arkproject: (Default)
Catherine Chun ([personal profile] arkproject) wrote in [community profile] maskormenacelogs2016-11-11 05:02 pm

November Swear-In -- Virtual Reality Edition!

WHO: November Swear-In!
WHERE: An auditorium in Heropa... technically.
WHEN: November 11
WHAT: A whole lot of virtual reality.
WARNINGS: Completely optional insanity effects possible (see the OOC post and links below for details). Otherwise totally peewee-friendly.


The physical location of the swear-in is an auditorium in Heropa, where guests are greeted by ushers, shown to a seat, and then told to take out their phones and plug them into an outlet set into their chair. It's a bit like being in a movie theatre with nothing on screen-- the seats are comfortable, the lighting ambient, and once the phone is plugged in, a message pops up.


Hi! Welcome to the Vivarium!

This is a virtual reality [link] experience unlike any you've experienced before. The Vivarium is fully immersive in every way and almost indistinguishable from your living embodied self. By hitting yes below, you agree to that experience and any potential existential questioning that may arise as a consequence.

Inside you'll find a variety of settings and activities. At any time you can bring up the control scheme and opt to fast-warp to a different setting, or to leave. You can also alter your own appearance or locate others, contact them, and fast-warp to their location.

The Vivarium is not dangerous. Things that occur inside the VR environment will not impact your physical body. At the end, you will come back to yourself in your chair either at the end of these three hours, or when you choose to, whichever comes first.

If you have any prevailing concerns, please use your control scheme to contact the administrator and programmer, Catherine Chun [link], or for emergency responses, contact security [link].

Thank you, and enjoy!

YES, TAKE ME IN!
NOT INTERESTED


    > APPLE PICKING.
Everyone spawns in in a classic apple orchard, long austere rows of grown apple trees broken by messy sweeps of leaves and fallen apples on the ground. There's mysteriously no employees around, just empty old-style wooden buckets and a long expanse of clear blue sky. The air is shockingly crisp, the scent of leaves on the wind is pungent, and overall the whole experience is as real as one could ask. Even eating one of the apples (encouraged!) tastes like an apple. You aren't sure how, but you remain convinced it tasted like an apple, despite the taste itself not really coming through…

Have fun wandering around socializing, catching people as they try to reach the higher-up apples on the trees, or go exploring-- because there's a lot more out there. If you don't use the control scheme, you can reach two of the other three environments just by legging it. At some point as you walk through the surrounding forest, it turns from deciduous to tropical, and the rushing roar of water comes to your ears as you approach a waterfall with a long, impossible drop off. A prompt comes up in front of your eyes as you stand near the edge:


    > UNDERWATER.
J U M P


If you follow the instructions, you go soaring down the hundred meter fall, simulated air whipping past you. You hit the water and cut through it as smoothly as butter, with no impact at all, and somewhere in the transition find you have diving gear on, or can mysteriously breathe without difficulty. Whichever one your character would default to.

The surface disappears as the momentum carries you down and down, and soon the only source of light is the ambient blue glow of an installation on the ocean floor. You can explore the echoing, empty halls and industrialized structures and find clues of the former habitants, who seem to have been deep sea miners and scientists. If you fast-warp in, that's where you'll arrive, and you'll have to go out the airlock to reach the water.

Or you can explore the ocean surroundings, which are all fantastical and not remotely Earth-like: gentle giants, elaborate coral reefs in the shallows, kelp forests, corpses of terrifying megafauna, or get into trouble exploring with some of the more predatory creatures.
    > HAUNTED MANSION.
If, instead, you keep venturing through the woods, time starts to pass more rapidly, almost without you noticing. The canopy of leaves obscures the light increasingly as you go on, until the bright mid-morning of the orchard is overtaken by dim twilight. Inexorably, you will eventually find the requisite spooky mansion in the woods, yard overgrown if it ever existed at all. The eerie encroaching darkness of the surroundings makes the single flickering candle in an upper story window all the more stark.

Upon entering the house into the grand foyer, characters will be prompted again:

ARE YOU A GHOST?


If they say yes, congratulations, they are now playing the part of the ghost haunting the mansion! They can lure other characters, play tricks on them, and plant clues about their creepy backstory. They will find themselves now invisible on command, able to pass through walls, and fly, as long as they stay within the confines of the house. Feel free to write this whichever way you wish-- this can be as genuinely scary or as silly as you like. Just make sure you don't scare someone so much they call security!

