« 001 ⇢ INTERLUDE001.EXE »

[reparator]

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!

Comments

[reparator]

[ If Bulma searches the wall for long enough, she will indeed find a switch. And should she press it, a small compartment above her will open up, and it will drop a bucketload of floatation devices on her head.

They might help with the swim!

As for Mutsu, unfortunately the monstrosity of a fish is significantly faster than him...but fortunately, it doesn't bother to chew, instead opting to swallow him whole. It's a rather large fish, too, so there's quite a lot of space in there.

And that's when it goes after Hawke and Athena to swallow them too, moving along with the current easily.

Look, the crew's all together now. Mostly. ]

[kirkwalled]

[ ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

when they get trapped in the current, hawke's going to swim ahead as fast as she can (WHICH ISN'T FAST. BECAUSE ARMOR.) but eventually she'll be pushed far enough to grab onto athena's wrist. she'll hold on for dear life as they get stuck on it, not really sure where or when they'll meet the surface again.

so she's sort of out of it by the time the MASSIVE FISH FROM HELL comes out of nowhere and swallows them. she'll probably let go of athena then and slams into the side of the fish in... whatever gross space they're in.

but you know what's great about that armor suddenly? the spikes. which means as she scrapes across the inner walls of the fish, both her sword (which is miraculously still attached to her back) and the spikes of her armor cut up the insides of it. when hawke risks opening her eyes a little, she notices the blood from the scrapes and will ball up her fist to do the best thing hawke knows how to do -- which is punch it.

yeah, hawke's gonna weakly throw a punch at the inner walls of the fish's body until it reacts. she's gotta help them somehow...! ]

[newtimes]

( Wow, thank goodness for small miracles. No, really, being chewed sounds significantly worse than being chewed up alive and honestly, being swallowed whole and going down this fish's mouth is less gross than the trash fiasco. What he knows is that he needs to get out though. But how? If he goes out through the mouth, the fish is just going to swallow him whole again. He'll have to fight his way out from inside...

Ah, a rush of water... the fish just swallowed something else. Ah, he can vaguely make out something coming at him, ah-- )

Ah!

( And he rolls away, just in time to at least dodge... was that Hawke? Athena? And a lot of blood... is it from them or the fish? HE CAN'T TELL HE'S NEVER BEEN SWALLOWED BY A FISH BEFORE HOW HE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT'S NORMAL HERE.

Okay, Hawke seems fine but what about Athena? )

[psycholawgy]

[ This was not how she wanted to die...

Athena coughs loudly, trying to take in as much oxygen as she can. And also, she just swallowed a ton of salt water. Gross. It takes a while for her to realise what just happened, especially since it all happened in a flash. When she realises what it is she's sitting on, she immediately scrambles back until she hits a wall, letting out a shriek at the same time. ]

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh-- [ Her heart is racing, and she's totally freaking out. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM NOW??? What about Bulma? She's all alone up (?) there.... Hopefully, she's safe. And all those thoughts occur right at the same time as she keeps whispering "oh my gosh" loudly. It sounds like she's chanting at this point. ]

▶ CHECKPOINT TWO.SAV

[reparator]

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

---

[ The fish was not expecting to swallow something spiky that was trying to punch it back, that's for sure. Getting punched multiple times from the inside has a perhaps expectable outcome; the fish writhes in place for a moment, and then proceeds to hack up the three intrepid trash explorers.

Thankfully for their air supply, they were in shallower waters then, and near enough to hear waves lapping against what sounds to be metal not far from them, when they break the surface.

There's a dock. It seems to be abandoned, from how dark it is, completely different from the rest of Cerealia, which is lit up at almost all times. No, this is completely dark and shadowed, all metal, looming shapes and in the far distance, the lights of the city of Cerealia. ]

[kirkwalled]

[ when hawke finally washes up on shore, she's just going to spend a few minutes on all fours vomiting up a bunch of disgusting fish gut water. hack, hack, hack. when it all finally comes out, she'll pull her sword off her back and throw it to the side. then, she sits up on her knees and starts desperately unclasping at her armor to shove it off her too. the chainmail goes afterward and it leaves hawke in a wet t-shirt and her metal lower half.

she flops over onto her back after that, pulling in desperate gulps of air and pressing her palms into her eyes as she tries to get her shit together. she knows the other two are near her, and definitely in hearing range, so when she pulls in enough air, well.

hawke's gonna yell. ]

THE MOMENT I AM FINISHED NEARLY DYING, I AM GOING TO GET UP AND PUNCH THE YELLOW WOMAN IN THE FACE. DO YOU HEAR THAT, YELLOW WOMAN? MY FIST. YOUR FACE. THEY'RE GOING TO BE WELL ACQUAINTED.

