Love is in the air in Cerealia -- or, well, it is in ViViD anyway. And nobody cares about your lives outside of ViViD, so that's all that matters. It's an artificial love construct, but for you sad, lonely, little people, it's probably good enough, right? CERES is on a mission to find you your other half, your soulmate, your one and only, and this is how they've decided to do it -- through technology and abuse of your private information! Welcome to your new love life, courtesy of ViViD.
For your convenience, CERES has automatically generated dating profiles to help match up the new arrivals swiftly and speed up the "get to know each other" process. Nothing like some not-entirely-agreed-to speed dating to break the ice and improve new relations! You're going to be here for awhile, so you may as well get to know each other.
For the older residents, well... you may very well find your soulmate here! You don't want to miss out on that. That would just be an unfixable tragedy. So here, use the handy-dandy profiles and find your new honey. After all, the information on these profiles is 100% accurate, certified and verified by Mosley himself.
Why would you ever doubt that?
 I've never actually been on a date before. Not that there haven't been offers but I'm just too busy a guy! I think to myself, "Mosley, me, guy who's talking to himself, why won't you go on a date with that nice lady who just asked you out?" And I reply, "Oh, you gorgeous bastard, I'm satisfied with my life as it is already! I don't need love." After all, what is love? Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. No more.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Gooooood morning, new ViViD compatriots and gamers! You’re not going to get a lot of time to adjust and recover from your sudden retrieval from destroyed and sad code, really, because as soon as you arrive, fresh and new to Cerealia, you’ll be faced with a profile.
Oh, look, it’s your face! And… a quote attributed to you? And your favorite object? Hopefully those details are correct, because there’s no going back now.
You’ve become an otome love interest.
For those who aren’t brand new to ViViD, you’ll be presented the exact same profiles -- but you’ll have to pick one. You know how this works, pick the love interest you want to romance and sweep them off their feet. Better pick the right route too because, haha! You wouldn't want to end up naked and alone in a basement again! That would be crazy. Just pick some rando hottie instead, it's no big.
Or, well, that’s what they say. But then you’re dumped into a ballroom, dressed up to the nines in finery, and surrounded by other milling NPCs. You're given a moment to process the whole situation before a genteel-looking older man who seems to be running this party steps up to the microphone. Gently, he clears his throat, and welcomes everyone to the party ("Haven't been to a party this fine since I had all my teeth!"), and then he gestures to a pile of weapons in the middle of the room and finishes cheerfully, “Anyway, whoever survives can leave this room -- enjoy!”
It looks like the NPCs aren’t messing around; they’re immediately diving for the weapons, so you might want to get a move on.
Welcome to the Cerealia Dating Hunger Games.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] When you burst out of the ball room, possibly covered in the blood of your enemies (your poor dress/suit!), you’ll find yourself in what looks to be a sprawling jungle. In reality, it’s a circular arena, and if you travel far enough, you can reach the walls, though they’re electrified with no way out. If you try to get past them, you’re going to fry yourself before you accomplish anything else! Where's the fun in that?
The bigger problem is this: there are some unfortunate monsters on the prowl (don't they... look a little familiar?) in the jungle, and they are ready and willing to eat up anyone who crosses their paths. They’re drawn to the scent of blood -- and, even more so, the scent of people in love. So hey, if you're in love right now, it might be a good time to run. Otherwise, you're the top target and about to be hunted. Have fun out there, lovebirds!
Meanwhile, the NPCs (or even your fellow player characters?!) are out for blood themselves, so nowhere is truly safe.
Was that... was that a scream for help, or someone coming to get you?
PHASE III [ 1145 ] At some point, you’re going to need supplies. It starts to feel like you’ve been in here for days without any food or water (but that’s weird, wasn’t this ViViD session supposed to be just a few hours -- ) and you’re starting to feel the effects.
So, time to get in touch with your inner man vs wild. There are animals to hunt (deer, rabbit, etc.) and if you can fashion a spear or use a weapon you scooped up in the chaos, you can kill them for food. Alternatively, you can just try stealing some supplies from your fellow players. That's probably a saner option.
