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!
|
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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phase II
[ what.... what??? Look, he only turned around because he heard the words Kondou-san and Hijikata-san! He wouldn't have been too surprised if he had seen some totally unfamiliar dude in a Shinsengumi haori running around calling those names, but this one's just a... girl... Wearing. The haori. Which is something Souji knows his Hijikata would never allow, even Chizuru hadn't worn one. This is too confusing. And when things are confusing, it makes Souji incredibly hostile. ]
Who the hell are you? [ He's not wearing his Shinsengumi haori (he doesn't wear it outside in public anymore), but his swords are at his waist as always. He probably just looks like some angry samurai. ]
no subject
I'm really not looking to fight a human today, okay? Our reputation is bad enough... [She laughs a little, but it sounds forced. Still she bows politely.]
I'm Okita of the Shinsengumi! Keeping Kyoto's streets safe from demons and stuff, you know? Sound familiar...?
no subject
Seriously? What a joke. [ There are way too many worlds out there, apparently. The more he's reminded of that fact, the less he's sure he likes it. ]
I haven't seen the people you're looking for. Hijikata-san's around, but he's probably the wrong one.
[ he doesn't mention Kondou. He doesn't want to. There doesn't seem to be much of a point, anyway. ]
i dont have a shocked enough expression for this gdi
[She doesn't stomp her foot, but she looks like she was about to; she's the youngest, she knows that, but that doesn't mean she gets to act it. Especially not now! This was serious!!
But her expression falls to confusion at his next comment. "He's probably the wrong one"? He?]
I'm... Wait, who's the Hijikata-san you're talking about? I didn't think Hiji-- Eh, [That might get confusing, time to switch gears a little] Toshie-san had any siblings? Unless...
[Wait. Wait a second. A male hijikata? Kaoru's eyes go huge.] Her dad is here?! Toshizou Hijikata-san!?
1/2 THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR
[ w h a t ]
2/3
[ WHAT ]
...Dad?
[ . . . . . . ]
3/3
[ he fucking knew it ]
[ hijikata-san would ]
No way -- [ Souji just. throws his head back and starts laughing. He laughs so hard that he has to bend forward or he'll fall forward and land face-first in the trash. He laughs as if Kaoru said the funniest joke on purpose and isn't actually super shocked like he was a moment ago. ]
Toushizou Hijikata-san's daughter? You mean, that Hijikata-san -- ? The demon vice-commander who said married men with children aren't allowed into the Shinsengumi -- [ He knows it's probably a different Hijikata-san, but this is too rich. ] Did he get married? No way, he's not the type! I know, it's because he made a mistake, right? He couldn't hold his liquor...!
[ LAUGHING LIKE A MADMAN ALL DAY LONG ]
no subject
[This guy's weird, she decides, staring at him as he laughs himself silly. She feels like maybe she should try to defend Hijikata's honor-- he is the dad of one of her teammates and best friend, but... She's also not Toshie, so she's not sure if it'd actually bother the older woman or not.
But hey, if Toshizou is here then maybe...] H-hey! What about Kondou-san? Eh, that is... Kondou Yuko-san's father! Is Kondou Isami-san here too!? [And her own, but she'll get to that in a minute bc Kondou's kind of a little more important being, you know, the actual leader of the original Shinsengumi and all.]
no subject
He's not here. [ His tone is clipped and cool. Kaoru asked for all this mood whip-lash, right? (and then later he meets wasu!kondou and Regrets) ]
no subject
[THAT WAS. ABRUPT... Kaoru looks a little uncomfortable and shifts her weight from one foot to the other, considering a moment. She wants to ask outright but--] What's your name, anyhow? [BECAUSE SHE'S... SHE'S GOT A FUNNY FEELING...]
no subject
Okita Souji. Of the Shinsengumi. [ wryly, because of course she'd know the second part. They're both Okitas, after all. ]
no subject
Ah.
Her eyes go wide and she opens and closes her mouth a few times, wanting to deny it. There's no way, because... Because he's dead. He's dead and mom left and she was totally alone and then this guy comes in and says he's it?!
She doesn't know whether to laugh or cry or get angry or what.]
You're-- [Kaoru finally manages to make a noise, but can't seem to finish her sentence as she rapidly blinks back tears before they can actually start forming.]
...Okita...Souji.... My father...? [Error Error Blue Screen of Death Imminent]
1/2
no subject
I'm not your father. [ he's not, he can't be. Okita Souji is a lot of things, a killer and a murderer and a sad excuse for a demon, but those are all things that he's chosen for himself, that he could see himself become. He gave up marriage, love, and having children the moment he entered the Shinsengumi, the moment he became a sword, the moment he became a monster. ]
[ And even so, the deepest most-buried part of him flashes back to the image of a single girl ]
[ but that's not possible either, so he crushes it brutally back into his mind. ]
I'm not. [ His face is perfectly cold, but not expressionless. He just looks angry, but also more than a little shaken. He looks at Kaoru and tells himself 'no'. It isn't possible. ] I'm not your Okita Souji, because there's no way I'd have a child.
no subject
...I know. I know that. [She bows her head and her fingers curl into her hakama tightly.] Okita Souji--My father-- he...died when I was really small. And... And then mom abandoned me right after, so I... I was all alone for a long time. So, it's fine that you're not him. Because...
Even if it's not really him, you're still Okita Souji and I... got to say 'hi' one last time, to at least one version. That's enough. That's...fine. I can be satisfied with that. I can't ask for anything more.
[Kaoru lifts her head abruptly and smiles oh-so brightly despite the fact she's totally crying.] Thank you. I don't expect anything from you.
kalyn why do you do this to me
[ Maybe if he was in a clearer state of mind, then he'd realize that the girl talking in front of him is nothing like how he was when he was young, angry and resentful and ugly-hearted. But the panic at being caught in a situation that blindsided him and having to watch Kaoru cry... There are too many feelings here that Souji doesn't know what to do with or want to deal with. ]
[ He looks at her. He should say 'alright'. He should really walk away. Kaoru just made it clear that it wasn't his problem any longer. ]
[ . . . ] Hey, how did he die? Did he waste away in bed and die pathetically? Or did he go off to battle without caring about what he was leaving behind?
i'm full of regret tbh. i regret.
He-- He was really sick. [Her brow furrows, a little frustrated.] He wasn't pathetic at all! He always made time for me... Some of my best memories were of playing with him.
...But he got too sick to really move. Mom did her best, but even she couldn't do anything. [Who knew being a demon meant you couldn't really do shit in the face of incurable diseases?? Lame.] ...He... He cared about us very much. I know that much!
GOOD
But he died. [ He cuts in right at the end of Kaoru's explanation, casually. As if they were discussing something super mundane and not the sensitive subject of Kaoru's parents. ] That's all he could do in the end, huh? Sounds pretty pathetic to me.
[ It's really convenient knowing that there are other alternate Soujis out there. That way, Souji can pretend to insult one while actually criticizing himself and no one would know the real reason behind his shitty behavior. ]