((I have a feeling that we're not going to win this fight. Not without a lot more deaths, or a lot more luck.))
Conservative ineptitude? Sounds like something to meditate about.
Also attempt to contact some Entity interested in talking with me.
((Like I said, maybe I made it a bit too difficult. Or maybe I expected you to work together and communicate more and come up with some strategy. Or maybe I expected you to get lucky.))
You begin thinking "Ommmm" (given that you currently lack a body) and contemplate past events. It gets kinda boring after a while, continuously reliving your (admittedly short) life, nothing to indicate the passage of time in this dark void, no way to know if it's been a few minutes or a few hours.
After a while, you've had enough and instead try to use telepathy to inform anyone you can reach that you desire conversation.
[d7:3->S0]
"Acknowledged. State your request."
Find a battery, either from the truck or the crossbow. Create a spark gap to act as a fire starter. Or just look for a lighter in drawers or something if I can't do that.
Try to light a few drops of the liquid leaking from the truck on fire, and try to light a few drops of perfume on fire. To test if they're flammable.
<"Jordan, are you okay? I still need a pilot.">
Well, your crossbow is thoroughly destroyed, so not much chance of getting a battery from there.
You begin trying to use your bent club as a crowbar, trying to pry the truck's exterior open and get where you assume its powersource is. Try as you may, however, you just can't muster enough strength with your bare hands alone.
You try putting your entire body weight on your improvised corwbar, but your hands are still slippery from the blood. You loose your grip on the metal club and fall straight into the puddle the liquid coming out of the truck has formed.
You lie there for a moment and are about to take a deep breath when you feel something cold stinging you in the back. You instinctively roll away. The feeling continues for a few moments and then subsides.
<Today really isn't your day, is it?>The puddle now has a bit of your blood mixed in it.
Frustrated, you check around the shop for a lighter. You find nothing. Damn future people. Why you no smoke?
But then you have an idea. There might be a lighter in the truck! You crawl back inside the truck and begin searching. Eventually you find a small half-empty lighter buried under some plastic cards inside a small compartment of the truck. You'd expect the truck to have an electric lighter, but you're not one to look a gift lighter in the mouth.
Forget the summon; need to concentrate on placement.
Let's go with a bundle of "nerves" somewhere in the torso. Plant it, GTFO, and get out of its reach. Detonate once I'm beyond its reaching ability (50m or so is probably safe.)
If possible, brush my arm against it to briefly technomance the BETA. If it tries to mindflay me or it's too much information, back off, but otherwise learn what I can while I can- this is secondary to bomb placement.
((Also, yeah, if you're unsure about the 1-player assault, just do a really quick one. If it fails, little of value was lost.))
I'm going to assume that Fniff isn't going to heroically kamikaze his plane on the BETA to aid your attack, so I'm just going to do the turn without him. There's always the chance that he crashes on to you and kills you I guess, so consider yourself lucky on that front.
Now, let's see how lucky you are with your assault...
You pull your jetpack into a dive and fly towards the crack in the BETA's armour as fast as possible. The BETA scrambles to respond, arranging a few arms in front of the hole like moving teeth armed with construction tools, while the rest continue to work on closing its armour.
You almost make it through the hole. Almost being the key word here.
You dodge and weave your way through the arms, but at the last second you hear a metallic clang and feel like your left leg was just caught in a bear trap. The pain only gets worse in the next few milliseconds, as whatever's snagged your leg forces you to come to a complete stop, almost tearing the limb away from your body.
Your instincts to survive and run away clash with your need to minimise pain for a moment, the first eventually winning out.
You frantically try to get away, kicking against whatever's holding you with your one good leg and pushing with all the strength your jetpack can muster, eventually managing to slip away from the jaws of the machine before anything else gets to you.
