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

[ Oh.

There's a moment where 9S appears dumbfounded, uncertain of what words would help. He doesn't know anything about illnesses or how to best deal with them; there was once a machine he aided when it had a sick pet, but 9S has a feeling this isn't just like finding a plant in the forest with medicinal properties. For starters, there's no forest in sight here, and going outside isn't an option. ]

There's—really nothing anywhere? If there's a chance there's anything else that could help, it's a big enough place that it could be lying around somewhere.

I did manage to find one inhaler... It's simply over the counter, so it's not quite what I need, but it will do in a pinch in an emergency. I'll simply have to move very carefully so that my heart, lungs or body don't give out, in the meantime.

[From appearances, Eichi seems a little too casual about it all.]

Of course, it would be a blessing to find that it's all been dumped in a corner somewhere, somehow. I received other items that weren't on my person at the time of my disappearance, so there may be a chance, but I've looked around as thoroughly as I can manage with my own health as it is, currently.

[ More casual than 9S would expect, unless such sicknesses were common enough that it's easy to face a problem like this with nonchalance. Humans were more delicate than he would've been led to believe, were that the case. ]

Why don't I have a look around?

[ It's basically what he's been doing anyway, except maybe this time what he's attempting to locate would be more plausible to find. Hopefully. ]

It sounds like I'd have an easier time getting around than you, so...

...I don't mind if you do, of course, but I still don't have much for you in terms of repayment.

[He's still so concerned with this. His specific brand of medication is nowhere to be found in the mall, but there may be limited small doses of pills here or there that could help to alleviate symptoms. Not that he knows any of this. He's just preparing to accept that he may have no help at all.]

My pills are kept in a metal case with an emblem on the front, though it may be that there are other medications that could help my particular symptoms. That seems difficult to go over... But if you really are willing, I certainly am in no place to turn down the help. It may even help me survive a bit longer.

[ Pills kept in a metal case with an emblem—alright. 9S doesn't know if this narrows down what he'd be looking for, but it's worth a shot. Better than simply letting this guy die on them. ]

Erm—well, let's see if we can find your box first before we get into that.

[ He wouldn't know one kind of medication from the other. A beat follows before 9S continues, the barest hint of exasperation present in his tone: ]

And seriously, forget about repaying me. There's nothing I need.

[It's been enough times of him insisting that that Eichi picks up something about it. Smiling on pleasantly, he hums.]

Does it trouble you that I consider it? You'll have to forgive me. I've been doing my best to adjust, but it seems that no matter what I do, my mind becomes stuck in the ways of a businessman, always expecting that you're offering only to gain something in return.

But are you doing it out of the kindness of your own heart, then?

[ Business isn't an unknown concept to him, but 9S can't say he's ever met a merchant so concerned about keeping even. Still, he supposes it explains why Eichi is so adamant about it. ]

Really? This is your life we're talking about here.

[ Even the deaths of his own kind troubled him; when fighting for the sake of humankind was the only reason any of them were around, of course the possibility of "I might not survive" wasn't going to go ignored. ]

My life is something that's been fragile since birth, so perhaps I have a skewed view on it. It's troubling to be fussed over, but at the same time, it's nice to have those who care for me.

So thank you, 9S-kun. ♪

[That sort of answer definitely is kindness. How sweet. It's good to know there are kind people here.]

It—it's nothing.

[ The thanks feels unwarranted, but he leaves it at that. ]

I'll let you know if I find anything. You need anything else around here?

We're not at the point where I'm desperate for food, so that's all that I'm focused on, currently. That and... I suppose, if you see a small boy with pink hair, or a polite looking man with dark hair and a mole beneath his eye, perhaps together, I would appreciate knowing.

[They're not here but. He still wonders. His hand moves to adjust something on a display nearby. It's nothing important, like a hairband.]

INTRO LOG #1

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