« 006 ⇢ event006.exe »

[reparator]

Who: CERES & you
When: OOC - 11/25-12/02 ; IC - 10/09-10/12
Where: Cerealia & Pleasure District
What: Event log
Rating/Warning: PG-13 | possibly nsfw (please let us know if you need this rating changed)

//event006.EXE I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa-bot underneath the Mistletoe It's the morning of October 9th when you feel it. At first, it's a gentle rumble. Then, the ground begins to quake harder as a transparent shield erupts from the perimeter of the colony. Those fortunate enough to be standing outdoors will get a glimpse of it as it slowly closes around the colony, forming a glass dome that keeps everything enclosed inside. It may spark your curiosity. It may even cause a bit of fear and anxiety, but other than that, the day remains the same. Plain. Neutral. A little too quiet. That's when the cold sneaks up on you, little by little. You may notice yourself shivering and in need of a warm blanket. It's just a little breeze, right? You might close the windows in your apartment or throw on a sweater. But the cold doesn't stop there. The temperature begins to plummet gradually by the hour, and you notice frost appearing on all visible surfaces. Machines start to malfunction and grow stiff all over. The wind knocks over a few post boxes and signs. Your skin goes numb in places. Shrinkage happens for those who have things that shrink. All in all, it's an unpleasant experience, and the trains are shut down, leaving most of the colony's citizens with limited transportation. However, a figure appears in a dimly corner of the station to brighten your day. He has a blanket laid out with snow globes placed on top, some plain, some rose-tinted. They're all for sale for a meager 25 credits. Since he can't speak, he lets his boom box do the talking for him, letting out a familiar song. "♬~ Oh the weather outside is frightful But the fire is so delightful And since we've no place to go Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! It doesn't show signs of stopping And I've bought some corn for popping The lights are turned way down low Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!~♬"

//SCENARIOS.EXE PHASE I [ xxxx ] The cold is starting to set into your bones, a sharp pain emanating from the way it seems to burrow under your flesh. No amount of jackets, parkas, and sweaters offer relief as the temperature plummets by the hour. The streets are paved with ice everywhere, and snow is rapidly falling from the ceiling of the dome. Will you play in it? Will you settle by the fire with a warm beverage? Will you and your ill-prepared body be subjected to the slow madness promised by hypothermia? It might seem bearable at first, but nothing is ever that simple or easy in Cerealia. Of course, for those who wish to brave the weather, come see the snow globe salesman in Cerealia's train station. He'll show you a few wonders that linger behind the glass. PHASE II [ xxxx ] Just as the cold starts to reach its most unbearable temperatures, a single haven lies in the Pleasure District at Cerealia's famous virtual Fantasy Hub. Whispers will pass from lips to lips, moving quickly across the colony about the warmest place to be. Your character is welcome to investigate for themselves and set aside their embarrassment for a little bit of reprieve. The robot staff will be more than welcoming, offering you compliments, cookies, and hot chocolate. The three great C's! They will let everyone linger about the lounge and encourage them to pair up and try out a bit of the technology. They might even find a little something to smile about after. The robots will be promising customers a lovely boost of warmth just for subjecting themselves to a world of their own desires. PHASE III [ xxxx ] For those brave enough to venture into their virtual fantasies, you'll be lead into a private booth where no one else will be able to bother you. A headset will be available for you and any companions of choice. Feel free to put it on and check it out. You'll be prompted to type in or verbally explain your fantasy before watching the world being built before your eyes until you're completely immersed in your ideal world. You are welcome to roam around and enjoy for as long as you wish but do remember you're on the clock and that there are other customers waiting. Oh and do try and clean up the booth after use! PHASE IV [ xxxx ] It's day four. The cold has reached its lowest, most unbearable point. Those who took a trip into their own fantasies or the fantasy of others are now free to revel in the warmth (and in their own embarrassment and shame). Congratulations! For those who avoided it, prepare to feel numb in places and to possibly lose a finger or two. The CERES medical facility will do their best to stick you back together or keep you from death. The suffering will continue until the very last second when Julius Vincere, CERES' CEO, will appear on all screens and billboards to announce that the climate problems have been fixed at last. Just like that, the dome will open once more, and the temperature will return to normal. With that comes another set of apologies same as before. How much are you willing to put up with his bullshit? BONUS [ whyo'clock ] They're cute. They're cuddly. They're also being sold at a CYbuddy shop near you, provided that snow hasn't blocked the door from opening. They're seemingly harmless and innocent until you take your eyes off of them. That's when they'll scuttle to your underwear drawer and slowly and surreptitiously start stealing pairs of it to hide in a super secret stash so it can sell your unmentionables in an elaborate robot underwear smuggling ring. Prepare to brave the cold without underwear. [ 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

