>>34184777
>[ ]Other
Get mad. Yell at people. Throw things.

You've put up with Kris and Dave constantly keeping secrets from you because they see you as a stupid kid, Ice and Viktor refusing to let you try to help them because they see you as a stupid kid, really just about everyone not trusting you with anything but killing people because they treat you like you're just a stupid kid. And now you're stuck in some STUPID cave that you never wanted to be in because some STUPID boy thinks he's so much smarter than you he gets to pick who you get to be friends with. All of these people keep treating you like you can't even think for yourself. They just want you to kill the monsters in front of them, not be your friend! They treat you like you're just a weapon! And that's STUPID.

So it's time to get mad, throw things at other things, and yell at people, especially people who may not even be here because you're not sure because he keeps hiding, and if any stupid monsters tries to interrupt you they'll just have to feel how angry you are.

>>34184777
>[ ]Check out what's in the little hole in the wall.
too tempting

File: rages.gif (1.45 MB, 330x300)

1.45 MB GIF

>>34184777
>>34185233
Yes

>>34185233
I vote for this option too.

>>34185233
>>34185610
>>34185625
And because we still are a little girl under all that murder and madness, break down crying.

>Uhh. Okay, writing I guess.

>>34185672
Not this time, please. At most, only a little. Otherwise the message would be ruined.

>>34185233
Also, are you actually a 12 year old loli?

Because that fits her perfectly

>>34185845
the guy probably has a little sister

>>34185845
No. I'm just the anon with a plan.

And I thought it'd be fun, but there's also a plan.

File: 1358993894786.gif (571 KB, 512x288)

571 KB GIF

>>34185233
cute loli tantrums! so adorable yet horrifying at the same time! which just pisses her off even more

Man, given what Loli can do in CQC, I'd be scared shitless if she threw a tantrum in front of me.

>>34186140
I'd surrender my chocolate immediately.

In exchange for a hug.

>>34184777
>[X]Get mad. Yell at people. Throw things.

You throw your Empy at the ground. It clatters to rest at Dave's feet. He doesn't acknowledge it, though the others do.

"Loli?" Kris looks at you, worried. "Are you okay?"

"NO," you scream. "NO I'M NOT OKAY! You and Dave are always, ALWAYS keeping secrets and not telling me anything because I'm just a stupid kid!" She takes a step back, panicked by your sudden outburst.

"And you guys," your turn your attention to Ice and Viktor, both shocked out of checking their weapons. "You never let me try and help because you just think I'm a stupid kid! No-one truss me with anything but killing things because I'm just a stupid kid!"

Vasa takes a few steps towards you, both hands raised in a soothing gesture. "Loli, calm down. This really isn't the time or pla-"

"NO! We're stuck in some STUPID cave that I never wanted to be in because some STUPID boy thinks he's so much smarter than me that he gets to pick my friends for me. WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN NOW!?"

You don't let her answer, keeping your tirade going. "Everyone keeps treating me like I can't even think for myself. I'm only good for killing people or monsters or whatever's in the way! No one wants to be my friend! I'm just a STUPID WEAPON, RIGHT!?"

Vasa, Ice and Viktor are staying quiet. Dave still hasn't even registered that you're screaming at the top of your lungs barely two feet away from him. Kris voices up again, "Loli please, we neve-"

"TELL ME I'M WRONG! TO MY FACE. SAY IT! SAY I'M NOT A WEAPON!"

Her response is choked off in her throat.

"SEE? You can't even-"
A large hand grips the top of your head, silencing you instantly. "Mu?" You tilt your head to the side to see Dave's outstretched hand reaching for you. He pulls it about, roughly mussing your hair. Without looking down at you, still staring into the darkness, he speaks.

"The enemy who trapped us here is out there, not in here."

>?

File: kek.gif (29 KB, 619x517)

29 KB GIF

>>34186267
no! don't headpat me! i am loli! i am death! i-i will be the e-end of you a-all....

>>34186267
>You throw your Empy at the ground
?

>?
Sulk, then agree, then direct our anger towards finding a way out and making choco shota pay for thinking he can pick our friends for us.

>>34186430
It's how Loli adorably calls her Maschinepistol

File: Get_fucked.gif (1023 KB, 500x219)

1023 KB GIF

>>34186267
>Go out
>Kill
>Cotninue Tantrum

>>34186267
Try to calm down and suppress your sniffles, then suggest we split up. Eliza is too valuable to leave alone.

>>34186267
>take a deep breath
>try not to cry
>try to get out with Eliza

>>34186267
Go out. Murder something. Come back.

Continue tantrum.

>>34186478
>then suggest we split up
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

DON'T SPLIT THE PARTY

>>34186267
That's sufficient, for now. Dave's hand is getting slapped away though.
"At least this one lets me know that I'm trapped..."

>>34186711
Now that's just mean anon, no need for that, I'm sure we made our point with our tantrum, no need to guilt trip them

>>34186267
You fume silently for a few moments under his rough handling, before tugging your head away from his hand. "Fine. We'll go find him first. But this isn't over." You put, then turn away from them all, picking up your Empy from Dave's feet and walking into the dark tunnel.

Eliza revs engine and reverses out after you. Her blazing headlights are well illuminating the dead end, but the moist rock glistens in the light, giving an unnatural sheen which makes the area seem just that much darker. You can't use her light to see ahead like this. Everyone quickly switches their own torches on and makes ready to follow you out.

You and Dave take the lead, watching carefully for anything that might attack, though nothing moves in the darkness. Kris is behind you with Viktor behind her, walking backwards to guide Eliza as she reverses through the narrow passage. Ice is guiding her from her front, with Vasa taking up the rear.

It's slow going. Eliza struggles with some corners, but other than a few places where she needs to roll her tracks up the wall a little to proceed, she seems to be managing okay. You'd definitely be faster without her though.

After a rather difficult corner, you see a split in the tunnel ahead where a second tunnel intersects this one. You, Dave and Kris rush quickly up to it, then spend a few seconds looking down each one to see what there is. Each tunnel looks almost identical to the others, with no obvious signs as to which you might have originally come down.

You ask the others. "What do you guys think?" Worry is etched on Kris' face. Dave remains silent.

Before answering, Kris glances back towards Eliza.
"I don't know, but it might- wait, where's? Viktor!?"

You look back along the featureless black rocky tunnel. Ice and Vasa are still clear behind Eliza, in her headlights. Viktor is gone.

>?

>>34186869
Dave doesn't seem to do guilt anyway. He's not the real target I had in mind.

>>34187143
fuq.
(ask someone to) call him on his PDA?

>>34187143
Stay with the vehicle, everyone should keep contact with everyone else.

And talk as much as possible.

Eliza should have active thermal optics. Might be worth trying them out.

>>34187314
Phones don't work too well in caves. Should we go look for Viktor's corpse, just to determine what killed him? Would be helpful to know if it was shota or monsters.

>>34187424
To clarify, knowing that would be helpful because if it's just monsters, it's a simple matter of having everyone constantly watched by someone else. If it's Shota it gets more tricky, since he could just make you think the person you're watching is still there and make them think you went somewhere else. Constant physical contact might solve it. Essentially holding hands, though that's hugely inconvenient in case of a fight.

>>34187143
This is exactly why we got personal comma, get Kris or ice on the radio trying to find him

>>34187143
You rush back to Eliza, calling out as you go. "VIKTOR!? Where's Viktor! Where'd he go?"

