Every day after studies you’d crawl down amidst the pipes and tunnels and maintenance drones and work until you collapsed. But it earned you a ticket through the draft, out of EDEN, then back to Beta.

The tunnels of Epsilon are dark and winding, lit by infrared to guide the automatons within. The vibrations of people and life above you match the groaning of pipes and fluids rushing past you. The aging and damp infrastructure coating everything in rust to the point of every floor panel flexing beneath you as you stoop to fit inside.

The worst part is; you recognize these tunnels.

Wow, the initial field was too long, and it dropped my name when I went back. Fuck that

And now for tonight’s installment,
“Alright, let’s go over the bullet points,” you say to yourself as you walk through the tunnels of Epsilon. You’re not quite paying attention to where, but you know you’ll just wind up somewhere you recognize, even after five years. “I’ve been falsely blamed for someone else’s murder, which they did through the Net. That shouldn’t even be possible, so that’s new. They guys who were killed were investigating the Hanger Sim, the one Fenix made. That thing’s loaded with illegal data, so they probably had to protect it. And it’s a simple matter to rip apart any programs sent to investigate, even EVE doesn’t enter sims because of that.
“But the problem is I was blamed because when they looked at the retrieved data it was all corrupted like I’d touched it. My implant does that because the Landmaster Program kind of shits all over modern software, even after two years. The bastard also has some interest in me, enough to break me out of jail. But then again, General Chase knew that would happen, and made me take a remote release cyanide pill.
“In doing my investigations though, I found some other sims he made, all in increasing complexity at fucking breakneck speed. And I got a coupon for a Knight Weapon, whatever that means. I also lost in the Somme, so my Twilight Key didn’t get upgraded, though I do have a gen one key for all it matters. I’ve also met several people working with Fenix, so he’s not alone. He’s managed to spread Twilight Keys across the entire fucking city while I was bumblefarting around.
“So where does that lead me? And what the fuck do I do now?”

>How do you proceed?

[x] Eat a sandwhich.

So we either need to prove our innocence or get someone's help

“Seems that you’re having a bit of trouble.” The voice echoes through the halls of Epsilon. You look around, finding only the scraping of maintenance drones and the rumble of life above you.
“Who the fuck is there?”
“Someone who’s always been there,” the voice responds as shadows start shifting around in the corners of your eyes, flirting with your vision. The static whisper in the trailings of his words clicks.
“Show yourself Fenix,” you demand, pressing up against a wall and unholstering your Lupa revolver.
“Let’s be honest with one another here. You’re not making any progress in much of anything right now. You’re just falling deeper and deeper into the pit. Pretty soon you’ll do something stupid and General Chase will kill you, and I can’t have that. I’m sure you don’t want that either.” His voice is echoing through the halls in every direction.
“Who asked you?”
“Would you like to cut a deal?”

>>29129641
>>How do you proceed?

Damn you work schedule! always when I have to head out for my shift.

>>29130582
>So we either need to prove our innocence or get someone's help
Why not do both?

One thing i discovered, though - if someone is impersonating our landmaster signature, can they inherit our EVE admin rights by spoofing?

Worth thinking about.

also, i say at least hear what fenix has to say.
[x]Listen to theoffer

>>29131745
If someone is leaving the same signature as you, that's a good indicator that they're using the same ripper codes as you, which are capable of establishing admin status. You'd still have yours though.

So you're about to leave then?

“What are the terms you ghost,” you respond. The shadows of pipes are moving of their own accord now.

“Simple terms really, come visit me in my new home, and stay for a while. I’m sure you were going to come here soon enough on your own, but I’m willing to let you in early, ahead of the others. Worry not for your body. The military police refuse to enter Gamma most of the time and never come to Epsilon, and if they deploy a kuzuri I can redirect it with ease. I’ve gotten some practice at it recently, maybe you should have given it a try yourself?”

“They’d probably shoot me if I developed ripper codes for a kuzuri. Stop playing these games with me and show yourself.”

“I am playing no games, yet. Will you join me?”

