PHASE I [ 9 00 ] You open your eyes, and there is a chicken pecking at your face. It's not a very happy chicken, either, but if you can manage to fend it off, then it will be clear that you are in a village. It is... medieval-esque, in that video game sort of way; the details don’t seem too clear, but if you look to your left, there’s a cow! And to your right, a well! Ignore the clear evidence of modern technology in the buildings such as lights, gas, and 21st century plumbing; CERES is dedicated to authenticity.
Looks like the new ViViD level has finally been released, and everyone is invited to play, whether they want to or not.
The game (because this time, that's surely what it is) will start simple. Everyone begins in the same place and every NPC villager will say the same thing: to get out of here, you have to go through the caves. They’ll shove a stick at you (“take this, it’s dangerous to go alone”) and off you go, into the caves… !
Which are full of tiny rats and more chickens. They will try to fight you, but it’s really not very effective when they’re perfectly small and average (especially when everyone still has their typical powers and abilities -- CERES didn't mess with those at all this time). The caves are winding and circular and maze-like, and to make matters even worse, the only ones around are the other poor saps stuck in this situation.
But if you kill enough of the rats, you’ll get to hear the satisfying level up jingle. Congratulations! You are now level 2. It's probably satisfying just for a minute or so until you finally find your way out of those maze like caves and -- You're back in the village again. Great.
PHASE II [ 930 ] You’re carrying a bag. No matter what you do, you can’t take it off, either; it’s stuck with you through thick and thin. But it is awfully heavy. Maybe you should actually open it and see what’s inside?
The problem is, it’s going to take a while.
The bag has clearly tapped into its true hammerspace nature; there are items for days in there, and they’re all very, very strange. You might end up covered in hats of all sorts, buried in logs as you pull out one after another, or look like you have an odd fetish for pickaxes.
Maybe there’s 1/3rd of an evil turnip, half a piece of pie and an egg.
Geez, what in the world are you supposed to do with all of that?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] Eventually, you make it out of the caves the right way despite the harassment of the rats and chickens and the fact you'll keep perpetually getting lost. Hooray! You come out into a large, peaceful, scenic meadow, with a small river bubbling off to one side, and a house.
You'll immediately notice that there’s a bridge to cross the river, but there’s someone standing in the way of that bridge. When you approach to go past him, no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to. Asking him why he won't move will only get one thing in response -- “Bring me a fish. Cooked.”
Then he’ll shove a fishing rod at you and expect you to get to it. You can’t attack him, you can’t get past him -- looks like the only thing to do is to catch and cook that fish. Time to sit back, relax, and get to work. Or maybe you’ll team up with someone else and be the person in the house making sure that the fish gets cooked properly. For some reason, if you leave it too long it turns right into a pile of ashes.
Weirdly though, no matter how good you are at cooking or fishing usually, it’s as if you’re right back at the metaphorical level one. Any sort of seasoning or effort to cook it faster falls flat and in the end you'll only be able to place the fish in the pan and set it on the stove, whole. This may take awhile.
And if you try to cross the river itself, well... no, really, don’t try to cross the river.
At least if you get eaten, you’ll just respawn back in the village, but do have fun traveling through the caves again!
PHASE IV [ 1430 ] You made it through the caves. You made it across the river (with a slightly burnt fish). You’ve made it to the wide open world, and you can finally adventure to your heart’s content. You take a step forward on the road and --
A message pops up, bright red and in your face.
[ Restricted Area: Members Only ]
No matter what you do, you can’t go past that point. In fact, if you’re not careful and you’re going too fast, you might run face-first into it like it’s an invisible wall (which it is).
Then, just like that, you're back in the village. Again. Only this time, there's a nice, blinking message -- Pay a small subscription fee to access member's content. Oh well. No big deal, you can just start again.
Except then you see a cool sword and when you try to pick it up, you'll get that same message, and end up transported back to the village yet again. And again, with some shiny new armor. And again, with that attention-grabbing NPC over there. Looks like you're caught in an infinite loop here but no matter how much you inspect the pop up, there's no... actual way to pay the subscription fee (and why would you want to?). But at least you have company, because you can't be the only person who thought that sword was cool.
(It was really, really cool.)
BONUS [ xxxx ] What’s that on the ground in front of you? It looks like… some bunny ears? Or maybe it’s a chicken head, or a pumpkin head. Either way, the moment you touch it, you have a strong need to put it on your head -- and once it’s on, it’s not coming off.
To make matters worse, each hat has an effect associated with it; the bunny ears will, in fact, randomly turn you into a cute fluffy bunny for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before you pop right back to yourself, whereas the pumpkin hat will, in a complete reversal, turn you into Cinderella for a bit -- complete with beautiful ball gown and the ability to talk to all of those cute fluffy bunnies.
Also the rats will love you, so maybe you should go back to the caves again.
