estoria | //EVENT024.EXE

Entry tags:

//EVENT024.EXE

Who: Everyoneeeeee!
When: OOC: 1/15 ; IC: 5/7
Where: ViViD's new level: Your Health and You (And Giant Monsters)
What: Intro log, welcome to Cerealia!
Rating/Warning: PG-13 for violence, etc! Please let the mods know if the rating needs to be changed or if the log needs to be locked!

//event024.EXE

The thing about Cerealia is, there really isn't any nature to be found here. Sure, you can go outside the walls of the city and explore the land beyond but who wants to risk a terrible, horrible death just to sniff the flowers? Not you, that's who! CERES understands that, CERES sympathizes, and sometimes CERES decides to take action when such problems arise. As part of the company's current "Healthier and Happier YOU" initiative, they've decided to let everyone get back in touch with nature a little.

Via ViViD.

Of course, this being CERES, the nature they've sent everyone to is more of a swamp. The place is disgusting, a real marvel of ViViD ingenuity and it smells like the dead. There's strange rustling among the leaves from creatures that may or may not want to eat you, and random pits that open up right under your feet with the goal of sending you straight into the marsh. It's not really that fun. There's no welcome sign either, no nothing except for swamplands as far as the eye can see.

Welcome to ViViD!

This is Mosley. One of our programmers forgot to include a welcome greeting for the level this time. How incompetent can you get? He's been fired now, it's fine. Instead, I will greet you today. Lucky you! You've been invited today to participate in CERES's "Healthier and Happier YOU" level where we've combined both physical exercise and relaxing meditation into the ultimate ViViD experience. Isn't that fun? You can... go camping and stuff. Or whatever. I don't... know...

Honestly, I don't even care. Have fun.

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ 600 ] Welcome to your new healthy living training ground! What does a swamp have to do with healthy living, you may ask? Absolutely nothing! To make up for it, CERES has outfitted all players with the proper equipment for their new healthy living lifestyle. They also may or may not have let you keep your shoes based on how benevolent the ViViD gods were being at the time. (Not very.)

Oh, and all newcomers will have something additional on their fancy new yoga shirt. It will be displayed loudly and proudly all over the front and back of it. And if you're one of the few not wearing a shirt, it will be on the back of your pants. As in, your butt. It will be on your butt.

What’s ViViD trying to say, anyway?

Regardless, it probably doesn’t matter as much as finding your way through the swamp. Some sort of dry land would be really nice right now, wouldn't it? You'll have to watch out for the mud that will suck you right down under the marsh, and the creatures with lots of teeth that will never surface from the mud but won't hesitate to snap up an unwary foot or two.

CERES is sure you'll be fine. Totally and completely fine.

PHASE II

[ 800 ] Eventually, if you try really, really hard, you’ll make it to a house. Actually, it’s more of a shack, really. If you clamber your way out of the mud and the gunk and the marsh into said shack, you will find it to be empty aside from a table. A table hosting a huge pile of... well, health drinks. See, there's totally a health theme in this level. CERES would never make a ViViD level that wasn't thematically appropriate. Never! Health drinks of all sorts and types and sizes can be found here and there’s even a sign too; it simply says:

Take one.

Well, that seems safe.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave said shack until you do take one. And drink it. The door will lock shut and cover itself in more swamp until you do. Yay. Depending on your luck, the drink may do the following to you:
➟ Cause your ViViD experience to glitch. This may involve phasing through walls, seeing everything in 8-bit, or hearing really annoying old video game music everywhere you go.

➟ Cause status effects. This can include suddenly moving incredibly slowly, being turned to stone for a period of time, suddenly being on fire, suddenly being poisoned, etc etc.

➟ Be healthier. Mmm, kale and hummus smoothie. Taste those veggies.
If you try to take more than one, that’s fine too, nobody will stop you, but you probably won’t get lucky more than once.

PHASE III

[ 900 ] And back you go, out into the swampy wilderness. Don’t give up! Keep going! Eventually, you’ll find the end of this level. Probably.

Eventually, though, you may stumble across something in the mud and the muck. It’s... a little doll?

