>>38856800
tuning in

>>38856800

You mull it over for a little, what Beatie was saying the other night about coming here to try to be some kind of an idol. They've never really been your thing, the ones that do it on purpose anyway, but you do know someone from the interface that's become an interidol sensation among slightly more closed circles. Cherry Pie. You met her while you were studying with Clien on the interface, her persona is cute and she's released a few albums. Never met in person though.

You approach the situation casually as the two of you watch basic television, now and then you stream something new for her to watch. Starting to switch to music videos, you notice her begin to mouth watermelon to some of the lyrics. “You still like to sing, huh?” giving her a smug, knowing look.

Realizing what she's doing, Beatie stops moving her mouth, growing meek and blushing with her ears not unlike you, “Yeah... I like singing.” She pulls at her farmdress consciously fidgeting with the fabric as she squirms a bit in place.

You turn down the volume on the television while the most recent vid plays, “Connected Paradise by MisaLisa.”
“You know, you could record yourself singing and put it on the interface. Just need a place to record, and we can upload clips. I know someone that knows how to market herself for things like that- her name's Cherry Pie.”

“Cherry... Pie?” Beatie looks a little skeptical, but more like she wants to laugh at the silly name. “Why is she named after food?”

>>38857051

Shrugging,”Well, it's not her REAL name.” You admit that it's strange, but you've grow used to it. “Hey Clein, can you see if Cherry Pie's free right now?”

“Yes Bit, just a moment.” The D-Zen responds promptly.

In the meantime, you take a quick look around your apartment studio. It looks a lot better since you and Beatie tidied it up... but... Tinkering with the television's settings, you instruct Beatie to hold still while the television scans the room, recognizing your identities as humans. You test the feed from your intercam and set the rest of the room to be an immaculate white space.

“What are you doing Bit?”

“Hiding my shame,” You say, half-jokingly. “I just hid the rest of the room so Cherry will only see us. It looks better than showing people what you've really got around you.”

“Oh, okay.”

You turn off the test feed and Clien informs you that Cherry Pie is free, and currently connecting to your cam. Likewise, Clien connects you to hers. Before long, a highly articulated and detailed cherry red female persona comes up on the screen, holding her fingers out with a victorious V.
“Hello there Bit, my nummmber one fan! I saw your qualifier match on Youtube! Congratulations on putting down that Lady D like a sack of rocks!” She punches at the screen, suddenly freaking out at apparently nothing as the feed from her side goes sky blue- falling over.
“Ack, nooo!”

You find that your palm meets your face rather quickly as she gets her camera back up.

“What can lil' ol' Cherry Pie do for her number one fan?” She grins sweetly like nothing ever happened, bouncing a hand on her hips.

>>38857090

“Okay, Cherry, you know that I'm an Apple man- right?” You sigh shaking your head. She likes to delude herself that anyone asking for her is a number one fan or something. Honestly...

“Aww, don't tease me like that! Oh, who's that other person next to you?” She finally notices Beatie.

“This-” You put your hands on Beatie's shouldersm, causing her to jump up a little bit. “This is my sister. She's your number one fan and wants to hear you sing.”

“Bit, but-” Beatie starts to object.

“OMD! You should've told me, I'll get set up for that really quick, just a moment. I'll make it a live show and link this to my other viewers!”

“I'm going to the toilet.” You say, walking down the short hallway to the bathroom.

“Bit-” Beatie starts to whine nervously after you, “I- I don't know if I can.”

“Beatie you'll do fine. She's just a bit nutty, she's a really nice girl.” At least, you think.

You exit the studio room and lock yourself in the bathroom. Cherry Pie's hard to deal with when she gets worked up. Best not to get involved and just leave it alone. Besides, Beatie might be more nervous with you watching her.

On the toilet, you lock the door, connect to the interface and open an incognito window to the facecam in your room. Beatie stands there in her plain white summer dress. Opening another window, you put the video feed of Beatie on mute and to the side as you begin doing some work on your avatar.

