Last time: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/20347115You are Lawrence Matthews, better known as Hazmat, and that is the extent of your personal knowledge regarding yourself. After waking up underneath a car parked halfway into a skylight, you have been wandering through the mysterious city of Dracon trying to recover some shred of memory. And, incidentally, surviving some very ghastly encounters. The dead walk in Dracon, pulled py parasitic puppetstrings, and sanity-testing horrors wander its streets. But you're not alone! Throught it all your stalwart wrist-mounted companion has accompanied you.After reuniting with a very large russian man called Titan you went off in search of a comm node. Your intent? Finding out what the hell was up with it. Along the way you acquired some vehicular transportation, and after a short interlude involving the oddities of parallel worlds, you arrived at your destination.After restoring the power, showering, and a bite to eat, there you sit in the cafeteria. Cradled almost lovingly in your arms is the single most attractive thing you've laid eyes on thus far: Martha. A hefty shotgun that has slent the better part of your amnesiac adventure in stealthy suitcase form.Welp. You've got a new toy and things to do. Better get crackin'.>What is first on the agenda?
>>20403360>AfterAfter reviewing my post it is clear that I've come down with a bad case of Serial After Syndrome. Please, to protect yourself and others, take proper precautions before posting. And don't forget to incinerate your keyboard after you're done.
We have a gun. Do we have ammo?
Is it just me or is 4chan experiencing technical difficulties?>>20403360Load martha with shells. Lots of shells.
>>20403737Ammo costs [cr]. We can't go too crazy.
>>204036424chan mobile is on the fritz. Yes, you have four shells currently.
Load what ammo we have and head for the top floor. Find out what's wrong with the node.
>>20404182>>20403737The table leg knife was a great asset. It helped you survive many sticky situations up to this point. But Martha...she's a gun, and just the medicine you've been looking for to alleviate your chronic I'm-going-to-die depression. Sure, you might still die. In any one of many horrible and painful ways. But damn it, you've got a gun! Following a tense moment where you thought she might not accept the shells, you load her up. She takes all four, and it appears there's room for one more.Locked and loaded, you backtrack and climb the stairs up toward the showers again. No dead people are waiting to greet you there. So far so good. You continue climbing. According to the map, the top floor should be one large room. Very large.At the top of the stairs you see another set of double doors. In front of them is a sign: No unauthorized access beyond this point. That's all well and good but you have stuff to do. So you push confidently into the doors. And they push right on back. Well, that wasn't very nice. You try again, just to be sure. Yep. Locked tight. Upon close inspection you discover a card reading console to the left of the portal, red light glowing softly.Why can't anything be easy? With a curse to the gods of security measures, you ponder your next move.>And what might that move be?
>>20404498BURST OPEN THE DOOR WITH A FIREBALL.
>>20404656We don't have enough cr for that. Try putting the watch up against it. Maybe it has some special lock breaking program or access code.
>>20404656The watch flashes: [Insufficient cr]>>20404720Like most problems in in life, maybe this one can be solved with thorough application of watch. In that vein you position the watch above the console and ask it to unlock the doors. It beeps and the hologram springs up. After a few minutes the message [unable to comply] appears, followed by a list of names and pictures of people, most likely employees. The console's light stays a steady red.Well, that wasn't as planned.>What now?
>>20405037I can see three options here. We use the explosives on the door (drawing every monster here to us), try to use the shotgun on the door (drawing every monster here to us), or look for a key to the door. Of course, there might not be any more monsters here. That is possible.
>>20405250The question is, are you a bad enough dude to call the monsters to your area?
>>20405405
>>20405458Scaredy cat
The voices in your head are...oddly quiet. Usually they can't shut up. Well, you suppose they'll perk up eventually. Until then, might as well do something constructive-wait. Hold on. The watch is beeping.[20 questions?]…eh, why not? Is it an animal? [Yes.] Is it an aquatic animal? [No.] Is it…
Didn't our watch interface with a map earlier? Any chance it has information on where the authorized employees would reside in the building? If so, we can go on a hunt for the key or whatever it is we need to open the door. It should be better than trying to blast it open and alerting all the monsters to our location.
>>20406042If I remember correctly, the second floor had a bunch of facilities like the showers. They probably aren't for just anyone to use.
>>20406073>>20406042Second floor had recreational rooms, it seems. Swimming and lifting areas. There might be a place for the employees to store things there. Worth a shot?
How were you supposed to know what a kiwi is?!? Damn this clever watch. Round 2!Is it a living thing? [No.] Damn. Is it large? [Yes.] Is it larger than...
IT LIVES! And it looks like a few posts disappeared since last night.
>Unpause_And we're back! Last night we left you at the top of the stairs, your path obstructed by dastardly keycard-locked double doors. You waited patiently for the voices in your head to settle on a course of action, but none of them could decide. So while you waited you engaged in a friendly game of twenty questions with your watch (that cheating bastard).And so you sit, waiting for inspiration from that teeming multitude that guides you. >What do
>>20411934Search lockers! All the lockers
>>20411958Lockers. You need to find lockers. The siren call of personal storage space is nearly too great to bear. You have to find them NOW. Damn the legion of terrible ghouls that might stand in your way. LOCKERS. You almost trip down the stairs in your haste.You didn't pass any lockers on the first floor, but if the second floor had showers, you're willing to bet that some form of item storage component is nearby. You push past the showers and further into the corridor. The hall comes to an abrupt crossroads. Directly in front of you is a door marked 'pool'. To the right is a sign indicating excercise facilities, the left, a comfy-looking rest area.>How shall you proceed?
>>20412215>>20412215I bet the lockers are either in the pool or weight-room area.
>>20412331But. But!>comfy-looking areaIt sounds comfy!
>>20412406No it sounds like a death trap!
>>20412331I say pool then. More open and less shit to trip on. Also fuck yes we have a shotgun.
>>20412521>>20412483>>20412406>>20412331You look longingly toward the rest area but decide it's probably a horrible doom-ridden area. You instead decide to continue forward into the pool. Pools are fun, yeah? What could possibly go wrong near a pool? You push open the door and take a look around.It is a large space, with walls styled in peaceful ocean patterns. The standard no-running notices are plastered here and there. Across the water, on the opposite wall, is another group of doors. But the water is taking up most of your attention.Had not this place been labelled pool, you might think this room was built for the express purpose of housing the giant obsidian mirror before you. It is so flat and still you have trouble recognizing it as water. And it certainly doesn't smell like a pool. To your immediate left is a rack of floatation devices, should you fancy a swim...>Ideas?
>>20412880I'm not SURE, mind, but I don't think I can NOPE hard enough to express my feelings towards swimming in this pool. In fact, not being in this room at all seems like a capital idea.
>>20412880Nope Sense is tingling. Look for an electrical appliance to throw into the pool.
>>20412880first off find something that when thrown will break up the water, second hide we don't know what's in there, third after hiding ready Martha then throw the object and break up the still water.
>>20412924>>20412916The NOPE is strong with thses ones
>>20412930>>20412924>>20412916Yeah, no, this is obviously an affront to all things natural and most likely dangerous. But your damned morbid sense of curiosity just can't leave well enough alone. You cast about for somewhere to hide, finally deciding to conceal yourself behind the floatie rack. And with as much bravery as someone in a tactical hiding place can muster, you lift up an inner tube and toss it out onto the water.It floats lazily in the air for a few seconds before landing in the pool with a light -splat-. It rests there for a few moments more, totally unharmed, and you actually start thinking that maybe you were just overreacting. That'd be nice, right? A cacophony of small squishing noises rushes across the surface as hundreds of eyes and mouths suddenly open. A malformed, three-pronged pseudopod pushes up out of the 'pool', grasps the inner tube, and pulls it under. As fast as they appeared, the eyes and mouths disappear.…well shit. That doesn't look fun at all. And you had been so excited about taking a dip! Frozen with no little bit of fear, you think about what to do next.>What indeed?
>>20413400Nope the fuck out of that room, I don't care if its back the way we came or not just get our ass out of there.
>>20413400>HAHA, fuck the pool.
>>20413400Get ready to throw those bombs if it comes after us, head back towards the door. Make a note to come back if we find a car battery or liquid nitrogen tank or something.
rolled 16 = 16Rolling for my San loss not hazmats
Firstly we must calm ourselves, preferably quietly so no stress squeezer. Secondly, we either sneak our way back out of the room or boss up and kill the pool with fire... or gunfire, which ever is more plentiful.
Oh God! How big of a toaster do we need to kill it?!
>>20413400
>>20413595>>20413562>>20413533>>20413440You take a breath, count to three, and exit the pool area in a manner quiet enough enough to make a churchmouse jealous. Really, the longer you stay in this city, the more likely you are to punch the next person unfortunate enough to utter 'I've seen some shit.' in your presence. With a wary eue on the pool surface and a twitchy hand on your explosives, you close the door.Once in the relative safety of the hall you start breathing normally again. Anything is better than the pool. That thought in mind you head off toward the excercise room. This room is not as spacious as the pool, and cluttered with all types of equipment meant for exerting the body and testing its limits. It is also thankfully empty, of bodies or otherwise. Toward the back you see another adjoining area filled with bicycles and treadmills. In the center of the room is a walled off room, its door slightly ajar.>What do?
>>20413971Ready Martha, sneak up to door, listen and look, if the cost is clear open it slowly ready to shot
>>20413971>rooms within rooms>second floor shoggoth poolsWho designed this place?
>>20413971Press Martha against the door, fire once then back up and count to ten.
