The ONE Archives

ONE ([0.013]): Foreign Identities

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Statement of Kylie Harding, regarding an unusual and peculiar theatre website. Original statement given May 14, 2003, Given by Liam Plecak, September 27, 2016.

Statement begins.

ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)

To be brief, I never really got into the whole 'theatre' act. It's just really hard to get into the position of pretending to be someone you aren't, and... Frankly? I don't get the whole gig of plays. I find it easier to visualise the whole thing using books and fiction podcasts, while working at Epic Burger, a dead-end job in Connecticut. Never truly paid attention to any posters of some sorts. I didn't think I would draw more attention to it, though.

It started on a Saturday, and I was about to check out a book by the name of Experiment 21, that I heard a lot of my peers at my workplace recommending for me to read, at a local library here. Of course, the librarian, Gaty, was very nice, and we conversed a bit about the books we read, and a couple of podcasts such as Welcome to Night-Vale, Within the Wires, and Archive 81. Just as I was about to leave, Gaty told me about a production named Strangers on a Train, playing at Springwood Theatre. I told Gaty that I wasn't really invested in the whole turmoil of plays and acting, but Gaty insisted, urging me to go.

So, I decided, just this one time, that I wanted to go to a theatre in Connecticut. There weren't a lot of things I would rather be doing at the time, so I figured, "Why not give it a go? You might find something new!" So on my way home, I got on my computer, went on Google and searched the website for Springwood Theatre. As I browsed through their website. I figured it to be too simple; the titles, paragraphs and headings all clustered, the font being Arial on a white background. Some words were either too bright, or hard to see. Not only that, but the information given in each of the sections were awfully vague and indistinct to me.

As I dug deeper into the website, I noticed a bunch of strange links leading me to seemingly, an unusual and strange website. The background of the website was all pitch black and the letters seemed to be all jaded in a pure white colour; the font being Times New Roman. When I tried to look for the creator or company that ran this website, I felt my hair standing on end; my hand trembling on this mouse, as I fixed my gaze on the screen, realising that there was no name anywhere on this bizarre encounter on the Internet. I ran my hand through my hair, feeling a chill run down my spine. Part of me wondered if this was all just an elaborate joke, some sick joke some teenagers played, while the other part screamed out of pure dread. I breathed heavily, trying to remain calm and scroll more further down the website.

As I did, I found images of people standing side to side with porcelain masks on, around 7-10 years old and the masks were faceless, no features available except for the eyes, and they were all white. As I looked closer at the people, I noticed something...

They were all the same.

Their clothes were the same simple overalls and white sweatshirts, their eye colours were all yellow-ish brown and their hair were all just dirty blonde. Their skin was all different tones, but the texture was so wrong. So, so wrong. The skin was so smooth, unlike flesh and almost clean like some sort of new china doll up the shelf. The more I stared, the more I noticed they were shifting in appearance, but the eyes stayed the same,unblinking and wide-eyed. I shivered as I tried to avert my gaze from whatever the image was, but my brain had permanently engraved those eyes into my mind. Eventually, I hovered over the X, exiting, whatever the hell that website was; not wanting to pry any further.

After that incident, a few weeks passed, and I found myself in the library again, to return the book I read over the weekend. Only then, I noticed that the librarian was someone else other than Gaty. As I went to the counter to return my book and renew my library; I asked the new librarian where Gaty was, "Hey, did Gaty quit this job?" The new librarian smiled and said, "What do you mean? I am Gaty, you silly!" I noticed that "Gaty's" smile was a bit too wide, too long to be exact; her personality was too different from the Gaty I knew, and the only thing I recall from Gaty...

Were her eyes.

ARCHIVIST

Statement ends.

Uh, well, then... The records say here, that the history of the Springwood Theatre website—it used to be a porcelain mask shop, and all of the masks there were white and featureless, showing only their eyes. The masks, basically what they do is, replace the person, literally. Gaty died on May 21, 2003, and her body was never found; meaning that the Gaty after the Statement-giver went back to the library is not them. As for the people in the photo on the website online, I can't decipher who they once were, but I know they died before this Statement was given. The cause of death was unknown.

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Supplemental.

Texty told me that they have uncovered a website's URL while searching in the institute's security code. "www.planedatabase.com" which seemingly leads to requiring a username and a password. The website is plain, over a light grey background. I don't know where I can find a username and a password, but I have a feeling I have to find it in this institute, hopefully if the others aren't around, plotting to kill me at any moment. I mean they do. (nervous chuckle) This'll work.

Anyways, while Airy wasn't looking, and dropped his (stupid) keychains, I broke into Airy's office and found a bunch more of Stone's sticky notes, an envelope, a camera obscura and... an advertisement for some place called.... 'Sparklecare'? There are not enough leads to this, and the fourth one is nothing of value. I must keep looking.

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 a/n: i apologize  for  the long wait, i have been busy at school and dealt with a lot of personal stuff, and i'm sorry if the chapter is bad :( i'll make it up  by two chapters soon