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File 134578061703.jpg - (370.73KB , 720x900 , man-working-desk.jpg )
446770 No. 446770 ID: a407a5

It's... quiet... that's unusual. It shouldn't be this quiet...

Suddenly, your eyes shoot open, and you find yourself staring at the man in front of you. He seems oddly out of place, considering your used to the cheap pre-fabricated clothing sold in almost all the stores, while this man seems to have jumped out of an old photograph. He's bent over his desk, writing away on sheets of paper, although you can't quite make out what. Either way, closer inspection of your surroundings reveals an office without windows or doors, and bookcases packed full of books and papers and various other forms of writing. For a moment, you just sit in the chair you find yourself in, waiting patiently for something to happen, but as time passes curiosity and boredom push you to further action.

"Um... hell-"

"Quiet. I'll get to you in a minute."

The man's response is instantaneous and authoritative, and you find yourself clamping your mouth shut without thinking about it. A few more minutes pass in silence, and then the man looks up from his work and stares at you with obvious disinterest.

"Another one, are you? You'd think reality would be better at fixing itself. Well, I suppose that's what happens when you give the wrong people power. Ah well. Hopefully you'll turn out better than the others so far. Now then..." The man shuffles through some papers before turning his attention on you again.

"I need you to answer some simple questions. Nothing too hard, mind you, but it's part of the process. I'll give them to you all at once, as I tried the one at a time method and it took FOREVER to get anything done.

"First off... Well, I suppose we should start with the basics. Name, gender and age please."
Expand all images
>>
No. 446772 ID: 60fee2

Linda McCallahan
Female
23
>>
No. 446775 ID: fa9f7e

Salmon Bloomers
Neuter
27
>>
No. 446777 ID: 4a328b

Trevor Toms
10
Male
>>
No. 446779 ID: 6a1ec2

>>446775
>>
No. 446781 ID: aa93be

Blasty Ferguson
Rocketship
22
>>
No. 446802 ID: a407a5

"LInda McCallahan. 23... Um, female."

The name pops into your head, and you find yourself saying it before you can really stop yourself. The information surprises the hell out you, more than you think it should. You're obviously a girl... aren't you? It's almost like you couldn't remember even that simple fact five minutes ago. Another fact pops into your head almost at the same time. You feel yourself reach against your stomach, and find the old scar that rest against on your abdomen. You grimace as old memories surface. That's right... when you were younger you were injured, and your body doesn't exactly... function properly anymore. While it's saved you the pain every month, it's permanently taken your ability to have children...

Your brought back to reality as the man starts talking again, your interest in this strange occurrence taking your mind away from the past.

"Good, good. That's fine. Now then, to the useful things.

Between these three choices, what defines you the most: Strength, Finesse or Will?

Between the same three, what defines you the least?
>>
No. 446803 ID: 4a328b

Will is weakest, Finesse is strongest
>>
No. 446804 ID: d6c330

Finesse most, STR dump stat.
>>
No. 446809 ID: 6e44d2

Trevor Ferguson
24
Male.
>>
No. 446810 ID: 6e44d2

Finesse, str, will, in that order.
>>
No. 446815 ID: 53d7a2

Str will finesse
>>
No. 446816 ID: 60fee2

Finesse most, Strength least.
>>
No. 446818 ID: a407a5

"Good. Good. Now then, only two more bits to go. What's next is a bit more... personal. I'd apologize, but I really don't care.

Tell me how you got that injury of yours. You know the one I'm talking about."

He gestures towards your abdomen, and you reflexively move to cover the scar underneath. For a moment, you consider refusing, but for some reason you can't stop yourself from letting it all spill out...

Some Additional Instructions: Feel free to give as much or as little detail as you like. Even if the story doesn't get used for our protagonist, I will use it for some of the other characters you'll encounter. So have at it.
>>
No. 446841 ID: 32e092

You bit the organ out because it displeased you.
>>
No. 446844 ID: fa9f7e

Turns out using a fully-grown saguaro cactus for a dildo is a terrible idea, and BASE jumping onto one with your legs spread apart is even worse.
>>
No. 446845 ID: fa9f7e

>>446844
As for how it managed to leave that kind of scar and *just* that scar, well, how did you think reality broke?
>>
No. 446853 ID: 4a328b

>For a while you were unknowingly the host of some sort of parasite or alien or demon or eldritch abomination or the young thereof or something. You never really found out what, exactly, but the scar is from when it burst out.

>There was a teleporter accident--these aren't actually your legs, they were originally your old room-mate's legs.

>You were shot during a crazed gun-man's rampage at the local grocery store six years ago.

>Your parent decided that a pet tiger would be the perfect companion for their daughter. It was cute when it was little, but after the attack you weren't so fond of it, anymore.
>>
No. 446884 ID: b85f8c

>>446818
Car accident. Nobody else survived, in either vehicle. The other car's driver's corpse went missing.

Shrapnel from a suicide bomber blowing up the cafe you were in. Nobody else survived. No terrorist organizations claimed responsibility, and the bomber's corpse went missing soon after.

Plane crash right after takeoff. Nobody else survived. The pilot's body vanished soon after.

(basically, traumatic shrapnel-based wound where the person responsible dies then vanishes)
>>
No. 446926 ID: 6a1ec2

One evening you woke up bleary eyed and woozy in a bathtub full of ice. And there standing on the edge of the bathtub was your uterus. "You ain't nothin to me!" it squeaks and then jumps off and runs out the room, never to be seen again.
>>
No. 446952 ID: a407a5
File 134581471411.jpg - (37.84KB , 700x525 , Bedroom-design-in-Apartment-Interior-Decorating.jpg )
446952

That day was supposed to have been simple. A simple walk to the store, pick up some food for the weekend, and then laze around until school came monday. That plan, of course, had ended as soon as the crazies came in. Claiming that everyone was "infested with aliens" and "out to get him", he proceeded to start shooting up the entire store. You avoided that, mostly by luck. You didn't avoid the shrapnel from the exploding gas tank. Oddly, no one else seems to remember the event, and the criminals body was never found. You even tried searching yourself, out of morbid curiosity, and it's like the man never even existed.

"Well then... that makes things a bit... difficult... Still, your easier than some others I could mention. First off, here. Don't loose this, no matter what. You won't be able to do a damn thing without it."

The man hands you what appears to be a bullet. Upon closer inspection, it is, in fact, a bullet, although it feels somehow... different.

"That is your focus. Don't ask what that means, you'll find out from someone else. They should be going to pick you up soon. For now, I've only got one last thing to say.

Have fun. Reality is now your bitch."

You blink, then the world goes dark and you find yourself waking up in your apartment. For a moment, you can't decide whether what just happened really just happened. Had to be some crazy dream, right? Then you feel something small and metallic pressed against your palm, and you open your hand to stare at the bullet now in your possession. Guess it wasn't a dream.

Well, time to get moving for the day.

>>>Input Commands...
>>
No. 446967 ID: fa9f7e

>>446952
Turn a wall into a waterfall.
>>
No. 447049 ID: b85f8c

>>446952
Be dressed instantly.
>>
No. 447071 ID: 886a4d

Make a necklace or wristband that holds the bullet then put it on.
>>
No. 447102 ID: ab2e82

is the bullet just the slug, or is it complete with shell and powder? get a gun, put bullet in gun. your final, most extreme desperation attack is shooting your enemy with REALITY.
>>
No. 447134 ID: a407a5
File 134585478454.jpg - (19.61KB , 210x205 , 50bmg.jpg )
447134

A Discussion/Info Thread Thingy... sort of... yeah: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/59148.html

You get the idea that perhaps you should try turning the wall into a waterfall or something, since everything else seems to have been true, but upon trying discover that nothing seems to be happening. Maybe this focus thing has something to do with it? Either way, a similar experience occurs when you try making yourself automatically clothed, namely nothing.

You examine the bullet more closely, finding the heavy thing to be a little less than the length from your wrist to your fingertips. It also appears to be an entire bullet, shell and everything. You think. You turn it slowly in a circle and discover a small engraving into the side of the thing. You frown trying to read it, and eventually rise from your bed to dig through some drawers till you find a handy magnifying glass. You discover the engraving reads "12.7×99mm of Fuck Reality".

After finding this, you let that stew in your mind as you rummage through some more drawers and drag out a small felt sack and a handy steel chain. You store the bullet inside and jury rig a necklace, testing its hold to make sure it will at least stay on during normally activity.

You dress as well, figuring you can't stay in your underwear all day.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447147 ID: 6e44d2

Try holding the bullet close to yourself, focusing through it, like a magnifying glass, onto an item, and willing that item to become something else. Flowers, say.
>>
No. 447165 ID: 54c7e5

Or you could just get dressed, go to work and act like everything is fine, reality isn't broken.

After manifesting a gun for that bullet, of course.
>>
No. 447173 ID: 886a4d

Holding the bullet in the palm of your hand with your index and thumb fingers fully extended, pretend to shoot something... imagine you actually shot it, make it real as possible.
>>
No. 447204 ID: a407a5
File 134586379272.jpg - (14.15KB , 450x313 , Akecheta.jpg )
447204

You get the idea that maybe trying to make a waterfall didn't work because you didn't use your... bullet... or something like that, so you decide to give it a try. You hold the bullet through the fabric of the bag it's in and focus on a book that just happens to be lying around. At first, nothing seems to happen, then there's a jolt of almost television like static that shoots through your vision before instantly returning to normal. You frown in confusion a moment, then notice the change. Or rather, you notice that tattered remnants of a book. Well... at least you proved something could happen. Maybe it doesn't always work?

>>447165
>>447173
Well, it is a bullet... Maybe there's a gun to go with it? You decide you should see if reality will let you do that at least, but before you really get the chance to do anything, the front door is busted open and a man looking very tired, very beat up and very unhappy comes bursting in. The first thing you notice is the odd feeling, like he isn't entirely... real. The second thing is the the rather dark flickering wolf that seems to slide in behind the man, the place where its eyes should be replaced with simple holes.

"Hey! You this Linda person?"

You visibly flinch, eyes snapping to the man again, proceed to stare at him in shock.

"Well? Are you? Come on, hurry up. We don't got all day before that fucking bitch outside decides to quit playing games."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447205 ID: 6a1ec2

Hide boolet.
>>
No. 447207 ID: 54c7e5

Ignore him for a few seconds, continue making that gun.
"Yep, and now I'm ready. Who are you exactly?"
>>
No. 447225 ID: 4a328b

Be slightly cautious. "Who wants to know?"
>>
No. 447630 ID: a407a5
File 134594229191.jpg - (162.23KB , 640x424 , 640x424_11936_Chain_saw_2d_girl_woman_chainsaw_pic.jpg )
447630

The bullet has not been removed from its pouch. Therefore, no reason to hide it.

"Who wants to know?"

You back away from him a little, intent on keeping yourself as safe as possible. Or at least, as far away from the wolf as possible. It seems oddly more dangerous than this bastard. Or maybe, it's the thing that feels off... it's hard to tell.

"Look, we don't have time for this. I have to get you out of here before the bitch shows up and wipes the floor with me, you and whoever else happens to be around. Her little reality breaks aren't exactly pleasant things to experience. Now hurry up, we haven't got all day. I felt you shifting reality earlier, but you weren't manifesting it seems, so hurry up and do that so we can get the hell out of he-"

The wall suddenly crumbles as something comes tumbling through it, and the man jumps backwards, hand reaching backwards to brush against the wolf's head. Whatever came through picks itself up, revealing itself to be a young man, and as he stands he brushes himself off.

"Eh, sorry brother of mine, couldn't hold her any longer. She's gets to close to me without you around."

"God damn it...

Then SHE shows up, with a massive whirring sound ripping through the air. She seems to just walk in through the broken wall, and she's got this manic grin on her face.

"Come on now! That was no fun at all! Besides, I'm not here to kill you! I'm here to pick up the girl so she doesn't start helping you idiots fix reality. That is her, right?" The woman points at you with the end of her chainsaw with a questioning look on her face. Well that makes two of you because your not really sure what's going on eit-

CHAINSAW!?

"Don't think to hard about it! Just go with Rocket! I'll hold her off some and catch up with you!"

"Oh, well that's not very nice. I was just trying to be friends. Besides, she'll do much better coming with me. I can teach her all she needs to know about breaking reality, unlike you lot."

"We just want to fix it, damn it! It was you and that idiot boss of yours that fucked it up to begin with!"

You suddenly notice that your just about the same distance from both sides...

Decision time?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447633 ID: 6a1ec2

A broken reality is very much a good thing. However a manic grin might not be. Neither is a boss, nor an idiot. I say you either go with the chainsaw lady and then betray her having learned all her secrets, or go with the reality fixing dudes and then betray them having learned all their secrets.
>>
No. 447634 ID: d6c330

How about we do the rational thing here?

Obviously we've got two rival factions trying to recruit us, and you both expect us to go along with you with little or no information.

So how about the two of you make your pitch, I'll make a decision, and then you can fight over me for no good reason. I mean really, why is the new person who has no idea what's going on always so important to you types of people?

Also, both you you just kind of trashed my house- the door and the wall. That's not such a great way to make first impressions, jerks.

(Goddamn, why did we make will our dump stat? They're going to ignore speeches we make).
>>
No. 447638 ID: 60fee2

(Uh... am pretty sure strength is our dump stat not will.)
"EVERYBODY CALM THE FUCK DOWN! Now will you PLEASE explain. What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On. One. At. A. Time."
>>
No. 447642 ID: 60fee2

(Never mind about the will thing. Just saw the discussion thread.)

Also manifest the Rifle and fire a shot into the air.
>>
No. 447659 ID: a407a5

For some reason, you get pissed. Very pissed. This is bullshit. Where the hell do they get off? They break into your home, tear up your apartment... what the hell are you going to say to the landlord?

"EVERYBODY CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

Almost at the same time, you feel that reality warping sensation again, and without realizing it there's suddenly a rather large rifle propped against your shoulder, and the ringing sound that results from firing a weapon without ear protection. Wow! That really hurts the shoulder too, doesn't it?

Still, you can't be bothered to inspect the weapon your currently holding. Instead, you focus the anger and annoyance you feel on the three people around you.

"Obviously we've got two rival factions trying to recruit us, and you both expect us to go along with you with little or no information.

So how about the two of you make your pitch, I'll make a decision, and then you can fight over me for no good reason. I mean really, why is the new person who has no idea what's going on always so important to you types of people?

Also, both you you just kind of trashed my house- the door and the wall. That's not such a great way to make first impressions, jerks."

That seems to catch everybody in the room by surprise, except for the first man, who simply stares at you like your crazy. A moment passes, then the chainsaw-wielding crazy lady lets the weapon fall to the ground, dropping her somewhat aggressive stance.

"Yeah, alright I guess. I don't see the harm in trying to convince you to come."

"Wha- What the hell? Since when have you ever been reasonabl-"

"Uh, brother, try to keep your disbelief in check. We are kinda outclassed here. It can't hurt to try."

"...Yeah, yeah, alright... but I'm watching you, you fucking crazy bitch..." The man retreats to a corner, muttering curses, while the lady gestures for the younger man to go first. He bows somewhat politely, then turns to you.

"Um... well, I'm not to good at this explaining thing, but I'll try. Me and my brother Trevor over there, we're... well, if you can't tell, reality seems to be getting fucked up pretty bad. I honestly don't know when it started up, maybe it's always been like this, but me and my brother and a bunch of others are going around trying to fix it. Sometimes we succeed in an area, other times we fail. Most of the time when we fail, it's because of them." The man gestures to the lady, who waves and gives a much less insane looking smile. "Anyway, we just want you to come with us, because... well... reality shouldn't be so fucked up... I guess... Everyone has a proper place, you know? We just want that to stay that way... so... I'm done..."

This time it's the lady's turn, and she begins with a bit more energy and much less uncertainty. "Our side is plain an simple. We just want to have fun. Sure, reality is fucked up as shit. But I don't see why we have to go fixing it. Reality seems to be doing just fine without our meddling. But Boss could explain it better than me. I'm just one of the muscle. I kill things that need killing. Anyway, I think that sums that up."

You pause to consider the two sides, eventually deciding to...

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447663 ID: d6c330

Huh. Didn't expect that to actually work. Although apparently I'm going to have to watch my collective us'es and we's, otherwise poor Linda comes off sounding like anachronistic royalty. :p

So... free spirits vs fixers. I'm leaning free spirits. Learning to be a crazy reality bender sounds more interesting than trying to fix it, right after we start. We can always go for betrayal and if we find out reality is actually on the brink of destruction or something and not just being abused.

Sorry responsible people. I've got new cool powers here, learning to use them sounds more attractive then shutting them down.
>>
No. 447667 ID: 6e44d2

Wow. They're both terrible at giving pitches. God, that boy's delivery was so pathetic, I almost just wanted to go with the crazy lady to spite him, but then, her speech was kind of terrible, too.

Ugh... Let's make the world a little more interesting. Go with the crazy lady, then rise to the top ranks of her organization and give it the firm leadership and direction it clearly lacks. We're gonna make reality fascinating.
>>
No. 447674 ID: 60fee2

Facepalm and an annoyed sigh.

"You both really, really suck at convincing people."

I am also leaning towards the free spirits.
>>
No. 447675 ID: 54c7e5

Free spirits. I mean, it's not like we're going around breaking reality with them, just keeping everything running how it is.
>>
No. 447681 ID: a407a5
File 134595041597.jpg - (478.23KB , 640x634 , the_red.jpg )
447681

> Didn't expect that to actually work.
Honestly, I didn't either, but I rolled and you beat two out of the three of them. Surprised the hell out of me.

You bring your palm to your face and sigh, in the process almost overbalancing yourself. Oh yeah, you have that leaning on your shoulder, don't you? You bring it down from where the weapon is resting and carry it with both hands more or less like it should be carried. You think. For some reason your pretty sure that's how it's supposed to be held. Well, no time to think on that now. Instead, you've made your decision.

You turn to the chainsaw lady and start towards her, only to feel the sudden feeling of reality warping and the roar of something bestial and very unhappy. Instinctively you start to turn, only to get shoved to the side by te girl, that grin on her face again and chainsaw singing as she swings the thing into whatever the hell it is. Blood and the sick sound of flesh tearing fill the room, then the tv static thing happens again and there isn't any blood anymore. In fact, whatever it was she hit has just been hurled through a wall, like it had been hit by a baseball bat instead of a chainsaw.

"Lady! Take care of the kid, I'll go play with out werewolf friend!" The woman dashes through the new hole in the wall(your landlord is going to kill you), leaving you alone with the other man.

You both stare at each other for a few seconds, you in shock and he trying to figure out how to get out of this, then he suddenly shoots sideways and you see something start to form in his hand. You have maybe a second to react.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447684 ID: 886a4d

Shoot four times, break reality so each shot hits a different limb... and merely paralyzes it for an hour or so. We aren't ready to kill anyone.
>>
No. 447691 ID: d6c330

Yeah, go for nonlethal disabling. Put those points in finesse to use. We really don't have a reason for wanting him dead anyways, and the automatic altar reality to save life powers shouldn't kick in if you're not actually shooting to kill.

Aim for the arm the weapon is manifesting in.
>>
No. 447695 ID: 60fee2

Go for non-lethal simultaneous shots. Be ready to again if he does some kind of insta-healing.
>>
No. 447707 ID: a407a5

You react on instinct, assuming the worst. You swing the weapon and try to line it up with the man's arm, then fire, hoping you actually manage to hit. You also find that firing in quick succession isn't something your capable of, as you find the barrel suddenly pointing at the ceiling after your first shot.

The Good News: You hit the bastard right where you want to.

The Bad News: Apparently, whatever this thing is, it has enough power to it to severely mangle the man's arm, letting blood fly everywhere. The man screams in pain, clutching at the bloody mess that is the remainder of his appendage, hits the ground hard, and begins squirming in agony. Blood is pouring out, and your fairly certain that the man is quickly draining of color.

Then you hear a roar of anger somewhere beyond the new hole in your wall, and the whine of a chainsaw, then a call from your new friend.

"WHOA! DAMN! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID BACK THERE, BUT IT PISSED THIS GUY OFF!"

Joy. Either way, you need to do something, fast, or this man is going to bleed out onto the floor.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447709 ID: 886a4d

...That was not a non-lethal shot. Use a reality break to heal him. Hopefully the shock of the wound will leave him out of commision.
>>
No. 447719 ID: f6cff9

Well I can't say I'm surprised that an anti-tank rifle did that much damage. We can only hope we can heal the guy but because healing things have nothing to do with the bullet we might not be able to. If healing him doesn't work I guess we can try making it so we never shot the guy which may have something to do with bullets (Shooting and not shooting) but if that also doesn't work then that guy is so dead and there is nothing we can do for him.
>>
No. 447733 ID: 54c7e5

Man, screw superpowers we don't know how to use yet. Apply a tourniquet to his arm to stop the bleeding. Also, flip desk to try out your strength and take your mind off the fact that you just shot someone's arm off.
>>
No. 447743 ID: 60fee2

...If outright healing him by breaking reality works, then perhaps we could make a healing bullet of some kind.

"I ACCIDENTALLY SHOT THIS GUY'S ARM OFF. ANY ADVICE ON HEALING VIA REALITY BREAK?"

Also be ready to shoot again if the guy either somehow heals himself and tries to attack again or if his buddy decides to attack you for hurting his friend.
>>
No. 447754 ID: d6c330

...if we're going to try not killing people, we need to conjure a smaller caliber gun next time.

>>447733
Tourniqueting the arm seems the best way to stop from bleeding to death.

Then we can go out and confront the other guy, he can probably save his brother's life if he stops trying to kill us and chainsaw girl, and rushes him to a hospital and/or his team's reality healer (that's a thing, right? Dueling super-powered crazies need healers).
>>
No. 447760 ID: a407a5

You panic a little, then try focusing on somehow healing the guy. You feel that static feeling rush through you, then everything is back to normal. Well, mostly. Your pretty sure that guys arm wasn't completely missing. Oops.

"I ACCIDENTALLY SHOT THIS GUY'S ARM OFF. ANY ADVICE ON HEALING VIA REALITY BREAK?"

Your shout is quickly aswered, accompanied by another howl and the sound of crashing objects.

"WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO HEAL THE BASTARD? HE SHOULD BE ALMOST OUT OF STRENGTH ANYWAY, JUST SHOOT HIM AGAIN! OH NO, YOUR NOT GETTIN BY ME!"

You quickly turn your attention back to the man, but he's already breathing really shallowly. Damn it, isn't there anything you could d-

Static hit you in the face, then you realize the man is alive again, all the blood gone, although he's still missing his arm. Maybe because you tried healing it? Either way, he's awake and clearly in pain. You ready your weapon again, just in case, but the man waves you down.

"Like I could... do anything... in this condition. I surrender. Just... just don't shoot..."

You hesitate, not sure how you should act.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447768 ID: 54c7e5

"Quick, run away before the girl with a chainsaw gets here!"
>>
No. 447769 ID: 6a1ec2

I think he tried healing it. But don't kill him unless you're hungry. Just keep your weapon trained on his heart, in case he's trying to get your guard down.
>>
No. 447777 ID: f6cff9

Just keep your gun aimed at the guy as he leaves
>>
No. 447778 ID: d6c330

Right, accept his surrender. Then we march him outside and use our hostage to get the wolf boy to back down.

I think the hardest part is chainsaw girl will want to just kill 'em all, when we'd rather take prisoners, or even just force them to retreat. Yay for another persuasion roll with our rotten will?
>>
No. 447779 ID: 60fee2

"For what its worth, sorry about the arm. Any chance you could call off your buddy before I have to shoot him too?"
>>
No. 447794 ID: a407a5
File 134596036640.jpg - (14.38KB , 400x266 , stock-footage-cartoon-of-dead-man-with-blood-on-hi.jpg )
447794

"For what its worth, sorry about the arm. Any chance you could call off your buddy before I have to shoot him too?"

The man frowns, then shrugs. "Um... maybe... brother is a little... temperamental. I'll try... if you want..."

You nod your agreement, and the man struggles to his feet and limps through the hole in the wall. You follow at a safe distance until you find both your new friend and what looks like a giant wolf-thing glaring at each other.

"Brother! Brother, cool it. We lost this time..."

The wolf-thing snarls, the backs down in favor of going to support his brother. The woman starts to make a move, but you quickly see if you can convince her to back down.

"They surrendered, right? Just let them go, they can't do anything to us now."

The woman doesn't even hesitate. Both are impaled through the chest, then the sickening whine of the chainsaw is heard and both are shredded. The boy you'd brought with you doesn't get up, but the static happens for the wolf thing, his body getting shoved through the floor, making yet another hole. You hear him howl in rage, but before you can do anything there's the shattering of glass and the loud honking of horns coming from outside.

"Hm. Bastard got away. Least we got his brother." The lady glances at you with a little annoyance apparent in her face, then she simply shrugs. "Well, I guess you just barely got into this business. Killing probably doesn't sit too well with you. You can have the brats focus, I don't like ranged weapons. Try searching him for a bullet or something. Meet me outside when your ready to go."

The woman walks out, heading for the nearest hole to the outside, leaving you with the very dead body. This time, the blood and such haven't disappeared, and you just stand there, a little unsure of what to do.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447800 ID: 886a4d

damnit loot him.... then use all your reality breaking points with both focuses to bring him back.
>>
No. 447801 ID: 54c7e5

Flip desk. Flip body. Call in sick to work.

Continue through hole.
>>
No. 447805 ID: d6c330

...we joined the crazy murder squad, and we left ourselves without the stats to actually influence them. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

Next time we catch a prisoner, we shoo them out the back instead of bringing them to chainsaw girl. And we should probably do missions solo, so we don't have to talk crazy teammates into following our plans, because we're gonna suck at that.

Nothing we can do about it now, thouhg. If we turn on her, one of us will end up dead, and we'll be without any faction.

Loot his focus. Maybe we'll get a gun we can use for something besides omni-murder.

When you're done, head out. Introduce yourself to trigger happy, and ask what happens now that the murder fest is over and your home is sufficiently destroyed.

>stock-footage
That corpse has two arms.
>>
No. 447806 ID: f6cff9

>>447800
I don't think that would work because if it DID the brother would have done it for sure. Just loot the body we made our choice when we choose the crazy chainsaw lady
>>
No. 447812 ID: d6c330

>we made our choice when we choose the crazy chainsaw lady
It's worth noting the other side isn't much less crazy. The wolf guy tried to kill you instead of letting you go, and the kid drew his gun before we could even raise the point we weren't interested in fighting.

Chainsaw girl may enjoy it more, but both sides seem pretty trigger happy. Pretty sure we'd still be awkwardly standing over a corpse if we'd chosen the other side.
>>
No. 447813 ID: f6cff9

>>447812
True enough but we might have gotten a bitching chainsaw instead of a new gun. This death still doesn't matter until we find out whether reality is about to be destroyed OR it just doing fine because it dealt with people messing with it like this for all of known time.
>>
No. 447819 ID: a407a5
File 134596280638.jpg - (75.20KB , 426x640 , 2591806036_9ec31b612c_z.jpg )
447819

>stock-footage
>That corpse has two arms.
I am aware. Sad, I know, but I can't be bothered trying to find someone sufficiently bloody while also missing an arm and dead.

You steel yourself and start searching the corpse, finding a wallet with some cash, a few pieces of loose change, some car keys and a bullet. You pick the last up specifically for closer examination, and find it to be much smaller than yours. Maybe it's for a weapon smaller than yours? You pocket it for now, but the moment you do, you feel something rush into your head and you stumble a little, finding yourself a little light headed. The feeling passes, but you can't help but feel like your somehow... better?

Finished with your search, you briefly debate flipping random objects over before deciding that isn't going to help the situation at all. You do call into work though, letting them know you'll be out for the day. After that's done, you head out the hole you saw the crazy lady go through.

Upon seeing you, the lady gives you a look roughly translating to "Are you an idiot?" before sighing. "I keep forgetting your new to this. Ditch the gun, will you? We don't need to be drawing idiot in the area to us."

You blink, then realize you still have your rifle out. You frown, not sure how to get it to go away, but the moment the thought crosses your mind, the rifle dissolves in your hands. Well, that's convenient.

"You got his bullet? Good. We'll wait here till the van gets here. Then we take you to the Boss."

"Uh... right... I'm Linda, by the way. Linda McCallahan."

"Hm? Oh, right. Yeah, pleasure. I'm Cassandra Geld. You can just call me Cass if you want. Or Chainsaw. Most seem to prefer that last one." She says her nickname with distaste, but seems to otherwise not care.

You wonder if there is anything to ask, or if you should just wait quietly.

Experience Points Gained: 2
Explanation in Discussion Thread

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 447822 ID: 54c7e5

'So, where are we going?'
>>
No. 447826 ID: d6c330

I vote we spend a point unlocking our new gun.

The other point in spirit, I think. That gives us good returns for 1 point right now (better at reality warping, and more mp).

Stat (Str/Fin/Wil) boosts can wait, I think, as much as our will pains me. We'll just have to play smarter and not bet lives on our diplomacy rolls.

Actually, screw it. I want to be able to talk people into things more than I want any of the possible spirit powers available. 2nd point in will.

>Cass
Let's make a point of using her name. Enemies use derogative nicknames, not allies.

So... is it always like this? Seems a little much for what amounts to a philisophical difference.
>>
No. 447829 ID: 60fee2

1 Point into Spirit.
1 Point into Will.
New Ability: Warped Minds.
>>
No. 447835 ID: f6cff9

>>447829
Going with this after reading what warped mind does
>>
No. 447876 ID: 886a4d

>>447829
Agreed.
>>
No. 447917 ID: a407a5
File 134600043065.jpg - (440.98KB , 600x905 , Yuan_ti_mad_alchemist_by_kerembeyit.jpg )
447917

Experience Points Allocated
Will Increased
Spirit Increased
Note: Warped Minds does not continue working if you actively start a fight. Keep Choice?


>"So... is it always like this? Seems a little much for what amounts to a philisophical difference."

"Most of the time we don't go so far as killing them. Usually just beating them till they're mostly dead and leaving just taking their foci. Least, that's what most other people do. I've got... an issue. Still, I'm not as bad as some of the other reality breaking groups out there. We're one of the smaller ones, while I've seen some groups with more than fifty members. I'd like to think we make up for it with skill though."

>'So, where are we going?'

"Keep your mouth shut and you'll find out. Look, here's the van. Get in so we can get this show on the road."

Cass hops into the front seat, leaving you to climb into the back. You barely manage to sit down before the van takes off, and you find that the drivers seat is occupied by a rather large snake-human thing. How it's pushing the pedals you don't see.

"Whosss thisss? Friend?"

"Yeah, Mike. She's a friend. Just get us home, alright? Boss wants to see her."

"Underssstood. Going home." The snake thing you find is watching you through the rear-view mirror, then it smiles, at leasts, you think it's a smile.

"New girl isss pretty. Prettier than you, Chainsssaw. Whatsss your name, sssweetheart?"

"Shut it you scaly sack of shit. You can't do anything anyway."

"Wasssn't talking to you, Chainsssaw. Girl hasss a mouth of her own. Ssso, sssweetheart?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 447922 ID: d6c330

>Warped Minds?
I'm not sure how useful that is if it turns off once the violence starts, especially since we can just poof the gun away in non-fight circumstances anyways.

I'd think break sight would be more useful. We'd know how many times we could shoot someone fatally and have them static-respawn before we go for a disable or demand surrender. It's a passive mp / lives remaining scanner. I think we want that, especially considering how lethal our weapon is.

>I've got... an issue.
Oh duh, she's a berserker of some kind. Has a hard time stopping once the violence starts.

>Ssssnake boy
Linda. And I ain't your sweetheart.

There a secret race of snake people out there, or your powers just do that to you?
>>
No. 447927 ID: f6cff9

>>447922

Yeah after knowing warped mind doesn't keep working after we start fighting it seems kinda weird to have. I'm choosing break sight but I also want to find out if we need to know anything about the boss. Like don't talk about certain subjects and what not because I don't feel like getting shot if we say the wrong thing.
>>
No. 447935 ID: 60fee2

Oh, with that limitation Warped Minds is kinda useless. Go with Break Sight.

"Linda, thanks for the compliment, and I ain't your sweetheart."
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No. 447947 ID: a407a5
File 134600681821.jpg - (32.19KB , 494x500 , The-Fairmont-Dubai.jpg )
447947

Ability Changed: Break Sight selected.

For a moment, you don't answer the snake-thing... er, Mike, as you suddenly notice something floating next to each of the people in front of you. Namely, there seems to be a number floating around them. You squint at it a little, and eventually you make out what appears to be a 14 floating next to Cass. You think, THINK, this is the number of times she can break reality. An 8 floats next to the snake-man, who's still watching you. Experimentally, you try glancing around yourself, discover a number printed onto the back of you left hand. A 5. Huh. That's interesting. So... you an try breaking reality 5 more times before being drained?

You finally snap out of your little daze, though, when the question comes again from Mike.

"Hello? You got a name, sssweetheart?"

"Heh, maybe she's just ignoring your scaly ass, Mike."

"Linda, thanks for the compliment, and I ain't your sweetheart. There a secret race of snake people out there, or your powers just do that to you?"

Mike blinks in surprise, barely paying any attention to the road, then he lets out this sort of coughing/hissing sound, which you quickly figure out is his laughter.

"Fiery. I like that. It'll be fun to ssspend time around you, sssweetheart. I hope I get to be your driver for the tessst. But no, my powersss aren't sssuposssed to do thisss. I got locked into thisss form while fighting one of thossse fixssure typesss."

"So... anything I shouldn't talk about in front of this boss person?"

Both of the people in the front seat glance at each other than they both say at the exact same time:

"The doll."

Neither cares to elaborate more, but it doesn't take much longer to arrive at your destination, a five-star hotel you'd never thought you'd get to stay in. Cass leads you through the lobby and into an elevator, which begins its ascent to the top floor suite. Upon arriving, your greeted by a security guard, who let's you both pass after Cass says something to him, then your lead through the rooms until you arrive at an office. There, Cass stops outside the door and motions for you to enter.
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No. 447948 ID: a407a5
File 134600682440.png - (322.96KB , 682x1023 , suit.png )
447948

As you enter, the first thing you notice is the smell of cigarette smoke. The second is the man behind the desk, his back to you as he stares out the large window that makes up the back wall. The third is the number floating around his head. 54. Shit.

The last is the life-size doll in the corner. You would have mistaken it for a real person, if you couldn't clearly see where the arms connected to the torso. Damn though, it's a little scary. And the thing feels... off. Foci off.

You drag you attention away from it and focus on the man instead.

"Uh. Hello?"

The man swivels to regard you, and at first he seems almost disinterested. Then a massive smile breaks out across his face.

"Hello! Linda, I presume? Don't worry, I don't bite! Please, have a seat. My names Marc Conner, although many of those that follow me just call me Boss. It's a little unsettling, to tell you the truth, but what can I do? A pleasure to finally meet you. I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability. Do you smoke?" He offers you a cigarette as he gestures to a chair in front of his desk.

>>>Input Command
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No. 447949 ID: 32e092

>>447948
You don't smoke. You'd like to know what this group does and why it justifies murder.
>>
No. 447951 ID: d6c330

...I'm going to assume Lung cancer isn't even a remote concern for people who can bend reality to their will, is it?

(Still, let's politely decline. It's an expensive habit to pick up, if nothing else).

Tell him you'd appreciate some background information, if he'd care to fill you in. You've already figured out that you've gotten magic reality breaking powers, and there's factions fighting over how to use 'em, but it would be nice to know some hows and whys. And more about what this organization specifically, of course. Always good to know what you signed up for up front. Cass didn't exactly bring the company mission statement with her.

>>447949
Let's not come on so... strong. It's more war than murder. The fixers are just as willing to kill this side up, and Mike's obviously the victim of hostile reality breaking. Still, asking what justifies all the violence might be prudent.
>>
No. 447959 ID: 32e092

>>447951
> It's more war than murder.
As far as we can tell, the fixers are just trying to defend themselves and keep the world from falling into destructive chaos.
>>
No. 447962 ID: 7472ad

>>447959
No, as far as we can tell the fixers are attempting to maintain reality's status quo. Whether deviating from that turns the world into destructive chaos remains to be seen. With Mike though, we've seen they can lock reality into something, and judging by the fact that he can break reality and is still a snake, may be able to do so in a way Breakers can't change. If so, then they might lock part of the world into a worse state, where as those breaking it at least maintain the world's ability to improve what they alter.
>>
No. 447967 ID: d6c330

>>447959
I wasn't talking about goals, just behavior. Trevor was just as quick to violence and willing to kill as Cass. We'd have had just as hard a time trying to convince him to go for mercy if we'd chosen the other side (remember, he was the only one who resisted our suggestion to talk reasonably too). His brother was more hesitant, but still pulled his gun on us before we made a threatening action towards him.

The fixers are at war with the free spirits, and both sides are willing to kill. Moral justifications of their positions aside.

The moral problem is more complex. We know nothing about reality breaking. We don't know if it is wrong or detrimental to reality in an objective sense (exploiting hacks and bugs in a game doesn't always make a game unstable, for instance). It could be destroying everything. Or it could just be part of the way the world works.

>>447962
I think Mike's condition is like when we tried to heal the arm, which then fucked with the kid when he static respawned. His "natural state" got overwritten, so he can't go back to normal.
>>
No. 447968 ID: a407a5
File 134601052772.jpg - (69.47KB , 560x560 , A_Break_in_Reality_by_xetobyte-560x560.jpg )
447968

You politely decline the offered cigarette, you were never one for smoking, and don't feel like gaining the habit now.

>hows and whys
"How we got these powers of ours? To tell the truth, I don't really know. The most I can make out is that we've all been to that room The one with the old-fashioned man. We all answered some questions, and we all ended up waking up again, being able to do what we do. Why doesn't seem to present itself either. At least the why us bit."

>the company mission statement
"At the moment? I'm trying to create a safe haven for those of us that don't want to go around killing people, but don't particularly feel the need to "fix" reality. More than that, we try to protect the weaker of us, like you, from falling into the wrong hands. Or at least, from being fed the wrong information. If you ever feel like leaving, I won't stop you. Unfortunately, our goals do sometimes mean the deaths of some people. Most of them aren't the fixers though. Most of our enemies come from the other gangs of... I guess we never actually came up with a universal name for ourselves. Let's just call ourselves breakers then. Still, we try to avoid deaths as much as possible in favor of recruitment. In your case, I apologize for Cass. She was the only one available at the time. Normally I'd have sent Rodriguez, or perhaps Daniel.

"Now, I think that about sums up all that we are, at least for now. I do have plans to make us a bit more... proactive... in reality, but those plans will have to stay just that for now. I need to speak with Cassandra now, so if you'd be so kind as to send her in on your way out... Ah! I've heard your a weapon type? Guns, I think. You'll want to see Mac then. He can help you identify what kind of weapons you have on your hands, and he also functions as a sort of exchange for foci you feel you don't need. You can get all sorts of supplies there. Just go down the hall, first door on the left.

