//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

two ❀ drakengard 3

[homemade]

PHASE II

[This ViViD thing was still totally new and foreign to Two. It was weird, knowing that in reality she was actually sitting in a chair somewhere with a helmet on her head, and that the town she was walking around in wasn't reality. That meant the people she passed by weren't technically real either, right? That kind of thing bothers Two a lot. She was having a hard time accepting the NPCs as just part of the "game" when they looked just like people... on top of acknowledging that this was some sort of game in the first place. In fact, she was sympathizing with the NPCs quite a bit. It wasn't their fault they had to suffer like this! But she could make it all better if she just saved the Priestess, right? And to do that...]

So, I guess we gotta get into that tower somehow... [Two taps a finger to her chin in thought. Even with her immense strength and Intoner abilities, just barging in wouldn't be a good idea if it was just her (on top of the fact it wasn't meant to be soloed). And honestly, she wasn't used to fighting by herself, whether it was with her sisters or with her lover. So she looks around the crowd, trying to conjure up a plan as she scans the area, when she spots someone.

Actually that someone might be you... ...!!]

Heeey, you there! We should totally team up, don'tcha think?


PHASE III

Ah-

[It completely catches her off-guard. Suddenly she was frozen in midair under a fiery red sky, her blade still in mid-slice, the ruins of the Cathedral City stretched out in front of her. Her soldiers, the soldiers Cent had enhanced with her song... they were here for some reason and they were falling- breaking around her, as if they were made of glass. Why were they breaking like that? She could hear screaming from far away, but... who was it that was screaming? Was it her own screaming? Or was it the screaming of the orphans she'd practically adopted as her own? She couldn't see them anywhere but... No no no, not them! If they were hurting somewhere, she wouldn't be able to stand it! If they were suffering somewhere, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself! And as she tries to look around for them as best she could, among the ruins she could see a dragon. That dragon... was screaming too, wasn't he? It sounded like he was crying out too. It was scary... This was scary. So, so, so scary. Everything was really scary. She wanted it to stop right now. She didn't want to see this anymore!

And when she has just about reached her limit, finally she is relinquished of whatever caught hold of her and the game world returns to normal. Her blade finally slashes through the last imp in her path, but she crumbles to the ground shortly afterward, clutching at nothing. What was that she just experienced? It completely took her breath away, and she was shaking badly as she sits back and looks up at the sky. A sky no longer violent and blazing.

But it felt so real...]

Why... did that...?

[triviatime]

[ in truth, cent had spotted two some time again, wandering through the ViViD level. his immediate impulse had been to call out to her, but he fought that back in favor of just observing for a little while. this way, he could suddenly make a daring entrance at some point and sweep her off her feet, right? in the stories, things like that always happened by happenstance, but in reality a dynamic entrance takes a lot of timing and planning. so he just followed after her, making sure to keep his distance while also making sure she didn't get herself into any trouble.

admittedly, if something was powerful enough to give two trouble, it was questionable whether cent would actually be able to help.

for now, he would just blend into the crowd and do his best not to be noticed- ] Eh? [ a plan which comes crashing down when he suddenly hears two calling out to him. of course, he should have known that the connection between them was too strong to be deceived by any trickery, and that she'd find him even if he tried to hide himself away in a throng of people. yes, that was truly the power of-

"Heeey, you there! We should totally team up, don'tcha think?"

or this could just be a complete coincidence and she hasn't even realized it's him yet. ]

Lady Two... don't you think it's beneath you to solicit company for complete strangers?

[homemade]

[wow... creeper... well, a not quite but still coincidental encounter was still pretty dramatic in Two's opinion. And while it was a bit anti-climatic on Cent's side, Two felt like the wind had been taken straight outta her lungs the moment she realizes it's him. Her heart immediately swells with a familiar love and joy that she wouldn't trade for all the world.]

Wha...? Cent! How long have you been standing there? [Ohhh gosh she hopes it wasn't too long though or she'd just die from embarrassment! How could she have acted so cold to her own boyfriend/disciple!!!]

