Chapter Text
“Tim, I’m fine-- If you want I can--”
“You stopped existing for ten seconds yesterday.” Tim refuted, “I think taking a break from this stuff is warranted.”
“Well I don’t want you to stop existing either!” Martin tried to argue, watching as Tim reached in with gloved hands into the Box of Horrors (aptly named by Tim himself), “Or worse!”
“It’s most likely going to happen anyways.” Tim said, pulling out a small, black pouch that had something clacking inside of it, “Might even happen.. today. Depending on what Sasha is watching on that USB.”
In all actuality, Tim just wanted to distract himself from the idea that Sasha might be in danger of getting hurt somehow from that USB. If it’s anything like Sergey Ushanka, then it should just be disturbing and nothing else, but still. It was a lingering feeling that refused to go away.
He didn’t want to risk losing her to this bullshit.
Tim redirected his attention to the pouch and opened it up, peering inside.
“Dice.” Martin observed as he shook the things into his hand.
“Maybe they’re Jumanji pieces.” Tim joked, before carefully ungloving one hand to hold them.
Nothing happened.
Tim decided to roll them to see if that activated whatever supernatural effect they had.
Snake eyes.
“Guess I have to cancel my trip to Vegas.” Tim joked again, picking the dice up again.
Martin hummed, thinking, “Roll them again?”
He did.
Snake eyes.
“Hm.” Tim picked the dice up again and rolled them.
Snake eyes.
“There’s no way that’s it.” Martin mumbled, looking at the dice with disbelief.
Tim shrugged, putting them back in the pouch, “Seems it is.”
The moment Tim put the dice away, Sasha came back from the storage room she decided to open the USB on, the laptop tucked under her shoulder, the USB in her hand, and a haunted look on her face.
“Everything alright?” Tim immediately stood, concerned.
Sasha quietly set her laptop down on a desk, snapped the USB in half, and threw it away. “Yeah. Fine. Just trauma.”
“What was on it?” Martin asked, gently setting the pouch of dice in the “Done Testing” box.
Sasha furrowed her brow, as if trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say, before saying, “Uh… College Band.”
“Terrifying.” Tim commented sarcastically.
“And blood. And vomiting intestines.”
Tim retracted his sarcasm with an, “Oh.”
Sasha sighed and opened a drawer on her desk, “It also infected my laptop with a virus that bricked it entirely, so,” She grabbed a hammer she just had in her desk and raised it over the offending computer in question.
“Do that outside, please.”
Jon stood at the doorway of his office for a moment while he chided Sasha, before he stood up straighter and looked at everyone else in the room, “Is.. everything all right in here otherwise?”
“Just finished testing the unluckiest dice in the world, and Sasha saw gore.” Tim replied, “I’m not sure if there’s anything else small that we could test--”
“Then..” Jon interrupted Tim, paused, and then said, “We move on to the larger objects.” He took a breath and moved towards the “Box of Horrors”, looking inside with apprehension.
“Might as well.” Sasha set her hammer down, “It’s only a matter of time before we have to.”
“What did you have in mind..?” Martin asked, a bit nervous.
Jon looked inside, trying to hide his grimaced expression when his gaze passed over the books, before landing on something, “The terrarium, perhaps?”
“Well.. that doesn’t sound too bad?” Martin said, standing up, “I’ll--”
“No, I’m going to be doing this one.” Jon raised a hand to stop Martin.
Martin blinked, a bit frustrated, “Look I-- I freaked out yesterday, yes, but I’d rather do it than having you three go through that yourselves. I don’t want--”
“It’s not just that, Martin.” Jon cut him off again, before looking at the terrarium and, as a whole, the box, “I’ve been.. I haven’t been doing my part in this. I need to do something, despite my… apprehension.”
“Jon..”
“So you’ll be trapped in a terrarium, or whatever that thing is going to do?” Tim asked, looking in the box with Jon.
“Yes. I’ll handle the terrarium.” Jon answered, “And anything else we’re unsure about touching. I’d rather something bad happen to me than to all of you.”
“Jon--” Martin started to speak, but shut himself up, thinking it was pointless to try and talk him out of this.
Tim pulled another glove over his hand, “So should we get it out now, or…?”
“In case something happens, I’d rather do this alone.” Jon said, “We’ve been lucky so far, but--”
“Jon, we both know that’s a stupid idea.” Sasha argued, “If this does do something to you, then we should be there to help. You aren’t going to bear the cross of all of this.”
“Sasha, as Head Archivist--”
“Don’t try to pull rank on this, okay?” Sasha replied, getting close to Jon, “Let us help. We’ll do this together, right now. Whatever happens, happens, and we’ll face it together. Just like with Prentiss.”
…
“You can do whatever the final step is, if you want.” Sasha conceded, “If you’re that worried.”
“… That makes sense.” Jon compromised.
So, Tim and Sasha got the terrarium out much to his chagrin.
