Wait what I'm still alive? This place definitely isn't Spain!? Where's the airplane? Oh well I'm still alive. Joking about isekai scenarios seems to have paid off.

My phone seems to have disappeared? I somehow have my clothes on, still? Quite selective isekai, then. And even weirder, I still have my shoes even if they were off when I died? Did I die? No idea. The G-forces would have knocked anyone unconscious first anyway.

Time to look around the new place.

It's a city. Dark concrete, metal, height, weight. The buildings go from a few stories to a couple dozen.

You're standing on a sidewalk. There is a narrow passage in the middle of the street, presumably for cars. You notice people walking, dressed, in doompunk. Leather, metal, black, gray, with some streaks of contrast. Some walk fast, some walk slowly, and more carefully. When they seem to notice you, their gazes are brief.

Some of the buildings have large pictures on their sides: "GRANDNESS, FOR A COST". A person with a military-style uniform, and the text, "UNDER MY GAZE". There are also some smaller, noticeboard-type things on the street level, some distance away.

The street you are standing on extends significantly into both directions, and there are some smaller side alleys.

The text is readable. Interesting. Even more evidence for the highly-selective isekai hypothesis.

Would it be too awkward to ask some questions from the military-uniformed person? Some interactions with the system need to happen at some point, and getting that done as early as possible would be wise. On the other hand, it's hard to believe that any system has a reasonable response for isekai events, unless they've occurred before. It might be the best to look around for a bit first, and try to see which kind of place this is.

And maybe come up with a story instead of starting with isekai explanation. Getting into a room with padded walls isn't the goal here.

Apricot walks on the nearest noticeboard and starts reading.

You see there are separate columns, one of them quite well-ordered and noiseless, the other a bit more noisy.
On the left column, with a consistent monospace font:
NOTICES:

• Monthly lottery losers: 1OCIEASA6E, P9MJ3B4E64. The contribution is noted.
• WANTED: Test subjects for Phase 3 cognitive restructuring trial. Compensation: status bump (provisional, 6mo). Side effects include but are not limited to: perspective shifts, value realignment, transient psychosis, ego dissolution. Prior mental health history preferred. Apply at L2, floor 3.
• INSPECTION NOTICE Inspectors will be present in the research district on Fourthday. Residents are reminded to behave normally. "Normal" is defined as per standard conduct. Do not approach inspectors. Do not answer questions beyond pleasantries. Emote if appropriate.`

On the right column, with less consistency and more haphazardness:

• "Tier 3, looking for someone to practice command presence with before my supervisor review. Not a sex thing. Unless that helps. I need to stop flinching."
• "To the person who claimed my partner at the Threshold bar last Fifthday: they came back. Just thought you should know."
• "Does anyone else's building have that low hum between 02:00-04:00? Asking before I file a ticket because last time I filed a ticket about infrastructure they sent someone to evaluate ME instead."
• "I know what building L2 floor 3 actually does. I went in for the trial. If you're considering it: the compensation is real. The side effects are also real. I am different now. I think it's better. I can't be sure. My friends say I smile wrong."
• "Whoever keeps writing 'ONE WAS. ONE WASN'T.' on the District 6 underpass wall — it's been painted over four times now. I don't know what it means. I don't think you should keep doing it. I also don't think you should stop."

"Compensation: status bump" Huh? That seems like it cannot be a real thing? Is it, like, awarded directly? Is this some kind of a joke? Or is status like a bank account thingy that you can check?

Why would inspectors be in the research district? Seems like the worst place to do research? Or maybe inspector isn't same as an anthropologist? The name definitely has different connotations? Inspecting what?

Apricot almost laughs aloud at the "Not a sex thing. Unless that helps.", but decides in time that it might not be a joke. Or intended as a joke, rather. And maybe drawing attention to yourself isnt' a thing that should be done, yet.

Another not-laughing at the "ONE WAS. ONE WASN'T." Maybe I should write those words on the underpass as well? Might be an experience. This seems a bit too much of a police state for that risk to be reasonable. But it's definitely an alluring prospect.

Time to keep walking. Apricot continues to the same direction.

The street continues. It seems the buildings become taller towards a specific direction. Pedestrians keep being present.

On the other side of the street you notice some tension. Someone stops, turns, and seems to give a command to another passerby. They stop, some gazes and shorter replies are exchanged, and then the commandee turns and starts following the person who gave the command. 

How has this place any right to be this pretty?? Like sure it's evil-coded in the context of the previous world. But it seems likely that it's specifically selected for my aesthetic preferences instead. Do evil people in real life even do evil looking things, or is that just a fiction trope? Some caution might be in order.

