estoria | //EVENT033.EXE

//EVENT033.EXE

//event033.EXE

What new and wonderful and exciting ViViD level awaits you today? What fun time will you have in ViViD this time? Surely it will be a work of art that CERES has been working on for months and months --

Actually, wait, CERES isn't even around, are they?

Uh oh.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Error: Files Not Found

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ ???? ] This time, ViViD is a deathtrap.

There is random magma everywhere, monsters will spawn at random, and at some points, the game is entirely unplayable. It’s like the dev team totally disappeared mid-constructing the level.

Oh wait, that’s exactly what happened.

Monsters may spawn on top of you, you may suddenly be standing in a poisonous bog, you may suddenly lose your powers, or your senses, or so many different things --

It’s time to get out of here, ASAP.

Thankfully, the exit is obvious. Like. Blindingly obvious. It’s got a big sign over it that says EXIT

And just like that, you’ll be out of ViViD and --

PHASE II

[ 0830 ] When you wake up (and it’s strange, because you were sure that you were logging out just a second ago), it’s in a pile of bodies.

They’re cold, but not in the same sense that a dead body would be cold. While they are lifeless and look incredibly real, they don’t feel real. They feel like dolls, mannequins, empty models and nothing more. Their code doesn’t seem to be functioning right.

And what some characters may realize upon looking at this pile of bodies is that they are all of the characters who were sacrifices before. Any character that was dropped who had a high magical or spiritual affinity is there in that pile of bodies, lifeless and eyes blank and vacant. Even you might be there, staring at your own dead body -- but it isn’t real It can be touched, but it’s really nothing more than a lifeless body.

You’ll have to crawl out of that pile of bodies to get anywhere, and then you’ll realize -- you’re in the Sanctuary, a building built by the characters as a safe place from CERES. And it’s looking pretty run-down at this point. The technology in it no longer functions, there is no security on it whatsoever…

Oh, and now there’s a pile of bodies. Great.

PHASE III

[ 1000 ] There’s also a robot.

It’s wandering from place to place, though it’s impossible to follow. One second it’s there, the next it’s just gone.

Also, it’s wearing this. Weird.

But even with that on its face, the robot seems focused on one thing in particular. In fact, it has a sign, and it says:

Down with CERES. Up with Robots.

That’s a happy, cheerful message. If you try to go up to it to talk to it, it will look at you before...bonking you on the head with the sign and running off. That’s incredibly rude.

Alternatively, you may be safe and sound in your home, but then the doorbell rings, and there’s the robot again. The duck mask is gone, but now instead it has a pin on his fake lapel, and then he’s shoving a pamphlet at you.

He tips his hat, and then he’s gone. Weird.

(Also, if you hold onto the pamphlet, it will lead you directly to the person whose picture is on it, and you’ll feel like you’ve known them and have loved them for years.)

PHASE IV

[ 1245 ] But not all is fun and games and shenanigans. There is something...well, strange happening, and the first real realization of that will be when it starts to rain. More than just the localized rain that a few unfortunates have dealt with -- no, it’s raining completely and totally, and that’s when it might hit you.

For the first time in Cerealia, there’s weather.

It’ll rain for a few hours, and then it’ll stop and become hot and sunny. It may get humid, considering it’s a jungle planet. At night, it’ll get rather cold.

Seems like whatever was keeping Cerealia’s atmosphere stable is now gone -- which also means that characters may start to occasionally experience headaches, nausea and dizziness if they go too close to the walls. It seems safer in the center of the city, and the Residential District is still okay, but… there’s no doubt that the planet’s atmosphere is starting to encroach on the city.

BONUS

[ why o'clock ] But who cares about all of that? More importantly, you are here in this… totally not shoddy city to have fun, and it’s still being advertised as a pleasure colony. Or, well, it would be if, you know, CERES was still around.

But close enough.

And as a pleasure colony, it would figure that the first robots to really get fixed are...well, the Pleasure District robots. Unfortunately, the Pleasure District is still a nice big mess, so now they’re wandering the entire colony, looking for people they can hug, massage or...try to drag into more explicit activities.

Welcome to Cerealia!

