Episode 8
S1E8 - Keep the Light On - Operation Proxy Decay - Delta Green AP
The agents push deeper into the primeval gloom of Boggy Depot, following a trail of incongruous, barefoot tracks through the suffocating humidity. The path leads them to a shunned chapel at the heart of a ghost town, a place sealed against a decay that seems to emanate from within. As a strange, psychic pressure begins to exert its influence on the team, one agent's investigation into a fungal anomaly culminates in a terrifying, ecstatic communion with a vast and hungry intelligence. When night falls, an unholy hymn rises from the bog, a lover's desperate call to a silent, watching sky, and the agents learn that some prayers are answered by a geometry that does not belong to our world.
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Cast
Nick Sayers... Writer, Handler, and Editor
Kristina... Agent Ryan
Ryan... Agent Barone
Jordan... Agent Del
Here are some other shows we love! Search them up.
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Stories and Lies
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Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this podcast are ©Nick Sayers, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.
Transcript
The following document was discovered in Baguio Depot in the early 1900s or late 1800s.
2
:It can't be dated, but the paper and the language in the document point to that era.
3
:This is a fragment of what could be found.
4
:most unsettling of all the recent developments.
5
:The congregation has come to believe the intelligence within the jar is not a prisoner but
a guide.
6
:They claim it speaks to them in these shared dreams, that it shows them visions of a
verdant path to a world beyond their own.
7
:They have taken to calling it their shepherd, leaving offerings of strange swamp flora and
animal bones at its base, while one must be careful not to lend credence to such a
8
:primitive superstition.
9
:The compelling nature of the shared hallucinatory experience cannot be easily dismissed by
the rational mind.
10
:It is a phenomenon that warrants further, more rigorous scientific study.
11
:Can you roll your sanity?
12
:Sanity current is 54 and I got a 400 again.
13
:Wild.
14
:Well, yeah, I was like, wait a minute, sometimes that's good.
15
:A lot of times that's not good to get that.
16
:So, all right, what do we got?
17
:Yeah, you don't lose any Sam at all just by witnessing this, but you look down and see it
and it is.
18
:incomprehensibly strange to see this pattern on something natural.
19
:Does it look like something used to be there but isn't now?
20
:Or did it just kind of form in that space in particular?
21
:Go ahead and roll your unnatural plus 20%.
22
:perfect.
23
:So we're just looking for 20, not even close, 79.
24
:it's hard to say, again, that the incomprehensible nature of it starts to get to you a
little bit.
25
:No sanity roll right now, but it's a little overwhelming to witness.
26
:Over to Agent Ryan, you see Barone walk past you up to the altar.
27
:What are you doing?
28
:Am I having the same sort of reaction or feelings as they are?
29
:You're not.
30
:In fact, you don't know what Barone's doing.
31
:They're just walking up there to you.
32
:OK.
33
:I'm going to kind of follow, kind of conservatively follow them towards the altar.
34
:And I'm going to ask her, like, hey, what do you see up there?
35
:Well, for the second time today, I am not sure.
36
:It just looks kind of like a uh big swirl, per se, that doesn't look like it should be
here.
37
:Sorry, I didn't mean to charge in the room before you.
38
:I just saw that Del let you go in alone, and I didn't think that was a good idea.
39
:I blinked, and now I'm, she turns around and looks around, and I made my way up here,
apparently.
40
:and I'll kind of walk back over kind of down more towards Ryan.
41
:I don't know if you do or don't want to take a look at that.
42
:was just kind of strange.
43
:A swirl is all I could say.
44
:I think I do want to take a look at that.
45
:And so I walk up there myself and kind of scope it out.
46
:Yeah, go ahead and roll your sand.
47
:67 out of 68.
48
:Oh my God.
49
:Whoa.
50
:you look down, you don't quite get what Agent Barone is saying, but you get that this is
very strange.
51
:Yeah, that's just a large swirl of fungus embedded into the floorboards and rot.
52
:And then it coalesces on this point in between the podium and the altar behind it.
53
:Does the fungus look similar to the fungus we saw earlier?
54
:Go ahead and give me a forensics role.
55
:uh
56
:Got it 44 out of 64.
57
:That's also critical success, right?
58
:It is, yeah.
59
:It doesn't look like that other fungus necessarily.
60
:This is more of a rot.
61
:But as you get close to it, the sunlight bounces off of something and shows almost like a
sheen of purple, uh almost like pollen.
62
:that is on the top of it.
63
:And you can see it floating around the air as well.
64
:kind of spore-like?
65
:Spore-like, yeah.
66
:Can I reach down and touch the fungus?
67
:Does it react to me in any way?
68
:Roll your power as you do that.
69
:Oh, three, got it.
70
:as soon as you touch it, you feel the sensation of your body dissolve almost into the
fungus.
71
:It's like you dropped into a pool, but that pool was this fungus.
72
:You immediately feel like you're in it.
73
:Your mind becomes almost joyfully unmade and it's absorbed in something vast green.
74
:and it feels that way for what seems to be days to you until you also feel something
hungry in it.
75
:You feel a hunger in you and then you snap back out of it.
76
:But there is something strange about this fungus.
77
:when I come out of it, I'm like, OK.
78
:That was weird.
79
:I guess I asked for an experience, and I just got one.
80
:Don't touch the fungus.
81
:And I'm talking to Agent Barone.
82
:Yeah, mean, fair enough.
83
:I don't think I would think to.
84
:What did you feel?
85
:How long was I gone?
86
:How long was I away?
87
:What do mean?
88
:You've been there literally the entire time.
89
:You haven't gotten anywhere.
90
:That is so weird.
91
:I feel like I just went on a trip somewhere for a few days.
92
:um A place I can't really describe, but an OK feeling, but just took me somewhere out of
here.
93
:I wasn't here for a long time.
94
:Yeah, maybe they weren't joking when they said this place was full of uh...
95
:full of hoodoo and...
96
:whatever.
97
:Agent Sandusky, outside.
98
:Are you coming in to join them?
99
:You still searching around the church?
100
:I would definitely make a full canvassing loop.
101
:I think I was also curious when uh Ryan started prying at a way to get in.
102
:If Cheryl had been looking any way over here, I'm kind of just curious about her because I
don't exactly know what her business is and I know she didn't seem particularly interested
103
:in the church, but again, not really clear.
104
:what is or isn't her business that I should or shouldn't be stepping in.
105
:So I'm kind of just running the perimeter at this point.
106
:I may, if I still ain't heard nothing from the inside, no cathunks, no exclamations, I may
give just like a rap on the siding so they can perhaps hear.
107
:before that, give me a search role.
108
:All right.
109
:Nope.
110
:Yeah, looking over at Cheryl, she does sneak glances back at you.
111
:She doesn't seem particularly, put out by you going into the church.