It was fairly large, having taken up most of the already large box, and had a couple of items inside of it that everyone took out once the terrarium was set on an empty desk; a packet of seeds, a tub of clay, and an information pamphlet.
“I’ll read it.” Jon volunteered, picking up the pamphlet and beginning by reading the front cover, “CLAY!ALIVE™ TERRARIUM KIT: Make your own ecosystem.”
“Evil kid’s toy, got it.” Tim muttered, scrutinizing the packet of seeds he got.
Flipping the page, Jon kept on, “Have you ever wanted to create something living and thriving? Now you can! With this TERARRIUM KIT, you’ll be able to create life and watch it survive in a perfect ecosystem you create-- This just feels disturbing reading it.”
“I’ll say.” Sasha looked at the tub of clay, “What are the instructions?”
“Step 1. Line the bottom of your terrarium with some kind of soil. It can be anything depending on what kind of world you want to create, but a good beginner’s earth could be potting soil from your local supermarket. Be sure to leave a divot of some kind for your water source.”
Martin went to get just that, running to the shops for potting soil (as well as getting something for everyone to eat), and coming back so they could carefully scoop some of the dirt into the terrarium.
“It feels odd to stick your hand in there,” Sasha noted, “Like you’re entering a different air pressure or something.”
As soon as that was done, Jon continued, “Step 2. Plant your CLAY!ALIVE Tree and Plants™ seeds into the soil by sprinkling them from the packet. These will eventually grow into beautiful tiny trees and fruit-bearing plants that your creatures will eat from!”
Tim did just that, gently opening the packet and sprinkling the tiny seeds across the soil until it was empty. He chuckled as he did, jokingly commenting, “Never thought we’d be doing a school science project down here.”
“I never thought I’d have to deal with another artefact while down here, but here we are.” Sasha replied.
“Step 3. Pour water into the divot you made earlier and sprinkle some water over the seeds! This will provide your creatures with a source of water to drink from and hydrate the seeds enough for them to grow.”
Sasha got a cup of water and poured it to fill the circular divot they’d made in the soil, and then sprinkled the rest of the water out onto the soil.
The effect was almost instantaneous. One moment, all there was on the soil were tiny, barely noticeable seeds. The next, tiny trees and bushes began to take root, growing at such a speed that everyone in the room flinched when the first berry bush popped up.
“Christ.” Sasha muttered, watching the rest of the foliage bloom and grow.
Jon continued to the last step for set-up, “Step 4. Once your forest has grown, use the clay to create your first creature. The most familiar would be a…” Jon trailed off for a moment, “A small person, which can be made like so.”
The next page had directions on how to sculpt a rudimentary human figure. A blob of clay for the torso, with thick strings of clay for the arms and legs, and then a sphere for the head. All about the size of your finger.
“It’s getting late.” Martin brought up, “Should we… wait to do this part until tomorrow?”
“We might as well pull the band-aid off now.” Sasha said, before passing Jon the tub of clay, “Still want to do the honors?”
Jon, reluctantly, did.
After a minute or two, a small shape of a little clay person sat in the palm of his hand, unmoving.
Sasha looked at Jon, and Jon looked at Sasha, before he gently placed it into the terrarium.
Nothing happened for a moment, but the crew knew better than to assume nothing would happen at all.
And soon, something did happen.
The clay came to life.
It twitched a bit, as if it wasn't used to being something that could move at all, before the little clay figure sat up in the soil, its little dot eyes (poked in with the end of a staple) blinked.
There was a sense of amazement among everyone, even if this was expected.
“Your creature will not be able to see or hear you, but you can still interact with them.” Jon broke the stunned silence by reading the rest of the pamphlet, “You can give them food, water their world like rain, or just poke them a little if you want. CLAY!ALIVE is not liable for any emotional damage or mental scarring caused by the use of its product.”
“Do you think this would count for maternity leave?” Tim joked, trying to lessen any tension that’s in the room.
Jon leaned forward, looking at the clay person as it stood up and looked at the trees and berry bushes, all of them just its size. A world for it and it alone.
“It’s.. remarkable, to be honest.” Jon commented.
“Well, that’s another one down.” Sasha said, looking at everyone, “What now?”
“As in, what do we do with the terrarium?” Martin asked, “I-- Honestly just leave it here? If that’s fine?”
“It has to go to Artefact Storage at some point.” Sasha brought up, “But yeah, leaving it here is fine.”
“We can continue dealing with these objects tomorrow.” Tim decided, “For now, I say we finish these sandwiches Martin brought and call it a night.”
So they did.
Everyone but Jon.
“I still have some work that needs to be done.” Jon had said, which was true, “I’ll also be logging the terrarium for the Artefact Storage database.”
“Don’t stay too late, okay?” Martin requested.
Jon did not take his advice, and stayed the rest of the night at the archives.