>Join him in the Sim
>Refuse
>Other

>>29131838

In like, half an hour.
I'm not sure entirely what ripper codes do, but its clear we need better and/or different ones. As a software junkie, we can probably alter our own or code fresh ones to get rid of this problem again.

In about half an hour yeah.

We should run what we know by EVE, though - as well as start leaving a journal of our investigation with her. It will A) let us graduate to noir tier, and b) If anything happens to us, we have some .... backupplan/insurance/alibi/contingencies.

>>29131916
"I'll bite. Lemme find a place to sit down."

>>29131941
in doing the rewrite of this quest I settled on ripper codes as an acceptable term for the programs you have for hacking various things

Speaking of which, I can link part of the rewrite
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16yQyqDnTPBC-HrWSpcr9L22I0VfYnMJIIYqzZBbzl2A/edit?usp=sharing

I'd like to think that take 3 of this is still quite an improvement

Writing

“Sure, I’ll bite, let me sit down,” you respond as you lean against the wall and slide down. Next to you is a relay for the maintenance drones, lightly protected. You rip apart the programming and patch in with your implant while waiting for a response. You send a quick message over to Eve catching her up as best you can with the situation. “So what’s the coordinate?” you ask, but then he’s in front of you.

The same black avatar, sketched out and encrypted over its nervemap, and he’s leaning over you. You shout, and he’s gone, but the coordinate has loaded into your implant. You take a deep breath, mentally swear at him, and log in.

You find yourself in your phonebooth easily enough, and it’s already logging in. You turn around and open the door. The objects are still loading up for you, but the floor is solid enough. You’re in a large hall, vaulted far above you with blurry tapestries hanging down. You notice that you’re in your original avatar, a recreation of your self.

Two massive wooden doors swing open, creaking on their hinges and letting sunlight flood the hall. As you start to walk towards the light, a menu appears in front of you. “Thank you for logging in Player 13! You’ve acquired a Knight’s Weapon Coupon! Please define the weapon you’d like to be armed with, no firearms!”

Your home sim has already been cut out of this world.

What weapon would you like?

>>29132154
Double headed flail.

>>29132154
>“Thank you for logging in Player 13! You’ve acquired a Knight’s Weapon Coupon! Please define the weapon you’d like to be armed with, no firearms!”

Show me a prompt. Look for anything that stands out.

Current idea: Asking for a package deal. Archery is good, because bows are ranged, and archers (at one point in history) had backup weapons too - shields they could keep on their back, but bring up if needed, and a sword.

Something that covers all bases like that would own.

If you want a prompt package

>Blitzer
>Berserker
>Cleaver
>Defender

The menu does not give any more information

>>29132330

What woulda professional soldier ask for?
Lets go with that.

because we kinda were, and at least have ag ood idea. in the sim, wher we can't alter our stats, using things we are familiar with is probably a solid bet

>>29132351
so
>reliability
>reliability
>reliability
>Defender

?

>>29132330
>>Defender

You click on the Defender option. The menu changes, “Thank you for choosing the Arm of War! This gauntlet blade is incredibly sturdy and can be used to defend yourself just like the armor the UNAAF uses. Because this is a bonus weapon, there will be augments across all of Terram Novum that will increase its power so you can keep using it, or you can find a new, more powerful weapon out there.”
A new object materializes around your right arm. It starts as an iron gauntlet, but more plates continue to slide out of it until it wraps up your arm all the way to a pauldron. Then the blade appears. A rail runs along your forearm, carrying it, and with a simple flick the blade drops down and into your hand. It’s short, but broad and one-sided. For its apparent weight though, it feels light and quick. Letting go of the blade retracts it up your forearm.
“Scanning your abilities now!”
Stats :
Strength - 25
Speed - 25
Accuracy – 30
Durability - 80
Skills :
Swords - 15
CQC - 30
Evasion - 30
Firearms – 40
Cityboarding – 20
“Not bad! With a little work, you could be a great player. You may increase one of these stats for the duration of your stay here, which would you like to increase?”

>>29132691
A side menu opens up

Arm of War : Rare Knight Weapon
+5 Damage
+20 Evasion vs Melee

>>29132691
>Speed

You shrug and click on Speed, a ‘+2’ appears next to it. “Fucking plus two is all I get?” you complain as the menu loads up another list.

