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Recap: You are ANON, the RED JOKER. In our last installment, you defeated HAURVATAT - The titanic defender of THE RIFT - and traveled to the core of the HOLLOW SUN.

Before you: The seething heart of the Hollow Sun. A sphere of molten gold, suspended within a giant ring of spun brass - Enveloped by invisible forces, a mantle of liquid metal, constant in its ebb and flow. Amber light, like the sun on a clear, cloudless day, washes over you - The radiance unabating and endless, gleaming off the mirror-bright red stone and the matte-black steel of the chamber around you.

The flickering light throws weird, surreal shadows across the walls of the surreal chamber - Deep channels cut in the floor, richly inscribed with impossibly complex algorithmic paradoxes, drinking in the illumination from the rippling sphere that dominates the centre of the room.

From here, you can see - There's a vague shape within, brief conjunctions of motion failing to make it any clearer...But it looks humanoid, like a figure through thick glass; Eternally suspended in amber.

Behind you, Tyrian Edge and Volt Regios converse in low, hushed voices. It could be surprise, but - From the hushed faint of breath - it seems rather more like awe.

"What? What *is* that?"

"I don't know - But it's the most incredible thing I've ever seen."

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23690474

(Quick correction: This should be Episode 37, not 36 - My count was off, sorry.)

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Hnnh.

>>23690474
Approach closer to the heart, scan the room as we do so, we don't want anything to surprise us, take a closer look at the humanoid figure, see if it rings any bells.

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>>23690621

The light seems to waver, as you draw near; Pulsing brighter, receding, like the slow beating of a heart. The swirling suspension of energies at play continues - This close (If you tilt your head to the side, and stare) you can make out...

The figure is humanoid, but not *human*. You make out a body suspended on a hanging frame, encased in anatomical plate-sections of golden alloy - Sinews and arteries formed from cable and wire snake across it's form, in self-assembling motion: It's putting itself together, before you, even as it hangs limp from the gibbet.

You're struck by an odd sense of *familiarity*. Somehow, somewhere, you've seen this before...

At all once, the pieces come together in your mind. In the Spire, with the Thief - When Rust Kaiser felled him with the sarcophagus he'd been carrying. Inside - Just for a moment - you'd glimpsed something gleaming, something golden...

-And suddenly, the world goes white. The light goes brilliant, nova-bright: Not all at once, but gradually - Until polarizing lens slide down over your field of vision, to keep you from being blinded. Warning flicker to life on your HUD, nearly lost in the bleaching glow - Detecting seismic activity, a high-energy reaction...

(Continued)

...Then it stops. The glow cuts off, and you see -

Nothing.

The glittering sphere of molten metal in gone. The light has dimmed to a steady, sullen glow, just enough to see by: The armor is gone, too, so thoroughly that - For a moment - you think you might have imagined that.

What's left, though...

A black frame stands before you, encased by the brass halo - Raised on a plinth, with self-locking restraints at the wrists and ankles, like a skeletal gibbet.

"...What the hell?" Volt Regios crackles, his remaining arm lowering to his side.

[ ] "-It's a Vitruvian device."
[ ] "...Where did it go?"
[ ] "Regios, what did you see?"
[ ] "Tyrian, what happened?"
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23690963
[X] "Regios, what did you see?"
[X] "Tyrian, what happened?"

Start by making sure we aren't crazyand that their recollection of events mirrors ours.

Then explain that it's a Vitruvian Device.

>playing Viewtiful Joe
>forget Joker Quest was running
>Twitter feed updates

Damnit OP. I'm replaying one of my favorite games here.

>>23690963

>Vitruvian device

Inspect the device to make sure it really IS a damn Vitruvian device. We don't want to end up getting suckered into dieing. See if we can wrack our memory if it matches anything we might have killed or stumbled across.

"So uh, guys, this looks like something I found a few months ago. I'm not sure if it's the real deal, however. This one and the other one are completely different makes. The big guy upstairs was the guardian of this place. Same as the other one I fought. And killed. While carrying the Black Jokers curse.

Let's inspect it first before commiting to anything."

Vague and enticing.

> [X] "Regios, what did you see?"

The voltic knight's spined shoulders lift - A low growl coming from his throat, as he shakes his visored head. "-Just the light."

> [X] "Tyrian, what happened?"

Tyrian Edge has a tiny holographic screen deployed before him, beaming from wrist-mounted projectors; Even from here, you can make out the bewildering scrawl of multiple readings - All dropping off into a single straight line.

"...The reaction's stopped," he says, sounding bewildered. "Whatever it is, it just...It's shut down, aborted." He lifts a metal gauntlet, to take in the great sweep of the room: "-It's gone back to standby, I think - It should be safe to touch, now..."

>>23691090
> Explain that it's a Vitruvian Device.

"A *Vitruvian* device?" Volt Regios echoes; He sounds vaguely amused, then rather more interested, as you give them a quick overview. Tyrian Edge punches a few more commands into the hovering console before him - Apparently, he finds it interesting.

Still - Rather sensibly - they keep a fairly wide berth, as you inspect the device; It's still warm, but not uncomfortably so, a faint humming filling your ears. It seems that Tyrian was right, on both counts...It's safe to the touch, *and* still active.

To your (admittedly inexpert) eye, this thing - It's different from the one before. There are similarities, but...You note, at first glance, a half-dozen distinct differences - The locking spine at the base of the frame, the retracted control surfaces...It's not the same, certainly, but - You have to admit, you don't have any idea what it might do.

"-You're saying that this...thing...can empower us?" Regios crackles, sounding entirely dubious; His head canting back, taking in the scale of the frame.

(Continued)

"...Or fry your brain," Edge cuts in; He's circling the thing, too, one arm raised - An oddly luminous glow to the green lens of his helmet, the scanners slaved directly to his HUD.

From the staticky buzz, however - It's not going too well. He shakes his head, a moment later. "The Object Authority's too high: I can't get through. Seems like it's either/or, then - I don't know *what* it could do." He hesitates - Then goes on, rather more contemplatively: "If the Joker's right, it's one use only, too..."

"So." Volt Regios looks back over one massive pauldron. "-Who gets it?"

[ ] "I'll do it."
[ ] "You first."
[ ] "Tyrian, you're up.
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

"Before splitting the spoils, perhaps we should find our last member? Look a little more? Besides... he may be in a state where he needs it more than us."

>>23691329

God damn, tough choice. It'd probably be bad to use them as guinea pigs, and we don't want getting the loot, so we should probably use it.

> [X] I'll do it.

>>23691329

"If nobody is willing to enter the device, I'll go. If more than one of us wants to enter it, I know the tried and true method to decide who gets to maybe suffer a horrible, painful death."

"Rock. Paper. Scissors."

>>23691384
This.

>>23691378

We could, but from the descriptions thus far, we were deposited in a corridor, walked a bit, and then stumbled across this room. It's a moot point unless there's more doors/corridors branching off from this room.

>>23691378

There's a momentary, painful silence - Volt Regios turns Bishamon's sword over in his remaining hand, as Tyrian Edge looks away.

"Yeah, well..." Edge says, at last. "-We'll have to find a way out of here first." He's staring at the walls, as if resentful of them: "...I don't even know if we *can* get out..."

"One thing at a time," Regios crackles. A line of fitful light flickers across the horizontal line of his visor. "He might still be alive."

"Might," he adds.

>>23691384
>>23691430

It's an odd little scene, as the three of you square off; Made rather more surreal by your unnatural surroundings, the armor encasing your forms.

"On the count of three," Volt Regios supplies, in the electronic buzz of his voice - For a moment, you're fairly certain there's some unspoken verbal communication passing between him and Tyrian Edge, as he curls his steely fingers into a balled fist.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Thr-"

[ ] Rock!
[ ] Paper!
[ ] Scissors!

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23691551
>[ ] Rock!
FIST!

Rolled 3

>>23691551

1. Rock
2. Paper
3. Scissors

>>23691551

> [X] Rock!

Rock! Always go for rock, because the hand naturally becomes scissors

Rolled 3

>>23691551

(One moment)

>>23691625

No, the hand naturally becomes paper. People spread their hands out normally. It takes more effort to make two-fingers than five.

Go with:

[X] Rock.

>>23691700

This might be bias from playing Russian Roulette with my gaming group, but my group almost always uses Rock starting except on rare occasions. I always go for paper first, followed by scissors. I typically win it every second or third time we play to open a trap or play bait for a Shoggoth.

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> [X] Rock!

Rock. You bring your hand down in a mighty sweep, and...

