Part 1: Prologue

Warning: the lp you are about to read is canon.

[Video: Introduction]





That number on the top-screen? Eh, probably nothing worth worrying about. I mean, what's the worst that could ha-





...oh.

[Video: End]

[Music: Silence]



Alright, so, text will appear on both the top and bottom screen accordingly depending on how scenes progress. Anything on the top screen is either spoken dialogue, or something thought by a character. Anything on the bottom screen is narrative text. I'm mentioning this now, because even though both screens will often have something written on them at the same time they appear in different orders. Sometimes, you might get half of the bottom screen then a few lines of dialogue before the rest of the bottom screen gets filled in.

This is a rather long way of saying if I just posted an image that had stuff on both screens it wouldn't be clear which order you read things in, so most of the time I won't for both your benefit and mine.

Ow!

With a "crack," Junpei's head connected with something metal.

He rolled over and threw out his hand to steady himself, but he found himself groping at empty air.

His balance lost, and his still-fuzzy mind struggling to understand what was going on, Junpei tumbled down to the cold, grey floor.



Junpei glared around the room, still trying to determine where he'd woken up. The fall had shaken the last cobwebs of sleep from his mind, and finally he understood where he had fallen from.



He wondered if that bump was the reason he felt his vision wavering a bit, but that seemed unlikely.



At first, he thought the tremor that ran through through his legs was just another effect of his rude awakening, but as he looked around, he realized it was real... The whole room was shaking.



Then again, Junpei had no idea what it was, if not an earthquake. He tried to tell himself it was important.

Junpei rubbed the growing bump on his head and gingerly climbed to his feet.

His balance regained, he finally took his first good look around the room...



...And muttered to himself.

Where... Am I?

His pain momentarily forgotten in the face of the confusion of his circumstances, Junpei looked around the room once again.



He felt his stomach tighten. There were a thousand things the sound could have been, but none of the things he could think of were good.

In an attempt to distract himself, Junpei looked around the room once more.



There was a stove that looked more antique than functional.



The 3-level bunkbed had mattresses that were so thin, that they were little more than blankets.



On the other side of the room was an identical bed, and set in the wall between the beds was a slightly dirty iron door.



[5]? What's this [5] mean...

Suspicious, and still utterly confused, Junpei approached the door slowly.

Standing, at last, in front of the door, Junpei grabbed hold of the L-shaped handle. A push yielded no movement, and a pull the same result.



A few more tries cemented the truth in Junpei's mind: it wouldn't open. It didn't matter how much he pushed and shoved. The handle wouldn't budge.



...As you might have figured from trying to open the door several times before anyway, Junpei is not even close to being a genius.

Junpei knocked, hard, on the door.



Hey! Hello? Is anyone there!? Open the door!

There was no response.

Junpei threw his left fist into the door--

--and stopped.

What the hell is this...



In the center was a large LCD display. It looked like nothing else so much as a watch but it clearly wasn't that. After all, it showed only a single number.

(5)... That's...that's the same as the door...

It's true that the numbers were the same, but he had no idea what that might mean.

All he knew was that it was strange, and new, and he wanted it off.



He sighed, and flipped the thing back over. There were a number of rivets around the rim of the face. Perhaps...

He pushed them, but nothing happened.

I don't know about you, but if I woke up in a strange place with a new bracelet on my wrist I would mess with it as little as possible. That's just me sat here saying that though; maybe if I was really in this situation I would panic and press random buttons too.

On a watch, they might be dials for adjusting the date or time, but on this bracelet they did nothing.

Junpei was at a loss. What was he going to do? Growing more desperate, he began to tug at it. However...

Urrrrng!



A steel ring ran from the face, around Junpei's wrist. He wouldn't be pulling the bracelet off any time in the near future.

What the hell is the deal with this thing?!



Where am I!? And why the hell am I here!? Why! Why!? What the hell happened to me!?



It was at that moment that he noticed the window. The window was round, rimmed in riveted brass like a window from an early 20th century ship.

What...? Wait... Am I in a ship?





What the--!? You gotta be kidding me! Wh-What the hell is going on here?!



A crack split the glass of the window, and for a moment Junpei stared at it. Then the window burst, and water began to pour into the room.



Junpei yelled, and spun around. His feet slipping on the water already coming through the window, he ran for the door.

Hey! Anyone! Is anyone there!? C'mon, if you're there, say something!

There was no reply.

As Junpei screamed, and pounded on the door, the water began to rise. It was now ankle-deep on the floor, and rising quickly toward his knees.