[sunshrouded]

[ phase i ]

[If you're wandering around in this cold, you may or may not find yourself passing Tenka. If you even recognize it's Tenka. Because right now Tenka is making use of the fact that he bought five of the same sweater and used them to layer up like no other. He also invested in proper shoes instead of sandals. Wow, amazing.

But right now Tenka is on a mission. He's slowly rolling up differently sized balls of snow and then working on stacking them on top of each other. . . . except with his craftsmanship, there's a good chance that the snowballs are lumpy or lopsidedly stacked. Shut up, he gets points for effort.

Do you help him out? Ask him what he's doing? Trip over one of the snow piles he made? Get tackled by a runaway snowball that's getting bigger by the second?

Alternatively, he'll wave to get someone's attention if they look particularly chilly or curious, calling out to them-]

Hey, wanna lend me a hand?

[Or you can come by when he's closer to the finished product - which is basically a little family of snow-people. He nods to himself, looking quite pleased with his work.... and also rather nostalgic.]

[ phase iii - closed to sousei ]

[Dumb partners doing dumb things, it's the usual.

Anyway, as they're prompted to type something?? In??? To get it working???? Tenka is honestly just going to look over at Sousei and elbow him, whispering as if he's trying not to get in trouble.]

Pssst. Sousei. Hey, what're you putting in for your fantasy?

[tenka stop]

[ phase iv - sorta (closer to day 3 than 4, before vincere's message regardless) ]

[Hello friends, this is Tenka attempting a video message. Do you feel like you've seen this guy's face enough yet? Regardless, he's at home and.... not really bundled up at all. In fact, he's not even wearing a sweater. What sorcery is this?]

I'm not sure how many people can access this message, but if your device somehow gets defrosted, I'm opening up my house as a haven if you don't want to deal with pushy robots. For some reason when I got home, it was all warm! Don't hesitate to stop by if you need it. Take care of yourselves!

[At least he also provides a crudely drawn map. There you go.

For those who are not so fortunate as to have access to the network, Tenka's taken at least two blankets, cocooned himself in them, and has proceeded to waddle outside, braving the cold again. He's out there for 30 minutes at a time, calling out to anyone who passes by-]

Hey, hey! Get inside before you turn into an icicle!

iv!

[souredsweet]

[This cold weather is buLLSHIT and an awful mood destroyer, so Kaoru is even more bundled up than Tenka by the time they bump into each other. To combat the plummeting temperatures, Kaoru's borrowed a knit hat with little ear flaps and a large scarf, which means barely any actual face is showing when the "-you turn into an icicle!" is heard and Kaoru shuffles in place to find its source. Oh... it's the bar nerd again!!

There's a muffled noise that might be a word and then a sound of vague frustration from the Abominable Snowclothingman before one gloved hand struggles out of layers of jackets to pull the scarf down a little. IMMEDIATE REGRET... FROZEN NOSE. What fresh wintery hell is this??]

—Tenka-san? What are you doing out in this weather?

[who even knows what Kaoru's doing out, it is a mystery. A frostbitten mystery...]

