introduction log.

[falsitates]

JUNE 1, 2021

The first day of summer - it’s unbearably hot. Temperatures are high and relentless, and without a single cloud in the sky, the sun blazes down heavily on the unlucky few stuck outside.

Weather predictions warn of an intense heatwave that’ll last all week long. The young and elderly are advised to stay indoors and hydrated, and anyone with the symptoms of a heat stroke is urged to head straight to the city hospital. Schools are temporarily closed until new air conditioners can be installed, and businesses come to a slow grind as many call out sick from heat exhaustion.

The city warns that it’s going to be a long seven days.

  NEWCOMERS

You wake up.

You’re left to your own devices. You have a vague memory of the last few moments of your time back in your world, in familiar surroundings, but you’re now somewhere new. Whether you’ve awoken on an unknown rooftop, in a stranger’s bedroom, behind cell bars, or under six feet of water - you know that you’re no longer at home.

You’re on your own for the time being. You must escape whatever predicament that you’ve found yourself in and find answers to your own questions. What brings you here? How did you arrive? What happened to your friends and family? You have an hour to explore and speak with the people of this world before your time runs out.

Something then vibrates in your pocket.

  RESIDENTS & NEWCOMERS

Your phone vibrates.

It buzzes incessantly until you pick it up, but when you look at the screen, it’s blank. It will not turn on, no matter how hard you press the buttons. It’s possible that it overheated and shut down, but it’s unusually cold to the touch, almost as if you’re touching a brick of ice. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, white text appears on a black background.

Decryption confirmed.

Condition green.

Booting program.

The screen goes dark once more. Seconds later, new words are typed.

WELCOME TO [ AVA ]

→ MISSION 001
HEAD TO THE CITY CROSSWALK BY 1500. FIND THE [ OTHERS ]. YOUR REWARD WILL BE ANNOUNCED THEN. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.

  WELCOME TO [ AVA ]

You can't avoid the mission; you don't have any choice. Any attempt to ignore or avoid it is futile, as convenient coincidences occur all around you as a motivator to go.

Did you have work? For some inexplicable reason, your shift has been cancelled. Were you trying to get some rest? The fire alarm went off and you were evacuated from your home. Did you attempt to travel to another part of the city? The sidewalks and roads have been closed due to a sudden blackout.

No matter what you do, you are compelled to head to the city crosswalk.

For the middle of the afternoon, it's unusually quiet and empty. Despite the heat warning, there should still be more than just a handful of you and a few others, but you won't have the time to ponder about it. Your phone finally reboots and appears to be back to normal - or so it seems. You've got a new app.

[ AVA ]

It's an icon with a white eye. It stares at you, and the screen remains frozen until you press it. It then starts the initialization process.

WELCOME TO [ AVA ]

PEACEFUL DAYS ARE OVER

ALEA IACTA EST

The text vanishes, revealing the app's interface. It's an online social media network with public forums and private messaging, but it's completely devoid of content. It currently only contains the user profiles of those who have signed up for the app, and you are one of them. Your full name, date of birth, personal address, height, weight, and a mugshot that you don't recall taking are all listed on your profile.

You quickly discover that you have no way of deleting or even editing your information. You can't even get rid of the app. The option simply does not exist.

Minutes after opening [ AVA ], you receive a notification. There have been two new forum posts. MISSION 002 and MISSION 003 are the names of the new threads. You open them to read.

→ MISSION 002
NEWCOMERS, WELCOME TO VITAE. YOUR GOAL FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS IS TO SURVIVE. IF YOU ARE ALIVE TO SEE THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH, YOU WILL BE GREATLY REWARDED.

→ MISSION 003
RESIDENTS, BE AWARE OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THIS CITY. ONLY TRUST THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW. YOUR COMPENSATION WILL BE PROVIDED IN TWO WEEKS' TIME.

These threads allow you to leave comments. What do you do now?

