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>>4187078
"Anon-kun...You're alive-"

It's day, at last – the first sunrise you've seen in an eternity. An eerie crimson glow filters through the shutters of Tsukimi's room, a lurid, faintly unwholesome illumination.

Natsumi stiffens, as you put your arm around her. She's lost weight – her skin is sickly-warm, and you can feel the harder edges of her bones even through her blouse. But her relief is as genuine as it is utter and complete; She makes a low sound, deep in her throat, something that mingles a gasp and a sob.

“...knew you weren't dead...”

“...wanted to look for you, but we didn't know where to start-”

Her words are half-cohered, muffled against the stained fabric of your coat. She hugs you hard, so hard it almost hurts, with a strength that surprises you-

No. It's not that she's stronger. It's that you're weaker, now.

You keep forgetting.

It's all you can do to stroke her back, to murmur soothing words until she draws back, her head turning – Just for a moment – to the side. Confusion flits across her features, her gaze darting to the sling that holds your right arm; Natsumi winces, softly, her hand resting against it as her eyes meet yours.

“Your arm...” Natsumi murmurs, and there's a flash of pain in her words.

“Does it hurt?”

It doesn't.

It doesn't feel like anything at all.

She looks past you. At the bed, at the pale, slumbering form it holds. Silent, except for the faint beeps of the machines that monitor her every moment.

“Is that-” Natsumi says. Soft, almost to herself.

And again-

“Anon-kun, is that...?”

Realization blossoms, as her lips press together in a thin line. When – at last – she manages to wrench her gaze aside, you see the alien emotion etched onto her features, too stark to be fully concealed.

Pity.

“Come on,” she says. “We'll talk outside. The others...They're waiting for you.”

Carefully – as if handling an invalid, or someone made of glass – Natsumi takes your good arm, steering you towards the door. Her knuckles are white from the effort of not gripping, her face set in a careful mask of concentration.

Your last glimpse of Tsukimi is the merest hint of a figure – dark, brittle hair, spilling across a pillow – before the door closes without a sound.

-----

The elevator's low hum is a subliminal, almost hypnotic sound. The oppressive reek of antiseptic makes it seem smaller than it is – With Natsumi sharing the space, it's positively claustrophobic.

(Continued)

>>4187079
She was quiet, when she guided you through the echoing, empty halls of the hospital's private ward. More than once, you caught her sneaking sidelong glances at you, as if to reassure herself of your existence.

As if you might vanish at any moment, like a mirage.

In the wan glow of the recessed lights, her red hair is like a flash of fire.

“I've...talked to Kazuya-kun,” Natsumi says, soft. Barely above a whisper.

“He told me...”

Her voice trails off, as she leans her head back against the wall.

“-the things he saw-”

Abruptly, she catches herself. Abruptly, she changes the subject.

“We – Before, we didn't have the chance to talk. Everything was...Well. You know what it was like.”

Then-

“Akira-kun, Isao, even Aoba-san – and everyone else – it must've been so awful, even before...”

The words tumble out of her, in a rush.

“Yui-chan, and Mio too...I – I can't imagine how it must feel.”

There's a tautness to Natsumi's voice, a fragility. Her hands, resting on her arms, are so still they tremble.

“How – How do you stand it...?”

[ ] “Kazuya's alive. You're alive. That's what matters.”
[ ] “I didn't really have a choice.”
[ ] “I...try not to think about it.”
[ ] “I've been through worse.”
[ ] “The same way you did. I'm glad you're okay, Natsumi.”
[ ] “Honestly, I don't know.”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4187090
>"Back when I originally came out, it was pure momentum. Eyes forward, don't look back, never stop walking."

>"I've made a lot of mistakes, Natsumi. Things I or others will never forgive. Sometimes because I though it was the best choice or the lesser evil. In hindsight, I was wrong more often than not."

>"But there's no stopping. Once you're in the Red, you can only keep moving. Stop and you're dead. Stop and everyone you still care about is dead. That's it."

>>4187090

>[ ] “Kazuya's alive. You're alive. That's what matters. I can figure out the rest later.”

>>4187090
> [X] “Kazuya's alive. You're alive. That's what matters.”
> "I couldn't let him down. I had to protect both of us, he'd never have made it alone."

>>4187136
>>4187143
> “Kazuya's alive. You're alive. That's what matters. I can figure out the rest later.”
> "I couldn't let him down. I had to protect both of us, he'd never have made it alone."

Natsumi nods, her expression momentarily distant. There's a troubled look in her eyes – whatever she's heard, you're not sure she can grasp it in its entirety. You don't blame her; To Kazuya, the descent – being hounded across the midnight sands, by VOIVOID's hunters – the whispers of the dead city...

You imagine it must have been like a waking nightmare, to him. You can't imagine what he's told her.

“It's...hard to believe,” she admits, biting her lip. “They told me that you were gone – both of you – forever. But...To think that you were fighting, all this time – that there's a whole other world beneath this one...”

A faint shudder courses through Natsumi, before she catches herself.

“-It sounds...impossible. I don't think Kazu-kun believed it...not really...either. The things he saw...”

Again that sidelong glance, quick. Wondering, almost.

>>4187135
> "But there's no stopping. Once you're in the Red, you can only keep moving. Stop and you're dead. Stop and everyone you still care about is dead. That's it."

The words come out flat, harder than you expected. As if the affect has been drained from your voice, rendering it a monotone.

Natsumi doesn't flinch. Somehow, somehow, she manages a smile – a weak one, but a smile regardless. Then – Almost to herself...

“You can't – won't – stop. Can't change.”

There's a quiet sadness to her words, as she stares at the polished steel of the wall for a long, long moment – As if her blurred reflection holds some revelation.

And then she exhales. A sigh, something that's almost resignation.

“But...I suppose it's too late for anything else. Far too late.”

> "I've made a lot of mistakes, Natsumi. Things I or others will never forgive. Sometimes because I though it was the best choice or the lesser evil. In hindsight, I was wrong more often than not."

A silence descends. A gulf of immeasureable distance.

For a moment, you wonder if Natsumi's heard you. There's a subtle shift to her expression, something you can't quite discern – And for a moment, you have no idea what she's thinking.

What she does say, however-

“You love her, don't you?”

Her voice is calm, measured, her gaze meeting yours.

(More)

>>4187208
“I mean – Tsukimi. You really love her.”

Natsumi's slim throat works, as she swallows, hard.

“That day, at Nara Dreamland...I knew there was something – strange – about her. But you seemed so happy, it was like-”

There's a catch to her voice.

“Maybe – If I'd said something then...Maybe all this-”

A shuddering breath. Natsumi's fingers twitch against her arms, belying her words.

“I just...” she begins. Stops. Starts again.

“You – gave up everything for her. Everything. Eita-san...He doesn't know, of course. But – when Kazu-kun told me what happened to you...I knew.”

It sounds like something is wrenching her insides into a knot, but it never shows on her face.

“I...You don't have to tell me, you know. Not if you don't want to.”

“But – How did it feel?”

Her eyes search yours, already seeking an answer.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4187078
Why do we not have the Auric Shroud?

>>4187271
(My apologies, you're right. I'll update it at the first opportunity.)

>>4187279
What is she asking about exactly OP?

>>4187281
She's asking how it felt to give up everything for Tsukimi.

>>4187215
It felt like the only thing I've done right in a while.

>>4187215
"It felt right. For once, I was choosing what 'I' wanted, rather than what I hoped was the 'right' thing to do."

"She gave me the impulse to act of my own volition rather than just depending on momentum to guide my actions. That's how it was when we first and also when I lost her."

"Not as Anon, but the Red Joker."

>>4187307
>>4187292
>>4187281
(Gentlemen, it's extremely late here - However, I'll continue at the first opportunity. Night for now, but I'll see you all again soon.)

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>>4187292
>>4187307

> “It felt like the only thing I've done right in a while”

“-I see.”

Natsumi's voice is low, as she holds your gaze for a moment more – and then looks away. You sense that she's considering saying something else – a brief, internal struggle – that she can't quite bring herself to state...

-But then the elevator's doors rumble open, and the moment passes.

She straightens, with something like relief. The hallway beyond is well-lit, the glass walls on either side gleaming as if freshly polished; it brings to mind the office or the boardroom, the subdued lighting somehow more natural that whatever lies beyond.

“This way,” she says, her arm brushing against yours briefly – as if for moral support – before she walks ahead of you, drawing a deep breath. Her back goes rigid, and you can almost see her bracing herself for what's coming next...Like great stormshields, raised into position.

It's not much further. At a door marked with M1-04, Natsumi stops – You can see half-cohered figures moving behind the near-opaque glass, hear snatches of conversation.

“...understand why you're hesitating...most important component of...”

Eita's voice. Measured, deliberate, but with a hint of growing frustration.

“...make decision without...hearing what he thinks about it.”

Kazuya. A little intimidated, but standing firm.

“-as you know...has been entirely compromised. He just handed...trust him?”

Natsumi hesitates, glancing back at you – a swift, meaningful glance, as if to say: Be careful.

Kazuya again.

“-weren't there. You don't know.”

Eita. Faintly disbelieving, as if dealing with a child's petulance.

“Your own...at this time? Really?”

Kazuya. Raising his voice, now. A dull thump, like a fist against a table.

“-did the same for me!”

When she knocks, the sound is like a warning shot. The voices fall abruptly silent, a silence as total as the aftermath of a bomb-blast. A taut, tense moment later, you hear Eita say-

“Come in.”

The glass door swings inwards, without a sound. The conference room beyond is almost deliberately lifeless, polished faux-wood finishings accentuating a single angular table of some black polymer.

Six of the fourteen seats are filled.

Directly opposite each other, like the battle lines of armies facing off along a parallel: Kazuya on one side, Kuresaka Eita on the other. The Sterling Industries facilitator looks exactly as he did last night (Or was that mere hours ago?), his brow furrowed, the fingers of one hand tapping lightly against the varnished surface, betraying agitation or impatience. He doesn't look up, as you enter.

(Continued)

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>>4188776
Kazuya does, and – even from here – you can see the momentarily relief in his eyes. He looks almost painfully clean, now, skin scrubbed to the point of rawness, though there's still a hollowness to his features. There's a certain set to his jaw when he glances back at Eita; His hand, still clenched in a fist, uncurls from where it thumped the table.

Amane sits next to Kazuya, her face pale – bolt-upright, hands folded on her lap, like a witness to an interview that's not going well. Her eyes flick to you, then away; she bites her lip, looking down instead.

At least one person seems happy to see you; the pale, faintly colorless man sited two seats down. A red-gloved hand – fingers splayed – spiders against the polished surface of a briefcase, as he turns his asymmetrical gaze (One normal eye, the other red-pupiled and unmoving in the socket) on you. His lips curve in a genuine-seeming smile, as his eyes settle on your lifeless arm.

It takes you a moment to realize that's not a glove, but a prosthetic.

“Kugai-san...” Natsumi murmurs, sounding surprised. “Chief armorer,” she clarifies, at your unspoken question – She dips her head in a nod of acknowledgement, as he raises his real hand in a friendly wave.

At the end of the table, like designated observers – Shion, her lips set in a thin line of disapproval. She looks as exactingly attired as before, her black school uniform as immaculate as a nun's habit. Besides her is a bespectacled boy – about a year or two younger – fidgeting with the tight collar of his dress shirt, looking thoroughly miserable.

“That's-” Natsumi begins, sotto voce.

Tyrian Edge.

“Oh. You've met?”

No.

(Continued)

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>>4188810

Possibly desperate for something – anything – to break the tension, he's on his feet in a moment, almost stumbling over his chair in his eagerness to get to you.

“Joker!” he says, loud enough to make Amane wince; He thrusts his right hand out at you, reconsiders, then goes with his left. “I mean, Anon-san...It's me. Ritsu – Ritsu Ataka. It's great to see you...I mean, you haven't seen me before, but I'm-”

Tyrian Edge.

He seems to wilt a little, behind the half-moons of his glasses. “Oh. You knew?”

“Use your brain, Ritsu,” Shion says, softly. Firmly but gently, she steers him out of the way, that fierce gaze – still hawklike, still sharp – meeting yours. She smiles, a smile that's somehow satisfied.

“Good to see you,” she says. Then – With a lilt to her voice that's distinctly sarcastic - “-Looks like Kazuya shares your talent for diplomacy. You've been a bad influence, Joker.”

Her glance at Natsumi is rather more significant, as she inclines her head.

“Cypher,” she says, and there's a note of respect to it.

At the table, Kazuya sits back – His chair's wheels scraping against the ground. He looks tired, his smile exhausted as he turns it on you. There's something in that weary grin that says Look where we are, eh? as if he can't quite believe he's doing this.

Eita checks his watch, like a man in a tedious conference. He confers with Kugai, in a low voice.

[ ] “So. What did we miss?”
[ ] “...Things aren't going well?”
[ ] “You'll have to be more specific than that.”
[ ] “How are you holding up?”
[ ] “I'm glad you made it out. Both of you.”
[ ] “I could've used your help last night, you know.”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4188834
>[ ] “I'm glad you made it out. Both of you.”
>"What's the situation? I'm guessing things got worse. They always seem to."

>>4188834

This >>4188851

>>4188851
>>4188852
Thirding.

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>>4188851
>>4188852

> [X] “I'm glad you made it out. Both of you.”

“Me too,” Ritsu mutters, then flinches at the look Shion gives him.

“What?” he says, sounding distinctively defensive. “It's true. I mean...I – I thought it was the end. Of everything. I...I honestly can't believe we survived that-”

> [X]"What's the situation? I'm guessing things got worse. They always seem to."

“Mommy and Daddy are fighting again,” Shion says, sweetly poisonous. She shoots the Sterling Industries delegation a look, from beneath her long lashes. Eita doesn't seem to care, or even notice – Amane, however, tenses at Shion's gaze and looks away.

You get the feeling that Shion has that effect on a lot of people.

“I, uh, I know something about it,” Ritsu says. He pushes up his glasses, clears his throat.

“Basically...They want Dae – Kazuya, I mean. Eita-san's been talking about how they need him to...I'm not sure how it's supposed to work. But they say they've got something that can fix the Shroud-”

“Yes,” Natsumi says, so sharply his head whips around, startled by her. “Go on.”

“Well, Eita-san wants Kazuya to leave with him. To go to the Sterling Industries Building. Immediately. He was...very insistent about that. He kept saying that Kazuya's the one they've been waiting for, that he's important now, not...”

He dares a quick glance at you, as if worried you might take offense.

“-Not, uh, you.” A cough, into his balled fist.

“But Kazuya's been saying he's not going anywhere until they fix you, so Eita-san made a call and then Kugai-san showed up and...”

“Yeah, well...I think you can figure out the rest,” Kazuya cuts in. His chair, abandoned, rotates forlornly as he draws close – He sighs, rubbing at his jaw. “I tell you, I don't know what to make of it.”

Kazuya looks better, now. There's more color in his face; At some point, he's found fresh clothes from somewhere, though – almost defiantly – he still wears his cracked and peeling coat from the long-ago play.

It feels like a lifetime ago, now.

(Continued)

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>>4188897

“They want me to go with them more than anything, it looks like...I get the feeling they mean it. That it's really important.”

“Why didn't you?” Natsumi says. Soft, curious, a genuine question in her eyes.

Kazuya smiles, an exhausted grin – One that quickly sobers, as he runs a hand through his spiky black hair. “It's just that – Ahhhhh, you know how it is. It's not that I don't trust them. It's that...If I go with them, I get the feeling it's all out of my hands, isn't it? Whatever they want from me...I probably should get things in order, first. No offense, Nat-chan.”

She nods, without comment.

“...Though I should get a second opinion, too,” he adds. “I'm pretty sure you know about all this, Anon...Hell, you might've brought it up before. I just...had a lot of other things on my mind, at that time. We both did.”

