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

[whiteshroud]

Yeah, learned it at Catholic school.

[Yeah. Sure. Something like that. ]

...It means whoever is responsible for this has a flair for the dramatics.

[stormsoff]

Oh my god, right? Who talks like that?

[ GROAN. ]

... not exactly comforting some lame Shakespeare wannabe weirdo is responsible for whatever is going on here.

[whiteshroud]

[ ^^ This guy does. But only when he's on a mission and not as much anymore, so he won't comment on that.]

Mm...very little is comforting about this. [..] Are you from this town?

[stormsoff]

[ for some reason that makes isaac perk up ]

No way. I just kinda woke up on a roof. You?

[whiteshroud]

[FINALLY. SOMEONE ELSE!! he sighs]

So it wasn't just me...

I woke up on a roof too. I was in Tokyo, so I have no idea how I got here.

[stormsoff]

[ MASSIVE SIGH OF RELIEF. Isaac actually smiles ]

You too? Oh man, this is gonna sound bad, but I’m seriously glad to hear that. I thought I was going totally crazy! Everyone else says they’re from here, it’s super weird.

Tokyo, though? Jeez, that’s far. At least I’m from the US...

Uh, this is the US, right? I think?

[whiteshroud]

Mm! I've been running into the same thing. Several people were convinced this was all a prank, but I don't think a prank would go this far.

[you know, transporting someone randomly ACROSS THE WORLD]

Well...I saw three American flags and a McDonalds on the way here, so I think the US is a safe guess.

[stormsoff]

A prank? Yeah, I wish. But, uh, let’s just say it wouldn’t be easy for me to leave where I was. Like, I’m actually not even sure how whoever did it managed it. It, uh ...

... well, I agree, is my point. Too much to be a prank.

[ a beat. ]

Heh, that’s a pretty good indicator of the US, alright... I guess the question now is what state we’re in, and what city. I don’t recognize this place at all.

[whiteshroud]

[ .... 💧

What...is that supposed to mean? Was this kid in jail or something? But you know what. Probably best he doesn't ask]

Ah...good question. I don't I can even name all the states, so I'll leave that up to you to figure out! I do know the city is Vitae, according to some people.

[Look he's not from here ok]

I'm Jun, by the way.

[stormsoff]

[ SURE, SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!!! It’s probably fine

Oh! But that makes Isaac pound a fist into his other open palm, a gesture of realization ]

Hey, that’s right! You speak Latin. Is Vitae Latin too? It sounds like it. I heard it from someone else and thought it sounded a little weird for the name of a US city. They’re not usually in Latin.

Oh, I’m Isaac! Nice meeting you, Jun.

[whiteshroud]

Nice to meet you too, Isaac.

[But oh, that's a good point. Jun wasn't too familiar with american naming schemes, so he hadn't picked up on that oddity. ]

Mm, it is. It's the plural of vita, but the closest translation would be "life".

[stormsoff]

I knew it! [ Isaac snaps his fingers. ]

Let me tell you, that’s not normal. I mean, I’m only in 7th grade, I’m not like a US history expert, but I’m pretty sure that’s a weird name for a city. Plus, isn’t it kind of a strange coincidence that the app had that stuff in Latin, and now this place has a Latin name?

[ the conspiracy wheels in his head are turning ]

[whiteshroud]

Hmmm....

I don't know. I mean it's odd, but Latin's a popular enough dead language to use that it could be just a weird coincidence. I mean, it's used a lot in science, law, theology, and anime ... no reason it can't be used for city names too.

[stormsoff]

... you think?

[ he was super invested in his theory honestly ]

[whiteshroud]

Yeah.

It's a good observation to remember, but I don't think there's enough evidence to draw any conclusions about a connection just yet.

[stormsoff]

... you’re probably right. I’m just being paranoid. It’s—

[ not as if there’s some secret shadow organization interested in simultaneously using them and keeping them in the dark!

... ]

... y-yeah, let’s just move on from that for now. It’s more important to figure out what they want with us. And how we got here! I mean, you came from all the way across the planet.

[whiteshroud]

[Wow. Isaac's lived a life. Jun feels like he's cut himself off some saying something but...yeah, let's not pry. ]

Mm, that'd be good to focus on. Once we figure out what they want, we can figure out how to leave.

...Though we'll also need to figure out how to get by in the meantime. [SINCE THEY'RE HOMELESS]

[stormsoff]

... that’s a good point. Where are we supposed to stay? One of the missions said to survive. If that was literal ...

[ y-yikes. ]

[whiteshroud]

Mm...I think we're supposed to figure those details out ourselves.

[stormsoff]

How, exactly? Anyone without the app seems to think we’re, like, making fun. I dunno if it’s just because I’m a kid or they think I’m crazy but I couldn’t get a single person to take me seriously. Where are we gonna go...?

[whiteshroud]

[Bro Jun lived in a secluded convent until he was 15 do you think he knows the first thing about any of this. Jun's faking it until he makes it every single fucking day. ]

Um...

[He tries thinking hard on this. But on par with his upbringing, only one solution comes to mind]

Maybe if there's a church nearby, they can help...?

[stormsoff]

[ blinks

shrugs ]

I guess it can’t hurt. If they say no maybe they can tell us where a homeless shelter is? Or like, a comfortable alleyway, or cozy abandoned factory.

[ SIGH. He’s not being sarcastic, just fatalistic. This sucks. ]

[whiteshroud]

[ 💧 ]

They won't direct us to an abandoned factory.

[JEEZ BOY]

C'mon. I'm sure someone will be able to give us directions if we ask.

[stormsoff]

[ how’s that saying go? you can take the boy out of the fatalism but not the fatalism out of the boy? that’s probably it ]

Okay, okay. It’s not like it can make things worse. [ thanks, captain sunshine! ] Let’s go.

[whiteshroud]

That's the spirit.

[Jun will start walking, looking around for people. There aren't many people on the street, as most have hurried back inside where there's AC. A shame, because city center really did seem like it'd be a busy and lively place any other day.

Eventually, Jun spots someone. A lady dressed up in a maid costume, holding flyers advertising the maid cafe she's standing in front of. ]

A maid cafe? [He didn't realize the US had those!] Well, they're the only ones around...so let's try asking her.