FOG Prologue: Second Archive

Meet the second player character, Martha Teach! A bubbly university professor faced with the darkness that shifts through the university.

## Characters

### Major Appearances

* Martha Teach
* Song
* Alcott
* Mallow
* Kazuya
* Cassius
* Arche

### Minor Appearances

* Derringway
* Harpe
* Feather
* Dodge
* Vann
* Karsh

## Summary

### Extended Summary

The episode starts at the box fort from Episode 1, as the scene shows Boxfort Kid being harassed by two thugs, far from their usual territory. The thugs, The Backstreet Boys (self-proclaimed) begin trying to intimidate the kid, who seems relatively unfazed by their approach. As the kid continues to be unthreatened, the thugs pull out a knife. And then another knife. They continue to put knives between their fingers, and a new figure appears.
Martha Teach approaches the scene on one of her few days off. She mulls about, considering her schedule, before announcing her arrival and entering the scene. The thugs look up in surprise, but Teach walks past them and straight to Boxfort Kid, who reveals she is incredibly unmoved by the thugs' unthreatening, downright comical display. She tells the kid to call an adult should things get dicey. The kid simply replies that adults are "lame," and Teach quickly agrees (much to the chagrin of the thugs) before explaining that lame adults should deal with lame adults. The thugs are intimidated by this wisdom, but incredibly enlightened.

Teach, finally addressing the thugs, mentions she might know them, and the thugs begin celebrating before turning back around to try and threaten her instead. She explains that they were causing trouble for very little, considering how placid old town was, The thugs genuinely consider this. Noticing she was running short on time, she offers them money to get lunch and leave. They seem incredibly pleased by this development and run off, ecstatic that they "mugged someone." Situation disarmed, Teach turns back to Boxfort Kid and declares that it was done "in the lamest way possible," confirming that lame adults should indeed deal with lame adults. The kid agrees, but also says that it was, "pretty cool." Teach has been declared a "cool adult." Checking her watch again, she realizes she's running behind schedule and leaves, picking up the pace, conveniently missing Cassius and Arche's lunch break.

Teach begins running to the University through the bustle of the city, with a bit more "panache" than she usually does. She rushes off to the principal's office, giving a finger guns motion to a student as she passes by, coming to a stop with just enough time to start to catch her breath. Song, another professor, watches her approach, and Teach asks him to not tell anyone he saw her rushing over. They begin to share friendly banter as they wait for the principal to arrive. As they talk, their other coworker, Alcott, daintily approaches the two. Teach and Alcott begin to share Unfriendly Banter, passive aggressively sharing remarks at each other. Alcott saccharinely notions one of Teach's hairs being out of place. Teach peacefully asks if Alcott has made any friends yet. Thinking back to her encounter with a certain one-eyed detective, she (completely seriously) affirms, saying that he was "very impressed."

Just as the clock hits four, a heavily robed figure with a mask approaches the group: Headmaster Derringway. Alcott and Teach begin squabbling over who should go first between them, before Song (exhaustedly) bites the bullet and heads in. Inside the office, Derringway begins the meeting between the three of them, asking that Teach alter her lessons about the One Week War, as the students from Lancaea seemed a bit put off of the tone of it. Teach listens genuinely, but notes that she was teaching the course as accurately as was required, even if the subject was a bit touchy. She also brings up the skipping of other subjects. Alcott continues the passive-aggressive remarks. Ignoring this, Derringway also requests the group should act more "approachable," much to the chagrin of the three professors. He mentions that the university functions on donations mostly from wealthy families, and the less-than-savory view of their countries from lessons wasn't exactly helpful to them.

Finally, the headmaster requests that they each take up a homeroom, explaining that he cannot keep their full-time pay without it. He mentions Teach only has one student viable for her homeroom so far, but she has been absent for a few days. Song says that he's fine without a homeroom, as he makes most of his money elsewhere. With their new task secured, Alcott and Song leave, but Teach stays behind to talk to the headmaster. Derringway asks Teach not to take his comments about her lessons personally. She hears him out, but asks him to be upfront about changing her lessons for political reasons, rather than criticizing her teaching style. Derringway backs down, accepting with an apology. They speak a bit about the state of Indigo before parting ways.

