text; un: 013 | labelled IMPORTANT

[blattella]

Okay. Hopefully me putting IMPORTANT at the top helps denote this as actually something I personally think is important. Got the idea from username dynamight, so credit goes to them!

But serious talk: this is an experiment. Or it's an Abnormality, maybe? An enclosure either way. Either this city itself wants us here because it's lonely and it wants people around, because what's the point of a city without people in it right?? Or the scientists outside want us in so they can shake us up in this little jar and write down their results. Not sure what end goal there, we'll find out soon enough.

If anyone has any proof or any other theories, please feel free to discuss. I'm open to ideas. And I know figuring out what this place feels pointless, but if we can aim towards figuring out the what, then we'll be able to figure out the how soon enough, right?

And has anyone gotten any useful information in general? I've been nosing around, but all I get is redacted snippets with no actual details to work with. Which cycles back around to my two theories above, I guess; either we really are the first ones to get sucked into this Abnormality and it's just been made out of several lonely people wanting a better life and world, or it's artificially made in which case there's not going to be any public figures or history to learn about.

Anyway.

I just think that we should all check in and talk about anything we've learned. Don't feel like you have to talk to me only, either. Talk amongst yourselves. Information should be freely shared so we can get out faster.

Also if you saw me at the party, hi, I'm the guy with the bug arm, that's me, if you didn't know. Yes it's disgusting. Yes, I hate it too. No, the food or water or air in this place isn't the reason I have the bug arm. I've had it for twenty years or so now.

Okay that's it.

[feel free to mingle online, he's just desperate to feel like he's achieving something here!]

Comments

@keter

[gradenine]

okay dude
first, calm down
second
you know about abnormalities?

[blattella]

I'm f



Okay, look. I'm fine. I got a bit worked up typing all that, because either way it's really annoying me that someone just thought they could snatch us up, but it's okay. I'm taking deep breaths.

[he is lying, but also, he can't feel his arm wigging out so surely he's fine right now! give him 24 hours to realise he fucked up.]

Long story, yes. Yes I do. I know there are robot ones. Pain in the butt. If I never have to see that smiling box head again it'll be too soon. But why can't it be places too? Enough people freak out together, distort, can't pull themselves out, why couldn't it all weave together into an Abnormality? Isn't that how it works? I can't remember what Faust said about the chicken guy but

is it really so weird? Think about it.

@gautier

[laidtocrest]

get off of these devices, go take a nap, and if you're bug arm guy i owe you a cooking class. do you want me to try to teach you how to make a pie just so you've got something to do that's not thinking about this? i'm pretty sure i remember how to make a pie.

[blattella]

Okay, listen kid, what else is it? What do you think this place is? Tell me. Then I'll lie down or whatever.

I'm trying to be serious because it's already been weeks and no one's come to bust us out, and you give me this nonsense????

text ; willthewise

[willtheunwise]

I don’t think it’s going to be that easy to find anything out, especially if somebody doesn’t want us to and if you think about it; if it is an experiment and people are watching us they won’t want us to figure it out because that’ll break it so it’s probably going to take a while.

[blattella]

Yeah, I'm not expecting anyone to have a whole solution baked up or anything. And discussing it in public is probably stupid, but I don't know how else to get everyone together in a way that isn't monitored. There are probably cameras everywhere or something, so talking in public is out.

And you never know. The most innocuous stuff might lead us down the right path. I just wanted to try and sift that out. Maybe I'll do this every month I'm stuck here, be the neighbourhood crazy juuuuuuust in case.

un. dimitri

[stubboarn]

Good day,

I have also been curious about our circumstances in this city, however I have not been able to find anything constructive which explains why we are here. Several others I've met have expressed more or less similar findings.

In the meantime, I believe the most constructive way to deal with our current predicament is to get to know each other and have a general idea as to where we live altogether, so that help will always be made available to those who require it. Someone had briefly mentioned something similar to that, and I thought it was a good idea.

