The Fetch! Trap

Victims of what has been termed the Fetch! Trap have showed signs of acute memory loss and paranoia. The paranoia being the most noticeable and serious is related to the sense that people are searching for the victim or the victim constantly searching the environment around them to look for something. Victims often run from one side of the maze to the other following this searching pattern and often double-back, instantly forgetting they have already checked that area. This behaviour is also hazardous to innocent bystanders where the loss of memory comes in. When victims run through their search they often collide with, run over or mow down any and all away while on the ongoing search, oblivious to the fact they did so.

There are further side-effects that may or may not be related to the aforementioned hazards; however, it is reported that one of every ten cases results in the victim becoming wilder and out of control, prone to crazed and random actions or words. No harm has thus far come from these cases; however, the most noted one seems to be one Maryon2001 who has periods of complete loss of sanity, or in this reporter's opinion, complete gain of sanity. Maryon2001 has exhibited signs of complete sanity only to switch into the full-blown crazy behaviour leading to random and quite disreputable behaviour that later proves to be quite embarrassing to the individual upon the loss of both craziness and sanity once more.

Highly intrigued by said disease, this reporter went out on a quest to discover a explanation to aforementioned insane behaviour. It is true that a lot of quests, be it Edna's, Jhudora's or even the Faerie Queen's herself, require the Neopian to 'fetch' various items. Then why was it this particular game that caused this insane behaviour and not some other, was this reporter’s biggest burning question. This reporter believes that this odd behaviour is somehow related to the time one spends in solitude and in frantic search for an item his or her master requires and would be 'very displeased' if they do not make it out of the maze it in given time.

Another suspicious artefact is the Tentacompass, which is given directly to you by your master. Why would one get so hopelessly lost, if one had a compass to show them the correct direction? It only leaves the question whether the compass has been deliberately tampered with to make the search as hard as possible. Could this be the work of the corrupt game master, this reporter cannot resolutely say, but it definitely points to that direction.

Is it possible that the Tentacompass is only there to distract and delay you? The Haunted Woods are scary enough to wander around in with a group of friends, so what would happen if one would be running there alone with a compass that doesn't work, searching for an exit which for all we know doesn't even exist? They’d go CRAZY! No one said the game master was honest, after all. No one wants to suffer the consequences when they don't find the item of the master's choice, making this whole ordeal even more unnerving.

Is this all a plot to turn clueless Neopians insane, or worse, evil? The signs that one has fallen into the Fetch! Trap may not occur instantly, or the same way Maryon2001 has been exhibiting them. It's indiscriminate and sometimes difficult to diagnose because obsessive behaviour is so evident in even well Neopians, but Neopians who have fallen for the Fetch! Trap go beyond a simple obsession. In desperation, they might get violent and start a war – could this be where the game master is heading? Either way, this reporter advises you to be cautious whichever game you choose to play in the Haunted Woods, for there is a lot of mischief and evil lurking about.

Who this ‘game master’ is, no one knows. He is veiled in mystery even now, which is rather suspicious. It would be quite right to assume that AT LEAST one fetch-er in the whole Neopia could identify him. All of the gamers have undoubtedly seen his face yet none of them have dared to mention him. It’s as if they have been hypnotised, made to forget or are just too scared to do so. Whether it is the masters own doing, or is this the side-effect of using the Tentacompass we have yet to find out, since this reporter is unwilling to put her own life on the line to investigate this further.

Dear readers, a word of caution.

Obsessive behaviour is apparent in all Neopians. It's what makes us fall in love or enjoy a hobby for example. However, when this becomes fuelled by inappropriate anxiety it becomes a disorder, intrusive, inappropriate and damaging. All this reporter can do now, having provided you with the crucial information, is to hope that people listen and think twice before entering the maze, for you may return having acquired an obsession- if you return at all, that is.

Treatment for such cases has not been found yet as there is still too much left unknown about this strange occurrence. Where many cases have slipped out of all notice, recently the Fetch! Trap has taken its full toll out on Maryon2001, bringing her problems into the full notice of several respected Neopians. Thankfully for everyone, her disease has been confined mainly within the privacy of her Neohome and thus has not elevated into an outright plague upon all of Neopia. Until more is learned, as the subject can never be approached for study, let alone questions, a cure is out of the question.