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

[seasonsmods]

Knocking on the 4th Wall
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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

Comments

[itsamoray]

I bet I can get us in for free even if it ain't.

[And that sounds like just as fun as the places themselves.]

Lead the way Cuttlefishie.

[And he folds his arms behind his head as he walks along with her.]

Soooo... what do you want to know about Jade? We've been together since we hatched so I got all the tea you could want, and I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't bust his balls in front of cute girls.

[urtitan]

[He already referred to himself and Jade as 'elvers' before, and how he says they 'hatched' together... Frieda is very pleased to get outright confirmation on what she'd already been 99% sure of. Naturally, she wants to know more about the twins' life in the sea! But first, she needs to introduce herself so he'll stop it with the nickname, cute as it may arguably be.]

My name is Frieda.

[And, with that out of the way, she first of all wants to get confirmation of whether that cannibalism example Jade brought up in one of their ethics arguments holds any water!]

When you hatched, was it at home with your parents? Human babies need a lot of care, but Jade keeps making it sound like like everyone's on their own in the sea.

[That is what he talks like, even if he pretends to be speaking in general rather than for himself!]

[itsamoray]

Yeah that’s what I said: Cuttlefishie.

[He sticks out his tongue playfully. He’s just going to be cheeky about it. The nickname stays.]

Home? Naw, eels lay eggs real far away from home. Uh, let’s see… Jade hatched first. Don’t remember much, but I do remember the first time I saw him. I was just vibing in my egg, and there he was. We started making faces at each other, got him laughing. He seemed neat so I came out.

After that we had to find our way back. But we just kinda… knew the way? It was real dangerous, but Jade had fun ideas even back then. I’m glad we survived together.

[urtitan]

[So much for being called by her name... oh well, she can deal with it. She is an older sister! As he goes on to explain, it becomes clear that he was the last-born, be it between just the two of them or any more that had something happen to them. At that last part, she can't help but smile. Floyd seems innocent, in a way.]

Your parents must've been glad, too. You two are their only children, right?

[She can't imagine laying her only batch of eggs in the remote wilderness and just leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves! But eel merfolk parents must have differently wired brains compared to humans.]

I have five siblings, myself. But only one of them is here with me.

[And the other ones will all die together with her. It makes her heart ache again for a moment, but her inherited will has long overruled her grief (or so she thinks).]

[itsamoray]

As far as I know. If they had any from previous clutches that didn’t make it, they haven’t told us. They were real glad when we came home though. But they’re still big worriers, especially mama. Calls us and sends us messages every day.

[The number of siblings she mentions actually manages to get him to stop in his tracks. That’s an obscene number by eel standards!]

Five?! Man, Cuttlefishie, that’s a whole lot. Ain’t it hard to feed all of you? It’s hard enough keeping Jade fed.

[Ah, yes perfect timing to throw in embarrassing baby Jade facts.]

He was worse when we were young. He used to start gnawing his own tailfin when he got hungry. Always looked like he lost a fight with a bunch of crabs. I had to start layin’ on it to get him to break the habit.

[urtitan]

[Frieda really struggles to understand how such a loving mother wouldn't have kept her eggs close to her, but it must boil down to simply the different nature of merpeople - a nature Floyd promptly demonstrates in his shock over her big family. And cute as the mental image of baby Jade gnawing on his tailfin is, hunger is a serious problem! She's glad that Floyd helped him stop doing that, else who knows how ratty his tail would look by now?]

Humans don't need as much food as merfolk.

[She's seen Jade gulp down multiple fish while cooking and then still eat a good share of the meal too - she'd be overstuffed!]

You two have been living on land for a while now, haven't you? Jade told me that your parents sent you to attend magic school there. Surely, there's enough food for everybody?

[Granted, she doesn't know how hard life is for beastmen or fae and if they also have to hunt to survive in their realms, but as far as she knows, at least some of the students are humans! They would've been able to tell the others about agriculture and livestock cultivation.]

[itsamoray]

Hey, don’t compare us ALL to Jade. He’s kind of weird by our standards too. Not as weird compared to humans, but still pretty weird. Our parents are pretty loaded and he was still tough to feed.

[Honestly, sometimes he wonders if his brother is ever full with how much he’ll eat. Still, he worries all the same. He knows that when Jade forgets to eat because he’s busy it can be bad news for him, Floyd’s had to fret over him about it more than a few times.]

I mean I guess, but it’s like… a really ritzy school, and I think most students could still eat if you put more food in front of them.

[It was a school full of teenage boys after all.]

[urtitan]

[So Jade burns a lot more energy than the average merboy... she files that information away in her mind. But Floyd has a point in saying that teenage boys will eat a lot in general - her own brothers may be an exception to the rule, given their low-effort lives as nobles, but she sees how much the farmboys will put away!

She resumes walking, leading the way towards the nearest mall entrance as pointed out by her phone - one of the underground slides, as it happens. She wonders if Floyd will enjoy essentially hopping down a manhole only to be spat out on top of a soft landing area in the mall! It's very weird, and she remembers screaming the first time she took such a route with Jade.]

You don't enjoy life on land as much as Jade does, do you? Or is it only mushrooms that you don't like?

[itsamoray]

Naw, I like it. There's not really anything that can challenge Jade and I back home since we're grown, so it can get kinda dull. And the parties and music are less lively. Bein' on land has been pretty fun.

[And then his whole demeanor changes, his voice gets low and you'd think he was ready to fight every single mushroom in Elipsa with how threatening he sounded.]

But Jade's got this stupid fixation on mushrooms. He was puttin' them in everything we ate. Now just looking at 'em pisses me off.

[He eases up when she stops, and stops as well. Just in front of the entrance in question. All it would take is one push for him to go down...]

