You "wake up", weak and weary. Being this groggy after operating is unusual for you, but these things happen, you suppose.

You've just totaled Kara's chopper with all its jury-rigged armor. In a brilliant display of strategic foresight and improbable luck (technically, also strategic foresight), you have bested everyone in the match.

You get an odd feeling in the back of your head, and it suddenly occurs to you that future engagements will be much more difficult and more liable to end in failure. You remain undaunted, but keep this in mind.

With some difficulty, you sit up on your bed. Your eyesight blurs a little, but you blink it away. Kara looks dismayed, but also resigned. She tells you that you fought impressively. She wonders if you would like to join the Order now or get in contact with her later.

How will you respond?
>[] "You stabbed me in the back."
>[] "Nice feint."
>[] Check your pulse.

Also,
>[] Take up the offer to join the Order now.
>[] Say you'll join later, get Kara's contact info.
>[] Custom.

>>32957872
>[x] "You stabbed me in the back."
>[x] Say you'll join later, get Kara's contact info.

>>32957872
>[] "You stabbed me in the back."
>[] Say you'll join later, get Kara's contact info.
>[] Custom.
I cast Detect Deception!

And unfortunately have to head to sleep, good luck OP and fellow anons, don't fuck up.

>>32957908
On what, exactly?

Also, this "hidden DC" thing is pointless and stupid, so I'm gonna change that.

>>32957872
>[x] "Nice feint."
>[x] Custom.
Explain you were between a rock and a hard place earlier. Inform her that you respect her stance on warfare, but there's more to war than just a dichotomy between victory at all costs and unerring chivalry.

>>32957872
>[] "You stabbed me in the back."
Tell her you'll contact her later, but no promises.

>>32957908 here

I'll change my vote to seconding >>32958100

Let's get her contact info but not dive into joining one of the factions without knowing what we're getting into.

>>32957930
>On what, exactly?
EVERYTHING

>>32957872
>[x] Check your pulse.

>>32958154 here again

>>32957956
>Explain you were between a rock and a hard place earlier. Inform her that you respect her stance on warfare, but there's more to war than just a dichotomy between victory at all costs and unerring chivalry.
This is good, lets try to work this in.

And now, I really super duper need sleep.

>>32958154
Alright, your votes have been counted.

Everyone roll "4d6+-4", your DC is 10. Should be 8, but current circumstances make it a little more difficult to tell.

Rolled 2, 4, 1, 3 - 4 = 6

>>32958223

Rolled 1, 6, 6, 4 - 4 = 13

>>32958223

Rolled 1, 3, 4, 1 - 4 = 5

>>32958223
>your DC is 10. Should be 8, but current circumstances make it a little more difficult to tell.
uh wut?

>>32957891
>>32957908
>>32957956
>>32958100
>>32958154
>>32958162

>>32958245
>>32958308
>>32958373
[13>10. Success!]
[You detect no deception in anything Kara has said to you thus far. At least, not since the moment the match ended.]

"That wasn't exactly knightly of you," you say, your breathing growing ragged.

"And what does that mean?"

"I thought we'd have a clean duel at the end, there." Kara's face starts getting blurry. You blink it away again. She starts to look worried, now. You feel the need to get the rest of your words out while you still can. "Anyway, sorry for what happened back there."

"Back- what? Sorry for what?"

"I was kind of in a pinch and had to get away from Helen." You clear your throat. "Look, I can respect the Order's stance on war, but I don't much subscribe to it. You do what you have to and you choose from the options available to you. Battles are like waltzing in a minefield, and you gotta make sure you-"

You choke on something. You cough up blood. Well, at least it's something to stop your rambling.

"Darius?! Hold on, I'll-"

"Do exactly nothing." A smooth, confident voice cuts Kara off. You turn to see who it is.

Or rather, you would have seen, if another cough didn't make an honest attempt to shatter your lungs. Your hands tremble, your fingers won't listen. You can feel yourself go pale, as if all the blood in your body is bailing on you. You bring a hand up to your face, only to find it oddly cool. There's a disquiet feeling welling up in your abdomen. It's not nausea, but you can feel you're about to throw up.