The inside of the BETA is cramped and yet incredibly bright, even though it lacks any sort of lighting. It is full of arms carrying things around or fixing stuff, travelling on top of structural supports, gathering around small structures to deposit or pick up materials, wires connecting everything together. Your helmet allows you to see it in its entirety, its simplistic anthropomorphic design laid bare before your eyes.
And everything is touched by the tendrils of light extending from its heart, tendrils that twist around every "bone" of the BETA, tendrils that move from machine to machine as if pushed by an invisible water current, caressing each one gently before moving to the next.
Their light is so different than everything else in here. It's not the yellow and blue sparks of the welding arms, it's not the bright steady pulses of the power lines, it's not the mess of light and dark and colours of its communication lines. It's a steady grey light that seems to be visible
through the metal of its "skeleton" and the screens of your helmet, as if its light renders all the materials it touches transparent.
It's kind of mesmerizing to watch, despite your pain and fear. So much so in fact that you almost don't notice it when another arm comes at you as you make your way further inside your enemy, swinging at you maliciously with its claws and saws. You manage to get out of the way but as you fly away you can feel the arm trying to grab your injured leg that is now hanging limp and useless below your body. You slip away without slowing down, but you are unsure about how much these two attacks have cost you. You aren't sure you want to look and find out.
Instead, you focus on your target, the thick bundle of wires in front of you. Each of the wires look like they're full of weak electrical pulses. A "nerve".
You hold your explosive ball with your right hand and extend your right arm like a basketball player going for the dunk while using your left hand to control the jetpack. You hit the bundle of wires with the bomb and use your momentum and the strength of the jetpack to shove it in, causing the various small cubes it's made of to become tangled in it.
Having seen the form of the machine in its entirety, your hand now inside part of its mind, you can't resist the temptation to use your abilities, if only for an instant, just to get a glimpse of how it really works.
You close your eyes and try to focus through the pain.
It doesn't work.
Your mind fills with a scream made of static. And there's this pressure, this headache, it feels as if someone has put your head in a vice. Your right hand starts feeling tingly, then cold, then numb, the feeling spreading to your right arm.
This is not going as well as it could.
((By the way, there was a roll when you used your power just like there was a roll when Ike touched the secondary anchor in mission 1. You (plural) just seem to fail horribly whenever you try to telepathically communicate with non-human entities for some reason.))
"Ahh crap, okay, going in for a crash landing! Look out below!"
Try to make a landing. If the dragon is able to save me, be saved. However, if the saying about god and those who help themselves is true, then push the stick down, go in for a landing on a part of the street not covered in rubble, and hope that Jordan doesn't get his stupid neck broken.
You push the control stick and the thrust lever down and try to steady the spaceplane while you look for a good place to land.
You slowly bring the spaceplane down towards the street while firing the RCS in reverse to slow down. The spaceplane's broken wheels touch the street. You can hear the sound of metal dragging and then something breaks and now the bottom of the spaceplane is touching the street. You stop holding the controls and just hold on to your seatbelt, hoping to minimise the discomfort the vibrations are causing you. The spaceplane drags on the street for a few more meters, turning to the side and then coming to a stop in the middle of the street.
Your ability deactivates, just in time, leaving you shaken (literally) and surrounded with a smell of burnt plastic, but alive.
The BETA is somewhere behind you, a moderate distance away. You can hear something flapping its wing above you.
Land on the windshield of the descending spaceplane. Compute whether I am strong enough to hold an adult male human and fly at the same time. If so, grab the pilot and fly him to the ground. If not, give the pilot a sympathetic look before taking off in the direction of the BETA.
You're a bit too far away for that. And the spaceplane doesn't have a windshield, Jordan blew that away. And the spaceplane isn't descending, it's ascending, at least for now. Oh, wait, now it's descending. And now it has crash-landed, leaving many sparks and a few pieces of metal behind it. Yay?
Meanwhile...
Faron
Continue to drive safely, it would be awful to come all this way to die in a car accident.