[triviatime]

[ no, creeper is correct. he may be her boyfriend/disciple, but that was definitely some grade a creeping. even if she somehow managed to spot him almost right away.

regardless, what are you supposed to say in situations like this? oh, right. ]

No, I just got here. [ never mind the fact that makes absolutely no sense in this context. ] As I expected, Lady Two was able to find me immediately. [ he is such a liar. ]

[homemade]

[It may be a lie, but she's buying it anyway.]

Y-You did? [Whew. She was relieved like you can't believe.] Oh! Then I guess I did, huh?

[Even without trying, she could find Cent in any world. Just the idea that she was capable makes her heart go all aflutter again, even if it wasn't the truth. It makes her happy either way.]

I'm really glad to see you're okay, Cent. I was getting worried... and kinda lonely.

[triviatime]

[ two is the only one who actually buys any of his crap... maybe that's why they actually get along. ]

Then I'm glad I'm here to alleviate your loneliness.

[ okay he definitely knows this is over the top cheesy but he can't stop himself anyway... ]

I'm alright, now that I've returned to your side.

[homemade]

Aww, you're so sweet, Cent. [She giggles, not entirely unlike a school girl.] You always know how to make me feel better.

II

[particularity]

--team up?

[Hold up. Back up. Why me? After all, Hinata is fairly certain that, to look at, he's perfectly plain. Yes indeed.]

Do you really mean with me?

[He glances over one of his shoulders as if to check for someone else before returning his attention back to her, uncertain.]

[homemade]

[you just have that main protagonist look about you...]

Yeah, of course I do! [Two beams.] You're here to help the Priestess too, right? Well, we can't do it alone!

[particularity]

[It's the ahoge isn't it?? God it's like a SHSL protagonist identifier he swears. Hinata falters at her beaming and looks around some more... But he doesn't look that adverse to it, just... cautious. Skeptical.]

Well, I was hoping that there might be some clues in here, so I was still exploring, but... I guess if there was something really important, it'd be past the final boss.

[There you go, Hinata. Now you're thinking like Nanami. Er. A gamer.]

[homemade]

Clues? Like, about how to beat the dragon or something? [If it involved platforming, she couldn't imagine her sister Zero being all too thrilled about it.]

[particularity]

No, I was thinking more about the situation outside of this game...

[You know, that extremely suspicious situation but Hinata would think that anything was suspicious after everything... that's happened...]

phase II

[subvert]

[delita is not used to being addressed quite like this. for a long time, it was either with the respect of friendship - that that his family had showed him, even if much of it was fake - or the scorn of being common. later, it was with the respect of someone who was above most other people; a knight, then a knight commander.

this -- this is a tone that generally doesn't exist in ivalice, and one could swear there's a flash of confusion on his face before he regards two with... well, with the same expression he regards most things, which is careful and guarded.]

They did tell us that it would be in our best interests to group together, did they not?

[it's not a "hey, yeah, let's go!" ... but it's not disinterest, either.]

[homemade]

[In direct contrast, Two was probably the complete opposite of careful and guarded, and she was the very same back home. Even with the threat of death from her very own sister, she still smiled and waved at her that day in the Cathedral City. Oblivious? Maybe a little...]

Yeah, I think that's what they said when we first started. The dragon'll just come back if you go and fight it by yourself. So that means we should all work together on it, don't you think?

[And that means teamwork! Either way... in the Intoner vs Dragon version of rock-paper-scissors, dragons would win. Probably not a good idea to go it alone.]

[subvert]

[it's okay - he has enough carefulness and guardedness for the both of them. his entire existence is basically being incredibly careful and incredibly guarded; there aren't enough people like two in ivalice, and for good reason; bad things tend to happen to people who don't watch themselves.]

