You decide that climbing up high to get a better view of things would be the best way to spot everyone else while avoiding the stampede of scared faithful. You spot some leftover scaffolding not leftover from the construction and it looks sturdy enough for a quick climb.

Roll 1d100 to find everyone else. Best of 3.

Rolled 78 (1d100)

>>1231554

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>1231554

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>1231554
I'm in time right?

>>1231740
You're #3, so yes! Writing.

You quickly and cleanly scramble up the scaffolding with no real problems besides a little tangling here and there, but nothing major. It works very well and you have a perfect view of everything. What doesn't work out so well is the fact that it's utter chaos. So many androids running about it's like watching waves in a storm. It takes a minute or two, but you do manage to spot Ares. He's at least a head taller than anyone else around and far too sturdy to be pushed around like you were, but where's...oh, Ares has just lifted up Aph from out of the crowd. She looks a little worse for wear, but the amount of screaming at everyone she seems to be doing, as well as the rather violent flailing she's doing as Ares carries her lets you know she's okay.

Now here's the real clincher; how do you get together with them once more? You could try to push your way toward them through the crowd, but you run the risk of getting lost and/or trampled if you were to go back in there. You could also try getting their attention from your current position, but it's a toss up if they'll see you at all. It's also possible for you to just follow the wall and make your way to the gate directly. It'd be easy enough to do, but whether or not they'll know to meet you there is a toughie. They don't seem to be moving anywhere, Ares choosing to stay put for the moment and Aph being held up by him to keep her from getting mangled.

>Force your way through the crowd to them
>Try to get their attention
>Head for the gate and hope the follow suit
>Other (write in)

>>1231874
>Try to get their attention

>>1231874
>>Try to get their attention

Writing!

>>1231979
I completely forgot to ask you guys to roll. Sorry!

1d100 best of 3.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>1231991

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>1231979

Well I guess we'll pick this up again tomorrow. Still need one more roll!

>>1232346
I can just samefag a roll if you want.

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>1231991

>>1232512
I'll be updating periodically throughout the day, then will have a dedicated session in the evening.

Writing!

You get a good foothold and begin waving your arm and shouting as best you can, though the crowd pretty much drowns out any and all noise. Thankfully your brother is observant enough to notice you. You make eye contact and you see him quizzically point to one of his guns, then eyes the crowd for a second. You frown and frantically shake your head no, then wave him toward you. He nods, but you can't help but notice a bit of disappointment in his facial expression. Aph just waves happily, then goes back to cursing at the mob.

Ares makes his way over to you by simply walking through the panicking AI. It's like walking someone stroll through a field of wheat; androids brushed out of the way like they were nothing. Occasionally one will crash into him and crack part of itself or fall over and he might give a bit of a jerk in one direction, but otherwise is steady as a rock. Aph takes a few swings at some, but otherwise seems content to bark at the proverbial fence.

Ares makes it to you and you carefully climb down, landing lightly on the ground. This was your first time actually getting to climb something and you secretly want to go back up, but this is not the time...for now. Aph squirms her way out of Ares' arms and hugs you, a softness you've come to enjoy very much. She reminds you of the humans who raised you, especially Babsy in some ways you can't quite put your finger on.

You decide that holding hands is the best way to keep together, so you form a bit of a chain with Ares taking the lead. This works just as well as you'd hoped, his raw strength and sturdy frame bulldoze their way through the countless bodies in your path. There are a few close calls, but you all manage to keep together until you can see the gate. Things appear to be thinning out here, with most AI returning to their homes to hide rather than flee the area all together. What you don't see, however, is Hydra. You figured she'd either be here waiting for you or at least leave a message letting you know where she was, but maybe she hasn't gotten here yet.
Should you wait?

>Wait to see if Hydra gets here
>Head out without her
>Other (write in)

>>1233018
>Wait to see if Hydra gets here

>>1233018
>>Wait to see if Hydra gets here

>>1233018
>Other (write in)
Try to listen if there's something being broadcasted in an unusual frequency.

You decide to wait for Hydra at the gate, hoping everything went well enough and she didn't get caught...or have to hurt anyone. You wait off to the side and watch everything pan out; the crowd eventually evaporates and before too long order is restored. Everyone either leaves or sticks around to help clean things up. Aph spends her time trying on the various bits of jewelry she "appropriated" and making mockeries of the various denizens. Ares keeps a careful eye out for a while, but eventually it's pretty plain to see nobody else is interested in running around, so he just leans against the wall next to you and waits.

