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.
|
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.
[ 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. ] |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Okay, I've got one.
What did the beach say when the tide came in?
[The delivery of the joke was just as flat and humorless as the thing itself, but he was trying.]
no subject
That and maybe a smile will crack! Because he just had to crack, he's just gotta!]
Oh, oh, I know! The beach said water you waiting for to the tide!
[Do note how her smirk seemed to last for more than a few seconds]
no subject
No, no, it didn't say anything. It just waved.
no subject
[Although, that's when she suddenly had an idea] But you know what? I think you should try it on the server, I think they might give you some free water with all those puns!
no subject
That's ok. I'm not very good with jokes.
[He looks a little confused when she suggests he favor the wait-staff with a joke, but he shakes his head.]
No thanks. Isn't water usually free anyway?
[Though it sorta depends on the establishment, he supposes. Not everyone has running water like they do in the cities.]
no subject
The most dangerous case yet! Hmmmm, if jokes won't make him smile then maybe...
Just<.i> maybe...!!]
Weeeellll, between you and me, they'll probably try and make you pay for it! How else are they going to swindle all your money and make everything overpriced? Wouldn't you rather spend it on nicer things instead?
no subject
If I had any to spend, I'd probably be getting a drink right about now, yeah?
[Or clothes. That would also be good.]
I don't really have anything to get swindled.
[Except maybe his pride. That was on the list of prices, right?]
no subject
[She said before nudging him with her elbow. If she guessed right, those names on the board might say that he's new here but...]
I may know a few things going on around this place so if you like? I can see if they have any yarn here! I can totally make you a sweater in no time!
[Run while you can, Johnny! Run far far far away!!]
no subject
I'm Johnny.
[He nodded toward the blackboard. The list was pretty long, so he clarified.]
Joestar. Uh. I'm not too keen on sweaters, but if you can whip up a pair of pants, I'll take you up on it.
[Something sleeveless would be okay though. It was just too hot for anything else. Didn't that sorta thing take a long time though? He was half-joking anyway, not like he expected her to needle-work him a pair of trousers in a matter of minutes.]
I'm a little more interested in the information though, if you've got any. You said you know what's going on in this place?
no subject
Johnny Joestar eh? Now that sounds like the name of someone who's ready to be a superhero! The name's Mabel Pines, it's nice to meet you!
[After all, it wasn't everyday that she got to meet someone with a cool name like his! But as she started looking around to see if yarn and needles were around, she started stroking her on chin a little.
Oh boy, where to begin]
Weeeeeelllll....you remember seeing that PowerPoint slide thingy right? About how your world is suppose to be gone but it kind of really isn't? And all this digital stuff is some kind of afterlife?
[She could go into some detail about dangerous this place was but...that's probably a little bit later. Definitely don't want to scare him off just yet!]
no subject
Right. Nice to meet you Mabel.
[Johnny vaguely remembered that the slide show had been called that, but all of it sounded so ridiculously far-fetched he honestly hadn't taken much of it seriously. It seemed more like some tall tale or something out of a travelling show, not real life.]
I... well yeah, but I didn't think they meant it. Didn't make much sense anyway. This seems an awful lot like places I've seen back home, you know? Besides, all that Diji-tall stuff and videe-ohs and save day-ta, how the hell are you supposed to make sense of that?
no subject
Good thing you got me around right? Don't worry, I'll explain everything to you! It's all pretty simple once you figure it all out, Johnny!
[Nevermind that she probably wasn't quite as tech savy as Dipper was but she got the basics down!!]
Pretty much all you need to know about the digital, videoes, and data is that it's suppose to make your life easier! Just think if it as really really tiny boxes of information shoved into a really big box! [She said before using two fingers and closing the space in between before narrowing her eyes]
And if you ever want something, you just click on some buttons and boom! Instant information!
no subject
Right, right. You're a great help.
[It's said a bit blandly, but there's at least a measure of truth to it. There's just too much that he doesn't understand.]
Uh. Okay. How are boxes going to make life easier though?
no subject
[That was a good way to explain it right? Although, she wasn't sure exactly how much tech Johnny knew but she'll just assume that he doesn't know anything about it!]
Think of it as a way of organising stuff! If you want some information about how stuff works around here, you just go digging into that box with a specific thing you want!
And when we get out of here, I'll even show you my communicator and show you how it all works!
no subject
And even if you were digging into the box with something specific in mind, you'd have to open every tiny box just to check and see if it's the right one!]
That sounds awful.
no subject
She placed her hand under her chin trying her best to think of the quickest solution to this problem!]
I wouldn't call it awful, just probably way too much than it should. But I guess that's the future for you! Where everything is overly complicated and things break easily!
[All with a smile of course]
no subject