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

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[Okay, uh. The bowing is a bit weird, but all right. He pauses, then sighs and blows air out of his mouth to blow back some his own hair from his face. Without his hat, it's been more annoying to deal with; he really needs to find some hair ties.]

No need to get all formal.

[It does seem like someone's dad just scolded this kid into apologizing, but without anyone else around the kid still made his own choice. So. There's that.

Abbacchio puts his hands on his hips.]

...I wasn't making fun of you when I said it looked like you'd never seen a zipper before. Figured I'd just do it myself so you wouldn't have to fumble.

But I guess you're the kind of guy that likes to do things yourself than having his hand held.

[Zuko lets out a slow breath, clearly relieved the apology was accepted. He still looks a little sheepish.]

Something like that. I should know better by now not to take it personally.

[But he still does regardless. Old habits. And the farther he gets from his anger the more he just feels guilty, so guess who gets even more explanation that he didn't ask for! It's Abbacchio!]

There's... a lot, here, that I'm not familiar with. I'll probably run into a lot more, so it's better that I get used to needing help. I would--appreciate it, that is, if you wouldn't mind.

S'fine. I'll keep it in mind. You kinda remind me of some other kid I used to deal with. He had a shitty temper, too.

[But that in itself is bittersweet. Abbacchio considers for a moment, then shrugs.]

Sure. I recognize a lot of the kinds of things in this mall. But it seems like other people might not.

I promise to not give you shit if you don't know how to tie a pair of shoes.

I can tie shoes.

[Even Zuko can hear how sullen that sounds, so let's move right along. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he forces himself not to lose his temper. Again.]

So where's all this stuff from? If you've seen it before.

That's a broad question.

[Abbacchio considers for a moment. It wouldn't be hard to guess that this kid hasn't seen a lot of this stuff before. Azula didn't seem to recognize much of it, and then there's Silver the talking hedgehog to consider.]

Anyway. A lot of it's familiar to where I'm from. You'd see this kind of stuff a lot even in Napoli malls. I think this might be an American one, but I'm not totally positive yet. Still investigating.

[Zuko actually sits down, legs folded, his brow furrowed as if he's having difficulty processing this information.]

I've never heard of those countries.

[Granted, he only knows like four, but. It occurs to him he has no idea how big the world really is. He's never seen anything beyond the borders of the traditional maps. Has anyone ever been out there? It's incredible how much the people of the world never seem to think about.]

What kind of bending do they have there?

[Bending. That term again. Abbacchio pauses, then sets his bag down and sits across from the kid. This is kind of a tough talk, mostly because he himself is still wrapping his head around a lot of it. All that he has to go by are theories and possibilities along with his own experiences.

This is probably the most bizarre situation he's ever been in, though.]

Bending isn't a thing where I'm from.

It was only a short while ago I heard about that, you know. Bending. No one does that, because they can't. That's not to say people don't have special... you know, powers or whatever. But nothing like that.

Where you from?

[Zuko sighs, rubs a hand down his face. All of a sudden, he feels very tired.]

I'm not from anywhere anymore.

[With THAT melodramatic declaration out of the way... this is even more information to mull over, and the more time Zuko spends here the more unnerved he gets. He can't imagine what it means not to bend--not to simply be a non-bender, but to not even understand the concept of bending. He can only assume it's the minority of people who don't know of it; that's the main reason he doesn't pursue the topic.

But he's aware that's a disingenuous answer to what is probably a real question. He picks at the ends of his pants, still the ones he'd arrived in, preemptively bracing himself for a fight. Not that he'd blame anybody for picking one.]

But I was from the Fire Nation, originally.

[Abbacchio nearly says pretty sure you were still born somewhere, but he holds back just enough. He usually doesn't care about antagonizing others, but he doesn't actually want to bother this kid too much, not after he actually tried to be the bigger man. He kind of respects it, honestly.]

I met some other kid around here from the Fire Nation. I hadn't heard of it until then. But then, I'm pretty sure the Fire Nation doesn't exist where I'm from.

[Leaning forward, Abbacchio places his hands on his thighs and peers at the kid.]

I met with the nation's princess. She made it seem like I should've known her. And hey, maybe I should have if I were from anywhere close the Fire Nation, but I haven't. Trust me when I say my memory is really damned good. It would be impossible for me to have heard of your country before, or bending for that matter.

[Zuko jerks his head up to stare at Abbacchio, eyes wide. His knuckles are white where his hands are fisted into the fabric of his pants.]