    > ISOLATED ROOFTOPS.
Need some peace and quiet? You can go to some isolated urban rooftops overlooking a bustling futuristic city at the hush of dawn, accessible only by control scheme command. The only noises are the faint trickles of people getting up to start their day, walking around below like smears of ink on the ground, so far away on your elevated rooftop as to be indistinct. Standard video game invisible barriers prevent you from jumping off this one, and there's no rooftop access door to explain how you got up here.

It's just tranquil, and very little else: the quintessential space to think. If you run into someone else on the same rooftop, you can fast-warp out and respawn on a different one to get some privacy, or you can share it. Although… being too alone might be a bad idea, as thinking too much, being too introspective, is one of the fastest ways to start going insane.



 

catalysmic: (oversight)

[personal profile] catalysmic 2016-11-11 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Catherine!"

Betty hadn't exactly known what to expect on logging in, but the sight of her housemate was actually less startling than the rows of trees casting shadows in the sun. It takes her a moment - the moment Catherine greets her - to remember this is a virtual reality.

"This is incredible! I can... I can smell them!" And touch them. There's a lot of tree touching happening here. She knows what you've said, but this is really something else.
dirtyredneck: (Action Confused (1))

[personal profile] dirtyredneck 2016-11-12 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
Daryl didn't look exactly like himself. His mental image of himself was far less flattering than he was in reality. A little shorter, muscles a bit bigger, more brutish over all. His hair a dark curtain that hid his eyes almost completely. What scars he had prominent and ugly, covering most of his exposed skin even if they were faded to the point of being nigh invisible in the real world. Around his right wrist was a delicate looking chain made of blue and yellow metals that was definitely connected to another imPort, though visually it just seemed to disappear into the around him.

He didn't really seem to notice the difference in his appearance, though, if the way he was looking around and poking at the nearest orchard tree was any indication. His head snapped around to face her when she appeared and it took him a moment of blinking before he let his hand drop and his shoulders relax a little (not that it changed much).

"It's different. It don't feel fake."
indocile: (064)

[personal profile] indocile 2016-11-12 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
Margaux is not completely -

The explanation was good - sufficient to set her at ease enough to click yes and try it out - and she is having fun with the novelty of the whole thing, looking the way she always looks and dressed in a soft tunic and trousers, barefoot like some kind of fucking hippie. It's just the explanation still left a few holes in her ability to grasp exactly what's going on, and while on the one hand that's totally fine, she's for now prepared to accept that there are other people here competent in the things she doesn't understand who will make sure everything is okay, there are some things at which she still sort of tilts her head like a confused labrador.

Catherine is one of them. It isn't a bad thing, just a puzzle; that computers when turned on and emptied out of dust and debris can do things like this, that's pretty neat. How it works that Catherine is here and also out there and also in a lot of boxes with wire in her room, that's weird.

"I like it," she says, but sort of off-hand, distracted - "Are you still in the computer boxes?"
dirtyredneck: (Neutral Interested (04))

[personal profile] dirtyredneck 2016-11-12 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
He nodded slowly for a second before the nod became a shake of his head, "What'd'ya consider 'off'?"

Daryl didn't know what was intentional and not about the world. Like, for instance, her appearance. She was dressed in what he assumed was a familiar and comfortable outfit. But her hair was cut very differently than she'd had it when she materialized. And she seemed a little taller, too. He'd assumed it was done on purpose. Maybe because she felt 'bigger' in this place of her own making. It certainly felt like there was room to stretch one's legs.
dirtyredneck: (Neutral Disgusted or Confused (2))

[personal profile] dirtyredneck 2016-11-12 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
Daryl frowned and took a slow turn as he looked around. It wasn't a bad place, exactly, but... "It's too perfect."

He reached out to touch one of the leaves. It's color was beautiful. All the colors were. Vibrant in the way that photographs were when they did something to alter the lighting. To make the more bright and pop from the page. Make someone want to go there and see it in person.

"Like a picture."
indocile: (053)

[personal profile] indocile 2016-11-12 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
"I am also in the computer box," she says, like she's testing the idea out loud, seeing what it's shaped like. Hmmm.

That's -

Cool? Actually?

"I've never seen them turned on before," by way of explanation. "Or - not broken. I didn't know they could do all these things. Are they all like you?"

