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?
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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
Yeah, but I want to help if I can! Besides, that won't work, I fear. From what I can tell ViViD is malfunctioning again and has just force-recruited most of us for a game in it. We'll have to beat it to get back, but that's hard if you don't know what the game's objective is.
[Shuffling his feet for a moment, he gives him an awkward look.]
Also, sorry for that just now. It wasn't about you, I just sometimes... It's a thing from back home, is what it is. I only mean for the best.
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And the ensuing shuffle and apology have him shaking his head. ]
...Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have grabbed.
[ He admits to that readily, before turning towards the door. ]
If you're willing to help, I won't refuse.
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[Grabbing the next best scalpel, he approaches Adolf with it.]
Do you need all those blankets? The way these games usually go there'll be a need to fight soon.
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I don't need them, no. They're a nuisance. [ He moves to unravel himself a bit, and then glances back down at Vector. ] ...Speak up while you can, if looking at me bothers you.
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[His eyes grow big as he first looks at all the scars and metallic bits and then at Adolf. There's awe in his voice.]
-and you call that nothing at all?! You have to be better at taking than even Esper Robin!
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If anything, Adolf is as placid as ever, even though he does feel marginally more exposed this way. ]
You get used to it. [ he's given up, essentially. ] It's never about aesthetics, with science.
no subject
and part of a very realistic card game!Vector gives him a not quite convinced look for a moment but is sensible enough to drop the subject.]
Okay. I don't know much about science, but I'm sure you're right. ['Though I don't think good science is supposed to leave you looking like that' his expression adds with a hint of worry mixed into it. That must have been some nasty wounds-!
Stealing one of the blankets Vector uses the scalpel to cut it into stripes of cloth which he offers all but one to Adolf.]
Here. For your hospital gown - maybe they'll be useful later on too. Once the inevitable fighting and killing begins.
no subject
But he does accept what he's being given, because he's genuinely thankful for it.
is he going to be heartbroken if he ever discovers that this is kind of a front...it's possible...]Killing? [ whoa though back up, this suddenly got violent. ] You're telling me that they're making kids like you kill.
[ Not that there weren't 16 year olds fighting back on Mars, but this is. Different. Cue him looking mildly dubious. ]
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What front, all faces Vector puts on are pieced together from real parts of his past and present identity~He tilts his head lightly with a blank look in his eyes before he gives Adolf a downcast nod. Vector still needs to figure out how he's supposed to feel about the more martial aspects of the games, because right now they neither make him happy nor do they properly terrify him. They're just a game.(But isn't the whole life just a game the moment somebody more powerful than you appears on the stage? He hates this way of thinking, but his experience-born bitterness tells him that it's the one, absolute truth.)]
Well... Yes, and no. There were a couple of ...events, like this before in the few weeks since I arrived here, and every time something seemingly harmless and good happened it turned into some sort of survival battle in the end.
[He makes a helpless gesture that holds a shadow of frustration paired with resignation in it.]
Christmas with a killer santa and mutated elves. A winter ball where the trees in the garden suddenly decided to try and tentacle-abuse the visitors. A photoshoot where some guys with soul-sucking cameras suddenly staged a raid and big, wild animals got loose. When they tried to restart the electrical power supply of the city after a blackout there were suddenly angry ghosts everywhere and tried to drag you off to god knows where.
[An unhappy shrug as he looks at the door.]
You probably saw the other patients. From what I can tell everybody but the other players here looks like some sort of monster. It's only a question of time before it's going to become worse again.
no subject
It's not much, but it's something. ]
Guess I shouldn't have expected good news. [ his tone is flat, but the edge is missing: a neutral statement, without assigning blame to the messenger. ] Let's get a move on, then. Before things get 'worse'.
[ A crook of his finger, motioning for Vector to follow. He can't use his electricity, but he's still able to sense others' electric potential— that should at least be useful for avoiding hostiles. ]
no subject
Okay! As long as things are still normal we can pass as a doctor escorting a patient. Do you think they'll just let us leave if we try the big door at the front hall?
[His voice sounds doubtful - no good game would allow for itself to be ended that easily. But on the bright side, he has now a big human shield he can hide behind if they are looking for a 'doctor' again! Hmmm, he wonders if he should also warn him about the trap doors in the floor?]
we can segue this into phase iv things if you want?!
His first step out into the hall proves not to be a total disaster, and the coast is relatively clear except for a cthulu doctor standing at the end of the hall looking mildly annoyed about something. Somehow the whole place looks a little darker, but that's to be expected by now. ]
We could try it. But there's bound to be some security around the place.
[ He's never played a game in his life, but he can hazard a guess. Another step forward, and he seems to remember something, and holds out a hand. ]
...Give me your scalpel. [ also known as: don't let small children use sharp objects... ]
sure!^^
Returning after a securing look, he offers the weapon to Adolf the proper way one is supposed to.]
I think I saw an emergency exit down that hall over there, but that nurse caught me and dragged me to you before I could see more.
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Alright. We'll head that way.
[ And...off he goes, maneuvering down the hall towards the direction in question. The coast seems relatively clear, until he spies something out of the corner of his peripheral vision: something that looks like the entrance to an office, a double-door with paneled windows.
This would be very unremarkable if the door didn't have the word 'REDRUM' written on it in red, with a post-it note tacked haphazardly underneath. Upon closer inspection, the note says: "in case u don't get this ref, it means murder, moron". ]
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His lips twitch as he reads the last line and he has to bite his tongue to keep from making an ironic comment or putting on an impromptu impression of a diva throwing a fit over the people she's expected to work with here.
Though seeing the look doing that would earn him might be worth it. Hnnnng, decisions-]That's not quite what I expected. [Disentangling himself, he approaches the door and listens for a moment before he pushes it open enough to slip inside.] Shall we take a look?
[Wrong order, but he wants to see what silly setting they came up with this time. Can it manage to beat the chain-cussing Santa?]
no subject