You're probably woken up by the explosion first. A loud, deafening boom comes from behind the walls of the residential district. When you look outside your window towards the darker, more secretive area of the city, you might see the structure around it... crumbling, the land falling in on itself slowly but surely. That might be what wakes you up first. If it doesn't, you may be awoken instead by the sudden jerking feeling behind your navel pulling you from where you are to somewhere... else.
It's dark. The first thing you notice is that it's dark -- and then come the scrabbling sounds of creatures in the dark, like metal being dragged across metal, a chilling, sharp sound. The first thing that becomes clear, as your vision adjusts, is that you're on a rickety pathway, metal and rusting and frail, above what appears to be yawning blackness. Far, far below, there's the faint sound of rushing water, a ways away.
The second thing that becomes clear is that you are very much not alone. Something is out there with you, and from the screeching metallic noises that come ever closer, it seems to be stalking you.
Thankfully, you're not alone -- right?  ...
...........
................
:)
|
PHASE I [ ??? ] It’s drafty here. You’re below ground, that’s for certain from the echoes of the wind in the darkness. If you continue on forwards along the rickety, metal railing that serves as a walkway, the skittering noises of creatures in the dark follow -- but they don’t appear.
It seems everyone has been dumped along this pathway at random; you may be with friends, with enemies or with someone you’ve never met before, but either way, it soon becomes clear. There are only two ways to go along this path: up or down.
If you choose to take the path that follows a gradual slope down, the sounds of water lapping against a surface increase bit by bit, the air growing heavier and danker, until finally, the metallic platform gives way very suddenly (watch your step!) to a muddy bank. Down here, everything is darker, and not far away there’s the water. It’s cold and frigid and there are unfriendly creatures that await if you choose to delve into it. However, if you brave those creatures, and dive deeply enough, there is a mask. It rests half-buried by silt and rocks, but it’s there, and can be found by any intrepid explorers.
Somehow, it feels a little familiar.
And if you carry on in the cave system underground, eventually you will come across what appears to be an altar. There is blood on it -- not fresh, but not more than a month old -- and pieces of trinkets. Old bits of cloth, locks of hair, and some of them may even be familiar. Any dropped character who has a reasonably large amount of spiritual or magical power may have left scraps, such as pieces of clothing, trinkets, hair, or the sort behind at the altar.
Maybe that's why they weren't in the Nexus Code.
PHASE II [ ??? ] If you go up, you will eventually make your way above ground. It takes some time, and some luck -- you’ll have to avoid rusty railing and pathways, the path crumbling under you and that creeping sensation that something is following and watching you -- and then you’ll suddenly be in fresh air.
Well. It’s not so fresh, really.
The landscape is broken down and crumbled. It may have once been part of the city of Cerealia, but now it is in utter disrepair and decay. Buildings have crumbled, and debris is everywhere. There are signs of the same level of technology that Cerealia has -- but it is all broken down and utterly inaccessible.
And you’re not alone.
It seems the technology and metal and broken down destruction has gained sentience over its time sitting alone, waiting. And it is not happy to be disturbed. The creatures are made of pieces of everything around them, and when cut down, they’ll just slowly rebuild themselves from the debris.
It might be time to run.
They aren't happy about being disturbed, and you're in their way.
PHASE III [ ??? ] Above ground, there are a lot of broken down buildings.
Some can’t be accessed at all; some are too broken, too reduced to rubble. For those looking for shelter, they'll be able to find buildings where the doors can be forced open and they can camp out on the inside to various degrees of stability. Though the ceiling may cave in or the floor fall out from under you at a moment's notice, it's better than being out there. Be careful, because none of the architecture here can be trusted anymore.
And other buildings... are even less trustworthy than that.
There is a series of buildings in the midst of the wasteland, somehow still standing. They stand there silently, towering over the rest of the rubble in their two-story glory, and if the doors are forced open, it soon becomes clear that the building itself is full of mirrors.
