Title: The Kennet Kaller
Other stuff in header: Kennet, ON. July 1st, 2020. Vol. 28. No. 15. 75 cents.
Article: Police Looking for Three Teens, story by Editor Terrence Leslie
(Three low quality, black and white pictures of teenage boys are depicted and named Dan Harkins, Jesse Home-Cutler, and Nick Duff).
On Tuesday, June 30th, an early phone call went out to the OPP in Kennet, asking for help in locating three Kennet teens who hadn’t returned home at the planned time. The families of the three teenagers had been communicating back and forth since 7pm in the evening of the 29th, trying to locate the boys, and when the boys did not return in the morning, they elected to call.
Provincial police were initially skeptical but followed up on the report. By evening an Amber Alert was out, asking everyone in the region to keep an eye out for Dan Harkins, Jesse Home-Cutler, and Nick Duff, all seventeen, and to share any relevant information about their whereabouts.
“This is not a case of teenagers messing around,” said OPP chief Tom Rawlins. “We investigated and there do appear to be signs of foul play. The three boys were in regular contact with their parents until early evening, when the replies to all calls and texts stopped at roughly the same time. When we investigated we found Jesse’s car, abandoned in a ditch. His phone, with a wallet as part of the phone case, was still plugged into the dash. We do not believe he would have left that behind if he had left voluntarily.”
Police have shared the last known steps of the boys in hopes of helping the search: In their last communications with their parents, the boys reported they might be a little late, as they had witnessed a near-miss in a car accident and they wanted to stay in case they were needed. Their parents gave them their blessing, and in some cases offered to come by, but were told not to bother. The driver of one car left the scene, the other changed a tire and left, and after a short wait they texted to ask their parents if they should go, as there wasn’t any damage done. Jesse texted his father and uncle to ask about a large ‘catch’ of meat, left in the back of one car, worrying it would soak into the seats or start to smell if left too long. Jesse’s father advised him to leave it,
while his uncle suggested leaving a note and refrigerating it. The accident occurred at 8:25 and the boys left the scene at 9:30, taking a westbound exit from Kennet toward the gas station owned by Jesse’s uncle. They did not arrive, with the car found by the side of the Ontario 17 a twenty minute drive west of Kennet.
(Story continued on Page 3)
Article: Maple Leaves Forever, by Andrea Margot, contributor
Canada day celebrations unfold today as Kennet prepares to celebrate Canada’s birthday with food, festivity and fun. The Bowdler and Greensley hills each have fairgrounds open, featuring activities, face painting, and events including the return of the Bowlder cheese wheel race, which is for adults only, and the Greensley ‘airstrip’, where locals slide down the ski hill, prepared with plastic sheeting, soap, water, and a ramp.
The farmer’s market downtown will be open this Wednesday with special offers, booths, and baked goods for sale, including Killaloe Dough’s one free child’s dough to anyone who’ll wear the stamp on their faces. Kennet’s restaurants and businesses are showing off their best experiments and treats, and local creatives will have work for sale at the west end of the market.
In the evening, Swanson and Kennet compete at River Bend in canoe jousting, food and drinking contests and mud wrestling. Show your town pride by showing up in your red and white or team jerseys, and cheer for Kennet!
Sidebar:
Inside: End of summer brings hijinks, mischief, and headaches for OPP, page 2
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Inside: Slippery Nick makes his unexpected return, at Kennet River Beach, last page
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Article: Celebrations “Well Out of Hand”, by Ray Pustate
(Picture shows a low quality image of teens around a fire, with camp chairs, drink in one guy’s hand)
Summer in Kennet marks an occasion to party and cut loose as teenagers wrap up their school year, but the end of June and early July were marked with record numbers of police calls and reported crimes, including fires, theft, trespassing, and both petty and significant vandalism.
The calls are a test for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), who replaced Kennet’s own police force in December 2018. The change over to the province’s police force was hotly debated and fraught with local controversy, including a refusal
by the OPP to publish response times and what some have termed a ‘betrayal’ in the province’s promises to hire Kennet’s entire police force. As call volumes rose and officers were dispatched, residents took to social media to report that hours were passing without any follow-up from police. Talks about expectations of the OPP and concerns about the nature of their involvement and Kennet’s culture
before the change was made, and the summer of 2019 passed with some leniency given to what is typically a night of light drinking and partying among the graduating class. This year the parties extended over several days, and reportedly grew in intensity and scale. More emergency calls were made in the final day of June than were made in January, February, and March of this year.
“Things got well out of hand this week,” OPP chief Tom Rawlins says, “And we may have to revise how we approach things in the future, to stop students before they can escalate out of control.”
This out of control behavior included three individuals breaking into the home of an undisclosed Kennet resident, sleeping in a back room of his basement and pushing him over when he disturbed them awake, hospitalizing him. Just a block away, a blasphemous message was painted on a driveway in what is assumed to be pig’s blood. Hot garbage was strewn across one street, and an explosive, possibly an illegal firework, was detonated in that same downtown area, interrupting a staged performance by a talented, impromptu busker. A parent reported that an unknown person was knocking on their child’s window, trying to beckon them outside, and elsewhere, a young girl was taken for a walk down the shore without her mother being told, later returned to her by a bystander.
Other emergency calls were not the fault of teenagers, including animal attacks on pets, several reports of injured persons who could not be found or followed-up on, and false reports of home invaders.
“Even if the mischief is mild, it takes us away from the incidents that do require attention. Things were not mild this week. It’s frustrating and deeply concerning that we were not able to attend to the disappearance of the three boys because of the behavior of some of the people in Kennet,” Chief Tom Rawlins says, referring to Tuesday’s Amber alert for the three sixteen year old boys who did not return home. He stated four older teenagers were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the night’s events.
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Article: 49 Graduates, by Sandy Dobson, Contributor
At the end of June we saw 49 students join the grad class of 2020! Grade 12 Students walked the stage at Kennet Public and St. Victors, before joining into a
single group for photographs at the shore.
There was $52,500 handed out in scholarships and prizes to graduating students. The Larky Hyde award for $7500 was given to Tam Miller, and the K-A Arena’s
student athlete award was granted to John Oakham, for his excellence in hockey, in an undisclosed amount. This will sadly be the last year the K-A Arena’s award
will be given out.
Principal Sauve handed out the awards to proud graduating students at Kennet Public, with Tam Miller giving the valedictorian speech. Congratulations, students! We wish you the best!