>>20413971Fuck that room, push the door open with the barrel of our shotgun and be VERY CAREFUL.
>>20413971Enter.With great care.
>>20413971Throw open the door, yell party hard, and shoot the first thing we see!
>>20414160You grip your gal a little tighter and shuffle toward the slightly open door. You can't see anything but a tiled floor through the crack, but you can hear something. An all too familiar gasping noise. Well you won't be backing down from one of these bastards. You've got a goddamn shotgun. With a moment to gather your wits, you slowly nudge the door wide...…damn. The source of the gasping isn't readily apparent. You know there's one somewhere, but where? In a hurried scan of the room you notice the much sought after lockers (fuck yes), a small bathroom recess, and...were those shoes?Yes. A very fine pair of sneakers, only slightly bloodstained. Hanging from the ceiling. That dreadful certainty descends over you even as your eyes climb upward. You are greeted by the sight of another not so friendly face, partially distorted by the pulsating mass of dull red flesh attached to it. With a gurgling sigh, the latcher drops.>1d20+1 to add much needed ventilation to the ceiling
rolled 3 + 1 = 4>>20414693When we kill this guy, lets steal his sneakers. I'm imagining them as the most awesome pair of high top sneakers we've ever seen.
>>20414773>4We're fucked.
rolled 7 + 1 = 8>>20414848Well then roll! He'll take the best one or average them at least.
>>20414891>8…
rolled 4 + 1 = 5>>20414953Damn it, I will eventually get a good roll...
rolled 11 + 1 = 12>>20415017Shit
>>20415218>>20415017>>20414891>>20414773Well fuck
>>20414773You bring up Martha and let fly a shot. The detonation, the recoil...half-visible images, as if seen through a sheet, flutter behind your thoughts. You could almost see someth-Reality is shoved back into your face as pain blossoms in a thin line across your right aide. One of your friend's tendrils has shoved into your suit and scored a shallow cut. With a grunt you shove the rotten bastard away. Damn it. Your watch lights up with the biohazard display, whirring and beeping in alarm.The shove managed to unbalance your foe. It has sprawled halfway into the bathroom nook, but is fast recovering. You have a short, if only for a few seconds.>1d20+5 to end its tortured existence
rolled 6 + 5 = 11>>20415285>>20415285Back to hell foul beast!
>>20415412Fuck! I'm not rolling anymore the dice gods hats me
>>20415423And so does the auto-correct ones! Hate*
rolled 1 + 5 = 6>>20415285>Nat 1
rolled 15 + 5 = 20>>20415285Bend over, close our eyes and think of England. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
>>20415479Holy fuck, I actually rolled a Nat 1. Time to put the dice down.
>>20415412>just barelyOh thank the gods>>20415479>shut your whore dice
>>20415527Wait I got that? I thought it would have a minimum of like 15...
>>20415412You line up the abomination's quivering face and squeeze the trigger. The satisfying kick of the shotgun is superceded by seeing your enemy's pulped head head. The repulsive parasite and its feelers crumble, dried almost instantly with the destruction of its main body. The watch momentarily flashes [900cr] as it absorbs minute bits of metal from the corpse before resuming its warning beeps.You slump against the wall as the excitement and adrenaline fades. You're getting too old for this. Wait, how old are you...oh yeah, 29. Fuck you amnesia. Your heartrate drops a bit more and you pull yourself toward the lockers. The first is empty. The second interrupts the watch again, [925cr]. As the alarm continues you pull open the third. A duffel bag. Inside: assorted sports drinks, a towel, and…yes. Keycard acquired, belonging to one Sharon Hastburn. You take a few moments more to collect yourself and think about your next move.>And what is that, again?
>>20415756Steal zombie's sneakers, take one of those pills.
>>20415558It appears you did.>>20415756His shoes shall be our trophy.
>>20415756This >>20415770 then go back to the locked door and try the card.
>>20415813>>20415793>>20415770Right. Keycard, door, node...damn those are some nice shoes. He's not using them anymore. Wasn't even really using them before, truth be told. Fuck it, they're yours now. After a bit of struggling and gingerly avoiding grey matter you equip your snazzy new-old bloodstained sneakers. You also take an antiviral to shut your watch up.That done, you head back out. You've got a door to open. Sounds of work-out equipment being disturbed float in from the room over. Yikes. Better leg it. You quickly leave the excercise facilities behind and head up the stairs.Showtime! You thank dear Sharon wherever she may be for her contribution and slot her card into the machine. The message [Welcome S Hastburn] appears. The red light becomes a welcoming green, and an audible click sounds from the doors. Time to get shit done. Inside it's...well, the simple descriptor BIG comes to mind. The room is gigantic. It feels like you're standing in a warehouse. In its center, a sizable silvery orb is suspended. Underneath it is an array of consoles, all of their screens blinking red.Your steps echo as you approach and study the screens. There are four, labelled NE, NW, SE, and SW. The same message is shown on each. [Node compromised. Coverage impossible. Coolant tanks must be replaced and reboot initiated.]There are two small stations on either side of you. From here you cannot tell the purpose of either.>What do?
>>20416197Check out one of the stations.
rolled 12 = 12>>20416197>left >right>too much pressureShoot self in foot!
>>20416360The dice gods truly hate Hazmat.
>>20416197Look around for any tanks.
>>20416360>>20416406>>20416330Very briefly you consider shooting yourself in the foot. Doesn't make a lick of sense, but you feel a bit anxious deciding on where to go from here. It is with immense effort that you refrain from following through with this action. It just felt like such a good idea. You really have to get a handle on those inner voices.You decide at random to check the left station first. It takes a minute to get there. This room is just much too large. The station has a simple fence around it. Inside is a row of canisters partially sunk into the ground. You walk in and check them. According to the gauges on the canisters, they're empty. You lever one up and take a look.It's a bit difficult to pull the canister up out of the ground. When you finally manage to get one up, you see why. The recepracle has been completely gunked up by the fleshy, dull-red substance so prevalent among those…things…that continue to attack you at every opportunity. Of course, this stuff usually disappears just after its host is taken care of. But as far as you can tell, the room is empty of any and all hostile creatures. You seem to be alone.>Ideas?
I have the nagging suspicion that the pool entity is the cause of all the gunk, which might react accordingly if it is so nope back a few feet just in case.
>>20417322PURIFY IT WITH FIRE!!
>>20417322scan that stuff with the watch, see what happens. hopefully it's NOT the thing in the pool. maybe the parasites are energy sources?
>>20417472Caution is always a good thing. And it is with no small amount of caution that you back quickly away from the anomalous substance coating the inside of the socket. After the incident at the pool you'd rather not take any chances. So you step back and watch it. Weird stuff, really. It moves every so often. Ew. Actually, this stuff does seem familiar somehow. Sure you've seen its ilk here and there while you wandered the streets. But you have the uncanny feeling that you've seen this very same growth somewhere before. Gods damn the memories of a man riddled with amnesia, why can't you shake this feeling? With so few things you remember, you'd think it would be easy to sift through them. Of course a few things start happening around you to ruin this wonderful introspection. A very loud crash echoes from across the room. The lighting switches from glorious sanity-giving white to a red hue that wouldn't be out of place in the aftermath of a chainsaw massacre. A very unfriendly roar rolls across the space. And the watch enters full christmas tree mode.>Any clever moves?
>>20419365hide behind something. anything
>>20419365Get Martha ready, I bet she just loves introductions...
>>20419365Hide, check the watch for information.
>>20419575>>20419416Well, time to hide. As stealthily as possible you exit the cage and look for a suitable place. Except there aren't many places to hide. The cage is too short. The canisters too small. Wait, canisters? Yes, a large number of them line the walls. The small amount of joy this discovery brings is cut short by another roar from across the room. There is only one real place that affords any cover in here, and that's the central consoles. They'll have to do.Whatever is causing that clamor is still out of sight. The damn lights are making it hard as all hell to see. The consoles have a new message emblazoned across them now: [Unauthorized access. Warning.] Still can't see whatever it is. The watch is, as usual, going nuts. It seems to be playing some kind of video footage. Argh...have to focus. The roars are coming from the opposite side of the room. Wait, this footage is familiar...is that...a...van? Oh no. No no no. >Oh yes. What now?
>>20420555NOPE! Throw the fucking bombs at it!
>>20420555>vanIt fucking came back. FIRE EVERYTHING.
Crazy idea, if canisters are indeed full of coolant, we might might be able to freeze this fucker and blow it sky high. Add the grenades for good measure.
>>20421043>>20419365 This says they're empty, but that may just mean the canisters at this station are empty.I'm not willing to check if the other canisters have coolant with that Thing in the room though.
>>20421244Was referring to those on the wall, but I do see your point. Time is of the essence, proceed to hide whatever use it may be, but have dear Martha and a grenade on the ready.
>Fell asleep. Sorry. Will continue latee in the day.
We still have explosives, right?
>>20420555we hide and try to ambush it.
