Shit Post Central

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

Still haven't heard back from the unemployment office, but a few days ago I ended up telling this to the SNAP caseworker, who absolutely lost her shit and then put everything on hold to go investigate this herself out of a sense of justice and Needing To Know More. World's most nosy angel who helped me out a lot in general (in case she ends up seeing this: I appreciate her so much).

While she didn't find a facebook listing for a used kiosk (yes, that post is just a coincidence, I'm sorry), what she did find was the actual kiosk for sale. By the owner. On a reputable website.

Now, there are a lot of funny conclusions to be drawn from this, but I'm afraid it's not quite that wild. I asked a friend in management about it and turns out the listing is from months before the disappearance, it wasn't kept a secret, it just wasn't relevant. She had been trying to sell it for a while without much luck, wasn't selling the entire business, but just the kiosk with that branch included (the listing advertised that it would include the equipment and drink recipes and retain the current staff). It also said the lease with the mall was active until some time in 2027.

So, no, as funny as that would be, the owner did not heist her own kiosk. However, what this does tell us is:

She must have owned the kiosk outright, so the only way this could be a repossession is if she had a mortgage on it? I guess?

It definitely isn't about the lease being up. So any eviction would legally require like 30-days notice and, presumably, a valid reason like a violation of the terms. (this is how it works with renting homes in my country, and I've never rented a business location, so I can only guess that it's similar)

The store was not financially beneficial enough to keep. This could just mean that she was focusing on other ventures like she says in the listing, but it could really also mean that she was having money trouble and couldn't afford to keep the location.

SO. This leaves the most likely scenario being that the owner was behind on rent, and the mall manager (who has a history of being outta control and pulling shit like this, as well as harassing asian businesses and our shop specifically) decided to illegally remove the entire kiosk about it.

Still no confirmation at all about anything, but I remembered the listing today and realized it gave some additional clues.

The Breadcrumb Glitch is a glitch in mother 1 where you can use the ripped girl, Pippi, to perform a glitch using an item called Breadcrumbs.

It gets you out of bounds in an area that looks like this:

which looks almost exactly like the evil place you can see from the Forgotten Island.

and using the Breadcrumb Glitch in Mother 1 you can skip a large portion of the game.

you will recognize this reference in this context as being evil evil evil evil FUCKING evil

The Ace that is observing this space also calls it “Lousy real estate" in reference to the houses, and also says he found it by trying to see as far as he can. “Seeing too far” is something referenced throughout the weird route, most notably by Spamton NEO in his ending monologue.

but also by Noelle here in reference to the other side of the lake.

Given this is past the boundaries of the map, this could be the coveted “World’s Edge” mentioned in the prophecy, or an edge that will count for such purposes. Given this areas ties to the weird route specifically I am skeptical of the former.

This sequence also seems to parallel sections within the SWORD ROUTE, specifically going on the raft to the ice palace (Noelle describes the waters as getting colder as she goes further, the Glacier area in board 2 is made of bizarre white geometry which terrifies Ralsei, as we see also prior to this if you go to the school, and “snow” is a common description for garbage video data (like TV static, or garbled game assets). What the Ice Palace would be in this context is... something. I'll try to discuss it later

Noelle bringing us this way also brings to mind FOLLOW THE WHITE CLOAK, though this seems like it will be needed for later. Depends on if Noelle’s survives her "voyage".

What this Out of Bounds area entails for us is unknown besides being a place of evil and doom. Going off of the glitch in Mother 1, using the breadcrumbs again in certain spots allows you to wrong warp into other parts of the game, including the door to the final boss and even the game over screen.

Possibilities I’ve considered are:

that it’s a wrong warp to an area in chapter 7

It's a hub to access bizarre areas were not meant to be in for the purposes of “getting stronger” (see Ramb’s description of the Sword Route as having more Freedom). Possibly includes past dark worlds or even ""unused"" dark worlds, though I have a specific thought I'll get to later

If the Mother 1 glitch can access rooms that shouldnt be playable like the game over screen, it may be possible to find a way of “playing” inside the games menu, perhaps ultimately leading to a fake arbitrary code execution (ACE) and breaking the game even harder.

What I think seems most interesting, however, is that it might be some way of entering the primordial “”original game”” of Deltarune. 6.

So, what is the original game?

Deltarune is full of references to stories being adapted from other stories (see Cat Petterz rpg <- Dragon Blazerz <- Lord of the Hammer <- Prophecy, or even the Dark Worlds being adaptations of the Light World).

Deltarune has also made a lot of the story of its own creation diagetic to the narrative (see how often Waiting comes up in game and in promotional material ect.),

Part of this story is a version from 2012 that went nowhere, one that appears to have lacked the sparing system based on stuff like this early version of Jevil's "numbers game" line

This suggests it was a game where you were expected to be enacting violence within the dark world, something you cant do in the game as is.

The Mantle game is described as an original version of a game modified by Tenna that (mostly) removes the Violence and Weird Route centric elements from the game and in its place adds jokes, goofy set pieces, and storylines, as well as making it more linear. Ralsei in the current chapter is also stated as clearly suppressing some violent abilities involving fire, and the Sword Route and 4th Egg room suggest Kris is hiding some violent urges too

Where is the Mantle game? Backstage in an area an area the viewer is not meant to be in. In otherwords, its literally found out of bounds.

The chapter 3 egg room (with the Ace and their binoculars) also has some other traits. It being 8-bit but with normal Kris is one but also the egg mans dialogue: Referring to a time where the world looked like this (a gamboy-esque retro game)

(Next lines might be about the games development into the modern game though I am uncertain)

While not literally the 2012 prototype of the game, I believe the weird route might be building up to a version of Deltarune more ""faithful"" to its original vision prior to Undertale (or at least presented within the story as such).

Another minor thing is that I have a suspicion that the "ice palace" we find the SWORD ROUTE might be alluding to us using the area across the water to access an ""scrapped"" dark world (perhaps intended as the Holiday Residence or the Town Hall). Its important enough to seemingly be a part of Dragon Blazers, yet nowhere in the game implies it is or could be a thing outside the ice palace. It also needs a specific party member to traverse which is very obviously Noelle, which further ties it to the weird route.