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« 001 ⇢ INTERLUDE001.EXE »

Who: Mosley and these unfortunate souls
When: OOC: 6/27, IC: 1/26
Where: CERES Research Tower
What: Mosley takes a few lucky souls on a tour of the CERES offices.
Rating/Warning: PG-13: Some violence, injuries and possible death.

▶ VIDEO.EXE | IC: 1/25

[ The broadcast comes bright and early for those paying attention to their CereVices; the man who appears on the screen is strikingly pale, white-haired and piercingly blue-eyed. He looks young, no more than nineteen or twenty and he's dressed in a crisp black and white suit. He stares into the screen for a long moment, long enough to be, frankly, just a bit uncomfortable.

And then white eyelashes blink and an awkward, unsure smile spreads across his face. He lifts a hand to fix his tie and speaks. ]

This is Mosley.

[ The smile drops, leaving him with a blank expression once again. ]

CERES has decided in a show of good faith to open our doors to you. I have been given the task of, [ He lifts his hands to emphasize with air quotes. ] "being your tour guide." If that is what I must do, so be it. The lazy worm does not get the apple, after all.

[ He looks down at the tablet on his desk, giving it a few taps and suddenly an icon appears on the bottom right hand of the video. ]

That link will bring you to a listing to make an appointment. You will be given a time. Show up promptly or do not, it is no matter to me. The tour will leave ten minutes after your given time and that will be that. Tours will only last a few hours so you needn't worry about the rest of your day. You will certainly return home in time to catch the latest episode of [ Air quotes again. ] "Banana is the New Black." I hear there's going to be a cliffhanger!

[ A pause and he looks oddly thoughtful. ]

I suppose you could also steal it off the internet? [ Blank again. ] Which would be wrong. Our lawyers will contact you if you do that. Do not.

[ And then another of those awkward smiles before quickly turning into something a bit startled and he taps his tablet again, ending the video. Replies to this feed have been disabled, unfortunately. Seems like someone isn't feeling very chatty. It's a miracle. ]

▶ ACTION.EXE | IC: 1/26

[ The next day, that Monday, those who take Mosley up on his offer will find that him standing there right in front of the main CERES office building, waiting. It’s with that same disconcerting smile that he unlocks the door and ushers them in.

Welcome, all of you, to our lovely CERES!

The group will find themselves standing in a lobby. Clean white walls and floors, a bright blue rug leading towards the elevators on the far wall, and a white reception counter. At the counter are two CERES robots answering calls and directing any visitors (though the lobby seems quite empty today) and on the wall behind them is a hologram of the CERES logo for all to see. Mosley stands in the center of the carpet in his usual suit and claps his hands together, putting on a smile. ]

Welcome to CERES.

[ And then the smile drops. Voice flat, he continues. ]

There has been... talk over the past few months that we at CERES have not been working 24/7 to help you, our clientele, return to your homes safely and soundly. There has also been... talk that we do not do anything. That this entire company is a farce, which is honestly quite hurtful to both me and the other hardworking staff at this company. Mr. Vincere had his way of running this place but Ms. Recreare is fond of a more hands on approach. We want to share that approach with you.

[ He spreads his hands to indicate to the building around them. ]

CERES has many fingers in many jars and they've all been sealed tight for a while. We would like to open those jars. So once again, welcome to CERES and please follow me.

[ After that, Mosley turns and begins to lead the group off. ]

▶ RUN.EXE | MOD NOTES

This is the event log for these sign-ups! Your groups have been sorted below; here are a few handy links for you:

Group 01 | OOC plotting
Group 02 | OOC plotting
Group 03 | OOC plotting
Group 04 | OOC plotting
Group 05 | OOC plotting
Group 06 | OOC plotting
Group 07 | OOC plotting
Group 08 | OOC plotting
Group 09 | OOC plotting
Group 10 | OOC plotting
There is no tagging order, so feel free to tag in whatever way works best for you as a group.