112
:It would be hard for her to notice because you were on the backside.
113
:She could have heard the board coming off, but it hasn't piqued her interest quite yet.
114
:inside the church.
115
:As you two are talking, both of you give me another...
116
:roll.
117
:It failed 85 out of 80.
118
:Crit failed.
119
:88 out of 55.
120
:you're in here talking and agent Ryan's words start to sound like a distant echo to you,
agent Barone.
121
:You feel uneasy and lightheaded.
122
:The air starts to feel thick.
123
:That ecstasy you were in earlier, that brief moment of elation is nowhere to be found.
124
:And you, through your feet, you swear you feel the thrumming of something dire under you,
under the floorboards, reaching up through your feet, just zhing, zhing, pulling at you.
125
:All right.
126
:whoo.
127
:Yeah.
128
:So more, more feelings.
129
:Also, we should probably do, do two things.
130
:One, get out of here or two, rip up the floorboards and see what's underneath in this
exact moment.
131
:Can't really tell which is the better path.
132
:Brian, what do you think?
133
:And she's swaying kind of oozy a little bit.
134
:Yeah, I think I I mean, I'm most inclined of going towards this spiral and kind of seeing
if I can see anything like in the spiral or is the fungus moving at all?
135
:No, it's not.
136
:And are you standing by the spout right now?
137
:I am.
138
:Yeah, I'm kind of standing and like peering into the center of what the spiral seems to
be.
139
:The overhead shot would have Ryan standing right in the middle of it, having just touched
it, and you, Barone, are probably a little off to the side of it, outside of the main
140
:spiral.
141
:Okay, here's a crazy idea.
142
:uh Let's scratch that itch a bit.
143
:Is there...
144
:you know, marks the spot type thing.
145
:Do you wanna, how do you feel about breaking through that bad boy and seeing what's
directly under that spiral?
146
:What are you proposing?
147
:I maybe grab that metal pipe behind you and do a little crack crack down below.
148
:Yeah, let's do it.
149
:Let's see what's below.
150
:outside Dell knocks on the window at this moment.
151
:Oh, uh, hey, Del, it's, there's definitely some stuff in here.
152
:It's, uh, getting a little weird.
153
:I'm not sure if you should or should not come in, but you're welcome to, if you'd like.
154
:Um, I don't know.
155
:It's, it's seeming, uh, it's seeming a little strange in here, but we are going to dig in
a little bit and see if we can find anything.
156
:I'll come around and supervise.
157
:Are you sure you should be doing that?
158
:I'll come back to the back door and I'll rest it open.
159
:um In fact, I'm going to take the rest of the boards off conspicuousness be damned, I
guess.
160
:And maybe just like give a little wave so that some of these spores kind of like waft in
the sunlight and I am
161
:going to regard them as though they are not themselves.
162
:um Because, slightly intoxicated sounding baron said it's getting a little weird in here,
so like, I'm not really inclined to be in the thick of it.
163
:Yeah, firmly staying on the outside, ah but keeping watch.
164
:There's plenty of things you could use in here to break this open.
165
:There's not a lot of metal, but there's other wood you could use for leverage.
166
:You have an assault rifle, but if Dell wants to lend it, there are ways.
167
:uh What's your approach so we can calculate how much time it'll take?
168
:I'm fine trying the pipe, give it little bang and see what happens.
169
:imagining there's like in pews right there's like a where you sit and then there's like a
metal runner underneath that's like extra structure and that's where I imagine we get the
170
:metal from is like the bottom of a pew that is rotted away or something like that but if
there's no like metal metal around well we could definitely find something else I think uh
171
:before Agent Ryan starts into it maybe a little a little too little too late style type
thing but I like to take um something and
172
:and wrap it around my face to at least lessen any more intoxication from these dusts
before we dig any further.
173
:Sure, you're masked up.
174
:You have a little cloth around your face.
175
:So you wrap something around your face, you do find a metal pipe.
176
:I just rolled a luck roll for the environment and it is there and it is in the pews and
you can start prying away.
177
:Both of you give me strength times five or athletics as you're doing this work.
178
:Great.
179
:So strength times 5 is 65.
180
:And I got a 50 flat.
181
:So success.
182
:Success on my side, 26 out of 55.
183
:Awesome.
184
:Yeah, you, this is gonna take about a half an hour to fully get.
185
:This isn't the right tool.
186
:It's not a crowbar, but you're able to start working at it and getting floorboards out.
187
:And about three floorboards in, you notice that the wood is fully consumed by this black
rot.
188
:It's...
189
:like dingy and gross, but it maintains its hardness, which is very strange.
190
:It's not rotten to the point of disintegrating.
191
:So it's still very hard and maintains its original structure.
192
:And you start pulling these out and below the boards, you see a giant wooden box.
193
:Not giant, excuse me, this, about two feet wide.
194
:two by two by two.
195
:Okay, I'm putting on my gloves and I'm gonna hoist this box out from below and bring it
up.
196
:no, that's, yeah, that's not a bad idea.
197
:Definitely, uh, strap up if you can.
198
:Um, I don't happen to have gloves on me as well, do I?
199
:When you got the, yeah, when you got the swamp gear, you have that type of glove, not a,
what do they call, nylon or whatever, plastic glove.
200
:Neoprene, there you go.
201
:Yeah, awesome.
202
:Yeah, I'll just assist Ryan and him to make it a little easier by like, you know, peeling
back some of the boards where the box is getting caught and make sure that he can pull it
203
:up.
204
:Yeah, Ryan, you pull it up.
205
:It's pretty heavy and you yank it out, falling backward onto your butt and the box is
fully out.
206
:There is a latch.
207
:There's no lock to it.
208
:And the box itself is not covered in any of the fungus or rot.
209
:okay.
210
:So it's not on the box itself is what you're saying?
211
:Yeah, not on the box itself.
212
:Think we should haul this out of here so we have a bit more light.
213
:Open it up.
214
:I mean, I'm not sure if we should take it out of this church per se, especially if, um,
you know, there's something in the air, that's for sure.
215
:Maybe we try to keep it contained if at all possible, but maybe near a window, sure.
216
:Okay.
217
:I imagine you drag it into that beam of light that's changing from the roof as the time
goes on.
218
:It's like a kind of a, A time dial as it's kind of moving around the room.
219
:And you unlatch it, open it.
220
:Inside, you see a strange metal object.
221
:with glass around it and a dried brain and brain stem in it.
222
:There are small ports in the bottom of it.
223
:Everybody roll their sanity.
224
:Agent Barone and Agent Ryan, roll your sanity.
225
:Got it with five.
226
:Sanity 54 and I got a 001 or 100.
227
:Dang.
228
:Nice, that's a critical success, So you will only lose, you'll only lose one sanity
because the critical success.
