Cartridge headstamp identification

Title, I’ve loaded a batch of around 400 .223 rounds with mixed headstamps and factory second .224 55grain FMJBTs and for some reason am getting extremely inconsistent cartridge lengths between 2.24-2.28” overall. The bullet lengths only vary about 5 or 6 thousandths, certainly not enough to make this large a variance, and when trying to check cartridges with the same headstamp, the same bullet seating die setting for one cartridge to 2.260” (target length) will set another cartridge with the same headstamp to something completely different like 2.245 or 2.268, and I have no idea what’s causing this. Originally I thought that maybe my die (Lee) had loosened, but after triple checking and single stage seating down cartridges after measuring them overlength, is still not giving me reproducible results. I haven’t encountered this before in the previous 1.5K or so .223 rounds I’ve made. Please help.

Hello everybody! This is a continuation of last week’s sale with a few new pens added in, including a couple stubs/italics! As always, these pens write fantastically but simply aren’t used enough. As I continue to curate my collection, I’m doing my best to make sure I sell pens that don’t get enough use. It’s hard to let them go but they’ll make somebody excellent writers!
Verification and photos: https://imgur.com/a/7brUUlZ Please note: there may be ink on the nibs in the photos as a result of my testing them. Rest assured, all nibs are in great shape Edit: issue fixed!Also, unfortunately Imgur is acting screwy tonight. It wouldn’t let me label my posts with pen identification as I normally do. I will update this as soon as it will allow me to do so.
-All sub rules in effect. PayPal G&S is the only acceptable form of payment! -Please post on this listing first, then PM with your PayPal email and I’ll get an invoice sent out ASAP. Users that indicate firm intention through messaging to purchase a pen will get priority for a given pen, irrespective of “pm” order in the thread.
-The cost of shipping is higher than ever. All packages ship with full value insurance-absolutely no exceptions. Shipping will be a flat rate of $10. I’m happy to combine shipping if you purchase multiple items.
MODERN MACHINED PENS
[A1] Q3D Twis-ti $145+shipping
This solid Titanium pen is built like a tank! Intricate machining is done expertly throughout! Theres no question that Q3D is destined to gain market share and continue expanding! A great pen! This pen is being sold for 1 reason….I’ve become an Autmog fanboy essentially, so I have no need for multiple all titanium pens! Currently sold out on the website but available here :-)
Vintage Pens below
[Parts] Wahl-Eversharp ringtop in Lazulitic celluloid w/14k Fine Signature, flexible nib $115+shipping
I’ve labeled this gorgeous pen as [parts], but it is a fully functional pen. There is a crack in the barrel at the threads(pictured in the gallery) that has been stable during my ownership over the course of several years. The cap threads with no issue whatsoever. What’s special about this pen, aside from the beautiful Lazulitic celluloid, is its nib. The pen truly is a wonderful writer! I purchased the pen with an eye to harvest its nib once the crack became unmanageable, however that never came to pass as the crack today looks just as it did the day I received the pen. It would be a shame to simply yank the nib and lose another precious artifact of a bygone era. This pen is sure to please, both the eye and the hand!
[A2] Sheaffer Balance II in Cobalt Glow w/Broad 18k semi-flex Factory Italic nib $335+shipping
I guess technically this isn’t a vintage pen, but it is an homage to the legendary Sheaffer Balance’ of yore so its inclusion in the vintage section just seems right lol ;-) This is an incredibly beautiful, like new pen in the wondrously chatoyant Cobalt Glow acrylic! The pen is essentially brand new having only been inked a time or 2. What makes this pen really special however, is its nib. The 18k factory Italic is a veritable cornucopia of line variation and is wet, and delicious! If that wasn’t enough, the nib also has a bit of softness to it which adds even more character to your writing! Line variation abound with laser side strokes and broad down strokes. I’ve seen a couple(and actually sold 1) stub nibs available on these pens, but it seems Italic variants such as this one are rather uncommon. I’ve held onto this pen for a long time and need to let it go where it’ll be loved and appreciated on a regular basis. If you like line variation, this one’s for you!!
MODERN FOUNTAIN PENS/NIBS BELOW
[B] Selmy Maki-e pen. Cartridge converter w/Fine SS Schmidt nib $125+shipping
This pen was my first foray into Maki-e. Let me tell you, this pen impressed me! So much so that it was a tough decision to let it go. It’s unbelievable to me that you can get a pen of this quality for this comparative low price! It’s beautiful, in great condition, and has a wonderful nib! What’s not to like? The gold and silver powder used in the design of the pen really pops. Take a look at the video in the gallery. A gorgeous pen that’s sure to please when put to paper!
[A2] Leonardo Officina Italiana Furore in Galaxy Blue acrylic(Silver trim)cartridge converter pen w/14k Fine nib $280+shipping
This is a gorgeous Furore in the now discontinued and hard to find Galaxy Blue acrylic, which is breathtakingly beautiful(video in the gallery). This acrylic is a sight to behold….deep and chatoyant, very reminiscent of its “Galaxy” namesake! The pen has rhodium plated silver trim and is in excellent, like new condition with not a single mark/micro-scratch to be found! The 14k Fine nib is smooth and consistent, beautifully wet, and writes very well! It was a tough decision to include this pen in the sale because I really like this model as a whole, however I ultimately decided to keep my Furore Grande.
[A2] Graf von Faber Castell Guilloche in Burned Orange w/18k Fine nib $260+shipping
I absolutely adore GVFC/FC nibs. They are seriously awesome writers! If you’ve never tried a gold nib from GVFC, man are you missing out! They’re perfectly wet, quite soft, and have a great feel against the paper. If you like FC’s stainless nibs found on Looms and HEXO’s, you’ll fall in love with their gold nib variants! I love this pen, but I’ve only inked it up once as I slowly move more and more toward hardcore vintage pen usage. It needs to go to a home where it’ll be used consistently because it really is that good. A great, great everyday writer….
[B] Levenger Aero D w/Med. SS nib $50+shipping
This was a Levenger pen made with real lacquer coated Carbon Fiber! It’s very high quality and doesn’t look obviously fake like a lot of the other “Carbon Fiber” pens that simply have stickers affixed to look like CF. Its shiny carbon fiber is quite beautiful, but I think I’ve inked it only a handful of times during my ownership. The medium nib is fantastic! Quite honestly, I was surprised at how nicely it writes. Nice and wet and very smooth….writes under its own weight, etc. The only “issue” with this pen is a few chips to the nib coating from capping/uncapping, which seems to happen with these dark nib coatings. Aside from that however, this pen is in excellent condition and ready to write! This is the type pen that you write with and think, “wow, how is this possible?!”. I can’t say enough about this pens nib….
[B+] Ensso Piuma Full Titanium cartridge converter pen w/Titanium nib(EF or F, buyers choice)$145+shipping
Ensso makes beautiful, extremely high quality pens. I love these Piuma models for daily writing, but especially for daily carry! I have 4 Titanium models of this pen and decided to sell a couple of them. It has a couple minor micro scratches but aside from that, it’s in great condition. It’s full Titanium so you could throw it off a cliff and it would survive! It’ll accept any #6 Bock nib unit you’d like to use via screw in nib units. Ti Piumas are the perfect weight, have great ergo’s, and are supremely comfortable to write with! I don’t normally prefer metal sections, however the section on this pen is extremely comfortable and isn’t slippery in the slightest. Their indestructible nature make them perfect for daily carry. If you like metal pens but don’t like for them to weigh a lot, this is the pen for you!
SOLD SOLD SOLD[A2] Taccia Spectrum in Forest Eye acrylic w/SS Music nib $115+shipping
Next is a great pen if you like line variation. I’m primarily a Stub/Italic/Music nib user. The SS Sailor Music nib on this pen is fantastic! It has a great feel when put to paper and is wet and smooth! The pen is in great condition and has no scratches cracks or wear visible. I love Sailor Music nibs and am only selling this pen because I have the same model with a gold nib. If you’re looking to expand your nib offerings and jazz up your handwriting, this is a great pen to do it with! Edit: It was kinda difficult to find one of these at retailer sites. Wondering if maybe this pen has been discontinued..? I certainly hope not as they’re great pens….
SOLD SOLD SOLD[A2] Franklin Christoph(Jowo) Rhodium plated 14k Fine SIG nib $135+shipping
SIG nibs are among my favorite modern stub nibs to use. They write fantastically and are the perfect blend of line variation and smoothness! The variability in downstroke width, dependent on angle to the page ala’ Naginata-Togi type nibs, is a really cool plus. This particular nib is a true gem, wet and smooth with great line variation and is sure to become a favorite for your daily use! A great match for the pen above, but will go in any pen that accepts screw-in #6 Jowo nibs.
SOLD SOLD SOLD[B++] Gravitas Ultemate Vac w/SS Fine nib $185+shipping
Ben @Gravitas perfected the vac filler when he designed this pen. I have 2 of them and the other won’t be going anywhere. Made out of Ultem, this is an awesome pen! I’ve really come to love Ultem and have several other pens made from this material. IMO, Ben solved some of the issues that made Vacs not user friendly and no fun to use. Not the least of which is making the pen easy to disassemble…this makes cleaning a breeze. Simply remove the section and use a blunt syringe to clean the barrel, then use a bulb syringe for the section and nib and boom, the pen is spotless! No more operating the vac plunger 5274826384 times! Grab this pen, which is in great condition, for a discount and avoid Gravitas long shipping times to boot!
