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.
|
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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They barely get a moment in the real world before they're quite thoroughly accosted by a robot energetically peddling the massages its workplace offers. ]
Hello, ʜᴜᴍᴀɴs. You have been selected for our two-for-one special. Compliance is mandatory.
[ .......... what. ]
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Pyrrha, I--
Compliance is mandatory.
--no, thanks. Just-- Pyrrha, you gotta let me--
Compliance is mandatory.
[ Jaune's eye twitches, and he takes a deep breath. Just... try again... ]
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senpaiJaune would notice her...She opens her mouth to speak, and - ]
Compliance is mandatory.
[ — is completely interrupted! Huh. Well, one more try? ]
It's okay, Jaune. Just --
Compliance is mandatory.
[ N o p e. ]
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Compliance is mandat--
--stop! Just stop, okay?! I'm kinda in the middle of something here!
Compliance is mandatory.
[ Jaune just tries plowing through, this time yelling in Pyrrha's direction even if this irritation doesn't appear to be caused by her. ]
PYRRHA...
[ And now, this is where the robot runs out of patience and yanks Jaune back by his hoodie. Sadly, these machines are not the only ones with a short patience today, so when Jaune realizes that they haven't been back in the real world for longer than a minute before something is happening out of their control, he... snaps and turns to punch it.
And it hurts. Or will, whenever the rush of adrenaline comes down. ]
I said no!!! I told you to stop, and you did it anyway!! And now?! Now I'm-- [ Whether or not Jaune is still talking about the robot, the thing quickly recovers and attempts to reach out to Jaune again, only this time Jaune pushes it against a parked car and begins bashing it with his sword. ]
WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP?! HA! HAH!!! HAAAA--!!!!
[ The hacks are relentless, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down even long after the thing has gone out of commission. Perhaps it was safer staying inside ViViD if he's this worried something can go wrong again. ]
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She has never - ever - seen Jaune attack someone out of anger. Sanctioned combat, yes, and fights with the Grimm. This is something else entirely, so hot blooded it's almost hard to watch, even for a seasoned combatant like herself. Even if his opponent is a programmed automaton.
There's a faint crack when his knuckles hit the robot's chin and that alone would be enough for alarm, but he carries on regardless. Crocea Mors rings from its sheath and whistles cuttingly through the air - but the sounds that fellow, metal grinding through metal without remorse, the vague beeps and whirs of a CPU losing power, they're far less pleasant. Pyrrha tells this moment through its sounds, standing too still for too long.
Because, she's realised - he's not talking to the robot. Not really. Later, that knowledge will help dislodge the blockage disconnecting her from her wider pool of grief, mortification and guilt. For now, she simply sets it aside, like she's done so many things today, and does what needs to be done.
She gives him a second longer to slow down, and when he doesn't, Pyrrha's hand wraps around his wrist, stopping his downward swing midway. It's difficult to cull momentum but as strong as Jaune is, she's still stronger.
Shaking her head lightly, she gives him a sad look. ]
I think we've done enough here for today.
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Why don't you just lock me up then?!?
[ It's only after the words come out of his mouth that Jaune pauses as his eyes widen, realizing it's not something he should have said. Pyrrha doesn't deserve this, she has been through enough long before she died, and yet it's something that can't be unsaid now.
Shocked at his own reaction, Jaune drops Crocea Mors to the ground. Police sirens can be faintly heard in the far distance, but Jaune doesn't wonder if those are meant for him. ]
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Genuine hurt flashes clear across her face, the shouted remark ringing in her ears. She feels absolutely dizzy with it, having her own actions thrown back in her face. Heart sinking, she realises she doesn't have the emotional resources to contend with this. There's nothing she could say, even if words were working with her and not against her right now. Shame and embarrassment flare up so clearly, Pyrrha ends up wondering how she doesn't shatter under the brunt of his anger.
Slowly, she lets go of his wrist. Sadly, she turns and starts to walk away. ]
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[ Jaune follows cautiously, leaving his family heirloom of a weapon behind. Right now, nothing matters to him besides what's in front of him, and Jaune was just now being a jerk to Pyrrha over something she did that he knows he would have done as well. Even if she hurt him with her choice, it was never really a choice for the Pyrrha Nikos he knows and loves. ]
I didn't mean it like... please...!
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It seems like you did.
[ ...and, the worst part? She can't blame him. Not really. ]
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I've just missed you... s-so much... [ Although his eyes are absolutely betraying him by how much water is coming out, Jaune still won't let himself cry. He doesn't need to make her feel worse than she already is. ]
Every day...
[ Every single day. Even yesterday, and now she's here again, as if none of that pain was ever there. ]
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But, as the sirens get louder and closer, Pyrrha lifts her gaze past him, sensing the incongruity in the scene before she really sees it.
Left, right, her head moves in infinitesimal gestures before - ah, there. Although the sales massage bot is well and truly downed, a faint red light blinks off of it. If Pyrrha had to guess, she'd identify it as the active light of a tracking beacon. The fact that the sirens are getting closer and more cloying in their unforgiving loudness is enough of a confirmation for her to act. ]
We have to go.
