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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i guess it's because i've never actually met them in person? i don't think most of them would be able to pick me out of a crowd without help.

[they were awfully old, after all. her little comment isn't something she'd given much thought to, desperate to get out something to distract from that man, but now she's doubly grateful for it.

talking about the censor was familiar at this point. safe. she was more than happy to focus on that.]

or maybe the censor just doesn't care as much if it can't actually reach anyone here in eddan.

I'm not sure. That's a workable theory. Through research I've tried to determine its rules. But it doesn't seem consistent on enough of them that it's either too complex to understand, or it doesn't actually have any. Either way, it changes over time.

couldn't it just be adapting? to the people here, i mean.

That seems to be part of it. When I was first here, we couldn't mention where we were. Yet now it's common knowledge.

you mean, not even the city's name?

[which, come to think of it...]

is there anyone here who doesn't live in eddan?

That depends. Where does Luci live?

[So, as far as he knows, no. Everyone's very likely to be in Eddan.]

i've never even spoken to him, so you're definitely asking the wrong person about that.

[how odd, though. Eddan was a large city, sure, but it was hardly the only metropolis in the world. why was it only people from here?]

My point is, I'm not really sure.

[It seems far on the 'it's complicated/weird' scale.]

Beyond Luci, I'm certain there's no one from outside the city.

not even in the group of new people? how'd you figure that out with the filters?

[...here's where he has to be very, very careful, and think fast. He can't dare to mention his biggest clues. What he CAN mention, though... ]

Would a scavenger hunt be possible otherwise?

we still haven't seen if that's actually going to be successful, though. i might just sweep the competition.

If it is, we'll have our answer.

[And if it isn't, she'll still get the answer. ... maybe. He can hope, though he'll also feel bad about said hope. Life's hard.]

I'm competition, you know. Have you found mine yet?

yours are pretty tough! i think i've got one tracked down, but it's been kind of hard to check.

[she's in the senior cycle, after all. without any siblings to be checking up on, it looks pretty weird for Emily to be loitering around and staring at random pieces of architecture. she still hasn't managed to wrangle a good enough opportunity to complete the entire puzzle.

honestly, at this point she's thinking of just creeping back right before curfew to get the damn thing done.]

[He is so ~~smug~~ pleased with himself, reading that. He was certain he did a good job with his hints, but getting confirmation is nice.]

When you think you've found it, don't hesitate to say.

[It's also a good thing his really are hard; it gives him more time to comb through the closest library he can get to. He's considering asking 'Christopher' if he's seen anything at this point; if anyone would know every inch of that place it'd be him.

... just in case, he should come up with a few more backup ones.]

i may not have to, depending on how things turn out.

[because if she messes up her timing and finally becomes enough of a strange fixture to warrant a reprimand...well, she knows how schools are. there's no way that the incident wouldn't trickle down through all the gossipy chatter even the lower cycles are guilty of.]

[But fixated on Awakening as Kidou is, a mundane explanation is not where his mind jumps to. Does she know something? Could she have worked it out somehow...? He is definitely overthinking this.]

Oh?

[and Emily, being Emily, unintentionally makes things worse by assuming she's not talking to a paranoid weirdo and being a little playful. all she means to imply is that he's probably a lower cycle student, but...]

assuming that i'm right about you, anyway. ☆⌒(ゝ。∂)

About what?

[What does THAT mean. Does it mean she knows who his Eddan identity is? That she's worked out something else? What does she suspect???

Time to delve deep into conspiracy theory land.]

i don't think i could say it here anyway, even if i really wanted to.

[That has to be it. She must have figured out who he is somehow, or something that ties him to his identity here. If she thinks that she's not able to say it, it must be referring to Eddan.

Kidou's jaw tightens. He looks over his shoulder, just a little, at the closed door to his side, as if somehow he'll be caught by someone. This ride never ends, strap in.

But saying something that identifies someone else can't implicate that person, right? It wouldn't filter out her saying, somehow, who he was... unless they had ties somehow? Is this person someone he knows? Is it someone who could call him out on the street or ...

Dammit. What IS it! And even more worryingly, how did he possibly give himself away? He's been careful to not visit either site since he placed his hints. He's been careful to take alternate routes away from the dragon even though it makes his travel time take a little longer. He's been specifically careful to not possibly be linked to either hint personally, so how?

...

Then he remembers that Michi specifically outed him on this very app, about a month ago. Did this person read back? How far back could they see? It couldn't have been with the names, could it? Otherwise, they'd have mentioned something along those lines. Why the change?

He's really not sure and that's not a comfort remotely.

But while he sits here, spinning his wheels in increasing dismay, she's probably waiting for a reply. He's got no choice, does he? Unless he wants to give away just how unsettling this is, he's got to play along with this game for now.]

Maybe, if you're right. It's hard to say when it's this vague.

[BUT HOW? BUT WHAT?]

[meanwhile in another section of Eddan entirely, Emily casually flips through a magazine as she waits for the next reply. oh, that craft was super cute. she was definitely going to have to try it out sometime soon.]

i know, right? it's such a pain to have to skate around things like this for no reason.

[she's got no idea if she can say anything that'd out other people here, or if it's still technically too close to outing her since it would imply she attends the same school as well. it's all so unnecessarily complicated - although at least it gives some nice opportunities for teasing.]

if you're really curious, maybe we could try and make it part of the game? (￣▽￣)ノ

[Ohhh no. He knew he had to play along, but he has no choice at all now...]

I would be interested. [to put it very mildly.] Although, if you hide what you know recklessly, others might also find it.

that's a risk you take by playing no matter what, isn't it? even if you're really creative you can't be sure that only the people you want to find it will.

[She's right. He can hope that no one else is following this conversation, at least. He'll have a head start.

Of course, this could also be a trap to get him to go somewhere. He'll hear it out first.]

That's true. Another hiding spot with another hint, then?

yep! and i promise i won't make it too hard, even if you probably deserve it.

[she's had to do a lot of suspicious loitering in her attempts to grab his, after all! that's so rude.]

Yuuto Kidou ☸ Eligor

kouteipenguin - 2017-06-30 21:03 (UTC) - Expand

Reimi Sugimoto ☸ Orias

failedhandjob - 2017-06-30 21:17 (UTC) - Expand

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