SOLD SOLD SOLD[parts with NO NIB or B++ with 14k F SIG nib listed below] Franklin Christoph 46 in Antique Glass w/ or w/out 14k Fine SIG nib **$110+shipping(body only, no nib),or $240+shipping(w/14k F SIG nib)
Franklin-Christoph is one of my favorite modern pen makers. I especially love their transparent, demonstrator type materials! This 46 in Antique Glass is no exception. The 46 is one of my favorite models in their lineup as it is very ergonomic . This pen is available nibless, or, with the excellent 14k Fine SIG nib listed below. The 46 will accommodate any #6 Jowo screw-in nib unit you’d like to install if you’re interested in the body only.

Hey there everybody! This is a continuation of my last sale with a few additional pens added in, including a couple of my beloved Wahls! As always, these pens write fantastically but simply aren’t used enough to justify holding on to. As I continue to curate my collection, I’m doing my best to make sure I sell pens that don’t get enough use. It’s hard to let them go but they’ll make somebody excellent writers!
Verification and photos: https://imgur.com/a/iQQC0DH Please note: there may be ink on the nibs in the photos as a result of my testing them. Rest assured, all nibs are in great shape Also, unfortunately Imgur is acting screwy tonight. It wouldn’t let me label my posts with pen identification as I normally do. I fought with it for 2hrs just to get the photos uploaded :-( I will update this as soon as it will allow me to do so.
-All sub rules in effect. PayPal G&S is the only acceptable form of payment! -Please post on this listing first, then PM with your PayPal email and I’ll get an invoice sent out ASAP. Users that indicate firm intention through messaging to purchase a pen will get priority for a given pen, irrespective of “pm” order in the thread.
-The cost of shipping is higher than ever. All packages ship with full value insurance-absolutely no exceptions. Shipping will be a flat rate of $10. I’m happy to combine shipping if you purchase multiple items.
Vintage Pens below
[D for vintage] Wahl-Eversharp Equipoised in black celluloid. Lever filling pen w/14k Fine “Signature” Semi-Flex nib $175+shipping
Another fantastic Wahl, the Equiposied is almost futuristic looking with its sleek tapered body. This is another pen I’ve kept pretty much for the nib alone(this pen is a duplicate for me), and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s wet, smooth, and has some give with pressure applied. I have several of these pens and love their ergonomics and nibs. It’s hard to go wrong with any Wahl, specifically pens like this where the nib is confirmed to be awesome! I can guarantee you that this pen will become a cherished writer within your collection for many years to come! It’s in pretty good shape with just a bit of brassing on its trim and normal microscratching/desk wear from being enjoyed through the years….nothing excessive. Overall, a great vintage Wahl ready to write for decades into the future!
[Parts] Wahl-Eversharp ringtop in Lazulitic celluloid w/14k Fine Signature, flexible nib $125+shipping
I’ve labeled this gorgeous pen as [parts], but it is a fully functional pen. There is a crack in the barrel at the threads(pictured in the gallery) that has been stable during my ownership over the course of several years. The cap threads with no issue whatsoever. What’s special about this pen, aside from the beautiful Lazulitic celluloid, is its nib. The pen truly is a wonderful writer! I purchased the pen with an eye to harvest its nib once the crack became unmanageable, however that never came to pass as the crack today looks just as it did the day I received the pen. It would be a shame to simply yank the nib and lose another precious artifact of a bygone era. This pen is sure to please, both the eye and the hand!
MODERN FOUNTAIN PENS/NIBS BELOW
[B] Selmy Maki-e pen. Cartridge converter w/Fine SS Schmidt nib $125+shipping
This pen was my first foray into Maki-e. Let me tell you, this pen really impressed me! So much so that it was a tough decision to let it go. It’s beautiful, in great condition, and has a wonderful nib! What’s not to like? The gold and silver powder used in the design of the pen really pops. A gorgeous pen that’s sure to please when put to paper!
[parts with NO NIB or B++ with 14k F SIG nib listed below] Franklin Christoph 46 in Antique Glass w/ or w/out 14k Fine SIG nib $110+shipping(body only, no nib), or $245+shipping(w/14k F SIG nib)
Franklin-Christoph is one of my favorite modern pen makers. I especially love their transparent, demonstrator type materials! This 46 in Antique Glass is no exception. The 46 is one of my favorite models in their lineup as it is very ergonomic . This pen is available nibless, or, with the excellent 14k Fine SIG nib listed below. I’ve put the nib on the pen in the verification photos. The 46 will accommodate any #6 Jowo screw-in nib unit you’d like to install.
[A2] Franklin Christoph(Jowo) Rhodium plated 14k Fine SIG nib $140+shipping
SIG nibs are among my favorite modern stub nibs to use. They write fantastically and are the perfect blend of line variation and smoothness! The variability in downstroke width, dependent on angle to the page, is a really cool plus. This particular nib is a true gem, wet and smooth with great line variation and is sure to become a favorite for your daily use! A great match for the pen above, but will go in any pen that accepts screw-in #6 Jowo nibs.
[A2] Acriv acrylic Pocket pen w/Titanium Med nib $35+shipping
This is from the Indian brand Davidaria. I’ve owned several of their Acriv pens. This one is a pocket pen that is much like a Schon Pocket 6 in that the cap screws onto the back making it into what is essentially, a full size pen. Being a true pocket pen, this is a short international cartridge pen only. This pen is like new and writes very well. The in-house all Titanium nib is smooth and wet.
[A2] Leonardo Officina Italiana Furore in Galaxy Blue acrylic(Silver trim)cartridge converter pen w/14k Fine nib $295+shipping
This is a gorgeous Furore in the now discontinued and hard to find Galaxy Blue acrylic, which is breathtakingly beautiful. The pen has rhodium plated silver trim and is in excellent, like new condition. The 14k Fine nib is smooth, beautifully wet, and writes very well! It was a tough decision to include this pen in the sale because I really like this model as a whole, however I ultimately decided to keep my Furore Grande. Suffice to say, I will not be disappointed if there are no takers lol.
[A2] Graf von Faber Castell Guilloche in Burned Orange w/18k Fine nib $265+shipping
I absolutely adore GVFC/FC nibs. They are seriously awesome writers! If you’ve never tried a gold nib from GVFC, man are you missing out! They’re perfectly wet, quite soft, and have a great feel against the paper. If you like FC’s stainless nibs found on Looms and HEXO’s, you’ll fall in love with their gold nib variants! I love this pen, but I’ve only inked it up once as I slowly move more and more toward hardcore vintage pen usage. It needs to go to a home where it’ll be used consistently because it is that good. A great, great everyday writer….
[B] Levenger Aero D w/Med. SS nib $50+shipping
This was a Levenger pen made with real lacquer coated Carbon Fiber! It’s very high quality and doesn’t look obviously fake like a lot of the other “Carbon Fiber” pens that simply have stickers affixed to look like CF. Its shiny carbon fiber is quite beautiful, but I think I’ve inked it only a couple times during my ownership. The medium nib is fantastic! Quite honestly, I was surprised at how nicely it writes. Nice and wet and very smooth….writes under its own weight, etc. The only “issue” with this pen is a few chips to the nib coating from capping/uncapping, which seems to happen with these dark nib coatings. Aside from that however, this pen is in excellent condition and is ready to write! This is the type pen that you write with and think, “wow, how is this possible?!”. I can’t say enough about this pens nib….
[parts due to NO NIB otherwise B+] Ensso Piuma Full Titanium cartridge converter pen $95+shipping
Ensso makes beautiful, extremely high quality pens. I love these Piuma models for daily writing, but especially for daily carry! I have 4 Titanium models of this pen and decided to sell a couple of them. It has a couple minor micro scratches but aside from that, it’s in great condition. It’s full Titanium so you could throw it off a cliff and it would survive! It’ll accept any #6 Bock nib unit you’d like to use via screw in nib units. Ti Piumas are the perfect weight, have great ergo’s, and are supremely comfortable to write with! I don’t normally prefer metal sections, however the section on this pen is extremely comfortable and isn’t slippery in the slightest. Their indestructible nature make them perfect for daily carry. If you like metal pens but don’t like for them to weigh a lot, this is the pen for you!
SOLD SOLD SOLD[A1] Machine Era Field Pen Twist $95+shipping
This is a tank of a pen! I use machined pens at work because I can’t use my beloved Fountain Pens. This pen is the original version that I believe has been discontinued, and it is in perfect condition. I use my Tiscribes at work so this pen has never been used. The mechanism is very smooth and is built to last.
SOLD SOLD SOLD[D for vintage] Lot of 2 Sheaffer Craftsman Lever filling pens w/14k nibs $45+shipping
I don’t have many Sheaffers. However, the ones I do own, I absolutely adore because they write incredibly well. These 2 pens here are not an exception to that general rule, as they’re great writers. One pen has a Sheaffer 33 nib with a custom ground stub nib on it. The other houses a #5 Feather touch fine nib. The pen with the Sheaffer 33 nib has a crack at the section threads that’s been stable through my ownership. The other pen is in good condition but does have a personalization on it. These are great writing pens but I never use them. I figured it best to sell them together in a bit of a 2 for 1 kinda thing. A great, fairly inexpensive way to get into vintage pens, both with 14k gold nibs!