Aw, *come on*. They're Paper. They're *both* Paper!

"Well..."

"Yep."

Tyrian turns his head, and coughs - The best he can, anyway. It sounds like an autoloader cycling, with a rasping sound. "-Guess you're the odd man out," he says: He has the good grace to try and keep the relief from his voice, though he's not doing a very good job.

"Better you than us," Volt Regios crackles - Especially lopsided, now, the stump of his orphaned arm still prominent. He tips his helmet-spike towards the frame: "...Best not to stand on ceremony."

[ ] "...You *cheated*."
[ ] "Well, fair's fair."
[ ] "Best two out of three?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

"Well, fair's fair. Good luck, then. Last time I used one of those it hurt hideously."

>>23691854

Wait, I'm confuzed. Who's going to use it? Them, or us?

>>23691854

"Just ignore the near sanity destroying pain and you're golden. Beyond that, there's not much else too it except it maybe being a trap. But, no risk, no reward, right?"

>>23691916

We went rock. They both went paper. Now they fight over it or save it encase the missing one returns.

>>23691916
>>23691918
>>23691896

(I'm sorry, I should've clarified - They're voting for you to use it.)

>>23691976

Oh, shit! Damn, you should've pointed this out at the beginning, Op. Well, what can you do.

>>23691976

Wait, what? Awwwwww. We probably should get it over with, I don't think it'll kill us dead, no matter what edge keeps saying.

>>23691976

"I'm the guinea pig? You guys are no fun. Like seriously, here I was hoping to not be on the receiving end for a change."

...

"Okay fine. You two blow it to hell and blow me to hell too if it looks like I might be losing it. The last one hurt like hell. We don't know what this one even does until... The Volunteer steps into it."

>>23692017
>>23692097
>>23692122

(Again, my apologies: I should've specified it before the RPS game.)

> "I'm the guinea pig? You guys are no fun. Like seriously, here I was hoping to not be on the receiving end for a change."

"Yeah, well...At least we'll be right behind you," Tyrian Edge offers - It's not very encouraging, to say the least... Especially given how he takes a slow step back, warily, as you approach the plinth.

"In spirit," Regios adds, his grip tightening around Bishamon's sword. Before you, the Vitruvian Device *shifts* as you step into it's embrace; There's the faint *whirr* of hydraulics, as the machine elevates itself - The restraints locking into place around your limbs...

-And then, with a low groan, something like a metal cage ratchets into place around your helm. The pressure is distinctly uncomfortable, even as it reconfigures itself - But then a pall falls over your vision, as a cocoon of virtual light billows around you, swallowing you whole like some monster amoeba...

Your armor catches fire.

(Continued)

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That what it *looks* like, anyway - Copper lightning forking and crackling, black particles swirling around you like smoke...Only the smoke isn't *rising* from the tiny fires burning across your body - It's falling *into* them, precipitating, condensing down into light. The embers fade along your arms and legs; But then your fingertips begin to tingle, to *glow*, as you brighten from the outside in...

Your vision fills with static. A blizzard of white snow, a low whine echoing in your ears...There are voices, too, chattering just at the edge of hearing - Until they begin to resolve into codes and protcols and strings of binary symbols, so quickly that they blur into indecipherability-

...And someone stabs into the back of your skull. A probe, a steel spine - It doesn't hurt, but it's deeply uncomfortable. The same bizarre streamers of data continue to flood your HUD, until-

You're outside yourself. You are vast, ponderous with potential.

You are the Hollow Sun.

You can see - You can *feel* - an *immensity*, as the world slows; Within and without at once, the eternal rotation like the steady beat of a heart. Your consciousness flickers across a vast distance - The sensation is dizzying, overwhelming, and disorientation swirls in your mind.

(Continued)

You are everywhere.

You are everything.

You are...

You're dying. You feel a great, gaping absence in your superstructure, a jagged slash cut from your side - Hemorrhaging power into the void. You feel the loss of Hellions like the cavity where a tooth once was - Tinier losses, but losses all the same.

Blink.

You stare down at Yourself through a Hellion's eyes.

Blink.

You are All.

Synapse links to synapse - Your thoughts conducted through countless interlinked mechanisms, each one as real as a Word from God. You feel the fresh scars of the damage you've left in your wake - And the greater wound that carves into you, the wound that will most assuredly kill you.

Slowly.

There's more. You can feel the weight of memory - Of a great, machine outrage - pressing against your mind; And beyond that, the faint flicker of the Other, the Invader - A foreign body - deep, deep down...Past the Hellions that are your hands and eyes - Drawn into orbit around your fusion heart.

HOLLOW SUN: 67.0%
ACCESS: 98.2

[ ] Focus on the memory.
[ ] Focus on the Invader.
[ ] Focus on the wound.
[ ] Focus on your Core.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23692513
>>23692387

Holy shit. This is some Ghost In the Shell-level fuckery.

>>23692513
[x] Focus on the memory.

>>23692513

Neat. We're looking through the eyes of the big guy upstairs. Depending on how we play this... we might gain control of the facility itself. Thus, if the Invader is us, we need to divert attention away from the Invader.

Focus our thoughts on the Memory. We need to divulge as much information as "we" can before the defenses kick us out.

>>23692644

> Thus, if the Invader is us, we need to divert attention away from the Invader.

But it says 'in orbit'. We're INSIDE the core. Not to mention, there's three of us here, not one. It might be worth checking out.

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You *Focus*. Distortion flickers at the edge of your vision - An ugly blurt of rasping sound echoing in your ears. For an instant, all you see are alien sigils-

The world comes back. And all is chaos.

You see - Your balance fluctuating, as the vision faithfully records the dips and crests of frantic motion - the ragged black shape, skeletal fingers curled around a staff of mercury-treaded iron; A jester's silhouette, impossibly suspended in the air, limned in vile violet light.

And around him...

You barely even see the other Players, through the eyes of the Hellions - Just smudges of armor and reflected light, growing gradually nearer with each hectic manoeuvre. You hear the chatter and groan of binary engines in your ears, as fire trajectories are estimated, as photonic swords and charged lances shear through steel and helms and-

And you die.

You die as high-density explosions rip across the surface of the Hollow Sun: As missile launchers hurl explosive death in the milling flocks of Hellions - As fists and hammers and blades smash into pearl-white armor...But you're killing, too, the Choirs swarming over their foes through sheer numbers, with the merciless precision of army ants.

Plasma orbs, railgun shells and nuclear blooms erupt in every direction at once, as Hellions hurl themselves into the fray - Actinic energies flaring back and forth, rattling chains of gunfire deflected or absorbed, closing in on selected targets, circling and overwhelming...

(Continued)

Every time Pazuzu lashes out, you feel dozens of Hellions extinguished at once. Not destroyed; Annhilated, forever, their sparks snuffed out in a single blow. But there are more.

More.

*More*.

You feel the lattice of interlocking girders begin to tremble, as the titanic Gigas defenders are roused to life: As some self-calculating algorithm senses the threat, and - With cold machine precision - brings greater weapons to bear...

-And then there's a flash. A violet supernova, like the heart of a star. Concentric rings of annhilation, sweeping forth - Seething tendrils of witchlight snatching up the outnumbered and overwhelmed Players-

When it fades, they're gone. And so is a massive chunk of the Hollow Sun's shell - Severed cleanly, as if carved away in a single great stroke. You can feel the beginnings of a vast, all-consuming agony, as the system recoils...

And then you're thrust back, great storm-shield walls slamming down, sealing the data away. Once more, you look down at the rotating cylinder of the Hollow Sun - unsteady lines of code flitting across your field of vision, refusing to hold the eye as you turn your head.

HOLLOW SUN: 62.1%
ACCESS: 85.1%

[ ] Probe deeper.
[ ] Focus on the Invader.
[ ] Focus on the wound.
[ ] Focus on your Core.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23692961

Ohhhhhh, now I get it. He teleported away a big chunk of the zone, probably using his Nihl eye. That's what we saw.

>>23692961

Should we gather a vast swath of info or keep probing? Specialize over generalize. Because we know Pazzie was here do to the memory. Because of that, we can speculate his goal, by the options, was the Core.... Dig deeper into the memory. See if it leads anywhere. We've got around 3 to 5 more attempts to dive the system.

>>23693100

If we generalize, we don't know what else we could do. Probing memories doesn't seem like the way to get closer to things.

I say we should focus on the Invader. At present, we have quite a bit of leeway to make mistakes, so we should branch out as much as possible.

> [X] Focus on the Invader.

