Roleplay for One | The Terror Exhibit

You're about to listen to the first experimental season of our show, formerly called Nat One Presents the Podcast. For better audio quality and our current ongoing DD campaign, skip ahead to season two featuring the Daft Monks on this episode of Nat One Presents. Because he said for the longest time the box wouldn't even well, let me just let me go get it. Let me go get it. And she runs off and she gets the box. And then uh See Harry, this is kind of [expletive] I'm talking about.

She said she had a gift for me, and it's clearly for the museum. I'm sick of this [expletive]. I worked here 35 years. A [expletive] guard would have been great, you know? Normal jobs this yeah. Thank you for your time. What do I get, Harry? I get you. And I get you know what? It's fine. She's coming back. It's fine.

She seems like a real nice lady.

Adventure. Hot warming stories. Role-playing that can only be seen by the gods. Here at Nat One Presents, you get all that and more. Now join us as we start another epic tale of Connor.

Just kidding. This is Nat OnePresents, a tabletop role-playing game podcast that takes your favorite nerdy games and pop culture icons and ruins them with improv. Hello and welcome back to Nat One Presents the Podcast. Hey mate, how have you been? I've been pretty good. It's uh it's been a minute since we've been in the recording studio slash my bedroom. It has. I really missed it. You know, these walls, the way the lights hit it, it's just it's majestic. And that's all I could think about for weeks now, it feels like. You know, so the last couple weeks, uh I was I was busy doing like a work thing, made a bunch of new friends. Um, but not just friends at work, Nate. I made some new friends in the podcasting industry. Ooh, like who?

Would you like to hear about them? Yes, I would love to hear about it conversation. As much as, you know, I love making friends, I don't. But tell me about the friends you have made, mate. Yeah, sure. So they are all gaming related. So if you like this podcast, you're very likely to like some of their shows. So let me tell you about them. First one is Game Johns. Uh, first of all, do you know what a John is? J-A-W-N? No, I is that like a jaunt? Uh no, it sure isn't. Uh nah, so I had to Google it. I didn't know what a John was. And apparently it's like if it's a slang for like a thing, like a noun. That's it. And apparently it started in Philadelphia or something.

So so the show Game Johns, which is like game things essentially, um, it basically features Riley and her crew as they delve into everything games for upcoming titles and nostalgic classics to game development and intriguing interviews, learn and laugh alongside this ragtag team of indie devs. Whether you want to philosophize about a definition of a game, discuss the type uh or the hype behind virtual reality, or discover games you've never heard of, GameJohns is the crew for you. For more things, Game Johns, check out uh allmylinks.com slash GameJohns and check out their Twitter. And they're on Twitter for news and announcements. So they're a really great show.

So whereas we're kind of like performers, uh, they're just kind of news and reviews, and all of them, a lot of them are like kind of these like game devs. Like straight facts kind of yeah, like they're fun though. It's not, you know, it's not just like Jeopardy or anything. Yeah. So so that that's uh we've been talking with them. They're pretty cool people. I think we have an upcoming collaboration we might be excited to announce, but more on that later. And then another podcast, and this one's pretty fun. Uh, this is the Jock and Nerd Podcast. Oh, okay. I have heard of that one. You have? Well, it's a good thing because you're on it. Uh actually coming up in the next couple weeks.

So, Jock and Nerd Podcast, if you haven't listened, they have been around for quite a while, actually, a couple years, and they're super fun. I am Ron and Anthony. Um, they do like pop culture just news. Like basically every week they're reviewing stuff like WandaVision, they're reviewing Marvel, anything on the news or whatnot. And so you definitely want to check them out just to kind of stay up to up, you know, like on top of what's going on. Up to snuff, some up to say, man. That's what I was thinking. I was gonna say up to beat, and I'm like, that doesn't make any sense at all. Yeah, um, really fun, guys. And yeah, Nate's gonna be on the show.

He's gonna be on the March 2nd episode, um, which I believe we'll probably be still talking about WandaVision at that point. So check it out. Uh, and that's the Jock and Nerd Podcast. Yeah, multiple. Well, on our social, we'll share more links with these guys, but really cool. Um, really excited to be meeting more creators, content creators. Um, Nate just shows up and rolls out of bed and makes funny voices, but I actually uh am an artiste and I like to work with the other people in our industry. It's true. For the patrons that can actually watch this video right now, it's just a dollar. Um, you can see that I didn't do my trademark hair today because it was one of two options for Nate.

Either I take a nap and come in to Nat One Presents, not grumpy and irritable, or I do my hair and come in pissed off at the world. And I chose the first one. So I think it was a good choice overall. It was a great choice. Nate, he seems very easygoing and and fun, and that's true a good 50% of the other time. But the other time, absolute nightmare. Oh, yeah. I'm terrible. I'm terrible. I'm sorry to whoever I hurt out there along this path. Megan. Yeah, mostly Megan, the kids, pickles, the dog. Pickles dog, if you're listening out there. Actually, pickles the dog is an actual patron. Like she's even putting a dollar up there. So, like, pay the dollar. How does she even figure it out?

Like, how'd she get on the computer? It's that easy, maybe a dog can do it. But it's so easy, a dog could do it. Well, she's a golden retriever too, so she's really smart. But uh, jumping from the patrons and friends, I would like to thank Haley, aka my sister, for being the newest patron. It's just a dollar. And then I'd like to thank Mark. Uh, Mark is actually a cool guy, he actually helps us do a lot of our SEO work on our website. He's just kind of this like digital marketing guru. Like, if you like went all like wreck it rough and entered the internet, he'd be like, hi, I'm Mark Ames. Welcome to the internet. Like he'd be that guy. Yeah. So he's a new patron. And thank you, Mark.

I I look forward to collaborating with you more in the future. Appreciate you, Mark. And enjoy that free plug we just gave you. You're welcome. Last thing, I'd like to, you know, talk about all these friends, you know. We uh you know, I I did us a dis our fans a disservice the other time. You know, we talked about some of our friends from the Deutschland, right? From Canada, from a bunch of other places, but I didn't call out the second largest country to have viewers of Net One Presents are actually the Australians. Well, that's tough because you know, like they still speak English kind of over there. So, you know, but like they're they're like asleep right now in their beds. The time difference is totally obnoxious.

But yeah, or maybe they're awake by now. I don't know. It's it's a lot. I don't know how Australia works. Like I heard the water flows the opposite way there, like in the toilet. But either way, we appreciate you, Australia. Good day, mate. Shrimp on the Barbie. How else can I offend you today? Australians know more than anything that it's only a what did we say? Digerido? Dollar redo? Dollar redo. Dollary do is what Chris said, and it stuck because that is awesome. It's a dollar redo. It's a dollar. Trying to retract. Thanks for listening. Nate, what are we doing today?

Well, today we're gonna be having another Call of Cthulhu campaign, and this is gonna continue on from uh so what I did was the original story, and then you did a prequel to that. So now we are gonna continue on from the original story and basically follow the lifeline of the box. Like, where's it going? What's it doing? Who's gonna die next? Oh, who's dying? Oh, well, Katie Vanderbilt's obviously already dead. She's trapped in a train. Yeah, I I wanted to bring her back for this one, but it was too much, you know. Like, can I really bring her back? Plus, for you should be like an exhibit for the Vanderbilts or something. Yes, miraculously disappeared.

Maybe there'll be like a what do you call it when like they give a lot of money, like a contributor or whatever? Yeah, like a Patreon, you know, like they give more than the Vanderbilt's dollar. Okay, so um, I think I am ready to start. And uh, for those of you who follow DD and are new to Call of Cthulhu, we do not use a D20, we use a percentile die. So that would be two D10s, and you basically just roll them and see if you did something or not. Usually we fail because that's what we do here at Nat 1 Presents. We fail. Literally, Nat 1 is to fail. Right.

