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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no subject
[It's not like she has seen one before now either.
And she kinda agrees that it's really just a bit much. But the whining wasn't helping either.]
I don't know what's going on here, either, but I don't think we can go back yet.
[She goes over to where the other girl is and tries to ignore the giant, bored supernatural being.]
Hey, do you remember how you got here?
no subject
[Felicia shook her head.]
No, not really. I was following my Master and the rest of the army to go somewhere else, and I ended up here instead.
no subject
Makoto takes a good look at the girl and finally notices the maid outfit.]
You look even less dressed for the desert than I am. [Because, her school uniform isn't exactly desert-ready.]
no subject
...but, what about you? You look like you'll get hurt in that outfit.
[Translation-- "Kettle, this is Pot. You're black."
Though the reality was that Felicia was simply oblivious to how her frills and heels could potentially cause a problem for her in this environment.]
no subject
[Is she cosplaying? Seriously?]
And what's wrong with my school uniform? It's fine for what I was doing before I ended up here.
[Besides, she's run from bad guys plenty of times before in this outfit.]
I mean, my shoes are way better suited to running than those pumps.
no subject
It'll be fine! I've climbed mountains in these shoes before!
[...She really did, and it was clear that she was undeterred by any of the problems here from the brilliance of her smile.]
I'm just saying, it doesn't look like you've got any weapons on you in case we run into some trouble. Even I've got my knives.
...Don't worry. I may not look it, but I can protect you until we find other people here.
no subject
Why would you climb a mountain in those shoes?
[Why would you climb a mountain unless it was extreme training?]
Don't worry about me. I can handle myself. I've taken martial arts for a long time.
[And that's not even counting all her, you know, senshi powers.]
no subject
Well, I didn't have a lot of time to go get another pair.
[Not when there was a war going on around all of them.]
And I'll worry because you're the first person I've seen in a while! It'd be bad to get separated out here!
no subject
[It's not like she wanted to be kidnapped while wearing her uniform. It would've been much more convenient if she'd been in her regular clothes, but at least her shoes are more practical than this maid girl's.]
I've seen a few other people, but we got separated somehow. It's probably all these mirages in the heat.
But if you're that worried, we can stick together until we're somewhere safer.
[Not that she's sure that somewhere safer exists, but she's willing to take a bet that it might.]
I'm Makoto Kino by the way.
no subject
And I'm Felicia, [She said, grinning brightly.] It's nice meeting someone as sensible as you, Makoto-- especially since some people get a little crazy in this kinda heat.
no subject
Well, it was a close thing in some parts, especially with the heat making me see things. [She tries to ignore the way her cheeks flush at that memory. Nope. Not thinking about it.]
So, I guess we have a choice. Or I do, I suppose. I can wish for us to find a way out from the genie over there, which I think isn't going to go in our favor. Or, we can go look for a door or something. Someone told you that this is a game, right?
no subject