“Please select your character class,

>Brawler. A warrior made for the thick of battle, with good Strength
>Lancer. A specialized, one on one warrior with good Speed.
>Rogue. A precision dungeon delver with good Accuracy
>Knight. A general purpose warrior with good Durability.
>Caster. A researcher of the unknown arts. (Still under development)

“You will be provided with the basic equipment of your class. But if you meet the requirements, you can use any classes equipment.”

Which will it be?

>>29132941
>>Lancer. A specialized, one on one warrior with good Speed.

>>29133019
should I wait a bit for more votes or lock this in and end char gen?

Figuring you’re better off specializing, you click on Lancer. “Thank you, and enjoy your adventure in Terram Novum,” the menu says before disappearing. A thin rapier materializes in your hand along with a stat window displaying ‘+5 damage’. An overlay on your vision boots up, displaying your current durability along with an empty experience bar.

“Enjoying the game? I kind of figured that you’d choose knight since you won a knight weapon, but it matters little,” Fenix says as he walks out of the blinding light and up to you.

“So you made a game. Is this what the Twilight Keys are for?”

“Indeed they are. In a little under a day now, all of the twilight keys will begin to activate and waves of new players will join you here.”

“So you’ve been doing all of this, to promote a game?”

“It may seem that way but no, the game is but a means to an end, one that I cannot achieve on my own. But I must warn you, now that you’ve logged in, you can’t log out. You will have to take this game quite seriously if you mean to survive.”

You laugh. “Are you trying to intimidate a god of the Net? I can do anything I want,” you say as you sneer at him.

“With your little codes? Borrowed remnants of the Landmaster Program? My codes? I must thank you so much for giving me access to them in full you see. I was getting worried that they would kill you to cut me off, but now it doesn’t really matter. Terram Novum will go live, and the entire city will be at my mercy. All I can say now is have fun, it is a game after all. Maybe if you beat it you can get out. Till then,” Fenix says with a smirk.

“Just wait a fucking minute you bastard!” you shout as you try to access the sim, you reach around with every ripper code you have but find no success, then they start disappearing, corrupting. Fenix disappears and leaves you alone and powerless. “Motherfucker.”

>How do you proceed?

Going to be a dinner delay, apologies

A perspective shift right now is a possibility

>>29133382
See if you can contact EVE

Fenix is an AI as evidenced by the sims he’s made so far, progressively more elaborate and with inhumanly rapid improvement. Further more he is made at least in part from the Landmaster Program, as evidenced by the corruption signature he left behind identical to Warrick’s. His interest in Warrick likely stems from a need for the prototype implant which was developed for the Landmaster Program. AIs do not have their own agendas though. Someone built him, someone is using him. Judging by his social agenda, probably someone from Gamma.

The fact that Fenix killed two soldiers means he has a method of killing through the Net. As this is a new technology, the two investigators were probably a test before mass scale usage, as is the pattern with everything else he’s developed. Similarly, he’s probably constructing a large simulation.

The Twilight Keys will generate a number and nothing else. The only way that will do anything is if they are generating a coordinate. When the keys activate, hundreds of millions of people will get that coordinate and log in to a simulation most likely akin to the Hanger Sim. A sim that Fenix can kill them from.

The worst case scenario with these givens is that he will inflict a large scale terrorist attack on EDEN possibly numbering in the hundreds of millions of casualties.


Just saying

“Eve, Eve. Eve pick up, don’t leave me hanging,” you mumble as you try to ping out of the sim and reach her but only have the message bounce back. You start to disconnect, but a hunch makes you query through your internal memory. A few gigs of memory are simply missing. He planted something on you. And your codes are nowhere to be found. Trying to remove the virus by hand would at best be, risky.

You swear and run to the open doors. Your eyes adjust quickly as you run out to the middle of a great stone pavilion. You’re in the center of a white granite castle, soaring into the sky as high as the towers of EDEN. Curtain walls and guard towers and high keeps and more are spread across the rolling hills. Beyond the castle gates you can see a large, but empty town.