Article: Wavy Tree Win, by Jean Wish, Contributor
The dancers at the Wavy Tree dance studio participated in a dancing competition in Thunder Bay on the 22nd, with dancer Jocelyn McKay earning first place in her solo dance, “Cardinal Row”. Also in the older age group, Erica Henderson earned third place, and the older group’s dance, “Take Flight” earned the second place spot. In the middle age group, Hailey McKay placed third, and in the young age group, Jalen Thomas placed first and Karina Maddocks earned third.
Coach Fiona Miles was more enthused than some students, confiding that this was a stellar showing considering the number of communities who participated. “This goes to show the value of dedication and hard work. We’ll do even better next year.”
Next Page: Header has date, ‘Kennet Kaller’ and ‘Page 3’
Article: POLICE LOOKING FOR THREE TEENS, Continued from Front Page
Police are interested in finding either of the two cars present at the near-accident the boys reported to their parents, and have already pieced together some information from what was provided by other witnesses. One car was described as a Forge Vulture in silver-brown with Manitoba license plates, while the other was a rusty Chevron Floridian in mint, with Ontario plates.
They were well-liked with good relationships to their family, and there is no reason to believe they ran away, the OPP says. Authorities are pursuing several approaches, including the assumptions that the missing teenagers attempted to take a shortcut through the woods and got lost, but abduction appears to be the leading assumption.
Chief Rawlins took the time to dispel some common theories circulating social media, including links to the apparent abduction attempts of a seven year old girl, an incident where three masked people allegedly entered a secure area of the Kennet General Hospital to swap infants between basinets, and a case of a man knocking on a child’s window.
“The incidents people have mentioned have no apparent links to the disappearance of the three teenagers. In each of those cases, the focus was on young children and newborn babies, not seventeen year olds. The incidents over
the past week appear to be a mixture of hysteria, wildly escalating pranks and mischief among bored teens, and some criminal elements recognizing our taxed resources and capitalizing on that.”
A dozen officers and Ontario park rangers have come to the Kennet area to assist in the search and the handling of other incidents and issues. A group of Kennet residents are organizing on social media to work as search parties, and to maintain a vigil across the Canada Day celebrations. The Harkins and Duffs will be appearing at the vigil, to pray for the safe return of their sons, while the Home-Cutlers have expressed a wish to stay close to the phones.
“They’re good boys,” Anne Duff says. “This happened because they’re good. They stayed as witnesses because they thought it was the right thing to do, and they left town as part of a good deed for a neighbor. I believe that that goodness is reason enough for God to bring them home safely.”
“If you drove that Chevron Floridian, please call the tipline,” David Duff addressed one of the potential witnesses. “Anne is right. They wanted to help you. Please return that favor.”
Each Kennet Kaller newsletter has the tipline and coordination information on a card stapled to one corner.
Opinion Article: Difficult Care, Opinion, Name Withheld.
There is no secret that we face a significant brain drain in rural Canada. Every election cycle it comes up in the news and it is soon forgotten. I have worked in healthcare since I was twenty and I have watched budgets getting cut, Doctors & RNs leaving for greener pastures, and I see the people who stay getting stretched thinner and thinner. This entire time, I’ve wondered what the breaking point might look like.
I worry that as of this spring, we’re seeing that breaking point manifest. Rates of patient violence have skyrocketed, and it is hard to know why. When I talk with coworkers in the field, they agree that something is wrong, but the more anyone asserts that they have a firm answer, the less certain I am they’re right. I’ve heard explanations that range from the ongoing culture war to the change in social media or even, privately, the most kind-hearted nurses wondering aloud if their exhaustion with the current state of affairs is changing them for the worse, with vulnerable patients recognizing that change and pre-emptively reacting to it.
I don’t think that’s true, but I do think we need help. At Kennet General we’re seeing RNs and Doctors get sidelined by injuries, as if they were athletes in a
contact sport. We reach out for more and too few of the bright and talented are willing to come out to a small town of five thousand people. I don’t have a single colleague who hasn’t voiced thoughts of quitting or changing to another position or city. Half of those who stay seem to do so because they care about their community and they know nobody is coming out to replace them.
It was always my belief that the breaking point would be an event. Something tangible. Instead, it feels like a creeping sentiment. A mass hysteria creeping over a body of patients that pushes people to their edges, and a frustration in healthcare workers, that can manifest in ugly behavior I’ve privately reported, knowing that little will be done. We simply can’t afford to lose even the bad ones.
It is with a whimper, not a bang, that this collapses. In my department, there are five women of retirement age. When one quits or gets hurt, four more will leave, and the department will be empty. What then? The possibility scares me.
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Article: Slippery Nick’s Surprise Return, by William H. Cope, Contributor
A group of boat owners in Kennet got a surprise call on Tuesday the 30th, when wildlife authorities made a plea for help in rounding up a recurring scoundrel across Eastern Canada. Named by an internet contest, with one letter changed, Slippery Nick first made his appearance on the eastern Seaboard, but has since migrated to the great lakes and rivers, prompting surprised calls from boaters and people by the lakeside who did not expect to see a bottlenose dolphin so far inland.
Yes, Slippery Nick has joined us once again, this time making efforts to enter the mouth of the Kennet River before getting stranded. Boaters did what they could to round him up and secure him for the custody of the Ontario Wildlife authority, but he escaped them and returned to Lake Superior, where he soon slipped out of
sight. True to his name.
Slippery Nick has been around for at least nine years, on and off. To answer common questions, dolphins are capable of living in freshwater, and being not his acclimatization to freshwater, but his ability to hunt for food. He’s found a way to manage, and actively explores the waterways, startling Canadians and putting
smiles on their faces.
Some have theorized Nick to be a trained and illegally kept dolphin kept somewhere inland, and this would explain his tricks, as he brings random objects to swimmers and beachgoers, gives rides, and does tricks, in between his persistent explorations. Much of the time, he waits expectantly after each performance. Does he expect fish? Some reports say no. He drops the offered meals, waiting, but will claim them before departing.
Be well, Slippery Nick. You have no idea how many people are up here on dry land, rooting for you.
I’m sort of surprised that a town this small has a newspaper. I guess it must be the hobby project of one of the locals or something, because even the newspapers in big cities barely manage to break even nowadays thanks to the Internet.
I think people in Kennet (and in small town in general) might tend toward being a bit more old fashionned, so a little paper can probably survive because people buy it out of habit?
It’s more common than you’d think. Even my grandma’s dying rural town in the US still has a small paper that’s staying afloat. In small towns like that buying the local paper out of habit can sort of be a way to keep up with the local community.
I think it’s getting less common now to have small local papers like that, but there are still a lot more than you’d expect hanging in there.
If it’s anything like the rural US lots of houses can’t even use the internet, or get 90s’ era speeds because the only provider decided to save a buck by setting up the equipment improperly.
