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>>2981936

The manager’s office is a slightly bigger closet at best, a miniature apple pie stuffed with horse apples, so crowded that the desk barely fits in the room and the manager has to scoot sideways to fit around it. When he finally gets around the desk he plumps down in his chair and deeply sighs.

“So about Edward. His mom’s saying the doctors had no idea what triggered it. Clean bill of health, like he just went to sleep and didn’t wake up. It’s looking like he might be in it for the long haul.” Devin solemnly looks down and shakes his head, gathering himself.

“I’m getting together some of the workers that knew him well, you know? I wanted to have kind of a night out tonight. We go out, have a good time on the company’s dime, just to get spirits up. I was hoping you could come along.”

You’re not quite sure you knew Edward all that well, you were work friends, and he was nice, but it’s not like you ever talked to him outside of work. Unless of course that dream was actually real, if that’s true then you saw him die about four days ago. You still feel like you should be looking into this, trying to find out if anyone else had these kinds of dreams, but on the other hand you haven’t been out on the town in years. Maybe talking with some people in person might get your mind off of things, and who knows, maybe you’ll have a great time.[/red

290 SP

(50) “Sure. I’ll come along.”

(10)“I can’t.”

>>2981938
>"Sure, I'll come along."

>>2981938
>(10)“I can’t.”

>>2981938
Scream
"Stop trying to hit on me! RAPE!!!!!! REEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

>>2981938
>(50) “Sure. I’ll come along.”

Also, I'm wondering if the amount of energy we spend trying not to be a loser in the waking world affects the dream/show

>>2981938
>“Sure. I’ll come along.”

>>2981938
>“Sure. I’ll come along."

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>>2981982
>>2981972
>>2981957
>>2981946

“Sure, I’ll come along,” You respond.

Devin stares at you vacantly, then snaps out of his trance,”Okay! Good! We’re going to start probably at McAvery’s pub probably around eight or so, get a drink and a bite, then I think we’ll find something else to do from there if we still want to hang around.”

You get up to leave, with not long left in your shift, you listen to Bradley and Charlie ramble about sports for a few more minutes then clock out and leave.

You get home, get a shower, get to your room, then throw on a big comfy sweater, a shirt and a pair of pants. You leave the room and head downtown, you arrive a few minutes late, enter the pub. The place seems to be irish themed with lots of rustic looking details and trim. The place is packed to the brim, and in the center you see a central bar with a seemingly knowledgeable bartender. At the bar you spot Bradley, Melissa, and Devin all sitting at the bar. Bradley spots you and shouts you over, patting a seat at the bar next to the group.

“Hey,” you say, greeting your co-workers who all seem to have already ordered some drinks.

10Order a drink (specify)
10Talk about something (specify)
5 Sit silently.

>>2982050
>10Order a drink
Sex on the beach

>>2982050
>10Order a drink (specify)
Milk

>>2982050
10Talk about something
Edward. He was real tall right? What was he like?

>>2982057
Kek
Supporting

>>2982050
>10Order a drink
White Russian

>>2982054
this, but only so milk doesnt win

>>2982057
Supporting

>>2982168
>>2982080
>>2982057


Looking for something non-alcoholic and to quell your stomach ablaze with anxiety, you notice they have coffee available and simply order some milk. Bradley scoffs, “Careful there Aggie, don’t want to be up past your bedtime.” Melissa hits him in the shoulder, “Let her order what she wants to order, Jeez.”

Devin looks down the bar and grabs the group’s attention. “I’m glad you all could make it, really, Edward was a great guy, and it really isn’t going to be the same without him… Here’s hoping he gets past this thing.” Devin lifts his drink, and you all give a toast to Edward. Not too long after Charlie joins, and A few drinks later you find the conversation has shifted to Halloween, and generally spooky things.

“You think ghosts exist?” Bradley asks.

Melissia enthusiastically nods, “I’ve seen one!”

“Nope. No way.” Charlie claims, “It was probably the wind.”

“You don’t even know what I saw.”

“What’d you see?”

“I saw a doll move on its own.”

“Bullshit.”

Melissa shakes her head, “Look, I don’t usually believe this stuff but I saw it with my own eyes.”

“You probably saw someone moving a doll with strings then, it’s just too easy to fake this ghost shit.”

Bradley shrugs, “I don’t know man. Somethin’ about ghosts just makes me feel like they’re out there.”

“There’s too much money in it, how am I supposed to believe anything anyone finds.” Charlie scoffs.

230 SP

(10) Ask if they believe in Aliens.
(10) Weigh in on whether or not you believe in ghosts(specify)
(10) Talk about Edward (specify)
(5) sit in silence

>>2982057
This. Milk, from the finest of cows.

