OPENING LOG.

[enjoyers]

Characters: Everyone!
Date: August 11th
Rating/Warnings: Nothing as of yet. Mark anything that qualifies a warning in your subject line!
Summary: Arrivals.
You want happiness. A company called RECOVERjoy has offered it to you, so you've signed up with them. Gaining happiness can't hurt, right?

Suddenly you're in a room, an apartment, with three other beds and unfamiliar faces. This is your assigned room, and it's quite crowded. You don't get much of a chance to think as your phone beeps--it's not your phone, maybe you've never had a phone, but there's one in your hand so you check it. It's a smart phone, nothing special about it, but now you've received a text from RECOVERjoy.

Welcome to Joywick! We're so happy to have you!

You've arrived in your assigned room, we hope you like it! Don't worry, you can move out once you've collected enough joypoints. Speaking of, if you'd like to check your balance, there's a special application that tracks it for you right on your phone! Handy, right?

... Did you check? If you did, you'll notice you have no joypoints. But don't despair! We're giving you a special mission. Make three (3) friends and get 200 joypoints! Gee, that's easy! Of course, we can't put a level on something like friendship, so just get to know people. Don't miss out on these easy points! We'll give you more information about joypoints once you're done.

Wishing you happiness,
RECOVERjoy : )

You're in this for 1 million joypoints, aren't you? Might as well get started.

(AFTER THE MISSION HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED OR ONCE 24 HOURS HAVE PASSED)

You receive another text from RECOVERjoy.

Great job on the mission! Or not so great job for those who didn't do it. : (

Well, you probably want more joypoints either way. Here's how! Look for another person. I bet they look fairly happy, right? Why are they happier than you? Because they've got the joypoints you need! The only way to get those joypoints is to steal theirs. How? Take their happiness away. It's easy! Maybe a rumor here, an injury there... but if you want the big points, be creative!
You want to be happy, don't you?

Wishing you happiness,
RECOVERjoy : )

... Not quite what you expected when you signed up. You can't leave, though, you still owe RECOVERjoy 500 joypoints and, well, you came here for a reason.

Comments

[balzams]

[What little relief he would have felt from the boy's easygoing attitude was suddenly displaced by the all too direct question]

E-excuse me?

[Latvia mithered over it for a moment. Logically he was probably given the same message. His total was probably a little lacking too, although...]

Uh, to be perfectly honest I'm not too sure... maybe one or two?

[accelerates]

So you need at least one more.

[Spelling things out for people is tough work, but someone's going to be the bigger douchebag man and do it. He doesn't hold out his hand or switch his body language to something more friendly. Nah. He's in this for the mission complete stamp on his invisible checklist.]

Dave Strider.

[Small nod of his head.]

[balzams]

[Latvia can pick up on that much at least. The guidelines for friends seemed pretty loose. He gives a short nod of his own, although it seems more like an abridged bow]

Raivis Galante. It's nice to meet you.

[accelerates]

[Dave doesn't know if it's rude or not to ask people their reasons for joining the game. As far as he can tell, their motivations can be anything from a personal need for happiness (or crushing others') to something big, like his. Too many variables.

Time to blab about nothing.]

Could this park get any lamer? It's like Sunday in the park with boredom. Fuckin' picturesque every day landscape. The hell? All it needs is a crowd of pigeons and an old man with nothing left to live for spreading bird seed and stale cheerios.

[You agree, right, Raivis?

Right?]

[balzams]

Uh...

[He tries to look everywhere but at Dave. He's just a kid, he wouldn't lynch him for disagreeing with him about parks]

I don't know, I kind of like it. I mean, parks are best when they're nice and peaceful aren't they?

[accelerates]

[Not literally, no.]

I guess.

[Slightly put out here. Dave is not much of a 'peaceful' sort. This is him attempting friendliness.]

If you like...

[Looking around.]

Stuff.

[balzams]

I... do?

[Latvia's not sure he understands it but maybe he's just a bit too old]

I guess someone like you would prefer something more lively. Maybe like a skate park or an outside pool.

[accelerates]

[For all his video games featuring really poorly animated skating, Dave hasn't done much of it himself. He's the young teen version of a shut-in. Practically agoraphobic with how much time he spends in his room taking part in various, obnoxious hobbies.]

Hell yeah. Skate park would be way better than this-- I'd be grinding all over the place. Flipping and landing perfect ten. The crowd roars-- one big name fan in the audience is ripping her shirt clean off and waving it like the flagging sail of a capsizing navy ship from days of yore. Kids are writhing all over the bleachers. This is literally the best day of their lives.

[He's got this as long as Raivis has no idea what they're talking about.]

[balzams]

[He just nods along, quite obviously confused. Frankly he doesn't know the first thing about skating but by the sounds of things, Dave seems pretty enthusiastic about it]

Y-yeah, maybe they have one... somewhere. I haven't seen all of the city yet so...

[accelerates]

Saw a couple shops, but that's about it.

[A small, flat shrug. Dave doesn't expect he'll be spending too much time here-- well, not by other people's standards. He feels heavier here, sure. Like time travelling won't be as fluid and easy, but--

He's going to abuse it. If he can.]

Where are you from?

[balzams]

Me?

[He acts like he was being picked out of a crowd, somewhat surprised. Latvia knew he had a bit of an accent, he just hoped that Dave wasn't assuming it was Russian]

I'm from Latvia.