(Duck’s notes: I’m putting this here since it makes sense someone would read this chronologically for a mass recap, but check the Lore page a lot as well, since there’s a bunch of information there that me of the time of writing the recaps wouldn’t know)
DD-CAD100 - 8/8/1988: Manager 646/Jean - future Owner, Maanger 323 (Lucy/Lucifer) and Manager 340 (Felix) found the First Cafe. Manager 646’s hiding his memories from the 15th Sphere and sharing ‘only what [he] felt they needed to know’. (jean’s from the 15th Sphere, the previous ‘reality’ - see Otherworldly Adventure’s CD-KIF03 and DD-LUX01 for more info. He used something called the Pocketwatch to reset time and is now here.)
CD-CAD01 - 8/8/1988: The three found the First Cafe. This entry is a ‘sanitized’ entry meant for other eyes, not just Manager 646.
CD-CAD102 - 8/16/1988: Manager 646 helps Manager 340 start ‘Barista Technologies’ and warns that with the new CaDComs they have, they’ll be on the government’s radar. He also quickly explains the three channels, Cafe, Diner and And: Diner will be their less secure channel, with And being for incredibly confidential information.
CD-CAD103 - 8/23/1988: Manager 646 states that they should for now lie low - this is before the First Cafe starts up and they need to gather finances, amongst other things. He also lists the three’s manager names: Lucy becomes Manager 323 and Felix is 340.
WMO01 - 10/5/1988: Mr. Octo enters the Cafe and asks to be employed. He might have frost-related powers or, more likely, is linked to Indrid Cold, and possibly something about a shareholder - of the Mantle of 8, probably. He was eager to get the CaD running, and Manager 646 is optimistic that they can even rival Astoria 23, a US-government-funded organisation similar to the CaD.
WMO02 - 10/6/1988: 340 was apparently once part of Astoria. He doesn’t trust Mr. Octo since he revealed some INCREDIBLY secret information, and suggests instead Sahir Bali (Secret from 1st Cafe), Marcus Douglass, or perhaps Madeline Saturn. He’s also been dealing with monsters, demons, and so on longer than 646, apparently. Though the time travel does make things weird.
WMO03 - 10/7/1988: Manager 323 also distrusts Mr. Octo, since his name is literally 8 - rather weird to accept him given their desire to avoid the Errata filters (whatever those are - otherworldly adventures and probably dcd show that they’re linked to Cold and Fate, but i don’t actually know more). Also he shows up at the CaD - which hasn’t started advertising or even opened - and talks about giving ‘esoteric secrets about the “bigger picture”’.
WMO04 - 10/8/1988: Jack Octo, or Manager 8, makes his first entry. He says there’s no need to stress about the number 8 yet and decides to join their group, since the whole ‘coffee thing is gonna be huge’. He also warns that many demons and other supernatural entities are starting to ‘wake up’ and enter the Flipside - their world. He also leaves a lot of suspicious :) signs everywhere, which is linked to Indrid Cold.
C-TBP01 - 10/9/1988: Manager 8 shows up again and talks about the 3 major spots of paranormal activity in the USA. One is the bermuda triangle. Another is the San Andreas Fault. The last is literally all of west virginia - the Hotbed. Also there are other spots, but those are more dependent on Topside/heaven stuff. Lastly 8’s apparently dealt with this sort of stuff before.
CD-WMO05 - 10/10/1988: Manager 646 leaves another receipt. Apparently he didn’t just travel back in time, he recreated the universe, probably from the 15th Sphere to the 16th. The person apparently used the ‘Pocketwatch’, which hasn’t been used for eons so there’s some time dilation - presumably that means things don’t match up 100%, like Jack Octo taking the position of 8. In the 15th Sphere, the Mantle of 8 was passed from Manager 8 to him, then to Jenni, then Nikki who split the Mantle into three and gave it to Jericho, Joy and Julius, who returned all three to Nick. And then the apocalypse started and everyone died, so Manager 646, by giving up his role as the Topside’s Otherman, should have re-inherited the Mantle. But he didn’t - it’s with Jack. And yet Jack Octo should not exist; he was deleted from reality. Manager 646 promises to save him this time around.
C-TBP02 - 10/13/1988: Manager 8 shows up again and gives very interesting lore as to how the Otherside (hell) and the regular world interact. Basically it’s dependent on different things, such as ley lines and fault lines, and other phenomena. The moon is very important - based on the placement/phases, you can try to guess what Plane of the Otherworld the regular world will sync with. For the First CaD’s location, at Los Angeles, it’s right next to a fault line, so that’s fun. The CaD will mainly have to deal with Hauntaurskaldian demons, and not need to worry about Ouroboros and Infernus entities. The others come in semi-frequently. Also, the exact location of the First CaD lines up almost perfectly with the 8th Otherworld Plane. Since the Otherworld doesn’t exist yet, I’m assuming this refers to Eden. Manager 8 suspects that this is the work of fate - or Fate.
CD-OCTO01 - 10/24/1988: Manager 8 and Manager 646 discuss the Mantle of 8. They talk about how ‘It’ (Fate or Cold?) has done nothing for basically eternity, and question what would happen if Octo were to die and the Mantle go to somebody else. I think. The two also mention ‘them’, likely also the Mantle. Either way, Jean says he’d want to keep ‘them’ safe. They also discuss using the Mantle of 8 correctly, and state that nobody can do that - the responsibility, danger and associated ‘weight’ with the position is just too much.
(yeah, that’s the end of Year Zero. It should be noted that after Octo comes in, at 10/8/1988, the instances of 8 in the actual receipts stop being redacted.)