COUNTDOWN : MORTALITY

[cordibus]

The peaceful life of the city has been shattered once more.

Many had thought it over, but a few days ago it happened again. Bodies slashed and mutilated beyond recognition so that that only dental records could be used to ID the victims. Pieces of bodies strung along power lines and roofs.. The same horrifying events as nearly a year ago...

Back then, the response from the Eddan city council and its police force, however draconian it seemed at the time, was necessary. As death after death of normal citizens began to pile up and a pattern emerged, a lockdown was ordered after sunset. Companies shifted their hours around and before long, the city had adjusted to a daytime only work and school schedule. Many businesses opened dormitories to house those employees stuck working late. Only police, hospital and firemen units operated at night for emergencies.

The city seemed to return to normal. Horrific deaths were few, and blame was usually placed on the victims having for breaking curfew. Despite extensive research and cameras stationed around the city, no culprit for the murders was found. The murder(or murderers) simply were nicknamed Shadow(s) by the media.

Before this new string of murders, many had pondered if the curfew could be lifted soon, that the culprit was a serial killer from another country that left the city after the police came too close to narrowing them down. But now the murders are starting again.

And that's about when you come in.

You could all say it started with a strange icon that popped up on your phone that day. May 13th, 2017.


Did you press it right away out of curiosity? Did you press it accidentally trying to dismiss it? Or did you wait long enough for it to cover your entire screen, forcing you to interact with it? Either way, congratulations! You've got...a Terms of Service popping up in front of you?

Terms and Conditions ("Terms")
Last updated: May 13th, 2017

Please read these Terms and Conditions ("Terms", "Terms and Conditions") carefully before using the http:/www.applenet.net website (the "Service") operated by AppleNET ("us", "we", "our", "horse", "goat", "etc.").

Your access to and use of the Service is predicated on your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms.

By accessing or using the Service you agree to be bound by these Terms and agree to be part of The Team. If you disagree with any part of the terms then that's too bad. You already agreed to them by reading this far.

AppleNET has no control over and assumes no responsibility for content posted or user privacy. You further acknowledge and agree that AppleNET and its affiliates shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, death, night shifts, or services available on or through any such web sites or services.

Governing Law
These Terms shall be governed and construed in accordance the laws, by which we mean with little regard to its conflict of law provisions. Are you still even reading this?

Changes
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material we will try to provide at least 0 days notice prior to any new terms taking effect. What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion.

By continuing to access or use our Service after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised terms. You don't have much choice.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us.

You quickly notice there is no contact number or address. Uhh---

DO YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS?
Yes | Hell Yes
It really seems like you don't have much choice. After pressing one of the two buttons, a new screen greets you.

21 DAYS REMAIN BEFORE AWAKENING

Welcome, stray lambs! We'll be your friends for a tiny bit. I'm sure the others are looking forward to meeting you in the future, but for now, we are asking you to answer these questions as truthfully as you can. Don't worry if the answer sounds 'bad'. After all, you're already hired!

Are they... acting like they’ve just hired you for a new job?

The first (and only) question for today is:

You find yourself in a neighboring city where the police have captured an individual who has stolen bread from a grocery store to stay alive. For the sake of this morality lesson, let us say that the penalty in this city is death, and a very painful one. This individual is a childhood friend. Knowing all of this, what do you do? Please pick one of the following:

1) I stand up for them and propose to be their lawyer so that they get a fair trial.

2) I stand up for them and propose to be their lawyer so that they get a fair trial. I have no idea what being a lawyer could even be, but that way I can figure out a way to save them and give myself more time.

3) I stand up for them and propose to hire a lawyer so that they get a fair trial.

4) I let the city decide, as the law rules above everything else.

5) They shouldn't have let themselves be caught. It's their own fault and I just let it happen.

6) They bullied you as a kid despite being a friend and you're just happen to see them getting their just desserts. It's pretty great actually.

7) Society is unfair. I'm are already preparing to bust my friend out of the jail so they can escape.

8) I visit jail that night and give them items so that they can escape but no one can pin it on me. The rest is up to them.

