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?
|
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?)
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the meme! ] |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
GOD BLESS
She managed to take a quick glance, though. As much as she disagrees with Kogami's actions in the past, she can't disregard that he does have a nice body... but that's not the point. ]
Will you be fine like that?
[ No, she's stopped looking at him by the time she poses the question. Not to mention, the ViViD simulation has ended and now they're just in a white room with consoles and headsets. Maybe it's time to head out into the city. ]
no subject
It's all fine, let's go outside.
[Outside somewhere where they can have this... conversation.]
no subject
They end up in the streets of the entertainment district, where there are gaming places in almost every corner, casinos, and a few food stalls that look a bit rundown. Frankly, any of these places are not where Akane wants to have a serious conversation in.
So she picks out her CereVice from her pocket. She's learned a lot from that Powerpoint, so she has a bit of a handle of how things work. ]
There's a park just a few blocks away.
no subject
[Some place without distractions. He watches her piqued interest in the video games, but she always seems to have the right priorities. Then again, he shouldn't be a priority, however he promised he wouldn't run. None of the drones he's seeing around appear to have any interest in him, which means he ought to be safe here. That's the only thing he's concerned about.
That after all he did, he's still afraid to die even though he finally solved Sasayama's cold case murder and put a close to it himself.
Before long they're at the park where he spots a table and elects to sit there.
He doesn't say anything yet, figuring he better let her vent her frustrations with him.]
no subject
I can't believe you, [ are the first things that come out of her mouth. And she would continue, but she's muffling up a sob. She isn't going to cry, not here, not right now. ] Idiot.
no subject
I did what had to be done.
[Though he looks away as well. He never wanted to hurt her, not the girl who he thinks is a blessing to him and the law, but sometimes things had to be done as they were. He gave Tsunemori the chance, but Makishima outsmarted her and he didn't want her hurt further.]
THIS IS SO PAINFUL
But what's past is past. Kogami said that the next time they meet, they may be enemies; but right now, it doesn't feel like it. Perhaps they can work together again... but she'd distance herself. She won't dedicate anything to this man. Not until she feels that he deserves it. ]
And? What are you planning to do now? There is no Sibyl System here.
you're giving me feels stop it
He doesn't blame her for wanting to distance herself. Her belief in the law and how Kogami stained it, anyone would be offended by him. Still, he will ensure her safety, ensure her happiness because she deserves it. After all she's been through... she deserves her happiness.]
Investigate as to what's going on. If anything we can call this a kidnapping, therefore I'd like to investigate who did this, how, and perhaps if this is all a giant holofield that we can't log out of. However, given some others that I've seen here, it's apparent that something is going on that I wonder if a high leveled hacker is involved who is capable of recreating people and personalities as well as knowing what happened to them.
[He's speaking of Kagari...]
quietly drops thread...
As for Kagari... she did meet him. And she couldn't believe what she saw, but it's the optimistic young girl in her that believes that the Kagari she saw was real. He was alive, and the two of them talked so casually. But this happy memory only lasts for a short while; if Kagari is here - who shouldn't even be breathing, then nobody is safe.
Makishima may be here, too. As well as the other criminals they've used their Dominators on. ]
I want to do the same thing. [ Her words are firm, and commanding. You did wrong, Shinya Kogami. You pay the price; you do what she says. ] Ideally, the best way to get answers is to go straight to the top: the CEO.
oh okay then if that's how you feel about it
Though it's nice to see that she's actually trying to play the Inspector role with Kogami. Even though he's no longer an enforcer, and likely no longer wanted by Sibyl, she's still trying to keep that relationship between them despite her tough act. He sees through you, Tsunemori.]
Let's ask around and see who the top brass is. Given what we're dealing with, it's highly unlikely they're someone who's going to advertise who they are.
i have no feelings i've turned them off
The issue is knowing who to ask. [ Her eyes follow the passersby, and once she's had enough, she just looks forward. ] My idea is that it's CERES responsible for all this. It was talked about in the presentation.
i see so you're inhuman
[Which is worrisome in and of itself. It's like Makishima all over again. They knew the guy's name, but could never track him down. When they did, all hell broke loose.]
i'm a drone
It's just the method that may be difficult.
no subject
Precisely. And since you don't have Sibyl here to help you judge, that means there's no system on your side. In fact, the system is on the side of whoever had brought us here.
no subject
This was online in the simulation.
[ She expects at least a bit of shock from the other, and that's what she wants to see. ]
no subject
Use it to check my crime coefficient.
[Half out of curiosity, half to see if Sibyl's judgment really reaches here. Now he believes her, but something seems really fishy. None of the drones here have tagged him and he should have been hauled off to a facility to be executed, yet none of that has happened.]
no subject
User authentication, Inspector Akane Tsunemori. Dominator Usage Approved.
Communication error, system link cannot be established.
[ And she sets the gun back down. ]
It's offline.
no subject
I don't believe it's entirely odd that it works in the simulations, though that also means our captors know about Sibyl. Perhaps we could go as far as to say that maybe they intend to create their own version of it.
no subject
Then we'll need to work fast.
Ginoza, Kunizuka, and Kagari can help, I'm sure of it.
no subject
[Rather, something has to be done. Kogami doesn't know Sibyl's true form, but Makishima did tell him it wasn't worth protecting. A system that wouldn't take down a psychopath, a system that demoted him because he wanted Makishima to meet the same fate as his subordinate... he can say he's not a fan of it either.]
no subject
Hold on; maybe not Kagari.
[ he's been through enough. even though he's an enforcer and his life now is to risk his life for others, akane doesn't want to subject him to any more danger. ]