Season 3 / Sylas Grey - "Til Death Do We Part" [Third Trial Projection]

MILGRAM

As is familiar by now, Sie peeks around the prison until they spy an inmate they have yet to take into a projection. Noticing Sylas, they perk up and trot over, waving politely.

“Um! Prisoner 005, Sylas Grey…! Your last projection is ready, if you’ll come along.” Not that it’s really much of an ‘if’…

Sylas blinks at them, taking a couple of seconds to actually acknowledge the statement. “Oh! …Oh, right! Those things! I forgot about those! Haha, whoops. Alright, let’s get this over with, aye?”

They take their responsibilities as seriously as ever as they begin to lead him towards the projection room. “Is there anything at all you think you might remember that you’d want to tell us beforehand…?”

“Umm…”

Again, there’s a certain vacuous nature to Sylas’ response. His brow furrows as he thinks about what he should say.

Then…

“Gosh, if y’see anythin’ about the Olympic Mascots, uh, don’t worry about that. Hahah!”

alright mate.

—

Again, Ei shoos you away so the chosen prisoner can be guided down the long hallway alone. By now it’s clear this walk is the only thing the wardens are so particular about keeping the prisoner alone for. Once they reach the courtroom, they don’t bother to keep you away as they set the prisoner up in the burnt chair as properly as they can. Perhaps it’s not worth the effort. Perhaps how you behave in the projections is a test in itself.

Regardless of their motives, a few of you make the trek yourselves today, finding the hallway only marginally less lonely with your company. The walls still seem stifling, the unnatural murmurs pressing in on you tighter. Sometimes you swear you glimpse a face or beckoning arm in the wall. Just tricks of the light.

But the courtroom is wide open, if barren, and there’s not much else to be uncomfortable about until the prisoner of the day is secured in place. A strange…—machine? Somehow enough of it remains in shadow to obscure any useful details—emerges from the wall to hover around the prisoner’s head, then everything but you and the wardens is swallowed by utter darkness. There’s a low murmur somewhere behind you.

It only lasts a moment, though. Once the shadow subsides, you find yourself seemingly somewhere else…

Sylas Grey

First a church, then a tropical island; where would Sylas’ wild ride take you next? Given that this was the third part of his mindscape, you were expecting something a bit more… grim. A bit more… revelatory. But, true to form, the man who threatens to out-clown the literal circus performer has whipped up, just for you, a…

Cartoon castle.

Y…es. Yes. This is a cartoon castle. It could not be more stereotypical if you tried. You look down at your hands, briefly concerned, but find them to be normal; it looks like you don’t have to worry about being cartoonified yourself. Even if your environment looks like you’ve been plopped down in an episode of some off-brand 90s Nickelodeon show, you yourself remain 3D.

Before you can think too heavily about your circumstances… you hear some bells a-jingling.

And up bounces Sylas himself, the man of the hour. Or a cartoon version of him. A cartoon jester in a cartoon world, a smile plastered across his rounded face. He’s dressed the part, complete with a touch you haven’t seen in a hot minute; in one hand he carries a stick with a miniature version of his head on one end. Now that’s CLASSIC jester fashion.

“G’day, g’day! Welcome to the Castle! Oh, you’ve come at a real swell time! The King and Queen just moved into their new castle, and they’re gonna get their new crowns today!”

Emily Lewenhock

Emily may have been making herself scarce, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t getting stir-crazy. Projections were… a bit personal, but she couldn’t say she was close enough to anyone for it to really be “okay” on that front.

But since these were always kind of a free-for-all regardless of the ethical implications. might as well stick with someone who seemed a bit safer. Maybe she’d even get a second (weird) tropical vacation. Orrr get sent to carpenter camp where something unfortunate was bound to happen with a circular saw. Either way.

She gave Sylas a little wave, like they were just crossing paths at a normal party or something. ’Sup.

…

Okay, well this was fine, too. She gave jester Sylas a little wave as well.

Chula - Suzune

You know, as far as people’s crimes went, Sylas was one of the people she didn’t actually know anything about, in regards to their murder. The thing was that, it was incredibly difficult to imagine him having done anything malicious. He was just so… Nervous and sweet, despite how tall and strong he seemed to be. They had plenty in common in terms of interests, too, so… Well. She almost wondered if she was maybe failing as a friend to have not shown up to support even once.

She’d had a couple of days to calm down after how… rough Vincent’s was. Surely, though, Sylas’s could not be any worse than that. At least for Suzune.