Looking over its status and appearance, you notice that the “Designer” tag changed from “Bit and “Clein” To “Bit and Alice.”

Alice? Is that what she's decided on as far as her name? Well, it's interesting at least, and it's obvious that she's been busy. The integrity damage has already been fixed, the full res appearance of the LIVE is a sterling black knight with gleaming red eyes and a flowing red scarf not unlike old tv heroes of films from the 21st century.

>>38857119


“I thought it would be heroic.” Alice says as she walks in, manifesting her black-bodied persona in rapidly assembling bits of data.

“It's pretty cool actually, does it have any real function?”

She emotes a frown and sideways v's with a quick shake of her head, “No, I didn't really know how to do that... I found the design from a modder's board, it didn't come with anything else. They keep those development on no-access servers- I can't get in without a physical port.”

You look away from the window and to your partner, she's mysterious, earnest, and even though she's allegedly not much more than a day old, she's been poking around- a lot. “So, that means you tried?”

“No, I asked the modder. They told me that...”

You breath a sigh of relief that you feel in part with your real body, “Good, I don't need you getting in trouble with the Administration. You do a lot when I'm not watching though, huh?”

“I... suppose I do.” She touches one of her arms self-consciously, a tender human-like touch. “It's just boring sitting around while you sleep. What's that like?”

“Sleeping?”

She nods, observing you expectantly with her red eye's high high bloom.

>["Well, you dream..."]
>["It's nothing special, feels good when you wake up though."]
>["It's like rebooting."]
>[Other]Write in.

>>38857254
>["It's like rebooting."]
Probably

>>38857254
>["It's like rebooting."]
>["Well, you dream..."]

>>38857254
>["It's like rebooting."]

>>38857254
>["Well, you dream..."]

>>38857254
>["It's like rebooting."]

File: knightblazer_thumb.jpg (45 KB, 504x379)

45 KB JPG

>>38857254
>["It's like rebooting."]
I think?

>sterling black knight with gleaming red eyes and a flowing red scarf not unlike old tv heroes of films from the 21st century.
so knight blazer?

>>38857254
>["Well, you dream..."]

>>38857865
Pretty much. That is a really cool design.

File: 20130308000349M.jpg (1.24 MB, 1920x1080)

1.24 MB JPG

>>38857865
He's probably more thinking about pic related

>>38857935
Maybe we'll get some twinsword program that does something.

>>38857986
Better get a Gay Bulge

>>38857254


You mull it over for a moment, trying to figure out exactly how you'd define sleep to someone that would have never known sleep. Your eyes drift to the muted video feed of Beatie, she's started singing and dancing a little bit. You're sure her voice is good, but her movements are choppy and uncertain. Yeah, that'll be what she needs to work on.

You get back to looking over your programs and thinking on your overall use. Part of you wishes that you had an accessory program to increase booster gain so you could activate your speed prog with more ease. 34% gauge decrease every five second tick is just awful when your rate of charge is roughly 5% per strike and 6% per hit.

“I think sleep would be kind of like rebooting for you, although a lot slower.” You contemplate your own words for a moment, “It's like everything gets recompiled, defragged, processed, and restored. And sometimes you glitch and see things you wouldn't normally see.”

Alice ponders the idea of such a process, looking up with halfmoon eyes in idle thought. “That sounds... like an extremely odd process. Why do humans do it?”

“No one really knows.”

“That's an unsatisfactory answer. Someone MUST know.” She whines, slightly agitated. “I'll go see if I can find an answer.” With a few steps away, her persona derezzes from your homesite and heads elsewhere. Has she just been reading nonstop about things that interest her?

You hear a knock and see that Beatie's not in the living room anymore. “Biiit, I need to pee!”

---

Ms Shankk drops you off at the Eastern Riverwalk where the next match is set up. You walk along the babbling hardlight brook of simulatd water. The better part of it is sectioned off to cease waterflow, equating to the start of the next match being an empty riverbed, who knows what they're going to load in as far as a field?

