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

[tothemetal]

holy shit dude
never met an actual fucking genius before !
way to go man ! !

nah its not so bad
means you get to try a lotve stuff you know ?
only been here like
ten minutes
but im sure theres tons of killer places to eat !
well find something awesome no problem

[ehero]

[ i'm fucking losing it. styx........................... ]

thanks?
though i wouldnt call myself a genius
since i just woke up learning english

yeah same
i just arrived so lets meet up!
where are you

[tothemetal]

[it's too late. there is literally nothing Judai can do or say past this point to dissuade Styx from thinking he's a bona fide genius. the power of first impressions is too strong.]

no way dude thats definitely genius stuff
you learned it in your sleep ! ! !
no way normal people could do that

uhhhhh
im by a fountain ?
and a lot of trees
think its a park

[ehero]

[ bless styx's little heart. he's a little confused but he's got the spirit. ]

thanks again
cool im at the park too
im the guy in red and waving
do you see me

[ Since Judai has absolutely no idea who Styx is or what he looks like (he doesn't think about checking profiles), he just randomly starts to wave towards the fountain. He's absolutely dying in his red jacket, but he doesn't choose to take it off... ]

[tothemetal]

not really but ill wave too
im real tall maybe you can see me better !

[he's also...standing so that the fountain is directly obscuring his vision despite having finally gotten out of it, which definitely doesn't help much. but the nearly seven foot giant starts waving at nobody like a dumbass all the same, a big grin plastered on his face as he tries to peek this way and that for anybody in red. surely one of them must be able to spot the other like this...]

[ehero]

[ The giant is spotted! Judai walks towards Styx, but he keeps on waving because... well, he just does. He's kind of far away, so instead of waiting until they're actually close enough to speak, he just yells like an idiot. ]

Hey! Are you from the app?!

[tothemetal]

[why not keep waving? they're not in front of each other yet! and despite Styx's own massive stride there's still a fair ways to go between them, which means that the moronic yelling is also warranted. good fucking lord.]

Yeah! Are you?

[because there are so many other random boys in red asking him this question......]

[ehero]

[ lmfao god fucking dammit these two are such idiots. let them continue to wave and yell at each for a few more tags while all the npcs stare. ]

Yeah! I'm Judai! What's your name?!

[tothemetal]

[this is it, this is the cr. we've finally discovered something the native citizens don't think is perfectly normal.]

Styx! Nice to meet you in person, dude!

[ehero]

[ i want the rest of this thread to just be them slowly walking to each other as they scream ]

Nice to meet you too! Styx is a pretty cool name! Is that American?!

[tothemetal]

[listen tbqh if you're down for that then I 100% am. the thread only ends when they enter arm-clasping territory.]

It's pretty fucking killer, right? But 's Greek, not American! Like the river in the underworld, you know?