>>29434897
>Ah, wait, hold on, I should ask/talk to Tracy about [write-in].
Let's ask how she's holding up with her brother. He still giving her shit about dating Abby, right? Or being suspiciously gone/having weird people over/whatever.

Beyond that, timeskip should be fine.

>>29434897
>Ah, wait, hold on, I should ask/talk to Ned about [write-in].
Let's ask him about the bigwigs in his church. But all subtle-like.

"Tracy, is everything good with your brother?"

"Hmm?" She asks, doing a double take.

"I mean, is he bothering you about dating me?"

"No. He doesn't want to talk about it, but other than that, no. He, uh," she pauses, hesitating, "he just really doesn't want to even think about it."

You nod. "He isn't doing anything suspicious?"

She gives you a look, sort of a 'what kind of stupid question is that?' look. "No more suspicious than usual." She looks like she's about to ask you something, then stops. Probably about why you're asking these questions.

You turn to Ned. "Would you mind explaining how the Church is structured?" Tracy's eyes widen in response to the question, unclear on why you started him on his pet subject.

He takes on a manic expression, and goes into detail. You manage to cut him off at only five minutes, and the gist is thus: the leader is George. It's fairly loosely organized underneath him, but the Church only has a few thousand members, so it manages. Below George are the priests and other professional members of the Church who work for it, followed by a variety of volunteers, followed by the general population. It's not a particularly complex or even good structure, but with only a few thousand dedicated followers and a charismatic leader, it doesn't need to be.

Besides George, and a list of priests whose names and brief details you memorize, there's George's... well, as Ned put it, you "can't call them wives, but if we weren't in a common law marriage state, they'd be called wives." There's just three of them, but they're pretty powerful in the Church, if only informally.

>Timeskip to the end of school.
>Write-in.

>>29435421
>Timeskip to the end of school.
Sounds fine to me

>>29435421
It's been a while but I can't remember anything we needed to get done right now at least.

You finish a series of fun if not intellectual conversations, and lunch ends. You attend class, and finish up studying programming in the meantime.

>Programming: complete.

Okay. School's out. You have two hours to prepare for your meeting with the (probable) Healer Incubator. It's probably best to focus solely on that.

Any and all preparations you want to do?
>Figure out if you can't hide a holdout weapon somewhere.
>Prepare a story to tell the (probable) Healer Incubator, about why you lied so much to get to see her.
>Prepare a story to tell the (probable) Healer Incubator, about her powers. You know enough about the Church's doctrines from Ned to bullshit up something convincing to a religious nut. It will have the downside of being untrue.
>Make sure Richard knows you plan to go today, that if you don't call back by tomorrow things went bad, etc.
>Write-in.

Alternatively:
>Actually, I'm a finnicky asshole, I want to do something else.

(You don't need to prepare a story if you're just going to tell the straight-up truth.)

>>29435942
>Figure out if you can't hide a holdout weapon somewhere.
Surely we can science up something. Maybe.
>Make sure Richard knows you plan to go today, that if you don't call back by tomorrow things went bad, etc.
We should tell her the truth, emphasize the risk of her manifesting and slaughtering everyone if she stays cooped up.

>>29436032
>We should tell her the truth, emphasize the risk of her manifesting and slaughtering everyone if she stays cooped up.

Given the MC has eidetic memory (and this is recent and relevant), I will remind you that Ned said that the Church has been doing the healing for the last couple months, and that Richard said you could expect a manifestation once a month unless you went around killing other Incubators.

If she is an Incubator, then she almost certainly has already manifested.

>>29436086
Yeah, but we don't know how the church has dealt with it. I mean, it's not like they can conveniently kidnap other incubators and bring them to her for killing.

>>29436032
I'll back this.
We can also tell her about the plenty of people who'll probably want her head if she doesn't get some allies, between other incubators in general and the government.

A holdout weapon might not be useful, and it might make them very suspicious of you if it's found, but you've judged the risks to be worth the rewards.

No point in taking unnecessary risks with it, though. You take a butterfly knife and wrap it in cloth before shoving it into one of the two places you're reasonably certain they won't check. And if they do try to check, why, it would be perfectly normal to refuse to let them. It's uncomfortable (very uncomfortable, actually), but it works.