He had recorded a statement, researched a couple of the objects they’d received, and finished a report he needed to file in the morning, but after that he had nothing else to do but fall asleep on a cot in that one room of the archives. He certainly couldn’t take the bus back home at this time of night, given they didn’t run this late.
Jon sighed, getting up and leaving his office.
In the bullpen, the terrarium still sat.
Jon wasn't sure what brought him to look at it again. Curiosity? Attachment to something he technically made? Whatever it was, it made him grab a chair and peer through the glass.
The clay creature had, miraculously, made a shelter of some kind using twigs and leaves; a lean-to, if Jon was seeing it correctly. It also looked.. remarkably afraid. It was hard to tell from expression alone (it really only had the two dot eyes), but its body language…
Jon’s eyes wandered to the tub of clay again.
…
A second clay person sat in the palm of his hand, and he gently set it down next to the first.
That first one noticed, probably just seeing someone being airlifted from the sky, and freaked out a bit until Jon dropped the second onto the ground.
The first one approached the second, poked at them, and then the second burst to life, frightened.
Good. Jon thought quietly, Now they won’t be alone.
He left to rest in the cot, thinking about that fact.
The next morning, Jon went out to get some air and some breakfast, and saw something in the sky.
“Good morning, boss!” Tim walked into Jon’s office, “Couldn’t help but notice there were two little guys in the terrarium and I-- Christ--”
“What?” Jon asked, not noticing how much he was shaking or how terrified he looked.
Tim opened his mouth to say something, paused, and then opened his mouth again to ask, “What happened.”
“Oh. Nothing.” Jon replied bitterly, “I.. just saw God, is all.”
“God?”
“Yes.”
“G-O-D God?”
“A giant hand descending from the sky, something within its grasp that it dropped...” Jon explained, “Though… describing it aloud--”
“It sounds like a reflection of you dropping that little clay person into the terrarium.” Tim answered for him, “There’s probably not actually a giant hand in the sky dropping stuff.”
“It wasn’t just--” Jon stumbled over his words, looking at the papers strewn across his desk, “It wasn’t just a hand-- It was.. Uh..” He tried grabbing a pen and drawing the thing out.
A line here. Another overlapping one there. A finger. A tendril? Too many fingers. A scribble--
“Don’t think about it, Lovecraft.” Tim picked the pen up, “Most likely… What you saw was a hallucination.”
“And you think I’m skeptical?” Jon accused, “I-- It was too vivid to be--”
“We’re dealing with evil, haunted objects that can cause mental and physical damage, and you think the giant hand is real and not just a vision caused by said objects?” Tim tried to reason with him.
Jon sighed, “No.. yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I know it’s rare but I can be right sometimes.” Tim joked, before getting up, “Anyways… what spurred you on to make a second little guy..?”
Jon peered out of the doorway of his office, looking at the terrarium.
The first clay figure was walking through the mock forest with the other one, seemingly… talking. Communicating, at the very least, with hand signals and gestures. They seemed… happier.
“It didn't feel right leaving it alone, I guess.” Jon murmured, looking at his own hands with anxiety.
Artefact #: 0161909-MM1 (6)
“Laois_Vial_MusicVideo.mp4”
Item Description: An mp4 file found on a 32 GB Kingston thumb drive depicting a lost music video from an unknown band known as Laois-Vial. The video depicts the members of the band singing and playing their instruments, but slowly devolves as the main singer starts mumbling and losing coherency, before vomiting up a piece of oil-stained stomach lining and blood.
Esoteric Behavior: Immediately after viewing, the laptop the video was being watched on bricked entirely, shutting off and refusing to turn back on. This is unusual because there were no other files on that thumb drive besides the mp4 file.
Logged by: Sasha James
Note: Thumb Drive has been destroyed in a fit of disgust and anger.
Artefact #: 0161909-HNA1 (7)
“Unlucky Dice”
Item Description: A pair of dark, acrylic dice with chipped, white paint used for the dots. It came in a small, black, velvet pouch.
Esoteric Behavior: When rolled together or seperately. they always land on one.
Logged by: Timothy Stoker
Artefact #: 0161909-FM2 (8)
“CLAY!ALIVE Terrarium Kit”
Item Description: A “kit” made up of a 20-gallon terrarium, a specially-typed pamphlet filled with instruction and information on set-up and handling, a 16-ounce tub of dark grey modeling clay, and a packet of seeds labeled “Tree and Plants™.”
Esoteric Behavior: When instructions are followed, a false environment is created within the terrarium nearly instantaneously. Moreover, any clay sculpture made with the modeling clay comes to life when inside the confines of the terrarium.
More research is required regarding effects on the user themself.
Logged by: Jonathan Sims
“I don’t know what’s happening to me.” David muttered into the tape recorder, “I can’t-- I can’t even look at sandals anymore and-- and…” He trailed off, “What’s with that look?”
“Nothing, David.” Jon lied.