SOLD SOLD SOLD[A1] Umburry Expressor in Double Blast finish w/Venom Clip, Titanium machined pen(Parker style refill) **$235+shipping
This is a very unique, extraordinarily fidget friendly pen! Take a look at the video in the gallery showing me playing with the mechanism. This mech is pretty addicting and is quite fun to play with. What surprised me the most however, were the ergo’s of the pen. It’s flat out very comfortable in hand. The bolt works almost like a light switch in that you push in and up or down in one fluid motion to expel and retract the tip. This pen has the awesome, quite desirable venom clip on it also. The only way to get this clip currently is by purchasing this particular model with it included on the pen and it is not in stock on the manufacturer website. The last restock sold out in 5mins so is grab this one if you’s like to get one. I like the pen(specifically the bolt mechanism lol), but it isn’t really my style so I’m moving it along
SOLD SOLD SOLD[D for vintage] Wahl-Eversharp Doric in Brown Shell Celluloid. Lever filling pen w/14k Fine Manifold nib $180+shipping
If you’ve been around this sub long enough, you know the Doric is my favorite pen design of all time. The art deco styling just does it for me and I have a large Doric collection as a result. That said, I write with every pen and I own and this pen is one that I just don’t use. One huge plus is that it’s a lever filling variant which is much more user friendly to service than its vacuum filling brothers and sisters. The nib on the pen is absolutely fantastic and is worth the price of admission alone! It’s very consistent, wet, and smooth against the paper. The pen is in truly excellent condition save for a very small chip to the cap lip pictured in the gallery(no cracks). This could be repaired by simply sanding the cap lip down a millimeter or 2 but I’ve left it alone up until now. Overall, this is a stunningly beautiful pen with no crazing or cracks that has an excellent nib!
SOLD SOLD SOLD[D for parts due to no nib, but A1 otherwise] Sailor 1911 Black Luster pen body$100+shipping**
This is a brand new Black Luster body that I don’t have an extra nib for. It’s flawless and beautiful, however I moved the nib to an Imperial Black body. I really like the metal section as it gives the pen a completely different feel compared to the feel of most Sailors. This is a fairly inexpensive way to have a Black Luster if you have an extra nib since these pens are very expensive.

My mind is gone. I see him everywhere I go. I see him in every reflection, in every dark corner, and in the eyes of every person I see. My mind is gone, my life is over. Before you get the wrong idea, this isn’t THAT kind of post. I’ll still be alive for a long time after I post this. Afterall, once I do die, I’ll be in his clutches. There is no escape, there is only delaying the inevitable.
For those who read my last post, the “him” I’m talking about is the man with the weirdly shaped head that tormented my dear friend, Violet. The man who turned my friend into a murderer, and the same man who I suspect had a hand in driving Craig’s dad to kill those children. Now, these two cases seem to not have anything to do with each other at first glance. However, there is one connecting element: me. I’m the one drawing this creature to the people I love. I’m the lightning rod for this entity’s corruption. I tried my hardest to help put a stop to his machinations, however, there is no stopping him.
I’ll start where my last post left off. I had gone to visit my childhood friend, Craig. I had to go out of state to visit. By the time the trip had come up, I hadn’t seen the man in weeks. Craig and I met up at a small coffee shop. He had wanted to meet up at a game store, but I wanted someplace a little quieter and with less people. He found me pretty easy, the tattoo that Violet had given me made me stick out of the crowd somewhat.
If my experiences had molded me, Craig’s had shattered him. He was skinny, very skinny. His skin was covered in prison tattoos and his hair was buzzed almost to the scalp. He showed signs of prolonged drug abuse. His hand shook as he placed his deck on the tiny round table. It was hard to tell if he was currently using or not. His smile was warm and bright, it felt quite nostalgic in fact. His smile brought a smile to my own face, making my worries melt away like sweet ice cream. The two of us embraced over the table, almost knocking my half-drunk latte onto the floor. It had been 20 years since I had seen Craig, and my wait was now over.
We sat down and I ordered a mocha for Craig. His smile faded as he leaned in, getting serious. “I’m not up for talking about what happened when we were kids, as you can see, it fucked me up big time. I know you might be looking for some kind of closure, but I’m not mentally capable of giving it right now.”
I felt deflated, but I understood. He had answers, but those answers came from living with a monster since the day he was born. I can understand why he wouldn’t want to talk about what happened. I nodded. I intended to respect his wishes. Still though, I needed answers, I would need to get them elsewhere.
“I heard about your friend, Violet, I’m sorry. I read about it in the newspaper,” Craig said.
The image of Violet, drenched in blood and regurgitated ink flashed in my mind. I had almost forgotten it when I had been reunited with Craig. I stared into the coffee as the waitress brought over Craig’s drink. “I didn’t know you could read,” I said, I had hoped my joke would make Craig fee like I was doing better than I was.
Craig was certainly caught off guard. He chuckled and remarked, “yes, I can also count all the way up to eleven-teen.” His joke did actually lift my spirits a bit. I started looking over his tattoos, they were crude. I wasn’t into criminal culture, so I didn’t know the significance behind most of them. All I really knew was teardrop meant murderer, which Craig, thankfully, didn’t have. As I was gathering my thoughts, Craig pulled out his Magic the Gathering deck.
Craig and I started playing. He whooped my ass hard. We talked about how things had been going in our lives. Apparently, Craig had gotten into programming. That put a point to Craig having made that hack. I asked if his dad was a programmer. His face got stern. Right, he didn’t want to talk about that. He gave me a terse nod before resuming with his turn. His dad was one too, so either of them could have made it. The conversation was tense for a moment before I made another joke that made him snort mocha out of his nose.
Towards the end of our third game, my butt having been thoroughly kicked several times over by now, I showed Craig a drawing. It was a sketch of the man I had done while I was on the plane. He glanced at it, his face showing no sign of recognition. Dejected, I put the picture away. Craig played a card and said “okay, I destroy all of your creatures.”
“Boy, if you’re gonna fuck me this bad, you should take me out to dinner first,” I remarked.
“Maybe I will,” Craig teased, bringing a slight flush to my cheeks.
I cleared my throat and pulled at my collar. I hadn’t expected that from Craig, nor that kind of reaction from myself. While a date sounded fun, I did have other things I wanted to do while I was here. I had signed up to test out a new sleeping drug, and needed to be at the lab in a couple of hours. It would give me a bit of money for me to use during the visit.
“SO ANYWAYS” I interjected a bit more loudly than I meant to, accidentally making the barista look our way, “watch any new anime?”
“Well, nothing new, but I did recently caught up on That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime,” Craig said, leading into a conversation that lasted a good long while.
After Craig and I parted, I headed to the lab. It wasn’t some extravagant building like you would see in the movies. It was just some small nondescript building that looked like it had once been a laundromat. The interior looked professional enough. When I went to the front desk and presented my identification number and flashed my state ID, I was greeted by an older lady in a lab coat. She identified herself as Dr. Garcia, she had a calming voice, she seemed like the kind of woman I wish had been my own grandma. I had been stuck with a racist, sexist, homophobic Southern cow who drove my grandpa to an early grave. Having a well mannered scientist as a grandma would have been pretty sweet.
Dr. Garcia walked me to a small curtained off area and talked me through the procedures. There were some speakers that were designed to disrupt my sleep, basically stress testing the drug. They would keep me until about 3 in the morning, after which they would wake me up and send me on my way. Hopefully my grogginess from the drug wouldn’t lead me to walk into the street and reenact the insurance fraud mission from Saint’s Row.
Dr. Garcia spent a frustratingly long time reviewing my medical information with me that I had already given over the phone when I first signed up for this. After this, she took my vitals, had me change into a hospital gown and put some sensors on me. Finally, she gave me a small cup with two white pills and a bottle of water. Finally, this had been boring as hell, I was half asleep by now anyways. I lay down, closing my eyes, and allowed sleep to overtake me.
I awoke in my childhood room, but it wasn’t my normal childhood room. It was my room as depicted in that Pokemon hack from all those years ago. I looked like the real me though. I walked around the room, running my hand over the pixelated sheets. I seemed in control, so it must have been a lucid dream. I looked out the window. I could see Craig’s dad’s bedroom window. I felt dirty, a shiver went through my body. It almost felt like he was looking at me right now. I thought about myself being in that basement.
I heard a familiar giggle, muffled by the closed door behind me. I turned quickly. It sounded like Violet. I ran to the door and opened it quickly. I heard footsteps running down the hall. I ran after, trying to catch up. I heard a splat as I stepped into the dining room. The floor was covered in blood, not pixelated blood like the rest of my surroundings, but real blood. My head throbbed. Whose blood was this? I heard Violet’s giggling coming from the living room. Then I heard her say, “he looks like he could be sleeping!”
The next voice made my heart literally jump up into my throat. “Yes, Violet, my dear. What would he be dreaming about?” It was Craig’s dad’s voice. It sounded more floaty and sinister than I remember, but it was unmistakable. I swallowed my heart back down into my chest, I would need that for later. I then burst into the living room.
