001 - [Computer, Text]

[consiliarius]

[So Sano has done a little bit of foraying into the network and...well.]

You know, some people may call what we're experiencing a sort of mass hysteria. I've never really been fond of that "disease" as it tends to go unresearched and instead falls under the category of Things That Have No Explanation.

I never thought I'd include myself in the hysteria, but here I am, regardless.

I've only glanced back at the network and I think I've seen the big current events, but if there's anything else urgent that I should know now that I'm here, I would appreciate being filled in. We may not know what we're going through, but the least I can do is conduct a little bit of research of my own. Who knows, maybe by putting our heads together we'll get a clue or two.

And this is completely unrelated, but I saw someone mention they had puppies they were giving away. I don't know when this was - like I said, I only glanced back - but if that person sees this and is still in need of a home for one of them...

[That was weird, talking to a network of supposed strangers, but they all must start somewhere.]

Comments

[unfearing]

Hello there! I'm Lizzie, and I've only just arrived myself but I can most certainly vouch for everyone here that we are in no way suffering from mass hysteria.

At least at this present moment. Of course, many of the things going on presently could potentially incite that sort of response so this fact may come to change in the future.

[ It's a joke. She's just trying to lighten the gravity of it all with a bit of humor. ]

[consiliarius]

And how do you back up your confidence, Miss Lizzie?

[He's genuinely interested in how she's come up with that answer, but hopes it doesn't come across as being patronizing.]

[unfearing]

With firsthand accounts and documented evidence, of course!

[ Don't worry, Sano. Elizabeth isn't the kind of person to take a comment like that the wrong way. ]

Actually, I'm one of the people trying to come up with a comprehensive database of everyone's individual experiences. I've met with a few people and I've spoken to many more. The responses are quite varied, as I'm sure you can imagine, everything from mild wariness to outright distrust of everyone and everything.

However, everyone is still startlingly level-headed considering the surreality of the situation so I imagine if this is a case of mass hysteria, it's going to revolutionize the entire field of human psychology. In fact, precisely because everyone's responses and chosen courses of action are so different points away from mass hysteria.

[consiliarius]

All right, now you've got my attention.

Say this isn't hysteria (though can we really rule it out yet?). Do you have any other ideas or suspicions to what it could be, or would you venture to say this is something entirely new?

[unfearing]

I'm afraid I haven't been able to gather extensive enough data to make any solid claims like that yet, but I do have a strong feeling that there's something far larger at play.

Between the Paul Ben incident and the sheer number of people stumbling upon this network, there has to be an underlying element we simply don't have the necessary information to see just yet.

[consiliarius]

Understandable, of course.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next, huh? Hopefully that doesn't prove to be tragic.

[unfearing]

On the contrary, I think that waiting for the other side to make the another move could precisely prove tragic. I intend to do everything in my power to get to the bottom of this, however I am able.

That said, progress has been pretty slow... So please do be careful! We have no way of knowing who or what we're up against, so any of us could be in danger.