I don't mean to be rude - and you may turn down my question at your discretion, I understand if you'd rather not answer - but do you mean the bug arm quite literally?

[blattella]

Glad it's not just me running into a brick wall, at least. It's getting tiring trying to actually figure something out and getting nowhere. I'm getting tired. But if we can at least try to come together somewhat, and live somewhat close to each other like that post you pointed out, then we have something.

Maybe we should evaluate who's strong, who can fight unarmed, that sort of thing. Protective barrier, put those who can't fight in the middle. I don't know. I haven't slept for a while.


And yeah. It's an arm shaped like a bug's leg, but a lot bigger and sharper. Meant to be a weapon. So I can still fight, though it seems to be different. Not reacting how it normally does. But what, were they going to take my arm away from me when they brought me here? It just grows back.

𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜; threadjacks welcomed

[wrenchedup]

[ Mm. Still unsure how much he wanted to put forward. Wrench was a big supporter of teamwork but teamwork also took trust... so... for anonymous purposes, he'll skip right to the good shit since he can't fault a person for having a breakdown given what a sorry state of stupid he arrived in. He's got a few theories, experiment IS among them, but he's not ready to say so yet. ]

1. bland party told us a lot. the city seems to "reset" and adjusts to maintain optimal conditions. ice not melting, food not getting stale, cold, or burning, etc.

2. the kiosks are empty. nothing inside them. no wiring, no hardware. can access a boot screen. can't do anything with it. can't connect to them remotely, no IP, no nothing. no way to trace back to the servers. also, personal aside here, but the emphasis on graveyards is concerning to me.

3. may or may not have been brought up already in other conversations but questions on that survey weren't all the same.

p.s. if anyone needs or wants to learn how to keep anonymity or learn encryptions, let me know. fair warning, given i can't yet source the thing we're keeping out, its safe to say prying eyes may still be able to force their way in.

[blattella]

Yeah, the stores reset a lot. I've been keeping a tab at my nearest one to make sure no one could get angry at me for 'stealing', and none of the stuff I've been living off of has run out. We're in something that endlessly regenerates food, even if it's not the basic necessities just required to keep us alive.

So I'm not surprised that the tech's also empty, somehow. It's not running on concrete stuff, I guarantee.





I'd like to learn how to be anonymous. I hate how jacked into my head this place is. Can't offer anything in return, though, unless you don't know how to pan fry spam.

un: tt

[judgementcrime]

I'm going to be pissed if everyone else got softballs on that survey like 'what's your favorite color', because I had to answer some insane, made-up Christian cult scenario question about eating hair.

Anyway. Good on you, anonymous samaritan. I might take you up on that offer.

un: UEHARA

[metafictions]

Thank you for the thorough information. I've also observed people believing there were headstones with familiar names in the graveyard.

If you wouldn't mind, I'd be interested in learning anonymity & encryptions, too.

@nothanks

[marmoron]

same thing with the glitched-out answers at the kiosk
but it's not just the kiosk
the whole city is full of things that can be considered glitches
pretty sure this is some kind of simulation
just haven't worked out if our consciousness is also simulated

[blattella]

Glad it's not just me getting weird stuff from that thing. I tried probing about the history, see if there's any previous generations, you know? Nothing. Apparently this place's main industry is tourism! For what, the cemetery???????

Something's controlling this place, either way. And if our consciousnesses were simulated, wouldn't they affect the environment a bit more? I don't know, I guess my experiences with consciousnesses leaking out of someone's head (so to speak) (not actually leaking just resonating) shows that influence more than this place. I don't really feel like dying just to figure it out, either.

Also thanks for taking me seriously. A lot of people think I've lost the plot so far.

