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

[xenoqueen]

[Grumbling and crossing her arms.]

They somehow got their hands on my ship's recording log. How else would they get the info on my profile?

[Not going to comment on the robot thing, though. Then, she remembers something and pulls a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. She continues in a steady voice.]

I found this while searching the restaurant. Says something about how the people here tend to disappear. Of course, that doesn't mean anything--we'll need to get more information before we start jumping to conclusions.

[latebluemer]

Your ship's log? If that's something with a lot of security, it makes sense. They'd need to be good hackers to get their hands on my information.

[She's definitely skimmed through most, if not all the profiles, though she's taking the people who are openly discussing theirs as permission to look more in-depth; only the aliens are really eyebrow-raising, because lately she's a lot more sympathetic to the people who have issues with A.I.

Though, when it comes down to it, she's also not entirely sure the staff aren't A.I. There's something about them working in a place like this and acting like that...]

... No, we shouldn't jump to conclusions, but there's -- this is the kind of place where I wouldn't be surprised, if people disappear.

[She does reach out to check out the paper for herself, pressing her lips together.]

[xenoqueen]

[Ripley willingly hands over the piece of paper--though, to be honest, there's not much else on there besides what she just said.]

I just don't like the feel of this place. It's too...safe.

[A pause as she taps a finger against her chin. Her eyebrows furrow.] On top of being excellent hackers, I've...realized that a lot of people here seem to be from different places and...maybe time periods. Whoever brought us here clearly has their hands on powerful technology.

[It's pretty hard just to wrap her head around the concept, but....]

[latebluemer]

[She really just wanted to examine the wording and the look of the note for herself.]

... I don't know if safe is the word I'd use.

[It's certainly a hotel trying to act and run like a normal hotel, that much she can tell. But they seem to be in the middle of nowhere, and they're not getting any real answers besides the strange notes and happenstances they're discovering for themselves. Not much about it is 'safe', but she might be biased by her circumstances.

Speaking of which...]

But I've noticed it, too. The profiles, the places and things people talk about, even the technology they understand. All of it is different. And they would need some good technology to find me. [she's staring at her hand, as though willing it to become something else] I haven't met anyone else from a virtual reality.

[xenoqueen]

[She grimaces. She doesn't like this whole situation, and it's not like being immediately pulled from after facing down a deadly alien helps.] The staff are especially tight lipped. I--

[And then she pauses, staring at the girl before her. Virtual reality. Of course. Because it seems like everyone here's either gone through some weird shit or done some weird shit.]

You're from a virtual reality? How would pulling you from a virtual world into the physical world be possible?

[And then she inches ever so slightly away from her. Because. Robot stuff.]

[latebluemer]

I... don't know. I've heard of being able to convert data to physical form, in some limited cases, but nowhere near anything like this.

[And most of it is still rumors, or something unsustainable on any kind of scale, she's pretty sure. There are still some lines that can't be crossed between reality and virtual reality. So she'd like to think.

And yet.

She does notice her companion's sudden shuffling away, and it takes her a moment to understand why.]

... Just so you know, I'm a regular human, even if this is my virtual avatar. I'm not an AI or anything.

[xenoqueen]

...Huh. Okay.

[She still stays where she is, though.]

That's odd. Why would they only take your virtual avatar and not your actual, physical body? Why make their job harder on themselves?

...Then again, we're talking about people who somehow have the ability to take people from radically different points of time and space, so maybe that's a dumb question.

[latebluemer]

[She gives a little sigh when the woman doesn't seem sufficiently reassured, but there's only so much she can do, really. It's pretty unusual where she comes from for people to be quite this wary of technology, so she's definitely not prepared to deal with it.]

I'm not an expert in how the mechanics of virtual reality works, so I'm not sure. But it's -- it's possible to interfere with the link between the person's consciousness and their physical body while they're logged in.

So I don't think it's as extreme as... as time travel or whatever else might have happened here. [...] Do you really think time travel happened?

