COUNTDOWN: FACES OF FUTURE & PAST 2.0

[cordibus]

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. ]

Comments

[kokuyoyo]

Is that what you heard?

[touketsu]

what does it matter! who else could be behidn this!

[kokuyoyo]

If that's what you heard, how could it be the name this app assigned to you?

[touketsu]

isn't luci the one behind the app? it probably wouldn't be very hard for them to do something like that!

[In truth, blaming Luci is just easy. Kouyuki doesn't really know if they're responsible for anything or, if they are, how much they're responsible for. They seem to revel a little in some aspects of the situation the users of the app are in, and then seem to take seriously others. Initially, Kouyuki even liked their sense of humor. But now he's not sure what to believe. This new dream has made him feel heavy in ways he's never felt before. Like being chained to something he can't escape.

No matter how fast or how far he runs, he can't get away from this.]

[kokuyoyo]

So you think Luci can read your mind?

[touketsu]

i don't know! but if they can make us see things, they can probably do that, too!

[It's a frightening thought, that. Someone or something capable of inducing hallucinations and also reading their thoughts... If they weren't even safe in their own heads, where were they safe?]

[kokuyoyo]

That's not the kind of thing science is capable of here.

So you're suggesting something in the realms of scifi or fantasy.

In that case, doesn't that also open up the possibility that the visions are real?

[touketsu]

they're not.

[If they're real, then that means everything he knows isn't, right? And Kouyuki can't accept that. He won't let anyone tell him his life is a lie, or that his family isn't his real family!]

[kokuyoyo]

You're not going to deal with the end of the countdown well, then.

[touketsu]

you don't know anything.

[He wishes that were true, but it sounds like they know a lot more than he does. Except that what they know isn't something he wants to be true at all...and isn't ready to accept despite all the signs pointing him in its direction.

What kind of person would he be if he just buckled and believed whatever he was told? Especially if that meant writing off his family and friends? This life he remembers, this wonderful life...]

i'll be just fine.

[He won't be. But...he can keep telling himself he will, at least.]