>>25077198
As always if you want to catch up in the archives they are at:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=hack//AIDA

If you want to follow on twitter I am @dothackaida

>>25077198
Have everyone follow us into the mirror room and let's take a glimpse at the Kestral Guild Hall.

They're the biggest guild, so they could be a good gauge of how the player base is taking it.

>>25077198
Is Shimabuku not logged in, because if not, then ask Snark to please give us the means to send him a text, or ideally a phone call.

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Awww... fuck. We should have burnt his corpse.

So... Magus. Magus the Propagator.

AIDA just infected an Epitaph that mass produces copies of itself. Pic related.

Make preparations for an anal circumference.

[X] Check who is online.
[X] Luna, how much do you know about the Epitaph of Twilight?
-[X] Does Tarvos the Avenger sound familiar to you? How about Magus the... something?

>>25077266

Seconding this, as well as

>[x] What do you mean I am no longer a slowpoke?

[X]check up on the guildies
It may be good to check out everyone's mental status right now, reassure everyone, then go forth with the business

>>25077198
Ask Durga if she can feel/move her cat ears and tail as if they were parts of her.
Resist urge to scratch behind her ears.

Ask Vividor how he's managing, I'd guess either really well or really badly.

Also ask, or just... think at Snark if he can cough up Macha while still maintaining to maintain the AIDA-copy?

Because one jackass filling our hole is more than enough, and teamwork is better than one (well, two) strong forces.

>>25077358
We already asked her about the epitaph. She does not know anything

>>25077198
Snark, you could identify that Epitaph Core as Magus, the Propagation.

What can you tell us about it?

Hell, the other specific attributes of individual Epitaphs for that matter.

Also why you know these things.

>>25077198
>[x]What do you mean I am no longer a slow poke?
>[]Other, please specify
"The core of The World?"

Since the core of this game seems to be affected by what Hamelin done and is what likely prevents us from logging out we might be able to go there and have Snark make some changes to it

>>25077266
Maybe check mac anu and lumina cloth to see how far the damage has spread. Like if its just mac anu itself or the World completely.

You think over what to do before turning to the guild. "Let's go to the mirror room and see what Kestral is up to. They are the largest guild so it may tell us something." You say making your way into the back of the guild hall.

As you walk you turn to Snark. "Can you contact Shimabuku? or can you give me a way to contact him myself?" You ask making him shake his head.

"No way, you are moving way to fast." He tells you making you frown.

"What does that mean? You said I was a slow poke before?" You ask making him nod.

"You must understand my processing power is way faster than your tiny meat filled skull. So generally when I am interacting with you I only need to dedicate part of my processing power to it, unless you avatar up. Otherwise I read webcomics, check the news, watch netflix. But now you are moving as fast as I am, more or less, so I have to dedicate the whole of my processing to the game." He explains.

"Chen, ze snark. He be saying we move at speed oof thought. We be moving fast enoof he has to be focusing on us." Vividor explains while standing by the mirror room, blending in with several statues of himself he has made.

You look in the mirror room at the guild Kestral and see their destroyed roman/greek landscape covered in bodies, but see no one living.

"Ch-chen. I do not understand what is happening here. I... Oh god am I in a game? Am I in the game? Some one, anyone." Luna says before running off covering her mouth.
(1/2)

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You can faintly hear the sounds of hurling before you turn to the rest of your guildies. "How the rest of you holding up?" You ask making Durga's ears twitch.

"Ah, it feels sort of weird havin' cat ears, but I'm fine." She says.

"Having such long hair will take some getting used to, but otherwise I am fine." Lotus explains making MANIA nod and give a soft smile to her.

"Yes, it is rather difficult to have to deal with, isn't it?" She agrees running hand through her own long hair before turning to you. "As for my condition, I am as well as can be expected. Please, do not mind me." She says sweetly making you take a step back.

"I am sort of used to it from work, even though I wasn't actually in the game, so it is not as jarring as I would think" Areta shrugs as you turn to Vividor.

"You still be needing to ask? I am, how you say, vary vary goo' looking." He tells you before a bird perches itself artfully on hos shoulder.

Well, now what?
[]Ask what's up with MANIA
[]Go check on Luna
[]Go into town
[]Other, please specify
(2/2)

>>25077583
>[x]Other, please specify

Use the mirror to survey the guild "Raven", and see if it can glimpse into Mac Anu and Lumina Cloth.

After that, go into Mac Anu and survey things up close.

>>25077583
Is MANIA still all cut up from the fighting?

If so, heal her with out magic.

Also see how Luna is holding up.

Apologize for insufficiently preparing her for how weird things get.

[]Ask what's up with MANIA

Wait what? She's not being.....her typical self?!?!

>>25077623
this

then go into town, see how far this hole goes

>>25077641
Yeah...Luna's taken it a bit hard....may want to see how she's holding up

>>25077583
>MANIA
"Strange, isn't it? Almost feels like you're a completely different person."

>>25077641
our instead of out.

Don't try non-magical healing.

>>25077623
Yeah check on Raven.

To be honest, I'm inclined to skip ahead to the hero-villain teamup.

Because this is madness.

You decide to check on one more guild with your group. You move over to the glass 'Raven' and turn it on. The screen goes to static for a second before you see the woman from last time on her knees, her hands under her clothes.

"F-Fuck, this is fantastic. Seriously, it should be fine right? No one else is around, when else will I get the chance to do something like this? Shit, ah, more." She says, her voice husky and interspersed with moans.

You turn it off and feel slightly uncomfortable when you turn back to your group. Durga and Lotus have frowns on their faces while Areta seems to have been expecting it, however MANIA is delicately covering her mouth with her hand. You think about her for a few seconds before noticing she isn't healed and quickly heal her.

"Oh, thank you Chen, but there is no need to overly concern yourself." She gives a smile and you see flowers floating in the background with petals drifting in front of her.

You blink momentarily but the flower petals dissolve into black orbs and fuse back into snark after a second. You give him a glare but he just offers a shrug in response. "It fit is all he says before seemingly trying to vanish and failing.

You turn back to MANIA who tilts her head at you. "You okay, you are acting sort of... You tell her making her shake her head.

"I apologize for making you worry." She tells you offering a formal bow making you bow in response.

"N-no! No! I should apologize for making you go through this." You tell her making her smile gently at you again.

"Yo, MANIA! Chen means you are acting like an ojou-sama. What's up?" Areta asks making her tilt her head.

"A response to dealing with the outside world. Please pay it no mind. I am sorry for any confusion it might cause you." She explains.
(1/2)

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You think about how different some people are online before walking over to Luna who is still dry heaving in a corner. You look in front of her and see that the characters at least have stomachs, though you can't say for certain if they get hungry. She wipes her mouth and looks back at you and you try to give your most reassuring smile. "Sorry about this Luna. I know it is getting pretty weird. Want out?" You ask making her shake her head.

"I-I'm fine. Luna Blackthorne would not lose to something as small as this! I just had a moment of weakness, that's all." She says and you just nod.

You then look at the door before sighing. "Let's check outside." You tell your guildmates before walking out.

The streets seem to be bedlam. People are running and holding each other in terror, and a few are screaming and yelling for CC Corp to come out there.

You hear a sound in an alley and see a group of men chasing a woman.

Wat do?
[]Go further into town
[]Talk to guildmates
[]Go to alleyway and see what's up
[]Talk to players who are screaming for CC Corp to come out
[]Other, please specify
(2/2)

>>25077948
[X] Alleyway. Now.

I have a bad feeling about this... might actually have to side with Moon Tree now.

>>25077948
>group of men chasing a woman
...Yeah, not tolerating that.

>>25077948
[X]Talk to guildmates

Tell then to gather info from the other players and see what the status of the player base is. See if anyone has gotten any information from CC corp or not. THEN

[X]Go to alleyway and see what's up

Hero's work is never done!

>>25078011
They won't know anything about CC Corp.

But ask around if there's anyone from Kestral who knows why everyone seems dead.

Because that's... concerning.

Ask MANIA for possible insight, since she once was a part of Kestral as well.

>>25077948
Summon Snark, ask if we're operating off of AIDA/Epitaph rules regarding death=free coma.

>>25077948
>[x]Go to alleyway and see what's up

Need to hurry. Hopefully they're just getting her autograph or something, but it never hurts to be sure.

>>25077948
>[]Other, please specify
"We need you Vividor!"

The only thing that may calm the terrified masses is a figure of manliness to comfort them

>>25078044
I meant as far as tech support goes

>>25078103
Seconded.

You see the group of people running towards an alleyway and you react immediately. You run towards the group and stand in the middle of the the entrance way and see a group of players surrounding NAOO. "Like I said, keep your hands off me!"

"I-I-It's okay NAOO-tan. This is a new world just for us. We won't let anyone hurt you, so just come to us." A bulky male character tells her.

"Fuck it, you don't want to get hurt take your clothes off. That's the only reason we are in this guild stupid slut." Another says grabbing her by her ponytail.