If you don't even a lot of people don't get the reference in the name of our show, someone called us Nate One, made zero sense, but still sounds good. Two Nates, first of all. It sounds great. I love that name. Yeah, so failing's what we do, and looking forward to it. All right, perfect. Okay, hold on, let me stretch out, Nate. Here we go. Okay. Corvin actually uh helped me come up with a name for this adventure. It's gonna be called the Terror Exhibit. He's nine years old, by the way. He's awesome.

So, in our last adventure with the box, uh Nate was a detective, agency detective, and it was he was tasked to bring this box to this guy in Arkham, uh, which is the fictional city in the whole Cthulhu universe, and does his only job. He had to board a train, take this box to Arkham, give it to a professor at the Miskatonic University within Arkham, and that was it. But along the way, some things happened. He fell asleep holding the box because he got into his Jimmy jams, which was one of my favorite lines in that one, by the way. And fell asleep, some [expletive] happened. Uh, was there anything really that stuck out in your mind from that adventure nate?

Well, it's not super relevant, but my favorite is when we go into the car that is like it's like a dining facility, like room party, and I go under the table and there's some like squid man, like, and I'm like holding his head, and then he like touches me with his tentacles and I just drop them. And I don't know why, but that was that was uh Oh, and then that killed him, right? Yeah, then yeah, you had me roll damage and he died. Fun fact um, I have a hard time reading along as we're trying to role play, and I make [expletive] up on the fly and then go back to what I wrote.

He actually had several lines of dialogue he was supposed to say in the story, but we killed him off real quick. That's that's all we like to do. Kill the fun. Okay, so um no no. So now we're gonna like zoom in, boom, on this uh museum here in Arkham. I didn't give it a name. I'm sorry, use your imagination, the Arkham Museum of Arkham. There's a new uh occult exhibit that's coming uh tomorrow night. It will be opened up, and items have been shipping in for the past few months: crates, boxes, trunks, even mail envelopes, all kinds of different items uh containing cult artifacts, hoodoo idols, uh Celtic, like ceremonial daggers, and um all the things, you know, in and out.

Our security guard has been on top of this, staying with them, like watching the shipments come in and out. It's his job to basically cover the whole night shift period here at the museum, especially critical right now before the opening of a new exhibit. Um, if you would like to tell us a little bit about your character, Nate, that would be great. Absolutely, Nate. So I made Rusty Grimes. I uh he rolled, he's kind of like the security slash, in my mind, he's still also like a janitor. Like there's just not a lot to do at night, you know? Like he's he's he's an expert in the mundane. Oh, yeah. Um and he's been working there 35 years, and tonight is his last night. He is retiring, uh, is his goal.

And so he just this is he just honestly, he just wants to get through the night. He's been through a lot of [expletive]. He's just like he's done his time, he thinks he's earned retirement, and so he's just looking for uh an easy night. Um training, he supposedly is like a new guy or something, he's gotta train, and then he is looking forward to coasting the rest of his life, or so he thinks. Ooh, awesome. One last night. So that we are going to roll into the story. So everybody is kind of filled out of the museum at this point. It is closing time. All that's left is Rusty and two men now standing up to the side. One of them is the museum curator or manager or whatever you want to call it.

Museum, he basically owns the museum, and he comes up to Rusty with a younger gentleman at his side.

Rusty, Rusty.

How you doing, old man? I'm glad to see you're still here with us tonight.

Kind of make it sound like I'm dying, but uh Well, look at you, Rusty. Well, well, yeah, you try working here every night lifting and putting things down and staying awake. It doesn't do a whole lot for you, but uh yeah, I know I'm I'm here and uh what do you got for me?

That is true, that is true. He checks the time. I actually can't wait to get out of here. Um but until then, um I'd like to introduce you to your replacement. He is going to he is uh Harold Bastion. Yeah, I'm gonna be honest with you, Rusty. He's my sister's son, and he's a little bit of a knuckle sandwich.

Are you talking about the boy that's right next to you? Because I think he can hear you.

No, it doesn't matter. He does it doesn't matter, Rusty. He's looking up at the sky right now. He's like looking down at his feet. And then he like once he hears Rusty or uh his name, Harold Baston, he like looks up for a second, and then like, oh, what the [expletive] is going on over there? He uh he he gets very intrigued about all the new things. Rusty, Rusty, Rusty, pay attention now. This is Rust is my name. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. God damn it. Uh Harold, Harold, sorry. Harold, Harold, pay attention. This is Rusty. This is gonna be your mentor. Um please don't touch anything, don't break anything. Listen to what the man has to say and follow his lead, okay? Rusty's been here for quite some time.

Long enough time that he's pulling an excellent pension from this place, but either way, he will take care of you. Okay? Well, alright, Uncle Jack, you got it, man.

I'll I'll do my best, you know?

Well, that's your actual voice, huh?

Oh yes, sir. It's nice to meet you, Rusty. Um, I I really look forward to taking your job from you, you know?

Well, uh well, I I look forward to not being here. That's any any consolation. You got uh you got old tired shoes to fill.

I understand that. I wow, what's this over here? And then he runs over to your desk and starts like touching stuff like, oh wow, never seen one of these before.

Oh no, just no I I don't want to have to clean that. Just please. Just please be quiet. One night. One night.

Okay. Um, well, since we're going, would you like to show me around or what do you what do you do on your rounds and stuff? You know, if I go too fast, just let me know. Because sometimes my mom says I go too fast, and then my uncle says you need so Rusty like holds up his like finger and like in due time.

In due time.

Oh okay. Is there a place I could sit or anything? Because my like my legs are kind of tired.

Mr. Kirita, are you sure uh this is the man or boy or child you want in charge of the museum? Lot goes down at night. It may seem not gonna easy job, but it's uh it's not made for kids.

Uh yeah, Rusty, he's taking your job. There's nothing I can do about it. My hands are tied. Um he's yours now, he's your responsibility. Don't kill him. My sister will kill me. I will see you later. I'm gonna go home and have a drink and massage my beautiful wife.

Not my circus, not my monkus.

Yes, whatever, whatever you say, Rusty. You and your old timey lingo chit-chat. I will see you later, okay? See you. Hopefully, I don't see you tomorrow. Hopefully your stuff is packed tomorrow, and I don't have to see you tomorrow night. So goodbye, Rusty. Thank you for your service. Um, best wishes to what what are you what do you do? Fish? Do you fish? Old men fish.

Just conversations over.

Okay, yep. See you later, Rusty. And then uh the curator leaves the building, and then you see uh uh Harold sitting over there in the corner, like sitting in your chair, like When are we gonna do something, Rusty?

Well, firstly, your uncle is a huge prat.

I agree with you a hundred percent, especially since me and you are gonna be best friends.

Oh, no.

Well, I've never had a best friend before, so I'm sure that's exactly what a best friend would say.

Yeah, I wouldn't know, but uh I guess we're gonna make the best out of tonight. But I like to play a game. Do you would you like to play a game?

Oh, I love to play games. Yes, I love Rusty. I'd love to play games. Do you go by Harold or Harry? Well, it's a funny story, actually.

No, I don't care. Okay. We're gonna go with Harry. Uh, because I knew a Harold and he shot me in the leg in the war, so I don't like him.

Wow, you've been in the war?

No, I've been been in many wars. The war domestic, the war abroad. You were The War in my mind.