[xenoqueen]

[Ripley's only recently developed this technophobia--hey, when you get betrayed by an android deployed for the purpose of furthering the interests of the company over the lives of innocent people, you kind of lose your faith in capitalism and robots at the same time.

...

Despite her hang ups, she frowns and goes to carefully touch the stranger, as if to make sure that she's not a hologram or something.]

I've actually got another theory brewing, which might be...a more reasonable explanation. Maybe we were all put into stasis at different points in time and then woke up at the same time. That would explain the differing time periods and places of origin.

[...But it wouldn't explain why the staff said it was 2018...!!]

[latebluemer]

[Some technophobia is definitely fair -- Blue Angel herself has some noticeable hang-ups about viruses and other system errors at this point -- but technology is so pervasive in daily life that it wouldn't occur to her to view it as much more than an unfortunate peeve. Like a faulty driver on an otherwise functioning machine.

She tries to ignore it until it interferes with normal operation.

Her eyes do widen a little when Ellen reaches out, because despite the somewhat blase way she treats this body she usually has a pretty decent personal bubble back home, but after a moment she doesn't move, and allows it. She really just feels like a normal girl. And a lot of fabric.]

... It's a good theory, if everyone were moving forward in time, or if someone is lying about the date in this place. I'm from 2027.

[xenoqueen]

[Mmm. Yep. That sure is real flesh! Ripley can't help but feel a bit perturbed as she pulls her hand back.]

Sorry, I just--I wanted to know if you were a hologram or projection or something. [Though, lord knows how she'd even be able to walk around if she was a projection....Hm.

Ripley lets out a short, sharp laugh when Aoi says the date.] 2027? Try 2122. At least, that was the date when I went back into stasis. Who knows how much time has passed since then?

[And to think that she had been looking forward to making it back to Earth in time to see her daughter again.]

[latebluemer]

Yeah, I get it. We have some pretty realistic holograms where I come from too -- we even have some pretty good robots. But most of them don't look human. I think... on purpose.

[To prevent precisely the sort of awkward and vaguely dystopian interaction they just had. She's still not sure how to feel about it, but whatever. It's small change next to what they've dealt with so far, anyway.

It takes her a few more moments to think over the dates, and what they imply. This is the furthest into the future she's heard of. Maybe the aliens aren't totally out of the blue?]

... I get the feeling there are a lot of us who are far from home. Whether it's in time or space. But I don't think we can trust what they say about time.

[Or anything, really, but the more they talk and the more she talks to people, the more that one solidifies.]

[perfeccion]

May I see that piece of paper, Miss Ripley?

[xenoqueen]

Of course. [She hands the thing over to him.] Though, I don't think you're going to find anything I didn't find.

[perfeccion]

[indeed, it is just a piece of paper with a handwritten message... he inspects it closely before handing it back] And this was just sitting in the restaurant?

[xenoqueen]

It was in a book, actually. [She frowns.] Someone had written in it that it belonged to...Nue? I think? Whoever that is.

[perfeccion]

Nue? That's interesting. I was flipping through the guestbook earlier, which we must have all signed while we were so very tired, and I found that name there as well. Nue must be a guest? Ah, did you know? A "nue" is a mythological Japanese creature, a "yokai". They have the head of a baboon, the body and claws of a tiger, and the tail of a serpent.

[xenoqueen]

[Ripley frowns, tapping a finger against her chin. She appears to be deep in thought.]

Interesting. Maybe one of the other guests took to calling themselves that. Or....

[A pause.] You don't really think a thing like that is a guest here, right?

[Like...she's one to talk, being attacked by an alien.]

[perfeccion]

Stranger things have happened! There was also a hoofprint in the guestbook.... perhaps a moose?

[xenoqueen]

A moose. Signed a guestbook.

[Ripley repeats Szayel's words out of disbelief. Then she crosses her arms and shakes her head.]

Hell, I'm willing to believe anything at this point. You might have to ask someone else about whether they've seen any moose, though.