Where the smaller Junkies were being incubated in large sacs on the exterior of the structure that was once city hall, they actually exit the building through a large hole that was once the structure's main doors.

You wade against the tide of creatures easily enough-- they ignore you in favor of heading straight towards the Anti-Venom barrier surrounding the area.

The interior of City Hall is covered in flesh, though the concrete buttresses looked much like ribs in the pulsating dimness of the cave.

The grand, hanging chandeliers, too, have been converted into bioluminescent, Venom-producing organs.

Where do you begin your search for the source of the flesh infection?

[] High, to the Mayor's Office
[] Low, to the building's plumbing area.
[] On the ground floor, near what was once the Treasury.

>>1448278
>Low, to the building's plumbing area.

>>1448278
[] Low, to the building's plumbing area.

>>1448278

> Plumbing

>[X] Low, to the building's plumbing area

>>1448278
>Low, to the building's plumbing area.

>>1448282
>>1448284

>Voting twice

>>1448278
>>1448281
>>1448283

You figure that if a Junkie were to go by undetected and somehow infect City Hall, the storm drains would be the way to go.

They were installed long ago after a flood wiped out the city's archives. That was way before you were created, though.

The flesh ends sharply, pulsating flesh giving way to moldy gray brick.

The storm drain leads to the sewers, and the vast cavernous structure lends itself well to acoustics.

In the distance, you hear a tinny sound that somehow hurts your head even through the VenomBuster armor. You don't really get sick or get headaches, so the pain is a foreign and unpleasant feeling.

[] Head towards the sound. If the headache gets too bad, you'll filter it out then, but for now this is your only clue.
[] Filter out the sound and see if you can find another clue in the sewers.
[] Head back up and search elsewhere.

>>1448298
[] Head back up and search elsewhere.
We are here for Junkies, back to flesh world.

>>1448298
>Head towards the sound. If the headache gets too bad, you'll filter it out then, but for now this is your only clue.

>>1448298
>>Head towards the sound. If the headache gets too bad, you'll filter it out then, but for now this is your only clue.
>Head towards the sound. If the headache gets too bad, you'll filter it out then, but for now this is your only clue.

>>1448298
>[] Head towards the sound. If the headache gets too bad, you'll filter it out then, but for now this is your only clue.

>>1448421
>>1448345
>>1448311
>>1448298

As you approach the sound, the headache worstens enough that you have to filter it out-- the range of whatever was producing the sound still left you with a general sense of malaise and you pinpoint the souce that way.

"...ter ...ield ...e? Operator to field. I repeat: Do you read me?"

"I copy, Nomes."

"...Where are you? You're a good few blocks away from City Hall, and the Junkies arent causing interference, so what is?"

"I'm at the sewer. I was trying to fibd a weak spot to the City Hall junkie. Instead, I found out that the flesh stops abruptly where the sewers begin," you explain.

Tapping something on your comms headset, you send a picture of the sound source to Naomi. It's a small, plastic speaker. More interestingly, the power source isn't Venom-based. It's conventional electronics! That hasn't been a thing for about a hundred years.

"What's this device?" Naomi asks. It's an obvious question, but she's probably asking for the recording.

"Idunno, but it seems to restrict the growth of the Junkie mold. Should I take it?"

"Negative. That's probably what's preventing the City Hall Junkie from dosing the entire sewers with Venom. ...and VB! Your vitals... They're rapidly....!"

Who are you?

[] Naomi
[] Minamizawa
[] ???

>>1452225
>[] Naomi

>>1452225
>[] Minamizawa
fuck

>>1452225
>Minamizawa

>>1452225
>>1452254
>>1452262

Your name is Tendou Minamizawa. About an hour ago, VenomBuster, Humanity's savior went into the hellmouth that was once city hall.

Venom supplies for the equipment are rapidly dwindling and you don't think the Anti-Venom barriers are going to hold much longer.

When fresh Venom arrives, it also arrives with orders from base to torch the City Hall junkie.

"Come on, Minamizawa. Looks like we're dealing with this the old fashioned way."

The old codger sitting beside you in the car hasan exasperated look on his face. You can sympathize-- for one thing, this is the Extermination Team's job. For another...

"What happened to Veebee?" You ask out loud.

"Vee... Bee...? Oh the VenomBuster. Who knows? All we know is that we went in there, didn't come back out and I doubt we'll find out more," your Superior, Houhouin says.

"But... He's supposed to be humanity's savior..." You say, a bit disheartened. To that, Vhief Hououin laughs.

"Humanity's... Savior? Hah! Where'd you get that crap!? TheVenomBuster's just a human-shaped Junkie. Now come on, get your flamethrower. The ET's going to be running interference while we torch down that gaping vagina."

... Just another Junkie? Somehow that treatment of VeeBee doesn't sit right with you but that seems to be everyone's sentiment and you doubt that just you can change that.

You grab a flamethrower and march in one of two lines towards city hall. Members of the Extermination team flank your group on either side, suppressing the 'child' junkies with Anti-Venom weapons.

[] Stick to the plan and save your gas for the City Hall Junkie
[] Help the Extermination team by quite literally firing at sone of the Junkies.

>>1452390
>Stick to the plan and save your gas for the City Hall Junkie

>>1452390
>[] Stick to the plan and save your gas for the City Hall Junkie

>>1452390
>[] Stick to the plan and save your gas for the City Hall Junkie

>>1452413
>>1452427
>>1452435


Roll me a d20. 5 and below are failures, but anything above that is fine.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>1452501

>>1452509

You stick to the plan, unflinching even when one of the small junkies sailed a scant few centimeters above your head.

