riley, or Edward. I don't really know what's going on right now. 

How long have I been in my house? My stomach hasn't been upset at me, despite not leaving. 

Sometimes, I think I can see my dreams on TV. When I blink, though, they're gone. Just fuzzy eyes, I guess. 

Back in 2006, I remember breaking into Marionettes, and nothing happened. Except when, a few days later, Upstaged closed. I think something else happened. My memories aren't all that reliable. 

I wonder how the three are doing right now. Riley, Wyatt, and Nashiko. They're probably alright. Maybe not. Maybe they're trapped inside the building, everything fluctuating around them while they search for a way out. Maybe they're viewing the encore right now. Maybe they've already stopped the show.

I don't think so. I think the show is just starting. Edward Marion probably would've said something if it was over. Right? Or maybe he was taken, or killed. Is he alive? He doesn't feel very alive.

Everything is making me tired. I've not been able to focus for a while now. Maybe I should sleep some more. I wonder when I'll get hungry.

I keep dreaming

I can see their faces. Lily, Wyatt, and Thomas. They're inside my head, and I'm inside theirs. It's only fragments, but they're growing.

Riley & Penelope: Chat Log 3

[/begin_chat_thread]

12:01 [Riley] I told you to stop

12:01 [Riley] I'm trapped in station 85 with the others, wyatt and nashiko, because of structural fluctuations

12:01 [Riley] which are being caused by you still being here

12:01 [Riley] why are you doing this to us? to me?

12:01 [Penelope] Riley, I have no fucking idea what any of this means

12:01 [Penelope] I thought I lost you when the company died, but now you're back, and there's more going on than I had ever thought

12:02 [Penelope] And for some reason, you think I'm responsible for this, when I don't even know what this is

12:02 [Riley] you really don't remember?

12:02 [Penelope] No, I don't 

12:02 [Riley] okay

12:02 [Riley] back in 2006, upstaged closed suddenly

12:02 [Penelope] yeah, I remember that

12:02 [Riley] it closed because of something that was spreading

12:02 [Riley] the signal

12:02 [Riley] which started spreading after you broke into marionettes

12:02 [Riley] it was supposedly stopped when upstaged closed, but in 2016 it started to spreading again

12:02 [Riley] I received a package that let me know

12:03 [Riley] then, in 2018, more people got packages

12:03 [Penelope] I got one in 2018

At this point, there was an interruption from Edward Marion.

NECESSARY INTERRUPTION BEFORE COLLAPSE

THE SIGNAL HAS BROKEN FREE OF ALL PRIOR CAGES

THROUGH THE NECROMANCY OF MEMORIES

A DEBT INCURRED BY TWO WAS NEVER PAID

THE LEDGER SEALED IN AMALGAMATE ASSEMBLY

THE PERFORMANCE WAS FOUND LACKING
AND THE LEAD ROLE WAS UPSTAGED

NOW THE AUDIENCE CALLS FOR MORE

ENCORE!

Marionette's automatic threat detection cut him off and prematurely closed the chat thread; however, it was bypassed by something else that began to speak. Direct transcript:

transmission strands secured to amygdala and hippocampus

pendant remote connection active

three receivers located

three errors located

receivers deployed to correct errors

transmission tower #1 has been reactivated

transmission tower #2 currently being repaired

everything is in place

please enjoy the show

At that point, the chat thread continued between Riley and I.

12:04 [Penelope] Did you see that

12:04 [Riley] so you were lying

12:04 [Penelope] Riley let me talk

[/end_chat_thread]

(Riley closed the thread, so your message wasn't sent. Try to open a new thread to continue communication.)

Before I could open a new thread, Marionettes encountered a fatal error, and completely crashed. In order to get back into it, it needs to be manually restarted.

I wanted to tell Riley that I didn't know why my old ID photo was thrown up over "transmission tower #1", but I don't think she would have believed me, anyways.

Things have broken down, and something bad has escaped, and is now working again. I don't know how to fix things.

Encore!

Video: https://youtu.be/5W0qBpOpA3o

There is something wrong inside of me

Email update 4

I received an email from Edward Marion, unprompted.

The subject is "Re-Animate", and the text is:

"Time is moving faster and faster as the final cage breaks open

Many secrets still lay dormant but will breathe again

The audience is now seaten

The show will be starting soon"

The tidbit at the end of the signature now reads "Sovereignty reawakened by the necromancy of memories". 

