Thankfully, I made it to the front of Red Base without incident. I'd been instructed via Slack, which I'd had to download a couple of days ago, to wait in the lobby there. Taking a deep breath, I plastered what I hoped was a welcoming, confident smile on my face, wiped a sweaty hand on my ripped jeggings and pulled open the door, taking a single step inside the shaded hall.

What I saw took my breath away.

I suppose from an outsider's perspective, the space wouldn't seem like much. Ever since the end of Project 863 (which I'd been especially sad to see go) Red Base had been converted to a social space- I turned left and saw the large, dark wood tables and red chairs. Behind those was the huge chalkboard covered in a variety of different coffees to order, and a few different memes too. The machines themselves, bought by Matt years ago, were settled on a small plastic table sitting against the left wall of the board. I followed my thoughts that way, gazing over at the brick wall and black "Make Cool Stuff" sign, followed by a red sectional, couch, and loveseat settled in a circle to the left of the larger tables. In the middle was a small, round glass-topped table hosting a white painted block reading "Mind over Matter".

"Wow." I breathed. "I think I just walked into a camera." I pinched myself just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, because it sure felt like it.

I looked right, back to the hallway. Come in the door and go right, and you would be greeted by a long hall forking off to the left containing Mike Badal's office as well as the music studio and sound stage. At the end of the hallway would be the dark carpeted stairs leading up to the balcony jutting out over the warehouse where Woods worked, and beyond that was an entrance to the warehouse itself. Encaptured by a sudden urge to go see if he was actually there, I started down the hall. There was no one else to be found, after all, and no one had told me where to go for the meeting. Maybe if Woods was there he could tell me where to go. So caught up in- well, fangirling, although I would never admit that, I didn't realize for a while that the path I was taking wasn't lit.

Until I almost hit a wall. My hand brushed something hard and I pulled back, suddenly realizing I could barely see my hand in front of my face.

Wait.

That's not my hand.

And it's definitely not a wall.

Breath quickening, I moved both my hands, holding them to my thighs to convince myself they were mine. The figure of an outstretched hand I was seeing didn't move, still facing palm toward me. There's a explanation for this, right? I thought desperately. Still, my mind was racing as I stood there frozen in place, going almost cross-eyed as I fixed my gaze on the apparatus I could barely see. What if 863 was back? I knew it was over. What if…

What if it'a real? The conclusion had been pretty convincing, but- Oh, shut up! I reprimanded myself. That's stupid. You've seen every Behind 863 video twice. They wouldn't do that… right? I shook myself, trying to refocus, and almost smacked into the hand. Too scared to speak, I thought: Maybe I move away from the creepy thing sticking out of the dark? Huffing, I quickly retraced my steps to a slightly brighter part of the Base. I heard a muffled shuffle and turned to see a man dressed in black disappear around the corner.

A man with a giant fluff of black hair. I grinned in victory, and turned to wave, first at the Ring and then at the camera Woods had just set up on the break table, only the red, blinking light visible from the darkness. It hadn't been dark when I got here- I'd surprised them by actually being on time, even a little early. Thanks, Mom. Early is on time and on time is late, that's what you always say. I hadn't expected to ever be so grateful for the advice. "Ok, smooth." I muttered. "I can play along." I pulled out my phone and hit record, pulling it close to my face. I looked awful that way, but it was creepy and rushed and that was the point. I spoke fast, remembering how I'd felt when I got scared by the hand and trying to recapture that emotion.

"Hey- heh. This is… ridiculous. Welcome back to The Storied Life, and if you don't know me my name's Grace. I said in the last video that I was gonna go to my job interview at a film studio? Well, I'm here and there's…" I gave a pretty good impression of Matt's famous disbelieving chuckle. "There's something… not right." I pivoted the camera to show the dark hallway. "This is where I was supposed to be, but all the lights are out and it's really really frightening. What- I don't get it! I know this is the right spot… but that's not all." I pivoted the camera back, nailing the scared rabbit look in my opinion. "There's… something else in here with me." I braved my way back toward the hand, feeling genuinely creeped out yet slightly better now that I had a light and some knowledge. I stopped when the hand came into view, freezing in a nook like I was scared to go any further. "So, there's whatever the heck that is. I turned the camera back to me. "It… well, it hasn't moved, and I'm pretty sure human skin isn't that smooth or bright white, so… is it the mannequin that showed up during Project 863? It… it kinda looks like it, but… why would it be here? I thought all that was over!"

I kept my statements general so I had two options: "Is 863 back?" and "Was 863 real?" I didn't know where they wanted me to take this, but they both plot lines seemed logical enough to me. Refusing to second guess myself, I continued. "Should… should I take a closer look?" I grinned awkwardly- "I don't know why I'm talking to a camera right now… agh, curse curiosity but I have to." I put the iPhone out in front of me like a shield and walked closer, one slow step at a time. The pale white arm was clearly visible now, starkly illuminated by the light of my flash, but anything else was hidden around the corner leading to the warehouse. "Here goes nothing." I muttered, feeling genuine fright yet again. I stepped around the corner in a fast, tight motion…

"What?!" I whisper-yelled, grinning on the inside but acting terrified and confused.

So I have to find the rest of the parts.

"Why-what-how- it's just the arm taped to the wall! Why would- is the mannequin even capable of that? I thought the mannequin was just a set up! Who would do this?" I figured I could cut out the question that didn't make sense, whichever way we-my heart jumped at the word- decided to cut it. If they even liked it. If I was doing the right thing. I shrugged the anxiety off and focused on giving the camera a blank, shocked face that I'd been practicing for years while mentally trying to plot my next steps. "Ok… whatever is happening here, I'm not here for it man. I… I'm gonna get out of here and I guess I can Slack Matthias? Would he even respond? Does he know about this? If this is a prank… I don't even… OK, I'm just gonna get out of here so I can think straight."