No living thing seems to be in the entire simulation aside from you. But then you test the air and recognize the scent of horses, so perhaps it’s only that there are no other people.

How do you proceed?

>>29133725
Hmm, we should probably explore the castle. See if we can find a high place to get a general overview of it.

>>29133964
Synchronizing with a viewpoint

writing

the dinner thing got pushed back till just then

You turn back to find an overlook tower and find it built into the castle keep. You run back in and run through the side halls, maneuvering up the spiraling stairs till you reach the top of the keep. While the run didn’t take your breath, the view does. Myst was a large simulation. It used to be the largest actually. But it was large because it was a combination of smaller ones with lots of data repeated over itself and expended procedurally. One part of Myst was just like any other, so its size was just an illusion.

Terram Novum is something else entirely. The city around the castle spreads for miles in every direction with no rhyme or reason to it in the least. To the north lies a strip of mountains spreading off to the horizon, their peaks playing with the clouds. To the west is an ocean dotted with islands, brushing up against the mountains. To the south is a thick and untamed forest. To the west, the bluff the castle city is built on drops off to a sprawling desert.

When you look again though, you see things anew. Great birds fly between the peaks of the mountains, whales and other leviathans are breaching from the waves. The trees of the forest shake as creatures move between them, and you can only imagine what lies in the wastelands.

How do you proceed?

>>29134533
>Go into the forest.

You return to the castle grounds and search for the stables. The size of the simulation makes it simply infeasible to walk across it. The stable is on the side of the grounds, attached to the inner wall and filled with a variety of horses. Thankfully, they’re all already saddled despite there being no stable boy.

As you’re leading one of the docile animals out to the grounds, something pushes through the air overhead with a large thump. The horse whinnies and tries to pull away from you as you look up. The creature is but a silhouette against the afternoon light, but you can see it perched on the wall with great wings tucked behind itself.

So far it hasn’t moved to attack you.

>Ride the horse and flee
>Shout something to it
>Prepare for a confrontation
>Retreat to the castle
>Other

>>29134791
>>Prepare for a confrontation

Rolled 21, 94, 37 - 30 = 122

>>29135149
I'll need 6d100, first three for reaction (-43) and second three for dodge/attack (-77/40)

Rolled 90, 80, 28 - 40 = 158

>>29135190

Rolled 23, 83, 27, 76, 20, 34 = 263

>>29135190

>>29135190
>>29135212
>>29135232
So, reactions give
>40 vs 64, you win

Your attack gives
>36 vs 50 for 14 +5 damage

Writing now

You push the horse away and let it run back to the stable and flick your blade into your hand as the creature start walking down the inner wall. As it enters the shadow of the wall, you get a better look at its wide wings and serpentine tail. You’re not quite sure what it is, some kind of amalgam of different creatures. The size of a drake, the structure of a wyvern, the head of a bull, and the body of a gargoyle. “So my prey has arrived at last. You shall be the first to be culled. The Lord shall reward me greatly for disposing of you I’m sure,” the beast cackles as it crawls down to you.

“You’ll have to get me first. I’ve killed worse than you before,” you say as the beast looks at you. It chortles and snorts in strange laughter, before lunging off the wall. The force shatters the stone it had been clinging to, but it’s a large and awkward leap.

You easily duck and cleave down on its side as it barrels past, chipping at its stony scales, but finding no purchase. The beast lands in the ground, scraping away the soil as it slides to a stop. When it turns, it lashes out with its tail but you easily deflect it with your armor.

“So you have a good weapon and know how to use it. But you’ll have to fight with your head. Where do you think you can run to now human?”

What is your fight plan?
Another 6d100 please

Rolled 29, 19, 67, 24, 79, 29 - 40 = 207

>>29135418
I should probably provide my rolls as well

Rolled 15, 7, 90, 8, 62, 57 = 239

>>29135418
>Go on the defensive.

Because we have the defense package.

