Chapter 117: Back to Where It All Started- Part III

As we stared at our new rescue tropes, Silas flashed his lights. He disappeared and reappeared five feet away.

Except he wasn’t facing us. The back of his machine was to us. And there was something on it.

A cloth bag with something large and rectangular was duct taped to the back of Silas’ box.

Taped to that, was an envelope with three names on it: Riley, Antoine, and Kimberly.

“What?” Antoine asked.

I shared the sentiment.

The others had stopped freaking out over the rescue tickets. We approached the object carefully.

I grabbed the envelope and ripped the cloth bag open. Inside the bag, was the last thing I could have expected: the Carousel Atlas.

Antoine flipped through the book. I focused on the letter in the envelope.

“Guys,” I said. I didn’t get their attention at first. “Guys,” I said louder.

They all looked at me.

I held out the letter.

“It’s from Anna,” I said, almost not believing it myself.

They were speechless. I was speechless.

After my brain started working again, I straightened out the letter and started to read it aloud.

Dear Riley, Kimberly, and Antoine,

If you’re reading this, that means Silas agreed to Camden’s plan. Camden is a genius by the way. This was all his idea.

I’m sure you know this by now, but the helicopter ride we were meant to take to our storyline was doomed. We ended up running to the roller rink Riley pointed out near the airport. Reggie used a trope to sacrifice himself so that we could get there in time to beat the black snow. I hope he survived. I wish I could tell Grace how much of a hero he was.

The storyline was called Post-Traumatic. It involved time travel. Camden tells me I cannot say too much because we don’t want to spoil the story. Suffice it to say, he realized Carousel didn’t use real-time travel to make the story work. It just recreated the past. He figured that a version of the Carousel Atlas existed in the past, so we went to pick one up. It was amazing.

As much as I would like to say that we are going to try our best and conquer this storyline just the two of us, I know that isn’t realistic. When Camden passes, I will officially be the Last One Alive and Silas will show up to give me my Aspect. I will attach the Atlas to the back of Silas so other players don’t see it. It contains information that they should never see.

~

I had written up pages and pages to send. I wanted to talk about the times we shared before Carousel. I wanted to talk about the feelings I have for each of you, and I wanted to tell you how much I love you all.

I didn’t include those because Camden showed me the Atlas Holders’ Journal. In those writings, I found hope. Horror, too, but above all else, hope.

You don’t need me to send you a letter telling you how I feel because I want you to come and save me so I can tell you in person.

I will choose the Girl Next Door Aspect. I think it fits my personality the best. Look it up in the Atlas so you will know what to expect when you come to save us.

With love,

Anna

P.S. Camden says hello. He is in his own world right now marking up the Atlas so that you can find the important information quickly. He isn’t feeling very well either.

The Atlas Holder’s Journal? I didn’t remember the version we had read even having that section. Antoine quickly turned to the page Camden had helpfully listed as “Start Here.”

Camden had gone through and marked every single entry that he wanted us to read. He had likely searched them out with his Eureka trope.

We opened the book right there on the forest floor and started to read the entries that Camden had put a star next to Silas moved his flashlight to help us see it. What a gent. The Journal started in 2001, which didn’t make much sense at first, but I kept reading. There were entire sections that had been blacked out to the point they couldn’t be deciphered.

December 4, 2001

Mark’s team wiped this morning. It was the Alienist. The god-damn Alienist. Easiest storyline to avoid in the whole town and somehow, he ended up getting mixed up in it. His team isn’t the only one. Patrick tells me that the strong group of friendlies we ran into in May got postered last week. Shame. Even if they didn’t want to share resources, it was nice knowing that they were out there trying to figure out the Throughline.

-CW

December 12, 2001

Everything is getting harder. When I got here back in ’98, the tutorial was difficult and confusing, but we still managed to get through it. Now, newbies routinely fail it or even go missing before it’s over. If they succeed, the trouble isn’t over. They get pushed out the door toward stories on the Throughline that are way out of their league. That didn’t happen to us back then. We’ve been talking about finding a way to prevent players from entering the Tutorial at all. It’s all just hot air. No one wants to piss off Carousel, even to save lives.

The last group of newbies failed completely. Took my best brawlers across town to try to greet them. Thought we could guide them, train them. Show them kindness we never got. Guess it didn’t matter.

