In this latest entry for The Agency, we learn a little about the Pied Piper and his infamous flute. This entry contains child murder and the disappearance of large numbers of children. If this particular topic bothers you, please don't read any further. If not, however, enjoy.

Artifact 0145HF

History & Description

Artifact 0145HF is a rather legendary item. It is so well-known that it has been featured in many fairytales and stories. The artifact is known in those stories as the Hamelin Flute, and it belonged to the Pied Piper who led the children away from Hamelin in 1284. This much is true and known based on firsthand accounts from witnesses to the incident.

            The artifact appears as a wooden transverse flute with engravings of rose vines encircling the length of the flute. The only unusual facet of Artifact 0145HF is that the rose vines will change from blossoms to roses to wilted roses to bare vines when the artifact is played. Omicron researchers are attempting to work with Xi musicians to determine what this could mean.

Testimony 1284-06-26 (recorded 2014-06-26)

Arch. Doyle: Statement of Patrik Hopf, a witness to the first instance of Artifact 0145HF, initially given to Archivist Lennard Stoltenberg on June twenty-sixth, 1284, after the incident and translated by archival assistant Darryl Campbell. Recorded today on the seven-hundred-thirtieth anniversary of said incident by Archivist Miah Doyle. Statement begins:

            All the adults were at the church so they didn’t see him. I don’t know if they would have seen him anyway. They didn’t see him before when he took the other children away, but then…they never really paid attention to the other children anyway. They were orphans. No one cared or noticed, but I did. The other children did. We all saw him in his pied clothing when he led the orphans into the Weser River and we watched as they drowned. He went to the mayor and demanded payment for fixing the rat problem, but the mayor refused. The mayor was the only one that ever spoke to or seemed to see him. The piper left as silently as he’d come and we knew we hadn’t seen the last of him.

            When everyone was at the church for Saint John and Paul’s Day, he came back. He wasn’t colorful anymore. He was dressed in green like the hunters do and he was playing his flute. Everyone followed except me. Even Elias with his twisted legs crawled after him. Ulric was deaf and he still followed. Ludwig was blind and followed as best he could. Everyone followed but me.

            I don’t know why I didn’t follow. I heard the music, I heard how wonderful it was. I wanted to follow, but…he didn’t want me to. Even though I wanted to, the music and the piper told me to stay. I had to stay as a…I think he said reminder. A reminder to the town about what will happen when deals aren’t honored.

Arch. Doyle: Statement ends. Patrik Hopf was merely twelve at the time and the son of the mayor’s daughter. He was the only child left in town after hearing the music from Artifact 0145HF. The other children were never seen again nor were their bodies found. The people in town knew that the mayor had requested help with the “rat” problem and were angry the mayor’s grandson had been left alive while their children were taken. The mayor, his daughter, and Patrik Hopf were murdered by the furious townspeople, all three burned at the stake for, according to historical records, “making a deal with the devil and not honoring it.”

Testimony 2014-06-26

Arch. Doyle: Statement of Kerry Hayes, a witness to an incident involving Artifact 0145HF. Statement recorded direct from subject by Archivist Miah Doyle.

Hayes: I don’t really know what I saw. I just…it’s all so strange. So odd. Everything is hazy, like a half-remembered dream.

Arch. Doyle: It’s okay. Take your time. Just tell me what you remember.

Hayes: It was a normal day, just normal. I was at the park, enjoying the summer weather, sitting on the bench and trying to read a book. There were children playing on the playground nearby and I’d look up every so often to watch since my son, Logan, on the slide.

            It was just…such a normal day. Wispy clouds drifting lazily across the clear blue sky. Everything was normal. The noise from the children playing provided background noise to my reading. I checked on Logan, he was fine.

There were dozens of people there that day. Parents sitting on benches while their kids played. Joggers. A vendor selling hotdogs and soda. Everything was…there were so many people there. It was like a normal summer day.

I had just returned my attention to my book after checking on Logan again that I noticed how…quiet everything was. No birds. No distant cars. No children playing. No talking at all. But I did faintly hear music. I looked up and…everyone seemed frozen. The vendor was in the process of handing over a hotdog to someone, but there was no movement. Everything was so still and so silent, but I heard…I thought I heard…I thought I heard music. Just faint flute music.

I tried to get up, tried to get Logan’s attention, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get off the bench. I couldn’t speak. I could turn my head, but I couldn’t do anything else. Logan was standing at the bottom of the slide, frozen like everyone else. All the children were still, motionless. They all…their heads were all cocked to one side as though listening. They all heard the music, I’m sure of it. Then, they all began walking.