You clench your fists, trying to gather the entirety of your human focus into them. The girl who interrupted Kara earlier is playing with a stiletto, tossing it in the air and catching it in increasingly difficult ways. She meets your haggard gaze with an arrogance you are almost certain is for show. Just as quickly, she catches her well-decorated knife in a simple motion and extends you a syringe.
[1/2]

>>32958721
Kara tries to take it, but her hand is quickly struck by the sheathed knife.

"For private eyes only~!" This bitch is getting on your nerves already.

The syringe is filled with a pale, bluish green fluid. It's watery as opposed to thick, but that doesn't tell you much.

You wonder if you should take it.

"You know, even if this is poison, you won't be much worse off than you already are."

Point taken.
>[] Take it, proceed with the injection.
>[] Refuse, continue your bout with unknown toxin.
>[] Custom? Shit, I don't know what else I'm gonna do.

File: 3e91bb66b7413c9349ef670bc(...).png (222 KB, 519x970)

222 KB PNG

Image fell off.

>>32958809
>>[] Take it, proceed with the injection.
fuckit I got no idea whats going on, and it looks like we're fucked if we don't

although I'm half tempted to take the syringe, then inject half into dagger-cunt to see how she reacts

>>32958809
>[x] Custom? Shit, I don't know what else I'm gonna do.
>Call our scientists.

I'd rather die than trust some random bitch.

>>32958858
This, do this

>>32958858
3rded

>>32958911
>>32958918
I feel all warm and tingly at this support.

>>32958858
>I'd rather die than trust some random bitch.
looks like we're gonna die then...

I also don't trust out scientists at fucking all so their opinions carry as much weight as this bint

>>32958854
>>32958858
>>32958911
>>32958918
Alright. You currently have blood trickling down your throat and into your lungs, your entire digestive tract is about to turn itself inside out and your eyes are both watery and itchy as hell. Even if you could keep them open, you wouldn't see shit.

On the other hand, you know perfectly well where in your pants your phone is located and how to dial Huxley. It's basic muscle memory, really.

Roll "4d6+-4". Your DC is 14. For somebody getting #REKT by the equivalent of Blue Ring Octupus poison, a 1-in-5 chance sounds pretty good.

Rolled 2, 4, 2, 2 - 4 = 6

>>32959041
THE #REKTENING IS AT HAND

Whoops, that's not 1-in-5 at all. Point still stands.

Rolled 3, 1, 6, 3 - 4 = 9

>>32959041

Rolled 5, 2, 5, 6 - 4 = 14

>>32959041

Rolled 5, 6, 5, 5 - 4 = 17

>>32959041
well good jobs guys, we're dead

>>32959125
NAILED IT! Well done, comrade.

>>32959106
>>32959124
>>32959125
>>32959137
God damn it, anon, what are you doing to my rails?

Fuck.

Writing.

>>32959137
Not with how well you are rolling.

>>32959176
Disregard rails. Acquire plot.

>>32959106
>>32959124
>>32959125
>>32959137
[17>14; Incredible success!]
You pull yourself right the fuck together! You can't let some fucking poison knock you out of the fight. You swat the syringe-holding hand away and grab your phone.

"Wait wait wait, what are you doing?"

You can't even see the touchscreen, but you know how to dial Huxley. You always dial manually, just in case situations like this crop up. Your muscle memory serves you perfectly.

"Kara, keep her away," you command.

The two girls start to bicker and get physical.

"Yes? What can I do for you, Darius?" Oh thank God, it's Huxley. He actually picked up his phone.

"Huxley, I need you here, fast! I'm pretty sure I got poisoned and-"

"Poisoned? What is this, Victorian England!? Tell me the symptoms."

"Blood in my airways, intoxicated digestive tract, itchy eyes and lots of mucus, but mostly in the eyes, too."

On the other end of the line, you can hear Huxley sigh.

"You sure never took any medical courses, that's for sure."

'Well, fuck you, too,' you think to yourself.

"Alright, hang in there. I'll send a team your way. Address?"

You start telling him your coordinates. You speech slows to a crawl when you see that blonde bitch just standing there, huffing, looming over Kara's downed body. Looks like Kara got an impromptu injection right in the fucking neck.

Uh. Shit.

