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

[lifespanned]

I. my EYES

[ The smell? Disgusting. The sensation of being fully clothed while being in this nasty water? Awful. She'd only just had Ryuk's hand over her eyes moments before, and thus, her immediate reaction is to blame this on some weird prank. But when she opens her eyes to admonish him, she doesn't see a Shinigami anywhere - just loads of other humans (and either non-humans, or other Death Note users). Names and lifespans all struggling to stay above the surface like she is. She flails in the water just out of shock for a few moments, which she immediately regrets when some of the water gets in her all-seeing eyes. ]

Ow! Ow, ow...

[ Her eye starts tearing up horribly, mascara running - and her being distracted by this is no help to the obvious mission of get out of the polluted water. Weakly, she tries pawing her way to the escalator, only hanging off one of the rails while she tries to rub at her eyes, only making the problem worse. ]

Help! Someone help...

[ aaaand, now she's starting to cry in earnest. ]

II. dont they have anything like.... yummy to eat

[ After that whole fiasco, as well as being rid of the stain of the black water, she quickly settles on what everyone else deems the most important task: finding food. ]

We can't really be expected to only eat this stuff, right?

[ And yes, she has found the time to be picky about the rations she is scavenging out of the food court. Around her are miscellaneous jars that she's pulled out of storage - old processed cheese for pretzels, sauce that probably was for ... some variation of orange chicken, dusty boxes of sugar for cotton candy. It's disgusting! None of this could make a full meal. ]

I mean, I don't think I can even stomach eating this.

[ She'd holding up a package of sealed hot dogs that must have been for the local corndog stand.... ]

III. surveillance

[ She's taking a long, long walk around the mall's perimeter once she's secured a place to sleep and most of her items, feeling secure so long as she has her Death Note with her. Rather than look in any of the stores, she's staring up at the walls, at hallway crevices, anywhere on the ceiling that looks even a little suspect.

Stare at her too long and she'll turn to you, all offended like. ]

What? I'm looking for cameras, obviously.

IV. wildcard

( feel free to hit me up if you'd like a specialized starter! you can either pm me here or contact me on my plurk at lunarians! )

I

[teaserving]

[Having just gotten out of the gross water himself, Abbacchio isn't excited to get back in it. He peers at the weeping girl rubbing at her eyes, then sighs and marches over, legs sloshing in the water.]

C'mon, quit your crying. I've got you.

[Abbacchio takes her arm and starts leading her out.]

And stop rubbing your eyes! You're making it worse.

[lifespanned]

[ She absolutely does Not stop crying, sniffling rather pathetically once he starts leading her out. But at least she's going along. ]

Yeah, but it hurts!! [ Why else would she not stop crying!! Nonetheless, she does stop rubbing at her eyes, screwing them shut instead - and truth be told, she is scared to trust the words of some random person dragging her out, but she also feels she has no choice in the situation but to hold onto the arm offered to her. ] Anyone normal would react this way...

[teaserving]

And rubbing it is making it worse. We need some water or something to clear out your eyes.

[Any normal person, sure. Abbacchio is pretty aware he's a far cry from normal. Nobody calls it Jojo's Average Adventure, after all.]

You can sit here for a minute while I look for some water, or I can take you upstairs. Which is it gonna be?

[lifespanned]

I'll— I'll go with you... I don't wanna be by myself.

[ Getting left alone after she suddenly woke up in disgusting water in a mall she doesn't recognize? No thanks. It crosses her mind that this person could be a suspect too, but with her eyes in this condition, she's not getting a great look at him. ]

I'm gonna keep my eyes closed, so don't run me into anything, okay?

[teaserving]

Fair enough.

[He keeps his grip on her wrist loose, less demanding than it had been before. Bruno would probably be gentler about this. Ugh.]

Yeah, yeah. I'll make sure you're okay. Let's go up and see if we can find the ladies' room for you.

Watch your step.

[Abbacchio slowly starts to lead her up the escalator.]

What's your name?

iii

[globs]

[ once again, Cinnabar thought they were doing a better job hiding than they actually were - it turns out being a sparkly crystal person in a place full of flickering fluorescent lights makes it extremely difficult to be discreet. They weren't following her or anything! They just happened to be in a blown-out store nearby and ducked behind the display window when they saw someone coming so they could safely keep an eye on her. Try and figure out what she's doing, subtly.

Well. So much for that. The top of their head disappears back under the empty windowsill with a red flash when she calls them out, and they try to will the poison around them to relax (to little avail.) ]

C -- Cameras? I don't know what you're talking about...!

[ yes, they are shouting over at her from behind the short wall. ]

[lifespanned]

[ Misa squints, trying to get a good look at the... person... if that's what she can call them. That red light is way too weird to be from a regular person - and, the idea doesn't scare her so much, as long as they're not evil. Their inquiry about the camera only further convinces her of this - Ryuk and Rem had also not known very much about the world of humans aside from what they could see from far away. If people can be pulled from different time periods or alternate worlds, why not an alien? ]

Hey! Don't hide away! You were the one spying on me!!

[ Yes, the bizarre, silvery light floating above the figure's head leads her to believe they're something else entirely. All the more reason to try and get a peek at their lifespan to confirm it. Misa approaches the window sill, but tentatively, only taking a step or two in their direction. ]

What do you mean, "you don't know what I'm talking about?"

[globs]

[ as long as she doesn't get too close, they won't sprint away; when they peek over again and see her looking at them, though, they're quick to duck back under, only their eyes and the top of their head visible. It's easy enough to read their sour expression even from less than half their face. ]

I wasn't spying!