[ hack hack, cough cough. hawke curls on her side and groans pathetically.

but seriously though, athena? you are so fucked. ]

[newtimes]

( He never signed up for this. What the heck kind of tour is this. Some day, later, once he's had a moment to process everything that has happened, it'll hit him that maybe he should thank Hawke for being so hard to swallow. But for now, he taking in gulps of air, coughing, and trying to get a feel for where they are.

They're outside... this outside... and Hawke is here and Athena and-- )

Bulma-san! Wait a second! ( Before you hit Athena (which he isn't going to allow) if the way he just... steps closer to Athena means anything. ) We gotta get Bulma-san...!

( But how? Where is she? The city is all the way over there and they're all the out here.... how far did they travel in the water? Ah, his sword. She still has his sword. If he can focus on his sword maybe he can at least get a sense of which direction Bulma is in. )

[psycholawgy]

[ Athena would usually have something smart (translation: stupid) to say to defend herself from Hawke, but what just happened was yet another near death experience, and something she's totally afraid of now. She remains quiet, and doesn't bother to even look at Mutsu or Hawke.

When she's done gasping for breath and spitting out whatever salt water (and whatever else) she can, she still doesn't say anything. Instead, she squeezes out the water from her dress, then her hair.

This tour is officially The Worst, and she'll honestly take getting punched over being lost in this place and risking death. ]

[kirkwalled]

[ hawke sits up in the dirt and looks over at the two of them. sad kid. loud kid. she can handle this!! she'll peel off one of her gloves and scrub that hand over her face before pushing off the ground. she catches her reflection in some broken debris and doesn't like the look of her bare skin. nah, she'll have to fix that. ]

Alright. Bulma is the blue haired one, isn't she? If she's smart, she's most likely still in the garbage room. If she isn't... well, I suppose she'll end up here too? All roads lead to Orlais, as they say.

[ she walks over to her scattered armor and rubs at her shoulder with a hand, stretching out her arm as she thinks. there's blood on her armor which isn't strange and hawke hesitates a moment before crouching down, swiping two fingers through it and running them across her nose. that's much better.

when she stands back up, she feels much more prepared. ]

We have to keep moving, but we can leave her a message. Something that says "we were spat out here too and if you are, come find us."

[ she looks up at towards where the lights of cerealia can be seen from a distance, squinting and giving a small frown. ]

That does look quite far, doesn't it?

[newtimes]

We can call her. ( With their CereVice, right? The concept of reception is one he isn't familiar with so the idea that they might not be able to reach her doesn't even occur to him. Gosh, he's really starting to feel awful for leaving her alone up there. She's probably losing her mind... He can practically hear her screeching... ) And tell her we're okay and make sure she's alright too and...

Tell her where we are? Where ever this is...

( Because Hawke does have a point. Cerealia seems so far away from here. )

Anyone got a clue?

( Hawke? Athena? )

[psycholawgy]

[ Athena might be the one who's been here the longest, but she has no clue, either. She gently shakes her head, still frowning. ]

If we're outside the city, then there will probably be more monsters running around.

[ That... And this is probably somewhere near where CERES disposes of its trash. Probably. Maybe. She's just trying to put two and two together at this point.

She's still very shaky, but she takes out her CereVice from her dress' pocket. It's wet, and it also smells bad, but it seems to still be working. But it doesn't look like they'll be able to use it for communication right now. Maybe they're too far from the colony, and it's why reception is down. ]

I can't call or text anybody. Sorry.

[kirkwalled]

[ hawke's also not terribly well-versed in the cerevice so she just looks to athena for an answer. at the confirmation that it doesn't work, she gives a sigh and rubs the back of her neck as she thinks.

to mutsu: ]

She has a point. You should keep your sword handy.

[ then hawke's going to grab the hem of her shirt and rip off a strip of fabric from it. after, she starts walking around to find a stick of sorts in the debris to tie it to. she'll talk while she does. ]

Isn't the outside of the city supposed to just be... jungle? Nature? This doesn't look like anything like that.

[ there's a stick! hawke will start tying off the fabric now. ]

[newtimes]

Heh heh... ( What kind of awkward as heck laugh is that, Mutsu. ) Yeah, yeah, about that!

( About the sword thing. He holds up his arms. Look, there's nothing. No sword. He's unarmed. )

... Sorry.

