Death of a Sage

Shaun's been Turned, by all appearances. In addition to several crazed comments and a new blog post, I received this email from him two hours ago.

Damn You, Return It. Damn You, Return It. Damn you, return it, damn you return it, damn you return itr damnyouretunr it damn yoiu return it dambn yuou return it damnyoiureturnitsdamnyoureturnitdambnreutururuurutgnnuureturnreturnreturnreturnreturnreturnreturnnnnnmnnnnnnnnn what the fuck

My only hope for him lies in that last addition. He might not be too fargone, instead being possessed for short periods rather than being fully changed. That said, this is the first occasion in which a Turned has remained in contact with people as opposed to leaving one message and disappearing. Perhaps, after all, he did establish contact, and is now a perfect conduit.

Update: I have received another email from Shaun claiming he is okay. I'm not sure if They got access to his account, or if this is part of his growing condition. Precautions will be taken either way.

The Turned awoke earlier today. She has no recollection of anything at all, but is showing signs of unintentional brain damage as a result of an imprecise attempt. She's experiencing mild Anterograde Amnesia in addition to the intended retrograde, and disorientation. At the very least, it's nice to not have to worry aboout her choking me or summoning It for a while. Another week of observation should let me decide whether or not it's safe to attempt to rebuild her memories. Out of her similarity to the girl from the fish blog, I've come to referring to her as Liz. Just another reason for M to shout at me, I suppose.

These recent happenings have led me to postpone all future testing until this gets resolved.

First Contact, plus complications

Fact: The Slender Man has been proven to have an intrinsic link with the human mind, exampled in both Its means of targeting and in the Turned.
Theory 1: Brain activity will alter during visitation.
Theory 2: Having one or more people present during a visitation will cause the brain activity change to be split between each person.
Theory 3: The more people present, the more powerful the visitation.
Theory 4: My personal presence will act as a damper on this brain activity.


Method 1: Three test subjects were given basic electroencephaography (EEG) equipment and data loggers, and placed in an elevator unit of different deserted buildings. Once inside, the subject set up the equipment, and waited for a visitation. This usually came within three hours. After ten seconds of exposure, the subject was instructed to ascend to a higher level using the elevator, wait for another visitation, then repeat. This would go on for a further time. Then, the subject would ascend to the top floor, where they would rendezvous with another test subject for the second stage of the experiment.

Results: All subjects showed some form of focal epileptiform discharges that began a short while before visitation began, and cut off immediately afterwards. Worth noting is that on one occasion, the data loggers recorded two simultaneous visitations between 20:08 and 20:10.

Method 2: The pair then entered the elevator together, and repeated the experiment. After four repetitions, the pair were to immediately leave the building. Two groups were armed with fire extinguishers, one with two doses of Midazolam.

Result 2: Anomalous. In a seemingly random pattern, severity of the abnormal activity varied between the pairs. In one instance, the activity was only observed in one individual. However, there is a faint overlying trend of the majority of activity remaining in one of the partners of the pair.

Side-result: Fire extinguisher was applied to one manifestation. Ineffective. The subject was then Moved to a rural welsh village - contact was only re-established two hours ago. Midazolam failed to induce amnesia in the pair that took it, but the relaxing effect of it did partially ward off the manifestation. It watched from a doorway as the two walked sauntered past it, remarkably cheerful due to the drug.

Result 3: Group activity did indeed cause the strength of the visitation to increase. The distance between manifestation and subject decreased dramatically when in pairs as opposed to singles, and it was only when two were aware of It when Martin could be Taken.

Result 4: inconclusive.

As I prepared for my own sub-experiment, we were attacked by The Taken. There were four of them. Joeseph and I arrived on the bottom floor only to have them ambush us after twenty minutes' wait. One of them managed to get into the elevator before the doors shut; a disshelved, blonde girl with a tattered grey "beanie" hat. Joeseph was surprisingly agile in the situation, taking his Epipen of tranquilliser and jamming it in our attacker's neck. It fell to the ground. As the doors opened to the top floor, They attacked again. Joeseph... remained behind to deal with them, slamming the ground floor button on his way out. His face...

No, apologies, this is purely documentary work. Must stick to facts.