>>20425245>>20424364>>20421495Oh shit. You can see it now. In the red gloom it looks somehow larger than it did at the parking garage. Probably just a trick of the light. You hope. You carefully slip a bomb out of your pack and ready Martha. The entrance you used to get in here is quite far, behind you. Too far to outrun this thing? You can't tell for sure. As you watch the grotesque, twisted bulb of flesh it has unravels. Another earsplitting roar rumbles out. How has this thing not noticed you yet? The watch has gone into defconHEYLOOKATME, but the beast is still pawing here and there without a clear target. It's definitely not here for tea. But it isn't charging toward you with violent disembowlment in mind.Wait, what is it doing now? It has gone still. Eerily so. Not even the massive tail so much as twitches. That's definitely odd. The 'head' is unravelling again. You brace yourself for another violent explosion of sound, but none comes. Instead, some weird stalks are raising from up from inside it...whatever, now is your chance to do something.>What will you do? Any attacks should roll 1d20+5 for being a cowa-er, sneaky bastard
rolled 20 + 5 = 25>>20426236Dice gods help me
>>20426489>>20426489FUCK YES!
>>20426489Oh wait ya throw bombs at it. That's important
>>20426489>>20426499I think you were supposed to specify an action when you did that.
>>20426532I realise that see >>20426513 wait do I have to roll again?
>>20426489Well this fucker is big. And mean. And of the aesthetic persuasion most commonly identified with sickness and decay. To put it simply, you'd rather this mortal coil had one less of him. And since he's being such a good sport and sitting pretty doing gods-know-what, you press down on the explosive and chuck it at him. It arcs perfectly through the air. With a barely audible -clink- it lands nestled in between the unusual stalks emerging from the beast. Still the thing does not move. The stalks rise fully out and feathery feelers unfurl at the tips. Is it...some kind of plant? They wave about in the air for a moment before being sucked back inside. The beast shudders, turns toward you, and roars in unmistakable victory. Then it explodes.The fleshy wrappings that make up its 'head' evaporate. The horrible spur of bone that is a mockery of an arm tumbles away toward the ceiling, out of sight. That which resembled a tortured torso now looks more like a burnt and flaming crater of charred earth. The mighty, defiant roar has been reduced to a noise like an overly large clogged toilet. It takes one, two, three ponderous steps toward you. Then it falls to the floor, still.Fate may have disliked you before now. Hell, it even seemed that it would see you dead at every possible moment. The weird feeling of watching yourself die in a parallel world comes to mind. But by some stroke of absurd luck that might hypothetically have some would-be designer of this and other monstrosities cursing a pantheon of probability-shaping beings for one-shotting his beast, you survived. A fist-sized chunk of metal is visible within the beast's corpse. The watch snaps-to and sucks it up with enough force to nearly jar your shoulder out of place. [1700cr].-continued-
>>20427061The consoles flash up [Threat neutralized] before regaining their previous message. Basking in good fortune, you wonder what to do now. The beast's corpse continues smoldering while you think. -sniff-…yeah, it'll take a while to get used to that smell…>What do?
>>20427061>glorious. Also, I bring gifts from drawfriends.
>>20427163
>>20427102Woohoo!I suppose now we check the other canisters in the room to see if there are any with coolant.After doing a little quiet celebration.
>>20427102Do a little jig then try to get the tower up and running
>>20427167>>20427163>neat>>20427224>>20427213The feelings of victory and being generally unscathed are too much to bear without outlet. So you quietly engage in a bit of river-dancing around your fallen foe. You can't help yourself. It's good to be alive! Of course once you stop and the excitement wears off you feel rather silly. …wait. You can river dance? Fucking amnesia, man. Lack-of-memory conflicting with abundance-of-skill aside, you have a node to fix. You wander over to the cage and pass it up for the wall. The tanks resting there turn out to be nice and full. It appears that the workers here had been just about to replace them when they met their unfortunate demise. Sucks for them. Bit lucky for you, though. It takes a small while to properly replace all the tanks. The growth in the receptacles has dried up, and when you check the other side it is in the same situation. Finally you stand before the consoles, tanks full and ready to go. You initiate the reboot sequence on the nearest console, SE.The screen momentarily floods with numbers and letters and technical wizardry that goes quite over your head. Then it shows a map of the whole city, before zooming in on the bottom-left portion of it. The words [node aligned] appear. The same appears briefly above your watch.You repeat the process on the next console. To your chagrin, however, the console signals an error. [Focusing lens damaged. Cannot fully align.] That isn't good. You look up toward the giant silvery sphere and notice that it is rotating slowly. This is only noticeable thanks to the large, jagged piece of bone embedded in its surface.>Even in death, the beast mocks you. Ideas?
>>20427837Pull the bone shard out being careful nit to cut yourself.
>>20427932You think about somehow getting up to the shard and pulling it out carefully. Seems reasonable. Problem is, the shard juts out of a point near the top of an impossibly smooth, giant rotating sphere. And it is the only real raised feature of this room.It does not seem like you'll be able to climb it.
>>20428184Ok thanks for clearing that up, well in that case is there anything nearby we can throw up there to try and dislodge it?
>>20428248We have another bomb. That would probably dislodge it.
>>20428292>>20428248>let's cause more damage!>FUCK YEARWhat about the consoles? Or the watch? We only have have SE right now. Maybe it's enough? And if not, are we limited to SE only?
>>20428292But if a bone share can fuck the sphere up the bomb would destroy it! Besides what if there more of those big fuckers!?
If we have any rope left we could try making some kind of lasso to pull it out.
>>20427837inquire about replacing the sphere
>>20428353>>20428345You could always try throwing something at it. Or you could use your last explosive device to dislodge it. Both sound like oodles of fun. Especially the one with explosions. But you reckon that could complicate your problem even more. So instead you check your watch. It did say the node was aligned, at least partially. The call function comes up, no longer marred by the node-maintenance message. Success! []Call-Titan-align/unresponsive[]Doll-unalign/outrange[]Raptor-unalign/outrange[]Catfish-unalign/outrangeWell, that isn't helping much. Apparently the node's current alignment, SE, only puts Titan within the call zone. The others are relegated to radio mode and, of course, they're out of range like before. Perhaps you could replace the sphere? But it's so large...and where would you get a new one...and how would you remove the old one...argh, there must be a simpler way! You sit back and wait. Maybe the voices in your head will think of something. They usually do.>Ideas?
>>20429017Wait its a sphere suspended in mid air most likely by anti gravity. Rotate it! Move it to where we can reach the shard!
>>20429017>align>unalign>unalign>unalign>only one console will workI sense he's trying to tell us something...
>>20429238I still don't see it. Are we stuck?
>>20429183Huh. The sphere doesn't seem to be attached to anything. How the hell is it suspended up there? You walk up to it and give it a slight poke. To your surprise, it bobs as if suspended in water. Interesting. You lightly push it down. The piece of bone, your only real way to tell the sphere's orientation, inches downward. Okay.It stays that way for a few moments before readjusting itself back to the normal position. Well, it can't hurt to try, right? Working quickly you rotate the sphere so that the bone shard is within reach. It takes a few tugs, and luckily the sphere resists leaving a certain area, but you get it out. Now a vacant, burnt indentation can be seen slowly working its way back to an upright position.Well, now everything's fine! Instead of a piece of bone, only a little hole remains. Starting from the NW console you get to work rebooting them all. NW starts up fine, both it and your watch giving the [aligned] message. But the others still give the error. Shit.The sphere is now rotating differently as well. The small dark imperfection, previously circling near the top, is now on a more diagonal path sloping down to the left. Weird.>Curiouser and curiouser. Next?
>>20429017Tie the 550 cord to something sturdy on the ground, and then try to toss it so that it loops around one of the things holding the sphere. Start climbing from the end that is not attached to anything.
>>20430023Use the watch to scan the sphere and see what it's made of, and the see if the watch can replicate the material. If it can't have it scan the area to see if there is any nearby.
>>20430244>>20430080You guys have a real one-track mind, you know that? To me it looks like that in order to compensate for the damage, the node is orienting itself to give coverage to an area of the city. Southeast before, now northwest. The damage is so that we can only cover one portion of the city.Check the watch, anyone new popup?
Maybe we should hit it with a fireball?
>>20430382Maybe that's what caused the amnesia. The voices in our guy's head told him to drive the vehicle off the road into the warehouse in a previous event. No one said the voices were smart.
>>20431128As a voice I resent that!
Do this >>20430382, then check if the consoles give more info than just the orb's status (can never have enough information, right?)Also, tell the watch to EXECUTE.README (maybe there's more info about this watch) and DISABLE.SOUND_ALARM (the noise the watch makes when monsters appear doesn't help)
>>20431295>>20431197>>20431128>>20430382Following the direction of your inner multitude, you decide to check the watch to see if anything has changed. Your finger lingers over the fireball option for a moment before moving on. It's tempting, but really. The call option is selected and the interface appears. To your surprise, it actually has changed:[]Call-Doll-align[]Titan-unalign/inrange/unresponsive[]Raptor-unalign/outrange[]Catfish-unalign/outrangeWell fancy that. This Doll person is actually reachable! Still, your thirst for information is eternally unsated. You move up to the console and start touching random buttons in the hope of learning something useful. No dice. It all looks like weird numbers, equations, and a letter here or there for good measure. Utter babble. That your watch is reacting to. It's interface has taken the same appearance as the console screen. Just as you're dreading that it might be stuck like that, the words [Map Updated] appear. Cool.>What shall you do now?
>>20431678call Doll. she (or he?) may be able to fill us in/help us out/scream their last words
>>20431678Ring her up
Call this Doll person, hopefully they can shed some light on who we are/were.
