seasonsgreetings | Event #7: Knocking on the 4th Wall (Inside the Metaverse)

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!4th wall

Event #7: Knocking on the 4th Wall (Inside the Metaverse)

Knocking on the 4th Wall
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION

Prelude (Pre 4th Wall)

On March 14th, everyone received a message. The Research Center is ready to try another test to find ways to beat the Darkness. This time the test is not done with the robots that were previously used, but instead everyone who volunteers will be participating in a virtual reality simulator. They're asked to come over to the Center on March 15th.

The researchers will explain that the purpose of this simulation is to see how several fully powered power holders fair against the Darkness. They have gathered enough data on it and the dark energy in general to determine the effects it will have on nature, monsters and wildlife if the barrier is taken off. This is the only safe way to actually test their theories.

After all the necessary explanations, everyone is asked to log in to the metaverse. Anyone logging in may notice that there are a lot of glitches as they enter.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, anyone looking at any kind of a screen (their own device, television, a digital advertisement, etc.) will have their mind sucked into the metaverse, due to the virus residing in the program. Their bodies will be left in a sleep-like state wherever they may be.

Wrong Turn at Albuquerque

The Research Center staff intended for all otherworlders to start near the Research Center so they could get used to the metaverse in peace. There are no natives in the simulator, so testing out powers around the city would have been safe as well. However, because of the glitch, people can appear anywhere, either in the city or anywhere on the segments (save from the one closed off location).

Sometimes the scenery and items in the world glitch a little bit, reminding anyone that this is the metaverse. Except the glitches weren't meant to happen. Luckily they're all mostly aesthetical, but some items may work differently than they should. You have a spoon? It actually works like a fork.

Luckily, this doesn't mean they will be without any items. They can open a menu with the device on their wrist that lets them get anything at all from Riki's Rewards during the simulator without any cost. They can think of this as special opportunity to test out all kinds of items before buying them, as they work exactly the same as they would in normal space.

For some reason, the Shady Shop also appears in the menu. That was not anyone's intention as the items are, well, shady.

Other than the two shops there are basic potion and magical item menus that people can use where needed. Even vehicles, such as airships can be summoned through the menus for easier traveling in the segments.

Some might find the glitches concerning and wish to return and tell the researches about them. The problem with that is is that clicking "Log Off" won't do anything at all, even if it's supposed to boot someone out of the metaverse. But that's not the end of the strange things going on.

You're in the Metaverse Now

Along with the otherworlders that were participating in the test, others start to join in as well due to unforeseen circumstances. Luckily, they have the same "settings" as everyone else, so they're not completely without aid wherever they end up in. They also have all of their powers unlocked for the duration of their stay in the metaverse (including all animal transformations).

As part of the strange glitch going on everyone also has access to any powers from previous worlds, if they have experienced other places before. It would seem the powers can also be shared through the item inventory, should anyone want to temporary use another world's abilities. This is possible with even a person's native powers.

And as if that wasn't enough, people who weren't on Ellipsa start appearing as well. Anyone who doesn't currently have a body on Ellipsa has a mark somewhere on their body, signaling that they're just data. This mark is somehow related to the characters that has it and emits a faint light.

All of the people who are just visiting will also be able to enjoy the metaverse the same way as anyone else. They have been sorted into a Seasons and have access to full powers - and the same item inventory. All that's different from the others is that they have no physical body to return to in this world.

Communication is the key

During the metaverse adventures, people are able to communicate through their devices, but the messages will not go out to the "normal" network. So the messages are only between those in the metaverse, but at least the network works the same way as it would in the "normal world".

Happy communicating.

It's Getting Dark, Too Dark to See

The goal of the metaverse is to have a safe environment to test powers against the Darkness. All of the barriers have been taken out, except for the one surrounding the city of Nightwake. The city acts as a safe haven to anyone who needs a break or doesn't want to fight.

Everyone is encouraged to go to where the barriers used to be and use their full, unlocked powers against everything and anything the darkness throws at them to see how well they can fight against it.

Thanks to all powers being unlocked, destroying enemies powered up by the Darkness is a lot easier, but pushing back the approaching darkness still needs something more than just raw power. Though with enough power holders of different seasons working together and ~~crossing the different seasonal element streams~~ fusing together different elements from each season in a single attack, it's possible to halt the advance, much like a barrier would, for 24 hours.

