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]

[ yeah, i'm going to have bandit keith show up as an npc and start mugging people. watch out ]

Well, normally, when something strange is going on, our cards would get affected, but mine look fine.

[ He pulls out his cards from the deck box that he just... straps to the back of his belt and goes through them once more. Yep, everything looks fine. ]

[cislunar]

[ NORMALLY ]

Normally...

[ you're welcome for bandit keith, everyone

but, uh, that one actually gets him. he's like :) outside, but it's the kind of :) where you're kind of trying to casually decide what you're supposed to think about this........

congratulations, judai. ]

Ah, well. Perhaps there's a chance your cards simply don't think of this occurrence as strange.

[ you goddamn weirdo

but he's still here and he's interested, because judai is one of many weirdos in a sea of Weirdness, so. he'll outstretch a hand, even. get him into duel monsters, judai. ]

May I see them? And may I ask how they've been affected in the past? I admit I'm curious.

[ehero]

[ what is with this antagonistic meta text. u wanna go punk, also Judai hands over the deck. The last time that he let someone handle his deck, they messed with it and nearly got him both blown up and fall super sick, so he's a little hesitant. He will just have to make sure to keep a close eye and get ready to fight... ]

The monsters either completely disappeared or they were infused with darkness. Spirits would sometimes be stolen as well.

[cislunar]

[ fight me bro. i'll meta text rip these cards in two like seto kaiba. but actually johannes isn't that much of a dick (yet), so he's just fiddling with them in his hands. gently. idk is neos still in judai's deck i haven't watched gx in forever, he's pausing over neos.

anyway, dark magician is cooler ]

Hm. I ask that you remain free from darkness while you're in my hands, Neos. I'm not fond of the thought of holding a cursed card.

[ why not talk to the heart of the cards to match the absolutely batshittery this guy is spouting. but johannes doesn't sense a shred of dishonesty. oh, the oddities just continue to pile up.

his attention shifts from the deck to judai, gaze free from judgement despite his next words. ]

Another question. Normally, you said -- but are you aware that such a thing would be considered the furthest thing from normal? This is a children's card game.

[ehero]

[ this is called abuse and i won't take it. get out of my game. ]

Huh? What are you talking about? Everyone plays Duel Monsters.

[ Adults and old geezers too! ]

[cislunar]

[ oh. ok. i'm gonna drop this thread, goodbye ]

I'm sure it'll come as a shock to you, but I've never seen this game in my life.

[ excluded from y*-g*-*h society

not that the target demographic was the focus of that statement, but he'll just move on from it anyway, tilting neos this way and that. wonder if judai would notice if he yoinked a card sneakily........... if they do half the shit he's so brazenly claiming, johannes really won't be able to resist the urge. ]

Would you mind showing me how it's done? If everyone is playing it, I'd love to see what's so appealing about it.

[ehero]

[ i swear to god kosy if johannes steals a card it's fighting time ]

It's a two-player game so I can't really play with myself. I'd need someone with me.

[ play with himself... anyway, he reaches out so he can retrieve his deck of cards. Please pass them back. ]

[cislunar]

[ please don't type that again

but, like, okay. he will pass them back, only after shuffling them a little. he gestures to judai with the full deck, then to himself, with a: ]

One, two. [ TWO PEOPLE ] We could split the deck, and if I get an explanation of the basic rules, I should be able to grasp enough to follow along. Though I'd understand why a half-hearted match might not be worth your time.

[ also he dislikes losing. which he, uh, definitely would. because judai is a y*-g*-*h protag, and he is not. but, yes, he'll pass the deck back now. ]

Either way, here you are. I apologize for keeping them so long, among other things.

[ like the one card he maybe yoinked into his sleeve with a little sleight-of-hand while he was shuffling

i honestly just want to see a fight but he'll give it back later either way ]

[ehero]

[ Even with the gesturing, Judai watches his deck carefully. He does pay attention to what is being said and he would normally mention that you'd need at least forty cards to play, but after he takes back his deck, he pauses. For a full two seconds, he stays silent. He looks over to the side, focusing on something before he looks back. ]

... I'm missing a card.

[ Judai typically has a very happy-go-lucky tone, but he's serious this time. He's ready to throw hands. ]

[cislunar]

[ oh. okay.

that was quicker than he thought. and this is where a sane person with morals might feel apologetic for the thing they just did, but nah.

he'll just flick the card out of his sleeve gently. if only he still had magic to save him from the consequences of being a dick.......... ]

... As I said. Among other things.

[ ............ ]

I was going to return it at a later time, but if you noticed I suppose that defeats the purpose.

[ this is where johannes would dramatically throw it at him if this was yu-gi-oh

but it's not ]

[ehero]

[ coward. Judai will take back his card and immediately put his deck back in its place on his belt. He does not look pleased at all. ]

If you wanted a card, you could have just asked.

[cislunar]

[ LISTEN

yeah. he's not about to get stabbed for a trading card. at least he looks apologetic? "looks apologetic" being that his expression hasn't change much at all. just a slightly more casual smile paired with a... wink....

as if asking judai, good-naturedly, to let him get away with it. ]

Ahaha. It's true, I could have. I've been told I take some unlikeable approaches to things -- but I learned more than I would have otherwise, so I don't mind the risk.

[ LIKE IT'S HIM THAT WOULD BE OFFENDED HERE.... ]

Again, I hope you'll forgive my little demonstration, as I congratulate you on your powers of observation. These cards must really be important to you if you noticed one out of place so quickly.

[ehero]

Yeah, they are.

[ It's not often that Judai dislikes someone, but murr is now on his fucking shitlist. SHITLIST!!!!!! and it's at that moment that the phones start buzzing, doing the whole intro log thing. This gives Judai the perfect excuse to just... fuck off. #byejerk ]