Clever

Nightcrawler's team has managed to evade my kill-squads, for now. I understand some of you have had correspondence with Nightcrawler in the past. Let me tell you, Nightcrawler is a traitor to your cause, and more importantly, my cause. I'm sure you'd like to get a little payback.

If any of you have an idea of where he may be heading, I can redeploy my teams to take him down. He may be heading for a location you advised him about. It would make sense for Nightcrawler to deny heading for one location and then go there anyways.

Some of you have asked about what Nightcrawler's done, so I'll tell you. On the night of Thanksgiving, they were approached by what we suspect to be a trio of Runners, who wanted a ride. They shot and killed them when they realized who they were dealing with and just left the bodies by the side of the road. There were specific mentions of the Slender Man by one of the new passengers, whom we believe to have been in the process of being 'Indoctrinated', or hollowed, or whatever it is you people call it.

We know this because we've bugged every car and military vehicle our organization uses for the sake of keeping tabs on officers, soldiers, and their intentions. He's deliberately gone against orders, and I will not tolerate him going against them.

The Slender Man division of our organization is being shut down. We don't have the time or resources to deal with the matter. Besides, judging from what you people have been saying, the situation is well under control. Normally, my superiors wouldn't leave such a sensitive matter to irregulars, but, most of my men have all been killed, gone rogue, or been reassigned by this point, so I might as well finish things off and call it a day.

Again, if any of you may think you know where they are going, please, tell me.

I will exact revenge for you.

-Specter

Tracking You

Nightcrawler, your actions on the night of Thanksgiving have officially gone over the line.

You are being tracked now. You knew this would happen if you continued to disobey orders. Personnel shortages be damned, I will not have you doing this anymore. You have consistently proven to be an inept commander, and now, in light of you and Basroil Squad actively going rogue and disobeying orders, I have no other option.

Three kill-teams are after you now. You should be honored I'm bothering with any more than one. You've gone from a minor nuisance for me to an actual threat to the organization as a whole. You are directly acting against my orders, and I will not have it.

I want this to be known to you, Nightcrawler. You cannot run. You cannot hide. You cannot dodge those who have eyes and ears everywhere.

I've given them an order to take you alive. I want you to answer for this. Basroil Squad's lives are forfeit.

-Specter

See you guys.

B2 here. Basroil squad and Nightcrawler have stopped at a Starbucks. We're in civvie clothes right now, so we're incognito.

Well, except for the fact that everyone's packing a concealed 9mm.

Yes, for the record, we change in the cars. In shifts.

It's not fun.

Anyways, no sign of Twiggy since last night. Everyone's giving us odd looks because we've got someone watching every possible direction and entrance to the shop. We intend to move out after I'm done with the blogging, but, we've got our destination, and we're heading that way.

So, while I have the opportunity to say it: We are not to make any attempt to contact any of you until the Solstice. We're going to ground until then. After that, we'll head for (insert location here, not allowed to actually say because there's a big chance we're being watched by the Feds).

No idea what he means by the Solstice, but he says there's something in the works. His call, not mine.

So, for one solid month, we are to not make any contact with irregulars(you guys), Specter, and if we can avoid it, the Indoctrinated, Agents, and Special Agent Twig.

See you all later.

He's here

Nightcrawler here.

Basroil squad is keeping their distance from the target. We've blocked all of the doors, and everyone is keeping him in their fields of view to ensure he can't pull anything. He's blocking our way to the cars.

We have yet to open fire. No sign of Agents or Indoctrinated.

We'll make a run for the cars as soon as possible. I'm heading down to the basement now to grab any heavy weapons I can. Heavy machine guns, RPGs, anything.

Keep this in mind. I don't like you people. You've been running from, or fighting, this thing for too long. None of you are trustworthy.

And that makes it worse for me because I can't count on anyone else.

Going for the weapons now. Basroil's watching, he's standing still. Like he's taunting us.

DOUBLE SHIT

Clever bastard. This safehouse's blinder is broken too. We're officially in trouble.

Lovely.

-B2

SHIT

The blinder at the second safehouse is broken! We found Indoctrinated hiding inside! It's a trap!

We're on the move already! We're not sticking around for Twiggy to find us. We got the carbines, though, so this trip wasn't a complete waste. Doubling back to the other safehouse. No time to lose.

B2

Again?

Seriously, Specter, you're killing me here.

Anyways, good to hear about the laser carbines.

Also, uh, slight complication on our end guys. Mr. Twiggy has shown up ahead of schedule. Right out front of the safehouse. Mr. Mohawk was spotted as well, only, he looked like he was gearing up to take a shot at him from some distance away. We're bugging out and heading for the other safehouse right now. Everything's packed. Specter, if you're reading this, organize to have the carbines dropped at the other safehouse, not our current location. It's not safe here.