"What?" "Huh?" The other two haven't even realized he's missing. You pull out your PDA and try calling him. Which doesn't work, being as you have no signal strength. Kris presses the button on her radio.

"Viktor? Viktor, where are you? Viktor, answer me!" She doesn't get an answer.

You hop up into Eliza's turret, quickly grappling with the controls that Viktor once took a few moments to explain to you on your many long rides together. Flicking the switches, you active Eliza's camera. Since it has a heat-vision mode maybe, just maybe...

The camera is zoomed in so far that you can make out individual beads of moisture on the rock wall beside you. It doesn't zoom any further out. Even so, you swivel it about in a total circle around the tank, searching all the dark corners. Nothing. There's nothing out there.

You pull yourself back out of the hatch to overhear the others talking. "-other ways to go," Vasa says. "Nothing's gotten past us, so unless it went past you three."

Dave states the negative in monotone. "Nothing past us."

"Well he can't have gone far!" Kris looks like she's on the verge of panic. Ice is checking his gun is ready to fire for the third time.

You slip down into the tank again and spin the camera almost in desperation. As you're passing the camera over the tunnel leading almost directly ahead, you see the shape of a warm person lying on the ground. Above it is a shape, like a deformed, super-strong body-builder. As you watch, the body-builder lifts both its hands above its head and brings them down in a motion, smashing the prone person's head like a water melon.

"VIKTOR NO!" You heave yourself out of the turret hatch again, ready to hurl yourself towards whatever just killed Vik-

There's nothing there. The tunnel is completely empty.

[1/2]

Do we have a pastebin for all the equipment we are all carrying?

>>34187424
What the fuck anon, what are you reading? Because he ain't dead yet just disappeared

>>34187926
The group looks at you, shock and fear mingling in their eyes at your yell. Apart from Dave. Who is staring down the tunnel at the spot where you could swear you just witnessed Viktor die.
"That's interesting," he mutters.

After a few more moments of silence, the three resume their discussion. "Sticking around here won't help anyone," Ice says. "We've gotta move. If we're lucky, we'll find 'im on the way out."

"Maybe," Kris replies, "but which way do we even go?"

Vasa points to the tunnels either side of the main passage. "Well, I doubt the tank could take either of these corners that tight. So we probably came from that way." She indicates the phantom death tunnel.

[ ]Keep everyone together. Choose one of the tunnels.
[ ]Split up. Send a scout along each of the three tunnels a little way.
[ ]Other.

>>34187946
Tie some rope on everyone's waist
Never split the party

>>34187946
>[ ]Keep everyone together. Choose one of the tunnels.
Vanguard and Rearguard. Get on it.

>>34187946
>[ ]Keep everyone together. Choose one of the tunnels.
the other one.
the "phantom death" tunnel is probably a trap
>implying anything here isn't trapped

>>34187986
sounds like a good idea, but who knows

>>34187946
>[ ]Keep everyone together. Choose one of the tunnels.
Phantom death tunnel, I guess.

>>34187986
Fucking this

This anons leaving for work now, keep us and our friends alive anons

>>34187946
He's trying to scare us. Not just our friends, us. Shota is getting spanked when we find him.

>>34188305
Joke's on you, he likes that!

>Following the phantom death tunnel then? Writing!

>>34187946
"We've gotta go the way we came," you add. "We'll go that way. But first..."

You check around everyone's stuff and find a bunch of lengths of rope. It takes a few minutes, but you get everyone tied together with a rope around their waists. That should stop anyone else from disappearing!

With that in place, you continue on along the tunnel for some time. It's slow going again, it's been a couple of minutes and you're not more than a hundred yards from the tunnel intersection. The passage is growing narrower and narrower, with Eliza's track guards scraping the rock wall more and more often. The scraping noise echoes along the tunnel into the darkness beyond your meagre torchlight.

Just when you're starting to fear Eliza might get stuck and you'll be forced to back her up, a faint green fuzz fills your vision. The distant sound of a laughing child. Then Eliza's engine groans, before cutting out. Her headlights, and all your torches go out simultaneously. The darkness envelops you entirely.

[-]Stay calm and think clearly.
[-]Ask if someone has a light.
[X]Panic.

>>34188782
The darkness is utter and complete. You can't see your own limbs in front of you. The sounds of your friends scrabbling around you seems a distant melody. Terror wells up inside you, threatening to spill out into incoherent panic.

A flame flickers into life, casting a small brightness into your world. "What the hell." Ice is holding a lighter in the air, trying to use it to look around a little. The light is being swallowed up by the darkness ahead, but in all three other directions, it meets rock wall. The way back is gone.
"Well this just gets better and better," Ice complains. He messes with his flashlight, switching it off and on again a few times, with no effect. "Anyone else?"

"Radios are out," Kris reports in a shaky voice. "My PDA's off too. Loli, is Eliza working?"
She isn't. You can't get any response from her no matter what you try. "Damn. Guess we'll have to leave her then.

[ ]Leave Eliza here.
[ ]Protest.

>>34188814
>[ ]Protest.
maybe we can just drive, like before dave awakened her?

>>34188814
I don't like asking other characters to make decisions, but I think Dave would know best what to do here.

Ask him if he knows what's going on and if Eliza's a lost cause.

>>34188814
>[X]Protest.

"Wait! Maybe we can still drive her normally!" You try to rush around to the driver's hatch, only to be jerked back by the rope around your waist. You and Vasa hit the floor together.

"Ow. Don't do that." She grumbles at you, righting herself and pulling everyone else closer to the tank's hatch. She slips herself into the driver's seat and tries to start the engine. Nothing happens. Not even the ignition or starter motor trying to turn over. Just nothing. "Well, I guess that's out."

You look helplessly to Dave. "What do you think? Just leave her here?"

He pauses for a moment, then hops up to the turret, fiddles with something in her control panelling, then yanks a circuit board out. He gently stashes the board in a steel box in his inside jacket pocket, then looks to you. "Leave her."

He hops down and begins walking into the darkness. Ice looks between you, Kris and Vasa, then shrugs and heads after the man, his lighter still held out above him to give something resembling enough light to see by.

A few dozen paces along the dark tunnel, the texture of the walls changes. It's not until another dozen paces that Vasa mentions it though. "Hey Ice, bring that light here." He moves over to her, bringing the flame close to the wall.
It's entirely covered in a thick spider's web. More worryingly, half way up the wall there's a large hole just large enough for you to crawl into. That, too, is thickly coated in the web. Looking quickly around the area, you count three more of these holes within a few meters of each other around you. One of those being in the ceiling directly above you.

Kris suddenly calls out. "GUYS!" You look around to see what's up. She's holding out a piece of frayed rope in front of her, a look of sheer terror on her face. The rope looks gnawed through. "It's Dave's," she explains meekly.

[1/2]

>>34189363
You look out into the darkness along the tunnel, straining your eyes to search for any movement or sign of the man or where he might have suddenly gone. Then you realize something. The light from Ice's lighter is getting dimmer by the second as the height of the flame gets shorter and shorter. He catches your stare, "running out of fluid" he states.

[ ]Keep forging ahead quickly.
[ ]Take your time, be careful not to walk into anything.

>>34189393
>[ ]Keep forging ahead quickly.
We'll be in a lot more trouble without light.

>>34189393
>[ ]Keep forging ahead quickly.