What her luck would have that she actually managed to catch him being ushered in, just in time to tag along. With… apparently Emily and Andrew, too. This was decent company, and she was sure they’d both take this as seriously as she would. Suzune gave everyone a wave and a small smile upon entry, but…

A cartoon castle. With a little jester Sylas. T-taking it seriously, huh? … It almost felt like there was little seriously here to even take, at least so far. Suzune giggled.

The only time she’d seen someone within their body’s own projection, it was Robert’s alters, who were coherent, responsive, and seemed like they would remember. She had no reason at present to believe Sylas would be any different, at least for now.

“Hi, Sylas-kun! Getting into character, huh? Tell me, was this castle recently built?” She grinned. Hey, honestly, she’d take the light-hearted vibes so far. That was a little win.

Andrew Edgeworth

Andrew isn’t exactly a “fan” of how routine the projections have become in the group’s daily life, yet still makes his way the projection room when he sees a certain dumbass getting corralled down the hall. He hates to admit it, but he’d like to try to soften the blow of a realization that he’s got blood on his hands for Sylas, if possible. There technically was the chance that the Australian’s inclusion was a total fluke, but an extremely distressed Sylas wouldn’t exactly be a walk in the park for the group’s wellbeing as a whole. It seems Emily and Suzune have chosen to tag along as well; easily one of the most preferrable arrangements of projection participants, and Andrew gives them both a formal, but pleasant nod.

He’s not sure what to expect, with the previous two Sylas projections having only a couple through-lines with vastly different settings.

…yeah, this entirely makes sense. Really, Sylas isn’t that much different in the real world.

He gives crayon jester Sylas a very tired half-smile.

Sylas Grey

“G’day, g’day, g’daaaaaaaay!!!” He cheefully waves back and wobbles the little staff around. He bops it on his own head once or twice and the end begins to glow like a nightlight before going back to normal. Very cutesy.

“That’s right! This is a brand new castle for the- Uh oh!!!”

He gasps dramatically.

“Argh! I’m such a scaredy-cat. I gotta to the castle, but that scary ol’ owl is lookin’ at me! I don’t want it staring at me with that big old eye… Can you do somethin’ about it? Pretty pleeeease?”

You turn to look. Outside of the castle there is a moat, a fancy horse-drawn carriage, and a scary ol’ owl perched on a nearby fence. Said owl has one big blue-rimmed eye that, if your eyes don’t deceive you, glows with a pulsing light. Six pulses, pause, three pulses, pause… Hm.

The owl doesn’t move, but its eye remains fixed on you. Sylas refuses to move into its field of view. Looking around, you can see that the carriage has a detachable banner on it, a wooden torch on its side, and various other things… Is there perhaps something you could use against the owl?

Emily Lewenhock

“That… is not a normal owl.” Yeah you needed a science degree to be sure about that one.

~~Emily had requested replacement glasses by now but I wanted the Look bear with me.~~

How would Sylas deal with a weird owl? Hammer? Owl spray? Anything seemed fair game in the circumstances.

She’ll check out those various other things.

Sylas Grey

Emily Lewenhock

Unfortunately it seems like the “various other things” means that there’s a quite uncharacteristic array of tacky plushies on the “dashboard” and some unspeakable decorations on the backside of the carriage.

“H-hey, don’t look at me! This is the royal carriage! I didn’t do the decorations myself!”

This one might be a dead end unless you want to throw a Tweetie Bird plush at the owl.

Chula - Suzune

That owl’s eyes? … Looked a little bit familiar, but. “Oh, that’s interesting. I don’t know about the pulsing, but I’m pretty sure that a lot of doorbell cameras have like. That blue rim thing.” That made her think. Suzune tilted her head. She steps closer and waves her hands in front of the owl’s face, from a safe distance of course. Owls weren’t as scary as water fowl, but they could still be a bit spooky. That said, she does get a closer look at that owl.

“If it keeps being still, maybe we can like. Put a sheet of paper or something in front of it to block its view?”

Sylas Grey

Chula - Suzune

“Doorbell…?”

Jestlas doesn’t seem to know that word. There’s a weird little twitch of his eye when she mentions it.

Meanwhile, the owl follows her hand. Now that she’s taking a closer look, it’s obvious that it doesn’t move like an organic creature. It tracks her hand with perfect, smooth motion.

Andrew Edgeworth

Yeah, the owl sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise whimsy-ful place…

“It does look like that…the banner on the carriage would be a good choice of covering.” He doesn’t like that he’s getting a similar vibe to Sylas’s social media usage being controlled, especially in conjunction with that ominous bell pattern. Let’s see if that banner can be pried loose in one piece. “If the owl starts moving around or attempting to attack, the torch seems like a good back-up plan for intimidation.”