I love how Daniel is the direct cause and/or primary actor in like half of the mischief the newspaper reported on. He’s a busy guy.
“Buy Ad Space Here—Contact Us”
Are there too few advertisers in town, or did the guys advertising in the third slot suffer a case of retroactive existence failure? The answer seems pretty straightforward, but you never know!
I’d bet that Slippery Nick is an Other of some kind, but that would require someone willing to risk their imaginary Internet money by betting that he/she isn’t.
I might have to print out that sudoku.
…oh, right, the missing teens. The thing most important to both the town and the plot. It was good too.
Which I had forgotten about until someone brought that up on Reddit. (Which is after I posted this, obviously.) So I’m glad I didn’t actually bet anything.
Sitting pulling my hair out then it finally clicked, I’m marching my way through the numbers feeling very proud of myself, and then I realise I’ve got two bloody fours in the same bloody 3×3 square.
Those are totally right answers! Sadly I couldn’t stop myself from peeking at the answers while trying to do the last two. They’re too close to the puzzle.
Oooh, interesting! I also got “BAD SEED” for the last one, before my eyes caught too much of the official answers. I doubt that’s leading anywhere, though.
These are references to some of Wildbow’s other works; the “Bad Seeds” were an early antagonist group in Twig 😛
Ornias – demon referenced in Pact
Sleeper – parahuman from Worm/Ward
Scion – from Worm
Goblin/Nilbog – obviously, goblins are from here, and Nilbog was a parahuman from Worm/Ward
Bogeyman – from here and Pact
Bad Seed – like I said, from Twig.
I’m not great at cryptanalysis, but I’ll throw my thoughts into the pile.
The ciphertext begins with PPPP so it’s probably not a simple substitution cipher. There aren’t any English words or phrases that start with the same letter repeated 4 times, as far as I know. Likewise, it’s probably not a Playfair cipher, because that would also give 4 of the same letter in a row at the start of the plaintext.
I’m guessing it’s a Vigenere type cipher, which means we would have to guess the key (password or passphrase). I tried a bunch of simple ones, like KENNET and KALLER and CANADA and ONTARIO, but didn’t get anywhere. I also tried WILDBOW, and that one gave me ciphertext beginning with THE. So, it’s possible that it’s a Vigenere cipher with a key starting with WIL, but I couldn’t find any key that worked. (I did try every English word starting with WIL, but none of those seemed to give comprehensible cleartext.)
It could also be some completely different type of cipher. Or a key that doesn’t start with WIL. Hell, for all I know, it might use the answer to the Sudoku (translated into letters) as the key. And I haven’t even attempted the Sudoku yet.
Vigenère was my guess as well. I was thinking the hint might have something to do with the key. I was going to check if the key is literally just AQUOTE, at least, but it turns out I’m far too lazy!
I also tried taking the decrypted text from WILDBOW and reformatting it in the same way the original puzzle is formatted, in case it needed to be read down instead of across, or taking the first letter of each word… couldn’t find any answers that way, though. If we have to do that kind of thing after guessing a key, this is going to be tough.
(Just tried reformatting the result from AQUOTE too. No luck.)
It’s not just a plain cipher, it’s several steps. first off, caesar with key p (guessed based on letter frequency)
aaaast devili dobymp ehssan
gniddo htapes htgnor hwfokf
iralca laseiq laitag nihtie
nehwrd otcepc silecb stihgk
tsmeel uorhtj wiemom ydaerh
Then I reverse it and reveal a whole bunch of partial words
hready momeiw jthrou leemst
kghits bcelis cpecto drwhen
eithin gatial qiesal aclari
fkofwh rongth sepath odding
nasshe pmybod ilived tsaaaa
from here, split off the first letter and alphabetize
(a) clari (b) ce lis (c) pecto (d) r when (e) i thin (f) k of wh (g) at i al (h) ready (i) lived (j) throu (k) gh it s (l) eems t (m) o me i w (n) as she (o) dding (p) my bod (q) ies al (r) ong th (s) e path (t) s aaaa
Clarice Lispector – when I think of what I already lived through it seems to me I was shedding my bodies along the paths (aaaa is just padding)
Is this a normal level of difficulty for small town newspaper ciphers? Seems almost like a message for/from the tech-practitioners.
Of course in that case it’s going to turn out the quote is a clue which points to a brick with a name printed on it in a burnt down church 118 miles nnw of Vancouver, with a geocache hidden beneath the brick, and about a dozen more steps to finally find the challenge coin.
I am losing my mind over the “Power Divorce Attorneys” ad Easter Egg.
I just wanted you to know that at least one person appreciated it (maybe too much). I’ll read the rest of the articles once I’m able to breathe again.
Thanks, WB.
The key words from the ads appear to be Patterns, Power, Caster, and Connections. Patterns is boldfaced in WIldbow’s transcript, along with Establishment (another ad name), which I’m guessing is important for some reason, although I’m too burned out to come up with that reason right now. (And no, neither PATTERNS nor ESTABLISHMENT nor the two concatenated together works as a Vigenere key.)
” interrupting a staged performance by a talented, impromptu busker” – ha ha ha ha ha. Love it.
I don’t know why this made me cackle so. Possibly just the thought that even the paper needed to emphisize just how damn good her was (and where did he COME from?!).
Also… was it our trio swapping babies around? When did that happen. And why?
That was fae brought in by Daniel’s performance, I think. Either stealing babies and replacing them with fetches, or trying to get the Trio in trouble (though I can’t see how they’d know about them to do so). Not immediately relevant, but will probably come up later. Or a red herring.
Oh fuck, I just realised this isn’t just a Wildbow action-drama, it’s also a mystery novel. And WB’s practised enough that we can expect most arcs to advance all three.
Fuck.
I need to reread the whole story with Extra Materials open in another window. And several coloured markers.
That letter from the burnt out nurse is really making me think I was right about there not being anyone actually available for VD, unfortunately…
Very surprised that those teens appear to be innocent bystanders trying to be helpful. I was expecting at least mischievous shenanigans or joyriding.
Also 3 missing teens and apparently 3 infants being messed with… Perhaps since they were innocents they were disguised as infants instead of being harmed.
Exactly. Unless I’m missing your joke, you were meaning something like “they were reincarnated into this world; they are ‘this world protagonists'”. “Sekai” (for the simplicity of a joke, not getting into further grammar) would be “this world”, not “kai” (which is what you get when the s and e are crossed out s well). Kai means something completely different in this context; “the earth”(presumably the meaning you were going for) is in contrast to “ten” (the heavens/sky) and so on, i.e. the earth as in the literal earth (solid ground; not the sea or sky) not The Earth (the planet).
