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>>40992424
“Alright,” She says. “Let’s figure out what the plan is, and you need to decide now if we’re going to be lying and hiding a lot, or just skipping straight to the fighting and getting stabbed a lot.”

You give her a look.

“Look, it doesn’t take that genius on the radio to figure this one out. We go in, we do stuff, eventually we’re going to find this Joy-In-Ruin girl, and stuff’s gonna go down.” She sighs. “I can barely shoot straight, and Embers can’t punch a wall without missing.”

“And?” You ask.

“And…I dunno.” She says. “I think I want to go home. That’s what I’m trying to say.”

“I promised that I’d help her.” You say. You find your hands tightening around the steering wheel.

Emmy sighs and shakes her head. “If we find another working car, I’m heading back.” She says.

You swallow a lump, and you try to keep your face calm as you nod.

“Anyway, do we really need to deal with this girl at all?” Emmy asks.

“The Radio woman said it would be best.” You say.

“Fine.” Emmy says.

>Choose Location

> Head to Cygnus Infrastructure, and get Voice more access

> Head straight into town and find Joy-In-Ruin

> Just see if you can drive through Cygnus and get out of Swanmay

> Try to fight your emotions and listen to Emmy’s ‘Go Home’ plan

>Choose Tactic

> Change back into Lupa, and let’s try to avoid a fight as long as humanly possible.

> Stay as Ashes. It’s going to end in violence. Why bother with the pointless preamble?

>>40992440
>> Head to Cygnus Infrastructure, and get Voice more access
> Change back into Lupa, and let’s try to avoid a fight as long as humanly possible.

>>40992440
>> Head to Cygnus Infrastructure, and get Voice more access
> Change back into Lupa, and let’s try to avoid a fight as long as humanly possible.

>>40992464
this

Nice to have you back Echo.

>infrastructure
>transform back to lupa

We don't want them to transform anymore than they do. Hopefully they can see that. they won't

>>40992464
>>40992723
>>40992740

You change back into Lupa, and drive through the city, slowly.

"Voice said that Infrastructure was a concrete building that had three brass domes on the roof." You say.

"If any of it is still standing." Emmy says, as she looks around the city. "Or if these people haven't tweaked it."

The city is a schizophrenic mix of decay, battle scar, and alien reconstruction. Crumbling buildings have bullet holes in them, along with red/blue/yellow paint haphazardly splashed over them, and scrap metal patch jobs that seem intent on being as tall and shiny as possible.

Also it seems as if every building that shows any sign of inhabitance has huge piles of earth outside of it.

"Are they're digging?" Emmy asks.

You shrug. "Maybe." You remember that Hubris were present in West Wind's underground training center, and in the underground prison.

You continue to drive through Cygnus.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>40993019

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>40993019

>>40993019
I'm scared of rolling now.

Rolled 7 (1d8)

>>40993060
>>40993019
Here, anon. Let me.

Fuck yeah made it to a live thread.

>>40993035
You see some signs of cooking fires inside buildings, and groups of people staring at the pinwheel pyramids. However, they're content to do that and, you know better than to bother them.

Only one of the bronze domes is still standing, but the Infrastructure is easy enough to find. You drive up to the front steps, park, and lock up the car.

"So, we're looking for what exactly?" Emmy asks as the pair of you start to shift the rubble out of the way of the front door.

"Anything working." You say. "Then we contact Voice and she tells us how we can get her access."

"So, we don't know if this is going to help at all." Emmy says, as you two slowly force the large heavy door open.

You nod. "Yeah, she said it was a shot in the dark, but they built this kind of tech to last and to withstand a lot."

"Alright." Emmy sighs.

The pair of you slip inside and you walk into the large room of the building. It looks very...concrete. Concrete walls, concrete stairs, a tiled floor of various colors of grey. It all has a very stark and severe look to it. This is a building of Government and Importance.

The rusted green ruins of a statue of a human male is the centerpiece. It long since collapsed on itself, the only thing left standing is the left leg and it genitalia free crotch.

There's signs with Pre-End Writing all over the place. However, it's not quite the same as the Writing that you're used to seeing back home. Apparently Swanmay had a different language than Peninsular and Tributary.

Well, you might as well give it a shot. Maybe you can figure it out.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>40993516

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>40993516

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>40993516

>>40993604
You can figure out a few words, but it's still pretty garbled.

At least you can get a sense of where you're heading now.

