The Pandora System: IC Thread

Minerva

South of the Border, West of the Sun

Chapter 1: Ivory Towers

"They believed that prediction was just a function of keeping track of things. If you knew enough, you could predict anything. That's been cherished scientific belief since Newton."
--Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

Chaos was the law of Nature, Order was the dream of man.
– Henry Adams

Order. Humanity has always craved order. That's why Artemisia was built. The Eighth Wonder of the World, an artificial island in the Pacific Ocean free from the chaos of countries and governed by several corporations who would maintain order. No one would go without, everyone would be provided for, so long as they did their proper work. The city was cared for by robots and drones.

It was the closest thing we had to a utopia.

The Pandora System was introduced to unify humanity. A system that centralized data going in and out, stored information and connected citizens of Artemisia. An implant into the central nervous system, it would collect your thoughts and tailor everything to you.

Then it all went haywire.

Within seconds, once normal functioning people went berserk. They attacked those who did not have the Pandora System installed and those who didn't fought back, coming to blows and tearing the city apart. Soon, people were too scared to leave their homes and those with the Pandora System wandered the streets, attacking those who dared come out of hiding.

The utopia had collapsed.



Three days later, 6:25 AM

Dionysus District Station

"Dionysus District is known around the world as Artemisia's nightlife center. It has many world-class restaurants, nightclubs, and bars along its roads and back alleys and hosts many festivals around the year."
– Artemisia Tourism Guide

Doha-Metro.jpg


The train rushed through the tunnel. The sound of the wind flying past it as it flew through. A soft three-note chime played and a calm female voice came on the intercom. "Next station: Dionysus District" It spoke. The train would begin slowing and stop with a soft thud.​

That was all it took to wake you up. Your head was pounding, your mouth dry, and your heart racing. As you struggled to sit up, you noticed the train car was empty, save for several corpses and blood stains in it. A bloody hand print covered a window, a corpse was leaning against an advertisement written in Chinese with a smiling girl holding a drink. Several briefcases lay open with papers scattered everywhere.

The light buzzed above you, painting the room in its artificial fluorescent white, the white walls and black windows creating an artificial sterility despite the horrors of the train car. The voice came on again as you pulled into an empty station. "Dionysus District"

The doors would hiss open. The station was eerily empty, with only a humanoid robot cleaning the floor. It waved as you walked past towards the stairs. The train hissed, and then powered up, leaving the station.

@Jeremi

Hestia District, Central Avenue

"Hestia is the primary residential district of Artemisia. Consisting of many high rise apartment buildings with interconnected shopping centers in the bottom floors. The primary feature is the Hearth arcology, which is under construction in the center of the district."
– Artemisia Atlas, 2034 Edition

Police barricades and several cars blocked the street, which was lined with broken bottles, paper, and broken glass. Down the street, the Hearth stood, looming over the line of steel and glass that was to the left and right. The sky was grey and clouds were covering the sky, layered over each other.

Large advertisements covered windows and glass, with videos several stories tall advertising various products and occasionally changing to a white and orange “State of Emergency” alert. A corpse sat against a column, its arms wrapped around its legs, with its head buried between them. An orange light on its wrist indicated a deactivated Pandora System.

The wind blew down the valleys between buildings towards the Hearth. The occasional scream or gunshot could be heard coming from around you and echoing through the canyon.

@Loki Laufeyson

Persephone District, Artemisia Botanical Gardens

"Persephone District is where most of the food on Artemisia comes from. Consisting of greenhouses, barns, and a botanical gardens, it produces enough food and greenery to feed Artemisia, and the botanical gardens provide a quiet, green place to walk through."
– Artemisia Atlas, 2034 Edition

You awoke to the sound of birdsong and light streaming through the windows of the artificial dome. The waterfall continued to flow behind you and an artificial breeze would blow through the leaves and stack of bamboo that surrounded you. Your head hurt and back felt stiff because of the bench you had fallen asleep on.

