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 Haier Arcology, or Haier-Arc, looms over Detroit. Its footprint covers what used to be forty square blocks straddling the Detroit River. Now a 305 level windowless behemoth dominates the blighted city in its place. Inside Haier-Arc a million people go about their lives without much thought to what happens on the outside. The top five levels are the exclusive playground of Haier Corp. executives and their families. There are rumors of ceilings so high that you can’t tell it’s not the sky and an AI that takes care of the privileged's every need, but not much is really known of it to those on the outside. The remaining higher levels are beautiful and clean, with their own distinct architecture. The people there are well taken care of, there is little crime and security is ever-present and extremely deferential to residents. A sense of normality is maintained with “outdoor” areas full of flora and fauna, simulated day-night cycles and weather. As you descend down the arcology, the ceilings drop as if under the weight of the levels above. In the mid-levels the architecture becomes standardized, preferring function over form. Public parks become minimal (and largely replaced by dense farms) and the lighting and air more artificial. Life in these levels is fairly stable and secure. But crime is not unheard of and security is not nearly as polite to the residents as in the higher levels. The lower levels are where things begin to fall apart. The levels containing low margin factories and the homes of their replaceable workers are rampant with crime and security forces are unwilling, or unable to help. Further below are the levels long since forgotten by Haier Corp. Downsized workers and their families have been abandoned, security mechanisms lost to disrepair, and security forces recalled. This is where the only law and order is maintained by organized crime, and most must struggle to maintain a semblance of dignified life in the chaos. The lowest levels are the guts of Haier-Arc. The power and water treatment plants, the air circulation systems and all the other machinery required to regulate a building housing a million people. Only the truly most desperate try to survive here, and most do not survive long. How it all ended up like this may matter to the grownups, but it doesn’t matter much to the class of 2100 at Ruimin High. The incoming 10th graders have been brought in from every level of the Haier-Arc (or so the brochures claim) to integrate every culture of the Arcology and produce the leaders of the next generation. Ruimin High is on the 175th level and has a capacity of 2,000 very lucky students. Each class is divided into four sections of 125 students to foster peer groups that cut across the levels of Haier-Arc. There are 5 spots remaining for new students in the Red Section of Ruimin High. Not only will these students have to find their place in the complicated hierarchy of their section, but they'll have to do so knowing that life in Haier-Arc will likely be the only life they’ll ever know. Oh, and they're monsters and they know there are other monsters out there too, all trapped together in Haier-Arc. The Cast: Tommy Blackford, the Mortal Ronnie Hactar, the Infernal Eva Bai, the Hollow Hiroko Nakayama, the Werewolf Ani "Annie" Fisher-Lee, The Ghost Vincent Yohloh the Second, the Neighbor The Charts: Strings Chart Seating Chart The Other Students: Brock Sarach - Angry cloudbaby. Picks on Vincent. Hangs with Wang and his gang. Chibuike Takondwa - Exchange student with Afrikanarc. Cultivates an air of mystery, trading on his experience of living outside. Daniel Gladstone - Smug cloudbaby. His peers think he is pretty cool. Elizabeth Chang - A middle-middle and a rat, keeping her eyes out for any students she can inform on to teachers to try and get any boost she can to advance. As such, she's sitting in the back corner. Erika Mizuno - Cool-headed future upper management. She recently got a pretty sweet bike and has been trying to get good with Hiroko. Iliyn Vorova - Family's rumored to be in the Russian Mafia and he acts like it. Always has an alibi though. Tommy faked an alibi for him. Isaac Raimondi - Son of Doctor Isiah Raimondi, a former cybernetics researcher for the Google Conglomerate before being recruited by Haier Industries headhunters and brought to Haier-Arc. Casual friends with Eva. Jani Solari - One of the few people from the lowest levels who passed the prelim exams, she's always with her nose in her vidscreen, cramming info into her brain. She's obviously terrified about not making the cut and getting tossed out down into the gutters. Justin Duncan - He'd just be a regular guy from the mid-tiers if he wasn't supposed to be one of the best talents in Roller Ball history. He seems to have kept his ego in check too. Lydia Bailey - Rumored to have been adopted from the down below. But who could survive there? Michael Lee - A Haier Corp baby with impeccable style and the gene treatments to match. He thinks he's too good for Ruinin High. Ning Yanyu - Super awkward nerd from the upper levels who plans to run for class president. Nolan Ryen - Outside of his interest in vintage Americana, a normal enough guy for a cloudbaby. He doesn't carry all the usual prejudice associated with cloudbabies, though he's got some crazy idea about who's “really” running things. Odette Demaret - Ice-queen, reputed to be a master fencer. Extremely defensive of her family's unimpressive position in the corporate structure. Rachel Kovoks - Due to a serious medical condition, she attends school through a basic model Leif-Haier Telecommunications Android. San Dandan - A girl from the upper tunnels, where it's just barely civilized. She's supposedly connected to the Triads and can get any sort of drug, but it's probably just a wild rumor. Sha Jing - Upperclassmen, son of a board member, resident of level 303, and host of parties no one would dare miss. Tima Imoto - A cloudbaby with a sunny nature and impish sense of humor. Her family are big names in robotics and software development. Wang Kai-Chun - Super rich kid from Hong Kong. Runs with a gang. Pretends to be a good teacher's pet. The Faculty: Xia Chuanli, Guidance Counsel and Homeroom teacher to Red Section 3 - She's easy going in homeroom but as a guidance counselor she always pushes her students to strive for greater goals. Dr. Philippe Beauregard, History and Sociology teacher - Massively muscular, exuberant and strongly accented. Rumor has it he has traveled extensively Outside, and will sometimes talk about taking another journey. Maybe special enough students could go on a field trip? Sue Lee Marlow, Arcography and Cyberdrama teacher - She is one of the oldest teachers in the school now. She was never mean to the lower numbers, but she still favors the cloudbabies something awful, hoping she'll be their favorite and raise her some floor levels. She used to be a lower-middle when I was alive and now she's an upper-middle, so maybe it's paying off for her. Mr. Weston Centrich, Head of Security - A continually put upon man who is in charge of keeping thousands of teenagers from breaking into sectors (digital and physical) where they shouldn't be. Of course, since the mandatory cybersecurity classes teach students just HOW to break into secure files, he's always manning the firewalls, as it were. Rumor has it he doesn't sleep anymore. You know, had one of those NeverDoze implants hooked up to his spinal cord. They were banned a few years ago, after one of the test subjects went homicidal after the sixth week of no sleep. So, it's just a stupid rumor. Right? Mrs. Jocelyn Arnault, Wellness Coordinator - I hear this job fell by the wayside, until people started to use VR more often and the "couch potato" meme re-appeared after a near-century of disuse. She checks out the food, is in charge of Athletics, that sort of thing. I wonder how you balance baseball teams when Mr. CFO's Grandson or whatever has genetically engineered enhanced musculature, and nanites for red blood cells. Maybe he just gets picked first every time? Coach Bobby - He is a giant of pure muscle and he wants YOU to go to arcology finals this year. He's relentless but fair, and he doesn't give up on kids because they don't meet his impossible expectations. Somehow he manages to make them want to exceed them. Some people say he used to be a stims addict, and that's how he got those scars on his arms, but no one ever talks about it. Wilson the Janitor - Always has pertinent advice for students in need. Oddly enough, that includes the "unusual" students. Bad things tend to happen to students that try to get one over on him, though. Professor David Winters - He teaches History at the school and has a plan to use integrated ER(Enhanced Reality) sims that incorporate advances from the latest online games "to engage our children more fully in our glorious history" rumour has it he has investors lined up to take it worldwide if the pilot project at the school takes off. His specialty is supposed to be the Resource wars of the first half of the 21st century and he's using that era to beta test his work.