You met Azula? Then she really is here. [Unconsciously, he pulls his hood a little farther over his face, like that will help him hide. He thinks of her robe, crammed into the backpack he has slung over his shoulder. He still doesn't know why he's hanging onto it.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, forcing himself to relax. He already knew she was probably here; no point working himself into a panic over it.]

You should stay away from her if you know what's good for you.

[Oh. There's like actual fear in this kid's eyes. Then again, with how Azula was acting, it's like she was used to people fearing her. She even suggested as much. Frankly, though, he can't be bothered with that. At this point, there's really only one man he truly fears.]

You know her, huh.

[Then again, if he ignores this kid's scar... isn't there some family resemblance? Nah, maybe he's just assuming based on the fact that they're both Fire Nation.]

Look, I won't assume that I know everything there is about her, but I'm honestly not that worried. I just showed her where the showers were anyway.

What should I know though?

Well, she's trying to kill me.

[That... probably requires an explanation, doesn't it? Zuko hesitates a moment, but... if this man truly doesn't know anything about the Fire Nation, and Zuko has no reason to doubt him, then it should be safe to tell. At least a summarized version.

After all, he really doesn't want anybody else to underestimate her and get hurt because of it. Especially if it's because Zuko wasn't forthright enough.]

You already know she's the princess. She's also my younger sister. I'm pretty sure I'm not in succession anymore, but she... doesn't like loose ends. And everything is a potential loose end to her. You can't trust her.

[Well. Okay, so he did peg that right, but that's still pretty shitty. Abbacchio frowns to himself, and then tilts his head as he thinks to himself. Of the two, this kid seems a bit more stable. Azula did seem a bit off, but just seemed like an overconfident brat to him. Not unusual to Abbacchio.]

Sounds like a real pain in the ass, to put lightly.

[Abbacchio lets out a sigh.]

And that you should probably get to making some friends so someone watches your back. But that's up to you. Anyway, I won't say anything if she asks.

[Zuko actually smiles softly, a little wryly. "A pain in the ass" is the mildest of Azula's faults, but it's still true.]

Thanks.

[After a moment, he slings off the backpack and pulls out the robe, then hauls himself to his feet and holds it out to Abbacchio.]

Can you get this to her? I kind of... I don't really know why I hung onto it when I found it, but it's hers. She... probably wouldn't accept it from me.

What am I, your errand boy?

[Though the sarcastic remark is made, Abbacchio is notably taking the backpack anyway because he's a tsundere bastard like that.]

If I run into her again-- [which he will, because he has plans] --I'll hand it over to her. I'll just say I found it, if that makes it easier for you.

...What's your name? She never brought you up. Not surprising, but I figured it'd be better than saying "hey you".

[He opens his mouth, then closes it. He's told the truth so far, so there's no point in stopping now. He's tired of hiding, anyway. fuckin drama queen]

Zuko. [He almost elaborates, but no: just Zuko.] And--thanks. Uh, again. I'll probably have to face her eventually, but the more time I can get the better.

Leone Abbacchio. ...And don't mention it. I'm not exactly a stranger to family struggles, just not on a royal scale.

[He pauses, then glances away.] Anyway. I guess just hit me up if you need help with some shit you don't recognize or something.

[Zuko actually smiles at him. Look at that!]

I will. And--

[He stops there, because he doesn't actually know what to offer in exchange. What's he even good at? Swords? Firebending? There's no use for either of those here, and everything else he could help with anybody could do. Still, though, it's only polite to extend the same courtesy.]

I can... help move stuff around, I guess? If you need it. [He runs a hand through his hair sheepishly, like he's apologizing for not being as useful.] Or if you need anything... set on fire?

Actually... both of those would be kinda helpful. I was planning on moving a mattress on my own but I wouldn't mind another hand.

[Abbacchio smiles wryly, then goes to stand up as he dusts off his pants.]

And trust me, your firebending is going to be pretty helpful in this place. I guarantee a lot of people don't even know how to make one, and it'll save time for those are trying.

Sure. Anything I can do.

[Zuko can't help but smile at him, because in truth this whole interaction has been pretty surreal--in a good way. He's not used to people just taking him at face value. He's not used to dealing with people he hasn't hurt before, who didn't know him from before he got his shit together.

It's nice to be trusted without having to work for it, for once. Abbacchio reminds him a bit of Toph for that reason, which can only be a good thing.

Congratulations! Zuko Will Now Die For You.]

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INTRO LOG #1

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