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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iii, kind of;
(not that it isn't somewhat wild and unruly this way as well, but it does a better job of hiding how truly 80s hair metal his mullet is really is.)
but the sound of a voice (a familiar one, one he hasn't heard in a while) is enough to grab his attention. stahn's still always going to try to help people when they need it, after all. except, well, turning around and seeing someone he hasn't in so long...]
—Atsushi?!
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But that aside, Atsushi almost drops his pamphlet when it hits him, who he's talking to. ]
—Stahn-san! Thank god you're okay...!
[ There's a lot to worry about, after all. So his face lights up when he sees that Stahn is in one piece, that he seems relatively well on his feet. ]
I guess I've been gone for a while... but I'm so glad to see you, regardless...!
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[you know, as okay as one can ever really be in cerealia. but rather than focus on himself—]
I really didn't think I'd get to see you again... I'm really glad you're okay! You're not hurt or anything, are you?
[he doesn't really get what happens to people when they disappear, it's all kind of mystery. of course, atsushi seems like he's fine, but stahn is very much so himself as ever—he has to ask these things.
really though, he's mostly still very surprised, even if it's in a good way. he's glad anytime he can see his friends again, after all.]
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[ A sheepish laugh here, because he knows that Stahn doesn't have to be told that ending up in this place is as weird as your life's going to get for a while.
He takes a deep breath, and tries to drink this all in. It's not like he expected to see a whole set of new and different faces, but it's still humbling to see someone familiar around. ]
I guess I had some unfinished business to settle here, haha...
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[stahn wonders if that's really what it is, especially with how strange things have been lately. but there's really no way to know, and with ceres being... well, ceres, that just makes things more questionable.]
I guess it's probably kind of weird to be happy someone is back here, but I'm really glad I could see you again! And that you're okay!
[though maybe part of that relief is knowing that if atsushi's here, then he's alive and they can figure things out. he's definitely been questioning what actually happens when people disappear and his confidence in their worlds is a bit shaken so... it's relieving in a sense for sure.]
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I'm definitely alright. Truth be told, I only went back to my world for what seemed like a few minutes... so there really wasn't anything that could have went wrong, I guess.
[ He scratches his chin, trying to find the right words to articulate himself. ] It kind of feels like a fairy tale. A few seconds back in Yokohama must have been much longer here, huh...?
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[stahn pauses, taking a minute to consider exactly how long it's been. truth be told—stahn hasn't been able to keep track of that kind of thing, though. not with how easy it is lose track of people as it is with the way things are cerealia. and even more so not with how things in the city have gotten a bit out of control and hard to keep track of.
stahn's too simple for all of this, really.]
It had to be at least a month... maybe more than that?