Inside of a bedroom littered in movies and books covering varying subjects in Tatiana's apartment; Tatiana Axel, Savant, and Roo have all gathered to speak about the past few hours Tat: So Axel, I'm not saying you're lying... Axel: Fucking good cuz I'm not Tat: Shut it! I'm just having a hard time believing this without proof. Savant: I mean... I can kinda verify this. Tat: You're the reason I'm listening to this madness Axel: My word should be good enough to begin with!!! Savant: There was definitely something there, and only Axel saw it. Roo: It sounds like it would be rather easy to replicate it. Axel you have the photo with you, yes? Axel: Yea. I got it here Axel reaches into his pocket and pulls out the crinkled photograph Roo: Wonderful~! Then we should summon it again and verify this in person, and then if it's real we can ask some questions~! Axel: You sure 'bout that? Tat: It sounded like it gave you a warning before, and we already know to avoid any questions about your gramps's actual name. So long as we're smart about it we'll be fine. Axel: Thought you didn't believe me... Tat: I said I'm having a hard time believing you. I'm being a healthy skeptic and I want to test things before I can say anything conclusive about your story. Savant: Even though I was there and even got a hit in, I still find it hard to believe. Axel: EXACTLY, YOU HIT IT! How could you still be unsure?! Roo: We all want to believe you is what everyone is trying to say. What you told us would be hard to believe for most, but as you're friends we want to try it out and hopefully see what you saw~ Tat holds out her hand to Axel asking for the photograph in a non-verbal way Axel: 'Aight... Axel hands the photograph over to Tat Tat: "Tijuana Brass" The mysterious machine begins to form again. Axel looks slightly worried but is otherwise unfazed since he has seen this twice now. Both Tatiana and Roo, however, are immediately surprised at the machine that is quickly forming from nothing Tat: Holy shit! Roo: Wonderful~! Savant: Hm? The machine standing hunched in front of the entire group surveys the area, looking at everyone in the room. No one says anything right away. Axel: You see it? Roo: I do~! Tat: Clear as day... Axel looks over to Savant Savant: I still don't see anything... Are you guys screwing with me? Tat: Are you screwing with us? Everyone BUT you can see it Savant:... Savant sighs heavily Savant: Fine then Savant lands down on Tat's bed, folds his arms behind his head and closes his eyes. Axel: You're just gonna sleep through this? Savant: Work sucked ass and honestly just being here has been the first real break I've gotten all day. I'm listening anyway so just wake me up when we know what's up. Roo: Sleep well~ Tat: In that case let's just get to it then- Tat holds up the photo to the machine. Immediately the machine looks directly at Tat. Tat: Who is in this photo? Machine: Why that is Stevens Holt, a prominent ex-air force mechanic with a degree in Archeology and a Bachelor's in Science. As of now, he's 41 years old. Axel: (Exactly what it said before.) Tat: What's in this picture? Machine: Along with Stevens is a bookcase with many interesting books (most of which are just for show mind you), a globe that is designed to seem as if it is older than it actually is, more than likely trying to make one believe that this particular globe is an artifact of the past but in reality a modern globe placed atop of a cheap, yet convincing, stand. Within the globe there is a black box hidden away so that no one can find it, placed by Stevens- Axel: Wait there's another box? Machine: -Now the books are interesting. That creamy green book held by Steven's, for example, is about entomology by the brilliant Maria Sybillia Merian- Axel: Fucker don't ignore me! Talk about the box! Tat: Axel don't interrupt. Machine: -whom is considered to be the "Mother of entomology", but one page seems to not belong in the- Axel: It's talking about fucking bugs now Tat: Shut it! Immediately the machine stops it's monologue Machine:... Tat: ...! Roo: ...! Axel: ...? Savant: everyone stopped. Did a thing happen? Did the thing do a thing? Tat: It just stopped talking Savant: ...Mm-hmm. Okay then. Unimpressed Savant rolls back over and tries to drift back into sleep. Roo: Curious it listened to Tatiana and not Axel. Tat: Maybe because I have the photograph. Axel: What makes you say that? Tat: Well, ask it a question, then I'll ask one and you'll see. Axel: Uh, alright. Axel: Uh can you describe what's in the picture again? Machine: ... Axel: Like anything. Machine: ... Axel: Even if it's about bugs or Silvia Marine or whatever. Machine: ... Axel: ... Tat: What is this? Tat holds up a pen to the machine Machine: I'm terribly sorry, but I'm unable to answer that question. Perhaps you have another one for me, madam. Axel: Hey, it doesn't answer those kind of questions you know. Tat: But it did react to me Axel: OH! Yea huh. Tat looks down contemplating something leaving the room is quiet for a few seconds Tat: What was that about the loose page in the book? Axel: But what about the- Tatiana shoots a glare at Axel, and he immediately backs off Machine: There is a page inside the book that doesn't seem to originally