PHASE I [ 8 00 ] You’ve arrived. You’ve received your powerpoint presentation, and your head is filled to the brim with the knowledge that your world is destroyed, and that everyone you once knew and loved is dead. You are ready to handle whatever is thrown your way --
Or maybe not. You end up in a giant game of Pacman, and from the yellow spandex jumpsuit you’re now stuck in (glow-in-the-dark, even, how snazzy), you’re Pacman. Everything is a maze, all towering dark walls and corridors, and everything seems just a little...well, off. First off, the balls you’d normally collect in pacman? They’re floating there, yellow and distinct, the only source of light in the maze, but if you pick them up and touch them, you’ll experience a memory.
It’ll be something warm, gentle and sweet, a memory of your home or the people you love that is something you truly treasure, a memory of a time that is so very important to you. And then the globe is gone and the world returns to its cold, stark state, and you are reminded: everyone is dead. Better go pick up another one!
And, of course, there are the ghosts. They’re a little horrifying (though they come in all sorts of fun colors!) and if they grab you, all of those positive memories turn horrible. A nice memory of a picnic? It’s now a memory of losing everyone important on that day, cut down by masked figures.
Of course, that’s only for the newcomers to ViViD. For anyone who enters ViViD as a veteran, well...you can watch. If you try to enter the game, there are some unfortunate consequences -- you’ll end up as one of the ghosts chasing down those poor innocents, unable to do a thing about it.
Be sure to admire the scoreboard hanging over the game for everyone to see, though.
PHASE II [ 1030 ] Just when you’ve gotten a handle on Pacman, now you’re stuck playing...Tetris?
Everyone (newcomer and old veteran) has been dumped in the game now, and those falling blocks don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. You'll be in an unfortunate tag-team; the person you're tossed into the game with may be a total stranger to you, but you're stuck with them now. After a few moments of dodging giant, falling blocks, it should become clear how you win this game: the blocks follow you (or your partner) in an attempt to squash you, so with some careful wrangling, you can guide those blocks into place and erase row after row of deadly blocks. Of course, if you can't work together, you're more likely to end up squished at the top of the screen, but if you should somehow manage to clear the screen, the door at the other end will open and you'll be free to go.
Let's hope you're stuck with someone easy to work with.
PHASE III [ 1145 ] Stumbling out of Tetris will bring you onto a rickety platform, a hangman’s noose gently wrapped around one of your very most important people. You can’t approach them, you can’t touch them, and they can’t speak, but they look at you with pleading eyes even as the talking tree they are to be hanged from tells you the rules. Guess letters, guess the word, and your friend will be freed. Guess wrong, and, well… the noose will tighten bit by bit.
Time to work together to get your friends down from there. Admittedly you might see someone different up there from the person next to you, but it’s all the same in the end, isn’t it? You’ve got to save them either way.
If you fail, that person will be hanged -- only to reveal that they were just a straw doll all along. Phew, what a relief!
If they succeed at guessing the word, a trap door will open up underneath that person and the rope will be released, dropping them down to never be seen again. Bye!
PHASE IV [ 1300 ] And then you’re dumped right out of ViViD and back into Cerealia. The city is still a little water-logged, though it is looking better than it was before; either way, you may be dumped anywhere. On a roof, in the middle of the park, on top of the scrap heap… anything could happen.
And it seems that things are still a little glitchy, or maybe the glitchy ViViD experience has infected your code in some way, because for a short period of time after, there may be a few...side effects. Fingers and faces might glitch out for a moment, or your hand might phase through a wall. You may also have your In Game Title hovering over your head for all to see. That’s not weird at all.
It’ll all fade away in an hour or two anyway, without any side effects to speak of. Or so it would seem.
PENALTY [ xxxx ] You may have ended up here after getting eaten by a pacman (or ghost), or you may have ended up here after jumping down the trapdoor to save your friend in Hangman. Perhaps you were squashed by a tetris block. Perhaps you just fell down onto your sword (why would you do that). Either way, here you are.
It’s an empty area, totally silent and void, aside from this one carnival game. Once you’re seated, you can’t stand up -- you have to win the game to leave, as the friendly game host will inform you without a single smile. You’ll be playing against the others who managed to end up here, but you’d better give it your best shot, or who knows how long you’ll end up staying here.
Time to play a carnival shooter game.
At least the targets are of a few familiar faces. Maybe that’ll make it more appealing?
And if you win you’ll be able to exit stage right, plus you’ll have a cute Mosley plushie as a prize. Hooray!
[ 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. ] |
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phase iv!
