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

[ehero]

[ Judai has fallen to the ground, just barely catching himself with his hands behind him. There's a beat as his brain shuts down for a moment. He just... got shot? Huh? The adrenaline and shock are high and it'll take him a bit before everything (i.e. the pain) catches up. ]

I... think I got shot?

[armsel]

I think this guy stood in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

[Leon frowns but he looks over to Jun explaining what happened. They were trying to destroy the app!! It wasn't working out and somehow Judai got hurt. Leon feels partially responsible but, at the very least it doesn't look like a serious wound.

As long as Judai gets some rest and immediate attention he'll live. The bullet didn't hit any vital spots, geez.]

We need to get him help.

1/2

[whiteshroud]

[Ah yep. That's is a bullet wound alright. Jun's seen gorey injuries before so he's concerned but not panicking- which might be weird for a teenager but also.

He sure is looking over at Leon to give him the DEADEST of stares]

It's his fault for getting the way of the bullet you shot?

[Jesus Christ man. Jun is not a normally violent guy (ok, not violent against humans) but there's just...something that makes him really want to punch this guy in the stomach. It's an unusual sensation , but considering what he said? He's not gonna resist it. With the deadest of looks, he's going to punch Leon hard in the stomach. ]

[whiteshroud]

[-- Which ow ok, that hit armor so that kinda hurt. But Jun is used to pain so he'll just shake his hand out and go over to kneel next to Judai to try to put pressure on the bullet wound with one hand while his other hand digs for his phone. He's used to tending his own injuries, at least]

The emergency number in the US is 911, isn't it?

[ehero]

[ There sure is a lot of things happening right. There's a bullet hole in his leg and Jun has just punched the cop in the stomach. Nothing still processes in Judai's brain, the world floating around in some nulled sensation, but when the pressure is pressed to his leg, the pain starts to kick in. ]

[ He lets out a half-scream that he just barely catches. Bringing one hand up to his mouth, he bites down on his wrist. He barely manages to nod and answer. ]

Y-- Yeah, I think so.

[ Fuck. This really hurts. He's going to break the skin and bleed at this point. He lets go and clenches his teeth instead. He speaks through them. ]

H-Hey, can you check on my deck? Is it okay?

[ The deck box is attached to the back of his belt. ]

[armsel]

Call the emergency line.

[Leon brushes his hands aside and looks sternly over to Jun.]

I intend to take responsibility but you can't be wasting time around here. Getting mad at me won't solve anything.

[Hussle over on now to the emergency room. Judai is STILL BLEEDING.]

[whiteshroud]

[IGNORING LEON!! ACAB!!!

Truthfully he is now focused on Judai and calling help. He puts his phone on the ground, so he can put both hands on the injury. And for Judai's sake, he'll give a quick glance at where he remembers Judai putting his cards]

They look fine.

[To the phone:]

Cereal call 911.

[The phone responds] Calling Noah.

What? No! Cereal call 911!

Calling Noah-

[And sure enough, Noahs' phone is getting a ring!]

[morient]

[ Noah is minding his own business at home. Jun had went out earlier, so he didn't expect to get a call this soon. Did the other guy find something strange? ]

H-hello?

[ At least they remembered to exchange numbers before Jun went out. Once Jun actually tells him what's happening, he'll get out of his room. ]

Where are you? I'll come over as soon as I can.

[whiteshroud]

I'm at the crossroads! Someone got shot in the leg!

[Which is a pretty apt explanation]

I tried calling 911 but for some reason the phone called you instead! Sorry! Do you think you could reach them for me?

[ehero]

[ Leon has somehow escaped while Judai is bleeding half-to-death on the sidewalk. Things are starting to get cold. He's struggling to keep himself seated up. ]

... will it be faster if we fly there instead?

[ To the hospital, he means. ]

[morient]

Okay, I will.

[ He'll go there first so that he can assess the situation. If his healing abilities manage to do something, then the police would think that they've wasted time. Plus, he's worried if Jun might get caught up in some legal rules that he doesn't know as a foreigner. The only way to get there quickly without running is to drive... and he didn't need to bring a maid if he's avoiding the sunlight in one of the family cars. Noah appears on the scene a few minutes later.

The sight of Judai's injury does shock him a little, but he steels himself. He's here to help, after all. ]

Um, this is weird, but - try to relax and breathe deeply, okay?

[ He crouches down next to Judai and puts his hands together. A moonstone appears between his palms, shining silver light on the bullet wound. The injury begins to close, and the bullet lodged inside Judai's leg moves back out under the guidance of moonlight. The magic is working just like how Noah saw in that dream... ]

[ehero]

[ Noah arrives faster than he thought. He nods at his question, but it's hard to relax when the pain is unbelievable. He takes a deep breath, about to repeat his question when everything just... stops. That hot sensation in his leg, it's gone. ]

Huh?