>>20431938>>20431804You decide that it would be prudent to contact this 'Doll'. So you select the name and wait. It doesn't take long. In fact it connects almost immediately. It even has a video feed. It's just that the viewpoint is swinging about so erratically that you can't really tell what's going. You can sure as hell hear it, though.The sound currently emanating from your watch is easily the most horrible, ungodly keening possible in this or any plane of existence. It sounds like someone took a group of howler monkies and screech owls, tied them together, placed drillbots on the bottoms of their bodies, and then sent those tiny drillbots slowly toward the animals' brain through a genetically modified super pain nerve tunnel spanning the entire length of the poor things' bodies. After about twenty seconds of this noise, accompanied by that epilectic camera angle, it suddenly stops. After a few moments you can pick up the distinct sound of heavy breathing. The camera stops swinging crazily and comes to rest on a woman's face. Dark red, shoulder length hair. Pale green eyes. Nose is a bit squashed, and there's a large scar stretching from her forehead to her chin, but hey, who're you to judge? People shout things in your head. She starts talking, and is surprisingly softspoken."H-Hazmat? Is that you? But the comm node! I thought-" the noise starts up again, though much weaker than before, and the video feed resumes its wild swinging. And through it you hear someone else shout: "TELL THAT LAZY FUCK THAT HE TOOK TOO FUCKING LONG. SON OF A BITCH, DO THESE THINGS NEVER SHUT THE HELL UP?" The horrible scream is strangled off abruptly and the woman's face returns. "Listen, there are banshees everywhere. Alice and I are holed up in the Gardenfield Mall. We can't get out on our own. If we get a chance-"-continued-
>>20433050The horrible screams return, doubled and trebled in force. The video feed resumes its wild swinging before the call is cut short.Well damn. Not one but two women are currently trapped, in a mall of all places, and need your help. Of course, those banshees had sounded absolutely terrible. And that Alice hadn't sounded all too nice either. But damn it, they're in trouble. Still, that was only one member of the team...the others could be in even worse trouble.>What do?
>>20433136check our map, look for their location. maybe it's close enough to get to with our vehicle? assuming the vehicle is there still. also, how many bullets do we have left?
>>20433136Do we have to save them cant we find the nearest shuttle off this planet and leave?
>>20433136>He livesAlso>Damsels
>>20433136if we can send a quick message(1 way like email) explain the problem with the comm network and that we are checking on the others. theres no way ge can get there in time to help the women so theres not much we can do.>Am I the only one noticing that everyones missions have gone fubar?>demo guy got jumped at his landing site and we wandered of ditching him.---speaking of that we should probably pick him up if he isnt dead>we got amnisa but as one of the girls are complaining about us taking too long we were probably supposed to do somthing with the Comm system or contact them.>as the girls are trapped in a mall by a zombie horde somthing went badworking with this info I suspect that our mission as a group is a complete failure. As such lets do our best to meet up with everyone and get where ever the hell those zombies arntOh, dont forget to actuly check on our comrades and if the situation permits explain the situation(demo guy is probably dead, we lost our memory, the girls are trapped)
>>20433136We've got to help who we can. That said, if we can get a line up to Raptor and Catfish (One of which I assume is the lady with Doll) in a reasonable amount of time, do that before we head out to the mall.
>>20433136Well we gotta rescue the damsels in distress. Let's pop off a quick check-in message to the other two, and rendezvous with Titan and take him with us.Hell, we're going to a mall, we might be able to find that goddamn sporting goods store we've been looking for. Or an electronics store that we can raid to fix Titan's watch.
>>20433150You check the watch for their location. According to the map the mall is located quite far away, a few miles into the northwest section of the city. Thanks to your SUV, you could probably reach it within an hour or two. Though the vehicle is somewhat strapped for fuel.You search the watch for some form of email function, but there doesn't seem to be one. You can't send Doll a message this way. You try to call her again, but [busy] is all that appears. Damn. They'll have to wait it out while you set up the node for another section of Dracon. SE and NW already tried, you reboot the NE console next. Once the watch signals that it is aligned, you check the call section again. It has changed, but there is a problem.[]Call-Raptor-align/unresponsiveDrat. Raptor's watch may be damaged like Titan's. You cannot reach him. The watch beeps, and you see that the map has been updated again. It shows a large 'R' racing around the northeast portion of the city. Well, whoever Raptor may be, they're either a ghost or plowing through buildings at breakneck speeds. The icon is sliding around with little to no concept of solid walls.-continued-
>>20433834Well that was a bust. You move over to the final console, SW. It aligns and the watch beeps. You open the call function again and check to see if anything has changed. You're in luck![]Call-Catfish-alignYou select Catfish and wait for the feed to open. When it does, you're greeted by a volley of curses delivered in an english accent. A man's face enters the frame, unkempt hair and scraggly beard putting you in mind of...well...he looks like a bum. His eyes are quite red, he's clearly just been woken up by your call."Goddamn, first time I get a wink in the last twenty-eight hours and what else but your oh-so-attractive visage invading my dreams. Please, to what do I owe the honor of this call?" As quickly as you can, you explain the situation, and inform him of Doll's predicament as well."Amnesia? Doll and Alice sruck in the mall? Titan lost an arm? Oh fuck, I need a drink. Call me back when you have something interesting to say, alright? And if you somehow find yourself in this part of town, watch out. Something ate my bike last night. Now, I mean this in the best of ways. Fuck. Off." [Catfish Disconnect]…well. He was...nice, you guess. He's probably been through some shit. You know you have, that's for sure.>What now?
>>20434131quite a bottomdweller indeed. if we have a coin or something, flip it. heads, check on titan, see if he's still alive and doing fine. tails, go rescue the fair maidens. oh, we may need some more bullets
>>20434131>>20434131Buy bullets with cr but not too many
>>20434191Oh shit, we only have 2 shells left. Yeah we need more.
rolled 1 = 1>>20434451>>20434386>>20434191Right. Martha's a bit thirsty. You access the Cascade Ration menu and select [Ammo]. Only question now is, where to go? Raptor and Catfish are out. One is racing through Dracon with a broken deck, the other is kind of a jerk. Titan probably deserves a check up. And of course Doll is in trouble. So you decide to flip a coin. You know, that form of currency you've not seen one article of the entire time you've been here. Oh well, maybe the watch-? Ah. Even as you speak a cute little hologram coin winks at you and starts flipping. Heads Titan, Tails Doll.>There's still the question of how much ammo to buy. [10cr] per shell.
>>20434692How about 8 shells? A full clip in martha, and five more for after. Perfect.
rolled 15 = 15>>20434692I'm rolling 1d20 1-10 is heads 11-20 is tails.
>>20435645Tails it is lets go doll shopping.
>whoever Raptor may be, they're either a ghost or plowing through buildings at breakneck speedsOr he's flying above them.Anyway, I'm guessing the 1 means we're going after Titan?
>>20435682Anon's roll has more weight than mine. Tails it is.
>>20435658>>20435645>>20434886Tails. Hm. Well, you can't say no to women in need, right? What kind of gentlemen would do that? Ignoring the fact that you decided their fate through holographic coin flip, you feel good at having made the right choice. You select the option for ammo and order eight shells. Two clips materialize, one partially empty. You load its remaining shells into Martha and, after a bit of experimenting, you attach the extra clip to her side.Well. You've certainly had enough of this place for now. Before leaving you realign the node for NW, just in case Doll gets a chance to call you. Time to go. You give the cooling corpse of your enemy a complimentary kick and make your merry way back toward the main lobby. You almost make it out in a cheery mood. Almost.But a flashing notification at the information desk makes you stop. An icy chill slithers through your veins as you read the seemingly innocent words.[Pool empty. Sorry for the inconvenience. Have a nice day!]Is it just you, or did every possible location farther than a few miles away just become extremely attractive? You hurry out the door and enter your SUV as quickly as possible. You've most certainly overstayed your welcome. Thankful for the broad daylight, you gun the engine and pull away. The watch flashes the time: 09:27.-continued-
>>20436013The drive northwest is, well, frankly boring compared to everything you've been through. Sure you see a few dead people going about their murderous business. And you even spy your friend the shroud at the far end of one street, numerous flaps of skin a-quiver. But it isn't as...exciting as your previous hours. Not that you're complaining. You even have time to enjoy the gradual change in scenery, minute as it may be. The buildings slowly morph from impossibly tall, expressionless skyscrapers into jumbled clusters of houses on top of shops, shops on top of houses, and everything in between. Most have 'Sold Out' signs decorating them, or 'Going out of Business' stenciled into the storefronts. These must've been some hard times. Even without the map, you probably could've found the mall. It slowly risesabove the horizon as you approach.It has started reaching dizzying heights, your disbelieving grints steadily becoming weaker as it arches even more fully into the sky, when you are suddenly and very acutely distracted. So much so that you nearly run right off the road into a building. You screech the vehicle to a halt and look again. She isn't there anymore, but there's no mistaking it.The woman from the photo.>And I'll pause it here for the night. Feel free to treat this as a 'what do' and throw out some ideas. Sleep beckons. Till then.
>>20435682I have a feeling Raptor may have some form of helicopter. If we, by some miracle, are able to contact him at the mall and get the girls, maybe we could call for an extraction.
>>20438050That would be nice. But what if he's in something's stomach?
>>20438763this could also be the case. then we're fucked.
>>20436166>woman from the photoWhat woman? What photo?
The only sound you can hear is the SUV's 'feed me' warning. It was definitely her. That face. You've seen it before, staring out at you from a hologram. And you just saw her practically skip into an abandoned fudge shop. In the distance, the Gardenfield Mall towers above you.That's right. The girls are still in trouble. You might not have time for distractions, no matter how alluring they may be. Every second you waste here is another second Doll and Alice spend amongst those raucous terrors. The Mall is still a few blocks away.But that woman...you have a picture of her. She might know something about you. You certainly had some connection to her. Unless of course one of your forgotten habits is carrying pictures of random women. There's always that.>What do?
