Numerous thanks to editors Rimple, TheMightyMcB, HisShad0w and CryonicAutumn for reviewing various incarnations of this Tale and providing feedback.
Apologies for the long delay since the previous instalment, Immemorial. This chapter was inordinately difficult to write because (as you might be able to tell) I know nothing whatever about touring as a professional concert violinist, and this chapter isn't really a complete story in itself, so I had a really annoying time trying to figure out a way to make it so that it wasn't just "during a performance, SCP-3125 arrives, to be continued".
Towards the end of writing this I found I had too many different things I wanted to say and I had to cut a lot out for brevity, and I'm still not happy with how long the whole thing is. Notable omissions are: the Foundation's perspective on this incursion; interactions with the Ará Orún; the antagonist from Ojai doing evil things on international news and/or taunting Wheeler to his face about the fate of his wife; and, as devotees of my sandbox page will sadly recall, the "burst flesh main" scene.
As mentioned in the Antimemetics Division Timeline, and as alluded to towards the end of this chapter, this Tale takes place approximately one year after the events of Your Last First Day. We are finally out of flashback territory and proceeding with the story proper.
Some readers may recall my original pitch for Five Five Five Five Five: "There's no Antimemetics Division. There's no Foundation. There's nobody."