I see that the Beescouts are based out of St. Taylor Drive. I don’t know if that was an intentional reference, but it amused me anyway.
and they left town as part of a good deed for a neighbor
Taking it upon themselves to enter a stranger’s vehicle and transport their property elsewhere without permission is not a good deed. It’s burglary, plain and simple. I’d be pissed if that happened to me. Saving the meat from spoiling isn’t worth the sense of violation. Besides, for all those kids knew the driver might have been minutes away from returning with a friend or a borrowed vehicle to move the meat themselves, in which case their “help” would have wasted the driver’s time.
Not to say they deserved whatever happened to them, but it didn’t happen as some twist of fate that punished them for doing a good deed. Fate punished them for being stupid, as it is so prone to doing.
The car was crashed and the owner was MIA. I agree that taking the meat to refrigerate is slightly questionable and it’s definitely not what I would do in their place, but nor would I call it burglary. Trying to save what looks like a prize catch from rotting in the aftermath of an accident does legitimately seem well-intentioned, if somewhat poorly thought out.
(Although I’m pretty sure that as far as the spirits are concerned, whoever disappeared those teenagers was more or less in their rights to do so after the teenagers took something that belonged to them)
I’m not sure the “good deed for a neighbor” refers to moving the meat. I think it might be a separate things they were doing.
They don’t know who drove the car, why would the driver be referred as “a neighbor”? It could easily be someone from out of town.
And refrigerating the meat doesn’t require them leaving town? It’d be faster to bring it to their home after leaving their adress on a note. I think they were leaving town to do something else, and they decided to bring the meat with because they could freeze it at their destination, killing two bird with one stone. Rather than doubling back to their house, then going out of town.
They don’t know who drove the car, why would the driver be referred as “a neighbor”? It could easily be someone from out of town.
“Neighbor” can also refer to people from the same general region, and the car had Ontario plates. They could be someone from the far end of Ontario, but it’s not like this lady is a practitioner. She can get away with being sloppy, and she’s trying to put a positive spin on her son’s actions, so of course she errs on the side of friendly terminology.
And refrigerating the meat doesn’t require them leaving town? It’d be faster to bring it to their home after leaving their adress on a note.
Depends how much meat there is. It sounded like a lot, and it was messy. Trying to stash it at one of their homes might not have been practical, and we know that Jesse’s dad was not on board with that idea. Jesse’s uncle was the one who proposed refrigerating it, and his gas station would have a walk-in cooler and possibly a walk-in freezer, so there would be plenty of space.
The gas station is also a better location for dealing with a stranger since it doesn’t require giving out a home address and presumably has security cameras, and it would feel more like a neutral location to the stranger.
If the public healthcare system is so strapped in the local area I wonder why Lucy’s mom can’t find a job in it. Is their funding so bad they can’t stretch things to cover a single nurse even while experiencing a labor shortage? Because if so wow, that’s really bad.
It was fascinating to see how the police and other Innocents interpreted the local Other commotion. It gives me a much better sense of what the limits Practioners have to operate within are, and what will be explained away.
Someone else commented that dolphin might be the dolphin Clem wished for A a kid and it blew. my. mind. Excellent easter egg if so.
If someone from the spooky side really did vanish those kids that’s Big. It’s one thing (according to Solomon morality) when a horrifying devouring ritual eats hundreds of “voluntary” kids. But these were three Innocent totally Unaware kids who had been in the process of rendering hospitable aid to their soon-to-be abductors / murderers. Kids with strong community ties whose disappearance will be investigated in earnest by both local and out of town authorities. The karmic hit from that has to be insane. Even if they did the abduction/murder in a mundane way to possibly avoid the hit for inducting someone and then doing harm to them, they still messed with hospitality rules in a big way. I’m really worried about this because it both represents an escalation and the karmic hit may force whoever did it to act fast before karma can sink its teeth into their plan.
they still messed with hospitality rules in a big way
Hospitality applies to guests, not burglars, and having good intentions when you steal something doesn’t change the fact that it’s theft. I think these kids fucked up and made themselves fair game.
Pale 
Text on page:
Title: The Kennet Kaller
Other stuff in header: Kennet, ON. July 1st, 2020. Vol. 28. No. 15. 75 cents.
Article: Police Looking for Three Teens, story by Editor Terrence Leslie
(Three low quality, black and white pictures of teenage boys are depicted and named Dan Harkins, Jesse Home-Cutler, and Nick Duff).
On Tuesday, June 30th, an early phone call went out to the OPP in Kennet, asking for help in locating three Kennet teens who hadn’t returned home at the planned time. The families of the three teenagers had been communicating back and forth since 7pm in the evening of the 29th, trying to locate the boys, and when the boys did not return in the morning, they elected to call.
Provincial police were initially skeptical but followed up on the report. By evening an Amber Alert was out, asking everyone in the region to keep an eye out for Dan Harkins, Jesse Home-Cutler, and Nick Duff, all seventeen, and to share any relevant information about their whereabouts.
“This is not a case of teenagers messing around,” said OPP chief Tom Rawlins. “We investigated and there do appear to be signs of foul play. The three boys were in regular contact with their parents until early evening, when the replies to all calls and texts stopped at roughly the same time. When we investigated we found Jesse’s car, abandoned in a ditch. His phone, with a wallet as part of the phone case, was still plugged into the dash. We do not believe he would have left that behind if he had left voluntarily.”
Police have shared the last known steps of the boys in hopes of helping the search: In their last communications with their parents, the boys reported they might be a little late, as they had witnessed a near-miss in a car accident and they wanted to stay in case they were needed. Their parents gave them their blessing, and in some cases offered to come by, but were told not to bother. The driver of one car left the scene, the other changed a tire and left, and after a short wait they texted to ask their parents if they should go, as there wasn’t any damage done. Jesse texted his father and uncle to ask about a large ‘catch’ of meat, left in the back of one car, worrying it would soak into the seats or start to smell if left too long. Jesse’s father advised him to leave it,
while his uncle suggested leaving a note and refrigerating it. The accident occurred at 8:25 and the boys left the scene at 9:30, taking a westbound exit from Kennet toward the gas station owned by Jesse’s uncle. They did not arrive, with the car found by the side of the Ontario 17 a twenty minute drive west of Kennet.
(Story continued on Page 3)
Article: Maple Leaves Forever, by Andrea Margot, contributor
Canada day celebrations unfold today as Kennet prepares to celebrate Canada’s birthday with food, festivity and fun. The Bowdler and Greensley hills each have fairgrounds open, featuring activities, face painting, and events including the return of the Bowlder cheese wheel race, which is for adults only, and the Greensley ‘airstrip’, where locals slide down the ski hill, prepared with plastic sheeting, soap, water, and a ramp.
