The doctor's office is hardly the funnest place in the world to be. Children crying, adults bickering in hushed, stressed tones, the receptionist looking incredibly bored...
Wait. How did you get here? Weren't you watching a powerpoint a second ago (or enjoying your time in your cozy apartment in Cerealia)? Well, now you're in ViViD, and in an attempt to concentrate on healthy living, CERES has released a new level: Health and You: A New Way to be Healthy. Sure, you could log out at any time if you're a ViViD pro and used to this whole experience, but now that you're here, why not sit back and enjoy it? Indulge in some easy level grinding or something. Besides, it'll take a little while for the game to let you log out without calling you a spineless quitter, and who wants that added to their ViViD rep?
So instead, take a look around the tiled hospital. Visit the receptionist and say hello (she ignores you, go back to your seat). Pick up a snack at the vending machine (except every single one only has these gross things in stock). Maybe you should just test the truth of that old idiom, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", especially with that weird doctor over there. Is he staring at you? He might be staring at you.
Seriously, go find an apple before he comes over here.
 Well,
well,
well...
isn't it time for your c h e c k - u p?
|
PHASE I [ 08 00 ] If you're a new arrival to this fine city, you will find yourself waking up in a bed after suffering through that unfortunate powerpoint. The sun streams through the window, the bed is uncomfortable but not terrible, and everything is quiet and idyllic... wait. Where are your clothes? You'll suddenly find yourself dressed only in a medical gown (yes, complete with back open) and you seem to be... in a hospital? That's new.
If you take a look at the medical chart attached to the bed, you’ll even find your chart, name on it and everything. That can’t be right, can it? You're the picture of health! You're welcome to wait around for the doctor to dispute these claims but no one's showing up anytime soon (aside from the possible roommate you might have, in the same situation as you). There’s nothing stopping you from leaving the room or looking around at least (except for the lack of clothes), but it’s all hospital as far as the eye can see. Try and be careful what rooms you poke your head into; there are some strange aliens getting their check-ups in there. They don't seem like they want to be bothered.
If you’re not a newcomer, and go into ViViD searching for riches and grand prizes (or just stumble in there by happenstance), the receptionist will stop you and hand you a stethoscope, lab coat, and name tag. Congratulations, you’re a doctor now, and you have free reign over the hospital. Go nuts. Or don’t, because there are still those aliens waiting for their check-ups. Now it’s your turn to get dragged away by a frazzled nurse to administrate a tentacle massage to a patient, as she's now on break! Have fun and don't get the hospital sued.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Just don’t end up in the basement.
If you end up in the basement by some weird twist of fate (or via trapdoor, which could happen because let's be honest, this is ViViD), you’ll find yourself in a long, empty, blindingly white hallway. The floors are white, the walls are white, the ceiling and the flickering lights are white, and you have the odd feeling you're being followed.
If you turn to see who it is, you’ll find that it’s your younger self. They’re not solid. They’re not real. You can stick a hand through them, and it will go right through. But they are you, whether age 4 or age 14 or anywhere in between, and they’re covered in blood and holding an equally bloody knife. Quietly, as they follow you, they'll mumble, over and over and over again, “It was you, you did it, you killed them, you’re the murderer.”
And they will follow you until you get out of that blindingly white hallway, and away from those blindingly white lights, and if you tried to touch them, there will be blood on your hands. The younger you won't respond to anything you say, just following behind you like the frightening apparition they are. At least nothing else is stopping you from returning to the main hospital, no matter how surreal this experience might be. Just find the stairs.
PHASE III [ 1200 ] As soon as you’ve managed to escape the clutches of that frazzled nurse who still refuses to come back from break, you’ll find that the atmosphere has turned very dark indeed. There’s rain pounding against the windows, and as lightning flashes and thunder booms (it’s all ambiance, you see), there’s the tell-tale Mwahahahaha of an evil, mad doctor at work. What a sinister guy.
Turning a corner will lead you right to his very, very evil doctor's office. He's repurposed one for his sinister deeds and some nurses are looking very put out about it. There's someone attached to the medical table who might need some help and of course, it could be one of your friends that he’s snagged. You might want to help them before that very evil mad doctor tries to add an extra limb or two to your poor friend. Honestly, who needs three elbows?