You call up Richard, making sure he knows that you plan to go today, telling him to be your dead man's switch. He acknowledges your statements, though you can tell he still doesn't believe that she's really a Healer Incubator.

Whatever. You touch up your make-up, adjust the contents of your wallet and purse to only contain non-identifying things and your fake ID, and wear the most mature clothes you can find. You were already tall for a girl, and your almost supehumanly clear skin ages you up by a half-decade, so you can probably pass for a twenty-something. No point in unnecessary risks, though.

You head to the address McAlister gave you, and do your best impression of a multiple gunshot victim as you limp into the building (the discomfort in your nether regions helps sell it). No one is in the entry room, though it does seem like it's also a waiting room.

>Wait there patiently and quietly.
>Look for someone to talk to and ask about where McAlister is.
>Now's your chance. Explore the building.
>Write-in.

>>29436525
>Wait there patiently and quietly.
For now. Be very wary though.
Also ouch, that's some dedication,

>>29436525
>Look for someone to talk to and ask about where McAlister is.
We have a reason o be impatient, after all. Not comfortable those gunshot wounds.
How are we gonna play it if they ask to seem them first, exactly?

Rolled 2

1- >>29436643
2- >>29436700

>writing

>>29436790
Alright!
Not a lot of people around tonight.

No point sitting around waiting, though.

You start moving inward through the building, and find some people sitting aroud in another room, and ask the most official-looking one where McAlister is. He directs you towards an office, and you thank him before limping out. You arrive at a room with McAlister's name written on the door, and knock.

"Who is it?" he asks, mildly irritated.

"Diana Smith," you lie effortlessly.

"Ah, right, right," he says, getting up and opening the door. He does a quick double take when he sees you, then nods. "We need to vet you before we can take you to be healed. I believe I mentioned as much on the phone?" You nod. He didn't quite say that, but it was close enough. "Follow me," he says with a gesture. He takes out his own phone and has a quick conversation with someone who, based on his side and the context, you guess is a doctor.

You enter a room that looks impressively similar to one of the ones at your local doctor's office. After one minute and sixteen seconds, a middle-aged woman comes in.

"Now, I need to check your wounds, Mrs. Smith. If you would disrobe?"

You don't bother to correct her on your marital status, and get to undressing.

In short order, you're in your undergarments and the woman is checking the bandages for your wounds, careful not to make them any worse. She nods and "mm-hmms" to herself throughout the process. "Well, Mrs. Smith, your wounds are quite real, and I can see how they would interfere with your day-to-day life. You can get dressed now, someone will come back to take you to the location."

You know they plan to blindfold and restrain you.

>Go along with it.
>Try to convince them not to (how?)
>Convince them not to (with violence)
>Write-in.

>>29437032
Can we tell if we're able to snap the ropes if needed?

>>29437095
You're strong, but not outside human limits. The odds that you would be able to snap the restraints are minimal.

>>29437112
Dropped my trip.

>>29437112
And of course, we put our secret weapon somewhere very inconvenient for grabbing surreptitiously. Kind of at an impasse then, since all we'd do by refusing here is warn them, while still have no clue as to where the Healer might be, but letting them tie us up is just inviting trouble.

>>29437164
>And of course, we put our secret weapon somewhere very inconvenient for grabbing surreptitiously.
There really was no other place to hide it.

>>29437242
Indeed. That's the problem with knives. And guns. Most conventional weapons really.

>>29437032
>Go along with it.
Just to get this moving.

You decide to go along with it. The woman leaves you, and you quickly get dressed. "I'm decent," you say through the door, in case they cared. A couple men come in soon thereafter and lead you out to a van, whereupon they open up the back. On the bed of the trunk is a gurney with built-in restraints, and you let them tie you into them. The restraints are very tight and very strong; you doubt that you could get out in any reasonable time.

Nothing to do but trust them. If they were killing people, they probably wouldn't be being talked up by members of the Church. One of them blindfolds you, and shortly thereafter, the van starts up.

You get some vague ideas of distance and direction during the trip. Not enough to be exact, but enough to narrow down the location you're arriving it.

