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]

arrival

[ Is that a bird?

A plane?

No!

It’s A CHILD clambering down the fire escape of a .... thankfully not very tall building, but still. He started on the roof, you see, and just getting here was stressful enough, thanks.

Halfway down he’ll just kind of stop and sit, looking down at the street below and watching the passers-by, letting his legs swing through the bars. ]

Oh... hey! Hey!

[ ... does he mean you? Probably. He’s looking down at you and waving pretty fervently ... ]

crosswalk

[ Whenever he finally gets down he’ll make his way here, hands shoved in his pockets, looking incredibly spooked. He’s pretty guarded, eyeing most with apprehension, if not outright suspicion.

Eventually he’ll mutter, mostly to himself, kicking at the ground ]

What the heck was that all about? Everywhere I went seemed to just lead me here! It doesn’t make any sense! .... I guess nothing about this does, huh.

[ Isaac pulls out his phone, frowning at it (even though the cute little anime-esque charms he has attached to it kind of ruin the effect).

Now he’ll look up at anyone else who’s here with purpose. ]

You got this weird app too, didn’t you? Ava, or whatever? Creepy, right?

network

anyone else feeling threatened right now bc I don’t know about you guys
but all that stuff about “peace is over”???
not exactly comforting
and what’s with the missions?? why do we even have “missions”?!
щ(ಠ益ಠщ)

wildcard

( I’m totally OTA so hit me up with whatever!!! Or we can plan on plurk (heartfuls) or discord (skywardlii#5544)! Feel free to hmu! )

Arrival

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya slowly looks up, at first out of curiosity about who's making a racket--and then confusion as it seems like they're trying to talk to him.

He points to himself.] Me? [Does he know this person...]

[stormsoff]

Yeah!

[ oh good, he got your attention, person who looks weird enough to also not be from here! ]

Did you, uh, did you just get here too, like I did? ... I should get down from here if I wanna have a conversation.

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya stares, uncomprehending.]

Get to... this spot? [He tilts his head with a vague smile.] Sure, I walked here.

[stormsoff]

Huh? Wait, like, you’re not finding this weird? Or like—-

[



... ]

Uh look can you wait there while I get down?

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya's expression twists wryly.] Yeah, I can wait. What are you doing up there?

network

[ape]

Augmented reality apps. Have you ever heard of Ingress and PGO?

[stormsoff]

huh?
I mean sure but
are you saying this is like a game or something? (꒪⌓꒪)

[ape]

I’d like to think of it as one, if I’m going to be honest. My other theories are a little more worrying.

[stormsoff]

I’d start worrying dude
I don’t think we’re collecting pokemon (ーー;)

[ape]

Don't get me wrong. As much as fretting is important, it's a little detrimental (and maybe a waste of time?) when you go around in circles.

I'd say we look for more information to clear all of this up before deciding to panic. Most of my colleagues don't get it, for one. Isn't that strange? Why is it just a handful and not the whole city?

crosswalk

[tsunotarou]

Yes.

[He lifts his phone and shows it to the kid.]

I can't delete it either.

[stormsoff]

Yeah! Me either! And have you seen all the profiles and stuff? They’re stalking us. It’s pretty bizarre.

[tsunotarou]

I wouldn't say stalking, more like stealing information. Most of that is public if you have social media profiles.

[Which, admittedly, Malleus does not.]

Do you think someone is behind this?

[Wait, why is he asking a kid this?]

...Are you scared, by the way?

[stormsoff]

It’s still creepy—and of course I do! I mean, the app, waking up here all of a sudden—ugh, unless you’re another person that’s from here?

Huh? Scared? Uh... no? Why?

[tsunotarou]

Oh, you're from another country or something?

[He wasn't expecting that, so he's a bit surprised.]

Just wondering.

network

[flowerclips]

I don't know
I never downloaded this app before (｡•́︿•̀｡)
Do you think that it's a virus?

[stormsoff]

Me either believe me
But to be honest I don’t think it’s a virus
I think there’s someone messing with us
Someone pretty powerful if I had to guess since they could do all this crazy stuff

[flowerclips]

Yeah! It's really scary!
Even if they got our info from hospital and city records
It's scary that someone got it so easily and put it online (╯︵╰,)

[stormsoff]

[ ... oh.

who is this, anyway? he feels bad they’re scared, but it feels invasive to look at everyone’s profiles... ]

( ･᷄﹏･᷅) yeah it is scary
I’m sorry
You sound like you’re from here
You have friends? Family? People you can trust and keep you safe

arrival

[tothemetal]

Hey, dude!

[has Styx ever seen this person before in his life? is he at all curious about why a child would be waving at him? the answer to both of these questions is a resounding no. upon hearing someone calling out to him and locating the source the only thought in the big guy's head is to wave right back, the arc of his arm as large and enthusiastic as he is. you'd never know that this was a complete stranger for how happy he seems to be to see Isaac.

he's also...completely soaking wet? so maybe there isn't any judgement going on here because pot, kettle, etc. one can only hope.]

1/2

[stormsoff]

[ .... ]

[stormsoff]

Oh my god— why are you soaking wet, dude?!

[ shouting right back down at him as if they DO know each other and this is totally normal

it’s fine this is fine? ]

[tothemetal]

[as long as you don't think about it then everything is fine, right? there's nothing weird about this situation at all. it's the strategy that Styx has employed his entire life out of necessity, thanks to his empty head.]

Haha, uh, I was in a fountain?

[the response is pitched like a question because, quite honestly, he has no fucking idea how he ended up in a fountain to begin with? but the mystery doesn't seem to bother him much, considering the deep laughter rumbling out of him.]

's not so bad, though! Feels nice in the heat, you know?

[stormsoff]

Why were you in a fountain though??

[ this man is a disaster he should get down there ]

Just hold on, I’m coming down!!