At least black jeans, black t-shirt and black running shoes don't seem to be out of style too badly. Having a leather jacket too would probably be appropriate, albeit not Apricot-flavored at all.

The command-giving interaction seems interesting. Not staring seems polite and wise. Apricot keeps walking but discreetly eyes the situation. He'll keep walking towards the taller buildings.

No-one interrupts the walk.

The street first gets denser, then curves a bit, and then gets somewhat shallower, lower, around a building. The building seems to be some kind of a spire. There are less pedestrians here.

The streets to the right and left seem to continue the dense, tall, city centre type of construction. Behind the building seems to be a lower area.

Spiky cacti!! Maybe I can touch one? It doesn't even sting me!? How nice of it.

The building looks quite spiky as well. And doesn't have any visible doors? It's quite distracting that none of the buildings have signs or names or anything.

At this point it seems reasonable to ask some questions. Before doing so it would, it would be prudent to figure out what to ask. I think directions to somewhere would be a reasonable non-suspicious thing to ask. Not the underpass, definitely. L2 building was mentioned in the noticeboard? Perhaps that one? Or L3? Are they even named sequentially? Asking about the L2 seems like the safest bet.

Are there any people around?

There are a couple of (presumably) guards in front of the large spiky building.

And around the plaza, there are people scattered, quite quietly, oriented to face the spire. Sitting, standing, and being more obviously contemplative.

Apricot will pick the nearest non-guard person who's not looking busy.

There's a woman with a long gray goat, sitting on a bench, alone. She wears steel ornamentation, a collar with an opening on the front, and some ornamented wrist cuffs. Her hands rest on her knees.

She looks at the approaching Apricot, waiting.

Interesting attire, but not one to draw many conclusions from. Doens't look too official, so probably this is a private citizen rather than a police officer or whatever.

The look makes this much less awkward, at least.

"Excuse me? Could you point me to the L2 building?"

"External tourist?" A glance at the direction of Apricot's hands "No. You'd have a mark." The gaze continues, unhurried, quickly taking in the general appearance. "You're not external, but you're not from here."

"L2 is close. Three blocks north" - pointing - "and one block west, left."

"Question for question: you either know what you are doing, or you really do not. Which is it?"

External people should have a mark? On their hand, presumably? Perhaps this will be a problem. Or perhaps you can just get a mark by talking to a relevant authority. Hopefully it's not a permanent body modification. If it is, I think leaving would be preferrable. Although maybe it's related to isekai thing rather than restrictions on the current area. I should probably figure out if they know about people isekaing around, but asking that directly seems unwise.

smile, eyes wide

"I have no idea what I'm doing."

curious head tilt, slight frown

"Should I know what I'm doing?"

Apricot is having some trouble taking this new world too seriously.

Huh. That is certainly some emoting. Unconclusive but opening. He might be an external who has lost their identification, he might be doing an ~experiment, he might be a mental health suspect. He could also be inspecting scratch that.

A slight shrug.

"Do you know what you are for?"

What a question. The first thought that appears is: There's barely any me anyway, and whatever there is, isn't for anything. But saying that to a complete stranger who sounds really ominous is not the way to do things. The question looks like it has an officially-approved answer. A dogmatic one. If that's true, then this is probably some kind of a doomy-evil-place.

Dogmatic questions require a quick reply, in such places. But you've already diverged far enough that they know something is going on. And likely coming up with the correct answer isn't doable. So... probably cooperation-by-default is the way to go here. And possibly a bit of humor as well, because what else could establish even some level of plausible deniability or whatever is required for this.

"Nope, but I'm sure someone will inform me about that in a moment."

That's a clear non-answer and the attitude is a bit haughty for what the situation looks like. Mildly amusing, though.

"You smile a lot of someone quite lost. Your situation is externally visible."

"What exactly are you trying to signal?"

Is not smiling supposed to help? I'll be lost anyway. Seems unproductive.

No idea what externally visible means here, exactly. Perhaps about the missing external tourist mark? Probably that should be figured out.

WHO ASKS ALOUD ABOUT WHAT I'M TRYING TO SIGNAL?? If I was trying to signal something that could be described in words, I'd have just said it aloud. That's not true at all. I was definitely trying to cause some confusion, maintain plausible deniability, and project some confidence. Admitting to any of that isn't going to happen. And is it even possible to actually answer this honestly? There's way too much nuance in body language, and most of the signaling is subconscious anyway.

A deeper introspection reveals quite a bit of lightheadedness. It's apparently hard to be too serious after not-dying. That will not do it this is a doomy-evil place. Time to concentrate a bit more.