The blonde grabs your phone from your hand, which is limp with shock, and looks ready to break it before pocketing it instead.

You need to get help. And fast.
>[] Find Helen. Bitch is crazy, but she won't let somebody else kill you, that's for sure.
>[] Find Green. You can get help from her. At least, you're pretty sure you can.
>[] Find Shanoa. Her institute's not far from here, maybe she can get you a place to hide.

>>32959504
>[x]Custom
>Scramble away, screaming bloody murder. >"Assassin! Help!"

Rolled 6, 3, 6, 2 - 4 = 13

>>32959504
>>[] Find Helen. Bitch is crazy, but she won't let somebody else kill you, that's for sure.

>>32959504
>[] Find Helen. Bitch is crazy, but she won't let somebody else kill you, that's for sure.
As long as you don't put your dick in her it'll be alright

>>32959570
>As long as you don't put your dick in her it'll be alright
We're totally putting our dick in her.

>>32959504
>>[] Find Shanoa. Her institute's not far from here, maybe she can get you a place to hide.

>>32959567
>>32959569
>>32959570
>>32959583
You leap over your bed and dash to the doorway. From there, you make a sharp right, go down a few straightaways, and find yourself in a room much like the one you were just in. There's almost nobody here. You move past the rows, eying the beds carefully. You'll never admit it, but you know Helen's quirks and behavior well enough to spot her bed from a mile away going by nothing more than the wrinkles and folds.

You walk up to it. What now? She's not here. You raise the mattress, where you find her pink diary. She still keeps that old thing, huh? Good to know she hasn't changed.

"Hey!"

Welp, that's her, alright.

"Oh, hi. I was just wondering if you could do me a favor-"

"Hmph!"

What. She just- She just harrumphed at you and turned around. And now she's leaving.

Uh. Is she mad at you over something?

Well. She left, in any case.

>[] Read the diary.
>[] Chase after her.
>[] Custom.

>>32959829
>>[x] Custom.
>Pocket diary and make to hide.

>>32959829
>[] Chase after her.
Don't be that way, let me talk to you

>>32959829
>>[X] Custom.
Cough out blood as loudly as possible and wince in pain just as loud.

>>32959987
>>32959996
>>32960167
Give me a little while anons. I'm gonna try something new for my QMing.

>>32960302
Get back in here, you drunken lout!

>>32960314
I'm not drunk yet!

Writing.

>>32959829
Read Diary Out Loud

>>32959987
>>32959996
>>32960167
>>32960584
You make a note to yourself: read that diary out loud the next time you need Helen to do something. Given she doesn't just take it by force, of course. You'll have to pick the right moment.

You stuff it in your pocket - well, more like slide it in, given these cargo pants don't go easy on the carrying capacity - and begin your show.

"Wait, Hele-" You stop just short, forcing a nasty cough. It turns out to be easy to get going and tough to stop. After a short while, your whole body is being shook like an apple tree. Red fruits descend through your airways. There's blood on your hand, blood dripping from your fingers, blood pooling on the floor.

You feel a little woozy.

In spite of your sorry state, you muster the full extent of your artistic talent and force your voice into an anguished... growl, yes, growl that sounds a lot worse than you actually feel.

And that's saying something. You feel like shit.

Helen runs over to you and starts patting you on the back. Then, the blonde comes in. Helen must have some sort of sixth sense, because she immediately figures out that this girl is somehow relevant to your unseemly state.

"And who are you supposed to be?!"

"Me?" The blonde at the doorway chuckles. "Tina Radiuju. Now how about you get away from the VIP and let me work my magic, hm?"

Helen won't have any of it. Your body begins to give you the signal to lie down and say your prayers, because your vision's petering out.

Time passes.

You wake up on the floor, sitting propped up against a bed - probably Helen's - with, uh, Tina, was it? Yeah, with Tina straddling you. You're almost impressed by your ability to care about this bitch. You've met a lot of new people, recently.

She snaps her fingers right in front of your face. It's unpleasant, both the sudden noise and the fact that you instinctively respond to gesture. You look up at her.

She's got a few bruises on the neck.
[1/2]

>>32960994
God damnit, Helen. You had one job! One Job!