[Like two! Two people, maybe three! Calm down, bro.]

anonymous

[wrenchedup]

hate that people are coming to the same conclusion as my personal paranoias. i'd be more inclined to say our consciousness is also simulated with the possibility that we're dead back home. graveyard emphasis and whatnot.

back in my home there's a program called daybreak. it downloads a person's neural map and puts them into "the cloud" although someone could upload their neural map anywhere with the right tools and knowledge. its creator experimented on several people including her mother which she turned into her house AI, the crazy fuck.

excitingly, someone skilled enough could hack into the genetic coding downloaded with said neural map and remove or alter things. awfully suspicious that we arrived disarmed both physically and inherently, don't you think?

@vogel

[halbird]

[ emil is mainly lurking because that is the thing he does, but the general tone of the message makes him pause.

like... he gets it. this is less for the mingling and very directly a more personal thing (which he considers equally NOTICE: IMPORTANT), so— ]

Do you want to look through things together? In person.
Last time you brought snacks, so I thought...
I could, this time.

[ team! team! team! ]

[blattella]

Do you have new information? I'm fine with coming over if you want, and we can hash it all out together. Probably makes sense to all be on the same page that way, right??

I'm out of snacks though, so maybe a trip to the store together could help me wind down so people stop calling me crazy hahahahaha

text; un: Constantine

[keepgodwaiting]

Why's everyone so convinced it's not magic?

[blattella]

Place I come from is exactly the sort of place to do this sort of thing all scientifically. Never seen magic, only weird and wonderful science. But hey, if it turns out to be magic, I am absolutely down to eat my arm and witness the wonders.

txt; @wrenched

[wrenchedup]

cuz ur mom, that's why. [ ZING. ]

@rico.dredd (threadjacks v welcome)

[judgementcrime]

Maybe we're all supposed to kill each other and the last one standing goes home.

Just kidding. I'm leaning towards experiment. There's something we all have in common, but it's something nobody's willing to share.

It's probably not having a bug arm. We can strike that one out.

gentle threadjack, text; un: dredger

[fossick]

More likely than you think.

[Which one, Weir? The first or second? Both? He doesn't clarify. (He means the first.)]

@moment | text

[elswhisperer]

If the city were "lonely", that would mean it's intelligent. A living organism.

I encountered sentient, alien beings that could shapeshift into inanimate objects back home.

This could be both an experiment and the doing of a living city.

[blattella]

Things don't have to be 'living' to be sentient, or at least to crave things like company.

Either way, there's a core to this. Whatever this City is. Once we find it, we crack it open, we go home.

text, @bodaiju

[gurge]

A bug arm? (✧∀✧)
How marvelous! Not disgusting at all.

Why hate what makes you special?

[blattella]

What's wrong with you.

@Kromer

[gripper]

( ohhhhhhh so 013 is one of sinclair's friends. sigh. and she had such a nice conversation last time too. oh well. easy does it, kromer—a little judgmental, but not overly cruel. people are watching. )

You people on that bus really don't know how to keep your mouths shut about these types of things, do you?
Guess that's none of my business though.

( skimming his post again... hmm. )

"This city itself is lonely" is an interesting pitch, though, I'll give you that much.

( sounds INSANE but considering the golden bough's properties, maybe it isn't entirely... improbable. )

[blattella]

Hush, clawsucker. Hush. We're having a constructive conversation or ten here, and advocating for hoarding information isn't helping.

text: korielxiii

[bisection]

Gregor.

An experiment seems like a sensible conclusion. The ones my brother was subjected to placed him in an artificial simulation. Do you believe that may be possible here?

[ It'd explain... a whole lot of things about his present existence and body, if he considers things that way. ]

I thought such a thing would feel less real. My perception of what is real though, I suppose, is not the most reliable one.

[blattella]

Hey bud, I'm glad that you don't think I'm too far off the mark. It could be anything, of course; it's only been a month and all, but that's just what my experience is saying, you know??

I've seen all sorts of things. Caused by humans, the lot of it. Whether it's magic or science or something else, it's not healthy for us to be in this delusion. Because this place isn't real, that's for sure. Or

it's not reality I should say. It's real, as in the food fills us up and we can drink the water and survive, but it's not reality. And that's the point of a good simulation, is that it feels real, even if it's not realistic.