Attack on the Library

I got the first good look at /S/'s stalker. The alarm systems were all tripped, and seconds later, the back doors of /S/'s study shattered.

You know... I honestly expected more. Secret notes, breaking into /S/'s home without leaving evidence... yet here he was, barging into glass doors like an amateur. The guy wore a black business suit, a hat, and some kind of black plastic mask. His eyes were blue. I have to admit, the little git is stronger than he looks - just by running into a door, he broke it. I reinforced door. All the security deterrents didn't work on him.

The Stalker smacked me. Really bloody hard. I'll get him for that. But before those useless army pricks The Agency sent us could react, he'd left a file on S's desk, and run back out the broken doors, into the arms of his Master. The Giant was just... there. Impassive. Every time I've seen it "in person", I could feel it's mood. You could tell if it was angry, or... something else. I'm not sure how to phrase it. But what I saw there felt much more like the old stories that S is researching.

Inhuman.
Inescapable
Inexplicable.

The Document.
It's full. Of pictures of Jennifer. S has locked himself away. I think he's crying. In the interests of privacy, I won't show you all the images. They're beyond stalker-ish. They all have date stamps and are mostly full of distortion. Date stamps read between 2007 and last month. She... doesn't look good. Her eyes are tired and she looks very thin. and cold.

We think Jennifer is in a basement. Concrete floor and walls. And since all the photographs seem to show the same surroundings, it's reasonable to think she hasn't seen much else in the nine years since her disappearance. She's also surrounded by a circle of black leaves in most images.

Other items were (surprise, surprise) some black leaves, and the following photo:

Of course, the Giant is present at the end of the boardwalk or path. Is this place where the black leaves are coming from?

I need to go. I think S is about to leave his Hovel Library. I don't know if he's okay...

-CJ <3

Doctor Josiah Mercier

...
A Colleague of mine.
And when I say colleague, I mean a blind moron who refers patients he can't "Fix" to me.

...
And when I say patients, I mean victims.

He's got another. Ramona Lake. He isn't letting me help her, the most I can do is give her this Google+ account and hope she reads my blog sooner rather than later. But reading her's already concerns me.

blog: Ramonatheloyalist.blogspot.co.uk

Signs of multi-stage exposure. Mercier is a brainless fool.

She's dying.
I have to do something.

Nothing else to report.

-/S/

Dossier; Recent sighting increases

--The following data was harvested from Optic Nerve files banks with the express permission of [Expunged], Optic Nerve Head Administrator.--
--Irrelevant or compromising information will be redacted.--

Files on the S-Man;

Appearance:

Tall Humanoid in Business Suit, Dark Robes, A Trenchcoat or occasionally a White Suit. Usually wears a hat, though this is not required to classify a phenomenon has S-Man related. Images;

Image taken from the files of [Redacted], Subject deceased as of 14-12-2012

Corrupted File parts Reconstructed from the damaged camera found during 661-A.
Owner currently institutionalized.

Two files recovered from Excursion five. All but one member of E-five team died. Location believed to be some kind of London-Fob. The sky appears to be some patch of [Redacted] nebula.

Figure generally appears between 7 and 10 feet tall. Depending on anger levels and requirements, the S-Man may appear with tentacles, both tendril- and branch-like, and behavior will range depending on anger-level and how threatened it may be.

[...]

Recently, the S-Man's activities have changed. Cases have been increasing both in frequency and in urgency.

Recently, Agent [Redacted] (Codename - The Survivor or /Survivor/), Technician CJ K[Redacted] (Codename Cpt. Kirk) and their team have been recording alterations in the S-Man. Cases have risen.

The S-Man's power appears to be rising. It has appeared across all continents, with increasing regularity. Seven (7) Optic Nerve teams in the last month [as of date 04-JUN-2015] have been attacked and killed by the Anomaly. Our weapons seem to be at best a mild hindrance, but almost entirely useless. Our best option is to go with Codename: /S/'s team's research - weaponry based on the S-Man's Substance, which seems to be able to injure or limit it.

Hundreds of files have been recorded and suppressed from around the world.
Linking to standard LE05 protocol readup files:

Alpha-Five: January 01 2015
Beta-Twelve: December 31 2012
Beta-Thirteen: February 18 2013
Alpha-Seven: January 20 2015
[Redacted]
[Redacted]
[Expunged]
Zeta-One: April 16 1975

[...]

Weaponry and defenses;
Use of the Substance
Electromagnetic Technology
Other lifeforms and anomalies with the same powers as the S-Man

Even this technology seems irrelevant at best and useless at worst. We are [Redacted]

"

The rest of this cannot be displayed. Apologies. We aren't allowed to distribute much of this information.

-/S/

Case: #019; Mary-Ann Barker

We have been researching cases of the Giant stalking people in recent times. Over the past three years, sightings have been increasing. A dossier on that increase will be posted as soon as possible.

19: Mary-Ann Barker;

[Error: Photo of Subject not found.]

Subject is believed to have first encountered the Giant during childhood.
Unfortunately, all evidence that was not retrieved from subject's childhood home were destroyed in a house fire on April 3rd, 2015. One photo remains.

During Janurary 2015, Subject encountered (HollowTree/The Giant/The Tall Man/The Quiet Phenomenon/The S-Man) again for the first time since childhood.
Following this, colleagues, friends and family describe her behavior as unusually reclusive, paranoid and easily enraged, frequently "Spending time off in those woods".