229
:Agent Ryan, you still have to roll me a D4 for your sand loss.
230
:You can project it too if you would like.
231
:Do you wanna project it on a bond or take the sand?
232
:How many did you say sorry?
233
:Less?
234
:Just a D4, you gotta roll a D4.
235
:Oww.
236
:finding the right dice here.
237
:Okay, you take two sand and you add that two to a natural, Ryan, you add that one to a
natural, right?
238
:How would you steel yourself against seeing something like this?
239
:I mean, I'm very curious, right?
240
:I never imagined that opening a box would just be like a container with a brain inside of
it.
241
:So it's definitely unexpected and it's shocking, but I'm also just like, my curiosity.
242
:is the most powerful thing in my brain at the moment, not anything else.
243
:So I'm just really curious about what this is and what it could be.
244
:Likewise, Agent Barone, this is your first real operation.
245
:You just saw a shriveled up brain in a metal and glass tube.
246
:How do you rationalize that and keep yourself from losing your shit?
247
:Um, I think I, I think I use humor.
248
:yeah, Ryan, no, for sure.
249
:This totally makes a lot of sense.
250
:Creepy Swamp Man, a little bit of fungus in the air, a brain in a tube.
251
:Yeah, totally.
252
:This, is a normal thing for normal day with people like us, right?
253
:Right?
254
:oh Alright, um, is that even a human brain?
255
:And then I'll take a look.
256
:this brain?
257
:So before we jump into that, Del Sandusky, you haven't seen this.
258
:They opened a box.
259
:You see a brief moment on their face past them.
260
:You're not sure about any of this, I'm assuming.
261
:What's your approach?
262
:Not really.
263
:uh I guess as they had been prying up floorboards, I was curious if maybe I might have
been inspecting some of the, like, the structural integrity that you were describing that
264
:seems to be still withheld in this kind of, like, I don't know, living decay.
265
:em But if they are, like, pulling something out and breaking something open...
266
:I I'm inclined to go over when they start exclaiming.
267
:Okay, yeah, give me a sand roll as you peek into this box and see this brain.
268
:Alright.
269
:Mmm.
270
:70.
271
:That sounds bad.
272
:Yeah.
273
:No good.
274
:Romeo D6.
275
:Okay, are you going to project on a bond?
276
:The two is the sand loss?
277
:Otherwise?
278
:Ummm...
279
:That sounds okay.
280
:Okay.
281
:Yeah.
282
:What, what do you experience as you see this to whittle away at your sanity?
283
:Yeah, I see uh no future for this thing, like no possible idea what it could be used for.
284
:That is a black abyss.
285
:And all I see is a thousand possibilities for how it came to be in this place, what thing
it might have come from and what that thing might have experienced in order for it to
286
:appear here as this tool or apparatus or some other
287
:thing, right?
288
:To experience whatever it might have been before it became a thing.
289
:you are completely overwhelmed by what cosmic forces would bring something like this into
being.
290
:And thinking of the subjective experience of the individual whose brain this was, like in
all of that, is an insurmountable thing for you to process right now.
291
:The time is almost 5.30 p.m.
292
:as you've pulled this out.
293
:seems like you have some discussing to do.
294
:On earth do you think you've got your hands on there?
295
:Who'd you think?
296
:I'd call it a brain.
297
:Catch you.
298
:It's a very literal naming actually.
299
:It's a brain in a tube to be more exact.
300
:um What size is this?
301
:Does this belong to?
302
:And she'll kind of like look at it and like hold it up next to either Ryan or Dell and
kind of like look at the size and see if the size is about right for a human or if it's
303
:the right shape for like a uh cranial cavity of a person.
304
:Let's see, let see what a good skill for that is.
305
:Does anybody have any biology?
306
:I don't think so.
307
:There's also, yeah, medicine or forensics seems.
308
:Medicine's a good, anybody who wants to roll medicine or biology on it can.
309
:either of those.
310
:Same.
311
:Okay.
312
:You
313
:Yeah, I mean, you mentioned it was desiccated.
314
:I imagine that that really warps the scale of what we're dealing with, right?
315
:Water content has to be crazy in a-
316
:Did you, um, did you say that we have a camera in one of our packs?
317
:Alright, well maybe let's at least take a picture of this.
318
:I'm not sure if we should wrap it and take it with us or just bury it and let it lay where
it be, but we should at least uh take a picture.
319
:Yeah, I know this is your first operation and Butterfield told you he's not going to tell
you twice, but we don't, not really in the business of letting things be.
320
:So if it come out of the ground, you best have a real good reason for putting it back in
the ground.
321
:And if you don't, then we got to figure something else out.
322
:I snap a photo of it so that we have a record of what we have found.
323
:Okay great, I mean it, yeah this, I guess I'm showing my true colors here, it's definitely
the first time and I go ahead and I set it down and take a step back away from it and
324
:like, do we shoot it, burn it, smash it, uh what do you got?
325
:Yeah.
326
:I mean, I'm a little concerned about...
327
:what might be alerted.
328
:If we were to mishandle this thing at this juncture, shoot, even removing it does sound...
329
:like something to consider.
330
:Is there anything else in that crawl space down there?
331
:Was this the only thing?
332
:You have flashlights you could check it out oh
333
:Uh, yeah, no, sorry.
334
:We got distracted by the brain in a can.
335
:Feel free to take a look.
336
:Yeah, you poking down there with a flashlight.
337
:I am hungry for some more context.
338
:Yeah, you peek your head down there and you notice that the black mold has been in the
entire foundation and from below as you swing your flashlight, it's got little tendrils
339
:that go between the floorboards all along the...
340
:under part of the church.
341
:Are you crawling directly down or are just looking?
342
:No, I think I would hang an L over the edge and just kind of scan, pivot.
343
:Yeah, yeah, you're scanning in the distance, you see something white reflect backlight uh
that you'd probably have to crawl under there to get it.
344
:on a headlamp.
345
:um I'll let the crew know, hey, uh I see something down there.
346
:Any of fixing to get dirty?
347
:I reckon it's my turn if not.
348
:Yeah, go ahead.
349
:If you see anything of interest, just give me a shout and I'll come down with you.
350
:Alright, I'll tie it.
351
:uh, do you need a rope?
352
:Do you need a rope around you?
353
:That worked like real well last time.
354
:Just about to.
355
:Yeah, I'll tie it off through the belt loops.
356
:Yeah, you slip down into the whole, your headlamp, those little tendrils cast shadows in
strange ways all throughout the cavernous undercarriage of this church.
357
:And there is, well, it looks like a bunch of folded paper as you get closer, stuck under
some dirt and just a large stone that's on top of it.