>>38858550

Hardlight fish hop out, with shimmering textured scales. Not really a river that runs through this city. Clean water is brought in by subterranean wells and condensation collectors. Waste is shoveled out to the farms to fertilize the land. You know that because that's where you grew up.

There's a crowd gathered and once you make your presence known, there's space for you to walk to the edge of the arena.

“Hey kid, what's your tag?” The announcer asks as he prepares himself to introduce the competitors.

[“Lancer and Malice”]

The announcer for this match gives you a look over before smirking, “Alright, sounds good. You know what this match means, right?”

“That I lost my first, won my second.”

“And this decides whether you enter the primaries.”

“Yeah.”

The announcer puts a hand on your shoulder with a thumbs up, “I saw your last match, 95% integrity left. Nice going kid, I'll be rooting for you.”

Taken aback a little bit, you can't help but grin like you know how good you are, “Thanks.”

You don't see your coach today, like he's actually helped you with these qualifiers, he should at least be here to coordinate you, where the hell is he?

Looking across the way, you see a guy with pink hair in a highlighted pink short-shorts, a bright yellow tanktop and a brown bandana across his forehead... His short-shorts are way too tight for any decent human being, let alone a man.

>[Try calling Coach.] That asshole told YOU not to be late.
>[See if Alice can hack that other guy to check out his loadout.]
If you're found out, some people may lose respect for you.
>[Get ready for the battle.] This is it, you're gonna take this guy down!
>[Other]write in.

>>38858823
>[Get ready for the battle.] This is it, you're gonna take this guy down!

>>38858823
>[Try calling Coach.] That asshole told YOU not to be late.

>>38858823
>[Get ready for the battle.] This is it, you're gonna take this guy down!

>>38858823
>[Get ready for the battle.] This is it, you're gonna take this guy down!
Put on your GET PUMPED music!

>>38858823
>[Other]write in.
>Greet the other guy
What's the current way to do that? glhf?

>>38858823
>[Try calling Coach.] That asshole told YOU not to be late.

>>38858823
>[Get ready for the battle.] This is it, you're gonna take this guy down!

>>38858823
>[Try calling Coach.] That asshole told YOU not to be late.

>>38858823
Still awake?

>>38859738
Yeah, almost set. RL distraction.

>>38859760
For the stats A us better than B right?

>>38859944
Yes. And S is better than A.

>>38858823

Having already checked over your avatar and having no other options for equipment just yet, you've got little to do in the way of preparation besides notifying Alice that it's starting soon.

With a sudden thought so far as sportsmanship goes, you send your opponent a message through the interface.

>”Good luck, have fun, and get fragged.”

It's not long before he smiles and sends one back, “lul, you too.” Just overflowing with personality, isn't he?

The two of you take position on the riverbed arena, you actually listen to the announcer this time. Unlike before, the generators in this area aren't the slightest bit secondhand or run down. This is a full on public generator that maintains some pretty sick rez.

“Alright folks, this is the final day of the Amateur League Qualifiers! After today we'll be rolling the lineup for the tournament! The Field will be Shark Infested Waters!”

Since it's a dangerous field, you're streamed an internal display of the hazards. There will be destructable floating platforms that sink and regenerate over time. The hardlight water itself has similar consistency to normal water save for the presence of hardlight sharks.
The sharks will hog processing power and attack, but they can be killed and even used to your advantage if you drop your enemy into the blue.

It's going to take a lot of movement to really make this work, but that shouldn't be a problem for you and Alice.
“In the Red we have the Lancer and Malice!” You give a wave to the crowd as the light shines on you. It's hard to tolerate it without your goggles but you deal with it.

“In the Blue, we have Banana and Split!” The hot pants guy pushes his chest out and kisses each shoulder before some bizzare pose- and what the hell is up with that name?

“Programs set!”
“Threads Start!”
“Intialize avatars!”
“And goooo LIVE!”

>[D-Zen]
>[Name]: ???
>[Tag]: ???
>[Type]: Viral
wouldn't the name and tag be Alice and Malice respectively?

>>38860036
I thought she was good at attack too, why are those stats so low?

