vault113 | WEEK 1 MINGLE

'cuz it's a sin to tell a lie.

Week 1

As you sleep, you find your mind plagued with strange dreams. You’re still trapped, of course, there’s no way to avoid that, even in the comfort of your own mind, but you’re alone. Utterly alone. The radios and jukeboxes scattered around the place all spring to life, as if they’re speaking to you directly. On the other end, you see people talk about you. From your own perspective, it can’t have been more than… 48 hours since you were taken. From the perspectives of those on the outside, the times don’t match up nearly so well. It might have been days. It might have been weeks. It might have been months.

The voices discuss you. They discuss the way things have changed. They talk about how you just suddenly disappeared without a trace. Maybe they’re glad, glad that you weren’t around to see what happened without you. Or maybe they’re angry. Maybe they know that it was your fault. If only you’d been there, none of this would have happened. If you’d met up with that friend, they wouldn’t have died. If you’d been there to save her, things would have been different. If you had apologized, maybe… or if you hadn’t abandoned your responsibilities…

You don’t get the specifics either way. Your dream - or vision, it leaves your imagination to do all the work. But there’s one thing you can be absolutely sure of.

You are running out of time.

Well, what’s there to be glum about? The vault is your home now, lovingly prepared by Vault-Tec™! Who cares what some ghosts from the past have to say about you, eh? It’s not like you’ll ever see them again.

And no matter how deeply you were sleeping, The Overseer’s voice sounds out on the intercom and seems to wake you immediately.

“Hello, lovelies. We’ve decided to be extra generous to all of you, so we bring some good news for a change. I’m sure in the last few days, you’ve gotten pretty sick of that walled off little cellblock you’re cramped in, so you’ll be positively giddy to learn that we’ve prepared and unlocked the rest of the first level for you all to explore to your heart’s content. If you’ve given up on ever getting out of here, make yourself at home. If you haven’t, well, there’s plenty of fun and interesting tools to integrate into your work whenever you decide to take advantage the former group’s complete lack of initiative or willpower.

Oh, and before I forget… check the common room before you go.”

With that particularly nasty announcement, you will find that the doors that locked the rest of this floor off to you have all been opened up. And in addition to that, the profiles have been made public, joining the rules as framed pictures in the common room.

And if you wish to contact your Overseer or her robotic assistant, you are free to stop for a chat.

NAVIGATION

Vault 113: a short-run murdergame

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So Yor was right about the government being responsible for this?

[ please don't say yes ]

Do you think the Overseer is working with them, then?

Maybe.

[ it's not like he knows for sure. ]

Why don't you ask her?

What's the point when she can say whatever she likes, though?

...

[ .... ]

Yeah, it's the government's fault.

... You're making fun of me, aren't you.

Not at all.

[ because that would imply that he can have fun. ]

She can say anything she wants, but so can we. That's the point.

We're in mostly the same situation and she isn't, though. Shouldn't we at least try to work together a little...?

[ or at least pretend to until someone's eventually takes the overseer up on her offer? ]

We should. [ he nods in agreement. ] But that doesn't mean everyone will.

Ughhhh, why does everything have to be so annoying?

[ like, she knows what he's saying is true, and she knows why, but also! why!!! ]

Which government?

[He seems kind of bemused.]

All of them.

Remember what I told you about how the game wouldn't even run with too many demons? Now, add even more demons that are a lot more arrogant and used to getting their way.

And... whatever governments the rest of these are under.

[That last bit is said with minor disdain but y'know. It is what it is.]

She said Ostania... but I've never heard about that one before, so I don't think it'd be them. If this really is somewhere in America then I don't think this Earth has one either, probably?

[ but it's not like they can be sure, unless one of these comics has a world map or mentions other country names. ]

Ostania doesn't sound familiar at all, but the more I talk to people the less things sound familiar, so we've still been SNARTed to another world. And if each of us has a different government, that's even worse than the United Nations.

[Can't believe they've been kidnapped by the United Universal Nations.]

She also mentioned a Westalia!

Which I also haven't heard of. But I think a lot of people here have at least heard of America or Germany!

Still not ringing a bell here either.

[That's to be expected, though it also means they have no frame of reference for just about anything. Except, apparently, copious movie references.]

Earth countries... I'm starting to lean towards believing there are aliens among us. But only a few. [a pleasant sort of shrug] Where are you from, anyway?

I'm not really 'from' anywhere, but I've spent a lot of time in different parts of Eastern Europe...?

You're not from anywhere...?

[Well, Eastern Europe probably counts if she popped out of the void and claimed temporarily residency but that's like saying if she stayed here long enough she'd be a vault dweller...]

(no subject)

modularized - 2023-04-15 18:45 (UTC) - Expand

moodwinks - 2023-04-16 05:43 (UTC) - Expand

There a particular reason why your name field has a gun instead of a proper name?

[Like was this some critical error uncharacteristic of the rest of the data gathering.]

That's my name! But that's really long, so you can call me SOP-II!

[There's a lot of concerning things about Sop's profile but Grimmer is Very Normal and thus could never in a million years arrive at "gun gijinka." So he'll just take this at face value.]

Sure! M4 SOPMOD II is a bit of a mouthful isn't it?

Yup! And if you called me M4 that'd get confusing since that's someone else.

There's multiple people named after an American rifle?

You can think of it like a codename if it makes it easier?

I guess that makes more sense at least? But then it doesn't seem like a very efficient codename system if more than one of you is M4.

modularized - 2023-04-11 04:32 (UTC) - Expand