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It was inevitable

15 (42.9%)

Winners don't do drugs

6 (17.1%)

I'll be back

2 (5.7%)

Drink the Kool Aid

6 (17.1%)

Groovy

3 (8.6%)

Insane in the membrane

3 (8.6%)

Total Members Voted: 35

[Toaster]

((Geez.  Make one female robot and all the smartasses come out of the woodwork!))

Survival

John backs off his connection the the car and nods.  "Give me a sec- gonna patch up the car a bit.  Let me know if there's anything you need.

Not sure how much time these things will take, so I'll just list several.  Do them in order until I run out of time, repeating anything I screw up:

A spoiler or two to get some downforce going on to make it less squirrelly
Reinforce the glass to make it bullet resistant
A ram on the front (like you see on police cars)
A turret on the back, ideally sunk into the trunk to make it less obviously visible.  Remote operation for someone in the back seat.  A .50 cal or something is fine for armament.

[Yourmaster]

Alex would start to speak.
"I want blood. I haven't seen blood recently. My circuitry grinds with excitement."

[Wolfkit]

"Where did you come from? I'm 90±50% sure you weren't here earlier. And the hell kind of circuits do you have that grind? _{Are you sure you didn't mean gears?} Well, whatever.

Suddenly, Welroki realizes that he so rudely forgot to introduce himself to the friendly bartender, the sudden, mysterious new arrival provides Welroki with a convenient chance to introduce himself to both! Unfortunately, Welroki has inexplicably decided to narrate his plan, ruining subtlety and his imminent introduction, but such is the way of insanity, glorious insanity. And thus, Welroki warmly says:
Sorry, that was mean of me. Let's start this off on the right foot instead. I'm Welroki, by the way."

[Coolrune206]

Just fly to freedom...

[Parisbre56]

Campaign

Campaign, Ike!

<Hah! And they thought geothermal power was clean and safe! That'll show 'em. But yeah, second city destroyed in so much subjective time. Soon enough I'm going to need to step up my game just to keep up with all the expectations!>

Grab a skull, fill with gravel or rocks, wrap in a bit of available clothes. Then attach to a femur (with some shreds of cloth) to make a club. Then take another femur and try to break off its smaller end to make a stabby thing. Is there any broken glass lying about? Could set that into a femur instead if there is to make sort of a sharp pick thingy.

In any case, make a killing tool or two. Preferably two.

<Anywho, should really read up on my interdimensional being physiology when I get back, because so far this all sounds a bit esoteric and out of context.>

<More importantly! What are your thoughts on what I could possibly do to make this better? Make Mr. Beetle some refugee soup or something? Or am I going to need to solo quest for whatever the hell kind of entity we were looking for in the first place?>

Idly, yet cautiously wander toward the makeshift tents if I have at least one killing tool ready. Look up at the skies and the surrounding area. Do I see any yellow land octopuses? How about invisible land octopuses? Any giant sky overlords floating up above me? I dimly recall something like that being around previously.

((I'm not so sure that's the best way to create a weapon of that sort, but OK.))

Your attempt to create a weapon goes less well than desirable. You make a sort-of-OK club that should hold up for a hit or two using the described method. However while trying to grab a piece of glass that's been stuck in a corner for use in making your little shiv you manage to cut your hand pretty badly. You use a torn piece of cloth to apply a bandage and stop the bleeding, but it will be a bit hard to use that hand until the pain and irritation passes.

<Hah. You look like one of those movie savages with that thing. All you need now is a funny hat with feathers. Could also use a leather jacket to go for a post apocalyptic style. Would fit with the backdrop.>

<But anyway, it's a good idea to have some weapons. First time he tried regenerating something attacked and interrupted things. Couldn't see exactly what it was but it didn't look human. Probably how he got his arm hit.>

You start walking towards the city walls, making your way through the destroyed city. Many times you have to walk on mounds of rubble but sometimes you go through a relatively intact street, where the buildings were either sturdy enough or lucky enough to be left standing, but not undisturbed. Everything looks burnt and covered with soot and ash, even things that don't look like they were near anything flammable. A bit more macabre are the burnt corpses. Some of them have holes or fractures in their body, probably injured before the fires got to them. Others... don't. Some look surprisingly intact, showing very little fire damage, only the damage expected from decomposing corpses.

