« 008 ⇢ event008.exe »

[reparator]

Who: CERES & you
When: OOC: 12/20-12/31; IC: 10/21-10/27
Where: Cerealia & Vidia's Secret
What: Event log
Rating/Warning: PG-13 | Horror Ahoy!

//event008.EXE You Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance You were always warned about the little things that go bump in the night, but you didn't believe them, did you? After all, ghosts don't exist, and things aren't really out to get you in the dark. As the month draws nearer to its final days, however, you're going to want to double check that belief of yours. On the eve of the 20th, continuing on, you'll feel the signs. It'll begin with a flicker, something barely noticeable. Conveniently, that day, the cinemas will start showing some creepy movies (maybe you'll have seen similar ones back home, or have you?) and you can access Ceres' TV stations- amazing show and movie line-up on their devices or TV screen. All seems to be normal, really... except for the weather that seems somewhat chilly and dismal throughout, with chances of storms every now and then. 'tis the season to be spooky, after all. It's just the weather being weird... Until you get the feeling that something is in your house... and you sure as heck didn't invite it in. How will you know? Well, you might hear it, whispering in your ear, or maybe see it as just appearing as part of that movie, or on a Holo-screen you're walking by, and disappearing as quickly as you hear or see it... "You'd better not shout, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout NoT TeLliNg YoU whY Gonna taste you, spit you out, smell you soon YoU STINKy LOuT. Hope you like the company. We've been dying to meet you."

//SCENARIOS.EXE PHASE I [ xxxx ] Your first day will go normally enough, even if some things at work or school will behave a little oddly. Nothing too major, but enough to give you a sense of unease through the day. The real fun begins when the evening is in full swing, because things will feel even worse than before. Objects will disappear and reappear in the wrong places, your HoloGM at home or the workplace will decide to suddenly flicker into strange shapes and frightening objects before turning to normal, and who threw that lamp?? If you were planning on spending an evening of peace, well. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... on the positive side, there's a fun stream of spooky shows to watch?! Just ignore the possibility of someone joining you... or not. Ignoring a guest isn't nice, you know. Will you run into the arms of a lover or friend, or run and hide? The choice is yours. PHASE II [ xxxx ] You're going to really not like what comes next, deep into the hours past 3 a.m. Hope you're not a cranky sleeper, because you may want to be up for this. Your Cerevice will blink a strange message that will merely read "W A R N I N G" and flicker to normal before you feel that your privacy has been completely compromised. Or at least haunted. Because the next thing you know? Ghosts. Lots of them. And they're not going to wait before giving you chase and letting your senses take the hit. Of course, you might just get lucky and not be visited by any of the ghosts at all- but then again, things will just continue to make you jumpy and spook you out throughout the time the others suffer. Hope you weren't counting on a lot of sleep. And as for those of you who will eventually become victims of your unfriendly visitors, well... hope your friends are around to help. Your CereVice certainly will. PHASE III [ xxxx ] What a rotten week. If you haven't been visited by your ghosts of eternal damage, you're going to have a nasty week at work with things going wrong and everything just points at you. If you have been hit by a ghost, you're going to be suffering the after-effects throughout. The good news is, your CereVices will do their best to compensate for what you did lose. You can voice activate them or touch activate them, or have them give you textual directions. Your healer friends however, can come in very handy and attempt to fix you up- and may even succeed! Though some effects may be stronger than the rest. Even ViViD will have some intriguing new stages that may put your recent condition into focus and have you work through them to gain a better boost. Just don't be surprised if it isn't entirely effective, but hey, remember when we said having friends is a good thing? Hope you've been making some, because they might just be the only chance you have against suffering this alone. PHASE IV [ xxxx ] As the week draws to a close, the effects of the hauntings will start to wear off, and surprise and joy, things will seem normal again. People won't be experiencing any irritations and jumpy situations at home anymore, and all will be well. Then night will fall and they'll come again. For those of you who were lucky enough to escape, the only trouble you'll have is the screams of horror and the frightening situations your friends are in (did we mention you had to make friends?)- you may have to get out of bed to help, hunt around- and probably put your life on the line. Because those that did get affected, will be dragged into a place of horror and fright, of shivers and quivers- Vidia's Secret: Premium Lingerie to suit all tastes. A beast of horrifying proportions awaits there, ready to tear your friends from limb to limb, so we do hope the captives are prepared to fight, or die trying. PURGATORY [ whyo'clock ] You died while fighting against the final boss. Sucks, but it happens. That's why you're here, after all. There isn't much, but make yourselves at home. The surroundings will look pleasant enough, little recovery huts with some cute digital medics of all types waiting in there to help you out. After about 12 hours in Ceres time, the characters will step out of ViViD and be given gift bags with "You Tried" stars on them, each containing a sexy set of lingerie (and animal onesies for anyone below 16) and pampering materials like bath bombs, chocolates, candles and shampoos to take the trauma off the last few days. For those that survived, they'll be getting the same, as well as "Well Done!" stars on their bags (and an extra massage coupon)- and all parties will recieve a little note contained within reading: "We're sorry, have some gifts. You can blame one of your own for being too curious, though. Remember to read the instructions next time, and don't go on witch hunts!" For those exploring Purgatory, just relax and enjoy the view. Also, your characters might have woken up wearing the lingerie or onesies during their "recovery treatment"... we're sorry they're the only clothes they'll get until they leave. :( [ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE Welcome to CEREALIA's latest event post. For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing what's going on right here and feel free to consult the FAQ if needed. Please leave any lingering questions in the OOC post, and we'll answer them as soon as we can.