The tours will technically last 3 hours icly, but that may change as ic events happen; oocly, the threads will last as long as necessary, though Mosley will come and collect your characters if they are moseying around too long! There will be mod involvement in each of the tours.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask them here. You are welcome to plot with your groupmates by using the ooc top level comments linked above. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Yang is definitely standing back-- or jogging ahead, after knuckle-nudging some bark off a nearby tree. See look, England, she was listening! ]

Okay, guys, enough flirting. Let's go find us some noise-makers!

[ ... And her gauntlets are activating, sliding to cover more of her arms and wrists. For all her amusement, she's not about to assume that whatever the noisy monster things are won't hurt them. Or try. ]

Edited 2015-06-28 00:33 (UTC)

[ Jaune had his shield raised in a reflex reaction as Peko was dealing with the creature. However, after hearing what Yang just said, he slowly lowers his shield and...

just

looks at Peko in awe.

She was flirting with him? Could this be true? This is no time to be thinking about these things at all, because his number one priority is to save his missing partner. But... wow... could this be the beginning of a new romance for Jaune Arc? Is a girl finally noticing him? ~~RWBY fandom groans.~~

Just as they begin to move on, Jaune leans in to Peko from the side and offers the suddenly cute girl another awesome fact about himself: ]

.......... I'm a natural blond.

[ W-Walks ahead... ]

[ sorry to interrupt your flirting

But either way, Jaune walking ahead trips some sort of thing in his hurry.

Either way, the noises are suddenly growing louder and louder, and then, out of the jungle foliage, there bursts this creature.

Helpfully, the intern's diary narrates:]

There are monsters here! There's a monster! What sort of place are we in? Why are we even here on this horrible planet?

Thankfully, Mr. Vincere's robots were able to take care of the monster, but it was terrifying.

[ Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any robots here now. Just the monster, and it certainly sees them. ]

[that thing is so gross. England practically jumps out of his skin when it appears. he also says something not very gentlemanly.

instinctively, he raises his gun and fires it at the beast. maybe it won't do much damage, but the bullets and noise might startle it enough so that they can run away and find some cover]

[Is... is this flirting?? Peko just gives Yang a bit of a baffled, unamused stare. This is... a joke? She actually looks a little perturbed at this realization. That's right, Kuzuryuu's parents fought a lot (and extremely violently), yet they were still together... perhaps this is a hidden secret??

Jaune's comment just earns him another nonplussed stare, though. Con...gratulations on your hair? So is Kuzuryuu, and his hair looks better to pet than Jaune's. This is important for some reason.

Before she can disabuse him of this flirting notion, there's the continuing narration and the monster. A hiss through her teeth, and Peko immediately draws her katana from its sheath and shoves the sheath back into the bag on her back. As ugly as it is, if it weren't going to attack before, she's certain that Eyebrows shooting at it definitely means it's go-time.]

The throat looks vulnerable. I'll move left.

[And without waiting for acknowledgement, she's darting forward to turn her words into reality, trying to cover the distance as quickly as possible to duck in and go for one of its throats. She can absolutely be stopped by one of her companions if they'd rather run for cover, though!]

Mr. Kirkland, stay with her! [ Jaune doesn't know Rio's name or her fighting abilities yet, so he just points to her before he follows Peko's approach. ]

I'll take right!

[ Holy shit that thing looks scary, though. Why does everything about this tour have to be so gross?? In any case, Jaune assumes that they are to play the role of the late Mr. Vincere's robots and moves to strike! He's not as talented as Peko though, so there's no way he can reach the monster's throat or anything, but maybe he can distract it by slicing off a few of its tentacles from one side to give the other girl room for any clean blows.

The only person he doesn't have to worry about here is Yang, knowing the way he knows her. Even if something were to hit her, she would just bounce back stronger with her Semblance. ]

I-- Excuse me! I'm perfectly able to...

[Rio doesn't finish the complaint, only huffs and pulls out her Baria Lapis. Really, she shouldn't be so blatant about transforming, especially in front of a bunch of strangers, but if she doesn't, she really will be the odd one out in the group. Far be it from her to be the one needing to be protected just for being the youngest...