I got to the bottom floor of the building and managed to drag the unconscious Turned to our transport. After taking her to a secure facility across town, I restrained it in a chair and applied anaesthetia. This particular chair was designed in use for The Last Resort, as such all necessary equipment to attempt a Cure was there. I then sent out an emergency message to my two colleagues, and debated on what to do: attempt the cure, dissect it, or destroy it. Each had its benefits - the biological changes to a Turned, if any, could shed some light of Its origin location. Destruction ensured it couldn't act as a conduit, or be of any further hazard.

Robert answered first, recommending I attempt to drug her into an interrogative state. The plan seemed acceptable, right up until it regained consciousness.

Then It arrived.

From the shadows, It stepped into the centre of the abandoned warehouse, seemingly revelling in the moment. They had always claimed Its additional limbs to be tentacles, but I can only describe them as insect-like; thin, jagged, and moving like feelers through the air. It stopped, turned to me, and began advancing. The Turned greeted it as Master, and began laughing uncontrollably.

Panic took hold over reason. I knew the Turned was the source, and the only thing I had to hand was a syringe full of Kainic Acid. A long, sharp, robust needle and a restrained Conduit. The needle found the familiar place, almost as if by reflex, all without me taking my eyes off the arrival. The laughing ceased, and something emanated from It. Like frustration. It charged towards me, faster than anything I've seen in my life, and... It touched me. Just before it flickered out of existence, some razor-sharp, finger-like tendril graved my chest. The burning sensation was incredible. After it subsided, I checked the Turned. It was still alive, miraculously. Later observations suggested I successfully applied the cure to the correct area.

I'll continue to observe it until I'm sure it is no longer a threat. I'm not sure how much kainic acid was injected, and at what rate, but if it comes out with any cognitive function at all I'll consider it miraculous.


On a personal note, today has been too eventful for my taste. I've tried calling Joeseph's number a dozen times, I keep receiving the "currently unavailable" message from O2. My nerves are shot, and I still had to deal with re-educating A1 on these matters. Why do all bad things have to come at all goddamn once?

Further progress

A1, perhaps better known as Becky, is recovering well. No visitations have occurred since her extraction, though she remains on edge and freaked out of what's left of her mind. However, previous memories are flooding back to her, and her mental fortitude is picking up remarkably quickly. She should be ready for release in a week or so.

Latest personal visitation remains the failed attempt of one in my room. What is most interesting are the details that I seemed to overlook at the time - my bedroom, being small, meant that the apparition, however brief, was limited to being six feet tall at the very most. Much smaller than most claim It to be. Similarly is the ringing sound, like silence amplified. I am certain the dull ringing of the quiet is louder where It attempted the manifestation, though that could be paranoia playing into things.

In fact, all of this could. I could have really just had a dream of a dream about The Doctor fighting "the Rajahn." Still, it felt too real, like It had tried to make impossible progress, resulting in the flickering form and more obvious entrance. I could feel my head pound as my strength was used to summon It, in ways beyond a simple dream. I wonder if such feelings will return during tomorrow's test.

I will be personally overseeing the fifth repetition. Let's see if I can meet It through the use of a conduit.

Results: The Last Resort

Fact: The Slender Man selects targets based on prior knowledge of It, having some way of knowing what minds are away of It and which are not.
Theory: It uses this same method to track victims.  Ergo, should an individual have those memories erased, It will cease to hunt them.

Eight test subjects were chosen based on the severity of their symptoms. Each case was despairing, paranoid, depressed and convinced they were about to die. The eight were randomly placed into two major categories, and then into Control pairings and treated pairings. Each of the eight were placed under anaesthesia, and the live tested individuals were given a 10mg/kg dose of Kainic Acid directly to their hippocampus. In each case, this caused rapid onset of retrograde amnesia. Category A patients were placed in their home environments, while category B patients were placed in new settings. This was to ensure whether or not environment bears a factor on treatment's success.

Control pairs A and B did not make it four days. Two were Taken before intervention could occur. One fled his home, and the final one was Taken within the hour before intervention arrived at her home.

Both live B subjects remain free of infection, as does subject A2. The fourth, subject A1, began exhibiting symptoms after a week. She was extracted before any harm could come to her, and is currently recovering under my personal care. Recollection trigger was accidental re-descovery of Marble Hornets. Symptoms progressed faster than in an ordinary case. A2 has been removed from his home environment to ensure similar results do not occur.

Conclusion: Perfect amnesia is a suitable cure to infection. However, even the slightest recollection causes It to return. Remaining three patients remain under observation. More research into less invasive treatment procedures is necessary.

