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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I'm so sorry for how late this is! Please feel free to ignore. I thought I'd tagged this ;w;
Yes, that's correct. He and I are part of... you could call us a team, I suppose. There are several others here that you've already met; I know them as well.
When you said "before things got so bad," did you mean the current situation, or something else?
SHHHH shhhh, I shall never ignore. o((9))
You're all together, then. [ And she's pleased about that, that much is for sure, though she says it quietly. ] That's lucky. I'm a little jealous.
[ For a given value of 'jealous,' since she doesn't really go about having such sentiments in the normal way. As for that question, she offers a soft, ]
-- Oh. The-- current situation. Earlier today I got thrown out of my apartment, but he was there to look after me. At the time I wasn't feeling so--... having these sorts of problems.
[ A beat; she doesn't have to think long, however, before adding, ]
But he's always looked after me, ever since we first met.
uwu
Given that talking about Yu Narukami seems to improve it, Naoto decides that that's the topic of conversation they should stay on.] Yes, that's correct. There are four of us, including myself. I'm grateful for their presence.
[So she was thrown out of her apartment, too. Perhaps literally? Naoto saved her share of people with her own Persona, so it's not surprising Yu did the same.] As long as I've known him, he's had a very strong sense of justice and morality. It's something I greatly admire about him.
So I'm not surprised to hear that. Have you known him long?
C:
He's always seemed that way to me. [ She agrees readily enough, looking thoughtful. ] Or at least, it seems like he really tries to be good to people. [ Not that there need be much distinction between the two. One of those sentences makes her lips quirk, and she adds, ] I really admire that, too.
[ She tips her head up slightly at the question, regarding the currently featureless buildings as she tries to make her estimation. ]
He was one of the first people I met here. So... it's been a few months by now. [ Looking back at Naoto, she continues to fail to take notice of the sand; clearly this is holding her interest. ] What about you?
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I've known him for just over a year or so. If you're inquiring about my time here, though... it's been around a month.
Quite the eventful month for my first time, I imagine.
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[ Is her quiet response, a nod coming along thereafter to indicate her satisfaction with both answers. ]
That's a pretty long time. [ To have known someone, that is, but she is aware her own short lifetime has perhaps skewed her perspective a little, and she adds, ] Compared to how long many of us here have probably known each other, that is.
[ One of the nearby light-poles is currently a palm tree. There isn't much wind, and yet the leaves sway gently as if in a breeze; something smells suspiciously like a hint of sea air. ]
I'm starting to think a lot of months in this place are eventful. [ There's a wryness to her smile this time, though it's not insincere. ] But this does seem to be one of the worst since I've been here. I hope it hasn't been too hard on you.
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I appreciate your concern, but you don't need to worry. I've encountered stranger things before... though, I suppose, not many. [She adds at the end, a touch of honesty.]
I can understand how it might be overwhelming for some people, though.
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[ It's a little bittersweet, that tiny smile that appears on her lips and then slips away again, silent appreciation of Naoto's honesty. ] I'm not sure whether or not to say that's a good thing, but... I'm glad that it helps. It's the same for me.
[ But speaking of strange things has her reminded of her own strangeness, and after a moment her eyes lower. Finally the sand seems to catch her attention and she starts, looking right back up again and around sharply. There's only one light pole left that isn't a tree by now, and from where the sand meets the white of the buildings, new color has begun to creep up the walls. It's a mix of different warm hues and materials that feel just a bit too specific to suggest they came out of nowhere. The blonde breathes a quiet, 'oh,' and the recognition on her face is plain to see. ]
It's-- but--.... [ Her voice falls until it's nearly a mutter, her steps slowed. ] Why is it there...?
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Namine's expression, though, tells Naoto right away that there's more to this. She recognizes this place, or the elements within it.
But is she reacting to the out-of-place light pole, or something else entirely?]
The light pole, you mean? The others became the trees... I wonder why that one didn't follow suit.
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[ There's confusion in her voice and the faintest touch of frustration, and yet the illusion continues undisturbed. From the buildings to the sand to the air, now, it all looks just like the Destiny Islands, right down to the faint rushing sound of waves in the distance. (Except for that one light pole. It stubbornly remains a light pole, which only serves to confuse her further.) ]
[ Frowning at it, she seems for a moment to lose herself to her thoughts, but she's quick to drag herself back out of them again. Exhaling, she turns her frown toward the ground instead, and then almost appears to relent; there's no use being annoyed at herself, is there? ]
... But I don't know why it didn't, either. There are a lot more things I don't understand about this than I thought there were.
[ Which is disconcerting, to say the least, but she isn't yet certain how much to blame on CERES and how much is legitimately a part of her normal capacity, so she tries not to focus on it for too long. She has company, after all. Instead, ]
It's just-- it's strange that it would choose this place. I've... never actually been to this world.
