WhiteKB's "On the Lam from the Red Nexus authorities" Thread

[White KB]

Spoiler: DISCLAIMER

The accounts contained herein are partially fictitious, and any resemblance to events and/or persons in real life is probably completely coincidental. The author discloses that they are not legitimately on the run from an evil authoritarian organization, and will probably not be for the next few weeks.

This is my thread documenting my progress to the

Spoiler: Last Safe Place

Hotel Denouement

"They stole my computer, and they stole my home, but they won't steal my research, and they won't steal my hope..."
-#83398

This is based on a post from the Cubing Ducks thread that I made, and later a [now archaic] signature, wherein, before I changed my profile pic to a duck, I asserted that it was written somewhere that it was illegal for me to change my profile pic more frequently than every 3 1/2 years, or I couldn't use things like lawnmowers, hammers, or windows. Eventually, I made the erroneous decision of changing my profile picture to an iconic representation of the famous bird, named Victor.

After a week and a half, nothing happened.

Little did I know that Red Nexus knew the whole time.

And little did I know that the punishment would be a lot worse.

When I was least expecting it, they made their advance. They had the audacity --and the professionality-- to break into my house and steal my computer--the only thing that went missing was my laptop, and everything else was exactly the same, except a RX-8 drone painting on the back of my closet door. Below, in 9 point font, was "Walkers dissipate."

At that point, I knew I had to run. And run I did--tripping over my laptop on the way out. They had returned it. Like with my house, everything was precisely intact--my channel backup, my extensive music playlists, my progress on Layer by Layer podcast (ep.31)... except my profile pic and my account banner on SpeedSolving.com. The backups were intact, but the posted versions were glitched.

I kept running, ending up in nearby Litany. I remember reading somewhere that this was the country in which a series involving the son of the official fire marshall odiously lusts after the finances of three children. After much searching, I eventually found a very faded drawing depicting a map to the Last Safe Place.

Beginning to head there, I came upon Lousy Lane. Lousy Lane, as you may know, is located near the home of a famous, but deceased, herpetologist. It is also near a horseradish factory, so the air reeks of a wasabi-like odor. I ran, holding my nose as I looked back at every turn in the road.

Eventually, I made it to Lake Lachrymose. Unfortunately, the lake is full of indigenous leeches. Fortunately, I'm staying in an inn approximately one mile away, and since it's tourist season, there are plenty of nice people to talk to.

Oh, and another thing. Upon arriving in my room, I received a copy of the Daily Punctilio. According to the title, "SECRET ORGANIZATION PAINTS DEAD SNAKE SCIENTIST'S HOME ALL-RED", it was obvious they were still following me. But how?

I'm running, and I'll keep running until my research is safe. Red Nexus or not, I will keep escaping them.

Oh, and by the way, my research is about ...

 

[CubeRed]

Oh, and by the way, my research is about ...

Ooooh, cliffhanger.

 

[White KB]

...music. Good music, specifically. One name that came up actually had an entire forum devoted to his music.

Spoiler

(Alan Walker)

So, I decided to join. I became account #83398 on this 53cr3t pl47f0rm, as it's called on the login page. But to me, it's more than a number. It means that I'm a part of something bigger, something that's quantifiable.

But that's not even the tip of the iceberg. The rest I have to keep secret until I reach safety.

Speaking of which, my journey from Lake Lachrymose to Lucky Smells Lumbermill was a satisfactory one. The only weird thing was that clouds of smoke appeared throughout the sky, along with a slight burning smell, but gave no indication of where they had come from. What's also strange is that I hadn't taken any note of it until now. Huh.

I found Victor at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill ruins, then rode him to Prufrock Preparatory School. We passed the gravestone-shaped dormitories, as well as a monument in the shape of a large bejeweled turban. Then, deciding to split up so we would be safe, we took separate routes to 667 Dark Avenue, the next place on my very faded drawing.

Once I arrived, I found that the stairs at the hotel were "out" (not dysfunctional, but temporarily out of style), and climbing abandoned elevators by yourself was "in". I thought that Victor might have decided to ignore tradition since the free will of ducks was also "in". I traveled to the top, and, clambering up to the top, found a letter.

The letter was addressed to "Delinquent #83398", and, when I opened it, the message was typed up in red ink:

We regret to inform you that your animal of transport was been selected for experimentation. That is all.

When I read that, I was furious. I wanted to rip the letter into hundreds of small pieces and let it fall. But just before I could do it, I looked on the back. This was a hastily written scrawl:

To _al_er #83398:
_o to

A.A. Ceilnortz
2718 _an_e A_en_e
____ol_t, Litan_
83398

to _in_ _o_r __c_.

WalK GooD, Kid. VU and be HUMBleD bY Fire anD YoU DUcK.

I realized that it was probably some sort of code, an address of some sort. It took me all night to solve it, but at 6:28 AM the next day, I figured it out. It meant:

To WalKer #83398:
Go to

A. A. Ceilnortz
2718 DanKe AVenUe
HUMBolDt, LitanY
83398

to FinD YoUr DuCK.

It had no signature, so all I had to go off of was the handwriting, but that didn't get me very far. All that I was really certain of is that this part of the letter was not written by anyone from Red Nexus. I decided to just go to where it had said: the town of Humboldt, more commonly known by its former name, the Village of Fowl Devotees.
On the way there, I'm noticing two things more than anything else: the abundance of fires on the side of the road I walk, and the presence of fallen drones. They seem to have a strange, octahedral design, and also seem to be destroyed, but by what, I don't know.
At the edge of one of these fires, I found a strange piece of metal, shaped like a "W". I'm not sure how it works, but I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow, just like all the other puzzles that have crossed my path...