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Author Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things.  (Read 538927 times)

Tarran

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However, Consumption of monitored substances and civil disturbance/littering isn't the way to do it.
Bah humbug. That is a lie. :P

Sleepers... well, anyone who would be a sleeper would probably be far too important for you to start as.
Why is anything too important for us to start out as? From what I've seen it doesn't matter who you are... you're fricking going to go to goddamn Epsilon Eridani whether you like it or not--regardless of how hard you fight or who you are--where your importance back on earth has little meaning besides a bit of flavor text. Unless you managed to find something interesting. But then again, you don't have to find anything interesting to be a sleeper, right?

I word my statements and descriptions loosely. Had I not, Powder probably wouldn't have put his reserve character in as an unchained, a faction which he can join at start now because our protagonists are on good terms.
You could have just edited the first post and got the same results. I'm just saying. A little effort could achieve the same results without causing confusion.

Interpret as you will, anytime two people take a look at something worth seeing they'll come away with two different impressions.
Yes. But it's the extent of the difference that matters. As it stands, your impression was significantly distanced from mine on major points. In my opinion, it's generally better if they're only somewhat distanced or not distanced at all on major points. Minor points are okay to be significantly distanced. Major, not so much in my opinion.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2012, 05:56:09 pm by Tarran »
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Quote from: Phantom
Unknown to most but the insane and the mystics, Tarran is actually Earth itself, as Earth is sentient like that planet in Avatar. Originally Earth used names such as Terra on the internet, but to protect it's identity it changed letters, now becoming the Tarran you know today.
Quote from: Ze Spy
Tarran has the "Tarran Bug", a bug which causes the affected character to repeatedly hit teammates while dual-wielding instead of whatever the hell he is shooting at.

Draignean

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Quote
Why is anything too important for us to start out as? From what I've seen it doesn't matter who you are... you're fricking going to go to goddamn Epsilon Eridani whether you like it or not--regardless of how hard you fight or who you are--where your importance back on earth has little meaning besides a bit of flavor text. Unless you managed to find something interesting. But then again, you don't have to find anything interesting to be a sleeper, right?

    Making someone important, or even giving you any status whatsoever among the Unchained, gives you a reason to side with them. I don't want that. In a sense anyone who is sympathetic is a sleeper for the cause, but a true sleeper agent, someone who knows who they're really working for, would have to be fairly powerful to resist being read. (Do remember the psychics. If the Unchained tried to sow sleepers without considerable empathetic talent, the entire operation could destroy itself and more within weeks.)
     Flavor text, my friend, is everything. Without it there is no story. Actions do not define us, they may shape us, but they do not define us. How we feel about our actions, our motivation, our ability to deal with the aftermath, that is what defines who we are. Harry not hesitating before putting a bullet in James' brain on someone's orders is flavor text, but it defines the character. I considered starting you as newly shipped in deviants, but that would deny you the ability to tell your character's living lie, the mask that your character had prior to having his/her life turned into a living shithole.
    Without the couple turns of flavor text, neither you or the the mute audience has the ability to see the true growth of character. Taric has lost the inhibitions he had, You've fallen into darker and darker brooding, Dominique has found a strength far beyond her days as a maintenance worker, and Trol succumbed to his own madness and lost his last fragile desire to care.

I started you out unimportant because I wanted you unbiased, I started you on earth because I wanted to see your characters unbiased.

Quote
Bah humbug. That is a lie. :P

Viva la *hic* revolushion! *thud*

Quote
You could have just edited the first post and got the same results. I'm just saying. A little effort could achieve the same results without causing confusion.

My mind works in different ways than most, I didn't even see how there might be confusion until you brought it up. If it would make you happy, I could change "organization" to "brethren", and probably add an "among" after it says member to make it flow, but I still think it's a bit silly to change. Still if it's really that necessary to you, and two of the others think it's necessary (watchers included in others), I'll do it.

Quote
Yes. But it's the extent of the difference that matters. As it stands, your impression was significantly distanced from mine on major points. In my opinion, it's generally better if they're only somewhat distanced or not distanced at all on major points. Minor points are okay to be significantly distanced. Major, not so much in my opinion.

Major?

I'm intrigued, in what way is this a major differentiation of visions?
   