The farmer’s market downtown will be open this Wednesday with special offers, booths, and baked goods for sale, including Killaloe Dough’s one free child’s dough to anyone who’ll wear the stamp on their faces. Kennet’s restaurants and businesses are showing off their best experiments and treats, and local creatives will have work for sale at the west end of the market.
In the evening, Swanson and Kennet compete at River Bend in canoe jousting, food and drinking contests and mud wrestling. Show your town pride by showing up in your red and white or team jerseys, and cheer for Kennet!
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Inside: End of summer brings hijinks, mischief, and headaches for OPP, page 2
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Inside: Slippery Nick makes his unexpected return, at Kennet River Beach, last page
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Article: Celebrations “Well Out of Hand”, by Ray Pustate
(Picture shows a low quality image of teens around a fire, with camp chairs, drink in one guy’s hand)
Summer in Kennet marks an occasion to party and cut loose as teenagers wrap up their school year, but the end of June and early July were marked with record numbers of police calls and reported crimes, including fires, theft, trespassing, and both petty and significant vandalism.
The calls are a test for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), who replaced Kennet’s own police force in December 2018. The change over to the province’s police force was hotly debated and fraught with local controversy, including a refusal
by the OPP to publish response times and what some have termed a ‘betrayal’ in the province’s promises to hire Kennet’s entire police force. As call volumes rose and officers were dispatched, residents took to social media to report that hours were passing without any follow-up from police. Talks about expectations of the OPP and concerns about the nature of their involvement and Kennet’s culture
before the change was made, and the summer of 2019 passed with some leniency given to what is typically a night of light drinking and partying among the graduating class. This year the parties extended over several days, and reportedly grew in intensity and scale. More emergency calls were made in the final day of June than were made in January, February, and March of this year.
“Things got well out of hand this week,” OPP chief Tom Rawlins says, “And we may have to revise how we approach things in the future, to stop students before they can escalate out of control.”
This out of control behavior included three individuals breaking into the home of an undisclosed Kennet resident, sleeping in a back room of his basement and pushing him over when he disturbed them awake, hospitalizing him. Just a block away, a blasphemous message was painted on a driveway in what is assumed to be pig’s blood. Hot garbage was strewn across one street, and an explosive, possibly an illegal firework, was detonated in that same downtown area, interrupting a staged performance by a talented, impromptu busker. A parent reported that an unknown person was knocking on their child’s window, trying to beckon them outside, and elsewhere, a young girl was taken for a walk down the shore without her mother being told, later returned to her by a bystander.
Other emergency calls were not the fault of teenagers, including animal attacks on pets, several reports of injured persons who could not be found or followed-up on, and false reports of home invaders.
“Even if the mischief is mild, it takes us away from the incidents that do require attention. Things were not mild this week. It’s frustrating and deeply concerning that we were not able to attend to the disappearance of the three boys because of the behavior of some of the people in Kennet,” Chief Tom Rawlins says, referring to Tuesday’s Amber alert for the three sixteen year old boys who did not return home. He stated four older teenagers were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the night’s events.
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Article: 49 Graduates, by Sandy Dobson, Contributor
At the end of June we saw 49 students join the grad class of 2020! Grade 12 Students walked the stage at Kennet Public and St. Victors, before joining into a
single group for photographs at the shore.
There was $52,500 handed out in scholarships and prizes to graduating students. The Larky Hyde award for $7500 was given to Tam Miller, and the K-A Arena’s
student athlete award was granted to John Oakham, for his excellence in hockey, in an undisclosed amount. This will sadly be the last year the K-A Arena’s award
will be given out.
Principal Sauve handed out the awards to proud graduating students at Kennet Public, with Tam Miller giving the valedictorian speech. Congratulations, students! We wish you the best!
Article: Wavy Tree Win, by Jean Wish, Contributor
The dancers at the Wavy Tree dance studio participated in a dancing competition in Thunder Bay on the 22nd, with dancer Jocelyn McKay earning first place in her solo dance, “Cardinal Row”. Also in the older age group, Erica Henderson earned third place, and the older group’s dance, “Take Flight” earned the second place spot. In the middle age group, Hailey McKay placed third, and in the young age group, Jalen Thomas placed first and Karina Maddocks earned third.
Coach Fiona Miles was more enthused than some students, confiding that this was a stellar showing considering the number of communities who participated. “This goes to show the value of dedication and hard work. We’ll do even better next year.”
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Article: POLICE LOOKING FOR THREE TEENS, Continued from Front Page
Police are interested in finding either of the two cars present at the near-accident the boys reported to their parents, and have already pieced together some information from what was provided by other witnesses. One car was described as a Forge Vulture in silver-brown with Manitoba license plates, while the other was a rusty Chevron Floridian in mint, with Ontario plates.
They were well-liked with good relationships to their family, and there is no reason to believe they ran away, the OPP says. Authorities are pursuing several approaches, including the assumptions that the missing teenagers attempted to take a shortcut through the woods and got lost, but abduction appears to be the leading assumption.
Chief Rawlins took the time to dispel some common theories circulating social media, including links to the apparent abduction attempts of a seven year old girl, an incident where three masked people allegedly entered a secure area of the Kennet General Hospital to swap infants between basinets, and a case of a man knocking on a child’s window.
“The incidents people have mentioned have no apparent links to the disappearance of the three teenagers. In each of those cases, the focus was on young children and newborn babies, not seventeen year olds. The incidents over
the past week appear to be a mixture of hysteria, wildly escalating pranks and mischief among bored teens, and some criminal elements recognizing our taxed resources and capitalizing on that.”
A dozen officers and Ontario park rangers have come to the Kennet area to assist in the search and the handling of other incidents and issues. A group of Kennet residents are organizing on social media to work as search parties, and to maintain a vigil across the Canada Day celebrations. The Harkins and Duffs will be appearing at the vigil, to pray for the safe return of their sons, while the Home-Cutlers have expressed a wish to stay close to the phones.
“They’re good boys,” Anne Duff says. “This happened because they’re good. They stayed as witnesses because they thought it was the right thing to do, and they left town as part of a good deed for a neighbor. I believe that that goodness is reason enough for God to bring them home safely.”
“If you drove that Chevron Floridian, please call the tipline,” David Duff addressed one of the potential witnesses. “Anne is right. They wanted to help you. Please return that favor.”