Also, according to some rather large signings that are repeatedly posted on the walls, it's a felony to express Joy or display Regalia on this government property.

>Where to?

> 1st floor: Water & Power, ??? Control
> 2nd floor: Lobby & ??????? Permits
> 3rd Floor: ???? Repair & Maintenance

>>40993857
Third floor!

>>40993857
> 3rd Floor: ???? Repair & Maintenance

>>40993857
>> 3rd Floor: ???? Repair & Maintenance
???? sounds important.

>>40993857
>> 3rd Floor: ???? Repair & Maintenance

Thread Archived
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Post-Apocalypse%20Magical%20Girl%20Quest

>>40994020
Good thinking, there was another anti-quest fag lurking about, probably best to archive it now before someone fucks it up.

>>40993890
You walk up one flight of stairs to the third floor.

"Why is this called the third floor?" Emmy asks. "Shouldn't this be the second?"

You shrug. "Just how it's done here, I guess."

The 'third' floor is a collection of offices, office spaces with decaying cubicles, and desks. There's a huge Screen on one of the walls, and a bunch of desks with smaller Screens on them facing it.

Searching the desks you find a few surviving papers. They're covered with wiggly drawings that look like spiderwebs with lots of notation. The rest just look like spread sheets and long reports.

One the biggest problems is that this place, obviously, was supposed to operate with power. Right now, the entire floor is dead.

> Don't do anything else, and continue to salvage the third floor regularly.
> Embrace Joy, and turn into Ashes. Maybe your presence will cause some stuff to turn on.
> Leave this floor for now, and go see what the other two floors look like.

>>40994265
>> Don't do anything else, and continue to salvage the third floor regularly.

>>40994265
> Don't do anything else, and continue to salvage the third floor regularly.
Nice to see you back, Echo.

>>40994265
> Don't do anything else, and continue to salvage the third floor regularly.
Probably not meant to be powered by Joy, given what the sign said.

>>40994265
> Leave this floor for now, and go see what the other two floors look like.

>>40994265
> Leave this floor for now, and go see what the other two floors look like.

>>40994265
>> Don't do anything else, and continue to salvage the third floor regularly.

>>40994360
Best not to break the law, you nod to yourself.

You start your usual careful salvage steps, carefully working to see if there's anything work taking, or still working.

It looks like light pickings, sadly.

> Roll 1d6

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>40994706

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>40994706

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>40994706

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>40994706

>>40994780
ayoo!

>>40994780
Why do we only get good rolls outside combat.

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>40994780
Well, you found something interesting. Someone's desk has a big thick book in it. According to the back, the book is apparently about the 'truth' about the Sorrow War. How the Joy-In-Hearts contributions were minimal at best, and detrimental the rest of the time. However, the inside of the book has been hollowed out. Someone's put pictures of Joy-In-Love in it, a small locket of a few pink hairs sealed in glass, and a, still intact, tape cassette that's labeled 'Uncut Interview.'

You pocket them all.

"You find anything?" You ask Emmy.

"No, but...I think these papers might me road maps." She says.

You nod, a little upset that you didn't figure that out yourself. "Alright, is anything working up here?"

"No." Emmy sighs. "Just dead Screens. Found a bunch of skeletons in one closet. About 15 people, all jammed in there. Either the locals did it, or they did it to themselves."

You nod. "From what we know, it could have gone either way." You say.

"Uh oh." Emmy says, looking out a window.

"What?" You ask.

"Locals." Emmy says.

"Shit." You sigh. "What are they doing?"

>>40995062
"They're poking around the car." Emmy says. "And...yeah...one of them's been looking right at me."

You pull Emmy back from the window. "They saw you?" You ask.

"Yeah." She frowns. "Also looks like they were 'really' interested in the car, and our supplies that are inside it."

> Leave the locals alone, and keep exploring the building.
> Go outside and keep the tape-covered nutjobs from breaking into your car.

>>40995145
> Go outside and keep the tape-covered nutjobs from breaking into your car

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>>40995145
>Go outside and keep the tape-covered nutjobs from breaking into your car
They've probably already scratched the paint job, and we kinda do have the ultimate threat if we wanna be a bitch about it.

unsurprisingly, sepia-toned magical girl artwork is hard to find.

>>40995145
> Go outside and keep the tape-covered nutjobs from breaking into your car.

