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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iii!
and then someone runs into him.
now haru's stronger than he looks, but that's not saying much. he's not even five feet tall and built roughly like a wisp, after all. so.. maybe unsurprisingly, he goes down like a sack of clumsy potatoes, yelping as he does so. he has just enough time to think that this day really can't get any worse before there's a hand on his wrist trying to either yank him upright or yank his arm right out of the socket. he gasps, feet sliding on the trash as he tries to get them under himself and rise. when he finally manages it, he looks surprisingly out-of-sorts and kind of annoyed for a tiny kid with no apparent capability to form expressions. ]
I-- What--? [ he's tugged along a few paces, stumbling, before he actually digs his heels in to try to stop them. ] Wait. It's not-- It's not moving that fast? [ a quick glance over his shoulder follows, though, just to make sure he hasn't missed anything. .. nope. it's still creeping along and then stopping.
and then he glances up and really gets a good look at this tall, lanky stranger. his first response is alarm, perhaps understandably, before pale green eyes soften. ] Are you okay? [ maybe someone else would find the ears as startling as, well, everything else, but haru's a kid who's lived with spirits and monsters all his life. a rabbit-person is more normal to him than humans are. ]
no subject
-- it's -- ! [ 'it's not moving that fast.' ] -- it's not ... ?
[ he echoes those words in a breathless whisper, gaze flickering frantically from haru's face, to the distant glow of the incinerator, to the ground, then back to haru. his chest is still moving with each shallow breath, but in the next moment or two things seem to click in his head and he slowly releases haru's wrist. ]
It's not ... moving fast. [ his hand drops bonelessly to his side, limp as he processes his ebbing panic and the realization that he's not, in fact, rapidly headed towards a very painful death. ] You're ... right. It's not.
[ one last rasping exhale before he swallows nervously, then manages to meet haru's gaze. he's still clearly scared, the fine fur of his ears standing on end, but at least he doesn't look utterly overwhelmed. even if the rest of his face is pale, a shamed blush tinges his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as he worriedly shrinks back a half-step. ]
Ah, I'm -- terribly sorry! I wasn't thinking straight, I shouldn't have run into you like that ...
no subject
It's okay. [ he makes his voice as soothing as he can manage, pale eyes warming faintly. ] You were scared. I would've probably been scared, too. [ if he'd been new, if he didn't know this is vivid, if he'd had a rabbit's nature to contend with. because.. that's what this stranger is, right? he might look mostly human, but he's got rabbit traits, too.
he hesitates, then offers a quick bow, polite even under the circumstances. ] I'm Haru. Kure Haru. .. Let's see if we can find our way out of here, okay? [ for those that know haru, they'd know he has that particular look in his eyes that says he's about to adopt someone else into his big, strange family. ]
no subject
Ah ... um. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kure. [ introductions, he can do. the familiarity of exchanging names helps ground him a bit, and he awkwardly bows back. ] I'm Lop Underbrush. Once again, I'm very sorry for any injury I might have caused you.
[ deep inhale, deep exhale, hard swallow. he's steadily working himself calm, fighting back the fluctuating waves of panic, and lop takes the chance to look haru over. he seems ... normal. not the person in charge of this place, at least. then -- ] May I ask if ... you know where this is? You seem very calm about -- well. All of this.