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
Don't worry! I... [ won't hurt you. She wishes she could more confidently promise that. Instead: ] I will.
[ That'll have to be enough. She frowns, and before she can change her mind, her staff starts to glow. She closes her eyes, only to open them again. ]
Cerberus Strike!!
[ She lunges forward and launches an assault on one side where everything seems weakest. Even at her best, it only just barely breaks at her very last strike--and only the one side at that. When she realizes she needs to buy more time, she looks over her shoulder again to see the good doctor's approach. ]
Barrier!
[ Suddenly, she feels stronger. The force from her power-up, in the form of a gust of wind, knocks him back as she finally manages to half-free him. ]
no subject
But he closes his eyes and braces himself when she begins her attack, and can't help but smile when she manages to break that side. ]
You did it! [ And it didn't hurt a bit! But he quickly moves his hand away and props himself up on his elbow so that he has a better angle on what's happening. ]
I'll watch him for you, so focus on your attacks!
no subject
It goes more smoothly, except for one last piece that's stubborn.
She hits it over and over again at the same concentrated spot as the mad doctor approaches again. He's angry this time, and manages to grab her arm just as she hears something clink to the floor and give. She doesn't have time to turn around and make sure it worked, though. She can only assume Sorey is free now.
Alarmed, she's only glad that he hadn't grabbed the hand holding her staff. ]
H- Hey!! Let go of me!
[ Violently, she'll stab at him, too preoccupied to do much else. ]
no subject
[ Nope, nope, nope. Sorey is not allowing her to get hurt, especially after all she's done for him.
The moment he's free, he's quick to lunge for the doctor's hand on her arm, being sure to stay clear of her violent stabbing. He can't really do much else to get the doctor off, seeing as his sword is missing and she's stabbing at him like that, but he feels like it's enough, yanking on his arm and prying his fingers off until he can get her arm clear of his grip.
Once he's managed to pry her free, he keeps his hand on the doctor's arm for the moment, and shouts. ]
Run!
no subject
Out like a light, gravity will take its toll and Sorey will feel the doctor's weight pull on him. If he lets go of his arm, the doctor will fall to the ground like a pile of bones... and not long after, Leia follows suit, her legs giving out from under her in a moment of weakness. ]
Phew.
[ On her knees, she gives a sigh of relief, grip on her staff loosening against the floor. ]
no subject
And he turns his attention to Leia. ]
Thanks for that. [ Saving him, and all. ] Really, I appreciate it. [ A LOT.
And he kneels down next to her. ] You okay?
no subject
Well, maybe not for once. She does grin proudly though, trying not to look as worn out as she feels. That was actually pretty intense, and took a lot out of her despite her being in decent physical shape. She finally clamps her hand around her staff again and turns it upright. She'll use it as support as she stands back up. ]
I'm great!
[ SHE SUCCEEDED? Even though she's pretty sure dumb luck was involved, she can't be anything but happy. ]
I'm not really a doctor, but I'm glad I was able to help out. I wonder what got into him...
[ A wary glance at the doctor on the floor... ]
no subject
He glances down at the doctor, too ... ]
I dunno ... All of a sudden, he was attacking me and trying to do weird things to me. I'm lucky you showed up, otherwise who knows what he would've done ...
[ ... Not even going to think about it ... ]
no subject
Let's... not stick around and find out.
[ She looks back at him, then nods towards the door.
Time to blow this scene. ]
Ready?
no subject
So he'll nod in response. ]
Yeah, definitely. [ He'll start walking towards the door, then. ] And let's hope there's no one else around here like him.
[ FOR THE SAFETY OF EVERYONE. ]
overflow!