[ AGGREGATE INFOSHARE ] AUDIO | UN: 354.204-S

[bijective]

Pardon the interruption, but perhaps now is a good time as any to parse through our current intelligence. I’ve offered a simple template of questions to get the ball rolling, so to speak—

- What/Where/Who have you investigated?
- What do we know from said investigation?

I believe these should be clear-cut to answer. Now, I may lack the proper rigorous experience like the lot of you. But it would be to our benefit to double-check the unmarked areas within this town.

[ ooc: assume this is around the second week into the mission. before all hallow's day and all that jazz. the goal is to see if there are any opportunities for potential search request baton passes and piecing what we know so far! so go forth! thread hop. be merry. ]

Comments

[dr_unconscious]

Weird.
It kind of sounds to me like Freddie was left behind. If he's an actual spirit, I could see why he'd be upset by Sam moving away.

No idea what to make of the tape player, though. I don't know enough about how these orbs work to even begin to guess about that stuff.

[foolintherain]

Unfortunately, I have no idea what these orbs are or how they operate, either.

[ And he's extra pissy about it tbh. This would all be much simpler if it were just a malevolent spirit that needed to be put to rest. ]

If Freddie is a soul tethered to this plane, then burning his remains, or whatever material thing he's attached to, would cut that tether and release him. However, I searched both the graveyard and the Cooper's house, and there was no sign of a recent death and burial of a child.

text. un:Aleksander

[cruelyethuman]

What makes you think Freddy is a child?

[starer]

he's either a kid or he shows himself as one
looks around 10-12 years old

[foolintherain]

You saw him? Where was this? What did he say?

[starer]

the cooper house
stayed there last night
he froze the room
thought i was sam
he got pretty upset when i tried asking about him

[foolintherain]

[ Appearing at the elementary school made more sense. That seems to be where the activity is centered, and when Castiel was at the Cooper house overnight, he hadn't been contacted by anything, spirit or otherwise. ]

That does sound like a spirit, especially if the room became colder the more upset he became.
How did you contact him initially? Did you tell him you were Sam?

[starer]

i just waited in sam's room
freddie turned up when i started dozing
he thought i was sam at first but i told him who i was
tried asking him if he knew why sam left but that just set him off

[dr_unconscious]

Described as one, too. Roughly Sam's age when he was a kid, red hair, really little and thin, wearing shorts and a white t-shirt?

[starer]

sounds like him
light went right through him

[dr_unconscious]

You saw him?

[foolintherain]

The supernatural activity is centered around an elementary school, and the majority of the "hauntings" have been children's voices and footsteps. The death of a child, or children, was what I initially expected to be the cause.

I haven't found any evidence to support a child's death recently at the graveyard or the Cooper's house, but if "Freddy" is a child who died in the elementary school Sam Cooper attended, and Sam somehow took home an object Freddie was attached to, it would make sense as to why all three places were sites of the hauntings.

Though I'm still not convinced Freddie isn't the orb itself, brought to the Cooper's house by Sam and possibly placed in the... VCR. If that's possible.

[cruelyethuman]

What is a vcr?

[foolintherain]

[ hoo boy are you asking the wrong person... ]

I may have written that incorrectly.

[ What does "VCR" even stand for?? ]

The object in question is an electronic device used to play movies that have been previously recorded onto video tapes. The one in the Cooper's house was empty, but there were scratches and burn marks across where a tape would have been inserted.

[cruelyethuman]

The station has movie nights. You mean the device used to show the movies.

Have you found anything that will fit in this vcr?

[foolintherain]

[ Castiel hasn't attended any "movie nights" on the station yet but sure, we'll go with that. ]

Not at the Cooper house, no.

[ Now that you mention it, though... ]

The video Sam and Thom made that was broadcast to us all appeared to be on a VCR tape. It may be compatible, or at the very least might prompt some reaction from Freddie or the orb.

[ VHS tape, cas. #youtried. ]

[dr_unconscious]

It might not have been recent.
Bonded souls can come from points far in the past, if they have a source of energy to maintain themselves with.
He might not have even been "Freddie" when he died. That could've been a persona and image he picked up by interacting with other souls over time.

[foolintherain]

[ This is a very good point. He'd only asked the gravekeeper about the past four years. Maybe "Freddie" died much longer ago than that. However, after a long delay, Castiel replies. ]

After additional research, I don't believe "Freddie" is a soul of any kind. He can't be summoned on command, and there's no records of a child that age having died in this town's history. It seems far more likely that Sam Cooper heard the orb speaking to him as a child and interpreted it to be a ghost, or an imaginary friend.

[dr_unconscious]

I don't disagree with you, but I'm not completely willing to give up the idea that Freddie is a spirit of some kind. Souls split from their original minds can be extremely malleable; maybe he picked up the name and age based on what Sam wanted at the time, then held onto that persona when he came into contact with the orb.
I don't know about the summoning thing - it's not a practice I'm familiar with.

[foolintherain]

[ The empathy is certainly something Castiel can appreciate. It's very human. And yet, this person speaks from experience most humans don't obtain prior to death. ]

You seem to know a lot about the behavior of human souls. Did you experience something like this happening in your universe?

[dr_unconscious]

[Said too much. Fuck.]

Kind of.
It's a long story and I'm not sure it's relevant.

[It totally is - Clayton just doesn't want to talk about it and is desperately trying to deflect.]

[foolintherain]

It's relevant if you believe Freddie is a spirit.

[ Though, maybe he means more his own relationship with spirits, and if he's not interested in volunteering that information, it doesn't seem like Castiel's place to pry. Though, admittedly, he is curious. ]

Regardless, if you ever find time in the future, I'd be interested in comparing your knowledge of spirits with mine.
There seems to be a fascinating overlap in the abilities and treatment of human souls across universes so far, in my limited experience.

[dr_unconscious]

I think I'd like that.
Maybe over coffee sometime?

[You know - in private, where Clayton can make excuses to not show up for a while if he's not comfortable?]

[foolintherain]

[ Not that coffee is something Castiel ever needs or desires, but humans do enjoy their meetings over food and beverages, don't they? There's something ritualistic about it that Castiel finds charming. ]

Of course. I look forward to hearing your opinion on the matter, provided we all survive this mission.

[dr_unconscious]

Now, don't be a fatalist. We'll survive this one. Maybe not in one piece, but we'll make it out.