358
:As I'm on my way, like maybe as I drop right into the main hole before I fully progress, I
think I'd like to take a lighter out of my pocket and just kind of like click it on and
359
:give it a subtle wave, not on or in any of the fungus, but just near it and see if there
is any sort of reaction.
360
:It sizzles and one of the tendrils burns and then falls onto just a normal lighter, right?
361
:Again, my goal isn't to try and light something on fire.
362
:It's almost to see if there is any reaction to it, right?
363
:Like a fear or a flinch.
364
:you do a little spark, nothing happens, but the tendril does break off from your influence
and you see it kind of drape over your lighter for a second.
365
:And then.
366
:anymore.
367
:I tossed it on
368
:Okay, yeah, yeah, and it starts to cover the metal part of it, especially the top where
the flint and the tin, I believe it's tin, I'm not, aluminum is, just covers it and
369
:settles there on the ground.
370
:Like I can see the spores actively moving over the metallic parts not as though it is just
Casually falling that way.
371
:Yeah Okay Hey These things got a somewhat of a mind of their own
372
:Couldn't roll your sanity again.
373
:Okay this time.
374
:All right, you don't lose any.
375
:You just saw something weirder.
376
:So you're able to hold it together.
377
:But these tendrils, you hang right next to your face as you're traversing down here.
378
:Yeah, I think I take a moment to like inflate the space between my my mesh and my actual
face, right?
379
:So there's a little bit more buffer as though it would help, right?
380
:But just like deep breath and then go on into the crawl space.
381
:you get to this white object.
382
:It is some folded parchment, thickly folded, and some of it is rotten, not with this, but
is just water damaged.
383
:Seems like a bunch of large pieces of butcher paper have been folded over and over and
over again.
384
:as though this might just be one enormous piece.
385
:Could be, yeah.
386
:Yeah, it's about two inches thick.
387
:So I'll fold it over paper.
388
:Yeah, substantial.
389
:think I am concerned about it falling to pieces uh if I were to try and like, as though it
might like crumple under its own weight.
390
:uh So I'm looking for something that might be akin to like a piece of plywood or a pallet
or something that could be used to kind of like shovel it this way.
391
:Looking around, you see that there are small pieces of stone that you could push it with.
392
:There's no like plate type thing you could just scoop it up with.
393
:Your hands together like this are probably better than anything else you see down here.
394
:Yeah.
395
:Was there anything that looked like it would be a helpful tool back up in the main chapel
or am I just
396
:Yeah, absolutely.
397
:So, yeah.
398
:lid or something like that that might be able to...
399
:Alright, I'll ferry it back out and try and do it the safe way.
400
:Need anything down there, doll?
401
:Yeah, I kinda like, you know, come up in an intoxicating poof and uh grab something big
and flat and be back in a minute.
402
:There's something strange down here.
403
:Yeah.
404
:That tracks.
405
:Yeah, I didn't say much.
406
:to roll for anything.
407
:You're able to lift it up.
408
:The paper does feel like it could disintegrate and get it to the top and you set it out
and everyone sees just this like folded up few inches of butcher paper sitting there that
409
:has a little bit of water damage on it.
410
:but in his little flaky butt isn't necessarily disintegrating on spot.
411
:What you think?
412
:Is like a banner for a town parade or something?
413
:I don't know, can we open it up?
414
:Yeah, I think we ought to.
415
:Just kind of like inspect for where the big folds are and you know maybe grab something
like a to use as a plate to buffer it and start folding it open.
416
:You start unfolding it and the writing on the other side immediately tells you what this
is.
417
:This looks like a giant Torah scroll.
418
:Like there is just what looks to be Hebrew all up and down it and it unfolds and in the
center of it.
419
:there is a unharmed picture, which you pull out.
420
:If anybody wants to look at that picture and describe it for the audience, they can.
421
:What is apparent is the church you're standing in is pictured in it.
422
:Yeah, so it's definitely, you know, an old picture taken probably 1800s.
423
:The church that we're in right now is clearly in the background or, looks like it was
newly built.
424
:And there's a bunch of people gathered in front, probably some sort of ceremony.
425
:The weird
426
:The thing is though, I mean there's a lot of weird things, but looking at some of the
faces pretty closely, they either look to be disfigured or I don't know if the exposure
427
:was off and these people were moving, but something very creepy about the town's people
and there's one man.
428
:um
429
:standing in the very forefront of the photo who has the clearest face out of anybody and
the very creepiest smile that I've ever seen on his face.
430
:Yeah, it's hard to say exactly, but it's almost as though everyone beyond that man shares
the same expression.
431
:Yeah, there's also no indication of any kind of denomination that this church might belong
to.
432
:Is there markings down to the lower right?
433
:There are, yeah.
434
:Uh-huh.
435
:make out what that is.
436
:Do you have any foreign languages?
437
:I don't think anybody does.
438
:Yeah, that's not gonna help.
439
:Ah, damn.
440
:No, nope, do not.
441
:speak American.
442
:Yeah
443
:that you're American, you do recognize that it is, it looks like a blend of Arabic and
Hebrew or some, that type of script.
444
:You'd probably need to bring this in for analysis based on your current language skills,
but it does say something.
445
:Who's holding the photo right now?
446
:I think I am, ah as I was describing it, getting a closer look.
447
:Ryan, does it, usually when I take photos, we write the date or something on the back.
448
:Does it have a date or anything on it?
449
:and I flip it over to look at the back of it.
450
:There's no date.
451
:Yeah.
452
:scan in the Tora scroll to see if there's perhaps anything that's out of place, any notes
in the margins, anything that may have, um I don't know, bled from something else that was
453
:stored there previously.
454
:As you start unrolling it, this thing is massive.
455
:And there are things, passages in Hebrew that are underlined, circled.
456
:There is parts that are completely bled through where the ink is completely gone.
457
:The one thing you do notice is this is hand copied.
458
:This is not um a printing press product.
459
:And you get to the middle of the Torah and the text.
460
:becomes jarbled again, where this Hebrew, you don't know Hebrew, but you know it is
Hebrew.
461
:And then in the, right in the middle, there's just something else for about probably seven
Western pages of text.
462
:And once you get past that part, as you're unfolding it, there is Hebrew again.
463
:garbled text does it look akin to what is on the photograph?
464
:Yeah, absolutely.
465
:Different ink.
466
:Yes, definitely different.
467
:The picture looks like somebody carved the symbol into the corn.
468
:Del turns around to look and Barone's standing there with the lighter and she's like,
well, do we just burn all of it or some of it or take the picture or burn the whole church
469
:down?
470
:Which, which path we go in there, big guy.
471
:Well, I mean, you know, before this whole thing is said and done, I don't think this thing
is gonna stay standing.
472
:I think that's just got to be a reality.
473
:But I'm not sure that we want to antagonize anyone who's not already antagonized.