Perhaps this is a simulation-game instead of isekai, and my memories are fake? NOT USEFUL right now NEXT THOUGHT

What are my short term goals? Finding food and a place to sleep seem relevant in the next ten hours, but not super urgent. Getting started on that would be smart, it might get complicated without any money.

What else? Figure out if I should be afraid of the system here? Obtain tourist markings? Attempt to go somewhere else in case this is a super-doomy place? Seems hard, maybe I can just ignore that and things will turn out fine. I don't think so.

Should I just confess my ignorance of the situation, and ask some general questions about this place. That actually seems quite wise, as in that's unlikely to make things much worse. This person already knows that I'm not from around here.

shrug

"That's complicated."

even more frown

"You're right that I'm not from here. In fact, I have no idea where I am, and even less idea how I got here. I realize that sounds like I'm out of my mind, yet I feel perfectly sane. That's likely not too reassuring."

a quick thought-filled-looking pause

"Do you think it would be useful, or smart, to go to a police station and explain the situation? Or is that not useful thing to do around here?"

Frown.

It's either mostly lies, the out-of-its-mind situation, or mostly true..

"As described, the situation should go better by talking to officials first, rather than having a significant interaction, and then ending up, eventually, talking to officials."

"The visitor centre has solutions." Mild disdain shows in her facial expression. "They are able to solve the - signals."

Is "interaction" an euphemism for something criminal or such? No idea.

And why signals would need solving? That doesn't sound too promising either. And by that I mean it's super ominous. Better to ask for directions to the visitor center, in any case, to not appear suspicious.

The obvious plan would be to look for someone with an external tourist marker to get a second opinion, before doing anything stupid like getting my signals solved.

Apricot forces his face to an unreadable, neutral look.

"Thanks for the advice. Could you point me to the direction of the nearest visitor centre?"

"Good. Stay like that for a moment." She looks at Apricot('s expression) evaluatively.

"S-10. Four blocks south, and then left. Multilanguage signage." as she points back the way Apricot arrived from.

Apricot nods. Expression remains stable.

... until he has turned around and starts walking back to the direction he came from. He's not actually laughing, but it takes some effort and face-twisting to avoid that.

Perhaps the visitor centre is close to my... respawn point (??), and I was supposed to go there first. This is at least some evidence that going there is a reasonable course of action. Not enough without talking to someone else, despite the warning about interactions, whatever that might mean.

Staying outside and trying to figure if people who leave the building smile incorrectly is a way to gather more info, but seems rather unconclusive a well.

Apricot keeps looking at hands of anyone he encounters, trying to see any markings that might mark someone a tourist. And possibly any signage of street or building names, if any is visible.

As he approaches back towards the .. respawn point .. the city passes around him: streets, people walking, density and building height changing, he manages to move around and can attempt to observe.

Hands: Apricot can notice that most people are wearing some kinds of wristcuffs. They might have markings if he remembers the woman-in-plaza's wristcuffs right. Specifics not easy to differentiate from people he passes. Or can glance at across the street. Some of the wristcuffs are different colours, from a stainless steel silvery to "space grey" to black. 

It's not very apparent who, if anyone, on the street happens to be a tourist. If the tourists have different hand markings or dress recognisably differently maybe he hasn't come across any?

Signage: As blocks go by, he notices signs naming the crosstreets: "7", "8", "9", and "10". He also notices some new (either they changed, or he missed some earlier) large pictures: "IT COULD BE DIFFERENT. IT ISN'T.", "YOU WERE NOT BUILT TO REST".

"IT COULD BE DIFFERENT. IT ISN'T." Huh? I'm preeetty sure that wasn't here before. Paradoxical indeed. Then again, my passive perception stat is approximately zero, so noticing stuff like this isn't a given. "YOU WERE NOT BUILT TO REST" definitely seems like a dystopian thing, so even more evidence that this is not a nice place to be.

Speaking of low perception, nobody looks like a tourist. The wristcuffs seem to be on the grayscale gradient with a silvery-metallic sheen component. Perhaps that's the status component the noticeboard mentioned? If this is a doomy-evil place, black would probably have the highest status?

Was it left or right after four blocks? Anything doesn't distinctively look like a visitor center, not that he has any idea what it would look like. How is he incapable or remembering even the simplest instructions? It was probably left?? Oh well, just checking one block in both directions should do it. Recognizing multilingual signage when he encounters it should at least be within his unreasonably limited capabilities.

Apricot tosses a (very biased) mental coin which lands heads, meaning that left is indeed the direction he'll try first. He'll keep walking.