You bowed your head and started crossing the bridge, then you heard a voice behind you. An artificial voice with a soothing tone. "Please leave. It is past closing." As you turned around, you would see a blue and white robot, its featureless face turned towards you and its hand stretched in the stop position. It stood on the entrance to the bridge.

It would repeat its command.

"Please leave. It is past closing."

@Alex Azure

Poseidon District, Harbor
Most entrance into Artemisia occurs through Poseidon. Raw materials arrive through the harbor before being sent for processing in Hephaestus and people through Janus, the airport. It also contains several fisheries.“
– Artemisia Tourism Guide

The first thing to be closed in the immediate aftermath was Poseidon. It was an attempt to keep the chaos contained to Artemisia and prevent the outside world from learning what was happening. It was also the site of some of the fiercest rioting and chaos.

You stood on the harbor after dealing with the last body from the chaos. A steady sea breeze blew in, seagulls cawed, the waves lapped against the ships and dock, and the ringing of buoys softly dinged behind and beside you. In the distance, the skyscrapers of Artemisia towered, like Olympus, reaching into the heavens.

Ahead of you were several warehouses with labels belonging to companies on the island such as "Hermes Logistics," "Asclepius Healthcare," and the most prominent, "AthenaGen." Several robots drove a forklift down the docks before driving into a warehouse, following their programming.

Beyond that lay the city in its rising form, leading to the Juno Complex at the center, the heart of the city.

@ShadowCoyote0

Apollo District, Euterpe Subdistrict

Apollo is the arts district of Artemisia, consisting of theaters, museums, and fancy restaurants, it is split into regions named for the Nine Muses each with specific focuses. There are also theaters specializing in various types from around the world, be it Kabuki, Noh, Broadway Musical, or Beijing Opera, there's always an event going on.“
– Artemisia Tourism Guide

Neon Lights started to die down as the day became brighter. Several automated shutters opened as you passed, showing empty restaurants. Music played from speakers on the outside of several of them. Posters for films and plays were on walls, and a look in an art gallery showed several corpses and blood smeared on the walls next to paintings. A Pandora System user stood in the room not facing the window.

A noise in an alley clattered, a shout, a trash can clattering, and then the sound of feet running.

A look down the alley was a small restaurant with a neon sign with Kanji and Hiragana written on it. A trash can was knocked over, and there was nothing else to be seen.

@Lucky



No matter where you were, you would all receive a notification on the device you carried.

A female voice came through, a professional sounding one. “Hello, uh, this is Medical Director Ji Yoo Song. If anyone is still out there, I’ve gathered several survivors in the Juno Complex. If anyone who hears this message and can understand it, please, make your way there. Please respond so that I know to expect you." There was a slight panic in her voice. The communication would disconnect.​
 
"Oh God, what...what the hell is this? How could everything go so wrong?!" Michael looked out into the endless ocean, trying to calm himself down. The police force was running thin and he was one of the few remaining. He went to the harbors to try and ease the rioting, but it all went to hell. Some of those rioters were no better than the implanted; they were nearly as savage. Michael waited for instruction from his superiors, but was met with silence. He feared for the worst.

Michael's meditation was cut off by a voice coming from his Hermeslink. There were survivors at the Juno Complex. He tried to respond. "Ms. Song?! This is Officer Michael Cayman. Stay out of sight, help is on the way!" Michael didn't hesitate, those people needed help. With his shock baton in hand, he began his journey to the Juno Complex.
 
Persephone District, Artemisia Botanical Gardens

"Persephone District is where most of the food on Artemisia comes from. Consisting of greenhouses, barns, and a botanical gardens, it produces enough food and greenery to feed Artemisia, and the botanical gardens provide a quiet, green place to walk through."
– Artemisia Atlas, 2034 Edition

You awoke to the sound of birdsong and light streaming through the windows of the artificial dome. The waterfall continued to flow behind you and an artificial breeze would blow through the leaves and stack of bamboo that surrounded you. Your head hurt and back felt stiff because of the bench you had fallen asleep on.