Rolled 42, 6, 81, 81, 15, 39 - 40 = 224

>>29135630
>>29135504
>23 vs 27 dodge
>22 vs 39 counterattack

so thats 23 more damage

writing

“Who needs to run when they can just kill, eh? How intelligent even are you? Just a few stock responses and quips? Or can you hold a conversation?” you ask as you wave him over with your free hand.

“Cocky human!” the creature roars as it stomps forward. It lashes out with its claws, forcing you back against the wall but your guard is enough to protect you with ease. When you try to slink to the side and get off the wall, it roars and slams both of its fists into the wall on either side of you. Its lips curl back to reveal stone fangs.

“This may have been a bad idea…” you comment as it lunges forward, snapping its teeth at you, biting back and forth, trying to catch you until it finally bites down on your armored arm. You shout as it picks you up and chomps down, but the armor holds firm. The creature growls and starts shaking you back and forth through the air, trying to rip your arm off.

It brings its arms up to grab your unprotected body, but you pull out the rapier with your free arm and jab it into its mouth. Blood squirts out as the creature howls and drops you to the ground. You land on your feet and quickly bring your blade to bear. It swats at you with its arm, blood still raining from its mouth, but you stab into its hand and force it off.

If you press the attack just a bit more, you should be able to take it down.

What is your plan?

Is my fight writing engaging enough? Some way I should tweak it? I feel like I'm fighting with the dice system constantly

I totally will give circumstantial bonuses for creativity

>>29135902
Keep on attacking it.

Rolled 31, 27, 21, 29, 18, 100 - 40 = 186

>>29136064
that'll be 6d100, for two attacks in a row

Any lines of wit you want included?

Rolled 43, 98, 48, 46, 6, 66 = 307

>>29136109

>>29136165
>>29136109
>58 vs 0
>Auto Loss (missed by >50)

Writing

“Enough of this, I have no need to give you honorable combat,” the creature spits out as blood spills from its mouth.

“Never expected any,” you say as you dash forward, but the beast leaps back, well out of your range. Before you can catch up it spreads its wings and flies into the air, soaring over your head and landing atop the inner wall again. “Come back here so I can stab you!”

The creature laughs and squeezes on the wall. Its massive claws rip through the mortar, dislodging large chunks of rock. With a few flaps of its wings, it returns to the air, carrying its new load. “What do you plan to do now human?”

What is your plan?

>>29136295
>Run into the castle.

Maybe there's some ballistae? Retreat to the castle and force him to land? Jump off something tall and grapple him? Get the horse and book it? Search for an armory and get a crossbow or something?

>>29136295
Cut off its tail to get an Axe

It's not playing fair, we can't beat it in the game.

It might not be possible to use our regular codes, but can we access anything?

Rolled 88, 47, 41 - 50 = 126

>>29136528
I'll need 3d100 for that retreat

>>29136594
You have no access to the sim's programming allowed to you. If you want to access anything, you'll have to rewrite and or recover the codes you used to have that were stripped from you, which will take quite a bit of time.

>>29136594
>>29136666
Except for like, it's stats and such. Game knowledge can be pulled up with ease

Rolled 95, 94, 19 = 208

>>29136666

>>29137215
>>29136666
>38 vs 38

Writing

You spin on your heels and start sprinting back to the castle keep. The creature laughs and laughs as it chases after you, swinging back and forth with the weight of the rocks in its hind legs. “You can’t run and hide from me!” it roars as it lobs a rock at you, but it goes wide, crashing into the ground next to you as you run up the steps to the pavilion in front of the main doors. The second rock nearly crushes you, but you dodge to the side.

You’re almost to the main doors as the creature sweeps past you, slamming into the doors and latching on. You flip your blade out and intercept its arm as it swings down to crush you against the castle wall. The force of the blow still sends you flying into the keep, tumbling to a stop against a support pillar. You roll to your feet and jump away as it flies past you, alighting on the throne pedestal and knocking into the great chandelier above it.

Panting for breath with your heart pounding, you press up against the pillar, out of sight of the beast. You can hear it sniffing the air for you. “I grow impatient human, cease running and die,” it growls.

You’re near one of the servant passages. You could escape to another part of the castle, but he is on the ground at the moment.