>>38860036
I don't think he's updated it yet.

>>38860116

Breaking is the stat to destroy firewalls on a breaker hit. It's technically an attack stat and an important one.

Don't worry, her stats will improve over time as she gains exp.

>>38860151
Breaking isn't even listed in the pastebin

>>38860202
I meant *cracking

>>38860151
there is no breaking.
Do you mean cracking?

>>38860151
"Breaking" isn't listed as a stat. The word isn't even in the pastebin.

>>38860014

Your avatar forms, standing on a white platform as the water fills in, bringing it to a float. You're locked while it sets up.

>Load-Set: During advanced matches this is the time to load in Avatar equipment and accessories.

Without much to choose from, you load in you Halibird from the get go, no hit to Dataplan. You avatar finally unlocks, the white platform quickly rocking under your weight. To your dismay the platform's texture has far less friction than you first thought, forcing you to flail about for a moment until you stab your pick into the surface to stabilize yourself.

[“This is going to be a hassle.”] Alice comments as she boots up your stats.

“I'll just get used to it, we can't risk falling in without a wing accessory or floater prog.”

[“Our enemy is visible.”]

Banana and Split are... are...
A literal banana with an emoted cherry for a face and a white, pink, and chocolate colored peabody between the two halves of a split banana. They're holding a giant glowing spoon as their weapon.

“You've got to be fucking kidding me, what is with this gimmick character?!”

>[Run a scan on them.] See what they have as you stay on the defensive.
>[Open with a ranged Halibird attack.] Keep a distance while you acclimate to the slippery footing.
>[Leap out and engage in melee, block frontal attacks with AvantGarde.] Let the anger flow, this character is too stupid to exist.
>[Other]Write in.

>>38860314
>[Run a scan on them.] See what they have as you stay on the defensive.
I'm suddenly worried they're super good and have a ridiculous costume to make it funnier as they shit on noobs.

>>38860314
>>[Run a scan on them.] See what they have as you stay on the defensive.
>>[Open with a ranged Halibird attack.] Attack their PLATFORM, keep them off balance.

>>38860314
>[Open with a ranged Halibird attack.] Keep a distance while you acclimate to the slippery footing.
How did hacking work again?

>>38860314
>>[Run a scan on them.] See what they have as you stay on the defensive.

No need to enter the fight blind.

>>38860314
>[Open with a ranged Halibird attack.] Keep a distance while you acclimate to the slippery footing.
Remember we have shitty defense

>>38860314
>[Run a scan on them.] See what they have as you stay on the defensive.
this is a strange quest but I'm okay with it

>>38860411
By 'stay on the defensive' in >>38860397 I am thinking that we do that by attempting to dodge/stay out of range rather than blocking.

>>38860314
>>[Open with a ranged Halibird attack.] Keep a distance while you acclimate to the slippery footing.
We need to take their fucking spoon, and beat them to death with it, if we get the opportunity.

>>38860314
>[Open with a ranged Halibird attack.] Keep a distance while you acclimate to the slippery footing.
>>38860397
>>38860357
>>38860397
We have E in defense stats.
I think we have to pressure them

>>38860485
I don't think it's as simple as rock paper scissors anon.

seriously, nobody wants to attack the enemy platform?

>>38860533
Actually, can we try that?

>>38860533
I like this idea

>>38860676
>>38860533
Yes.

I noted that they were destructible for a reason

>>38860699
Well than target the platform instead of the enemy

>>38860533
It is a good idea. I had hoped to scan them first though to establish if they have any form of flight.

>>38860699
Do iiiiiit. If attacking won, that is.

>>38860750
>flying banna split
auugh, the mental image

I was relying on surprise to get them to fall before they can activate it.

>>38860806
Prep time. On a battlefield like this, they probably already have it loaded.