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Apr 12, 2015 20:41
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This space reserved for future expansions
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Apr 12, 2015 20:42
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Previously, on Haier-Arc Tuesday morning is ushered in by the flaring of LED panels all through Haier-Arc's hallways as the arcology's internal systems switch from Night Mode to Day Mode. Some of you have heard of a mythical beast called a “sunrise”; according to old vids, it's caused by chickens. This gradually rising illumination, however, is the only sign of morning that most of you have ever known. As with any new day, this one brings questions. Vincent Yesterday, after class, you fled from a beating at Brock's hands straight into Jani's arms. First: mark XP for Running Into Another's Arms if you haven't already. Second: she seemed grateful for the chance to help you, and seemed to want to express her gratitude rather effusively. How did you eventually get rid of her? Did you get rid of her? It's not like you could take her back to your floor... Eva That Cutter fellow was very polite; businesslike, but in a friendly way. And yet, you received the distinct impression that Cutter's politeness was a non-renewable resource. He gave you a place to send the data he asked for; it looks like an anonymous public haven, the type of place where students store racy photos or other things they don't want lodged on their personal devices to evade parental controls. What promise did you make him? Ronnie and Annie The auto-doc required most of the night to treat Annie's wound, which you chose to spend in each others' arms. Things got charmingly intimate, in a parentally-approved sort of way. Or it would have been, if either of you had living parents. Who saw you leaving Ronnie's safe-house together? And where did you go for breakfast? Tommy and Hiroko Turns out, Tommy's got grit for a crippled kid. Once he stabbed one of them, the other punks vanished. Unfortunately, the attempt to get specific intel on the person investigating Eva hit an AI-sized brick wall. You won't get any more intel until you find another angle to attack from. Either way, there's no point in hanging around this park anymore. Tommy: what did you take from that encounter? Hiroko: what did you leave there? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ms. Chanli's Class, day 2 Your homeroom is buzzing over the big news from yesterday; three girls died in a mysterious electrical fire. The school's grief counselors are all over Red Section 2, the adjacent homeroom. Oddly, there are no security personnel in evidence, which is something you would expect to see after the deaths of any students, and something you'd definitely expect to see after what several of you know was no accident. It's almost as if someone higher up doesn't want any unpleasant truths brought to light. A few measly deaths, however, can't dim the buzz on what's really important: Sha Jing's party! Who has an invitation? Who doesn't? Gossip on that topic makes up the bulk of conversation in the classroom this morning. Vincent You have a message from Jani waiting at your desk. Actually, you have four. What do they say? Ronnie You dreamed about Annie last night. Well, that's to be expected. But in your dream, you were holding her in your arms, when she suddenly vanished. Weird. Any other thoughts about Annie also vanish when a familiar message scrolls across your AR display: quote:12.8 g Pu 238! The exclamation point winks on and off. Then it extends out into long strings of machine code. It seems to be some kind of manual program, like a virus or .exe, but expressed in text. Looking at the simplicity, it's either very crude or very, very elegant. What do you do with it? Annie You took three lives. Do you know their names? If not, why not? Hiroko You overhear Iliyn Vorova bragging about being the cause of yesterday's electrical fire. Little Bratva punk seems quite taken with himself, this morning. Do you ruin his day, or do you have more important things to worry about? Eva Cutter left you with a dangling task and no immediate way to complete it. Also, these memory holes bother you; until your attention was pointed to them, you never even realized they were there. You see the artificial frame of Rachel Kovoks enter the room; someone has hacked her life-droid and cause the visual display panels on its back to show something rather rude. What is it? Tommy You totally stabbed that dude! Also, it was a pretty sweet hack, even if you did get bounced by an AI. Was Hiroko, the love of your life, impressed? Erika Mizuno is staring at you from what used to be Hiroko's seat before she switched to be near Eva. She seems irritated. What does she want? Old Kentucky Shark fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Apr 12, 2015 |
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Apr 12, 2015 20:48
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Tommy Blackford Hot 1 | Cold 0 | Volatile -1 | Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | EXP 4/5+1 | Conditions: Blamed, Voyeur, Marked as Prey Tommy's color is still a little off from yesterday. Physically, he's fine aside from the bandage on his arm from his dives yesterday. He's covering it up underneath a long sleeve shirt, but anyone who looks at him too long notices the slight bulge on the forearm. But mentally, he's wiped. Between wondering what an AI could want with Eva and oh yeah freaking out that he stabbed someone, he barely slept the previous night. He half expected to get arrested on his walk to school. He tried to keep his mind off of his impending arrest by fiddling with a holocard from Starlight Karaoke. It had fallen out of the pocket of the guy he stabbed, and he'd picked it up while he was still in a daze after the "fight." He wasn't planning on running into them again, so at least he knew where to avoid. Now that he was here and not arrested, he was forced to admit that yesterday had been a total bust. He'd gotten to show Hiroko that he was reliable and talented. That was a good start for now. While he's sitting at his desk, turning over his thoughts, he notices Erika scowling. That's right. He remembered that she'd done something to get on the poo poo list of one of Sha Jing's flunkies, so she got left off the invite list. She'd hinted that she wanted to go with him, but he'd played oblivious. That was before he found out that Hiroko and Eva were together, though. He double checks his mail to make sure that nothing's happened to his invitation. Unlike Vince, he's only going to invite one person. Because he doesn't have a death wish. Unfortunately, there's no chance that he's going to the party with Hiroko yet, especially after they came up dry yesterday. So, why not invite Erika? She seemed pretty fun, and he'd probably seem less out of place if he went with someone a bit closer to the clouds. He gives her a winsome smile and IMs her: quote:Hey, you manage to swing an invite for tonight? Manipulate Erika: 2d6+1 11 +1xp for the highlight. Which makes me level up. Unashamed: You can give someone a String on you to add 3 to your attempt to turn them on.
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Apr 13, 2015 02:34
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Ani "Annie" Fisher-Lee Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2 Harm 0/4 | Exp 0/5 | Conditions: Victim, Burnt Out I don't. It would have been easy to, all I'd have had to do was listen to the announcement broadcast this morning, but I couldn't do it. No, I wouldn't do it. They were scum, the same kind of people who killed me before, shoving me aside just because I wasn't as 'important' as them, and they died like scum too. But people are mourning them, their class gets grief councilors, what did I get? Hushed up and buried. So I wouldn't listen to their names, I won't give them the respect in death I was denied! But for once, that simmering bubble of rage isn't my dominant emotion. Instead, I keep thinking back to the last night, spent in Ronnie's arms. I would have been happy if he had made a move, but that he didn't, and still spent that time with me, well, it means he cares, actually cares, about me. And no one ever cared before. I was so caught up in that that I don't have a clue what we ate, though I do feel full. I do remember that someone came in right after us though, and it wasn't until we got up to leave that I noticed it was Elizabeth Chang. I wasn't too sure about coming into class again after yesterday, but I suppose it is the best way to avoid attracting attention by acting like there isn't anything going on at all. Still, Eva saw what happened and I'm going to have to figure out how to deal with that, and Tommy saw... I don't know what to do about him. Rather not thinking about that right now. Thinking about other things.... a security camera must have recorded what happened yesterday, they must have seen that I was involved, even if it did look like I was as much a victim as the rest, just that I didn't die. Why haven't they done anything? Maybe I overloaded the cameras accidentally. No, that's too convenient to believe. I dip back into the datastream, following it back until I reach the ABYSS, and take the plunge, aiming for the school's security and leadership communications over the last night. What do they know, and what are they trying to do? Gaze into the Abyss [02:46] godfish !r 2d6+2 [02:46] Krysmbot godfish, 3+2 = 5 yeah, starting off strong
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Apr 13, 2015 10:47
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Eva Bai Hot -1 | Cold -1 | Volatile +1 | Dark +2 Harm 1/4 | Exp 2/5 | Conditions I told Cutter many things. I told him that I had an accident. I told him that I have been too busy recuperating to fulfill the dead drop. Most importantly, I told him that I would complete the dead drop within a week. This would not be a problem if I remembered what the requested data was. As I do not, I now have one week to discover what my original mission was, acquire the data if necessary and pass the information forward. This will bring further security risks, but it has been deemed a lower risk than antagonizing Cutter. Rachel Kovacs is a potential lead - further investigation is required. Rachel Kovacs has also had her back panel display altered, presumably without her consent. This has been the second time this has happened since the start of the school year. The first time, it was replaced by a looping clip from the recent third reboot of the film Chappie. (Reviews average 2.25 stars. Archived opinion: "A waste of an afternoon".) Now it has been replaced by scrolling text stating that she is a "BOYFRIEND THIEF" in both English and Chinese. Relationship issues are obvious. However, it will give me a reason to initiate conversation with her. I send her a short message. Direct ABYSS Message posted:Your back screen has been hacked. Could help you reset it, if you want. And there is Hiroko. Autonomous functions spike when analyzing potential implications of her time spent in detention with Tommy. However, it is necessary. Tommy Blackford is too large of a security risk to avoid due to simple autonomous reactions. If he is undermining my relationship with Hiroko, this must be prevented. If he is not, he is still a major threat. I must discover what his intentions are without further souring ongoing relations with Hiroko. I turn to her and attempt to appear tired. This is not hard. "I hope yesterday went better for you than it did for me." Is this the truth? Is it a lie? It does not matter. Further information must be obtained.
