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

[dereban]

Sounds hard. But yeah, I mean... I'm curious, too? About some people's profiles? But if they don't want to talk about them, I'm not going to force anyone to when I won't even talk about mine.

[ She's kind of been deadeyeing two of her 'dislikes' on the tablet for a while because Inaba honestly has no idea what to do when it comes to dealing with them. ]

[latebluemer]

That's how it is, and it's why I keep these things to myself. It's common courtesy not to pry into the affairs of others online. I thought it was the same anywhere.

[Of course, technically they're not online, but can you blame her if her sense of reality is still a little confused and on top of that -- this situation isn't anything that common sense can really grapple with. Not even in a world where everyone runs around with A.I.s.

Zaizen Aoi isn't usually someone who sticks her nose in others' business. Blue Angel sometimes does, but only because of who she knows and who she is, within the world of Link VRAINS. There's really no reason for her to get nosy about the people here, as long as they're not connected to either of those personas.]

But as for these profiles... It's so easy to spin a story to make you see a person in a different light. Even if they're facts, they wouldn't be trustworthy. If someone can't see that, then that's their own problem, isn't it?

[dereban]

Well, online is a little more complicated, since you usually don't see the other person behind the screen. Not to mention that you'd have a username so nobody would know your real name. My nickname here seems to be one that a friend of mine gave me, not to mention is connected to my real name, so it's not like I'm hiding it.

Besides, I have my school ID with me that would also verify that fact, soooo. . .

[ There's no point in her hiding it, she supposes. Not to mention that they're meeting in person, too. ]

And that's true. Regardless of whether these are facts or not, it's probably best to take these with a grain of salt regardless. And if I'm going to learn about a person? I'd rather learn about them by interacting with them.

Because yeah, things like this? Can definitely be misconstrued. It happens a lot in forums.

[latebluemer]

... It's funny. We're all here interacting with each other, but in a place like this, we only have our own word against these profiles. That the names, and other things are real.

[That anything is real. That's the issue with a closed space like this.

She's really feeling it more than most. There's nothing except her own consciousness and the words on the tablet that could connect her present and past selves at all. She doesn't have a phone, or a school ID, or anyone who could vouch for a nickname of any kind.

In some ways, it's freeing not to be known. In other ways...]

I don't think I told you, did I? Blue Angel is my username. This... is my virtual reality avatar. So I guess that makes things even more complicated, in the end.

[dereban]

That's true. I mean, I'm not really bothered with the nickname that I got, since it's one that a friend of mine gave me...

[ It kind of hurts in another way, though, considering that Cinque kind of sounds like said friend, so she can almost practically hear her voice calling her by that.

But she doesn't show discomfort in her expression. But when she says that, she just stares at her wide-eyed. ]

Aaand this place officially continues to get weirder. Uh. Can I ask you a question? A "not so really personal" question, but one that I kind of am curious about.

[latebluemer]

[So far, it really seems that the profiles are reliable, and even that the 'nicknames' or titles or whatever they all are have been based off of things they've been called at some point in their lives. For the staff's use, apparently. It feels a little odd.

She quirks a smile at Inaba's expression, but she's come to expect that by now.]

Of course. I'd be more surprised if you didn't have questions.

[dereban]

What year are you from?

[ She is asking this question to so many people and based on information she's been getting, she's got to know now. ]

[latebluemer]

Oh. That is a good question.

[Time shenanigans have been vaguely brought up before, but so much has been happening that it's one of the things she hasn't looked into yet.]

It's 2027.

[dereban]

That is definitely way into the future... at least for me. I'm from 2010, actually.

[latebluemer]

I was wondering about it, since there are so many... different levels of knowledge about tech here. I guess that's also why you didn't recognize my AI.

[But come on, thinking it was just that Inaba didn't understand duel monsters or duel disk technology was a lot more reasonable than assuming she was from 17 years ago. Jeez.

She shakes her head.]

Let's... just say that we're both here from different times. But when is this?

[dereban]

Yeah. Different time periods and parallel worlds are great.

[ She probably wouldn't have thought of "being from the past" either, but that's because she's from a relatively normal world where things like this just don't happen! They just don't. The bodyswapping incident was just a one off thing.

Another sigh. She swears, she's going to get wrinkles. ]

I kind of asked the staff, and they said it was November. . . of 2018.

[latebluemer]

[Bodyswapping doesn't even happen in her neck of the woods, it's all just virtual reality and technologically-induced comas and sudden yet inevitable cyberwars. Totally normal stuff?? You don't travel through time or whatever, what is that.]

... That's kind of halfway between us, I guess. It could be worse? That's a weird thing to have to think.

I don't know if we should believe them about the date, but...

[dereban]

[ Yeah, it. . . normally shouldn't happen? Any of this weird bullshit. But apparently this is her life now. ]

Yeah, I don't know either but I'm just wondering why would they lie about the date to begin with?

[ That's just the weirdest shit to lie about?? ]

[latebluemer]

Maybe to confuse us, and, uh...

[Look, she's familiar with all sorts of shady dealings and people trying to outmaneuver each other but it usually has to do with card games and hackers, not... whatever this is. There might be hacking involved, but she's pretty sure it's not any kind of hacking she's ever seen.]

Make us argue?

[dereban]

Confusing us makes sense but making us argue over something as stupid as this is the dumbest thing that they could come up with. Like there's better ways to make us argue than with something this inane?

[latebluemer]

We're arguing pretty well without it, anyway...

[They still haven't reached the levels they're going to reach on Monday, but they're giving it a good go. She thinks about it for another moment. She takes constructive crit!]

... Or they actually believe something that's not true, themselves. Now that I think about it, the staff... really don't seem like they have much personality of their own, do they? Like they're programmed...

[dereban]

You mean they think that they believe in a lie?

[ Which would make sense, considering just how strange they are. ]

And yeah, they seem kinda. Hm. Soulless?

[latebluemer]

I wouldn't know what a soulless person is like. The closest I've seen is just AI.

[And they are pretty creepy back home, especially the ones that are made specifically to hunt down human duelists. Nothing like tentacle monsters to complement a dead fish robot voice.]

[dereban]

Honestly? I wouldn't either, but if I'd have to guess... that's probably the closest to it.