//EVENT033.EXE

[reparator]

//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!

Comments

Ichigo Hitofuri | Touken Ranbu | OTA

[oncealifetime]

Phrase II
Ichigo sat up and rubbed at his head. What had just happened...? Where was- That's when he saw the familiar white cowl lying beside him. He looked over and saw-

"... Tsurumaru-dono?" He reached out to touch the other tachi. "Tsurumaru-dono, are you alright? What are yo-" Then he quickly withdrew his hand in shock at how cold the other felt, before reaching out again to shake him. "Tsurumaru-dono! Wake up! This isn't funny! If this is a prank, you've gone too far this time! Wak-"

His voice caught in his throat when he spotted the blue silken sleeves of- "Mikazuki-dono!! No! Mikazuki-" He leapt up and tried to run over, but then tripped and found himself face to face with the cold, lifeless bodies of-

"Nama... zuo...? Mi-Midare! No! Please, no, no, NOOO!!!" Ichigo frantically pulled both of their bodies closer, trying to cradle both of them in his arms at the same time. "N-Namazuo... Midare... Why...?" His voice trembled as he hugged them closer to himself. "I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I've failed you. I was supposed to protect you and keep you safe. I..." He buried his face against their limp, lifeless bodies and started sobbing. That's when the pile of bodies shifted and something rolled down, bumping against him. He glanced over listlessly, eyes red with tears.

The corpse beside him looked identical to him but what Ichigo saw in his mind's eye was slightly different. The figure was him but with long minty blue hair and was covered from head to toe with horrific red burns...

That's when Ichigo started screaming! A heart-wrenching scream of despair and horror to make up for his inability to scream several hundred years ago as his world burnt down with him trapped in it.

Someone please snap him out of his personal hell!

Phrase IV
Ichigo just stood in the rain. He turned his face up towards the poring heavens and closed his eyes, letting the cool rain wash over him. Water was good. Water extinguishes fire. He stood there, meditatively, trying to forget what had happened earlier. Then he started reciting...

"Appearing like dew,
Vanishing like dew—
Such is my life.
Even Naniwa's splendour
Is a dream within a dream."

Ichigo had never remembered the second half of this poem before, the poem his beloved former master wrote before his death. Now he remembered another tiny fragment of the memories he'd lost. The rain masked the tears running down his cheeks as he relived being at his master's bedside, helplessly watching as Lord Hideyoshi Toyotomi drew his last breath.

"Master..."

Do swords get sick from standing in the rain? Someone should pull him back inside before he finds out or gets rusty or something!

Bonus
Ichigo was exhausted and just wanted to get home. Unfortunately, the scantily-clad female robots surrounding him had other ideas. He tried not to actually look at them since they were so inappropriately dressed while attempting to push them away as politely as he could. Even if they weren't human, they were still very clearly female and he would never, ever raise a hand against the member of the opposite sex. It's just a principle he lived by.

"Please, Miss, I'm not interested. Would you please let me go? And I also don't have any money on me so ..." He tried to pull his arm free. "Miss, this is most improper. Please unhand me."

Some help please?

((Both action and 3rd person are fine. I just felt like writing in 3rd person...))

bonus

[onethousen]

"Uncle!"

Chihiro ran up as if she hadn't just walked further down the street before seeing a stranger's plight and deciding to run up as if she'd been looking for them for a while. "You were supposed to take me to get ice cream, why are you hanging out over here?"

Kids weren't a usual part of the landscape in Cerealia, and the way she'd taken to setting her hands on her hips and glaring at the robot was more bravado than a genuine thought through plan of action. Chihiro marched up and pointedly brought her hands to rest on the arm of the robot holding on to him. She stared at it, not so much the man who'd been politely objecting, and spoke in a firm voice.

"You can't have him. You'll have to find a customer somewhere else." No please. She'd learned early on that the robots that had come back online weren't responding to pleasantries. Chihiro didn't like the implications, not with how they'd been reacting before the shutdown. "So I'd like you all to leave now, because ice cream is very serious business."

Meanwhile, Chihiro seriously hoped this person either played along with her really dumb plan or was confused enough that any response was one she could try to fake-bossy her way through. Or fake brat. She could do a decent fake brat. (She was enough of a real one before.)

[oncealifetime]

Ichigo is confused at first when he hears Chihiro. Uncle? Did one of his brothers have a child without him knowing? Are swords even able to have children? Then he recognizes her as that child that helped him when he was little. And he quickly gets what she's trying to do. Ichigo turns to the pleasure bot a little more firmly and shakes his arm free.

“Yes, we really must get going. My niece can get quite impossible if she doesn’t get her way. Now...”

He manages to dodge the robot’s attempt to grab his arm again and backs away quickly, placing a hand on Chihiro’s shoulder to pull her back as well. “We must take our leave.” Then he takes the Chihiro's hand and runs!

[onethousen]

When he runs, Chihiro runs along with him. It'd been easy enough to follow his lead in turn (and be thankful he rolled with her On The Spot Plan), stepping back as his hand fell on her shoulder, but this?

