Out with the old, in with the new as they say, and this ViViD level is no different. Ever progressive and ever mindful, CERES has decided in their war against the evil carbon footprint to give citizens both new and old a lesson in healthy living. To show this, they've created a level all about... recycling, or as close to recycling as a company like CERES can get. (Which isn't very close at all, honestly.)
This, of course, means that when you're dumped in to today's ViViD level, the first thing that will hit you is the stench. It's vile and rancid and the type of stench that makes a person want to give up smelling altogether, and when you finally open your eyes, you'll see why. There's trash everywhere. The buildings are decrepit and crumbling, the cars are broken down and rusted, and overall, it looks like the apocalypse rolled right on through. Which is weird because this is definitely not a post-apocalyptic game. Yet wandering around this pathetic excuse for a ViViD level will just reveal more of the same -- it's a total wasteland.
And if you look up, you will see a billboard.
RECYCLING AND YOU: HOW NOT TO BE A DIRTY WASTE OF SPACE
You'll only have a moment to be offended by the sign before, amongst the piles of trash and rubble, there's another, smaller pile of trash and rubble. The only difference is this one can talk.
 Welcome to The Dumpster Dive, my cool cats and sweet kittens. A brand new ViViD level, created and innovated to you by CERES's very creative and innovative technicians. We're all here to help you learn to Reuse, Reduce and Recycle, givin' you kids some tools to help you lessen your impact on the planet. After all, we're all here together on this great planet of Tellus. Wouldn't want to ruin it, right? Ha ha!
Happy Trash Day to Cerealians one and all!
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] So, you're here.
You're probably sitting in a pile of trash because, well, everywhere is a pile of trash. You're in a landscape of trashiness and there's no escape. Your only option is to give in to the sweet, sweet pull of the garbage. The buildings are crumbling, the sidewalks are a mess of bottles (but no bottle caps), rubble, and empty chip bags, and you're stuck in this... trash. This garbage. This hellhole.
Wasn't recycling supposed to be clean?
It probably takes a rat skittering over your foot to get you going but like any good game, the protagonist needs to move. If you're going to find out anything in this trash heap, you'll need to explore a bit. See if you can find someone else! Or something else. Maybe someone more experienced with ViViD can help you figure out how to log out. Even if logging out doesn't seem to be working right now. You should be careful too because one wrong step might cause the pile of trash you're standing on give way and send you into the sewers below.
Which means there are rats, there are bugs, the ground is unsteady and... yep. It's starting to rain.
Good luck.
PHASE II [ 800 ] And then come the... trash drones.
They zero in on any living thing in this ViViD level -- if you’re moving, if you’re breathing, if you have some sort of a pulse, they’ll be there. And they’ll grab you and take you away. No matter how many you shoot down, more and more and more will come, never stopping until you're swarmed completely by them. They have to get you! You're garbage, you're garbage, you're garbage! You're garbage!
And so, you're snatched up.
Don’t worry, though. After a short flight (wave hello to your fellow drone-napped neighbor!), you'll arrive at three huge trash chutes with three equally huge signs above them. GARBAGE, RECYCLING, and COMPOST hang above the chutes and the drones pause just momentarily before announcing one of these options in a robotic voice. You've been sorted and without any preamble, the drone will dump you in whichever one it decides.
Hopefully you don’t end up in the compost. Gross.
Of course, once you down there, there's plenty to poke around in (or not much if you're still not into the whole trash thing). It's piles and piles and piles of trash as far as the eye can see! Again! If you're especially clever, you may be able to use the trash to build a way out of the chute. The very, very long chute. Maybe there's someone around that can help you? And better do so quick, who knows what CERES has deemed to be "recycling" this time.
PHASE III [ 1125 ] CERES's standards continue to shine on again, because after some time, those chutes will finally start working. So if you've been separated from a friend through any of this ordeal, don't worry about it. You're all gonna end up in the same place anyway.
Which is the incinerator, of course! (Wait, that’s not how recycling works.)
The ground beneath you shifts, enough to knock over whatever flimsy excuse for an escape plan you have, and suddenly all of the trash, compost or recycling will be dumped down into an underground furnace -- along with everyone stuck there, of course. Bit by bit, everything moves ever closer towards that red hot furnace and it’s clear that everything's going to be dumped straight into the fire and burned. Say your farewells. Make nice with your neighbor. Finalize your will because --
Oh. It stopped.
Looks like it jammed.
It doesn't remain jammed for long because CERES is, if anything, highly efficient. So it starts up again. But then stops again. And then starts again. And then stops again. This may be a glitch in the level, actually.
So, you're still getting ever closer to fiery death, but... slowly. Very slowly. In fact, you could probably walk away from said fiery death faster than you're going towards it. It's like they can't even program a near death experience right!