Everything is fairly quiet now, save for the distant sounds of cleaning and the occasional shout of direction from someone. But sure enough the telltale scraping, grinding sound of Hydra's tail can be heard and she rounds a corner. She looks a little bit blackened, her coat singed in a few places and her already ragged hair is now burnt. Still, she's holding a folder and the same bag she had before, this time a little more stuffed with things. She gives you a big, toothy grin as you notice her and one of her hands offers a little wave.

"I didn't expect you to w-" is all she can say before she's cut off by a quick pop sound from down the street, followed by a loud, metallic impacting sound. Then another and another. A gun? Someone's shooting at you!

But not you. In fact, nobody is damaged at all. The bullets appear to be aimed at Ares, who's armored body is deflecting them like pebbles on a wall. He reacts in kind and his gun arm whips out to return fire, but he freezes. When you notice who's doing the shooting, you immediately understand why.

The clicking of an empty magazine and soft "clack, clack" noises of the gunman walking toward you are all you hear. Looking truly distraught, deeply shaken and absolutely furious, lacking only the ability to create tears to complete the look, is Selene holding a handgun. She's desperately pulling the trigger, trying to end the one who cares about her so deeply.

"Demon!" Selene shouts, hand shaking as she continues to pull the trigger fruitlessly, "You monster! Everyone trusted you as a noble protector! A judge of sin and evil, only harming those who truly deserved to be punished! A holy guardian who shared in our vision of peace! But it was all lies! Deceit meant to harm and break us! So many have died by your hand since you got here! The faithful only wishing to see the one they hold so much love for, now these fires and bombs...I have lost friends to you! Close, good people who would never harm another soul! Extinguished by your lust for murder!"

(cont.)

She throws the gun at Ares, which clanks against his chest, then clatters on the ground uselessly. She continues to walk toward him, fists clenched and shivering. "Progenitor, this is not your brother. This is not your guardian! This is some creation of evil! Get away from him! Get away from all of them! They are all terrible people! These...Broken Circle monsters...they only care about themselves and their gains! They want to fight! They revel in it! Please, come with me! We will keep you safe! You belong with us, who revere and love you! Not these sinful heretics that only see you as some pawn in their schemes!"

>Just run, she's lost it
>Try to convince her of your innocence
>Let Ares try and talk it out with her
>Motion for Hydra to take Selene out
>Other (write in)

>>1235639
>Just run, she's lost it
Guess she really was mad about that Nat 1.

>Extinguished by your lust for murder!
WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>1235639
>>Other (write in)
Try to talk her down. Ares good boy, dindu nuffin.

>>1235639
>Let Ares try and talk it out with her
Ares is still a very rude and mean android for killing everyone though.

>>1235672
>>1235712
>>1235750
Anyone wanna be a tiebreaker?

>>1235639
>Selene, we've been here this entire time.
>Alright Ares, time to strut your stuff while I chew Hydra out.
>Hydra, WHAT is going on?

>>1235912
>>1235750
Gonna go with these, similar enough. Writing!

You nudge Ares and motion for him to talk to her. He stares at you blankly for a little bit, but lowers his gun and nods awkwardly. He heads toward Selene carefully, but seems pretty scared. First time you've ever seen it, in fact. It's very obvious he doesn't want to hurt her, so you have nothing to worry about there.

Meanwhile, you head over to Hydra in a huff, leaving Aph to just sit back and watch. She doesn't seem to mind, though. She actually has taken a seat and is watching the drama unfold with a bit of a smile. Hydra's grin hasn't disappeared either, but the reason is uncertain.

"Those explosions and the fire..." you say slowly, "Was that you? Did you cause them?"

"I told you I'd give you a sign." Hydra shrugs innocently, "Way I see it, it was pretty clear, yes? Khhk kehh, all the parts in my workshop made some homemade explosives pretty easy to fabricate."

"Did you hurt anyone with them?" your hair shifts to a subtle red that's getting more and more saturated as you speak, "Did those bombs kill anybody? Or the fire?"

Hydra shrugs again. "Maybe? I didn't stick around to find out. Was being chased for most of it. Like I said, can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Collateral damage was almost a given. Orion was very unhappy, but he's probably digging himself out of a ton of rubble right now, so that's taken care of. Kheh keehh! Can we go now? The security team is probably doing sweeps right now and if they find me, they'll probably open fire. I'd hate to have to use up more valuable resources dealing with them. Khhk keehk keeekh!"

