Everything is normal today during the early hours of the morning. There's really no hint, no way of knowing, no anything that could indicate that CERES -- and thus Cerealia -- is about to irrevocably change. There would be birds chirping, if there were birds, but since there aren't any, there's just the constant sounds of a city in motion, humming with technology even that early in the morning.
And then, regardless of where you are or what you're doing or how early it is, everyone's CereVices flicker on to show a perhaps-familiar, perhaps-unfamiliar face.
Bellona Recreare, the business owner of Cerealia and CEO of CERES, stares at everyone with a flat, cold look. She doesn't seem happy.
(When is she ever?)  It has come to my attention that there has been industrial espionage and corporate sabotage in CERES' personnel. Such a thing will not be tolerated.
Due to this, Mosley's employment with CERES has been terminated. Please now direct any public relations questions to 1-800-7322934844444.
Good day.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Bright and early, not long after that sudden announcement by Bellona, you may decide to go back to sleep, or you may decide to get up and go about your day (or you may not have woken up at all).
Either way, it doesn't matter.
Because your apartment is broken.
The entire apartment. The door is locked shut (and that sucker is solid metal so it might be time to try a window), the HOLO(gm) is flickering wildly between settings, and the blender is out for your blood. Anything technological in any way (that is CERES-brand or has been tampered with by CERES) will be malfunctioning in a way that comes across as... oddly malicious.
Now's a bad time for the late sleepers to realize that the beds, too, have auto-control tech functionality. Hope you enjoy that electroshock wake up call, or the fact that the bed could fling you totally across the room.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] The rest of the city isn't faring so well either.
The trains are completely out of commission; even if the doors do open, it's probably not a good idea to get on. If you do, it looks like the doors will slam shut behind you, and the train will go hurtling forward at dangerous speeds with sudden stops. Many of the shops can't be accessed at all, automated doors refusing to open, and worst of all, every single last piece of tech in Cerealia now seems to have the sole goal of Making Your Life Hard.
The Pleasure District is flooded now that the spas are broken, but hey -- at least the perfume ensures that water smells good, and it's pretty warm. That's good, right? Maybe go for a nice swim.
The CERES police bots are out of control, chasing people down to arrest them for imagined crimes (What do you mean you aren't a closet voyeur?), and heaven forbid you're around any of the auto shops when everything goes totally wrong. The auto-drive feature in many of CERES's cars seem to be a little... finicky today. It doesn't seem like anywhere in the city is exempt from this. Good luck.
And towards the end of the second day of this insanity, the train, with whatever unfortunate passengers are on it, will derail. It crashes into part of the shopping district, leveling buildings and leaving the wrecked overturn husk of a train resting there uselessly.
Suddenly, things don't seem so harmless anymore.
PHASE III [ 1100 ] Of course... you're CERES-owned too.
Your code, rather, is made and owned by CERES, and it's inevitable with the craziness going on that it would soon affect everyone's code as well. So as the hour approaches noon, a few unlucky souls may start to notice that things are just Not Quite Right with them. Their powers may be on the fritz, functioning entirely wrong or not at all, or even stranger -- fire powers turning into water, ice into flame, electricity brings mud. Your clothing might suddenly change when your coding glitches, or it might be gone entirely. You may suddenly have an uncontrollable urge to start singing, or frolicking. You may suddenly be wildly in love with the first person (or robot or mirror) that you see, unable to stop it until the odd glitching wears off.
And then, just like that, you're back to normal, if a bit more tired than before. How troublesome.
There are also moments where what appears to be an ID number appears on the back of your neck in glowing light blue numbers. Each of these codes is a 7 digit number, with an E at the front of the number. It appears that the longer you've been in Cerealia, the lower the number is -- like a brand of some sort. You may not be able to see it yourself with it on the back of your neck like that, but everyone else sure can.
PHASE IV [ 1645 ] And, just like that, on the last day of this madness, the city goes dark. The lights cut out. The technology shuts off. Every last robot in Cerealia is completely and totally down, and can no longer be booted up. Even when the lights come back on in a few hours... the robots remain dead.
Cerealia's a lot harder to function in without those handy dandy robots running the place. It's also a lot more desolate, and rather quiet.
Slowly but surely, the rest of the technology will boot itself back up towards the end of the last day. But the robots remain broken, and cannot be fixed. In fact, opening them up will reveal that nothing's wrong with them at all... they just won't wake up.
As time ticks by, it doesn't look like Bellona will address anything on the network about the events and all people are left to do now is... learn how to function again. Without any help.
