Lightning flashes. Thunder booms and rain patters on the roof. It’s all about ambience here in ViViD, of course. You gotta set the mood!
Welcome to the Pleasurable Super Youthful Caring Hospital Stage, PSYCHward for short. It works, shut up. It’s a stage created for your well-being, health and happiness. Be careful, though. The first step you take in the dilapidated asylum carries you right into a puddle.
Look down, and the puddle is red.
Ah.
Of course it’s blood.
It’s only going to get even more fun from here.
 Good Day. I Am The New Introducer For ViViD Levels. Mosley? Who's That?
Anyway, Please Have Fun And Remember To Be Safe. Safety Is Our First Priority At CERES.
Thank you. Enjoy.
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PHASE I [ 4 00 ] The first room any people familiar with the ViViD song and dance routine will find is one that is...wonderfully full of body bags. Body bags everywhere -- on the floor, on the shelves, uncomfortably tossed over the back of a chair...and each body bag has a helpful tag.
Handy.
Of course, within each bag is a newcomer; they won’t be able to escape the body bags until someone else unzips them. They’re dressed in little more than hospital gowns, toe tags still attached to bare feet.
Welcome to ViViD! Enjoy your stay.
Of course, there has to be an element of surprise to it. Some body bags contain living, breathing newcomers, yes. But the others?
These contain corpses. The toe tag on them indicates a loved one or someone important to you -- or someone you hate beyond all else. You open the bag, and there is their face, achingly familiar and frozen in death...but blink and suddenly they’re the corpse of a nondescript stranger.
PHASE II [ 600 ] Step out of that room and now it’s the asylum proper. Lights flicker. It’s dark, but it’s still more than clear to anyone with ears -- something’s stalking everyone in this place.
The shadow flickers on the wall, the lights go out -- you turn a corner and there it is, jumping out at you with an unearthly cackle --
A puppet.
It hangs there limply, utterly harmless.
All around the facility, these harmless puppets lurk. In lockers, behind doors, in dark halls…
But they’re all literally inanimate and harmless. Whose dumb idea was that?
PHASE III [ 1000 ] But slowly, the atmosphere changes. Go in deeper, and the sounds around deaden until there’s nothing left but the dark all around and the sound of your own breathing. And yet, irrevocably you know, whether as an aspect of the level or something else entirely --
Something is actually hunting you now.
It makes no noise. It can’t be seen. But it’s stalking, and it’s on the hunt.
To make matters worse, now the asylum seems to have become a proper maze, with dead ends everywhere, and practically no light to see them by.
And the only other souls you’ll see are the other people stuck in the maze -- but there’s something not quite right about them either. You can see...bits of their code, lurking under the surface of their skin, and as you watch, it’s being corrupted, bit by bit, the longer they’re in the dark.
If you look down, it’s happening to you too.
Better hurry.
There’s only one way out.
PHASE IV [ 1400 ] And then you step through a doorway into light.
You escaped the maze, but this is an asylum, and you’re about to see why. There are rows upon rows of cages of aliens. They cry out and reach out through the bars with webbed or clawed hands or tentacles, begging for release.
Let them out, or don’t -- the exit to Cerealia proper is right there at the end of this room, inviting and safe.
But if you do elect to let them out, the entire room suddenly goes silent.
And there, in that cage you opened, there is no longer an alien, but instead a doll. And it’s watching you. Stay any longer, and the doll with start to move, reaching -- and if it touched you, suddenly you’re the one locked away behind bars.
On the plus side, when you take the exit to Cerealia, it’ll deposit you in the Pleasure District, where massagebots will reach for you to try to drag you in for a sensual massage.
Welcome!
PENALTY [ ???? ] You were caught in the maze.
It’s hard to say even now what it was that caught you, but now you’re strapped down to an operating table, and there’s a flat-faced doctor standing above you.
The restraints can’t be broken.
There’s a prick of a needle, and you fall unconscious -- and that’s probably a mercy. When you wake up, you’ll be back in the asylum somewhere, but missing a sense -- the one from your character’s application will be gone. A character who is sight will have been blinded, for instance, and a character who is touch will feel nothing. This will last until they log out of ViViD and get into Cerealia.
[ 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. ] |
Welcome to Cerealia's July intro log! For your convenience, we have compiled the characters' arrival experience here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you! |
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Then, I suppose we should look for a way out.
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( Oh. Darn. She feels that she was close there. Along with figuring out what sort of shenanigans ViViD has in store this time, she is going to get this girl to smile. )
But I might have sort of fibbed, technically. I might not know what all this is or whatever, but...it's kind of hard to explain.
( The whole video game thing still doesn't make sense to her. The idea that none of this is really real is even more confusing. She has all but given up on knowing how to give a proper welcoming spiel. )
It'll be easier to show you when we get out.
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Please, lead the way.
[ Truth be told, Soleil isn't the only one pretending to less than what she knows. Pyrrha may not be doing it intentionally, words all bound up in her throat, but the fact that she's doing it at all is cause for concern.