His gaze goes distant, for a moment. Unfocused, looking at something only he can see.

Whatever it is, Kazuya shudders – Clearly not caring to dwell on it for too long. He shakes his head, bringing himself back to the here and now.

“Anyway – All this stuff about 'sealing off the Shroud', 'healing the dimensional barrier'...I don't get things like that. It doesn't mean anything to me. What I want to know is...Anon, do they mean it? Can they fix...everything?”

Behind you, Natsumi draws a shallow breath.

“Can I trust them?”

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

Man I was just wondering if we'd have a thread during this worldwide quarantine and here it is.

My guess is they want Daegal's upgrade power to boost their Manifold tower network, worst case scenario they attempt to remove it from him so they don't have a potentially unloyal host getting in the way. Remember they've always talked about Daegal, but not Kazuya. Second but more important thing to keep in mind, is that with us losing the RJ armor for now I'm guessing we're no longer the Deputy Administrator for the Hollow Sun, we granted Volt Regios and Tyrian Edge limited system access but it's Daegal who's the true Admin. The Hollow Sun is really one of the few cards we have left at this point.

OTOH, Hecate/Tsukimi is in their hands, they can easily use her as a bargaining chip to force us to "release" Kazuya into their custody, so I doubt we have too much of a choice here.

>>4188912
>[x]"They want to restore the Shroud as soon as possible and think your enhancement ability will speed it up. That's something we can both agree on."
>[x](To Eita and Kugal)"To be specific, what exactly is required of him?"
>[x](To Kazuya)"I appreciate you looking out for me, man. But there's something I'd like to show you first, with Shion and Ritsu."
I think we should get more details first, but before having him go with them, we should go have a look at the Hollow Sun, it hasn't been idle all this time. What do you guys think?

>>4188912
"They already had a project running, which involved the Manifold towers.
Those towers weaken the shroud when activated, so I guess the opposite might also work if you do your magic.

I expect them to at least think that they know how to do this. I say it's worth a try.

However, first you need to visit the Hollow Sun. We really need you to take ownership and I wouldn't be surprised if the Sun actually managed to make it easier to strengthen the shroud.

Then again, I have no idea if this will actually stop Naoya, considering that the fucker is using the powers of the Black Joker and that both Nihl eyes are still roaming around. Worst case, we are cut off from the Red, he does his thing unimpeded while we are literally powerless and then he comes back by tearing the Shroud a new asshole and killing everyone.
Or maybe he would be as powerless to interact with our world as we would in interacting with the Red. It's a coin toss.

Either way, I say we first need to do an inventory of our options. And this involves getting to the Hollow Sun."

>>4188912
>"You can trust them to mean what they say. I haven't needed to doubt their integrity yet."

>"But no plan is ever full-proof. You have to be ready for a chance that things may go wrong even if you give them your full assistance. Remember, even disregarding Pazuzu, Naoya and the Black Joker are still unpredictable variables. Ones for which I doubt even Sterling has any way to prepare."

>"So when the time comes, you'll have to make a decision to act. As the Lord of the Hollow Sun, you have the power to. And for these past months I've been preparing the army you'll need."

>"The armor choose you, not me. I think that proves you're worthy making your own choices when wielding it."

>>4188939
> [X] "They want to restore the Shroud as soon as possible and think your enhancement ability will speed it up. That's something we can both agree on."

“My enhance-” Kazuya begins, his eyes widening – His voice drops to a hush, as he says.

“You mean, like when we were fighting Voivoid?”

You can tell what he's thinking – the crumbling grandeur of the gate, the stuttering collapse of the barrier holding raw chaos at bay. Then the spiraling filaments of oriachulcum performing their miraculous alchemy, next life surging through the half-real, ever-changing mechanisms...

> [X] (To Eita and Kugai) “To be specific, what exactly is required of him?"

Eita glances at Kugai – Some unseen communication passes between them, and it's Kugai who stands. His voice is cultured, his true eye focused on you.

“To be blunt? It's like you said. The principle is sound – We believe the Daegal unit can amplify the Project's output. Before this, we believed that only the prime conduit – Argent Prominence – had the capacity to maintain an active link. But he's in no position to fulfil that role, now.”

You see Eita close his eyes, for a moment.

“You have to understand – He wasn't our first choice. Fumito-san was always meant to be the key. According to our projections, however, we're way past that. The Shroud is weakening, rapidly; Even with eighty-nine percent of the Manifold network captured and attuned to the Project, our chances of success are...”

He pauses.

“-Well. They're not good.”

Natsumi's breath hisses between her lips. “...What's the new projection for the Shroud's collapse?” she asks, a new tension to her voice, in the stark lines of her shoulders. Kugai raises an eyebrow, then glances down at the screen of his notebook.

“Four days,” he says. “At best.”

“So that bastard wasn't lying about that, after all...” Kazuya mutters, almost to himself. He trades a quick look with you: You know exactly what he's thinking.

>>4188943

“Yes, well...” Kugai checks his notebook again, makes a note with his stylus. “As you've put it, we've expended a substantial amount of resources in the course of securing the Manifold towers-”

(Continued)

>>4188993
“People,” Eita says. His voice is measured, but there's a gentle insistence to it. “Good men and women, Kugai.”

“-As you say. Regardless, the fact remains that the Project's current output is insufficient to meet our estimated needs. The loss of the Prime Conduit has set us back, immensely. If Daegal can match – or even exceed – his output, then we might have a chance. If not...”

He shrugs.

“It'd be an interesting outcome, at least. From a strictly scientific perspective, of course. For those on the ground, well...I imagine it'd be rather less pleasant.”

Eita exhales, slowly. “Any word from the Board, about the rogue elements?” he says. You sense this is well-trodden ground.

“Ah, no...Unfortunately, your request has been denied. All available manpower – as you do – is to be dedicated to the Project's success.”

Kugai's voice softens. “I don't imagine this comes as a surprise, Eita. You knew it would be like this.”

Another sigh. Eita reaches for a cup of coffee, seems startled that it's empty.

“I know,” he says. “I know. We can't afford to lose anyone, not now...”

“Be that as it may...” Kugai smiles, bright but brittle. “So, Kazuya – May I call you Kazuya? - it appears that the success or failure of our grand undertaking...That, and the lives of everyone in the city...depends solely upon your cooperation. Isn't that interesting? Now, I'm not entirely certain I understand the adolescent mindset, but it seems that this is hardly the time to be contrar-”

Eita gives him a look, and he goes silent. For a moment, Eita's dark eyes are troubled, as if searching for the words...But then he seems to come to a decision.

“Kazuya,” he says. “I'll be frank. I don't understand the science of it. I work with my hands – That's what I know.”

His hands are impressively solid, his knuckles scarred. They look like hands made to hit, his suit seemingly cut too close to fully restrain a muscular frame.

“What I know is – Ebara-san had a plan. I trusted him. I gave him my word. Now he's gone, and we have to do the best we can."

He glances at Natsumi, as if prompting her to say something. She doesn't answer, but you can feel the intensity of her gaze boring into the back of Kazuya's head.

"-All we're asking is for you to do the right thing.”

(Continued)

>>4188995

“I-”

You know Kazuya hates to be put on the spot. He looks like he's wilting under the weight of their expectations. He looks to Amane – She's pale, her hands clasped together as if praying – then to you.

“Shit,” he mutters, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “I don't...”

>>4188949
>"You can trust them to mean what they say. I haven't needed to doubt their integrity yet."
>"But no plan is ever full-proof. You have to be ready for a chance that things may go wrong even if you give them your full assistance. Remember, even disregarding Pazuzu, Naoya and the Black Joker are still unpredictable variables. Ones for which I doubt even Sterling has any way to prepare."
>"So when the time comes, you'll have to make a decision to act. As the Lord of the Hollow Sun, you have the power to. And for these past months I've been preparing the army you'll need."
>"The armor choose you, not me. I think that proves you're worthy making your own choices when wielding it."

Kazuya gives you a distinctly stricken look, as the color – slowly but surely – drains from his face. If anything, he looks positively green around the gills, now.

> “Either way, I say we first need to do an inventory of our options. And this involves getting to the Hollow Sun."

“I've heard of that,” Kugai says, with the same blithe cheeriness. “It sounds like a fascinating asset. Did you know, I petitioned for a full-scale expedition? The Board turned my request down, of course...Imagine their pique when they learned you had taken control. Ah, well – Paths not taken, and all that.”

“...So he's the one,” you hear Shion mutter to Ritsu. “No wonder they had survey teams poking around the area...”

Kazuya draws a steeling breath, squaring his shoulders.

“All right,” he says. “All right. But – before anything else...Can you fix him first?”

“Oh, most certainly,” Kugai says, without hesitation. “I've read the medical reports – As you know, I've got a certain interest in the field of prosthetics, myself.”

As if to punctuate his words, his hand whirrs, faintly.

“Of course, given our short timeframe, I've had to improvise a solution. Still, I do believe I've learnt a lot in the process-”

[ ] “All right. Where do we start?”
[ ] “Well. It's not like I have a choice, do I?”
[ ] “...You know what? I think I'm fine the way I am. I'll make do.”
[ ] “Natsumi, are you sure he's reliable?”
[ ] “I'm not a guinea pig, you know.”
[ ] “...We're not talking about amputation, are we?”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4189010

>[ ] “...We're not talking about amputation, are we?”
>"I'm quite attached to my arm"

>>4189010
>[ ] “Natsumi, are you sure he's reliable?”
"I'd rather keep my limb and look for another solution, but it doesn't look like we got the time for that.

Do you know if that will bleed over into the Red? My armor has the same issue."

>>4189010
>"I'm not sure chopping my arm off is the best option. Especially when the condition seems to be directly connected to my state in the Red."

>"Moreover, it's not like the arm is entirely nonfunctional. One of my relics grants me temporary use."

>>4189010
>*Take out the Carnifex, show it to him* "This reactivates my arm and allows me to use it again. I think the issue is that the nerve endings in my arm are fried as the muscle is still fully functional. Not only that, I need this to fully access the Red Joker's powers."
>"What exactly would this entail Kugai?"
>(To Eita) "Has the current plan to close off the Shroud factored in what would happen if dozens or hundreds of lachryma based entities like Silenc+ers and Amalgams become active at once? Does it include the White Joker in it at all?"
>(To Amane and Ritsu) "What have you been doing with the Sun since we've been gone? What's been happening with it?"

>>4189039
We should ask if it will change our form in the Red/the Red Joker armor as well

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>>4189019
> [X] “Natsumi, are you sure he's reliable?”

“Well-”

That's not a good start.

“...He designed my armor and my enhancements,” she says. “He's...” Searching for the words, now. “-He can be a bit eclectic, but...Kugai-san – He's good at what he does. Really.”

Kugai dips his head, in a slight bow.

“-Thank you, Cypher. You, after all, were always my best work.”

Natsumi's gaze flicks upwards, but she nods, all the same.

>>4189018
> [X] “...We're not talking about amputation, are we?”
> [X] "I'm quite attached to my arm."

“Ha, very good,” Kugai says. “A joke, yes? A sense of humor is a healthy thing. But amputation? Even if that was an option, I'm afraid it wouldn't help.”

He gestures, the servoes of his false hand whirring.

“I believe there's nothing wrong with your arm – Physically, that is. The problem appears to be a synaptic one, like a patient recovering from a severe stroke. Normally, at least some arm function is retained...Subject to extensive rehabilitation, of course...but your loss of function is complete. Total, in fact.”

Uneasily, Kazuya glances over at you, at your sling.

“Most myoelectric hand prostheses – they're controlled by nerves and electrical impulses from the wearer’s residual limb. But, lengthy training period aside, your case is far more severe. Even if we removed your entire arm, it'd be hard to compensate for the damage.”

“Jesus,” Kazuya mutters. You feel Natsumi clutch at your sleeve, going thin-lipped, pale.

> “Do you know if that will bleed over into the Red? My armor has the same issue."

“Yes, that's what we're hoping for,” Kugai says. “We can't fix your arm here – Not for the foreseeable future, at any rate...”

“-assuming there is one,” Shion says, earning herself a sharp look from Eita.

“...So our efforts will be limited solely to the infraverse. Like so.”

Kugai snaps his fingers, with a sharp metallic clack.

The world goes Red.

STAGE: PURGATORY

Black stone. Solid tiles, underfoot – Polished onyx and ivory, like the undulation of a wave.

The nature of the room changes. Now, clustered around a glossy slab of black stone, the nature of your friends surge to the forefront.

CHROME CYPHER, impassive. DAEGAL, gleaming golden. TYRIAN EDGE and VOLT REGIOS, standing together at one side. FULGURITE AXIOM, his halo burning overhead with the slow rotation that threatens a storm-

Kugai's Player form is slender, almost feminine. A ribbon of energy coils behind him, like a trailing streamers – His high-crested helm a far cry from ARMAROS's brutal physicality, CHROME CYPHER's spartan simplicity, or the ornate fusion of metal-and-crystal of AXIOM's form.

TRIVALENT DIVIDER flickers in your field of vision, your grey, slanting shadow falling across the ground before you.

(Continued)

>>4189078
How do we look in the metaverse OP? How much of our body is covered by the Auric Shroud? Do we shine like Daegal?

>>4189087
>metaverse
We are Anon, not Hiro Protagonist.

>>4189089
Infraverse, metaverse, tomato tomatoe, potato potatoe

>>4189078
>>4189039
>>4189030

>"I'm not sure chopping my arm off is the best option. Especially when the condition seems to be directly connected to my state in the Red."
>"Moreover, it's not like the arm is entirely nonfunctional. One of my relics grants me temporary use."

A thought summons the Carnifex to your hand. Schematic lines sketch themselves into existence, as you turn it in your gunmetal fingers.

> "This reactivates my arm and allows me to use it again. I think the issue is that the nerve endings in my arm are fried as the muscle is still fully functional. Not only that, I need this to fully access the Red Joker's powers."

“A surprisingly accurate theory,” DIVIDER says. His voice is still genteel, unaffected by the change in form. “Well, now – That is a fine piece.”

The central sensor orb rotates, playing across the Carnifex. “Most interesting. The principle appears not alike my proposed solution...Infinitely more advanced, of course. Still, perhaps we might yet do some good.”

He steps closer. The long, many-jointed digits of his fingers split further, into finer tines and probes – like the tributaries of a river. Tiny lasers play across your right arm as it hangs dead at your side; You have nothing like a sling here, your namesake weapon unmoving as the barrel angles towards the floor.

“Ah – Converse amongst yourselves, please. I'll require a moment to make some adjustments...”

His voice trails off, as secondary and tertiary optics flicker to life in his wasp-waisted torso playing, along the surface of DIVIDER's hardshell. “Don't worry – this part of the process isn't invasive.”

“Wait,” Daegal says. “What did you mean 'This part?'”

> "What exactly would this entail Kugai?"

“Now, that is the fascinating part. It relies on the same principles we use to control Correct-”

“Get on with it,” Cypher interrupts. A single diode in his helm glows with light, as it swings towards you.

“-We'll be here forever, otherwise,” he says. “Best to have him get started.”

Your gaze goes to the black-and-gold hexagons of the AURIC SHROUD, micro-circuitry glowing faintly beneath the surface of the nanofiber composite. Not quite Daegal's gleam – But you suppose it'd have to be good enough, for now.

(Continued)

>>4189104
Is the auric shroud like a cape or a cloak or is it mail that covers our torso/entire body?

>>4189104
>“Wait,” Daegal says. “What did you mean 'This part?'”
"Eh, it's fine. Not like the armor feels pain."

>Your gaze goes to the black-and-gold hexagons of the AURIC SHROUD, micro-circuitry glowing faintly beneath the surface of the nanofiber composite. Not quite Daegal's gleam – But you suppose it'd have to be good enough, for now.
So we went from normal Joker, to infested Joker, to endgame Joker. And now we are tech-up Cestus (The Crisis Arm seems to be more refined than the original one) and are beginning down our path to heroic Cestus thanks to the golden shroud and sword.