"Unless you have another question?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 447972 ID: d6c330

Do you have any idea how long this kind of thing has been going on? Did breakers start showing up recently, or have their been groups around all the way back through history?

>mission statement
If he's being honest, those sound like principles we can work with. We didn't join the murder squad, we joined the pragmatists instead of the paladins. (Don't say any of that aloud).

>Mac
Sounds like this guy can tell us what the bullet we looted is capable of doing, so we can decide whether we want to keep it before we spent xp activating it. We should go see him next.
>>
No. 447973 ID: 32e092

>>447968
Well, that sounds pretty good, assuming he's telling the truth.

What is this "wrong" information, and given that he openly admits to not knowing much, how does he know it's wrong?
What does membership in this group entail? Do they want you to abandon your old life? Your old friends? Your family?
Why is there conflict between breakers?
Are there any long-term consequences on scales large or small to free use of your powers?
What do the fixers do?
He said they prefer recruitment to killing. What about just leaving people alone?
What will these "proactive" plans work towards, beyond creating/maintaining a safe haven? It sounds like he's got more in mind than that.

Thank him for his time.
>>
No. 447978 ID: 100061

could you explain the whole broken reality thing? i'm assuming its not the sort of thing to that might end the world, also the fixer said that casses boss was responsible for breaking reality, could you explain that?
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No. 447986 ID: a407a5
File 134601370468.jpg - (55.79KB , 585x439 , hoarding-room-full-of-garbage-trash-boxes.jpg )
447986

>Do you have any idea how long this kind of thing has been going on?
"Not to sound rude, but how do you think we would find that out? Couldn't someone break reality to make it so all this has been going on forever? So in the end, I really can't say."

>What is this "wrong" information, and given that he openly admits to not knowing much, how does he know it's wrong?
"What is wrong is not telling people that they don't have to fix reality. They can come to us, for example. The fixers though... they tend to pressure you into doing what they want."

>What does membership in this group entail? Do they want you to abandon your old life? Your old friends? Your family?
"Nothing so drastic. The only thing we require is that you make yourself available if we need a job done, or an extra hand somewhere, and that you keep the "Normals" out of this. They shouldn't be burdened with our problems."

>Why is there conflict between breakers?
"Some are more... violent... in the use of their abilities, and tend to make themselves as open as possible. Robbing banks, murder sprees... power seems to have gone to their heads. I'd like to think we try to help minimize that as much as possible, although the fixers would say we're just as bad as them."

>Are there any long-term consequences on scales large or small to free use of your powers?
"I truly don't know about the grand scheme of things. I've tried investigating, but... there's only so much I can do. I do know that as long as you don't leave things alone after destroying everything, reality doesn't really seem to care in the small-scale. Your apartment for instance. I've already sent someone to clean it up and return it to normal, so reality shouldn't be influenced too much."

>What do the fixers do?
"From what I've seen, kill our kind. I've never seen or heard of them doing anything else, although admittedly, any contact we've had with them is generally violent."

>What about just leaving people alone?
"If they want to leave after I've finished speaking with them, that is up to them. But I do insist on at least having people hear me out. Again, I don't want people getting the wrong idea about me and mine."

>What will these "proactive" plans work towards, beyond creating/maintaining a safe haven?
"That will have to stay with me, at least in the short term. Now then, please, go see Mac, and make sure to send in Cassandra."

You find yourself unable to really resist the urge to leave, so you rise, thank him for his time, and head out, telling Cass to go in after you. That done, you head down the hallway and enter the suggested door to find...

A lot of junk. And a man who seems remarkably large, almost literally wading through all the junk inside the room, a truly awe-inspiring smile spread across his face. For whatever reason, he seems way more pleased you've arrived then he reasonably should be.

"Ah! Yer teh new one, aintcha? Come on in, what can I help ya with?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 447991 ID: d6c330

>Couldn't someone break reality to make it so all this has been going on forever?
Well, yes, but it'd be nice to know how far back our records go, even if they could be the result of retroactive timeline altering. Oh well.

>You find yourself unable to really resist the urge to leave
See, this guy understood the value putting points in will. :p

Overall, I like his answers. Protect our own and the newbies, don't fuck with the humans, maintain order without some crusade of fixing something we don't understand in the first place. I think we can work with these guys.

>what can I help ya with?
Ah yes, hello, I'm Linda. I hear you can tell me things about my foci? I've got my own, and this other one I... acquired... off a fixer. Can you tell me anything about them?

Also, could you tell how this swap and supplies system works?

Mac doesn't have a visible break number? So he's a normal, or on empty?
>>
No. 447992 ID: f6cff9

Just show the bullet we looted from the dead guy and shake hands with the guy "You got any idea what type of weapon this one is ? I mean besides it being a gun of course."
>>
No. 448000 ID: 60fee2

All of the above. What is Mac's number? Also, Manifest the Rifle.

"Is there anywhere I could practice with this thing?"
>>
No. 448002 ID: d6c330

>>448000
Manifesting costs break points, and we don't have very many of those. I'd rather not waste a point on show and tell if we don't have to.
>>
No. 448006 ID: 32e092

>>447986
>>What do the fixers do?
>"From what I've seen, kill our kind. I've never seen or heard of them doing anything else, although admittedly, any contact we've had with them is generally violent."
We should try to open negotiations with these guys. It sounds like there might be opportunity for reduced conflict and even cooperation, at least with regard to putting a stop to the destructive/violent breakers.

>>448002
Sure, but we shouldn't be too constrained; we're not expecting further combat, and even if we were I'm sure this place is plenty well defended without us. Don't waste points just showing, but if he actually has reason to inspect it or if you have opportunity to practice, go for it.

Marc never explaind just what jobs they might ask you to do, or what they might need you to give them a hand with. Ask Mac if he can tell you.
>>
No. 448015 ID: a407a5
File 134601791683.jpg - (9.56KB , 225x210 , bartering.jpg )
448015

"Ah yes, hello, I'm Linda. I hear you can tell me things about my foci? I've got my own, and this other one I... acquired... off a fixer. Can you tell me anything about them?"

You dig around your pockets and pull out the smaller bullet before opening up the pouch around your neck and retrieving the larger one. You hand both over to Mac, who examines them both closely.

"Hm... This biggon here is a .50 Cal BMG round. Pack a punch, these do. Yer a gun type then? Word o' advice. Guns aint got unlimited ammo. Ya have ta 'reload' em when the magazine is done. Takes a use of breaking reality, but it's instant. This smaller one here is a 9mm. Smaller, lots less stopping power, but better recoil and easier to use properly. Uh, ya mind showing me whichever is yer focus? The real gun I mean. I could tell ya about that too."

"Also, could you tell how this swap and supplies system works?"

"Sure! Real simple. Lots a times ya'll go out on a mission and ya pick up a focus ya either don't want or can't use. Ya bring em to me, and I'll see about trading em fer sometin else. Sometimes thats a focus ya can use, other times it's sometin special, like grenades, er body armor, er favors from other members. All sorts o' stuff. Ya bring back stuff like that to, I'll see about trading it as well. We aint using cash though, no point. Our kind can get cash outta places way to easily, and the Boss wants ta keep that sorta thing from happenin.

>Mac doesn't have a visible break number? So he's a normal, or on empty?

Mac seems to notice the rather intsense stare your giving him, and that sets him laughing.

"Can't see it, can ya? Thats cause I aint got a focus no more. Got it taken away by one of them fixers. Bastard. Still, I try to help out with what I can."

"Um... Marc said something about jobs... you know anything about that?"

"Jobs? Oh, yeah! Most of ya new ones'll get sometin easy to start. Maybe go recruit someone new, or help take out a weaker member of some other group. Don't worry, they aint gonna have you fightin Amelia or nothing like that."

>>>Input Command
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No. 448019 ID: f6cff9

Okay I know I'm new and all but who the hell is Amelia and how bad would she kick my ass in a scale of one to ten.
>>
No. 448020 ID: d6c330

>Uh, ya mind showing me whichever is yer focus? The real gun I mean.
Well, if there's a point to it, we might as well. Spend the BP and show off our boomstick.

I think we should keep the 9mil, and not trade it. There's gonna be situations where we don't want finesse over stopping power.

So... you can't use a different focus? You need the original? Can breakers ever get going again if it's recovered after being lost?

Amelia?
>>
No. 448021 ID: 886a4d

Lets summon our gun for him.
>>
No. 448034 ID: 54c7e5

>>448019
I'm betting 11.

Soooo, we can trade grenades for cool stuff? Any specific requirement on those, or can we just walk into an army supply depot and steal a bunch of cheap ones?
>>
No. 448043 ID: a407a5
File 134602177089.jpg - (33.06KB , 800x600 , Barrett-M82A1.jpg )
448043

"Amelia?"

"Ah! She's that doll that the Boss has. He don't like people talking bout her like she's a doll, but she is. He's an Avatar type, their pretty rare, them. All that really means though, is when he gets angry an wakes her up, she kills. Everyone and everytin. Ya wouldn't stand a chance. Aint seen no one survive yet. Just don't get him mad, and ya'll be fine."

"So... you can't use a different focus? You need the original? Can breakers ever get going again if it's recovered after being lost?"

"Heh. Maybe if I still had a focus. See, ya can't tune yerself to another foci without havin one to begin with. I lost my only one, so I'm left high and dry. That's why most try to get a back up from somewhere, quick as they can. Makes you feel a bit sorry fer ta Avatar types, like ta Boss. It's rare to find another one, so he's gotta be extra careful what he does with his."

While he's talking, you bring out your rifle, and hand it over for an eager Mac to inspect. He starts checking it throughly, eyes getting more excited as he confirms this and that. By the time he's done, he's whistling in appreciation.

"Damn. I don't know what you did to deserve this beauty, but... well. Here, I'll map it out fer ya. What ya've got here was called an anti-tank rifle back during WW1 and WW2. Nowadays they call em anti-material rifles, since they can't really do much to a tank no more. But this baby'll stick cut through just about everything any civilian could throw at ya, and I doubt anyone else in our little gang here could match ya for sheer fire power. It's heavy though, and has lots a recoil. This one specifically is a Barrett M82. Ten rounds to a magazine, and it's semi-auto on top of that."

You stare at him, confused, before he sighs and dumbs it down.

"Ya don't have to touch anything on this after firing. Just pull the trigger again to fire again. Remember ya only got ten rounds before ya got to reload. As for attachements, this thing doesn't seem to have any yet. Probably cause ya need to fine tune it a little to yer likes. Still, my suggestion would be gettin a scope for this thing, it was meant fer long ranges to begin with. Anything else I can help ya with?"

Mac hands back the weapon, and you dismiss it for the time being. There's no point hauling it around out in the open for no reason, and you doubt there's a place to practice firing it up here. Your not really sure what to do at this point.

Luckily, your saved from indecision by Cass, who enters and glares at the piles of junk around her.

"See you still haven't organized this place, Mac."

"Don't see why I should, Chainsaw. I always know where everytin is."

"Yeah, whatever. You done here Linda? The Boss wants to talk to you."

>>>Input Command
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No. 448047 ID: f6cff9

"Yeah I'm done over here" Let's just leave and wave bye to Mac so we can see what the Boss wants to talk about. I would ask Cassandra what the boss wanted to talk about but odds are she doesn't know and she also didn't care enough to ask.
>>
No. 448052 ID: d6c330

Okay. We don't need the original, but we need at least one at all times. And even if mac got his old one back, he's have to retune it to himself (since whoever stole it tuned it to themselves already) which he can't do.

We're gonna need three guns. Our main, the fallback, and a hidden tuned backup we don't keep on our person in case we get beat up and lose the other two.

>Boss wants yah.
Yes, I'm done Cass. Thanks, Mac. (That was quick, he got rid of us not 5 minutes ago).
>>
No. 448059 ID: 54c7e5

Well it's a good thing you gain 1 XP for every foci you get. Two backups is nothing if we can find them.

Yeaaaah, mission time. And not even a ten minute cooldown before mission resets? Nice.
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No. 448067 ID: a407a5
File 134602598293.jpg - (66.87KB , 500x375 , jobs.jpg )
448067

"Yeah, I'm done. Thanks Mac."

"No problem. Drop by again!"

Cassandra leads you back down the hallway, but this time enters with you, standing a bit off to the side. "I brought her, Boss."

"Hm? Oh yes. Thank you Cassandra. Sorry about the rather abrupt and sudden call back. A few issues have come up, but they aren't too difficult so I thought I'd offer you the opportunity to test yourself a little. There's another of us waking up to their power, and we need someone to go investigate and convince them to at least hear us out. There's also reports of another one of the breaker gangs encroaching on what I suppose you would call our territory, and we need someone to go deal with them. In either case, I'll send Cassandra with yo-"

"Now hold on! No one said I'd be on babysitting duty!"

"Cassandra, please? We don't have anyone else on hand to accompany her, and I don't feel right sending her off alone."

"...Fine. But I'm not pulling her ass out of the fire if it means my neck."

"Thank you. Anyway, please. select whichever job suits you more. Ah! I... hope you don't have any plans for the rest of the day?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 448071 ID: d6c330

Hmm. If we go for the newbie, you can bet another group of fixers will be there to compete with us. Probably combat.

If we go fro the gang encroachment, there will almost certainly be combat, with more people.

...let's go for the newbie. We just went through the same thing, it makes sense we'd want to help the next person. And we can make a better pitch than Cass does. Maybe we can even convince the fixer team to back down, if not, we can send 'em running again.

>I'm not pulling her ass out of the fire if it means my neck
Don't worry, I won't hold back this time.

(We need to not do extraneous breaking though, we're down to 4 points! 3 when we summon the gun. We may need those to respawn or reload in the fight, we may not be so lucky this time around).
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No. 448086 ID: f6cff9

Hopefully the car ride is a hour long or something so we get at least a break point back but I agree to go with the "Recruit a newbie" mission. "Nah any plans I had today was shot out of the window. I think I'll go with "Recruit a newbie for today."
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No. 448099 ID: 54c7e5

Recruit the Newbie. There is absolutely no chance we give a worse pitch than Cassandra did.
"I already called to get the day off work, my schedule is full of adventure now."
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No. 448111 ID: a407a5
File 134603605858.jpg - (118.80KB , 1632x1232 , road.jpg )
448111

"Nah any plans I had today was shot out of the window. I think I'll go with "Recruit a newbie for today."

"Alright. The location is about two hours drive north. I suggest getting there as soon as possible. Take this with you." Marc tosses a cellphone at you, which you catch and pocket. "I'll call you on that once I've dug up some more information. There's also a car waiting out front for you to use, try not to wreck it this time, alright Cassandra?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

You both leave, Cassandra leading the way, and a few minutes later you're on the road, heading northward. You stare out the car window for awhile, but eventually get bored of that.

Is there anything you want to talk to Cassandra about? Or maybe just getting some sleep would be a better idea.

Allied Gained: Cassandra Geld
Explanation in Discussion Thread

>>>Input Command
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No. 448113 ID: 54c7e5

First off, ask how far away the place is. If it's a distance off, then yeah, take a nap. Otherwise, just keep yourself awake. You don't want Cassandra to start murdering people without you, now do you?
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No. 448115 ID: f6cff9

>>448113
It's two hours north so I kinda want to take a nap after what happen and how fast it's happening.
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No. 448139 ID: d6c330

You guys wanna nap? But, but, npc interaction!

Let's apologize for giving her a hard time before. You were just kind of shocked, but it's really not your place. You had no idea what her history was with them, or any of the rest of it.

If it comes to it this time, she won't have to haul your ass out of the fire; you won't be holding back.

(That said, if we get into fights with other breakers again? I think our basic strategy should be to shoot them to death till they're out of BP, and take their foci rather than just killing them).

If we manage to get a positive response out of her, maybe follow up with a humorous jibe:
...that said, let me try to talk to the new guy. Because no offense, but your speech sucked. You're just lucky the other guys sucked way worse.

Hopefully ice broken, and we get a new friend! Car ride progresses with swapping stories and bonding, as they're supposed to.
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No. 448140 ID: f6cff9

>>448139
Sorry man my day revolves around taking naps and working but I guess this time we can do it your new and crazy ways to spend time in a car.
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No. 448160 ID: 60fee2

How about a compromise? Talk to her for awhile, then take a nap.
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No. 448165 ID: 54c7e5

"Sooooooooo... Chainsaw, huh?"
"Does that thing where three people all bust into a house trying to recruit a newbie with weapons drawn happen often? Also, does that mean there should only be one other person coming this time?"
"Oh man, that only used up ten minutes? I'm going to sleep."
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No. 448172 ID: d6c330

>>448160
Well yeah, we'd likely be hard pressed to come up with two hours worth of conversation material anyways. And I think eventually we'd start to annoy her, earning negative relationship points instead of positive.

>>448165
I can't tell from the context if you're referencing her weapon or calling her chainsaw, but I think we should continue to make a point of avoiding her disliked nickname.
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No. 448174 ID: a407a5

"Um... Cass?"

"Yeah?" The other woman sounds kinda bored, but otherwise willing to listen, if for nothing less than taking the edge off the drive.

"I wanted to apologize for giving you a hard time, back when we first met... I was a little..."

"... Yeah, I got it. Don't worry about it. I was the same way, more or less. Although I took to the killing a lot faster than most."

"And don't worry about this time. I'll hold my own."

"Heh. We'll see."

"... That said, let me talk to the new guy. Because no offense, but your speech sucked. You're just lucky the other guys sucked way worse."

"I get that a lot. Yeah, don't worry about it. Your the one calling the shots this time, right? I'll just be the muscle, you can do all the talking. Just let me know if you want anything dead."

>"Sooooooooo... Chainsaw, huh?"
"Yeah. It's... complicated. I'd rather not talk about it..."

>"Does that thing where three people all bust into a house trying to recruit a newbie with weapons drawn happen often? Also, does that mean there should only be one other person coming this time?"
"More than anything else. Although usually it's only one on one. Those two brothers just never go anywhere without the other."

You spend a little longer just talking with Cass, who doesn't really say much. Still, by the time your done, you feel like she's opened up a little. She doesn't seem quite so... stand-offish.

You decide taking a nap would be best now, and you get comfortable before drifting off to sleep.
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No. 448181 ID: a407a5
File 134604433392.jpg - (76.52KB , 800x599 , boundBrookInt.jpg )
448181

Your woken up a later by Cass, who's shaking you.

"Come one. We picked you up kinda early, you probably haven't eaten anything."

You groggily get up and follow along behind the other woman, and when you finally rub the sleep from you eyes you find yourself in a diner, menu's in front of you and the smell of food permeating the air. Your stomach rumbles, and your finally reminded you haven't eaten since yesterday.

"Get whatever you like, I got some cash from the Boss. We'll be hanging around here until he gives us a call and tells us where we need to be and who to look for."

Break Points: 6
Cass' Break Points: 16

>>>Input Command
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No. 448183 ID: d6c330

Glance around the diner as you get the chance, make sure there's no more floating numbers or foci type wrongness. Don't want to be jumped.

Don't overeat, or go for anything that looks like it might disagree with you later. If you're a coffee person, get your fix.

Make sure that phone Marc gave you is on, and not set to silent or something, so you'll get the call when it comes in.
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No. 448267 ID: f6cff9

Well time to order a cheeseburger and french fries with Dr. Pepper to drink(The Drink of Champions). After eating your food just wait for the call while making small talk with Cass.
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No. 448404 ID: a407a5

You glance around the diner as you make sure the phone is actually on. It is, and there doesn't seem to be any issues with getting ambushed. Cass seems to be ignoring the menu in front of her, maybe she's already eaten, but you happily order yourself some basic set of food to satisfy yourself. The diner is mostly empty at the moment, so your food comes quickly enough, and you dig in without any preamble. About halfway though your meal, Cass seems to decide that the silence is disturbing her, as she turns to you to ask some questions.

"Hey. Why'd you pick me? Over the fixers I mean. I can't seem to understand why you'd pick an obviously crazy person who's outnumbered already instead of two guys that seems like they have a reasonable mindset and in a better position."

>>>Input Command
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No. 448405 ID: f6cff9

Well the choice was between free spirits VS responsible people and I just picked free spirits. The whole concept having to fix reality just seem boring when I could learn how to make reality my bitch.
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No. 448410 ID: 6e44d2

Your organization gives me more room to work. I appreciate that freedom. I think I can make something great with you guys.
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No. 448415 ID: d6c330

(Because we pick anything with tits? Because we're crazy and always pick interesting over good, regardless of the well being of our characters?)

Well, I wasn't exactly thinking tactically. Numbers weren't a part of it.

I just got super powers out of thin air. I guess being told they were a bad thing, destroying everything, and I should be working against it, against myself right off the bat wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. Learning to do something with it sounded more appealing.

I mean, we call it reality breaking, but how do know it's really bad for anything? Just because we get to cheat doesn't mean the game breaks down for everyone. I mean, maybe if I knew for sure we were killing the Universe or something I'd feel differently, but for now a crusade just didn't sound like a good idea.

...and when a bunch of otherworldly strangers all come crashing through your walls demanding you have to come with them if you want to live, they all kind of come off as crazy anyways. So you didn't have that much of a handicap.

And so long as Marc's not some kind of lying supervillian, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice. Pragmatic survival and looking out for each other seems like a better idea than killing anyone not willing to 'fix' things.
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No. 448420 ID: df670b

"Well, from my perspective it was Free-spirits vs Fixers. I guess I just prefer Freedom over being forced to fix something that is not my fault."
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No. 448422 ID: df670b

"Plus, Wolf Guy didn't really come off all that sane either. Also, The guy I shot clearly said that they were outclassed."
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No. 448570 ID: a407a5

You pause a moment to finish chewing the food in your mouth, then get to replying to her question.

"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking tactically. Numbers weren't a part of it. I just got super powers out of thin air. I guess being told they were a bad thing, destroying everything, and I should be working against it, against myself right off the bat wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. Learning to do something with it sounded more appealing.

I mean, we call it reality breaking, but how do know it's really bad for anything? Just because we get to cheat doesn't mean the game breaks down for everyone. I mean, maybe if I knew for sure we were killing the Universe or something I'd feel differently, but for now a crusade just didn't sound like a good idea.... and when a bunch of otherworldly strangers all come crashing through your walls demanding you have to come with them if you want to live, they all kind of come off as crazy anyways. So you didn't have that much of a handicap. Plus, Wolf Guy didn't really come off all that sane either. Also, The guy I shot clearly said that they were outclassed.

And so long as Marc's not some kind of lying supervillian, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice. Pragmatic survival and looking out for each other seems like a better idea than killing anyone not willing to 'fix' things."

Cass considers this for a moment, then a small smile spreads across her face. "I see. Well, I guess that makes sense. Just try to come off as less crazy to whoever this new person is. Don't want to fuck it up like I almost did with you, yeah?"

You go back to eating, and just as you finish eating, you get the call. Time to head off again.

>>>Second half to be posted later. Meantime, have fun character building in the Discussion, and will be posting a wiki thread containing character information later as well.
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No. 448614 ID: a407a5
File 134612727344.jpg - (157.28KB , 1024x685 , front_of_house_2_1024x768_1024.jpg )
448614

You spent a good amount of time after getting the call finding your way to the place, almost an entire hour in fact, thanks to Cass stubbornly ignoring your directions until she finally gave up and just took your advice.

Now that your parked in front of the place, you stare at it a little uncertainly. It looks like a normal house to you, you don't think someone with the power to break reality is in there. Then again, you didn't think you'd be breaking reality, and you live in an apartment building.

You take a quick look down at the rather sparse notes that Marc had been able to get you. There's the address and a name, one Mathew Kemmet, and the rather unsettling warning that both fixers and a rival breaker group are reported to be moving towards the man. Hopefully this doesn't turn out really bad.

"So... got a plan, Linda?" Cass is lounging in the driver's seat, clearly unconcerned, although the added pressure that you get from her question isn't helping your nerves.

You toss the scrap of napkin you'd scribbled on somewhere random, and nervously rub the scar through your shirt, staring at the house. Of course you have a plan... right?

>>>Input Command
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No. 448617 ID: f6cff9

Ring the door, prepare for anything, and look as sane as possible to not scare off the new guy or at least look saner then the other people if there is any. Ask Cass to call us and delay any rival/fixer. She could also lead them there to make it look like we are the safest choice but it's not a guarantee to work though I mean look at us as an example of it not working so it should be a last resort if she think she gonna be overwhelmed. We can change things on the fly because plans never work out they way they are suppose to.
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No. 448618 ID: d6c330

>Plan
Well, if we're here first, it's easier. We go in- through the door, and not the wall (hopefully makes us seem less crazy than the people after us, who do come in through the wall). If he's reluctant to let us in, we can play on the fact we know exactly what just happened to him (man in the room, etc) to get his interest.

Once in, Linda makes the pitch, lean on the fact that the exact same thing just happened to her. We just want to help, show him what's what, and let the boss give him the sales pitch. And get him out before anyone crazier shows. It's not even a binding offer. Our side just wants you to hear us out- I doubt the others will be so generous.

If things go south, and we end up fighting, Cass closes for melee (she's pretty devastating there- wolf boy couldn't get past her reach or inside her guard at all), while we offer ranged support- take down anyone who tries to mess her up at range, or who's nimble enough to keep out of her saw-teeth.

Don't park the car directly in front of the house, so the other factions don't see it and wreck it on the way in.
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No. 448628 ID: a407a5
File 134613206850.jpg - (22.48KB , 240x320 , man-on-fire.jpg )
448628

You decide, after a few minutes thought, that perhaps just going up and talking to the guy is the best course of action. It can't hurt to at least appear normal, right? You decide bringing Cass along probably isn't the best idea, given her... issues... with violence. But she can stand guard and make sure no one else jumps you right?

After giving the other woman her task and getting out of the car, you make your way over to the front door and knock. After a few minutes, the door opens ever so slightly and you hear a male voice, sounding very uncertain. At the same time, you find yourself feeling a little warmer than you should be.

"Um... hello? C-can... Can I help you?"

"Uh. Yeah. Are you Mathew Kemmet?"

"Y-yes?"

"Hi. I'm Linda McCallahan. I just need to talk to you for a little bit."

"I'm sorry, now really isn't a good time."

"No, you don't understand, I really, REALLY need to talk to you right now. Can I come in?"

"NO! I mean, um, no. I... look, not just really isn't a good time." Mathew tries to shut the door in your face, but you know you can't just leave him like this. You remember what you were like when you first got your power, and it isn't a pleasant thought, leaving him to his own devices. Especially with fixers and a possibly less friendly breaker gang on the way. So, you decide it's time to break out the trump card and hope it works.

"I KNOW! About the man and the room and the weird reality breaking thing! Just let me... me..."

In you attempt to stop him closing the door you put a little more force then you meant to and the door swings open. On the other side you get your first look at Mathew, and find him to be on fire. Your first gut reaction is to scream or something, but your experiences so far have made it a little easier to accept things. Especially given that he doesn't seem to be getting burned from the flames.

"W-wait. You... you know what's going on? Why I'm like this?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 448633 ID: f6cff9

"Yeah I do and I can help you out. What you did with fire is what you call breaking reality and there are other people can break reality as well. I don't think there is a official name for people like us but you can just call us "Breakers" if you want. I just kinda came here to give you an invite to come see our boss and see what we are about but if you don't like what our group is about you can just leave and never come back. I'm sorry if this is all happening so fast but I kinda want to leave before the crazies get here and start fucking up your house so if you got any question ask them now."
Be prepare to prove you can break reality as well by summoning your gun if the guy acts like you are crazy. Look at his Break points as well and be on the lookout for crazy shit.
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No. 448634 ID: d6c330

What's his BP at?

Well, I don't know why this is happening, but I do sort of know what's happening. I was in your shoes less than half a day ago. Woke up with the power to change things and pull a giant gun out of thin air.

You got a fire form? That can't hurt you, and you should be able to just will it away, I think. It's yours, something you can control, not something being done to you.

(Initial focus is on calming him down, getting him to realize he can turn the fire off. I don't think he's figured that out yet, and he's freaked out by it. Once we've got him calm we make the pitch).

We're not the only ones who can do these kinds of things. There are whole groups of reality breakers. ...and not all of them are very nice, and they have rather aggressive recruitment methods.

Then segue into reasons why he's better off coming with us, we just want to help, show him what's what, and let the boss give him the sales pitch. And get him out before anyone crazier shows. Etc. If nothing else, at least he's with someone going through the exact same thing.
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No. 448635 ID: 6a1ec2

Congratulations your life is officially fucked. Welcome to the club. I represent one of many crazy groups who will destroy your house and wreck each other fighting over you. They can all track you down easy as a lighthouse, so your best bet is to get somewhere you don't pay property insurance on, and don't take no shit from no one, least of all myself.
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No. 448645 ID: a407a5
File 134613819280.jpg - (20.02KB , 300x400 , man-in-suit.jpg )
448645

>BP
A quick glance reveals it to be at 4.

"Yeah I do and I can help you out.... Sorta. I mean, i don't really know why this stuff is happening, but I know more or less the basics. I was in your shoes less then half a day ago. Woke up with the power to-"

"Wait. Hold on. Come inside, I can't... I can't be seen like this." Mathew leads the way inside, and you follow, closing and locking the door behind you. Don't want any unexpected guests. He leads you into the living room, and you take a seat on the sofa, while he tries to keep himself from setting fire to things.

"I'm sorry, I can't seem to make it stop..."

"I think you can just will it away. Just... calm down and wish it gone."

Mathew seems to calm down a bit at your words, and then the fire abruptly goes out, leaving him in a very business-like suit. Your half amazed his clothes didn't burn away, but maybe reality is a bit nicer about that sort of thing? You start talking before he starts asking questions, because your really not the person to be asking about this sort of thing.

"We're not the only ones who can do these kinds of things. There are whole groups of reality breakers. ...and not all of them are very nice, and they have rather aggressive recruitment methods. I'm sorry if this is all happening so fast, but I kinda want to leave before the crazies get here and start fucking up your hou-"

Your cell buzzes in your pocket, and you quickly check it. The only thing you see is one very bad message.

fixers front door back up in 2 - cass

... Shit.

>>>Input Command
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No. 448648 ID: f6cff9

"Oh god no here come the crazies."
Summon up your gun
"Mathew put back your flames by concentrating on them. You are gonna need it because the crazies are gonna come out and play with us right now. If you can't do it just hide for now. I'll try to hold them off till backup show up"
Keep track of any sounds and keep your eyes peeled because you kinda don't want to get ambushed by anyone smashing a wall down to get to you.
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No. 448649 ID: 6a1ec2

If Mathew could hide in a closet, nobody would have found him in his house. No hiding from these guys. Go out the back and book it. You just need to keep up a fighting retreat for 2 minutes and you might get out of this intact.
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No. 448651 ID: f6cff9

>>448649
Fine tell him to get his flame on and run. I guess just cut the dialogue telling him to hide and replace it with "Let's get the fuck out of here."
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No. 448659 ID: f6cff9

Might as well tell him to take his Foci a.k.a the thing the guy gave to him in the dream with him
>>
No. 448661 ID: 100061

"crap, the crazies are here. they call themselves fixers, and they have a very with us or against us mindset. if you want to avoid a life and death struggle we need to get the hell out of here now."
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No. 448710 ID: d6c330

"Too late."

Get up, move to the hall, summon your gun and take aim at the door, ready to blast whatever comes through it. Time your shots- if you absorb recoil and track your target carefully, you can chain your kills (ie bang, track the static stumbling backwards, bang again when the static clears, repeat).

Talk as you move.

Combat 101- dying doesn't kill us until you've used up all your points. Lose your foci and you're out.

If he's still listening at this point (even if you've starting to get shots off by now).

These guys are out to "fix" things, mainly by killing anyone who isn't doing exactly what they say. We just want to help, and to have you hear us out. Non-binding, doubt you get that offer from them. But things are about to get crazy here, and you [i]need[/] to pick a side.
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No. 448717 ID: d6c330

Oh, and when you take up position aiming at the door? You don't want to be right up to the door. You want to be across the room, down the hall, whatever- so you have range to fire from, and you're not going to be in trouble if they blow through the door (which seems like standard procedure, especially if they see Cass coming).
>>
No. 448719 ID: a407a5

"You got the thing the guy gave you?"

"What? Uh, yeah, it's this-"

"Good. We have to go. NOW."

You start to lead the way towards what you hope is the backdoor, but then you hear a whining sound. Not like Cass' chainsaw, this one is more high-pitched. The whine seems to be picking up, you almost get the feeling...

You grab Mathew and drop to the floor seconds before a hail of bullets tears through the walls, cutting through the air where you were just standing. Shit! You have no idea what that is, but you don't want to be on the receiving end. You manifest your rifle and take up a position that gives you a view of the door, all the while talking. It helps keep you just as calm as him, especially cause this is really only your second fight, and the other one was kinda quick. Your panicking a little yourself.

"Combat 101- dying doesn't kill us until you've used up all your points. Lose your foci and you're out."

"Points? Foci?"

"Thing thing the guy gave you! Points are... how many times you can break reality... I think." The door is kicked in, and you barely catch a glimpse of some guy holding a sword of some kind before you take your shot. Fuck him. The round smashes into his chest, dropping him instantly, but you can see him already starting to pick himself back up. Unfortunately, the recoil through off your aim, he'll be back up by the time you realign.

"These guys are out to "fix" things, mainly by killing anyone who isn't doing exactly what they say. We just want to help, and to have you hear us out. Non-binding, doubt you get that offer from them. But things are about to get crazy here, and you need to pick a side."

"Oh god, oh god, oh god. You just... you just..."

>>>Input Command
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No. 448721 ID: f6cff9

"He ain't dead and he coming back for more so just think of him having extra lives like in a video game." Take the second shot whenever he gets back up BUT keep an eye out for that second fixer coming our way. If we can tell him to use the thing the guy gave him to turn back into fire dude to help us get out of here and if he does tell him not to worry about hurting these guys as they can just get back up as he can plainly see.
>>
No. 448722 ID: d6c330

Well, they're making things easier for us, shooting first, breaking in, and not even trying to talk. (I'm guessing that's the mini gun guy out there. Not great news that- rapid fire bullets are probably one of the few things effective against Cass. Hopefully he's facing the wrong way).

BP on the sword guy? Even if he's back up before we realign, he's at the front of the house, we're at the back. We should be able to drop him once again before he can close, barring tricks. (Doing something about the recoil definitely on the wishlist).

>you just...
I didn't kill him, and they're still trying to kill us! They just started firing blindly into your home- they're not good people. You gonna help me defend ourselves here?

Hopefully we can stir him to action. If he starts contributing to the firefight, that will make up for our blasting delay, and we'll be able to take his guy down while Cass engages the gunner. Remember that Matthew can't see BP- so you'll know when the sword guy is helpless, he won't. Don't let him perma kill the sword guy- loot his focus at gunpoint.
>>
No. 448723 ID: 886a4d

Shoot at the arm holding the sword, that smore effective then killing him over and over again.
>>
No. 448731 ID: f6cff9

Yeah that does seems like a good idea because it will take some time before he dies from blood loss and won't be able to use the arm so I'm gonna agree with you.
>>
No. 448735 ID: d6c330

>>448723
>>448731
I approve. Immediately non fatal shots are more disabling- they have to wait to die for the auto-res to kick in, or power through the pain and shock to will the break themselves.

The trick is when to grab his focus. If we grab it before he bleeds out and static-respawns, he's dead. The trick I think is to quickly search him while he's down, find it, hover over it, and then nab it the second he goes blurry. That way he's alive, but neutralized. We've got fast, accurate fingers, we can do this, right?

(What would the focus for a sword be, anyways? A sheath? A pin? A knife?. Part of me still expect chainsaw foci to be novelty keychains).
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No. 448803 ID: a407a5
File 134618174808.jpg - (52.23KB , 640x512 , overkill-demotivational-poster-1225067000.jpg )
448803

BP: 5

"I didn't kill him, and they're still trying to kill us! They just started firing blindly into your home- they're not good people. You gonna help me defend ourselves here?"

"I... er... I..." Your works don't really seem to be reaching him, but at least he has the presence of mind(or the gut reaction) to stay on the floor and out of the way. Your just barely realigning when the man starts to pull himself to his feet, and since he's a clear target anyway, why not? You fire off another round, this time into his arm, and you manage to hit right about where the joint would be. The entire appendage rips itself free, and the man collapses onto the ground again, writhing in pain. This is almost like what happend with that other guy. Only his arm didn't come off that time. Almost instantly, the man does his little regeneration thing, only this time, instead of sitting up, he rolls to the side, dragging himself out of the line of fire. A few seconds later, the sword he'd dropped vanishes into thin air. Another hail of bullets rips through the building, but your not stupid enough to stand up, and they work their destructive magic uselessly above your head.

>>>Input Command

A quick note. While I'm not an expert on weapon, and never claimed to be, I did do a bit of research before handing you that particular rifle. A .50 cal round will, if you were to shoot someone in the arm, cause either immediate or very quick death due to the shattering of bones, the ruptured artery, the massive bleeding and the shock from the sudden damage. So... maybe the "let's not kill" approach isn't going to work with this particular rifle.
>>
No. 448817 ID: 4a328b

Ask if there are any exits besides the front door. If there aren't, you may have to make one.
>>
No. 448849 ID: ff2944

He lights himself on fire and only just found out how to turn it off. Compared to someone summoning a weapon, I think there's a bigger learning curve to using it effectively in combat. Point being, don't rely on his help, and don't get mad at him for it.

Maybe also warn him you've got back-up coming. Somewhat reckless back-up.
>>
No. 448850 ID: f6cff9

"Time to move." You know what it might just be time to bolt and take our chances and run but at most I think a minute past. If necessary we could probably shoot though the walls to hit the sword guy because if you can punch a hole in a wall with a giant hammer odds are you can do the same with an anti-tank rifle.
>>
No. 448851 ID: f6cff9

>>448849
Yeah a warning would be nice but staying here won't do us any good at this point but who knows I could be wrong. Just use short phases and sentences so he can comprehend what we are saying because he basically having a magic gun battle in his house
>>
No. 448866 ID: 54c7e5

Text Cass with where the guy with the machine gun is, so she can make the most of her entrance.
Crawl toward the door!
We could let him know that our company will fix the damages for him after we get through this alive.
>>
No. 448868 ID: d6c330

Well, lay off Matt. As long as he's not attacking us, or running into danger, that's good enough for now. We're not talking him into a place where he's going to fight.

>spoilers
I think we just assumed there'd be a delay where we could try something, like with the last guy. But yes, message received, this is the overkill gun.

Speaking of the stopping power of your gun, if you saw what he rolled behind and you haven't waited long enough to give him the chance to move, you can probably peg him again right through the wall. It's just drywall and wood, and you have more stopping power than we know what to do with.