« Last Edit: May 16, 2012, 06:33:53 pm by Draignean »
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I have a degree in Computer Seance, that means I'm officially qualified to tell you that the problem with your system is that it's possessed by Satan.
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Tarran

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My mind works in different ways than most, I didn't even see how there might be confusion until you brought it up. If it would make you happy, I could change "organization" to "brethren", and probably add an "among" after it says member to make it flow, but I still think it's a bit silly to change. Still if it's really that necessary to you, and two of the others think it's necessary (watchers included in others), I'll do it.
You don't even have to change that. All you would have to do is change a few words in the Factions to tell people that "Unchained" is not another name for Freedom Fighters, but it is a name for a group of them.

This is all that you would have to change:
Quote
The Unchained: The common name for the freedom fighters
To
Quote
The Unchained: The common name for a group of freedom fighters

Major?

I'm intrigued, in what way is this a major differentiation of visions?
It's major because until now I had assumed all freedom fighters were Unchained, while you had it as the Unchained were only a smaller group.

Let me give examples as to why it's major:

I assume all men in a battalion use rifles, while you have it as only half of them.
I assume all men in a base are immune to a disease, while you have it as only 90% of them.
I assume all men in a squad are wearing heavy armor, but in truth only 2 of them are wearing heavy armor.
I assume all cars in a parking lot will be plain cars, but in truth there's only group of plain cars in there.
I assume all 30 clips of ammo will be AP, but in truth only several clips are AP.
I assume an enemy squad is entirely composed of close range specialists, but in truth there are a couple of snipers.

What I'm trying to say is, there's a major difference between assuming a group encompasses an entire type of people, and a group only encompasses part of an entire type of people.
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Quote from: Phantom
Unknown to most but the insane and the mystics, Tarran is actually Earth itself, as Earth is sentient like that planet in Avatar. Originally Earth used names such as Terra on the internet, but to protect it's identity it changed letters, now becoming the Tarran you know today.
Quote from: Ze Spy
Tarran has the "Tarran Bug", a bug which causes the affected character to repeatedly hit teammates while dual-wielding instead of whatever the hell he is shooting at.

Draignean

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I assume all men in a battalion use rifles, while you have it as only half of them.
I assume all men in a base are immune to a disease, while you have it as only 90% of them.
I assume all men in a squad are wearing heavy armor, but in truth only 2 of them are wearing heavy armor.
I assume all cars in a parking lot will be plain cars, but in truth there's only group of plain cars in there.
I assume all 30 clips of ammo will be AP, but in truth only several clips are AP.
I assume an enemy squad is entirely composed of close range specialists, but in truth there are a couple of snipers.

I seem to remember I friend telling me something about assumptions once... :P

Hell, it isn't all that out of my way. I need to update the factions anyway, besides, you've been a devoted player long enough that I know you aren't a raving lunatic more than three times a week.
If only there was a way to document how individuals actually reassemble visual information into thoughts and ideas... But you're all probably using your brains where they are. I find it interesting that SC seems to think along the same paths I do, while you and Powder both seem to have a different, but similar to one another, method of interpretation. Nobody has any clue how Taric interprets information, though I imagine little mental in-boxes labeled "Porn" and "Not Porn", but that's probably too much bleed through from his character.

I'll probably get to it sometime soon.

Oh, really I thought Freedom Fighter was Unchained, and thats why I put April as an Unchained in her waitlist app.

It's a Sin to post and then leave without even a flavor action, and yes, it does deserve that capital 'S'.
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I have a degree in Computer Seance, that means I'm officially qualified to tell you that the problem with your system is that it's possessed by Satan.
---
Q: "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
A: "No, not particularly."

Tarran

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while you and Powder both seem to have a different, but similar to one another, method of interpretation.
I haven't actually noticed that besides this single time to be truthful. I personally think I'm kind of a one-of-a-kind.

Nobody has any clue how Taric interprets information, though I imagine little mental in-boxes labeled "Porn" and "Not Porn", but that's probably too much bleed through from his character.
No, it's "Porn", "Electronic Porn", "Electronic fondling", and "Technocrat fondling". Get it right. :P
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Quote from: Phantom
Unknown to most but the insane and the mystics, Tarran is actually Earth itself, as Earth is sentient like that planet in Avatar. Originally Earth used names such as Terra on the internet, but to protect it's identity it changed letters, now becoming the Tarran you know today.
Quote from: Ze Spy
Tarran has the "Tarran Bug", a bug which causes the affected character to repeatedly hit teammates while dual-wielding instead of whatever the hell he is shooting at.