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Apr 13, 2015 18:33
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 1/4 | XP 3+1/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed Who says I can't take Jani up? I'm rich, I can do what I want!...is what I would say if I wanted to sound like Brock or some other jerk. I did manage to take her up to my floor, and she liked the trip and all the lights, but she said she needed to go home and check on her parents and grandparents and stuff. Sounded legit, at least. So we stayed outside the station for a little while to check school work stuff, I bought her a ticket and a big hot "family style" meal to take home, and off she went. We waved to each other as the doors closed, which was nice! Did I ever tell you about my home? Well, let me tell you about my home. It's big and it's white and it's waaay too silent. The walls are double insulated, the complex won't let people have pets, mom and dad are overseas settling a "big deal" in Mombasa (even if they left a token "we love you, honest" message on the door), even the cleaning robot is in for service. No whirs for me tonight. Or parents or grandparents asking me how I've been. And I know Jani and her family and a whole lot of people would kill to be up here, but still. I step out of the shower, turn on something nice for music, and flop directly onto my bed, naked and sopping wet. Lucky me there's a party tomorrow. I wonder if I'd start talking to the walls if I had to stay up here all day every day. ----------------------------------- It's amazing what a fresh coat of hair dye will do to a guy's view of the world. I'm practically whistling as I walk in and sit down at my desk...although I try to do it more softly when I hear the rumors about people dying yesterday. Wow, is that what that flickering light was and why everybody had to get out of the school? Poor girls. I guess they're keeping the names hidden to spare their parents, but I wonder who they were? I'm thinking about the brief memorial going on over the intercom when I absently brush against my new messages icon on my desk. Jani Solari PM 1 posted:Hey, thanks for the food last night, dad really appreciated it Jani Solari PM 2 posted:Are you still doing the party thing with...you know...? Jani Solari PM 3 posted:Brock just told me you knew what happened to those poor girls, what?! Jani Solari PM 4 posted:Stay away from me or I'll tell Mr. Centrich YOU MURDERED them Wait wait wait wait what?! How...what did...I...what?! Is she...threatening me?! I look around the room--huh, she's not in right now? But Brock's still sitting there, and he's looking right at me. Mocking me. "Problem, Vinnie?" his smirk widens as he speaks. Okay, first off, don't call me Vinnie, it makes me sounds like a bad Italian org-crime trideo extra. Second, yes I have a very big problem right now. Okay, who do I...I had a chance to talk with Tommy and Annie yesterday, and Eva seems like she knows her stuff. Maybe they can help now. With one hand I forward Jani's PMs with the only comment being "WTF?!" With the other hand I'm rapidly typing out "how to dodge an untrue accusation of murder" into my haptic glove. What is even...I don't...why me?! I hope this isn't too much for right now. Anyway, let's have Vincent open with a Gaze into the Abyss. [21:31:49] <Davin_Valkri> !r 2d6-1 [21:31:50] <Krysmbot> Davin_Valkri, 6-1 = 5 Welp "CANNOT CONNECT TO THE ABYSS AT THIS TIME"?! WHY ME?! Davin Valkri fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 14, 2015 05:32
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Ronnie Hactar Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile 1, Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 2+1/5 Dreaming about Annie was nice, if a little scary when she vanished like that. When I wake up she was still there, sleeping like a baby. She pinned my leg down and It went numb, but I didn't move until she woke up. Turns out I'm a real sap. I'm still sitting on this line of code that Fallen has left me with. I chewed it over with breakfast (we hit a pancake place that uses black-market real soy, but Annie was too distracted to notice the difference. Can't blame her) and when we walked back to school. I'm still going to get Odette to do any dangerous work on this, but I've got this code for a reason. Maybe it's a hint on where to start looking? I was going to do a dive anyway to try and find a source, might as well kill two birds with one stone. Gaze into the ABYSS: 2d6+1 6 Wow, something is super wrong with out internet today Marking XP anyway. Nnngh, they've jacked up the ICE something fierce today. thatbastardken fucked around with this message at 10:52 on Apr 14, 2015 |
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Apr 14, 2015 10:26
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Tommy Blackford Hot 1 | Cold 0 | Volatile -1 | Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | EXP 0/5 | Conditions: Blamed, Voyeur, Marked as Prey After he sends the message to Erika, he gets a small wall of text from Vincent. After he reads it, he's got to work to not laugh. I mean, Vin killing someone? Not only is Vin way too nice for his own good, Tommy doesn't think that Vin could delete spyware on his own, much less overload lighting in a select portion of the school while avoiding getting burnt himself. All while covering his tracks in the system. Hell, Tommy doesn't think HE could do it. But, there's a nicer answer anyway. Everyone was gossiping about the letdown of a fight yesterday. And Jani was the one who broke it up on Vin's behalf. quote:While those girls were getting toasted, weren't you busy getting your rear end kicked by that rear end in a top hat cloudbaby? And wasn't Jani there for it? Not like you can be in two places at once. He thinks for a moment and then sends another message: quote:Also, once you get it straightened out, either tell her you wanna go out with her or quit leading the poor girl on, 'cause she's obviously crushing on you.
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Apr 15, 2015 04:14
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 1/4 | XP 4/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed I'm still in full out panic mode over the ABYSS query not working when Tommy sends back his reply. I dash off a quick PM back. quote:YOU know that, I know that. The teachers and stuff probably DON'T. quote:And I am not trying to take Jani into bed! I am just trying to be NICE.
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Apr 16, 2015 06:34
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Hiroko Nakayama Hot 2, Cold -1, Volatile 1, Dark -1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 3/5 | Conditions: Left Out I turn to Eva, then pull up my eyepatch for a second to reveal a nasty hole on my artifical skin near my cybernetic eye. Then I smile. "Depends on how you see it, I suppose." Blood for blood. Yesterday was a good fight, even if I didn't actually get to use my katana. I punched a few of them out, enough that they staggered back. But Tommy stabbed one of them, and that drove them all away. I didn't know he had it in him. Got a few scrapes too show for it. A knife to my face, too. Right through my eyepatch, the artificial skin and eye underneath. Expensive surgery I paid from my own pocket, ruined. I made the fucker pay for it, of course. But I had to leave the eyepatch behind, the place got too hot. Next time I see that guy, I'll rip his throat out. So here I am in class the following morning with new eyepatch, as if nothing happened. I still need to know who is snooping around for Eva's info and what she was really doing yesterday. Even if Tommy failed with his attempt, he was definitely sincere in helping me. He ganked a man for me. I suppose. I should stay close to her today. Well, right after I shut Vorova up. "I thought even Bratva trash had respect for the dead." I snarl loudly. "You think claiming that you killed some kids makes you a real man?" Shut Vorova Down: Trix, 5-1 = 4. l o l
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Apr 17, 2015 06:00
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The ABYSS: Annie, Ronnie, and Vinnie As each of you slides into the datastream, dipping just below the surface of the school's approved netword (and, in Vincent's case, not even that), you feel an unexpected friction. It's like stepping outside your front door and into an unexpected spider-web, except that the harder you push on this web the greater the resistance grows. And, too late, you realize that it has thorns in it. You feel needle-thin data intrusions all through your systems, sliding in and out of your cyberskins with the efficiency of an experienced junkie. Someone has laid a trap for you, or for someone whose profile you fit. Inverted Grey ICE: adaptive, nearly invisible, ambush software. What you were trying to gaze into gazed right back. For a horrible moment, all you can see is the Ice and each other, each of your online signatures briefly illuminated against the dataspace background like a flare for all three of you to see. Then it fades, and the ICE dissolves, disassembling itself and rerouting its code through a dozen decentralized networks. You come back to your classrooms with no apparent harm except a feeling of being... exposed. Someone takes a string on each of you. Eva You know Rachel gets your message because she turns her head all the way around at an unnatural angle to look at her back, and sighs. The base model life androids available to her don't look realistically human, although the designers did aim for an attractively stylized humanoid shape. You know you're looking at a machine, but at least it's a reasonably cool looking machine. She turns back and you get a quick message. ABYSS Instant Message