B2 out.

Misunderstandings, and driving a point home

Specter here.

It seems that Nightcrawler's previous actions are still rubbing the victims of this 'Slender Man' the wrong way. Some of you seem to be under the impression that he is going to continue to target 'runners.' Now, I'm his boss, and we've spoken at length about this - Nightcrawler is not to target the Runners any further. The Tulpa Effect theory is something that has been investigated extensively, and we're not even sure if this is the case.

Nightcrawler has officially been ordered to coordinate with and support you people, not engage. Those of you who are still distrustful of Nightcrawler and his remaining teams, I can't blame you. I also cannot personally take charge of the operation to ensure your trust because my hands are full dealing with a far more important concern. Rest assured, we're as much on your side as we possibly can be.

Anyways, to reiterate, Nightcrawler has been ordered to stop being a, quote-unquote, 'team-killing fucktard.' Whether or not he'll be able to restrain himself is another matter. If he continues to be a problem, Basroil Squad has been given full clearance to terminate him and Basroil One will be taking charge of the operation.

Oh, and Basroil? Those laser carbines you guys wanted lined up are almost ready. Hope they help. This is your last requisition order that we will be filling until we see results on your end.

Now, once again, I will ask you all to stop bothering me. Solve this problem yourselves, or die. One way or the other, we can't afford to send you any reinforcements, replacement scientists, or extra money. You're on your own until this job is done. To compensate for this, I am expecting you to coordinate and assist irregulars that have some experience with the Slender Man. So, those of you watching this blog? This is your time to shine. These are trained killers, so, point them at some of those 'husks' or 'Maskies', or whatever it is you people deal with.

Oh, and, no, they're not allowed to give you any of their lasers.

-Specter

Sorry for the silence on our end

Things have been a little hectic here. I was going to update on the 17th, but some stuff came up. Here's a bullet-point list to explain what's happened so far:

• Four indoctrinated with clubs and knives tried to break in the other night. We managed to kill them all, buried the bodies in shallow graves out back. We're not exactly in the suburbs, here, so nobody should find them easily.
• A member of my team was injured. B5 is resting up after our medic shot him up with morphine and made sure everything was alright. He'll be back on his feet in a matter of days.
• Beat Fallout: New Vegas, got the NCR ending(FUCK YEAH, NCR).
•  Also, Nightcrawler has been telling me not to update until just last night; Specter's orders, apparently.

Nightcrawler's at his wit's end. The Indoctrinated have been sent against us like this before, but usually we deal with individuals trying to capture a member of our little group that's been seperated from the rest of us, or trying to kill off a runner before we could get to them. A group of four is the largest we've dealt with at any one time in at least six months.

Also, we spotted someone poking around at a distance, with a rifle. Red jacket, mohawk, about six feet, had a set of binoculars. Ran off after a while.

Not Indoctrinated. Not Indoctrinated at all.

Hunter Squad still hasn't reported in, and the blinder's effectiveness will wear off in another week or so. We're mostly packed ahead of schedule, and everyone's back on alert after the attack two nights ago.

As for Lusk, well, Nightcrawler's not talking. After the Wyoming Incident, I can see why Specter would order him back. Took us ages to keep the whole thing under control three years ago; Had to kidnap a bunch of people, put hackers at work for days, impersonate a large group of people at once online, and a few haven't been taken off the 'undercover' job quite yet. It's tied down some resources indefinitely. Nightcrawler poking around Lusk, Wyoming wouldn't have been good. But, that's all in the past; we passed it off as a failed ARG, and it worked out for the most part.

Anyways, mohawk-guy hasn't been spotted a second time, but we're keeping our eyes open. A camera network's been laid out. Multiple overlapping fields of view with a real-time feed can't be avoided if he comes poking around again.

-B2

ZOMG HAXXORS

Seriously, Specter, I know you pretty much have clearance to do whatever you want, regarding our computer resources, but I would've given you the blog password if you'd just asked. You didn't need to go through the whole hacking thing.

Anyways, yeah, Basroil Two here. Last blog post was courtesy of Specter.

I'm not going to answer any more questions about our organization; I'm in enough trouble already, it seems. All I can say is, we're not government. We are a privately-funded organization dedicated to dealing with crap. I won't specify what kind, since Specter's getting his undies in a bunch. And sometimes dealing with crap involves doing stuff that's technically illegal. Like, say, murdering people to keep things quiet.

