7 DAYS REMAIN

[cordibus]

Seven days remain. As the last day of the festival draws to a close, the only thing of interest to note for the week is how great everything has gone. Not a single attack has been reported...

But things have already been set alight inside the hearts of those chosen few who have received the app on their phones. For some, it's just the first bite of the apple. For others, it's been like shaking down an entire tree. Things are beginning to look...strange. Surely there are more burning questions on their minds by now.

The warning bells of the Nightly Curfew ring across the city. There's a faint hum from the phone this time before the icon appears. This time it displays a time: 1:00AM

The rest of the night is normal. Perhaps you've cuddled up with family, or you've gone to bed early to wait, but sure enough, time tick by right until 1 in the morning when....

You're back into that application again. A single question before you're even permitted to type anything else. And while it seems to be overwritten by something inside of you, it feels a lot more natural than before. Which is, truthfully...troubling.

WELCOME TO THE FINAL QUIZ!
Answer from the heart, the part of you that has been denied for far too long.

Is your life here a lie?
Yes | Definitely | Sure | I've had my doubts before, but yes | Hell Yes | There is no other conclusion | I wish I could deny it and live here peacefully but it's true.

Thank you...that will be all. Let us see what your heart blooms into...

Once you are done, you are tossed once more into the main chatroom. Now your user names are the names that you wrote down in the last survey, but with all those questions it's....hard not to think of them as your own. Maybe you'll be cursing at this device, but it looks like you're already deep down the rabbit hole by now.

[OOC: This is the final network post before Awakening. Users will now be able to speak of who they are in their AU life without the information being blocked by the application.

Additionally, while they will not get any new on their own, speaking with Luci might grant the Awakened more memories...be careful that they don't get more than they bargained for.]

Comments

[seasonsofdeath]

Alright...

[Ren might say that, but it doesn't really feel entirely right to Akira. He doesn't feel bad about himself or anything like that. He just... feels like he's not supposed to be around. It's a weird feeling.]

[onlythankyou]

I have a brother - a twin brother. They can't take that away; we've never been that far apart.

Even if they tried, I wouldn't let them.

[onlythankyou]

So we've both seen robots.

[Really...colorful and strange robots, in Rommy's case.]

Any...clowns? I think I was dressed as a clown, in the first two...

[onlythankyou]

[Instinctively, he resists. Something grabs hold of his arms and he fights back, thrashing even harder. But Romulus has always beent he larger, stronger twin. Even with the kind of strength that only really comes from being so focused on other things that you don't limit your own strength, Lonán can't fight Rommy well, especially not at this angle.

His screams give way to half-choked sobs and utterances - something like 'my fault', something like 'stop', and a few other words that get halfway out without turning into anything. His eyes are wide, but unseeing.

It lasts a minute, maybe two, but it's entirely too long before Lonán's teeth catch his tongue and he tastes blood. It hurts, but it's thankfully enough to finally drag him back out of the memory. He's still not here, not yet, but he goes still and quiet. His heart is racing and he's barely breathing, but he's not in the throes of whatever that was anymore.]

[draculabackwards]

I do not have any family here in the city, but I have made friends here. That is not a lie.

[kokuyoyo]

Right. So better to leave anything that has a high chance of accidentally hurting yourself to the side.

One day I'll learn knife fighting, but today isn't that day.

[kokuyoyo]

"Just" isn't what I'd say... but I guess there's no point in arguing about it.

Seven days, and all that.

[kokuyoyo]

Waiting until the very end might be our only option. It's a slim chance, but maybe at the end of the seven days we might actually *learn* something about all of this.

That's what I can only hope after this long.

[catchthishand]

yeah and magic isnt real
so i dont know what the hell else it would be

[catchthishand]

i dunno
science?
all i know is that magic sure as hell isnt real
so whatever its doing is a whole bunch of bullshit

[catchthishand]

Not unless those monsters count.

[ Very, very weird monsters.

It takes Rommy a second to realize the important piece of information his twin has just dropped. ]

...wait, you didn't mention being dressed like a clown.

[catchthishand]

Lon! Lonny, stop, please!

[ Rommy's been running his mouth the entire time, praying the walls are thick enough that no one would get the RA, that people thought this was another nightmare.

It wasn't like there had been any shortage of those for either of them, this last month. ]

Lonán, Lonny, it's me, it's not real, calm down Lonny, you're here, nothing's happening, it's not real!

[ He's not even sure what he's saying any more, just an endless flow of words to try and wake his brother from this fit. It takes everything he has to pin his twin to the bed,
keep him from slamming into the wall or the headboard ]

[catchthishand]

like a shitty horror movie
the kind that isnt even scary

[kouteipenguin]

The internet has always had that right

You could do that before computers, right?

That's how bad.

[onlythankyou]

[When he finally, finally goes still....there are a long few moments when his brain really might have exploded. He barely breathes, he doesn't blink, he just...stares. Tastes iron.

Sucks in one shuddering breath.

Then another.

Someone's calling his name, his real name, who- where- ...the dorm room. Not some weird temple floating in space. Just...the dorm room, where he belongs, and his brother is right there with him and

All at once, if Romulus will let him, he curls in on himself. It's much more controlled than his thrashing, and he curls toward his brother, toward safety. His head's pounding enough to blur his vision, but it wouldn't matter anyway because it doesn't take long for tears to get in the way. It wasn't real.

But it felt like it.]

[kokuyoyo]

....You're not scared?

[catchthishand]

what could you?

with like typewriters and shit?

[catchthishand]

no
im pissed

[kouteipenguin]

I think so. I've read old books with it.

[forsteri]

Right. Hm... that's easy, though. Just ask people whether they're finished school or not. You can ballpark it that way, right? It won't be necessarily accurate -- some people finish schooling after high school level. But it'd be at least an idea.

[probablynoteren]

and some people go back to school... but it can't hurt.

[At some point when they aren't preoccupied by mass Shadows attacks and Luci's trolling perhaps they'll find a moment for a census.]

[kokuyoyo]

Ha. Lucky. I think every time I see this app light up, I'm ten seconds away from a panic attack now.

[catchthishand]

[ As soon as Lonán stops flailing, Rommy lets him go, still hovering, still running his mouth, at a loss for what to do.

This is so much worse than any of the other visions, and Rommy has no idea what to do, hands lingering in the air over his twin as Lonán stares into the air.

It's almost a relief as Lonán breaks, curling in on himself and crying. At least now it looks like this fit, this insanity is over. Rommy shifts his weight, falling to the side and pulls his brother into a hug, not sure what else to do.

Fuck this app, and fuck that Luci jerk. ]

[catchthishand]

shit
cool
means this is more of a piece of shit then i thought

[catchthishand]

its a lying peice of shit
doesnt matter what it says
not a word of its real