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« 005 ⇢ event005.exe »

Who: CERES & you
When: IC: 10/04 | OOC: 11/15
Where: ViViD & McCERES
What: Intro Log
Rating/Warning: PG-13 | slightly nsfw

//event005.EXE

Learning is Fundamental! Let's play CERESLearn

ViViD's usual worlds are unfortunately down for maintenance. While CERES' programmers work on getting it back up and running, all new entrees this round will be going through a different level than usual. Only a single world is accessible at the moment, a simple one entitled 'CERESLearn.' "What the $%@& is this?" you must be thinking. Well, it's simple!

It's a study program, of course! CERES' advanced AI technology is here to make sure you learn and that you learn sexily. Whether or not you pay attention to the actual content is up to you, the player. Please enjoy it while it lasts. They're here to teach you a variety of subjects and also to make you feel vaguely uncomfortable all over.

New arrivals and those logging into ViViD will first find themselves in a classroom with a new operator greeting them rather than Vidia.

"Greetings and welcome to Cerealia! It's nice of you to join us at last. As you can see, we're just about to get started!

Here are the instructions:

♥ Choose your subject of choice. They include things like medicine, math, CERES economics, CERES history, fun facts about Julius, engineering, and science!
♥ Choose your tutor. You can hire Astor, Hilda, or UN-Zippy
♥ They'll teach you slowly, deliberately, sensually. Then after that, they'll drill you hard and without stopping.
♥ Just when you think you've had enough, they'll quiz you all over until you're sweating and panting.
♥ For those of you who pass, you'll be welcomed well into Cerealia and be given a free voucher for a McCERES Mildly Content meal. Please enjoy!"

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ xxxx ] Once you choose your lesson and your tutor, you will be transported to a classroom where you and a few other players who decide to choose the same lesson will sit with your tutor after school, getting knowledge taught to you by someone who seems more intent on learning what's under your clothes than filling your head with knowledge. They will be awkwardly stretching, dropping pencils by 'accident' on the floor, and bending down slowly to pick them up. Certain things might be spilling out of their clothes. Awkward things. They will breathe down your neck and make sure you are well-versed in their anatomy by the end of the lesson.

Fortunately, it won't last long as their bodies start to flicker erratically.

PHASE II

[ xxxx ] Just as things begin to escalate, the flickering will grow intense until your tutor will start to morph before your eyes. What takes their place is something that is anything but friendly. And yes, it will continue to breathe down your neck and speak in a sweet, soft, alluring voice while reaching out with its 'hands' to try and touch you.

This will be your cue to run through the halls of the school while That Thing chases you in every single direction imaginable. There will be others joining you as everyone starts bolting out of their classrooms.

PHASE III

[ xxxx ] Feeling tired already? Well, don't stop and rest now! For those who successfully murder their own tutor, they will get their food voucher and a lovely welcome into CERES. You've officially passed! Everyone will be allowed to mingle around the game room in the CERES Research Tower before being directed into McCERES just across the street. For those who were already in the colony, you will also receive a voucher and directions to McCERES at the end of the game in case you want to go meet up with the newcomers there or just eat some artery-killing fast food.

PHASE IV

[ xxxx ] For those who get eaten by That Thing or don't pass their quizzes and upset their tutors, they will be forced to endure the Price of Failure. This means being sent to the gym with the other 'failures' to endure a painfully slow and erotic striptease by UN-Zippy. Once that is over, they will then be logged out and allowed to have their complimentary McCERES voucher.

BONUS

[ whyo'clock ] Congratulations on surviving CERESLearn! Here's your complimentary voucher for a free Mildly Content Meal at McCERES. This month's special is also the McKnight Burger. Characters are immediately invited to take a load off and enjoy some good ol' fashion fast food of questionable origin. Those who decide to order and eat here will also get a special toy included inside their Mildly Content Meals.

[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to CEREALIA's latest intro post. For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing everyone's usual arrival experience (which is not entirely applicable this round for reasons stated above^) and a FAQ that should explain everything in more detail. Please read them thoroughly before playing. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Eugh... The similarity is enough to have him a little worried. His lips purse briefly, arms crossing over his chest.]

Can you tell me a little more about that...? About how long ago was it, and who encouraged the residents?

