Hey there! Did you know that yearly check-ups are the best preventative medicine you can give to your darling CYbuddy? Their health is of the utmost importance and from the Pomeranian to the Velociraptor, it's so very necessary to give your CYbuddy what he or she needs to be as happy and healthy as can be. After all, CYbuddies are the first and last defense in the war against loneliness, so you must do your best to protect the ones you have! You wouldn't want to be a friendless CYbuddy-less loser, would you? Through thick and thin, rain or shine, your CYbuddy will love you forever. And ever. And ever. Do not disappoint your CYbuddy.
You blink and suddenly find yourself in what looks like a doctor's waiting room, completely alone aside from the robot receptionist. Posters line the walls in various degrees of friendliness. Actually, is this the vet? It kind of looks like the vet. In fact, when you look down towards your lap, there will be a creature snoozing comfortably on you. Really, how did you not notice? The creature's collar names him Fluffy. (That's a dumb name, why did you name your pet Fluffy? Be more creative!) If you decide to call out to the receptionist, they will ignore you, but soon after you will hear clacking of sharp nails on the floor as someone -- or something -- comes out of the back room.
No worries, it's just the doctor.
 Greetings! My name is Thelonious T-Bone the Third and I will be Fluffy's doctor today. I will take good care of your dear Fluffy and be right back to you with him or her in a jiffy. You can, of course, completely trust me for I am the best in the business! No other Velociraptor can treat and heal pets as well as I, most certainly. But there is one tiny little thing, you see. My nurse is out sick today and my hands are too small and dangerous to work well without accidentally killing your poor pet. So, to make up for this, I will need you to be my nurse today. Do you think you can handle that?
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PHASE I [ 09 00 ] Welcome to ViViD's state of the art pet care simulator. It looks like everyone is ready and willing to get started -- maybe a little too eager to get started. There seems to have been a minor misunderstanding actually and Dr. T-Bone seems to think that... well, that you're the pet. Didn't he see Fluffy's collar? (Still, such a dumb name!)
If you don't think fast, you're likely to be shoved into a kennel or forced into getting really uncomfortable shots (to prevent rabies, you see; side effects include dizziness, nausea, sprouting animal ears for a few hours and the increased desire to bite people). At least you'll have company since it looks like this mistake is happening to everyone. Might as well get cozy and get to know the people stuck in the kennels next to you while you're here.
PHASE II [ 1200 ] It's time to actually be the nurse! And time to treat one of Dr. T-Bone's most prominent clients. You will be led to, well, a dinosaur -- a T-Rex to be exact. And you will be told that your job is to take care of its teeth.
That's right. Someone has to clean all of those teeth. And it looks like you're the lucky sap who got the job. Don't worry, the Tyrannosaurus Rex's name tag proclaims it to be vegan (and to go by the name of Sir Gadzooks) so it should be perfectly safe to reach into that gaping maw and start cleaning those teeth.
Alternatively, you could make your dental assistant do it; looks like you weren't the only one to get dragged into this farce. The question is, which one is handling the sharp pointy objects, and which one is sticking their hand into that mouth?
Also, it's not really a vegan dinosaur, that was a great big lie. And it's very, very hungry -- now might be a good time to run.
PHASE III [ 1300 ] Hope you weren't doing anything important (like sticking your hand into the mouth of a dinosaur), because someone is now throwing a blindfold over your eyes and hustling you right into the basement. A couple of twists and turns later, and you're being shoved into what appears to be an underground... peacock fighting ring? With a jaunty peacock headband on and none of your weapons on you, it seems as though you've been mistaken for a particularly ugly peacock and have been tossed into the ring.
Look out though. Those peacocks look mean. They'll go straight for the eyes if they get the chance, and will peck away merrily at your head. Of course, the walls aren't that high all things considered (they're peacocks), so it probably wouldn't be that hard to escape the ring.
(Or, if you manage to find your way down there yourself, you can always join in on the ludicrously outlandish betting pool. It might be a good way to get some cash -- if you bet on the right peacock.
Actually, is that Mr. T-Bone in the crowd too? Someone get the quack out of here!)
PHASE IV [ 1600 ] There's someone whispering.
It's a quiet, throaty whisper, and no matter where you are in the ViViD level, you can hear it. Sometimes, it's clearer than others. Sometimes, it can barely be heard at all. But it's always there, whispering, "Come closer. Come closer. Come closer."
If you should gather up your courage and follow those whispers, they will lead you to a... bird. Upon seeing you, the bird will begin to speak again in that throaty whisper, this time detailing the destruction of your world, down to the tiniest of details, such as the look on your best friend's face as they died, or the last words of your most important person. It's almost hypnotic, so much so that you can't pull away --
And just like that, the bird squawks, and it's over. What was that about? Hopefully nobody else heard all of that.
BONUS [ xxxx ] You go to speak with the vet, whether to complain about your treatment at the hands of the others, the fact that you had to play dino dentistry or to let him know that there's an illegal peacock fighting ring below his practice, and before you know it there's talk of "just to be safe" and "you never know what someone with an attitude like that will do" -- which, what? All of a sudden Dr. T-Bone and his receptionist are shoving you into a cone of shame. How embarrassing! And no matter what you do, it just won't come off.
In fact, if nothing else, it seems magnetically attracted to the walls and anyone else wearing one. If one of those poor fools happen to be within a ten foot radius of you, prepare yourselves for a massive collision. What a pain, right? It seems like the cones won't come off until you (and your magnetic partner) get out of this confounded level. If only you could find the exit (and Fluffy too -- where'd he get off to?)
