The thing about Cerealia is, there really isn't any nature to be found here. Sure, you can go outside the walls of the city and explore the land beyond but who wants to risk a terrible, horrible death just to sniff the flowers? Not you, that's who! CERES understands that, CERES sympathizes, and sometimes CERES decides to take action when such problems arise. As part of the company's current "Healthier and Happier YOU" initiative, they've decided to let everyone get back in touch with nature a little.
Via ViViD.
Of course, this being CERES, the nature they've sent everyone to is more of a swamp. The place is disgusting, a real marvel of ViViD ingenuity and it smells like the dead. There's strange rustling among the leaves from creatures that may or may not want to eat you, and random pits that open up right under your feet with the goal of sending you straight into the marsh. It's not really that fun. There's no welcome sign either, no nothing except for swamplands as far as the eye can see.
Welcome to ViViD!  This is Mosley. One of our programmers forgot to include a welcome greeting for the level this time. How incompetent can you get? He's been fired now, it's fine. Instead, I will greet you today. Lucky you! You've been invited today to participate in CERES's "Healthier and Happier YOU" level where we've combined both physical exercise and relaxing meditation into the ultimate ViViD experience. Isn't that fun? You can... go camping and stuff. Or whatever. I don't... know...
Honestly, I don't even care. Have fun.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Welcome to your new healthy living training ground! What does a swamp have to do with healthy living, you may ask? Absolutely nothing! To make up for it, CERES has outfitted all players with the proper equipment for their new healthy living lifestyle. They also may or may not have let you keep your shoes based on how benevolent the ViViD gods were being at the time. (Not very.)
Oh, and all newcomers will have something additional on their fancy new yoga shirt. It will be displayed loudly and proudly all over the front and back of it. And if you're one of the few not wearing a shirt, it will be on the back of your pants. As in, your butt. It will be on your butt.
What’s ViViD trying to say, anyway?
Regardless, it probably doesn’t matter as much as finding your way through the swamp. Some sort of dry land would be really nice right now, wouldn't it? You'll have to watch out for the mud that will suck you right down under the marsh, and the creatures with lots of teeth that will never surface from the mud but won't hesitate to snap up an unwary foot or two.
CERES is sure you'll be fine. Totally and completely fine.
PHASE II [ 800 ] Eventually, if you try really, really hard, you’ll make it to a house. Actually, it’s more of a shack, really. If you clamber your way out of the mud and the gunk and the marsh into said shack, you will find it to be empty aside from a table. A table hosting a huge pile of... well, health drinks. See, there's totally a health theme in this level. CERES would never make a ViViD level that wasn't thematically appropriate. Never! Health drinks of all sorts and types and sizes can be found here and there’s even a sign too; it simply says:
Take one.
Well, that seems safe.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave said shack until you do take one. And drink it. The door will lock shut and cover itself in more swamp until you do. Yay. Depending on your luck, the drink may do the following to you: ➟ Cause your ViViD experience to glitch. This may involve phasing through walls, seeing everything in 8-bit, or hearing really annoying old video game music everywhere you go.
➟ Cause status effects. This can include suddenly moving incredibly slowly, being turned to stone for a period of time, suddenly being on fire, suddenly being poisoned, etc etc.
➟ Be healthier. Mmm, kale and hummus smoothie. Taste those veggies. If you try to take more than one, that’s fine too, nobody will stop you, but you probably won’t get lucky more than once.
PHASE III [ 900 ] And back you go, out into the swampy wilderness. Don’t give up! Keep going! Eventually, you’ll find the end of this level. Probably.
Eventually, though, you may stumble across something in the mud and the muck. It’s... a little doll?
In fact, it’s a little doll of one of your most important people (or, alternatively, of someone you absolutely hate). It might be someone in Cerealia currently, or someone who isn’t, but either way, the doll is there and it’s clearly them (covered in mud and all). Be careful, though. If you toss it aside, you’ll suddenly see that important person being tossed aside. If you cut the doll, you'll suddenly see that person bleeding. Even if they aren’t present in Cerealia, whatever happens to that doll, you'll see it happening to them. Is it a hallucination or are they actually there? That's a little more up in the air.
And if they are present in Cerealia, well... doing things to that doll might very well hurt them too -- for real, this time, though.
Be careful! Or don't. You do you, as CERES would say.
