Act 1
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Intruder Alert
The video serves to introduce the viewer to another of the threats facing Mandela County, colloquially named "The Intruder".
It begins with an image of a man (hereafter referred to as "The Intruder") in front of a white void, staring directly at the viewer as a voice proclaims, "I am inside your home."
The video cuts to a presentation from the Mandela County Child Endangerment Awareness Association, describing various ways parents tend to keep children distracted while attending to other matters, such as toys, walks in strollers, and watching cartoons on the family television. The presentation hangs on the image of the television as the face of The Intruder, now much more distorted, appears on the screen. The presentation then warns parents to keep an eye on what material their children may be watching, including violent content, sexual content, graphic content, and scary imagery. The words "they exist on different spectrums" slowly appear.
Cut to later in the presentation, which advises parents to wait until their child has stopped screaming or crying before entering their room. We see a woman, represented by a facsimile typically found on public restroom signs, enter her child's room as they are crying. The woman walks over to the child's crib, and a photo pops up showing it to be empty. The woman hears music coming from the television and approaches it, seeing The Intruder's face before the image cuts to static and the television turns itself off. The woman then backs away from the television and seemingly rises into the air, before the image shifts to reveal that the woman has, in reality, hanged herself. Also of note is that the crib has changed into a wooden coffin. Multiple lines of text then appear reading "distraught at the sight of her missing infant" before the footage cuts out.
Cut to an Emergency Alert System broadcast, which applies to multiple counties. The alert explains that 3,426 children have been reported missing in the counties of Bythorne, Werksha, Mandela, and Yonder. A message flashes on the screen warning parents to "deter vulnerable children away from any television or medium that can project possibly frightening imagery", with updates to follow.
Cut to a series of tapes recorded by the Mandela County Police Department detailing the investigation of a suicide. According to the tapes' preamble, an investigator was sent to survey a house where prolonged child-like crying followed by a sharp crack could be heard. A photo of the victim's house is then shown. According to the tape, after the photo was taken, the investigator quickly left the scene after feeling an "overwhelming sense of dread", prompting an on-site officer to set up a camera to take one photo every five minutes facing the room that the event occurred in so as to provide security until a suitable replacement arrives. The photos the camera took during this time are then shown. The following photos are of particular interest:
- 4:45 AM - Two white dots appear in the darkened hallway. Threat level: "Vague".
- 5:46 AM - The Intruder's face appears in the darkened hallway. Threat level: "Evident".
- 6:40 AM - A caption reads "victim's corpse is seen being tampered with by invisible force", while said corpse is censored with a black bar. Threat level: "Evident".
The police department concludes that the suspect from the photos is completely unidentifiable, but can be ruled out as being an Alternate. The images will be sent to higher-ups for further analysis. Lieutenant Davis has mandated that the previously-shown photos "must not, and will not, be released to the public for any reason".
Metaphysical Awareness Disorder
The video appears to be a presentation about the titular disorder.
A narrator informs us that this is a disorder that's making a comeback, while showing that 97% of cases result in suicide.
The video goes to the patient, right next to whom an Аlternatе appears and gives him information. The narrator informs us that the disorder is caused by "information that's not desired to be known". He mentions the high suicide rate, but notes that the 3% are worth living.
The narrator shows us ways not to contract MAD: by avoiding religious practices or philosophical implications. He also mentions that being with family is a good way of being mentally stable. The text on the screen, however, informs us to not open our eyes, because the "man in the corner" may be infront of the viewer's face.
Exhibition
The video functions as the "season finale", answering questions from the previous five videos while introducing new ones.
After snippets of the answering machine from "The Mandela Catalogue Vol. 1" as well as the television music from "Intruder Alert", the video opens with another religious cartoon in the same style as the one seen in "Overthrone". In it, Noah is seen outside taking in some fresh air. As Noah returns to his dogs, he cowers as he hears a loud knocking sound. The color then darkens as the words "Type Two: Detectable" fade in behind Noah.
The video cuts to a photo of a young boy and girl standing in front of the doors to a cathedral, taken on November 19, 1982.
Cut to an evidence reel for "Heathcliff v. [???]: Altercation". It is described as a video from a personal camcorder recorded in Mark Heathcliff's bedroom. Said video contains the following bits of footage:
- the door to Heathcliff's bedroom
- a car traveling along a road
- the same car stopped along the side of the road as the image zooms in on a light in the distance
- walking on stone steps
- the cathedral where the earlier photo was taken
- the entrance to the cathedral's basement
- the door to Heathcliff's bedroom again
- a photo of a window taken on August 30, 1992
- the door to Heathcliff's bedroom again, this time showing the door being opened and closed while shrouded in darkness
- descending the stairs to a basement
- another photo of the cathedral from a distance
- a television set turning on by itself, then showing a pixellated figure eerily similar to The Intruder before the image cuts
- another photo of the window, with a heavily distorted figure outside it
In remarks posted at the end of the reel, it is noted that "footage implies that Heathcliff has been paranoid for a prolonged period", and "reasons are implied".
