« 009 ⇢ event009.exe »

[reparator]

Who: CERES & you
When: ooc: 01/15-01/22; ic: 11/03-11/06
Where: Cerealia's Research & Technology District and Beyond!!!
What: Intro and Event log
Rating/Warning: PG-13 | possibly nsfw (please let us know if you need this rating changed, or you are welcome to continue any naughty shenanigans in a private log)

//event009.EXE Always Believe in the Heart of the Cards Except When They Tell You to Kill People Welcome to CERES Research Tower’s latest event! For all you new folk queuing outside of the conference room where you were just made to sit through a lovely power point presentation, you will be asked to stay a bit longer and test out some games in their Game Testing Center. It’s a giant space located in the basement level filled to the brim with cubicles for everyone to sit in and enjoy their newest array of pop-up games. The games themselves will be in holo(gm) form and will feature suggestions from CEO’s post, including a simplified, 8-bit version of Tetris, Baseball, Soda Smash, etc. Characters can control the game through moving their fingers and tapping them against the holo(gm) screens. Surrounding the cubicles will be tables of food and more food for characters to partake in. It’s all safe this time. No mind-altering candy corn or gut-exploding Knight Burgers. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the party. For those who have been in Cerealia for a while, they should have received an invitation to the event and an offer of 1,000 credits just for participating. So come on down and bring a friend or ten! Meanwhile, CEO has a small welcome for everyone- “Good Morning and thank you all for coming! We have been expecting you. We hope you will enjoy what we’ve put together today. Ever since we got your feedback on << RAINBOW NARWHAL MELEE >>, we’ve been developing new games for all of you to enjoy. We’ve also tried to draw in some things from your worlds. We hope to hear more feedback from you in the future. In the meantime, feel free to sample our food, generously provided to us by TGICERES, a moderately-priced family restaurant located in the Shopping District."

//SCENARIOS.EXE PHASE I [ xxxx ] Music lightly wafts from the speakers as the showroom opens. Julius Vincere, CERES’ CEO, delivers the opening announcement before leaving the room. He’ll be watching through all the video cameras placed around the room, so be on your best behavior! You will be guided to one of the many cubicles where you will sit and wait for a screen to pop up with a game. Once that game is defeated, another will pop up and another and another until your character gets hungry/has to pee/is so done with this shit. PHASE II [ xxxx ] Among the game rotations is a simple 8-bit fortune telling game starring Aria, the fortune teller. Come be enchanted by her mysterious wiles as she reads your future. She will do some 8-bit arm motions before summoning a ring of cards that will float around her. Characters will be encouraged to pick a card -any card. Once one has been selected, it will turn around slowly and unveil a card from the major arcana. Aria will then give your character their fortune, and that will be that. End of game. Onto the next! PHASE III [ xxxx ] You’ve left the testing center, and the evening has passed. As you wake up to perform your normal daily tasks, a niggling urge emerges at the back of your mind. It’s faint at first, just a whisper of a suggestion that pokes at your brain like a mosquito bite. However, that bite starts to grow bigger and become infectious. As the day wears on, you find that one little suggestion escalating. The next day is even worse. It starts to dominate your every thought, making you carry out actions you never thought yourself capable of. Who is this person in the mirror? Who have you become? PHASE IV [ xxxx ] By day three, the impulse is now a full-blown addiction. It’s set into your psyche completely. You’ve become something else entirely –the embodiment of the card. You will be acting out everything without anymore resistance, and it won’t stop until the clock strikes midnight. That’s when you’ll reel back to your senses, and when it’ll all have felt like the worst dream ever. Or a nightmare really. BONUS [ whyo'clock ] Among all the games present, there is also an 8-bit version of CERESLearn. Yes, you remember the magical game that won your hearts over not too long ago. It will come complete with the same rules. You choose a subject, you choose an 8-bit teacher among the three (Astor), (Hilda), or (UN-Zippy), and you watch them as they try to erotically teach you what you want to learn. Is that an 8-bit boob or her arm? Who knows? But beware… as you may remember, these teachers house a very terrible secret. They will transform into an 8-bit giant bug that will chase around your protag as you guide them to run away with your finger, but you can also flick the bug on the holo(gm) screen to send them away for good. Those who figure out that little cheat code will immediately receive a special real-time shoulder rub as a reward from a robot that looks eerily like a carbon copy of their teacher of choice. [ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE Welcome to CEREALIA's latest event and intro post. For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing what's going on right here and feel free to consult the FAQ if needed. Please leave any lingering questions in the OOC post, and we'll answer them as soon as we can. If this post goes into overflow, we will make a new one to deal with the ever-hated captcha! Worry not!

