reparator: (Default)
C E R E A L I A ★ M O D S。 ([personal profile] reparator) wrote in [community profile] ioculus2016-09-01 12:00 am
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//TESTDRIVE16.EXE

//testdrive16.EXE



THIS seems nice and friendly. One minute you're doing whatever you do in your weird existence and the next, you're standing on the top of a tall, tall tower. There's no ground that you can really see; it drops off into darkness. All around you, there's code, breaking through the walls and your fingers and even the very air.

In fact, it looks like you're in the middle of a very shoddily designed Tron-knock-off. Which is exactly what this is, of course. Looks like CERES didn't finish this level before they chucked you into it.

That sounds like a very CERES thing to do.

Good luck, everyone.


system error

please attempt troubleshooting and diagnostics

//SCENARIOS.EXE


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.)


[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to Cerealia's sixteenth Test Drive Meme. For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing everyone's arrival experience and a FAQ that should explain everything in more detail. Please read them thoroughly before playing. Thank you!

oncealifetime: (my memories are lost)

[personal profile] oncealifetime 2016-09-10 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ichigo Hitofuri, only tachi made by Yoshimitsu Awataguchi, big brother of all the Toushirou, sword prince, natural-born leader and moral compass at your service!

And Ichigo is surprised that none of the other swords have thought of this before!

He's also still not quite convinced.]


But perhaps it's meant to happen. Reversing it would still be changing history and it might result in something even worse...
adornmental: (restless)

[personal profile] adornmental 2016-09-10 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[MORAL COMPASS DON'T GUIDE THEM ASTRAY. Kashuu looks a little conflicted too, since it does go against what they're trying to do when looked at from that angle... But of course it's much more complex!]

I think technically it's changing the future, since we're still from the past... [That's a semi-petulant mumble though, and less of a solid argument. His real solid argument is--]

Haruji thinks we need to fix things, too. If even the saniwa does, that means it's the right thing to do, isn't it?
oncealifetime: (that doesn't make sense...)

[personal profile] oncealifetime 2016-09-11 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
[He'll do his best to gracefully lead you all on the path that's just and true!]

… Kashuu-dono, changing the past greatly affects both the present and future. That's why we have to prevent our enemies from changing the past. We safeguard the present and future by preserving the past.

[Kashuu uses “master’s orders”. It's super effective!

Ichigo falls silent, then he examines Kashuu closely for a moment, trying to determine if what he says is true. It's the look he gives his brothers if he suspects them of lying or hiding something from him and it usually breaks them.]


Master really thinks we should do this?
adornmental: (you're a problem)

[personal profile] adornmental 2016-09-11 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kashuu is super susceptible to the Dad Voice™, the Mom Voice™ and the Older Sibling Look™... But it seems he really is telling the truth about this! Either that or he's upped in his pokerface game exponentially in the last year he's been gone from the citadel.]

Yep. Everyone here's working together to do that, you know? I don't know anyone who's not.
oncealifetime: (prepare to die)

[personal profile] oncealifetime 2016-09-12 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Ichigo silently and seriously considers all this for a moment. What everyone does is of no concern of his. The most important thing is what their master wants.]

If this is what Master wishes to do, we must trust in his judgement and do our best to help him attain his goal. That is our duty as swords.
Edited 2016-09-12 00:57 (UTC)
adornmental: (call in the crew)

[personal profile] adornmental 2016-09-12 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
I know, and I do. [Trust in his judgment, that is - perhaps a little too blindly sometimes. It's a good thing Haru is a good bean.]

Actually helping out here is kinda hard, but... well, everyone's doing their best.
oncealifetime: (Ichigo)

[personal profile] oncealifetime 2016-09-13 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Is already a standing member of the 'will blindly follow Master's orders club'.]

Hard? In what way, Kashuu-dono?
adornmental: (my blade isnt blunt but i sure am)

[personal profile] adornmental 2016-09-14 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[THIS IS A PROBLEM.]

These guys're a really well-guarded enemy. Like, even people who've been here for yeeears have only just started scratching the surface of their info.