Sitting on the couch was Craig, he both looked like how he did as a kid, how he does now, and his NPC form from the hack. I couldn’t tell if was subtly shifting between forms, was just all three stacked on top of one another, or if he was made out of different parts of his three parts. The image hurt my eyes. His throat had a deep gash, but the gash was mouthing words. I couldn’t understand what it was saying, I couldn’t read lips. Flanking each side of my childhood friend’s corpse were Violet, and Craig’s dad.
His dad looked at me through glasses he never wore when I knew him. His eyes hungered for me, making my skin crawl. He smiled, exposing his yellowed rotting teeth. Violet herself had blackened eyes, a strange ooze dripping from both them and her once ruby red lips. Violet skipped over to me, planting a sticky black kiss on my cheek.
I went over to Craig’s disorienting body. I put a hand on his chest, shaking slightly. At the bottom of my vision, I could see text appear: “It is a corpse.”
I looked at Craig’s dad. His smile spread wider and wider, exposing more teeth than existed in the human mouth. His mouth opened wide. Black ooze was gushing out of his mouth like a torrent of demonic ichor. From the darkness of his maw, I could see someone walking towards me. I turned quickly, my heart racing and threatening to burst out of my chest. I didn’t want to see who was coming for me. I ran faster and faster but I wasn’t getting any further away. Violet was laughing at me. Craig’s neck wound was laughing at me too. I could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer. I had to escape but couldn’t. I looked over my shoulder.
The man’s face was poking out from Craig’s dad’s mouth, staring right at me. His eyes were wide, as if staring into my soul. My heart burst out of my chest, showering Craig’s dad with viscera. I collapsed to my knees, staring into the man’s wide mad eyes. The man looked down at me. The man spoke with my own voice, “you’ve gone quite mad, Alice.” Finally, his jaw unhinged, as if to swallow my head whole. A distorted electronic alarm blared from his throat, finally awakening me from the dream.
I sat up in the bed, screaming loudly. Dr. Garcia came over and tried to comfort me. She ran me through some cognitive exercises to ground me back to reality. She reminded me one of the side effects of the drugs was the possibility of vivid dreams. I was huffing and puffing for a solid ten minutes before I finally calmed down.
After I got dressed, I called up Craig. I didn’t know if he was at work or asleep. I hoped either way I wasn’t disrupting him. He answered after a couple rings. He had been doing some online gaming. I asked if I could crash on the couch. I needed to see him in person after that dream. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see that disturbing visage of Craig. He agreed to come pick me up.
Dr. Garcia had given me a bunch of forms and a few other sleeping pills. It wasn’t enough to overdose, just enough to continue the test in my everyday life. They knew I was on vacation, it was actually part of why they chose me to be part of the test. They wanted to see how the pills would affect people in unfamiliar environments.
Craig soon arrived in his beat up shit-mobile. I’m not a car guy, I just know it had four wheels, and a lack of mirrors and lights where there should be those things. We got back to his place, which was basically a broom closet with a gamer setup. Craig asked me how the test went. I told him he didn’t want to know given the warning he gave me earlier. He was taken aback by that but after a bit he relented.
“I understand that what happened to you must have messed you up too,” Craig said, “if you want to tell me, tell me.”
I was silent for a while, during that time the entirety of Korn’s Freak on a Leash song played on Craig’s cracked phone. I eventually told him all about the dream. The description left him speechless. I could see a twinge of guilt in his eyes. He put a hand on mine. I doubt he knew what to say, I know I wouldn’t if I were in his shoes. I squeezed his hand, appreciating the gesture. We spent the rest of the night playing Street Fighter, eventually passing out on the bed around 6 or so. My sleep was dreamless, thankfully.
The next afternoon, Craig headed into work, leaving me on my own. While he was gone, I started doing some research on the man with the weirdly-shaped head. All my research kept bringing me back to Violet and the murder she had committed. She was still on the run. I called my parents, making sure they were okay. While my mom and brother were at work, my dad answered and put my fears to rest.
I decided to take a walk to clear my head. I thought back to the man. I thought back to seeing him after Violet went on the run. Who was he? I thought about how Craig’s dad seemed to almost birth the man in my dream. Was he seeing the man when he went mad? He had to have, when I knew Craig’s dad, he didn’t seem like a monster. Surely something was messing with him, causing him to do these things. No way a monster like that could raise someone like Craig.
The days passed, I took the pills over the course of that time. However, each time my sleep was dreamless. I kept hoping to go back into that dream and talk to the man again. The only slight dream I had during that time was on the second night when I saw a rabbit for a fraction of a second before dreamlessness.
As I spent more time with Craig, we grew closer. Even with his skinniness, him coming out of the bathroom in a towel made my heart flutter. I tried to remedy his skinniness with my home cooking. The money I was getting from the test was helping me pay for the meals. I almost felt like a househusband for a bit, a thought that made me a bit giddy.
On the fifth night, we were playing Street Fighter again. Craig had a few beers, I wasn’t drinking because of the test. I was down to my last dose. Spirits were high. We caught each other’s gaze as I finally got a victory against him. He made the first move by kissing me deeply. The kiss led to another thing, I think you can guess. Afterwards, the two of us lay in each other’s arms, breathing heavily. I didn’t know these feelings had been bubbling between us when we first reunited. However, for the first time since I lost Violet, it had given me hope. I fell asleep, listening to his heartbeat.
I had another dream.
I was in the pixelated living room. Craig’s corpse wasn’t there. Neither were Craig’s dad nor Violet. The blood was also gone. The only thing out of place was the phrase “very very late” written on the wall in ink. I looked around the house. No one was here. Where the hell could he be? I put a hand on my chest. There was still a hole in my chest from my last dream.
“Looking for this?” my own voice asked from behind me. It was him, it was the man, holding my heart in his hand. I reached out to grab it but suddenly it was gone. I stumbled as I phased through the man like he was made out of air. I turned to face him once again. Now he was on the other end of the room. With a blink, he was standing outside the window. Another blink, and I was awake, my face in Craig’s tattooed chest.
The test was over, so I turned in my paperwork that morning. Dr. Garcia talked over some things with me and gave me a phone number to call in case of emergencies. I received my final check. I decided to splurge and make some fajitas for Craig and I. As I walked around the grocery store collecting ingredients, I kept thinking back to the dream. The man seemed to be taunting me now. I had to see him again.
While the pills weren’t a guarantee, they did help get me into that dream realm, so I picked up some Benadryl to help me reach that state. I also picked up some beers for Craig and I to share. I thought about the night before. My plane ride home would be the next day. I didn’t want to go. Call it foolish if you want, but I wanted to stay there with him. Sure, it wasn’t glamorous, but there was something between us. So I did something reckless. I quit my job.
When I got back, I made dinner for the two of us again and we got to talking. Craig was certainly shocked by my news. We weren’t even officially together after all. I told him I wanted to change that, I told him I wanted to be with him.
“But we barely know each other. We haven’t seen each other in 20 years, we’ve only been back in touch for a week,” Craig said, seemingly wanting me to see sense. However, I felt then I was already seeing sense. We talked for hours, going back and forth. He agreed to give things a shot, but he wanted to take things slow. He wanted me to get my own place and to build my own life before getting more serious. I agreed to his terms.
That night was dreamless. So was the next night and the next. Each night I tried to get back into that dream realm but was met with failure. Benadryl wasn’t helping. I increased the dose. Still nothing, I would maybe hear some giggling right before waking up but nothing more. This was getting so frustrating, I needed answers from this man. I wanted to know why he was doing the things he was doing.
I had been putting in applications for dishwashing positions, eventually getting a job after a week and a half. Craig and I didn’t see much of each other after that. He and I both worked irregular hours. Though I think he appreciated having an extra income in the home. He was certainly gaining some weight from my cooking. He was starting to look healthy.
My family was super worried about me leaving so suddenly. They were rightfully freaked out, but they were glad things were seemingly working out for me. I had realized after a while this was certainly reckless as hell, but I felt confident regardless. I think when my mom heard what Craig wanted me to do, she gained a certain level of respect for him. I hate to admit it, but I think they were glad I wasn’t in town with Violet on the loose.
The new job was pretty nice. My boss wasn’t a total piece of shit, only a partial one. Sure, the waitstaff ignored me like they did at my last job. However, the cooks seemed to like me. The guy I replaced was apparently a lazy piece of shit so they appreciated my hard work. After my shifts, myself and the cooks would have “safety” meetings. If you know, you know. About a month into the new job, I told one of my new coworkers about my inability to dream. I told them about the experimental pills and my futile efforts to dream using Benadryl.
“Naw man, ya gotta use something stronger,” one of the cooks said. After making sure no one was listening, he talked about some medicine that would really get me into the zone. I knew exactly what he was hinting at. Given Craig’s history with drugs, I doubt he would appreciate me going down that road. I turned him down. That wouldn’t last long.
