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!
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no subject
Yeah, it is. My mistake, there was this robot and--
[ Wait, this girl... She was the sweet, thoughtful kid who helped him with his haori. Small... world? He sheathes his sword properly, looking a little guilty for, well, pointing a sword at her. ]
...It's Chihiro, right?
no subject
Nagasone-san!
[ She's not so good at seeing the children that adults once were (forced or in truth), but she can put familiar sword and familiar haori together to arrive at the more logical response. ]
You're all big now! Which is good, it's not worth being small around here unless you don't have a choice.
[ Said matter of fact (she feels for Sayo, in all honesty, but he's also capable at fighting and she and a few of the actual kids are less inclined to hundreds of years of weaponization) while straightening up again. She doesn't seem to notice his little guilty look; in reality, she's glossing right past it. No harm, no foul. ]
Sorry that you're here while the city's falling apart. Or the robots... you said one was being weird at you? The ones that have come back up are kind of strange. Not as violent as before they went down, I guess.
no subject
Yeah, I'm glad to be myself again... I'll give children and tantou more credit for what they have to handle, especially here.
[ He straightens up, looking around. Some part of the shopping district seems to be where he ended up, but not a huge, commercial street. It's one of those alleyways where someone inquisitive like Chihiro would wander to, and a place where what Nagasone did wouldn't cause trouble. ]
I'll be alright, thanks for the information... You're very calm about all of that.
[ Worth mentioning, since Chihiro is a kid. It's not a bad thing, just... what has this girl been through? ]
no subject
She straightens her raincoat and glances down before glancing back up to study his face. Her expression has fallen into serious lines, Chihiro feeling older than her ten years right then. It comes and goes; her life has been bunches of strange, frightening things lately, enough so that she's dulling herself to the abject terror of it all. ]
What else can I be? [ Matter of fact; she's not complaining. Whining doesn't help, and she's nowhere near comfortable enough to whine around him anyway. ] Panicking won't make it better. I can't expect other people are gonna figure this out for me, so I have to be calm when I can. Otherwise I won't be able to act when I need to act.
[ In whatever capacity that is... she glances away, seeing one of the reactivated robots and taking two steps back. They're problematic to someone small who has been picked up and partially carted away before. Thankfully not for sordid reasons, but having any robot insistent on carting her away for a scalp massage was way unwanted and weird and creepy. ]
Um, there's another robot coming...?
no subject
You're right, those are important things to keep in mind. It helps a lot, but you probably don't need to be assured of something obvious.
[ That robot though, Nagasone can reassure Chihiro about that reactivated service bot. As in, within moments of her mentioning its presence, he pats her on the shoulder to stay put, then dashes toward his target.
Even with someone to keep an eye on, Nagasone doesn't back down from a threat. Since he missed the first, he's a bit more eager to fight this one, get the frustration out of his system. One stab to a vital spot is all it takes to make its arms go limp against his. He gets shocked a little from the contact, but that's expected. It takes a swift kick to push it off from his sword before looking back towards Chihiro.
The most bloodthirsty Shinsengumi sword, folks. ]
no subject
But she knows that's not a matter of it being easy, and she really doesn't expect there's any sword spirit she'll come across (other than one who does not wish to fight, and that is something she finds easy to respect) who doesn't know their own business.
... So she gives him two thumbs up. What else is a modern kid going to do? She doesn't smile, because violence is not something she's become more inured to or enjoys watching, even against robots who don't bleed versus the countless numbers of others who do. ]
Thank you. You make that all seem so easy.
[ Okay, she's also a bit of a says what's on her mind individual. She does move then, checking around herself out of habit than actual need. Rationally, she knows (or guesses) that Nagasone is going to recognise any dangers longer before she does. ]
You weren't injured?
[ Taking a wide way around the downed robot, she wars with staying close or... getting further away. She doesn't trust that robots won't have several processors that would allow them to come back up and keep pressing their services. The one he'd just taken care of twitches, but it's shortcircuted electrical currents instead of coordinated animation. ]