posted:@Kovacs.R: Thank you. Could you fix it? My connection is very sluggish today for some reason. Tommy Erika's glare oscillates between her screen and you, then turns quizzical. Her fingers flex. AIM posted:@Mizuno.Erika: Already got an invite. Ten seconds later. AIM posted:@Mizuno.Erika:I would love to go with you, Mr. Blackford. It's a date. Vincent You come back from the weird computer glitchy thing to see Brock's smug face, which is no improvement. Before you can say anything, he points at the door, where Jani is just entering, several minutes later than usual. She mumbles something apologetic to Ms. Chaunli and sits down, arranging her stuff fussily. Then she rotates in her seat as if she's on gimbals and shoots a cold, angry glare at Vincent. It's a little like being viciously attacked by an angry flop-eared rabbit. Brock smirks and gives a long-distance fist-bump to Wang Kai-chun, his much richer, much cooler bro at the front of the class, sitting next to Jani. Wang leans over and whispers something to her and she turns around, pretending to be engrossed in her studies. The Abyss has clearly failed you. What do you do? Hiroko Iliyn Vorova only grins lazily at you. “I don't need to prove I'm a man. suka; I know it. Some of us don't have to bluster like angry hens.” His eyes flick to Eva. “But if you'd like to ditch your rozovuy* friend and try on a real man for a change, we can meet outside any time.” His little audience looks impressed or, in Isaac Raimondi's case, terrified. But they also look to Hiroko expectantly. This is absolutely a trap; mark 1 XP if you walk into it *lit: “pink”, colloquially “lesbian” Ronnie Odette Demaret walks in and sits down, looking haggard. You think maybe she didn't sleep at all last night. Annie Holy poo poo, that ICE felt like... well, it felt like the long, cold, grey slide out of this world and into another. You know what it's like to die; not a long tunnel with a light at the end, but fading greyness. And it took something from you. Ms. Chaunli, the homeroom teacher, is giving you a perplexed look. You realize that you can see the surface of the desk through your hand. With that realization, you snap back to solidity. Did anyone else notice? What do you do? Old Kentucky Shark fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Apr 17, 2015 |
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Apr 17, 2015 16:30
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Eva Bai Hot -1 | Cold -1 | Volatile +1 | Dark +2 Harm 1/4 | Exp 2->3/5 | Conditions The torn synthflesh has multiple meanings. It means that her time spent with Tommy either ended with violence or had nothing more important involved than the violence that came after it. This is good. It also means that Hiroko was almost grievously injured during said violence. This is a major risk and should be avoided if at all possible. If Hiroko to be seriously injured, personal se-multiple messages received. Current line of thought suspended. First, Vincent Yohloh II has sent me an urgent message asking for advice regarding several messages from Jani Solari. This has been deemed low priority due to both the importance of the other messages and the relative lack of previous contact with Vincent. Second, Rachel Kovacs has responded to my previous messages. This would receive top priority if not for the third social interaction posing a potential physical risk. Therefore, my response must be kept brief. Direct ABYSS Message posted:I'll look at it during lunch. If there are security issues, the middle of class is not the place to fix them. Third, Illiyn Vorova is attempting to assert his dominance over Hiroko, making direct threats against my relationship with Hiroko in the process. Action must be taken immediately, before he undermines the relationship or Hiroko's social standing any further. I put one arm around Hiroko's shoulder and pull myself closer. I am now sitting more on the edge of Hiroko's seat than my own. (Heart rate spikes. I override autonomous functions to ensure breathing remains steady.) I take Hiroko's left hand and hold it in my own in a commonly-accepted display of affection. I look up at Illiyn. "I'm not the only rozovuy here, Illiyn. Try to remember that." My place as Hiroko's romantic partner has been secured for the time being. I will remain here for the time being to ensure that the point has been made. Rolling to Turn On Hiroko by being all touchy-feely, and marking experience since I have Hot highlighted. [13:54] <LurksWithWolves> !r 2d6-1 [13:54] <Krysmbot> LurksWithWolves, 11-1 = 10 And that's one more string I have on her. And I just realized that this might also count as trying to Shut Down Illiyn, but I'll hold off on that until Old Kentucky Shark can rule on it one way or the other. EDIT: GM ruled, keep things to one roll per post if at all possible. Lurks With Wolves fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Apr 17, 2015 |
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Apr 17, 2015 20:04
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Tommy Blackford Hot 1 | Cold 0 | Volatile -1 | Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | EXP 0/5 | Conditions: Blamed, Voyeur, Marked as Prey Hm. He was really sure that she was getting snubbed. Ah well. Upper floor politics move in strange ways. ABYSS Instant Message posted:@t.blackford: Oh, you know. Favor from a friend who owed me. Right when he sends it, he gets another ping. After he reads it, he glances over to Vincent, annoyed. The guy doesn't seem to get it. Whatever, Tommy will just take care of it. Vince is lucky Tommy's such a nice guy. He sends the following to Jani. ABYSS Instant Message posted:@t.blackford: Hey, you know what's up with Vince? He seems to think you're blaming him for yesterday. Manipulate Jani: 2d6+1 9 So, what's gotta happen to get her to believe him.
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Apr 18, 2015 05:06
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Ani "Annie" Fisher-Lee Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2 Harm 0/4 | Exp 1/5 | Conditions: Victim, Burnt Out As soon as I hit the resistance, I know something is wrong. I immediately try to throw up an electronic shell, but before I can even start the needles of sunk in, locking me down. I've been caught in an ICE before, but never one this good. Unable to resist, I hang there in the ABYSS, data flows shifting around in the background, and two other IDs hanging there with me. Then just as suddenly as I was caught, it lets me go, and I shift back to the classroom gratefully, breathing hard. It takes a long moment to regain my composure after that, the all too familiar feeling of helplessly fading away lingering in my skin, making me feel colder than ever. And that's when I notice I was fading here and now. It looks like Ms. Chaunli seems to think she was imaging it, and when I glance around the room, no one else is look at me either. Typical. But on the second look over, it seems like Elizabeth is looking a little too hard in the other direction. drat, first breakfast with Ronnie, now whatever she thinks this is. Of all the people who could be paying attention to me, it has to be her. Thankfully, I can stop thinking about her when I notice the new message waiting for me. My thankfulness doesn't last long though, as I read the message's contents. Really Vincent? You're asking ME? I mark the message as read and archive it, planning on ignoring it completely, and instead think back to the two ID signatures that got caught in that ICE. ...Ronnie and Vincent? ABYSS Instant Messenger posted:@Hactar.Ron: got you too? I have another message window open to Vincent, and 'did you kill them then?' queued before I change my mind and delete it. I still want to pull that 'prank' on the party, and Vincent is my hot ticket in. Emphasis on hot. ABYSS Instant Messenger posted:@Yohloh.Vin2: you alright? Turning on Vincent with concern and awkwardness about the ''date' at the party [02:32] godfish !r 2d6+1 [02:32] Krysmbot godfish, 7+1 = 8
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Apr 18, 2015 10:35
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Hiroko Nakayama Hot 2, Cold -1, Volatile 1, Dark -1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 4/5 | Conditions: Left Out Yes. Yes, I certainly don't mind this. And to show that, I take the hand that Eva's squeezing and pull her even closer towards me. I wrap my arm around her waist, turn until our eyes meet, and kiss her for all to see. You're not having any of this, mudak. Turning On Eva, hopefully. Trix, 7+2 = 9. I'll let her decide what to do here. And yeah, I'll buy into that trap and take XP. It takes a while before I pull back and finally answer Vorova with a shrug. Someone needs to knock some sense into this idiot. Might as well be me. "Let's go." I crack my knuckles. "Any time."
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Apr 18, 2015 18:40
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Eva Bai Hot -1 | Cold -1 | Volatile +1 | Dark +2 Harm 1/4 | Exp 3/5 | Conditions "Holding hands would have been..." I swallow. "Enough to prove my point, you know." Dopamine levels and internal temperature are both spiking. Face has become flushed. I am now looking down at our desks in order to avoid eye contact with those watching us. (Multiple people are paying a high degree of attention to us; this is bad, as elevated levels of attention raise the chance of a dedicated security response; this is good, as it establishes my status as Hiroko Nakayama's Giving Hiroko a string on me, because I can't think of a good promise to make and Eva isn't self-aware enough about attraction to give herself to her in a way that isn't massively inappropriate in the middle of class. Or in a way that is, for that matter.