So, of course, drawing government attention is a stupid move. We do have government contacts, though. They have no idea who they are, but I suspect they know about them already.

Nightcrawler is...understandably upset. Just got a phone call from him this morning. He's pulling out of Lusk as per his orders and heading back now. Things are mostly quiet on our end, but the fact that Nightcrawler was attacked is still a concern. Especially for the higher-ups. First time a human has organized an attack on any of our field commanders without a seeming supernatural influence.

-B2

Specter here

Yes, Basroil Two, I hacked your precious little blog. Cry me a river.

Nightcrawler, you're officially becoming a damned nuisance. No, we will not allocate additional personnel. No, we will not allocate additional funds. No, we will not allocate additional equipment. No, we will not interfere with your operations, since this is entirely your call. But, damn it, do not go thinking you're the only one saving the world.

You are a low-priority division. How many times do I need to drill that into your head? We've got other problems to deal with. Your little Slender Man unit isn't going to be getting additional support because we have other problems. Stop trying to act like the god-damned Messiah - You are an ex-Marine assigned to the Slender Man division of our organization because we need someone with combat training and squad command experience on the job. 

Let's recap. You have completely lost track of most of your combat units, or outright gotten them killed. You have been actively recruiting without permission FROM A COLLECTION OF VICTIMS OF THE CREATURE YOU ARE FIGHTING. Your science teams are gone. You have no business leading this unit, and by making this blog in some desperate attempt to rally your remaining teams(a wholly inefficient method, I might add), you have damaged our organization's secrecy - Something we desperately need intact to function - and possibly brought the whole damned federal government down on our heads. And Basroil Squad isn't helping matters.

You know I sympathize with you, but I sympathized with the guys we had working that one incident with the TV hijacking in Wyoming three years ago. We eventually had to hack the site and SomethingAwful inconspicuously, and pass it all off as a failed ARG attempt/internet prank. I'm not doing that again. Too many people would notice, and we're not even sure if your Tulpa Effect theory actually works. You are killing people with no concrete reason to do so. THIS IS THE KIND OF ATTENTION WE DO NOT WANT. Coordinate with victims, but do not engage. And no more recruiting.

Stay the fuck away from Lusk, Wyoming, by the way. Get back on task as soon as you read this, and stop bothering me.

-Specter

PS. - Basroil Two, for crap's sake, do not go for the Mr. House ending. It's depressing as all hell.

Why we need to help you

Basroil Two here. Greenlight and zerombr have been attempting to reach Nightcrawler, and I'm sorry to tell you, the big guy is still out looking around Lusk, Tennessee. Assuming something didn't happen to him, at least. Hunter Squad still hasn't checked in, so, they're still MIA.

On that note, you people have no idea who you're dealing with. Nightcrawler isn't about to change his mind unless we have confirmation that your methods will work. We've attacked the creature directly before; Lost an entire squad doing it. We've had to resort to killing Indoctrinated and Runners because they're the ones feeding him. Is there any guarantee your own plans will work? If the Tulpa Effect is actually working here, then killing the people who actually believe it exists will work in getting rid of it, right? It makes sense.

If there's another way, I want that guarantee. I want you to give me the full, detailed explanation of why it would work. Nobody in our chain of command will settle for anything less. Before we started killing Runners, we were focusing on getting the Runners to safety, convincing them to  join us, training them to fight, and right after we got what we thought were enough of them, we tried to take this thing down. And that didn't work.

There's a way to kill the creature, and I'm not convinced you know what it is. I'm looking through the blogs, and it's not making sense to me anymore. Start making sense.


We're about at the halfway point for the blinder to stop working; A little while longer and that thing will be all over us. We're gearing up to head out in approximately two weeks.


Also, we've received word from Specter. He's basically Nightcrawler's boss, and by extension, our boss. Went to ground himself about six months ago.

Nightcrawler, if you're reading this out in Lusk, he ain't happy.

-Basroil Two

Fallout: New Vegas, Rants, and Hangovers

OK, so, Mr. Designated Driver here. Whole team's been recovering from yesterday's party. And the hangovers. And actually started doing their jobs, thank you assholes.

Name's Dave, last name a secret for my team's own safety from government agents who may be tracking us, ex-Army sniper, served in Iraq before getting rotated out and getting bogged down in this mess. Callsign is 'Basroil Two.' The whole team describes me as the resident 'stick in the mud.' Alternatively, they just call me a fun-killing jackass, but, hey, someone has to be the bad guy. Normally, my squad leader's on the ball and keeping things rolling, but he kind of gave in to the urge to have a little fun while Nightcrawler's away.