Which leaves you sneaking up onto their camp, full of sneakiness, and more sneakiness, and a little bit of stealth, you reach out and...
Suddenly, there are lights on you! Cameras! Cheering, adoring crowds! There's a narrator narrating every step you're taking (loudly) and there are fans hanging on your every move --
Oh, did that wake up the other player and/or bring monsters roaring down upon you? Whoops. The perils of spectator sports like the Cerealia Hunger Games, really.
PHASE IV [ 1400 ] You did it. Someone came at you, and you killed them. Their blood is on your hands, but it’s fine -- it’s just a program in a game.
Right?
Except when you look again, it’s someone you know. The corpse of a person who’s very important to you in so many ways is lying there on the ground, blood still warm but clearly dead. They’re solid to the touch. They’re there, and they look just like that person you care about so very much. Your heart hurts.
And you’re the one who killed them.
Then, without warning, it starts to rain because ViViD is nothing if not good at sensing the mood.
PENALTY [ why o'clock ] So.
You died.
This isn't really that surprising, considering it's the Cerealia Dating Hunger Games. People die a lot in games like these. It's the price of love.
Don't worry, though! It's just ViViD, so it's not like you really died. You'll get reconstructed, good as new, and they'll toss you right back onto the battlefield. Except, well... it seems like something's a little different.
For one thing, you've got claws instead of hands.
You can't seem to speak, either; all you can manage is garbled growls and sharp noises.
And, worst of all... you're really, very intensely hungry, and you can smell blood (or people in love, that's an even better scent).
So yeah, you're one of the monsters now. Don't worry, it only happens the first time you die in this game; if someone valiantly slays you again, you'll come back good as new, a normal person in the Games. What a weird glitch. There's no way that's on purpose or anything, right? No way!
[ 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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phase II
Without warning, there's a red something shooting high into the air to hover nearly about Grell's height, a red armored robot suspended in air and staring down at the monsters below them. It appears as though the creatures have picked up on Hiro's scent as well, though he doesn't quite realize why yet, and it's only due to having his best bud around that he can make such a quick escape. Hiro's hidden behind Baymax, but the robot picks up another sign of life nearby. It doesn't take long before he turns his head toward her.]
Hello. [He listens to her complaint before he replies.] The creatures in ViViD are programmed not to give up. It is just a game.
[A really bad one, and it's obvious that Baymax isn't entirely impressed either. Ah well. He's keeping Hiro safe and they're looking out for others. He's satisfied with his job.]
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You...you're Mr. Baymax, aren't you?
["Mr." might sound ridiculous attached to a robot, but with how important he'd seemed to Hiro, a title felt right.]
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The "mister" isn't really necessary. I don't think he knows how to register it anyway.
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something's wrong. something's very, very wrong, and her heart feels like someone seized it. it's a similar sensation when she'd seen Waver smaller and unlike anything she knew but in borrowed memory, a sense of the world dropping away in a certain section in her, and the smile fades right after it springs up. this is wrong. this is wrong, and she doesn't know what to do.
all she can manage is to pull herself back, to try and be remote, even if that's so much harder now. it hurts to deny it all, but she can pretend everything's fine, pretend she'll be okay, that this will sort itself out.]
Courtesy is a reflex, I'm afraid. And you must be Hiro Hamada. A pleasure.
[it's more artificial than she wants it to be, but she's trying.]
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On the other hand, this is something different. There's something he's missing and it's an expression Grell may be familiar with on her Hiro. A calculating questioning look, one of someone who's on the tip of an answer but wants to understand so desperately that he'll do what's needed to receive an answer.
Eventually, he settles on a wide-eyed look of curiosity.]
It's...Grell, right? [She speaks differently, he thinks. It's more honest and less dramatic than the things he's seen. It's nice.] It's nice to meet you, too. [It occurs to him then that this may be an entirely different case as well.] You've never seen this place before, have you?
