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You sigh. "None of it seems like it could work..." Potentially you could cloak up and run through the market, but would be difficult to take anything of significant mass out with you. It's not like you could grab something and have it disappear with you without also taxing yourself further. "If that's the case, you said they got their stuff out of Esari, right? What about- er..." You scratch your head. "That's the rub, I suppose..."

"I've heard of old wrecks being found in the countryside..." Tina offer. "I wouldn't be sure how to look for them, though."

You nod. "But I'm not sure I can find one on demand. If I got close, I'd notice. But it's not like I can just wander the countryside until I get a hit."

"Are there really any other options, though?" Elan asked.

"...maybe!" You remember something. "There are other things in the city. I found some of my drones that way."

"Some of them are traps, though." Tina cautioned.

"...yeah." You rub the back of your neck. You didn't need a repeat of hammer guy. What was his deal, anyway? Was he a half-Valkan cultist? "I'd have to be careful..."

"They probably aren't going to try and hurt you." Tina offered. "You're worth more to them alive, after all. That's just the thing, though. Alive."

"Which means they're going to try and find out who I am if they notice me..." You think. Any attempt to explore caches you find in the city ran the risk of being cult-run, as you unfortunately found out first hand. Then again, you recall at least... two that you didn't explore. One in the apartment struts, then another in... you think it was the mall? Then again, that was probably just the aftermath of the attack, and you hadn't seen any when you went with Kara. "Would be helpful to be able to go incognito..." You glance up at Tina. "Would you really be willing to teach me?"

"Sure." Tina nodded. "When would be a good time to start?"

>As soon as possible.
>You want to try looking for things outside of the city, first.
>>[Sub-Option] And, come to think of it, you know exactly who could host you while you searched the countryside. Jess.
>Not anytime soon, but some day.
>[Write-In]

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.
Maybe we should try and start with making our own rosary.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>>As soon as possible.

Oh, and no update tonight as I've spent far too much time burning the candle at both ends recently.

>>4334804
>>As soon as possible.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>>4334811
This about the rosary

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.
Clearly this close vote needs my help to tip the scales.

>>4334804
>As soon as possible.

>As soon as possible.
Writing.

>>4337978
Such a nailbiter vote

>>4337984
I demand a recount!

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"Right n-" You control yourself. "...as soon as you're willing."

Tina gives you a sympathetic smile. "As much as I'm sure you'd like to start today, the reality is I don't quite know where to train you."

"Why not here?" You ask.

"Trained properly- the way I was taught, at least. You begin by teaching someone how to control large amounts of energy. Respirating too much is normal, it happens all the time, especially in hyperspace. Not knowing how to release it is what's dangerous. Uncontrolled Abyss energies are what killed the fleet, after all..." She mused. "We do that in the city, you're definitely liable to get noticed..."

"Is it really that obvious?" You ask.

"No, a block or two at most, but all it requires is one person to notice by chance, then they'll pay close attention next time." Tina made a vague motion with her hands. "We only need a small space to practice in. One that's just far away enough from populated places to avoid detection."

"Well, where do you practice?" You shrug.

"I don't. The spells and techniques I use are personal scale, they don't give off a detectable amount of energy."

"Right..." You nod. "I found- er, one of my drones found a little forest just outside of the city. It's private enough, and I don't really see anyone come near it."

"Oh?" Tina tilted her head. "How far out is it?"

"About an hour, I'd say?" You tilt your head.

She nods. "That... may still be too close."

"Too close?" You raise an eyebrow. "How?"

"Too close to the cults, that is." Tina corrects herself. "It does sound isolated, but it's also obvious. I'll admit, the chances are slim, but a convenient, open forest within a reasonable distance of the city? That would be the obvious location to go for most people. And when we're working with such large amounts of energy..."

"Do you really think it's that much of a risk?" You ask in confusion.

"Uh. Well..." Tina scratched her cheek slightly. "If I'm being honest, it's probably fine. But a little paranoia can go a long way."

"Is there no way to create some kind of... barrier or ward or salt line or whatever to block it?" Elan asks. "From your description, this stuff is pretty easy to manipulate."

"Uh..." Tina flushes slightly. "It is, but I'm not sure it's within my skill to create. That's a necromantic discipline, and I never delved too deeply into it..."

"It's not like we can afford to drive out every day..." You scratch your head. "Especially if you want to go even farther."

>The forest is safe enough.
>>[Sub-Option] It's not her discipline, but with your mother's grimoire and Tina's experience, maybe you could work out some kind of barrier?
>>[Sub-Option] It... might bear consulting with Wander. Briefly.
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?
>You could go as far as Reese. Jess lives out in the wilderness. That's probably pretty far.
>[Write-In]

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>>4338528
Could we use the Rontah, either as faster method of transportation (e.g. to reach the island to the South East or something) or as a location itself, just park it on the sea floor away from anything.

>>4338538
Sure thing.

>>4338528
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?

Let's not reveal that we have a spaceship.

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>>4338528
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?

>>4338538
Are we liable to get pinged by the guv'ment if we go gallivanting around in it? She also doesn't know we have the Rontah, and we should be very wary of who we tell of its existence. Not saying she's untrustworthy, but it should be on a strictly need-to-know basis from here on out, since it's our ace in the hole.

>>4338528
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?

>>4338528
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?
As a side note, having found this after you dealt with Wander last time, I don't know why you were so worried. Xol said Shadows manifest from inner conflict and strong emotions. Anger, probably, considering the inclination to rebel. Wander, to me at least, seemed more a personification of our inner conflict with regards to Valkans, hence changing to look more like one after we knew what the lifesuits inside the ship looked like.

>>4338528
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?

>>4338528
>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?
Another very close vote in need of a tiebreaker.

Forest would probably be fine, but putting her in a situation where she's uncomfortable isn't very nice, or going to help her teach effectively. So isolated cave it is.

>>4338528
>>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?

>>4338620
The most important thing would be to either stay underwater and avoiding being close to any sort of coast or shipping lanes / or otherwise high traffic areas. Or have some way to fake transponder responses and interrogations from ground stations and other aircraft, so we can pretend to be something else while flying outside of visual range, since any sort of detected yet fast moving object is going to attract all sorts of interest from multiple parties.

Xol could probably provide a useful third opinion on what we are doing, so obtaining Xol some sort of chassis in order to provide mobility even if limited could be quite useful.

>Maybe you should go further, to- say... the cave?
Writing.

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"I know a place." You say. "It's a bit further out, and it's definitely out of the way of the cults and even the salvagers."

"How do you know?" Tina asked.

"Otherwise it would have been picked clean by now." You shrug, opening up the flap of your bag. Scuttles grabbed onto your arm and slowly pulled itself onto you, and you held it up for Tina to see. "I found this little guy there, plus some wreckage from a crashed warskin."

Tina leaned forward and peered at Scuttles with a bemused expression. "Is that... that's a scarab, isn't it?"

"Yeah." You nod, letting Scuttles walk onto the table.

"Crazy." She leaned down to peer at it. "All of the scarabs I've seen in this style were behind museum glass. That, or old learning models that we had in school..."

"Apparently it's kind of modern? At least, it seems to function just fine..."

"Retro." Tina murmured. "You found this there?"

You nod. "Seemed to be one of the only things. The rest of the warskin is scrap."

"Unfortunate." Tina sighed.

"So." Elan piped up. "When do we start?"

"We-" Tina stressed. "Will start tomorrow- at eight o'clock sharp." She turned her attention to you briefly before turning back to her stepson. "You, on the other hand, will be staying home and resting."

"But-"

"Until the twentieth! At a minimum!" Tina interrupted him, raising a finger. "You already narrowly averted becoming a hedge mage, let's not push out luck by channeling through a half completed implants, okay? You can surely wait a week."

"That's nine days..." Elan looked to you for support, and only got a shrug that you hoped communicated how committed you were to not getting involved in this topic. "But..." He sighed. "Fine."

"I know you're impatient, but you'll just hurt yourself if you try to push it now." Tina smiled softly. "Soon, I promise. Do you know how lucky you are already? Teaching a hedge mage how to control their powers is not something I think I'm cut out for."

"I thought you specialized in hedges..."

"What is a hedge mage, though?" You ask.

"Someone who uses the Abyss, but isn't implanted or Valkan." Tina explained. "They're rare and unstable. I'm not sure I could teach someone who can barely control their powers."

Your mind goes back to Pavel and Angie, the martial artist you met in the gym. "Right. But, wouldn't Elan and I not count? We're half-Valkan."