>>34189363
So much for the rope. Time to hold hands!

Why did you change your trip, by the way?

>>34189665
>>Why did you change your trip, by the way?
>I typo'd my pass and didn't even notice. Haha.

>Anyway, writing!

>>34189393
>[ ]Take your time, be careful not to walk into anything.

>>34189393
>[X]Keep forging ahead quickly.

"Go. Go quick!" You hurry the others, and the now-four of you rush along the tunnel in the dying light of the flame. Vasa trips once but Ice catches her, keeping her feet as you round another corner and come upon a sudden light. The web stops sharply here. On the wall, hanging free, an old payphone sits. No wired extend from it, though it appears to have been here ageing for decades. Scratches on its paintwork show of it use. The light above it shines down on you, keeping this small space of the cave well-lit enough to operate the telephone without trouble.

As if on queue, it begins to ring.

Kris gulps. "I-it's probably for you." She waves you forward. Nervously, you step up to the phone and pick up the receiver.

"Hello?"

A torrent of voices pour unceasing from the earpiece. They shout, whine, question and command. Many voices of many people. Among them, you strain to pick out some words and phrases.
"Break his nuts!" "We should ask him to think of a good doggy name." "Stop groping and tell us where we are." "Straight for their tasty throats." "All that loot from the bodies here?"
The voices begin to slow down a little, coming less frequently. You start to hear only three or four voices now. "Too tempting." "He ain't dead yet just disappeared." "So much for the rope. Time to hold hands!"
Then the voices fall silent.

>?

>>34189973
Guys, she can hear us now. What do we say?

>>34189973
haha... hahaha...

>>34190087
good luck?

>>34189973
Put someone else on the phone, Loli. Do it before we take your innocence.

>>34190087
This is too meta for me. Hang up.

>>34190161
Dave was always Meta.
He sees the paths that could have been, should have been, can be and will be.

>>34189973
"Hello Dave. You said the withdrawal was over."

>>34190220
you do have a point.
"Dave, is that you? if it's a joke it's not funny AT ALL"
that'd fit, right?

>>34190087
"Can I get a number nine and a large soda?"

>>34189973
I like what >>34190220 has to say.

>>34189973
"Uhm. Is someone there? Can you hear me?"

The speaker comes to life again with several voices speaking to you at once.

"Guys, she can hear us now. What do we say?" "Haha... hahaha... good luck?" "Put someone else on the phone, Loli. Do it before we take your innocence." "This is too meta for me. Hang up."

You... don't get it, but it seems like the call wasn't for you. You shrug, and hold the phone up for Kris. She takes it, looking quizzical at you. "This is Kristina Alkaev. Who am I speaking to?"

>?

>>34190324
Yeah it's Dave going through withdrawal again.

>>34190324
Is your refrigerator running?

>>34190324
...I think Chocolate Boy's got them in an illusion again. I don't remember anything like this being in the Zone.

>>34190324
what is even going on?
dave, come on, stop messing with them and do something useful, for once

>>34190324
Were you ever going to tell her? She'll hate you if she hears it from someone else.

>>34190431
Tell her what?
Wasn't it the other one who got the parasite?

>>34190324
Why do you have to be worst girl? Vasa's way cooler then you.

>>34190452
What parasite? You mean pregnant?

>>34190452
>>34190538
... wait, what?

>>34190324
"Dave? What, no. I said this is Kris. Soda? Refrigerator? What the hell is this, some sort of joke?"
You can only hear what she's answering to, but it seems like the call is shaking her a little. "Tell her? Tell her what? I don't- yeah, I guess she is. What are you-"

Ice takes the phone off her and hangs up. "Sounds like a stupid conversation." She nods in agreement.

Suddenly, the light above the phone peters out, your vision is filled with that same green haze from before. And your torches light themselves up again.
"Well, that's better at least." Vasa comments as Ice pockets the now-empty lighter. You quickly shine your light around the cave space around you. The tunnels are getting narrower and narrower. You can barely fit two people beside each other in here. And the tunnel once more splits in two.

In the right-hand tunnel, a thick red blood smear coats the ground, as if a shredded corpse had recently been dragged through here. You call it out, and the others join you to examine it. "Definitely fresh, Vasa tells you. As she kneels to check it out, a movement catches your attention and you spin to check the left tunnel.

A shadow is cast on the wall. The shadow of a child, a little smaller than you. Probably a girl as well judging by her dress. Except she's not there. Where her shadow starts is just empty air. She's just a shadow on the wall. You move a little to either side, casting your light around. The shadow moves with your torchlight, ever casting a different angle, as if she really were standing before you.
You hear her laugh echo through your mind, sending chills through your spine. The shadow's hand beckons you. Points along the left tunnel, then she turns towards the tunnel herself and the shadow fades from existence.

[ ]Take the left tunnel.
[ ]Take the right tunnel.

>>34191143
>[ ]Take the left tunnel.
Of course, Dave.

>>34191143
>[ ]Take the left tunnel.

>>34191143
>[ ]Take the right tunnel.
We don't leave allies that may or may not be dead.

>>34191143
>[ ]Take the right tunnel.
either Dave is doing a carnage, or viktor...

>>34191143
>[ ]Take the right tunnel.
Let's follow the trail

>>34191143
>[X]Take the right tunnel.

That blood could be Dave's, or Viktors! You need to find out. "Let's go," you tell them. Vasa nods, taking the lead.

You've barely started walking when the shadow appears ahead of you again, cast on the rock face. Its hand on its hips, shaking its head. Then it points back the direction you came. "Hey, woah, what the hell is that?" Ice freezes on the spot, pointing at the shadow on the wall. The girls realize what he's looking at and both drop to a knee, lifting their guns up towards it.

You ignore them and it, walking right through where the little girl should be. "Wait, look out Lo-" A chill passes through your entire body as you do, then the shadow is gone.
Ice lowers the hand he was about to pull you back with and starts walking again, his hand jittering near his trigger.

You turn the next corner and see something you really did not want to see. Leaning with its face against the wall at the end of the bloody trail is a body. It's wearing Viktor's clothes, his pack beside it and his rifle still slung.

"VIKTOR!" You rush forwards, grabbing the body by the shoulders and pulling back to check him. What falls back onto you is a skeleton, completely stripped of all flesh. You reel back in shock, letting the remains fall to the ground. Kris turns away, while Vasa leans in.

"Huh. This is weird. It's Viktor alright, but... he's been here for years to decay like this."

[ ]Check the body further.
[ ]Leave it.

AND

[ ]Continue along this tunnel.
[ ]Double back to the other tunnel.

>[x]Check the body further.
Confirm it's REALLY him, not some corpse dressed as him. Beware the skeleton popping out at you.

>[x]Double back to the other tunnel.
Let's see what that other girl wanted...
This is getting 2spooky4me, we're just a little girl!

>>34191950
Punch the skeleton before it can get the drop on you, then get to looting.

>>34191950
>[ ]Check the body further.
>[ ]Double back to the other tunnel.

>>34191950
>[ ]Leave it.
It's just here to waste our time or setup a big scare. It doesn't matter if it's really him and we probably wouldn't learn anything from looking closer at it.

>[ ]Continue along this tunnel.
Something has to be further in.

>>34191950
>[ ]Check the body further.
it's probably him, decayed that way because of some weird magic/radiation but...