>>23693077

Is that why he didn't claim the prize already? He clearly didn't get here, or we'd already be dead. So sheer dumb luck triumphs over the best-laid plans?

>>23693145

The quickest way to get to the bottom of it is to focus on the Core itself. The Invader is Pazzie and his goons or us my bet. If we dig through the memories, we might find out what the core in a round-about fashion while also uncovering more information about Pazuzu himself and how he operates.

> [X] Probe deeper.

You *try* - The system's fighting you. It feels like you're scrabbling against a wall with your bare hands - But then it gives, slowly. With an effort that sends adrenaline bursting through your brain, you *push*...Until the images fan out before you, unfurling like an unrolled scroll-

You see *yourselves*, as the distortion of the Halo Shroud fails. Gunfire, blitzing back and forth - The scratchy feel of the crude countermeasures powered by Volt Regios; The cold machine clarity that sends HAURVATAT prowling towards you...

-Then the titanic impact, the CRASH that comes as the Gigas slams down, smoke trailing from ruined limbs. The Red Joker - *Your* form - flickers, as if out-of-synch with reality; Bishamon leaps rather than be crushed, his form tumbling down, down past the grid of superstructure, beginning to pinwheel until he's lost from sight - Falling towards the heart of the Hollow Sun...

Further.

FURTHER.

You're at the Beginning. Your first sight - Black plates of segmented steel folding shut, like the leaves of a coffer, encasing a molten sphere of golden light. The void *ripples*, like a stone dropped where no stone has been - Filaments spiral outwards into the vast space, at sharply jagging angles: A virtual structure, assembling itself from nothing, layered and pieced and interlaced like corpses in a mass grave-

The sheer immensity of it is staggering: In an instant's prophetic vision, you realize - With a jolt that - the Hollow Sun is *building itself*. Defenses, curving around the heart-core...The Core where you are, now.

The place where you stand.

The image lingers for long moments more - Before a scintillating wave of black, like a locust swarm eating outwards - gnaws through it; Your vision clearing, returned to the hovering view of the Hollow Sun once more.

HOLLOW SUN: 59.7%
ACCESS: 78.3%

[ ] Focus on the Invader.
[ ] Focus on the Wound.
[ ] Focus on your Core.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23693461

> Bishamon leaps rather than be crushed, his form tumbling down, down past the grid of superstructure, beginning to pinwheel until he's lost from sight - Falling towards the heart of the Hollow Sun...

Holy shit, so he didn't get crushed after all!

>>23693461

>Bishamon is alive

Hot damn. He's more resilient than I imagined. Crazy bastard. Since we did the first option... first. Let's do the last option next. Focus on that damn Core.

I wonder if we can 'heal' the wound and thus gain back some admin rights while also staving off the inevitable boot from the system.

>>23693655

I'll second this. What was up with the golden sphere and the armor inside it, anyway?

>>23693461
Focus on the wound.

If we can fix it, while keeping control of the Hollow Sun...

>>23693692

Yeah, we're going to do whatever we can to seize control of this bastard thing. There's an entire army just waiting for us: No way we're giving that up without a fight.

I do think that we should focus on the Core first. That seems to be where all the important shit is.

Joker Quest is back, huzzah

> [X] Focus on your Core.

An instant of concentration - That's all it takes. Your viewpoint lunges forward, forward and *down* - The world rushing past so quickly it blurs, as you speed away from the rows of slumbering Hellions, racing down towards the Hollow Sun's iron heart...

-You sink into it. *Through* it. Into the complex, intricate systems that drive it on. For a fleeting moment, you get a glimpse of how it functions - A great, self-sustaining engine, deep spines drive into the substance of the Red World, leeching raw energies to fuel its forges and machines...Feeding on it, powering itself, churning out endless waves of Hellions and ever-more-complex guardians...

Your vision splinters outward in every direction at once; You can feel angry warning clawing at the corners of your mind - Growing closer by the moment, before they relent. They form fractal patterns before you, in senses you can't even name: But you can understand them regardless, as if it was your own body.

The Hollow Sun - It's a nervous system. A gesalt electronic mind issues queries, orders, threats...Drawing on the schematics, the knowledge, held in great vaults of data - Overseeing the endless labor of the forges, the Hellions standing guard, to protect...To protect...

...To protect *what*?

[ ] Access the main systems.
[ ] Access the databanks.
[ ] Access the forges.
[ ] Access the Hellion programs.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23694047

(Quick addition:

HOLLOW SUN: 57.6%
ACCESS: 70.1%

>>23694047
Access the main systems. Maybe there's a repair program that has failed to activate or something.

>>23694047
>>23694047

Main systems. As tempting as taking over the Hellion program is, need to gain some measure of control back under us.

>>23694047
[x] Access the main systems.

Once we can control or at least understand them getting through the rest of the system should be easier.

> [X] Access the main systems.

You reach out - Not sure *how* you do it, only that you can - as the simulated environment begins to break down; Now you can see the torrent of raw code blurring past you, too much to filter, too much to read. You're getting close to the brain of the Hollow Sun: Directly interfaced with it, you...

-An intelligence looms from the overload of information. You can hear the deep throb of its virtual heart - taste it's reek, ozone and old iron, in your mouth. It is a hulking shape of power and brutality, massive and terrible...Sluggish, but vast.

You can *feel* the intelligence burning, as it looms; The thing's gaze like a searchlight scouring the depths of the system, searching...

-Hunting.

It's looking for you, are the core programs yawn into the view - Like crystalline thought-structures, endless loops of cables winding around control interfaces, the only solid thing amid the whirling cyclone of code. Your window of access is narrowing - You don't want to think what might happen, if it *catches* you-

HOLLOW SUN: 55.1%

ACCESS: 46.3%

[ ] Access SYSTEM CALL
[ ] Access RESOURCE ALLOCATION
[ ] Access DOMAIN FUNCTION
[ ] Access AUTHORITY PROTCOLS

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23694433

Authority protocols. Gotta get that admin access before the Spider brings the Black Ice down and we suffer dumpshock.

>>23694433
AUTHORITY PROTOCOLS

YOU WILL OBEY THE RED JOKER

(There's no way using a name/title instead of an identity could possibly go wrong! On the upside, it creates some great intrigue for the next generation of the game.)

>>23694484
>>23694492

You can actually *feel* the intelligence's reeking hot breath blister your skin; The shuddering distortion as it powers up an information burst to scour your mind clean - But then you find the conduit, the tiny pinprick of light that links you to the security protocols-

It's all around you, now - A roiling black madness of neural circuits, spidering ever-outwards in every direction at once. You can feel the system gouging at you, as hexagonal red warning judder into being; Closing in, like the teeth of a fractal dragon, smelling of burnt bones and chemicals...

But you're in. You're *in*. You spot something, the definiton growing - The twisting streamers of codes that make up the Hollow Sun's last defenses, coiled like a virus around a brainstem; There's a brutal *snap* as the world lurches sideways, the defenses folding inwards to *crush* you between them...

And you-

HOLLOW SUN: 53.7%

ACCESS: 8.2%

[ ] OVERRIDE
[ ] RESET
[ ] RESTORE
[ ] DISABLE
[ ] ALLOW

>>23694648
[ x] RESTORE

>>23694648

[X] OVERRIDE

God damn it, override that sucker.

>>23694648

Override the incoming rape. Don't break the systems just yet.

>>23694648

(Gentlemen: A quick apology. I'm being called away - However, it shouldn't be for too long. I'll do my best to return in an hour or two, and pick up from where we left off...Assuming all goes well, that is.)

>>23694648
[x] OVERRIDE

Lets show this bitch who's boss!

>>23694781
Please come back.

>>23695788

(Back. Working on a post now.)

>>23694727
>>23694749
>>23695125

> [X] OVERRIDE

PROCESSING SYSTEM ACCESS AUTHORITY...

You sink imaginary fingers into the hard metal of the security program, forcing it to yield beneath your hands - Battering down the hardwired barriers, with the raw force that comes with desperation.

Great, thrumming structures begin to move, configuring into new positions - Insane loops of color coursing through the air, the warning flickering beneath spreading crimson stains...

And the black-smoke throat of the intelligence closes around you. You're plummeting down it's gullet, coils of information vicing inwards to capture you, to crush you, to grind you to nothing-

> C0MM4ND PR070C0l5 0V3RR1d3

...Stops.

> ACCESS GRANTED

All in an eyeblink, nothing more. You're within it, and it's within you - Patient tics of red lightning crackling across the spined surface, overriding, altering, *reformatting*.

