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!
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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Only it did run into the problem of inadequate city design, where the proper alleys for runoff and excess, unplanned water hadn't been kept in mind, including forgetting to put the track on a grade to encourage water not to stand in puddles between the rails. As it is, Chihiro slams her hands on the metal rail to the tiny door leading down to the tracks proper, leaning her weight against it to peer down and out at the tracks leading away from them in a gentle curve, following the form of the city. Lately, it's been more uncomfortable to be this far out, closer to the collapsing barrier, but today isn't so bad.
There are definitely puddles to be seen from here, some smaller, some thin, some breaching across both tracks and under the electric rail. Rolling up onto her tip toes, she squints out across the distance, up to the point where the tracks disappear around a mostly standing building. ]
What do you think?
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Wow, that's low! There's more water than I thought there'd be . . .
[ If he were to throw this pebble, how deeply would it sink into one of the puddles? Maybe this isn't such a good idea. He thought the rail and tracks might be dotted with droplets of leftover rain, not swimming in puddles here and there. (Perhaps they will escape death yet.) ]
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[ Thankfully the water isn't deep so much as present; the worst is about a half inch of standing water. Chihiro twists around to look back at her companion. ]
What do you think?
[ trusting him to be the actual adult here ]
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I know what I said earlier, but this isn't what I was expecting. Maybe we should take that detour, after all.
[ He could use his Trion body to cheat his way around, but that'd be abusing his Trigger. Even if there's no Border here, rules are rules.
Too bad . . . They'll just have to take the electric rail route next time. And not die. ]
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Mm, better safe than resurrected.
[ She shivers as she says the word, already having dedicated herself to the new (old) plan, turning and walking away without a backward glance. For someone who gladly walked and would have walked submerged tracks in another world, the difference between magic or steam transportation and more modern styles that went fast, but carried their own dangers, it's a little amusing. Having to be aware of those differences and how a repeat here could kill her, when in another place, the same action was about saving someone else entirely. ]
It won't be much longer! As long as none of the robots get weird again.
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[ It seems like something this small isn't enough to disappoint Chihiro. Izumi follows, though he gives the gate a second glance over his shoulder, wondering how different the scene would be if public transport were still functional.
If any robot acts weird, he'll throw the pebble at it. Would that piss it off more? ]
The chances of that happening are low, aren't they?
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[ She glances his way once they're off the platform and back on the streets. She weighs what she's seen lately against what she could say. It's not comforting, and she almost wants to sigh, because so little of what she's had to say is helpful. ]
They've been coming back online. Some of the robots have, at least, in the Pleasure District. I don't think they're acting right? But I've always been moving through there pretty fast. The bath bomb place is there, and so is one of the shrines.
[ She frowns, looking vaguely troubled. ]
I mean... I don't think the way it's supposed to be there is the way it is, anymore. Everyone's too insistent, and they really don't care about your age, you know?
[ Ten year olds get super freaking good at dodging robots is what she's saying without saying that. ]
It's not getting arrested or having robots try to murder us like before, but it's still really uncomfortable.
[ aka throw the pebble, have the robot ask if Izumi needs help getting his rocks off. /stares into the distance ]
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You mean . . . insistent in that way?
[ So his mind doesn't usually drift in that direction, but when it's pushed there, he can't help it. Izumi doesn't like the mental image, anyway, when it's Chihiro explaining the situation. ]
That does sound troublesome. Let's move quickly enough so that they don't notice us if we run into any.
Why's there a shrine in a place like that, anyway?
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I dunno. I think the Elemental Spirit Gods might be territorial.
[ Not stating there's one shrine per district... but motioning for them to cross the street at a broken intersection, perking up again. ]
Mostly the robots don't come out of that district, though! They have today, but it's just a few of them, not all of them. We don't have to pass through there. We're dealing with the other parts of the shopping district instead.
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As he follows, he thinks about the various districts he's heard about so far. ]
Does that mean there are shrines in every district?
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Yeah! One in each of the four major districts. Water's in the Pleasure District. That's Maris-sama. He's grumpy. Caeli-sama is wind, and they're in the Entertainment District. Occidi-sama is earth over in the Residential district. Since we're heading to another part of the Shopping district, we're where Ardeo-sama's shrine can be found. He's fire. And a fox.
[ Which makes perfect sense to her, all things considered. Kitsune fire and fox fire. Why not? ]
The research district is in the middle. Um... I think that's where the Bridge was held for a while.
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The Bridge? What, like to the spirit world or something?
[ A literal bridge? ]
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I guess she is? From what I understand, she's the Bridge between the different Gods. So she kind of bridges the people here to their spirit world, only their spirits are part of this world, like ours might have been in really ancient Japan.
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Oh, the Bridge is a person! So she's really important, huh. If she was being held "for a while," does that mean she's not around anymore?
[ Did everyone just pack up and leave? That's not very nice. ]
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No, CERES is who went into hiding. The Bridge was um... she's not nice. She was sacrificing people like us for power. I'm not sure why. I thought she was powerful on her own, but she wants more. Like CERES wants more.
[ The world's most haphazard tutorial continues onward, guided by a ten year old with a biased perspective on events she wasn't even around for. ]
I don't know what happened after she was freed from the Research Tower. I think she was held there at least? Kashuu might know. He's been her a long time.