474
:You know what I mean?
475
:Like, Cheryl seems pretty cool right now, but if we start setting things on fire, I'm not
sure it stays that way.
476
:And as they're having this conversation, I'm already snapping pictures of like everything
with my camera.
477
:and thank you.
478
:I don't know, there simply doesn't seem to be anything terribly pressing about it, I
suppose is my opinion.
479
:Feels like something we could easily take care of on the way out of town.
480
:I'm open to yours.
481
:So you're saying wrap the brain in the creepy Torah text with the photo of malfigured
people and just throw it in a bag?
482
:Well, I mean, until we know what it's for, I don't know if we can stand to part ways with
it.
483
:Yeah, I don't think that's bad, especially and she peeks out the window.
484
:She's like, that that sounds getting real low.
485
:We have to beat feedback anyways.
486
:ah Maybe we regroup and I forgot to tell you, uh I have a general direction of where the
tracks are going.
487
:So I think we have something to check out later tonight.
488
:But if you're fine with just wrapping this all together and taking it with us, then maybe
we do that.
489
:Scramdiddlydamsle right on out of here.
490
:Please don't make up words like that again.
491
:Well, I was just trying it out, tell dammit.
492
:Now that I know it doesn't work, I won't do it again.
493
:But you can't blame a girl for trying something, right?
494
:No, you could try.
495
:I just hope you have the sense to try something better than that.
496
:I will make sure the next one is vetted thoroughly before I throw it out there.
497
:Thank you.
498
:Agent Ryan got shit for liking Hootie and the Blowfish too.
499
:like, Dell's just a rainin' on the parades.
500
:So you're wrapping this up.
501
:You have a duffel bag you can probably fit this thing into.
502
:It's again about two, or about a foot and a half tall.
503
:And then I would say eight inches wide or like a round circumference-wise.
504
:Yeah, there's plenty of packing space.
505
:You can get it all set up.
506
:It is about 6 p.m.
507
:You're in Oklahoma and it's still pretty hot, but the sun is starting to disappear.
508
:Where do you go from here?
509
:I think on our way out, Barone tries to at least put some stuff back into place, like the
boards that we pried up, kind of back where they were.
510
:And unless anybody wants to do anything else, I think we'll kind of um get to the front
and even try to re-board up the front door.
511
:Like I know she has uh the butt of a knife to try and drive some of those nails back in,
so unless you guys are uh against it.
512
:I think that's probably the move.
513
:Those boards were ornamental anyway.
514
:Yeah.
515
:If you can just tack them back on, that'd be great.
516
:Yeah, probably not a bad idea and I'll start hammered in and once we're done with that,
Barone sits down and um takes out her canteen and takes a big old gulp and passes it over.
517
:She's like, anybody want to swig?
518
:I don't drink, but thank you.
519
:What do you think it is?
520
:I mean, it's just coffee.
521
:do you...
522
:It's fine.
523
:Oh, okay.
524
:Yeah, I'll take a swig then.
525
:You pack everything up, you're able to get in about 15 minutes the floorboards back since
they're so solid and nothing broke apart.
526
:It is like a puzzle.
527
:You're just putting together a little Jenga puzzle of floorboards and you exit the church.
528
:You are firmly in twilight.
529
:Are you going straight back out?
530
:You look over and see that the campfire um is stoked.
531
:Cheryl is sitting down with her back on a log on the ground in front of the fire reading a
book.
532
:The kids uh in the house look like they are in states of either passed out or paranoia,
but they are paying you no mind at this point.
533
:Is this the dumbest thing I ever said?
534
:You tell me if it is.
535
:What if we go back in that church knowing we're the only ones who dare to and ain't nobody
else coming in after us?
536
:Ain't gotta hoover back out of here.
537
:This evening if we don't want to, we could sit right in the middle of it and see what the
hell they get up to.
538
:I am decidedly thankful for a breath of fresh air and I think I'm quite a right being on
the outside for a little while.
539
:Yeah, so that was the idea to camp in the church at night, Del?
540
:Yeah.
541
:I mean it depends Ryan, what um, what do you think?
542
:I'm not particularly fond of the idea of kind of feeling a little tired.
543
:you know, hoofing it out.
544
:I could do it, but it's not going to be my first choice.
545
:I'm also really curious about these people.
546
:I feel like they have more to share.
547
:They look like they're pretty comfy and gonna stay the night.
548
:And I'm just kind of curious as to why, but um either way, you guys decide and I'll follow
you.
549
:Yeah, Barone, it only takes one to say you're uncomfortable with it.
550
:I'm not about to make decisions for us all.
551
:Alright, well, did you want to stay out here regardless?
552
:I mean, I'm opposed to the church specifically, but if you want to post up in one of these
other ones, I'm not too opposed to not having a truck all the way back.
553
:That's up to you.
554
:Yeah, I mean, that seems okay.
555
:I guess I'm perhaps usually overly concerned with being found by people.
556
:If I don't feel like being found, church seemed like maybe it presented a unique
opportunity thusly, I acknowledge where you're coming from.
557
:You could set up a tent out the backside of the church.
558
:Yeah, any of these other vacant buildings are fine by me too, if you fancy.
559
:Yeah, I think making a hole in the wall in one of these buildings that already exists
gives us a little bit more protection and draws less attention than a random tent out in a
560
:field.
561
:maybe perch up somewhere high and roll some cloth out to lay down on or something.
562
:Yeah, I like that squatting something that has a second story.
563
:Yeah, there absolutely is a general store that is dilapidated that has a second story that
you could get into.
564
:Okay, I I don't mind that.
565
:I'll go make a little bird's nest up top, try and get a few boards taken out of windows to
like be able to post up with night vision or binoculars or what have you.
566
:Yeah, sounds good.
567
:I know we didn't really pack too many snacks, em she definitely, and she nods over to the
Stoke fire and she definitely offered a snack or two for us and might maybe take her up on
568
:that.
569
:A light dinner.
570
:stealth roll and we can have them all.
571
:Haha.
572
:you
573
:I'm fine to, you know, I felt like I got along with her pretty well.
574
:I'm fine to go over and see if I can ask for that.
575
:Mm-hmm.
576
:Yeah, you walk up, the fire feels nice.
577
:It's burning some of the humidity away as you get close to it.
578
:And she looks up behind her as you approach and stands up and says, well, did you see a
lot of birds making all that ruckus in the church?
579
:No, we didn't, unfortunately.
580
:um But I think we decided that we're going to hang out here for the night and try to go
out at first thing in the morning.
581
:Okay, well, obviously, you know, it's a free country, so you can make yourself comfortable
wherever.
582
:But you didn't experience anything weird in the church?
583
:Are the stories true?
584
:It was hard for me not to get up and get over there right after telling you that I would
mind my own business.
