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« 009 ⇢ event009.exe »

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The distaste isn't a surprise... Well. Hinata will give that time. It's not up to him, after all. That guy has to show how he's changed himself. It doesn't have the same meaning if Hinata says something.

He smiles briefly at her as he heads for the way out.]

I guess I should tell you right away... This isn't the first other world I've ended up kidnapped to. Before I ended up here, I was in another place for more than a year; both me and Komaeda. [He frowns, flicking the fingers of one of his hands open, them lightly moving as he mentally counts the amount of time.]

I've been more-or-less away from our world for almost a year and a half.

[Why are you smiling at her, Hinata?? This is all too strange. Well. All of it is strange, but his attitude toward her is the weirdest. She'll get to that in a second, though, because,]

Kidnapped before...?

[And then a nod as she looks at him more closely.]

May I ask... how old are you, now? Have you regained your memories?

[LIKE YOUR TALENT... DID YOU TURN OUT TO BE SECRETLY A SHSL JOCK LIKE HER.]

[Peko don't begrudge his smiling talents NO JUST KIDDING he's aware he must be acting weird to her but he'll get to that, okay?? Everything in time.]

Aa. To a place called Haven. It was way worse than here. Here, I actually got this from there. [He'll half-turn, pulling up one of his sleeves to casually show her the scar from a bullet wound on his bicep. What? This is just evidence. His evidence bullet is a bullet wound ha ha ha.]

I think I'm around... twenty-one, twenty-two. To be honest, most of my time as a kid is fuzzy but I can remember most of the things that happened from after I got into Hope's Peak.

Haven...

[Again she repeats it, committing the word to memory. It's clear it doesn't mean much of anything to her at all at this point.

Her head jerks back at the sight of the bullet wound, though, then her gaze flies up to meet his.]

The person who did that is not here, are they?

[Not... that she would resort to violence. Surely not...]

But you've regained your school memories... How? Through time?

No, she's not here. Don't worry about it. [He looks down at the wound, thumbing at it thoughtfully, recalling it.

He could show off his other scars but eh this one does the trick well enough. And this one is the one he recalls most. Yeah, there's the knife wound on his palm, but he doesn't think he could forget how he felt at the moment he received this. Izumo...]

Regaining my memories was... more complicated. I should tell you about the truth of that island, first of all.

Mm.

[To avoid sounding like a broken record, she doesn't repeat back, "the truth of that island" as much as she might like to. Instead, she just looks to him, clearly waiting for an explanation.]

I am listening.

...First of all, it wasn't the actual Jabberwock Island. What we were in was a virtual reality. You had to play that game ViViD when you arrived, right? It was like that, the world we were in... it was called the New World Program.

When we were put in that program, our memories of our years at Hope's Peak were erased. [He pauses. He got to all of the things that may be hardest to believe right away. But there's no helping it; back in Haven he decided not to keep anything from anyone any longer, no matter what. It was dangerous to have dark, dark secrets, secrets that could be used against you.] But it wasn't meant to be... what it became.

It was supposed to be a program for rehabilitation, to restore hope, but a virus changed it. That's what... Monokuma was. A part of that virus.

The island was a virtual reality?

[Nope wait hang on now, Hinata, you can't expect her to believe that so easily. Even if arriving in ViViD makes it a little easier to comprehend how real a VR can seem, this is -- different.]

What does that mean for...?

[And then a pause. "The victims," is the word she wants to use, but that feels like it's removing herself too far from being a culprit. And she doesn't intend to do that any more. She never had.]

People who have died? If we are choosing not to believe what these people here are saying, does that mean...?

[Hinata hesitates, just for a moment, but continues on.]

The people who died... that virtual reality program was strong enough that their brains really believed that they'd died. As a result, all of them...are in comas in the real world.

[He looks at her, as though to say so are you.]

We were told that there's a low chance that any of them will wake up again. [And, more firmly:] But we're still going to do what we can, with that chance. [It might have been a while for Hinata since he was back, since he saw everyone, but the conviction behind what he decided to do hasn't wavered.]

Edited 2015-01-16 06:01 (UTC)

[All her air exhales in a single breath, and she squeezes her eyes closed for a moment. That's -- this is fine. She'd been expecting to die -- planning on it, really -- from the moment Kuzuryuu planned to speak with Koizumi on the island. But to hear that, if this is all true, she should be in a coma... that almost seems worse in comparison.]

I see.

[It sounds faint even to her ears, and she forces herself to inhale and firm her lips again, fixing him with a hard stare. If it were anyone else telling her -- aside from Kuzuryuu -- she wouldn't believe it. But while she's fully willing to believe that someone can trick Hinata, she doubts he would knowingly lie to her.]

And as for the young master...?

[So help her, Hinata, if you say he's in a coma she is just going to be Done With Everything.]

[Hinata's quiet for a moment, letting her take it in, looking back at her when she stares at him. He doesn't break the eye contact, as though if he does it'll somehow translate into him lying... He has wished sometimes that it was all just a lie. That everything that happened there wasn't true.

But it was. And everything that lead up to it.]