Selene is currently flailing violently as Ares holds her arms by her wrists. The severely dented and cracked fingers and hands explain why. She doesn't seem to be listening to him at all, despite his best efforts. Mostly it's him saying sorry and that he didn't mean to. Looks like your brother is crashing and burning at the moment. You might be able to calm her down, but it will be really difficult and probably time-consuming. Time you probably don't have, if what Hydra said is true...

>Try to talk Selene out of it
>Just run, she's not going to change her mind now
>Run and leave Hydra behind, she's a liability
>Other (write in)

>>1236026
>Slap Selene
>Selene, we've been here this entire time. Ares thinks you're talking about something else.

>We're going, NOW.

>>1236054
Pretty much this

>>1236026
>Try to talk Selene out of it

>>1236054
>>1236130
>>1236155
JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! Writing.

You've had about enough of all of this. Everyone is acting like crazy jackasses and you just want to get out of here, get back to the camp and try to find your father and everyone else before something happens to them. You storm up to the still struggling Selene and swat her across the face. You don't like violence, but dammit she's being an asshole.

"Stop it!" you shout, stamping your foot as your hair flares a brighter red, "Stop it now! He messed up because he was scared of all your people rushing us suddenly! He's an idiot! A stupid, annoying idiot, but he did it to protect me! And those bombs? The fire? Those were Hydra, not him! He has nothing to do with them! We've all been here the whole time! He's not some monster or...or demon or whatever! He's not some holy...thing! He's just an android with guns and stuff! So just...just stop it!" you stamp your foot once more.

Aph can be heard cheering and clapping from behind you as you finish. "You go, girl!"

Ares stands there dumbfounded, but silent. Selene is staring at you with a mix of shock and anger. Like her whole world has just been shattered. Ares lets her go, and she just stands there for a minute, not looking at anyone in particular. She says nothing. Just steps back, turns and runs away, the clack clack of her wooden shoes echoing through the streets as she hurries off. You feel a little bad you had to do that, but you needed to get things moving and she was being a psycho.

You turn to Hydra and frown. "We're leaving...NOW."

Hydra just does that crackly, wheezy laugh and slithers through the gate. She doesn't seem phased by this at all. Seems like she's just happy to get out of there. Ares solemnly moves over to the gate to help Hydra open the sizable doors, but the look on his face only reads defeat.

Aph walks up and lightly punches you in the arm, smiling ear to ear. "Hey, I like this new, assertive Pandora! You showed some real guts out there!" She drapes an arm over your shoulder and walks you out. You don't feel assertive. You don't feel excited you could speak up. You just feel...tired.

Going to call it a night for now, but we'll finish the thread tomorrow! I'll make a post on Twitter when I start again!

>>1236292
Thanks for running AM.
Panda is not a very good saviour of androidkind.

>>1236292
Thanks, AM. I am glad I got to catch some of this thread.

You split up into two, with you and Ares getting into the car you originally arrived in and Aph and Hydra swipe a truck with a large bed to accommodate the considerable bulk of her tail and other extremities. You take the long route back to the BC camp, just in case anyone tries to follow you, which gives you plenty of time to chat about what happened back at the Church. Ares is pretty silent while he drives, focusing intently on the road ahead of him. Occasionally he'll grip the steering wheel a little too tightly, audible cracking and straining can be heard from the plastic and metal in his grip. He's having some serious thoughts right now...

>So...are you okay?
>Selene is a bitch
>You need to reign in the whole "violent protector" thing...now
>Say nothing, pretend your fingers are a little man running along the terrain and just enjoy the trip home in silence...
>Other (write in)

>>1239855
>So...are you okay?
>Maybe you should try to loosen up a bit.

>>1239855
>So...are you okay?
>You need to reign in the whole "violent protector" thing...now

>>1239901
>>1239908
Writing!

"So..." you lean your head on your hand, "...are you okay?"

Ares stays silent for a moment, then shakes his head. "These last years have been bad..."

"How bad?" you turn to look at him, trying to read his face carefully.

"Bad..." Ares tightens his grip again for a second, "Seeing people die...killing...it changes how you see things...I know you're not happy with the violence and fighting, but we don't always get that choice...you won't always get that choice. Things don't work like that anymore. Sooner or later, you're going to have to choose between taking a life or losing someone you care for...Selene was the first person after the Facility fell that I could honestly feel like I could trust or not have to worry about. She just showed up one day, walked up the steps like she knew me, sat down and talked. The look on her face, the way she carried herself, I felt...vulnerable, I guess. Something about her radiated kindness and warmth. She would come by every few days, and every time I just...let her. She would bring things sometimes, tributes to you, things for me, she even sang and played music for me if I asked. Said she'd teach me how to play guitar, roo."