Meanwhile, the chicken hat won't transform you into any odd creature, but it will inspire in the people wearing them a very real, persistent desire to build a nest. This will involve picking up twigs, trash, shiny things and whatever else catches your eye to try to build a nest out of it. You'll also try to pick up whatever food you find on the ground to eat, have the weirdest desire to lay an egg, and basically have all sorts of odd chicken-like instincts inflicted upon you.
At least you look festive!
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awwwwww
Mikleo can respect that. He stands up and starts to lead the older seraph to what looks like the stables attached to the inn. It's sheltered and away from the crowd of people, but not totally indoors.]
Lailah's was the weirdest. She found a pumpkin and it put her in a dress you'd see on noble women the moment she put it on her head.
[Dezel may well have gotten off easy with the rabbit thing.]
:|||
He's also having to try really, really hard not to nibble on the hay that's littering the floor of the stables.
It's an agonizing few minutes before the effects wear off and Dezel suddenly poofs back into being the right species. He's kind of crouching, though, which is a little awkward. The wind seraph instantly straightens and pulls his hat down further over his eyes. ]
I swear, if you tell anyone about that--
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I won't tell a soul. Promise.
[He's keeping Edna's little bunny escapade a secret. Keeping Dezel's won't be too hard. Besides, if the same thing had happened to Mikleo, then he hopes that they'd do the same for him.
The water seraph sighs. This has been the weirdest and longest day he's ever had.]
Before we talk, I need to know. What's the last thing you remember?
[Mikleo is noticeably tense. He's not sure what he'll do or say if Dezel is from the past, and the wind seraph is going to notice sooner or later if he acts differently around him than before.]
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[ It comes out sharper than he intends it to, and he instantly reels in his tone a little.
He realizes there's probably something he should say about all that. Apologize or something, but he's still got a lot of stuff to reconcile on his own, and he really doesn't feel like talking about it right now. Especially not with Mikleo. ]
So if you're worrying about having to tiptoe around, don't.
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...Well, this isn't the afterlife. Whether that's good or bad news, I'm still not sure.
[He crosses his arms, leaning against one of the wooden support columns.]
And, apparently, the place we're in right now isn't exactly real. It's like a more sophisticated illusion. Not that it explains why everyone can see us.
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Yeah. He's got some things to think about.
But he turns his attention to puzzling out the nature of this place instead, because that's the more pressing issue. ]
Could be that we're as much a part of the illusion as everything else.
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[That's...not something Mikleo likes to think about, but ignoring and underestimating it will only be their downfall.]
I've heard from one person that the people who brought us here aren't even human. I haven't been able to confirm that yet, but she warned against trusting them.
[He's not exactly sure who to trust, though, other than the people he knows from their neck of the woods. Even then, Mikleo can't rule out that it's possible he'll put his trust in the wrong person or on the wrong side in general, no matter how careful he is.]
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[Among other questions. He's got his priorities, and number one is getting out of ViVID.]
She also said that they implanted some sort of technology in our eyes, most likely to track us, and that trying to remove them will be fatal.
[When the hell that happened, Mikleo doesn't know and it doesn't sit well with him. It makes him wonder what else these people might have done without their awareness.]
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Actually, no. We should get out of here first. There’s too many questions, and I doubt the answers are in some illusion.
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[Mostly because he thought along the exact same lines as Dezel.]
But you're right. Our best bet is to find an exit before we go poking around for more information. The villagers I spoke to said that the caves near here are how you leave, but they're like a labyrinth. Plus, I don't think they meant that it's an actual exit from this illusion.
[That just seems way too easy, and Mikleo doesn't think that the people behind all of this like it when things are easy for people.]
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[ He frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. ] Could always try it. See where it takes us.
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It's certainly better than standing around doing nothing. Besides, there shouldn't be anything in there a couple of seraphim can't handle.
[Not to mention Dezel is the best person to have with him to navigate the caves.]
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By which we mean he just nods in agreement, motioning for Mikleo to lead the way. ]
You haven’t seen any of the others, have you?
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I've run into Edna, Lailah, and Rose. I heard from someone else that Sorey is here, and has been here for quite a while.
[There's some slight tension in his voice at that last bit. Mikleo knows full well that Sorey can handle himself just fine, but the time difference is unsettling. A shame he doesn't know that Alisha is also here yet.]
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Do you know where? Did they make it out of the illusion?
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I got separated from Rose in the caves, so she might still be here. Edna and Lailah I met out here. I don't know if they moved on or not. I have no idea if Sorey is here or in the colony.
[And if Zaveid is even here, Mikleo hasn't seen him yet. Catching Dezel up will have to wait, though.]
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[ The fact that Rose might be somewhere in those caves makes getting there all the more urgent. He couldn't care less about being brought up to speed right now. ]