>>32960994
I read the last thread, fuck that shit.
ADD MORE BRUISES AND CHOKE A BITCH

File: Lisa.Silverman.full.357763.jpg (597 KB, 1000x1224)

597 KB JPG

"Your friend put up quite the fight, you know?"

"Fffff-" Your tongue won't move right. Your whole mouth is dry, for that matter. "fffffuk u..."

It doesn't sound very dignified, but you're satisfied nonetheless.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Lamfe..." That "lame" doesn't come out quite right. She gets the point, though.

"Ain't too sharp yourself, Casanova."

"Mouf-" You do your best to swallow, to something wet the desert in your oral cavity. "Mouth. Dry..."

And then the unthinkable happens. The girl kisses you.

"Mmph!"

"Mm~"

She moans into your mouth, her tongue runs over yours, and - what's worse! - you find your own answering in kind. There's a slight hint of liquor in the taste of her mouth, but you lose yourself in her girlish aroma. Chamomille?

Her lips are soft and supple and undulate beneath your own. You raise an arm and bring it behind her head, pressing her head against you. She replies with a mewling "Mm!", but her tongue explores your mouth all the more eagerly for it.

You catch yourself and push Tina away. Her eyes are half-lidded, she licks her lips. She's obviously more than a little drunk.

You have the initiative.
>[] Grab her and take her elsewhere. Huxley isn't here yet and you're not intoxicated any more. You need to question Tina.
>[] Leave Tina be and get out of here. [Where? Why?]
>[] Custom.

>>32960994
So, she took down Helen, and tried to get us with a syringe. She injected (possible just killed) Kara with a needle, too. Chances are she had many, many needles.
Needles have stuff inside them.
Last thread was about the murdermcwonderdrug.
It said we were genetically related to the one who got dosed up, and that genetics were a large factor in its use.
I'd rather not be a guinea pig for this, too, however, so let's just go with HELL FUCKING NO.
Her flicking her fingers means that she doesn't have a syringe in one hand. If we can restrain both of her hands and head but her face in, we're safe. Ish.

>>32961199
>Paranoia Mode:___ Activate? Y/N
>Y Y Y Y Y Y Y YY Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
>RUN, BITCH.

>>32961199
>[x] Grab her and take her elsewhere. Huxley isn't here yet and you're not intoxicated any more. You need to question Tina.
We need info. Fast

>>32961199
>[] Grab her and take her elsewhere. Huxley isn't here yet and you're not intoxicated any more. You need to question Tina.

>>32961199
>[] Leave Tina be and get out of here.
>Where?
To the entrance/outside ASAP, AKA in broad daylight.
>Why?
So It's NEEDLEss to say that we don't really like being the ones being poked.
We do the poking, not the other way around.

(Especially by something that might be horrible)

>>32961199
>[x] Custom.
She's still sitting on us, right?
>Grab her for another kiss, turn her around and smash her head against the bed until she stops moving.

>>32961207
>>32961577
>>32961221
We've already been injected, time to find out with what.

>>32961221
>>32961301
>>32961375
>>32961577
>>32961717
[I'm not out cold from drinking just yet, don't worry.]

You get up and grab Tina by the hand. This plan of action proves difficult to execute, since she's straddling you on the floor and is drunk. Very drunk, in fact. You briefly contemplate just leaving her here to fend for herself, but you need information. And you need it fast.

You stand up straight, but Tina's just slumped up against the bed. You yank her up, and she even wobbles on her feet for a bit, but then she grabs you at the waist and hangs from you like a kitten from a tree branch.

"Hau~"

What a capricious girl.

You yank her up again, this time holding her by the waist. You elicit a giggle from the blonde, who seems extra clingy today. You notice her decorative knife on the ground, near the spot you two were lying in.

"Hey." You point at the knife. "You dropped this."

"Ah..."

Tina goes for the stiletto, and even gets it, but can't find the strength to straighten back out. That leaves you standing over a girl with her hands down and ass up. You give her a good what-for with a loud

SMACK!

"Hau~"

Tina slumps against your leg. You can't say you're surprised. Well, she's got her pretty knife in her hands and her hands folded in her lap.

