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⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.
A team of four courageous adventurers managed to unearth a secret Area unique from the others: the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Unlike other Areas, this one is lacking all the usual monsters, dungeons, and treasure. What might the purpose of this Area be, then...?
Well, if you’re feeling penitent or perhaps wish to hold a sermon of your own, head to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and knock yourself out. What? Too soon?
Anyway, be not afraid! The cathedral is perfectly safe. Following Ganymede’s little incident in the cathedral, a timely email has been sent out to beta testers regarding health and safety that reads as follows:
To our beta team,
Please exercise caution when playing video games for extended periods of time. Take breaks every thirty minutes and do not sit in the same position for more than two hours at a time. Remember to stay hydrated and play in a well-lit environment.
Failing to take care of your health while gaming can result in a litany of health complications, including but not limited to eye strain, muscle fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and involuntary loss of consciousness and motor functions.
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.
Guilds have been patched into the current version of Fragment and are now available for players to create their own and join others. While some guilds have opted to go the private route, others are in need of players to fill their ranks!
The admins have kindly supplied those recruiting for their shiny new guilds with a number of goodies to aid in their player gathering efforts:⬣ A bundle of personalized flyers proudly displaying their guild logo and a description of the guild’s @ home and available amenities.
⬣ Party poppers and streamers. Nothing screams “join my guild!” like a face full of glitter, confetti, and colorful strips of ribbon.
⬣ A megaphone that lets your voice echo far and wide, even across Root Towns and Areas, but with great potential for abuse comes restrictions! The megaphone can only be used five times before it breaks. Use it wisely!
⬣ A unique recipe for a cocktail, latte, tea, or other type of beverage that can be blended up and served in little sample cups to court potential members. These drinks are unique to their guilds and, when consumed, have a special effect that reflects the leader of that guild. Is your guild leader a pretty cheerful guy? Drinking their special brew will make you feel happy too!
Whatever effect your guild’s drink has is up to the leader’s discretion, but if you so desire, drop a comment under the questions top level and we’ll brew one up for you.
Additionally, you may host a guild open house and invite potential guildies into your @ home to let them take a look around! Guild @ homes are typically locked to guild members & their guests only, so use this as your opportunity to put your best foot forward and impress the world with everything your guild has to offer.
Also arriving with the newest update are mountable Grunties! Aren’t they cute? ...Well, they’re someone’s definition of cute.
While the ability to ride around town and in Areas at 2x speed is certainly alluring, you can’t just walk up to the Grunty Ranch located in each Root Town and take one out for a stroll. If you want a mount of your very own, you’ve got to commit! Becoming a proud Grunty owner means you must first become a proud Grunty parent, and to do that, you’ll need to raise your Grunty from infancy into adulthood.
Just what kind of adult might your Grunty become? That depends on how you raise them and what you feed them. Those strange "foods" popping up all over Areas might not taste good to you, but they sure do to Grunties!
For more information on how to acquire a baby Grunty of your very own and raise it into a proper — or not so proper — member of Grunty society, head on over to the Grunty Ranch.
Mac Anu, the City of Twilight known for its gentle ocean breezes, has been uncharacteristically warm lately. Very, very warm. Its usual orange skies have been swapped out for vivid blues, the sun dwelling high in the sky and threatening to burn everything in its wake.
It won’t take much wandering to feel the effects of heat exhaustion sink in, and even after you log out for the day, those symptoms seem to linger. Do Hien and Zelkova know what the hell is going on? Of course not. Unusual occurrences are slowly becoming the norm in Fragment, it seems, but the point of a beta test is to work out any kinks. Report it and move on.
Lumina Cloth is similarly affected by unusual weather phenomena, but it’s much more pleasant and hospitable than poor Mac Anu. The sun hangs just above the horizon, bathing the strip in early evening light. It’s much cooler here too, and what’s more, it appears that a carnival has rolled into town. What fun!
All the usual carnival fare is here: greasy fried foods, drinks served in foot long glasses, and a litany of carnival games that are totally not rigged. Entry is free and so are the prizes, but some of them take a bit of legwork to win.