[ Quickly, she scoops up Crocea Mors and thrusts the shield and sword toward Jaune for him to equip. Actually, she had tried to do it with her semblance first, but the sword had barely twitched off the ground and her fingers had trembled exhaustively with the effort. It seems her aura has no intention of refilling its depleted stores for the time being.
As soon as she's sure he's on the same page, Pyrrha starts to run toward the nearest building. Good thing, too - the hot headlights and bellowing siren of a police vehicle had been just around the corner. ]
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Once they're safe in hiding, Jaune leans against a wall and lets himself sink to the ground. Tears replaced with uncertainty of what happens next for them. Nothing could have prepared him for this day or what's to come. ]
I'm sorry.
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She hesitates for a moment and then sits down next to him.
For the first time in what feels like ages, he wins a smile from her. Little more than a sliver, and rueful besides - but still a smile. ]
We've got a lot to talk about, don't we?
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[ Which is understandable. Jaune himself avoided talking about this for weeks, and even lost his temper at close friends like Shiho. If Pyrrha wanted to magnet slam him against the wall again, he would feel like he deserved it. ]
I spent the last three months thinking we'll never have that time again, and now... [ He trails off, unsure where he was even going with that thought. Nothing makes sense right now. ]
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His timeline is so out of sync with hers now, Pyrrha doesn't feel right admitting that her defeat at Cinder's hands is only mere hours away. It will take time, she hadn't been lying about that. Time for her to figure out what words to use, time for him to be ready to listen.
Still, three months. It doesn't make her feel any less trivially stupid, especially after throwing herself headlong into her own mortality. ]
... [ Well, nothing for it. They may not be strictly alone in this building but no one else is bothering them, and they're out of immediate danger. ] Jaune, you understand that when you go back to Remnant, I won't be going with you, right?
[ It takes all her will not to shrink back as soon as those words are out. Please don't yell at her again... ]
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His shoulders sink, and he calmly replies. ]
... Yes.
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... Oh. - That's good.
[ Good that he's aware, she means. All at once, energy seems to leave her and she's leaning a little more against the wall. This place is actually quite nice, she notes with a dispassion bordering on clinical. It's calming, more than anything, creating an atmosphere that serves as a soothing balm to their injured moods.
Maybe it's that ease that prompts her to admit, ] I'm not sure what to do now. [ In this exact moment with him, yes. But also on this day, in this week, this month... in the fragments of her life left to her. ]
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Jaune doesn't mention this. It's too cruel to offer Pyrrha false hope when Jaune himself has yet to be 100% convinced, even if he's practically letting Ruby believe in fairy tales too. ]
Can we just sit here for a while? Pretend that time has stopped outside? You... don't even have to talk with me if it's hard right now.
[ Although he really wants to, but Pyrrha does look more worn out than he is. ]
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[ She is worn out, and still knocked more than a little off her axis by all this - and rather hungry too, if we're being completely honest. Setting all that aside, however, nothing sounds better than just sitting with him and letting the whole world go away for a little while. And, although she knows she ought not to, Pyrrha ends up sliding both of her hands around his elbow, almost hugging herself against his arm as her forehead finds a resting spot against the curve of his shoulder. The fabric of his well-worn hoodie is as soft and comfortable as she remembers it being.
For a little while, it might seem like she's taken him up on his offer to not talk. Eventually, she speaks up, and it's with a needy, childlike whimsy that the hyper aware teenage part of her will be kicking herself for later. ]
Will you talk for a little while? [ Not about any of this, but about... hm. ] I'd like to hear about your sisters.
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There's not much to say. [ Seven sisters might sound incredible to someone with less or no siblings at all, but it's what Jaune grew up with and all he knows. It's normal for him. ]
Oh! Actually, I've met someone here, a young girl who reminds me of them. One of them, anyway. It was after I came back from... from Remnant...
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She sidesteps his mention of Remnant to keep his words flowing. ]
Keep going, please.
[ Pyrrha remains unmoving against him, eyes fluttering closed as she looks far more peaceful than she has since they were reunited. ]
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[ Who happens to be more relevant than Jaune lets on. When Jaune returned from Remnant, she was the first person who for a brief moment in time made Jaune forget about his own anguish. At a time when others were asking him about his absence or reminding him of Pyrrha, here was the one person who knew nothing about her, or that Jaune was missing for three days. ]
I felt kinda lost when I came back, but... I dunno, I guess helping her reminded me of... who I am. If that makes sense. Hm. A-Anyway, she grew up without having anyone to trust. It must've been awful...
[ Jaune pauses, wondering if Pyrrha might be dozing off. ]
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This isn't any different, even if Jaune's voice is a welcome distraction. Pyrrha cracks her eyes open and peers up at him. Again, she's beckoning him to continue his story. ]
You helped her?
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[ He remembers that being friends seemed to have been a big deal to her. Not that Jaune doesn't treasure friendship, but it's something that's just as natural as breathing to him. Even strangers are friends. ]
... Hey, Pyrrha.
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[ She assumes, vaguely, that he's about to tell her his arm is asleep and prepares herself for the possibility of moving— ]
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