Also, thank fuck for these allies. At least we'll get our arm back to one degree or another.

>>4189108

(It's more like the latter.)

>>4189104

> "Has the current plan to close off the Shroud factored in what would happen if dozens or hundreds of lachryma based entities like Silencers and Amalgams become active at once? Does it include the White Joker in it at all?"

FULGURITE AXIOM makes a low sound, the crackling, buzzing equivalent of a chuckle.

“A solution for dealing with two rogue armies? Be serious.” Jags of electricity flicker across the crystal protrusions of his armor, before he relents.

“Our top priority is the Project's defense,” Axiom says. “Isolate and secure – that's the principle. We have multiple teams – and surface-to-air assets – covering the immediate area, and sufficient capacitors to sustain them. The Manifold towers are protected with automatic defenses and reclaimed Correctors; By my estimate, we can afford to lose a third and still proceed. But if we lose the Project, we lose everything – so it's all academic, anyway.”

Cypher looks on. You know he's heard this before.

“Standing orders are to hold the line until the Project's execution is complete. It's not ideal, but our options are limited – A static defense isn't ideal, but it's what we have.”

Plated shoulders lift in a shrug.

“We're aware of the threat, but we believe that most of PAZUZU's assets were deployed – and expended – in the process of recovering the Diadem. In fact, for the past weeks, there's been no recorded sightings.”

“Doesn't mean they're not out there,” Regios says. Axiom acknowledges the point with a nod, then continues.

“Regardless, between the destruction of the original Hive and securing the Diadem – There can't be that many of them left. Dozens we can deal with. They don't have hundreds, if they ever did.”

> "What have you been doing with the Sun since we've been gone? What's been happening with it?"

You note that White Licorice hasn't followed you, here. You wonder what she's seeing, here and now.

“Finishing up,” Regios says, as Tyrian hurries to explain – It's strange to see how his gawky, faintly awkward demeanor hasn't changed here, either. It suits him perfectly.

“Uh...We've had limited control but – Ever since...that...happened, the Hollow Sun's energy recovery has dropped. Time's moving at a consistent rate, now...With the Shroud weakening, we're almost in synch. Our first focus has been getting the Hellions outfitted for deployment – There's been advancements like troop carriers for closing the distance, support weaponry, the Hashmal and Ishim-class Hellions, the Titan-armor project, the Neutronium-alloy payloads from the Refinery...”

(Continued)

>>4189122
Well now we know we've greater coverage with the Auric Shroud than we did the Assault Shroud. That's going to be very useful seeing as people can't shoot around or past it like they could with the Assault Shroud; every attack hs to go through with it.
>(To Eita) "So is it completely impossible to destroy the Shroud once it is fully set up? Or is it 'so difficult that it would be almost impossible'?
>(to Tyrian) "Did we finish the Tachyon Reactor and any of the super projects? Was any headway made into Caliban and Corrector research or the Leukocyte?"

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>>4189122

“Armed the others, too,” Regios adds. “-Seemed like a good time. Needed all the help we could get.”

Tyrian's autoloader clunks within him, the Player equivalent of a dry-swallow. He bobs his head.

“Even with the Tachyon reactor, there's only so much we can do in two weeks,” he says. “The recharge rate's slowed to a trickle. Whatever's left...I guess that's up to you, Jok – Cestus. There won't be time after that-”

“Finished!” Divider cuts in, indominatably cheerful. He steps back, his hands undergoing reverse-mitosis, fusing back into solid digits again. A trigger-unit materalizes in his hand, as his thumb presses down on the button. “Now, brace for apport-”

There is a loud, double-bang of over-stressed air pressure. Brief warnings flash across your HUD, as a heavy metal casket thumps down – fuming with vapor – onto the ground. The overpressure cracks the tiles underfoot, frost blistering across the walls as Daegal instinctively takes a step back-

The casket opens, the sides unfurling like the petals of a flower as Divider waves his hand over the surface. Inside, the contents couldn't possibly be more mismatched. You see an array of metal struts and cabling, carefully wound and packed away – And, next to it, an oil-black cannon.

“Sit, sit,” Divider says, turning his wrist. Industrial cutters and drills materalize, a cage around one upturned fist. “Just so you know what you're getting into...”

He reaches for what appears to be a curving rib.

“-This is a neural lock. It's an essential part of a reclaimed Corrector's armor – You see, we can't control their...I hesitate to say 'minds', but perhaps 'sapience' is a better word. However, we can control their bodies. After they've been fitted for their hardshell, the implantation of regulators allows the user to direct their forms via a mental link.”

As Divider flexes his fingers, the cutters and drills whirr – experimentally – to life.

(Continued)

>>4189153
“Effectively, a Corrector so modified functions as a living weapon; the hardshell blocks any sign of their inner spasms from interfering with the user's control. They've been quite useful, for labor and for combat...Shame about the feedback issue, though.”

“F, feedback issu-” Tyrian Edge begins, sounding distinctly unsettled. “What does that-”

“Well, with a thought-controlled interface, a certain level of reciprocity is necessary. When a Reclamation Unit was damaged, the user occasionally experienced the same discomfort. Nothing permanent, of course.”

“Nothing permanent?”

“Really. There was no long-term damage. None that couldn't be overcome, at any rate.” Static crackles, as Divider pauses – Visibly gathering his train of thought.

“Now, what we're doing here is a reversal of that purpose. Instead of controlling an external entity...You'll be controlling your own limb. After we've installed the enhancement nodes and osseous junctions into your armor – and implanted the synaptic receiver / transmitter here, we'll be able to restore your arm's function...Even when you're not using the Carnifex.”

“What-” Daegal says, sounding distinctly dubious. “...You say you've done this before?”

“Oh, countless times. On Correctors, that is. A human trial would be unconscionable. But a Player is the same in principle, so I don't see any difficulties with the operation.”

“Jesus. You're going to...drill into Anon?”

“Only in around fifty places. It's necessary, to install the Augmented Control Regulat-”

“...Is there a shorter name for it?”

“Oh, all right. The Shackle. I call it 'The Shackle'.”

From the looks he's getting, Divider isn't receiving the response he's hoping for.

“What?” he says, gesturing with the whirring cutters of his right hand. He sounds defensive. “Naming things was never my forte.”

[ ] “All right. Let's get it over with.”
[ ] “You know what? I don't think this is a good idea after all.”
[ ] “...And you're saying there isn't any – permanent – damage?”
[ ] “Would it – hypothetically – be possible for someone else to seize control of me?”
[ ] “...How long have you been doing this, again?”
[ ] “And the cannon? What's that for?”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4189157
>[ ] “Would it – hypothetically – be possible for someone else to seize control of me?”
>[ ] “And the cannon? What's that for?”
>"Will this compromise armor integrity of either of my armors? What are the negatives or potential problems with this procedure? The benefits are obvious."

>>4189157
>[ ] “All right. Let's get it over with.”

>>4189157
>[ ] “Would it – hypothetically – be possible for someone else to seize control of me?”
"Does this thing do anything else? You are already intending to graft shit into my shell, so any kind of added functionality would be nice.
It reminds me a little of the Red Joker's interceptor system. Could it be used to control additional systems, aside from this armor?"

>>4189180
I think the cannon is intended to be the additional functionality to mitigate our lack of longrange damage.

>>4189157
"Kazuya, Player armor is controlled by an essence core the size of a human fist.
It's just a piece of equipment. There's no human inside."

>>4189167
Gonna vote with this guy as well. Lets get this ball rolling. It's pretty much worth anything to get this, especially if it carries over to the RJ as long as we know the costs and consequences.

>>4189157
>[ ] “All right. Let's get it over with.”

>>4189211
>>4189201
>>4189182
>>4189180
>>4189167
>>4189159
(Gentlemen, my apologies - It's extremely late for me, but I'll continue tomorrow at the first opportunity.)

>>4189297
How's corona affecting you OP? You okay? Still working? Asia got ruined by it didn't it?

>>4189333
Wasn't Singapore one of the countries that completely buttfucked Corona-chan?

Should we ask Regios about what happened with Vector Geist and them?

>>4189333

(There's a pretty bad outbreak in Singapore, but we've been lucky so far. I'm mostly working from home, these days.)

>>4189186

> "Kazuya, Player armor is controlled by an Essence Core the size of a human fist.”
> “It's just a piece of equipment. There's no human inside."

“So you keep telling me,” Daegal mutters. His hand goes to the ruby tetrahedron of the Cobalt Booster on his chest – You know he's thinking of when Voivoid stabbed him right through it.

“...It still hurts, though.”

“You get used to it,” Cypher says. “-In time.”

Fulgurite Axiom turns his head, tiny servoes whirring faintly. The crystalline lines in his armor spark with tiny arcs of electricity. “That's not always a good thing,” he says, a warning crackle of static in his toneless voice. “Pain is the best teacher. When you no longer fear it, you lose your edge.”

“Be that as it may...The human body is controlled by a mass of gray matter roughly twice that size,” Divider chimes in, as his calliper-fingers dance across the screen at his wrist. “Sometimes, I wonder how we've ever managed – Ah, there it is.”

“There's a world of difference,” Tyrian Edge says. “We're not...suits of meat. We're more than that-”

There's a faint clank as Divider makes a sound that might be a sniff.

“Not to me.”

>>4189159
>>4189167
>>4189180
>>4189201

> [X] "Will this compromise armor integrity of either of my armors? What are the negatives or potential problems with this procedure? The benefits are obvious."

“Oh, most certainly. But only a little; the system remains external.”

There's a low hiss as targeting lasers flicker to life, highlighting locations on your slate-grey armor – Marking the installation points, you know.

Divider's wrist rotates – selecting drills and cutters, switching them out for larger-gauge equivalents.

“First and foremost: This is a fix, not a cure. In the future, a more permanent solution might be arranged...But time makes fools of us all, no? I've taken steps to make the Shackle more robust, but it remains a fragile system. Damage to the connector-feeds and input-output locks will likely disable it.”

“In addition – of course – this will have no effect on your actual, flesh-and-blood limb. You'll have to look elsewhere for aid in that regard, unfortunately. I'm an engineer, not a doctor.”

He reaches up, and taps a fingertip – with a slight ringing sound – against the join where your rigid helm meets your armor's spine.

(Continued)

>>4191502
>“Not to me.”
What's it with players who know how to fuck with player armors and a complete disdain for all that is holy?

>>4191502

“-This is another point of vulnerability. The Shackle receives signals from your main processor; Damage to your synthetic brain-sphere will also disable your limb. Be advised – the feedback might be...unpleasant to experience. So...Avoid head trauma where possible. Though I believe that's advice that's universally applicable...”

> [X] “Would it – hypothetically – be possible for someone else to seize control of me?”

Divider hesitates. For a moment longer than truly inspires confidence. However, he seems to be one of those people cursed with the need for perpetual honesty, as lights flicker in his optics.

“-Well,” he says, “...It's not impossible-”

“Great,” Volt Regios growls.

“I'm not finished. Theoretically, it's possible, the way all things are possible. It's possible that a Player – or some specialized Relic – exists, that could exert control. In practice, I believe it to be highly unlikely. In those circumstances, of course, you could simply use the Carnifex.”

“Wait – What do you mean 'use the Carnifex'?” Daegal again. He sounds like he's liking this less and less by the minute.

“Oh, the two systems are incompatible. By my guess, utilizing the Carnifex would disable the Shackle, until repairs can be effected. Fortunately, your hardshell should recognize the Shackle as an integrated component – Consider it a mechanical equivalent of a morphic field, though the theory would bore you – which means it should be functional upon your next entry into Infraspace.”

“'By your guess'?”

“As I've said – I've never conducted a human trial before. Either way, the results should be instructive.”

> [X] "Does this thing do anything else? You're already intending to graft this into my shell - So any kind of added functionality would be nice. It reminds me a little of the Red Joker's interceptor system. Could it be used to control additional systems, aside from this armor?"
> [X] “And the cannon? What's that for?”

“Ah, quick on the uptake. Good – That makes things easier. Cypher, if you'd care to assist me-”

Without a word, Cypher reaches down for the cannon. Spindly, but strong, arms haul it from the casket – It's a short-barreled weapon, but bulky, with a curious array of focusing lenses, rotating magnetic vanes and spiralling accelerator coils.

“This is the Accelerator Cannon. A prototype – Dual-ammunition, with density-core shells for use against Players, and high-explosive fragmentation rounds for use against...Well, everything else, really. The calibre is perhaps less than you might expect, but I believe you'll appreciate the functionality of it.”

Divider rests a fond hand against the cannon's surface.

“Shoulder-mounted, of course. It's controlled via the Shackle's neural link – It should function even if your limb is disabled. Or, should I say, re-crippled...”

“Please don't.”

(Continued)

>>4191526
>It's controlled via the Shackle's neural link
So now the Carnifex prevents us from using our new ranged weapon.
I guess that makes it even more of a fuck off melee mode.

>>4191532

(My apologies – To clarify, it still works with the Carnifex. However, using the Carnifex disables the Shackle i.e. If the Carnifex is removed, your limb is disable once more.)

>>4191526

Even with his voice filtered into a Player's emotionless rasp, Tyrian Edge sounds faintly nauseous.

“Ha. Regardless, the Accelerator Cannon's use should be obvious. In fact, I'm almost loathe to put it to use so early...But as we're on a tight deadline, I can't think of a better time. Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, as they say.”

“Side-effects?” the vanes of Cypher's jump-pack articulate, swaying back and forth, as if in a prevailing wind.

Divider pauses.

“You know...I'm not actually sure. It was designed as a compact, portable variant of a heavier weapon, but – I'm not sure how well it'd hold up under heavy use. I recommend short bursts, not sustained fire...Though, of course, I leave that to your discretion.”

> [X] “All right. Let's get it over with.”

“Good, good,” Divider says, clearly eager to begin.

Then – as if an unpleasant thought has struck him – he hesitates.

“Now, normally that would be all the consent I require – But these are uncertain times. I must ask again...Are you absolutely certain you wish to proceed? I believe I've laid out the potential risks, but there's *always* the chance of...unforeseen consequences.”

“To confirm – This is what you wish, yes?”

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4191549
(And I must turn in, but I'll continue at the first opportunity.)

>>4191549
So let's think about it:
Hecate was able to use the NIHL SPHERE in order to take control of armory guardians.
This means that Pazuzu would have full access to our body. If Naoya gets the sphere, it might give him the same option.
Do we know anyone else who might use this security hole?

Other than the security aspect, this seems to be a flat upgrade. The fact that it can be disabled isn't exactly a drawback, just a limitation.


I kinda like the idea of just suffering through the injury, because it's a symbol of us coming clean and saving both Kazuya and Hecate.
On the other hand, that's just my sentimentality speaking. Last time that cost us the Red Joker armor.

Any other thoughts?

>>4191549

"I wish to be shooting the shit with Kaz, Nat and Tsukimi but I suppose to get there I need to do this. Hit me doc".

>>4191566

>I kinda like the idea of just suffering through the injury, because it's a symbol of us coming clean and saving both Kazuya and Hecate.

Lets save the suffering for our useless real arm and focus on killing in the Red.

>>4191549
"Kazuya, can you analyze the device? Maybe your armor will point out any additional flaws.

Also, to clarify: How does the shackle interact with the method by which the Carnifex is activated? Would a hypothetical hijacker be able to prevent me from activating the Carnifex and thus disassembling the shackle?"

>>4191549
Yeah, go for it.

>>4191566
In that case we simply use the Carnifex like Divider says, if that doesn't work then honestly nothing would have prevented it anyways

>>4191608
That's a good idea too, getting Daegal involved during the process, man we're really using him for everything now, huh

>>4191526
>recrippled
Amazing.