>>20441683We save the girls like any good action hero.
>>20441706I don't think we count as an action hero. Mostly we hide and try to kill things before they kill us. Or run.
>>20441878Women need help. Maybe it's time to change.
>>20441706Mystery lady can probably take care of herself. You haven't seen too many latchers around here. And Doll is counting on you. It's hard, but you pass up the abandoned storefront and continue on to the Mall. You wonder if you were like this before. If you still had your memories, would you risk bodily harm or death for your team members? Maybe not Catfish, you think.As you pull up to the mall, your vehicle sputters and dies in the middle of the street without any prompt from you. It seems the poor thing is completely out of fuel. Unless you find more, it'll be long walks from here on. Nothing wrong with a little excercise, right? The mall. Large blocky letters exclaim this to be the Gardenfield South End entrance. In front of you are four entrances. But they are not spread out around you. No, the closest entrance is directly in front of you; the rest are spread seemingly at random above you. They form a simple lightning bolt shape, the highest quite far above you and slightly to the left. The other two are a bit closer together but still on different levels. You check the watch to see if Doll has called back. No luck there.>Where to now?
>>20442790We went from fix the little comm node of horrors to save chicks from the mall? Where will we end up next?
>>20442790Into the mall, obviously. Preferably to find the security station and some CCTV's to figure out where the girls are.
>>20443240I believe we have a choice of four entrances here. And we could walk around the building to a different end I guess.
>>20443346We COULD, but since we don't know the layout of the mall or where our objective is anyway, we may as well not waste time looking for a different one.
>>20442790High ground is best ground. I choose topmost entrance.
>>20442790Move up near a mall entrance and listen in. see how close the Banchees are? If possible try to see about getting a map of the place.
>>20443445>>20443240>>20443346Enough standing around ogling matte black metal walls. You have to get in there. A voice from within directs you to the entrance above all others. It's as good as any, you suppose. And the voices usually have such good ideas. So you begin climbing the stairs.A few slightly-out-of-breath minutes later you stand before the row of revolving doors, the ground a healthy distance below you. You push inside, Martha at the ready. It is thankfully well-lit. Just a few yards in front of you is a railing, and beyond it a view of the mall proper; Various glimmering holographic ads all vie for your attention. They gallop between stalls and float from one level to the next accompanied by short bursts of catchy slogans and music. The sight is overpowering after prolonged exposure to silent city streets. As you watch, a giant pink bear in a a flight suit tackles a boy band with weird hairstyles, dispersing their music in a flurry of shimmering particles and bowing, proclaiming that the noise was un-BEAR-able.It's like some weird entertainment survival of the fittest. Garishly colorful and annoyingly loud. You don't recall seeing any of this during your short talk with Doll. Or hearing it. Then again, she had apparently been engaged in a fight with those banshees. And the screams really drowned out any other noise. You are startled out of your observations by a slight tap on your shoulder and an elegant -ahem-. Beside you stands a very dapper gentlemen. Tophat, monocle, cane, the whole nine yards. "You seem quite vewildered sir. Might you need some assistance?">What do?
>>20443965Stab/shoot/fireball, not necessarily in that order.
>>20444081Fireball is expensive. Lets's save it for when we need it. As for shooting/stabbing, can we at least give him a chance to explain?
>>20443965May as well try asking if he's seen anyone that looks like Doll or the banshees. Be on guard obviously, this guy seems out of place. Could be a doppelganger monster or something.
>>20444181He's probably just an attendant of some kind. Tech has apparently gotten pretty advanced, they very well may have put an android here with the express purpose of helping lost-looking people. Ask it where the security office is.
>>20443965This has to be an illusion or trick of some kind however for now lets play along.Ask the good man if perhaps there may be some way to nurse a tragic case of Amnesia as well as directions to an information kiosk. Wouldn't hurt.
Of course the upper levels may in fact be safer than the lower levels, maybe some sort of defenses to keep the banshees away or you're really surrounded by Banshees... wait boy bands?A Banshee's one weakness, music worse than their shrieking.
>>20444242>>20444181>>20444158It takes a moment wrestle the instinctive KILLMAIMBURN under control. Once it is relatively diminished, you ask the man a few questions. First and foremost, who is he? "I am called Sir Toddleton. It is my express purpose here to lend aid to those lost and helpless in our sea of lights and sounds meant to whisk away the jingle in your pockets. I usually cater to the youngest folk, but the look on your face was close enough. And it has been quite a while since we've had visitors." Okay. You give him a quick description of Doll, and ask if he's seen her or her companion. "Ah yes. The Toddleton to the east of her acquaintance. Those vile beasts that have taken up residence here appeared soon after. Poor lad, she actually tossed him at one. He's still being repaired." He takes off his monocle and makes a show of cleaning it, giving you a piercing look as he does so. "You're not going to toss ME at anything, are you?" Well you certainly hope not.You finish by asking him if he can direct you to a security station, or its equivalent. "I suppose. As long as you promise not to cause any trouble. Let me see that impudent manacle that has been worrying at my firewalls for the past minute." The watch gives an indignant beep from under your sleeve. You bring it up and uncover, apologizing for its behavior. "Yes, well, I'm sure it had your interests at heart." He waves a hand above the watch and the words [Map Updated] appear. Neat."Go well master gunsmen. It strikes me as funny that I am letting an armed man into these walls, but times have changed since the bloom came. Be on your guard sir." Sir Toddleton gives a slight bow and then walks off, taking up station beside the doors.>Ideas?
>>20444586I like this robot/hologram. We stab him last.
>>20444586head to a security station. they probably have some form of video footage we can use to find our ladies. hell, they may even be there.
>>20444586Thank him and head for the station, use the noisy distractions of the events to hopefully mask you from the beasts below. And it's better to keep on the Mall's good side, so try not to blast everything in sight.I must suck when all your clients are insane monsters.
>>20444878Guess that's sort of related.
>>20444878>needs more river dance
maybe we can find something like this to use along our travels. nothing like a spider tank to "say fuck you".
>>20444586What a polite fellow. Robot. Whatever.Let's hurry to the security station.
>>20444854>>20444776You drop a hurried thanks toward Toddleton as you bring up your map. He tips his hat and continues sentry duty, waving you along. The map loads up a bit grudgingly, as if the watch is still miffed. Once the levels have finished haltingly appearing you get a good look at where you're going. The security station sprawls from the top of the mall to even a few levels belowground. Four levels under, to be exact. There is an underground to this mall, it seems. And you notice that it is not without occupants. A prominent 'D' is making its way through level B3, heading further north, away from you. You also notice something very attractive on the ground floor, just outside of the security station. Another square room, not standing out much at all, until you read its name: Crazy Earl's Apocalypse Arms and Munitions Emporium.Oh yes. That sounds fun. The nearest access point to the security station is north as well, but you can see Doll's position. Plus, that fun sounding establishment...>Choices, choices, where shall you go?
>>20445343Give a quick glance through Crazy Earl's to see if there's anything obvious that would help against the banshees and that the shop isn't going to be destroyed or otherwise become unavailable in the near future. Then head for Doll's position, she could probably use the help sooner rather than later. And we can always come back to Crazy Earl's (unless it gets destroyed).
>>20445390But the security station! It could give us a tactical advantage!
>>20445427Not to mention a way to quickly move between levels. I don't know about you, but fuck anything and everything elevator related.
>>20445343banshees scream. get earplugs! crazy earl's probably has some, as well as some toys for our own special lady. explosive, incendiary, cryo rounds?
>>20445343We really need to check to see if we can get some aliens like motion trackers, oh and apologize to the watch. Knowing Banshees the Security station would possibly be a lair since that's where people would go.
>>20445440>>20445498>>20445390Finding the security station had seemed like a great idea at first, but that was before you had heard of Crazy Earl's. You have to get down to that emporium. So you stumble through a group of dog-sized, multicolored treefrogs in search of a way down to the first level. A perfectly nice elevator enters your field of you. Fuuuuck that. You stride right past it and hit the stairs. It takes a while, and some stylized anime chick starts throwing pairs of panties at you on the second level, but you eventually make it down to the ground floor.Things down here are a bit more...action-oriented. Most of the ads seem to be characterizing stereotypical coolness. Every other character has shades, rippling muscles, and the general air of giving no fucks. Many are engaged in arm-wrestling matches or staredowns. Some of them shout challenges to you as you make your way deeper into the mall. You are assailed by a gleaming humanoid robot at one point, no doubt intent on selling you some bauble or another, but it is felled by a ninja materializing out of the darkness. As the two grapple a ring of other ads form around them, cheering them on. People actually shopped through this? It's mind-boggling.-continued-
>>20445984You finally come within sight of Crazy Earl's. It, like every other shop, has a loud holographic display. This one is an eternally cross-eyed soldier of some sort; his torso is wrapped like a mummy in several belts of ammo. He has a rifle in each hand and an impossibly large cannon being carried on his back. Camo print pants, fairly standard, end in small tanks in place of shoes. He notices you approaching and rolls noisily through the air in your direction. "Why hello there MAGGOT. I see you aren't like the PANSY-ASS customers that used to pass through here." He nods approvingly at Martha. "That is quite a BEAUTIFUL piece you have. If you would just follow me, we have an EXCELLENT selection of alternate ammo types for you to PERUSE." That said, he 180s and rolls back toward the shop.Before he can get there something drops powerfully from above. At first you think it is an advertisement for a horror movie or something. Crazy Earl reacts accordingly, his dual rifles exploding in a cloud of comical -BLAMS-. The oversized holographic projeciles pass harmlessly through its bulk, though. It reaches up and crushes Crazy Earl's projector in its fist, the holgram soldier cut abruptly off mid-WHAT IN THE SAMHILL.The creature before you is vaguely gorilla-like, covered in dull rusty fur.. It is at least as large as one of the great apes. It rests heavily on two massive forearms, and a third serves as a single foot. Each ends in a trio of thick grasping fingers. Most of its face is concealed by a forest of dreadlocks that reach down its back. From within this thick clump of hair two large red glowing orbs are visible, locked onto your eyes. But easily the most outstanding feature of this thing is its mouth. Or mouths. The massive grin opens, revealing another, smaller set of jaws within. And yet another behind that. -continued-
>>20446289The banshee slams its massive fists into the floor, denting the metal tiles. It unleashes a terrible cry the likes of which might be heard echoing across the realms where eldritch things dwell.>Oh shit. Action? Attacks are 1d20, of course.
rolled 9 = 9>>20446319BLAM IT'S FACE!
rolled 1 = 1>>20446374its*
>>20446388The dice gods frown upon your nitpicking.
