A Fly On the Wall
by Nigel Jayne (2014)
Genres: Horror

The Harrison Mansion is closing after 45 years of delighting its visitors with collections of the weird and recreations of the macabre. The night before, the Fortean Society of New England gathers in the haunt to celebrate its history and investigate its reputation as a real house of horrors. You volunteer to take a shift in the Fly eye, a room with five monitors that watch the most haunted corners within the house. You can't watch all five simultaneously, though, so what exactly will you see?

action: %
response: Your interpreter doesn't support volume control.
Your interpreter doesn't support volume control.
Your interpreter doesn't support volume control.
Your interpreter doesn't support volume control.
A sasquatch bends down before a leprechaun, who pulls a gold coin from behind the beast's ear. Chuckling, the sasquatch takes the treasure and places it onto a table as the leprechaun speaks to him. With a shake of the head, he follows his fellow conspirator through a tangle of costumed guests and out of the ballroom.

A pirate wobbles his way to the gold, a wooden prosthesis attached to one knee, a plush toucan on his shoulder bobbing as if it were keeping time with the music. the pirate retrieves the coin, scowls, and peels away the bright gold foil. Eating the chocolate and blinking his unpatched eye in the dim light, he watches the other members of the Fortean Society  — a collection of caricatures, characters, monsters, and myths — mingle in the Soul Dancers ballroom.

A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye Interactive
Apposition by Nigel Jayne. 

Type the number of your choice then press "enter" to proceed:
1. Start the game and join the party.
2. Visit the Info Desk, which is recommended for anyone who hasn't played A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye.
3. Resume a previous surveillance.
action: 2
response: (If you're using a screen reader, press S to turn on Screen Reader mode. This message only appears on the front page of the menu system.)

2. Set Audio and Goldie's Thoughts
3. Help Desk
4. Acknowledgements
5. About the Author
action: 1
response: In A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye, you're represented by Goldie, a Fortean Society member tasked with watching five (very high-definition) monitors that receive feeds from five paranormal hotspots in the Harrison Mansion. You begin in the Soul Dancers Ballroom where music is playing, and you're likely to hear other sounds throughout your vigil. However, this interpreter can't play the audio files. Only a small number of commands are needed to complete the game. Typical commands include X (or EXAMINE) [someone or
suggest actions that you can try. For example, you could try LISTEN TO MUSIC or LISTEN when music is playing.

Unconventional commands are needed once Goldie settles in the Fly Eye. You can watch a room by typing its monitor number   . Use LOOK (or L) to turn your attention to all the views, which will help you to decide what to watch next. To replay an event after it has played, type REPLAY. When you watch an event for the first time, ostensibly important events continue to play out in the other rooms, and you won't be able to see them. Fortunately, nothing of interest occurs on the monitors when you do something other than selecting a feed, such as examining or talking. COMMANDS shows many actions recognized by the game, and you should check them if you're unfamiliar with commands such as SAVE and UNDO. A hypertext version of A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye is available at

Goldie won't usually offer comments about the on-screen events,  but you can follow this thought process with THOUGHTS ON (they are off by default). Goldie will comment when an event is witnessed that is part of one of the storylines. THINK shows Goldie's current thought regardless of whether or not thoughts are activated and, if you're watching all of the monitors, it will hint at which monitor you might want to watch next. REMEMBER shows all the important events you've specific room (or person, if you specify one instead).

The HELP command always displays this menu. Check out the Help Desk for general tips or the combinations to all three storylines. The staff here at the mansion wishes you a frightfully good evening.
action: You go south
response: Press ESCAPE to return to the parent menu or X to exit the menu system.
Press M to turn Book Mode on

In A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye, you're represented by Goldie, a Fortean Society member tasked with watching five (very high-definition) monitors that receive feeds from five paranormal hotspots in the Harrison Mansion. You begin in the Soul Dancers Ballroom where music is playing, and you're likely to hear other sounds throughout your vigil. However, this interpreter can't play the audio files. Only a small number of commands are needed to complete the game. Typical commands include X (or EXAMINE) [someone or
suggest actions that you can try. For example, you could try LISTEN TO MUSIC or LISTEN when music is playing.

Unconventional commands are needed once Goldie settles in the Fly Eye. You can watch a room by typing its monitor number   . Use LOOK (or L) to turn your attention to all the views, which will help you to decide what to watch next. To replay an event after it has played, type REPLAY. When you watch an event for the first time, ostensibly important events continue to play out in the other rooms, and you won't be able to see them. Fortunately, nothing of interest occurs on the monitors when you do something other than selecting a feed, such as examining or talking. COMMANDS shows many actions recognized by the game, and you should check them if you're unfamiliar with commands such as SAVE and UNDO. A hypertext version of A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye is available at

Goldie won't usually offer comments about the on-screen events,  but you can follow this thought process with THOUGHTS ON (they are off by default). Goldie will comment when an event is witnessed that is part of one of the storylines. THINK shows Goldie's current thought regardless of whether or not thoughts are activated and, if you're watching all of the monitors, it will hint at which monitor you might want to watch next. REMEMBER shows all the important events you've specific room (or person, if you specify one instead).

