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

[His skin got irritated that fast, huh? Must be pretty delicate.

Prompto doesn't say that, instead mulling over the proposition. This guy isn't much younger than him, that's true, but if he doesn't have any weapons he's probably not safe wandering around on his own. And Prompto is a little sick of being on his own, anyway.

So he nods.]

Sure. We might as well check it out. Maybe we can find something cool.

Something "cool"... That reminds me, but your item isn't the only personal item I've found on accident. I haven't found a single thing of my own, however...

[He hums. What would there even be? He doesn't know. Stepping further into the store, inching carefully over worn out boards that creak loudly.]

Though it may be that I'm not missing anything terribly important that had been on my person. Is there anything else that you're looking for?

My phone, I guess. That's the only thing I had on me that I'm still missing...

[Alas, his phone is not here, but he doesn't know that.]

We can just be on the lookout for anything that looks familiar.

That's true... I also had my phone on me at first, but it seems to be missing.

[He frowns thoughtfully, stepping over a knocked down shelf to dig deeper into the store. Something scutters from the sides, and Eichi assumes it's some sort of bug or rodent...]

I wonder if anything might be lost to the flooded floor.

Ugh, I hope not... I like that phone.

[He moves away from Eichi, to check out a bin of what looks like kickballs. A lot of them are deflated now. He rummages through it, just in case.]

But if it is in there, no use getting it back now.

[He's peeking at higher shelves, picking up something that resembles a nerf gun and glancing back to Prompto with it. Well. At least this one is obviously fake. He sets it aside and keeps moving.]

That much is true. My skin still feels a bit irritated over that...

Ah, what color is your phone, by the way?

Black. The lockscreen has a picture of me and my buddy and a chocobo.

[Everyone knows what a chocobo is so this requires no further explanation! Prompto moves away from the balls and over to scan some shelves nearby.

This is the second time the guy has mentioned his skin being irritated, so don't mind if he asks...]

Does your skin get irritated easily?

It does... I've been quite delicate since I was born, so even a short time in the sun can cause me to burn. However, more than that, that water was certainly acidic in some way. Even my sturdy unitmate became a little irritated from it.

[Hey, there's like, some kind of a candy bar shoved in here? Eichi grabs it and stands up, turning it over in his hands curiously.]

Did you manage to escape that irritation?

I guess. I got pretty lucky, though - I was wearing a whole snowsuit when I ended up here, goggles and everything. The suit is pretty much ruined now, but I was okay.

[Now he's glad he had it on, if it irritated everyone's skin.

He glances back at Eichi, noticing what's in his hands.]

What'd you find?

A snow suit! That's incredibly useful. It's better that the suit is ruined than you yourself. If you look closely at the mess below us, you can see that pieces of even the mall itself have eroded to that acidic liquid.

[Seems like bad news. But, he offers the bar over.]

It seems like chocolate that's incredibly old. This isn't something that I can eat normally, let alone expired, so you're free to have it, if you'd like.

[Man, he knows this guy said he was fragile since he was born, but how fragile?]

You sure? Uh, thanks!

[He takes it, examining the packaging. Then he goes ahead and opens it, taking an experimental nibble.

Look, he hasn't eaten much of anything in a few days, don't judge him.]

Well, it's not great, but...

[He takes another bite anyway. There's peanut butter in there, so it's probably fine...]

As long as it doesn't make you sick, it can only be helpful, I assume.

[Turning back to the shelves, he hunches down to try and see if there are more bars. Not a one, it seems. Bare shelves...]

Well, I suppose there's not normally much to be found in a toy store to eat, in any case, but I wonder how much more luck we'll all have elsewhere.

There's a food court. We'd probably have more luck there... maybe there's a health food store around, too.

[He should find a directory... but those always seem impossible to find when you need one, even when the mall isn't falling apart.]

Too bad the first floor is flooded... we might have more options.

[Because Eichi is right, there's not a lot in this toy store.]

It's unfortunate, like the rest of this terrible situation. Ah, still... A food court or other stores may hold more, so shall we try them together?

[He breathes out something like a soft sigh, stepping back over debris to head towards the entrance to the store.]

It seems that going outdoors isn't an option. Have you taken a look, yourself?

Yeah. Looks like the apocalypse out there.

[He follows Eichi back toward the entrance to the toy store, on the lookout for danger, though everything seems calm.]

I haven't tried it, but it sounds like anything that goes out there dies pretty fast.

INTRO LOG #1

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