♞ 001

[fearbringer]

[Today, DramaDramaDuck is streaming a rather strange video post: it's filming a dark, cavernous cave from the ground up. At first, the place appears to be empty, but if one looks closely they might notice that the darkness is actually moving-- tendrils of shadow swirl through the air, occasionally flicking close to the camera. Not long after, slow, quiet footsteps can be heard, followed by...]

What...?

[It's low and muttered, and the speaker clearly isn't expecting a response; the feed shakes suddenly as the device is picked up, and then it goes black.]

Comments

[fearbringer]

Tell me more.

I want to know everything there is to know about this place.

[shiningwaters]

Well, the community sometimes sends us to different worlds, like for a vacation or for something dangerous. And almost every month, there's at least one event called a virus, that changes some people's behavior or otherwise causes strange things to happen to them. It's temporary, at least, and goes away after a few days.

[fearbringer]

And this happens to everybody? They come in one day to find it recording them?

[shiningwaters]

Pretty much. It helps if you willingly update from time to time, so it doesn't record you when you least want it to.

[fearbringer]

... I'll be investing in a lockbox so that it doesn't record me at all.

[shiningwaters]

That may be for the best. But somehow or another, things manage to get online to the community.

[fearbringer]

Are you telling me that this is internet-related?

[He's never actually used the internet, but he's 95% sure it doesn't work like this.]

[shiningwaters]

To some degree. But it doesn't seem to follow the rules most people expect from the internet.

[fearbringer]

It sounds as if it doesn't follow any rules at all.

[shiningwaters]

I think that might be the most accurate way to put it.

[fearbringer]

How convenient.

So what do people usually do after... this?

[shiningwaters]

A lot of times, they reply to other people's posts, or make some more of their own--whether updating what's going on in their worlds or just making conversation. It helps keep the community from accidentally posting on you. Sometimes people visit others' worlds.

[fearbringer]

And how do they do that?

[shiningwaters]

Well, usually, it required people to have powers over that. But lately, everyone seems to be getting some kind of device from the community.

[fearbringer]

... Aha, so that's what this little machine is for.

I wonder if I can make it work.

[shiningwaters]

Just be careful when you first use it. If you don't know where you're going, you might not end up in the best place.

[fearbringer]

That's really not something I have to worry about.

[shiningwaters]

Okay.