Computers, she means, because she'll definitely be grading them all on a scale of one to Catherine henceforth.
catalysmic: (anything)

[personal profile] catalysmic 2016-11-12 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
"You mean we fill in blanks individually? We taste what we expect to be tasting?" As she speaks, she picks the nearest reasonably ripe apple and breaks it into uneven halves between her hands. It has flaws like an apple. It bruises under her fingertips like an apple. Her fingertips are sticky.

(She tries, for a moment, to expect them not to be sticky.)

Catherine is offered one of the pieces, raised in the manner of a toast. Let us eat and die together, mwahahaha.
indocile: (Default)

[personal profile] indocile 2016-11-12 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
"Mm, in the dead cities." Empty shells of what they had been before the world as men knew it at the time fell apart at the seams, magic bursting out of every orifi--

Anyway. Cities aren't a thing any more, where Margaux is from, that's what we're saying here.

"How do you make a person out of a computer box? Is it hard?"

It must be hard, or all the computers would be people. Or - no, they need computers for...things, so...not people? Maybe it's just special, not hard.
snarkbot: (the brave and the gold)

Skeets | ota

[personal profile] snarkbot 2016-11-12 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ Skeets, when given full rein of the character creation scheme, it chooses something familiar but more versatile than his own body: he adapts a knight template and turns it into a familiar set of armour he once inhabited, albeit today's version has a full head-encompassing faceless helmet. Facial expressions are exhausting, okay.

UNDERWATER, Skeets can be found inside the installation, examining the clues left behind.
] Fascinating.

[ In the HAUNTED MANSION, skeets says yes to ghost on a lark and is soon floating around invisible, going through walls. When he spots someone, he realizes he has to play the role. Floating behind them, he suddenly turns visible and says: ] I believe my line is "boo".
Edited 2016-11-12 02:32 (UTC)
khajidont: (Scarab - faceless)

OTA

[personal profile] khajidont 2016-11-12 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ A ; KHAJI DA (alone) ]

[Hello, imPorts. Are you in the apple orchard? Underwater? In the haunted mansion? It doesn't really matter where you are, because no matter what, Khaji Da's appearance and demeanor will not change, no matter what. In the midst of all the imPorts, there is something that looks like the Blue Beetle, suit and all, but if you know him? You know something's off.

He is standing absolutely motionless, eerily so. Instead of his usual human tics that show through his body language, whether he's slouching or giving someone a thumbs up, he is standing straight and tall with absolutely perfect posture, arms hanging loosely at his sides, legs held shoulder-width apart.

Oh, yeah -- and he doesn't have a face. Where there's usually a face, there's simply an empty mask of black.]


[ B ; KHAJI DA (with Jaime) ; please contact me first before choosing this option because of secret ID shenanigans! I'm open to plotting this out, but definitely want to chat first. ]

[This option right here is more or less the same as the above. Khaji Da is present, faceless mask and all, and is standing perfectly, eerily still. Except this time there's something that's making him look a lot more approachable, and that's the kid standing beside him. Jaime has a very strong self-image and looks basically the same as ever, only right now, he's busy letting out an excited yell (okay, an excited shriek) as he jumps a mile high, seeing Khaji right there, in front of him.

It's not long until Jaime launches himself at Khaji (who's dutifully taller than he is, which is just rude) and wraps his arms around his neck, giving our resident creepy AI one hell of a greeting.]
Oh my god! It's you! You have a body here!

Correct.

That's so awesome!

[Khaji doesn't respond. Nor does he hug back, actually, but that doesn't seem to deter Jaime.]


[NOTE: This is a funny case, so if you want to chat more about Khaji Da, please feel free to contact me HERE. Jaime is also available alone upon request!]
hypnotherapy: what isn't yours (you can't break that)

B

[personal profile] hypnotherapy 2016-11-12 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, well. This is new! And Magicman naturally gravitates to new and interesting things.

He's a netnavi here, and he moves through virtual space quite happily. He doesn't have his gliding functions - here, in such a tightly coded space, there's no room for his own powers to breathe - but it's impressive work, so he doesn't mind a bit.
]

Well, it looks like the two of you are having fun. [ His voice is warm, and slightly amused. Jaime being happy is nice to see.