What is your plan?

>>29137398
Sneak up top, crash the chandelier onto it, rip open it's wings, retreat to the pillars for cover, make sure it's in its final form

>>29137498
Second

Rolled 10, 92, 90, 43, 80, 65, 97, 65, 7, 22, 97, 6 - 40 = 634

>>29137541
>>29137498
That'll be a roll for reactions (-43 -10 for creativity), attack (-30 accuracy -10 because the chandelier is large) attack again (-40 swords), then retreating (-77) so 4 sets of 3d100 to accomplish that

>>29137635
>52, 40, 57, 57

I swear I'm not trying to make this easy for you

Rolled 9, 17, 14, 56, 76, 14, 44, 33, 72, 38, 75, 43 = 491

>>29137660
>>29137635
You say you're not trying to make this easy, but we have bigger modifiers than it. Does it just have shitloads more durability?

>>29137869
>0 vs 52
>36 vs 40 so 14 damage there
>32 vs 57 and 30 damage there
>0 vs 57

Plan is a perfect success

Writing now

“Come out and fight me welp!” the creature bellows as you push off the pillar and dash to the nearest door. “Do not run from me!” it roars as it leaps off the throne to dive after you, but by the time it slams against the door frame, you’re already up the stairs. When you return to the main hall, you are three stories up, walking amongst the tapestries on a narrow beam. Looking down, you’ve managed to elude it, and it’s still diving from door to door, trying to find where you will come back out.

You wait at the edge of the beam until he starts to walk beneath you. One step and you’re falling. You grab onto the rope for the chandelier with your gauntleted arm and start sliding down it, sparks flying off as you plummet to the iron creation. You land on the rim with a loud clank, knocking free half of the candles and nearly losing your footing, but you sever the rope with a quick swing of your blade as it looks up.

It manages to get its hands up and step back from the falling chandelier, but you still hear one of its arms crack and break from the impact as you dive off to the side. It bellows in pain as you spring to your feet. As it tosses the chandelier aside you rush up beneath its wings and stab into the leather membrane, ripping it apart. With another hack you slice into the tendons of its shoulder.

When it lashes out at you, you press in and stab your blade into its exposed neck. Blood showers down around you as you rip the blade out and retreat. Then it starts to waver from side to side. As it falls down, you retreat to the pillars and wait.

The beast falls and does not rise, but a sickening stench fills the chamber. The moment you look to the exit to see if you can leave, something blurs through your vision and cracks into the stone pillar next to you. The ivory spear quivers as it settles. Looking back, the stone scales of the beast are crumbling off, and you can see more spikes sticking out of its back.

It growls. “Disgusting.”

>>29138115
Calling it there because I have another obligation tonight and cliff hanger

Thoughts?

This has been archived by the way

>>29133483
how did no one respond to this

72

I'm going to bump and see if anyone has anything to say about this

>>29138714
>>29141643

Back from work now. I see i missed all the fun!

>>29135954
Your writing and engagement is fine. Its more than great actually.
You need to worry less about your writing skills, and focus more on drawing new players in. Hit up your game group, quest thread general, friends, whatever.

Also, FYI, you just seem to have the WORST luck putting up a thread when i'm not here. I've been here from mostly day one, and suddenly murphy's law everywhere.

As far as the story goes.... if people are dropping out, its probably because it doesn't feel like its going anywhere.
Sargeant warrick needs a good win.

>>29142153
you can win fights and stuff, and get some creative messages out. Depending on how you look at it, this is actually a pretty big win right now.

>>29143198
I read some of the earlier threads, and saw this in the catalog and had a browse and I got to say, I've got no reason to want to play this, the setting seems cool and could be interesting but the way the plots gone and setback after setback, losing control constantly and getting kicked down again and again, its very easy to see why players just stopped giving a shit, theres no rest, no break, no reward, no want or reason or passion to keep going, just another beating.

And that ain't my cup of tea.

>>29145803
I've always wondered if this was intentional. Was the MC supposed to be beaten down time and again, or are the players just fucking up that badly?