> SYSTEM AUTHORITY ENABLED
> RED JOKER

(Continued)

The system opens itself to you, like the pages of a book: The Hollow Sun, at last, is under new management. The looming form of the intelligence recedes - Red is in ascension. It breaks down, into a seething, fuming darkness - A billion black particles boiling away, black specks turned back into flame. They rise like a blizzard of stars, spreading out to the furthest corners of the system-

With a numbing rush, ethereal crimson light flares, soaring in solid bands down the axes of the slowly-turning cylinder - Suffusing every Hellion with auras of flame, tracer beams jagging off into infinity.

And you think:

I have [C]ontrol.

HOLLOW SUN: 51.3%

ACCESS: ∞

[ ] Access SYSTEM CALL
[ ] Access RESOURCE ALLOCATION
[ ] Access DOMAIN FUNCTION

- [ ] Access DATA VAULT
- [ ] Access HELLION OPERATION PROTOCOLS
- [ ] Access MANUFACTORIUM

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23696199

> ACCESS: ∞

I think we did it, guys.

>>23696199
[x] Access SYSTEM CALL
[x] Access RESOURCE ALLOCATION
[x] Access DOMAIN FUNCTION

We need to find a way to keep the Hollow Sun from dying, or at the very least figure out what the hell it does.

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>>23696199

I like you.

Access whatever system that is a 'repair' protocol. We need to halt or reverse the degradation of this place.

>>23696236
It's a shame the pacing on that show was fucked.

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>>23696278

The commercials that gg left in were amusing to say the least. CG was shit.

>>23696199
Can we yank Bish out of there?

also, jesus christ. Do we control every single hellion now?

>>23696236
>>23696278
>>23696290

It did have a catchy as fuck ending though. Sucks that School Food Punishment disbanded.

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> [x] Access SYSTEM CALL

A *heavy* sound you've never heard before - It echoes, somehow, in the recesses of your mind. With a scratchy, flickering insistence, a window ratchets open, expands, comes to life-

For a moment, you're not sure what you're looking at. The view is strange, filtered through weird perceptions, until you realize...

It's the Red World. You can view - But perhaps 'see' is the wrong world - *all* of the city. The perception isn't *perfect* - The forms of Players too small to make out, distances near-impossible to gauge, but as new knowledge sinks into your mind, the system command becomes clear-

The Hollow Sun isn't just a factory.

It's a weapon.

On command - From here - You can unleash the Hellions (All 4,382 powered bodies, with 6,231 host shells awaiting priming, a consciousness not your own informs you) in a single apocalyptic wave, to...to...

-To do anything. Anything, but only once.

Outside - In the wastelands of the Red World - they'll begin to *degrade*. Essential systems will fail, core program unravelling - Until, mere hours after their first and final flight, they'll be no more. The thought makes dread and pride pulse through your - The Hollow Sun's - systems: A function fulfilled, balanced against the utter destruction of the facility.

You now command the largest gun ever - But it has but a single bullet.

(Continued)

>>23696333
My suggestion: We use it to make love to Mio.

>>23696312

I had completely forgotten about Mister Spaghetti. Onwards Red Joker! You must find Mister Spaghetti!

>>23696333

Well, if another one of those Super Cthulhus show up again, we have two sure-fire ways to take one out.

>>23696360
No.
First we defeat Pazuzu and rescue Hecate without hollow sun's help.
Then, world's largest dance number.

>>23696333
>>23696364
We going to have to make sure Pazuzu doesn't get his mitts on Hollow Sun. I also have reservations about telling Argent about this as well. This thing is way too dangerous.

>>23696377
Genius!

>>23696377
>terrifying creatures that were killing everyone who stepped too close to the Sun
>dance in perfect synchronity as terrified Players watch before dissipating

PC plans, ladies and gentlemen.

Wait, they dissipate after a few hours after leaving the Hollow Sun, right? Why not have them excavate the Sun itself and take it with them?

>>23696436

We do need to take our Dance routine on the proverbial Red Road. This way the Players won't haft to come to us, we can go to them.

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> [x] Access RESOURCE ALLOCATION

A wave of disorientation sweeps across you, as intricate, impossibly complex equations take form: You can't read them, but you *can* understand them, the knowledge sinking directly into your mind.

The Hollow Sun's self-correcting mechanisms are - mindlessly - prioritizing the mass production of Hellion host bodies over all else; Quantity over quality, work on the assault units (Throne, your sixth sense informs you) the Virtue-class commanders, and the Cherubim-class siegebreakers all abandoned.

There's a flash - A wincing glimpse of half-manufactured shells, left hollow and empty; Half-schematic, half-real, like your guns caught in mid-materalization...

-And something else, too. A final project, one that will most assuredly drain the very last ergs of energy from the Hollow Sun, that will leech all power from the Red World around it.

You taste - A sullen, glowering intelligence. Gunmetal and ozone. A smell like the death of suns.

A name:

DOMINION.

In four words:

It's a flying tank.

(Continued)

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>>23696457

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>>23696457
...this is the moment where we start our BBEG speech, right?

>>23696457
Welp, now we HAVE to use it now, don't we?

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>>23696436

(A minor problem: The Hellions (And the Dominion) are not entirely real. They're constructs of the Hollow Sun. When they leave it, they'll begin to rapidly degrade - Until both their outer shells and the energies that power them completely dissipate.

Also - While they'd actively pursue a designated target - you have to be interfaced with the Hollow Sun when you do it. You have to be in the 'driver's seat' to launch them: And after that, you're basically surrendering all control. It's an incredibly potent weapon...But a weapon that can only be fired once.)

> [x] Access DOMAIN FUNCTION

Your vision swells - From within to without, once more. Through a thousand thousand eyes, you see every inch of the Hollow Sun: The great wound that steals its life with each rotation, revealing the iron core and the tiny form that orbits it...

-Wait.

You focus. The tiny form is matte-black and red, crowned with the vanes of a kabuto helm. It floats in it's own debris cloud, splinters of steel dotting the void around it; Hanging limp, unconscious and unresponsive-

...It's Bishamon.

Every inch of the Hollow Sun; It's yours to manipulate. You can *bend* and *fold* and *warp* space - To open a portal to the surface, to teleport items within and without. But every action drains the Hollow Sun's dwindling reserves - Your access is unrivalled, but only so much energy remains.

HOLLOW SUN: 51.3%

ACCESS: ∞

[ ] Cease Hellion-shell production.
[ ] Increase Hellion production.
[ ] Increase Essence Core production.

[ ] Begin Throne Production.
[ ] Begin Virtue Production.
[ ] Begin Cherubim Production.
[ ] Modify the Dominion.
[ ] Access Hollow Sun Arsenal.

[ ] Begin Structural Repair.
[ ] Open Exit Portal.
[ ] ID-Lock the Hollow Sun.
[ ] Retrieve Bishamon.
- [ ] Process Bishamon.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23696567

Nope. We focus the current Hellions onto a siege footing while we force the Sun to stop shitting out automatons. Troops are nice and all but they are fuck all worthless if there is giant, gaping holes in your fortifications.

>>23696586

Oh my god. Holy shit, where do we start?

>>23696586
>DISABLE HELLION PRODUCTION
>DEVOTE ALL RESOURCES TO BRINGING THE HOLLOW SUN BACK TO MAXIMUM FUNCTIONALITY.

Fix the Hollow Sun. Take Control. End Pazazu. Also save Captain Spaghetti if we have time.

>>23696586

One from each, then.

> [X] Cease Hellion-shell production.
> [X] Access Hollow Sun Arsenal
> [X] Retrieve Bishamon

If possible,

> [X] ID-Lock the Hollow Sun.

>>23696586
In order of priority:
[ ] Retrieve Bishamon.
[ ] Cease Hellion-shell production.
[ ] Begin Structural Repair.
[ ] ID-Lock the Hollow Sun.

>>23696586
Save Bishamon. Fix him, too.

Then lock *everything* down, and begin repairs. Explain what is happening to Tyrian and Volt so that they don't flip out.

>>23696586

The very first thing, no matter what, retrieve Bish. Bring him to us. The second thing. Stop production. Halt all unit production. Prioritize the repair of the Hollow Sun and Howard Tatt. We'll need a bruiser to standup against the Siege Tank/Artillery coming to knock on our door. Repairing will be far less taxing than building a whole new construct.

See what is in the Arsenal and see if we can get our fellow Players repairs or healed or however it works. Tell them we have [C]ontrol. ID lock it to us and tell the Tri Stars the Sun is ID locked to us. Even if Dominion and Co somehow get past Howard Tatt and 4,000 mooks, they will not get access to anything so long as we live.