Comments

[38thdefender]

Phase I

[Okay, so Kurtis has just gone from learning that his entire Universe is in peril to... some sort of video game party? Kurtis knows how to take things in stride, but this whole thing is a bit jarring. When the CERES employee tries to escort him to the cubicle he has some questions.

What kind of a speech was that? What about the current status of the conflict? What do we know about the flamines? What are our defenses?

Phase II

[Kurtis is disinterested in the games, and quickly gives them up to hang out near the food, introducing himself to some of his fellow outsiders.]

Phase IV (Unaffected)

[When he's not at work, Kurtis has taking to patrolling the streets, trying to deal with conflicts as best he can. This city is falling into chaos, the people are completely unprepared for war, and the authorities seem completely disinterested in his concerns. Looks like it's up to the Defender of Earth to whip things into shape, even if he has to do it one person at a time. If you're behaving oddly, Kurtis may be approaching you.

PHASE I

[gewehrundblut]

Finally, someone asking some real questions around here!

::He's just gonna shrug himself away from the CERES employee trying to nudge him out of the power-point room.

C'mon! How is game testing gonna help? Is this gonna be a big game of Space Invaders? ::That's aimed more at the CERES people than the pengui-

Wait.

Bird.

Aaaand have a creepy pale guy all up in your business, Kurtis.::

Whoa! You're a penguin! That. Is so. COOL!

[38thdefender]

I'm a Prinny, actually. My name is Kurtis.

[Calling him "cool' is a great way to get on Kurtis' good side, even if it came after the "penguin" remark. Kurtis gives a nod of respect.]

I guess they're trying to encourage morale, but I'd like to know more about the impending war before I visit the arcade.

[gewehrundblut]

Huh. Never heard of a Prinny before.

::Whatever. Bird. It's awesome. Er. He(?)'s awesome?::

But, yeaaaaah, I'm gonna hafta second that motion. And I like video games. But, y'know, universe destroying aliens. Kind of importa- OW!

::That CERES guy just shoved him!::

[sagemodes]

Ya might as well give up on that. They're always trying to get us to enjoy life for now while mucking things up by complete accident or something.

[ speaking of which why is there a green penguin thingy here. it's also talking.

god this place gets weirder everyday. ]

[38thdefender]

Well, I suppose keeping up people's spirits is important. Where can I go to learn more about the conflict? Hopefully they're better at building their defenses than they are at improving morale.

[sagemodes]

...Ya might want to talk to that guy who just gave the speech, Julius, I think that's what his name is. He's kind of the CEO of the whole effort to bring us back. Whatever a CEO mean, I guess.

[ SHRUG. ]

phase i.

[dereban]

You honestly think that they're just going to tell us everything?

[Because Inaba's already skeptical about the situation as a whole, regardless of how well thought out that presentation was. People lie all the time, after all, and it isn't as if they're obligated to give them answers.

Although she's plenty surprised that she's talking to a penguin of all things, at the same time, it's... not surprising at all. It's something new, sure, but she's already spoken to someone who named himself after an obscure plant. It's no big deal.]

[38thdefender]

Why not? We all want to protect our worlds. Unless they have something to hide.

[Perhaps this was the EDF all over again.]

[dereban]

I wouldn't be surprised if they did, to be honest. [She shrugs her shoulders, sighing.]

Governments hide secrets all the time. Just because we all have the same goal in mind - that is, if they're telling the truth to begin with - doesn't mean that they'll rely on us for all of this, I'd say. Besides, the fact that they're making us test games of all things, goes to show that there's more beneath the surface.

i.