belong to the book, and is written in Steven's handwriting. Axel Roo and Tatiana all start paying more attention Tat: Read it. Machine: To whoever is hearing this let me first apologize. The fact that you are listening to this most likely means that I am no longer a part of this world, and I have given you both the mask the first photograph, and my burden. I'm hoping this message will never be heard but irregardless if I want to correct my mistake I still have to go through with this. First, forgive me for this, I must assume you are unaware of what is happening. In this world there are people with abnormal abilities, these abilities are known as stands, the creature before you that is relaying this message to you is mine, Tijuana Brass. Stands are the manifestation of ones own soul it's abilities appearance and strength are all determined by the being it originates from. Mine for example, every picture I've ever taken in my life houses my stand. Interestingly, even though it is my stand others can call it as freely as I can should they carry one of my photograph, but the information my stand gives can only be controlled by me. I can add, twist, or omit information regarding a photo and even give my stand orders to act however I want depending on the photo it is called from. The mask that you have now has awaken your ability to use a stand as well. Seeing my stand and hearing this is proof of that. Only stand users can see stands. Roo: ! Tat: ! Tat: Stop talking. Tijuana Brass stops dead in it's tracks. Tat goes over to her desk and pulls out a stone mask from the drawer and moves towards Savant Tat: Hey Savant Savant: Hmm? Wha- As Savant turned twords Tatiana she slaps the stone mask right onto his face Savant: SHITSHITSHITSHIT! WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY! Savant is able to rip the mask on his face and throws it away from him across the room. He quickly runs his hands across his face. and looks directly at Tatiana Savant: ...WHY? Tat: Can you see it now? Savant squints his eyes and looks around where everyone else was looking. From his perspective Tijuana Brass slowly becomes more and more visible to him Savant: Yea... God, fuck you Tat. Axel: Oh hey! Doesn't that mean Roo threw on the mask too? Roo: Well yes, I put the mask on. Axel: You didn't really sound confident there Tat: He did. I asked him to come over to put it on and he was more than happy to Savant: How nice for him. Tat: Yep, now let's have TB finish the letter. Roo: TB? Tat: It's more convenient than saying the whole name Tat: Continue reading that letter. Tijuana Brass: With that out of the way, what I'm about to ask is not something that I ask lightly. I made a mistake that I can't fix and got involved with people I shouldn't have. I was able to delay certain event's from happening and keep these dangerous people away from those that I love. As you may have figured out Tijuana Brass doesn't use my real name and I made sure to have my stand direct you towards the book leading to this message. In the case that someone tried to find out my real name through Tijuana Brass I had given him the command to attack the individual in question after a warning. This isn't the best security measure since you may have used my actual name so I have to give a way to fight back should this error occur. On to my request. In order to limit the damage of my mistake I hid multiple photos around California as a paper trail so that whoever I trust with this can hopefully finish what I had started. I know you may have more questions, but those answers lie in different photographs. To be frank, I'm ashamed that I can't do anything and need to use my ability in this way. I'm sorry, I tried everything I could and in the end all I could do was run and hide. Now someone else, god forbid my own children, has to end this nightmare I wrought. Follow the trail I set and put an end my mistake. The machine finishes leaving the group somewhat dumbfounded for a few minutes Tat: So, what's your next move? Axel: ...Huh? Tat: What's next? What are you going to do with this information Axel: Uh... Tat: For starters how about we find that trail TB told us about. Tat hands the photo back over to Axel Tat: I'd start with asking about that black box Axel takes the photo and gives a nod in agreement Axel: TB you said there was a black box Stevens put into that globe. What's in that box? Tijuana Brass: Regrettably I'm barred from speaking too much about it. All I can say is that it is a poloroid. Axel: Another photo?! Roo: How fun! The ability itself is going to be our trail to follow~ Axel: Our? Roo: A mans dying wish is on the line how could I not be involved? Axel: Savant? Savant: You want me to listen to a ghost robot your grandpa controlled to go on some supernatural treasure hunt? Hell yea I'm down for that! Tat: Before you even ask. Of course I'm coming too. You guys aren't gonna make any headway without me. Tat: Course if were going to make any headway we're going to have to know where we're going Axel: Ah, right. Axel: TB where was this photo taken? Tijuana Brass: The location of this photo is in a study at the address 525 S Winchester Blvd, San Jose, CA. To be more exact, The Winchester Mystery House To Be Continued