>[ ]Double back to the other tunnel.
that shadow doesn't want us her, but apparently didn't hurt us, so...

>>34191950
>Check the body further
He probably has some sort of clue on him

>Continue along this tunnel
Because the real him might be up ahead.

>>34191950
>[X]Check the body further.
>[X]Double back to the other tunnel.

Vasa takes a few quick seconds to trace out the skeleton and check its pockets. She reveals a PDA that you recognize as his. It even has a missed call from you less than half an hour ago. Weapons, ammo, his journal. It's all here, and all most definitely his. Vasa pockets the journal, then gently sets the skeleton into a resting position before standing. "Well, nothing we can do now. Head on or head back?"

"Head back," you say. "I think that girl wanted to show us something." You see Kris and Ice tense at that, but Vasa just nods and takes the lead back the other way.

When you make it back to the junction, the girl's shadow is waiting and waving excitedly. She turns and skips away, fading out of existence swiftly when you almost reach her. It's kind of unnerving, but you follow on anyway. Not much further on, the tunnel suddenly opens out into a gigantic cave space. It's so large that your torches can barely make out the far side. It goes up, too, with the ceiling above you reaching away far enough that you can't make out where it stops. You can hear the girl again, giggling in your mind. Her shadow stands a few yards ahead in the open, waving at you frantically, gesturing further into the cave.

"I really don't like this," Kris murmurs, pausing on the threshold.

"Come on," Vasa takes her by the hand. "It'll be fine." Together, they cross into the cave after you. As they do so, the happy giggling in the distance changes to a perfidious cackling. Your lights flicker, then once more you're cast into pitch blackness. Ice doesn't even have time to fish his lighter from his pocket, however, before your lights come back on.

You very quickly notice three things. First, the way in is now blocked by a large pile of rubble. Second, you're now surrounded in all directions by scores of child-like shadows.

And third, Vasa is gone, rope and all.

[Part 42 Cliffhanger]

File: 1393282778085.jpg (23 KB, 431x394)

23 KB JPG

>>34192722
.....Fuck.

File: 1404582921340.gif (623 KB, 360x263)

623 KB GIF

Alright folks, we're not really quite where I want us to be, but I'm getting tired and need to sleep. If the thread is still live, I'll pick up from here in 8 hours or so whenever I wake up.

Hopefully we'll be able to get out of the caves this weekend!
And maybe without anyone else getting eaten.

Until then, thread is open to discussion and I'll try to answer any questions you might have when I get back on!

>>34192722
oh shit.

now that i think about it was Viktor supposed to have dental fillings? it's weird that vasa didn't check that

>eaten
oh shit, it's probably spiders
we saw the webbings, the holes, and i'm pretty sure spider venom can make you decay like that

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

>>34192848
Thanks for the thread Kaleun.

What was the deal with the phone? Will it be significant or was it just a creepyfun thing?

>>34192895
>We're fighting giant spiders
...fuck

>>34192848
>And maybe without anyone else getting eaten.
...pity, I liked V more than K.
May ________she_________ Rest in Peace.

>>34192986
maybe all hope isn't lost... right?

>>34193224
>hope
saying that just made me realize something
we're fucking stupid
we should have used the metaphone to warn them about the wish granter

File: 1374095372959.png (161 KB, 277x595)

161 KB PNG

>>34193224
Of course there's hope; Kaleun would give us a chance before killing off Vasa like that, right?

....R-right?

File: Spoiler Image (13 KB, 252x243)

13 KB PNG

>>34193224
There is always hope.
[simulated hope]

Why did Vasa have to be abducted and not Kris? This is the worst cave.

>>34193324
they only target sluts
kris is next

>>34193839
>They only target sluts
But Vasa was the second least slutty person here.

>>34193839
>implying Viktor was a slut

>>34192848
Just caught up.on the thread and all I can say is

What. The. Fuck.

So what, are Vasa and Viktor dead by random QM fiat or am I missing something because I didn't understand a single fucking thing this entire thread and our friends are dead for no reason

>>34194848
Are you the same guy that's upset almost every thread?

>>34194848
>are Vasa and Viktor dead
Yes.
Dog was gone in a heartbeat.
All can be lost far more easily than they could had been gained.

>>34194848
Possibly. Or it is illusions. HK did promise long ago that he doesn't just kill off characters unless we put them in a position to be killed and the dice say so, so I'd expect there to be more at play here than that. Otherwise he's a liar and Loli hates liars.

The fact that Vik's PDA had a missed call from you when you couldn't even call him in the first place and the creepy shifting into a skeleton does smell fake for example, even if he really is dead somewhere else.

>>34195459
>implying he didn't roll dice and the break was him crying at the result, then posting result and liberatingmurderingslaughteringfreeing V

>>34194848
this could all be an illusion for all we know

Dave is pretty afraid of chocoshota, he probably ran away because we were getting too close of him for his liking (or it was another danger?)

talking about him, we told him not to hurt our friends, i'm sure he wouldn't bat an eye at teleporting them far away (and naked) randomly and/or keeping them "safe" in not!carbonite

>>34195459
>no signal
>missed call
motherfucker...

>>34195459
>>34195709
better fucking be choco shota fucking around with illusions cause if not, then fuck this

>>34195084
>Dog was gone in a heartbeat.
Where the fuck is Doggie and our pets?

>>34196125
Doggy ran off while we were at Skadovsk again and hadn't returned when we left for the Center. So he's out there.

>>34196125
They hang out with each other until we need to be rescued.

>>34196196
Well they are late then.

>>34196235
maybe they're having a hard time finding us and/or are stuck outside
we're in a cave after all (or are we?)

or it's just that we haven't called them hard enough yet

>>34196107
It feels like it is.

And he's not doing it right. Just taking them away without warning or any signs like that makes it stupid and not scary. If they get taken no matter what we do and we can't do anything about it they may as well have been dead from the start. He needs to make us feel like we do have a chance to save them but that they die because we made a mistake that we can actually realize was a mistake after we've done it. Show us how close we were, how we could have done something but then we did something stupid. THEN we'd be scared to go on because it'd feel like any step on the way we could doom a friend, instead of this way where it's just a given.

Plus he should have saved the best one for the end. If he's already taken Vasa then he can't do any worse.

So yeah, someone got way too caught up in their own fun and forgot to think about how to really, properly scare their victim.

>>34196945
Jesus fucking Christ dude, don't tell Kaleun how to improve upon his terrible ideas, that ain't going to help anyone.

>>34197224
Why not? Shota is trying to do horror but he's making a big mistake and ruining it. As his friend, we should be telling him what his mistake is. He needs to understand that hope and fear are two sides of the same coin. If you take away one, the other cannot exist anymore either. You take away the hope, and the fear goes away. It's a difficult thing to balance of course, but it's important.

>>34197428
>As his friend
He tried and is trying to kill our friends because he doesn't like us picking our own friends, he ain't no friend of ours.

He can go floss out his arse with razorwire before we'll ever be friends with him so don't go giving the little cunt ideas.

bump

bump

When did we cross over into the Metro games?

>spooky spider-things
>spooky spiderwebs
>shadows that are spooky and deadly
>electronics getting rekt
>>fire still working

>>34200982
Don't forget the mysterious phone.

>>34201074
Ooohh, shit, I forgot about that one.
Artyom talked to his mother or somethin', right?

I think the answer to this is just like the answer was in those games.