Cut back to the religious cartoon, as Noah and his family prepare to board the Ark. A figure is seen peering through some bushes at Noah's family. The sound of ringing church bells is heard, steadily increasing in volume. Clips of the shepherds and the sleeping Joseph from "Overthrone" are briefly shown as Noah and his wife look behind them in shock. The color then shifts to grayscale. The Alternate Gabriel appears, saying he is angry that Noah is trying to escape from him, and he must be punished. The Alternate Gabriel proclaims that he will put a particular creature on the Ark, who will alter Noah's mind at a certain moment. The creature will then give Noah a message, which will be his last. The Alternate Gabriel then vanishes.
Cut to another presentation from the US Department of Temporal Phenomena dated 1990, where the text briefly reads "The Death of Mark Heathcliff" before flashing back to normal. According to the presentation, any person who has been affected by exposure to analog television and mirrors must contact the local authorities immediately. In addition, a hotline has been set up to answer any questions relating to the recently issued "Television and Mirror Destruction Order".
The Mandela Catalogue Vol. 2
The first video of the latter half of Act 1 introduces us to the Bythorne Paranormal Society, and has the Intruder target its two members.
The video shows us that it takes place during 2009 Winter Break. We then cut to an FBI wanted poster of two paranormal investigators named "Adam Murray" and "Jonah Marshall" who have a bounty of $1000 on their heads.
The words "victim three" and "victim four" briefly flash on screen while Adam takes a phone call from a woman. The woman asks Adam if she could schedule an appointment with them, since she's been hearing the meows of her dead cat. Jonah butts in and speculates the cat to be an alternate to which Adam shushes him.
Adam makes the decision to spend a night at the house to Jonah's complete dismay, leading into yet another argument. During the night, he receives a message from a voice telling him to "follow them" lest they "wake the others." Something (hereafter referred to as "The Preacher") enters the room and meets Adam face-to-face, who is berated by Jonah for not calling him after "trying to talk to it." The following morning, Adam (inflicted with M.A.D. by his nightly visitor) begins hearing the cat meowing and insists on investigating despite Jonah's urgings to leave. The two have a final, intense argument before Adam makes his way down. The meowing is revealed to be coming from a television at the bottom of the stairs, which quickly gives way to The Intruder. The Intruder and the voice of the house's owner (presumably an Alternate) both confront him. Adam calls for Jonah, but he's already fled from the house in panic. The Intruder taunts Jonah over the radio for leaving his friend behind, the video ending with an angered scream.
My Movie.mp4 and soccer game 2009
These two videos are pretty similar, being a collection of unconnected clips. Due to this, it can be inferred that they are examples of the 333 Corruption.
My Movie.mp4 is devoid of any sound and depicts what the text on screen says as a "ghost sighting". The video is in the style of an early
YouTube video.
soccer game 2009 depicts footage from the titular soccer game between the Mandela Meerkats and Bythorne Badgers. Suddenly, footage from a house is shown, presumably in a similar vein to the ghost sighting from first video. Sound appears for a brief segment here. Footages from the two videos keep showing back and forth, before a "mandela meerkats win 10-4!!!!!!!!!1" ends the video.
A deleted comment from Thatcher Davis confirms these are examples of the 333 Corruption.
The Mandela Catalogue Vol.333
The video re-examines the events of Volume 1 from a new perspective: that of Mandela County Police Lieutenant Thatcher Davis.
It begins with an aerial shot of a neighborhood, slowly zooming in to the same house being investigated for a suicide in "Intruder Alert". Inside, a woman tries to calm down her crying baby, to no avail. She then calls her ex-husband for help; after ruling out the possibility of the television affecting the baby, he promises to come over the next evening, saying he will be extremely angry if the baby's behavior is due to an "imaginary friend". During this conversation, an image of divorce papers pops up, listing the names of two people terminating their marriage due to irreconcilable differences: husband Jude Murray and wife Lynn Murray. (Note that these two people share the same last name as Adam Murray from "Vol. 2".) Meanwhile, we see the baby enthralled by the television as it cycles through multiple channels by itself. The title card then appears reading "3 3 3".
Cut to a live feed from Moriah Hall in the Mandela County Police Department, broadcasting the promotion ceremony of Lt. Thatcher Davis and his partner, Sgt. Ruth Weaver. During his speech, Thatcher reflects on everything he learned during his time on the force and reaffirms his pledge to protect the city.
Cut to an answering machine message left by a school counselor, asking for a status update regarding a student named Mark Heathcliff, who has been absent for the past couple of days without any explanation. She asks if an officer can be sent by his house to check up on him, as well as collect the contact information for whoever answers the door.