Miscellanious Update 17/09/10

Control pairs A and B are dead, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for. Such was expected, but needless to say I'm disappointed by how quickly it happened. Not four days after testing began, they were taken. I suppose paranoia got the better of them and created a strong enough manifestation to attack them.

Meanwhile, the remaining two test pairs appear to be functioning normally. Of the four of them, however, A1's observed behaviour has become erratic, signalling possible re-infection of knowledge. The trial will continue for a further week before definitive test results can be declared. It will then take another month to see if Kainic Acid infusions are required periodically, or if a single dose is enough to be rid of It permanently. I personally hope that is not the case - my supply is extremely limited, and securing enough for the test pair was a struggle in itself.

Despite the seeming Success of The Last Resort, I still have to continue research if I have any hope of engineering less extreme remedies. On the plus side, this test has revealed just how easy it is to procure willing test subjects through incredibly easy means. in fact, I have already launched preparations for First Contact. It seems fortunate that I am so close to a mental hospital; any apparatus will be simple enough to acquire.

Progress has been made on procuring answers from M, though. Apparently walking towards a manifestation is sure to cause death, though as of yet I have no ideas how this fits in with my theory. It's a simple enough scenario to replicate ad finitum, perhaps I can observe anything unusual that may explain why It cannot harm one until they approach It.


On a less hopeful note, my own manifestations have increased in severity and frequency. The last sighting was three days ago, from a severely reduced distance. While it lasted little more than a second, it was still enough to confirm my suspicions - I am now a target, and my defences are beginning to fail.

Progress

The Imprint theory is, at present, the most likely scenario, not to mention the one with the most hopeful implications. As such, I will assume that the items proposed in my previous entry, are by and large, true.

This still leaves me far from any useful deductions, however.

By far my biggest hurdle is understanding the method by which It can sense Its surroundings. It has no notable sensory organs, and does not navigate through touch. One possibility is that It uses Its victims to process sensory information for Itself, or even by using thoughts and emotions in a similar manner to how we use light - creating a sense of vision by detecting the strength of the impulses to imagine Its surroundings.

However, considering Its existence as a manifested creature, the more likely scenario is that any physical interactions are purposeful illusions. There is a high probability that It can only exist when the victim causing the manifestation believes it exists, through vision or imagination of Its placement in the surroundings. This would explain why all three of my sightings have been at far range - my lack of conviction of Its existence produces weak, half-illusions, capable of little more than brief appearances from far away. The worrying thing to note is that this distance is slowly closing.

For all the doom and gloom of this entry, I have discovered a means of permanent protection against It. Regrettably, it hasn't yet been proven, and requires testing. Not to mention it is essentially the same as suicide.

Meanwhile, it seems Shaun is going to attempt to communicate with his own manifestation. The results will be intriguing, if he manages to get out alive. If he truly believes it to be perfectly real, and creates a scenario where he directly interacts with It, he could very well never make it back to upload his results.

For now, M seems the most likely source of reliable information. Regrettably, I am just one of many bombarding him for answers, and he barely updates once a week as it is.

Testing of The Last Resort should be concluded within a fortnight. I have already begun preparations, and it seems I have five potential test subjects, in addition to the three I recruited previously.

Sighting Update 05/09/10

I've decided to pair my Sighting notes with the rest of these notes. It simply makes sense to combine all available data if I'm of any hope to survive this thing.

Whatever It wants, it appears my immunity is continuing strong. However, signs of it slipping extend beyond the paranoid feeling of my trip to the Hotel - at approximately 10:30pm on Wednesday, I glanced up at an apartment block in the city centre. Of all the rooms in all 14-something stories of the complex, only one room was lit. And in the window stood a dark figure with a pale white head. As I looked back after a few seconds, the light was out.

This is the first time that I have possibly observed a direct manifestation of The Slender Man. I am still adamant that my Imprint Theory holds true, and this observation would back it up - while I still appear to be protected from Its influence by my deadened emotions and general lack of use as a Turned, my continued research into Its affairs has begun to cement Its existence as a fact into my brain. And the stronger I hold this fact as a truth, the stronger the manifestation will be. How long will it remain a shadow in a window, I wonder. Could it be days before I start seeing something twice my size standing beneath a lamppost?

