Together, you all pull on the handle. The machine powers up, screens light up displaying information that none of you are quite sure how to interpret. Initially, Dr. Sundgren doesn't show a reaction. She's still unconscious, bleeding from her head wound.
But just as you're starting to worry you might not have done it right, you notice her briefly flickering out of existence for a fraction of a second before she reappears. Closely watching her, you notice her flickering again and again until, after a while longer, she disappears completely. You hold your breath, waiting for her to reappear, but she doesn't. Instead, the room is suddenly plunged into darkness.
Using your flashlights, you create enough light to look around again. The machine is gone with no trace of it remaining. So are the kids that Dr. Sundgren had imprisoned. It's as if they had never been here.
Slowly, the realization sets in. Even though you still remember her, Elisabeth Sundgren never existed. She never kidnapped a bunch of children, she never built this interdimensional travel machine. And, unless you're mistaken, that should mean she never changed your reality. Right?
You return home and, to your relief, find that everything is not as you left it this morning but as it's supposed to be. Stina might miss the amazing motorcycle she owned for just a few hours but when she enters her home, her little brother is right there, sitting at the kitchen table and munching on some fruit, not understanding why she looks so happy to see him. Sabine, who's life had been the least affected, finds the cat gone from Kajsa's home, though Kajsa, when she subtly asks about it, decides that getting a cat would be a wonderful idea. Henry's room looks just the same as it always had. There is no trace that Sonja has ever been there, none of her belongings strewn around. And while he might feel a bit disappointed that she is gone, she did at least, before the reality shift, agree to a date. So maybe he will be able to actually win her affection, rather than just being thrown into it. Mikael also finds things returned to normal. When he speaks to his mother, he finds out that his father is still in prison and his own apartment is back in existence. Part of him might have enjoyed that moment of his family being back together, but this is how it's supposed to be...
Over the next days, you also discover that everything else seems to be back to normal. All the missing children, including Jillian, are with their families with no memories of what happened to them. Erik Granfors is the same grumpy drunk as always but when you check in on him at his home, at least his wife is there as well. And even the comic book shop, The Strip, is back to its old glory.
But that is not all. When you return to school, you spot someone in class that you never would have expected: Mark Mäkinen, the student who died the previous year at the hands of the robots of the Totem Clan, is just attending school as if it was no big deal. You realize that not only the influence of Elisabeth's machine has been undone but all the deeds throughout her life, including all that the Prophets did. Checking in on everyone involved, you find that Louise Tannenbaum is living in her strange house no longer by herself but together with her mother, Michaela, who no longer has been killed by Järnek.
Järnek himself is not principal of your school and most students seem to not even recognize his name. From Mia, you learn that her father is a scientist at the Loop. He also seems to be good friends with a female colleague of his, Dr. Natasha Lintov, the woman who in your reality changed her name to Liv Himmelshöjd but who here still goes by her birthname. While their involvement with Krafta and the Loop makes you worry for a while, it does seem like they never delved into dark and dangerous experiments as they had in your memory. They seem to just be leading ordinary lives, untouched by Elisabeth Sundgren's corrupting influence...
OOC:
And with that, we'll wrap up our Prophets of Pandora campaign!
If there's anything I forgot to mention that you're curious about, ask about it. Other than that, I think it would be nice to get some epilogues for your characters. Where do they go from here? How do they deal with these experiences? Do they haunt them? Do they make them feel like heroes? Do they just forget them and decide this must all have just been their imagination?
Since we're finishing up these characters' adventures here, feel free to go into as much or as little detail about their futures as you want.