9) I show up that night in jail to kill them to save them from the future suffering from the death penalty.

10) I use my vast amounts of fortune / skills to put the blame on an innocent so that they can get out. Hey that other guy is a stranger, so it’s not my problem!

11) What do you mean I showed up in that city? I can barely find my way around this one.

12) I propose to exchange my life for theirs, then I try to bust myself out. Take that, corrupted justice system!

13) I go back home and watch the trial on the local network with a fresh bowl of popcorn. This shit's gonna be good.

As you go to pick out an option...or try to exit out of it, you witness an all-too brief memory of a life you think isn't yours. A flash that makes you think you were hallucinating. Your head hurts, your heartbeat increases dramatically, and you can barely see anything ahead of you...

Wait, did you already pick something? You don't remember touching the screen, but something's already been highlighted and pressed for you. Staring at the 'saving' prompt, you would later find out it was a deeper memory from your heart. It might terrify you, what you've picked.

After that, the program displays nothing else for a few seconds before a chatroom (appleNET chat v.301.01) boots up, with a username already attached to your account and a little icon, either a sword or a ship steering wheel, next to it. More worryingly, your answer is the first thing posted from your name. Not even a hi or hello.

Well good thing no one has any idea who you are....right?

[OOC: The memory should only last for a few seconds, but it would be something significant that would surprise them. It could even related to this question!

All mentions of their own name, profession or other clues that might reveal who they are would be changed to [INFORMATION LOCKED]. The only name they can refer to themselves by is their username, which is the name of the demon you chose for their Persona. 'Family members might be able to find each other via their writing habits, but for now that's the limit.

Welcome to the game, and have fun!]

Comments

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

[This... has been a trying day, to put it lightly. Michelle was never one of Etoilé's students, but se still knew of the man. Even admired him. She'd heard stories from the students, faculty, and even through letters from home of the chef's talent and passion. If she was honest, she sometimes entertained thoughts of one day adding a class of his to her electives. And now... another victim was added to the murders.

The city felt less and less safe than before. And the empty words from the school... did something to set her back up. That it is somehow the fault of those murdered, instead of the murderers themselves?

Thus, the phone app showing up on her phone does very little to improve Michelle's temper. Neither does the way it refuses to be deleted from her phone, the farce of legalese she parses to find another option to wipe the program, and then-

Then. There is the headache. And images of some strange tower, and a pang of guilt. When Michelle blinks her eyes open, the only thing outside her dorm window is the campus. And a bright phone screen, now with text.]

1) I stand up for them and propose to be their lawyer so that they get a fair trial.

[...Whatever is going on, that lingering headache makes it so her first response is an honest one.]

To be fair, my understanding of law is still in development, but I've some faith in my abilities. I also possess faith in being able to write a better ToS than what came before on this application. I fear it bothers me more than it should, even if this entire thing suggests some form of elaborate prank.

[eyeofcute]

Haagenti: That's a lot of thinking.

[Look, Cagliostro, some people take this question seriously!]

I thought it was a prank, but I got a weird vision. Other people, too.

[1in_perfection]

It was one of the subjects I did my best to study in [INFORMATION LOCKED], as it seemed it may eventually play a role in my life. Or even if it isn't my profession, it would still be useful to know.

...But, may I revisit the other part of that statement? About a flash of vision and emotion confined to the head; assuming that was how it happened to others.

[eyeofcute]

Yeah. A headache, and something like a hallucination. Almost like you're high on something, or having a daytime dream.

Hey, if the appmakers caused 'uncomfortable hallucinations', can we sue them?

You know law! Can we?

⚔ Focalor

[prayed]

Maybe that's what you were hired for.

To write a better ToS.

[It made sense in her head.]

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

This has by far been the oddest business proposition I've received, in that case.

[Note that she isn't dismissing the idea out of hand, though.

A pause, and then she feels some of that need to be honest. Maybe it's simply that strange, lingering hallucination and guilt hanging about in her head, needing to be assuaged.]

Though I haven't received as many as others in my family. But I believe the oddest it's ever been for them is a multimedia presentation. Not getting one's phone hacked by an outside and, as far as I can decipher, unidentified party.