>>2982196
>Ask if they believe in Aliens.

>>2982196
>Ask if they believe in Aliens.

>>2982196
(10) Ask if they believe in Aliens.

>>2982202
>>2982208
>>2982209
+

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>>2982202

You think about it for a moment, then nervously ask if they believe in aliens.

“You know,” Charlie ponders, “That one I actually believe, BUT, I don’t believe they’ve ever been here. Universe is just too big.”

“Yeah,” Bradley agrees, “Those guys sayin’ they’ve been abducted are usually just crazy, or just lookin’ for attention.”

You stare deeply into your drink, “Yeah.” (-10 SP)

“Hey,” Melissa looks around the room, “Did you see where Devin went?”

“Think I saw him go into the bathroom,” Charlie claims.

Bradley leans in, ”Hey guys, I think I saw Devin put the tab on his own card.”

“... Okay? What does that have to do with where he is?” Melissa asks.

“I mean - like,” Bradley leans in,” I’m pretty sure Devin and Edward were a thing.”

Melissa groans, ” Oh my god. You thought me and Agnes were a thing, Me and Charlie, Agnes and that one guy that always comes by and orders only bacon, you think everyone is a thing all the time. Who cares?”

Bradley leans over to you, “Hey Aggie, I think Melissa and the bartender --” Melissa hits him on his back, and he erupts with laughter, ”I’m kidding!”

Charlie chuckles, “It’s cool Melissa, Bradley’s basically just a teenage girl, He can’t help but pair off everyone and write little stories about it.”

Bradley frowns, “I’ve never written in my life.”

“I’ve seen your diary!”

“Stay out of my room!”

Not long after, Devin emerges from the bathroom, eventually you all decide your time at the bar is done. Devin gets back his black company card, and Melissa nudges Bradley to which he rolls his eyes. You emerge from the pub.

Devin sighs, the cold air produces a wispy fog as he rubs his hands together, “Where to next, guys?”

210 SP

(20)Karaoke
(10)Arcade
(10)Get your fortune told.
(5)Call it a night.

>>2982302
>(10)Arcade

>>2982302
>Get your fortune told.

>>2982302
>(10)Get your fortune told.

>>2982302
>(20)Karaoke

>>2982364
Supporting karaoke

>>2982302
>(10)Get your fortune told.

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>>2982421
>>2982363
>>2982357


You spot a small little dugout beneath another building advertising fortune telling, you point, “Hm… what about getting our fortunes told.”

Devin looks to where you’re pointing,”You know I’ve passed this place for years and never even thought of checking it out. Sure! Why not?”

“Oh, here we go,” Charlie scoffs.

“Chill out, fortune tellings are cool!” Melissa excitedly chimes.

You enter the small building and are treated with all of the usual cultish adornments, purple hues, gold sequins, incense, and just a touch of actual tacky Halloween decorations for the season which kind of seems redundant. Behind a counter an assortment of various occult-like trinkets presumably for kids and tourists.

A strangely average looking woman with elegant earrings emerges from a curtain to the front counter. Devin decides to buy a “general tarot reading” for each of you negotiating all of you to go after each other, one after another.

Charlie went up first, chatting with the woman about whether or not this time of year is more profitable for her. It was. He seemed somewhat completely disarmed by the woman’s appearance, causing Bradley to incessantly nudge Melissa with a large goofy smile on his face.

When he emerged he claimed the reading was “pretty good” to which Bradley proceeded to tease him about.

One after another the rest of the group went in and emerged until it was your turn.

You enter the back where the woman lays out ten cards in a specific arrangement.

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>>2982693

The Center Card, The Chariot Reversed is current situation, You seem to be frustrated by your current situation where you might feel trapped, We also here have the Moon, which tells me that your subconscious or insecurity is causing this feeling you have.

This brings me to the bottom card which represents what you’re feeling, or your subconscious. So let’s see what’s going on. We have the Tower, which represents Some kind of change in your mind, and seeing that your subconscious is what may be hindering you, I think it’s safe to say that the change may have been some kind of negative event or disaster.

So we’ll look at the left card now, things in the past that are affecting you now. The five of cups, I think with this card being in this position we can assume that maybe you have some regrets from your past that aren’t resolved, something you can’t move from, and it’s causing you to feel trapped.

The top card here are your hopes and goals. Ah, the Six of Pentacles reversed. Hm. Here I believe it represents a form of self-love. You want to move past the things from your past here, and get to a place of self-care.