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] And then, eventually you reach a quiet, swampy area. Not that the rest of the swamp isn't swampy, this area is just extra swampy.
There’s very little happening here in this swampy place; even the birds are no longer squawking. And for a long moment, everything will remain quiet and peaceful, a place of reprieve... until the swamp begins to bubble. Then suddenly, a new friend will burst out of the swamp, showering mud and gunk everywhere.
Without warning, that creature is going to try to grab for the nearest person (it might be you!) and let out a mighty roar when they have them. Then, they'll hold them up to... read the nutrition facts on their shirt? What?
Of course, it will try to gobble you or whoever else it grabs if it finds, say, the salt content to be acceptable (the monster is watching their carbs). If it's not, then they'll just fling you away and move onto the next snack. For those without a handy nutrition facts label on your shirt, well, it might just take a gamble and try to eat you anyway.
Great. A health-conscious monster. That's just what this level needed.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Finally, you’re free of the game. Without warning, you’re dumped into Cerealia properly and you’re able to scrub the mud and gunk from your clothing (wait why did that come back with you and where are your normal clothes?). You're able to then make your way to your new place of residence (or old) and...
There is a tiny tree there waiting for you. Isn’t it cute? And if you take care of this tiny tree, it will eventually bear fruit! Tiny fruit. Itty bitty fruit.
Depending on which tiny tree you get, it will be one of the following: a tiny dildo tree, a tiny bacon tree, a tiny kazoo tree, a tiny carolina reaper tree, or a (dumb) tiny hats tree.
Everything will, naturally, be tiny. Enjoy your new healthy CERES gift!
[ 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. ] |
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[Thanks to someone explaining things to him last time on that garbage planet game or whatever it was, plus the... powerpoint presentation this time around, Obi-Wan has more understanding of the situation he's in. He's still none too pleased about it, and he's really not pleased to be without his lightsaber. He feels naked without it. At least his clothes are somewhat comfortable; he's found himself in a tan long-sleeved crew top and flannel pants so it's not drastically from what he usually wears. However, a pat down only makes him more upset when he finds that not only is he missing his lightsaber, but he has no pockets, meaning the river stone Qui-Gon gave him isn't on his person either. If it's lost somewhere in the swamp, finding it again seems hopeless.
He knows this is a game by now, but trudging through the swamp with no boots on and his feet getting sucked into the mud still is not his idea of a fun one. It's getting frustrating, although he's trying to keep his cool. At least he's not cut off from the Force here. He takes comfort in that, and in the fact that he can trust it to warn him of where not to step if he focuses on it. Sensing danger, he's picked up a stick to test the area a few feet in front of him and pokes diagonally at it, frowning. When he pulls the stick back, the end of it has been bitten off.
He sighs and backs up carefully, looking around for another way to go. It doesn't really help his frustration because he's not even sure if he's heading towards anything at all or just getting more hopelessly lost.]
[PHASE IV]
[About the Force. It sure does come in handy when you come across an area that seems very peaceful but gives you all sorts of bad vibes about it. It doesn't take long for Obi-Wan to notice the complete silence, that bad feeling growing. He's already unnerved after finding a doll of Qui-Gon lying in the mud, wondering if it means something bad has happened to his master or if the people running this game are just trying to scare him.
Well, he's not going to let them get under his skin. He's going to find a way out of this dumb game, find his master, and find out a way to stop these people from doing this because there is nothing good about forcing people to be trapped against their will.
That train of thought stops, though, when the water starts bubbling and a monster rises up out of the swamp. His instincts scream at him to duck and he does so just in time as a tentacle goes flying out towards him. With the ground the way it is, it's hard to dodge out of the way, but Obi-Wan leaps back to avoid another one and uses the Force to push a third away before it can touch him.
He really wishes he had his lightsaber now.]
[BONUS]
[Finally. If he ever has to go back into that game system again, it'll be too soon. While he's disgruntled about being covered in gunk, his familiar robes and lightsaber are a very welcome sight, as is the river stone he feels safely tucked away on him.
He cleans himself off as best he can and begins searching for his master, reaching out with the Force to try and sense him... but there's nothing. He's not going to stop until he's searched the whole city, but the more he looks, the more hopeless he feels. No matter where he goes, he can't sense Qui-Gon even remotely nearby. There's just nothing. His master is somewhere far away, there's no transport to leave this planet, and he doesn't know what he's supposed to do to solve that. He doesn't believe this 'code' explanation, that the Jedi Temple's been destroyed. If they really are just code, then how can he still feel the Force? Unless the ViViD system is a simulation within a simulation and he's still stuck in one and it's all just a trick.