We can't really go for the back door. (Although changing position so sword dude doesn't know exactly where you are might be prudent). We're pinned down until Cass shows up and jumps the minigun asshole from behind. Hopefully she hasn't gotten held up with the other hostiles.
>>
No. 448869 ID: 886a4d

Hmm, can you see his BP number through the wall? You might use that to aim.
>>
No. 448939 ID: a407a5

"Stay down. Help's on the way."

You try firing through the wall at where you think the sword guy might be, and are answered with a scream of agony as your round passes through the weak wall. Well... at least you hit somebody. After that last shot though, you decide moving is the best course of action, and drag/crawl your way over somewhere a bit more protected from the random bullet storms. Mathew is trying to work his way over to you, although he keeps hesitating as the walls and furniture are torn apart by whatever is going on outside.

From your new position, you try sending Cass a short message, just to see if she can't speed things along a little, since you're more or less pinned down. The reply is quick and to the point, and a bit garbled, although you get the idea.

onwaystoptxtn

You decide maybe staying put until your friend gets here would be a somewhat better idea than nothing. You wish you could see where Mr. Triggerhappy is, but he's outside, and your inside, and as much as you'd love to stick your head outside, you really don't want to find out what death is like. As your thinking this, your phone buzzes again, and you frown as you check it.

Cass arrival 1 min. Bring Mathew out through back door and along side of house - D

You stare at it, a bit uncertain, your fingers drumming against the back of your phone in nervousness, but it's about then that Mathew finally gets to you.

"So... is there a plan? Other than just waiting for this help? Not that I'm complaining or anything..."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 448949 ID: d6c330

Well, if they've got that number, that's likely from someone on your team. (Unless the baddies are reality hacking your phone). D is probably Daniels.

>is there a plan? Other than just waiting for this help?
Yeah, c'mon. We're headed out the back, reinforcements have arrived.

Then head for the back door, stay low.

Sword guy's down 3 lives. Plus he's manifested the sword twice (or manifested once, and called it to him when it was dropped? Not sure if remote pickup costs BP or is free, we're kind of attached to our things, after all). No idea how many BP remaining, though (I think the count up a post or two ago was for Linda). He's likely to work his way around the house and try to jump you though, so be on guard for that, and ready to blast him at close range.

Don't kill him if you come across him on empty, of course.
>>
No. 448964 ID: f6cff9

Let's go with this but just be prepare for that gunner guy because odds are we aren't the only ones with a cell phone. We can sign in relief because said sword guy can't see us right now he can't really tell his friend where we are but odds are they know which way we are heading out so yeah just keep doing what we been doing since the beginning but before we even start that we gotta ask Cass who "D" is (Friend or Foe) or if she sent that message. Better careful than sorry
>>
No. 448980 ID: f6cff9

>>448964
You know what scratch that because Cass can't text right now
>>
No. 448996 ID: a407a5
File 134621464975.jpg - (38.81KB , 500x500 , priest.jpg )
448996

"Yeah, c'mon. We're headed out the back, reinforcements have arrived."

You hope.

You make your way over to the backdoor(after getting some helpful directions from your unwilling host) and manage to get outside. You make sure know one is going to ambush you around the corner, then start to make your way along the edge of the house to the front lawn, making sure Mathew is still with you. Just as your about to enter the front lawn, Cass arrives. And she's not wielding her chainsaw.

Instead, she seems to leap out of nowhere, landing directly behind the mini-gun toting fixer, and shove what looks to be a knife the length of her forearm into the man's skull. Blood pours out onto her arm and clothing, but she doesn't seem to notice or care. Instead, as the man drops to the floor, she yanks hard, pulling the knife out, and straddles the corpse, letting him come back to life as she waits above him. The minute he opens his eyes again, Cass smiles at him, her intentions clear on her face.

"Welcome back~ Couldn't have you missing all the fun~"

Cass slides the knife into his chest this time and twists viscously, her smile never wavering. If anything, it seems to get wider as the man starts screaming, until he's cut short by death. She pulls the knife free instantly, and waits, ever so patiently, for him to return to life, this time inserting her instrument of death into his eye socket, killing him instantly. Your break sight confirms it though. This is the last time he's getting up again. And Cass is clearly not finished.

She gets up off him as he is brought back again, and even lets him get up. Then she drives her knife home into his stomach, her smile widening to an impossibly large size, and then she wrenches it straight up, cutting him open and spraying blood all over herself.

Then the laughing begins.

It starts small. Giggling really, and barely audible. Then it picks up, and intensifies, and within seconds she laughing out loud to the world, knife in one hand, blood covering her form and insanity clear for the world to see.

"We're all like that, you know, in one way or another."

The voice catches you by surprise, and you spin to find a man standing behind, dressed like a priest. He seems oddly calm, after what just happened, although a little sad. It's clear on his face that just watching the scene he's deeply hurt, like he felt all the pain the man had just gone through.

Mathew, of course, is freaking out, but hey, just another problem, right?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449003 ID: d6c330

Hand on Matt's shoulder. It's okay. She's crazy, but she's on our side, thankfully. I know how it looks, but she's not so bad when she's calmed down, really.

...and for what it's worth that guy was firing wildly in a residential neighborhood.

>We're all like that, you know, in one way or another.
That sounds like something you and I should discuss later in greater detail.

For now, Daniels, right? Can we get out of here before anyone else shows up?
>>
No. 449004 ID: 60fee2

Part of me wants to try to calm Cass down, but we don't know if she can tell friend from foe right now.

"Damaged? Makes a twisted kind of sense. Reality breaks us. We break reality in turn. What happened to the sword guy"

"Mathew, look at me. It is going to be alright."

If Mathew doesn't look like he is about to burst into flames give him a hug.
>>
No. 449006 ID: f6cff9

"Mathew calm down this guy just tried to kill you so let's just get out of here before any more people show up" I want to loot this guy's foci before we go if that's okay.
>>
No. 449007 ID: 60fee2

Am pretty sure this is Rodriguez, not Daniels. Although, I can see how Linda would think that he is Daniels.
>>
No. 449010 ID: d6c330

>>449006
Cass killed him, she gets the loot. We only get it if she's feeling generous again, and we're not raising the point ourselves.

I kind of don't like picking up a spray and pray gun anyways. Doesn't fit Linda's style. She's about finesse and accuracy, and we've consistently tried to limit our own collateral damage.

>>449007
Yeah, I'm just going off the text.
>>
No. 449014 ID: a407a5
File 134621694284.jpg - (35.26KB , 594x800 , 7_62-machine-gun-round-260-p.jpg )
449014

You decide the first thing you should do is calm Mathew down, or at least get him to the point where he's manageable. You start by grasping his should and forcing him to look you in the eyes. That should give him something to focus on other than the bloody mess that is the man.

"Mathew, look at me. It is going to be alright. She's crazy, but she's on our side, thankfully. I know how it looks, but she's not so bad when she's calmed down, really."

Thankfully, he seems to calm down somewhat, enough that he isn't likely to outright start screaming his head off at least. Unwanted attention is still unwanted attention. With him calm again, your next step is to talk to the new arrival.

"Damaged? Makes a twisted kind of sense. Reality breaks us. We break reality in turn. That sounds like something you and I should discuss later in greater detail. For now, Daniels, right? Can we get out of here before anyone else shows up? And what happened to the sword guy?"

"Oh no, I'm not Daniels. I'm Rodriguez Hernandez, a man of the cloth, in faith if not in the church. Daniels is kindly taking care of our swordsman friend..."

He gestures to the side, and you finally spot a man using a thin wire to throttle his victim. He let's the man drop to the ground, wire still around his neck, then when the man is up again it's back to the strangling. Unlike Cass, the man seems more methodical about his killing methods, cold and calculating all the way.

"Regardless, I would be delighted to discuss the matter with you further, but I'm afraid now isn't the best of times. Now that we have Mathew, we should be leaving as soon as possible. I don't feel like fighting without reason. Daniels and I will make sure Mathew makes it to our little headquarters safely, you should take Cass and find a separate route. Besides, I'm sure you'll want to talk to her. She needs a female friend, more than anything else."

Rodriguez bows to you, then takes Mathew gently by the shoulder and leads him away, Daniels following along after looting the body he'd killed of it's prizes. You watch them leave a moment, then turn your attention to Cass, who seems to have calmed down a bit. You make your way over, and frown a little in distaste at how frequently you seem to find yourself searching mutilated corpses, but you do, and eventually manage to drag out a large bullet, you test the weight of it, wondering if you'll get any use out of it, then feel a hand on your shoulder.

"Not to seem like a bitch or anything, but that's my prize. I killed him."

You glance over at Cass to find her almost completely back to normal, although she's looking a little more tired than she was when you left her with the car. Either way, you find yourself debating whether you should really hand it over.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449020 ID: d6c330

>Hey, my loot.
Fair enough. Spray and pray isn't really my style anyways. *Toss her the bullet.*

(They'll be plenty of foci to loot if the body count keeps up like this. And we've already got one we still need to attune. And building something with her is more valuable than loot right now. Besides, I think we'll get xp for the fight anyways).

You alright?

(We want to get her to open up and talk about her crazy, if it all possible. From her response after we called her on killing the last guy, and how much she hates her nickname, I don't think she can control it. And I think that bothers her).
>>
No. 449021 ID: f6cff9

>>449019
Sure we can talk about her "problem" but not here because I feel kinda expose out in the open with an anti-tank rifle in hand so I kinda want to leave. When we give her the Foci let's just leave "Hey Cass can we leave? I feel expose out in the open and I kinda want to get out of here as soon as possible."
>>
No. 449024 ID: d6c330

Oh, yeah, we have a long car ride back, and possibly crashing for the night somewhere. We don't need to hang around out in the open, near a battle site. Plenty of opportunities to talk on the move.

Maybe if we can work it into the conversation, ask her how she got into this, or how long she's been at it.
>>
No. 449029 ID: a407a5
File 134621940362.jpg - (3.42MB , 3309x2206 , Desert_road_UAE.jpg )
449029

"Fair enough. Spray and pray isn't really my style anyways."

You toss the bullet up to her, which she catches and shoves into a pocket. Then she turns on her heel and starts off, likely heading for the car. You stand and dismiss your rifle, then jog after her, catching up about a block down. Just watching her, she seems sluggish and tired, and you let your concern for the other woman get the better of you.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine."

Her answer was too fast and too tense sounding. You may not have a lot of experience dealing with people, but your certain she is definitely not fine. Still, you keep your silence, and when you do arrive at the car she get's into the passenger side, leaving you to drive... damn, it's been ages since you've had to drive anything...

A few minutes later your on the road again, this time taking the more "scenic" route back to your city of residence. You drive for maybe a half-hour, the monotony making the time blur together, before you get an unexpected conversation starter from Cass.

"I don't like it, you know."

You glance over at you comrade, but she's not looking at you, preferring to stare out the window instead. You hesitate, not really sure what to say at this point.


Experience Points Gained: 1
>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449032 ID: f6cff9

>>449029
"Yeah that was the feeling I got after I saw how you looked when the fight was over. I'm kinda wondering how did you start out with this whole "breaking reality" thing to begin with?"

I want to unlock our other Foci by the way
>>
No. 449037 ID: 60fee2

"Didn't think you did. Hell, that shit makes my inability to have kids seem like a walk in the park."
>>
No. 449038 ID: d6c330

>1 xp
Damn. That's what we get for passing up the loot.

Put the point in pistol. If we want to be able to spawn camp our next opponent and loot their foci (and get more xp!), we have to be able to fire repeatedly, at close range, without recoil.

Besides, a lower caliber weapon gives us disabling options. The tank gun is a 1hit kill no matter where we hit them (torso, limbs, head).

We can't afford a spirit upgrade anyways, a point in str/fin/wil isn't worth passing up another weapon, and I don't think we can afford to upgrade our tank gun and up it's manifestation cost yet with our current BP pool.

>"I don't like it, you know."
...I didn't think so.

Maybe ask her what she did before all this, and talk about your own life. The whole business nerd thing might get a little amusement out of her. Hell, you've got to have some good drinking stories with the backstory we gave you too. Bond with her. She deserves someone in her life who uses her name, and doesn't just treat her as a weapon or attack dog to be launched at enemies. Treat her like a person.

Maybe we could ask something like:
What's... it like? What happens, from your perspective?
Problem is I think it has to be framed delicately, and should only be asked if appropriate, and if she responds well to previous conversation. It's touchy, and not a lead in. Possibly not something we should even get in to today (hard to judge the mood several steps in advance).
>>
No. 449063 ID: 32e092

>>448803
Then you should know that the Barrett M82 is actually known for its incredibly effective recoil dampening systems, giving it a felt recoil some have compared to a 12 gauge shotgun. The real issue is the deafening sound.
>>
No. 449064 ID: a407a5

"...I didn't think so. Hell, that shit makes my inability to have kids seem like a walk in the park."

You say this a little jokingly, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere a little bit. For a moment, Cass doesn't say anything, making you think you'd screwed up somehow, but then you hear a slight chuckle come from her side of the car.

"Yeah... I suppose my little issue puts most others to shame... I mean, I am pretty messed up." She goes silent for a moment, then continues, her tone cold enough to freeze water. "But at least you got control. I don't got that. When shit starts happening... I lose it. Can't stop myself. It's... god, this is stupid. You don't want to hear me bitch about my issues."

Cass stops talking, going back to stewing in her own thoughts. Your left wondering if perhaps you should push a little more, or just leave it alone. Either way, you get the feeling leaving her to her thoughts isn't what Rodriguez had in mind when he said you should talk to Cass.

What to do...

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449069 ID: f6cff9

"Hey go ahead and talk about your problems if you want because that doesn't bother me none but here is a friendly warning for you. I will bitch about my problems at a later date so prepare yourself."

This works out like a invitation and doesn't make us seem pushy or as pushy as we could be but if she doesn't take it maybe it will serve as a chance for her to open up to us down the road.
>>
No. 449072 ID: d6c330

Screw Rodriguez. We're talking to her because we want to, not because we were assigned buddy building duty (although really, it's what we wanted to do anyways, so whatever).

>>449069
I kinda like this.

If she doesn't offer anything else, I say we back off on the crazy for now, we're obviously not going to fix it in a day. Let's try and talk about other things. You two barely know anything about each. Ask her what she did, or does, when reality isn't falling around around her. Introduce yourself as the business nerd you are for a laugh. See if she gets a kick our of your guilty anime habit. Share some drinking stories, you should have some good ones with the backstory we gave you. Seem what she's willing to share in return. Normal stuff.

Give her a chance to interact with you as a person. I get the feeling she doesn't get to be Cass very often anymore. People expect her to be Chainsaw. And that can't help.
>>
No. 449080 ID: 60fee2

Dialog for if we get her talking.

"At least you channel your crazy into something positive, Unlike all the crazy assholes out there. Damn, if you think about I am Insane, because of how well am adapting to this situation so far. I should be freaking out about the whole fucking situation right now, like Mathew was. That is the sane reaction to this situation."
>>
No. 449117 ID: d6c330

Ooh! Late idea, if we still need any.

Maybe you're not as far gone as you think. I got through to you, the first time, back in my apartment, didn't I?

(Yes, I'm abusing our lucky roll for character development now).
>>
No. 449126 ID: f6cff9

>>449117
Add this to what I said and it sounds great

"Maybe you're not as far gone as you think. I got through to you, the first time, back in my apartment, didn't I?"

Wait for her response

"You can go right ahead and talk about your problems if you want because that doesn't bother me none but here is a friendly warning for you. I will bitch about my problems at a later date so prepare yourself."

or something like that
>>
No. 449127 ID: a407a5

"Hey go ahead and talk about your problems, if you want, because it doesn't bother me at all. But here is a friendly warning for you. I will bitch about my problems at a later date, so prepare yourself."

There's a longer silence, and another ten minutes pass without any real change. Then she starts talking again. She's a little hesitant at first, but she eventually starts warming to her topic, and just starts going.

"It's like a movie for me. You know, how all you doing during a movie is watch. That's me. Every single time. The fighting starts, and I start going berserk, and... there's nothing. No control whatsoever. I hate. I hate. It sucks, and some part of me rationalizes that it's a useful state to be in, I don't have to worry about the killing or the danger. I don't think about that when I'm fighting. I just kill. But... I don't want to kill. I really don't want to kill. I just... Shit, I don't know. I don't know what it is I want out of all this."

There's another few minutes of silence as you digest that, then you think up something you hope is the right thing to say.

"At least you channel your crazy into something positive, Unlike all the crazy assholes out there. Damn, if you think about I am Insane, because of how well am adapting to this situation so far. I should be freaking out about the whole fucking situation right now, like Mathew was. That is the sane reaction to this situation. And hey, maybe you're not as far gone as you think. I got through to you, the first time, back in my apartment, didn't I?"

A moment passes, then Cass sighs. "Yeah. Yeah, I suppose you did..."

The other woman relaxes a lot, releasing a lot of tension from her body you hadn't noticed, then she falls asleep, sliding down into her seat to get more comfortable. The rest of the drive is silent, but you feel like maybe you've gotten her to open up at least a little bit.

Handgun ? Released
Experience Points Gained: 1(an additional point)

>>
No. 449129 ID: a407a5
File 134624910193.jpg - (585.82KB , 727x1100 , 539814111_6-lounge.jpg )
449129

By the time your back at home base, Cass is awake again, and you barely park the car before she hops out. Before she leaves though, she pauses and glances back over her shoulder.

"Hey... texting isn't really working out to well, right? I'll trade this focus I got for some radios or something... and I'll see you around..."

She looks a little embarrassed, and leaves too quickly for you to say anything in return. Still, you hope that she at least considers you a friend. You enter the building and head to the top floor using one of the elevators, and upon arrival find something completely unlike a hotel floor. For one, there's a massive lounge instead of a random hallway, and it's occupied by a few people. Rodriguez is slowly reading through the bible, although he glances up and give you a nod as you enter. Mathew is sitting next to him, still looking confused, but a lot calmer than before. And you notice Mike, the snake-man, lounging on a couch, hum/hissing a song as he looks through what appear to be ads for heaters.

Daniels walks up to you before you get the chance to do anything, though, growling out a quick set of order.

"Talk to the Boss, later. Later being the operative word. He's with Cass right now, finalizing some stuff."

Then the man leaves, heading off down the hallway to who knows where. Well, you guess that means you have some free time.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449130 ID: 886a4d

Lets spend that exp point on strength so we can better control the recoil of our gun.

As for our free time lets talk to the priest, we were interested in hearing his theories on what these powers mean.
>>
No. 449135 ID: d6c330

>Cass Trust meter +1
Yay!

>bonus xp for talking
*Mile wide grin*

Okay, we got a few hours to kill, I think. Things to do:

-Say hi to Matthew. He's still freaked out, and you're probably the sanest person he's run into since this all started. Plus, you can probably relate better than anyone else, you're in the same situation, just a few hours ahead. Don't waste a lot of time, but he could use the encouragement.

-Talk to Rodriguez. We wanna follow up on what he mentioned before. We need to understand if there's some kind of moral or psychological toll to this, and some philosophical discussion of this stuff would be interesting. I doubt we're going to agree with everything he puts forward, but trying to work this stuff out logically seems like something Linda would do. This conversation will burn some time.

-Say hi to Mike. Another short conversation, but let's keep in touch with our allies. Snake boy had a sense of humor, at least.

-We should check out our new gun. See if Mac can tell you anything good, manifest it, get a feel for it. Maybe try that trick you saw the sword guy do where the sword came back to him after he dropped it. If you put the manifestation down and move away from you, can you call back to your hand? (Just by the attunement I mean, breaking reality to pick it up and move it is cheating). That could be useful trick.

>>449130
>str +1

Sounds good. Brings our stats to 3/3/2. On our next level up we're probably going to want to up spirit again, maybe start thinking about our first gun upgrade, and/or put finesse back in the lead.
>>
No. 449209 ID: f6cff9

>>449135
When we go talk to Mathew ask if he talk to the boss yet and if he didn't just mention to him to not talk about the doll. A friendly warning from one newbie to another
>>
No. 449214 ID: a407a5

You decide you should talk with some of your teammates, and since he turns out to be the closest, you make your way over to Mike first. He notices you coming and his tongues flicks out, tasting the air. He smirks(you think) as you get close enough for normal talking, and starts off.

"Well. If it isssn't sssweetheart. What can Mike do for you?"

You enjoy some light conversation, and discover that he's gained quite a few traits from his snake-side, including an aversion to cold and the ability to "taste" the air and get information. Within a few minutes though, you excuse yourself and make your way over to your next target... er, targets.

"Hello. Linda, correct? It's a pleasure to talk with you without the threat of violence looming over our heads. Please, have a seat."

"Oh... uh... hi... um... yeah. Sorry for flipping out on you, before. It's... I've been told what's going on..."

You offer a reassuring smile to Mike, but quickly find yourself focused on Rodriguez. It seems he hasn't forgotten his promise to talk to you about people being broken, and he seems eager to explain his ideas.

"We are all broken. We all know this. All of us have our issues. I won't pry into yours, and it would feel wrong to use Cassandra's for our discussion, so I shall use mine. I was a priest, and I was crucified. I have the scars on my hands and feet to prove it. I am, in a way, broken. I will not deny that. Yet, I awoke days later and discovered I had the power to warp and change reality. My focus..." Rodriguez touches a silver crucifix around his neck as he speaks those words. "... allows me to heal the wounds and pains of others. God, for whatever reason, decided those of us that are broken and scarred are the ones to change the face of the world. I have yet to meet one of us that wasn't somehow damaged, either physically or mentally, sometimes both. Some of us may be better at hiding it, other not so much, but regardless, this is the path the Lord has chosen for us."

The speech goes on for almost an hour talking about the specifics, but large portions of it are highly religious in nature. You manage to pick out the general idea though. For some reason, only those that have some sort of physical or mental trauma are capable of breaking reality. Why this is remains uncertain, unless God really does exist, but irregardless, from everything you've seen, it more or less makes sense. The question remains though, why those who are broken?

You excuse yourself finally, and visit Mac to see about this new gun of yours. You find out it's a Beretta M9, a standard among the military nowadays, and while it's stopping power isn't the greatest, it can still put a man down. With nothing more to gain from that, you make your way back to the lobby to find Cass having joined those in the waiting room.

You could try talking to her more, you suppose, or maybe it's time to visit Marc again?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449220 ID: f6cff9

Flash a smile and wave hi to Cass as we go talk to Marc. We can talk to her later and get to know her better when we have more than five minutes to fit a conversation with her.
>>
No. 449221 ID: d6c330

If the pistol is a standard, modern weapon that means it has the advantage that we can be seen with it, and draw less attention.

>Healer
Hells yes, that's useful. Raises an interesting problem of type though. Does that count as a weapon manifestation, or a form? We'll have to wait till we see it in action, I guess.

>Talk to Cass
Sure, but keep it light. No prying into secrets or our own issues this time around. We've done enough of that for one day, and we're in front of other people. When we're done chatting we can see Marc.
>>
No. 449323 ID: a407a5

"Hey Cass. Heard you were talking with the Boss?"

"Yeah. You'll find out what it was about when your turn is up... Here. I already visited Mac, and he said he'll give us more if we ever get more people attached to... well, just talk to the Boss. He'll let you know."

Cass hands you what looks like an ear-bud from an ipod, although it's shaped oddly, with it's cord connected to a radio box looking thing. Another cord extends from the box, this one connected to a clip looking thing. You frown, not really getting what's she's talking about, until Cass goes into more detail.

"It's a two way radio type thing. I don't really get how it works, but you put the ear bud in your ear, this box thing connects to a belt, and that clip goes on your sleeve." Cass shows you, her's already plugged in and working. You follow suit, putting everything where it's supposed to go, until you realize that you don't have a sleeve for the clip to go on. At least, not one that's useful.

"Eh. Maybe you'll just have to start wearing long sleeves or something. Anyway, you can hold this little button on the clip down and talk through it, and I should be able to hear it. If Mac actually got this thing working right. He said range shouldn't be an issue, unless we get miles apart from each other. You should get going. Boss is a little impatient sometimes."

You thank Cass, still fiddling with the radio-thingy, and make your way to the Boss' office. Upon arrival you enter, and find him already smiling, the man sitting on his desk.

"Linda! I hear you did a good job for you first time out. Fine job indeed. Although it's a good thing I sent Daniels and Rodriguez after you. Regardless, I think you've done a splendid job, and from what I can tell, Cassandra seems to like you. So for now, I'm hoping you'll team up with Cassandra from now on when you go out on missions. I'd also like to suggest you stay here, at the hotel. We have numerous rooms available on the floor below, and I doubt you'll feel comfortable by yourself. A number of our members prefer to stick around here. I could have your things moved within the next few hours. If you want to, of course."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449329 ID: d6c330

While we should probably maintain our apartment as a front, moving to base makes practical sense. We have enemies now, and it's not safe to sleep alone when super powered crazies could bust in at any moment. A lone breaker is an easy target. We should take him up on it. ...we'd like to pack our own things though, if you don't mind.

And we're fine to keep working with Cass, too.

>it's a good thing I sent Daniels and Rodriguez after you
(seemed overkill to me, actually. Cass had the gunner dead, and we were controlling the swordsman. As soon as we weren't pinned down, or Cass entered the house, he was done. Unless they killed the 3rd gang we were expecting on the way in, all they really did was give us the chance to talk to Cass without Mathew in the back seat. And steal the sword guy's focus before we could get it).

>need sleeves
Good thing you have sleeved blouses in your closet!
>>
No. 449330 ID: 886a4d

I'm torn... some independance would be nice, but Wolf Boy is going to be looking for revenge....
>>
No. 449331 ID: f6cff9

So what should we bring if we are keeping the apartment just clothes and the like? What about the mecha anime DVDs? Do they stay in the apartment?

Hmm we could just bring some clothes over here and sleep here while keeping the rest of our stuff at our apartment so it looks like someone lives over there.
>>
No. 449335 ID: d6c330

>>449331
Well, we'll need our laptop and work related files / documents if we want to stay employed. Working from home will now take place in the hotel (although I expect we can cheat somewhat at that now, so it won't take as much time as it used to).

Clothes and stuff, sure. We can leave the furniture, the hotel is furnished. Probably the bottle of the good stuff we keep handy for emergencies. The mecha anime of course, we'll just hide it in the bottom of the box. And lock the doors when we turn on the TV.

And the apartment really only needs to look lived in from the outside. We don't have to worry about stuff like taking too much out of the closet, I'd say.
>>
No. 449339 ID: f6cff9

>>449335
Agreed but man now I got to change the dialogue again

Shrug your shoulders "You might as well because the fixers know where I live now anyways and this place doesn't look too shabby but can I come as well to get some personal items? You guys can move the rest of the stuff.

(No one must know my secret love of mecha anime)
>>
No. 449345 ID: a407a5

"Uh... sure. I'll live here. But... um... I think I'll go back and pack for myself... you know. Just to collect... some things. Personal things."

"Of course! Of course! I wouldn't dream of forcing anything on you. I'd be much obliged if you'd get it done today. It'll give me the time to get the necessary arrangements done as well. Since you'll be partnered with Cassandra, I'll put you in the room next to hers... Ah! I'll have Mike drive you over. You might take Cassandra as well, something is causing every breaker group in this town to worry, and I certainly don't like something that sets a fire under everyone.

Still, the final decision is up to you. I think that's all for the moment, so..."

You take that as a sign you should be going, and leave while thinking on the issue. Someone is out there who can worry the Boss? He's seems pretty strong, especially if he scares the people under him. You suppose that means you'll have to watch yourself. Who knows what kinds of things can happen nowadays.

You pause as you reach the lounge. Mike was coming, right? At least, that's what the Boss said. You suppose it would be better than going on your own. Should you bring Cass as well?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449349 ID: d6c330

>Someone is out there who can worry the Boss?
Or something. We are dealing with an unstable reality, here. Besides, even if he's personally got a crazy powerful kill doll and lots of BP to keep him from getting killed, he has to worry about his organization getting torn down around him. His plans and setup are probably much more vulnerable than he is.

>Take help?
Sure, it'll make moving faster, although it should be pretty easy. You're super strong now, and they're even more so.

Besides, it'd be stupid to go alone, when the whole reason you're moving is the danger of being alone. Especially after Marc warned you.

C'mon, we're headed out to loot my apartment. We're gonna be neighbors.
>>
No. 449353 ID: f6cff9

>>449349
Agreed might as well take all the help you can get.
>>
No. 449371 ID: f6cff9

Wait did we ever use that exp point (The one we got after Cass open up to Linda little more) to increase our strength because I don't see a mention of that unless I missed it.
>>
No. 449374 ID: d6c330

>>449371
Yeah, we must have. Our stats have already been updated in the wiki. 3/3/2
>>
No. 449394 ID: a407a5
File 134629597268.jpg - (106.41KB , 600x750 , 47467b1c0901cf8706663ed70812367d1233679556_full.jpg )
449394

>>449371
... Yeah... um... whoops... Yeah, it got spent on strength.

You grab Cass and Mike, telling them that your going to need help moving some of your stuff, not to mention that you'll be next to Cass, which doesn't really cause any sort of reaction. That's a little depressing, she could have at least been a little happy about it, but whatever.

A few minutes later and your back at your apartment, Mike waiting outside in the car to keep watch, and Cass with you inside, hauling a box over to your closet to start packing up clothes.

You've elected to start in the living room, because that's where your all important treasures are... the mecha anime collection you've so lovingly bought. There's is absolutely no way in HELL your letting yourself leave these behind... but you'd rather not have anyone else no about them. And of course, there can be only one that gets to go in the box first.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Why? Because it's fucking awesome, that's why. Giant robot, breaking physics, winning through sheer AWESOME. It's got everything. And because you've always wanted to be Yoko, and hell, you just realized after picking it up that you pretty much ARE Yoko now. You've got the huge ass cannon. You got the physics-breaking abilities that make everything seem possible. You've got a reasonably sexy body(although your chest isn't quite that large). You don't have your own Kamina though...

Your suddenly broken from your daydreaming by the sudden arrival of a familiar voice right next to your ear.

"Hey, isn't this that... what do they call it... Anime, right?"

You glance to your left to find Cass holding another of your treasured(if more depraved) collection, Neon Genesis. The only thought that manages to run through you head?

ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit

>>>Input Command

...Did you really expect me not to do it?
>>
No. 449407 ID: f6cff9
File 134629672675.jpg - (26.74KB , 640x480 , Ohno.jpg )
449407

Hide Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann before anything

"Cass look at me." Grab her "You cannot tell one soul about this. Please promise me this one thing for the love of god. Can you do this for me? Please?"

While saying this pull out the puppy dog eyes.
>>
No. 449421 ID: d6c330

>anime?
Plan overreacted embarrassment is a go. You're mortified. It'd be better if she'd found a depraved porn stash (not that you have one!)

Hopefully in the end the exchange ends up as more amusing or endearing than anything else, and we earn Cass a few more normal human friendship points.

When the silliness calms down, make sure we make out with the clothes, shoes, computer, everything work related, toothbrush and bathroom stuff, our personal cell for work / friends / family / normals (we'll probably leave it in the hotel room from now on), the emergency booze, etc.
>>
No. 449437 ID: a407a5

Your face goes bright red almost immediately. For a moment, you shovel through your limited knowledge of human interaction and come up blank with how you should respond to this. So you draw on another source of knowledge. The one you'd get so excited over you stayed up all night just to finish it an entire series. You turn to the anime you know and love.

You freak out.

"Youcan'ttellanyoneaboutthisiftheyfindoutI'llneverbeabletoliveitdownmyparentswillkillmemyjobcredibilitywillberuinedI'llb
elookeddownuponbypeopleeverywhereohgodohgodohgod-

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

You collapse, a little tired out by your sudden outburst, and for a moment there is no response, then Cass is kneeling in front of you, a puzzled look on her face.

"Is it really all that bad?"

"Cass look at me." You grab hold of her by the shoulders, staring her directly in the eyes with the most serious expression you can muster. "You cannot tell a soul about this. Please promise me this one thing, if it's the only thing you ever do for me. Please?"

Cass stares at you with a somewhat doubtful expression on her face, but she slowly nods her acceptance. At least partially, she stops midway through the nod and gets an evil smile on her face.

"Only if you share some of that booze you got stashed away in your closet. That's some good stuff you got, and we can't have it lying around, now can we?"

You hastily agree, not really caring as long as it'll get her to stay quiet, and finish packing up the rest of your stuff. Then it's time to haul it out to the car. Two boxes worth to get everything you needed out. When you arrive at the car, however, Mike isn't there. Odd. You remember telling him not to move...

You feel a tugging on your arm, and glance down to find a maybe 13 year old girl staring up at you, a look of concern on her face.

"You have to help the snake-man, lady. He went under the street to save my mom and hasn't come out." The girl points to a sewer grate left open.

>>>Input Command
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No. 449441 ID: f6cff9

Aw man this is a total trap but we gotta help Mike if he is in there. Call Mike if we have his number first so this won't end up as a wild goose chase. If we don't have it or he doesn't answer I guess we gotta go down. Take Cass with you
>>
No. 449444 ID: d6c330

>Share booze
We're going to get drunk with Cass later. I don't see how there could have been any better outcome.

>Girl
Be instantly suspicious. Bring out the paranoia. This has all the trappings of, well, a trap. Reach out with your senses. Is this girl a breaker? Is she under some kind of influence? Is she an avatar posing as a little girl? Do you sense anything, anywhere? Are you being played that you can tell, basically.

What... did your Mom need saving from, exactly?

Look to Cass- she's know Mike longer than you. Would he do that kind of thing?

If we're going under the street at least duck back into your apartment long enough to grab a flashlight.
>>
No. 449445 ID: f6cff9

>>449444
So go all out on the paranoia right? Make sense in this case though
>>
No. 449447 ID: 54c7e5

Check if she has BP, then go down the sewers. Use that handgun, the cannon isn't quite maneuverable enough for tight hallways, and we get to test the thing out.

Call Cass on that radio.
>>
No. 449449 ID: 6a1ec2
File 134630207164.jpg - (44.79KB , 650x371 , 20111010_men_in_black.jpg )
449449

Is she holding. A book. On quantum physics.
>>
No. 449451 ID: 100061

this sounds like a trap, but either way mike may need help. lets get mikes recounting of events and casses opinion on this before we head into the sewers.
>>
No. 449453 ID: d6c330

>>449447
In addition to being unwieldy in tunnels, the tank gun is two-handed. We need a hand free to do a handgun / flashlight hold.

It's also worth asking Cass if she sense anything. She's got a slightly higher spirit score, and might make a roll we fail if someone is masking themselves from us (there is a spirit ability for that now).
>>
No. 449461 ID: a407a5
File 134630288335.jpg - (9.16KB , 400x300 , Dark+Sewer.jpg )
449461

You back up almost instantly, preferring not to be near anyone who seems like they could hurt you. You stare at the girl a moment, then kneel down, trying to make yourself less threatening while at the same time looking for any signs this girl is out of the ordinary.

"What... did your Mom need saving from, exactly?"

"The weird men. They won't leave us alone, keep saying stuff about reality and breaking. The snake-man seemed to know what was going on..."

You glance over your shoulder at Cass, but she's just shrugs. She has no idea what's going on either, and it's not like she regularly talks to Mike. She doesn't seem particularly alarmed either, so you doubt she sensed anything at all. You return your gaze to the girl, still feeling like this is way too suspicious. But there is literally nothing wrong with the girl herself. No numbers floating around her, no weird objects. She's just a kid.

Eventually you decide you can't just leave Mike down in the sewers regardless, so you go back inside to grab a flashlight, then make your way down into the sewer system. Cass follows along, looking somewhat bored, and after turning on your flashlight you find blood splatter along the walls, leading deeper into the tunnels. The strong urge to pull out your handgun hits you, but you nervously glance back up to the street and see the girl kneeling down by the manhole, eyes looking at you hopefully. You can't start pulling guns with a normal watching you.

>>>Input Command.
>>
No. 449464 ID: 6a1ec2

It's a little girl. She probably doesn't even know that handguns require a license. She just saw a half man half lizard. It doesn't get much more abnormal than that. Pull out your handgun, just make it look like it came out from under your coat instead of just materializing.
>>
No. 449466 ID: d6c330

Part of me wonders if we should be leaving the little girl alone on the street. But leaving Cass to babysit, or sending her alone on a rescue mission both seem like absurdly stupid ideas.

>Can't pull the gun around normals
You could always fake as if you were drawing the gun normally. Or just wait till you're out of sight of the manhole.

>Blood
Touch it. It hasn't been long since they came down here. If it's not warm, it's probably Mike's.

Might as well follow the trail though, we've got no other leads.
>>
No. 449572 ID: f6cff9

If all else fails just ask the girl to be on lookout for any more strange guys so she will look away for a minute.
>>
No. 449766 ID: 6bcbf6

If Linda and Cass have their radios (we left them at the base, didn't we...) make sure they're on and ready to use. Either way we should also probably notify someone back at base about the situation in case it all goes south or has any relation to whatever had the boss on edge (if so try getting more info)
>>
No. 449769 ID: d6c330

>>449766
We only have two comms, and from Cass's description, only for our squad. If we want to contact anyone at base, we'd have to use a phone.

I don't think the situation merits calling for help yet though. Cass would just see it as cowardice anyways, costing us some of the trust we've been working so hard to build up.
>>
No. 449860 ID: 466404

You manage to disguise your pistol by pretending to draw it from... somewhere. Damn it, you don't have a coat on. The matter is quickly irrelevant though, as you move deeper into the tunnel the girl can't see you anymore. You first stop is the blood on the wall. You reach out and touch it, and notice that it's lukewarm. Not a good sign for Mike. You shine your flashlight down the corridor and find another blood spot. You glance back once, Cass still with you, and follow the signs.

Once out of sight, you draw your newest weapon, the lightness in comparison to your rifle is a bit surprising. Well, at least it should be easier to fire, right? You get your ear-bud in, and make sure the radio things work, then continue down the tunnel. You keep following the trail of blood, hopping from blood spot to blood spot. Eventually you find yourself in a larger area, where all the sewage seems to come together.

"Well, this is a pleasant smell, isn't it? Wait... isn't that Mike? Who's that other guy?"

Cass points to a body laying on the ground. It looks definitively snake-like. On top of that, there's some random guy kneeling over him, doing something to the body. You see two numbers though, although you can't really make them out. At least that means Mike is alive.

"So... what are we gonna do, Linda?"

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 449873 ID: d6c330

Well, we have two obvious choices. We either talk, or we attack without warning.

What is the breaker over Mike doing? He could be in the process of chain killing, although you'd think that would be more obvious. He could be searching for Mike's focus. Or I suppose he could be trying to help, unlikely as that seems.

I don't like just shooting the guy. There's the off chance he isn't hostile. And he'll take several shots to go down- he's potentially in the position to kill Mike faster than we can kill him.

