recolle | MARCH EVENT LOG

EVENT

RUMOR HAS IT
In the age of modern technology, people keep in touch 24/7. It's hard to find a resident that doesn't own a cell phone, a tablet device, or a computer. It's even harder to find a resident that doesn't use their devices every single day. But the wonderful folks at Retrospec know just how important it is for you to stay in touch with your closest friends. Retrospec also knows how important it is to bond with your friends and learn all about them. Isn't that how friendships are made? Why would you ever hide something from your friends? That just won't do. After all, Retrospec is all about sharing...

I.
In all parts of the city, all residents with the Retrospec app will notice they have one unread notification. You can ignore the notification all you'd like, but you can't do much of anything else either. Do you have an important essay to finish typing for class tomorrow? Are you trying to search for reviews on the latest restaurant that opened in Tisse? That's too bad. Until you check out that notification your device (and subsequently all devices you try to use) will freeze up.

When you finally get sick of being blocked from everything and open the notification, you'll find a video of…well, you. You don't recall anyone filming you, but that's not the most startling part. What's unsettling about this video is the narration over the audio revealing a deep, dark secret about you. The best part is that the video auto-loops so long as you have the app open, but even if the app is closed the video may very well appear on the newsfeed of all Retrospec members.

The good news is that there is a way to delete the video! With a little work (and after suffering the embarrassment of having their auto-loop blast for all to hear), residents will be successful in deleting the video. Willingly showing it to another Retrospec user will allow the video to play as normal, but at the end a "DELETE" button will appear. On the other hand, Retrospec is still new and filled with little bugs and glitches. That video will be deleted but it might be sent out to the entire network as a private message. It might even go viral on the hottest streaming website. But don't worry, these things are happening to everyone. Will you embrace your secret? Or will you be one of the ones desperately trying to hide it?

II.

Those who aren't glued to their mobile devices will notice that spring is starting to roll in as snow melts away. Birds twitter to one another as they nest in the trees and the rooftops of several homes in the city. The flowers aren't blooming yet, but residents know they will be soon.

Today's just like any other day…but it's strange. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, but it almost feels as though you're being watched. No matter where you turn, you can't shake the feeling that there's a pair of eyes following every step you take and every move you make. Occasionally, you'll hear the flash of a camera but you can't catch the culprit fast enough.

Before you can duck into any of the buildings to escape, however, you'll find yourself ambushed by one, two, or maybe even three tabloids reporters complete with camera crew and microphones. The barrage of questions is dizzying, but it seems as though they want to question you about your secret that was publicized on Retrospec. Refusing to answer their questions will only make the reporters angry. Will you give them a full-spread report of your life? Will you run away and lead a pack of desperate paparazzi down the street? There must be a way to get rid of them once and for all!

…you might need some extra help though.

III.
There's a nervous kind of energy in the air as residents carry on with their daily routines. Kids joke about their silly secrets. Adults hope their colleagues won't judge them for the things they've done in the past. It's not so bad though. Everyone has an embarrassing secret they have to live with.

Oh well. Life goes on, and the city continues the way that it always has. For example, those in the Apprassage district will notice that the Recollé public library is hosting its semi-annual book swap. Residents can come trade their old books for new ones during the first week of March. The library will also be holding a bake sale with all proceeds going directly to the Recollé school district. Are you helping out at the sale? Are you perusing the stacks upon stacks of books to see what catches your eye? It's a great way to mingle with people and share stories.

And speaking of sharing stories, residents may look up and notice that a few people leaving the sale have a piece of paper taped to their back. It's not clear where this paper came from. You're fairly sure you didn't see anyone wandering around taping signs to people's backs. The poor sap in front of you appears to be oblivious, but upon closer inspection you may find that this paper reveals another secret about themselves. Will you alert them about this note, or will you let them walk around advertising their secret for the entire city? Think wisely; you might have your own secret taped to you, too.

