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

[teaserving]

Yeah, guess we don't have a shortage of protein yet.

[Kind of a weird thing to focus on, but he lets it pass right now. Instead, what's more strange is that she doesn't seem to recognize what Abbacchio is eating.]

Potato chips? What, you never had any before?

[Without encouragement, he offers the bag to her.]

They're all right, I guess. Not my ideal choice of snack.

[regnum]

I’ve had potato before.

[ She hops up onto the balls of her feet and peers down into the bag. Those aren’t potatoes as she knows them—but, then again, what reason would Abbacchio have to lie about potato chips?

After breaking off a piece (they’re hard and brittle, she notices, not crumbly like normal potato) and eyeing it every which way, she gives it a quick taste test. Huh. For as much as he hates barbecue-flavored chips, Historia thinks they’re actually not that bad. ]

Are there more?

[teaserving]

Yeah, this is a little different. They dice up the potatoes and cook them in a way that makes them crisp. This one's flavored.

[Well. It seems like she likes them, anyway. Abbacchio considers for a moment, then just keeps holding out the bag.]

I only found this one, but you can have it. I'll find something else to eat.

[regnum]

[ Historia looks from the bag to him, then back again. There’s a catch here, she thinks. No one is ever genuinely nice—not unless they’re getting something out of it. ]

Why would you do that?

[ Does he want her in his debt? Is she going to have to pay him back two-, three-, four-fold when he comes to collect? Her mind reels with the possibilities, none of them good. ]

You don’t owe me anything.

[teaserving]

Eh?

[It takes him a second, but he recognizes this line of thinking. He's dealt with enough brats on the street to know it.

So he shrugs, like it's no big deal, playing up the expression of being inconvenienced.] I fucking hate the flavor so I was just gonna throw it out anyway. It'd be a waste. But hey, if you don't want it, I'll toss it.

[regnum]

[ What? That wasn’t the read Historia had on the situation. She opens her mouth, ready to fight him on it, but she makes the wise decision to close it instead. Better not make things worse. ]

… Okay.

[ Not ‘thank you.’ Just ‘okay.’ Abbacchio doesn’t look like he needs (much less wants) her thanks.

She reaches for the package, dubious, then snatches it away, like she expects his hand to snap shut if she’s not fast enough about it. He seems unpredictable like that. ]

What else is there? Aside from— [ she glances at the packaging, ] —‘barbecue,’ I mean.

[teaserving]

[The lack of gratitude isn't even something he calls out. He lets her take the package; internally, there's the satisfaction of making sure she eats. Outwardly, he doesn't even look like he gives a damn. That's the tsundere way, baby.]

Huh? I don't know. There's all kinds of flavors. Salt and pepper, sour cream and onion, shit like that. It's not much of a meal, but I guess it's better than nothing. This was the only one I saw, though.