The doctor's office is hardly the funnest place in the world to be. Children crying, adults bickering in hushed, stressed tones, the receptionist looking incredibly bored...
Wait. How did you get here? Weren't you watching a powerpoint a second ago (or enjoying your time in your cozy apartment in Cerealia)? Well, now you're in ViViD, and in an attempt to concentrate on healthy living, CERES has released a new level: Health and You: A New Way to be Healthy. Sure, you could log out at any time if you're a ViViD pro and used to this whole experience, but now that you're here, why not sit back and enjoy it? Indulge in some easy level grinding or something. Besides, it'll take a little while for the game to let you log out without calling you a spineless quitter, and who wants that added to their ViViD rep?
So instead, take a look around the tiled hospital. Visit the receptionist and say hello (she ignores you, go back to your seat). Pick up a snack at the vending machine (except every single one only has these gross things in stock). Maybe you should just test the truth of that old idiom, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", especially with that weird doctor over there. Is he staring at you? He might be staring at you.
Seriously, go find an apple before he comes over here.
 Well,
well,
well...
isn't it time for your c h e c k - u p?
|
PHASE I [ 08 00 ] If you're a new arrival to this fine city, you will find yourself waking up in a bed after suffering through that unfortunate powerpoint. The sun streams through the window, the bed is uncomfortable but not terrible, and everything is quiet and idyllic... wait. Where are your clothes? You'll suddenly find yourself dressed only in a medical gown (yes, complete with back open) and you seem to be... in a hospital? That's new.
If you take a look at the medical chart attached to the bed, you’ll even find your chart, name on it and everything. That can’t be right, can it? You're the picture of health! You're welcome to wait around for the doctor to dispute these claims but no one's showing up anytime soon (aside from the possible roommate you might have, in the same situation as you). There’s nothing stopping you from leaving the room or looking around at least (except for the lack of clothes), but it’s all hospital as far as the eye can see. Try and be careful what rooms you poke your head into; there are some strange aliens getting their check-ups in there. They don't seem like they want to be bothered.
If you’re not a newcomer, and go into ViViD searching for riches and grand prizes (or just stumble in there by happenstance), the receptionist will stop you and hand you a stethoscope, lab coat, and name tag. Congratulations, you’re a doctor now, and you have free reign over the hospital. Go nuts. Or don’t, because there are still those aliens waiting for their check-ups. Now it’s your turn to get dragged away by a frazzled nurse to administrate a tentacle massage to a patient, as she's now on break! Have fun and don't get the hospital sued.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Just don’t end up in the basement.
If you end up in the basement by some weird twist of fate (or via trapdoor, which could happen because let's be honest, this is ViViD), you’ll find yourself in a long, empty, blindingly white hallway. The floors are white, the walls are white, the ceiling and the flickering lights are white, and you have the odd feeling you're being followed.
If you turn to see who it is, you’ll find that it’s your younger self. They’re not solid. They’re not real. You can stick a hand through them, and it will go right through. But they are you, whether age 4 or age 14 or anywhere in between, and they’re covered in blood and holding an equally bloody knife. Quietly, as they follow you, they'll mumble, over and over and over again, “It was you, you did it, you killed them, you’re the murderer.”
And they will follow you until you get out of that blindingly white hallway, and away from those blindingly white lights, and if you tried to touch them, there will be blood on your hands. The younger you won't respond to anything you say, just following behind you like the frightening apparition they are. At least nothing else is stopping you from returning to the main hospital, no matter how surreal this experience might be. Just find the stairs.
PHASE III [ 1200 ] As soon as you’ve managed to escape the clutches of that frazzled nurse who still refuses to come back from break, you’ll find that the atmosphere has turned very dark indeed. There’s rain pounding against the windows, and as lightning flashes and thunder booms (it’s all ambiance, you see), there’s the tell-tale Mwahahahaha of an evil, mad doctor at work. What a sinister guy.
