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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[Kashuu says it with practiced impassivity, and moves on as if it isn't that important.]
A lot of the others have come and gone, too. We're down to about... mm, I think twelve of us? But a lot of you guys came back this time. I just saw Kanesada. Nagasone's back, too. [There's a beat, somewhat discomforted.] And Ichigo.
[Even though he doesn't think Namazuo was even around the first time Ichigo was. Goodness.]
no subject
A myriad of emotions skitters across Namazuo's face in the span of a few seconds--sadness, hope, and most of all, shock. He's upset about Haru, of course, and he absolutely does not intend to let Kashuu gloss over it so easily. But right now, there's another name that's grabbed his attention, and his eyes are wide as he grasps Kashuu's sleeve.]
Ichi-nii...? You saw him? You really did?
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I did, yeah. [...] Alive, I mean. [The fact that he has to make that distinction at all is pretty unfortunate.]
Talked to him a little about the place. You wanna go find him?
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Yes, I do. [He wants to run off and find him right away, honestly, but he isn't going to ditch Kashuu in this room full of bodies.] Will you come?
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—Sure, yeah. D'you still remember where the apartment is? The city's kinda messed up now.
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[So orienting themselves might be a good idea.]
Messed up? Like ViViD?
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[AND TOWARD THE STREET HE GOES. As for that:]
Eh... Not really. CERES kinda abandoned us. [That's kind of a big deal?!] So the technology isn't really working great. None of the robots work and the tourists and stuff who used to live here are all moving out.
[It's a little lonely.]
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Abandoned us...? [Granted, Namazuo is Too Grandpa to really understand the full impact of CERES' absence, but he's going to find out soon enough.] Why?
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[A DOUBLE WHAMMY OF BAD LUCK. Good work, team, truly.]