A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION.
You wake up on a train.
Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words—
WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION?
▶ NO
Please take a moment to complete your orientation.
Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale.
As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, and 9.
If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need.
Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer.
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WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming.
TO THE NORTH
The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information.
Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk.
The main feature of the tourist center is the interactive kiosk installed dead in the center, right in the middle of a few rows of uncomfortable chairs that fill the small room. It's noticeably in the way of any would-be foot traffic through the tourist center, and something about the technology seems a little more modern than the computer behind the desk or the landline phone on the wall. The kiosk is a tall silver rectangle, about average adult height, and the upper half is a screen welcoming visitors to touch it to activate the kiosk. If you were to touch it, the screen would come to life with simple dialogue inviting visitors to ask it their questions.
However, residents should note that the kiosk is only programmed to assist with exploration within the available areas of the city. It may not be able to answer every question, and tampering with the kiosk may result in unreliable or inaccurate answers!
TO THE SOUTHWEST
The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat.
As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long.
Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky.
TO THE EAST
The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that.
A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business.
You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like.
The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils.
As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen.
Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building.
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I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM.
Have you ever visited the ice cream parlor located in District 2? It's a pretty quirky little joint!
When you walk in, what you'll likely notice first is the colors. Everything is bright, almost oversaturated—the pink of the leather seats, the teal of the walls, the red of the menu sign hanging over the counter. By all rights it seems like these colors shouldn't go together, but somehow they do, or maybe that's just because being in an ice cream parlor puts you in a good mood. It smells like waffle cones, and overhead, there's music pumping through the speakers at just the right volume, providing some nice background noise to your decision-making process.
Wait, music?
There's a jukebox at the far end of the shop, which seems to be where the music is being chosen. As you head over, the song comes to an end and the jukebox machinery shuffles through its options before landing on a new one. The song sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it? And the longer you listen, the more the lyrics really seem to speak to you. It costs money to pick your own song, so if you happen to have some coins on you—or if you're really, really determined—you can choose the next round of tunes.
When you're done at the jukebox, you can go check out the serving area of the shop. Behind the counter you can see milkshake mixers and waffle cone makers; there are ice cream cakes in the freezers that line the wall; and when you approach the main counter you can see the tubs of ice cream in almost any flavor you can imagine.
Pick a flavor, whichever one's your favorite! Do you want it in a cone or in a bowl? There are regular cones and waffle cones, and all kinds of toppings—sprinkles, syrups, gummy candy, mini marshmallows. Decorate your ice cream however you want, the sky's the limit when it comes to choices! You can even come back for seconds if you want, or thirds. Who's going to say anything about it, after all?
But the more of your ice cream you eat, the more you start to feel… strange. Maybe you're starting to get angry, or sad, or giddy—maybe you feel romantic, or feel like you want to tell a secret to a stranger, and you're not really sure why. You also can't quite seem to stop eating your ice cream, and the more you eat, the less worried you feel about whatever's happening to your emotions. After all, why be concerned about that when you have something so delicious in front of you?
| Flavor |
Effect |
| Strawberry |
You find yourself compelled to seek out strangers and tell them a hidden truth about yourself |
| Rocky Road |
You find yourself compelled to seek out strangers and convince them of some egregious lie |
| Vanilla |
You are overwhelmed by a sense of total calm, and can only speak in aphorisms and platitudes |
| Rainbow Sherbert |
You are overwhelmed by amorous feelings towards whoever is near you and try to cuddle or kiss them |
| Chocolate |
You feel suddenly morose about something in your past and cannot stop crying until someone consoles you |
| Bubblegum |
You become uncontrollably giggly and giddy, and can only speak in rhyme |
| Caramel Ribbon |
You become angry and perhaps even violent, trying to attack anyone who comes near |
| Mint Chocolate Chip |
You suddenly have a common but exaggerated phobia (for example, a fear of heights where the step down off the curb is too much) |
When characters first enter the ice cream parlor, they may notice that there's music playing overhead! That's from the jukebox, and the lyrics of the song may sound like they're particularly apt for a character's circumstances. Players are welcome to choose their own jukebox songs for their characters—it doesn't need to have appeared in canon, but characters from modern times are welcome to recognize the music being played. (Players can also feel free not to pick a real song at all, and instead just describe the overall sound of the song and content of the lyrics!)
This is an ice cream parlor, so of course there's also ice cream to be had. Characters can serve themselves whatever flavor combination they want, but shortly thereafter will find themselves suffering certain emotional effects depending on what flavors they chose. These emotional effects, shown above, will last for roughly an hour before slowly dissipating, and their intensity depends on how much ice cream the character ate and whether they were able to recognize what was happening and stop eating. Not every flavor has an emotional effect, so players can also choose to have their character eat a normal scoop and go about their day.
