You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
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ii.
again.
at least athena doesn't seem that reluctant to help him out. ]
Are... [ "you okay" is what she'd like to add, but it's probably stupid to ask that. ] Do- Do you need help?
[ that's also stupid to ask. ]
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Not that being face down in the sand is a good way to start, anyway.
He hears a voice. Yeah, someone's definitely there. He'd sigh if it didn't mean he'd inhale more sand. Instead, Yosuke puts his hands on either side of his head and pushes himself up. And coughs. ]
--I'm-- [ COUGH HACK. ] --fine. S'just--
[ Wait. ]
...!!!
[ It takes him a whole 0.5 seconds to frantically flip over. Because, you know, his swimsuit--if someone can call it as much--doesn't leave much to be imagined about his butt. Sorry, Athena. He's trying to save you. Or himself.
The latter is kind of a lost cause. ]
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but he's lucky that athena just went to a spa the previous day and actually saw a naked alien man in the sauna and traumatised her for life, otherwise, this would be that dealbreaker and she'd probably have to beat him up... it wouldn't be cool if she did that now, huh? ]
I'm- [ his face, despite how frantic he looks is definitely much better to look at. ] sorry this is how you enter the colony.
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This--
[ He gives a sigh. ]
--yeah...that's still a little hard to swallow.
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[ she perks up and gives him a peace sign.
(athena, why won't you just help the poor guy up?) ]
Don't worry. Your planet didn't get eaten or anything.
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Huh? [ He blinks, a little wide-eyed as he looks up at her. His embarrassment is, for the moment, forgotten in lieu of more important matters. Like the fate of Earth and all of that. ] Those guys said...
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[ her voice goes lower as seconds pass. it's now that she finally offers him a hand up, though. congratulations, yosuke!]
CERES likes to lie often.
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So...everything I saw--that was a lie? That didn't actually happen?
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We're all still trying to figure out why CERES lied and what is actually happening, but some people have actually gone back to their homes and it was still in tact and everything.
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[ Of course, Yosuke has no idea that he's one of those people. Multiple times. But he does remember that a few strangers had recognized him in the desert... ]
That's...that's seriously messed up! They expect us to go along with their experiment because we have nothing else to go back to? It looked so real...
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[ she's so angry now, and yosuke would likely notice that her smiley face necklace has suddenly turned its display into an angry face. ]
Then more CERES stuff kept happening and we found out they were all lies! I hate liars.
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But they're the ones in charge around here, right?
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Yes, they are. [ she starts poking at her moon earring. ] It's pretty difficult to move around when they're constantly watching, too.
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But they also know that nobody believes a thing they say anymore. [ a beat. ] I'm speaking for the people who have been here longer than you, of course.
[ she should probably mention the ocular implants, but let's not have him get grossed out right now... she doesn't know how he'll take it tbh. ]
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