I think we have to risk taking.

Have Cass hang back. You approach, pistol drawn and trained on him, flashlight off. When you get close, announce yourself, and turn your light back on. "Hey! What you doing to my friend!" Circle around a little in your approach, so when he looks up to see you, he isn't facing the direction Cass is waiting.

If he's not hostile, we get an explanation at gunpoint. If he is, maybe we can still get him to move away from Mike at gunpoint. And if it comes to it, shoot him.
>>
No. 449875 ID: f6cff9

>>449873
Yeah might as well go with this and if we die well at least we got our first death out of the way.
>>
No. 450020 ID: 466404

Time to see what's up. You gesture for Cass to stay put, then switch your flashlight off and approach, making sure to position yourself so Cass won't be spotted when the man looks up. You take a deep breath as you arrive at a place that is reasonably close, then you it's time for you to start. The flashlight comes on, and your voice is raised so the man can hear you.

"Hey! What you doing to my friend!"

The man looks up, then stands up, hands raised.

"Whoa! Th-there's no need for that! I-I'm j-just trying to h-help a friend!"

The man stands frozen in his place, although occasionally his expression changes to one of hate and anger. Still, he doesn't seem to be doing anything right now... Then you see Cass marched into your point of view, a spear aimed at her back.

"Sorry, Linda. Didn't notice him. Her. Whoever it is."

You see a 7 float by the man's head, the one threatening Cass, while the other man has a 26. He suddenly drops his hands, eyes getting sharp. And then not again. And then sharp again. It's very confusing.

"See! I told you WE should have taken Mike back to base! Then we wouldn't be dealing with this bullshit. B-but. M-Mike is h-hurt. We can't just m-move him. Come on! You can't start saying you've grown a backbone now. Still...

Who are you people? And why shouldn't we just kill you?"

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 450039 ID: 886a4d

We're friends of Mike, he was in the area helping me move. Besides Boss might not like losing two of his operatives.

With a 26 this guy is a tad out of our league unless thats ALL hes put his points towards.
>>
No. 450046 ID: d6c330

Are we close enough to see Mike's BP now?

Standoff. Let's continue talking.

>Who are you people, what are you doing?
Name's Linda, and all I was trying to do was move out of my apartment before more crazy people showed up and tried to kill me again.
Instead, I come outside, find my friend missing, a trail of blood, and you standing over his body at the end of it. So how about you tell me who you are, and what the hell is going on here, and what you want with him?
>>
No. 450072 ID: f6cff9

>>450046
>>450039
Yeah time to continue the Mexican standoff and find out what is happening
>>
No. 450108 ID: 466404

Ah! Mike! You check him for a number, and find a 0. That must mean that he's at least alive, since you doubt a number would show up above a dead person. At least, you hope he's still alive. You've never bothered to check a corpse before. Either way, you assume he's alive. Especially because the man was saying he was going to help Mike. They wouldn't help a dead person.

"Name's Linda, and all I was trying to do was move out of my apartment before more crazy people showed up and tried to kill me again.
Instead, I come outside, find my friend missing, a trail of blood, and you standing over his body at the end of it. So how about you tell me who you are, and what the hell is going on here, and what you want with him?"

There's silence, and then the man sighs. "Seems like you really do know this guy. Well then, I suppose we can't go killing you, our leader wouldn't like that." He gestures, and the spear is removed from Cass' back. The man who was holding it moves to stand next to the first man.

"If you haven't been told of us yet, then I'd assume your boss isn't very trusting. We're another breaker group allied with yours. We're not quite so... passive... but we don't just go around killing people either.

As for Mike here, we found him like this. More or less. He was still awake when we got to him though. He said something about an Avatar, so I'm guessing he got ambushed by something, but regardless, hanging around here isn't a good idea. I'd suggest coming with me, but I don't want you anywhere near our base. I'll let Conner know we have Mike, in the meantime, you lot should disappear. Casey, collect the snake for me, will you?"

The other man moves forward again, and bends down to pick up Mike. You can tell Cass wants to fight, her body is tense and ready to roll. All she'd need is something to set her off. You hesitate, trying to make up your mind regarding the pair. You don't believe he's lying, but...

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 450111 ID: 886a4d

Ask Cass if she has heard of allied groups.

Tell the DID one that we have a healer at home, if we're allies you won't mind if we call him and bring him here for Mike's sake.

If Linda doesn't have the number of the hotel then Cass probably does. We can also get confirmation that we are allied to other groups.
>>
No. 450113 ID: f6cff9

The question is do we think we can take them on or not if we decide not to let them take Mike without them hurting Mike in the process? We also have to think if they wanted him dead they could have done it already. The worst case scenario is they want to ransom him or get info out of him. We have to ask them why we can't take him to our base instead. We got to make that much effort at least.
>>
No. 450119 ID: f6cff9

>>450111
We are in the sewers right now so don't be surprise if calling doesn't work. You know bad reception and what not but I agree we have to make the effort to at least talk to Conner. We also have a van so we can take Mike. We can't stay here for the off chance that guy who hurt Mike (If it wasn't the guys in front of us) could come back for seconds.
>>
No. 450130 ID: f6cff9

>>450111
We are in the sewers right now so don't be surprise if calling doesn't work. You know bad reception and what not but I agree we have to make the effort to at least talk to Conner. We also have a van so we can take Mike. We can't stay here for the off chance that guy who hurt Mike (If it wasn't the guys in front of us) could come back for seconds.

I guess the plan is ask question and then decide what to do.
>>
No. 450133 ID: d6c330

Well, they lowered their weapons, so you can lower you gun from actively pointing at him to a ready pose instead. Shoot Cass a look telling her to stay in control.

...have you seen anyone else down here? There was a little girl topside, who said he came down to help her mother. Either she's the avatar, or there's someone else here.

>Allies, take Mike, help him.
No offense guys, but would you let a hurt friend to be carried away by a bunch of strangers? I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when you say you didn't do this, and you're not my enemy, but that's asking a little much.

Look, how about we all just get him topside? We've got a van, and our own healer back home. We can take care of him. Or if you've got some pressing reason why he needs your medic in particular, we can call and confirm we've actually got allies.

(diplomacy roll, go! Wishing we'd gone for wil and not str now...)
>>
No. 450170 ID: 4a328b

Give Cass some emotional support here so she doesn't flip out and start killing people. Nothing big, just a hand on the shoulder or something. Some physical contact to ground her.
>>
No. 450175 ID: f6cff9

>>450170
You know she would probably back off if we told her. It's when she starts a fight that a problem occurs but if she needs it then go right ahead.
>>
No. 450201 ID: 466404

You lower your weapon and slide over to Cass, resting a hand on her shoulder. At your touch you can feel her muscles relax, although she still maintains a certain... air. It like the intent to murder, and it's all directed at the pair of men.

"...have you seen anyone else down here? There was a little girl topside, who said he came down to help her mother. Either she's the avatar, or there's someone else here."

"I don't know anything about a little girl. I do know that someone is hunting people down here. None of ours, so far, but there have been... others groups, though. They've been down here, hunting us, and losing members."

The man called Casey has shouldered Mike by now, easily carrying him. Cass is starting to tense up again, eyes intent on Mike, but you quickly get in the way. You doubt your partner will keep calm very much longer unless you do something. Time to try diplomacy.

"No offense guys, but would you let a hurt friend to be carried away by a bunch of strangers? I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when you say you didn't do this, and you're not my enemy, but that's asking a little much.

Look, how about we all just get him topside? We've got a van, and our own healer back home. We can take care of him. Or if you've got some pressing reason why he needs your medic in particular, we can call and confirm we've actually got allies."

There's a pause, a long pause, and then the other man clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Damn it... someone's here. Someone not friendly. Casey, follow one of them to the surface, get Mike to their van, the way back to our hideout isn't ... one of you is going to have to stay with me and help me distract whoever the hell it is. Hopefully we aren't outclassed by too large a margin.

Which one of you is it going to be?"

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 450209 ID: 886a4d

As you part ways tell Cass to call the hotel. Shes most likely to get a direct line to the Boss if she says its urgent. If the boss confirms their story good. If not... kill him and get Mike out... hes down to 0 BP.

Try to be discreet eh?

I say we stay in the sewers with the madman.
>>
No. 450214 ID: d6c330

(Casey is the 7BP spearman, and other guy is the 26BP unknown with the funny eyes, right?)

Diplomacy went well. If they were pretending to be allies and wanted Mike for some purpose, they wouldn't have given in so easy. Unless they're trying to split you up and kill you.

>Pick a person!
Well, Cass is spoiling for a fight, and honestly, she's probably more deadly than us.

On the other hand, I'm not sure how well the berserker will do teamed up with someone she's already itchy about. And if we're staging a fighting retreat against something tougher than us, melee with ranged support would better than 2x melee, right?

>>450205
This is probably the best way to do it. You're some kind of melee form, right? I'll offer ranged support.

It'd be nice to manefest the tank gun if we're facing something nasty, but you still need your off hand for the flashlight. Plus, the pistol's probably easier not to accidentally plug your ally with during the fight.

>>450209
We were texting earlier, so she has a phone. She can call as soon as she gets reception.

Also: if this is a plan to divide and kill us? Cass is way tougher than spear dude. We'd just have to hold of this guy for a little while and then we get 2 on 1.
>>
No. 450215 ID: f6cff9

>>450209
We should ask how he fights so we can build around that but still it sounds like good times coming ahead for Linda. Fighting with a madman while people hunting for us huh? Sign me up
>>
No. 450217 ID: f6cff9

>>450214
Deleted post 450205 by accident and it said:

Are you a melee fighter or do you prefer range attacks.

If he is a melee fighter Linda stays and if he prefers range attacks Cass stays

>My computer has been acting weird lately so I'm sorry about that
>>
No. 450230 ID: 466404

>(Casey is the 7BP spearman, and other guy is the 26BP unknown with the funny eyes, right?)
Correct.

You decide you should be the one to stay to support, mostly because you suspect that Cass wouldn't do to well in a fight when the person she's partnered with is someone she wants to kill. Really badly. Instead, you send Cass back with Mike, telling her to call the Boss as soon as she can to inform him of what's going on. She nods her agreement, although she looks uncertain about leaving you, but within a few minutes her and Casey are gone, heading back the way you came. That leaves you with the mystery man. You turn back to him, but he's already arming himself with a... doll? What?

"Don't look at me like that. I'm an Avatar type." The doll seemingly came out of nowhere, but what's even more disconcerting is that it wasn't the man that had talked just then. It was the doll. It looks like a miniature version of the man himself, but it seems oddly more... frightening.

"So... what's the plan then?"

"I'll take this idiot-" The doll back-hands the human carrying him, which just causes the man to whimper in submission, "-and we'll go after whoever this is directly, to get there attention. You head along that tunnel-" The doll gestures down another side tunnel, "- and wait in the large round room at the end. We'll try to drag draw them that way. That alright for a plan?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 450233 ID: 886a4d

Sounds good.

If Cass gets attacked her chainsaw should be really, really loud in these tunnels.
>>
No. 450235 ID: 4a328b

"I don't like that plan." Avatar users aren't very common, I've heard. Still no sign of the 'mom' Mike came down here for, either. Should we just apply bullets to this guy's face?
>>
No. 450237 ID: f6cff9

>>450235
Yeah they aren't very common but they are pretty powerful and this guy is kinda out of our league as of right now. You have to consider the avatars are "independent" as in they can attack by themselves. It would be a pretty bad idea to attack this guy.

>>450233
I agree with this. The plan sounds alright
>>
No. 450238 ID: d6c330

Sounds good.

Okay, if we're taking up a stationary position, we can probably prop the flashlight up, bunker down, and manifest the tank gun for super-sniping as whatever comes our way.

Keep the pistol manifested- tuck it in your waistband or something. If the target gets too close and we need maneuverability, we depoof the tank gun, draw the pistol and grab the flashlight. Then we're free to run and gun, dodge, and/or unload a clip quickly at close range (things that are harder to do with the tank gun).
>>
No. 450240 ID: f6cff9

>>450238
Cool but first we gotta find something to prop the flash light up which could be hard to find in a sewer. The good thing with this plan is that we have some time to do that. Let's see what we can do
>>
No. 450241 ID: 886a4d

Hmmm, now that we have two reality-breaking dice lets try to break reality to have super hearing for the next 30 - 60 mins. Controllable of course, wouldn't want to deafen ourselves with gunfire.
>>
No. 450243 ID: f6cff9

>>450241
We could also try to make something to prop the flashlight but I don't know what to use. I guess we could use some of the ground.
>>
No. 450245 ID: d6c330

...we could just prop the flashlight up on the pistol. Then it's convenient to grab them both at once when/if we need to drop the tank gun.

Besides, we already spent the BP summoning it. I'm not keen to waste another point on making a prop.

>>450241
Hmm. I'm not sure we should attempt a breaking that effects ourselves directly, considering what we've seen happens when we fail, and since we don't know how hard something like that would be to do yet.
>>
No. 450249 ID: 886a4d

Hmmm how about a combat helmet then, full audio enhancement, night vision, the works.

I'm not sure how to work that though, maybe convince reality its not in the local army depot and is instead right beside us... or is that too advanced?
>>
No. 450250 ID: d6c330

>>450246
Definitely more than we could do.

Think of it this way- it would cost 1 XP to upgrade a night vision scope to our gun. You aren't going to be able to get the same thing out of thing air for renewable BP.

We got a rough SP scale here: >>\questdis\59811
We're one point above color teaks, and several below changing existing animals into monsters. Creating equipment out of thin air has to be higher than 5.
>>
No. 450256 ID: 886a4d

From my understanding its all dice, with 3 you can possible change existing things... which in my mind means two you can probably move something that already exists. Distance might be an issue or it might not. No harm in trying eh?



As for the combat penalty... we aren't yet in combat! we're waiting for it to start and what better time to try and give us a bit of an advantage.
>>
No. 450257 ID: d6c330

>>450253
We could probably mind move something, yes.

The problem is there's a concentration penalty (so it won't often work in tense combat situations). Also, I can't think of anything we have to mind throw right now that's worth burning an extra life on. Especially when we can just throw bullets.
>>
No. 450259 ID: 886a4d

We have no idea whats possible at the moment... the guidelines outlined so far are very vague. Which means experiment, experiment, experiment!

Actually I think one of peeps fears is that we don't know if failing to break reality costs a BP or not. I don't think it does since it wasn't mentioned the three times we did it when facing wolf boy and his bro.

It would be nice to know for sure though.
>>
No. 450260 ID: f6cff9

Let's just stick with what we know. I'm pretty sure you can't teleport something if you don't know where it is exactly. I mean how can you teleport something if you don't know where to teleport it from. I also don't know anything we can mind throw that would be better than shooting an anti-material rifle.
>>
No. 450261 ID: 886a4d

Whats the harm in trying?
>>
No. 450263 ID: d6c330

>we don't know if failing to break reality costs a BP
We had 5 BP when we got break sight. 3 of those came from the level up, so we only had 2 after the fight in our apartment.

According to our stats in dis, our initial BP was 5. To get down to 2: we spent 1 on the failed waterfall, 1 manifesting the gun, and 1 failing to heal the arm.

Failures still cost.


>Experiment! Whats the harm in trying?
Opportunity cost. We have very little BP, and we need it to summon weapons, reload, and as extra lives. If this is a tough fight coming up, we'll need points for those. We also run into multiple fights per day- we don't get a chance to regen everything between encounters.

Basically, BP is too tight to dick around with right now.
>>
No. 450266 ID: 886a4d

what? Our BP started at five. And it was still at five when we got into the car on the way to the Hotel....
>>
No. 450268 ID: d6c330

Could we take the discussion of how the mechanics work over to the dis thread? This is getting off topic, and DoT has actually been pretty reasonable in explaining how things work without experimentation.
>>
No. 450269 ID: 886a4d

If we die the four times it takes to completely drain us after summoning our rifle and a helmet then we'll most likely die the fifth time without the helmet as well.

The reason why I want enhanced senses is because we are in a sewer... with little light, and no idea exactly of the terrain. We NEED more information or we WILL die those 4-5 times.
>>
No. 450271 ID: f6cff9

>>450268
I'm up for bringing this to the discussion thread.
>>
No. 450311 ID: 9718f3

Agree, setup in the circular room. Try to pick a spot with a clear line-of-fire down the corridor the enemy is expected to come down. There is a decent chance this is all a trap, of course but not much we can do about it in this situation other than being wary.

No experimenting with Breaking right now, we need to save our points for reloads and not-dyings. Definitely no attempting to Break ourself. We haven't seen that end well.
>>
No. 450358 ID: 466404
File 134651938501.jpg - (84.19KB , 570x798 , anime.jpg )
450358

You nod your agreement to the plan and head off down the tunnel, your steps echoing eerily. Now that you're alone down here, the place seems a litte unsettling. Still, the walk isn't very long, and you arrive at your destination relatively quickly. You find yourself a good spot to wait. You drag out your tank gun, prop your flashlight using your pistol, and get a good position, and wait. Just wait.

It seems like minutes stretch into hours, as you just stare intently into the dark, waiting for something to happen. Then you hear it. Something off in the distance. It sounds almost like the sound of metal on metal. You find yourself tensing, expectant, but then you get your own surprise.

"How quaint. You are, perhaps, the woman I met earlier? Yes. I think so. You feel the same. Good. I have reason to speak with you."

You turn around to look behind you and find a woman standing above you, her gaze fixed on you. She smiles slightly, although you don't smile back. This is the girl from earlier. She's much older, maybe in her late-teens, early-twenties, but the same girl. What the hell?

"Shall we begin with introductions? Aria Galliana, at your service. You are...?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 450359 ID: 886a4d

Tell her Linda. What does she want to talk about.

Whats her BP at, my guess is she was maintaining Normality Cloak when you first encountered her, despite our suspicion. Or she broke reality in such a way she WAS a little girl when you met her.
>>
No. 450360 ID: f6cff9

>>450359
Yeah if any of that was true then she is little out of our league so we gotta play nice for now. We don't really know how strong she is.
>>
No. 450366 ID: d6c330

So she's got normalcy cloak, higher spirit than us, and either the ability to change her appearance or is an avatar type (although we don't know if the little girl is the avatar or the older version).

She's got the jump on you, and seems to be a much higher level. Turn to face her, but do not bring your weapons to bear. You'll likely get pulped.

Diplomacy time go. Again. It's a good thing we didn't send Cass. (Lusting for more wil...).

>Introductions
Linda McCallahan. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.

Care to explain yourself?
>>
No. 450394 ID: 466404

Current BP: 6

"I'm... Linda. Care to explain yourself?"

"In due time. A pleasure to meet you, by the way. Please, come and sit."

The woman takes a few steps to the side and then suddenly there's a table, two chairs, and loads of pasties. Aria sits in one of the chairs, and gestures for you to take the other. While she was doing all this, you stare at her intently, trying to make out a number, but nothing seems to come up. It's like something is blocking your sight. Still, you get caught staring, and the woman smiles at you again.

"I'm sorry, is something wrong? You seem a bit surprised."

"It's... it's nothing."

You get up and take your seat, being careful to at least bring your flashlight and handgun over, while dismissing the .50 Cal. There's no reason to have it out with a potential threat right in front of you.

"Please. Help yourself. I'm in no hurry. My Avatar will keep the other man busy while we talk. But if you'll allow me to begin... you are one of those for one Marc Conner, yes?"

You hesitate again, still uncertain as to what exactly you should be doing in this situation.

>>>Input Command
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No. 450400 ID: 886a4d

Yes I am, why? And why approach me like this?

As for the food, refuse... politely as possible.

Ya this ones way outta our league... shes breaking reality easily as we shoot our guns.
>>
No. 450402 ID: f6cff9

Well this is bad news for us. Well here some things we have to do

-Don't eat the food
-No angry responses
-No foolhardy attacks
-Pray to god we can get out of this situation
>>
No. 450409 ID: d6c330

Ooh shit. Way more powerful than us. She's either got seamless teleportation, master class illusions, or pocket dimensions. Or the most powerful option- she actually spent the power to rebuild reality around you.

>still uncertain as to what exactly you should be doing in this situation
You're dealing with someone way more powerful than you, who could kill you on a whim.

What you should be doing is playing it cool, and going along with her game. Nothing else you can do can make a difference. So might as well chat nicely. Omni-powerful types tend to be amused when people aren't intimidated. Hopefully you learn something.

So yeah, take a tea cookie, kick back, and have tea with cthulu.

>My Avatar will keep the other man busy
...you won't kill him, I hope? I don't think I'm in much of a position to do anything about it, but he had asked for my aid.

>you are one of those for one Marc Conner?
I suppose. Provided he's been honest with me, his goals seem in line with my ideals. Although to be honest, most of my day has been spent trying to keep myself and those around me safe. I haven't had much chance forward anyone's goals.

Are you what he was worried about tonight?
>>
No. 450414 ID: f6cff9
File 134653197519.jpg - (76.78KB , 646x394 , pasties-cooling.jpg )
450414

>>450409
Meh pasties don't look that appetizing so at least that my excuse for not eating them
>>
No. 450415 ID: 886a4d

Err pretty sure that was supposed to be pastries. Easy mistake.
>>
No. 450430 ID: 466404

"Yes I am, why? And why approach me like this?"

"Because I needed someone who wasn't aligned with one of these useless gangs. You are, unfortunately, but perhaps you'll still be able to help. You see, something is going on down here, but I can't seem to figure out what. Everyone I approach is either from the gang hanging around down here, or has no clue what's going on. I need someone willing to be an... observer... for me. I am hoping you will do so."

"Are you what he was worried about tonight?"

"Am I...? No, I do not believe so. He isn't aware of my presence, and I would prefer to keep it that way. Conner... I have met him, before I gained the ability to do what I- WE, do. He seemed likable enough, but... I do not trust easily. Talking to you is only possible because I don't see you as someone who could cause me much harm. No, I know who it is he is worried about, even if he doesn't. The one he is worried about... I would not want to come across him either. Regardless of our respective power levels.

But getting back on topic. I propose a sort of deal. You will simply watch. Observe. I do not ask that you take any sort of action. But if you notice anything... odd... during your activities, then I ask that you inform me. In exchange, if you require it, I will provide you with aid, when I can. Does this seem acceptable?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 450431 ID: 886a4d

Why do you need me at all? Right now you are beyond me. I just recieved my focus today. Shouldn't it be easy for you to 'observe' whatever is going on yourself?

In any case I suggest we accept. Having a potential ally like her might be useful down the road.
>>
No. 450436 ID: d6c330

Look, my alliance with Marc is one of practicality. I'm trying to stay alive, and to protect my friends, and limit the death and destruction that seems to follow whenever breakers come into contact with each other. It's not about fighting a gang war, or some petty cause for me.

Now, on the surface of the thing, I don't have a problem trading information. But it would help if you narrowed down "odd" a little. And... it'd be nice to know what you're trying to do here? Why'd the need to trick me down here? Why beat Mike within an inch of his life?

(We should be cautious, and get her to explain a little before accepting. Yes, it seems like a good deal, but she lured us down here by beating up a friend of ours. And if we accept we run the risk of becoming a mole in our own group, and alienating friends. ...or pissing Marc off enough to activate his kill-bot. Understand first- decide second).
>>
No. 450438 ID: f6cff9

>>450436
Questions first then decide?

Alright I can agree with that because I want to know what she want us to look for to begin with.
>>
No. 450441 ID: d6c330

>Why beat Mike within an inch of his life?
Rewording this: we ask her if she did hurt mike, not assume she did.

Really, this is the most crucial question for trust. If she's beating up our friends just to arrange a talk with us, she's not really someone we want to work with.

...were you the one who attacked Mike? Just to arrange a meeting? Or did you honestly just want to tell me I had a friend in need?
>>
No. 450472 ID: 4a328b

She's going to need to be a bit more specific than "odd". We've started pulling guns out of thin air and telling reality to go cry in a corner--'odd' is our new 'normal'
>>
No. 450489 ID: 466404

"Look, my alliance with Marc is one of practicality. I'm trying to stay alive, and to protect my friends, and limit the death and destruction that seems to follow whenever breakers come into contact with each other. It's not about fighting a gang war, or some petty cause for me.

Now, on the surface of the thing, I don't have a problem trading information. But it would help if you narrowed down "odd" a little. And... it'd be nice to know what you're trying to do here? Why'd the need to trick me down here? ... Were you the one who attacked Mike? Just to arrange a meeting? Or did you honestly just want to tell me I had a friend in need?"

Aria blinks in surprise, then laughs.

"No. No, I did not attack the snake-man. I admit to telling you he was down here, but it was either that or lose my chance to talk with you. There is at least three other groups besides those you've already encountered... perhaps I should demonstrate instead of using my words. That would go much farther in gaining your trust. When you leave this place, suggest investigating the sewer treatment plant to Conner. You shall find those who attacked the snake there. The proof we'll be his missing fang.

"As for my motives, I wish to enjoy myself as much as possible. My normal life is so terribly... dull. I hope to simply enjoy life. The rest of these breakers, though, make it rather difficult. Power this, power that. So simple minded.

"Odd... I honestly don't know. I can only suggest that if you notice anything that could be considered odd in the behavior of your companions. Everything will be based on your judgement. I can't help you in your observations. I would try to watch Conner especially. He is... something always felt off about him...

"Anyway, do we have a deal?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 450493 ID: d6c330

Well, she gave us a lead, and out to enjoy life is a decent enough motive (well, provided it stays out of the deep end).

We might as well agree. We were going to keep an eye on Marc anyways. We really don't know enough about our allies, and this gives us an out if we've been lied to.

Ask how we're supposed to get in touch with her before we go.
>>
No. 450494 ID: f6cff9

If she telling the truth then sure I don't see a problem with it. It's not like we can check if she is telling the truth but I doubt she lying right now about the sewer treatment plant if her goal is to get us to trust her.
>>
No. 450495 ID: 886a4d

Offer your hand... its a deal.
>>
No. 450496 ID: 100061

lets not take the deal. she seems nice and all, but we don't know anything about inter group politics. agreeing to spy for her could be worth killing us over. how about we agree to owe her a favor or be open to future deals?
>>
No. 450498 ID: d6c330

>>450496
Oh, it most certainly is worth killing us over. That's why we treat her as a trump card- we only call her in if we find out Marc hiding some terrible evil secret from us.

If he isn't, there's nothing to report, so we're not a mole. It's perfectly in our power to just never come up with the goods.

We're playing both sides- we don't make a final decision until we have more facts. Again. (I'm somewhat amused this is becoming Linda's defining character trait).
>>
No. 450501 ID: 466404

You extend your hand with a little hesitation, uncertain about what's going on, but still willing to at least play all the angles. Isn't that what investment is all about? You've dealt enough with other peoples money never to leave all of your eggs in one basket. This gives you at least two baskets to put eggs in, if you get the analogy. Aria takes you hand and shakes it, then stand, putting what looks like a small gem on the table as she does.

"Smash that if you have any information I might be interested in. I will get in touch with you as soon as it is safe to do so. Now then, it has been a pleasure speaking with you, but I think I've held you up long enough. Until next we meet."

Aria bows slightly to you, then turns and disappears into the shadows. Seconds later the sounds of combat disappear. Your left with a random table, a small gem on top of that, and a lot of questions. Well, you suppose you should decide what to do now. If this table stays here then-

You blink and you find yourself sitting on the ground, the gem on your hands. You stare for a bit, then the other man you never caught the name of, enters, looking a little beat up.

"Damn. Plan didn't work. Whoever it was, they were just toying with me. Bastard... You look a little off. You alright?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 450502 ID: 886a4d

Ya, I'm fine. Waiting for combat that never happens is harsh of the nerves though. Lets go make sure Mike and your friend made it out alright.
>>
No. 450504 ID: f6cff9

>>450502
That sounds better so I'll go with that
>>
No. 450510 ID: d6c330

Head back toward the surface, with the doll guy if he's coming. Radio Cass, you're alright, fight was a bust, you're coming up.

We need to hide that gem somewhere on our person, after we part ways with him. Preferably, we need a little case to put it in, so it can't be crushed by accident. Not sure if it's safer to keep it on our person, or just hide it in our stuff till we need it.
>>
No. 450514 ID: 466404

You brush off his concern, mostly because your more intent on hiding the gem. For the moment, it's placed in the small makeshift pouch containing your two foci, excusing it as you putting away your focus for your main weapon. Then you have the man lead you to the surface again. Once there, you hook up with Cass and the injured Mike, making your way back to base.

Arrival is hectic, and with Mike getting practically ganged up on by Rodriguez and Daniels as they take him off to somewhere. You and Cass, on the other hand, are directed to the Boss' office, where Cass is the first to give her rather bland report.

Then it's your turn. You start talking, and give your own report without any incident. You figure you'll work in a suggestion to investigate the sewer plant later. With that out of the way, your dismissed and find yourself in the lounge again. Cass yawns, then starts to lead you down a hallway, towards what you can guess is your rooms.

"Today sucked. Seriously, three whole incidents, and only got something out of the second one. Still, I got promised booze. We'll have to do that some other day though. I'm too tired for it today. Maybe tomorrow we won't have so much shit to deal with. Here's your room, have fun doing whatever with it. Mine's across the hall, if you need anything."

Cass leaves you in front of your door with your boxes, and you enter to discover a rather nice looking hotel room. You set your things to the side and sit on the bed instead. It's still pretty early to be going to sleep. There must be something you could do with you spare time.

>>>Input Command
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No. 450521 ID: f6cff9

I would suggest of doing your REAL job(accounting consultant) but forget that noise. I mean today had to be the worst day for you of all time. What you have to do for now is just organize your new room a little, unpack some boxes, hide your anime, watch TTGL (don't forget to hide it as well afterwards), and then go to sleep.

We can worry about our real job tomorrow.
>>
No. 450523 ID: 886a4d

Since we're about to go to sleep for (hopefully) 8 hours we should practice our Breaking. Some things i want to try:

1) Summoning a combat helmet.
2) Alterating some old documents you have that you don't need.
3) Changing some furniture from one thing to another. A lamp into a pot for example.
4) Basic telekinesis. We can move things wiht our MIND!
>>
No. 450525 ID: f6cff9

>>450523
You know what? Go ahead and have fun with it.
>>
No. 450526 ID: d6c330

Wait, we didn't cook up a cover story. What did we say in the report? We just skip over the meeting with Aria, so we gave the same story as we gave self-insulting doll guy? Did we confirm that yes, we have allies?

>What do
-You definitely need a shower after a trip through the sewers.
-Scope out the new room. What's it come with?
-jammies!
-hook up your laptop to the hotel's wireless, so you'll have it later.
-mandatory recusing: visit tgchan.org
-Check your email, see how much shit you're in for calling out today. Maybe do some damage control.

We could unpack, or see if your new superhuman-ness translates into making your job easier to do, but I'd wait till morning. You're too keyed up to unpack, or work.

We're going to sleep for 8 hours. Provided no one attacks during the night, that means we'll have full BP by the time we need it again. So now we can try to experiment, waste a few points.

See if you can do that trick you saw that sword guy do- if you put a manifested weapon across the room, can you call it back to your hand? Is there a BP cost for this?

See if finesse + color manipulation + business acumen can be used to alter a document. Potentially good for some kind of subterfuge, later.
>>
No. 450527 ID: d6c330

(Oh, and because of paranoia? Leave yourself a point or two, and don't de-manifest the pistol after you're done experimenting with it. Hell, sleep with it. Just in case we are attacked in the middle of the night, you won't be completely helpless).
>>
No. 450532 ID: f6cff9

>>450526
Of course I would forget the shower but are we gonna find a spot just for the gem or just leave it with the Foci? The rest of that sounds good as well.

>>450527
We got 6 points left right? So we can do four experiments then
>>
No. 450534 ID: d6c330

>>450529
The risky bit of keeping it on our person is it could get crushed by accident. And enemy combatants are going to be drawn to and grabby for our foci- and it's not a good idea to put all our eggs in one basket (in fact, as soon as we get a 3rd gun, we need to hide the foci, not on our person, just in case we're ever defeated and looted).

The risk of hiding it here is it could be found. But so long as it doesn't feel off, like the foci do, no one should know it's significance- it'll just be a colored rock to them.

I don't think we need it on our person for emergencies either- she said she'd come to talk when she could, not that the gem would instantly bring her to our aid.

So... I say hide it here. Pity we've got no jewelry to hide it in. Stow it with the anime- we're hiding that anyways, and anyone who searched our room should dismiss it as crappy anime merchandise.
>>
No. 450536 ID: f6cff9

>>450534
Alright sounds like a plan so before we do anything let's just hide the anime first(It's what we should do first before anything else anyways)
>>
No. 450549 ID: 466404
File 134655688121.jpg - (16.40KB , 300x300 , 155037_1765523017134_1210894556_2119053_2052159_n.jpg )
450549

Well, first things first. The anime. It must be hidden from prying eyes. The merchandise is too precious to just have anyone discover. You search the room for a suitable place, and eventually decide on the classic under the bed method. Mostly because there is literally no where else to hide it, unless you use the safe built into the wall, but your pretty sure that would be the first place someone would look. You take the gem from it's hiding place and slide it in with your treasured possession, then slide the box under the bed. There. That should do for now, till you can come up with something better. Now then...

Time to try ripping reality a new hole. First thing to try... you place your handgun on the table and walk to the other side of the room. There, you stare at it intently at will it to return to you. Nothing happens, then you try doing it the other way, with actual INTENT to rip reality to shreds. Then it does something. Namely, the weapon suddenly appears in your hands. You frown, then shrug. It looks like even transferring weapons requires your ability to break reality.

You frown, then try changing something again. That lamp looks good... You give it your intent, telling it to be a potted plant instead. You get a flash of static, and then the lamp has decided to be very broken. You giggle nervously at nothing in particular. Then decide to tell someone tomorrow. You don't really care enough to deal with it right now. Instead, there was something else you needed to do.

You dig through the other box till you extract what you need. You start setting up your laptop as you dig through some papers, looking for something you can test an idea on. Eventually you find something you don't need anymore, and set it on the desk provided. Your laptop is done as well, so you do a quick check of your email and barely open it up before slowly closing the lid, a grimace of mental anguish hitting you. Your boss is pissed. Sure you called in, but you had that client that wanted stuff done by today, plus the monthly expense reports for that hospital... Urgh. Tomorrow was going to be a painful day.

You finally turn your attention to the paperwork. If you could change reality... then ink on paper should be no problem, right? Here goes nothing... You review what the paperwork says(another expense report, although this one is for your company) and you take in the numbers. A pretty good week, judging from the profits. You throw your will at it, your own mind shaping the changes necessary to document with ease. There's a flash of static, then your staring at the document. And there they are. There's an expense missing, neatly tucked away in another column as a "necessity". You doubt you'd have caught it if you hadn't been the one to make the change. Well, at least you know you can do it.

You decide to take a break, taking a quick shower and dressing for sleep, then you stop yourself falling into bed for one final experiment. You direct your will at an empty piece of air, willing something to be there... those helmets you've seen soldiers wear in documentaris and news articles. You feel reality bend and snap, then the static... then the broken wreck of something. Whatever it is, it isn't what you were looking for. You sigh and head to bed, placing the pistol on the bedstand as you pull the covers over your head and get the first good sleep since you started this day...

Post 1/2
>>
No. 450552 ID: 466404
File 134655747417.jpg - (96.30KB , 600x450 , 9.jpg )
450552

You wake up the next day groggy, but feeling somehow more energetic than you've ever felt before. You get dressed and leave your room, stretching you limbs, making your way to the lounge. You find Cass lounging around on a sofa, and there's Mike, looking like he's in a bit of pain. You find two people you don't know as well, both look like high-schoolers, at best. They're even wearing the uniform. The guy seems to be yawning a lot, while the girl seems intent on something she's doing on her phone. You don't see anyone else, and you have no idea if anything supposed to be happening today.

>>>Input Command
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No. 450555 ID: f6cff9

Normally I would be all up for meeting new people but let's see what Mike is doing.
The guy almost just died yesterday and we can say hi to Cass as well.
We can also get some info of the two students while we are at it then we can swing by and talk to them as well.
>>
No. 450557 ID: d6c330

>Experimental analysis
Okay, we've proved we can teleport small objects across short distances. We've proved, yet again, we can break things. We can edit things, but only so long as the changes are superficial.

...and we can either conjure or telefrag up broken pieces of junk. (...man, a busted lamp and fused helmet sized lump are probably more than we can fit in a hotel waste-bin).

>What do
Obviously we need to nab breakfast. Hotel's gotta have some food, right?

Talking to people:
Obviously, start with the people you know. Give Cass a good morning, check on how Mike's doing. If and when the teenagers stop looking bored and uninterested, you could introduce yourself. Glance at their BP, let's see how tough they are.
>>
No. 450625 ID: 466404

You decide to ignore the teens for now, instead making your way towards Mike, waving a greeting to Cass as you pass. She waves back a little half-heartedly, but Mike greets you with a little more enthusaism. On your way over, you take a quick glance at the pair, and find a 32 for the male and 23 for the female.

"Hey, sssweetheart. How you been? I heard you were one of the onesss to get me out of the sssewersss. We thanksss you kindly."

"Yeah... well, I couldn't just leave you down there."

"Sssome of the ressst of thessse jokersss would. Ssstill, I like you. If you ever need my help, just asssk. Although, I don't think I'l be much help for awhile. Ssstill injured an all."

"Thanks, Mike. Hope you get better soon."

"Trussst me, sssweetheart. You couldn't keep me down with a nuke. Essspecssially with all the pretty ladiesss in the world."

You excuse yourself from his presence, then turn your attention to the next most immediate concern. Today, you aren't going to go without breakfast. You quickly acquire the information you need by talking to Cass, who directs you to the first floor, and from there, you consume a good breakfast consisting of everything a breakfast should consist of.

That done, you head back up to the lobby to find what looks a like a strategy meeting. There a quite a few people you don't know here, about 6 in total. Marc is standing in the center, talking about something overly specific with Rodriguez. Cass is standing off to the side, and she waves you over when she notices you.

"We got pegged for guard duty. Which basically mean stick around here and wait till someone needs back-up. Or as suppose we could get attacked. Personally I'd have preferred something more active, but..."

Cass shrugs, then turns her attention to Marc, who's just finishing up. He dismisses everyone present, then disappears off to his office. You watch as people leave via the elevator, some sticking around for a few minutes to finalize things, others just leaving outright. Soon, your left alone with Cass in the empty lounge. The other woman turns to you and cocks her head to the side in question.

"So, got any plans? Because I'm going to be bored out of my skull unless something happens, and I don't something is happening..."

>>>Input Command
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No. 450651 ID: d6c330

Hmm. We're just stuck in the building, not the lobby, right? Being on call, as it were, gives us more options than if we're literally guarding the door.

