INTRO LOG #1

[collectedmods]

INTRO LOG #1

Welcome to Collected’s first Intro Log! The information we’ve provided about the setting is not exhaustive - feel free to interact with the setting as you see fit. Rather than have specific prompts, our event posts throughout the game will generally have information listed out like this and players may come up with their own prompts.

If you have questions about the setting or the intro log, please ask them HERE in the comment thread! And most of all, have fun, shoppers.

PROMPTS

The first thing anyone does is gasp for air.

It’ll feel like the first breath you’ve taken in years. That’s right; before you can even become aware of your surroundings, the most immediate thing they’ll process is that you’re in water. Foul smelling water - like rotten eggs and decay. It’s pitch black, and you’re swimming in it with only your head above the surface. If the smell doesn’t deter you, the longer you stay in will; the water stings to have on your skin, chemical in nature.

So - you need to get out. This water can’t be okay to stay in. Once you’ve gathered enough about your surroundings, you’ll see that you’re inside a mall, of sorts. There’s a large (non-functioning) escalator in front of you that will lead you to the semi-safe havens of the second floor - but be careful, because everyone’s going to be gunning for that only exit.

» Once on the second floor, exploring will lead you to a few notes of interest: Long windows and tall glass doors show the conditions outside. The sky is a burnt orange, and there is a thick sort of fog on the horizon. Nothing for miles in every direction - just an empty parking lot, completely devoid of life or any sign that anyone has come across this place in many years. Even so, you’ll find the windows and doors unlocked, so getting outside is easy… the problem is what’s out there.

A trip outside will make it instantly clear why you see no life outside the mall’s walls: exposure to the radioactive sun outside causes your skin to bubble with welts, and the thick, toxic air of the outside is impossible to inhale without keeling over. It’s blistering hot, too. Even non-organic creatures would melt or be eroded by the sun’s radioactive qualities. One thing is abundantly obvious: you cannot survive outside. Not now, at least. Those who receive a burn or other damage from the conditions outside will discover that strangely enough, upon returning inside the mall, the wound begins to heal up on its own. Slowly, and extremely painfully, but it’s healing. That’s strange…

» Another thing of note is that there’s a food court on the second floor. There, you’ll find a variety of abandoned restaurants that have varying amounts of non-perishables inside - canned vegetables and preserved meats, as well as dusty old jars of sauces and the like. There are a few walk-in freezers with hefty locks on them, but if the locks are broken or picked, there’s actually some frozen rations, as well! Many of them are not labelled, so the dining experience will be pretty hit or miss. None of the stoves or cooking appliances in the food court work anymore, either, so you’ll have to get creative when it comes to cooking up these ingredients. (Or just, you know, eat them cold.)

» Throughout the mall’s bathrooms, water fountains, and gym showers, you’ll find that all the water in the mall is suspiciously clean. Like, way too clean to be normal in a place as run-down and clearly abandoned as this. You’ll find that toilets flush completely fine, and shower water heats up (eventually). Should you be grateful, or concerned?

» There’s an electronics store on the second floor, as well, along with a internet cafe. Should you try to turn on the computers in the internet cafe, you’ll find that it only opens to the same forum page: a site called Mall Watch. It’ll prompt you to make an account and password if you try posting to it. In the electronics store, you’ll also find that any phone you forage for and try to boot up will also only open up to this forum page. Weird!

» If you’re looking for a place to sleep, the department stores of the mall still have a variety of furniture sets collecting a lot of dust. Then again, no one’s around to tell you where to sleep - and maybe you don’t trust all these new faces you arrived with. If you’re okay sleeping on the floor of a random store, more power to you.

» You’ll probably want to do something about your clothes that were stained by the black water on the first floor.. try foraging for some clothes! Looking around, you’ll find that some clothes stores have some stock left over, though everything’s generally a mess in clothing stores - it’ll take you some time to find anything that’ll fit you. Looking around enough on this second floor, you might end up stumbling across some of your own belongings or clothing, or those of your peers.

