(no subject)

[recollecters]

EVENT

Re:Coded The city of Recollé...? PROLOGUE. On the first day of September, the air crackled and it was almost possible to taste the static electricity on your tongue. The charge grew and grew as the hours ticked on, counting straight down to the time Retrospec would chime in with a post as they always did. But no one came. No one posted to the network, no video appeared for all to see, and as the timer on your palm from last month finally reached zero, a jolt of electricity hits your hands and the network immediately goes offline. No matter how hard you try to open the app, it appears that it’s finally broken. Instead, at the usual time the Retrospec post would go live, several citizens of the city will suddenly feel as though they’re emerging from a deep fog. Memories begin sorting and reorganizing in their heads, and many will soon discover that they haven’t quite been themselves for the last few months. While the events of July and August may be unclear at first, over time those affected will come to find that something has altered their memories and who they were. On the other hand, there are still several people you know who weren’t quite as lucky. Though they’re still your friends and loved ones, it becomes clear that not everyone remembers things the way you do. Retrospec hasn’t forgotten though. While there’s no word from the company for several days (and no signs of the liaison’s return), the static appears to be a constant presence and smoke begins to overtake the city. It’s only on the fifth that everything begins to make sense. On the evening of the fifth, each user will find a scarlet A or a B engraved on their palm indicating their stance as an Alpha or a Beta. Alphas continue to be marked as those who have had the app for more than a year as of August, while betas are those who have been around for less time. Like the timers from before, no matter how hard you try the marking won't disappear and it continues to burn and throb against your palm. Overall it seems harmless though. There's no clock counting backwards, no impending sense of doom…just a brand. However, the moment a user reaches for their phone for any reason, the marking flares up. An abundance of As and Bs spread over your body, swirling all around you before your body begins to pixelate and disappear, absorbing into the screen of your phone and leaving this plane entirely. A dial-up tone rings in your ears as you watch yourself disintegrate bit by bit, and your phone clatters to the ground where you once stood. I. The good news is that you’ve re-materialized. You have all of your limbs, all of your senses are intact, and you can’t seem to find any strange changes about yourselves. The bad news is that you've awoken in someone else's bedroom. The appearance seems off, though it may just be that sepia wash. As you exit the room and head downstairs, there's no one to greet you. Instead, you'll find a map of the city waiting for you on a table along with a swipe card for the local subway. Lucky for you, the subway is just outside the front door. Literally. As you open the front door and come to your senses you will find yourself inside an abandoned subway station not unlike the one several users explored in January and February. Even better, you're not alone. You may spot friends or relatives nearby who are app users looking just as confused as you may feel. The subway station appears clunky and blocky in its appearance, shapes not quite defined and edges a little too sharp. Other app users who arrived at the same time appear unharmed as well even if the environment remains digitized and almost poorly rendered. Perhaps the most important part of this location are the tunnels all around the central station. There are ten tunnels in all, six of which are labeled as leading toward the six districts of the city of Recollé. Anyone can ride the trains leading to these districts, and they'll find they even have some pretty groovy background music to accompany the journey. Upon entering any part of the city, you’ll find that everyone you know and love who isn’t on the Retrospec network has a place in this digital world as well. The longer you explore the more familiar faces you’ll see. Or, at least, they seem familiar enough. It may be hard to tell when their rendered models don’t look quite as good as yours. The strange thing about it is that no matter what time of day you check on them, these people remain rooted in the same spot, often spouting out the same line of dialogue to you. Your parents may not be able to leave your house, or perhaps your best friend is waiting for you at the movies at all hours of the day. They can't deviate from their script very much, but with a little persuasion (or some yelling, whatever works for you) you can unlock some bonus cutscenes. The landscape around the city matches that of the subway station. All buildings, landmarks, flora and fauna appear to be pixelated and digitized. Even most of your pets are rendered poorly unless they're animals obtained from Retrospec themselves. The longer you look, the more you'll realize that the only things that aren't pixelated are items and buildings obtained from Retrospec. Every now and then the other buildings might flicker but they remain standing. The city remains hustling and bustling as it always does, people on their way to work or school, shops open for business and the sun rising and setting like clockwork. Don't get too close to the buildings though. As you explore more of your beloved city, you'll soon find there are several weak points in these structures. Retrospec users will find themselves glitching out, phasing through walls, teleporting to other parts of the city and even discovering hidden rooms inside some places. Granted, the hidden rooms are more than likely storage units and the like, but it's still probably not a place you want to go. The glitches are endless, and some may be more outrageous than others. And most importantly, the longer you look around the city, the more it becomes obvious something is missing…but you can't quite put your