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
It was... months ago...
[Timelines and people returning and]
But I found... you were there too.
no subject
You mean...the bodies? You saw me...
[She reaches out, laying a gentle hand against his cheek, hoping to further re-assure him that she's real.]
It's okay...I'm all right. We're together now.
[She starts to wonder about his other words.]
Do you mean...was I here before? I don't remember anything, though. I just remember both of us at home...us and the kids. We were busy with the peace treaty and Luke's wedding and...it's been a few months since then, but suddenly I was here.
no subject
You. Jaina. Anakin. Tahiri. Rey.
[He'll explain what he can about that one, eventually. But one thing she said...]
The kid got married?
[If she's unfamiliar with all of this, she probably doesn't mean to Ami]
no subject
I wish you hadn't had to see it. But if I was with them, and I'm still alive...hopefully they are, too.
You'll have to explain who Rey is though...that doesn't sound familiar.
[Han's surprise about the wedding adds to her confusion.] I don't understand...how can you be there and here at the same time? If you don't remember it, what *do* you remember last?
Oh, and yeah...if you don't remember it, you're probably going to be a little surprised at who he married. It's Mara. Admittedly, I was a little surprised at first too...I knew they'd become friends, but I didn't know they were quite that close...but I can say he's happier than I've ever seen him before.
no subject
[Leia came back. That counts for something. She doesn't even remember it happening. But to some version of her it still did.]
Time gets pretty kriffed up here. Last thing I remember, we'd just left Mon Calamari. The twins were five.
[Since she's clearly ahead of him. At least this time he didn't have to convince her that they really did have three amazing children and if he were going to make it up he would have chosen a more plausible lie]
Jade? Leave it to Luke...
[Of course he wound up marrying someone who wanted to kill him for ages.]
no subject
[Five...that means about a five year span. Not too bad, but still a little unsettling.]
That'd put it at...14 ABY for you, then. It was 19 ABY for me. The twins are 10 now.
Is this CERES able to manipulate time along with pulling beings from different times? To make it so that no one realizes anyone is gone?
[Something like that has to be happening, if he was pulled in from five years ago. It makes her wonder other things, too.]
I'm not really sure I believe what they said. You don't trust them either, I can tell.
[She nods.] I wouldn't have expected it either, the way those two started out. I guess the Force works in mysterious ways. He was helping her finish her Jedi training, too.
Luke's shown me a few things too. Not a lot, but a little bit.
I can only imagine everything you've been through...I just wish you hadn't had to be alone. But if anyone could survive whatever you've gone through, you'd be the one. I just hope we can find a way to get ourselves back home somehow.
no subject
[Turns out almost everyone he loves was a prime target]
I was never completely alone. I had you and the kids for a while. And I have people here.
no subject
That's so unsettling. That I can be pulled in here and spend time here, and then be sent back home without remembering any of it. I don't like my head being messed with.
Still, I'm glad you weren't alone all of the time. What about Luke...did you ever...was he ever here?
no subject
[Takeru...yeah, he's getting to that.]
Luke's never been in the colony. Or there'd be another body...
no subject
Takeru...who's that?
I guess that makes sense. Maybe it's better that way. Seeing the rest was hard enough.