The desert. It's hot. It's sandy. It's filled with creepy monsters and things. But mostly it's hot and sandy and there's a whole lot of nothing. You appear and wonder "why am I here? What is there to do here? Is that a cow skull? Do cows live out here in this desert? How can cows live in the desert? Maybe it's a horse?" These are all very complicated questions with equally complicated answers but there's no one to provide them no matter where you look. Instead, you're given the option of walking. Forwards, backwards, to your right, to your left, any direction is yours to take. Try not to die from dehydration or something, that would be a sad ViViD death and the cow-horse skull might start laughing at you. I mean, you'll just start over from the beginning anyway but still.
Welcome to ViViD's new line of Vacation Spotlights: Desert Edition.
Moo-Neigh.
 One wish, that's all you get.
Make it snappy, I don't have all day.
Actually, I have eternity but I just don't want to spend it with you.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] So.
There's sand.
In fact, there's so much sand that there's probably already sand in your shoes and your shorts and all sorts of other places that aren't fun to have sand in. It stretches for miles and miles, in large dunes and deep dips, and above it all there are three suns that beat down upon everyone's backs. Why three? Because why not, that's why. Enjoy the sunshine and try not to get sunburnt.
You've got a long ways to travel before you find anything but sand, but thankfully you're not alone -- there are a bunch of unfortunate stragglers who are out with you, so it's time to make some friends as you travel. You've got pleeeeenty of time. No water though. Or food. Or... anything but human interaction.
Thankfully, it's only a matter of time before you stumble across your hot new ride. Thankfully, it seats two, so you and your new friend can enjoy a cramped road trip. You, this relative stranger, and the great... sandy... unknown! Good luck!
PHASE II [ 645 ] If you prefer to not take your ride, you're going to wish that you did soon enough. Every desert level has to have desert monsters, after all. You're walking through the sand, trying to make it to somewhere that isn't sand, and then suddenly, the sand worms appear.
Or.
Well.
They try.
Unfortunately, they're little more than 5 or 6 inches tall apiece, and they'll mostly try to eat your shoes and socks. How scary.
Alternatively, if you have actually taken that sweet ride of yours on an adventure through the desert, you're going to hit something at one point. It makes a rather pitiful scream and there's a small bump underneath your tire before your car comes to a stop. You just ran over a sand worm.
Anyone who is intrepid enough to kill a sand worm though will find one interesting thing about them. They're filled with water, and you are very, very thirsty. Ew.
PHASE III [ 1000 ] It sure is hot.
And unless you've devoured one of those poor, sad, screaming sand worms, there's no water to be found. It feels as though you've been wandering in circles for ages, so perhaps it's really no surprise that the heat starts to get to you. First come the headaches, and the thirst. Then the dizziness and vertigo.
And finally, the mirages.
What you see is a waterfall cascading into a crystal pool, beautiful and pristine and painfully cool. It's just begging for you to come enjoy it, and -- wait, there's one more thing. Standing in front of that pool is either someone you care about immensely or someone you hate immensely.
And either way, the things they say or do will be the same. First they reach for you, beckoning, and they they start to detail all of the things they'd like to do to you. NSFW, SFW, loving or cruel or so many things in between, all that's honestly consistent is that it's pretty shocking.
Oh, and awkwardly, it seems as though anyone with you can see and hear that hallucination too. That's embarrassing.
PHASE IV [ 1215 ] Eventually, though, you'll find your destination. Or... at least, it seems like it should be the destination. The tiny temple is at least a change from the endless sand, and in the middle of it, there's a lamp. That sure looks familiar.
If you rub the lamp, of course, you'll release the genie, and he'll glance at you, and inspect his fingernails as though you're hardly worth his time, and offer you one, single wish.
As soon as you make it, well... You'll get the opposite of what you wish for with a sudden apology note in your hand. The card will read "Sorry, this level isn't entirely finished yet - Mosley" before immediately disappearing. Your wish will only apply in ViViD, of course, but hopefully you didn't wish for anything too crazy, or you might have made the level Much Harder for everyone around you.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] One second you're walking along the desert sand, enjoying the eternally same view, and the next there's a sudden pinch on your ankle, and a scorpion monster scuttles away quickly. Whoops, looks like you've been stung.