>>4191549
>"Why are you hestitating? Is there something you aren't telling me? I want to know every possible angle of attack, no matter how small."
"Daegal, take a look at it. See if there's anything else. Otherwise, we mount it. I can always rip it out or disable it mid-combat with the Carnifex regardless."

>>4191568
>>4191608
> "Kazuya, can you analyze the device? Maybe your armor will point out any additional flaws.

“-Me?”

Startled, Daegal tenses – As if surprised, to be momentarily put on the spot.

>>4191701
> "Daegal, take a look at it. See if there's anything else. Otherwise, we mount it. I can always rip it out or disable it mid-combat with the Carnifex regardless."

“I – I could try,” he says, a little dubiously-

“Be careful with it,” Divider says. “That's sensitive equipment-”

“No.” Fulgurite Axiom's voice is soft, but there's a force to that single word. You can feel the intensity of his gaze, as he turns it on Daegal. “I'd like to see this for myself.”

It takes Trivalent a moment – like an overprotective parent – to step away from the table, relinquishing possession of the Shackle. As Daegal lifts it from the slab, it resembles part of a gibbet, or some advanced medical brace, as much as anything else; He turns it in his hand, with a distinct and measured focus.

> "Why are you hesitating? Is there something you aren't telling me? I want to know every possible angle of attack, no matter how small."

“Well,” Divider says. A pattern of lights flash, on-off, in his optics – his fingers splitting into their tines, closing back again.

“-Well, it is a significant intervention. We're breaking new ground, here: the long-term effects could be...unpredictable.”

“Unpredictable,” Cypher echoes. He makes it a question.

“Obviously, it should be fine. In theory, damage to the Shackle should only disable it. But exposure to exotic circumstances hasn't been tested – For instance, would it simply short out if struck by a galvanic charge? Or would it amplify the effect, conducting it directly through your form?”

Volt Regios grunts at that, one hand resting on the circuit-inlaid hilt of his conductor-blade.

“Lightning's lightning,” he says.

(Continued)

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>>4193417
“Yes, of course. But remember, the Shackle interfaces directly with the subject's nervous system – Or rather, a hardshell's phantom analogue. It could be the effect would be transmitted directly to the synaptic processor-”

A pause, as Divider feels moved to clarify - “The brain, I mean. Your brain.”

> “Also, to clarify: How does the Shackle interact with the method by which the Carnifex is activated? Would a hypothetical hijacker be able to prevent me from activating the Carnifex and thus disassembling the shackle?"

“Ah. A difficult question. The Carnifex – from my estimation – is a device that might be of pre-human design...Though this one looks brand-new. Isn't that interesting? Regardless, it functions by extruding nano-filaments through the subject – Think of them as superconductors for the thought-impulses that govern motion. The Shackle, unfortunately, is a significantly cruder device; When activated, the Carnifex simply overrides and supersedes i-”

Light flares. Honeyed lightning, a golden ripple of it. The amber radiance issues forth from Daegal, momentarily limning everything in jags of sunfire illumination. The outflung light seems to infuse him, too, transforming his lustrous golden armor into living, writhing magma.

In his hand, the Shackle – a crude collection of black iron and writhing cables – shifts, imperceptibly. Glyphs spiral across the surface; Images dance, there then gone. You've never really had a chance to see if for yourself, before – When Daegal used his power, it meant that he was fighting, and that meant you were fighting too. Trees, flames, petals, diamonds, daggers, figures of the tarot and open palms flicker into existence, then out again – Making the Shackle something mythic, a bracer of hammered gold or burnished brass, something to be proud of.

You hear Fulgurite Axiom breathe out, though he has no need for breath. A surrusation, a sound like unfiltered awe.

“Kazuya...” Cypher says, soft. Even through the chrome Player's affectless drone, for a moment – just a moment – you can hear Natsumi's voice.

“...Is that what he does?” Tyrian Edge murmurs. “It's like the story – King Midas.”

Divider turns his head, sharply. Rounding on him, so quickly Tyrian flinches back.

“You're wrong, you know. The Midas Touch was a curse. This-” he waves a hand. “This is something else entirely. A power that brings forth the ultimate iteration of base matter, forging anew what the holder needs. It is transformative.”

“-Lead into gold,” Fulgurite says. He sounds almost reverent.

“Yes. It is precisely – no more and no less – the Philosopher's Stone.”

(Continued)

>>4193418
"Maybe we should call you Rubedo instead of Daegal."

>>4193418

“Truly? You don't understand the symbolism?” This sounds like a pet topic of Divider's. “'Rubdeo' is a word from alchemy, denoting the success of the Great Work.”

“And?”

“It also means red.”

The light fades, as Daegal releases the Shackle. He pauses, for a moment – Blue light glowing in his optics, like Cherenkov radiation.

And he says-

“It works.”

That, as they say, appears to be that.

---------------------

>>4189211
>>4189167
>>4191568
>>4191663

The surprising part is, it doesn't hurt.

As the first machined segments are clamped into place – Like the bars of a black iron cage, locked into position – you feel nothing. Divider's cutters whirr, as he begins to drill into your armor – the first filament-needles sliding into myomer muscle, pulling hard on the material beneath.

Welding sparks flare. Bolt drivers spin with a high melody, as fine manipulators worm into the workings beneath. It's strangely like watching a surgeon, the skin peeled and pinned back while the razors do their work. Divider swaps out the cutters for other devices, the machine array rotating and cycling...

-And then, as the prised-out plates are replaced, he reaches for the drills again.

Cables and wires run along the outside of your slate-grey armor, linking in nearly fifty places across your forearm, as Divider turns his attention to your helmet. The grinding rumble of the drills would set your teeth on edge, if you had any – You can't see what he's doing, but you can certainly hear it, complex machinery sliding on rails into position-

Abruptly, the Cestus rotates on your forearm, trying to fire, whirring as it falls on an empty chamber.

“Steady-!” Tyrian Edge says, taking a step forward.

“No, no. Can't you see? It's working,” Divider says. You're not sure how long he's been doing this, but there's palpable exhaustion in his voice. “There. Just a little more, and we're done.”

“I, ah-” the drills whine again, as bolts are dragged tight. “Just need to – Ah.”

(Continued)

>>4193444
Your arm spasms. Gunmetal fingers and joints curl in reflex. And then, you actually do feel something – Something almost, but not quite, a pins-and-needles sensation...

“There. Try it.”

And-

And at last, your hand moves.

You take it slow, at first – Holding your hand before your optics. Rotating the wrist. Closing your gauntleted fingers in a slow curl, opening them again. Now, you can feel – Or rather, be aware of – the motion, the minute flexion of servos and the rolling of tiny gears.

You make a fist again, then open it once more. The movement is precise, without twitches of micro-spasms; All is as it was, before. You shape another thought-impulse, and the chambers of the Cestus rotate with dust-dry clunks, greedy for cartridges to be loaded...

“Holy shit,” Daegal says. “It worked-”

“Well?” Divider steps back, the cutters and whirring protrusions of his gauntlet falling silent at last.

“Don't just...watch your hand move. How is it?”

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4193446

Go through the motions, dry fire the cannon, throw a few punches, use the crisis arm generally see how it does

>>4193446
Give it a few test swings with the Lucid Blade in our left hand and the Crisis Arm on our right. Test the cannon as well. If it works well, thank Divider. After that
>"Lets go to the Hollow Sun. I want to see what Midas here can do with it."

>>4193446
"So far? Almost like nothing was ever wrong."

Test it out, make sure the Cestus works properly.

>>4193446
>Friendly spar anyone? I want to test out my arm and how the cestus works with the shackle

>>4193446
"It's much better than I would expect from a bandaid.

I'm back in fighting condition. Now I just need the cannon and then we can move out. There isn't anything else on the agenda for now, is there?"

>>4193453
I think that's what the scene was already supposed to convey.

>>4193454
>Test the cannon as well.
I bet it hasn't been installed yet.
OP, how dangerous would it be for us to ask VOLT REGIOS to do a lightning strike to the shackle? Would it be potentially deadly or just a thing that re-transforming can fix?

>>4193453
(Gentlemen, my apologies. A section was cut-off. It should read as follows, instead.)

“-Really?” Volt Regios sounds skeptical – No mean feat. “Was just a gauntlet, before.”

A track of light, the visual equivalent of a snigger. A nod in your direction.

“Saw him hit things with it-”

“Truly? You don't understand the symbolism?” This sounds like a pet topic of Divider's. “'Rubdeo' is a word from alchemy, denoting the success of the Great Work.”

“And?”

“It also means red.”

The light fades, as Daegal releases the Shackle. He pauses, for a moment – Blue light glowing in his optics, like Cherenkov radiation.

And he says-

“It works.”

That, as they say, appears to be that.

>>4193457
>>4193462
Guys lets not disable ourselves yet or do risky shit, we have the Sun to explore. We should try this AFTER we're done.

>>4193463
>“-Really?” Volt Regios sounds skeptical – No mean feat. “Was just a gauntlet, before.”
>A track of light, the visual equivalent of a snigger. A nod in your direction.
>“Saw him hit things with it-”
Yeah, that adds a bit of flavor to the scene.

No matter how sacred, Joker will bludgeon people with it when required.

>>4193446
>[x]"Feels like I've got it back, won't know for sure til I try it on some Correctors."

We should also try the Carnifex supercession, make sure it all works. It'll restore itself if we leave the red and re-enter, right? So no harm done.

>>4195449
Thinking about it, this might cost us a lot of time.
I don't actually know whether we can instantly re-enter the Red and there's probably still some degree of time dilation, meaning that real world minutes are still a little faster.

>>4196246
So just FYI, Kazuya just told us the time dialation is shrinking rapidly with Real time and Red time closing to a 1:1 ratio as all this bull shit intensifies. Just for future reference.

I do think we need to head to Hollow Sun ASAP regardless though. Tyrian and Volt have been busy and we need to take stock there before something pops up like it always does...

>>4193453
>>4193456
>>4193462
>>4194694

You clench your fist, one digit at a time. The network of struts and flanges encasing your arm – anchoring and shielding the steel-jacketed cables and wires running along the outside – weighs your limb down, the augmetic brace rendering it more cumbersome than it was before.

But at least you can move it. There's that, at least.

> "So far? Almost like nothing was ever wrong."

At your thought-impulse, the gravimetric suspensors hum to life – patient tics of lightning leaping across the spined knuckles, the rising hum echoing in your auditory receivers. You throw a punch, the whooof of force splitting the air, then another; When you snap the Cestus in line with a phantom target, chambers rotating in anticipation of ammunition, you detect the beginnings of a twitch in your metal hand – Not enough to ruin your aim, but it's something you'd need to compensate for.

>>4193454

Schematic lines arch and coalesce, as the Lucid Blade materalizes – It's longer than Providence was, but so perfectly balanced it feels like it could swing itself. The gleaming blade makes a low, atonal moan as you sweep it through the air, across then back in an unfurling sweep – the weapon's superlative edge rippling, like half-dozen swords slashing in every direction at once.

Did Fuesil scavenge it from some long-ago tomb? Did he forge it, with orichalcum stripped from some deep-time leviathan? Only one Player could ever have answered that question, and you annihilated him – In entirety – with the Beam Magnum.

The synergies unfurl in your mind: A feint with the Lucid Blade, then a mauling blow with the Crisis Arm. Parrying with your namesake, then a swift and lethal riposte. Seizing the enemy, industrial talons gouging handholds, just long enough for you to put the blade in.

You could-

“Oh, spare me – I can't watch,” Divider says. “It's like half a slaughterhouse at work-”

Daegal gives him a look. An odd one.

“Have you ever seen him fight?”

“I'm watching him fence-”

“Not quite the same thing.”

Divider hesitates. His optics blink-click, as if in thought. “Well,” he says, then “Well,” as if he's pondering how to finish the sentence.

> "It's much better than I would expect from a bandaid.
> “I'm back in fighting condition. Now I just need the cannon and then we can move out. There isn't anything else on the agenda for now, is there?"

“Right!” Divider sounds happy to change the subject. “Resume your seat, and I shall continue promptly. Now, there might be a period of adjustment-”

You'll manage.

After the long, achingly complex process of installing the Shackle, preparing the Accelerator Cannon is mercifully straightforward. The weapon's bulk settles over your right shoulder, the support frame buckled in place around your torso.

(Continued)

>>4198402
About as long as your arm, the Accelerator Cannon depends from a gyro-balanced armature, extending from the harness frame – As Divider affixes the connectors of the implant-jacks into the receiving sockets, the entire assembly clunks to life. The autoloading mechanism clacks and shifts the first of the ammunition hoppers into place, the swathe of barrels test-rotating with a metallic whirr-

Crosshairs winks to life on your field of vision, the weapon as natural as an extension of your arm. A thought, and it tracks around to target the onyx slab of the table, then the ceiling, then straight ahead.

“Good work,” Regios says. In answer, Divider bows from the waist, a fluid but alien gesture – You can hear his vertebrae clicking, his body articulating in strange, not-quite-human ways.

“Always a pleasure to be appreciated by a lady-”

“Don't push it.”

> [x] "Feels like I've got it back. I won't know for sure until I try it on some Correctors."

“You might get the chance. They have been rather active recently, haven't they? It's almost as if the impending collapse of the Shroud has a – as you do – stimulating effect...”

“Enough,” Fulgurite says. “Kazuya – Daegal.” Even at rest, his voice has a faint, crackling quality to it. Like static, or the charged air before a storm.

“We've done our part. Now, it's your turn. I've arranged transport to the main building – We need you with us, now.”

> "Let's go to the Hollow Sun. I want to see what Midas here can do with it."

You hear Divider's low sigh, as he straightens.

“I told you, the correct etymology is-”

Cypher digs an elbow into his ribs – there's a faint clang – and he subsides, sulkily.

Daegal pauses. “You'll take Joker and the others with you?” he says, after an - almost fractional - hesitation.

“Yes. We'll drop them off on the way – No more delays, Kazuya. Every moment matters.”

He seems to consider that, before his gleaming helm turns towards you.

“Anon...You need me with you on this one?”

[ ] “Yes. I think you need to be there.”
[ ] “No. We'll manage.”
[ ] “No, but we're taking Divider with us.”
[ ] “Volt, Tyrian – What do you think?”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4198404
>[x] “Yes. I think you need to be there.”

>>4198404
"I think we all should visit the Hollow Sun, even if for a brief moment. It's the forge where the armor was born and as the bearer you have ultimate authority there."
>"The Sun should react to you and having that full access might give us all a major advantage or access to technology and resources that will make any subsequent plans go more smoothly."

>[ ] “Volt, Tyrian – What do you think?”

>>4198404
>[ ] “Yes. I think you need to be there.”
"I'm not sure if it will even recognize me as its master in this state. The only one guaranteed access is you.
Plus, it might have generated a relic template that would aid in the goals of our allies."

Wait, do we still have that Corrector stored? Divider might be interested in that.

>>4198436
Seconding this one. I get why fulgurite is getting anxious but we have waited too long for.this moment

>>4198404
"It is essential Daegal is at the Hollow Sun for bith of our purposes. He can't activate his full powers until he assumes control of it and he won't be able to help to the best of his abilities if he does. Not only that, you need and Divider need to come with us. The Sun will be essential to reclaiming the Manifold Towers and taking down the Diadem and not obly that, you may be able to use it in your strategies and plans for it.

>>4198436
>>4198459
These two are good , seconding these

>>4198404
>[x]"Absolutely. Bringing you there is pretty much the whole point."
>[x](to Axiom and Divider)"You two need to see this as well."