Or maybe it’s you who’s been grabbed by him and attached to the medical table by strong, metal restraints. Hopefully someone follows the “Mad Scientist: This Way” signs all over the hospital and saves you because really, three elbows?
PHASE IV [ 1400 ] Of course, while the ambiance is still dark, grim and creepy, and the rain still beats upon the glass of the windows, there is a murder...because why wouldn't there be?
The director of the hospital has been found murdered, slumped in a seat in his office, hand in hand with his secretary. Oh no! You’re welcome to investigate the crime scene if you want, but it’s not a very good one; there aren’t any clues, and the director and his secretary actually seem to be alive if you prod them hard enough. They're a bit put out by your interruptions and might ask you to "go solve this somewhere else" the more you bother them. How rude of you to muck up their death scene.
But there’s a new quest for you, and it says this: Pursue Justice or Pursue the Truth?
If you choose to pursue Justice, you will find yourself dropped into a new ViViD level, this one a straight hospital hallway with no doors and alternate routes. Some posters line the hallway but most of the detail is lost in the dim light. Not far ahead of you, The Suspect can be seen running away. (Naturally, you can tell that they are The Suspect by their poorly scribbled out face and black silhouette.) If you should follow them all the way to the end of the hallway (and it is a long, long, long hallway), you can grab The Suspect. Of course, that's if you make it there without falling through any of the trapdoors, tripping over medical supplies or stumbling into less fortunate player characters. If you're successful, you’ll hear a jaunty tune and you’ll receive a bonus of 50,000 ViViD points. Congratulations! You may now log out and continue with your daily life.
If you choose to pursue the Truth, you will find yourself dropped into another ViViD level. This level is a maze; there are filing cabinets stuffed full of papers making up the walls (though the papers are all blank) and they seem oddly impossible to move. You will need to find your way through the maze while avoiding more trapdoors, more scattered medical supplies, the occasional angry cthulhu patient and the occasional player character who has been grabbed by the occasional angry cthulhu patient. Eventually you will be able to find the end of the maze and there you will find a scrap of paper with a clue on it, signed Bellona Recreare. You may now log out and continue with your daily life.
Strangely enough, you can’t seem to access that quest again once you’ve completed it once. Oh well.
BONUS [ xxxx ] There are plenty of sexy nurses wandering the hospital (yes, everywhere) and they know your shots aren’t up to date. Should they manage to catch you and jab you with one of their needles, you’ll have some of the following side effects:
➟ Unstoppable urge to hug the nearest person
➟ Unstoppable urge to kiss the nearest person
➟ Unstoppable urge to dance with the nearest person
➟ Hiccups that last for 20 minutes
➟ Uncontrollable laughter that lasts for 20 minutes
➟ Hallucinations that everyone around you is dead, which also lasts for 20 minutes
You may pick and choose which effects happen at which times or if there is a combination of them. Have fun!
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
Welcome to Cerealia's July intro log! For your convenience, we have compiled the characters' arrival experience here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here.
Regarding phase IV, should your characters tackle the alternate ViViD levels and make it all the way through, please PM the mod account to let us know if they picked Justice or the Truth, as that will have an overall impact on the game! You will also receive your plot clue at that time, should your character have gone down the Truth path. Please PM the mod account by July 29th with the decision your character has made; the thread does not have to be completed, that just will allow us to tally up the choices for August's event.
Thank you! |
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ota
phase ii;
[ This isn't the first time that Mitsutada's ended up in a basement.
Except the previous time was a randomly generated medieval castle's basement, where he busted out some imprisoned princess and cleared the level after sweeping off a wyrm. No, this is a hospital, some sort of surgery centre for those with bodies of flesh and blood. Not for him.
Nevertheless, since he's already here, he might as well go ahead and complete the level. Except this level didn't seem to have any immediately obvious objectives - and his search for a guiding NPC brought him down a teleporting trapdoor and into the hallway of white. It takes him a few moments to get his bearings, looking around for any doors or signs that could guide his way - when something subtle shifts behind him, the faint sound of moving fabric amplified in the deafening silence.
