Start of #MH buffer: Thu Feb 01 19:56:18 2007[16:19:01] * Now talking in #MH [16:20:17] * Karen_C (~dlarmour@wnpgmb02dc1-62-215.dynamic.mts.net) has joined #MH [17:10:03] It's been a fairly long day. Karen spent most of it passed out in Jessica's family's downtown apartment, while Hisame, Matt, and Jessica rushed through Harvard Square, looking for books rare enough to get them in, compared to the list Jessica brought. It's the early evening now, and you've met up on the waterfront. [17:10:50] * Hisame is dressed in a warm-looking white coat. She shivers a bit. [17:11:59] * Matt_Wright waits with Hisame, hunched over in his puffy navy-blue jacket and breathing into his scarf. [17:13:51] An overpass in the process of being torn apart by construction crews provides shade as you walk through the old buildings. Behind you, a few glass skyscrapers loom above old brownstones, warehouses, and clock towers. [17:14:23] In front, this part of the waterfront looks past old. A collection of historical buildings dating back to the city's founding are dotted among crumbling old brick warehouses with modern ad banners hung from them, over peeling, painted ads for coffee and long out of business chain stores. [17:14:44] * Karen_C arrives, yawning. Though still looking a little drowsy, she's definitely in better shape than this morning. She shivers a little, still not really dressed for the weather. [17:15:16] Hey Karen. Didja find a rare book for the show? [17:15:42] * Hisame waves to Karen. "Hello Karen. It is good to see you looking better." [17:17:54] * Charles is now known as Jessica_M [17:20:14] * Karen_C blinks. "Huh? I was sleeping, how was I supposed to find a book?" [17:20:32] * Jessica_M is looking fairly warm, wearing a thick leather jacket. Studs line the shoulders and back, with a linen patch of a man in a gas mask. She's wearing a denim skirt with red tights, and has spiked her hair up into liberty spikes and put on an eyepatch since the morning. She seems to be looking closely at the surrounding buildings [17:20:58] * Hisame blinks at the costume. "Ah... hello, Jessica." [17:21:12] * Karen_C turns to Jessica. "Thanks for letting me crash at your place. Are you sure your folks were cool with it, though? They seemed a little weirded out." [17:23:49] * Jessica_M looks a little dismayed. "Were they? I figure it's probably alright. I mean, noone else should be using my room while I'm at school." [17:25:12] If you need one, I can help. I purchased several just in case... [17:26:39] Well, they seemed a little nervous. I dunno. Maybe I'm just tired and imagining things. [17:26:54] * Karen_C smiles sheepishly at Hisame. "That'd be great." [17:27:57] So... Jessica... what's with the eyepatch? [17:28:05] * Hisame hands over a couple. She seems to have tried going for obscure and not terribly notable in temrs of book selections. [17:28:53] * The books you found are all old and fairly esoteric, with loose, somewhat damaged bindings, and titles like The Dreaming Dusk, and The Study of Nephilim. Paging through them, their contents are no less strange than their titles, full of inscrutible terms, odd symbols, and diagrams that go on for pages and don't make an ounce of sense. [17:29:31] * Karen_C accepts the book from Hisame. "Thanks so much. How much did it cost you?" [17:30:35] Not so much. THere is no need to worry about paying me back. It is a gift. [17:30:36] * Jessica_M shrugs. "I've sort of got a lazy eye. It doesn't bother me much, but my therapist said that whenever I do anything like read a lot, or go to a show, I should wear it. I guess it's an umbrella thing. [17:31:26] * Hisame nods. [17:31:27] (I have been clearly reading the RE4 thread too much when I start mentally capitalizing 'Umbrella') [17:31:45] "Oh I'm sorry... I thought it was a fashion statement. I didn't notice at all this morning." [17:33:02] * Jessica_M shakes her head. "I wasn't wearing it then. But I'm going to be doing a lot of looking tonight, so..." [17:33:11] * Matt_Wright nods. [17:35:17] * Karen_C