<Hah, no offence man, I mean you're cool and all, but I don't think you could take on a bond-former on your own, at least not without finishing some sidequests first. You know, level up, get some new equipment.>

<And I really don't think soup is what he really needs. More like something with protein. And this place looked pretty barren to begin with, so there's not much food around. I'd recommend something extra spicy as punishment, but I don't think bugs can taste spicy. Dunno, never been one. Now that I think about it, guy's probably not even a proper bug. I'm pretty sure I heard him breathing and last I checked bugs don't have lungs.>

<As for what you should do, I've got a few ideas.>

<First, there's the question of why he woke you up. Did he wake you up because he needed protection while he regenerates? Or while he wakes the rest of the team up? Or maybe he just wanted you around to fetch food for him? Or to draw power from? Or maybe you're a test, to see if this reviving thing works? Did he have a reason or is he so far gone he doesn't even understand why he did it, just doing it from instinct? Is he just doing all this to annoy me?>

<Second, there's the question of what you're going to do from here on out. The way I see it, you've got three choices. One is revive the others, two is have him regenerate, three is move some place safer to do those things. Or you could try something else. Maybe search for some sort of magical artefact he could use or something, although I haven't the faintest clue about where you could find one intact. Hell, you could even bring some humans for him to devour if you have no problem with kidnapping, cold blooded murder, sacrifice and potentially alienating the masses. Probably better not to use that option, now that I think about it.>

<From what I can see, he's still there where you left him, recuperating from reviving you. I bet you could go back there and force a decision on him. Or wait for him and see what he does. Or go off exploring the great unknown. Although I'd prefer it if you at least ensured the rest of your team will be safe.>

Sometimes you pick up the trail of a human or group of humans, but you never see any. Alien invasions followed by nuclear explosions don't make a very attractive place of residence, you reason. There are signs that they've been here though, discarded objects lying scattered on the street, rubble and ashes that look disturbed, where someone returned to the city in search for a loved one or for something to loot. Still, a bit strange they're not using the relatively intact-

You hear a rumbling somewhere behind you and feel the ground shake slightly. Turning around to look, you see a beam of light escaping from ground zero, pointing upwards. It disappears a few seconds later, but not before the vibration causes much of the surrounding rubble to resettle, producing the sound of rock striking upon rock.

<Oh, yeah, that happens from time to time. Spontaneous magical effects from the residual magic, I guess. You should had seen what it looked like when I first woke up. They were happening all the time and everywhere. And not only fire, some other things too. Not that I could actually see them, all I had was a blurry... thing.>

<I bet this place looks amazing during the night. Even in this state. The lack of people makes it kind of boring though. It's good to have a pair of eyes to look at it with  and someone to talk to about it.>

You continue walking towards the walls, finally reaching them a while later. They're very thick, sturdy looking things. Tall too, the towers even more so. They keep with the design of the place, blocky, angular and slightly narrower near the top, creating the optical illusion that the towers are pyramid-like.

The section you're in has had part of the wall bend outwards, revealing some sort of room inside. You could try climbing on that. Alternatively, you could follow the wall until you reach a door or gate you could use. Or you could keep moving along the wall to reach part of it where a building has collapsed upon it, making for an easy climb. Or you could use something else.

<Whatever you do, I just want to ask you a favour. Once he regenerates, try to convince him to let me talk to you? All those days with nothing to do and no one to talk to... I was starting to feel like I was going insane, you know? Like I was going to start talking to a frigging football or something. You get me man, right?>

Staging Area

Alex would start to speak.
"I want blood. I haven't seen blood recently. My circuitry grinds with excitement."

"G-g-g-g-ghost!" the man says, pointing at the man who just materialized out of thin air.
"No, not really. Still, nice of you to pop back up from whatever time vortex you were in and give a response, even if delayed. I guess I could get you a bloody mary if you want one."