⬣ Successfully PK another player to win the carnival exclusive Thursday The 12th™ skin. PK’d players will receive an appropriately spooky ghost skin of their own!
⬣ Step on up to the dunk tank and get dunked on to win a sexy swimsuit skin! Both the dunkers and the dunkees will win this skin, but only those who successfully dunk the player in the tank will be rewarded with the chance to show off some skin. The appearance this skin takes is dependent on the player wearing it, so have fun and get creative with it!
⬣ Take a trip through the hall of mirrors with a friend and do some reflecting! Stare too long into the mirrors and you might recall a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but to the person venturing through the hall of mirrors with you. Did that really happen? Surely it’s all in your head. Memories available for memshare are limited to the ones listed on your application.
Additional rewards include giant plush monsters that can be used to decorate guild @ homes and private rooms (limit one per player!) and a pet goldfish that, unfortunately, will die a hero’s tragic death within a week. Womp womp.
We’ve had a busy week! It seems like there was a glitch that allowed players to equip other players as weapons, which resulted in a ten player chain, wielded by none other than our hardworking head administrator, Hien! I’ll have a talk with him about not doing this kind of thing in the future, I promise!
That wasn’t all, though. An unknown entity reached out to the players participating in the ten-player chain and issued them a special title: Good Friends Stick Together. Fragment’s not supposed to have titles. Well, at least not in the beta. But you can go ahead and add it to your name if you want to anyway, and it shouldn’t cause any problems! We still can’t pinpoint who sent those messages and how they overrode the permissions to create those titles in the first place, but... Hmm. I don’t want to start any rumors, so I’ll keep looking into it.
There are those armor sets too, which I didn’t know had been handed out to those of you that reached level 25. Oria brought it to our attention, thankfully! There’s not a whole lot we can do about it now, but we know that some of them are pretty invasive. But knowing is half the battle, right?
Our friend Ganymede suffered an accident recently that had him lying unconscious in the hospital for about a day. He seems to be feeling better now, thankfully. Ḩ̵̲̼͆̃͐̆ò̸̧̰͕̥̈́͒̕͜p̷̫͙̯͇̾̄͜ę̸̹̒f̷̠̭͉̱̅͘ǘ̴͎̙̥̭̈́̈́l̵͇̙͍̳̜̇̓̒l̷̬̲̀̆̈̅̂ͅỳ̵̧̻̖ ̷̠̫̭̰̦̋͗h̴̰͕̑͗e̸̦̼͇̾͘ ̴̡̢̝̺̳̊̎̎̔p̴̳̠̼̜͔̂̅̐à̵͕̹̟ͅỹ̴̡̛͝s̶͉̕ ̴̢͕̬̑̆̕͝b̸̹̲͗͒̊͑͠ē̶̛͖͠ṯ̸̻̺́͒͐t̶̻͕͎̑ĕ̶̖̀͗͛͋r̷͙̗̙̲͙̓̚͝ ̷̻̠͉̈́̚a̷̡̙̳̽́̀̋̔ẗ̴̢̨̛̬̺t̴͖̳͝ē̷͇̆͆̍̚ͅn̵̪̜͉͊̉̔̄͐t̵͕̼͈̓͋̈́̕î̷̬o̸͇̐͋͑͌n̶̟̫̟̽̑͒͐͘ ̷̜̈́̈̀̂̎t̶͙̂͛ô̸̠̜ ̶̫͎̎h̶͖̳͛i̸̗͖̖̅̂͆̄͛s̸͔̈́̇̍ ̸̩̗̻̕s̵̬̼̳̲̞͝ù̸̞̺̣͙̾͒͛ŗ̴̻̟̻̭̂̈́r̶̡͈̲̣̣͋̊͗̕o̶̥̝̮̓ų̴̻̯̬̊̑̑͌̉ͅn̶̢̙̦͔͖̈̒͝d̷̰̼̤̥̃̿͒̌̎i̸̯͑̾͊̑͝n̵̦͐g̸̪̾͝͝s̷̛̝͙̣̹̍͛͝ ̸͔̲̠̩͗̓̀͘a̷̛̼̓̈́͊ṅ̵̥͆̎ḑ̶̨̯̱͍̇ ̷̛̗̮̀̆ḧ̴̼̪́͗͝i̵͓̬̤͂͐͒s̶̮̎̿̃ ̴̛͔̋͗̽h̷̝͑ͅē̴̱ȃ̵̝͎ͅļ̷͍̀͐͊̊̽ẗ̸̼̺̟̥̼́̄͛h̶̥̹̬̮̽̅ ̷̟̖̮͛́̿t̸̢̤̤̂͒͋̍o̶̼̟̓ ̵̥̳͙̖̆̈́ả̶̛̳̱͙̖̩̿̽͘v̴͈͉͖͊͘ỏ̶̤͚̅͑͝i̴̱͈̩̳̳̿̇̕͠ḏ̵͙̮͗͆ ̶̯̭̝̹̯͊s̸͍̰͔̔̀͋͋̐u̷̟̠͑̔̏̚c̵̨͖͉͇̀͆͘ͅh̴̨̓͌̄̈ ̶̧̱̻̼̏̃̃i̷̱͉͈̿̎̋͒͜͝n̴̢͓͍̂͝͠c̷̢̢̛̹͚̑̓̅ͅi̶͕̟̻̘̫̾͌d̶͉͉̏̇e̵͉̱̩̯̤͐̎̉̾n̸̡̠̈͜ţ̴̇͑̈́͘s̵̩̼͔̙̙̉͘ ̵̮̯̞̮̾̈́͋̔̈h̵̡̗͉͉͈̉̐̅̚ȁ̵͖͚̖̾p̸̰̬͖̩̀̈́̆̓p̶̢̛̼̈́͆̒͘ͅe̷̟̘̩̲̻̾̊n̵̨̩̜̟͆͘i̵̙͉̺̮͠ͅṋ̷̆ġ̶͙͚ ̴̩̋à̷̄̑̂͝ͅǧ̵͖̜͍͕̒̑͒a̷̧̛̞͐̃̈́͘i̷̯͉̬̯̽̍n̷̘̝͓̽̅̕!̵̩͑
