5/15- What I think and what I know

[onlythankyou]

SHAX shax@applenet.net
Shared the following message below:

Nineteen days left, if I’m not mistaken. The chat has been active enough I haven’t read over everything, but in the interest of information, I’ll list out what I know. Please tell me if your experience differs from anything on the following list - these are not facts, just observations.

1. The Terms of Service are vague, nonsensical, and gave no way out. They read like something that exists because it has to, not because anyone cares that it exists. They reference night shifts and death.
2. The app cannot be deleted, erased, or removed, nor can it be found on your phone company’s app store. No mention is made of it anywhere online.
3. The app will follow you to any device. Computers, tablets, new phones, and so on; they all display it. I’ve picked up several burner phones, all of which had it. I also found it on my graphing calculator today.
4. The app knows your personal information, somehow, even on burner phones where you’ve left no personal information. It also doesn’t operate on a list of buzzwords. For example, I can say my name is Blinky or my name is Bob, but if I try to say my name is [INFORMATION LOCKED], it does...well. That.
5. The app refuses to be seen by anyone else. Trying to show it to others makes it disappear completely.
6. Trying to tell someone about the app via email brings up the same information lock, and then the app itself opens up to yell at you.
7. The app refuses to be ignored. Trying only causes it to force your attention. In my case, the app grew on the homescreen to twice the size an app should take. I don’t doubt it would have kept growing, had I not accidentally tapped it when I did.
8. The app does not register on the data management screen, despite its obvious network use.
9. No user downloaded the app of their own volition. It simply appeared out of nowhere, already on each affected phone.
10. No user picked their own username. Several of them are repeated, and all have either swords or a ship’s wheel attached. The wheel is much rarer. All usernames appear to be demons. There is no indication what meaning the swords and wheels have yet.
11. All users suffered an intense headache upon first using the app. This was accompanied by a few seconds of blanking out and experiencing some hallucination or daydream.
12. No user selected their own answer to the morality question. The answers chosen were not what the user would have chosen.
13. All users live somewhere with a strict curfew, where nighttime is dangerous. This suggests all users live in a small geographic vicinity. Specifically, Eddan.

Again, these are not necessarily facts, just what I’ve gathered. If you have anything to add, please do so.

Comments

⚔ Marchosias 1/2

[catchthishand]

[ Romulus, desperate for any distraction from his current, incredibly dry history text book, is quick to switch to his phone when it signals a new batch of messages.

Unfortunately, it's that Shax guy with an incredibly long list of incredibly boring information.

...information that mentions an email. Huh.

Scrolling down, Rommy scans through the responses, then glances over at Lonan, who's been tapping away for a while now.

Alright. ]

Marchosias: 29: nerd

2/2 [action]

[catchthishand]

[ The one word is all the warning Lonan gets before Rommy grabs his nerf gun, twisting to snipe his twin from across the room. ]

[text and action] ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

Hu

[That's it. That's all he gets out before a nerf bullet startles him out of his thoughts. It's probably pretty funny to see him drop his device - and there's Shax's half-typed message sent by accident - and whip around.]

What was- ...Nerd? Really?

[catchthishand]

[ Rommy could answer.

Or he could shoot Lonan again.

Or he could do both ]

Yeah, and? What're you going to do about it?

[ This is punctuated with a volley of nerf darts ]

[onlythankyou]

This!

[Grab his pillow for a fort wall and his own nerf gun for return fire, of course.

His brother's aim has always been better (there's a reason Lonán doesn't play Bishop, Rook, or Queen. Ever.), but he's made sure to get himself plenty of ammo.

It's on.]

[catchthishand]

You'll have to hit me first!

[ Two shots for covering fire while Rommy scrambles on his bed, twisting to present a smaller profile.

Under the cover of grabbing his blanket for a barrier, he grabs the two clips he keeps under his pillow for just this kind of occasion. It's not his Bishop's crossbow, but it's good enough. ]

Come on, aim!

[onlythankyou]

[Two shots he can block with his pillow. A pillow he can throw, hopefully take Rommy's attention, as he takes a few precious unguarded seconds to aim and fire. Three of them, right in a row, hopefully right on course for his brother's chest--]

[catchthishand]

[ The pillow's a distraction, and it succeeds in it's goal, Rommy taking his eyes off his brother long enough to bat it away.

The darts hit, and he swears, gun clicking empty ]

Oh, now it's on!