You just go for the bride carry. That'll be faster than trying to get her tipsy ass moving.

Maybe you should have just smashed her face into the bed's frame after all.

You decide to head for the Babylon State Institute of Econometrics. Shanoa can give you hideaway. Funny how you're taking your would-be assassin to the same place you were going to hide from her in.

You manage to make it out of the building by the time Tina gets to slurring words together.

"What did you inject me with?"

"A... An..."

"Antidote?"

"A neurotoxin!"

...
[1/2]

>>32962179
Do we know her? This is a jumbled mess. I have no clue what's going on.

>>32962179
You almost drop her drunk ass on the hot pavement then and there.

"Don't joke like that, seriously."

"Sorry~!" Tina just laughs in your face.

You find yourself at BSIE, but don't find Shanoa there. She isn't picking up her phone, either. It's probably better to find an empty classroom and stay there for the moment. You find one facing the entrance to the campus: a splotch of emerald grass amidst white high-rises, white walls on both sides of the road heading right through the oval of greenery and to the building you're in.

It's quiet enough. People come through the hallway outside now and again, but you lock the door from the inside.

Time to interrogate.

What will you ask?
>[] Custom.

If there's something you don't understand, try prodding Tina about it. This will be a Q&A session, so everyone gets an answer, to the best of Tina's (drunk) knowledge.

>>32962403
So why exactly did she drug/kill both Kara and Helen?

>>32962435
It's Darius asking her, not you asking me. Put it in quotes and make it IC.

>>32962403
How the hell did whatever get in your system and how the hell did she know what to inject in you to make it go away?

>>32962465
>>32962476
>>32962435
>>32962403
I'd much rather want to know who the fuck she is and how we know her.

>>32962435
>>32962476
You sit Tina in a chair. You don't have anything to strap her down with, so you just push two desks together: one in front, one in the back. Thus forced against the back of her chair, Tina let out a whine.

"What did you do with Kara?"

"What DID I do?"

"You killed her, didn't you?! You killed and drugged her!"

"Quit your panicking, geez..." Tina's head dips. "She's just KO'd. She'll be fine... Probably."

"And what about Helen?"

"RIght cunt, that one..." Tina looks you in the eyes. Or rather, tries to. She misses her mark by half a mile. "Might have a concussion. She'll be OK too... Also probably."

"..."

"So who the hell poisoned my and how did you know what the antidote was?"

"Grandpa left me some notes..." TIna mumbles out a response, close to falling asleep, but jolts upright. "That's right! The notes!"

She turns to you, far too quickly for somebody as drunk as her.

"You're in a lot of trouble, mister! You know that?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, you sure are. We need to-"

"Hold up. The toxins. Answer that first."

"Ehhh~" That sing-song manner of speaking is quickly becoming grating. "That's a long story! We don't- YOU don't have time!"

"I'm sure I do."

"Bluh. Well, there's this eugenics crap the government is sponsoring, and you're the guinea pig. There was a bunch of progress on this stuff from before my grandpa's heyday, but then this new prince stepped in and was all like 'Nope!' so now there's-"

"What the fuck? Do I look like an idiot?"

"You don't even know, dude~"

"Ugh."

"Are you following me here, or do I need to spell it out?"

>[] Yeah, keep going.
>[] Nah, go back.

>>32962760
>[x] Yeah, keep going.

>>32962760
>[] Yeah, keep going.

>>32962760
>[] "Nah, go back. Go baaaaaaaaaaaack. And a little slower, too."

>>32962862
>>32962884
"Yeah, keep going."

"Alright, so the Nanotech and the Biotech lobbies got called in-"

"What?"

"Oh, that's right. This stuff doesn't go into the textbooks, right?"

"It sure as hell doesn't, whatever you're going on about."

"Yeah, okay, well, remember that big stalemate in Battlefield Europe? Just west of Germany, you know?"

"Yeah, I remember. That was-

>>32963034
You motherfucker!

>>32962760
Is Huxley in on it?
>>32963034
I don't get it.

>>32962862
>>32962884
>>32963034
"Go over that again."

"Fiiiine, fine. So! Way back in the day, in 2042, war broke out. There weren't any of these newfangled Empires and Confederacies, just a few pretty big countries. With me still?"