The HELP command always displays this menu. Check out the Help Desk for general tips or the combinations to all three storylines. The staff here at the mansion wishes you a frightfully good evening.
action: Examine
response: The other members of the Fortean Society of New England — a
collection
of caricatures, characters, monsters, and myths — mingle in groups in the dimly-lighted ballroom.

Type the number of your choice then press "enter" to proceed:
1. Start the game and join the party.
2. Visit the Info Desk, which is recommended for anyone who hasn't played A Fly on the Wall, or An Appositional Eye.
3. Resume a previous surveillance.
action: 1
response: A green-skinned man with a stitch across his forehead lumbers toward you, two jumper cables swinging from his chest. Frankie bumps into Cleopatra standing next to the stage, sending her to the floor and knocking the headdress from her head. He extends his hand down to her, but she swats it away and glowers. Black Widow, a woman dressed in black with a red hourglass symbol on her back, picks up the headdress. Cleopatra snatches it back, stands, and returns to her spot beside the stage.

Frankie stops in front of you. Are those batteries attached to opposite sides of his neck? you wonder. As Frankie speaks, his
chin taps at the antenna protruding up from your forehead, and his breath suffocates your nose with alcohol. "Our whorey sister over there has sent me." He gestures erratically behind him. A nun with a hunched back bends over the punchbowl by the stage. You think he must have said "holy" sister, not "whorey."

The nun straightens and turns around to face you. She rests her cup of punch on her pregnant belly.

"She told me it's your turn in the Fly Eye, Goldie," Frankie says.

Goldie? you wonder. My name isn't Goldie. Then you
realize that, despite the alcoholic soup bathing his brain, Frankie connected your costume with the eponymous horror film, Goldie being a contraction of its star's surname, Goldblum.

Frankie retreats toward Cleopatra. Arms crossed, she stands firm. Frankie stumbles away, passing Black Widow who, head cocked, watches Cleopatra.

You glance at the double doors and consider making your exit to the Fly Eye, but the nun attracts your attention. She smiles and raises her cup in salute.
action: You go south
response: The nun waves to you as you begin toward the hall outside. She strides off, targeting a man with spiky white hair and wearing a lab coat. The scientist takes a few steps back and stares at the floor.

You head out the double doors, descend the stairs, and enter the small room nicknamed, for tonight, the Fly Eye.

The wire frames of your wings bend as you gently lean back into the only chair in the room. The two floppy legs attached to your belt rise as you rest your hands on a table in front of a bank of monitors on the wall. The five screens receive signals from cameras in five different rooms in the mansion. Normally, these would be used for security, but tonight the Society is trying to record footage of the supernatural that will raise the eyebrows of even the most stone-faced skeptics. While you're hoping to witness such phenomena, following the exploits of any one of the costumed characters would probably be more interesting, after looking at the screens to decide which captures your attention.

The only person you know well is Gregory Hoblett, dressed as the Russian mystic and healer Grigori Rasputin, in the Laboratory on monitor 3. Everybody in the Society likes Hoblett, unlike Grigori who survived a stabbing, possible cyanide poisoning, and two point blank gunshots, only to succumb after being shot twice in the back and beaten.

The sasquatch chuckles quietly from the playroom on monitor 5, which is wired to record the electronic voice phenomena of ghostly children.
action: Examine
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Cleopatra stomps over to where her headdress had lain, picks something up, and tries to re-affix it to her headgear. Black Widow rushes over to the side of the stage and bends into the shadows. Was Cleopatra hiding something? you
wonder.

(2) Communications: Vacant.

(3) Laboratory: Rasputin, bloody axe in one hand, rummages through a chest as someone you don't know, a medicine man, studies his face in a mirror.

(4) Alien Zoo: Vacant.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: The sasquatch smiles as the leprechaun tries to lift a gold dinner plate from a small table. You wonder whether the leprechaun will play any tricks tonight.

Below the pentagon of screens, "Abracadabra" plays on a laptop, which shows an open web browser.
action: You browse web
response: Focus on the cameras, you think. I don't want to miss
anything.
action: About yourself
response: You're dressed completely in black, including leather gloves and a hoody, its hood hiding your hair but not your forehead, from which a paper towel roll wrapped in a black sock points like a unicorn horn. Two more of these appendages are stuck to your belt, each attached by a length of string to the arm above. Oval wire scaffolds covered in plastic wrap protrude from your back. Your mobile phone is tucked under your belt.
action: You examine the phone
response: It's stuffed behind your belt; you don't want to think about where some of the other society members with the most extravagant costumes are holding theirs. For the next hour, though, your attention is focused strictly on the monitors.
action: You look at 1
response: As events on the other monitors unfold, you watch:

Soul Dancers Ballroom (second floor, east wing)
(watch all monitors)

Cleopatra slaps the headdress onto her head and, noticing Black Widow, strides over to the crouching woman. Jerking her head up, Black Widow teeters on her feet and almost falls over. She rises and backs away from the other woman.