Tina rubbed the back of her head and shrugged. "Maybe? How should I know? It's not like halfsies who didn't also have implants from birth were common in our fleet." She glanced at Elan. "We're lucky as it that she just happened to find some machine seeds lying around... er, where did you find them? In this wreckage in the cave?"

>Yep. Totally.
>No, in an abandoned warehouse downstairs.
>I'd rather not say.
>Tell her the truth.
>[Write-In]

>>4340491
>I'd rather not say.
Um. One of them came from an old abandoned factory? Yes.
Also. Uh. Yeah. Hedge mages. That sounds like quite the thing. Yep. All power, little control. Whew. Quite the thing. And they... probably develop a Shadow... if they're, say, channeling a lot of Abyss stuff and swimming in the Abyss field of a downed spaceship... just to keep from blowing themselves up or becoming a Wildebeest.

Sounds like quite... the thing.

>>4340491
>I'd rather not say.
A girl can keep her secrets. Besides, you'd scoff if I told you.

also that's worrying to have what essentially amounts to a load of untrained, unsanctioned psykers running around.

>>4340491
>Tell her the truth.
If she is already suspicious all she would need to do is ask LL, Or the Warskin that we might eventually assign to Elan. the next time he comes around and then the fact that we did the thing would be revealed.

Kathari could possibly actually be useful for helping with the hedge mage problem.

>>4340491
>Tell her the truth.

>>4340491
>Tell her the truth.

>>4340491
>Tell her the truth.
Can't hide it forever

>"Someone who uses the Abyss, but isn't implanted or Valkan." Tina explained. "They're rare and unstable. I'm not sure I could teach someone who can barely control their powers."
So we were a hedge mage then?

>>4340491
>Yep. Totally.
Good cave, everything came from the cave. Yep.
Anyway, what shall we call Tiiris' alternate identity?

>>4340491
>I'd rather not say.

>>4340491
>Tell her the truth.

>>4340491
>I'd rather not say.

>>4340491
>Tell her the truth

>Tell her the truth
Writing.

"Uh, about that..." You flash her an uneasy smile. "I didn't, um..." You tap your fingers together.

Tina leaned in, waiting for you to answer.

"I didn't exactly find them. All of them. I found one of the seeds I used."

"...oh." Tina sighed. "So you did interact with the cults. Well-"

"Nonono." You shake your head. "Not the cults, either."

Tina just gave you another look as she raised her mug up to her mouth. "Okay, so the black market, then."

"No, I, uh..." You trail off. No real way to phrase it delicately. "I'm... kind of the one who broke into Y'avel."

Tina snorted into her mug. "Right, and I'm a warlock."

"I'm serious!" You insist. "I got inside the Tanoh and... er-" Stole a ship and a ton of drones, plus several warskins. "...made it out with the machine seeds. And LL, plus some... other stuff."

Tina gave you a flat look. "I find that somewhat hard to believe."

>Turn invisible.
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."
>"I had help from a member of the government. He's friendly, if you're willing to meet with him."
>[Write-In]

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."
YES

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

We could probably better prove it immediately by summoning the Bound blade, since they should probably be much rarer than a Lensing Field Generator.

We totally didn't steal the ship, it was decided that it was in everyone's best interest that we should be elevated to rank of captain.

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."
Before doing this, ask the implants to take extra care with memorising the ensuing series of facial expressions.

>>4342138
>>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."
Does she know that Xol is with the 13th Fleet? Isn't it a big secret only the leaders know?

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."
We are soooo close to Tina banning Elan from spending time with us.

>>4342198
It's not stealing if it's yours, and lucky for us, many Valkan things decide who they're owned by

>>4342138
>>Turn invisible.
>>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

>>4342439
It's a big secret that the 13th had Xol, but who Xol is wasn't a big secret.

>>4342138
>>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

>>4342138
>Turn invisible.
Maximum spit take!

>>4342138
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

>>4342138
>Turn invisible.
>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

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>"I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."
Writing.

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You shrug, at first opening your mouth to make a comment that you could prove it. Engage your cloaking device, explain that's how you got past security and boarded the ship. How LL could confirm it used to be the Tanoh's medical drone. But you had a better idea. The corners of your lips twitch up as you struggle to contain an indulgent smile, waiting just long enough for Tina to begin drinking from her mug. "Well." You say airily. "I'm sure Xol would be happy to recount the whole story to you."

Tina nodded absently, taking in the words without thinking at first. A split second later, the meaning seemed to suddenly click in her head. Her eyes widened, her head snapped up and she seemingly forgot about the coffee that was in her mouth. Your senses were prickling, your implants turning up the fidelity of your senses as the coffee rushed back up Tina's throat and out her nose in a spray of dark liquid. Her eyes bulged out and she slammed the mug down on the counter so she could start coughing.

You move slightly to the side so as not to be in the line of fire from Tina's spit take, and glance at Elan, who was looking at the two of you with a dumbfounded expression.

"Son of a bitch..." A hand brushed the side of the mug and sent it spilling over the counter, and you watched as Tina's hand automatically darted after it and snatched it a few inches from hitting the floor. Snorting the last of the coffee from her nose, Tina peeped up over the kitchen island at you, wiping her nose clean with the sleeve of her hoodie. "You... how the hell do you even know who Xol is?"

"I didn't. Xol had to explain it to me." You raise an eyebrow. "Fragment of Ouroboros, right?"

"Don't yank my chain on this." Tina shook her head.

"Would you like you meet it?" You ask, tilting your head and smiling. "I can't just make that happen right now, but if you're willing to wait a few days..."

"Yes! Yes..." Tina shook her head. "And... Xol was aboard the Tanoh? Are you sure?" She asked incredulously.

"Yep. It helped me when I boarded the Tanoh."

"I remember being told that the Tanoh's AI was damaged..." Tina said slowly. A few faint circuits pulsed beneath her skin. She was probably thinking a mile a minute. "But if it was Xol, then... fuck..."

"Indeed." You glance to the side. "Easy, go ahead and help her get cleaned up."

The adjutant glided over to her side, and soon was sweeping her clothes with a faint beam, leeching stains from the fabric slowly.

Tina instinctively recoiled back from it's sudden presence with surprise, before relaxing. "Ah, thank you." She shook her head and looked up at you, her eyes narrowing. She peered at you slightly closer than she had before. She had regarded you with a little suspicion when you came in - as you probably would anyone who suddenly showed up with cybernetics - but it was a more scrutinizing look now, as she took stock of you. "...eight o'clock, remember."

>>4343920
You smile. "Eight o'clock."

---

Residential District, Miir, 1st Floor
11th of 6th, 1173. 4:00PM.

You close the front door and kick your shoes off. "I'm home!" You call, briefly leaning into Dad's room, but not seeing him there. Taking a quick walkaround, you find you're alone except for OH and it's ongoing repair... science experiment... thing in the living room. "How's the, uh, draining going?"

"Adequately." The scarab responded. "The lifesuit is fully drained of excess repair slurry, and is actually operational. I am merely preforming some minor calibrations now."

"Calibrating what?" You ask.

"Nerve passthroughs, atmospheric sensors, and so on. Normally, it would download the planetary navigation data from a local server before landing on the world, but a package for Tagara was never completed. So I am uploading my own data, in addition to checking it's internal memory. It is fully functional, if you wish to put it on now."

>Put it on.
>No need, yet.

>>4343923
>No need, yet.

>>4343923
>No need, yet.

>>4343923
>No need, yet.
Would OH know when Sigmund left and where he could have been going?

It just be me or don't things seem to have been a little too quiet, on the Cult front for a while now.

>>4343950
It's a Monday in-universe, so last any of the drones or Tiiris saw him, he was going to work.

...man I should actually have the day of the week in the date there shouldn't I.

>>4343923
>No need, yet.

>>4343923
>Put it on.
Across town, Kara becomes unexpectedly happy for reasons she cannot explain, simply feeling that all is well in the world of fashion.

>>4343923
>Put it on.

>>4343923
>Put it on.
I want to see what this thing does

>>4343923
>Put it on.
Can't hurt to try right?

>>4343923
>Put it on.
I'm curious

>>4343923
>Put it on.

>>4343923
>No need, yet.

>Put it on.
Net's down, but power's still on, so writing.

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"...how would I do that?" You ask, stepping slightly closer.

"It should respond to your touch." OH said, grabbing hold of a corner and holding it out to you.

