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

[Shouting while he's clearly distracted is such a risk, to wit: he fumbles the alcohol, and while he doesn't drop it, he does wind up sloshing a sip's worth or two onto his leg. Cool, love that!

Less risky is taking it from him, as he's just managed to twist around to look at where the angry voice is coming from when Haymitch just snatches the whole thing away from him. What? Huh?]

Hello? For what could I have possibly earned being robbed on the very first evening?

[Like, take it, sure! But sir.]

Oh, is it yours? You buy it?

[Please, he recognizes his flask. Although, to be fair, he probably would have shouted like that for a plain bottle of vodka too. He's gone through withdrawal, he would rather not again!

Flask in hand, and he takes a breath, calming a little.]

This might be the only alcohol in the damn place. Try not to throw it away on a whim and maybe I won't be so quick to take it off your hands.

To be fair, I don't believe any of us are paying for whatever we happen to find tucked away in any dusty corners here.

[That flask was sitting in a pile of rubble and trash! He rescued it! You're welcome, actually!

It takes him a moment to actually comprehend that this guy owns the flask and isn't just shouting at him over presumed alcohol because of some sixth sense for liquor. Hmm, oops? He won't address it.]

Well, in any case— it was not a whim, I'll have you know.

Oh? Then what was it?

[He takes a sip, and hey, yes, this is still as shitty as he remembers, but more importantly: it's effective. The world goes softer on the edge, and some of his panic fades.]

[Constantin gestures down at the perfectly still water, as if that explains everything.]

A test, of course.

[Of course. He'd try to sound more sure of this dumb idea, just for the hell of it, but his heart isn't even in that much.]

To see if anyone else is still down there.

[He looks at him for a long moment . . . but whereas other days he might mock him, he sighs pointedly and shakes his head.]

If they are, they're long dead.

[That sure is a way to comfort someone. A beat, and then, a vague concession:]

But I doubt it. We would've seen em left behind.

How can you be so sure? I wasn't keeping track of anyone while I was trying to get out of the water.

[Which, hmm, now he feels a little bad about... But still!]

You don't know how long each of us was held down there, either. There's clearly an unknown force at work here, so... who can say!

Did you feel it burn? It wasn't gonna get any better the longer we sat in it.

[He sits a little ways above him, perched on the escalator steps.]

Besides: you oughta be happy nobody you know is here. It's not exactly a vacation spot.

[Surely he's not desperate for more strangers, but rather an ally.]

[He turns properly to face him now, pulling his legs up to fold his arms over his knees. For a moment he's quiet, but from the look on his face it's obvious that that's exactly what he was thinking about— waiting around for someone he knows.]

I haven't the slightest idea how we two and the others got here in the first place, but I wouldn't want my cousin to worry. [Which is true, make no mistake, but he's not so above selfishly wanting to see a familiar face, so,] I wish he would come up out of the water and help me figure out what to do next.

[Hmm. Yes. Anyway!]

That's all! I will embrace my solitary future as soon as I head back upstairs!

Settle down.

[It's lazily said, but he sighs. He's being a dick, he knows he's being a dick . . . ugh. This is not how you build allies. He shakes the flask in Constantin's direction.]

Here. Look, this kind of shit isn't . . . I thought I was done with it. I'm on edge.

[Have some alcohol, accept his vague apology.]

[He frowns- he will not settle down, actually!!- but after a moment he sighs and stands to come up the stairs. Fine, fine--]

Being kidnapped? Or waking up in a filthy lake? I'm more familiar with the former, myself.

[Lucky, because the indoor lake of probably acid water is disgusting. Now that he's been kidnapped a whole three times, it is losing its shine. He takes the flask, considers it, and takes a sip— ah, great, it's terrible and he misses brandy already. One sip of that is quite enough, and he passes it back while seriously considering whether drinking the rancid water would cover up the burn.]

You should have let me throw that in the water. Surely you could at least endeavor to enjoy getting drunk.

It's not about the journey, just getting to the destination as quick as possible.

[So this is life now: staring down into murky water while getting drunk in the mall. A mood, frankly, but there are worse ways to pass the time.]

Who kidnapped you before?

We are very different people, you and I.

[That was already obvious, but The Journey is easily the most important thing every time, whether it involves alcohol or not. But never mind that now.]

Recently I've been held hostage by ruffians and spirited away by... some manner of king. [He waves a hand.] I was in no state of mind to ask him for his name. My brave cousin came gallantly to my rescue, in any case, and handily dealt with my horrible captors!

[With a sword. He looks down at the floor below again.]

This time, however, the only enemy I have seen is this water.

[Hey holy shit this man talks like . . . like a Capitol citizen, almost, or at least a particularly pretentious one. It's a lot, frankly, enough that his mouth twitches once or twice in what might be a smile, but he bites it back.]

Good news is, I can pretty much guarantee you they didn't kidnap you just for your money.

[So, like, at least this is different? Maybe.]

Bad news is, that's not the only enemy you got. Outside's all poisoned too.

[Ah, hmm-- Constantin opens his mouth like maybe he will specify the exact reason he was kidnapped, but you know what? No, he really doesn't want to relive much of the past week or so. No, that's fine. It was money the first time, so that is enough.

He shrugs.]

Then I suppose we are all of us about to face each other's personal demons in a grand adventure.

[Wry, because what else are they going to do all stuck in one building together? He suspects someone will poison them all by the end of the week. None of you are trustworthy yet.]

I have no keen interest in being tossed out into the poisoned air, so let us be friends instead! My name is Constantin.

[He huffs a laugh despite himself, wry. He's probably right, frankly, and given the kinds of people he's met so far, that'll be a trip. Shit, it'll be a hell of a trip when he and that Italian kid run out of alcohol, never mind actual emotions.]

Haymitch.

[He offers a hand.]

Can't exactly say it's a pleasure, but could be worse, too.

INTRO LOG #1

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