Recovered Documents from N.E.R.G Issue Tablet

The last time Asuka stopped for a rest, she happened to find her way into an empty apartment. For whatever reason, only one of the apartments in the block had any power, but Asuka wasn't complaining. She's gotten lucky, and managed to find a charger that fit the tablet she'd found on the dead explorer, and she'd hooked it up to charge while she slept. Now that Asuka was awake, and had some food in her stomach, it was time to open up that tablet, and see if she could get inside. To her surprise, there was no passcode. She just pressed down the home button, and the home screen popped up. She searches the tablet, but only finds two items of any note. One is a single note on the notes page, and the other appears to be a recording of a TV broadcast. Asuka figures she'll start with the recording, and read the note afterwards. TRANSCRIPTION OF VIDEO FILE "VanhooverNewsReport.MP4" Video begins on opening stinger for "Equestria News Now." Stinger transitions to view of two anchors behind a news desk. On the left is a stallion in a blue suit. On the right is a mare in cream business attire. The mare begins speaking as the camera view comes to a rest, fitting the two in a single shot. "Good evening Equestria. We have breaking news for you tonight." The stallion then completes the statement. "Today at 6:06 PM Lunar Time, the city of Vanhoover mysteriously vanished, alongside all of it's inhabitants." Them, the mare speaks again. "We have exclusive footage of a news broadcast from the city at the time of the event, as well as live coverage of an upcoming address from Canterlot Castle on the issue." The camera feed switches to a close up of the stallion anchor. "Current reports from the north state that the city of Vanhoover underwent some sort of magical event, which ended with the city as a whole disappearing. Take a look as we show you a news broadcast from the city that managed to catch part of the event on camera." Video cuts to a news broadcast of "Vanhooover Action News 7." Two news anchors are introducing their next news segment. "Live from the Hearts and Minds Charity Distribution Center, our reporter Snap Shot. What's it looking like over there, Snap?" Feed cuts to a reporter standing in front of a large charity center with an elderly mare beside him. Volunteer workers can be seen assisting the needy in the background. The reporter begins to speak. "It's pretty busy over here Dart. As you can see, the charity is working hard to provide for the victims of the fire, but they're very clearly understaffed, and overbooked." The reporter then turns towards the elderly mare. "Mrs. Hearth, your charity does great work for the citizens of Vanhoover, but you said that recruitment rates have been dropping as of late. Do you have any ideas as to-." The reporter is cut off by a loud crackling sound from above. The camera displays static for 2 seconds before the feed returns. All persons shown in the feed can be seen looking to the sky. The reporter speaks to the cameraman in a shocked tone. "Are you seeing this?! Point the camera up there!" Camera follows a point where the reporter is gesturing to. Camera displays intermittent static. Between the static, feed displays what looks to be a tear in the sky. The tear appears to display a starry landscape, almost like a nebula on the other side. Reporter speaks again. His voice is now panicked. "Dart! Are you guys in the studio seeing this?!" Screams of distress, and panic can be heard from outside of the camera's view. An emergency broadcast banner appears on screen for 3 seconds before the feed is cut. Feed is now displaying the set of "Equestria News Now." Both anchors appear visibly disturbed. The stallion anchor addresses the camera. "A terrifying sight to be sure. Let's hope the people of the city are safe, and unharmed, wherever they are." Next, the mare anchor speaks. "We now bring you live footage of the Royal Address." Feed cuts to view of both the princess of the sun, and moon standing atop the stairs leading to Canterlot Castle. The sun princess is the first of the two to speak. "People of Equestria! We are deeply disturbed by the event which occurred in the city of Vanhoover not more than an hour prior to now. The royal researches, and mages have already begun studying the event, and are working to form conclusions as to what happened to the city, and the whereabouts if its inhabitants. We urge you all to remain calm in this confusing, and frightening time. We know many of you have friends, and family in the city, and we assure you that we will work diligently to return them safe, and sound. We currently do not know what exactly occurred in the city, or what caused it, but the royal mages have concluded that the event was indeed arcane in nature. We shall maintain continual updates on the status of our research as it is made. End of video. There was a lot for Asuka to unpack in that recording. At the very least, she knows for certain now that this IS Vanhoover from some other timeline or something. The Equestria she's from is ruled by a King, not two princesses. Though, maybe she'll find some more answers in the notes on the tablet. After searching, she manages to find an application for note taking which appears to have been specifically made for the organization the dead explorer was a part of. Date, 06/12/2034. 