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 iv screams quietly
[ But even knowing that doesn't stop the shock that flies across Souji's face at the sight before him: Sano kneeling next to a body. A dead Chizuru. Bodies and dead people are par for the course to Souji, neither having the power to unsettle him any more than the actual act of killing.... but Chizuru's always had a different sort of effect on him altogether. (as to why -- he doesn't particularly care to know. he only knows that it's true) ]
[ Seeing Sano so distraught shakes Souji out of his own stupor, face twisting into a wry grimace and mustering all that shock behind a detached expression. ]
ViViD sure likes playing the same boring tricks. [ He's not nearly as bored as he's trying to make himself sound. His knuckles are white on the hilt of his sword, even as he sighs. ] You know it's not real, Sano-san. So there's no point in acting like it is.
[ it's souji's sensitivity hour, where souji tries to grasp that human emotion called tact and ends up throwing it in the gutter because he's terrible at it and Did He Even Try ]
joins the screaming before work
Right. ViViD. Surely Souji's correct.
But it still doesn't dispel that guilt in his gut, or how real Chizuru's body looks. Risking a glance back toward her, he notices her eyes are still open in shock.
Betrayal.
Sano grits his teeth and reaches out a shaking hand to close her eyes.
It still feels real.]
Just give me a second.
HAVE A GOOD WORK DAY with hopefully less screaming
[ because it's not. ]
[ right? ]
[ He exhales, training his gaze on their surroundings. a monster barreling from the jungle shadows would be really welcome right about now. though probably not in hindsight if it's going to morph into someone else they know???? dammit. ]
She's not here. You and Shinpachi-san are the only ones from home that arrived today.
THANK YOU DARLING I survived
She's not here. Not really.
The more they tell themselves that, the easier it will become to believe, right?]
Yeah. She's not good at sneaking up on people anyway, right? And she'd announce herself first...
[Is he trying to convince the both of them or just himself?]
Let's get out of this rain.
[He slowly walks toward the nearest patch of jungle. It could be dangerous in there, but the distraction would be welcome right now.
Most of all, he just doesn't want to be around something that looks like a dead Chizuru.]
ugh good we both made it out alive
She's just the type who'd give herself away.
[ meaning she's also the type who'd die immediately in this battle royale, which doesn't do anything for Souji's mood. But denying it out loud for a second time seems to be useless, so Souji finds nothing wrong with following Sano out of the rain cloud. (that doesn't follow them, thank good) His pace is a bit quicker and he soon catches up. ]
[ a different, possibly nicer man would ask Sano if he's okay. Sano would probably have asked if it had been Souji kneeling next to Chizuru like that. Because that's the sort of person Sano is. But, asking that now would be the same as asking Sano how he felt seeing Chizuru dead on the jungle floor. At least... That's how it'd sound coming from Souji, always clumsy with his concern.]
[ Souji's glance cuts away from the other man, letting the silence fill up the spaces between them, then looks back. ]
Do you remember this place? [ Does Sano remember like Saitou did? Can they talk about this and pretend that ViViD's trick had never happened ] And by this place, I mean CERES and the colony.
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People don't die permanently here, anyway. If Chizuru really is here, she'll be fine soon enough, right? Not that Sano can easily erase the memory of seeing the spear pierce her chest. The spear he held -
He has to focus on the present. Leaning against a tree - and making sure not to face the place where he's made his latest kill - he focuses on Souji's question. At least that's easy to answer.]
Yeah. I've been here before. That was about...
[What had Kashuu estimated?]
Five months ago? Give or take. I honestly don't know how long I've been gone.
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Isn't that normal? It's not like you remember where you've been all this time, so you couldn't have kept track.
[ Souji phrases that bit almost like a question. Maybe Sano does remember. Souji, who had apparently forgotten all his memories of Cerealia before, didn't remember where he had been, but maybe the people who did remember their past stays did? ]
[ Wherever Sano had been, Souji was pretty sure it hadn't been at some altar being sacrificed. that's good right ]
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Not knowing, though, is...frustrating.
[But yeah, it's not like he has any way of knowing right now, so he shouldn't worry about it. Souji is back, however, and Sano wants to know if they're in a similar boat...but how to go about asking?
Then again, maybe getting straight to the point is what they both need, after...what just happened.]
What about you? You were here before, once.
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[ The question elicits a frown from Souji, but an outright question deserves an outright answer, right? Well. When Souji's in the mood. Which he is now, even if he does look a little disgruntled. ]
...I don't remember that. But if Sano-san and Hajime-kun say so, it must be true. I figured everyone else was lying.
[ and he threatened to kill some of them, like sousei. whoops. He skips ahead, as if trying to leave that subject speedily behind. ]
Oh — Hajime-kun's here too, in case you haven't run into him already. And some version of Hijikata-san that's just as annoying as the one we know. Though I haven't seen him around lately, so he might have died or something.
[ nice ]
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It's nothing to worry about, really.
I ran into Saitou, though. Shinpachi's like me, too, having been here before.
[A different Hijikata is kind of weird, but then Sano had met a different Souji during his last stay, so at least it's not a completely mind-boggling concept anymore.]
Well, if Hijikata-san's still around, I'm sure I'll run into him soon enough.
[Not going to touch Souji's usual barb against their vice-commander. He knows better.]
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[ be a little less mature about that, why don't you Souji. But he relents. ]
I see. [ so Shinpachi remembers too... That's good. Souji's not sure he's ready to try and explain Cerealia to either of them -- the place he still doesn't get even now. ] So that's everyone then.
[ his brow furrows. technically... There is someone else. Souji's only the slightest bit hesitant here, but he should tell. Kaoru's still an Enemy of the Shinsengumi at the end of the day, no matter how many times Souji calls dibs on him. ]
I don't know if you ran into him the last time you were here, but Nagumo Kaoru's still around.
[ time to casually out Kaoru's gender sorry kaorude ]
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Nagumo Kaoru.
Sano can't stop the huff that leaves his lips as he kicks against the tree.]
Great.
[Yeah, no reaction to Kaoru being a dude. That had been a strange revelation back when Shinpachi dropped the information. Embarrassing, too, that Sano hadn't noticed that something was off.]
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[ It's a sign of just how Kaoru Kaoru's probably been then. Not that Souji could blame Sano for sounding so annoyed??? Kaoru inspired those feelings from everyone. ]
[ But, he can't say he's not curious. And Sano's not even surprised that Kaoru's a guy, so something must have happened, right? ]
That guy's a pain to look at and talk to, but he's always pulling that weak damsel act around people. [ he cocks his head ] So what happened between you two?
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Sometimes shit happens.
Kaoru, though. Sano hates how easily that guy pisses him off. It's not like he's even been a constant thorn in his side, it's just been a grudge, if he's honest with himself.
Which is stupid, but gah!]
...Remember the notice board incident on the Sanjo-Ohashi bridge?
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There's no way I'd forget. Sano-san was even recognized for once. [ Souji sure likes adding in those unnecessary comments no matter the subject they're discussing... ] You mentioned running across someone who looked just like Chizuru back then.
[ Souji had suspected and even interrogated Kaoru, but back then... he had gotten away. ]
So with that, you were already suspicious of Kaoru when you met him here again, huh?
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