I wonder what happens if we process Bishamonten.

Maybe we can make our own Spaghettimonten army?

>>23696694
It probably upgrades him or something.

If we cease hellion production, can we pick a second option from another box? Save Bishamon, begin repairs, ID Lock Hollow Sun.

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>>23696694
>>23696728

(Actually, it breaks him down into raw materials. Basically - It kills him.)

> [X] Retrieve Bishamon
> [X] Also save Captain Spaghetti if we have time.

All it takes is a flicker of will - You actually *see* it happen: The way Bishamon's insensate form is momentarily limned with amber light...Before he shimmers away to nothing, his component particles dispersing. And then he's gone, not even leaving the shattered fragments of his armor behind.

> [X] ID-Lock the Hollow Sun.

Deep, seismic groans come from the Hollow Sun's superstructure; For a moment, the rotation slows - And then begins again, in a new rhythm. You can feel a...diminishing, somehow, as the Hollow Sun's presence shrinks-

...From now, barring your unique Player signature, it'd be impossible to access this place. You'll be the only one who can find it - *Feel* it, really, as it seals itself away; Receding from the Red World.

> [X] Cease Hellion-shell production.

It takes a moment, for the system to process your command - The edges of your vision flicker, momentarily, as it protests the order; The Hollow Sun's simple, almost bestial consciousness only knows two things - To consume, and to manufacture.

But your will - And your System Access - is inexorable. Almost immediately, the lights flare a little brighter - It feels like a great, invisible burden has been lifted from your shoulders, one you never noticed before.

> [X] Begin Structural Repair.

The great gash in the superstructure of the Hollow Sun begins to glow: You expect it to scab over, the way a smile slowly fades...But the reality is much slower. Neon lines sketch themselves across the ruin - Virtual schematics, half-real, drawn into existence.

Even as you watch, they begin to fill out, to shimmer into existence...Writing themselves over the void, the restoration processes beginning at last.

(Continued)

>>23696749
>(Actually, it breaks him down into raw materials. Basically - It kills him.)
Oh fuck no that's terrible.

>>23696749
>All it takes is a flicker of will - You actually *see* it happen: The way Bishamon's insensate form is momentarily limned with amber light...Before he shimmers away to nothing, his component particles dispersing. And then he's gone, not even leaving the shattered fragments of his armor behind.
...err, i think you confused "retrieve" with "proces".

>>23696771

(Don't worry - I didn't.)

>>23696771
He might have just been teleported somewhere safe, I'd think breaking down into raw materials would at least give us some indication that we gained something from it.

Huh. A thought. Whenever Dominion and it's mooks come knocking. Prioritize current Hellion shells to grab mooks and bring them for processing. We'll need the raw materials more than they will.

>>23696749
Ahahaha

Red Joker has full control.

We've been given a superweapon. More than that, we've been given a superweapon that defends itself. And builds more superweapons.

Mustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpowermustnotgomadwithpower

>>23696798
Dominion doesn't exist yet. We can build it using the Hollow Sun, but doing so will kill it, or at the very least drain it dry for a while.

I'd rather keep the gigantic manufacturing plant.

>>23696749

Holy shit, we have our own personal Batcave. That's a superweapon.

Too bad it doesn't fly.

> [X] Access Hollow Sun Arsenal

Perhaps 'Arsenal' is the wrong word: The Hollow Sun's vaults store Relics that have yet to exist, but can be *made*. Your mere thought is enough; When you focus, the deep-coded structures open before you, and...

-There's a lot of them. Depleted as the Hollow Sun's reserves are, you have a moment of access...Before warning symbols flicker to life, data-walls coming up like great storm shields.

It seems like some secrets will remain beyond your reach.

http://pastebin.com/7imTDxQ0

> [X] End Pazuzu.

You would. You'd do it in a heartbeat. And with this ...*army*... at your fingertips - Now you can. The thought is both intoxicating and deeply satisfying, for a moment, but...

-But where is he?

Your view pans over the display of the slumbering city; You can make out vague shapes, milling - But you're unable to identify them further. From here, it looks like an anthill - Impossibly small, each and every one of them impossible to tell from the next...

And then your vision begins to fade. For a moment, it brings confusion, then panic - You can feel your consciousness *compressing* down from it's vast scale, back into the crimson-armored body enthroned within the interface device...

-You're being disconnected.

The thought comes to you, just as the locking spines retract; As it releases you, with an abrupt suddeness. The whine of power dies down to nothing; The active hum of energies replaced by a slumbering stillness...

For now, the Hollow Sun rests.

[ ] Free.

(Select four items from the list above.)

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>>23696457

Fuck me, it's the Dendrobium Orchis.

>>23696850

About the list...Do we have to take everything? Because some of the items look like they'd make great gifts for the tri-stars.

>>23696855

(Feel free to hand them out, if you'd like.)

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>>23696855

You mean the immovable fortress?

>>23696826

f) GNOSIS ENGINE

Oh god ye-

g) ARGUS SYSTEM

OH GOD YES. I AM SALIVATING. IS THAT A LEGITIMATE RADAR SYSTEM?

My vote goes for these two.

>>23696862
It seems right. We can't let them go empty handed, considering we got the entire fucking Hollow Sun out of the deal.

Show them the list and they each can take one item of their choice.

As for us, I'd like the GNOSIS ENGINE. Anything that powers up the Cobalt Booster is a plus for us.

>>23696850
Zenith Upgrade Protocol
Gnosis Engine
Crisis Arm
Ionic Amplifiers

>>23696896
Lets not hog all the relics. The Black Tri Stars need some loot, and it'll guarantee they'll back us up in the future.

>>23696882

Okay, after shopping,

Gnosis Engine
Argus System
Ionic Amplifiers

And I want to say Cortex Regulator as that just screams a stealth upgrade to me.

>>23696850
Zenith Upgrade and Gnosis engine for us.

Get the Sotta Voca for Volt, and the Apex Blade for Tyrian?

>>23696855

I'll point out that the obvious gifts would be the

APEX BLADE (Bishamon)

IONIC AMPLIFIER (Regios)

Cortex Regulator (Tyriant Edge.)

>>23696911
I say just let em pick for themselves.

And you're forgetting Bishamon.

>>23696850
I really wanna see what the zenith upgrade is, but the Gnosis Engine would be fucking great.

Can we get both? Might involve pissing one of the Tri-stars off, but nnnneh

We might as well grab the Lucifer Bits.

Those Interceptors are damn handy. And these ones don't draw Meter, maybe.

>>23696920

Yeah, Zenith is edging up there for me after deciphering the gobbly gook.

>>23696924
>Choosing bits over a Cobalt Booster upgrade.

niggawhat.jpg

>>23696920
There's nothing worse than cheating a guy out of loot. It would only bite us in the ass later on.

>>23696913

Why those...Ohhhhhhh, I get it. Edge needs the Regulator to make him less of a pussy. Regios gets the amplifier because electricity.

All of are in agreement on the Gnosis Engine and Argus System, right?

We honestly can live without the rest.

>>23696929
None of them can use the Gnosis Engine though.

Honestly I'm all for Gnosis Engine and Crisis Arm.

Those have our name written all over them. Literally.

>>23696850

Fuck, there's so much good stuff to choose from. Uhhhhhhhhh...Okay, we'll leave Bishamon short because we already saved his life.

I vote:

> [X] Gnosis Engine
> [X] Argus System
> [X] Cortex Regulator for Edge
> [X] Ionic Amplifer for Regios

>>23696948
Gnosis engine and Zenith Protocols.

We already used some of our power saving Bishamon.

>>23696958
>shafting a guy out of loot because he nearly died

Wow can you be any more of an ass.

(Gentleman: I'll give it about 5 - 10 minutes before I tally up the final votes for each item, and begin writing the next post.)

>>23696942
I think the consensus is leaning towards Gnosis Engine and Zenith Protocols right now.

>>23696971
In before Zenith Protocols literally purges all the upgrades we got and resets us to level 1.

>>23696971

The Argus System looks like primitive radar to me. Hence my want.

>>23696968

Oh, OP, you clever bastard. Unless we spend three of our slots on goodies for the Tri-stars, we'll piss SOMEONE off, right?

>>23696966
We can just chalk up an IOU.

Ask him how many Hellions he would like, to the nearest thousand.

>>23696993
Hellions that he can't even take out of Hollow Sun, so what good what that do for him.

Honestly we already got a ton of relics and we're supposed to be getting an upgraded Adjudicator back from Argent later. We don't have to be greedy about this.