Got to thinking about Tommy again for a long time. Wonder if he still plays baseball. He would be 15 now. He’s growing up. Bet he goes by Tom or Thomas now. I hope I can see him again one day.

-CW

February 24, 2002

Picked up a Film Buff today. Came to Carousel all by herself, can you believe it? A Film Buff Archetype. We went through the tutorial with her so she didn’t get swallowed by Froggy. What a silly idea. I can’t even imagine how a class like that could be useful in a story. Her main trope cuts her effective PA in half. Sounds like another Lamb class to me.

She’s smart as a whip though. We’ll get some use out of her. Amelia. Amelia the Film Buff. She’s a firecracker alright.

-CW

March 15, 2002

Amelia got her Aspect last week. Fanatic. That’s her alright. A fanatic for all things. Movies. Walks in the park. Carousel’s strange music. Food. God, does she love food. She dragged me out to the Italian place on Gore Street a few nights ago. She has the place all scoped out already. Didn’t run into a single Omen. She’s fearless and maybe even smarter than Carousel itself.

I laughed until my cheeks hurt. It’s been a long time. Thought I forgot how.

-CW

June 7, 2002

I feel numb all over. I told Amelia I loved her today. I know it’s early, but we could die tomorrow. Heck, it’s Carousel. We could die at any moment.

She told me that she loved me too, but she wanted me to know something.

She had a secret. She wasn’t trapped in Carousel like me. She wasn’t tricked. She came here on purpose. She has these letters that are from someone calling themselves our ‘Insider’ who wants to help her find her parents… Her parents who disappeared last year when their boat vanished in the Caribbean.

For such a smart woman, how can she believe letters like this? Clearly, this is some demented trick from Carousel. She says she doesn’t think so. She says to trust her. And I do, but it’s difficult. I said we were in a Horror movie. Nothing good will ever happen to us. She grabbed my hands and said, ‘We can change the story together. Don’t you see that? ████████████████████████████████████████████’

This is not a place for happy thoughts and fairy dust.

She wants my help, but I can’t even think about that right now. I’m sick to my stomach.

I need to go think.

-CW

June 15, 2002

NPC acted weird yesterday. Level fifty, one of the Paragons. The Beauty Paragon, I believe. She said that Amelia and I were meant to be. She could tell by looking at us. Just came up to me while we were at the market getting groceries. Told me to trust my heart. Got all heavy-handed with it. Almost out of character.

I’m afraid. Afraid to die. Afraid to fail and never see my son again. Afraid to trust someone and have it all be a cruel trick.

Amelia says not to worry.

How can she be so optimistic? We spent the day at a baseball game. Had to leave before the flying saucer got there, of course, but for a few hours it was like were just a normal couple. When you’re in love with someone, it feels like the world loves you too. Even Carousel somehow gave us a break. We strolled along the Riverwalk. It was a nice sabbatical from my normal existence where I am afraid all the time.

I had never even seen the Riverwalk. It doesn’t even make sense to be there, geographically. The river shouldn’t even exist in that spot. It turns out it is only there if you walk toward downtown from the baseball field. I wonder how big this place would be if you unfolded it. If you laid it out from end to end.

I told Amelia I would do anything for her. Even her quest. I won’t trust the Insider, but I will trust her.

-CW

July 30, 2002

Amelia has a theory about the Throughline. She says it’s like a video game. She thinks we have been forced into someone else’s game, their save file, she called it. I liken it to picking up a book halfway through. It’s hard to understand what’s happening if you don’t know what came before. ███ ████████████████████████████████████████████.

We don’t know the beginning of the story at all. The Throughline has always been super confusing. I thought that was because this is a horror story. Amelia says it wasn’t supposed to be like this. It’s like Carousel thinks we know what all of the players that came before have accomplished, that we are sharing information.

Honestly, we should have been sharing info. It’s hard when half the people here will attack you for going near their base and the other half are actively trying to find your base so they can steal your stuff.

She has been talking to the Insider. Silas appears to be in on it, though I can’t tell if he is a real person or just the world’s most infuriating telephone. She also sees clues everywhere. She gets information from NPCs at every turn.

She says the Insider is trying to figure out something they are calling ‘Project Rewind.’

The idea is to ‘Rewind’ the Throughline back to the beginning so that we can understand what the hell we are supposed to be doing. I’ve been working at it completing the Throughline for years. It doesn’t matter how strong we get. If you don’t know where you’ve been, you can’t know where you’re going.