You bowed your head and started crossing the bridge, then you heard a voice behind you. An artificial voice with a soothing tone. "Please leave. It is past closing." As you turned around, you would see a blue and white robot, its featureless face turned towards you and its hand stretched in the stop position. It stood on the entrance to the bridge.

It would repeat its command.

"Please leave. It is past closing."

@Alex Azure

"All right, robot, I get it. I'm moving."

Ryu turned away from the nagging robot and sighed. He knew the dumb thing was only following its programming. An annoying robot functioning properly was better than one functioning improperly. Both were league better than the poor souls trapped by the Pandora system. Looking around the empty streets reminded him that the past three days weren't some dream or fiction. His stomach growled.

He turned back and gazed longingly at the food guarded by the faceless robot. Maybe he could get in and out without the robot noticing, just grab a quick bite to eat and escape. His stomach growled again, louder. A sharp pain hit his stomach. His body felt stiff and heavy. He wouldn't be fighting a robot right now.

Ryu faced forward and paced across the bridge, leaving the botanical gardens.​

No matter where you were, you would all receive a notification on the device you carried.

A female voice came through, a professional sounding one. “Hello, uh, this is Medical Director Ji Yoo Song. If anyone is still out there, I’ve gathered several survivors in the Juno Complex. If anyone who hears this message and can understand it, please, make your way there. Please respond so that I know to expect you." There was a slight panic in her voice. The communication would disconnect.

"My name is Shiori Ryu. I'm on my way," he tried to cut in before the communication disconnected. He swore under his breath and began tapping upon the HermesLink adorning his left arm.

"Can't even keep a call online for one minite. This utopia sure has a knack for faulty technology," he thought to himself. At least one piece of technology still worked. In response to Ryu's tapping, a robotic creature perched upon a nearby rooftop. It was an AthenaGen surveillance drone, modeled to look like an owl. Ryu mostly used it as a camera to follow him filming parkour and and stunts, but today it would need to fill a more practical purpose.

He commanded the drone to fly ahead of him towards the Juno Complex, scouting the area and letting Director Song know he was on his way. As the drone flew off, Ryu started making his way to the Juno Complex on foot. During the trip, his mind kept thinking back to the supply of fresh produce behind him. "I could have made it," he thought, "would have been worth it. Let's just hope they have food where you're going."
 
Aesclepius District, AthenaGEN Augmentations Clinic

latest


With the relative freedom of Artemisia, we believe that we will make great medical accomplishments with an entire section of the city dedicated to biological, medical, and pharmaceutical research.“
– Artemisia Proposal, Tokyo World Technology Exposition 2022

Some of Artemisia’s citizens had not been so lucky to be in safe locations when the calamity struck. There had been those waiting to receive Pandora Systems, those in the process of receiving them, and those who had just received them. They were all affected, either directly or by the destruction.

You had spent the past few days holed up in an AthenaGen Clinic. You had been waiting to receive a Pandora System when everything went wrong. You remember witnessing a doctor get slammed through a window, the chaos as people in the waiting room were torn apart by people with soulless eyes and the orange light on their forearms.

Now, three days later, the facility was quiet. Blood was smeared on the walls, corpses lined the halls, and the occasional footstep could be heard in Operating Rooms where Pandora System victims survived. You had subsisted on food from vending machines for the past two days, but that was soon running out. You needed to escape.

Above, a light buzzed as the message from Medical Director Song came in. A beeping from the OR next to you continued to escalate, indicating some system was going wrong in the sealed room. A corpse in a pristine white coat was slumped against the wall. The exit to the lobby was directly in front of you through a pair of broken glass doors.

@Kian

"All right, robot, I get it. I'm moving."