[prayed]

Hmm... Your family must be pretty well known, huh? Sounds like they've got plenty of reason to try and rope you in.

Hey, what if this is all a test? You know, to see if somebody's smart enough to figure it out? If their TOS is that bad, that means there's probably other things wrong with it, right?

[As for why they'd choose such a roundabout method, or to what end... Well, she has no idea!

WAIT, no, she knows!]

It's like they're beta testing!

[Nailed it.]

⚔ Leraje

[seigikan]

Oh, you read the TOS!

Is there anything important?

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

Yes, I read it before the headache occurred.

There were a few things that jumped out to me, such as a binding agreement simply from the act of reading so far into the terms. And a general flagrant disregard for laws, no notification on new updates, a lack of contact info, and these are only from the initial scan I did.

It's why I suspect this is someone's very poor attempt at a joke.

That, or someone is presenting a very peculiar term project, and using this as the platform.

[seigikan]

Yeah, someone else I talked to thought it might be someone's project for school. Maybe we should find a computer teacher and ask them about it. Or see if there are any assignments online.

☸ Eligor

[kouteipenguin]

You're supposed to be able to refuse a TOS. That one didn't feel like any one I've seen.

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

Yes, among many other options and information that should have been included. I tried deleting numerous times... and if I didn't know better, I'd almost consider the 'yes' options to be a taunt in regards to how often I attempted it.

☸ Eligor

[kouteipenguin]

It felt like one... I'm almost curious if anyone would ever select the other option.
As for deleting, I tried even resetting my phone. It did nothing!

⚔ Eligor

[probablynoteren]

would you trust the law in this situation?

[It's left ambiguous whether he's actually talking about their common, pleasant thought experiment, or whether he's talking about the ToS. Maybe both. Probably both.]

if it's a prank, i'd rather see the punchline soon.

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

Wait a moment. I thought we were discussing ToS before this.

[She sends that message before glancing up at the prior comments, only to notice something different.]

The symbol next to your username is different, however.

But to answer your question, at the moment I'm trying to gauge how effective the law would be.

[probablynoteren]

... oh. yes, there's at least one of us with a wheel.

[It's been confusing, of course, but at least this is the first Naberius he's seen... that he recalls. What a mess. He's just been sort of going with the flow through the literal and metaphorical headache, so far.]

so you're still talking about the tos. are you thinking about going to the police?

⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

I can't really think of many people who couldn't write a better TOS. Giving a 'no' option is a pretty obvious way to give it some points.

It didn't read like something serious at all, though. Hopefully no one will need to go lawyering or jailbreaking anytime soon.

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

I mentioned this in a prior comment, but I'm wondering if I need to revise my original opinion that this is a prank. A strange school project seems to have equal likely hood. The sense of humor seems in line with an early year's

[Read: "juvenile"]

Sense of humor. I'd prefer that line of thought to being criminally incapable of writing a TOS.

⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

That's a new one. The theories I've seen so far are prank, malware, viral marketing scheme, and actual threat. Any but that last one is a comfort.

I've only found one person suggesting that last thing, though.

☸ Ronove

[seasonsofdeath]

What's tos?

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

Actually it's "TOS." Note the use of capitals versus lowercase. I admit, my own headache got the better of me when I was first writing it though; a sloppy and poor delivery of typing, on my part.

But to further explain, it forms and abbreviation for "Terms of Service."

[seasonsofdeath]

Oh.

What's that? [he still doesn't really get it.]

⚔ Marchosias

[draculabackwards]

[I was also wondering about the...interesting manner in which the ToS was written. In addition, I cannot delete this application from my phone.]

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

It's the same situation with me. My attempts did cause the TOS to advance and the questions to pop up... I hesitate on pinning the headache and momentary daydream on them, however. That strikes me as being too far fetched.

[She's not going to call it a vision. Not yet.]

The latter, I'd simply blame stress on.

⚔ Naberius

[draculabackwards]

Wait a moment. Headache and daydream? I had the exact same thing happen to me.