MURDER.
SUPPRESSORS ON EVERYTHING.
BULLETS IN EVERY HEAD.
HIT FAST AND HARD.
GUERILLA WARFARE.

>>34201112
Yeah, and then he went and got high on some spirit water and crashed a train.

And no. The answer is clearly to sneak around, knock everyone out, and steal their filters in a deadly environment. So long as we aren't directly the cause of their death, we're pacifists! Очень хорошо!

>>34200982
>>34201074
>>34201112
>>34201269
I've not played the metro games so I'm assuming I'm missing a lot of relevant references and such in todays thread.

>>34201334
Yep.

... Ice wouldn't happen to be a priest, would he?

>>34201362
No, that's Dave. He just didn't tell us. Like everything else.

>>34201362
right, well if they continue to pop up or be relevant in any way, would you mind pointing them out to me please?

>>34201494
I will if I'm present, but I'm not usually able to participate in quests, so it's iffy.

>>34201494
They probably won't be that significant. Like, flashlights not working isn't a sign that we're about to be eaten by a fuckhuge worm. Probably.

If we get eaten by a fuckhuge worm I'm gonna be pissed.

>>34201562
yeah, sadly Kaleun's timezone and mine are bitter rivals and this quest usually runs while I'm asleep or at work

Never played metro very far. It was much more actiony than what I was looking for so I just dropped it. All I know is that Shota essentially seems to be the high class controller we were originally accused of being, so I make it a point to disbelieve the majority of things we see here.

>>34201767
>so I make it a point to disbelieve the majority of things we see here.
I'm trying to, though its hard, but I've got some hope thats slowly fading away

>>34201805
Yeah? Here's a little something for you to believe then.
>Viktor was with Kris when he disappeared.
>Dave was bound to Kris when he disappeared.
>Vasa was holding Kris by by the hand when she disappeared.

Enjoy!

>>34202006
So what you're saying is all we need to do is not be anywhere near Kris to not disappear.

>>34202035
>our faces when the others have been figuring that out and leaving to avoid disappearing
>our faces when we're being paranoid counterproductively

>>34202006
You are not helping anon :(

>>34202104
I am helping. In my own way.

>>34202133
Well hello there Choco Shota.

And fuck you too.

>>34202259
Anon, please. Just because I have chocolate and like trying to manipulate my fellow players into doing what I want doesn't mean I'm actually him.

>>34202371
I BET THATS WHAT YOU SAID TO ALL THE OTHER SUBJECTS TOO

FUCK YOU CHOCO SHOTA

YOU AIN'T MY FRIEND

Man, I missed this thread, but I gotta say I'm really happy with the meta call. Normally, things like that are absolute shit, but I think you pulled it off just fine /tg/. No bullshit, no questions, no answers, pure fun.

>>34202524
Mainly because we either kind of suspected or have no fucking idea whats going on and are along for the ride

>>34202495
But I did help! Many times! Some nice things would probably have never happened if I hadn't lied to you. That makes it good!

>>34202599
Confirmation Bias does not make make things good, we also wouldn't be in this mess if not for you.

Guess what nice thing you won't get to experience happening?

Us giving you chocolate, ever or letting you live

>>34202671
I've been trying to avoid going since the beginning, actually. You should thank Kris instead. Don't be so scared though, anon. I'm still mostly certain that things aren't as bad as they seem.

>>34202827
Oi, don't you bring best slut into this

>>34192722
The shadows stand in a loose circle around you, crowding in. Their voices chatter in the back of your mind, pressing in and drowning out your thoughts. A hundred voices asking who you are, what you're doing. Are you here to play? Will you stay? Did you bring any toys?
The three of you bunch up in the center of the circle, eyes and lights trying to cover all directions. As you bunch tighter, the shadows grow closer and closer towards you. You're quickly running out of space!

[ ]Try to run through the small gaps between the shadows.
[ ]Shoot at them.
[ ]Do nothing.
[ ]Talk to the shadows. (Write-in)

>>34202893
>[ ]Shoot at them.
try a warning shot into the ground to attempt to disperse them, then
>[ ]Try to run through the small gaps between the shadows.
while screaming
>[ ]Talk to the shadows. (Write-in)
"MEANIES DON'T GET CHOCOLATE!"

I have no fucking idea what I'm doing.

>>34202893
>[x]Talk to the shadows. (Write-in)
We still have chocolate, yeah? Let's see if we can give them some.

>>34202932
This works for me

Give them a little bit of the good chocolate, not that shitty ukranian crap, thats survival rations stuff, and would only insult them

>>34202893
>[ ]Talk to the shadows. (Write-in)
"Hiya, I'm Loli! And I actually am playing a game! Would you like to join? See, some of my friends are missing and I need to look for them, but you could help. Just help me find them, and if you do that, I'll give you this AMAZING chocolate I've been saving!"

>>34202929
>>[ ]Talk to the shadows. (Write-in)
>"MEANIES DON'T GET CHOCOLATE!"
>>34202893

>>34203017
>>34202929
Don't be like that. They haven't done anything to you yet.

>Combining >>34202932 with >>34202979
>Writing.

I was writing, then I got pulled away. Back to writing now. Apologies.

>>34202893
>[X]Talk to the shadows.

Slowly, carefully pull a bar of chocolate from your pack. You're down to only two now, and you feel a pain in your heart at what you must do. But the situation demands, and so you make the ultimate sacrifice.

"Hi, I'm Loli! I'm playing a game right now." You open the wrapper and break off a chunk of chocolate. "See, some of my friends are hiding and I'm supposed to find them! Would you like to join in? You can be on my team! And the first one to find them wins this chocolate!" You toss the chunk of chocolate at the shadows ahead of you. They scatter around it, letting it fall to the floor. Then they quickly swarm around it, poking and prodding it. The voices in your mind grow excited.

"A game!" "Hide and Seek?" "Chocolate? I love chocolate!" "We can play too?" "I'm gonna find them first!"

With a chorus of laughs and squeals, the circle dissipates as the shadows rush off in every direction, fading into the darkness of the cave around you.

"What... just happened?" Ice asks blankly.

You answer happily, "I think I just made more friends!"

As you all run your torches around the area to see what's about, you realize that there's one shadow that hasn't left yet. It looks like it's the same one that first led you here. She's standing on the very edge of your torchlight, you almost can't make her out against the black backdrop, but she's there. Standing stiff and still, facing toward you with her hands clenched by her sides.

[ ]Wait here, hope one of the shadows come through for you.
[ ]Talk to the remaining shadow?
[ ]Move on, try to find another way out of this cave.

>>34203451
>[ ]Talk to the remaining shadow?
"Don't you like chocolate? Do you want to be my friend?"

also, scope out this cavern and see if we can't find anything useful/of note

>>34203451
>[ ]Talk to the remaining shadow?
"You don't want to play?"

>>34203451
oh boy, she doesn't like us taking her friends away

>>34203541
They wanted to play, so we gave them a game that's both fun and productive! Loli is best big sister.

>>34203451
>[ ]Talk to the remaining shadow?
"is something wrong?"

>>34203451
>[X]Talk to the remaining shadow?

"Is something wrong?" You take a few steps towards the shadow girl, but somehow without moving, she seems to stay the same distance away from you. "Do you not like chocolate? Would you like to play a different game?"
You take another step and hold your hand out toward her. "Come on, I'm not scary!"