Even some of the more senior members flinched at that, gaining you some respect from your fears. In reality, you were actually just too scared to move, but you wouldn't tell anyone that.

Your group surrounds city hall, spaced widely apart. City hall is huge, honestly and you're all accompanied by one or two members of the extermination team each.

You torch the giant mound of flesh, the sickening smell of burnt meat filling the air. You don't think you'll be having barbecue for a long while.

As you get the 'mother' down to a manageable level, the 'children' started shrieking in unison. It was an ugodly sound. When you manage to get the mound even smaller, the 'child' junkies started throwing themselves at the structure and started being absorbed into it.

This repairs the structure somewhat, but unlike normal Junkies, the mother junkie wasn't very resistant to flame.

City Hall is... City hall is gone. Apparently, the ancient building wasn't covered in Junkie flesh-- it was converted into it.

Dear god.

You wake up in your room, some unpleasant shards of something poking you in the thigh. Pulling out the contents of your pocket reveals something very unfortunate-- Your copy of Taddle Fantasy has been smashed to bits.

"Motherfucker--!"

"Whoah! Easy there, tiger," says the androgynous figure using your Genm Gashacube. They seem to be playing Mighty Bike-- the Mighty spinoff that's little more than a reskin of Bakusou Bike.

"What? Who are..." A quick glance at their nametag reveals that their name is Hiromi Nishigami-- a fairly androgynous name that doesn't reveal the answer to the REAL question here.

"Are you a boy... Or a girl," you ask, the question coming to your mind unbidden.

"... Straight to the important questions, I see." They look a bit irked. "But don't sweat the small stuff. I was assigned to observe you while you recover, but you have a pretty decent game system over here. Wow!"

You flinched. "Who even are you? Why wasn't Naomi dealing with this? She's my handler," you mention.

"Well, my name is Hiromi Nishigami, but you can probably read. I'm from the R&D team. Long story short, Naomi isn't qualified to track your progress. Doesn't know the nitty gritty of how Venom or Junkies work."

"Okay, well, what happened? The last thing I remember was finding a device in the sewer."

"Oh, that. Turns out, it emitted a frequency that suppressed a Junkie's natural regeneration. For you, that means your body started to eat itself."

You gasp in surprise.

"Thing is, we can't replicate the effect. The trick seems to be using a non-Venom power source but it's going to be a while until we can get that. Non-Venom tech is really ancient," they say with some disdain.

"Actually, what's more interesting to me right now is that your body absorbed some of the circuitry from your Gashat. Can you push it out? I know you can do it with bullets and such."

You try to. A few long minutes later, and the circuitry is still embedded in your right thigh.

"No dice. Not unless I cut off the leg and grow it back, sorry. Dammit. That save file has my best dungeon layout," you curse.

"Well... Do you want to?" Nishigami offers with no hint of irony.

God, you spent a good chunk of a month on that save file. You're not sure if you want to spend a week or so growing back a leg just to get it back, though.

[] Well, the circuitry is still intact and you can afford a week long break.
[] Hell no. You're not spending a week as a cripple just for a save file. You'll just buy a new one and start over.

Who do you spend time with?
[] Training witth Naomi Kitayama
[] Video game shopping with Tendou Minamizawa
[] Research with Hiromi Nishigami

[] Help clean up the Venom with the cleanup crew.
[] Help track down the Junkie stragglers with the extermination crew.

>>1452745

Last update until much later. I have a date.

>>1452745
>[] Hell no. You're not spending a week as a cripple just for a save file. You'll just buy a new one and start over.
[] Research with Hiromi Nishigami
[] Help track down the Junkie stragglers with the extermination crew.

>>1452745
>[] Hell no. You're not spending a week as a cripple just for a save file. You'll just buy a new one and start over.

>[] Research with Hiromi Nishigami

>>1452786
This is wrong.

>>1452788
This is correct

>>1452745
>Hell no. You're not spending a week as a cripple just for a save file. You'll just buy a new one and start over.

>Research with Hiromi Nishigami

Also hilarious how you guys are sticking to character and ignoring Minamizawa in-character.

In-character reason is because he's a guy. OOV reason, you guys seemed interested enough in his PoV earlier so idk.

>>1452745
>>1452795
Sorry
>[] Hell no. You're not spending a week as a cripple just for a save file. You'll just buy a new one and start over.
[] Research with Hiromi Nishigami

>>1453058
>>1452800
>>1452788
>>1452786
>>1452745

Doctor Nishigami... Is a maniac. You quite emphatically tell them that you're not spending a week or so with a missing leg just for a save file.

"Well... Since you're leaving it there anyway, there's no use in letting a happy accident go to waste, right?" They say cheerily.

Doctor Nishigami thinks they can use the circuitry in your leg as an interface to integrate the VenomBuster system further into your body.

Your Junkie physiology will be fighting the augment every step of the way, however so they'll have to include a Venom suppressor system with the modifications. This will hinder your natural regeneration in exchange for bringing out more power from the VenomBuster system.

The Venom Suppression is derived from the Junkie Suppression device you found in the sewers.

[] Agree. (More power, less regeneration)
[] Refuse

Since your first meeting, Doctor Nishigami has been trailing you like a lost puppy. They seem fascinated that you insist on cooking and eating despite not having to.

She says she wishes she could go without food so she could dedicate herself further to her research.

What do you tell Doctor Nishigami?

[] Write-In

>>1464928
>[] Agree. (More power, less regeneration)
[] Write-In
So, how'd you get so interested in you're line of research?

>>1464928
>[] Refuse
>[] Write-In:
You seem very dedicated to your work. How come?