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If it wasn't for Clover staring you down, you would be tempted to leave the ETF agent behind. The safety of you and your allies is your foremost priority but...something about helping her sounds right. Who knows, you're not really the type to dwell on morality or what's just but you can't leave her behind without SOMETHING.

You dig through your pockets for something helpful but not too useful for your group. An old bottle of painkillers and a LEYLEY pill. It's not the best but it'll be enough to hopefully get her back on her feet after a while. You toss them over to the ETF agent who promptly catches them. She's confused at why you offered her help but she shrugs, downing the pills given to her.
>-1 PAINKILLER BOTTLE! -1 LEYLEY PILL!

"Thanks." She faintly murmurs, trying her best to not be noticed by whatever might be roaming around here. "I'll repay you. Trust me." She then closes her eyes, ready to play dead for the time being. Hopefully that'll be enough for now. Clover pats you on the back with a proud, almost fatherly smirk. You feel a bit patronized but you don't really have time to tell him off for that.

"JUSTICE IS S-" Casey is about to yell out at the top of her lungs but Quentin and Naomi promptly move in to shut her up, covering her mouth to make sure she doesn't make a scene. As they wrestle with her, Kiara nods her head towards the hallway the ETF pointed towards.

"We should probably deal with the Security Head. Highest priority target...and to be quite honest? Something feels off about the air over there. Something that I wanna see for myself."

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] She's right. You sense something foul in that hallway. A sickly sweet rot.
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] The air around there FEELS wrong. On a fundamental level. You know something anomalous is down there.

Wendy grunts upon hearing Kiara's suggestion. "Best hope it's something we can actually fight." She takes a moment to adjust her grip on the riot shield and agent baton she has in her hands.

"It's probably best we deal with him." You offer your group a half hearted shrug, trying your best to put your hesitation in the back of your mind. You wait for your allies to get Casey to calm down before you gesture towards the east hallway. "Let's get moving, crew. We got a Security Head to deal with."

"Might not be the best idea. If he slaughtered them with ease-" Naomi gestures towards the piles of dead ETF, K-Corp units, and gang members. "-I don't think we would do well in a fight against him."
"Counterpoint: Doesn't she have a lot more equipment and powers than these guys? All of these guys just had chems and guns and stuff." Kiara offers her counter argument but the two are promptly silenced by Clover.

"Who the hell said we're gonna fight him? We can talk to him first, yeah? Obviously we're more rational and level headed than some corporate goons." Clover then pauses, dwelling on what he actually said. "Though shooting first and asking questions-"

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"Less talking. More moving." Quentin chirps out, still rubbing the torn up neck of the elite spook he's puppeteering. "Let's go."

Without any further interruptions or questioning from your party, your group heads past the piles of half dead gang members and other soldiers scattered throughout the star-shaped hub room of Floor 3. There's an odd tension in the air as you finally step into the left hallway. There's nothing that's inherently different about it from the rest of the facility's hallways.

Same steel floors and walls with layers of orange and blue paint peeling off of them. Same bright red emergency lights hanging above your head. Yet as your group travels down it, it takes more and more effort to travel down the hallway. Like the tension and dread that seems to flood every corner of this hallway is a thick, physical material.

You can feel the hairs on your arms and the fur on your stomach, hidden underneath your clothes, standing on their ends. Given the slick sweat and tense frowns on your allies, they seem to be feeling the same thing.

Your MAKESHIFT POCKETWATCH is going apeshit now. "WARNING: TWO ACTIVE ANOMALIES DETECTED. WARNING: INCREDIBLY HIGH A-ENERGY DETECTED IN AIR. PLEASE PUT ON GAS MASKS BEFORE TRAVELING FURTHER, LEST SEVERE MENTAL CONTAMINATION OCCURS."

Your group promptly gets the memo. With Kiara (being an android) exempt, you and your other allies put on your gas masks so you don't end losing every bit of RESTRAINT you have. Each of your allies seem to feel the physical tension in the air and has to struggle to push past in. As if something is trying to ward you away from getting any closer.

Goosebumps rise across your party's skin. Small sparks begin to fly off of Kiara's body.

You realize you probably should've taken this warning as a hint to fuck off once you arrive at the end of the hallway.

https://youtu.be/Wmo5bdQBb3Y - SECURITY HEAD

The sight before you is hard to process at first. A wizened old man, probably about 100 years at this point, stands in the hallway, his back turned away from your group. Every part of his body from the neck below is completely covered in a suit of armor made out of sheet paper. No, wait, armor is the wrong word.

it clings too tightly to his withered and emaciated frame. It's a part of him at this point. Quentin seems to recognize what the various layers of sheet paper clinging to his body actually is.

"THAT'S CHITIN. LIKE ME. YOU CAN'T REMOVE THAT WITHOUT RIPPING IT OFF."

That's not the weirdest part about him. His legs and arms are segmented like a bug's now and their digits on his feet and hands have been simplified, with only two pincer-like digits on his hands and tiny needle-like points for feet.

Four arms sprout out from his torso, two on his sides and two on the lower half of his torso. Each pair of arms is holding onto a normally double-handed long sword, each of which bleeds an oozing black substance from their tips.

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All of his attention is focused onto the anomaly before him. A sprawling system of roots and branches is crawling up the floors and walls. It's clearly originating from a pried open containment cell at the far end of the hallway. Tiny little red and blue flowers are blooming from the branches, filling the air with a sickly sweet scent.

The roots have eyes growing on them and all of them are staring at your group, not at all interested in the Security Head.

A guttural roar erupts from the Security Head upon seeing the anomaly attempting to breach and, not just that, ignoring him. He rapidly taps his needlepoint feet in place before in the blink of an eye, his arms are moving at a speed your eyes can't even begin to process.

[ANALYZER MODEL + DEADEYE SHOT] Kiara and Clover are able to keep their eyes on the Security Head's arms long enough to get a visual on them. "Reaching speeds of 425 feet per second!" "Damn things are like a fly buzzing around. I think even he doesn't know where he's swinging. Pure instinct" "He seems to be tiring out! Expends a LOT of energy!"

Kiara's comment quickly rings true. As the Security Head swings wildly at the anomaly, slicing roots and branches into tiny little chunks, the wizened old man eventually exhausts himself and has to stop to take a deep breath. His job is done though. Every root and branch that was growing on the walls and ceiling has been destroyed. All that's left is tiny hunks of wood and pulped flower petals.

He stumbles over to the containment cell door and drops one of his blades. He promptly grabs onto the pried open cell and forces it closed, sealing the anomaly inside for now.

He immediately picks it back up and snaps his gaze over at your group's direction. His face seems relatively unaffected by whatever's happening to him. Only his cheeks have any of the paper-looking chitin clinging to them. Deep, exhausted bags are underneath his cracked and weathered skin. His red eyes are dull and glossy. Most of the hair on his head has fallen out completely.

Yet he stands, blades in hand. This man has clearly been fighting for a long, long time. Decades of nonstop slaughter.

[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] He's barely human anymore. Only you are similar to him and even then, you're nowhere near this bad.
[UNSTABLE] HE DIDN'T SUCCUMB TO HIS INNER SINS. OR THE INNATE CRACKS IN HIS MIND.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] He's using several PARADIGMs. For far longer than you ever have. Your mind began to crack only after a week of wearing ONE.
[PERSON OF INTEREST] Wait. The clock said two anomalies were here. Yet only one was out. Is it counting him as one?

"WHO ARE YOU?" Any and all exhaustion disappears from his face upon seeing your group. He raises his many arms into position, ready to start swinging if need be. "I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS, OUTSIDERS. THE BARBARIANS AND WHORES YOU SENT HERE? YOU ALREADY SAW WHAT I DID!"

"THIS IS MY REALM! MY KINGDOM! I WON'T LOSE UNTIL THIS FACILITY CRUMBLES TO DUST!!!"

Despite his weathered appearance, he doesn't sound a day over 25. Every word he shouts out is laced with a youthful, almost intoxicated joy to it. You don't think he was being metaphorical with that realm comment.

You take a moment to listen to your allies.
KIARA: "Wait. You found that weird shield. Give it to him, maybe he'll like it."
NAOMI: "You have that old medal. Use it. He won't understand anything else."
CLOVER: "I say we should try to talk him down. Like you did with me back at the casino."
CASEY: "Ooo! Ooo! What if we tell him about our exploits? Surely he would understand how great our feats are!"
WENDY: "This freak clearly wants a fight. Let's give him a fight. Satisfy his 'desire' or whatever."
QUENTIN: "LET ME TALK TO HIM. BUG TO BUG."

How do you deal with the SECURITY HEAD?
>[QUENTIN ALLY] If he's truly a bug now, maybe your centipede friend can find a way in with him that you can't quite see. (-1 RESTRAINT to PARTY. However, you imagine Quentin will be able to get some valuable information and his card out of him.)
>[FOUND OATH TO PROTECT] A warrior needs a shield, no? Offer him the PARADIGM you found (-OATH TO PROTECT, this might push him over the edge mentally and physically but he'll absolutely repay you MASSIVELY for giving him the PARADIGM.)
>[CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO] "Sir. This place is already crumbling. It's over." Let Clover be the bearer of bad news. "I swear my heart on it. Please. We don't have to fight." (WILLPOWER DC: 20 (-2 from SUGAR RUSH), rolling only Clover's 5d6. Succeed and Clover will be able to get through to him, causing him to retreat for now. You imagine he'll help you during the rest of your facility exploration.)
>[CASEY ALLY] "Woah, woah, hey! We're actually on your side! We just stopped a buncha intruders who want to steal your REFINEMENT machine!" Try to talk him down. (CHARM DC: 13 (-4 from SUGAR RUSH and CASEY'S BOON), rolling only Casey's 5d6. Succeed and the Security Head will relent for now, allowing you the chance to talk and negotiate with him further.)
>[WENDY ALLY] Fuck it, we ball. Let's fight this son of a bitch. (+1 RAPPORT with Wendy, COMBAT ENCOUNTER STARTS! You'll get an impressive amount of loot + his ID card, alongside removing a possible threat down the line, if you pick this.)
>[X-CORP MEDAL] Hold up your medal to him. "I'm from X-Corp. I'm a soldier just like you. Please, stand down and LISTEN." (FREE ACTION, VIOLENCE DC: 31 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 10d6+1d3 with Naomi's help. Succeed and you'll earn his respect. Whatever choice you pick alongside this will have its reward boosted significantly.)
>[SEEPING PARANOIA INFO] Something about this is shady. The fact he's enjoying the fighting. The fact he asked for it to be sealed. "Why? Why did you do all of this?" Get to the heart of it. (No check needed. This should make him regain his lucidity immediately, for better and worse. You'll get a simple and honest answer from him.)
>Write in.

Welcome back. Back to work.

>>6028147
>what will develop of this?
A happy marriage with at least 2 kids and where Max won't be eaten by a piano?

>>6028148
>dwell on morality
This is a world where morality is mostly up to the whims of the individual. We saved this ETF because she happened to be alive and was the closest one to where we're standing, and we have the resources to spare, and maybe having one alive to vouch for us is good later. Or maybe because Clover is a gun to our heads?
>JUSTICE
Discount Don's
>pauses
Funny moment of awareness

>>6028152
>physical tension
This fucker's got a serious aura over 60 years
>should've taken this warning
No way. If we avoided him, we'd still risk running into him when we come back here later to protect REFINEMENT from silvers plus retrieve the Manager out for big money. Better to rip the bandaid off now and not delay it
>CAN'T REMOVE THAT
I bet we could if we had to
>segmented
I think at this point removing the PARADIGM will kill him from how it's warped his structure

>>6028154
>425 feet per second!
We CANNOT fight this guy
>DIDN'T SUCCUMB TO HIS INNER SINS. OR THE INNATE CRACKS IN HIS MIND.
Or to the voices in the PARADIGMS either?
>counting him
I wonder if the watch can detect SHIFTERS later with enough power built up in them?

>>6028161
>don't think he was being metaphorical with that realm comment
Interesting detail there

Welcome back OP

>>6028161
>[X-CORP MEDAL] Hold up your medal to him. "I'm from X-Corp. I'm a soldier just like you. Please, stand down and LISTEN." (FREE ACTION, VIOLENCE DC: 31 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 10d6+1d3 with Naomi's help. Succeed and you'll earn his respect. Whatever choice you pick alongside this will have its reward boosted significantly.)
No reason not to pick this. We are NEVER giving this medal up EVER
>[CASEY ALLY] "Woah, woah, hey! We're actually on your side! We just stopped a buncha intruders who want to steal your REFINEMENT machine!" Try to talk him down. (CHARM DC: 13 (-4 from SUGAR RUSH and CASEY'S BOON), rolling only Casey's 5d6. Succeed and the Security Head will relent for now, allowing you the chance to talk and negotiate with him further.)
"Talk and negotiate further" sounds good. It also gets him thinking about the REFINEMENT being in danger, which primes him for us to use later against the glowies. Plus the REFINEMENT is in danger due to the flooding too, so he would want the unseal to stop once he finds out.

>Quentin
I am not spending RESTRAINT this early, sorry
>Oath to Protect
Not giving up a PARADIGM
>Clover+Flood
This should be the very last thing we tell him
>Wendy
Bitch we'll get you an anomaly to beat up later. There's no way you can last 5 seconds from him shoving all 6 acid swords up your ass
>Seeping Paranoia
I really want this one, but solving this mystery isn't that important right now is it?

>>6028161
>[X-CORP MEDAL] Hold up your medal to him. "I'm from X-Corp. I'm a soldier just like you. Please, stand down and LISTEN." (FREE ACTION, VIOLENCE DC: 31 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 10d6+1d3 with Naomi's help. Succeed and you'll earn his respect. Whatever choice you pick alongside this will have its reward boosted significantly.)

>[FOUND OATH TO PROTECT] A warrior needs a shield, no? Offer him the PARADIGM you found (-OATH TO PROTECT, this might push him over the edge mentally and physically but he'll absolutely repay you MASSIVELY for giving him the PARADIGM.)

The last thing we need is more mind-melting gear. We use this stuff too much and we’ll end up like the bug man here.

If we drive him nuts but keep him friendly to us, I’m hoping he will just massacre all of the glowies for us while we carry on our mission.

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>>6028161
Glad to have you back QM.
We have a city to burn.

>>6028198
+1
>>6028225
>The last thing we need is more mind-melting gear. We use this stuff too much and we’ll end up like the bug man here.
We can give our allies and friends a PARADIGM.

>>6028294
I like the idea of lending a PARADIGM to a non-SHIFTER ally

>>6028161
>[CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO] "Sir. This place is already crumbling. It's over." Let Clover be the bearer of bad news. "I swear my heart on it. Please. We don't have to fight." (WILLPOWER DC: 20 (-2 from SUGAR RUSH), rolling only Clover's 5d6. Succeed and Clover will be able to get through to him, causing him to retreat for now. You imagine he'll help you during the rest of your facility exploration
>[X-CORP MEDAL] Hold up your medal to him. "I'm from X-Corp. I'm a soldier just like you. Please, stand down and LISTEN." (FREE ACTION, VIOLENCE DC: 31 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 10d6+1d3 with Naomi's help. Succeed and you'll earn his respect. Whatever choice you pick alongside this will have its reward boosted significantly.)

>>6028231
What if the city freezes over instead?

No votes for a while, closing, seems like Casey Ally + X-Corp Medal wins solely because Casey is the only non-free action with more than one vote.

You know the drill. Three anons, roll the following
>10d6 (main VIOLENCE check)
>1d3 (CAPTAIN'S COMMAND helping out with VIOLENCE)
>5d6 (Casey!!!)

We'll see what resources, if any, we need to consume.

Rolled 6, 4, 3, 6, 4, 6, 6, 3, 6, 4 = 48 (10d6)

>>6029023
VIOLENCE

Rolled 3, 4, 1, 1, 5 = 14 (5d6)

>>6029023
Bee

>>6029077
>>6029144
No need to roll the 1d3 due to, well, look at that VIOLENCE ROLL.

RESULTS
VIOLENCE: OVERWHELMING
CASEY: JUST BARELY PASSES

Writing.

>>6029077
We're back?

>>6029146
We're back.

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Best to go with something this man will understand. Like that old X-Corp medal you have. You reach into your pock-

Wait what's that WHY IS IT RAPIDLY APPROACHING YOUR HEAD-

[SUICIDAL LOYALTY] You're quickly shoved out of the way by Quentin just in the nick of time. One of the six longhanded swords has been embedded right into his head, cutting into his flesh like a hot knife through butter. Your other allies are about to spring in but...

On closer examination, the blade barely made an indent on his forehead. The area of impact is mangled and torn into a fine pulp and you swear you can see his exposed skull. If the attack wasn't blocked, his head absolutely would've been torn to shreds. The blade promptly drops to the floor with a soft rustling that's completely discordant with how much damage that would've done.

[UNNERVING] Quentin twists his neck at such a steep angle, it's clear he's about to snap his shell's neck cleanly in half. "Don'T. Do THat."
You can hear Clover trying his best to not vomit as he mutters out a 'good job, Quinny'

>-1 RESTRAINT to CLOVER! 4/5 RESTRAINT LEFT!
>QUENTIN TAKES 1 (REDUCED FROM 4) FLESH DAMAGE! 3/4 FLESH LEFT!
>-1 DRIFTWOOD IDOL CHARGE! 2 LEFT!

"DAMNIT! THAT'S A CHEAP TRICK!" Exhaustion sets in across the Security Head's body. His arms are heavy and limp, barely able to hold onto his swords now. It's clear he's long since past his prime. He's exhausting himself by putting way too much force behind his attacks. "NOW STAND STILL, I'M NOT LETTING YOU DRAW A WEAPON ON ME-"

"She was pulling out her fucking medal!" Naomi promptly interrupts the Security Head. "STAND DOWN OR YOU WILL ENGAGE IN COMBAT WITH A X-CORP CERTIFIED SOLDIER!" The voice and volume she put behind that bark is clearly straining her weathered vocal cords. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND, MAGGOT?"

The Security Head's mouth twists into a confused snarl, not at all sure how to react. It's just long enough for you to actually pull out the dinky little medal from your inventory. You stretch your arm out as far as you can so the geriatric piece of garbage can see it.

"I did the training courses necessary to become a X-Corp soldier! I'm a soldier just like you. Please, stand down and LISTEN. I am here to exchange intel with you."
Naomi nods approvingly. "Indeed. I am from X-Corp too. We're here to investigate the status of the facility due to various impromptu breaches across the surface. Ones that led down here."

The Security Head narrows his eyes into tiny little slits. He's clearly judging the two of you to make sure you're not bullshitting him.
>VIOLENCE: OVERWHELMING! SUCCESS!

"Antlered woman: Notable muscle on abdomen and legs from exercise. Minor amount in arms from carrying heavy weaponry." He begins to rattle off with cold and distant precision as he scans your body with your gaze. "Healthy organs, healthy form, clearly active. Stinks of blood." He lowers his many arms for a brief moment before his gaze snaps over to Naomi.

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"Bandage woman: Lack of muscle, can be excused due to old age. Coated in combat-related scars. Reeks of blood. Familiar shades, familiar glare in her eyes." He keeps mumbling to himself. "Paper tiger? No, no, no."

"What the fuck is he rambling about?" Confusion washes over Clover's face.
"Probably some old habit he used to have before turning into that?" Kiara halfheartedly shrugs. "He's a Security Head. He would have to keep an eye on the status of his employees."
Wendy's eyes widen for a moment before she nods her head. "He's trying to make sure you're the real attire. That you didn't just steal it."

"Alright." The Security Head slowly lowers his arms to the ground. He lets go of the five blades he still has a grip on, letting them hit the floor with a wimpy rustling sound. "An ally of P-Corp is an ally of mine. What do you want, filth?" he seems to be believing you for now but you know this fucker is willing to spring out and attack you if you're not careful.

Now that he's disarmed and willing to listen, it's time for Casey to make her move. Casey takes a few cautious steps towards the anomalous Security Head with her ballistic shield raised up just in case. "We're actually on your side! I know we got off on the wrong foot-"
"casey he tried to impale a fucking longsword through my skull." You mutter to yourself.

"-and I know you're a bit scared and all but we're here to help!" She completely ignores your little comment as she rambles towards the Security Head. "See! We know that the REFINEMENT machine here is VERY important to your operation! 3 E-Energy for 1 PRO- I mean, 3 A-Energy for one C-Extract! Correct? Well, some intruders are trying to get it!"

"They're WHAT?!" The paper-like chitin all across the man's body quickly begins to flutter and twitch. Quentin makes a few clicks with his tongue and that, for now, seems to be enough to calm him down. "Nngh."

"In fact, we killed one of these intruders. Our friend here? Well, he's a centipede piloting the corpse of one!!! Very efficient use of corporate resources but nevertheless! We're ultimately on the same side: We're both trying to stop things from getting any worse." Casey makes an odd buzz in the back of her throat as she continues to ramble. "If you help us out, we'll make sure no foul corporate outsiders will infringe your NDA ever again! Please, just talk to us."

