redactable | WEEK ZERO: ARRIVAL

WEEK ZERO: ARRIVAL
(43 remain)

Whatever each character was doing—chatting with friends, going to bed, saving the world—ceases. In fact, it's likely nothing more than a groggy memory now, as they open their eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. Apparently, they took a nap right in the middle of a small town, plopped outside on the paved road. Ow?

Oh, but it looks like they've been given a goodie bag. Everyone likes gifts, right? Inside, it contains:

a single random one of the following headbands

a rock that resembles the galaxy

a single random one of these pillows

Should they boot up the device, the screen helpfully informs them that it's a Participant Help System (PHS). Not much on it, but it does have a few apps, including a memo one for taking notes. There's also a messaging system, though it's only capable of receiving messages, not sending any. As a matter of fact, there's an alert for a new message already. Maybe it'll explain what's going on.

Good evening, everyone. Uh, how are we sure they’re arriving in the evening? Just say “hello”! Or “greetings”! Greetings is fancy, right? Oh that’s true. Greetings, everyone. That’s better? Yes! Except maybe we take out the that’s better part in the final version. Will do!

We’re sorry that we’re not here jklk oh no how do i erase what i wrote. Where is the question mark. Help press backspace. What is a backspace it’s written on the keyboard. Do you even know how to read? right now. There are a lot of things happening that’s so vague? Could we maybe TRY to not be ominous, guys??, It’s going to be ominous no matter what we say, so who cares so we need time to best prepare for you all. We will greet you properly soon, so please make yourselves at home! There are a lot of places to explore, and the kitchen has a lot of delicious food. Please don’t be shy, but also, don’t damage anything. It’s a little inconvenient. They’re going to do it just because you sound so fucking whiny. I’m sorry oh this is how you write somewhere else. Please do not fight or do. We don’t control your life choices. No please do not fight how do i make an exclamation mark maybe we should’ve gotten someone else to write the draft of the message? No offense. I’m sorry Sorry stop apologizing. No one else volunteered. Maybe we’ll luck out and none of them know how to read

Thank you for your time! We’ll see you soon. Also, we promise you haven’t been kidnapped or anything!

Oh dear. I don’t know if this is going to be edited, so if it isn’t, then I do apologize to the participants for our lack of organization. We’re doing our best! Probably.

Er, what? Unfortunately, it seems as though that's the only info they're given for now. In the meantime, why not explore the surrounding area? A number of buildings are locked, and the Planetarium appears to be closed, but there's enough to keep the characters occupied for a day or two. They might even want to get to know their fellow "participants" better, while they're at it.

NAVIGATION

locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests
murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. I figure if we're the only ones here, and we all just showed up... Maybe this place was so quiet that the walkers were all drawn out to the woods by wild animals and stuff.

[ but she shrugs, like she isn't super confident in the theory. ]

[ He gives a slight, puzzled frown. ]

Forgive my ignorance—walkers?

[ Right. Not everyone has walkers. ]

Uh - monsters. The dead that come back.

Ah—the undead.

[ Which Eorzea has, but they're not really a problem... ]

You oft contend with them?

[ Just a casual amount of zombies. ]

Yeah. There are more dead than there are living. This is actually... The most people I've seen in a long time.

[ His eyes widen. ]

—Truly? But there are hardly many of us here! What of your towns and cities...?

[ His elf ears are bumping her faith in the 'multiple worlds' theory from 75% to 100%, so she doesn't mind explaining things that feel basic to her. She's... Already pretty used to explaining basic things, anyway. ]

Better to keep moving. More dead in the cities than anywhere else.

Sometimes worth the risk for food or medicine, though. If you can find somewhere that hasn't been tapped dry and get in and out.

I see...

[ She's so young, too. ]

Well, there is naught to worry of while you're here—or so I would love to claim. Mayhap it would be best for us to confirm the lack of any immediate dangers, either way.

[ she's momentarily distracted by his fancy talk, but. nods. ]

Yep. Only takes letting your guard down once. This place looks nice and all, but that's exactly why I don't trust it.

Nay, we have little reason to trust it at all. Even should this quaint town be lacking in ferocious beasts or ravenous undead, there are still others ways we could be in danger.

[ the real monster........ man........ ]

And we're stuck just waiting around for whoever brought us here to show up.

If they do.

[ Which... might be a possibility, but who can say? It's too early. ]

It would be best that we attempt to discover all we can on our own until then, however.

[ she nods. better to get familiar with the area, either way. ]

That stupid welcome message made it sound like they'll show up eventually, but - who knows.

[ wait. ]

—A welcome message?

[ yeah, he went this long without knowing. sorry homie he ain't a techie! ]

[ she only knows because she watched other people open it, honestly. ]

Yeah, it's on the weird... Phone thing.

[ she pulls her handheld device out of her bag. her knowledge of technology stopped in 2003, but she's still familiar with the basics of touching buttons when they're intuitive enough, so she navigates to the message before holding out the device for him to take. ]

... Don't get too excited about it. [ because that message is borderline incoherent. ]

[ He takes it, and reads, and reads, and reads... then frowns. ]

... This does not instill a lot of confidence in me.

They sound like idiots.

... Which could be useful, I guess. Depending.

It is possible.

[ but, and there's always a but ]

Despite their incompetence, they still managed to bring us all here, and that is no small feat.

It's hard to wrap my head around. I could understand getting knocked out and dragged somewhere, but...

[ well. different worlds and all that. really out of her area of expertise. ]

Indeed. Even I still have trouble doing so, as well. But there is a way out of this, one way or another, and we should endeavor to find it.

Got any ideas?

Because I've got nothin'.

'Tis too soon to have any, I'm afraid. I can say, from experience, this is no small matter that can be solved in a day.

[ As nice as it would be. ]

[ yeah, fair enough. ]

Breaking out of places is usually about waiting for the right opportunity... But in a place as wide open as this, what does breaking out even mean?

[ and if they're from different worlds, is breaking out even really an option? wow she hates that train of thought. ]

It means we must needs find what process brought us all here, and if not possible, we put our heads together to come up with our own way.

[ He slips out a weary breath, though, shaking his head. ]

Were it so simple. We have much work ahead of us.

The waiting sucks. I'm fine with the work, but the waiting...

[ usually 'waiting for opportunity' still has steps for her to take. she sort of - impatiently kicks at the ground a bit. ]

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