COUNTDOWN: I SEE YOU

[cordibus]

Seven days remain.

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.

But then something happens...

WƎ☹C!ERROR!OMƎ ▒ O ▒ HƎ FIN⟡☹ QUIZ!!ERROR!!ERROR!
⟡nƧwƎ!ERROR!r from ▒ hƎ hƎ⟡r▒ , ▒ hƎ p⟡r▒ of you ▒ !ERROR!h⟡▒ h⟡Ƨ bƎƎn dƎniƎd for f⟡r ▒ oo ☹ong.

Is your ☹ife here ⟡ ☹ie?
YƎƧ | DƎfini▒ Ǝ☹y | ƧurƎ | I'vƎ hd my !ERROR! doub▒ Ƨ bƎforƎ, bu▒ yƎƧ | HƎ☹☹ YƎƧ | ▒ hƎrƎ iƧ no o▒ hƎr conc☹uƧion | I wiƧh I cou☹d dƎny i▒ nd ☹ivƎ hƎrƎ pƎcƎfu☹☹y !ERROR!bu▒ i▒ 'Ƨ ▒ ruƎ.

▒ h⟡nk you...!ERROR!▒ h⟡▒ wi☹☹ bƎ ⟡☹☹. ☹Ǝ▒ uƧ ƧƎƎ wh⟡▒ your hƎ⟡r▒ b☹oo!ERROR!mƧ in▒ o...

I SEE YOU.

What had just happened? Before you can think about it for too much, and as your heart beats faster, the screen returns to normal, and another message flashes.

Well shit. Lets try this again. Answer from the heart, the part of you that has been denied for far too long. DO IT QUICKLY!

Is your life here a lie?
Yes.

Sorry lambs, this time we can't kid around...

Once you are done, you are tossed once more into the main chatroom. Is fear rising? Is your heart beating faster? There's a lot more at stake now it seems. Fortunately, 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.

And now...something's might be looking right back.

[OOC: This is one of the final network post before Awakening. ALL 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 speaking, Applenet might spazz out, like above. If this happens, a random painful memory will hit both Awakened and Unawakened (please warn if the visions are graphic for other players). They might find themselves writing down things afterwards regarding the memory (for example, getting shot, they might write down the pain they are felling, etc) and regretting it. This can happen up to 5 times per user.]

Comments

[kouteipenguin]

[In his mind, he's saying all kinds of things that a Lower Cycle student probably shouldn't be saying. They all amount to various flavors of oh, no.

But there's also other things there, through the frantic mental panic. He needs to know exactly what this is. Can others do this, too? The enemy? And how do they know Luci is an ally - really know?]

After this issue, I want a full explanation.

[lightmischief]

Luci: If you guys survive this issue, I promise I'll explain as much as I can

Luci: It's been a while that we've gotten past this point anyway

[kouteipenguin]

So. There really were people before us.

[That's a theory he's not sure he wanted confirmed. Having a hunch that might be it was one thing, but it's really a bad omen when every single paranoid-seeming thing he suspects is turning out to be true.

There's no way that's not what Luci is saying, is it...]

[lightmischief]

Luci: People, animals, talking cars, lots of things, really.

[kouteipenguin]

[Talking cars? ... no. He cannot get distracted by details.]

What happened to them?

[lightmischief]

Luci: The same thing that happened to some of you

Luci: More later

Luci: Focus at the task at hand

[kouteipenguin]

[But all of them at once...? Or was it a slow loss until there were none left? Is Luci from one of those earlier groups? Or before that?]

Yeah. More later.

[It's hard to switch gears right now, off of what he desperately needs to know to what he also desperately needs to know, but Kidou's always been good at setting a goal and working towards it. He forces himself to shove aside everything else, but only with the promise that he is getting every answer he wants as soon as possible.

The followup comes with a pause, but he takes the hint.]

For now, is there something specific we should, or shouldn't, be doing?

[Or is he not supposed to be thinking about things like this right now? Is that dangerous to do?]

[lightmischief]

Luci: Keep watch on the new ones.

Luci: Make sure their heads don't explode

Luci: Oh and leave a sheep sticker on Gut's car, that'd be the best.

[transient_specter]

We can make that happen.

[lightmischief]

Luci: Take a picture too

Luci: If you do it, I'll unlock the images

[transient_specter]

Tell me where it is and I'll do it.

[blackdogdown]

...

[ He's so disappointed in literally everyone. ]

[transient_specter]

I see you there.

[kouteipenguin]

That sheep theme of yours...

[Why. Luci, why. He'll just drop that topic completely, nevermind the fact that he both can't and won't do something like that.]

I'll do what I can to protect people. You can count on that.

[lightmischief]

Luci: It's a good theme

Luci: Knew I could count on you

[kouteipenguin]

Why sheep?