bites her lip, looking faintly embarassed. [17:35:56] * Jessica_M heads down an alleyway, and then down a flight of stairs, to what looks like a recent loading dock installed on an old brick warehouse. She knocks out a quick pattern of beats, and it inches off the ground, high enough for a book to be slid underneath. She does so, and it raises again, this time just high enough for her to duck underneath [17:37:38] * Karen_C shrugs and approaches the door, replicating Jessica's knock exactly. [17:37:44] * Hisame follows along nervously. She waits for Karen [17:38:07] * Matt_Wright follows Jessica until they reach the door and he watches her duck inside. "Hm. Who's next?" [17:38:09] * The door raises again. [17:38:50] * Karen_C slides the book Hisame gave her under. [17:39:48] * monk (monk@74-134-8-161.dhcp.insightbb.com) has joined #mh [17:39:53] * monk (monk@74-134-8-161.dhcp.insightbb.com) has left #mh [17:39:59] (w-hat) [17:40:06] * Before too long, you all repeat it and get inside. The loading dock is, oddly enough, carpeted, and the interior is all black and white. So is the staff, actually, as an astonishly dark-skinned man in a white suit and white, metallic mask shelves the books you passed through the door. [17:42:51] (Astonishingly dark skin? Fuck, it's Nylarthotep!) [17:43:32] * Matt_Wright blinks at the guy when he takes his book. "Nice mask.." [17:43:40] * Hisame blinks, and looks around, taking in the sights. [17:44:24] * It's a small room, the walls lined with mostly-empty bookcases. A doorless passage leads into a caverous room, where old-styled halogen lamps light up and bleach out a stage, where a pair in fake Edwardian dress are playing what sounds vaguely like acoustic caberet music from this far away. [17:45:41] * The man looks back at Matt as he shelves the books without looking and half-nods. He makes a few hand motions with his left hand as he works with the right. [17:46:21] * Karen_C watches the man's gestures curiously. [17:46:31] * Matt_Wright watches the guy's hand motions even as he follows Jessica and the rest. [17:47:55] * Hisame watches and moves along, almost entranced. [17:52:11] * Hisame understands nothing and is confused, but can't stop staring. @_@ [17:52:19] * Karen_C narrows her eyes slightly, but looks over at the stage. [17:52:41] ...h..huh.. [17:52:52] * Matt_Wright scoots over closer to the group. [17:56:55] * Karen_C mutters "Seems like everything's more than meets the eye lately. ...Or I'm just getting paranoid." [17:58:12] "No, you're not. Now you know how I feel... least nothing's tried to kill you yet. Well.. except for those hound things..." [17:59:05] * Hisame steps closer, fascinated. She glances at the rest of the group briefly, but returns her gaze to the stage. [18:11:06] * It looks as if the pair have finished their set. They collect their instruments and move backstage, as a starkly white man in a black suit and mask comes out and gestures towards the next act, a garishly dressed man with a shaved head and a strangely wide mouth. He introduces himself as Pierrot, and begins his act, which seems to alternate sad ballads and carnival geek tricks. [18:12:09] * Hisame stares. o_o [18:12:40] * Matt_Wright watches, morbidly curious how wide the man's mouth can get... [18:14:09] * Karen_C watches in disbelief and confusion. [18:17:27] N..no way... [18:17:38] * Matt_Wright shakes his head and looks away. [18:17:51] That's... that's just fucked up... [18:18:35] What? [18:19:02] uuhg... [18:19:11] * Matt_Wright leans over and whispers in Karen's ear. [18:20:35] * The room you're in is deep, seemingly the length of the warehouse above. The walls, as far as you can see them, are lined with bookcases, with a spiral staircase in one of the corners, leading upwards. More and more people seem to be filtering into the room from outside, though the crowd doesn't even begin to fill out the space provided. Jessica's begun looking around for other Boston scenesters who've made it in [18:20:42] ( cenesters who've