The man before you clicks his tongue a few times in obnoxious annoyance but he eventually offers your group a curt nod. "Name's Audie MacArthur." Audie? Odd name. Better to have one than just "Security Head". "Need to keep containing. Need to keep this facility in CHECK." His eyes dart around, as if he's expecting something to come out of the walls. "I'm willing to offer my services to you. Outsiders."

<"I need to keep fighting. I need to earn my proper place in P-Corp. Can't stop now.">

>MEDAL BONUS: Some options have their skillchecks removed! You'll automatically succeed if you pick them!

Something is rubbing you the wrong way. Isn't the Security Head supposed to have Redd in his last name? If he can't even remember his last name properly, who knows how bad the other Heads are? Or the Manager?

How do you want to negotiate and talk with him about while he's somewhat cognizant, though? Pick four.
>[NAOMI ALLY] "We need intel on the threats here. We managed to get away mostly scot free but you KNOW of the anomalies here. Tell us the most dangerous ones." (CHECK BYPASS! He'll offer as much information about the anomalies throughout Floor 4 through 7 as he can.)
>[CASEY ALLY] "Well as an esteemed worker of this glorious facility, surely you would know more about the other floors, correct?" (CHECK BYPASS. He'll explain as much about the various layouts of the other facilities as he can.)
>[CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO] "Look. You know this place is being unsealed. It is raining like cats and dogs outside. You're smart enough to piece the dots together. Please." (WILLPOWER DC: 16 (-6 from MEDAL + SUGAR RUSH). You'll gain Audie as a temporarily ally if you succeed.)
>[WENDY ALLY] "Feh. Fire with fire. There's a beast down on the seventh floor. Do you have anything that can help us deal with it?" (CHECK BYPASS! You'll get a variety of useful supplies from the Security Head alongside some hints on how to deal with the Extraction Head specifically.)
>[KIARA ALLY] "You're...clearly not human anymore. Can you tell us how it is to be, well, you?" A lot of the other Heads are using PARADIGMs. Best to know what you're fighting. (WILLPOWER DC: ??, rolling 11d6+1d3 with the help of Kiara. Depending on how high you roll, you'll gain valuable information on how best to interact with the other corroded or fucked up Heads. You might even earn some insight on how to better regulate your own transformation.)
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "DO YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER WAY TO STOP THIS PLACE FROM BEING UNSEALED? ANY WAYS TO DELY IT OR INTERFER WITH IT?" If nothing else, making sure there's no way for this facility to be unsealed again will help down the line.
>[UNSTABLE] PICK UP THE SWORD. IT IS OURS. (+LOST OLD GLORY, a powerful melee PARADIGM that might prove valuable for you down the line. You'll need to make a DC 29, rolling 8d6, RESTRAINT check to avoid mental corrosion.)
>[SEEPING PARANOIA INFO] Something about this is shady. The fact he's enjoying the fighting. The fact he asked for it to be sealed. "Why? Why did you do all of this?" Get to the heart of it. (Same as before.)
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] "These intruders, I know them. I can tell you about them. And I need you to hunt them down for me." (CHECK BYPASS! You imagine he'll be hunting those fuckers down and if he manages to get out of here alive, he may prove valuable when fighting the spooks later.)
>Write in.

For clarification, you told your allies about the unsealing procedure and your time limit in between the long elevator rides. No reason to hide it from them.

>>6029285
>[SEEPING PARANOIA INFO]
Full lucidity let's go!
>[CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO]
And with the full lucidity, the clarity that the past is past and it's time to wake up to the present. Asking him why to snap him back to reality is the best way to prep him for this one.
Temporary ally means we have a chance to tell him about the spooks later too, instead of right now. He doesn't need to know about spooks currently if he's going to relax and guard the REFINEMENT against anybody not us once we leave this floor. We can pick him up along with the Manager on the way up once we're done on Floor 7. Or maybe we can have him along to help us reach the Training Head safely?
>[QUENTIN ALLY]
An unseal is bad for everybody everytime. Our MAIN assignment is also to stop the tunnels from being made too, and this is the big one.
>[NAOMI ALLY]
We need this intel if we're going to proceed further safely, as well as decide which anomalies to extract from and beat up with Wendy on the way.

Casey Ally - floor layout info is good, but knowing floor layouts isn't enough when the anomalies on them are the worst threat
Wendy Ally - we're doing good on supplies right now, and I get the feeling we'll deal with Extraction Head just fine with Naomi's help anyway. One of the other heads on the way down can tell us about Floor 7, especially if we ever make it to Training Head bitch who'd love us wanting to put an end to the OMEGA down there
Kiara Ally - knowing about other heads is good, but one of the other heads could tell us that just as well. Regulating Nicole's transformation isn't worth using an option slot here for the knowledge when we can WE BALL it like we always do
Unstable - FUCK I REALLY WANT THIS SWORD BUT IT NOT BEING A FREE ACTION AND THAT HARD RESTRAINT CHECK IS A PAAAAAAAIN
POI - what I said above; there's time for spooks later. There's still like 5 of them somewhere in this facility, and I bet none of them are elites. Killing that first elite gives us an edge against any other surprise ones

I wonder if teaching the Security Head the silver sound info will be a good investment? If any of you guys have better ideas in regards to the options to pick here, please tell me instead of just +1ing me?

>>6029285
>[NAOMI ALLY] "We need intel on the threats here. We managed to get away mostly scot free but you KNOW of the anomalies here. Tell us the most dangerous ones." (CHECK BYPASS! He'll offer as much information about the anomalies throughout Floor 4 through 7 as he can.)
>[CASEY ALLY] "Well as an esteemed worker of this glorious facility, surely you would know more about the other floors, correct?" (CHECK BYPASS. He'll explain as much about the various layouts of the other facilities as he can.)
>[CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO] "Look. You know this place is being unsealed. It is raining like cats and dogs outside. You're smart enough to piece the dots together. Please." (WILLPOWER DC: 16 (-6 from MEDAL + SUGAR RUSH). You'll gain Audie as a temporarily ally if you succeed.)
>[WENDY ALLY] "Feh. Fire with fire. There's a beast down on the seventh floor. Do you have anything that can help us deal with it?" (CHECK BYPASS! You'll get a variety of useful supplies from the Security Head alongside some hints on how to deal with the Extraction Head specifically.)

>>6029273
>[SUICIDAL LOYALTY]
I love Quentin and his bug reaction speed
>"Don'T. Do THat."
He's so cool
>-1 DRIFTWOOD IDOL CHARGE!
Fuck I hate we lost one this early. This thing's a total lifesaver we'll never give up
>1 (REDUCED FROM 4) FLESH DAMAGE
I'm glad we didn't fight him. I'd rather fight two elites than one of this 6-armed madman
>exhausting himself
Might have to account for that if he's going to back us up from here
>DRAW A WEAPON
I am stupid. Why did I not see this sort of reaction coming? He's trained for it and has every physical capability heightened drastically due to his PARADIGMS. He's basically a cop quickdrawing on us. It was obvious but I didn't think of it
>arms are heavy and limp
KNEES WEAK
ARMS ARE HEAVY
>did the training courses necessary
We wouldn't have this scene if we never took that mission, nice
>I'm a soldier
Our girl Nicole has come so far since the isolated schizo she used to be

>>6029275
>Familiar shades
>familiar glare
Like mother like daughter?
>ballistic shield raised
FLAME SHIELD UP
Not that it'll help her too much if he ever does lunge for her
>mutter to yourself
OP I wanna say I like this consistent writing detail of you writing in all lowercase when characters mutter or have those moments like that
>3 E-Energy for 1 PRO-
Without upgrades of course
>few clicks with his tongue
More bug to bug communication
>he's a centipede
He knows about drones, right? They existed 60 years ago, right? Or am I forgetting a lore detail?
>odd buzz
Imagine her doing that as she gives a blowjob, that's really hot
>expecting something to come out of the walls
We haven't seen a glowie do that yet, but I'm sure it'll be quite a shock when it does happen
>earn my proper place in P-Corp
????????????????

>>6029285
>can't even remember his last name properly
Anomalous alzheimer's is a horrible thing. I wonder how bad the other heads here have it

>>6029308
Anon, what's your take on this current situation? Thoughts on this sec head based on his state so far, plus the info we got from the other sources? He might have had a direct responsible hand in sealing this place and keeping it that way for all this time, right? Do you think P Corp will dispose of him after he's out of here, or that he can start living again after being so anomalous that the pocketwatch detects him as an anomaly himself?

>>6029324
>odd buzz
Imagine her doing that as she gives a blowjob, that's really hot

You can't win against the bee. Bzzzzt, gluckgluck, bzzzt, sploog.

>>6029285
>[UNSTABLE] PICK UP THE SWORD. IT IS OURS. (+LOST OLD GLORY, a powerful melee PARADIGM that might prove valuable for you down the line. You'll need to make a DC 29, rolling 8d6, RESTRAINT check to avoid mental corrosion.)
>[NAOMI ALLY] "We need intel on the threats here. We managed to get away mostly scot free but you KNOW of the anomalies here. Tell us the most dangerous ones." (CHECK BYPASS! He'll offer as much information about the anomalies throughout Floor 4 through 7 as he can.)
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] "These intruders, I know them. I can tell you about them. And I need you to hunt them down for me." (CHECK BYPASS! You imagine he'll be hunting those fuckers down and if he manages to get out of here alive, he may prove valuable when fighting the spooks later.)
>[WENDY ALLY] "Feh. Fire with fire. There's a beast down on the seventh floor. Do you have anything that can help us deal with it?" (CHECK BYPASS! You'll get a variety of useful supplies from the Security Head alongside some hints on how to deal with the Extraction Head specifically.)

>>6029299
+1

>>6029353
Original Casey is still with Thirteen back in their setting. This Casey is not the same as that one anymore, and still has a long way to go. Maybe she could get with a Harvester guy offscreen, or maybe she'll avoid them because of the memories? Who knows.

>>6029386
Never read anything else by HandlerQM. Maybe I'll check it out after I finish doing shit this afternoon.

I just thought this Casey sounded cute and was kinda pathetic and wanted to protect her smile.

>>6029285
>[NAOMI ALLY] "We need intel on the threats here. We managed to get away mostly scot free but you KNOW of the anomalies here. Tell us the most dangerous ones." (CHECK BYPASS! He'll offer as much information about the anomalies throughout Floor 4 through 7 as he can.)
>[CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO] "Look. You know this place is being unsealed. It is raining like cats and dogs outside. You're smart enough to piece the dots together. Please." (WILLPOWER DC: 16 (-6 from MEDAL + SUGAR RUSH). You'll gain Audie as a temporarily ally if you succeed.)
>[WENDY ALLY] "Feh. Fire with fire. There's a beast down on the seventh floor. Do you have anything that can help us deal with it?" (CHECK BYPASS! You'll get a variety of useful supplies from the Security Head alongside some hints on how to deal with the Extraction Head specifically.)
>[UNSTABLE] PICK UP THE SWORD. IT IS OURS. (+LOST OLD GLORY, a powerful melee PARADIGM that might prove valuable for you down the line. You'll need to make a DC 29, rolling 8d6, RESTRAINT check to avoid mental corrosion.)

>>6029491
Casey is from MANAGER, HELP! which is by HeartQM, and was the main impetus for HandlerQM back then to make HELP WANTED!, which as he said earlier kinda-sorta comes after Cleaner Quest. Or maybe Cleaner Quest is an alternate timeline to HELP WANTED! events, whatever

SEEPING PARANOIA: 00b, iD4
CLOVER ALLY + FLOOD INFO: 00b, iD4, I5e, 32V
QUENTIN ALLY: 00b, iD4
NAOMI ALLY: 00b, iD4, I5E, IZa, 32V
CASEY ALLY: I5e
WENDY ALLY: I5e, IZa, 32V
UNSTABLE: IZa, 32V
PERSON OF INTEREST: IZa

So, asking him to come with + asking him for anomaly info + getting supplies from him all win out, there's just a three way tie between THE SWORD, QUENTIN ALLY, or SEEPING PARANOIA

I need one anon to roll the following
>5d6 (for Clover's roll)
For rerolls, you may consume a Moonstone Fragment to reroll three of his dice.

I also need another anon to vote below to break the tie. Pick one.
>ASK WHAT HIS GOAL IS. HE'S REAL FUCKING SHADY. (SEEPING PARANOIA)
>ASK HOW TO MAKE OUR JOB EASIER SO WE CAN GO HOME (QUENTIN ALLY)
>GET THE FUCKING MAGICAL SWORD!!! (UNSTABLE. Will call for another check.)

If I don't get a tie break in, say, 4 hours? I'll just 1d3 it so we're not stuck forever.

>>6029491
While she is a reference to another quest and despite how willing 00b is to sperg about her, this quest has basically little to no connection to the previous one. You don't need to read it and any backstory she had in it is sorta null and void here.

Rolled 5, 4, 3, 2, 5 = 19 (5d6)

>>6030150
>ASK WHAT HIS GOAL IS. HE'S REAL FUCKING SHADY. (SEEPING PARANOIA)

>>6030168
Success AND a tiebreak, coolio. Writing now since no additional checks need to be done.
>>6029324
>He knows about drones, right? They existed 60 years ago, right? Or am I forgetting a lore detail?
Drones don't have faces due to the shells they normally have being, well, made for them.
Quentin is puppeteering regular human corpses with faces. So at first blush, especially to a paranoid mess like Audie, he wouldn't know that immediately.

>>6030150
>despite how willing 00b is to sperg about her
Excuse me???

>>6030169
I see. I forgot about Quentin doing that. Then he's absolutely right to react the way he did

File: ANOMALYTALK.png (77 KB, 500x420)

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Alright. You don't have a lot of time to sit around and chit chat with him. The facility being unsealed, said facility being flooded because of said unsealing, Audie himself probably not having a lot of patience for chitchat...Best to get to the point.

[UNSTABLE] POINT? LIKE SWORD? C'MON, GRAB IT GRAB IT GRAB IT-

You smack the side of your head in an attempt to dispel UNSTABLE's incessant whining for the funny magical sword. You nod your head at Naomi to signal her that she can talk to him. The corners of her mouth curl into a smile for the briefest of moments as if she's amused at the idea of having to wait for your approval.

<"Cute."> Her attention promptly shifts to Audie. "We need intel on the threats here. We've gotten lucky with the ones above but I highly doubt our blind luck would last forever. You know of the anomalies here. Tell us of the most dangerous ones and..." Naomi rambles off the cell letters you told her in between the elevator rides.

"Dangerous? Feh, nothing in this fac-"

"Dangerous for us, Mr. Six Arms." Kiara interrupts with a sharp, annoyed electric chirp. "No need to rub it in."

Audie bends down into a somewhat unstable squatting position with his two legs bending at weird, sharp thanks to their segmented nature. "Hm. None of the beasts out on this floor are a concern to you. Three out of four are abstractions. Non-physical, unable to interact with reality directly." So only the tree thing he contained was a threat. Noted.

"Floor 4, M and N. Sin of Her Flesh and the Hateful Smiles of the City. Sin of Her Flesh is simple: Don't let the men look at her. Hateful Smiles of the City? Group of ten, very weak individually but they're a hivemind. Shares information seamlessly. Best to divide and conqeor them to hamper their communication with each other."

"Floor 5...mmh. Not good, not good, not good. I'd just avoid exploring that floor if at all possible. All of those anomalies are C4 or higher. Too dangerous. Even for me. If you MUST explore, stay QUIET. Whispers of a Uncertain Yesterday can hear our voices throughout the whole facility. It WILL hunt you if you make too much noise in the adjacent floors." So be quiet while you're on Floor 4 and 6. Noted.

He then skips over Floor 6 due to all of them being contained. "Floor 7. The Latecomer's Blossom and Dreary Night Murderer are down there."

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] Wait. Dreary Night Murderer. A murderer who sticks to the shadows. Someone who doesn't want to get caught. Figured out. If you're too rational, too investigative-
[UNSTABLE] HE SMELLS US ALREADY.

While your allies have been listening along to make sure they survive exploring this facility, Naomi flinches upon hearing the first anomaly's name. Weird, she shouldn't know anything about this facility. Audie seems to pick this up but you simply nod at him to continue.

"Can't talk about the Murderer. He knows my scent, you're probably next. Too late to stop it now."

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With an impressive burst of speed, he skitters over to you and Wendy, whispering to the both of you. "He's weak. Weak like actual paper." He pulls on the paper-like chitin covering his torso. "Can't let the others hear this tip. They won't GET IT."

Wendy tries her best to lean away from Audie but he promptly grabs onto her shoulder, keeping her in place. "He can hear the thoughts in your head. SILENCE THEM when he approaches." He then leans away, turning his attention back to the rest of your confused allies.

"Other one? Has probably overtaken whole floor, yes yes, with flesh and flowers. A parasitic organism that DEMANDS to spread. To be REMEMBERED. There will be a core somewhere on the floor. Destroy it and the anomaly will return to a dormant state. Do NOT let any of your flesh or blood spill, it WILL drink it up." And then he goes silent. He's rubbing his throat now, clearly exhausted by his rambling.

"W-well." Wendy doesn't even remotely know how to respond. Her mouth is twisted in an expression that's filled with equal parts confusion and seething hatred. "You're. Something. Well, since there's two beasts on the seventh floor, d-do you..." She's really trying her best not to just fucking attack him. "Do you have anything that can help us deal with it."

Audie immediately vomits something out onto the floor. Then another item. Then another. THEN ANOTHER. He only stops once five items are scattered onto the floor. You're not even sure how he managed to shallow all of this.
LOOT OBTAINED!
>FRAGMENTATION GRENADE x2 (Adds +3d6 to your next attack and deals extra FLESH damage against humans. You can make a DC 18 TALENT check to add +4d8 to your attack instead.)
>Z-CORP AMPULE x2 (A metal syringe filled with a dull grey liquid. Heals 2 FLESH and RESTRAINT, no questions asked.)
>UV CLEANSING LAMP (A small handlamp that produces potent levels of UV radiation when activated. Has five charges. May consume a charge to add +3d3 to a COGNIZANCE check, reveal otherwise invisible entities, or to damage organic matter in a wide radius around the user.)

Drool is dribbling out of his mouth now and every breath he takes is deep and labored now.

"What in tarnation?" "DISGUSTING!!!" "Don't get that on my boots." Clover, Naomi, and Wendy quickly make their distance from the vomitted up supplies.
"Ooo!" "VERY INTERESTING." "Never knew a human could regurgitate like that!!!" Casey, Quentin and Kiara meanwhile are swarming around Audie with awe at his feat of regurgitation.

"Wischard. Down there. Probably wants to be consumed. She wants to forget. I pity her." Audie takes a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "She needs a reason to live. Something to do. Like I do. I fight."

You and Naomi share a look with each other. You already have a good idea on what sort of reason you can give her. A rather silvery reason. Now that that horror show is handled, best to address the main thing bothering you.

"Why, Audie?"

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Audie gives you an inscrutable look after he manages to recover from his sudden vomiting. "Why what? Don't you get it?" He promptly stands back up, gesturing around the red-tinted hallway with all six of his arms. "This is my realm! My domain! This is how I'm supposed to exist! This is my kingdom!"

"Now, now! I know you may have forgotten that because of how helpful I've been but this is MY kingdom! I am the Knight that protects this P-Corp facility!" All of his exhaustion has been purged. With every syllable, he's riling himself up. Reinforcing what fragile perspective he seems to have. "In here, I'm the hero! I'm the one who keeps everyone SAFE!"

Your allies quickly begin to back away from him, ready for a fight if it has to come down to it.

"Without me, this facility would've been destroyed in the war! I'm the only reason anyone here managed to survive down here! It's only when that damned Manager began to unseal this place, yes, YES! THAT'S WHEN THINGS WENT WRONG!"

"It's been 56 years. The war's been over for ages, Audie."

"No, no! If the war was over, P-Corp would've rewarded me for my service already! They would be singing my name as the best Security Head throughout all of P-Corp's facilities! I would've been-"

"FIFTY SIX FUCKING YEARS!" Wendy immediately loses her patience and throws her agent baton to the floor. "DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT? LOOK AT YOURSELF, YOU GOD DAMN COCKROACH! NO! EVEN A COCKROACH WOULD HAVE A PURPOSE!"
Audie immediately rushes over to grab his swords but before he can, Clover lets out a sharp whistle to get his attention.

[DOGMATIC MINDSET + DEADEYE SHOT] Clover already has his revolver trained at Audie's head. "We know what ya did. Even if you try slicing us up like a fuckin' coward, we know ya prodded that damn Manager to seal this place. Ya didn't fucking save anyone, HELL! YA PROBABLY KILLED DOZENS OR HUNDREDS BECAUSE OF IT!"