Her response is a strangled scream of rage. She drops her stance and charges right at you, hands out reaching for your throat. In the blink of an eye, she's closed right up to you!

[ ]Pull your gun and shoot at her!
[ ]Get out of her way!
[ ]Stand your ground!

>>34203658
>[ ]Stand your ground!
try to find a weakness and pat her head?

>>34203658
>[ ]Get out of her way!
why am I suddenly thinking that Loli needs chocolate knives...

>>34203658
She needs to calm down. We can't really hug her since she's immaterial, but we could sing her a soothing song.

File: crytry.gif (909 KB, 500x278)

909 KB GIF

>>34203658
>>34203721
Sing that song dad always sung to us when he tucked us in.
and then pic related

>>34203658
Well, try to dodge of course! I bet she's totally material if we want her to be too! Hugs are a-go.

>>34203658
>[X]Stand your ground!
>[X]Sing a song.

This girl needs to calm down! The thought of hugging her crosses your mind but you probably can't hug a shadow. Then you remember the song Papa used to sing to you. You open your mouth to bring forth the words of a more peaceful ti-
Her fingers close around your throat, choking off the words before you can form them. You feel your entire body freeze up. You're falling, pushed down by nothing. Kris is reaching for you, screaming something. Ice is lifting his rifle to shoot at something above you.

You fall through the floor. All light flickers out of existence for a heartbeat as you float through the rock, slipping through it as if it were water. Then you're back in air. The hands leave your throat and the weight dissipates. You hit the rock floor with a thud, the impact winding you. Your torch illuminates the solid black ceiling above you.

Coughing air back into your lungs, you roll over and check yourself quickly. Nothing hurts too bad, so you're probably fine. Looking around, you seem to be in another cavern just as big as the one you were just in, except the roof is only a few feet above your head now. Your torchlight doesn't seem to be able to pick out anything interesting apart from rocks and a little standing pool of water in one corner. Taking a long walk around the edge of the cavern, you find two tunnels leading away. The first is gently sloped upwards. You think you can see something at the far end, but... you switch off your torch and wait a moment.
Yep, there's definitely a steadily flickering orange glow up there.
The other tunnel is a steep one, pointing almost straight down. This one is pitch black, but you're certain you can feel the gentlest of breezes on your cheeks when you look down it.

[ ]Take the tunnel up towards the light.
[ ]Take the tunnel down towards the breeze.

>>34203995
>[x]Take the tunnel down towards the breeze.
Sure.

>>34203995
If we just fell down we should head up towards the others so we can take them with us. But check out the water first, something might be in it.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>34203995
I have no fucking idea and they are both most assuredly equally terrible, so flipping a coin for it.

>>34203995
I'll second >>34204058

>>34203995
>[ ]Take the tunnel down towards the breeze.

>>34204059
What's the point of a coin flip if you don't call it first?

>>34204109
because you can't get it to land on the edge anon

>So, uh... check the water and then a tie?
>Can I get a breaker up in here?

>>34204242
water and up i guess

>>34204293
Thank you anon. Glad we aren't leaving anyone behind yet.

>>34203995
>[X]Check the pool
>[X]Take the tunnel up towards the light.

The pool in the corner is perfectly clear, though there's nothing but water in it. You take a moment to carefully sip its liquid and find it to be pure enough to drink. You refill your half-empty bottle from it and quench your thirst.

Satisfied, you make your way up the sloped path out. The gentle slope and the lack of other light sources betrays just how long this tunnel is, and it takes what feels like at least several minutes for you to reach the top of the narrow path. As you get closer and closer, what was a subtle flickering becomes a periodic rippling of light, and you realize that it's a flickering flame growing brighter and dimmer every few seconds. And there's a low roaring sound reverberating along the tunnel toward you.

Reaching the top at last, you emerge into another open chamber. One filled with fire. Throughout the room, gouts of fire occasionally burst out from the floor, licking several feet into the air before extinguishing themselves. Circling between these geysers are three balls of flame rushing about the cavern in apparently random patterns. The heat from the combined flames is already causing sweat to form on your brow and you haven't even entered the chamber yet!

A loud beeping calls your attention to your detector. Apparently there's both a room full of anomalies ahead (you'd already guessed as much), but also possibly an artefact!

[ ]Take a few moments, see if there are any artefacts here!
[ ]No time to waste! Try to get out the other side as quick as possible.
[ ]Too dangerous! Try the other path.

>>34204512
>[ ]Take a few moments, see if there are any artefacts here!
if anything using the detector should help us get across safely

>>34204512
>[ ]No time to waste! Try to get out the other side as quick as possible.
This isn't a time to be greedy. Let the Zone keep her jewel, find your friends instead.

where did all the other anons go? this anons heading to bed soon

>>34204551 here
changing my vote to seconding >>34204572

>>34204512
>[ ]Take a few moments, see if there are any artefacts here!

>>34204512
>[X]No time to waste! Try to get out the other side as quick as possible.

Shiny things can wait! You need to get out of here and find the others as fast as you can!

[DC12 Dodge Duck Dip Dive and Dodge check]

>d20's please!

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>34204732

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>34204732
'Ere we go.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>34204732

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>34204732
We're using 20s again? I can't keep track of these systems anymore.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>34204732
Aww. I was hoping for lolitoast.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>34204759
neither can I, though I did like the previous system we used but can't remember what it was for the life of me

>>34204732
Let's make Pajari O'Houlihan proud!

>>34204813
four 1d6s, then -4 from the total to emulate a d20, then compare result to DC

>>34204836
>four 1d6s
Why not just say 4d6

>>34204759
>>34204813
>There seemed to be more negative feedback than positive from the outcomes of those rolls, so I did away with it for now.
>Anyway, I'm being called out. Away for an hour.
I know, I know, I'm a huge faggot. Sorry.

>>34204853
because it was 1d6 per post in four posts, not 4d6 in one post or in four posts

>>34204873
weren't you playing around with the idea of one or two other systems?

found it in the thread #38 archive
>Herr_Kaleun !!OsVb7Zbxmnz >07/16/14(Wed)07:56:42 No.33444340
>>33444032
>>Like I said, we used to roll 3 times, now we roll once.
>...An interesting point actually.

>How would you guys feel about possibly rolling 3d6, then choosing the best of those 3 and summing the 4 rollers?

sounds like an interesting system, might warrant a consequence free test

>>34204923
I think we tested it. I recall HK trying it out shortly after, but it didn't seem like he had properly accounted for how much higher the rolls would be. I still maintain that it doesn't really matter what system is used because in the end it still comes down to setting a DC appropriate to the chance of success the QM wants the players to have. The rest is just padding.

>>34204944
Yeah, 4x1d6 has somewhat higher average than 3x1d20

>>34204977
> 4x1d6
not when we used it, and that anon is talking about an entirely different system, the one I referenced in >>34204923 which is 4 sets of 3d6 and taking the best results, because we went over several times, 4x1d6 is a massive step backwards and is the equivalent to rolling 2/3rds less for no reason

>>34204944
>but it didn't seem like he had properly accounted for how much higher the rolls would be.
That's a good thing...

>>34205023
Well if you just want to win, yes. But then the problem could've simply been solved by using low DCs, rather than changing the system.

>>34204732
>>34204742
On the far side of the cavern, you can see another tunnel leading out and upwards. You watch the balls of fire for a few more moments, trying to track their paths and patterns of movement. You're relatively sure you can see a route between them without going anywhere near the geysers. If you time this right... you'll just have to hope there aren't any extra hidden dangers on the route!

