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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no subject
...You gonna make me wait out here until you come out?
[He's not even sure if Darin can hear him under that thing, but he's finally doing it. A Disapproving Dad Voice.]
no subject
[Without warning, the dome ripples as spikes erupt from its surface.]
Wh-What's happening out there?! I can't see!
no subject
Whatever you're doin', I think it's respondin' to how you feel. So just take a deep breath and calm down before ya get hurt. Can ya do that?
no subject
I can try but...but...
[But the laughing. He can hear it clear as a bell. It fades occasionally but it's almost...goading him. He hates it. He hates it so much...!]
[And in response, the dome coils around itself into a small spire, still keeping Darin inside.]
Raven...I...I'm sorry...
no subject
[He says it again, because no matter what, he doesn't want to just leave him alone. He watches, still tense.]
What's got ya so spooked? [Since this seems to go way beyond the usual CERES-related mishaps, and there's so much about Darin he doesn't know, there has to be more to this than there first seems.]
no subject
I can hear him in my head...
I don't...I don't think this is CERES...I think I'm the one doing this...
S-Somehow...somehow I'm...making things change...!
no subject
Listen ta me instead. Try to block it out.
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[Well, it's really hard to just deny it now. With this newfound ability he can't control, the dark aura, everything...]
There's something inside of me, Raven...and it wants out.
And I can't let it. I won't let it! Even if it tears its way out, I'll find a way to keep it sealed...!
no subject
[Raven wishes he could get closer, even if he could just reach Darin to comfort him somehow. Now he's wondering if he should get his bow ready instead.]
If it gets out, we'll stop it together. This doesn't hafta be all on you.
no subject
[He stresses his words because the pain in his head is excruciating.]
Do you remember...do you remember the prophecy I told you about...?
It was talking about me! Dromas and I...we were born with half of the Archfiend's leader's soul bound to each of ours...
[The metal cocooning Darin shifts and spasms again.]
He's a god, Raven! Dromas could wipe out a city without breaking a sweat! I watched him do it! And I'm just as bad...! I'm a danger to every person in this city and the only way...
The only way is to keep him sealed inside! To not use my power! Otherwise, that's it! End of the world! And it'll be all my fault!!
no subject
[The question's said in a low growl. It takes a lot to rile Raven up, but somehow this kid's stubbornness manages to do it every time.]
Listen, I don't know much about Archfiends or your brother, but... this "just as bad" stuff is a load of bull! You're not him, and you're not this Archfiend.
A friend from my world was in a similar bind ta you with powers she couldn't control, and we freed her and found a way to save the world. That taught me that if people work together, there are always other ways round a problem.
But the way I see it, you just wanna hide your problems away and hope they stay hidden. You really think that's gonna save anyone? You think CERES won't keep messin' with your powers like this?!
no subject
You don't know how strong I really am...
I hide it, you know. I hide it because I'm dangerous. Because I don't want people to get hurt.
[The metal around him bubbles outward, then contracts a bit.]
I'm not human, Raven. I was born specifically to end my world. And even if it's gone, I don't think Diomuhr's gonna settle...he doesn't care what he wipes out, as long as he can do it.
[He looks at his hands.]
You're not...wrong. I do want to hide. I want to hide because all my life, every moment of every day has been spent knowing that I was different. I was special, but not in the good way. But if I hide...if I hide my power, I can't be used. I can't hurt anyone other than myself and...
In the end...? I'd be okay with that...
no subject
So you were born into something, and you're just gonna play out that role instead of having a life of your own?
[Raven sounds bitterly disappointed. He was only Darin's age when the war happened -- when he stopped living. The thought of someone else repeating mistakes like his is intolerable. What makes it worse is Darin's burden is far heavier than one he ever had.]
You remember I told you about my little double act back home? That was all for my boss. He gave me my mission as his right hand, and I did it. I figured my life was worth nothing beyond acting as his tool. And in the end, he turned to be a nutjob who brought a calamity on our heads. If we don't do anything about it, it'll spell the end of our world, even if we find a way back.