"And for fuckin' what? Why? Why did ya do it, partner?"

The air is tense. No one wants to move or say anything. Clover and Audie are staring each other down. Audie has his many arms ready to grab at his swords while Clover is ready to pull the trigger. A standoff between a knight and a cowboy.

And Audie loses. Not because he got shot but because he simply stops trying. He steps away from his swords and with a hesitant sigh, all of the energy he riled himself up with is gone. That intoxicated, youthful joy he had is replaced with a deep exhaustion.

An exhaustion he's been suppressing for decades.

"I really did just want to keep people safe. This was the only way I could keep them safe. We had infinite energy, we had enough space to hold hundreds down here, this was the safest place in the world." Audie wraps his many arms around himself in an attempt to comfort himself. "We could live here forever. We didn't have to live in a war torn City anymore. We had a perfect Kingdom here."

"Even if an anomaly breached, I could fight it. I just had to wear my armor and use my blades."

File: REALIZATION.jpg (149 KB, 900x773)

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"I could've kept this place safe forever. I'm the only one who CAN guard this facility. I'm the KNIGHT OF THIS FACILITY-"

"Look at yourself. You're not even a human anymore. You're a bug. A monster. You wanted to kill us the moment you saw us." Wendy hisses out as Clover keeps his gun trained on the security head.
"Every person we met down here was a deranged lunatic or someone you tried to killed." Naomi states with a cold matter-of-fact tone. "No one was kept safe by your actions, Audie."
"Are those even your own thoughts?" Casey chirps out.
"Are you EVEN wearing your OWN SHELL?" Quentin can't even look Audie in the eye. "Humans don't have CHITIN and SEGMENTED LIMBS."
"Do you even remember your own name, Redd?" Kiara points out the fact he didn't even remember his own name.

There's that silence again.

"...Redd? Who's that?" Audie blankly stares at your group for a moment before it suddenly clicks for him. "Wait. Wait. Redd, Redd...Redd? Audie Redd. Who's...?" The old man is glancing around the hallway he's in with abject confusion. "Where am I? This isn't the facility I remembered."

None of your allies want to say anything so you decide to speak up. "It's 2255, Redd. I know you're smart enough to realize what's going on."

"I." He stares down at his many arms, at the chitin covering his body. At the many segments and joints on his arms and legs. "What am I? I felt so powerful until..." Seems like whatever perspective forced onto him has weakened to the point where he's snapped out of his high. "Wait. Why does this place smell like blood?"

Again, no one wants to say anything but no one needs to. He's clearly piecing the dots together. "No, no, wait. It's supposed to be 2198. I only wanted to use this armor to deal with the few anomalies that got out-" It's as the person you were talking to mere moments ago was replaced by someone else completely.

"Oh god. A PARADIGM restructuring. W-what did I do?" When he's answered with silence, all Audie can let out is a disappointed chuckle. "I knew those voices, that feeling, w-was too good to be true."

>WILLPOWER CHECK: PASS!

Clover lowers his gun, suppressing his urge to be his judge and executioner. "Ya weren't in control of yer actions. I can't fully blame ya for what ya did after the facility was sealed." Clover lets out an annoyed click from the back of his throat.

"Look. Ya know this place is being unsealed. It is raining like cats and dogs outside. Yer smart enough to piece the dots together. Please. Just." Clover holsters his revolver. "I don't want to kill ya if I don't gotta. We have a common goal now. To stop this place from being unsealed."

"Really...?"

"Ya. I don't get it much myself but this place is a pressure cooker now. If it unseals anymore, pop!"
"The energy already let out has caused notable ecology damage. A full unseal would drown the whole subdistrict we're in." Kiara nods along.

"...I really did just want to keep this place safe. Not to...cause damage like that."

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"Help us rectify your mistake, Audie." Naomi holds her hand out towards the Security Head.

He simply stares at the hand offered and with one of his many hands, he shakes Naomi's hand. He promptly picks up only one of the swords on the ground, leaving the others behind. "I. I'll follow. I need to. Rectify what I did. D-don't feel comfortable holding the others."

>AUDIE HAS JOINED THE PARTY!
>Due to his lucidity and him only wielding one LOST OLD GLORY, his stats have been reduced severely from his previous form. However, he's actually cognizant of his actions now!
>The following stats are written without Naomi's boost. He still gets the +1 to RESTRAINT, VIOLENCE, TALENT, and WILLPOWER.

AUDIE REDD [TEMP]
FLESH: 12
RESTRAINT: 5
VIOLENCE: 10
TALENT: 10
WILLPOWER: 5
CHARM: 3
CONNECTIONS: 5
COGNIZANCE: 3

BOONS
[CHITINOUS EXTERIOR] A remnant of his PARADIGM restructuring. Audie takes 2 less FLESH damage from all sources and has a small chance to reflect an attack back at an enemy.

[HEAD ACCESS] While he's in your party, you have far greater access to the facility than normal and you have access to his keycard as well. Exploring the facility should be a lot easier now.

NEUTRAL TRAIT
[UNCERTAIN PERSPECTIVE] He's not the man he used to be and that's obvious. His stats have been massively drained from his previous version...but he does have full lucidity and control over himself.

BANE
[EXHAUSTION] His old age has finally caught up to him. All attacks he makes in combat has a high chance of draining his FLESH and he passively loses FLESH over time. He also takes longer to recover from negative status effects.

INVENTORY: HEAD OF SECURITY KEYCARD, CRUMPLED LOST OLD GLORY (Drained from decades of overuse. ATTACK ROLL: TALENT+VIOLENCE+4. Attacks made with this weapon deal split MIXED and MENTAL damage and will always inflict a CRIPPLING INJURY on hit).

Your allies let out a sigh of relief when he snaps back to his senses. While Kiara eyes the various PARADIGMs on the ground with a greedy glint in her gaze, she's too hesitant to pick them up after what they did to him. No one else, including you, feels particularly comfortable picking them up either.

Maybe later. Maybe not at all. You don't want to melt your mind over time. Now that you have him somewhat cognizant of where he is and what your group's plan is, you have to proceed from here. You got two out of the three keycards necessary so you're probably getting close to finishing this mission.

Which location do you want to visit next, Nicole?
>MANAGER'S OFFICE. You need to confront this bastard on why he unsealed this place and if he even understands the fucking ramifications of what he did.
>SECRET HATCH #1. One of the two hatches at the southeast branch. Your WHISPERS OF THE CITY smells an odd sense of ennui down this one. Welfare?
>WESTERN CONTAINMENT CELLS. If most of them are abstractions that can't hurt anyone, maybe you can try bringing one back for an easy paycheck.
(1/2)

>BACK TO ELEVATOR. Head to the sixth floor. You DO have the code for it still and you still need another keycard.
>[AUDIE ALLY] "I recall the seventh floor code. We can visit there right now if need be." Rush right down to the seventh floor. Deal with the Extraction Head and whoever else is down there.
>REFINEMENT ROOM. You need to secure it and to make sure no one has compromised it.
>SECRET HATCH #2. Not to go down there, fuck no, but to lock it shut so nothing ends up sneaking up on you later.

>>6030382
>Excuse me???
Sorry, could've phrased it better. I just wanted to clarify that despite me referencing previous quests, none of them have to be read in order for this quest to make sense aside from understanding some minor references better.
Don't want to throw anyone into pages on pages of archive binging solely so one character's appearance is slightly funnier.

>>6030421
OK, fair enough OP. Thanks for clarifying.

>>6030418
>>6030421
We still have plenty of time saved, so I'm going to vote in something smarter
>WRITE IN: SPLIT UP!
>Audie + Naomi + Clover + Kiara = SECURE THE REFINEMENT
>Nicole + Casey + Wendy + Quentin = CONFRONT THE MANAGER
Even though it'd be better to have Audie to confront the Manager with, the Head of Security will know exactly what to do to secure the REFINEMENT room whereas the rest of us will not. I want Naomi and Kiara with him because they're experienced in the silver agents by now and can provide assistance. Clover is for overwatch and lookout.
As for the Manager, Nicole because Nicole. Casey and Quentin are the corporate sycophant dynamic duo. Wendy because she's also got corporate power on her side and she's got schizo resonance with Nicole, and probably has had to deal with P Corp higher-ups before too given how W Corp shares interest in the anomalous with them (but in a negative "WE HATE ANOMALIES" way).

>>6030449
+1

So before I do an analysis autism post, I want to ask you guys here. When and where do we secure an anomaly? We have only 1 CONTAINMENT CUBE. We could still get anomalies out by ourselves with them uncontained; for example those with a degree of reasoning and awareness like the DELICIOUS GIRL or INFORMANT can be convinced to walk out with us at the expense of Wendy wanting to murder them from prolonged proximity alone. If we can manage all that, we might be able to retrieve multiple anomalies out safely with us. We have plenty to choose from to recover, but we also need to fight and possibly kill one during this mission, as well as extracting anomalous LOOT MATERIAL from some.

>>6030150
>While she is a reference to another quest and despite how willing 00b is to sperg about her, this quest has basically little to no connection to the previous one. You don't need to read it and any backstory she had in it is sorta null and void here.

Fair enough. Have checked out like half the other one and it is good, even if facility management isnt normally my cup of tea.

>>6030421
>>6030449
Sure this will work.

Should we decide on how to split up consumables or something?

Also here's a floor recap

RH = Research Head
MG = Magical Girl
AC = Armory Computer
SH = Security Head

>Floor 1
>N/A
"A: A THOUSAND LONELY. C1, MENTAL, COGNITOHAZARD. DON'T TALK TO IT. PLEASE. JUST CLEAN THE MESS IT MAKES."
"B: PEARLS FOR SWINE. B3, MENTAL, COGNITOHAZARD. DON'T TAKE IT TOO PERSONALLY, IT TRIES TO FUCK WITH YOU."
"C: COLD BLOODED INFORMANT. B3, MIXED, CAN BE REASONED WITH. LOVES TO BARTER."
"D: TOADHOLE. A5. MIXED/ESOTERIC. COGNITOHAZARD. MANAGER WON'T LISTEN TO US ABOUT HOW DANGEROUS IT IS. CAN'T SEE IT LIKE HOW WE SEE IT."

>Floor 2
>Research
"E: MUSHROOM DREAMS. B0. NOTHING TO NOTE, APPROVED FOR ALL EMPLOYEES TO INTERACT WITH. LOW ENERGY EITHER WAY. USE WHEN YOU NEED A BREAK."
"F: DELICIOUS GIRL R! ??. NEW ANOMALY. NEED TIME TO INVESTIGATE. SENTIENT?"
"G: DOG. X0. ESOTERIC. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog."
"H: KNIGHT OF PEN AND PAPER. C4. VERY AGGRESSIVE. BUG-LIKE. PLEASE, DON'T BOTHER HIM TOO MUCH."

>Floor 3
>Security
RH - "Security's halls is a deadzone. Traps everywhere. Mr. Redd likes to keep them up to date. Please be careful when exploring there."
MG - "Mr. Manager? He stayed locked up in his room all day! I don't really know much about him besides he wants to 'leave'? I'm not sure how, though!"
AC - "FACILITY 3 CELLS: I, J, K, L. I AND J BREACHED, K BEING RECONTAINED, L IN CONTAINMENT."
SH - "None of the beasts out on this floor are a concern to you. Three out of four are abstractions. Non-physical, unable to interact with reality directly."

>The following we have not been to yet

>Floor 4
>Welfare
RH - "Welfare? Welfare was always the safest. All of the low risk anomalies were kept there. Might be able to find a friend there."
RH - "Mr. Linton hasn't talked to me in a while. Never been the same since we were sealed. Steal his card, he won't need it. Or notice."
MG - "Mr. Safety doesn't like talking to people. He has this thick, buggy armor on with a lot of gross arms on it. Keeps talking about how he's nothing but a worthless bug? But he's a human. It doesn't make sense."
AC - "FACILITY 4 CELLS: M, N, O, P, Q, R. M AND N ARE BREACHED. REST ARE CONTAINED."
SH - "Floor 4, M and N. Sin of Her Flesh and the Hateful Smiles of the City. Sin of Her Flesh is simple: Don't let the men look at her. Hateful Smiles of the City? Group of ten, very weak individually but they're a hivemind. Shares information seamlessly. Best to divide and conquer them to hamper their communication with each other."
(BE QUIET HERE!!!)

>>6030483
Floor Recap Part 2

>Floor 5
>Training
RH - "Ms. Smith went crazy, crazy. Constantly wanted more anomalies to fight. To beat them. To consume them. To become them. I don't think she'll listen to anyone normal. No, no, she needs someone like my papers suggested might exist one day. A SHIFTer."
MG - "Ms. Teacher...I don't like Ms. Teacher. She keep screaming at us and saying how much we hurt people. How she hates us. How she only uses this big, BIG wand I gave her to protect herself. I don't remember hurting anyone! Lest you count evil super villains~!"
AC - "FACILITY 5 CELLS: S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, GG, BB, LL, PP. ALL BREACHED."
SH - "Floor 5...mmh. Not good, not good, not good. I'd just avoid exploring that floor if at all possible. All of those anomalies are C4 or higher. Too dangerous. Even for me. If you MUST explore, stay QUIET. Whispers of a Uncertain Yesterday can hear our voices throughout the whole facility. It WILL hunt you if you make too much noise in the adjacent floors."
(BE QUIET HERE!!!)

>Floor 6
>Accounting
>"10-56-4048"
RH - "Mr. Benowitz has all of our excess supplies hidden away in his floor. He keeps an eye on it all the time. He'll know if you arrive there. Do not hide your intentions. He's...strange."
MG - "Mr. Money...Mr. Money only liked to talk to my bug friend upstairs. He only cared about 'money' and 'prestige' and junk. Feh! How selfish!!!"
AC - "FACILITY 6 CELLS: ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON, ZETA. ALL CONTAINED."
SH - He then skips over Floor 6 due to all of them being contained.
(BE QUIET HERE!!!)

>Floor 7
>Extraction
RH - "Ms. Wischard- -has given up. Reach her and she'll do what you want. Extraction was always the least maintained."
MG - "Ms. Extract? She stays in her own room down, down, down at the bottom! Where all the really nasty villains are at. I don't think she likes leaving her room too much. Something about 'not wanting to bother anymore'?"
AC - "FACILITY 7: KETER, WAW, OMEGA. OMEGA BREACHED, WAW CONTAINTED, KETER ???."
Armory Corpse Note - "Floor 7, Anomaly OMEGA. A4 class entity. Can only be harmed by those without rationality. Those with too much rationality will be hunted down. Told them to exterminate it. I know it wants my head. If someone finds my corpse and read this: Please, kill it. Kill it to free all of us. We'll pay you later."
SH - "Floor 7. The Latecomer's Blossom and Dreary Night Murderer are down there."
A murderer who sticks to the shadows. Someone who doesn't want to get caught. Figured out. If you're too rational, too investigative-
"He's weak. Weak like actual paper."
"He can hear the thoughts in your head. SILENCE THEM when he approaches."
"Other one? Has probably overtaken whole floor, yes yes, with flesh and flowers. A parasitic organism that DEMANDS to spread. To be REMEMBERED. There will be a core somewhere on the floor. Destroy it and the anomaly will return to a dormant state. Do NOT let any of your flesh or blood spill, it WILL drink it up."

>>6030467
Well, Dreary Night Murderer is probably already coming for us, so he would be a simple choice to stick in the box I suppose.

>>6030479
>split up consumables or something?
I doubt there's any enemies over at the REFINEMENT room. We got told by INFORMANT that there's a total of 8 here. 6 below surface, 2 above surface. We killed 1 of the below surface ones, who was an elite agent. Now there are a total of 5 in this facility somewhere. I hope the 2 outside did not fuck with the Research Head we left in the warehouse. That'd suck

>>6030485
Could be interesting if we do have to capture him. It'd be very insane if we actually convince him to walk out with us without any hostility under the pretense of helping him "avoid capture".

>>6030494
>I hope the 2 outside did not fuck with the Research Head we left in the warehouse. That'd suck

Stop giving QM ideas!

I was just thinking anything we had that might just help with general checks, IDK. Do we need to try and heal up some before heading on our way? I think everyone is basically good.

>>6030494
>Hey dreary, want to come to our van? We have classic rock CDs and beer?

>>6030604
We're all doing fine on FLESH and RESTRAINT. I'm worried about that
>lock it shut so nothing ends up sneaking up on you later.
snippet from that option. Why would something from Floor 5 Training sneak up to here? We're not on Floor 4 Welfare for Whispers of an Uncertain Yesterday to seek us out. Sure it can hear all the voices in the entire facility, but we're nowhere close to it and that's good enough to keep it from bothering us. I highly doubt there's a silver agent or two on Floor 5 with how hazardous it is, but I don't want them backcapping us when it comes to REFINEMENT or the Manager or anything else on this floor. Decisions decisions.

I think once we handle Manager and REFINEMENT, we need to go straight for Floor 4 Welfare. Welfare guy sounds like a free keycard to me. Clover, Quentin, and Audie and maybe one of the other girls as backup can handle Hateful Smiles of the City because they're the only men of the group, and everybody else beats up Sin of Her Flesh which will cheer up Wendy. This way we contain both and get a potential chance of extracting from either of them, maybe consider one as a CUBE AND RESCUE candidate? I wonder if Hateful Smiles would want us to rescue them. With a name like that it might be risky, and there's fucking 10 of these guys in a hivemind - can they all fit in the elevator with us? I think eventually we'll need multiple trips to get everybody topside. Other than that, I think we should just completely leave Floor 5 alone and let it all rot in there. Not fucking worth it or is it?

Once we finish the unsealing, we'll be much freer when it comes to time. The facility will still flood and the A-Energy will still leak from the tunnel openings that are already made, but at least it won't be AS BAD? Or will the unseal abort cause all the tunnels to seal up? Does that mean we'll all be trapped down here, or is it possible to keep one tunnel open or have one primary egress route available for everybody to get in and out from? Anyway, then the only problem becomes the glowie menace in the facility and if they decide to swarm the place like INFORMANT warned us about.

Closing vote. Writing, we're going with the write in. (Mostly because that's the only thing people voted for. No point waiting for fifty hours for another person to add a +1)

Hmm, I'm wondering if we can get the manager to quit being insane and return to his sane self. And talk the other head as well. It would be nice if we could get all of the heads to quit being crazy. We already have the research head and security head, who are sane now due to us.

>>6030397
>GRAB IT
I too want the paper sword but too many things to do
><"Cute.">
She was like that too once upon a time
>squatting
I like this detail with his fucked physiology
>flinches
Naomi? Something you're not telling us?

>>6030400
>two beasts
Where's the third one?!
>trying her best
I hope the future beatdowns cheer her up. I kinda feel sad for her... almost.
>FRAGMENTATION GRENADE x2
More AoE for the base assault? Thank you
>Z-CORP AMPULE x2
Uber valuable
>UV CLEANSING LAMP
Sounds like a Kiara tool to me

>>6030402
>Reinforcing what fragile perspective
Interesting description detail
>immediately loses her patience
Wendy's going through a lot on this first mission with Nicole
>COCKROACH WOULD HAVE A PURPOSE!
Casey would comment if the situation wasn't so tense
>standoff
Clover keeps hitting the right notes this entire mission
>the safest place in the world
No shelter remains safe forever

>>6030407
>can't even look Audie in the eye
Damn what a line from Quentin. He's fully aware of it too
>perspective forced onto him
What 60 years of constant PARADIGM exposure does to a human's sense of being
>replaced by someone else completely
Wrong. Not replaced. Repealed. And the old original person returned.
>PARADIGM restructuring
We know the term for this now
>suppressing his urge
Also a nice touch

>>6030418
>AUDIE HAS JOINED
Godlike stats and traits but still less compared to Robbert Huxley's glimpse
>CRUMPLED LOST OLD GLORY
Amazing weapon, but corrosion chances make it a desperation pick
>Maybe later. Maybe not at all.
It's cool and all, but will we have time to grab one before we need to ditch this place?
>probably getting close to finishing this mission.
Not if we overachiever this! We need that bonus pay and loot

File: DISCUSSION.jpg (4.14 MB, 2322x1776)

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"Clover, Kiara, Naomi, Audie. Deal with Refinement. Quentin, Casey, Wendy? Come with me. We'll talk to the Manager." Might as well use your comically oversized party to do multiple things at once, yeah?

Audie's pupils narrow down into tiny little pinpricks the moment he hears your plan. "I don't think you should do that. Mr. Manager hasn't left that room in decades. He's rather...unsightly."

"i'm fucking sorry you're a fucking bug man how could he be any weirder." An incredulous sneer spreads across your face.

"RUDE." Quentin crosses his arms with a very obvious pout.
"I don't think you have any room to talk with the antlers." Kiara nudges you with her shoulder.
Clover whistles out a low tune. "At least his head's normal. God bless Kana but her foxhead surgery was...something."

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT YOU-" You hold your tongue back for now. Not now. Best to just let Audie answer.