Comments

open

[sewayaku]

phase ii (closed to Elza, Nesso, and Mary)

[ naturally, Zara is an extremely light sleeper, especially with everything on his mind in Cerealia. He's sitting at a desk in his room, browsing through his phone with rapt attention. The future certainly makes it easy to learn things - easy when you're halfway asleep since it's three in the morning. Eventually, he becomes a little thirsty, and so, he gets up to get a glass of water from the bathroom sink.

What happens next is exactly what everyone who walks into the bathroom at 3AM hopes doesn't happen: there's a hideous figure floating in the mirror when he sees it out of the corne of his eye, and it screams before he does - ear-piercingly, and quite literally. Zara's delicate rabbit ears burn up in agony, and he grips them desperately, knees buckling. Then it all disappears.

Almost literally. The pain smolders, but there's no sound, and no ghost, either. ]

What...? [ is what he says, he's sure, but he hears nothing. So he says again, louder: ] What in the world?!

[ anyone else, you may be woken up by Zara shouting. ]

phase iii

[ did you come to the hospital to have your unusual new problem looked at? or maybe you just happened to get punched in the face on top of everything else? No worries, Zara is here for you. Kind of.

Being deaf doesn't actually affect his ability to heal people, but it does affect his general mood, as well as his patience. Especially his patience. When your cute bunny-eared nurse comes to your room, it'll be with backturned ears and a whiteboard in hand. "What's wrong" is written in an elegant cursive script at the top, and he will hand it to you with nothing more than a tired look. ]

purgatory

[ whether he lived or died is irrelevant (he lived, for the record), because there is a much more pressing issue here. The gift bag is not enough to make up for the humiliation he's facing right now. Mostly because none of it is anything he can cover himself up with.

Suffice to say that Zara is currently crouching in a bush with just his head and ears poking out of the top and looking very, very red. Even he has limits on the kinds of shame he can endure, and being in public in something so frilly and pink is way over that limit. ]

... Please. Can anyone spare me a coat?

phase ii

[immobileyes]

[ Mary, in contrast to certain overachieving butlers, sleeps quite a bit and deeply-- but in a place that doesn't house Kido or Kano, the source of most of the noise, Zara's yelling snaps her awake fairly quickly.

It doesn't mean that she's entirely alert, however, as she fumbles out of bed and tries to reorient herself. Still, Mary's making good progress on getting to the source of it--

Until something large and wispy and utterly terrifying zooms right at her. Her scream is a startled, choked one in harmonious counterpoint to Zara's yelling as everything abruptly goes pitch-black around her and she...