finger on it yet, can you? Think hard. When was the last time you saw your friends who used to be on the app and have since dropped off? Happy searching. II. Or perhaps you're not interested in venturing out to Recollé right away and you want to look at the four remaining tunnels. These tunnels are labeled as A1, A2, B1 and B2. An A-train and a B-train wait for passengers to step aboard and at the doorway of each train stands a guard. Those branded with an A may board the A-train, and those branded with a B may board the B-train, but should you try to board the incorrect train these little guys will happily grab you and throw you back into the middle of the station (and possibly straight into someone else. Oops.) While there's no indication which of the two tunnels these trains will venture down, they'll zip along through the dark and out of the tunnels toward your new destinations. Alphas and Betas will find themselves in one of two places depending on how the train is feeling at that particular moment. Is it possible for a train to have a personality? It may be best not to question it. The same background radio plays on the train, but passengers will notice that this journey takes about twice as long as it would to get to any parts of the city. A1. Trains that disappear down the A1 tunnel will be greeted with a splash of color upon arrival and the sight of several large buildings with intricate designs. Unlike Recollé and the subway station, this area appears to be smooth and almost like reality albeit two-dimensional. The train pulls in at a small station at the outskirts of town and shoos its passengers off. The ground beneath their feet feels cushy, almost like walking on a trampoline. Bounce your way through this land if you'd like! It's more fun than just walking, isn't it? The flora of this region appear to be made of sweets with cotton candy rose bushes, peppermint bark trees, red vines and more. It's free for the sampling and anything you pick seems to grow back automatically. A jaunty little tune plays as you walk, autolooping seamlessly and try as you might you can't find the source of the music. Approaching the town itself, visitors will find that all doors are unlocked to all buildings and they can explore at their leisure. As you venture forward, however, you will soon find that all of these buildings are the homes to toy shops. There's a shop for sports equipment, a shop for board games, a shop for model trains, planes and automobiles, a shop for gadgets and gizmos aplenty and more. The urge to play a game is nearly overwhelming, but the strong (or the grumpy) can get away without taking anything from these shops. At the far end of the town, however, is the largest building of all. Several stories high and decorated with twinkling fairy lights and soft colors, it seems to invite you in. For those who can't resist the siren's call, you'll find yourself entering the building and the doors will shut behind you. Lowly lit like a museum with plush carpet under your feet, the walls of the foyer are flanked with glass cases housing miniature versions of buildings in Recollé. It's easy to spot your favorite places…Flix, A Good Bean, The Towers…your own house… …wait, what? Before you can investigate too closely, the floor beneath you creaks and groans as it begins to move on its own. Glued to your place on this moving sidewalk, you begin to pass life-like displays of life in Recollé decades ago. The eyes of these figures seem to follow after you though the mannequins themselves don't move at all. An audio track overhead attempts to play and narrate your journey, but the words are garbled and distorted. The time periods begin to change on this journey, taking you through the 50s up to the 2000s. Rounding the corner, the displays seem to change. The mannequins seated in these sets suddenly look familiar, posed in ways that aren't quite so natural. The faces that look back at you are those who used to be on the app itself, glassy marble eyes staring straight at you. The moving sidewalk stops and a horrible metallic screeching occurs. The models rise to their feet and open their mouths, the dial-up tone exploding in a loud burst of sound before they lunge. Escape the building via any means possible. There are no windows or doors besides the one at the entrance, but who says you need a door to exit? The mannequins will be in hot pursuit of any living being in the house and follow them all the way until they find an escape. As the mannequins move further away from their original display, they begin to fall apart until they are their bare metal skeletons. You can fight them if you dare, but they will electrocute anyone who gets too close. Upon escaping the building, the door seal shut and the mannequins cease their chase. Everything about this region appears the same as before. The happy music plays, the sun continues to shine, and the faint scent of chocolate chip cookies fills the air. But you haven't left empty-handed. In your pocket, purse, or somewhere on your person you'll find a miniature keychain shaped just like the missing person that chased you out. B1. Trains that disappear down the B1 tunnel will immediately be hit with the scent of the sea and the low light that comes from a cloudy day. A castle is mounted up on a hill, and unlike Recollé and the subway station, this area appears to be smooth and almost like reality albeit two-dimensional. The train pulls in at a station near the shore and shoos its passengers off straight into ankle-deep water. Oops. Have fun with that. Walking along the beach you'll find that the waves seem to push you toward the town. Starfish and seashells appear at your feet and while wet sand would normally be hard to navigate the ground beneath you doesn't sink in at all. Every couple of feet you'll find wooden stands offering food and drinks. Fresh fruit, tropical smoothies, barbecued meats and more attract your attention and no matter what time of day you arrive everything is freshly prepared and served. A soft tune plays as you walk, autolooping seamlessly and try as you might you can't find the