WEEK ZERO: ARRIVAL

[retellers]

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 and sparklers - packets of tea - one unlabeled pill - a rock that resembles the galaxy - if they're of age, a mini bottle of alcohol; if they're underage, a can of Mountain D*w Baja Blast instead - a singular condom - a single random one of these pillows (how did this fit?) - a handheld device 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

Comments

one.

[uhhhmagic]

[Huffing in irritation, because he’s squatting down to paw through all the T’s, when he comes across an empty rung on the rack.]

What the fuck! They’re always sold out.

[evocationary]

[ ... okay, hold on, hold up. she just... stares? for a second? and then she looks around them to see if there are people watching.

and then she throws her keychain at him at like top speed. ]

[uhhhmagic]

[It hits him directly in the face!!!!! He falls backwards onto his ass and his holding his nose like that actually hurt, because he’s an enormous baby. Why have they started fighting already— oh, right, siblings.]

What the fuck!

[Did he just say that.]

[evocationary]

[ for a second her lips twitch like she's going to laugh, and then, like - she remembers she's sort of mad? she looks around them again, and then immediately reaches down, and pulls him up, and hugs him. full-bodied, full cling.

quietly: ]

You dingus. That didn't even hurt.

[uhhhmagic]

It totally hurt, dongus.

[He does, however, just accept her hug - though he seems a bit confused. Just making a face while he’s squeezed.]

Okay, I’m like— I’m not a super genius or anything, but I’m gonna judge from this reaction that maybe something is up?

[evocationary]

[ it's a brief hug, for however tight it is, because god forbid she be seen being affectionate to her brother in public. she pulls away and puts her hands on either side of his face... and pulls on his cheeks. ]

Uh, yeah? The whole - trapped -- okay, well, obviously you recognize me, so that's a good first step?

[uhhhmagic]

Uh, yeah, should I not recognize you? Am I being Punk’d right now? Are the cameras around? I drank the jellyfish piss and remembered everything, but that was like, a while ago now, and I thought we covered this?

[Poking her in the temple.]

Did they hit your head in the kidnapping. Fuck.

[evocationary]

[ she bats at his hand! ]

Okay, I see what it is. There's some fucking time shenanigans going on here, obviously, because about - oh, I don't know, thirty minutes ago - you broke my umbrella and the world was ending. Clearly not the case for you.

Or maybe I did hit my head in the kidnapping and I forgot everything. [ haha wouldn't that be... hilarious... ] Can't rule out that possibility.

[uhhhmagic]

Ah— I’m gonna err on the side of time shenanigans here, because if we’re going around fucking with memories again, I think it’s just . . . it’s just too played out at this point. Boring!

[He seems not all that distressed by this though, arms crossing. He has the inflated ego of someone who has achieved a Good Ending.]

Anyway, it’s cool, we stopped the apocalypse stuff, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Uh - gotta say, the kidnapping thing is a surprise though.

[evocationary]

[ she is also super not distressed by this turn of events. look, she has a body? it's fine, things are great. actually, her hands are really fucking cold, though. ]

Uh, duh, of course we did. [ stop the apocalypse. she has no doubts in her mind. ] But you're - god, I can't believe I have to admit this - you're right. Wasn't exactly expecting to show up in Fantasy Disneyland, either. Fifty-fifty on it's a nice vacation versus a horrible Saw sequel, right?

[ she nudges him, and then goes back to looking through the merch. ]

[uhhhmagic]

Fuck off, I’m totally right like at least 30 percent of the time.

[Shoving her back, in retaliation for both the nudge and the keychain throw at his head.]

Oh, let’s focus on surprise vacation we didn’t know about. Actualization. The Secret. Bring it into being.

[evocationary]

[ she grins, despite herself, at the shove. ]

Ohmmmm. [ she says, like she's meditating on the idea of making a surprise vacation a real thing. ] Secret vacation with exactly none of - the rest of us, tell me, how is it that it's been a century and nobody has given us a cool nickname for our band of space invaders? What the fuck is that, honestly.

[uhhhmagic]

I know! What the fuck— you think they’re just here and lost somewhere? I mean, we did leave Merle in that bathroom at Denny’s once. Didn’t really look or anything.

[Hm. Wow. Rude, Taako.]

[evocationary]

[ she waves a hand. ]

We remembered eventually. [ it's fine. ] I mean - Magnus, I could see getting lost, but... Lucretia's pretty on her game, Taako, she would've sniffed us out by now.

[ she pulls her hair back into a ponytail. ] Unless she's also nerfed. I tried blasting a door earlier and got absolutely nothing out of it.