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I only vaguely know much of anything. The strong group who wiped last year seemed to have some idea. Of course, that does us no good. We aren’t strong enough to rescue them. What were they doing messing around near the Highwayman anyway?

We let Cordelia in on our little secret. It’s nice to have a Final Girl in the know. She can really be an asset. ████████████████████████████████████████████.

-CW

November 15, 2002

I went through and censored any mention of the plot of the Throughline. Entire years of information are now gone from this journal. The last two Holders of the Atlas have been all but wiped from its pages. Amelia says that she and the Insider think the Throughline can be spoiled like an ordinary story, but they aren’t sure. I think they aren’t telling me something. That might be one reason for our inability to move forward in the story. I can’t say for sure. The information we had wasn’t exactly that helpful. The original Atlas Holder got here back in ’92. We even had some oral histories from people who got here in ’89, though not too much. They’re all gone now. The last vestiges of them have been hidden away for the ‘Highrollers’ to find.

Apparently, that’s an inside joke between Amelia and the Insider. The Highrollers are an elite group of players that we are supposed to be setting up to beat the Throughline and save us all. Highrollers is a better name than what they were called before: the Party of Promise. That was a little too dorky. Amelia is keeping things about Project Rewind hush-hush for now, even from me.

I would get upset, but she seems so thrilled to be making progress that I can’t help but be a little optimistic too. She talks to Silas like she is talking to an employee. You’d think she was the one in charge by the way the Insider listens to her. The Paragons greet her like they are all friends. Everyone loves her. She’s brighter than the sun in this place.

-CW

April 20, 2003

Brought a new group of players into the fold. They beat the Tutorial by themselves. They will be an asset to our group.

I asked Amelia if they were the Highrollers. She avoided the question. Guess not.

Something happened with the Throughline today. The Mayor seems ticked off at us for not completing the last storyline he pointed us to. Says we’ll have to wait for next year now. I have moved from confusion to frustration to apathy on this matter. We don’t have access to the Omen for the story he wants us to go on. Where are we supposed to find it? I think it is a portable Omen. Did some other team pick it up and then get postered?

What’s the point of leveling up if we can’t even get to the next story in the main plot?

The Throughline is getting more dangerous. Amelia says that players on other teams are overlevelling and causing the Throughline itself to get more difficult as compensation. She says we need to make an envoy to the other groups around Carousel to warn them against overlevelling, but I told her it was hopeless. Whatever trust existed a decade ago is long spent.

-CW

April 30, 2003

So, Amelia just let me in on the current plan. I am terrified of what might happen.

The Insider thinks it can distract Carousel indefinitely. I have no idea how it would do that. They aim to take the Throughline offline so that it doesn’t keep interfering with us. We won’t even be able to see it on the red wall. The insider says that to do that, they will have to prevent Silas from distributing many different ticket types, as those tend to have unpredictable results that could jeopardize Project Rewind.

I am hesitant to go along with this. They said they were getting rid of basic things like licenses and luggage tags. I can’t imagine that will be a good thing. I said that they could accidentally lead to a second cataclysm. They didn’t respond. It’s like they want that to happen.

-CW

June 4, 2003

I took a look at the missing poster wall today. Several dozen players just got put up there, including groups of players we had been feuding with. I asked Amelia if she knew anything about that and she got quiet. That means yes.

Those players were dangerous to us, but they were still people. How did the Insider even do it?

-CW

March 17, 2004

Not much has happened related to Project Rewind in the last year. I am writing today because the Insider finally figured it out. Carousel is sleeping, almost. The Throughline is not on the red wall anymore and the NPCs have quieted down. As I was warned, Silas has stopped handing out all manner of tickets now other than tropes, stat tickets, and the killer collectibles.

The Tutorial is in shambles. Could hardly call it a Tutorial now.

I am starting to wonder what else the Insider has done to change Carousel before we met.

Amelia tells me not to worry. That isn’t quite doing it for me anymore.

I got to level 80 last week. Finally managed to get the Witch Doctor AA. Now I can play a fun kind of Doctor, Amelia says. Now I can justify all those points I put in Moxie. Still no exit in sight. Amelia is catching up fast. We ate at a fancy French restaurant to celebrate. Didn’t even mind when the Soul Eaters showed up and we had to kill them. That’s romance in Carousel for you.

-CW

October 1, 2004

How could I not see it?

