Chapter Text
A month after 22-year-old college student Derek Hutchins went missing from his dorm, his family and two of his closest friends received a letter. It’s a simplistic message, and the content within is suspicious; yet, the people he knew cannot help but grasp onto the thin possibility that this could finally give them answers. It reads as follows:
To the friends and family of Derek Hutchins,
We here at the S.I.B. have recently made some progress on our investigation into the disappearance of Derek Hutchins. It took us a lot of time to get permission to share what we have learned with you all, but we can not move forward without insight from those who knew him. Come to the following address at 2:00 PM on 12/28/20XX:
2329 Illustratio Lane, Longboat Key, FL 34228
Sincerely, Agent Julian Hirsch
That’s it. That’s the entire message, nothing more, nothing less. Willow, Derek’s 16-year-old sister, looked up the address when the letter first arrived. She had frowned, taking in the sight on her screen before passing her phone over to her parents. It’s a movie theater — a small, locally owned one.
All of this leads up to now, at 1:45 PM on the 16th of October. The first group to arrive is, unsurprisingly, Derek’s family. Willow grips her mother’s arm as they enter the reserved room, her body tense. Similarly, Jenny — their mother — releases a shuddering breath, her gaze locking onto the two men in the room within seconds of walking through the door.
Howard, Derek’s father, is rubbing calming circles onto his wife’s back. He warned against this, unwilling to get his hopes up because of the Supernatural Investigative Bureau. It wouldn’t make sense; his son never even used a Ouija board, much less anything that could do real harm. Derek has always been too vigilant for such things, so why have they gotten involved? His eyes narrow in on the agent, lips curling slightly.
Avery’s gaze darts to the Hutchins family, paling a bit as his eyes meet Jenny’s. He, too, was invited here, not because he knew Derek, but because he apparently has a connection to the ongoing investigation into his disappearance. Agent Hirsch has reassured him that he’s not a suspect, but being here is nerve-wracking nonetheless. He hadn’t even known anything about the owner of his current laptop until the S.I.B. reached out to him, seeking his cooperation.
Following the small family are two young men. Josh — a tall, lean figure with curly blonde hair — enters first. Originally, he was hesitant about coming here, but he couldn’t pass up this opportunity. If this is legit… if this gives him any clue as to what happened to his childhood best friend, well, he’d never forgive himself if he missed it.
Brennan follows behind Josh, his broad frame curling in on itself. Unkempt black hair falls into his face as he shuffles forward. His left hand grips the back of Brennan’s shirt, shivering intermittently. Glazed, drooping eyes take in the room around them, and he perks up ever so slightly when he registers the presence of the Hutchins family. He tugs gently at Josh’s shirt, “Can we go join them, please?”
Josh looks back at Brennan, his gaze warming as he catches a flicker of excitement and hope in Brennan’s eyes. He hasn’t seen that look in the noiret’s eyes since Derek disappeared.
As they approach the small family, Jenny’s posture relaxes. She’s always seen those two as her own, what with how close they were are to her son… It’s been a long time since she last saw them, and her heart aches as she takes in the way grief has changed them. Before she can think any further on it, the agent walks to the front of the room and claps his hands.
“Alright, it looks like everyone is here!” An awkward smile crosses his lips as everyone’s attention turns to him. “Uh—“ This is not what he signed up for. He’s supposed to be sitting behind a desk, not showing a bunch of strangers ominous Minecraft gameplay that provides possible context to someone’s disappearance.
Willow’s brows rise; he’s much less formal-sounding than she expected him to be. He seemed so formal in his letter. Hopefully, he’s more capable than he appears. She can already see her dad’s eyes narrowing in displeasure.
“So, we’ve finally gotten an… unconventional lead on what might have led to Derek’s disappearance.” Agent Hirsch, not-so-subtly, signals Avery to come over. Avery’s face drops before he shuffles over with stiff shoulders and downturned eyes.
“It turns out that — before Derek went missing — he stashed his laptop in a small storage locker. About 50 days later, Avery bought that same locker.” Avery reaches into his messenger bag, pulling out an old, beaten-up laptop. There are faded stickers on the back; most of them depict knights.