Taricus

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Nonono, all WRONG.

It's Sex, Violence, Anything that can be used to achive one of the two, Technology and useless shit :P
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We sided with the holocaust for a fucking +1 roll

Powder Miner

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Why is anything too important for us to start out as? From what I've seen it doesn't matter who you are... you're fricking going to go to goddamn Epsilon Eridani whether you like it or not--regardless of how hard you fight or who you are--where your importance back on earth has little meaning besides a bit of flavor text. Unless you managed to find something interesting. But then again, you don't have to find anything interesting to be a sleeper, right?

    Making someone important, or even giving you any status whatsoever among the Unchained, gives you a reason to side with them. I don't want that. In a sense anyone who is sympathetic is a sleeper for the cause, but a true sleeper agent, someone who knows who they're really working for, would have to be fairly powerful to resist being read. (Do remember the psychics. If the Unchained tried to sow sleepers without considerable empathetic talent, the entire operation could destroy itself and more within weeks.)
     Flavor text, my friend, is everything. Without it there is no story. Actions do not define us, they may shape us, but they do not define us. How we feel about our actions, our motivation, our ability to deal with the aftermath, that is what defines who we are. Harry not hesitating before putting a bullet in James' brain on someone's orders is flavor text, but it defines the character. I considered starting you as newly shipped in deviants, but that would deny you the ability to tell your character's living lie, the mask that your character had prior to having his/her life turned into a living shithole.
    Without the couple turns of flavor text, neither you or the the mute audience has the ability to see the true growth of character. Taric has lost the inhibitions he had, You've fallen into darker and darker brooding, Dominique has found a strength far beyond her days as a maintenance worker, and Trol succumbed to his own madness and lost his last fragile desire to care.
What about James? NAME HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT... besides his brainfighting. Like how earlier he was willing to be merciful on the dream thug yet he's now willing to put punchgun bullets through the brains of things he comes across.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2012, 10:22:27 pm by Powder Miner »
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Draignean

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while you and Powder both seem to have a different, but similar to one another, method of interpretation.
I haven't actually noticed that besides this single time to be truthful. I personally think I'm kind of a one-of-a-kind.

The sample is quite small, we'll have to wait and see. Most everyone has a one-of-a-kind mind, (I only say most everyone to include the possibility of being wrong) it is in how the processes work out that I'm interested. If everyone had the exact same kind, well, the RTDs would get very Very boring.

Of course, if everyone is unique, then everyone must be the same. So the only way to be unique would be to be the same. Snowflake paradox.

Quote
Why is anything too important for us to start out as? From what I've seen it doesn't matter who you are... you're fricking going to go to goddamn Epsilon Eridani whether you like it or not--regardless of how hard you fight or who you are--where your importance back on earth has little meaning besides a bit of flavor text. Unless you managed to find something interesting. But then again, you don't have to find anything interesting to be a sleeper, right?

    Making someone important, or even giving you any status whatsoever among the Unchained, gives you a reason to side with them. I don't want that. In a sense anyone who is sympathetic is a sleeper for the cause, but a true sleeper agent, someone who knows who they're really working for, would have to be fairly powerful to resist being read. (Do remember the psychics. If the Unchained tried to sow sleepers without considerable empathetic talent, the entire operation could destroy itself and more within weeks.)
     Flavor text, my friend, is everything. Without it there is no story. Actions do not define us, they may shape us, but they do not define us. How we feel about our actions, our motivation, our ability to deal with the aftermath, that is what defines who we are. Harry not hesitating before putting a bullet in James' brain on someone's orders is flavor text, but it defines the character. I considered starting you as newly shipped in deviants, but that would deny you the ability to tell your character's living lie, the mask that your character had prior to having his/her life turned into a living shithole.
    Without the couple turns of flavor text, neither you or the the mute audience has the ability to see the true growth of character. Taric has lost the inhibitions he had, You've fallen into darker and darker brooding, Dominique has found a strength far beyond her days as a maintenance worker, and Trol succumbed to his own madness and lost his last fragile desire to care.
What about James? NAME HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT... besides his brainfighting. Like how earlier he was willing to be merciful on the dream thug yet he's now willing to put punchgun bullets through the brains of things he comes across.

Too soon to really say on you, but I would characterize it as a general loss of human morality shaded with mania and a growing thanatos.

Also, I reiterate.
Oh, really I thought Freedom Fighter was Unchained, and thats why I put April as an Unchained in her waitlist app.