[codere]

Why. [ Rin won't address him completely, but will turn to her side where she expects someone to be... ] Why is it talking to me?

[ Only for her rude plan to have failed.

There's no one there. Just a green bird and a rude tsundere. ]

[38thdefender]

"It"? Hey, I may look a bit strange, but that's uncalled for.

[His tone suggests he's more amused than annoyed.]

[codere]

What am I supposed to do? Guess your gender?

[ Squatting down and intentionally lowering her gaze before him to show she's looking right there. ]

Yeah, I can't tell. Maybe I should feel around first. [ OR HE COULD JUST TELL HER A NAME. A NAME IS FINE TOO. ]

phase II

[unionjackoff]

[you know who is just as disinterested in these games? England is. in fact, he's had it up to here with all of CERES' nonsense. no wonder everyone he talked to had nothing but bad things to say about them!

frustrated, he shoves away from his cubicle to get some food. just think about the credits, man. just think about...

is that a penguin. a little green penguin with peg-legs and bat wings. it's absolutely precious.

so now England is trying to get a closer look as subtly as he can, walking towards the refreshments table nonchalantly]

[38thdefender]

[Kurtis is sampling the cheeses when he notices England]

At least the food's not bad.

IV

[windyflower]

[It's a green penguin.

Why is there a green penguin walking down the streets? Who knows but either way, that didn't stop Fuuka from staring at him a little. She knows it's rude but she couldn't help but be a little curious as to why there would be one here. Sure, there were probably many other worlds out there if she heard in the beginning was true but...

Still...a green penguin...]

[38thdefender]

[Kurtis senses someone watching him. He looks around to see it's a young woman.]

Oh! Hello.

[unwantedwhispers]

[Leo seems quite impressed with the games, so it's kinda hard for him to understand why he doesn't want to keep playing. But keep hearing CERES employees trying to make Kurtis go back to the cubicles, Leo's about to ask them (maybe with a little of yelling) to go somewhere else.

And then he sees Kurtis. What.]

Are you... a penguin? [Nevermind about the games and the employees, Leo crouches down and, well, try to poke this weird creature, just in case it's an hologram or something.] A platypus? But why are you green?

[38thdefender]

[Kurtis accepts the poke. Curiosity is only natural, he supposes.]

I'm a Prinny. And I'm green because...

[Wait, why is he green? Most Prinnies are blue. They come in other colors, but he's the only green one he knows. Sure, his hair used to be green, but that's far from a satisfying answer.]

...Actually, I don't know why I'm green.

phase i;

[insolvent]

[ look, video game party is better than what they usually end up having to do here... but okay, the strange green penguin's words manage to remind ludger of the seriousness of the situation.

actually no they don't, they just make him wonder why a green penguin is talking, and why no one else seems to find that strange at all. ]

Er... even if you ask all that stuff, they won't answer. [ a sigh. ] It's frustrating, but all you can do is go along with things. [ and hope that's actually helping somehow.

not that ludger has any idea how testing video games could possibly help save their worlds. ]

[38thdefender]

A Defender of Earth doesn't sit by while his whole Universe is at stake! We fight to protect it with everything we have! Didn't they bring us here to help them?

[If nothing else, Kurtis needs answers. He got all ready for a fight, and now he's supposed to play video games? It makes no sense!]

iv

[lovemguns]

[ Butch is also unaffected, but he's a bit of an odd-ball either way.

He's the one approaching, though, because what the hell is that funny looking bird? ]

Howdy. What kinda bird're y'supposed'a be?

[38thdefender]

I'm a Prinny. My name is Kurtis.

ii;

[springful]

[Sakura had been planning on getting some food (even if she still questions the quality of the food these people make), but those plans are thrown slightly off course when she sees a penguin.

A green penguin.

A green penguin that's talking to people.

Look she's come to expect weird stuff here no matter what, but this is the first time she's seen a talking animal!! It's a penguin, right? It's a penguin no matter how you look at it, but since when we're penguins green?!

Even more than that though—]

How cute... [That's what matters in the end?!]

[38thdefender]

[Not "cute" again! Everyone used to call him "cool" instead of "cute".]

C-cute!? Even with these passionate eyes? This poised demeanor?