Scene 4: Primal Force

The teens make their way over to the address of the Primal Force Therapy Center. It is located on the very outskirts of
Sånga-Säby, inside a regular two story residential house, next to a row of very similar ones. There are people out in some of the front yards but most of them are slowly turning in as it'll get dark fairly soon.
There is a sign standing out of the very low hedge around the therapy center that has the name "Primal Force Therapy Center" on it, as well as in smaller font "Dr. Liv Himmelshöjd" and a phone number. The sign has been covered with a crude graffiti drawing of a human baby, its umbilical cord attached to the underside of a car.

As you approach the house, you notice Sabine suddenly looking very lightheaded. Before you have a chance to ask her if she's fine, she suddenly faints on the spot.

As the group approaches the Primal Force Therapy Center and they see the sign, Mikael gets a very uneasy feeling. "Peter, didn't you say something about a bunch of hooded figures in that field, where Mark's body was found. Like I said, this place feels real culty, and nothing screams 'cult' like hooded people standing in a field where a dead body was found."

He looks around to see if the dots are actually connecting, or if he's being delusional - or worse, straight paranoid. "Listen," he continues, "when we found Mark's body, he looked at peace. Someone folded his arms and put that flower on him. That's weird, right? Like, who would go through the effort? Probably someone that cared about him...someone like this Doctor, here. Or hell, maybe his aunt, even." He looks to Yumin. "You said her music didn't seem right, that it was inappropriate. Well, you're right. She should have been listening to Whitney Houston or something, not metal. Maybe she wasn't as sad as she tried to seem in the school assembly?"

"Shit, I don't know..." he juts a thumb over at the Primal Force building, "All I'm saying is, we should be careful. I think this place might be dangerous. Like, really dangerous."

Yumin is about to answer when she notices Sabine wobble and goes to grab her before she hits the pavement. But she’s not the strongest, and can merely slow her descent.

She shakes the girls arms and checks her eyes.

"Sabine?!" she starts to get panicked.


"Peter. Help me!"

Mikael takes a breath after all the thoughts in his mind come to words. Yumin looks like she's about to answer when all of a sudden Sabine feints and falls to the ground.

"Sabine!" Mikael yelps, rushing to her with the others. Yumin and Eric reach the fallen girl faster than he does but he kneels close by. He grabs one of her shoes and rustles it back and forth. "Sabine - come on, wake up!"

Mikael shakes his head at Eric's suggestion. "I don't think it's a good idea," he says, "I don't think this place is friend city, and besides the doctor might not even be here...Mark's notes said he saw a doctor getting kidnapped, I'm assuming that was the same person, this Doctor Himmelshöjd."

He shakes Sabine's foot again and watches her face closely to see if she awakes.

Sabine blinks suddenly and opens her eyes wide. "Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße!" She growls and sits up with everyone's help. "I was walking along and suddenly everything was gone. I was in a tight dark place with a glow seeping through the flesh-like walls of my prison. There was the deafening sound of a heartbeat in my ears and I was having trouble breathing. I'm sure I was a fetus, still inside the womb. I've seen enough videos on the development and birth of a child in biology and health classes." She pauses long enough to stand up. "I think I will be alright for now. Thanks everyone. That could have been really bad if it happened while I was alone."

"The worst part of the experience, was some indescribable pain, like metal screws being twisted deep into my flesh. I was a fetus In Utero experiencing torture or experimentation. It was awful." She focuses on the sign, the graffiti covering it, and points at it. "These tags popping up all over the region are connected to what we are experiencing."

Yumin helps the girl to her feet.

"Did you smell any blood?"

The girl tries to think if she saw any tags before she felt faint a few hours ago. It’s possible that it’s the cause… but how? Subliminal messaging?