Cut to Thatcher visiting Heathcliff's house, busting in after receiving no response to his knocking at the door. An evidence reel for "Heathcliff v. [???]: Altercation" then pops up, detailing Thatcher examining Heathcliff's bedroom. He sees a corpse on the bed confirmed to be Heathcliff's, listing his age as 17. Continuing his investigation, Thatcher sees multiple shell casings strewn across Heathcliff's bed. He grabs a cassette player sitting atop a television set playing nothing but static, as well as a copy of the Bible and a personal notebook titled "Reassurances".
Cut to an exterior feed, where Ruth argues with Thatcher about continuing to work on this case when he can easily move on to another one due to his promotion. Thatcher retorts that he has a new lead, and evidence to look over. Ruth lets the matter go.
Cut to Thatcher performing evidence analysis. An image of what appears to be Cesar Torres (note his tuxedo and bow tie) is matched to a set of fingerprints on the doorknob to Heathcliff's bedroom. Heathcliff himself, meanwhile, has his fingerprints matched to the gun in his hand, the cassette player, the notebook, and a camcorder.
The camcorder contains a tape labeled "shadow under the door". Video playback reveals what appears to be two feet getting close to the door, and whoever is on the other side knocking rather forcefully. The "feet" appear to rise into the air for a few seconds, then come back down as the unknown person knocks at a faster pace.
The cassette player contains a tape labeled "voices outside my room". Playing the tape, a heavily distorted voice can be heard saying "You need to open the door, now. I am not going away." A second portion of the tape captures what sounds like a feminine voice asking for the time, and that they're nervous about the time, only to respond that they, in fact, have "loads" of time. In the final portion, a loud conversation between a group of people can be heard.
Thatcher then examines Heathcliff's notebook. The entries reveal Heathcliff to be a pious young man, saying God loves him when no one else will. His final entries detail his descent into paranoia as his calls to the police are answered in vain, fearful of who he might be praying to if not God. His next entries devolve into mad scribblings before one final coherent sentence is written: "my eyes are wide open".
Cut to an "Alternate Report" poster for Cesar Torres, warning about his "inhuman features" and asking any who happen to see him to call 911.
Cut to an evidence reel for "Murray v. [???]: Altercation". The tape is prefaced with a message from MandelaTech representative Dave Lee, who tells Thatcher that he only managed to salvage two minutes from one of the tapes he sent in for recovery. The tape then cuts to a title card for a program called "The Might of the Subconscious". Suddenly, a voice is heard asking if anyone can hear it before a rubber band puppet appears calling itself "Stanley". After asking how many friends the viewer has, Stanley claims he can make a friend appear out of thin air. He walks the viewer through this process, asking them to imagine their characteristics. Stanley then begins to say that "if a friend lives in your head, it is best to manifest them instead", but the tape quickly cuts to him saying that "they're just as scared as you are". Stanley then asks the viewer to think really hard about their new friend... and confides to the viewer that their new friend is now somewhere inside their house, and it's now their job to find them. The tape ends there.
Cut to a phone conversation between Thatcher and Jude Murray. During this call, Jude begs Thatcher for help regarding someone inside his house despite him locking all his doors and windows. After confirming Jude's safety, Thatcher asks if this person has a weapon, which Jude can neither confirm nor deny. Jude says this person is just standing in the corner, staring at him. Thatcher then asks Jude if the person resembles anyone he knows. However, Jude exclaims that he has never seen anyone in his life that looks like that person, causing Thatcher to be taken aback. Thatcher then tells Jude that he'll send an officer over to check on him. Thatcher then gets a call from Ruth saying she's on her way to Jude's house. Thatcher elaborates to Ruth that they may be dealing with a home intruder. Thatcher then calls Jude back to ask for his address, but no one responds. Suddenly, Ruth interjects to ask for backup, saying the officer who was originally assigned to the house "pussied out". Thatcher asks for the address as he rushes to rejoin his partner.
Cut to Thatcher looking at the photos taken by the automatic camera, ultimately finding nothing of interest. He and Ruth will perform an in-home inspection as soon as possible.
Cut to Thatcher and Ruth searching the house. Thatcher enters the child's bedroom upon hearing music from the television and finds the corpse of the child's mother hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly, Thatcher's camera malfunctions; he tries calling out to Ruth, but is met with silence. The camera reactivates. Thatcher tries calling out, but unexpectedly hears his own voice parrot his statements back to him. Suddenly, he then hears the conversation he had with Jude before arriving at his house. Thatcher is slowly filled with dread as footsteps rush to his position, and an elongated, emaciated hand reaches from around the corner...
Cut to the sound of shattered glass. It's Thatcher, escaping the house through a window. He calls Ruth to tell her that he'll find help, and to rendezvous with him at the police station.
