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Journals: Book 2, Entry 15 “Playland” Fork Falls, South Dakota. Gary Lanning shot and killed nine people in a fast food joint. When the cops found him, he was stuffing his face with fries. The publically released records of a psychiatrist said Gary had delusional fantasies of time spent in an amusement park called Playland. That was before Gary stabbed the shrink in the heart with a pen. Are kids like Gary who Nostradamus was talking about when he said "youth most murderous?" Is it possible that this troubled teen’s delusions were caused by a Gua experiment? I went to Playland to find out. Met Eddie in the Laser Gun House at the park. Kids were running all over the place, we found a back room. Eddie said there was an abnormal electrical ion level focused there. Gary mentioned going through a secret door in the park. The quatrain spoke of a "threshold of light." We’d seen the Gua use quantum pockets before and I was wondering if this could be another case of that. Eddie was worried about something he called "Einstein’s Definition of Relative Synchronism." It says all space and time scales are based on the velocity of light. Translated to words we’ll all understand, that meant if you cross through such a doorway there was no way to know what you’d find on the other side. Just the kind of odds we hated to play...and were used to. And then there was the good news. There were no guarantees the portal to return to our reality would be in the same place on the other side. I’d need an ohm-meter and an electro-magnet to power my way back through. 'Course Eddie had those in his pocket. Now I was just supposed to run at this space that looked like nothing and find myself magically transported to a whole new world. Was nervous, more so than usual. Had to trust in Nostradamus. I went through. And came out mid-air in a deserted themepark. The ohm-meter and magnet broke in my fall. I was trapped. Funny, Nostradamus hadn’t mentioned that. Caught a girl watching me from the rides. Chased her, grabbed her – she threatened to "bleed me." Quickly found myself being confronted by a band of rag-tag teens wearing torn off swatches of blue cloth. They wondered if I was "the stranger." Spoke in a broken, halting speech. Asked if I like the "Blues" or the "Reds." Told them I was friendly to the Blues – seemed like the smart thing to do. They said they could use another "brawler" and took me with them. The place was a wreck, broken down and covered in trash. Had no idea what to expect, and I was on my own. Knew the only way out was to learn as much as I could from these guys – and fast. Peter, the leader of the group, told me the rival brawlers were the "Reds" and Gary had been their king. Peter was Blue King, he said the best fighter leads the set. Gary was "taken" by the stranger Peter’s girlfriend Dawn mistook me for. They called me an "ay-dult." Made me wonder how long these kids had all been here? Dawn answered. Said most of them had been there for years, they were runaways stolen off the streets. That’s when a "brawl" broke out. It was terrifying, brutal, an all out war. Had to stop it. Fired my gun in the air. That got everyone’s attention. The Reds retreated. Peter was impressed. And then a horrible sound tore through the air – music, driving and violent. The Blues headed for the source, I followed. There it was, a giant black monolith, 20 feet high – the music blaring from speakers at the top. A door opened and food poured out – bags and bags of stuff kids love. The Blues attacked it, ravenous. Asked Peter what the tower was -- he called it "the feeder." Woke up the next morning to find the Blues sleeping in the grass using trash as blankets. Went to the feeder. Peter found me, called me "the man with gun," wanted me around to keep the Blues well fed – seems the machine would reward the winner of the brawls and another monolith would give the losers gruel. Told Peter that I was there to find out what made Gary kill nine people. I believed the kids in Playland were being turned into walking time bombs and then set loose in the real world. Didn’t want to see Peter become a murderer shot dead by a security guard. I wanted to work together and figure a way out of this place. But Peter didn’t want to go back to that "other place." It was hell – parents and cops kicking his ass. In Playland he got fed. ‘Course I could relate. Had a similar history – but I knew the solution wasn’t hiding in an experiment, willfully succumbing to the Gua’s machinations. Peter swore to never work with a Red. Didn’t know what to do next. Dawn found me. She was afraid I was gonna take Peter and didn’t think he could survive in my world – said he wasn’t meant to live there. Told Dawn she and her friends were rats in an experiment, going after cheese, too blind to see they were in a maze. My plea fell on deaf ears where Dawn was concerned too. No one was listening. How do you save a bunch of strong-willed teens who don’t wanna go home? Was gonna figure it out. The Gua were stealing the lives of kids this time. Not acceptable. We were all going back to the real world – even if I had to drag Peter into it. Read Eddie's Paranoid Times Article: "Never, Never Land." “Playland” Writer: Chris Brancato & Albert J. Salke Director: Michael Robison Executive Producers: Francis Ford Coppola, Larry Sugar Created by: Chris Brancato Guest Stars: Tyron Leitso, Sarah Linde, Darcy Belsher, David Paetkau. |
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