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.
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no subject
That means she has to survive. It means she'll need to be smart and listen and trust those people she's around, regardless of having just met them or not.
So she listens, taking a step back and sparing a glance for Yu as he cries out and slices at a card that appears in front of him with his sword.
Summoning. She doesn't understand his phrase for it, but the action is familiar enough by now that she does recognise what it is. Or so she thinks. The summoned spirit is lovely, in her way; feathers and ice and reminding her of Felneus and Karl in a strange moment of displaced association. The vacuum succumbs to the cold, the impact of its plastic and metal against the ground almost startlingly loud. She flinches, but she doesn't move; only looks back, as if to look for anything coming from behind while they've been occupied with the vacuum on this other front. ]
Are you a summoner?
[ She asks, fingers twitching as she wants to get going once again. She needs, compulsively, to have something in hand. Yu might even find her trying to take hold of the back of his shirt without so much as a comment or even a tug; she visibly will relax once her fingers are curled around something. ]
We should leave before something comes investigating.
no subject
Her question gets him to glance down at Chihiro in mild surprise, and that's when he sees her hands twitch before she reaches out to him. His expression softens in an unnameable way, and he offers her his hand again wordlessly. If it's a comfort she needs right now, whatever the reason may be, he's happy to give it.
He'll nod at her recommendation and resume their walk down the street without a glance back for the vacuum. It's done. He stays hyper-aware of their surroundings, though. He's too used to the way Shadows could spring up on the party to let his guard down in a situation like this. ]
Not exactly, [ is his eventual answer, which is delivered with a smile. ] That was a Persona. [ Yu cants his head, thinking once again about how to give this explanation. He's done it many times now. ] You could say they're the representation of my bonds with others. My bonds give me strength... the strength to fight.
[ There's something fond and tender about his expression for just a moment. Normally he'd explain it another way, but after the fiascos he's been running into with his own Shadow, he's relearning all over again how important bonds are to him. ]
no subject
Her hand curls around his, and that unnamable itch soothes. It's easier to face the world with someone at her side right now. It's not often or always an option.
Persona is a new word, but the concept behind what he says is one that easily captures her imagination. A conversation with Rei the day before (or the day before that; she's uncertain of what has happened when the last handful of days), about energy and emotions and what it means to have the strength to fight, in whatever manner one is capable of performing. ]
I haven't seen anything quite like it before. [ For Yuna and Karl, it had been summoning others; Yuna called them friends. Karl tried to respect those he summoned. Neither were generated by the bonds they had; both had a bond with the summoner, but it wasn't the same thing. She appreciates that, but it's not wondering at the nature of those bonds that has her giving his hand a small squeeze, looking forward. ]
Narukami-san, that kind of strength... the strength of bonds we have with people, the good and the bad ones. Do you think that's a strength others can use? That they can take away from us?
[ It's hard to frame this, since it's borrowed (but considered) logic. ]
The strength of anything we feel. Does that have an energy?
no subject
A free-moving, sentient summon that you keep locked in your chest. You know that sounds crazy, right?
- though maybe Chihiro is a little less blunt.
He gives her question the serious consideration it deserves. At first he only suspects what she's driving at, but when she uses the word "energy" ... he can only assume it's pretty deliberate. It makes him wonder how long she's been here, to have learned these things. ]
... I think it does. Our emotions especially. For a long time I've wondered if the strength of our feelings wasn't something CERES was using for themselves. However... that doesn't mean they can steal our strength away from us. [ The look he gives her is serious but not grim, his tone quiet conviction. ] CERES might borrow from us, but we won't let them keep what they take.
no subject
She listens to him, trying to understand what he's saying. She thinks she does, or understands just enough, to give him a solemn nod when he tells her that they won't allow CERES to keep what they take. That they'll make it about borrowing, because it'll be given back. ]
Rei-san said something similar to me before. About the energy of emotions, or something like that. [ A momentary pause; she breathes in, then out, turning to face forward again. ] I'll try to help. I'm not sure what I can do, but whatever I can manage to do, I will.
[ She can't sit back and pretend leaving everything to the rest is feasible. She also won't pretend she's the most capable person here — but she feels like every bit helps. Whatever bits she can pick up? Will be enough. ]
no subject
Ah, so she's met Rei... that's good. If anyone will help protect this girl, it's Rei, and Yu finds himself slightly relieved they know each other. He nods once or twice in response to what she says. ]
Actually, Rei-san is the first person I told that theory too. I found out she felt the same way.
[ Yu watches her again, the serious determination on her face, and ...
... understands. ]
I'm sure we'll be relying on you, Ogino-san. [ Softly. ] Just know you can rely on us, too.
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