One of the balls passes your position again. The moment it does, you start counting in your head. One, two, three- You step out into the open space, three paces forward and one left. A geyser fires up to your right. Five, six- Two paces forward, and duck. The second fireball floats lazily over your head. Stand up, nine, ten- you run forward half way across the room. The first two balls criss-cross the area behind you. Eleven, twelve- the third ball lists past you. Once it's out of your way, you take another three paces forward then pause for it to pass back the other way. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen- The first and third balls pass each other by the exit. You sprint to the finish. Safe!

Wasting no time, you rush up this tunnel as well. It curls around on itself, which you hope means it's leading you back to the cavern you were first in and where hopefully Kris and Ice are still waiting for you.
Unfortunately you're not that lucky, coming out into a much smaller chamber. However, there is someone else here!
His coat swishing in a light breeze you can't detect, Dave turns to greet you as you approach.

"Loli! Thank goodness I found you. I don't know what happened, I was worried I'd never find any of you again! Come on, we need to get out of here!" He offers his hand to you, a relieved smile on his face.

>?

>>34205515
"Who are you and what have you done with Dave?"

>>34205515
....That's not how Dave talks or acts. I don't trust him; he might be an illusion.

>Point our gun at him and ask what he did with the real Dave.

>>34205539 here

just looked at the time, its getting pretty late/early here so I'm gonna head to bed, thanks for the thread so far HK, i'm looking forward to catching up on it

>>34205515
>Punch

>>34205515
dave?
maybe that's not the real him an illusion that is copying the pre-trauma dave?
but with dave you never know
>prove me you're real
>i'm not leaving without my friends

>>34205515
"You should really study your target a little more before trying to pretend to be them. That was terrible."

>>34205515
>>34205555
Seconded. The one time Dave acts sane to us and we punch him, oh well.

>>34205515
You pull away from his hand, drawing one of your pistols and pointing it at his head. "What did you do with Dave?"

He raises both hands defensively. "What? What do you mean, do with Dave?"

You tighten your grip on your pistol. "Prove to me you're real!"

"Real? Loli, what are you talking about? Come on, we don't have time for this. We need to find the others and get out of here!" He reaches out to take your hand again.

[ ]Let him take your hand.
[ ]Rush past him.
[ ]Try to knock him out.
[ ]Shoot him.
[ ]Other.

>>34205922
Back away and tell him clearly he can either tell us something only Dave would know, or we can shoot him in the head.
His call.

>>34205922
>[ ]Other.
Slap his hand away and see if contact causes a reaction or more weird Zone fuckery, try and get some space between us and inspect our surroundings cautiously

>>34205922
>[ ]Rush past him.
Don't let him touch you, be ready to shoot if he tries anything. It's almost certainly not Dave, but just in case he's just tripping out in a different way, let's not shoot him unless we have to.

>>34205922
this sounds good: >>34205950

>>34205922
>[X]Slap his hand away.

You slap his hand hard, causing a loud smack to echo in the confined space. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Dave looks both really angry and really confused now. You back away from him, creating space between you but keeping the pistol aimed at his head. "Alright fine I get it, no holding hands. Can we please just go already?"

Keeping one eye on Dave, your other scans the room. There are a few tunnels out of this room, but only one of them is big enough to walk through apart from the one you came from. The others are big enough for a man to crawl through, but not comfortably. A few webs line one of them. Other than that, it matches every other one of these tunnels and caves you've seen so far. The same black rock, slick with moisture.
Now that you're looking... you suddenly realize that Dave seems to be a lot shorter than you remember him. He used to tower over you all. Now, he doesn't seem to be much taller than Kris or Vasa...

>?

>>34206254
we should just roll with it for now, i guess
but no dropping our guard down either...

>>34206254
seconding >>34206300
I got no real ideas

>>34206254
[x]Shoot the Controller.

>>34206254
Ohh, I see. Sneaky. Very sneaky.

Ask "Dave" what his name is. Do NOT shoot him, that's what shota wants us to do.

>>34206359
>vasa disappears
>we find a fake looking dave of her height
yeah, let's not shoot at it

>>34206379
good idea

>>34206359
yeah nah terrible idea

>>34206254
Wait a second...

"What's your name?"

"What? Com-"

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

"V-VIKTOR! MY NAME IS VIKTOR!"

You blink. Dave is holding both hands up to assuage your sudden anger. You blink again. The panic in Viktor's eyes is almost tangible. "Viktor??" You leap onto him, pulling him into a tight hug. "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

He embraces you back, "uh... well, no. I don't know what happened but I've been stuck in these tunnels since I lost you guys."

You hold the hug while rapidly update him on what he's missed out over the last hour since he disappeared, about how you found the body that looked like him, and how Dave and Vasa disappeared too. He listens quietly, stroking your hair gently and telling you he's just fine and that you'll find the others will be just fine too.

Once you're done, you break from the hug. He gestures to the walkable passage behind him, "I just came from that way. A maze of tunnels back there, most of them dead ends. There's only a few I haven't tried yet."

[ ]Head on up the big passage. Try exploring the last few tunnels of the maze.
[ ]Try crawling through one of the smaller tunnels.
[ ]Go all the way back and try going down the steep slope.

>>34206499
>[ ]Head on up the big passage. Try exploring the last few tunnels of the maze.

>>34206499
>[ ]Head on up the big passage. Try exploring the last few tunnels of the maze.
I'm really happy Vicktor isn't dead.

>>34206499
The room with the fire anomalies is risky to bring Viktor through, he's not as fast as we are. And the windy room was probably going to be even worse, except with whirlies instead of fire. If he's somewhat confident navigating the maze, we can go that way, otherwise we should probably try one of the smaller.

>>34206560
I've been telling you guys HK wouldn't just be insta-killing them all along and nobody listened.

>>34206499
>Explore the last few tunnels

They might have gotten Dave and Vasa lost there as well.

Do we still have dead-viktor's PDA? What would happen if we touched live-viktor's PDA to it? Would it be like matter meeting anti-matter?

>>34206499
>[X]Head on up the big passage. Try exploring the last few tunnels of the maze.

"It's dangerous back that way," you say. "There' some fireballs and I don't know if you could make it through okay. Let's try the rest of these tunnels first, okay?"

"Right. Your call." He nods, then turns and heads up the passage to the maze. And it really is a maze! There's a whole bunch of tunnels here, criss-crossing and intersecting, bending and winding between each other, leading up, down, up again... No wonder he's been stuck here so long! After just a few turns, you're not even sure you could find your own way back to where you started!

"The last tunnels I need to check are just around here," Viktor tells you.

[DC14 Don't get Lost! check]

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>34206802
let's do this

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>34206802
Fortunately for us, I'm good at knowing where I am.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>34206802
Seriously though, I'm genuinely curious about that PDA.

>>34206860
The Zone does not approve of your hubris.

>>34206802
Does Vik still look like Dave or did the illusion go away when we disbelieved it?

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>34206860
>Oh wait we're on d20s again

OKAY JUST LET ME REROLL AND NOT BE EMBARRASSED

>>34206955
A DC14 in the old system would have been a brutal check. That's about 15% chance of success.