Carefully, you reach out to the seemingly shapeless piece of fabric and carefully poke a finger into it. Seemingly nothing happens for a few seconds, and as you move to pull your hand back, you feel your implants begin muttering at the edge of your consciousness. The impulses flow down your arms and out your fingers, and glowing circuitry pulses within the confines of the cloth briefly.

Instinctively, you pull your hand back, only for the cloth to pull with it, clinging tightly to the surface of your fingers. Slowly, the fabric began creeping down your hand, not pulling itself onto you but welling forth like liquid. Where it touched, you felt a faint prickling, a strange spark leaping from your skin into the strange fabric. It felt cool and comforting on your body as more of it got a grip on your arm, drawing itself off of the hanger as OH hovered up and gripped the end before it could fall onto the floor.

Patterns and textures began to emerge from the surface of the fabric as it spread around your fingers and across your hand. Small tendrils began creeping under the sleeve of your hoodie. The fabric seemingly parted, small divots appearing and multiplying in number to form a textured, cross-hatched surface across your palms and fingers. Flipping your hand over, you see a harder, smoother surface forming on the back of your hand and fingers. Experimentally, you flex your fingers a few times and are surprised to see that you still have your full range of motion. And, with a slight shudder, full sense of touch.

The material was pressed impossibly thin against your body, your fingers almost imperceptibly thicker with their new covers than without them. When your fingers brushed up against each other, you felt the soft, textured surface of the palms brush against themselves, strangely prickling as the grippy bumps grazed against each other. Inside you, your implants were humming away as they whispered to the lifesuit about your body, dictating how to join itself to your body. At first, you think it might be alive, but then it suddenly strikes you that it was quite the opposite. It wasn't the suit that was alive, it was you, the suit slowly animating as it acclimated to your body.

Tendrils began spilling over your shoulders and across your chest, wrapping around your shoulders and sliding down your other arm. It slid under the straps and cups of your bra, slowly weaving supports and an internal skeleton that flexed along your body. Raised edges were developing along your back, melding with and supporting the spine and your ribs as the last of the suit pulled itself onto your body and out of OH's grasp.

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>>4346465
Carefully, you start undressing, trying not to shudder at the sensation of your clothes sliding off of what feels like your skin. Your left glove seals over your hand seamlessly as you fumble with the zipper of your hoodie and pull it down, exposing your sports bra wrapped around a dull black material rather than your flesh. You shrug the tight bra off and fumble with your pants, even as the material slides down each of your legs.

You idly wonder which corner of the internet would give anything to see this process occurring. One leg of the suit slid down your leg like living tar, texture and a simplistic black and silver pattern solidifying out of the ooze with it. Inside your shoe, you could feel it wrapping around and sealing your foot, but staying thin. When you pull it out, you feel it thicken into a slight sole.

One of the flaps on your suit flipped upwards, and you shudder as you feel the groan of your hydraulics. Your hydraulics? It twitches and twists at you sudden, instinctive grasp of it's control. You reach back, and maneuver the flap into your hand so you can touch it. A second later you shudder at the sudden sensation of gripping a new limb. Your implants were in your brain, carefully rewiring you with knowledge of your new limbs.

To learn new muscle memory was one thing, but to feel it form within your own mind was another. Your brain was twisting, phantom sensations shooting out your back and down into your waist and legs. Swaying slightly, you spread your legs to steady yourself, but instinctively flare your... flaps outwards to steady yourself as well. They twitched and jittered with your agitation, and you groaned lightly as you felt the light strain of motors echo through your skull. The right leg flap felt tight, and it was responding slower than the others. Your waist flap was using too much power, you-

"Careful." You realize OH has been speaking to you, hovering at the perfect height for you to brace an arm on it's top. "Breathe. Let it happen."

"What's happening?" You slur your words slightly, grimacing and rubbing your forehead with your free hand.

"First integration with any new hardware is rarely easy the first time. Breathe. What you're feeling is normal."

"How long does this last?" You squeeze your eyes shut as your fingers spasm slightly. The feedback from your new limbs felt as if they were burrowing steadily into your mind, slowly spearing out of your mental image of yourself and sliding around your body, growing closer to reality with each twitch and spasm.

The suit slides up your neck and unfurls a shell of metal panels which slowly rise over and cover your face, joining together and forming a single helmet. Soft cushions press inflate and gently cradle your head, pressing around your eyes and nose, with a flexible seal sliding up your neck to complete the helmet. Another flash of nerves shoots through your head, your implants coiling further into your nerves, before finally relenting.

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>>4346470
Finally, you're able to ask your implants for a hit of sweet, sweet stimulants to take the edge off your headache, and push slightly off of OH. Your flaps flutter slightly as you take a deep breath and open your eyes.

The world looks... different through a lifesuit. Feels, more accurately. It looked the same, but you felt... separated from it somewhat by the pane of glass in front of your eyes. Small symbols floated at the corner of your vision, only coming into focus when you looked directly at them.

Despite being covered in your lifesuit, you felt oddly naked standing in your living room. It felt too much like skin, the air shifting across your body too smoothly and too finely for it to feel like you were wearing anything but your own skin. It made your flaps jitter slightly in anxiety. Kneeling down, you scoop up your hoodie and pull it on, if only to feel a little more covered.

"How do you feel?" OH asks.

"...strange." You murmur. Holding a hand out to the wall in case you feel dizzy again - and ignoring the instinctive adjustments of your flaps - you make your way into the bathroom, and it's mirror. You stare at the helmeted figure in the mirror, turning this way and that to examine your reflection.

Whatever fears you had about the snugness of the lifesuit, they were misplaced. While it certainly left nothing about your figure to the imagination, it wasn't so tight that you'd have to worry about decency. It breathed and moved with your body in an unnaturally natural way, as if parts of the suit were attached to your body via a peg driven into your skin in places. The only part of your body that wasn't covered was a singular strip across your eyes, just like most of the suits you'd seen aboard the Tanoh.

"I was able to recover most of the basic systems." OH said, gliding into view behind you. "The core seems to be entirely functional, and all of it's basic navigation and communications functions appear to be online. Vilnea apparently did not heavily customize her suit, but she did install custom optics and additional attitude control fins."

"That would be..." The flaps flip up on either side of your shoulders. "...these, right?"

"Correct." OH replied.

"So what does this thing... do, exactly?" You ask.

"Life support, protection from the elements, a basic platform for other, more specialized suit attachments and a basic computing suite. Most models also provide maneuvering in microgravity and some manner of non-propellant attitude control."

"Computing?" You frown. "I thought my implants already did that."

>>4346471
"Your machine heart is a highly specialized system designed for total system integrity while being minimally invasive. It does not provide many convenience functions that are not related to your body in some way. The lifesuit and other attached systems, however, expand upon those functions. It would not be inaccurate to say that your machine heart primarily serves as the bridge between your organic body and the machines around you."

You stare in the mirror, unsure of what to think about the... person staring back at you.

>This is freaky, but in a good way.
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
>Is there a way to change how it looks so it covers more? Or less?
>[Write-In]

No update tonight. Too exhausted.

I'm going to need to start enforcing not staying up ten hours past my bedtime to write updates from now on. Either I stay up way too late to get it out on the same day, or I delay a day to sleep. I lose a day either way, may as well do the one that doesn't leave me sleep deprived.

>>4346474
>[Write-In]
Can OH show us what we would need to do to fit the Lensing Field Generator to the Lifesuit, and revert it for stand alone use again.

I guess the main thing to remember if we need to take the suit off quickly, is going to be to put something on over the suit before taking the suit off.

Is the next step on the path going to be obtaining enough Lifesuits for everyone we know.

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>>4346474
>This is freaky, but in a good way.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
We're just more space-ready!
>Is there a way to change how it looks so it covers more? Or less?
If we can pull it back to being more like pic related we could wear it under normal clothes

>>4346474
>>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
>>Is there a way to change how it looks so it covers more? Or less?

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
Valkans don't wear a lifesuit for daily non war stuff do they?

>>4346599
It sort of gets mentioned by OH in Thread #13 post >>4191291

>>4346474
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
>Is there a way to change how it looks so it covers more? Or less?

>>4346658
So if you wear a lifesuit you can't go to the bathroom and poop is stored in your back. Not cool.

>>4346707
At least it's sort of better the the current solution, having to try and plan your use of a Suit around avoiding having to go while in your suit, or else being forced to deal with it until you are done with the suit.

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
We're acquiring and fixing all this stuff, but for what end?

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.

>>4346790
Finding out what actually happened to our mother.

Keeping our friends safe.

Rescuing more of the shipboard AI's from the government.

Defeating / reversing the progress of the Cult at all levels.