>>38860843
Why are you even asuming they have flight in an amateur qualifier?
What difference would it make.
Also we should have hacked them before the game

>>38860314

The hardlight waters rock the platforms, causing them to drift with the shift of the generated waves through the advanced physics engine. Platforms glisten as though they're real as the H-water washes over their surfaces. Between the many platforms within the waters are rezzed Sharkfins, moving about with subtle gestures, a reminder of what's to happen should either combatant test the waters.

Without any time to loose as B&S get used to the wobbling platforms, you launch a Halibird blade into the water- “Target lock!” The blade slips into the waves like a literal knife through water. In the interim, you focus your scanner on B&S to trigger a diagnostic. Anything would do to make sure you're not fighting in the dark.

“Oh, where is bit aiming his bird? Is this a misfire by his D-Zen?!” The announcer comes in with legitimate commentary. Oh, this is going to be so sweet.


You stabilize for a moment and leap, strafing to another platform and landing carefully to make sure you can ride it. Banana split still hasn't moved- the Halibird blade comes up through the platform thanks to your homing mod, cutting it in twain from a blind angle. The sudden strike slices B&S Near in half much to their surprise. You expect a call for the game to be over, for them to fall into the water and get snapped up by the sharks- instead, the two halves fly to separate platforms in nearly equal piece with a rainbow-patterned trail sparkling in its wake. A scan finishes and you get the result:

>[MultiLaughPremise- RainboDash V1.03 4(1)]
>[DP 90/210]

File: tumblr_m6oabrGJXC1qm6ixe.jpg (16 KB, 400x267)

16 KB JPG

>>38861468
>RainboDash

>>38861468
>MultiLaughPremise
There's a dev who makes joke combat programs? What the fuck. It must take a lot of focus to move both halves at the same time, unless he's letting his D-Zen control one.

>>38861468


You'll need to keep scanning to get the rest, even if it causes you to take a hit to your overall attack power... However you can't help but to notice that they're already over 90 points in on their data, what the he-

The two Banana Split halves begin to regenerate, each becoming a new avatar. Their integrity damage nullified, the two halves smile at you with the cherry heads cackling maniacally in synch.

“OH WHAT AN UPSET! Lancer's Bird Divided Banana and Split, but Split lives up to his name! Equipped with a DoppeLoader, he's using Macromanagement to keep up two avatars! That must be causing banana some stress! How long can he keep it up?!"

Not long if you can help it.

>[ Recall the halibird and cast it back out in an arc to hit both of them. ]
>[ Pick one to engage in Melee, see if Alice can hack the other ] If it's hacked, Alice may be able to make one attack the other.
>[ Increase distance and wait out Banana's endurance.] This could help get in another scan.
>[ Other ] Write In

>Continue Scan?
>[Y/N]

>>38861655
>[ Pick one to engage in Melee, see if Alice can hack the other ] If it's hacked, Alice may be able to make one attack the other.
N

>>38861655
>[ Pick one to engage in Melee, see if Alice can hack the other ] If it's hacked, Alice may be able to make one attack the other.

>>38861655
>>[ Pick one to engage in Melee, see if Alice can hack the other ] If it's hacked, Alice may be able to make one attack the other.
A rank hacking! Which is hopefully makes up for Alice running a scan.
>Continue Scan?
Y

>>38861655
>>[ Pick one to engage in Melee, see if Alice can hack the other ]
Just make it so that they have trouble merging back together. That may open them up for a hit.

Y

>>38861655

>[DP 0/120]
>[Integrity:100%]
>[Gauge: 10%]

>>38862167
>Gauge: 10%
Are there a lot of platforms? Wondering how much we can charge up 1fast2u before it starts to get difficult to change positions.

>>38862214
There are an adequate amount, though running rampant on destroying them could cause problems for both parties as the space dwindles.

>>38861655


“Alice, run a hack. He's not going to be able to wall both avatars like this.”

[“Roger, shall I continue scanning?”]

You stab your breaker tip into the platform you're surfacing and vault yourself to another, sailing through the air, “Yeah, keep it up. Break out their secrets.” You return the Halibird to its position to reduce the load that Alice has to deal with and dig in deep to the next platform before pushing off with force. With a quick check, you see one of the copies start spasming and immediately dart for the one that's still in the “norm.”