IV.
Isn't technology supposed to make things easier? That no longer seems to be the case as a power surge blows through all districts in the city. Appliances start to act up. Lightbulbs burn out. Electronic billboards deliver scrambled messages. Toilets back up, audio feedback blows out the eardrums of performers at the Atrium, toasters catch on fire, everything that could possibly go wrong seems to be going wrong. Are you stuck at work trying to calm down an entire store? Are you forced to go into a lockdown at school until they figure out what's wrong with the lights?

It all comes to a head though starting the night of March 4th. Street lamps are bright and shining on the streets of all districts. Tisse is just as crowded and loud as ever with live music and parties. Employees in Chata go through their nightly procedures to close shop for the evening. It all happens so fast, but one minute everything seems to be functioning and the next the city plunges into a complete blackout. All lights and sounds cease to exist.

Are you out in the city? Maybe you were fortunate enough to be at home already, but it's never a bad idea to check on your neighbors. Mayor Mayer seems to be sleeping through the crisis. It's up to residents to work together to solve these issues and try to bring their power back. Groups can link up and search for any knocked-down power lines in the city (and will most likely find them in Apprassage.) There are several emergency generators scattered in the city, but it's best to take a buddy before wandering in the dark. Residents can also create emergency response teams to hand out supplies and direct other citizens to safe zones as the generators begin to kick in. There are no limits to how people can help. In fact...there may even be some residents who have a few unique ideas.

BONUS.
Okay. So your secret's out. No big deal, right? It's out and you've embraced it and life can move on. If only it were that easy though. Over the course of the month of March, several residents may start to experience other tricks of memory. For instance, maybe you order your favorite coffee drink only to discover it doesn't taste quite the same. A trip to the movies might surprise you when the trailer for the next big feature stars someone who looks a little like you. Your favorite song on the radio might get interrupted by a conversation between two people discussing, well, you.

Look around. You may find you're not the only one second-guessing yourself.

Then again, some people just want answers. For those who are sick of Retrospec butting into their lives, you're more than welcome to head back to their offices in Tisse. Getting in won't be easy. In front of the door is a large monitor-type device and an interactive screen. If you want to step into their headquarters, looks like you'll have to grab a friend and play along.

With the success of a fully completed puzzle, the door will unlock and allow characters to step into the lobby. This time, instead of being completely empty, there are a handful of large glass tubes mounted to the walls. Inside these tubes are colored stones of varying amounts, though it's obvious some are more full than others. The doors in the halls will still be locked, vents and windows will be unable to open, and--huh. Didn't there used to be an elevator? Where'd that go?

There's a large sign that says "DO NOT TOUCH" in front of the tubes, but for anyone who blatantly ignores the sign, they'll be hit with an overwhelming sense of homesickness that will drive them out of the building and to wherever they consider home. But on their way there, they'll find themselves at the mercy of those pesky reporters again, this time asking for details about the story they created with the Retrospec building's new security measure.

Welcome to

recolle's March's event! As a reminder, all characters will be begin in-game AU'd as Recollé residents. You may use any of the above prompts for ideas or make up your own depicting your Recollé AU! Prompts do not have to be set in the districts listed above. You can review our list of locations for what's available and be as creative as you'd like. As a note, memories in prompts I and II are from your Recollé AU. However, memories from prompt III may hint at a canon memory that your character has recovered! Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I haven't yet decided what major I want to take, but I do like animals and I'm interested in learning more about them.

[Especially dogs, but other animals're good too.]

Well, my next lecture is on the ecology of reptiles. But if you don't like that, I have another lecture on wolves and their habitat and their behavior to other animals starting next week.

[At least helping a student for her future might be a great way to remove the stress out of that panic attack, except one thing...]

It was back a few years ago while I was in France. Since I'm aware that Paris...

[Unfortunately, the video is still on auto-loop and the speaker is still loud...]

[Well, she isn't really interested in reptiles, but it's better to show interest. One never knows when good impressions'll come in handy.]

I'll be joining both lectures--

[She's stops when the video loops again.]

Oh, fuck you, whoever's responsible for spilling all those secrets.

