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

[stormsoff]

Heh. There’s coincidences, and then there’s sitcom levels of coincidences, and I don’t see any cameras.

[ isaac what ]

Yeah, that’s what I think it is. This all feels pre-planned. Orchestrated. Dramatically so, even. Someone told me the Latin phrase that came up on our phones means “the die is cast.” I mean, whatever they’re trying to tell us, it isn’t pleasant.

[prevail]

Sounds like some punks with too much time on their hands.

[ She's got stronger words for it, really, but since Nier said his sister's around here someplace... It seems best to mind her mouth. ]

Don't know about you, but I'm not interested in playing along.

[stormsoff]

You’re telling me.

[ Isaac glances up at her, eyebrows lifted in surprise—and then grins, an expression that seems to surprise even him. ]

Heck no. I’m gonna find out what their game is, and help keep everyone safe.

[prevail]

[ Well, there's a stance she can agree with.

Who knows how others are reacting to all this, but surely some of them won't just go along with it either. ]

Better than letting them herd us around spouting Latin.

[stormsoff]

Oh my god, right? So dumb and dramatic. [ ROLLS HIS EYES ]

... I’ve had enough of shadowy organizations thinking they can use people for their own gain, all while keeping them in the dark. [ said rather seriously. ] There’s no way I’d put up with something like this. I’ll find out what they’re up to, and I’ll stop them, even if I have to do it alone.

[prevail]

[ He must really enjoy spy thrillers or something, she thinks, given how into this he is. Nier gets very invested in his interests too, so it checks out.

So she figures. ]

Hey, you're not the only one ticked off here. Save some for the rest of us.

[ Like she'll sit back and do nothing after the clowns involved her sister, friend, and his sister. ]

[stormsoff]

[ arches a brow at her, but his expression is friendly. ]

Why, you wanna help?

[prevail]

I can knock them around just fine myself, but I'm not sure about you.

[ Not that she's worried about anyone she sort of looms over. Not at all... ]

[stormsoff]

[ Isaac .... is quiet for a moment, looking at everyone else milling around the crossing.

Then he shrugs, and says with straightforward self-assurance: ]

I can hold my own.

[prevail]

Seen a lot of fights with unseen enemies?

[ She thinks she knows the answer to this. Rather, she assumes she does.

Not knowing what one is up against, more strength is better than less... Or so she reasons. ]

Friend of mine's not built for conflict, so I need to pull his weight too.

[stormsoff]

.... something like that, sure.

[ SHRUG. ]

I’m strong enough for two people. I’ll help, don’t worry about it.

[ It should sound like bravado, except his tone is so casual... ]

[prevail]

You sure about that?

[ Because the skepticism is plain on her face.

She may be a standing example of deceptive appearances, but even she wouldn't claim she's got enough in her to make up for a second person who wasn't as... Delicate as Nier can be. ]

[stormsoff]

[ ...

Again, he glances away from her.

But he’ll shrug again, the motion jerky and somewhat uncomfortable.

Then he holds up a hand and opens it, and a blanket of electricity snaps between his fingers, crackling with small thunder. It’s not just electricity, but lightning. It rolls like a storm, small but furious, until he closes his hand. ]

My powers’re already coming back, so.

[prevail]

[ There have been few things in Kainé's life that have daunted her. Given her pause. Or, for that matter, slowed her momentum once she's set her mind to something.

Those few factors, primarily, had everything to do with her loved ones... Not that she'd admit to it.

Those factors have decidedly not included random guys putting on strange hand-held light shows. ]

Shit- [ She tries, she really does, not to curse. Nier's got a kid sis and all that, but she can't help the utterance as she jolts back. ] How the hell did you do that?

[ Powers, what powers, must be a fancy trick of some kind. ]

[stormsoff]

.... some of us have been kidnapped and somehow teleported here and there’s a weird stalker app on our phones that speaks Latin and knows everything about us, but THAT’s what freaks you out??

[ STARING AT HER LIKE SHES CRAZY ]

even logged the right account in and yet...

[prevail]

Kidnapped and teleported... Is this that live action role-gaming crap?

[ Is that what the kids are doing these days??? ]

[stormsoff]

... you just saw me shoot lightning and that’s what you take issue with?!

[ this just keeps escalating somehow ]

[prevail]

Look, people can do a lot of crap if they know how.

[ She shrugs, like this settles the matter with such ease. ]

I'm sure there's some trick to it, but I'm not into that technical stuff.

[ She's known Nier long enough to be certain of that. ]

[stormsoff]

... I don’t even know where to begin with that one. You’re trying to tell me you think this all has a NORMAL explanation?

[prevail]

You think it makes more sense to buy that magic's real after twenty years of that only being a thing in children's cartoons and books?

[ There isn't even judgement in it, she's legitimately asking. It seems outlandish to her to accept the most fantastical explanation first.

Maybe her technical-minded neighbor's rubbing off, who knows... ]

[stormsoff]

[ Isaac is .... quiet, for a moment, frowning and folding his arms, finally signing through his nose. ]

No. You’re right. I guess that’s what’s frustrating about it. When you put it that way, I can’t really blame you. At the same time, you saying that, it’s you telling me all the stuff that’s happened to me today never happened. Because I did just wake up on some random roof today, and I’ve never been to this city before.

... and yes I shoot lightning. [ GUSTIER SIGH ] Okay that was probably too much to start off with but when you said you could handle yourself I thought you, like, fought! With ... stuff! Like powers! That ... was ... my bad. Sorry. ... back home, the fact that I can even do that’s a secret. It IS stuff out of cartoons and books. We have to hide it. So, like, I get it.

[prevail]

Been taking aikido since I was six. I can throw bigger guys than you with no problem, so that's what I mean. People assume I don't hit hard because of how I look, or dress, or whatever.

[ She shrugs. Whatever the reason, the results are the same.

While she doesn't know what this guy's on about, he does seem sincere. She narrows her eyes, planting a hand on her hip. ]

Anyway, a roof's worse than where my idiot friend passes out. You got a place to crash or what?

[stormsoff]

I believe it. [ right away, total sincerity, no guile, no hesitation. she says she can throw guys five times his size, he’d buy it. he goes to school with Isabel Guerra. She’s no match for his powers, but in a martial arts fight? He at least has the presence of mind to know she’d destroy him so hard his ancestors would cry. If this chick says she can kick ass, he believes it no question.

... shrug. ] I know what it’s like to be underestimated. So. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.

[ anyway. The sudden shift in her questioning startled him, and he blinks. ] Uh, maybe? Not sure yet. A couple people’ve offered but I’m not sure what to do yet... everyone here is a stranger to me, so it’s kinda weird.

[prevail]

Yeah, I can imagine.

[ Housing concerns are, at least, something she can get her head around for the moment. It's easier than debating with the guy whether magic's real or not.

It's too damn hot out for all that, anyway. ]

I'm a stranger too, but if you want to run names by me, maybe I've met 'em. Can't sleep on rooftops in this damn weather.

1/3

[stormsoff]