Cut to the Mandela County Police Department. In an exterior feed, Thatcher can be heard repeatedly requesting backup from nearby counties to no avail. In an interior feed, the song "Amazing Grace" can be heard steadily increasing in volume. In another exterior feed, "Amazing Grace" is heard once again. The music grows ever louder as it approaches Thatcher's position.
Cut to Thatcher's camera. Thatcher walks down a dark hallway, the only light provided by lamps on the walls. Suddenly, a large, lanky creature appears, shifting through multiple voices to accuse Thatcher of failing his duties as an officer. The creature changes its voice to that of a child saying, "Mommy, wanna meet my new best friend? He likes to hide, but he wants to meet you. I wanna play with the man in the TV." The creature slowly approaches Thatcher as he readies his gun. Some text then appears that reads "uh oh! bad decision, thatcher!"
Cut to a full view of the creature as it contorts its face into an unnatural smile and lets out a howling laugh. Thatcher shoots at the creature, causing it to recoil, but it continues its approach appearing none the worse for wear. Scrawled text then appears reading "There's not enough room for the two of us Lieutenant". The creature then fiddles with Thatcher's camera for a few more seconds before the feed finally cuts out.
Cut to the logo of the Mandela County Police Department, with the motto reading "Every Day Gets Brighter".
Cut to an image of an eye staring intently.
In a post-credits scene, a statue of Jesus and Simon of Cyrene is shown as the Alternate Gabriel slowly fades into view in the background.
every day gets brighter and old mandela police site leak
These two videos detail the aftermath of the events of "The Mandela Catalogue Vol.333".
In "every day gets brighter", audio from a cassette tape labeled "thoughts about the ordeal" is played. The voice belongs to Lt. Thatcher Davis, revealed to still be alive following the attack in the police station. He laments how he lost everything he loved to the Alternates. He is scared, but cannot show any sign of weakness due to the nature of the threat the town is facing. He feels tired and directionless, facing tremendous pressure to locate the missing children. Thatcher then states that the creature that attacked him "took something" from him, causing him to feel "different". A heavily distorted figure in a hoodie is then shown. Thatcher is frustrated that no one is answering his questions and that Mandela County is for all intents and purposes cut off from the outside world, but he resolves to kill the creature no matter the cost. He ends the tape with a haunting realization: "I'm alive... but part of me doesn't want to be."
"old mandela police site leak" is a video in a similar style to "My Movie.mp4", devoid of all sound. A webpage for the local news displays a poster for the Little League soccer finals between the Mandela Meerkats and the Brighton Bunnies, with tickets being sold for $5 per person, but all proceeds going to the Mandela Grieving Parents Foundation. Further down the webpage, an article fated November 12, 2004 reveals that Mandela County in Wisconsin has seen a mass exodus "for varying reasons", with many denizens traveling to the neighboring counties of Bythorne, Werksha, and Yonder. Text at the end of the article assures the citizens of Mandela that they are actually "100% safe here. There is no reason to run. Who are you running from?" We then cut to a job posting for applicants 21 years or older, with a directive to "Ask for Mr. Davis". We are then shown an email from Sarah Heathcliff addressed to Thatcher Davis with the title "everyday gets DARKER!!!!"; the contents of the message show her begging Thatcher to answer her questions, and that she won't stop until he responds. Text then pops up reading "lets see how he likes that". Cut to a shot of a database login page, only for the wannabe hacker to give up due to them not knowing a valid username or password.
Act 2
Interlude
The video contains footage from videos like a population report on Mandela county, as well as more videos from BPS member Sarah.
The video begins with a population report on Mandela county following the Alternate attacks. While the numbers during the early 90s seem reasonable, there's a considerable drop in the population during the late 90s and early 00s. By 2009, there are barely a thousend citizens in Mandela county
Cut to a "BPS Productions 2007" video. It starts with a message from Sarah to Adam that she has new MCPD footage. Said footage is a patriotic announcement, declaring that the "unforseen threat" has been eliminated. However, it soon cuts to a graph showing the various stages of "assimilation".
"Flawed Assimilation" depicts a man with a moustache and his alternate barely resembling each other. "Complete Assimilation" depicts a woman and her alternate looking identical. "Overdriven Assimilation" depicts a nun, who's alternate is revealed to be The Preacher. Sounds of screams can be hurt as we are shown Cesar's house as well as a second bulding. The video ends with the nun being called a "messenger".
The Mandela Catalogue Vol.4
The video reveals key details concerning two very important characters, and plants the seeds for the looming conflict.
in the beginningWe open on a religious cartoon depicting the creation of the world as told in the first book of the Bible,
Genesis. Several differences become apparent in this telling of the story, however. For example, during the second day, the Alternate Gabriel appears near a tree, causing it to corrupt and turn black. Also, the night after Adam and Eve are created, Adam is woken up and sees the Alternate Gabriel in the distance. On the ground in front of him is a bright red apple. When we next see Eve, her face is frozen in terror as she stares at Adam looming over her, his face shrouded in darkness...