[ they kind of were

who knows what an immortal's lifespan looks like with shinigami eyes... ]

[lifespanned]

[ probably Blank ... that is what i am going 2 go with ]

You can't fool Misa!

[ Once she sees enough of them, she just crosses her arms where she stands, trying to figure out on her own what the name and lifespan and sparkliness combo all means. An alien? Do the eyes not work on aliens? Or they don't have a lifespan? These are all very complicated questions that she'll need to write down somewhere for whenever she sees Rem again, that's for sure! ]

I've had stalkers before, you know, so I know when I see someone spying! [ She huffs. ] You weren't trying to attack me, were you?

[globs]

[ we will pray for their survival in the next 2 chapters ]

Huh? [ okay, now they sound a little affronted. Since she's not coming any closer, they stay where they are, although being stared at this way makes them uneasy, too. ] Why would I attack you? You're just stuck here, too...

[ unless she isn't?! Cinnabar doubts it, though. As far as they can tell, everyone here is in the exact same situation they are, for better or for worse. ]

three

[bestaround]

[ As the hours pass, 9S has... well, not relaxed, but his searching around is a little less frantic than it was not long after he'd crawled out of the water. Still, he hasn't paused for much, and that still holds true now, and that's why he's likewise out and about.

Though, he's certainly not looking at the same things she is. After spotting a girl staring upward, he idly glances up too, only to fail to see what she is. After glancing back down, she catches him; despite the visor, he's very clearly staring. ]

—What? ... Why a camera?

[lifespanned]

[ She can appreciate this guy's committing to the look... she doesn't think twice about that artistic blindfold. Very cool! ]

Um, because guys who do stuff like this always want to watch it. [ Misa huffs, like this is obvious, putting one of her hands on her hip. ] Why else would they go through all the trouble of setting all this stuff up?

[ In her mind, this has to be some sort of elaborate kidnapping scheme.. and there's plenty of cute girls and cool guys around to warrant it being because a bunch of creeps want to get some freaky videos out of them being here. ]

[bestaround]

It's a little too much trouble just to watch someone.

[ Probably. He hasn't a clue, truth be told, just how much work dragging them here could be. Nevermind this should be impossible. ]

... Does this– [ 9S lifts his hands, a gesture motioning at their general circumstances ] –happen... often?

[ The first half of her statement and her tone regarding it seem to imply this isn't a first, or even a second. ]

[lifespanned]

Well, not "this," specifically.

[ She clarifies, looking up in thought. ]

I'm just talking about the kidnapping! That happens more often than you would think, sadly. [ Misa moves to make eye contact with him and get a read on his name, before remembering his super-cool visor is in the way, so she's stuck just looking at it instead. ] I've never heard of a kidnapping of this scale, though! There's like, so many of us, and from so many different places.

[bestaround]

[ "Different places" is no joke, and 9S still isn't sure he fully gets it, even if it's the only explanation for why he's kept bumping into honest-to-god humans throughout the day—something that should be straight up impossible. (Something he should be glad for, but feels more like one hell of a sucker punch.)

There's a subtle slump of his shoulders come her response; he had nearly hoped she would have some sort of explanation for... anything, really, but it turns out she's as clueless as he. He should have expected that. ]

Yeah, I guess this is too insane to be pulled off more than once. [ However the hell it was. ] It still doesn't feel real... Could there really be someone capable of doing this?

ii

[firelords]

I don't think anyone is forcing you.

⟪ Listen! It isn't that Azula necessarily craves... whatever is sealed in this strange, clear packaging. Some kind of sausage?

All told, pretty much none of this is on any level familiar, and she's not looking forward to this being all that there is, but. But. Resources are limited. If someone's willing to opt out this early on, she's not going to stop her. ⟫

[lifespanned]

Yeah, but... unless we find something else to eat...

[ Then this is all they have. Misa sighs, over dramatically, setting the hot dogs down on top of all these nasty jars. ]

I mean, I don't want to starve to death.

[ That would be, maybe, the worst way to go out here, maybe other than drowning in that disgusting water. It seems like she's just complaining for complaining's sake more than anything, clearly not accustomed to any sort of harsh lifestyle. ]

Are you saying you'd really pick something out of these? So easily?

[firelords]

None of it can be worse than what is in the cans.

⟪ Apparently, Azula's first encounter with canned spaghetti has ruined the concept of tinned foods for her, so really, she shouldn't get too high and mighty here. ⟫

What even are those?

⟪ She points a sharp fingernail towards the ... are these meant to be sausages? ⟫

[lifespanned]

Oh, they're called "hot dogs."

[ Thankfully, Misa has already been briefed on the idea that there's people from other worlds or time periods that may not even know what a hot dog is, so the explanation comes pretty easily. ]

They're just made of all the parts of animals people don't want... it's all ground up though, so you can't really tell. [ She picks up the packaging by the corner again, holding it out to her if she'd like to look at it closer. ] Still! These ones are probably way past their expiration date.

[firelords]

⟪ The face Azula makes speaks volumes. ⟫

Then let's forget about the spoiled meat.

⟪ Not willing to risk that, thank you. Her stomach does growl rather loudly, though, the Fire Nation is big on meat and she craves this. ⟫

... Well, perhaps roasted...

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

[acerejective]

[ 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.

its all good!!

[lifespanned]

[ 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. ]

[acerejective]

[ 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! ]

[lifespanned]

[ 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. ]