"I'll shout for help! Let go, that hurts!" She shouts as another one laughs.

"What are you going to do, call the cops on us? Oh, so scary. Behave or we will knock your teeth out."A fat beastman says as he starts messing with his belt.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" You ask making the group turn to you.

"Demon empress Chen, huh? Fuck yeah, I was part of your club too." One of the men says before the rest of your guildmates walk out.

"Shit, Lotus is with her too?" Another adds in.

"That's MANIA, the Pk from Kestral." Another adds in.

"Who is that thrusting guy behind them? Jesus, what the hell?" The first one says as Vividor comes up from behind.

"Ah hell, let's go" The lead man says walking towards you.

"Wrong way." Areta says, pointing at the water that makes up the south side of the alley.

"Huh? Who the fuck would-" The large beastman starts but his sentence is interrupted by a scream as MANIA stabs her fingers into his skull and tears out his eye.

He falls to the ground covering his face as a steady stream of blood falls to the ground and the other stare terrified at MANIA. "I said you are going the wrong way." Areta reiterates as the group jumps into the water, dragging their friend with them.

You see NAOO is sobbing softly on the floor.

Wat do now?
[]Talk to NAOO, see what she knows
[]Chastise the others for doing that
[]Have group split up
[]Ask Snark something(wut?)
[]other, please specify

>>25078236
[]Ask Snark something

How do we reverse this, what are the side effects of staying like this too long?

[]Talk to NAOO, see what she knows

Console her first, then lets see if she witnessed anything strange around the time when we killed hamelin

>>25078236
"You made me worry a bit earlier, MANIA. Good to see you're doing just fine."

Crouch down towards NAOO, extend hand.

>>25078236
>[x]other, please specify
>>25078103

[x]Talk to NAOO, see what she knows

>>25078236
To accomplish our goals in a disaster of this magnitude, we need more people.

Ask Lotus and Luna if they can get a hold of their respective guilds, ask MANIA if she has any ideas why everyone at Kestral seems dead.

>>25078236
>[x]Talk to NAOO, see what she knows

After all the comforting and such.

>[x]Ask Snark something(wut?)

Snark, what do you think is going on here? How do you think Hamelin's actions affected the servers in this way?

>[x]other, please specify

Vividor is very beautiful. He could go a long way to keeping the crowds calm while we sort things out. I think he can take care of himself, but do we want another person tagging along with him?

>>25078537
I think he's fine.

Given his game-breaking powers and all.

You walk over to NAOO and offer her your hand, trying to be as gentle as Haruko is when dealing with victims, but she just smacks your hand away. "I-I-I'm an idol. I can stand on my own." She sniffles before standing, rubbing at her eyes.

"Do you know what's going on here?" You ask.

"No! I was just with my fanclub in a field. They were giving me items then everything went black for a second. We tried to make our way back but some other players came by and PKed some of my fanclub! We barely got away and when we got back they started acting strange!" She yells before accepting an embroidered handkerchief from Luna

"Vividor? What's your take on this?" You ask making him place his hands behind his head and flex.

"it is no good, yes?" He asks making Snark nod.

"As always a total, and complete summary of events Vividor. Thank you." Snark sighs shrugging.

"How do we reverse this, what are the side effects of staying like this too long?" You ask making him shake his head.

"No idea and.... no idea. This is a new one for me too. If we kill the AIDA with the epitaph it might work, but I have no idea how to even find it. Otherwise search me. We could always go ask the chick havin' a field day with herself in Raven. I think it would be in the best interest of CC Corp to resolve this too." He offers as you turn to MANIA.

"You made me worry a bit earlier, MANIA. Good to see you're doing just fine." You tell her as she gives you another smile before holding up the eyeball she plucked form the beastman.

"Of course I am fine Chen. Look, isn't it lovely? Blue and green like the point the sea meets the sky. Such a lonely treasure. I should have plucked his other eye for you." She sighs, her personality evidently settling on some fusion of Ojou-sama and sadist from hell.

"You have any idea why everyone at kestral seems to be dead?" You ask.
(1/2)

"Such an amusing Joke Chen." She smiles. "At about this time during the day there should be literally thousands of Kestral players online, not that small number we saw. If I had to guess I have to say they were killed in a panic after the event occurred." She offers before showing Areta the eyeball.

"Lotus, Luna. We are going to need some help if everyone is panicking. Could you go talk to your guilds and try to get some help?" You ask making the pair of them nod.

"Yeah, the PM system isn't working but I will try." Lotus offers before running off.

"I shall also attempt to do so, Sir Chen." Luna says before running back to the guildhouse.

Now then.
[]Explore town
[]Go to raven for the cliche team up
[]take NAOO back to guildhouse for safety
[]Talk to someone(Who?)
[]Other, please specify

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>>25078667
This is 2/2

>>25078653
Give NAOO a guild pass and invite her to chill at Eclipse headquarters.

Ask Snark if returning to the Morrigu Barrow wall to check things out would be suicidal.

>>25078667
>[x]take NAOO back to guildhouse for safety
>[x]Other: Assign Vividor to beautiful crowd control.

If Vividor is half as charismatic and mesmerizing as his in-game avatar is, then he will be able to distract the people in town, at the very least.

>[x]Talk to someone(Who?)

Everyone else in our guild. As cliched and disgusting as it seems, Raven might be the only place we can turn to for some valid information here since they're loosely affiliated with CC corp. and have had a lot to do with all the mystery behind The World.

Or we could try to chat up Azure Kite, but that doesn't seem very viable or healthy. Unless Snark can think of something that would attract AIDA without fail.

>>25078667
[X]Go to raven for the cliche team up

mostly cause the potential for blackmail dialog would be marvelous.

then

[X]Explore town

If we are gonna try to find the Aida and epitaph (Epida?) we might as well be geared up and prepared...

Also if the system is working for adding contact info, take NAOO's, if only to have a connection to the normal playerbase. Then we can stash NAOO somewhere safe, since nearly being raped and killed tends to shaken people.

>>25078756
No to making connection to the player base. We lost one friend, we can't lose another.

>>25078834
Yeah keep her safe, but no need to make friends with her.

>>25078667
Ask Snark to cough up Macha, seeing as he already has the powers of three Epitaphs, and we're going to help him essentially become omnipotent, don't see much need to have it linger in his gullet when we could shove it into someone else.

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You pull out a guild pass and hold it out to NAOO. "Here. Go to our guildhouse until this blows over, okay?"

She smacks it out of your hand and glares at you. "I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help! I am an idol! You just think I am some ditzy girl who is using her looks to get ahead in life, well what's wrong with that! Some people are born smart, some people are born strong, but I was born pretty! People look down on me because of it, but what else can I do?!" She shouts as Durga sighs and pats your shoulder, moving to take your place.

"How are you going to live if you are raped to death in an alley? You are smart enough to know when to hide, right? I get it, some of your fans were hurt. We will look for them as we are around town, but we want to help you, okay?" She asks picking up the guest pass and offering it to her.

She looks at it for a few seconds before taking it. "F-fine. Don't think I am going to thank you." She says before running off towards your guild house.

"Now then..." You turn towards your friends. "As cliched and disgusting as it seems, Raven might be the only place we can turn to for some valid information here since they're loosely affiliated with CC corp. and have had a lot to do with all the mystery behind The World." You say making the group nod.

"Vividor, do you think you could control the crowd?" You ask but he shakes his head.

"I am too goo' lookin'. Vividor is like ze fountain of life, yes? All of zem be killing eachoother to be getting a drink of me." He says looking forlorn into the distance.

"Then Raven" You say moving towards the guildhouses.

"Say Snark, could we go back to the wall? See what's up?" You ask but he shakes his head.

"How should I put it, I don't think it is the same as before." He says.

"What does that mean?" You ask
(1/3?)

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"Exactly what I said, stupid chen." He tells you making you sad.

You pull out the AIDA pass and go into the guild Raven and immediately your nose is assaulted with the stench of sweat and other fluids, making you fairly certain you know what has been going on even before you look in the middle of the room. There with her hips bucked up in the air with her head leaned back and her eyes closed is Ocimum. She lets out a loud scream as her hands slowly stop moving as she finishes, panting for breath. She opens her eyes after a few moments and has a glazed look on her face before she sees your group standing in the doorway. She goes wide eyes and freezes before letting out a shriek and covering herself. "What? How? Why? But!" She says looking in a panic.

"Seriously? You're going to go blind." Durga frowns as the woman scrambles to put on her outfit.

"Shit how did you get here! No, wait, I have to tell the boss. Shit how does this thing work." She grumbles, her top evidently difficult to put on.

"Ara, ara, let me." MANIA says walking over behind her and starting to adjust the straps and fixings on her outfit.

"Er, thanks. Uh, what... What are you doing here, arn't you Hamelin's rival?" She asks as MANIA starts humming a little tune.

"We killed that dude." Snark says making Ocimum go a shade paler.

"What?" She asks making Snark nod.

"It was like biggie smalls. But with avatars. And Magic." He finishes making her frown.