>>29145803
I should also add

>you can win fights and stuff, and get some creative messages out. Depending on how you look at it, this is actually a pretty big win right now.
Going from one prison and into another, it feels anything but "a pretty big win right"

one of the various archive readers here, never able to make it because of timezones and I was looking forward to reading this thread, but now?

>>29145803
sums up my thoughts pretty well, out of one prison, and lololol straight into another, yeah fuck that

>>29146134
>>29145859
>>29145837
>>29145803
This thread was the end of act 1 and the start of act 2 as I see it. The last setback I had planned, and nothing but a climb to power in a race against time. The stakes will keep getting higher, but it shouldn't come across as more setbacks, unless the dice decide to murder you of course.

So far the major setbacks have been losing in the Somme, which was just the will of the dice and I actually fully expected you all to win that, getting arrested, which was planned from the get go but admittedly got out of hand so I have to apologize. The plan had just been "tell the investigator something reasonable then hack the door and unlock it and walk out flipping him the bird." I either got carried away with the grim derpness of the prison, forgot to reinforce just how stupidly powerful your hacking abilities are (which you will get back), or something. And then as I was writing that scene I felt it was only reasonable if the shmuck they sent down didn't believe you, which is why I sent down General Chase after that. I was trying to force your hand in coming up with something and got a bit carried away in trying to stack on pressure.

Getting locked in Terram Novum is a setback, yes. But the darkest point should have passed for Warrick.

>>29148431
for that matter, I'm going to switch the name from EDEN City Blues Quest, to EDEN Quest : a New Earth

I'll tag next thread with both of them

We SAO now?

I didn't lose everyone in trying to skim through the end of the investigation phase

did I?

>>29148431
>Getting locked in Terram Novum is a setback, yes. But the darkest point should have passed for Warrick.

This is the biggest point I was trying to make here, when I posted the comment that started this.

Don't just tell us, show us.
Better yet, let us DO it.

Dystopian futures aren't just about getting beaten down by the man, the real heroes grit their teeth and kick right back, carving out the life the things they want with their bare hands.

This is the stuff we need to jump on.

>remote release poison capsule?
Fuck that, hack it, disarm the safeties that keep it inside us, shit it out. Save it and give it to someone else if we're feeling vindictive. (oops, sorry, you sent the killswitch command? Sorry, enjoy suicide!)

> snarky comment that they would kill us if we made hackscripts for the kuzuri? Realise someone else already has?
Fuck that, make our own, get army for the investigation AND cockblock other people's control of it.

>Landmaster compromised? Someone else impersonating us? Authorities unhelpful? Tip dropped about being impersonated due to our ripper scripts?
Fuck that, take a page out of their book. E-impersonate someone elses 'ware, get what we need because, damnit, we're still a hacker, and we can use old fashioned tricks to get what we want just fine.

>Dr chase and generalfuckface being uncooperative?
Fuck them, we've got landmaster and EVE admin access. If they won't be helpful because its the right thing to do, or their jobs, then blackmail will do. I don't think anyone's more qualified to dig that shit up than we are.
What we need is Agency, and a chance to sieze the wheel instead of just being in the backseat for the ride.


And maybe a sliiight change of tone away from oppression.
We're an agent within the system - oppression should be a tool in our arsenal, not something we're constantly hamstrung by.

Also, regarding perspective changes: they are very neat for getting more setting info, the need elements of cooperation.

>>29154961
Not to be completely rude, but why didn't you say all of this earlier? You know, back when you could have implemented them? Or come up with something to get you out of Terram Novum? You can seize the wheel whenever you want.

Also, next thread will probably be tomorrow

>>29154961

I think i've realized what I meant to say.

Warrick's tutorial session is over, the training wheels are off. Its time to man up and become the protagonist, and dick back the people who have been fucking us over this whole time.

THATS what i want to see.

Make an engaging game, and people will play.

Also, seriously, stop worring about whether you're doing a good job. You are.
In fact, that's kind of the nail being hit on the head.
You've hit the dystopian cyberpunk tune TOO well, and its cutting against you.

Thats why you feel like you're putting all this effort in, but the wheels are just spinning on empty air.

