⬣//BLOSSOMING FROM A GAP IN THE ASPHALT.

[cccorp]

>>NAVAL MONTE // >>HEALTH // >>ROGUE NPC // >>CONFERENCE // >>Zelkova Corner

⬣//A TOWERING MOUNTAIN AMIDST THE WAVES

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.

⬣//FOR YOUR HEALTH

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.

⬣//ON THE RUN

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.

⬣//YOU CAN TRUST US. WE PROMISE.

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!

⬣//ZELKOVA’S CORNER

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!

>>Navigation

Comments

[dissimulative]

Good. We can only hope it goes better from there. You don't deserve to be harassed for loving who you want. And you should love all you want, even if it's... Yael.

[ He makes a Face. ]

[fluorite]

[ He laughs, tempted to shove Oria, but he only holds back because of how bad of a state Oria is clearly in. ]

You could be a little nicer about it~

[dissimulative]

Look... I know how much you like him! And it's probably a good thing that you can see things in Yael that no one else can, or he really might end up alone.

[ Oria laughs a little. ]

[fluorite]

[ He smiles a little, though there's not a whole lot of humor in it. ]

He certainly tries to be alone, that's for sure.

[dissimulative]

Well, it's a good thing he has you, right? You never want to leave people alone if they look lonely. That's just who you are.

[ Oria smiles at Fai a little. ]

So you'd definitely do it if it's for Yael.

[fluorite]

Ah... you've got me with that one. I can't help myself, which can be frustrating sometimes.

[ He's shoved his nose where it doesn't belong too many times. ]

I wonder if it's from the loneliness I feel that makes it hard to stay away when I see someone else going through it.

1/2

[dissimulative]

[ ... ... ... ]

[dissimulative]

That's called having empathy, Yuui.

[fluorite]

...

[ He has half a mind to shove you over right now, Oria. ]

I think you get what I'm trying to say here, Oria. I wish I didn't have it.

[dissimulative]

If you didn't have it, I don't think I would have liked you to begin with.

[ Oria crosses his arms. ]

It's true that you always need things in moderation though. Maybe you should feed me some of your empathy stats and we can middle out!

[ That sure is a thing he's implying about himself. ]

[fluorite]

[ And it sure is a thing that Fai immediately catches onto! ]

So... you struggle with it in the opposite direction, do you?

[dissimulative]

[ yuki was super lucky because at least in that psl oria wasnt dealing with kdrama bullshit and even more terrible adults so his empathy levels were high(er) ]

Surprising, right? Considering what I am usually like.

[fluorite]

[ god you're so right ]

Well... yes, and no.

[ If he wasn't forced to speak truthfully, he would absolutely not have said that. But here he is. ]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria cracks a grin. He likes Yuui when he's more honest... ]

Yeah, how so? I wanna hear alllll your thoughts.

[fluorite]

I think you're good enough at pretending to be a regular kid.

[ Which is where the surprise would come in. There's absolutely a "but" in the mix here, however. ]

But... the way you were raised was intended to make you successful in a cutthroat environment. Naturally, you'd struggle with empathy.

[dissimulative]

You know, having someone say it like that makes it sound like it's excusable.

[ Oria smiles a little wryly. ]

My dad, he's... a nice guy, but smart. He isn't ruthless and will always make it so that most if not everyone gets to be satisfied. That's a part of why people like him. He works hard and people think he's naive, only for that to get turned on their heads. Just because you're nice doesn't mean you have to be stupid. He knows how to make things work.

... I wanted to be like him, but I don't think I can do the things he's doing now.

[ ... ]

Even though my business proposals are better.

[ lol. Yeah. Oria is just that kind of person. ]

[fluorite]

Why do you think you can't?

[ Is it because Oria's dad is nicer than Oria himself? Or is it something else entirely? ]

[dissimulative]

I think I hate people a lot more than I thought.

[ Just normal things that Oria definitely would not admit when he's not addled with truth plague. ]

I'd rather see them fall than rise.

[fluorite]

Even someone you don't know?

[ He wants to know why, to dig into the reasons that drive Oria to desire witnessing failure, but he knows he can't ask that outright. Not without easing into the subject.

Still... at least he doesn't sound like he's passing judgement. ]

[dissimulative]

They're mostly people I don't know, and they're in my way more than not.

[ Oria sighs and leans back into the bench's backrest. ]

[fluorite]

Do you see them as obstacles rather than fully formed people with their own lives?

[ That would certainly qualify as no empathy, he thinks. ]

[dissimulative]

Yeah.

[ No hesitation. Even if he didn't have the truth plague, he'd just outright say it to Fai. ]

That's why I can never be like my dad. I'm sure he views them the way you just said.

[fluorite]

[ Damn. For a moment, Fai isn't totally sure what to say. His opinion of Oria isn't exactly altered, but he feels like he's seen another side of him. ]

...Have you always felt this way about others?

[dissimulative]

Mostly if they're in my way.

[ So by that logic, Fai can at least exclude himself from that sort of group. Fai's a person to him. ]

I'm sure the feeling is mutual anyway.

[fluorite]

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

[ It's hard to say, especially when Fai isn't fully aware of the intricacies of Oria's world. ]

Even so, you wish you didn't feel that way.