Ryu turned away from the nagging robot and sighed. He knew the dumb thing was only following its programming. An annoying robot functioning properly was better than one functioning improperly. Both were league better than the poor souls trapped by the Pandora system. Looking around the empty streets reminded him that the past three days weren't some dream or fiction. His stomach growled.

He turned back and gazed longingly at the food guarded by the faceless robot. Maybe he could get in and out without the robot noticing, just grab a quick bite to eat and escape. His stomach growled again, louder. A sharp pain hit his stomach. His body felt stiff and heavy. He wouldn't be fighting a robot right now.

Ryu faced forward and paced across the bridge, leaving the botanical gardens.



"My name is Shiori Ryu. I'm on my way," he tried to cut in before the communication disconnected. He swore under his breath and began tapping upon the HermesLink adorning his left arm.

"Can't even keep a call online for one minite. This utopia sure has a knack for faulty technology," he thought to himself. At least one piece of technology still worked. In response to Ryu's tapping, a robotic creature perched upon a nearby rooftop. It was an AthenaGen surveillance drone, modeled to look like an owl. Ryu mostly used it as a camera to follow him filming parkour and and stunts, but today it would need to fill a more practical purpose.

He commanded the drone to fly ahead of him towards the Juno Complex, scouting the area and letting Director Song know he was on his way. As the drone flew off, Ryu started making his way to the Juno Complex on foot. During the trip, his mind kept thinking back to the supply of fresh produce behind him. "I could have made it," he thought, "would have been worth it. Let's just hope they have food where you're going."

When he would leave off of the bridge, he would enter a dark room. It had several displays with plants and appeared to be a museum and education center for the botanical gardens. A robot stood with the vacuum, cleaning up a knocked over plant. Several blue screens stood, talking about various plants and things that could be found within. A map of the complex showed you were a few hallways away from the exit, past some interactive exhibits and a lecture hall.

Doctor Song's voice would come in. "Good to hear. I've had a few other confirmations. Where are you at the moment, may I ask?"

"Oh God, what...what the hell is this? How could everything go so wrong?!" Michael looked out into the endless ocean, trying to calm himself down. The police force was running thin and he was one of the few remaining. He went to the harbors to try and ease the rioting, but it all went to hell. Some of those rioters were no better than the implanted; they were nearly as savage. Michael waited for instruction from his superiors, but was met with silence. He feared for the worst.

Michael's meditation was cut off by a voice coming from his Hermeslink. There were survivors at the Juno Complex. He tried to respond. "Ms. Song?! This is Officer Michael Cayman. Stay out of sight, help is on the way!" Michael didn't hesitate, those people needed help. With his shock baton in hand, he began his journey to the Juno Complex.

"Officer Cayman, good to hear. We can use some more security here." She said, coming in on your HermesLink. "What District are you in?"

As you walked past, a robot would wave at you. The alleys of the warehouses began to get crowded and feel closed in, the city getting closer and closer. You passed the warehouses no problem and then you came to a large, seemingly empty warehouse marked AthenaGen on its side that you could bypass or cut through.​
 
"I'm in Poseidon District ma'am, at the harbor. Are you okay on supplies? If you need something, I'll keep my eye out for it."

Michael passed by some warehouses, waving back to the robot who would greet him. Though they're following their programming, they were the only things friendly nearby, and that was good enough for Michael. Upon reaching the warehouse marked AthenaGen, Michael decided to go through it. It looked pretty empty, but there could always be something of value.

@Minerva
 
Dylan Falcon

Apollo District, Euterpe Subdistrict

Dylan noticed that the lights were starting to die down as the day got brighter. To think it had all been three days since everything had gone to high hell and the Pandora system had gone to hell. He sighed as he looked over at the plays and films that would never be seen. The art gallery looked like the scene of a murder of the pandora system user in there and he wasn't even going to bother with that. That was a lost cause.

He instinctively turned to see what had happened over by the trash can, uncertain what to think.

When he looked over to the alleyway, the trash can was down and the person seemed to be gone. There was no telling who or what that might have been, but it seemed to be irrelevant to it all.