BONUS [ ???? ] If you were a stupid brave enough soul to log into ViViD during this time (or were unfortunately glitched there, which could happen), you will find that ViViD is in... safe mode. It's struggling to boot up, and even when you finally enter, you'll find yourself wandering through skeleton levels of half-completed scenery and incomplete quests. There are readings in the corner of each level that can be seen now, one about Energy Gain and one about Energy Loss, and just as the gain goes up the longer you are there, the loss, too, rises. At first, it's fascinating, and it isn't particularly dangerous... but then it becomes clear that you can't actually log out.
You can't exit Safe Mode at all.
Slowly, it feels as though you can breathe less and less, that the empty walls of the level are closing in on you... and there's nothing you can do. Unless you are or find a particularly genius hacker and they can access the source code and find the exit buried inside that code within the next few minutes... there's nothing to be done.
And then everything goes dark.
You'll wake up the next IC day, with those same energy readings marked on your wrist like some sort of bright blue digital tattoo. When you wake in the mornings, it will read at 100% and slowly go down during the course of the day until you sleep. It will fade after three IC days.
And from now on, ViViD always has those energy levels in the corner, even when it's fixed. They always seem to be recording you, every time you're in ViViD. Strange.
[ 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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Great, that'll make my job much easier, [she said, firmly leading Raven over to the plush bed.]
Just get comfortable, okay? I'll make sure you're all right.
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Am I supposed ta sit or lay down for what you have in store?
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[It was only now that Felicia was noticing Raven's actions-- and how they seemed stranger than before. He must be feverish, she decided. It would explain why he was so chilled before, because his body was working it's way up to a fever state.
She needed to hurry.
Flouncing across the room, Felicia ducked into the closet on the far side of the suite and started digging through the mess of hangers and supplies for a spare blanket that she could use...]
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[Now Raven really doesn't know what she has in mind, but he'll kick back on the bed, laying down and making himself comfortable while she waits. Though he does have the decency to stay clothed -- right down to his boots -- just in case a killer bot bursts in on them. He might act like a moron, but his combat instincts are at least intact.]
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Here we go, [She said, rushing back over to the bed and gently draping the blanket over Raven's relaxed figure. He really had gotten comfortable, she noticed-- but that just made her job easier.] This should do the trick of warming you up, no problem!
Except...
[Shouldn't there be another heat source to help with this? They didn't have a fire, but...
She had herself, and her job now was to take care of patients with the same dedication that she took care of Corrin with. Toeing off her shoes, she slipped under the blankets with Raven and snuggled up close to him, wrapping her arms around just to be doubly certain that he was going to be as warm as possible.]
...Sorry if this is too much, [she said, shifting into a more comfortable position.] But there wasn't a heater in the closet, and I would feel terrible if you got sick because I wasn't paying attention outside.
Are you any feeling better now?
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...Maybe she really is just trying to nurse him, with no other intention in mind. He looks at her, their faces almost touching, and doesn't even try to mask his disappointment.]
W-wait, you went through all that effort of takin' me to a place like this and all you wanted was a lil snuggle with old Raven?! Why didn't ya say so...
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[She was completely unabashed by their closeness as she met his gaze, and instead felt her cheeks starting to burn in embarrassment and shame at her mistake.]
But, the ice-- and your hands. I thought--
[--What had she thought? Helping her friends had always been her singular focus in life, to the point where she was at times blinded to the reality around her. While there was no doubt that she appreciated Raven's company, she didn't want to make him feel bad either...
Groaning in frustration, she turned and buried her face in the pillow underneath them.]
I'm sorry. I screwed something up again, didn't I?
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[Well, if she really wants to cuddle he won't say no, and maybe he can think of a way to distract her from her own embarrassment. As she buries her face in the pillow, he moves to put an arm around her shoulders, a big dumb grin on his face.]
The only kinda sickness I have is love sickness! So I figured you brought me to this here love hotel for a cure. [...That was so lame...]
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[She looked up at him again, eyes wide in absolute horror when she realized just what she had walked into with this. As much as she respected Raven and liked to believe that he made good choices whenever he could, she was completely flabbergasted that somehow she had allowed herself to get so caught up in her worry to let it get this far.]
I did bring you here to help you, but not like that!
[She squeaked, and buried her face in the pillow once again-- as if that could cover her shame.]
Oh~! Mister Niles was right in that I'm too easy to tease, but what are we gonna do? It's not like we can go back out there right now!
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Guess that means we're stuck here. Why not use this here room for what it was meant for?
