(april intro) WELCOME TO WAYWARD PINES!

[officialnotice]

INTRODUCTION LOG

waking up

There was an accident. That's basically the only thing you know for certain. Maybe a car wreck - metal and broken glass everywhere, and the sirens and the screaming. Or maybe there was an explosion. Maybe your bike hit a rock and you careened uncontrollably off a mountain path. You can't can't quite make out the details, not who was at fault or why. Try as you might, the chaos is all you can remember.

It's also the last thing you remember from before you wake up here.

When you open your eyes, the accident is gone. Instead, you're in a hospital bed. You're sluggish, covered in a scattering of minor injuries you only vaguely remember getting, not to mention the vaguely-healed remnants of any wounds you might've had before.

It's a shame you won't be able to tell the difference between the two. Your memories are an indiscernible fog if not absent altogether, only a few standing out in your mind with any kind of certainty.

Whether or not the room's empty when you wake, it's not for long. Nurses bustle in looking a bit tired and worn at the edges, like a blurred photograph. They take your vitals and ask your name and anything else you might remember with an air of exhausted distraction about them, and maybe even eye your bed with a look of vacant yearning for a moment before managing to rouse themselves again. Welcome to Wayward Pines, they tell you. You'll make a full recovery here.

Much of what you say (especially anything unusual, anything about monsters or magic or outlandish technology) will earn placating speculation of head trauma “from the accident”. You'll be told to stay put, not to push yourself, and to wait for the doctor to clear you before you leave... though it might be awhile. Then you'll be left alone. The hospital's population is quadruple the usual, and you get the impression the nurses are working themselves ragged just running damage control. You can even leave your room without much fuss - whichever doctor or nurse intercepts you gets called away almost immediately to deal with something even more pressing.

There was an outbreak last week after all, some of the more chatty staff might be persuaded to share. Oh, nothing to worry about now, it's all been taken care of, but there's always so many details to take care of after a scare like that and, look, you should probably come straight back to the hospital if you start feeling sick, okay? Just in case. But honestly, you have nothing to worry about.

Mingle, visit your fellow patients, worry a bit anyway, even poke around for a few basic answers. Or maybe, maybe just stroll right on out the front door.

heading outside

One step outside and it's perfectly clear that your hospital gown simply isn't going to cut it for long. A crisp winter wind whips at you through the thin cloth and all around your is the slowly melting evidence of an earlier snow storm, clumps of dirty snow along the edges of buildings and sidewalks, sad misshapen snowmen sliding into slush across a few front lawns. You're probably standing in a small puddle right now, just by a simple law of averages. Geez that water's cold.

Trees line the street at regular intervals, carefully manicured and lightly dusted in snow. Cars cruise by at a safe and respectable speed. Pedestrians spare you glances, some wary and some concerned.

This isn't even the picturesque city center, though a colorful nearby sign reads "Main Street" with an arrow pointing due south, followed in smaller font by a list of businesses you don't recognize and one that you might: Wayward Pines Police Department. Whether you asked for yourself or simply overheard, you've likely caught wind by now that all of your earthly possessions now lie with the Sheriff until you see fit to claim them.

Might as well head that way, right?

items reclaimed

So you've visited the Wayward Pines Police Department and reclaimed... well. Most of your stuff, anyway, though you can't quite remember what's missing, and asking the sheriff only gets you a harried look and a form to fill out if you have any concerns. Best to put it out of mind, as you head down the steps toward the Main Street sidewalk. At the very least, pedestrians have stopped looking at you like you're sick or crazy. (Then again, depending on what you're wearing, maybe it's gotten worse.)

The sheriff also forked over what looks like the key to a house ("A cozy place to stay while you're here in town."), and a general direction to start looking for the house that key belongs to, the sheriff pulled away to deal with some other pressing issue before he could give you more detailed instructions. You could check it out, see what kind of digs they're putting you up in. If you can even find it, that is.

Or you could stick around Main Street and sight-see a little. Also a perfectly viable option. Hell, maybe it'll jog your memory a little. A few of the shops do feel inexplicably familiar...

MOD NOTES

Welcome to the third newbie mingle log!

This log is meant to cover characters' first day in Wayward Pines. For the most part, only the five memories detailed in your character's application are remembered throughout the duration of this log, although the first couple of false Wayward Pines memories might begin to surface (in those who've opted to utilize this mechanic) as the day wears on. These memories, as noted in the FAQ, feel very real and are accompanied by as much emotion or sentiment as a real memory would be.

PLEASE INCLUDE IN SUBJECT LINE: Character Name, location, and Open or Closed, to help keep things a bit more organized.

If you have any questions regarding this intro log, feel free to ask them on the FAQ or the relevant plurk.

Comments

[bechdelpls]

"Ha, nice to know some of it's coming back. Or never left, or something." She waves her fingers in a vague gesture at her head. "I guess there was this accident? I don't remember a lot, but they told me I should be fine. How are you? It's been too long for such a small town."

Which is... an odd thing. A true one, but an odd one.

[bulletfool]

Of course, it was an accident. Although Izumi isn't sure what to make of this knowledge in addition to the memories trickling back in, he maintains an easygoing smile. Chatting innocently is a much simpler task.

"I'm getting by. There's been a lot of accidents lately . . . Whatever it was, you should be careful so that it doesn't happen again. I was in one last month, too." He chuckles. "Isn't that weird? I don't remember it ever being that accident-prone here."

[bechdelpls]

"Really?" Sarah frowns. That is weird. "Was it just you? There were like, a bunch of us at the hospital."

[bulletfool]

"No, I'm pretty sure there were more. I didn't see anyone on the way out, but I met others later." He shrugs, any rising tension rolling off of his shoulders for the sake of keeping the conversation appropriate in public. "I don't know much about it. What's important is that everyone's better now."

Izumi gestures to Sarah's camera. "Are you working on some kind of project?"

[bechdelpls]

"Pro--oh, no."

She's still hung up on accidents, but she tries to shrug it off, unconsciously mimicking his action. "Just. Like. It feels right, I guess, so I'm doing it. Does that make any sense?"

[bulletfool]

"I don't see how it doesn't. Do you remember? You love photography. I think you're an aspiring art student."

The part about thinking isn't the most convincing, but what can he do? His memories are almost as jumbled as hers. For all he knows, he could have just described somebody else and be looking like an idiot right now.

[bechdelpls]

"Yeah... that seems right." She looks her camera over, biting her upper lip gently. "Is it weird that's what I remember? I mean you'd think I'd remember family, or like. Something important like that."

She looks up again. "What do you remember?"

[bulletfool]

He quirks an eyebrow, like that sounds almost funny to him. "How's that weird? You're remembering who you were. That's important."

With the conversation sliding into more familiar territory, Izumi slips his hands back into his pockets. "When I was discharged from the hospital, I didn't know much about myself. I remembered family, but I haven't seen any of them in town. That's probably weird, huh?" It goes without saying that he remembers much more now, even if there are still holes in his memory.