When the van stops, you're pulled out and moved around. You move inside a building, and reach some kind of multiple door/lock system, each one closing before the next opens, until you finally arrive at what is almost certainly your destination.

The man responsible for pushing you here moves away from you, towards the door. Another person walks up to you, from the far side of the room.

You feel fingers run over you, then hesitate, withdrawing.

"...is there something special about her?" A girl's voice asks from somewhere just across the room. The Healer, probably.

"What do you mean?" The man who brought you here asks.

"...she feels strange. The wounds are real, but something is different about her body. It reminds me of... myself."

>Remain silent, listen.
>Write-in.

>>29437560
>Remain silent, listen.
As long as it doesn't seem like they're getting aggressive or try to move us, keep silent.

>>29437560
>Ask what she means by that.
Hey, might as well get involved; and it would be suspicious to the others if we just took that in stride.

>>29437672
Sure, why not.

"What do you mean by that?" You ask.

There's a brief silence, then the girl speaks. "It's strange. Your body. When I touch people, I get an idea of their bodies. I also have a similar idea of my body. It's not..." she pauses, searching for words. "It's odd. I can tell if you have cancer, but not if you have an arm raised, you understand?" You nod, to the extent you can in the restraints. "Your body feels different from everyone else's, similar to how mine feels."

The man speaks up, just the tiniest bit of fear in his voice. "You're saying she's a vessel too?"

"...maybe?" the girl offers. "But I don't think that's quite right. If she was like me, she wouldn't have these wounds, or at least, they would be healing much faster than they are." She speaks to you. "Do you know what's similar between you and me? Is that why you came? Or is this an act of the Goddess, bringing us together?"

>Write-in.

>>29437560
>silence
also damn OP you aren't ded

>>29437922
>I know what's similar.
>But please heal me

>>29437922
>I came to get healed. As you correctly observed, I can't do much to heal myself, certainly nothing compared to you. That said, I will admit the whispered rumors surrounding your existence interested me as well. Tell me, how long have you been healing?

>>29437924
>also damn OP you aren't ded
I only slept about four hours last night, so I kind of feel like it.

>>29438110
Ouch. Maybe you should have napped before starting.

You take just a moment to orient yourself mentally. "I am still a gunshot victim," you manage to say. "If you would please heal me...?"

"Ah, yes," she says, hurriedly. She seems almost trivially easy to manipulate in this way, moving back to you quickly, placing a hand on your chin. You can feel your wounds cleaning themselves out, skin growing to heal, bruises clearing up, all the minor aches and pains disappearing. After a few seconds of this, she speaks. "My question, though?"

"I know what's similar between us," you admit. "I came to get healed, but I also came because I heard about you and guessed we were alike. How long have you been doing this?"

After a long moment, the man answers. "Seventy-eight days."

"Did-" she stops herself. "Have you-" she stops herself again. You can hear the nervousness in her voice. "If you're like me, then-" another stop. "How long have you been... like this?"

>"A week."
>"A week. I know about what you're worried about, and I know how to prevent it."
>"Several months."
>Write-in.

>"A week. I know about what you're worried about, and I know how to prevent it."

>>29438555
>A week. I know what you're worried about, and how to prevent it.

>>29438555
>"A week. I know about what you're worried about, and I know how to prevent it. But you might not like it much. More then the alternative I hope."
Well, she seems friendly for now, but there's still the church people around, and her likely negative reaction to the idea of her power not being divine. Though the manifestation may have helped drill that home.

"A week. I know about what you're worried about, and I know how to prevent it."

Both of them say the same thing at the same time; the girl in a quivering, hopeful voice, and the man in a shocked tone. "You do?"

"Yeah. It's not the most pleasant thing, but it's better than the alternative."

"What is it, then?"

>There's really no way to be gentle about this. "You have to kill other people like us."
>Lead in with the gentler stuff. "You can delay it some by hanging out with others like you, and maybe by some kind of temporary holding situation."
>You don't want a second pair of ears to hear this. "Can we speak alone, without anyone listening in?"
>Write-in.

>>29439125
>You can delay it by hanging out with people like you. Like me!

We can tell her the other part without watchful priest noobs.

>There's really no way to be gentle about this. "You have to kill other people like us."

