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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She looks at the patient from behind Jade to check what's happening, hopefully, the patient is down and out! ]
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He does turn around to face her; the patient seems to be loosing consciousness. One tentacle is trying to wrap around Jade's leg, but he quickly stomps on it with his foot.
Then he flashes her a cheery smile.]
We'll have to make sure that a nurse helps him back to his room later. Let's keep moving.
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who knows, but hopefully, what will happen isn't the latter. ]
Right.
[ onwards, and they continue navigating through the maze. funnily enough, this is supposed to make people confused and scared, but akane's got her shit together. it shows as they reach a fork. ]
Where do you think we should go now, sir?
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He does remain calm and collected on his part. And he takes note of that same quality in Akane as well. It's somewhat reassuring to him - it's definitely easier to work with people who are functional in these situations, after all, even if her ability to physically help is limited at the moment.
Jade looks at the fork in the road carefully, tapping at his chin.]
That's a good question. I'm afraid that our only chances for answers are to either find a logical train of thought for determining the correct path, or to rely on simple intuition.
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Please follow me.
[ and she starts walking to the direction of the clear path. there's still lots of scraps of paper on the floor and other cabinets, and then... there's another creaking sound.
looks like they activated another trapdoor. akane, pls. ]
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...and when he hears the creaking sound, he acts almost instantly, reaching out an arm to pull her back by the shoulder in the instant before part of the floor opens up to a very deep pit. He then just lightly tsks.]
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Thanks. I didn't see that coming this time.
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Think nothing of it. Just be sure to see it coming next time. [Now he moves to step around that pit in pressing forward, glancing at all of the scattered papers. How much further could it be?]
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Hopefully we're nearing the end of this maze.
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It doesn't seem especially elaborate, so the end may be near. I wonder what aspect of 'the truth' we may find here.
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Either way, we'll be sure to find out soon enough.
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[ there's a fire in her eyes now. ]
Was there a murder here?
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That scene we witnessed before was quite the familiar sight.
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That makes me very curious about what truth we may find here, as well as the intention behind it.
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I'll definitely be sure to check the network after we're done here. Thank you for the information.
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I would also be grateful to hear any other information you may come across.
[But it looks like they've reached the end of the maze.
And one scrap of paper that stands out there seems to bear the signature of Bellona Recreare. It is a scrap of paper that looks as if torn off from a larger piece. And it reads, “that you keep this matter under wraps. It is for your eyes only.” but appears to be torn off from there.
Jade quickly kneels on the ground and picks up the scrap to examine it.]
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What is it?
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Jade turns to face her and holds up the scrap of paper.]
It appears that it may be one piece of the truth. [But not one that really gets him anywhere.]
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... this really doesn't say much, does it.
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[He sighs.]
It's possible that others may have been able to find other parts of the information. We'll have to ask around.
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I suppose asking through the network would be a bad idea. Bellona Recreare would be able to see it, too.
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The network is certainly monitored by CERES. However, it's very likely that this entire virtual space is monitored by them as well.
[He doesn't see fit to mention the possibility of ocular implants just yet, but he figures this may give a similar impression anyway.]
There's only so much that can be done to prevent being monitored. Of course, there's a strong possibility that Miss Recreare wants us to have this information. That could be one intention behind this entire 'game'.
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[ she considers her safety for a moment, but... no, she's not worried. she wants answers before anything else. ]
I'll do it, then. I'll risk it.
[ or just ask recreare directly, you know. stuff. ]
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