Due to the barriers being off, all creatures are stronger due to the Darkness's influence. Even creatures that normally have no danger level can now at least do Dark damage. Some Slime especially may seek vengeance.

Unfortunately, due to the weird glitch in the system, everyone inside the metaverse is able to feel pain when they originally weren't supposed to, to make the experience safe. It feels very real, and there's a chance any non-lethal wounds will appear on the person's real body.

Effects of "The Darkness"

The Darkness is slowly expanding from all sides. Very slowly, at a snail's pace. Everything it touches turns into black sand, before transforming into something different. Some may even recognize the things that rise from the sand, as they're monsters, fauna or people from their own world, made into more twisted forms. They may even be creatures from a popular media from back home... or at least, someone's home (players').

If a Power Holder walks into the Darkness, they won't immediately turn into anything. Instead the transformation is slow and painful. Leaving the area will stop the transformation, but any damage already done remains. If the person changes completely, they might lose their sense of self completely and attack anything in their sights.

What they turn into depends on the individual (player's choice) and the only way to reverse the changes is to die. Luckily that isn't permanent even in the metaverse. The person just gets booted out, but can re-enter anytime they want to (or in this case; is forced to). This was told to anyone before entering the program, so they could go all out and test limits as much as they want.

Wait... Did I Save?

A screen appears either when someone dies or gets forcefully booted out of the metaverse. It has two options: Remember or Forget.

Clicking "Remember" will automatically save everything that happened into a person's memory and proceed to boot them out. Clicking "Forget" will lead the person to a series of "Are you Sure" pop up windows. As the very last resort, the window suggests an option to only partially forget events that transpired in the metaverse. Choosing to still forget everything will make the person wake up from a long, dreamless sleep. The memories erased cannot be found later on, as they have been completely erased from their metaverse-selves. Even someone telling them what happened won't sound familiar.

This option is also available for any visitors during the time they're visiting. Whenever they die they get booted out and can be immediately returned to the metaverse (by the power of players) with or without their memories, depending on what they chose.

Of course, anyone can then tell the person about the very crazy stunts they made the last time they were in the metaverse. They could be complete lies, but they wouldn't have any solid proof, other than "I would never do that".

Time to Say Goodbye

Finally, on March 31st, a message comes from the outside. It's telling everyone stuck in the metaverse that they can finally leave out of their own will and stay out this time. People can then choose to leave immediately be pressing by pressing the "Log Off" button on their screen or take a moment to say goodbye to the temporary visitors of the metaverse.

The screen asking if someone wants to "Remember" or "Forget" appears, once again. This time the Forget option is even more insistent on asking if the person is sure about their choice, especially since the memories that are erased can't be taken back later.

Once everyone who exists on Ellipsa has returned to their bodies, the metaverse will be shut down. All visitors have been booted out and returned to where they came.

OOC TIPS

• Ask 4th Wall related questions here. Read the 4th wall FAQ before asking them.

• You don't need to comment on the plotting post to participate & anyone can participate in the 4th wall (there's no separate invitation needed). However, if you wish to app in later, you need an invite if you're not a friend of the mods.

• This post is open to tag and top-level by everyone! Those arriving for the 4th wall can write 4TH WALL or VISITOR on their post and/or link their top level here!

• Check the Opt-in top-level if you're considering bringing in a character that already exists in the game.

• Smut is not allowed on the event post, so if your thread is heading that way, please move it to a separate entry (like to your musebox or characters' journal).

• Remember to content and spoiler warn as necessary!

• Reminder to players in the game that this month is Activity Check-in month and check-in ends on March 31th, at 23:59 PST.

code bases by tricklet

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Some are driven back or fizzle, but more start mounting in layers. Rinku thinks back. She takes a deep breath and breathes out fire to match the wall.]

[Even with Rinku and Mecchan gradually less weepy (and it not having been his fault that they cried to begin with), Hijikata feels obligated to seriously stop being so pessimistic. He'd be kicking himself if he ruined Rinku's good attitude!]

I don't know how we'd do it either, but you're right. Where there's a will, there's a way!

[He doesn't fully believe that right now, but they can't afford to be quitters about the situation! If nothing else, they're a big step further to at least being able to combat the Darkness than they were before.]