Raising your halberd, you set the breaker-pike forward, as you sail toward your foe with headlong force. B&S raises his battlespoon up in lieu of using his firewall, sparks flying as your weapons collide with a hard parry as the final result, forcing your weapon to be redirected.

“Damn!” You shout as you try to recover- to find footing on the platform, but the next strike from the parodied character slams you right into the H-water with an erupting splash. Your body begins to sink slowly as the shining blue-white sharks immediately charge for you, twisting in the churning water and making a bee-line from their patrol routes, knocking away the platforms in their wake.

>[Stick the shark with your spear!]
>[Reassign Alice's hacking!] Hijack one of the sharks!
>[Swim back to the surface!]
>[Other] Write in

>Scan complete:
>MultiLaughPremise- Spoon_Of_Truth(1)
>MultiLaughPremise- BouncIt!(1)

>>38862518
>[Reassign Alice's hacking!] Hijack one of the sharks!

>>38862518
>Stab the shark on its top and ride it up

>>38862518
>[Reassign Alice's hacking!] Hijack one of the sharks!
Operation: Shark Cavalry is a go.

>>38862518
>>38862571

>MultiLaughPremise- BouncIt!(1)

>>38862659
What about it?

>>38862659
I don't get the reference

>>38862659
That's what the other guy has, anon.

>>38862518


Under the digital blue, you work to keep yourself from panicking as the cybersharks close in. “Alice, disable all progs, hack the nearest shark.”

Your avatar nearly powers down as the threads cease to the bareest minumum of output.

“Ladies and gentleman Lancer has fallen in the Sharkwaters! Is this it!?”

Hel no. One of the Cy-sharks is stained Jet-black with glowing red eyes, immediately biting another of the sharks in half with a sudden ferocious bite and darting beside you. Latching your armored claws into its piscine hide for a taxi back to the surface.
You break out of the blue in a dazzling cascade of white H-Water animating precisely as water should.

“What's this?! It looks like Malice has hacked one of the sharks! Their security levels were at the very least B-Class! How is Banana Split going to retaliate against that?!”

“Good work Alice.” Your partner restores functions to your avatar, sub-optimal from the top while she manages the shark's luminous body.

Hiking yourself up to the surface, you stand upon the colossal Cy-shark as though it's a steed. You wobble just a little, trying to cover up your instability as much as possible, “Woah, I'de rather ride a horse or something.”

[“I'm not proficient in speed-remodeling bit.”]

“You took the time to change the shark's pallet.”

[“It's a pallet swap- and a matter of taste. Um... Do you like it?”]

You smile on the inside, stabbing your Halberd down into its hide for stability, “I do.”

There's only one banana split left as of now, the other one having convulsed and fallen into the waters as shark-bait. If you cut him in half, he'll load up another doppeload. No, you're going to need to bring him to 0 integ or break his humanity core.
You look at the progs revealed from the scan and frown.

>MultiLaughPremise- Spoon_Of_Truth(1)
>MultiLaughPremise- BouncIt!(1)

>>38863208


Guy looks like he's being backed by some kind of a parody designer. Well, it's time to end this farce. The Spoon is a high force weapon but obviously lacks piercing or slashing power. BouncIt! Must be some kind of accessory mod... Though that's solely based on the fact that it was revealed with the other.

>[ What's the plan of attack? ]

>>38863221
Well, we took the time to get this shark. Doesn't that make it our responsibility to see it get fed?

>>38863221
Have Alice see what she can do to him. And maybe see if we can get him down into the water and into our shark.

>>38863221
Use the ranged attack to throw the blade around him and come from behind while we attack from the front with a shark bite

>>38863368
Make sure to angle it so that we won't be damaged by our own blade if he dodges though

>>38863221


[“Handling this shark is a hassle. I'm going to alter its attack parameters and let it go wild.”] Alice withdraws her influence from the shark and it dives into the water, a grim black spectre of the otherwise washed white battle terrain.