Jenny’s voice cracks, “Is that actually his laptop?” She staggers ever so slightly as she steps towards Avery, “May I? I won’t keep it or anything. If you bought it, it’s yours. I’d just like to see it.” Her lip quivers, “Please?”
Avery hands the laptop over with unsteady hands, tearing his gaze away from the grieving woman as she tears up. Gracelessly, she settles down in one of the theater’s seats, her shaky fingers running along its surface. Finally, she feels it, a small engraving on the bottom of the device. A small, worn engraving that spells out the name ‘Derek Hutchins.’
“Oh, Howard… It really is his laptop.” Her vision blurs with tears as she feels Howard’s hand land on her shoulder. Willow collapses in the seat next to her mother as she, too, seeks out the small letters that spell out her brother’s name. Jenny’s words are soft, more for herself than anyone else, “We— we weren’t able to find it after he… He loved this old thing; Howard always offered to buy him a newer model, and he refused every single time.”
Howard’s cold eyes met the agent’s, his hand squeezing his wife’s shoulder reassuringly. “So, am I to understand that something on my son’s laptop gave you a lead?” He wants to snap at the agent, to tell him to get to the damn point. But he doesn’t.
He doesn’t because of the hope shining in his family’s eyes.
He doesn’t because of the way his son’s friends stand behind him, like he can shield them from whatever this agent might know.
He doesn’t because if he falls apart here, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to pull himself back together again.
Agent Hirsch grows impossibly tenser under Howard’s gaze; yet, he answers to the best of his ability. “It’s not so much the laptop itself as it is one of the Minecraft worlds your son played on,” before Howard even gets the chance to open his mouth, the agent continues, “Look, I know it sounds odd, but I assure you there’s a connection. When Avery got his hands on Derek’s laptop, the same world was accessible to him, and he recorded a short YouTube video about some of the weird stuff in it.”
Willow interjects, her voice watery, “Weird stuff? What weird stuff?”
The agent cuts Avery off before he can answer the teen’s question. “Avery points out some structures that do not naturally spawn, and a book with a weird message. Granted, that in itself could be explained by Avery gaining access to Derek’s old world. There are some other things, though, that don’t make sense. Initially, it wasn’t the sort of thing we would connect to his disappearance, but a small-ish YouTube channel called Wifies did a deep dive into Avery’s video. That video and an anonymous tip led us to make the connection between Derek’s disappearance and that Minecraft world.”
Avery straightens in shock. Someone analyzed his YouTube video? And no one told him?? Dude, not cool. At least that explains the increased views and the odd comments he’s been getting. It’s weird that no one in his comment section brought up this ‘Wifies’ guy, though.
Jenny wipes at her teary eyes, “I think I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t begin to imagine how you would figure out that Derek owned this laptop previously.”
“I was the anonymous tip.” Brennan’s voice is soft. Shaky. “I watch all of Wifies's videos. Wifies found a cipher in Avery’s video and decrypted it. It gave him access to a Google Drive folder, and there were some videos from Derek’s playthrough. I recognized his skin and his username. That’s how they made the connection.”
Eyes widening, Josh’s head jerks to the side to stare at Brennan, “Is that why you’ve been acting so off lately? Because of whatever you saw in that video?”
Brennan wraps his arms around himself, tears dripping down his cheeks. A single, slight nod.
Howard rests a hand on Brennan’s shoulder, his voice softer than it has been since he set foot in this building. “Kid, no one’s mad at you. Is there a reason you didn’t tell us?”
Another nod, but Brennan says nothing else. Howard pulls him into a hug, patting his back, “You’re alright, kid. You don’t have to answer.”
Howard wants to be angry at him, of course, he does, but whatever Brennan saw in that video caused the kid enough distress for him to keep this discovery to himself.
Jenny nods approvingly at Howard’s actions. There’s no reason to be angry with anyone present, especially not any of the children. The only reason she hasn’t told him off for his behavior towards the agent is that she understands why he’s acting out. Derek’s disappearance made him more protective and more cynical. She knows he fears anything happening to her or their daughter, so he started viewing everyone as a possible threat until proven otherwise.
