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]

Wait, you can? I can’t hear anything!

[ wait what

Isaac seems genuinely bothered, though.

Frowning, he points a finger in the air

and a small jet of water shoots out of it, just kind of going nowhere really and splashing on the ground.

This seems to surprise him. ]

Oh! I didn’t... but I can’t hear him!

[ehero]

[ Oh! This kid has powers too. Judai looks actually pretty excited. He sure is meeting a lot of interesting people! Too bad one of them fucking SHOT HIM IN THE LEG ]

That's 'cause most people can't see or hear Duel Monsters, but it looks like you got your own set of powers! What can you do with them?

[stormsoff]

Uh, well... I’m a spirit medium. Normally, at least.

[ normally? ]

[ehero]

"Normally"?

[ yeah, what the heck does that mean ]

[stormsoff]

Well, uh.... it’s just that normally I can hear his voice, especially since I can use our powers right now. But I can’t talk to King C at all. It’s kinda unsettling, heh.

[ehero]

You know, I had two spirit companions with me before I've arrived, but I can't see or hear them anywhere.

[ It's concerning because he doesn't understand why they're not with him. When he travelled through time, they were able to follow along just fine. ]

I can only hear the duel spirits that are with me in my deck.

[stormsoff]

Maybe we just don’t have all our powers back yet. Maybe it takes time?

[ shrugs. ]

I can see spirits normally. Normally I wouldn’t tell you that but this isn’t Mayview and I don’t care.

[ehero]

If I can hear my deck, I should be able to hear them too.

[ He's been acting like everything is fine, but he's actually extremely concerned about his missing dead teacher and non-binary dragon significant other. Even when he travelled back in time, they were with him. He hasn't been left alone for a while now. ]

Hold on, let me see if I can still do this.

[ Reaching behind him, he opens his duel box and pulls out the first card. He places it on the outrageously big duel disk and immediately, a giant alien(?) materializes next to him. Huh, okay, looks like he can still summon things. ]

[stormsoff]

[ And Isaac...

... is TOTALLY unfazed by all this. Even the duel deck (because it just kind of reminds him of tools). Just kinda puts his hands on his hips and nods, like, yup, that’s a spirit alright. ]

Huh. I can see it. I’m not sure if that’s my power coming back, or part of yours.

[ehero]

[ Neos stands there and folds his arms. What the fuck are they now ]

What about Winged Kuriboh? He's by my shoulder.

[stormsoff]

[ A short sigh. ]

Nope. Your powers, then. Still... [ He smiles. ] Pretty cool. What’s his name, and what can he do?

[ehero]

[ Ah, that's a shame that Winged Kuriboh can't be seen. Judai was a little excited to find another person who can interact with spirits like he can, but it's no biggie. It's nice to meet someone chill (laughs as i look at issac's threads with everyone else). ]

This is Elemental Hero Neos. He's a hero from space, so he can do most things like fly and fight. He's saved my life a bunch of times.

[ Do you want to fly on the alien ]

[stormsoff]

Haha, rad. Do you guys, like ... get along?

[ Curiously, as he observes Neos.

ALSO YES ABSOLUTELY ALL THE TIME




not that he’d admit it. ]

[ehero]

Yeah, of course! He's the ace of my deck. Plus, we go way back.

[ judai actually created neos when he was a kid. look at his drawing done with crayons. ]

C'mon, let's go fly around the city! We can get a better idea of what this place is if we see it from above.

[stormsoff]

... heh. Must be nice to get along. [ he says this mostly to himself.

But Judai’s pronouncement gets a look of shock out of him, and then...

.......excitement. ]

Oh HELL yes. Let’s do it!

[ehero]

All right, hop on his shoulders. I ride him all the time, so you should get front-row seats.

[ "ride him"........... i'm not fixing that, but anyway, Neos bends down so Issac can easily jump on, or the alien will help him with it. Once they're both in the air, Judai will hop onto his back and they can see a whole new world. ]

[stormsoff]

[ Isaac is a thirteen year old boy ....

.... and doesn’t see the innuendo at all you’re safe ICHI.

Anyway Isaac mostly handles it on his own but he lets Neos help him a little because this is pretty odd. ]

Is it weird that this isn’t weird?

[ehero]

Nope!

[ They're just having fun and it's great. Judai is glad to find someone who can just kind of chill and do things like this. It's been a while since he got to relax. ]

All right, hold on!

[ And with that, Neos starts to float, slowly shifting to get into the usual flying pose by going horizontal. Judai hops on and immediately, they take off! Neos tries not to go too fast as this is Issac's first time and he might fall off, but it's certainly no walk in the park. He'll take them high up until they're above the city, but below the barrier. ]