ioculus | //TESTDRIVE2.0.EXE

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//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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( phase ii. )

[ as you walk around the castle-town, you might run into a guy with a strange and distinctive looking scar on his chest. he isn't doing anything in particular... but instead just seems to be talking to himself. which, by itself, would probably be odd, but he seems to actually be holding an entire conversation on his own. an argument, to be more precise. ]

I could go and save the priestess all on my own, but wouldn't that ruin the game for all the other players? They are calling it a "game," after all, which means it's supposed to be fun. Someone as powerful as I am could slay a dragon and rescue a priestess without any trouble at all, but what's my motivation? To be honest, I kind of sympathize with the dragon. If you were stuck guarding a tower on all on your own, wouldn't you want some company? I can't think of any better company than a lovely priestess.

Ah, but if I save that priestess, will I get a reward? Hm... maybe that's not part of this particular game, but I'm sure as soon as she sees my face she'll reconsider and throw herself at my feet. It really is a curse, being as handsome and cool as I am.

[ it's around this time that he finally notices that his solilquoy has garnered some attention, so he turns to face whoever it is that's been listening to him. in truth, he'd noticed quite a bit sooner, but continued on with his insane rant anyway... because that's just how cent rolls. ]

Oh, sorry, am I bothering you? But of course I am. With a face this gorgeous, there's no way you wouldn't be bothered. Either you're jealous of my looks, or you want a taste. Unfortunately, I'm a little too busy at the moment to keep you company. [ busy... talking to himself. yes, even as he says that, it's still clear he wants someone to talk to. or someone to show off to. either/or. ]

( phase iv. )

[ despite all that big talk earlier, slaying that dragon was actually pretty difficult... and cent wasn't actually much help at all. instead, he's kind of taken a beating, as he tends to whenever he fights. he'd never admit that though, which is why he's doing his best to look like nothing's wrong.

even as he occasionally clutches at his ribs, which he's pretty sure are broken. ]

No sweat. A dragon like that's a piece of cake for a guy like me. [ even if said dragon almost ate him like a piece of cake. ] Just give me a second to... catch my breath, will you? I didn't get enough sleep last night, and that's starting to catch up to me.

[ yes, lack of sleep definitely explains the gashing bite marks in his sternum. ] Did you know that if you don't get enough sleep, your entire body can spontaneously start bleeding? [ that is definitely not true. ] It doesn't happen often, but it sure is a pain when it does. Hey, you could call this some sort of rare event, couldn't you? I sure am a lucky guy.

[ okay yeah now he's just going to collapse because why is he even talking with wounds like that. ]

Edited 2014-09-08 18:20 (UTC)

Oh hell no. Why didn't they just keep you dead? This guys have to be seriously messed up to think you'd be any help killing anything.

[ Cent still hasn't finished his little talk to himself and Dito already looks disgusted. ]

Hell no I don't want a taste! Do you want me to yak all over you? We don't need another Decadus, one is enough.

Isn't it obvious? They thought it was a shame that someone as amazing as me died in such a pitiful way, so they brought me back. The better question is what they'd want with someone like you.

[ hey, he did a good job killing you! or... mutually killing, anyway. ]

Hm? That part was really for the ladies, but it's surprising that you'd latch on to it like that. Oho, so is that how it is? I always thought the looks you gave me were a little strange, but now I'm starting to get it.

If it's for ladies make sure there are any around in the first place! You've been talking to me the whole time! Shit I'm really gonna' hurl...

[ he may have asked you to stay in that shitty world with him but no homo, cent. ]

--Look quit your shitty preening for a second and pay attention. They mentioned a flower was causing all this shit. Sound familiar?

[ he places a hand on his hip, waving the other in the air for unspoken emphasis. ]

Don't you think we should check it out?

[ it could maybe be... ]

[ just going to ignore that first part since... yes, he definitely recognized dito earlier, so that speech really was entirely for his benefit. ]

Do you have ingestion? You really should be more careful with what you eat.

[ whether he's actually this dumb or being purposefully obtuse will always be a mystery. ]

Flower? Oh, I see. You're surprisingly old fashioned, Dito. [ a wag of the finger. ] Though if you want to go get a flower for me, it's a little strange that you'd ask me to accompany you for it. That kind of ruins the surprise, doesn't it? It seems the intricacies of courtship are lost on you.