Oh, because you I thought you were at a war with just like a lady, because you said abroad, and uh like what's he doing battling a lady, you know? Like that's not what a gentleman does, Rusty, you know?

Okay, well, anyway. The game we're gonna play tonight is you only say as many words as I say. So if I say hi, Harry, you can say how many words?

Uh two.

Yeah, good. And less is fine too.

Okay.

Great.

Wait, does okay count as one word or two words? Because it's kind of like a two-letter thing, but he's like two syllables.

Alright, listen, we need to do like at the start of our shift. At the start of your listen, boy, look at me, look me in the ass, boy.

Yeah, okay.

This this isn't a game, this is a job. You got hired, you're gonna receive compensation. You're in charge now, you're the man of the house, and the house is this museum. Harry, you get what I'm saying, boy?

Oh, I understand completely, Mr. Rusty, sir. I understood that as soon as my uncle gave me this gun. Look at this. Holy [expletive].

He pulls out a pistol and he says, She's like, Look at this thing, man. Like, I've never used a gun before my uncle just gave me.

I'm gonna, yeah, he's gonna just kinda like delicately pick that up.

Uh uh, hold on that for you. It's a very delicate thing. And I just gotta get through one night. Harry, look at me. One night, and I get to sit in my lazy boy and do puzzles for the next however many years of my life that I get to live with my beautiful or once beautiful, she's older now, but just just I just need to make it through tonight, okay? So weapons, no go.

Okay.

Talking, no go.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. You got it? Say something. No go. Great, you passed. All right, listen. So this is your job now, so take it seriously tonight.

For some reason, they decided only one night of training would be sufficient before you took my job. So listen, you really need to pay attention. All right. So the first thing we're gonna do is a walk around. Okay.

Alright, you start your shift, you need to see what's been here, what arrived, what's in your like, you know, if someone says something's missing in the morning, it's on you unless you know what was here. Does that make sense, Harry? Mm-hmm. Okay, you can t you can talk a little bit.

Yes, Rusty. That that makes sense.

Great. Don't call me by my first name. Okay, so just yes or uh yes, sir. Okay.

Okay.

Sir. Okay, great. All right. Well, uh, you're doing great. Uh keep up that uh low energy. Uh uh, yeah, and let's uh get this show on the road. You see uh Harold try to like mimic Rusty a little bit, so he like sloups his shoulders a little bit and kind of like walks with a limp behind you. And uh so you've been up and down this museum, uh two-story building numerous times before. Uh very nice. 78 stairs.

Okay, you know exactly how many stairs it takes to get to the top.

And on the the second uh story is usually where you do your first set of rounds, and that's usually what burns up most of your time. The bottom story is just like a lobby and then some office buildings or whatever. Uh, but up top, the current exhibits here at the museum, it's on a rotation of sorts. There is a safari room, uh weapons through the ages. Um, there is an exhibit on cats. There is uh an Egyptian room, the dinosaur room. There your standard, yeah. Okay. But uh okay, but there's also a circus room.

Okay, not your standard.

Uh where they go over everything about P. T. Barnum's circus or whatever. And then the PT Barnum? What is it? Oh, I I don't know. I I guess like uh the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. I was it P. T. Yeah, okay. Sorry, I interrupted you. Don't question me. And then the the last one is kind of uh different where it's a manuscript room. So I'm gonna try to describe it to you where there's just like the whole room is kind of like a doctor's office kind of thing. It's sterile, you know.

There's like the bright lights in the room, uh, but it's nothing but loose pages from books, and they are all in glass cases basically vertically off the wall, and that's all that's in this room, like rare pages where they don't even have the whole book. Nice, and that's the the last room. And it's normally an exhibit, like you can go in and like look at the pages, or it's like uh a room that's meant just to be like archived. It is an exhibit, it is an exhibit. Okay, gotcha. And then no no no no no no no, so as you're uh making through your rounds, uh Harold is touching everything. It's like, oh, what's this do? And oh what's that do? Harold, Harold, uh huh. Harry. Listen. Yes.

How old do you think that thing is right in front of you? Oh geez, uh at least as old as you, Mr. Rusty. How old do you think that is? 107?

I hate you.

Okay. Alright, listen. These things are delicate the oils on your hand can unravel the very like it could just literally erode the things you're touching.

These are pieces of history. And you might not like history, but it's there to stay. And if you don't treat it well, it will come back to get you.

Well, golly gee, you make a lot of sense, Mr. Rusty, sir, and I'll just try my best to keep my hands in my pockets, as my mom would say. Yeah, hands to yourself. But what's this do? God. Um uh you finally get uh to the occult room and it's filled with a couple open crates because they're opening tomorrow. Um, but the art director for the occult. Uh exhibition or whatever is still inside there. And she's a tall, red-headed woman, glasses, um, decent looking, you know, whatever. Uh Harold seems into her. And then she greets you as you uh enter the room.

This uh the occult room is kind of like off to the side because it is a new exhibit, and then everything in here is like from what I said before, all the dark mystery stuff. But she looks like she should not be into this, but she is, that's her job.

Oh hi, Rusty. I thought it was your net last night last night.

Does that make sense? No, yeah, it sure does, but uh nope. I had to stay one more night to give uh exactly a single 12-hour training to the new recruit. You know, you know how things go here, it don't make a lot of sense.

Oh, I understand that completely. How's it going?

Oh, you know. That's all it says.

Oh, okay. That's all he says. Uh and then she uh introduces herself to uh Harold, and I'm not gonna voice two people back to back because I'm already crazy enough and on the verge as it is.

Uh Harriet, you remember what I said about abroad, right?

Yes, is this the lady that you battled? No, no, no. Miss uh I her name, Miss Summers, yes. She works abroad on uh collecting uh occult things. Uh so you work on other ladies too, Miss Summers? Oh god. No, no, no, dear. He means like wide across like the whole continents. Like the the world. Do you understand the world, Harold? Well, I sure understand the world because my mom told me it looks like a big blueberry, you know, but okay, alright, thank you, Harry.

Okay. Um, how's is the boy okay?

Quite frankly, I don't know, Miss Summers. Uh he uh I apparently am his ward for tonight, but uh apparently he's gonna replace me. So you might as well get very acquainted to this young man who probably will not destroy this museum.

That is a sad, sad thing, Mr. Rusty. I am sorry to hear that.

Yeah. Well, I only got one night. Thank goodness that these last twelve hours are all I will ever have to worry about ever in this museum, Miss Summers.

You look delightful, by the way. Oh, thank you. You're always such a charmer, Rusty. And since it's your last night, I do have something a little special I'd like to show you.

Oh, that's not necessary, Miss Summers.

What is it? I'm super excited about it.

Um uh a man from the university, the Miskatonic, has given me this strange box. And he said it's some kind of like Sumerian artifact thing.

And after looking at it, uh it has something to do with some kind of dream magic. I can tell from half of the symbol that's on it, because he said for the longest time the box wouldn't even well, let me just let me go get it. Let me go get it. And then she runs off and she gets the box. And then uh see Harry, this is kind of [expletive] I'm talking about.

She said she had a gift for me, and it's clearly for the museum. I'm sick of this [expletive]. I worked here 35 years. A [expletive] guard would have been great, you know. Normal jobs, they say. Thank you for your time. What do I get, Harry? I get you, and I get you know what, it's fine. She's coming back. It's fine.

She seems like a real nice lady.

I think you should give Miss Summers a chance, you know? Oh, here she comes, here she comes. Okay, all right, here we go. Rusty, darling. Um, yes, there you are. Uh, here is the box, as I said. Look at this, isn't this super interesting?