Regardless, she'l follow dutifully and without a complaint. Once a duckling, always a duckling. ]
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( Soleil isn't sure what is going on. She doesn't get the impression Pyrrha is afraid, exactly, or at least not of the actual place they're stuck in. She hooks an arm around one of Pyrrha's own and keeps on smiling up at the taller girl. )
Um, so. I'm Soleil. What's your name?
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Sorry, Soleil. It's not you. ]
Pyrrha Nikos. [ At least her answer is given unstintingly. ] It's nice to meet you, Soleil.
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( She is uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments as she leads Pyrrha along. She isn't quite sure how to tackle this. Subtlety may not normally be her style, but she definitely needs to test the waters a bit more before trying to help. )
So! You're really pretty. I love your hair.
( She awaits a reaction. )
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Rather: ]
Oh...
[ Wait
for
it — ]
- thank you. That's sweet of you to say.
[ AND THAT'S IT. While Soleil is no doubt charming, taking after her father as she does, Pyrrha is in no fit mood to be charmed right now. :( ]
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She comes to a stop and looks up. Her smile is gone and replaced with a look of concern. )
Are you okay? You seem...upset.
( For a lack of a better word. 'Upset' isn't quite the vibe she is getting. )
I don't want to be nosy, but I wouldn't feel right ignoring it.
That icon is so adorable, I'm almost angry!
Instead, Pyrrha gives Soleil a more solicitous look, dredging up as much warmth as she can muster. It's not much, but it's a little more than a moment ago. ]
Thank you for your concern, but I'll be alright.
[ She keeps their arms linked, keeps her steps soft. There's some comfort in being attached to someone else, even if Pyrrha is unaware of it. ]
I just need to get used to this, that's all. [ That part isn't even a lie. ]
good! soleil will use her adorableness to soothe pyrrha's wounds
Soleil nods and her smile is back. )
Okay. That's enough for me.
( She gets moving again. )
For what it's worth, you won't need to do it alone.
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There's a genuine note of ease in Pyrrha's next words, even if she is just repeating herself. ]
Thank you, Soleil.
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Yeah, you're welcome! Sooner or later I'm going to see you smile, I'm sure of it.
( A pause. )
Probably not until we get out of this dump at the earliest, though.
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Have you been inside ViViD before?
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( She picks up on that. Either Pyrrha has ran into someone else or she isn't nearly as new as Soleil had assumed. )
This is definitely the worst so far. Too bad you didn't show up just a liiittle sooner--we were at a beach last time! Gosh, that would have been a sight.
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[ Idly, she looks around her. ]
Well, this.
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( At least there isn't the constant threat of death here. Yet, anyway. )
Once we get out of here, I'll find a place where we can take a swim to make it up to you.
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Do you like to swim?
[ Small, aimless conversation is a nice distraction from their surroundings and her own vexing disposition, although she's careful not to become too distracted. The hair on the back of her neck is at a strict standing, apprehensive. ]
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Oh, sure! It's way more fun with others...especially after seeing the sorts of swimsuits they have to offer here. But it's also a great workout.
( She flexes her free arm. )
I'm always looking to keep myself in tip-top shape. If I can do it while having fun with you, then...two birds, one stone.
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It's for the best, really. ]
I guess some laps in the pool would be good for the muscles. [ That's important to Pyrrha. I mean, check out the gun show. ] Alright, I'd be happy to go swimming with you.
[ - as happy as she can be, sounding as perpetually demotivated as she does. ]
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( Soleil is content with this even knowing Pyrrha isn't registering her charm. Besides, she got what she wanted and perhaps a happier location will cheer the girl up for real. Soleil may be happy enough for the two of them, anyway.
She needs to be seeing that she thinks Pyrrha may lay down on the ground and give up if let to her own devices. )
There's a lot to look forward to once we get out of here. Not just swimming.
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Oh?
[ Trying to participate, just a little more, she looks over. ]
Are you looking forward to anything in particular?
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( She thinks for a moment. She is so spontaneous and her interets so eclectic that there are few things she actually plans ahead for. But she has one thing to always look forward to. )
There are loads of nice tea shops and coffee shops. They'd be a nice way to unwind after a swim.
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[ It's hard to sort through her memories, back home and here. It all seems to blend in a nauseatingly uncomfortable fashion. ]
Do you have a favourite?
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( Despite all the tea she drinks and how often she goes out to them, she isn't much of a tea aficionado. Her ranking of the tea houses depend entirely on how much she likes the company she is keeping. )
I think I might have about a dozen favorites. There are so many of them, but they're all so different in nice ways. I might have to take you out to a few to see if I can find a favorite that stands out among the rest.
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A sudden swell of apprehension at the base of her spine stops her short, nerves at an unpleasant standstill. Behind them - no, ahead of them, or maybe above their heads - there's a slow, faint scuffling. The darkness seems encroaching and unkind in a way that it hadn't before, folding in on them malignantly.
They've made it to Phase III.
Realising, belatedly, that she had been holding her breath, Pyrrha lets it out as silently as she can. Looking over at Soleil, brow and shoulders taut, she asks, ]
Do you feel that?
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