made it in) [18:21:28] * Karen_C pales and puts a hand over her mouth. "That's...ewww." [18:21:49] * Matt_Wright nods to Karen, his face pale. [18:22:21] (That's the end of it) [18:22:42] ( Ah. Okay. Lack of punctuation mark threw me off. ^^; ) [18:22:59] What, what is it? [18:24:45] * Matt_Wright moves over to Jessica and taps her on the shoulder. [18:24:59] * Jessica_M looks up. "What?" [18:25:49] * Matt_Wright leans in close. "Are a lot of the performers... are they... do a lot of them mutilate themselves like that guy?" [18:26:48] * Jessica_M shakes her head. "Not that I've seen. I mean, some of the performance artists do the whole body-mod thing, but that's not the norm or anything." [18:28:31] "Yeah.. I guess... sorry.. just got spooked.." [18:29:56] * Jessica_M shrugs. "Yeah, it's a little weird but- Oh man, I haven't seen Roger in, like, a year! That kid smells so bad!" She breaks off from the group and fast-walks over to another group. [18:32:47] * Karen_C blinks, then shrugs. She hugs her arms a little. "This is too weird." [18:33:36] * Pierrot finishes his set with a song in Italian, and somehow managing to get one end of a balloon coming out the side of his eye while the other hangs from his nose, and inflating it, then pulling it out. He bows deeply and heads backstage. There's a lull in the show, with no master of ceremonies coming to announce a next act quite yet [18:34:26] * Hisame keeps staring. SHe can't tear herself away from it. [18:35:22] * Matt_Wright goes to stand by Karen. "Yeah.. lets just.. stick together..." [18:35:51] * Hisame doesn't move for a moment, then moves to catch up with them, quickly [18:36:34] * Karen_C has gone from meerly pale to looking quite definitely nauseous. "One more freak act and I'm out of here." [18:38:23] "Yeah.. we'll just tell Jessica that we weren't really into it... She says it isn't the norm though.." [18:41:36] * The spotlights all converge on stage, and a small man, seemingly in his late thirties, walks out from behind the curtains. Most of the crowd goes silent as he comes out, and he waves to them, broadly. He picks a microphone out of its stand and taps it once to make sure it's on. There's a brief moment of feedback, he grimaces, and then begins to speak. [18:41:43] * Hisame doesn't seem to be reacting one way or the other. She seems to have gone into some of weird state. [18:42:32] * Jessica_M is now known as Organizer [18:47:59] * Organizer raises the microphone. "Hey, thanks for coming out here tonight, kids. I hope you're all enjoying yourselves here tonight." A few of the scenesters in back cheer. He points at them. "That's great, that's fantastic. I took pains this year to make the Literacy Fest unforgettable, since it's looking like it'll be our last, so let's just make sure this is a night to remember! Put your hands together for Suzie's Third Eye!" [18:49:11] * Hisame blinks. "Last... ?" [18:49:23] * The man, who's apparently the organizer, hops off the stage and begins circling the room as a punk band with traditional asian music influences takes the stage. [18:49:29] * Matt_Wright blinks. "The hell..." [18:49:44] "I.. I have a really bad feeling about this." [18:49:52] "Like... suicide cult bad feeling." [18:50:24] ... eh? What shoudl we do? [18:50:54] "I don't know..." [18:51:02] * Matt_Wright looks at Karen. "Am I just being paranoid again?" [18:51:21] * Hisame watches the group, but also watches hte organizer. [18:53:30] I've got a bad feeling too, but that might be a little far...I'll find Jessica. [18:54:22] "Wait.. lets stick together... We'll go with." [18:54:34] * Matt_Wright grabs Hisame's hand and follows Karen. [18:54:37] * Hisame follows along [18:58:25] * By this point, the organizer's circling of the room has started to take him closer to the center. He has a short stack of books in his arms, and is surveying the crowd. [18:58:34] * Karen_C looks for Jessica. [18:59:25] * Jessica is talking energetically to a group of other kids wearing shirts with the logos of bands