"You'll see it when you see it. He's one with the office now." Despite how vague that answer is, you already have an idea on what that could mean. With that cryptic warning given, Audie and the three allies you ordered to follow him disappear down into the hub area, heading to wherever the REFINEMENT MACHINE is.

>Audie, Clover, Kiara, and Naomi have temporarily left your party. You and your other allies have temporarily lost the RESTRAINT, TALENT, WILLPOWER, and VIOLENCE boosts given by Naomi.

"Thank you." An oddly sugary sweet, almost cartoonish joy oozes out of Wendy's words. "Thank you for getting that freak away from me. Enemy of my enemy and all but FUCK."
A deep, almost hungry buzz vibrates throughout Casey's throat. Eugh. "Ooo! Did you want to break his spine and rip him in half like you're eating a crawfish? I'm not sure you would have the physical strength to do that!"
"Oh ho!" Wendy snaps her fingers. "I was more in the taste of snapping his arms like a lobster but that's good too!"

You and Quentin share a look with each other. He curtly nods with a solemn, almost mournful frown. <"I apologize for whatever these two may do.">
You nod back. "It's okay." You clap your hands to get the attention of the two hungry little sociopaths. "Okay, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Let's move. We got a manager to talk to."

"Feh. Fine, fine." Wendy mumbles out some dismissive sounding grunts and groans as she picks her AGENT BATON back up.
"Thank yOU." Quentin nods approvingly. "Casey?"
"Oh! Yes!" She promptly falls back into a rear position while Quentin joins Wendy at the front. The four of you promptly head back to the star-shape hub area.

Your group tries its best not to look at the mangled and barely alive survivors of Audie's previous attack. Aside from the ETF you treated, most of them are already too far gone. Damn shame but hey, at least you helped him regain his sanity so this won't happen again. It is what it is in this line of work.

Your group proceeds north from the center of the hub. Time to deal with the manager.

File: AIRLOCKDOOR.jpg (123 KB, 1046x1042)

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The hallway towards the Manager's Office is a lot shorter of a trip than you expected. After only traveling about thirty or forty feet, your group is standing in front of a heavily reinforced steel airlock. The walls around the airlock are plastered in old wartime posters that have basically melted away in pure sludge at this point. The only one remotely liable is one about how 'IF YOU WIN THE WAR FOR US, YOU'LL GET A 5% DISCOUNT ON A TEN YEAR NEST PERMIT!!!"

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] Approximately a $5000 discount for a ten year permit to live at the most upper-class section of a District. If we're using today's prices that is. Still would've at least 95k.

There's a keycard scanner next to the door. No keypad or anything, it just needs the right card. You'd guess that it probably only accepts a keycard from the Manager himself or one of the Heads. Lo and behold, you have Judie's (the Research Head's) card.

You swipe it and bam! The airlock lets out an awful sounding hiss as it begins to slowly unseal and- FUCKING HELL WHAT IS THAT SMELL. An awful, pungent smell that's clearly been sealed inside that room for a while hits your nose like a freight train. Even with your gas mask still on, you can still smell it.

The musty, pungent and spicy odor of decades of body odor and caked human filth. If it wasn't for you smelling worse and having an iron stomach at this point, you would be gagging by now. Wendy and Quentin immediately pull Casey away from it after the smell

"JU..DY? WHA..T'S THE OCCASION?" That's not a human's voice. It's not an anomaly's either but you can't even attempt to describe it as a human. Gurgling, wet noises that are an approximation of a human's voice echo out of the now opened airlock. "DID YO..U COME TO YOU...R SENSES AND...UNDERSTOOD MY PLAN?"

"We're on behalf of Judy, sir! He gave us our keycard!" Casey yells out towards the Manager(?), still at a safe enough distance to not immediately retch.
Wendy adjusts her gas mask to make sure the seal isn't compromised. "We're here to discuss a business proposal, Mr. Manager." Her mildly manic voice is immediately suppressed with a cold, clearly practiced neutral tone. "If you may approve our entrance, that is?"
"SMells like the INside of my shell. But worse." You're not sure if centipedes are able to gag or vomit but Quentin is on the verge of it.

"Mm...H. SURE. COME." The low, rumbling tone of the manager quickly goes silent after he offers his half-hearted approval. Best to bite the bullet and get it over with. The opened airlock only shows a room in pitch darkness. All you can sense in there is the smells and that god damn blubbering voice the Manager(?) speaks in.

As the lead, you go in first. Your other allies properly follow after you only after they realized you weren't immediately impaled for stepping inside.

https://youtu.be/_ZZK-qxkki0 - MANAGER

What in the actual fuck? You're not even sure how to describe what you're seeing.

File: REDFLESH.jpg (388 KB, 750x1334)

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The office, if you can even call it on, is a very cramped space with only enough space for the four of you to stand inside if you stand shoulder to shoulder. There's barely any room for your group to move around.

That's mainly because a good half of the room has been completely consumed by a mass of filthy, half-rotten pallid white flesh and fat that might've one been a man. It crawls up the walls and floor like vines crawling up an abandoned building or, perhaps more aptly here, electric cabling connecting to a machine. The only places that aren't covered by this spreading mass are two old CCTV screens and an overly complex panel at the back of the room.

A vaguely humanoid shape sits behind a desk that separates your group from the meat cluster. Its arms and legs have fully melded into the chair as if it was always a part of it. The only part recognizable as 100% human is the man's face. Soft, almost child-like cheeks and baby-blue eyes stares at your group. A twisted smirk is carved (literally. There's blood pouring out of the gash) into the soft and pallid flesh of the Manager.

"WEL...COME TO MY. OFFICE. PLEASE. TAKE A SEAT."

Your group promptly sits down at the four chairs- Wait, you didn't see any chairs before. Your MAKESHIFT POCKETWATCH is going apeshit again. Checking it to see what it reads.

"ELEVATED LEVELS OF C-EXTRACT IN AREA. REALITY DISTORTIONS MAY OCCUR." Oh great.

"NOW. WHAT DO YOU WANT...TO TALK ABOUT?"

"Why do you look like this, sir?" Casey chirps out with an innocent curiosity in her voice. "It's quite unusual for a Manager of such an esteemed facility to look like this!"

"I'VE BEEN UNDER THE WEA...THER." The Manager gurgles. "I'LL GET BETTER SOON. I APOLOGIZE IF I SMELL. BE...EN A WHILE SINCE I GO..T A SHOWER PROPERLY RUNNING IN HERE."

"I don't think that's what she meant, siR." Quentin is fiddling with this thumbs in a desperate attempt to ignore the mass of sentient flesh blabbering at him. "WhatEVER the case, we wish to ask some questions about RECENT going-ons in this facility."

"AH. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE UNCOUTH RECEPTION MY FRIENDS MAY HAVE GIVEN." The Manager gurgles yet again, though his speech is a lot clearer now. "YES, YES. I BELIEVE A 50 YEAR HIATUS IS ENOUGH. IT IS TIME TO GO BACK TO WORK, YOU SEE."

"You do understand that your recent business venture has caused some unintentional damage to the surface, correct? Digging up hundreds of tons of soil that's built up over that long is not an easy nor safe thing to do haphazardly." The Wendy you knew before is gone. Every word she says is calm, collected, and cordial. Hell, you think her smile is genuine enough. "I would know, of course."

"YES. YES. W-CORP AND THEIR SILLY MINES. FEH. I BELIEVE YOU ARE OVERESTIMATING THE ACTUAL EFFECTS OF THE UNSEALING PROCESS, MISS." Well, the ball's in the court now. You have an audience with the Manager. If you can even attempt to call him that with how he looks now.

You have some time to burn while your other allies investigate the REFINEMENT MACHINE so you don't have to roll any checks.

What direction do you want to take this conversation in? Pick three topics to focus on.
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "I simply don't get it. How does no one here know the war is over? Shouldn't you still be in contact with your mother company?" They should've been in contact with P-Corp after unsealing, right? What happened?
>[CASEY ALLY] "Why, good sir, I have to say your facility has been quite active over these many years! Though the question is why it took so long for you to reopen business!" Why now? It seems weird for him to only do it after so many years, right?
>[WENDY ALLY] "I don't think you understand. Your facility is going to flood in a matter of hours, maybe a day tops. Do you even understand what you're doing?" You'll need to get this bulbous fuck to understand the consequences of his actions.
>[UNSTABLE] "You're disgusting. You're a sickening pile of flesh and rot. How the hell did you even do this to yourself? Why is every single survivor here a FREAK?" It's sickening how delusional and how much in denial every survivor you met has been.
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] "So. An old research of yours wanted to find out if SHIFTers existed, huh?" Tell him about all of the changes that happened above ground. Show off some of your powers. That'll win him over onto your side.
>[SEEKER OF THE CITY] "What was it like? Before this facility was sealed?" A bit of history couldn't hurt. You do have to get at least one other Department Head card, so anything to help resonate with them would be nice.
>There's no harm in asking him some minor questions, right? (FREE ACTION. Write in what you want to ask him.)
>Write in.

>>6031411
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "I simply don't get it. How does no one here know the war is over? Shouldn't you still be in contact with your mother company?" They should've been in contact with P-Corp after unsealing, right? What happened?

>>6031489
Anon we pick 3 total. You have 2 left

>>6031411
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "I simply don't get it. How does no one here know the war is over? Shouldn't you still be in contact with your mother company?" They should've been in contact with P-Corp after unsealing, right? What happened?
>[WENDY ALLY] "I don't think you understand. Your facility is going to flood in a matter of hours, maybe a day tops. Do you even understand what you're doing?" You'll need to get this bulbous fuck to understand the consequences of his actions.
>[SEEKER OF THE CITY] "What was it like? Before this facility was sealed?" A bit of history couldn't hurt. You do have to get at least one other Department Head card, so anything to help resonate with them would be nice.

>>6031818
+1
Do we have any ideas for minor questions to ask him? Fuck it I'll do something to maybe lighten the tension slightly
>[UNSTABLE] "Damn bitch, you live like this?" slips your lips involuntarily. You're glad your living arrangements, dismal as they are to your soul, are still better compared to this.

>>6031403
>you're a fucking bug man how could he be any weirder
This isn't a random UNSTABLE response triggered? This is Nicole? I guess reflex and old habits die hard
>pout
Sorry Quint
>something
Yeah you like that huh Clover?
>sugary sweet, almost cartoonish joy
Wendy you gotta remind yourself that these are still humans on the inside. In fact despite his body being warped by those PARADIGMS for 59 years, we helped him recover his humanity in his head. You should be glad he's less anomalous and more human now. Easier to tolerate now
>hungry buzz
Does Welfare have any plants or food? Might have to check if/when we stop by next
>share a look
He's literally the first ally we ever met, isn't he? He's got a special place in Nicole's history for that
>I apologize
He knows we can mindread? Or did he figure it out on his own? Or is that just a mutual understanding moment where the mindread proc just enhances it?
>the ETF you treated
Must be still there playing dead. Wise
>It is what it is
Their fault for trying to fight him en masse, and their fault for not running away the moment they saw they were all outmatched together

>>6031405
>5% DISCOUNT
>at least 95k
Can't have shit in this City, I swear...
>accepts a keycard
1 of 3. 2 of 3 once we get Audie's from him
>you smelling worse
What? Nicole doesn't smell that bad right now. I checked.
>JU..DY?
He can just tell, can't he? Do any of the systems in there still work for identification?
>clearly practiced neutral
"Finally," Wendy must be thinking. "Something I know I can deal with."
>not sure if centipedes are able to gag or vomit
The internet says they can do both, apparently. Mostly the latter?
>after they realized you weren't immediately impaled
Well after the first open near-impalement it's only prudent they do this from here on out

>>6031406
> completely consumed by a mass
The first time I read this bit I thought he actually became one with the office like those horror art of Garfield having ate the world and become one with the surroundings, or that Dogworld stuff.
>fully melded into the chair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lar0fNuBA1U
>face
It's always the face that's intact with everybody here
>face
>soft, almost child-like
>pallid flesh
All this shit here about him and this room reminds me of joy mutants
>ELEVATED LEVELS OF C-EXTRACT
This is beyond any regular anomaly or the rest of the facility.
>fiddling with this thumbs
Must be especially stressful for a drone with how they are hardwired
>a lot clearer
I wonder if interacting with him is helping him gradually recover?
>A 50 YEAR HIATUS IS ENOUGH
I sure hope my favorite quests and series don't take one like that!

>>6031818
+1

>>6032032
Add
>There's no harm in asking him some minor questions, right? (FREE ACTION. Write in what you want to ask him.)
If you somehow manage to get out of the facility, what will you do next? And do you have a personal goal aside from getting out of the facility?

>>6032245
Now this is good, let's ask this too

>>6032245
Supporting

File: MEATMEATMEATMEATMEAT.jpg (496 KB, 1364x1044)

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God, the Manager reeks. If it wasn't for your line of work desensitizing you to these smells, you would be throwing up now. You got some questions to milk out of him though. Best to start off small so he doesn't freak out or anything; You rather not anger a dude who's body is coating every single inch of his fucking office.

[UNSTABLE] "Damn, bitch, you live-"
[CORPORATE DOUBLESPEAK] Casey immediately covers your mouth with her hand. "I apologize on my friend's behalf! Due to your inhuman nature, you shocked her! She was expecting a manager who didn't...look like an anomalous entity. Please forgive her!"

You squint at Casey but you suppose you should thank her for that. You're not wrong, though, you're glad you're not living like this slob.

"IT'S FINE." The mass of flesh gurgles. "I KNOW I HAVE LEFT MYSELF GAIN A BIT MORE WEIGHT THAN I SHOULD HAVE. IT IS WHAT IT IS."
[UNSTABLE] THAT'S NOT REALLY YOUR ISSUE HERE, YOU FUCKING LARDBALL.

Quentin is the first to actually speak up. He nervously glances towards the Manager. He's clearly trying his best not to succumb to some innate Drone instinct. <"He's not your boss. She's your boss. She's YOUR friend. Stop getting nervous."> "I don't get it, sir."

"GET WHAT? IS IT THAT UNREASONABLE I WOULD GAIN SOME WEIGHT? FEH. I'M OFFENDED, BUGMAN." Huh, so he can tell Quentin is a Drone. Interesting.

"No, nO. HoW doES no one here know tHE WAR is over? SHOULDn't you still be in CONTACT with your mother company?" He's struggling to keep his natural monotone infliction in check. "WEREn't you suppose to be contacted by them it was time to unseal?"

The main humanoid mass of flesh sitting on the chair across from you shifts forward ever so slightly. It's hard to tell what emotion is on his face because his mouth is constantly forced into a twisted sneer. "WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT? IF THE WAR IS OVER, P-CORP MUST'VE BEEN DESTROYED SINCE I HAVEN'T HEARD A THING FROM THEM IN AGES!"

"god i wish." Wendy giggles under her breath. "No, no, sir. We've been in contact with them for a while now. They're still very much active. The last time District 16 was operated by a different Company was way, way before your time.

"NO. THAT'S A LIE. I KNOW YOU'RE-" Wendy promptly cuts him off with a loud, firm cough from the back of her throat.

[CORPORATE NIGHTMARE] "Mr. Manager, I have talked to dozens on dozens of P-Company managers and administrators over the last few years. Each of them has been a slob who runs off coffee, cigarettes, and cheap shitty food. Nothing has changed, Mr. Manager, and it will never change." Wendy leans in a little bit closer to the Manager. "Get that through your head."

"OH." Tick-tock. Your pocketwatch is starting to alert you of something but before you can check it, it stops. "OH. WELL THEN. I. SUPPOSE I SHOULD'VE DONE THIS EARLIER THEN. WE LOST CONTACT MANY YEARS AGO SO- OH." Seems like the Manager is cognizant enough to immediately pick up on what's going on. "THIS IS AN ISSUE."

File: PALLIDREGRET.png (409 KB, 512x651)

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"...You do REALIZE that if your MOTHER COMPANY abandons you, they most likely FORGOT you EXISTED, correct?" There's a tinge of pity in Quentin's unnatural voice. "I can't imagine how that must feel."

"I JUST WANTED OUT. I WAITED UNTIL I HAD APPROVAL BUT I WANTED OUT ALREADY. I DIDN'T WANT TO DIE HERE, YOU KNOW?" The mass of flesh gurgles yet again. "IF THEY REALLY DID CUT COMMUNICATIONS...THAT PRESENTS AN ISSUE. OH WELL. WE'LL FACE IT WHEN WE GET THERE-"

"I-issue? ISSUE?" Wendy snarls at the Manager with barely repressed rage before she immediately snaps back to her professional persona. "Yes. There is an issue. Do you know the status above ground? Of course not. Otherwise you wouldn't be unsealing right now."

"I FAIL TO SEE THE ISSUE HERE. YOU SAID THE WAR WAS OVER. THAT MEANS IT SHOULD BE A-OKAY."

"Sir, it's raining above!" Casey chirps out with her usual sing-song tone. "Not a light shower either! It is very much enough to flood the streets and to make traversing through the District mighty hard! Now, you can be excused somewhat for this, but go ahead Wendy."

"Thank you." Wendy gives Casey a genuine smile before turning her attention back to the flesh pile. "You have about a day tops, probably way less than that, before everything here floods."
[SYNCHRONIZED MINDSETS] "And from what I saw in the Security System as well," You add onto Wendy's ramblings as if she's speaking through you. "Every anomaly will also breach. Almost 40 of them, sir. A few may be immobile tools or otherwise rooted to their spot but the rest?"
[SYNCHRONIZED MINDSETS] "They'll breach the surface. And the rain is also caused by your facility unsealing, if my boss's little pocketwatch is right. Everything within a twenty mile radius AT MINIMUM will be ravaged. Do you understand now?"

And for a moment, there's no sound. No noise. You're struggling to breath as the clock keeps on ticking. Your other allies struggle to breath as well, which makes you immediately realize that oh. There's no fucking air in here anymore. No wonder why you couldn't hear anything.

As soon as your group begins to suffocate, air immediately floods back into the Manager's office. Your group struggles to regain their breath. The whole room is now a chorus of heavy, gas mask filtered breathing until eventually your group is able to get that precious oxygen back in their system.

"FUCK. I DIDN'T QUITE ANCTIPITATE THAT. TO BE QUITE HONEST, I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH IN CASE THERE WAS SOME GOOD NEWS BUT WOW. HUH."

[BOTH UNSTABLES] "WOW MAYBE DON'T FUCKING CHOKE US WHEN YOU DO THAT THANKS." "I HAVE HALF THE MIND TO RIP YOUR FUCKING THROAT OUT AIE AIE AIE!!!" The both of you are only being held back by Quentin and Casey wrapping their arms around your shoulders, keeping you seated down.

"OH. DIDN'T KNOW I WAS DOING THAT."

The mass of flesh spread across all of the walls shrinks back ever so slightly. "OKAY UH. FUCK, UH. I DON'T. I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO FIX THIS UNSEALING THING."

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"I WAS NOT EXACTLY IN THE RIGHT STATE OF MIND WHEN I WAS DOING IT." That's not good. "I MAY HAVE ACCIDENTLY BROKEN A LOT OF THINGS ABOVE HERE." Oh that's really not good. "BUT I. FUCK. LOOK I'LL TRY MY BEST GIMME A MOMENT." Tendrils of half rotten meat begin to slither over the panel in the back of the room. They're desperately fiddling with the many buttons and switches on it.

Maybe it's just you but this is probably the most cognizant survivor you met down here. Everyone was some flavor of batshit crazy but aside from not noticing anything wrong with his physical form, he's pretty much all there. He didn't even really freak out when you told him the truth.

Casey is the next one to speak up after the Manager starts fiddling with the panel. "If you do manage to get out of the facility, what will you do next? Your current state seems rather unwieldy for any purpose aside from your excellent Manager job!"

The tapping and flicking of switches and buttons stops for a moment. "I RATHER DIE ABOVE THAN DOWN HERE. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?" He begins to tap away at the panel again. It's hard to really mindread him to see if he's telling the truth but he doesn't seem to be lying here. "I HAVE LIVED MY WHOLE LIFE HERE. IS IT SO WRONG TO WANT TO SEE THE SUN AGAIN?"

[QUEEN BEE MINDSET] "I can respect that. The best thing you can do now is look at the great blue sky before you die." An hollow buzz comes from the deepest, furthest part of Casey's throat. "Yet a damaged hive is something that cannot be tolerated. Is it worth it, sir? Damaging your own hive?"

The tapping stops for a brief moment before it picks up again. "IT WAS ALREADY DEAD WHEN WE SEALED OURSELVES DOWN HERE. WE WERE TOO COWARDLY TO FINISH THE JOB UNTIL NOW. IT CAN CRUMBLE TO THE GROUND FOR ALL I CARE BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO BURDEN THE SURFACE WITH THE BEASTS HERE. I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT." Well, that's probably all you're going to get out of this topic. Best to ask him one last thing.