... crashes unceremoniously into the wall right next to the bathroom. ]

sorry for delay!!

[sisconning]

[And in an amazing display of three for three, Nesso is awoken by both the screaming and the crash, and he's on his way out -- until, well, he doesn't see a thing. His ghost is invisible, after all. Until it finishes with him. And then for just a moment he's sure he sees himself walking away from him, and that's confusing.

So he's following after quickly. Zara will likely see "Nesso" go storming out the door before hearing the actual Nesso shouting after his doppleganger.]

Get back here! Hey! [Except wait. No okay. Priorities.] Zara?? [And hang on is that Mary in a heap on the floor?]

it's okay!

[sewayaku]

[ Zara doesn't hear anything at all - neither Nesso's worried calls nor Mary's crash. He feels himself sinking into a bit of a panic over it (something he never does) and urges himself to calm down, calm down, think rationally. Maybe it can be fixed.

Before he can get too upset, though, he feels the vibrations from someone hitting the wall nearby, and, alert, he rushes outside despite his current state of confusion. There's Mary on the ground. ]

Mary! Are you all right? [ he says in a too-loud voice, crouching down and putting a hand on her head. Then, almost immediately after, he spots Nesso coming down the hall. ] Nesso! Something is wrong!

[lionly]

[One moment Elza is sleeping away--you know, night shifts and all--and the next he's being awoken by a racket. His first inclination is to roll back over and go straight back to sleep, but then he hears screams and voices and commotion and he heaves himself out of bed, tousled and tired and grabbing his sword in case there's truly alarm.

Any tiredness is blown away when he gets out of his room and he sees Nesso leaving the house, but somehow he's still hearing Nesso's voice and Zara's voice is loud and what in the high hell is going on

Bewildered, he walks out, blinking with round gold eyes. And he spies Mary, and Zara and-- no Nesso?] What... Mary, Zara? [He looks around again. Where's Nesso? He approaches them, lowering to a knee.] What on earth's happened?

[immobileyes]

[ Mary is in a state of incredible befuddlement right now; she can hear Zara's voice (and it's super loud still), and Nesso's, but she can't see either of them, no matter how much she blinks and dazedly tries to scrub at her eyes. And by the time Elza gets there, she's on the verge of tears and fumbling blindly for Zara's hand as her voice hitches in a panicked sob. ]

I-it's so dark--

[sisconning]

Zara! Why are you yelling? What's wrong with Mary? [Something bad is happening he. That's all he can figure out. But that's pretty clear at least. He's nearly forgotten that he just watched himself walk out the door, ready to fall that some residual dream from being suddenly woken.

Until he goes to clap a hand on Zara's shoulder to get his attention and his touch passes straight through. Then he realizes something is definitely wrong. To his credit, he doesn't panic at least.] Elza! Something is happening. I think we may have problems.

purgatory...

[cheats]

[ At first, Zara might think that there's a friend just beyond the bush that he's hiding in, because a pair of rabbit ears poke up, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Oh, no, it is in fact Ciel, and he looks about as pleased now as he does in that picture, but he doesn't even have food to take his frustration out on. He's just sitting there, waiting for this torment to end, and he's surpassed the embarrassment stage of his onesie and is now into fury.

So when someone speaks up, he looks over with a sharp, angry glare, but he recognizes the ears, ultimately. It gets his expression to look less fierce, though he's definitely not happy in the slightest. ]

...Are you wearing a moronic outfit too.

[ With how he says it, it doesn't actually sound like a question... ]

NO NOT IN FRONT OF THE KID

[sewayaku]

[ ciel, you have no idea how much he wishes he was in a moronic outfit right now. Zara does, indeed, look surprised to see the bunny ears at first - mostly because he's never met another Rabbits - but the "Rabbits'" identity becomes perfectly obvious in a matter of seconds. He proceeds to look even more uncomfortable. Why did it have to be someone he actually knows and who seems to respect him somewhat? ]

I'm... afraid not. In fact, I would say the problem is what I'm not wearing.

