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⬣//BLOSSOMING FROM A GAP IN THE ASPHALT.
A new Root Town has been revealed: Naval Monte, a tiered city built upon a mountain jutting up from an endless expanse of ocean. These fortified walls house an innumerable number of NPCs who, unlike those which occupy other Root Towns, are quite a bit more advanced.
Those of you who spend entirely too much time logged in have no doubt noticed the set patterns the NPCs of Mac Anu and Lumina Cloth take to move from area to area. Their paths never change. Their dialog rarely diverges. Talking to a freshly painted wall would be more stimulating than conversing with your run of the mill NPC, but Naval Monte's are different.
They move in accordance with their own whims, seldom found in the same place twice. Some NPCs have entire families while others boast elaborate backstories and speak at length of their tales of bravery and triumphs over evil. While they won't accept your party invites, they may instead invite you to share a meal with their family and regale you with stories until you've had your fill.
Travel far enough into the depths of the city and you'll hear tales of a graveyard that sits within the core of the mountain, but the NPCs who guard this elusive site are defensive at best. Don't expect them to let you in, but given their advanced nature, you may be able to wheedle some valuable information out of them.
Be aware that there is a price to enter Naval Monte. After crossing the vast bridge leading right up to the mountain city, you'll be accosted by no less than a dozen eager vendors fighting to peddle their wares to you. Some are so desperate that they ask only for a single GP, and in exchange, they grant you passage to the city.
Ask them why they're so desperate to make a sale and they'll answer plainly: if you don't, the curse will persist.
Come Saturday morning, an email flagged as urgent pops up in your inbox.
To our beta team,
It has come to our attention that a number of our beta testers have failed to report previous underlying health conditions that may negatively impact their ability to perform their duties as intended.
In our ongoing efforts to monitor the health and safety of our beta testing team, all participants in Fragment's closed beta test will be required to complete a health screening before the date of September 16th in order to continue participating in the beta.
Beta participants will be matched with a health professional in their area and the fees for their screening and assessment waived. As such, it is necessary that you make an appointment with the medical professional assigned to you or select another from within our network.
No exceptions will be made for those who fail to submit their health assessments to CyberConnect's Health and Human Resources department. Termination from Fragment's beta testing program and applicable legal action will be taken in the event that you fail to participate in these necessary steps.
We take the health and safety of our beta testers very seriously. If you have any concerns, please contact us at cccorp.ccmail.com.
Thank you for your continued efforts,
CyberConnect Corporation of Japan.
Murmurs of an unusual NPC have begun to circulate within Naval Monte.
According to eye witnesses, one of the local residents has "gone rogue". According to them, a woman with dishwater eyes and hair messily pulled into a loose bun has been spotted going door to door begging to be let in.
"We need to go," she shouts, her eyes glossy with tears, her every word slurred. "We'll be safe there! We'll be free! We can't live like this anymore!"
From what you've heard, that woman has managed to break free from the confines of her native Root Town and has been seen running through the streets in Mac Anu, Lumina Cloth, and the nameless Root Town in the sky. You may have even come across her, accosted in the street and urged to listen to her increasingly erratic ramblings.
"I need you to take me there! Take me to him! His father left the key within him!"
Ultimately, nothing you say or do will influence the woman's behavior or calm her down. All you'll get for your troubles is an ill feeling in the pit of your gut, something that blooms from within you and spreads infinitely outwards. An infection you can't cure.
You won't realize that the infection has begun to spread and mutate until you see it blossoming all around you, your fellow testers complaining of an unidentifiable malaise. You'll know what afflicts you and everyone you've infected when it's far too late to do anything about it. Until this unfortunate "bug" is patched, you'll continue to get sicker and sicker. The progression of the illness is as follows:
Stage one: The complete inability to lie, but is that really a bad thing? We could all stand to be more honest and communicative.
Stage two: The loss of one of your key senses, but only one. Maybe it's your sense of smell. Your keen tongue. Your vision. Whatever it is, it's a vital part of you that won't return to you until you log off, but when you next log in, you may find that a different sense has gone missing instead.
Stage three: Disconnect from your real world body. You'll realize after several days have passed that you can no longer feel your real self as keenly as before. You may not realize you've slapped yourself in the face or knocked a tooth out on the edge of your desk until you log out for the day and witness the extent of the damage.
Final stage: Memory loss. Your head feels foggy. Concentrating becomes a struggle, your thoughts sluggishly crawling through your mind and and ultimately losing their way. In the final stages of the illness, you may forget to log out for days at a time and wake to find yourself passed out on the floor with your headset jostled loose, inadvertently freeing you from the game.
The "cure," aside from a timely patch, may hide somewhere within the game. Before your senses leave you, you'd better start asking around.