Now the Right card is your immediate future card. We have Death. Now I know that scares you, but all it means in this case I think, is that something is ending and something new is beginning. In this case I think it just might be that dark mindset caused by your past.

Now, for the row on the right here. This bottom card represents how you’re currently handling this situation.

We have the five of pentacles, This means you’re combating your feelings with isolation maybe filling your head with worry in hopes your cautiousness can protect you.

Next one up is your current environment, or the people around you. We have The Fool. This card means maybe the people around you aren’t aware of your current pain, perhaps they carry on just as if everything was normal, maybe this frustrates you.

Next card is… The Devil. I think this one represents a force that may be holding you hostage, Something keeping you from moving from your past seemingly by force.

And last, for your future card should everything continue as it’s been going. We have The Hermit. One may read this as loneliness or being alone, but given your immediate future of a change, I think this more represents a period of self guidance, quite possibly that period of healing you’ve been searching for.

You emerge from the reading and feel somewhat spiritually understood. The feeling causes you to breathe a little more comfortably (+50)

“So that was… Pretty cool,” Devin sighs, back outside in the cold street, “Anything else?”

Charlie yawns, “I’m probably going to head back, you guys have fun.”

“Catch you later,” Bradley calls out.

250 SP

[10] I want to keep going (choose from previous list -- not fortune telling.)
[5] I’m going to head home.

>>2982700
arcade[10], we are trying to postphone going to sleep after that straaaange dream.

>>2982700
>[5] I’m going to head home.

>>2982717
+

>>2982714
supporting, if only to delay going to bed

>>2982714
supporting

>>2982919
>>2982817
>>2982714

You peruse the halls of arcade machines along with Devin, Melissa, and Bradley. A downpour begins outside While the electronic sounds from the games, and the clattering of an air hockey table fills the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiGRDZBwQGs

The latent anxiety from the unknown stirs your insides and distracts you as you vacantly consume the neon flashes and deposit handfuls of coins into the very old, but functioning machines. Minutes pass, Melissa says her goodbyes, then Bradley leaves, and pretty soon it’s just you and Devin sitting in adjacent racing booths passively racing each other.

“Have a good time?” he looks onward, seeing past the screen.

“Yeah.” You say, doing the same.

“I -- Yeah. That’s good.”

The two of you remain in your trance, robotically turning your steering wheels, practically in last place, both giving stray but distant reactions to what you’re doing in the game.

“Sorry,” Devin speaks up, “This whole thing was my idea - I mean - they let me do it, but I wasn’t supposed to have it go on this long.”

“Edward he,” Devin pauses to collect himself, “I don’t think he knew, but he was my best friend. You know - we’d been friends for so long I guess I just thought that was just how it was going to be.”

“I mean it’s not like we spent that much time together. It’s just - like - he’s always been there.” Devin wipes his eyes.

“On the weekends, I’d be like Oh! I wonder what Ed’s up to. And i’d see him, Posts online. I’d message him and we’d hang out for a bit. Talk about life. How things have been treating us. Now just see that fucking post by his mom from his account, asking for prayers and stuff, and I know s-she doesn’t really mean anything by it just...”

“I’ll have that thought you know Oh! I wonder what Ed’s up to? and I’ll see the post and it’s like right...”

“Not in a million years would I thought this would -- would fuck me up like this. You know?”

Devin clears his throat, “I’m sorry, just. Call up your best friend tomorrow. Hang out or something. Even if you don’t really talk much anymore. Fuck, if you can’t do it tomorrow, I’ll schedule it off for you. Have Bradley pick up the slack. Just let me know.”

You simply reply with a “Yeah.” (-60)

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Back home you lie awake in your bed, still afraid of sleep. You blink, and think about Devin, You think about your mother. You think about how distraught she was that her daughter needed to take pills to get along. How she would react if you called her, and told her that hallucinations are affecting you like this? How a coincidence can drive you to believe you’re fighting for your life every sunday night? You blink, and realize that she would call you crazy, or worse, that she might not care at all. You blink, and drift off to sleep.

You awaken in that small dark place.

190 SP

>>2983150

(That's going to be it for tonight, I'll continue in this thread on sunday.)

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Thunderous rumbles and distant shouting break up the monotonous hum of the foreign machinery.

Circle placed an idol, Only two more left!

You vigorously rub your eyes and slide out of the pod, and into the bright neon room.

Yes! They’re here!

Oh! Square’s here! What a surprise! What a shock! That’s right, you thought that shape was dead! But here they are!

Yes, Square almost lost all points. Lose all points and you reach worse than death. Challenge died just before. Good thing.

It looks like they’re confused, well, a few friends are showing up to greet her!