>>40995145
>> Go outside and keep the tape-covered nutjobs from breaking into your car.

>>40995145
>> Go outside and keep the tape-covered nutjobs from breaking into your car.

>>40995185
The thing that's always annoyed me about that image is that the wand is pre-Keeper of the book of Sakura whereas she wouldn't get so jaded until after the shit with the cards was done.

>>40995215
You both hurry down the stairs, and out the door of the building. It's a good thing too, because you see one of the Locals has a large rock in their hands that they were probably going to use as a lockpick.

"Hey!" Emmy shouts. "That's ours!" She has her gun in her hand, her finger not on the trigger.

You've got your knife ready.

The Locals, there's five of them, back away from the car. They have the usual collection of pipes, kitchen knives, and taped up bunches of rebar. Scavenger weapons.

"titk tik tik tiktik!" The girl with the rock says.

"What?" Emmy says.

"Hungry...please..." She says.

The crowd makes murmuring 'tik-tik' sounds of agreement. They don't seem hostile, just hungry, scared, and...yeah, you can see the dead larvae in their flesh.

> Try to scare them off without hurting them
> Hurt one of them and that WILL scare them off
> Give them some food.

>>40995472
> Give them some food.

>>40995472
>> Give them some food.
no way this can go wrong

>>40995472
> Give them some food

>>40995472
>> Give them some food.
But be careful about it, stay ready for one of them to get the idea to take it all.

>>40995555
You nudge Emmy. "Keep them covered."

"Step. Back." You stay, gesturing for the people to step away from the car. Emmy has her gun ready, but lowered.

The locals slowly move back. You go to the car and open it.

One of the locals makes a move forward. "Ah ah ah!" Emmy says, raising her gun. The local moves back.

You grab two cans of noodles in red sauce. Then you close the car, and toss the cans at the Locals.

"Here." You say.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>40995689

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>40995689

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>40995689

>>40995702
They grab up the food cans and then look at you.

You jerk your head in a 'Get!' motion.

They scatter off.

After a moment, Emmy lets out a sigh of relief. "Well, that was a nice change from the usual violence." She sighs. "How much food do we have left?"

"Two more cans." You say.

Emmy sighs. "Alright. So...now what? If we stay here, they may come back with more people."

> Go back into the building and continue the search.
> Get into the car and find shelter for the night
> Get into the car and follow the Locals to see if they can take you to Joy-In-Ruin.

>>40995800
> Get into the car and follow the Locals to see if they can take you to Joy-In-Ruin.

>>40995800
>Go back into the building and continue the search.

Also, move the car. hide it if possible.

>>40995800
>> Get into the car and find shelter for the night

>>40995800
> Get into the car and find shelter for the night

>>40995800
> Go back into the building and continue the search.

>>40996040
>>40995847

\>>40995869
>>40995922

Need a tie breaker.

>>40995800
> Get into the car and find shelter for the night
If there's loot still there after a century, it'll still be there tomorrow.

>>40995800
>Get into the car and find shelter for the night

>>40996240
"Let's find some place safe to hole up." You say, as the pair of you get into the car.

"These guys like wet, underground, warm places." Emmy says.

"So that leaves dry, high, cold places." You say.

Emmy makes a grunt of distaste and discomfort. You share the feeling.

You start driving, looking for something suitable.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>40996341

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>40996341

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>40996341

>>40996376
The roof of a parking garage is your respite for the evening.

It's not great, and it's not that safe. It's cold as fuck, and if things go wrong, you'll be screwed. However, there's no sign of any locals, and judging by the corpses and un-stripped cars, they haven't been here. So, it's your top pick.

Emmy and you split the contents of one can of noodles, and Emmy curls up in the back seat, under a bunch of blankets and goes to sleep. You envy her. She can sleep like a rock.

You just sit there, as Lupa. Cold, slightly hungry, and alone. You've got first watch.

> Turn back to Ashes so you can talk to Joy
> Try to wake Emmy up and talk
> Get out of the car and walk around, checking out the cars, salvage gets your mind off lonliness

>>40996502
> Get out of the car and walk around, checking out the cars, salvage gets your mind off lonliness

>>40996502
> Get out of the car and walk around, checking out the cars, salvage gets your mind off lonliness

>>40996502
> Get out of the car and walk around, checking out the cars, salvage gets your mind off lonliness

>>40996543
You get out of the car, and start poking around the other cars in the garage. It's something to do, and effort keeps the cold out. A little...kind of.