You subtly suggest to your host that he ensures he gives priority to those coming from the left and that he comes to a complete stop at STOP signs. Best not to attract attention. You
are driving a stolen vehicle after all.
<So, tell me Bryan.> you hear your entity, Kathryn, ask you
<What would you be willing to do for your freedom and for the freedom of others?>
...
Pass the time by imagining complex worlds and trying to imagine how they'd be effected by being flooded by sentient wigs.
You begin imagining you're in an old movie theatre. The lights dim, the curtain opens and an old projector begins showing a black and white film, filled with scratches and dust. Credits are shown along with crudely painted starfields while sappy music plays in the background. Eventually the title of the movie is shown in big white letters. A man, presumably the narrator, simultaneously announces it.
Looneymax pictures present
"The attack of the
Giant Sentient Wig Flood
from nowhere!"The credits then continue for another minute while the camera zooms in to what is clearly a globe suspended by string in the middle of black box with white spots painted on it.
Zechariah calculated the angles quickly. Scion was right about not having much time, so he had to think.
Interface, Scion: <I think I can get him out. There are two ways: I could use the Shadow to make the room's occupants think that my host is not even moving, while my host takes his leisure and waltzes out of the room - possibly with whatever is in the cabinets, too. Second option is riskier: I summon all of my power and, using the sunlight from the windows to make crystal shards, pin the two occupants to the walls and interrogate them.
I don't see any shadows in the room so far... so I guess I'm going to have to try using the crystals of light...
There is one problem. How do I know how much energy he has left? I'm afraid that I'll try it and then he'll faint in the middle of it all..>
>Try to listen into your surroundings. Channel your energy, your willpower. Focus on the locations of the people in the room... draw energy from the sun. You can do it.
Once you're ready... unleash the shards of light and pin the others to the wall.
<So, you're planning to escape by taking a heavily injured human that is barely held alive by whatever they're doing to him here and having him use abilities he doesn't have by drawing power from the sun during the night to get out of a moving vehicle.
...
Are you doing this to me on purpose, human?> ((I know you probably forgot about some of that or just didn't state it clearly and some of those were stuff I didn't write clearly so I could see if you could figure it out from the description I gave but I couldn't resist the opportunity to have Scion list everything that is wrong with that plan.))
"Man, getting anywhere is taking forever in this town, isn't it? Ah well, the thought of explosives keeps me alive in the tedium."
>Drive resolutely toward the current objective.
You can see the abandoned warehouse in the distance. The words "RAVENSCOURT INDUSTRIES" are black gaps on the starlit sky above the building, the old neon sign not lit up for years.
Your host makes a signal to the trailing police car to stop and then stops his own car a block or so away from the warehouse while he inspects it.
The warehouse itself is a large old thing made of concrete, two stories high, with a triangular roof made of metal. There are scant windows on its upper floor and none on its lower. Perfect fortification. They've probably barricaded the main entrance.
You can see black smoke rising off the roof and dissolving in the wind soon after. They're burning evidence probably, the smoke escaping from the skylights.
Any tactical suggestions for your host, now is the time, otherwise he's going on with his own initiative.
((I hate you paris. And by that I mean ARGHGHGHGHGG THIS IS SO INTENSE
I'm controlling Lenglon's Irene and...oh dear goodness)
Theri
Well, that wasn't very helpful.
...N-no. It is helpful.
Awena! Remember the firebird we last saw? Back when we saw the waterfish and went to get Zoe? It was a symbol of what was to be!
I-...alright, call me crazy, but it seems like the firebird symbolizes either us which NEED to attack Bor-Victor, because his schemes are actually ulteriorly malevolent and that the...err, his...spirit guide-bracelet thingy (...aw fish. Did I tell you that you're seeing the fish jump from an invisible 'bracelet' on his arm or wrist? Because that's my best description of how we err...'non-spirit spirits' see each other)
..Oh River, help me quick here.