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bonus
Their cones are now stuck together like magnets. They can still move, of course, just that their movements are limited. The objective? They need to find a way out of the veterinarian's office together, while solving some puzzles. It seems easy enough; Yayoi is knowledgeable in machinery and the like, and she's also very smart. Akane on the other hand, is a quick thinker, and is on her way to have the same level of detective skills as Kogami. They can do it together.
Though, of course, when Akane bumps into Yayoi, things get slightly awkward.
"Ah, K- Kunizuka... h- hello," she sheepishly says, scratching her cheek as she laughs amiably.
no subject
Of the enforcers, Yayoi was one of the quieter ones and it was true that she was good with machines and working with the droids. However, that didn't seem to be much help in dealing with whatever type of simulation this was or the cone that they found themselves in now. Luckily they were about the same height so it wasn't like one of them was stuck being bent over or on their toes trying to walk.
"Hello. They're putting inspectors in these too?"
The idea of a latent criminal being punished for there being no idea of what they might do isn't exactly something new, but for Akane to be in one was a little odd. At least they were able to still able to turn around one another it seemed, she was at least able to turn and face the other woman.
"It might be easier to move if we position one behind the other and walk in step."
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"Y- Yes, it seems like it... is this how it feels like to be an Enforcer?"
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"More or less, you can still go where you want with these even if it might be difficult."
Unless they actually were confined to the building now, then yes it would be a lot like the way they were treated at times. Unfortunately for Akane, Yayoi still wore her usual expressionless look; though it had helped a little even if it didn't show on her face.
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"Let's try to get out of this, shall we?" she says nicely and as politely as possible. She doubts that she would hurt Kunizuka's feelings by giving commands; she's done it a lot of times already, anyway. It just feels like this whole situation is different.
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Yayoi still figured that one behind the other would be the more efficient method, but she would naturally leave the decision up to her superior. Besides she trusted Akane's judgement just as much as everyone else in the division did.
no subject
And with that, she takes the lead and starts walking forward.
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"It will be easier if we stick to the middle of the hallway. Getting too close to either wall will make it more difficult to move."
Unfortunately in any type of firefight that was the worst place to be, which meant that they would have to be alert. Reaching out with her sense Yayoi listened carefully to their surroundings for any other footsteps or signs that something might be approaching.
no subject
As they continue walking, there's the sound of light footsteps coming from behind - or in Kunizuka's case, her front. It's a peacock!
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"It's a bird. I suppose we should be glad that it's not the dinosaur from earlier."
Not that she didn't think it would show up, if it weren't for the fact she doubted that it would fit through this particular hall. As the bird narrowed, Yayoi's finger tightened around the trigger before the shot was released stunning the animal as it fell to the ground.
"I thought we were past that part."
no subject
"Good work, Kunizuka," she says. Affirmation isn't needed, but Akane feels the need to say it, anyway.
Nothing else disturbing them from their walk around the office seems to come, and eventually, they reach the exit. And once they do, the simulation is over, and they find themselves in a white room.
no subject
Putting the dominator back away just in case Akane might have needed it she kept an eye on the bird to ensure that it didn't get back up as they managed to navigate down the hall. Occasionally the two would miss a step but they managed to keep from stumbling all together somehow as until the managed to reach the end.
Once the simulation was finished, Yayoi straightened out her suit; tightening the pony tail that her hair was pulled into a little more as well. Eventually she looked around the room a bit.
"That was a bit more than your usual holo technology or game dive."
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"It really was different from the ones with Avatars..." she mumbles, but loud enough for Kunizuka to hear.
Now that the game is over, they have other pressing matters to deal with. Like the "end of the world", or so they said.
"Kunizuka, would you mind if we went somewhere private?"
This place seems like a shop, after all.
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"It was, it would be hard to hide your identity or imitate another using it."
She was curious as to whether what came before the simulation had also been apart of the demonstration, and apparently she wasn't alone in that thought. Setting down the console after looking at the name on it she nodded.
"Of course."
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She leads the way outside the building, taking in each and every part of the scenery. It looks like one of those game shops, where people would play with their Avatars all at the same time. And once they're out, Akane spots a bench by a vending machine, and decides to a take a seat, gesturing Kunizuka to take a seat next to her.
no subject
You could hear the sounds of a busy district outside as well, it was clear that they were in some kind of entertainment block. Taking in the room and checking out the other people around she takes a seat next to Akane.
"It's about what was shown before the simulation?"
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"I'd like to know your thoughts on it," she continues. Everything just seemed messed up. And she isn't showing it, but she's very, very, very incredulous and angry.
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Yayoi gently placed a hand on Akane's shoulder as if to comfort her a little. Even if the other didn't say anything Yayoi was the master of hiding and reading non-verbal cues.
"Even if what they said is true, it has not happened for either of us and so it's not over."
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"Right... Aliens aren't real," she says it as her first point. "I honestly don't see anything like that happening. So this may as well be a simulation, more than anything else.
"But," and this is when she faces Kunizuka. "How do we know that we're also real? Or are we also a simulation?"
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Plus what would be the point of creating a program that you would then regulate the way that the sybil system did. If they weren't real then there would be no crime and no need for law enforcement to begin with.
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"Ah, that's..." she blinks. No need for the MWPSB to employ Enforcers and Inspectors, huh? That's a really good point... She freezes where she is, just thinking of how to respond to Kunizuka while sounding intellectual. "Then..."
And she trails off to her own thoughts. So much for responding with grace and poise.