With a scoff, she smacks the jewel in the center with her hand perhaps a little harder than she needs to, and it glows in response. In a quick flash, instead of Rio stands this alien beauty, equally as tall but much more capable of fighting alongside others.]

Hmph.

[As if to test the durability of its skin, she fires off a ball of scathing energy, lobbing it at the nearest convenient throat area of one of the heads.]

[ Okay, so they have two Beacon students, a sword wielder, a guy with a gun and a...

... Hmpher.

Jaune once again not doing too hot with the ladies, Yang thinks, but nods and sprints forward. They could try to run, but what's the point? They've already got its attention. ]

Middle!

[ She aims downward and fires, to launch herself into the air, above the monster-- and then she's flying back down to slam an explosive, fiery shot at the middle one's head.

Yeah, who runs for cover? ]

[ For what it is worth, as disgusting as the monster seems to be, this group is far stronger than even the group of robots Julius Vincere brought with him before.

With all of them fighting together, the monster goes down relatively quickly, hitting the ground hard and no longer moving. For the sharp-eyed, if they notice, when it hits the ground, the area in the jungle that it hits momentarily flickers, as if the code has been disrupted, and then it is all back to normal.

The intern sounds tired. ]

After a long battle, the monster finally fell and we were able to continue. But if there are a lot of creatures like that out here, I'm not so certain this is a good idea.

Still, Mr. Vincere seemed determined to move on, so we did.

[ The jungle, after their fight, is quiet. ]

[ After the battle, Jaune supports himself with his blade as he catches his breath. That was a lot of maneuvering and crazy explosions and he may have even stepped on a gooey beetle. Gross. ]

Man... when are we gonna get to the part where Mr. Vincere builds the colony and we all lived happily ever after?

[ He pauses as he notices the silence in the jungle, then quickly finishes his point. ]

You know, relatively speaking. [ Not everyone is happy in Cerealia, but it can't be worse than being in this jungle, he thinks. ]

[England had been doing some maneuvering himself, mostly making sure to cover the others if they needed it. but... the monster goes down incredibly fast. he was not expecting that.

he also wasn't expecting Rio to... transform into something completely different. so once the monster goes down, he just kind of looks at her, and the rest of the group, and then addresses all of them]

That was incredible...!

[Hardly looking winded from the brief battle, Peko flicks a bit of monster flesh from the end of her blade. She'd been focused on the monster itself, so she hadn't been completely aware of where the energy balls had come from. Before she can say "good work," she's looking back toward the others -- toward Rio and-- well.]

...What are you?

[THAT IS SO RUDE. But at least Peko doesn't seem any more threatening than usual, only curious. Intensely so, but that's just her usual face.]

[ Let's just say they started moving along again as they're having this conversation. ]

Wh-whoa, you can't just--!!

[ That's so rude, Peko, you beautiful katana wielding librarian. Let your hero Jaune just step in and save you some face from that disaster of a question. ]

W-What Specs here is trying to say is..........................

...............

.......

...what... are you...?

[ He tried, he really tried. ]

That's... a little complicated...

[If Barians could blush, she'd be doing so quite furiously, but Rio settles for looking at the ground and crossing her arms as if to appear defensive -- it just looks downright embarrassed, though. Where do they want her to start, the part about being an undead alien soldier or the part where she was supposed to destroy all of them?

Well, no matter. She lifts her head and waves a hand, trying to look serious; it's surprisingly effective considering she only has her eyes and body to express with at this point.]

More importantly, do you recall what I said about "pick a direction and go"? I think that applies here, now that our only lead is gone.

Edited 2015-06-28 05:05 (UTC)

I think we should go that way!

[ Brightly, pointing in the direction the monster fell, as though it's now acting as a big, unresponsive compass. Yang hardly looks any worse for the wear, and seems to be as chipper as ever, despite one teammate transforming and a monster battle. Some things aren't so strange to her. ]

But I also think we should learn names here, so hi, I'm Yang. Me and this guy-- [ A jerk of the thumb to Jaune the Forever Chaste ] are from the same place.

...Fine.

