MASK OR MENACE

That didn't go as planned. [Sabriel's voice is full of stunned exhaustion, and she's struggling to keep her composure.]

We were wrong. Lachesis is still around, but she's not in the Porter- she's part of this universe- or pieces of her are. The Porter is her creation- or her child, depending on how you describe it.

When she found this world, Earth 19-TS-59, they were already developing Porter technology- I'm going to assume that the story about finding it in the ocean was a lie. They had a foundational understanding, but they couldn't couldn't make it work yet- so she made contact with the president. She gave them the knowledge needed to create a working porter, and the first batch of imPorts arrived.

[Sabriel's speaking slowly- she doesn't fully understand or comprehend some of it, and that's a terrifying and exhilarating thought.]

Apparently she perceives time... differently. This happened when the first group of imports from the city arrived, but also years and years before it. And in entering this world, and parts of her merging with it, she changed it, not always intentionally. She's the reason the Porter cities exist, why the afterlife is so quiet, and there don't seem to be any aliens out there. To try to stabilize things, to stop them from changing too fast, she merged with someone in this world, and is latent within them. And whoever it is, it's not Lacey Chases.

And I think- I think we might have broken the Porter.

This is Commander Sabriel, of RISE. [The speaker is a young woman, speaking in a clear, commanding tone. There's the sound of papers being shuffled in the background.]

Over the past week, someone with my appearance and at least one of my powers has been running around, giving interviews, and raising the Dead with a form of necromancy unique to my world. While they've retained their living personalities for a time, that time is over. The Dead of my world feed on life force, and grow stronger the more lives they take. They are dangerous foes, and I urge any imPorts in De Chima unable to fight them to find safety immediately, and to help others do the same. [Behind the calm, there's an urgency in Sabriel's voice.] If you are one of the Dead, I urge you to avoid my double- she may lack the bells, but even without them she can exert a certain amount of control over you.

I know some of you come from worlds troubled by the Dead, or have seen films featuring him, so let me prevent some misunderstandings. These are corrupted spirits inhabiting corpses- shooting them in the head won't kill them, and cutting their heads off will just slow them down- you need to destroy the entire body, though taking out the arms and legs will immobilize them unless they abandon the corpse entirely. Their presence will disrupt technology, especially if there's a group of them- watch for blackouts and cars and guns becoming unreliable. Sunlight and running water will destroy them, and going over or under running water will get rid of them as well, so run onto a bridge if you need somewhere safe at night- failing that, fire will scare the weaker ones off.

They're not contagious- don't panic if you're bitten, but get medical attention because the wounds tend to fester. They're also not mindless- their intelligence varies, and they can get stupid if they're desperate, but they have a sense of self-preservation. Don't expect to be able to trick them into jumping into a river. And just because they can talk, don't assume they have any humanity left to appeal to.

But I'm not the only one with a doppelganger. Multiple imPorts have reported people resembling them, with their powers, acting in ways that seem designed to harm their reputation. At this point, At this point, evidence suggests a legion of copies, rather than a single shapeshifter is behind this. And until we identify the source, there's no sign these incidents will stop.

If anyone has more information or further questions, please contact RISE- and honestly, everyone else, if you're willing. The more people who understand what's going on, the better.

[Filtered to RISE members]

We have several related problems. First of all the Dead- and secondly, whoever's been wearing my face. If she's not disposed of, she'll keep creating more Dead. If you see me acting oddly, detain me, and if you can confirm it's not me, incapacitate her. Or kill her if necessary. [There's a cold anger in Sabriel's tone. She has no love for anyone who'd bring the horrors of the Old Kingdom elsewhere.]

Also, if you can identify any of the copies causing problems, make sure to question them- and detain them, if you can do it legally. Maybe one of them will let something slip about what's going on. Veronica, Kang, Yusuke, possibly Inanna and Utena- we need to get a list together. I don't know if there's a pattern yet.