We could try and do some work, but that doesn't entertain Cass none. It's too early to break out the booze (and a bad idea if we're on call, anyways). We could head upstairs for an anime a-thon? (Although we are supposed to be hiding that habit, not putting it on display).

Anyone else got any ideas? I'm running dry here. Unless she's asking if we have anything to do because she had something in mind? That saves us the trouble. :p
>>
No. 450708 ID: b6edd6

How about a nice game of chess? :V
>>
No. 450711 ID: 886a4d

We probably SHOULD do some work while we wait. I mean we might lose our job if we don't and a steady source of income is a nice thing to have. As for interacting with Cass how about ask about her own life outside being a Breaker.
>>
No. 450737 ID: 100061

she already knows about our secret collection, maybe we could show her some anime?
>>
No. 450797 ID: f6cff9

Too bad we can't go drinking our sweet stash of booze right now. Time for TTGL because that anime is universally
awesome among all peer groups.

Let's at least try to see how much work we have to do for our real job so we can plan ahead. You can represent it
in hours of work we need to finish it. I don't need the technical details or at least for right now.
>>
No. 450817 ID: 466404

You think a minute, then shrug at Cass. You really don't have anything to do, unless you count work. You offer to let her watch some anime if she likes, and Cass starts to refuse before she stops herself and actually considers it. After a minute to thought, she nods her head in agreement and follows you to your room. You set up something for her(TTGL obviously) and let her watch. In the meantime, you open up your laptop again and grimace again. The workload increased again. Argh, that's painful. You gather yourself and start working, occasionally glancing up at what's going on in the TV. Cass doesn't really show much reaction at all, at least not at first. She remains attentive through out the show though, and eventually you get lost in your work.

Two hours later, you feel someone tug on you shirt, and you glance up from the document your working on to find Cass looking a little embarrassed.

"Uh... how do you work that thing? I can't get it to play the next disc..."

You blink, then start giggling. You can't help it. Someone who is that technically challenged actually exists? How the hell does she work a phone then? Still, you get up to put in the next disc for her, only to be interrupted by a phone call.

Cass gets it, muttering something about unnecessary interruptions, then frowns halfway through the call. She says something vaguely like agreement, then puts the phone down and turns to you.

We got work. Two different jobs though. They need you over at some apartment complex. I'm heading to those brats school... Anyway, Mike'll drive you to where you need to go... I really wanted to finish this... Anyway, I'll head out first. See you later."

Cass leaves, still looking a little pissed, and your left to get prepared. Obviously your bringing your handgun, but is their anything else you might need?

>>>Input Command
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No. 450824 ID: d6c330

Make sure you're dressed so the pistol is concealed, since you've already got it manifested. Bring both foci. Don't bring the gem. Bring the cell Marc gave you (set to vibrate or silent), but leave your civilian one here. If your flashlight is low profile enough to tuck it into your pockets, bring it (if it's a full size bulky one, don't bother). Might as well wear your comm, just in case. (If any normals ever bug you about it, it's just a music player earbub).

That's all I can think of, head out.
>>
No. 450825 ID: 886a4d

I... can't think of anything else to bring. What is our BP at anyway?

(I want body armor but thats not going to happen.)
>>
No. 450830 ID: f6cff9

>>450824
Don't forget to wear a long sleeve shirt.

silently scream yes to yourself because no one can resist the power of TTGL.
>>
No. 450836 ID: d6c330

>>450830
Wait! That reminds me! We need to hide the anime again before we go out. No leaving it sitting in the machine where anyone could come across it.

>(I want body armor but thats not going to happen.)
Well, it would make posing as a normal person somewhat more difficult (unless we get Warped Minds, provided it covers up mundane weirdness and not just breaking).

And if it's any consolation, a lot of the things we're going to be fighting wouldn't be stopped by body armor anyways. Our gun certainly wouldn't. Or the Chainsaw. Or Marc's or Aria's avatars.

Since we have extra lives, maneuverability and/or stealth might well be more valuable than armor, too. Our core gun would work good for sniping, if we ever get a scope and the chance to pick our battles.
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No. 450909 ID: 466404
File 134663209383.jpg - (20.09KB , 320x547 , anime-guy-anime-guys-6785916-320-547.jpg )
450909

You make sure to put on a long-sleeve shirt, and slide the handgun into... you have nowhere to put it. Well, damn. Still, you suppose you could just tuck it into your jeans. That'll work well enough for now, till you can get your hands on whatever those things were called. In the meantime, you hide what needs hiding, and put on the ear-bud as well. You grab your "work" cell, and head off. You meet Mike downstairs and head off.

20 minutes later you're meeting up with the your newest partner in crime, a young man by the name of Raphael. He apparently doesn't have a last name, or at least, doesn't care to use it. You meet him at a local park, where you find the man on a bench. You blink in surprise, his hair is stark white, but he notices you and waves you over.

"Hey! Linda, right? Heard about you from Chainsaw. I'm Raphael. Pleasure to meet you." He holds out his hand, a grin spread spread across his face.

>>>Input Command
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No. 450915 ID: f6cff9

Shake his hand "Nice to meet you Raphael, so what's today's job?"
>>
No. 450916 ID: d6c330

>Chainsaw
Point against him, though Mike doesn't use her name either (actually, I think our Boss is the only other person so far who makes a point of using her name, and it's not like we're sure we trust him!).

Take his hand, return his greeting. Charmed, I'm sure. So what's up?

What's his BP? (We're gonna ask this with every new character, yanno).
>>
No. 450919 ID: f6cff9

>>450916
I don't think anyone does(except Rodriguez who called her Cass like we do) which is probably one of the reasons she doesn't like the nickname other than reminding her that she loses control in a fight.

I just go with what you said though.
>>
No. 450923 ID: 466404

"Charmed, I'm sure. So what's up?"

As you shake his hand, Raphael gestures for you to sit, while you check his BP, coming out to 15. Once you've done so, he points to a building across the park, that smile never leaving his face.

"There's a few breakers in that building over there. We've ignored them entering our territory for awhile, mostly because they haven't done anything too bad, but just recently they've started up kidnapping and extortion. The extortion thing we could care less about, it's the kidnapping that's got the Boss' attention. Anyway, I've been tracking them for awhile, and that's where they hang around. By my count, there's 3 in there at present. I need your help finding out where they'r keeping this months hostages.

"There's two strategies I can think of. The first is to flush them out into the open and ambush them out here. That has the problem of being rather... public. The other is to go in after them, which has the problem of us going into an unknown location. I'll leave the decision up to you, as I'm fine with either. Although, I will say that I'm a form type, some sort of ghost thing. It's hard to describe."

>>>Input Command
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No. 450940 ID: d6c330

Figures. First chance we have for a public fight, and we don't have Cass for normalcy.

>Draw or Rush
I have to say, drawing them out seems the tactically better option of those two. We're a ranged gunner. Picking off targets in a kill box is what we're made for, even without a sight (we just can't take advantage of our full range, yet). Picking our battles beats trying to fight close in again. Also, letting them outnumber us, and have the home-field advantage is bad.

Public isn't a problem so long as we get gone and de-manifest the guns before cameras or cops show up. ...although... how crowded is this park? We live in an age of cell phone cameras and facial recognition software. Maybe we do a break first, do something EM that messes with local tech?

We may have a 3rd option though. If he can ghost through walls, and we can shoot through them... eh. It's tempting, but I can't think of a way to coodinate it well. We kind of need the x-ray vision scope we don't have yet.

>>450919
Oh, I forgot about Rodriguez! Point for the priest.
>>
No. 450944 ID: f6cff9

I guess it all comes down to how many people are in the park and if this goes public could Marc Connor or his "cleaners" wipe the slate clean or not.

You know what let's just do it and draw them out. Is the park empty or not?
>>
No. 450983 ID: 466404

"Alright, sounds like we're going to draw them out. I'll do the drawing out. You go set yourself up, and give me the signal when you're ready. I'd suggest one of these buildings behind us." Raphael gestures behind him, then he stand and starts away, giving a little wave as he makes his way across the park.

You glance behind you, spotting a few buildings that should work. There's another apartment building directly across the way, what looks like an office building type thing, and a much shorter market at the end of the street there. The last you could probably use the roof, while the other two you could freely pick between any of the 30 floors.

>>>Input Command
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No. 450984 ID: 886a4d

Market Roof. Less chance of being barged in on and it should allow us to actually have cover should we need it. Plus LOTS of avenues of escape we can parkour off of.

Go prone, see how well your Finesse allows you to see the the Breakers building. With 3 however we should top most sharpshooters even without the scope. Then radio in that your ready.
>>
No. 450992 ID: f6cff9

Agreed let's go to the Market roof. It would be pretty bad for someone(with a cellphone) barge in on us with an anti-material rifle aiming at someone.

By the way I don't think he has the same radio as us but yeah just text/signal the guy.
>>
No. 450995 ID: d6c330

The one disadvantage of the market is people looking out and down of the taller buildings might see you. Try and pick your cover to limit this.
>>
No. 451010 ID: 466404

You head for the market, using a ladder on the outside to climb up to the roof. You survey your surrounding, choosing a spot you think would provide the best cover from sight. You have a clear view of the front door, and you doubt anyone would escape your notice if they tried to escape in any direction. You call up your rifle, placing it down in a good position, then you go prone and line yourself up. There. That should just about do it. You radio over that your ready, then focus. For awhile, nothing seems to happen, and then you watch as two people shoot out of the front door, obviously carrying weapons. You find yourself hesitating, however. This isn't the way your used to doing things. You've tried to minimize casualties before, and if you fire, they are going to die...

Can you really pull the trigger?

Current BP: 7
>>>Input Command
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No. 451015 ID: 886a4d

These people threaten, kidnap and most likely harm normals. I think thats a very good reason to make sure they can't use Breaking powers any more don't you?

Take the shot.
>>
No. 451025 ID: f6cff9

A part of us had to realize we won't able to talk our way out if we attack from a distance. It's one of the problems when attacking from long range. It's easier to shoot if we think they deserve this and they have been extorting/kidnapping people.
>>
No. 451028 ID: 466404

You fire, and the crack of gunfire is deafening. You don't have the time to be worrying about some low-life scum bags who go around kidnapping people. You feel the kick hit you, but because you're in a better firing position, your aim doesn't move quit as much. You can't fire again instantly, but it'll take you less time to get your sights set.

Still, your shot is right on target, and you can see one of the two drop. His partner jumps to the side and basically just stands there, so you drop him to. Might as well. Another shot gets fired off, and the other man follows the first. By this time, the first is starting to drag himself to his feet, and he pauses to stare at his buddy. He gets it through his head, though, that waiting around probably isn't the best idea, and he darts for the door again. You let him go, instead focusing on the other man. You spend the next few minutes just dropping the man again and again. Wasting another 4 rounds before he stays down.

With all the noise your making, you don't have a lot of time before the police get here. And you haven't seen any sign of Raphael. Time to decide what to do now.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451034 ID: 886a4d

Dismiss the rifle. Parkour off the roof. Run to the guy (you should be pretty damn fast with 3 strength and 3 speed) Loot his focii then then run through the side streets until you find a bus stop going in the oppisite direction.
>>
No. 451040 ID: d6c330

Wait, shit. We shot him till he died? Why didn't we stop at zero? That's why we wanted to get break sight in the first place! ...and the whole point of this mission was information. Dead men don't talk. Hell, the most efficient thing to do would have been to pin these two down while ghost boy got the info from the third. Dammit.

You may as well dismiss the rifle. The clip is almost empty, and it costs the same BP to manifest it as to reload. It'll just make you conspicuous as you move- without it you're a civilian.

Get off the roof, someone's going to be looking for you. Grabbing your victim's foci would be nice, although sprinting out to loot the dead guy may be conspicuous if anyone's around.

Probably prudent to call Rapheal, if you can. 1 down, 1 retreated into the building. Did he get the intel? If not, we may have to move in after the guy who got away. If he did, we can withdraw.
>>
No. 451049 ID: f6cff9

>>451040
Just go with this and it's too bad we may have a hard time getting the focus. Hopefully Raphael is done getting the info and we can get out of here.
>>
No. 451058 ID: 466404
File 134664890070.jpg - (160.23KB , 1200x906 , The_Nightmare_by_Vyrilien.jpg )
451058

You dismiss the rifle and shoot over the side, landing quickly. Even if it's after work hours, the park still had some people in it, although most have fled after the gunshots started up. Still, you doubt your going to be able to search the man without getting caught, so you start to hightail it back towards home.

Your attention is dragged away from your current course of action as a large black horse suddenly pops out of the wall and halts next to you, snorting. It's eyes glow and it stamps its feet a little, then there's more static and Raphael is standing next to you.

"Don't worry, the two inside won't be an issue anymore. I'll make my own way back, and see if I can't distract the police for you. You head straight home. We'll plan our next move there."

Raphael immediately runs over and kneels down next to the dead man, like he's checking him for a pulse, and you decide it's best to heed his advice. You dart off, sprinting a couple of blocks before you manage to calm yourself and get some semblance of control back. You make your way back to the hotel(a considerable walk, but Mike didn't stick around) and wait in the lounge when you do arrive. About an hour later, Raphael shows up, looking a little tired but otherwise okay.

"Ah! Linda, there you are. I see you made it back okay. Don't worry about the police, I took care of them, they won't be asking any questions around you. Oh! Before I forget, this is yours." Raphael searches through a pocket and hands over a small needle. "It's the focus of the man you took down. I made sure to get it for you. It seems a waste just to let the police have it...

Um... if you don't want to help anymore, that's fine. I kinda just threw you into that... and I can't imagine that sort of this is really something you're used to doing..."

>>>Input Command
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No. 451061 ID: 886a4d

Take the needle. Look at it. This is your price. To gain power to actually make a difference you need more of these. That will mean death. But as you grow stronger you will not need to kill. Theres all sorts of tricks we can do... but for now... for now death will be involved.

Tell Raphael you are up for more.
>>
No. 451068 ID: d6c330

>>451061
No. Death didn't need to be involved. We fucked up. All we needed to do was keep those two pinned down long enough for Raph to interrogate the third. Or drop them till they were helpless, but not dead. We got distracted by the chance to do some violence and fucked up.

And we don't need to kill to become more powerful. We don't even need to kill to deprive dangerous breakers of their foci. We may be forced to kill if there's no alternative, but that's not what happened tonight. You chose to kill when there were alternatives.

Take this as a bitter lesson, Linda. This death wasn't like the others. This time, it wasn't unavoidable, or caused by other people. It was you. And unlike Cass, you don't have a convenient excuse. You lost a piece of yourself today.

Take the needle. Tell Raphael you're not done. You killed a man in cold blood today, and you want to make sure it was worth it. That something good comes from it. Where are the kidnapped?
>>
No. 451086 ID: 886a4d

Well in Linda's defence I seriously doubt she can see BP at sniping ranges. Nor was she in range to demand they surrender.
>>
No. 451088 ID: 466404

You take the needle, staring at it. Some part of you feels dead now. You killed a man. Put him down. Justified it in your own head at the time as punishing him, but in the end that doesn't matter. You KILLED him. There's no way your getting around that. Not now. Some part of you is ready to be over and done with. But you don't give yourself that luxury. You at least want to make sure something good comes out of his. You tuck the needle into a pocket, then turn back to Raphael.

"No. I'm not done. Where are we headed?"

Raphael stares at you a moment, then simply pulls out a map from a drawer and unrolls it onto a table. "Here. It's an old warehouse in the industrial district. Apparently this lot is a bit more organized than I thought, there's supposedly some 7 breakers at this other place. I already called Chainsaw and the Kids, they said they'd meet us there... you sure your alright? Your don't look to good there..."

Your not alright, you feel like bursting into tears, but now isn't the time for that... is it?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451093 ID: f6cff9

>>451086
Well that is true because we had trouble seeing those guys in the sewers and the numbers around them. What is the rule when we can't and can see them anyways? We just saw people with weapons when we killed that guy. Did we even see his number? I don't see a spot where it said we saw his number.

Well just hold those tears in for now. We can cry ourselves to sleep later.
>>
No. 451097 ID: 886a4d

Tell him you'll be fine... you just need a moment. Go cry Linda, be human, you aren't a monster. But you are a fighter. Otherwise you'd be like Matt was. So once finished wipe those tears away and lets go.

If we're going to be taking on 7 breakers we need a bit of a boost. Orignally I wanted to wait for modding our rifle till AFTER we get spirit 3 since we are so low on BP... but we need this now.

Get the experiance point from our new focii.


Then lets add our multi-purpose scope to our rifle if possible. X-Ray (cartoon \ sci-fi version), Infrared, Target assist, night vision, magnification and anything else we can think of.
>>
No. 451098 ID: d6c330

>>451086
Yes, and she put herself in that position. And that doesn't change the fact she could have chosen use suppressive fire to pin them down instead of lethal force.

I understand you guys probably don't appreciate me driving the killing home like this. But Linda did something pretty dark today, in stark contrast to her previously established actions and philosophy. She's gotta feel that. And one way or another, this death is gonna shape her future actions. Either it breaks her resolve and puts her on a darker path, or the real guilt and understanding of the consequences of her actions force her to stick closer to her ideals in the future.

>Actual suggestions now
Compose yourself. If you're going to make what you did mean anything, you have to see this through. There are people here who need your help. You have friends and allies putting themselves in danger. And maybe there are lives you can spare or save if you're more careful this time around.

You can cry later. You've got a job to do now, and you're going to do it well. And not fuck up again.
>>
No. 451102 ID: 886a4d

>>451098
We also chose the side with the murderous Chainsaw wielding wacko. Who killed the guy we had disabled... and we didn't say a thing. She then went on to kill another guy... and again we let it slide.

I like Cass, but she is broken... just like Linda. No well adjusted person would accept either of those things like she did. We prefer to leave them alive... but we have no problem with death.

The only reason this is hitting Linda so hard is because its by her hand now. She is the madman.
>>
No. 451114 ID: 466404
File 134665356173.jpg - (296.16KB , 3872x2592 , Warehouse.jpg )
451114

You briefly think about letting yourself cry, but push the feeling down. Crying can come later. Right now, there are people that need saving. You can't be the only one out of the fight right now. And right now, you'd rather not turn into some angst ridden anime character. You slap your cheeks to snap yourself out of it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going."

The two of you head out, using Mike as a driver to get you to where you need to go. The drive is another twenty minutes, and soon you find yourself parked outside a warehouse complex. You silently count off a few warehouses, four that you can see, but your interrupted by the arrival of another car. Cass and the two high-school kids get out, and you group up to formulate a plan. You find yourself reluctant to get involved in the actual planning, instead listening in, much like Cass does.

"Alright. Chainsaw, you're going to run fontal assault. Lucas, Becca, think you two can handle supporting her? Just keep the shooters off her back, if there are any. I'll slip in beforehand and try getting them a little riled up, not so focused on the front door... Linda, your on hostage detail. See if you can slip in during the confusion and get the normals out."

You can tell. He put you there on purpose. A part of you is a little hurt, it's not like you can't fight! And Cass is YOUR partner, damn it! Another part of you is relieved. Either way, Raphael is staring at you, waiting for your agreement.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451117 ID: 886a4d

Agree. We're here to save those people. Getting them out of harms way is just as important as putting down their captors. Smile at Cass and tap your earbud. If she needs you your just a click away.

The rifle will scare the civies so its pistol time. We really need a holster for that.
>>
No. 451118 ID: d6c330

>>451102
We let it slide because it's easier to justify with someone else.

But yeah, I'm not saying Linda should be going for a technical pacifist conduct. I'm saying she should be affected by killing by her own hands. And worse than that- she can't even comfort herself with the fact she tried to avoid like before- because she didn't. She ignored her own doubts, and chose the crazy. In full control.

The lesson she learns from this is no more careless killing. We kill if we have to. If someone won't back down. If we need to drop them to protect a friend, an innocent, or ourselves. We try to limit the damage our friends do- when possible. It won't always be. We kill when it's necessary, or unavoidable- not when it's convenient. That won't save everyone, but at least we'll be able to live with ourselves.

>Agree?
Fine. This sounds like a pistol job, not a tank gun one.
>>
No. 451195 ID: 466404

You agree to the plan, and every heads off to get ready. You catch Cass eye and tap the earbud. You'll be there if she needs it. She nods at you, then heads off to get herself ready.

A few minutes later and your ready to go. The first thing you see is that horse again, riding straight through the wall. You wait a few minutes, then you hear the familiar sound of a chainsaw. You see Cass kick her way in through the front door, quickly followed by the two high-school kids. You pause here, letting your companions stir up some trouble, and taking the time to consider your options. You could try looking for a backdoor or a window to climb through, or you could just slip in through the front door and hope you don't get noticed. Better make your decision quick.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451196 ID: d6c330

Lets go for a back door. If we come in through the front, the only exit we have to take the prisoners out through is out the front again, past the fighting.
>>
No. 451199 ID: f6cff9

Fine let's use the back door it's not like the front was a real option and climbing though the window could cause enough noise to cause a panicked enemy to shoot in that general direction.
>>
No. 451202 ID: f6cff9

>>451199
Actually let's go check if there is any open windows as we go for the backdoor. I mean odds are it's locked, but given the choice breaking down a door or breaking a window, I would pick the door because the sound of glass breaking is too distinct to really mistake it for anything else. If a door breaks down you just hear a loud thud which could be mistaken for a sound coming from the fight. We could also use a reality break to unlock the door as well now that I think about it.
>>
No. 451203 ID: d6c330

We've got supernatural STR now. We can probably kick open a mundane door, no matter how well it's locked.

Obviously, we go in, pistol out and ready for trouble. We see anyone with a number who isn't one of ours, and isn't busily distracted by our allies, we drop them.

(Actually, how many rounds do we have in the handgun clip? I don't think we ever specified, and that might be relevant in here).
>>
No. 451213 ID: f6cff9

Yeah I get it we go though the back door. I don't have a problem with that.
>>451202
Man I must have been really groggy when I wrote that. It makes little to no sense.
>>
No. 451233 ID: 466404

>how many rounds
There's 15 rounds in a Baretta M9 clip.

You decide to search for a backdoor, and a quick jog around the outside nets you a discovery. There's another door, but it seems like it's jammed shut. It's still better than the front door, and the sound probably won't matter much if they are fighting, so you raise your leg and kick the door as hard as you can. The door is kicked in, almost tearing itself from its hinges, and you draw you handgun as you enter, eyes scanning for anyone. It seems you're in some sort of supply reception area. You spot two doors and a stairway. You'd guess the far door leads into the main warehouse, as you can hear the sounds of fighting and the somewhat comforting sound of a chainsaw revving.

That leaves the other door and the stairway. You'd guess there's offices upstairs, while the door might lead to another section of the warehouse. If you really felt like it, upstairs could be used as a sniper position...

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451234 ID: 886a4d

Lets do our job first. I doubt the hostages are in the main warehouse... lets poke our head in the other door before heading upstairs.
>>
No. 451244 ID: f6cff9

>>451234
Agreed let's look in the other room before we go up. If they aren't in there we can just go upstairs and try to find the hostages. If they aren't up there as well then we could use the "Sniper position" to try to find where they are in the warehouse.

No actual sniping though
>>
No. 451258 ID: d6c330

We can take up a sniping position if Cass or someone calls in reinforcements, or if we think they're in trouble. (Shooting people involved with actually fighting your friends is a lot easier than attacking someone out of the blue).

In the mean time though, we have a job to do. Hostages need help, preferably before someone on the other team moves them, or kills them out of spite (it's 7 to 5- Cass and the others are necessarily keeping them all busy).
>>
No. 451275 ID: 466404

You check the door, and discover what looks to be a store room for cleaning supplies and other necessary equipment. You don't find anything of any real value, so you leave the room alone and instead head upstairs, making sure to keep yourself as quiet as possible. You manage to get up the stairs without making too much noise, and find only a single door. You can hear people on the other side, so you slide up to it hoping to catch something.

"-ell are these guys? They came out of nowhere. Damn it, I thought you said we couldn't possibly get caught?"

"We shouldn't have. These guys are like us. They can fuck reality just the same."

"Ah shit. They seem better than us to. Wha- What the hell is- You want me to kill the hostages?"

"Fastest way. We can normalize it afterwards. You're in too deep to object now, little man. I'm going to go help our boys downstairs."

You hear footsteps coming towards the door. You have maybe 10 seconds to act.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451284 ID: 886a4d

Well crap. Alright heres what we'll do. Wait for the door to open. Plug him in a knee before he gets a chance to react. Grab him with one arm and throw him down the stairs. Then go after the second guy. We can't let him get to the hostages.
>>
No. 451296 ID: d6c330

Okay, two people. One is leaving to join the main fight, let him. That makes our job easy. The other is coming to you, and you know he plans on murdering innocents. That also makes your job easy.

Let this guy past you. Follow him, as he leads you to the hostages. Then shoot him from behind. Keep shooting till he's down to zero (he has less than 15 BP, I hope?).

Then when he's down and helpless, demand he give up his focus. And then see if he gives you good reason not to kill him.
>>
No. 451300 ID: 886a4d

>>451296
Normally I'd say go for it but who knows how close the hostages are to the second man. We need to get up there NOW. We can't wait for this guy to pass.
>>
No. 451304 ID: d6c330

Oh wait. Yeah. Which one is coming towards us? The one going to help the fight, or kill the hostages? Can we tell? Because that changes our response.
>>
No. 451305 ID: 886a4d

The guy coming down is the one going to help.
>>
No. 451312 ID: f6cff9

>>451300
Damn our ability to not see though walls thus making us not have the confidence to make calls like this. I also don't think we can hide in ten seconds while on stairs unless we run down the stairs possibly making a lot of noise with the chance on not finding a place to hide in the end anyways. They are known for being a pretty bad place to hide.

I'll go with this one
>>451284
>>
No. 451315 ID: 466404

Guy's coming. You can't just let him by, if there's two here, then that means that Cass and the others are dealing with five of them. That's already a disadvantage. Time to deal with this one.

You take a step back from the door, and as the man opens it he blinks in surprise before you fire into his kneecap. At this close range, he doesn't have a chance of dodging. You watch his knee buckle, and you reach out and grab his arm and pull him over your shoulder, hurling him towards the opposite wall. He flies through the air and slams into it hard. You don't have the time to see if he stays down, instead entering the room he'd come from and bringing your gun to bear on the other man. Then you freeze.

This is for two reasons. The first is that the man is pointing his weapon at one of two hostages as he glares at you. The other is that the man is a normal. He's got no number floating around his head. You can't... you can't kill a normal.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451329 ID: 886a4d

Reality Break his gun. Turn it into a garden snake.

(It doesn't matter if we succeed or not. Gun will be ruined no matter what.)
>>
No. 451330 ID: f6cff9

"What's a normal doing here anyways? Jesus Christ just get out of here before I shoot you. You ain't worth my time"

The guy sounded like he was panicking earlier so if we give him a way out odds are he will take it. Well that's my assumption at least.
>>
No. 451331 ID: f6cff9

>>451329
That works as well
>>
No. 451337 ID: d6c330

>He's a normal
Or he's got the ability to block your sight, like Aria. I'll assume for the moment you can tell he's a normal.

If we had active break, I'd tell you to do something to make his gun jam or otherwise become inoperable (we're good at guns!). But in this situation, we'd suffer the concentration penalty (although, that would break the gun too, wouldn't it?).

Try diplomacy. Drop it, and get the fuck out of here, or I drop you. You know what I am, you can't win.

If you do have to shoot him? Go for the gun arm, so he can't shoot. Or shoot the gun right out of hand. Or take his trigger finger off. We've got high finesse and a low power weapon, we have non-fatal options.

Work fast though- can't get into a stand off when the other guy could be getting back up.
>>
No. 451364 ID: 466404

"Drop it, and get the fuck out of here, or I drop you. You know what I am, you can't win."

The man is shaking, torn between two possibilities. Then he drops the weapon, breaking down completely. He darts around you, headed for the stairs and the way out. You watch him leave, then turn to check on the other man. He hasn't gotten up, apparently the impact was enough to knock him out. That just leaves...

You return to the room and find the two hostages. Both are bound and gagged, a woman and her high-school daughter, judging by the looks of them. You remove the gags, but both remain silent, staring at you in fear.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. My friends and I are here to help you."

You start thinking as you untie their bonds, trying to work out a plan for getting them out.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451365 ID: 886a4d

Right once the two are unbound relieve the man of his focus then lets get them out the way we came. If they ask tell them you are making sure he can't pull a weapon on you. Which is the truth. Then tie him up!

Then get them out of here. Have them wait in your car say you'll help them get home once this is all over.
>>
No. 451373 ID: d6c330

The guys who's down is a breaker, right? You can see a number?

Search him quick for his foci. He may have more than one. You'll know when you have them all, because his number will disappear- he'll be like Mac.

Best way to get them out would be to lead them out the way you came it. Just take point, have them follow a bit behind. That, or we hold tight and wait for our friends to win. That's not as certain though- they are outnumbered. Getting the hostages out seems more prudent.
>>
No. 451376 ID: d6c330

Oh! And take or disarm the gun the normal left behind. No sense leaving loaded weapons behind you.
>>
No. 451431 ID: f6cff9

>>451373
Um will taking the foci work? Wouldn't we need to make him give it to us to get it immediately or is that only if you want to use it? I'm just not to sure. Of course odds are just taking the foci with us would make it so he can't use it anyways.

>As long as one "claims" the foci, then one gains possession of it. This requires a successful use of Will multiple times, so generally most prefer to just kill a person and simply pick the damn thing up, or force the other person to hand their foci over willingly.
>>
No. 451436 ID: d6c330

I'm pretty sure you have to be carrying your foci in order for them to work. Otherwise everyone would be hiding them and using them remotely. A magician's soul sort of deal.

At least with weapon types. Form and avatar types get more complicated, since the foci isn't necessarily inanimate, and they don't stay in contact at all times. You'd need wil checks, and/or beating the foci into submission to claim one. Also, avatar types can still break while the avatar is away doing something (at least Aria could. Unless she had a spare on her for breaking, while her main was off keeping that guy busy?).
>>
No. 451439 ID: f6cff9

>>451436
Yeah but would his number disappear and what not? If they don't then how would you know if you got all of his foci? That's what I want to know. Of course it would have been easier to type that out instead of writing this whole thing. Now I feel kinda dumb...
>>
No. 451446 ID: d6c330

Well, you're right there. I don't know that his number would wink out. I assumed. It's possible his number wold persist so long as there's a chance he can keep breaking (ie, up until all his stolen foci get tuned to others).
>>
No. 451453 ID: f6cff9

It's not like taking his foci is a bad plan. It's a pretty good idea at all times when fighting someone. It's just if the number doesn't disappear and we can't find anymore foci then we might just have to risk it. Linda just has to keep her eye on him as she is leaving if that's the case.
>>
No. 451486 ID: 466404
File 134672342625.jpg - (5.57MB , 4320x3240 , p10007511.jpg )
451486

You move over to the unconscious man and start searching through his pockets. You pull out the usual variety of things, except for the rather unusually smooth rock. You'd guess this is his focus. You pocket it, but notice he still has his number. You do another quick run through of his pockets, but no change. Seems you'll have to rely on judgement when stealing people's foci.

You stand now that your task is complete, you gesture for the pair to follow you and lead the way down the stairs. You remain cautious, not wanting to get overly excited in case you get ambushed again. You make it to the back door, and just before you open it up again you hear your ear-bud crackle to life.

"So... Linda... yeah. We could a use a little- back the fuck of me- help here... stupid overly protective bitch..."

"Alright, I'm on my way."

You check outside to make sure the two hostages won't get attacked, then tell them to get to the cars and wait for you there. You'll get them to their homes after you help your friends. The two take off without hesitation, happy to be away from the sounds of combat. That leaves you free to go help.

Now you just have to decide how you're going to help.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451510 ID: f6cff9

That sniper position would be nice right about now. Drawing enemy attention away from our guys because some unknown shooter is blowing them apart. Problem with that is we won't be able to know the BP of our enemies(Distance Problems but that's just a guess on my part). If possibly killing someone is gonna bother Linda too much it might be better to get up close and personal that way we can see the BP.
>>
No. 451523 ID: d6c330

Lets go for distance. We were only upset by the last death because it was in cold blood, our first time, and we had doubts it was necessary immediately afterwards.

Now we know these people have no problem murdering innocents and covering it up. And they're actively fighting our friends. We got no qualms anymore.

Head upstairs with the pistol, in case you meet anyone up there. As soon as you're sure the room in secure, call up the tank gun, take the sniper position, and give Cass the help she needs. Start by blowing away whoever's pressing her.
>>
No. 451528 ID: f6cff9

>>451523
Alright let's get to it then. Time to support our partner.
>>
No. 451564 ID: a407a5

You make your way back upstairs, making sure your little friend is still down for the count, then you find reenter the room the hostages had been in. You remember... yes, there's a window right there. You manifest the rifle again, set yourself up and scan the warehouse floor below you. You spot a number of potential targets. Cass seems to be dealing with two at once, the two school kids are dealing with another two(is that a flamethrower?) You can't see the last guy, but you don't care at this point. Cass needs saving. The only thing that remains is who to take out. There's a guy using what looks like a massive ball and chain, the other is using what appears to be a sword of some type.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451566 ID: 886a4d

Ball and chain. Cass can deal with close range better then long.
>>
No. 451575 ID: 6cc859

But be sure to watch your surroundings for #5.
>>
No. 451588 ID: 6e44d2

Ball and chain.
>>
No. 451614 ID: d6c330

She specified that the "overprotective bitch" was the one giving her trouble, right? If one of them is female, maybe that's who you should drop first.

But yeah, tactically, ball and chain seems like it would mess up her fighting style worse than a sword. Whether you're better off camping one person or hoping targets quickly depends on the situation- pay attention to how much trouble your allies are in.

Can we see BP at this range? Is Cass hurting for lives?
>>
No. 451622 ID: f6cff9

>>451614
Alright check which one is female. If neither of them is a woman(Could be the missing Fifth) just go for the Ball and Chain guy.
>>
No. 451638 ID: d6c330

Added criteria: when firing on the ball and chain person? Try and peg 'em when they're mid swing, so they lose control of the weapon. That should leave 'em disarmed after respawn, forcing the waste of additional BP on another manifestation, or apporting the weapon back. (Well, if possible. Don't leave Cass hanging while you wait. If the opportunity isn't there, just take the shot).
>>
No. 451676 ID: a407a5

You try checking for a number, cut you can't see anything. Damn. That means you can't check for how close one of them is to death. Not that it matters. You'd choose Cass over some unknown any day of the week. For now, you take aim at the man with the ball and chain, being unable to spot anyone necessarily female. You time it right, hoping to disarm him when you fire, and pull the trigger when you think it's good. The round slams into him, but you hit earlier than you'd planned, and the man just crumples to the floor. With the extra man down, Cass focuses all her attention on the swordsman, relentlessly bringing her chainsaw to bear again and again. Without his support, the man is quick to go defensive, although it's clear it's only a matter of time before one of the two tires.

The other man is getting up again, so you shoot him in the chest to keep him down. Just as you pull your attention away from your target, you catch the sound of someone moving and instinctively throw yourself sideways, dropping the rifle in the process. A spear looking thing is stabbed into where you were just seconds ago, and there's another man standing behind it.

"Damn. I was hoping to catch you unawares, little lady."

You tense, eyes watching him carefully. You dropped your rifle, the handgun is tucked into your pants. You're certain he's a close-range fighter. You aren't prepared for this. Aren't prepared for this at all.

>>>Input Command
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No. 451680 ID: 886a4d

Use your Finesse.

Get some distance. Draw your gun and plug him. Get a read on his BP while he is down. If he presses you enough you can't kill him do the unexpected, leap down into the warehouse. While your fallng shoot him.
>>
No. 451683 ID: d6c330

No BP read on him? Dang. Stupid unreliable passive powers.

Okay. He's a physical type, meaning he probably has high str, with wil as his dump. Meaning that trying fight him hand to hand or grapple the spear away is a bad idea.

We might be able to catch him off guard if his wil is less than ours- jedi mind trick him the way Marc did to us. Shout "Stop!" or something, and get him to lock up for just a second, long enough for us to plug him.

Assuming that fin works for more than just your hands, getting up and moving seems the best idea. He can throw the spear at you- but only once. This is an office right? Is there a table, desk, chairs, etc? Anything you can dive behind or put between you and him to keep out of melee while you draw your gun?

Get the pistol out as soon as you can- remember, if you need a weapon in your hands faster than you can otherwise manage it, you can burn a BP: dismiss the gun and call it right to your hand (although there is a delay for that).
>>
No. 451734 ID: f6cff9

The only thing we can really do is run and shoot. We just have to keep in mind the layout of the room(Same thing that everyone else said). Just keep the eye on the prize, the survival of Linda and Cassandra.
>>
No. 451743 ID: a407a5

You hesitate a second, giving the man the chance to rip his spear out of the wall. Damn it all. And he's blocking your sight. Not that it really matters what his BP is at this point. Now, all that matters is not getting killed. You scramble backwards, narrowly avoiding getting impaled through the stomach with a spear, and manage to get to your feet before he draws back for another thrust. Still, you manage to place a desk between the two of you, and that would make you feel a lot better except for the fact he has a SPEAR! You duck to the side, avoiding another spear thrust, and use the opportunity to draw your pistol. Now you should have an advantage. Another spear thrust shoots towards you, but this time you're ready, and as you sidestep again you bring the pistol up, finger already squeezing the trigger as your aim linen up.

This time, he surprises you though, already ducking low, spear thrusting out again, aimed again for your stomach. You drop backwards, but misjudge the distance and feel the spear sink into your body. Pain shoots through you, and you stumble backwards instinctively.

Shit, shit, shit. You draw your hand away from your stomach and find it covered in blood. You're bleeding a lot. You somehow know you're in no immediate threat concerning your life, but if you don't get help soon somehow, you're not going to make it. So, you do the sensible, anime thing to do. You leap out a window. You don't, however, take into account that you have no idea what's below that window. You drop farther than you thought you would, and land on your firing arm. You clearly hear the crack as bone breaks, and more pain shoots through you, clouding your judgement. You dropped the pistol at some point, but you barely register that fact. You have to... you have to do something...

>>>Input Command
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No. 451751 ID: 6e44d2

Dismiss both the weapons you dropped. Run to the melee where Cass is fighting, spawn your pistol again, and shoot ball and chain each time he gets up (using your unbroken arm). This should also give you the advantage of being able to see the spear guy coming, should he chase you. I'm assuming that the fight's going on in a wide open space.
>>
No. 451771 ID: f6cff9

>>451751
Don't know how well that gonna work out if you just gonna run straight there. Linda kinda got stab in the stomach, broke her arm(Pain Factor), and she gonna bleed out. She ain't gonna fight/move that well. The only good part about this is if Linda died over there then Cass can maybe keep them off of Linda. Of course if Linda went by herself there is always the chance that spear guy would chase her down and kill Linda each time she came back to life.