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Apr 19, 2015 03:33
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 1/4 | XP 4+1/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed Huh? What the heck? This never happened before-- Annie? Ronnie? Is that you guys over there? What's going on? AAAAH what is this I don't know what's going on! Annie! Ronnie! Someone! There's something in my head! Aaaaaaa get it out get it out help help help someone anyone I'm bleeding out of my eye sockets I'm going to die here someone anyone heeeeeeeeelp meeeeeee --------- Gah! I'm awake, I'm awake! The answer is 1729! I mean, wait, poo poo, class hasn't started yet! Uwaaaaah...how did I manage to fall asleep in the middle of an ABYSS search? And have that creepy-rear end nightmare while I was out? No more sleeping while wet, Vincent! It causes...weirdness to happen. I swear I can hear Brock giggling at me, but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of glaring at him. Instead I turn to Jani, and smile. Aaaaaand she's trying to shoot laser beams from her eyes at me. Right, look at something else, Vincent! I swivel back in my chair and brush the new messages button. ABYSS Instant Messenger posted:New message from Fisher.Lee.Ani Dawwww, that's so sweet of her! Although, wait, what was that about the ICE? I open up a window and start sending back. ABYSS Instant Messenger posted:@Fisher.Lee.Ani: Uh, yeah, we're still going That's what Vincent thinks Annie wants: solid assurance that he'll take her to the party. ABYSS Instant Manager posted:@Fisher.Lee.Ani: You mentioned ICE, though? Now is not the time to panic, Vincent! I know it may totally seem that way right now, but it really isn't! You took programming classes once or twice, right?! Come on, there's gotta be something in that head of yours about this crazy Grey ICE stuff?! Steady, Vincent, Steady...! [21:54:04] <Davin_Valkri> !r 2d6-1 [21:54:05] <Krysmbot> Davin_Valkri, 7-1 = 6 It's in my head, isn't it. I let it touch me and now it's in my head, crud, crap, poo poo, this is totally the right time to panic!
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Apr 20, 2015 05:54
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Ronnie Hactar Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile 1, Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 3/5 Annie! And...Vincent, for some reason? gently caress, thorns in my mind and spineandeyesanddreamsandnailsandwhispersofbetrayal I snap awake again, and it's pretty clear I wasn't the only one having a waking nightmare there. That...was a nasty trap. Who the hell laid that on a school network? That's nothing that the usual security would use. ABYSS Instant Messenger posted:@Fisher.Lee.Ani: Yeah walked right into it. Then Odette come in and she looks kind of wrecked. She's never even looked tired before, something must be seriously wrong for her to be in that kind of state. Oh, right the blackmail. After the whole thing with Annie and the electricity I kinda let it slip my mind. ABYSS Instant Messenger Anonymous Encrypted Channel posted:@Demaret.Odette: sleep well? I guess we'll see if she's as tough as she thinks she is.
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Apr 21, 2015 05:31
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Scene 1 Cont. Eva Rachel turns her head to stare at Iliyn, again not bothering to mimic human neck muscles. Direct ABYSS Message posted:I would not mind if you killed him. Tommy You can actually hear Jani pounding the table furiously as she overdoes her desk's inset haptics while typing. ABYSS Instant Message posted:@Solari.Jani: Brock told me everything Annie and Vincent For some reason, now, whenever either of you type in a word that starts with M, your autocorrect suggests “Murderer”. It seems to be a persistent effect. Weird. Vincent, take the condition: Terrified This little moment of horror is shattered by Ning Yanyu, resident poli-sci nerd, who leans over both of your desks holding out a data slate. “Will you sign this Freedom of Information petition? We're trying to force the school to create a probe into the recent deaths. They're refusing to release the video-feed of the event.” She pushes her cyber-lenses up her nose. “This is an administration cover-up. There may be more unsafe electrical outlets!” Hiroko (And Eva) Isaac Ramaandi appears to be in intense pain after that little public display of affection. There may be internal bleeding. Ms Chuanli clears her throat deliberately. “Ms Nakayama, Ms. Bai; tone it down. Now.” I'm not sure why you imagined that cute girls kissing would ratchet down Iliyn's libido, because the opposite is absolutely true: he's exactly that type of guy. “Okay, you convinced me. You can both come,” he says, grinning and widening his stance as if bouncing a girl on either knee. “I'm more than man enough to handle both of you at once.” He winks at Hiroko and then touches his eyelid. “You want to pull up your patch, girl; your damage is showing.” That gets a couple of sniggers, but just a couple; you two definitely gave onlookers something to think about. Now would be a really great time to shut down Iliyn, if for no other reason that that smirk. Ronnie Odette jerks and looks around guiltily, trying to catch someone typing. Of course, it's like trying to find a needle in a needle-stack. ABYSS Instant Messenger Anonymous Encrypted Channel posted:@Demaret.Odette: Plutonium Everyone Ms Chaunli finishes the last row of her sudoku and stands up, preparing to begin the class proper. She's interrupted by a sudden flurry of dings, buzzes, pops, and pings as everyone in class gets a personal message at the same time. It's from the desk of Sha Jing, and it wishes to inform you that the theme of the super cool secret party tonight which only certain elite people are invited to has been, in honor of the recent tragedy, changed to a Halloween motif. That means costumes and ”candy”, and the parentheses around the word “candy”, when stared at, transform into dancing pharmacologic-chemical notation. Insufficiently interesting costumes, it goes on to inform you, will be turned away at the door. Well, great. Are you going to try and get costumes? What will you go as?
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Apr 22, 2015 02:11
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Eva Bai Hot -1 | Cold -1 | Volatile +1 | Dark +2 Harm 1/4 | Exp 3/5 | Conditions I am now drawing attention from authority figures. Ceasing current activities immediately. Illiyn has only intensified his attempts at bravado, however. His gestures are forming a background noise. This noise must be filtered out so clear communications may resume. I turn my head to stare at him as I stand up to return to my seat. This has been found to be disconcerting to those I talk to. As that is the current goal, it has been deemed useful. "Put it back in your pants, Illiyn. Nothing you could do could make me interested." Going to try Shutting Down Illiyn because seriously, I am not touching him with a ten foot pole. [23:01] <LurksWithWolves> !r 2d6-1 [23:01] <Krysmbot> LurksWithWolves, 7-1 = 6 Not enough to give him a condition, but hopefully our GM is merciful and will give me a condition back anyway. (Seriously, I am starving for conditions here.) Sha Jing's sudden request should not be hard to fulfill. There is currently an artificial leather hood designed to attach to my current jacket in my possession that I have worn to multiple plaguecore shows. I also have two single-use packets of body paint that is proven to glow in low-light conditions, obtained from said plaguecore shows. If I were to paint a skull pattern on my face and were the hooded jacket, I would be a reasonable facsimile of the traditional western personification of Death. This will not be the most socially accepted costume given current events, but it will satisfy Sha Jing's requirements.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:40
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Tommy Blackford Hot 1 | Cold 0 | Volatile -1 | Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | EXP 0/5+1 | Conditions: Blamed, Voyeur, Marked as Prey Tommy starts to type out a counterargument when he saw Hiroko pull Eva in for a kiss. He tried not to stare... Hold Steady: 2d6 3 hahahaha no But his stomach still goes cold at the thought of the two of them kissing. Vincent could take it from here. ABYSS Instant Message posted:
He then messages Erika to distract himself. ABYSS Instant Message posted:@t.blackford: Well, we've got to get costumes for tonight. To honor the dead, apparently.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:41
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Ronnie Hactar Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile 1, Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 3/5 Tell her who I am? What kind of amateur does she think she's dealing with? I mean, fair enough she has no idea who, that's kind of the point. She finds out who I am then our little blackmail game is nowhere near as one sided as I want it to be. Props for not caving straight away though. Still, I've got plenty of spite left in me. ABYSS Instant Messenger Anonymous Encrypted Channel posted:@Demaret.Odette: oh no! Of course, I'm not doing any such thing. Still, it'll be good to watch her sweat a bit. It's obvious she does know something that may be useful. I'm waiting for her reply, and leering at Eva and Hiroko making out in class, when I get the message from Sha Jing. Costumes? In honour of the dead? Wow, talk about tasteless. Still, I'm sure I can...work something out. Or maybe get Fallen to help me find something. I'll wait until lunch, then find a quite place to talk to him.
