applenet | COUNTDOWN: FACES OF FUTURE & PAST 2.0

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COUNTDOWN: FACES OF FUTURE & PAST 2.0

It's been 7 days since the first network post, and predictably for those who where here the first time, a second one makes it's appearance a week afterwards.

Some have tried to best the program, others have already tried to figure out more about it, but nothing has been working. Others might have warned the Unawakened, but ow they're finding out for themselves. Bringing the phone to a repair shop to get it looked at? No programs found. Even getting the phone completely wiped did nothing, as the icon just showed up a few minutes after they walked out of the store. Showing it to a family member? The minute you blinked or turned it around to show them, it simply wasn't there.

It's taunting you. Whoever programmed this is really good. Frighteningly so. Also possibly an asshole, from the way Luci has been taunting and abusing his posting privileges.

Saturday night rolls around and still nothing from the application. The news this Saturday is nothing special. The festival of the longest day went off without a hitch, although the population had trouble getting into nightly shelters due to too much partying. A higher amount of robberies during daylight hours than last year, but nothing to raise cause for alarm. The peace continues at night.

The warning bells of the nightly curfew ring across the city as a few people finish locking their doors for the night. Civilians are settling in for a late supper and preparing for work tomorrow.

Not you, however. The Unawakened have been victim to a damn headache building for the past hour and by now their ears are ringing. Food doesn't look appetizing and they feel an urge to go to bed early. Didn't the other people in the channel warn them it might happen?

Either way, a little shut-eye would be welcome at this point. You don't even think too hard about it, and the headache fades into blissful sleep.

...I am thou...thou art I...your chains will soon break away....
2AM and you snap awake. The strange foreboding voice of...something echos in your head. It's the only thing you can hear now that your headache is gone andthe city is fast asleep. You're not sure why, but the voice makes you get up and grab your phone.

It's humming softly. The icon is glowing again. Before you do, you take a look around and suddenly notice...nothing's moving. Nothing but you. Almost as if time was frozen.

Is that even possible?

You can't back down now. Pressing the button reveals another terms of agreement, but it looks quite different. It's almost...gentle?

It may take a while or it may happen in an instant, but you eventually take your finger and trace your name over the signature area to continue. You've gotten this far in any case and this one isn't trying to kill you...at least you think it isn't. Yet as your hand moves to write your name, it gets replaced with other letters. Another name that tells you nothing. Somehow you feel like you should know it, but it's...it's...

It stays there for a few more seconds, leaving you with your thoughts before the contract disappears.

You're back into that chatroom again. Questions pop up in rapid succession before you're even permitted to type anything else. Once more, it seems that you find yourself typing things that aren't matching up with what you really want to say.

At least...you think...

What is your name?
Write it here.

Do you think the future is unavoidable?
Yes | No

Do you consider yourself a bad person?
Yes | No

Have you ever killed someone/something?
Yes | No | Yes, but (insert your reason here)

Did you enjoy it?
Yes | No | It's complicated (but yes) | It's complicated (but no) | It's just complicated

Now share one or two of your darkest secrets with the rest of the group! Two makes it more fun!
Write it down here.

With questions like that and nothing around you moving, you feel like it's going to be a very, very, very long night.

[OOC: The network posts will now allow users to post their names, but they will show up as their CANON ones. The user's persona can be added at the end, or not show up at all. Additionally, the occupations will still be censored.

MEMORY REGAIN: Right before their answers are posted, they will also get a longer flash of someone calling them by this name. The memory HAS to be someone calling them by their name. It could be both a good or a bad memory, that is up to you.

FOR THE AWAKENED: Awakened will be able to answer the questions again if they want. They'll also find themselves in their fancy new outfits and will able to summon their weapons during this time. Sweet indeed. ]

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Oh! Well that's probably good. It's dangerous.

Luci's bad sense of humor.

[...a few days ago he appreciated it. But this is not on par with beeping sheep.]

The true test is going to be when next this app goes active. Considering what happened to us with that one

Yeah, seems so.

Do you trust anything?

Wait...the cycle or the upgrade?

fine

spill

How does Luci know that name?

[It's more of a relief than he'd admit, hearing his brother's voice. There's no sound of struggle in there. No followup screams. No silence. Just Kouyuki, sounding like he always did. There's an odd note to his voice, though; one Kidou may have missed had he not been paying close attention.