Anyways, my team's clearing some shit up, and putting out orders for junk food to get delivered. Not sure if grocery deliveries will come out this way, but, hey, worth finding out, right? Nightcrawler's too practical to be healthy, I swear to whatever-the-hell. MREs, MREs everywhere.

So, yeah. Nobody else cares about this kind of crap, but, I'm sort of the resident geek too. Blogging's not exactly a passion of mine, but, y'know what, Nightcrawler told us to update this periodically to try and get in touch with Hunter Squad and let them know we're lookin' for them, and also told us to sort of dig around. The organization had to go to ground a while ago, and we're really out of the loop on all the big names out there. The ones on the move, and the ones gearing up for a fight. Been browsing all your blogs, and lemme tell you, OCD is a bitch.

Spelling errors, you assholes. Fucking fix 'em. Don't give us more reasons to come after you guys.

Sorry, I pretty much specialized in vocabulary/spelling in high school. Walking Dictionary Syndrome, basically. When this is all over, I'll write a friggin' autobiography. Writing's always been a passion of mine, and it's difficult to keep rough drafts of anything when Mr. Stick friggin' wipes your god-damned hard drive every time the blinder stops working because of whatever-the-hell he does when he's in contact with electronics.

Personally, I don't buy the egghead's electromagnetism theory, but I ain't chalking it up to 'raw weirdness.' It's something else, I think. But, Nightcrawler's trying to focus almost exclusively on what he believes, and on what the eggheads say.

So yeah, observing blogs, and then ranting/updating here. Check and check.

In other news, Nightcrawler knows how to keep morale up. Working X-Box 360, and a copy of Fallout: New Vegas. Fuck yeah.

Basroil Two signing off. Need to go kick my squadmate in the nuts and hijack his seat on the couch.

PARTY!

What the fuck up, internet?

My boss Nightcrawler's out on his road trip lookin' for Lusk, so Basroil Squad's kicking back and relaxing while he's gone.

In other news, two of my squadmates are already drunk off their asses. I think I'll be joining them. We only need one guy to watch the camera feed, and have a volunteer. Sort of like a designated driver.

Later, internet! I'm off to get wasted for the next X hours!

Road Trip, and More Important News

Thanks to some of the information you Observers have given me, I think I have an idea of where I'm going.

I'm bound for Lusk, Tennessee. It's closer than Wyoming. I will investigate for as long as I can, and then move on to Lusk, Wyoming. Both towns warrant investigation. Unless this is just a wild goose chase meant to throw me off, I suspect that the piece of paper I recovered is referring to a town, and there are only two towns in America on record with the name 'Lusk', as SuspendedSerenity has noted. This will take some time. I will likely not be posting status updates for some time.

On another note, Basroil Squad has finally made contact, and is moving into my safehouse. They will be making their own status reports, and will try to get into contact with Hunter Squad during my absence.

Nightcrawler out.

'Lusk'

I searched around the location where the attacker fired his weapon. Venturing beyond the radius of the blinder device was a risk with the creature and any potential Indoctrinated possibly in the area, but I encountered nothing of importance until I reached the site where the shooter attacked me.

I found something: A strip of paper with the word 'Lusk' written on it. They obviously left it there for me. Whoever did this wants me to come after them.

To any of you observers, I am aware you find my recent actions distasteful, but this is potentially related to the creature. If it is not, it still warrants investigation. I will halt my operation for the sake of looking into this. I may require assistance.

So, to the point: Lusk. What is it? A person? A thing? Some other creature?

Any information can be helpful.

Nightcrawler out.

What the hell?

I'm alive. Recovered from my injury. The attacker didn't exactly stick around, so I haven't been able to figure out who they were. But, the marksman took a shot through the window, which I had open to keep an eye out for the creature and any Indoctrinated that may have decided to try and make a pass at the safehouse.

This was something else. Indoctrinated don't use firearms. Melee weapons at most. Knives and clubs when they're actively making an attempt to harm someone.

This marksman was not Indoctrinated.

Something else is going on.

Basroil and Hunter squads, I know you're out there. Make contact at the first possible opportunity.

marksman

damn it

typing with one hand

shot me through the window

arms hurt

safe right now

might change in a minute

Excuses and Reasoning

It isn't easy to kill a person. It's even harder to get your head back on straight after the damage is done. I can see some of you are outraged, and others are confused.

You all need to understand, I do this because it is necessary. Your belief fuels it. Your fear of it, the pain you feel when it finally takes you, the control you grant it when you become Indoctrinated, all of it gives it power. It fuels it.

