ioculus | //TESTDRIVE12.EXE

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!test drive

//TESTDRIVE12.EXE

//testdrive12.EXE

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!

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ 600 ] 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?

[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to CEREALIA's twelfth Test Drive Meme. For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing everyone's arrival experience and a FAQ that should explain everything in more detail. Please read them thoroughly before playing. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Phase I

[Ew. Ew, ew, ew. After the shock that came from being dropped straight into a pile of trash (and the lovely introduction from the talking pile of trash?) Rise’s just about had it. This isn’t where she wanted to end up and it looks like the only way out is to wade through the wasteland and find a way out of here.

Gagging softly and gingerly stomping her way out of the trash, she flings a stray banana peel out of her hair as she begins to make her way down the sidewalks, sidestepping more piles of trash. She’s not so much afraid of the bugs or the rats, but she’s growing more annoyed by the minute. However, she takes one more step and the trash heap starts to give way. Acting more on instinct, she suddenly jumps and grabs onto the nearest person…

…and sends both of them falling down into the sewer. Whoops.]

I’m so sorry. [A pause.] Hey. The smell’s not as bad down here, is it?

[Let’s just hope the two of you can come up with a plan to get out of here.]

Phase IV

[Luckily she’s managed to make her way out of the sewers and avoided the trash drones. Not-so-luckily, she still doesn’t have a clue how to log out of the game. And maybe she would have avoided the dumpster, too, if it hadn’t been for the fact that she spotted a pair of familiar, pink cat-eye glasses sticking out of what looks like a paper cup still half-full of cola. How they ended up there, she’s unsure, but she knows she has to rescue them before anybody else can grab them.

It’s with a huge amount of regret that she climbs and she jumps right into the dumpster, slipping on a banana peel (and hey, wasn’t that the one that was in her hair earlier?) and landing flat on her butt in a pile of half-eaten pizza and old newspapers with a loud, upset wail. This was not going according to plan. She crawls closer to the paper cup, eagerly dumping it out before realizing…there’s nothing in it. There’s nothing in it and now there’s sticky cola all over her hand and the cup itself seems to have stuck to her, too. She waves her hand around to try and pull the thing off, growing more frustrated by the minute.]

Ooh…c’mon! Let go! [And in all of her shaking of her hand, she winds up losing balance and slipping to fall. Again. Please help her out of here…]

Bonus

[Her head was spinning as she continued to walk, hoping to come across somebody she could get some answers from. There were spots dancing in her vision, and for a brief moment she thinks of trying to summon Kanzeon to enact Healing Wave but she doesn’t get that far before she finds herself falling into the next level.

When she comes to, the first thing she notices is the fact that she’s stuck. Belatedly then she realizes she’s stuck with another person and she wiggles to try and break free before frowning at the realization it’s too strong. Maybe she should just make the best of it, and she turns toward her trash-mate.]

Sooo…how should we take this off? [There has to be a way to do it, right? Right.]

Edited 2016-01-01 00:57 (UTC)

[ That voice.... there's no way. It couldn't be, could it?

This is one of the more miserable levels ViViD has come up with a while, and Yu has been sorely regretting his choice to log in for this one. At least, until he hears that voice cry out from a nearby dumpster. He's picking up into a jog before he even realizes it, skidding to a stop and grabbing onto the edge with both hands as he peers inside.

Is he... holding onto a broken golf club? Pay that no mind. He stares at Rise in open shock, and then starts to smile. ]

I thought I recognized your voice.

[ He'll hold out a hand to her, to help her climb out. ]

[It sure could. Miserable doesn't even begin to describe the circumstances. She's trying to figure out how to stand up when the soda cup won't detach itself from her hand, but she doesn't have too long to dwell on that before she hears the familiar voice. She tilts her head back, eyes lighting up as she scrambles up suddenly.]

Senpai! [Ugh. That squish sure was her foot stomping on a half-eaten cheeseburger. She's matching his smile and she's trying to find a clear path to approach the edge of the dumpster when she looks at the object in his hand.] That's not the weapon I'm used to seeing you with. [Because she knows, Yu. She knows. Whatever, she's taking his hand now and trying to figure out how to haul herself out with one hand occupied.]

Well, I'm sort of stuck with it for the moment. [ Rise's not the only one to have a dumpster diving adventure. He's got a firm grip on her hand, but no matter how he looks at it, this is going to be a tough one to get out of. Yu considers it for a moment. ]

Actually, it might be best if I climb in there too. It'd be easier to help boost you out that way.

You really think so? [She considers this for a moment before deciding that he's right. It'd be much easier for him to get out once she was on the outside since he's taller than she is. With that, she lets go of his hand and moves to start pushing some trash out of the way with her foot, scooting some taller pieces of cardboard out of the way, too.]

Okay, ready when you are! You should be clear to land.

[ ah... the sewers. this isn't tadashi's first time in it, but he certainly hoped that that was the last, too. of course, the actual sewers is far dirtier than the one in the actual colony, which isn't a surprise. guess they want to keep things realistic. and because of that, tadashi's not having the time of his life.

you'd think getting paid to play video games was hella fun. nooo. ]

Never been here, but I'm pretty sure it'll get bad the longer we stay.

[ he takes off his hat because, ugh, now it's wet and just shoves it in his back pocket. he's still in a pretty bad mood now, but at the same time, he has to make sure the other person with him is alright. ]

You doing okay?

[ and why did you jump on him... ]

[Sorry, Tadashi. But you can't really be mad at cute little ol' her, can you? ...okay, she'd be a little put-off too if somebody else dragged her into the sewer. Still, she's picking another piece of garbage off of her clothing and stepping around a puddle of water in the sewer (or...well, she hopes it's water) before she answers.]

Think so. [Oooh...bad mood. She can tell that he's less than thrilled.] I really am sorry. I didn't think both of us would fall down here. Does this always happen in these games?

[ he's not in such a bad mood that he'd keep it up for long, so when rise responds, he fixes his demeanor quickly to a much more positive one. ]

Definitely not. [ he looks from left to right to see which direction is better to take to get out of here. there's also going up, but there doesn't seem to be a ladder around (thanks, ceres!). so their choice now is to find another exit - preferably one that leads to a place that doesn't stink. ] Come on.

[ he nods towards a random direction, but he doesn't walk ahead of rise. he waits for her. ]

Or if this happens often, I'm glad they made me sit out of it.

[That's better. She even follows his lead to look in each direction before she begins to walk in the direction Tadashi suggested, heading just past him knowing that he'll follow. Most people do. She won't walk too fast though so they can move side by side and continue to talk as they search for an exit.]

Sooo that means you've been here a while, huh? What else happens here?

Rise Kujikawa | Persona 4

IV

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phase i

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Bonus!

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Phase IV

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iv

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Bonus (I'm so sorry.)

oh god no never, this is amazing

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phase iv

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