Once, the mirrors had perhaps covered the walls and ceiling. Once, this building might have been akin to something of a ballet studio, somewhere to express yourself creatively. But now the mirrors are shattered and broken into pieces and the building lacks the joy it might have once held. Shards of mirror cover the floor, some big, some not so big, but they still hang from the walls as well and everywhere you look, you can see yourself.
And then, the reflection changes. From one blink to the next, you see a memory playing in the mirrors. Your memory. You’ll see a glimpse of one of your most traumatic or life-changing moments, broken up but clear in the shards. Blink and look away, and it’s gone, only to show up again in the next mirror a few moments later. Surely it’s just a trick of the light, right?
Except if someone else is with you, they’ll see it too -- and you might end up seeing a bit of their own past as well. Hope you're fond of sharing.
PHASE IV [ ??? ] If you survive the monsters, the crumbling landscape and the untrustworthy buildings, you may eventually find a terminal. It is buried deep among the rubble. One turn around a corner, one stumble into a hole, and you will find it. It sits there, out in the middle of nowhere; the building in which it used to be housed is apparently long gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.
And if you turn it on, there is a brief message.
Transmission Broadcasting.
Transmission Connected.
And then, there is a face.
BONUS [ ??? ] For those who have been wearing their masks a little too much, they might also start to notice that there are some strange effects attached, which worsen the more they’ve been wearing said masks. How badly they worsen is up to your discretion.
➝ Broken Mask: An intense feeling of paranoia, focused on whoever your character is with. They might also begin to remember fabricated memories of being betrayed by those people.
➝ Barcode Mask: Everything will begin to have value to them. There will be whispers in the back of their mind of the worth of their friends, the worth of a monster, the worth of everything around them. An intense need to own and consume as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
➝ Dripping Blood Mask: An intense lack of self-worth, a hollow feeling and thoughts of being weak and empty. Feeling as disposable as possible and an intense listless along with it.
➝ :( Mask: A need to prove yourself, to show everyone how strong you are as quickly as possible. You can do things, you can be of worth to everyone around you. Why won't they see that? Why?
➝ Ivy Mask: A choking sort of terror from all things metal and technology based, and a need to lash out against it. An intense distrust for anything that they feel is against the laws of nature.
➝ Grey Mask: More personable than normal, more emotional, more empathetic. An intense feeling of kindness and gratitude to those around you and a renewed love of life.
➝ Feather Mask: A dulled, lack of emotion. A detached feeling to everything around you. A sort of bland curiosity towards things without any empathetic reaction.
➝ Bloody Fingerprints Mask: They'll feel absolutely fine. No change.
The effects of the broken mask can stack on top of the others, if they chose to break their mask after the other effects began to appear. No other effects can be stacked, as no other changes can be stacked.
PENALTY [ ??? ] For characters who die while in the dark parts of the city, things will get... a little strange. They will die as normal, but they will wake up almost immediately after their death -- in the Nexus Code. They will have a few surreal moments to be there, to see their friends who have left Cerealia hanging lifelessly from odd, glimmering strands (though there are some faces, of course, that are missing, anyone who was spiritual, or magical, seems strangely absent) and then --
They’re back to being dead.
When characters revive in Cerealia, anywhere from one IC day to three or four IC days later, they will find that things are… not quite right with their code. They’re glitching, for a lack of a better word. Sometimes, their fingers will phase right through an object, their own limbs registering as cold and lifeless. Sometimes, they will see a face watching them -- but when they turn around to try to see who it is, the face will be gone.
These effects will last an IC week, before slowly things go back to normal.
That was strange.
[ 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. ] |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ota!
[ It takes a few seconds for Kyouko's eyes to adjust to the dark, and she takes a survey of the area. So... they have two options: up or down.