She's surprisingly used to running with people at the drop of a hat. Or the drop of a particularly lascivious invitation, in this case, for all that most the particulars fly over her head. Luck follows them, meaning the robots distinctly don't pursue once they get past two blocks or so. There are easier targets. Or at least more stationary ones, which works, since they're easier to haul off unasked.

Chihiro keeps running until a glance over her shoulder shows no pursuers. She tugs on his hand, still at speed. "I think they've fallen back!"

ii!

[adornmental]

[It's the sound of screaming that draws him over so quickly - that, and he's nearby. Even if he knows these aren't real (in the usual way, anyway), he can't leave them behind so easily either. And it's a pretty gross welcome to the city, so he's sticking around to make sure no one wakes up alone in such an awful situation.

But that's a familiar voice, and the panic and despair helps to quicken his pace, and he's at the body pile in just a few heartbeats. THAT SURE IS ICHIGO, just as he'd thought! And he's sure having a bad time, which is entirely understandable given the... content of that body pile and all.

He's even quicker to crouch down, reaching out and firmly planting both hands on Ichigo's shoulders.]

Hey, hey—! C'mon, turn this way--

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo stopped screaming for a moment and stared at Kashuu with wild eyes, not recognizing him at first. It takes a while for the spark of recognition to reenter his eyes and with a voice coarse from screaming, he whispers...]

Kashuu-dono... Dead... They are all dead... Why?

[adornmental]

[It's both a good and bad thing that he could actually answer that question. For now though, he chooses not to, simply letting go of Ichigo's shoulders once he's got his attention.]

Let's go. Waiting here isn't going to bring you anything and it won't help anyone else, either.

[Including all these dead Toushibros... He reaches forward after that, intent on tugging Ichigo out by the arm if he needs to.]

phase iv!

[meniscus]

That's too lovely a poem to be looking so sad while reciting it, Ichigo.

[ Mikazuki was no better prepared for the rain than anyone else might have been -- simply because it just didn't rain within the colony. Do the shops around here even sell umbrellas? He might have minded being stuck out in the showers and getting cold and wet but rather than ducking for cover, he gave pause when he saw a familiar comrade of his just...standing there by the looks of it?

He had been faintly talking to himself too...it sounds as if Ichigo was recalling unpleasant things. But at the same time... ] Ah. Did you remember something from your past?

[oncealifetime]

[That voice! It's- Ichigo immediately opens his eyes then he swiftly and silently hurries over to wrap Mikazuki in a tight embrace.]

Mikazuki. You're alive! I'm so glad. So glad! I- [He tries to keep his voice steady as his words trip over one another in his haste to explain. He’s had a really rough day. Please bear with him.] Just now. A-All those bodies- I'd thought- Please don't leave me- I remember Master dying- I- Don't leave me again-

[meniscus]

[ Oh! Mikazuki is taken aback by the suddenness of Ichigo's actions, had he gone anywhere recently? He can't recall but Ichigo seems to think otherwise? For now, he'll try to reassure the other that he hasn't gone and isn't planning to go anywhere -- ] Ichigo, I'm not going anywhere nor do I have plans to so take a moment to breathe.

There, there...did something happen...? [ Mikazuki is careful, delicately patting Ichigo's back in an attempt to ease him down from his panic. ] Ah, first we should get out of this rain, alright?

IV

[reprizesal]

When the rain started to fall, Sayo had pulled up his hat onto his head. Sure, he might need to pull it down to fight, but for now, he need to stay as dry as possible. Whether it's possible for him to get sick or not, he do know he can get fatigued.

He caught the sight of Ichigo Hitofuri standing in the rain, and he walked over towards him. For a moment, he wonder if Ichigo remember this place... or not. Sayo will learn once he start talking with him.

"Ichigo Hitofuri. Let's go and find shelter for you to dry off."

[oncealifetime]

Ichigo opens his eyes at hearing a familiar voice and smiles at the little tantou.

“Ah, good afternoon, Sayo-dono!” Then he shook his head a little. “I would like to stay here a little while longer. The rain is most refreshing.”

[reprizesal]

Tilts his head for a moment, before he nods.

"... Just for a little while longer. After that, we should get going."

Can swords get sick from staying out in the rain? Sayo rather not find out and risk a comrade's health for it. If they need to, he can lend Ichigo his hat.

ii!

[loudmouths]

Keigo was sometimes, very rarely, grateful for the fact that he could differentiate between the living and the... not so living. The pile of bodies was definitely a jarring experience, especially when being away from the place for so long, but despite a run-in with an almost fainting spell, he managed to collect himself. The bodies looked real, but they didn't feel real, in more than one way. Texture, weight, but most importantly, he couldn't sense death on them. Not in the same way of a corpse, but in the way one couldn't sense death on a mannequin. Ragdolls, essentially.