It's a Sin to post and then leave without even a flavor action, and yes, it does deserve that capital 'S'.

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I have a degree in Computer Seance, that means I'm officially qualified to tell you that the problem with your system is that it's possessed by Satan.
---
Q: "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
A: "No, not particularly."

Powder Miner

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Oh, right my action I forgot about that.
James crouched by the doorway. He whispered to the blight. "There's an unarmored thug in there and a armored guy in there. If we lure the armored one out we can probably shoot him down. What do you think?"
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Draignean

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I started working on the turn, then I realized that Tarran doesn't have a real action, besides stop Ashley from doing something she isn't doing.

Eh, I'll idle him off to rest if there isn't a replacement action in a couple hours. No big deal really.
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I have a degree in Computer Seance, that means I'm officially qualified to tell you that the problem with your system is that it's possessed by Satan.
---
Q: "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
A: "No, not particularly."

SeriousConcentrate

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Technically, he's trying to help Dom get to him to even the numbers, so you could always have his action assist mine if rolls are necessary.
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SerCon Shorts: This Is How You Do It - Twenty-three one minute or less videos of random stupidity in AC:U, Bloodborne, DS2:SotFS, Salt & Sanctuary, and The Witcher 3.

Draignean

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Technically, he's trying to help Dom get to him to even the numbers, so you could always have his action assist mine if rolls are necessary.

Heh, you're not actively in combat so no rolls are necessary to cross the distance. Though the image of Dominique running with Tarran doing cheers in the background for encouragement is strangely hilarious.
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I have a degree in Computer Seance, that means I'm officially qualified to tell you that the problem with your system is that it's possessed by Satan.
---
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Caellath

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Heh, you're not actively in combat so no rolls are necessary to cross the distance. Though the image of Dominique running with Tarran doing cheers in the background for encouragement is strangely hilarious.
I have no idea why, but I am reminded of Rocky.
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"Hey steve." You speak into the air.
>Yes?
"Could you guys also make a hamburger out of this arm when they cut it off? I wanted to eat it just for the sake of tasting it."
>That is horrible and disgusting. It will no doubt set you apart and create fear in your team mates. So of course.

Draignean

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Dominique Wakeman

"Hey, Boss! Where the fuck are ya?" Dominique yelled. If she got a response, she'd try to follow his voice to his location.

    You, somewhat profanely, call out for Tarran. He might have left by now, considering the amount of time you've been gone and the... circumstances of your parting.
   Remarkably, he both hears and answers your call. His voice is a little indistinct from the journey, but you can make out the fact that he's calling you over. And the fact that he's calling you a traitor. Jerk.
   You jog out of the south wing of the personnel quarters, squeezing through the bent door, and crunching through the thin carpet of ants that have confusedly invaded the facility. You arrive at the fallen lamp in time to watch Harry force the doors of the elevator open, leaning out into the blackness to do... something.
   Something that looks more and more like a bad idea as you watch. 

---

Tarran Smith

"Down here, you traitor! Get here on the double, James has been taken by the Immortals!"

Walk to Ash and watch to see what she is doing. If she tries to cut the cable, stop her.


    Dominique's shout takes you by surprise, you'd have expected her to be hip deep in some kind of hideous and bare-knuckle trouble by now. Regardless of the reasons behind her unexpected decision to come back, you could use her about now. You answer her shout with one of your own, ordering her to get over here, now.
     With Dominique taken care of, it's something of a waiting game for you. Hacking elevators isn't exactly your specialty, and descending empty shafts to God knows where is something that you've only done once- and that one time involved climbing gear and a couple near death experiences. [Stam 4] (Stamina Maxed 12+3/5 = 3 health regenerated) You use the time to rest, though you keep a very wary eye on what Ashley and her team is doing. Their conversation isn't loud enough to hear all of it, but you don't like the sound of the snatches that come through.

