You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
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no subject
[ Anyway, she's just going to. Turn to face the direction opposite of the one that he looked away toward and see if there's an exit hidden anywhere in that particular wall, since reaching the top might be a bit much to ask of her. One arm stays wrapped around her towel to keep it in place, but the other stretches to see if that little seam in the material of the orb is any indication of an opening. ]
[ She learns two things. One: no. No it is not. Two: the balance of this prison is more precarious than expected. The whole thing shifts most concerningly as she accidentally adjusts her weight too far and then is surprised into attempting to adjust it back again. Welp, she's never moving again ever in her life. ]
-- Sorry. I-- don't see one.
[ Not that direction, anyway. Does she dare look the other way? (Haha, no.) ]
no subject
Okay... so it's a hamster ball on water. We could maybe, like—push it toward the shore? Will that work if we're on water? I have this mental image in my head of it just going exactly the way we want it to without any problems whatsoever so rather than consider the alternative where I'm wrong and that's stupid, it's always worth a shot. If you're down.
no subject
[ Which... is farther away than anticipated. A little of the color drains out of her face the second she comes to that realization, and it's probably not just because they're floating out to sea in a giant hamster ball. ]
Oh, [ she says under her breath, a bit in the same tone as if she'd just looked up to see that she was directly in the path of a swiftly oncoming train. Whatever it is that's on her mind, she doesn't mention it. Instead, there's only a quick, slightly urgent, ] Yes, that. Let's do that.
[ Definitely worth a shot. (Definitely better than waiting for the cold embrace of death.) ]
no subject
Yeah? Cool, alright. So—hamster ball. We both get on this side and just run it on all fours. It floats, so according to my firm understanding of science and whatever, we're just going to kinda bounce-slash-roll across the surface like some XL Super Monkey Ball type shit and boom, we're there, everybody gets bananas.
[ the explanation may even be more for his own benefit than hers. working the logistics of this """Plan""" (half-formed idea born from sheer desperation) out verbally because he's always better with verbal. ]
no subject
[ Naminé is not nearly as verbally inclined, which is probably why she listens in concentrated silence, finally looking over at him as he explains with her eyes still politely lifted. Whether it's for her benefit or not, she does get something out of it; she probably needs to make sure her towel is going to stay in place without her holding it. ]
... Just a second.
[ That is Priority One, clearly, so she looks only a little embarrassed as she tugs it more tightly around herself, fiddling with the edge while being very careful not to let it unwrap too much. No wardrobe malfunctions on her watch. While she does that, there's a mildly awkward pause that even she seems to recognize as such, because after a moment she asks, offhandedly and with her eyes still on her task, ]
What do bananas have to do with it?
no subject
[ pretty much all there is to say on the matter.
he keeps his eyes averted while she does that, and then opts to do one better and just turns his back (it's fine, it's a Normal bikini, not a thing, but still, don't look) and experiments with where to put his hands to make this thing roll. it causes the ball to wobble around a little so he doesn't do too much of it for fear of upending them both before they're ready. ]
You ready?
no subject
[ Instead, she focuses on taking precautions to avoid this becoming a very unfortunate entry on some 'Funniest Home Videos' TV show. She only narrowly manages to keep from startling out of her balance at the first wobble but is quick to recover and correct for any shifting thereafter. (Don't worry, she's not looking. She may as well just commit to never lowering her eyes again for the rest of her natural and or unnatural existence, at this point.) Approximately the time he speaks again, she finishes with her preparations. With a nod, ]
Ready.
[ Turning, she skims her eyes straight past him to focus on the side of the sphere. The look she gives it is approximately the same one she'd give a snake with fangs fully primed and rattle shaking overtime if she were the poor sucker who had to grab the thing and extract its venom to help the even poorer suckers who actually got bitten. Hesitant, she very carefully adjusts the rest of her body to face the wall properly, attempting not to let her footing jar anything or unbalance the ball. ]
Should we - count, or...?
[ Because as willing as she is to give this plan a try, she can't help picturing herself mistiming it and immediately faceplanting directly into the side the second they start moving. Are these things even built for two people? ]