I was absent for the entire duration, so I am not too sure on the specifics. I believe it was a week or two ago. [ He taps his chin briefly, trying to recall the details. ] It began with a city-wide power outage, and a suspicious individual staged a 'game' where the individual who collected the most kills would... be rewarded.

[ He isn't too sure what it was. ]

In any case, the event lasted for five days. The CEO delivered a public apology, blaming the incident on underground miscreants... but I would not take his words at face value. This isn't the first time something has gone wrong in this colony.

[YEP, NOT GOOD NEWS, so much not good news, Oz is greatly concerned. Between the timing, the game itself and the CEO, everything's lining up in an unpleasantly familiar way.]

...What about the things that went wrong before that? Were you here for any of those? And has anyone heard more about the people who started that 'game' since then?

[ He can tell by the stranger's expression that they had similar opinions on this whole issue. ]

Before this, a virus spread throughout the system and caused the cleaning droids to turn aggressive. I was not present prior to this event, unfortunately - but some of the other people here might be able to tell you more.

[ He aligns his fingertips together at this point. ]

The perpetrators have supposedly been punished, but I doubt anyone will fully trust the CEO's words at this point.

[He nods along with the explanation, grateful since even the smallest amount of new information is good.]

I'll ask around. What are the cleaning droids, though? And— [...Well, it's not like he wants to start off on a Negative Nancy foot here, but past experience tells him to exert caution.] ...You're probably right to do that.

[Not trusting the CEO.]

Ah, they are machines which were intended to clean the sewers and streets of the city. [ It occurs to him at this point that this man may not know of them. ] Usually they stay within the sewers, but in that malfunction incident they emerged out of the manholes and began attacking residents.

[ He pauses for a moment here. ]

Please, be careful. Some things are not what they seem, here.

Thanks for the warning. [A nod; he's definitely filing this all away to share with the other new arrivals who showed up alongside him.]

What do you mean by that? Do you mind explaining? [He feels a little badly, drowning this poor guy in questions...]

[ Takakage doesn't mind. He knows the value of information, after all - and these are warnings he would gladly pass on.

He inclines his head before speaking. ] This colony depends very much on machines and other electronics to keep it functioning. However, machines are programmed - they do not have a soul, nor can they feel like us humans do. Thus, if they malfunction, they can turn very harmful indeed.

So far, most of the technology they have provided are functioning properly. What I ask of you is to not rely on them as much as you can. They may fail, or worse. It is best to have something more dependable than mere metalwork.

[Reasonable advice, definitely - that all makes a lot of sense to Oz. He's not sure how hard it might be to live without technology in a place that literally seems centered around it, but he's got a bit of an edge when it comes to knowing how to live without, at least.]

All right. Thanks; I'll be sure to keep that in mind. [Everything can kill you including the toaster: a Cereal memoir...]

—Ah, sorry! I'm Oz. [HOW RUDE TO FORGET INTRODUCTIONS.]

[ Takakage smiles - it's good to see that this newcomer is willing to take his advice seriously. ]

A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Oz. I am Kobayakawa Takakage, from the Land of the Rising Sun. Might you have heard of it?

[ He has had plenty knowledge of alternate worlds, given his travels, but Oz may not. ]

Ah— Just Oz is fine! I don't mind it. [He's had enough of titles to last a lifetime, honestly. But neither of those names ring familiar to him, and Oz shakes his head again.]

Sorry, I haven't. [Oz also has some experience with alternate worlds, at least, so he doesn't seem too perturbed to hear of a land that's completely and utterly foreign.] But it's nice to meet you, anyway! Thanks again for the help, too. This is all a little disorienting...

It's the least I could do. [ He replies by way of a slight nod. ] It isn't very safe around here, after all. We will need all the information we can get.

[ With that, he takes his spellbook from the air where it had been floating out of view. He flips through the pages to where he had taken notes, and the pages copy themselves after some prompting.

The strategist then offers the papers to Oz. ] Here. I have written some information and contacts that may be useful. [ Places that actually sell things he can eat, stores run by friendly humans, and the like. ]

[EXCELLENT. That is neat on two counts, but while Oz takes the papers with a grateful look, it's clear which of the two he's more interested in...]

Thanks! I'll have to pay you back for all of this someday. [Since truly, it is a lot of help... THAT SAID:]

Are you some kind of— [Struggling for a second to pick an apt term... Patchouli comes to mind, though, so he eventually goes with:] -sorcerer?

