| Serial Killer Camera | |
|---|---|
| |
| "How can someone knowingly use such an artifact?" "Sometimes it's not that they knowingly use it, but that they are pulled in by it." - An exchange between Rookie Agent Jiverly and Agent Wood | |
|
Origin |
Unknown |
|
Type |
Photo Booth Camera |
|
Effects |
Any pictures taken by the camera links the victim's life to the picture. The user becomes a serial killer after one use. |
|
Activation |
Taking a Photo/Proximity |
|
Collected by |
Agents Sherman Wood and Lacy Jiverly |
|
Section |
|
|
Shelf |
Podium #33 |
|
Date of Collection |
August 26, 1914 |
| [Source] | |
A terrible artifact of unknown origin, but the artifact is believed to have existed since at least 1906.
Origin[]
The photo booth was first patented in 1888 by William Pope and Edward Poole, although early versions were unreliable and not self sufficient. The first automatic photo booth was patented in 1890 by Conrad Bernitt, and six years later Carl Sasse improved upon the automated process further.
Effects[]
Any pictures taken by the camera links the victim's life to the picture. Any action taken to the picture will occur to the person in real life (folding, cutting, burning, etc.). Unlike standard cameras of its era, the photos print out right away and develop within ten minutes of taking them.
The terrible effects don't stop there, however. The user of the camera becomes a serial killer after a single use. Unlike most killers, however, they wish death upon anyone without rhyme or reason. They may still develop habits, however, such as killing so many people in an area or timeframe. Even after neutralization, the effects are permanent.
WARNING: The artifact attracts those who are mentally unstable in close proximity towards it.
Collection[]
This artifact was collected shortly after the Warehouse's official move in August 1914, though it was on the Warehouse's radar for over a year. In June 1913, Elizabeth Parker purchased this camera from a local pawn shop in Stowe, Vermont after she felt the Camera call to her. After taking a picture of her best friend, Brenda Smith, Elizabeth felt a powerful, dark urge to tear the photo in half. She did, and Brenda was torn in half in the same manner as the photo.
With the artifact activated, Elizabeth felt the need to kill again. Five days after she killed Brenda, she targeted the local butcher, who died from being burned to death, despite not being near a fire at the time. After two weeks, she went to Lyndonville and killed two more people. After two more deaths occurred in Newbury a week later, the Warehouse sent Agents S.P. Herzog and Sherman Wood to investigate. After two weeks of tracking the deaths across Vermont, the Agents finally caught up to Elizabeth across the border in Pigeon Cove, Massachusetts. After the deaths of two people occurred again, Agent S.P. Herzog became Elizabeth's next target when he attempted to stop her from leaving town. She took his picture before getting away, then threw it into the ocean approximately fifteen minutes later. Agent Wood had to watch as his partner slowly died of drowning in front of him. After this occurred, the Warehouse recalled Agent Wood due to the nature of the artifact's holder and to bring back his partner's body.
Elizabeth continued to kill, and she moved across the country, never killing more than two people in one town so as not to arouse suspicion (see Parker Bronzing file for more details). The Warehouse kept a close eye on her, but felt it would be better to wait until they had an Agent with a particular skill. That Agent appeared in August 1914 in the form of Lacy Jiverly, who was the Warehouse's first new Agent after all of the moving was complete. Despite the dangers of sending a rookie on an assignment with as much risk as this, Agents Wood and Jiverly were sent to Globe, Arizona to head off Elizabeth.
After killing two people there, she moved onto Tombstone, and Agent Jiverly felt a vibe soon after arriving in the area. She convinced Agent Wood to go to an house just outside the city, and the pair arrived just in time to witness Elizabeth killing a young woman by crumbling the photo and tearing it, completely mangling the body. As Elizabeth turned her attention to the two Agents, she recognized Agent Wood from the year before. She attempted to take his picture, but Agent Jiverly shoved him out of the way, having her picture taken instead. Before Elizabeth could do anything to the picture, Agent Wood managed to fire his Tesla, knocking her out.
Elizabeth Parker was subsequently taken to the Warehouse, along with the artifact. Upon assessment from the Regents, there was no way to neutralize the effects, and due to the death of a Warehouse Agent and the mass casualties she inflicted, she was Bronzed. Due to the evil aura emanating from the artifact, it was placed within the Dark Vault.
Storage and Handling[]
Artifact is stored in the Dark Vault on a standard podium.
Neutralizer gloves are mandatory. Only Agents which have passed a mental stability test and have not been affected by artifacts involving mental stability for six months are allowed to handle this artifact.
Notes[]
- Elizabeth Parker's exact number of victims is hard to pin down, as assumptions of her habit of only killing two people per town. However, the Regents have pinned the minimum number at 262, though up to forty more are suspicious enough that they might have been related deaths. Those forty, however, were unable to be confirmed to have been committed by her.
- The number of deaths that occurred before this artifact fell into her hands has proven impossible to determine.
- Any photos taken of victims remain tied to them for the rest of their lives. One report came to the Warehouse of a mother who killed her father after tearing his picture in half, ripping him in half in 1917 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. After investigating, the Agents discovered the photo was taken in 1906, by a camera of the same model. Agents remain unsure of what happened to the original owner, as no unusual death records were reported in the area in that year.
- At Agent Jiverly's request, the surviving photo was gently torn on her leg after her death in 1961 to see if the effects would still linger after death. Nothing happened to her body, indicating that the effects finally release their hold after the death of the victim. The Photo remains in a special frame in her file.