Several of the guests watch as the spider and queen exchange words. Black widow shakes her head and holds up her empty hands. Cleopatra's shoulders lower, and her hands fall to her sides. Black Widow walks away, shaking her head.

Cleopatra pulls a bulky bag from the shadow beside the stage. She looks inside the bag, hefts it over her shoulder, and leaves the room.

The voices of the leprechaun and sasquatch play from the playroom feed.
action: You listen
response: [Sound effect number 4 here.]
The door behind you creaks. You whirl around. The door is still, still in the position you left it. You think it is, anyway. You stand and swing the door, but it doesn't make a sound. Hearing "Superstitious" playing from the laptop, you return to your seat.

The leprechaun speaks: "I'd be more scared if you showed up in my house." A pause and he continues, "Guess you should have taken it easy on the cabbage and beans at dinner."

"No way, man. Didn't you smell that when we came in? It's all over this room." That sounded like the sasquatch.

The leprechaun says, "Someone's coming. Go out there and bring our friend in."
action: Examine 5
response: Remembering that something could be happening on the other screens, you watch:

Children's Possessions Playroom (main floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

The sasquatch enters with one hairy arm wrapped around Rasputin's shoulders. A toy clown sitting near the door behind them leans over. Suddenly, a black-and-white blur darts from behind the clown and out the door.

Rasputin pulls away from the sasquatch. He takes in the shelves of staring dolls and puppets. He chokes, and his face blanches.

The sasquatch doesn't seem to notice Rasputin's distress. "Pretty impressive collection,    huh? You should see what's in that toybox."

Rasputin glances at the chest just as the leprechaun pops out of it. Rasputin screams and falls back into the sasquatch's arms.

You're surprised the shriek didn't shatter the monitor's screen.

The leprechaun climbs out of the toybox. "You seem a bit on edge." He laughs.

"Do you guys know what happened in here?" Rasputin says.

"Why don't you tell us what you've heard," the sasquatch says as he steadies Rasputin's wobbly stance.

Rasputin watches the dolls as he speaks. "Wayne Harrison was having a birthday party for his twin daughters in this room. They had cake and drinks." His voice lowers. "Most of the kids died. Right here. The twins, too. Poisoned. People suspected Wayne's chauffeur, who was never charged. He was going to be fired for gambling and . . . doing inappropriate things in front of the kids. His son didn't get sick. That's why . . . ".

"This place is haunted," the sasquatch says.

The leprechaun picks up a child-sized doll with red hair and a white dress. Wailing like a ghost, he shakes it at Rasputin. The mystic rushes out the door. The leprechaun grins broadly. "We can have some fun with this." He carries the doll out of the room with him, and the sasquatch follows, shaking his head.
action: You look around
response: [Sound effect number 5 here.]
Something thumps onto the hallway floor. On instinct, you pull your phone from your pocket and look out the door. The guestbook has fallen from the table in the lobby. You wait but don't detect anyone, so you return to your chair and tuck away the phone as you hear "I don't like spiders and snakes, and that ain't what it takes to love me" from the laptop.

(1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Some guests mingle at the refreshment table.

(2) Communications: The medicine man enters, stops at a mirror, and stares into his contorted reflection.

(3) Laboratory: Cleopatra enters, drops her bag next to a chest, and unpacks some whips.

(4) Alien Zoo: The sasquatch appears and positions himself in the doorway, while the leprechaun passes him and searches the exhibits with the red-haired doll tucked under his arm.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: Vacant.

Below the pentagon of screens, "Spiders and Snakes" plays on the laptop, which shows an open web browser.
action: Examine 4
response: Alien Zoo (second floor, north wing)
(watch all monitors)

The leprechaun stops in front of some rope hanging between two stanchions, which have been pushed up against the far wall to allow greater access to the collections. He unhinges one end of the rope and begins to wrap it around the doll's neck.

The sasquatch steps back from the door, nodding at a devil in a hockey jersey entering the room. The two speak. The sasquatch addresses the leprechaun. Scowling, the leprechaun unwinds the rope from the doll. He slaps the freed end into the devil's hand then rushes out the door, his hairy friend following behind.

