Intro log: Welcome to The Resort!

[foundationmods]

INTRO LOG

Before you even open your eyes, you can tell something is not right. It's cold. Not quite unbearably so, but cold enough that you can take notice of it. And as soon as you open your eyes, you will be able to see why it's so cold: you're in the middle of a snowy forest, with only a single two-lane road cutting through the thick trees.

Unfortunately, you seem to be without transportation. Fortunately, you are wearing warm clothes and snow gear, so freezing isn't an immediate problem. But without transportation, you're in for a long walk ahead of you.

There are others around as well. Other people, just as lost and confused as you are. Everyone seems to be lacking any memory that might explain why everyone is here. As far as anyone knows, all of you were just ripped out of your previous lives and dumped here on this snowy road, wearing snow gear and having any items that are important to you already on hand. And for some of you, you even have a new power, one that you somehow instantly know how to use...

Two ways to go: forward and back. Despite having no indication of which way is the 'right' way, you feel drawn towards one direction in particular. Going 'back' is possible, but you get the feeling that you will be even more lost if you try. And given that you have no food or water on you, it's best to keep moving forward.

So, are you ready to walk? Because you have a long road ahead of you.



((Welcome to The Resort! Your characters will have any objects or animals with them that they should have given their canon point, but are dressed in cold weather clothing.

This prompt is just the first part of the intro log. New top-levels will go up over the course of the weekend as everyone progresses from 'where the hell am I?' to the resort proper, and to getting settled in. For now, just start with this prompt. We'll link further updates here for easy access.))

Comments

[messianic]

You shouldn't have to say anything you're not comfortable sharing...

[Though Minato's definitely made a few faces at his own profile when he was going through them.]

It wouldn't be fair to expect that from you. Or anyone here, really.

[latebluemer]

[He gets a brief smile for that, amidst her public persona pokerfacing.]

Prying questions aren't anything I haven't dealt with before. That's just the way things are in this getup. But thank you anyway.

[She's contemplating the rest of the people in the room after that, and nods after a moment.]

Of course not everyone will be used to their privacy being invaded. But I wanted to address it anyway.

[messianic]

Yeah... it's definitely better to address it as soon as we can.

[He agrees! It's for the better.]

It's strange. I wonder why they put all of this stuff out here for us to see...? And... are these all of the guests in this entire hotel?

[latebluemer]

If there's bad PR, or just slander, it's always better to nip it in the bud.

[She gives a little sigh that's almost a laugh.

She's used to getting both praised and reamed on the Internet, after all. This might be a little different, and she might not be a celebrity outside Link VRAINS, which this might be; but some principles still hold.

She's heading off that bad PR, technically.]

I don't know what they think they'll accomplish with this. It's too in-depth to be random. [and it pisses her off, but not so much that she can't step back and think it over] But this... isn't all the guests, no.

[messianic]

[Hm, well...]

So we've all been singled out, and they tried to make us look bad.

[Sort of. His is honestly not too terrible, so he can't complain much, but some people got really reamed out.]

That's so strange. I guess the best we can do with these is really just ignore them.

[latebluemer]

I don't know if making us look bad was the goal. This reads like notes for the staff. Not that it makes me happier about them having it, but...

[Obviously, they shouldn't have had this information in the first place, but now it just seems like they don't even know what confidentiality looks like. It's a bad look for a hotel, but after all the exploration she's starting to think that this hotel doesn't have much of an idea of how normal hotels look.

So in some ways, trying to figure this out is becoming a circular argument. In that case...]

You might be right. I don't think a lot of these really add much if the profile owner doesn't want to explain them, anyway.

[And she's not one to pry, even if she'll quietly throw out feelers to see what people actually are willing to talk about.]

[messianic]

That's true...

[They do read like notes to the staff, but wow that takes some major incompetence to release them to all of them by accident.

Unless they really just do not care.

It's so hard to tell.]

Maybe they'll explain themselves a bit more later... [Though he does not have high hopes.]

[latebluemer]

I kind of doubt that. They're very good at running away from explaining themselves.

[There's definite shades of irritation there, because she's already run into that both literally and metaphorically?? If she gets much more of this (and/or much more of the hotel being itself) she might have to use drastic measures to corner a staff member for real answers. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Hopefully.]

They won't even really explain where we are, or anything about our circumstances. I'm starting to feel kidnapped, minus the kidnapping part.