Each Kennet Kaller newsletter has the tipline and coordination information on a card stapled to one corner.
Opinion Article: Difficult Care, Opinion, Name Withheld.
There is no secret that we face a significant brain drain in rural Canada. Every election cycle it comes up in the news and it is soon forgotten. I have worked in healthcare since I was twenty and I have watched budgets getting cut, Doctors & RNs leaving for greener pastures, and I see the people who stay getting stretched thinner and thinner. This entire time, I’ve wondered what the breaking point might look like.
I worry that as of this spring, we’re seeing that breaking point manifest. Rates of patient violence have skyrocketed, and it is hard to know why. When I talk with coworkers in the field, they agree that something is wrong, but the more anyone asserts that they have a firm answer, the less certain I am they’re right. I’ve heard explanations that range from the ongoing culture war to the change in social media or even, privately, the most kind-hearted nurses wondering aloud if their exhaustion with the current state of affairs is changing them for the worse, with vulnerable patients recognizing that change and pre-emptively reacting to it.
I don’t think that’s true, but I do think we need help. At Kennet General we’re seeing RNs and Doctors get sidelined by injuries, as if they were athletes in a
contact sport. We reach out for more and too few of the bright and talented are willing to come out to a small town of five thousand people. I don’t have a single colleague who hasn’t voiced thoughts of quitting or changing to another position or city. Half of those who stay seem to do so because they care about their community and they know nobody is coming out to replace them.
It was always my belief that the breaking point would be an event. Something tangible. Instead, it feels like a creeping sentiment. A mass hysteria creeping over a body of patients that pushes people to their edges, and a frustration in healthcare workers, that can manifest in ugly behavior I’ve privately reported, knowing that little will be done. We simply can’t afford to lose even the bad ones.
It is with a whimper, not a bang, that this collapses. In my department, there are five women of retirement age. When one quits or gets hurt, four more will leave, and the department will be empty. What then? The possibility scares me.
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Article: Slippery Nick’s Surprise Return, by William H. Cope, Contributor
A group of boat owners in Kennet got a surprise call on Tuesday the 30th, when wildlife authorities made a plea for help in rounding up a recurring scoundrel across Eastern Canada. Named by an internet contest, with one letter changed, Slippery Nick first made his appearance on the eastern Seaboard, but has since migrated to the great lakes and rivers, prompting surprised calls from boaters and people by the lakeside who did not expect to see a bottlenose dolphin so far inland.
Yes, Slippery Nick has joined us once again, this time making efforts to enter the mouth of the Kennet River before getting stranded. Boaters did what they could to round him up and secure him for the custody of the Ontario Wildlife authority, but he escaped them and returned to Lake Superior, where he soon slipped out of
sight. True to his name.
Slippery Nick has been around for at least nine years, on and off. To answer common questions, dolphins are capable of living in freshwater, and being not his acclimatization to freshwater, but his ability to hunt for food. He’s found a way to manage, and actively explores the waterways, startling Canadians and putting
smiles on their faces.
Some have theorized Nick to be a trained and illegally kept dolphin kept somewhere inland, and this would explain his tricks, as he brings random objects to swimmers and beachgoers, gives rides, and does tricks, in between his persistent explorations. Much of the time, he waits expectantly after each performance. Does he expect fish? Some reports say no. He drops the offered meals, waiting, but will claim them before departing.
Be well, Slippery Nick. You have no idea how many people are up here on dry land, rooting for you.
Header: Lighter Things
Puzzle: Unscramble:
SARINO (Scrambled), Blank, …D’etre
ELPERS (Scrambled), Potato…, blank.
CINOS (Scrambled), blank, …boom
LNBIGO (Scrambled), Nose…, blank
NBEGOYMA (Scrambled), Rich old…, blank.
AEDESBDD (Scrambled), Corrupt &…, blank.
Cipher: (with hint: a quote)
pppphi stkxax sdqnbe twhhpc
vcxssd wipeth wivcdg wludzu
xgparp aphtxf apxipv cxwixt
ctwlgs dirter hxatrq hixwvz
ihbtta jdgwiy lxtbdb nsptgw
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I’m sort of surprised that a town this small has a newspaper. I guess it must be the hobby project of one of the locals or something, because even the newspapers in big cities barely manage to break even nowadays thanks to the Internet.
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I think people in Kennet (and in small town in general) might tend toward being a bit more old fashionned, so a little paper can probably survive because people buy it out of habit?
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It’s more common than you’d think. Even my grandma’s dying rural town in the US still has a small paper that’s staying afloat. In small towns like that buying the local paper out of habit can sort of be a way to keep up with the local community.
I think it’s getting less common now to have small local papers like that, but there are still a lot more than you’d expect hanging in there.
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If it’s anything like the rural US lots of houses can’t even use the internet, or get 90s’ era speeds because the only provider decided to save a buck by setting up the equipment improperly.
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I love how Daniel is the direct cause and/or primary actor in like half of the mischief the newspaper reported on. He’s a busy guy.
“Buy Ad Space Here—Contact Us”
Are there too few advertisers in town, or did the guys advertising in the third slot suffer a case of retroactive existence failure? The answer seems pretty straightforward, but you never know!
I’d bet that Slippery Nick is an Other of some kind, but that would require someone willing to risk their imaginary Internet money by betting that he/she isn’t.
I might have to print out that sudoku.
…oh, right, the missing teens. The thing most important to both the town and the plot. It was good too.
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The way it was reported on! The article! Not the disappearances themselves!
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Nice save 😉
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Slippery Nick is almost certainly the dolphin Clem wished for in her backstory.
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Which I had forgotten about until someone brought that up on Reddit. (Which is after I posted this, obviously.) So I’m glad I didn’t actually bet anything.
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Is that sudoku actually possible? I spent 40 mins on it and got 1 number before giving up and going back to work.
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Slippery Nick doesn’t have green eyes, right? Yeah, probably not.
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Wow, that’s a hard sudoku. Maybe cause I’m not used to playing thermo rules. I did get it after a couple hours, though.
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That was my first thermo, ended up having to mark every possibility which I hate doing but eventually worked it out… fun little thing.
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Sitting pulling my hair out then it finally clicked, I’m marching my way through the numbers feeling very proud of myself, and then I realise I’ve got two bloody fours in the same bloody 3×3 square.
Fuming.
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I’m really curious about that cipher, but I don’t know how to unscramble it. Not familiar with Nose Goblin, either, and initially misread it as Norse.
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Nose Goblin is slang for booger
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COINS boom
potato SLEEPER
Those are totally right answers! Sadly I couldn’t stop myself from peeking at the answers while trying to do the last two. They’re too close to the puzzle.