"Shit, and then this happens huh. I can guess what you are here for, but I can't help you. The boss is in the serpent of lore looking for how to fix it." She says.

"Well can you at least ask him if he will help us? We want out too." You say as MANIA finishes.

"Y-yeah I guess I can. I mean, just asking should be okay." She mutters before walking off.

"Wash your hands while you are gone." Areta comments dryly, making Ocimum walk off faster.
(2/3)

After a few minutes she comes back frowning. "He says... He says he will contact you when he has something but not before. He would rather you didn't see the serpent unless he absolutely has to show you and he would hate to be in your debt unless he has to. If you can help, we will call you." She says before crossing her arms. "Now get out."

"Yes, yes, sorry for interrupting your fun." Durga sighs as you leave.

As you stand around in the middle of the guild area you turn to Snark. "Hey, cough up the Macha epitaph." You command.

"No way." He responds.

"You already have the copy epitaph, why would you need that too?" You ask making him shrug.

"Why do you need expensive coffee? You can just chew cheap beans and it would give you your fix. It's my food, I ate it." He responds.

Seems he is not willing to give it up
[]Try to force him
[]Try to convince him
[]Visit Luna's guild, you wonder what is taking so long
[]Talk to someone
[]Go back into Raven
[]Other, please specify
(3/3)

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>>25079218
>Ara, ara
I knew who MANIA's current attitude reminded me of.

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>>25079254
I always wanted an Ara ara girl. My goals for this quest are pretty much done. GG

>>25079229
[]Try to convince him
Strength in numbers and all that jazz

[]Visit Luna's guild, you wonder what is taking so long

The Rping may have gone too far, either that or something awful happened involving the two factions

[]head to mirror room

Lets see what we will find if we try to observe the wall, maybe we should check out the cathedral to see if anything there is distorted since the wall's extra space may have collapsed the Epida could always be hanging out there

>>25079229
But she's already a cat-girl, it's perfect.

Also consider it a favor to be cashed in for... let's say anything short of eating more Epitaph cores.

>>25079229
Try watching Luna's guild first, be ready to step in if necessary.

Starting to think we should have given her an escort.

>>25079370
You do not have a mirror for there

>>25079229
>[x]Try to convince him

Snark, I appreciate the analogy, but the real epitaphs might be real important later on; they're one of a kind. We don't want to chomp down on them only to find out that they may be our only hope later on for something. Besides, if we really need you to eat them, you can go ahead and gobble them down real quick, right? So just hold off on eating them for now, and hand them over to me so you won't be tempted to nibble on it.

>[x]Visit Luna's guild, you wonder what is taking so long

Faction wars becoming real will be real dangerous. We don't want Luna or any of her guildies to be hurt. Even the goth vampire guy.

>>25079229
>[]try to convince him

Another person with an avatar means someone else who can resist AIDA. More people like that means we can beat our enemies faster and feed you more epitaphs. I'm sure existing is more important to you than a full stomach.

>[] visit Luna's guild.
Got to keep track of our friends after all.

>>25079385
Ah, well then check it out in person I guess.

Also, is it bad if this is how I imagined Hamelin's death scene?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WxqughaJQM

>>25079300
I'm still hoping Haruko wins. Of course that's most likely from my tame, for 4chan, set of fetishes.

>>25079450
For what? Romance? I didn't want romance, just some one to go "Ara ara." it was everything I dreamed of. Odds are we end up with Kite.

>>25079450
I would to, if we weren't playing Chen/Anon as more or less insane.

>>25079468
Eh, that works for me too I guess.

>>25079468
Always the best option.

>>25079468
i mean it fulfilled my dream

>>25079450
I dunno anon, doesn't she deserve someone... better than us?

>>25079529
Well...yeah, that's a good point. She'd be great for us, but I'm not sure about the other way around. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe...maybe we can try to be better for her.

Who knows.

>>25079567
Suddenly katawa shojo decisions

>>25079593
Azure Dreams should be proud if they're doing relationships as good as KS did.

>>25079610
Azure Earth, my bad, been going through a backlog of old playstation games.

>>25079341
>But she's already a cat-girl, it's perfect.
This seems like the most likely way to convince Snark.

>>25079610
Dem feelz man....so far we've had outrage feels due to the fall of a hero, I'm waiting for the "I FUCKED UP BAD" feels of letting our waifu down or become horribly angry with us to the point of contempt

So it kind of seems like Hamelin was an outlier for being fucking crazy.

But maybe that's just because we had Ociemum at a disadvantage.

"Another person with an avatar means someone else who can resist AIDA. More people like that means we can beat our enemies faster and feed you more epitaphs. I'm sure existing is more important to you than a full stomach." You say making him cross his arms and turn his head.

"You are vastly underestimating how much I like having a full stomach." He says.

"But we could put it in someone else." You counter making him shake his head.

"Only those with specific emotional qualities. But still double no." He counters making you think and go about this another way.

"Snark, I appreciate the analogy, but the real epitaphs might be real important later on; they're one of a kind. We don't want to chomp down on them only to find out that they may be our only hope later on for something. Besides, if we really need you to eat them, you can go ahead and gobble them down real quick, right? So just hold off on eating them for now, and hand them over to me so you won't be tempted to nibble on it." You hold out your hand.

He seems to think it over for a few seconds before shrugging. "Fine, I won't eat the one of a kind emotional analysis engine." he grumbles. "For now."

It seems that is all he is willing to offer you, so you turn back to the group. "We should probably check on Luna, I am somewhat worried about how long she is taking." You explain.

"While you do that, I am going to check in the town itself. I do not like how a bunch of kids are running around and if NAOO is any indication there might be some problems." Durga explains, summoning her broadsword and hefting it on a shoulder before running off.
(1/2)

You nod to her before turning to Luna's guild and using your guest pass to drag yourself and your party in. You hear screams from deeper in the guildhall and smell the sticky irony smell of blood all around you. The floor is soaked in it and bodies litter the area. You panic momentarily but a slight headache indicates she is further in the guild. You see two players fighting with weapons.

Areta covers her nose and seems ready to hurl while MANIA looks fairly calm. Vividor is nowhere to be seen.

"Glory to elder Mathios!" One of the players shouts before his blow is parried by a young twin blade.

"Seriously, Cassius says we need to calm the fuck down. This is some serious shit and Mathios is moving now?" He asks, his white silk shirt soaked red with blood.

Wat do?
[]Try to talk to them
[]Fight someone
[]Leave them be and go for Luna
[]Other, please specify

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>>25079662
AS I always forget, this is 2/2

>>25079646
>>25079567
>>25079529
>>25079450

I should point out.
>Make thread asking about me taking over hollow quest and it devolves into waifu fight about something that does not exist

>Have thread in which we have had several character express interest, but we are playing it cool with no waifu fighting and actual discussion about an adult relationship, more or less.

I have said it before and I will say it again. My players are awesome. You guys seriously rock

>>25079662
...Of course something would go wrong with a guild full of vampire roleplayers.

>>25079662
>[x]Fight someone
>[x]Try to talk to them
>[x] Go try to find Luna

Incapacitate the player aggressing the twinblade, then ask the Twin Blade what the hell is going on, WHILE all of us walk further in and try to see where Luna is.

>>25079662
>[]other
Can we leave one of the party members behind to try and keep these two from killing eachother as we move on for Luna?
Areta is probably the best bet to leave behind. MANIA would stop it...but probably not in the cleanest way.

>>25079662
[]Try to talk to them

time to be diplomatic. Of course if that doesn't work then we find luna and skip them, leaving someone behind to make sure they dont murder each other, we have to have priorities straight and if a plot character dies....them we may be S.O.L. It also may be a good idea if we can somehow remedy the guilds feud for now, more people being cautious and careful during such a strange time may cause it to spread to the public masses

Hey, just a random side thought. Does anyone else find it weird that no one from the government has tried to contact us since the chief's death, or is Haruka handling things on that end?

>>25079713
least we could do for having you set something like this up, best DM right here

>>25079767
Despite everything that has happened we've not been gone too long. As far as they're concerned we are still just on paid vacation because we never took a break. Ever

>>25079713
Hey, the last thing we would ever want to do is ruin a quest like this.

>>25079755
Seconding this

[X] Armed intervention. Get both of them to sit down, and give us a sitrep. Make a witty comment on uncivilized beings.

>>25079567
I don't think it's as simple as "better or worse".

She wants lots of kids and to move to a big house in the suburbs.

Whether we want that or not has nothing to do with us improving ourselves.

Since there seems to be some want for it. Could I get a 1d100 roll for you calming them down with violence?

I will take best of 3 as normal

>>25079893
Also true, though we should probably sort out the whole 'comas, AIDA, and weird hole in our soul' thing first.

Rolled 19

>>25079930
Best method.

Rolled 92

>>25079930

Rolled 11

>>25079930

Rolled 79

>>25079941
Indeed. I wanted a less deadly method, though.