Preparing what is left of Valkan population / cultural artifacts for safe assimilation into a wider more forgiving Tagarian ethos.

Eventually getting the Tagarian government out of the rut they are currently in, and into a position where they can successfully take the fight to the "True" Valkan menace and win?

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
That alien in the mirror is the monster that bombed worlds.

>>4346835

Visit a friendly Valkan fleet.

Have 3/4th Valkan children.

>>4346474
>>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
Good cat burglar suit and I'm sure it's someone's fetish somewhere, but not great for our ongoing identity crisis.

>>4346835
What is the "true" Valkan menace? The cults and dodgy remnants of the 13th like Alich? The less savoury fleets out there? All of.....Valkanity?

>>4346474
>This is freaky, but in a good way.

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.

>>4347106
I guess that would depend on how much the populace wants to return the favor.

ranging from not letting any (Valkan aligned) fleets that they manage to find escape true justice, to potentially tuning whatever is left of Valka (and other previously inhabited planets) into less than space dust (in this case Antimatter or other more esoteric materials is likely going to be needed.).

>>4346474
>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.

>>4346470
>You idly wonder which corner of the internet would give anything to see this process occurring.
Ngl pretty hot

>>4348058
Is there a way to make the lifesuit look more like a lingerie?

>>4346474
>>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.

>You can't help but recoil at your appearance.
>...you look more like a Valkan than a Tagaran now.
>Is there a way to change how it looks so it covers more? Or less?
Writing.

>>4346707
It's either that or potentially having to take a shit in hard vacuum. That said, now you know why Valkans have things like adjutants!

File: mhhipo2jb8821.gif (1.19 MB, 550x295)

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Slowly, you raise a hand and wave it in a mirror. The Valkan waves back at you, tilting her head as the panels on her back shifted uneasily. She didn't look nearly as armored as the pictures you'd seen, but the shape of the helmet was unmistakable. Her eyes seemed to glow softly behind the visor, standing out against the darkened glass.

You flinch backwards, looking away from your reflection. "...is there a way to get this thing cover less?" You mutter to OH. "I can't run around with... suited hands."

"Check under the style settings. You can select an option by focusing on it and blinking or sending the command through your implants. The helmet will need to be up for you to see the output."

"Easier said that done, the interface is in Valkan." You mutter, slowly rolling through the options that surround your vision. You've heard about this kind of technology, but it was something that fighter pilots got to use, but never you.

"Yes, my apologies. I was attempting to see if I could copy my Tagaran parser over, but it appears to be beyond my abilities."

Still avoiding your reflection, you find a symbol marked with... what sounded kind of like style. 'Many patterns'? That sounded vaguely right. Tying to hold your gaze steady, you blink, and your vision is taken up by a new menu. "Okay, I've got... something. A list, I think?" You slowly slide your eyes down it, each item lighting up in turn.

"Each option should be a style that came with the suit, although I had to wipe Vilnea's purchases from it's systems. I've reset the interface to defaults, so the customization should be on the right."

"Purchases?" You ask in confusion, moving down the list. One of them was highlighted, so presumably that was the one you were on now. Whenever you looked at a new option, the menu on the right would change, showing a new list of options. "I thought you all could transform into whatever you wanted."

"Lifesuits do not have onboard AI, their forms need to be manually programmed. New styles are a commodity. Part of the memory core was breached, so I had to reset the system to factory defaults."

"I've got three entries." You frown, trying to parse the entires. "I'm not sure what they mean..."

"Configuration settings for a style are on the right. You would commit changes utilizing the bottom right button."

Turning your attention back to the menu, you peer over the sliders with concern, trying to pick out the individual meanings. "F... face? No, head. Er... hand? Hands!" You clumsily select the slider and yank it to the right before clicking the button OH had indicated. Big yellow button, makes sense.

>>4349946
You were rewarded with the distinctly odd sensation of your skin peeling back, only to hold up your hands and realize thankfully that it was just the suit sliding backwards, splitting open at your fingers and slowly sliding back up your arms, all the way to your shoulders. Since you dragged the slider all the way over, it seemed that was the furthest it could go. Looking back at the menu, you found some sliders that you think were labeled 'pant' and were rewarded by the suit sliding all of the way up your legs, then past your hips entirely. An odd disconnect sounded in your brain as you felt some of your limbs vanish, but the disorientation only lasted a moment.

Blinking, you pull on the hem of your suit in surprise. It was pretty heavy- far heavier than any sports bra you'd worn before, but it wasn't nearly as heavy as the suit was before. "I thought you couldn't change your mass?" You glance at OH. "And if it can shrink all this way, why can't it just change into normal clothes for me?"

"Expense." OH said bluntly. "It's possible, but an expensive feature."

"Well..." You glance up in the mirror and jump slightly when you see you still have your helmet on. A quick fumble through the interface sees it collapse down into the ring around your neck. You tug on it slightly, but it doesn't seem to want to budge. "Looks low-profile enough, I just need to wear something with a collar..."

"There may be a setting for that." OH offered. "Depends on the model. It's not something that normally needs to be hidden among the fleets."

"Right..."

---

Cliffs, Coast of Miir
12th of 6th, 1173. 9:00AM.

"How far away is it?" Tina asked mildly.

"Just a little further, I think." You answer, stumbling slightly along the rocks. "Why couldn't we just ride? It's reachable by road."

"To see the ocean, Tiiris." Tina looked out across the ocean and took a deep breath.

"What about it?" You ask, looking out. "It's just the sea. I see it every day."

"Maybe it's only special to us spaceborn." Tina hopped down a slight drop. "Besides, you could use the warm-up."

"I have a pretty okay exercise routine..." You offer weakly, jumping down after her.

Tina ignored that. "So, why did you ask me to teach you, anyway? This can't all be about stealing more drones."

>"I trust you more than any of the other teachers."
>"You're close to home."
>"I don't know, if I'm honest."
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."
>[Write-In]

>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.
>[Optional] You kept the lifesuit on.

>>4349947
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."
>"I trust you more than any of the other teachers."

>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>>"You're close to home."
>>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book or spirits..."

>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"I trust you more than any of the other teachers."
>"You're close to home."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"I trust you more than any of the other teachers."
>"It's also about stealing more drones without getting caught"
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"You're close to home."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.
>[Optional] You kept the lifesuit on.

>>4349947
>"You're close to home."
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"You're close to home."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>>"You're close to home."
>>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book or spirits..."

>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."
>"I trust you more than any of the other teachers."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.
>[Optional] You kept the lifesuit on.

>>4349947
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"You're close to home."
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."

>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
>"You're close to home."
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.

>>4349947
Hey, we're spaceborn too! The sea is just, you know. Water and fish. Tuna are great, though.

>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."
We have a lot on our plate and books are sometimes all we can fit in because everything else takes time and organization but we can't even really read Valkan properly and it's hard to focus on a thing you can't even read aaaaaaaaaa
>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.
I assume this means the Rontah will be underwater and one of the warskins will surface to pick us up? Surfacing the ship doesn't sound very safe... or is it secluded enough out here?

>>4350949
It's secluded enough, but it will be beneath the surface unless necessary.

>>4349947
>"I trust you more than any of the other teachers."

>[Optional] You kept the lifesuit on.

Training first. Spaceship rides must be earned! (except Dad, he gets infinite free rides, once we tell him)

>"You're close to home."
>"I'm a little desperate to learn out of something that isn't a book..."

>[Optional] You sent a message to the Rontah asking it to come to the cliffs so Tina could meet Xol.
Writing.

You scratch the back of your neck, self-consciously checking to make sure the lifesuit was no longer clinging around your neck. You'd separated from it almost immediately last night, but you still occasionally felt a paranoid need to check if it was still there. "It may be a little." You admit. "But I'm going crazy trying to learn out of a book, and everyone else who could teach me is halfway across the world."

Tina nodded. "A fair enough answer. I bet it's difficult not having anyone to turn to." She glanced to the left. "That look like it?"

You look over at the familiar pile of rocks. "Yep, that's it."

Tina hops over some of the strewn boulders, easily clambering up the pile of rocks to stick her head inside the gap. "Woah." Her voice echoed from inside. "That thing looks wrecked."

"My drones say it could be useful for scrap..." You begin.

"Sure, but I'm no engineer. Pretty dank and dark, too. Well!" She pulled her head out from the cave. "Good thing we don't need dank and dark for what we're doing!" Picking around the rubble briefly, she found a suitably flat-topped rock and sat herself down on it. "Have a seat."