[That she can remember, anyway. Which is a whole other can of worms.]

[messianic]

[Time to kidnap some of the Staff in return.]

Yeah... it does feel that way, doesn't it? I guess being taken somewhere without your consent is kidnapping in general.

[Even if they don't remember being, uh, actually kidnapped.]

...Actually, do you mind if I ask you something...?

[latebluemer]

[There's nothing like a big ol' Kidnapping Kumbaya to break the ice. Maybe they'll even be able to clear the roads!]

... It is starting to sound like that.

[--is all she says in response. She didn't exactly expect to wake up in the same place she was last time, just for. Just for reasons. But she did expect to at least recognize something when she woke up. Or maybe nothing, if she didn't wake up at all. Those were in fact the more helpful options.

Anyway, instead of letting the conversation trail, she puts on an amused look and nods.]

Go ahead and ask. I did give permission.

[messianic]

It's nothing too serious or anything, just...

[He doesn't want to pry into her profile or her past, he just wants to know:]

What were you doing before you ended up here?

[latebluemer]

Oh. Of course.

[That's actually something she's been all but advertising since she arrived -- it would be a lot more convenient for her if she could find, 1. More people with any idea what she's talking about, 2. More people even adjacent to her situation and 3. Any kind of additional information that makes sense. She's working very hard on 3 so far?]

I was in a virtual reality game called Link VRAINS. This... is my game avatar. I don't remember logging out. [she runs her hand through her hair with a little sigh] Some people know what I'm talking about, but I haven't met anyone I know, or anyone I might know. That seems to be true wherever we come from, though.

[messianic]

[...Whoa.

They definitely don't have the technology in the time he's from for things like virtual reality, but...he's at least familiar with the concept.]

Yeah, it does seem very different... I wasn't doing anything at all that exciting.

[But Minato... is nonetheless a little relieved to hear that that's what she was doing before this, and that nothing worse was happening.]

[latebluemer]

[Indeed, nothing worse was happening in this casually edited rendition of events that she's very diligently not thinking too hard about! Her profile did get one thing right, she is a rather consummate actress when she wants to be.]

I guess... most of us were taken from home. Was that the case for you?

[messianic]

[He's certainly clueless, no problems there.]

Yes... that's right.

The last thing I remember is falling asleep at school. [WOW SLACKER]

[latebluemer]

[Little miss casually-skips-class-to-run-off-into-a-game-and-yell-at-rivals really can't talk when it comes to slackering. Like, at all. So she's totally keeping that stuff on the downlow, okay?]

So... in the middle of class? How long did you sleep?

[messianic]

[No secrets spread here!!

Minato shakes his head, though, expression calm.]

Oh... no. It was graduation day for my senpai. I guess I kind of fell asleep after the ceremony, though. And...then I woke up here.

[latebluemer]

That makes more sense, I guess...

[Now that we're talking about school, though--]

Come to think of it, it was the middle of a school year for me.

[Well, there's way, way bigger problems than that, actually. But man, her attendance is unsalvageable at this point.]

[purrtagonist]

[flipping through the profiles casually while everyone talks, but--]

[at some point? this guy-- still dressed in his cat-ear cap-- is going to snap his gaze up from the tablet and seek Minato out in the crowds]

. . .

[messianic]

[...?

Akira's gaze is a little too sharp, a little too piercing to ignore for long.

Minato lifts his head, tilting his head a little when he meets Akira's gaze.]

[purrtagonist]

[definitely holding that look for just one second too long, gray locked with gray. and then he glances down at the tablet and up again]

[. . . he can't ask anything now. it's too soon, they're still too disoriented, and everyone is still trying to make heads or tails of where they are and what is going on. but. . . he's absolutely filing this information away for later]

[messianic]

[...Hm. Minato's expression shifts from something perplexed to something a lot more peacefully accepting as their eyes lock. It's clear that something in his profile grabbed Akira's attention...

And that's fine. He thinks he might know what it is at that, but he'll wait and see what Akira has to say when he comes to him himself.]

[purrtagonist]

[and for now. . . Akira shuts his tablet off, tucks it under his arm, and turns away to scan the rest of the crowds]

[seems like he's satisfied for the time being, but Minato is now On Notice]

[whirlingmace]

[ This is gay already ]

[whirlingmace]

[ Algaydy ]