I could not have asked for a more interesting thing this evening to partake in. Um not a single other thing comes to mind that I would rather be holding right now, Miss Summers.

Well, that's just great.

Um, I'm super excited about it. Um, oh, what? I haven't noticed this little latch here before. And then she kind of plays with it, and then uh Harold's like, Well, I want to see what the latch is. Let me see it. No, no, all right, nope, nope, hands a pocket, hands and pocket. It's too late. Harold uh jumps out and grabs the box from Miss Summers, and they're actually like kind of fighting over it, which is really weird. And then the box uh flies out of Miss Summers' hands and hits the floor with a clang, boom, boom, boom.

And then uh, oh no, oh dear, what but what is this? Rusty, come here and look at this.

And then uh you get closer and she shows you the bottom of the box, actually has a like a hideaway compartment, and then like she peels it back, and there's a small piece of paper inside that's been super neatly folded up and looks old, all that garbage or whatever. And then uh she unfolds it real fast. And oh my, oh my, I think I think I know what this is. It's some form of ancient guy, like I'm so glad someone's here for me, Rusty, while I have this discovery.

Yes, yes. I'm really glad you dropped uh inventory of the museum property that neither you nor I own on my last night. I definitely will not put that in my night audit report because I don't want to deal with it.

I'm with Rusty on that one.

It seems like you had a real bad case of the butterfingers on there. Oh, yeah. Well, I think that I can I can translate this. Um, hold on for one second while I find my place in my [expletive] notebook. Um paper unfolds can really quickly translate the top half. Uh here we go. Uh it says the night is long, the end is near, candles flicker, he's here. And then with that, the [expletive] lights go off in the occult room.

Miss Thomas. And then uh the lights flicker a little bit back on, back on. And then uh That would have made a great retirement card if I had received one. Um, so yeah, it's uh the lights flickered a little bit, but now it is pitch dark in the uh colt room. Oh Harry, Harry, where are you?

Harry. Say something, Harry.

Uh I'm I'm over here, Rusty.

Don't touch anything.

Just stay totally. But it's really dark and just stay totally still, Harry. You hear like a crash or [expletive], like some stuff breaks. Uh Miss Summers. We're gonna have to do something.

Uh you don't hear her. Oh, classic woman. You need something, they're gone. They they open open boxes, take your em to your bank account. Harry, you're still there, Harry.

I'm over here, Rusty, I think.

Okay, you actually are right near the fuse box thing that we seem to have in every single room.

I'm not an electrician. Go ahead and uh flip that. Yep, reach out. Yep, yep, yep, yep.

I got it.

Oh, did the lights come on? Yeah, the lights came on. Oh, okay, good thing. Hey, Harry, you did something good just now.

Really?

Let's keep that going.

Nobody's ever congratulated me before.

Well, it wasn't a congratulation. It was more of an observation of a pattern that you should continue to maintain.

I understand completely, sir, Mr. Rusty, sir. Thank, think, thank you, I guess.

Um, as you look in the the room is uh empty, she is no longer in there. Um give me an investigation check if you even think Rusty would be bothered with investigating. I'm gonna say he's investigating where Mrs. Summers went. Okay. What is that? Holy [expletive], that's yes. That's great. You're like an eagle eye. There is only one door in, one door out. Where did Mr. Summers go? So the piece of paper that she was reading is on the floor in the position where she was at. But there is also a small sigil, kind of like a throwback to our first episode that I did, uh, drawn in blood, kind of on the tile floor there.

And then since you rolled so good, you also noticed that it almost looks like claw marks underneath the paint. So it wasn't just a finger that drew this blood sigil, like it's something a little bit more sinister.

Alright, come here.

Come here, Harry. Look at this. Wow, what what do you think that is?

I'll tell you exactly what it is. In 30 years, I have told them so many times that we have a rat problem in here. And do what do they do? Not a damn thing.

Nobody listens to you, Rusty. Nobody listens to you. Like you start hearing uh whispers inside your head. You'll be forgotten, Rusty. Nobody cares about you. Why do you Harry? That is the quietest I've heard you talk all evening. What are you talking about? I haven't said a word. Oh wow, loud again. Okay. Well listen. Harry, do you hear that? No, I didn't hear anything.

Don't play with me, boy.

It's my last night. I just 35 years. I just want to go home. Puzzles. Look at me, Harry. Puzzles.

I don't know anything, sir.

It's not funny. Harry will kill you, Rusty. Uh roll a uh sanity check because like it is like clear. No, give me a percentile. Alright, right, right. And then whatever your sanity score is. Right, right, right, right, right. Uh 22, which Oh, that's a pass all day long. What's your sanity? 56. I've been in the war. You think voices are gonna scare me? Harry? You think you're some kind of ventriloquist? Ain't gonna work. I don't even know how to spell ventriloquist. Yeah, neither do I. Go to college. I think we should really Don't work here. But that my uncle said it's a good job with benefits, and then I could grow old and become some piece of [expletive] guy who doesn't do anything just grumpy and wants to do puzzles.

I'm offended. But also not surprised that your [expletive] uncle said that. Listen, this is a dead end child. The only reason I took it is to the pension plan. But you, you have uh hopes, you have opportunity. You are young and presumably white. Yes. Yeah, so yeah, you're I got the whole world ahead of me, really. I'm a little concerned that there isn't pile of blood. Uh I do think the scratches are from rats, uh, because there is a huge problem in this museum.

Are they? Um yeah, oh huge. Somebody should have listened to you about the rat problem. Yeah, yeah.

But uh, you know, Miss Summers, she's not the type to just disappear like that. Usually she lingers for far, far too long.

Mm-hmm.

Uh do you recognize what what is uh of course you don't recognize the symbol. Oh my kid.

Um I'd like to look around the occult room and see if there's anything that maybe uh looks like the symbol that I found on the ground. Okay, uh rolling an investigation. Is it 20? But I don't think I have investigation. Um is investigation even a check? Oh sorry, I'm uh spot hidden. Spot hidden, that's yeah, that's what it is. Sorry, we just I just got done playing DD. It's a regular pass. Okay, regular pass. Uh, you do find like a ceremonial dagger that seems to have something very similar, and it is actually in like the Celtic heritage part of the occult section, I guess you could say. So like you get that vibe from it. But that's about it.

Alright, alright, listen. Uh there's two things we could do. We'd call police and I could have a huge mess in my hands, and I could not maybe leave this place anytime soon.

I always wanted to be a cop.

Yeah, great. Well, option two is you grab that towel we have in the back room, you soak that up, and we go on our rounds.

Okay, I can do that. Where's the towel again?

Uh back in uh my office in that desk you were af one.

Okay, you got it. I'm on my way. And he just sprints out of the room. And now you are left alone in the occult room. Yeah. Uh, do I notice? So, aside from blood on the ground and a marking, uh, that I was not phased by. We rolled the sanity check, it didn't phase me, so I think like I'm a little messed up, it looks like from the war. Yeah, you know, so I've I do grist. Like, I think it's kind of a prank. It's my last night. I think I'm maybe trying to be punked, and I do also think there's a severe rat problem in this museum.

So I just just not buying it, but uh, but otherwise Rusty's gonna look around and be like, oh, I just know tonight's not gonna be a good night, but I can do it.

Rusty Grimes, you will persevere.

Give me a listen check. It's a fail. It's a fail. Uh yeah. Okay. So you um you kind of hear a voice for a second, but then like you probably think it's like tinnitus in your ear or whatever it is ringing from the war. You had a grenade blow up near you or some [expletive] like that. You're old, you know. People old people's ears ring all the time. All the time. My ears ringing right now. But um uh it seems like it's taking Harold quite a while to get that towel.

