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

Please, you need not apologize. [ A shake of his head in dismissal, smile still in place. ] It must be rather precious to you, after all.

[ Just considering how utterly desperate he had sounded and all. Still, Dimitri has to admit that only makes him further curious... He doesn't want to assume that device is some kind of weapon, though given the circumstances, it would be foolish of him to at least not ask a question or two. ]

I must say, I have never seen anything quite like this camera of yours before. What is it used for?

[So he really doesn't know what a camera is? That's... pretty crazy. Even old people out in the sticks who still have home phones know what a camera is.]

It's... you use it to take pictures. This one's digital, see?

[He opens up his stored photos, looking over the thumbnail previews. It hurts a little, to see the pics of him and the guys from Altissia, followed abruptly by the few selfies he took of himself and Aranea in the snow, but he tries not to think about the gap in between, instead selecting an older photo of himself and Noctis.]

This one's pretty nice... it even lets you crop on the camera, and add filters. Of course, I usually like to touch them up on the computer but I haven't had a chance to sit down and do it lately...

[He trails off his useless babbling and turns the camera to let Dimitri see.]

Edited 2020-07-02 01:28 (UTC)

[ Wow Prompto, don't call him old?? He just comes from a land where technology hasn't advanced that far, but he could perfectly learn how to handle a came if he were taught!

That said, Prompto's words mostly do ring as incomprehensible babbling as it is, things like filters and computers all too foreign to him. He does pay attention, though, and his one visible eye widens in surprise at the image. ]

So this isn't a painting? [ Unfamiliar though he may be, this much he could make out. ] It is so life-like... I cannot imagine even the most prestigious artists in the Kingdom could ever reproduce these results.

That's right! Not a painting, it's... well, basically, it just captures a moment in time. Here, I'll show you!

[And, without any warning, he raises the camera back up, and takes a snapshot of Dimitri himself. Then he turns the camera back around with the new photo up on the screen, for him to see.]

See? That's you.

[As if he can't see that himself.]

[ "Captures a moment in time" may not have been the best choice of words because Dimitri's first immediate thought is that this is some kind of dark magic, and that the people in the image are actually trapped in place.

Good thing Dimitri is not in possession of his lances just yet, or else he might have jumped into a defensive stance. ]

This is... fascinating. [ Fortunately, the atmosphere remains amicable as he peers into the screen, his one visible eye widening. ] It is as though looking in a mirror that never moves. Is it some sort of spell?

[ These Ye Oldes don't get technology, Prompto, help him. ]

Nope, no spell. Just technology.

[He frowns, looking at Dimitri quizzically.]

You’ve... really never seen a camera before, have you? Not even an old film camera?

[What is going on...]

Old... film? [ He repeats, tentative, the words clearly as foreign as this entire experience so far. ] I am afraid not. I didn't even know technology alone could develop something like this...

[ Maybe if dragon goddess lady hadn't kept them in the dark ages for so long, mankind could have progressed that far-- but on the other hand, the only group of shady individuals who use technology at all only do it for the sake of building war machines. Maybe they're just not meant to have nice things. ]

I assume you can use it on anyone indiscriminately? Does it last as long as a painting would?

Yeah, you can use it on anyone, or anything! You just have to line up the lens. [He taps the lens, so Dimitri knows which part of the camera he means.

But this is a lot of questions. He tries to keep up.]

And if you print the pictures they can fade over time, especially if you leave them in light or use bad paper... but if you're careful, you can preserve them for a long time.

[He waves the camera.] And this one is digital, so I can store the pictures forever and just print off a new one if I need to.

[ Lens, print, digital... That's yet another whole slew of words that don't ring any bells to Dimitri, though he manages to keep up. What really catches his interest is something else: ]

So in summary, these pictures of yours are similar to paintings, yet with a camera, they take all but a second to be completed? Even the most skilled artist in the kingdom would take hours just to finish the initial sketch...

[ Truth be told, Dimitri wasn't much of a fan of posing for portraits. In fact, he wasn't a fan of much that came with the duties of royalty, all the pomp and circumstance, and the stifling formalities that made even his closest friends a little too respectful-- with perhaps one particular exception.

His friends... Now that he thinks about it, he never did have a chance to have their portraits painted, all of them together. If only he could... ]

You are truly fortunate to have this ability at your disposal, my friend. Please, never let go of something so precious again.

[Precious, huh... Well, guess it is. He's taken it for granted, in the past, but now that there's no way to see his friends other than through the pictures he's taken of them...]

...You're right. I won't. I'll hold on to it.

[Not just because it took him so long to save up the money for it, but that it has all his precious memories on it.]

...But, uh, you know, there's an electronics store here. If you find a camera in there, I can teach you how to use it.

INTRO LOG #1

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