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

[judgementcrime]

See? This little exercise in sharing information is paying off already.

So. Maybe we've all got a shameful little crime in common that we're being punished for. To "deserve" our participation in this fun op. Can't say it's been all too terrible though, despite the kidnapping. Think it's jaywalking?

[wrenchedup]

speak for yourself i'm a fuckin angel. could be, but good luck getting enough proof to back up that theory. can't imagine people are gonna be all that open to share. you seen anything that might suggest it?

[judgementcrime]

Well, it's not jaywalking.

A personal touch might be needed. You should've seen a network post go up a while back. Somebody tried asking about everyone's survey questions and it looked like pulling teeth. But it seems like people are starting to get burnt out on paranoia now. Or just plain burnt out.

[wrenchedup]

"personal touch".

yeah, i just briefed over it. suspicion and resistance is a pretty normal reaction if you ask me, though it doesn't help that OP sounds a little cuckoo for cocopuffs. seriously, though. what makes you think punishment is more viable a reason than experiment?

[judgementcrime]

A guilty conscience?

;)

Call it a hunch. I think we should be focusing on figuring out each other than the city. That’s where the answer is. And that means opening up.

[wrenchedup]

guilty of being naughty, you casanova.

value in both, i think. if your intergalactic punishment is true then who the hell locked us away and why and how? at the end of the day, isn't that still an experiment of some sort? and besides, we still need to know the playing field in order to play the game so to speak.

[judgementcrime]

[Rico laughs. Guilty as charged.]

Everyone’s focused on how, for obvious reasons. But hitting the streets gave us nothing but dead ends. Why beat a dead horse for now?

The starting point to answering why is going to be the fundamental basis of any legal system, obviously. Values. There are hints. The “vice tax” we’re seeing, as mentioned by other smart cookies. I think it’s a route worth pursuing to figure out what we’ve all done “wrong”.

As for who, I’m thinking it’s aliens. What’s your take on that?

[blattella]

Sorry to butt in on all this flirting and whatnot, absolutely happy to watch it continue, but man

you are SORELY underestimating how messed up humans are. That's what my bet's on. Humans are involved somehow. It's got human values, so however they made this place, humans were involved.

[judgementcrime]

Settle down, ladies and gents. There’s still plenty of me to go around. [Rico's chuckle fades into a terribly unamused smile.] It’s really cute that you think I don’t understand that. You're [drokking stupid and-] mistaken.

What I mean is - the details of our new home aren’t quite right. Technically, it’s all correct. The streets, the stores, the bowling alley... but you can't deny it’s missing, ah, the human touch so to speak. Reproduction without understanding. And it's a weirdly outdated time period. Out of touch, much?

If you're still not getting it, you ever sing along to the words of a song in a language you don't know?

[blattella]

If it's not regenerating alcohol, it understands a hell of a lot more than something completely foreign. No weapons. Ease up on the alcohol. No fighting.

But you're right. Sorry, I'm just used to this sort of stuff being commonplace where I'm from. And that's all the work of humans. Might still just be psychological warfare. Unsettling. Uncanny valley, but we can't escape it. Like a horror movie, but we're waiting for the monster.

[wrenchedup]

Hitting the streets didn't give us nothing. Gave us a lot of shit, dude. Like this place has borders that we can't cross, this vice tax you're talking about, the literally empty kiosks, emphasis on graveyards, lack of wildlife. Shit man, the fuck you talking about gave us nothing?

You're as bad as Johanna with the whole magic bullshit. No wonder you two were flirting. [ He says this as if he wasn't also flirting with her. Though, like. Not anonymously. ANYWAY. God, okay. Bare with him here he's about to talk a lot. Partially just to ease his own anxiety and sort his own thoughts. ]

Also: The fuck's your definition of alien? This guy's got bugs for arms. You wanna pursue knowing the deep and dirty secrets of everyone here, good luck. Go for it dude. Personally I think there's more than enough here to suggest what this is and compile some decent theories. Simulations and neural mapping seems to be something that exists not just in my world but several others according to people responding here. The City is lonely? Maybe it IS sentient.

True, could be controlled from the outside by alien dictators that want to punish a ragtag group of misfits for whatever fucking reason but like you mentioned to buggy below, which by the way no need to be a fucking prick, the place is weirdly outdated. Yet it seems to understand some basics of infrastructure, society, law. You mentioned this. It's observable. And it knows how to keep us out of things and has some control over what we can and cannot do.

Maybe its learning. If this is the Cloud or some other fucking simulation that our asses all got dumped into half-baked for whatever reason maybe the City itself is learning and hoping to evolve from studying and testing us.

WHO is gonna be a whole other conversation, man. We are working with several timelines and realities. Outside of your "Alien" theory, you got an idea on how to start cracking this?