Something snaps and cracks behind you. You spin around. A black cat with a white stripe down its back tears at a rat on the floor. The cat discards its prey, leaps onto your lap, and settles. It purrs loudly.
action: You listen
response: The laptop below the screens plays a song you recognize: "You Can Do Magic."
action: You look at the cat
response: The stripe runs from the cat's neck to the base of its tail. It's a straight line, and the intensity of the white color is uniform all along the cat's back.
action: Look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Without her bag,  Cleopatra enters, stops near the stage, and searches the crowd.

(2) Communications: The medicine man pokes at a chandelier with his staff. The leprechaun, doll in hand, and sasquatch arrive. They look at the witch doctor then up at the fixture.

(3) Laboratory: Vacant.

(4) Alien Zoo: A bald man dressed completely in black enters. The MIB stares down through sunglasses at the devil, who steps back, rope dangling from his hand.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: Vacant.

Below the pentagon of screens, America is playing "You Can Do Magic" on the laptop, which shows an open web browser, and the cat purrs on your lap.
action: Look
response: You figure any of the five haunted hotspots on the monitors are worth investigation.
action: You look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Without her bag,  Cleopatra continues to study the guests.

(2) Communications: The medicine man pokes at a chandelier with his staff. The leprechaun, doll in hand, and sasquatch watch him.

(3) Laboratory: Vacant.

(4) Alien Zoo: The devil tries to look beyond the MIB and out the door.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: Vacant.

Below the pentagon of screens, America is playing "You Can Do Magic" on the laptop, which shows an open web browser, and the cat purrs on your lap.
action: Xyzzy
response: Focus on the cameras, you think. I don't want to miss
anything.
action: You look at 2
response: Communications (second floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

Something is different about the room . . . The lighting has dimmed, and shadows shroud the corners.

The sasquatch and leprechaun turn to each other, and the sasquatch shrugs. The leprechaun speaks to the medicine man, who glances at the red-haired doll as he listens. He points at the door. Smiling, the leprechaun leads the sasquatch out of the room.

The medicine man touches his staff to the bottom of the chandelier as the white-haired scientist arrives. The scientist smiles and speaks. The medicine man nods then lowers his staff. He speaks. The scientist nods then begins to pull a liquor bottle with a ribbon around its neck out of his pocket, but the medicine man stops him. The scientist glances at the camera, and the medicine man gestures at the door with his staff. They leave together.

A shadow is cast over you. You swivel around. Frankie's bulk crowds the tiny room. He considers the cat then looks up to you. His grin is crooked. "What's new, pussycat?" he says. He laughs then starts humming the eponymous Tom Jones song before turning to the monitors. He tries to focus on the monitored characters.
action: You close the door
response: The door remains silent as you swing it. You leave it open; you don't want anything in your way if something happens out in the hall.
action: You examine Frankie
response: Reanimation, apparently achieved by shocking one's heart through jumper cables attached to the chest, has turned Frankie's face green and tore his shirt and jeans, and the brain transplant has left a nasty black stitch across his forehead. Given the way Frankie has been stumbling around the party, maybe it's time to hook up those batteries attached to his neck because he definitely isn't fully charged.
action: You talk to Frankie
response: "So, have you seen anything unusual tonight?" you say.

"You mean besides the fact that Bigfoot is wandering the halls?" Frankie regards the cat. "And there's a giant skunk sitting on a fly's lap?"

The cat hisses, jumps to the floor, and runs out the door.

"Sorry, pussy," Frankie says. "You don't smell as bad!" His voice booms in the small room. "What was your question again?"

"Have you seen anything creepy tonight. Supernatural."

"Like ghosts? That's crap. It never hurts to be careful, though. We're all targets thanks to the Greada Treaty that Eisenhower signed with the grays. Human experiments for alien technology. I've seen them all. The Nordics. Arcturians. Reptilians."

"How do you know I'm not one of them?"

He smiles. "They're cold blooded. You're hot."
action: You talk about the aliens
response: "I'm beyond being able to talk about that," Frankie says then burps.
action: You talk to Frankie
response: "It looks like we need to keep an eye on the leprechaun," you say.

"I wouldn't trust Lucky Charms as far as I could toss —" Frankie attempts a swing of his arms and teeters on his feet. "He's trying to scare us with that stupid doll, but I'm too smart for that."
action: You look at 2
response: Communications (second floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

Black Widow appears and pulls Rasputin through the doorway to join her. She notices a curtained off area at the far end of the room. Passing between tables, she approaches it and pulls back the curtains, revealing a set of audio equipment. Fiddling with the stereo, she says something and gestures for Rasputin to join her.

Rasputin takes a deep breath, rubs his palms on his pants, and makes his way over to Black Widow. She points at a knot of cables snaking from the equipment to a dark corner behind some speakers. Rasputin hesitates then reaches into the darkness. Suddenly, he flings his arm back and stumbles backward. With wide eyes, he rubs his hand and speaks.

Black Widow frowns and inspects Rasputin's hand. She shrugs. She attempts to look behind the speaker, but Rasputin stops her with a hand to her shoulder. Smiling, she shakes her head then bends over into the darkness.