[It's not of immediate importance right now, anyway. Aliens aren't as far outside the realm of Peko's experience as they used to be, considering this colony's inhabitants, and as long as she's on their side, it doesn't really matter.]

My name is Pekoyama Peko, [she adds at Yang's prompting, giving her name in Eastern order intentionally to try to prompt everyone that yes, Pekoyama is the right thing to call her (though she won't be annoyed by just Peko).] Super High School Level Swordswoman.

[ Flexing as if anybody cares, trying to look super cool in front of somebody. ]

Jaune Arc. Team JNPR. Fearless hero and all-around great guy. Hi.

[Jaune. Jaune really. now's not the time]

I'm Arthur Kirkland. [he crosses his arms as he walks, kind of feeling inadequate around all these teammates and super aliens and sword fighters. if only he could talk about what he really is without people freaking out. HE'S REALLY COOL ~~IN HIS OWN MIND~~ OKAY] I work for the British government on earth.

[it's not exactly a lie]

[He probably means "all the female somebodies in the immediate area", right? Right.]

...Kamishiro Rio. [She pauses before speaking, as if deliberating what exactly she's going to say.] Pleased to meet you all.

[ Now that the comical introductions are out of the way, Jaune gazes into the distance as they continue walking again. ]

You know, as much as I wish this diary were a little less interactive, we're kinda learning a lot about this place, aren't we? Mr. Mosley said CERES had other CEOs before Mr. Vincere, but it sounds like it was him who originally settled the colony here.

I wonder what CERES was like before all of this...

[ That just makes him curious about what's behind all those other doors, but at this rate they might not have enough time to explore them all before they're thrown out. And he's still no closer to finding clues about his missing friends... ]

[Hopefully "somebody" means Rio in that case, because Peko doesn't look impressed in the least by Jaune's antics.]

Kamishiro, Kirkland, ...Arc, [she gives each of them a nod, only pausing on Jaune's name because she's not completely sure which one would be the last name in that case.

But she's perfectly willing to keep moving, listening carefully for any other noise.]

I doubt it was much different, considering Vincere was permitted to remain a CEO as long as he was.

Edited 2015-06-28 06:03 (UTC)

[ Not Rio!! Though if he finds out she's tsun... But Peko paused on his name... THAT MEANS SHE'S STILL FLIRTING. ]

Hmm. Yes. I completely agree with the bespectacled angel here.

[ Smooth, Jaune. ]

Maybe... changing leadership within CERES isn't that easy, considering the way somebody relieved him of his duties in the end.

[ Yang pivots on a foot to walk backwards, keeping an eye on the group and an ear on her surroundings. Someone who works for a different government, and a bunch of interesting teens-- well, she can't complain. ]

CERES could've maybe had another colony before or something like it, that didn't work out? My question is... why here? What's so promising about this place?

I'm wondering if CERES has even been around as long we've been told. Right now, it sounds like this was the first venture. [England moves aside some vines to allow people to walk past] As to why Tellus... We'll probably find out soon enough.

[there was a tired sigh in there, as though he knows that this interactive diary's only just beginning. not only will they find out more secrets, but probably more monsters lurking around, as well]

. . . OLD FILE OVERWRITTEN . . . CHECKPOINT #002.SAV . . .
. . . CONTINUING TOUR.EXE. . .

[ Unfortunately for Yang, it's extremely hard to see anything in a jungle this dense, so as she walks backwards, she's going to trip over some well-hidden stairs -- and probably tumble down them.

Should the rest of the group follow suit, they'll find what appears to be a....home of sorts. It's a hut, truly, though as much as it looks like one, it is surprisingly well-constructed, and blends in well with the forest around them.

There is nobody around, but from above, as ever, comes the confused voice of the intern. ]

That is when we stumbled across something...weird. I don't know. There are people here, though, and they're all a little...strange. One of them spat fire at my face! Though I don't think he meant to, but still.

Mr. Vincere sure looked excited though when he went to talk with them. I would've thought he'd be upset. Wasn't this supposed to be an uninhabited planet?

the things I miss while I'm at work

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▶ CHECKPOINT TWO.SAV