"What was it like? Before this facility was sealed?" You can't help yourself. You have to know. If nothing else, it should help you down the line.

"BAD. REAL BAD. I TRIED MY BEST TO KEEP THINGS UNDER CONTROL BUT WELL, HERE'S THE ISSUE WITH KEEPING STAFF HAPPY AND SAFE IN A FACILITY LIKE THIS DURING WAR TIME. IT'S JUST." A warm, child-like gurgle oozes from the Manager. "IT'S NOT REALLY POSSIBLE. WE HAD OVER 300 PEOPLE ACROSS THE FACILITIES BUT THE EMPLOYEE TURNOVER RATE WAS 32.575% PER MONTH. IT WAS NOT SUBSTAINABLE."

"THEN WE STOPPED RECEIVING REPLACEMENT STAFF FROM P-CORP. THEY HAD TO PUT THEM IN OTHER HIGHER PRIORITY FACILITIES. EVENTUALLY THINGS BEGAN TO COLLAPSE AND SOON, I HAD TO SEAL THIS FACILITY SHUT UNTIL P-CORP WOULD SEND IN AN EXTRACTION SQUAD OR BACKUP. YOU CAN SEE HOW WELL THAT WENT."

"Don't you have a welfare HEAD?" Quentin nervously asks. "Isn't it their job to try to, uh, make people happy?"
"And accounting supposed to be in charge of keeping employee retention high?" Wendy raises an eyebrow.

"MR. BENOWITZ WAS A DEFECTIVE REJECT OF A DRONE. I DON'T THINK HE CARED ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN PROFITS. YOU COULDN'T GET THAT FUCKER TO PAY FOR A NEW PAIR OF SHOES FOR OUR EMPLOYEES, LET ALONE ANOTHER FIFTY. ALL THAT ASSHOLE CARES ABOUT IS A WAY TO GET MORE, MORE, MORE. AND FOR MR. LINTON?"

"HE WAS THE FIRST TO BREAK. HE TRIED TO USE A NOOSE BUT WE STOPPED HIM. I DON'T THINK HE'S EVEN MENTALLY THERE ANYMORE. I DUNNO. HE KEPT BLABBERING ABOUT WANTING SOMEONE TO CRY FOR HIM. TO LISTEN TO HIM." The Manager soon stops fiddling with the panel.

"OKAY. COULDN'T DO MUCH BUT I HAVE UPGRADED YOUR KEYCARD. YOU CAN NOW ACCESS EVERYTHING I CAN. THAT'S THE MOST I CAN DO." Oh, cool! "AND. HERE." The Manager spits out an odd looking earpiece onto the table. "THIS WILL. LET YOU TALK TO ME.
>RESEARCH HEAD IDupgraded! (Can unlock any door that isn't physically blocked.)
>FLESH-COVERED EARPIECE OBTAINED! (Allows for direct communication with the Manager.)

Well, that's all you can really get out of him. Before your group is about to leave, the Manager holds out a massive tendril to you.

"I HAVE A FAVOR TO ASK. I WANT YOU. TO GET ME OUT OF HERE ONCE YOU'RE DONE. I NEED YOU TO CUT THIS PIECE OF ME AND CARRY IT. I'M NOT SURE IF YOU WILL BE ABLE TO RETURN HERE ONCE THE RESEALING BEGINS. TAKE ME WITH YOU."

You stare down at the massive tendril. Some part of you is telling you that a chunk of his essence will be in this tendril. He will be able to sense and feel wherever it goes. Though some part is also telling you that so would the anomalies. You might get into a lot of hot water that you otherwise would be able to avoid if you accept.

Do you accept the Manager's flesh?
>YES. (+2 P-CORP FAVOR, +MANAGER'S FLESH PARADIGM, Your mission end reward will be increased by $555 as well. Risk level will be permanently bumped to VERY HIGH)
>REJECT THE OFFER.

Anything else you want to do with the Manager before leaving? Choose as many as you want.
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] You feel like he deserves something. Use MEMORIES OF A FORGOTTEN ERA, your old PARADIGM, to try getting something pleasant from the past for him. (WILLPOWER DC: 18, rolling 7d6 by yourself. Pass and you imagine getting some old pleasant memories back will make the Manager far happier, improving his ability to help you down the line.)
>Try to use a A-ENERGY SIPHON on him to try helping him. (-1 A-ENERGY SIPHON. You're not sure of the consequences of this but it might be the only way to unfuck his body.)
>[HARVESTING KIT] Extract some FLESH from him that hopefully won't garner too much attention if you carry it. (TALENT DC: ???, rolling 12d6 with the help of your allies. The higher you roll, the more MEAT you get from the Manager. Might offer as useful bait or bargaining chips down the line.)
>No. Just leave and check up on your allies.

Passed out before updating earlier. Should be back to normal updating scheduling.

>>6032947
Before I vote
>When we get out and this place reseals, do you think P Corp could extract everybody themselves if we call them in? There's an insane amount of A-Energy and anomalies in here along with all the Heads still alive. If J Corp lets them operate, couldn't they re-excavate a tunnel to get inside? There would be less A-Energy spilling out and ruining what's out there with only one way open.
Ask something to this effect. I'm curious that's all

>>6032996
The Manager blinks before taking a moment to think on howhe should respond. "I...DON'T SEE WHY NOT. BUT IF THEY HAVEN'T BOTHERED CHECKING UP ON US FOR DECADES, I'M NOT SURE WHY THEY WOULD START HELPING US NOW."

[CORPORATE NIGHTMARE] "From my personal experience." Wendy chimes in. "They would probably want to sweep this under the rug. For better or worse. They might just collect the A-Energy and the anomalies but nothing else."

Quentin and Casey shrug. Neither of them really have any idea what would happen if you managed to get P-Corp down here. That's all you're getting from them.

>>6032947
>>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] You feel like he deserves something. Use MEMORIES OF A FORGOTTEN ERA, your old PARADIGM, to try getting something pleasant from the past for him. (WILLPOWER DC: 18, rolling 7d6 by yourself. Pass and you imagine getting some old pleasant memories back will make the Manager far happier, improving his ability to help you down the line.)

>Try to use a A-ENERGY SIPHON on him to try helping him. (-1 A-ENERGY SIPHON. You're not sure of the consequences of this but it might be the only way to unfuck his body.)

>Try to use a A-ENERGY SIPHON on him to try helping him. (-1 A-ENERGY SIPHON. You're not sure of the consequences of this but it might be the only way to unfuck his body.)

>>6033002
Thank you. It seems getting them involved is worth it but only if we get the Heads and anomalies and PARADIGMS we care about out first. It can also be our chance to tell them the silver agents are after the REFINEMENT machines and that they are the ones behind the recent mass breaches and sabotage. We show them hard evidence of their existence and Handler backs us up, and we might gain a powerful ally or third party to be an enemy to the silver agents.

>>6032947
>YES.
I really feel for this guy. He's straightforward and has his sanity and he gives a shit. Truly a good Manager despite his flaws and fuckups. We need the extra money too, and despite the red text warning I get the strong feeling that the tendril will also unlock SPECIAL options or potential as we go through this place.

As much as I want to move onto Welfare, I STRONGLY suggest we go block that secret passage to Training. It'd be a nightmare if a bunch of breached anomalies all come up here just because they sense the Manager tendril on us. This is one mission that overachieving could end our lives on because that Training bitch's floor has TWELVE BREACHED ANOMALIES on it. C-X means hard to impossible to contain + 4-5 means high to insane damage. If it were only like a small handful of them maybe we could fight and extract from one or two? We cannot CANNOT handle a whole floor of loose WAWs and ALEPHs in Lobotomy Corp terms. Floor 5 Training is actual suicide

>Try to use a A-ENERGY SIPHON on him to try helping him. (-1 A-ENERGY SIPHON. You're not sure of the consequences of this but it might be the only way to unfuck his body.)
We have 3 of these so we can spare one. If what I suspect is correct, then this might actually give us C-Extract instead with how he's generating it and based on the pocketwatch warning.
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] You feel like he deserves something. Use MEMORIES OF A FORGOTTEN ERA, your old PARADIGM, to try getting something pleasant from the past for him. (WILLPOWER DC: 18, rolling 7d6 by yourself. Pass and you imagine getting some old pleasant memories back will make the Manager far happier, improving his ability to help you down the line.)
I want to make the attempt whether we succeed or fail. It IS the thought that counts.

I don't want to spend time harvesting from him. We have 1 MEAT BAIT but we can always get more later. Always ALWAYS more MEAT!!! to go around... But anyway what do you guys think?

>>6033020
>TWO?!
You think double A-SIPHON could get him down to our size so we don't need his tendril with us drawing aggro? Then we can simply have him walk (or office wheelchair) out with us like everybody else?

>>6033023
+1

No.6011287
COLD BLOODED INFORMANT lifts its head up for a moment. "Hmmm. Bring meeee. The heads. Of four of the glowing ones. And bring me. The head of the Manager who sealed me down here. I know he's still here. Then I'll come."
>OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE OBTAINED: KILL FOUR SILVERS AND THE MANAGER. REWARD: +COLD BLOODED INFORMANT (CONTAINED. WORTH $1000 and a J-CORP FAVOR.)
https://boards.4chan.org/qst/thread/5982952#bottom
Hmmm, how will we convince him to not want manager heads?
Also, should we kill MR. BENOWITZ for having big hands in causing the facility conditions to get so bad that the manager has to seal the facility?

>>6033059
You shouldn't +1 me yet. If the other guy's plan is to burn TWO A-Energy Siphons in the hope that it could return the Manager to normal, then I'm willing to do that.
As for INFORMANT yeah, I don't think we can kill the Manager now. Maybe the Manager himself could suggest something that could sate INFORMANT's desire for his head?
As for Benowitz, I think Quentin should tear him a new one for being a shit excuse for a drone and for a department head. Do you think recovering Benowitz alive is good enough to appease INFORMANT? If they're such good friends and similar by now?

>>6033077
>You shouldn't +1 me yet. If the other guy's plan is to burn TWO A-Energy Siphons in the hope that it could return the Manager to normal, then I'm willing to do that.
I think we don’t need to inject him with another siphon. I worry about the consequences of injecting another siphon.
>As for INFORMANT yeah, I don't think we can kill the Manager now. Maybe the Manager himself could suggest something that could sate INFORMANT's desire for his head?
>As for Benowitz, I think Quentin should tear him a new one for being a shit excuse for a drone and for a department head. Do you think recovering Benowitz alive is good enough to appease INFORMANT? If they're such good friends and similar by now?
No.6019256
>"Mr. Benowitz has all of our excess supplies hidden away in his floor. He keeps an eye on it all the time. He'll know if you arrive there. Do not hide your intentions. He's...strange." Not much to say, seems simple enough.
https://boards.4chan.org/qst/thread/5982952#bottom
I am on board with killing Benowitz for making the facility get sealed because of his greed. Maybe we can find something valuable in the Benowitz stockpile that we can give to the INFORMANT so that he will not want manager heads?

>>6033105
Even though INFORMANT is friends with him, does he know Benowitz was responsible for the sealing?

>>6033281
>Even though INFORMANT is friends with him, does he know Benowitz was responsible for the sealing?
Maybe we somehow made him confess his crime, or we can get evidence that he indirectly caused the facility to be sealed. Or both

>>6033281
Also, why does the INFORMANT want the manager head if he know Benowitz was indirectly responsible for causing the facility to be sealed?

>>6033294
I'm sticking to my vote in >>6033023 then. 1 siphon and not 2

>>6033296
He said
>The head of the Manager who sealed me down here.
But the Manager wasn't the one. I still refuse to give Manager up. There's a reason he's the Manager and that P Corp always extracts the Manager as one of the first items.

Anyway what is the plan? My loose plan is
>regroup after Manager
>seal Training passage off and never go there
>take passage to Welfare
>beat up Sin and Hateful Smiles
>recover the depressed Welfare Head Linton
>take elevator with code to Floor 6 Accounting
>rush to Accounting Head Benowitz
>kill or subjugate Benowitz
>LOOT THE FLOOR
>elevator with Audie's code to Floor 7 Extraction
>destroy Latecomer Blossom core
>confront Dreary Night Murderer
>recover the hopeless Extraction Head Naomi's relative
>abort unseal procedure
>engage reseal procedure
>GET THE FUCK OUT
We still have lots of time before full unseal happens because we've been going FAST despite accomplishing a lot. The Research lab on Floor 2 is still not looted and there's a lot of PARADIGMS still sitting there contained. The Armory boxes sealed up after we looted 2, and our now ALL ACCESS KEYCARD can authorize them to open. That's another high-value loot target we can try to backtrack to if doable. Unseal stops our time limit from getting worse but the facility will still flood due to preexisting tunnels. Reseal means our objective becomes to rush out ASAP

>>6033298
What about the training heads? Are we abandoning her? Will Clover get mad at us for abandoning her?

>[DOGMATIC MINDSET] Clover has a very simple view of the world, in no small part that he wants his simple worldview to become reality. While this is admirable in some situations, Clover is VERY stubborn and will be VERY vocal when any moral questions pop up.

>>6032947
>REJECT THE OFFER.

>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] You feel like he deserves something. Use MEMORIES OF A FORGOTTEN ERA, your old PARADIGM, to try getting something pleasant from the past for him. (WILLPOWER DC: 18, rolling 7d6 by yourself. Pass and you imagine getting some old pleasant memories back will make the Manager far happier, improving his ability to help you down the line.)
>Try to use a A-ENERGY SIPHON on him to try helping him. (-1 A-ENERGY SIPHON. You're not sure of the consequences of this but it might be the only way to unfuck his body.)
>[HARVESTING KIT] Extract some FLESH from him that hopefully won't garner too much attention if you carry it. (TALENT DC: ???, rolling 12d6 with the help of your allies. The higher you roll, the more MEAT you get from the Manager. Might offer as useful bait or bargaining chips down the line.)

Also, when we finish all the side missions, I want to announce to all other people down in the facility that we are about to start the resealed procedure. I don’t want to trap ETFs and other people in the facility. Clover will definitely get mad if we don’t do this, and we will get a lot of people pissed at us for trapping them down here.

I wonderingly, will the facility automatically announce to the whole facility that the resealed procedures will start in next X hours? Hopefully.

>>6033338
Shit you're right. How can we get the Training Head out of there willingly? Do we stealthmax and burn drone pheromones and whatever else?

>>6033383
If not, maybe the Manager can do it? We have the earpiece to him to let him know right before we do it. That would alert all living silver agents and aware anomalies too, and everybody will rush the elevators

>>6033407
I have a potential stupid idea: what if we tame or carry the "G: DOG. X0. ESOTERIC. by Nicole or friends, allies, to hopefully effect and cause the anomalies to ignore us in order to stop thinking about the dogs while we search the training heads?

There is definitely flex tape somewhere here, right?

Casey has a sentient dog gun. (MBF Model 129.) We can use the Casey dog gun to communicate and make friends with the "G: DOG. X0. ESOTERIC. to help us.

>>6033426
>>6033427
>>6033434
What if Casey can do this?
https://youtu.be/H8gaMmwaEM0

>>6033426
My understanding of the dog is that anyone who makes contact (or even mentions) the dog Dog Dog Dog woof woof Dog Dog Dog wag wag woof bark Dog Dog Dog

So how do we know that Nicole won’t be affected by Dog Dog Dog Dog Dog woof woof wag bark wag bark Dog Dog Dog

I mean we could have something in our dragon hoard of consumables that would help. I haven’t checked the pastebin in a while.

DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG

As much as the discussion is fun, the actual vote seems pretty cut and dry.

TENDRIL?
YES: 00b, dzp
DIDN'T VOTE: IZa
NO: 32V

WHAT DO WITH MANAJUH?
A-ENERGY SIPHON: IZa (wanted two), 00b, 32V
FORGOTTEN MEMORIES: ALL
HARVEST: 32V

Seems pretty cut and dry. I need two anons to roll for the following
>4d6 (first half of 7d6)
>3d6 (second half of 3d6)

>>6033786
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] From your exposure to it, you know that it completely messes up with people's thoughts. making them only able to think of DOG.
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Even you were getting your brain frazzled by the DOG.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] It's a DOG. You literally can not describe it as anything other than a DOG.
[UNSTABLE] DOG. Why DOES it want to only be referred to as a DOG?

Rolled 6, 1, 6, 2 = 15 (4d6)

>>6033866
Rolling!!!

Rolled 4, 6, 5 = 15 (3d6)

>>6033866

>>6033902
>>6033879
TOTAL: 30
That beats the DC by a large margin, good job. Time to write.

File: CAMERAACTION.jpg (109 KB, 505x720)

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The mass of undulating, rotten meat that is held in front of you fucking reeks and your head spins the longer and longer you have to look at it. Every part of you wants to fucking stab it and rip it apart and- God, you're sounding like Wendy.

Yet you want to grab it. Yet how will Wendy react if you do so?

[SYNCHORIZED MINDSET] "Just grab it. I know you already set your mind to it." Wendy tries his best to keep her cordial, polite business persona up. "Okay? I won't freak out." Seems like she's reading your mind right now. You wouldn't be shocked if she could hear you somehow.

Schizo to schizo communication aside, you hold your hand out. The rotten tendril promptly falls into your hand. It squirms around like a slug that was thrown into a giant pile of salt. You damn near throw up on the spot but you immediately feel a cooling sensation flooding through your neck.

Feh. You pocket the piece of meat.
>MANAGER'S FLESH OBTAINED! (A manager's command is absolute. Each turn, once per ally, an ally may reroll any three dice they roll for an attack or skill check they roll for. Has no other limits, may be used as often as possible. They smell it, you know?)
>RISK LEVEL SET TO VERY HIGH!

Well then. You got two things to do before you leave. You fiddle around with your inventory until you pull out the first PARADIGM you ever got: An old camcorder that's completely coated in soot and ash. The Manager immediately senses that it's not just an ordinary camera. He leans his main humanoid mass of flesh over to take a closer look at it.

"Just stand still like that." Kiara would help you with this but alas, you just have to rawdog this. You fiddle with a few buttons on the camera in an attempt to turn it on. It does have a mind of its own so you're not sure how well you can overpower it...

>30!

You barely have to fiddle with it for longer than a few seconds before it bends to your will. The camera crackles to life with an off-putting, distorted crackle. The footage being recorded is drenched in the same sepia tone it always records shit in. The Manager being recorded is no longer a massive pile of pallid flesh that has spread across the wall and ceiling of the containment cell.

Instead, there's a very chubby and rotund man in a simple patchwork suit and tie. His dark hair is a sweaty, slicked back mess that's soaked in some sort of thick grease. His big, puffy cheeks are the main dominating aspect of his face; The rest of his face is hard to make out thanks to how small his nose is and how sunken in his eyes are.

A few unidentified androids in secretary uniforms are roaming around the small (now cleaned) office to fiddle with filing cabins and piles of paperwork on the Manager's desk. One of them is even resting against the Manager's side, wrapping her arm around his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

You envy him. The fact he had someone to comfort him like that is- Feh. You can worry about that later.

File: SPIRALSPIRALSPIRAL.jpg (79 KB, 720x718)

79 KB JPG

You turn the camcorder around so that the Manager can see it for himself. You lean back in your chair while you wait to see how he reacts.

Another meaty tendril from the piles of meat all around the office moves over to pick it up. The mass of flesh stares at the footage being recorded by MEMORIES OF A FORGOTTEN ERA, trying his best to process what's going on. No one else in the room really wants to interrupt him as he watches the old memories being broadcasted.

"CATHY. ANGELICA. 2198. IT'S. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I THOUGHT OF THEM." The mass of flesh undulates and squirms for a moment before dropping the camera back into your hand. The flesh lining the walls and ceiling is slowly retreating back to the main body that's sitting across from you. "It's been so long since I remembered their names. IT'S SO EASIER TO USE LETTERS, NUMBERS, YOU KNOW."

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] You're not an expert on how humans that have transformed into anomalies work but it seems that their physical form is reliant on their own state of mind.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] This conversation. That memory. It appears that this PARADIGM you have is tailor made to reverse these specific kinds of anomalies.
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] The man you obtained this PARADIGM from turned into an anomaly after he reached his lowest point. Perhaps he doesn't wish for others to share his fate.

"Oh! It is an efficient mean of categorizing employees, sir! See, 19344 was the number assigned to me!" Casey's smile wavers for a moment. "It's good you remember their names still."

"NICK." Quentin groans out for a moment before realizing that he just used a nickname for you. He makes an awkward noise in the back of his throat before he speaks up again. "UH. NICOLE. YOU HAVE one of those SIPHON thiNGs, right?" Ah! You snap your fingers before nodding approvingly at Quentin.

You pull the A-ENERGY SIPHON out of your pocket and slam it right down onto the desk. It's a small cylinder-shaped device made out of a simple red and black plastic. It has a small nozzle poking out the top of it that seems to be made to suck in air whenever it's on. You press the button on the top of it to see what happens.