The leprechaun, without the doll, steps through the doorway, the sasquatch following behind him. They move aside as Black Widow, head shaking, leads the trembling Rasputin out the door. As she exits, the scientist appears in the doorway with a bottle. Rasputin snatches it from his hand and takes a swig. He pauses and does it again. Nodding, he returns the bottle, and the two men leave.

The sasquatch follows the grinning leprechaun to the doorway where they stop and look into the hall.
action: Keep going
response: Communications (second floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

The leprechaun and sasquatch look out the door and into the hall. The grin falters on the leprechaun's face. He scowls and leaves the room, the sasquatch trailing.

The chandelier shakes. Tick one box on the "haunted house"
checklist: shaking chandelier, you think.

Beneath, the room is filled with not only the tools of transcommunication, such as ouija boards and sound trumpets, but also the tricks of the trade, such as ectoplasmic cheesecloth and wobbly furniture.

Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
A high-pitched scream pierces the Fly Eye. That was from somewhere upstairs.

Static bursts from the playroom. Are children giggling?

"Gotta check that out," Frankie says before lumbering away.
action: You listen
response: Despite the static, you can hear the laptop playing "Clap for the Wolfman."
action: You examine the chandelier
response: It's a fixture with lots of dangly glass bits for maximum jangling and clattering.
action: Look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Cleopatra rushes out. She returns holding up a man with white hair and a cape. The two stumble forward, and the man slumps to the floor.

(2) Communications: Vacant.

(3) Laboratory: Vacant.

(4) Alien Zoo: The medicine man talks to someone through the doorway.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: The footage is a blur of color. Children seem to giggle in the static of the monitor's tiny speaker.
action: Examine 1
response: Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
Soul Dancers Ballroom (second floor, east wing)
(watch all monitors)

Cleopatra steps back. The arms of the fallen man spasm, fingers covered in rings. It's Greg in his Rasputin costume. Except for that spiked white hair. He lies prone with his cape flat on his back. Two red holes are punched into the black fabric.

Guests gather around your fallen friend. Several of them grab their cell phones. Some take pictures while others make calls. The nun bends down and touches the holes in Greg's cape. She rubs her fingers together and shakes her head. Black Widow helps Frankie turn Greg onto his back. His face is almost as white as his hair. The nun starts the chest compressions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Cleopatra watches with a concerned look.

A tall woman wearing a white dress and tiara takes the hand of a suited man in a top hat. They swirl and step around the crowd.

Someone stomps toward the door to the Fly Eye.

Press a key to whirl around and face the door.
Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
A doll the size of a small girl is sitting on the floor next to the door and with the black-and-white cat covering her lap. She smiles a black line under red freckles. She shakes as the cat raises its head and Frankie stomps into the room. The doll begins saying "Mama . . . mama . . . mama . . .

Frankie's voice booms. "We have a problem. Everyone's meeting in the ballroom."

Press a key to follow Frankie out.
Outside the mansion, paramedics lift Greg into an ambulance. The resuscitation attempts by the nun may have saved his life. But from what? you know Greg wasn't shot. The bullet holes in the cape were part of the Rasputin costume, and Greg had no visible wounds.

Everyone seems to have gathered around the lights cast by the mansion and its exterior lamps. Black Widow and Cleopatra, both in tears, tell their stories to a police officer. The medicine man places his staff into the trunk of a car before finding the scientist. They talk and wait. The leprechaun watches the paramedics, but the sasquatch stares at the ground.

Someone is missing, though . . . You don't see the man in black.

The ambulance drives away. Cleopatra points at you, and the officer she was talking to nods. It's time to tell your story, but you can't make any reasonable connections between what happened to Greg and what you saw on the monitors. Maybe the events would have come together more clearly had you watched from a different perspective.
action: You talk to the nun
response: The nun sips from her punch as you approach.

"So, did you see anything good on your watch?" you say to the nun.

She rests her cup on her belly. "I did hear some odd sounds out in the hall, but that's about it. But there's always something going on with this bunch." She gestures her cup at the guests. "I'd keep an eye on them, if I were you." She laughs.

Most of the guests have congregated into small groups in which someone — or something — tries to talk over the music. Holographic dancers materialize momentarily to dip, spin, and swing their partners next to the corporeal partygoers before disappearing to continue their dance in the ethereal. You thought that Robin Hood was up on the stage, but the flute hanging from his neck suggests that instead he is the Pied Piper of Hamelin, playing his enchantment. Black Widow watches Cleopatra stand guard over a shadowed area next to the stage and uncomfortably close to a pair of stacked speakers. Cutlass in one wobbly hand, Frankie spars with an invisible foe as the pirate tries to get his weapon back. The nun smiles at you from the refreshment table along one wall. You suppose it may be time to make your exit and take your shift in the Fly Eye.
action: You talk to black Widow
response: She seems more intent on studying Cleopatra.
action: You go south
response: The nun waves to you as you begin toward the hall outside. She strides off, targeting a man with spiky white hair and wearing a lab coat. The scientist takes a few steps back and stares at the floor.