Oh, if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself.

I always said. Alright. Uh, let me go check on Harry. Uh, as you uh exit, give me a dodge roll. Uh being in the military, I actually have a decent dodge score. Um yeah, I pass. Oh, perfect. Uh Harry or yeah, Harold comes flying into action with his towel, but he's actually like kind of like draped over the front of his face because he just thought he could run faster that way if it wasn't in his hands. And you dodge out of the way just in time, but Harry trips over his own feet and falls into the floor.

I you okay, Harry.

I'll be okay. I fall down all the time, believe it or not.

I do believe it. You're so good to me, Rusty. Oh my soul. No one's ever believed in me like you do. Wait, while you're down there, why don't you wipe up that uh suspicious red fluid?

Okay, you got it. Uh, do I need any cleaner or anything?

You know, yeah, you do. Uh let me go down to the janitor's closet.

Uh you uh walk out of the room and uh well, let's see where I'm at, where I'm at. Uh my quick take is that this is not going in the direction you thought you'd have to do.

No, not really. Uh let's see. Sonny Chuck did that. Uh-huh. I'm trying to jump around now.

Usually the last one was so easy because we just followed. It's like a linear card. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, but this one, we're jumping around a little bit. Okay, okay. So um, as soon as you walk out of the hall, you look to your right and you see uh Miss Summers in the hallway at the very end of it, and then she does that thing that you see all the time in horror movies where she's like walking from one room to another and stops in the middle of the hallway for some reason, and then like turns slowly to look at you, and then she kind of smirks at you, and then just like face forward, dead expression, and then continues to walk into the next room.

No.

She's definitely not gonna give me a retirement gift, but she needs to be out. Actually, this place is closed 30 minutes ago. Uh I'm fat. If Harrow was here, I'd tell him nobody is allowed in the museum after a certain time, and she's well beyond that.

I'm right here, Rusty.

Oh, oh, wow. Wow, okay.

Well I got scared in that room by myself. You can't just leave me places.

Okay, well, that's that's fair. Uh listen, uh, Miss Summers, uh, thank goodness. For a second I thought she maybe burst into like blood and you saw her? Oh [expletive], uh yeah, no, she's down the hall. She's stopping. Anyway, anyway, listen. All right, we need to she's she's gonna trigger some alarms. Uh alarms automatically trigger at 9 30 in certain rooms. If so, we need to go tell her to leave. She should know this by now. But God forbid I have an easy night tonight. So let's go tell her she has to leave. Then we'll go back, we'll clean up the mess, and we're gonna just try. We're gonna try so hard to get through tonight.

That sounds good to me, Rusty, sir. I I'm all about trying. That's pretty much the only thing I'm good at is trying. Use less words. Okay. Great, good job, good. And then uh as you're walking down the hall to where you saw uh Miss Summers enter that room here, boys, kind of like echo through the hall and out to you a little bit. And it turns out she ducked into the manuscript room that we talked about earlier. Alright. Uh listen, uh, Harry, before we go in that room, do not touch anything.

This room, so everything in this museum is old and fragile. Uh-huh. These things are even more old and more fragile. And we only have like one page of an entire codec that we're trying to combine. So please, for the love of God, they're all encase. Just don't touch. Where's your hands? Hands? Pockets. Hands check. Pockets. Great, good. Keep them there. Okay, I'll imagine they're glued to your pockets. Okay. Can you imagine that, Harry?

I yes, I think so.

Great. Just do that until I tell you not to. You got it. Great. I don't care if I am being strangled to death by a giant mummy. Uh-huh. Figuratively speaking, of course. All right. Do not take your hands out of your pocket.

Oh, you got it, Rusty, sir. Hands in the pockets. What what was our take on touching stuff though?

He just walks into the room. And then you see uh Harry like whoop with his hand in his pockets.

He's like, I'm coming, Rusty.

Um, you guys walk into the room and uh Miss Summers is not in there. Uh but you notice that one of the uh pages, the the glass surrounding it has been broken and the page is kind of laying on the floor.

Holy [expletive], what is going on tonight? Harry, most nights I literally work in circles. I walk in a [expletive] circle and nothing happens. And that's exactly what tonight was supposed to be.

Wow, I thought this happens like every night. I was like, this is the most exciting job a guy could ask for, you know. Like my uncle did kudos for me by giving me this exciting job, but Harry. Okay.

Less words.

Okay, sorry. Hands check. Uh as you're uh walking over to kind of get closer uh to the page that fell, uh you you and Harry aren't walking like tandem or anything. He's kind of walking off to the side, so he's like splitting directions. And then when you look over and see Harry through the glass of one of these exhibits, uh you notice like a weird red sigil has been carved into his forehead at this point, and his eyes are completely red, not like bloodshot red, but like painted neon red, like really weird, like fiery embers glowing. Have I seen anything like that anywhere in the museum? Any anything like that ever? No, nothing like that. No, okay.

No, and then as soon as he it's only for a split second, as soon as he passes the glass again, he's back to hey, oh listen, go get my medication.

I think I think I might might have forgotten to take my hot burn and oh it's doing up. Give me another uh sanity check too.

Yeah, um, that's a veil, for sure. So just uh 1d4. Four. Okay, four points.

So okay. Um never mind. Keep your hands in your pocket. It's fine, it's fine. I just I thought I saw something for a minute, Harry. It's just uh, you know, remnant from the war.

Alright, you're just don't worry me like that, Rusty, okay?

Yeah, yeah, no problem. Alright. Uh well, what's up with the broken glass over here? Should we investigate that or anything? I'm not much of an investigator or anything, I'm more of a talker. Yeah, I can see you're irritated with me again. Um, do I know what um from just knowing, do I know like which uh like page that is? Like from the placement of where it is, do I know like that's oh that's the page from this thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um you've been around enough and you've asked enough questions, and then all these nerds just want to tell you about the [expletive] they're [expletive] discovering anyways. Yeah, you have to deal with it all the time.

So it's a it's another uh it belongs to a bigger book, but this is the only page that they have here at the museum from this specific book, and it's on rituals. And then if you go ahead and give me an investigation, no spot. No, actually, it's it won't be that. Um give me a knowledge check or if you have something to like decipher like different languages kind of deal, whatever you whatever you want to use. I'm fine with just a knowledge or even just education check if you want to do that. Okay, let me see what I got. Um, folks at home, when all else fails, go to like the basic stats. They work. Yeah, so uh I uh my character has not taken really any of these. Uh here's a library use.

That's really the best I could do. What's the score on that? 20. Nah, just do give me a basic uh basic one of uh knowledge or education. Okay. It should be your top. Your main. Yeah, okay. Your big block up there. Okay. Yeah, give me education. What is that?

It's uh 55?

Yep. Um, yeah, it's perfect. Uh you notice that the the the way the things are written on this page are really similar when you looked over the shoulder of Miss Summers, that note that she read. These look like the same kind of symbols or drawings, and maybe that's how she was able to identify the language so quickly.

Oh, Harry. I think uh I think this is related to the box. Uh you know what that means, don't you? No. We got a burglar in our midst.

Oh, like a cat burglar? I always thought Rusty was a cat burglar, like a half man, half cat. Like, why are they so agile? You know, I've never been so agile. I've been kind of clumsy. Some people say I have two left feet. Like this guy Jerry, I know he's got two left. Harry.

There is not enough time in this evening for me to listen to you solve the mystery of the cat burglar, and for some reason find Miss Summers who is still not evacuated the premise, and the alarm is and probably will go off.

Okay. What what do we do?