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Kashuu . . . Ah, that's right. You mentioned his name before. What kind of a person is he?
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Do you know what a tsukomogami is?
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It sounds familiar . . . Isn't it an object that's come alive after fulfilling certain conditions?
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Chihiro nods, turning herself sideways as she walks to grin at Izumi. ]
Yep! Usually 'cause they've existed for a hundred years or so. Kashuu is a sword spirit, and he and his companions were given human-like bodies by a kind of spiritual medium. I'm forgetting the right word. [ she waves her hand; she knows who it is, at least, for all Haru has been ... gone? for a while ] They've been aware for a while, centuries... not always awake, I don't think, but something like that. Kashuu cuts to the point, and he's swift on his feet, and he dresses nicely and paints his nails bright. He's very fashionable.
[ How is that what she says... but she smiles, clearly fond, expression sobering some as she turns to face forward, navigating off memory as she considers what kind of person Kashuu is. ]
He cares. He's not human, and you can't forget that. It'd be frustrating if you did, because he doesn't get things that we understand, because we are human. He's still a person, just like we are. He's got different experiences and a... a very bloody background. It's not all he is.
[ She tips her head to the side, considering this with a solemn look on her face. ]
He sews. He makes beautiful things. He can fight with speed and grace, and it's scary, and it's kind of breathtaking too. He laughs and he teases and he smiles and he frowns and he likes hugs. He cares for his friends. They're his family. He cares for his master. I'm not sure how it gets complicated, when you've had more than one master in your life. Those are people who cared for and used you. For a sword, that's pretty literal. This is the first time they've been in control of what it is they do, or fight for, or how they're guided. Is that kind of freedom sometimes overwhelming?
[ She looks back to Izumi, actually asking him that question. She's not sure... it's such a lot to think about. ]
Kashuu is a good person. He's kind when he doesn't need to be. And he talks to me without pretending that things can't get as bad as they've gotten here before.
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Probably. Too much freedom isn't always a good thing.
[ It's not a particularly wise observation on Izumi's end. He's aware that if children were allowed to roam free without proper supervision, for instance – with the exception of Chihiro, who's clearly been doing that sort of thing for a while – that freedom would be either abused or overwhelming. That's just the way it is, in his opinion. ]
But based on what you've said, it sounds like he's doing fine. [ He pauses. ] No, he sounds pretty incredible!
[ Izumi's eyes wander as he digests everything Chihiro has told him. He can't help but chortle a little at the thought of a sword spirit painting nails – not because it's demeaning, but because it's so ordinary. Who's he to judge when he's never met a being like that before? Cerealia really is amazing! ]
I wouldn't have guessed a sword to be so fashionable. Although, his being what he is must be why he can talk to you without any sugarcoating.
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Mm. Most adults don't want kids to be scared. But it's not smart. Not around here, and not around most places. We need to know what's happening as much as anyone else.
[ But that's enough about that. It's part of why she appreciates the swords. They are protective, yes, but it's a physical protectiveness. They haven't learned to be emotionally protective against things there is no true defense against, and they don't lie and say things will all be fine. It doesn't make it comfortable or fun, but it does make it easier to trust that when they say, some of us will make it through, things won't be a total wash.
Besides, harsh realities delivered unflinchingly by spirits? She's been there before. She's grown because she had to grow. She'll keep moving forward because giving up isn't an option she can live with. ]
Mm, they're all pretty incredible! I'm glad to have met them.
[ She doesn't see what he'd said about freedom being problematic when it comes so large and suddenly. There's a sort of organisation that remains for the swords, but it's different. Being human like enough to start feeling and sympathizing, if not empathizing, with humanity... it's got to be hard.
She finds it hard, and she's human through and through. ]
We're almost there! Down this block and around the corner there.
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I guess you've got a point.
[ He perks up at the directions, his eyes trained on the aforementioned corner. The thought of watermelon makes him feel that much more refreshed in this humid weather. ]
Great! That didn't take long at all.
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Nope! It's nice, huh? Keeping company makes the walking go much faster.
[ She's done this often enough her perspective of the time passing is skewed to make this statement true. She turns back around after walking backward a few steps, arms back out to her side. The open faces of the warehouses exist set back from the sidewalk, fenced in with chain link with a sign stating "elc me" where the other letters have since fizzled out. A second sign reads "open" in the window by the warehouse door Chihiro heads toward, pulling it open and nodding her head toward the inside as an invitation for Izumi to head into the air conditioned interior. ]
The watermelons are back on the right!
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Izumi ducks inside with Chihiro's invitation, relishing the cool air of the air conditioned warehouse. While he goes straight toward the back to the right, his pace is a little sluggish as he takes that opportunity to look around. ]
Wow, so cool. I wouldn't mind staying in here all day!
[ Seriously, just let him take a nap here. ]
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[ She says, apparently unconcerned as she heads to a different section of the store. She's looking at the dried goods, picking up a five pound bag of rice and reading the label. Looking for the right grain when they're not in see through packaging... ]
Let me know when you find a good one!
[ The watermelons are neatly stacked, though there's only about ten or so of them compared to weeks before, when they came into season. Buddha's hands rest in a neat stack to their right, labelled helpfully just as "fruit." ]
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