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
[ Yu's smile drops, his face now eerily blank. ]
I am a Shadow. The true self. And I know everything he hasn't been telling you, and Minato, and Yosuke, and Hiro. Everything he keeps in, because everyone needs him.
[ Yu taps the end of his sword on the ground. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. ]
I'm a failure. How could I be anything but? And the worse things get, the less I admit. What would I do if everyone stopped relying on me? What would be my purpose? I wouldn't have anything left. This is all I know how to be.
[ He starts to laugh again, but now the sound of it is wretched. ]
It's already happening. Minato abandoned me. Who's next?
no subject
Dipper stares at their feet. He has been for awhile, trying to drown out the sound of Yu's cold voice and the sword tapping on the ground. I am a Shadow. The true self. He insists those are Yu's real feelings. His worst fears, laid bear.
Jaw set, Dipper glances up. He looks braver than he feels, and his heart is beating thickly in his ears, but he finds his voice somehow anyway. He has to. ]
Stop it. You say you're the real him, but you're not. And you wanna know why?
no subject
Why?
[ That bravery. That fierce anger. It shouldn't stop him, and yet...
... it's just enough to give him pause. ]
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He wouldn't feel right if he didn't say this. ]
Because he feels all those things and still chooses to be better than everything he's afraid of.
[ It's that choice. That's what matters. Yu kept trying, despite everything. ]
no subject
Something touches his eyes - something hard to describe - but before Dipper will be able to make sense of it, a rush of static will overtake Yu's body. With a choked noise he drops his sword and lifts his arms in front of his face, stumbling a step back under the onslaught of the glitch.
It only lasts a moment, But when it's over Yu gasps, pressing a hand to his chest and staring up at Dipper--
--with his normal gray eyes.
Horror slowly overtakes him. It's subtle, but Dipper probably does know him well enough by now to see it: the slight widening of his eyes, the way he goes just a little more pale. He stands up straight and stares hard at the ground, hands bunching into fists. ]
I didn't want you to have to see something like that.
[ With a sigh he lets his tension go and looks up again. He seems tired, and sad, but also unspeakably fond. ]
It's not easy to talk back to a Shadow that way. ... thank you.
no subject
...Don't mention it. [ He was just doing what any friend would have done. He honestly wasn't expecting to make much of a difference, either.
He doesn't find a smile yet, but his eyes crinkle at the corners. ] I'm just glad to have you back.
no subject
He knows Dipper well enough to know what Dipper will have taken away from all that. He will never forget the look on Dipper's face just now, and the hesitant, small words that came with them.
Is - i-is that really what... ]
You probably have questions. [ Yu deliberately gentles his expression. He doesn't smile, but his countenance is a little softer. ] I can explain whatever you want to know. There aren't any secrets left now, are there?
[ Well. Secrets of his own. He knows Dipper has a secret, something he's not admitted to, but whether or not this is the time for that... will depend on how this goes. ]
no subject
And then that question hits. There aren't any secrets left now, are there?
...But this isn't about Dipper.
Yu probably already knows, anyway. Mabel would have told him, or Rise, or Rei.
So much had happened since then. It was even before he'd disappeared.
What would be the point of bringing it up now?
This isn't about him. ]
No secrets. [ A drawn smile, even if he can't deny a sinking feeling in his stomach. Even if for the right reasons, has he ever deliberately lied to Yu before?
This isn't about him. ]
For what it's worth...I think I understand why you never told me.
no subject
Has Dipper realized Yu knows he lied?
Either way, he makes no comment on that. Just sighs silently and nods only once. ]
Dipper... nothing about the way I feel is your fault. The only reason I kept all that hidden was because I knew you'd feel responsible. The way I feel about being a leader...
[ His expression shifts, touched with a certain rueful softness. ]
I've been holding myself to a standard I'd never hold anyone else. I see that, now. And it led me to shut out everyone I cared about. Even though I'd be the first person to say that ... you should rely on your friends, and trust them to hold you up the same way you hold them up. That's what it means to have a bond.
no subject
I think that's just part of being the leader. You want to do your best for us, but...we want to do our best for you, too. As long as you know we're here for you if you ever need us. [ He holds out his hand to Yu. ] We're all in this together, right?
[ The sad thing is, he doesn't even realize what a hypocrite this makes him. ]
no subject
With a fond smile, Yu takes Dipper's hand. ]
Together. No matter what.
[ Yu's smile quirks as he uses their grip to tug Dipper in for a hug. ]
I'm glad I met you, Dipper. You're family to me. You and Mabel.
no subject
But there's that secret pressed against his heart, one that he can't find the courage to share to interrupt the reprieve they've managed to find now. Later, he'll bring it up. Just...not now. There is another secret, though. One he guarded somewhat arbitrarily - a force of habit by now, mostly, but after all they've been through, after becoming family, Yu should know, shouldn't he? ]
...Mason. [ He murmurs quietly, like it's a name he hasn't heard for awhile - because, well, it isn't. ] That's my real name. Since we're family, I figure you should know.
no subject
No matter what secrets there may be.
Yu finds himself tilting his head when Dipper - ... Mason? - speaks up.
Mason. Mason and Mabel. Yu finds himself smiling broadly down at his friend's head. ]
Mason, [ he repeats. ] Thanks for telling me. Should I keep calling you Dipper, or...?
[ It's his choice. ]
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[ There's a joking note to his voice, but, well, THAT'S HOW IT GOES AT HOME...
But even if Yu never uses it, Dipper's still glad he knows. ]
no subject
I'll make sure to do just that.
[ someday soon: yu narukami pulling a piece of paper out of his back pocket that says "mason pines" and giving it to dipper when there's "trouble" that isn't too serious. ]
no subject
[ Dipper smiles faintly himself - and, well, looks a little faint, too. The day's events and the exchange with the Shadow took it out of him. ]
...Should we head home? I mean, if there's anything left of it, anyway.
[ Here's hoping the fridge hasn't run off. He's pretty hungry. ]
no subject
I'm sure we'll have plenty of damage control to do.
[ Truth be told, he's tired too. But no rest for the wicked... or those without helpful robots. ]