Rolled 26

>>25079930

To avoid war, you must make war on others to such a degree so that they cannot war again.

Rolled 31

>>25079930
Do what we do best with a set of debuff, lower attack or speed if we can so they can't hurt each other and have MANIA glare them down.
I'd like this done quick in order to track down Luna.

Yay planned attacks.

>>25079941
>>25079959
wooow....glad he doesnt take averages....

>>25079962
I am operating under the assumption you will hold back from killing them.

>>25079969
Well I missed the role but I hope the plan goes through.

>>25079969

Could ask them to kindly stop, unless they want to join the new up-and-coming pirate-themed guild that's forming.

Then have Mania toss the Eyeball at them.

>>25079977
yep, no need to become murders......or well comatose causers

((I should point out I am going to start using a roll over system and dividing the battle into quarters and halves. The better your equipment, the better your plans, the lower the DC. We will see how that works for a combat system)

DC 30vs92

You pull out your fans and start throwing out debuffs. You hear groans and sighs, and you can only imagine that the debuffs feel similar to being hit with exhaustion. You wonder, albeit briefly, on how you know how to cast magic since you can't access your menus, but you shake your head. This isn't the time to be worrying about that. You look back at MANIA and she nods to you before walking over to one of the players fighting and grabbing their blade midswing, her gauntlets protecting her . The player seems about to say something but in a moment her face twists into a sneer, narrowing one eye as her smile seems to go a bit too wide. "Should I pluck your eyes out too?" She asks making the player gulp.

"Listen up!" You shout, the majority of the players at least looking at you. "You know who I am, and you know what I can do! Likely you know the same for this woman here, so listen to me carefully when I say put your weapons down or we will put you down!" You shout.

"Cheesy ass line." Snark comments.

Despite that the players seem to deflate a little, evidently shaken out of what ever spell held them. "Where is Luna?" You ask the twin blade and he points towards an open door in the back of the hall.

"The Crimson Court" He explains.

You run through it and find yourself in a large throne room covered in crimson tapestries with four lower chairs around the throne. In the middle of the room stands Luna with her scythe out next to Cassius, staring down Elder Mathios.
(1/2)

"I built this guild! You philistines can't understand how deep it is! You made a group of people against me, and now you can't stand me fighting back! I know the universe better than you do! Who even heard of Rome, it isn't in the setting!" He shouts making Cassius frown.

"Mathios, it is part of the game. I started a rebellion to take control. It is called a role playing guild, not some personal attack on you." He explains but Mathios rages.

"You think I didn't hear you! Talking shit about me being unable to maintain the guild because of old ideas! I was into this way before you!" He objects making Luna frown.

"Tis part of the game, Elder Mathios. He was the usurper. It was his character and he played it well." Luna explains but he continues raging.

"You used your female body against me! You are probably a guy in real like but the guild white knighted to you!" Mathios objects and you feel yourself getting slightly offended.

Wat do wat say?
[]Side with Mathios, her female guile has tricked you long enough
[]Watch how this plays out
[]Stand by Cassius, he will back down in front of this many people
[]Send Snark to talk to him
[]Send MANIA/Areta to him
[]Other, please specify
(2/2)

>>25080407
[]Stand by Cassius, he will back down in front of this many people

also lets see if we can talk some sense into this bastard, if not then maybe we can knock him out with some CQC courtesy of MANIA.

>>25080407
>[x]Stand by Cassius, he will back down in front of this many people

If MANIA still has that eyeball, suggest that Mathios back down, it's not worth it. To emphasize the point, have Mania toss Mathios the eyeball she plucked from that beastman earlier. Then mention how everything in here feels very *real* all of a sudden.

Still, we should be ready for a fight. Be ready to hit him with all a manner of debuffs to gimp his combat ability.

>>25080407
Wonder how deranged our choice would become if we gave into Snarks ideas...
>[]side with Cassius
Now what would be the best approach, tough love?
"Even if that were true, you still fell for the trap. You can continue wallowing in your own self-pity, blaming everyone around you, or you can build yourself back up!"
"Become a better leader, one who does not need to rely on tricks and lies like Cassius! Stop this now and the guild may once again be yours. Keep on this path, and you'll lose it forever."

Give a wink or something to Cassius to show you're not serious afterwards.

>I'm so bad as this sort of thing.

>>25080407
This is a matter between vampires, not us mortals.

At most give Luna a friendly wave.

With the power of AIDA, she got this.

>>25080536
You get the feeling she is not likely to give it up easily

>>25080558
Or maybe give her a "wrap it up" gesture.

We got shit to do.

>>25080559

Okay, well, have her present it in a meticulous and showy fashion. Like a jeweler showing off a particularly well-cut diamond or emerald, pointing out its gentle curves and sharp edges, as well as how the light dances across it in such a fine way.

Btw, how big is this guild again?

[smug] You guys don't need to worry about this guild anymore. I will take care of it.

Chen of Eclipse challenges Cassius of the Red Court and Mathios of the Red Court for control of this guild!

>>25080668
Fuck that.

To be honest, it looks like we didn't even need to show up in the first place.

Also it'd be rude to just barge in and interfere.

At minimum ask Luna if she could use backup, or if she and Cassius can handle this.

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>>25080558
Comas?

Better to be prepared to stop the fight.

Shall we referee?

>>25080745
>>25080539
Yeah, talking down is better than potential comas.

File: 1369709392490.jpg-(115 KB, 800x600, wall091600x1200ki2.jpg)

115 KB JPG

So just talking or just let them fight it out?

>>25080800

I'm in favor of talking, but being ready to knock Mathios out in case he decides to be stupid.

>>25080745
>>25080756
Well alright, but if Mathios suggests that we're intervening because we want to protect Luna from him, can we at least tell him that we're doing the opposite?

>>25080800
Yeah, talk em down but be ready with debuffs and non-lethal KOs...if that's a thing we can do.

>>25080815
If he decides to be stupid, he deserves whatever Luna gives him.

>>25080834
Even a coma? Which she may find out about?

>>25080825
Oho, I like this plan.

>>25080815
this

>>25080838
Oh right, we should probably warn her of that.

Like

"Protip Luna, if you kill this guy there's a semi-decent chance he'll fall into a coma, so go easy on him."

>>25080862
Do we actually know that though?

>>25080825
Complete with aristocratically covering our smirk with our fan.

I feel like we've been remiss in not using our weapon to its advantage in making smug gestures.

>>25080869
Technically we don't know what PKing means now.

Like respawning doesn't seem to be a thing, considering all the corpses.

But when data-drained, there aren't any bodies either, they dissolve and shit.

So I have no idea what's going on.

>>25080906
good to assume they become brain dead.....

>>25080920
I assume they are lying there in a state of extreme agony.

>>25080869
We know killing and AIDA are not good things to mix and Anon can probably assume that killing someone who can fell it would not be the best plan.

Rolled 19, 93, 78 = 190

"So this is nerd rage." Snark comments calmly as you stand back for a second to allow them to continue.

"Quiet Snark. You need help Luna or?" You ask making her glance at you.

"Sir Chen, I would greatly appreciate it if you would assist us in stopping elder Mathios from doing something stupid." She tells you making you walk up to her side and stand next to her.

"Oh sure, bunch of girls ganging up on me, typical." Mathios grumbles as Snark gives a little wave from the entryway.

"Right. Look Mathios, thing have gotten real. Very real and that is bad. We need you to calm down so we can put a stop to all this stupid violence, okay?" You ask making him seemingly rage all the harder.

"You just can't understand my deep plots! You are all stupid and I am the only one who is a mature adult in here! Because you are girls you only got into this because of those stupid movies!" He shouts making Cassius frown.

"It's like my grad school days. Seriously, calm down." Cassius explains making Mathios rage harder.

"You showing up to protect Luna from me won't do you any good!" he shouts making you smugly open your fan and put it in front of your face, leaving everything below your eyes hidden.

"Quite the contrary. We are trying to stop you from making a major mistake." You explain with an aristocratic grace.

"That's it!" He shouts before lunging forward.

"Careful not to kill him, we don't know just what would happen if you die here." You tell Luna as she nods and leaps forward.

If you wish to aid Luna please give me 1d100 combat roll, otherwise I will just roll for her and we will continue.

Rolled 99

>>25080986
Flick reapers are poor at long range so make sure he can't run away from Luna's attacks.
Do we still have the coffee boost? If so is it always active to give us double speed? Because that could be extremely useful.

Rolled 61

>>25080986

Help out Luna. She's our buddy!

Have Chen throw out speed-down and attack-down debuffs on Mathios.

>>25080986
>>25081048
welp...damn

>>25081048
Woo! First roll in one of these threads!

Rolled 96

>>25080986

>>25081048
Yes it is always on

>>25081048
>>25081053
>>25081076
So in other words, fuck this guy.

>>25081048
>>25081076
[X] Correct him.

I HAVE A PENISSSS!