The clues were there the whole time. Amelia has been hinting at the problem with the Throughline this whole time and I have been willfully ignorant of the solution. She just came out and said it. I can’t avoid it now.

This is wrong. It’s against everything I stand for. I can’t argue with the logic, but if this is the cost of Project Rewind, I don’t know if I can help her.

I don’t have it in me. I can’t.

I am sick with the thought that my sweet, amazing Amelia could even go along with something like that, let alone pioneer it.

They have solidified their plan. They say it will take a decade or more to get operational. Project Rewind has started. How can I look at the faces of the players in our group, knowing what we have to do to them?

Amelia says to trust her, that she knows what it sounds like, but it is the only way. She talked to Samantha Cole about it. Even though the Paragons can’t exactly break character, it’s clear that Samantha is willing to make the sacrifice. She blames herself for getting all the players trapped here. Can’t argue with that logic, but still, she is willing to fall on her sword.

I guess I’ll have to do the same eventually.

-CW

December 11, 2006

Found a new base of operations. It seems too good to be true. A Lodge with enough rooms for over a hundred players. All we have to do is avoid entering a locked cabin. Apocalypses don’t even reach all the way out here. What a steal.

Been training our replacements. Soon, every player who lived in Carousel before the second cataclysm will have to take the quick way out. Adeline, William, and Arthur will be fine leaders once we’re gone. They don’t know anything they aren’t supposed to. The Throughline was so messed up by the time they arrived that they never saw more than a few stray plotlines of it. They should be fine.

Arthur is trying to become a Monster Hunter. If there is anyone who can do it, it is him. He reminds me of Tommy.

Of course, we will need someone to carry forward Project Rewind in our absence. The Insider has chosen Wallace, or whatever Ethan is calling himself nowadays. Even talks to him through the radio, more or less. I used my Psychiatrist tropes on him to make sure he was trustworthy. I think he is. He has the exact kind of cold, detached personality to be able to do what needs to be done. Plus, there is little danger of him making friends with the other players and not being able to go through with it. He’s… a character.

When it’s time to go, Winston will be the next Atlas Holder. I hope he has what it takes. Otherwise, our sacrifice will be in vain.

I have come to terms with it. Amelia says that we will need to be preserved to help beat the Throughline when the time comes. She talks about it like we are just going to sleep, to be awoken again one day in the future. She uses the words destiny and fate a lot. Carousel has not broken her.

It’ll be like we’re sleeping, she says over and over. She acts like I am afraid of death. I have died more times than I can remember. This is something different.

-CW

March 4, 2008

Winston has been doing his part. We are the only group in Carousel now. Once we figured out how to intercept players before the Tutorial, our numbers really started to take off.

Amelia and I went to all of our favorite places today. We watched baseball, went to the Riverwalk, and ate at the Italian place again.

We are going to leave together. Cordelia went a month ago. She chose the monster plant to the north. It sedates its victims with a hallucinogenic poison. Not a bad way to go out. We’re the only ones left who truly remember the Throughline. Our very presence threatens to reawaken Carousel. Hopefully, our sacrifice will be enough to fix things and Project Rewind will never need to be executed.

But I know that’s just an empty hope. I’ve always said that Carousel isn’t a place for happy thoughts and fairy dust.

I am leaving the Atlas in the hands of Winston now. He knows what to do.

I am not afraid anymore. I will simply be going on a long walk with my best friend. I know that there is a real chance we won’t ever be rescued, but I have to believe in the Highrollers. We’ve put in so much work to give them the best chance possible of succeeding.

I hope they don’t waste it.

Amelia is the love of my life, and I would love another fifty years with her, but if the past six are all we get, I still count myself the luckiest man in Carousel.

-CW & AW

July 2009

Preparations are being made to commence Project Rewind. Everything is moving as scheduled.

The Insider has a lead on an exploit for Rescue Tropes that will allow players to accelerate their levels. If the exploit turns out to be a punishable offense, then our plan will move forward as written. If not, at least we will have a way to conquer the most powerful storylines. We will be able to Rescue Amelia and the others and move forward with a different plan.

I believe the plan will work, however. As long as it doesn’t wake Carousel too early, we should be okay.

-Winston Ashwood, Esq.

October 2009

The exploit failed. There is good news, however.

We’ve discovered a new exploit for Rescue Tickets. Our Insider tells us to be cautious because he cannot keep Carousel distracted for too long, but the more we experiment, the more confident I am that we have found a way to increase our levels dramatically in the coming months. Testing continues. We must not tell the other players until we are sure it is safe.