[Sound familiar? Raven hopes so, because he's not done yet.] I didn't care about what his plans were, or that my life was his. Then some punk came along and beat a little sense into me. So even though for a long time I accepted the role I was given... I still found the will to fight back. I'm still fightin', even when I go back home.
[Raven pauses, giving time for all that to sink in. Then he takes the risk of moving a little closer, so Darin can hear him more clearly.]
You can put up a fight too. The choices ain't just between hiding, or letting this Archfiend guy wreck everything.
no subject
I've been fighting all my life...
All I wanted...all I have ever wanted...was a place where I could just...belong.
I had that with my dad...with Dromas. And then they were taken away from me, all because of what Dromas and I were...
So...I hid myself. I hid myself as best as I could. 'How strong should a ten year old be?' I remember asking myself as I forced myself to control my strength...if I got a strange look, I laughed...I passed it off as a fluke and kicked my own ass in private until I could...
... ... ...
Until I could pass for 'normal...'
[He feels his chest tighten. This is where it all started. His cocky facade. His arrogance. Passing his curse off as a 'fluke.' Laughing in front of others and crying in private. Grinning through the pain until he couldn't feel it anymore.]
Fathers are supposed to give their sons answers...aren't they? But my dad...my real dad, was gone. And Acteon...dammit, he did his best. He knew his son was a freak but he did his best but even he didn't have answers to any of my questions...
'Why am I different?'
[He grits his teeth and slams his fist into the dome in frustration. It sounds like a mortar exploding, the metal dome bursting out from the inside from the explosive force, before suddenly snapping shut and reforming around him.]
I've fought every day of my life, Raven. Every single day just to be seen as a normal person and...I can't escape it.
I can't escape what I am.
no subject
...I can't give ya answers either. In my experience, askin' why no matter who you are only ever raises more questions than answers. And I'm definitely not the person ta ask about anythin' normal...
[He rubs his neck, adding that last part a little sheepishly. Maybe he's just another letdown with no answers, like Darin's father or Acteon. Still--]
All I know is that human or not, you're a good kid in a bad situation. I can't just let somethin' like that go. So, uh... [Hm. How to say this. He's always a little awkward when it comes to the mushy stuff, no matter how soft he's gotten lately.] Guess you're stuck with me until ya figure things out. That's too bad, huh?
[He finishes with a joke, hoping to coax Darin back to his more lighthearted self. All that brooding isn't doing him any favours.]
no subject
Yeah, and what are you going to do if I go out of control?
Put me over your knee?
no subject
[There's still a joking edge to his repsonse, even if it's a little forced.]
Listen, I'm not sayin' I can match up to a god's powers. But maybe I can help before it comes ta that. Find a way to stop it, even.
And the stuff you said about belonging... [He trails off again, still not sure how to say all this stuff.] Look, you can't belong anywhere if ya don't let anyone in, right? And if you don't want that ta be me, then fine, but... If you're gonna get through this, you at least need someone you can count on.
no subject
I didn't tell you outright because 'By the way, I'm housing half the soul of a demon god with enough power to crack planets' isn't something that rolls off the tongue in polite conversation!
[He falls silent.]
You're a good man, Raven. And I'm scared of losing you. Or worse, killing you if I lose control of myself...
[As he speaks, the metal dome slowly starts to retract until it reforms into the floor beneath Darin's huddled form. His back is turned to the old timer and he doesn't move.]
[Finally, he takes a deep, slow breath then exhales. It looks like his power is back under his control for the moment.]
no subject
Hey, kid.
[They can figure out that other stuff later; for now he's just relieved to see him calm down.]
no subject
[Darin doesn't turn to look at Raven. Instead, he just looks at his own hands. What was happening to him? Was Diomuhr getting out?]
[Could he not keep him suppressed anymore...?]
no subject
We'll figure things out. Okay?
[He's too old and cynical to give empty promises; that much should be enough assurance that he means it.]
no subject
[He nods...and then a beat later.]
...Thank you.