Diary Excerpt A--01

25/01/15
Diary,

I will make this brief. He's here, at the win at the win at the 
Shit, he's making me lose it... I've seen Him. His true form... He has shown me so much... The Black leaves. A world of darkness. The survivor, The next conduit. He is He is He is He is [...] Crap. He's making me repeat agagagag again. He's... not a God. He's not even Immortal. He's just so old, most of His weaknesses have been adapted to. [Name Removed, it was mine], You're important to Him. You're supposed to find all this. He... isn't happy to... you know. You will. He'll have told you. The Truth is, he's just a writhing mass of tetetetetetetetetetetet

helpme helpme helpme helpme helpUS. He's going to get me. I have three more entries after this, then I'm gone. Not... dead, I think, just another one gone withouououou [...] stop it. He won't stop until I'm gone... he takes and takes, and he never gives back. He speaks into me, controlsssssssss
After this, several pages of the diary are missing and all after that point are blank. This page is filled with scribbling. Subject implied spoken communication with the Giant, as I have experienced. Was Subject correct in predictions? If so, why would the S-Man give her that information? If not, why would she believe it? Did subject lose sanity from contact with the Giant's "True form", or was even that a delusion?

After this point, known timeline becomes unsure. What we do know is that four photos were taken on her phone which we could repair;

March 15: 2015. Close encounter with the Giant.

April 1st 2015. These photographs are the last data files on the phone. Victim's disappearance is believed to have followed closely afterwards. They show S-Man at an unusually close range, in an observing state.

 Notably, the Subject's coat was found. Although the fabric appeared to have been burnt and frayed slightly, one pocket was intact. Contents;
One small flashlight
One badly damaged notebook, covered in the Substance and unreadable
One broken key
Five black leaves
One heart-shaped locket, containing a picture of Jennifer.

Mary-Ann Barker is presumed dead until new information can surface.
The Giant is mobilizing. I shall attempt to write a full dossier soon.
Everyone is sleeping. Even CJ. I need to exitI need to exit

going for a walk will clear my head i think its a good idea a good idea a good idea.

shit.

-/S/

I'm doing science and I'm still alive

If that reference is lost on you; No cake for you.

I say science... more trial & error.
Repairs on the building are done. This is CJ, in case you can't tell from the informalities of writing or whatever /S/ would call it. He wanted to try something... Hold on, I'll go and get him so he can explain.

...

I'm gonna put all of /S/'s text in italics because he's special like that.
Special. Huh. Why do I get the feeling that isn't friendly?

Regardless, we saw the Giant again. I thought I would try something... something stupid, I will admit now, but I'd never really known the Creature to communicate from all of the stories and myths I had read. It stood in the Garden, beyond our security systems, head cocked almost disinterestedly to one side. I opened the back doors, and decided to wander over. What's the worst that could happen(!)

...

As I came closer to the Tall Man, it seemed too... re-size itself to accommodate my stature - tall for a human, but only about two-thirds of the Giant's height. Where was I? Oh yes; I stood in front of it. Keeping my distance, naturally, with about 12 meters between us. The Tall Man's head faced me, I felt as though, from it's... curious - no, surprised - body language, the Giant was confused, and perhaps somewhat afraid. Afraid. I can't believe I'm actually saying that - about a creature like the Giant. "It can't be afraid," I told myself, as though the fact that the Thing being afraid scared me the most.

It entered my personal space almost immediately after this. A single step was all that was required. It extended some... branch-like Arms... I'm not entirely sure what happened next. Gaps in my memory begin to form, but I remember being face-to-faceless with it.

In my previous entry, I described the Giant speaking into my head. This is a case of that.
I implored to know why it wanted me, and why it had waited all these years.
"You... inquire? Most do not. Although, given your character, perhaps to be expected,"
I asked again, more urgently. I'm not entirely sure why.
"You are a threat."
"To you?"
"This is correct, you are something new,"
"Then why is it not yet my time?"
"You fail to understand. Not all I follow are my enemies, rather their deaths are... required,"
"So you will not... destroy me until you have to?"
"This understanding is simplistic. However, it shall suffice."
"What are you?"
"I am simply-" --This is where my memory cuts out entirely. Whatever the Giant 'Said' during this period, I cannot remember it.--
The next thing I remember is landing roughly on well-cut grass. The Giant was gone. I'm left with no answers. What plans does it have which require me gone - or at least insane - and should I be stopping them? Far too many questions cloud my mind. I'll leave the rest of this writing to CJ. I'm sure she has many theories...

I've been failing to understand this. I worry that /S/ is going mad, or being hollowed out. Y'know why? Not because the thing spoke to him - though that in itself seems mad - it's that he didn't ask about Jennifer...


Other ideas I've had regard the Substance. The Giant produces it when injured, or damaged at least. Why would the Substance cause the Giant to disappear like that, while it was in full attack mode? The substance has definitive electromagnetic properties, but so does the Giant.

And why, when it usually seems so malevolent, does the Giant appear docile or perhaps even... remorseful? We need to work this out. And now... S is a threat to tall, dark and faceless? A middle-aged scientist-researcher with some pretty apparent psychological issues is even close to a match for that Eldritch Abomintion?!

...that is, if S is even still sane. We haven't seen the thing in the Business Suit recently. I don't know where it is. i don't know why it has suddenly decided to communicate. If it really can. IF S is... still... himself. We're monitoring him for signs of Hollowing.

-CJ