You land upon a remaining platform as Banana Split leaps from his platform just as your hacked shark comes up and tears it apart. It appears that while they're restricted to water, their attack algorithms are what keep them from attacking the platforms.

While B&S is in midair, you launch your Halibird in a homing arc to meet him while you charge forward to intercept, the shark hurrying fast from the below.

With a sudden midair burst, B&S alters his direction right before the Halibird hits and skids across a platform, scrambling to stay on as it tips over into the water. Without a landing zone for yourself, Alice takes direct control of the hacked shark and angles it for a landing before you rocket off again.

“Lancer's got Split on the ropes! Neither have taken direct damage yet but it's obvious who's winning here! Split'd have to score a shot to Lancer's H-core to bring a win now!”

Your opponent sends you a message mid-battle. [Lol, you are fucking serious? This is crazy!]

Your Halibird homes in on his new location before he gets ample footing, splitting the platform he's on once more.

[Gauge: 20%]

With a broken surface, the Platform sinks as he scrambles with his pseudoflight booster still on cooldown.

You recall your Axehead to your pike, knowing that your victory's in the bag.

B&S's avatar gets fragged by the sharks.

>LOSER: BANANA AND SPLIT
>WINNER: LANCER AND MALICE
>HAZARDOUS VICTORY!

In retrospect, Halibird is absolutely broken on a field with limited cover and predictable movement. This one was in the bag.

>>38863614
Your avatar and Split's core lock in place while the field alters itself into plain, flat, walk-able terrain. The Luminous bodies derezz, giving way to your and Split's normal bodies. The guy's laughing, “Holy shit! That was so cool! I shouldn't have tried to do this tournament with a bunch of gag-programs.” tears well up in the pink-haired queer's eyes.

He walks up to you and offers you a handshake, “Name's Split, sorry my avatar was so geared to making you look bad. Thought some people would've liked the laugh if something like that won.”

>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.
>[Refuse.] Later loser, and put on some real clothes.

>>38863722
>[Refuse.] Later loser, and put on some real clothes.
ur a faget

>>38863722
>>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.
Hey, gracious in victory. Or something.

>>38863722
>>[Refuse.] Later loser, and put on some real clothes.

*flips on shades and moonwalks away.*

>>38863722
>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.

>>38863722
>>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.
But look out for a joy buzzer, since that seems like the exact kind of thing a guy with that avatar would try to pull on us for laughs.

Seems like a fine compromise between with being amiable and being NO FUN ALLOWED.

If it makes a difference, people are watching and the guy's in hot pants.

>>38863722
>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.
yeah it would have been hilarious except i would of lost

>>38863722
>[Refuse.] Later loser, and put on some real clothes.

>>38863722
>[Kind Refusal] Hey I understand and I think it's cool what you tried to do, but people are watching and you're in hot pants.

>>38863722
>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.

It's just a handshake? I don't get why it'd be a big deal for him to be in hot pants

>>38863954
>>38863722
this

>>38863722
>[Accept.] Why not, he seems like an alright guy.

>>38863722

You eye the guy's hand for some kind of trick and extend your own warily, “Only problem is,” You smirk, “That means I would've had to lose- and I wouldn't be laughing.”

Split's grin goes wide, “Hah, well true that. I'll catch you on the flippity flip, if you want any gag progs, I'm actually a designer.” His hand leaves yours, “I thought I'd try a few of them out in actual Lighting. Kind of hit and miss. If you'd used a vector, I could've used my Bounce mod to echo it back to you. Your build was just better than mine.” His stance shifts and he crosses an arm, the other hand a thumbs up.
“I'll give you my I.D. Good luck on going pro Lancer!”

[“Well, he was a nice guy... Split, huh?”]

Your thoughts exactly. The spectators cheer for you and you give them a little wave before figuring that such a gesture is too weak- instead you pump your fist into the air, because you're headed for the primaries!

>[End Thread]

>>38864459
Getting kinda sleepy for focusing on writing, went to a bonfire last night and the smoke's tearing me up.

