The text below was originally written shortly after the event by several of us, and was left upbto allow folks to complete the praxis, but then I (JTony) took a hiatus and left it sitting. So I finally releasing it as a finished task. Pardon the delay.

praximity:

0 -> 1


We took off due south from the park, hoping to avoid chasers and take advantage of the local bus system.

Some in the party looked for bus schedules but could not find them. We began to become convinced that it didn't exist. Our plans thwarted, we moved on.

Lesson learned; being chased in residential areas, with small streets and plenty of cover for chasers, is perhaps the most terrifying of situations (this leads me to believe a suburban Journey would be especially scary).

As we drew closer to the park we began to see other groups of people wandering about, usually on side streets. Were they chasers or runners?

For a variety of reasons (adrenaline, I have a horrible memory) I cannot precisely recall the card I drew at Bex's fortune telling; Bryce seemed to think I drew Temperance. Yet I have an image in my mind of a man riding a gondola of sorts, probably associated with the Wands suit because he seemed to be navigating through/around some sticks in the background. I could be making all of this up. Adrenaline was running high and clouds my memory.

In any case, I was about to make many more things up.

1 -> 2
This is where it started getting freaky.
(maps)
We headed out of the north entrance of the park, where we suspected we would be able to avoid many chasers. We were already on edge, eager both to make up for lost time and to stay as far away from chasers as possible.

When we turned onto Grand Ave, however, we very nearly walked straight into a gaggle of chasers. I was about five feet ahead of the main group, and when I peeked around the corner I saw a collection of orange ribbons. We scattered back

Bike riders suddenly started appearing. JTony was convinced that the riders coming at us from the north were chasers: I wasn’t so sure. I was far more concerned about the bike down the street from us with prominent orange flags displayed. Even though there was a little kid in a bike trailer being dragged behind it. Were chasers using babies as disguise?, I thought to myself. And he was headed toward me, now. Shit.

Of course, none of these turned out to be chasers, and I’m sure they gave us strange looks as we cowered in fear against the wall as they passed by. Further down the street, however, were some actual chasers, and when they began to come at us, we had lost all capability for a reasonable reaction. I bolted across the street, barely making it before the light changed.

2 -> 3
By this time I had been a full 20 minutes without my group and was fairly certain I'd never see any of them ever again.

I started up Lakeshore Dr. looking for a way up the hill. All of a sudden someone ducked under a bush right before my eyes. I was too paranoid for words so I motioned to my green armband. I may have said, "hey". He warned me of chasers immediately up the road and worried about being pinned down. I told him that I was headed up into the hills and that he was welcome to follow. After a few steps I had time to find out his name was Ben, that he had been separated from his group recently, and that he wasn't sure if any of them were still running. Great, I thought. More SF0 Bens.

Ours was a pairing that, at first, felt pretty ephemeral. He stayed across the street from me and about 5 yards behind. Later on, he told me that, in fact, he didn't trust me at all, and was convinced I was leading him into a trap so my chaser friends could catch him. I laughed when I heard this, because chasers are not your friends.


I had the misfortune of spinning the wheel and landing on "Lowteck decides your fate!". He chose for me a wasabi and durian sandwich. It really didn't taste all that bad: the first bite was wasabi, which killed my sense of smell, and the second was durian, which is very tasty when you don't have to smell it. We deliberated for a while, chasers shoulder surfing us, before heading back out.



Anomaly: Not a lot to add to the story that praximity hasn't already said, aside from a few notes for the future. Next time, I'm disguising myself as a homeless man and bringing a scuba rig.


JTony:
The high point for me was, unfortunately the low point for one of our other players. It was right after Artmouse was tagged, the only member of our group not to make it to the end.

We got surprised by a chaser on a residential street and we all scattered as we had planned. It was just plain luck that some of us got away while artmouse was targetted and tagged. It could have been any of us.

I ducked around the corner with Tiny Dancer just behind me. I immediately jumped up a set of stairs next to a low hedge. It was a good place to be from the standpoint of the chaser we were trying to escape from, but pretty dumb considering anyone walking down the street from the other direction could, and did see is from a mile away. Two elderly women in a car saw us, drove up, and started questioning us loudly about the game. Of course I could see the chaser and artmouse from where I was, peeking over the hedge, and I was sure the chaser was going to see and hear them talking to us. Luckily the ladies were satisfied with our brief conversation and moved on.

Tiny Dancer and I were completely pined down. The chaser, tired from his cashing, sat down on the curb in view of the bottom of the stairs we were laying on, and I could peek up over the hedge so I could see him, but he really couldn't see me, but if I moved much I'd be spotted, and even if tired, the chaser could still chase. Tiny Dancer was curled up, low behind me and I kept giving her updates, and we both had phone calls (the worry that the ringtones would be heard was tangble). I called artmouse, who I could see was upset at having been tagged. Then the chaser trotted off up the hill, artmouse, who was technically a chaser had her back to us, so Tiny Dancer and I ran the other direction, to the park, where we met our team and got our fortunes read by Bex. Mine was particularly fortuitous.

There are many more adventures (a great "lookout" building with in interior/exterior staircase perfect for viewing the chasers on the street below... a tree and fence, deeply shaded, where I watched chasers pass 10 feet away... etc.), but the one above is the one that epitomizes the night for me. I now feel this special bond with Tiny Dancer, like soldiers must feel after escaping narrowly together. I realize that the event is virtualized, but the emotions are very real, that heart in your throat and hearing nothing but your own howling pulse feeling is very real.

I did say that all of us made it to the end. Two of us, Bryce and I, did bail to BART before reaching the final checkpoint after receiving a call from AnnaOne that the cops were breaking up the end party early and it wasn't worth us going. The rest of the team went on to the final checkpoint and received their badges, and Bryce and I did in spirit. Fabulous night all around!