You didn't notice any tags in or around Mark's house. And many of the people in school, even those who were afflicted heavily, did not have their attacks in plain view of a graffiti. It doesn't seem to be directly caused by them, though the two things might still be related. It also doesn't seem to be a very localized event as some people in school had reactions just as strong as Sabine did just now

Sabine shakes her head. "No. I didn't smell blood, but that is something that some pregnant women have experienced. Its a reason why they can't be near meat at certain times during their pregnancy. It makes them sick. I remember having a conversation about this with..." She stops and walks toward the house, looking to see if neighbors were watching them. "The graffiti may not the be cause of the odd feelings people are having, but whoever is making them almost certainly knows whats going on."

She pulls out the photo of The Shaman and shares it with those who haven't seen it yet. "This is the Shaman mentioned in Mark's notes. Its a robot. He also mentions that the Shaman was not with those who kidnapped the Doctor, but looked like the Totem Clan. There were many photos of different robots in strange clothes in Mark's room. I am reasonably sure they were taken in the Toslunda Marshes."

"Could these robots be the Totem Clan and also the cultists seen in the field around Mark's body?"

Mikael stands and, with Yumin, helps Sabine up from the ground, relieved that she is recovering so quickly.

"I think you have a good point with the robots...at first I thought they were just stationary robots, out in the marsh, leftover from the Loop days, and maybe Mark was going out there to put clothes on them like some messed up mannequin display show or something, for his photos." He shudders a little, "Maybe though...yeah, maybe these things are active. Mobile."

At Sabines questions, he replies, "They could be either. I wouldn't rule them out. And the graffiti is related, it has to be." A thought occurs to him - "You don't suppose...no...have you guys heard of anyone else going missing or dying under odd circumstances recently? Like in the last several months?"

"It’s… a lot to think about. And more to think about soon." Yumin tilts her head to the building.

"We need to go in and find out what all this is about, right?" she doesn’t like the prospect of adding more spinning plates to this thing. But they’re in it now and need to try their best to unravel everything…

Sabine takes a breath, tests her ability to walk confidently, and then proceeds up to the front door of the center. She tries the door handle to see if it is unlocked and then attempts to peer through any windows to see what she can see.

Mikael will quietly try to navigate around the building, looking for anything out of the ordinary and any alternative ways into the building as well as signs of activity inside the building.

The house is completely dark and all blinds are closed, shutting the outside world completely out. Walking around the house, Mikael finds that the only entrance, other than the front door, would be through the garage, which is attached to the house and would definitely have a connecting door to it. Both door and garage are firmly locked however.
He also notices that a panel at the back of the house has been removed. Underneath is what appears to be an electric switchboard that has been completely disconnected, leaving the house without electricity.

Peeking through the front door, Sabine sees that it is pitch black inside. With no lights on and no light being let in through windows, she can't see anything beyond the first one or two meters of the hallway before it loses itself in darkness.
One thing that catches her eye is a small glowing red dot inside, right by the door, seemingly the only light in the entire building. It is located next to a numbers keypad and is probably a house alarm that will go off if the door is opened and the correct code isn't entered afterwards.

"Okay, well it looks pretty empty, right? I certainly didn't plan to break and enter today, but I guess we've done it once already."

Eric looks over his shoulder and quickly scans the street for passers by before following Sabine up to the doors and windows to see if there's any obvious way in. He shoves the door slightly with his shoulder and rattles a couple of windows, just to see if there is any give.

"Do you think that code in Mark's house is for the alarm over there? Not that it's any use until we've found a way in. Any doors around back Mikael? I'd rather not smash a door or window right on the street."

"Well, since we know that Dr. Liv has been kidnapped, unless she has associates working the center, I expected it to be empty." Sabine remarks to Eric's observation. "I do hope that the note with numbers Mikael found in Mark's room is the security code. Mark seemed to be well regarded by this doctor, if the dedication in the book was any indication. So, its a good possibility. We just have to find a way inside."

The street is empty at the moment and the neighbors have withdrawn into their houses as it's slowly starting to get dark. If you make too much noise, the neighbors might notice and react but otherwise, you should be safe to try and get inside.

"There's a garage door in the back," Mikael says as he rounds back with the others. "Might be less conspicuous than forcing this door open. There's also an electrical panel in the back - it looks disconnected. I wonder if that's why the house looks so dead inside. I think we might need to expect there to be no lights inside at all."