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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SO A TURKEY WALKS INTO A BOWLING ALLEY...
There's a bowling alley open in the newly-accessible district, and you're invited to come test your mettle!
Walking into the lobby, you're struck by a peculiar combination of scents—shoe polish, floor wax, pretzels and nachos, and something pungent and a little oily. On the wall behind the desk is a shelf full of pair after pair of shoes, in every size you could possibly imagine, and there's a low rack filled with brightly-colored, heavy bowling balls that are ready for the taking. You can also hear the low hum of machinery and the rattle of pins being reset every time someone knocks them down, the bowling alley a well-oiled machine despite the fact that no one seems to be manning it.
You can bowl alone, start a match play (1-v-1), or bowl as a team, but you'll quickly find that bowling is much more fun (and somehow easier) when you're playing with others. Maybe it's because being around other people raises your spirits, but you feel more confident when you step up to bowl, and you find that when you're playing as part of a team, the bowling ball travels faster and in a straighter line, and you seem to be making strikes and spares with much greater frequency. Teamwork really does make the dream work!
If you occasionally see what you think might be the shadow of someone passing behind the machinery at the far end of the lane, don't worry about it—that's probably just your imagination.
If you stop by the bowling alley at night, you will find the place totally transformed. There's a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and brightly-colored lights flashing and dancing around the floor and walls. Any white parts of your clothing glow a delightful blueish color, and you find that you're illuminated in all kinds of interesting shades by the blacklight bulbs glowing in the ceiling. This is cosmic bowling, truly not for the faint of heart!
When you've finished bowling, you may want to stop by the snack area for a pretzel or hot dog, a soda, or—if you're there for cosmic bowling—maybe even a more adult beverage from the food counter on the far end of the building.
There isn't anything especially spooky about the bowling alley—except, of course, being forced to wear shoes that have been worn by a hundred strangers before. Characters are welcome to find their shoe size, grab a bowling ball, and go to town! Characters who come during the day will encounter a normal bowling alley, but they can always come back at night to get the full cosmic bowling experience. There will always be shoes in their sizes, the pins will reset themselves, and the balls will always be returned. Just be careful, those ball chutes can crush your fingers if you're not careful!
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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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citylogs2023-07-01 11:00 am
Kageyama Shigeo | Mob Psycho 100
[there is a middle schooler among the station group, one who looks upon the area outside train pretty blandly given the situation before starting to make his way around.
in fact the most he'll show in way of discomfort is at one of the shops dotting the station, staring at a selection of random snacks, then the empty register, then the snacks again. is someone is near or approaches he'll glance up, uncertain when he says,] Do you think it's okay to leave money at the register?
[also if it's maybe not the right currency? truly this is the problem we are facing here as a group.]
bowling
[mob will also be found at the alley, maybe sitting around on one of the couches and watching people play. if he's nearby and you manage a strike? he will even clap with sincere admiration for your efforts. truly bowling is a skill to be impressed by, cosmic flavor or not.
he may also be found giving it an attempt himself. when he lifts the ball he wavers just a bit- ok, a little heavy but his training is finally coming to something. this offers him some vague measure of confidence as he steps up, intent look on the pins, rolling the ball-
which immediately ends in the gutter. like comically quickly right into it. it rolls with mocking slowness down towards the end of the lane as he watches it blankly.
(15%)
well.]
[ooc; wildcards are welcome!]
hey loser, train station
...Keep it. You might need it for something more important than jelly beans.
[ Is it the jelly beans Mob actually wants?? It doesn't matter, ok. ]
it begins...
I guess so. Maybe it would be better to look for shops with people working who know the exchange rate. [and after a bit of a delay,] And who know where we are.
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Better question is why we're here. We all got that message on our phones, right? [ It's not on accident, is the implication with the question. But, with a beat: ] Where you from?
[ Also, Mob: Do you have a bag on you? ]
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bowling
And then there's This Kid, whose ball rolls in almost mockery in its gutter. Oof.]
First time?
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surely it's not the ball still rolling it's way down the gutter. he'll just have to ask this bowling expert for some tips.] Do you think I did it wrong? Maybe I need to hold it differently...
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So, in a smooth motion, he stands up and brushes off his checkered pants.]
It's more about how you roll it.
Now, it's not my ideal sport, but I can still show you if you would like.
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train station
LOGIC - True, but there doesn't seem to be anyone working here at all. This place is completely abandoned. ]
I don't think that's necessary. [ Harry responds, eyes glancing down at all the snack options. A lot of candy, assorted bags of chips, sodas and bottled water in a mini-fridge. Stealing *is* wrong, but he's a cop and times are desperate. ] You should just take what you want.
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I guess I don't want someone to get in trouble with their boss if things were taken. [a small pause.] Or for not locking up. [you know, assuming this isn't some Weird Bullshit tm, likely of the curse or parallel world variety. as the many, many empty shopfronts and kidnapping suggest.]
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Ahh, in that case...
Tell me what you want, and I'll take it for you! Then if anyone comes back, you can point at me.
[ Delightfully devilish, Harrier! The perfect crime, a loophole to exploit. ]
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train!
Until he gets back to where he had started and sees a very familiar bowl cut bobbing by the register, clearly in the midst of a moral quandary. Reigen doesn't think he's been more relieved to see the kid in his life. (Except for that one time where he was in mortal jeopardy. Or that other time he was in mortal jeopardy. Or that other time -- you know what? He's just going to stop thinking about it.)