Cut to the present day, in Mandela County. Inside the MandelaTech store, Dave Lee talks on the phone with his friend O'Brien. O'Brien gushes about a recent performance with his band at a church, where he managed to get a standing ovation from the crowd. As for Dave, his store has definitely seen better days; desperate to drum up some business, he marks down the prices of every item in his inventory by 70%. O'Brien, sympathizing with Dave's circumstances, offers to get him a job at the church in the event he ends up closing shop; Dave appreciates the offer, but declines. As the two friends chat, though, Dave's intern, a woman named Evelin Miller, finds a peculiar-looking videotape from a man named Thatcher marked "Restore" and secretly pockets it.
Cut to later in the same store. Evelin opens a door in the back, which contains several videotapes, loose cables, and an object covered with a blanket. She removes the blanket to reveal a CRT television, crudely marked with a handwritten note reading "Property of DAVE. Hands off!!!!!" As a nearby sign indicates, it is apparently the only CRT television remaining in the entire state of Wisconsin. Evelin inserts the tape and turns on the TV, with the first thing to appear being a Toddler Stress Assessment...
Cut to a man scribbling on a piece of paper. The finished sketch reveals a humanoid figure with sunken eyes and a hideous grin. Closing the door behind him, the man turns to the camera, revealing himself as former police lieutenant Thatcher Davis, now reduced to a broken shell of his former self. He searches some cupboards for food, but doesn't find anything to eat.
Cut to a video for the Bythorne High Daily News from Sarah Heathcliff, dated June 11, 2007. The video is an advertisement for a club she's starting up, the Bythorne Paranormal Club. In it, she offers her services to investigate claims of paranormal activity in the nearby counties, and mentions that she's looking for a partner. She gives out her contact information and ends the video. A picture of Sarah is revealed, with text reading that she is "currently at large".
Cut to a voicemail from Adam Murray expressing his interest in joining the club, and mentioning several places in Mandela County ripe for investigation. A picture of Adam then pops up, with text reading that he is also "currently at large".
Cut to a blog post from the Bythorne Paranormal Society mentioning Adam being welcomed to the team.
Cut to an amateur presentation from Sarah and Adam, who explain that the Bythorne Paranormal Club has expanded into the Bythorne Paranormal Society. They offer free after-school investigations every day, and claim that nothing can scare them away.
Cut to a video of a breaking and entering event, dated July 14, 2007. At 11:17 PM that night, Adam and Sarah arrive at their latest target location, with Adam particularly eager to capture some footage. They enter the building, where they come across an area marked off with crime scene tape. They set up a night vision camera near the tape, and play an audio lure of people screaming in terror. Sarah begins to have reservations about what they're doing, but Adam just tells her to watch. The door at the end of the hallway opens on its own. As Sarah begs Adam to let her leave, several hands emerge from doorways on both sides of the hallway and begin scratching at the walls. At 12:49 AM, they flee the area. Adam is excited about what they recorded, but Sarah calls off all future investigations with him, suggesting he find someone else to partner with him.
two years laterCut to a dashcam feed from a speeding car, dated January 13, 2009. The driver tries to call someone, but is taken straight to voicemail. It's Adam, who wants to show Sarah footage from his latest investigation (as seen in
Vol. 2).
Cut to an Internet chatroom. We see several conversations between Adam and his friends, including Evelin, Sarah, Jonah, Tyler, Amanda, and Noah. Almost immediately, however, Adam deletes Jonah from his contact list. Evelin sends a message asking for closure, and that she's going to work. Adam opens a chat window with Sarah, where she asks for progress on the investigation. He reveals that Jonah bailed on him, and he is now dead. Sarah, naturally, is furious with this development, and demands he call her. She tears into Adam as he explains that he found Jonah's body in the car, miles away from the house, and he has footage to show. Sarah demands to know why he's acting so callously towards his best friend's death, but Adam refutes that claim, saying he was Jonah's best friend, and he himself has no friends. Sarah then orders Adam to make a memorial video for Jonah, saying that he was the only person who cared for him, and the other members will find out sooner or later. Adam then abruptly hangs up. After a moment of stunned silence, Sarah messages Adam one more pointed barb: "No wonder Evelin left you."
Cut back to Thatcher, continuing his investigation into the rash of disappearances in Mandela County. A trend report states that the county's population has been drastically reduced, from over 19,000 in 1990 to barely over 1,000 in 2009. In a monologue, he bemoans that even after 17 years of work, he's no closer to discovering the truth than when he started. On the desk behind him rest stacks on top of stacks of missing person reports. He also blames himself for his partner Ruth Weaver's death, and mentions feeling haunted ever since cutting himself off from the outside world. Later that evening, Thatcher attempts to go to bed, but is interrupted by the sight of an Alternate with Ruth's face staring at him from behind his closet door.