I tried to follow them, but I still couldn’t move. The music got louder and I saw a man dressed in green, playing the flute. Our eyes locked and…it was like staring into a black hole. Just…blackness and emptiness. He…it…smiled and kept playing the flute. The children all gathered around him. Logan was standing front and center, right in front of him.

The tune changed and the children began marching off in front of him. He lingered with Logan right in front of him for several minutes. Then, had Logan walk over to me and sit on the bench with me. Finally, the music stopped and the man vanished, leaving the flute behind.

Sound returned. Movement. Then the parents began to panic because their children were gone. Many people called the police. I called them too as I held Logan closely to me. After a few moments, the park was swarming with police and then one of the officers made a call. At the time, I assumed it was to the FBI to start an investigation of the missing children. Now, I’m inclined to believe that it was to your agency, but I don’t know for sure.

Your agents showed up then and asked me about the flute that had been dropped at my feet. I told them about the man vanishing and they told me to come here to give a statement. I said I would, but that I wasn’t leaving Logan at home or out of my sight. He’s out in the lobby with one of your agents, and I’d like to go to him now.

Arch. Doyle: Statement ends. Artifact 0145HF is currently residing in the museum and being studied by Omicron researchers and Xi musicians, though I do not see any wisdom in permitting someone to actually play the artifact. I will say that I am surprised that the artifact has been recovered on seven-hundred-thirtieth anniversary of the first incident.

Testimony 2018-06-26

Arch. Doyle: Statement of Curator Theo Hunter, regarding an incident involving Artifact 0145HF, recorded direct from subject by Archivist Miah Doyle.

Cur. Hunter: I don’t know what happened. Artifact 0145HF was in its designated spot in the museum. I was taking notes, observing it. The vine engravings had been bare when we acquired the artifact, but whenever support team Xi members played it, the engravings changed. They cycled through the lifecycle of a rose. Most recently, it had been left on the full rose. I was just observing it to see if the designs changed when it wasn’t being played and then I looked up from my notebook to check the designs and the artifact was gone. Vanished. Like how Artifact 0037LH and Tome015S vanish at times. I knew then that there would be more children missing soon.

            I was right. Collector Jasper Case returned with Artifact 0145HF and told me about the incident. Fifteen elementary-aged children on a field trip vanished. None of the chaperones saw or heard anything, but the artifact was found near a copse of trees. The design reflected bare vines, though I noticed that the vines seemed thornier than they had before.

Arch. Doyle: Statement ends. The fifteen children that vanished haven’t been found. Neither have the children who vanished from the park the day we first recovered Artifact 0145HF. It’s unlikely that they ever will be. The information about the changing vines is odd, but not on its own something to fear. Still, perhaps it would be best that support team Xi musicians refrain from playing Artifact 0145HF until we know more about how the artifact works.

Testimony 2020-06-26

Arch. Doyle: Statement of Collector Grant Cross, regarding the capture of Inmate 064 and an incident involving Artifact 0145HF, recorded direct from subject by Archivist Miah Doyle.

Coltr. Cross: We caught him. We finally caught the bastard. I don’t…I don’t know if it’s the same one from 2014 and 2018, but we caught one of them. Fucking…he’s a millionaire or a billionaire, one of those. Maximilian Hester. Yeah, him. He lured kids away this time, but I don’t know about the other times. I don’t think we’ll find those kids either.

            When Artifact 0145HF vanished this time, we were ready. We’d had so many support team members—Beta and Tau, mostly—monitoring different gatherings of children and different locations where children would likely be. Support team Tau member Chloe Key found it. Maximilian Hester was hosting some kind of party involving children. We got there as soon as we could, but it was too late. The children were gone, but this time, the Piper hadn’t vanished.

            Hester was there, holding the flute and looking appalled. When we told him to come with us, he begged us to keep Artifact 0145HF away from him. He came quietly and we handed him off to the wardens. I returned Artifact 0145HF to the museum.

Arch. Doyle: Any sign of the children? Did he say anything about them?

Coltr. Cross: No. He didn’t seem to know what happened any more than the parents did. Of course, maybe he does know something since he seems afraid of Artifact 0145HF. You could try interviewing him.

Arch. Doyle: Statement ends. It is…reassuring to know that Inmate 064 has been apprehended. It would be nice to know where the children are and what happened to them, but I don’t think we’ll find them. Hopefully, with Inmate 064 in containment, Artifact 0145HF will cease traveling and the disappearances of children en masse will as well.

This isn't the only entry involving the Pied Piper and the flute. There is an accompanying Inmate entry, "Inmate 064" which will possibly be shared.