---

Ashley Fey

Attempt to interfere with the electromagnets so that the carriage will halt, then follow it down carefully

   You can't let the kid fall into enemy hands, least of all this enemy. You don't know what they're intending to do, but you doubt highly that it's going to involve tea and biscuits, for any of you. "If the person cannot be saved, at least his captors can die with him. Can we drop the elevator?" You whisper to Harry, carefully out of earshot of Tarran.
    Jordan raises an eyebrow at your cold-blooded tactics, but Harry considers it for a second, then shakes his head. "Not quickly. It would take a great deal of firepower to do it normally, and I don't think I can manage a discharge large enough to make the rails scramble enough to drop it. I might be able to stop it though."
    "Do it," you command, already moving to help Harry pull elevator door open.
    [Harry Str 3+1, Ashley Strength 2+1] The doors slide open grudgingly under your combined force, giving you a look into the dark depths of the open shaft. Even with Harry and yourself pulling, you don't manage to get the doors all the way open, but what you have is more than enough for a single person to pass through at a time.
    "Jordan, Ash, Hold me back," Harry asks as he leans out into the darkness, letting most of his body slip well across the boarding threshold so he can get a clear shot at one of the rails.
    [Jordan Strength 2, Ash Strength 3+1] It REALLY isn't easy for the two of you to keep it up, and you know you won't be able to do this for more than a couple of minutes. If only the staggershock implants were in someone who didn't weigh as much as a small vehicle.
   [Harry Shock, intensity 50, 5] There's a loud crackle and a flash of light from the elevator shaft as Harry's discharge jumps to the near-left rail, making its ghostly operating lights flicker and, in a few cases, explode. You can hear a dim rumble from below, the sound of the elevator coming to a stop as one of its rails goes crazy.  It won't last long, most of these systems are built to tolerate up to fifty percent hardware damage before they're forced to deploy emergency brakes, but it will give you some time while the systems recalculate the field amplitudes necessary to move the elevator with only three working rails.

(Elevator is Stopped. It will resume operation in three turns.)
(Harry is at slightly more than a quarter charge.)
(Your HP and energy have equalized)
---

Taric Sizier

See if I can't clear up the display, then get the information I wanted off of it.

    [Mechanical 2+1-2] It looks like you're stuck with it being ugly, a cursory attempt to refine your earlier work only ends up giving one of the emitters a partial flicker, rendering part of the hologram insubstantial at odd intervals. Stupid finicky systems... Not built to withstand having their warranties violated in ever loophole...
   You continue your odyssey of searching for records while uttering a steady stream of sotto voce beratements for the programmers of this infernal system. [Mech 3+1] With your work on dismantling the backlog security in a hitch because of the errant security cluster, you're forced to use cruder, and slower, methods to find the inventory lists. It does, however, do something that the more precise method did not; it works.
   The inventory list is complete as of a bit more than a year ago, and it is very, very complete. Too complete. Clothing, tableware, reactor fuel, chemical compounds, weapons, food, pads, purification agents, and thousands of other things. Everything you need to run a base that holds a static population and scrubs it's own air, water, and sewage, plus the supplementary shipments.
     It's going to take a while to sort through.

---

James Evan

James crouched by the doorway. He whispered to the blight. "There's an unarmored thug in there and a armored guy in there. If we lure the armored one out we can probably shoot him down. What do you think?"

    She stares at you as if you have lobsters growing out of your head. "You are aware of the massive irony present in asking me what I think, aren't you?" She shrugs, giving her pistol a once over as she thinks. [Blight int 5] "It's better than fighting them both at once. We can use the cells for cover if you don't fancy getting shot. 'Course, that's assuming these cells are empty. Are they?"
   You don't actually know, you weren't here for long last time, and you never tried the doors then. For all you know they could be filled with unspeakable horrors, but by the same card they could hold allies as well.

---


Turn Recap
Taric is breaking and succeeding.
James is asking himself for advice
Tarran is Recuperating
Dominique Running
Ash is holding on to Harry

Jordan is Holding on to Harry
Harry is Shocking the bejeezus out of things.

Other Events
The elevator is stopped, it will resume moving in 3 turns
Tarran Will be encumbered as soon as the gravity goes back to earth normal


Relevant Items
Memory Stick (Dom)
Broken Pad (Taric)
Ident Badge -Pyotr Ivanov- (Taric)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)




Spoiler: NPC (James) (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ashley Fey (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Companions (Ashley) (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Dominique Wakeman (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Taric Sizier (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Tarran Smith (click to show/hide)

Spoiler:  James Evan (click to show/hide)




   
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I have a degree in Computer Seance, that means I'm officially qualified to tell you that the problem with your system is that it's possessed by Satan.
---
Q: "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
A: "No, not particularly."

Powder Miner

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James whispered "I don't know if they're empty.", carefully attempting to open a cell with his gun at the ready.
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