It's always so cold. You never really thought about it, you've always been cold. However, when Joy ever thinks about it, she always remarks about how the world is so much more colder than what she can 'remember.'

You hope that Voice will have more things for you to do. You like being useful. You have fond memories of Pytor showing you manual after manual, and you hope he's doing well.

Your salvage of the cars goes on.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>40996754

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>40996754

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>40996754

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>>40996870
WELP

>>40996911
Today had been going too well. Time to get attacked in the middle of the night.

>>40996817
Dead cars, dead people, and nothing else.

Well...there's one thing. You found a car that has a tape deck in it. It could play the tape you found. If you got the thing working. It's a siphon car though. You'd have to change into Ashes to get the thing to work.

> Embrace Joy and hear what Love had to say.
> Just go back to the car, and wait for your turn to sleep. It's too risky, and for no appreciable gain.

>>40996996
> Just go back to the car, and wait for your turn to sleep. It's too risky, and for no appreciable gain.

>>40996996
>> Just go back to the car, and wait for your turn to sleep. It's too risky, and for no appreciable gain.
We do not have any luck with tape decks. At all.

>>40996996
> Just go back to the car, and wait for your turn to sleep. It's too risky, and for no appreciable gain.
Can we tear the thing out without damaging it? More loot is always good.

>>40997052
>Can we tear the thing out without damaging it?

You can try, but it's a risk. You could break it, or set off the car horn. Also, once you have the tape deck out...that's kind of it. You'd have to rewire your own car to get it to work.

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>40997029
>>40997043
>>40997052

You head back to the car and wait out your shift. Finally, the clock ticks over, and you wake Emmy, and try to get to sleep yourself.

You do not dream.

>>40996996
>> Just go back to the car, and wait for your turn to sleep. It's too risky, and for no appreciable gain.

Let's listen to it later, once it's morning first thing.

>>40997269
You wake, and find that Emmy nodded off. However, there's no horde of Locals staring through the window at you.

You get out of the car, and stretch, and then look down into the streets and frown. There's a swarm of locals in the streets. The only good thing is that they aren't looking like they're an angry mob about to attack you.

No this looks more like a parade.

There's people waving long streamers of colored cloth, and other people hold scrap pinwheels, making them spin and glitter. They're all jumping around, and clapping their hands, and moving in a general mob down the street.

In the center of the mob. You can see people being pushed in wheelchairs, or carried on stretchers. They've got nasty looking growths on their arms, legs, or chests. Bulging black-ish boils, that weep Hubris pus.

You hear shouts and clapping from elsewhere in the city, and you can tell that this is not the only crowd/parade that's going on. The entire city seems to have woken up.

And you and Emmy are stuck in the middle of it.

She looks at you, confused and waiting for your advice.

> Stay here, stay hidden, wait for them to pass.
> Get in the car, and drive through them
> Go down and try to blend in.

>>40997410
>> Stay here, stay hidden, wait for them to pass.

>>40997410
> Stay here, stay hidden, wait for them to pass.

>>40997410
> Stay here, stay hidden, wait for them to pass.

>>40997410
> Stay here, stay hidden, wait for them to pass.
Stay frosty

>>40997540
You put a finger to your lips and you and Emmy hunker down and watch as the parade of people goes by. Hoping that they don't have any intention of noticing you, or have any reason to come up here.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>40998012

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>40998012

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>40998012

>>40998037
>>40998045
>>40998065
Huh
What are the odds?

>>40998045
Well, they don't come up here, but the problem is that the ENTIRE parade doesn't leave. Oh the horde of revelers and the people with boils are moved on, but there are some stragglers, and some people who decided to stop jumping and clapping and going back to stare at pinwheels or sit on the middle of the road, and slowly drink from their canteens.

Looks to be about 10 or 13 of them, hanging around the parking garage.

If you leave in the car, they will notice you.

> Leave the car and head off on foot.
> Take the car.

>>40998192
> Take the car.

>>40998192
> Take the car.

>>40998192
>> Take the car.

Play along, pretend to be part of the celebration.

>>40998260
Grab some streamers.

Wave them around like idiots.

>>40998260
You're not giving up the car. Meadows would NEVER forgive you. Also, it's your bed.

So, where are you going to go in the car?