Okay;

Gnosis Engine
Crisis Arm
Zenith Protocol

We can agree on these three items, at least.

>>23697003
Fine.

Promise to give him Dominion when it is completed. Who wouldn't say no to a gigantic supertank?

>>23697012
Gnosis engine and Zenith I can agree with.

Cortex Regulator for Tyrian and Ionic Amplifier for Regios.

Promise to build Spaghetti a huge great fuckoff tank later. Say that we couldn't save him and get a relic for him, it was one or the other. Technically not a lie, more a half truth.

>>23697025

Yeah, my vote is for this too. I really, really want the Lucifer bits or the Argus System, but I guess that can wait for the next time.

Gnosis for us.

Apex for Bishamonten.

Ionic for Regios.

Emulator for Tyrian.

Do we really need 4 items? Any number of relics is one hell of a boost no matter how you look at it.

>>23697044
The general consensus is to split them up. However, the main issue is whether we want to be greedy and take a second relic at the cost of screwing over Bishamon. Hasn't the poor guy suffered enough?

>>23697040

I'd say that Cortex item is better for him. Tyrian's pretty much a pussy, and he needs something to give him real steel. He seems to be a science-guy, not very good in fighting.

>>23697036

The Lucifer Bits would be a nice fallback depending on their range. They also have BIT on the fucking name. I do enjoy Bits.

>>23697053

That's true, but we also saved his life. Doesn't that kind of even things out?

I personally feel that we should spend at least TWO slots on gifts, if not more.

So Gnosis Engine and Zenith Protocol for us? Do we have a vote of agreement to split the loot fairly?

>>23697065
>I personally feel that we should spend at least TWO slots on gifts, if not more.

Because obviously inheriting the fucking Death Star is not enough for us.

>>23697055
I'm just thinking the Emulator Module might give him the courage he needs to become pretty decent.

>>23697083

(Gentlemen, voting is closed. The final tallied results are...

GNOSIS ENGINE: 13 votes.

ZENITH UPGRADE: 7 votes

Ionic Amplifier: 7 votes (Volt Regios)

Cortex Regulator: 5 votes (Tyrian Edge.)

The runner-ups were the:

ARGUS SYSTEM - 4 votes

CRISIS ARM/APEX BLADE - 3 votes each.

>>23697119
Isn't it sad, Bishamon? Even in the meta nobody appreciates you.

>>23697127

Actually, it's because he seems to be the only one who doesn't really need the upgrade. He has his shit sewn tight, while Regios is deeply unlucky and Tyrian is actively incompetent.

>>23697119

Neat. Be sure to let Bish have his pick.

>>23697119
Let Bish take something too. We're not a faget.
Not MUCH of a faget, okay.
OKAY< not THAT much of a faget.

>>23697136
It's a miracle Tyrian can tie his own shoes without injuring himself.

>>23697119
List of things to do:
1) Whup Pazazu
2) Build Bishamon a tank to make up for dicking him out of loot

The air *hums* around you - It's coming from the Vitruvian device, it's the sound of a cascade, of a million tiny voices learning a new song and teaching a billion others...Of a billion teaching a trillion. Motes of light sparkle into snow, electric white; Swarming over you, as new icons bloom across your sightscape, energy levels rising, rising, *rising*...

The glowing motes sink into you: Your arms, your chest, your limbs. So much mass, combining - It seems impossible that any may be left behind, your entire body shrouded in a seething, luminous mist-

The Red Joker's frame expands. Armor seams separate, locking-down into various hard-points: The exposed lines of double-strength myomer fibres emitting an actinic blue glow - Additional charging elements flaring to life, shimmering like neon highlights as the nozzles of additional thruster banks gout crimson flame...

...And for a moment, you're as incandescent as an angel, vital energies crackling forth - The Cobalt Booster within your torso pulsing with renewed life, flaring a blinding actinic blue that bleaches all colors to nothing; The visor and face-guard retracting, a slide-down crusher locking in place...

Until it closes back down, the nimbus of blue flame dimming to a steady, pulsing glow. New lines of data scrawl across your field of vision - The beginnings of codebursts, waiting for the chance to be unleashed.

(Continued)

ZENITH UPGRADE: Your physical strength has been effectively doubled, and your maximum HP is now 130.0% - The equivalent of upgrades in GUARD. Also, with your System Access Authority improved, you now have access to the following Codebursts:

EXEC_SWARM: This Codeburst utilizes available material to create a flying swarm of armor-devouring nanite parasites to devour the enemy. While individually weak, their numbers are substantial - Furthermore, while this usually drains your HP to cast, you can use your Assault Shroud as a component instead.

EXEC_DISRUPT: This Codeburst overrides the protocols that allow an enemy Player to manifest Relics and weapons - Effectively, this momentarily disarms your opponent, and 'locks out' the item for a time. Certain items might be more resilient to this, than others.

EXEC_HARROW: This Codeburst manifests your personal symbol, and unleashes it as a blast that sears into the opponent. While not highly damaging, the resulting 'deathmark' means that the opponent is effectively 'locked on' while within range of your senses, even if the enemy should be otherwise obscured. When struck by your other weapons, the enemy has a chance to suffer a point-blank detonation of energy from the violent interaction with Harrow.

Also, EXEC_HARROW can be used to scorch your 'mark' onto nearby surfaces.

(Continued)

>>23697281

Disrupt is troll-tier.

Harrow is badass.

>>23697281
Thank fuck for that, people keep forgetting about our mark.

GNOSIS ENGINE:

Your maximum Cobalt Booster reservoir is now increased to 150%, and gradually regenerates when not in use. Furthermore, you can now use your Cobalt Booster as the energy source for Codebursts; The Gnosis Engine augmentation also grants you a certain level of resistance to energy attacks, with a fraction of the power absorbed to empower your reactor.

In conjunction with your Zenith Upgrade, the efficiency of the Cobalt Booster has also been improved: You can now channel reactor energies into physical attacks. Furthermore, a hidden function remains that you are unable to decipher - You believe that it'd require your Cobalt Booster to be massively overcharged, however.

(Continued)

>>23697281
I wonder if we can EXEC_DISRUPT Pazazu's eye?

It'd be the most trolly thing ever, since most of his ability to dick the system comes from that Nihl eye.

>>23697325

Hm.. Our interceptors are basically pinpricks against heavily armored foes. I wonder if we could use them to speed up the regen of our Booster.

>>23697281

Those nanites are going to be absolutely deadly in a closed environment.

>>23697331
Or use SWARM to fuck up Rust Kaiser. The irony will be delicious.

It feels strange, to be standing on your own - You can't have been in the grasp of the Hollow Sun's interface for too long, but...Time flows oddly, in the Red World. Especially here.

Hydraulics whine, as you draw yourself up to your full height, stepping down from the raised pedestal - As the cocoon of virtual light dissipates, you see Volt Regios and Tyrian Edge kneeling over-

...Is that Bishamon?

"-going to be all right?" Regios is asking, armored arms supporting Bishamon - As Tyrian Edge plays the scanner up and over him, tension writ large across every inch of his form.

"...His armor integrity is still intact," the other Player assures him. "-We still don't know where he came from...Holy *shit*."

Then they're both looking to the sides, as a low whine informs itself onto your hearing - A pair of black stone plinths, rising from the seamless floor of the chamber; Bearing with them with deactivated forms of the Ionic Amplifier and the Cortex Regulator...And *then* they see you.

"You're alive!" Edge says, sounding a little *too* relieved - Apparently, he wasn't counting on you making it out. "Bishamon just...He just *appeared*, from nowhere, and...What are these?"

"Joker," Regios growls, rather more levelly. "How do you feel?"

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

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We've hit silly levels of swag.

I can feel it, we are about to get our asses thoroughly kicked soon.

>>23697384
"Honestly, I feel great! I managed to get admin access to Hollow Sun and pulled out those two Relics for you guys."

>>23697384

"I feel fine.. like I could take on the world. Once."

"Those are the items I could retrieve before the Armory kicked me out. Oh, and Bish has a new super heavy tank if we can figure out how to get it out of the basement without draining this place of energy."

>>23697384
"I feel FANTASTIC, oh this is the life. I like this place.

I brought you two something special, try them on, Volty my man, you take the amplifier, Edgey, have the Regulator. Consider them gifts.

Bishy ought to be fine, nothing some rest and chicken soup can't handle."

>>23697409
>>23697425
>>23697492

There's a momentary silence:

"For *us*?" Tyrian Edge echoes - He sounds honestly, utterly stunned. "That's - You mean, you actually..."