[ It takes him a matter of seconds to reload, the next cartridge slotting in, and he takes the shot, aiming with a grin ]

Now I've got your cover.

[onlythankyou]

[Excellent. Reload time is time to get off a few more shots - he has to reload himself soon, but for now. Cover. Problem.]

Then I'll just need to not need it. [He's no Knight, either, but he's better at that than Bishop. He dives from his bed to the floor. Need more mobility to dodge, and that means feet.]

[catchthishand]

That just means I've got you on the run!

[ Their room is a double, but it's no arena. Lonán has nowhere to run, not unless he admits defeat and leaves the room altogether.

Rommy tracks him with darts, keeping up the pressure from his bunker of pillows ]

[onlythankyou]

[Like he'd do that. There have to be options, and he ducks and dodges darts as he thinks through this. What would he have a Pawn or Knight do in a situation like this?

Invade the enemy fortress.]

Then I have you on the defensive! [And he isn't about to let Romulus stay alone in his little pillow bunker. Incoming; he's making a leap for the bed!]

[catchthishand]

[ He's got seconds to react, and he's rolling, twisting to get out of the way and grabbing at one of the pillows, dropping his gun for the second ]

Now you're just in melee range!

[ He doesn't just play Bishop- Rommy plays rugby, and he holds no bars when swinging the pillow at his twin ]

[onlythankyou]

Melee suits me better anyway.

[He's hit! But now he's got the blanket to throw on his brother's face, he needs to get the other pillow, needs to fight back, and for that he's got to buy a few seconds to grab it--]

[catchthishand]

[ Rommy doesn't so much recoil when the blanket hits him in the face, but he flinches, swing going wide, which would give his twin more than enough time to grab the other pillow.

Or Rommy's gun, lying abandoned ]

[onlythankyou]

[How about both? If only to get the gun out of Rommy's reach. For now.

But he's got the pillow and he swings high, going right for the crown. His sides are unguarded, but maybe Rommy is still reeling from the blanket, maybe maybe maybe...]

[catchthishand]

[ It lands squarely on his head, and Rommy drops, flopping forward, arms flailing out to tackle where he thinks Lon is, dramatic in this as in everything. ]

Unfair!

[ He's laughing as he yells, clearly unbothered by the situation ]

[onlythankyou]

I don't remember setting any rules!

[Rommy shot first. Should've declared rules then.

And that's about when Rommy tackles his waist and gets him flat on the bed. Fortunately, his arms are still free to repeatedly swat with the pillow.]

[catchthishand]

[ He's got the upper hand, so Lon's failing with the pillow is ignored as Rommy sits on his chest, pulling the blanket off his head. ]

Got you now!

[onlythankyou]

Do you?

[It's true, he's in a bad position. Has been this whole fight. But Rommy's gun is still in reach, he grabs it and points it up at his twin's forehead. He won't fire just yet, it's there to be a threat.]

Even I can't miss at this range.

[catchthishand]

[ His eyes widen in faked shock, and he lets go of his twin, backing off, arms in the air ]

What do you want?

[onlythankyou]

[He sits up, keeping the gun trained on his brother, as he takes a more faux-menacing tone. Demands, huh?]

Three-hundred and seventy-two macca, a month's supply of cheese, and a cat. Three paperclips. And a stapler - and it had better be green.

[He'll make demands alright.]

[catchthishand]

[ He pauses, looking as though he's thinking it over, before responding ]

Three hundred macca, a week of cheese, three paperclips, the stapler I have on my desk, and you ask the RA for the cat.

[ Haggling in a surrender is very important ]

[onlythankyou]

[Hmmm....okay, we can play it this way. Villains don't give in that easily! Why would the hero ever get to finalize the demands?]

Three hundred fifty, two weeks, the paperclips. A green stapler and I'll forego the cat.

[catchthishand]

Three twenty, a week [ he knows how long cheese lasts in their minifridge ], and the stapler.

[ He could't give in too easily.

Also, he only had three hundred and forty macca in his wallet, the last of his vending machine fund.

The one vending machine on campus that hadn't been upgraded to take cards, and it was the one by his math class... ]

[onlythankyou]

Three twenty-five. Eight days, and the stapler.

[He'll probably spend the money on something for Rommy anyway, he's never that serious when he makes demands at nerf gunpoint. He mostly just picks whatever silly things pop into his head at the time.

Rommy could skip the cheese and Lonán wouldn't say a word, honestly.]