PHASE I [ ?? ?? ] It's impossible to tell time in this place, and everything looks the same, but it won't be long before you're probably sick of the tower. Time to get down -- unless you have magical powers or can fly or something, it'll probably be pretty tough, too. You could try to climb down, but the walls look pretty slick, and -- oh god, your arm just went through the wall, what the hell.
Whatever you do, don't fall.
If you fall, you'll be stuck falling forever. And ever. And ever. Looks like they didn't put a failsafe into ViViD for falling, so now you're stuck. You might see some other people stuck in the same glitch, falling forever a la Alice in Wonderland, but honestly? You're stuck that way until your game resets itself.
PHASE II [ ???? ] Either way, you've made it to the ground (somehow). The ground looks like... a half-finished city, really. There are streets, and houses... but some of the houses are unfinished, just four walls and no roof, or only three walls, or nothing inside, and a lot of the NPCs are completely faceless, or only have one line they repeat over and over again.
It's honestly pretty unnerving, especially since there's no soundtrack at all. You can just traverse this creepy hellscape in complete and utter silence.
And then the cars start to fly away.
That's definitely normal (is there anything about this game that isn't faulty?).
PHASE III [ ???? ] It's not safe.
You could be anywhere in this level, wandering, searching -- and then suddenly, it's there. As it appears, a battle theme starts, but it's distorted, eerie and off-pitch. There's something very wrong about this enemy, that's for sure. It can't be defeated, either. Attacks can harm it, and it can be tossed aside or fought, but it just gets right back up, bloodied and beaten, as if unstopped by anything it's feeling.
Over and over and over again.
Just don't let it touch you.
Because it will start to absorb you, code bit by code bit, until there's nothing left of you. It's a cannibalistic distorted monster, wonderful.
PHASE IV [ ???? ] If it wasn't apparent already, physics is a little weird here. One second you're walking along, and the next there's basically no gravity; you could jump wherever you want, clearing buildings in a single bound like the superman you were always meant to be. One second you're your normal amount of strength, and the next you could life cars (if you so chose), for no apparent good reason.
Sometimes the world just tilts, making the ceiling the floor very suddenly, and sometimes the floor drops out from under you entirely.
Anything that could go wrong with the physics here does go wrong.
Just try not to get caught halfway through a now-solid floor. That sounds really, really uncomfortable.
BONUS [ ???? ] Of course, it wouldn't be glitch central without something weird happening to you. And it could be anything -- one second you're fine, and the next your arm is twice as long as it should be, and totally noodly. Suddenly you have a mermaid tail or animal ears, or your head has rotated upside down (how is that even happening?). You're suddenly able to walk through walls, or drag objects to you by pointing at them.
If this was a video game (it is), it would be the faultiest game to ever exist, that's for sure.
(Still, teleporting from one side of the world to the other by jumping on a single spot on a flowerbed is kind of entertaining, if nothing else.)
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He ducks as the NPC... halves... tumble, and gives Ichigo a grateful look.]
Quick like always, huh? Thanks, though. Those guys are a reeeal pain. [TO SAY THE LEAST. He glances back just to make sure the NPC isn't re-forming or anything weird, which is when he spots the glitch boss.]
—Oh, ew! That thing again!
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He smiles.] There's no need- [Then he catches sight of what Kashuu has seen and quickly scoops him into his arms princess-style to retreat! Nope! Not this time, Kashuu, maybe next time. Ichigo takes hold of Kashuu's hand and starts running again.] Time to retreat, Kashuu-dono! [Because 'retreat' sounds so much more dignified than 'run away'...]
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One day his prince will come, but for now, a Dependable Sword™ leading the way from danger is good enough. At least he can run in heels with zero problem...]
Right, right— Don't let that thing touch you either, no matter what! It's definitely one of those weird glitch-y monsters.
[Which he has way too much experience with. The creature behind them seems to be having a little difficulty keeping up with them, at least!]
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Anyway, this amnesiac prince is kind of, sort of, taken, maybe? But the princess he has forgotten appears to be remarrying soon?? Even though they're still technically married maybe? Who knew swords could have such K-drama-worthy love lives!
Ichigo will elegantly lead you away from danger, Kashuu! He glances over.]
Weird glitchy monsters? What happens if it touches us?
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As for the question:]
It messes you up! [VAGUE AND UNHELPFUL. He spares a glance over his shoulder, feeling relief to see the creature falling even farther behind, but keeps his pace up.
After another beat, he'll mercifully add a little more information, even though it's still pretty useless.]
I dunno what it does, but I saw someone totally lose a hand when it touched them. Just, poof!
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Ichigo can't help a little chuckle. The way you speak is so much like one of his younger brothers. He might need to adopt you if none of his brothers show up! But that last bit of information is actually quite a bit more useful!]
It ate their hand...?
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He also wouldn't mind being adopted, if only because Ichigo is such a responsible big brother and he could probably combat at least a little bit of the chaotic chaos that Shinsengumi swords tend to drag along with them...]
Uh... Kinda? It's more like it probably just corrupted their code or something.
[As if that would 1) make sense without an explanation and 2) not sound 100% more ominous than it actually is.]
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... corrupt their code...? What code?
[And he quickens his pace, pulling Kashuu along just in case.
Slow down, Kashuu! He doesn’t yet know anything about how this world works!]
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Oh, right— [RIGHT, right, the whole "gotta explain things from the ground up" caveat. He's happy Ichigo is back (more or less - the city isn't exactly safe now and never has been for spirits like them), but explaining things is always a headache.]
It's like... basically what we're made of here? It's hard to explain and I don't really get it since it's all about technology and stuff, but basically we've been recreated from code or something and that code can get messed up sometimes.
