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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no subject
You're the one who implied the situation had an explanation. Are you going to share what that is? I was going to allow that to wait until you were out of your predicament.
[ ...He looks down at him, still looking pretty unimpressed, but maybe the tiniest bit apologetic, because he realizes his instructions were unclear. ] I meant sideways. Sideways down the wall to find an interruption in the magnetic pull.
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[WELL, SHIT, TOGAMI!
Leon's face scrunches up in pink embarrassment. Ugh! He braces his back against the wall to slowly crawl his way back up it, pushing up slowly off his feet and hands. It's about half as awkward to look at as he feels right now, but his awkward-feels levels are off the charts. There is definitely no eye contact involved in this process.]
--That was totally your fault, you're the one who said it like that!
[And he's not explaining the situation anymore, letting his silence on that speak for itself. It can wait until he's not . . . here.
He finally shoots Togami an irritated glance as he starts scooting down the wall.]
I bet I'm gonna end up stuck to you. Just watch.
no subject
He follows Leon down the wall at a cautious distance, arms crossed. ]
no subject
[He's heading for the edge of the wall, where it corners back behind him. Admittedly, this is a pretty good idea; whatever force is acting between the wall and the collar probably isn't going to be able to stick him to the corner edge. Not that he understands the science of why--it just feels obvious. You wouldn't stick a magnet to the corner of a fridge. That's him right now, a fridge magnet.
It's slow going, though. He keeps edging along, mostly paying attention to Togami.]
So this's the first thing that happened t'you, huh? I'm startin' to think it's always some weird shit like this.
no subject
[ If you don't want something to happen, then it happening is simply unacceptable. That's only logical! Of course.
...Though it's not like he really wanted any of this situation to be happening, himself. ] What other "weird shit" are you using as evidence for this?
no subject
[THAT'S GREAT.
Okay, in all fairness, he barely knows Togami. Maybe he's the sort of guy who's secretly kind of crude? But if he is, that's just even more unexpected. Leon's only experience with him--that he remembers--mostly cemented him as someone who was coolly above it all, with a major stick up his ass. So far he doesn't have much reason to think he was wrong, either.
Sure it was just quoting Leon, but it's still surprising enough to be funny, and Leon appreciates a reason to laugh right now. So he does, as he keeps inching along the wall, expression lighting up. So close now to the corner . . . ]
Ha ha ha! Whatever, you gotta save that for when we really need some comedy around here! Ah, guess that's most o' the time . . . anyway, all I meant is somethin' weird's always goin' on. When I first got here, I got dragged into this huge nerd convention, y'know? Like with panels and merchandise and stuff? It really sucked, but not as bad as this. After that there was this photo shoot. It's like sometimes they just come get you and throw you in a bus and drag you off somewhere you can't get outta until they're done with you. That's what I meant.
no subject
[ It's very important to immediately dispel any idea that Togami would ever say that on his own, ever.
Once that's over with though, he takes his time to digest Leon's explanation. He's certainly been kidnapped a couple times himself... but as a regular occurrence? There's no way such a hopeless situation could be true, right? He's not willing to accept being so powerless so easily. ]
And you've never figured out how to... stop being kidnapped?
no subject
[He edges--aha. He's at the corner, and he tries sliding off of the wall, which works. Awesome. He's a little wobbly for a moment, having gotten used to the support against his back, and more importantly, he's not sure where to go that's not going to end up with him stuck to someone . . . but he's free. Leon stretches his arms over his arm, enjoying the feeling while it lasts. Just in case it doesn't.]
Ahhh, awesome, it worked! That was pretty smart, even if you totally screwed it up at first! Anyway, the convention thing . . . everyone ends up here the same way, and I got here straight from that. So you could count that as kidnappin', but then we were all kidnapped from home, so whatever.
no subject
...I'll just make sure not to foolishly accept any invitations past this current scenario that is against my will, then. [ Simple!! ]
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[Talk shit get . . . abducted to public events with buffets and . . . you know.
Leon keeps his distance, trying to place himself in space as far from the wall as possible without being near any other human being, especially Togami. Now that he's free, it's awesome, but it's also weirdly more limiting; now he has to actually pay attention to not getting stuck again.]
You think we can get outta here? I totally managed to escape the last one, so I got experience in jailbreaking these gigs!
no subject
But he lets it slide. In another circumstance he might be provocative and mention it, but they were already going to discuss that shortly, anyway. Aaand... it would be useful to have Leon stay cooperative so he can take advantage of his expertise. ] And how did you manage to escape the "last one"?
no subject
[First he has to consider what counts as the "last one." The train? Tanaka had helped him get out of that situation--but that had seemed to be a weird, creepy accident, not actually forced. No one had tried to keep them in the car other than their own paranoia. (Leon's, really.) So that would make it--]
It was this weird photoshoot thing. We needed a distraction, so we made one! It worked pretty good, actually . . . it was totally my idea, ha ha! You think that'd work this time? Maybe if we could, like, get everyone into one area, they'd all stick together except us, and we could just waltz outta here!
. . . I guess that'd be a dick move, though.
[That miiiight piss off anyone caught in the clusterfuck, whoops.]
no subject
That won't help us find the exit... Although it would be convenient for freeing up our range of mobility.
[ But how would they even convince everyone to gather in the same place? It would be easy if they're all stupid, but an intelligent person isn't going to fall for transparent trickery. ...Probably. ]
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[The Golden Rule of Dick Moves: don't get caught.
Not that Leon knows how to pull this off. He holds himself fairly still--one wrong move could mean colliding into Togami, the wall, or some rando--but he does his best to take a look around the room for anything that might be of use.]
Shit, it ain't as easy this time . . . for one thing, we've gotta keep far away from it!
no subject
[ He suggests it in a slightly lower voice, so he isn't overheard. But he frowns as soon as he says it—no, that plan is losing sight of the goal entirely... ]
Well, if there is one, we'd be better off going there ourselves, and we don't want them rushing in to block it. But if we could get them to indicate where it was...