and skateboard companies [19:03:07] "Hey Jess. Sup guys. I'm Matt." [19:03:23] * Matt_Wright walks up to the group and lets go of Hisame to wave casually. [19:03:39] * Hisame glances around, watching the organizer uneasily [19:03:53] * Organizer is now known as Jessica_M [19:05:20] * Karen_C attempts to smile naturally. "Hey Jessica, I was wondering if I could ask you something? Not right here though." [19:05:57] * Jessica_M half-waves to Matt. "Hey, guys. These're some kids from my old high school. Jack, Dave, Sharon, Roger. They managed to make it in this year!" Jessica's voice is excited, and her lisp's picked up. She pauses, and her face falls. "Uh, yeah, sure. Hold on, guys." [19:09:07] Where did you want to talk? [19:10:28] * Karen_C attempts to lead Jessica somewhere with less people. "Sorry, it's kind of a dumb question, and I'd feel bad asking it around, uh, regulars I guess." [19:10:33] * Matt_Wright glances around trying to see if the Organizer is getting closer. [19:12:21] (Matt has a problem with people whose names involve any derivation of Organize. :V ) [19:12:32] ( hahahaaa. ) [19:12:39] * Jessica_M is led! "Oh, it's no problem." [19:12:40] (Those people want to kill me.) [19:12:43] (Hahahah) [19:12:52] ( Watch out for Xejicass, Matt. ) [19:13:27] * Matt_Wright follows close behind Karen and Jessica, pulling Hisame along as he waves bye to Jess's friends. [19:13:58] * The organizer seems to be talking to the crowds now. He doesn't look like a great conversationalist, though, and continues moving between them every few minutes. [19:15:42] * Karen_C lowers her voice. "I was just wondering, what does he mean about it being the last time?" [19:17:29] * Jessica_M shrugs. "I don't quite know. I guess, maybe, they have enough books. I sort of assumed they were doing this for a reason." [19:21:44] "Did you know the guys in masks do magic? I wasn't really sure what he was doing... but I know it was supernatural.." [19:22:07] ... eh? Magic? [19:23:04] "The guy that put our books on the shelves... He was doing some sort of protective magic." [19:23:09] Magic's not really my scene. I really don't know that much about it. [19:24:18] * Matt_Wright nods. "Me neither really. The internet sucks at supernatural research." [19:25:20] * Hisame blinks. "What would it protect from?" [19:25:28] * Karen_C facepalms. [19:28:00] "Just a guess, but probably from theft." [19:28:54] Ah... [19:31:12] (He was making the gesture at Matt, specifically, in the process of his ASL.) [19:34:49] (Oh... weird. >_>) [19:39:02] * Hisame glances back at the organizer and the performance. [19:40:24] * The music itself is really good, if somewhat unorthodox. The organizer takes a few seconds to find, but is going up the spiral staircase with one of the kids from the crowd. The stairs seem a little flimsy, and shake under his feet as he walks [19:40:44] * Hisame blinks. [19:40:48] SHould we follow... ? [19:41:07] I don't think that'd be wise... [19:41:59] But why? It is strange... [19:42:23] It's none of our business.. [19:43:19] * Karen_C folds her arms. "It is kind of weird." [19:43:42] What if that person is in danger? [19:45:36] I don't think we should jump to conclusions, but... [19:46:41] "Does he usually bring up audience members, Jess?" [19:47:27] * Jessica_M shakes her head. "I hadn't noticed the times I've been here. Granted, I was sort of watching the show then, but still." [19:48:10] "Oh... well I guess we should check it out then... I thought it was normal for this place." [19:48:17] "When in Rome..." [19:49:01] I will conceal us. [19:52:38] * Hisame will do so once someone gets a moving [19:55:02] * As you move towards the stairs, you hear a sudden, terrible noise from outside, only to be replaced by a silence that's just as sudden and just as terrible. As you pause to catch your breath, the noise picks up again, an awful, whistling keening that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere. [19:55:06] [session end[ End of #MH buffer Thu Feb 01 19:56:18 2007