>>20446388>>20446374FUCK
rolled 12 = 12>>20446388Welp
rolled 8 = 8>>20446289>>20446319Say that she's got a pretty mouth but you don't like her language and then blast her.
>>20446388>>20446374The scream hits you like a physical wall. Your senses are reduced to mere shreds of input. You're aware of the banshee continuing to scream, but not much else. With arms turned to jelly you raise Martha up. You sight the still bellowing horror and squeeze the trigger. Martha bucks, but you don't hear any report. You can't hear it. You see the window display behind the banshee bend inward from the force of the shot. Damn. Missed. The beast starts creeping forward, each hopping step bringing it closer to you. All the while continuing the bone-jarring screech. It feels like the bones in your limbs are starting to liquefy. >It will be upon you in a matter of moments. 1d20 to shut it up.
rolled 15 = 15What does watch-kun have to say about this?
rolled 18 = 18>>20446571Scream back and fire.
rolled 3 = 3>>20446571Fella looks hungry to me. How about we feed him a nice shot right in the mouth?
>>20446609You're an idiot, you can't hear shit and a giant monster is coming at you and you want to look at the watch?
>>20446613Fuck yeah
rolled 18 = 18>>20446571Avenge Earl take that fucker down
>>20446613>>20446609It's a few feet away. Then its arms are behind you. Spittle from its many mouths rains around you. Any second the jaws will close and seperate you into a few neat pieces. You silently apologize to Martha. Then you shove her up into its massive jaw and pull the trigger. The banshee's head explodes, clumps of hair attached to flesh flying every which-where. The torrent of sound slowly dies off. Its body stays still for a moment before slumping down on top of you. The muscled torso nearly crushes you underneath it, and it takes a few minutes of panicked squirming to work your way free.Holy shit, that was close. It nearly bit you in half. Or...fourths. It certainly got your heart racing. Slowly, the sounds of your surroundings come flowing back. The holographic masses are gathered above you, cheering. A surfer dude rides a shimmering silver wave down to you. "Cha, brah, that was totes gnarl. Don't lose any winks over CE, man. He'll be back ta kickin' it in no time. Mad hangs and stuff. PARTY!" With that he rides back up and splashes some overly-cute puppies....the fuck?Anyway, you stagger over to the emporium display. Most of the store is busted from a combination of insane sound levels, but one stall still has a weakly flickering interface.[Put Some Snazz In Your Shottie!]Limited time offer: First purchase of Alternate ammo type for record low 200cr![CRYO][PLAS][BOMB][VOLT]The all sound like so much fun...but you have to hurry, the display is fading fast!>Choose one, choose none, either way, choose quickly.
>>20447259Bomb. BOMB.
>>20446637Not straight away, when we get the chance.
>>20447293Let's not be hasty, so many awesome choices...can't...decide...ARGH
>>20447259Either Cryo or Plasma.
>>20447259Either Cyro or Plasma.
>>20447259VOLT. Give martha some thunder!
Get volt, I doubt we saw the last of that pool monster.
Volt would most likely be stun rounds, do we really want to just stun these freaks?
>>20447259depending on the effectiveness any of those could be killtastic, however given the tendency of our friendly neighborhood freaks to survive all but point blank annihilation I heartily suggest [BOMB]
>>20447259What has this world come to? Why back in my day if there was a zombie apocalypse you could break open ammo cases and steal that shit.
>>20447612If it volt were merely stun rounds, why not call them stun?
>>20447673Not bashing your experience old-timer, but this seems to be progressing quickly from zombies to the fuck monsters OHSHIT.
rolled 76 = 76>>20447259Let the great God of Dice decide01-25 CRYO26-50 PLASMA51-75 BOMB76-100 VOLT
>>20447754THEY HAVE SPOKEN.
>>20447734Yeah yer gonna want to find the big fukken explosive case then...
rolled 66 = 66Double check
>>20447754>>20447534>>20447513Your head is filled with a clamor as the voices put forth forth their choices. But one asks the fates and they doth decree: VOLT. Who are you to deny them? You reach out to the display and select volt. Immediately the stall bursts into a small fanfare as your transaction is finalized. A small information runs off through the fading hologram:"We here at the Emporium were once told that lightning never strikes the same place twice. We beat the hell outta that messenger then turned him over to the science boys. We gave 'em three weeks to prove the bastard wrong. Four days later, they put two brand-new Zeus-pattern VOLT rounds through his ass at three-hundred yards. Sadly he is now without the lower half of his body and one of his arms. But hot damn did we show him! VOLT rounds! Greazfzt..." The display finally dies of, hologram fading.That is encouraging. You exit the store and take a look around. The holograms have resumed normal behavior. Normal for them, at least. Banshee corpse still dead. Very good. You check the watch for its new option.[Ammo-10cr] |--[VOLT-20cr]That checks out. Wait a minute, what? [Current cr: 1820] That can't be right...behind you, Earl's projector sparks and flickers into life. He half-forms and crawls into a sitting position. "Consider it a gift for sending that RAT BASTARD back to whatever hell he crawled out of. FUCK YEAR!" The project emits a puff of smoke and his hologram dies out.-continued-
>>20448578Why are all the AIs here such Bros?
>>20448578Over the babble and song of the holograms, you hear another horrible mind-erasing scream in the distance. It is answered by two more. That is most definitely not conducive to continued existence.You check the map again. Doll has stopped moving, in a store on B3 marked [DETH METTLE FINERY]. Whatever the hell that is. The stairs you used to get down here ended at the ground floor, so you won't be able to climb any deeper that way. The security station is near here, or perhaps you could risk the elevator? The screams sound again, closer.>You should get moving, lest a chance to try your new ammo find you. Where to?
>>20448806fuck the elevator. let's hope the security station has a way down. also, I like her taste in stores.
>>20448806>Death metal fineryShe's either getting earplugs, or she's about to rock out the Banshees.
>>20448968Maybe there's some sort sort of tribe mentality... you screen the loudest you're the boss? These beasts don't seem the same as the tentacle monsters or Van beasts, or that weird fleshy thing. Check the watch for info on Banshees and head for the security station.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gL4XqkQOFUI'm just going to leave that here....
>>20449025>>20448835Yeah, still wishing horrible ends to any and all cable-driven conveyances. The elevator can suck it. You instead head for the sec station. Might as well. Stands to reason the security forces have a way to easily traverse the levels. So you find the maintenance tunnel marked on your map and start walking. As you pass over the banshee's corpse, the watch digs out a prize from its innards: [1920cr]The tunnel is darker than the mall proper. Lit only by orange glow strips, it's also a bit spookier. But you're alone. So you take this chance to ask the watch about these...banshees. Your friendly multitasking timekeeper perks up and throws some info at you.Form-classificatiin: BansheeTechnically infectious, but mode of infection is often too damagingAttacks via disabling amounts of sound, general pulverization with muscular limbs, powerful jaws, or, for infection, ejecting the hollow bones in there arms that flood the unfortunate victim with bloom virus. Since the bones are often a few feet long, this usually destroys the victim anyway.Caution: sometimes hunts in packsIf confronted: find some way to avoid its scream. The eyes are vulnerable.Helpful. Avoid hollering. Aim for eyes. Also...when did the tunnel go dark? And that gasping...oh god damn it.>What do?
>>20449808WHERE THE FUCK IS IT
>>20449808Sounds like a usual walking corpse... okay we know these things now.Check to see why the light is missing, if it's because said monster is blocking it, then we know what to do.. for now try to make sure it hasn't seen you yet.
>>20449899>>20449874Alright, no biggie, you've dealt with enough of these undead douchebags to not automatically descend into imminent-death depression. First, light. You whisper to the watch tocrank up the illumination. Under the soft blue glow you look for the tunnel's light source. Oh, gross. It's completely covered in that fleshy gunk. The stuff is splattered all over the tunnel. You almost walked into it. Ugh. Oh look, the sec entrance! And just outside of it, a group of four latchers. Well shit. You cover up the watch and duck down a little. They don't seem to have noticed you. Those poor people...probably had the same idea as you. As you listen, a loud -THUD- echoes down the tunnel. Are they trying to get in? In any case, you ready Martha for action.>How shall you proceed?