Rolled 10

>>25081053
should also find other ways to debuff him, lowering defense, speed, and attack power

>>25081097

Unless we have items, we don't have much in the way of debuffing other than Chen. We might be able to have MANIA and Areta move in to try to box Mathois in so that Luna can get him, or so that they can gang up on him as he becomes slowed and crippled.

>>25081090
Does it really matter?

Honestly, our currently being a pretty boy with long, improbably-colored hair, wearing black spiky armor and a tattered cape with a fur rim, which also gives us pale skin, dead eyes, and black marks on our face, doesn't exactly make us seem better.

I mean we looked like we crawled out of Tetsuo Nomura's nightmares.

>>25081123
I meant other debuffs....damn im retarted i should read over my crap

Rolled 91, 45, 85 = 221

DC 80vs93 plus aid Dc:50vs99

Luna rushes out to meet him halfway and catches his sword with her scythe blade. She spins it around and begins slashing toward him, the pole-arm giving her long reach to keep him at bay.

You throw out all your buffs on Luna and all your debuffs on Mathios and are about to move in to take him, but then pause. He runs towards Luna with his sword held above his head and she knocks him down. He thinks on what to do before sheathing his sword and acting like he is going to use a draw to slash at her, but she again knocks him back and down. This repeats for a few minutes until she seems to get sick of it and runs up to him and jams the shaft of her scythe into his stomach making him double over in pain.

"F-Fucking whore." He coughs as he holds his stomach.

"I must say, you lack any form of social grace indeed." Luna sighs.

"Yeah, and I sort of take offense at you using whore as an insult." Areta pipes up but MANIA gently pets her head to calm her down.

"Elder Mathios. While I of course am grateful you helped create the guild which creatures of infinite darkness such as ourselves are able to dwell in without any sort of judgement from the foul church, or be judged based on our unique conditions I must say your lack of grace and total disregard for the stability of this guild are disheartening indeed. You speak ill of ladies and gentlemen in my company and I am afraid my admittedly large capacity for patience for your childish whims has since run out. Your petty move during this crisis is even more offensive than your pathetic attempts to get into the underthings of the ladies of the guild, and honestly at least double as disgusting." She explains before ramming the shaft of her scythe into his temple.
(1/2)

He goes out and you glance at Luna. She dusts herself off and then walks over to Cassius. "Elder Cassius, I believe the threat has gone and you remain as the sole leader of the guild." She explains with a formal curtsy.

"Ah, yeah. Remind me to never piss you off." He says making her smile at him.

"Why what ever do you mean? I am just a dainty lady of the court, unaccustomed to the harsh labors of combat, and barely able to defend myself if the need arose." She laughs gently.

"No, but he was higher level than you and-" He says but finds the blade of Luna's scythe touching the back of his neck.

"Just. A. Delicate. Lady." She emphasizes making him nod.

"F-Full of grace. Certainly." He gives a weak smile before glancing up then back at you. "Sent out a guild wide message Hopefully it got out, since it uses something other than the PM system. So you have a plan to stop this madness?" he asks.

Good question

Wat do you ask of him?
[]Send your players to act as peace keepers in town
[]Try to hide players in your guild
[]Go to fields and stop PKs
[]Other, please specify
(2/2)

>>25081337
I think there's too much chaos in the town for stopping every bit of strife. Ask Cassius if his guild members would be able to help go through the town and bring those under duress back to the guild for safety.
We should try to do the same, there are too many fields to cover and I'd hope those in fields would have returned to towns as soon as possible.

Also, wonder what the hell Azure Kite is up to, wish there was a way we could track the infection or something.

could we release part of Snark into the system as a sort of tracking device? I would guess the epitaph/AIDA would be a rather huge blip on the radar to other AI.

>>25081337

>Peacekeepers

We need to have everybody not panic. More specifically, we need them to not panic and be completely peaceful.

No PKs, since we don't know what that means. After this we go to Moon Tree (or whatever) and talk to them.

We get them and then talk to Kestral members. 2-3 major guilds telling people to cool their jets will keep things stable if they can agree to a cease-fire, and then we can focus on solving the actual problems.

>>25081470
Maybe he is able to track large pieces of AIDA, kinda how we get our headaches. Then we can use that to find the anomaly causing this fiasco

>>25081337
This insurrections leader is currently incapacitated.

Do you have any chains, or perhaps any tapestries that can be torn up in a pinch?

It might be a good idea to show what happened to the one who led this coup.

>>25081470
I have a feeling the Propagator is already propagating its parent AIDA everywhere.

[X] Secure the town

>>25081337
>[x]Try to hide players in your guild
>[x]Send your players to act as peace keepers in town

It looks like they've taken losses themselves. And RPers aren't known for their PvP skills, as Mathios has shown.

I'd say have them go around town and collect helpless/injured players to hide in their guild. Perhaps try to use some of those verbal skills to help calm people down along with Vividor.

We should also go see what Vividor and Durga are doing. Never hurts to check up on friends.

>>25081545
shouldnt the mother cell be the strongest/largest though? so finding what causes the biggest disruption may lead us to the source

>>25081551
PMing is down, so we can't get in touch with her.

I think we should check in on Lotus after this.

>>25081575
Also can't hurt to check on the other guilds first.

Like surely some of them will be more useful than these guys.

I mean guild warfare's been a thing, let's see the power of guild teamwork.

>>25081535
Oh wait never mind, I missed hearing that he meant madness in general.

We should ask Cassius if any guild-members would be interested in peace-keeping.

Hm. While it's the heroic thing to do, I'm not sure if peacekeeping is a sustainable answer.

I mean it's not like there's a prison or whatever where we can put various malcontents, and we're refraining from PKing.

Though then again, I have no idea how to fix it, and it's at least something to do while waiting for the Raven guildmaster to figure things out.

>>25081850

>Implying the Raven GM's gonna do fuck all productive.

Have you ever played an RPG?

"Could you try and take in people who were displaced and are afraid of what's going on until this all blows over?" You ask.

"Sure, we will send what people we have left to distribute guest passes to the players." He nods.

"Could you also do peacekeeping?" You ask but he nods.

"We have some good leveled members, but combat has never been our main focus. Besides, after Mathios' little stunt we don't have enough to effectively do both." He tells you making you nod.

"Alright, do what you can." You say.

"Sir Chen. I believe I will stay here and help coordinate efforts." She explains.

"Sure, yeah. Good idea. We can probably talk to you through your AIDA." Snark adds on.

"That was an option?" You ask making him shrug.

"I guess. Normally I have more time to think about this stuff before I give ideas, you are the one upsetting the status quo here." He explains.

YOU GAIN AIDA PM: Using Snark you can talk to anyone infected with your particular brand of AIDA like the PM system so long as they are in the game.

You decide to head into town to see what's going on. You make your way out of the guild, being careful not to get your feet soaked in blood. You go out the door and then move to go into town. Along the way you see people cowering and others yelling and screaming, with a few using their new bodies to other benefits. You mentally check off "Discover if PCs have fun parts" from when you were being ogled by MANIA the first time as you make your way to the town center and see a man with a large hat and sunglasses surrounded by a bunch of players.

"As, uh, as I said we are trying to get to the bottom of the glitch. CC Corp will do everything we can to help players resolve this issue as soon as possible and-"
(1/2)

"Bullshit! Who heard of a glitch where you get pulled into the game?! You are so full of shit!" Someone yells.

"What if we get trapped here?!" A female voice calls out.

"Wasn't there a light novel about this?" A male voice calls out.

"We should kill the admin! That will solve everything!" Snarks yells from beside you, making Areta elbow him in the ribs.

"Please, settle down! There is no reason to be afraid everything will-" He says but another voice calls out again.

"My friend went into a field and some Kestral members PKed them! They haven't come back!" The voice cries.

"What? Seriously? That's bad right?" Another voice from the mob asks.

"If you die in the game, you die for real!" Snark yells making Areta stare at him.

"Why are you being so unhelpful today?" She asks making him shrug.

"Chen took my food, I am grumpy when my food gets taken." He explains.

"Poor thing. Want me to step on you?" MANIA consoles him making him shrug.

Wat do?
[]Find Durga
[]Find Vividor
[]Find Lotus
[]Go to the Wall
[]Feed Snark
[]Other, please specify
(2/2)

>>25081940
>[]Find Durga and Vividor
"Snark at the end of this you're going to get a new AIDA filled Epitaph to munch on, please be slightly less terrible."

And going to the wall would probably be a good idea afterwards.

>>25081940
[X]Go to the Wall

Back once more into the void.

>>25081992

Seconding finding our partner and Vividor, and then Lotus. After that, we can see if they've learned anything new, and re-assess our options

>>25081940
Check in with Lotus first, since we at least have a pretty good idea where she is.

I trust she's fine, but a site-rep couldn't hurt.

Oh and ask MANIA if she wouldn't mind sharing what she learned from that Kestral Archivist a couple days ago, provided it's relevant to the current situation.

>>25081940
Go to the Cathedral.

See if we can make the Chair fix this bullshit.