It's drafty, and she's ready to move. If anyone's nearby Kyouko will turn to them. ]
So, which path do you plan on taking?
phase ib;
[ Eventually Kyouko, after sneaking past all of the monsters, has found herself at the altar. She's taking her time examining it. If anyone else is in the room, she'll take a step back. ]
Do you recognize any of the trinkets? [ Just in case someone does, in fact, recognize them. ]
phase iii;
[ It takes a while, but Kyouko eventually ends up above ground as well. She takes her time here too, looking through the buildings to see if there are any clues as to why this part of the city is so desolate and broken down. Unfortunately, she doesn't find anything.
But she does find the building full of mirrors. Whoever happens to be with her will see what looks like a... trial?
Whatever it is, Kyouko does not look pleased. ]
wildcard;
[ Choose your own adventure! ]
phase ia
[ But he still wants to knowwww. ]
no subject
Honestly, she understands that feeling. ]
It's very likely to be extremely dangerous down below, isn't it? Still, there must be some worthwhile information.
no subject
What kinda info do you think you'll find down there?
no subject
I'm not entirely sure. I would like to find any clues leading toward what CERES is really after, but the likelihood of finding anything pertaining to that is low.
no subject
(no subject)
1/3
2/3
3/3
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
phase ia!
[No hesitation. It's easier to backtrack after going down than after going up, in any case.]
no subject
[ Whether that's about CERES or the colony or this world itself... Well, they'll just have to see. ]
no subject
[How... optimistic of him. He reaches into his jacket, rummages around for a second, and then pulls out two LED flashlights.]
Either way— [Tossing one of the flashlights her way. Think fast.] Ladies first, right?
no subject
What do you think we might find down there?
ia!
We're going down. [ said as he reaches at his belt for a poké ball. if she's wondering why he's saying "we", his action will explain it. ] Cradily, Flash.
[ the flash of energy from the poké ball provides its own momentary light, but the light that cradily emits from her two glowing eyes in the dark crescent in her head is bright enough to illuminate the murky abyss below them. he'll turn to kyouko, a questioning eyebrow raised. ]
And yourself?
no subject
She gestures to the Cradily. ] That's a rather useful skill.
no subject
[ he gives cradily a stroke on the head, which she leans into enough that she doesn't stray the light in front of them. ]
Let's stay together for the time being. There's strength in numbers.
no subject
So, what do you think we may find?
no subject
phase iii c-c-combo breaker
We probably should get out of here before it shows something worse.
[ On either of their ends, really. ]
no subject
[ And just as she's about to turn to leave, another memory appears in the broken glass. It's of her and Naegi, in a plain room, with a wrapped box sitting on a table. Only what's in the box isn't pleasant.
Kyouko pauses as her expression darkens before she turns away and makes her way to the door. ]
... Let's go.
no subject
Alright. I don't think we'll find anything else here... hopefully the doors we went in from aren't locked.
no subject
Be careful to avoid the glass. [ And she heeds her own advice as she makes her way over to the door. ]
no subject
I wonder why memories show up in that glass, though...
(no subject)
phase iii
—This sort of thing, again?
[ He still figures it's yet another aggravating trick to spook him with his own memories. The idea of it being someone else's memories doesn't occur to him. ]
no subject
CERES likes to remind us of our pasts quite often, don't they?
no subject
...It's most likely an intimidation technique. They're just waving their power around.
no subject
It's effective, though, isn't it?
no subject
[ Or so he says. Before long, the mirrors change over to flash images of bloodied corpses strewn across a mansion backdrop. The fragmented mirrors and the similarity between the dead makes it hard to tell how many there are in total. But Togami just narrows his eyes before continuing. ]
It's just more implications for our present... They can infiltrate our mind, expose our memories, inhibit or activate our physical actions or reactions, implant hallucinations, distort our emotions. It's an unprecedented level of violation.
[ I'm not intimidated by that either, he'd like to say, but it's hard not to be when nothing is sacred. ]
(no subject)