But it's not poison, it would seem. Aside from feeling a little odd and having a mild fever, you're fine.
More importantly, you've now found yourself in possession of some... new powers (a la Spider-man), and they're...
Well, they're useless.
Maybe you can summon water now, but... only sulfur water. Perhaps you can now make pretty light shows and that's about all. You can see the future but only the next three seconds. The possibilities are endless, but what's for certain is that they're all completely and utterly useless to you.
What the fuck, ViViD.
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why
Yu is out here in the desert looking for someone - someone very important to him - but of course the desert is also full of other people, current colonists and potential colonists alike, and they're all going to be relying on each other to get out of this mess. The person he sees rolling around in a screeching pile of alarm clocks is no one he recognizes, but there's no way he can leave someone to that ignominious a fate.
So he goes ahead and summons ... another clock, apparently. Look, it's fine, hold on.
Some kind of command passes between the two of them, and Norn casts some kind of spell. A massive roar of wind, unnatural and powerful, tears through the area, though it leaves Dave and Yu unaffected. It will, however, send all of the clocks flying far, far away. Well, almost all of the clocks. Any of the ones still really tangled up in Dave's cape are sort of a lost cause since, you know, they're tangled up. But the Magarudyne spell gets most of them.
With that done, and the noise level significantly reduced, Yu will approach with his Persona still hovering behind him and offer Dave a hand up. ]
Are you alright?
no subject
he rolls a little in the sand without the weight of those chiming shits weighing him down, face up and staring at the sky like he's never seen it before, sunglasses askew on his face. his head turns toward Yu as he approaches, taking the sight in: dude, wind blowing clock monster, et cetera. allows this a brief second to pass through his reality check system.
but before he takes the hand and gets up he rolls over again, shaking his cape loose as he goes, and punches every last one of the shrieking clocks that tumble out of it right in its bells. ]
I am now.
[ somewhat. he takes the hand and gets to his feet, positively dripping with sand. it's even stuck to his peely sunburned face. ]
Sorta. I guess. Thanks.
no subject
But he's holding up under it without showing any real signs of fatigue. Once Dave is on his feet he props a hand on his hip instead. ]
It's no problem. What was that, anyway? I saw you summon something.
[ They'd looked almost like gears from a distance, only ... not. ]
no subject
The timetables? They're for time shenanigans mostly. I'm kinda surprised they showed up seeing as I haven't used 'em in actual years, and also went god tier and all—
[ he seems to have a moment of clarity right then, the second Sburb jargon leaves his mouth. he turns to look up at Yu again with a look akin to trepidation, over to his Persona, and then back again. this isn't a game thing. this isn't a game person. that much he has it in him to be reasonably certain of (and he'll have plenty of time to appreciate the fine strain of irony about that when he learns the truth later, that's for sure).
in any case, he is definitely not in Kansas anymore, Toto. ]
Uh. I think the bigger question is, what did you summon?
no subject
Dave's moment of clarity has him straightening slightly under the scrutiny, though. His expression stays mild, and all he does is watch Dave in return. In the end, he just smiles a little, faintly, the look friendly. ]
This is my Persona, Norn.
[ Though now that the topic has come up, Yu turns to them and gestures, and the Persona is banished, dissolving into shards of blue light. He's getting tired enough out here; spending energy on maintaining the presence of a Persona isn't wise. ]
A Persona is like a piece of myself. I use my Personas to fight in battle, though of course, I have this, too.
[ He holds up his sword, the two-handed katana he wields. He's long since realized it was a huge mistake to bring this thing into the desert with him, since there haven't been any enemies to fight, but you never really know, with ViViD. ]
no subject
sword, though? sword!!! Dave holds up his own, more on the royal welsh short sword of legend side than katana, but you know, tomato/tomato. ]
That's a language I can speak. You haven't, uh—been finding much of a need to stick that sucker in anything around here, have you? 'Cause honestly that'd just be the cherry on this shit frosting cake of a day I'm having, in the sense that cutting some things that need cutting might actually be a pick-me-up at this point.