Just as the voice trails off, it gives way to a tall, eyeless monstrosity bursts into the room. You attempt to get low and hide as the creature scans the rows of empty pods. Your breathing turns erratic as you try to maneuver as quietly as possible. Suddenly you here a violent knocking, a panel at the top of one of the wall segments bursts open, and inside Triangle desperately waves for you to enter. The creature twists its head, and its body slinks after as its legs stomp vigorously towards the noise.

“Hurry!” Triangle yells, prompting you to run at a full sprint, the creature’s head twisting and scanning you as its arm desperately grasps at you. You jump up, grabbing onto Triangle’s hand and climbing up into the crawl space.

It looks like Square wants to be a cheater too.

It’s not the rules. I believe it is fair. I don’t believe they can hurt the show there.

Whatever.

Inside the crawl space you catch your breath, Pentagon is sitting behind Triangle and gives you nod along with a “Hey.” You notice Triangle gripping onto some kind of hefty, alien hand held mechanism.

Triangle sighs, “We thought you were dead,” He extends his free hand out to you, “Del. Programmer.”

You stare at him vacantly, He shakes his head “They can’t hear us in here, just make sure you use the shapes when we’re outside.”

“Oh, well ... I’m Agnes. I work at Emmit’s.” You grab his hand and shake.


Triangle notices you staring at the strange device, “We lucked out, and found this underneath some of the equipment. I think it’s some kind of maintenance tool. lets us get into the walls. Circle, and Rhombus are looking for the idols. The challenge is to get five of them to onto this stage in the center of the complex while those tall things are wandering around. Opening up some of these walls though, that changed our plan. Those weird fuckers can’t fit through here, so Pentagon and I are doing some exploring.”

“... He chickened out … so he volunteered,” Pentagon remarks.

“Yup,” Triangle snaps.

>>2989309


He takes a deep breath,”Right. Before we go, check your pockets.”

“You know how Rhombus has his guitar, well the aliens thought it was a handicap aid. They might have put some stuff with you too.”

You dig in deeply into your pockets and retrieve a single, wrapped, strip of gum.

Triangle shrugs, “Well, it’s something. We’re trying to take anything that might be useful and keep it hidden away. Well -- anything that we feel like giving up. Rhombus wouldn’t let go of his guitar.”

“Alright,” Triangle turns back towards Pentagon, “Let’s see what we can see.”

The three of you crawl along, making note of the rooms you might be able to drop into. All the while that voice incessantly badgers Circle and Rhombus.

[Stockpile]
- Two Elastic Hair ties
- a tie
- Drawstring
- a piece of gum.
- Alien Maintenance Tool.

[10] Explore what looks like some kind of storage space, like a locker room?
[10] Explore what looks like some kind of room with alien computer interfaces.
[10] Explore what looks to be an alien bathroom. Just some place with vessels of a mysterious liquid.

>>2989316
[10] Explore what looks like some kind of room with alien computer interfaces.

>>2989316
>[10] Explore what looks like some kind of storage space, like a locker room?

>>2989316
>[10] Explore what looks like some kind of storage space, like a locker room?

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>>2989383
>>2989359

You enter the storage room, you’re greeted to boxes and strange receptacles. Immediately, the three of you begin scouring the place for anything that isn’t nailed down. The lockers have no opening mechanism, and seem to be controlled remotely. Most of the boxes seem to be sealed shut, and try as you might the Alien Maintenance Tool doesn’t open them. It does partially allow you to disassemble a pipe revealing the cords within, though there’s no telling what’s coursing through those cords unless you tried opening them up. After searching the room completely, you find what looks to be some sort of small, empty receptacle lying dormant in the corner. The edges of the lid are sharp to the touch and it seems to have been forced open with a tool. The tool is nowhere to be found.

180 SP

[10][Enter Action]
[5][Go somewhere else (specify)]

>>2989505
>[5][Go to the bathroom]

>>2989505
>[5][Go to the bathroom]

>>2989505
>[5][Go to the computer room]

>>2989529
>>2989522

You enter the bathroom. Looking around you see a pristine reflective place resembling a bathroom with rough approximations of toilets. The vessels are separated with knee high walls for you, and you’re quite short as it is. Once again, there’s no interface to be seen, and furthermore there doesn’t seem to be a hole in these toilets so there’s no way they could possibly flush. Perhaps the most alarming and foreign thing in the room seems to be the presence of a completely ordinary plunger. You suppose it’s safe to assume this may actually be a bathroom created by someone with a loose understanding of what a bathroom is. Maybe part of a future set[/]. Regardless you take the plunger.

That was close Circle! Almost lost your head!
It’s not a worry, Tall Man cannot remove head. Claws can remove a shape’s skin at best.