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but no. not right now, and the disappointment may be heavy, but she'll shoulder it calmly. quietly. long enough that she'll meet Bellamy again and be able to say something, maybe he'll have some sort of word that will help her keep her balance.
but outwardly, the look she has is a much politer, remote smile. more formal than the last one.]
I have not. So much of it remains a grand mystery I have yet to begin to understand - this place, it feels closer to a dream or a complex illusion than it does anything that I know computers have the capacity for. Suffice it to say I look upon it all with new eyes and the whirlwind of information that CERES has seen fit to bestow...pondering that's a task for when survival is not the highest priority.
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Hiro on the other hand continues to marvel at her as she speaks. In a way it makes sense. He knows plenty of people who aren't tech-savvy in a place like this, but the way that Grell handles such a thing with grace rather than confusion and frustration is something mysterious.
Or he's reading too much into it and he's just a little spooked by the fact she knows about Baymax when they've never been introduced, and now realizing that this really is her first time in Cerealia.
...how?]
Are your dreams usually filled with monsters like this? [What's meant to be a joke falls flat, more of a childish question than anything.] There's a lot of information to take in in this place. Just wait until we're back out in the colony.
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[dragons, sea serpents, the death throes of the Jabberwhelp. the glinting eyes of Management saying it was time to pay up.]
In any case, I'm not sure whether to be intrigued or uncertain to know there's much I need to absorb. But that you two've come to offer your aid for my safety...you have my gratitude.
[what was it Hiro had called himself? a superhero. the memory comes back unbidden, and she sees it in context now. the pair of them, trying to do what they could for others.]
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Maybe it's a little bit of both. And I mean...y'know. It's nothing. [He has the grace to look a little embarrassed at least.] Wanna come with us? It's a lot easier to get a view of the arena when you're not stuck in a tree.
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[reaching out to take his hand, there's a strong urge in her to pull, to bring him over to hug him, even if he's smaller and his voice is different, and it feels like it's a blink of time since he showed up asking for the Lady of Mair, bearing heavy responsibility and hope on his shoulders. but this time she can't usher him in out of the cold and lay her resources in front of him for a divinely charged duty, can't give him tea and listen to his tales of technology that works like magic, can't be there and feel childish while this young human seems to have a better grasp on certain things than she does with all her years.
this time she has to smile, and try to figure out how to get onto Baymax, and tuck everything in the back of her heart. it's going to be fine, right? of course it will. she'll figure this out.]
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There's something she's not telling him. He knows that instinctually, just based on the short conversation. There isn't enough proof though to call her on it and part of him worries about doing so anyway. What if he's wrong? What if it's not something he wants to really hear about anyway? Still, he helps to guide her onto the robot's back, gesturing to Baymax's shoulder.]
Hold on here and wrap your arm and leg here and here. We'll fly slow enough that you'll be safe. Ever flown before?
[In a way he's still very much the same. He's just asking different questions and while the responsibility isn't as blatant this time, there's very much a sense of duty riding on his shoulders, a sense of needing to protect those around him. He won't direct Baymax to move until Grell's comfortable.]
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[she follows his instruction to cling onto Baymax, though she knows if she feels like she'll slip there are methods she can take to ensure she doesn't fall off. once she's secure, she nods to Hiro, but has to ask:]
Is this all right for you, Baymax?
[in the simple directions she can hear the person she used to know, and she wonders how long it will take before she can control comparisons. gods knew, she didn't want people doing that to her anymore than they could help. she'd be a hypocrite if she did it to him.]
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[So that's a yes. Hiro leans down to speak to Baymax, instructing him to take flight. The robot pulls away from the tree then, flying in the air at a slow, almost weather-balloon-like speed as Hiro looks around the arena for other signs of life.]
Nothing about this looks familiar to you at all? The powerpoint and everything?
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[she asks this question as she gazes around the arena, eyes lighting up in interest to see it from this angle. like this, one could almost feel weightless...]
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It's like...the slideshow with a bunch of pictures and facts displayed. That thing they tried to show us about the Flamine Federation destroying our homes. That was a powerpoint.
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[she says this without anger or disdain, the same way that she would say her hair was red.]
I remember that.
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