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//TESTDRIVE.EXE
//TESTDRIVE.EXE
 The lights flicker overhead, music blaring from the speakers as you step inside, every sound drowned out except for that hypnotic tune. The walls are painted in an array of hypnotic colors, saturated to the point where your attention doesn't know where to land, and all kinds of screens hang from each corner, showing flashing images of ads, gadget after gadget appearing in a second to show you the best of what Ceres has to offer. Dancing bodies flank each side of the large ballroom, bodies with eyes that look hollow and their faces too symmetrical. They'll occasionally glance at you and smile, maybe even engage and offer to take you to one of the private rooms in the back. However, their words are interrupted when the lights suddenly turn brighter and focus on the center where a raised platform sits. A man appears in the center, one hand raised to silence the music while the other holds a microphone. He pauses to reach out for a glass, snatching it from one of the wait staff passing by before raising it to the crowd. "We've finally obtained our first victory here on Cerealia. The colony is ours completely and will be fully functional from this day forward. Please enjoy all the luxurious amenities we have put together, and join me in journeying towards a new and better future. Together, we will expand our territory here and reach even further horizons. And by all means, don't be shy with the staff. They're also here for your entertainment."He gestures around the room, smiling before taking a sip of his champagne. Applause echoes from the crowd while Julius steps off the stage, handing the mic to one of the staff before pausing for pictures and interviews from reporters. You stand in the crowd as the lights dim once more, lost in a sea of people and wondering where to go next. |
//SCENARIOS.EXE
PHASE I [ 18 PHASE II [ ?? PHASE III [ 21 PHASE IV [ 02 BONUS [ why[ The party will be long, so take your time enjoying each scenario... and dreading it. At the end of it all, things will be calmed down and you're free to enjoy the night as you please. Remember to keep things PG (the FAQ below elaborates!), and absolutely no forcing any R-rated things with anyone below 15-16 (so be sure to ask their age, right?) or the droids will have a little fun chasing you around! Do enjoy the pretty views of the gorgeous digital city though. Which seems strangely quiet, but at this late hour, why not, right? ] |
01 ]
The screens lining the walls inside even extend into the bathrooms and the back rooms, playing commercial after commercial, all CERES themed, as you mingle with the other guests, but occasionally, the image transforms into a flash of something else. It appears for a split-second. There's the face of a woman, lips parted in a soundless cry. She looks to be in pain, fingers pressed to the screen. It's so quick that most don't register it, barely even notice it's there unless they focus. The party continues without incident, otherwise. Because it's a pretty damn good party, isn't it? There's plenty of food, strong drinks - hey, no one under seventeen is allowed to drink - and many decorative people. Just ignore that feeling of being watched! You're just so good looking, after all.
//RUN.EXE
Welcome to CEREALIA's first test drive! Please forgive our appearance as we are going through the final stages game completion. While most pages are under development and/or hidden from the public eye, please don't feel discouraged, since knowing everything doesn't always make the experience. Your characters will know as little as you. For your convenience, we have compiled a mini-FAQ - please read it thoroughly before playing. Thank you! FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS HOW DID MY CHARACTER GET HERE? You may have been just been doing their day-to-day activities - be it swimming or fighting demons - but the next moment, a crack and blinding light - now you're here, in your best attire, celebrating. The memories of your at-home activities fade away like a fleeting dream, and it's replaced with the feeling of happiness. ( You haven't forgotten your past, just that anything you were doing seems far too distant to be important. ) Must be something in the air. You can't remember clearly fighting for CERES, and whatever this Julius Vincere is telling you might be complete bullshit for all you know, but something influences you to play along anyway - if you think about it long enough, perhaps you had fought for CERES after all...?WHO/WHAT IS CERES? WHAT IS CEREALIA? You mean... you don't remember? After all the help you gave it?WHAT FORMAT CAN WE USE FOR THIS TESTDRIVE? Action (brackets/prose), video/voice, and texting are all available via your CEREVICE at this moment. Most functions are currently undergoing a system update, but as long as it is still connected to the Auralia Network, it will be available for communicative uses.WHAT IS ViVID? An amazing VR game! The demo version of ViViD will be here to play, aren't you excited? It's played with headsets that immediately allow you to experience full-body simulation, without having to move out of your seat! You can enjoy the demo world, design your own, play alone, play with a team, but remember, the boss must be beaten! Please check the phase ii thread for details and interactions!SO... PHASE III? Sexy things can happen, you're getting hot and heavy on the dance floor, and there are rooms in the back that can be decorated to your mood, after all. REMEMBER, the age of consent is 15-16, please use your own discretion and don't upset people. For the test drive, any situation that goes above PG (beyond kissing/grinding/light making out... We're lenient) must go into threads in your own journals. Any creeper behavior or unwanted advances will get an IC boot into the Frozen Locker with "Let it Go" on repeat.POWER LIMITATIONS? Actually, no, the characters don't have any of their abilities locked or otherwise suppressed. More info will be i the official FAQ, but so long as you don't destroy the entire game ( and we trust you can use your powers responsibly— as does CERES! ), limitations are nonexistent.OKAY, WHAT ABOUT PREVIOUS GAME MEMORIES? It's completely acceptable to bring a character that has been in a previous game to Cerealia!THE NAME LOOKS FAMILIAR. . . Yes, a loosely related setting concept with a place called CEREALIA was pitched for an ExitVoid phase before the moderators decided to close the game for good. A few of us got together with the original pitchers of the idea since we thought it really awesome and with a lot of potential and decided to try our own thing with it!ARE THE GAMES RELATED? Nope. Not at all, it's been rehashed from the ground up and built to stand on its own as an original place and game.We'll keep coming back to this, so don't worry. |
phase iii
Sorry, sorry!