Obi-Wan isn't sure what to think anymore. He takes a moment to stop and try to collect himself, finding a space to sit and rest while looking downtrodden and a bit lost. He pulls out the river stone and holds it securely in his hand, drawing on the Force-sensitiveness of it to try and focus his mind to think what Qui-Gon would do now if he were in this situation.]
bonus
So she waits and watches for him to be done so she can ask if he's okay.
Excuse her while she stares.]
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Excuse me, but are you all right? Are you new? Are you lost?
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I
Carrying Bink's sake!
Even through the swampy day
I want a drink and some meat
SO give me what I want!
[then he spots an unfamiliar face and lifts a hand in greeting]
Yo!
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Hello. Are you stuck here too?
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Do you know the way out of here?
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IV
Having a bit of trouble?
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Are you just going to stand there?!
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[Yes, he does shrug.]
And I'm not in it for the money, before you make some type of useless comment along those lines.
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Eventually though, he slips up and a tentacle grabs him by the leg, yanking him off the ground and bringing him up close upside down to its maw. The monster pauses while Obi-Wan struggles to get free... then the monster tosses him away and Obi-Wan goes falling down into the mud. It's decided Obi-Wan has entirely too much bad fat to be eaten.
For a moment, Obi-Wan's just going to sit in the mud in surprise, wondering why it let him go.]
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You need some help, kid?
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[Okay, a lot complicated, and he doesn't even know who he's talking to]
For all the tech in the colony, there's no spaceport. Not here, or as far out as we've managed to go. And even if it is, we're not in the right universe.
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[One might expect another voice in the swampy wilderness to be full of alarm, or anger. This one is just... exasperated.
Also it belongs to an eight foot tall monster of a creature, mouth full of gleaming, pointed teeth. He's covered in mud, hunches forward a little at the shoulders, and sports an impressive dorsal fin along his back. Currently, he's sat down a small pile of the stupid dolls, and is in the process of cracking his neck back and forth and popping his knuckles.]
Keep chuckin' that sinkin' squid wannabe 'round however the hell y' done it 'fore! I'mma circle 'round, grab 'im from the side.
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That he can do with no issue, seeing as the monster is still focused on trying to grab him as he continues to do his best to dodge.]
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Great job, smolt! Now get outta the way 'less y' wanna get dead!
[Or, you know. Help? The creature's getting back up, just with Namur on top of it now. It snakes its larger tentacles upward, trying to grab the thing clinging to its head. Namur dodges them with uncanny precision, almost seeming to know beforehand where the creature's going to strike and getting out of the way so that it hits itself. It's one part rodeo, two parts Pirates of the Caribbean, and about five parts the weirdest mud wrestling tournament ever conceived.
Welcome to ViViD!]
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Can you jump back into a tree? [He yells it out so the guy can hear him, because otherwise, he's not sure of what else to do. Maybe if he got some vines and tried to tie it up...? But it's very big to be tied up easily.]
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Bonus!
But she has to know.
An hour in she’s an hour closer to real exhaustion, wandering in circles, still covered in the filth of ViViD. When she spots Obi-Wan’s comparatively familiar face she grins despite herself, her hand lifting up to wave at him before something in his posture stops her. ]
Hey- [ She hesitates, then forges ahead. ] How did the game go?
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Hello. [When asked about the game, his face twists into a little scowl of annoyance.] I don't understand what the purpose of us being there is. There's no instructions on what they want us to do and they don't say why they do it. It makes no sense.
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Jaina takes a seat beside him, feeling the weight of her own frustration mirroring what she sees in his face. Nothing about this makes sense. Not this place, not what they've told her, not this boy that she never should have met. ] Somehow I really thought I'd be on my way home by now.
[ It's a bit of an embarrassing confession in retrospect. She covers it by rubbing at her cheek, leaving a faint streak of dirt behind with her fingers. ]
That reminds me, did you ever find your master? [ Someone who knows him, someone from the time he belongs in. She hopes, for his sake. ]
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Speaking of, his face grows even more sullen at the mention of Qui-Gon. He shakes his head.] No. The only other Jedi I've met here so far besides you is a Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker. Do you know him?