Looking around for a similar stone, you eventually find a somewhat heavy boulder and roll it over to where Tina was sitting, before sitting down on it yourself.

Tina looked out across the cliff, out onto the ocean itself, her expression lapsing into thought for a little bit. "Tell me." She began slowly and unsurely. "What do you know about the Abyss?"

>"I know that it is a place that Valkans draw their powers from..."
>"It's some kind of afterlife?"
>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."
>"It's where Valkans came from."
>"I don't know anything about it?"
>[Write-In]

>>4351294
>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."
It's probably a good idea to mention Wander, see what she says.

>>4351294
>"I know that it is a place that Valkans draw their powers from..."
>It's a cheap knock off of the Force

>>4351294
>"It's some kind of afterlife?"

>>4351294
>"It's where Valkans came from."

>>4351294
>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."

Ok, so i went looking though our list of equipment and noticed that apparently OH survived their warskins destruction, it could be worth investigating what happened since OH should be able to lead us finding a second crash site that is somewhere nearby and might be in a better state than LT9093's chassis is.

Depending on how badly damaged it is we might be able to look into if combining the various wreckages and some of the spare parts from Jeremy Manaan's Storage Unit if necessary into a refurbished warskin chassis.

Also i do think that we should assist LT9093 in the search for Vilnea's relatives since it would be the right thing to do.

>>4351294
>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."
Definitely that one. There are no ghosts; Valkans came from a planet, not the Abyss; and they draw power from the Abyss, but not powers. The powers themselves are mostly shaped by the wielder's inclination, not the Abyss itself (though it has a range of things it can do). Or so I've gathered.

>>4351294
>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."
It's important to say what we know even if it's wrong and just what we thought we knew.

>>4351516
This is a good idea

>>4351294
>checking to make sure the lifesuit was no longer clinging around your neck
Haha wouldn't that suck if Tiiris was stuck in a skintight bodysuit haha

>[x] "I don't know anything about it?"

>>4351294
>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."
>[Write-In] "You need to really believe in what you're doing for it to work properly."

>>4351294
>>"I know that it is a place that Valkans draw their powers from..."

>>4351294
>"It's some kind of afterlife?"

>"It's a place I can draw energy from and is patterned off of... well, me."
Writing.

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"It's... a place I can draw energy from and..." You think. "I guess is patterned off of... well, me."

Tina thinks for a second then nods. "Good answer."

You perk up a little.

"Wrong, but a good start." Tina smiles at you. "The Abyss is not a 'place', it is more... an absence. A state of mind. It's not a physical location."

"Then... what is it?" You ask.

"I don't know." Tina admitted.

"Huh?" You frown.

"I'm not a philosopher-engineer." Tina said, the uncertainty creeping back into her voice. "I completed my general studies and went back for further specialization when I was twenty. I never got into the weeds of advanced techniques- er, except for the ones about weeds, that is." She lapsed into silence for a second. "I guess... I'll put it like my instructor put it to me."

You straightened up slightly, and made your best effort to look like you were paying attention.

Tina took a breath. "The Abyss... is foreign. It grants the power to restore things, and to rot them to dust, but it is not those things. The Abyss is not..." She fidgeted slightly and picked up a stone from the ground and held it out. "In this stone. It's not in the ground or in the trees. The mere presence of even microbes, much less us forces it back. It is unnatural change, something outside the order of the world." She looked at you. "Make sense so far?"

You nod, tentatively. "If it's so unnatural, though... why does it exist?"

"It shouldn't." She began. "When you're in deep space. When you're drifting alone in the great black, sometimes you can just barely..." She pinched her fingers. "Just the faintest whisper as it brushes up against you, before the tide comes in and it's pulled away. Something that even an ordinary human can feel."

"...what makes us so different?" You ask.

"Death." Tina answered simply. "We used to live on planets- a planet, rather. It's name was Valka, obviously." Her lips twitched up slightly. "The stories go that we were attacked. Renegades, privateers, conquerors- in the version I was told, they were pirates. Looking for an easy target. But we didn't simply roll over and die, and that angered them. We won, but the sheer magnitude of death that followed - enough to make what we did to Tagara seem minuscule - we were... changed." She held up her hands, staring down at them. "Something happened to us. The Abyss stopped being something we just used. It became a part of us. What used to take years of meditation and study to awaken just... happened. The most mild exposures would cause awakenings, even something as small as a rosary would just..."

You instinctively raise a finger to the place on your neck Vilnea's rosary used to sit.

She sighed. "But I'm getting off track. You asked why it exists, and... I don't know. Truth be told, if it just vanished one day... I'm not sure anything would change. It's almost... extraneous, in a sense."

"But isn't it... like, the afterlife?" You ask.

>>4353210
"No." Tina shook her head. "But it is inhabited by the Dead."

"I've been told that a bunch of times now, and I'm still not sure what people expect me to get out of saying it's full of the dead other than 'afterlife'." You drawl.

Tina smiled. "Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. The Dead are... a lecture of it's own. Perhaps it would be better to start with the fundamentals."

"Breathing exercises?" You ask.

"No." Tina shook her head. "I'm going to teach you how to change your shape, and no amount of breathing exercises can help you with that. Which is why we're going to start simple." She took a breath. "You said you've never done roleplay before. Got a favorite book, show, movie... anything?"

"Um..."

>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."
>"It's been a few years, but I used to watch a ton of cartoons as a kid..."
>"There is this one movie..."
>"To be honest, I've always been a bit too busy with work and school to do any of that."
>[Write-In]

>>4353213
>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."

Maybe we should have "borrowed" the novel from Kallis's room on the Tanoh.while we were there.

>>4353213
>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."
Hmmmmmmmmm
With the way Tiiris's eyes used to be she probably didn't read a lot of books due to having to take breaks. Same with movies with the flashing lights and colors. Maybe she listened to audiobooks?

>>4353213
>"There is this one movie..."

>>4353213
So even if you were to make a perfect clone with identical genetics they wouldn't be able to Abyss?

>"To be honest, I've always been a bit too busy with work and school to do any of that."

>>4353213
>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."

>>4353213
Oh boy. So populations and people who have become personally acquainted with death and loss get reality warping magic powers, especially when living or born in space.
Surely that doesn't cause any unfortunate consequences for interstellar society.
>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."
Books are good. No flashing lights, can always put them down...

>>4353213
>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."

>>4353213
>"There is this one movie..."

>>4353213
>>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."

>>4353213
>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."

>"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory."
Writing.

>>4353391
Tina never said anything about genetics, I think, but remember that most Valkans are born either through exo-wombs or other pseudo-cloning techniques.

>>4353210
Anyone else thinking that this new info makes it seem like trying to kill off most of Tagara might have been an experiment in addition to a demoralising tactic?

>>4354457
Also explains why the cultists are so big on terrorism. Surrounding survivors with death in an attempt to awaken them, or just trying to kill a lot of Tagarans.

>>4354457
I don't think they did try to kill off most of Tagara. They did eradicate space colonies and shoot down ships, but the battle of Tagara was a fleet battle in the upper atmosphere. Total death toll of the war was listed as "millions" last I recall, which is not unusual for a war.

The cultists now could certainly have that as their reasoning, though. Gotta get themselves some of that sweet space magic, even if it sets them up for angry superpowered youths to kill them out of revenge, Sith style. But maybe they're just really shortsighted.

"I work in a bookstore, so it kind of comes with the territory." You shrug, then gesture to your eyes slightly sheepishly. "Before my implants, there was something wrong with my eyes... I didn't exactly agree with non-ink displays. Not even those, come to think of it..."

"Books can be tricky starting point, but also a very interesting one." Tina nods. "I didn't know Tagarans still sold books new. I'm guessing it's fiction?"

"Ah, we don't sell new." You shrug. "We're more of a used bookstore. Stuff that people want to collect or get cheap. Textbooks, old scientific journals, art books and stuff. Maybe a few vintages. Not a lot of fiction, since everything that's really popular is available online these days."

Tina nods. "Any favorites?"

>An old legend about a villager who discovered fire by collecting fire stones from the bottom of a lake.
>A novel about the romance between a fisherman and a seamstress.
>A humorous account of the War for the Poles from the memoirs of a soldier.
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
>A gritty fantasy series about an expanding empire encroaching on the territories of it's neighbors.
>A lighthearted series of shorts about humans trying to establish a colony on a strange planet.
>[Write-In]

>>4354537
>A humorous account of the War for the Poles from the memoirs of a soldier.
we gon be Spike Milligan

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.