And then Kidou realizes, really realizes, what he'd done. He'd been hasty; in his need to make sure that nothing happened, he'd ran out here in clothing that Michi would never wear, holding something that he has absolutely no reason to know how to hold, let alone own... he's not even sure how to dismiss that gun. Was that subconsciously part of his instinct holding him back from charging in? He can't even know. But he doesn't knock or ask for entry now. He couldn't possibly risk that, even if Michi might have.

Remembering to breathe helps a little, but not as much as it ought to. He at least sounds calm - well, tense, but calm enough - when he replies again.]

What happened?

Pay attention to what you've filled out.

How should I know? Maybe they just made it up!

looks like nonsense

Well, it's [INFORMATION LOCKED].

[Another block?! And yet, "Augustine Sycamore" isn't blocked despite being a name of somebody.]

Alright, I can guess my real name can be blocked as well. But what does have to do with your question?

Well, yeah. Some things....

[He trusts those he's close to. Sometimes that trust just means he trusts them to be themselves, and doesn't trust they won't do dumb things... but there is trust. Other than that, nah.]

The upgrade. I have this feeling that something might happen.

What makes you such an expert?

[That question is more difficult to answer than he cares to admit, and that feeling is one that too closely parallels one of the secrets he'd 'confessed' thanks to the app. His throat feels tight, and even drawing a deep breath to calm himself is a challenge.

But he can't afford to waver. Michi already sounds concerned...

He ought to open the door, but he doesn't trust his composure at the moment. He knows that no matter how hard he tries, his younger brother would see through him. It wouldn't matter if he was wearing those sunglasses or not, they always managed to read each other fairly well. Which worries him all the more in the moment. How much could Michi tell even with a door between them? Or because it was there?

Another breath is taken, and then he answers, little forethought put into the reply as his mind reaches desperately for the most logical solution...]

Oh? [He attempts a quiet laugh. It doesn't sound quite right to his ears, but it certainly sounds better than the way his voice had before. Maybe he'll just come across as being tired?] I just fell out of bed.

It's warm tonight. I guess I was moving around a lot.

[It's a lie. All of it. But if he wants to protect Michi, he can't very well tell the truth, can he? He hates this, and hates himself for this, but there's no other choice...]

[Fell out of bed...? His older brother has never done that that he can remember. Something is up. It has to be. That laugh wouldn't be so weak if he'd actually fallen out of bed; something like that would be the kind of thing that Kouyuki might laugh off, but it would be amused at the situation. It wouldn't sound forced.

Kidou doesn't say anything. He doesn't believe that, but he couldn't call his older brother a liar, could he? Any insistence he made to himself that this wasn't really his older brother held no water with him deep down. All those instincts that told him to respect and honor and love never once weakened or wavered. On something minor, sure, he could call him out, but... this didn't seem minor. Both of them were acting too weird for that to be the case. If it's about that app... but he's not even sure if that's the case. Just thinking about it twists anxious knots through his insides and runs ice down his veins. That can't be it. Not when it's Kouyuki. It just can't be, even if Kidou has no reason why he's so adamant about that. For some reason beyond reason he just can't let himself wonder.

Kidou has to settle for the safer question of what is going on? It's not denial! It's something else. Maybe. It's late, is what it is, and the adrenaline hasn't faded yet.

So instead, he stands there with no idea what to say, wishing he could come in, but mostly hoping desperately that his brother makes no move to open the door. Why did anything happen the way it did tonight..?]

Onii-san...

[What's wrong? How can he possibly ask that now?]

[The first thing he was aware of was pain. As someone who was no stranger to it, this was a new sort of agony, one that seemed to persist down to the very atoms of every single one of his cells. It felt like someone had peeled back each layer of his skin, stabbed through his muscles, broken all his bones, and then set him on fire for good measure. It hurt just to breathe, and for a few moments he kept his eyes shut, like a child hiding under a blanket as if it might protect them from the monsters in the dark. How foolish.

The second was the sound of someone crying. Someone dear to him, and that knowledge was enough to make him open his eyes, as painful as it was. It was bright, so it took his eyes a few moments to focus, and every so slightly he let his gaze drift towards the sound. A girl was sitting next to him, so painfully familiar yet he couldn't place her name. Once she saw him roused to consciousness, she smiled, brighter than the sun.