By killing you, I hope to deprive it of its power. I intend to weaken it to the point where we can assault it directly. Or maybe it will simply wink out of existence. Either way, what I'm doing is a blessing to those that this creature pursues. What this thing does, it draws the pain out. It drives someone insane. It takes your mind and makes you a puppet. None of this is acceptable. It is unforgivable.

I'm trying to deny it that pleasure, and that sustenance. By doing both, I intend to make it feel the same fear it makes us feel.

The hunter will become the hunted, and the dawn will finally break. One way or another, this is going to end.

It has to.

Got him

The job's done.

One less runner to deal with.

Found a runner

We'll cut right to the chase, I've got somewhere to be.

SuspendedSerenity: Now, keep in mind, the device is only theorized to disrupt the creature's vision this way. There could be something we're missing entirely.

It's a real 'black box' scenario. We know what it does and how to use it, but we don't know exactly how it works or how to make another one. He may have left notes, but those will probably be at the other safehouse, and I can't guarantee whether or not I'll understand what I'm looking at. Let's just say I failed my High School Physics class at one point. When I leave to set myself up at the other safehouse, I'll look around. No guarantees, though.

I know that's not enough for you to go on, but he built it a specific way and told us to never mess with it after he figured out what worked, and most of my organization never bothered to work out the science behind it themselves. In other words, I've got nothing for you right now.

Sorry I can't be more help, but my mind is in another time and place(figuratively) at the moment.

coreypt002: What do you think? I know about it, and I believe in it. My options are limited, so I will go with the obvious solution. It is a sacrifice I am willing to make for the good of others, but only after anyone else who knows about it is gone.  and too many believe running is the answer, so as much as I hate it, it's a necessary evil.


Now, I have a lead on a runner in my area. I'm heading out. Twenty years old, seems to have been on the move for a while. Easy pickings.

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

Ask Nightcrawler

Well, it seems like I'll be here a while. The armory's well-stocked, so any more Indoctrinated that come my way, I can deal with. Internet connection is stable. Land lines and cell phones all work just fine. I am well-stocked, and set up. I'll probably be updating frequently, contrary to my original suspicion, if only to give myself something to do.

It has come to be my belief that, due to a simple lack of assistance, I have no other option than to coordinate my efforts with the Runners, if I am to make any meaningful contribution to dealing with the creature that we've made a mutual friend. I'm better at being 'Mission Control' than anything, but I am good at fighting. That won't do me any good when facing off against the creature itself, so to anyone observing this blog, don't go getting any ideas. We all saw what happened to Evan when he rushed it with a baseball bat. Gutsy, but useless.

But, Runners, I am going to tell you now, in no uncertain terms: I am not your friend. I am coordinating my efforts with you due to a simple lack of assistance and resources.

At any rate, I'm officially going to begin answering questions. What questions I can answer will be answered. The questions I cannot answer will be ignored. General responses will also be looked at and responded to if possible. On that note, we have a few commenters!

SuspendedSerenity: The creature has actually been tracking us for some time. It's what led to the creation of my organization. The Indoctrinated(or Husks as you call them) have actually been deployed against us in this capacity before. It knows we're after it, and we have been for a while. We could be totally wrong about its weakness, and it is simply humoring us by sending disposable minions at us, but I think we actually have it scared, on some level. This thing has to have some self-preservation instinct.

The countermeasures are something one of the science geeks we have on the payroll scratch-built: Electromagnetic radiation. Basically, just a powerful magnet running 24/7. The geek had a theory about it using magnetism to see, and so far it's seemed to be effective at keeping the creature away. It 'blinds' it, somehow, I think. I don't know all the technobabble behind it, but he thought it'd work, and so far it has. The creature eventually catches on and heads right for the 'blind spot' - Normally, this takes about a month, if we keep it running non-stop. The downside is, it's not portable, and it's not exactly cheap to power it. And if the power in your house dies, you won't be far behind. This is why the safehouses are normally so secure. We normally keep a watch out for Indoctrinated trying to break in and shut off the countermeasure, and so long as we move for a new safehouse right around the time the creature starts figuring things out, we're practically invulnerable. Leaving the boundary of the magnet just puts you in the thing's sights.

Of course, you'll also need to shield your gear - Computers, watches, alarm clocks, etc. We've taken appropriate measures for that. None of this is cheap, either. So, in other words, most of you won't be able to make it work out.

Chase: Again, I will be blunt. Do not mistake this for altruism. I need help; Without my kill-squads, I can't exactly go running around the continent looking for a bunch of runners that don't know the first thing about the Tulpa Effect. Any information you can give me is valuable - Specifically, locations. Any confirmed location of a runner is going to be extremely valuable to me.