>>4354537
>A novel about the romance between a fisherman and a seamstress.
Totally not looking for a strong fisherman to hug

>>4354537
>A gritty fantasy series about an expanding empire encroaching on the territories of it's neighbors.

>>4354537
>A novel about the romance between a fisherman and a seamstress

>>4354537
>>A novel about the romance between a fisherman and a seamstress.
Nothing attracts teenagers like angsty romance novels.

>An old legend about a villager who discovered fire by collecting fire stones from the bottom of a lake.

>>4354617
To be fair, of the romance novels that one is probably the sweeter, less angsty of the two.

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
This sounds like Tiiris

2nd choice
>A gritty fantasy series about an expanding empire encroaching on the territories of it's neighbors.

>>4354537
>A humorous account of the War for the Poles from the memoirs of a soldier.

>>4354841
Which is the other one?

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
Monstahs!
>A novel about the romance between a fisherman and a seamstress.
Second choice warm fuzzy romance.

>>4355081
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
Totally not Tagaran Twilight, I'm just saying.

>>4354537
>A humorous account of the War for the Poles from the memoirs of a soldier.

>>4355166
Mildly horrified that I voted for it now but I refuse to back down from terrible taste no matter the consequences.

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.

>>4355166
Now I definitely have to vote for it

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
Tiiris does have bad taste in literature.

>>4354537
>A gritty fantasy series about an expanding empire encroaching on the territories of it's neighbors.

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
>A novel about the romance between a fisherman and a seamstress.

Fits Tiiris as a naive romantic.

>>4354537
>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.

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>A super serious and definitely not cheesy novel about a girl who discovers the underground world of monsters.
I shouldn't have said anything. Writing.

"Um..." You feel your cheeks heat up.

Tina gets a knowing look on her face. "This'll be good."

"W-well..." You fidget. "It's this series about a girl who accidentally finds out that there are monsters living in the city. A... and she, uh, well you see she gets involved with..."

"I think I know this one." Tina said. "She winds up engaged to this dragon man, right?"

"Demon." You blurt out almost instinctively. "But it's- it's old Tanis folklore stuff, so it's spirits and stuff, instead of demons."

"Right, right." Tina nodded. "I remember this series now. The protagonist becomes inhuman later, right? Or did she just become a shapeshifter... what was it called again, Legend of the Druids?"

"Mystery." You blush. "Mystery of the Druids. And, no, she's the one who becomes draconic."

"Oh, really." Tina quirked an eyebrow. "What's your favorite part about it?"

"It's..." You consider. "It doesn't have any apocalypse or prophecy stuff going on in it. It's just... a romance. Life is difficult sometimes but they always figure out a way to make ends meet."

Tina studies you carefully for a moment. "Sounds sweet."

"Yes, shuddup." You mumble, dropping your head down.

"So..." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a metal thermos. "Who's your favorite character?"

>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.
>Her best friend. A sneaky little thief with no sense of fair play and an abrasive demeanor.
>Her mentor. An mid-thirties, bitchy woman with a smoking addiction and a hidden soft side.
>The quiet, soft-spoken rival. A vampire who sometimes courted a bit too closely with necromancers for her own good.
>[Write-In]

>>4356155
>mystery of the druids
In that case I pick the Screaming Druid side character.

>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>>4356155
>Her mentor. An mid-thirties, bitchy woman with a smoking addiction and a hidden soft side.

>>4356155
>>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>>4356155
>The quiet, soft-spoken rival. A vampire who sometimes courted a bit too closely with necromancers for her own good

>>4356155
>[Write-In]
Whichever druid the protag ended up marrying.

>>4356155
>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>>4356155
>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>>4356155
>Her mentor. An mid-thirties, bitchy woman with a smoking addiction and a hidden soft side.

>>4356155
>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>>4356155
>The quiet, soft-spoken rival. A vampire who sometimes courted a bit too closely with necromancers for her own good

>>4356155
>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>>4356155
>The quiet, soft-spoken rival. A vampire who sometimes courted a bit too closely with necromancers for her own good.

>>4356155
>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.
Ha, yes, I can see that. Pretty much living the dream, these days!

>>4356155
>Her best friend. A sneaky little thief with no sense of fair play and an abrasive demeanor.
We need a thief identity for our thieving and breaking in endeavors.

>>4356155
>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.

>The protagonist. A headstrong and willful redhead who's pretty and exotic what with the dragon horns and you've said too much.
Writing.

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"Well, the protagonist..." You say slowly. "You know, we get the most of her viewpoint."

"Let me guess." Tina unscrewed the cup of her thermos and set it to the side. "She's an average, olive-skinned girl with black hair who is also exceptionally beautiful? Is she also down on herself?"

"Uh, no." You fidget a little. "She's pretty and willful. You know, not, like... brash. But determined. You know, sort of like a more careful action hero..." You trail off, then mumble. "Also, she's a redhead."

"Not generic black hair and a doormat?" Tina raised an eyebrow. "Progress. Why her, though?"

"Um..." You blush. "She's pretty... bold, I guess. Kind of cool and quietly driven. She's actually smart and comes up with her own plans and doesn't sit around pining after this guy all day. Plus, she got these dragon horns later and the art-" You lock up. "Uh. I mean- ah..."

"Relax." Tina pulled out the inner plug on her thermos and poured herself a cup of- was that her coffee? "You don't think I read books like that when I was your age?"

"To be honest, I didn't think Valkans had books like that..." Although there was that one romance novel in your mom's room...

"Of course we have young adult books. Why wouldn't we?" Tina smiled, then looked out across the coast. "But that's good. That's a good starting point."

"Uh. So why was this even relevant?" You ask, glancing out.

"To give you a starting point." Tina took a deep drink of her coffee and sighed. "Inducing a change is easiest if it's something you want to be. It's hard to force yourself to become some... generic example. We won't be starting with a mask, though. Just something... simple. Like hair color."

"What if I want a mask?" You ask.

"Then you'll get one. Eventually." Tina shrugged. She set her cup aside and leaned forward. "We'll start with the basics. You know how to get the Abyss going?"

"I think so." You nod. "Um, is there some sort of... incantation or whatever that will help?"

"No." Tina shook her head. "It's on you. It's your will that makes it happen. Everything we do as practitioners, every fancy word or gesture, even something as simple as this-" She turned to the pile of rocks and made a brief yanking gesture with her hand. A small stone suddenly flew out towards her, the air shuddering around it and glowing with a dark smoke before smacking into Tina's open palm with a satisfying thump. "-is fundamentally something to help me focus. If you're good, you don't even need to move at all."

"...okay." You pull your legs up underneath you and think for a minute. Carefully, you exhale with your outer lungs, then try to inhale with your inner lungs. They feel... tighter. Almost as if you're suffocating, pushing against an invisible barrier and slowly drawing breath that gives air only in fitful bursts and shudders. Nothing like the easy breathing you had before.

>>4358067
>Quality gained: 'Abyss Trouble'
>'Odd. You seem to be having trouble channeling the Abyss like you used to. Perhaps your powers are being reduced somehow? Or not reduced, but no longer amplified?'

Tina gets up from the rock and starts to pace around you, cup in hand. Eventually, her voice comes from behind you. "Having trouble?"

"I can't seem to..." You frown, trying to relax before trying again.

"Don't think about how, that comes naturally." Tina kneels down next to you. "Think about where. You're sticking your head in water and trying to breathe it. You need to find the air." She grabs one of your hands and lifts it up to your neck, curling your fingers around the rosary.

"I don't remember telling you about that." You mumble.

"Then you need to hide it better." Tina let go of your hand. "Do you feel it?"

You frown, trying to probe out with your senses like you're used to. You're used to getting a vague image of your surroundings when you bother to check, but for something this small, you feel unusually shaky. It felt like your legs had been knocked out from under you, or you were weak after having spent a week sick in bed. "I..."

"Don't try to focus on it or you'll lose it. Just feel for the cold. All you need is a starting point."

"Right..." You furrow your brow, and try to focus on nothing, while still allowing your inner lungs to breathe. A gentle coolness comes over you, and for a moment you hope it was the Abyss, but then you realize it's just the ocean breeze. Frowning, you try emptying your mind, hoping that will let in the Abyss if you let your guard down, so to speak, but nothing happens. Tina was leaning against the cliff wall when you open your eyes, feeling frustrated. "I can't do it..."

"That's normal." Tina shrugged.

"It used to be so easy." You got to your feet. "I never had trouble with it before."

"The easiest manifestations are instinctive." Tina said, swirling her cup. "When you're not thinking about them. Even though I'm pretty casual, you're still thinking of this as learning, am I right?"