[ oh my god he wants to slap the stupid off of you

but that is impossible. there's too much. he doesn't have enough hands before it spreads like a big stupid infection. ]

How about we skip the 'courting' and get straight to me sticking my foot up your ass? [ he'll unsheathe his spear and point it at him, the point of it just shy from his jugular. ]

Or maybe you want a 'spear' up your ass instead, huh?

Is that what you call it? I have to admit, I thought it'd be the other way around. I figured you more for the type who enjoys getting speared.

[ if he's at all phased by the threat, he definitely doesn't show it. this is just business as usual for them, huh... ]

But sorry. Truth be told, I'm pretty old fashioned too. You have to go through the proper steps if you want to get to "spearing." It's like they say... who buys the milk if you can get the cow for free?

[ you really are making this too easy for him, dito. ]

[ oh my god ]

I should just kill you right now and be done with it. [ but no. he has to make his life more annoying and harder to deal with for reasons he cannot comprehend nor does he even start to try to. ]

Are you gonna' check this flower out or not? It could be Zero. Zero. Does that spell it out for you, you idiot?

Now where would the fun in that be? You might not admit it, but I'm sure you enjoy these talks, deep down on the inside.

[ somewhere deep, deep down. ]

But I understood you the first time. [ even if he acted like he didn't. ] It might not be the same flower, but as proud disciples, this isn't the kind of thing we can just leave untended to. To think that our duties would entail gardening too... I'm not sure we get paid enough for this.

I'm starting to think that's you, not me.

It just means when Zero shows up we have a lot of pent-up 'payment' to receive.

[ if she doesn't turn him into a dove on sight. that would be the worst-case scenario. he tries not to think about it. ]

It's really not healthy to be in such a state of denial all the time.

[ he will never not believe you don't actually like him.
he will never not believe that anyone doesn't actually like him. ]

Why wait for Lady Zero? There are two other Intoners running around here without Disciples, aren't there? You should just go to one of them. [ simple as that. ]

[ cent how would you even react to someone actually liking you. like for realsies. ]

Yeah, right. That suck-up Four, and that depressing One. Where's the fun in joining up with either of them? Why don't you join up with them?

[ by latching on to them forever and never letting go. see: two. ]

There's plenty of fun to be had there. It's their faults that give them character, after all. Getting them to slowly open themselves up to you, revealing a side no one but you as ever seen... [ god cent is so creepy. ] Besides, after Lady Five, you should be able to handle just about anything.

Though come on, just between us fellow Disciples. You must prefer one of them, right?

Edited 2014-09-08 21:42 (UTC)

[ says the guy who stabbed her :// ]

Yeah, remember the part where that mushy shit makes me wanna' die? Seeing you and Two around each other was unbearable.

[ he sheaths his spear finally, and crosses his arms. all sass. ]

If it's between those two and who's the least annoying? One. But that doesn't mean I'll jump in the sack with them.

[ like you, he's met the Intoner for him, so to speak, Cent. ]

[ he stabs everyone he likes. remember branch b dito??? ]

I'm fairly sure seeing you and Lady Five together was far more disturbing.

[ he doesn't want to kinkshame but... necrophilia, man. really? ]

Are you sure you can afford to be that picky? [ says the dude who is probably the pickiest of them all. ] I don't know how things work here, it'd be a shame if we both lost the ability to maintain these forms.

[ a pause. ] Myself moreso than you. [ because the loss of cent's adonisian form would be a tragedy for the ages. ]

[ bruh ]

Whatever, like it's any of your business.

[ guts man. guts. don't kinkshame u vanilla idiot. ]

Did you miss the memo? We're kind of dead, so we don't have to worry about that. If anything, it probably means we're...free.

[ he's never thought about it that way before saying it... and he's not sure how he feels about it, really. ]

Hm, so that makes me some sort of zombie, huh?

[ give him a second... before he starts eyeing dito a bit suspiciously. ]

Now it's all starting to make sense.

...no.

[ ceNT ]

What did I tell you about denial?

[ he worries about you, man. ]

Do you seriously want in my pants this bad?

[ now he's the one who' worried, Cent... ]

cent | drakengard 3

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