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.
[ 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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Pokemon?
[what might that be??]
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But oh yeah, some people here don't seem to know what those are ...? ]
Yeah! I don't got 'em on me, but they're kinda like ... [ Hmmm how does one explain Pokemon? They're just a part of her life. ] Like monsters that fight with ya! They're my partners!
[ ... Is that sufficient? ]
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I see. Do these monsters require any training in order to do that?
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I guess that kinda depends on the Pokemon. They got all kinds of personalities, just like people do. But that's what bein' a Pokemon Trainer's all about! Ya gotta work with yer Pokemon!
[ And having lived in nature so much and been raised by a professor, she does have more knowledge than any normal fledgling Trainer might have, too. She's seen so many types of Pokemon out in the wild. ]
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[if the chance arises, he'd really like to meet them. THAT SAID, back to the original topic and the one he was cautioning her about.]
Even though your partners sound reliable, I'd still caution against venturing into the jungle. Dangers aside, the air out there can become near unbreathable for some.
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But huuh. That's kinda weird. She's still not totally convinced she shouldn't go out there, but she's pretty curious about this issue it has. ] Whaddya mean unbreathable? What's wrong with the air?
[ She's never heard of a forest where you just kind of can't breathe. Is there some sort of gas out there or something?? ]
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It's suffocating, is the best way to put it. Some people are less affected than others, but it affects everyone to a degree.
[at least to flynn's knowledge. he hasn't heard of anyone not being susceptible to it just yet.]
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Suffocatin', huh? [ Interesting ... However! ] Sounds like a real problem, but I betcha I could handle it! I can hold my breath real long, so maybe it won't affect me all that much!
[ Sapphire that's not going to work the way you think it is. ]
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It isn't so much about being able to hold your breath as being unable to take in any oxygen.
[actual suffocating. how they managed to survive it themselves...]
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So ya can't take in anythin' at all? [ Hrmhmhmm. ] S'really that bad there? Yer bein' serious?
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I'd experienced it firsthand and I cannot say it was a pleasant experience.
[like a reverse fish out of water. not fun at all.]
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Wait a minute, ya did?! What happened then?!
[ Clearly he's still alive, so it can't be that bad ... right ... ]
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[mouth-to-mouth with yuri somehow saved his life?? it... makes no sense but that's what happened.]
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But ... wow. He only barely escaped? Really, this is all making her both concerned and ... intrigued. ]
If ya survived, then it can't be too bad, can it? Maybe it ain't as bad as ya think?
[ Wishful thinking here. ]
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but hmm, still hasn't gotten through to her? flynn decides to be a little blunt with how things went down. it's the best way to ensure sapphire's safety.]
At one point, I lost consciousness due to asphyxiation. Had it not been for the actions of my friend, I would not have made it back alive.
[it WAS as bad as he though and really doesn't recommend it.]
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As-phyx-iation? I dunno what that is, but if ya passed out and wouldn't have made it back alive ... I guess I see yer point now.
[ IT WORKED ... GOOD JOB, FLYNN. At least for a moment. ]
But if yer friend could help ya, then ... if I went with them, I'd be fine, too, right?
[ ... Is how it sounds now. ]
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that said, flynn doesn't give up just yet!! he'll get through to her yet. ...hopefully.]
It isn't so simple. Like I said, neither of us really understands why what he did saved my life. All things considered, it shouldn't have.
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But now he's got her curious ... ]
... What'd he do?
[ The way he's wording this is just making her wonder so hard. ]
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Ah, well... [maybe he flusters a teeny bit. while not inappropriate, it still somehow feels as such.] It was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
[yeaahhh...]
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Mouth-to-mouth ... Like, he kissed ya?!
[ Cue SHOCK. She's an 11 year old and kissing is clearly a big deal and holy crap kissing him BROUGHT HIM BACK TO LIFE?? ]
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N-no! It wasn't a kiss! While our lips did come in contact, it was purely for the exchange of airflow and lacked any inappropriate intent behind it.
[even though flynn's flushed enough to make it seem as though it was well more than a not-kiss. the curse of being a prude.]
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Are ya sure? Yer lips touched, and ya look like a Cheri Berry just talkin' about it!
[ They're red. Like his face. ]
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Yes, I'm sure. That wasn't anything akin to a normal kiss between us and occurred purely out of need.
[one thing flynn is VERY skilled at is accidentally running his mouth and realizing it only after the fact. case in point: him realizing two seconds too late that he just said that.
flushing round two? you betcha.]
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But ... ya do kiss normally then?
[ That's what she's getting out of that. He's just making it sound like he knows what a normal kiss is like between the two of them. ]
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Ah... Yes, we do.
[ERM this is... not an appropriate conversation with a little girl so um... what were they talking about again... oh right! jungle! danger! near-death! somehow this is better than kissing. he clears his throat.]
My point is that the difficulties in breathing out in the jungle are truly problematic and dangerous.
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