>>29155098
>Not to be completely rude, but why didn't you say all of this earlier? You know, back when you could have implemented them? Or come up with something to get you out of Terram Novum? You can seize the wheel whenever you want.
I just got back from work. I'm the unlucky bastard who -always- has to go as soon as you put up a thread. Got to play a bit this morning, though, instead of just reading the backlog.

Nobody else had the balls to offer helpful critique I guess, or the confidence to do so without offending.

>>29155098
>why didn't you say all of this earlier? You know, back when you could have implemented them?
Its never to late to rearrange the Acts behind the curtain. That comment makes me wonder just how set in stone the events we're supposed to be caught up in are, though. Can't change it? Pfah. No plan ever survives contact with the players.

>>29155098
>Not to be completely rude, but why didn't you say all of this earlier? You know, back when you could have implemented them? Or come up with something to get you out of Terram Novum? You can seize the wheel whenever you want.

For the record, though, i was the one who suggested the 'oh god lock us up because the people who want us dead can hack your security bots' plan.

And then it happened! It felt kinda good predicting possibilities like that.

I just didn't expect general fuckface to be ENTIRELY unreasonable when we were vindicated, AND i wasn't there to help guide that conversation either.
>oh shit, sudden realization our man got framed, there actually is a leak. Lets help him out!
>nope.jpg. Its like he doesn't actually care and just wants someone to be angry at, instead of actually getting answers. Also, have poison blackmail, instead of some actual cooperation.

hell, he probably is the leak, that's why he's coming down so hard on us.

>>29155241
>That comment makes me wonder just how set in stone the events we're supposed to be caught up in are, though. Can't change it? Pfah. No plan ever survives contact with the players.
I was referring to the fact that you currently have a kill code stuck in your head ready to go off if you log out. You're planning three steps ahead without the first two. You certainly can do all of that if you get your ripper codes back, but they weren't suggested until now, so of course that kind of initiative hasn't happened. I would love for you all to vote for this kind of stuff, and if you can't attend, I'll repost this for you.


>>29155306
The kuzuri only hit the other guy and never hit you, and he stepped out just in time to let you escape, the pill hasn't done anything yet. Just saying.

>>29155306
>>29155241
are you two in the same timezone? I can adjust

>>29155423
>You certainly can do all of that if you get your ripper codes back,

wait, when did we lose them? What did M miss?
Also, there's no way warrick, being a techgeek, doesn't keep backups at home.

>>29155423
I am the same person. You're thinking there's two people, when there's just one long winded anon.

i'm in rough US timezone, though. What are you in?

>>29155423
>I was referring to the fact that you currently have a kill code stuck in your head ready to go off if you log out.

This is what I was referring to, though.

If there's a killcode that can be activated remotely, this means a few things
>it can be jammed from recieving an activation signal
> its smart enough to register an activation code, which means its digital, which means its hackable, thus disarmable. Also, as a military piece of equipment, it likely has a 'power down' command anyway - the trick is finding it without tripping the security.

>>29155495
EST. Fenix jacked all your data and wipes your implant and put a code in that will kill you if you log out of Terram Novum. General Chase gave you a remote detonated suicide pill. Quite a few people want you dead.

Since Landmaster is classified, and losing data on your implant is inconceivable, your main backups would be with Chase. But the problem is getting to them.

Getting them on you without taking you out of the sim would require hardwriting your implant with specialized technology.

Since Fenix made this sim though, the AI for the monsters will probably be of interest to you.

Neural Implants are very hard to fuck with.

>>29155679
>EST. Fenix jacked all your data and wipes your implant and put a code in that will kill you if you log out of Terram Novum

Oh, we logged into a honeypot?

>>29155701

That one's easy to strike back at, though.

We can't logout, but we can outdial, and have someone indial to our implants. Also, alt-tab out of the sim(without logging out) and grab our phone.

>>29155701
...Did you read this thread?

>>29155727
Splitting your attention back to reality would be possible for you. But there will be risks. Particularly that things can still hunt you down while you're not paying attention, and the strain will be something awful if you don't start mainlining some ions.