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

[tsunotarou]

Malleus Draconia. Pleasure to meet you. And your cat.

[Gotta stop petting the baby now though. He straightens out after one last pet and nods.]

[ehero]

[ Judai gives a small smile and nods. Pharaoh is disappointed that the pets have stopped, but he hops out of the bag to stretch. He yawns. ]

So, which direction is the crosswalk in?

[tsunotarou]

Oh.

[Pharaoh is the best cat. Period.]

I think it's to our left? I haven't figured out which crosswalk is it.

[ehero]

[ After picking up his bag, he reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone. The screen is still stuck on the mission, which he shows. ]

Did you get the same message as well?

[tsunotarou]

[Malleus nods, and shows his phone too.]

It's weird, but I'm trying to get to the crosswalk just in case it's something important.

[ehero]

[ He nods. He doesn't put his phone away just yet, holding onto it since it's practically a brick of ice right now and he's dying underneath this heat. ]

Well, it doesn't sound like it's giving us a choice. "Failure is not an option" is pretty threatening.

[tsunotarou]

True.

[He looks around, trying to figure out if they're close or not.]

I'm thinking it might something dangerous, but I can't prove how.

[ehero]

Mm, we should probably stick together. We can watch each other's backs.

[ Stay on their toes!! ]

[tsunotarou]

We could... But what do we need to watch each other's backs for?

[ehero]

It might be dangerous, right? We should be careful.

[tsunotarou]

...True, but I don't think I can be of much use if we're attacked.

[ehero]

As long as you just keep an eye out, I'll handle the trouble!

[tsunotarou]

[Malleus raises an eyebrow, and looks him over.]

How?

[ehero]

Don't worry about it. Hopefully, we don't need to come to that!

[ :) ]

[tsunotarou]

...Now I'm curious, really curious, how someone who's.. Well, so short, can protect me.

[ehero]

Hey, I'm not that short.

[ compared to jun and yuya.......... ]

[tsunotarou]

[Malleus raises an eyebrow, and chuckles.]

Sure.

But really, can you fight?

[ehero]

Yeah, I've gotten into a few fights before.

[ ... with duels, but shhhh he still knows how to fight. ]

And besides, if we really run into any trouble, I have a buddy who can help us out.

[tsunotarou]

You have?

[Surprising.]

I think I could have a buddy too.

[Deuce Spade looks like the kind who could fight, if anything.]

[ehero]

Oh yeah?

[ tell him about this buddy because judai's buddy is an alien ]

[tsunotarou]

Yes. He's a schoolmate, really interesting one on top of it. I think he was a fighter in middle school? Not entirely sure, but I'm sure he'll be alright fighting.

[He also wonders what Deuce did before going to their school, really.]

[ehero]

I'm excited to meet him now! He sounds interesting!

[ fight fight fight ]

[tsunotarou]

He is. I think he'd like you too, he's very friendly.

[Malleus smiles softly thinking of Deuce. Yeah, he'd like this kid here.]

[ehero]

Awesome!

[ and they will definitely meet! especially now that they're at the crosswalk. it goes along just like the log says and then judai will fuck off somewhere ]