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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...This, however, she did not see coming. One minute there's the tell-tale screaming of someone having been caught, and she turns to see if she can help, the next oh god so much hair. Ene let's out a shriek of her own as she gets tangled up in it, what is this nonsense!? She can't hack this!]
Get off get off get off!
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HEY! [ Suffice it to say she's whirling around without any regard to how close this robot is to her head. She collides with it, winces, and then growls. ] Look! Don't you dare touch my hair, got it? I can handle monsters like you, you know! This? Is nothing for me! Nothing! My hair is off limits and–
[ tug tug tug ]
[ Rapunzel looks down and registers the flash of blue beneath her. Just then the resistance at her back slackens and she falls towards the heap marked "GARBAGE" with a scream, praying against odds that whatever - whomever? - she caught in her hair is not being pulled along with her, because that would blow. ]
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Except Rapunzel is falling down and she gets dragged back to the ground. Why this.]
Kyaaa!
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Naturally instead of asking if Ene is all right, her first question is ] Hey, why didn't you let go? That could've killed you!
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Ene is lying face first in the trash all bound up in hair.
And she is blaming you, Rapunzel!
She puffs up her cheeks angrily, leaping back into the air, still with some of Rapunzel's ridiculous locks wrapped around her waist as she slams her hands on her hips.]
Oh! Oh! Why didn't I just think to let go? What an easy answer! It's not like somebody tied me up or anything! Who even has hair this long!?
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Not that it stops her from looking affronted. ]
Uh. I do? I didn't tie you up on purpose, I'm - trying to figure out what is going on he–
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Is... your hair blue? Your hair is - it's the colour of the sky!
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The colour of the sky, huh? How poetic, are you trying to butter me up after all that?
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[ She clears her throat: ahum. ] No, I was not trying to "butter you up." [ yes the air-quotes are included here ] I'm... just saying! Even if this is completely your fault for not letting go, you... have beautiful hair. Like nothing I've ever seen, even.
But you are definitely still the aggressor in this situation!
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Ah, my fault for not letting go, huh?
[Taking the hair that was wrapped around her and throwing it in Rapunzel's face]
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Oh no she didn't. ]
... Heh. Listen. I'm just - trying to stay alive here.
[ Maybe if she ignores it, it'll have never happened. ]
It's not exactly the smartest move in the world to trust the first person who... just... literally grabs onto me and won't let go. I have no idea what we're doing here! I definitely remember something called a - a "power point presentation", I think? But....
[ UNBELIEVABLE ]
Did you just hit me in the face?! Who are you?
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Siiigh newbies are so difficult when you bully them. Circling around Rapunzel, stopping to float in front of her]
I'm the super pretty cyber girl Ene, who you grabbed with your hair while I was just minding my own business. What, are you some kind of Medusa?
Hmm, I guess if you apologise for knocking me into the trash I'll explain what's going on, so calm down.
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Medusa... No, I'm Rapunzel. A human being? I'm sorry. Really, I am– Though... is "super pretty cyber" part of your name? Cyber's a strange name. It feels like... ice or cold leather. [ UGH ]
2/2
Rapunzel heaves a magnificent sigh and runs both hands through her now-filthy hair. ]
Anyway. I apologise for knocking you into the trash.
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[She's talking about the 'Rapunzel' part, not the apology part, that's not commentary she means to make. It's more disbelief, but hey, they've got Star Wars characters and now Merlin is here, why not Rapunzel too? Why not. She really should have guessed from the hair.]
Wellll, I suppose I'll accept your apology Rapunzel. Just call me Ene, it's easier. And 'cyber' isn't exactly a name, but that might be an odd concept to explain to you...
Speaking of explaining! Let's start with what's going on, welcome to ViViD. What did you hear at the presentation?
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[ Although when it comes to info-dumping she is all serious business. ]
Nothing good. I... didn't get a firm grasp on the specifics of what people were saying – there was a lot to take in – but. The overall picture? Nobody is leaving and somebody needs... [ She wrinkles her nose, unprepared for the surreal nature of this. ] My help? It's... crazy, basically. I know.
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[Bitter, who's bitter?]
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[ There are few words in the – English?? language that make a person feel their life may be in danger more than "war". ]
What do you mean "do anything"? Is this... slavery? Were we kidnapped? Oh my gosh, we - we have to get away from here! I'm not even supposed to be outside. I mean - Ene. You don't sound like you like them very much yourself.
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I'm not their biggest fan, no. And they've got eyes everywhere. [So no open conspiracy talk!!]
But don't worry! Everyone is strong, so we can handle whatever gets thrown at us. A cute girl like you will make plenty of friends to help her, no problem~ It's not all doom and gloom and trash here.
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You think I'm cute. Right. The trash, though? Definitely could be worse, I agree.
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[This joke, she says so much more seriously than the actual serious part of the conversation they're having.]
Trash could be worse, but it's still boring and gross, so what do you say we go find somewhere nicer?
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As such, there will be ample grins in Miss Blue's direction as Rapunzel works on the hair rope that'll help get them out of Trash Heap Hell. ] But - actually what I meant was that I'm kind of a mess right now and you seem extremely cute by comparison.
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And as Rapunzel continues to speak, Ene realises that ohhhh she has self esteem issues. Right. Let's work on that.]
It's true, it's true, I'm definitely the cutest. But a huge part of being cute is confidence! Even covered in trash, you can't lose that adorable spark, trust me. The cute was inside you all along.
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[ beat ]
Not that I don't believe you, cute as you are. There isn't much other choice right now, anyway. I'm just... wondering. I guess.
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[What an annoyingly serious topic, sure Rapunzel should know if she didn't argue the point with them during her introduction, but getting erased brings up some unpleasant memories for Ene.]
As for ViViD, it stands for "Vibrant Virtual DASH". It's a game system, it creates a world for you to play in. Everything in here, everything you're seeing and feeling, it's not real. This is all fake.
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