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Fun, right?
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I feel as though I could get lost in here.
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[Laughing a little as the mirror distorts his cheeks out wide]
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[ Haru laughs lightly at the silly reflections. With mirrors on all sides, and their figures reflected in them, it can even get confusing which is the real Vogel. As if the mirrors are playing a trick on her mind. ]
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[When Sinclair steps away, there's a shadow of his image reflected on the surface. Sinclair, hunched between two unknown adults, at a diner. Does Haru dare take a longer look?]
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1/2
You are in a diner, a famous one known for its delicious sandwiches. Your co-workers are making their orders, and you notice some stares from a whispering pair of college girls, pointing and checking their phones.
It's uncomfortable and you ignore Rodya's teasing.
"Sinclair, aren't you the ladies man~" She had laughed and you hunch further.
There is a fervent light in the girls' eyes now when she says your name.
"N-no, I really don't think--"
It wasn't until you leave the restaurant that the girls approached you.
"You're Emil Sinclair, right?" One girl gushed. "I'm so excited to meet you. I read all about your story--"
Your hands shake. You don't want to hear this. You're so tired of the news, the circus of reporters. You want to be left in peace.
"I'm so sorry about your family. It must have been so hard for you. I'm writing a paper for college you know, about psychopaths, and gang violence--I was following your case for so long, and I just wanted to get some proper insight for my paper. Do you think you can give me some of your time?"
"Oi, you dumb broads, does it look like he wants to talk to you? Why don't you both just fuck off--" That's Heathcliff, who almost never defends you. How strange. You can barely appreciate it though because-
" I mean...it was horrifying though. Isn't he angry? That girl, Kromer, they didn't even put her away for a year and now she's out again. Doesn't he feel-"
The world spins.
Kromer. Free to go.
You don't hear the rest of the argument. You just run]
2/2
[And then there's Sinclair's voice, calling for Haru. He looks at her, worried. What was she looking at?]
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I— [ Her mind reels to process what she saw. Sinclair...is Vogel. The people who spoke to her, the feelings she felt, were they his memories? Her chest feels heavy. ] Did you see anything just now?
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Um. I don't think so...?