The first thing you notice is how you feel an intense, almost painful tingling throughout your whole body as the device activates. Especially in your antlers, those things are starting to BURN now. You collapse in the back of your chair but you keep your eyes focused on the Manager.

Your allies promptly get out of their chairs, worried about your condition, but your attention isn't focused on them right now. The Manager is having a far worse reaction to it than you are. His whole body has gone limp and it almost immediately smashes into the table. Your allies back away as far from him as they can while still being close enough to keep an eye on you.

Flesh and bone shifts across his pallid form. The meat all over the office is violently slurped back up into his body with a disgusting, wet SLORP.

File: BLOODYAFTERMATH.jpg (14 KB, 220x229)

14 KB JPG

As soon as his body begins to change, it suddenly stops. The A-ENERGY SIPHON lets out a small little electronic chirp before frying under the strain of what it was trying to do.
>-1 A-ENERGY SIPHON

The Manager laying behind the table is now a lot more humanoid than he was before. The tall, hairless naked figure before you has a heavy layer of fat covering his whole frame. The twisted smile on his face has healed somewhat, revealing a pair of yellow and blooded teeth. His pallid skin has regained a bit of color but not nearly enough to be healthy.

Most of the mass that was spread around has condensed into his left arm and his gut. His arm is about as big and bulky as your whole body and his gut is pinning him to his chair. The sheer amount of weight means he's still not exiting the office anytime soon...

Yet he's clearly on the path of recovery now that all of his mass has been condensed into a single humanoid form instead of just being spread out literally everywhere like meat soup.

"HOO. I need some TIME to BREATH. PLEASE." His eyes are now actually visible underneath his pile of flesh. A set of bright orange irises peers through his sunken in eye sockets. "PLEASE." A deep, guttural groan echoes throughout the room as he struggles to regain his breath.

"Y-yeah, sure." Wendy's smile begins to waver. She moves to grab the A-ENERGY SIPHON before promptly rushing out of the office. The rest of your group scramble out of the office, leaving the partially recovered Manager behind."

Your group doesn't stop until they're back at the hub area on the third floor. Now, any survivors who were still around have stopped struggling. The chorus of moans, grunts, and cries of pain has been completely silenced. The only thing that's out of place amongst the corpses is the fact that the ETF you helped to heal is gone now.

[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] She's still in the facility for whatever reason. You know this to be certain.
[PERSON OF INTEREST] Smart. She waited until nobody alive was around until she moved. Just in case anyone was watching.

Time to check up on your other allies. You do have an upgraded keycard so there's no real reason to stay here unless you absolutely have to. You flick your head for a moment to try getting rid of the residue static flooding your antlers. Wendy promptly hands you over an odd canister that was inside the fried A-ENERGY SIPHON.

>+2 DEGRADED C-EXTRACT CANISTERS (The dull orange fluid is not like anything you've seen before. You might be able to sell it for a decent profit but not nearly as much as the real deal.)
>(When consumed, boosts WILLPOWER, COGNIZANCE, and RESTRAINT by a random amount between 0-2 for a limited time at the cost of taking 3 FLESH DAMAGE.)

Interesting. You pocket those for now.

As the four of you head down the westmost hallway, you swear you heard some sort of struggle going on but you're not sure what it could be. Your allies prepare their weapons just in case they need to fight.

File: SOMEONEISTHERE.png (953 KB, 736x976)

953 KB PNG

Hopefully you don't have to. though. Fighting is a necessity, not something you actively look out for. The hallway you stumble into looks like any other but there's a small airlock at the very end of the hallway. Next to it is a dispenser that seems to dispense A-Energy boxes. The sign above it that has a simple diagram of an employee turning on the dispenser, grabbing a box that comes out, then entering the airlock.

The REFINEMENT AIRLOCK is open. Clover, Kiara, and Naomi are standing far away from it with a tense and...disgusted look on their faces. None of them seem to want to be anywhere near it. They don't even seem to notice your group either.
>-2 RESTRAINT TO CLOVER, KIARA, AND NAOMI!
>CLOVER: 2/5 RESTRAINT, NAOMI: 3/5 RESTRAINT, KIARA: 3/5 RESTRAINT

https://youtu.be/gBHeUYrPOO4 - REFINEMENT

W-what the fuck is that noise? You can't even begin to comprehend the noise coming out of the REFINEMENT ROOM. There's the grinding of gears, the chugging of some sort of engine, and the crunching of something hard but that's about all that you can analyze before it just becomes static in your mind. Every few moments, the gears screech to a halt before an ear-piercing alarm blares throughout the opened airlock.

Then, it starts up again to what you can only assume is it's natural 'operational procedure'. Grinding, crunching, chugging, screaming. Grinding, crunching, chugging, screaming. Every once in a while, you hear something bubbling like something blowing bubbles in a drink with a straw or a hiss of high pressure steam coming from inside there.

A figure steps out from the opened REFINEMENT airlock. It's Audie! His eyes have glazed over and all of the paper-like chitin on his body has flared up, as if he's ready for a fight, but he's otherwise perfectly fine.

"Hey." Kiara's electronic voice box buzzes with an unusually quiet and demure tone. "We secured it. Wasn't too hard to deal with the figures down there."
"I thought I was desensitized to seeing that kind of stuff but..." Naomi mutters under her breath.
"This facility disgusts me." Clover spits out. Whatever he saw there pulled on his JUSTICE-fueled heart but he doesn't seem like he's in the mood to talk about it. "And I thought I liked P-Corp."

[PERSON OF INTEREST] You know that whatever Singularity P-Corp has in that room, you probably shouldn't check it out for yourself.
[UNSTABLE + SEEKER OF THE CITY] Yet you want to know as well.

Audie has a head held in one of his many arms. Given that the neck stump is leaking a bright blue fluid and the fact it's wearing shades, you know it to be a SPOOK. He promptly tosses the head over to you.
>+SPOOK HEAD! (A memento.)

"We scared off the rest." Audie chitters through clenched teeth. "I subdued the machine for a bit. It'll sleep for now. It is of no use to anyone for the time being." Well, it seems that despite them being shaken by whatever happened down there, they've secured it for now at least.

>Party has been reunited! All allies are now affected by Naomi's stat boosting BOON!
>OTHER ALLIES' RESTRAINT: AUDIE IS 5/5, CASEY IS 3/4, WENDY IS 5/5, QUENTIN IS 4/5

"Let's go. Please." Kiara tries her best to smile. It's anything but convincing.

Where do you go now, Nicole?
>[UNSTABLE] HEAD INTO THE REFINEMENT ROOM. YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE THERE. (Who knows what's in there?)
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Go back to Floor 2. Try to obtain that DOG to hide your SCENT. It should be easy enough to contain.
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Head straight to Floor 7. It would be better to do all of this extra stuff once you've made sure this place won't flood immediately.
>[QUENTIN ALLY] Go to Floor 6. You have a feeling he'll be able to get through with the HEAD down there. (Should be safe, given nothing is breached there.)
>[CLOVER ALLY] "We're going to Floor 5." Clover hisses through his clenched teeth. "I don't want to leave her behind." Agree. Go down there, despite your better judgement. (Will be VERY difficult but may provide a LOT of extra reward.)
>[CASEY ALLY] Go to Floor 4. Perhaps Casey's charm will be enough to help him get out of his rut? (Probably the easiest keycard to get.)
>Split up the party again. You'll cover more ground this way. (Write in. Pick two choices. You may specifically assign which allies go where or just let the QM decide who goes where.)
>Write in.

Do you want to do anything with your unnerved allies? Pick one.
>You have some time to kill. Talk to your allies for a moment. Try to calm down them. (Choose one ALLY to comfort. They'll heal 2 RESTRAINT and gain +1 MAX RESTRAINT for the rest of the mission.)
>Focus your attention on Clover. Get his mind focused elsewhere. (-1 charge on SEEKER OF JUSTICE. Clover heals to 6/6 RESTRAINT but he can't use SEEKER OF JUSTICE for a while.)
>"Hey, uh, Casey! Do the cute thing you normally do!" (CHARM DC: ??, rolling Casey's 5d6 charm by herself. For every 5 points she rolls, a random ally heals 1 RESTRAINT.)
>Give your allies some JOYVEL. That should be enough. (-2 JOYVEL PILLS, leaving you with none. Choose two allies to heal 1 RESTRAINT.)
>They can handle themselves for now. Casey's normal upbeat attitude should help them perk back up.
>Write in.

Should be the last repost. Nearly forgot to account for Quentin having both ELITE SPOOK and Naomi's boon active.

>>6034188
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Go back to Floor 2. Try to obtain that DOG to hide your SCENT. It should be easy enough to contain.
We need Casey dogs gun with us.
>Floor 2
>Research
>"E: MUSHROOM DREAMS. B0. NOTHING TO NOTE, APPROVED FOR ALL EMPLOYEES TO INTERACT WITH. LOW ENERGY EITHER WAY. USE WHEN YOU NEED A BREAK."
Free Restraints heal for entire team?

>You have some time to kill. Talk to your allies for a moment. Try to calm down them. (Choose one ALLY to comfort. They'll heal 2 RESTRAINT and gain +1 MAX RESTRAINT for the rest of the mission.)
Clover

>>6032928
>"Damn, bitch, you live-"
:^)
>innate Drone instinct
Still so much about drones we don't know
>tell Quentin is a Drone
Very interesting detail
>natural monotone inflection in check
Is that part of his bodyjacking that he can alter that? I assume he reverts to the drone monotone the more the bodies decay
>god i wish
Does she know?

>>6032933
>can't imagine
Are you sure about that, Quentin?
>genuine smile
Nice interaction between them on top of earlier
>[BOTH UNSTABLES]
SCHIZO AND SCHIZO INDIGNATION
>DIDN'T KNOW
Is he aware he's anomalous now?

>>6032938
>most cognizant survivor
Something in the Admin syringe P Corp supplies. Something that grants the anomalous perception that also confers high resistance
>mindread him
We can't mindread anomalies or too far gone anomalous people. Looks to be a hard rule of Nicole's power
>the deepest, furthest part of Casey's throat
A place only reached by consumables, doctors, emergency breathing tubes, and Manager cock
>DIDN'T WANT TO BURDEN THE SURFACE
This might be the most forthright and upstanding guy we've seen all quest

>>6032947
>DEFECTIVE REJECT
Sounds like a job for Quentin
>WANTING SOMEONE TO CRY FOR HIM
So That No One Will Cry...
>ID upgraded!
All access means we have the POWER
>FLESH-COVERED EARPIECE
I wonder if that'll remain after the mission?

>>6034171
>reading your mind
Nah she's not anomalous. Just schizo understanding is all
>cooling sensation
What was that?
>MANAGER'S FLESH
GODLIKE EFFECT
>rawdog this
A photo right after Nicole took Manager's long meaty tentacle in his office? Hot. The thought of Kiara "helping" Nicole is even hotter.
>patchwork suit and tie
The P Corp classic
>jealous
>someone to comfort him
You'll get someone too, Nicole. Not yet but one day, maybe soon

>>6034172
>CATHY
Who?
>ANGELICA
...
>tailor made to reverse
Never giving this up, not with so many people becoming SHIFTERS lately
>19344
Same as in MANAGER HELP!
>used a nickname
CUTE

>>6034173
>still not exiting the office anytime soon
There goes the plan to wheel him out
>path of recovery
Who knows how this act will affect things?
>bright orange irises
Anomalous, maybe SHIFTER?
>ETF
Wonder if she'll find the one that left after the silver elite?
>+2 DEGRADED C-EXTRACT CANISTERS
Can we weaponize it and kill someone with that 3 FLESH damage? That'd be an interesting use

>>6034176
>a necessity
I love how Nicole has developed from thread 1
>simple diagram
Like the one in the Lobotomy Corp manual and artbook?
>REFINEMENT
They're never going to forget what they saw even after they die, but they can endure it. Also Wendy thought the "mystery survivor" from Floor 1 was hiding in there before. Guess she was part right, huh?
>+SPOOK HEAD
1 of 4 for INFORMANT. There are now 4 spooks left in the facility, plus 2 on surface.
>scared off the rest
Worth it. Those spooks had beelined to REFINEMENT offscreen. INFORMANT was right.
But the question now is how many were "scared off"? We didn't see any on the way here. Did they slip to one of the passages?

>>6034265
I'm more interested in hitting Floor 7 and getting the unseal aborted to stop the flooding, then work our way back upward to handle the rest. Lower RESTRAINT on party thanks to the REFINEMENT mindfuck can help us take on Dreary Night Murderer safer with easier irrationality reached. We have RESEARCH ID and Audie's SECURITY ID. After we win over Naomi's relative that's the 3 IDs we need to abort unseal. I think triggering reseal is separate and needs authorization too, so as long as Manager is our ally to cockblock any attempts remotely and as long as we have the majority of IDs on us, nobody else not even glownigs can go behind our backs to trigger reseal. And that's if the agents can even reach Floor 7 on their own

>>6034312
Okay
>>6034265
Change
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Head straight to Floor 7. It would be better to do all of this extra stuff once you've made sure this place won't flood immediately.
>They can handle themselves for now. Casey's normal upbeat attitude should help them perk back up.

>>6034367
+1
I hope I'm not making a mistake with this, but it feels like the best course of action. We won't have the "this place is flooding, you gotta help us and get out" leverage over the Heads anymore, but there's still enough danger and possibility of freedom that the Heads will still help us. For now REFINEMENT is ok, but we need to kill the silver agents to prevent them swarming the place later

>>6034188
>>[CLOVER ALLY] "We're going to Floor 5." Clover hisses through his clenched teeth. "I don't want to leave her behind." Agree. Go down there, despite your better judgement. (Will be VERY difficult but may provide a LOT of extra reward.)

>>6034188
This is a tough one. I think DOG might be a good investment but... hmmm. We also need to figure if we are going after Dreary right now, since lower restraint is needed to tackle him, apparently. Regardless, I think we need to save the JOYVAL for Nicky, just in case she has to push herself into the danger zone.

>>6034307
We killed that Elite Spook, right? Doesn't his head count, even if it is currently filled with Quentin?

>>6034646
>Doesn't his head count
No, because it is occupied by Quentin
Also bear in mind DOG is on the same floor as the Armory (which we can loot the last 2 quality boxes in with the ALL ACCESS KEYCARD) and the Research Lab (which has LOTS OF PARADIGMS in the back that we did not loot).
>save the JOYVAL for Nicky
We have other ways to regenerate RESTRAINT. ARCADY DUST which we only have 1 of heals 3 RESTRAINT for example. I'm more worried about those 4 other spooks still loose in the facility. They can't go after REFINEMENT now that we had Audie "secure it" for us, and that was their primary goal here. With that cockblocked for the time being, who knows what they'll do next when we aren't looking?

>>6034188
>[QUENTIN ALLY] Go to Floor 6. You have a feeling he'll be able to get through with the HEAD down there. (Should be safe, given nothing is breached there.)
>"Hey, uh, Casey! Do the cute thing you normally do!" (CHARM DC: ??, rolling Casey's 5d6 charm by herself. For every 5 points she rolls, a random ally heals 1 RESTRAINT.)

>>6034188
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Go back to Floor 2. Try to obtain that DOG to hide your SCENT. It should be easy enough to contain.
DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG

>You have some time to kill. Talk to your allies for a moment. Try to calm down them. (Choose one ALLY to comfort. They'll heal 2 RESTRAINT and gain +1 MAX RESTRAINT for the rest of the mission.)
Clover

>Give your allies some JOYVEL. That should be enough. (-2 JOYVEL PILLS, leaving you with none. Choose two allies to heal 1 RESTRAINT.)
Naomi and Kiara. Can Kiara even take pills?

PERSON OF INTEREST: dzp, kFY
QUENTIN ALLY: I5e
ANOMALOUS ABILITIES: xAm
CLOVER: 32V

THEY CAN HANDLE THEMSELVES: kFY, dzp
CASEY: I5e,
TIME TO KILL: xAm
JOYVEL: xAm

Seems like PERSON OF INTEREST + THEY CAN HANDLE THEMSELVES barely wins out. We'll go with it. Writing.

>>6034724
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] You know that androids can drink and eat as a short term replacement for their usual fuel sources or as a supplement to their normal fuel sources. Though they vastly prefer electricity or more industrial fuel sources.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] That and the average android typically has enough charge to not need to refuel for a while.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] Maybe Joyvel would work but you can't stitch metal back together or slather weird creams onto her to patch her up.

File: CRAMMEDELEVATOR.jpg (40 KB, 500x250)

40 KB JPG

[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Their poor mental state will help with the murderer. Don't bother.
[UNSTABLE] Your legs begin to move on their own. Something that open airlock is luring you closer and closer to it.
[HIGH RESTRAINT] NO! You pull back away from it. No. You can't. You shake your head in an attempt to clear that weird impulse from your psyche

Fuck. The hell is inside that room? As you listen to it one last time before you start commanding your allies, you can't begin to describe what you hear. It's like someone recorded themselves skinning a cat alive and they reversed the sound before playing it back. And there shouldn't be anyone there. What could be making that sound?

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] You do want to learn about more Singularities, if only out of sheer curiosity, but you're fine skipping this one.

"We're moving. Now. We can't stay around here." You have two keycards, you can probably get the last one from Naomi's relative, you can LEAVE. The longer you're down here, the more risk you put yourself and your allies into. Especially after you accepted the Manager's FLESH.

A snarl crosses Clover's face. "Where? There's four floors we haven't checked, ya gotta actually SAY WHERE WE'RE FUCKING GOING-" Clover immediately goes quiet after realizing he was starting to yell at you. "Sorry."
Naomi and Kiara don't really get onto him. <"Can't blame him."> <"They were feeding someone into that damnable thing. It wasn't even fun to watch."

You rather not ask for any context. "It's fine. I know you had a rough time in there, let's just try to not think about that machine for a bit. Seventh floor. No point trying to save anyone else or loot the other floors if this place ends up like the Infinite Sea." What point is there to trying to do a dozen side missions if the main mission is made impossible, you know?

Naomi, Clover, Kiara and Audie nod and murmur with tentative agreement. Your other allies glance over at you, as if they're unsure if those four should come with. You rather not leave them here to stew in their own miserable thoughts so you simply nod, gesturing at your group to follow you.

You and your seven allies promptly heads back over to the elevator in the center of the third floor. It takes a solid moment to figure out how to get everyone inside of it. Clover solves the issue by putting Casey onto his back, adding just enough space for all eight of you to get inside. Sure, Kiara's face is being stuffed against your stomach and Wendy's elbow is jabbing into your side but fuck it, you're on a time limit here.

[PERSON OF INTEREST] That and you rather not have an ally get ambushed down there. This isn't a teleporter, it takes time to go up and down. Who knows what could happen in between those precious minutes?

The next couple of minutes are fucking agony and there's not even a bit of small talk to break the silence. You can only hope things get better before they get worse. Down, down, down you go.

File: DARKYETSODARK.png (114 KB, 900x563)

114 KB PNG

The eight of you promptly spill out of the elevator. Your group is finally able to breath. Let's see where you found yourself at.

https://youtu.be/TTpm5BWQm9Q - EXTRACTION

Ah. This ain't good. The first thing that you notice how you're standing in a knee-deep pool of red and brown contaminated water that reeks of blood and dirt. And it's still rising. It's slow for now but you can tell this place will probably be the first to be fully flooded.

The second thing is the large root-like tendrils of raw meat crawling along the walls and ceiling of the hallway you're in. They remind you of the roots you'd see on big, bulky trees that you saw on old O-Corp advertisements. Whatever anomaly these things are coming from, it must be MASSIVE.

An odd smile crosses Naomi's face as she takes a deep, deep whiff of the scent in the air. "Reminds me of home. Smells like Grandmother."

"Wait, grandmother?" Audie is the first one to pick up on what Naomi said. "You're a Wischard too?"
"That doesn't make sense." Kiara chuckles with obvious skepticism. "A mom, sure, but you're like...70 something, right? How the hell could your GRANDMOTHER be alive?"
"No one here should still be alive to begin with." Wendy chitters out. "Their LIVES were prolonged, decaying in their own anomalous filth. She's much the same at this point."

"Shhh." Quentin and Casey raise their fingers up to their mouths in unison. "You'll-" "ALERT THE CREATURES-" "Down here~!"

There's only one way forward. Seems like this facility's elevator arrived at the end of a long, long, LONG hallway. Thankfully it's wide enough so your group doesn't have to go single file but it's cold comfort at this point. The water has already soaked DEEP into your pants and boots, you're absolutely going to need to lay out in the sun for a while after this. Not like your allies are handling this any better.

The sound of water sloshing around as your group moves around down here is ear piercingly loud given how quiet this floor is.

[PERSON OF INTEREST] It's not our fault, we arrived here as quickly as we could, but sneaking around here is going to be impossible. However, no one can sneak around us either.
[UNSTABLE] COLD FUCKING COMFORT.