> Back to Infrastructure, you want to get something working.
> Follow the Parade, it's got the locals all wound up.
> You've had enough of this city and its creepy locals. You're heading OUT.

I forgot, what are we supposed to be doing here?

>>40998350
> Back to Infrastructure, you want to get something working.

>>40998350
> Back to Infrastructure, you want to get something working.

So our choices are:
1) Take the plot hook
2) Go back to the bronze dome and turn on the power to get the voice to tell us what is wrong here. Which is our objective

But the plot hook. Can't ignore the plot hook.

May be it is a daily thing. We will have a chance to follow them tomorrow.

Also, Echo is back!

All is well!

>>40998350
> Back to Infrastructure, you want to get something working.
Following a horde of crazy people is rarely a good idea.

>>40998437
Maybe we can follow them through a telescope or a video camera on the street.

I am awfully curious what they are parading about.

>>40998498
Probably a celebration for their messiah, who is about to save those unfortunates with the growths by stabilizing them like she did to the rest of the locals.

If The Voice really is AI, she may want 'Joy In Ruin' dead simply because she (Voice) wants to exterminate anything tainted by hubris, stabilized or no, while Ruin wants to protect what she sees as her people.

>>40998555
I am happy to let Ruin be.

The people here are happy, well, relatively for a ruined land.

>>40998391
You head back to the single domed, concrete severity that is Infrastructure.

Your journey does NOT go unnoticed, locals jump out of the way of the car as you drive, and you see people shouting and gesturing to each other as you pass.

They don't seem interested in starting anything though, they're just really surprised that this is happening at all. You are something that's very unusual.

Thankfully, it's a lot quicker working your way through the ruins of Infrastructure than it was before. Maybe you're a bit more motivated to move quicker.

The 'second' floor, or the lobby is a lot like the first, only it looks like this was a place were people waited for something, cause you see counters and other public facilities. Some screens, but nothing that looks that interesting after a quick first blush search.

The 'first' floor however, NOW you've got something.

> Roll 1d12

Rolled 5 (1d12)

>>40998635

Rolled 3 (1d12)

>>40998635
We gonna search like a boss.

Rolled 11 (1d12)

>>40998635

>>40998664
Thank you anon.

The rest of us really can't roll well tonight.

>>40998761
Got some pretty good rolls earlier from the look of things.
>>40993035
>>40994780
>>40995702
>>40995711

But regardless, you are welcome.

>>40998664
Okay, so. This is water and power, but it's also has observation and controls, for a hydroelectric damn that's built really near Cygnus. A dam that's still intact, and still operating at minimal capacity.

You've also got control over the power grid of Cygnus. You can see that what little juice that the city is getting, is all going towards this one site.

Finally, you also discover that the guy with the biggest desk that worked down here, 1) REALLY hated Joy-In-Hearts, judging by the propaganda, and 2) made their own model drone/helicopter/airplanes at their desk.

"Alright, so...what do we do?" Emmy asks.

That is a good question. If you get in contact with Voice, she'll be happy to hear that you found something of this importance. Then she'll tell you what to do.

However...not all of this stuff is working, yet. If you could get more of it working...maybe Voice would be happier with you. Also, it would let you have more control of what's going on. The only problem is that the only way to get more things working would be to Embrace Joy, and hope that siphons are on.

If you can get this place working, Voice would have actual command over the damn, water, and power grids of the city. As it is right now, you get her connected, and all she'll be able to do is simply observe.

> Go back to the car and contact Voice.
> Embrace Joy, and get this place working.

>>40999040
> Embrace Joy, and get this place working.

>>40999040
>made their own model drone/helicopter/airplanes at their desk.


[x] Use model airplane to spy on the parade

>>40999040
>> Don't tell her shit, I don't trust her at all.

Sorry if it throws off your plans Echo

>>40999040

> Go back to the car and contact Voice.

Yeah no, ain't kill all these crazies here just for the voice.

>>40999110
>[x] Use model airplane to spy on the parade

Make a Salvage/Repair Roll

> Roll 1d20

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>40999277

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>40999277

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>40999277
Lets roll

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>40999277

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>40999277

>>40999288
>>40999289
>>40999293
Well shit.

>>40999288
>>40999284
>>40999289

We are the best engineer.

>>40999293
>>40999288
And double crit success.

Such is the life of a joy in heart.

When good things come, they come in waves.