More than anything, the longer you explore and scavenge the mall, you’ll recognize how eerily silent it is. If not for you and your peers here, this place would be totally desolate. Clearly, there’s no one around for miles, and as far as you can tell, you’ll only be able to survive here for as long as the supplies here last. No one’s coming to save you - no one even knows you’re here. In every sense of the word, you are alone.

For now.



NAVIGATION

Comments

[regale]

ONE.

[ One moment he's having a great time with fine and the next moment his skin is prickling and everything is dark and he's underwater. Whether it was a moment or not is up for debate, but it feels sudden enough that it's startling and... well.

He's coming up, sitting up out of the water like a cryptid breaching for a blurry photograph. His once-white uniform is grey at best and rotten black at worst, and his long silver hair is piling around his waist in a gross wet mess.

Uh, but he's smiling and looking around after a moment, using two gloved hands as makeshift binoculars. ]

Oh, have I fallen into a dream? Or perhaps I overdid it and landed in the afterlife?

[ If you find any colourful masks while wading around... they're probably his. ]

TWO.

[ Once cleaned up and dressed in something more suitable (a slightly-chewed up green tracksuit that is probably a size too small for him, also it says BAE on the butt so....) Wataru can be found eyeballing mattresses. He's been using his strength and stamina to haul them out of the wreckage of some areas and leaving the "good" ones out in the open for others.

In specific, there's a mattress turned on it's side and he's begun to slide it across the floor towards it's destination, but along the way, if it seems like you are also surveying the mattresses, he will say: ]

Fufufu, this one will be good for you. I heard the foam inside can last up for one thousand years... ♪

[ Looks like he's willing to give up this mattress to you, because he can just go find another one. ]

WILDCARD.

[ This is where you tell me to write up something unique for you (please feel free) or you find him walking on his hands up the escalator railing (in order to take up less space!), or you find him juggling a an obscene amount of old soap bottles in order to decide which one to try on his clothes, or you just see something horrible, like him using his hair to pick up boxes while cleaning.......... ]

two;

[iblistriggered]

[Silver has managed to find a pair of socks that fit, so he's put his now dry boots back on. Gloves... well, they don't seem to be a popular fashion item in this timeline, so he might just have to go without...

As he makes his way through the department store, he hears someone moving heavy objects and he heads that direction]

Oh, hey. Moving mattresses out? That's not a bad idea. Can I help?

[regale]

Two makes the job go much quicker, four hands are better than two... ♪

[ He says, in a sing-song tone of voice, and he's about to gesture to the opposite end of the mattress he's got when he sees who exactly spoke.

...

... oh my god. This person looks like they're out of an anime. ]

Amazing! I cannot believe such a sight has fallen upon my eyes...! I would be honoured to receive your assistance!

[iblistriggered]

[he tilts his head, ear quirked. This is getting strange...]

Is a hedgehog really that amazing...? [how many of these humans had never seen something like him before...? Well, whatever. He smiles again]

Well if four hands are better, then psychokinesis is the best, right?

[Without his gloves, a furless ring is visible on the top of Silver's hands, and on the paw-pad on his palm. The rings begin to glow with a gentle cyan light, and so does the mattress. Amazingly, the mattress begins to float in midair] Show me where you want it!

[regale]

[ Wow.... a hedgehog... that's amazing! He's not even going to question it. ]

Eh? Eh? It's just like magic! Amazing! Wait, I've got the best idea... ♪

[ Well, he's now jumping onto the mattress, and then standing on it with a hand outstretched, pointing!!! ]

Thataways, Magical Hedgehog! Prove to me that your "psychokinesis" is truly the better of our skills!

[ That kind of sounds like a challenge but really he's just excited and it's probably obvious... ]

[iblistriggered]

Ack--!