...This hallway is a lot longer than you expected. You've been traveling around here for about ten minutes now and there seems to be no end in sight. And you swear that there should be more of those roots but no, they're gone now. Your allies quickly begin to pick up on this and immediately turn around to ask Audie about it.

Right before he can say anything, you hear someone approaching your group. Your MAKESHIFT POCKETWATCH goes apeshit and you move to check up on it.

"INSIDE OF ANOMALY DOMAIN. INFINITE SPATIAL LOOP. CAN ONLY CEASE UPON THE NEUTRALIZATION OF THE ANOMALY OR IF THE ANOMALY DISPELS IT."

"Shit, I think I know who that is." Audie's body is trembling in fear, causing his body to make a similar rustling sound like papers being flipped through.

File: SHADOWYFIGURE.png (142 KB, 500x672)

142 KB PNG

"I always hated when I had to recontain this anomaly. He never breached that often but when he did..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgyt-kiVwG4 - DREARY NIGHT MURDERER

"Hello, sweethearts~!" A voice as cold as the water you're standing in echoes throughout the seemingly endless hallway. You turn around to see who's there. A man who's completely out of place of a facility like this stands before your group with a casual, carefree smile on his face.

A tall tophat is gently hanging off of his head. A long, jet black overcoat made out of the finest of silks hangs loosely over his buly, tall and imposing figure. His hands are hidden away under a pair of fine velvet gloves. The rest of his outfit is too obscured by the knee-high water and his long jetblack overcoat for you to be certain on what you saw but it's likely he has a dress shirt and pair of dress pants on.

He looks like any other ordinary man to you. There's no real identifying features to him aside from his outfit. He's not even holding anything in his hands-

[UNSTABLE] You fucking dumbass! He has a knife in his hand! How are you not noticing this?!

You blink a few times. You somehow missed the fact there is actually a long hunting knife being held in his left hand. DREARY MIDNIGHT MURDERER doesn't seem to notice that you noticed his knife as he's still chatting along with your allies. His mouth is now filled to the brim with razor sharp teeth that reminds you of a HARVESTER's.

All of them, except for Quentin and Casey, are visibly uncomfortable with the anomaly standing before them. Seems like your other allies have enough mental damage or issues done to them to bypass whatever perception filter he has around himself.

"So. I can see that you eight somehow got lost down here. Not sure how, there's really only two directions to go~!" He coos out in a sing-song tone. "Well, that's fine. You can call me by what the facility heads called me: DREARY NIGHT EXPLORER. I'm here to help you, you see~!" He takes a step closer to your group. His mouth is going ear to ear now, showing off all of his lovely teeth. "Just let me lead the way~!"

"Oh! Sure, sir. I do have to say, that name sounds oddly familiar! I thought someone mentioned another anomaly with a name like yours." Casey scratches at her chin. She should've remembered his actual name, it was told to her less than an hour ago.
"OH. WELL THAT WOULD BE SWELL. SEE, WE HAVE BEEN QUITE lost, sir." Quentin bows towards the anomaly.

"Excellent~! Now, how about you?" His gaze immediately shifts over to you. "You seem to be their boss. I suppose you simply...smell different, eheheh~!" A deep, guttural chuckle echoes throughout the walls of the hallway you're trapped in with him. Shit, must've been the Manager's Flesh that tipped him off.

Your other allies are waiting for your instructions. Even though Casey and Quentin are compromised, they can't really do anything too harmful right now.

How do you want to handle the anomaly?
>Keep the voices in your head quiet, play along for now. Lure him into a false sense of security before pumping some anti-anomaly rounds into him.(WILLPOWER DC: 26, rolling 8d6 by yourself. Pass and you'll be able to trick him for long enough to incapicate him, letting your group explore further without further struggle.)
>[WENDY ALLY + DISASSOCIATION] Summon Sable. Tell Wendy it's time to party. You can always capture the dog later for an anomaly to sell back. (-2 RESTRAINT, +1 RAPPORT WITH WENDY, COMBAT ENCOUNTER WITH DREARY MIDNIGHT MURDERER STARTS! Casey and Quentin will snap out of it thanks to your power. Beat him and you'll be freed from the domain, allowing you to explore further.)
>[CLOVER ALLY + PERSON OF INTEREST] "Listen here, pal. P-Corp is coming here soon. J-Corp and some feds too. You're going to be ratted out." He's a murderer with a perception field, he should be spooked easily. (CHARM DC: 24 (-2 from SUGAR RUSH), rolling 6d6 with Clover's help. Pass and you'll convince him just enough to let him be captured in you, earning you a juicy reward down the line.)
>[KIARA ALLY + A-ENERGY SIPHONS] "Distract him." You whisper to Kiara. Turn on your last two A-Energy Siphons and hope to god it'll dispel the domain. (-2 A-ENERGY SIPHONS, TALENT DC: 34, rolling 10d6 with Kiara's distraction. Pass and you'll dispel the domain, scaring off the anomaly and weakening the other anomaly that you know is down here.)
>[NAOMI ALLY] Despite the fact she can see through his illusions, Naomi is smiling ear to ear. "You're an interesting fellow. Let's talk, killer to killer." (VIOLENCE DC: 18 (-2 from SPOOK SHADES), rolling 5d6 with you assisting Naomi. Succeed and the anomaly will be impressed enough to teach Naomi some tricks of his trade, improving her abilities down the line and causing the anomaly to back down.)
>[AUDIE ALLY] "You already know we know your trick. Why bother? Do you think you'll win this fight again?" Let Audie talk to an old foe of his. (WILLPOWER + RESTRAINT DC: ???, rolling 10d6 with Audie's RESTRAINT and WILLPOWER combined. For every 8 points you roll, the more the domain will weaken and the more the anomaly will hesitate to stick around. Roll high enough and you might earn some unique information and items from the anomaly.)
>Fuck it, shit is going to be rough down here. Take a REFINED ZANAL. (FREE ACTION, -1 REFINED ZANAL, leaving you with one. Vastly improves your odds, turning KIARA ALLY into a 11d8, PLAY ALONG into a 9d8, and CLOVER ALLY into a 7d8. REFINED ZANALs are pretty rare and you're not sure if you'll get any more soon.)
>Write in.

>>6035208
>[HIGH RESTRAINT]
This rarely procs. That alone tells me we might have done good to dodge checking REFINEMENT
>LEAVE
But the loot, the big money... we've done extremely well so far!
>starting to yell
2 RESTRAINT sucks, but he needs to balance himself. We need him for what's next
>Casey onto his back
This is a cute moment in between the horrors
>isn't a teleporter
We can't stack 20 guys in one elevator ready to murder any anomaly that enters, or jump rope a death ray or giant appendages

>>6035209
>knee-deep
>still rising
Holy shit I was fucking right. Imagine if we couldn't even make it to the console to do anything because the entire floor is underwater. That'd be complete mission failure. Of course water always flows to the bottom
>red and brown
As long as we can see where we're walking, it's OK. Losing footing in here is bad news
>MASSIVE
A big core is a bigger target
>Shhh.
Their synergy together is one of the brightest parts of the entire mission
>LONG hallway
The upside is we have long-distance visibility of anything else too
>water has already soaked DEEP
We all need to dry off someplace after this. Maybe Welfare or Accounting might have a heat-generating anomaly or PARADIGM? Starting a fire down here is a bad idea with how enclosed everything is
>arrived here as quickly
Could have been much faster at the expense of other objectives or supplies, but everything we did was worth sidetracking to do
>ANOMALY DOMAIN
Interesting how despite Latecomer's Blossom also being an anomaly, Dreary can override the meat roots with his own will and anomalous power

>>6035210
>never breached that often
A4. "A" for never or very rarely breaching, extremely easy to contain. "4" for major damage potential.
>too obscured by the knee-high water
He's not powerful enough to warp the area to get rid of the water. He's also as affected by the water level as we are. We could use that against him
>not noticing this?!
Serious perception altering effect
>noticed his knife
Nicole is at high RESTRAINT and she still broke through the perception warp. Granted that's because of UNSTABLE
>reminds you of a HARVESTER's
Makes me wonder how he and Harvester employees got along back when this facility was booming
>All of them, except for Quentin and Casey
I'M RIGHT AGAIN!
Casey 3/4 and Quentin 4/5 still isn't enough for them, so they need to run support. Simply being affected by the filter means they cannot damage Dreary, based on the dead man's note. Or Dreary just suffers less from them?
>should've remembered
It goes further than mere perception, good to know
>you're trapped in with him
Wrong. HE'S trapped in with US

>>6035216
>[WENDY ALLY + DISASSOCIATION] Summon Sable. Tell Wendy it's time to party. You can always capture the dog later for an anomaly to sell back. (-2 RESTRAINT, +1 RAPPORT WITH WENDY, COMBAT ENCOUNTER WITH DREARY MIDNIGHT MURDERER STARTS! Casey and Quentin will snap out of it thanks to your power. Beat him and you'll be freed from the domain, allowing you to explore further.)
Get Wendy RAPPORT up, sate her anti-anomaly bloodlust, AND we might find out about that "reward" the dead man hinted. As a reminder:
>"Floor 7, Anomaly OMEGA. A4 class entity. Can only be harmed by those without rationality. Those with too much rationality will be hunted down. Told them to exterminate it. I know it wants my head. If someone finds my corpse and read this: Please, kill it. Kill it to free all of us. We'll pay you later."
>"That's all she wrote. How the hell can you pay someone if you're dead?"
Though Clover+POI and Naomi options sound very delicious in the rewards there. But personally? Fuck this guy, I want to drown him in the contaminated water

>>6035228
>Sable: +2 VIOLENCE and -1 MAX RESTRAINT. If sent to haunt someone, they lose all control over their actions and will begin attacking everything nearby.
We can handle the -1 MAX RESTRAINT for everyone until this fucker's dead in the gutter, but then soon after after we're absolutely sure he's dead we need to pass out the pills and prepare for anybody almost panicking.

>>6035228 #
+1
>"kill it. Kill it to free all of us."
I think he has the power to keep someone's soul that he kills. or trapping the victim in his anomaly domain forever and can’t die. (Project Moon Love Train fate?) We absolutely definitely need to kill this anomalies entity to free the souls or victims he keeps.

>>6035239
+1

>>6035241
If this is true, then Clover WILL NEVER ALLOW him to keep the victims and souls in his possession. I extremely doubt we can convince Clover to not kill this guy without getting heavily negative rapport.

>[DOGMATIC MINDSET] Clover has a very simple view of the world, in no small part that he wants his simple worldview to become reality. While this is admirable in some situations, Clover is VERY stubborn and will be VERY vocal when any moral questions pop up.

Also, we haven’t told Clover that we cheating (against other cheaters and against him in card games) the games in his casino. We must admit to Clover that we cheated the games when opportunities opened.
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/5893937/

>>6035241
>power to keep someone's soul
>trapping the victim in his anomaly domain forever
I never thought of that. It's good that you noticed this
>anomalies entity
Hey ESL retard, I don't know where you're from or whatever but that is not one term, nor is it plural-singular like that

>>6035260
We still don't know if that's true or not, but I think Clover is aware Dreary is a horrific murderer. "Murderer" is not in his full anomaly name for nothing. If you mean the option to get Dreary to be paranoid and box himself to escape the law, then I assume it's because Clover is fine with him being contained if Dreary can't kill anybody then? If what you're saying is true and Dreary makes it clear that soul-taking is what he does to his victims, then Clover will JUSTICE his way through the post-REFINEMENT distress to help us fight.

>>6035268
That's best done later at higher RAPPORT. Maybe he'll begrudgingly forgive us once he knows his casino men were cheating first, and we played honestly until we found out?

>>6035216
>>[WENDY ALLY + DISASSOCIATION] Summon Sable. Tell Wendy it's time to party. You can always capture the dog later for an anomaly to sell back. (-2 RESTRAINT, +1 RAPPORT WITH WENDY, COMBAT ENCOUNTER WITH DREARY MIDNIGHT MURDERER STARTS! Casey and Quentin will snap out of it thanks to your power. Beat him and you'll be freed from the domain, allowing you to explore further.)

>Fuck it, shit is going to be rough down here. Take a REFINED ZANAL. (FREE ACTION, -1 REFINED ZANAL, leaving you with one. Vastly improves your odds, turning KIARA ALLY into a 11d8, PLAY ALONG into a 9d8, and CLOVER ALLY into a 7d8. REFINED ZANALs are pretty rare and you're not sure if you'll get any more soon.)

Lets fucking gooooooo.

>>6035317
+1

Let’s waste this prick. It wouldn’t be the first dangerous anomaly we’ve greased.

>>6035216
>>[WENDY ALLY + DISASSOCIATION] Summon Sable. Tell Wendy it's time to party. You can always capture the dog later for an anomaly to sell back. (-2 RESTRAINT, +1 RAPPORT WITH WENDY, COMBAT ENCOUNTER WITH DREARY MIDNIGHT MURDERER STARTS! Casey and Quentin will snap out of it thanks to your power. Beat him and you'll be freed from the domain, allowing you to explore further.)

>>6035228
>>6035241
>>6035317
>>6035416
>>6035441
Quentin could do a lot with his flight to harass over the water, and with all those VIOLENCE boosts and the baseball bat VIOLENCE reroll
Kiara shouldn't waste bullets, going in with her knife. She'll be fine unless Dreary does nonphysical damage
Naomi I do not want anywhere in melee range of this fucker, but if she wants to go get sadistic who am I to stop her?
Casey doesn't benefit from VIOLENCE, so all she can do is cheer us on and shoot the dog gun
Clover also doesn't benefit from VIOLENCE and the pocket knife is just a backup. 1 anti-anomaly round alone should be enough to deal very high damage to Dreary
Wendy batons Dreary with that stacked VIOLENCE and bonus 2d10, and he's gonna feel just like he did 60 years ago when all those employees dogpiled him into submission
Audie hits him once with that 13+11+4 or something, plus MIXED+MENTAL damage, combined with guaranteed CRIPPLING INJURY, and Dreary is going to fold immediately

>>6035686
In other words unless Dreary pulls some really stupid shit against us and/or the dice want us to fail, we're about to see Jack get ripped apart

>>6035688
>unless Dreary pulls some really stupid shit

Wouldn't put it passed him to have some BS. Not sure what but pride comes before the fall.

Update should be out soon (just finishing it up, actually), was dealing with pastebin tomfuckery but I managed to access it now. Will be skipping REFINED ZANAL since only two people voted for it and I go with a "half of the voters must pick it for it to go through".

Time for bloodshed.

File: REDVIOLENCE.jpg (201 KB, 770x1049)

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Fuck it. Reach heaven through violence. You pull out a knife out of your pocket with your telekinesis and immediately slash a very shallow gash across your forearm before anyone can do anything about it. The gash down the length of your arm begins to petrify and crack open until it's a massive, bloodless crack across the whole length of your arm.

>-2 RESTRAINT! 6/10 LEFT!

A bright reddish-pink gas floods out of the crack. It quickly condenses into a rough humanoid form from the torso up: It's you. Well, a different you. The reddish-pink specter has wild, crazed eyes and massive antlers that are growing and sprawling out like branches off of a tree. She snaps her gaze over to you with an ear-to-ear smirk.

"YOUR HEAD IS WAY FUCKING CRAMPED. TIME TO LET LOOSE." Sable 'cracks' her neck, as much as a gaseous manifestation of your subconscious can. She immediately snaps her gaze to your allies. "LET'S DO THIS. WE'RE JUST ANIMALS, YOU AND ME. SQUIRMING IN OUR OWN FILTH."

Your allies, sans Naomi and Kiara, have no fucking idea how to react to this physical manifestation of UNSTABLE but they don't really have time to question it. There's a palpable excitement, a palpable rage and HATRED, building up across your allies. Eyes twitching, mouths twisting into snarls, drool oozing out of the corners of their mouths. Sheer, unrelenting wrath.

>-1 MAX RESTRAINT AND +2 VIOLENCE TO PARTY!
>QUENTIN AND CASEY CAN NOW DAMAGE DREARY!

Weapons are drawn. Guns are loaded. Riot and ballistic shields are raised up in preparation for a battle to the death. Wendy and Audie are clearly the most affected by your power. The two of them are snarling and hissing at the anomaly like feral wolves spotting an outsider trespassing in their territory.

DREARY NIGHT MURDERER backs away from your group from the briefest of seconds. He clearly didn't expect this. Yet he doesn't try to flee despite the sheer number disadvantage he has. As he flicks his hunting knife, a snide chortle echoes from the deepest parts of his gut. "Ah. Jig's up. Seems like you saw through me."

"It's been a while since I've managed to fight some proper murderers. How many have you eight killed?" He takes a deep, long sniff in of the air around him. His gaze lingers on you, Naomi, and Audie. "Oh ho~! A gas attack? Slaughtering dozens of trained agents and gang members? An antiseptic war vet? This will be fun."

The whole hallway is suddenly plunged in pitch black darkness. When the light finally manages to return, the walls and floor of the hallway you're in has changed. Where there was once rusted over metal with paint peeling off of them, there's now grey and brown bricks that faintly remind you of those ancient cities that you saw in the Admiral's past.

The hallway is now lit with several old gas lamps hanging above the ceiling. A thick, heavy smog that reeks of industrial smoke and burning coal is hanging in the air now, covering everything below waist level. Your MAKESHIFT POCKET goes off again...

File: WHOISWHO.png (751 KB, 745x745)

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"ANOMALY DOMAIN DEVELOPING. THE PREFERRED ENVIROMENT OF AN ANOMALY IS OVERRIDING NORMAL REALITY. FULL OVERRIDE MAY RESULT IN UNPLEASANT COGNITIVE ANNIHILATION TO NON-ANOMALIES."

Fuck. You gotta kill this fucker FAST.

The issue is that there's five of them now. All four of them are standing around in the fogged over, flooded hallway with ear to ear smirks. You can't even remotely begin to tell a single difference between them but some primordial part is telling you that most of them have to be fake. Your other allies are hesitant to make a move.

Your pocketwatch didn't go off upon seeing them so it's not a shift in reality. This has to be another perspective trick.

"One murderer against three proper murderers felt unfair. Especially with five other lackeys" One of the DREARY NIGHT MURDERERS cackles. "Let's dance."
"Let's see who will be the last one standing!"
"Let's taste your bloodwater~!"

A cooling sensation floods your neck again.
>+1 RESTRAINT HEALED FROM EVIGT IMPLANT!

COMBAT ENCOUNTER AGAINST DREARY NIGHT MURDERERS START!
COMBAT CONDITIONS: WHO'S WHO? (The real Dreary Night Murderer has a 80% chance of avoiding damage from single target attacks.)

DREARY NIGHT MURDERER A: 5/5 FLESH, 7/7 RESTRAINT, 16d6 VIOLENCE (+6 from HUNTING KNIFE. Attacks made by HUNTING KNIFE have a chance to inflict SEVERE BLEEDING, which rapidly drains FLESH over time. Can reroll four dice per turn.)
DREARY NIGHT MURDERER B: 5/5 FLESH, 7/7 RESTRAINT, 16d6 VIOLENCE (Same as above.)
DREARY NIGHT MURDERER C: 5/5 FLESH, 7/7 RESTRAINT, 16d6 VIOLENCE (Same as above.)
DREARY NIGHT MURDERER D: 5/5 FLESH, 7/7 RESTRAINT, 16d6 VIOLENCE (Same as above.)
DREARY NIGHT MURDERER E: 5/5 FLESH, 7/7 RESTRAINT, 16d6 VIOLENCE (Same as above.)

YOU: 5/5 FLESH, 7/10 RESTRAINT, 11d6 TALENT. WEAPON: ASSAULT RIFLE (You do FLESH damage to multiple enemies. AMMO LEFT: 30, consume 3 per attack.)
QUENTIN: 4/4 FLESH, 4/4 RESTRAINT, 6d6+2d8 VIOLENCE. WEAPON: BASEBALL BAT (+1 from BASEBALL BAT, +2 from SABLE. May reroll two VIOLENCE DICE per turn. Has small chance of automatically dodging an attack.)
CLOVER: 3/4 FLESH, 2/4 RESTRAINT, 15d6+2d8 TALENT. WEAPON: WILD REVOLVER. (+1 from SUGAR RUSH. Attacks made against EVILDOERS deals MIXED damage!!! Whenever Clover rolls a natural 6 on his attack rolls, he may roll an additional dice. Has an anti-abno round loaded.)
WENDY: 4/4 FLESH, 4/4 RESTRAINT, 15d6+2d8+2d10 VIOLENCE+FLESH (WEAPON: AGENT BATON, +2d6 from RIOT SHIELD, +3 from SABLE and IMPROVED GASMASK. Has a small chance to debuff an enemy's dice by 1 for the rest of combat.)
CASEY: 3/3 FLESH, 3/3 RESTRAINT, 9d6+2d8 TALENT (+1 from SUGAR RUSH. Attacks made against EVILDOERS deals MIXED damage!!! WEAPON: MBF Model 129. Infinite ammo.)
AUDIE: 12/12 FLESH, 4/4 RESTRAINT, 28d6+2d8 VIOLENCE+TALENT WEAPON: CRUMPLED LOST OLD GLORY. (Deals equal MIXED and MENTAL damage, dealing excessive RESTRAINT damage. Always inflict a CRIPPLING INJURY on hit.)