You head out the double doors, descend the stairs, and enter the small room nicknamed, for tonight, the Fly Eye.

The wire frames of your wings bend as you gently lean back into the only chair in the room. The two floppy legs attached to your belt rise as you rest your hands on a table in front of a bank of monitors on the wall. The five screens receive signals from cameras in five different rooms in the mansion. Normally, these would be used for security, but tonight the Society is trying to record footage of the supernatural that will raise the eyebrows of even the most stone-faced skeptics. While you're hoping to witness such phenomena, following the exploits of any one of the costumed characters would probably be more interesting, after looking at the screens to decide which captures your attention.

The only person you know well is Gregory Hoblett, dressed as the Russian mystic and healer Grigori Rasputin, in the Laboratory on monitor 3. Everybody in the Society likes Hoblett, unlike Grigori who survived a stabbing, possible cyanide poisoning, and two point blank gunshots, only to succumb after being shot twice in the back and beaten.

The sasquatch chuckles quietly from the playroom on monitor 5, which is wired to record the electronic voice phenomena of ghostly children.
action: Look around
response: You study the monitors:

(1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Cleopatra stomps over to where her headdress had lain, picks something up, and tries to re-affix it to her headgear. Black Widow rushes over to the side of the stage and bends into the shadows. Was Cleopatra hiding something? you
wonder.

(2) Communications: Vacant.

(3) Laboratory: Rasputin, bloody axe in one hand, rummages through a chest as someone you don't know, a medicine man, studies his face in a mirror.

(4) Alien Zoo: Vacant.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: The sasquatch smiles as the leprechaun tries to lift a gold dinner plate from a small table. You wonder whether the leprechaun will play any tricks tonight.

Below the pentagon of screens, "Spirit in the Sky" plays from a laptop, which shows an open web browser.
action: 3
response: As events on the other monitors unfold, you watch:

Laboratory (third floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

Axe in hand, Rasputin continues to root around in the chest at a dark corner of the room. The medicine man leans his totem-laden staff onto the wall between the two of them. He taps a couple of dark bulbs surrounding the vanity's mirror. When they don't light, he tries tightening them into their sockets, but that doesn't work either. He gives up and studies himself in the mirror's reflection. He reaches into a pouch on his belt and applies more black makeup to his face.

Rasputin stands, turns, and kicks over the staff. Animal figurines spill onto the floor. He drops the axe and begins to gather them up.

Watching Rasputin, the medicine man retrieves his staff. He scowls as Rasputin, on his knees and talking constantly, polishes each totem before looping them onto their former holder. A raven settles down the staff first, followed by an owl, frog, and wolf.

Rasputin stands, and the medicine man glares at him as the mystic slinks out of the room.

The voices of the leprechaun and sasquatch play from the playroom feed.
action: You watch Rasputin
response: [Sound effect number 4 here.]
The door behind you creaks. You whirl around. The door is still, still in the position you left it. You think it is, anyway. You stand and swing the door, but it doesn't make a sound. Hearing "Strange Magic" playing from the laptop, you return to your seat.

Rasputin is no longer visible in the Laboratory. Maybe he's on another monitor.

The voices of the leprechaun and sasquatch play from the playroom feed.
action: You look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Guests continue to mingle.

(2) Communications: Cleopatra appears in the doorway with a bag over one shoulder.

(3) Laboratory: The medicine man leaves.

(4) Alien Zoo: Vacant.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: The sasquatch enters with one hairy arm wrapped around Rasputin's shoulders. A toy clown sitting near the door behind them leans over.

Below the pentagon of screens, "Strange Magic" plays on the laptop, which shows an open web browser.
action: 5
response: Remembering that something could be happening on the other screens, you watch:

Children's Possessions Playroom (main floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

Suddenly, a black-and-white blur darts from behind the clown and out the door.

Rasputin pulls away from the sasquatch. He takes in the shelves of staring dolls and puppets. He chokes, and his face blanches.

The sasquatch doesn't seem to notice Rasputin's distress. "Pretty impressive collection,    huh? You should see what's in that toybox."

Rasputin glances at the chest just as the leprechaun pops out of it. Rasputin screams and falls back into the sasquatch's arms.

You're surprised the shriek didn't shatter the monitor's screen.

The leprechaun climbs out of the toybox. "You seem a bit on edge." He laughs.

"Do you guys know what happened in here?" Rasputin says.

"Why don't you tell us what you've heard," the sasquatch says as he steadies Rasputin's wobbly stance.