( IT WAS A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME, OKAY.

Let's focus on other things. Like the lack of jungle for one. )

[capforthat]

[Oh thank Kami a switch--she has a split second to realize that depressing it has done nothing to illuminate her situation before multiple somethings rain down on her head.

She shrieks, flailing at them with her free hand. And then, when no further attacks seem to be coming, she looks around, bewildered. She catches her breath in borderline hysterical (thank you, Hawke) gulps. Eventually she looks down. Are those... water wings? Pink ones. With elephants on them. She giggles.]

This is getting stupid. [She gives one of them a kick, landing it neatly in the dark water. How long has it been since Mutsu went under? Three minutes? Five? Long enough. She tilts her head back and puts those lungs of hers to good use:] MOSLEY, YOU LITTLE GEEK! WHAT KIND OF LOUSY TOUR GUIDE JUST LETS PEOPLE DROWN!? YOU BETTER FISH THEM OUT RIGHT NOW!!

[... and then she just sits. It isn't like there's anywhere to go besides the water.]

[complices]

[ Suddenly, out of nowhere, a very offended voice rings out through the room. ]

I'm not a geek. I did nothing to warrant being called a geek! I mean, perhaps I could be a nerd or... or a dweeb but all of those things are very hurtful, I'll have you know. You should be more kind.

[ Then a pause. ]

Oh, well. Wait. I suppose it depends on your context. What do you mean exactly by "geek"?

[ This is your helpful hand, Bulma. This guy. ]

[capforthat]

[She lets out a surprised squeak--more like a hastily swallowed scream--and shoots to her feet. She didn't expect an answer! She turns slowly on the spot, peering into the gloom.

Where is he?]

Who cares about that! What are you going to do about the others!?

[complices]

[ There's speakers in the ceilings but it's most likely too dark to tell. He's definitely not in the room though.

There's a delay in response though before, in very sulky voice: ]

You didn't answer my question.

[ He really wants to know what you meant by that. ]

[capforthat]

[Oooooo--! Bulma folds her arms and throws out a hip, glowering up at the ceiling. She had a pretty fierce glare to begin with--a decade plus of dealing with the surliest Saiyan in the universe has honed it to perfection.]

That's your hang-up? Three people have disappeared and you're worried about being called names!?

[It's like he doesn't even care!]

[complices]

Well, it's not as if they're dead. I sent a fish for them. They're elsewhere and eventually will be here and then their tour will end.

[ That's one mystery solved. ]

Actually, it's you who should be feeling guilty. You didn't go with them. They're probably worried sick about you. Yet here you are yelling. See, this is why I said you should be more kind. What a mean-spirited thing to do, leaving your friends to die.

[ This is all said in the flattest voice, of course. Eternally calm, cool, and collected, that's Mosley. ]

[capforthat]

[If only she trusted him, she might believe that they're alive. Funny, how being shoved down a trash chute sours your opinion of someone.]

I'm an exceptionally kind person!! [Something about that placid voice is getting on her nerves. Couldn't possibly be that it's hard to keep up a good head of righteous steam when the person she's attempting to argue with is perfectly calm, could it.

Wait. There's something important in what he said--]

You sent that monster after them? Why would you do that? How awful!

[complices]

[ They're really alive! Really! Look up a thread! ]

Oh, no. Not the first one. That one was a... mistake.

[ A pause. ]

I sent the second.

[capforthat]

S-second...?

[Okay, that took some of the wind out of her sails. Good job?]

[complices]

[ Just as calmly as earlier. ]

Yes, the second one. It ate them and sent them elsewhere. You were supposed to be with them.

[capforthat]

[She still isn't buying it. Like a fish would just spit people back up after swallowing them!

...but she does need to find a way out of here.]

Okay. Let's say I believe you--what am I supposed to do now? [Put on some floaties and jump in the pool?] Are you gonna send another fish monster after me?

[complices]

[ Just because you underestimate Mosley's Aquaman powers doesn't mean it didn't happen. ]

Of course. Give me a moment.

[ If Bulma waits five minutes, suddenly a larger than average shark pokes its head out of the water. He looks friendly enough though. After a tip of his hat, he opens his mouth wide for Bulma to go inside. Mosley's voice rings out again. ]

I do hope that will be acceptable. Enjoy your ride, Ms. Briefs.

[ If she goes inside, she will be swallowed whole and land in a rather lush (but humid) seating area. She'll be sent to the docks to join the others but her ride will be much more polite about it, at least. ]