That night, I had another dream. It wasn’t lucid this time. I was a spectator. I saw a waitress I worked with tied to a chair. Craig, his dad, and Violet were standing over her. Craig was holding a knife. “You’ve got this son,” Craig’s dad was quietly egging on his son. I tried to scream and get Craig’s attention, but I had no mouth to scream with. I watched as Violet placed a knife in Craig’s hand, the one he had been holding having seemingly vanished. The waitress squirmed, her hair flailing wildly as she tried to escape. I tried anything I could to get Craig’s attention but I was pretty much a phantom pair of eyes. I watched in horror as Craig started cutting strips of flesh from the waitress’s arms, exposing muscle tissue beneath. Her screams of terror and agony were gut wrenching.
“See what beautiful music he makes,” I hear my own voice say. He is nearby, and his message is clear. I awoke and rushed to the bathroom to puke.
The next day after work, I told my coworker I wanted to take his offer. He sold me some prescription pills. I was scared to take them though. By this point, Craig had opened up and told me some stories of his low points with his drug addiction. Out of respect for him, I won’t mention them here. I’ll just say he struggled hard. I felt like I would be disrespecting him and his struggles if I voluntarily started going down that road. Still, I didn’t want him to become corrupted like Violet and his dad were. I would need to exercise extreme caution with these pills. I had seen From Hell, that movie with Johnny Depp. I saw how they COULD work, but also knew it was a slippery slope.
The first night didn’t give me any results. The next only brought me running down an infinite pixelated hallway trying to catch up to the man. This dream would repeat once a week, but it was dreamless the rest of the time. Meanwhile, Craig was getting more and more worried about me. He knew something was up. To ease off his suspicions, I would have nights where I don’t take anything. However, those nights were the worst. The dreams of Craig carving up someone would come up. The first dream had been the waitress, each repetition would bring up someone I was closer and closer to. After my brother appeared in a dream, I made sure to take at least one every night.
The pills were getting more and more expensive. My coworker, now my dealer, was jacking up the prices now that he had me by the curlies. I hated the pills, but I needed them if I was going to find a way to save Craig. I had to do this. The dreams would become less vivid, so I would up the dosage. Craig and I’s erratic schedules meant Craig didn’t see me at my worst normally, but he was definitely suspicious. We argued a lot. I had stopped cooking, he had to pick up the slack. I think he knew I was on drugs, he just didn’t want to admit it. I think he was in denial.
One day, I noticed my bottle of pills was gone from my bag. Craig had been through it. My heart raced. I knew what my dreams would be like if I didn’t have them. I knew what the man would do to Craig. I tore the apartment apart looking for them. Deep down, I knew he had flushed them. The empty bottle in the trash can solidified that for me. I screamed. I cried. I broke things. No, this couldn’t happen. I needed them. I had to save Craig.
“You’ve gone mad, Alice~” I heard my own voice say. The man was in the kitchen with me. His horrid head, it looked like his skull had unnatural angles in it.
“What the fuck do you want?” I snapped.
“Same thing you want, frankly,” the man said “to be happy.”
“And doing that requires you driving my loved ones insane?” I snapped.
“Of course not, Alice,” the man said, chuckling. He was starting to pace around me, hands behind his back.
“Then why did you do it?” I asked.
“I didn’t do anything, I’m just a figment of your imagination,” the man said, my own laughter escaping his mouth.
I stood there, trembling. My eyes widened. No way, this wasn’t right. He’s just a figment? What about Craig’s dad? What about Violet?
“Violet saw a man with a weirdly shaped head. I’m no psychologist so I couldn’t tell you why, but the human mind is wonderfully suggestive. She talked about seeing me so you started seeing me when your own mind started to go~” the man said in a sing-song voice, like this was incredibly amusing to him, “you made connections where there were none. You don’t even know if Craig’s dad was even seeing me. No, his madness didn’t come from hallucinations. His madness came from grief and loss. He wanted to replace his son, and I think you know that.”
“You’re full of shit, you’re warping their minds!” I snapped back. There was no way this entity was telling the truth. He couldn’t be trusted. He was lying.
“Oh? Let me guess, you think I’m some eldritch Lovecraftian god like Slenderman or something? No, if I were really that old, I wouldn’t be quoting Alice in Wonderland all the time,” the man said, sounding like he felt insulted “I mean, how cliche can you get? You couldn’t have picked a more obscure tale about going mad for me to quote? Or even make something else up? Put some effort into it, Alice.”
I fell to my knees. No, this couldn’t be true. Something more had to have been happening. It couldn’t be so simple. It had to be more. If it wasn’t, then all this was for nothing. If he spoke the truth. That meant I drove myself insane.
“Violet was dealing with her issues long before you ever knew about it, Craig’s father had been dealing with his issues before you and Craig ever met,” the man said. All sense of jovialness was gone from his demeanor. He was getting serious. He grabbed me by my shirt collar, “I’m not putting Craig in danger. You are.”
“Stop gaslighting me,” I said softly. This wasn’t right.
It was then I felt arms wrap around me. Craig had come home and saw me collapsed on the floor.
“It’ll be okay,” he whispered as he rocked me in his arms.
I’ve been writing this over the course of a couple days, under the advice of Dr. Garcia. Craig had called her number and she was helping me with my issues. Looking back at the earlier pages of this post, I find myself heartbroken that I put Craig through this. I think I was still going through some lingering withdrawal when I wrote those pages. I don’t know what I would do without Craig.
I stopped taking the pills and found a new job. I still crave them and my nightmares are awful, but Craig is always there when I wake up. The new job gave me a more steady schedule, and Craig started taking only the daytime jobs, so Craig and I are able to spend every night together. I started cooking again. Craig’s gained a good amount of weight. I find it so weird that this all started with a hacked Pokemon cartridge of all things.
I still see the man. Perhaps I always will, but things will be okay. I will be okay. Thank you, Craig, for being there for me. I love you.

New missions concept
My objective here is to provide more missions and more diversity in those missions to the player. This creates a simple and efficient solution to the problem of “all the missions are the same and get boring after a while.” I made a lot of missions for more variety in the grind to level up quests and to make missions more fun and provide more objectives and things to do in raids. Many more quests could be added, I wanted a basic and simple example of what there could be. Some missions are even map specific to promote the use of other maps(I am a sniper on island. Because of this, I hardly go to other maps unless I am leveling a trader. I know many more people who only play on one map and nowhere else). The missions have a bit of text to provide more personality and legitimacy to them and make it seem like the trader is actually telling you to do something/asking for a favor instead of you selecting a basic mission, along with providing a bit more lore to tabor.
I wanted to provide more kill quests to balance it out but it got to the point where I couldn't think of any new kill missions I hadn't thought of before. I definitely wanted more special missions to provide players with more things to do in-raid and more objectives besides find/kill but they are significantly harder than regular missions.
How it works:
Instead of having all of a traders missions in a menu, you get a choice of 3 missions, you can pick 1 before it refreshes. You can have up to 5 missions(or maybe 1 or 2 per trader?) Some missions have specific maps whereas others can be done on any map. Each trader has a slightly different version of the mission.
A random amount will be assigned to kill/collect missions. This is represented in (amount). The higher values give more xp and cash. There is a selector where the player can adjust how high they want the amount to be(low, medium, high, still random but if they want to kill a lot for a high reward or opt for a quick but cheap but quick mission they can decide for themselves.)
Some missions are map specific while others can be completed on any map. If no map is specified then it works anywhere. Some quests pick a map and random, represented in (map)
Some player kill quests are faction specific. This is represented with SF(same faction) and OF(opposite faction). These are more valuable than regular quests.
Collect missions have the player find a certain item depending on the quest. These items are guaranteed to spawn in a raid ONLY if someone in that raid has a quest. They will not always spawn in the same location, each mission has multiple spawns in a small general area. For example, something in prison may spawn in the control room, barracks, a prison cell, or in the galley.
Questions:
Should the mission to find the dead spy and retrieve documents have the documents separated from the spy or move the body from the corpse room and have a different model for different locations(my choice is the first one, makes it easier on devs and it's the corpse room for a reason, taking the corpse from that would kind of ruin it. Let me know what you think though.)
Missions:
Fenix kill missions:
“I have some contacts stuck in the basement of labs. I need you to go and clear it so they can make an escape” - eliminate all fenix at labs on island
“These people who call themselves fenix have been really bugging me lately, I need you to send a message to them” kill (amount) fenix, any weapon
“I have a game for you, it's a win-win scenario. You get some good fun and I get some fenix off my back. Kill, say, (amount) with a (gun type) and I will even give you a reward!” - Kill (amount) of fenix with (gun type)
“I've been hired to get rid of some of these fenix over on (map). I will give you a cut of the pay if you do the dirty work for me” - Kill (amount) of fenix on (map)
“I'm tired of these locals getting in the way of my supply chains. They mess everything up for me. I want you to cut off the snake at the head, if you will.” - Kill (amount) at matka miest.
“A lot of these fenix are moving around the city in underground tunnels, messing with my business and my people. See if you can take care of that.” - kill (amount) in matka underground.
I have a deal going down in that missile silo later. You wouldn't mind clearing it for some cash would you? I need a safe place to hold a meeting.” - kill (amount) in missile silo
Player kill missions:
“I know it's technically treason, but they abandoned you, didn't they? Nonetheless, some members of (SF) are messing with my supply. Thin out the herd a bit” - kill (amount) of (SF)
“Some operatives working under (OF) are stealing goods and killing my people. I need you to put an end to this” - kill (amount) of (OF)
“I'm feeling generous and I need heads. Kill some operatives. it doesn't matter where they are from, I just want them gone. You do that for me and I have a reward for you” - Kill (amount) of players
“There are so many people out here, I am having a hard time doing my job with all this chaos. Do you mind clearing things up a bit? It's getting really overcrowded and ill pay” - Kill (amount) of players
“Some of my supply chains on island were raided. Now, I don't know by who but all I know is that this cant happen again. No PMCs, no problems, no? Go have some fun and come back to me for some cash” - kill (amound) or players on island.
