Wonderland - Jags

1 st Metro Bank Offices Sane-Abandoned
The overhead lights, save for one, are off. Computer cases are broken
open and coils of wires protrude. There’s one computer screen on and
it’s doing a “web-tour” of horrific pornography sites that cater to your
darkest fears as though they were desires. Windows are shattered and
graffiti covers the walls.
Mannequin limbs litter the place, some holding weapons and dark
stains adorn the walls and ripped carpet. Outside, the wind howls in a
dust-storm.
A big, jack-booted giant with gray skin and melted face thumps
through the empty rooms carrying a giant cleaver.
Notes: The abandoned area hasn’t just been left—it’s been ransacked.
There’s a monster. The weather is bad. But also note: some of the
things there are relevant to you. The computer screen shows deplorable
things from pages you’re not sure exist—but it’s tied to you. If you
look closely at the graffiti you might discover that some of it contains
cryptic messages … for you (and some of it might contain cryptic
messages for other people too, you can’t be sure).
The danger remains here, in a more formalized form. Is the gray giant
with its huge blade an avatar of the exec’s “cutting remarks?” Some
people would say so. Others would say it’s not that obvious—or even
the reverse. Maybe the gray giant on Chessboard Two makes the
Chessboard Zero environment less palatable. Hard to say.
1 st Metro Bank Offices Warped-Abandoned
The damage is like it was in the first case but … all the furniture is on
the ceiling! Even office supplies obey a law of gravity that causes them
to fall up (when you aren’t holding them). Cubicles line the ceiling.
The floor is still carpeted though. It’s odd.
There are two staircases that come down from circular holes ringed
with glyph-like corporate logos in the ceilings. Junk, massive
collections of children’s blocks fill the stairwells.
Big industrial dumpsters have been moved in too. They spawn
dangerous crawling masses of medical waste. The gray giant is still
here although the elevators don’t work reliably.
The windows are all “stained glass” and depict humiliating scenes
from people’s work lives (a few of them seem pointedly relevant to
you!).
In the Warped Zone things have “gone wonky.” It could go wonky in
several ways—it might not even be an office—but for purposes of this
example the basic form and shape has remained. That’s fairly common
too.
The Empty Places: Full of
Monsters
Infecteds who have gone deeper
than Chessboard One sometimes
talk, in hushed tones, about
“The Empty Places.” In these
Episodes the world is desolate,
eerie, and often infested with
terrible things. Some people say
that almost nothing is left—but
whatever is left is important.
Some people believe the Empty
Places are a kind of hell or place
of terrible fear and punishment
for something they have done
wrong. Travelers have reported
hideous shooting-gallery targets
that pop up in the abandoned
windows of shopping plazas
and invisible rifles that create a
deadly cross-fire, shooting them
(and anyone unlucky enough to
be in their way) down.
They’ve reported tripwires
and homemade explosives in
odd places. They’ve seen twostory
spider webs with small
cars dangling and encased in
threads. They’ve seen battalions
of driverless garbage trucks on
the prowl for anyone out on the
streets. They’ve seen ads for
products that never existed and
heard the voices of the dead
on the few working TVs and
telephones. The Empty Places
are one level below Chessboard
One and those who have been
there often dread going back.
135
Deeper Mysteries - Chessboards