{"ops":[{"insert":"I humbly present to you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"link":"https://www.peterclines.com/books/the-fold-tr"},"insert":"The Fold"},{"attributes":{"link":"https://www.peterclines.com/books/the-fold-tr"},"insert":" by Peter Clines"},{"insert":", in Magic: The Gathering form. Before this deck description goes any further, I must warn you that there "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"will be spoilers"},{"insert":". If you do not wish to be spoiled (& trust me, you don't), then "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"stop reading now."},{"insert":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"***Spoilers to Follow***"},{"insert":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"***No, Seriously, Spoilers***"},{"insert":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"***Ok, here goes***"},{"insert":"\n\nOur protagonist is Leland \"Mike\" Erickson (aka "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Jace, Memory Adept"}},{"insert":"), an unassuming small-town teacher. At least, that's what he'd like to be. Unfortunately, his old friend, Reggie Magnus ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Imperial Recruiter"}},{"insert":"), is pushing him to do more with his life. Specifically, to go check out one of the projects he's running for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Press for Answers"}},{"insert":" before he commits to extending their funding. Why Mike? Well, you see, it turns out that our unassuming teacher has a genius level IQ and an eidetic memory. Basically, if he's seen it, read it, heard it, or in any way experienced it, then it's "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Commit // Memory"}},{"insert":". Mike likes to think of his memories like an ant colony. To access a certain piece of information, all he has to do is "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Release the Ants"}},{"insert":", and they'll scurry forth to retrieve it form him.\n\nNot only can he recall everything, but he can also understand and contextualize huge chunks of information at once, all in his head. In essence, he's the perfect person to conduct a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thorough Investigation"}},{"insert":" to see whether there's anything Reggie needs to worry about. At this point, you may be asking why someone with such abilities would be whiling away their days teaching kids in the middle of nowhere. Well, Mike's perfect recall comes with a price. For every happy memory or useful nugget of information he has stored away, he also carries with every loss, every heartbreak, every painful or traumatic moment that he's experienced throughout his life. For Mike, the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Weight of Memory"}},{"insert":" is often more a curse than a blessing.\n\nNonetheless, Reggie is able to successfully pique Mike's scientific curiosity by teasing him about a project referred to as The Albuquerque Door. In short, this "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Epic Experiment"}},{"insert":" has yielded the creation of a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Prototype Portal"}},{"insert":" that allows people to "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Teleport"}},{"insert":" from one location to another. Once on site, Mike finds that, indeed, The Albuquerque Door team has created a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Teleportation Circle"}},{"insert":" that allows someone to enter a large ring in the facility's Building A ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Havengul Laboratory // Havengul Mystery"}},{"insert":") and emerge through another ring in Building B ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Volrath's Laboratory"}},{"insert":"), and vice versa.\n\nWho is this incredible team, you wonder? Well, let me introduce you. The lead scientist is the world-renowned Dr. Arthur Cross ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vadrik, Astral Archmage"}},{"insert":"), who is deeply respected by his compatriots. Similarly brilliant, if significantly less personable, is fellow scientist Olaf ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dogged Detective"}},{"insert":") who Mike notes bears an uncanny resemblance to Humphrey Bogart (in his Maltese Falcon role, for this deck's purposes). These men are joined by a pair of engineers, Neal ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Aeronaut Tinkerer"}},{"insert":") and Sasha ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Aerial Engineer"}},{"insert":"), as well as the red-headed junior physicist Bob ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Eager Cadet"}},{"insert":"), who is the most enthusiastic and friendly in welcoming Mike. The rest of the team, however, is suspicious and standoffish towards Mike at first, partly because they resent the interference, but mostly because they recognize that his \"investigation\" is really DARPA's way of prying open the secrets to their discovery. Perhaps no one is more openly hostile to Mike's presence than Jamie ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Moon-Circuit Hacker"}},{"insert":"), the team's programmer/hacker. As Mike later learns, Jamie has had her own share of trauma, including a high-speed motorcycle accident ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Daredevil Dragster"}},{"insert":") at the hands of an ex-boyfriend that left the ex-cheerleader's body covered in scars. Still, Mike has Bob as a friendly face, as well as the cheerful receptionist Anne ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Xantcha, Sleeper Agent"}},{"insert":"), who knows nothing of what actually goes on at the facility, though I'd remember her name if you read any more of Clines' books.\n\nAfter a few demonstrations that the Door is fully, and safely, functional, Mike's biggest question is why the team continues to hold off on telling Reggie that things are good to go. They were even forthcoming about an incident with the team's unofficial mascot, Tramp ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Selfless Savior"}},{"insert":"), during the early stages of the project, which led to his death ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Atrocious Experiment"}},{"insert":"). Burdened by what they'd done ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Weight of Conscience"}},{"insert":"), the team says they're simply showing an abundance of caution. While Mike understands their desire for safety, everything he's seen suggests they may instead be engaging in "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Compulsive Research"}},{"insert":".\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"***Last Chance to Avoid Major Spoilers***"},{"insert":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStill, there are enough mysteries about the Door that give Mike pause, including the odd, green "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Endless Cockroaches"}},{"insert":" that skitter about the place despite all efforts to exterminate them. Throughout his investigation, Mike is most bothered by the fact that something just "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"feels"},{"insert":" off, while Dr. Cross and company continue to provide vague answers about the origins of the door ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Private Research"}},{"insert":"). Eventually, Mike's persistence ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Jace's Scrutiny"}},{"insert":") pays off, and he figures it out. Well, he figures something out. Namely, that the door doesn't work. Or rather, that it can't work the way Dr. Cross and the team have told him it does. And yet, the door does seem to function. Armed with his findings, Mike confronts Dr. Cross, who is finally forced to relent and admit that they're not entirely certain how the door works either. Instead, they've been relying upon the writings ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tamiyo's Journal"}},{"insert":") of a long dead scientist by the name of Koturovic who had some truly "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bizarre "},{"insert":"theories about the nature of reality. While they seem like nonsense, the fact remains that when the team feeds his math into the computer ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Solve the Equation"}},{"insert":"), the Door opens.