Chapter Text
Leeroy Mateo. His Instagram page seemed normal enough—few followers, few posts. The only thing that was a little suspicious is none of them showed his face clearly. But neither did her page, so how could she judge? His friends' faces were visible. He looked like he was probably handsome behind his middle finger.
Abigail put her phone face down and let out a deep sigh. Why was she stalking a stranger's Instagram on a Monday night? Because he’d sent her a message and she was trying to gauge its authenticity.
When she started posting her urban exploration videos online, it hadn’t been for anyone but her. To archive her adventures, to archive the building before it got inevitably torn down and turned into something else. Of course, a few videos had gotten viewed, but no more than a hundred times and nobody had ever commented. Unless you counted the occasional bot trying to phish for information. Certainly, nobody had used her username to find her Instagram and message her.
Her first instinct was to ignore the message and private her account. It was the practical option. Her second instinct, however, the one that craved human connection, craved risk. The curious part of her that more often won in these circumstances told her to reply. His account seemed normal enough.
She picked her phone back up and switched it on. Expertly navigating to her messages and opening the one in question:
Saw you went to the old C&A building.
Did you put on the headset?
It was a simple enough question. The guy had watched her video, the one she had posted a few months ago now, probably saw the headset in the background and was curious. She’d been curious when she saw it too. Businesses shut down all the time, and it wasn’t her first time exploring one. Typically, the business would take or sell assets like technology to try to recoup some losses or to use in the case of a relocation. In the rare case where things were left, they’d have typically been ransacked by this point.
So when she’d seen it, she had paused her video and investigated. In the urban exploration community, it was frowned upon to touch or interact with the environment beyond necessary, so when and if she did, it was always off camera. The headset wasn’t as dusty as the desk it sat on, and it seemed to buzz softly with electricity. Electricity. Another thing that shouldn’t be in an abandoned office building like this.
Abigail picked up the headset and turned it over in her hands. She hadn’t even hesitated to put it on her head. Darkness. She fumbled with the wires attaching it to the monitor and pressed a few buttons on the side.
She felt and heard a zap. Like something had gone in one ear and out the other. The screen in front of her eyes started to light up, colours and shapes. And a song began to play, introducing a cast of characters. The ringmaster, Caine. A set of teeth with eyes. A bubble with sharp teeth. Abigail blinked; her head was starting to hurt. Gangle. A masked character with a ribbon body. Zooble, an amalgamation of mismatched parts. Kinger, a chess piece with eyes hiding in a pillow fort. Ragatha a rag doll. Jax, a purple bunny in overalls. Kaufmo, a clown. Another zap.
She flinched and almost automatically ripped the headset off, throwing it back on the table. She put her fingers in her ears, trying to pop them. “Fuck.” She swore softly, almost glaring at the headset, which continued to show the scene for a moment more before going dark again.
She rubbed her eyes and took a breath. Calm. It’s just old, faulty technology. Everything is ok. She had started up her video feed again and continued exploring without mentioning the weird headset and video she’d seen.
She typed out a reply without overthinking it:
Hey there. Yeah, I looked at it and tried to get it working, it just buzzed and zapped. Showed some music video, then died again. Nothing that interesting, I’m afraid. How’d you find this account?
He replied almost immediately, as if he’d been waiting by his phone:
Doesn’t take a genius. Same username. Same pfp. Chances are the same person. I tried it a few years ago. No music video, but a few weird-looking cartoon characters.
Oh. Yeah, she could see how she’d be easy to find. Abigail immediately began contemplating whether she should change one of her usernames. Though it hadn’t caused any trouble so far. She stared at his message. It confirmed he was genuine to her. She hadn’t mentioned the weird cartoon graphics. Just the music. So he’d probably tried it, just like her.
Fuck man! A few years ago? C&A was a failed AI company. There was nothing online about a headset, but it was probably some sort of video game if I had to guess. The music video was introducing a bunch of cartoon characters.
His reply came quickly again.
I want to go back. Try turning on the computer. Press a few buttons. You game?
She scoffed and started and stopped typing before replying.
Why? Are you scared to go alone? I don’t make a habit of meeting strangers in abandoned buildings.
I’m not scared.
I just think it’d be more fun with someone. But I understand if you’re scared. I could be an axe murderer.
Charming. She thought, with an eye roll. Was that supposed to make her feel better? Was it supposed to make him seem more trustworthy? Because it didn’t. It just made him seem like an asshole. Trying to bait her into proving she wasn’t scared.
I carry pepper spray. And I know karate. She warned. Though the karate part wasn’t true, she was sure she could deliver a powerful kick to the nuts if she needed to.
So you’re game then?
I’m free Saturday. Abigail hoped she wouldn’t regret it. But it could be fun. Maybe she’d make a new friend. She didnt have many.