Hey there! Did you know that yearly check-ups are the best preventative medicine you can give to your darling CYbuddy? Their health is of the utmost importance and from the Pomeranian to the Velociraptor, it's so very necessary to give your CYbuddy what he or she needs to be as happy and healthy as can be. After all, CYbuddies are the first and last defense in the war against loneliness, so you must do your best to protect the ones you have! You wouldn't want to be a friendless CYbuddy-less loser, would you? Through thick and thin, rain or shine, your CYbuddy will love you forever. And ever. And ever. Do not disappoint your CYbuddy.
You blink and suddenly find yourself in what looks like a doctor's waiting room, completely alone aside from the robot receptionist. Posters line the walls in various degrees of friendliness. Actually, is this the vet? It kind of looks like the vet. In fact, when you look down towards your lap, there will be a creature snoozing comfortably on you. Really, how did you not notice? The creature's collar names him Fluffy. (That's a dumb name, why did you name your pet Fluffy? Be more creative!) If you decide to call out to the receptionist, they will ignore you, but soon after you will hear clacking of sharp nails on the floor as someone -- or something -- comes out of the back room.
No worries, it's just the doctor.
 Greetings! My name is Thelonious T-Bone the Third and I will be Fluffy's doctor today. I will take good care of your dear Fluffy and be right back to you with him or her in a jiffy. You can, of course, completely trust me for I am the best in the business! No other Velociraptor can treat and heal pets as well as I, most certainly. But there is one tiny little thing, you see. My nurse is out sick today and my hands are too small and dangerous to work well without accidentally killing your poor pet. So, to make up for this, I will need you to be my nurse today. Do you think you can handle that?
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PHASE I [ 09 00 ] Welcome to ViViD's state of the art pet care simulator. It looks like everyone is ready and willing to get started -- maybe a little too eager to get started. There seems to have been a minor misunderstanding actually and Dr. T-Bone seems to think that... well, that you're the pet. Didn't he see Fluffy's collar? (Still, such a dumb name!)
If you don't think fast, you're likely to be shoved into a kennel or forced into getting really uncomfortable shots (to prevent rabies, you see; side effects include dizziness, nausea, sprouting animal ears for a few hours and the increased desire to bite people). At least you'll have company since it looks like this mistake is happening to everyone. Might as well get cozy and get to know the people stuck in the kennels next to you while you're here.
PHASE II [ 1200 ] It's time to actually be the nurse! And time to treat one of Dr. T-Bone's most prominent clients. You will be led to, well, a dinosaur -- a T-Rex to be exact. And you will be told that your job is to take care of its teeth.
That's right. Someone has to clean all of those teeth. And it looks like you're the lucky sap who got the job. Don't worry, the Tyrannosaurus Rex's name tag proclaims it to be vegan (and to go by the name of Sir Gadzooks) so it should be perfectly safe to reach into that gaping maw and start cleaning those teeth.
Alternatively, you could make your dental assistant do it; looks like you weren't the only one to get dragged into this farce. The question is, which one is handling the sharp pointy objects, and which one is sticking their hand into that mouth?
Also, it's not really a vegan dinosaur, that was a great big lie. And it's very, very hungry -- now might be a good time to run.
PHASE III [ 1300 ] Hope you weren't doing anything important (like sticking your hand into the mouth of a dinosaur), because someone is now throwing a blindfold over your eyes and hustling you right into the basement. A couple of twists and turns later, and you're being shoved into what appears to be an underground... peacock fighting ring? With a jaunty peacock headband on and none of your weapons on you, it seems as though you've been mistaken for a particularly ugly peacock and have been tossed into the ring.
Look out though. Those peacocks look mean. They'll go straight for the eyes if they get the chance, and will peck away merrily at your head. Of course, the walls aren't that high all things considered (they're peacocks), so it probably wouldn't be that hard to escape the ring.
(Or, if you manage to find your way down there yourself, you can always join in on the ludicrously outlandish betting pool. It might be a good way to get some cash -- if you bet on the right peacock.
Actually, is that Mr. T-Bone in the crowd too? Someone get the quack out of here!)
PHASE IV [ 1600 ] There's someone whispering.
It's a quiet, throaty whisper, and no matter where you are in the ViViD level, you can hear it. Sometimes, it's clearer than others. Sometimes, it can barely be heard at all. But it's always there, whispering, "Come closer. Come closer. Come closer."
If you should gather up your courage and follow those whispers, they will lead you to a... bird. Upon seeing you, the bird will begin to speak again in that throaty whisper, this time detailing the destruction of your world, down to the tiniest of details, such as the look on your best friend's face as they died, or the last words of your most important person. It's almost hypnotic, so much so that you can't pull away --
And just like that, the bird squawks, and it's over. What was that about? Hopefully nobody else heard all of that.