Many people were finding themselves in the piles of bodies, it seemed, but Keigo tried his best to avoid lingering longer than necessary... Some things were too much to ignore, however. Like that soul-crushing yell he heard a ways down... It struck Keigo right in his heart, like a dagger, and immediately he found himself heading towards it. Why? He couldn't say.

When he came upon the source, he felt himself pale over once more. This guy... Keigo didn't recognize him, but something about him ... well, he couldn't just stand there and watch him cry! Slowly, he approached, and after a moment's hesitation, he reached out and brushed his palm against the man's shoulder. His voice was gentle, yet with a distinct waver to it. Keigo wasn't exactly well-versed in this type of situation, but he wanted to try.

"O-oi... oi...!" he didn't raise his voice, but he did apply a little more firmness to it. "T-they're... they're not real. They're not corpses. I-I know it's difficult to look at but..." Well this was off to a great start already.

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo stops screaming and looks up blankly at Keigo. There is no recognition at all in his eyes since he doesn't know this person before him, but his amber eyes do slowly focus.] ... not real...?

[loudmouths]

[ keigo didn't like that look. it was real anguish and it hurt his chest to look at. he gave a slow nod as the man refocused, raising his hand from his shoulder slowly. ]

Y-yeah. They're not... they're not real bodies. They're just fabricated bodies.

[ ...well he couldn't confirm that, but that's what it felt like to him, at any rate. and seeing himself among the pile of bodies back when he woke up... it had to be a matter of the ViVID system messing up again. ]

bonus

[yaayaa]

Oh look, a familiar face...while Nakigitsune's first reaction is to run over and say hello (or let the fox say hello?), the sight of Ichigo struggling with...scantily clad women...is......well, he still goes over to say hello, anyway.

"Ichigo-dono! Do you need assistance? Nakigitsune can fight them off for you if you need!"

With force! Maybe!

[oncealifetime]

Save him, Uncle Naki!! Ichigo is so relieved to see a familiar face even more so when it's family.

“Oji-ue! Kitsune-dono! I do need assistance but... fighting them off doesn't seem like the right thing to do...”

Sorry, he just can't quite go against his chivalrous nature, Uncle Naki...

[yaayaa]

Not the right thing to do? It's true the robots aren't fighting, so fighting back might not be the first answer, but...hm.

Nakigitsune comes closer and tries...pulling Ichigo away from the robots. That's not fighting, right?

"Excuse us!" says the fox to their opponents, as they do so.

Hopefully this won't turn into a game of tug-of-war.

Iv!

[horsepoop]

[This has not been Namazuo's best experience with Cerealia.

But he's free from that pile of bodies, so eerily lifeless without being "dead". He's already seen a lot of familiar faces, reassuring him that he isn't alone here. And now he's out in the rain, fresh(?) water landing on his face--it may not taste good, but it feels nice.

It's only when he rounds the corner that he stops short, his body recognizing the person in front of him before his mind has time to catch up. This isn't a face he's seen in Cerealia before, but he'd know it anywhere.]

Ichi-nii...?

[oncealifetime]

[Ichigo’s eyes immediately open wide when he hears that voice. He hesitates for a moment, afraid of what he might see as the vision of Namazuo’s corpse is still fresh in his mind.

He turns round then runs over to wrap his brother in a tight, almost suffocating embrace.] Namazuo!! [He buries his face against Namazuo’s shoulder, trying not to cry.] Y-You’re alive... You’re alive!

bonus;

[earthpulse]

What's with the beating around the bush?

[ She might help in a moment. Just needs to slip in a snide remark first, or at least get Ichigo to make the first move. Edna is not a seraph to simply fix people's problems if they're not willing to put in the effort first. ]

Re: bonus;

[oncealifetime]

[Even in the middle of being accosted and dragged by pleasure bots, a prince must always mantain good manners. So this sword spirit takes a moment to smile and greet his potential saviour (?).]

Good day, Miss. Ah, well, I do not wish to hurt them for that wouldn't be the right thing to do.

bonus

[naturae]

[ Sapphire doesn't care how the robots are dressed (nor does she really realize what their clothing implies) — all she cares about is that this man apparently doesn't want them touching him, and they're not listening. That's good enough for her.

So here comes tiny Sapphire to stick up for him, sounding pretty irritated with the robots. ]

Hey! Aren'tcha listenin'?! He said to let him go!

[ She's not good at doing these sorts of things calmly, so shouting it is. If they don't let go and he won't be violent to get away, then she'll have to do it for him — ]

[oncealifetime]

[Apparently something about Ichigo compels little girls to help him... You're the third one! XD;; Ichigo is quite surprised when the tiny yet apparently rather feisty girl comes up and starts yelling at the pleasure bots. The bots ignore her though and keep tugging at his arm. Ichigo manages to stand his ground for now as he turns to the agitated girl, feeling the need to calm her. He just doesn't like making others worry for his well-being...]

Mi-Miss, it's alright. I'll be alright. There's no need for you to be so angry on my behalf.