Outside, the professors chatter about the meeting, talking about what to do next. Alcott jabs Teach about needing five students, considering her first's disappearance. She peacefully avoids answering when Teach asks her in turn. Song mentions his nervousness about the responsibility of keeping up with a homeroom. Teach laments her lack of off-time before asking Song about their census project. Nervously, he tells her that he was unable to find any obituaries for the project, and they quickly sort out their next move before Teach heads off to find more students with Alcott, who has all of the students she needs.

On their way around the University, they meet with a student named Mallow Marigold, and Alcott quickly smidges her way between the two of them, insisting that this student was "hers." Teach, unfazed, approaches Mallow and introduces herself pleasantly. Alcott continues poking her head over incessantly. Teach puts the conversation down, giving her coworker a knowing look before heading outside. Alcott quietly thanks her, but quickly amends that she has many students to spare. This is very clearly a lie.

As they walk around the grounds, fire bursts from the University greenhouse, and they quickly make their way over. Inside the greenhouse, a handful of punks try to remove a student from their "turf," as the student is blissfully aware of their attempts, preoccupied by the fire they started. They do not seem to have any intention of putting it out. Alcott reveals this student, Sparky, is also in her class, while quietly asking Teach to help. Teach, taking her own route, quietly walks around the perimeter, grabbing a bucket of water and (using Professional Professional firefighter,) manages to put the fire out, accidentally (read: very intentionally) splashing Alcott in the process. Teach begins to talk to Sparky as he explains his (semi-accidental) affinity for starting fires, and Alcott once again begins trying to place herself between the two of them nervously. Teach, once again, is unfazed. They continue to talk (and banter,) before Teach leaves Alcott to her fate with Sparky as another fire breaks out.

Outside, Teach remembers she'd forgotten a job she'd taken up, still short on luck on finding students. Rehashing her schedule, she goes off to look for the "trouble students" behind the university to see if they have a homeroom. She finds two students writing (dubiously legal) plans in the dirt, and they quickly freeze as she approaches. Assuring that she "wasn't a cop", she offers to have them as homeroom students, and they quickly decline, saying "that is exactly what a cop would say." She learns that one of them, Harpe, had his phone confiscated by the Tempest after throwing a rock through their window, and was planning on breaking in to get it back with his friend Feather. Teach, completely genuinely, tells them that she was unable to stop them from doing so, and actually entirely expects them to do so anyway. So long as they account for the consequences of their own actions, she didn't mind. They talk out the homeroom situation compared to their schedule and needs, and ultimately agree to join Teach's class. After an (unsuccessful) attempt to Empathize, Harpe says that he's off to diffuse a fight, and leaves without further explanation.

Two students secured, she goes back and forth about what to do next before deciding to head off to get food. On her way out, she runs into her former roommate, Garm, in the middle of moving. They catch up, talking about the rising rates and other complications, and Garm offers her a place to stay with the Last Resort should worse come to worst. He mentions that he was lucky to be part of a major faction-- those without one tend to get pushed out of business by the larger groups. After some chatter, Teach continues on her way towards her favorite restaurant: a joint pet store and rib shop next to the graveyard. It is not a very popular space due to some... assumptions.

She orders the usual (a plate of ribs) and sits in her favorite spot-- a bench by the graveyard. She enjoys the view, looking at who got offerings that day, before noticing Alcott in the graveyard below, doing something that she can't quite see. Teach weighs her options before her curiosity gets the best of her, and she takes her plate and goes down to approach Alcott. Curiously preoccupied, Alcott doesn't notice Teach's approach as she watches some floating lights dance around her that only she and Teach could seem to perceive. She extends a hand, and one of them blinks out of existence. Teach recalls that these are, more or less, spirits: remnants of memories and emotions that tend to gather and swirl in the skies of Indigo.