[Stockpile]
- Two Elastic Hair ties
- a tie
- Drawstring
- a piece of gum.
- Alien Maintenance Tool.
- Empty receptacle with sharp lid.
- Strangely ordinary plunger

[10] Enter Action.
[5] Go Elsewhere (specify).

>>2989622
>[5][Go to computer room]

>>2989622

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>>2989698
>>2989682

You drop down into the interface room, The machines blip and whir as you carefully peruse the area. The machines seem to be powered by more cords constrained by large pipes. Leading out from each and every machine is a cord that seems to go up and out of the room presumably connected to other things in different rooms. Suddenly, a few large bright blasts whiz by you. Hanging from the ceiling, a turret spots the three of you. The turret consists of a sleek, curved housing, with signs of more complex machinery underneath as well as a large barrel that shoots bright hot orbs of light. At the front of it, above the barrel, you see what you can only assume is a recessed sensor buried in the housing. You scramble and take cover back inside the crawl space.

175 SP

[Stockpile]
- Two Elastic Hair ties
- a tie
- Drawstring
- a piece of gum.
- Alien Maintenance Tool.
- Empty receptacle with sharp lid.
- Strangely ordinary plunger

[10][Enter Action]

>>2989874
>>[10][Enter Action]

>>2989874
tell me more about this maintenance tool

>>2989874
>[10]attempt to break the sensor by throwing something at it

>>2989874
How big is the receptacle? maybe we can use it as a shield or a decoy

>>2989925

The maintenance tool is about the size of your forearm, Specifically it seems to be designed to remove the various bolts adorning the walls and the pipes providing you the ability to remove some panels covering areas that might need to be maintained.

>>2989938

The Receptacle is no bigger than your shoe. It seems to have contained maybe some sort of food at some point.

>>2989946
would it be possible to macguyver a cutting tool out of the receptacle? I think maybe we should start cutting those wires with it. To reduce risk of shock, maybe we can tie it to the end of the plunger

>>2989874
>[10][Tie receptacle to plunger, cut wires]

>>2989874
what was the damage done to the walls from the blaster?

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>>2990025
You rip the lid completely off of the receptacle, and fasten it to the plunger. The result is a Toilet Halberd. Using your new tool, you attempt to sever some of the cords you can get to without being shot at inside the computer room. You see a few of the screens go dark, but unfortunately the turret wasn’t affected.

>>2990155
The blaster left a few scorch marks on the walls where the energy balls discapated. From this you can only imagine getting hit with these might not be initially lethal depending on where they hit you, but being stuck in the line of fire would probably put you down quickly at the rate that they were fired out.

>>2990297
[10][Enter Action]
use the alien device to unscrew a section of wall to use as a shield, bring it right up to the blaster and wall it in

>>2990418
Supporting

You use a wall panel as a shield as you charge the room, The force and rate from the scalding laser blasts unfortunately is enough to blast you backwards. Both Pentagon, and Triangle are probably stronger than you, so you figure either one of them could go in your stead. You think about who you’re going to send, but Pentagon volunteers.

Pentagon pushes against the laser blasts and makes it to one of the computers still connected, so proceeds to randomly tap on the screen.

After a few boring minutes of constantly being pelted by scalding laser, Pentagon shouts, “Uh… I think this menu might control the lockers!”

“That’s great,” Triangle beams, “Let’s unlock ‘em and open ‘em up!”

“Wait! Nevermind! I don’t think they’re unlocked!”

“What?”

“Or maybe…? I gotta be here, and then you guys open it when I unlock it!”

Triangle groans, “... Are they locked or not?!”

She pauses, taps the screen a bit more, “Actually … I think you cut the power to ‘em! We can’t actually open them from here.”

“It says they were unlocked though!”

A little embarrassed, you regretfully clutch your Toilet Halberd tightly. Perhaps great power truly does come with great responsibility.

There goes Rhombus with another idol! That brings the count to four. Only one more to go!
I am glad shapes are living.
Me too. The longer they live, the better they die.
I am not thinking the same, I think you are not wrong though. For most viewers, I’m sure.

155 SP

[Stockpile]
- Two Elastic Hair ties
- a tie
- a piece of gum.
- Alien Maintenance Tool.
- Empty receptacle.
- Toilet Halberd

[10]Enter Action

>>2990944
go back to the locker room and try the lockers now

>>2990944
oops. square arrives and instantly becomes a hinderance

[10] well, this can be fixed. damaged wires can have their insulation scraped and respliced using the ties. it won't be pretty but it...should work? unless they're alientech that doesn't actually work like ours.

