collectedlogs | INTRO LOG #1

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ akechi's managed to get out of the water pretty quickly and is just about to leave and clean himself up -- but misa's cries give him pause. he's got no reason to act like a noble detective prince anymore (and part of him cynically thinks that if she can't get out of there on her own she won't make it too far anyway), but he's not that much of a dick that he'll just walk out on a girl crying and struggling and asking for help. ]

-- Don't touch your eyes, you idiot, you're just rubbing more of it in.

[ and back into the water he goes, offering her one of his gloved hands. impatiently, but at least offering. ]

Hurry up. We don't know how toxic this is.

[ The only thing worse than the disgusting feeling all over her skin and the burning in her eyes at the moment is getting called an idiot of all things - ]

Idiot?! Jerk!

[ She has the capacity to name-call back even in this situation, offended in a way that seems overblown. Nonetheless, Misa forces one of her eyes open, red and tearing, to try and get a look at the other person - she's surprised to find he's even offering a hand. And she wouldn't take it, if the situation was different, but as it stands, she has no choice but to grasp on. He'll find she is quite light and easy to pull up. ]

It was an accident, okay?! That doesn't make me an idiot! I didn't know it was "toxic," or whatever...

[ Looking back on it, it was pretty stupid to rub at her eyes when the water was so gross - but still! She needs to defend herself. Unable to keep her eye open any longer, she squeezes it back shut, shakily taking steps up onto the escalator to join him. ]

[ man, honestly, he'd prefer her mad to crying. so that's fine. she can be mad. he's a jerk, he owns it. ]

Normally, when something stings your eye, you don't touch it.

[ it's just a touch condescending. but he grasps her hand and pulls her out - leading her as they head to the escalator, since she's got her eyes closed -- once they're on the second floor and the coast is clear, he lets go. ]

[ a mall... ? ]

It's not flooded here. We'll need to find some clean water to try to clean ourselves off.

[ if misa still wants to stick with this jerk, that is! ]

[ She frowns in his general direction, seeming bratty in every sense of the word. How very rude to treat a stranger this way! The only benefit is that it's distracting her from the burning pain in her eyes - it's lessened enough for her to open them intermittently, her tears having run some of the water out. ]

Well, obviously!

[ Once he lets go of her hand, she quickly crosses her arms defensively, pouting. If she had things her way, she'd tell this kid off, but, they're in a strange place, and who knows who put them there. No, she can't trust him either, but it's better to stick together, right now. ]

Look, there's a food court over there - [ Inbetween the moments where she can keep her eyes open from the sting, she scans the floor they're on, pointing out to the left of where they're standing. ] There's probably a— I don't know, a drinking fountain, or a bathroom, maybe. This place looks like a dump, though...

[ So the plumbing must be questionable at best.. and horrible at worst. ]

INTRO LOG #1

i i can change this if you only wanted one taker!

its all good!!

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