Turning a corner will lead you right to his very, very evil doctor's office. He's repurposed one for his sinister deeds and some nurses are looking very put out about it. There's someone attached to the medical table who might need some help and of course, it could be one of your friends that he’s snagged. You might want to help them before that very evil mad doctor tries to add an extra limb or two to your poor friend. Honestly, who needs three elbows?
Or maybe it’s you who’s been grabbed by him and attached to the medical table by strong, metal restraints. Hopefully someone follows the “Mad Scientist: This Way” signs all over the hospital and saves you because really, three elbows?
PHASE IV [ 1400 ] Of course, while the ambiance is still dark, grim and creepy, and the rain still beats upon the glass of the windows, there is a murder...because why wouldn't there be?
The director of the hospital has been found murdered, slumped in a seat in his office, hand in hand with his secretary. Oh no! You’re welcome to investigate the crime scene if you want, but it’s not a very good one; there aren’t any clues, and the director and his secretary actually seem to be alive if you prod them hard enough. They're a bit put out by your interruptions and might ask you to "go solve this somewhere else" the more you bother them. How rude of you to muck up their death scene.
But there’s a new quest for you, and it says this: Pursue Justice or Pursue the Truth?
If you choose to pursue Justice, you will find yourself dropped into a new ViViD level, this one a straight hospital hallway with no doors and alternate routes. Some posters line the hallway but most of the detail is lost in the dim light. Not far ahead of you, The Suspect can be seen running away. (Naturally, you can tell that they are The Suspect by their poorly scribbled out face and black silhouette.) If you should follow them all the way to the end of the hallway (and it is a long, long, long hallway), you can grab The Suspect. Of course, that's if you make it there without falling through any of the trapdoors, tripping over medical supplies or stumbling into less fortunate player characters. If you're successful, you’ll hear a jaunty tune and you’ll receive a bonus of 50,000 ViViD points. Congratulations! You may now log out and continue with your daily life.
If you choose to pursue the Truth, you will find yourself dropped into another ViViD level. This level is a maze; there are filing cabinets stuffed full of papers making up the walls (though the papers are all blank) and they seem oddly impossible to move. You will need to find your way through the maze while avoiding more trapdoors, more scattered medical supplies, the occasional angry cthulhu patient and the occasional player character who has been grabbed by the occasional angry cthulhu patient. Eventually you will be able to find the end of the maze and there you will find a scrap of paper with a clue on it, signed Bellona Recreare. You may now log out and continue with your daily life.
Strangely enough, you can’t seem to access that quest again once you’ve completed it once. Oh well.
BONUS [ xxxx ] There are plenty of sexy nurses wandering the hospital (yes, everywhere) and they know your shots aren’t up to date. Should they manage to catch you and jab you with one of their needles, you’ll have some of the following side effects:
➟ Unstoppable urge to hug the nearest person
➟ Unstoppable urge to kiss the nearest person
➟ Unstoppable urge to dance with the nearest person
➟ Hiccups that last for 20 minutes
➟ Uncontrollable laughter that lasts for 20 minutes
➟ Hallucinations that everyone around you is dead, which also lasts for 20 minutes
You may pick and choose which effects happen at which times or if there is a combination of them. Have fun!
[ 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. ] |
Welcome to Cerealia's July 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.
Regarding phase IV, should your characters tackle the alternate ViViD levels and make it all the way through, please PM the mod account to let us know if they picked Justice or the Truth, as that will have an overall impact on the game! You will also receive your plot clue at that time, should your character have gone down the Truth path. Please PM the mod account by July 29th with the decision your character has made; the thread does not have to be completed, that just will allow us to tally up the choices for August's event.
Thank you! |
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Jude Mathis | Tales of Xillia 2 | current character, OTA
[Jude happens to be the resident Actual Doctor™ around here so nothing about this situation really shocks him... except maybe the receptionist but even then he's grown so use to the oddities of this place he barely bats an eye. He just kind of sighs tiredly. He already wears a lab coat on normal days (what a loser) but the name tag and stethoscope is new. Okay, so they need his help. That's fine, he doesn't mind helping. It's sort of his job here, after all.
