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

[silentends]

Haven't you noticed Kainé? The barriers are in the sky and I think it's from the app..

[He can feel his palms getting sweaty from how nervous he is. Nier really wants to just find their friends and family as soon as possible.]

It's screwing with more than just a phone. We need to do something.

[prevail]

And how would a phone app possibly be able to do something that insane?

[ Really, this day is getting more and more ridiculous, she's not sure what to make of it.

And barriers in the sky...? Might be some kind of projection to fool them. Clearly she needs to be the rational one here. Sure Kainé good luck with that. ]

...Let's find Lily and Niko then.

[silentends]

Well, let's see...it connects to everything and then it uses magic???

[Magic is the best explanation he can come up with!!! It sounds more insane when he says it out loud so maybe Kainé has a point. This might be a tad ridiculous.]

I saw Niko earlier and she's just tired. Let her rest. [He nods.]

Lily should be the one we're looking for.

[prevail]

Magic.

[ She scoffs. Surely he can't mean that.

After all, his field is medical science. ]

Did you get Niko home?

[silentends]

I got Niko home just fine.

[If his sister wasn't fine then he wouldn't know what to do with himself. She's the only reason why he's studying medicine now. Niko's health has always been bad. ]

There's a lot of things that science can't explain yet. What do we call those things? Supernatural? Paranormal???

[Kainé what do you even call these strange events???]

[prevail]

Yet. We haven't figured it out yet.

[ Simple as that, so far as she's concerned. Many things in history were seen as supernatural or magical, only to be proven otherwise.

Really, didn't he learn that crap too? ]

Maybe you should head home and keep an eye on her. Whoever did this, they've got our home addresses. [And she knows full well how worried he must be, even now. ] I'll find Lily.

[silentends]

On your own? Is that really okay?

[He's clearly not acting straight because he's disheveled and slightly unhinged at the moment. Critical thinking skills aren't working in his favor.

Common sense isn't at home today. ]

Niko should be safe as long as she doesn't go out or talk to strangers. I'll go see her again soon.

[prevail]

Which one of us can flip the other like a coin again?

[ She can handle herself. On the other hand, she's pretty sure, from experience, that Nier is going to run himself ragged at this rate.

Honestly, he looks like he needed rest long before now. ]

[silentends]

[Nier grumbles and frowns but he understands what Kainé is trying to get at here. He knows that he isn't fit to fight so he would just slow her down.]

....Okay, fine. You can go on your own.

[He can't argue against it.]

Be careful, Kainé. You're stronger than anyone I know but I'm still worried.

[prevail]

[ It's a relief when he relents. If something happened to him, Kainé wouldn't know what to do. ]

...Mind checking on on Grandma for me?

[ She may be shooing him off, but she doesn't want him to feel useless. And she does want to make sure this situation hasn't involved more of her family. ]

[silentends]

I'll check on your grandma.

She's always nice all the time. I can't let anything happen to her.


[He's determined to make sure they all end up safe. Kainé is reliable so she can find Lily just fine. Nier nods.]

Is there anything else you need me to do?

[prevail]

[ Kainé gives that a moment's consideration.

Anything else she needs...? ]

Go easy on yourself for once.

[ That is to say: look out for himself a little too. ]

[silentends]

That's...

[Nier bites the bottom of his lip. He knows it's impossible. Something about Kainé's request sounds absurd to him. He doesn't usually stop to think about himself and he has an even harder time taking it easy.]

I don't know if I can do that, but I'll try.

[prevail]

[ It's the same sort of answer she's gotten, consistently, every time she broaches the subject.

For that reason, she doesn't look at all perturbed as she claps his shoulder. ]

Can't look out for others if you're out of commission, right?

[ It shouldn't be the reason. She doesn't want it to be. But it's the one she knows he'll accept. ]

[silentends]

Yeah, I guess. There are tons of people we need to look out for.

[He's only considering her suggestion after she takes this angle. It works.]

I don't want to make them worried. Niko's counting on me. Maybe I'll go home and sleep once I make sure she's okay. My hands won't stop shaking...

[He was pissed off for most of the day and he's only starting to notice that he's in bad shape.]

[prevail]

[ Under normal circumstances, she'd do something to address that. By now, Kainé's well familiar with how badly Nier handles his anger, and how much he needs outside intervention.

But circumstances are far from normal, and she does need to make sure Lily's all right in all this. All she can do for the moment is rest a sympathetic hand over one of his. ]

Good idea. You look beat.

[silentends]

Um, Kainé? Promise me you'll get some rest later too.

And tell me if you find Lily. [She's an important friend and he feels concerned for both of them.]

I think she might be at work still.

[prevail]

Hey, I take care of myself.

[ Better than him anyway, although it's a low bar to hop over. ]

But yeah, I'll let you know.