She runs a hand through her daughter’s hair before turning back to the agent, “Then I’m assuming you’re planning to show us this video?”
Agent Hirsch, who finally allowed himself to relax when Howard stopped glaring at him, smiles a little, “That’s the plan. There are a few things the video doesn’t explain, and some theories we’ve developed. I’m here to explain those things while you watch.”
Jenny sighs. At least now it’s clear why they were invited here. “Alright, come on, boys, sit down. Let’s watch this video.”
Her husband nods, dropping into the seat next to Willow with a tired groan. Likewise, her son’s friends take up the seats behind them.
“Avery, was it?”
Avery starts when he hears his name, “Yes ma’am, that’s my name.”
Jenny pats the seat next to her, “Would you like to sit with us, dear?”
Normally, inviting a stranger to sit with her family would be out of the question; yet, this young man is one of the reasons the S.I.B. found a lead on her son. He makes his way over to her, picking at his cuticles as he does. His posture is rigid — uncomfortable — when he settles down at her side. He doesn’t meet her eyes until he feels a soft hand land on his shoulder… She’s passing the laptop back to him. Why?
“That’s— ma’am, that’s your son’s laptop. You should keep it.” She shakes her head, a watery smile on her face as she presses the laptop into his arms.
“None of us knew where his laptop went, so it must have ended up with you for a reason.” She wipes at her eyes, “Plus, you bought it, so it’s definitely yours.”
Slowly, Avery nods, slipping the laptop back into his messenger bag.
Agent Hirsch goes to stand at the back of the room, remote in hand.
Finally… the screen flickers to life.
There’s a close-up shot of a pixelated page, the words read, ‘Whatever you do, at the crossroads, don’t turn left.’ The image zooms out slightly, displaying the page in its entirety. “This is the first line in a book that Avery claims he did not write.”
Avery shifts in his seat, the uncomfortable realization that someone watched his video and picked it apart settling over him. When he posted that short clip, he really didn’t think anyone was going to watch it.
A YouTube channel with two videos is shown. The profile picture is a bottle of H.E.B. mayo. “Two weeks ago, a YouTube channel called AveryTheMayo uploaded a YouTube video titled ‘weird book i did NOT write,’” The video opens to display a Minecraft chatlog in which ‘TheMostMayo’ is addressing his viewers, “where he shows us a mine that, supposedly, he never built. Inside the mine is a chest that Avery did not place, and inside the chest is a book that Avery did not write.“ Around this point, Avery opens the chest, pulling out the book inside.
“Inside the book is a very strange message: ‘Whatever you do, at the crossroads, don’t turn left. Don’t be fooled, it’s listening. You can’t outsmart it, it’s listening to me. Watching me. It isn’t from this world. At the crossroads, don’t turn left. At the crossroads, don’t turn left. At the crossroads, don’t turn left. At the crossroads, don’t turn left.’ Over and over,”
As the pages go on, the writing becomes more and more garbled… Finally, on the last page, a string of numbers makes itself known: 23-2 29 2, 24 29 10-2 10-3 4, 19 30-4 15, 6 10-2 10-3 10-2.
The hair on Josh’s body stands on end. Derek is the one who wrote that, but Derek usually fixes any typos he makes. Something is wrong. His eyes briefly cut away from the screen to check on Brennan, taking in his friend’s demeanor.
The noiret’s shoulders are slowly rising up as he shrinks lower into his seat. A single thought loops through his mind: I don’t want to watch this again, I don’t want to watch this again, I don’t want to watch this again, I don’t want to— A warm, calloused hand lands on his shoulder. He can’t help but lean into Josh’s hand; the pressure is grounding.
Willow watches the screen with wide eyes, her hands grasping her parents' hands as she sits between them. Videos like this — videos that dive into strange mysteries — are the exact sort of content she’d watch for fun, but it’s different to watch it and know that it’s real. That this mystery might be related to her brother’s disappearance.
Over Willow’s head, Howard meets Jenny’s eyes, his brows furrowed in concern. Jenny nods; she saw it, too. The only time either of them had seen Derek make typos was when he was panicking.