source of the music. Strangely, there doesn't seem to be any other buildings in this region beyond the castle in the distance. There are plenty of caves to explore and little seaside shacks containing bait and tackle supplies for those who want to try their luck at fishing. Should you choose to explore the caves you'll find all kinds of small trinkets ranging from glassware, coins, jewelry and small weaponry. There are glass figurines and maps of the city, seashells and silly wares like those you would find while vacationing at the beach. For those brave enough to venture into the water you'll find that it's a warm temperature and much more appealing that Recollé's ocean. When you eventually make your way over to the castle at the end of the town, it's easier to see that it's not only a castle but a sea-side resort. Unlike the inn in Pesgare, this swanky joint is high-class and maybe a little out of place for a seaside getaway. With smooth marble-esque floors, stone pillars, open windows and glass chandeliers, all betas are welcome to stay free of charge. There's a room with your name on it and it seems that your bags are already waiting for you. These lush rooms are catered specifically to your tastes, decked out in your favorite colors and styles. The ocean laps against the shore just outside of your room, but the only window available is a large skylight above you. The door behind you shuts with a soft "click" and the lights flicker on just as softly. The snackbar in your room is stocked with treats, the covers on your bed are freshly washed and folded, and the phone on the bedside table rings. The phone rings? That's odd. The phone will continue to ring until someone answers it, nearly jumping off the table and growing louder in pitch the longer it's ignored. When you finally answer, that same dial-up tone crackles in your ear before a voice filters through. Is it familiar to you, or is it a stranger? Someone around you may be able to identify it as someone who used to be on the Retrospec app as well, mangled as the voice may be. The first part of the message is clear though: "You have to get out of here." As they shout out a warning to you and beg you for help, the walls around you begin to warp. Rotted wood and stone replace the gorgeous fixtures and the foundation shakes. The four walls begin to press in as the room becomes smaller and smaller. Escape the resort via any means possible. There are no windows or doors besides the skylight and the locked door, but who says you need a door to exit? The walls will continue to close in, and staying in the room for too long will cause sand from the beach to filter through tiny cracks in the walls to slow your movements. You can try to escape via the skylight, but you will be electrocuted the moment you touch the glass. Fight hard. Upon escaping the resort, the room behind you collapses and turns into digital dust. Everything about this region appears the same as before. The calm music plays, the sun continues to shine, and the there's a stand with coconut water just to your left. But you haven't left empty-handed. In your pocket, purse, or somewhere on your person you'll find flash drive containing the image of the missing NPC that called you and an audio clip of the original message: "You have to get out of here. Please. Get us out of here." III. Perhaps your train decided to head through the A2 or B2 tunnels instead. The destination is dark and seems to take even longer to reach than the end points of tunnels A1 and B1. The music plays on the train and looking out the window reveals nothing but darkness. As the train finally lumbers to a stop, you'll find yourself on a platform surrounded by half-constructed models and paths that lead straight onward into the dark. These pathways seem endless and give visitors plenty of room to explore. While Alphas and Betas are let off at two different drop points, they can explore this region and meet in the middle to find fellow explorers of both Alpha and Beta-kind. While this space may look intimidating, the world is in the palm of your hand. Literally. For any space under construction, visitors may manipulate the world around them to recreate basic designs. The musically inclined can reprogram an area to play a certain song, the architecturally gifted can create new buildings and structures, the athletic can jump from platform to platform and create obstacle courses for themselves…the possibilities are endless. Anything you create will appear as a base 3D model made up of lines and code and will immediately disappear the moment it's no longer needed. For those technologically inclined, you may even find more possibilities and changes you can make in this region. For Alphas, they will find that they can venture down a path that leads them to a temple-esque structure. With walls composed entirely of numbers and strings of code, Alphas will have the ability to change the writing on the walls and change features about themselves so long as they're in this region. While they won't know what exactly it is that they're changing about themselves, they will find appearances, personalities, and even some abilities will be altered. Alphas whose ID begins with 02 to 04 will find themselves more prone to appearance changes, while those whose ID begins with 06 to 08 are more prone to personality changes. While any and all power changes or gains are on the smaller scale, users will find that they're easy to use and can experiment with them so long as they remain in this region. For Betas, they will find that they can venture down a path that leads them to a field. Seated in this field are thousands upon thousands of eggs in all colors and sizes. While most of these eggs will remain unhatched, each Beta will be able to feel drawn to one egg that shakes and wiggles, shell cracking and expanding before a creature crawls out. Congratulations, you've become a parent! These little critters will now rely on their Betas to feed them, play with them, clean up after them, and love them as their very own. As Betas bond with their pets, they will find that they'll level up and