>>20450418I guess we could shoot them. We still have one explosive, right?
>>20450418Maybe we should try out that new ammo we happen to have, if it's electric then that means the blast will arc between all four of them hopefully.Using a bomb might end up bringing the entire tunnel down on us... of course that 'gunk' is most likely Bloom and highly infectious.Figures the security station would be a death trap, it's where everyone would have gone in the disaster, including the infected.
>>20450888FUCK now it seems kind of obvious.
>>20450888Eh, this situation is as good as any to test your new variant of ammo. You bring up the menu and select it, making sure to keep an ear on your friends. After a moment the shell materializes. Huh, pretty hefty. You replace the current shells with it and slot Martha into your grip. The latchers still don't know you're here. Good.>1d20+2 to take this badboy for a spin.
>>20451154>Roll if you want, but I'm crashing out. Gods damn this need for restorative rest. Till then.
rolled 6 + 2 = 8>>20451154THOR! I CALL UPON YOUR LESSER KNOWN ROLE AS GOD OF DICE TO LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH IN THIS ROLL!
>>20451199CURSE YOU THOR! I SHALL GO TO VALHALLA AN- ah fuck this. Not as fun as I thought i- ah fuck this.
rolled 2 + 2 = 4Roll
rolled 12 + 2 = 14>>20451154Thor evidently ain't working. Glorious Zues, LEND US YOUR POWER
>>20451199>>20451620I'm half expecting Martha to explode at this point.
>>20451705Dont go giving him ideas now, no telling what might happen.
>dose rollsWe're going to shoot ourselves. With electricity. Great.
rolled 17 + 2 = 19>>20451154Shoot the closest one right in the neck. Then shoot again, for good measure.We have 1900cr+, with the ammo costing 20cr, we shouldn't worry too much about spending it.
>>20455251Also, we only have 4 antivirals left, and the watch does not have the option to sell antivirals, right?In that case better spend a lot of ammo rather than letting the latchers get close enough to infect you.
>>20455335But there are all those other options! Like FIREBALL!
>>20455630It costs 1500. We should probably save it for something big. If we get a fuckton of cr then we could test it on a large group from a distance, other than that answer is no.>>20448578New Objective: Rescue/Avenge Holograms. Maybe they're all bros.
>note: VOLT should've been 200cr, not 20cr. Slipped up due to fatigue. Since that may've affected your decision to use it, consider this a one-time 90% off thingYou stand up straight, brace yourself, and pull the trigger. You had been aiming for the neck, but Martha kicks unexpectedly hard and throws the shot off. Instead the round buries itself into the sec door, just behind the leftmost latcher. It stays there for a moment, giving you a view of its odd form. It looks like a miniature turbine, whirring and whistling and sparking.What ensues makes you question the wisdom of testing unknown ammunition variants in tight, dark spaces.A fucking BOLT OF LIGHTNING slams through the tunnel. The security door is blown off of its tracks and thrown into the room. The letfmost latcher is transformed into a pile of gibs; the latcher beside it loses its ,egs. The two on the right are thrown into the wall. You, on the other hand, are left deaf, blind, and sprawled on the floor. Son of a BITCH, that was loud. And bright. Ow, your everything...quick, need to get ahold of the situation. You feebly try to rise, arms and legs reluctant to follow your directions. Move, damn you!>1d20 to rally your senses!
rolled 6 = 6>>20456459Fire up those nat 1s! It's rolling time!
rolled 7 = 7>>20456459Come the fuck on, we haven't come this far to die now and let the banshees make Doll stew.
>>20456514>>20456501>dice gods gives us a personal lightning launcher>just to knock us out with itIt's the venomous bull shark in the cake gag. Everytime.
rolled 20 = 20>>20456459So far, we're doing pretty well for someone with serious brain damage.
rolled 7 = 7>>20456567I'm glad its just a very minor casehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU9VUu5qwy0
>>20456514>>20456501It's no good, sight and sound are still beyond your grasp. The only real sense you can rely on right now is your sense of touch. This allows you to feel the tendril curling tightly around your left leg. Shit. You weakly flail around, trying to dislodge it. But you're still too addled from the volt round.You feel the yourself being jerked around you as the latcher draws you in. The world slowly comes into focus, and you're greeted by the sight of one corpse binding your legs tightly together. Another appears, securing your arms. A third is suspended from the ceiling, and it slowly owers itself till it is hanging just above your stomach. You're treated to a rather unflattering view of its squirming insides thanks to the absence of its lower-body.The tendrils flock down from its body and drive into your stomach. The pain is unbearable; you are acutely aware of each and every one curling and twisting through your organs. If you could hear, you'd probably only be able to hear yourself screaming. As the feelers bore their way slowly through your body one wish is repeated over and over in your mind: something, anything, just end the pain. After an hour they pierce your heart, dropping you into peaceful oblivion.----------------------[GAME OVER-Bad End]>Reload>Quit>_------------Hint: The Shoggoth is clever. Beware anything out of the ordinary.
>>20457103>ReloadAlso>ShoggothPic related
>>20457103>>20457103Damn it! Reload, pause then input the konami code.
I bet the watch has more tricks up its sleeve.>>20457103>Reload>Execute Code: ADRENALINE.CHARGE
>>20457209>>20457208>Reload_You shake off the death throes of another universe. That is just too weird of a feeling, seriously. One of these days you'll find out how to breach space-and time, find an alternate you, and slap it for being so gods-damned unlucky. You shouldn't have to put up with their bullshit. Your bullshit. Whatever. The hell is the watch beeping for?You look down at your wrist, only partly surprised that you can see and hear anything at all, to see an odd display:[^^vv<><>xo][Accepted]…the hell is that supposed to meHOLY SHIT?!?The watch flares into a crazy display, numbers flying. It's at 99999cr, no, 9999999cr! It finally stops, declaring [XXXXXXXXcr], and lists off some words in quick succession:[BOOST][PUMP][FIREBALL-EX][ARMOR]You feel faster, stronger, and a crackling field encases your body. A trio of pitch-black orbs are orbiting your left wrist. You look at the latchers. They look at you. A grin slowly spreads across your face. This is going to be fun.You launch forward, taken aback by how far a mere step had taken you. You pause, face to face with a latcher. It seems unsure of what to do, talons raised halfheartedly. So you thank it for standing still by catching it in the gut with your energy-clad fist. The poor thing is slammed into the wall, mid-section collapsed, and burrowed a few feet into the wall. The trio of black fireballs launch point-blank, detonating and disintegrating the corpse.You turn around and look at the remaining one and a half latchers.-continued-
>>20457244>Execute code: ¬>idkfa
>>20457674Shame this won't be permanent. So the question is, what negative consequences will it bring?inb4 FBI Fraudbot.
>>20457791Probably burn the watch out after 30 seconds or something. Best thing would be to kill the things as quickly as possible than buy as much hardware as we can before it melts.I still think idkfa is worth a try.
>>20457791Unless, you know, the FBI agents are too busy SURVIVING the fucking Prototy-I mean bloom virus.
>>20457841The government probably has much nastier hardware than we do. That would have some very bad implications.
>>20457674They both turn and flee. Oh no, hell no, they're done for. You kick forward again, spear tackling the latcher that still has legs to run with. You remedy this by pulling it apart and beating its parasitic mass in with its own lower body. You finish it with another triple fireball and turn toward the last one. It is slowly sliding along the ceiling, still holding out hope of escape, apparently. Poor thing. You casually blast it back toward you and grab it by the tentacles, swinging it into the walls repeatedly. Now where did she...ah, there she is. You retrieve Martha from the floor and bring her to bear. The watch catches her with an errant beam of energy and she explodes, reforming into a much larger, brutal weapon. [SLAGMartha: infinite pulse autoshotgun-Think you can handle it, baby?]Yes. Yes you do. You depress the trigger and her three barrels spin blindingly into action. You keep it held down until the last latcher is erased completely from existence, down to the last writhing tendril. After you stop you clamber out of the the large crater formed during her assault to survey your handiwork. The watch powers down, taking with it the abilities. Martha shrinks back to normal. The tunnel looks like it just weathered a localized meteor shower.You aren't exactly sure what happened, but it was fuckawesome. You highly doubt it'll ever happen again. Before you, the sec station beckons.>what do?
>>20457976Kick the door open feeling like a bad ass.
>>20457976Check to see if the watch still works.
>>20457976Look for a console, have it update the map on your watch and check the security cams.Then search EVERYTHING for spare ammo, maybe you could be lucky and find dual .45 Desert Eagles equipped with silencers? (wink wink)Martha's a good girl, but she moans too loud. And your neighbors aren't very friendly.
>>20457976Spend as much of the extra cr that we can on ammo before it disappears, assuming it hasn't already. Barring that, enter the Security Office. They were waiting outside, there may be survivors.
>>20457674>>20457976>mfwAnon that suggested konami code, you are a glorious bastard.
>>20457976Lets get in. If it's open, just walk on in. If it's locked, kick it the fuck in like a baws
>>20457993>>20458252Considering we just died, this seems like a really bad time to get cocky.