>>40999288
You...probably don't want to know WHY this guy had a drone like this, but this is a drone with full flight and hovering capabilities, a video camera, and the capability to fire .45 caliber bullets. This is NOT something that he just got from a box. This is months of obsessive, locked down in a dingy basement office, work.

All it takes from you is a little replacement wire, and putting in a couple of, still charged, peanut batteries from inside his desk.

The camera is black and white, and decent resolution, and it transmits to a small screen that's attached to the large flight control box.

The drone can fire two shots before the barrel's warped beyond use. And you aren't sure if the recoil of the first shot would wreck the thing or not.

Still, you have a working drone that can spy and shoot!

Of course, if you want to use it. You'll have to go outside, and you haven't decided if you just want to get the bare minimum access, or if you want to try and get more of the place working via siphon.

If you want to disobey Voice altogether, you need to give me 1) and in-character reason as to why Lupa would, and it has to be more than 'I just don't trust her', and 2) you're going to have to make a willpower roll as Lupa has emotional issues that make it very hard for her to do things that would make people abandon her.

>>40999457
[x] Go to the roof and launch drone

We should get more information on this town before deciding to screw them all for the voice or give voice only minimal control.

>>40999457
>If you want to disobey Voice altogether, you need to give me 1) and in-character reason as to why Lupa would, and it has to be more than 'I just don't trust her', and 2) you're going to have to make a willpower roll as Lupa has emotional issues that make it very hard for her to do things that would make people abandon her.
Would it be ok to say we aren't going to get Embers pissed at us to help the voice but other than that, we go for it?

>>40999457
>bare minimum access

I want to see what she thinks about all the inactive hives before giving her the power to fuck shit up if "destroy all Hubris" is her primary objective.

>>40999457
Get Siphon working.

>>40999502
I can't see Lupe purposely doing something that would destabilize these people's home. Especially since she's seen these don't behave like monsters.

>>40999457
We need more answers from 'The Voice' as to why she wants us to kill a girl that has done nothing against us or ours, and seems to be protecting these twisted, but otherwise still decent folks when the rest of the world would see them burn.

So we have two choices:

1) Gather info on the town folks via drone
2) Father info from the Voice by seeing what she thinks of the situation first

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>40999551
Voice hasn't ordered you to kill Ruin. Just confront her. Also, she is anti-Hubris but it's 'Hubris and Humanity can not co-exist, according to all data known. Hubris are a threat, they have to be eliminated, or Humanity will never be able to recover.'

Also, since you guys wanted to use your new toy, give me a roll to see if you have roof access at all, along with me rolling for other things.

> Roll 1d8

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>40999672

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>40999672

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>40999672

Well we know in the meta that the voice lied to lupa about pytor not looking for her

And its obvious that the voice has an agenda which involves joys

But she hasn't really screwed up in front of lupa yet so our best bet is to find out more about the joy-in-ruin and think first

>>40999699
Alright, you can get to the roof, after a little bit of navigating your body through some ruin.

You're on the roof and you start up your drone. The thing lights up and lifts up into the sky. The sexist, racist, creep did good work.

You pilot the drone through the city. Using the camera to follow the crowds of people, and you find where all of the crowds converge. It's a brewery, or a restaurant that's been made to look like a brewery, or a brewery that IS a restaurant...whatever, big grain silos, and fermentation vats. You've seen Genesis stills, this is one of those, writ large.

Anyway, the silos and vats, and the possible restaurant, are covered in blue/red/yellow paint, and those shiny pinwheels are everywhere.

> Roll 1d20

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>40999886

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>40999886

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>40999886

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>40999886
hwg

>>40999901
You manage to get the drone in pretty close without being seen.

You see a group of people surrounding one of the fermentation vats. They've got a little stepladder leaning against it, and there's a guy standing at the top of the vat, and he has a kitchen knife.

One of the people with the black boils walks up the stepladder to the top of the vat, and stands next to the man with the knife. She has huge black boils ruining up and down her left arm. It's a giant puffy nightmare, that makes it look twice the normal size, at least.

The man opens a lid of the fermentation vat, and then carefully, slices open the boils on the woman's arm. You see pillbug Hubris pour out from the wound and splash into the vat. He repeats, this with all the boils.

Then, when all the boils are drained and all the Hubris have been drained into the vat. He closes the lid, and helps the girl, her arm still dripping blood, down the ladder.

The girl is then lead inside the maybe-restaurant.