grow a little to gain new abilities. Betas whose ID begins with 09 to 01 will find that their pets are more prone to acquiring low-level offensive attacks, while those whose ID begins with 02 to 06 are more prone to acquiring low-level defensive attacks. Pets will remain loyal to their owners and follow them everywhere so long as they remain in this region. Neglect of your pet to the point they are injured or even killed will hinder your progress! Should you let your new pet die under your care, you will find yourself trapped inside a large human-sized egg and will have to wait three days to hatch. Your health stats will start out relatively low and you will feel easily fatigued until you regain your strength and grow. That sounds rather unfortunate, doesn't it? And though it may take a bit of time and some playing around, some users may discover that they can generate a key emblazoned with an A or a B to be used as a guest pass for their Alpha-Beta friends. While these keys will not work on the Alpha and Beta-only areas of tunnels A2 and B2, they will allow users to board the trains and visit tunnels A1 and B1 once per key. What will you create? The only limit is your imagination. IV. Naturally there's still the whole problem of actually being digitized and how the hell you're supposed to get out of here. With non-app NPCs carrying on as normal (or, at least, as normal as they can in one spot) and the previous app-using NPCs still missing, it's hard to know where to even start. Exploring the city and the new regions may be your best shot for finding clues. As you continue to live your best life and hunt for clues to solve this puzzle, fragments of those missing will flicker in and out of existence. In areas across the city, especially those relevant to past app users, citizens will notice old items belonging to their friends will appear, or even full-bodied apparitions. They may appear just as you remember them and while they can't speak they all bear a computer chip worn around their neck. This chip cannot be removed but it has their name and an ID on it indicating whether they would be an Alpha or a Beta. Digital constructs will grow stronger the more clues, information and secrets you gather about the missing people. Talk to one another, learn about those who used to be here and help restructure them and preserve their memory. Visit their previous hang-out spots, deliver their favorite food to someone else, pick up a hobby they used to be fond of, anything that keeps these people at the center of your mind. Of course…there's also the viruses to worry about. Appearing faster than you can blink, these bugs will swarm in and immediately aim for app-based NPCs as they try to eat their data and destroy their chip. Their teeth are sharp and they will cause electric shocks in addition to bite wounds and they move rather quickly. They can be fought via normal means, but as you fight one bug two more will appear. While they are more aggressive in the city around fragments of lost NPCs, they can also be found roaming in the space beyond the A2 and B2 tunnel if you're especially unlucky. Can you take them all on by yourself? Can you protect those you care about before their memory is erased? Maybe it's time to recruit a little extra help here. BONUS. While your phones might not have materialized with you, that doesn't mean that you're cut off from all forms of social media. When you return to your home, you'll find yourself situated with a brand new handheld device roughly the size of a cell phone. It isn't personalized and it doesn't contain any of your photos, music or apps, but everyone on the Retrospec app is in your contact list. The app itself is also on this device and appears to be functioning just fine even with the lack of communication from Retrospec themselves. There's also a drawing app and the game of Snake for all of your entertainment needs. Posts will still show up as posted by your Alpha or Beta IDs and whether you're sending or receiving messages, a string of colored text, numbers and code will leave or enter your device. These devices also need to be charged constantly, so be careful when taking them out of the house! And finally, with a little fiddling, users will notice one more app. A navigation app appears, but any attempts to open it will cause the entire device to crash. As the month progresses, the app will stay open for a little longer, up to 15 seconds, but it seems as though someone doesn't want you to see that yet. Take care of it. If you lose this device, you will not receive a replacement! You'll have to survive without it. Welcome to recolle's September's event! Following the game's new format, this is the first event log! The second log will go up and coincide with the game's TDM on 9/17! Items found in A1 and B1 may be taken from these regions! Collect your toys, trinkets and more. Try not to stockpile on weapons though. As indicated in the prologue, those who successfully recovered their original AUs will fully feel the effects and be back to their original selves on the 5th. They will vaguely remember the last two months and their alternate AUs but they'll believe those memories are false and the influence of an outside source. Those who failed or half-failed to recover their original AUs will go forward with these new changes and believing these memories are the truth. There will be an opportunity later to regain your character's original AU if you wish but more details will follow at a later date. At this time, characters will not be able to visit the four regions outside of the city (Pesgare, Respatrum, Bosuma and Magatus!) However, they will be able to visit places just outside of the city such as Rainbowland, Jabberwock Island, and Wall Maria. If you would like to explore further in Prompt III and venture into the digital paths, please contact the mod team and we can provide you with some basic information for a little exploration! Finally, any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here. Be sure to review the mods' question thread on the plotting post for important information as well!