[She can't mind all that much if she's stayed in bed with him for this long, right...?]
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[She was flushing so deeply that even her ears were burning in her embarrassment, but she knew better than to be caught up in this web now that she understood what she had walked into. Raven was fundamentally better than those strangers at the Maid Cafe, but she still wasn't confident in all of the ramifications that a more intimate act could bring upon them.]
I'm not confident that either of us can take responsibility if anything else happens in this place, and I really don't know how to explain anything to anyone if someone else from home ends up here. And....and I'm not exactly ready for kids.
It'd be dangerous for them here anyway. I can't, in my right mind, take that kind of risk.
[....Now, if there were Babyrealms in this universe, they might have a different end to this fairy tale.]
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W-whaddaya talkin' about k-kids for all of a sudden... [He sits up and scoots well out of range of Felicia.] You're kinda freakin' me out-- gah!
[There's a THUMP as Raven scoots so far backwards he falls off the side of the bed and onto the floor. That's... one way to make an escape.]
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[Felicia gave chase, scooting over to the end of the bed to peer at Raven on the floor, definitly looking alarmed herself.]
Times are rough back home, and a lot of my friends got married pretty quick. Things happened, they did what married people do, and many of them have had kids by now.
...Except, it's dangerous to have kids in a war, and we're lucky that we've got a dragon for a friend. She helped us find other worlds where the kids could grow up peacefully...except time is weird, and what's years in those worlds is only days in our home.
[She nervously tugged at her hair, wondering how much she should even be telling Raven about all this. But, nothing from her home really mattered in this city.
Shaking her head, she continued.]
Soliel is actually the daughter of one of my peers. I know it's hard to believe, because she looks just a little bit younger than me, but it's definitly true.
--And, no. I don't really understand it, either.
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[He grumbles, sitting up none too gracefully and rubbing the small of his back where he landed on it. Is he even listening? Probably not, since what most of Felicia is saying is going right over his head.]
Uh, I don't know nothin' about dragons or whoever this Sol-whoozit is, but I ain't lookin' ta get married or have kids with anyone. Far as I know, no one can have kids here even if they wanted to.
[He's pretty sure that's common knowledge, but then, he does spend more time around the Pleasure District than the average person. And Felicia is Felicia and all.]
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[Felicia just stared at him, dumbfounded.]
You mean that's possible? I've heard rumors of there being ways to protect yourself in...in the act, but none of them were very effective. I've never heard of anything like that without some sort of magic or curse being involved.
...Or maybe if the people were injured or sick.
[She paused at this, now sitting up under the sheets with her legs tucked underneath her, chewing on her lip in worry.]
...
We're not sick, are we Raven?
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Argh, let's just forget the whole thing, okay? I got that ya ain't interested loud and clear.
[And he is not giving a grown woman The Talk.]
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But I am interested in being with you. Lots of my friends have been going to their homes lately, and I worry over the ones who are still here. Since everything is acting weird right now, I worry about you, too.
It might not be what you're thinking, but I think we should stay here a while? It seems safer than anything out there.
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Ahh, don't worry so much. This old man's hangin' in there.
Who all's gone back to your home? [Raven probably won't know them, since Cerealia's a big place, but it could at least be useful information.]
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[She ticked them off on her fingers once she was certain Raven was settled, sounding pensive as she spoke.]
If you watch the television, Odin was in one of the soap operas before he left. His acting always has a dramatic flair to it.
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[Maybe if the machines in this city start working again, he'll have to look out for him in reruns...]
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[One of Nohr's princes, to be exact. It was a very important position for a man who was so hammy, but it suited him well.
Felicia didn't realize how much she would miss the wildly energetic man until he was gone-- but, she wasn't going to think of another person when she was with another precious friend.]
Come on up, [she insisted, pulling at his arm insistently so he would get into bed.] I worry about you with the city like this.
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[He doesn't really like being fawned over like some kind of dying hospital patient. Even if that might be close to the truth if the technology glitches go far enough, but...
Still grumbling, he climbs back into bed, if only to appease her.]
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[And she smiled, totally honest in her sentiments in this regard.]
We can even cuddle if you want, but I'm not really comfortable doing more than that yet. I know the same dangers aren't there, but it might make things...different.
You understand, right?
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[He heaves a drawn-out sigh, and flops back on the bed like a petulant little kid, linking his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling. He's not interested in her suggestion, especially if Felicia might get the wrong idea and start thinking they're a sappy couple or something. Bleh.]
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Don't be like that. It's good to be together with friends, isn't it?
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