PHASE IV [ 1125 ] Maybe you avoided the incinerator. Maybe you ended up in a different part of the level altogether. Maybe you just got lost. Either way, now you’re stuck with the age-old hobby of enthusiasts and the exceptionally desperate alike.
Dumpster diving.
And CERES wouldn't send you down there without an incentive, you know. If you look, it seems like there might be something valuable, something incredibly important and just for you. A shiny item that you’ve always wanted right from home and it’s right there in your grasp, something precious that you could never get in Cerealia. How it came to be there, nestled between an empty carton of eggs and a half-eaten cheeseburger, no one knows, but you'll be filled with the inescapable, all-consuming urge to go get it. Just jump right into that dumpster and get it.
The more you resist the urge, the more it'll hurt. (As in, physically hurt actually. The feeling will be comparable to your fingernails slowly being plucked out.)
This is ViViD though and the moment you hit the trash, the spell breaks. You'll see that your most precious thing, whatever it was, was never actually there. Instead, you seem to have actually grabbed something else and whatever it is, you can't let go of it. Be it an empty bottle of bacon soda or a bicycle tire with a giant hole in it, it's attached to your hand now and no matter what you do, you can't get it off.
Hopefully whatever you grabbed wasn't too big because it looks like you're not getting rid of it. Not till you beat the level.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] The odd thing about being stuck in a trash wasteland is that you can go for ages without seeing another person. Ages. Of course, CERES doesn't like that very much since ViViD games should be co-operative! Player with player! Player against player! Players who shouldn't be playing at all. That's the type of play CERES supports.
Which means the longer you go without seeing another person, the more you might feel an itch. It gets under your skin, making you feel dizzier and dizzier, and shorter and shorter of breath until -- you pass out. Vision going dark, breathing cutting out, and down you go into the trash and whatever this ViViD level has planned next.
It won't take long. You'll wake up feeling slightly confined and there will be a moving body next to you. It seems as if you've finally, finally found someone -- and they're really, really close. In fact, maybe a little too close? When you open your eyes, you'll see that the two of you may be bound together in a way that might be familiar to some.
But instead of a shirt, it's just a garbage bag. A really, really strong garbage bag that can't be broken out of no matter how strong you happen to be. No laser eyes, no super powers, nothing will separate you from this person other than, well, getting along.
There really is only one question you have to ask yourself now. Just one.
What the hell does this have to do with recycling?
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kaneki ken || tokyo ghoul
[ Why is this happening?
Kaneki opens his eyes and all he can see is trash. Sure, some would ask what this has to do with recycling, but Kaneki's questions border the "why this, why these things" rather than thinking about recycling. The smell reminds him of human food, and he doesn't want to think about it too much, because it also crosses his mind that he might vomit just from that.
Why is life so hard, people ask? He would like to know, too.
And so he gets up, trying to see anything or anyone beyond the endless piles of trash and even that rat causes him to flinch. How pathehtic, Ken. Don't be scared over such a small mammal that can't harm you in any way.he is about to take a step, when suddenly the plastic bag under his feet causes him to just... fall flat on his face. Against the garbage.
He quickly rises his head, coughing because why and suddenly there is rain too.
kaneki would like to leave and end this now, please. ]
[ PHASE IV ]
[ This whole trip has been awful. Kaneki is soaking wet from the rain, he has been kidnapped by drones who tried to send him to the Garbage chute (they actually managed it) and he had to climb piles of trash, make trash leaders to try gettin to the top again. But he never reached the top and instead they tried to send him to the incenerator??? This is the worst of adventures, who decided on this?
he is pretty sure he is lost, too. In truth, kaneki isn't even sure where he is supposed to go. But he is dumpster-diving indeed and suddenly he spots something....? Is that... his mask? He doesn't particularly need it, but something tells him that he sure does and he has to go get it or he shall face the consequences, which aren't good. Pain never us.
His hand is quick to reach for it, but once he realizes it's nothing but an old leather jacket (it's not even real leather) he tries to throw it to the side... only to find out he can't.
??????
Again he shakes his hand, but it's glue, oh god, what did he do to deserve this? Whoever is passing by or listening in, might notice a guy trying to shake off the thorn jacket in his hand, while he groans with frustration ]
[ BONUS ]
[ When will it end?! Kaneki passed out, he remembers that much, but waking up besides a total stranger, being this close to them?! He gasps, something that sounds like a Mickey Mouse squeak, and quickly he tries to push himself away but he can't ]
W-what- I'm sorry, I don't-!
[ careful there, he might make you fall because he is definitively losing his balance ]
phase I.
Admittedly, she is quite unaware of the bits of giant wad of pink gum that had become lodged in her hair.