So either that, or Zoe is going to attack the man out of being unsure. OR we'll all be attacked by the result of his experiment and the presence of us, non-spirit spirit guides, are which deflect the power of...whatever will happen.
I'll ask Irene--well, the name of the spirit guiding Zoe, to form a defensive shield around the area. On whatever Zoe or you do...well, I'll leave it to your decision. Though know that I am fully unaware or unsure about Victor's host's motive. As in, really. He might be able to suck out...whatever metaphysical thing is with Amelia (and why she was given IV[?] before?), wait I'm not helping.
No pressure though Awena. Just to let you know: You're an awesome person and thanks for believing in spirits like me. That's very kind of you.
But don't die, ok? I don't ever like to see people die. :/
What are your thoughts on this matter, Awena?
Theri sighed in the metaphysical area of her own sanctum within Awena's thoughts. How...why should they trust Victor when he doesn't even detail a single thing on his motive?!
It didn't feel right. But even then, the spirits telling Awena--and therefore Theri--didn't jive with ulterior motive things (unless it predicted the future, wherein Theri was half-pondering a way on how to sever the bracelet-wielder from the host...given the occurrence of that event.)
...
<Irene. I'm unsure what to do, but what I see--I see a firebird attacking Victor, then an azure fish jumping out of his bracelet to protect him. Awena also sees shadows...darkness-forms everywhere. From the machines. Surrounding Boris and Amelia. And there are shadows in that crystal, moving opposite to each other, swirling around and then exploding into flakes of darkness. There's noise. Battle. Screams. A thousand insects chittering...
<I do not understand. I need help.>
Quickturn please: What are Awena's thought son the matter. Also River, help!
Irene
...
Wait, editing. Getting background.
Arghghghgh
<She sees a world she wasn't meant to see. Her mind tries to make sense of what she sees but her fear taints her vision. It is a battle, everybody fighting for power and survival, but to her both sides look the same. And in a way, they are.> River tells Theri.
<That your host is sensitive to that realm might be more of a hindrance than a boon. It means that she is more receptive to the attempts of others to influence her. Have you not noticed how even though she has her freedom, she continuously turns to others for advice, you, the spirits, the girl? How passively she follows everything that is going on, simply doing as she is told?> He sounds angry.
But there's some truth to his words. You can feel some of Awena's thoughts. She responds only with more confusion to what you told her. She's unsure of what you mean. She questions how you are able to talk to her when she's having trouble seeing other spirits. She doesn't want to die but is resigned about the matter, unsure of how she's going to survive. Awena just wishes all of these problems would go away.
<As for the problem of your choice, I am unsure. Nor should I interfere for I am biased. But I will say the following:
On one hand, the fact that one lies or doesn't share the entire truth doesn't mean that he has malicious intent.
On the other hand, one that lies to everyone around him is not a man you should trust and count on when you're in need, he is a man you should keep an eye on.>River gives off a mental sigh, which comes across more like a growl.
<Look, you don't want to listen to me on this. I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. If it was my choice, we'd be doing things a lot more... directly. I would ensure that only I and those I trusted had the power to do anything.><And if you and your new friend can't handle the burden of that choice, then you need not worry. One will be made for you.>As if on cue, there's the crackle of a radio being activated.
"Uuuh... sir?" comes the voice from one of the machines in the room.
"I think we have something out here.""Time's running out, girl." says Boris with annoyance, his hand still outstretched, offering his pistol to Zoe.
"So what is it going to be? Because if you aren't going to kill me, I have work to do and this delay isn't helping me.""Just be quiet and let me think for a moment!"
OOC
((Yes, I think I know what you mean. Sometimes running these missions feels like I'm taking people I like and then I'm blindfolding you, throwing you into a room full of traps, forcing you to go through it and threatening to kill a puppy if you make the wrong choice. I know it's not real and no real people are getting hurt but a small part of me feels bad about that.
((As long as no puppies were harmed in the real world, you're doing the right thing.))