[ He slowly opens his eyes and looks down. It's hard to tell with all the blood soaking through his jeans, but it's stopped bleeding. Of course, he still feels light-headed from the extreme loss of blood, but... ]

It... feels okay.

[morient]

[ Noah could probably restore his blood with more magic but that might also make Noah himself fall over. Then again, he's exactly the kind of idiot to do that. ]

No more pain then? [ Noah heaves a sigh off relief. Good, then it's working as intended. ] Are you hurt anywhere else?

[ He keeps channeling the moon enchantment for half a minute more just in case. Gotta make sure everything is fine. ]

[whiteshroud]

[Jun had been surprised when Noah came directly instead of just contacting emergency services. And then that surprise only grows as he watches this whole scene play out.

Uh

Hey Noah? What the fuck? He'll be quiet for now because Judai's wellbeing comes first but -- what the fuck]

[ehero]

[ He hesitates at first, but slowly, he moves his leg and... it's better. The pain is completely gone. Of course, there's still that awfully gross sensation of wet bloodied jeans attached to his skin., but it doesn't hurt anymore. ]

No, that... that was it.

[ Curiously, he tries to prop himself up onto his feet so he can truly test if he's all right, but he doesn't manage to get much further than an inch before he falls back down. Ouch. ]

[morient]

Oh, thank goodness.

[ Noah drops his hands back to his sides and the moonstone vanishes. There's also some crystal on his fingers, but he doesn't notice. ]

Are you new here? You don't have an ID right? [ if Judai went to the hospital, he'd get into a lot of legal trouble too. This is bad. ] If I bring any more people home, Mom's going to be mad...

[ He frowns, his brows knitting together. ]

[whiteshroud]

Ah- careful Judai!

[Yeah he saw where that one was going, but it was too late to really stop him. At least he didn't fall from too far...that's something.

He looks between these two. So Judai's been shot and Noah has healing power...somehow. He's seen healing powers before, but he wasn't expecting them to pop up here so openly. Also from how Noah was acting...he seemed really new to this.

...Guess he has to be senpai.]

Judai needs rest. The injury is gone, but his body needs time to replenish the blood he lost. If you can't bring him home, can we go to a hotel room?

[ehero]

Huh? I don't have any money.

[ Judai looks up at Jun, at Noah, and then back to Jun. He looks a bit disgruntled, which he has every right to be, but the main issue about this suggestion is not the recovery period - it's about the hotel room. ]

It's all right. I'll find a bench somewhere.

[morient]

Money's not a problem.

[ Yeah Noah could afford a bit he thinks. ]

It'll just be until you feel better. I can drive us there too. [ He's parked his car nearby. ] Jun, can you help support him?

[whiteshroud]

Mm, you won't get proper rest on a bench. Especially in this heat...

[Normally he'd feel off asking Noah to pay for something, but this guy did just get shot - so exceptions are to be made!!]

Yeah, I can. [He'll reach his hand out for Judai to take] Nice and slow, okay?

[ehero]

[ Judai wants to argue back because he has gotten plenty of rest and relaxation on benches before, but he does agree that this heat is pretty unbearable. Getting out of the sun and getting washed up sounds nice... ]

[ He takes Jun's hand to stand, but he makes the mistake of getting up too soon. Everything immediately goes dizzy and he goes crashing right back down. If Jun doesn't let go, he can come and fall to the ground as well. ]

... I think I'm just going to lie down here for a bit.

[ LEAVE HIM HERE IN HIS PUDDLE OF BLOOD ]

[morient]

Ah -

[ Noah wonders if he should call one of the maids. He doesn't rush forward to help, because he knows he'll only get in the way with a weak body. ]

We need an adult, don't we...

[ He could call Grace. She's one of the more chill servants, and less likely to freak out at the sight of blood. Just getting Judai to a room to rest would be enough, then Noah can try to heal him again. ]

[whiteshroud]

Judai, hey-!

[Jun tries to keep him up with his own strength. Were he back to his full strength, this would be a cinch. But he's not, and he's not used to his current weakened state-

Sooo down he falls comically on top of Judai. Oof. At least he's light. ]

S-Sorry! [Looking at Noah] Unless you know an adult that's aware of the barrier, I wouldn't recommend that.

[morient]

[ Noah knows Zeke, but Zeke is probably also busy with his work. He wouldn't want to land his mentor in trouble.

So he shakes his head. ]

Not at the moment...

[ehero]

[ Judai lets out a small 'oof' as Jun falls on top of him. He does not make any effort to push him off because this is fine. Jun isn't heavy and while it's a little embarrassing to have a girl(?) lay on him, it's all good because he's gay af and doesn't really care right now. ]

Wait, hold on...

[ He shifts slightly so he can reach behind him to open his deck box. Pulling out the first card, he puts it on the oversized duel disk that he's wearing on his left arm (he hasn't taken it off since he arrived). Immediately, a seven-foot-tall alien appears and without a single word, he just... lifts up Jun like a child, you know, like this. Where does he set down this tiny boy?? ]