august event.

[falsitates]

AUGUST 1 ~ 15

Vitae appears to return to normal as the night draws to an end and the new month's first day dawns. Its vanished citizens gradually begin to repopulate the city, and everything returns to normal. Everyone talks about how quickly July went by. August sure has come and gone in a blink of an eye, huh? How funny. They all laugh as they go about their business.

According to the news, the next two weeks will be cloudy, gloomy, and surprisingly chilly.

  THE MISSING

The news also reports that an alarming number of people have gone missing. Citizens of all ages, from young to old, have mysteriously vanished without a trace. It is estimated that approximately 20% of the population has gone missing. Local search parties have been organized and posters have been placed on bulletin boards. A group of volunteers goes into the forest and the abandoned castle every day to look for clues, but they always come up empty-handed.

Rumors quickly spread throughout the city about the disappearances and how spirits must have abducted them. Some of the more superstitious stockpile table salt and hire bogus exorcists to purify their homes. Others visit the shrine and begin praying to gods who have been forgotten. They claim to sense a presence that wasn't there before, and they use it as evidence that a higher being is present and will assist them.

From the trees, four crows watch. When members of the app approach the shrine, they all squawk and flap their wings. Only one flies down to the offering box and dares to come close. The other three remain on the sidelines.

  BRACELETS AND SIM CARDS

Every app user, new or old, are fitted with a watch on their left wrist. It's impossible to remove, and even the most powerful tools fail to make a dent in it. You simply have to live with it. Its user interface has changed since last month. It now has an identical copy of the app, allowing those who frequently forget their phones to have access. It also has a SIM slot on its side, but inputting any regular SIM card appears to have no effect and it's spit out. Anything else is spit out as well.

But for those who kept their mysterious SIdo M cards from June, as well as recent newcomers who wake up with one in their pockets, will find that the bracelet will accept them.

When it is inserted, it displays a city map. It looks a lot like the one that was unveiled last month. It updates every hour to show the user's immediate surrounding area and the precise locations of... something. White dots can be found in random locations, such as the middle of a beach, the back of a supermarket, and dark alleyways. There's no other information about these dots, and it's unclear what would happen if someone went to them.

There are a few scattered throughout the city. Do you dare to go?

  VITAEGATE

Your phone begins to vibrate.

It will not stop until you pick it up and when you do, it's cold to the touch. The buttons become unresponsive as it shuts down. Then, just like all the previous times, white lettering appears on a black background.

WELCOME TO WEEK TEN.
A NEW MODULE HAS BEEN UNLOCKED.
IT HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF PROVIDING VALUE.
DE OMNIBUS DUBITANDUM

The app now includes a new section. It reads 'forum.' The section is exactly what the name says. It's a simple forum where anyone can post comments, but they're all anonymous. No one can tell one from the other.

There are already a few comments.

  DECISION TIME

Your phone vibrates again on the 15th.

ALLY?
BETRAY?

You must choose one of the two options. You won't be able to use your phone otherwise.

YOU HAVE SELECTED [ALLY/BETRAY].
CHOOSE A USER.

The message is followed by a list. It contains the names and photos of all of the app's users. Your phone will remain unusable until you make a decision. Those who are adamant about not making a decision will notice moments before midnight that their watch begins to slowly overheat, with an ominous timer counting down from ten minutes. The options appear once more. After that, the timer will disappear.

YOU HAVE SELECTED [NAME].
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWER.
PLEASE WAIT PATIENTLY UNTIL THE NEXT UPDATE.

Comments

mod notes & questions.

[falsitates]

⬥ "Recent newcomers" refer to characters that are accepted from the past two weeks to the 15th.
⬥ All comments underneath the forum will be ICly anonymous. Players do not have to log out of their journals, but please keep in mind that OOC knowledge ≠ IC knowledge.
⬥ Starting from today, missions will no longer be assigned. Instead, players can choose to sign up to investigate anything within the city. The rewards can either be plot clues, big or small, or involve items that can aid characters.
⬥ To ask for a mission, please comment underneath the appropriate thread in the mod notes & questions top-level. To be considerate to your fellow players, please try to only investigate one thing.
⬥ If you have any questions, please ask underneath this top-level. If you have any questions related to a mission, please ask underneath the appropriate mission thread. Thank you!

missions.

[falsitates]

Please comment with what you would like to investigate and discuss all matters relating to missions underneath this comment.

decision time.

[falsitates]

Please submit your character's IC votes underneath this thread. The OOC deadline is July 14.

question

[cicadashell]

Is the list of users to select in alphabetical order?

anonymous forum.

[falsitates]

Please keep all comments that would be posted to the forum underneath this top-level.

votes

[falsitates]

Judai ALLYS Nier
Malleus ALLYS Issac
Murr BETRAYS Murr
Nier BETRAYS Jun
Noah BETRAYS Nier
Shylock ALLSY Shylock
Yuya ALLYS Shylock

[falsitates]

What do you think happened to all those missing people?
Do you really think ghosts did it?!

what are you currently listening to?

[falsitates]

[falsitates]

no one gives a shit about duel monsters judai stfu

RANK TOP THREE CUTEST USERS

[falsitates]

I'll go first!

1) Noah
2) Jun
3) Tenn

newcomers!

[falsitates]

what do you think about the new users?!

top three HOTTEST users

[falsitates]

[hippocarnival]

Why do we have to pick this again??