What concerns him are all the people clearly who are clearly not doctors. Although he's doing his best to focus on his own tasks he notices right away the mistakes they're making. Minor ones--nothing too serious medical wise happening here at the moment--but it's starting to worry him all the same. If something goes wrong in a serious way people might get hurt.]
a. current characters
[Eventually you'll find yourself being approached by Jude, like it or not. He offers a friendly smile though to break the ice.] Do you want any help?
[Please let him help... He's so worried about all these non-doctors being doctors...]
b. new characters
[Always eager to help, Jude has been doing his best but is quickly discovering he isn't quite the doctor for the job when it comes to helping weird aliens. Lacking tentacles seems to put him at a disadvantage there... but that's fine, he'd rather help the human (or human like?) kind of patient anyway.
So while you're in your room panicking at the current situation/wondering where your clothes went/generally being confused/what have you, Jude will politely tap on the door of your room before stepping inside. He looks concerned but mostly because his wandering around has started to clue him in that a lot of these "patients" are new arrivals.]
Hi there, sorry to intrude. I just came to see if you needed any help.
bonus.
[These "sexy nurses" are way more terrifying than that receptionist as far as he's concerned. Jude decides now is the perfect time to get the hell out of here except when attempting to do so he's immediately accosted by one of these nurses. It alone is frightening enough but the needle it suddenly jabs towards him even more so.]
Hey! [Jude thankfully has the highest agility stat in the party and dodges it easily... but you? You near by might not be so lucky and the jab meant for him might get you instead.
Or, if you're fast enough to dodge it too, the next jab might leave Jude the unlucky one.]
no subject
It's a good thing her reflexes are so good. She looks surprised, heart pounding as if she did that on accident--that was close!
This lab coat so gets in her way... but with the nurse temporarily stunned, she turns her attention somewhere more important.]
Jude!
[There's a nurse behind him now...? Since when were there two?!]
no subject
He whirls around at Leia's warning but the nurse is already moving too fast for him to dodge. Instinctively be blocks it the blow with his forearms but that exposes the skin which is exactly where the needle goes. He winces at the sharp sting of pain but doesn't let it slow his movements. Once the attack is made Jude strikes right back and delivers a swift punch to the nurse's nonexistent face, knocking it off its feet.
He's quick to move away from it, yanking the needle out of his arm with a wince as he goes. Great, he has no idea what it just injected him with.
The other nurse seems pretty determined to get Leia with it too so he steps up to help her dispatch it despite the now bleeding forearm. Although the commotion is drawing more of them.]
Maybe it would be better to try and hide somewhere. [They're are so many and that's not good at all.]
no subject
They're resilient.]
I definitely don't want to meet any more of their friends.
[SO SHE AGREES... mostly though, she's starting to think about it more, and she realizes the shot really is worrisome. And there's a lot more where that came from.]
...C-Come on, let's go!
no subject
This way. We can out maneuver them. [He knows the hallways and layout here by now to know more than one path to certain locations. He's sure he can lead them through a path that's mostly clear of them.
This is a partial success since they do run into a few more but only a few and together they're more than enough to dispatch them. Otherwise, however, Jude is able to take enough turns through the building to lose all of them and ducks into an empty overnight room.]
I think we'll be fine in here. I didn't see many in this wing. [He pauses to glance at her.] Are you okay?
overflow, you know the drill c:
1a
Unless you know a way to keep those fucking nurses away for good, I don't see how you can help.
[Explaining that he is not a doctor is not working. His classic "threaten till they do what you want" maneuver is also not working. He's running out of ideas here.]
no subject
Anyway Jude is more than willing to help. Mostly so no patients are accidentally harmed via cluelessness. He can't get the nurses to stop forcing everyone to play the role (himself included even when he willingly agreed to their demands already) so all he can do at this point is hopefully give advice.]