Teach speaks up, instantly startling Alcott out of her previously serene air. They begin to squabble again, but the air quickly changes as Teach mentions that she can see the floating lights as well. Alcott mutters that she wishes she knew less about her. And Teach attempts to Empathize with her as Alcott says there was a reason she treats her with such contempt. After a bit of of confusion, it's revealed that Alcott doesn't have much against Teach herself, but rather the principles she stands for. Teach believes that knowledge should be dug up and preserved, yet Alcott believes that some things are best left to be forgotten. Teach would wish for the spirits to be preserved for eternity, yet Alcott allows them to pass on into oblivion.

Teach hears her stance and nods, agreeing to an extent. However, she says that she doesn't trust Alcott to be the one to make that call. She doesn't trust *anyone* to. They were at a fundamental disagreement. And that was something they could agree to. Alcott says that her arrogance, her air was the mark she would leave behind. And she leaves Teach behind. For better or for worse, they understand each other just a bit better. Bond Up.

After mulling on her recent encounter, finishing her plate, before realizing she was *severely behind schedule* because of the confrontation, and she quickly dashes off to try to make it to work on time. As she runs down the street, she catches back up with Alcott on the street, pleased at her "stylish" exit, trying (and failing) to start her scooter... and trying more fervently as Teach rapidly approaches-- and just about bowls her over. They yammer in a flustered panic, before Teach asks to borrow her scooter. Alcott, smug, agrees if she can get the scooter to start. And she does. With a pleasant "Bye, Alcott!" Teach zooms off with her scooter, leaving Alcott behind in a cloud of dust.

Arriving in the 13th Ward where her job is, skidding in just in time. Heading inside, she meets up with her client, a gorgeous man from another country, who only gave the name "Lewyn Farlander." Teach immediately knows this is, likely, a pseudonym. Farlander regards her grandly and fondly, continuing his flowery narration as Teach hurries off to get to work. He enjoys listening to her tell stories as she works, which is why he preferred her to any other construction agency. As she works, however, two people walk into the building, and Farlander quickly begins to talk with them privately. Teach begins to subtly eavesdrop.

The guests introduce themselves as Vann and Karsh, members of the Tide's Edge arriving for a routine checkup. Karsh begins to smoke indoors, but Vann quickly draws his sword in a flashy motion, cutting the cigarette in twain. Karsh, unfazed, is pleased to have two cigarettes. Continuing on, Vann asks a handful of routine questions, but Teach catches an envelope passing between the two of them subtly as she continues moving boxes. Vann talks about some weapon smuggling going on in the area, but Farlander quickly deflects, mentioning it was far more likely that it was Riviera's business more than his.

Sensing something suspicious, Teach ceases eavesdropping for a moment to check the back room where she was moving things. Searching through the boxes, she finds a very large amount of weaponry. She briefly considers trying to find a way to hide them, but thinks better of it considering the sheer number of them and heads back out of the room before she could be counted as a conspirator. Picking up on the conversation again, she hears Farlander say that Tide will find "absolutely nothing out of the ordinary." He assures the Tide members that he wants nothing to do with the crime families, and Vann mulls it over before trusting his word. Finishing up the conversation, Vann questions why Teach was present, considering there were not supposed to be workers over. Farlander quickly stands up for her, diffusing the situation. They forego doing a physical inspection due to the presence of working crew, and take their leave.

Farlander relaxes as they are left alone again, and Teach brings up the swords in the back. He seemed rather unfazed by her knowing of what was going on, refusing to expand on the exchanging of the letter, but Teach puts the topic down as it wasn't really her issue. She didn't have any particular interest in getting him into trouble.

The day finished, she heads out again, wondering what to head off to do next when she gets a text from Song to meet at her apartment. As they arrive, they begin to talk about the status of the obituaries for the census project-- which were bought by someone else and, reportedly, entirely blank. Which was curious, considering there was no record of anyone dying in the past two years-- only people going missing. They don't even know who bought the information. Unsettled, they begin to worry if the next disappearance would be someone they care about. They note how strange it is that these disappearances come with no uproar from anyone-- nobody that remembers them well, no one searching for them. They switch their approach and begin to try and find information another way.