Comments

[armsel]

That's exactly what I think. They know too much about us.

You didn't post your name or address anywhere right?

[He has no recollections doing any of these things but his information is in the database.]

[ehero]

[ He shakes his head. He doesn't really understand technology that well, but he can at least understand how someone can install a tracking device into a phone and use that information against someone. ]

All right, what do you need to dismantle a phone?

[armsel]

Can't we just break it?

[Leon pulls out something like a military combat knife and a pistol.]

You can try smashing it against the wall first.

[He hands Judai the cursed Nokia phone.]

[ehero]

[ He takes the Nokia but-- ]

Huh? But don't you want to keep your phone?

[ He thought that they were just going to take the chip out?! ]

[armsel]

Nope. If I need to make a call I can just use a public line.

[He's fine with just smashing it????]

Better than having a strange device on me. Let’s blow it to pieces.

[ehero]

[ Judai likes this guy's style. Let's just GO FOR IT. ]

All right, let's blow it up! Are you going to use your gun?

[armsel]

Of course. This gun isn't just for show so I'm going to put some distance between us.

Here it goes...

[Leon puts the Nokia several meters away before he fires at it a few times.

It looks like the Nokia is fine???? It's not damaged.]

What the fuck? [Judai just saw that right...]

1/3

[ehero]

[ Judai takes a few steps back to also put some distance between him and the Nokia, not wanting to be right next to it when it obviously explodes. He watches in anticipation, feeling a little excited about the whole thing but then ]

[ehero]

[ the bullet ricochets off the ground and into judai's leg ]

[ehero]

[ gj judai's dead. he's on the floor and he's bleeding. ]

[ fucking rip ]

[armsel]

[Oh my GOD. Civilians getting hurt in the crossfire. Today is truly the worst.

It is a nightmare. He's trying to keep himself from panicking. Leon rushes over to Judai as soon as he can.]

Hey!

[How did he even get caught in the line of fire? These are things he can ask himself later. Judai's bleeding and needs help. Leon can stabilize the wound by leveling it and adding some cloth to stop it from bleeding out too much??? hello?]

Are you okay?

[whiteshroud]

[Jun hadn't been paying attention to these two, instead being a ways off trying to get calls to connect but you know what catches his attention?

A GUNSHOT IS WHAT.

So he's definitely rushing over to see what's going on]

W-What happened?!

[ehero]

[ Judai has fallen to the ground, just barely catching himself with his hands behind him. There's a beat as his brain shuts down for a moment. He just... got shot? Huh? The adrenaline and shock are high and it'll take him a bit before everything (i.e. the pain) catches up. ]

I... think I got shot?

[armsel]

I think this guy stood in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

[Leon frowns but he looks over to Jun explaining what happened. They were trying to destroy the app!! It wasn't working out and somehow Judai got hurt. Leon feels partially responsible but, at the very least it doesn't look like a serious wound.

As long as Judai gets some rest and immediate attention he'll live. The bullet didn't hit any vital spots, geez.]

We need to get him help.

1/2

[whiteshroud]

[Ah yep. That's is a bullet wound alright. Jun's seen gorey injuries before so he's concerned but not panicking- which might be weird for a teenager but also.

He sure is looking over at Leon to give him the DEADEST of stares]

It's his fault for getting the way of the bullet you shot?

[Jesus Christ man. Jun is not a normally violent guy (ok, not violent against humans) but there's just...something that makes him really want to punch this guy in the stomach. It's an unusual sensation , but considering what he said? He's not gonna resist it. With the deadest of looks, he's going to punch Leon hard in the stomach. ]

[whiteshroud]

[-- Which ow ok, that hit armor so that kinda hurt. But Jun is used to pain so he'll just shake his hand out and go over to kneel next to Judai to try to put pressure on the bullet wound with one hand while his other hand digs for his phone. He's used to tending his own injuries, at least]

The emergency number in the US is 911, isn't it?