It's okay! Don't make any sudden movements, just stay put where you are for now. You won't get deleted.
[ makoto's glitching left hand, blurring in and out of existence at the moment, might be more perturbing than relieving, however. he hasn't quite noticed his game title, free willy, levitating a couple of inches above his head just yet. ]
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H-How do you know that? Your hand is doing the same thing! Are you going to get deleted too?
[Of course, with all that shaking, some of the branches were bound to snap at some point. At that moment, Takeru happened to hear one before he started to move a little to the side]
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desperate times call for desperate measures. ]
I've been here for a while now! Getting deleted ... it isn't like this. [ it'd likely resemble something like the nexus code, if anything, darkness gone corruptive, his missing friends strung up like tinsel. nothing so innocuously benign as his hand fizzling in and out of existence, which is pretty much par for the course on tellus. ] I promise, we're not going to disappear!
[ not if he can help it, at least. ]
Don't panic. Take going down slowly, one step at a time. Trust me. If you fall, I'll definitely catch you. [ and he raises both his ordinary arms (fortunately not bleeding sparks from the wrist-down) out beneath takeru as a sign of clear affirmation). ]
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While he had Patamon by his side, it didn't mean that the Digimon would be able to catch him in time!]
S-So, you want me to climb down? I don't know, I don't want you to get hurt! And especially when you hands are acting really funny too! Are you sure it won't go right through?
[Despite his protests, it was clear that he already made his choice. Once again, he looked down at the ground before deciding to see he could do next.
However, it seemed like he didn't have much of a choice. Seconds later, after he grabbed hold of a nearby branch, the remaining ones snapped as the poor boy starting falling straight to the floor!]
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[ and his expression fractures from sheer concern, pupils blown wide, scrutinizing the approximate distance between the young boy and his awaiting arms, the margin of safety and what a stray breeze might mean in miscalculated distances. without any further precursor, he nods obligingly, only to suck in a harried breath when the boy tumbles down — a plummet only deterred by makoto's wild grab as he catches him, only to sharply buckle to his knees, arms grasped tight around the kid, keeping him from sustaining either an inadvertent concussion or a mess of broken bones.
for a moment, there's only disbelieving quiet saturating them, and then makoto breaks the silence with clean relief. ]
Ahhhh, that was a close one. I was terrified that you already sprained your arms or legs from landing so high up.
[ it's clear he hasn't noticed patamon yet, carefully untangling himself from the boy and methodically checking him for injuries, lacerations that might've started to scab over, spot-checking for the telltale sign of bruises. ]
Are you okay? Does anywhere hurt? I know someone who can heal any injuries you might have, so don't worry if you're hurt. ... The glitching won't last long, either. In my experience, it's just ViViD going haywire again.
[ eventually, makoto raises his head, mouth twisted in a sheepish grin. ]
I'm Makoto. I'm so sorry for scaring you earlier. I didn't mean to.
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While he can hear his partner screaming out his name, he covered his face with his arms and hoped the fall won't hurt that badly! Suddenly, he felt someone hugging him a second afterwards and found himself staring face to face with Makoto!
For a moment or two, he just kept staring at him as if he was trying to process what happened. Oh right...!]
Y-Yeah, I think I'm okay but what about you? You're not hurt are you? Because I'm really sorry if I made you get any brusies or anything! It must have hurt a lot to catch me that high up!
[Oh how he can hear it now. He can hear his mom and his brother telling him to always check up on the other person first! Although...they weren't here now were they?
Either way, as the blond kept watching Makoto's glitching hand, he just gave a smile at him]
But you didn't scare me! My name is Takeru and thank you for saving me, Makoto-san! You must be really strong if you can catch me though!
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I'm so glad you're alright! You were really brave. Thank you for trusting me. [ on closer inspection, he's really such a young kid that makoto can't help but falter into a nervous laugh at the question. he was the one who fell from such an alarming height. he wouldn't have handled it in good graces either at that age, come to think of it. takeru handled himself pretty well. retracting to resume his full height, makoto self-consciously scrubs at the nape of his neck. ] Ahaha, you don't need to worry about me. I work out at the gym almost every day. I'd be concerned if I couldn't do at least this much.
[ peering down at him, he briefly checks his cerevice, then holds the contact list out for the boy's inspection. ]
Takeru-kun, huh? You're new here, right? Do you see any of your friends or family member's names on here? Anyone you know?
[ and then, like an afterthought: ] You should have a CereVice like this with you, too, along with a few other things. Have you taken a look at any of them yet?