Too bad we can't hide due to the fact we would leave a blood trail.
>>
No. 451776 ID: 886a4d

Roll out of sight, summon your pistol. Shoot yourself in the head. Instant healing, 2 BP cost but you'lll be in top shape.
>>
No. 451782 ID: d6c330

>You hesitate a second
...never hesitate to check someone's BP again. If you see it, fine, if not, it's not worth the time getting caught off guard.

>>451751
We actually jumped out the window after taking a spear to the gut? Damn. Down one life.

First priority- reach out with your mind and dismiss the rifle before spear guy picks it up and decides to try his hand at sniping your friends. Dismiss the pistol too, if you have a chance before dying.

Then, you're going to respawn. Be ready to react fast, as there's a good chance someone will be waiting to kill-camp you. Dodge react, whatever. Get out of the way, call a weapon, and see what you have to deal with. Assess fast.

Also, what's our BP down to?
>>
No. 451785 ID: 886a4d

We are at 6, or 7, depending on if we regenned a point in between the drive to the warehouse.
>>
No. 451795 ID: a407a5

>BP
6, the total time to get back and get to the warehouse was just under an hour. Give it a few minutes and you'll be back to 7. Or back to 6, actually, but that's beside the point.

You reach out numbly with your mind, focusing on the two manifestations and telling them to disappear. Then you're on your feet, struggling to get to Cass. For some reason, you don't even register that she's in a fight right now, and can't help you. You don't get much farther than that, your mind starting to go fuzzy and your vision darkening. You notice suddenly that the floor seems to be getting really close...

Ah... so... this is....... death.......... so....... dizzy.......................

What? What just happened? Why am I... OH MY GOD SPEAR!

You roll to the side, barely dodging the spear as it's thrust down towards you, then you instinctively kick upwards, anything to get the crazy psycho with the spear away from you. He manages to fall backwards in a clumsy dodge, landing on his back, and you take the chance to scramble to your feet and turn to face the man. At the same time, you're firing off the signal to get a weapon. Manifest a weapon. Unfortuanatetly, your mind goes for the weapon it's most familiar with, and you find your rifle in your hands.

Shit, wrong weapon. In the time it took you to get ready, the man is back on his feet. He has a spear in one hand, but he seems to be manifesting another weapon in his other, what looks like some sort of disk shaped thing. Maybe for throwing?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451798 ID: d6c330

SHOOT HIM. Now.

That you have the rifle and not the pistol doesn't matter, you can pull a trigger faster than he can manifest (we saw that back in the first fight).

If he goes down, and there's no other threats close to you, let the rifle drop into a 1-handed rest hold, manifest the pistol in the other, and shoot him, point blank. Over and over. We can't offer mercy since we can't see his BP, and we're in the middle of an active battle.

If there are other threats close to you, keep moving. You need to get behind cover, or put Cass or one of the other melee fighters in front of you so you can use range effectively.
>>
No. 451799 ID: f6cff9

What are you waiting for Linda? Don't let him use his weapon. Shoot, dodge, and don't hesitate because this guy won't. Just hit him anywhere be it limbs, head, or center mass. You can manifest the pistol when he is down.
>>
No. 451800 ID: f6cff9

>>451799
Well dodge if spear guy actually throws/use his weapon.
>>
No. 451802 ID: 6bcbf6

He could be manifesting a shield (good melee combo with spear). If you can get a shot off before it manifests go for the center of mass, but if not go for an uncovered leg.
>>
No. 451806 ID: a407a5
File 134681801247.jpg - (98.35KB , 570x414 , 108_Banshee.jpg )
451806

Hesitation is gone. You bring your weapon to bear, and you see his eyes go wide and his body start to move to the side in an attempt to dodge. YOu compensate, then you fire into his chest, and you watch as he's practically torn in half. He's goes down, body twitching, but you don't hesitate after that. Instead, you manuever the rifle into a resting position on your shoulder and manifest the pistol in your left hand, striding up and planting yourself on above him, feet on either side of his body to prevent movement. Then he wakes up, and you kill. A single gunshot to the head. Your aim is dead on. It isn't until the fifth time you go for the kill that he suddenly moves faster, like he's gotten it through his head that you're killing him over and over again the same way. When he wakes up next, his right arm comes up to block the shot while his grabs your leg and hurls you away with his other hand. Or, at least he tries. With your heightened physical strength and his bad positioning, you just stare at him coldly as he fails to budge you. Then you empty another round into his surprised face. And then he doesn't wake up again. You find yourself a little stunned, then you shake yourself from your thoughts and turn to look at the other battles.

Cass is having little trouble now, she's lopped off sword guy's legs and broken reality to keep it that way, and now is dealing happily with her other target. The two kids seem to have their two in hand as well. Or, rather, the male does. He's beating them relentlessly with what looks roughly like a wooden stick. You vaguely remember seeing it in some anime you've watched, but they weren't mecha anime, so you didn't care. Anything else is boring to watch. The girl looks like she's a ghost of some kind, and seems oddly hesitant to do anything, like she's afraid of something.

Either way, this battle is almost done. Just a matter of deciding what the next move is. And where did Raphael go in all this?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451807 ID: 886a4d

Help everyone. Surprise bullets to the back. Then its just clean-up
>>
No. 451808 ID: f6cff9

>>451807
Sounds like a Plan to me
>>
No. 451810 ID: d6c330

Welp, bodycount at two. Nothing we could do about that one, he was trying to kill us, and since he was blacking your sight, we had no way short of breaking him into a quadriplegic to know when he was safely disabled.

And besides, these fuckers condoned kidnapping and murdering innocent women and children. They don't deserve your guilt.

First things first. Quick look around, make sure you aren't overlooking anything. If you aren't, tuck your pistol away, bring up the rifle, and offer support as needed till the remaining combatants go down (really, it only takes one shot to mess up their rhythm, then they're at the mercy of whoever is meleeing them).

Then loot the guy you're standing over. He'll have at least two foci.

(We are so getting drunk with Cass tonight. You've fucking earned it).
>>
No. 451821 ID: a407a5

You take another look around, but don't find anythig worth worrying about. Dead body... check. Combatants. Check. Giant horse. Che- Wait a minute. Horse? You do a double take and yes, there is a horse. It canters up to you and shifts into Raphael as it gets to you.

"Ah. Sorry about that. Bastard caught me off guard. I didn't finish bleeding out till just now. Although, I guess I never considered throwing myself out a window." Raphael gives you a sheepish grin, then turns towards the kids. "I'll go help them out. Go see if you can stop Chainsaw from killing that guy. I've heard you've done it before."

You watch him head off, then turn your attention to Cass and her opponent. He is dangerously close to a 0, he's got a 1 right now, but... should you really get in her way?

Stupid question. Of course you should. She's already said she hated herself for killing people. The least you could do as a friend is try to help her avoid killing people. You start to make your way over, and arrive just as Cass gets rid of that last point, dropping it to 0. You watch as she starts to go for the last kill, but you interfere, hoping your words will reach her.

"Cass. Cass, calm down. You don't have to kill him. He's... he's done. He can't win now. We'll strip him of his foci and he won't be able to do anything anymore... please, you don't have to kill everyone."

Cass halts in her movement, staring down at the clearly frightened man, then she clicks er tongue in frustration and brings her chainsaw to rest on her shoulder. Instead, her bashes his face in with her foot and searches him, then stands and heads off to searcg the other one. Done with that, she walks up to you.

"I only stopped cause you asked nicely..."

You nod your head, not wanting to contest the point. But as you turn to search your own kill, you hear a soft "Thanks" come from behind you. You allow yourself a little smile before it's taken away by the sight of another dead man. You shake away your doubts and search him, coming up with a spearhead and a small circular disk looking thing. By now, all the fights are taken care of, and Raphael volunteers himself to take the hostages home.

That leaves you, Cass and the kids to return home. To think. Two fights and it isn't even lunch time. Your new life has definitely gotten more exciting.

Experience Points Gained: 4
>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451829 ID: f6cff9

Well as far as exp go I want to use 2 exp to upgrade spirit and take the Active Break power
>>
No. 451831 ID: 886a4d

Aw no bonus points for a job well done? I suppose 4 exp are pushing it for one event.

Alright heres my votes.

1-2 ) Spirit 3 Active Break.
3) X-Ray Scope: The closer a thing is the more transparent it is. Focii are the only exception, they are always completely solid. Living beings and avatars should glow slightly.
4) Finesse.

Once we spent our points do a quick sweep of the building for focii and living people. Someone might be hiding and had our idea of hiding a focus in case they lost their original.
>>
No. 451832 ID: f6cff9

>>451831
Nah it's five. I just checked the Discussion and he said he messed up by accident.
>>
No. 451834 ID: 886a4d

alright then

5) Finesse or Will ( I prefer finesse but having superhuman will at this point would help us)
>>
No. 451835 ID: f6cff9

>>451832
Well forgot we looted that one guy...
>>451831
Anyways that sounds like a plan but should we put that other point into will or wait to we get back to base to see if we want to tune any of them?
>>
No. 451837 ID: f6cff9

>>451834
That and we need will if we aren't gonna kill people and just take the Foci. Will Tests and what not for claiming a Foci that isn't yours.
>>
No. 451839 ID: d6c330

2- level up spirit to 3, get active break
1- upgrade tank gun, get x-ray scope
1- fin to 4
1- save (explained below).

What are we going to do with 4 foci? We don't even know that the first two are weapon type. We'll have to see what Mac has for trade, I guess. Or if anyone else wants to swap loot (anyone else kill a gunner? Maybe Cass could use the discus thing, if that's what it is...)

If we get something we like for a holdout, use the last point to tune it. If not, spend it on wil.
>>
No. 451841 ID: f6cff9

>>451839
Well we can always just spend the last point later
>>
No. 451842 ID: 886a4d

>>451841
Alright, if we have more battles like this one using a point on a holdout isn't the worst thing we can do. Lets see what all we looted first though.
>>
No. 451858 ID: a407a5

Experience Points Applied
Spirit 3: Active Break
Finess: 4
Modified X-Ray Scope Obtained


Upon arriving back at base, the two kids immediately head off to god knows where. Cass, on the other hand, falls into a sofa a her earliest convenience and pulls out her prizes, dropping them on the table. What looks like a small keychain and a small toy sword are revealed, as well as two others you don't recognize from the warehouse. Another bullet, from the looks of it larger than the 9mm but definitely smaller than the .50 cal, and what appears to be an ipod. Cass clearly shows her distaste for her acquired prizes though, and you doubt she'll end up using any of them.

"This is bullshit. I keep getting crap I can't use... shit, this is annoying. What the hell do I want with a sword..."

Cass seems to notice you're still hanging around and stares at you a moment, then smirks. "So? You got anything interesting? Come on, cough em up, let's see the spoils before you go off trading them for something stupid, like candy. Fucking crazy bitch... who trades foci for candy..."

You decide to go along for now, since you haven't really gotten a look at all this stuff yourself, and dump your prizes onto the same table. Cass stares at them all with a look clearly stating she's not interested anymore, but picks up the rock experimentally.

"Can't imagine this would be a weapon... might try giving it to nightmare boy. He's been looking for a new form for awhile now, just his shit luck we kept running into weapon types. And what the hell is this thing?" Cass drops the rock back onto the table and picks up the needle carefully, examining it. "Can't think of what this would be at all... a needle? Huh. That's... kinda dull, actually. I guess we could try tuning it or something... Anyway. I got no interest in any of your things. You want either of mine? I'll trade ya for something, if you like."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451860 ID: 886a4d

Ask Cass what she thinks the I-Pod is. Also would Mac be able to identify these without having to focus them?
>>
No. 451861 ID: f6cff9

Well I want the bullet but I don't know what she will want for them. Might as well ask her though.
>>
No. 451862 ID: 886a4d

>>451861
Actually I think our holdout should be a melee weapon. While an automatic \ semi-automatic is a decent choice we really do have the ultimate gun with our rifle. All we have to do is mod it a bit more.
>>
No. 451866 ID: d6c330

>Fucking crazy bitch... who trades foci for candy...
Oh, I get it. The overprotective bitch she was complaining about before is the schoolgirl / ghostgirl. She spent the battle uselessly babysitting schoolboy, leaving Cass to her own devices.

>Needle
I'm vaguely curious as to what kind of weapon that would produce, but not enough to waste xp on. Actually, aside from the bullets, it's kind of hard to guess what the manifestation is without tuning. (Still curious as to what innocuous object becomes a chainsaw. Not sure that's the kind of thing we can ask, though).

>Trade
I suppose we could go for the bullet, and see if Mac can ID the gun it came from. Not sure what she wants in return though, unless she just wants an alternate junk foci to use as shop currency (give the spear or discus I guess). Might as well ask.

>Stone for horsey
Sure, why not. Put us on better terms later.
>>
No. 451868 ID: f6cff9

>>451862
I thought we are gonna concentrate on Finesse though so a melee weapon won't be as useful. Also if we lose the anti-material rifle then all we have left for a range weapon is the handgun. But I'll go with the melee weapon if you guys want a melee weapon.
>>
No. 451869 ID: 886a4d

Finesse means death by a thousand cuts instead of one huge blow. Though unless they have super-endurance included with strength thats not going to matter much. A 3 strength IS superhuman after all.
>>
No. 451874 ID: d6c330

>>451862
The "holdout" is for an emergency stash, in case we're defeated and looted, non-fatally. It should probably be a gun, cause that's our thing. And if we're reduced to only one weapon, it should be the kind we're good at.

But an emergency melee weapon isn't a bad idea to pick up eventually. (Although, we seem to have a natural affinity for firearms. That's more than just stats. Not sure if we pick up something else if that will still work. We could be dextrous as hell from all our fin, but still not know any swordplay).

Also, we can probably get anything we trade to Mac back later if we trade in a new junk foci in for it in the future.
>>
No. 451917 ID: a407a5

You happily trade away the useless disk thingy for the bullet, mostly because Cass really doesn't care as long as she gets something she can trade to Mac, and in return, you've gathered another bullet. Since Cass doesn't seem to be in any hurry to go visit Mac, you take the opportunity to do so yourself. Upon arriving, you're greeted cheerfully by the junk keeper, and after you show him both your newly acquired bullet and the things you're willing to trade, he does a few things. First, it's the bullet examination. After a few minutes of careful consideration, Mac concludes it is a .45 round. The round generally has more stoping power than a 9mm, the downside is the higher recoil and smaller rounds per magazine. It's used in the M1911 Colt .45, a pistol originally standard in the military before adopting the 9mm, as well as being used in the much famous Thompson submachine gun, or as it's more commonly known, the "Tommy Gun". He can't tell you anymore than that.

He hands the bullet back to you, then smiles at you.

"So? What can I getcha?"

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451919 ID: d6c330

So... a tommy gun or a colt, huh? I was hoping for a more mid-range rifle. Not sure a colt makes a great backup, especially for dealing with breakers (powerful, but sizeable recoil makes it slow). A tommy gun might be more useful, but I'm not sure of the practicality.

I'm kinda thinking we keep the bullet but don't tune it? Spend the point on wil for now? Whatcho guys think?

Can he tell us anything about the rest of the junk we looted? We're guessing the rock is a form, but we're clueless as to what the needle might do.

>What can I getcha?
Any other gun foci in stock? Maybe ones he already knows what they manifest as? We're kind of thinking of getting a backup like he recommend, but we're not sure this one is it.
>>
No. 451920 ID: 886a4d

Lets spend the point to attune the focus of that bullet. Then show him the rest of our loot and see what we can get in exchange. Dpn't include the rock. We'll be trading that with Horsie.
>>
No. 451923 ID: d6c330

>>451920
Eh... let's not tune / spend the point until we're done shopping. He might have a better gun in stock (or not). We can afford to wait a minute, and it doesn't hurt us to save the .45 for later if that's what we decide.

And yeah, no trading the rock, I just wanted his opinion. We got the spear and needle for currency (still vaugely curious about the needle, but not enough to waste points).

Maybe ask if there's anything more mundane he'd recommend? Not sure what we should be interested in besides foci at this point.
>>
No. 451925 ID: 886a4d

Maybe get that helmet I wanted for night or low light action?

Ya its easier to shop if we know what is available. Though I am curious, ask how he gets a hold of some of these things. Gernades aren't the easiest to obtain.
>>
No. 451926 ID: f6cff9

>>451923
I also wanted to tune the bullet but I can afford a minute to wait to see what he has.
>>
No. 451931 ID: d6c330

>>451925
Night vision would be cool, although we wouldn't be able to get away with carrying or wearing a combat helmet in public all day. So it would only be useful when we set out for nighttime (or underground, whatever) combat on purpose. (Until we learn to teleport stuff to us, but we wouldn't want to risk telefragging our new gear right off the bat. Have to experiment with something else).

Also, I'm kind of waffling on the usefulness of defensive gear. A helmet could make the difference between a fatal hit, and slow death, or unconsciousness. And as we've seen, with our respawn system it's almost more useful to die rather than survive a hit. Surviving an injury means a delay till you're up to snuff again (uh, no pun intended), and gives the enemy time (to break a permanent injury, loot you, set up kill camping, etc).

How realistic does the non-foci stuff we barter for have to be? Could be get something low profile and non-suspicious, like night vision on a pair of glasses? (Or sun-glasses for the irony, and puns).
>>
No. 451934 ID: 886a4d

I figure we can keep things like that in a duffel we grab as we head out and put it on just before we go in.

As far as defensive purposes most people do go for body shots it seems so its pretty well strictly utility instead of protective.

As for the feasibility of reality defying sunglasses someone would have either had to spend an experiance point to make them or had high enough spirit to do so then decide they didn't want them after all... which is ... unlikely.
>>
No. 451976 ID: a407a5

"A gun foci... hm... give me a minute teh check..." Mac disappears off into the piles of junk, only to appear a few minutes later, shaking his head. "Sorry. I ain't got anything fer guns at the moment. Some daggers, a few swords, a new hammer came in, but nothin oh any value teh ya. Sorry I couldn't give ya more help with that.

"Regarding the rest oh this stuff. The needle I can't really tell ya anything about, I never seen anything like it, an that rock is a form type. This here spear is obviously a spear, but again, nothing more than that. Can't really tell ya. I ain't an expert on foci. That would be the Do-" Mac trails off, looking a little embarressed like he'd said something he shouldn't have, then jumps onto another topic. "But if ya need anything mundane fer trading, I can get it fer ya. Just tell me what ya need. Grenades are always useful, particularly the flash bangs, fer you, cause I hear ya ain't the fan of killin people. That should help out immensely. I can give ya five fer one foci, if ya go that route. Body armor might not seems like a good idea, but it can help, especially if ya get yerself in a gun fight. Every bullet that don't ya is one bullet less they can fire atcha. I think ya could probably do with getting yerself a vehicle of yer own. Relying on drivers all the time could end badly, an theres only so many to go around. I could find you sometin if ya like, although I'd need two oh yer foci fer that. Last... well, it's more advice fer getting close to Cass. I ain't seen anyone try so hard to be friends with her, so I figure it can't hurt to help you out a little. She might not act like it, but she loves anything horror related. Weird, given she can't stand killing people, but whatever. So if ya want to make her a little more friendly, ya could trade one of the foci fer this slender man doll... don't ask..."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 451979 ID: 886a4d

Hmm I'm suprised we don't already have a car. I vote for a slenderman doll for the 1. Focusing either the buller of the needle. Given how much emphasis in the narrative its getting makes me even more curious about the needle so I'm switching my vote to it. And saving the other for a car.
>>
No. 451983 ID: d6c330

>No guns.
Huh. That implies he's doing outside business, or there's some other use for foci. Because as far as we know, there's no other gunners in house, so if this were just a swap-meet stockpile the minigun focus Cass traded for the comms should still be here.

Obviously, from Mac's slip, this "Do-" is involved. Someone we don't know by name yet, which only leaves the school-kids or people we haven't met yet.

>Slender man doll
...okay, I like Cass a lot, and I support building bridges with her, but we've known her a day. Buying her a doll out of the blue seems like kind of an inappropriate or creepy thing to do? I dunno, I guess it's how we play it.

(Although Mac called her Cass! Another member for the not-Chainsaw club).

>Vehicle
Ooh, yes please! This sounds like a good medium term goal (we probably didn't already have one because we live in a city and work from home).

>What spend XP on?
...I'm kind of wondering what the needle does. Lamest result is a syringe weapon. Most interesting is some kind of healing or buffing tool (...although that means we murdered a medic in cold blood). Maybe we could find the expert Mac asked and see?

The .45 could be our cached holdout, but I don't care for either thing it could be very much (a colt has two much recoil to kill camp, and a tommy gun isn't exactly a tool of finesse). It's also a little early in the game to be worried about getting wiped and losing all the rest of our stuff, isn't it? Maybe? Getting killed outright seems more likely.

Then of course we could always just spend it on wil. We do enough negotiating, after all.

>currency
...so if we're holding the bullet and needle for possible tuning, the rock for Raph, that only leaves the spear for resale. We're more than glad to see the end of that.
>>
No. 451994 ID: f6cff9

>>451983
So don't get anything? We could get the grenades or just save the foci for the vehicle.
I doubt anyone is gonna trade a focus for a slender man doll so we can just always do that later anyways.
>>
No. 451997 ID: d6c330

>>451994
Well... presumably, Cass might by it herself when she comes in. It's probably a now or never offer.

I'm not opposed to it if someone can come up with a way of framing the gift that doesn't come off weird.

The more pressing question is deciding what to do with out last XP, and if we want to tune either or our two candidates.
>>
No. 451998 ID: 886a4d

Maybe we should go buy a good computer plus a selection of horror games and movies. It'd let us spend more time together. We do have a job, and are no longer paying rent.
>>
No. 452000 ID: f6cff9

>>451998
That is a really good idea. It doesn't come up as weird as Linda giving a doll to Cass after knowing her for one day and something like that sounds like a lot of fun.
>>
No. 452001 ID: d6c330

Actually, pretty sure we're still on the hook for the apartment, even if we are living out of this hotel now. We looted the essentials, but we left everything else (presumably any furniture we own, all the kitchen related stuff, etc). We never turned in the key, officially moved out, or got out from under the lease.

But yes, good point. There are other ways we can use the knowledge Mac gave us without burning foci right now.

That still leaves the question of what to do. Do we save the .45 and the needle? Save one and sell the other? (With the spear, that's enough for a vehicle). Do we tune one now? Do we want flash-bangs or armor?
>>
No. 452003 ID: 886a4d

Didn't Marc offer to move everything at a later time? Wolf Guy isn't going to give up with the death of his brother and I doubt they were working solo considering how each group we've seen has at least one 20+ BP so far.

Make a note, turn in the final months rent and turn in the key.

As for spending at least 1 focus I say we get the flashbangs. Our biggest problem is melee and dropping one of those will help with that.
>>
No. 452006 ID: f6cff9

Well I want to keep the .45 but I don't know about the needle. Let's just get the flash bang grenades with the spear focus. We can either attune the .45 or just use the 1 exp for will. I'm good for either of those
>>
No. 452008 ID: d6c330

Alright, flashbangs for the spear don't seem a bad idea.

I'm kind of tempted to keep the needle and .45 for now. After our next level, we can tune one, or put 'em towards buying a vehicle.

Right now, I think wil is more valuable than a 3rd weapon. Since we barely have enough BP to use two as is, but you know we're going to end up talking to more people.
>>
No. 452011 ID: f6cff9

Alright will it is then. It also helps for "claiming" foci without killing the person or getting them to give up the foci willingly for whatever reason.
>>
No. 452012 ID: 886a4d

Alright I can go with that, keep the bullet \ needle, trade the stone to Raphael and sell the spear for flashbangs. Put our point into will.
>>
No. 452018 ID: 4a328b

Instead of putting a point into will I say put it into BP
>>
No. 452019 ID: 886a4d

We just got another 3 BP, and we didn't even get close to draining ourselves last battle. Even with dying once.
>>
No. 452024 ID: b6edd6

If we want to disable people at a close range, how about a tazer? They are not as lasting as tranquilizer darts (only working when the wires are in the target), but they still out-range melee and also incapacitate regardless of the target's strength (aside from maybe supernatural strength depending on whether it skips the normal neuromuscular system).
>>
No. 452025 ID: 886a4d

electricfying bullets for our pistol maybe?
>>
No. 452026 ID: 4a328b

>>452024
Tazer's a good idea.
>>
No. 452045 ID: a407a5

Experience Applied: Will 3

You decide to trade in the spearhead for some flashbang grenades, but you get the idea to try for a taser next time you come around. It should help keep some of the bastards off your back, and it seems in line with your "no kill" philosophy. Still, you think you're done with the shop for now, so you say your goodbyes and head back to the lobby. By this point, a few others have joined Cass in waiting around. Raphael is here, hanging around off to the side and sifting through what look like pictures. Daniels is waiting around as well, although he's just sitting there staring at nothing. Mathew is here as well, looking a lot less uncertain and seemingly more cheerful, although his eyes seem to be glancing occasionally at a nearby door. He's spots you first and waves, and you wave back, but no one else really reacts further than glancing in your direction.

>>>Input Command
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No. 452046 ID: 886a4d

Lets approach Raphael with the stone. Tell him Cass thought it might be a form focus and Mac agreed. We are willing to trade it to him if he has a gun focus (preferable a mid-range semi-automatic) or a future favor.
>>
No. 452051 ID: d6c330

>No kill philosophy
Well, at this point its more a "try to limit death somewhat" philosophy, but that still seems to stand out in our current situation.

>>452046
Yeah, go tell the the horse boy you've got something you've heard he might be interested in. If he has a gun to trade that's fantastic, although I see no reason not to accept other 'junk' foci, after all, they're all equal at the shop. Maybe ask how getting the hostages home went.

Definitely should talk to Matthew after that, since he seems to be doing better. Nice to see him adjusting.

...not sure if we should approach Daniels. He gives me a bad vibe, and we've got nothing to talk about.

Default to hanging with Cass when we've exhausted other possibilities. Although we should probably stop back at our room before the next mission to cache our untuned foci.
>>
No. 452052 ID: 886a4d

>>452051
Ya catch up with Matt, then invite Cass to finish the anime. We do need to do some more work I bet.
>>
No. 452067 ID: b6edd6

>Well, at this point its more a "try to limit death somewhat" philosophy, but that still seems to stand out in our current situation.
Well, that and the fact that continued tazing can potentially incapacitate someone more effectively than decapitation with a magic sword, a fact which still greatly amuses me.
>>
No. 452071 ID: a407a5

You head to Raphael first, pulling out the rock and placing it on the table. He stares at it a moment, then at you with a look that suggests he's thinking about calling mental help, then the gears in his head click and he's suddenly far more interested.

"A focus, I assume... a form type, or you wouldn't be showing it to me... I... I don't have any foci with me anymore, I turned those in to the Boss. Could I interest you in a favor sometime? Anything I can do I really, really need that."

You'd like to think you're a generally nice person, so you hand it over, with him owing you a favor sometime if you ever need it. Raphael jokingly adds that maybe he'll just ask you out to dinner instead, but you ignore him for now, although... he's not bad looking. Might as well file that away for consideration. It's not like you know the guy, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Besides, it's been ages since you got... yeah. Better keep our mind away from the gutter, especially with you hanging around a bunch of crazies. Thank god Mike isn't around, you swear he would've jumped on the chance to start hitting on you.

Either way, the next stop is Mathew, who is far more sociable now that he isn't freaking out every five seconds. You hold a nice conversation about some rather pointless things, mostly because Mathew isn't really all that focused on you right now, and you eventually decide to excuse yourself, just as the two kids get back. Mathew jumps slightly at their entrance, and starts muttering things under his breath and avoiding any eye contact with the pair. Odd... oh well.

You make your way back over to Cass, who glances up and gives a little wave before returning to lazing, and you figure since she's not doing anything right now, you might as well ask her if she wants to finish... that. Cass frowns, not understanding for a moment, then your slight embarressment seems to trigger a response. She laughs a little, then shakes her head. She's still got things she needs to do today, like figuring out what to do with her foci. You nod, then start to head off towards your room to hopefully get some normal work done, only for Cass to shout something at you before you can actually leave the lounge.

"Hey! We gonna do this drinking thing tonight?"

>>>Input Command
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No. 452089 ID: f6cff9

"Hell Yeah we are! We deserve it after what happened today."
>>
No. 452090 ID: 886a4d

Yes. Tonight is definately a night to celebrate we are alive.
>>
No. 452095 ID: d6c330

>Drinking?
Hells yes.

When you get back to your room, find a place to stash your unspent foci.
>>
No. 452109 ID: a407a5
File 134690509359.jpg - (25.25KB , 480x640 , 1195101551_ANIMEGirl1.jpg )
452109

"Of course we are! We saved two people today, why shouldn't we celebrate?"

"There's celebrating? Can I join i- Ow!"

The schoolboy starts to get up, only to have his ear yanked hard, forcing him back into his seat. The girl, on the other, seems to remain perfectly calm throughout the whole thing.

"We're too young to drink, Kent."

"Ah... right..."

You leave at this point, heading to your room to stash the foci you haven't done anything with yet, then grab your laptop to try and get some work done. You eventually drift off into work mode, mind focused completely on your task, until your forced back to reality by the rumbling of your stomach. You glance at the time and don't even bat an eye to discover that's it already 8 at night. That tends to happen a lot, given your work habits. Ah well. You close up the laptop after sending off one more email, then change into something more comfortable before popping out of your room to go check the lounge. There's no one hanging around that you can see, so you head down to grab something to eat before heading back up. With it being almost 9 by this point, you suppose you should go check on Cass to see if she's even around(maybe she'd knocked and you hadn't noticed) so you head over to her door and rap lightly.

There's no response for a few seconds, then Cass opens her door and pops her head out.

"Hey Linda. Nice to see you. We getting started?"

"I suppose."

"Cool. We can use my room. It's messy anyway, so whatever. I already traded a few foci for boatloads of booze, so we aren't running out anytime soon." Cass backs into her room, and since you don't have to go get yours if she's got some, you follow her in. You discover piles of clothing in one corner, mostly pants and shirts and such, while there is scattered memorabilia from various horror films, horror games, horror rides, horror anything. Cass is bent down in front of her fridge, pulling out a couple of beer cans, and she tosses you one before popping the top of her own and taking a drink.

"So... we got anything specific you want to do, or are we just gonna get shit-faced and go from there?"

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452113 ID: 886a4d

Nothing really planned. Maybe we could watch some movies. I never really got the appeal of the horror genre. Maybe you can show me the magic.
>>
No. 452114 ID: d6c330

>Kent
There we go! Got one of their names, finally. Impudent little scamp, thinking he'd get free booze when we haven't so much as spoke yet. (We'll have to talk to them at some point).

>So... we got anything specific you want to do, or are we just gonna get shit-faced and go from there?
Not unless you particularly want to have a heart to heart about the emotional roller coaster that is becoming a killer, dying, and then doing some kind of vengeful hero act all in quick succession. Getting drunk sounds good to me.

(Cue the shenanigans and waking up disoriented the next morning in 3, 2, 1...).
>>
No. 452115 ID: f6cff9

But getting shit-faced was the plan. We could go to blockbuster or red box to get a movie while get drunk
>>
No. 452118 ID: a407a5

>>>Skipping Shenanigans
FUCK. THAT. Cass has a much lower tolerance level than you, and besides, I want to right some characters getting drunk just to right characters drunk. Loosen up. It's good, or at least drunken, character development... yeah. Let's call it character development.

"Ah, no. No real plan, I guess." You pop open your own drink and chug it down in one go, the bitter liquid burning a little as it slides down your throat. Cass blinks in surprise as you finish off with a satisfied sigh, then notices you're eying the fridge.

"Just go take one. Damn, I've got enough of the stuff."

You happily open up her fridge and retrieve another few cans of booze(3 to be precise), then find a chair and down another can. Damn, this beer is average at best. It's gonna take you awhile to get drunk. Cass stares at you some more in disbelief, then directs her attention to her own beer.

"... I'm gonna regret this in the morning... but what the fuck..."

Cass downs her own drink, tosses the can and gets another one. As she opens it up you note the slight red tint to her face. She can't be getting drunk already... Can she? No one is THAT bad at holding their alcohol... right? You're quickly proven wrong as Cass downs her second one and almost immediately after starts smiling drunkenly.

"Ah... feel all fuzzy... Heh. Good feeling." There's a sudden knock on the door, and Cass suddenly lights up with activity. "At's right! Nightmare boy said he was comin around with more booze in exchange for lettin him in on the party. Mores merrier, right? Think Mac said he was comin to... Maybe the other new kid as well. Eh. Who cares. Booze is good. I should get the door."

Over the next half hour you find yourself joined by a number of people. Raphael is the first to arrive, bringing more beer and a cheesy grin, along with a lot of sarcasm at Cass' expense. Mac follows, bringing a few party games to play indoors. A few people you don't recognize show up as well, and since Cass' room can't hold that many people, the party eventually gets moved to the lounge, where someone decides setting up a wide-screen TV and a video game system is a good idea. Mathew even makes an appearance, looking a little sheepish but happily joining in the fun.

You're just starting to get buzzed by this point, although there are a number of people already a fair bit beyond that, and you're left with a number of groups to hang out with. Mac and Mathew are playing what looks like poker or a varient with a bunch of people. Raphael and Mike(when did he get here?) are having a blast on what looks like a Gamecube, playing some Mario Kart against two other people, and you're certain all four are drunk and can barely drive at all, much less win. You seem to have lost track of Cass at some point, although you think you're one of the few people in the room that could actively search for someone without tripping over themselves.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452121 ID: 886a4d

Ya lets search for Cass. Hopefully she isn`t a maudlin drunk.
>>
No. 452124 ID: f6cff9

Gotta look for Cass because she is getting into some crazy stuff or something hilarious. That is a guarantee because the moment when someone get tipsy from two beers spells some crazy stuff is gonna happen to them. It's the universal law of of the world.

Hey don't look at me like that. I don't make the rules.
>>
No. 452128 ID: a407a5

It actually takes you less time than you thought it would to find Cass. Mostly because once you start searching, you notice a disturbing amount of noise coming from a certain area and walk over to find Cass trying to play a guitar someone had brought to and auidence of very drunk people, and failing miserably at it. As can be expected, not a single person seems to care, happily egging her on keep trying. Once she spots you though, she quickly drops everything she's doing and darts over to you, a smile plastered to her face.

"HEY! Haven't seen you around too much. You don't look like your having as much fun as the rest of us. That must mean your not drunk enough. Here." Cass hands you another drink, which you down instantly since you doubt it'll get you drunk enough, but it seems to satisfy her. "ALRIGHT! Let's go have fun! What are they doing over there?" Cass grabs hold of you and steers you over to the poker table, sitting you down without bothering to ask if you interested and plopping herself down next to you.

"What's going on? What are the stakes?"

"Stakes?" Mac seems a little confused, then grins wide. "Well then, how bout this. Whenever someone wins a hand, that person can order anyone playin to do whatever they want. No getting down an dirty though, if ya know what I mean. That's just playing... dirty."

For some reason, a large number of people around the table find this hilarious, although you're still sober enough not to understand why. Still, as you try to excuse yourself from something that sounds like it'll end badly all around, Cass happily grabs your hands and shoves a set of cards in one and another drink in the other.

"LET'S PLAY!"

The first round starts, and almost inevitably(probably cause you're not dead drunk) you win the first hand. There's 4 people you don't know, Mac, Mathew, Cass and yourself playing for a total of 8 players. They all stare at you expectantly, waiting for your "order", so you cover up the sudden embarrassment you're feeling by grabbing a drink and downing it, hoping it'll give you the time to come up with something.

>>>input command
>>
No. 452130 ID: 54c7e5

"Everyone take a drink!"
>>
No. 452134 ID: f6cff9

Without getting dirty huh? That eliminates 90% of all drunk dares. Well we could always make them sing something funny I guess. Do we have a Mic? Let's make one of them sing the funniest song that they know. It's little bit funny and it's not dirty.

They have to stand on the table as well and sing to get a crowd. They would sing horribly because they are kinda drunk but that's the point. It also doesn't matter what song it is as long it's comical in nature.
>>
No. 452144 ID: 60fee2

Why do I get the horrible feeling that Linda's anime hobby is going to get outed? Also, drunk Cass is awesome. As the fact that everyone else is more drunk that Linda, even though she was one of the first to start drinking.
>>
No. 452152 ID: 6e44d2

They all have to sing vocally difficult songs, like anything by Led Zeppelin or Queen. Heh.
>>
No. 452163 ID: d6c330

Hmm. So girls' night out (in, whatever) has turned into a party. And we never even had to break into our own stash of booze! Aw well, that means we still have it for next time (something tells me that in this line of business, there's gonna come a time where we need the good stuff).

A small paranoid part of me is wondering if there's anyone left on guard duty. Or what happens if we get attacked while almost everybody is drunk. The morbid part of me is wondering if a breaker can sober up by committing suicide. Or if that's a viable hangover cure.

Yeah, can't think of any better drunk dares than having them sing for your amusement.
>>
No. 452191 ID: f6cff9

>>452163
That or have a grocery cart derby. Racing down hills and whatnot. The potential for many things to go wrong makes it feel so right. Normally you would have to do this naked but it can't be dirty so whatever.

We could also just stick to the singing thing like I said earlier or we can save the derby for later when we win(They are drunk so that can't play that well). Who knows what the night will bring.
>>
No. 452197 ID: a407a5

You finish your drink and blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. "All of you have to sing the funniest song you know!"

Everyone stares at you, then in an oddly sincronized fashion they all start sining "Banana Phone" at the tops of their lungs. The drunken crowd bursts into laughter, while you're left wondering what you did to get yourself into this... maybe Cass is right, you're not drunk enough yet. You grab yet another drink and down it, hoping to at least push this buzz into something more befitting a party. Another hand is dealt, and this time you don't win, mostly out of bad draws, and mostly because Mike and Raphael have been attracted away from their video games to join in the fun. Mike is the one to win, and he happily gives his command almost instantly.

"Cass and Linda. Kiss each other."

"Wha- That's dirty!"

"The hell it is! That's HOT!"

You start to protest again(mostly out of trying to keep some semblance of the rules) and are rudly interrupted by Cass as she proceeds to shove her tongue down your throat. You struggle rather lamely(why shouldn't you enjoy a kiss from a beautiful girl?) until Cass is done, whereupon she releases you and turns back to the table.

"NEXT HAND!"

The rest of the crowd is left speechless, you're left breathing heavily, and Cass is left very drunk. Still, you manage to compose yourself and get your thoughts away from possibly using Cass' drunkenness to bed her(HEY! Your bisexual damnit, so no complaints), and focus on the game. Mike let's out a whistle of approval, then dives back into the game as well, giving you a wink which you return by flipping him the bird. Fuck him.

This hand you win again, because apparently everyone either drew badly or decided having nothing was a good idea. You frown as you consider your command, downing another drink in the process. Whatever dirty is, it apparently doesn't include kissing... which kind of brings up the question of what dirty means exactly.