Seeing movement from a nearby middens pile, Lucina is moving as - as fast as reasonably possible. It's difficult to gain footing on this uneven, precarious terrain. More than once, she has to reach down and hold some garbage to steady herself. Quickly enough, she's at Kaneki's side, half-kneeling. One eye on him, one eye on their surroundings. ]
Are you alright, sir?
[ She holds out a hand for him to take. Get up, man. ]
no subject
Pink.
There is pink gum on your hair miss, you-
He has to eventually let her know, certainly, but there are other priorities right now. Like trying to get the garbage from his face, when he fell down, furiously rubbing his cheeks against his sleeve (a clean part of it, at least) and after take Lucina's hand so he can get up. ]
Thank you- [ he really is thankful because kaneki was starting to feel pretty pitiful few moments ago.
And once he is up, he can't help but to feel embarrassed that was her first impression him: some guy in the middle of trash, face and clothes dirty from falling down, and probably looking a bit pathetic. ]
Uhm, i'm sorry, there is- [ he points to her hair ] gum. you have gum in your hair.
no subject
Besides... gum!
Gingerly, she feels around where he's pointing. Oh. Oh. Now, it's Lucina's turn to look embarrassed! ]
- ah, thank you. I... hadn't realised.
[ She doesn't even know what gum is, but it's stuck in her hair like cement now. ]
phase iv!!
Let's instead focus on the fact that when she notices Kaneki, she stops. Stares at him. Looks a little too shocked to see him, for whatever reason.]
—Kaneki? You're...
[Ah. Wait. And now she's noticing the fact that he's trying to shake a jacket off his hand, and failing.]
... What the hell are you doing?
no subject
Kaneki was still fighting to get rid of the jacket, considering using his strength right about now. And he does, but only a sleeve comes loose and the rest remains, for some unholy reason.
But there is a familiar voice, and his eyes widen as he sees who it is. Not exactly mortified, but definitively surprised ] Touka...
[ it's not a mirage, it really IS her ] Touka-chan...!!
[ and as he gives several steps towards her, just so glad to see a familiar face since he woke up in the middle of the garbage who knows how many hours ago, suddenly he slips and falls down. Again.
it's like the fifteenth time why is he even surprised
c'mon, it's hard to walk among trash like that, it's not as if he is mentally prepared to do it, eitherand there is trash in his mouth oh my god
Kaneki coughs, using the jacket/hand to cover his mouth as he tries not to vomit right in front of Touka. Wow, what a great encounter, this is great, his life is great ]
no subject
Which is to say, why is this her co-worker?? Why is this happening??? Any relief she might have felt at seeing him is overridden by the fact that, wow. This is not the reunion she imagined. Or wanted. Ever.
And then she brings her hand up to her face to massage her temples — and accidentally smacks herself in the eye with the empty bottle of water. This is great. What a great encounter.]
Get on your feet or vomit already. [Totally pretending she didn't just hit herself in the face. It never happened!!] You're being unsightly, idiot.
no subject
kaneki need just a moment. Okay, he is okay; he isn't going to vomit. But he is going to look up back at her and though he is currently suffering, it's a genuine smile.
nevermind that she smacked herself and Kaneki totally saw that. ]
It's not my fault, this place is insane. [ he says this and his smile is still there, this is how much he was freaking out since the last thing he remembers, some ghouls and Ayato-kun entered Anteiku and decided to make a punching bag out of everyone - specially Kaneki.
And he'd talk about that, yes, it's a priority but -]
You are stuck too. [ her hand is stuck. ]
no subject
... Yeah. It is. [This place, she means. "Insane" is putting is lightly and, wow. She is so not surprised by CERES's choice in decor. It was about time they displayed their true self: endless piles of garbage.] You get used to it.
[Or maybe he won't have to? Who the heck knows what's going on here???
Either way, that frown is suddenly going to turn into a glare. That bottle is a figment of his imagination, dang it.]
Haa... I'm not "stuck". [She's totally stuck.] You're the one with that shitty old jacket glued to your hand.
no subject
He'd love to tell her that it's not his fault and the jacket won't come off for some reason, but instead he just offers a small embarrassed smile, followed by a sigh. Guess who still avoids defending himself during an argument. Yup. That's him alright. ]
Touka-chan- [ moving on about the trash stuck to their hands ]
What is- why is there trash all around? [ it sounds like a good way to introduce the subject of "what the hell is this" ]
no subject
So. She makes a face, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand and then glancing at the infinite piles of garbage around them. Her only consolation in all of this is the fact that none of this is actually real..........]
Because those bastards at CERES seem to think this will teach us a lesson about recycling, or — whatever the hell this is meant to be. [Not that she actually believes that, so after a pause, she adds:] ... I think they just like watching us swim in trash, though. They must find it funny.