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It's not a problem, I'm just really glad that you came and saved me! And I think Patamon is too! [He said before pointing to the flying mammal that was currently sitting on top of his head. While the Digimon didn't say anything, the look on his face just said it all. He was thankful for helping the young boy and faced him the biggest smile he could make! Although, it didn't last for long as he and Takeru looked down at the strange device before him]
Mhmm, I am! But I don't think I got a chance to look through it yet though. But if you happened to see my friends on there, let me know! And ask them if they're okay or something! I really don’t want them to be hurt!
[Then Patamon chimed in] And their Digimon partners too!
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Patamon, huh? I'm glad I was able to help you both out, then!
[ getting adjusted to tellus took some time, but glancing up at takeru's friendly companion doesn't incite feelings of nervous perturbation or extreme alarm, for once. maybe it's acclimatization. he'd known that kid, jack, who had a knack for defying gravity, enthralling young children, and playing practical pranks on the general populace. it's hard to be surprised by something only tangentially out of the ordinary, these days. ]
Why don't we get out of here for now? You do need to pick out the place you'll be living at from now on, but I think it'd be best to stay with people close to you if they are here.
[ starting forward, he retracts his cerevice in lieu of extending an obliging hand to takeru, then continues his advance toward the residential district. ]
What are your friends' names, Takeru-kun, Patamon? I'll check if their in the contacts list now, but don't be disappointed if their names aren't here. If you go to the workshop of a guy called Tadashi Hamada, he can put an app on your CereVice that will tell you when your friends show up.
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But that was for another time. Right now? He'll just give a giggle]
I'm surprised, you don't see scared of Patamon at all! When I was playing those games, there were a few that were! [With that, the Digimon simply just gave Takeru a 'what is that suppose to mean' look at him. However, he didn't mean anything by it but it still didn't change the pout on his face!
But when Takeru was reminded that he might be living alone?]
Then I really hope that my friends are here! It would be really lonely if it were just Patamon and I! [Then he got his hand out and starting counting all of his friends!] Well...I have a lot of people I know but there's Taichi-san, Sora-san, Oniich...Yamato-kun, Koushirou-san, Mimi-san, Jyou-san, Hikari-chan...
Oh! And then there's Agumon, Biyomon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Palmon, Gomamon, and Tailmon! [A beat] ...I think I got everyone....
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Oh! Well, you see, I have been here for a while, so I thought your friend might've been a CYbuddy at first. He seems really nice, though. You won't try to scare me too badly, right, Patamon?
[ and he extends his hand into a half-wave by way of camaraderie. eventually, he settles on a complacent nod, skimming through the cerevice one more time. ] I see a few names that could be them, but I'm not sure if they're your friends. For example, there are two different people listed as 'Haru' on the contact list, but I'm only familiar with one. [ and he continues speaking without a clean break, in order to soften the blow: ] Don't worry. Even if they aren't here right now, I'm sure you'll find them eventually. In the meantime, it'll be good to make pals here to watch out for you, too!
[ makoto settles on proffering his hand out for the younger boy to grasp. ]
Do you need help finding your way around, Takeru-kun? You should have a map of Tellus with you, but I know I get a little lost trying to figure out where to go from written directions alone. [ cue a blithe nod! ] Will you at least let me see you off to your new place safe and sound?
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CYbuddy? Is that kind of like Digimon then? It certainly sounds a lot of like it would be on a computer or something! [And then Patamon decided to chime in] But don't worry, I won't! Although that depends on how much you want me to scare you!
[Still, as the older boy continued to look through the names, Takeru couldn't help but stand on top of his toes just to get a better look at it. Oh the joys of being a small 7 year old kid!] Well, that just means I need to look through them! I don't think it take them long before they'll start looking for the others! And especially Onii-chan! [But there was something in the back of his head that told him it was only just Patamon and him. Still, he stook it off for now]
But sure, I don't mind! I never had a place to myself before, it'll be really fun! [Then he gave a giggle] You know, you kind of reminds me a lot of Onii-chan though! It sounds a lot like something he would do!
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[ and en route to the residential district, makoto gestures at some pretty notable buildings, settling into relative equanimity as he spoke. ]
I think your friend Patamon is a little different from CYbuddies. They're robots, but they do need energy and care just like any other pal you have. They can look up things for you, too! Like a good restaurant you might want to eat at, or how much credits a video game at the electronics store costs.
[ so basically siri in animal form. well into the city, they cross a couple of blocks before makoto speaks up again. ]
It'll be tough living on your own, so you should try finding a roommate. A really good friend, for example! Someone you wouldn't mind spending the whole day with.
[ cue a weighted pause. ] Is this the first time you've been on your own before, Takeru-kun?