[sunshrouded]

[Tenka didn't have a lot of guesses as to what or who might be underneath that pile of clothes in the first place but he can especially promise that he didn't expect Kaoru. So he's just going to blink in surprise now and wave a hand to gesture for Kaoru to come closer.

There's also a good chance his lips are turning blue.]

Making sure people like you aren't stuck out in the cold!! C'mon, Kaoru-chan, my apartment's just upstairs. [and he pauses for a shiver because COLD] Let's have some tea.

[souredsweet]

[TENKA DON'T DIE... But Kaoru will come stiffly shuffling over when gestured - being partially frozen and wearing like ten thousand layers of clothing has significantly hampered any smooth movement that would otherwise be happening. This is about as far from elegant as possible...]

Ah— Are you certain...? [But Kaoru is freezing and also eying Tenka's face like is frostbite already setting in, and because of that, not as much uncertain fussing will be put up as there normally might be.]

I would very much appreciate it. You should get back inside as well... If you're to be standing outside trying to find people, you ought to be wearing even more than that.

[sunshrouded]

Absolutely positive!!

[But now he's getting up from wherever he's perched on and opening the door to his apartment complex. It's not that much warmer inside but it's at least manageable.]

I only stop by out here every now and then - it's really hard to leave the warmth of my apartment. For some reason, it's self-sustaining in there! Now c'mon, before you catch something.

i

[particularity]

[Building snowmen... Playing in the snow is one of Hinata's very last priorities right now because he's a giant paranoid stick in the mud. Still, he does slow once he (vaguely) recognises the shape beneath those many layers of sweaters, curious.]

--oh.

[He's spotted one of the stacked snowballs that Tenka's moved on from starting to lean and so walks over to catch it with a mittened hand, pushing it back into place, patting it into place before looking his way.] How many of these are you doing?

[sunshrouded]

Hinata-kun!! Come to play with me a bit?

[It's snowy and cold but Tenka still seems to be in high enough spirits, which is weird. There's a good chance he's more concerned than he's letting on but right now there are snowmen to be built. That takes priority.]

Hmm... I think about four is a good number. Five if I'm feeling ambitious.

[particularity]

Eh, well, I--

[I shouldn't be playing but the words kinda die on his tongue. He stares at the snow. How long has it been since he played in the snow? Forever, probably.]

I guess I can help out, then... [As usual, there's that anxious guilt from the time in Haven, the thought that he should be doing something else, but this time he quashes it.]

[sunshrouded]

[The hesitance isn't really lost on Tenka and he snorts in response. No, he doesn't really get it but what matters is that Hinata's agreed to help out now.]

That's the spirit! Live a little. Just grab some snow and start rolling it up.

ii;

[deontology]

[What is a fantasy..... honestly, Sousei's staring blankly at all of this. He doesn't want to be here. He doesn't think this is where he should be. He doesn't trust any of this technology.

And he doesn't know what a "fantasy" is.

He's lived his life on dreams and goals, but never fantasies--and so when Tenka nudges him, he just blinks.]

... ... ... [yeah he has no idea]

[sunshrouded]

[ . . . . ]

You poor, depressing ponytail......

[deontology]

[EXCUSE???]

There is nothing depressing about me! I just don't have time to fantasize.

Do you have a fantasy?

[JEEZE]

[sunshrouded]

Of course I do! Do not doubt the grand and varied visions of the great Kumou Tenka!

[translation: no]

[sisconning]

[Nesso hadn't exactly wanted to brave the chill, but his little household is still quite freezing (so far has he knows anyway), and even if Elza piled them with blankets and warmer clothes, provisions must still be acquired.

The cold has him slowed down, and he's bundled in so many layers he's nigh on unrecognizable, peeking out from within a hood drawn up as much as he can manage and a blanket held close around that. The call catches his attention, and the face is familiar.]

Oh? Is this the proper way to give a warning then? [At least he's not too cold for bantering? That's probably a good sign.]