[lightmischief]

Luci: cause they are adorable and fluffy

[kouteipenguin]

[He knows this is a distraction he's getting sidetracked on. He's supposed to be focusing on the crisis at hand, not following this. Just one more question, he promises himself. Then he'll dedicate fully to his task.]

Is that really the only reason?

[blackdogdown]

[ Guts has had a similar realization.. ]


So he is reading our minds....

Hey kid, you're way to calm about this.

[kouteipenguin]

[Ahahaha... on the inside, he's pure panic. He'd be worse at hiding that if he was in person.]

What alternatives are there? Rash actions won't help anyone.

[lightmischief]

Luci: Yeah what he said

[blackdogdown]

[ Sure buddy. Nobody would NOT be freaked out like this. ]

Its good you don't let your fear rule you.


[ His battle oriented morals say yes...but his dad instincts say no... He words his next sentance carefully, deleting it several times.]

Putting unnecessary stress on yourself won't help anyone though.

[kouteipenguin]

I'll be fine.

[No he won't.]

[blackdogdown]

Nobody here is fine, kiddo.

We're all literally getting visions of people dying. I think you're allowed a little emotional distress over this revelation.

[ Or you can bottle it all up until you explode into a heedless murderrage but thats a Guts Original and hes not sharing. ]

[kouteipenguin]

Not yeERROR E̶r̷r̷o̷r̸ ̴
i̸n̷v̴a̸l̶i̶d̶ ̵1̶|\|̸|>̶|_|̷7̴1̶͚̑|\|̸͉̂\/̸̦͐4̵̞͐̍̕͝|_̵̡̇̿̐̿̏1̸̝̟̘̏́ ̴̙̮̉ẽ̵̫̫̳͌̀̄r̵͇͇͓̤̝̿̊̿r̵͕̋̿͒r̶̘͓̓̕͘ ̷͓̫̪͖̅̿̋̄̅͛̓ͅ3̵̛̰̈́͒.-̴̡̹͇̜͙̩̹̥̀͑̑͋̾͜.-̷̡̨̝͖̺̩̠͙̹̤͈͈̦͛̃͌͜ͅ.-̴̢̛̙̩͓̘̦̻̖͓̊̒̈́70̷̧̛͇̹̫̭̼͈̤̳̤͉̘̝̜͈̳̗͍̟̆̄̑͌͑̋͆̂̓̐̽͑͑̑̏̓̋͗͆̏̂̊͋̓̒̃̔͒̾́̽̿0̵̨̯͚̭̞̞̯̯̠͍̣̘͓̗̬̓̓̽͐Ι͍̘̫̜̤̹͖͜ͅͅ0̶̭̩̟͍̬̱͚͚̜͍̉͂̂͋͐͗̿͒̑̅̄͗̐̋̏̄́̂̚͝͝ͅ0̶̨̛̙̘̫̰̹̝̥̮̖͔̠̖͖̺̠͖̺̼͍̳̏̈́͌͗́͊̇̂̃̋̅̊̃͐̃͒̀͐͘̕͘̚͝͝͠͝0̶̨̛̦̥͓̤̙͔̜͎̗͈̟̖̞̬͇̞͔̮̱̤̞̤̳͓̠͙̫̮̘̮̱̳̬̅͋̐̔̓̂́̓̉̋̒̀̅͗͑̏̚̚̚͜͝͝0̴̨̡̛̬͇͎͍͚͎͓̜̬̲̪͇̦͖̱̺̗̣̠̞̅̋̓̉͌̇̾̑̀͋̈́̍̋̋͂͊̽͑̿͐̓̓̈́͗͘̚͠ͅͅ9̵̨̢͍̜̗̘̝͈̰̘̝̠̞̳̲̑̽͒̊̈́͋̏̔̃̐̎̎̀͑̈́̽͛̚̕ͅ





[His team arranges themselves out on the field, confident, ready... perfect. But Kidou's not watching from their center like he should be. The number 10 jersey is hollow this time, with him forced out on the sidelines. His ankle still twinges a little, but only when he puts his weight on it completely; regardless of this, Kidou's standing on the sidelines, just outside of the field. Out there, Teikoku fights. Without him.

The whistle blows. Zeus takes possession of the ball. Their team surges forward with unreal agility, leaving his team behind and ruining them when they close anyway. Hissatsu after hissatsu causes a relentless assault - Sakiyama, Jimon, Sakuma, Henmi - they're nothing in its wake. Midfield is flattened within seconds. Before Kidou's horrified eyes, his entire team is destroyed. With a flurry of wings, Zeus' nightmare forward takes to the skies, and yet again rains death down on Teikoku's goal.

It's over within minutes. Teikoku's goal is a deep gash into the ground, fire pooling as molten rock as it settles. Genda isn't moving. No one is. Not one single member of Teikoku is left standing... except for him.

And all Kidou could do is watch it happen.]

It can't be... It just can't be! Was it because I wasn't there, that they're all... I can't stand seeing this!