“That’s it. It seems impossible that a whole mine just appears in your world without your knowledge,” As the narrator speaks, Avery is shown opening doors and typing in his chat, “but Avery explains in the description of the video that the laptop he’s playing on is from a storage locker.” The description is now displayed, “It already had Minecraft installed, and this world already existed, but when Avery first loaded it up, it was just a normal world. He only now discovered this mine a few hundred blocks from his house.”
Josh makes a face. It really is weird that Avery was able to access a world that was on Derek’s account. “Avery, you made your own account to play, right? Like, you didn’t just find Derek’s login stuff on his computer or something?”
Agent Hirsch pauses the video when Josh starts speaking.
Avery turns around in his seat so he can see Josh properly. There was no reason not to turn back with the video paused. “No, I made my own account. I don’t think I could have accessed his account even if I wanted to. Everything but Minecraft was wiped from its memory.”
Josh nods, but his eyebrows draw together in confusion. If Avery made a new account, then how did he access Derek’s world? It’s silent for a moment until Agent Hirsch realizes the conversation’s over. The video resumes.
The shot briefly refocuses on Avery before swapping back to the book, “ So, in that case, what is this book? The contents are strange, and it’s not evident what they refer to. If anything, they just sound like crazy rambling. But the numbers at the end are clearly some sort of code, so maybe we can solve it and figure out what this book is talking about.”
Agent Hirsch huffs softly from the back of the room. He can’t imagine anyone labeling the contents of that book as ‘crazy rambling,’ especially not with that code at the end.
The video narrows in on the code once more, and the creator highlights the numbers by section: 23-2 29 2, 24 29 10-2 10-3 4, 19 30-4 15, 6 10-2 10-3 10-2. “Except we can’t. The numbers go higher than twenty-six, so it’s not any alphabetical code; there are four sections, not three, so it isn’t coordinates; and in fact, there’s not a single cipher that comes up as a good match for this code.” The narrator displays a site he utilizes to decode ciphers: “If it is a code, it’s unlike any code I’ve ever seen, and I wasn’t able to decipher it.”
Avery nods, agreeing with the narrator’s words. He tried to decipher them himself, but none of the decoders he used worked. He assumed it was because he wasn’t smart enough to figure it out, but maybe he was just missing information?
Avery asks his audience to tell him what the cipher says, if anyone can figure it out. “So, is that it? A strange one-off YouTube video and a dead-end?” The screen goes black, “Not Quite.”
“Because, for two frames at the very end of the video, Avery’s inventory flashes a random pattern of blocks, and this time, there is a code.” The screen freezes on a still frame of the blocks, allowing for closer observation.
Avery drops his face into his hands with a groan. How the hell was he supposed to figure that out himself? He wasted so many hours trying to figure that out himself, only for the solution to be something he’d never think of.
Jenny gently pats Avery’s back. She always struggled when trying to solve Derek’s puzzles.
Willow’s lips curl up into a sad smile; she, too, remembers those irritating ciphers. Derek would text her encrypted messages when he was upset with her, just so she’d put in the effort of solving it. It was never anything important; they usually just translated to teasing messages about how he made her waste her time… She never thought she’d miss those ciphers.
“Because taking the first letter of the name of every block and capitalizing it if there’s more than one, you get a string. A string that perfectly matches the length of a Google Drive link that, when you enter, takes you to a folder.” The narrator displays this entire process as he speaks.
And this is where the True Mystery begins… The mystery of a Minecraft world that doesn’t exist.” A Google Drive folder is displayed, inside there are two videos and a single document.
Agent Hirsch pauses the video once more before walking to the front of the room. He takes in the people before him; the way they’ve leaned forward with anticipation, the hints of irritation at the fact that he hit pause.
“As I’m sure all of you already know, the videos stored in this folder were filmed and uploaded by Derek himself. We actually pulled up this Google Drive folder and inspected the video ourselves, but everything of importance is already shown in this YouTube video.” He moves, starting towards the back of the room, but pauses briefly. “One last thing, the creator of this video mistakenly refers to Derek as Avery for the majority of the footage. Just keep that in mind, please.”