“I need you again. Some guys shot up my men who were making a deal in the subway. I need you to go out and give them my best regards.” - kill (amount) of players on matka underground
Collect missions:
“I had one of my men go undercover as a fenix to get some sensitive documents in the labs. It's been two hours since he was supposed to check in and he still hasn't responded. I don't know where they are but I need you to confirm his status as KIA and get the papers.” - find the spy and retrieve the documents on island day.
“One of my men supposedly got a video and some pictures of what was going on in the prison over on Island. He should have been back by now but he's not and I have to assume that someone got to him. I need you to find the camera and bring it back to me. This does have to happen at night, though. I don't want anyone figuring out that we are together or linking this to me or my business. Understood?” - find and retrieve the camera on prison on island night.
“My men were making a delivery out on island. It saddens me to say that they are all confirmed KIA. They had a briefcase on them that I really need back. They died out on the hill leaving the facility going towards the prison. I don't know who killed them, the only clue we have is a drawing of a fish on each soldier's foreheads.” - find and retrive the briefcase on island day.
“I hear rumors of some documents out at the military camps talking about some of AdvantEdges actions. These documents could be of use to our cause. I want you to get them but it has to be done at night. I need you to find these as soon as possible but I don't want anyone to know that they were taken by anyone working for me. Find these for me and I will reward you handsomely” - Find and retrieve the documents at the military base on night island.
“A little bird told me about a USB drive containing some good dirt on AdvantEdge. It should be somewhere in the office. That tiny little thing will be of massive help to our cause. Get that then report back to me.” - find and retrieve the USB in the office room of silo.
“Some woman came up to me earlier and asked me to find her husband's picture. She says she doesn't know where it is but the barracks is a good place to start. As always, you do the dirty work and you get a cut.” - find the picture in the barracks on silo
“I made a deal with a seller out in Matka the other day. They left their case under a truck by the cathedral. I need you to go and find it for me. I will pay you, of course.” - find and retrieve the weapons case in matka miest
“I had a spy pay the capital city a visit. His last transmission was that his cover was blown and he made sure to leave his identification and phone at some construction site. Both of those have a clear connection to my company and that cannot happen. Time is of the essence here so get those back fast.” - Find and retrieve the phone AND identification at the construction site in matka miest.
“Right, I had a deal go down in the subways in matka. Unfortunately, the deal went under and now the goods are left unattended somewhere in the subway. I need you to go find it and bring it back to me.” - find and retrieve the briefcase in the subway in matka underground.
I don't have a second idea for matka underground. Let me know of something that you think should be added here!
Special missions
“I have a large resupply shipment waiting to visit labs on the island. I need you to clear out the building so they can do their work in peace. You do that then set off a flare so they know it's done. My spotter will watch for the flare then send the chopper in. You can have this flare gun on me but be careful, you lose this one then” - Eliminate all fenix in labs then fire the flare gun from the helipad.
“A while back I had someone put a virus in the control room over at silo. Since then they did a manual reboot. We suspect there's a lot of new data but i've been locked out. Our software is still in there but I need you to punch in this command for me so we can get in there. I will give you a paper with the numbers on it.” - Punch in a set of 10 numbers at the control room on silo.
“Someone hired us to transport a shipment on Matka Miest and deliver it to their guys in (map). My men are busy so I will pay you a fair share of the profits if you do the dirty work for me. All they told me was that it was at the park by the bridge in matka. They need the package ASAP. pick it up then deliver it to them (location). - find, retrieve, and transport the package from Matka to (map).
Island location: on the island. They say they have a camp near the military camps and the lighthouse. They want you to deliver it there.
Island night: out on island. They want you to do it under the cover of night though. They asked us to deliver it to their camp near the military camps. They say it's kind of between that and the lighthouse.
At the missile silo. They asked us to hide it in the cellar above the elevator shaft.
Underground: underground. Shouldn't be that far but they don't want to do it themselves. They want you to hide it in (I don't know underground well enough to say a specific area. Im thinking somewhere in the sewers? I don't know of any namable locations. Maybe the catwalk above the sewers?)
I don't know underground well enough to make a special mission for underground. I would do something with the old bunker but there's already 2 keycard locations there.
Boss missions:
“One of my clients hired me to kill some guy called Krtek out in silo. Heard of him? Good. I don't have a problem with him but my guy who's paying me does. Here's the thing: he sells me the goods of those he kills since he's so stubborn about using his own gear he has so much excess. I don't want to ruin this good reputation to go to waste so I need you to do it. Kill him and I will give you a cut of my client's money.” - Kill Krtek in Silo.
“I have a lot of supply routes going through island. The problem is sometimes they have to go through during the night. So many times now these parties have been killed by some elusive cultists. Ive never seen them myself but every time I find these soldiers they have a drawing of a fish on their heads and my spies have heard stories of a fish cult out at the church. They know my men and always get the jump on them which is why I'm sending you. Kill these cultists and I will reward you handsomely.” - Kill the fish cultists
“I had a deal go down in Matka with some high value gear. It was not only interrupted but it was just by one guy. He stole my gear and showed me videos of my men on display. This nutjob calls himself ‘the collector’. I will pay you if you show this man what happens when you mess with me and my toys.” - Kill the collector.
Retrieve missions:
“I'm running low on (item). I need you to do a favor and grab some for me, alright? I only need (amount). I will pay, of course” - Find and retrieve (amount) (item).
“My supply team is busy right now and an order just came in for (amount) (item). You help me with them and I will give you a cut.” - Find and retrieve (amount) (item).
“Want some quick work? Find me (amount) (item) and I will pay for it.” - Find and retrieve (amount) (item).
“I need some (item) real quick. Only (amount). Do you mind helping me out here? I will pay you.” - Find and retrieve (amount) (item).
“My shipment was intercepted and I need to make back what I lost and I need it quick. My clients are not very happy. Would you mind helping me out? I need (amount) (item)” - find and retrieve (amount) (item).
New additions:
Flare gun
Has a chance to spawn in airdrop unless used in a mission(based on AMA from scott, I believe he said he wanted to include something like this which is why I included it.)
One shot, once fired the player has to open the gun and put another cartridge in.
Red
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This is 6 pages on google docs, if you red it all, good for you! Let me know what you think! Let me know regardless of if you read all the missions, of course. What new missions would be cool/fun/interesting? What did I miss? What can I change? Im especially looking for more special missions, Id imagine at least 2 for every map.

Overview
This post is the final part of my three-part writeup on the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman, who was discovered buried in the banks of a creek in rural Victoria, Australia almost seventy years ago to the day. Despite massive public interest, intensive media coverage, and an enormous police investigation, the woman was never identified and her case gradually slipped into obscurity. However, the wealth of newspaper coverage gives us an amazing level of detail about a case which is so forgotten that there is zero searchable information about it online. My goal with this writeup is to compile and summarise these archival sources about the unidentified woman, in the hopes that her case and story will once again be known.
If you haven’t read Part 1 (available at this link) and Part 2 (available at this link), I would recommend starting with those. Part 1 provides an overview of the discovery of the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman’s remains and the initial investigation into her death. Part 2 surveys the range of evidence which was recovered over the course of the investigation into the unknown woman.
In Part 3 (you are here), we will examine the theories surrounding the woman’s identity and the circumstances of her murder. Firstly, we will review a couple of theories which were quickly dismissed, because this story has some intriguing connections with another sensational true crime story from 1950s Australia. Secondly, we will review the various theories proposed about the woman’s identity and the circumstances of her death, with a focus on how these theories evolved over time as new evidence emerged. Finally, we will conclude this write-up with some conclusions about what we have learnt about the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman, as well as the unresolved questions which cast long shadows over her case.
Summary of Key Information
The remains of an unidentified woman aged between 40 and 50 were found buried in the banks of King Parrot Creek near the small town of Strath Creek, Victoria, Australia on 6 April, 1954. Her skeleton was almost complete except for some missing components of her facial structure and a portion of her breastbone, and part of her skull was found downstream from the rest of her body. Victorian police immediately launched a massive search of the crime scene, recovering some small bones and fragments of the woman’s clothing which were used to reconstruct her outfit. Further investigation revealed a single pellet of #10 shot embedded in the woman’s jaw and numerous other pellets around the site of her body which may have ended up in the soil as she decomposed. Her full scalp of hair was also discovered upstream, tangled in a bush above the height of the creek’s waterline. These clues seemed to indicate that the woman was killed by a gunshot before her body entered the creek further upstream from where she was found. Additionally, her body may have been covered by the accumulation of silt from successive floods, rather than having been buried in a grave which was intentionally excavated at the site.
Dismissed Theories
Before diving into our analysis of theories about who the woman was and how she died, we will discuss two dismissed theories which offer interesting insights into the social climate and policing conventions of 1950s Australia.