>>34206802
>>34206840
"And... a left here. And these are the last three I need to check," Viktor displays the long tunnel with extra tunnels leading off them. You walk between the three tunnels, looking down each carefully. The first two you get no hint of anything useful. On the third, though, you pick up a faint breeze on your face.

"This one," you say confidently, and forge ahead. After a few sharp turns and a long slope upwards, you can see what looks like daylight at the end of the tunnel. Escape and salvation within reach, you rush towards it and break out into the fresh surface air!

And freeze.
At the entrance to the cave, sitting on the ledge facing away from you, is the figure of a little boy, legs swinging as he whistles a jaunty tune.

>?

>>34207192
Dropkick?

>>34207192
Get Vik to hide, then go say hi. Ideally he'll think we're the only one still alive and we can get some useful information from him.

>>34207192
this sounds like a good plan : >>34207246
we don't want to scare him away, i'm sure he has some important informations, and could even save our friends if we can negotiate well enough

>>34207246
This seems like the best course of action for now.

>>34207192
"Wait here," you tell Viktor. "I'm gonna pretend you're still lost and talk to him."

He frowns. "Sure that's a good idea?"

"Maybe. He could help us find the others."

He looks uneasy, but agrees. "Fine, but just give the world and I'll take him down, right?"

You agree and step out into the open where he'd see you and call out to him. "Hi again!"

The boy turns to greet you with a beaming smile. "Ah! You're here! And alone. I knew those liars wouldn't have what it takes. Only those pure of heart ever make it out. Which just shows why only you could escape! Just like me!" His smile grows more earnest.
"So, are you ready to come home with me now?"

>?

>>34207466
ask him his name and what this cave is (some sort of trial?)

suggest waiting for the others to show up, i'm sure they can do it

>>34207466
Ask to take a break to rest. We're tired.

Then ask him why he would do all this, why he saved us that time with the giant, and probably other things he did that we didn't even notice, when we don't even know his name.

HK's has been giving strong signals that there's a lot we don't know about ourselves, but shota doesn't seem to know that we don't know. Admitting that we don't know him then, if indeed we should, is a bit of a risky strategy because it may alienate him completely, but I'm hoping he'll perceive it as us needing his help rather than being completely lost.

>>34207558
>there's a lot we don't know about ourselves
Like not being real

>>34207466
>We don't even know where 'home' is. Hell, we don't even know your name.

>>34207611

i wonder if that's true, and to what measure...
like, were our parents just scientist paid to emulate a family around us?
did the "real" loli at some point exist, and someone tried to re-create her?
did someone put us in her place because "lol, science"?
where is / what happened to the original?

>So we're going with asking him who the Hell he is? Hahaha. Okay, writing.

>>34207761
Please don't antagonize him for us by being rude to him. You'll ruin my carefully thought out strategy!

>>34207761
don't be rude to him, no tantrums, try to hold back

>>34207715
there is no original, all of Loli is just something the Zone made up.

>>34208031
That's still pretty real. The Zone also makes up its own laws of physics but you don't see anyone arguing that the anomaly that just killed Sasha the Rookie isn't actually real.

Though I would love to see a fedora-wielding stalker wandering the zone and arguing with everybody about how the anomalies are just a childish excuse they imagined up to compensate for their own lack of ability to survive.

>>34207466
You shake your head, "can we rest first? I'm really tired."

"Okay!" He sits himself back down. "Come sit here with me. It's nice and peaceful and you can see for miles from here!"

It's true. You sit down on the ledge and find yourself hanging off the side of a steep hill, overlooking much of the Zone. From here you can see everywhere you've been. The military barriers in the far distance, the rookie village, the Garbage and the river with Skadovsk not far past that. Close to you, half way between you and Skadovsk, the big city and the huge stacks of the old power station that once exploded here.

"Why are you doing all this for me?" You look him in the eye, hoping for a straight answer. "Getting me chocolate. Saving me from that giant. And I don't know how many other times you've helped me out."

The smile falls from his face. There's a silent pause.
"You... you don't remember me?"

"No. I've never seen you before that night at the station!"

"But... I've been waiting all this time for you to come back!"

"I'm sorry. I don't even know your name! Let alone where this 'home' of ours is. I don't remember anything about this place before I got here."

His smile disappears completely. "Oh. I see."

"But you could help me, right? I mean, you just need to remind me! Like, what's your name?"

"Name?" His eyes go distant, no longer looking at you. "I don't- I don't have a name. They didn't name any of us." His eyes refocus. "Apart from you."

>?

>>34208160
hug him, tell him you're sorry

then take a deep breath and ask him our story

>>34208160
I could give you a name! If you want?

>>34208160
>Well, if you want a name, we could think of one for you.

Maybe offer some chocolate or a hug.

>being friendly with this piece of shit
Not even for information.
>Shoot him

>>34208323
How can we be the best at friends if we don't try to be friends with everyone?

In fact I think Shota is already our friend; we just have a misunderstanding of some kind.

>>34208323
He's an inhuman monster. But so are we. Why not try to befriend him if we have a chance of pulling it off? If we can convince him that even though we don't remember whatever we don't remember we're still the us that he apparently likes, then we can probably also convince that our friends (or at least some of them) aren't bad people like he seems to think.

>>34208484
yeah, i don't know what (he thinks) happened to us, but a lot of things probably made him think humans = evil, so i guess we'll have to show him our group is alright

>>34208109
>Though I would love to see a fedora-wielding stalker wandering the zone and arguing with everybody about how the anomalies are just a childish excuse they imagined up to compensate for their own lack of ability to survive.
>And then promptly being torn to pieces by a vortex anomaly. Right?

>>34208160
>I'ma have to do something here that y'all are gonna hate me for, but I just got called away again and I probably won't be able to get back in time to finish this up properly like I'm intending so uh...

[Part 42 End]

On the plus side, you all have something great to look forward to next time! Answers! Answers for all!

>>34208549
Considering that his first reaction to us has usually been to brace for motherfucking impact, he probably hasn't been treated particularly well. Possibly not by Loli either, though he didn't SEEM to hate us so maybe Giltines best attempts at cruelty was still the best friend he ever had. Who knows.

>>34208615
Not right away. I'd prefer him to actually be so lucky the occasional rookie will actually believe him. And then die.

>>34208667
thanks for running, can't wait for the next thread

So what should we name him? Any ideas?

>>34208991
Ishelda

>>34208991
we could just be bastards and call him Shotaro, heh

hmm, maybe Tom(Thomas) ?

>>34209005
I don't know that name. Care to tell me why you'd pick that name?

>>34209144
The Captcha commands it.

>>34209117
I want to believe Loli doesn't know that name. It'd be better if she doesn't. For my personal input, if he's good and we can convince him to help our friends, I'd love to name him Miki, because it's Japanese-ish and it also sounds like Mickey who is a super-nice guy who helped us out when it seemed like everybody else hated us and wanted to kill us. Even after we hurt him really badly because we were so scared he still helped us and he never even asked for anything in return.

But it might just come off as creepy to name him after someone we know. Maybe he'd prefer to name himself anyway. Don't know. I just think it'd be cute.

>>34208667
Goddamnit Kaleun, you changed the suptg tag from "Herr Kaleun," to "Herr Kaleun" without a comma at the end. If I had OCD it would be spinning out of control right now.

>>34211050
I- I never had that comma in there to begin with! I didn't even know it was a thing until anon archived Racketeer for me!
It's really, really bugging me too