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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no subject
But how do you know any of it is actually real enough? [And more importantly:] And how does a samurai get away with posing as a doctor anyway?
no subject
[ You're the new Shorty-dono since Hiccup came back all grown up. Congrats on carrying on the legacy. ]
I make a habit of posing as various things. It's my absolutely favorite past time, if not my only way of survival. When a corrupt world is in shambles and at the mercy of the incompetent, a samurai must take up his blade and sometimes his Groucho Marx— a real hero that Japan needs but disguised. He must also-- oh, damn, I'm really feeling this bean paste right now.
[ His sentence trails off, but something about it seems captivating— like he was born to be a motivational speaker. However, Katsura is correct. He has gotten away as posing as a woman, a space pirate captain, a DJ rapper, and even Mario amongst other things. A doctor shouldn't be that hard.
Hiro asks The Deep Questions. Zura is impressed, but doesn't show it on his face. ]
This world that you've stumbled into, ViViD, is a virtual world. The toilets are virtual, but when you need to go, you need to go. Besides, I'll be more than happy to take a leak right here if I absolutely must. This place deserves more than that.
[ what a passive aggressive (and disgusting) response. ]
no subject
[There's a pause then as he thinks that over.] Wouldn't that make you more like a ninja since you're hiding yourself from everybody else? [If he's expecting Hiro to be perturbed or grossed out...well. He's a fourteen year old boy, this is basically so far off of his gross-out radar it's almost like a normal conversation. Almost.]
Yeah, yeah. Virtual reality with real people playing along. I think I get it. [There's a huff of a laugh though. How unfortunate that he finds Katsura more amusing than he should.] They're not all this bad, are they?
no subject
[ keeping the nice, old timesy, my lord honorific. It is the 1800's where he is from. And you will probably be Shorty-dono later. ]
Impossible. I don't engage myself with natto. I am more of a soba person.
[ because this is relevant to his occupation. No need to blow his cover and tell Hiro he's a wanted criminal for his acts of terrorism and that is the real reason for being disguised.
Hiro's last statement, though, Katsura cannot agree. He used to not have any difficult in ViViD, and instead engaged in their game play for credits and "training." However, his last engagement resulted in something.. really horrifying. There's a moment of silence as he has a problem answering Hiro's question, avoiding eye contact with him. They make a turn together down another hallway in the maze. ]
... Play to your best potential.
[ He has speculations why the players injuries became permanent last time.. and that his punishment for losing resulted in psychological horror.
Katsura doesn't want anybody to witness what we went through for losing in ViViD, and he isn't sure if it will happen again, so he is ensuring people play it safe. ]
no subject
...it's just a game though, right? If we lose we can just logout and try again. [...right? It hadn't occurred to him to really think about that or even listen if it was explained because Hiro doesn't do well with losing. He's too stubborn, too willful really.] Not that I plan on losing but just in case.
no subject
A tokugawa period where the government is taken control by aliens. No big deal. At least they have Nintendos and flying pirate ships.
Katsura tsks. ]
That is not how it was last time, so I have sworn to be more cautious this time. Even with Floppy Bird.
[ yes, even Floppy Bird. ]
no subject
...and what exactly happened last time? [Because they can walk and talk at the same time, right? So sorry, Katsura, you've found yourself teamed up with a kid who's a little too nosy for his own good.]
no subject
This is all too soon, Hiro. Sorry. ]
Trust me, you don't want to lose if they are going to punish you. I haven't played since I lost, so what I know is they are not punishing people anymore, but better play it safe.
[ Katsura reaches a split in the maze and looks at Hiro. ]
Ah. ... There's a fork in the road.
[ Katsura leans over and ... picks up a literal fork.
And then: ]
We should also pick left or right.
[ ??? ]
no subject
Plus the whole punishing thing doesn't sound that great to begin with.]
Okay...I get it. No losing. [...
...Katsura you don't know where that fork's been. Though he's eyeing it thoughtfully anyway.] Hold onto that, we can probably use it. You right-handed or left-handed? [That'll help him determine which way they're going. Just roll with it. It's less crazy than picking up a fork okay.]
1.3, i lied
Oh. Somebody here must be eating cake with their fingers. Disgusting.
2.3
[ ... ]
Ah? I think we are completely on our own then.
3.3
I see now. You're a person who puts trust in coincidence instead of destined fate. I am right handed, but I think we should go where our heart leads.
[ a low hum, and Zura closes his eyes, as if really concentrating, and then: ]
My soul tells me to turn right.
[ and he goes right. ]
no subject
The.
Actual.
Hell.
Katsura...buddy....are you okay? Because Hiro's just staring, never mind the fact that he jumped as soon as he yelled for the mysterious "cake-dono." He opens his mouth to argue--but no. Nope, apparently he's already going right and so Hiro sighs heavily and follows after him. There seems to be a lot more at stake here than just whatever ViViD throws at them.
Is it possible that Katsura's just crazy...? Maybe he should go find an adult.]
I wouldn't say that it's coincidence. I don't really put trust in those either. I put trust in facts. [He raises an eyebrow.] What makes you think there's such a thing as destined fate anyway? [Well, apparently it was destined for Hiro to walk right into an open cabinet down this hallway while he wasn't paying attention. Ow. He bounces back, scowling before slamming the drawer shut.]
no subject
The clash causes Zura to respond drastically and he whirls around, withdrawing what seems to be an old katana from its sheath. ]
HIRO-DONOOO! Are you being attacked?!
[ before you know it, he is slashing a gash in the cabinet, causing some shreds of paper to drift in the air.
He gazes at the cabinet intensly for a moment before slowly putting his sword back under his lab coat.
Did I mention he served in a war when he was a teenager? ]
.. Are you hurt?
no subject
I'm fine. [Other than his tone being an octave higher while saying so. On the bright side, if any of the alien patients show up (or worse), all he has to do is crash into something. He turns his head, looking to examine the new gash in the cabinet and run his fingers carefully along the jagged edges.]
...have you been carrying that sword the whole time? [Hiro. Hiro no, no bad ideas.]
no subject
[ god. Something about that sounds maniacal. He's given off to many different impressions so fast. I ensure you he is stable ( for the most part. ) ]
Everybody should be as prepared as they can be in places like this. Like Lupin III, I'm ready with everything I can muster to ensure my safety. No gaols, no cells, not even this maze will be able to hold me for long.
[ He sounds so confident, but then: ]
I arrived here with all of my items missing other than my sword.. and the silver balls between my legs.
... But that won't stop me.
no subject
Nice to see you're so positive about this. [He knows it's not polite to laugh in people's faces but he's so incredulous right now he's almost just going to pretend Katsura's not remotely close to being human.] If you have your sword, why didn't you try cutting down the cabinets earlier?
1.2
Do you want me to try?
2.2
I also have explosives.
[ like it's no big deal. explosives. no biggie. ]
no subject
[...wait.]
You...have explosives. [...] Do I want to know where you're hiding those?
no subject
[ coincidentally enough, he has two bombs, and they are metallic looking balls. ]
no subject
Your explosives will only work once, right? We should probably pick really carefully and just try to use your sword to cut our way through everything else. See if you can hack through this one.