1 note, 1 attachment. Open note? Y/n "I can't believe it. The city of Vanhoover just up and disappeared last week. Being so far north, we didn't get the news until today. I have so many questions, but finding the answers is up to the Royal Scholars and Mages. An event this big could only be tackled by the castle. We in the guild have been speculating amongst ourselves, and with work being slow, we've got a lot of time to discuss. So far, the most common theory is a spell gone haywire inside the city, though we're not quite sure what kind of spell could make an entire city disappear. For now, we'll focus on our work, and let the castle researchers focus on the city. We did read an article today from the castle's research team. Apparently, they found some sort of door in the middle of the crater that used to be Vanhoover. It's blue, has a golden doorknob, and a glowing, white star near the top. It hasn't been touched yet. Strange though. It has nothing to support it, yet it's standing all on it's own in the middle of that crater." ATTACHMENT 1: VANHOOVERCRATERDOOR.JPEG The attached picture displays a photo of a blue door standing in the middle of a rocky landscape. The door features a glowing, white star, and a golden doorknob. In the distance, the rocky landscape can be seen to curve upwards. Date, 06/28/2034. 1 Note Open note? Y/n. "They opened the Vanhoover crater door last week. The two researches who went in didn't come back. A few days ago, the royal committee investigating the disappearance contacted us. They're looking for seasoned explorers to enter the door, and explore the area on the other side. We're only familiar with exploring in the north, but it seems we're the best fit for this task. We're setting out for the crater tomorrow morning. Everyone's going, at the request of the committee. Hopefully, nobody needs help up here while we're away." Date, 07/01/2034. 1 Note "We arrived at the crater early this morning. The committee met with us to go over their findings, and we requisitioned some extra supplies before we headed in. First impressions? This place is weird. We went into the door, and ended up on some sort of rainbow bridge suspended across a vast, empty void. We walked along the bridge for what must have been an hour before we came across another door. Same design as before. When we went through, we ended up in some sort of sea. Only, the water was completely solid. It moved like waves, but we could walk along it like dirt. We've been traveling from door to door for the better part of what my tablet says is a day now. We only stopped to rest when I noticed we'd been in her for around a day. It's odd. While in this place, you don't feel the need to eat, drink, or sleep. You feel like you can just keep going. We're not sure why that is, but we've decided against trusting this phenomenon to sustain us. We're going to have a meal, and then get some rest. We'll continue further tomorrow." Date, 07/16/2034. 1 Note "We were attacked out of nowhere. We had been traveling through a vast, snow covered plane when someone emerged from the snowstorm, and started attacking us with spells. Leena tried to fight back with her own spells, but he was just too strong for her. We ended up having to flee while Leena, and Jurken stayed behind to give us time. I hope they survive, but I fear the worst. The man who attacked us was fully covered from head to toe, but I could see his eyes through his goggles. They were cold, and uncaring. I doubt he had any reservations about trying to kill us. The rest of us managed to escape through a purple door. I didn't get a good look at the symbol, because I could see our attacker heading towards us in the distance." Date, 01/27/2035. 1 Note "We found the city. It somehow ended up in the plane of madness. The man who attacked us in the snow plane has been trailing us ever since then, and we haven't had much time for rest. The tablet says it's been 4 months since the last note, but I can't believe that. It feels like we've only been in here for a few weeks at best. Regardless, we made it to Vanhoover, and the man didn't follow us inside. I can see why. There's almost nobody here in the city, and those who are, are babbling madmen. Not a single sane soul in this entire forsaken city. We've been hearing noises too. Strange cries, and howling. Something's stalking the streets. We can hear it occasionally reach, and kill one of the citizens, but we dare not get close enough to see what it is." Date, 02/12/2035. 1 Note "I'm going to die soon. The thing caught up to us. It killed the others so fast. I only barely managed to get away, but it got my chest with it's claws. The only reason it didn't chase me, was because it was too busy gorging itself on my dead comrades. I'm bleeding too much, and my first aid kit is gone. I'm going to bleed out in this forsaken city. If you're reading this, that means you're stuck here too. I'm sorry. There is no way out of here. You're going to die in here too. Please try your best to make peace with that, and if it comes to it, off yourself before you go mad. I should have some supplies left in my pack. If not, someone else took them. You can look for a way out if you want, but I doubt you'll find one. If you do manage to make it out though, warn everyone. These doors are dangerous. Nobody who goes in comes back out. Shaley. I've missed you. We'll be together again soon." And with that, Asuka gently places the tablet back down. Her mind races with all the information she's just been given, but she has no time for despair. Even if the last note is true, there's still a chance. Vanhoover's a big city. There's no way the explorer the tablet belonged too was able to check everywhere. Or maybe the note is right, and Asuka is stuck here until she either goes mad, or dies. Is trying to escape an exercise in futility? Or is it brave defiance in the face of overwhelming odds? Only time could tell. For now, Asuka steels her resolve, and packs her things. It was time to head out again.