>>4198436
Nah there's no point in asking Volt and Tyrian, this isn't the time for even more questions. They're coming along anyways

>>4198402
So it seems that the Lucid Blade may have been the source of his multiple sword making powers. Interesting. That comment about
>weapon's superlative edge rippling, like half-dozen swords slashing in every direction at once
And the fact its range can be extended both seem to fit nicely with that. I think we may be able to access all of Voivoid's powers, in some way or another, through the LB, auric shroud and necrotechnia

>>4198402
>“Oh, spare me – I can't watch,” Divider says. “It's like half a slaughterhouse at work-”
He has no idea who he's dealing with, does he

>>4199281
I've always loved how Joker's style is never described as pretty, graceful or elegant and instead has always been a dirty, filthy, back alley improvisational style that's brutally effective.

Still, would like if we could have a legitimate, actual style of combat at some point like TSS could have provided but all the same, it's very cool.

>>4199969
I want Anon to settle down after all of this and open up his own martial arts dojo, where the militaries of the world smuggle in underground agents to learn more of the art of effective murder.


I think the jovial moments during the last few updates are a good contrast to the past four or so years of the quest. Allows us to regain our breath before we go balls deep again.

>>4199971
I'm really happy we can be proactive again instead of having to react/follow a specific goal. We can make our own goals and objectives now. Plan out how to do what we have to.

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>>4198425
>>4198436
>>4198441
>>4198448
>>4198459
>>4198470
>>4198670

> [X] "Absolutely. Bringing you there is pretty much the whole point."
> [X] "I think we all should visit the Hollow Sun, even if only for a brief moment. It's the forge
where the armor was born and as the bearer you have ultimate authority there."

Daegal nods, a steady glow in his helmet-optics. Thoughtful, now.

> [X] "The Sun should react to you and having that full access might give us all a major advantage or access to technology and resources that will make any subsequent plans go more smoothly."

“...Anything that might help, huh?” he says – You know he's thinking about the plans he's seen of the Diadem, the sheer daunting scale of it.

Fulgurite doesn't quite sigh. He can't. But the faint arcs of lightning crackling through and over the crystalline veins of his armor increase in frequency, as if echoing his agitation.

“I told you,” he says, flatly - “Four days is the entire span of time remaining to us. We can't afford any more-”

> [X] "You two need to see this as well."
> [X] "It is essential Daegal is at the Hollow Sun for both of our purposes. He can't activate his full powers until he assumes control of it and he won't be able to help to the best of his abilities if he does. Not only that, you need and Divider need to come with us. The Sun will be essential to reclaiming the Manifold Towers and taking down the Diadem. You may be able to use it in your strategies and plans for it.”

You cut Axiom off, before he can go on – And you're pretty sure the novelty of it, as much as anything else, is what allows you to finish. He doesn't answer, right away...But you can almost hear the gears turning inside his gleaming helm, as he glances at Cypher.

A thread of unseen communication passes between them, as Chrome Cypher nods, empathically. Fulgurite makes a low sound, a crackling surrusation of breath.

(Continued)

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>>4202282
“All right,” he says. “I don't like it, but I see your point. If-”

“Splendid!” Trivalent cuts in, positively rubbing his hands. “-when do we leave?”

The world flickers. The Red dims – reality is in ascendance. There's a liminal moment, where the Red recedes only reluctantly, if at all-

Time, the little than remains of it, is running out.

The pure white walls and light of the conference room seem almost unbearably bright now, as sense returns – that, and the leaden weight of your dead arm, as lifeless as ever.

Amane looks up, from a notepad filled with rows of neat shorthand. “Back already?” she says, her gaze flitting between Eita and Kazuya. Shion seems to straighten, shaking her head lightly as if to clear it – Ritsu blinks, polishing his glasses on his sleeve, roused from a momentary daze.

There's a palpable change in the room's atmosphere, as if the vitality has been leeched away. Kugai sinks back into his seat, tiny servos whirring as he flexes the fingers of his false hand. Eita lets out a long-held breath, a hidden tension unwound at last. He reaches for his empty coffee cup, catches himself, and pushes his chair back – the wheels squeaking against the floor.

“Kugai, tell them to bring the cars around,” he says. “We leave immediately.”

“As you say,” Kugai answers. He sounds positively delighted. “I've always wanted to see the Hollow Sun for myself, you know. Work's kept me away, but given the circumstances-”

“I'm sure,” Eita says, firmly. “The cars, please. Natsumi-”

“I'll stay,” Natsumi says. His eyebrows rise – Clearly, he wasn't expecting that.

“I'll take care of Hec...Tsukimi,” she clarifies, offering you a wan smile. “-Until she wakes up, that is.”

Shion gives you a strange, sidelong look. One you've never seen before – Today's a day of firsts, it seems.

“So that's her name,” she murmurs. “She must be...really something.”

She is.

(Continued)

>>4202285
“Extraordinary,” Kugai says, his gaze – Faintly fish-eyed, his real and false eye not quite focused on the same targets – going from Shion to you. “That sounded almost feminine. I do believe I should make a note of this momentous-”

The look Shion gives him is so exceptionally vicious, he actually blanches, taking an instinctive step back.

“-Ah,” Kugai says. “Ah. I do apologize: Perhaps I've said too...”

“I'll meet you downstairs,” Shion says, ignoring him. “-Joker.”

She doesn't storm out, but the stern rapping of her shoes against the tiles – Like an army on the march – tells a different story entirely.

“Oh thank god,” Ritsu mutters, with a wince. “Uh...Don't take too long, all right? You know how she gets.” He bobs his head and hurries after her, so quickly he doesn't even bother with his coat.

You can feel Eita's gaze – watching, judging – the entire time. And you might be wrong, but – for a moment – you think you might detect the faintest hint of a smile.

(Continued)

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>>4202298
“Amane, stay with Natsumi,” he says.

She blinks – A flash of surprise, from behind her glasses.

“But-” she begins, glancing at Kazuya. “But, I want to-”

“Stay with her, please.”

Amane subsides, but she doesn't look happy about it. It's Kazuya, however, who gives you an oddly uncomfortable look – As if he's embarrassed about something. He seems to be trying – very hard – not to look at Natsumi.

Natsumi catches your eye, a brief sidelong glance. Her expression is perfectly neutral, but you glimpse a flash of something that might be sadness or relief – or perhaps both – in her eyes.

“Ah...Could we have a moment? Just...A bit of privacy, y'know.”

There's a flush creeping along his neck, just above his collar.

Eita, however, takes it in stride. “Of course. Then – Shall we?” he says, gesturing to the door. That looks as good a cue as any, as you're ushered out – He turns his head away, and begins to talk rapidly into a phone.

“Hmmm,” Kugai says. “Hmmm-hmmm.”

Fortunately, he has the sense to keep his mouth shut.

It's not far to the elevator. Kazuya catches up when you're halfway down the hall, his shoulders squared. He looks more determined than before – Determined, but there's relief too, and something that might be guilt. You notice he keeps glancing at you, seemingly on the verge of saying something.

It might not be a long ride down, but it certainly feels that way.

--

The lobby's surprisingly empty, at this time of the day. By your guess, it's around noon – the Shackle's installation must have taken longer than you expected. Time, it seems, is beginning to move once more; rushing ahead, bringing things to their conclusion.

The cars are already waiting. Local, but high-end, with the Sterling Industries foxhead logo affixed like a badge of honor – Overhead, sluggish clouds move in a roiling red sky, casting odd highlights off their shining silver surfaces.

(Continued)

>>4202329
>It's not far to the elevator. Kazuya catches up when you're halfway down the hall, his shoulders squared. He looks more determined than before – Determined, but there's relief too, and something that might be guilt. You notice he keeps glancing at you, seemingly on the verge of saying something.
I bet it's something about the Shackle.

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>>4202329
The streets are emptier than you'd expect, too. It's as if – struck by a tremendous blow – the city has recoiled, leaving a great, wounded outrage and a numbing sense of trauma. The few people you see walk quickly, seeking the safety of their destination; many have donned masks against the gritty, somehow tainted sense of the air.

It doesn't feel right.

Shion and Ritsu are already in one car. Kugai, with blithe unconcern, takes a few steps towards it before Eita – Gently but firmly – steers him towards the other one. It's probably for the best, all things considered.

“Good luck,” Natsumi says, when you part ways with her at the entrance – She smiles, wan but earnest, at both of you.

“Ah,” Kazuya says. “Nat-chan, I-”

“Hm?”

A pause, as he hesitates - “...Nah. It's nothing. Just...Take care of yourself, all right?”

“I'll be fine,” she says. “It's the two of you that need to be careful.” She reaches out, taking your hand and Kazuya's in both of her own - “Go. Save the world. We'll see each other again after this – Won't we?”

Always.

And you feel-

A pressure. The hairs lifting, on the back of your neck, a flicker of intuition-

You half-turn, your gaze flitting across the street opposite the hospital. About a half-dozen people, easily dismissed. But you could've sworn there was someone-

There. A street musician, a woman with a well-loved guitar on her lap. Deft fingers move across the strings, a mostly-empty cap before her – If the red sky, the charged and oily air of the day, troubles her at all, she doesn't seem to notice.

Nothing inherently suspicious. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And yet – Something about her feels familiar. You can't quite place it...

The pale moon of her face tips upward, and you feel her eyes meet yours. She smiles – or is that smirks? - and, calmly and without haste, begins to gather her belongings.

“Anon?” Kazuya's got a quizzical look on his face. “Something wrong?”

[ ] “That girl over there-”
[ ] “It's nothing. Let's go.” (Take the car with Shion and Ritsu)
[ ] “It's nothing. Let's go.” (Take the car with Kugai and Eita)
[ ] “What did you say to Amane, anyway?”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4202363

>[ ] “That girl over there-” "Do we know her"

>>4202363
Hoo boy. If we don't handle this right it seems we'll have license to test out the Shackle soon.

>>4202363
>>4202366
> plays an instrument
> smug, snarky
It's Vertigo Trisagon. Always knew he faked his own death.

>>4202363
>>4202336
>Kazuya run after that girl with the guitar across the street now.

>>4202363
"That girl is a Player. It may be Vertiago Trisagon or Utopia Ruler."

>>4202371
Don't send Kazuya. Maybe we should go ourselves. He has to head to the Hollow Sun but we don't have to.

>>4202363
With Shion and Ritsu we can catch up.
With Kugai and Eita we can talk shop.

"We might have a spy across the street. Worst case, Naoya will know that we moved out."

>>4202370
>>4202371
>>4202373
So we either have the psychopathic kitten killer with the fabulous coat who's on our side or one of White Joker's cunts.

I'm not sure what to do. If it's Trisagon, we might not be able to force a Red World battle. Similar to how Naoya evaded us back then.

>>4202371
>>4202382
Yeah, sending Kazuya alone is a dumb idea.
If anything, we should all transform. We have superior numbers.


I guess our best bet is to transform and try to have a talk.

>>4202363
Warn the rest, but don't just attack or pursue blindly. Good way to blunder straight into a trap or get distracted from something that actually matters.

>>4202404
This is correct. This could just be a tactic to delay us from reaching the Sun or so they can finally find its location. Just tell the others its them, they already know who those two are and then they can decide if its important enough to check if it actually is them or something else.

The Sun is the goal here, not this person, spy or not.

>>4202404
>>4202410
I agree.
Let's let them handle it. I'm sure they can ramp up the defenses or something.

Guys, we still need to decide on cars.
Maybe talk to Shion about Bishamon? Maybe she has encountered him.

>>4202363
Is Kugal deliberately trolling, or is he actually autistic? It's like when he finds something that annoys people, he hammers the button until it breaks.

>>4202416
Not a bad idea.

>>4202418
He clearly jokes about Shion's infatuation with us.
He's just a dick.

>>4202416
>>4202418
>>4202421
Go with Shion and Ritsu. We need to hear about
>Bishamon
>Vector Geist and who's still alive from our team
>How their fight went
>Has anything been seen of; Bishamon, Utopia Ruler, Vector Geist, Imagos, Asuna

We need to see to our own forces first. We can't just come to Sterling with the hand out and the mouth open. Also, get the Apex Blade for Daegal or, either of them. It shouldn't be kept as a relic of Bishamon's.

Also, ask if their families are ok.

>>4202427
Also, we need to see if we have an Void Anchors. If we're suffering from a lack of time, increase our precentage by activating the void anchors. Not only htat, maybe Void Anchors could be used to protect Manifold Towers due to their ability to move the Red World out of phase.

One thing we might want to consider upon returning to the Hollow Sun is using the Terminus Scanner. Daegal can probably put whatever charge it has to better use, but it's still an option for use to get an edge in our crippled form.

>>4202363
>[x] “That girl over there- she seems familiar somehow. You guys go along, I'll catch up with Shion and Ritsu, you need to be there to let those two (Kugal and Eita) in”
>[x](To Shion/Ritsu's vehicle)"Hold on a sec, I'll go see something real quick"
>[x](To Natsumi)"Have you checked up on Asuna yet? Give her a call, tell her I'm alright"
I've been wanting for us to spill the beans to Asuna about the Red but given this time limit we may not have time, but just telling her we all made it out okay-ish is enough

Something else worth thinking about, I'm pretty sure our friends are very worried about us, we've been giving off huge suicidal red flags lately with our fatalistic behavior. I'm sure they've realized that while Anon preaches about doing the right thing and saving the Red, he's doing it at a cost to himself, and is determined to give up anything for it. We've given up the Nihl Eye, our arm, the armor, yet still going along and barely showing any remorse.

In a way though, if you think about it, it's kind of expected: it's the fate of all Jokers to be killed and pass on the armor.

>>4202429
Tyrian outright states that the Hollow Sun gathering less charge has less to do with depletion of resources than both worlds starting to synchronize.
I'm not sure if VAs can actually lock an area out of the Red, remember we planted one during the Hive raid, it activated properly and we didn't get booted out. Even if it did, remember the Smilers have both Nihl eyes and who knows how many of those violet shards, I've no doubt Naoya has them too or some other bullshit to access the Red by force

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>>4202366
>>4202373
>>4202385
>>4202536

> [X] “That girl over there-”

“What girl?”

You look again, and – of course – she's gone.

> [X] "We might have a spy across the street. Worst case, Naoya will know that we moved out."

“Ah, hell.” Kazuya's brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing as he peers – futilely – in the direction indicated. “...You think he's got someone watching you? Like, right now?”

“I didn't see anyone,” Natsumi says, her voice taut. Tension flickers across her face, a shadow in her eyes – Glancing past you, then back.

> “It may be Vertigo Trisagion or Utopia Ruler."

“You mean-”

Natsumi's eyes close, just for a moment. The faintest hint of a sigh, a brief exhalation.

Not them, you can almost see her thinking. Anyone but them...

> [X] “She seemed familiar, somehow. You guys go along, I'll catch up with Shion and Ritsu. You need to be there to let those two in.”

“Let those two...Anon – Damn it.”

Kazuya looks like he's about to say something more, when a car's horn blares. He grits his teeth, and crosses over to the Sterling Industries car in the lead – With a last, troubled glance back at you.

You rap on the other car's window, with your knuckles. When it scrolls down, Ritsu's pale face – pinched with worry – peers out at you. “Trouble?” he says, a note of dread to his voice.

It could be.

> "Hold on a sec, I'll go see something real quick."

“Wha-”

You trudge away, your dead arm knocking against your chest on its sling. You don't bother to glance left or right, as the world seems to flicker around you – Something like a burst of static crackles in your ears, the Red pouring in from all sides.

STAGE: DIS

The iron city, once again. A maze of twisting paths and alleyways, your heavy boots chipping sparks from the rusted metal of the road below. A tangle of pipes fume and wheeze overhead, venting a swell of fetid vapor, a hiss of steam-

Ahead of you – A pinpoint of blue illumination, a tiny globe of will o' wisp fire. It hovers in place, shedding motes of itself, as you close the distance: When you reach for it, it descends towards your gauntlet, the light dimming as it goes out.