[Lenglon]

((Here's a question for you Harry Baldman: Why did he revive Ike instead of Theri?))

[Yourmaster]

"I would, but I can't exactly drink."

[Parisbre56]

"I would, but I can't exactly drink."

"That sounds kind of cruel. Who'd give someone a mouth if they can't use it to get drunk?"
"No offence." he adds, talking to the female robot. She just shrugs indifferently.

His statement is followed by a very powerful tremor. Sounds like it's coming from somewhere outside.

[Tiruin]

((Here's a question for you Harry Baldman: Why did he revive Ike instead of Theri?))

((I think its a reference to how Ike played his past 'persona'. Remember the killer that we faced when we were saving Amelia? Yeah, him. Though considering the voice color of the speaker with Ike...I'm unsure.))

[Harry Baldman]

((Here's a question for you Harry Baldman: Why did he revive Ike instead of Theri?))

((Because he's one of the more level-headed of the bunch (read "most likely to just go with whatever River told him to do"), and on the surface seemed like the best choice for team leader to River, hence why he was given the responsibility of being his first mate on this doomed voyage, so to speak. So it might have been an instinctual thing for him, going off memory to the first guy that came to mind as possibly helpful.

Also, he may have been testing how soul sphere damage affects the finished product. Would have been pretty unfortunate if he tried to revive Theri and the result was a bunch of unconnected organs phased into one another. Maybe that's what even happened. This might not be so likely, though, given that he seems to be slightly less rational than I'd think such a plan of action would require.

He may just be fretting over Theri's safety in general and reviving her right now might put her in additional danger, since he doesn't appear to have much faith in her abilities. Or finally, he just hid Theri's soul sphere and doesn't remember where it is.))

<I've always wanted to incorporate a skull into a club. It's like a fantasy come true here.>

Wait, do the people here have socks or perhaps stockings? Could put a half-brick in one of those and call it a day. And if stockings are available, could use those to reinforce the club.

<Well, I think probably the best idea would be to get at least one other person as backup, if only to diffuse the responsibility a little and have some redundancy, y'know?>

Fetch a less decomposed corpse not far from the Rivercave and drag it back, then take the soul sphere (which I assume is Irine's) and try to convey to River wordlessly and calmly that it'd be great if he could revive Irine and that I've brought him the corpse in case he needs a lot of protein to do it or something, I dunno.

[Parisbre56]

<I've always wanted to incorporate a skull into a club. It's like a fantasy come true here.>

Wait, do the people here have socks or perhaps stockings? Could put a half-brick in one of those and call it a day. And if stockings are available, could use those to reinforce the club.

<Well, I think probably the best idea would be to get at least one other person as backup, if only to diffuse the responsibility a little and have some redundancy, y'know?>

Fetch a less decomposed corpse not far from the Rivercave and drag it back, then take the soul sphere (which I assume is Irine's) and try to convey to River wordlessly and calmly that it'd be great if he could revive Irine and that I've brought him the corpse in case he needs a lot of protein to do it or something, I dunno.

<Bashing in skulls with skulls. Reminds me of egg tapping.>

No socks you can see just lying around. Probably because it's hot enough here they're not really needed, at least not in the city. If you made a more thorough search, you could probably find some. It probably gets cold in the night further away from the city. And sure, reinforcing your club with more cloth would make it more sturdy and slightly less intimidating. Or you could just tie a long piece of cloth on a heavy rock and use that as a sort of flail or thrown weapon. Or you could use a different kind of material. All depends on what you want.

<Great! More people to talk to! I approve. And the redundancy thing, that too.>

You begin walking back to River's temporary lodging. As you walk, you notice that there is an effect high above ground zero that seems to be distorting light slightly. Probably another one of those residual magic side effects your entity talked about.

Your enhanced senses find a corpse that looks sort-of OK, hidden in a cavity of a building, crushed by debris. It is one of the few that is not surrounded by bugs and it smells mostly fine. You manage to retrieve it with nothing horrible happening to you and start dragging it back towards your hole.