Cut to MandelaTech. Dave reacts in horror as he realizes someone, most likely Evelin, has used his TV to watch some tapes. In a phone conversation, Dave lets Evelin go. Evelin pleads with him to let her continue working, but he won't budge, directing her over to Thatcher. Before she goes, Evelin asks about the TV in the closet, but Dave immediately hangs up. One phone dial later, Dave calls O'Brien and tells him he'll accept his offer.
remembranceCut to a flashback to the events of
Vol.333. Thatcher stares at the creature in front of him, and the sensation is like looking in a mirror. Now wearing Thatcher's face, the creature mimics his voice and calls off the backup he previously arranged. Its eyes twitch and its mouth forms a gaping smile as it crawls back into the shadows. Through whispers in his ear, the creature claims that Thatcher serves no use to the people of Mandela County dead or alive, and deep down, he's nothing but a scared boy with a gun. As the creature asks if this sounds familiar, an image of Mark Heathcliff's house pops up.
Cut back to the present day. As he watches old TV shows and police tapes, Thatcher writes a letter to Ruth, mourning her absence and once again admonishing himself for letting his cowardice lead to her demise.
Cut back to the chatroom. Sarah checks in with Adam on the memorial video. He reluctantly uploads his first draft, a rather lackluster project with the words "A Celebration of Life" over a stock image of flowers, not even bothering to let Jonah's portrait finish rendering. Needless to say, Sarah is not impressed, and orders Adam to get the video done. Adam replies that he sent the wrong video, and uploads his second draft. This video has only slightly more effort put into it than the previous one, with an introductory screen marking "A special announcement regarding Jonah Marshall" (with a "rate 5 stars and subscribe" message at the bottom). On this screen, a eulogy recorded by Adam plays, where he announces Jonah's death. He mentions how he "brought a positive energy to an otherwise serious organization", and that he passed away peacefully surrounded by friends and loved ones. Suddenly, footage from a handheld camera is shown. A crudely rendered drawing of The Preacher appears as the camera operator approaches two doors situated next to each other, and opens one of them. The stock image of flowers then appears, along with Jonah's full name and dates of birth and death, and the "A Celebration of Life" text. Suddenly, a "special guest" appears in the picture frame: it's Evelin, who mentions in a recording that Adam used to be a nice guy, but changed ever since he started investigating with Jonah. Any attempt to talk with Adam was instantly shut down, often devolving into arguments and Adam telling Evelin awful things that she wishes he never told her. Evelin's image is then replaced with video of Jonah's car on the side of the road, as seen in
Vol. 2. Adam tries to explain that he never said any of those things, and that something on the computer is messing with his words... but his words are repeated in a loop several times over each other. Reaching his breaking point, Adam yells at this unseen force to get out of his head, whereupon the video is interrupted.
correspondenceCut to a computer application named "Face Studio 2 - Free Edition!". A featureless gray face with hollowed-out eyes acts as our guide, walking the user through the various functions of the program. The program is described as being able to make a custom face that can say anything the user types in; all it requires is the user's personal details and three photos of their face, specifically a head-on shot and two profile shots. Once the photos are uploaded, the user's facial profile will be stored in a database. A series of example face customizations are then shown, all of which are similar to the contortions present in certain Alternates. The program then mentions how "it's truly a wonder that digital technology has come and saved us all", and asks the user to do their part in "creating a better reality" before the program cuts out.
Cut to footage of the Murray household, specifically the room where Adam's mother Lynn hanged herself. The guide from "Face Studio 2" returns to spout cryptic dialogue, such as "A thriving society has followers of the true faith.", "A mess of tangled limbs danced around my bedroom.", "I held my breath and waited for it to stop.", and "I was too scared." The face contorts and stretches for a few seconds before the visuals cut out.
Cut to the exterior of the Mandela County Police Department. Evelin walks up the steps to the front door and enters. She calls out to Thatcher, but gets no response. She walks into the reception area and decides to hang out for a little bit.
Cut to a phone conversation between Thatcher and Dave. Dave informs Thatcher that he will no longer process any tapes for the investigations, and he is moving on to a different job. Thatcher says he needs Dave's help to continue, but Dave counters that these investigations are pointless, and the best thing for him is to move on from the past. Thatcher is left in silence.
malignanceCut back to the police station. As Evelin sits at the reception desk, she snoops around and finds a key inside one of the drawers. Using this key, she opens the door to the station's archive room.