"Mukuro-sama." Her hand was surprisingly calloused when she grasped his hand, putting it to her face tenderly. "Welcome home."

It hurt to speak, but it felt like it would be even more painful not to answer. Softly, voice raspy and weak, he let out a laugh. "I'm home."]

What is your name?
Mukuro Rokudo.

Do you think the future is unavoidable?
No.

Do you consider yourself a bad person?
No.

Have you ever killed someone/something?
Yes.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Now share one or two of your darkest secrets with the rest of the group! Two makes it more fun!
- As an illusionist, I had no idea I could make illusionary clothing.

- There are people I care about more than myself. It's a weakness that's been exploited again and again, but despite this I can't deaden myself to their suffering. I'd take their place in hell in a heartbeat if it meant they would be safe.

[Time's stopped... Morty has felt sick all day and now time has stopped. The freaky app is still on his phone (he's barely looked at it ever since that first time, out of sight out of mind). This time it won't let him ignore it, so he reluctantly grabs his phone...

He's familiar with pretty much all of these words, thank god.

He doesn't want to write his name, but he does. His finger moves on its own - and then it's not his name, it can't be, it--

his every muscle screams with strain and the man is laughing, with his eyes even when not with his voice, and he tells the man with the scary eyes to choose: abandon the group of children or offer one as a sacrifice - he throws the knife at his feet - and all is quiet, too quiet, too still; the man pulls the knife from the ground and turns to survey the children, tense moments pass and finally he approaches--

"Nagisa-kun, will you do it?"

and he offers reasoning, offers that though he considers the lot of them professionals, they still deserve a normal middle school life, and he has no need to accept the knife; but he does, he does, and gently grips the metal in his mouth as he starts stretching...

"I'll do it."]

Wh...what...? [Morty squeaks. At...at least there wasn't a bomb this time...]

What is your name?
Nagisa Shiota

Do you think the future is unavoidable?
No

Do you consider yourself a bad person?
No

Have you ever killed someone/something?
Yes

Did you enjoy it?
It's complicated (but no)

Now share one or two of your darkest secrets with the rest of the group! Two makes it more fun!
I once accidentally made a guy fall in love with me while cross-dressing.
I really want my parents to be back together.

[And...yup. Yup, he's crying.]

this isn't any better than last time

how do i make it stop?

[Name after name, he flicks through listlessly. Apathetically. They're new names, to be sure, and their responses will be potentially valuable for the difficulties ahead... But he doesn't really care about them. Why should he? Even Ciro hadn't been concerned about them, he thinks, not really. He had thought he should be concerned, because that's how it was to be accepted, and so he had acted accordingly, but.... He couldn't really care for people he hadn't known.]

[Chikusa has even less reason to do so.]

[So he goes through them only out of a sense of duty, because it's his only idea of what to do, and he flicks dully down to the next name- ]

[Mukuro Rokudo]

[His heart stops in his throat.]

[Time doesn't stop, not like it has in the past, but it feel as though it has even though he's in a room full of people. That name- it's the one name he's been aching to hear, to read. For weeks, now, his psyche has been in a state of disarray with Ciro and Chikusa too close for comfort, and he's been dizzy trying to make sense of what he wants and who he is. The entire time, however, Chikusa has known this: seeing that name would make it all clear again.]

[And it does.]

[He has to turn away from everyone else, retreat into the hallway and then Ciro's bedroom as his breath quickens and his eyes hastily skim through the answers. It's right, it's all correct, even the silly part about illusionary clothing, and then he reads- ]

[His body isn't his own again. Somehow, his mind has detached completely and utterly, and he barely notices the way tears well up in his eyes. In all of Chikusa Kakimoto's memories, from that name and to all the aliases before, he's never once heard their leader show any value to them. All people were tools, and, for all that they had never been replaced, that included the two that had been with him the longest. Again and again, him and Ken had been told that, and they had accepted it just to stay by his side. If anyone was worth being a simple tool for, then it had been Mukuro.]