"Yeah, that's basic school-level shit."

"Right. All the stuff that lead up to it is common knowledge. Some defensive pact went aggressive, old coots wanted to keep their jobs, old hegemonies wanted to keep their economies pumping. The whole fiasco that tore down the bipolar world order just before the third millennium kept on going."

"Whoa."

"What?"

"Didn't expect you to sound like a textbook, is all."

"Deal with it~! So basically the Cold War started heating up again, small countries were forced to pick sides, all that jazz that goes on before every world war. Following?"

"Sure am."

"So everything was going smooth as heeeeell, but then the European Union fell the FUCK apart because England fucked off and Germany was tired of sucking American cock and all the Col War-era sentiments weren't applicable anymore. Huge discontent in the populace, fake war in the Middle East got sabotaged by Russia, then China started working in tandem with it for some reason, then the whole debacle with Japan..."

"Yeah, let's not get mired down in that."

"Right, so basically, the stakes were starting to get higher and higher, but this time it wasn't like the First Cold War, with all the intranationalism, it was all about the political ties. Eventually, the economic unions turned into military unions, then those turned into political unions and suddenly there weren't any borders anymore."

"And?"

"Then 2042 struck! The textbooks tell you a different story, but all the big battlefields have remained more or less the same as they were 200 years ago."

"Bullshit."

"Bullshit not, young grasshopper! Battle Europe, Battlefield Arabia, Battlefield Africa... Only Battlefield Pacific changed over the years. But you know, the whole fiasco with Japan..."

>>32963547
>"So you poisoning me might have been a better idea than letting me live after all.

"Anyway, around 2150, the Empire's military superiority was starting to wane. All those tanks and missiles were cutting it any more. The third march to the English Channel wasn't looking too good, so it was delayed. That's when the Nanotech and Biotech lobbies sprung up. One in Shanghai, one in Samara."

"Who started them?"

"Doooeeesn't matter! Some guys. Nanotech was privately sponsored, but Biotech was a government-funded thing! Nanotech dabbled in robotics, while Biotech did stuff with genetic engineering. Around 2173, there was a big scandal over Jake Carnegie, who died in Cairo on some tiny mission for literally no reason."

"How did the public ever find out?"

"That's where it gets interesting. The public never would have, but some Stand Alone Complex stuff happened, with a bunch of people spreading the info at the same time. The video feed from Carnegie's helmet. It showed him chugging something and literally tearing soldiers apart. Not only that, he was tearing apart Imperial boots, human ones!"

"Was that the outrage?"

"Haha, nope! It was the fact that he got shot by other guy, but then left his helmet on the ground and went to get some more of the combat drug that made him flip out. Then he put his helmet back on."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. You can guess where this is going! The Biotech project was way more productive, but it got canned. So fast forward to the 2210's, when Nanotech finally stopped stealing funding and churned out something cool."

"The Atlas prototype."

"Yep! Atlas was a real marvel, and the Empire was so impressed that they funneled a ton of money into it. My grandpa helped work on it. They needed a way to test Nanotech's big breakthrough before it got sent to the front lines, so once they were done fine-tuning the robots..."

"The Imperial Remote Operations tournament."

"That's right~! You're sharper than you look, you know! That started up in 2227. Which makes it how many years now?"

"...16 years."

"Just 15, actually."

"Right," you say. "The first one didn't count."

"So! Where do you come in?"

"The eugenics pro- Wait a minute. You said it got canned!"

"Pfft. As if. See, Biotech was government-funded! It's allowed to fail and fuck up a few times. So long as the Empire regains its military advantage and conquers the entire Eastern landmass - Europe, Asia, Arabia, Africa, the whole thing! - anything goes."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because, Darius, my grandpa actually worked for Biotech. He was Biotech's 'in' for Nanotech's operations. Did you know, for example, that you've been pretty much manufactured over 5 generations?"

"That's fucked up."

"Tell me about it. So who do you think poisoned you?"

"Uh... Nanotech?"

"Yeah, that'd be my go-to guess, too. It's not like that, though!"

"Huh?"

"We'll get back to that~! So about those eugenics. Think you're the last step?"

