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

[firelords]

⟪ She rolls out from under her hideout and jumps into a defensive stance, though it's immediately obvious that she's just disoriented enough to not attack immediately. She felts stiff and uncomfortable, which isn't usually how her royal chambers make her feel – and then she takes in her surroundings, the broken glass, the desolate walls. Right. The mall. That had happened.

Her eyes are still wild when she focuses on him, and she doesn't lower her hands. ⟫

Who are you?

⟪ She scans him for weapons, signs of aggression. ⟫

[aufsassig]

[She's older than Nagi and decidedly less...everything than Farfarello, but once you've dealt with one (two) overpowered and hilariously unstable teens on a regular basis, it sort of gets to be like riding a bike. This one seems more on the Farfarello side of things — inclined to be the first to lash out rather than going on the defensive from the get-go — so that at least gives him an idea of a place to start with not getting his head taken off.]

Just a guy. My name's not really important.

[She's definitely agitated, even afraid; he can feel her thoughts like a hurricane, fierce and chaotic. Definitely a Farfarello type, just without all the religious fervor. The kind of person who needs a "no sudden movements" sort of response.

His eyes track briskly over her cloak, the ragged mess of her hair. Slowly, with his hands still raised, he lowers himself down into a crouch, and then takes a seat outright on the floor.]

What about you, princess? You got a name?

[firelords]

⟪ Here is what she's thinking: this is power play. His refusal to give a name was one thing – there's all kinds of reasons for that, and who knows who (or what) he's hiding from. But to identify her as the princess and then pretending not to know her name?

It has to be some form of power play.

Problem with the assessment is that he's sat himself down, hands raised and non-threatening. ⟫

The title will do.

⟪ Slowly, she forces herself to relax, at least enough to no longer look like she's ready to give him hell. ⟫

Why so secretive?

[aufsassig]

[...Wait, is she — is she serious. Is she serious or is she fucking with him, he tosses out an idle pet name and she's acting like that's a legitimate title? There's no possible way this is serious. She's got to just have a sense of humor drier than the Sahara desert.]

Wouldn't you be? Surrounded by strangers, with no idea about who's trustworthy and who's not?

[He cocks his head slightly, gauging her expression, then adds: ]

People who are careless deserve what they get, don't they?

[firelords]

⟪ If anything, this hits home harder than her unexpected awakening had. She thinks of the legion of servants she had banished because they couldn't possibly be trusted – ⟫

No one can be trusted.

⟪ It's an automatic response even before she fully considers the other question he poses, but really, that's just another good point he makes: carelessness, like defencelessness, is just another invitation. ⟫

Do you think I am careless?

[aufsassig]

[It's always a satisfying feeling, that little zing of startled recognition that zips across a person's mind when something he says lands a direct hit. Half the time you don't even need telepathy to figure a person out; you just toss the bait in the water and see what makes a fish surface.

It's a vivid vision that her mind drags up, though, in tandem with that surprise. He can tell that going for a deep dive in this girl's head is probably not the best of ideas (there's something unbalanced there; digging around in a mind like that is never a brilliant idea), but hmm. Maybe she wasn't kidding about that "princess" thing.

Two hits for the price of one, huh. Boy, he's good at this.]

Are you kidding? You threw a rock at my head. I think you've got the right idea, being ready to defend yourself.

[Okay, so let's see. A younger girl, a little crazy, a princess, cagey as shit. The ego, maybe, is the angle to take. She won't trust flattery, she'll see it as fake, but she'll want to be taken seriously. Probably a lot of people don't take her as seriously as she thinks she ought to be.]

If anything, I'm the careless one. Walking in unannounced like that and all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I wanted a black eye or anything, but I can't really blame you for defending what's yours.