>>>inputcommand
>>
No. 452199 ID: 4a328b

Order them to do the dishes [bwahahaha so evil]
>>
No. 452201 ID: d6c330

...since when does the author prompt characters trying to jump each other faster than the players?

But yeah, trying to get a drunk Cass in bed is a bad idea. I mean, we've been trying to befriend Cass, and help her find herself and get back some sense of normalcy and sanity. Drunken seduction is a step in the wrong direction, trust wise. She needs a friend, not someone who will take advantage of her. More generally, I will concede romancing is one possible route towards the growth we want, but it's a lot less reliable or stable.

Now, if she still remembers that kiss in the morning and shows any kind of interest, we can go from there. Otherwise you just got a bit of free fun to remember, nothing more. (I kind of expect her response to embarrassment. ....and wanting to kill Mike).

>Won again
Obviously this is your chance to get some turnabout revenge on Mike. The only question is who deserves snake-kisses.
>>
No. 452202 ID: f6cff9

>>452201
Obviously you decide by spinning a bottle. It would be just like middle school and high school but this time it's a guy only edition.
>>
No. 452211 ID: 4a328b

>>452201
Agreed--Taking the drunk chick you met in a bar to bed is fine--taking a drunk someone you're actively trying to make friends with to bed is just shooting yourself in the foot.

What if we get Mike to kiss the Boss? Is the Boss playing?
>>
No. 452220 ID: 886a4d

>>452211
Doesn't matter if the Boss is playing. Mike still has to kiss him.


Seconding by the way.
>>
No. 452223 ID: d6c330

...somehow I don't think the boss would take that well. And the amount of trouble that would get Mike in seems like disproportionate retaliation. I mean, c'mon, this is about payback, not getting snake dude murdered by the boss' jealous kill-doll.
>>
No. 452225 ID: 886a4d

>>452223
If its going to get him killed I'm sure others will warn us.
>>
No. 452226 ID: f6cff9

>>452225
But then we will never get to see his face when he spins that bottle of doom. That would be just awful.
>>
No. 452229 ID: 8042f4

If the boss is at the party and having a good time, he's the one mike has to kiss. If he's not, spin the bottle.
>>
No. 452230 ID: f6cff9

>>452202
>>452226
Just clarifying(don't know why I'm doing it) but yeah guys only for spin the bottle for Mike if we pick that method. If there even a chance for a girl to be picked then it's gonna happen due to "bad luck".
>>
No. 452231 ID: f6cff9

>>452229
Good enough for me
>>
No. 452233 ID: d6c330

The guys at the table are trapped into participating as part of the penalty of losing. When they inevitably protest (about it being dirty, unfair, gay, etc) our response has to be to turn Mike's words back on him. "No it's not, it's hot." And just smile.

Mike's fun, but he's gonna learn we're gonna give as good as we get.
>>
No. 452248 ID: 6e44d2

Order Mike to kiss another dude. Fair's fair.
>>
No. 452271 ID: a407a5

Well, all's fair in war, right? Time for some vengeance. You find yourself smiling viciously as you finish off your drink, then place the cup on the table, your eyes narrowing as they focus on Mike. The snake-man, previously laughing in joy, has the smile on his face fade as he notices your gaze.

"You wouldn't..."

Your smile widens further, and Mike flinches visibly.

"You would..."

"Mike. I think you already know what I'm going to say. But just to play by the rules. You get to kiss a guy in this room. Determined by this bottle... here." Someone hands you a bottle, which you place decisively on the table. Almost immediately, the guys playing are gathered around the table, and you spin the bottle with as much strength as you can before stepping out of the ring to watch the result. It lands on someone you don't know, and Mike, while looking disgusted, grabs hold of him and shoves his serpentine lips against the other man's. It doesn't last nearly as long as the one you and Cass shared, but it happens. Then the man is hurled away, Mike fixing his drunken gaze on you.

"REMATCH! VIDEO GAME STYLE! YOU VS. ME! IF I WIN, YOU GIVE ME A HOT KISS! IF YOU WIN-"

"I'LL GIVE HER A DEEP KISS!"

Raphael jumps in, apparently just as drunk as apparently everyone else here. You nearly spit out the liquid you're forcing down your own throat, the sudden outburst taking you by surprise. Cheers go up around the room, though, as you're dragged in front of the TV, sat down and forced to take a controller. Mike sits next to you, eyes ready to go, and while you're certain under normal circumstances Mike would lose, there's a small tiny fact that's making you a bit uncertain.

You're not very good at video games. Still, you might as well decide if you're going to go for the win or just lose, since you're kissing a guy either way. It's doubtful the crowd around you will let you get away without it.

>>>InPuTcOmMaNd
>>
No. 452276 ID: 4a328b

Raph's good looking, right? Seems like he liiiiikes youuuu~ Go for the win!
>>
No. 452278 ID: d6c330

...okay, so party night has officially turned over into outright sexual harassment night (guess that's what we get for escalating it). We're rapidly on route to becoming the team bicycle here.

Note to self: avoiding drinking with the whole group next time.

Whatever happens, make it absolutely clear we're done with bets and drinking games after this.

Honestly, I'm not particularly interested in leading on either of this guys (we're just inviting future harassment from Mike, and Raph was already made a weak pass at you).

Might as well try to win, I guess. Unless you can force a tie of some kind, or a dual loss where the computer wins (I have no idea what kind of game we're playing), in which case you can laugh and turn them both down.
>>
No. 452279 ID: 4a328b

>>452278
Oooh, I like how you think. They even phrased it so it works out; "If I win...If you win..." Go for a double loss!
>>
No. 452283 ID: f6cff9

>>452279
Might as well try for the double loss if we can. If we can't go for the double loss depending on the game let's just try to win. I rather kiss someone who looks human then a snake man(No offense mike).
>>
No. 452286 ID: a407a5
File 134698200241.jpg - (15.13KB , 167x158 , d8-image-2-correct.jpg )
452286

Alright... just to randomize this slightly more for myself, I need four dice rolls, a different person for each. First four count. d8's, if you please.
>>
No. 452287 ID: 4a328b

rolled 8 = 8

Rollin'
>>
No. 452288 ID: f6cff9

rolled 7 = 7

>>
No. 452289 ID: d6c330

rolled 1 = 1

C'mon lucky taking out both race cars in a single crash...
>>
No. 452290 ID: d6c330

>>452289
Ooh! Fail. And we were doing so well up till then. Oh well. Maybe a 1 is good for mutually assured destruction?
>>
No. 452291 ID: 6bcbf6

rolled 7 = 7

Rolling
>>
No. 452293 ID: a407a5

You stare at the screen just the same as everyone else does. You, because you actually managed to pull off your objective, and everyone else because they can't believe Mike actually lost. You quickly take action, brushing off both boys because, as you put it, "neither of us won, so neither gets their reward". You try to extricate yourself from the group again, remembering to steal someones drink right from their hand and toss it back, before you're suddenly ganged up on by some of the onlookers and put on a chair that somehow managed to find it's way onto a table. From the sudden increased view, you catch something else. Cass is getting into an arm wrestling contest with some random guy, and you're fairly certain she's going to win. You're not quite sure why you've been placed up on this table, but you find you're quickly loosing your desire to care. Another drink goes down the hatch, and you're finally starting to feel the alcohol hit you're system. Whatever's going on, it looks like a lot of fun...

===============

You wake up the next day with a blinding headache and the desire to shoot yourself in the head. It's not lost on you that you can actually carry out that threat, but you have no idea if it's actually a good idea to do so, so you decide against that. You sit up slowly and examine the room around you through squinted eyes. You're certain this isn't your room, and you're also certain this is at least a girl's room...

You feel someone move next to you and glance down to discover two things. One, Cass is apparently sleeping next to you. Two, you're both stripped down to your underwear. You don't recall much after the chair thing, so you find yourself hoping to god you didn't do something too embarrassing.

You pause before doing anything, finding your eyes roaming over Cass(hot damn, she needs to cover up less. She's got some great curves... mind out of the gutter Linda. Mind out of the gutter), before you manage to tear yourself away and painfully get out of bed. God, you can barely think at all. What the hell... first things first... what's the first thing again?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452295 ID: c31f72

First thing, go make a bacon sandwich, those help with hangovers.
>>
No. 452296 ID: 6e44d2

>>452295
Also, Gatorade and/or coconut juice, lots of water, etc.
>>
No. 452302 ID: 4a328b

Shower should help wake you up
>>
No. 452315 ID: a407a5

You generally hate your life right now, but you manage to get some semblance of thought going and head to your own room(after finding your pants, thankfully, someone decided to fold your clothes neatly into a pile and leave them for you). Once there, you take a nice shower to help wake yourself up, then head towards the lounge and the inevitable destruc- What the he- Wait. Nevermind. That makes complete sense. Why should people able to break reality have to deal with cleaning shit up. Still, you find a few people hanging around the lounge. Raphael is there, although he doesn't look much better than you, as he's nursing a full galleon of water and trying very hard not to stare into the light. The kids are there, Kent and whatever the hell her name is, both giggling at Raphael's expense. And you also find Rodriguez there, looking a little tired, although his expression changes completely when he notices you.

"Awake, are you? I had to take care of almost everyone, I hope you know. Here. I prepared everything beforehand." Rodriguez presents you with everything you could ever want, a full breakfast, juice, water, aspirin. It's great. You proceed to happily suck down the meal like a vacuum cleaner, while Rodriguez continues gently scolding you.

"In all seriousness, you are perhaps the last person I expected to be getting that drunk. I thought you had far more self awareness. But still, I suppose worse things could have happened. Although, I suppose I could have walked in on a better scene. Watching almost every woman present putting on a strip show isn't something a priest wants to see."

A strip show? Is that all? That's much better than last time you got drunk. Hell, last time you had apparently decided that crashing a wedding and sleeping with the groom was a good idea, although your method of crashing the wedding involved a car, and sleeping with the groom turned into sleeping with the bride, but eh. Details.

For now, your first focus is figuring out what you're supposed to be doing today. You quickly learn that the boss is at a business meeting somewhere out of town, so generally the group is left to it's own devices. If you have anything you want to do, it's completely up to you. You have to run through your list of things to do, and quickly come up witha couple of necessary objectives, some more urgent than others.

-You could just do "normal" stuff for the day. You had some projects that needed working on, and your certain that Cass is going to feel terrible when she gets up.
-There was that thing with the sewage treatment plant. Aria had said that was where the people who hurt Mike were at. It might be a good idea to bring some back-up if you choose to do that.
-You suppose you could just go wandering around, seeing if anything interesting(normal or otherwise) pops up. Who knows, you might get to save some lives like yesterday.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452316 ID: d6c330

>You wake up the next day with a blinding headache and the desire to shoot yourself in the head.
As soon as we find a conscious breaker, we need to ask if suicide is a viable hangover cure. While we may not know if it's a good idea, it's certainly a tempting one.

>Woke up in bed with Cass
Let's be honest, we knew that was going to happen from the moment we agreed to go drinking with her. At least you're still partially clothed.

First thing to do is look around for your clothes. If they're in the room, you didn't leave them laying around anywhere, which is good.

Most importantly- you are still wearing your foci necklace, right? Be very bad if you lost that. Actually, glance Cass' way again- see if her foci are visible now. I'm still curious as to what the chainsaw focus is.

After that, you need to decide on whether you're showering here, or if you're ducking across the hall to your room. ...also need to decide whether we're waking Cass, or letting sleeping nutjobs lie.

Naturally, do your best to dredge up any memories of what happened.
>>
No. 452320 ID: f6cff9

If we gonna go to the sewage treatment plant then we have to at least nurse this hangover for a couple of hours. Good thing we are 23 years old so we should have a easier time bouncing back up. No regular work when you have a headache. You never get any work done when you have a headache(especially math) so don't even try it unless the headache goes away.
>>
No. 452321 ID: d6c330

(Dangit, ninja-ed by the update. Oh well).

>last time you had apparently decided that crashing a wedding and sleeping with the groom was a good idea, although your method of crashing the wedding involved a car, and sleeping with the groom turned into sleeping with the bride, but eh. Details.
Drunk Linda is now my hero.

Let's start with normal. We're in no condition to go looking for trouble immediately, and our backup is probably worse. Besides there may be an awkward conversation or two we need to have around here. Patch things over with Mike, see where the hell we're at with Cass.

Maybe when things are more straitened up we can try wandering around.

Seriously though, we have to ask someone if blowing your brains out is a viable hangover cure. You'd really think that would work, but everyone here is still hung over, so I guess not.
>>
No. 452331 ID: 100061

>>452321
seconded on all counts. also, assuming things with cass are not too awkward we might want to watch some more anime with her if she's free.
>>
No. 452334 ID: a407a5

Ah... yeah. Mike. That could have ended better. You'll have to patch things up with him when you see him. For now, you head on over to check on Raphael. He doesn't seem to spot you coming at all, and you soon realize that's because he has his eyes closed and is trying very hard not to deal with any of this. Still, he seems to notice you when you get close enough, and grudgingly opens one eye.

"Hey, Linda. How are your feeling? Better than me, I hope. Being an albino really doesn't help in these situations, particularly with my eyes being sensitive to light already."

"Just came to check up on you. My headache seems to have eased off already. You... uh... you remember anything from last night?"

"Yes. Unlike most others, I tend to remember a lot more than everyone else ever does. Usually just the bad stuff, but occasionally I get some good out of it. Like a good memory of you doing some... things..."

You shrug it off. It's not that big a deal. Whatever happened happened, you've had enough drunken experiences that you've long since gotten over any embarrassment to be felt afterwards. It clearly wasn't your fault anyway, the drink made you do it. You swear.

"Anyway. I went around last night while I was still semi-conscious and fixed everyone's heads for you. They all won't remember a damn thing from last night. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy tracking some of them through the dreamtime. I won't count it against your favor though. I did that without asking, after all... gah, damn sun..." Raphael scrunches up again, trying to avoid the glare of sunlight that manages to reach him from somewhere. You decide asking him about blowing your own brains out being an answer probably isn't the best idea, as he's a little... unhappy right now. Any further action is interrupted as Cass comes busting in from the hallway.

"RODRIGUEZ! GET RID OF THIS DAMN HEADACHE! I FEEL LIKE MY HEADS GOING TO EXPLODE!"

"I don't see why I should. You never learn from all my lectures. So maybe you'll learn from this."

"FUCK THAT! If I'd learned from it, I'd have stopped already. Now hurry up an-" Cass halts as she catches sight of you. She stares at you for a moment, and since you don't really have another response you wave at her. She stares another second, then she covers her face with her sleeve. You think she's embarrassed, but you can't imagine about what. Raphael said he'd gotten rid of everyone's memories, right?

"Just get rid of this damn headache already."

"I'll get rid of it if something comes up. Until then, have some breakfast, drink some fluids, take some aspirin and suffer."

Wait... Rodriguez can get rid of the hangover?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452340 ID: d6c330

Oh, he's actually got nightmare style powers? Useful. I almost regret denying him a kiss.

Makes things waaay easier with Mike if he doesn't remember either kiss.

>Cass' reaction, Raphael said he'd gotten rid of everyone's memories, right?
Depends on how thorough he was. Did he clean up just the party, or the afterwards as well? (What she's embarrassed about could have happened after you retired to her room. Or anytime before morning and after Raphael made his rounds. You don't know when you two fell asleep after all all). Did he clean up feelings associated with memories, or just the memories themselves? (Ie, she may have forgotten the kiss, but not the way it made her feel about you). Also, how well did you clean up after yourself? (I mean, it's kind of obvious when a second person slept in a bed. And she probably has enough clues to figure out it was you).

...actually, I'm not so grateful for the memory cleanup anymore. Makes this more complicated, because we have to figure out who knows what. It would be pretty straightforward to have Cass either awkwardly apologizing for the sloppy makeouts, or responding otherwise.

>Rodriguez can get rid of the hangover if something comes up.
...this sounds like an excellent time to give voice to your lead on the punks who beat up Mike. Need sober people to run a revenge op!

Need to spend some time talking to Cass before we head out though. See what's up.
>>
No. 452344 ID: f6cff9

>>452340
Second but prepare for the embarrassment act or the "ow my head is killing me so I'm gotta set something/someone on fire to make the headache go away" routine.
>>
No. 452357 ID: a407a5

"Err... actually, I might have found out where the group that hurt Mike is holed up... so..."

Rodriguez stares at you a moment(people tend to do that a lot, don't they?), then sighs. He moves over to Cass while touching his foci with his fingers, then places his hand on top of her head and breathes a long breath out. Cass let's out a sigh of relief, then attacks the provided breakfast, happily devouring her target.

"I can't believe I'm doing this again. I suppose Raphael will be useful to you as well... ah, and you. Here."

Rodriguez heals both you and Raphael, then sits back down, looking a little more worn out than before. Maybe his foci has conditions or something? Whatever. For now, it's time to put a crew together to deal with this... wait, no. Gotta clear things up with Cass first. You walk over to the woman and sit down across from her, and she glances up, clearly goes red and glances down again, focusing her attention on her food. She doesn't seem so much unwilling to talk to you as for some reason embarrassed to do so.

"... You need something, Linda?"

Ah... you hadn't thought about how you were going to actually phrase any of this. It could turn out badly if you just start pushing her buttons. Maybe you should aim for something a bit more... tactful?

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452367 ID: f6cff9

We should probably start out talking about the place we need to go to(Sewage Treatment Plant). You know get her to ease up a bit while we talk about the job and see if we need to bring anyone else for it as well. We can shift the conversation to what she is embarrassed about later. Maybe say she is a little quiet today and ask her what's going on.
>>
No. 452381 ID: 6e44d2

Hahaha, oh man, Linda, you rock. My kinda' girl.
>>
No. 452383 ID: 4a328b

Could say you're actually kinda sad Raph apparently erased everyone's memories of last night--you love drunken shenanigan stories.
>>
No. 452394 ID: d6c330

>Rodriguez heals, looks a little more worn out than before
Oh, dang. He probably heals by taking it upon himself. That sucks.

>need something, Linda?
(See, this is exactly why mindwiping can be inconvenient. We don't know what she knows or what she's bothered by).

...we cool? I'm not sure what went wrong, but, uh, it's generally not the best sign when your friends can't bring themselves to look you in the face the next morning.
>>
No. 452410 ID: f6cff9

>>452394
Second but yeah now we have no idea why she is embarrassed. Do we still remember the kiss? It could be that or something else that happened after the party. Oh well time to find out and just hope for the best.
>>
No. 452437 ID: 100061

"ummm, did I do anything crazy last night? I get kinda.... nuts when I get drunk. last time I literally crashed a wedding and ended up seducing the bride."
>>
No. 452438 ID: d6c330

>>452437
Confessing we've gone around getting drunk and seducing ladies may not be very reassuring, especially if that's what she's worried about.
>>
No. 452456 ID: 100061

>>452438
point, we can leave the seducing the bride bit out.
>>
No. 452516 ID: a407a5

"Are we... are you alright? You seem a little... distant."

"Yeah... I... I don't know why I'm acting like this. Doesn't really matter. I just feel... really embarrassed. I don't usually let myself get that drunk... and... I'm sure I probably did stuff that wasn't right. So... I... I don't really know how I should be acting right now... is all..."

It's now your turn to stare at her, although your look is more of disbelief than confusion or shock. "Seriously Cass, you have nothing on anything I've ever done in my life. Trust me. I might have a very high tolerance level, but when I do get dead drunk, I apparently do some crazy things. Still, those stories will have to wait. Come on, I need you ready for a job. We're getting revenge for Mike."

"Are we? All right, I'll go get ready then."

Cass heads off, leaving you to focus on everyone else. You'll probably have to talk to her more later, give her an actual example of your drunken exploits, but for now, your reassurances will have to do. You only have the kids and Raphael to drag off with you, Rodriguez as well, if he's feeling up to it... although, you suppose you could try waking up somebody else if you feel the need... but do you really need that many people?

>>>Input Command
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No. 452518 ID: 54c7e5

Nah, more people going means more people to split the sweet, sweet loot with.

Tell her about the time you got a cow up to the third floor of your office! I think she would know about that one.
Also, should probably remember to go in to work today.
>>
No. 452520 ID: 4a328b

>>452518
Sweet, sweet loot indeed. Ask Rodriguez if he's alright--healing looked like it took somethin' out of him, so we don't want to be dragging him off to a fight if he's not at 100%.

Also a good time to formally greet the teens; we don't even know their names yet!
>>
No. 452524 ID: d6c330
452524

Dang memory trick! She's embarrassed but forgets why. You're not going to find out if there was anything more behind that kiss. (Well, at least not today).

>Pick your party!
Hmm. I think we want a smaller party. The bigger it is the harder it'll be to stay in control, and the more people will run off on their own. Besides, I think we want to go for a small strike team, not outright storming the base, right?

I don't think it's a great idea to drag the healer off (might as well leave someone responsible to watch over the base), and Rodriguez might end up being in charge if we take him. And we haven't even talked to the kids yet, seems weird to invite them out.

Let's go for a band of three. You, Cass, and Raphael. Not a bad team for stealth recon, you can spy and shoot through walls, Raph can walk through them, and we've got Cass for heavy firepower when we need it.

We just have to pick our battles- don't get into a situation where we're outnumbered.

Mission objective is to teach these punks a lesson, find out what the hell they were doing beating Mike within an inch of his life.

When we get a chance, we should ask Raph if he got a chance to see what the rock does yet.
>>
No. 452527 ID: 886a4d

Before we go we should see how our scope works out. Both for lighted rooms with people around and dark rooms. I bet there's people still sleeping so the later won't be too dificult to look for.
>>
No. 452531 ID: d6c330

>>452527
Eh... but then we either have to keep it out all the way over, or burn the BP to manifest twice.

Suppose it's no biggie if the plant is an hour away, or there's going to be a delay due to team assembling.
>>
No. 452533 ID: 886a4d

>>452531
Well we are going to want to check the place out before we head into the plant to make sure we aren't running into 20 breakers so we'll have to take it out then anyway. Since we are probably heading by car we can toss it in the back.... or get a guitar case for it.
>>
No. 452539 ID: a407a5

A strike team. You don't need a full force. Just enough people to get the job done. Besides, why give up all that sweet, sweet loot? Still, you need someone other than just Cass. You suppose Raphael would be a useful addition, so you head over to him again. With his hangover taken care of, he's a lot more alert and willing to talk.

"Hm? Linda? Back again already? Were you going to take me up on that date?" Raphael smiles kindly, letting you know he's just joking. Still, he keeps his attention on you(you think, he's wearing his sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes).

"Not today. I was wondering if you'd help Cass and I out. We're going to investigate the sewage treatment plant, looking for the people that hurt Mike."

"Ah... are you calling in your favor for that? Nah, that be a stupid reason to make you call it in for. Sure, I'll help. It'll be a good chance to try out my new form, as well. Just let me go get my stuff." Raphael takes off as well, and you're left alone, with the two kids and Rodriguez. You suppose you have a little time left to yourself before you head out. Any last minute things to get done before you go do your assault?

>>>Input Command
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No. 452540 ID: 54c7e5

>>452531
IIRC, the scope adds one to the bp cost to manifest the AP rifle, so it would have to be a two hour car trip.
Just nitpicking a bit.

Yeah, putting it in the trunk is probably the sane thing to do.
>>
No. 452541 ID: 886a4d

Since we keep on seeing the kids might as well introduce ourselves. Who knows they might be somewhat tolerable.
>>
No. 452547 ID: d6c330

I like it how no one even thinks to ask us why we think we should be investigating there. I mean, we could pretty easily make an excuse about having picked up the clue when we were underground with that guy (technically not lying!), but we haven't even had to try.

>>452540
Yah, I know. I was just thinking being down 1 point might be worth the experiment, but not 2. (And certainly not 4).

>Any last minute things to get done?
Stash your untuned foci back in the room, no point in carrying them around. Grab the flashlight, and flashbangs (do we have a belt, or satchel or something for those?).

How are we getting to where we're going?
>>
No. 452550 ID: d6c330

Oh! And get a handkerchief or something to cover your face with! We are going into a sewage treatment plant, you may well be grateful for the ability to filter your air.
>>
No. 452564 ID: a407a5

You are not testing the x-ray scope on in this building. Not only would that be extremely rude(and your only ever rude when you're pissed or drunk) but what would you gain from looking at your fellow members in their rooms? Nothing. No point. No.

Still, actually finding out how you're going to get there would be a good idea, and collecting some of the gear you've gotten wouldn't be a bad idea either. You head back to your room first and dig out a small shoulder bag you had packed away, shoving the new grenades inside it, as well as your flashlight and your cell. No reason to shove that in a pocket when you have a bag handy. You grab a handkerchief as well, shoving that in your pocket for ease of access. Then you set up your ear-piece, making sure it works right. When you return to the lounge, Cass and Raphael are already waiting for you. Cass hold up a set of keys and smiles.

"Mooched em off Rodriguez. Says we can use his car as long as we don't do anything unholy in it. Personally, I think we should trash it, but that's just me."

"Yes. Because that's obviously the way to go, Chainsaw."

"Shut it, Nightmare Boy. No one asked your opinion. You're just coming as backup anyway."

"Probably do a better job of it than you will."

"Bring it."

You leave them to their bickering, pausing one last time to make sure you have everything you need. Flashlight, check. Grenades, check. Buddies, check. Cell, check. Desire for revenge, check. Handkerchief, check... Anything else needed?

>>>Input Command
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No. 452571 ID: f6cff9

Other than the radio(if we forgot it) then no
>>
No. 452573 ID: 6e44d2

... Why isn't Mike coming along, again?
>>
No. 452577 ID: f6cff9

>>452573
Two reasons

1.Snake men are not inconspicuous
2. They know him personally. I mean they kinda kicked his ass.

It just makes it harder to sneak around. At least that what I'm guessing.
>>
No. 452578 ID: 54c7e5

>>452573
Plus
3: They can clearly outmatch his form in physical combat, so he wouldn't be much help there
4: That would just be one more way to split the precious loot.
>>
No. 452579 ID: 4a328b

Possible conversation topic for the ride to the plant:

So Raph, why'd Boss take your Foci, anyway?
>>
No. 452581 ID: d6c330

You've got all your relevant non-fluff possessions on you. I'd say you're good to go.

>Allies who hate each other
Yay! Hmm. Could we have picked a team combination that wouldn't include fighting? I suppose if we'd teamed up with the kids.

>>452573
Because of what happened the last time we left him in the car around these guys. Also, he's not really a fighter.
>>
No. 452588 ID: a407a5

With nothing left to collect, you and your two partners head off. The car ride won't be too long, but to help pass the time you figure you might as well as Raphael a question that has been bugging you.

"Hey Raphael? Why did you turn your loot into the boss? Shouldn't you keep it like the rest of us?"

"Ah..." Raphael considers the question a moment before answering, his words coming out slowly as he thinks it through. "My situation is a bit hard to explain... I turn in all the foci I collect, in exchange, the Boss provides everything I need. The reason is my form. I have a very... specific powers. All of those have to do with dreams, nightmares in particular. Because of the way that works itself out, I tend to... bleed over... when I myself have a dream or nightmare. I also tend to receive other peoples dreams, and tend to alter those dreams into nightmares without meaning to. I'm actually fairly detrimental to people's health if I'm around them when they're sleeping, so it actually took a lot to join up with this group. One of the requirements was contributing my foci to the Boss, who in turn uses them either by leaving them with Mac or as negotiating chips with other breakers.

"Anyway, that about sums me up. I actually sleep a few floors down, on an empty floor with no people around. Don't want me causing problems among the ranks. Pretty lame, huh?"

"Fucking bastard nearly made me piss myself first time he passed me while I was sleeping."

"Eh, you deserved it, Chainsaw. You ate my pudding."

"The hell that was you're pudding!."

"Eyes on the road! EYES ON THE ROAD!"

After the car is set on the right path again, you pause to consider the new information. Were form types really that strong? The last few you've met(not that many, but still) seemed pretty weak...

>>>Input Command
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No. 452589 ID: f6cff9

Just kill some time with some small talk as you wait to get to the sewage treatment plant.

The form type thing is true but you can say the say for weapon types if you think about it. Some start out with a pistol and Linda started out with an anti-material rifle. It's just the superpower lottery.
>>
No. 452590 ID: 886a4d

Must be like comparing your rifle to the pistol. They are both guns but your not going to jack to someone prepared for the pistol. Body armor, cover etc will all make it useless. The rifle however will shoot through walls if need be.

Degrees of power and all that.

Since we're talking about powers lets ask Cass what spirit 3 can accomplish mid-battle beyond making wounds permenant.
>>
No. 452591 ID: d6c330

>Were form types really that strong? The last few you've met(not that many, but still) seemed pretty weak.
Probably depends on how specialized they are.

Trevor? Yeah, going werewolf wasn't very impressive, especially when he spent the whole fight throwing himself into Cass' saw. (Although I'll be he'll have something nastier when he inevitably reappears).

Matthew's probably opens the door to all kinds of fire manipulation. He lacks the mindset and XP to be powerful now, but he's got potential. There's a reason fire mages are a persistent archetype.

We already knew the nightmare could walk through walls, has combat applications, and could alter memories. That's pretty strong.

The rock guy went down before he could even put up a fight. Which is a good thing- bullets might not have worked so well on a guy made of rock. Potentially his new focus makes Raph an outright front-row tank along with Cass.

So... that works out to a majority of the forms we've seen being strong, actually.

>Dangerous nightmare powers
The important thing you should have picked up from this exchange is if you do ever decide to give in to his flirtations, it's not safe to spend the night in the same bed.
>>
No. 452600 ID: f6cff9

>>452591
Actually the anti-material rifle could have been good enough to take out the rock dude so we would have a chance. This is a gun that can go though concrete/brick walls so we could have beaten him.

Well would also depend whether he was a giant rock guy or a human size one. If human size then I think we would have a pretty good time.
>>
No. 452656 ID: 54c7e5

>>452588
Maybe you could take a nap in the car again to pass the time.
OH WAIT
>>
No. 452671 ID: a407a5
File 134711271540.jpg - (129.81KB , 586x372 , waste70908.jpg )
452671

You decide sleeping probably isn't the best idea with Raphael around, but you do indulge in some light conversation, just to pass time. You get there sooner than expected, and you have Cass park a good distance away from the plant, hoping to work out a strategy before you do anything stupid. You find a nearby hill, and get to the top to get a good look at your target. Nothing seems out of the ordinary on the outside, but that's not exactly surprising. You think you can see at least one person moving along the outside of it, but you're not really completely sure. Then you remember the scope. You manifest the rifle and discover it has the piece of equipment attached to the top, right where it's supposed to go. You drop down to the prone and start examining the plant more closely, counting off the number of people you can see on the outside before switching on the x-ray thingy and examining with that as well. In total, you count 20. Maybe. You're not really too sure, because your're fairly far off, and the way this scope is, it makes it kinda hard to count people correctly.

Cass and Raphael are both looking to you as the unofficial leader for a plan of action, and you've been putting it off due to lack of information(not that you have any more information than you did five minutes ago). Time to get this show on the road.

>>>Input Command
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No. 452672 ID: 4a328b

How many entrances?

One way we could go at this is to have Cass and Raphael circle around to the other side while we snipe through the walls, not around them. [yay anti-tank gun~]

Or we could try...diplomacy? Verifying that these are the people we are looking for etc. before we blow them up.
>>
No. 452673 ID: d6c330

Well, bringing in the troops wouldn't have helped, we'd still be outnumbered. Strike force is probably a better option than a too small attack team.

>20ish people
Can you distinguish between regular people and breakers? I mean, presumably there are normal people running this place in the daytime. Breakers should have a number (even if it's illegible at this range) and/or a shimmer where their foci show up in the x-ray sight.

Is their a group of people well away from everyone else? If this place isn't abandoned, you'd expect the breaker hideout to be hidden away from the normal employees.

We can't blast through the walls just yet, we need to get close enough to figure out what's going on, and avoid shooting normal waste water treatment employees.

What points of entry do we have besides the front door? (We could pull psychic paper false ID shenanigans to get in, or just talk our way in past the normals with wil, but that's risky when the breakers eventually notice us).
>>
No. 452688 ID: 886a4d

I guess the 'people and and avatars glow slightly' didn't make it in. Pity, could we at least see focii or was the range too great?
>>
No. 452692 ID: 9718f3

Can you maybe move in closer and take another look? See if you get any usable information. Otherwise we're going to have to get right up close to them to determine if they're breakers or not. Like, conversational distance.
>>
No. 452694 ID: d6c330

>>452692
This is why we should really be looking for anything that looks like a clump of people in a secret hideout in the lower levels (using the tunnels to get in and out- explains how they got to Mike). Then we could break in a lower side entrance or something, avoid the normal employees, and go for it. (Obviously this gets a lot harder if the breakers aren't hidden and this whole place is a fort).

I am hoping we don't need to get to conversational distance to check people out. You'd think the other side of a wall or a door would be plenty to ID breakers. (Then we can decide to ambush as necessary).
>>
No. 452695 ID: 886a4d

Ya I same, here's hoping the modified part of the x-ray will allow us to pick out Breaker's fairly easy. Main reason why I stressed focii being completely solid.
>>
No. 452697 ID: a407a5

You try picking out breakers from normals, but the distance is too far to get anything definite. The most you could say is that you think all the people wandering around outside, in plain view, are not breakers. Maybe. Your justification is that breakers wouldn't want to deal with actually running the sewage plant. You also noticed a small group of three hanging around in what appears to be the tunnel system, but you could be wrong.

You also identified a few entrances. Most of them are for maintenance and such, but there is also the main entrance and the tunnel system, you suppose. Cass suggests just going through the main entrance("Not like they can really stop us, Linda), while Raphael is more in favor of keeping the normals out of it as much as possible.

>>>Input Command
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No. 452701 ID: d6c330

They can't stop us, but they can sound an alarm, meaning we'd have to deal with cops or whatever if we take too long, and alerting the breakers that something is up. Tactical disadvantage we don't need. (Plus, yanno, unnecessary fucking with the normals isn't nice).

Also, we don't know for sure that these are the right guys yet. We got a tip, nothing more. We kind of want to hold off outright storming in until we've got confirmation.
>>
No. 452703 ID: 886a4d

>>452701
Yup, we go in the side entrance. Maybe reality fry a lock to get it open (Cass can do it since she has LOTS of BP compared to Linda.)
>>
No. 452704 ID: d6c330

Why waste BP? Cass has lots of str to work with too. Unless there's an electronic alarm or something to worry about, we can just push the door open.
>>
No. 452710 ID: 886a4d

Well I'm just guessing here but bashing in a metal door is gonna make lots of noise.
>>
No. 452711 ID: 6e44d2

We should've made our scope cause breakers to glow red. Ah well.
>>
No. 452714 ID: a407a5

Using your rifle right now would be stupid, especially because you have no idea how many deaths each has before being permanently gone. You dismiss the weapon and make your way down, being careful to stay out of sight, till you reach a maintenance door. You recall the placement of all the people you saw and nod to yourself. There shouldn't be anyone behind this door. You move and gesture for Cass to get the door open. A few seconds later your making your way inside, pistol drawn and body tense. Cass is taking the rear to avoid accidentally killing anyway, and because Raphael is quieter and more able to keep himself from getting heard. You slowly make your way through a couple room, then Raphael come back to you, voice low.

"There's someone coming down this way. I don't think Cass ripping open the door helped any. Still, we can take them out or we can duck into the stairwell and go from there. Either way, better decide quick."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452716 ID: 4a328b

Duck into the stairwell
>>
No. 452718 ID: 54c7e5

Take them out. They're going to check on what that noise was, and then probably raise the alarm.
>>
No. 452719 ID: d6c330

>You dismiss the weapon
>Bring out pistol
Hey, bad Linda! Who told you to do that! How are we supposed to peer at people through walls as we sneak up on them now? (Down to 8BP). Oh well, we can bring it out again when we get outside the ambush point.

Unless someone can break or wil things so the normal doesn't notice anything is wrong, I don't think it's worth incapacitating 'em. Let's just go.
>>
No. 452720 ID: 886a4d

>>452718
Now would be a good time to know if they were breakers. Pity about that retcon hah. (Why'd we dismiss the rifle? Thats such a waste of BP)
>>
No. 452721 ID: 4a328b

>>452719
Cass has Normalicy, right?
>>
No. 452723 ID: f6cff9

>>452721
Yes she does
>>
No. 452725 ID: a407a5

You and Raphael duck into the stairwell. Cass, on the other hand, walks right on by the incoming stranger. The man starts to turn towards her, then there's a burst of static and the man is greeting her like she's a inspection agent or something.

"Ah! We didn't expect you to get here so soon. Why did you use a side entrance, if you'd just told us-"

"Wanted to see the place without having it colored by your opinions. So far I haven't seen anything wrong. Let's see the rest of the facility." As you hear footsteps retreating, you hear your radio crackle to life. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Gonna see if there's anything to worry about up top. Try seeing if you can't investigate some places this bastard isn't going to let me see."

You blink in surprise, then glance at Raphael. He's staring at you, waiting for your command. You take a step away from the door and try looking up and down the stairwell for anything that might help make your decision easier. Nothing... Damn.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452726 ID: 4a328b

Down. See if you can get to the ones in the tunnel system.
>>
No. 452727 ID: f6cff9

Down we go then if we can.
>>
No. 452733 ID: d6c330

Wha- damn. Didn't expect that degree of subtlety or complexity. How'd she do that- was that all one normalcy check? I was expecting something more along the lines of "oh, the door that's always been broken swung open again". I mean, faking an inspection had occurred to me as a possible way in, but I figured we'd need something to alter into a fake ID, and to make a wil check to persuade the normals (which is Cass' dump stat, by the way).

>Decision
What decision? Head on down towards our suspected breaker hideout. Cass has got up top for now.
>>
No. 452740 ID: a407a5

You head down, Raphael once again taking the front, and arrive in a more tunnel like area. You start to wander through, trying your best to head towards where you remember seeing the people, until you start to hear sounds. You go towards them, and eventually arrive at a door to a separate room. Raphael makes it to the door first, pressing his ear to it to listen into the next room, then he motions you forwards, demonstrating what he wants you to do by pressing his ear to the door himself. You follow suit and listen in, hoping to catch something important.

"-itch! You ARE going to help us! What the hell kind of foci is this?!"

"I DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU CRAZY ME-" The there's a crack as something hits something else, and you hear a cry of pain. The beating(you assume it's a beating) continues another few seconds, then stops as they start to speak again.

"I swear. We've been going at this for two days now. She can't possibly hold up much longer. Just let me go all the way with this and I guarantee she'll start helping us out."

"No. The boss says we don't want to attract too much attention if one of the normals really does wander down here. Besides, we're moving locations soon, we'll need keep her in some semblance of health in order to walk her out of here."