Dylan was surprised when his device would receive a notification, expecting it to never come to life again.

A female voice came through, a professional sounding one. “Hello, uh, this is Medical Director Ji Yoo Song. If anyone is still out there, I’ve gathered several survivors in the Juno Complex. If anyone who hears this message and can understand it, please, make your way there. Please respond so that I know to expect you." There was a slight panic in her voice. The communication would disconnect.
He was surprised by the person who was on the other end. " Hello, this is Dylan Falcon. Work mostly as a bodyguard, was planning to go police before this whole mess started. I'm heading over to you, Miss Yoo Song. First friendly voice I have heard. I'm located in the Apollo District, Euterpe subdistrict, so it might not be a straight shoot to there, but I will see what I can do to cut some time."

@Minerva
 
Arthur Nichols
Aesclepius District, AthenaGEN Augmentations Clinic

It hadn't been long since the outbreak, yet the vending machine was empty. Arthur wasn't exactly much of a food hog but, he wasn't exactly good at rationing. Old habits die hard and following the panic of securing a room in the clinic, he may or may not have indulged in a fair bit of stress-eating - a routine he had acquired during medical school and balanced by long hours of little to no real food, supplemented by snacks.

Arthur glared at the OR next door, it was likely that it had some medical equipment that he could use - aside from the standard issue stuff he often carried around, medigel and medkits. Yet, it was usually the case that when the warning sounds came on, that you shouldn't enter the room until the issue was remedied. Now, it could be worse: what if the concentration of some gas in there was deadly? It certainly had enough time to saturate the room if there was a leak. Or if there was some ravaging diseased patient in there?

Postponing his inevitable curiosity, Arthur opened the notification on his device, listening to the Director's voice penetrated through the largely silent air. Nodding along to the message, Arthur paused for a moment following its completion before beginning his own response: "Uh- Hello- Arthur Nichols, surgical resident, I'll be on my way soon. I'm in the Esk-lee-peus district? I believe? Not sure how it's pronounced, but hopefully, I'll get there safely."

"Now down to business..."

Arthur slowly slid his medical keycard into the locked door's access panel, and creaked it open slightly to peek into the room...

@Minerva
 
When he would leave off of the bridge, he would enter a dark room. It had several displays with plants and appeared to be a museum and education center for the botanical gardens. A robot stood with the vacuum, cleaning up a knocked over plant. Several blue screens stood, talking about various plants and things that could be found within. A map of the complex showed you were a few hallways away from the exit, past some interactive exhibits and a lecture hall.

Doctor Song's voice would come in. "Good to hear. I've had a few other confirmations. Where are you at the moment, may I ask?"

Ryu spoke into his wrist, "The Botanical Gardens. It feels like I'm in more of a museum than a garden though. How are you doung over there? Need any food, water, or medicine? There might be something worth borrowing from here."

He took a passing glance at the informative panels before dismissing them and continuing into the interactive exhibits.

@Minerva
 
Perched on the edge of a building, Gabrielle glanced around her current location, hearing the commotion down below. It was mass chaos and she knew better than to go investigate the different gunshots. Shaking her head, she ran her fingers through her brunette hair, pushing it out of her eyes before exhaling deeply. “What a crapshoot mess…” Muttering, the lithe female jumped off the edge, landing on a nearby building with ease. She remembered how things were in the Hestia District, Central Avenue before the Pandora system blipped out and most everyone went insane.

Flipping down from place to place, Gabby landed in a light crouch and glanced around. She took off running down the street, leaping over the police barriers and the corpses that were littering the concrete. Making sure to keep from stepping in any blood, she kept moving, knowing she needed to find out whether or not her friends and family… well, her friends at least were okay. As she kept to the shadows, not wanting to be attacked by the rioters or any remaining blitzed thing, the seventeen-year-old paused as a voice came across her HermesLink and instructed those that were survivors to go to the Juno Complex.

