It gets harder to believe, but be honest

( Dream preamble )

[Action A, household and Williams Street

Crowe watches the news bulletin, and is concerned. Maybe that wasn't just a dream. But he was still here. Was this going to be like last Christmas? Was he going to be trapped in an illusion while everyone else wasn't? Crowe immediately runs off to find his non-droned housemates, and out onto the streets to talk to any neighbors or people passing by.]

Did you see that news report?

[Action B, high school and later downtown

The reactions he's getting are hostile and cold, people calling him a fake. It was confusing, hurtful, obviously another one of Mayfield's mind games. But he's not the only one getting this reaction, so he can see in school and out on the streets. Crowe's investigative intuition takes over as he tries to force down the panic. He'll be approaching other people who are getting the hostile reaction to being "fake".]

Hey... Can I ask you something?

[Action C, the porch of 1247 Williams, at night

It may be cold, but Crowe's sitting out on the porch, a candle lit on a small tablet next to him. He's writing a letter. Maybe he can't get through to people, but this may work. He;s working on two different ones - one to his his friends, and one to Silence. Feel free to approach or accost him, though.]

[A) Crowe is out for a walk today, looking exhausted as he sometimes does. Nightmares have been back after the zombie incident, so he hasn't been sleeping well. He yawns as he casually tosses papers to people's houses... but they're not going where they should be. They might be heading through your window, into the garden or right for your head. Oops.

B) After he's done doing his paper deliveries after school, Crowe will be out to check on all of his friends to make sure they're doing alright. Feel free to say he's stopping by your house, or that he meets you somewhere in town. Also, he'll be stopping by 846 Goldberg St. to see his two friends who live there, carrying a bag with him. Crowe's not much of a cook, but he's brought some dinner by! Knock knock.

---

C) Phone call, filtered from drones:]

Ah, h-hi everyone. I hope you're all recovering well after... all that. Um. Anyway. I was wondering... awhile ago, we used to play this crazy sport called Blitzball. Think of it as something like underwater rugby. It takes a lot of work, but it's really fun. W-We used to have a coach and a team for it, but they're pretty much all gone now... But, um, if anyone's interested, I'll teach you how to play. I don't know if we'll get enough for two teams, a-and we don't have the veteran coach and the proper ball, but I'm willing to try. If anyone's interested, maybe we can meet this weekend at the high school's indoor pool. Let me know.

1) Early this morning, Crowe is merrily delivering your newspapers! Maybe that's not all that strange - he has been a neighborhood paperboy for the last 16 months straight - but he's doing it with an unusual skip in his step, whistling a merry song. If he sees you, he'll give a friendly wave and say hi.

"'Morning, neighbor! This holiday is shaping up to be the best Fourth of July yet, don't you think?"

The creepiest thing drone!Crowe does is speak with an American accent, instead of his usual Irish one. Because he was born and raised in this perfect little place, after all!


2) Finished his route, Crowe stands in front of his house looking confused and almost on the edge of panic. He's been in Mayfield a long time and has only been droned once or twice, and it wasn't like this. He looks back to the house and around his neighborhood, holding his head, wondering what just happened.

"Wh-what...?"


3) By mid-day, Crowe's brain has been tearing itself in two between its personalities. It's so jarring that it's making him feel disoriented and ill. Housemates or visitors will find him going about his chores in a perky fashion (there's so much to do for the picnicking today, right?), only to drop whatever he might be holding, or stumble and grab the wall as the memories hit him like a sack of hammers. No! Holidays in Mayfield are terrible and he shouldn't be happy about it! This isn't right! Anyone passing by might find him outside, sitting on the half-finished yard next to the lawnmower, with his arms wrapped around his head. It hurt to think. since as soon as be convinced himself that he lived here and liked it, or that this wasn't where he is from at all, the opposite memories swallow him up.

[[OoC - I didn't know if the changes would be so severe or not, if it's not OK let me know, mods.]]

[Phone: no filters]

[There's a soft sigh before Crowe speaks.]