I walk-ran toward the door, fully expecting it to push open on command. Nothing. Playing into the surprise, I slammed it over and over again, trying to get the push bar to work. It didn't. This is going to be awesome, I thought. "Seriously?" I yelled. Then I labored my breathing, pushing harder and harder and more frantically until I was naturally gasping for air. Taking that as my cue, I turned and slid down with the glass door against my back. I rubbed a hand over the bridge of my nose. "What the- why are the doors locked?"

I sat there for a moment, looking numb and plotting. "Ok… there's another door in the warehouse, right? I think I remember… I can't even think, my heart is pounding right now. What… OK, the only way to get to the other doors is past the arm. It's not gonna hurt me, right? Yeah! It's just a vaguely unsettling arm sticking out of the wall that can maybe teleport and apparently come off the body now… creepy- but not dangerous. Ok, I'm gonna just make a break for it before I talk myself out of this." Feeling a real rush of nerves, which I would typically force down, I instead fed the emotion until I was on the verge of a hysteria of my own merit- but that's not what I wanted my character to be.

"This isn't weird at all…" I muttered, trying to put on a confident air while still showing nervousness. I felt the familiar click as a character slid into place and eased up on the acting, letting the mindset guide my actions. What would my new character do about this? Grinning at a certain memory, I stalked forward, ripping the arm off the wall and throwing it down the hall. "I hope that wasn't really stupid." Then I continued on, keeping a decent balance between scared and rational. I turned yet another corner into a pitch black hallway, not lit by the window light guiding me before, and put one hand on the wall to guide myself. "It's not real, there's no way!" I stated to the camera. "Just a prank, for sure. The mannequin was just a stupid Nelson set up in the first place. Right?" I started humming, then singing, trying to keep the panic down and stay in character.

"I know, you belong, to some, body new, but tonight, you belong, to me…" Of course the only thing I could think of was a years-old TikTok trend. At least it sounded cool, if a little creepy in the darkness. When it was over, I began again, stopping when my voice began to echo. I was at my destination.

"Alright, they were right in the videos. Red Base is creepy at night." I made my way into the warehouse, edging carefully around the never ending piles of junk that had accumulated there over the years. "And they say they purge every few months, huh?" Yeah, good. Make her wittier than you actually are.

"Hopefully there's nothing hidden in there that I have to find- oh crud, there's a leg sticking out of it!" At the top of the large pile of assorted… what looked like mostly Dope or Nope toys?- was a leg that clearly resembled the mannequin's, foot up, crowning the pile. "That is insanely disturbing. Ok, yeah, door. Now!" I rushed for the large black double bay doors first, trying the left one, then the right one. "Agh, come on! Open!" I rushed to the service door next. "I swear if this doesn't work… this has to open." Once again feeding off real fear and adrenaline, I let my hands shake as I fumbled with the twisting brass knob. Better shaky, realistic footage than a fake reaction that can't even be used. I mused to myself. That was also locked, and I turned around with a shout of pure adrenaline. "No! Come on!" I stood there for a moment, breathing heavily and trying to think past the energy surging through my mind.

"What now… what now what now what the flip is that?!" Sitting on the floor in front of me was the mannequin's head,a spotlight from above sending a circle of cold light down onto the floor around it. "THIS IS REALLY FREAKING CREEPY." I stumbled back into the door, back clashing into it with a painful thump. "What… OK, I have way too many questions. Why is no one here and why is that thing here and why is it disassembled and is it teleporting because I swear that wasn't there before!" I took a second and a few deep breaths, reminding myself internally that this wasn't indeed real.

On the outside I was muttering: "It can't hurt me, can't hurt me, can't hurt me…" Once I was sufficiently under control, I opened my eyes and gave the head another look. It was featureless, like I remembered, with a smooth 'face' and no ears. Underneath it was… "Is that a note?" I groaned outside, excited on the inside. "Please tell me I don't… I have to read it, don't I."I had to actually fight the smile off my face, instead pacing back and forth. "On the one hand, this isn't my battle and that note probably isn't for me, right? I mean, how would it know I was coming unless it and Matt- never mind. They can't be… connected? That's what Sam originally thought but… and the theories that Matt was a phantom ended up coming true, so it could've been him putting it in his own clothes, the subconscious cry for help theory that was so popular, so- no, can't even go there." My voice was fast and hushed. "But still, there's no way this thing is for me, right?"

I sighed, stopping and staring straight into the high-tech little camera lens centered into the top of my iPhone 16 Pro, which had been a Christmas present the past year. "Who else is this for? I'm the one locked in here… what else am I supposed to do if I don't check that thing out? I can't get out without breaking something, and I'm assuming that wouldn't make a good first impression." I snorted. "Not that they haven't destroyed their fair share of things in the past of 863." I paused for a moment, acting as if I was debating what to do. "Ok, I'm gonna go get it." My words came out fast, high-pitched and tense. I rushed over and grabbed the piece of torn notebook paper from under the head, sending it rolling out of the spotlight. I flicked the paper up toward the light. It read one word, scrawled out in the same red ink the wall signs had been sprayed in years ago. I gasped, holding it out so the camera could see it.

A/N: How do you think I did writing acting? It felt so weird sitting in my pitch-black bedroom writing myself in a pitch-black room pretending to be scared... super meta, but wHo CaReS? I ended up actually scaring myself and couldn't sleep that night lol

Peace and God Bless! :)

"Run."