Why we stoppin'?

[urtitan]

[He really hates mushrooms!! The intensity of his feelings bewilders her, but she decides to just accept it and not try and convince him otherwise. It'd probably be a losing battle. Instead, she points at the hole in the ground.]

This is the fastest way to the underground mall. I just... I just hope that the pillow heaps are still there in this simulation. But everything else is as usual, so they should be.

[Still, she suddenly has doubts! Maybe they should walk to the nearest proper, walkable entrance instead? Then again, the researchers said that they couldn't get hurt or die in this virtual world...]

[itsamoray]

[And while she's deliberating on safety concerns, Floyd just goes ahead and steps on the things aaaand, down he goes. His squeaky laughter growing more quiet the further down he went.

Fortunately there were, indeed, pillows to land on.]

[urtitan]

[Well--! She can hardly take the long way around now, can she? She follow him, and it's a wild albeit short ride, ending in her landing in the same massive heap of pillows as him. She struggles a little to plow her way out.]

They really need to improve this..!

[The sight of the brightly lit yet empty mall somewhat stops her in her tracks. This is eerie, really! No customers, no employees... and yet the music is still playing! If they wanted to, they could rob every store in sight!]

[itsamoray]

[We’ll guess who is already out of the pillow like and ready to do crimes! All these open shops and not a soul in sight.]

Heeeeey, check it out Cuttlefishie, we could make out like bandits!

[and he jumps onto a display table set up outside a shop, and looks out over the whole place.]

They got a good place for shoes here? Maybe some candy…

[urtitan]

Let's look at the map. I still don't know my way around down here, there are just so many shops!

[Since it's only a simulation, it should be alright for them to take what they want, right? It's not like it'll go missing in the real world!

The map shows three shoe shops and five candy shops (though not all of the latter sell just candy). It seems like they have their work cut out for them! Starting with the nearest shoe shop, even Frieda wonders if she shouldn't try any. She has her sturdy boots from home, plus a pair of sandals for the hot districts and warmer boots for the cold ones, but... she eyes the pretty heels!]

[itsamoray]

[Bold of her to think for a second that he's capable of sticking to any plan whatsoever, even one he made himself. So while she nailed down the shoe store, he'd mysteriously vanished until she heard a commotion coming from a nearby sport apparel shop.

Followed shortly thereafter by the sound of a bouncing ball aaand... the shoe store was now under assault from a rogue basketball.]

Oi, Cuttlefishie! Go long!

[Wrong sport but whatever. There was a 50/50 chance that basketball would abruptly turn into dodgeball at a moments notice.]

[urtitan]

What?! No!

[Even though she just thought that they could be lawless here, her impulse to want order kicks back in right away!]

Stop doing that! Bring the ball back!

[itsamoray]

Why? Ain't like anybody's missing it.

[And he comes over to retrieve the ball, only to start lazily dribbling it.

Then he gets an idea on how to make this more fun.]

You can bring it back if you want.

[Presuming she can get it away from him.]

[urtitan]

Why me?!

[Still, she holds up her hands to catch it, expecting him to toss it over! She definitely won't engage in a basketball match with him!]

[itsamoray]

I dunno. You’re here, I guess.

[And this is him, not tossing the ball over and just continuing to dribble it.]

And you’re the only one here that cares.

[So basically just “you’re here” again.]

[urtitan]

[She exhales with a huff. This is too aggravating!!]

Alright, then. I'll stop caring.

[Surely, that'll make uninteresting for him faster! She leaves him to his play and turns back to the shoe display. While other noblewomen back home would wear heels, especially on special occasions, she always found them impractical and even dangerous - how easy would it be to break an ankle! -, and despite the pretty shapes of some models, she ultimately is ready to move on sooner rather than later... which reminds her:]

Why did you want to visit the shoe shop, anyway? You're not even looking at the shoes!

[itsamoray]

Yeah, I did. I’m kind of a big shoe freak.

[He dribbles the ball a few more times before catching it and trying to get it to spin on his finger. He’s a little wobbly at it, but he can do it.]

But then I found this ball and wanted to play with that instead.

[urtitan]

I see. Keep the ball, then.

[This is her own fault. She brought him down here! What did she think was going to happen? She needs to get them, or at least herself, back on track. Sure, she didn't sign up for being pulled into this experiment, and neither did Floyd, but should they really just mess around at the mall while the others are investigating the Darkness? Her sense of responsibility is increasingly gnawing at her, much as this isn't her world.]

If you're done with the shoes, let's go to the candy shop, and afterwards, let's go back to the surface rather than visiting the arcade. I know you wanted to have fun, but if we get sidetracked a lot down here, we'll end up spending all our time here while everyone else is out in the Segments.

[itsamoray]

And that matters why?

[And he just bounces the ball off the side of one of the shops and catches it on the rebound.]

I think I wanna keep playing with this right now.

[Mostly because she's trying to put his fun on a timetable, and he's here to mess it up on principle.]

[urtitan]

[God, how she wishes she had Mrs Leech on speed dial to get some advice on how to deal with this son of hers! Alas, she's on her own.]

Don't you want to test out your new magic?

[She opens the holographic menu to access Riki's virtual shop, and after some clicking and scrolling a Travel Crystal materialises in the air for her to pick up.]

Did you even notice that you got new magic? I don't know what season you're aligned with - I don't assume you passed through the usual seasonal space on your way here -, but it's got to be one of them.

[itsamoray]

Is that what they were all blathering about when I got here? Naggy guy givin' a whole monologue was boring so I left.

[And now he's balancing the ball on his forehead, again, just for funsies.]

I already got magic, what's so cool about this new magic?