>>29439125
> Well, there's two ways. First thing, you have to be around others like you, on a consistent basis. That's the good part, but it'll only add a little time between each...event. The other way is...less pleasant.
Ideally don't want to blab about it in front of the church people.

"There are two ways. The first is to hang around others like you, on a consistent basis. The second is... something I'd prefer to speak to you alone about."

She snorts. "I'm afraid that's not really possible," she says ruefully. "Whatever you have to say, you'll have to say with someone watching. I'm not allowed to leave or go unmonitored. You can't see them, but there are cameras in this room. You can probably guess why."

That's explains the multi-level lock door. It's not keeping people locked out; it's keeping her locked in.

>"Can I speak to whoever is in charge, then?"
>"Fine. You have to kill others like you."
>"Think about what I said. I'll see about coming back."
>Write-in.

>>29440021
>>"Can I speak to whoever is in charge, then?"

>>29440021
>I can indeed guess why they put it in place. And I'm guessing you agreed to avoid hurting people when a manifestation - that's what they're called - happens? Or?

>>29440021
>"Think about what I said. I'll see about coming back"

you're gonna have to kill others like you
ok
she kills us
gg

>>29440165
I'm not sure she has the guts to do that, BUT maybe her church friends would attempt to take things into their own hands. Let's not mention it like this, we can convince the others to come next time since she's an actual healer.

"I can guess. So you agreed to be held to avoid hurting people when you... Manifest?"

"Manifest?" She snorts again. "I suppose that's as good a word as any. Yes, when I 'manifested' the aspect of the Destroyer, or rather, when it was made manifest through me, I..." her voice carries a note of pain, "I killed people. Set their souls on their course for their next incarnation. When I got back in control, they made this facility to keep others safe from me."

"I understand," you say. "Can I ask why you do this?"

"It is my purpose," she says, clearly. "Why I was put in this world, in this body, to live this life." There's some hidden meaning behind her words, you think, but you have no idea what it could be.

>"Can I speak to whoever is in charge? As I said, there are other ways to delay it. You can't do them cooped up in here, though."
>"You have to kill others like you to keep going. Fairly consistently, once a week. That's how I got these wounds. Most people like us aren't pleasant."
>"I'll see about coming back, doing what I can for you."
>Write-in.

>>29440981
>Have you talked to your cambion at all?

>>29440981
> How did you not get caught by the police authorities after killing multiple people? From experience, the government would be unlikely to leave you in the hands of the church if they knew about you.

>>29440981
>[half-truth] "You can stay as you are by killing people. The creature inside you doesn't care who you kill, but for the sake of your conscience I recommend only killing people who deserve it. Not a great deal, but the monster is going to feed one way or another. The best you can do is choose who it eats."

>>29440981
> Were those your thoughts before the manifestation as well?
I'm kinda thinking they're not gonna let us leave now. And we have no real way to get out since we're tied down. Might as well keep talking.

OP, can you drop a >Writing... to tell us when to stop suggesting? With such a long turnover, I'm worried my suggestion will get ignored.

>>29441382
I adjust for additional votes. I've written updates, seen the winning vote option changed, and started over.

"Were those your thoughts before the Manifestation as well?"

"That my life's purpose was to do this, to heal? Yes."

"How did you not get caught after killing multiple people?"

"When it took control, it didn't break bones and make obvious signs. It just held them and killed them. Heart attacks. Aneurysms. Strokes. If anyone was likely to be blamed, it would have been the Church, but George has good lawyers, and understood it wasn't my fault."

"Have you talked to your... to the thing inside you that gives you your powers?"

"It's an aspect of the Destroyer. It isn't particularly coherent. Mostly it tells me to kill things, in particular you. It is very adamant on that point. Which is more than enough reason not to," she adds to reassure you.

>Half-truth. "You can stay as you are by killing people. Preferably those who deserve it."
>Ask to speak to an authority figure.
>Leave, planning to return later.
>Tell her the whole story now.
>Write-in.

>>29441636
>"Yeah, they'll do that. You're better off trying to ignore it. But...well, let's just say that they're not ONLY saying that because they're sociopaths.