[ And yet she knows it. The clarity of the illusion says that much openly; everything about it feels like a place one is as intimately familiar with as one's own home. ]
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She focuses on what Namine is saying, however.] You've never been here, but you're recreating it... have you seen it somewhere, then? Pictures, or video?
[Unlikely, Naoto thinks. There are too many details here that one couldn't capture in just a photograph or a movie. Unless it's Namine's imagination filling in the blanks, what could it be?]
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Not exactly.
[ Blinking, she turns back to the other girl, making an active effort not to look as uncomfortable about the subject as she feels. Her hands have folded together somewhere along the line; it's difficult not to wring them. ]
Although I suppose-- you could say it was something like that. I was... well informed. [ Her eyes catch the buildings for a moment and then flick back. No, she knows better than to let herself enjoy the opportunity. ] I've always wanted to see it for myself. I wasn't sure I'd ever get the chance, but this still isn't the right way to do it.
[ Which only further reinforces that it's an accurate representation, for her to compare it to actually being there. ]
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That's one hell of a paradox. Granted, she doesn't know what type of world this girl has come from, so might she have seen something like it through technology-- or, given her powers, magic? After all, Naoto supposes, the TV World was shaped by the thoughts of the people inside it. Perhaps something like that might have happened.
Ah hell, might as well ask.] If you don't mind my asking, how do you know it's not the right way to do things if you've never been? What's your frame of comparison?
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Because I have seen it. Just... not with my own two eyes.
[ Which is all well and good when there are pictures and videos. She could leave it at that and let Naoto think those were all, but... it feels as though it would be ungrateful, somehow. ]
I saw it through someone else's.
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[She hopes it's not the latter.]
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[ That's not the sort of word she's used to hearing used, although it is perhaps not as far off as she'd like, now that she thinks of it. She watches the other girl touch the not-tree but doesn't really see it, so wrapped up is she in her considerations. (Fortunately, the bark won't leave splinters, despite how realistic it otherwise is.) ]
No. The... the second one.
[ Almost immediately she regrets saying so much, but it was instinct; the latter, to her, was the preferable choice. Well, no helping it now. ]
That's-- part of why I was so worried when my powers got out of hand. I don't... I wouldn't want someone to do that to me.
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[She pauses.] Could you read mine, if you wanted? Were you concerned about simply the invasion to my privacy, or is there the possibility that you could have harmed my mind in some way?
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[ Then come the inquiries she was expecting. Under normal circumstances she might try harder to avoid answering them properly, but given the context, she can't find it in her conscience to do so. No, if Naoto is going to continue putting herself at risk, she ought to know just how much risk. ]
... Yes. [ There's a quiet, guilty sort of resignation in her voice. ] To all of those things. [ Her shoulders are tense; she won't meet the other girl's eyes. ] It might be different if all of this weren't going on, and if everything wasn't behaving so strangely, but... it's possible.
[ Probable, even, she tries not to think. ]
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Is there anything in particular I should be wary of?
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[ Almost certainly won't - but she can only hope that there would be more warning in this case than there would under normal circumstances. A helpful glitch would be vastly preferable to the alternative. ]
But if you do notice anything is strange about your thoughts, or if you feel like you've forgotten something - please let me know. If there's any indication at all, it'll probably be one of those. [ Of course being afraid of that kind of thing doesn't help one keep one's head clear. Hands folded uncomfortably together, she hesitates, then adds, ] I... understand if, knowing that, you don't want to continue to help me.
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My Makarakarn hasn't triggered yet, so I'll take that to mean your powers haven't tried to directly affect me. [It's not a logical conclusion. There are too many variables. But it's a white lie for the girl's sake.]
Yu-senpai wouldn't leave you by yourself, and neither will I.
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... No, I suppose he wouldn't.
[ Suddenly she realizes she's grateful that he didn't find her now, that she saw him before things got so bad. She doesn't like the idea of putting anyone at risk, Naoto included, but it would seem even wronger, somehow, to potentially hurt someone who's always been kind to her. Of course, as of the current moment, that also applies to Naoto. ]
You're both very brave, you know. If I were you, I'd be so frightened.
[ She is frightened, but surely, she thinks, it must be worse being the other party. ]
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We should continue onward. I don't think the library can be that much further, can it?
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[ But it's still impressive, in Naoto's case. Though Naminé has known many people who would take great risks to help a stranger, it never ceases to pleasantly surprise her. (Maybe it's just not hard to imagine people running in terror from powers like hers. That would probably be the sensible thing to do - but the heroic types never do seem to choose the sensible thing.) ]
It shouldn't be. [ Although she realizes an unforeseen issue with a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. ] But I'm not sure whether we'll recognize it. I-- guess we can just look for an unusually large building?
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--do these episodes typically last long?
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