[ karen sees the message of the forum, gets in her car, and is out there as soon as she can. the rain is heavy, almost too thick to see through, and the water splashes almost uo over the top of her boots. the emergency lights are the best that karen can see through the downpour, and the fact her phone has no service feels a bit like a laughing in the face from the universe- just like the image on the computer screen. her gut tells her this is a bad idea, but as soon as she sees the crates of medicine, she knows there's no turning back.

except there is, the moment she hears the lock buzzing behind her. she turns and sees the windows closed, locked, and Karen feels a familiar sense of panic swell in her chest. she knows even before she lunges for the window and tries to start bashing against the glass, looking around for anything she can use to break it open and finding that it won't budge even under the force of a chair or box.

she's locked in, and the water is churning, dangerously. way to go, Karen. look what you got yourself into. again.

whether or not you're inside with her or out on the other end of the glass, you'll see Karen turn back to the room and go directly under the water to search for anything that might look like a manual or booklet. her search is a bit frantic, but determined, as she heads for the filing cabinets and desks - jerking the drawers free and searching through the stacks of papers as quickly as she can - desperate.

this kind of thing? never ends well.

THE FILES (on the inside) this isn't the first time that karen was under a time limit when searching through files, but it is the first time she's done it with a whirlpool around her legs. while it does physically slow her down a tad, it almost makes her determination to move all the more, dumping drawer after drawer after file on whatever dry-ish surface she can find and rifling through.

at first she doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary - notes, some comments, reminders. she reads them, or speed reads them, as she is already picking up the next - which makes it feel all the more unsettling when she starts to find patterns. familiar names. phrases that are familiar to her but only because she's...

whether you're at another desk or searching through some other crate, karen will still in her search her face pale and frozen in an almost sob as she stares down at what appears to be a news article. but that can't be right, can it? it looks...it's not even the news, just a stream of conscious word form, thoughts and thoughts about...

she'll need help getting pulled out of this one, even if she hadn't fallen into the trance.

THE CODE (on the outside) it takes her too long to find the binder, way too long, but she gets there eventually - finding a laminated, safe, obviously important binder. when she recognizes what has to be the code, her eyes are immediately on the window, on the downpour of rain outside.

whenever it is you end up finding her, she will be banging against the window with all that she has, the binder in one hand, her eyes wide and frantic. someone has to be close by, they have to, and if she can just get their attention...

when you finally make eye contact with her, she'll do everything she can to communicate the code, the lock, the urgency in the need to act. her eyes will tell the whole story - her fear, yes, but also how much she hopes you'll listen. and that, if you either leave her there or decide to go search around the other side of the building, that you'll make it back in time.

she is trying to ignore the faces in the water, the sudden movement just under the surface, but it gets harder and harder to do the closer they get.

all she can do is wait for you to come back, and hope that there isn't anything waiting for you around the other side. ]