"Fine, fine... Hey! Wake up, you stupid bitch! We're not done yet!" You hear a pained groan, then pull your ear away. You've heard enough. Raphael follows suit, then leans in close to you.

"We can't just leave her like that."

"Yeah, I know... Still, we don't want to endanger her either..."


>>>Input Command
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No. 452742 ID: d6c330

Breakers abusing someone. Sounds like we've got the right bunch of creeps. We can get some revenge and stage a rescue at the same time. Helps that only 2 of the 3 are hostile breakers.

>we don't want to endanger her either
How convenient then, that we've got two people who can attack through walls. Hostler the pistol, manifest your rifle, and take a look. When the punks are far enough away from their victim that they can't immediately attack her, or use her as a hostage, engage.

You can shoot right through the door, Raph can ghost in as the nightmare or bust in in his new golem form and close as he prefers (golem is probably better- keep them busy at melee while we snipe away).

Try not to kill them all the way to permadeath, we'd like to interrogate these guys, see what the fuck they're up to.
>>
No. 452744 ID: 4a328b

>>452742
Sounds like a solid plan.
>>
No. 452746 ID: 886a4d

Message Cass on the radio link that you've found your targets. We might need her chainsaw if they prove... troublesome. But engage right away. We have the advantage of surprise and if this is who I think it is she might see us despite walls and give us away before we attack.
>>
No. 452749 ID: d6c330

>she might see us despite walls and give us away before we attack
In before Linda and eyeball girl staring right at each other through the wall. Uh hi. *awkward wave*.
>>
No. 452759 ID: a407a5
File 134713869785.jpg - (55.67KB , 459x700 , normal_gunner.jpg )
452759

You prepare yourself to bust your way in, manifesting the rifle again and setting yourself up while Raphael gets into position next to the door, when your radio crackles to life again.

"Ah, sh-"

The ground suddenly rumbles under you(yeah for the prone!) and you hear the sounds of an explosion coming from somewhere. More sounds soon follow, and then you can hear the sounds of crumbling rock and cement coming from in front of you, and it isn't Raphael. You check your sights to see behind the door just as gunfire go off in the room, then the doors suddenly collapses backwards as a dead breaker slams into it. Both you and Raphael are tense as you watch the smoke clear.

And standing there is what looks to be a very pissed lady, holding a single pistol in her hand. Your eyes widen as you catch the number next to her. 37. Shit doesn't begin to cover it.

"Linda. Fucking Fixers are here."

"Yeah, Cass, think I got that."

The woman starts to turn towards the captive girl, then halts and turns towards you.

"More of you? Doesn't matter, your dead either way."

The pistol starts to come up, ready and willing to kill.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452761 ID: 886a4d

Raphael is our tank. Get him in front of us in golem form while we fall back and try to get a clear shot at her.
>>
No. 452763 ID: d6c330

What happened to the goons in the room? They already dead? If the fixers are attacking them, we might be able to get them to side with us, temporarily.

>37
...we're going to have to kill her a lot. Is she alone?

>The pistol starts to come up, ready and willing to kill
Shoot her now. You already have your rifle up and out, you can get the shot off faster.

Raph needs to put on a form and engage now. I don't care how much a higher level she is, if we move quick and hard from two direction, we keep her from using dangerous spirit abilities, and we can start kill chaining her (dang. We're gonna have to spend 3 BP just on ammo to put her down).

(Unbridled optimism: Hey, we make it out of this alive? We probably get an already upgraded pistol to tune to!)
>>
No. 452764 ID: 886a4d

If we have our rifle pointed even in her general direction I agree on taking the shot now.
>>
No. 452766 ID: 4a328b

>37

...

*impotently shakes fist at Linda's dismissal frenzy*

Tch, killstealer.

We still haven't tuned that tommygun bullet. Wonder if she accepts bribes...
>>
No. 452767 ID: d6c330

>Wonder if she accepts bribes...
She's already moving to engage, we're past the point where negotiation is an option.

Besides, if we haven't been lied to, part of fixer philosophy is to put down breakers who don't confirm to their views to protect reality. I don't see negotiating with that being feasible. We don't have any good incentive to offer her anyways- anything we have that she wants could be looted off our corpse.
>>
No. 452768 ID: 4a328b

General plan: RUN RUN RUN

Specific plan: RAPH ENGAGE GOLEM SHIELD THEN WE RUN
>>
No. 452771 ID: a407a5
File 134714038804.jpg - (4.64KB , 460x307 , history-of-Viking-swords.jpg )
452771

You readjust your aim the slightest amount and fire, aiming to take her down instantly, even as you see Raphael's body start to expand and get a rough appearance to it. He still going to need another few seco-

The woman leans ever so slightly to the right, your shot passing missing by inches, then she's firing, not at you, but at Raphael. His transformation incomplete, he falls backwards, his head snapping back as a bullet rips into his face. You watch his number drop to a 16, then you manage to get off another shot, which is again dodged, although this time by the woman rolling behind the wall to offer herself some cover. You hear another gunshot and the sound of a man dying(must be that other guy) even as the man she'd thrown out of the room starts to get up.

"Hey! You gotta help us! There's no way we're surviving without each other, and we can work out what to do between us after all this!"

The man stares at you a moment, then he hears another gunshot and his friends dying and he nods in agreement.

"I'll try to distract her! Make sure your friend finishes whatever he's doing, so he can help me." The man manifests a rather bland looking sword then dives into the room, disappearing from sight. Gunshots go off and the sound of metal hitting stone. It sounds like he's at least keeping her busy. Raphael is awake again, and completing his transformation, but getting up while your a giant rock takes a little more effort than normal.

"Linda, we're getting swarmed up here. What's going on at your end?"

You really, really feel like you want to run right now. But you can't leave the girl either, and she's still tied to the wall.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452774 ID: d6c330

Running from a gunwoman isn't such a hot idea, especially with the speed she's displayed so far. Besides, you could be leaving the hostage to her death.

>the woman rolling behind the wall to offer herself some cover
Shoot her through the wall. This is what you have x-ray for. If Raph and sword-guy II can keep her busy and unable to dodge, you can snipe her to death.

>"Linda, we're getting swarmed up here. What's going on at your end?"
No swarm here, we just got one crazy bitch with too much BP and dodge. You gonna be okay?
>>
No. 452776 ID: 4a328b

Hmmm

What kind of restraints? Can we...shoot them off her? With our not-tank-destroying-gun?
>>
No. 452777 ID: 54c7e5

Tell her that you have one fixer down here, try to make your way down to backup.

Have Raph go for the girl, ropes should be nothing to his form.
As for the fixer, you have an AP rifle and an x-ray scope. Aim for the one with the 37 through the wall. With any luck, she has to be able to see where the bullet is coming from in order to dodge it.
>>
No. 452778 ID: 886a4d

We got xray sight JUST FOR THIS PURPOSE. And she definately won't be expecting it. Raphael should support Sword II while you shoot her.
>>
No. 452780 ID: d6c330

>Cass, make way down for backup
Presumably she's keeping every other fixer swarming this place busy so we can do this boss fight in peace (or at least, frantic 4 on 1). Or the cops have shown up? Either way, I think Cass is better off protecting our backs up top than being another body in front of gunner-girl. You know, assuming she can handle what's being thrown at her.
>>
No. 452792 ID: a407a5
File 134714244746.jpg - (59.90KB , 640x640 , 640x640_6375_Golem_Grief_2d_creature_concept_art_m.jpg )
452792

"No swarm here, we just got one crazy bitch with too much BP and dodge. You gonna be okay?"

"Uh... yeah! I mean, if you count okay as me ripping everthing in my path into little piec- Oooo... boss is gonna chew me out for that one... er... yeah, everything's fine!"

Well that's good. You think. Raphael manages to drag himself to his feet, and you get your first good look at him... damn, is that big. You direct him to go grab the girl, and he nods his head in agreement, makes a sort of gravelly rumbling noise and sets of, literally busting his way through the doorway.

Meanwhile, you look through your scope to try to find this bitch only to realize something. Regardless if it's x-ray or not... it zooms in. YOU CAN'T GET A WIDE VIEW LIKE THIS!!! You drag you eye away and sigh in exasperation, then watch as she dodges in front of the doorway and pumps another round into your new ally.

"Damned breakers. You all deserve to die."

Her number has dropped to 34 since you last saw her. Eh, might as well take the shot. You swing your weapon over and fire again, the round actually hitting her this time, her being distracted and all. She manges to throw herself backwards however, putting her out of your sight as she dies and is brought back to life.

33. Bitch.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452799 ID: 886a4d

You should be able to tell where she is. Right this is going no where fast. We need an edge. Next time you get a clear shot aim for a limb. Preferably a leg. Then heal it like you did to in your very first fight and like Cass did to her opponant.
>>
No. 452800 ID: d6c330

Okay, Cass can handle the scrubs. She may hate herself for it later, but we got little choice.

>Regardless if it's x-ray or not... it zooms in
Goddamn. It doesn't have adjustable zoom? You can't twist it back as close as it goes? We may be forced to move forward, otherwise.

>Bitch goes down, hits the floor out of LOS
Put another shot through the wall into where you think she landed. If she threw herself, her path is ballistic, you can predict and plug her before she's up and in control again.

Once Raph is done freeing the girl, I think he needs to engage the bitch.

(3 shots so far, 7 more till reload).
>>
No. 452802 ID: 4a328b

"If you want to kill Breakers so bad why don't you start with yourself, hypocrite!"

She can call herself a 'fixer' all she likes--doesn't change the fact that she's just part of another gang of Breakers. A bossy gang.

Do we have our tank gun out? Let's take out one of her walls. Or we can take down the whole building.
>>
No. 452804 ID: f6cff9

>>452802
I don't think a anti-material gun can take down buildings or destroy walls(It can go though walls just not destroy them completely). Not like I would know or anything.

Just keep aiming at her and hope we hit a limb then use a break point to make it NOT come back when she come back to life. Good thing we have active break if this works.
>>
No. 452806 ID: d6c330

>Do we have our tank gun out? Let's take out one of her walls. Or we can take down the whole building.
We've been using it. Technically it's an anti-tank rifle, made to shoot through tank armor, not demolish walls. It shoots through them just fine though, except for our less useful than expected x-ray vision.
>>
No. 452807 ID: 4a328b

>>452804
What's our current BP, can we have a number?
>>
No. 452808 ID: d6c330

>>452807
>BP?
11 - 4 = 7

We started with 11, we summoned the rifle twice, pistol was already out.
>>
No. 452809 ID: 886a4d

Thanks to our flub with the rifle earlier I believe we're down to 7 BP.
>>
No. 452811 ID: f6cff9

>>452806
Well anti-tank rifle used to be able to take out tanks way back in the past. Now they can't because tanks have more armor now due to the fact that these rifles used to fuck them up pretty badly. That's kinda the reason why they are called anti-material rifles instead of anti-tank rifles now.

It makes me sad that we won't be able to take out tanks with this gun unless it's some WW1 tank or something.
>>
No. 452813 ID: d6c330

>>452811
Eh, just wait till we upgrade it with neutronium rounds or something. Once we have the ammo to take on high level avatars, modern tanks will be something we can kill, I'm sure.
>>
No. 452814 ID: 886a4d

Since Raph is facing the girl at the moment soonish would be the time to drop a flashbang. Maybe right after you get another hit on her so after she dies shes even further disoriented.
>>
No. 452865 ID: f6cff9

>>452804
This could also not work if they have to be alive as you do it. We pretty much kill them instantly with the anti-martial rifle no matter where we hit them.
>>
No. 452866 ID: 6cc859

>>452802
It's a gun, not a wrecking ball. It'll put a hole in anything short of multiple inches of solid steel, but it won't bring down walls.
>>
No. 452913 ID: 6e44d2

Our gun works like a rail gun. It'll punch through most stuff, but the hole is gonna be too small to cause any structural damage.
>>
No. 452916 ID: 9718f3

A tactic we can try is to fire at her weapon itself. Killing her only reduces her BP by one point. Taking out her weapon will cost her however many points it costs to manifest. And her only alternative is fighting unarmed, in which case we have the advantage.

So my suggestion is flash in, shoot her pistol with our rifle. She probably has a backup weapon or something, but it's more effective than killing her. We might have time for a few free kills on her while she's recovering from being blinded and disarmed, too.
>>
No. 452928 ID: a407a5

"If you want to kill Breakers so bad why don't you start with yourself, hypocrite!"

You decide tossing in a flashbang is a good idea, and you dig one out of your bag, arm it and toss it in, bringing your own head down to try to avoid the incapacitating light and sound. It goes off, but while you managed to block the light, you didn't block the sound. You find yourself disoriented, your eyes trying to focus as the area spins around you, then you bring yourself back to reality(as it is) and catch someone shout something as the woman comes into your view, gun raised to fire some rounds in your general direction.

"Fucker! Grenades are just cheating!"

You both fire at the same time. Both of you hit, but the woman rolls to the side again as it does, even as her chest explodes with blood. 32.

You, on the other hand, feel pain burst in your head, a sudden blackness-

Then life, your eyes are aimed at the ground. You react mostly out of instinct, rolling your body to the side, as bullets ring next to you, only to feel that blackness again as something stikes the top of your head-

Life again. Only this time, you hear the ring of bullets directly above you. You hear crumbling stone as well, and as you raise yourself to one knee you find Raphael standing above you, the girl cradled protectively in his arms, his back to the door. You assume the bullets are being fired against his back, but you're safe enough. Pistols weren't designed to shoot through stone. Still, you got what you came for, and it seems like the fixers will be killing all these people. You might consider getting the fuck out of there.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452933 ID: 886a4d

Welp ya we aren't winning this one. We're down to 4 BP. Time to retreat.

She has higher finesse and that makes all the difference in a battle like this. But what we can do is make her back off. Dismiss the Rifle and keep in front of Raphael. He'll cover you while you take potshots at her. Tell Cass you are pulling out so she can disengage when she sees a chance.
>>
No. 452934 ID: d6c330

Down lives 2 and 3. 5 BP remain.

Fuck. I thought the flashbangs might put us at as much of a disadvantage as her. With her mountains of finesse, she can handle it better.

I think it's time for a tactical retreat. Your temporary allies have to be close to dead now (and the battle's only gonna get harder once she has half the targets to deal with). The hostage needs to be gotten to safety. Our main advantage (x-ray shoot through walls) doesn't work the way we thought it does (or at least, at this range). The enemy is better than you, and has a much more comfortable BP margin to work with (you have to play perfectly for a long time to take her out, she just has to play well for a little while to kill you. Hell, she can play baldy, trading several lives for one and still easily crush you).

Retreat, use Raph for cover. Keep your rifle trained down the hallway, if she appears, peg her. If you get insanely lucky and hit a limb, break it so it stays gone. Don't even try to shoot her in the gun, that's going to be the fastest moving part of her.

Collapsing the hall behind you to slow her down seems practical (golem smash!). As soon as you've put some distance between yourselves and her, ask if Raph's ghosthorse can carry others through walls. If it can, he should swap forms, you take the girl, and then ride him the fuck out of here. While he's shifting, if you're far enough away, shoot her through the goddamn walls as a parting fuck you.

Radio Cass, we're getting the fuck out.

(Gods damn it all, I really wanted her gun. And we miss looting the foci off the other punks, and positive confirmation that we had the right guys for the crime, although maybe eyeball girl can confirm).
>>
No. 452940 ID: 886a4d

You'd think that facing two other breakers she'd be somewhat inconvenienced but I guess they are fairly useless when she can dodge bullets. Wish they'd at least cut off a hand or something though.
>>
No. 452944 ID: d6c330

>>452940
Well, they did manage to kill her 3 times (or at least force her to use BP on something). But yeah, when you can dodge bullets fired from what, 10-20 feet away?, dodging melee isn't going to be much of a problem.

Kind of wishing we'd kept the minigun, actually. It's a lot harder to dodge a stream of bullets coming your way.

It's also weird she hasn't pulled another gun to deal with Raph, and isn't using any spirit abilities. Someone that high level and with her philosophy has to have killed other gunners, we're like the most common type of breaker we've seen (4 so far). Maybe she's a low spirit purist who stuck with her initial weapon and stacked all her points in finesse and BP? If so, that makes our escape a little easier, but we shouldn't stick around long enough to find out.

(Also, what stat allows you to power through fatal damage and keep moving so you don't drop dead where the enemy can camp you. She's done that twice now, after hits from our goddamn tankgun, which kills damn near instantly. I want me some of that).
>>
No. 452945 ID: a407a5

Your decision is quick. It's time to go. This lady... a flashbang didn't even phase her for more than a second. You grab your rifle and hoist it into a good carrying position, than turn and start heading back the way you came, motioning for Raphael to stay with you. He follows, making sure to place himself between you and the woman's gunfire. From what you can tell, she follows, trying to find openings in the stone man's defense so she can get at you, but she has no luck. The stone man has a very, large body. Occasionally you hear a gun go off and the sounds of a dying man, but you doubt she really cares about them anymore.

"Just give me the girl! I might consider letting you both go after that!"

Yeah, no to that idea. You'd much rather bring her with you and at least give her a choice than hand her over to the fixers. Crazy bastards.

"Cass. We're getting the fuck out of here. We'll meet you back at the car."

"Gotcha-Die fucker!-I'll get out there as soon as I can."

You make it to the stairwell without any interference, although the fixer behind you keeps following you, and you decide that it would be troublesome trying to go up the stairs with her following you.

"Raphael, give me the girl." He lowers his arms, handing the unconcious girl over to you, then picks his arms up, his head tilted to the side in question. "Why don't you make it difficult for what's her face to follow, yeah?"

You gesture to the walls and ceiling to make your point. His eyes? seem to light up a little brighter, than he makes this gravelly noise from his mouth? and turns to face the woman.

"So! You're finally gonna stop running like scared dogs and- Hey! Hey! What are you do- Whoa!"

You don't get to see whatever Raphael did, but whatever it was, it just brought down the whole ceiling down, along with a fair amount of raw sewage. Gods, you're going to need a shower. Still, you doubt she'll be coming after you anytime soon. You hand the girl back to Raphael, who goes back to cradling her gently and protectively against his arms and chest, then turn to make your way up the stairs. You hear a parting shout through the rubble, and can't help but pause to listen to it.

"Remember me, breakers! Remember me! I will hunt you down! I will kill you! Assualt Section Leader Maria! I will kill y-"

Her little speech is interrupted by you shooting her in the face. 31, bitch. And her clothes are gonna smell like sewage. Fuck her. Then it's up the stairs, which groan miserably under Raphael's new weight but luckily don't give out. You make it to the first floor and peek out the door to discover two breakers, a 3 and a 2, guarding the way you'd come to get here. You could try going up another floor, or just bust your way through them. Either way, you'd best hurry.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452948 ID: 886a4d

We need speed, pistol out. Bang Bang. Take them both out by alternating shots in between deaths. Finish them off. Grab any focii. This will be your loot.
>>
No. 452951 ID: d6c330

>Maria
We'll stick with bitch, kthanksbai. Also, I hope respawning in raw sewage gives you a nasty flesh rotting infection.

> two breakers, a 3 and a 2
Time for 5 rounds rapid, then
>>452948
Do this. When they hit 0, announce "You foci or your lives". If they even hesitate, waste them. We can't afford the delay, our lives and the life of the girl depend on speed.
>>
No. 452952 ID: 54c7e5

Or we could take advantage of how we've been dumping XP in will, just command them to drop their foci and get out of our way if they want to live.
>>
No. 452953 ID: 886a4d

We have no idea their will and we can't take the chance. Use it when they have no choice but to submit or die. And hope their will is low enough they automatically choose submit.
>>
No. 452961 ID: a407a5

You shoulder the rifle, slide your pistol out from it's place(you still need a proper holster for this thing) and fire, hitting the first guy in the back of the head. 2.

The second man, however, is already moving by the time you fire, turning and throwing something behind him even as he moves to dodge. You feel a flash of pain in your right shoulder and drop the rifle, throwing yourself to the side as you dodge what you think is a throwing knife. Raphael enters the room just as the other guy gets up from his death, manifesting a baseball bat. The man turns to attack, then his face drops in disbelief as Raphael literally shoulder checks him through the wall and into the next room. The throwing knife guy is already retreating backwards along the path you need to take, hurling another knife your way, which you literally snatch out of the air and drop to your side. Fuck him. You grab hold of the one in your arm and grit your teeth as you rip it out. It seems to have missed anything vital to your arm working, but it hurts a lot.

Raphael maneuvers the girl in his arms a little then bends down, positioning her in such a way that you'd be able to ride in his arms as well, if you wanted to. He turns his head in question, you think he's wondering if you want him to just bulldoze his way through everything, since it doesn't seem like they'd be able to hurt him much with what they have here.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452962 ID: 886a4d

Damnit, nothing is easy. So much for getting anything out of this. Time to bluff.

"Toss me your focii or we WILL kill you."

If they don't ya lets bulldoze out of here.
>>
No. 452963 ID: d6c330

Fuck it. Nothing is going right today.

Sigh, yeah, let's just ride the colossus out of here. No loot for us. Shoot anything that gets in your way.

>>452962
Huh. That might work. No way knives and a bat can hurt stone.
>>
No. 452964 ID: d6c330

(Oh, and when we make it back to the car? Don't go strait back to base. Assume you might be followed- can't leave the fucking fixers right to our door).
>>
No. 452965 ID: 886a4d

I think Raphael repaid us giving him that stone.
>>
No. 452967 ID: 4a328b

Bulldoze and gtfo of there. Get Cass and then all of you head to a cafe or something instead of right to base to make sure you aren't being followed. It's also a good idea given we don't actually know anything about the gal we just rescued--she might already belong to another gang or even the fixers--so just buy her some food and see if she's alright after all that junk that went down.
>>
No. 452968 ID: d6c330

>>452965
Oh, hells yes. We'd be dead like twice over if we hadn't given him that rock.
>>
No. 452972 ID: a407a5
File 134721370585.jpg - (31.77KB , 500x334 , v2_file_138980097.jpg )
452972

No time. There's no telling when fixer bitch will find another way around that rubble. You climb into Raphael's arms(weird thought to be having) and then feel yourself get tucked into his body as he hunches over, covering you with as much of his rock-form as possible. Then he aims himself, lowers his head and charges, busting through the doorway into the next room and continuing his charge forward. You hear a small "ting" as something ricochets off of his back, but you pay it no mind, instead preparing yourself to shoot anything that gets in your way. Nothing does, and a few minutes later you find yourself back at the car. Cass is already inside, the car ready to go, and after Raphael drops his form, you head off, telling Cass to avoid heading home for now. Still, you need to get somewhere to rest, so after a good twenty minutes of driving, Cass finds a small motel and get you a room, where you lay the girl down to rest while the rest of you figure out what to do.

"So... did anyone see that coming?"

"Hell no. Fixers weren't THAT organized last I checked. Sure, they were more together than us breakers, but... nothing like that."

"Yeah. It seems like something is changing for them... we need to tell the boss about this."

"But he's out of town on business... I can't imagine we'll be able to get in contact with him."

You sit silently, listening to your two companions. You're mulling things over for yourself, trying to figure out some course of action... besides, you didn't get what you were looking for, some confirmation about Mike. Still, you'd proven the group had done been doing something, and maybe you could get the girl's help after she wakes up. For now...

"Well, either way, we can't stay here long. Fixers that organized probably have an information network or something, so staying anywhere without aid isn't a good idea. Should we call for help, Linda? They're should still be people back at base..."

>>>Input Command
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No. 452974 ID: 4a328b

>>452972
Rodriguez has healing, right? Maybe we should call him over to see if the gal's ok. Also, is it safe for Raph to be nearby while she's sleeping? What's the safe distance on this involuntary power thingy?
>>
No. 452976 ID: 4a328b

Also, wonder if the weirdo lady that gave us the gem would be interested in this sort of thing--and we could probably use her as cover too, right?
>>
No. 452978 ID: d6c330

How is the girl? She's still unconscious after the getaway? We should check how badly she's hurt, and if she's in real danger (ie, if she's down to no BP).

We should alert base that the fixers are out in force, at least. They need to know something is up.

Then we either need to lie low, or get back to base.

>>452976
Eh, not necessarily. The in-fighting between gangs isn't what she cares about, remember? Besides, the gem is back home, and we can't talk to her in front of our allies.
>>
No. 452979 ID: 9718f3

Probably just being paranoid, but check Raphael's back for tracking devices. That "ting" could have been some manner of projectile tracker.
>>
No. 452983 ID: 886a4d

We wait for the girl to wake up then explain things to her. If she doesn't wake up within 2-3 hours we head to the hotel.
>>
No. 452989 ID: a407a5

You suddenly remember that Raphael causes nightmares, but as you start to panic Raphael kindly calms you down,

"I'm suppressing it right now. Er, more literally I'm using on the guy next door to us. He's ah... well, he won't wake up with the bedsheets dry." He also checks himself at your suggestion, but doesn't come up with anything like a tracking device. At least, not that he could see.

While you wait, you decide to check on the girl, who is still unconscious but seems to be doing allright. Her number is at 11 right now, so she's definitely safe, but she has some nasty bruises covering her face and body, even under her clothing. You'll have to let Rodriguez take a look at those.

You have Cass call back home. Minutes later she reports that the rest of the group is coming to get you. All you have to do is wait. You silently watch over the girl while Raphael and Cass keep talking about things, the the girl starts to wake up.

"Hm? Where? What?"

The girl's eyes flicker open, and for a moment her eyes focus on you, she frowns for a moment, then her mouth forms a smile.

"An angel... so very kind to those it holds dear, but so very cruel to anyone who threatens them..."

Then the girl wakes up fully and is staring at you.

"Who are you? Why am I here? What happened? What do you want with me? I'm not doing it, no matter what you say!"

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 452991 ID: 886a4d

Calm down. We're not going to force you to do a thing. My name is Linda, this is Cass and Raphael. We are part of group that believes people with our abilities should be free to use them without being forced to participate in 'fixing reality' or killing innocents. Whether you join us or go on your own is entirely up to you. We just want you to give us a chance and maybe meet with our boss.

We were after those breakers for other reasons but I can't condone torture.

We also couldn't leave you at the mercy of those fixers. They kill you if you refuse to work with them. Cass here and a fixer came to recruit me at the same time and the moment I chose to pick Cass he attacked me as well. Hard to believe that was only three days ago.
>>
No. 452992 ID: d6c330

Woah, woah, woah!

I'm Linda, this is Cass, and Raphael. We uh, don't want anything really. We came across you being held prisoner by those jerks, and got you out when the fixers showed up and starting killing everyone.

We don't want anything from you, really. We were only even there because we thought the people who had you had beat up our friend. I don't know what those guys were interested in, but we're mostly about looking out for each other.

...you okay?
>>
No. 452993 ID: 4a328b

Whoa, calm down. I'm Linda; [brief pause to let others introduce themselves, or do it for them]

We weren't after you at all--don't even know who you are, honestly. We went to beat up that gang because they tried to kill one of our friends, and we couldn't just leave you tied up there for the Fixers to kill.

You're free to go whenever you want, but you might want to at least stick around for our healer friend to fix you up.
>>
No. 452994 ID: 60fee2

If she calms down enough, give her a comforting hug. She could probably use one.
>>
No. 452995 ID: d6c330

Oh, yeah, we should also ask her her name. (Even though we already know it from OOC shenanigans, but whatever).
>>
No. 453000 ID: a407a5

"Woah, woah, woah!

I'm Linda, this is Cass," Cass waves a little from her position on the sofa," and Raphael." He smiles at the girl kindly. "We uh, don't want anything really. We came across you being held prisoner by those jerks, and got you out when the fixers showed up and starting killing everyone.

We don't want anything from you, really. We were only even there because we thought the people who had you had beat up our friend. I don't know what those guys were interested in, but we're mostly about looking out for each other.

...you okay?"

The girl stares at you some more, then nods slowly. "Um... I'm Elizabeth... um... your not going to hurt me or anything?"

"No. No we're not. We'll even let you go, if you want us to, but we'd like it if you came back with us, at least until our boss can get a chance to talk with you."

The girl remains silent for awhile, then suddenly her attention is drawn to the side. She stares at the wall, her eyes unyielding in their gaze, then she turns back to you. "You. I... I'm supposed to listen to you. Conner won't like it, but I'm supposed to listen to you and decide, not him. It's up to you to convince me. Then... I don't know."

Wait... what? This girl is... weird. But... it's not like you don't know what's going on in your own group, right? You should be able to get the message across... right? You look to Cass and Raphael for support, but they just shrug. They don't know what's going on either.

Well... here goes nothing. You spend the next 20 minutes going over what your group aims for, and why. Eventually, your allies make it to you, and you spend the car ride doing the same, going over everything that's happened to you and all that entails, while Rodriguez goes over her wounds. By the time you make it back to the base and into the lounge, the girl is mulling over everything you've said to her. You figure it might be best to give her some space, so you and the rest of the group(there are quite a few you recognize from your recollections from the party, but no names come up) retreat to another side of the lobby to go over what you've discovered.

"Seriously, the fixers are getting more organized? That can't be good. We should contact the boss."

"But is it something we really need to interrupt his work for? As long as we lay low till he gets back, it should be fine, right?"

"Not if they come after us... damn, it had to be now, when he was out of town."

"You think they know? About the boss being a breaker I mean? They could have timed it to when he wasn't around..."

"But then they would have attacked here. It would be safer to assume they just happened to hit when he wasn't around."

Everyone is uncertain right now, you included, but with the boss out of town, everyone eventually decides the best course of action is to hole up and keep it on the down low. For now, no one leaves unless they have to for normal work, or school, and no one leaves without at least two people with them. For now, that'll have to do.

Now all that's left to do is decide what should happen with the rest of the day. Elizabeth is calm for right now, although she seems to just be staring at a wall. Cass has taken a seat and is looking a little unhappy, but otherwise fine, although her number is at 4. Raphael seems to be waiting for you, but instead of approaching he's preferring to wait till you come to him. And no loot this time, so there really isn't a need to go see Mac.

Experience Points Gained: 2
>>>Input Command
>>
No. 453002 ID: d6c330

Oh thank goodness, the sales pitch was automated.

>Experience
Up finesse and BP. We need better dodge and accuracy, and more points to work with.

>Raphael
We owe him some thanks. Rocky there saved our butt today. He's more than welcome to consider the stone paid for, we'd be dead without it.

>Cass at 4.
Damn, she took a beating, all right. We should see how she's doing. Probably isn't happy about either the mass slaughter she committed, getting so close to beat, or, naturally, the enemy ramp up.

>Elizabeth
So... how you doing? I guess I told you a lot about us, but didn't really ask you anything about yourself. How'd you end up in that mess anyways? What'd they want from you?
>>
No. 453005 ID: 54c7e5

>>453002
Well, glad I refreshed before posting pretty much the exact same thing.

+1 to all.
>>
No. 453007 ID: 4a328b

Give Liz some space, go see Raph since he looks like he wants to talk, we'll talk to Cass next.

2 points to BP
>>
No. 453013 ID: f6cff9

>>453002
Damn me for having work today and missing all of this action. Anyways I second all of those motions.
>>
No. 453014 ID: c28302

>>453002 +1 to all (slight modification to Liz)

While giving Liz space is a good idea, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see if she's hungry (pretty sure she hasn't eaten since we broke her out) and if so scrounge up something for her. I'm not entirely sure whether to leave her be beside that or try to get her to open up...
>>
No. 453016 ID: f6cff9

Getting her some food would be a good idea. Might as well ask her what she wants.
>>
No. 453018 ID: 2b7692

2 points to Finesse I say.

I'm guessing Liz has got an avatar foci. Anyway, I agree with seeing how Cass is. She was on her own for something we decided to check-out. Part of it was bad timing with the fixers, but being outnumbered and alone tends to make people feel abandoned.
>>
No. 453021 ID: a407a5

You approach Raphael first, getting ready to give your thanks for the assist this time, instead, Raphael beats you to the punch.

"Hey... uh... I talked a little with Cass on the drive over here, and she said to leave it up to you but... well... uh... I was wondering if I could join your little group... you know... permanently... I'm not really part of any group here, cause I tend to freak people out, and I kinda wanted to hook up with you guys... just cause I could. You don't have to answer now, just... think about it, okay?"

"Uh... sure. I'll think about it. Anyway, I wanted to thank you, for helping me out. If you hadn't been around I would have been dead a couple of times back there. So you can consider your debt payed for that rock."

"Oh? Ah! Yeah, alright. Anyway, I'll catch you later." His piece done, Raphael heads back for the elevators, probably to head down to his floor so he can get some rest. Your next stop is Cass, who isn't showing any signs of her embarrassment anymore. She glances up at you as you arrive, and offers you a half-hearted wave before going back to staring at nothing.

"How you feeling, Cass?"

"Like... shit, Linda. Those fixers... they were like me. Not really like me, but... they acted like me. Kill everything. Except for the normals... Linda, I killed a normal today. Didn't even realize it till after it happened. Hell, didn't even faze me when I did realize it. Just thought, 'hey, boss'll be unhappy about that' and kept going. It was... shit... Linda, I don't know. I really... I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like every time a fight starts up, my grip on reality slips just a little bit. If it had been a few days ago, I know I could have stopped myself before I killed the normal. I know it... but... but..."

Cass is close to tears. You can see her shoulders starting to shake and her breathing is getting ragged. You're not sure how much help you can be, but... you've got to try.

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 453022 ID: 886a4d

Nothing to do but hug the woman. Tell her you'll be there for her. That you will help her get better and be there to stop her when she can't stop herself. Your sorry you left her on her own. If you had any inkling that this would have gone down you would have insisted they stay together.
>>
No. 453027 ID: f6cff9

>>453022
Yeah we can only really do that. Now I feel kinda sad that we wasn't there for her. This really sucks
>>
No. 453030 ID: d6c330

Voting on point distribution still ongoing, I guess?

>Horsie / Rocky joins the party!
We'll have to send him down to Mac for a comm later.

>Cass
Can't think of a better way to handle it than this.
>>453022
We don't know how, but we'll find a way to help you hold on to yourself.

(How the hell does she distinguish without break sight anyways?)

Assuming we get her calmed down, and we still get the chance to talk to her later...
(Obviously we can't cut and run if Cass needs us. If we have to hang out all night, that's what we do).
>Liz
Don't push her, but we should ask her about herself. What happened to her? ...does she ave anyone she needs to call or anything? (She is a kid, and we don't know how long she was imprisoned). Show basic human concern and friendliness, see what she offers up (I'd kind of like to hear her own explanation of her abilities, if she feels like it).
>>
No. 453031 ID: 4a328b

You hug that woman right now Linda. Tell her it'll be ok, even if you aren't sure, 'cause I think she needs to hear that now.
>>
No. 453041 ID: a407a5
File 134722753373.jpg - (78.09KB , 500x313 , wallpaper-569152_large.jpg )
453041

Experience Points Allocated
Finesse Increased
BP Increased


You sit down next to Cass and wrap your arms around her in a hug. "I'm sorry Cass. I'm sorry. If I'd have known this would have happened... I shouldn't have left you on your own like that... I'm sorry..."

Cass finally breaks down completely tears flowing freely as she cries into your chest. You stay silent after that, mimicking what your mother used to do for you and simply hold Cass in a hug, one hand stroking her hair softly. Minutes pass by like this, with the occasional person walking in only to turn right back around and disappear again. After a good ten minutes, Cass is silent again, then she pulls herself away and stands.

"I... I need to go think... Thanks for that... just... don't tell anyone I'm going soft, alright? I'll still kick their ass."

Cass gives you a wave as she heads off towards her room, leaving you alone with Elizabeth. You're feeling a bit depressed from that last thing with Cass, but you shake away the feeling and go over to try talking to the younger girl.

"She is conflicted. A warrior's soul in a woman's body..." The words catch you by surprise, but Elizabeth doesn't seem to notice. If anything, when she does turn her gaze on you, you get the feeling she is seeing far more than just you. Like she's seeing something far greater than you. "Ah! The Angel! Am I going to be here long? Cause the orphanage will want to know where I am. And I'm kinda hungry..."

>>>Input Command
>>
No. 453042 ID: 886a4d

The problem is getting the warrior to realize when to stop.

Lets get her some food and ask her where she lives, does she like it there and does she have many friends. Also ask what did those men want with her. It might not be safe to bring her back if she is important to them since they were part of a larger group.
>>
No. 453045 ID: 4a328b

Ask what she wants to eat, then flag someone down and ask if they can go on a food run for ya--and to remember to go out in a pack.

If she knows the number she can call the orphanage, but...well, it might not be safe to go back there again. I mean, she doesn't happen to have breaker protectors there or anything, does she? Otherwise it seems like it'd be too easy for some other group to swoop in and kidnap her all over again... [idea it's probably too early to put forward to the kid: adoption]
>>
No. 453046 ID: d6c330

The problem isn't just that it's a warrior's soul- its a berserker. A warrior that does not listen to reason, or to the heart.

(We're the Angel? An interesting archetype for someone forced into the role of a sniper. Do our limited attempts at mercy and human kindness stand out so much?)

Not sure how safe the orphanage is right now, you were already snatched once, right? And now a much more aggressive group knows about you...

Take her to the cafeteria, get her fed, and hang with her. See if you can get her to tell you about herself at all.
>>
No. 453048 ID: 4a328b

I wonder if she forgot our name already or if she's just being mystical~

Might as well remind her of our name just in case though xD
>>
No. 453051 ID: a407a5
File 134723016437.jpg - (96.78KB , 750x600 , overpowered_motivational_by_ultimaweapon13-d52gnoj.jpg )
453051

"Well... I'm not really sure the orphanage is safe for you anymore. For now, let's just get you something to eat, alright?"

You take her down to the cafeteria area and let her eat to her hearts content. It's there you find out quite a bit about her. She's 17, and apparently has lived at the same orphanage for most of her life. Her left eye is made of glass, and as far as you can tell, she got it after someone shot her in the eye and she somehow survived. The glass eye also serves as her foci, but other than that you're not sure about anything else. She focuses mostly on her food while your downstairs.

Upon returning to the lounge, she goes back to being somewhat out of it, and you don't get much more out of her, except that she wants to "stay next to the Angel. The Angel is supposed to guard me", whatever that means. Still, it seems best to keep her with you for now. You spend the rest of the day getting some or your normal work done, and at about dinner time the group gathers together again as news reaches them that the Boss is coming back early. Apparently, the movement of the fixers hadn't gone unnoticed...
>>
No. 453052 ID: 60fee2

We are going to have to adopt her. I suspect must Bureaucratic Reality Breaking in our future.
>>
No. 453054 ID: d6c330

>>453052
She's 17. She gets kicked out of the system in a year, anyways. But yeah, we could always fudge some paperwork to work the bureaucracy into being okay with her being here.
>>
No. 453075 ID: a15b39

>>453051
Wait... what the heck does that pic have to do with the post, unless its a portent or something
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