“Oh, thank goodness… not alone in this chaos.” Gabrielle resumed sprinting down the street before leaping up onto one of the barriers in order to spring up to one of the buildings, using the roofs to travel. “This is Gabrielle Skye. I’m in Hestia and am on my way to the Juno Complex.” Hoping the female heard her, she kept jumping and lunging from roof to roof.
 

Chapter 1: Ivory Towers

"They believed that prediction was just a function of keeping track of things. If you knew enough, you could predict anything. That's been cherished scientific belief since Newton."
--Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

Chaos was the law of Nature, Order was the dream of man.
– Henry Adams

Order. Humanity has always craved order. That's why Artemisia was built. The Eighth Wonder of the World, an artificial island in the Pacific Ocean free from the chaos of countries and governed by several corporations who would maintain order. No one would go without, everyone would be provided for, so long as they did their proper work. The city was cared for by robots and drones.

It was the closest thing we had to a utopia.

The Pandora System was introduced to unify humanity. A system that centralized data going in and out, stored information and connected citizens of Artemisia. An implant into the central nervous system, it would collect your thoughts and tailor everything to you.

Then it all went haywire.

Within seconds, once normal functioning people went berserk. They attacked those who did not have the Pandora System installed and those who didn't fought back, coming to blows and tearing the city apart. Soon, people were too scared to leave their homes and those with the Pandora System wandered the streets, attacking those who dared come out of hiding.

The utopia had collapsed.



Three days later, 6:25 AM

Dionysus District Station

"Dionysus District is known around the world as Artemisia's nightlife center. It has many world-class restaurants, nightclubs, and bars along its roads and back alleys and hosts many festivals around the year."
– Artemisia Tourism Guide

Doha-Metro.jpg


The train rushed through the tunnel. The sound of the wind flying past it as it flew through. A soft three-note chime played and a calm female voice came on the intercom. "Next station: Dionysus District" It spoke. The train would begin slowing and stop with a soft thud.​

That was all it took to wake you up. Your head was pounding, your mouth dry, and your heart racing. As you struggled to sit up, you noticed the train car was empty, save for several corpses and blood stains in it. A bloody hand print covered a window, a corpse was leaning against an advertisement written in Chinese with a smiling girl holding a drink. Several briefcases lay open with papers scattered everywhere.

The light buzzed above you, painting the room in its artificial fluorescent white, the white walls and black windows creating an artificial sterility despite the horrors of the train car. The voice came on again as you pulled into an empty station. "Dionysus District"

The doors would hiss open. The station was eerily empty, with only a humanoid robot cleaning the floor. It waved as you walked past towards the stairs. The train hissed, and then powered up, leaving the station.

@Jeremi

Hestia District, Central Avenue

"Hestia is the primary residential district of Artemisia. Consisting of many high rise apartment buildings with interconnected shopping centers in the bottom floors. The primary feature is the Hearth arcology, which is under construction in the center of the district."
– Artemisia Atlas, 2034 Edition

Police barricades and several cars blocked the street, which was lined with broken bottles, paper, and broken glass. Down the street, the Hearth stood, looming over the line of steel and glass that was to the left and right. The sky was grey and clouds were covering the sky, layered over each other.

Large advertisements covered windows and glass, with videos several stories tall advertising various products and occasionally changing to a white and orange “State of Emergency” alert. A corpse sat against a column, its arms wrapped around its legs, with its head buried between them. An orange light on its wrist indicated a deactivated Pandora System.

The wind blew down the valleys between buildings towards the Hearth. The occasional scream or gunshot could be heard coming from around you and echoing through the canyon.

