welp; 5/14

[torching]

[ so uh

it's one day after getting the app, and mako did what he said he would: he took his phone over to an IT guy to get it checked, only to be met with a strange look.

"I don't know what app you're talking about."

needless to say, mako is frustrated as hell. (yoshio and minako may notice him pacing the floor angrily at home.) but he said he'd keep everyone posted, so...here it is. a psa utilizing some of the fancy features the app has to offer. ]

VASSAGO vassago@applenet.net
Shared the following message below:

hey guys.

so...i took my phone to an IT guy as i told some of you yesterday to see if he could remove the app.
he told me he didn't know what i was talking about? to him, my phone looked completely fine.
so i tried to pull up the app but it shut down and disappeared. completely.

yeah. don't ask me how that happened because i have no idea either.

they weren't lying when they said that this app was private.

Comments

[probablynoteren]

[He likes the idea of a team, sure, but he's not sure he likes the idea of it in this particular context...]

a team to deal with [INFORMATION LOCKED] or something related to them? i haven't met anyone who joined of their own free will yet.

✪ Luci

[lightmischief]

Luci: Now now. I cannot just give you everything when there is still twenty days to go.

Luci: But I suggest you pay a little more attention.

[torching]

alright.

i'll be looking up some computer science things for the next few days. everyone's gotta start somewhere.

[torching]

...i don't even know if you can call that a scam...

well...i don't even know if i should be thanking you for that or not.
that person was quite the character.

[probablynoteren]

i don't know if i'd be much help in the technology side. i've been looking for mentions of the app or something like it online.

[There's definitely a lot of different threads yelling about various breeds of malware and bad apps, but nothing quite seems to fit the description. It's a rather unique app.]

... but maybe i should go back to the tech club and have them look at the inside.

[Of the phone, that is.]

[probablynoteren]

[He gets the feeling his actual question didn't get across, which happens a lot both on and offline. But at least he's confirmed one thing: the star, Luci, is probably the one who knows the most about this, and quite likely the one behind it. And apparently really attached to his countdown.]

i will pay attention. but even in 20 days, i don't think we will be what you're looking for in a team.

[It's debatable whether he's stating that as a positive or a negative at this point.]

[lovelledup]

Kind of makes me want to stop using my phone at all...

[torching]

i mean i'm pretty sure most of us aren't that rich so......

⚔ sytry

[plainest]

i tried to factory reset my phone, but it still turned up again, anyway...

[torching]

it's extended to other electronic devices, too. like computers.

[ might wanna double check yours, naberius. ]

but...after reading everything that luci's been saying, i don't know if this app is really a threat or if they're trying to protect us from something.

[torching]

you can try...at the risk of making yourself sound dumb. but it's up to you.

[ the tech guy sure did look at mako like he was silly, after all. ]

i guess we don't have much else to lose.

[torching]

cutting out communication with everyone else might be dangerous, though

[torching]

resetting, turning your phone off and on...none of that works. i'm pretty sure there's some advanced coding and technology embedded in our phones now that's making it impossible to get rid of

[plainest]

it turned up on my work computer, too.

it's too elaborate and complicated to be a prank. it makes no sense.

[torching]

it's definitely not a prank.
some think it's a social experiment, others think it's a warning of some kind

[plainest]

21 days?

well, 20 now.

[ it sounds like one of those horror movies. the ones with ominous soundtrack and long panning camera shots of empty meadow and ruined villages. yuuri likes to try and stay optimistic, but it's hard to shake off the feeling of dread. ]

[torching]

it's definitely a warning, but it's what it's warning us for that everyone's worried about.

[ with all the murders lately, too...and yet... ]

it might not be as bad as we think.

[plainest]

i don't understand any of this. awakening? to what? and all those weird questions about friends being killed.

if this was some kind of an experiment, then they're going about it in all the wrong ways. some of the people i see here don't sound like anything more than kids.

[anovelidea]

Going to them is a scam. Surely you have collected some other friend who is decent at electronics?

Conspiracy theories imply our city is, in some way, out to get us. While I do think the police force inept on the best of days, I don't believe they're as

Malignant, let's go with that. We already have proof that, while inept, they don't wish to hurt us. Why make the curfew rule otherwise? In addition, if they really wanted to monitor us, why make the app so prone to raising suspicion? It doesn't make sense.

[probablynoteren]

it's an old phone. they wanted to have more of a look at it anyway, so i can hit two birds with one stone.

[The advantages of having a shitty old phone, apparently?!]

[lovelledup]

I guess that's true, too.
I'm going to get off for now, anyway.

[Because he really wants to just stuff his phone somewhere and forget about it for the rest of the day, but he'll be back at some point.]

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

I... hope you don't mind that I did some digging of my own, with those comments. I wanted to be caught up with the situation, after reading this.

[And yes, she feels more than a little self conscious that she may have dug up something personal, that she shouldn't have. That's not her goal here; it's just to gather as much information as possible, and leave personal secrets or issues as they are.

Uncovering secrets isn't her; at least, she wants to THINK that isn't her. It's been a running current to her thoughts, ever since the prior night.]

I just checked my own laptop in the dorms as well. And the program has jumped to there, too. I've switched to typing on the keyboard, for better accuracy and browsing. If it IS going to make a home on my electronics, then I intend to utilize them.

⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

21 and now 20 days, yes. If the TOS took pains to bring up that number, and the app is determined to show up over and over again across devices...

...I'd prefer not to indulge in this line of thinking too much, but at the same time I don't want to ignore it completely.

[torching]

i don't think i do. but there are always the IT majors at school, if anything.

i agree. that's why i told them not to jump to conclusions so easily, but i think they were just rolling with it or something. in any case, i don't think the app is as much as a "threat"
as we may have originally thought.

[anovelidea]

Offer to bring them pizza on their next code binge, they'll do it for a fourth of the cost of the business you just came from.

It may still be a threat, just not from the government. As for our tin foil hat king, it may just be someone stirring up paranoia where they can for the fun of it.