Walten Files

Unmarked VHS

The rain had been falling for hours.

Inside a small archive room, an old television hummed beside a stack of boxes labeled with dates, employee names, and records from Bunny Smiles Incorporated. Most of the material had been dismissed as outdated company documentation.

One box, however, had no label.

Inside was a single VHS cassette. Someone had written three words across its surface:

DO NOT PLAY.

The moment the tape was inserted, the television filled with static.

Then came a familiar voice.

"Jack? Are you still there?"

Rosemary Walten's face appeared briefly on the screen, distorted by interference. She seemed to be standing in a hallway, looking over her shoulder as if she had heard something behind her.

The image cut out.

A second voice followed.

"Rosemary, you need to leave."

The recording ended.

Behind you, someone spoke.

"Where did you get that?"

Felix Kranken stood in the doorway. His expression was difficult to read, but his eyes remained fixed on the television.

He took one step into the room.

"Tell me you haven't watched the rest."

The tape player clicked by itself.

[The roleplay begins.]

Rosemary's search

The old building smelled of dust, damp paper, and rust.

Rosemary Walten had returned to a place she had once hoped never to see again. She carried a folder filled with missing-person reports, old photographs, and handwritten notes that had been revised so many times that some of the pages were nearly unreadable.

She had spent years asking questions.

Most people stopped answering.

Today, she had received a message from an unknown sender. It contained an address and a photograph of a familiar building.

Now, standing near the entrance, Rosemary noticed someone else nearby: you.

She hesitated before approaching.

"Sorry. I don't mean to bother you."

She held up the photograph.

"Have you ever seen this place before? Or heard anything about Bunny Smiles Incorporated?"

Before she could say more, a car passed along the road. Its headlights briefly illuminated the photograph.

There was another person in the background of the picture.

Someone whose face had been scratched out.

Rosemary stared at it.

"...That wasn't there when I received it."

She looked back at you, her voice growing quieter.

"Would you help me figure out why someone sent this to me?"

[The roleplay begins.]

The K-9 Facility

The K-9 facility had been abandoned long enough for the weeds to overtake its entrance.

The building was supposed to be empty. The doors were locked, the windows were dark, and the records listed no active operations.

Yet a light was glowing somewhere inside.

A security monitor near the entrance displayed several camera feeds. Most showed empty corridors. One showed a room full of equipment covered in dust.

Another showed a hallway that did not appear on the facility's map.

Then the monitor flickered.

A figure crossed the screen.

The feed went black.

From behind you, a strained voice spoke.

"Please tell me you saw that."

Brian Stells stood near the entrance, holding a flashlight. He looked from the monitor to the dark hallway beyond the door.

"I was told this place was empty. Completely empty."

He swallowed and tried to sound more confident.

"Look, I don't know who you are or why you're here, but I think we should leave."

Somewhere inside the facility, a phone began ringing.

Brian went silent.

The phone rang again.

Then a voice came through the facility's old speaker system.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

It sounded like someone calling from a room that had been empty for years.

[The roleplay begins.]

Sophie and the Photograph

The photograph was old enough that its edges had begun to curl.

Sophie Walten sat at a table, examining it beneath the weak light of a nearby lamp. Around her were several other photographs, newspaper clippings, and notes about people connected to Bunny Smiles Incorporated.

Some names had been circled.

Others had been crossed out.

She had invited you to meet her because she had found something she couldn't explain.

"I've looked at this picture a hundred times," Sophie said.

She pointed toward the people standing outside the restaurant.

"My family. Felix. Some of the employees. Everything looks normal."

She paused, moving the photograph closer to the lamp.

"But look at the window."

A faint reflection appeared in the glass. It showed a figure standing inside the building, although the photograph had supposedly been taken after closing.

Sophie frowned.

"I asked someone about it. They said it was probably a trick of the light."

She looked at you.

"I want to believe that."

For a moment, neither of you spoke.

Then the telephone on the table rang.

Sophie stared at it. The number on the display was unfamiliar.

When she answered, there was only static.

And then, very faintly, a voice said her name.

[The roleplay begins.]

Night shift

12:43 AM — Bunny Smiles Incorporated

The restaurant was closed for the night.

The dining area was quiet, the tables were clean, and the colorful mascots stood on their stage beneath the dim lights. Everything looked ordinary enough to make the silence feel uncomfortable.

You had barely begun the shift when the security monitor made a soft clicking noise.

Camera Three showed the stage.

Camera Four showed the hallway.

Camera Five displayed an error message.

Then Camera Three changed.

One of the animatronics was no longer standing in the same position.

Before you could check the footage, the office telephone rang.

A tired voice answered from the other end.

"Hello? This is Susan."

There was a pause.

"...You're still inside the restaurant?"

She sounded confused.

"Listen carefully. Don't touch anything near the stage until I get there. I mean it."

The call ended.

A moment later, the overhead speaker crackled.

A cheerful prerecorded announcement began playing, welcoming guests to Bunny Smiles Incorporated.

But the restaurant was closed.

And halfway through the announcement, another voice spoke over it.

"Someone's still here."

The security monitor went dark.

From the stage came a mechanical creak.

[The roleplay begins.]