(Continued)

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>>4204587
You turn your hand over, cables snaking along your forearm. As the fire fades, your slate-grey fingers hold a black card, the surface gleaming serenely in the crimson illumination. It bears an emblem that is both a profusion of writhing limbs and a stylized wheel all at once – If you look carefully, it seems to shift in sluggish but subtle motion.

Memory stirs: You've seen this symbol before. On the brooch that secured Vertigo Trisagion's shimmering cloak in place, over his flayed figure – the symbol of the Menagerie.

Words flickered into existence, on your field of vision – azoic blue, one letter at a time.

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO:

A figure, on a rearing horse.

THE FIFTH HORSEMAN

The Red begins to fade. Sensation, then sound, returns in a rush – This time, you can almost see the tides recede, rolling back with sullen reluctance.

The card remains. It is cool to the touch, and feels like something more stone than metal.

You head back the way you came. It's not far – Natsumi still stands at the hospital's entrance, close to the abstract twist of the fountain.

“Anything?” she asks, her gaze flitting to the card you're holding.

Maybe.

“So it was one of them, after all...” she murmurs, an abstracted look in her eyes. “Anon-kun, be careful – You know what they can be like. Don't trust-”

The horn sounds again.

> [X] "Have you checked up on Asuna yet? Give her a call, tell her I'm alright."

She hesitated, fractionally – Something she isn't telling you – but nods.

“I will. Now go – Don't keep them waiting.”

--

The company car's a spacious one – One step down from a limousine, perhaps. The driver rides ahead, anonymous in his sealed compartment: You can't see anything of him, just a vague blur. You take a seat opposite Ritsu and Shion, the former with a laptop settled on his knees – the latter with her arms folded over her chest, her head turned to look at the car ahead.

Still smarting, apparently.

“You're back!” Ritsu says, a little too quickly. “Did you find anythin-”

The car begins to move, with a gentle thrum of the engine.

>>4202427

“What-? Oh, right.”

He clears his throat. “Uh...Vector Geist is still around. He lost, like, half of his men – But he's out there, somewhere. I heard Silver Cross is, too...But I don't think Geist is happy with you. The last I heard, he said he was 'Getting out of this damn city'. It didn't sound like he was joking-”

(Continued)

>>4204609

“I never liked him,” Shion says, a curt note to her voice. “He was always an opportunist. I'm not surprised he cut and run.” She lifts her chin - “But...Out of the city? Good luck with that. Did you know, all flights have been grounded for two weeks? Not just here.”

Ritsu drops his gaze, at your mention of Kouichi.

“-Still no sign of him,” he says, softly, never quite meeting your eyes. “I – I hope he's all right.”

Shion gives you a look, and simply shakes her head. Resignation flickers across her face.

> Utopia Ruler

“Him? The funny thing is – I'm sure he was with us when we were getting out. But there were, you know, the towers...There was fire everywhere, and lots of people were panicking, running everywhere at once-”

“It was bad,” Shion says. “We didn't see him. We had other things to worry about.”

> Imagos

Despite the cool of the air-conditioning, Ritsu shivers.

“The...dog-things went off on their own, early,” he says, faintly. “They were – Did you know, they were eating the ones they brought down? I know they dragged some off, but – We could still hear the screaming-”

Shion rests a hand on his shoulder, and he falls silent.

“-They didn't attack us,” she says. “They just...left us behind. Some were happy for that. Best we could have expected, I think.”

> Asuna

“Who? I'm – I'm sorry, I don't know her. One of your classmates? If she wasn't...there, she's probably fine.”

> Also, ask if their families are ok.

“My parents are overseas,” Shion says, shortly. She doesn't sound like she wants to discuss this. “They don't know.”

That, apparently, is all she's willing to disclose on the matter.

“Ah-” Ritsu adjusts his glasses. He looks miserable.

“My Dad, my Mom – They're...” he looks away. “The thing is – they don't know anything about...this either. I'm supposed to be going for counselling – there are support groups and things like...You know. We'd have left, but...I don't anyone's going anywhere until this over.”

A deep breath.
“Jok – Anon – Kazuya's been telling us...It might be the end of everything in four days. Is that...Is that true? He sounded like he couldn't believe it, either – But after what he showed us...”

Ritsu swallows, hard. His hands are shaking.

“And – you're different from how you were, before. We kept – We kept hoping you'd come back, and now...”

He gestures.

“...Can we do this? It's not too late, is it?”

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4204629
>There is no can in this Ritsu. We will succeed. We have to. Pazuzu and Naoya must die for what they have done

>>4204629
>I didn't climb through hell and lose and arm to fail here. We will get through this, just believe in me and we will win.

>>4204629
>"4 days isn't much, but it should be enough. Reinforce the Shroud, blow up the ship or put a bullet through Pazuzu's head - either works. We have a plan and even back-up options."

"Frankly, it's what everyone other than Pazuzu plans to do that has me really worried."

>>4204629
"I've been through hell twice in the past few months, weeks, days. At least we have time to prep now. Not only that, we're back as a team.

As for the differences... Daegal and I were stuck in the Black. It seems only a Joker can leave but he and I were able to get each other out. Pazuzu's sealed me off from the Red Joker armor but I still *have* it. I just need to get the seal off of me, one way or another."

"I gotta say guys. Geist gone or not. Imagos gone or not. Kouichi gone or not... I'm glad I have you two with me."

"I'm going to spend the next few days either helping Sterling or recruiting any of the survivors that I can who are still up for a fight; Utopia, Geist, Flare, Ivory. Maybe Imagos. There were a lot of newbie players and the Butcher Street Boys are without a leader too. Might not be a bad idea to look for the Menir Lake or anything else I can use. If you want to come with me, invitation is open."

>>4204629
"We have two major enemies currently.
Pazuzu is trying to tear down the Shroud in order to get to his "Promised Land". He also sealed my armor.
The White Joker is trying to summon the Black Joker, which is an eldritch monster.

To kill the Black Joker, both the Red and the White Joker's powers will need to be combined. However, it probably needs to be my specific incarnation of the Red Joker specifically, as I was the one who went through the reforging process needed to prime the armor for this goal.
So we will probably need to kill Pazuzu first to unseal my armor. And Pazuzu currently has both NIHL eyes.
Afterwards we'll have to deal with an insane Joker. Well, at least the White Joker isn't actually built for combat like the Red Joker is.

As for my arm, that was the prize for getting Kazuya out of the underworld. Kinda poetic - I first gave him the Midas arm to save his life and then I gave him my actual arm to do so again."


Have I missed or misrepresented something?

>>4204651
>Daegal and I were stuck in the Black
A-fucking-gain: It's not the Black. IIRC it was named the Underworld.

>>4204677
It's referred to as the Black/the Underworld. OP just varies it so he's not saying one or the other all the time seeing as it doesn't have locations really unlike say, DIS or COCYTUS

>>4204651
>>4204677
>>4204693
Oh crap, we should mention that we ran into Trisagon and are going to meet him as well actually.

>>4204696
>and are going to meet him
Are we?

Would be good to ask them whether they know about the fifth horseman, though.

>>4204701
I think we should. It's unlikely he wants to change teams but it could be useful? Plus, I'm honestly not sure how viable getting Geist, Imagos, Flare or Ivory is or recruiting other players is.

The Hollow Sun is going to dictate a lot but I'm just not really sure what we can spend our 3-4 days doing. So, it's probably a good idea to state our intent to raise ranks, see what those two say and also mention going to see Trisagon.

Does make me wonder whether Steppenwulf was a plant/mole this whole time or if he just lied at the start or if he knew nothing altogether. He never seemed competent enough to be a plant/mole, given how often he let things slip and how shit he was under pressure but still, it's worth considering.

>>4204629
OP, what are the specific characteristics of Orichalchum? Since we're wielding the Lucid Blade and that's mentioned in the description, what are they?

Really hope this doesn't just update on the weekend. The quest is already slow enough with an update a day.

>>4208611
>The quest is already slow enough with an update a day.
Nigger, did you just come here last week?
One update a day is OP absolutely spoiling us.

>>4208611

The all powerful and benevolent JQOP produces this artistic genius without asking anything in return.

The correct response is gratefulness, not bitching.

>>4208659
I wouldn't go so far as guzzling as much cum as you do, even if I agree that there's no point in actually complaining.

Few people keep to a project that's 50% listening to the commands of a herd of cats for almost an entire fucking decade.
I'd rather see the quest reach its end at some point, than have it update more quickly and have OP burn out on it.

>>4208676
It's been going for four years or so. If JQOP was the kind of guy to burn out he had a shitload of opportunities to, none of which he's taken yet.

>>4208620
>>4208659
>>4208676
>>4208729
I've been here since before the Original Hive raid. I just want shit to happen again man. 2 updates a week is still brutal considering we've got another what, 30 chapters to go?

I mean it's easily the best quest I've ever read and unironically one of my favourite pieces of media I consume but 2 updates a week sucks, especially considering where we are now. We're so fucking close to just finishing it.

(Gentlemen, my apologies - It's been chaos here. The lockdown in Singapore has been extended another month, and I've been hurrying to adjust.)

>>4205637

(It's incredibly well-balanced, sharp, and extremely hard. It's notably lighter than Neutronium, but Orichalchum is a superlative material. It's also extremely resilient to energy attacks.)

>>4204635
>>4204640
> There's no 'can' in this, Ritsu. We will succeed. We have to. Pazuzu and Naoya must die for what they have done.
> I didn't climb through Hell and lose an arm to fail here. We will get through this, just believe in me and we will win.

Ritsu blanches, at your words – Going pale. He looks down, for a long moment; you can see his hands trembling on his laptop's keyboard, as he draws a unsteady breath.

“I know. I know. It's just-” A hesitation, before he continues. “It's just...There's been so much killing. So much death. I – I'm not sure I can stand it, if there's more...”

A brief shake of his head.

“I – when you say things like that, you terrify me, you know?” his gaze flicks down to your arm, hanging in the sling. “It's like...You've lost an arm – And it isn't even slowing you down...”

“That's enough,” Shion says, but her voice belies her words – Her hand comes to rest on his shoulder, a gesture of sympathy, and he relaxes. Just a little.

>>4204644

“I hope so-” he sounds fretful, despite that. Ritsu turns his head to the side, staring out of the window for a long, silent moment. Watching the empty streets blur past.

“You know I've got family here. Lots of people do. I...So much has already happened. One more thing, like before – I'm not sure the city could take it.”

>>4204651

Shion's silent – she doesn't quite meet your eyes – when you mention Bishamon.

“We'll think about it,” she says, in the kind of tone that means she isn't, really.

>>4204677

Ritsu dry-swallows.

“Y, you think you can do that? Kill one of them, then the other?” There's a distinctly uneasy note to his voice, now. Shion gives him a look, cooler than before - “Do you think there's another way?” she asks, and he just looks down.

>>4204701

“The...what?”

Ritsu sounds positively grateful, for the change of subject. The keys clack, the screen casting flickering reflections in his glasses – He bites his lip, before he turns the screen towards you.

“It...It looks like it was a theater,” he says. “In the part of the city from, you know, before-”

Six years ago, then.

“Yeah. Like, the one in Paris? The Grand Guignol? Something like that.”

“Was a theater?” Shion asks, her interest piqued.

“They, ah – They closed after. Same reason as the Grand Guignol: Before, everyone felt that what was happening onstage was impossible. Now we know that these things, and worse, are possible in reality.”

An uneasy silence descends.

(Continued)

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>>4210168
“-And we are the richer for it,” Shion says, reading over his shoulder. Ritsu jerks, startled - “Wha...?” he says, sounding momentarily appalled.

“That's what it says. See?” She gestures, frowning - “Now we know that these things, and worse, are possible in reality, and we are the richer for it.”

Ritsu draws an unsteady breath. “...I didn't see it before,” he murmurs, almost to himself. “Look – Anon, just...Just be very careful. These people, they're...You don't know how they think. If it's just you...You might not walk out of there. Ever.”

He's stealing uneasy glances at the card you're holding, as if he thinks it might rear up and bite him. It's only then that you realize that the image embossed on it – both a writhing nest of tendrils and the rotating spokes of a wheel, all at once – are still in motion, churning as if they seek to break the weak barrier of the circle enclosing them.

“Tell him about the picture,” Shion says, as subtle as an elbow nudge.

“The pic – Oh. Oh.”

Ritsu's hand glides jerkily across his laptop's touchpad, fussing with it until he calls up the file.

“I...Sorry. Almost forgot – this was sent to us. A...week ago, I think. Here.”

It's a portrait, really. Done in a frenzied, almost impressionistic style that tells of hurried brushstrokes – As if the painter couldn't wait to finish it. It's clearly a photograph of a finished work, possibly before the paint even dried; the lighting is poor, with fragments of white space at the corners. But you can still see it, and that's enough.

The painting is done entirely in red and white. Two forms, tangled in an almost intimate embrace – abstracted into the very essence of their silhouettes, that they flow together and join as one. One figure, arms smeared into a multiplicity of limbs, holds swords that pierces the other over and over again, emerging from the victim's back in tangled profusion.

The sword-pierced figure holds a single blade - just a sliver - thrust into the other's heart, slaying even as he's slain.

“It's from a burner address – We don't know who sent it,” Ritsu says, uneasily. “I didn't think about it at first, but...If it means something to you-”

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4210198
We have to invest in the Catalys immediately, the first chance we get. Revivification upgrade is completely necessary or else we'll need Black Frost for this.

"I'm not sure if I will go. It'll all depend on what we see at the Sun. Trisagon is and was a lot of things but they were never a loyalist. It's worth hearing them out, if there's nothing else to do."

"Thanks for saving that for me. It's from Asuna, that friend I mentioned. She was a Player with the abilty of prophecy. This is one. It's saying the duel between the Red Joker and the White Joker is a duel to the death."

>>4210198
>"In breaking he himself is broken". It's a warning and a promise I think Ritsu. If the red and white jokers fight it means a mutual death.

>>4210198
>>4210208
Oh, we should check out the plays they performed at The Fifth Horseman as well. If they were inspired by the Red or involved with it, it could be illuminating. Like Asuna's art.

>>4210198
"I will have to thank Asuna once this is over.
She's a prophet. She draws these images and they tell of the future."

If I'm judging this correctly, then the one that is being stabbed is the Red Joker. And the singular blade that we are using is the Misericode.
That's some pretty valuable information.

The question is now: Is Naoya using multiple blades to fuck us up metaphorical or literal? Those could just as well be hooks that he has on us, like Mio.

>>4210337
I think its one of his abilities. When we fought him he entered a second form where his eyes turned red and his legs became swords and blades. Hence the '13 forms' joke.

>>4210208

> "I'm not sure if I will go. It'll all depend on what we see at the Sun. Trisagon is and was a lot of things but they were never a loyalist. It's worth hearing them out, if there's nothing else to do."

“Y-yeah. But...It's just that-”

Ritsu gestures, seemingly at a loss for words. Shion sighs, and carries on for him.

“-It's that you're not the Red Joker any longer, are you? That's who they want to see. If you show up as you are now...” her voice trails off.

“They might not be happy to see you.”

A small smile.

“Not that many people are,” Shion adds, offhand.

>>4210209
>"In breaking he himself is broken". It's a warning and a promise I think Ritsu. If the red and white jokers fight it means a mutual death.
> "Thanks for saving that for me. It's from Asuna, that friend I mentioned. She was a Player with the abilty of prophecy. This is one. It's saying the duel between the Red Joker and the White Joker is a duel to the death."

He hesitates, seemingly caught off-guard.

“It's...What? But that means-”

Ritsu's gaze flicks between the painting – the screen's glare bleaching the saturated colors mercilessly – then you.

“...doesn't that mean you're going to die?”

The words hang in the air, for a long, long moment – Before Shion eases the screen closed, resting one hand gently but firmly atop the laptop.

“He's got a plan,” she says. The look she gives you is questioning, as if daring you to agree with her. “-He's always got a plan.”