>>25081940
Yeah after meeting up with everyone to pool information we should get properly geared up and prepared for visiting the wall again, or any other lost ground for that matter.

>>25081992
>>25082030

I'm down with these.

I also say we need to have at least one Snark based AIDA (from here on S-AIDA) user in each group for faster communication at least while we're going full on sword-art here.

>>25082054
That chair AI is too far gone, I doubt he'll have much to offer.
Then again...hum...

>>25082076
The World is in danger, and so is Aura...

>>25082094

>World's in Danger

Wait, could we use this tidbit to talk to Kite?

Just flat out drop weapons and say 'help me fix this'?

Not sure how well that would work out, but....

>>25082127
>>25082094
Sort of seems like metagaming

>>25082076
It could be that given that we're all moving at the speed of thought, he'll be more coherent.

Or maybe his ramblings will be contextually relevant.

>>25082127
Pretty sure Kite will care far more about killing Snark than helping us.

>>25082127
So far all we know about Kite is that he REALLY hates AIDA and have no really reason to assume there's anything more just yet.

So at best we should view him as a disposal system.

>>25082154

Not my post here. >>25082127

I mean, he might say 'no', but if he says 'yes' or even 'maybe' then we've gotten like 99% more intel available.

If he says no we just bug out like normal.

>>25082154
I don't see Kite working.

I can see us going, "The World is in danger, and so is your daughter," while we assume his daughter isn't an AI.

Still a long shot.

>>25082199
Uh, how does that not metagame at all still? We have no reason to think his daughter is even in the world. You want to lie to the chair? Why would we assume the chair could fix anything?

>>25082127
Assuming Kite is the same from G.U. no way in hell will he side with us...he is probably working on his own somewhere

>>25082242
Wait, we haven't heard of Harald?

Aight, scrap it.

>>25082242
Because he said something like "to where I must go, the living flesh will prove a hindrance", which when we told MANIA, she said that that might imply that the whole 'digitize consciousness' thing might not be an accident, but a forgotten/covered-up game feature.

Which means that the fact that this bullshit happened at all is his fucking fault, whoever he is.

"Snark at the end of this you're going to get a new AIDA filled Epitaph to munch on, please be slightly less terrible." You ask.

"Gimme my food and I will be." He replies.

You ignore the crowd of people and move to try and find your companions and only manage to find Durga on the other end of the city. She is currently standing guard with some of Lotus' guild mates, and evidently the threat of Arena rankers is enough to keep people in town from killing each other for now

"Hey Chen. Just let up with Lotus. She and her guild are trying to keep order in the place, but there are only so many of them and they are spread out pretty thin." She says as she points her large sword in a vaguely threatening manner at a group of people walking by.

"Know where she is?" You ask making her shake her head.

"Probably out in town somewhere trying to stop the place from turning into bedlam." She says.

Wat do?
[]Spend time grabbing lotus and bring her into the pow wow
[]Spend time searching for Vividor and bring him into the pow wow
[]Spend time grabbing both of the for pow wow
[]make a plan
[]Let Snark eat his food, he will probably be more helpful then.
[]Make plan(wut?)
[]Other, please specify

>>25082357
Snark said only someone with specific emotional qualities could use Epitaphs.

Ask him if he knows what Macha's are?

In Hamelin's case, it seemed to be tied to the sense of loss he felt from his family, so maybe it's related to that?

>>25082357
Maybe use our AIDA guild pass to travel to all the guilds are mirror can reach, and rally them into action?

>>25082357
]Spend time grabbing lotus and bring her into the pow wow

Then

[]make a plan
Gear up, make parties, go to the wall (where this all started) and begin to investigate, leaving a group back here to keep some shit in check. If nothing sparks at the wall go to the cathedral, Fleeing if Kite decides to make a visit

>>25082357
I think making a plan now would be good, Lotus is with her guild and Vividor is extremely good looking so they should be fine.
Don't feed Snark for now, I get the feeling it won't turn out well in the end. Investigating the wall is sounding like a good idea, perhaps from the scarred remains we might be able to track down the AIDA Epitaph.

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Some consensus while I grab a quick shower would be fantastic.

>>25082625
So we grab just lotus and plan to gear up to go back to the wall?

>>25082638
Snark said it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't say why, so it couldn't hurt.

>>25082661
It's certainly not our worst plan.

>>25082357
[X]Spend time grabbing lotus and bring her into the pow wow

Rolled 9

You decide it would be best to spend some time grabbing lotus in order to perform the pow wow. You tell Durga to wait for you as you run to find her. It takes you over an hour, you estimate, to navigate the twisting alleys and the winding corridors of Mac Anu before you find her fighting off PKs and helping others. You bring her back to Durga and you notice there seems to be a lot less people walking around now. You hope it is because of Luna's guild rather than PKs, but you have a sinking feeling telling you otherwise.

When you get there you outline your plan. "Okay, so we go back to the Morrigu Barrow wall." You explain making Lotus furrow her brow.

"I am otherwise occupied here Chen. Some one needs to remain and try to maintain order." She explains causing you to nod.

"Right. You remain here while a second group goes to investigate." You explain making Snark frown.

"First off I said that would be pointless. Secondly you wandered around town for all that time, wasting everyone's efforts and letting people get PKed while here... just to tell her to keep doing what she is doing?" Snark grumbles before narrowing his eyes at you.

"Well, er, yeah. I mean, she had to know." You tell him.

"And Durga couldn't pass on the message. Or hell, anyone else we leave behind?" He asks.

"Well... I told her." You offer and he just shakes his head, not amused.

"I think it best I eat the epitaph." he says.

"No, that is a bad idea. You can't eat the epitaph." You command and he narrows his eyes further.

"I see." Snark replies calmly

SNARK DISAPPROVES -200

"Anyway, one team remains here and the other goes to the wall." You say making lotus sigh.

"Then I will return to trying to maintain order"

"I will stay here with them. I think a scary cat lady with a sword does wonders."

"So... us four go to the wall and these two remain behind while Luna directs the workflow?" Areta asks

Sound like a plan?
Y/N

If no, then Wat do?

>>25083252
Woo! We are the time wasters!
But that sounds like a plan because at least we'll be getting something done in The World rather than just sitting around and waiting.

>>25083252
Y, make sure we are well prepared

>>25083252
I still think we should try going to the Cathedral since that chair seems to know... things.

Also we need to get that core out of our hands the sooner the better. Let's see if it's compatible with Durga.

And if Snark raises a fuss, tell him that we're pretty fucking sure that Archon was able to hack him, and Snark couldn't do anything about it. For all we know, Archon could have read Snark's memories, or even added in some highly specialized malware.

To us, that raises the possibility that Archon or another hacker may be able to assume direct control of Snark in the future, and should that dark day come, our allies will need every possible advantage they need if they could even hope to take us down.

Unless he wants to better experience how it feels when your friends die due to hubris?

>>25083316
we are certainly no dot hackers

>>25083376
>need every possible advantage they can get their hands on

Is what I meant.

But seriously, consolidating all your power in one place is never a good idea.

>>25083376
Yeah, lets piss of the AI who has thus far only agreed to help us because he want to eat and thinks it is fun to mess with people

This won't bite us in the ass.

>>25083252
Eeeeh. Fudge it.

Let him eat the Epitaph. We've already let him eat Innis, the Mirror of Deceit, ie. Innis the Betrayer. Endgame may be difficult.

However, at this point in time (short term), we're gonna need heavy firepower to take out all the mooks Magus is going to bring. Snark may be able to paralyze the AIDA with Macha.

May as well ask Snark if he can make a copy of Macha, if possible.

>>25083443
He's already pissed off right now.

And we're not giving him the Macha core, or the Magus core for that matter.

At least that's a reason he might be able to respect.

>>25083443
True, say something more like "Snark, we're on a team, sometimes that means making compromises to make sure things work out best for everyone."

Or something

>>25083481
What? No we didn't.

We left Innis in Raum because the alternative would kill him.

And I'm pretty sure Snark already has the fake-Macha data.

>>25083481
I think he already ate a macha copy.

>>25083376
With the last line, add in that we cannot cope with that happening again, if someone we cared about died because we did to little, or didn't take the situation seriously enough.

Because seriously, we got some mental scars.

>>25083509
No, he left the uninfected parts of Innis inside Raum to regenerate. At this point, I'm a little more worried about surviving Magus over empowering Snark, since that seems to be Disc 3 or 4 boss material.
>>25083522
No, I don't he did.

>>25083576
>"You already have the copy epitaph, why would you need that too?" You ask making him shrug.
There you have it

>>25083576
That's what I mean by fake/copy. That Snark ate the infected parts which allows him to emulate the Epitaph.

Like that's what we did with Skeith.

>>25083627
Alright, then no eating Macha.

Stopping him from taking Corbenik will be a bitch.

>>25083665
Eh, he can have Corbenik, because I'm pretty sure we that then we win.

>>25083665
stopping him from eating the epitaphs in general later will be a bitch

>>25083748
But somethings tells me it will be good for us.