585
:Sorry if I'm asking too much, but are you ghost hunters?
586
:m
587
:No, no.
588
:I mean, some people describe the red-bellied woodpecker as a ghost because it's so hard to
find.
589
:as for us, mean, we didn't.
590
:definitely, you know, it's an interesting church.
591
:Definitely nobody's been in there for a long time.
592
:But hey, I was going to make a proposal to you.
593
:um I see that your boy, your son, likes music.
594
:Yes?
595
:He's wearing a Limp Bizkit t-shirt, right?
596
:If you could call it music.
597
:um I've heard a few of their songs.
598
:hey, whoa, come on now.
599
:It's all music.
600
:could be hard or soft.
601
:No, it's that good good.
602
:You leave him alone for that.
603
:guess my parents said the same thing about Skinnerd when I was growing up so I can get it
but um I just can't get on board with that sound.
604
:What did you have in mind for music?
605
:Hootie and the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View album.
606
:I don't know if you know of this band or if your son does, but they're amazing.
607
:you know, if you want to check out this, I'd be happy to trade you, you know, this album
for
608
:just a couple of snacks or if you have any extra food or anything that we could take over
with us.
609
:of course.
610
:she opens up a sack and pulls out a handful of Snickers bars and gives them to you.
611
:And she says, they're his favorite, so I pack a bunch of them and they help him.
612
:I don't know, regulate when he's coming down if that's what happens.
613
:But here you can have some.
614
:thanks.
615
:I love milk chocolate.
616
:Appreciate it.
617
:Yeah, and uh there's you're welcome to come by the fire tonight.
618
:You know, I usually try to get him out of here, but it seems like he's staying the night
and you look in there and he's just completely passed out in the other space.
619
:So I'll probably be sleeping here as well.
620
:Wow, you're a really good mom.
621
:Yeah, that's great.
622
:I think we're just gonna hunker up over in this building over here and try to get as much
rest as possible.
623
:All right, well, let me know if you need anything.
624
:And if they get too loud, I'll tell them to quiet down.
625
:You're the first guest they've had in this town.
626
:Yeah, for sure.
627
:em Hey, just shout if you need anything.
628
:We'll come around if we have to.
629
:also, uh that old church is...
630
:It looks nice on the outside, but it's falling apart on the inside.
631
:It's pretty dangerous, so I probably would say uh still try and stay away from it if you
can.
632
:Yeah, you see the, what is it, Chekov's gun go off in her head where she's like, oh, I
should stay out of there.
633
:But no, I'm just kidding.
634
:So she says, yeah, mean, you, the story still put me off, so, but you guys seem to have a
lot of fun in there.
635
:But yeah, again, I'm here to mind me and my son's business.
636
:I don't really wanna concern myself with much else.
637
:So you get up to the second floor and you're packing in for the night.
638
:What are the nighttime plans?
639
:I mean, I have a feeling that things are going to get weird with these people.
640
:And so I'm kind of situating myself on the ground where I'm resting.
641
:But I can also have a straight line view towards where they're staying and can see what
they're up to.
642
:You're on the, good.
643
:where we are staying?
644
:I don't think so.
645
:Yeah, I think we just said we will be around.
646
:So I think that's probably a semi-positive, not to be like, we're up in that third window
from the right.
647
:ah So cool, into that.
648
:You're around the corner and down toward the edge of town.
649
:Like the general store is right on, it's like inviting people into the town back in its
prime.
650
:And it's right next to that creek that you first crossed to get into this area.
651
:From that rooftop crow's nest kind of area, would I be able to use the night vision scope?
652
:Not affixed to any sort of weapon, just to be able to keep watch on the goings-ons in
town.
653
:Yeah, of course.
654
:Yeah, I mean, I don't think that's a bad idea.
655
:Like maybe we should, you know, two heavy sleepers, one person kind of um watching to make
sure we don't miss anything through the nighttime.
656
:And I think if that dirt bike comes through here, ain't nobody sleeping.
657
:But besides that, you know, maybe one person kind of watching out for a little bit is,
it's not a bad idea.
658
:agreed.
659
:Yeah, I does anybody, I will certainly take first shift.
660
:Does anybody feel like taking second?
661
:You let me know who I should wake up and not like everybody has to play a part.
662
:Uh, yeah, I'll take the split shift in the middle there.
663
:No problems there.
664
:That's fine.
665
:Yeah, yeah, all right.
666
:And I'm already snoring and asleep.
667
:makes that decision easier.
668
:you
669
:Cool, so let me roll for a few things.
670
:Okay, so first shift, Udel, second shift, Barone.
671
:around.
672
:All right.
673
:You settle in.
674
:This isn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but it's not the ground of the desert
around Jerome, Arizona.
675
:There's actual wood floorboards.
676
:So it feels pretty good, Agent Ryan, as you lie down to get some rest.
677
:You've had a long day, a lot of exertion.
678
:And, Barone, you're able to get to sleep no problem as well.
679
:Go ahead and give me an alertness, Agent Zendeski, for your watch.
680
:Pretty pretty please.
681
:Yeah, 41 is less than 63 the last time I checked.
682
:Yes, yes, yes.
683
:You're getting towards the end of your watch.
684
:And so it's about passing 1.30 AM.
685
:the fire on the other side of town through your scope has calmed down.
686
:They're probably asleep over there is your guess.
687
:And you're crouched up in this perch and the darkness besides the scope is absolute,
right?
688
:It's a pressing darkness.
689
:There's no lights in this ghost town other than that fire and what you see from the stars
and the limited moon view that you have.
690
:Then you start hearing a sound.
691
:And it's not a sound that...
692
:is near you, it's something that is floating on the thickness of the air your way.
693
:It starts vibrating in your ears.
694
:It's like a chanting, but you can't make out any of the syllables or annunciations other
than just the vibration of it.
695
:Um, if it is a chanting, almost like a wordless song, does it have uh an animalistic tinge
to it?
696
:Like it is maybe not entirely human?
697
:It's hard to tell from this distance.
698
:It is undoubtedly in the swamp.
699
:It's not coming from the town.
700
:but like no indication if it is like maybe more like whale song or bird song or it just
sounds like sam-
701
:You have some unnatural at this point, right?
702
:Yeah, give it a roll.
703
:wasn't hoping you'd ask for that.
704
:Yeah, yeah, it's, you're too far away.
705
:You assume that were you to get closer, you'd be able to pick out more of the uh nuance of
what the sound is.
706
:This feels like a reasonable midway point for the night anyway, maybe.
707
:Like, Buron wouldn't be too pissed if we traded right now.
708
:So I'll get you up and we'll see what we think about this together.
709
:Hmm?
710
:Gah?
711
:What?
712
:Gah.
713
:Oh, Del.
714
:Thanks.
