peckenpaugh | THE UPPER LEVELS

up into the balconies

you climb The breathing boughs of that nightmare tree crowd into the upper balconies of the ruined auditorium. You have to duck and bend to get by them in places, sometimes through spaces that seem to grow smaller as you press through. These branches are warm to the touch, some of them uncomfortably so, pulsing with something that isn't quite life.

You've climbed these stairs more than once in your time here; to take your place after your sorting, to watch new students find their House, or perhaps just for an assembly. This building always seemed so sturdy, so safe. It was a place to go for shows, for celebrations, and hell, to just get out of class. Now, the floorboards creek precariously, split and splintering where vines have crept through. Benches are broken, overturned and tossed aside to make room for the auditorium's new king: the malignant maple. Up here, the glowing blue seeds hanging from branches are close enough to pluck. Those that have ripened litter the floor and railings, filling the balconies with an eerie blue twinkle.

The air is muggy, clogged by falling ash. It stinks of coal and sulfer. But you keep moving, anyway. Keep opening portals and pushing on. Just a little bit higher, and then maybe you'll be able to plunge into the depths.

and you fight By now there's a plan, and with it, a slowly growing brigade of people, of beings, of bugs, who are gathering to push back against inevitability.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Behind Armani and Merlin, the quartet of partygoers sinks further into the dirt, the blonde's high ponytail the only evidence she was ever there. The emergency test pattern rings louder and louder, the sound doubling and tripling as echoes bounce around the small space.

"I'm pretty sure this one's fallin' apart without out help!" Pouch shouts over the noise. His feet are already disappearing into the tongue and he rips them out with a loud schlorp. "Little Sister clearly doesn't wanna be saved this way."

The frozen Pocket's head slips into the ground, the lenses of her sunglasses pointed at the roof of the cave. "All right, time for Plan C!"

Pouch slaps a hand on both the boys' shoulders and, for just a moment, everything is ice cold. Merlin and Armani are transported like melting ice out of the memory, freezing then thawing in the Peckenpaugh auditorium. By the time they reconsolidate, Pouch is gone again.

[MEMORY COMPLETE! Merlin and Armani were pulled out by Pouch before Pocket's shame could swallow them whole. You can continue to thread here now that the ground isn't trying to eat you, tokens will follow soon!]

THE UPPER LEVELS

MEMORY: We Don't Talk About The Pony Party