>>2991383
>>2991216

(Sorry guys, I'll have to leave it for now, and continue tomorrow around the same time. Thank you all for playing though. I was more slow going today than I would've liked.)

>>2991383
Oh fuck really? Shit, my bad

>>2991394
That's absolutely fine. The replies got really slow here at the end as well. I suppose it gets like that when quests get too open ended like this. The players become somewhat directionless.

>>2991402

I thought I'd try something out. I'm always worrying that I might be railroading too much because I get a little carried away sometimes.

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>>2991383

You’d attempt to repair the wires but you have to admit to yourself that the idea of working on live wires makes you nervous. Triangle coaches you through the process, though his only experience is installing a ceiling fan once so the idea still is quite scary. Eventually you end up using the hair ties to repair the damage you’ve done and the three of you head to the locker room.

Inside the locker room you find the lockers ajar. The lockers themselves seem to have been cleared out, only leaving behind a few various metal nuts and bolts. The most noticeably different thing about the room is a completely new container that seems to have raised up from the ground. The box is about a meter wide, and has what appears to be a keypad on it with shapes instead of numbers.

From the top right the shapes depicted on the keys are a Square, a Triangle, a Circle, a Hexagon, a Parallelogram, a Hexagon, A Hemisphere, a Star, and a Rhombus.

145 SP

[Stockpile]
- a tie
- a piece of gum.
- Alien Maintenance Tool.
- Empty receptacle
- Toilet Halberd
- Nuts and Bolts

[10]Attempt to enter the code (specify)
[10]Attempt to disable the box’s lock mechanism (specify)

>>2992610
Shit.
>enter code square circle triangle
If that fails try amd bust it open with the tool

>>2992610
How many digits is the code?

>>2992610
>Attempt to disable the box’s lock mechanism
star star star

>>2992610
Clearly this is Hexagon's body so try pressing Hexagons for a good minute until it opens.

>>2993103
The code is five digits

>>2993128
(-10)
You enter all hexagons and the keypad clears and prompts you to try again. The thought crosses your mind that this might be where they placed Hexagon's body ... You really hope there isn't a dead body in there.

>>2992884
(-10)
You try to use the Alien Maintenance tool to break the box open by repeatedly smashing the lock with it, but to no avail.

125 SP

>>2993429
Man fuck this shit. Join the others in looking for that final idol.

>>2992610
I'll be honest I have no idea how to continue from here.

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>>2993633
>>2993524

>>2993524
>>2993633

Growing frustrated with this you give in and propose you join Circle and Rhombus with finding the last idol. Perhaps this is for the best. Crawling through the crawl space you approach an opening near the main area, You see Circle quickly hop from outside into the space smacking her head against the wall, then scrambling away from the opening while a pair of lanky hands come crashing through the metal corridors.

"Oh hey Square! You're late!" She yells, her face lighting up while rubbing her head.

"Did you find the last idol?" You ask.

"Yeah, but there's - like - way too many of them..."

"Oh yeah! We can talk in here, they can't hear is if we're quiet."

"She knows," Triangle remarks.

"Oh. Cool! I'm Liz."

"Agnes."

"Rhombus is around the hallway on the other side. I tried to draw them over here but I don't know. There's so many of them, and they just crowd around it.

"Find anything for the stockpile?" Triangle interjects.

"Nope, we looked in basically all the rooms we could get to, and couldn't find anything we could carry. I can't be super sure though, cause those guys would just come in after me, and it's not like I could lock the doors."

Circle shrugs, "I think if there was anything else lying around we would've seen it by now, though."

She lets out an anxious sigh, "I just want to get that freaking idol and be done with this."

"Well," Triangle ponders, "As much as I hate to say it we might have a better chance if we're all trying to draw them away."

The situation seems to be that Circle has been trying to draw the tall guys over to her so Rhombus can sneak in and grab the idol. All the tall guys are being drawn to the last idol though so the second they lose sight of anyone they seem to gravitate back.

125 SP

[Stockpile]
- a tie
- a piece of gum.
- Alien Maintenance Tool.
- Empty receptacle
- Toilet Halberd

[20]Propose plan (specify)
[5]Go with Triangle's Plan.

>>2993715
Lets go with tri's plan, cus I got nothing

>>2993759
>>2993633

this, im having a hard time visualizing whats going on. Maybe a map would be nice?

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>>2993784
>>2993759

You try to construct a partial floor plan in your mind based on where you went and what you saw. You might be under or over estimating the distances, but you get a rough idea of the areas you've been to.

>>2994671
What's that room with the two unlocked doors leading to it?

