WEEK ZERO: ARRIVAL (OVERFLOW)

[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

[showyourself]

[...

well, it's. polite to introduce yourself first.]

Can I ask your name, first? I'm Elsa. From the sounds of it, you're not any more interested in being here than any of we are, so...

[...let's work together?]

[retellers]

Public speaking isn't my thing. [ so... yeah. but they'll nod their head at her. ] It's Wolf.

[ like the mask. ]

[showyourself]

[........are they all named after their masks............ ah, cute??]

It's nice to meet you, Wolf. So far, we seem to know that this is a competition, you have nothing to do with bringing us here, that there's six of you... and none of you know how you came here, either?

Is there any other details we should be aware of? About this situation? About you?

[retellers]

Hard to know much about us if we don't know about ourselves in the first place.

[ they sound a little annoyed, but... also a little bored about it. c'est la vie! sometimes you have amnesia. ]

[showyourself]

...Favorite color? Hobbies? First... pet?

[retellers]

...Uh...

[ they scratch at their cheek with a finger. please ask again later? ]

[showyourself]

That bad, huh? Okay.

[she's not going to press him. but it's kind of sweet, too.]

Would you rather I left you to it, and just listened to others ask you all of their questions? I don't want you to have to explain things more than once.

[retellers]

[ well, they shake their head. ]

We're here to guide you. It's why we're here. [ ... ] Explaining ourselves over and over is bound to happen when there's over forty of you here anyway.

[showyourself]

...There certainly is.

[OVER FORTY... SO MANY...]

Do you know what happened to my powers?

[retellers]

The Realm isn't stable enough to handle people's powers right now. They're not gone forever, just ...on hold.

[showyourself]

But we will get them back. [she says this part resolutely. that's what she needs to know. why does she need to know? well, she finally figured the whole self-love thing, and like hell if she's going on that emotional journey a third time.]

[retellers]

That's the idea. Once you're out of here, they'll be back.

[showyourself]

[she nods!] Okay. [good enough for now...!]

I heard you telling someone else how to get home. Something about nova.

[retellers]

Right. Nova is what makes up memories. Everything has memories, even stuff you might not think should. All of that flows between the worlds here, in the Realm. But... something's disrupted that recently, so the Realm brought us here to help fix things.

[showyourself]

Everything...? [there's something in that sentence that makes the hair on elsa's neck stand on end. water has memory. that, she knew by now. but everything...]

So the memories are broken. That's why you can't remember anything, either.

I'll do what I can to help.

[retellers]

Something like that. [ they would expand but. they do not want to. wolf is the worst. ] We'll have more information on how it works later. We're learning on the go right now, same as you, but we'll keep you updated.

[showyourself]

...Is there anything we can do to help, in the meantime? We can share the load, in some way.

[retellers]

Get acquainted with each other. You'll be working together for the most part, so that'll make things easier on everyone.

[showyourself]

So our job, for the moment, is "make friends"?

Should we do that with you, too?

[retellers]

[ in a pained tone; ]

You really don't have to.

[showyourself]

[hoohoohoo boy. it's like that, huh?]

Oh, my sister would love you.

If you're that against it, you better start at least trying to sound a little less exhausted by the idea of it. Otherwise, you'll have everyone you meet trying to become your best friend.

Just a word to the wise.

[retellers]

[ what's with this...sassy young woman ]

Why would anyone want that? I'm not looking for friends.

[showyourself]

The fact that you're not looking for them is precisely why they're going to find you—I promise you that.

Trust me. I'm speaking from experience, here.