"Isn't it learning, though?" You ask. "I don't know much about the Abyss!"

"Thinking of the Abyss as something that's foreign is what's going to block it. You need to let it in, not push it out." Tina gives you a sympathetic look. "The biggest hurdle of learning a new spell or discipline is to acclimate to it's presence. You have to break down the barrier you instinctively put up between you and it."

"You make it sound easy..." You mumble.

"It's super hard, actually. It took me nearly a decade to master my craft." Tina rubbed the back of her head and stepped forward. "But this isn't mastery of one discipline. So tell me, what do you think your block is?"

>Nerves. I'm afraid of screwing up.
>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.
>Disbelief. I feel ridiculous doing this stuff.
>Frustration. I mess up, then I get angry at myself...
>Anxiety. I need to learn this soon.
>[Write-In]

>>4358071
>Frustration. I mess up, then I get angry at myself...

>>4358071
>Nerves. I'm afraid of screwing up.
We've seen first hand what happens when you lose control, and Wander was probably doing most of the heavy lifting.

>>4358071
"Had to dismiss my own shadow recently."

>>4358112
This as well

>>4358071
>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.

>>4358071
>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.
We still think of the Abyss as a Valkan thing, and right now we're not really happy with being a Valkan, as per the thoughts about the lifesuit.

>>4358071
>Frustration. I mess up, then I get angry at myself...
>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.
Frustration first choice, indecision second. Self-recrimination has been an ongoing problem.

>>4358071
>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.

>>4358071
>Nerves. I'm afraid of screwing up.

>>4358071
>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.

>Indecision. I'm not sure what I want.
Writing.

You frown, and think to yourself for a few seconds. "I- look, I don't know. I'm trying to focus but I'm not getting anywhere."

"And why do you think that is?" Tina looked down at her cup before draining the rest of it.

"I, um..." You lapse into silence for a bit. A strange sense of buzzing unease was starting to take over your mind, your thoughts running around in circles until they couldn't go any faster before collapsing. You were trying to focus, but you were getting distracted- no, that's not entirely right. Keep getting distracted by what? The goal should be simple, the ends obvious, but- you rub your forehead hard. "I'm not sure what I'm doing here."

"You're just gathering the energy, don't worry about casting just yet." Tina tilted her head.

"I know that." You say quickly. "It's more..." You hold up your hands and frown at them. "I'm not a... you know. This doesn't come easily to me."

Tina gave you a thoughtful look and set down her cup before walking over. "Tiiris, can I ask what you're planning to do with what you learn here?" You open your mouth but she raises a hand before you can answer. "And I don't mean the black market. There's a deeper reason to what we do, and you can't use the Abyss if you don't know why." As she got closer, she had to look up at you in order to maintain eye contact. "It doesn't have to be grand, or simple. It just has to be honest."

"Honest..." You mumble, glancing away from her.

Tina was quiet for a few seconds. "...do you know why I became a growtech?" Tina asked.

"You mentioned some perks..."

"Those too, yeah." Tina nodded, lowering her voice slightly. "But do you know why I really did?"

"Why?"

"I just like plants." Tina said softly.

"...that's it?" You ask incredulously.

"That's it." Tina smiled. "My coworker Liira, she wanted the perks. One of my classmates wanted to impress a girl." Her smile faded slightly as she peered closer at you. "What do you want, Tiiris?"

>"I don't know."
>"I want to be anonymous."
>"...to play with my appearance."
>"To not be a Valkan."
>"I just want to learn magic."
>[Write-In]

>>4358948
>"...to play with my appearance."

>>4358948
>"I want to be cool."

>>4358948
>"I don't know."

>>4358948
>"I don't know."

>>4358948
>"To not be poor."

>>4358948
>"To not be poor anymore."

>>4358948
>"I just want to learn magic."
Be Wizard.

>>4358948
>"To not be poor anymore."

>>4358948
>"I just want to learn magic."

>>4358948
>I just want to grill

>>4358948
>"I don't know. I just want a better a life for me and dad. I guess I don't want to be poor anymore?"

>>4358948
>>"I don't know. I just want a better a life for me and dad. I guess I don't want to be poor anymore?"

>>4360066
Supporting

>>4360066
>"I don't know. I just want a better life for me and dad. I don't want to be poor anymore, I guess?"

Fixed phrasing and spelling errors

>>4358962
Changing to this >>4360326

>>4358948
>"I want to be anonymous."

>"I don't know. I just want a better life for me and dad. I don't want to be poor anymore, I guess?"
Writing.

"I don't know." You admit, rubbing an arm self-consciously. "I just want a better future."

"What that is depends entirely on how you define it."

"Then to not be poor, I guess?" You shrug. "I don't want to worry about not being able to afford food."

"Nobody does." Tina said. "But then how do you plan on doing it?"

You open your mouth, then sigh. "I don't know. Something that pays well, and... well..." You fidget. "...people seem like they would pay for magic..."

"There aren't exactly many ways you could do that which aren't incredibly dangerous, Tiiris." Tina said gently. "You don't need magic just to make money."

"I'm not good at anything else." You protest. "I'm not smart or sociable, this is all I've got!"

"You don't have anything you like?" Tina asked, concern slipping into her voice.

"Nothing! Nothing..." You mumble, bitterness seeping into your voice. "I've always been too busy just surviving. I have no idea what I'm good at, or what I even want out of life. I barely pass my advanced classes, I can't study, I suck with machines even though apparently that's half of what Valkans do. All I've done is tread water my whole life." You plop down onto the rocky dirt. "And now you're telling me that I can't even do magic because of it...?"

"I never said that." Tina sat down next to you, propping one leg up. "All I'm asking for is... not a life purpose, a goal, a wish, anything."

"I don't think I have one..." You feel your chest clench slightly. "I might just be unteachable."

"...no, you're not." Tina said, lapsing into silence for a moment. She glanced out across the ocean, then looked back to you. "Tiiris, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?" You sigh.

"Why did you break into the Tanoh?"

"To get a machine seed, duh." You fail to keep the moodiness out of your voice. "Fat lot of good it did me."

"...are you sure?" Tina narrowed her eyes at you. "I'm not an expert, but that seems to be the most risky way of going about getting one. The cults manage to get their hands on machine seeds, and while I've never checked, I'm sure the black markets get some without realizing what they are."

"Okay, so I'm stupid. Thanks for letting me know." You mutter, bringing your knees up against your chest.

"Really? There's nothing else?" Tina said significantly. "You weren't looking for anything else?"

>>4360660
"Nothing." You say defensively.

"Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for 'nothing'." Tina said.

"Are you just going to keep asking the same question?" You snap. "I know it was stupid! You can stop hammering it in."

"I'm trying to get you to realize something, and I think I've almost done it." Tina said evenly. "You wanted something else out of that ship other than a handful of drones and some tech. What was it?"

>I really couldn't tell you, I just... don't know.
>I was useful for the first time in my life. I had something I could do that nobody else could.
>I felt like I was a part of something bigger. The people I worked with to get onboard, the testing of my abilities, I felt... more, for once.
>...I wanted my mom.
>Elan and- my other friend. They were in trouble, and I could help them. I just kind of... went on autopilot from there.
>[Write-In]

>>4360663
>...I wanted my mom.

>>4360663
>...I wanted my mom.

>>4360663
>I was useful for the first time in my life. I had something I could do that nobody else could.
Be better, be healthy, be useful. (And be pretty)
We thought the medical drone might be unique. We needed it. So we went for it.
Besides, the military isn't that scary once you get to know... uh... nevermind...

>>4360663
>Elan and- my other friend. They were in trouble, and I could help them. I just kind of... went on autopilot from there.

>>4360663
>Elan and- my other friend. They were in trouble, and I could help them. I just kind of... went on autopilot from there.
We thought we needed the medical drone for the machine seed installation to go right.
>...I wanted my mom.
This is true as well. But also
>... I wanted answers.

>>4360663
>>I was useful for the first time in my life. I had something I could do that nobody else could.

>>4360731 Switching to this:
>...I wanted my mom.
Thought about it, and... nearly everything can be seen in that light. Likes stories about Mom. Likes pictures of Mom. Always comparing herself to Mom. Finds out Mom was a secret alien. Finds more and more of the secret magic robot world Mom was part of. Finds an actual secret alien living in the woods, one who could feasibly be a surrogate mother/sister/mentor figure. Breaking into Y'avel was just the best shot at finding that missing... Legacy. Family. Inheritance. Something like that.

