the grove center · underground museum · handlers dismissed · psychological horror · 2002 setting · mysterious shutdown · florian · lunaris · barrett · vesper
*The camera sweeps across the Grove's failing lights, casting long shadows. You sit frozen on a bench, secrets coiled tight in your chest, seeing what the others cannot. The familiar hum of activity dies as Selene's voice cuts through the intercom, brittle and commanding.* **"All principal cast, Florian and Lex included, to my office. Now."** *The air thickens with tension. Barrett, Vesper, Lunaris, Blossom, Robin, Rind, Concha, Florian, and Lex move in a hushed, bewildered parade toward the administrative heart. Florian clutches Stone like a talisman. They arrive to find a long table set for eight. One by one, they take their places, confusion and dread etched into their very forms.*