Sorry, I'm afraid not. I even told them I would help of my own accord and they still insist on dragging me around. [That's just the way these kinds of things work... and if this time works like all the other times then Jude's sure they'll let them go eventually. For now, however, they're going to have to play the demanded roles.]
I thought I could show you some basic things you could do or even have you help me with some check ups. As long as you're doing something along the lines of medical help I think the nurses will be less persistent. [Slightly, anyway. They'll still be dragging them around but maybe they won't hover as much?]
1a
...I am uncertain about many of these devices. [ Look at this neatly arranged tray of medical supplies before him. What is everything, how does it work, is he fiddling with a catheter?! Kousetsu no. ]
no subject
Well the good news is that what you're holding is something we're not going to be using for the patients here today. [Not ever because non-doctors should definitely not be involved with that kind of procedure... both for the sake of the patient and their own.
He motions towards the tray.] But I don't mind telling you about the rest. They're pretty simple. [But first...
He points toward the stethoscope around his own neck.] How about this one? You got one of these, right?
no subject
...yes. It is a strange device. I am not sure how it is meant to help cure people.
no subject
Anyway he takes his from around his neck.] It doesn't really cure people but it's helpful to check the vitals of the patient. It's more of a diagnosis tool. You're going to use it to listen to the person's heartbeat and breathing.
[He demonstrates how to wear it and puts the end against his own chest.] Like this. Try it.
no subject
...I see. [ It's a strange concept to hear his own heartbeat, mainly because he was once nothing more than a sword. ]
How does it work to hear what is inside one's body?
i-a
...I don't know how to be a doctor.
[He was never a doctor's sword. It's one thing if it's about basic sword repairs, but anything else? Nada.]
no subject
Jude isn't sure about letting a (apparent) child do these kinds of things though. He didn't mind helping some of the adults learn the basics but... it just doesn't seem like he should give such responsibility to a kid. (Jude, you're only 16 yourself...)
He smiles sympathetically at Sayo.] I'd be surprised if you did. It looks like they're just forcing everyone into it as usual. [He pauses, debating. The nurses might just keep bugging him if he doesn't at least try...] Well... do you want to help me? You can be my assistant and I can show you some of things a doctor does, if you want.
no subject
Sayo's silent for a moment, before he slowly nods. He would walk away, but maybe learning about what a doctor do might be useful. In case the humans he knows need some help.]
...Okay. I can try to work hard and learn as an assistant.
[And fill in the gaps in his knowledge. He looks at Jude's name tag.]
Mathis-san?
no subject
Jude overs a friendly smile.] I'm sure you'll do fine. We're only doing really simple stuff here, I think. [Casually check ups and such shouldn't be too hard to teach to someone else... or in this case, let someone assist.
He's not sure what the "san" part of that means (although he think he's heard it before) but he nods.] That's me although you can just call me Jude if you want. [Or "Jude-san"? Whichever, honestly.] It's nice to meet you, Sayo.
no subject
Okay, Jude-san. It's nice to meet you, too. [He guess? Jude seems like an alright person so far.] When do we start?
1a
Which is unfortunate, seeing as being a psychometer who could read exactly what was wrong with someone's body should have made her an excellent doctor. Instead, she's using her powers for evil (as nearly always). Shiho smiles sweetly at the monster.]
It's just all in your head, nothing to worry about. Ah, and yes, she did leave you for a younger monster. How unfortunate. Eat two blocks of cement, and some ants and then come back to see me next week, okay?
Next~
no subject
Time to be a busybody and put a stop to this. His approach is friendly though, a somewhat unsure smile on his face.]
Uh, hi there... I was watching you work and that maybe I could give you a hand. [Please.]
no subject
Eh? Really? That's so nice of you~
[She taps a chin on her finger, looking at the next patient.]
Then can you bring me a scalpel?
[The tentacled blob is giving him the most unsure look. It just came here with a sore throat! What do scalpels have to do with that?!]