A new cutter and a new donor come up to the top of the vats, and the process looks like it's going to repeat to the point where it becomes boring.

"So...they're collecting the Hubris?" Emmy asks.

"I guess." You shrug.

"There has to be enough Hubris in those vats to infect all of Genesis!" Emmy says.

Shit. She's right, and if those silos connect to any type of water main...well it's no question as to how all of Swanmay got Hubris infected.

> roll 1d20

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>41000087

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>41000087

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>41000087

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>41000127
Alright, so...good news is that no one has noticed the drone.

The bad news is that you see three Locals run up, and into the brewery and they came from your direction.

The crowd stops its celebration/ritual and the boil people are rushed inside the building as the rest of the crowd scatters, or forms protective circles around the silos and vats.

Then Joy-In-Ruin walks out of the building.

She's black, and her skin, that which you can see, is covered in old Hubris bore-scars, but you don't see any larvae on her. Also, she's got duct tape wrapped around her body. Her arms, legs, chest, feet, all of it has duct tape haphazardly wrapped around it. She has a whole mass of grey tape strips, hanging from her head like the world's strangest hair treatment.

The tape, and a bathrobe, are the only things that she's wearing.

She looks around the area, calmly.

>>41000353
Thankfully, she doesn't look up and she misses the drone.

However, she does take off at a run towards Infrastructure. She's fast too.

You're about to get some company. You better get ready. You don't have time to do much.

There's no point hiding, Ruin knows where you are.

1.
> Embrace Joy
> Stay as Lupa

2.
> Recall the Drone yourself
> Have Emmy recall the Drone and Contact Voice
> Forget the drone

3.
> Stay and face Ruin
> Run

>>41000418
> Stay as Lupa
> Have Emmy recall the Drone and Contact Voice
> Stay and face Ruin

>>41000418
> Stay as Lupa
> Recall the Drone yourself
> Run

>>41000418
>Embrace Joy
> Have Emmy recall the Drone and Contact Voice
> Stay and face Ruin

>>41000418
>> Stay as Lupa
> Have Emmy recall the Drone and Contact Voice
> Run

So now the town folks are actively working against us. This is no longer the peaceful town it turns out to be.

At the same time, the folks despise loosing control and would commit suicide before letting the lavae win.

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>41000452
>>41000453
>>41000458
>>41000471

Okay, so you stay as Lupa, and hand Emmy the controls to the drone.

"Get it back!" You say, as you head downstairs to get to the car to contact Voice.

You're not sure if you want to take off or not, but you've got a little time.

Emmy tries her best to get the Drone back.

>>41000561
Goddammit Emmy

>>41000574
You guys actually trusted emmy to not fuck up?

Whats wrong with you people?

>>41000649
No bully.

>>41000666
You earned it

>>41000666
Whatever you say, Satan.

So why were the larvae infested paint used all over the town? Are they not conserving it to infect the rest of humans?

And how did anyone in Swansong stay human?

How did the neighbouring city stay human?

>>41000561
goddammit Emmy. You had ONE JOB and you had to fuck it up.

I swear, we need to invest in some sort of fuckup insurance for her.

>>41000561
Yeah.

Emmy never bring up the drone again, and she's really really hoping that in the chaos of what was happening that you forgot all about it. Also, she's really sorry, and you can totally have first dibs on the next food that you find.

You get to the car and you contact voice. You fill her in on whats going on and what you've found out so far.

"Interesting." Voice says. "Well, you should lead Ruin away from Infrastructure at the very least. Then later come back and get me control of that dam."

"Why?" You ask.

"Well, hopefully I can divert the power to the wider grid and that will help me here. I'm tempted to use it to flood Cyngus, but the problem is more widespread, it seems. Also, the fact that the Hives seem...stable...is intriguing. I want to see what caused it, and the biggest change in this area is Ruin."

Emmy gets into the car with you, not looking at you.

"So...you want to drown Cygnus?" You ask.

"Right now, I don't have any evidence that Hubris can exist with Humanity peacefully." Voice says. "Even now, it seems like there's a loss of mental function...we need more data before we can make any large sweeping declarations."

"Alright. You say, so...keep Ruin away from Infrastructure and the Dam?" You say.

"Very good. I'm glad I've got you on this, Ashes." She says. "I trust you."

Voice signs off.

So, you know Ruin is coming for you and Voice wants to make sure that you aren't found here.