Matching to Known Missing Persons
One of the first lines of enquiry pursued by investigators was whether the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman’s remains matched the description of any known missing persons. Early on, the files of 111 women reported missing between 1947 and 1950 were listed as possible matches to the remains. By August of 1954, four months after the skeleton’s discovery, the number of women who were investigated as potential matches exceeded 200.
A noteworthy feature of these efforts is the number of women still listed as missing who were discovered alive during the investigation. Detective Grace Brebner, Victoria’s only female detective at the time, was called in to assist with the tracing of women who had been reported missing. In the first twelve open missing persons cases which police followed up on, six of the missing women had already returned home. By five days after the discovery of the woman’s remains, more than a hundred missing persons casefiles had been dismissed as matches, and more than twenty women who were still listed as missing had been traced. Within a few months Detective Brebner and her team had already traced more than sixty missing women, many of whom still lived in various parts of Victoria despite being long believed dead by their relatives!
However, despite extensive publicity, requests for information by police, and the high rate of closed missing persons cases which stemmed from the investigation, enquiries into known missing persons cases never seemed to go anywhere. Notably, no women from the Broadford area (local to the site of the discovery of the skeleton) had been reported missing, and no locals came forward to make a report even after repeated requests by police. Ultimately, police believed it was ‘more than likely that this woman has never been reported missing’.
These attempts to match the woman’s remains to known missing persons cases highlight how much public attitudes and police procedure regarding missing persons have changed since the 1950s. The fact that many women listed as long-term missing in police records had already returned home indicates a lack of routine follow-up, so perhaps Detective Brebner’s appointment to the case occurred because male detectives considered the task of tracing missing women to be beneath them. Conversely, perhaps Detective Brebner was so successful in her task because women who had intentionally gone missing to escape domestic abuse were more comfortable talking to her.
Phyllis Page
A key reason that the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman’s case first captured the public imagination was that police initially believed her body belonged to Mrs Phyllis Mary Page (reported as Mary Phyllis Page in some sources). Phyllis Page was a woman whose newlywed husband was convicted of her murder in a sensational trial. Her case reportedly made legal history as Australia’s first successful ‘murder without a body’ conviction in which none of the victim’s remains were ever found. To this day, no trace of Mrs Page has ever been detected after she left on her honeymoon in February of 1950.
Phyllis Page was from Blacktown, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, and was a middle-aged widow when she met Lionel Charles Thomas. Thomas had an extensive criminal history which began in Victoria in 1931: among innumerable other offences, he was tried for other murders on no less than four occasions(!), and once served four years in prison for blinding a man with pepper at Kings Cross, a then-seedy inner-city neighbourhood in Sydney, and robbing him of £650 (approximately $40,000AUD/$26,000USD today). He met and courted Mrs Page under the false name of ‘Fred Stephens’, promising to marry her and ultimately persuading her to transfer possessions worth more than £2000 (nearly $123,000AUD/$80,000USD today).
Phyllis Page and Lionel Thomas set off for their honeymoon from Blacktown on February 2, 1950, travelling in a panel van. They took the coast road until reaching Eden on the south coast of New South Wales, where Thomas is believed to have shot Page on or around February 19, before dumping her body in a flooded creek. Page’s disappearance was soon noted by her children, who were no longer receiving letters from her to update them about her trip.
What followed was a meticulous police investigation which tracked Thomas across several states, piecing together his movements and creating a ‘chain of circumstantial evidence’ which ‘was complete in every detail’. This process was so strenuous that after it ended, one of the lead investigators permanently retired from the police force, burnt out by the stress of the experience. Lionel Thomas was ultimately arrested thousands of kilometres away in Western Australia, shortly before celebrating his planned marriage to another woman! In spite of the absence of Phyllis Page’s body and other physical evidence, he was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to life in prison. He did not serve much of this sentence, dying by suicide in Sydney’s Long Bay Penitentiary in 1951.
Early on, Phyllis Page was considered to be a possible match for the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman. Her key descriptors lined up well: she was about 50 years old, stood at 5ft 3in (160 cm), and had brown hair. She mainly wore tailored clothes of good quality, and wore upper and lower dentures which were made by a Parramatta dentist around 15 years earlier. Melbourne detectives quickly asked their Sydney colleagues for details on what Mrs Page was wearing when last seen, and details of her teeth. While a dental technician who could identify whether the skeleton’s dentures belonged to Mrs Page had died half a decade prior, arrangements were at one point underway for samples of the woman’s clothes to be sent to Sydney for examination by Mrs Page’s daughter, Mrs June Burr.
However, this theory fell out of favour as quickly as it arose, as many things about the potential match clearly did not make sense. For instance, the skeleton was found wearing winter clothing, but Phyllis Page disappeared in summer. There is also a distance of over 600km (370mi) between King Parrot Creek and Eden, and no waterway connects the two locations. Extensive tracing of Thomas’s movements after the murder by police never placed him anywhere near King Parrot Creek, so it’s unclear how or why Mrs Page’s body would have ended up at this location. Setting aside enthusiastic speculation from the media at the time, this connection to another famous Australian true crime story is only an intriguing footnote in the story of the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman.
Theories
We will now examine a number of theories which were raised about the woman’s identity and fate over the course of the investigation. Some can be dismissed out of hand, others lack virtually any evidence to confirm or discount them, while others still connect with some of the known facts but are still frustratingly incomplete.
Accident
Newspapers originally speculated that the woman’s death might have been an accidental drowning, with her remains being buried on the bend of the creek where she was found by the gradual accumulation of silt. Although this seems unlikely given the shot found in and around the woman’s body, some commenters on Part 2 speculated that this shot may have entered her body postmortem (e.g., due to hunters firing into the rabbit warren above where her body was buried).
If true, this would leave the woman’s cause of death open, but two signs point away from this idea that the shot was introduced to the scene after the woman was buried there. Firstly, if the shot was present due to hunting in the area, why wasn’t there more evidence of this? The search of the soil was performed with amazing care: barrel upon barrel of soil from the site was sieved by hand. Cartridges and caps for shotgun shells were never found in this soil, and even though #10 shot contains approximately 850 pellets per ounce, only 14 pellets were found at the site. Many of the pellets found were also dented as though they had struck a hard object such as bone. These factors indicate that the small number of shot pellets found at the site ended up there because they fell out of the woman’s body during decomposition.
Secondly, a shotgun blast matched the pattern of damage to the woman’s skull which obliterated her upper jawbone. Despite their initial mystification at her cause of death, forensic experts agreed that this injury would have been the result of one or two shotgun blasts. Reading between the lines, it seems like the very small size of the shot was what hindered the identification of gunshot damage, rather than a pattern of injury which did not resemble that caused by a shotgun blast.
Suicide
Assuming that the woman died as a result of a gunshot wound, was her death attributable to suicide or murder? Given how little we know about her, this question is impossible to answer: we can only attempt to interpret the limited information available to us. With this caveat stated, some contextual factors seem to point against suicide. For example, King Parrot Creek is still relatively remote despite its proximity to Melbourne, and it would have been even more so in the 1950s. Police did not see how the woman could have been a local, given that nobody was reported missing in the area. They also did not believe that she could have travelled to the area to enact a plan of suicide without anyone remembering her arrival: the nearest train stations (Broadford and Kerrisdale) were a considerable distance away from the creek, and there were no reports of any abandoned cars being discovered in the area. As investigators eloquently put it: ‘It is hard to believe that this woman strayed to this spot on her own and died there without her death being questioned’.
Furthermore, how would suicide by gunshot have played out such that the woman’s body ended up in the creek? Unless her body was somehow deposited into the creek from another location by heavy rain, the woman would have needed to shoot herself in such a way that she fell into the creek. This is not impossible but seems like an odd choice – did she shoot herself while sitting on the railing of a bridge, or did she shoot herself on the banks of the creek? If the latter, why wasn’t the gun ever found given that the creek was dredged and searched for miles upstream from where she was discovered
Murdered at the Site
One of the earliest theories about what had happened to the woman was that she was killed during a shooting or fishing trip at the site where she was found. An early lead led to investigators following up on reports of ‘noisy fishing parties’ at the creek during weekends ‘some years ago’. People apparently camped at the site of the woman’s discovery, and the parties they held there were ‘wild’ – indeed, police recovered a large number of empty beer and wine bottles from this area during their investigation of the scene. The landowners were clearly not pleased by these goings-on: four years prior to the woman’s discovery, a fence had been put up along the side of the property about 10 yards (9 metres) from the creek to discourage these people, and since then very few people had camped near the spot where the skeleton was found.
Police initially theorised that during one of these parties, someone picked up one of many heavy rocks nearby and killed the woman with it. This idea may have been based on the pattern of damage to her skull, but it can be discounted if you believe she was murdered by gunshot. More broadly, this theory seems to be invalid because the woman’s scalp was found upstream from the site, and other evidence suggested she had been buried by silt that accumulated over her body rather than being put in a grave which was dug at that spot. Overall, the fact that the woman was discovered at a previously notorious party location seems to be nothing more than a strange coincidence.