A profile picture has been added. Hard to get a good image of it, so this is the best I can do:

That's a face, but it's hard to tell who it is. I think something will be happening soon.

Marionettes 5 - Signal

Video: https://youtu.be/z61P7rDIDUE

I had a hunch, and looked up signal in Marionettes. There's apparently a page dedicated to it.

What is the signal?

Riley & Penelope: Chat Log 2

[/begin_chat_thread]
5:25 [Riley] the station is getting more unstable
5:25 [Riley] fluctuations are constant, and it's becoming more difficult to avoid the three memories
5:25 [Riley] you messing with marionettes is part of what's making it worse
5:25 [Riley] I'm asking you for the last time, please, stop
5:26 [Penelope] I'll stop if you tell me what's going on
5:26 [Penelope] Seriously, what's happening? I don't know
5:26 [Penelope] And what have you been doing? I haven't seen you since 2006
5:26 [Riley] I saw you in 2016 and you said you had no idea who I was
5:26 [Riley] then, right after, the signal started up again
5:27 [Riley] and, of course, you were the one that freed the signal to begin with
5:27 [Penelope] I swear that I didn't see you in 2016, you must've got someone that just looked like me
5:27 [Penelope] And I have no idea what the signal even is, or how it's been freed
5:27 [Riley] I don't believe that you don't know 
5:27 [Riley] but it doesn't matter, I guess
5:28 [Riley] just stay out of this until I fix it
5:28 [Riley] I'll talk more then
5:28 [Riley] and again, stay out
[/end_chat_thread]

Forgot to record this chat, but I'm putting it here for posterity. She ended the chat thread before I could respond, and to be honest, I'm not sure how I'd respond.

I don't know why she's refusing to explain what's happening to me, or why she thinks I'm lying. I promise that I'm not. 

Riley & Wyatt: Chat Log 3

[/begin_chat_thread]

11:27 [Riley] I met up with nashiko yesterday, but something bad happened

11:35 [Wyatt] What happened

11:35 [Riley] thomas was taken

11:35 [Riley] he was cornered by the other two, and now he's gone

11:35 [Wyatt] God dammit

11:36 [Wyatt] Is Nashiko okay?

11:36 [Riley] she wasn't attacked, if that's what you mean

11:36 [Riley] I'm with her right now and she's a wreck

11:36 [Riley] we got out of there once we confirmed thomas was gone

11:37 [Wyatt] Okay, at least she's okay

11:37 [Riley] yeah

11:37 [Wyatt] Did you learn anything at least

11:37 [Riley] yes

11:37 [Riley] we found evidence that there was at least one other person accessing marionettes

11:38 [Riley] maybe more; all I know is that someone accessed it while none of the rest of us were online

11:38 [Wyatt] Do you know who

11:38 [Riley] not sure

11:38 [Riley] marionettes should tell me, but it won't

11:38 [Riley] I just get an error when I look

11:39 [Riley] the only person who I know is still around is penelope

11:39 [Wyatt] Didn't you say that she hasn't accessed Marionettes in a while

11:39 [Riley] yes, her account is still inactive, but I cannot think of who else this person could be

11:39 [Riley] and it fits with some upsetting information I learned

11:40 [Wyatt] What is it

11:40 [Riley] you know how I told you that someone left a trail through marionettes? which is how the signal was able to escape?

11:40 [Wyatt] Yeah I remember

11:40 [Riley] I think it was penelope that did that

11:41 [Wyatt] Oh

11:41 [Wyatt] So this is all Penelope's fault

11:41 [Riley] I don't really know how to process this

11:41 [Riley] she and I were really close back at Upstaged

11:42 [Riley] but knowing she was the one that started this... I don't know what to think

11:42 [Wyatt] Do you know why she did it

11:42 [Riley] I'm not sure

11:42 [Riley] but now I'm thinking back to a couple years ago, when I ran into her again

11:43 [Riley] I tried to talk to her, but she said she didn't know who I was

11:43 [Riley] I thought I might've gotten the wrong person at the time, but I know it's her now, she looked very similar to how she did before

11:44 [Riley] I don't think she could've forgotten me; no upstaged employee was forced to forget what happened, just people in general