Okay, well, you do a lot less of everything.

Except hands in pockets. Pockets. Good job. But when you point at me, when you say hands in pockets, you're failing. Okay. But anyway, listen. He starts pointing at you like through his pocket. Like, listen. Uh I want you to keep mental note, alright?

Blood in the occult room. Glass in the uh manuscript room. Alright? At the end of the night, we gotta clean this. But right now, we need to get [expletive] Mrs. Summers out of this place and make sure it's not attacked by the burglar, who clearly is after some the box in the Oh God, there's just uh I just wanted an easy night. Do you know how many pieces are in the puzzle I have at home?

How many? One thousand. Wow, I can't even count that high. I believe it. I absolutely do. Do you know how many years I've been working on that puzzle? A thousand?

No.

Is this the first number that came into my head?

I'm sorry, Rusty. I just help me get through tonight so I can finish that puzzle. Okay, you got it. Alright. Alright, listen.

Um don't um oh I'm gonna like put on like a latex glove. I I have those. I'm a janitor. Yep. Um and I'm gonna pick up the the the the the manuscript that was broken was on the ground, right? Yes, yep. I'm gonna pick that up and like gently maybe roll it up. Okay. And then stick in my back pocket because [expletive] it. Yeah. Um sounds good. I like it. Alright, listen. Uh, we need to find Miss Summers.

I want you to go out in the hall and and uh call her name and we need to find her quickly. Um I'm gonna try to be stealthy, because if a burglar is here, he's either gonna try to avoid you or try to skin you alive. And either way, I want to adapt to the situation and use you as bait.

I understand, but if you're trying to sneak up on a half man, half cat, I think that's impossible. I tried sneaking up on a normal cat once. Okay, thank you. Thank you, thank you, Harold. Sorry, sorry.

All right, you ready? So you're gonna go out, I'm allowing you to talk. Okay. You're gonna go, Miss Summers, uh-huh, Miss Summers. Okay, okay.

And then I'm gonna try to find her andor the burglar. Okay. No, I got it, Rusty. I got it. We're gonna have a code word. Okay.

If you see a half man, half cat, just kidding, a burglar of any sort of anyone who is not Miss Summers, you say, um, Where'd you go, Miss Summers? And if you find Miss Summers, you say, Found you, Miss Summers.

Okay. Okay. I think I understand. All right. He uh runs out to the hall and he stands there. And he's like, Oh [expletive]. Um Hello Well, neither of those things are happening, Rusty.

I don't see Miss Summers or a cat man.

Stop, stop, stop.

He's gonna bend down, uh or bend down and like look at a piece of the glass as he like walks out of the room and just like imagine picking it up and slitting either his or Harry's throat. But then he does the breathing exercises his therapist told him. Okay. And then he's going to just be like, never mind, forget the plan. Let's go find Miss Summer. Okay, very well. Uh you start exiting the room, and then for some reason you get like a weird cold sensation on the back of your neck, and you look behind you and you see like the back, like back portion, like she's facing away from you. It actually is like the profile of your wife.

And she's like, Rusty, come back to bed.

Gertrude.

Rusty, come back to bed.

Do I believe this? Do I believe like how it looks just like her? Like, what the [expletive] is she doing in the museum? Like, she knows better. She knows it's your last day. Gertrude, it's my last day.

Why? No, the alarmed, cat burglar, summers, there's too much going on. Go back home. Wait for me downstairs in my office.

Mr. Rusty, what are you doing in there? I'm talking to my wife. You haven't met her, Gertrude, Harry, Harry, where'd Gertrude go? There's no one standing over there. It's because I told her to go down to my don't Harry. We need to find Miss Summers. Oh, I tried. I stood out here, I forgot completely what you asked me to say. I have no idea what's going on. I was half expecting a half man, half-cat to jump out of the shadows at me, and here I am.

Yes, uh, well, that's not helpful at all.

That's what my mom says all the time, Mr. Rusty, sir. Alright, listen. Uh, I'm gonna do a listen check and see if I know. I'm gonna just uh I think that was my wife, Greta, and I think she went, I told her to go down to my office. I'm gonna assume she listened to me because Rusty cannot handle multiple things at once. It's just driving him insane. So he uh turns back around and uh and uh I'm gonna do a listen check for Miss Summers or anything that's or a burglar and I fail. I fail hard. Okay, perfect. Um, so looking at where we're at on time, you got just pick a random room to search or something, whatever room you want to check out. I'm gonna go circus room. Okay.

Uh so we're gonna skip over that and go straight to the finale. No, I wouldn't I wouldn't worry about time for our listeners. Like, you know what, guys, we usually do a good job at keeping it 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes. Today, you may have to listen a little bit more. You know, we want to give you the full experience to deal with it. Um, yeah, I uh no, you know, this isn't just about other sons, it's about me, and I want the full experience. So don't cut it out. Okay, don't cut it out. Um we're going live. [expletive] it. Uh okay, so you go into the circus room, and as of right now, nothing has changed. Everything seems the same.

It seems as if this room hasn't been touched in quite some time. Like, nobody comes to the museum to go to the circus room. Like, that's creepy as [expletive]. There's even a cult exhibit coming, and nobody wants to see the [expletive] circus room. I hate this room. I love the circus, believe it or not. Like, I always thought I could be a clown and maybe ride an elephant or something, but then it turns out the elephants get really spooked when you get a little bit energetic around them, and then I really have a problem with that, I guess.

I admit I wouldn't mind shooting you out of a cannon.

That would be so much fun, Rusty Sir. I this small amount of time that we spent together, I feel like you really get me, you know?

Yeah, I get something. It's called heartburn.

What's that?

It's a burning sensation in your heart.

Oh, that sounds miserable. Exactly. First, hold on, let me write that down. Heartburn.

Alright, listen. Uh this is one of the only rooms left. We've checked, we've checked the manuscript room, we checked the occult room. Um for some reason I think the burglar wanted to go into the circus room. But she's got Miss Summers.

Miss Summers come out. This has gone on far too long. Your theories stack up to me, Rusty Sir. Like if I was half cat, half man, like the burglar that you are describing, I would totally want to join the circus because maybe I'll be part of that freak show thing that happens, you know, and then maybe people finally accept me for who I am.

I wish I had a fiddle imagination like you, Harry.

You really think so? I gave up on my dreams long ago. You're just living one. Constantly. I'm sorry to hear that about your dreams. Dreams are the most important thing. In my dreams, I'm smart and people respect me.

Yeah, I'll keep dreaming.

He just like looks at you like, okay, yeah, I'll keep dreaming.

Um, but yeah, in the in the circus room, nothing really has changed right now at the moment. Uh give me a listen check. Uh that pass. Okay. Uh you can kind of hear like the faint like dun dun dun dun dun dun like organ grinder music that like you would hear at a circus or whatever, and uh kind of rising in the background behind you. And then uh you hear like like crowds murmuring and like popcorn popping or whatever the [expletive] happens or roar of a line. Harry, please tell me you hear that. I don't hear anything.

Let me tell you what I hear.

Okay.

Finally, the surprise retirement party that I've been playing. They, you know, for a second I thought they forgot, you know, and then that very, very un un thoughtful gesture where I thought I was getting a gift and then it was actually just a box for the museum. I thought they forgot, Harry, but they're here, they're hiding in the circus room because they know I hate this room, and they're all gonna jump out and say, Surprise, Rusty. Thank you for 35 years of keeping this [expletive] hole running.

I believe you 100%, Rusty. That sounds really factual. You think they would have told me about it though if they were throwing you a surprise party?