[the extra weight on the mattress makes him lose his concentration a little, and it and its excitable passenger fall a few inches before Silver catches them again. But that cheer is infectious, and Silver laughs]

Alright! Hold on!

[he could zip it over very quickly... but he doesn't want to hurt this guy, so he gently floats it over, like a magic carpet, before setting it down]

[regale]

[ That moment of DANGER just makes it better— ]

Aaaaah, what a wonderful recovery! Amazing! I felt my heart beat thirty extra times in thrill ☆ !

[ This is, quite possibly, the best method of transportation he's ever experienced. It's almost like they're not kidnapped away to a post-apocalyptic shopping mall with no way home and no way to contact his parents and friends or anything. ]

I've jumped out of helicopters, flown on hang gliders, blimps, and even have my own hot air balloon, but this is so very new to me! Your Hibiki Wataru simply can't stop smiling...!

[ Once it's set down, he's doing a backflip off of it, landing with his hands outstretched and laughing. Everything happens so much. ]

[iblistriggered]

[Silver can't help but laugh at the fancy moves, and he claps for Hibiki's perfect landing]

Ah, but, you've jumped out of helicopters?! Why would you do something like that? Was it about to crash?!

[regale]

No, no! It is to spread amazing throughout the world! It made people gasp in surprise, and then cheer for me when I landed safely, amazing~ ☆

[ As if that makes sense. ]

two!

[lifespanned]

Oh! Are you sure?

[ Misa asks politely, surveying the mattress that he's pulled out. Actually, it doesn't seem too bad given the overall crappiness of this place. She'd been hoping she'd be able to snare someone into moving and finding one for her, but she thought it'd take more work than this - lucky! Even so, she's in about the same state he is - mismatched clothes, damp hair from a recent shower. ]

You're the one who went through the trouble of pulling it out, though.

[regale]

[ He pushes the mattress a few more feet with one hand, and it slides rather easily. He could.. probably carry the whole thing, except it's a little awkward and off-balance, so for now, this is where he's at. ]

Fufu, nonsense. Besides, I'm in search of a very particular mattress. [ One fit for an Emperor. ] One that gives off the correct feeling, where I can lay my hands upon it and know that it is the one. This one is not it for the person who seeks such a thing, but it may be the one for you. At least, I believe that if a pea were to be placed beneath it, you would not know it was there.

[ Wow he talks a lot, but hey, now he's in the right position to lift the mattress up and onto his shoulder. ]

Anyhow, fair maiden, please show me where you would like it!

[lifespanned]

[ She doesn't mind his talking at all - in fact, as a fellow chatterbox, she brightens up a little at seeing someone so positive. ]

Haha, okay! [ Smiling, she starts off a little further to the left end of where many of the beds are being set up. In her mind, there's safety in numbers.. sort of. As long as she keeps an eye out. ] I'd help you with carrying it, but Misa isn't very strong...

[ She lays on her cute idol persona, making sure she doesn't advance too far without him. ]

But I promise I'll help you look for your particular mattress after! Deal?

[regale]

[ Considering the deal being presented to him, he figures that... well, there's no point in refusing; Wataru doesn't dislike many things, but doing things by himself is pretty high up on the invisible list there.

So his smile is quite bright when he turns to look at her, the mattress balanced above him turning in sync. ]

It's a deal! ♪

[ But by now, he's close to where she's standing, judging the distance between the closest mattress and this one. ]

Here? It's close by, but there's potential for privacy, too.

[lifespanned]

[ She gives him a peppy nod, stepping back out of the way a little to give him more room to set it down. ]

That should be fine! I don't want to be too far away from everyone... that would be a bit scary.

[ Normally, this is the opposite of what she would want, but as things are - it'd be too risky to be by herself. Probably? That's the best she can guess. ]

You're going to stay with the group too, aren't you?

