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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[even if stahn is still completely enamored by it—he just can't help the admiration he has for strong people. it's something he strived for himself for a really long time.]
It's pretty amazing though, people coming from so many places... and all who have different abilities. I think that's really cool! [he points it out because it's true. and also because he doesn't want his sword to start getting arrogant (not that this would actually happen when the sword is the more level-headed one of them).
but mostly because it's true.]
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I agree. There is much to learn from those who do not share a common world. [ Especially if he was able to bring back what he learned home with him whenever the opportunity arose for him. ] Such a wide array of people is bound to prove to be useful too for any future problems that may arise.
[ Always gotta bring it home, don't you Genos? ]
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I think so too! The way it seems here... we're really going to need other people to all do their best with what they know. [somehow, they'll persevere that way, right? they're all types of people from so many places, but all those strengths has to be a good thing.]
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That is the idea behind it. [ Sure a lot of stuff happened to all of them here, stuff that Genos' brain is still slowly processing but it'll work itself out. There's no way that the collective minds and abilities of those all here would render what was looming overhead here moot. ]
The matter is more about whether or not they will all be willing to lend their help or if they'll pass us by.
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[he's pretty quick to respond to that. mostly because if there's one thing stahn has, it's a lot of faith in others. it's been shaken more than once in some pretty bad ways, but he's not the sort to give up on people that easily.]
A lot of us are in the same situation... we have our own worlds to go back to and things we have to do. I think a lot of the people you meet would want to help. That's what happens when you want the same things, right?
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Yes, ideally that is what happens. I trust that it will be what continues to happen to. [ He'll hold a hand out—the one that wasn't cooling off—for him to take. Handshakes weren't typically his thing but it just seemed right in this case. ]
My name is Genos.
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It's nice to meet you Genos! I'm Stahn... Stahn Aileron. [there's a bright grin that comes along with that introduction. he's completely unfazed by any sort of stoicism—he can tell that genos is a good guy who is probably just a bit on the serious side. and that's fine with him. he's got enough smiles for everyone, after all.]
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The pleasure is mine, Stahn. [ Well it's a good thing that Stahn has enough smiles for the both of them because Genos remains rather his stoic self and only offers a small bow after the handshake. He'll take a look around at the area and the swamp...
Staying here probably wasn't a good idea anymore. ] I believe we should continue on our way; would you care to travel together or did you have somewhere else to be?
[ Because asking is polite as well as not making any sort of assumptions. ]
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...at least right away. this whole thing will probably come up at some point in the future and he'll ask approximately ten million innocuous questions just because he's interested. genos will be spared for now.]
I don't mind going together! There's someone I'm looking for, but I'm sure we can find him while looking for a the way out. [if genos wants to, of course. stahn's always down for a travel buddy, though.]
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Someone who you're looking for? A friend? [ Because this is honestly the first he has heard of someone having someone else they already knew from previous here in Cerealia with them. Genos hadn't even thought about the potential for his master to be here. ]
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[okay, and maybe he's just a bit worried that leon may have gotten lost or hurt along the way—not that he isn't a totally capable fighter too, but best friend's gonna best friend.]
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[ What's a little search party for someone who was important to this guy? Genos doesn't know too much how these things work and this guy seems a bit more familiar with things around this place than he is so it wouldn't be wise for him to cut his ties here.
Besides, the company was bound to be rather enjoyable(?) ]
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[he beams, almost excitedly at that. he feels like he's been successful in making a friend here, and that's always a good thing.
(because he's decided that genos is nice enough to be a friend that quickly, of course).]
He's about this tall— [he motions around his chin—equating to somewhere near 5'3, compatively.] with dark hair, a bit longer than yours. He'll probably be easy to spot, because he's usually pretty serious looking. He'll probably have a sword like mine in his left hand, too.
[left-handed swordsmen seem like an uncommon enough feature to be noticable.] His name is Leon, so that's something to pay attention for too!
no subject
Though...short guy, dark hair, pretty serious looking, and also a swordsman, huh? Genos will look around in the surrounding area and briefly scan it to see if anyone in his radius fits that description... Nope. Nothing. ]
It doesn't appear that he's in our immediate area. [ Another look over as he tries foot prints only to see that be a bust. ] Unfortunately the swamp also makes it hard to indicate where someone of that stature could be heading.
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[he says that with a laugh—he knows that's just the way leon is. of course, there's also the fact that finding and losing people in ViViD is pretty easy—sometimes traveling right next to someone, they may suddenly be glitched to another area. but it'll work out somehow; at least he knows that once they get out of the game, it'll be a lot easier.
but that does lead to another important question that he can ask as they continue onwards.] What about you? Is there anyone you want to keep an eye out for? I don't know everyone that's here, but it never hurts to try!
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As for the question that gets asked his way. It almost makes Genos ashamed for not being as proactive himself. ]
I...have not thought about it. I am still new to this place and even newer to these ViViDs. The only person I would care to find is my master, however I'm confident that he would be fine on his own even without me.
[ Though it doesn't mean that Genos won't be wanting to make sure that his master isn't okay regardless of how moot it is. What if he misses another chance to see how cool he can be!? ]
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funny how that works.]
Even if he'd be fine, you'd want to see him if he's here, right? Someone like a master... he must be pretty important to you. I don't know how much I can help, but if you tell me what he looks like, I can keep an eye out for him too.
[hes always willing to help, after all. it does raise the question of what kind of master he is, but those questions can come in time.]
no subject
He looks like this, or well, it is a good impression of him. It doesn't do well to capture his entire being but it will do for now.
[ Genos carefully holds up the doll for Stahn to see. It is his (current) prized possession and the reason why he was hiding anything at all in the first place. Please don't judge him or his master, Genos can only take one of those well and rest assured it may or may not be the obvious option. ]
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he's not even going to ask why he has a doll of his master, because... it's not weird to him at all, surprisingly enough.]
Okay! I can definitely remember that, so I'll keep an eye out. Even if we don't find him here, I'll try to remember for the future, too.
no subject
Thank you. Should I do the same with your friend Leon? I suppose once we exit this place, it will be easier for you to find him.
[ Or at least, that's how things work around here, he's assuming. ]
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I wouldn't worry too much! We live in the same apartment, so I know I'll see him once he gets out. This place gets tricky though... sometimes you just get separated. And this place... it's kind of messy, huh.
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[ With that remark, Genos steps into a most unfortunate part of the swamp and sinks down a bit. And while he doesn't feel the slime and the muck as others might, he does acknowledge that this is going to be a pain to clean out later if it carried over. ]
Fortunately for us it is all just a simulation. [ Pressing onwards. ] It's good that you're able to at least have a place where you can see your friend afterwards. I'm uncertain if my master has even made it to this place.