Yeah, you think so too, but it's alright. It's alright. Listen, so when they jump out, I'm gonna go, ah, and you pretend it too, okay?

So you don't need to freak out, right? Okay, okay.

It's just it's me doing an act.

You're not having a heartburn, are you? No. Okay. Yeah, you laugh as Russie. We're gonna say that's canon, like he actually thought that was so dumb.

Oh here.

He's so excited by the fact that he finds he thinks it's like a surprise. Why else would I be hearing crowds of people?

Ah, I'm so excited. Okay, okay, ready? Composes himself. I'm ready. I definitely hope there's not a bunch of people in here. That would be very inconvenient to my night shift.

And then after you say that, the music kind of starts coming back down.

Oh yeah, that's exactly what I thought.

Nothing uh BC here, just me walking. Walking, walking. Are you okay, Mr. Rusty Sir? Like, I I've heard about this before. It happened to my grandma. It's called Losing Your Marbles. You didn't hear that, Harry? I didn't hear anything. I heard Miss Summers in the other room over there, but that's about it. What? You didn't hear that? No. God. She was like, boys, boys, come help me, or something like that. I don't really know. I was only half paying attention because I get really excited in the circus room.

Oh god.

Come here. Come here, Harry.

What about the party?

There's only There's no party, Harry. I uh might have uh misjudged that one. Listen, there's only one thing I like in this Godforsaken exhibit.

Uh-huh.

And it's the fun house mirrors.

Okay.

I want you to look in that mirror. You got it. Do I see the like red flame [expletive] in his eyes and the carving? Yeah, as soon as he gets in the reflection, yes.

[expletive].

Give me another sanity roll, too. Um yeah, you passed flying colors. I'm gonna say though, like, in the mirror, like a lot of the stuff, I was really just trying to like, I like you know how like you convince yourself, like you know something's not true, like you know that chick that you like really doesn't like you, but you want it to be true, so you almost convince yourself it's true. So for most of the night, I was really Rusty was trying to convince himself that like this is just you know, logical explanation, logical explanation. I think now it's starting to set in that like some weird [expletive]'s some weird [expletive]'s going down, and uh yeah.

So with that, I'm gonna say with that, like, even though I'm still very composed because my military training, right? Like that's any good. Um, but I'm Nate's allowed to say that, by the way. I'm allowed to say that. Uh so but anyway, I'm like, all right, I'm caught off guard, and now I see the like markings and stuff of him in the mirror. I'm gonna be like, Harold, uh, come here. Oh, you got it, Mr. Rusty. Hold one second, look at this. And he like looks in the like the mirror that makes you fat.

Oh, that's a good one. Oh, that's a good one. All right, I'm coming, Rusty. What's up?

You like magicians? Yes. Good, good. Here. So you ever seen well, let me just show you.

Okay.

All right, look, see this box? I'm gonna open it and you're gonna lay down in it.

Okay.

And then the magic trick is I'm gonna cut you in half, and I like do like the fake wink. Oh, yeah, yeah. Magic trick, obviously, I don't cut you in half, but it's gonna look like it to everybody else.

Ooh, okay, okay.

Okay, all right. Yeah, comment.

All right, I hop in the box. Okay.

I'm gonna put a really heavy thing on top of the box and lock Harry in there. Okay.

It's awfully dark in here.

Listen, Harry, I got one more net, and uh you know there's only two things different about tonight. One was that I got an intern who's a total fing idiot. And the other is that all hell is breaking loose, and I think they're connected. I think you are a devil child. I think your name is Damien, and I think you are here to make sure I don't get home to Greta. Well, guess what? It's my last night, and I will not let that happen. You will stay in this box, I will finish my shift, and I will get out alive and I will finish that puzzle.

Mr.

Rusty, I peed my pants in here, it's dark.

Yeah.

And I'm gonna walk away. Okay, so he is now trapped in a box in the circus room. Yeah. Okay, perfect. All right, and then you told me I uh he had heard Summer Miss Summers in the other room. Right. What room is that? Uh you don't know for certain, but your options are what I [expletive] said earlier. You either got safari room, uh, weapons through the ages, cats, Egyptian. Cats. You want to go to cats? No, no, I just like that he said cats. Um, and viewers, right now, if you're listening and be like, I hope he doesn't go through all rooms. I'm going through all [expletive] through the rooms, so get ready for it. Okay, okay. Uh, cats. Cats for 300, Trebek.

Uh you start heading into the cats room, and uh, it's actually a little morbid. It's just stuffed cats and pictures of cats, all different breeds, and it's all house cats. There's not even exotic cats in there or anything like that. It's just house cats. What another dumb [expletive] room.

I swear to God, I will not miss this room. I will not miss a circus room, I will not miss not having a retirement party. God damn, Miss Summers, where are you?

I'm over here.

Where reveal yourself, woman.

Meow.

Uh, do I hear the direction that's coming from? Yeah, kind of in the most back corner. Like you walk by a couple of tabby looking cats. Are the lights on? Uh it's it's dim and that's like the dim, like we're saving energy. Right. But there's still like certain lights on the different stuffed cats, but everything else is dead. Okay.

So now I'm not gonna take out my flashlight, so I'm gonna walk and be like, Miss Summers, come here right instance. You need to get out. And if you are not Miss Summers, I will beat the hell out of you until you are out of here. You better hope that the police come, who I have definitely already called.

Uh, as you approach, give me a spot hidden check. Fail. Fail. Okay. So you don't s the only thing that you kind of see in that corner where Miss Summers' voice came from is kind of like a hunched shadow looking thing. Does it look like Miss Summers? Or is I just I just think it's like one of the cat stuff things. Right. As far as you can tell, it just looks like it could be a bag of clothes, it could be Miss Summers, it could be cat burglar. I'm gonna take out my flashlight. Okay. And I'm gonna flash it on the when you uh shine over and uh it actually turns and you get like the cat eyes coming back at you. You know how when you shine around the cat eyes?

Yeah, as it turns its head and looks at you, and then it kind of unfolds itself. Nope, nope. And now this thing is like seven feet. He's just leaving.

I'm trying to just turn around and I'm just like power limping out of here. No, nope, no is my laugh. No, I'm not dealing with this [expletive]. Nope.

Perfect. Uh the cat burglar doesn't chase you.

Uh he just stays in that room. And uh now you can give me a little was it actually a cat burglar?

Yeah, it was a cat, it was a cat, half-man burglar in that room. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm just gonna say no.

And you didn't even bring [expletive] Harry with you.

Alright. Yeah, so I'm just gonna say I was freaked the [expletive] out because I don't believe in half-cat, half-man burglars. And I know for sure that wasn't part of that exhibit, so I am just booking it out.

Okay.

Uh you make it back into the main hallway, and uh give me a listen check again.

Listen.

Ooh, that one I think passes. Yes. Okay, perfect. Uh, back from the circus room, you kind of hear chanting going on. Like uh, for those of you at home, when I was singing my Celtic throat songs. Kind of like that, kind of like like what? And then like it's like boom, boom, boom, boom. That nice beat going on. So um I'm gonna walk by that room, but I'm not gonna like go through the doorway yet, right? Um, is it open? Is it like an open doorway or are the doors closed? Yes, it's like it was framed to have double doors on it, but they took all the doors off to make it like a more open exhibit to the public.

I'm gonna take a deep breath and I'm gonna run right past that door and go straight for whatever [expletive] stairwell gets me downstairs. I am out of here. Okay. I am done. So uh in that brief moment that you ran past the door, uh, you saw what looked like a semicircle of shadow people, and then Miss Summers in like some kind of weird outfit. You didn't stop long enough to look standing in the middle, and you just booked it down. I just [expletive] booked it.