[regale]

[ A look out across the mattresses spread out tells him that this is probably going to be the communal place. He could suggest it, but... ]

Fufu, I don't think I'd mind it. It'd be like a sleepover, something I've yet to experience in this life! [ Wataru is not exactly keen on sleeping in front of other people, but he's somewhat used to it now—before it was like being backstage, and when you're always "onstage" things like eating and sleeping were shameful to be caught doing sometimes.

But before coming to in the water here, he'd been sharing a room with three others for some time, even if that time was short. Still, having roommates isn't like having a sleepover! He's seen them in the movies! ] But I'll likely place myself in the kingdom my partner has claimed, wherever it may be.

He's quite tactical, though, and it will likely be within shouting distance.

[lifespanned]

Oh, your friend is here? I'm so jealous...

[ Misa clasps her hands together, overacting her sincerity just for the drama of it all. It's true, too - she'd feel a lot better if she at least had a familiar face around. Or maybe this person just makes fast friends? Either way - jealous, of having someone to call a partner around. ]

Not that I want any of my friends to have to swim in that gross water like I did. But it's nice that you have someone to look out for you, um— [ She tilts her head. ] What did you say your name was?

[regale]

[ There's a noise of agreement from him. He agrees that it'd be better if he were the only one here; he also knows that he's powerless by himself, no matter his strength and ability to adapt and endure. Like a single hair is weak by itself, but stronger when woven with others, that's Wataru. ]

My parents shared their family name with me—Hibiki ☆ —and then gave me the name Wataru all for myself, so I am your... [ Drum roll please. ] Hibiki Wataru...! ♪

[ What a weird way to say your name. ]

wildcard.

[prison]

[ the thing is, it's really easy to spot someone like wataru. ren doesn't know who or what he is, but he knows that that boy has the same face as the doll he's holding. same hair, same smug smile that triggers a visceral response every time he stares into its face for too long.

he finds wataru juggling, actually, for no reason at all. maybe he's just the type of guy who needs to occupy his hands with things when he's bored- that's something ren could relate to. but he saunters over to juggling man and sets the doll before him, certain that he's found its owner at last. ]

Hey, think this belongs to you? [ he's not going to ask why he has a doll version of himself like that, and wataru shouldn't ask him why he would be carrying the thing with him all day. it's a fetch quest and he's a jrpg protag... ] We may need to clean him up a little, though.

[regale]

[ When called out to, he pauses, catching whatever he was juggling with one hand and letting them balance onto his finger in a stack like a horrible basketball trick. ]

Let me see... fufufu, oh, I wonder who this could be... ♪

[ His tone is light and joking and for a terrible moment it seems like he's really about to question the doll more. The doll that has the same hair, the same facial features, and while it's not in the same clothes as he is right now, it's definitely something he recognizes. He hums, nods thoughtfully, bending over to peer real close...

Only to straighten up and shrug with a laugh. ]

...sorry to disappoint, but I'm not the owner of it. But I do have a few clues about who may be looking for such a lovely figure.

You're right though, he needs a little bit of loving care before we're on our way to find them.

[ Eichi. He knows it's Eichi's. He flooded Eichi's office with them and then gave him one as a gift before cleaning them up. That unsaid, Wataru has now decided this is a scavenger hunt of epic proportions and this poor soul has no choice but to reunite Hibiki Wataru (deformed ver) with his rightful owner. ]

[prison]

What. [ he doesn't mean to sound so incredulous, but that's absolute bullshit. how can he possibly claim that— ] You know who this belongs to?

[ a friend then. maybe someone with a weird fascination with this boy, which wouldn't be too much of a conjecture because he does seem like a character... he called his own doll version "a lovely figure." it doesn't get much stranger than that.

kind of reminds him of someone, actually. ]

You have some soap there, don't you? We can get started right away. [ this could get weird, but you know, after the day he's had... fuck it. ]

[regale]

[ That "what" is going to stick with him for the rest of his life. He loves it. ]

Well, we can narrow it down. [ Now he's just playing. Sort of. He's not technically lying about any of this, but... with a flick of his wrist, one of the bottles is flipping up in the air and dropping into his free hand. It looks like...

