compnetwork | 001 | [Video Post to the Public Network]

♪ The most fitting music ♪

[When the video feed comes on, you might all recognize a very famous looking face appearing on your screens. One Yosuke Hanamura has got his COMP on his wrist aimed at his face, and he looks... terribly deep in thought about something. Concerned, even. And, for a change of pace, he seems to have actually posted to the entire public network.

This isn't just a message for the visitors, this is a message for all of Hinoto-Ri, one he's sure people are going to look at because of his mini-celebrity status. Boy it must be important.]

You know I've been thinking about some stuff ever since we got here. Things have been so crazy recently that I wasn't even able to realize it before but now that we've had some time to catch our breath and stop and think about what's been going on...

[He isn't going to say it out loud because he gets the feeling it's kind of taboo to mention them in public like this, but he's been thinking about what the Anoli said.... about the government hiding the fact that the outside world isn't what they say it is.]

I've been here for almost six months now and I feel like such an idiot for not noticing this sooner, and to be honest I'm wondering why the hell nobody else noticed it either. But guessing that we really are in a city that's been completely cut off from the outside world-- an outside world that's supposedly destroyed and totally in ruin... How is this place running as smoothly as it is?

I mean we're still getting fresh produce coming into the stores every single day, we've got energy powering all of the buildings, and new products coming in on shelves. This town doesn't have any farms, or any factories for processing food, it's too small for factories to build most of the stuff that we even get coming in. I mean even if there is a factory or two around, like in the Cancer district or whatever, they'd run out of materials pretty damn fast if they weren't getting regular shipments of plastics and metals and whatever else.

[Yosuke shakes his head in frustration.]

This place runs like the world economy is still a thing that exists out there... if the whole damn world is gone, how can that even be possible? Does anyone know what the hell is going on? I have a bad feeling that we're getting some serious misinformation here...

[It seems like this teenager has stumbled onto a stroke of genius after all.]

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[Only one half an hour later, this video suddenly can no longer be found on the public network. While it is still available on the private visitor's network, the message is now terribly artifacted and the audio horribly distorted.]

░▋░░░▋▋▋░░ been thinking about some stuff ▋▋░▋░░░▋▋▋░░ Things have been so crazy recently that I wasn't ▋▋░▋░▋▋░░░▋ but now that we've had some time to catch our breath and stop and ▋▋░░░▋░▋

I've been here for almost six months now and I feel like such an idiot ▋▋░░░▋░▋ ▋▋░░░▋░▋ wondering why the hell nobody else ▋░▋▋░░░▋░▋ But ▋░▋▋░░░▋░▋░▋ cut off from ▋░▋▋░░░▋░▋░▋-- an outside ░▋░▋▋░░░▋▋▋ and totally in ruin ▋▋░▋░▋▋▋▋░▋░▋▋░░░▋░▋░▋▋▋▋░▋░

I mean we're still getting fresh produce coming into the stores every single day, we've got energy powering all of the buildings, and ▋▋░▋░▋▋▋▋░▋░▋▋░░░▋░▋░▋▋▋▋░▋░ This town ▋▋░▋ ▋▋░▋░▋▋░▋░ farms, ▋▋░▋ factories for processing food, ▋▋░▋░▋▋▋▋░▋░▋▋░░░▋░▋░▋▋▋▋░▋░ get coming in. I mean ░▋▋░░░▋▋ there is a factory or two around, like in the Cancer district or whatever, they'd ░▋▋░░░▋ pretty damn ░▋▋░░░▋░▋▋░ weren't ░▋▋░▋▋░ regular ▋▋░▋░▋▋░░▋░░ and whatever else.

ERROR FEED U▩STABLE DATA INF▩RMATION.

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[ooc: The original format of this post will only be available for a half an hour and it will be available for the entire city to read during that time. Your characters are able to respond both before and after the message is distorted, however note that if they respond to it before it is distorted, it is very soon after it is posted.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's certainly something Death has considered. She hadn't brought it up to anyone, since it certainly tended to shake people and she had no real proof. But if someone else was going to bring it up first...]

It wouldn't be the first time.

Huh? What do you mean by that? Did you notice something else, too?

[He's noticed a few things but this is the one thing he feels most safe about bringing up.]

I've been in a similar town before.

Huh... what was the deal with that place, then? Maybe it'll help us find out what's going on around here.

It...

[There's really no good way to put this]

Was all a simulation.

Simulation...? You mean none of it was real or something??

[Weird thought, but... someone else had suggested something similar.]

I was talking to someone who thinks we're all stuck in some sort of computer.

A computer, yes. Not real is... probably not covering everything but happened. But it was virtual reality.

Maybe it's more plausible than I thought... But we can go home whenever we want to? What does that mean? They just unplug us and let us go on our way or something? It doesn't completely add up...

But maybe it's a good idea to keep it in mind. Maybe you can explain more details if how it worked in your world?

The biggest difference between here and there was that the "locals" were what we called drones. They always followed a very strict script and wouldn't even react if you locked them in a closet.

[Not that was a common drone management strategy or anything...]

It turned out that that was because they couldn't generate full complex personalities from scratch. They needed to use real people to populate the world. We were... toys, for a long time.

[She remains unimpressed]

Geeze... That... doesn't sound at all realistic. Were they meant to trick people into thinking they were real, or were they just constructs that hung around?

The people in this place seem extremely real to me... For the most part...

[Actually, now that he thinks about it...]

Except I kind of noticed, a lot of the people here also tend to have... weirdly exaggerated personalities? Like they're stock characters from a movie more than they are actual people... I had written it off as them being enclosed in this city just making them all weird in the head, though.

I think they were meant to. But he didn't realize how hard it was to create people from scratch. That's why he started bringing us in. The people here aren't like that at all. They'll talk about things other than Mrs. SMith's apple pie.

001 | [Video Post to the Public Network]

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