Rasputin watches the dolls as he speaks. "Wayne Harrison was having a birthday party for his twin daughters in this room. They had cake and drinks." His voice lowers. "Most of the kids died. Right here. The twins, too. Poisoned. People suspected Wayne's chauffeur, who was never charged. He was going to be fired for gambling and . . . doing inappropriate things in front of the kids. His son didn't get sick. That's why . . . ".

"This place is haunted," the sasquatch says.

The leprechaun picks up a child-sized doll with red hair and a white dress. Wailing like a ghost, he shakes it at Rasputin. The mystic rushes out the door. The leprechaun grins broadly. "We can have some fun with this." He carries the doll out of the room with him, and the sasquatch follows, shaking his head.
action: You look around
response: [Sound effect number 5 here.]
Something thumps onto the hallway floor. On instinct, you pull your phone from your pocket and look out the door. The guestbook has fallen from the table in the lobby. You wait but don't detect anyone, so you return to your chair and tuck away the phone as you hear "I don't like spiders and snakes, and that ain't what it takes to love me" from the laptop.

(1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Some guests mingle at the refreshment table.

(2) Communications: The medicine man enters, stops at a mirror, and stares into his contorted reflection.

(3) Laboratory: Cleopatra enters, drops her bag next to a chest, and unpacks some whips.

(4) Alien Zoo: The sasquatch appears and positions himself in the doorway, while the leprechaun passes him and searches the exhibits with the red-haired doll tucked under his arm.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: Vacant.

Below the pentagon of screens, "Spiders and Snakes" plays on the laptop, which shows an open web browser.
action: Look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Some guests mingle at the refreshment table.

(2) Communications: The medicine man makes faces at his distorted reflection in the mirror.

(3) Laboratory: Cleopatra continues to transfer weapons from her bag to the chest.

(4) Alien Zoo: The sasquatch is standing in the doorway, while the leprechaun searches the exhibits with the red-haired doll tucked under his arm.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: Vacant.

Below the pentagon of screens, "Spiders and Snakes" plays on the laptop, which shows an open web browser.
action: 12
response: There are only five monitors on the wall, and they are numbered from one to five.
action: 1
response: Soul Dancers Ballroom (second floor, east wing)
(watch all monitors)

The monitor shows about a third of the room, including downstage, which is flanked by stacked speakers. Most of the guests have drifted toward the refreshment table lining the far wall. A couple of spirited dancers materializes in front of the stage. The woman, dressed in a purple ball gown, twirls as her partner holds her hand over her head. They embrace then disappear.

A fat, bald man, wearing a bloody apron and carrying a cleaver, munches on a carrot as he watches the colorful guests.

Something snaps and cracks behind you. You spin around. A black cat with a white stripe down its back tears at a rat on the floor. The cat discards its prey, leaps onto your lap, and settles. It purrs loudly.
action: 1
response: Soul Dancers Ballroom (second floor, east wing)
(watch all monitors)

Cleopatra enters, stops near the stage, and searches the crowd. Rasputin rushes past her. He grabs a drink — from the alcoholic punch bowl — just as Cleopatra catches up to him. He gulps down his drink
as
Cleopatra talks.

Black Widow emerges from a crowd and approaches Rasputin. Smiling, she places a hand on his shoulder. She speaks, silencing Cleopatra. Rasputin replies to Black Widow, who nods. Arms crossed, Cleopatra gets in a few words, but Rasputin only shrugs and finishes his drink. He hands the cup to Cleopatra then allows himself to be lead out of the room arm-in-arm with Black Widow.

Cleopatra crushes the cup, tosses it onto the table. Staring at the doors, she taps her foot. She walks to the exit and disappears off-screen.

A shadow is cast over you. You swivel around. Frankie's bulk crowds the tiny room. He considers the cat then looks up to you. His grin is crooked. "What's new, pussycat?" he says. He laughs then starts humming the eponymous Tom Jones song before turning to the monitors. "Nervous guy, that Rasputin. Bit of a wimp, if you ask me. I'm surprised he came out from hiding under his bed tonight."
action: You look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: A couple of dancers materializes, jitterbugs, and disappears.

(2) Communications: Black Widow appears and pulls Rasputin through the doorway to join her.

(3) Laboratory: Vacant.

(4) Alien Zoo: An alien of the gray-type, or a petit female Homo sapiens, waits inside the doorway then steps out.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: Vacant.

Frankie bobs his head, although you aren't sure that he's keeping time with "Werewolves of London" playing on the laptop, which shows an open web browser. The cat lying on your lap has turned its head to keep an eye on him as he tries to follow the peripatetic Fortean members on the monitors.
action: 2
response: Communications (second floor, west wing)
(watch all monitors)

Something is different about the room . . . The lighting has dimmed, and shadows shroud the corners.

Black Widow notices a curtained off area at the far end of the room. Passing between tables, she approaches it and pulls back the curtains, revealing a set of audio equipment. Fiddling with the stereo, she says something and gestures for Rasputin to join her.