"-Sounds like you have a story to tell," Regios cuts in, that visored helm as stern as ever - But then he nods, slowly, with an air of silent approval. "We appreciate it. Especially - Bringing *him* back, most important of all."

"You *flickered*," Edge says. "Like a faulty TV. There was this...*flash*, then a tearing sound - For a moment, there were *two* of you..."

He's about to go on, when Bishamon stirs. A awful sound, gurgling, choking, as his fingers claw at the ground - But it moves on to retching, as he sits up, you can tell he's going to be fine.

He sounds like he's trying to throw up inside his helmet, but there's plenty of life in him yet.

"Haaaaaakkkk - *Guh*~! Oh, *god*-" Bishamon groans, as he slumps back - His head making a dull CLUNK as it thumps against the hard floor.

The emberous glows in his eye-sockets dims, for a moment - And then, in a choked-sounding voice, he asks:

"...Anyone's - seen...sword...?"

[ ] "...Yep, he's going to be just fine."
[ ] "What do you mean 'I flickered'?"
[ ] "*Two* of me?"
[ ] "Welcome back. How do you feel?"
[ ] "Regios is holding it."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23697514

"Spaghetti-san, by the time you're done, you'll be standing on the top of a tank screaming "DRIVE ME CLOSER, I WANT TO HIT THEM WITH MY SWORD!"

"Welcome back to the world of the mostly living."

>>23697514
"Hey Bishy, don't try to sit back up, you have a nasty hangover, more or less. Regios has your pigsticker.

So, what exactly do you two mean by me flickering and you seeing double? I think that might be relevant."

>>23697514
"I bought him back from some godforsaken pit in the outer layer."

Make an exaggerated motion with both hands.

"The Hollow Sun - It's a weapon. It's the Death Star. Bigger, even. And I have control."

Haha.

Hahaha.

Ahahaha.

How are we getting out of here?

>>23697586
We can probably tell Sunny to open a portal, though it might need to rest first. Or we just walk out after finding a door, the Hellions aren't after us now, I think.

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> "Spaghetti-san, by the time you're done, you'll be standing on the top of a tank screaming "DRIVE ME CLOSER, I WANT TO HIT THEM WITH MY SWORD!"

"Don't call me-" he begins, then groans and slumps back as Regios cradles him...Well, as best as the blue-plated knight *can*, with one arm.

>>23697534

Perhaps sensing the mood, Volt Regios presses the hilt of Bishamon's sword back into his hand - He clutches it against his chest. "I - have the *worst* headache," Bishamon mutters, rather feebly. "-Feels like...house fell on me-"

> So, what exactly do you two mean by me flickering and you seeing double? I think that might be relevant."

"Eh?" Edge looks back at you, distracted; You can see the silver wires of the Cortex Regulator grafted into his helm, now - The drop-down visor and mouthpiece deploying and retracting, deploying and retracting, with a snick-snick-snick and a hum of engaging/disengaging power.

...It's distracting, to say the least.

"-I meant...There were *two* of you. The other was...larger and grey, but in the same spot. Like - You couldn't decide which one you *were*..." His voice trails off, and he shrugs, helplessly.

>>23697570

Another long, thoughtful silence.

"...What, all *this*?" Regios says - Looking up at last. Then, rather involuntarily, around...As if expecting Hellions to come swarming out at any moment. Static crackles across his vox, as he clears his throat.

"-What will you do with it?"

"Never...mind...*that*," Bishamon rasps. "How do we...Get out?"

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23697620
"I don't know yet, that's the answer to both of those questions.

I just got myself a private doom fortress, maybe I should practice my evil cackle, that's a joke, I won't turn into a mustache twirling villain.

It's sleepy right now so I don't think I can tell him to open up a portal, maybe it'll show us a path out, or we can find some doors to take."

>>23697620

"Sunny is sort of in hibernation right now. I can probably have 'em give us an Exit sign out if I ask nicely."

"Besides. Bish needs to check out his new ride."

>>23697620
"Well... I don't think they will attack me. And I'm hoping I can tell them not to attack you. They should recognize me as the authority, even when I'm not plugged into it.

The other outcome is that they kill all of us, but I *think* that the Hollow Sun is smarter than that. Maybe.

So, how do we get out? We walk."

>>23697662
We aren't making Dominion right now, we don't have anywhere near the power required for it.

>>23697620
"...I don't know.

Don't let me go mad with power."

>>23697696
We're the Joker, the Jester, the Fool, we're allowed, encouraged even, to be a little bit mad, it's one of the privileges our station grants us.

>>23697686

Customize it to his tastes. It is HIS after all.

>>23697696

"...Yeah, well - I'm not sure we could stop you, if you did." Tyrian laughs at that, but it's a little uneasy - Until Regios gives him a rather pointed look, enough to shut him up.

There's that faint whirr again, as the visor and mouthpiece lock over the front of Tyrian's helm - Like a visible face-palm.

>>23697648
>>23697662
>>23697676

They're staring at you again - All three of them. Just when the intense attention begins to get a little disquieting, you realize...They're actually looking *past* you.

"...You mean, like that?" Edge asks - When you glance over your shoulder, you see that the swirling distortion of a portal has yawned wide open behind you; A wall becoming a gravitional nexus, opening up to empty space.

"Better...Take it," Bishamon utters - He sways to his feet (Using his sword as a crutch, as he limps forward), making unsteady progress to the exit.

[ ] "...Are you *sure* you're feeling all right?"
[ ] "What's the rush?"
[ ] "Should you really be standing so soon?"
[ ] "We'd better go while we can, then."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23697715
"Yup, that looks like an exit. Thank you Sunny, much obliged."

Get to Bishy, put one of his arms over our shoulder to help him out, then let's get out of here, it needs to rest anyways and we're the only one who can find it.

>>23697715
"Hey, easy there. You almost got turned into a puddle by a 200 foot high statue."

Help the guy out.

(THE GUUUIIIIILT)

>>23697715
"You really shouldn't be walking, Spaghet- I mean, Bishamon."

>>23697715

Give the guy a hand. He's been through the grinder.

"Exactly like that! Yes yes! Precisely! I was not starting to panic that we would be trapped in here until Sunny decided to wake up in the next few years. Nope. No panic at all.

>>23697715
"You know, I'm rapidly reconsidering my words here. Can I just go a little bit mad with power? Please?"

Help Bishamon in the meantime.

>>23697728
>>23697734
>>23697802
>>23697817

> "Hey, easy there. You almost got turned into a puddle by a 200 foot high statue."

Bishamon's plasteel gauntlet closes around your shoulder, as he accepts the support - Making his limping way forward. He's surprisingly heavily, as he leans on you.

> "You really shouldn't be walking, Spaghet- I mean, Bishamon."

"Don't like...*small*...places," he grits out, under his breath - You can hear hydraulic joints creak. "Other boys...used to lock me *in*-"

Thankfully, the exit isn't far: It's only a matter of a few shuffling steps, as the portal yawns open wider to envelop all four of you...

(Continued)

The transition is as instantaneous as it is nauseous - You can't imagine getting used to teleportation. Reality flickers and slips sideways, and - Without a lurch, without any transition whatsoever...

You stand on the cracked streets of the Red World, beneath sullen crimson skies. After spending so much time within the Hollow Sun, it nearly comes as a shock - As does the hollow moan of the wind, gusting between cyclopean buildings.

And the Tyrian Edge yells, and you feel Bishamon tense - Volt Regios stepping back, with a muffled oath, his armor clattering against yours. Things come into focus with an immediacy that startles you; Then what you ee actually *registers*, and it's even worse.

You're surrounded by Correctors.

A LOT of Correctors.

(Continued)

>>23697887

"Gentlemen. This sucks."

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It's a ring of fangs and claws and teeth, of carapace and scales and chitin - Mutated monsters, some with horns drooping around twisted minotaur faces, some with thick, bristling fur, some with spined, lashing stingers.

They're *larger* than before. Overgrown, warped by gigantism - Muscles move, almost ripping flesh. These Correctors - They're awkward, hulking, trapped in their new frames...Baying and howling and snarling, with a fitful, chained savagery you've never seen held at bay before...

"...That's a lot of them," Regios growls; Lightning jagging and flickering from the capacitators that now line his armor, the Ionic Amplification array seething with electricity.

"-Then why aren't they *attacking*?" Tyrian says - His voice is utterly flat, utterly calm, over the snap-hiss of twin beam sabers igniting...