His CYbuddy reacts faster than he does, squeaking faintly in fear and digging its claws deeper into the tachi's shirt. The little dragon put its head on his shoulder, covering its eyes with its wings. Mitsutada himself turns a second later, hand flying to the hilt of his true form in preparation to combat whatever scared Hika so abruptly -
- only to come face to face with himself.
Except it isn't really himself. This sword spirit had Mitsutada's exact features, but he was younger - wearing a purple shirt and vest instead of the suit that had become his trademark. However, what was most striking about this other tachi are his eyes - both intact, with purple irises and pupils so black they seemed to be two holes in the fabric of reality.
And he had a blade in one hand. His vessel, the tachi Nameless Mitsutada, as evident by the Oda clan crest sewn into its wielder's clothes. Both spirit and weapon are both covered heavily in blood. ]
Who are you?
[ Mitsutada steps back instinctively, putting some distance between him and what seems to be a summoned ghost of his past self. ]
It was you, you did it.
[ Nameless's voice is much colder than Mitsutada's, but it's obvious from his intonation that they are one and the same. ]
Did what?
You broke them.
[ Broke them? Who? Mitsutada had never hurt a fellow sword spirit in his new life, only took care of them and spent time with them as friends - what was this ghost talking about? Unless... his past self had come to paint his own sins for all the public to see. Serving under the banner of the Demon King as one of his most beloved blades - ]
It's not like that! Please, explain to me. Who got hurt? We can do something about it -
You murderer.
[ Nameless takes a step forward, expression and gaze speaking only one word - kill. ]
No, I -
[ - Mitsutada instinctively reaches out, to try and put a hand on this lost blade, perhaps reassure him and calm him down enough to bring back to rejoin the others -
- his hand passes through the other spirit's body, and there is suddenly the feeling of something warm and sticky on his fingers.
Blood. ]
Ahhhh!
[ The apparition takes another step forward, forcing him against the wall and holding a blade to his throat. ]
wildcard
[ Throw me something and I'll work with it! ]
phase ii
He comes across two Mitsutadas, one he knows and the other who looks distinctively different. The different one who have a blade to the other's throat. Sayo draws out his sword.]
Mitsutada-san!
[Can he draw the apparition's attention away? (No) He should get some space between them.]
no subject
So Sayo's shout is very much appreciated, breaking the hold those deep purple eyes had on him - and he ducks, his chin somehow passing through his younger self's vessel and coming out stained with blood - to half-roll out of the way in the tantou's direction.
It helps, having someone else with him. It means he can focus on protecting them... wait a minute. ]
Sayo-chan! [ Still keeping Nameless in his peripheral vision right now - ] Are you being attacked too?
no subject
[Sayo's response was immediate, as he stands near Mitsutada. His gaze is on Nameless, watching it carefully and clutching his sword. Unlike his own younger self, it seems like this one is more aggressive and active?]
You're a murderer. You killed all of them.
[He can hear the other Sayo behind him, looking and sounding as terrible as ever. Sayo ignored his words as he glances at Mitsutada, noting the blood on his chin.]
Are you hurt?
no subject
It was beyond hatred, beyond vengeance. Only a mindless compulsion to obey and kill. ]
I'm fine. [ Or at least, he thinks he's fine. The blood doesn't seem to be his, if anything else.
His singular gaze strays momentarily from his younger self's face, to the smaller tantou following Sayo around. ]
Wait... there's two of you too?
[ And that younger Sayo seems to be saying about the same things as Nameless did. Then... ]
no subject
phase ii!!!
The first thing she did was try to shove Mitsutada out of the way of the blade, using the force of her run to help propel them. It's not the best plan right now, but it's one to get him out of the way of the blade.]
no subject
- and as a result she passes right through him, almost tackling Mitsutada to the floor in the process.
With the unfortunate consequence of covering her in blood as well.
The tachi mumbles some sort of half-mangled Japanese curse, half-catching her while still keeping his eyes on the apparition. ]
Vietnam-san! You passed straight through - [ which meant it probably wasn't material ] - what's happening?
[ He doesn't understand this? At all? ]
no subject
Which she must rid herself of, wiping her face with the sleeve of her lab coat and making sure her hands are clean before looking at Mitsutada all over. She even tips his chin just to make sure that there were no wounds by his neck.]
Are you alright?