...very old dog shampoo. But it's floral scented, and that's what's important here. ] I am your Hibiki Wataru! This clown happens to be a member of the idol unit fine, so the owner must be a big fan of mine. Well, I'm also a few other things, but this looks like something an idol fan would have. I'll be able to spot such a person out in a crowd in under a second.

I have a bucket of water here.

[ A slightly cracked bucket is here, but at least it's already been washed out. He was probably going to wash clothes in it, but he hadn't decided how to go about that yet. ]

So let's lather him up together... ♪

[prison]

Uh, Amamiya Ren. That's my name.

[ the fact that wataru calls the doll version of himself a clown is beyond him. he's starting to think there's something in the air here, because none of his interactions up to this point has reached this level of weird. again, it does remind him a little of someone he knows who does something very similar. yusuke never talks this much, though. ]

...All right, well, since I've been carrying him around all day, I guess the right thing to do is stick around until he finds his rightful owner.

[ it could all be a farce, ren realizes. could but a fabrication to ease some of the embarrassment that comes with owning a doll of yourself, but there's something about wataru's mannerisms that tell him the opposite. he's joke, but he's deadly serious.

even down to the way he says let's lather him up. ren schools his expression to careful neutrality, but inside, he wants to die. ren settles down next to the other boy and runs bushes its hair off its chest. ] — Okay. The first thing we should do is take of its clothes, right? Wash the clothes, then the body, then put it back together.

[ he's already so tired. the facat that wataru seems that much into it isn't lost to him, though. just who is this guy? ]

[regale]

[ Nobody has ever been so forward with him before... well it doesn't count, because it's directed at a doll. ]

Fufu, then I'll call you the Hero, and I'll be your sidekick for today. [ Wataru is not calling him by any proper name on their first date!!! ] If you will tug his [ it's a miracle, a MIRACLE, he did not say my pants ] pants off, I'll hold this end down while getting the top off.

[ While doing so, he's looking the doll over and humming ♪ ♪ ♪ ]

This is one of our oldest outfits. To be reminded of it, I am filled with all sorts of nostalgic feelings. I arrived in one that's a bit similar, but just like this, it got quite messy.

[prison]

[ maybe it's because everyone's afraid of being that forward with you, wataru.

but ren, a hero? with the way wataru's dressed, he definitely seems more like the protagonist of the story, especially equipped with a doll in his shape and likeliness. either way, he'll accept his role, brows furrowing at the very decidedly strange wording on wataru's part.

he almost doesn't want to see what's beneath, if he's being real. ]

You actually wore this? [ that just makes this whole ordeal worse as ren unbuttons and undoes the zipper, fingers hooking around the band to give the doll a gentle tug. he's not going to be able to look at wataru in the eyes after this, but he doesn't have a choice. he's met with doll groin in the aftermath, and flicks his gaze up to the other boy's face. ]

This doesn't explain why there's a doll of yourself. Are you... a celebrity?

[regale]

[ That's a good question. It's actually an easy one; yes, though probably more of a minor or niche celebrity. But he pauses to consider it, humming. ]

I suppose you could say that. I am your Hibiki Wataru, of the idol unit fine. [ fine was originally just based out of their school, which because this is an Idol War Universe, means a lot... but even then, now that ES exists, fine has rapidly gained a larger fanbase—you could say, they have finally joined the adult world as esteemed idols.

But before that... ] I am also an actor, though it's not often that merchandise of theatre actors turns out to be dolls such as this. This one... I don't quite remember it's origins, but I did give one to my biggest fan once.

[ At least the doll isn't... gifted under the pants. It's just blank like a Ken doll. Wataru's already got the top off and is in the midst of placing it into soapy water, working out the black water before squeezing the water out. ]