Ares hasn't taken his eyes off the road, but you get the feeling he can't really look you in the eye right now. "You...you liked her, huh? Like the doctor said. You found someone."

"Yeah, I guess..." Ares nods lightly, "Father knew more about it than I did, so I didn't really expect to experience it. I don't know if she felt the same way, or if she was just doing that whole...worshiper thing like the others. The way she was tonight, I have a feeling it was more the latter..."

"Well," you lean back in your seat, "maybe it's time to ease up on the whole 'violent protector' thing? I...know the whole violence thing is more complicated than I thought it was, but I still think it's wrong. I still think you don't have to point your gun at everyone that gets too close. We could've...I dunno...avoided...things?"

"You don't know what it's like to have something you need to protect." Ares frowns slightly, "To know that if you don't, it could be destroyed by it's own naive nature. People out here are bastards. Human, AI, all of them. I've seen both do terrible things to eachother...and themselves. I don't want you to be a victim of that. Father wanted me to protect you...and now I think I want to protect you, too. So if you're asking me to not hurt anyone anymore...I can't do that. Some people won't be reasoned with."

>What do you think about Hydra? is she a "bastard"?
>Do you really think everyone is still alive?
>What's liking someone feel like?
>Remain silent and just head home
>Other (write in)

>>1240021
>Remain silent and just head home

>>1240021
>What's liking someone feel like?
Can we compute it?

>>1240050
>>1240138
Anyone wanna break the tie?

>>1240138
This.

>>1240370
Writing!

"What's liking someone feel like?" you ask, "Like...how do you know when you do? Does it feel good?"

"It...uh..." Ares looks a little embarrassed at this, "It...it's...nice? Scary...you...you worry about things and...wanna be with them, I guess...I don't know. I don't think even humans fully understand it, to be honest. Just...you know you like seeing them when they're around. They make you feel nervous, but in a happy, fun way. Like you can't wait to see what they do next. But...not the same as with father...well, not for me, anyway. He's a good man, I miss him greatly, but for different reasons than missing Sel-...her..."

Ares shifts uneasily in his seat. "Uhm, as for how you know when you do like someone...I guess you just start...seeing them in a different way. Like...they go from being a friend to someone you don't want to go. Someone you want to just stay and be around you...uhh, like...you find yourself thinking of them a lot more often. Noticing the things they do more, the little things, I mean. The way they stand, the way they do certain things, how they sound when they laugh or say specific words."

"Huh..." you say, thinking this over, "So if you notice someone more, that means you're starting to like them more? But...different from the doctor..."

"Yeah." Ares nods, checking behind to make sure Aph and Hydra are still following, "I think it's different for everybody, but basically like that. Some of the church people would show up in pairs and would stay close to eachother, so I figure there are others out there who've found romantic partners. Maybe they could explain it better? I'm sure there are some at the Broken Circle camp, too...hey, why are you asking, anyway? Is...there someone you think you might like?"

You...haven't really thought of that before...is there?

>No, just curious
>No... [lie]
>I don't know...
>Yeah (write in)
>Other (write in)

>>1240442
>No, just curious

>>1240442
>if I'm going to convince you to tone down on the violence, i need to understand what you're feeling. What you're afraid of. What EVERYONE is afraid of.

>>1240442
>>No, just curious
"Honestly, I have seen so little of anything that I don't know I would even know what that ould be like."

Alright guys, I gotta cut things off here for now. I have things to get ready for next week when I go out of state to see family. But I want you all to keep voting on this. This could very well start you on the path of a relationship, if you so desire, so if there's someone you're interested in (male/female, android/human), toss their name around. This isn't the only chance you'll get, of course, but it is a good place to start. Of course, maybe you're not ready to decide. That's fine, too!

That being said, I won't be doing a thread next weekend due to being out of town, but hopefully that'll give you plenty of time to think about what you want. Thanks for playing and I hope you enjoyed it! Goodnight!

>>1240501
Fug, Daddy is the only important person for this pure girl so far. The studly brother is interesting, but our girl here hasn't met many people in her life.

>>1240442
>No, just curious
>I'll let you know if I might. It's only fair, what with all the teasing I gave you.
>Also, talk to Nike. She sounds like she has those feeling things for you.