[ He directs his gaze towards her, out of habit, and thinks to himself, I'm out of practice with this. His other hand grasps the head of a cane, nearly useless in a place this crowded. The sounds are overwhelming: a wall of conversation and artificial music, and then there's that other noise that feels like an itching sensation in the back of his mind. He cannot navigate properly. ]
I was just... ah... looking for somewhere quieter.
no subject
Well that's a pretty hard place to find when you're in the middle of a crowd, don't you think? [ Fortunately he bumped into Four of all people, who claimed herself to be the most helpful of all the Intoners. ] I'm guessing you need some help finding your wait out, sir, would you like for me to lend you a hand?
no subject
Goodness. What a lovely offer.
[ He cuts an odd figure, dressed in a plum-colored velvet cutaway coat and silky cravat, with a top hat decorated with lavender roses at the brim. He looks like an escapee from the English Regency era, except if one looks a little closer it's clear that the fabrics are unlike anything from that time. His hatband, for instance, contains a strip that absorbs light and then releases it in a twinkling pulse of color; and the trim at his cuffs and his collar is an elaborate, intricate laser-cut lace.
He extends a gloved hand to her and holds it in the air. ]
I'm sure I won't refuse.
no subject
But those men were gone, and this one in particular didn't look like a threat, which is why she reaches out and places his hand in hers. ]
Please be careful. [ Her tone is soft, kind, which anyone familiar with Four would expect given her personality. Her ears perk slightly when she hears the sound of the ventilation above them, swallowing down any sense of fear as she began guiding the both of them out of the crowd. ] And stay close. [ A beat. ] But not too close.
no subject
He could simply ask her what it is...
Instead he disengages his hand from hers, and traces his fingertips up her forearm, to catch hold of her arm just above the elbow. This is how he prefers to be led, to avoid having his hand tugged on and inadvertently pulled off balance.
He doesn't say any of that, drawling instead: ]
Is this close enough?
no subject
... Yes, of course. [ She wants to curse and bite back, telling him that he was a fool for touching an Intoner of all people without her permission. The hand holding was enough, and if he lost his balance she would have saw that it was what he deserved for being clumsy.
Of course, it was only a thought, if anything did happen to him she would act like the prim and proper girl she displayed. Which is why she keeps her insults to herself, continuing to move through the crowd with ease until they finally make it to the long hallway. ] There. Is that better for you, sir?
no subject
Happily: ]
I say, have I offended you in some way? Oh dear, I hope I'm not causing you too much trouble.
[ Knowing that she's irritated with him actually makes it easier for him to ask her questions. He otherwise would have been tempted to use Mad Hatter to explore, and even he has to admit that is not so good an idea, these days. ]
So this is some sort of a hallway, right? Lots of rooms opening off it? Or does it connect somewhere else?
no subject
[ Was it that obvious? Even if she would so easily express her irritation towards her sisters, there was still an image she needed to keep up with so long as she was here. Because she was better than that; like Five, who would whine and probably just leave him there in the crowd without any hesitation. ] I'm not offended, it would be wrong of me to feel so just because I'm helping you.
[ She eyes down the hallway. ]
There seems to be only rooms to go into. [ She nods her head, looking back to him. ] Here... [ She begins walking down the hallway once again, knocking on several of the doors until she's found one that... isn't occupied. How could a few of these people do something so shameless? That's no way of celebrating, in her opinion.