[But Haru looks shaken. He glances at the mirrors, trying to look to see if he could spot anything himself]
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She dances from mirror to mirror, light on her feet, her form radiating joy and innocence. The rooms spins with her, and when it comes to a halt -
She is backstage, where a helper does her hair and make-up before her performance. Haru asks after her father's schedule. Your father is so proud of you, Haru-chan. The adult dodges her question, distracting her with praise of how she's grown graceful and dignified, befitting an heiress. Haru listens with a sinking feeling in her chest.
During the performance, she doesn't miss a step. Her smile is bright in the spotlight, but it's not the same, easy smile she's given Sinclair many times. Her eyes search the audience.
Her father never comes. The other children are embraced by their parents after the performance. The spotlight follows her as Haru packs up her ballet shoes, thanks her teachers, and leaves for the parking lot where her family's driver waits for her in an expensive-looking car. The door is opened for her, and she climbs in and folds her hands in her lap. The picture of a little lady, graceful and dignified. Lonely inside.
The spotlight on her shuts off with a click, and the room returns to the hall of mirrors. ]
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A young girl - wealthy - but lonely. His heart aches a little for that image, and her mannerisms are so startling similar to his older sister that it hurts even more.
He blinks a little as he finds himself back in the hall of mirrors, glancing around uncertainly.]
Noir...do you dance?
[What was that?]
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[ She'd felt demotivated when her father never attended her recitals. Though for Vogel to bring it up... ]
Did the mirror show you something, too?
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[His family expectations were great.]
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[ It had been fun, but her love for it was gone now. Her last lesson was ages ago.
She doesn't know why the mirrors reflected what it did - was this another bug? But she thinks she should say something about what she saw, too. ]
The mirrors showed me something as well. It felt like I was you, seeing through your eyes. There were reporters, and they wanted to speak to...Emil Sinclair.
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...that's my name. You're...Haru, right? [He pauses as he tries to work out what to explain. Haru was from Japan. She wouldn't be familiar with this]
Do you know which reporters? There were a lot of them for a long time.
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[ What's private should remain private. This bug is a serious one. ]
I am. I'm Haru Okumura. [ She feels it only right to give her own name now that she knew his. ] I'd appreciate it if you could keep calling me Noir in the game.
[ She tries to keep her online life a secret. ]
I'm not sure, but the reporters mentioned your family.
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[Sinclair nods, looking down at his hands as he tries to work out how to explain this]
...yeah. My family were murdered last year. It--[There's no need to scare Haru, who didn't need to see or hear such things]--was all over the news for awhile because my family was fairly well known, and it was [a beat] ugly.
[Glancing up at the mirrors reflecting them back and forth]
People forgot my family were humans too.
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[ She can't imagine the grief of losing one's family, that alone was awful beyond words, but then being hounded about it by reporters looking for a scoop? Sinclair's been through more than she realized, and her heart goes out to him. ]
It must have been hard enough to lose your family. That was heartless of them.
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Yeah. It's why I get nervous when people learn my name. [It's hardly the only horror story around. If it bleeds, it leads - there were plenty of other stories to entertain the masses]
But it's nice here. I don't really have to think about it.
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[ Or the game should have been, but who knew the technology could look look into their minds. Still, she understands needing to get away. ]
It upsets me to think of what they put you through. I'd like to give them a piece of my mind!
[ She doesn't raise her voice, but there's displeasure in it. If she ever had a run in with the reporters, she would give them a talking to in her own Haru way. ]
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Thank you, Noir. That's kind of you. [He wishes he had the support back then too] I'm sorry. I thought these mirrors were supposed to be just for fun, but you had to see that instead.
[And had a private memory of her own exposed]
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It's quite alright. We had no way of knowing what would happen. Though we should probably find our way out before something happens again.
[ That's enough peering into their minds, thank you. ]
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[Shall they leave?? Lets get out of there. But also. Hmm...that memory. He wants to say something, but he's not sure if he can offer that kind of support or comfort]
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[ Let's! Carnival games sound like a good distraction from the mirrors. Looking around (but not at the reflections) to orient herself, Haru starts to lead them towards the exit. ]
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