715
:Uh...
716
:Yeah, I was out.
717
:Hey, shh!
718
:You hear that?
719
:to tell her?
720
:Um...
721
:Hmm?
722
:And can Barone hear too?
723
:From inside, he was up on a perch.
724
:You cannot hear it from inside.
725
:Del, you can't either.
726
:Imagine, yeah, maybe there's just like almost a little bit of residue clinging to my ears,
almost like tinnitus, and I will uh bring all kind of like, know, drag you hurriedly like,
727
:hey, hey, hey, you don't wanna miss this.
728
:I don't know what is going
729
:Is it a red-bellied woodpecker?
730
:Yeah, I think it might be.
731
:It's our lucky day.
732
:Yeah, no, one sec.
733
:oh She grabs her pistol, slides her boots on, tucks her pants in, ties it up and like, all
right, I'm coming, I'm coming.
734
:Yeah, yeah, I will shuttle her up to the roof and, you know, once our breath stills again,
we just kind of hold it and listen for the oozing sound on the wind.
735
:Yeah, the vibrations meet your ear, Agent Barone.
736
:You feel that sense of elation from these strange echoes of what you feel like you
experienced in the church.
737
:This is a chanting.
738
:It almost gives you that joyous feeling again.
739
:It doesn't quite...
740
:pull you into the same space as being in the church did, but this is very reminiscent of
what you felt internally made into song form somewhere out there on the swamp.
741
:I mean it doesn't make me as happy as like the breakdown of vulgar monstrosity but you
know that sounds real nice to me.
742
:ah Maybe a little too nice.
743
:What direction is it coming from?
744
:It is coming from just the area of the swamp south of you.
745
:Your guess is probably around where you saw all those footprints.
746
:and where I saw the water, the thing in the water, is it over in that direction?
747
:Yeah.
748
:So like 20, 20, 30 minute hike from here.
749
:Yeah, just kind of the back where we came from because I was like right off the trail.
750
:Okay.
751
:I'm not sure how we feel about night adventures per se, but that is definitely not normal.
752
:Yeah.
753
:Yeah.
754
:No, it's not, is it?
755
:Is this, uh well, hey, is there anything that's like visibly off about Barone?
756
:Like something where, like, does she look like she was intoxicated by encountering this
sound?
757
:You'd need to roll human intelligence, but...
758
:oh
759
:One of these days it is gonna happen.
760
:Yeah, his next character is going to be a psychotherapist.
761
:Well, yeah, may or may not already have something in mind, but no, Dell is gonna be a
fucking god by the end of this.
762
:I get D4 every session.
763
:Who else could say that?
764
:That's true, that's true.
765
:Yeah, Barone is not, doesn't look intoxicated the way you saw her in the church.
766
:So, but there is, Barone's picking up on more than you are from it.
767
:Yeah, did seem like a more visceral reaction.
768
:So I think I'm going to go lie down under the pretense that Barone is on watch, but I'm
gonna watch Barone for the next hour and a half or so.
769
:Awesome, yeah, as Del goes off, Barone's gonna be like, alright, well, sleep tight, Del.
770
:I'll just listen for that, see if anything changes.
771
:I'll let you know um if anything goes crazy, but hopefully I won't see you till the
morning.
772
:And she'll kinda just tuck in up there on top of the watch post and listen to the sounds
of the night.
773
:Yeah, please don't look for an excuse to go knocking.
774
:Promise.
775
:It's like one of his eyes is open as he says that.
776
:You sit back and you're up on the perch.
777
:Del seemingly has went to sleep.
778
:Agent Ryan is snoring a little bit.
779
:You hear that song.
780
:doesn't crescendo.
781
:It's very hard to pick out.
782
:Like you have to stop and listen for it.
783
:It's pretty far out there.
784
:uh And it just continues and continues without.
785
:any sort of exhaustion over and over again, you start to feel a structure to it.
786
:And it's a structure of ups and downs more than specific words that you can pick out, but
it's starting to wringing your head a little bit.
787
:Go ahead and roll alertness.
788
:sure let's see alertness is 80 so ding dang good and we got of course yeah I got 94
789
:Okay, you are a little tired and you fall asleep up there.
790
:Yeah.
791
:Was it by any chance before Dell fell asleep?
792
:All right.
793
:No.
794
:Okay.
795
:Yeah, you fall asleep and...
796
:You wake up about an hour later and the chanting has stopped.
797
:I wake up an hour later.
798
:Yeah.
799
:Shit god and she'll um Get up and stand up kind of at that the just the post area and if
the chanting stopped I think the first thing she'll do is listen for anything else in the
800
:immediate area and try to pick up on on Anything that might have gotten closer when she
fell asleep
801
:Okay, yeah, do the alertness again.
802
:Okay, just still that sweet, 80, nice and high.
803
:83.
804
:Yeah, you're listening, you know, with an 80, it's very high.
805
:So you would still, be able to hear that the chanting has stopped, but so has the swamp.
806
:Like there's no crickets, there's no cicadas.
807
:There is a serene silence that has covered it like a security blanket smothering it.
808
:So no sound can come out.
809
:And just to be clear, a serene, nice and calm, not a creepy, eerie emptiness of sound,
correct?
810
:We're on the positive quiet side.
811
:Barone feels that the silence is serene, yes.
812
:great, okay.
813
:Well, all right.
814
:No harm, no foul, I guess.
815
:uh And then I'll uh make my way down to uh Ryan, to wake up Agent Ryan.
816
:Is it, well, I guess is it time?
817
:It's about 4 a.m.
818
:in the morning.
819
:Okay, so yeah, probably pretty close to Ryan.
820
:I'll try to make it like uh a hurried uh rush, like I'm not gonna like saunter on over.
821
:I think I'm going to like get to Ryan decently quickly.
822
:uh And I'll go ahead and kneel down and like poke him in the back.
823
:Hey, Ryan, Ryan, it's time to wake up.
824
:What?
825
:hey.
826
:Sorry, good morning sleepyhead.
827
:ah So I made a boo-boo.
828
:I think uh I'm a bit tired, more tired than I thought.
829
:uh I fell asleep here at the end of the shift.
830
:I'm not sure how long I was out, but I gotta crash.
831
:I have to crash.
832
:I'm so sorry.
833
:Oh.
834
:Okay.
835
:Yeah, let me put my pants on and get up here.
836
:god, and she stands up and turns around and blocks away.
837
:Uh, just so you know, we didn't want to bug you, but, uh, there was some chanting, uh, out
in the swamp, which was, well, I thought it was very rhythmic and kind of nice, but it
838
:was, it was definitely back in the direction of the creepy, uh, green form.
839
:Dell and I didn't want to worry you.
840
:And since it wasn't coming any closer, we didn't want to wake you, but it's-
841
:It stopped now.