In fact, it’s a little doll of one of your most important people (or, alternatively, of someone you absolutely hate). It might be someone in Cerealia currently, or someone who isn’t, but either way, the doll is there and it’s clearly them (covered in mud and all). Be careful, though. If you toss it aside, you’ll suddenly see that important person being tossed aside. If you cut the doll, you'll suddenly see that person bleeding. Even if they aren’t present in Cerealia, whatever happens to that doll, you'll see it happening to them. Is it a hallucination or are they actually there? That's a little more up in the air.

And if they are present in Cerealia, well... doing things to that doll might very well hurt them too -- for real, this time, though.

Be careful! Or don't. You do you, as CERES would say.

PHASE IV

[ 1200 ] And then, eventually you reach a quiet, swampy area. Not that the rest of the swamp isn't swampy, this area is just extra swampy.

There’s very little happening here in this swampy place; even the birds are no longer squawking. And for a long moment, everything will remain quiet and peaceful, a place of reprieve... until the swamp begins to bubble. Then suddenly, a new friend will burst out of the swamp, showering mud and gunk everywhere.

Without warning, that creature is going to try to grab for the nearest person (it might be you!) and let out a mighty roar when they have them. Then, they'll hold them up to... read the nutrition facts on their shirt? What?

Of course, it will try to gobble you or whoever else it grabs if it finds, say, the salt content to be acceptable (the monster is watching their carbs). If it's not, then they'll just fling you away and move onto the next snack. For those without a handy nutrition facts label on your shirt, well, it might just take a gamble and try to eat you anyway.

Great. A health-conscious monster. That's just what this level needed.

BONUS

[ xxxx ] Finally, you’re free of the game. Without warning, you’re dumped into Cerealia properly and you’re able to scrub the mud and gunk from your clothing (wait why did that come back with you and where are your normal clothes?). You're able to then make your way to your new place of residence (or old) and...

There is a tiny tree there waiting for you. Isn’t it cute? And if you take care of this tiny tree, it will eventually bear fruit! Tiny fruit. Itty bitty fruit.

Depending on which tiny tree you get, it will be one of the following: a tiny dildo tree, a tiny bacon tree, a tiny kazoo tree, a tiny carolina reaper tree, or a (dumb) tiny hats tree.

Everything will, naturally, be tiny. Enjoy your new healthy CERES gift!

[ 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. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to Cerealia's January 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. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ yeah, good going, merlin. athena sure isn't buying it. and while she isn't exactly covered in as much mud and dirt as merlin is, she still looks pretty dirty and frazzled. ]

Oh, really? [ she asks, an eyebrow arched. ] What for?

I was... [ There's a long break as he stares back at her... searching for words. An excuse. ] Searching.

[ That sounds good, right? ]

I was searching for something. [ It isn't a very good excuse tbh. ]

[ merlin, this girl is an expert liar, and you, sir, are not. but, okay. she came in here to help, anyway. she'll play along. ]

What were you searching for? Maybe I can help.

[ it's fine... no one ever believes him anyway.

especially when the next words that come out of his mouth is: ]

My. My dinner. It was my dinner. [ A long sigh follows, along with a few small nods. ] It's too late for that now.

Has anybody ever told you that you're a bad liar, mister... [ she walks closer to merlin and squints. ] Nutrition Facts?

[ wait. ]

That's not your name, is it?

[ realy weird, if so. ]

[ At least he looks sheepish when he needs to be. There are some things (mostly hiding his magic) that he's a pro at lying about, anything else... nope. ]

More often than you probably think. But no, that really isn't my name. [ It gives him a cause to look down at the awful shirt again. ] Merlin. My name's Merlin.

[ At least it is on there so he can actually point out her error. Can they just call this a draw on dumb things to say? ]

Oh!

[ she claps her hands together, squinting a little more to see if merlin is even on his shirt. and it is! in little text... maybe they should have made it bigger for athena. can't have it all, though. ]

Merlin, then! I'm- [ instinctively, she looks down at her grey shirt. nope, no "nutrition facts" there. must be a newbie thing. ] Athena. Athena Cykes.

I'm looking for newbies! You're one, aren't you?

[ Well Ceres doesn't seem to like making it easy for people. At least it has his name. ]

Athena. [ He gives her a grin in return for that. It's pretty nice of someone to go out on a mission looking for new people stuck in this mess. ]

You could say that, though I distinctly recall a place filled with trash, too. It's a bit difficult to keep up.