[ 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. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to Cerealia's September intro log! For your convenience, we have compiled the characters' arrival experience here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Phase II]

[It's not like Quatre is a stranger to death, really. Honestly it's the exact opposite. War has, unfortunately, made him quite intimately familiar with it. And this, whatever is going on here, isn't death. Dead things had to be alive first, right? And whatever these bodies were, they certainly don't seem like they fit that category. It's disturbing though, and the blond is scrambling away as best he can, down and away, falling over one of the motionless, lifeless forms and straight into someone a great deal more alive.] Sorry... sorry, are you okay?

[He's disoriented. As far as he can remember, no time has passed since he was last right here -- or well okay not right here, in his apartment in the residential district. How's he supposed to know it's been months? And he can't figure out how he wound up here, in the sanctuary, or what happened to it.]

[Phase IV]

[Quatre is a smart enough guy. As he makes his way through the city -- the state it's in the disarray, the weather -- he's starting to realize something strange is going on, that a great deal more time has passed than he expected it to. And it's got him shaken. Very shaken.

Of course the fact that he's drenched definitely isn't helping. The fact that he's drenched and wandering far too close to the edge of the city and the walls isn't helping. Nor is the fact that it's getting dark. And cold.

The small blond is a shivering mess, and too turned around to figure out where he went wrong in his directions.] I'm definitely lost. What is going on here...

[He'll remember his communicator in a bit, once his mind clears.]

[Bonus]

[Once he finally has himself turned back around he's making his way back towards where he thinks he lives. But who even knows anymore? But that doesn't go as planned either.

And instead Quatre is trying (as politely as possible) to convince a robot that he does not need to be escorted anywhere.] No. No, that's fine. Thank you. I'm fine. Please let go... [It's got his arm though, and he is tragically small. So digging his heels in and trying to pull his arm free is only getting him so far.] Stop!

[Help? Please?]

[Naoki had about enough of rain when a raincloud kept following him about. He's still pretty much over rain, but his mind is on something else. There's a faint and familiar sense that he's following with single-minded determination. Next to him, Yurlungur moves smoothly through the air, rainbow skin rippling, occasionally tossing glances toward Naoki.

--even if it turns out to be his imagination, he'd hate himself if he didn't look. Even if it turns out he's not remembered, he should look, especially at a time like this.

He feels unpleasant the closer he gets to the city walls but that's of minor importance. He's getting closer. Maybe Quatre will see the large, floating snake demon first-- or feel something himself, catch a glimpse of faintly glowing marks.]

Edited 2016-09-15 00:40 (UTC)

[There's something familiar at the back of Quatre's mind too. Though no, that's not right. Not at the back of his mind. No, it's the back of space heart, but that shouldn't be too strange, should it? He's lived in this city for a while, so plenty should be familiar.

But as the feeling grows, it's a less nebulous familiarity and more certainty.

By the time he makes out the faint glow through the rain, he's already certain. That's all he needs to raise his voice, turn his step in that direction despite the dizziness that makes keeping a straight line a challenge. He's a gundam pilot. He's got this.] Naoki..?

[Sure enough, there he is-- way more waterlogged than his friend ought to be, but he looks in one piece. That in itself is enough of a relief. When he hears his name, though, the relief stops him in his tracks. He blinks, wide-eyed, not minding the water that runs into his eyes.

He remembers?]

--yeah! [He breaks into a grin. Dizziness and feeling unpleasant and all, he hurries up.] What do you think you're doing, winding up back here? [He sounds too happy about it, too glad and for the life of him he can't tamp it back.]

[Quatre hurries too because he figures the quickest way to assure himself that his friend is all in one piece is to catch him up in a (albeit very soggy) hug.]

It's a relief to see you. Everything seems... [he cuts off before looking up at Naoki, frowning.] Back here. Then, I was gone after all? How long?

[This just makes the dizziness worse somehow, thinking about it.]

[Naoki catches him around the shoulders with one arm, crushing him into a tight hug. His shoulders have sagged, his head too, and he wonders if half the dizziness isn't just gladness to see him--selfish as it is. Most is definitely still being close to the wall, which they'll have to get away from soon enough.]

Around three months.

[His hold tightens minutely, as if he's just recalling that mind-chilling realisation one of his closest friends was gone, just like that.]

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