If there's anything that pings him about a certain secret identity, well...he just doesn't mention it.
] Who's your friend here, Jaime?
snowpointvictor: (Embarassed)

Haunted Mansion

[personal profile] snowpointvictor 2016-11-12 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Zoey was a bit taller in this virtual reality than she normally was, about a little bit over five and half feet. Her orange hair still spikey, was grown a little more about shoulder length and let down as well as wearing an almost pure white stylized suit.] "You could be a little bit more enthusiastic about the role? I mean if you want to go with Halloween motif." Zoey pointed out.
redshoerevenge: (twelve)

[personal profile] redshoerevenge 2016-11-12 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
Mako Mori appears as a very small, very ragged samurai, in blue, patchworked and very much fraying. Her shoes are a worn, fading red, but her sword is polished and well cared for. Her face is streaked with mud and grime, something that she doesn't seem to be aware of, and her hair is longer, her face framed in slices of blue hair that lay sharp against her jaw.

There an anger in how she moves, a warning, as she shakes off the initial entry. It does feel very real from the weight of the sword at her hip to the slightly itchy way her armor feels against her skin.

A. Orchard
Mako lifts her chin to take in the new area. It's pretty, the greens greener, the reds redder. She reaches to take an apple from a low hanging branch and realizes she's too short. Way too short.

So she glares at it for awhile before breaking out a sword that really should be used to stab at apples.

Too bad. This was war.

B. Are You A Ghost?

Yes. Mako's pretty sure she's been a ghost since her family died. A really angry, Kaiju hunting ghost. Her choice is more instinct than it is actual thought. The fact that she can drift through walls is pretty cool, though.

Is she supposed to feel cold?

She floats along behind someone and she's not quite sure she recognizes them so she reaches out with a soft unintelligible query. It's disconcerting that her fingers pass through their shoulder.


C. Rooftops

Mako sits on the edge of the rooftop, thinking, her sword across her lap, glinting as she touches the bright metal blade with her fingertips. Like her father had told her once before, it is a sword that is perfect, as it has been folded a thousand times, the steel strong, the blade sharpened without equal. She is that blade, she always has been. The Marshal had showed her how to sharpen herself year after year, how to hone herself into something deadly.

And now she was here.

Was she still supposed to be that sword? Still deadly, watchful against attack, was she supposed to be as open as she was? Her hair whips across her face and she ignores it. What did her life outside of her own world truly mean? Was peace or comfort something she ought to be allowed? Or was she supposed to be a sentinel, waiting. Waiting for a Breach.

All her life she had been waiting. Perhaps that was what she was made for, to wait for Kaiju to come, to wait with her sword at the ready, like a Jaeger waiting for its pilots in a bay long silent.
catalysmic: (how long)

[personal profile] catalysmic 2016-11-12 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
It's more symbolic if someone else hands it to you first, although the metaphor doesn't hold up.

"I... 'm not sure! I've never really noticed a difference before." But it figures Catherine would have to pay attention to things like that. "I don't even know what we have in the house. Whatever's cheapest, I guess.

"So I'm guessing this isn't someplace you've been?"
catalysmic: (australis)

[personal profile] catalysmic 2016-11-12 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
> CHAT PROGRAM.
Ross: You're not busy right now, are you?
Ross: Eh, whatever. Incoming.
-> Execute warp
... Warp in progress...
_

> Apple picking.

[But a good deal away from the orchard. Betty's walked herself into another biome, from temperate to subtropical to what feels like rainforest and the air is so moist she needs to work to breathe. It could be worse; the transition is so smooth she imagines she could have just as easily wound up in a polar desert had she walked the other way.

As it is, she's dipped into the character creation options to pick out something a little more weather appropriate. Without a sexy armor option, she's decided to use this excuse to... be an orc? It's novel and a little less stifling this way. How hard can it be to recognize the bigger, greener version of someone you may already know?]


> Isolated rooftops.
[Make that a formerly isolated rooftops. Betty spawns on yours, fully human although a little less drawn than she appears in meat-space nowadays. After taking a moment to reorient herself to being much higher up than expected, she makes a clear beeline for the other occupying silhouette. Were you trying to brood? It would be rude to > RUN. away now. Social niceties activate their trap card.]
monster_san: Polite surprise! (Suddenly discovered the CLAMP multiverse)

A

[personal profile] monster_san 2016-11-12 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[So Fuu is in the haunted mansion because where else should she be--underneath that placid, tea-drinking demeanor is a girl who likes her horror.

She said she was the ghost. She's quite enjoying this incorporeal feeling and looking forward to scaring some folks--and right there is a perfect, familiar target. She's all set to spook him thoroughly when she notices something off about him.

Where's the slouch? The teen boy posture? Any movement whatsover? Ghost-Fuu has to move in front of him to check and, well, here's a new problem.]


You had eyes in the mask last time I saw you.

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