But she keeps her complaints to minimum, clicking her tongue until she's finally found an empty room. ] This one is empty.
no subject
Which... actually means that the way he's holding her arm comes across as a bit creepier than even he had intended. So he lets his hand slip away from her, and wafts carelessly inside the room. ]
Why, people seem to be enjoying themselves quite a lot, wouldn't you say?
[ The way his own voice rings off the walls gives him some information about the size of the room. Also, that much, er, "enjoyment" suggests the presence of a bed in these room, or at the very least a sofa. A surreptitious sweep of his cane, and he finds one easily enough, against where he thinks the wall should be. And then he sits, sprawling sideways across it. ]
I'm Xerxes Break, by the way. How do you do?
no subject
Let's... just pretend we didn't hear anything. [ Just so that she can keep her sanity.
She stays close to the doorway, letting him take a seat before she even thinks about taking steps closer inside the room. ] It's a pleasure, Xerxes, please call me Four.
[ She gives the room a quick look around, giving a sigh of relief as the music from the party feels so distant now that they've made it. ]
These rooms are very strange... I've never quite seen anything like it before.
no subject
[ The bone-rattling, thumping music has diminished significantly in volume, but he can still hear it, through the open door. And then, at the edge of hearing:
rustle rustle rustle.
He raises a hand for her to be quiet, as he tilts his head to one side, listening. He whispers: ]
Come inside and shut the door.
no subject
Is there something wrong... ?
no subject
—stle
...
...
And then that's it. The noise has stopped again.
During the short time that he has waited, listening, the lighting in the room has changed: the overhead lights have dimmed, and the screens lining the walls, which had been playing advertisements, are now glowing the colors of firelight, warm and soft.
The silence doesn't last, either. Soft music begins to play, coming from all around the room; it's quieter than the music outside, but is enough to fill the stillness.
He exhales: ]
There's a lot of things wrong here, probably. But just now, I heard something... something moving. Do you see anything?
[ He points towards the ceiling. ]
no subject
I... [ She keeps her composure. ] I think I heard it, too.
[ She looks up only to see the ceiling above them. ]
There's nothing there but the ceiling, though. So no.
no subject
skitter skitter skitter skitter skitter
The sound is much louder and is definitely headed in a direction: towards the next room over (you know, the one with all the moaning). ]
Right then!
[ He leaps off the sofa, landing cat-like on his feet, and heads for the door, beckoning her to follow. ]
Come on~!
no subject
[ Even with the obvious presence of something above them, the sound of it bringing a shiver down her spine and a sense of urgency to pump through her veins, it going to the next room over and him wanting to explore it was completely out of the question.
She reaches out, grabbing onto his arms as she can already feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, trying to sound out the memory of all those... those... lewd noises with the beating of her own heart. ] You're thinking about following it, aren't you? We can't do that... !
no subject
[ He grins, horribly. She's holding his arms and so it's very easy to step forward, right next to her. In his best creeper voice: ]
Or we use this room in the way it's intended.
[ The room lights continue to darken, and the music swells, becoming more lush and sensual. ]
no subject
[ Her hands leave him, taking a quick step back. The change of their surrounding causes her to panic slightly, swallowing down a wad of spit. ]
But we can't just barge in there while there are people using it!
no subject
Why not? I promise, I won't peek!
[ And with that, he pushes the door open. Inside are several couples and a threesome, all using the room the way it's intended. ]
Hi hiiiii!
[ His entrance is attended by a chorus of shrieks, followed by giggles. With a sweep of his stick he discovers a bed and leaps on top of it. The bed is occupied, but its occupants don't seem to mind. ]
no subject
There's a sense of curiosity that bubbles into the pit of her stomach, peeking in to see the scene before she breathes and collects herself. ]
You shouldn't do that! I'm terribly sorry, he's just... [ Even if they don't seem all that bothered she still breathes a heavy sigh, cheeks flushed with an obvious red. ] Could you please hurry?
no subject
Aha — no, that's quite all right. I was just — ah — leaving, you see.
no subject
Excuse us. [ She even slaps a hand away before pulling Break. ] Please go back to enjoying yourselves.
[ And with that she pulls Break out of the room, slamming the door behind them. ]
Disgusting. Don't these people have any sense of restraint?
no subject
Er. Apparently not.
[ His cheeks are pink and there's a funny expression on his face. It smooths out after a moment, and he says in a more matter-of-fact tone of voice: ]
Indeed, our host, this... this Julius Vincere gentleman seems to be positively encouraging a lack of restraint, by providing rooms such as these.