[ she begins to poke at her earring as she hums in thought. a place filled with trash? could it be the dumpsite outside of the colony? nah... everybody enters through vivid upon arrival. ]

Was it another ViViD stage? [ that's probably it. ] I don't think I've played in that area before.

But if it's a place filled with trash, then I'm lucky that I wasn't stuck in there.

[ What a Wonderful welcome greeting. ]

Uh... maybe? [ He's still trying to wrap his head around all this technological stuff. ]

It was pretty nasty, though I think I preferred that to... well, this.

[ AT LEAST HE WASN'T CALLED FAT THERE???? ]

Yeah, don't expect your welcome to be... nice.

[ because this could possibly not be your only time being welcomed into cerealia. ]

I think I'd prefer this over the dump, though. I mean, I survived being in a jungle! I can do anything! [ she's even flexing her non-existent muscles. this is great. ]

[ You might want to rethink that Athena?!?! Though admittedly it's harder to think about this when she's pretending to be Mr Macho Man or something. Good going, girl. Show Ceres who is boss??? ]

I'm not entirely sure a jungle and a swamp is exactly the same thing...

[ ATHENA NEVER RETHINKS ANYTHING. talk first, think later!! that's her motto.

it's a pretty bad one, but hey... she tries really hard, ok? ]

Well, the jungle was a real-life thing. The swamp's just in ViViD! So I guess they are different. [ athena, that's not what he means. ] And there were a lot of monsters in the jungle, too.

[ Well he can't fault her for that... It's how he ends up in the most ridiculous of situations at times. ]

Too? [ He repeats that back, twisting to look around now to check there aren't any monsters nearby. ] You were making that up, right?

Huh? Of course, not!

[ merlin, you silly bean. ]

We're in ViViD, so there's a ton of monsters. The only place we're usually safe in is the colony. [ a quick beat. ] Oh! You'll see it when you log out, of course.

[ you can be hopeful?!!?! ]

Of course not. [ He breathes it out, because when are things ever easy? When will he ever get a break? Though uh-- All of this is worthless if he doesn't really understand how he left last time. ]

When I... log out?

[ she nods as she snaps her fingers/ ]

That's right! You're in ViViD - it's a video game. Since we're made of code, we were uploaded to ViViD where we have to play through certain stages, like now! [ that's a lot of technical terms, may merlin understand them all... ]

Oh, and since you're new, I should tell you now that you shouldn't believe everything you heard in that presentation.

[ No, Athena. No. He's jumped forward like 1000 years how is he supposed to understand most of this?! The look he gives her is pretty telling of that too.

He'll figure it out... later. Maybe.

Her last statement is a little more important. ] Which parts shouldn't I believe then? Because honestly, I'm having problems believing any of it.

[ it's okay, merlin! if you want to ask something, just go ahead and do it! athena's 100% willing to help you out. but if you won't ask theeeeen that's your loss 8( ]

Oh, good! Because we were totally kidnapped, we weren't brought here to fight Flamines, and our worlds aren't destroyed.

[ and then she remembers something, which makes her speak even louder— ] AND I FORGOT! [ but at least she quickly realises her volume. ] Whoops. We're code, though. That part is actually true.

[ Does that offer still apply once they're out of this first mess???

She probably has no idea how much of a relief that is to hear though. ]

And you're certain of that? [ What the hell. ] How do you know? How can you be so certain?

[ Because loud = certain, right? ]

Because I've been here for half a year now.

[ her expression suddenly turns serious. ]

It hasn't been a fun ride.

Half a year?!

[ Now who is being loud?

Though Athena... he can already tell it wouldn't be a fun ride when he's been to a trash heap and a swamp and it's only like ... day 1. ]

[ wow merlin, way to startle the bugs and other strange monsters roaming about with your Loud Voice. ]

Some have even been here for close to eight months now.

[ Well they certainly should probably move from there asap now right. Oops. Now like Athena helped either?! ] I can't. I really have to get back.

[ Seriously how is he supposed to help Arthur, help Camelot while he's stuck here??? ]

Oh! Well, even if you have things to do at home, it's fine.

[ ok, no, it's not fine, but she's trying to be comforting here. ]

Time stops back in your world while you're here. If and when you go back, it's as if you didn't miss anything.

i.

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