[She glances just behind her, not pulling away from him because if she could stand between him and this...apparition? Will he come for them? It's hard to face Mitsutada to speak to him like this.]
I am unsure. He looks like you, what does he want? [It's strange because while she was gentle in making sure Mitsutada was alright (aside from practically tackling him), she seethes at Nameless.] It is a trick, no? Someone is playing with you. [Which makes sense since they are in a game. And because now she's sensed that another has stepped out from the shadows. Her own. Younger, dressed for battle.] Ah yes, facing our pasts.
no subject
For the most part, his singular gaze flits between Nameless' cold visage and Vietnam, out of battle reflex to keep his opponent in view and also to be respectful while she is speaking. When she addresses his younger self, he braces himself in case the apparition attacked - but all Nameless did is to glare.
And then the younger Vietnam appears, joining Nameless' side.
She's just as pretty.]... so, it'll be a two-on-two, eh? [ His mouth had been half-open for a few moments already, but he finally fills in the silence only now.
Except his own clone (?) doesn't seem inclined to strike first. ]
Do you want to fight them?
[ y/n? ]
no subject
She looks up at him, he doesn't seen to be judging her younger self at all. It's a familiar sight, backed up by war because times were hard. It must've been the same for him. His origins were that of a weapon, after all.
There was something haunting about seeing the two standing next to each other. Did they look like that too? No. Mitsutada shone like the sun. His shadow on the other hand, burns like fire.]
Should we fight? [They're not attacking. Her hand grips onto Mitsutada's sleeve.] Since...we cannot touch them. Should we walk away?
no subject
did you ask for monthly dose of bromance? because i sure did
-Said the ethereal thing just behind him repetitively, which took form as nothing else but his young self; when he was still less gung-ho about being a markless sword of the Date clan. At first, his younger self could be easily ignored, but after one point or another while Ookurikara was trying to find his way out of the basement, that little shit went way overboard with his word games and Ookurikara actually tried to slash him into oblivion.
Only to be able to inflict nothing. What a surprise. He even got his body and face painted in the redness of the fresh blood thanks to that.
While he stared in a surprise for a bit at his predicament, it was nothing new for him in the end, however. He could just swallow the taste and smell of the blood as he continued his objective of finding a way out.
Until about five minutes of walking, the corner of his eyes captured a bit-too-familiar figure in another weird situation. Or not. They were two of them and both were Mitsutada.
Nevertheless, he didn't even need to blink to be able to tell which one was the real deal. He knew which one was the real one-eyed tachi -- He just knew it. The real Shokudaikiri Mitsutada was the one on the receiving end of the blade.
Pathetic, Mitsutada. Just pathetic. Always too soft to others and look what being too domestic made him into.
Not that it was actually a bad thing, per se. He did exactly his part as the friendly blade of the Date; he was being kind to others for Ookurikara's part as well... Ookurikara knew that, and he respected his best friend a lot for taking the responsibility for him.
Which in retrospect, it was Ookurikara's job to be harsh to others for Mitsutada's sake as well.
Hence why the first thing that came into his mind after seeing his brother in that predicament was to casually ignore both of their younger selves and then dash to his side to HIT the living shit out of the real Mitsutada's jaw hard with his bare hand for two things: a.) to snap him out of his trance, and b.) because he feels like doing it after seeing that side of him. ]
Sorry, it was becoming too unbearable to watch you being so defenseless. [ As he pulls his hand back, he snaps his wrist slightly in pain. Okay, maybe he punched him too hard there. ] Too uncool.
yes good
- because this isn't just some random spirit with hatred stemming from past grievances, it was him from a time he had long buried and moved on, from a time when he still fell entirely under the shadow of the Demon King, a living hell in both the physical and mental sense - because no one, no one ever walks away from the Oda unmarked by his madness.
So when Ookurikara punches him, he's knocked back several feet - there might have been a crack somewhere in his chin, but it's the least of his concerns right now - his best friend is here, and he had done what Mitsutada needed most at this moment.
A very good wake-up call. ]
- kuri-kun!
[ That's the first thing he manages to choke out, once he's gotten his jaw under control again. There's someone following his best friend as well - a flash of recognition, confusion, then understanding; as he realizes what is probably going on. Now it was two-on-two - their younger selves against them. While it isn't in their favour, Ookurikara's presence is still enough to ground him.