As many of you know, it isn't easy to get ahold of CyberConnect when you need them. Hien is, at best, completely useless. Pete isn't much better. It's for these reasons and more that players have been invited to a digital conference and encouraged to give a voice to the rising concerns within the beta testing community.
The conference is to be held, both ICly and OOCly, on September 23rd at 12PM EST. If you have any burning questions to ask the people who hold power and influence over the state of the game and what happens within it, you can't afford to complain about timezones. This is your opportunity to speak your mind and have those questions answered.
OOCly, the conference will begin on September 23rd at 12PM EST and end on October 7th at 12PM EST. During this time, your characters can ask whatever questions they'd like of CyberConnect corporate staff, bring up concerns, and provide insights on their beta testing experiences.
Participation is mandatory (ICly), so set your alarms and don't be late!
Hello, everyone! Sorry I was away for a while. I got stuck in an outer level of the game and it took me a week to get back, but I should be just fine now! I hope I didn't miss anything too serious...
I did see that all of you have worked hard on those recipes, though! I liked all of them so much that I've added each of them into the game so that everyone can make their own. Congratulations!
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Good, because I'm not being kind.
[ He won't even answer about where he got the impression from. ]
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( oh nooooo )
Are you all right, Ori? You're really starting to worry me... ( He steps forward, reaching out to lay a kind hand along Oria's forehead. ) You look pretty sick, too. Are you sure you should be online right now?
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Oria doesn't believe that for a second. If anything, he expects Mithrun to grab his hair and yank at it because Oria's being so antagonistic towards him right now. He grabs Mithrun's wrist and just holds it there. He still has some grip strength, so maybe he's not totally sick. ]
Huh. You're real.
[ Because he thought he was hallucinating Fakerun here. ]
I guess the game fucked up something again for you to be here.
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( Oh, wow. He seems surprised :D! that Oria's grabbed his wrist. Oria must be sicker than he thought, his expression seems to say. )
... You must have it pretty bad right now, huh?
( He glances from Oria, to his wrist, to Oria again. )
You have that sickness going around in-game, and you were in the hospital just a minute ago... If you're worried you're seeing things, you're probably a foot in, you know that?
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I won't die so easily.
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( Oria gets Mithrun off guard enough to get him off his feet, but power petties him well enough that he's grabbing Oria by the hair with his one free hand to drag him down with him - pulling hard. Splash splash. )
No?
( Ah, fuck, he's wet all over and the sea salt is in his eyes, good to know that once a child always a child, Oria. If he can get Oria down with him, he's climbing up for a straddle, gripping his hair still, because— )
You look sick as a dog. Are you sure you're okay? ( He's bluffing, but between the hospital and the plague going around, he can make a guess. He has been walking around, and, contrary to what one may assume, he didn't pay his way through graduating early with a phD. He uses his brain for things besides logging fugu facts. ) Why don't we try a little cleanse for your health, hm? I know how much you love a good soak.
( And, with that, he tries to shove Oria's face into the water - it's probably not actually deep enough to drown him in (unless Haki thus dictates it so), but there's enough water to make a point. He just wants to scare Oria a little for being unjustifiably hostile to lil ol Morgan who's been nothing but nice to him? Wow? )
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Well, it might have to do with the fact that this is his third near-death encounter this week.
Twilight Shoreline is not a PvP zone, and that's why no one will take damage to their HP. This is also the reason why Oria pulls out his weapon, skinned to be a CZ75 silver handgun, and aims it right at Mithrun's face--his right eye--and loads up Vak Doom, which Oria has previously compared to an explosive mortar shell.
Will Mithrun back up, or is he willing to facetank it? Oria is really hoping that he backs up so that Oria can breathe again, because this is a bluff. Skills are just pretty animations in no-PvP zones and it really depends if Mithrun will flinch enough to get him off guard. ]
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( Fortunately for Oria and unfortunately for Mithrun, while this Mithrun may have access to memories from later in his life, he's mentally and emotionally from a much earlier point - long before he got jaded toward gang violence and MMORPG combat.
In a second he might catch the bluff and in the second after he might decide if he really wants to feature in P3 and deal with the heart attack that comes with facetanking an exceptionally realistic animation, but his first instinct, as functionally a civilian, is to flinch - his grip loosening as his body lurches back, off Oria and into the water - very much a victim of the human instinct to Not Get Shot To Death. )
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Weak. Getting yourself bested by someone who's "sick as a dog".
[ He looks incredibly smug about it too. ]
/2
( Pinned right like a butterfly and just as pretty, but the real victory is getting a look of annoyance off Mithrun - a rarity in reality, where he'd had his smile welded on pretty well. )
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( Just for a split second, though. A victory, but he's not letting Oria have it for a second longer than he has to once he realizes his slip. )
Hmmm... Guess you got me! Congratulations. I suppose your siblings must have pretty slim competition for the inheritance if their baby brother's spending all his time mastering video games, huh?