[sunshrouded]

[Probably a good sign. It's enough of a reminder that Tenka just snorts even as he recognizes Nesso, despite the level of abominable blanketman happening right now.]

Very proper, because I have a solution! [And what is this grand solution-] Have a rest stop before your fingers freeze off. I have tea inside!

[because tea solves all problems and the Pleasure District didn't have any okay]

[sisconning]

[Yeah it's not really a fashion statement that Nesso is happy about making, but it's a fair bit warmer than his normal armor anyway. He spares a smile from beneath his blanketed cowl.

Actually as solutions go, that does sound pleasant.] A rest stop?

[Hmm. Tea sounds really amazing.] For a moment or two perhaps. I have to get back with what I've found, or the others will start to worry. [And probably also get hungry.] Thank you.

i!

[immobileyes]

How cute... [ Mary, she who is engulfed in like seven layers of coats and scarves so that her face is barely visible, still manages to look enraptured by the sight. A little snow family! ]

[sunshrouded]

Not as cute as you, Mary-chan!

[At least the voice is familiar enough that Tenka can recognize her, tiny pile of coats and scarves that she is. Now he's just laughing though as he pats the head of the smallest snowman.]

Have you ever made a snowman before?

[immobileyes]

Uh-uh. [ she'd shake her head if the scarves would let her. ] But I've seen pictures!

iv

[mermaiding]

[Where he's fro, the water gets to about 30-something degrees (Fahrenheit; 0 Celsius), so she thought herself better equipped to handle this cold than most.

At first it had gone well, Oona spending most of her time snickering at the humans running around cold until it had gotten to her as well. Solo trips into the pleasure district only lasted so long and she could already feel the co creeping back in. Obnoxious.

Speaking of...

She makes a face at him] Should you not be inside yourself? Will freeze, stupid aniki. [Not that she cares or anything.]

[sunshrouded]

Whaaaa, so mean, Oona-chan!

[Though his pout really doesn't last long. Instead he's going to extend one hand past his blanket burrito and wave her to come over.]

Come inside with me! It's freezing out here!!

[mermaiding]

[She looks about ready to refuse, but...well, it's freezing outside. Even she can't deny that one.

So, reluctantly, she makes her way over and tries to repress a shiver.] Fine. But only because you will not leave me alone until I do so. I know you.

Why out here in the first place?

iv (am i too late?)

[firstcloud]

[ Because Kagemitsu is so suspicious of all that are every machine ever, Kagemitsu has not participated in the fantasy adventures. He was at the venue, but he's not going to actually participate. On the other hand, he made an interesting acquaintance there. He now knows what ninja are.

He doesn't manage to catch Tenka's message, but he was intending to check up on his descendant and Sousei either way. Gotta make sure the family is as safe as is possible. And he was shown there they lived by Sousei already, so he doesn't need a map.

He's managed not to freeze any fingers off thanks to Poko, really, but he's pretty bundled up when he approaches, and spots Tenka. ]

Shouldn't you be indoors too, Tenka?

[ His voice is a little scolding; he doesn't want to see family get harmed by this weather. ]

never too late!

[sunshrouded]

[Oh no, scolding. It's familiar enough to Soramaru that it makes Tenka shrink back a little bit even though there's a response waiting on his tongue.]

I was gonna go back in if no one showed up! But hey, Ancestor-san [about as formal as Tenka's gonna get here] why are you wandering around in the cold? Come in, come in!

[And he makes a gesture for Kagemitsu to come over to him. Trust him, there's warmth inside.]

[firstcloud]

[ "Ancestor-san"? That's sort of... weird. ]

Just call me Kagemitsu or something... [ Because being called Ancestor all the time will just be awkward. ] I sure hope you were, though. And I'm wandering around because I wanted to make sure you two are alright.

[ But he's been invited, so he'll come over. (all that Vampirish politeness of the Japanese which dictates you can't just barge into someones house without permission...) ]