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>>2994780

"That room doesn't have anything in it we could get. Just some pipes and cords and stuff around the doors," Circle sighs, "I thought I could maybe cut through to lose them, but they just wander in after me."

I'm pretty sure every time we actually try to bait the monsters with people we'll lose someone. But I can't think of a great solution to this.

Maybe we could set up a relay of people baiting them, with each of us popping back inside the vents for safety as they get near us, and lead them away that way so that the first person can duck in and grab it. I'm not sure if that's meaningfully different from Triangle's plan though.

Maybe we could take the reflective panels from the bathroom (with the Maintenance Tool, can we take those off?) and use those to project our images in different places where the vents don't let us relay them away.

That's the best I've got.

>>2995503
I like this plan. Supporting

>>2995503
+1

>>2995503
>>2995556
>>2995665

Rhombus joins you in the crawl space, and you propose using the reflective panels from the bathroom to further distract the creatures more effectively without putting yourselves in as much danger. The plan is to position them one by one and use them to grab your reflections further down the hall.

“Aw man! there’s a bathroom in here?” Rhombus asks, amazed.

Circle glances at the toilets, “I don’t think these work...”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t try it even if they did,” Triangle remarks, proceeding to start disassembling some of the panels, “For all we know you’ll actually get sucked in.”

You end up with five reflective panels, one for each of you to carry.

One by one you position and set up the panels for your plan, cautiously avoiding the creatures that catch onto you. With the panels setup, You have to designate exactly who is going to go for the idol. It’s true Circle seems to be the fastest, but Circle and Rhombus have been running the whole night.

105 SP

(20)Volunteer to be the runner.
(10)Choose someone else (specify)

>>2995912
>(20)Volunteer to be the runner.
We're fresh, and we don't know how much longer Circle can keep it up.

>>2995912
>(20)Volunteer to be the runner.

QM is this your reform plan for /qst/'s population? are you trying to convince us to go out and do things by penalizing low-effort actions and rewarding high-point-value actions? :V
>>2995912
>(20)Volunteer to be the runner.
might as well put our late appearance to use, yeah

You know, I'm wondering if the computers could control the locks on the room with two doors. Maybe it would it have been worth it to try trapping the tall guys in there? I suppose it's too late now.

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>>2996882
>>2996736
>>2995951


Everyone looks at each other in silence, none of them are in a state where they want to put their lives on the line once again, regardless this has to be done. You figure if you die then at least it’s over, right?

You volunteer to run the idol in. Circle describes where you need to take the idol, a place between the pod room and the area you are now. It’s the biggest room off the main hall and in the center is a tube. When you place the idol in the tube, it’ll be raised up to somewhere and that’ll be that.

As the five of you begin to kite and fool the creatures, you grip your weaponized toilet tool as a last line of defense, then make a dash for the idol when an opening appears. A few of the tall creatures begin to give chase as you clumsily dodge and juke your way around them catching a few slashes on your way. You tuck the idol under your arm, turn around, and your legs carry you through as you duck the oncoming barrage of claws. The creatures begin to form mouths and eyes as they get close and lash out at you. One of the beasts clips you and you fall to the ground, immediately you flip over to catch sight of a creature standing over you, rearing back to swing.

It occurs to you that you might be wrong. You wouldn’t be escaping anything if you died. Nobody said death could free you from it. If anything, dying here could trap you forever. Like Edward, you’ll be a medical anomaly, and everything you ever did or ever will do will be muddied by that from now until everyone forgets about you. If you go, everything else will vanish except for you, and do you really want to be stuck with you?

Much to the creature’s surprise, you let out a fearful, guttural scream whilst brandishing your plunger with a bit of metal strapped to it like a mad woman.

You jab and swing wildly, cutting the beast’s hand as it reaches for you causing it to hesitate. You hear Circle and the others yelling out to you distracting the creature for only a moment. In a blink, you climb to your feet and desperately run away as the creature gives chase. This wasn’t just a single dream; This battle, and the one before it give you no reason to believe that it all ends here. Real or fake, dead or alive, it doesn’t matter, you’re here right now.

So you might as well win.

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>>2997543


You bound into the room with the big tube in the center of it, toss the idol into the pod, and in your adrenaline induced state slowly come to the realization of just how tacky this idol is. The creatures pour into the room as you fall to the floor.

Wait, this was the last one, right?

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>>2997544

You awake in a panic, your body climbs to get out of the way while your mind still sleeps, the disconnect causes your face to hit the floor. As you slowly regain your senses you figure you must’ve won given the fact that you’re still here. As scared as you are of these dreams, and as much as you dreaded them becoming regular, the process of putting a plan together and executing it seems to give you a little confidence. Much better than the first time around.