@Loki Laufeyson

Persephone District, Artemisia Botanical Gardens

"Persephone District is where most of the food on Artemisia comes from. Consisting of greenhouses, barns, and a botanical gardens, it produces enough food and greenery to feed Artemisia, and the botanical gardens provide a quiet, green place to walk through."
– Artemisia Atlas, 2034 Edition

You awoke to the sound of birdsong and light streaming through the windows of the artificial dome. The waterfall continued to flow behind you and an artificial breeze would blow through the leaves and stack of bamboo that surrounded you. Your head hurt and back felt stiff because of the bench you had fallen asleep on.

You bowed your head and started crossing the bridge, then you heard a voice behind you. An artificial voice with a soothing tone. "Please leave. It is past closing." As you turned around, you would see a blue and white robot, its featureless face turned towards you and its hand stretched in the stop position. It stood on the entrance to the bridge.

It would repeat its command.

"Please leave. It is past closing."

@Alex Azure

Poseidon District, Harbor
Most entrance into Artemisia occurs through Poseidon. Raw materials arrive through the harbor before being sent for processing in Hephaestus and people through Janus, the airport. It also contains several fisheries.“
– Artemisia Tourism Guide

The first thing to be closed in the immediate aftermath was Poseidon. It was an attempt to keep the chaos contained to Artemisia and prevent the outside world from learning what was happening. It was also the site of some of the fiercest rioting and chaos.

You stood on the harbor after dealing with the last body from the chaos. A steady sea breeze blew in, seagulls cawed, the waves lapped against the ships and dock, and the ringing of buoys softly dinged behind and beside you. In the distance, the skyscrapers of Artemisia towered, like Olympus, reaching into the heavens.

Ahead of you were several warehouses with labels belonging to companies on the island such as "Hermes Logistics," "Asclepius Healthcare," and the most prominent, "AthenaGen." Several robots drove a forklift down the docks before driving into a warehouse, following their programming.

Beyond that lay the city in its rising form, leading to the Juno Complex at the center, the heart of the city.

@ShadowCoyote0

Apollo District, Euterpe Subdistrict

Apollo is the arts district of Artemisia, consisting of theaters, museums, and fancy restaurants, it is split into regions named for the Nine Muses each with specific focuses. There are also theaters specializing in various types from around the world, be it Kabuki, Noh, Broadway Musical, or Beijing Opera, there's always an event going on.“
– Artemisia Tourism Guide

Neon Lights started to die down as the day became brighter. Several automated shutters opened as you passed, showing empty restaurants. Music played from speakers on the outside of several of them. Posters for films and plays were on walls, and a look in an art gallery showed several corpses and blood smeared on the walls next to paintings. A Pandora System user stood in the room not facing the window.

A noise in an alley clattered, a shout, a trash can clattering, and then the sound of feet running.

A look down the alley was a small restaurant with a neon sign with Kanji and Hiragana written on it. A trash can was knocked over, and there was nothing else to be seen.

@Lucky



No matter where you were, you would all receive a notification on the device you carried.

A female voice came through, a professional sounding one. “Hello, uh, this is Medical Director Ji Yoo Song. If anyone is still out there, I’ve gathered several survivors in the Juno Complex. If anyone who hears this message and can understand it, please, make your way there. Please respond so that I know to expect you." There was a slight panic in her voice. The communication would disconnect.​

No rest for the wicked... Klaus groaned loudly as he stepped off the train and looked the cleaning robot square in the eye. Life, or not life per say, but a simulacrum tasked to do a specific operation. Not unlike humans at all really. He had been working his second job when it happened. The dance floor that had been filled with cheers had become screams of terror. It was a miracle he had managed to get out, much less be here now.

Perhaps someone was looking after him? As Klaus contemplated life and took a few breaths to calm himself he heard the woman's voice causing him to flinch in surprise. "Please respond? Yes well, here I am. Klaus A. Bittenbinder." He had the faintest of accents, having done his best to get rid of it but for the trained ear it was clear he wasn't an English native. "Pardon me if I don't continue with any idle chatter, I wish to stay alive a little bit longer." Juno Complex was it? Well first thing was to find a way out of here that wouldn't end with his death.

@Minerva
 
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