[ don't make him stand up please ]

[cheats]

[ Considering how Ciel had arrived here, he catches the meaning right away, and also looks away with a frown. Suddenly, his stupid rabbit suit doesn't seem so bad, since it's definitely better than the apparent alternative. ]

Wait, are you wearing anything?

[ if not, this is definitely stranger danger and he'll have to run away, sorry zara ]

[sewayaku]

[ he wouldn't hold it against ciel at all ]

I am. It's just that... Well...

[ how does he put this. For once in his life, Zara's cheeks color a little bit pink, and he frowns deeply, glancing away. Very rarely does he get embarrassed, but this is an exceptional case. ]

... It's not appropriate to have on in public. [ he clicks his tongue in annoyance. ] They must think they're very funny.

[cheats]

[ Ciel's brow knits together in confusion, since he's not sure what that's supposed to mean, but he's also pretty sure that he doesn't want to know. Considering this stupid city, he wouldn't be surprised if it's something inappropriate like how he and Zara had met in the first place.

The idea makes Ciel sigh heavily, but he stands and puts his hands on his hips as he looks towards Zara. Usually, it would be a noble, commanding sort of posture, but in the bunny suit... The effect is pretty much lost. ]

Ugh... This place is disgusting. I'll find you something, all right?

[sewayaku]

[ "Disgusting" is one way to put it. The rabbit looks back at him, appearing truly grateful. There's his hero. Even if he does look completely ridiculous in that costume. (Should he be offended? He doesn't know...) ]

You're too kind to me, Earl Phantomhive. [ a heavy sigh. ] I'm sorry that we keep meeting under these terrible circumstances... I promise you that it's far from my intention.

[ now hurry and get him a trenchcoat before his legs start to cramp ]

purgatory

[thirdarrow]

[ Zara, at least you received men's clothing. This guy here is stuck with ladies' lingerie.

But he has a Persona, and this individual did not. Awanagi responds to his subconscious, acting as a living shield. That meant he could spare something.

Taking off his chemise... overcoat... whatever it was called, he hands it to the young man in the bush. ]

This isn't much, but I hope it can help you.

[sewayaku]

[ bless you, Awanagi. May your life be filled with light and joy. Zara cringes to see another man stuck in such an outrageous getup, and his instinct is to turn his eyes away, but when he replies, he manages to look him properly in the face. And thank goodness for that, since he's Zara's savior. Indeed, it isn't much, but it is better than nothing. So much better than nothing.

One bare arm emerges from the bush to accept the overcoat. ]

Thank you. Truly, thank you... You've saved me. [ ... a pause. ] ... If you could... turn the other way, I'd appreciate it.

[ because he's going to stand up, and he'd rather not have the poor guy witness what he's wearing, even if it does make his bunny tail look cute. ]

[thirdarrow]

[ ... that explains a lot.

Takakage has enough self-control to not look, and turns around when Zara requests so. His Persona glides behind him for a moment, just in case, while he waits for the other man to... do whatever he was going to do. ]

I think we may be able to get some sheets if we look in the correct places.

[ Roman-style togas aren't that bad, right? ]

[sewayaku]

[ once he's outfitted in the not-as-long-or-opaque-as-he'd-like overcoat and has pulled it over himself as much as possible, he finally steps out of the bush with a sigh, looking quite miserable. He'd rather fight ten more monsters than have to walk back home like this. ]

Yes, that may be a -- [ good idea, he was going to say, but then he sees the weird... thing floating in front of the man. Somehow, he didn't ntoice it before. ] -- w-who is that?

[thirdarrow]

[ Ah yes. The standard reaction almost everyone has to his Persona. The very nature of a Persona is hard to explain, especially to individuals with little concept nor experience with it.

He turns around slowly - hopefully it would be safe now - and Awanagi mirrors his motions, covering his back. ]

This is my Persona. Consider it a summonable spirit assistant of sorts. [ Right now it is assisting him with his modesty. ] It will not harm you, for it obeys my will.

[ He could explain more, but it would take some time. ]

[sewayaku]

A spirit?

[ weirder and weirder things keep happening. Zara hadn't believed in anything like ghosts or magic until he came here. Apparently, other worlds were a lot looser with things like science and logic - something he's not sure how to take.