\n\nAt this point, events start to occur in increasingly rapid succession. Bob dies on a seemingly normal trip through the Door, and no one can find even the slightest reason why. Looking to drown his sorrows (and his frustrations with more unanswered questions), Mike winds up out with Jamie, who has been considerably more friendly as of late. They return to her place for some "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"amorous activities"},{"insert":", but when interrupted by Glitch ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Charmed Stray"}},{"insert":"), the stray cat who Jamie found when moving in, Mike notices that Jamie doesn't have any scars. When he asks her, Jamie is utterly perplexed because she's "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"never"},{"insert":" had any scars. Calling an emergency team meeting to "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Confirm Suspicions"}},{"insert":", Mike's memory ants drag out more and more incongruities that, until now, had seemed like minor details, easily shrugged off as symptoms of a small team working in close proximity and under a great deal of stress to deliver for DARPA. \n\nAs this "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Memory Deluge"}},{"insert":" continues, however, Mike is met with an "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Explosive Revelation"}},{"insert":". The Door isn't a teleportation device at all, but rather a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Planar Bridge"}},{"insert":" between alternate realities. When someone steps through, they bump out a, to this point, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"slightly"},{"insert":" different version of themselves from another reality. Jamie has no scars, has never had any scars, because this Jamie has "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Supplant Form"}},{"insert":" of the Jamie that Mike first met. Indeed, with all their test trips through the door, it is near certainty that none of the team is the same version of themselves that they were before the project began. The presence of these "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mirror Image"}},{"insert":"s explains every odd conflict, such as Olaf ranting about his office being on the wrong side of the hall, but it also causes a massive"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Identity Crisis"}},{"insert":" for the team, especially Jamie.\n\nGiven their new discovery, the team agrees that the Door must be shut down. Unfortunately, it's too late. Their continued use of the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Planar Gate"}},{"insert":" has created a permanent "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Planar Incision"}},{"insert":" between realities that will not close, even when the team hits the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Kill Switch"}},{"insert":" and destroys the \n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Power Conduit"}},{"insert":"s. Left with an "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Erratic Portal"}},{"insert":" that's out of their control, Mike calls in reinforcements from DARPA.\n\nThe troops arrive ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Alaborn Grenadier"}},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Alaborn Musketeer"}},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bomber Corps"}},{"insert":"), helping the team to place charges ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Engineered Explosives"}},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Explosive Apparatus"}},{"insert":") around the Door in the hopes that a large enough explosion will close the rift. However, their efforts are disrupted by the arrival of several spear-wielding ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Searing Spear"}},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shadowspear"}},{"insert":") Seraphs, stitched together monstrosities ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Twisted Abomination"}},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Prized Amalgam"}},{"insert":") that live in some of the desolate worlds beyond the gate. While most seem like wild things, their leader, the Patchwork Man ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Laboratory Drudge"}},{"insert":" ), is able to roughly converse with (i.e., taunt) Mike and the others as the Seraphs make quick work of DARPA's soldiers.\n\nDuring the battle, Mike finds himself on the other side of the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Planar Portal"}},{"insert":", which is little more than a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wasteland"}},{"insert":". Traversing the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Endless Sands"}},{"insert":" of this "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Desert"}},{"insert":", Mike has to escape not only the Seraphs, but also the incomprehensible creature whose shadow all but eclipses the sky, Koturovic's theorized Alpha Predator ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Emrakul, the Promised End"}},{"insert":"). With an unending hunger that leads to a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Planar Cleansing"}},{"insert":" after which "},{"insert":{"card-link":"All Is Dust"}},{"insert":", these creatures spell the end of all existence for any plane they visit. On some worlds, they are revered as gods, worshipped by an "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Accursed Horde"}},{"insert":" who shuffle through the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dunes of the Dead"}},{"insert":", creating a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cradle of the Accursed"}},{"insert":" to welcome their lords home. \n\nSensing Mike amidst the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wastes"}},{"insert":", the Alpha Predator learns that he comes from a world that has not yet been stripped bare and begins moving towards the tear in reality. With the Alpha Predator's thoughts pounding in his head, Mike scrambles for the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Homeward Path"}},{"insert":" in a desperate attempt to close the gateway. Back on the other side, Mike is able to trigger the explosives set earlier, and the instability of the rift makes for an "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Erratic Explosion"}},{"insert":" with a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Blast Zone"}},{"insert":" that seals the Alpha Predator on the other side.\n\nSeveral members of the Door team perished during the fight, though Sasha managed to make it through with a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Body Double"}},{"insert":" from another reality that she'll have to explain to people moving forward. Still, at least it's all over. Just never mind that "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Brood of Cockroaches"}},{"insert":" still skittering about...\n"}]}