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Recreated from code...? [Is that some fancy way of saying reforged? He hopes it isn’t! He wouldn't be able to deal with having to go through that twice... Though surely he would remember... No, who is he kidding, he probably wouldn't, not with how fragmented his memory is now. But this code thing sounds a bit different...? More importantly!] Why have we been recreated from code?
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Um... [ABOUT THAT.] Maybe I should explain later. Like, when we're not trying to avoid getting eaten by a freaky video game boss.
[Because HOO BOY, the story of "our worlds were incinerated by contract killers and now the company that hired the hits has ditched us in their colony and the gods whose land we're on are probably Angry" is a long and complex one. Kashuu can't even explain it well...]
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Ah, yes, that's right. [Where to go though? That creature is most persistent! Then he spots... a flashing 'exit' sign? That's a curious sight. But it might also be a trap? Still he draws Kashuu's attention to it as a possible solution to their current predicament.] Kashuu-dono, look over there. Should we risk it?
[And Ichigo will need somewhere to sit down when he hears the news that he's probably lost everything... again... This time his entire large family. Also try not to use the word 'incinerated', Kashuu. That's a sensitive and quite triggery word to him!]
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In return he'll totally not mention the whole incineration thing. Fire trauma swords have a hard time of it, truly.]
—Yeah! Just let me go first, okay?
[See, there he goes, FLYING HEADFIRST INTO DANGER. He doesn't even wait for a go-ahead, he just takes the lead, relying on his speed to give him a slight edge... He's just been here far, far longer than poor Ichigo, so he figures that if anything horrific is waiting on the other side, it's probably better off falling on him considering he knows that ViViD deaths aren't really real.]
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Kashuu-dono!! Wait! Don't just run into it!!! [Because the proper way should be to cautiously approach and look through it, not dash recklessly in!]
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It's fine, I know what I'm doing—!
[When does he ever really know what he's doing, though...?!
But miraculously, he doesn't face a grisly end as soon as he barrels through the exit sign! Granted, it doesn't actually lead to an exit either, but "still alive and in one piece" is as good a victory as any. It's just spat him out into another part of the glitchy city, leaving him baffled and staring around.]
Uh...
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Ichigo runs in after him. His worry for the other’s safety overriding his concern for his own safety.
If Ichigo gets killed, it's all your fault, Kashuu!!]Kashuu-dono! What do you think you are doing?? You could have got killed!
[And now you've activated his lecturing big brother mode! Fortunately for Kashuu, Ichigo notices the baffled look on his face and falls silent for a moment as he quickly scans their surroundings for danger. Then he realizes that the ‘exit’ door they've just gone thru can be closed, so he walks over to do just that and locks it for good measure!]
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But look, they're both alive and well! Even if Kashuu is immediately put on the defense by sudden Lecture Mode, just out of reflex.]
Look, I know how to handle things here, okay? So you don't have to worry about me.
[Unless he does die, in which case that'll probably be an issue. BUT THEY'RE FINE, this is fine!! He steps over toward the exit after Ichigo shuts it again, nose wrinkling.]
What a pain, though... It looks like it's gonna take a little work to get outta this level.
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Still, you should be more careful, Kashuu-dono!
[Because what if you add up needing to be reforged? He does not wish that on anyone!
Ichigo looks around. This place looks no different from the place they were in before, but at least the glitch boss no longer seems to be after them?]
Well, we should continue looking for the real exit then.
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...I'll be more careful next time, okay?
[He says VERY PETULANTLY, like he's still miffed he's being scolded at all... But at least Ichigo's got some agreement out of him, for what little good it's worth in the end. His call to danger is just Too Strong sometimes.]
Aaanyway, the real exit'll probably be some sort of portal-looking thing. Most of the time it's a door, but sometimes they put it in weird places.
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Yes, you're definitely acting like a younger brother. The petulance reminds him a bit of Yagen really. Anyway, some agreement is good enough for him. Have a soft brotherly smile and affectionate hair ruffling, Kashuu!]
Good.
[Then, he realizes what he's doing a moment later and, oops! This isn't one of his brothers! Sudden embarrassment! He quickly withdraws his hand and bows in apology.] Ah! I'm so sorry, Kashuu-dono! That- I shouldn't have done that! I'm sorry! For a moment I thought-
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That said, he's a little surprised by the sudden hair ruffle! But fortunately(???) he's also pretty much always game for being spoiled by anyone who'll spare the time to do so, even if it riles his tsuntsun streak a little sometimes.]
—It's fine, you don't need to apologize. [A LITTLE HUFF. He smooths his hair back out again so it's presentable (for approximately no one, since this place is a desolate wasteland of broken NPCs), but doesn't actually seem irritated. He appreciates the concern and kindness! Even if he doesn't say "thank you" directly, there's a softness to his expression in turn.]
I'm just used to this place, is all. I've been here for a while so I'm good at handling the stuff these guys throw at us.
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Anyway, Ichi-nii is still feeling quite embarrassed but he's relieved that Kashuu did not take offence to his sudden hair-ruffling.]
Well, let's look for that portal then.
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Just tell me if you see any doors that stand out. Like... ones with a weird glow around 'em or different colors or something.
[SO SPECIFIC.]
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Ichigo nods and starts leading the way, and finally time for small talk.] How long exactly have you been here, Kashuu-dono?
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He'll keep an eye out as they walk, but since he is so used to this song and dance, he can keep up a conversation just fine simultaneously.]
Mmm... I think it's been over a year by now. Kousetsu and Souza were here before me, but only Kousetsu's still around. A lot of the others came and went... [Ichigo included, though his stay was particularly brief. Kashuu hazards a sideways glance.] There are only ten of us here now.
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