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Apr 22, 2015 15:03
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 1/4 | XP 5/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed, Terrified This isn't going to help anybody, Vincent. Get it together! Focus on something else! Okay, party, costumes, kinda in bad taste, but roll with it! I start typing a PM to Annie. ";So...about...that...change...of...plans...do...you...maybe... want--'" Wait, 'do you murderer want'? No! I hammer the backspace key and try again. "'So...that...masquerade...do...' Huh?!" What the heck is wrong with this thing?! This ICE thing is seriously creepy! It's like one of those old creepypasta things my uncle talked about...this doesn't mean I'm gonna die in seven days, does it? I tap my new message button tentatively. Okay...I guess if Jani had her way, I would die in about seven minutes. Gah! I can't take this right now. I...I just need to...I need to do something! And I guess Jani could use some time away from me or something, cool off a bit. I need some space. I get up from my desk and look at Ning with a bit of a grimace, putting one hand over my stomach. "Sorry, Ning, I...I need to go right now," I lie, trying to step beside her and towards the classroom exit. Yeah, I don't really need to go to the bathroom, but maybe some water on my face will help. Or it'll short out my network and force it to reboot without this ICE. That would be nice... "So if you'll just excuse me a second...!" I just realized that the reason the Neighbor has a high volatile is because they're expect to run with their hands over their heads away from scarycreepyohno things. So, let's Run Away from this whole kerfuffle! [22:55:52] <Davin_Valkri> !r 2d6+1 [22:55:53] <Krysmbot> Davin_Valkri, 5+1 = 6 [22:55:56] <Davin_Valkri> OH COME ON "WAH!"
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Apr 24, 2015 06:56
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Ani "Annie" Fisher-Lee Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2 Harm 0/4 | Exp 1/5 | Conditions: Victim, Burnt Out I smile, a bit unwillingly, when Vincent's reply comes in. Even though I'm 100% using him in this, it is kind of nice thinking about going to the party with him.... As a setup! Yeah. Its a bit easier to get that disdain back once he starts panicking though, has the kid never run into some ICE before? I mean.... It shook me up, but, that was some hardcore poo poo, but everyone who goes giving gets caught sometime or another. Before I can do much more than snicker to myself at his babylike ABYSS experience, Ning leans over to actually talk to me! It takes a second before I realize why she's talking to me, and the anger comes back. Sure, never ask me how my day was (poo poo) or if I saw any good alternate reality flims (I didn't), but ask me to sign your stupid petition so we call can see a bunch of girls dying. "Oh yeah? Want to watch a bunch of girls get fried do you, you loving sicko? Finger yourself to ordinary porn lose its thrill, need some snuff of students you know to get went now?" It makes me loving disgusted, people like that, people like her, watching me get killed or watching these girls. They might have deserved to die, but no one deserved to have their death turned into entertainment. I look at the circle of silence spreading around me in confusion for a moment, before I realize I had said that out loud. Oh. Oh god. I was doing a shut down, but once I wrote this all out it fits a lot better as a blamed roll. I'll give her the condition Blamed either way, so I guess it doesn't really matter  [02:54] godfish !r 2d6+1 [02:54] Krysmbot godfish, 8+1 = 9
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Apr 27, 2015 11:01
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Homeroom As the class burbles about Sha Jing's trendy party and whether or not they're invited, Miss Chuanli is still staring at her computer screen. It's very old fashioned compared to yours, and you can see her typing rapidly on a keyboard input. Lots of lights play across her face; whatever she's reacting to, it wasn't the party announcement. She stands up, suddenly, clearing her throat. “I'm afraid that I have to report to the office. Everyone, stay here until I return. Wang; I'm appointing you monitor while I'm gone. Make sure everyone stays in good order.” And with that, she hurries out of the room. Students blink at one another. That was... weird. Nobody moves for the first minute or two, but when she doesn't immediately return, people start getting up and walking around. A few of the students eye the door. One of them jokes about the “ten minute rule”. Eva Take the condition Conspicuous. Iliyn shrugs. “Dyke,” he says dismissively. He's clearly here for Hiroko and you're a target of opportunity. You get a flicker from your board; a message alert. Someone just sent you a link to a shared public video. A quick look tells you that it's the tail end of your kiss with Hiroko. It's got a few hits, not like it's going viral or anything, but it could easily pass its way around the school by the end of the day. Do you do anything about it? Tommy When you looks up from messaging Erika, you finds her staring hard at you. Something in your reaction to Eva and Hiroko's kiss twigged her to some basic facts. She looks hard at you, then, instead of messaging you back, she walks over to sit down on the corner of your desk with her legs crossed. She looks down at you. “I guess our costume depends,” she says, her voice low. “On whether you want to dress to try and make anyone jealous or not. Because I've got some ideas in that direction.” Do you cop to it? Do you agree to her plan? Ronnie Odette sweats her answer for a moment or two before replying. ABYSS Instant Messenger Anonymous Encrypted Channel posted:@Demaret.Odette: ok rear end in a top hat Do you trust her enough to reveal herself? She's getting awfully cagey with this anonymous texting poo poo. On the other hand; what's she gonna do about it? Vincent As you head for the classroom exit, something hits you hard at ankle height. You trip and fall, bashing your head against the leg of a desk. Take 1 harm. That really hurt! And when you raise your hand to touch the spot, it's bleeding quite a bit. You look up to see Brock sniggering and retracting the leg he used to trip you with. What a complete rear end in a top hat. To your surprise, someone shouts exactly what you're thinking: “Hey! rear end in a top hat! Leave him alone!” Who is Vincent's sudden and unexpected defender? You're actually pretty seriously injured. Do you seek immediate medical attention? Annie Everyone stares at you in shock. Ning stares at you in shock, not least because she's one of the most conspicuously straight-laced students in the entire school; this may literally be the first time she's heard the phrase “finger yourself” spoken aloud. “I... I....” Ning shuts down. Her face freezes up like a computer crash and she turns, jerkily, and staggers back to her seat, dropping the petition. She settles into her seat, covering her face with her hands, trying to avoid any more negative attention. There's a couple of giggles, and some angry mutters. Ning isn't popular, at least not in the trendy sense, but everyone can see that she just took the kind of emotional damage that isn't entertaining to crowds, and they're unhappy with you for doing it. “loving schizo,” someone says. Who said that? What do you do about it? Everyone With the teacher gone, Lord of the Flies rules may soon be in force, not least because Wang kai-chun, while a teacher's pet, is also friends with Brock and many of the nastier bullies. Do you stay here? Do you take the opportunity to leave?
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Apr 29, 2015 00:59
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Tommy Blackford Hot 1 | Cold 0 | Volatile -1 | Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | EXP 0/5 | Conditions: Blamed, Voyeur, Marked as Prey Well, poo poo. Smooth, Tommy. When she confronts him, he shrugs a little uncomfortably, but then steels himself. He's not going to be a wuss about this. He keeps his voice low, but steady, "Yeah, I like her, and she's with someone else. But I'm not going to sit around being a sad sack about it. I'm going to go to the party and have a great time. If she happens to be jealous of how much fun I'm having with my date, then she can do something about it on her own." He looks her in the eye and says, "So, what kind of costumes do you think will turn some heads?" Turn on Erika because he's unashamed: 2d6+4 14 Strings for everyone!
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Apr 29, 2015 04:21
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Eva Bai Hot -1 | Cold -1 | Volatile +1 | Dark +2 Harm 1/4 | Exp 3->4/5 | Conditions: Conspicuous, Drained The blood drains from my face as I observe the viewcount on the attached video. Five views in under ten minutes. Following standard propagation rates of video files among student populations, this footage will most likely spread to one third to one half of the student population by the end of the day. While common knowledge of my relationship with Hiroko is a positive, the benefits from this will be outweighed by the general attention as the footage spreads further from our direct social circles. However, before I act to counteract this, I will forward this to Hiroko. While it is less essential that she counteract any attention from this footage, she is an equal player in it. ABYSS Instant Messager posted:@hnakayama tiny.url/11615 The footage has been brought to Hiroko's attention. Now, I must find what information I can about the footage. A basic trace of the uploader will be the logical start. It will not be the end. Gazing Into The Abyss about whoever uploaded the clip. Also, marking XP because I have Dark highlighted. [22:58] <LurksWithWolves> !r 2d6+2 [22:58] <Krysmbot> LurksWithWolves, 5+2 = 7 I'll go with the visions being clear and lucid but leave me drained. I seriously need more information here.
