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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But before he can actually start rectifying these problems by explaining things (badly) or insisting that they aren't mindlessly meandering when they really are, she SLIPS ON GARBAGE. And while Kashuu is a great believer in karma and all, he's not a fan of taking one for the karma team.
So with a resounding:] Oh, no no no no no—!! [That just gets more rapid-fire and nervous with each passing microsecond, he reflexively reaches out and catches her around the waist to keep her from going splat in yesterday's milkshake.
Look, he'll risk losing his fingers if it means keeping his clothes safe.]
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and Lili is stiffening immediately because YOU'RE A STRANGER WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING HER but also she can recognize when she'd rather deal with some personal space issues than landing them both in garbage so she's going to take that as an invitation to cling onto the cloth of his clothes -- at least she's meticulous enough to keep her hands as clean as possible???
and then she's just going to be stiff as a board even as she's pretty much relying on him to keep them both from falling (nice job proving your balance, kashuu)
in true accordance with her promise of saying whatever comes to mind:]
......... I'm trying to decide whether or not to slap you.
[full disclosure]
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Also, his immediate response without a single breath of hesitation is:]
I'll drop you! I'll definitely drop you!
[Even though he's a moron and wouldn't possibly be able to drop her while they are A) sandwiched in a garbage bag like a nasty old burrito and B) while Lili is smartly hanging on...]
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You wouldn't dare....!!
[nevedmind that legitimately all of this is Lili's fault]
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I would! Are you kidding me?! I totally would! No way am I gonna put up with that just 'cause you're all weird about touching strangers!
[His clothes, think of his clothes!]
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You should be more weird about touching strangers! What are you, some kind of pervert?! Being so casual with people is suspicious, you know!
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That said:] No way! Strangers just touch me all the time- [Kashuu needs to work on his phrasing?!] -so it's way weirder to meet someone who's like, "oh no! My personal space!!"
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"Strangers touch me all the time."
"Strangers touch me all the time."
"Strangers touch me all the time."
Lili immediately unfurls her fingers from where they were clutching onto Kashuu.
He is rather pretty isn't he -- which would be perfect for some kind of floozy to get what they want and while Lili isn't judging that type of lifestyle (she might be judging a little bit) she only has one word for that:]
Gross.
[what is she imagining right now though]
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[Said in a tone like I'LL FIGHT YOU, PUNK. Don't dishonor his sword name!!
He may or may not have forgotten that he hasn't actually mentioned he is a sword, yet...]
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What part of it isn't gross?! Have you no self-respect as a person to just allow others to lay their hands on you so casually? How on earth were you raised?!
[Is this also a part of poor people culture???? how little does she know about the world]
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He's also starting to get all huffy and indignant, which delays his realization for a second--]
It's not gross at all! What good's a sword that's never touched, huh?! That'd be super sad.
[okay but is he making things better or worse, though.]
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he's making it worse. much worse. that's an innuendo waiting to happen and Lili can only get huffy and indignant back--]
What are you talking about?! Who said anything about swords?!
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I said something about swords! That's what I am, you know!
[He's being the most literal right now but he's also leaving out like every actually important piece of information?!]
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What are you talking about -- you're a person!
[???? As far as she's concerned there's no way around this one. He's definitely still a warm-bodied person who can talk and express himself.... not some cold piece of metal with the intention to harm someone?!]
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No I'm not. I'm a sword spirit! A tsukumogami.
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Does that.... make you different from a person? I've never met such a loud sword before.
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And like I said, I'm not a person! I'm a sword! [And then, because he figures it'd probably be a good idea to clear up some other things while they're on the topic:]
My master summoned me and made this body for me, but my real body is still a sword, so of course people are gonna touch me. They have to if they're gonna wield me, right?
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.... I suppose that makes more sense. [sort of, but she blinks and tilts her head a bit] I understand less in regards to you allowing strangers to wield you, though.
[Ayura has her twin swords that she sort of keeps on her at all times... so--]
Shouldn't you only allow your master to wield you? Or are you some sort of... sword for hire?
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Anyway, since he's not at risk of tipping over anymore, he'll ease his hands away from Lili. He'd be crossing his arms over his chest right about now if they weren't stuck in garbagetown, but since he can't, he just settles for looking vaguely standoffish...]
None of us are swords for hire, geez! [Somehow he takes more offense to this than to her vague allusions that he's a cheap date...]
But Haruji can't wield us directly yet, so it's fine if someone else does for a little while. [...] I mean, no one else has ever actually wielded me for long, but I wouldn't mind if they did. ...They have to be able to take really good care of me, though! It's no good otherwise. I'm not gonna be used by any old person who thinks they know how to swing a sword.
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BUT. She relaxes a little bit once his hands are no longer on her person -- or rather, she breathes a really obvious sigh of relief even as she carefully brings a hand up to rest over her own chest. She really does have a bit of personal space issues, but --
Then he's! Yelling at her?! And it's.... confusing. Who knew that swords were so opinionated.]
.... I don't think I'll ever meet another sword as loud as you. [BRINGING THAT BACK FOR A SECOND before she grumbles.] You seem rather high-maintenance. Maybe someone with enough skill and patience just hasn't shown up yet.
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There are plenty of swords that are way loud. [Look, he won't even deny that he's loud this time! Mostly because he somehow thinks he's absolved from loudness just because some of his comrades are even louder...
That said:]
A-ny-way! You're not wrong about that. [Ah.] I'm a difficult sword! And it's not easy to wield me either, but my performance is top-notch when I'm in good hands. [TOSSING HIS HAIR good thing he doesn't have enough of it to smack Lili in the face or anything. Probably.]
And I'm fine with Haruji for now, even if he can't wield me. I wouldn't mind it if someone else could use me for a little bit, but Haruji's still my master.
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That said, she's watching him.... and manages a small 'hmph' in return. Well. She can appreciate the confidence at least, even though she's not sure where it's coming from.]
I didn't think that it would be so complicated... why can't he wield you? Is he weak? Or are you just too temperamental?
[Can't cushion the blow, can you.]
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THIS PUNK, THOUGH. Kashuu may get huffy about insults directed at him, but he puffs up like a dang fugu fish in response to the first remark.]
He's strong! Just not like, physically strong. [Kashuu is not helping Haru's case but boy does he try.] He's just a kid, y'know? And he got pulled into this stuff super suddenly, but he's started training with us at the dojo and he's already a lot better! It'll just take some time.
[Granted, it's not like he'll ever be a prodigy in the same way Okita was, but Kashuu's also fine with that... His dumb biased heart.]
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It was just a question. Shut up. [Okay so maybe she's a little embarrassed to have someone vehemently defend the person she was accidentally mocking. It's not like she meant insult by it, god!!]
..... I get what you're saying. [It's not unlike how Yona's been trying to get stronger and Lili wouldn't even dream of being derisive of that.] I hope he'll get stronger, for both your sakes.
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...Thanks. [It's a little mumbled, but genuine nonetheless.] I know he will. That's the kind of human he is. [And then his posture straightens again and he nods forward!]
You can meet him yourself, even! We just have to get out, so let's keep going, okay?
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