Please, don't. [ He says this with a smile. ] Pay it forward to someone else who may need help, too.

[ The question doesn't fall exactly out of expectation, but it is rather hard to explain. In addition to his standard repertoire, he had also gained some other skills through his time in Hinoto-Ri. ]

I am not a sorcerer, merely a strategist. However, I do have some skills in the realm of magic. Not much, though.

[ Should he explain his Persona? Perhaps not now... ]

I can do that! [A nod! Though he'll probably still keep this guy in mind and appear like a month later with a gift basket or something in thanks...]

I know someone like that. [A strategist with randomass weird vaguely magical abilities that are never explained!!] But it seemed like a really uncommon thing.

Magic is rare in my homeworld, too. [ And from what he had heard, extinct in modernity. ] Not only does it require innate skill, it also needs years of training. Many with the potential never awaken to it. I was lucky enough to have a good mentor.

[ And a good tool, too. His spellbook is a family heirloom, unused for generations. It took lots of study for him to learn how to control it. ]

May I know the name of your homeland?

Ah, that's more complex than I thought. [But he's nodding along anyway, clearly interested. There are a lot of worlds out there with interesting quirks and people that he'd like to get to know, honestly.]

—Sure! I come from Reveille. It's in- [insert name of country here THANKS VAGUE CANON. But it definitely isn't one from Earth...] -but I don't think that anyone else I've met has heard of it.

It is. It died out a few centuries later, but perhaps it was for the best. Magic can be dangerous in the hands of those with malicious intent. [ Coupled with how difficult it was to learn magic, living without it didn't seem so bad. ]

I'm afraid I haven't, either. [ And that's saying something, considering that he had lived in a nexus point for about three years. ] It seems a pleasant land, if that helps.

[Not knowing how magic works in other worlds means Oz doesn't have much room for opinion, so he just makes a noncommittal humming noise. He could definitely see how magic could become a problem if used on a wider scale, though...

As for their homelands, it's a much easier topic to parse and he smiles accordingly.]

It is! I've never really lived anywhere else, but I like it there. [His head inclines forward a little, curious.] What about yours?

[ Ah. That is a complicated question.

Takakage aligns his fingertips together, looking thoughtful for a moment before speaking. ] It is a beautiful land, too. The people live in castles protected by daimyo and go about their daily life in safety. There are mountains and rivers gifted with scenery, and the wildlife is charming, too.

[ He will forever hold fond memories of his home. After all, it's all that he has left. ]

In the far future, the people build trains traversing vast distances in short times, and they fly across oceans in large metal birds called aeroplanes. With the advent of science and medicine, illnesses are better treated, and the children can learn about the world without fear. I haven't seen this future with mine own eyes, but I have spoken to those who call it home.

[ He is very proud of them. Knowing all this, and the promise of a hopeful future - it's almost enough reassurance. ]

[He's heard a little bit about that - airplanes, and the distant future that he can hardly imagine, even though he at least has trains where he comes from. He may be far behind, but he's not quite as behind as some.]

It sounds nice — both, I mean! Your time in the present and what happens in the future... Both of them sound like nice places to be.

[Safety and protection and freedom. It's the kind of world that he hopes his own can be one day, too.]

What was it called again? The Land of the Rising Sun? It has a good name, too.

It is known as Japan in the future, but it's just a shorter name for the same thing.

[ He sighs a little wistfully. ]

Perhaps when all this is over, you could visit it someday. [ That is, if they manage to somehow fix the worlds with CERES' help. ]

[He looks intrigued by the idea, at least! Traveling outside of his own country isn't something he's done, really, so all of this sudden interdimensional traveling sure is A Thing.]

I wouldn't mind if I was able to do something like that. [But it probably won't be possible in the end, since his own world needs to be tended to first.]

Yes. Though we will need to find a way how. I have visited other planes, but only with the aid and guidance of transdimensional beings. [ How best to explain Philemon... ] Since CERES pulled us from the code, perhaps they can also access different worlds, too.

[ And maybe he could find a way to receive news of his homeworld. Not being able to renturn is a problem. ]

That might be the case.

[But that has him thinking about another issue entirely and he shifts where he stands, glancing over his shoulder briefly. It's not clear what he's looking for, or who.]

—Do you believe that, anyway? What they've said about... this code, and our own worlds.

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