>>20458038>>20458024>>20457993You walk up to the busted remains of the security door resting partly across the portal. You then kick it out of your way, feeling like a total badass. You're half tempted to go back and buy a pair of bitchin' shades, so as to proclaim your bad-assedness to the world. As you enter the room you bring up the watch, struck by a sudden fear that it has been burnt out by that sudden show of force. It is…sleeping?[zzZzzZzzZzZZ]You give it a poke. Reluctantly, it flares into the usual display. Good, good. You thought it might have left you for a second there. You bring your attention back to the room. It is bright white, and circular. The center of the room seems to be a thick cylinder, spanning floor to ceiling. Nothing is trying to kill you. You're off to a great start here. You wander around the circle, noticing the desks and drawers, a small frame with a picture of a little girl; aha! An active holographic interface. You walk up to it and start fiddling around. You shake the watch again and it sets to work.-continued-
>>20458399Multiple screens appear, mirrored above the watch. The foremost shows the darkened interior of a store. Inside slumps a female form, and for a second you believe her deceased. But some diagnostics appear next to her, and mark her as [ASLEEP]. Well, this must be Doll. You can't see her companion though. You flip that screen away and review the next.This shows a holographic map of the mall, much the same as yours, with one major difference. The security station is shown in finer detail, and the large cylinder in the center actually conceals an emergency ladder. From it you can reach any level in the mall. Sweet.The last screen is another video feed. A very sobering one, as it turns out. At a location deep underground, in some large storehouse, a group of banshees have gathered. Most are engaged in shouting matches, making you thankful for the lack of audio. But as you watch something happens. What you had first taken for a giant tarp-covered pile of odds and ends rears up. A banshee at least three times the size of the one you ended before stands up, stretches, impales one of the smaller ones and eats it, then opens its mouths.The entire room you're standing in shudders. Well fuck.[Map updated], [Notes updated] appears on the watch.>What do?
>>20458960>Notes updateI understand map, but what is this?
>>20458960Check the updated notes. And the map again. And search the room some more.BTW:>I told you we should have gotten something other than volt but nooooooooooo you just had to have lightning.
>>20459210On the bright side, we have something we can use to clear rooms now. Just blow a hole in the door and shoot a volt round through the hole.But first we should check the updates so we know which doors need holes blown in them.
>>20459282>>20459210>>20459118Feeling a bit shakey after that video presentation you decide to distract youreslf with your updatd information. You bring up the map and take a closer look at the emergency chute. Apparently it is accessed via a hidden gatch. Palmprint required? But your palms aren't-The watch supercedes that thought with a holographic confetti shower welcoming Gardenfield Mall's newest (temporary) sec officer, Hazmat 'Motherfucker' Jones. You slap the watch against a desk. After a bit of indignant buzzing, the Mall welcomes John 'Hazmat' Doe to its ranks. Better. Nest you check the updated nores. Interesting. It seems the watch picked up a personal email and marked it for interest:Bill,My pride will bring you joy. It only wants a word with you. -MatthiasWell that sounds...cryptic. Wonder what it means? >What will you do with this information?
>>20459507Oh god, another riddle? The last one took us forever to get.We're doomed.
>>20459660Don't give up hope yet. This one doesn't involve numbers. I think.
>>20459507>PrideLOOK FOR REFERENCES TO THE SEVEN DEADLY->JoyFUCK forget it
Pride? Like a group of lions?
Nobody panic. The last riddle was complicated by US, but the answer was simple. This one probably is simple as well.
>>20459507>a word with you>a word with (the letter) U? A word starting with U?I might be reading too much into it...Do we have any more information about the email? Like where/when it was sent?
>>20460593You ask the watch if it can trace where the email came from and went, or when it was sent. After a bit of inquisitive beeping it returns what it gathered. The semail was sent on March 8th, 2125. It originated from a desk console near the entrance on this level, and was sent to another on the opposite side of the circle. You thank the watch and return to enjoying the voices theorize and postulate.
>>20460713Thank the watch. It obviously has a sense of humor, there might be an AI in there that would appreciate it. Then search the drawers.
>>20460808The recipient's desk is closer so you search that first. Not much of note. All but the last drawer is empty; the watch sucks up a single cube from inside it: [1950cr]The desk of the sender is much the same way; completely empty this one. Not even a cr cube. The only feature on it is the small picture frame holding a photo of a little girl. Unless there are some secret compartments here, the desks are clean.>What now?
>>20460962Take the picture for our collection of random pictures of people.
>>20460962Could Matthias's "pride" be, I don't know...his daughter?Examine the photo and frame closely!
>>20461114>>20460962>pride>joy>picture of a little girl…god damn it…
>>20461138>My pride will bring you joy.Please tell me this guy doesn't rent out his daughter as a sex slave.
>>20461166Hopefully, she just gives a word, a password.
>>20461138 !>>20461114 !Wait a sec, the voices think they have something! You pick up the picture frame and examine it, feeling around for anything strange. There's a bit of writing on the back: Elena, '07.As you feel around the inside of the frame, your finger catches an edge. You manage to scratch out a slip of paper. Interesting. You unroll it and acquire some interesting info:If you found this, congratulations! You aren't as stupid as I thought, heh. You and I go way back and I now you love this shit so I thought you'd get a kick out of this. Remember that sleeze ball that slapped my daughter's ass? I caught him jacking shells from Earl's new stall! Man, if he'd been able to speak, he'd probably try to sue me for cruel and unusual force. I swear my stun rod left a dent in his face. Anyway, I pocketed a set and set them out of the way on the roof. Figure'd we'd kick back a few and try 'em out. After we take care of all these damn emergency calls. I swear, everyone sees latchers in the corners of their eyes nowadays. Seeya then.P.S. bring a case you cheap assWell, that sounds useful. The crude map shows a hollowed out ventilation duct as the booty box. Perhaps you might pay that a visit later...>Things to do, people to save, where shall you head?
>>20461578Head to the roof to get some shells. We're probably going to need them, and Doll could use all the sleep she can get.
>>20461578roof, if we're reasonably close. if not, we should probably go check on Doll. hate to have her wake up and get attacked while we're playing with some new ammo on the roof
>>20461720>>20461663>Abandoning damselsFor shame.
I propose then when we get off of this planet and get paid we buy a nuke and glass the entire thing as we watch from a passing space-station sipping a 350 year old bottle of wine while wearing a fancy suit.
>>20461978That*
>>20461720>>20461663This opportunity is just too good to pass up. Did you see what that volt round did? Well, no, not really. Deaf and blind for most of it. But there was a thunderbolt. You saw it. Felt it. You're still a little sore. Doll seems safe enough for the moment. She'll be fiiine. You walk around to the concealed hatch and press a palm against it. It pops open with a pneumatic -hisss- and you climb in.As you climb you decide that you don't really like this chute. It's convenient, sure. Too small for banshees? Most definitely. But it's dark. Of all things, it had to be devoid of light. Aside from the soft glow of your wrist-friend it is completely lightless. After some minutes envisioning multiple completely implausible but seriously taken demises, you reach the top. A tiny cylindrical room, one door. You push it open and step out onto the roof. Ah, sanity-sustaining sunlight. The glorious photons sweep through you, banishing the fears of unlight. Truly, Sol is a friend. You bask a few moments more before searching. It doesn't take long to find the duct. You pop it open and grab your goodies. One cryo shell, one plas shell, one volt shell, and two bomb shells. Nice. You turn to leave...…and are greeted by the sight of a banshee. Emaciated, missing its hindlimb, and drooling profusely. But a banshee nonetheless. It starts scrambling rapidly toward you.>Oh shit, what do? Attacks 1d20, of course.
rolled 13 = 13>>20462148shoot it with a normal shell. it's crippled, no need to go overboard
rolled 9 = 9>>20462148Shoot her!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PChWWkRS0MQ
rolled 17 = 17>>20462148Shoot or alteenitivly if this roll is high enough punch it in the face!
>>20461978No we must spare the mall think of the holograms!
>>20462301Can we still do the wine and suit thing?
>>20462168The poor thing is obviously suffering. It seems to be trying to scream, but it can't even get a proper howl going. All that comes out are short, harsh gasps. You stash the fun shells. This will be easy. Step, sight, squeeze. Its forehead is missing before it has even closed half the distance. The watch absords a shiny bit of metal from inside its skull: [2000cr]Interesting. Perhaps it was an exile, unable to keep up with the rest? Ah, no matter. You celebrate your find and head back to the chute. Halfway there your watch interrupts your thoughts with a beep: [Incoming call-Doll] You expect to seeher face, but it's too dark. Probably more safe, anyway."Hazmat? Oh thank goodness you came! We were frightened that we might be stuck here! Just an hour ago, we were-" Her breathy whisper is cut off, and a coarse "Let me speak" signals the return of her abrasive companion: "Listen you little fucknugget, we saw your name on the roster. How long have you been here? Why the fuck hasn't your ass presented itself to us? Well? Whatever, fuck your excuses. Those noisy fucks left for some reason. Meet us at B1's foodcourt on the fucking double, or I'll skin BOTH halves of your dick off. Alice out." [Doll disconnect]Charming. >And that's enough of this thread. I'd like to thank the archivist. I'm flattered you thought the adventure so far was worth it. Next time: women stranger than fiction and the alpha banshee. Keep an eye out for the thread. As always, comments/criticism welcome. Till then, gents.
>>20462322Hell yeah. We'll just see about getting tac nukes instead, cluster tac nukes.
>>20462399Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel?
>>20462422Thereabouts, yeah. Suppose I'm fairly regular.
>>20462399Toasting an epic thread, I haven't had such fun with eldrich horrors, amnesia, and what not since some of those old quests way back in the day.
>>20462885Thank you.
Reposting archive for neatness's sakehttp://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=Amnesiac+Quest