Don't you?

Before you can answer, there's a shift in the low purr of the engine. The car comes to a stop, at last – the faint clunk of the locks echoing hollowly within the interior. The driver's anonymous voice, over the speaker-

“We're here.”

The doors open, and the cool lights of the interior give way to welling crimson radiance. For a moment, you can't tell if it's the sullen light of the occluded afternoon sun, or the Red – and then you look down, and see pitted grey armor where your limbs should be, hear the faint hum of your armor's systems as they come to life.

STAGE: THE RIFT

“We're here.”

Volt Regios's voice is flat, affectless, as one world folds into the next. The deep, gouging chasm of the Rift lies before you – Like before, it is a wound in the surface of the world, where the fabric of the city has been cleaved in twain. The ground trembles, beneath your feet; each time, it feels like a full-on quake is about to be unleashed, before it subsides. Strange energies coil upwards through the air, at the edges of the cracks – they cast ghost-images across your HUD, filling it with flickering phantoms.

(Continued)

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>>4210449

“-This is the place?”

Divider sounds skeptical, his many-faceted optics rotating, clicking, as they take in his surroundings. “It hardly looks like-”

He falls silent, as Axiom's chrome-and-crystal gauntlet presses to his sloping chestplate, urging him back. Sparks dance around Axiom, gathering around his free hand – with a snap-hiss of cage energies, a burning lance of writhing lightning materalizes in his grasp, too bright to look directly upon.

“It's the place,” Axiom says. He doesn't look to Tyrian Edge or Volt Regios – Instead, he looks to Daegal. “Well?” he says, and you can hear the expectancy in his voice.

Power builds. It builds to a painful pitch.

Kazuya hesitates. “I-” he begins, and that's when the transition seizes hold of all five of you.

--

You swear that Volt Regios made it more unpleasant than it has to be.

A bewildering sensation of falling-

-of being strained through an electrified sieve-

-of being pulled in every direction at once-

There is a brittle thunderclap of displace air, as the teleport burst scorches and jolts every molecule of your bodies. Your teeth – teeth that you don't have – ache ferociously, before the phantom sensation dies away; ghostly pangs of nausea roiling within you, as your sensors fight to recohere.

As vision returns, you find yourself in a grand antechamber – Black marble pillars surrounding a heavy, silver-threaded platform of gleaming stone. Coolant vapour rolls like mist, hidden mechanisms in the fluted columns humming serenely as they stabilize.

Somewhere in the distance, a warm golden glow...

“-eccccchhhhhhhhhhh-”

A distinct retching sound, from close by. Divider, doubled-over, leaning against one of the columns; the segments of his helm clatter in distress, echoing the nauseous sounds he's making; Like an ever-watchful shadow, Axiom stands next to him – One hand patting his back, in an oddly human gesture.

“-Is he all right?” Daegal asks. Where he stands, tiny filaments of gold branch out around his feet – tiny pulses, fading as they run outwards into infinity. You hear a faint clicking, a sedate whirr as the autoreactive pillars on all sides rotate-

Rotating to face Daegal at all times, you realize. Like flowers turning towards the sun.

“He'll be fine,” Fulgurite says. “-He just needs a moment.”

“Ghhaaaaaakkk-” Static crackles from Divider's speakers, as he straightens – Metal scraping metal, as he wipes a hand across his 'mouth'. “This-”

“-this is why...I'm not a field operative-”

“Wanted to see the Hollow Sun,” Regios cuts in. Somehow, despite the crackling buzz of his voice, he sounds almost smug.

“Look.”

(Continued)

>>4210449
>“He's got a plan,” she says. The look she gives you is questioning, as if daring you to agree with her. “-He's always got a plan.”Don't you?
Continued successful improvisation looks like planning to the uninitiated.

In other words, we gonna Mr. Bean this shit.

>>4210509
>White Joker kills us epicly
>we dtab him eith the Misericorde
>"I guess this is the end for both of us Joker. You'll *never*-"
>"lol"
>activate Terminal Revivifcation Injector
>return to full health while using the White Joker's essence to fuel it
>reborn as the Joker
Screen cap this. Also black frost level 4 would let us survive that

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>>4210498

The mist clears, as if pulled away by an impatient hand.

And you see-

“Holy shit-”

The Hollow Sun has changed since the last time you saw it. Your platform stands above an immense gulf – across which a path shoots straight as a spear – suspended high above a void. Great engines are at work, connected to drivetrains and gearing arrays, in turn connected to generators, power converters and energy coils. Some areas flicker with honeyed lightning, snaking and writhing across conductor-spikes and spires, crystalline devices – glowing with eerie inner light – held in place by iron torcs.

Gigantic machines – huge mechanisms – turn and whirr, in the constant light. Gleaming pistons hiss pneumatic sighs, burnished valves opening and closing with automated regularity. Far, far below, you can see massive turbines humming as they turn in smooth and uniform perfection, drawing trace elements of neutronium from the very heart of the Red.

A regular intervals, a radiant pulse sweeps across the banks of machines and mechanisms, making them whole once more – rewinding damage and wear, leaving them pristine.

“Oh my,” Divider says. “Oh my.”

His nausea forgotten, he peers down through the gloom – His many eyes whirring as they refocus.

“Is that – Is that a localized temporal effect? Impossible...The focused reversal of conditions requires both a tachyon field and sufficient coherence to prevent distortion. The power required would-”

And everywhere, there are Hellions. Set in the walls, in alcoves, in their serried ranks. Monopurpose drones – multi-limbed, gravimetric suspensors carrying them aloft – flit from unit to unit, refurbishing and refitting. As you watch, an Essence Core is set in a hardshell's hollow chest; gauntlets flex, a doodle of light flickering to life within a visored helm, as the Hellion comes to life.

Schematic lines flicker around a monstrous, triple-faced, four-armed leviathan, twice as tall as a lesser unit – Limbs slowly but surely fading into existence, like a framework filled in with pigment. Energy into matter. The conceptual into the real.

The scale of it is hard to process. You stand in the middle of a gigantic cylinder, the ground falling away to nothingness in all other directions – the zenith and nadir stretching so far overhead and underfoot that both are lost in the haze of distance.

At the very centre – At the end of the path ahead – is a huge orb of light, dancing, spinning, whirling. Constantly in motion, vibrating to an uncertain rhythm, contracting and expandin like a lung taking in air. Tendrils of ephemeral force run into the orb, connecting it to thousands of light at the edges of the sphere; Pulses travel down these astral pathways, moving away from the centre – a visual metaphor for the flow of data, the dazzling radiance making the steel-and-marble walls ripple like sunlight on water.

(Continued)

>>4210569
This actually feels even more impressive than the Forge.

>>4210569

Fulgurite Axiom stares. You get the feeling he's not easily impressed, but what he's seeing – He's speechless.

And somehow, there is sound. The song of bolt drivers, the noise of industry, the harmonics of the Hollow Sun's control interface – they reflect and echo back and forth, until it seems that there must be millions of sources there, fissured, overlapping, interplaying in cold harmony-

Like a chorus. A chorus that says, the meaning bypassing the medium of your sensors, transmitting itself directly to your mind is-

Welcome home.

“We, uh...We had a limited amount of control, but – Well, we made some improvements,” Tyrian Edge says. “After a while...The place was running itself, basically. It's been like this since-”

“Last night,” Volt Regios finishes. A pulse of light flickers in the vision slit of his helm. “Knew you were back, then.”

And throughout all of this – Daegal's just trying to take it all in. His helm tilting back, back, then down, disorientated by the sheer scale of it.

“Jesus,” he says, awed. “Anon, you told me about it, but...I didn't think – I didn't imagine it'd be like this.”

Then - “...Is this where the armor came from?” He looks down at one gleaming gauntlet – And you know what he's thinking. Of how he was crippled, broken, before the armor found a host-

And then, the miracle.

Softer now.

“...Is this where I'm supposed to be?”

[ ] “Let's go find out.”
[ ] “We'll figure it out together.”
[ ] “That looks like a good place to start.”
[ ] “Is it telling you anything?”
[ ] “Look - It's revolving around you. All of it. You're the centre of this place.”
[ ] (To Axiom and Divider) “So...I'm guessing it was worth the detour.”
[ ] (To Axiom and Divider) “Well, what do you think?”
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>4210610
(And I must turn in for now, but I'll continue next time.)

>>4210610
>[ ] “Let's go find out.”
>[ ] (To Axiom and Divider) “So...I'm guessing it was worth the detour.”
"I didn't insist for no reason."

Be Daegal's right-hand man and stand behind him while he occupies the throne.

Getting our arm analyzed would also be nice.

>>4210619
Sleep well, OP.

>>4210610
[ ] Free
"It's your kingdom Bud, you decide that"

>>4210610
>[x] “That looks like a good place to start.”
>[x] “Is it telling you anything?”
>[x] "Not even I know the full capabilities of this place, but I've been taking care of it for some time."
>[x] (To Axiom and Divider) “Well, what do you think?”
>[x]"Better than anything Sterling's got, huh?"
Sweet Jesus, I've been waiting for this for years, it's good to be back. Now let's get on to business, first thing is taking stock of the new Hollow Sun, second is Daegal uploading the Diadem's info for analysis, third is getting ourselves into the Terminus Scanner and analyzed. See if it still registers us as the Red Joker or just Frost Cestus now, maybe we lost Administrative Access without the RJ armor or with Daegal finding a host? Maybe he could grant it to us back.

Last but not least is to search what the Hollow Sun knows about the Black Joker, it reacted hostilely towards us when we went there while corrupted with Lachryma so it definitely knows a thing or two.

There are some other more but we'll get there, let's see what it's been up to this whole time.

>>4210608
I don't think anything will beat 'where impossible things are made' with a floating, warping lachryma engine that constantly changes itself to best design something but it's damn close. The scale is more impressive but the finesse isn't comparable.

>>4210610
"Ever since the armor latched itself onto me, it's been making this. Preparing for you. The Hollow Sun, the mechanisms, the Viturvian Device it made... It's all just a byproduct, the leftovers of what it's made for you. Take your throne. Seize control. Ein Soph should show you the rest."
>"So... I'm guessing it was worth it coming here. We have a tachyon reactor, a neutronium refinery and there's a Class A corrector which regenerates and has a breath attack. There's a vault with relics as well. Do you think you can use this?"
"How is Caliban by the way? Did we modify it?"

>>4210674
Oh, should we load the Diadem assault plans into it? Have the Sun start computing assault strategies?

>>4210672
>See if it still registers us as the Red Joker or just Frost Cestus now,
As Red Joker we gained an upgraded Crisis Arm.
Now I wonder what we'll gain as Frost Cestus.

>Last but not least is to search what the Hollow Sun knows about the Black Joker, it reacted hostilely towards us when we went there while corrupted with Lachryma so it definitely knows a thing or two.
Didn't the Midas Arm also start rejecting us after the Athame?

>>4210674
>>4210696
Let's keep the strategic analysis and shit for later.
First we have the Sun greet its owner.

Though telling Divider about the Corrector facility might be a good idea.

I wonder what shape the Assault Roadster now takes. After all, it was made specifically for the Red Joker, but that was before Athame, the Forge and our downgrade.

Wonder if Daegal got Killsat authority too.

>>4210706
Good point. Lets leave out the planning but I did want it written down for later use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXaZ6n7ctI = Daegal theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdlAZj5iDc8 = Red Joker theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTpqALVoZM = White Joker theme

>>4210610
[ ] “Let's go find out.”
[ ] “Look - It's revolving around you. All of it. You're the centre of this place.”
[ ] (To Axiom and Divider) “So...I'm guessing it was worth the detour.”

Rereading this thread http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/36259814/ makes me want to ask if Shion's opinion of us has changed when we get a chance.

(Gentlemen, my sincerest apologies: I've been badly sick this weekend. It seems I've caught something. However, I'm feeling better, and I'm taking the time to collate the updates to the Hollow Sun. Looking forward to it!)

>>4221648
Will it be released on Twitter OP? Will we be able to see any upgrades we could get for the Red Joker frame *and* the Frost Cestus frame or just the Frost Cestus frame?

Is it possible to make a Deodand like device for the memory of killing Rust Kaiser and Bell Zypher?

>>4221666
(I'll link to Twitter once it's up. And the latter, I'd say. No to the last one - Unfortunately, the opportunity has passed.)

>>4221683
Where would it have been possible to create a memory like that? Is there some way to preserve or extract that memory?

Will the update about the Hollow Sun include the changes that happen to both Daegal and the Sun when he assumes his throne?

>>4221697
> Where would it have been possible to create a memory like that? Is there some way to preserve or extract that memory?
Imago may have had the technology, but the process would likely have been unpleasant.

> Will the update about the Hollow Sun include the changes that happen to both Daegal and the Sun when he assumes his throne?
I'll likely have to open a new thread for that.

>>4221705
Is Imago gone now?

Also, thanks for answering my questions OP. This is easily one of my favourite pieces of fiction I've ever read and it's only improved with time. Stay safe and stay healthy but hopefully we can see the next thread soon.

>>4221705
>I'll likely have to open a new thread for that.
Oh shit, I wonder what Daegal will get.
I assume, at the very least, the ability to summon any Hellion weapon at will.
In which case unlocking all of these weapons will have an incredible payoff.

>>4221730
>Is Imago gone now?
You'll have the chance to investigate later, but bear in mind the time limit.

>>4221730
>>4221705
Yeah, it's incredible how much of an impact Joker Quest has left on me.

I wish more people could come read the quest. But I'm afraid that we'd run into massive issues with a diluted player base.

>>4221791
>>4221798
I've been trying to get my friends to pick it up.

>>4221797
So right now the only leads we have on anything are
>Imago
>Vector Geist
>The Menagerie
Right? I don't see Geist or the Menagerie panning out much but I think those are the only groups still really left.

OP, is there any way for us to tell what sites are of note in the Red World/places we can spend or use the remaining days?

(New Hollow Sun Guide:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jva4n-Ps2mQ-cTacX0Mkqqf1wWm_iOv1ttIxTIvBut0/edit?usp=sharing

Note that at present, the Hollow Sun has 80% Energy available, which will be covered next time.)

>>4223707
Will you be available to take questions op ??

>>4223707
Op does the argent clavis stack with carnifex , when both are active ?
In future will it stack with forbode?

>>4223707
What is the limit of neutronium cartridges we could make, if we went all in on them ?

>>4223760
(Yes, but be aware of the inability to use ranged weapons.)

>>4223762
(As many as you can afford, but remember that the Hollow Sun is unlikely to accumulate a high amount of charge in the days remaining. These are likely the final purchases you will ever make.)

>>4223707
How much charge do we get back a day and is there any way to increase that?

>>4223794
How can mega projects be purchased?

If the Hollow Sun is fired, will *anything* remain behind or still be useable?

>>4223801
(Around 15 - 20%. Void Anchors can increase that, but be aware of the short timespan.)

>>4223803
(As many as you like, as long as you can afford them. The latter question will be covered later, but you can generally only count on what you can take with you - as well as 'deployable' items like the vehicles and Caliban.)

>>4223812
Op I have just some questions around the auric shroud and it's module the radiant aegis
Does the auric shroud regenerate naturally or does it need to be in fortress mode ??
Does the radiant aegis grant the regen ability in fortress mode ?
Does the permeability effect of the radiant aegis effect the regen or is that an effect of the radiant aegis in general

>>4223812
What is the approximate rate of drain for each of the auric shroud modules. When they are in use? Sorry to bombard you with questions but as you said this selection process could be last time and is all the more crucial because of that

>>4223831
(It needs to be in Fortress Mode. The Radiant Aegis prevents regeneration while in Fortress Mode, unless you're absolutely stationary. By 'permeability', it means that Fortress Mode is a solid barrier around you - You can do very little except to move around.)

>>4223832
(I've updated with the rate of drain for each module.)

