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
I... I see.
[ Hm, that does seem weird when there's pretty much a sword graveyard, huh... Oh, this person must realize he's a sword too. In fact, he can guess now who...
That must not be surprising, well, not as much as Nagasone tending to two children he isn't exactly close to. ]
I only have one sheet and they both fit under one. I'll need to find more that aren't in shreds.
[ Said flatly. But his tone softens up afterwards. ]
I saw where my comrades are, I can grab them from that wretched heap when we're done. But I have younger brothers; I can believe the Awataguchi or the Sanjou would hardly appreciate their smallest treated like this.
no subject
Hmm... While the thought of covering up the kids is nice, sure. Then maybe dragging out his comrades is also nice... ... ... ]
So, if you're going out of your way to do this for do you really think the bodies before you are real?
[ Just a food for thought question, maybe! Mostly because the bodies look real, but they don't really feel right to Hijikata.
Of course, he's already gotten use to seeing Horikawa's and Kanesada's "dead bodies" but...
Well, maybe a part of him just truly believes they're not actually dead and these are fakes! ]
no subject
In regards to that food-for-thought question, Nagasone looks Hijikata straight in the eye. He doesn't look annoyed at the question... resigned to reality, more like. He hates when that happens. ]
They probably aren't.
[ Tsukumogami probably don't even die like this. They're spirits kind of, spirits are weird about the laws of death. Also these bodies are pretty clean, all things considered. So yeah, it's creepy. That's probably motivation in itself to get them off his mind this way. Tret things well, they won't haunt you. Nagsone is a thorough person. ]
On the small chance that they're real however, and something happened to them that resulted in this... I can't bear to see my comrades like this.
...Do you think I'm wasting my time?
no subject
Hm... Not exactly.
[ but with an extra tug of the sheet, they do manage to cover up the two bodies nonetheless. ]
I've met a lot of your comrades before, and they're strong. I don't think they'd let this place take them out so easily.
[ He may not have known the little kids, really, but he knew most of the rest of the bunch. ]
I don't think you're wasting time, but I think you should have some more faith in them at least.
no subject
[ Children done, now to figure what to do with the others. How about Horikawa? It goes unsaid but he respects the mature wakizashi, even if he's attached at the hip to Izuminokami. Speaking of which, he'd grab Izuminokami, but with what Hijikata tells him about having more faith, something is just off about the body. Fine, he has to get down from body mountain anyway. ]
To be honest, when I woke up here, my instincts said to get out of here. But I hate running, so I should do something to keep myself--
[ ...That sure is a white and black haori his foot got caught on. His, in fact, without a doubt. But he has his on and it's intact, so why...? ]
no subject
[ He stopped mid-sentence, but Hijikata's eyes naturally follow down to the black and white haori...
Ah.
Oh.
He's also wearing the same haori. Hijikata blinks several times, actually feeling like a complete idiot for not noticing until now. Even Kondou-san has one of these too, huh. ]
Are you Kondou-san's by any chance?
[ Might... As well ask. Hijikata himself might not be wearing a haori anymore, but it's pretty obvious who Hijikata is by now considering the swords at his own hip, and how he refers to Kondou, right? ]