BONUS [ xxxx ] You go to speak with the vet, whether to complain about your treatment at the hands of the others, the fact that you had to play dino dentistry or to let him know that there's an illegal peacock fighting ring below his practice, and before you know it there's talk of "just to be safe" and "you never know what someone with an attitude like that will do" -- which, what? All of a sudden Dr. T-Bone and his receptionist are shoving you into a cone of shame. How embarrassing! And no matter what you do, it just won't come off.
In fact, if nothing else, it seems magnetically attracted to the walls and anyone else wearing one. If one of those poor fools happen to be within a ten foot radius of you, prepare yourselves for a massive collision. What a pain, right? It seems like the cones won't come off until you (and your magnetic partner) get out of this confounded level. If only you could find the exit (and Fluffy too -- where'd he get off to?)
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Shusei Kagari | Psycho-Pass
[So this wasn't all bad, even if it was weird as hell. If the afterlife or whatever was all some weird videogame, then screw it, he might as well dive right in. It was seriously cool that they had pretend dinosaurs and all, but once he wandered around enough and found a ring full of apparently bloodthirsty peacocks, things just got that much better.
Kagari manages to find himself a good spot to stand near the edge of the ring, and wholeheartedly joins in on the yelling supporting various fighting birds. He isn't doing that great with picking the winners, but it doesn't really matter because he's having such a good time laughing and cheering them on.]
Come on, stop trying to look pretty and do something, bird!
Phase IV
[Kagari follows the whispering, firstly because it's irritating and he wants it to stop, and secondly because honestly, what's the worst that could happen at this point?
It takes him a while, but he eventually finds the source of the whispering and it's not what he expects; a creepy bird right out of a horror game. What it has to say doesn't bother him overly much, though. Why would he care about the rest of the world at all? They had already said it was destroyed, and he wasn't going to waste any tears on people he had never even met.
When the bird starts in the people he actually cares about though, it's a different story. He doesn't want or even need to hear about any of that, and it's all too easy to let himself get worked up just imagining the things being described to him.
He lets himself slam a fist into the wall before reigning in his temper. It was just some stupid bird, and it had probably been making up stuff just to mess with him anyway.]
Wildcard
[Other ideas? Go for it.]
WILDCARD I DO WHAT I WANT FUCK SIBYL
As angry as she is, she needs to take a break because the actual ViViD experience was truly tiring. Outside the research facility is a vending machine, and she just swipes the card she received upon arriving for a can of ice cold coffee to roll down.
Ah, nothing tastes better than your thirst getting quenched. ]
YEAAAAHHHHH
He wasn't laughing now, sitting alone on a bench outside the research facility. Just the fact that nobody else was with him, or even really paying attention to him was enough to set him slightly on edge. His Dominator was offline, and there was no more Sibyl-- and how many times had he dreamed of that? But still.
It was strange enough even being alive without worrying about turning his head and seeing someone point a Dominator at him because he was unsupervised. Old habits and all that.
Given how everything else was going, Kagari feels like it shouldn't be that much of a shock to catch sight of a familiar face, even if it was one that he never thought he'd see again.
Well, he might as well get it over with. He calls out, loudly enough to be heard over the other people wandering around.]
Hey, how's the coffee?
NOOOOOOOOOOOO
It's refreshing, to say the lea—
[ And that's when she turns around to face who she's talking to. It would be rude not to provide eye contact, after all. She isn't a barbarian.
But when she sees that red head with barrettes on his hair — no, there's definitely no other person like him. Akane Tsunemori is not wrong in thinking that this person before him is Shusei Kagari. This is the same person she's played video games with. They had dinner together, and they got along well... they worked together so many times, and succeeded so many times. His disappearance, as stoic as Akane presents herself to be, still hurt. Though, disappearance may not be the proper word for it.
And that's when she drops her can of coffee, spilling its contents on the ground, and some splatter on her shoes. ]
... Ka... ga. . . ri...
oh ):
That's me.
[He gets up off of the bench to take a few steps towards her. Stops halfway to her, runs a hand through his hair.]
Look, I didn't mean to scare you. Want me to get you a new drink?
[Because that at least is something normal to think about for a moment.]
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Instead of continuing to gawk at the man before her, she picks up the can by her feet and throws it at the nearest bin. She's still frantic, of course, but her bearings are at least half-present.
With a deep breath, she addresses Kagari. ]
Um, [ A beat. So much for talking to him. Good job, Akane. ]
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He nods at the mess of coffee spilled on the ground.]
So is that a no on the new drink?
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You know, I think maybe some wine might be better than coffee right now.
[ And who cares if it's in the middle of the day? ]
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Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get that from a one of these vending machines.
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I'm sure there's a bar we can go to. This is a city, isn't it?
[ A beat, and her expression becomes stoic. ] A city without the Sibyl System.
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When she mentions the simple truth that there is no Sybil System here, the smile doesn't leave his face, but it does shift into something sharper.]
Yeah. A city without Sybil breathing down our necks. All it took was the whole damn world getting destroyed.
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It's disorderly.
[ That's all she can say about that for now. Maybe she'll talk more when Kagari's drunk and will probably forget what she's said the day after. ]
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Great, that just means a lot more places to check out.