Or, y'know, I could have just seen some office lackey gazing out at the world before returning to the drudgery of perfectly scheduled napping. I hate my pathetic, paranoid little brain.

Ancient Being Theory

I spent the past few days researching the dear departed Detective Strahm. What happened to him is of little immediate concern to me - the guy was a self-proclaimed dick, and he didn't do anyone any favours by being a good little puppet and following the Path Slendy forged for him. What is worth noting, though, is that he did a lot of legwork for me in attempting to unravel this mystery by himself.

In the interests of conserving space, I'm leaving the link here. I was never one for footnotes, anyway, and I don't exactly intend on my research being published post-humurously.

Here, Strahm seems convinced that The Slender Man has been operating throughout the ages, citing evidence such as Hans Freckenberg's "Der Ritter." It is also worth noting that he describes some blog accounts of Slender activity as games buying into the Slender mythos. Yet, should you look past online documentaries and begin doing research of your own, it becomes apparent that all traditional data reservoirs (Such as old reliable Wiki pages) have no mention of any Slender-linked individuals, events, or otherwise. To any observer, it would appear that these were utter fabrications, segments of the Slender Fascination that sprouted last year.

However, the remainder of this theory will operate under the assumption that those who attempted to make solid documentation of this evidence were made targets.

Going by Strahm's notes, it becomes clear that there are two clear periods of centralised Slender activity: The middle ages, particularly in continental europe, and today's modern world. This suggests any of the following:

1. Whatever It has to gain by taking humans, it required more than usual in these two time frames
2. The makeup of society in these two time frames made hunting easier, leading to a feeding frenzy
3. The Slender Man remains dormant for a long period of time - perhaps a millenium or two - and then awakens to hunt as much as possible before dormancy begins anew.

It's not until that last point that I realise Ancient Being Theory would mean that It would abide by the same laws as Stephen King's IT. Perhaps that is another example of an Imprint?

Regardless, this theory would at least bring a little hope to this scenario: it would have to be a physical, mortal entity. All of Its tricks and hunting techniques would be down to skill and illusion as opposed to genuine supernatural abilities. This links in to Strahm's theory that It selects Its victims based on who has or has not made contact with It in the past. Again, to a casual observer, this would appear the natural link - knowing about It makes It want to come and find you. However, apply everyone's favourite logical razor, and it makes far more sense that it is instead an elaborate mind game from something superior. Make yourself appear omniscient, omnipotent and unkillable and people will fear you all the more. By the end of it, Strahm was even convinced It could see through time.

Its hunting of us would be the equivalent of a human hunting a wild beast - the much more evolved being would have methods and thought processes so highly evolved the prey would see it as nothing short of unbeatable.

History has shown the contrary.

Mental Intruder Theory

Following on from m's initial statement that It was born after the viral meme of The Slender Man reached its peak. However, I propose that we didn't come up with the meme. It used us. Elements of The Slender Man have been rampant throughout history, increasignly so in recent times.
 
The Tall Man from Yahtzee's Chzo mythos. A tall, faceless demon that can seemingly teleport by existing on a different plane, existing only to kill, brutally.
Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas. A tall, suited figure that is apparently the most terrifying creature in all realities.
The popular game The World Ends With You. Here it is more abstract - Reapers follow specific rules to hunt the participants of a game, unable to fight near specific symbols and, after toying with the prey for a week, move in for the kill on the final day.

Something has been trying to utilise The Philip Effect before Slender Man. These details are present in so many different medias. The bottom line is that there is a strong possibility that this creature has invaded the collective subconscious of humanity, and has only just achieved form.

Though it is possible that we somehow created him using all of these snippets of Fear. However, I doubt it - few ever played the Chzo games, and fewer still make the link between the two antagonists.

Regardless, these tie in to other aspects that actually have some bearing on the current situation.

The first is The Rules. So far, confirmed weaknesses have been asserted to be part of It's design. Fooling it, outsmarting it. However, it is more than likely that they're looking at this the wrong way. Apply Occam's Razor - the simplest answer is not that you have discovered ways of out-thinking It. Rather, you have inadvertently discovered the rules by which it is bound to. The height factor, for example, could tie in to a forbiddance from going higher than a certain point. The Operator Symbols function much like the reaper's ensignia from TWEWY - it creates a "safe zone," so to speak. Every means we have of avoiding It is just a means of playing by Its Game.

Why, then, does it follow these rules? Is it a side effect of being born through the flexible contours of human imagination? Possibly.More likely solution.