Along the way you encounter something strange. At first it looks like a still burning flake of ash, kept aloft by the occasional wind some distance away. But suddenly it starts flying towards you, soon joined by similar looking things following it. You prepare to dodge or run away, but it turns out to have been unnecessary, as the points of light simply pass you by, creating a somewhat impressive light show. They keep moving, going out of sight somewhere behind you.

<That was weird. And kind of fun.
Looked alive. Let's hope it's not the dangerous kind of Spirit or some sort of Demon.>

You drag the corpse the rest of the way to the hole with no other notable incident. Getting it through the hole is a bit difficult, but you eventually manage to pull it through.

<Honey, I'm home. Brought you diner.>

As you move the corpse to where he had stored the others, you notice that one of them is missing. Looks like he was hungry. So it's probably a good thing you brought extra food.

That done, you retrieve Irene's soulsphere from the corner it was lying in. It seems to react to your touch, the movement of the flame inside getting closer to your hands and slightly faster. It feels a bit warm.

<Err, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, I'm all for reviving her, but given that he tried to kill her once... I don't know, don't you think he might try to do it again? Shouldn't you wait until you're at least able to talk to him about it, make sure he won't go all papa wolf again?>
<Heh, 'papa wolf'. Get it? It's funny because it's both a trope and he's- Oh crap. You might want to turn around.>

Turning around, you notice bugman standing behind you. Either that guy can move really quietly if he wants to or there's something wrong with your ears.

Undeterred, you approach him very slowly in the most non-threatening manner possible. When you are close to him, you push the soulsphere towards his chest, inviting him to pick it up. After a couple of seconds, he raises his hands, grabs the sphere and pushes it back towards you. You push the sphere back towards him, a bit more forcefully now, and let go of it, hoping he gets the message and accepts.

He spends several seconds alternating looking at you and the sphere. Is he trying to figure out what you mean? Is he trying to figure out what to do? Is he trying to to figure out the best way to hit you in the face with it? Is he trying to figure out what that strange glowy thing in his hands is? You have no idea.

Finally he apparently makes a decision. He walks towards the exit hole and starts going through it, holding the sphere with his injured hand.

<Hey! Where do you think you're going? We brought you food you idiot, now fix her! Don't do anything stupid!>

[Coolrune206]

Just fly to freedom...

Cmon, Paris! Lemme just finish!


Also, what happened to the dudes I poisoned back in the beginning?
Did they die a terrible slow death?

[Tiruin]

((Here's a question for you Harry Baldman: Why did he revive Ike instead of Theri?))

((Because he's one of the more level-headed of the bunch (read "most likely to just go with whatever River told him to do"), and on the surface seemed like the best choice for team leader to River, hence why he was given the responsibility of being his first mate on this doomed voyage, so to speak. So it might have been an instinctual thing for him, going off memory to the first guy that came to mind as possibly helpful.

Also, he may have been testing how soul sphere damage affects the finished product. Would have been pretty unfortunate if he tried to revive Theri and the result was a bunch of unconnected organs phased into one another. Maybe that's what even happened. This might not be so likely, though, given that he seems to be slightly less rational than I'd think such a plan of action would require.

He may just be fretting over Theri's safety in general and reviving her right now might put her in additional danger, since he doesn't appear to have much faith in her abilities. Or finally, he just hid Theri's soul sphere and doesn't remember where it is.))

((Oww. The judgement. ._. Hmm, something to work on. "Impression onto others. And activity."
Mmph >_<))

[Lenglon]

((*Lenglon watches and waits intently*))

[Harry Baldman]

Campaign, Ike!

<Okay, so he's either going to go for a dramatic resurrection under the empowering yellow light of the morning sun or he's going off to find a pointier rock to smash the sphere against, or a deeper hole to drop it into. That'd suck, since it would mean that me going for the not-hidden fruit first would have directly resulted in someone's complete annihilation.>

Follow Mr. Beetle and watch what he does. If he tries to do harm to the sphere, either attempt to peacefully dissuade him or catch it if he lets go of it in the process.

Also, file Skullflail under "things I'm going to make in the near future".