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WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.
If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations.
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citylogs2023-08-02 12:00 am
trucy wright | apollo justice: ace attorney
arrival
When he hears someone approaching, Kaneki attempts to offer a small polite smile, following but a shy "hello" with a nod of his head, and then his eyes follow to the tourist center ]
Ah... of course. We should try to figure out what is going on.
[ he doesn't mind company - in fact, he welcomes it. kaneki thrives when he is with other people, after all ]
Did you come out of the train as well?
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Thanks. My name's Trucy, by the way. [ she takes a step back towards the center and slowly begins the walk. ]
And yeah, I did! You don't know how you got here either, right? I don't even remember stepping into any trains! And this place gives me the creeps!
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He does follow her with a nod ] I'm Kaneki. Nice to meet you, Trucy-san.
[ he shakes his head, looking away for a second ] I don't know how I got on the train, either. I was asleep and just woke up there. [ he wasn't exactly asleep but that's okay ]
What is the last thing you remember? Perhaps we all have something in common?
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i scream
Right now though the only vaguely threatening thing of note is the girl in the ice cream parlor with him, on her knees by the jukebox. (And by vaguely threatening he means not threatening at all.) Her costume's a little odd and so is her shuffling, but he pays her no mind as he steps past the seats at the counter to snoop through the cabinets behind for anything remotely suspicious. Unfortunately for him, all there is are endless toppings and supplies for the ice cream he's pointedly ignoring. Crushed nuts, sprinkles, crumbled pieces of chocolate cookie. Spoons, bowls, and metal cups for milkshakes. Sad. Won't someone come partake of this poor ice cream parlor?
His investigation done, he steps out from behind the counter and back towards the door, pausing momentarily by the jukebox as he realizes that the strange girl is still there, still fumbling around on the ground.
Huh. ]
Looking for something?
[ He's not really inclined to help but also like. This is so sad-looking. ]
me too
not until he rounds the counter and makes himself known. she gives the smallest frightened gasp and whips her head around to meet that voice. she yanks her wand away from beneath the jukebox and hides it behind her back as if she'd been caught doing something illegal. ]
I-I'm sorry! I was just— Do you—
[ her eyes go right to the ears. ]
...Um.
[ back to eustace. back to the ears.
and then they don't leave the ears. she's a little dumbstruck. at least she finishes her thought. ]
...Do you work here?
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But for all his many many many flaws, it unfortunately has to be said that he has somewhat keen observation skills, enough to see the way the girl's gaze shoots up to his ears—and stays there. Unfortunately, this Eustace hasn't been isekai'd into other jamjars before and has not yet grown weary of people asking him if his ears are real. ]
No.
[ Flatly, said almost as though she'd just gone and insulted him. (As if he would ever deign to work in a place requiring ample amounts of customer service.) ]
If you want ice cream, just get it yourself.
[ As if anyone would hire him for his shitty shitty customer service skills. ]
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1/2
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c
Hm, what is it? [ She kneels a little to get her ear by the girl. ] A secret?
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she cups her other hand over her mouth and mutters: ]
I've figured out what's happened to this place.
[ she takes a look behind her. then she turns back. ]
Aliens.
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Really now? [ Mhm mhm yes. ] What an intriguing discovery. Can you tell me more?
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b
I was growing tired of that last song myself, but don't you think property damage is a bit too vindictive?
[Caught red-handed, Trucy.]
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for once, trucy actually yelps when she hears a stranger's voice behind her. she immediately slaps her gloved hand over her mouth, but when she yanks back her magic wand, it flies out of her hand and goes spinning somewhere across the floor. trucy's head whips after it, throwing her hat askew. ]
My wand!
[ goodbye, wand! it's lost somewhere under the tables now. ]
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trucy's distress melts. it's a miko—with pink hair? are those ears? is this a really pretty cosplay? she blinks, clearly in awe. ]
Sorry... [ that was embarrassing. ] I'll go get that later. Anyway, I wasn't trying to damage the machine! Honest!
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Well, that is... quite a reaction. And it's exactly what Yae hoped for when she snuck up on the girl, concealing a snicker behind thin, finely manicured fingers. Her eyes track the wand under the tables; she considers going to fetch it herself, but decides she'd rather not.]
Your 'wand'? [It doesn't look like any she's ever seen. Certainly not her own gohei.] If you weren't trying to damage it, what exactly were you trying to do? Your response only makes me even more suspicious.