[Especially her secret and her sister's secret. She doesn't really care about anyone else's secrets.]

[While he is happy to hear that she will be joining both of his lectures, he is not happy to hear the video again. He didn't even scold her for her foul language when she angrily asks his phone to stop.

Annoyed that this is still going on, he tries to stop the video, yet it ends up replaying again and again. Even lowering his phone's volume doesn't help either as it was unresponsive to his volume buttons.

When he is completely annoyed, Augustine just throws his phone into his desk drawer and closes it. He may hear the video muffled inside the drawer, but at least he can get some peace and quiet for now.]

I can't believe this... And it's all because I have to open it in order to save my files...

I got hit with that, too. The video that spills your secret and just won't shut up. Now everyone knows that I--

[She stops herself before she says it. She doesn't want him to know her secret if he doesn't already. Nevermind that it'd been spread after she managed to delete it. The fewer people who know about her nonfunctional sense of remorse, the better. There're reasons she'd been keeping up a constant front of pretending she's an okay person in front of people she wants to impress.]

Nevermind that.

It's alright, you don't have to say anything else.

[Even if putting his phone is able for anyone to hear, he can't let it stay there the whole day. In fact, he might use it to contact someone right now.]

There must be a better way to shut that video off.

If you're persistent enough, you can delete the video. But I've seen it spread the video instead. There's not really any good way to get rid of it that I know if.

[So if he deletes it, it will spread around the internet?! This is definetely not a good day for him.]

Guess I have to decide before I have to do the inevitable, do I?

Or it could just do something else instead. I don't know what that would be. This app's super weird and I don't know what it might do. It already does some impossible things.

[She might have a point. This makes him wonder how in a world did this app or the company behind it got to record this without them being involved.]

Well, do you know anything that does the impossible other than our videos?

The app shows up on everything some people use but disappear when other people try to use the same thing. In other words, only some can see it.

[So if he can guess, that means only he and the young students are one of those people that can see the app. He can agree that this is one of the impossible phenomena of Retrospec.]

It doesn't appear on the purchase history, unable to show the app to others except to some people, and it can record us and reveal our darkest secrets...

This is definitely a strange social media app.

Oh, yeah, it's pretty much impossible to uninstall. I succeeded once but then it reinstalled itself. And it doesn't even have that many features! That plus only some people being able to even see it makes it suck as a social app.

I agree. And it's one of the main reasons I tried to investigate this app and it's strange features.

[He's not the detective-type, but he just wants to know more about the Retrospec app.]

Right. You aren't too bad for a playboy. I'll even take your word that you've wised up.

[At least she understands that he already learned his mistake back in Paris. Although he is still uncomfortable at being called a "playboy".]

Thank you.

[With that said, he then writes down his lectures' schedules on a piece of paper and gives it to the high school student.]

Here are the schedules for my lectures. Just contact me through this number or in Retrospec in case you're having trouble about them.

[Speaking of Retrospec, he really needs to do something about that video that is still playing inside his drawer.]

[And she'll just accept that paper. And then she switches to French.]

I'll be sure to contact you if I've any questions. I'm looking forward to those lectures.

[She's decided to probe his knowledge of the language.]

[Once he hears her replied in French, he decides to return the favor by speaking French as well..]

Je peux dire la même chose. Je te verrai bientôt donc. (I can say the same. I'll see you soon then.)

[With that, he waves goodbye to the young woman.

Now to deal with his video...]

[And she'll just wave farewell and leave. She thinks she'll continue making a good impression upon him so that he'll write her a good recommendation when she needs it. That'd always served her well in school. Of course, one shouldn't do it to the point where one gets seen as a teacher's pet or a brownnoser. There's a delicate balance to it. But if you do it right, you can figuratively get away with murder. Making a positive impression had helped in shielding her from getting in trouble for her bullying. The right attitude when accused of such acts, and no one would believe you were doing it.

No, she isn't really a good person.]

MARCH EVENT LOG

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Sorry about the French! I used Google Translate... T_T

No worries. I don't really speak French either.