"Well... No. Nobody's told me anything. Hell, I had pretty fucking awful time of everything for a while."

"Yeah, I know. This place wasn't so pretty before they found New Babylon, was it?"

"Ehh."

"Figures~ So if you're not the last step, who do you think you're getting paired up with?"

You blanche.

"Y-you?!"

"Keeeeep dreaming! You don't know how they do things at Biotech. Buncha naturalists all up in there. They take one person with the most desirable genes - or just a person with some really rare gene - and surround them with suitors. Suitors of a certain genetic quality, mind you!"

"What does that even mean?"

"Hmm~ It means some hapless man or woman is suddenly surrounded by all these wonderful women or men, select appropriate."

"..."

"You know a lot of women, don't you, Darius?"

"I..."

"Hm?"

"All of them?"

"No, of course not. Just some. Nothing is pressuring them yet, so I doubt you'd know which ones are the ones."

>>32964373
>"All of them?"
>"No, of course not. Just some. Nothing is pressuring them yet, so I doubt you'd know which ones are the ones."
By that we can safely assume that yes all of them.

>>32964373
So... It would mess EVERYTHING up if we went straight to Huxley and told him we're going to fuck with the people who sacked him by, well, fucking our female half?

"Wait, but Biotech lost, right? Nanotech was the one with the tender, wasn't it?" You ask, desperate.

"That's right! Everything would be fine, Nanotech won the tender and gets money, Biotech lost but still gets funds. It's all good on both fronts."

"So, the ones who poisoned me..."

"That'd be the Prince."

"And what's he have to do with any of this?"

"He thinks Biotech is a waste of money and a drain on the nation's resources, dummy~!"

Amidst all this, it's easy to forget that Tina's still drunk.

"So, what do I do..?"

"Guess!"

You try to get yourself together. There's this Nanotech lobby, which made the IRO's robots. There's the Biotech lobby, which is apparently trying to mate you with somebody you know. You eye Tina again. Maybe she's in on it, too. Maybe she's just trying to get you to trust her so you'll end up with her.

Wait. 'End up with her'? That sounds a little... impersonal.

Finally, there's this Prince guy. He wants you dead. But-

"But why doesn't the Prince just shut down Biotech?"

"Aren't you just so smart! Maybe he already tried and it didn't take. Even if he didn't, easier to just kill you and be done with it. Five whole generations! That's a lot of wasted time!"

"Right..."

How... How do you stay alive? Wait! Tina knew about this! She knew that you'd get poisoned.

"How'd you know I'd get poisoned? Who told you?"

"Grandpa was, like, a quintuple-or-something agent. He knew everything~!"

"I have a hard time believing that."

"He knew you'd be dead right now without me, right?"

"..."

"I wouldn't talk to Huxley and Orlov about this if I were you."

"...Why not?"

Tina smiles. A chill runs down your spine.

"Want to see?"

>[] "I... I do."
>[] "Maybe it's best I don't."
>[] Custom.

>>32964601
>[X] "I... I do."

>>32964601
>[]Custom
"Sure. I'll just cut my sponsorship them and when they come crying to me, we'll see where they go. If they beg me and I say no, and they go somewhere else? It'll tell. If they come to me over and over again and beg, they'll be trustworthy.

Also... Is Un-
You fucker.
Uncle Sam.
He's trying to get us with a bride.
UNCLE. SAM.
YOU SON OF A BITCH.

>>32964601
>[X] "I... I do."

Revelations, be heap'd unto our welcoming lap

>>32964601
>[] "I... I do."

>>32964673
>>32964716
>>32964760
>>32965129
"I... I do."

"Then why don't you come with me~?"

You watch in disbelief as Tina places her hands on the desks in front and behind her, almost misplacing them, obviously still drunks, and swings her body out from her chair like an overshooting pendulum.

That level of acrobatics doesn't seem entirely human. No... She still has those bruises on her neck, right?

You walk up to her.

"Hey."

"Ah?"

You grasp Tina's neck with your hands. She puts her hands on your wrists. It's deceptively frail. You can feel the stringy muscles, beneath the smooth skin and discolored patches of skin. You press on them.

Tina gasps slightly.

Looks organic.