I'm up for some after-thread chat though, anything you guys want to talk about?
Oh, and thank you for playing.

>>38864482
thanks for the thread

>>38864482
Thanks for running.

>>38864482
Split seems alright. His dzen partner as much of a flamer as he is or would that be spoilers?

I kinda like to imagine that he's totally straight-faced and humorless about the whole thing; unusually robotic, attempting to mathematically 'get' humor.

>>38864482
how soon will we be able to expand our repertoire and shit? is there any chance of us upgrading our [Brittle Armor] and shit?

>>38864482
stealth programs a thing?

>>38864595
I suppose that'll come with us getting money.
>>38864482
How much money do we have, anyway? Have we made any from winning in these prelims, or will that have to wait until we win in the primaries?

>>38864482
Why does the caliburn take up 3 our of our 5 slots? It's gonna be hard to customize much else if we want to keep it

>>38864482
How'd we meet up with Clien to begin with, anyhow?

>>38864595
Yes, there's going to be more for Bit going into the amateur tournament.

>>38864631
Yes. There are progs to stealth, refract, decoy, and obscure scans. Blackjack showed that in the prologue.

>>38864650
Bit's best bet for quick "Gear" would actually be to pirate. Otherwise, he has to wait until winning Primary battles and acquiring sponsors(Which is also the key to high-quality upgrades and going pro)

>>38864728
Caliburn is a weapon with double-ended breaker points, and a doubles as a melee weapon and a reusable ranged weapon. The homing mod takes up an additional slot and makes it ridiculously lethal guaranteeing far more hits. It limits customizablility, but it's a top-knotch weapon for its kind.

Concerning slots, Bit's going to get more in the future. I'm thinking the max will be 24.

>>38864807
This is very good news. I can't wait for the next thread.

>>38864807
How did Bit get caliburn if it's so badass?

>>38864807
>Bit's best bet for quick "Gear" would actually be to pirate.
What are the prevailing opinions/penalties/restrictions related to piracy? I assume that in the high-level pro circuit stuff it's clamped down on hard because otherwise it'd make sponsors leery, but how serious are they about it in lower levels of competition?

Moreover, aside from possible DRM or whatnot, is there any real reason not to just snag whatever's closest to top-of-the-line, or are officials/fans/etc. more wary about Lighters kitted out in some of the more widely pirated gear?

>>38864748

Clien was the first D-Zen Bit met when he first connected, the first amicable one anyway.

>>38864885
He saved up for it. And it's badass for an amateur weapon.

>>38864910
BlackJack ran with mostly pirated gear. There's not really a HUGE stigma with it in Lighting, especially in Amateur league.

One of the major draws to Lighting is that while some Lighters may flaunt a moral code, the sport itself has very few real rules.
Ironically, it's the case because it was hard to stop everyone from cheating

What if, when we get into higher levels and get an appropriate sponsor, we go for like a futuristic mercenary sort of look? Shit, we could be Protoman, and still keep the scarf.

Either way, I think a modern/futuristic mercenary would be best to pull off the sort of 'anti-hero' look Alice enjoys showing off.

>>38865044
I dunno. I like the medieval-but-not-really thing we have now.

>>38865019
>>38864459
Bounceit was good, just bad for the matchup. We should totally see if we can buy that off him sometime.

In terms of style, having an implacable walk where vectors just pling off us should be good.

Therefore: is the designer or the D-zen in charge of the "style" of a program, if not the name?

>>38865427

The designer. No sure what you're trying to say.

>>38865093
>>38865044
A knight-like protoman would be a pretty cool look overall. I do have some ideas for how Bit's avatar is going to develop.

>>38866253
>No sure what you're trying to say.
You know, when you walk towards the enemy really slowly and no matter what they shoot at you, you don't stop? Then you lift them up, give a one-liner, and execute them. Generally a crowd pleaser.

In this case, it would be because the projectiles are being reflected, but still.

>The designer
Ah, that's a problem. It's not really intimidating if there are gag effects playing with each reflection.