Before Song leaves, Teach asks to speak with him about the state of her life-- expressing worry that she's not doing a good job with her work at the university or the census project. Song immediately levels with her, (successfully) trying to Empathize with her, explaining that she's likely trying to balance too many things on her plate all at once. He knows she cares, but he worries that she may be spreading herself too thin because of it. Song assures her that he cares deeply about her, and would do anything he can to help her out. Taking his leave, Song and Teach achieve a Bond Up.

With the day done, Teach decides to take a nap before continuing on, used to wandering around at night. She falls asleep, drifting off into a dream, first noticing the smell of ash from weapon fire. And she sees a scene from the past-- a battle on a hill from the One Week War. At the same time, the scene splits as she finds herself in a carpeted hallway with stained glass windows, ending in what seems to be a cafe. At the counter is a familiar face-- Mallow, who seems to be surprised to see her. Mallow apologizes that Teach ended up here, saying that "being here isn't a good or bad thing."

The scene switches back to the battlefield as she looks across the surroundings, noticing someone sitting on a nearby rock, clad in jet-black armor. She recognizes them as someone she'd fought with-- and he cheerily greets her, asking what she was doing there. Chattering a bit, Teach realizes that she'd mixed them up with someone else. Thinking it was his dress, the knight doesn't take off his armor (as it would "cause her mind to implode or something,") and takes out a piece of paper, crudely scribbling a smiley face on it and sticking it over his mask.

Unsettled by the gorey details of the scene, they sit behind a rock and begin to talk. Teach asks what was going on-- it was a dream, but not quite. The Black Knight explains he was impaled on the battlefield, stuck reliving that scene every night, but they were "compatible," so they could hang out together instead. They seem to get along pretty well. Upon being asked her name, Teach says that she didn't go by "Martha Teach" at the time of the war, but rather "The Red Tower." They talk about how the title of "Red" was a bit overrated, mentioning someone of the name "The Red Knight." The knight assures her that referring to them as "The Black Knight" was fine, considering they couldn't tell her their codename because it would "jeopardize the mission."

They continue to chatter surprisingly amiably about the war, though the Knight can't give her much information due to the nature of their "mission." The Knight says that they would likely cause a fair amount of problems, but has no interest in killing anyone. Quietly, they achieve a Bond Up. Looking beneath the paper on their helmet, Teach notices that they have red eyes, which they note, disappointedly, is "the only thing wrong" with them. Curious, she admits she'd been trying to get any amount of information about anything from them, but to no avail. Cheerily, the Knight offers some of his own: "I think you should probably stop trying to look into those obituaries. Just between us." And the scene suddenly switches once more as someone repeatedly jabs a fork into her hand, Mallow frantically trying to tell her that "someone else was there." Quickly trying to shake herself awake, she hears her alarm go off as the dream fades off.

Teach wakes up in the University in the middle of the night, confused. Trying to put the pieces together, she realizes that she was at the desk of her classroom. Trying to keep herself calm, she checks and finds that her phone is on her person, and quickly calls Song. He picks up, and she informs him of the situation. She asks him to go to his apartment and make sure "the thing" was still at her house, as someone was there other than her. She says that it's more important than her wellbeing at the moment. Song, a bit distressed at that descriptor, ultimately agrees, and Teach continues to sort out her situation. As she heads up the stairs to the door, she notices someone else in one of the seats, presumably there the entire time, surprised to see her.

They say that they were there cleaning up, and Teach politely regards him as he says that he's the sanitation team. As she continues out of the room, though, she realizes the sanitation team usually comes by in the morning. The figure's demeanor gives off nothing, but she knows that something is wrong. He does not offer a name. Teach quickly leaves the room. Heading down the hallway, she becomes acutely aware that the figure has begun following her. And considering the situation, the previous fear quickly makes way for anger as she whirls around, facing the figure.