And if it isn’t safe, we certainly mustn’t tell them.

The Monster Hunter continues to be a thorn in my side. I can see his jealousy. Curtis never let him see the Atlas and then he left it to me. I can feel a power play coming forward.

-Winston Ashwood, Esq.

January 2010

I was right to sense a power struggle. I need to consider giving them the Atlas before they just take it. I will need to rid it of any knowledge that might clue them into Project Rewind. I am certain they will not like their role in it.

Something Amelia was not able to tell Curtis, was that even though the Throughline was not on the red wall anymore, many players have accidentally stumbled upon knowledge related to it, even without meaning to. After they gain enough information, they are brought into the Throughline, even without their knowing it. Curtis did not have the constitution to deal with the implications of that.

All players with a connection to the Throughline must be taken off the board. Including myself.

Soon, I will be censoring the Atlas once again as all of the Holders have done before me. I will leave entries about Rescue Tropes and anything that does not give too much information about the Throughline or the Party of Promise for now. I will hide the pages for the proper eyes to find. If only I could think of a place to store them where only the Party of Promise will see them. These pages would be a boon to anyone trying to complete the Throughline, I imagine.

Personally, I never liked the ‘Highrollers’ moniker. It is all too casual.

I have been doing my duties according to Project Rewind for some years now. I have fortified my mind to prepare for the next stage. I have intentionally distanced myself from the players at the Lodge. Doing so makes my destiny more palatable, but also makes them not trust me.

I sincerely hope the worst does not happen. Silas gave me a trope to help me conceal my mission from even the most prying investigators. I can only hope it succeeds.

-Winston Ashwood, Esq.

~

I was speechless. Truly speechless. Whatever Project Rewind was, I needed to learn more about it. Luckily, Camden had the page marked for me. I turned to it. It was a single page. Its steps were written simply and without any more detail than needed.

I read it aloud.

Project Rewind

• Take the Throughline off the red wallpaper and keep Carousel sedated until Project Rewind has concluded.
• Find a punishable exploit for Rescue Tropes. This will trigger an immediate recall.
• After that, Silas will simply stop distributing Rescue Tropes. Without the ability to rescue postered players, the third cataclysm will arrive.
• The remaining players will be sent to fail various storylines at all levels. An equal distribution for the missing poster wall is optimal.
• The Insider will select a team, henceforth known as the Highrollers because they’re getting all the comps. This team will consist of at least one invitee, one guide, and one secret keeper. A single player can be all three, though that is not recommended.
• The Highrollers will be trained to understand how storylines work. They will be given knowledge of Secret Lore and will be made aware of the Insider.
• They will be directed toward a storyline with an out-of-bounds zone, preferably Permanent Vacancy. This must be done within the first few months of their arrival because otherwise the Highrollers risk being inadvertently brought into the Throughline, causing Project Rewind to fail.
• Once there, the Insider will trigger all manner of mobile Omens to ensure the pacification of all remaining players.
• Once the Highrollers are out-of-bounds and all other players have been postered, Project Rewind will come to fruition.
• The Insider will reinstate the Throughline, which will reset back to the beginning.
• The Highrollers will exit the out-of-bounds area. They will have every advantage our years of toil have set up for them.
• They will have the knowledge needed to win.
• They will have an invitee, a guide, and a secret keeper.
• They will have access to all ticket types, including Rescue tropes.
• They will have a well-stocked missing poster wall that they can use to accelerate their levels as they advance along the Throughline.
• With the Throughline reinstated, the Insider will go into hiding in an effort to escape the wrath of Carousel.
• The Highrollers will carry with them all of the hopes, dreams, and goodwill of those who came before them.

I wish them luck,

Amelia

~

Everything was a setup. Everything. I knew we were being guided around, but I could never imagine this.

My mind was ready to explode. Suddenly so much made sense. How had the players at the Lodge gone so long without progressing? How did they not even know what the main plot was?

It was kept from them!

The others finished reading just after I did. They had a similar reaction.

Even Dina was shaken, and she had been ready to watch the world burn since she got here.

“Did it say that it say that all the other players would be postered?” Antoine asked.

“Oh my god,” I said.

I pulled out my “Coming to a Theater Near You,” trope. I equipped it and was soon watching trailers in my mind’s eye.

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