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

[pursuit]

Probably scared we'd beat the tar out of 'em.

[ Is it a taunt, or are his words in earnest?

A bit of both, actually. ]

I guess there's trying to find some clues. If they won't come to us, we have to track them down and put a stop to this...whatever it is.

[morient]

[ He'll leave the physical combat to Deuce. Noah is very weak physically. ]

It'll be hard with the heat wave.

And we'll need to find someone who's good with tech or something?

[pursuit]

[ He's got that covered. ]

Yeah, something like that.

I'm not bad at fixing stuff, but we'd need someone with the right skills for this kind of thing.

[morient]

[ someone please app a tech nerd ]

I'll ask my mom. ['s secretary ]

Though maybe people who don't have the app might not be able to see the weird stuff like what's in the sky. I asked some random person and they said the sky was fine.

[pursuit]

Seriously? How's that even possible?

[morient]

I really don't know.

It's like something out of the Matrix, and that's supposed to be fictional.

[pursuit]

Maybe there's some kind of trick to it, or something...

I don't know how people could do stuff like this either way, but it's crazy the others don't notice.

[morient]

Magic...?

But all magic has rules, right? Even fictional ones. We just need to figure out what those rules are.

[pursuit]

I'm pretty sure magic's just made up.

But everything does have some kind of rules, yeah. This must too. Where do we start with something like that though?

[morient]

I guess we could try and identify if there's a common theme to the people who are on this app. Why were we chosen as a test group?

[pursuit]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I only recognize you and Malleus... Do you know anybody else whose picture's on there?

[morient]

My mentor Zeke and friend Nier are on it. Nier's sister Niko is on it too. But there isn't really anything obvious about all of us.

[pursuit]

I guess it's not our ages or where we go to school then. Maybe if we get to know the others?

[morient]

We should do that. The people who come from elsewhere probably don't have anywhere to go either.

[pursuit]

People who come from elsewhere?

Are there guys from other schools around here?

[morient]

I met a few people who claimed to be from an entirely different country or world.

But I don't see any benefit they would have by using this as a lie.

[pursuit]

Another world?

That sounds kind of...out there... Maybe the heat's making them think strange stuff?

[morient]

I met one of them. He had green hair and didn't have knowledge of this world's brands.

He also had nowhere to live, so I asked my mom to let him stay for now.

[pursuit]

Are you going to be safe with a stranger in your place like that?

[morient]

It's only temporary until he can find another place.

I'll be okay. He seems like a good kid, and the maids will protect me.

[pursuit]

I hope so.

But you know if someone messes with you, you can call me, right?

[morient]

Yeah.

Thanks for looking out for me. ^^

[pursuit]

Hey, that's what friends are for.

Like you kicked math's butt for me, so it's pretty much the same idea.