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Rich old BOGEYMAN?
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Oooh, interesting! I also got “BAD SEED” for the last one, before my eyes caught too much of the official answers. I doubt that’s leading anywhere, though.
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These are references to some of Wildbow’s other works; the “Bad Seeds” were an early antagonist group in Twig 😛
Ornias – demon referenced in Pact
Sleeper – parahuman from Worm/Ward
Scion – from Worm
Goblin/Nilbog – obviously, goblins are from here, and Nilbog was a parahuman from Worm/Ward
Bogeyman – from here and Pact
Bad Seed – like I said, from Twig.
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Ornias D’Etre
Potato Sleeper
Scion Boom
Nose Goblin (or Nose Nilbog)
Rich old Bogeyman
Corrupt and Bad Seed
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“Named by an internet contest, with one letter changed[…]”
Hahahhaha, oh man.
Yeah, I bet they had to.
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Huh, a famous dolphin just reappeared in my home town too. And chance you know about fungie, wildbow? Probably just a coincidence, I know.
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I’m not great at cryptanalysis, but I’ll throw my thoughts into the pile.
The ciphertext begins with PPPP so it’s probably not a simple substitution cipher. There aren’t any English words or phrases that start with the same letter repeated 4 times, as far as I know. Likewise, it’s probably not a Playfair cipher, because that would also give 4 of the same letter in a row at the start of the plaintext.
I’m guessing it’s a Vigenere type cipher, which means we would have to guess the key (password or passphrase). I tried a bunch of simple ones, like KENNET and KALLER and CANADA and ONTARIO, but didn’t get anywhere. I also tried WILDBOW, and that one gave me ciphertext beginning with THE. So, it’s possible that it’s a Vigenere cipher with a key starting with WIL, but I couldn’t find any key that worked. (I did try every English word starting with WIL, but none of those seemed to give comprehensible cleartext.)
It could also be some completely different type of cipher. Or a key that doesn’t start with WIL. Hell, for all I know, it might use the answer to the Sudoku (translated into letters) as the key. And I haven’t even attempted the Sudoku yet.
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Vigenère was my guess as well. I was thinking the hint might have something to do with the key. I was going to check if the key is literally just AQUOTE, at least, but it turns out I’m far too lazy!
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I tried AQUOTE and HINTAQUOTE, among many others.
I also tried taking the decrypted text from WILDBOW and reformatting it in the same way the original puzzle is formatted, in case it needed to be read down instead of across, or taking the first letter of each word… couldn’t find any answers that way, though. If we have to do that kind of thing after guessing a key, this is going to be tough.
(Just tried reformatting the result from AQUOTE too. No luck.)
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Ah – thanks for putting in the legwork! My other guess would be that the key is a quote from one of the articles – did you try anything like that?
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It’s not just a plain cipher, it’s several steps. first off, caesar with key p (guessed based on letter frequency)
aaaast devili dobymp ehssan
gniddo htapes htgnor hwfokf
iralca laseiq laitag nihtie
nehwrd otcepc silecb stihgk
tsmeel uorhtj wiemom ydaerh
Then I reverse it and reveal a whole bunch of partial words
hready momeiw jthrou leemst
kghits bcelis cpecto drwhen
eithin gatial qiesal aclari
fkofwh rongth sepath odding
nasshe pmybod ilived tsaaaa
from here, split off the first letter and alphabetize
(a) clari (b) ce lis (c) pecto (d) r when (e) i thin (f) k of wh (g) at i al (h) ready (i) lived (j) throu (k) gh it s (l) eems t (m) o me i w (n) as she (o) dding (p) my bod (q) ies al (r) ong th (s) e path (t) s aaaa
Clarice Lispector – when I think of what I already lived through it seems to me I was shedding my bodies along the paths (aaaa is just padding)
Definitely a relevant quote for the trio.
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That, or the quote was preceded by screaming.
“Aaaa! Clarice Lispector! When I think of what I already lived through, it seems to me I was shedding my bodies along the paths! Aaaah!”
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Is this a normal level of difficulty for small town newspaper ciphers? Seems almost like a message for/from the tech-practitioners.
Of course in that case it’s going to turn out the quote is a clue which points to a brick with a name printed on it in a burnt down church 118 miles nnw of Vancouver, with a geocache hidden beneath the brick, and about a dozen more steps to finally find the challenge coin.
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Holy shit, is that the dolphin Clem wished for? Is it… is it trying to find Clem?
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!!!
You’re probably right and I never would have realized that on my own, thank you.
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I am losing my mind over the “Power Divorce Attorneys” ad Easter Egg.
I just wanted you to know that at least one person appreciated it (maybe too much). I’ll read the rest of the articles once I’m able to breathe again.
Thanks, WB.
( it is an Easter Egg, right? C: )
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The key words from the ads appear to be Patterns, Power, Caster, and Connections. Patterns is boldfaced in WIldbow’s transcript, along with Establishment (another ad name), which I’m guessing is important for some reason, although I’m too burned out to come up with that reason right now. (And no, neither PATTERNS nor ESTABLISHMENT nor the two concatenated together works as a Vigenere key.)
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” interrupting a staged performance by a talented, impromptu busker” – ha ha ha ha ha. Love it.
I don’t know why this made me cackle so. Possibly just the thought that even the paper needed to emphisize just how damn good her was (and where did he COME from?!).
Also… was it our trio swapping babies around? When did that happen. And why?
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That was fae brought in by Daniel’s performance, I think. Either stealing babies and replacing them with fetches, or trying to get the Trio in trouble (though I can’t see how they’d know about them to do so). Not immediately relevant, but will probably come up later. Or a red herring.
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I’m wondering if those babies might now be the missing teens. Transformed and hidden
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Oh fuck, I just realised this isn’t just a Wildbow action-drama, it’s also a mystery novel. And WB’s practised enough that we can expect most arcs to advance all three.
Fuck.
I need to reread the whole story with Extra Materials open in another window. And several coloured markers.
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i meant to say, gur svefg naq guveq Extra Materials.
I’m guessing I’m late to the party here, but:
Sebz qnl bar jr’ir orra rkcbfrq gb qvntenzf. Jneqvat, nzcyvslvat, ovaqvat, naq fb sbegu. Jr’ir frra na nygreangr Njnxravat evghny, naq fng va ba zhygvcyr znfgrepynffrf. Qvntenzf unir tbggra zber qrgnvyrq jbeyqohvyqvat guna rira gur snr (jubfr pbhegf unir orra pbirerq sebz frireny natyrf abj), naq gur nygreangr trbzrgel-jnecvat ernyvgvrf bs gur Cnguf, Ehvaf, rgp.
