Work Text:
ARCHIVIST: Statement of Jordan Elk, regarding a trip organized by an… online roleplay server. Original statement given on… [DEEP SIGH] an unknown date in 2012, to who I believe to be Michael Shelley, Gertrude’s assistant at the time... I say 'believe to be,' as they did not do the proper introduction. [IRRITATED HUFF] Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
ARCHIVIST: Statement begins.
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[RECORDER CLICKS ON]
[FOOTSTEPS, MUFFLED CHATTER]
[THE DOOR OPENS]
ASSISTANT: Oh, uhm, hello?
STATEMENT GIVER: Uh, I was told to go here? For my-
ASSISTANT: Statement, yes! Sorry, they told me someone was coming in, I get distracted so easily-
STATEMENT GIVER: Oh, it’s no problem, I totally get it, sir.
ASSISTANT: Oh, there’s no need to be so formal here, you can just call me Martin! Very nice to meet you, Mx…?
[STATEMENT GIVER SITS DOWN IN THE PROVIDED CHAIR AND IT SQUEAKS LOUDLY]
STATEMENT GIVER: Jordan Elk, nice to meet you too.
ASSISTANT: Alright then. [SURPRISE] Oh, the recorder’s already running…? Convenient. [CLEARS THROAT] Statement of Jordan Elk, regarding…?
MX. ELK: Er, a very… strange performance, we’ll call it.
ASSISTANT: [WRITING ON PAPER] Alright! You can start whenever you’re ready, Mx.
MX. ELK: Okay, then… I guess we should start with some of my background first.
MX. ELK: I’ve always had a sort of… loose grasp on my identity, in a way I guess. I’ve had a thing for acting since I was a kid, and I’ve been told I’ve got a talent for uncannily good impressions.
MX. ELK: I guess I just find it easy to… slip out of myself, and into someone else. Become them entirely. I just… change how I think, my history, my mannerisms, and boom! I’m a whole different person.
MX. ELK: Okay, so here’s where it gets… weird.
MX. ELK: I’m also a huge nerd, I really like chatting about my interests with people so I’m online a lot. And one time, I joined this RP- Erm, roleplay server on Discord called ‘Theater of Masks.’ It wasn’t fandom-based or anything, just a place for people who roleplay to hang out and improve their skills. Stuff like that. Got an invite from one of my friends -let’s call him Caleb- and he’d vetted it, so I joined.
MX. ELK: At first it was pretty chill. I actually made a few friends there. The DM- uh, the person that runs the server, she was a bit… weird. Never learned their real name but her username was ‘Ringleader,’ so that’s what everyone called him. All the other people that ran the server had weird names like that too, we had a ‘Strongman#1’ and #2, a ‘Tightrope Walker’, a ‘Trapeze Artist’- Agh, getting off topic again.
MX. ELK: [TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND SHAKES HEAD] Anyway. The spooky stuff. Uh.
MX. ELK: So, like I said, it was fairly normal when I joined. But like, a few months later, Ringleader suggested we have a meetup in-person, which. Great! I wanted to meet some of my friends in TOM- that’s what we called it, at least the normal people in there did- so I signed up. Got my parents to agree, ‘cause I was only sixteen at the time, bought the tickets to London and got on the plane.
MX. ELK: The trip there went, like, one-hundred-percent normal. I got to my hotel- paid for by Ringleader, dunno where it got the money, but it was paid for-for like a whole work week. Uhm, then. Then we got to the venue.
MX. ELK: I remember vividly how the venue looked. It was an old theater, don’t remember the name, and we booked like three whole afternoons to have it to ourselves- don’t ask me how they afforded it, I have absolutely no idea. Anyway, it was all… cobwebby, and a bit dirty, but it was still really cool to hang out in. We had a bunch of fun there… at least before it got weird?
MX. ELK: We met up on the second day at the theater, played around a bit. Got to meet Strongmen #1 and 2- we called them Thing 1 and Thing 2, as a joke, ‘cause they looked and acted practically identical. They were really nice, actually. Met up with Co- uh, Caleb , and hung out. Met my other TOM friends in-person, which was great. We did a bunch of ridiculous acting-related activities- it was a blast, but… I’m not here to tell you about that.
MX. ELK: Okay. [TAKES A DEEP BREATH] [MUMBLING] You got this, Jordan. [NORMAL VOLUME] So, on the last day we had the theater, Ringleader finally showed up. They were wearing this ridiculously well-made circus… well, ringleader costume. Dunno what I expected. I distinctly remember him looking absolutely nothing like her profile picture, which didn’t strike me as odd despite it being just a bunch of different people in that outfit and changed every week or so. We had a nice day chatting and doing activities together, until they got up on stage close to the end of our time.
MX. ELK: It said she had one more activity for us to do, and everyone but the Strongmen got on stage. I remember thinking it was a bit weird they were standing in front of the stairs but I ignored it ‘cause Ringleader started talking again.
MX. ELK: He said we should all… [DEEP BREATH] …’take off our identities,’ so that we could ‘become even better actors.’ I figured it would be another characterization exercise, we’d done a couple of those over the trip. At least, until she started… [VERY SHAKY BREATHING]
ASSISTANT: …Do you need a minute to calm down?
MX. ELK: …no. It’s just… really fucked up.
MX. ELK: Okay. [MUMBLED] C’mon, Jord, you got this.
MX. ELK: [NORMAL VOLUME] It. Tore off their face . L-like it was just wallpaper . And there wasn’t even muscle o-or bones underneath, just a fucking mannequin with a horrifying smile painted on its face. And it… it took out a scalpel and asked w-who w-w-wanted to g-go f-f-f-first.
MX. ELK: I-I don’t know how I got away. I think the Strongmen got distracted by something, checked their phones for a second, and I j-jumped off the stage and sprinted as fast as I could. Called my parents, got them to book the fastest ticket back to Baltimore. I deleted Discord, stopped using any social media for a few years. Never really felt safe enough to- what if they found me again? What if something worse did?
MX. ELK: I think the worst part is, I never saw Caleb again. I think… I don’t think he got out. His socials are still active, though. He’s in professional theater now- he used to want to go into IT, but… I don’t think he’s… Him . Anymore.
ASSISTANT: Is that all?
MX. ELK: [DEEP BREATH] Yeah. That’s it.
ASSISTANT: …would you like some tea? I find it helps me calm down quite a bit after seeing something awful like that.
JORDAN ELK: … yeah, I would. Thanks, man.
ASSISTANT: Alright then, Statement ends.
[RECORDER CLICKS OFF]
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[RECORDER CLICKS ON]
ARCHIVIST: This statement is one of the few we’ve found that have to do with technology, though it still [HISSING INHALE, THEN EXHALE] unfortunately resists being digitised.
ARCHIVIST: I'm unsure of what is going on here- it could be a hallucination, but reasearch into Mx. Elk shows they have no history of drugs, alcohol, or hysteria. It could be some sort of… hazing, perhaps, or some other kind of prank, though it seems a bit much to fly someone out to London and book a week’s hotel for.
ARCHIVIST: The follow-up on this was meagre, but does show record of a Jordan Elk making further statements at the Institute, I'll have to look into those later. They live in Baltimore and are a practising veterinarian, and have only a bare-bones website and an Indeed profile to speak of. They declined further check-ins with Institute staff that called, and said they just want to, ‘Put all the spooky bullshit behind’ them.
ARCHIVIST: Recording ends.
[RECORDER CLICKS OFF]