He's fine. He's alive. Me, Souda, Sonia, Owari and him... were the only ones left at the very end.

[When he says it he remembers all of the deaths, all of the bodies, the punishments, and wants suddenly to bow his head low and apologise to her for not being able to stop it all. He half moves to do just that, inclining slightly, head ducked.

Over the next thing he should mention he hesitates some more but if Kuzuryuu ever comes here she's going to find out anyway... so better now so it won't be a shock.]

One of his eyes, though... He lost it.

[He's fine. He's alive. There's a visible ease to the tense set of Peko's shoulders at that, enough that she almost doesn't hear the list of the other names. No other culprit had succeeded. No one had killed him -- not even her. She'd tried to protect him, she had, but...

That list is so short, though. She'd had no right to request of her class not to kill anyone else, not at the end of her own trial, but she had thought that perhaps, perhaps with her example... stupid. So stupid.

She has further questions about the program itself -- "restoring hope" and the rest -- but when Hinata continues, she almost looses her breath again. Her eyes squeeze shut, and she can't help but nod.]

I... had feared as much.

[That had been one of the last things she'd seen, after all. A strike in the wrong place, she'd once told Hinata. As soon as that blow landed, she knew exactly what kind of damage it would have inflicted.]

I tried to protect him. I never thought--

You couldn't have known what would happen.

...But you protected him, Pekoyama. Aside from his eye, he's all right and never wound up hurt more. [...] He really changed, too. He started talking with us, trying to work together with us.

[Really it was a shock, that day. And then he uh cut his stomach trying to make it up to them but maybe he won't mention that. He'll let Kuzuryuu decide if he wants to talk about seppuku. It's not as immediately visible as the eyepatch as it is...

Hinata shakes his head lightly, lifting it. If he thinks about this too long, all the memories of that time are going to come flowing back and he's going to get all emotional. Inside, of course. He tries not to show too much.]

[She's quiet for another long moment, avoiding Hinata's gaze as her arms cross more tightly over her chest. Fingernails bite into her bicep as she swallows, then nods. If that... were the only injury he'd sustained, than she'd done what she'd intended to do. She'd saved him. And if he'd started working together with them...?

Another moment, and then she actually manages one of those rare Pekoyama smiles.]

...Thank you, Hinata. For giving him a chance.

[Considering no one else tried to hurt him, and if he were working together... that's enough of a chance to satisfy her. Even without her, he'd managed. That, more than anything, is what prompts the smile.

An exhale, and then the smile disappears now that she's not thinking about it.]

Now. You said "restore hope." What does that mean?

[Apparently satisfied with the description of Kuzuryuu -- for the moment -- it's time to go back to the other important matters.]

[She never really needed his help with smiling at all, Hinata thinks as he looks at her. She just needs her own reasons to smile. But he shakes his head at the thanks.] He's a good guy. I'm glad he came to want to work together with us. It was a relief.

[But... on to a more solemn topic. There's no way that he can at all find saying this easy. He pauses and he looks around, as if checking to see if anyone's within earshot (while it's not a super secret that doesn't mean he wants others to hear it).

A little further, gesturing her along as he goes.]

...Do you remember when Monokuma was talking about how our world was destroyed?

[Super High School Level Harmless Face at it again, accepting the yakuza heir into the fold with what seems to be little trouble. She really does appreciate it.

If anything, her solemn expression only turns more severe as she follows him, stepping in closer to make extra sure there's no one close enough to listen.]

I remember. I also remember that something like that is impossible.

[So she says, anyway, but there's a definite hint of uncertainty. Between earlier saying that it was a virtual reality, and then Ceres reinforcing it, it's hard to know what's fact and what's fiction anymore.]

"World Ender," I believe he called the forces responsible?

[L-leave his harmless face out of this okay... That has nothing to do with it it was just okay. You have to give a guy a chance after he seppukus in front of you, you know?? It's one of those things that brings people together.

Her severe expression brings a sort of familiar anxiety ("did I piss Pekoyama off will she potentially chop me up into little pieces") that then turns into nostalgia.

But okay enough reminiscing, he needs to force himself to shake his head and tell her about this.]

It wasn't them-- World Ender; that group is really called the Future Foundation. They weren't responsible for destroying it; they're trying to do the opposite. The one behind that was someone named Enoshima Junko. It... really happened, Pekoyama. Our world...

[Kuzuryuu is going to be in SO MUCH TROUBLE if he ever tells her about that. Or if she ever sees it. Hinata will be in trouble too for not telling her. Trouble all around.

She lets him speak without interrupting, leaning against a nearby wall and crossing her arms, studying his expression. There's absolute certainty, there, which keeps her from protesting how she wants to, keeps her expression, well, expressionless. The kind of quiet, deep contemplation that leaves her face more blank (and scary) than anything else.]

What was the point of the "school trip," then? Taking our memories... the world still exists outside the island. Or rather -- outside the virtual reality, if that is the case.

That's... related to what happened to our world.

[Hinata exhales slowly, palming his hand over his hair. Pushing it back shows the scars lining his forehead for an instant, but he's not thinking about that, he's thinking about... everything as he stands just in front of her. Whether or not she'll believe him oddly doesn't occur to him. He can... worry about that afterward.