He heaves a breath, pretending as though he hasn't been sweating profusely, though the dampness of his suit doesn't lie, one hand flitting about in mid-air as he fans himself off. ]
Oi, Mob! I wouldn't waste your hard-earned money on all that. I don't think this place takes our money anyway. More importantly, where have you been? I've already explored practically the entire city without you!
[ Well, at least that explains all the sweat. ]
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no one can ever say his master doesn't keep busy in situations like this. some might call it 'getting himself into trouble' and not busy, but given mob's spent an undefined amount of time wondering if taking a drink from a spooky, abandoned storefront was shoplifting well... yeah. a better use of time.]
I was in the train, then I tried to find one of these places with someone working. [no luck.] Ah, I guess this is part of whatever's happening. I wonder if it's like that parallel world, though-
[he glances around.] I don't really sense much. [in fact everything feels muted in an odd way. he has no idea what to make of that.]
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You sure about that? This whole thing stinks of spiritual activity.
[ If that's not the case, then succinctly put, they're screwed. ]
I formally give you permission to take whatever drink you like. [ He snags one himself, a can of soda cold enough that condensation beads on the outside. ] Then we can see if there's spiritual energy further into the city. [ He peers around the area, head whipping back and forth. ] You came here alone? No sign of little brother?
[ Probably not... he's sensing an obvious lack of malice towards him in the area. ]
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2 totally normal kids bowling
He knows objectively that the gutters are not where the ball is supposed to go, but he's applauding anyway, for the good effort.]
You almost had it! Ah—look, another one's coming back.
[Another ball in the ball return, that is. Emil considers his very safe spot over here on the Seats, weighs it against the chance to talk to another person, and hovers over to put his wee (gloved) hands on this new ball.]
Can you teach me how to do it?
the most normal kids in the world just hanging out
he even offers a tiny nod.] I think I get to roll twice. I don't know much about bowling, just the basics.
[an important thing to note here, though hey? if he knows more than nothing at all he can at least give some vague instructions. his new, fashionable company deserves to learn the highs and lows of this important sport. maybe together they can figure out why the blacklight cosmic lightshow thing happens because mob's still a bit baffled by that one.]
But I can try. You can come up here- [he gestures to right at the start of the lane, moving so emil can take his spot in front of it. how could this possibly go wrong.]
Ordinary Activities For Cool Kids
is it heavy. he's a skeleton wizard. he doesn't notice.]
Well, I don't know anything about bowling, so you've got a leg up on me already! The most I know is that it's called bowling.
[Which he learned just now, great work everyone. Bowling ball cradled in both hands still, he hovers over to where his new pal has indicated and... just holds onto the ball... he's pieced together the bit about the finger holes but uhhh hmmm uhhhhhh--]
Is it okay if I throw it from here?
[Up here. Not on the floor. This is fine.]
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bowling!
Currently, he's tucked under a little table close to a ring of couches. It's a shadowy spot, quiet, and it's probably hard to see the dark shape of a teenager there beneath; he goes unnoticed for most of the day. Afternoon. Night? What time is it even anymore?
But when a younger boy ends up at the lane closest to Peter's position, he's stirring a bit, brought out of his most recent nap by the thud of the bowling ball right into the gutter..... and the thrum of vibration through the floor as it keeps going. An immediate gutterball.... The older teen gives a soft groan, head slowly turning to face the display, wet, bruise-rimmed eyes staring out from where he's curled up under the table. Mob, you're being watched....
And Peter might've continued to go unseen down there, except there's a loud crinkling as he moves, as his head is lying on a large nacho chip bag. ]
my boy...
he moves over, kneeling down a bit to get a better look, face very bland when he asks,] Are you okay?
[does he need to call a doctor? there are no doctors. well this could be bad if this guy isn't just taking a nap in the faintly cursed bowling alley.]
he's HERE to be completely unhelpful.........
When the other boy leans down, Peter stares up at him like a zombie, slowly blinking eyes that aren't quite in-sync. ]
Hurts....
[ He's aware of that much, at least: pain. His body aches, but mostly his face, and the older's giving another soft sound, a quiet moan as the motion of saying that one word works muscles in his face, pain splitting out from the center. ]
he's here for moral support, because i like his face
his busted up face is here for you, always....
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Bowling
Don't worry, there's always next time. Trust me, it sucks but I think we can try again.
[All with a confident nod to herself.]
Remember to put your all into the ball! Wing as hard as you can and show those pins whose boss!
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Right... okay. [he nods to himself. truly mabel's confidence spoke of a girl who knew how to handle the game of bowling with head on, gung ho attitude bowling needed. he straightens and goes to take another ball, regarding her for a moment as he takes in the lesson. put his all in, okay. as hard as he can- he takes a breath and does just that, determination in the faint furrow of his brow
and... yeah it goes and hits one of the corner pins. on one hand this is markedly better than an immediate gutterball. on the other well. yes.
even so when he turns to mabel it's with a tiny smile.] I hit one. [you sure did, bud.]
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Whoo! Go and show those pins whose boss! Down them down until they remember your name!!
[Although, try as she might, it seemed to be fruitless. As the ball continued to roll toward the gutter, there was a small hit on one of them. For a moment, Mabel didn't say anything. She gave a small wince as she wondered what to say but....]
Y-Yeah, how about you keep on practicing? One pin is better than nothing right....?
[Ahahaha...ha...ha..........haaa..........]
bowling
[Futaba watches with shock and awe. It's enough that she forgot to be shy.]
You totally suck at this game!
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Ah... I'm not sure what I did wrong. [everything. he did everything wrong. the way he held it, the way he tried to roll it, the way he almost stepped in the lane and almost slipped. everything.]
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Mweheheheh. Worry not. I will guide you.
Pick up another ball.
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