[That thought alone is thrilling; he's never been allowed outside without supervision in his entire life, so the idea of an entire city to explore on his own is almost unbelievable. He shrugs.]
Just pick somewhere. I don't think it matters too much where we end up at the moment.
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PHASE III (hello beautiful)
He's just not sure how to go about ... this particular fight. Sure, he's fought demons who didn't look any less ridiculous than his current opponent, but he can't take this fight seriously. Not when he's been forced into wearing feathers himself -- and without any weapons to defend himself with, at that. And just who did these people surrounding the ring think they were?!
He turns around to look at a bright young man (literally -- look at that hair!) as he starts shouting at him in hopes of encouraging him to fight. Walter glowers. ]
You've a lot of gall to call me a bird while sitting up there on your perch, squawking as you are!
[ With his attention momentarily deflected, his opponent takes his chance and unfurls its tail feathers. This is no mating dance! Or... is it?! ]
hellooo gorgeous
He honestly didn't expect anyone to shout back at him; that wasn't the way it usually worked, from what he had seen in movies. Kagari is caught off guard enough that he doesn't answer for a moment. His eyes catch the peacock deciding to start up a display of its own, feathers waving. He doesn't even try to stop the grin from spreading across his face.]
Better pay attention, I think it's trying to ask for your number!
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My number? [ Doesn't make his taunting any less grating.
The peacock takes Walter's inactivity as consent somehow and makes a dash for him. Walter takes notice of this a little too late however and jerks back as the peacock attempts to tackle him to the ground. ]
Get back! [ He kicks a leg out to force distance between himself and the animal. The bird may be tenacious, but it is not so unwise as to walk straight into a boot.
It hasn't lost the battle yet. Its feather begin to shake from the vibrations of its... muscles... I don't know how peacocks do this. It starts rotating in place... Walter has no idea what's going on.
The whole crowd boos. They didn't come here to see this kind of action. ]
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At least he isn't a total wreck, and Kagari thinks they may end up fighting after all when the peacock makes a move. Sadly, or rather, hilariously, that just seems to inspire a more creative display.
Even when the rest of the crowd starts jeering around him, Kagari is snorting to himself, amused by the whole ridiculous show going on in the ring. While he feels as confused as the guy in the ring looks, being able to watch it from the outside is especially entertaining.
Finally, when the peacock starts turning around like it's a display in a store, Kagari starts outright laughing.]
Are you-- are you gonna fight it, or just let it look all dolled up for you?
[At this point it doesn't even matter. Coming down here seeing all this has already been worth it.]
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Dammit. I've no time for this! [ He's got bigger and better things to do. Like unleash demons onto his world and let them run through the streets terrorizing people? Wait -- no, he's going to make the world a better place for it! ] Come here, you ... !
[ He'll make a grab for the peacock while it's turned around, hoping that it won't pop a red rocket or anything nasty like that.
Once the feathered beast is in his hands, he turns to chuck it at the nearest person outside of the ring. Who happens to be Kagari.
He might have aimed for him on purpose.
The poor peacock might not take this rejection too well. Watch out Kagari. It's coming right for your head and it's ready to take its heartbreak out on you. ]
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He grabs a handful of tail feathers and snatches at the thrashing bird's legs so that he has a second to spare to yell out, either at the man in the ring, or the bird, or both.]
Wh-- what the hell are you doing?
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I'm seeking leverage against you people. [ Meaning: you'll be his hostage. ]
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Leverage? What--
[It actually doesn't really matter what this guy is going on about, because Kagari is certainly not going anywhere without a fight. He twists in the grip, rotating his hips enough to try and get a foot hooked behind them to trip them up, wanting to at least jostle them enough for him to get free.]
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YOU... YOU LATENT CRIMINAL PEOPLEWalter has done his fair share of brawling in the past and has limited professional experience training underneath a master Samurai, but even the best of the best get tripped up once in a while. No pun intended.
He senses the foot coming, anticipating the entanglement before it even happens. There's no way of assuaging this quick enough, so instead of trying to counter, he simply grabs hold of his neck tighter to take him down with him as he drops to the floor.
Are they seriously going to wrestle in the crowd like this? Well, they didn't come here for that kind of show, but the people surrounding them seem to be taken with the turn of events. Leaving the real peacock ignored, they start backing up to make room for a misshapen circle for their fight to take place in. ]
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While he's never really had any style or finesse to his way of fighting, all Kagari cares about now is causing the biggest amount of pain in the shortest amount of time. To that end, he's jamming an elbow backwards in a short, sharp jab and reaching for Walters leg; see how he likes having it pulled in the wrong direction.]
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He grunts in his efforts, trying to wrap the bow of leg around his neck, seeing as how he's... down there, anyway. ]
Why you...! [ With his hands free, he grabs for his arms, yanking them down to his sides and keeping them immobile.
The crowd is seriously getting a kick out of this and are placing their bets. ]
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