[There are people I care about more than myself. He takes a sharp breath, tasting salt distantly on his tongue. I'd take their place in hell in a heartbeat. In the back of his mind, that very first memory resurfaces again, being told they would hold him back and yet knowing- ]

[It's a miracle he can see at all past the tears gathered in his eyes, and doubly so that his fingers manage out any sort of response.]

I'm glad.

[Logically, he knows he can't say anymore than that, won't be allowed when the timer reaches zero, but....]

[He's glad. Head bowed, swallowing back tears, he couldn't be more glad for anything else, save perhaps one other person.]

There are worse things you could have eaten.

Yes. I can say that I don't mind it as much, even though it still feels wrong.

It won't stop unless the strain is too much.

[ Red. It's everywhere. Seeping into his clothes, painting his skin. The sweet taste that lingers on his tongue brings a wave of revulsion making him sick. An anguished sound escapes him and he buries his face into the body in his arms. He clutches it closer, his shoulders shaking as he clings to the warmth quickly fading along with his heartbeat. ]

----------------

What is your name?
Zero Kiryuu

Do you think the future is unavoidable?
Yes.

Do you consider yourself a bad person?
Yes.

Have you ever killed someone/something?
Yes, but only those on my Execution List.

Did you enjoy it?
It's complicated (but yes)

Now share one or two of your darkest secrets with the rest of the group! Two makes it more fun!
I ate my brother.
I ate the mad ones before killing them.

----------------

[ The tears fall before he even realizes they're there. The images still spinning in his head as he stares down at the answers. The deep rooted feeling of heartbreak mixed with loss is too much. Still too raw. ]

What.

What the Hell is going on?!

[ This time he's not so calm. This time he's not thinking so straight. ]

Edited 2017-06-25 09:02 (UTC)

it IS too much

it was too much the first time

knives and bombs and killing are way too much!

[You know what. Let's focus on things other than killing. And also other than vocabulary, seeing how poorly that went last time. Clothes are surely a safe topic, right?]

wasn't there a story like that?

the one about a king getting tricked into wearing nothing?

[ A small child, ~~Kudo~~ Conan, laid resting in a hospital bed as Heiji stood a foot away from the end of the bed. The girls had just left the room, as Heiji intended, purposely getting white lilies that symbolized death in favor of recovery so that may correct his mistake. It was the only way to get time alone so that the two could discuss in private. Heiji's hands rested securely in his pockets as he towered over his recovering friend who conveyed his thoughts so openly.

"You fool, how can I say that to someone who cries and worries about other people's problems? I really want to quickly tell her everything and relieve her. Even so, I just don't have the confidence to watch Ran suffer as the time goes by.

So, Hattori, if you were me...what would you do?" ]

What is your name?
Heiji Hattori

Do you think the future is unavoidable?
No

Do you consider yourself a bad person?
No

Have you ever killed someone/something?
No

Did you enjoy it?
No

Now share one or two of your darkest secrets with the rest of the group! Two makes it more fun!
I keep my friend's true identity a secret from everyone we care about. We've been investigating to seek a cure to reverse the effects of the drug.

[ The way Conan spoke about Ran made it seem as though he held feelings for her, but that didn't make sense with his memories of Conan and Ran now. What was going on? His fingers were brought to his temple as he gently massaged his head. Were the memories the cause of his discomfort earlier? ]

Heiji Hattori ☸ Vassago: This must be part of the countdown.
Heiji Hattori ☸ Vassago: What's the intent of the questions?
Heiji Hattori ☸ Vassago: They're much more serious. [ Personal, even. ]

Edited 2017-06-25 12:12 (UTC)

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Page 3 of 25

COUNTDOWN: FACES OF FUTURE & PAST 2.0

Jaune Arc ⚔ Eligor

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Koujirou Genda ⚔ Marchosias

Jaune Arc ⚔ Eligor

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Yuuto Kidou ☸ Eligor

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

no subject

no subject

Mukuro Rokudo | ☸ Andras

Nagisa Shiota ⚔ Valac

Chikusa Kakimoto ☸ Astaroth

Ankh ☸ Andrealphus

Ankh ☸ Andrealphus

Ankh ☸ Andrealphus

Zero Kiryuu ⚔ Naberius

Nagisa Shiota ⚔ Valac

no subject

Heiji Hattori ☸ Vassago