Woah!

[Amy leaps back, surprised at what Rinku did.]

Wow, that’s so cool!

Levi likes being near him as well, though he's perfectly content to look at the same direction, rather than each other. But this is nice.

Mostly. He stares down the seedlings for quite a while -- there's dirt on them -- before finally relenting and picking one up to plant in the box. It's fine. He can wash his hands later. He just happens to have endless portable water at his disposal; how very convenient for him.

"Huh," he says, pressing the soil around the seedling to steady it. He tells himself since this is a 'virtual' world, bacteria probably doesn't exist here. "Does that mean I've got your season to blame for your newfound love of playing in the mud?"

[Mecchan makes a tentative happy noise and stops crying, although he's still clinging onto his trainer. Rinku smiles and nods excitedly.]

Yeah! Maybe it's kinda like... hmm. They're elements, and people in really olden times thought the world was made out of them, right? ...I don't know where I'm going with it.

Evangeline-neechan taught me! She's been showing me all kinds of stuff I should do to fight better.

[Rinku says as she starts waving and snapping the light stick again like one would use a whip to drive off coyotes or something.]

She’s really awesome, isn’t she?

[She says as she starts to whip up a tornado, leaping into the fray and spinning around with her hammer as she does.]

[Without further ado, he puts a hand on her shoulder and teleports them both to the summer guild's headquarters in Solarpeak. With the barrier around the city still operational, they're at leisure to chat a little more without being on guard here! He can't very well justify monopolising Wendy's time when she could be assisting more people who find themselves in trouble like he did (and he should, frankly, do the same), but there's got to be time for a few questions while he types up their observations in the online log.]

That big attack you did just now, the Horizon one... was that a special move? You had feathers for a moment there!

[He wants to learn that too, but he strongly suspects that it's not a transferrable skill!]

No, I get what you mean.

[Kind of!]

First of all, we need to see if our magic is as effective against the Darkness in the real world as in the simulation. I guess it'll be a challenge that not everyone's actually as advanced as we were in there, but it should be enough to make a dent in it and assess the state of the world outside, and we'll take it from there.

It's changed a little here - he's definitely not as fit as he had been even right before his death. Death and an easier life have made him a little softer, but he can live with that. Still, this is reminding him how good it feels when he is in better form. Perhaps he should make a better effort when they're sent back to Ellipsa. His arm is, in fact, slowly regenerating, maybe that will make things easier. It still has a long way to go, though.

"You know, neither have I. We used to hold training contest days in the Corps. Any soldier could compete in various events, and there were some team competitions as well. Things could get pretty heated, as you might imagine."

There's a bit of nostalgia on his face as he looks back down the way they came. "Perhaps we could do it again sometime?"

Darkness...right. Perhaps he should be doing something about that. Erwin feels a little niggle of guilt; normally he uses his arm as an excuse not to fight anymore, even though he feels as though he ought to - this is their new home now. He should want to protect it, and does, but he's not as strong as he used to be, and the last time he defied a request to stay behind and away from danger, things didn't go so well.

He's not going to do that to Levi and Hange again.

Of course, here he does have both arms, and it's not a "real" world, so he doesn't really have a good excuse for his conscience this time. Maybe it'll get the better of him eventually, but right now, he's gardening.

Still, he smiles pleasantly enough at the young man. "I see. Be careful, then."

The recognition takes him a little by surprise. He has been quite a bit of a hermit for the last several months...perhaps he should get out more.

"Yes, that's right. And you are?"

[Despite his insistence that she could rest and he’d take care of things, Frieda was on her feet and helping out like nothing was out of the ordinary.

It was a relief in some sense, but he remained worried that she might be over doing it.]

Are you sure you’re alright? I can take care of the rest, it’s more important that you get something to eat right now than I.

[He says like he hasn’t been trying to get her to sit and eat this whole time.]

Hence the "or not."

[ she does sound a little wistful about it. she's got Samael now, true, but one Arbiter is no match for an entire team's worth of emotion humming up against your soul. ]

...I'm glad she's ended up somewhere relatively kinder. You as well.