Though you can’t do this for too much longer; Sooner or later one of those things is going to catch you, and then that’ll be it.

405 SP

[50] Sign up for a Gym so you can be more physically fit for these challenges.
[50] Try to find people that believe in aliens so you can talk about your problems.

>>2997547
>[50] Sign up for a Gym so you can be more physically fit for these challenges.
/fit/ time boyz

>>2997547
>[50] Sign up for a Gym so you can be more physically fit for these challenges.

>>2997547
[50] Try to find people that believe in aliens so you can talk about your problems.

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>>2997621
>>2997586

You barely out paced those lumbering monstrosities despite the fact they were significantly slower than the creature before. You figure even if you’re not the one at the center of your next plan, it might save someone else’s life should you be fit enough for it to matter. For these reasons you decide that after work you’re going to join a gym and try to work out -- or whatever. You’ll have to figure it out.

You get up, get a shower, and get dressed with the increased vigor from a new plan.

“What happened?” Your aunt sheepishly asks, “You look like you’ve been crying, hun.”

You look up from your Munchy Grain cereal, and attempt to save yourself from ranting like a crazy person about aliens by responding with, “Mmh. I’m good,” before finishing your breakfast and heading for work.

As you enter the break room at work the TV blares, depicting a forlorn Timothy Tucker “ -- A mockery of the sport, and for that I’m deeply sorry. I let emotions get the better of me and --”

“Yo, Aggie.” Bradley sits at the break table, his head down and his arms spread across the table.

“Hey,” You look upon Bradley’s disheveled appearance, “Uh -- you look tired.”

“Yeah I know, I stayed up too late. Probably should've gone to sleep when I got back but - well - you know. I didn’t.”

Devin walks in, “Hey guys,” He notices Bradley, “Feelin’ it from the bar last night?”

“Fuck no. I didn’t drink that much, I just stayed up too late. I don’t get hangovers anyway.”

“Quit lying.”

“Never had one in my life.”

“... Root beer isn’t actually beer, Bradley.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Bradley scoffs, “I’ve been shitfaced before and nothing happened.”

Despite the things Devin told you, he seems to be feeling alright now. You wonder if maybe he had a bit too much to drink, but at the same time the things he told you made you feel bad for him. Regardless of how it ended, you can’t deny that getting out was refreshing, even if you didn’t talk all that much.

“... Last night was pretty fun though, We should all do that again some time.” You state.

“Yeah, I’d be down. It was cool,” Bradley mutters, his face still glued to the table, “Fortune teller told me I was gonna make a million dollars, or something. I liked that part.”

Devin scratches his head, “Can't promise anything soon," he smiles, "but I’ll see what I can do.”

>>2996882
>QM is this your reform plan for /qst/'s population? are you trying to convince us to go out and do things by penalizing low-effort actions and rewarding high-point-value actions? :V

High-point-value actions are just things the character is more uncomfortable with. It's up in the air whether or not they work out, both short term and long term. You should go out and do things though.

>>2997761
Okay, that's going to do it for this thread. It got bad there in that second half, for the next one I'll try to get it together a bit better. I'm going to try and continue it on Sunday. I kind of wanted the days to line up with what we were doing but I probably should give myself some time to plan some more stuff out. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me! I'll be around for a bit if you had stuff you wanted to ask or talk about.

>>2997791
Thanks for running! So is there a pattern to how many SP we get every time we wake up? We got 300 the first day, 290 the second day (unless the stay in bed option cost us a hidden 10 SP), and 320 on this new day. Does it depend on what we do in the waking world, or in the dream world? Perhaps a mixture of the two? And as for gaining and losing SP outside of waking up and decision points, does it depend on doing actions that make us more or less comfortable with ourselves? What does SP stand for anyway?

>>2997881

>We got 300 the first day, 290 the second day (unless the stay in bed option cost us a hidden 10 SP), and 320 on this new day.

It does depend on actions that are more or less comfortable, generally it depends on things that affect the character and makes them less comfortable. You can earn or lose SP from actions in the dream world and the waking world even outside of the challenges. You can earn or lose SP based on something someone says even without a decision. You earn the most from the challenges. Generally challenges give out around 300 give or take depending on your mental state.

>What does SP stand for anyway?

To be honest I flip back and forth between "Subconscious Points" like the points the Subconscious uses to act and feel, or the more general "Social Points" as in the points the Subconscious uses to function in society. Either way, The players are the Subconscious, blue alien explained in the first one in a kind of cryptic way.

this quest is still neat. thanks for running and putting in so much effort, it shows

New thread: >>3007700