But something was wrong. This figure wasn't a person-- not quite. Rather, they were a concept, the imprint of a person one would see out of the corner of their eye. They were, by definition, undefined. And seeing Teach turn around to see them, it points a finger in her direction, the previous notion of whatever humanity it has left dissolving as it lets out an incomprehensible scream. Not to her, but rather, to something deep within the University. Something with a hunger for the knowledge that only Teach had. And with this realization, Teach looks to the entrance of her room, squinting through the darkness just in time to see hands bursting forth from it, a gigantic tome dragging across the floor. A colossal entity, it drags itself forth and consumes the figure between it and Teach.

Standing tall, Teach pulls out the sword left for her by Song and begins to outpace it carefully, watching the entity as it approaches through the darkness, trying to parse out exactly what it was and what it wanted. And in a moment of empathy, there is a flash of understanding.

The scene cuts to a vision: an eye pressed into the sand, forced to process a terrible event. Black flames choking back something immutable-- and it wants to know why. It wants to know what powers could defy reason, holding itself with pride, the pride of knowing *everything*. And it is ripped apart by something it cannot comprehend-- and it is *furious*. It cannot figure out exactly what makes such a thing possible in any book or tome it find, and this angers it to no end.

But that isn't all. the scene switches again, to something it can comprehend, to an innumerable amount of snails. It's nearly maddening, its form a tangle of stalks connected to countless eyes-- but it's something that it can *understand*, and it takes comfort and pride in that sense of knowing. And it needs to know more, more about the immutable and unchanging. And it finds a feast of knowledge before it. With this, Teach understands the entity's hunting grounds-- and that it is hunting for those that know things that it does not within the University. And Teach is one of them.

With this newfound comprehension, she remembers a book in the library. She knows that it would devour her in an instant, but she refuses to run as the entity was threatening her students. So she leads it off, heading to the library. Running ahead, though, she runs into Mallow, hiding behind the shelves. After a moment of panic, Mallow explains that the entity cannot hear, but it can see. Teach assures her that she won't let anything happen to her, and quickly begins looking for a specific book-- but quickly realizes with frustration that it wouldn't be there. It was "her own responsibility." In their rush, however, they realize something has changed: the entity's presence has disappeared.

After combing through the University for safety, they find that the entity was nowhere to be found. In the following moment of quiet, Mallow says that she's glad Teach can see it. They decide to head somewhere else to talk some things out, going off to a restaurant by seaside. Walking into the bar, they run into Cassius and Arche, catching each other up about the day they had just prior. The four of them introduce themselves and share words about their (rather complicated) situations. Teach, recognizing him, asks why he was interested in records, and he mentions his amnesia to her. She explains that she's trying her best to make sure that people like him were not forgotten, and asks to hire him to investigate the University situation.

As they continue talking, she gets a text from Song that the object she was worried about was still safe. Teach, relieved, updates him on her situation. The group continues to talk, Mallow explaining that the entity seems to make people "forget" about people, as she feels there was someone she cared about deeply that she just cant remember anymore. She also mentions that she'd tried to bring it up with higherups, but to no avail. Cassius, noting this, mentions that he should bring his coworker Dodge along, who was far more experienced with fighting than he was-- who happens to walk in just as they were speaking of him.

As they catch Dodge up on the situation, Teach casually asks Mallow if she would like to transfer to her homeroom. Considering their new shared problem, Mallow agrees on the terms that she bring her two friends with her. Somewhere else, Alcott, blissfully unaware, laments that her day could not get any worse. As the rest of the group begins to chatter, Teach steps outside for a moment to herself. After a moment, Arche follows her outside to share a few words, concerned about her situation-- and Cassius' wellbeing being involved in it. She assures it isn't a threat, but rather a plea that she not get him killed in the process, and Teach reassures her that she's trying her best to make sure no one else gets hurt. Satisfied with that answer, Arche returns to the bar, leaving Teach by herself once more to breathe.

Elsewhere, someone with an empty face and an emptier identity reads a set of obituaries, seeing that they are completely blank. But no information is information in itself. And with his apartment completely riddled with papers, he simply takes a moment and stares.

End of Session.