Cut to the outside of a church. Dave calls O'Brien, saying he needs help to unlock the front door. O'Brien says he's on his way and asks Dave to "stay still". As Dave waits, however, the sky begins to darken, and the nearby wind turbines stop spinning. Now finding himself in pitch blackness, Dave calls out to see if anyone's there. The sky momentarily brightens, causing Dave to look up in confusion; however, the light soon fades once again as Dave finds himself face-to-face with none other than the Alternate Gabriel. The Alternate Gabriel says that Dave "had it all figured out" and "the stage was set" for him, but he still "followed the shepherd". Dave then comes to a horrific realization: "O'Brien" was never real, and he has been talking to the Alternate Gabriel this entire time. The Alternate Gabriel calls Dave a fool and proclaims that he no longer has any use for him, and that his "cop friend" is next. Dave defiantly tells the Alternate Gabriel that he'll never accomplish anything, but the Alternate Gabriel replies, in a sinister tone, that he has already been doing his bidding for him. As the Alternate Gabriel lets out a sinister laugh, Dave clutches his face in terror and, within seconds, falls down dead, his eyes bleeding from their sockets.
Cut back to the police station. Evelin enters the archive room and pulls out a file labeled "Murray". Inside, she finds two documents: a copy of Lynn and Jude's divorce agreement with writing on the back scratched out, and a "Toddler Stress Assessment Review" report, written by Dr. Jack Williamson. In this report, dated September 14, 1992, and addressed to Jude and Lynn, Dr. Williamson claims that their son, Adam, had no reaction at all during the assessment, which can be chalked up to either reduced mental faculties or the "recent phenomenon occurring with children his age". As Evelin reads the report and begins piecing together the truth, an unknown presence flips the breaker switch and cuts the power to the station. Evelin becomes startled by this and, thinking that Thatcher somehow made his way inside, heads back out into the hallway. As the backup power turns on and emergency alarms sound throughout the building, a hand reaches out from behind Evelin...
Cut back to the chatroom. Sarah, still reeling from Adam's recent memorial video, demands that he explain himself. Before Adam can respond, though, an unknown user messages him, repeatedly asking to confirm his personal information. Just as Adam tries to get the user to leave him alone, an image of a hooded figure appears and causes the program to glitch out. The figure reveals himself to be The Intruder, who bombards Adam with several revelations:
"The flicker of a TV illuminated this bedroom, drowning out the darkness with his favorite programs. Do you remember how we became friends? The lights scared off all the monsters. They kept him safe. Do you remember my face? [a picture of Stanley from Vol.333 pops up] With contorted flesh and broken bones, I made myself known. [a picture of The Intruder from Intruder Alert and Vol. 2 pops up] Do you remember my touch? I cradled him in my arms. My sweet boy. I took him away. Do you remember that night, Murray? [the emergency alert from Intruder Alert pops up] When you stare into the mirror, you see the same monsters from your bedroom, don't you? [an image of The Preacher pops up] But your skin is not your own."
"You're not the real y—"
Suddenly, a voicemail from Sarah comes in. As she begs Adam to call her back, The Intruder fades back into the darkness.
Cut to an overhead view of Mandela County. Red text appears across the sky reading:
We then see three pictures of Adam fade into view: a head-on shot and two profile shots.
mandela catalyst
This video details the aftermath of the events of "The Mandela Catalogue Vol.4".
The video begins with a recording of the "2009 channel 3 incident", noted to be the only one in existence. In the recording, the viewer turns on the television to Channel 3 during a news segment. The top story this night is about none other than Dave Lee, whose body was discovered in the parking lot outside the St. Gabriel Church, on the border of the counties of Mandela and Werksha. The on-site reporter mentions that this incident is closed to the public, but has led Mandela to have the biggest increase in traffic in a long while. Suddenly, the feed cuts to a white screen. In a quick flash to the news desk, the anchorwoman seen at the beginning of the broadcast has vanished. The white void returns as unsettling music plays and a man with no facial features to speak of fades into view. Then, a chopped-up YouTube link is displayed, followed by an altered chyron which reads, "NO MORE RUNNING AWAY". After a few more seconds, the broadcast resumes as if nothing had occurred.
Cut to an Internet chatroom, where Evelin and Sarah have begun communicating with each other. Sarah asks if Evelin has talked with Adam recently, to which she says that he hasn't responded in weeks. When Evelin asks if something happened to him, Sarah tries to brush it off, but Evelin continues to press, asking if he was acting weird around her, too.
Cut to a video labeled "IMG_003.mov". A camera has been set up in Evelin's bedroom facing the door, with all the lights turned off. Evelin calls out to Adam, who says he has something she wants to show her. The sounds of a walkie-talkie can briefly be heard. After trying to find where Adam's voice is coming from, Evelin turns on the lamp, only to see The Preacher in the doorway whispering in her ear. Reflexively, Evelin turns off the lamp, shouting at Adam to explain who it was she saw. She then flips the lamp on and off a few times, but finds nothing.