For now, the spirit seems harmless enough, and he has little choice but to accept what he sees at face value. He's got other things to worry about, anyway - like getting home while wearing nothing but underpants and a chemise. Sigh. ]

I... see. My apologies. I have not had many good experiences with spirits this week.

iii

[poised]

[It's really impressive that you're still at work, Zara. Honestly Natalia had a feeling that she'd be more of a burden than any help at a construction site and so she decided to take the day off in favor of helping others. At the very least though, she went to see if she could get any additional help for herself first.....

And when she gets the whiteboard, she merely gives him a sympathetic look. On it, she writes:

"Impaired hearing. The same as yourself, it seems?"]

[sewayaku]

[ oh, it's the young lady from before. He tries to seem at least a little more cordial for her sake once he recognizes her. Quickly, he gives her a once-over to check for any obvious external injuries while she replies to his written message, but, thankfully, he doesn't spot anything. Not-so-thankfully, though, he sees that her ailment is the same as his own when he gets the whiteboard back. Zara gives her a sympathetic glance before penning another message.

"You are correct. I'm sorry, but we haven't been able to determine the cause." ]

[poised]

[She appears thoughtful for a moment before reaching to receive the whiteboard again. Then she takes her time writing:

"I used healing magic from my world and I can hear a little bit better. Would you like me to try the same with you?"

When she hands the whiteboard over to him, she also holds up her hand and focuses, allowing a green glow to emit from her hand. It's harmless magic otherwise, but she thought that she'd at least extend a slight remedy even if it's not able to quite solve everything.]

[sewayaku]

[ considering everything else he's seen here, he's not so sure why seeing glowing green magic still surprises him, but it does. He stares goggle-eyed at her hand for a second or two; then, he remembers to be polite, quickly directing his gaze back to the whiteboard so he can properly respond.

She's the one who came here for treatment - it doesn't seem right that he gets healed. And he's not sure what he thinks of using magic in place of real medical treatment. But... Natalia seems kind enough. What's the worst that could happen?

"If it's not too much trouble."

... Zara isn't sure what using it entails. After a moment's hesitation, he lowers his head somewhat awkwardly in case she needs to touch his ears to make it work or something. (He hopes not.) ]

[poised]

[Well, the fact that he's willing to lower his head does make it a little bit easier, even if she has to stifle a bit of a laugh at how awkward the movement is. Her mouth opens to try to reassure him that it's not going to be all too difficult, but then she remembers that the deafness is... actually what she's trying to cure here.... ah.

Still, she's not sure how effective her healing artes will be on something like this. It only restored partial hearing to her, how much could it work on another person from a different world? Regardless, she lacks interest in just leaving without trying to help now that she knows that one of her acquaintances was also afflicted with it. So she raises both of her hands then, gloved hands hovering over the bases of his ears - goodness, how does that anatomy of even work, they're so high - and then she begins to focus.

The green light returns, this time with the intention of actually healing him from his ailment. It doesn't take more than a few seconds - she might have lingered a bit longer than usual, if only in an attempt to be thorough - and when she lowers her hands she then speaks as if to test it-]

Can you hear me, Zara?

[sewayaku]

[ against his wishes, he feels his face heat up just barely at the suggestion of her hands against his ears - it feels ticklish and a little strange, but, more than anything, it's a slightly intimate gesture in his world, and it's odd to have a girl he hardly knows doing it. But he'd rather endure this and (hopefully) have his hearing return than go on another day living as a deaf rabbit, so he bears it. Distractedly, Zara wishes he could see what was going on. How does healing magic work, exactly? Especially when one doesn't know the cause of the injury.

It quickly becomes obvious that it was worth it; his ears twitch right away when he hears the ambient noises of the hospital - the whirring of machines and such - and again at the distant sound of her voice. Not perfect, but better than nothing, and better than what he'd been able to accomplish. He stands back up quickly, face clearing up into something surprised and much more energetic. ]

I can...! Just slightly, but... Goodness, how does that work? [ a pause, then a chuckle. ] You've come here as a patient, but it seems you're doing more than the doctor can.