Naq bhe nagntbavfgf naq cybg cbvagf unir vapyhqrq na negvsvpvnyyl pbafgehpgrq yvivat evghny, grpuabznapref pbyyrpgvat rzobqvrq heona yrtraqf, na nhthel pvepyr gung jbexf jvgu culfvpnyyl rzobqvrq evghnyf yvxr gur qbyyubhfr, nffnhygf ba gur bhgre jneqf bs Xraarg… naq evtug abj gur pbira vf hc ntnvafg n evghnyvfg jub znxrf ohvyqvat fvmrq qvntenzf bhg bs crbcyr.
Erpheevat zlfgrel-cybg ryrzragf vapyhqr: gur pnezvar ornfg naq vgf erznvaf zbivat orgjrra ybpngvbaf, gur hahfhnyarff bs Xraarg naq vgf sbezngvba, jul Zvff pubfr gur pbira.
Ubj jbhyq Jvyqobj rfpnyngr gur fgnxrf sebz n ohvyqvat-fvmrq qvntenz bs qbmraf bs crbcyr?
prepares tinfoil hat
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I like the way you think.
Miss is Yog Sothoth confirmed.
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I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t caught onto the Wildbow fandom’s (ab)use of the ROT13 cipher.
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That letter from the burnt out nurse is really making me think I was right about there not being anyone actually available for VD, unfortunately…
Very surprised that those teens appear to be innocent bystanders trying to be helpful. I was expecting at least mischievous shenanigans or joyriding.
Also 3 missing teens and apparently 3 infants being messed with… Perhaps since they were innocents they were disguised as infants instead of being harmed.
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From a certain point of view, they were reincarnated into the same world that they started in. I guess that makes them
isekai protagonists.(…if you don’t get the joke, that’s fine, it’s an extremely nerdy joke.)
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Or possibly more like that monster slayer Bristow has
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That would be “sekai”, not “kai”. Sekai = world, isekai = another world.
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I’m pretty sure the s and e are crossed out too?
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Exactly. Unless I’m missing your joke, you were meaning something like “they were reincarnated into this world; they are ‘this world protagonists'”. “Sekai” (for the simplicity of a joke, not getting into further grammar) would be “this world”, not “kai” (which is what you get when the s and e are crossed out s well). Kai means something completely different in this context; “the earth”(presumably the meaning you were going for) is in contrast to “ten” (the heavens/sky) and so on, i.e. the earth as in the literal earth (solid ground; not the sea or sky) not The Earth (the planet).
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Oh! Oh, I see what you’re saying now. Cool, thanks.
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I see that the Beescouts are based out of St. Taylor Drive. I don’t know if that was an intentional reference, but it amused me anyway.
Taking it upon themselves to enter a stranger’s vehicle and transport their property elsewhere without permission is not a good deed. It’s burglary, plain and simple. I’d be pissed if that happened to me. Saving the meat from spoiling isn’t worth the sense of violation. Besides, for all those kids knew the driver might have been minutes away from returning with a friend or a borrowed vehicle to move the meat themselves, in which case their “help” would have wasted the driver’s time.
Not to say they deserved whatever happened to them, but it didn’t happen as some twist of fate that punished them for doing a good deed. Fate punished them for being stupid, as it is so prone to doing.
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So either Ms. Duff isn’t a Practitioner, or she’s not a very thoughtful one. Either way, we can cross her off the suspect list.
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The car was crashed and the owner was MIA. I agree that taking the meat to refrigerate is slightly questionable and it’s definitely not what I would do in their place, but nor would I call it burglary. Trying to save what looks like a prize catch from rotting in the aftermath of an accident does legitimately seem well-intentioned, if somewhat poorly thought out.
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(Although I’m pretty sure that as far as the spirits are concerned, whoever disappeared those teenagers was more or less in their rights to do so after the teenagers took something that belonged to them)
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tl;dr, the spirits are jerks
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I’m not sure the “good deed for a neighbor” refers to moving the meat. I think it might be a separate things they were doing.
They don’t know who drove the car, why would the driver be referred as “a neighbor”? It could easily be someone from out of town.
And refrigerating the meat doesn’t require them leaving town? It’d be faster to bring it to their home after leaving their adress on a note. I think they were leaving town to do something else, and they decided to bring the meat with because they could freeze it at their destination, killing two bird with one stone. Rather than doubling back to their house, then going out of town.
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“Neighbor” can also refer to people from the same general region, and the car had Ontario plates. They could be someone from the far end of Ontario, but it’s not like this lady is a practitioner. She can get away with being sloppy, and she’s trying to put a positive spin on her son’s actions, so of course she errs on the side of friendly terminology.
Depends how much meat there is. It sounded like a lot, and it was messy. Trying to stash it at one of their homes might not have been practical, and we know that Jesse’s dad was not on board with that idea. Jesse’s uncle was the one who proposed refrigerating it, and his gas station would have a walk-in cooler and possibly a walk-in freezer, so there would be plenty of space.
The gas station is also a better location for dealing with a stranger since it doesn’t require giving out a home address and presumably has security cameras, and it would feel more like a neutral location to the stranger.
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If the public healthcare system is so strapped in the local area I wonder why Lucy’s mom can’t find a job in it. Is their funding so bad they can’t stretch things to cover a single nurse even while experiencing a labor shortage? Because if so wow, that’s really bad.
It was fascinating to see how the police and other Innocents interpreted the local Other commotion. It gives me a much better sense of what the limits Practioners have to operate within are, and what will be explained away.
Someone else commented that dolphin might be the dolphin Clem wished for A a kid and it blew. my. mind. Excellent easter egg if so.
If someone from the spooky side really did vanish those kids that’s Big. It’s one thing (according to Solomon morality) when a horrifying devouring ritual eats hundreds of “voluntary” kids. But these were three Innocent totally Unaware kids who had been in the process of rendering hospitable aid to their soon-to-be abductors / murderers. Kids with strong community ties whose disappearance will be investigated in earnest by both local and out of town authorities. The karmic hit from that has to be insane. Even if they did the abduction/murder in a mundane way to possibly avoid the hit for inducting someone and then doing harm to them, they still messed with hospitality rules in a big way. I’m really worried about this because it both represents an escalation and the karmic hit may force whoever did it to act fast before karma can sink its teeth into their plan.
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Hospitality applies to guests, not burglars, and having good intentions when you steal something doesn’t change the fact that it’s theft. I think these kids fucked up and made themselves fair game.
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If the rules of hospitality applied outside someone’s actual home, this universe would be a lot more peaceful.
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