Hell, he himself didn't want to believe any of this at that time. Things are different now, but still.]

Enoshima went to Hope's Peak. While she was there... she brainwashed all kinds of people. She was "Super High School Level Despair", but she also made other people like her. People with talents, people who'd do anything for despair. They'd kill people close to them, offer them up, mutilate themselves, brainwash, manipulate, it didn't matter; they were all loyal to her.

...I don't know what happened to all of them, but there were fifteen who survived. They were found by the Future Foundation... they were going to have them killed, because what happened to the world, how bad it got had everything to do with them. But they... [No, that's not right. He has to say it.] We were rescued by someone named Naegi Makoto.

He put us in the New World Program even though it was in an experimental stage and erased our memories, bringing us back to how we'd been... and he'd intended to write over the memories of our time in despair with the ones of a peaceful island life. He wanted to rehabilitate us and restore our hope. But it was ruined.

[And Hinata stops for a moment, feeling a little shaky. It feels like a very long time since he's explained this to anyone.]

[Again, she doesn't interrupt as much as she'd like to. There's time for questions or disbelief when he's finished what he has to say, though it's only a few words in before she has the sinking feeling that maybe she would be better off not knowing. And there's a kind of -- itching. Like this is something she should know, but can't remember. Not anything about this.

Her eyebrows pinch together, and she's starting to put the pieces together as soon as Hinata makes a point to reference fifteen survivors. But wait -- fifteen? That doesn't seem right.]

We're... Super High School Level Despair? [Mutilate, brainwash, manipulate... she's always been aware that she's been an instrument for killing people, that doesn't faze her, but the idea of doing all this not but order of the Kuzuryuu family just doesn't...]

That's -- that's impossible. You've remembered this? That's how you know?

Edited 2015-01-16 17:50 (UTC)

At first I knew because we all found out in the program. Enoshima's AI was what was brought into the program and hijacked it; she orchestrated everything that happened and later left clues for us so we could figure it out. She wanted to lure in Naegi and his friends, but...

[The way they found out... well, it was a good way of building despair, wasn't it? As they discovered more and more, they realised more and more. Hinata did, at least, can recall well the weight that'd sunk into his stomach, how much he didn't want for it to be true.]

But I've remembered, too. Some things when she was talking to us. And then more since then, after we got out. [He looks down at his palm, flexing his fingers.] All of the terrible things that I did...

[He drops his hand, frowning, looking up to her again.]

Please, believe me. It's...important. I didn't want to believe it, but I had to. I had to accept all of the things I was responsible for.

[She's not talking again, but this time, it's almost as if she can't. Her breathing is starting to pick up, coming harshly through her nose, pupils dilating as if she's preparing for combat. Her shoulders are tight, fingers digging harshly into her biceps to try to keep herself under control. No matter what, she's looking to Hinata, trying to keep her composure, looking to him for some kind of cue to how she should react.

It's not even her own actions that she's strictly afraid of. It's those of a certain yakuza heir. What he'd done, what he'd had her do in his name, or worse, what she may have taken upon herself for his sake. She knows herself, she knows how much she would give to even just make him happy. Despair...]

Do you remember... anything about me? Or did he...?

[Hinata holds her gaze, hoping that he can somehow transmit some kind of calm to her. He shifts forward slightly, glancing at her arms and the way she's digging her fingers in.] I... don't. I don't remember having contact with many other people when I was like that, besides Enoshima. [He hadn't cared enough to, he thinks. He wouldn't have cared at all about the other Super High School Level Despair.]

I don't think Kuzuryuu remembered anything, either. But it's possible that he might. When we left the program...we had to make a choice, and we all decided that we'd go back to how we'd been, even if that meant being Super High School Level Despair.

[He stops.]

Pekoyama, [quietly.] You're going to hurt yourself like that.

Go back?

[If anything, the grip on her arms only tightens as she stares up at him, slowly shaking her head. That must have been the only real choice presented, if they were to go back. And Hinata... looks, if not the same, than similiar enough that it's not frighteningly different.

Go back, to where she and almost their entire class are in comas. She breathes again, a short exhale, and almost gives a start at Hinata's observation that she's going to hurt herself, releasing her own arms and letting her hands dangle uselessly at her sides.]

You... you said fifteen. Not sixteen.

[She surmises it has something to do with the "traitor," but which person? And what happened to them?]

Aa. Go back... we all decided together, even though we were afraid of what might happen.

[But they did decide to face everything... Kuzuryuu included, he's trying to say. Whatever Pekoyama might be thinking about, whatever might be going through her head, he hopes that might help a little. Kuzuryuu was prepared to face it alongside the rest of them.

But oh, right...]

...Nanami is a little different from the rest of us. [Though that doesn't make her not one of them all, no, she did too much for him, for all of them. Maybe that's why he can't talk about her in the past tense, either; if she'd really died, would she have been able to help him?] She's an AI. She and Usami were created and put in the program to oversee us through our time on the island. [Nanami... he misses her even now (not as though he doesn't miss a lot of them but Nanami), and that never really goes away.]

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