>>25083777
us, maybe. The World, Doubt it

>>25083701
>pretty sure we that then we win.
The Gospel according to Archon.

We are sorta handling Snark badly, aren't we?

Definitely.

>>25083777

I'm not so sure. Epitaphs seem to have been making him more..... human. It's possible that him eating them all will result in an entirely benevolent super AI.

That said, maybe we should keep the magic 'reset' button one to ourselves.

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You decide to at least try and see if the core is compatible with Durga."How do we figure out if it is compatible." You look to snark but he raises his eyebrow at you.

"I am certainly not helping you with this." He explains.

"Look Snark I am pretty fucking sure that Archon was able to hack you, and you couldn't do anything about it. For all I know, Archon could have read your memories, or even added in some highly specialized malware. To me, that raises the possibility that Archon or another hacker may be able to assume direct control of you in the future, and should that dark day come, our allies will need every possible advantage they need if they could even hope to take us down. Unless you wants to better experience how it feels when your friends die due to hubris?" You explain making him put a finger to his chin and seem deep in thought.

"Oh, like when those people were pked while you were running around looking for Lotus for no reason? Oooh! Or how about when Durandal got offed because you were having a gay old time hopping about like an idiot?" He asks as Durga turns to him.

"Hey, that's-" She starts but is silenced by a glare from Snark.

"In the entirety of creation there is only one being at the moment able to overwrite my free will and they are thankfully no longer a threat." He explains as your head starts to feel like it is tearing open.

"Okay Snark, but what if-" Areta starts to offer but snark makes a face at her.

"But you know what really gets me Chen, what really seems to make me unhappy? I am inside your head. Despite me putting you back together, answering your whims and calls, answering questions which frankly strike me as stupid beyond measure I still did it, but you won't even 'allow' this. You want to know what bugs me really?" He leans in close quickly and whispers. "I know the real reason you said no. 'Nor will I have Magus' is it?" He asks before boiling away into black spheres in the air and exploding, scattering into nothing.
(1/2)

>>25083837
so we may effectively have birthed an ultimate AI from our psyche.........oh god

>>25083837
I still don't think he needs to eat whole epitaphs.

File: 1369719965549.gif-(35 KB, 500x500, Triedgesign.gif)

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You stand around for a few minutes and look around but see... nothing. Your headache is gone and it is just the group of you now. "Are you alright Chen?" MANIA asks to which you nod.

"Yeah, fine. We should get moving." You say before turning towards the warp gate. You touch the gate and shout "Delta Hidden Forbidden Bulwark" and in a moment you are warped there.

You are standing in front of the triangular sign and run your hands over it, feeling the smooth texture of the wall, beaten down by thousands of years of weathering. You push on it but get no response.

"Let us try." Areta offers moving beside you and touching the sign as well. She stands there for a few seconds before looking at MANIA who does the same and gets the same result.

Wat now?
[]Go to the Church
[]Call up Snark
[]Have MANIA summon her AIDA
[]Other, please specify

>>25083817
Yeah, still going to stay give the emotion engine to him. Maybe not the Propagation engine, but the emotion engine is fine.

...fuck, we really have trust issues with him.

>>25083892
This is 2/2, again.

>>25083892
[X] Call up Snark


Snark, I think I might have trust issues with you.

>>25083892
MANIA AIDA summon sounds good.
And Snark is pissed at us. Oh well, was gonna happen sooner or later.

Excited to see where this goes.

>>25083891
>>25083900

He's throwing a tantrum at the worst possible time. We're not going to cave in just because he wants to dine on something that may end up being the salvation of the entire world. He does not deign to explain why things are a bad idea, or even why he needs to eat the complete copies, and just brushes us off with non-committal answers that seem to indicate his superior intellect and how we could never understand.

Well, he NEEDS to make US understand him otherwise we'll never be fully able to trust him. It's as simple as that.

>>25083971
Isn't that the point of say, calling him right now to iron out the bloody trust issues, damn you all?

>>25083971
Yes, this is great. We need to show him that he isn't god...

Not yet, and not without our help.

>>25083971

Er, I meant that he never truly explains why he NEEDS to eat the unique Epitaph rather than just sticking to the copies.

And if that coffee analogy he used is all that he's giving us, then too fucking bad for him. We're sure as hell not going to eat the tastiest pizza or food or what have you in the entirety of existence if it's needed to thwart the apocalypse.

>>25083971
Yes, we need to show him that he doesn't control us, that he isn't god.

Not yet, not without our help.

>>25083873
>'Nor will I have Magus'

You know, this bugs me more than anything.

Because that's in no way the reason we did it. I'm sorry if I'm going a little meta here, but Magus has nothing to do with why I voted so either Snark or the QM is seriously misinterpreting something.

Either that or we have significantly less control of ourselves than we thought, since that's seeming to be a theme where we apparently don't remember much about ourselves and used to be an angry robot of justice.

>>25083989
>>25083971
>>25083900

Might as well back these.

>>25083873
"What real reason Snark? You want the truth? Fine, why not let this whole stupid game hear it.

You're right, I'm not worried about you letting me or my friends down. You've been better to me than you should be by all rights, and you've earned my trust ten times over.

The reason I don't want you to eat the Macha core is because I want to give it, and all the other cores, to my friends. And the reason I want that is... is because I'm afraid I'm going to let them down again, I'm going to make another stupid mistake and you and all your power won't be able to clean up my mess.

You've been inside my head, and you know that even with all the advice you've given me... I still have no idea what I'm doing. No matter how much I want to, sooner or later I will fail to protect the people I care about, which means that they'll have to be able to protect himself.

You put me back together, Snark. You know exactly what would break me even worse than before."

>>25084012
I think Snark is getting more and more human, so assumptions are being made

>>25084012
Maybe it's just what he thinks we'll do. Perhaps he's gotten paranoid.

>>25084012
Or he is getting paranoid. Can AI get paranoid?

>>25084038
>>25084047
I don't know how. After all, he didn't learn the best, o wait, that's us.

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>>25084047

It's been known to happen from time to time. The results aren't pretty.

>>25084047
if he is taking up where Aura lacked, (epitaphs being part of what makes up the ultimate AI in that case) then yes

You reach out to the place your headaches usually come from and find... nothing. No pain, no feelings, no ideas, no voice, no Snark. You look around for a few seconds to see if he is manifesting behind you but see nothing. Instead you to to MANIA. "Can you summon your AIDA? I would like to test something." You say causing her to nod.

In a few seconds small black spheres manifest by her feet and take the form of a small cat. You are now standing around a giant wall with a small cat and two women.

"Uh, what's the point of this?" Areta asks.

"I believe he is attempting to call up Kite." MANIA offers.

"The crazy fire guy who knifed me?" She asks to which MANIA nods. "Okay, just checking."

You have a little while before Kite is expected to show.

How do you pass the time?
[]Talk to MANIA(Bout wut)
[]Talk to Areta(Bout wut)
[]Talk to small cat(It won't talk back)
[]Other, please specify

>>25084169
We may to inform both of them about the no Snark situation. and have her send an AIDA PM to the others to keep their guards up.

>>25084169
I was hoping that AIDA cat could interact with the sign somehow like Snark did.

And I guessed Snark had left. Whatever, let him have his tantrum.

Waaaiiiit...

this is MANIA all over again.

huh.

[X] Talk to MANIA, Areta and the cat.
"Do you think that I have trust issues?"

Okay everyone, this Anon is gonna get some sleep. Try not to die.

Seeya

>>25084246
dont go comatose

>>25084207
Not saying his tantrum wasn't sort of bs, but we are dealing with an AI only a few years old at most, with only half assed replica copies of a few emotions.

So yeah, I think we can sort of understand where he is coming from at least meta content wise.

>>25084169
Do we still have the AIDA-PM features?

Talk to MANIA "He realizes that I'm already helping him become all-powerful right? Strong enough that the entire internet is an extension of his being, where his will becomes law? Why isn't that worth a certain amount of leeway?"

>>25084289
As far as you can tell, yes. It seems to be modified character data of some sort. Like a very specific radio frequency only your team has access to.

>>25084219
It's not really about trust this time.

It's that he already has the power of Macha, and we can bestow that power on someone else.

The only difference to him is taste and fullness. He doesn't need it, while if we give it to an ally, it could save their life.

>>25084337
I thought real epitaphs gave more power compared to AIDA copies.

>>25084361
Hm? I don't know, the way he said
>Why do you need expensive coffee? You can just chew cheap beans and it would give you your fix

Implies that it's purely because the real Epitaph tastes better.

>>25084375
Right, but he is an AI. His idea of taste and filling is different than what ours would be, he isn't human remember. Like, since he is data, something that is more filling or tastier would give him "More" data, and since AIDA need to replicate through data it would make him stronger.

Though that is based some on speculation from past snark convos.

>>25084337
a) Real power is given to real Epitaphs. Or you don't think that swallowing the entire contents of an Epitaph is superior to just an imitation?

Let's put it this way, an imitation is a drink from the Nutrimatic.