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Even if it was an inheritance, they wouldn't want it. You're not very good with getting accurate information, huh? There was never an inheritance.
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( There's nothing more annoying than someone who splits hairs about phrasing. (Just kidding! Everything is equally, maximally annoying to Mithrun.) He hopes Oria has sand in his clothes and the scent of salt in his hair for weeks, glitch or no.
Oria can likely feel Mithrun very slightly test his limbs for how much wiggle room he's got, but he can tell Oria has him locked down. Maybe he can break his glasses once he's free, even if they're just for show in Fragment. )
I'm sorry, you think I'd waste my time articulating your exact circumstances because...? ( Taking over the family business is inheritance, brat. ) While I understand I occupy a particular niche in your memory for you, you are, unfortunately, just one of several dozen victims of their age I've met. And it doesn't seem you've changed much.
( AKA, an annoying child. And this is true; Mithrun has beefed and will continue to beef with as many children as God allows him, and then some dozen extra. )
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Is that because you love lording over people that are a decade younger than you? Does that get you off? I didn't know you were so insecure that you needed to eat children's worth and livelihood like a leech to stay youthful. Is that your secret?
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Oh, you think I'm pretty? Thank you!
( He beams!!!! )
If you find someone speaking to you as they would anyone your age innately condescending, I'm afraid I can't really help you much, Ori. Have you tried speaking with your therapist about this? You must have one after that whole thing with the mayor's kid, right?
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[ fake ass bitch. Oria finally unpins Mithrun but not before getting a slap in across the face. ]
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( BITCH
There's that split second of disbelief that comes after a slap, then the radiating pain and realization. He hopes it's because he struck a nerve, but whether it did or didn't— )
While I appreciate the feedback, I'm afraid I don't really want to alter my personality to gain the approval of a kid who won't be around in a year or two.
( —fuck Oria's glasses, he's backhanding him hard as he can from his position. )
Don't you have a hospital to be getting back to?
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Oria fortunately sees that backhand coming (that sure is from experience) and chomps down on Mithrun's hand hard even though he still got smacked halfway. Does this guy even feel pain? Oria knows that despite everything, Mithrun's physical body will be as it is, but he wonders if it's phantom pain at play here. Brain manipulation and stuff. ]
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( Mithrun's hand is slender and tender and very much hurts a Lot when bitten, jesus christ you awful child. Oria gets a sharp click of Mithrun's tongue, a barely-suppressed expression of pain (appearances, appearances), but a better indicator of how much it hurts is just how quick he snaps up to dig his other hand into Oria's hair, nails digging into the scalp, as he's just about violent in how hard he tries to yank Oria off him, even if that rips up some digital hair in the process. Let!!! Go!!!!!!!!!!!! )
Your father deserves better than a wretch like you—
( ow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )
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No, not really. He's heard that one before. He's heard a lot of things. When Mithrun grabs Oria's hair, Oria bites down even harder and shoves his palm at Mithrun's nose. Stop that?? You catty man!! ]
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( uuuggGGGHHHHhhhh Well, he'd rather lose a hand than let go (←normal human being thought process) so as the pain cranks up he winces sharply - Oria getting his palm all uncomfortable in his face doesn't help much. He whips his body to the side suddenly, using the angle and momentum to try to get a kick at Oria's stomach in, pulling Oria's hair up and his hand back at him in hopes he'll get the right thing free, fuck, )
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( He whips his hand out of Oria's mouth, but, as much as he wants to nurse it, certain other things have priority. In Mithrun's perspective, every time he's lessened hostilities (lol), Oria's just escalated again, so he really doesn't owe this bitch anything.
He keeps his vice grip on Oria's hair and scalp, which is important, because he needs to keep Oria in place while he kicks him in the stomach again, and again, and again, the water splashing about them with every attempt. Obviously, Oria's first mistake was having weakness Mithrun could see, and that's Oria's own fault. )
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...
He takes a deep breath in between the kicks and musters all the energy he has in an attempt to kick Mithrun between the legs with everything he's got. ]
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( We're both suffering here. Everything Oria's done to him, he's still feeling - he's just powered by petty, is all.
Because he's already looking down there to aim, he sees Oria's kick coming, and he's going to make the noble sacrifice to shut his thighs before Oria gets there. Still hurts wherever Oria's knee does hit him, but reacting so quick means he doesn't have Oria's leg trapped or anything - he's a free little rascal.
He does have one last attempt before he presumes Oria pins him or pulls out the gun again, and that's using his grip to try to smash Oria's face into a rocky bit of the sand below - not necessarily to half-drown, this time, but to break his glasses. It's never the wrong time to be petty. )
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