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c
But then again, this is probably the closest someone has actually looked to a Magical Girl since she's been here and even if she wasn't, Tsuruno's a friendly kind of person, so she obligingly leans so this Mysterious Individual can talk to her????? ]
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she leans in, covers her mouth, and mutters, gravely: ]
My Daddy.... isn't my real daddy.
[ anyone who sees her dad would know this. but that's not the point. the point is that somewhere in the parlor is an empty cup with traces of strawberry ice cream with whipped cream and corn flakes. ]
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[ This seems like a very personal thing to say to someone you don't know?? Tsuruno is still recovering from someone she did vaguely know suddenly wanting to talk all about his past mistakes, but this is new. Again.
So she sort of blinks, rapidly. ]
U-um. I mean, as long as he has the heart of a... daddy, that's what counts, right?
[ Help. ]
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a
So when he hears her request, the man glances between the tourist center and Trucy for a moment, but then already easily nods at her, like he didn't even have to think about it. ]
Of course. [ Even his voice has a gentle edge to it, like he's trying to be reassuring. If she wants to go in there, then.. she's probably new to this place, right? It must be so overwhelming, especially for a kid her age. ] Are you looking for anything specific? Maybe there's something I know that could help.
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this guy does give off some serious Dad energy, and trucy knows exactly how to put her cuteness to good use. and right now, she really doesn't want to be in any of these creepy empty buildings on her own.
should she be trusting strangers to help her? maybe not! but she knows a thing or two about how to disappear if needed. ]
Um... [ crossing her arms. ] I'm just looking for more info about this place, really. The City Hall barely had anything or anyone in it. Where's the train schedule? Are we even in California anymore?
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[ There's that slight pause, mostly because Daniel really doesn't want to have to be the bearer of such bad news to someone so young. But it's not like he wants to lie to her either, not when the situation is so serious.
Hence: this. Especially since sending her in there won't help much, considering how little (read: basically none) information Daniel has found anywhere around these parts. ]
I know this will sound very strange, but.. I think we are very, very far away from home. [ A slight pause, and then he tries to prop up his sad expression with a tiny smile, hopefully more reassuring: ] And I could know. I'm from California too, you know. Lived for decades in the San Fernando Valley.
[ Maybe it'll help her to know there's at least someone familiar with it here? Especially when some people in this place seem to be from.. fantasy Italy and god knows where.. ]
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a
Robby was simply trying to mind his own business here-- which, okay, didn't come with any strong 'don't approach me' vibes, considering he might've looked at the girl as he was walking (there's never a lot of people around here, it's easy to notice other people around in your proximity!). Also, he was actually heading in the direction that will prove to be of interest to both of them.
But he still wasn't expecting the cutesy act that follows as she manages to stop him!! Which earns a bit of a puzzled look, but he's looking from her and to the tourist information centre she happens to be talking about, frowning. ]
You know what's in there?
[ She said she wants to check things out...but maybe she wants to go do what he was thinking about doing?? ]
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not. but bless trucy, she's none the wiser to whatever thoughts are brewing in his head. all that matters is going into that tourist center and finding out how to take the next train back to los angeles, and not being by herself while she does it.
(trucy does like boy bands and dreamy guys, though, so i'm contractually obligated to say that she'd think he's kinda cute appearance-wise. teenagers. just the worst.) ]
Nope! [ 100% honest. ] That's why I'm asking you to come with me. It's too creepy with all of these empty buildings around, and I don't see anyone else in there.
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That answer confirms though that she's new, and alright; Robby will tip his head in signal, start to pick his pace back up. Even if: ]
You're not gonna find anything in there. All the papers are blank, and we still don't have a name for the city. Only thing that's in there is a kiosk that gives you half-answers.
[ Which is why he's still agreeing to go in there with her, apparently?? How's this for a dreamy kinda cute girl. Are you into it, Trucy. ]
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c
he's rubbing a hand over his chin when he feels the tug to his jacket, his visible curly brow raising curiously as he swirls around and sees the young girl next to him. ]
Ah—! [ he opens his mouth to say something, cut off by the appearance of her hand motioning him closer, before he leans down. ] Of course, little Mademoiselle! What is it?
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I... I... [ she clutches over her brooch, revealing the emptied cup of strawberry ice cream in her other hand. she's been eating a lot of ice cream today.
she breathes in deeply, dredging up courage. ]
I don't actually like my Daddy's cooking. [ i know this is too coincidental but i, trucy's player, think it would be funny. ] I only pretend to like it, but I just make it "disappear" and feed it to the neighbor's dog later...
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