> Just drive away and hide from Ruin
> Drive to Ruin and face her directly.

>>41000825
>> Just drive away and hide from Ruin
This will totally not work.

>>41000741
Probably a way to suppress going full hive using the paint they are making and the wheels

Hubris is the backlash from fucking around with that magic on such a scale

Drove everyone who had the energy insane

>>41000825
> Drive to Ruin and face her directly.

Screw it we need answers from their perspective about this mess

>>41000825
>> Just drive away and hide from Ruin

No need to confront her in front of her followers.

>>41000825
>> Just drive away and hide from Ruin

Well at the moment we're just some scavengers to her though they girls we gave food to will likely rat us out.

>>41000878
Makes sense.

>>41000825
>> Drive to Ruin and face her directly.

So anons, do they have mental function? They were intelligent enough to try to smash the lock.

The question is - is that the larvae controlling them? Or is it their mind?

The pair we encountered in the other city were lucid.

>>41000869
>>41000882
>>41000893

Discretion is the better part of any plan that involves continued living. So you drive away from both Ruin and Infrastructure.

"You know they're going to be watching that place now," Emmy says.

"Yeah." You say. "I know."

"So, that Ruin girl's that other way, right?" Emmy says. "Embers is screaming at me to make you go face her. Why are we running away?"

> Well?

>>41001009

I don't know if we should fight her or not. If we do fight her here we won't will with all her extra help.

>>41001009
We are trying to have an one on one fight with her, not an one on one hundred infected fight.

>>41001009
Need to set up a place where we have all the advantages. So if she does attack we can win easily.

>>41001009
"Because she has every reason to see us dead.
She knows that we could turn every one of those people in to vainglories, to say nothing of what could happen in those tanks."

Don't pick battles you don't know you can win.

>>41000930
Yes they have mental function

At this point i figure the hubris was created by the abuse of the power mixed with the never-ending wars that were occurring at the same time

There were hints about the mind-linking function of the power and maybe everyone hating and killing each other caused this

>>41001009
We need to learn what is going on first

>>41001087
There were other ages that fell and other hearts in joy before this.

I wonder if the same hubris came back to reclaim civilization.

At least we know it is not putting on a play.

>>41001122
So humanity just keep's repeating the fall of the eldar then?

Gain the power but then start acting as psychos starting the hubris cycle?

>>41001122
At least they are not fake gods and we are not a snake paladin!

>>41001175
An awesome snake paladin.

Correction.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>41001044
"We don't know enough about what is going on. Also, when we fight her, we want to make sure that it's just Her, not her and a horde of her followers." You say. "We've got to get to a point where we have all the advantages, or at least one."

"Okay." Emmy says. "Embers shut up. I'm not calling her..." She shakes her head and sighs. "You are so lucky Ashes doesn't bother you."

"I am Ashes." You say.

"Okay." Emmy says. Then she looks behind the car.

"Uhh...Ashes?"

"What?" You ask.

>>41001009
Because she's alert and surrounded by supporters. These are practically the worst conditions we could choose to fight her in.

>>41001278
>"Embers shut up. I'm not calling her..."

Calling her a coward? A cunning woman? A female dog?

>>41001278
>"Uhh...Ashes?"
She's right behind us isn't she?

>>41001308
Onesama

>>41001278
"That was the last of the Locals, we've just blown by pretty much everyone in the city." Emmy asks.

You let out a sigh of relief.

Alright, so now Ruin knows you're in town. That's okay. Also that you're interested in Infrastructure. That's...not that okay, but not bad. Anyway, you can head to the dam directly if you'd like. That's another way to get Voice the power she needs.

You just really hope that you're doing the smart moves. Mostly because, after one can of noodles, you're going to be out of food, and then you're going to have a problem.

Because it's starvation or Ruin. And neither is appealing.

END EPISODE 14

>>41001348
Thanks good Echo!

Fun as always. Looking forward to more.

We still need that OP theme.

>>41001348
Thread when?

>>41001348
Thanks for running Echo, can't wait till next time.

Goddammit, Ember. It's like she's the little sister that always wants to play with our stuff but breaks everything by accident.

Missed this thread but am fucking ecstatic that this is still running.

>>41001348
When's the next mate, I found this, but missed out trying to catch up to the story.

Fucking excellent though.

>>41001348

Thanks for running! Nice to have you back.

>>41001348
Welcome back, Echo