Comments

iii

[justchords]

(apollo is staring.

a beefcake like kuro holding small, adorable creatures of any variety is a sigh to be treasured. he is Blessed, and going to remember this for the rest of his life.

but he's also got a burning question on his tongue and-- yeah. yeah he's gotta ask it.) Is that Nazuna.

(please say no, kuro. please.)

[taishou]

[ Wow, talk about deja vu, huh.

First the firehouse dogs, now little 8bit critters - is it just that he and Apollo are meant to see each other only when there are cute animals around?

Although that question definitely catches him off guard, and Kuro squints at him a little as the rabbit-like critter bounces around out of his reach to the other shoulder. ]

I know it's a rabbit 'n all, Apollo, but that don't mean it's gonna be Nazuna.

[justchords]

(hey, apollo has no complaints, it's an excellent bonding experiences also animals are better than people so he won't turn this down.

he sees your judgment, kuro, and apollo only shrugs at it.) Look, I'm just saying. Weird shit happens, and would you really be surprised if Nazuna turned into a small rabbit-like creature that made cute noises?

(because nazuna makes cute noises... he will not say that out loud tho.)

[taishou]

[ You know what.

True, animals are better than people.

But he looks at the ra*bit in silence for a second, the two of them making eye contact after Apollo's point. It beeps at him, a cute chirping noise, and he considers it before looking back up. ]

Ain't heard it go "unya" yet, so I'm gonna vote that it's not him until it does that.

[justchords]

(animals are wildly better than a large majority of the people apollo knows.

but not kuro and nazuna. he'd never admit it out loud, though.

he really can't help but smile at the digital bunny, and while it's little chirps aren't exactly "unya~~~", they are adorable.) I mean, he is 8-bit. Maybe those little noises are 8-bit "unya".

[taishou]

[ Where Apollo won't admit it aloud, Kuro certainly will. Despite appearances, he's a giant softie who values his friends.

He'd consider Apollo among those.

But he looks thoughtfully at his round little pixel pet, reaching to prod it in the tummy when it beeps at them. ] You got an "unya" for us, then?

[ beep! ] Hm, maybe not.

[justchords]

(he is not soft, he is Spikey. like his hair. killer.

apollo joins in on booping the small pixelated thing, giving it a few more pokes here and there.) Maybe you just need to poke it a bunch. Like an activation spot or something.

(he can try all he wants. but he's still only going to get beeps.) Huh. Or not.

[taishou]

[ Sure, Jan. ]

Dunno if that's somethin' that actually exists, but considerin' the shit that's goin' on right now... never know, right?

[ Kuro gives a few more pokes as well, from the opposing side, just testing the theory. The ra*bit continues to beep and boop and chirp, not minding the attention so much. ]

[justchords]

(don't patronize him!!!) I'm gonna say "anything goes" in the fucked up digital world we got illegally downloaded into.

(are they really going to do anything aside from just poking this thing and debating the possibility of it being nazuna.

probably not.) ... do you think we should maybe go look for him? Just in case?

[taishou]

[ SURE JAN. ] I don't wanna think about that. Place is fucked up enough as it is on the regular.

[ Eventually, Kuro does stop poking it so much. Instead he rubs the top of its head with his finger, listening to it chirp happily with the attention. He's not sure if it should be soft like fur or feel coarse because of the whole pixelation thing, but it sure is squishy. ]

... honestly, knowin' him, he's gettin' into trouble. So we'd better look anyways.

[justchords]

(STUFF IT, PATRICIA.) I'm surprised you still have a "regular" to reference. Shit changes on a dime on the fucked up scale.

(watching kuro smother the little digital cream puff with affection, almost like it's a stress ball of some kind, just makes apollo hope he finds one...

after they find nazuna. the world's cutest stress ball.) Where do you think he is? Buried in a mountain of these little fuzzballs?