When the 'Drink' button is pressed it makes an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism, and then sends tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the subject's brain to see what is likely to be well received. However, no-one knows quite why it does this because it then invariably delivers a cupful of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

b) /tg/ posts are akin to thoughts in Chen's brain. Chen may subconsciously be rejecting Snark due to /tg/. We've certainly done that, somewhat.

>>25084169
Ask MANIA if she's okay stepping outside if/when Kite arrives, since he hates AIDA, and the time has not yet come to try fighting him.

>>25084429
I admit that part of me feels like if Snark starts collecting the real Epitaph cores, he may grow to desire a complete set.

But for the most part it's definitely been because we wanted to give one of our buds an Epitaph.

You sit around and look to MANIA. "Can that thing interact with the sign in any way?" You ask making her look down at it for a few moments before shaking her head.

"I do not believe it can, no. I am not certain why but it is not high functioning enough to explain." She says.

"I see." You say before scratching you head, deciding to wait around for Kite.

You send a quick AIDA PM to Luna telling her about the situation and telling her to be careful before turning to the rest of your group. "He realizes that I'm already helping him become all-powerful right? Strong enough that the entire internet is an extension of his being, where his will becomes law? Why isn't that worth a certain amount of leeway?" You ask making Areta raise her eyebrows and MANIA tilt her head.

"He will become a god?" She asks making you nod.

"Really, like, a digital god of the internet? He said that?" Areta adds making you frown.

"Well, no. He doesn't really get the whole idea of God." You say making them shake their heads.

The rest of the time passes in silence, but after a while MANIA dusts herself off.

"If he was going to come he would have shown up by now. Something is wrong. He is either unable to come or unwilling." She explains.

"Now what fearless leader?" Areta asks making you think.

Wat now?
[]To the Church! We have a chair to talk to.
[]Back to town
[]Other, please specify

>>25084429
That... actually sort of makes sense. So we are Chen's brain and Snark is in us? There are a few anons who have pretty much claimed Snark is not on the level.

>>25084479

Let's try the church. If that fails we need to start coming up with a new plan.

>>25084506

Swear to god, if this is another 'Legion' situation, I'm going to table-flip so hard it breaks the internet.

>>25084521
might as well check the only other lost ground we've got

>>25084479
[X] To the Church! We have a chair to talk to.

>>25084506
...I thought everyone knew that Snark was, I dunno, reading Chen's thought processes?

Oh lordy.

>>25084479
The church sounds good.

And tell MANIA and Areta that Snark told us that if he gets all the Epitaphs he'll be powerful enough to restore all the players that had fallen into comas, and be able to take down CC Corp despite their ability to completely ignore the law, and that that sounded a lot like a god to you.

>>25084560
I didn't think that was the case, seeing as he said he put Chen back together, and if the /tg/ hivemind is supposed to actually represent what's going on in Chen's brain, then Snark clearly failed horribly.

I mean this isn't a valid representation of a thought process.

>>25084560

IF HE ACTUALLY KNEW WHAT WE WERE THINKING, HE WOULD'VE NOTICED US SAYING WE AREN'T AND SHOULDN'T BE 100% PARANOID ABOUT SNARK.

IT IS, AT BEST, LOGICALLY INCONSISTENT.

>>25084614
>>25084615
Logically inconsistent like our actions when controlling Anon?

>>25084614
> /tg/ hivemind is supposed to actually represent what's going on in Chen's brain
There is no /tg/ hivemind as far as Snark is concerned. Only arguments from the brain's thinking processes to choose a course of action.

>>25084615
>SHOULDN'T BE 100% PARANOID ABOUT SNARK.
Lo and behold, people are still doing that anyway?

>>25084651
Except the "cutscenes" like during fights and such that show Chen/Anon show a cohesive personality and thought process.

And it can be assumed that despite actions being suggested by /tg/ that doesn't mean that inside Chen's mind is a horde of bored people on the internet.

That's asinine.

>>25084651

Well, there's two ways I see to look at this.

1: The discussion is an abstraction, in which case it wouldn't look like /tg/ arguing and more like 'I wonder if Snark's 100% on the level here? Nah, he seems cool. It's not like I can do anything but trust him at the moment....'

Which implies that we've noted the fact that he can screw us if he's evil, but choose to trust him anyway.

2: The discussion is EXACTLY how he thinks. In which case he would see the arguments and see also that the paranoid side is being voted down by our more rational side. which would imply the same as above, but give him added incentive to make us trust him.

I personally think two is unlikely on the grounds of him saying we aren't a hive-mind.

There's also a third option, in that we aren't 100% in control of Chen/Anon or that we're only actually playing one of them or something.

Or we have another person beside3s us and Snark up in our noggin and he's getting the voices confused.

>>25084732
Just sounded right to say, sorry anon.

I am actually of the belief he is learning paranoia and bad decision making from us.

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You decide to go to the Church. As soon as you arrive you know something is wrong. The walkway that leads to the front door is littered with bodies. You think you recognize a few from Kestral and a few from Moon Tree as you make your way to the large door. You slowly push it open, the horrible stench of blood assaulting you even here and you see kneeling on the ground Deevon, and standing over him the Moon Tree Captain.

"L-Look man. I surrender okay? This shit is way too much for me, okay? Let me just go meet up with my friends, I swear I will never bother moon tree again, okay?" He asks as Katsura raises his sword.

"And how will I know you will keep to your word? How do I know you won't just leave and do this all again?" He asks.

"Cripple me, tie me up, what ever man, but these guys ain't re-spawning. I think they might actually be dead, okay? PKing is fun and all, but I don't actually want to kill anyone, alright? That's a bit much for me." He explains as Katsura slowly lowers his sword.

"It seems you have thought much about this. How splendid." he smiles but then quickly raises his sword again. "But justice demands 'Swift Death to Evil!'" He shouts swinging.

Wat do?
[]Stop him! Deevon is a scrub but he doesn't deserve this.
[]Objectively it is better to let him die so you can stay on Moon Tree's good side.
[]Just turn and walk away, not your problem.
[]Other, please specify

>>25084790
Stop him.

Doesn't sound like any kind of justice I'm interested in.

>>25084790

Stop him.

"Alright, that right there? That was you surrendering the Moral High Ground. Being the good guy means acting better, not being more selective in your targeting."

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You barely spare it a thought before quick casting a spell and launching a stone spear at Katsura. It catches the blade midswing and knocks it out of his hands which makes him turn to you.

"Alright, that right there? That was you surrendering the Moral High Ground. Being the good guy means acting better, not being more selective in your targeting." You explain pointing the bladed edge of your fans at him.

"Why, if it isn't the demon emperor Chen, as well as demon palace finalist MANIA." He turns to look at you and you see his face cracked and lines with black. "How wonderful it is to see you again." He smiles.

"You forgot me." Areta explains, but if he hears her he doesn't let her know if it.

"Why would you protect evil Chen. Is this not an evil act? Are you evil? You must be. You must you must you must you must!" He chants with a smile.

"Everyone is evil, the world must be purged!" He smiles staring at you.

"No, dude. You forgot me." Areta weakly replies seemingly upset by it.

Wat do?

[]Talk him out of it. There are 4 of you and one of him
[]Fight him, you can probably take him
[]Let him off Deevon
[]Other, please specify

Did... did I lose my players?

>>25085121
"I swear to god if that's you in there Snark, we will have words."

No sense in talking to someone with an AIDA infection, ask MANIA if she could try beating this guy down and consuming his AIDA, without leaving him in a coma.

>>25085149
Possible.

It's been eight hours, we don't even know where to begin fixing this mess, and the only person who can decided to fuck off and throw a tantrum and maybe even become an antagonist because we wanted to pump up our allies a bit.

Morale may be a bit low.

>>25085181
Like I know Snark's vice is gluttony, but goddamn it.

We could always pick this up again on Wednesday, and hope for the best?

I will still be here if there are any questions, concerns, comments, criticism, or what ever.

No emails since... yeah.

>>25085121

Try talking him down. "He might be a dick, but striking a man who's surrendered is inexcusable no matter who they are. If you take this step you're no better than he is."

>>25085181
>>25085197

.... I have ideas, and this is the only time I get to play.

Dammit, I thought I made a thread for once.

If there are still people I can still run. It is only 1 am for me.

>>25085237
Are we supposed to know what to do?

Is this some puzzle we should be able to solve?

Because if so, you could stand to drop some hints.

>>25085260
Worse actually, since Deevon was pretty much just an irritant and a bully, while this guy's a murderer.

Probably not going to listen though.

Can't reason with his level of crazy.

>>25085237
So I guess we're not suppose to want to make sure all our allies are able to stand up to the threats this World faces, and not just beef ourselves up a lot?

>>25085292
Honestly you started trying to solve this one way, then Snark buggered out, so you are now going breakneck in the other direction.

Out of curiosity how many still here and willing/able to play?

>>25085121
"If everyone is evil, then you must be too. Where better to start purging the world than with yourself?"