Rasputin takes a deep breath, rubs his palms on his pants, and makes his way over to Black Widow. She points at a knot of cables snaking from the equipment to a dark corner behind some speakers. Rasputin hesitates then reaches into the darkness. Suddenly, he flings his arm back and stumbles backward. With wide eyes, he rubs his hand and speaks.

Black Widow frowns and inspects Rasputin's hand. She shrugs. She attempts to look behind the speaker, but Rasputin stops her with a hand to her shoulder. Smiling, she shakes her head then bends over into the darkness.

The leprechaun, without the doll, steps through the doorway, the sasquatch following behind him. They move aside as Black Widow, head shaking, leads the trembling Rasputin out the door. As she exits, the scientist appears in the doorway with a bottle. Rasputin snatches it from his hand and takes a swig. He pauses and does it again. Nodding, he returns the bottle, and the two men leave.

The sasquatch follows the grinning leprechaun to the doorway where they stop and look into the hall.
action: Describe the surroundings
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Black Widow strolls into the room and begins to chat with the nun in front of the stage.

(2) Communications: The leprechaun and sasquatch look out the door and into the hall.

(3) Laboratory: Vacant.

(4) Alien Zoo: Vacant.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: A bald man dressed completely in black steps into the room, a hand at the device on his belt.

Next to Frankie, "Magic Man" plays on the laptop, which shows an open web browser. The cat lying on your lap continues to stare at Frankie as he tries to follow the peripatetic Fortean members on the monitors.
action: 1
response: Soul Dancers Ballroom (second floor, east wing)
(watch all monitors)

Cleopatra appears beside the doors and rushes over to Black Widow, interrupting her conversation with the nun. Cleopatra speaks to Black Widow, who responds with a few words and a pat on the woman's arm. Cleopatra heads to the exit, and Black Widow shrugs at the nun.

Cleopatra stops at the doors and stares out into the hall.

Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
A high-pitched scream pierces the Fly Eye. That was from somewhere upstairs.

The cat leaps from your lap and scrambles out the door. Static bursts from the playroom. Are children giggling?

"Gotta check that out," Frankie says before lumbering away.
action: Look around
response: (1) Soul Dancers Ballroom: Cleopatra rushes out. She returns holding up a man with white hair and a cape. The two stumble forward, and the man slumps to the floor.

(2) Communications: Vacant.

(3) Laboratory: Vacant.

(4) Alien Zoo: The medicine man talks to someone through the doorway.

(5) Children's Possessions Playroom: The footage is a blur of color. Children seem to giggle in the static of the monitor's tiny speaker.
action: 1
response: Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
Soul Dancers Ballroom (second floor, east wing)
(watch all monitors)

Cleopatra steps back. The arms of the fallen man spasm, fingers covered in rings. It's Greg in his Rasputin costume. Except for that spiked white hair. He lies prone with his cape flat on his back. Two red holes are punched into the black fabric.

Guests gather around your fallen friend. Several of them grab their cell phones. Some take pictures while others make calls. The nun bends down and touches the holes in Greg's cape. She rubs her fingers together and shakes her head. Black Widow helps Frankie turn Greg onto his back. His face is almost as white as his hair. The nun starts the chest compressions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Cleopatra watches with a concerned look.

A tall woman wearing a white dress and tiara takes the hand of a suited man in a top hat. They swirl and step around the crowd.

Someone stomps toward the door to the Fly Eye.

Press a key to whirl around and face the door.
Your interpreter doesn't support sound reproduction.
A doll the size of a small girl is sitting on the floor next to the door and with the black-and-white cat covering her lap. She smiles a black line under red freckles. She shakes as the cat raises its head and Frankie stomps into the room. The doll begins saying "Mama . . . mama . . . mama . . .

Frankie's voice booms. "We have a problem. Everyone's meeting in the ballroom."

Press a key to follow Frankie out.
Outside the mansion, paramedics lift Greg into an ambulance. The resuscitation attempts by the nun may have saved his life. But from what? you know Greg wasn't shot. The bullet holes in the cape were part of the Rasputin costume, and Greg had no visible wounds.

Everyone seems to have gathered around the lights cast by the mansion and its exterior lamps. Black Widow and Cleopatra, both in tears, tell their stories to a police officer. The medicine man places his staff into the trunk of a car before finding the scientist. They talk and wait. The leprechaun watches the paramedics, but the sasquatch stares at the ground.

Someone is missing, though . . . You don't see the man in black or his gray partner.

The ambulance drives away. Cleopatra points at you, and the officer she was talking to nods. It's time to tell your story, but you can't make any reasonable connections between what happened to Greg and what you saw on the monitors. Maybe the events would have come together more clearly had you watched from a different perspective.

Someone is missing, though . . . You don't see the man in black.