>Here's the deal though. As long as you stay here, you're not gonna be able to hold it back when it decides it wants to wreck some havoc. And trust me, it's gonna get stronger, to the point that even this impressive security-installation has no chance to stop it. Sad but true."

>>29441636
>>Half-truth. "You can stay as you are by killing people. Preferably those who deserve it."

>>29441636
>Half-truth
I don't want to tell her the whole story, but at this point saying nothing will just raise more suspicion.
Plus it would be funny if the cult decided to start doing human sacrifices.

>>29441212
>I'm kinda thinking they're not gonna let us leave now.
We do have a dead man's switch in the form of Richard, remember.

>>29441636
>Leave with the intention of returning.
Now that we know how things are, we can think and come back with a plan. It's what our type does best, after all.

>>29441840
Yeah, but they could just kill us after pretending to take us out again. Ain't got much defenses here!

You give a long sigh, preparing yourself for what you're about to do. "You can stay as you are by killing people. Preferably those who deserve it."

There's a long moment of silence. "Is that how you were wounded?" She asks.

The last of your wounds closes up, as if on cue. "...yes," you admit. Half-truths are deniable, lies aren't. "He was not a good person."

An even longer moment of silence. Her fingers withdraw from you, which lets you lose some tension you weren't even aware you had.

"May I go?" You ask, breaking the silence.

"Hold on," the man says. "She's asking to leave." You hear a tiny noise, an earpiece most likely. "Yes, sir." He speaks to you, now. "George would like to see you."

>"Can I speak to him without a blindfold and restraints?"
>"Fine, I'll talk to him."
>"Too bad. If you don't let me go, I've got a dead man's switch set to go off and ruin your day."
>"Too bad. I need to get home and sleep. Maybe later."
>Write-in.

>>29442280
>Can I lose the restaints first?

>>29442280
>"Fine, I'll talk to him."

>>29442280
> "Well the feeling's mutual, but somehow I doubt that'll happen."
We can still joke!

>>29442490
> "Well the feeling's mutual, but somehow I doubt that'll happen."

Tarty, baby, locely, you really gotta work on your typing speed.

>>29442738
Bathroom Doritos will do that to anyone.

"The feeling is mutual, but I somehow doubt that I'll be seeing him."

There's silence.

"Because of the blindfold."

Still silence.

"It was a joke."

More silence. The girl finally breaks the silence with, "I see."

"It *was* funny..." you grumble. "Pearls before swine."

"There, there," says the girl. There's the tiny noise that means someone's talking on an earpiece, and the girl responds to it. "No, not as far as I can tell. There are some differences in the eyes and ears, I think, but nothing beyond superior senses, at the most." More noise. "George says you can see him, though he won't remove the restraints until he has his measure of you. It isn't like his identity is a secret. But not until you're well and truly gone."

The doors unlock in series, moving you through them on the gurney, and you're loaded up in the van again.

Eventually, you arrive in some other building, at some other part of town. You have a very, very vague idea of its location. The gurney is adjusted, raising you to a nearly vertical position, and someone gingerly removes your blindfold. You can tell by the texture that they're wearing gloves.

A rather portly man with a bald spot and a pot belly sits in front of you, reclining on a particularly nice chair.

"Hello, Mrs. Smith," he says, smiling.

THREAD END.

Comments, criticism, etc.

>>29442847
Awww, alright. I'll look forward to the next one, then.

>>29442847
thanks for running!

any idea when you'll be able to run again?

>>29442738
Approximately thirty minutes per update is a perfectly reasonable speed.

>>29442789
Actually, now that the Christmas season's over, I can eat at my favorite restaurant instead of subsisting on Doritos.

>>29442897
Some time next week. Tuesday, maybe?

I just do them when I have the energy*, which varies.

*: Or pre-commitments.

>>29442934
>Actually, now that the Christmas season's over, I can eat at my favorite restaurant instead of subsisting on Doritos.

No. Bad. That's way too expensive - buy ingredients and make meals. In the long run it's cheaper.

>>29442973
>No. Bad. That's way too expensive - buy ingredients and make meals. In the long run it's cheaper.
The place I eat at is ~$1 a meal, man, it's cheap as fuck.

>>29442993
It's also better for you to make your own meals.