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Apr 29, 2015 04:33
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Ani "Annie" Fisher-Lee Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2 Harm 0/4 | Exp 2/5 | Conditions: Victim, Burnt Out I want to glare at the people around me for their muttering, curse at them for wanting to see three girls dying, but I can't. I didn't mean for my anger to burst out like that, and even I can realize that I went too far with Ning there, she probably did just want to make sure things were safe, though I wouldn't say the same about the other people signing her petition. The burning embarrassment only get worse when I hear Justin behind me calling me a schizo. I like Jason, more or less, he's never a jerk even though he's popular and a rollerball star. I can't even argue or rage back at him, instead I just want to vanish, to disappear. Why does everyone have to finally notice me when I'm publicly humiliating myself? With Miss Chaunli gone, at least I can just leave. My face red with shame, I get up and run for the door, heading out down the hall, heading towards one of the jacking terminals to be alone. Run away [21:58] godfish !r 2d6-1 [21:58] Krysmbot godfish, 8-1 = 7 marking experience for Vol, I'll run into something worse 
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Apr 29, 2015 06:00
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Ronnie Hactar Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile 1, Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 3/5 I'm sure as hell not telling Odette who I am here, in class, when the teacher has just left. Not worth the risk of getting in a fight with all these witnesses. But... I can give her something. A little crumb of hope to cling to, in exchange for her information. ABYSS Instant Messenger Anonymous Encrypted Channel posted:@Demaret.Odette: phew, that was close! countdown cancelled If she's not satisfied with that, then too bad. This is how blackmail goes, I don't have to be nice about it. I'm tempted to skip out after Annie, but maybe she just needs some space right now. I don't want to cramp her style with Vacant Vinnie, whatever she's cooking up there should be worth whatever trouble she gets up to on her own. I shoot a message after her just in case she's more upset than she looked: Abyss IM posted:@Fisher.Lee.Ani: You alright? Want company? And look up just in time to see Vincent get tripped and smack his head on a desk, poor jerk.
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Apr 30, 2015 07:26
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 1+1/4 | XP 5/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed, Terrified I am having a seriously, SERIOUSLY bad day right now. Argh, my head...why me....The floor's a bit reflective. I can see the blood mixing with my pink hair, making an...interesting color effect. Kinda not what I need right now, though! Instead I scramble up to my feet, look at Brock incredulously, and turn my head toward the sound of the voice. It sounded feminine, and it came from behind Brock, so...wait, Tima?! The heck, why would she--I--does she want to--the party?!--maybe she wants an invite? I can think about devious plots for invitations later. Right now I just want to take a moment to glare at Brock and do something mean to him! Like see how he likes getting hurt for a change! Okay, if I actually try to punch him I'm going to end up in, like, five pieces, but I can still hurt him emotionally, right? "Brock, you jerk," I hiss, just loud enough for him to hear. "What, stretching your legs all over the place because you can't get your **** up?" Let's see how good the neighbor is at shutting people down. Okay, not very. But still. [21:42:42] <Davin_Valkri> !r 2d6-1 [21:42:42] <Krysmbot> Davin_Valkri, 6-1 = 5 ...oookay, that didn't work. And Miss Chuanli just left. Leaving Wang in charge. Who is friends with Brock. Who is now smiling like a shark...uhm...yeah. I've seen this movie and it does not end well for the guy who looks like me! "Oh hey look at all the blood and it's all my blood I think I'm going to go see the nurse bye!" I practically race out the door and run down the hall to the nurses' office...and Annie. I give a friendly little wave as I pass by...and realize that's my bloody hand. Oh bugger. "Uh...hey Annie," I try to play it off, smiling at the blood on my palm. "You look like you're holding up better than I am!"
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May 2, 2015 05:50
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Hiroko Nakayama Hot 2, Cold -1, Volatile 1, Dark -1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 4/5 | Conditions: Left Out I take a look at the tiny url that Eva sends me. I don't give it too much concern, it's not like I'm closeted about this. I'll probably get yelled at when I get home, though. "Don't worry about it." I say to Iliyn, adjusting my eyepatch. "If you think this is bad, think about what happened to the rear end in a top hat who did it." I try to push that as a threat. He's talking poo poo to my girlfriend. You could say that I'm out for blood now. Figuratively. I mean, I can smell someone's bloody hand nearby, but that's besides the point. "After school. Floor 174. If you want a fight, you got it." I immediately face front and let Eva back to her seat.
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May 5, 2015 17:34
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Tommy Erika's eyes widen. You catch her glancing quickly from you to... Tima? Not what you would have expected to be the target of her jealousy. The blush starts somewhere around her knees and rises quickly, hitting her face like a wave. “Yeah, maybe you're right,” she mumbles, brushing some hair out of her eyes. “I shouldn't care what other people think. Screw them, right?” She flicks an image to your screen, showing her costume idea with both male and female examples. Ever the calm managerial type, Erika has already itemized each costume by material and category to make for easy purchasing and assembly. They look like... well, you guess technically they'd be vampire costumes, if the vampires had fallen down the Industrial and Bondage trees, hitting every branch on the way down and also mysteriously losing their shirts. It's definitely a bit revealing, and also drafty. “What do you think?” What do you think of Erika's taste in clothes? What do you think of Erika? Eva You trace the backchannels like mad. The initial poster was anonymous and went to some moderate effort to disguise their account, but since you know it came from this classroom and around what time, it's easy to figure out. Daniel Gladstone uploaded it a few minutes ago from his desk, and forwarded links to a few of his cloudbaby friends. So far it's an invite-only viewable video. You see they''re all in a localchat room together right now, presumably discussing it. Do you confront Daniel in person? Do you try to join the chat? Annie and Vincent You run into something worse The two of you bust out into the hallway, one right after another. The halls are empty of students or faculty in either direction, which means at least no one else is there to stare at Annie's red face or Vincent's bloody head. The hallway isn't entirely empty, however. There's something drifting toward you at a walking pace; something difficult to see. It isn't until it's almost on top of you that you can make out part of its shape. It's some sort of flying drone. Optical camouflage ripples and shifts across its skin and it banks gently, its vector thrust engines letting it hover in front of and between you. Pattern-shifting smart-plates on its contoured surface let it seamlessly blend into the uniform hallway, but as it tries to pass you it can't cope with the complex shapes of your faces, revealing itself. The little drone is about the size of a football, shaped like a cross between a manta ray and a cuttle-fish. It reacts quickly to your presence; spatters of light dance over your faces as it maps them, checking their contours against some internal recognition system. Then it changes form, contracting and extruding tools from its poly-alloy resin surface. You hear, like the dying screams of tiny mosquitos, the sound of auto-flechette guns spinning up to charge. Each of you will take 1 harm unless you do something about the drone. What do you do? Ronnie ABYSS Instant Messenger Anonymous Encrypted Channel posted:@Demaret.Odette: Fine Odette signs off, with bad grace. You feel a gentle tingle, somewhere around your retinal nerve; The Fallen approves. Then it feeds you the little string of code again, and lets it pulse gently before fading. Your desk's screen flickers and, unbidden, the archaic old command line prompt opens up. You think the Fallen wants you to use the code now. Do you? Hiroko “No,” Illiyn says, to your back. “Not after school. At party tonight. I want everyone to see what happens to you. Then there can be no doubts.” Meanwhile, the normal classroom atmosphere seems to be dissipating into an open free for all as students get up and walk around, mixing and chatting freely. Someone, surprisingly, walks up to you and tries to start a conversation. Who is it?