Tina looks at you expectantly.

"Let's go," you command.

"Mm... Let's."

~~~

Tina follows you out of BSIE, but leads you to Huxley's lab. The very lab you sponsor.

The guards eye you two carefully - you notice it even through their shades - but do nothing to hamper your entrance. Once in the lobby, though, you don't go to elevator. You take the stairs to the balcony overlooking the lobby's ground floor. It runs along the walls, and you enter an inconspicuous cabinet a little out of the way. It's secured with a single lock, but - once you enter, you find yourself in a small, enclosed space. Tina begins the process of removing one security measure after another. Key cards, passwords, the works.

Inside, you find a wealth of monitors. All of them show familiar places from unfamiliar angles: your lab and all its nooks and crannies. And on the one Tina points to, you see-

Helen. Talking with Huxley.

You break a few of the monitors before you can see not-red again.

Thread end! But don't leave just yet! I have an important question for everyone!

So, I'm trying to put together an upgrade tree. I could do it in a pastebin as a simple text file, but I'd like to make it visual.

Are there any programs that would easily let me make diagrams and flowchart-like trees? Hopefully, it'll be easy to make everything readable.

Already tried Paint.

>>32966298
>still drunks
Kinda laughed
>looks organic
Looks?
>Helen. Talking with Huxley.
>You break a few of the monitors before you can see not-red again.

Makes no sense in the least why he's angry.
Huxley got called, BY YOU, there, and Helen, who TRIED TO PROTECT YOU FROM SOMEONE THAT LOOKS CRAZY WITH A SYRINGE AND SHIT, are together, AT THE LAB. Unless they're talking about how "oh damn, the poison didn't work" or some shit like that, there wouldn't be any reason in the SLIGHTEST to have any doubts other than the ones implanted by the very same girl who went stabby stabby with the needle.

>>32966803
>Huxley got called, BY YOU, there, and Helen, who TRIED TO PROTECT YOU FROM SOMEONE THAT LOOKS CRAZY WITH A SYRINGE AND SHIT, are together, AT THE LAB. Unless they're talking about how "oh damn, the poison didn't work" or some shit like that, there wouldn't be any reason in the SLIGHTEST to have any doubts other than the ones implanted by the very same girl who went stabby stabby with the needle.

This. I am dumb, please explain.

>>32966803
>>32966894
>Looks organic.
Just making sure she wasn't some Nanotech robot.

>still drunks
OOQ is also still drunks, apparently.

>the rest
I called that motherfucker to bail me out, he didn't get there in time. Then when he DID show up, he probably found Helen sprawled out on the floor, unconscious, and took her back.

What the fuck?! I fund that shit. I've BEEN funding that shit for years. And now it turns out he's getting his money from Helen, too?! I mean, I could be wrong, but why else would they be talking? Why would she even be there? Huxley couldn't have collaborated on that assassination attempt. I refuse to believe it.

I just assumed and then I snapped. Happens to all of us, right?

I'm pretty Tina only had two syringes the whole time, because I didn't find any more on her when I felt her up.

>>32967017
OP, I get that you're trying to do a dramatic betrayal, but just because you know someone is evil doesn't mean we can tell. It just looks sudden and weird.

>>32967447
It's not dramatic, nobody is evil and it's arguaby not even betrayal.

>>32967564
Oh, then MC just seems ridiculously paranoid.

>>32967564
So the MC is borderline yandere for an old guy.
Oh....Kay then.

>>32968889
Yes anon, that is exactly what's happening

>>32968936
So... Darius getting insanely jealous of the fact that since he wasn't around the doc went and helped someone OTHER than Darius who was attacked, so he goes around in a murderous rampage of screen genocide?
Um...

>>32968987
Why didn't he take her to hospital?

>>32969114
>he WORKS/IS BASICALLY OWNER OF HOSPITAL
Remember in the warehouse: "hey, he did my dental work, hey, he regret my arm for me"

>>32969114
"Nobody's saying much yet. Most are just afraid of getting their file pulled. Whenever they're confident nobody's watching, it's all they talk about. 'I got my teeth fixed' this and 'I grew my arm back' that. Seriously, that Huxley of yours is a real charity worker."