Who's behind this app? If you won't show yourself I don't want anything to do with this stupid experiment!

[ehero]

what
is going on
in the forums

[whiteshroud]

I don't know, but it gives me the same off-putting feeling as when corporations use memes.

[incompletely]

I didn’t think other people were watching us.
Unless we’re the ones posting these comments?

[ragewheel]

GOT NO CLUE

ARE PEOPLE JUST THAT BORED AROUND HERE??

[silentends]

You can't just listen to everything people say online, Judai.

It might just be a bad joke.

[silentends]

action : the city alleyways

[ Whatever happened in the previous weeks felt like a very long nightmare to Nier. He's unsure what's reality or illusion. Can he even still say that he's himself after everything that happened? Nier isn't quite sure what he is anymore. The only thing he knows for certain is that he's alive.

Maybe he can still use that cursed magic. Of course, the thought had crossed his mind. Nier just doesn't want to hurt anyone else. Out of sheer curiosity, he stretches his arms out and shadow-like magic begins to appear. It looks like he can still use it. That's unfortunate. He looks very disturbed and distraught.]

This power isn't normal. I must learn how to control it ...or else.

[Something terrible might happen. Nier doesn't finish that thought because he realizes that he isn't alone. ]

Who's there?

Network


I'm going to go help look for the people who went missing. Please let me know if you can assist. I could use a hand. Thank you.

[ wildcard always avalible and feel free to contact at springblooms ]

networrrrk

[ragewheel]

NOT SURE HOW I CAN BE OF MUCH HELP, BUT I'LL DO IT REGARDLESS

WHERE ARE YOU AT

action

[cicadashell]

[Jiro stops by the alleyway when he hears someone talking, not able to make out the words. It's just a glance at first, a casual reaction to the sound, until he sees the shadowy substance. He immediately strides down the alleyway, no care given to how loud his footsteps are. His response to Nier's question is not to introduce himself, but:]

I am, dipshit! What the fuck are you doing back here!?

[Jiro's own 'borrowed' powers manifest similarly, ones he can't access, and he's pegged Nier as a mononoke, a demon, a spirit who's no doubt responsible for some of the shit going on with the missing people.]

network

[incompletely]

I'm available to help, if you're still in need of volunteers.

action;

[breweries]

[ it's not usually shylock's job to take out the trash - he's the bartender, dammit - and yet here he is, stepping out of the back door with a bag of trash in hand.

he blinks at the rather suspicious figure and the shadowy magic he just conjured, and offers a smile like he's seen it all before. ]

Practicing your magic here? I suppose you can't be picky at times like these.

[cicadashell]

I. SHRINE

[Fuck this place. It's nowhere near where he was supposed to be. Fucking malfunctioning torii portal. Jiro hasn't been here long, but clearly the shrine is where to focus his energy, according to his interactions with residents and what's he caught of the news in that electronics store downtown. Coming from a more rural area in Japan and not having been in the cities much until recently, the shrine by the forest is a bit of welcome familiarity in the surroundings. He's never been to America, but this seems something out of place, and so he expects all this spirit and ghost shit everyone's worried about are mononoke being dicks and hiding in plain site to those who don't know any better.

He hangs around the shrine a lot of the day, very conspicuous in his tactical jumpsuit with too many pouches, but the disguise overlay function isn't working and Jiro can't be bothered to go find a change of clothes. It helps sometimes, though, makes him a little more intimidating, and when he glares or smirks maliciously at shrine-goers, they tend to back off and leave; most of them. Finally, he's managed to have the place to himself for however long, and he's yelling at the crows. Or cawing at them, as it appears to anyone who happens to wander by without his notice, standing at the base of the tree and watching those same four congregate. He's keeping his eye on the one he'd seen swoop down to the offertory box several times throughout the morning.]

Oi! You! Come on, stop fucking around and tell me what's up with the shrine! I'll get you guys some canned fish or some shit!

[Caw, caw, caw...]


II. MAP

[Jiro sits on the steps in front of the hardware store, attempting to cut off his new watch with a box cutter he'd stolen. Why he hasn't moved far from the place he pilfered it from, there is no logical explanation but idiocy. This is his third try at different methods of removing the thing. It's awkwardly placed in front of his other watch, the latter of which is just as large and cumbersome and attached to his glove. Which he also can't get off, now that the mystery watch exists. The material of his gloves is pretty much indestructible barring some powerful spirit energy shit or maybe a laser, and it's annoying as fuck to hack at, much like the watch. There's no reason for his irritation except for the fact that he didn't choose to put on this watch and it's a straight up violation of his personal autonomy.]

Fucking shit.

[He's given up, and shoves the box cutter into one of his belt pouches. He'll forget it's there for like a week. The SIM card took him two days to find; it had been in his thigh holster. And it's what he messes with next, growling a little as he slides the card roughly into the slot on the watch. Some kind of map display appears, apparently tracking a group of something, people or spirits being his assumption. There's no symbol key explaining any of it.]

The fuck is this?


III. WILDCARD
anything goes - pm or plurk (laike) preferred over discord

2

[silentends]

Hey, is everything okay?

[ Nier hears a lot of cursing and swearing so he immediately assumes that something's wrong. He knows that things haven't been right around here. Some of it might even be Nier's fault but there's no proof of it so he can't even say that for certain. He just looks over pensively wondering what Jiro's up to. ]

You said fuck more than once. That's a little concerning.