Sylas Grey

Andrew Edgeworth

As you approach the carriage, you find…

It’s a stereotypical wooden carriage. Actually, it’s interesting to look at, but not for the reasons that were intended. Sylas is clearly a man with little knowledge about the world at large, but a huge amount of technical skill with woodworking. This carriage isn’t historically accurate in any way, but it’s impeccably constructed - and, more to the point, functional. Sylas’ brain has made a vehicle that would work. You have to give it to the guy. He’s a dipshit, but he’s not completely untalented. You’d wager that he has the skills to go quite far in the carpentry world if this thing is anything to go by.

But let’s not digress too much. There’s a banner on the side of the carriage which is probably meant to be a coat of arms. It’s got a simple checkered design with two grey knight pieces and two brown queen pieces on it. You can detach it with ease.

Chula - Suzune

“Well, its head moves, so it might be more like a regular security camera rather than a doorbell one. Blocking its vision might still work just fine! I’m not sure if it flies, but I’m a little… I don’t think I want to try to injure a bird, even if it’s a fake dream bird.” That said, she can look at other things in the meantime!!

Suzune peers down to look at the moat.

Sylas Grey

Chula - Suzune

The cartoonish water of the moat ripples.

(you blink. For a split second it isn’t water in a moat but water in a brand new lawn feature. Feelings that aren’t your own roil to the surface - what a tacky piece of shit - but, again, it’s only for a moment.)

And then it’s back to normal and nothing’s out of the ordinary.

Andrew Edgeworth

With having apparently self-designated himself the banner bearer, Andrew decides to carefully approach the owl to see if he can just toss it over the head without pomp and circumstance. If anyone’s gonna get mauled by the crayon projection owl, he might as well offer himself up. Neither the emblem nor the carriage construction have escaped his notice, though; an additional queen is new…

Sylas Grey

Andrew Edgeworth

Success! With the banner draped over the owl, it beeps a couple of times and shuts off.

“Yaaaaaaaaay! My heroooo! Andyyy my maaaannnndyyyy!!!!!”

“Now let’s not look at that scary owl any further, okay?! Let’s just head to the castle!!!”

Emily Lewenhock

“Not the decorations, just the building?” She ran a finger along the side of the carriage. She was no authority on woodworking or transportation devices either, but it seemed nice.

She’s… not too sure she was the best pick to be swinging any torches around, so she’d just try and give Andrew some backup if the owl needed to be wrapped up in there or something.

Chula - Suzune

“A lawn?” Suzune blinks, staring again at the moat in confusion. “Thanks Edgeworth-san!! I’m glad that worked.” Prevented them from needing to do something more violent.

Oh, but Sylas was urging them to continue on. “Ah, I… Ok! Hold on, before we do, just in case, I’ll take the torch? If this is like… more medieval metaphors and stuff, we might need a source of light. They might not have like… interior lighting or lamps going on, you know?” Suzune attempts to take the torch before they go in.

Sylas Grey

Chula - Suzune

She can take the torch. It’s, in theory, a flaming torch. But the light that the flame produces is static, not flickering like real fire should. It also doesn’t burn to touch if she sticks her hand in there for some reason.

Jestlas looks over. His face twitches. “Hey, what did you- huh? A-”

For a moment, reality -

twitches?

Babe, what was that?

Ah -

“A torch! Great idea!!! You’re a clever Trevor!!! Let’s goooooo!!!!”

He hurries you along. You thought you heard something. No, you thought you… thought something.

Strange.

but. anyway.

You walk up to the castle, across the drawbridge, and right up to the front gate…!

…

Which doesn’t open. Jestlas blinks a couple of times, then laughs nervously. You know that laugh. It’s the laugh someone makes when they’ve fucked up and they’re about to ask you to cover their ass. Ugh. Typical Sylas, huh?

“Oops! I… miiiiight have forgotten the keys! But! Don’t worry, I’m sure they can’t have gone far! Would y’mind finding them for me? I’m gonna poke around myself, but, shucks, y’know… I think you’re probably a bit more competent than me!!!”

Typical Sylas INDEED. But he isn’t wrong; as you look around, you can see conspicuous glints of light in this cartoon atmosphere. One from under a bush, one from the grass, one wedged between the chains of the drawbridge, one in the stones underfoot, and one… hey, that one’s stuck under Andy’s shoe!

(You can just collect them all in one post. You don’t have to dedicate five posts to collecting five keys.)

Andrew Edgeworth

“Did…you see something in the moat?” Andrew visibly cringes - just a bit - to the nickname, but is nonetheless ready to move on to the castle. A torch in a crayon and paper-themed world was probably fine…. “It’s no problem. Feel free to take the torch.”