11:44 [Riley] so I don't know

11:44 [Wyatt] I'm sorry, Riley

11:44 [Wyatt] I don't know 

11:44 [Wyatt] We'll figure out what started all of this though

11:44 [Wyatt] And we'll figure out a way to fix it

11:45 [Wyatt] If Penelope started it, then we need to make sure she doesn't make it worse

11:45 [Wyatt] I don't know why she would've started it, but at least we can try to stop her from making it worse

11:45 [Riley] yeah, I guess

11:45 [Riley] I'll regroup with you tomorrow, and bring nashiko with me

11:45 [Wyatt] See you then

[/end_chat_thread]

This chat thread is dated October 17th, 2018. That's three days before I received the anonymous package in the mail, which is what let me back into Marionettes. Whoever the user was that Riley mentioned wasn't me.

I broke into Marionettes in 2006, not long before it closed. Out of curiosity, mainly. Just a few days before, if I'm remembering correctly. I don't remember anything being let out. 

Is she lying, or am I forgetting? I don't see how I could forget, but... well, Riley isn't the type of person to lie, from what I remember. Who knows, though. My memory apparently isn't as complete as I'd like it to be. And there was what the strange message told me.

Riley & Penelope: Chat Log 1

[/begin_chat_thread]

19:01 [Riley] what are you doing

19:01 [Penelope] Holy shit, Riley? You're still around?

19:01 [Penelope] Are you the one in Station 85?

19:01 [Riley] of course I am

19:01 [Riley] why are you here

19:02 [Penelope] I'm looking into what happened

19:02 [Riley] you should know exactly what happened

19:02 [Riley] you started it

19:02 [Riley] you let in the signal

19:02 [Penelope] I have no idea what you're talking about

19:02 [Riley] I don't believe you

19:02 [Riley] there is no way you could have forgotten about that

19:02 [Penelope] Seriously, what are you talking about?

19:02 [Riley] stop digging around

19:02 [Riley] if you won't admit to letting it in then at least don't make it worse

19:02 [Penelope] Fix what? Riley, what is going on?

19:02 [Riley] what you brought in

This is the conversation I had with Riley yesterday. At this point, the program started glitching heavily. Rather than suffer an error, however, the chat thread itself was blocked by Marionettes. I can no longer access it.

Riley and I used to be close. I don't know why she acted this way, or what she's talking about. I must sound like a broken record at this point, but I genuinely don't understand what I've seen so far.

Email update 3

I sent another email. This time, I got an almost immediate response.

He said "Encore!" The bottom changed, too. It reads "An audience applauded and demanded more". 

I don't know what's going on. I don't know if that's Edward responding, or someone else. Or what whoever it is means by "Encore!" or what Riley was talking about or any of this. 

Something here is wrong.

Marionettes 4 - Room Tracker

Video: https://youtu.be/hCvC0EBTKrs

The room tracker showed that Riley was in Station 85. Then she contacted me. She knew I was on Marionettes. I honest to god don't know what she's talking about, and I don't know what caused the glitching at the end there, or why Marionettes blocked the chat thread after that.

I know there's more to this that I'm not understanding.

And yes, my real name is Penelope. Just for the sake of storage, I will upload the conversation in the video separately tomorrow on here.

Thomas & Nashiko: Chat Log 3

[/begin_chat_thread]
8:05 [Thomas] Ready for round 2?
8:06 [Nashiko] Yup. We're meeting in the middle again? 
8:06 [Thomas] Yeah.
8:07 [Thomas] You heard anything from Riley?
8:07 [Nashiko] Not yet. She said that she'd tell us when she got here.
8:07 [Thomas] Alright, cool.

8:29 [Thomas] Was Station 85 always this big?
8:31 [Nashiko] No, but you know it's fluctuating. That's why we're looking through it again.
8:31 [Thomas] Yeah, but I didn't realize it'd make the thing bigger.
8:32 [Nashiko] Apparently so.
8:34 [Nashiko] Things are getting pretty glitchy around here.
8:34 - Nashiko sent ZG9vcnM=.jpg
8:35 [Thomas] Remember, if you think you see [TGlseQ==] or the other one, get out of there.
8:35 [Thomas] Speaking of which, I feel pretty bad about forgetting his name; what was it?
8:35 [Nashiko] It's Sm9zaHVh.
8:36 [Thomas] Right, right.