Also, there is blood on both their shirts now. Thank god this is virtual, or there would be a hell lot of laundry.
Nameless reacts one second later, putting distance between himself and the two tachis in a smooth, almost snakelike motion - purple eyes narrowed ever so slightly in an almost terrifyingly cold stare. ]
Murderer.
[ Except Ookurikara probably doesn't care, and by extension Mitsutada gained some of that resistance. ]
Don't go around throwing claims without proof. Say something else. [ His voice is still a little shaken, but it quickly gains strength as the sentence progresses. That was how he did things, talk and probably buy time while Kuri prepared a strike which he could quickly follow up with.
But this time, the apparitions don't seem inclined to listen. ]
BONUS!
Finding himself nearly backed up against the corner, he jumps onto a high cabinet. Briefly, he catches a familiar figure in a black suit also fending off the nurses.
A quick jump followed by a powerful shot incinerates a large group, before he dives back with quick slashes through them in order to catch up with his sword.]
Shokudaikiri!
no subject
Master!
[ He had mostly stuck to fighting the nurses that actually tried to attack (read: jab) him, but if the master is going all out...
... then he will too.
DATEGUMIS ASSEMBLE! ]
no subject
You okay? Looks like there's no end to them.
[The single-hit tachi life is hard compared to the shinsokuing officers. There's never a time where Date Masamune holds back, especially when monsters were threatening his own swords, though he now saw them as his own men to protect.
DATE GREEN!]
no subject
He dodges one particular nurse's outstretched syringe before doing a wide swipe and knocking out her(?) legs out from underneath. ]
I'm fine! They haven't managed to hit me yet.
[ What's with the dubious experience points they're earning? These certainly aren't used to fill up the Medical meter... ]
What about you, Master?
no subject
I'm fine! We need to find a way out of here-
[No sooner, a couple of nurses manage to get too close to comfort. He takes out one, and the other manages to stab him briefly with her needle. He winces in pain, kicks and sends a shot as a farewell before removing the syringe.]
Crap...
no subject
phase iii? :D
That said she takes the easy way out, following the tried and true method of just hanging around and letting other people do the work and just taking experience points for being there. Like this whole "Mad Scientist" business. He cuts them up, and Nonon pretends to be taking notes and helping with the surgery while doing nothing. She's already gained a couple "Doctor" levels from it. Soon she'll be able to equip a medical laser.
But for now, there's a slightly familiar face strapped into the operating table and she's just checking her email on a pop-up menu in front of her, not quite realizing it's someone she knows... ]
o/
So it is after getting swallowed by Yet Another One of those abominations did he lose consciousness for a while, coming to only after he had been man(?)handled onto the table and someone shining a very bright light directly into his face. Even with only one eye, it can get painful.
His thought processes ran something like this.
1. I'm not collapsed on a heap on the floor, interesting.
2. Why is there a light in my eye?
3. Is it a lamp?
4. Why can't I stand up?
5. There's something on my arm OH GOD I'M TIED TOGETHER
and lastly, since it takes a few seconds of flailing for him to actually notice Nonon's pink hat in his periphery vision: ]
Hey! A little help here, won't you?
[ His right hand is noticeably flailing around for his vessel, which is conveniently out of reach on the table next to her. He needs that to cut himself free before that tentacle thing comes and...
... he probably doesn't want to know what happens next. ]
no subject
I'm just here to gain experience points.
[ And then right back to her messages, one arm crossed under her chest. She either hasn't recognized him... or is just too lazy to really look. ]
no subject
There is the muffled sound of a very faint medieval Japanese curse followed by a long sigh before he replies. ]
Nonon-kun, it's me. Mitsutada.
[ He's just going to go right ahead and assume she hasn't looked properly, because he really does try to think the best of people. ]
... oooooor if you really want those experience points, then cut me out just before the tentacle guy comes over.
[ Or.... something.... ]
no subject
Who? [ She looks up at the name, but honestly it doesn't ring a bell at all. Only when she finally steps closer to look down at him does she realize... ]
Oh, Katana-san. Why didn't you just say so? What are you doing? [ She's the worst. ]
(no subject)