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May 6, 2015 02:12
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Tommy Blackford Hot 1 | Cold 0 | Volatile -1 | Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | EXP 1/5 | Conditions: Blamed, Voyeur, Marked as Prey Tommy suppresses a grin at the blush. Looks like they're both using each other to get someone else's attention. Honestly, that makes him feel a lot better, since they're both on the same page now. No chance of any hurt feelings this way. Once she sends the links, Tommy raises an eyebrow at the outfit. He wouldn't have thought she'd be quite that daring. But isn't that pretty much the point? He stares at the pictures of the final product for a few more moments, and eventually says in a thoughtful voice, "Well, it's going to get us through the front door, no question about that." He grins up at her, adding, "Yeah, this is gonna be perfect." A bit later, once he made final plans with Erika for the night, Tommy realized he's not even sure that Hiroko's going tonight. He's gotta talk to her sometime today and confirm that, or he's going to feel like a complete idiot tonight. While he's doing that, he should probably mention the card he found yesterday, but... he doesn't really want to go chasing after those guys again. They're probably a little sore over the whole "totally stabbed one of them" thing. Grumbling to himself, he dips just a bit into the restricted levels of the school's ABYSS, just to keep his hands busy while he thinks about what to do. Gaze into the Abyss to figure out what Hiroko wants: 2d6+3 13 The visions are lucid and detailed. The visions show you what you must do, and you carry 1 forward to doing it
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May 6, 2015 04:25
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 2/4 | XP 5/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed, Terrified "Ah heh, Tommy's such a jerk sometimes!" I laugh when Annie doesn't seem to react to all the blood. "I don't get why he always tries to get...on...my..." My head turns to follow the distortions of the light in mid air. "...case? Uh, wow, did they upgrade the hall monitor bots or--" It turns, de-"cloaks" and starts flashing lasers into my eyes, and I start feeling a little bit...panicked. "Hey, my head's bleeding and the nurse is this way, I got a legit reason--" I babble without stopping. And then it goes whirrrrrrrrrr...I've heard that sound playing trid games! It's the sound of the flechette vulcan in Cyber Corps: Void Lasers! This thing has guns?! There aren't supposed to be guns on school grounds! Why is it aiming at Annie and I?! "AAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!" I try to turn on my heels and run down the hall! Instead my shoes turn too far and I end up spinning directly TOWARDS IT AAAAAAAAAAAAA TURN AROUND TURN AROUND Hey, who knew I'd use Volatile to Lash Out Physically and give this drone the most Awkward Body Check Ever? [20:28:14] <Davin_Valkri> !r 2d6+1 [20:28:15] <Krysmbot> Davin_Valkri, 6+1 = 7 You know what? Let's go with Darkest Self! How about...the Sasquatch? Jani wants to kill me Brock is trying to hurt me this drone is DEFINITELY trying to kill us WHAT THE FLYING gently caress IS WITH THIS SCHOOL?!
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May 6, 2015 04:30
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Ronnie Hactar Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile 1, Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 3/5 Huh. It's kind of more unnerving when Fallen approves of something than when he gets upset. Still, I'm running ahead of Odette and I just need to figure out how to best manipulate her tonight. The code is another matter entirely. I don't trust it because I don't know what it does, but I don't want to tangle with that ICE again...screw it. Input the code on the desk, and sit back and watch whatever chaos unfolds. Not that anyone will probably notice with the class degenerating into disorder this quickly. Meanwhile, I think I could stand to indulge in a little chaos of my own. With...lets say, Hiroko. She's scary, in a badass gangster way. A good person to know and have on side, I think. There's an empty desk next to her, and I drop down in to it with theatrical sigh. "Hey, Nakayama. How's life treating you? Catch any of that light show yesterday? Hell of a scene, huh?" It's not just small talk - Fallen likes to have responses and proximity to a person when it's diving for information on them. Invoking Uncanny Voices: You can give the dark power a String in order to realize a secret about someone you’re talking to. The owner of that character will reveal one of their secret fears, secret desires, or secret strengths (they choose.)
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May 6, 2015 04:48
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Eva Bai Hot -1 | Cold -1 | Volatile +1 | Dark +2 Harm 1/4 | Exp 4/5 | Conditions: Conspicuous, Drained The video is still private and restricted to a specific group. Good. This means that the spread can still be halted. This also means that a member of said specific group deemed it necessary to send me the video clip. More information is required. However, as signs of fatigue have begun to set in, further information gathering is not advised. Therefore, action must be taken. ABYSS connection established. Direct message to Daniel Gladstone estab- Ronnie Hactar has entered conversation with Hiroko. ABYSS connection terminated due to shifting conditions in physical space. Under standard operating conditions this would not be deemed necessary. However two factors have rendered the situation nonstandard. One: fatigue has made maintaining proper simultaneous focus on the ABYSS and physical conversations unfeasible. Two: Ronnie Hactar has proven to be a generally exhausting experience, especially when his association with the automated intelligence (current designation unknown) is mentioned. These two factors combined make maintaining an investigation in the ABYSS while they converse increasingly unlikely. However, action must still be taken. "I will be right back. There's something I need to take care of." I begin to stand up. However, Ronnie Hactar is too much of a potential risk to allow continued conversation without a warning. I turn back to look at him. "Try not to bring Hiroko into anything too dangerous, Mr Hactar. We have had enough risk for one day already." Was going to walk over to Daniel and start talking, but I thought it'd be better if I let this conversation play out a bit more before I leave. Still keeping an eye on the video's view counter, though.
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May 6, 2015 05:51
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Ronnie Hactar Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile 1, Dark 1 Harm 0/4 | Exp 4/5 Oh, OK, here's Eva. Makes sense that she would spring over to bail out her girlfriend from the infamous Mr. Hactar. Wait, no, that makes no sense at all, not like Hiroko can't take care of herself. Eva kinda creeps me out, to be honest - she's so...formal. "Eva, babe, your girlfriend is safe as houses with me! I'm probably the safest company for her in the room right now! You don't need to worry about a thing, honest!" I grin roguishly at Hiroko, wondering if she'll join me in teasing her uptight bae. Shut Down Eva (Conspicuous): 2d6+2 9, spending a string to get to 10. Giving Eva the condition Paranoid Android, marking XP for rolling cold.
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May 6, 2015 06:13
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Ani "Annie" Fisher-Lee Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile -1, Dark 2 Harm 0/4 | Exp 2/5 | Conditions: Victim, Burnt Out When I enter the hall, my chat pings, and I shift in to read the message from Ronnie. I stare at the message for slightly longer than I'm aware, not sure if I want company or not, or even if I want to answer. Deciding not to say anything for now, I shift back into real world focus to see a bleeding Vincent awkwardly smiling at me. "What happened to-" Cutting myself off, I stare at the approaching drone with Vincent. This seems too high quality to be one of the school security drones, but maybe they upgraded after yesterday? As it scans us, and then starts shifting shape, I can feel my panic rising, oh god it wants me- probably for dissection or something, find out how I'm not completely dead! I start backing away, and inspiration strikes, I can blast it like I did those girls, right? Who cares if Vincent sees, I'll just blast him too if I have to! I thrust my hand out towards it, hoping for a jolt of electricity to arc from me to it, but nothing happens. Backing away faster now, I end up tripping over my own feet as Vincent charges wildly at it, practically body slamming it. I have no idea what got into him, but maybe this is my chance! I shift back into cyberspace, thanking techno-god that I can do this without a terminal, and reach out for the drone again, this time through the data stream. Its definitely some kind of drone, which means I should be to access the wireless and disrupt the signal. Shut down the Drone [21:33] godfish !r 2d6+1 [21:33] Krysmbot godfish, 10+1 = 11 I'll give it the condition "Hacked" It isn't the best job, especially trying to do it all so fast, but I think that should make it malfunction a bit, maybe give Vincent a chance to get away or punch it some more. Speaking of Vincent, I call out to him from my position on the floor, "Are you alright?!"
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May 7, 2015 05:36
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 09:59 |
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Vincent Yohloh II Hot +2 Cold -1 Volatile +1 Dark -1 Harm 2/4 | XP 5/5 | Conditions: Delicious, Blamed, Terrified, DARKEST SELF (Sasquatch) *choke* *hack* *wheeze* "I don't know, how do you think I look?!" There's perhaps a bit more edge in my voice than I NEED to put in there, and I realize it fast. Annie's not a bad person, after all, and, I mean, that drone did try to kill her as well as me. I pull myself up on the handles of the lockers behind me, leaving some nice flecks of bloodprints on the shiny chrome handles. "I'm sorry, I just...I've had a really bad morning and I want to vent on someone and you're, like, the last person that should be." I cough again, and now I'm really hoping that didn't do anything to me...I didn't get hit, did I? Wait a sec...Oh, hell, she's not hurt, is she?! I manage to stumble over to Annie, kneel over and offer a hand. "How about you? Any, uh...any bullet holes? I hope not--you sound like you know what to do with jerks more than I do, and I want to make Brock stop loving with me...come on, let's get you up...we can see the nurse together..." It takes surprisingly little effort to help Annie off the floor, holding her close as she stands up, but that doesn't stop me complaining. "...gragh...stupid...loving...jerkwad could have at least shown up in person to kill us!" Can I turn on Annie through shared ordeal and the fact that Vincent has to be really close to her to help her up? [22:29:33] <Davin_Valkri> !r 2d6+2 [22:29:33] <Krysmbot> Davin_Valkri, 8+2 = 10 Holy poo poo, it's a miracle!
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May 7, 2015 06:29
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