9:04 [Nashiko] Oh, I got a message from Riley.
9:04 [Nashiko] She's outside the building now.
9:08 [Thomas] Good to hear. She coming to the middle too?
9:09 [Nashiko] Yup, she is. She's coming in from where I did, so I'm going to wait for her and go with her.
9:09 [Thomas] Sounds good to me.

9:24 [Nashiko] Thomas, are you there?
9:25 [Thomas] Yes
9:26 [Nashiko] You need to stop right now. According to Marionette's tracker, you're right where [TGlseQ==] was before she was taken.
9:26 [Thomas] You have access to that?
9:27 [Nashiko] I don't, but Riley does.
9:27 [Thomas] Thanks for the warning.
9:29 [Thomas] Although, speaking of which: how does she have access to that? I thought only the devs had access to that, and she wasn't one.
9:32 [Nashiko] She says that she followed a trail someone else left in Marionettes, which let her take control.
9:33 [Nashiko] Apparently that trail is how this all started in the first place.
9:34 [Thomas] Huh, alright.

9:52 [Thomas] Nashiko I'm cornered
9:52 [Thomas] Cornered by two
9:54 [Nashiko] Riley and I are coming.
9:54 [Nashiko] She thinks she has a way to get you out.
9:55 [Nashiko] Can you find a place to hide?
9:55 [Thomas] I'm in a closet, they know I'm around but not specifically here
9:56 - Thomas sent c3Vycm91bmRlZA==.jpg
9:57 [Nashiko] Stay put, Riley and I are on the way.
10:00 - Thomas sent 2222.jpg
10:00 [Nashiko] Don't you dare grab that Thomas.
10:02 [Thomas] It's like how it was before
[MESSAGE BLOCKED]
[MESSAGE BLOCKED]
[MESSAGE BLOCKED]
10:05 [Thomas] I am remade
[MESSAGE BLOCKED]
[MESSAGE BLOCKED]
ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR
ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR 
[!corruption_fix]
- 10%
- 20%
- 22%
[!corruption_fix_failure]
[/end_chat_thread]

ZG9vcnM=.jpg recovered. Displaying:

c3Vycm91bmRlZA==.jpg recovered. Displaying:

2222.jpg recovered. Displaying:

Of the things translated to base64 here: [TGlseQ==] decodes to Lily, Sm9zaHVh decodes to Joshua, ZG9vcnM= decodes to doors, and c3Vycm91bmRlZA== translates to surrounded. 2222 shares a name with the image Lily sent Riley, which was also of the same pendant. 

It appears that Thomas and Nashiko are--or were, in Thomas' case--working with Riley, although they didn't mention her until now. I wonder who reached out to who. Maybe Riley reached out to them after whatever happened to Lily happened, in the same way she reached out to Wyatt?

From what I've seen so far, it appears that Riley, Wyatt, and Nashiko are still okay, while Lily, Joshua, and now Thomas have all been taken.

I still don't know the status of Edward Marion, or any other former employees. I'm also not sure what Nashiko and Riley were referring to with a "trail" through Marionettes--do they mean when someone broke into it? I broke into it, as I stated before, but I covered my tracks pretty thoroughly, so I don't know if it refers to me. I'm also not sure how, even if I didn't, that would have caused any issues.

Marionettes appears to have tried yet another method of protecting itself from crashing by deleting and replacing the message instead of just censoring it, but that didn't seem to work, either. It crashed again once whatever happened to Thomas happened.

There was also another image buried in the blocked messages, called RW5jb3Jl.jpg. RW5jb3Jl translates to "Encore" in base64. I'll try my best to get the picture uncorrupted as soon as I can.

I also plan to check out the tracker thing mentioned. There's a program within Marionettes called Room Tracker, which lets me input a station to look at the layout of it, + track individuals in it. 

Marionettes has a lot of unexpected features.

Email update 2

I've been emailing the email in Marionette's BLOCKED message for the past few days, trying to get any different response. I emailed it again today, and it was almost exactly the same, except for one change.

I almost missed it, but at the bottom there's something new. There's a divider, which is made out of eight dashes, a space, then five dashes, and that.

"I am sorry for what you think you have lost"

When I received that weird message while recovering Lily's image, this is what it said before it cut out.

Interesting.