[ehero]

[ There sure is a lot of things happening right. There's a bullet hole in his leg and Jun has just punched the cop in the stomach. Nothing still processes in Judai's brain, the world floating around in some nulled sensation, but when the pressure is pressed to his leg, the pain starts to kick in. ]

[ He lets out a half-scream that he just barely catches. Bringing one hand up to his mouth, he bites down on his wrist. He barely manages to nod and answer. ]

Y-- Yeah, I think so.

[ Fuck. This really hurts. He's going to break the skin and bleed at this point. He lets go and clenches his teeth instead. He speaks through them. ]

H-Hey, can you check on my deck? Is it okay?

[ The deck box is attached to the back of his belt. ]

[armsel]

Call the emergency line.

[Leon brushes his hands aside and looks sternly over to Jun.]

I intend to take responsibility but you can't be wasting time around here. Getting mad at me won't solve anything.

[Hussle over on now to the emergency room. Judai is STILL BLEEDING.]

[whiteshroud]

[IGNORING LEON!! ACAB!!!

Truthfully he is now focused on Judai and calling help. He puts his phone on the ground, so he can put both hands on the injury. And for Judai's sake, he'll give a quick glance at where he remembers Judai putting his cards]

They look fine.

[To the phone:]

Cereal call 911.

[The phone responds] Calling Noah.

What? No! Cereal call 911!

Calling Noah-

[And sure enough, Noahs' phone is getting a ring!]

[morient]

[ Noah is minding his own business at home. Jun had went out earlier, so he didn't expect to get a call this soon. Did the other guy find something strange? ]

H-hello?

[ At least they remembered to exchange numbers before Jun went out. Once Jun actually tells him what's happening, he'll get out of his room. ]

Where are you? I'll come over as soon as I can.

[whiteshroud]

I'm at the crossroads! Someone got shot in the leg!

[Which is a pretty apt explanation]

I tried calling 911 but for some reason the phone called you instead! Sorry! Do you think you could reach them for me?

[ehero]

[ Leon has somehow escaped while Judai is bleeding half-to-death on the sidewalk. Things are starting to get cold. He's struggling to keep himself seated up. ]

... will it be faster if we fly there instead?

[ To the hospital, he means. ]

[morient]

Okay, I will.

[ He'll go there first so that he can assess the situation. If his healing abilities manage to do something, then the police would think that they've wasted time. Plus, he's worried if Jun might get caught up in some legal rules that he doesn't know as a foreigner. The only way to get there quickly without running is to drive... and he didn't need to bring a maid if he's avoiding the sunlight in one of the family cars. Noah appears on the scene a few minutes later.

The sight of Judai's injury does shock him a little, but he steels himself. He's here to help, after all. ]

Um, this is weird, but - try to relax and breathe deeply, okay?

[ He crouches down next to Judai and puts his hands together. A moonstone appears between his palms, shining silver light on the bullet wound. The injury begins to close, and the bullet lodged inside Judai's leg moves back out under the guidance of moonlight. The magic is working just like how Noah saw in that dream... ]

[ehero]

[ Noah arrives faster than he thought. He nods at his question, but it's hard to relax when the pain is unbelievable. He takes a deep breath, about to repeat his question when everything just... stops. That hot sensation in his leg, it's gone. ]

Huh?

[ He slowly opens his eyes and looks down. It's hard to tell with all the blood soaking through his jeans, but it's stopped bleeding. Of course, he still feels light-headed from the extreme loss of blood, but... ]

It... feels okay.

[morient]

[ Noah could probably restore his blood with more magic but that might also make Noah himself fall over. Then again, he's exactly the kind of idiot to do that. ]

No more pain then? [ Noah heaves a sigh off relief. Good, then it's working as intended. ] Are you hurt anywhere else?

[ He keeps channeling the moon enchantment for half a minute more just in case. Gotta make sure everything is fine. ]