Cut to leaked camera audio from the Bythorne Hospital, where two nurses are discussing Dave's body. Apparently, Dave's corpse arrived at the hospital dead on arrival with both eyes missing; as of the time of the recording, his eyes have not been recovered. Then, a wet sloshing sound can be heard. Both nurses react with revulsion, one of them saying, "Brain's not supposed to do that." Later that evening, the nurses discuss how they forgot Mandela County even existed, how there is nothing worth talking about there, how weird it was seeing people there after all this time. One of the nurses claims that the last time the county was mentioned was when the citizens were migrating to Werksha.
Cut to the top of Thatcher Davis' house, with the Alternate Gabriel looming overhead. Red text appears, partially cut off by the roof:
Cut to a view from inside a moving car; evidently, against his better judgment, Thatcher has decided to investigate. After listening to a quick weather report for Werksha County, Thatcher flips through various other channels before shutting the radio off.
Cut to a photograph of a van with the logo of the Bythorne Paranormal Society painted on its side.
Cut to footage from a body cam. Thatcher enters the house and finds a pigsty waiting for him. While walking through the hallway, the radio suddenly turns on, playing the following passages from the first chapter of an audiobook titled "The Fate of the Jester":
"As the boy lay there dormant, all of his humanity drained into a murky puddle, milky eyes cut through the thick blackness of the bedroom, a spectator. He was no longer the hero of the story, just a cog in the machine."
Eventually, Thatcher reaches a bedroom in tatters, with various objects such as a bottle of bleach and a cinderblock scattered about the place. Sitting on the floor in between his bed and a mirror is Adam, now pale and gaunt, with sunken eyes. A photo of Adam starts to appear with the words "Suspect Identified" printed on the top. Suddenly, Adam lets out a sharp, piercing scream of pain as his eyes begin to glow and his jaw unhinges. He continues to scream at the top of his lungs as he begs Thatcher to kill him. The video glitches out, but Adam continues his (muffled) screaming as a pixelated image of a smiley face is shown in the bottom left corner of a white screen.
The Mandela Catalogue - Presto
This video details the events taking place after "mandela cataylst".
Cut to a commercial for an "Everything Must Go" sale for MandelaTech as it goes out of business. During this commercial, Evelin promotes "Wisconsin's Only Analog Television", available until the store closes. After Dave gives the address and business hours for the store, the commercial ends.
Cut to a video labeled "mandelatech 07 13 02 75". After a flash of static, we hear Evelin and Sarah talking to each other as they hack into the camera feed. Evelin tells Sarah to look for Dave, who she describes as "the most unsuspecting middle-aged man", wearing his "lucky flannel" and sunglasses, along with "the most fake-looking mustache ever". After switching through various feeds with no results, we eventually see a recording from inside a car driving on the road; here, Adam is heard coughing profusely.
Cut to the Internet chatroom. Evelin discusses the last time she and Adam worked together, as seen in "mandela catalyst", with Sarah. Sarah tries to assure Evelin that Adam is all right, but suddenly, the connection cuts out. As Sarah tries to talk to Evelin again, her computer connects to the Mandela County Police Station's camera feed.
Cut to inside one of the police station's interrogation rooms, where Thatcher begins talking to Adam. Thatcher says he sympathizes with Adam's situation and not to worry about the FBI's arrest warrant; rather, he simply wants to know about everything that happened to him. Adam describes starting a group with another girl from school, saying she eventually lost interest. He later found a replacement to take on jobs, but Adam soon grew to despise him. A few months into their partnership, Adam accepted an offer from a woman, going to her house that night for an investigation. After Thatcher asks what happened, Adam's face briefly contorts before going back to normal. He says most of the events of that night were a blur, only that he talked to someone and someone talked to him. Thatcher asks who these people were. Adam is unable to describe them. In a fit of guilt, Adam confesses to Thatcher that he was responsible for his partner, Jonah's, death, and he's now paying the price; he says he knows this because "he" told him. When Thatcher asks him who told him, Adam only answers, "God."
Cut to a homemade video as a distorted rendition of Franz Schubert's "Der Doppelgänger" plays. A title card pops up reading "An Urban Tragedy". We then see a shot of the MandelaTech building as red text saying "
THATCHER DAVIS DOOMS ALL" appears in the sky. On a CRT television, extremely low-resolution images of the Intruder and the faceless Alternate from "mandela catalyst" are shown. As the view shifts to the outside of the "Wisconsin's Only Analog Television" attraction, a series of flashing lights can be seen in the doorway; in Morse, the lights spell out a message: "I am still here. I miss you." A few lines of text, broken up with spaces, appear at the top, reading "You were so caught up in your own volition that you never noticed your world turning into a gray and twisted version of its former self". A frowning face appears in the bottom-right corner before the video cuts to black.
2:38
A compilation of funny vines from 2015.