842
:chanting?
843
:Like multiples of something saying something together?
844
:I mean, think generally it's hard to chant alone, but uh yeah, probably.
845
:um We didn't really want to dig any closer in the night, but yeah, there's something
there, but I haven't seen anything until I fell asleep and then saw the inside of my
846
:eyelids, but I think we're in the clear.
847
:Okay, go get some rest.
848
:Thanks, I appreciate it.
849
:We were just up there and I'll kind of point to the to the spot that we were we were up I
assume it's like a down a tree and up a thing and kind of over a little bit
850
:Yeah, so I'll head that way.
851
:Yeah, you get to the top and you're greeted with absolute silence.
852
:And I'm like, chanting?
853
:OK.
854
:That sounds cool and kind of creepy.
855
:I'm a little bummed that I missed it, but also relieved that it's not happening anymore on
my shift.
856
:Roll alertness.
857
:I got 36 out of 44.
858
:All right, yeah, not on your shift, your ass.
859
:You hear a single voice, loud, tear up from the swamp, nothing else in this absolute
silence, just chanting the same few phrases.
860
:over and over again.
861
:You can make out where the words begin and end, but the sounds in the middle are nothing
to you other than strange guttural growls.
862
:It is no longer a group chanting quietly.
863
:like somebody shouting at God from the earth.
864
:Yeah, I mean, I'm thoroughly freaked out.
865
:I'm also very curious.
866
:Can I see the Cheryl and like the kids from where we are?
867
:You can't, there are fires around the corner.
868
:It's burned down though, it's quiet over there.
869
:Okay, can I just like go out into town and start walking towards them?
870
:Of course, yeah, you grab your night vision, drop it down and are looking and you see them
all asleep inside that house now, Cheryl included.
871
:OK.
872
:I don't think I'm inclined to wake them.
873
:And also, I'm trying to make sure that my sleeping partners are safe.
874
:So I start walking back towards where I just was.
875
:But I walk a little past it, towards the sound that I'm hearing, just to see if I can see
anything or determine how far away it is.
876
:Yeah, you get to the edge of the river and stop and listen.
877
:Earlier in the caverns of the town, checking on Cheryl, you couldn't hear the chanting,
but now on the edge of town, it starts to reach your ears again.
878
:And yeah, it's a single voice rising and falling with the rhythm of some great.
879
:thumping heart almost is like, ja ja, ja ja, ja ja.
880
:And the words are completely alien that you can pick out.
881
:Nothing you've ever seen yet.
882
:There's this terrible purpose that hits you while you're listening to them.
883
:your hair on your neck stands up, you get goosebumps.
884
:uh These don't feel like...
885
:words of worship for a distant God, but they're like almost a lover's intimate, breathless
yearning going into the skies from wherever this is coming from.
886
:OK, does it seem like it's pretty close to where I'm standing?
887
:Or a ways out into the swamp?
888
:It's hard to tell, it's loud from where you're at, loud enough to start picking out some
of the nuance of it.
889
:And do I see anything with my night vision looking out in that direction?
890
:look past the area that's along the river that is just sawgrass.
891
:You would have to delve into the sawgrass again to find it.
892
:OK, I'm not going to do that solo.
893
:um OK.
894
:I think I just kind of stand there for a little while and continue listening to it, just
more so because it's really interesting to me, but also trying to remember what it is that
895
:they're saying so that I can repeat it.
896
:Okay, yeah, go ahead and roll your sanity.
897
:I got 85.
898
:No.
899
:Do you wanna project onto a bond or take this sand loss?
900
:One, so I'll take the sand loss.
901
:Okay, great.
902
:You feel a brief sense of kinship with the chanting, almost like you wanna wander into the
sawgrass without your friends but you're able to steel yourself and stand there as you
903
:listen.
904
:Again, this is a joyful song, even if...
905
:violently uttered to this guy.
906
:It feels holy.
907
:And that's really all you can get from it.
908
:can't pick out words or not.
909
:There's no structure that's meaningful from this distance that can be written down.
910
:Okay.
911
:Yeah, I don't think I'm really inclined to either go towards it or go back at this point.
912
:I'm just taking it in.
913
:Okay.
914
:you start to see the sky turn pink as the sun rises.
915
:and the silence maintains.
916
:almost think it's the buzzing of the insects coming to life all at once, but it's not.
917
:You look up and out of the sun, it feels like as it's rising, you see
918
:just a flash almost of light just rip over you in silence.
919
:It's hard to pick out what it is.
920
:It's so fast.
921
:And it's almost like an impossible triangle seems to drink the.
922
:uh
923
:sunlight and starlight and clouds around it, like it's cloaked or something, but it's hard
to really tell.
924
:It makes no noise.
925
:And you have your night vision.
926
:You even peek through it.
927
:It gives off no heat.
928
:And in fact, you look up and it's just an absolute black ball through the night vision as
it careens over.
929
:And you hear the chanting stop.
930
:and it disappears over the swamp from your vision.
931
:So what I just saw wasn't like the sun rising.
932
:There seemed like there was something else coming up with the sun.
933
:Am I understanding that?
934
:Roll your sanity.
935
:56 got it.
936
:Okay, you still lose one.
937
:What you saw was some sort of object fly out of the sun.
938
:Like it looked like it came out of the sun as it was rising and it was almost a triangle
but it was also kind of a sphere and it flew over you and it looks like it bent the light
939
:around you in strange ways and ripped over.
940
:had in complete silence, you would expect something flying over that close and with that
size to make a sound, but it did not.
941
:Am I like understanding that the chanting that was happening was summoned something that
summoning this thing?
942
:that's an interesting proposition.
943
:I don't know.
944
:Is that the connection you would make?
945
:Well, if the chanting stopped completely after that, think so.
946
:I would probably make that assumption.
947
:Yeah.
948
:And this orb or whatever, was it transparent?
949
:Did it have color to it?
950
:uh I just couldn't really see much because of this light that was surrounding me.
951
:it looked sort of transparent, but it looked more like it sucked in the things around it
as it passed by, like it bent everything behind it.
952
:And where did it go?
953
:Did it go towards the sound that I was hearing?
954
:OK.
955
:Some weird shit's going on out there.
956
:Okay, well I'm gonna go back ah to see if what time it's sunrise so I'm gonna go back and
see if they're awake.
957
:Hey, this is Nick from Dead Letter Bureau.
958
:I'm just dropping in to express my appreciation and thank all of you for being good
listeners.
959
:If you are liking the show, one thing that helps us out is obviously reviews and ratings,
but sharing the show as well.
960
:So if you could text it to a friend, drop it in a Discord, or just share it on any social
media platform, we would be very honored.
961
:Well, I hope to see you guys in a few weeks.
962
:Thank you for listening.