I'm done. I don't I was trying to finish on good terms. I wanted to leave after 35 years at Rustig Grimes to his very last minute, gave his all to his job, but [expletive] that. I need to get out of here. I am done with this place. And I don't even think a grad screen in my office, whoever the [expletive] that was. I don't know. I am not falling for this [expletive] though.

Perfect. Um, you make it all the way to the entrance of the museum exhibit. You're like right there at the double doors leading out. Great, I'd like to walk out of it. Okay. Uh, as you go and walk out, you open up the double doors, and it takes you right back to the circus room. No, no, no.

Boona shaka, boona shaka.

Well, you know what? I'm done being a victim.

Miss Summers. And then she's like standing up, and now you can get a really good look at Miss Summers, and she is wearing like tattered rag kind of outfit. She has a deer skull on the top of her head with the antlers coming off, you know. She has the actual ceremonial dagger that you saw earlier, and she's performing some kind of ritual over an altar with a yellow draped fabric over the top of it, and she's just like, ha ha like that kind of [expletive]. What do you think of this, Miss Summers?

And then I take out the like the little scroll on the back, and I'm gonna like butcher it, but I'm gonna try to just read what's on it, and I'm like, uh, what uh all right, I uh bargained a pa koopa, [expletive] you, [expletive], gadaba. Actually, I'm not even gonna have you roll for it because that's exactly what I wanted to happen. So um, with that, the chest that uh Harry was locked in starts rattling, rattling, rattling. Uh the words that you spoke on the paper suddenly turn bright red and like glowing off the page, and all of a sudden Harry pops out of the truck or trunk and what's going on, Rusty?

I'll tell you what's going on. These people aren't trapped, we aren't trapped here with them, they're trapped with us.

I don't feel so good.

Should all be over soon. And then uh he starts his limbs start extending outward, so like his arms are all of a sudden two feet longer. Oh, yeah. Just his arms, his legs are now two feet longer. He has a very now gangly frame about him. Uh he starts like skin just starts falling off of his face, and like a goat skull kind of thing starts protruding out and like growing outwards, and now it almost looks like he has a goat skull for like a mask, and the horns come up and wrap around him, and then uh the fire lights up inside of the goat mask, and then his voice changes. Most on a lava nacete. And then uh he [expletive] charges Miss Winters, like he is pissed. It's Miss Summers, Miss Winters.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I can't see for those of you at home. I wrote down Miss Winters, and I'm like, I use that [expletive] last name for everything. I want to change it up. And I went with Summers, and now here I am mixing it up again. Yeah, so get him, Harry. So yeah, and then he is charging at Miss Summers, and he straight just grabs her face and rips her head off. Yeah. All the shadow people dispose. Yeah, like they just poof, poof, poof, poof into the shadow, and then you see uh Harry like breathing super heavily labored. Most of the and then like for some reason, like it translates into you, and it's like the sun shall protect, and like that's it.

Like all of a sudden the fire dies out, and like the body just falls over.

I'm here.

You're allowed to say as many words as you want.

Oh, thanks, Russell.

I got two words for you.

Thank you. Oh, anytime he kind of like climbs out of this thing almost like it's a mech suit now at this point. He's like, what the [expletive] happened here? Whoa, this isn't my weirdest Saturday night, you know?

Yeah. Um, also, I need to apologize to you, Harry. There is such a thing as a cat burglar, half man, half cat, and it's in the other room.

Get out of town. Yeah.

Hells yeah. Hells yeah, and uh, you know what? I'm not quitting. We're gonna do this [expletive] every night.

And uh uh, so that sounds good.

And then uh to kind of like wrap up the continuity a little bit, uh Trust me, trust me, uh, as you're you're walking out of the room, like I'm picturing you like putting [expletive] Harry under your arm and [expletive], and then you see a guy kind of over to the side and in a perfectly pristine yellow business suit, and you see him like snap his fingers, like almost cuts. Yeah. And then you see him like step in through a hallway and he disappears. It's totally the guy from the end of the first episode, right? Do we do we know his name yet? Is there uh or no you don't want us to know? Um for those of you at home who are familiar with uh Cthulhu lore, you know who it is. Okay.

Don't say it yet. We'll we'll we'll introduce you. Okay. Yeah, perfect. I think that's gonna sum up this adventure. That was great. That was uh probably, I'm sure, not how you wanted that to go. 100%. Yeah, it was layered. I got a little too into being a burnt-out retiree. Um as you could tell at home, I usually don't crack under pressure, but Nate [expletive] busted me up. I've spit in his face probably at least three times today, and for that I am sorry. I got you with that. Uh I couldn't breathe, man. I couldn't breathe. With him being mad at Miss Summers for not giving for the whole I got you a gift, and then it's like you [expletive] [expletive].

But that's exactly what would happen. Like, I spent 30 years of my life working at this place. You didn't even give me a [expletive] card, you just want to show me this box you're working on.

Or the surprise party in the [expletive] circus room.

Oh man, he's like, this is my moment. People do care about me.

Good old Rusty, you know? If we learned anything, it's that your employers don't care. And be nice to the new kid because he might just turn into a demon and rip off that chick's. That's true. Uh all right. Well, if you enjoyed this episode, uh we're really building uh a kind of like a Nat 1 presents universe, uh, you know, where uh role play for one, we're just gonna keep bringing you some Call of Cthulhu goodness um and then more awesome content. Um if there's you want to see more of this, you want to tell us what direction you want to see it go next, or you want to suggest something new, join our Patreon. It's only uh didgeridoo. Just a dollar, didgeridollar, dollaridoo, dollar redo, dollary do it is just 99 cents.

And you know what, Nate? I for the love of goodness, I want to stop plugging the Patreon. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make a special offer right now. We are gonna start recording a bonus episode that only is for our patrons. I love that episode. So, in addition to what you are already getting for only a dollar of ad-free uh listening and video episodes, so you get to see Nate spit on my face in like 4K. It's not 4K, I'm just kidding. But too much, too much. It's only a dollar. It's a dollar. But aside from all that, you're gonna get a bonus episode every month. And then a lot of our tiers are gonna, we're gonna start adding some some new benefits and even more value. Right?

A little bit of rework. So please, uh, it's only a dollar. Support us. Uh, you know, and they put a lot of time into this. We only ever use 20% of what he writes down in that notebook. Correct. But it's it doesn't change the fact that he spends probably what, four hours? I'm gonna say four hours. Yeah, working on this. Yeah. Uh the train one I took a little bit longer because I really want to get that right for you. We need to use the box again. We like it at the house. We need to uh we need to actually keep using that because you know, and since you're being generous, I want to be generous. I'm throwing out the friends and family discount. If you join our Patreon today, it's just a dollar.

It's only a dollar. Just a dollar. We actually can do promotions at Patreon. I'm not gonna do that though, because like if I discount myself less than a dollar, I mean Patreon gets a cut of that, right? So really, it's it's just a dollar to you. It's just 63 and a half cents for us. You can't even buy a double cheeseburger from McDonald's for a dollar anymore. You can't even clog your arteries for a dollar. But come to Net One Presents and you'll be entertained for one whole dollar. All right, well, that wraps it up. Thank you so much. That was a lot of fun. I look forward to the next one. Are we gonna keep trading off? Is it gonna be me? Is it gonna be me, you?

I don't know if you want it, don't worry. We'll see, we'll see. I I kind of like what our viewers think. Um mostly Kyle. What do you think? Kyle, what do you think, Kyle? Okay. All right, let us know. Uh thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week. Good night.