There's a sound. A sound so surreal, you think you might have imagined it. It's the patient *clop* of hooves against the pavement, as the Correctors part like the Red Sea before Moses...A charger, a *destrier*, the form nearly lost beneath black and purple and green armor, eyes like pits to hell...

It has fangs. Huge, sharp fangs that drip with ghostly ichor, that raises small trails of smoke from underfoot, where it strikes.

-And then there's the rider.

(Continued)

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There's the rider, and he's worse than all the rest put together.

His form is white - The bleached, bone-white of a ocean-dwelling leviathan's exoskeleton. Ribbed, roughened plates of bone and cartilage shields him where iron flesh does not, a living armor that writhes and tightens and swarms with neon lines.

Crowned with spiraling, pagan horns, he *towers*. A twisting, rippling cloak seems to flutter in his wake...Until you see that it's no cloak, but four spined, thick tendrils, each one ending in a crushing talon. They bulge from his spine, and when they unfurl, they crook upon his broad shoulders like a vulture's wings, smoldering emissions pouring from his limbs like steam from a forge.

He sits tall and proud in the saddle, as the destrier canters on; One hand curled around the haft of a great axe, the double blades sweeping out in shearing crescents.

It's the way he moves that you notice, first: The casual poise, the almost arrogant grace - The absolute surety with which he carries himself. He moves the way you do, with a familiarity born of long practice.

The symbol marked on his chitinous armor: The lopsided glasgow grin of the Smilers, pulled so wide it becomes a scream.

(Continued)

>>23698057
GODDAMNIT

WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO HAVE A CELEBRATION PARTY AND THEN YOU HAD TO COME AND RUIN EVERYTHING, DIDN'T YOU?

How long does EXEC_HARROW last, by the way? It'd be pretty cool if it was a permenant death mark.

>>23698078
I dunno, but if we're ever up against a sneaky fuck we ought to tag him first thing we do so he can't hide from us.

>following for 10 hours

I'm off to bed. It's 8 am. Don't get us eviscerated too badly all two or three of you out there.

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The Correctors shuffle aside for him, as he makes an idle gesture with a clawed hand - They seem docile, somehow...Almost dazed, parting with half-muted snarls and the bright *hiss* of predator-breath.

Your targeting computer finds a lock, at last; It pings-

KRAKEN

He pauses, shadows shifting despite the stillness - Eyes glaring down, narrowing.

"The *Red Joker*," Kraken says: His voice bypasses sound, and arrives - Full formed - like a migraine in the centre of your brain. "At *last*."

His steed paws the ground, snorting, until he quiets it with a clawed hand on the reins. A smoking talon aims at you, at the sealing rent in the space behind - And the circle of Correctors shuffles closer still.

It happens in a moment - Faster than your eye can follow. Something flashes in the intervening distance, and Bishamon bellows. You catch a flicker of motion, back and forth, twice, three times - Like a knife, twisting, gouging, making red bloom against the matte-black and red of his armor.

And then there's a gouting, fist-sized wound in Bishamon's side. He crumples, even though you're supporting him - The vanes of his helmet twitching wildly, making low, choked sounds of absolute shock.

Kraken's maw spreads, in something like rage or joy; "Now," he says, and there is something monstrous in his calm.

"...Shall we talk?"

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23698148
"Sure, contrary to popular belief I am a firm advocate of reasoned discourse. I'm hoping you mean that you actually want to talk, not just say you're going to talk and then try to kill me with your goon squad. I don't suppose you'll call them off?

So, Kraken, what are you doing here and what do you want to talk about?"

>>23698148

"I like what you've done with the wildlife. It gives off that mad scientist vibe."

"The only reason I haven't rammed a plasma vulcan up your ass is because you have me outnumbered 10 to 1. I'm reckless, but not suicidal."

"I'm listening."

>>23698184
>>23698185

(My apologies, a chunk of the post was cut off.)

>>23698193

My last post still stands except with the addendum to keep the other two from going mental.

>>23698183

Oh my god, what the fuck.

>>23698193
That is an interesting addition.

>>23698184
Alter this to

"I suppose I don't really have a choice, though that was completely unnecessary.

So, Kraken, what are you doing here and what do you want to talk about?"

>>23698183
"What do you want? We were all ready to go home and celebrate, and then you have to come along and act like the worlds largest buzzkill."

>>23698183
"If you're going to do things like that, at least do it to those of us who didn't have a titan dropped on them. It's hardly fair."

>>23698184

"Ko-"

"You bastard-"

Tyrian Edge and Volt Regios are already moving, as Bishamon crumples onto his side - You step in the way, just in time, before Regios goes for Kraken. And you glimpse, for an instant, the slow, almost languid, undulation of one spike-tipped tendril...

-You didn't even see it move.

> "I don't suppose you'll call them off?"

Kraken's head cants to the side, just for a moment. He gestures, and the monsters recede; Never too far, just enough that the Black Tri-Stars remain surrounded - The Correctors flood around you, away from you, close enough that you could reach out and touch them...But none do.

"-They'll do anything for me, you know." he says - There's no malice in his voice. He sounds impassive...Impassive, and idly curious. "A word, and your friends die by inches." His steed turns it's head around, slowing to a walk; It's clear that he wants you to follow.

>>23698241
>>23698249
>>23698265

He shrugs.

"-You, of course," he says; With the same mild, pleasant curiosity. "You've stolen from me twice, now. Once at the Spire, and again at the Rift."

Clop, clop goes the horse's hooves, as Kraken's horned head turns to regard you.

"...A Player could take that personally."

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23698361

I think this guy is a psychopath. Am I misreading this, or can he control correctors? And what's up with his HORSE?

>>23698361
I don't suppose you'd believe that it's all just a series of exotic coincidences, I never even met you before today, I don't think any of my actions ought to be taken personally.

So you went out of your way to come here with your army. What do you want to talk about with me? Any chance that you'll give me any important information on the Smilers and Pazzy?"

>>23698388
>>23698396

Gentlemen: My apologies for the abrupt ending. I hoped to play through this scene, too - But I've realized that it is likely to be rather longer than I initially thought.

(Also, it's late, and my writing quality is beginning to deteriorate.)

I'll run another Episode to finish this night in a few days - Preferably this coming Monday, if not sooner. (I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.)

As always, good night and god bless - You've been a wonderful audience.

>>23698183

I think we've met the mid-boss. Kraken definently seems high-tier than most of the scrubs we've dealt with. He has that axe, a personal army, and some kind of super-speed...Going to be hard to deal with him.

>>23698457

He's also crazy.

>>23696850

Op, a very important question. Will we ever find out what the rest of the items did? I missed the first part, so I didn't get to choose, but I really like the Immolator.

>>23698543

I liked that gun too! Same for the Hellion Launcher and the Lucifer Bits.

Needs archiving?

>>23698684

Yeah, someone should archive it.

>>23698743
Surprised nobody has done that yet.

Well. That happened.

>We take over the Hollow Sun. Promotions for everybody!

Not Harbinger? And it looks like we might end up PROMOTING the Tri-Stars, if you catch my drift. They were doomed by canon, after all.

>>23701184
If they die and the Red Joker doesn't get to loot their bodies I'll be angry.

Caught up. Wow, Crisis Arm. Looks like if we'd grabbed that we'd have fully integrated Frost Cestus into Red Joker. I think we made a better choice in the Gnosis Engine, but the existence of the Arm makes me question my origin theory for the Red Joker armor.

I've been assuming that when someone kills and becomes the Red Joker the armor is reset. Except, in that case, the new Joker is player grub. It's more likely that their weapons and upgrades are integrated into the system. If the entire Player game is based on the weak dying to empower the victors, the Red Joker armor is a slightly different approach because the armor gets stronger with every turnover. Either the current Joker keeps sweeping the competition, or the incoming Joker has his old toys as well as those belonging to his predecessor.

The question then is why didn't we start with Old Joker's gear? And why is it that every time Frost Cestus gets a mention outside our memories it's in corrupted form? I think it might be worth a session after the immediate crises/birthday to find out more.

>>23701247
I'm guessing Bishamonten is dead. Getting pieces cut out of you tends to be fatal. We probably won't get the relics if the other two drop, so here's hoping they don't.

>>23701579
Hell no, I want Spaghetti to live. I like him, he's hilarious.

>>23701596
It's going to be hard not to tip our hand to Kou in school if he survives. We're going to have to find a way to work "spaghetti" into our next conversation with him.

Speaking of spaghetti I bet we missed our date.

>>23702130
Or we autopilot'd the date.

>>23702332
Isn't that worse?!

Wait, it absolutely is. That's why it happened.