Murdered in Melbourne
One theory which is neither supported nor contradicted by the available evidence is that the woman was killed in Melbourne and taken to the King Parrot Creek area for disposal. One article proclaimed that detectives ‘feel sure’ this was the case, but it was rarely mentioned afterwards. There is not much more to say about this idea: although none of the available forensic evidence clearly connects the woman to Melbourne, it doesn’t connect her to anywhere else either!
Murdered Elsewhere Near the Creek
When the woman’s scalp of hair was found upstream from her body, the location of this discovery was only 100 yards (91 metres) downstream from the Kerrisdale Bridge (also called ‘Burston’s Bridge’ in some sources) near Strath Creek. Furthermore, the location of the scalp was only a short distance from a camping ground located just off the Flowerdale Road, which also seems to be where the corsets mentioned in Part 2 were found. (Note: I haven’t been able to pinpoint where the bridge and campground are – Kerrisdale is downstream from where the woman’s skeleton was found, so the ‘Kerrisdale Bridge’ can’t be located within Kerrisdale itself. The campground may possibly be at Moores Road Reserve, which is right next to a bridge, but I have no way of confirming this.) Some of the last available reporting on the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman speculated that she was killed during an argument at the campground near Kerrisdale Bridge. Her body was then thrown into the creek where it was hidden by debris, then heavy winter flooding floated it downstream where it got snagged in the wattle tree and buried by silt.
Rumours
News reports of the time were replete with vague tidbits and innuendo: for example, one report stated that ‘a woman aged about 30 disappeared from her home in Melbourne in 1952 and has not been seen or heard of since’, while another proclaimed that ‘detectives will question a man whose wife has been missing for several years’. Ultimately, only two rumours were detailed enough to offer a theory about what had actually happened to the woman.
The first of these stories was provided by a truck driver: in late 1951, he gave a man and a woman a lift from Holbrook, New South Wales, to Broadford, Victoria. These towns were located about 300km (186mi) from each other on the Hume Highway, the main route between Sydney and Melbourne; Broadford is the nearest town to the site of the woman’s discovery with a population of over 1,000. This man and woman gave the driver the impression that they had just been released from jail: detectives believed that if the woman had been in jail, she was unlikely to have been reported missing. The woman was wearing clothing similar to that worn by the skeleton woman, but her blouse had an open neck, while the clothing found at King Parrot Creek included a blouse with a high collar. Additionally, it’s unclear how late in the year these events transpired: if it was already summer, it is unlikely that the woman would have been wearing heavier winter clothing.
The second story was provided by a farmer from Broadford, who said he attended a local dance during Easter of 1948 (which occurred over March 26-29 in that year), where he danced with a strange woman who seemed on the point of hysteria. She told him she’d been travelling around in a truck with another woman and two men for 10 days, and during the night the men had killed the other woman and buried her near a creek. This detail matched police’s theories that the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman’s body was buried on the creek banks for a time, causing her to decompose enough that her scalp easily detached when flooding washed her body out of the grave and her hair became tangled in the branches of a shrub overhanging the creek. Conversely, this story does not match the post-mortem interval of 2-3 years which police eventually settled on, and a case could be made either way about whether it was cold enough locally at that time of year to justify the clothing that the woman was found wearing.
Questions
More questions than I can do justice to here surround the mystery of the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman, but I’ll try to cover some core ones below. Keen to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Where was the woman from?
I think the woman was not part of the local community, as I can’t see why an entire rural community in 1950s Victoria would band together to keep her identity a secret. It’s most likely that she was from elsewhere and was never reported missing. We also can’t rule out interstate connections: while I don’t think the woman is the same person who received a lift from the truck driver in 1951, the proximity of the creek to the Hume Highway, one of Australia’s most important interstate routes, is notable.
What was the woman’s cause of death?
For the reasons discussed above, I definitely believe that the woman’s death was not the result of an accident, and I am inclined to believe that she did not die by suicide. But if the woman was murdered, was this a premeditated act by her killer? I am inclined to think not: #10 shot, used to kill small birds like quails and pest animals like rabbits, does not seem like an ideal first choice for killing a human. If this was a crime, it appears to have been committed with whatever the killer had on hand, possibly pointing to someone on a shooting holiday or a country resident as the perpetrator.
Where did the woman die?
One of the big problems with solving this case is that the woman could have died anywhere and been disposed of in creek – there was little hope of finding the murder site or weapon when the investigation begun, and that hope is virtually non-existent now. Although Melbourne was proposed as a possible murder site, as discussed above it is impossible to evaluate this idea using the available evidence. However, the idea that she was killed a popular campsite near a bridge is more intriguing. Even if the sound of gunshots was normal in the area due to hunting, surely the leadup to a murder by gunshot would have been noticed at a popular and busy campsite?
How did the woman enter the creek?
If we dismiss the idea that the woman was intentionally buried at the site where she was found, we must assume that she was washed down the creek. However, the fact that the woman’s scalp detached from her head in one piece when her hair became entangled in overhanging branches indicates a considerable level of decomposition. Was her body dumped in the creek while it was flooded, resulting in her hair getting tangled? This could have trapped her body and placed considerable tension on the scalp, causing it to detach. Or (as one investigator suggested) was the woman originally buried in the banks of the creek upstream, with the decomposition process beginning during burial? Her body may have subsequently been washed out of its grave during flooding, which transported it down the creek to the place where the scalp detached. As discussed below, these different accounts have implications for determining when the woman died.
When did the woman die?
We know that the woman likely died during winter from her heavy clothing, but reviewing the evidence with more modern forensic techniques might allow us to triangulate a more accurate window of time. For example, we know that the woman’s death would most likely have occurred around the time of heavy rains and flooding, as her scalp was found tangled in bushes well above high water level. Additionally, the earliest newspaper clippings show that the woman was buried in the creek bank 10 feet (3 metres) above the height of water level. Identifying how long it would have taken for the woman’s scalp to detach under the different scenarios proposed above might give more accurate insight into when she died. On this note, would the riverside campsite even be accessible if the woman was murdered during a time when the creek was in flood?
What do the available clues tell us about the woman?
The woman’s clothing offers some clues about her identity. Firstly, her clothes were relatively plain and conservative: it’s hard to picture her going to ‘wild parties’ on the banks of the creek. There are also conflicting signs about her economic standing: her shoes were reported to be of very good quality, but her dentures were made using outdated techniques and cheap materials. Maybe the most intriguing object she was found with is her khaki jacket, variously described as being a ‘lumber’, ‘service’ or ‘army’ jacket. If this was indeed an army jacket, could it indicate that the woman had a service record during World War II? Volunteers for both the Women’s Australian National Service (WANS) and its successor, the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS), were issued with khaki jackets as part of their uniforms (see examples at this link). Alternatively, could the woman have acquired the jacket from a returned serviceman?
One other mystery relates to the woman’s dentures. Why were her bottom dentures undamaged despite an apparent facial shooting, while her top ones were missing completely? There has been speculation that she carried her bottom dentures in her coat pocket, and her top dentures may have been in the handbag which was found by a Seymour woman but apparently never recovered. If there is one clue I would love to know more about in this case, it’s what became of this handbag – if its ‘private papers’ identified its owner, it could have been the key to this whole mystery!
Is it even possible to identify this woman anymore?
There are two aspects to this question: firstly, does anyone alive remember her? It is amazing how things like vanished family members survive for several generations in families’ oral histories, but time is running out – anyone who remembers her directly would be getting old. It is an unlikely outcome, but historical missing persons reports have started to trickle in across Australia, with some cases even being solved. Secondly, is the location of the woman’s remains known, and have they been stored in favourable conditions for genetic genealogy? There must be some record of this woman which just stops without explanation or a death certificate.
Conclusions
My personal belief is that the woman was murdered somewhere in the region of where her body was discovered. Possibly she was on a hunting holiday from elsewhere with her husband or other acquaintance(s), and was shot following a dispute in the heat of the moment. Her body was then disposed of over a bridge upstream, or perhaps along the banks of the creek; possibly this disposal occurred while the creek was in flood. Swept away by floodwaters, her hair was then snagged in overhanging branches and her scalp detached, and her body was deposited on the creek bank where it was buried by silt. Finally, her body was revealed to Alf Sutter by further flooding which dislodged the wattle tree against which it had rested under the silt. I do want to acknowledge that the plausibility of this theory hinges on whether you think the woman died by gunshot wound – if she died by other means and the shot ended up in and around her body post-mortem, a much wider range of possibilities about her death are on the table.
However, debate about causes of death doesn’t diminish the core intrigue of the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman’s mystery. How did her body come to by buried deep in this lonely, isolated creek bank, found only because of a farmhand’s chance decision to take a tea break? Will we ever learn who she is, and is the present location of her remains even known for an attempt at genetic genealogy? I hope that making information about her case available in a public forum will bring awareness to her story: even if she cannot be identified, at least she will not be forgotten.
Note: I was hoping to release this final part on 4 April, which was the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the King Parrot Creek Skeleton Woman, but life got in the way! Thank you for reading this write-up, and a special shoutout to the people who left such supportive and interesting comments on the previous parts. I really enjoyed sharing my research with the community, and have had a few messages with requests to cover other cases which I might look into now that this write-up is complete.
Link to sources: This three-part write-up is based on over 100 newspaper articles. Rather than linking to them individually, I’ve compiled a PDF of all sources used which you can browse at this link.