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]

A conven-

[What?? Jun sighs]

This isn't a cosplay. It's really my uniform.

[infolds]

But you're... that's a winter version, isn't it? How are you not having heatstroke? At least take a layer off?

[ ???? ]

[whiteshroud]

...I'm used to heavy clothing.

[This is nothing compared to his OTHER uniform]

Though I wouldn't say I'm comfortable. It wasn't so hot where I was before.

[infolds]

[ Connor thinks about this for a moment. Jun says that, but he isn't taking it off. The sweater vest seems okay to take off at the very least, even if he was a prude, is what he thinks. Hm. ]

If you get sweaty, I guess there are some buildings that have showers.

[ Imagine having to stay outside like that for days... Connor would definitely not like that, but he's not going to invite any of these strangers into his own house. ]

[whiteshroud]

Really? Which buildings?

[Any information he can get about this city would be good]

I'm, um, new in town.

[infolds]

Uh... since you're a hobo, I guess you'll be staying at the church? The public bathhouse is in the same area, but you need to pay. Dunno if there's a shower in the church though.

[ The problem is always money. ]

[whiteshroud]

The church?

[Well that catches his interest. ]

Does the church usually take in homeless?

[infolds]

I dunno, but it seems like a very church-like thing to do, doesn't it? And if they refuse you guys, their reputation will take a hit if word gets around, so you can probably use that as your leverage.

[ Yeah. We're blackmailing churches now. ]

[whiteshroud]

[.....]

You're...not very familiar with church scandals, are you?

[Turning away some homeless kid is NOTHING]

[infolds]

Nope. Never cared about the church in the first place. Though, I guess you do from how you're talking. That must have been a pain to deal with.

[ At least he's honest about it... ]

[whiteshroud]

I see...

[Yeah at least he's honest.]

Nah, none of that stuff really happened at my catholic school. But I'd read about them in the news, and we'd sometimes have school assemblies about it.

[infolds]

Do you get a lot of them so there are a lot of assemblies? Does it cut into class time?

[ Because damn, that sounds good. ]

[whiteshroud]

Sometimes. But we'd have to make the lesson time we missed. It was a dorm situation so it's not like they had to send us home each day...

[So. That's a no on that idea.]

[infolds]

Oh. That sounds worse. What a way to crush some hopes...

[ Hm. He looks down at his phone. ]

Well, I guess we're done here and it's way too hot out, so I'm going home. See ya!

[ bye jun.... ]

[whiteshroud]

Uh...bye.

[Well, that was abrupt. But oh well, not like Jun cares. He's going to go his own way.]