So, as long as I don't harm any puppies, I got your permission to track you down and play real life Saw with you then?
If you haven't watched Saw, don't, it's terrible.
No puppies were harmed in the making of this post....I should probably diversify my magic artifacts. I seem to be using crystals for everything.
((Indeed. There's plenty of inspiration out there.
Try setting some rules. Crystals might be magically-charged, so they're best suited as primal standalone artifacts or power sources for powerful ones. Gold works well with enchantments that need to last a while, but it's harder to enchant (and expensive) so only the really good ones get so much as a pinch. Iron's good at destroying magical things, like demonslaying swords or antimagic fields. Stuff like that.))
((Well, I was mostly joking, there actually aren't that many crystals (only 4 by my count) I just haven't bothered naming them or describing them much. I think it's more of a problem that I can't come up with names for things than my choice of materials.
And in my head things are clearer I guess, because I always think of the interface as "the interface" and I can see it in my head and not "the bracelet with the crystal" but that's pretty much the description I gave Tiruin because I was trying different writing tricks when I was writing her turns. Probably should had done a better job.
Plus, most of those things may use similar materials but actually look quite different.
The interfaces actually look something like this:
So they are much more watch-like than crystal like, although they are kinda long, like a shackle or an arm-guard. Curiously, they are weightless and offer no protection.
Plus, other stuff look like that for historical reasons. For example, in universe, interfaces were designed like that because the designer got inspiration for its aesthetics from a piece of technology used in universe.
I got the inspiration for the thing that gave the in universe inspiration to the one who designed the interfaces from a cartoon/anime/something I watched when I was... I dunno, very young. Don't remember. Something about some aliens that wanted to kill some earth children and some kind of giant robot snake saved them? My head's only giving me fragments.
Anyway, you'll see what that in universe inspiration for the interface was if you choose Toaster's entity for a boss fight. Spoiler: It's actually quite non-magical, completely unrelated to its current function and probably not what you think.
Still, thanks for the suggestions. Things like gold for rare things don't work so well when you have people who can summon stuff from thin air though. Sounds like something that would be better suited for an RPG game, where you'd have economy and more rigid abilities. Still, the general idea behind them is good.
Remember, what you see in missions depends on what you ask. So far, we've been doing missions that involve futuristic magical stuff. You could ask for a more mundane or a more low-tech world if you don't like the current worlds or have gotten bored of them.
Man, I'm really talkative today for some reason. Maybe someone slipped something in my food.))
((Yes, I think I know what you mean. Sometimes running these missions feels like I'm taking people I like and then I'm blindfolding you, throwing you into a room full of traps, forcing you to go through it and threatening to kill a puppy if you make the wrong choice. I know it's not real and no real people are getting hurt but a small part of me feels bad about that.
Anyway, I don't have enough time to make a turn right now, I'll probably make one in 12-18 hours, I just wanted to tell you the fish came out of the crystal in the center of the room, the one Boris wants to use on Amelia, not Victor's Interface. Victor's interface doesn't have a Crystal, unlike yours.
Interface is the name of that bracelet, although I think that nobody told you that yet for some reason. You can assume to know that if you want, to save you some time.
...I should probably diversify my magic artifacts. I seem to be using crystals for everything.
As always, feel free to ask anymore questions.))
Wat.
When I said 'I hate you', I mean ohmygodI LOVETHIS. :v
It's like, we say 'hate you' but in text it lacks the tone and the mood that says otherwise.
Yes, yes, don't worry. I understand what you meant.
It was a metaphor about how I see the challenges I put your characters through. Just felt like talking and saying stuff for some reason. Sorry.
((Not gonna kamikaze it into the BETA? What a waste.))
((Oh, hey, that's the exact words I used in Toaster's turn! (wrote that before Fniff posted) You stole my mindthoughts!
Poll
15 (42.9%)
Author
Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1149406 times)