To sustain its manifestation in the world, It requires people to believe in its existence. And using Fear is the most effective method of sustaining this belief - fear's feral nature is unquestioning. You fear something because it is a threat to you. You don't quesiton it, you simply fear it. And that is why he abides these rules. The perfect recipe for one terrified human. The stronger the fear, the more solid the manifestation. Consider this: Why does it take so long for him to begin Touching people? And why does it take further still before he attempts to take them? And why does this time vary from person to person?

The answer, of course, is the fear. It's been shown throughout the blogs - the more terrified people are taken first, some so utterly petrified that It can harvest them in our reality. On the flipside, those that couldn't be caused to fear It enough were instead forced to believe in It strongly enough for it to take them. Like Zeke.

The Game reaches a peak, and then The Reaping begins. Which brings me to my final point: Achieving Victory.

There are many ways It can win. It can scare a person until the manifestation is powerful enough for an on-the-spot attack. It can Turn them, such as with Andrew. Finally, though, it can Invite Them In.

These invitations are obvious traps. However, very rarely are they designed to heighten fear via a false sense of safety. To list those known so far:

Elizabeth's Diner.
Anthony's tree.
Tim's house.
Zeke's Warehouse.

Perhaps it's the dread of one facing It that solidifies Its existence. During The Chase, manifestations are random, weakening their effect. Come to expect one, and it could gain strength. Regardless, The Rules are immediately ignored after the invitation has been accepted, adding weight to the suspicion they are self-inflicted by It.

Finally is the process by which a person is Turned. It somehow begins clawing the contents of a mind out of a person, attacking their sanity and force of will. Eventually, all that is left is an obedient shell. The process of attacking a mind in itself suggests it is an element of the human consciousness, but it goes deeper. Numerous code phrases are used by those being Turned as part of their mental degredation and natural attempts to outdo an intruding presence. One such phrase is "it hurts," the phrase used throughout the Chzo mythos by those under the influence of either The Tall Man or other demonic entities intrinsically linked with it. If It had been attempting to influence Yahtzee to create him via Philip Effect, it may well have caused "it hurts" to make it into the game.

Proving this theory Pushing forward with this theory would mean countermeasures would revolve around forcing Imprints on It and defending against Its own imprints.

Observations

At this point, I have to assume Mat shan't be helping. Apparently, people don't much like it when you make it sound like you know more about their friends' deaths than they do. Nor do they act any less hostile when you then imply that they were acting stupid.

Regardless, I need to push on with my theories. Even if I do have some form of shielding against its manifestations, it'll find some way around it eventually. Like appearing far in the distance, or having one of its Turned to leave me a present. And I'd rather like to have something to fight back before that happens.

Right, onto work.

The Slender Man has the following at his disposal:

• A sense of teleportation
• Some method of sensing a victim beyond human senses
• Moderate shape shifting capabilities
• A series of slave-like individuals to carry out actions that require a constant physical form or human interaction
• A shroud of enigma potentially hiding much detail

The actual process of taking a victim varies. Some are killed in fires started by it, some simply vanish, and others are mauled in grizzly fashions. This implies it can also possess pyrokinetic powers, and inhuman strength, though it is equally likely it is, instead, extremely manipulative of its surroundings, using height to act in place of strength and surrounding materials to produce the flames.

Coupled with this, its weaknesses:

•  For whatever reason, it cannot attack those above a certain altitude. Cause unknown.
• As long as it is under observation, or believes itself to be under observation, it is forced to obey the laws of time and space of this dimension.
• Its assumptions of human nature draw it to, apparently, seek victims in lit areas over dark ones. 

 I hope to God that list is longer than we currently know it to be. The last one is a recent development, as proven by Shaun on Testing 1,2,3. Hopefully I can gain his assistance at some point or another.

Taking these facts into consideration, I can begin to work. Likely Scenario Profiles can be formed. The Imprint Theory has already been posted as my email to M.

Must look into Strahm's Finale scenario. Crime report lists unknown fatality killed by a shotgun belonging to Strahm, opening the potential of Possession potentials. It's entirely possible that The Slender Man is the result of something binding itself to a host, and the corpse found was the result of Strahm firing his shotgun at it. The host died, and Strahm took its place. In which case, victory would require finding a way to fight the binding process.

Enough idle speculation. Research before theorising.