It's one I just came up with today, actually. I used to work with a wizard who specialized in stone magic, so I drew some inspiration from his spells for the magic this world gave me. The feathers were because of my Dragon Force, what happens when a Dragon Slayer draws out their full power. The others grow scales, but Grandine had feathers, so I do too.

[ she hums a little in reply, the sound vaguely fussy. ]

That is unfortunate in itself ...

[ ...and that's a small mercy. she gets him gathered up and then laid out correctly, unflinching in the face of the gore and still with that brisk-but-gentle bedside manner. then she presses bloodied hands to the largest uninterrupted patch of flesh he's got. ]

You may wish to brace yourself.

[ that's about all the warning she gives before she starts healing the damage, which— it does in fact hurt. not as much as being exploded did in the first place did—mostly because she does her best to block as much pain as she can—but the way she rejoins nerves does not leave them entirely without complaint. ]

[Granted, if Hijikata knew that Erwin got sucked into the simulation without having signed up for it, he'd cut him all the slack in the world. If that had happened to him, he'd feel less than motivated to pick up the mission too (though chances are he'd end up on the frontlines anyway, in the end). He offers the other man a hand.]

"Toshirou Hijikata. I'm with the Nightwake City police."

[Clearly, Erwin's got to wonder how he knows his name, so he adds:]

"I know a few of your Survey Corps members."

[That's arguably an understatement, given how he's gone on multiple quests and other missions with Hange, Levi, Jean, Eren and others and seen far too many memories of their world, up to and including of the Rumbling. Given how much ass they all kick if necessary, each in their own way, it's all the more surprising to see their Commander using the opportunity for gardening. But as they shake hands, Hijikata realises... in the real world, Erwin only has one arm, doesn't he? Maybe he simply wanted to enjoy being whole again for a little while.]

[She laughs a little and takes a seat at the table rather than going back to the cabinet to fetch glasses for them.]

If you insist on spoiling me, I won't complain!

[Besides, she can hardly reassure him that her titan powers make her a lot more durable than a regular human - that's a secret she's still keeping from him, after all. Whatever it is that he cooked, she'll dig in as soon as it's served (not before downing a couple glasses of water, though - that's what her body needed the most!).]

Mmm. Oh, I did miss your food, Jade. Eating in the simulation wasn't the same at all! I hope you didn't feel lonely, having to cook without me.

[A little tease... but Floyd did tell her that Jade was a clingy boy!]

Yeah! You get it!

[Rinku cheers as Amy knocks slimes flying. She cuts a swath through them and switches back to fire, where she forms a sword out of it.]

Because she works so hard, and she makes people happy who feel left out or lonely, even though her home's messed up too. I want to do the same kind of thing!

Edited 2024-03-23 23:46 (UTC)

Yeah! A bunch of us go on missions or quests together anyway, maybe we can... I don't know, test how combining different powers works?

How would you do that? I’m curious!

[And Amy fires up another breeze as she does.]

Evangeline’s situation is so unique… then again, a lot of ours are!

"There aren't any actual nacho chips in the burger but there is nacho cheese sauce. You want me to hold that?" He asked as he grabbed the beer and dropped it off on the table.

"If I can grab one from the fridge for my Dad, why can't I grab one for you? Like, seems silly. Sure, I'm not old enough to drink. But I do it anyway," Paulo said with a shrug.

"Alright!" Paulo needed something bigger. He focused on an idea. What was better than fire? He formed a big glob of lava and threw it in the lion's face. The metal lion thrashed and Paulo yelped as he felt the heat of the lava splash on him. He fell off and scrambled away. Ow! Fuck!

"Fire doesn't burn but lava does?! What the fuck?!"

I dunno!

[She slices through a slime with the fire sword.]

But helping out here's a start, right? I just figure having fun every day will help!

Ha! That’s a good start!

[And an idea crosses her mind.]

Rinku, how about we combine our powers? Let’s see what they do!

[And she’ll hold out her hand.]

It would seem so.

[A flick of her wrist, dismissing the shadows and flames for the time being- even if she did still float ominously with her cloak billowing around her. She noticed that fire in this stranger's voice, but it did not seem to be directed at her...]

...This is a simulation, of a sort, to test our magic at its strongest. You may find you have attained some new powers here, also.

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Event #7: Knocking on the 4th Wall (Inside the Metaverse)

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Re: City pt2

Re: 1 - City

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