Things in this town are never easy. Every day here is a struggle in some way, even when things are "normal". We're kidnapped from our worlds, and the threat of us and our friends and comrades being hurt or droned at a moment's notice is always there. We're... we're subjected to all kinds of torture and terrible things, a-and I'd like to think, despite all that, we persevere. I-I know that with each other's support, we can make it though anything Mayfield does to us.

But to think that... that people out there willing to side with Grady makes me sick. Maybe some of you don't know any better. Maybe you're desperate. O-Or maybe you just want to see people suffer! I... I don't know what your excuse is, but to think you could side with a man who treats us like cattle, who drones and kills people without even blinking an eye, a man who treats us like criminals in a prison, I-I just... There's no reason for it! How can you think for a moment that he will reward you with anything? That he's really on your side? He's mad, he's delusional. I've seen it. A-And to think that you people would sell yourselves out to hurt the other people in this town, wh-who just want to get out or live peacefully, the fact that you would make things more difficult for the rest of us, I-I can't... What is wrong with you?! It's not us against each other! It should be us fighting them! Grady, the Mayor, the Postman, Lucy, Billy, whoever... Damnit, if we could all work together on this, all of us, those named included, maybe we could be out of here by now!

[There's a moment where he takes a few breaths, regaining his composure. Such explosions from Crowe are rare, and he's now realizing he's done it to the entire town.]

...I-I don't care what you do to me. Kill me again and again, torture me, do whatever you want. Until you either drone me permanently or keep me dead, Mayfield, I will fight against what is wrong in this town with every ounce I've got. I am going back out on that highway, and I will keep going until I find what it is out there that Grady doesn't want us to know. Even if I learn one new thing, one small clue, it's worth all the pain.

[The phone is slammed down. Not!family can find him packing a bag of supplies, including one of the handguns Mukuro used to hide around the house. He grabs the car keys since his bike is still parked out by the diner. Anyone who wants to talk to him will have to catch him before he heads back out, or as he stocks up on some food and first aide supplies in Mayfield before hitting the road.]

[Phone:]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not voting. I've torn my ballot up and thrown it away. Enough of this nonsense, yeah? I'm tired of them taking us for fools all the time.

Um. Anyway. Happy new year, everyone. January already... I suppose that means I'll be turning 17 soon.

[Sure, Crowe doesn't trust the ballots and their intent, for obvious reasons. But he's got another problem on his hands - he actually doesn't know what to vote for. He hates Mayfield, but so many of the people here meant a lot to him. He rally isn't sure what he wants to do. So how's he going to deal with this problem? By ignoring it completely! What a great idea.]

[Action:

Today Crowe will be found on his lawn, building a snow fort! It's getting very large and complicated, taking up most of the lawn, and he's building different rooms in it. He's not sure where he's going with it, but keeping him occupied. He's even started taking snow from the other yards on Williams Road to keep this thing going. Care to investigate/help/harass?

Later, in the evening, he'll be sitting inside it, all huddled up in some warm clothes and blankets. He has a lantern and he's reading a book. He built this fort, and now he might as well use it.]

[After all that, he's back in Mayfield. Not home, Mayfield. There was food and a comfortable bed, but still always the threat of death, brainwashing, and let's not forget the murderer who lived in the room next door to his.

This wasn't much better.

Crowe's chest still ached, since the nasty wound he received during one of this "reprogrammings" was still there. But at least now he could get it properly taken care of. Later. At some point.

The phone was ringing off the hook, leading Crowe to assume everyone had returned and was checking in. Were the people who were killed back as well? Did everyone else return with their horrible injuries, missing limbs? It takes awhile, but he finally gets to the phone. He speaks in a flat, quiet voice.]


Did everyone come back? Is... everyone alive? Please....


[Later, Crowe can be found outside. He still has to do his paper route after all. And he was positive that his coach would be back to his normal schedule now that he was back. Noticing the mail, and remembering how Mayfield works, he checks the mailbox. An envelope addressed to him is inside, containing a 3x5 photograph. He gives it a sad look, for several moments, then tucks it into his pocket.

Life in Mayfield goes on.]