Collapsed Recollections

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LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

NODE FOUND. DATASET 1: [COLLAPSED RECOLLECTIONS]

>r -d 1
RETRIEVING DATASET 1. . . .

DATASET ENCRYPTED WITH SERPENT CYPHER. ENTER KEY:
>* * * * * * *

DISPLAYING OUTPUT.

Collapsed Recollections

All records suggest a distinct lack of permanent thresholds leading to the Collapsing System. The testimonies confirm my suspicion of momentary bridges existing in lieu. For posterity:

In 1967, I was on my way to work across the Silver Bridge to Gallipolis. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper, hardly moving at all. There was a loud smashing sound beneath me, followed quickly by tremors and gnashing metal. The bridge began to fracture, and soon I was floating above my car seat in free-fall. There was so much screaming, but it grew distant inside my mind. Somehow, I was calm. I closed my eyes, and I prayed. All went silent, and when I opened my eyes, I was knee-deep in the soot of the Ashen Tomb.

Last I can recall, I was at the top of the town church, when the tower collapsed. That's all I remember. I'd been up there all day. Perhaps if I had something better to do, I wouldn't have been chosen to come here.

New Lyddmie. Why do you ask?

I worked in an office building, a desk job editing pages. I didn't like my job, but I always stayed a bit late to finish the last assignment I'd started. I've never liked the idea of leaving with unfinished work. I was on the 90th story when there was an explosion further down. Out the window was a curtain of rising smoke. The walls began to shake and lose their structure. I watched as everyone else ran to the stairs and attempted to escape. It was pointless. I returned to my desk, and I continued my work. I finished the assignment I had started. After that, the only thing I remember is blackness, before awaking in the Tower.

Couldn't tell ya. Been here so long- can't remember when it happened.

I visited New Lyddmie. Residents confirmed that the town church had collapsed many years ago. However, no one could confirm that a woman was in the church tower, and had been lost when the church collapsed.

Recently, the church was rebuilt, including the tower. The Priest confirmed it was built with the same shape, at the same location. At night, I came and dug up the floor beneath the tower. There was in fact a skeleton buried beneath the floorboards. Its tattered clothes were drenched in black tar. I gave it a proper burial.

>w "RE: Collapsed Recollections"

WRITING TO NEW DATASET.

RE: Collapsed Recollections

So she did find her room in the tower after all. Quite wistful.

I wonder, was it her death that spurred the church to be reconstructed, or the reconstruction of the church that caused her death? Or perhaps there is no relation.

If nothing else, this shows a method of bringing physical materials from the Collapsing system to Baseline, albeit at great cost.|

>e serpent

ENCRYPTING DATASET "RE: COLLAPSED RECOLLECTIONS" WITH SERPENT CYPHER. ENTER KEY:
>* * * * * * *

>s
SUBMITTING DATASET. . . .

DATASET SUBMITTED.

>q
NODE DISCONNECTED.
QUITTING TERMINAL.



LISTENING. . . .

ERR: ISOLATED NODE.

RETRY? [Y/N]
>y

LISTENING. . . .

NODE FOUND. DATASET 1: [COLLAPSED RECOLLECTIONS] ; DATASET 2: [RE: COLLAPSED RECOLLECTIONS] ; DATASET 3: [MOVING FORWARD?]

>r -d 3
RETRIEVING DATASET 3. . . .

DATASET ENCRYPTED WITH SERPENT CYPHER. ENTER KEY:
>* * * * * * *

DISPLAYING OUTPUT.

Moving Forward?

I'm sure you've thought of this. I could fund the reconstruction of the library where you were lost. The plot is still no more than ash.

Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but I am partial to the idea that the reconstruction of the church is what brought her body back. I see no reason to assume it caused her death as well. If the church had been rebuilt sooner, could she have been returned alive? Granted, she would have likely suffocated under the earth, but with preparation, you would not suffer such a fate.

>w "RE: Moving Forward?"

WRITING TO NEW DATASET.

RE: Moving Forward?

Yes, I've considered it. However, it is unlikely that death is uninvolved. You do not know this place as I do.

Regardless, I would like you to go through with this, at some point. But not yet. I am not done here.

Furthermore, I will need to prepare. There are some items I need to place on my body before it is done.|

>e serpent

ENCRYPTING DATASET "RE: MOVING FORWARD?" WITH SERPENT CYPHER. ENTER KEY:
>* * * * * * *

>s
SUBMITTING DATASET. . . .

DATASET SUBMITTED.

>q
NODE DISCONNECTED.
QUITTING TERMINAL.

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