All of us seems like it could have too many people getting in the way. [delita knows well what happens when you stick a huge group of people with swords against something; the idea of tactics and strategy tend to break down and it devolves into "poke things with sharp things until something stops moving". perhaps less so in trained armies, but ...

the other players are definitely not "a trained army", here, and assuming those scientists are right, there's no guarantee anyone else is from ivalice at all, knows ivalician military tactics, etc, etc.

a small group, though. delita looks her over. not in some sort of weird like, checking her out wink wink nudge nudge way; just appraising her, trying to decide whether she'd be a good teammate.]

A small group may be a good idea, though. Have you seen anyone else planning on hunting this dragon down?

[homemade]

Umm, not yet! Then again, I was mostly killing imps up until now. I only started looking for teammates just now actually.

iii; drinks water quickly

[virginous]

[ Engaging in combat in this world was still something that Four was learning to adjust to, admittedly, with the reality of it all making her question if this truly was a game. But that could all be pushed to the side, for the mean time, as a familiar head of blue finally catches her attention.

Four is in the process of taking care of an imp herself, kicking it out of her way with ease before she hurries to her sister's side. ]

Two nee-sama?

[ When was the last time she saw her? Oh it's been so long... but she'd rather skip the whole cheesy reuniting scene. ]

Two nee-sama! Are you alright? [ She's concerned, to say the least, brows curving as she slowly kneels down beside her. ] What's wrong?

flies into the universe

[homemade]

F...our? [Two blinks, looking like a girl in a daze until she realizes it truly was her younger sister kneeling down beside her. That snaps her back into reality... or virtual reality in this case. Something like that.]

Four! Oh... y-yeah. I just saw something real freaky for a second. It's gone now though.

catches you

[virginous]

Something strange?

[ Well she's not going to think that what she's saying is strange, considering where they were, but that doesn't matter. ] Well at least it was nothing permanent. Here.

[ She's back on her feet, holding out her hand. (Two obviously needs a babysitter and guess who's stuck on duty, ugh.) ]

Can you keep going?

phase iii!!

[envisaged]

[ The flower spreading madness, the flowers curse.

She tries to brush it off the similarity off, but even as her chakram slices through the last imp in her path she realizes she's still thinking about it. She's still thinking about it even as she sees someone who looks like Two (who might be Two) crumble to the ground. She sees the shaking so easily that she moves without thinking. ]

Two?

[ She should be thinking though, because her rational side is telling her this Two could likely be some kind of trick, an illusion or just some glitch of a character in here. Yet she finds herself closing in on the other anyway, stopping herself just a foot away from her form on the ground. ]

Two, what's the matter?

[homemade]

[Two reacts to her name being called out, jolting back into awareness. A familiar voice, the voice of her big sister. Now normally she'd be beaming at the presence of her sibling. But despite all her physical strength, there was an odd fragility in her eyes when she looks at One.]

One... I think... I just saw something real scary just now.

[envisaged]

[ Hearing her voice makes her chest constrict. She thinks that if this were truly some sort of manufactured Two thrown in this game, it was cruel.

She watches her, perplexed by her choice of words. There's nothing around here she can see, nothing they weren't used to anyway.. was she told to say that? ]

What did you see?

ii

[viscera]

Huh?

[ that voice sounds... really familiar, and when he turns around, the face he pulls is just absolutely deflated. first the idiot, now his handler? what had he done to deserve all of them being brought here instead of Zero or that stupid dragon? ]

You're kidding, right? Why not just ask that stupid boyfriend of yours?

[homemade]

Oh, it's Dito! [Though he may be disappointed, Two was positively beaming with joy at finding a familiar face from home.] Heeey, Dito! Is Five with you?

[But wait he actually said something kinda mean-] Huh? Hey! Cent's not stupid. That's kinda rude to say, don't you think?

[viscera]

Hell no she isn't. [ ugh, he hopes she never comes here. if all these dead intoners were coming here, though... ]

Who cares if it's rude? It's true.

[ he's never really talked to two before, so he just shrugs and tells it like it is, sorry lady. ]

All you guys ever do is fawn all over each other all lovey-dovey like. Makes me wanna' gag.