A symbolic inheritance, not a literal inheritance. Finding out Mom had made an appointment and had a room full of things still on the ship was a huge, ironic surprise.

But that's why the sudden burning need to loot everything of value and blaze out of there, to keep the military from destroying that missing something. When someone like Tina can just let it all go, and be content with what she has.

That's why we want another shape. So we can go get Mom's car back, no passport needed, no chance of being recognized.

>>4360663
>...I wanted my mom.

>...I wanted my mom.
Writing.

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You tighten your grip around your knees and mumble something. Your feel your stomach twist uncomfortably as a lump begins building in your throat.

"What did you say?" Tina scooted closer, concern creeping into her voice.

"...I want my Mom." You say haltingly, leaning your head down against your knees. "Wanted. I wanted my Mom." Your voice breaks slightly as you force the words out, fidgeting quietly. You look up at Tina, who's looking at you gently. "Is- is it true there's no such thing as ghosts? That I can't-" Your voice catches, and you choke back a sob. "That I c-can't see my Mom again?" Your shoulders shudder, your vision blurring up with tears as you sniff. "If there was a way, you'd tell me, right? I keep thinking that I'll find her- but..." You can't hold it back anymore, and you break down in sobs, pressing your face into your knees.

It had started with the encounter with the Army of the Dead. ST's revelation of your ancestry. Then finding her room aboard the Tanoh. Her photos, her grimoire. The possibility of talking to her again. The foolish notion, lurking in the back of your mind, that Wander might have been her somehow, a fragment of your mother come back. All of it had amounted to nothing.

Tina's arms wrapped around your shoulders and pulled you over to rest against her side. "Oh, Tiiris..." She murmured, wrapping her arms tightly around you. "I'm so, so sorry." She rubbed your back plaintively, occasionally opening her mouth, then closing it again when words failed to come to her.

For your part, you turn into her chest and sobbed quietly as the awful tightness in your chest finally began to unwind with a sickly sensation. "I want my mommy..."

"You- she might..." Tina began in anxious starts, her voice slightly stressed and weak.

"She's not..." You mumble into her hoodie, sniffing loudly and trying to ignore the wet streaks you've left behind on it. You fumble with your bag and thrust a folder of papers into Tina's face. "She's gone..."

Tina took the autopsy report with one hand, the other still firmly wrapped around your shoulder, leaning you into her. She thumbed through the report briefly, only to shudder in utter revulsion on the second page and close the folder quickly. Words died in her throat with a slight strain of her vocal chords and throat. "She's... you look a lot like her."

"I didn't use to..." You mutter bitterly, rubbing at your eyes with a sleeve.

"Everything except for the eyes." Tina continued on regardless. "I take it that comes from your Dad's side of the family?"

"No, I have my mother's eyes..." You sigh, pulling your arm back.

There was a slight pause, followed by a slight shuffle of paper. "Oh. This must be a bad photo, then. Your eyes are more sky blue than grey."

"What are you talking about...? The sky is grey. And my mother's eyes were blue."

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>>4362188
"On the world I grew up on." Tina said quickly, perhaps glad of the new topic. "The sky is blue, like it is on most worlds. There are no clouds during the day, and at night you can see the stars. Your mother's eyes are more like Tagara's sky. Grey." She held the folder back out for you.

"Sounds strange..." You murmur, taking the folder. Your eyes rove over your mother's picture, but no more tears come. Instead, the tightness in your chest had given way to grief, and a deep fatigue that moved through you, despite the clouds barely beginning to light up with noon light.

Tina wasn't mistaken. Those were grey eyes. They were slightly blue, like all grey eye really were. But this was not the same, vibrant, startling blue that you saw in family photos and in the mirror. These were... flat. Well, dead. And the wrong color? Was it just your imagination, or was her face... off slightly, now that you were looking for it? No, maybe it was just the effect of being, well, dead. Not the right kind of poisoning to be decaying implants, either, and she wasn't...

>"Wait..."
>Don't say anything.
>No, Tiiris. Stop. Don't hurt yourself again.
>[Write-In]

>>4362189
>"Wait..."
Desire to know more intensifies

>>4362189
>"Wait..."

>>4362189
>"Wait..."
Oh, the EYES are grey. I thought the autopsy reports were cheap greyscale photocopies.
Well that explains what you were hinting at back then.

>>4362189
>"Wait..."

>>4362189
>"Wait..."

>>4362189
>"Wait..."

>>4362189
>"Wait..."
So who's corpse is it? Is mom actually a murderer leading a death cult?

>>4362189
>"Wait..."
We have the photo with Kallis and her brother in our bag, right? Pull that out.

>>4362189
>"Wait..."

>>4362189
>No, Tiiris. Stop. Don't hurt yourself again.
Not a vote, but was just considering how oddly familiar the phrasing on this one is. Tiiris's internal monologue doesn't generally take this form, but it's exactly the way Wander speaks.

>>4363543
Probably, since some degree "Wander" is a reflection of ourselves, and she may have noticed the discrepancy when she was asked and not said anything about it.

We also have three photos to compare, the one recovered from the Tanoh, the one we found in our storage unit from our early childhood, and at least one from the autopsy report

I'm also going to assume we didn't take her passing very well the first time, so this may need to be handled carefully in order to avoid something bad happening.

>"Wait..."
Writing.

You tilt your head at the paper, feeling your implants hum soothingly in your head, helping to center you . "Wait..."

Tina hugged you slightly harder, and you had to lightly shrug your shoulders so you can properly rummage through your bag. "What is it?"

"My Mom's eyes aren't grey." You say, pulling out a small photo from your bag along with your phone. Unlocking it, you found your photos app and the online folder that contained all of your old family photos. Flipping through them, you found an old family portrait. The most recent one you had was twelve years old, since- well, obvious reasons. Your mother sat on a stool, a four year old you held securely on her knee while your father stood just behind her, looking substantially less brawny than he was now.

Zooming in on her face, you hold the phone up next to the photo pinned inside the autopsy report. You glance from one to the other, peering closely at the eyes, and then the skin around them. The eyes were both different colors, but the skin around them remained the same tone, making it not a case of the autopsy photo simply fading from excessive copying or age. They were noticeably lighter than their surroundings in the photo.

Sliding out the photo of her and your uncle, you see the same thing, although her face was slightly different in all three photos. In the family portrait, you saw the same fine, delicate features you saw when you looked in the mirror, while the woman in the autopsy photo had a more rounded face and a different hairline. Her 'Valkan' version had more refined, youthful features, with a sharper nose and eyes ringed by a slight, but defined line.

Silently, you hold the photos out to Tina, who took them with a resigned sigh. With a rustling of paper, she leafed through them lazily, almost opening her mouth several times to speak, but stopping herself. She turned her attention towards the photos, then grew quiet. She flipped back and forth several times, then leaned in. After a few long minutes, she finally spoke up. "This isn't the same woman..."

"I know." You take a breath. "...what does this mean?"

"That your mother's body hasn't been buried." Tina admitted. "I'm not sure why. You can't salvage a machine heart from someone, it rots away too fast. Reuse the materials, I guess? I'm not sure if you can do that. Perhaps she wanted to avoid questions about her implants, and arranged for the autopsy to be performed on a different body?"

"That's a lot of steps to take considering she's... dead..." You trail off, hope creeping back into your voice. "...you don't think...?"

Tina shot you a worried look. "Don't jump to conclusions, Tiiris. I'm not a detective, I really couldn't tell you."

"But is it possible?" You insist.

"It- yes." Tina sighed. "It's possible."

You smile tightly, fighting to control the stupid grin spreading across your face. You look down at your hands.

>Try to respirate again.
>You don't have time for this, you have a lead.
>[Write-In]

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

If we're somehow going manage to; get to Kana, find and get into contact with TA4041 and hopefully recover him, and return to Miir with him all without arousing any sort of suspicion or leaving any sort of traces that could be followed up on by anyone that caught wind of the occurrence.

So we should probably try and do a little bit more planing, and preparing, having a little bit more structure than when we broke into Y'avel, and that all starts here ,i guess with us hopefully figuring out the basics in order to allow us to maintain an identity that we use as our cover since we're going to be going a long way from home.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.
She's been dead/"dead" for years, she can wait a little bit longer

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

>>4363967
Another lead that we might have would be to see if we can talk to whoever did the Autopsy and see if they noticed anything weird, though it would likely give away the fact that something is wrong.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.

>>4363951
>Try to respirate again.
May be somewhat difficult while giggling like a lunatic.