//TESTDRIVE2.0.EXE

[reparator]

//TESTDRIVE2.0.EXE Welcome to the Castle-town of Valoria The prototype of ViViD's newest level has been complete. However, right now, only a single castle-town is open and available to be accessed with a mini-mission for all registered players. This castle-town is currently undergoing a terrible plague that causes those who drink the water to become strongly infected by the venom laced within. The venom creates a form of volatile madness known as The Maenas, and it is said to originate by a single flower growing in the center of the castle-town's lake. In order to purify it, everyone will have to work together to rescue the Priestess who is being held hostage in one of the castle-town's main towers, which is currently being guarded by a large dragon. Who that dragon is working for is currently unknown, but right now, it's preventing the priestess from helping the villagers. At the log in screen, players will be greeted by Vidia, giving them a friendly announcement and providing them with the mission details: "You're here at last! There's no time to delay, Player. The priestess mourns the more you hesitate. Come on, get equipped, and follow me! Are you ready? You simply have to follow my instructions. ✩ Get to the tower and defeat the dragon. ✩ Do not kill the townsfolk. They don't know any better! Knock them out, but do not let them die, or the imps will eat their corpses! ✩ Kill the imps, they're aggravating the madness! Each imp will release a soul orb on death. Grab it! It'll protect you from the madness, too. Each soul orb is worth ten credits! ✩ You have six hours. Please rescue the Priestess in that time, and she will be able to let you out. ✩ If you encounter people already from Tellus, you'll get a bonus orb for each soul orb you collect for all players. ✩ If you don't fight, you'll end up affected by the flower's curse... please, band together with someone and travel with them to slow the effects. ✩ The dragon will continue to re-spawn if it's fought alone. Please fight as a pair or group to bring it down if you can! ✩ Remember, you only have six hours... hurry, please!"

//SCENARIOS.EXE PHASE I [ xxxx ] You're standing right in the center of the entertainment district inside the main ViViD hub. The machines sit before you, beckoning to being worn so you can test out the newest level in ViViD. There are others around you, in similar positions. Researchers are on stand-by to document your every move and make sure there are no glitches at all. As you settle into your chair, you slowly put on the helmet and find yourself being immersed in a world that's so real, you can hardly tell whether or not you're in the game or still in reality. (Please don't attack the researchers, they're only doing their job and they won't hurt anyone!) PHASE II [ xxxx ] You're fully immersed in the game now, wandering around with the list of objectives Vidia gave you. It's your choice where you want to start first. You can talk to the NPCs, engage in a grueling battle, level up, or head straight to fight the boss in a daring suicide run. However, as you walk through the castle-town, you catch glimpses of shifting faces. The NPCs look familiar for a moment, maybe reminiscent of someone back home. The effect lasts too short for it to be noteworthy until it continues to occur. Feel free to explore, but remember, you have six hours, a holographic timer to the side of your screen will appear when you wish for it. PHASE III [ xxxx ] Another glitch appears. This one is more debilitating than the rest, leaving you hanging mid-attack. The game seems to freeze completely for a solid two minutes. In that time-span, the world shifts to your own. You're standing right in the middle of the one you remember, staring up into a sky painted red with fire while a blood-curling scream erupts from the back of your mind. You glance down around, and one by one, the people start to fall to the ground, shattering like glass. In the distance, the dragon looms, staring straight at you and roaring, though its voice seems equally agonized. Then the game resumes normally as though nothing happened. Your complete your attack and continue as normal. Then something else appears within the darkness for a moment, lost in a single blink. That one second passes so swiftly it's barely noticeable. It might throw you off, it might leave you facing a pair of imps or crazed hordes. Whoever is with you had better started fighting... And you'd better run if you're alone! PHASE IV [ xxxx ] You've reached the end. Victory is yours. The townspeople are cheering, and the Priestess is rewarding you with a kind smile and several credits to your name. The dragon lies on the ground defeated, though its eyes are open still, hollow and black. In the reflection, you can still see the traces of a world left behind. In that moment, you can also swear you see it blinking when it should be dead, but there's no time to dwell. You're being logged out and the researchers are shoving surveys in your face or asking you questions about your experience. BONUS [ whyo'clock ] Welcome to the Dressing Room. This is where you can dress up your character in ViViD in all kinds of costumes. Completing missions will open up new outfits that will be delivered in the real world to character's flats. As a prize for completing the above mission, characters will be rewarded with some special outfits (both are unisex). Characters will immediately be launched into the Dressing Room upon completion so they can see themselves modeling their brand new outfits to one another. [ You can choose to set your threads in the game or before/after if you'd like. Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y 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 second Test Drive Meme. Please forgive our appearance as we are still going through the final stages of game completion… mostly fighting with table codes. 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 post detailing everyone's arrival experience and a FAQ that should explain everything in more detail. Please read them thoroughly before playing. Thank you!

Comments

agent washington | red vs blue

[implanted]

PHASE II-A

[ It's hard enough to get Wash to even put this thing on. Killing imps, fighting dragons and rescuing priestesses are so out there that he has half a mind (if not more) to get out of it as soon as he can. The very last thing he wants to do is play a game, but he ends up being convinced to put the helmet on and enter. Still, even then he isn't convinced to stay—and every minute he spends inside of ViVid just makes him think that he should get out of there.

Until he notices the faces. Which is funny, because he doesn't really see faces that are familiar, but it unnerves him enough, and he chooses to keep at it. Or at least, he isn't currently attempting to ditch the game yet, and is instead standing in the middle of the town, staring through his helmet at nothing. Not like it's obvious that he's just blankly staring into space while avoiding a sigh, but he is. And his helmet might be turned towards whoever, but still. Not staring. ]

A dragon.

[ He is definitely talking to himself, though. ]

PHASE II-B

[ After much deliberation, sighing and thinking thoughts similar (but not limited to) "Why am I here?" "What is really going on?" "Why is there an imp trying to climb up that wall?" Wash has finally entered the battle. All of his concern aside, he's been convinced to help and that's what he's doing. It's not like he didn't want to help either, but... his concern and the idea of this being a game, whether it was or not, wasn't something he could pass up easily.

Not like it matters much now. Wash has collected a couple orbs, and is now turning to see an imp sneaking up behind someone. ]

Hey!

[ If said person doesn't turn around and handle the imp themselves, Wash will jump down from the nearest ledge and stab the imp in the back of the neck with a knife. Guns are better, but hey, it works when he doesn't want to accidentally shoot the villagers in the distance. ]

II-A !

[misbelieve]

[The shifting faces is pretty unnerving, and it takes Natasha's professionalism to ignore them. This guy, though, is clearly another player like her, and he has some pretty high tech body armor on. It's just slightly reminiscent enough of Iron Man to draw her curiosity. At the very least, he's probably able to kick ass and take names, and if they are fighting a dragon, she wants that kind of back up.

Natasha's good, but she's not equipped to fight the Chitauri head on by herself, and she's not equipped for this either. Her black catsuit and attached weaponry all scream stealth instead of front lines assault.]

I've seen worse, [she says blandly, like she's making idle chatter and not scoping him out for ally potential.]

[implanted]

[ He doesn't have experience fighting dragons, but he joined up to help fight aliens—close enough, right?

He turns to her voice, and if he didn't have a helmet on, his raised eyebrows would be visible. ]

I'm not sure I want to know what's worse than a dragon.

[misbelieve]

Giant alien space whales? [she says thoughtfully, like she's really considering whether one is worse than the other.

Natasha cocks one hip to the side, growing a little more serious. Sometimes blunt is just the way to go. They're on a timer here.] You game for a team up?