The Cereal Box:Log/Session 41

Session 41

The motley returned home to go to bed.

Saturday, May 15

The grand opening of Granny's Place with real people rather than make believe fairies was scheduled for today.

Nikolai tried to make determinations about Chalkos' compound. He obtained survey results, but there's not blueprints on file. There's an overhead picture of the general area. A main road with a side road. 8 rows of buildings with a u-shape. 16 feet between fence and buildings, 20 feet between the fenceline and the forest, single entrance. Nikolai scours for denim to throw over the barbed wire to cross the fence if necessary.

Ernie plays with his friends and brings Regina with him. While she's an impediment to enjoyment, he is able to absorb glamour.

Sephie worked at solidifying her relationship with her daughter, partially by inviting her out to dinner at the restaurant. A week from Friday was the soonest she can do.

Hestia is running her restaurant. She had a very up and down day, but opening was a success and it's clear that the bills will be paid.

Alana and April were working on changeling science to try to figure out how the crunch and sog factor worked, which apparently involved submerging Cap 'n' Crunch in melted ice cream (which Alana refused to let April, Regina and Ernie eat due to the absurd level of sugar in it). They agreed that to determine the rules of the Crunch Factor, they would need to open hedge gates to determine crunch factor - three opened by the same person with a stopwatch to time it.

They decided Oak Hill Cemetery toward the middle, Denny's as the very edge, and Freddy and Aaron's place; finally, somewhere outside the zoo (the Binder Park Golf Course) as a control. They called Freddy and Aaron, who agreed at the cost of 2 bottles of wine and a promise to buy and eighth.

First they opened the gate at the cemetery: an archway was opened for 16.7 seconds and then the mirror for 16.8 seconds (possibly an error?).

As they were leaving, an old man accosted them, briefly taking Regina hostage at iron knifepoint. He demanded they tell him where his "brother" Solomon Bynes was and, after they explained to him that Bynes was killed a long time ago, he asked if that meant that he could finally leave the cemetery and be himself again - revealing that he was, in fact, Solomon Bynes' fetch. He traded them a "key" to the hedge gate at the mausoleum for assistance, and Ernie gave him a phone. He told them there was a cult with a symbol of an eye based on a musical fermata that met fairly regularly in the cemetery, but didn't really have more useful information for them.

The motley proceeded to Freddie and Aaron's. They accepted the wine and sold an eighth to Nikolai, which they warned him he should take care when smoking because they suspected their dealer was adding glass dust to up the weight. They explained that their experiments with growing hedge cannabis had been dismal failures. The gate they opened above the fridge was open for 15.2 and the mirror was open for 15.4 seconds.

Finally, they traveled to the Neutral Meeting Ground at the Zoo and opened the hedge gate in the archway. This stayed open for 17.1 and 18.5 seconds.

They moved to the golf course outside the cereal box, where an open gate remained so for 15.0 seconds and the mirror for 15.0 seconds as well.

They then tested the mirror while moving. Outside the zoo - 18.6 while moving, 18.8 while stationary. They tested the car door, which lasted for 17.1 seconds. The mirror was then tested again and opened for 18.8 seconds and wobbled when closed.

The testing developed a four part theory of how the Crunch Factor works:

• Crunch factor is not evenly distributed throughout the Freehold.
• Crunch factor tends to be lower toward the edge of the Cereal Box
• Crunch factor tends to be more concentrated in places where changelings congregate
• Crunch factor tends to drain through hedge gates, and when it does so, it holds the gate open and does so cumulatively

The changelings decided to get some sleep.

Sunday / Monday May 16 / 17

Ernie discussed with Eric Rowe the need to unkill Bynes. They went with middle names to use Martin Charles Solomon as a name. Rowe mentioned that he had personally dealt with Bynes, who was "killed by someone who really hated him." Ernie also asked about bodies (in hopes of designing a barometer for measuring crunch factor) and Rowe admitted he had a waiting list and could not guarantee delivery.