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

[globs]

[ crunch buddy gives a muffled gasp when they hear someone calling for them (presumably), and a few more rapid crunch-crunch-crunches follow them rushing around behind the counter of spooky abandoned J*red's and crouching, holding the lamp to their chest defensively. (The crunching is glass breaking underfoot, because someone's smashed almost all the display cases in here.) ]

Go back to sleep!

[ they thought all the humans would be sleeping by now!! there can be no rest for Cinnabar, truly. ]

[takeroot]

[Ah, not a voice he recognizes— pity. But he's already here and he's curious about what kind of individual is running around in the middle of the night- like, besides himself, obviously- and so he crunches more lightly across this cursed J*red's towards the counter.

The lantern is still lit and he has eyes, so like, hey. He delicately brushes some thick dust and grime off this counter and then leans his elbows on it, to peer over from the other side.]

There you are! [buddy... thief.] What are you doing in here at this hour?

[globs]

[ unsurprisingly, this did not work... perhaps they should have kept their mouth shut, but then they'd run the risk of him snooping around for them in silence, which sounds even more nerve-wracking. Being mean is usually enough to make people leave them alone.

In any case, when he looks over at them, they flinch away, both for his safety and because it just plain makes them nervous. ]

Does it even matter? [ cradling the lantern a little closer. ] Stay back.

[takeroot]

[Constantin holds up his hands when they look at him, eyebrows raised; he is innocent? He is staying right here on his side of this counter, not coming any closer. It's the middle of the night and he doesn't want to make a scene, anyway— that only ends with him falling ass-first into broken glass, he can feel it.

So! Hm! Upon closer inspection that is definitely a lantern that belongs to him, but as he watches them shy away with it like it's very precious cargo... hmmm.]

Are you afraid of the dark?

[globs]

[ haha ass glass constantin

that comment makes their face screw up into something close to offended - which would normally be hard to see at this hour, but they're very well-illuminated thanks to the lantern and the reflected light from their hair. ]

What? Don't be stupid. I'm trying to stay awake.

[ it's an obvious answer for a gem. Cinnabar is realizing they're going to have to explain everything to these people, much like they need everything explained to themself. After a moment of thought, they sigh. ]

... My body will shut down if there's not enough light, [ they decide, after contemplating how best to word this for an organic being. ] I'm not like you animals.

[takeroot]

[Shiny person... The longer Constantin stands here and peers obnoxiously over the counter, the more he actually notices that they look... off? Different. And there's this comment about You Animals, which really makes it obvious.

Not that any of it makes sense, but he supposes he met someone who willingly puts cheap shit moonshine into his body, so anything is possible. There is no accounting for taste nor humanity, or something.]

Sure. [okay.jpg] Well, that- [he points,] is mine, actually, but if you happened to have a powerful need to borrow it instead of stand around under one of these other lamps, then I suppose an arrangement could be made. What say you?

[globs]

[ is this implying that constantin sees people who like bad booze on the same level as aliens... incredible ]

Huh? [ that seems to legitimately surprise Cinnabar; their eyes widen, and, uncertainly, they curl away from the lantern a little, looking back down at it. Right. It looks like it doesn't belong here - which is why they were drawn to it in the first place, but which also implies it came here with someone. They're wearing gloves while they handle it, of course; nonetheless, they're surreptitiously checking for stains and smudges they might have left on it. How embarrassing. ] I -- I didn't know that. I... sorry.

[ after they're reasonably sure they didn't ruin it somehow, they reach up to very quickly set it on the countertop, snatching their arm away like they got caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. ]

It should be clean...