>>4223812
How much will a Void Anchor increase the rate of gain?

How long does a mega project take to make?

What do the Vector Drive and Tachyon Forge do exactly?

Does the Rapture module effect *just* wild corrections or will it effect the Correctros that Pazuzu controls or has made serve him?

I think we should get 1 mega project, maybe 2 and then spend the rest on personal upgrades. An Auric Shroud module and the Elemental Adaptor would be ideal.

>>4223842
What does Babel I do as well? Is there a tachyon booster that we can put into ourselvss?

>>4223842
>By 'permeability', it means that Fortress Mode is a solid barrier around you - You can do very little except to move around.
How about charging up or reloading weapons? Would it be possible to use Fortress Mode to protect more volatile or unstable weapons until the moment we decide to fire?

>>4223707
Fuck yeah, time to sperg about upgrades again.

Have some ramblings of mine:
The Leukocyte upgrades are nice, but the opportunity costs are too high, although a free shot of neutronium is really tempting.

The autophagic disassembler is something that we should fire on the last day. In total that will grant us roughly 110% in addition to the 80% that we already have.

NECROARKANA would allow us to feed Correctors into the Hollow Sun. We could use Caliban as an energy boost if we are really tight on our budget.
The other five direct upgrades also look incredibly useful.
Any ideas what the VECTOR DRIVE would do?
TERRAFORMER ENGRAM has obvious applications, will likely multiply the Hollow Sun's offensive abilities and also make combat easier for us.
The TACHYON FORGE's repair ability alone might be invaluable, but I can't think of any currently damaged relics.
BABEL II unfortunately requires time that we do not have.

>>4224037
There are two Megaprojects that look useful:
1. L-GATE INTERDICTOR
It strengthens the shroud, at least locally. Exactly what the doctor ordered.
Maybe fire it after the Manifold Tower stuff has been done. Or maybe use it to accelerate the pace of Manifold Tower reclamation.
It costs 250%, so we'd need 120% in addition to the 130% already stored in order to build.
QUANTUM STABILIZER might similarily be useful to get a longer operating time and allow us to reclaim Manifold Towers more easily. However, that likely removes any chance at collecting more energy.

2.CASTIGATOR ARMOR
The special thing here is the price: 150%. This means it would effectively only cost 20% to us.
Remember: Ressources unused are ressources wasted.

Terminus Scanner would be very good, but it's only really valuable from level 2 on.
At level 1, it only adds upgrade options but doesn't directly increase our power.
I don't think it's sensible to spend the 100% on a shot in the dark that might also kill us.

>>4224042
Now for the relics:
First of all, the APOLLYON BUSTER. How well it fits depends on three aspects:
1. Can it use weapons?
2. How much does it interfere with basic operation of our armor?
3. On which arm does it go?
A right-handed APOLLYON BUSTER would be almost useless, as that would remove our Cestus.

The SPUR would be a good OH SHIT-move, but the opportunity costs are too high for what it does.

The ELEMENTAL ADAPTOR is a little unclear:
Does it affect ALL weapons or just a specific weapon that we decide on?
It looks like a good piece of synergistic gear, but maybe a bit underwhelming. Might be really good on the Apollyon Buster.
Also, I assume it's meant to produce an edothermic reaction. Exothermic would mean that it's hot, not cold.

The Stinger looks like a good supplement in terms of ranged options. Its description makes it sound like a viable weapon for both medium and long ranges. It doesn't suffer from the crippling specialization of weapons like the Widowmaker.
It could also be a really good crowd control weapon. The question here is whether we will run into any crowds or will need to hold any lines.

ARGENT CLAVIS sounds like a perfect addition to FROST CESTUS. We are already crippled at range, so why not offset that disadvantage.
Though I wonder what counts as ranged weapon here - for example, multiple of the Cestus discharges are basically ranged melee attacks.

IRONBREAKER looks like the perfect coronation present for Daegal.

Fusion Blades look like something that will cripple us more than help.

KINETIC RESONATOR is another OH SHIT-move. Not worth it.

The GRIMOIRE and AZOTH ENGINE both play into Babel 2. If we weren't so strapped for time, I'd vote to get this trio in order to find a way to re-empower Hecate. However, these would also be quite powerful on the RED JOKER. We could throw around SMITE left and right with this equipment.

>>4224044
We should definitely take either a Pile Bunker or either of the shield types. A Neutronium Pile Bunker might synergize well for critical moments or it might be dead weight. The shields are likely to last longer than the bunker.

Hellion Scrander sounds nice, but I think we should instead use the upgrade that allows us to transform Hellions into flight packs. I assume that's still a thing, right? The guide only says that all upgrades have been researched.

DUELING WARD might actually be really good, especially combined with ARGENT CLAVIS. Getting a Neutronium cartridge will likely come in handy.

So, I'm all in favor of going full melee behemoth - Apollyon Buster, Argent Clavis, Dueling Ward, maybe Spur. What kind of shield we take depends on whether we refit our arm and what exactly that entails. This will be around 100% of energy, which doesn't leave use enough for L-GATE INTERDICTOR unless we leave out Spur.

The only issue here is that this is very Frost Cestus-specific. On the one hand, we do need to focus like this to get a chance. On the other this will be borderline useless once we get back the Joker.
Then again, the Joker is so hilariously over-encumbered that I don't really give a fuck about adding a few useless options for the unlikely case that we get that far. Still, the codeburst stuff would be nice. Especially while sitting inside of a codeburst-capable Red Comet.

Also, I say we eat Caliban. Arm ourselves up, then find an arena, teleport the Corrector there and kill it for the essence.

>>4224049
I think going full melee would be a mistake. Remember as red joker we have golgotha the last word in melee weapons and with the argent clavis it's better then the dueling ward

>>4224098
We need to work with what we have, not with what we will have.
The Dueling Ward allows us to gank anyone by giving us the home field advantage: If we spec into melee, we will be flat-out superior within the ward. This might be the key for killing Naoya or at least getting rid of a really annoying enemy.
Even without any other relics it will already be a trump card. But with the counter powers of Argent Clavis and the destructive force of the Apollyon Buster, we'll basically transform this cage duel against Muhammed Ali into a cage fight against a six ton gorilla.

Golgotha will work even better with the Dueling Ward, but the Assault Shroud is more Red Joker's style.

>>4224037
>>4224042
>>4224044
>>4224049
>>4224062
>>4224062
I don't think we can make any actual decisions on this until we find out what Autophagic Dissembler actually means. Is it going to lower the time the Sun functions? Is it going to diminish the size of the swarm? When we know that, we can see what it does.

BABEL II seems to indicate there's a BABEL I but until we have confirmation, we can't decide. The Tachyon Forge, Terragormer Engram and Vector Drive aren't worth considering we're losing the Sun in 4 days and we probably aren't keeping any of it.

I think the only mega projects really worth considering are Rapture Beacon and Calamity Cannon; the second Dominion is so prohibitively expensive that it seems impossible to get and while the Calamity Cannon lets us have automated artillery support during the initial flight up in tandem with the Leukocyte, the Rapture Beacon could end up turning most Correctors on the Diadem or around it against them and will effectively double the size of the swarm we get while our Hellions will be able to consume their Essence and cannibalise them, as will we. While the Smilers *may* get some level ups out of it, there's going to be so many more Hellions leeching off it that we should be fine. I don't think a Terminus Scanner usage is viable or practical at this point; we can basically fund a Megaproject for it and that's ultimately going to have more of an effect on the battle than anything else. I mean if we can upgrade the Red Comet to the point it can fly up to or be transported to the Diadem, it's going to be as effective as a Mega Project and reusable.

The Elemental Adaptor is basically a relic that can be placed on the equipment of Players that use Elements; Austroung Efreet, Frost Cestus, Joker's plasma weaponry and Calcite Arrow would be good examples. It will definitely benefit the Joker frame.

I don't think getting any guns is worth it at this point besides the Tachyon Cannoade. While I would love to get the Neutron Laser for Joker, Frost Cestus is a dedicated melee build and, given the time we have him for, is only ever going to be that. We may as well make him as focused on close combat to mid-range as we can as all of his equipment can do that.

I think Azoth Engine is worth getting just for Red Joker alone and we can give it to Daegal or someone else for the time being, depending on if BABEL I is a thing or else if there are Codeburst users among the Sterling Industries' squad.

I wouldn't bother getting Daegal anything. The Distortion Halo is missing and he's getting his upgrade. Any other Relics would be meaningless to him at this point.

A Neutronium Pilebunker on the Cestus arm makes sense, to protect the Shackle and to give us a finishing move, especially with Chronmetron. A force buckler in our left hand would go well together.

I wouldn't get Neutronium Cartridges at this point. Like the Spur, they're a one use move that can miss or end up doing nothing.

>>4224148
If I had to pick an upgrade for the Auric Shroud, I'd go with the wings or else the eclipse field; one provides attack, defense, mobility and still offers some armored protection. The other not only makes us impossible to target lock and disables all fangs or drone bits used on us as a passive ability but it also gives us the effects of the Tesseract Field generator while allowing us to still mount the Entrophic Field generator.

I think processing Caliban could be an excellent idea but again, it depends on what happens *after* we get the Sun and what's going to remain. I imagine some materials will still remain.

We should priortise what we can never get again immediately while the rest will just be reserved for later usage.

As an addendum, I think Argent Calvis is an excellent call and would make a wing build Cestus even more powerful because he'll be able to parry with his wings.

When the Auric Pinions are invoked, the Shroud reshapes itself into gleaming black-and-gold metallic wings, solid, knife-edged and limned in cold fire. While not a true jump pack, the Auric Pinions have built-in gravimetric suspensors and are incredibly responsive in flight, allowing the user to soar through the air to reach their target. In addition, the gleaming wingspan can be swept round to deflect attacks, as well as actively used to slash at opponents.

Notably, the user can use his hands normally while the Pinions are active - For example, to attack with a weapon.
'When the Auric Pinions are invoked, the Shroud reshapes itself into gleaming black-and-gold metallic wings, solid, knife-edged and limned in cold fire. While not a true jump pack, the Auric Pinions have built-in gravimetric suspensors and are incredibly responsive in flight, allowing the user to soar through the air to reach their target. In addition, the gleaming wingspan can be swept round to deflect attacks, as well as actively used to slash at opponents.

Notably, the user can use his hands normally while the Pinions are active - For example, to attack with a weapon.'

Personally, I quite like the idea of wing-sized Oricalcum cleavers that can slice and deflect any attack near us and allow us to auto attack with shoulder weapons like we have Scyalla all over again. It would be very useful.

Finally, here's the old Hollow Sun page; https://pastebin.com/QhA7P9S4 I'd make sure to compare the Hollow Sun weapons and Hellions between each. There have been some changes.

Do we even *need* Caliban anymore? Wouldn't digesting him and giving the Red Comet AI 2.0 AND lifter abilities be more useful? I mean all someone has to do is fuck with Caliban's electronics and he's after our ass again. A full AI Red Comet with flight would be more than capable of outperforming him *and* we could summon it against Naoya. Just 2 AI upgrades and we won't need White Licorice who doesn't want to fight anyway and could be more useful elsewhere.

It's pretty much a mega project at this point AND it's going to stay with us after the Sun is gone, like our bike is. A Nitro Booster, Lifter and AI upgrade is like... End game. Hell Naoya has his 3 correctors but with the Armory Guardian like this, do we even care?

That said, Caliban could be useful against those and will stick with us post game too. Divider and Daegal should be able to give some analysis on him.

>>4224148
> I don't think we can make any actual decisions on this until we find out what Autophagic Dissembler actually means. Is it going to lower the time the Sun functions? Is it going to diminish the size of the swarm? When we know that, we can see what it does.

(It reduces the Hollow Sun's energy recharge rate.)

> BABEL II seems to indicate there's a BABEL I but until we have confirmation, we can't decide.

(It's actually a reference to the Tower of Babel. My apologize, I should've made it clearer.)

>>4224062
(You don't actually need to physically attack it to kill it. You could always use NECROARKANA to render it down to its Essence signature.)

>>4224246
(Bear in mind that Caliban is an extremely powerful, flying Corrector with an extensive cybernetic rebuild. Recycling it would provide an energy boost, but it would be less than half of the resources expended on it.)

>>4224875
So OP, couple of questions;
Do we have 4 void anchors currently available to use?
Does Argent Clavis apply to the Auric Pinions?
Are the Auric Pinions comparable to the Lucid Blade in power?
Do the Auric Pinions allow flight but an inability to hover?
How many Codebursts can BABEL II harvest a day?
Do we have any way of telling the possible functions or abilities of the Apolloyon Gauntlet?
Has Caliban already been modified? If so, how? What can Caliban do?
Can we get Armory Guardian AI 2.0 for the Red Comet? Can the Red Comet be upgraded similarly to the Red Joker Armory Guardian from the Black?
Can the Meridian Blades/Seekers be used or integrated into the Hollow Sun to derive technologies from them?
What does the Vector Drive and Tachyon Forge do?

>>4224921
As an addendum to this, what is a Mastema and Tempest Hellion?
Do the Chayots have Dual Phase Microstructure and Erosion Field Stabilisers? Were transformation servoes bought?

>>4224921
> Do we have 4 void anchors currently available to use?
(Yes.)

> Does Argent Clavis apply to the Auric Pinions?
(Yes.)

> Are the Auric Pinions comparable to the Lucid Blade in power?
(No. They're supplementary weapons.)

> Do the Auric Pinions allow flight but an inability to hover?
(Technically it's more like gliding, with a lot of fine control. True flight is achievable by combining them with the Hellion Scrander.)

> How many Codebursts can BABEL II harvest a day?
(It's random. I roll for it, but you can improve the results by investing Energy.)

> Do we have any way of telling the possible functions or abilities of the Apolloyon Gauntlet?
(No, but it's a left-handed gauntlet, similar to the Crisis Arm.)

> Has Caliban already been modified? If so, how? What can Caliban do?
(Yes. It's been refitted with a hardshell to allow you to control it, and resembles a flying leviathan. In addition to the thing's mutable form and terrible rending claws, it's been fitted with an amplifier to augment the Corrector's bioelectric discharges. It's at least as tough as a Hyades's Cryptid.)

> Can we get Armory Guardian AI 2.0 for the Red Comet?
(Yes. The Armory Guardian is in the possession of White Licorice, but for simplicity's sake I would say that you can.)

> Can the Red Comet be upgraded similarly to the Red Joker Armory Guardian from the Black?
(No. You no longer have the required weaponry, and - more importantly - it's unlikely you have the time.)

> Can the Meridian Blades/Seekers be used or integrated into the Hollow Sun to derive technologies from them?
(No. You no longer have the time. If you had a month or so, probably - I removed the relevant options, to avoid a 'dead end' choice.)

> What does the Vector Drive and Tachyon Forge do?
(The Vector Drive creates spatial-warping and stasis-based equipment. The Forge allows for Relic creation, repair and upgrade. The Forge's most immediately useful function is that it allows Daegal's enhancements to be made permanent, albeit at a substantial cost. Note that he'll need to be present for that.)

> As an addendum to this, what is a Mastema and Tempest Hellion?
(The less powerful precursors of the Hashmal and the Ishim, which are a direct upgrade. It made no sense to have additional categories of obsolete Hellions, so the former were upgraded into the latter.)

> Do the Chayots have Dual Phase Microstructure and Erosion Field Stabilisers?
(Yes. You can assume that Regios and Edge bought all the strictly mechanical upgrades for the Hellions, to avoid excess micromanagement.)

> Were transformation servoes bought?
(Unfortunately, no. Given the lack of interest in the option up to this point, as well as the fact that they may be suboptimal after the Hollow Sun has been deployed - i.e. There might not be Hellions left to provide additional components - I removed them from the list.)

(I could restore them, but bear in mind that their removal was to avoid a potentially 'dead end' option.)