NAOMI: 3/3 FLESH, 3/4 RESTRAINT, 5d6+2d8 VIOLENCE. WEAPON: POCKET KNIFE. (+1 from POCKET KNIFE, +2 from SABLE. "Time to indulge in mindless bloodlust. Saves ammo this way, same result.")
KIARA: 4/5 FLESH, 3/4 RESTRAINT, 7d6+2d8 VIOLENCE. WEAPON: POCKET KNIFE. (+1 from POCKET KNIFE, +2 from SABLE.)

Seems like this man is a glass cannon. All it takes is one or two good hits and he should go down fast. Still, this is a bit more evenly matched than you expected it to be. How do you want to overwhelm this entity? Pick one MAIN ACTION and as many FREE ACTIONS as you want.

>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Block incoming attacks, Quentin!" He's your meat shield, after all. (FREE ACTION. Quentin has a 40% chance to dodge, 20% chance to take 2 FLESH, 40% chance to get hit for 3 FLESH damage. One of the DREARY NIGHT MURDERERS will lose 5d6 dice.)
>[SYNCHRONIZED MINDSETS] Take a deep, deep huff of a RAW MOONSTONE CHUNK and FOCUS PUPPETEER WENDY. Let your minds meld as one. (FREE ACTION, -1 RAW MOONSTONE CHUNK. Wendy gains +4d6 VIOLENCE to her next attack.)
>[KIARA ALLY] "Kiara, try to mimic him. Confuse him." (MAIN ACTION, WILLPOWER DC: 21, rolling Kiara's 6d6 only. Pass and the anomaly will be radically confused, earning all allies +2d8 to their next attack.)
>[CLOVER ALLY] "Clover. You're a good shot. Focus and find the right one." (MAIN ACTION, COGNIZANCE DC: 8, rolling Clover's 2d6 only. Pass and he'll land a killing shot on the right target, ending the fight NOW.)
>[AUDIE ALLY] "Do what comes natural." He's the anomaly killing expert, right? Try to hype him up! (MAIN ACTION. CHARM DC: 10 (-4 from CASEY and HELPING HIM OUT), rolling your 4d6 only. Succeed and your motivation will earn him the ability to reroll six dice he rolled that rolled a 2 or below.)
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] If perception is the issue, summon Poi. Maybe that'll help. (MAIN ACTION, -2 RESTRAINT. All allies lose -2 VIOLENCE but they gain +1 TALENT. In addition, you and all allies wil have a 50% chance to hit the right target.)
>[RAW NOVASTONE CHUNK] Let there be light. It'll take some time for your group to recover but it'll do. (MAIN ACTION. -1 NOVASTONE CHUNK. +6d4 to your next attack, -2d6 to all enemies. Nothing much else to say.)
>[UNSTABLE] FUCK IT. DRINK YOUR LAST BROWN VIAL, GO TO TOWN. (FREE ACTION, -BROWN VIAL. You roll d8s this turn, VASTLY improving your odds.)
>['OATH TO CONTAIN'] Use a charge to boost your next attack. Time to murderize. (FREE ACTION, -1 CHARGE ON OATH TO CONTAIN THIS MISSION, leaving you with 2. Choose someone in your party to add +1d12 to.)
>Write in.

As a reminder for how COMBAT works, you need to roll more SUCCESSES than the opposing party. 1-2 = NO SUCCESSES, 3-4 = 0.5 SUCCESSES, 5-6 = 1 SUCCESSES, 7-8 = 2 SUCCESSES, 9-10 = 3 SUCCESSES, 11-12 = 4 SUCCESSES.)
To clarify, don't roll any dice yet.

>>6035838
>['OATH TO CONTAIN'] Use a charge to boost your next attack. Time to murderize. (FREE ACTION, -1 CHARGE ON OATH TO CONTAIN THIS MISSION, leaving you with 2. Choose someone in your party to add +1d12 to.)
On Clover
>[CLOVER ALLY] "Clover. You're a good shot. Focus and find the right one." (MAIN ACTION, COGNIZANCE DC: 8, rolling Clover's 2d6 only. Pass and he'll land a killing shot on the right target, ending the fight NOW.)
Does this add the 1d12 to his 2d6?
Sure this is a waste of 2 RESTRAINT if we're not going to fight him normally, but the bastard has 16d6 and bleeding is BAD with Latecomer's Blossom nearby. This is still such bullshit.

>>6035879
Wait we have Bloosom still on this floor. We can keep Sable up until we destroy the core. Sable's VIOLENCE can also help us kill Dreary for good if Clover's shot doesn't outright end him

>>6035879
+1

>>6035879
Oath to Protect only applies to RESTRAINT, VIOLENCE, and TALENT. So no.

>>6035891
>>6035892
Well shit

>>6035838
Changing vote from >>6035879 to
>[AUDIE ALLY] "Do what comes natural." He's the anomaly killing expert, right? Try to hype him up! (MAIN ACTION. CHARM DC: 10 (-4 from CASEY and HELPING HIM OUT), rolling your 4d6 only. Succeed and your motivation will earn him the ability to reroll six dice he rolled that rolled a 2 or below.)
Because I HATE rolling 1s and 2s, and this guy is our strongest ally here. And he's done this to Dreary before at least once. He can end the fight faster.
>['OATH TO CONTAIN'] Use a charge to boost your next attack. Time to murderize. (FREE ACTION, -1 CHARGE ON OATH TO CONTAIN THIS MISSION, leaving you with 2. Choose someone in your party to add +1d12 to.)
Quentin. This counts as a VIOLENCE dice, which he can reroll with BASEBALL BAT if he has to

I don't want Quentin to take hits for us here when there's no dead bodies nearby, and Dreary can't be bodyjacked because he's an anomaly.
I wanna clutch the Wendy Puppeteer option to another fight
Kiara option sounds very good but what are the odds on 6d6 DC 21?
Clover option odds feel too daunting to go with here
Anomalous PoI sounds good but we lose Sable for Blossom and we NEED to keep VIOLENCE up to stack damage to kill the illusions. We have all that shiny new defensive gear on everyone and the SEVERE BLEEDING chance is a chance that's all. We could kill like 3 of them in one round before they can even get a single hit off
Novastone sounds kinda eh for a main action
I am NOT burning brown vial here

>>6035891
Change
>>6035904
+1

>>6035916
What do you think about this situation? We need to beat their successes to win but they all have a total of 80d6. Most of our d6s come from Nicole, Clover, Wendy, and Audie. The Dreary 5 all have more RESTRAINT than they do FLESH, so physical damage is better than mental, and mixed should be unaffected. If he's actually as frail as it's implied, then he might take more damage than the pirates did back on the ship mission. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part? I'm really fucking afraid of Naomi taking a bad hit based on how Quentin would take 3 FLESH damage if he fucked up his dodge, and Naomi has 3 FLESH right now. At worst she'll be put to critical state and be bleeding too, but at best she'll avoid getting hit.

Adam waits for a waitress to refill his glass and to take another sip before responding. "Yeah. Take my advice with a grain of salt but those things aren't 'sentient' as we understand it. They have a very limited world view that only makes sense to them. You have to play along with it in order to get it to do what you want."

"Like the anomaly before cared about its appearance and blending in with others. That's all it could really think or talk about. If you refuted what it stands for, like saying that none of its outfits would appease anyone, it wouldn't know what to do and would mentally shut down." You do remember how the last anomaly you dealt with freaked out when you gave it mementos of the past. So, refuting what it stands for can be used to catch an anomaly off guard, huh?

>If you refuted what it stands for, like saying that none of its outfits would appease anyone, it wouldn't know what to do and would mentally shut down."
No.5916615
>>6035916
Add
>Write in.
Can you tell who you are when you are still humans or harvesters?
When did you become an anomaly, and why?
What is your personal goal?
Why are you so goddamn edgy?
Why do you choose to wear these clothes?
What happened to all your past victim?
Why do you talk like that? because it fun and it scares the victim or something?
Do you take the victim soul that you killed or something?
Do you like murdering people, and why? Because you want to seek public attention or because it's cool or something?
Did you literally copycat serial killer Jack the Ripper? Why because you lack creativity or are too lazy create something original, or because you are a fanboy weirdo who loves the past serial killers way too much that you copycat that serial killer style, or something else?

Slow weekend, it seems. Let's go with Audie + Oath to Contain, then.

One anon, roll 4d6. No rerolls since Manager's Flesh only applies to other allies, not you. (Though this limitation is very moot since you got seven allies.)

Rolled 6, 6, 2, 2 = 16 (4d6)

>>6036776

Rolled 2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 1, 5, 3, 6, 6, 2, 2, 1, 6, 5, 5, 1, 4, 4, 2, 1, 2, 4, 4, 2 = 88 (25d6)

Coolio. You passed. Now time to roll for the MURDERERS (of course they roll high they're literally MURDERERS. At least they're d6s instead of the d8s that the Agent had.)

Rolled 1, 6, 6, 4, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 1, 5, 3, 4, 3, 5, 2, 1, 5, 3, 5, 6, 1, 4, 2, 3 = 94 (25d6)

>>6036793
Ah, seems like there's a cap of 25. Second batch.

Rolled 5, 2, 3, 5, 4, 1, 3, 4, 1, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 3, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 1, 1, 5, 4 = 76 (25d6)

>>6036796
Third batch.

Rolled 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 4, 4, 6, 1, 5, 1, 1, 3, 6, 1, 2, 4, 3, 1, 4, 2, 1, 6, 4 = 76 (25d6)

>>6036797
Last 5 + the 20 rerolls they have, rerolling the 1s and 2s first.

Rolled 8 (1d12)

ORIGINAL RESULT
14 1s, 14 2s = NO SUCCESSES
13 3s, 16 4s = 14.5 SUCCESSES
10 5s, 10 6s = 20 SUCCESSES
TOTAL TO BEAT: 34.5 SUCCESSES

WITH REROLL
6 1s, 2 2s = NO SUCCESSES
15 3s, 22 4s = 18.5 SUCCESSES
11 5s, 14 6s = 25 SUCCESSES
TOTAL TO BEAT = 43.5 SUCCESSES

So, to avoid waiting for another day to deal with rolls, an anon may roll for five pairs of the dice below. I need anons to roll the following
>11d6 (YOU)
>6d6 (QUENTIN. Can reroll two of his dice per turn.)
>15d6 (CLOVER. Whenever he rolls a natural 6, he can roll another dice. There's no cap to this.)
>15d6 (WENDY)
>9d6 (CASEY)
>14d6 TWICE (AUDIE. Can reroll six of his dice. Due to the 25 limit, this is how we'll handle it.)
>5d6 (NAOMI)
>7d6 (KIARA)
>14d8 (The CAPTAIN'S COMMAND extra dice.)
>2d10 (Wendy's extra dice.)

I'll roll Quentin's 1d12 for you. You may reroll it as well if it ends up dogshit.

Rolled 1, 6, 3, 3, 1, 3, 6, 6, 3, 3, 2 = 37 (11d6)

Nicole

Rolled 5, 6, 2, 4, 5, 5 = 27 (6d6)

Quentin

Rolled 5, 6, 5, 5, 2, 1, 3, 1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 4, 4, 1 = 54 (15d6)

Clover

Rolled 1, 1 = 2 (2d6)

>>6036818
Clover

Rolled 2, 4, 2, 6, 2, 5, 3, 6, 6, 1, 1, 6, 4, 6, 5 = 59 (15d6)

Wendy

Rolled 6, 3, 1, 2, 2, 5, 2, 3, 2 = 26 (9d6)

Casey

>>6036813
>>6036816
>>6036818
>>6036820
>>6036822
>>6036824
>>6036820
Keeping a tally

NICOLE:
1, 1, 2 = NO SUCCESSES
3, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 2.5 SUCCESSES
6, 6, 6 = 3 SUCCESSES
5 TOTAL

QUENTIN
2 = NO SUCCESS
4 = 0.5 SUCCESSES
5, 5, 5, 6 = 4 SUCCESSES
8 = 2 SUCCESSES
6.5 TOTAL

CLOVER
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 = NO SUCCESSES
3, 3, 3, 4, 4 = 2.5 SUCCESSES
5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6 = 6 SUCCESSES
8.5 TOTAL

CASEY:
1, 2, 2, 2, 2 = NO SUCCESSES
3, 3 = 1 SUCCESS
5, 6 = 2 SUCCESSES
3 TOTAL

WENDY (NORMAL ATTACK)
1, 1, 2, 2, 2 = NO SUCCESSES
3, 4, 4 = 1.5 SUCCESSES
5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 = 7 SUCCESSES
8.5 TOTAL

TOTAL SO FAR: 31.5 SUCCESSES. 12 more to go.

Rolled 4, 4, 5, 3, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 6 = 56 (14d6)

Audie's First 14d6
>>6036830
This is a lot of dice rolling. That's the system, but jeez it's cumbersome.

Rolled 5, 3, 1, 5, 2, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 2, 6, 2 = 46 (14d6)

Audie's second 14d6

Rolled 5, 5, 1, 2, 1 = 14 (5d6)

Naomi

Rolled 3, 1, 1, 1, 5, 2, 2 = 15 (7d6)

Kiara

Rolled 3, 4, 6, 7, 6, 2, 8, 1, 7, 4, 1, 7, 2, 3 = 61 (14d8)

DER KOMMANDANT'S KAP
Captain's dice
Just Wendy and rerolls after this one

>>6036840
>>6036844
Yeah, that's just sorta how the cookie crumbles when I have to deal with having eight people fighting. I'll probably alter the system to not require so much but I'm not particularly in the best state of mind to do it right now.

AUDIE
1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 = NADA
3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4 = 4 SUCCESSES
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6 = 10 SUCCESSES
TOTAL: 14

NAOMI:
1, 1, 2 = NADA
5, 5 = TWO SUCCESSES
TOTAL: 2.

KIARA
1, 1, 1, 2, 2 = NADA
3 = 0.5
5 = 1
TOTAL: 1.5

CAPTAIN:
1, 1, 2, 2 = NADA
3, 3, 4, 4 = 2 SUCCESES
6, 6 = 2 SUCCESSES
7, 7, 7, 8 = 8 SUCCESSES
TOTAL: 10 SUCCESSES

TOTAL: 59 vs 43.5. At this point, just skip the rerolls, you're already outpowering him a LOT.

Rolled 4, 5 = 9 (2d10)

>>6036806

>>6036924
So, a grand total of 60.5 successes vs 43.5.
Yeah, this is going to be a bloodbath. Writing.

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"Audie! Do what comes natural! You can beat this fucker, you've defeated HOW many anomalies down here?! This edgy Jack the Ripper fuckin' ripoff has nothing on you!"

The five DREARY NIGHT MURDERERS immediately lose their smirks. Seems like that got under their skin real quick. "What?" "Feh. You don't understand what it means to be in the spotlight, dear." "Edgy? You don't understand high fashion, sweetheart. It's 1888, sweetheart, this is what we wear."

"HIGH FUCKING FASHION?" Sable throws her head back, cackling at the idea of his dorky outfit being 'high fashion'. "Feh! You talk like a fucking idiot! What, you think that's scaring us?"

One of the MURDERERS snarls again, clearly getting heated over what you and your manifested psyche are saying. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A GOD DAMN FANBOY-" Sable, and by proxy you, are interrupted by a sharp pain in your head.

A hunting knife has now imbedded pretty deep into the base of one of your antlers. The metallic antler guard blocking it shatters, leaving your antlers completely exposed now.
>2 COMBAT PROSTHETIC BODYSUIT CHARGES! 2 FLESH DAMAGE NEGATED! NO CHARGES LEFT THIS MISSION!
>1 FLESH DAMAGE GOT THROUGH! 4/5 FLESH LEFT!
>SEVERE BLEEDING NEGATED! -ANTLER GUARDS!

Fuck, you let your guard down. DREARY NIGHT MURDERER B, the one who threw it, regains his smirk. "You'll be like the rest of them. Forgotten. Nothing but a statistic-" He promptly gets an arm and leg sliced clean off by a single stroke of Audie's blade. He doesn't seem to react to it for a moment before the whole surface of his body begins to crack.

He collapses to the flooded and mist-covered ground, fizzling in and out of existence. You can barely even see him thanks to the fog covering him up. Seems like he can't hold himself together now. His RESTRAINT is too low for him to act now. One down.

There's no more time for talking or egging the anomaly on. You try your best to regain your composure as the sheer, unyielding pain of having a god damn knife stuck in you floods your nervous system. Can't remove it yet, you're smart enough to know that's an easy way to get blood in your eyes.

Naomi, Kiara, and Wendy immediately charge in while everyone is still trying to adjust to what happened. Naomi and Kiara surround one of the MURDERERS in an attempt to corner him. Their swings are wild and reckless, trying their damn best to make him bleed. MURDERER D is able to deflect most of them but he is being distracted for the time being.

Not for long though.

Kiara promptly gets a hunting knife thrusted RIGHT into her metallic stomach. It slices through her with ease, mangling her chassis and her internals like a hot knife through butter. before Naomi gets sent to the floor by an elbow smashing directly into her nose. A sickening CRACK rings through the hallway. Both are promptly sent to the ground from the force of the MURDERER's impacts.

Huh. His elbow jab was a bit sloppy since Naomi is already getting back up.

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>-2 (REDUCED FROM 3) FLESH TO KIARA! 2/5 LEFT! DISCHARGE LEAK INFLICTED!
>-1 FLESH TO NAOMI! 2/3 LEFT!

Wendy immediately bullrushes the distracted MURDERER D with her riot shield and agent baton. He tries to stab his knife into her side but she immediately blocks it with the riot shield. A decent size crack forms on it but now, his knife is stuck inside. Panic crosses the MURDERER's face but he doesn't have enough time to crack before her baton comes crashing down on his head.

CRACK!!! His head cracks open like a rotten watermelon being thrown at a wall. Blood and brain matter splatters across the walls. Dead on the spot. He does try to keep standing but Naomi grabs onto his shoulder and pulls both of them down in the water. Two down, three to go.

"EAT SHIT! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO A REAL MURDERER IS! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A GOD DAMN COPY!" Wendy snarls with an ear-to-ear smirk. She's having the time of her life.

"Bloody hell! This is getting on my nerves!" MURDERER A grits his teeth
"Tsk. Irritating little tricks." MURDERER C snarls.
"SLICE THEIR THROATS!!" Shit! The three remaining murderers immediately rush in in an attempt to overwhelm your group. You and Casey immediately raise your guns up in an attempt to slow them down.

Casey's suppressing fire doesn't do much to slow them down but the relentless peppering of meat and bone fragments is just enough to distract them. You raise your ASSAULT RIFLE, bracing yourself for the recoil, before letting it rip. You managed to adjust your aim enough to make sure that all three bullets manage to hit a target.

One bullet pierces through each MURDERER. MURDERER A and E stumble back from the input but C damn near falls to his knees from the impact. Seems like you managed to find the real MURDERER but before you can tell the others, the three MURDERERS shift their positions, making it hard to tell who is who now.

The knife stuck in your head is making you real woozy. Your knees buckle, sending you into the water below. One of the MURDERERS immediately shifts course and rushes in to strike you at your weakest moment but Quentin and Audie immediately step in to block him from getting any closer to you.

MURDERER A(?) and Audie quickly lock their blades together. The two struggle to overpower the other, pushing back against the other in a complete stalemate. MURDERER A slams his foot into Audie's stomach but his chitinous exterior completely blocks the attack.

It's impressive how a hunting knife is able to keep a god damn longsword away. Quentin immediately breaks this deadlock by smashing a baseball bat down HARD onto the MURDERER's head.

MURDERER A(?) loses his balance just long enough to Audie to impale him through the gut with his LOST OLD GLORY. He tries to throw his blade at Quentin but Quentin immediately opens his wings and dodges out of the way.

MURDERER A is sent to the floor as well, bleeding into the gutter water. Three down, two to go. You're on a roll.

File: SOAKEDINBLOOD.png (2.73 MB, 2084x2732)

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MURDERER C(?) is nearly close enough to Clover to slice his neck to tatters. Clover doesn't move until the MURDERER is right in front of him.

BANG.

A perfect, clean shot to the head.

The anti-anomaly round immediately causes green and purple cracks to form across the MURDERER's body until every inch of his surface is caked in them. His body crumbles into dust and smog mere seconds after the bullet pierced his skull.

Now there's only one MURDERER. He stumbles to a stop, his knife mere inches away from a scared Casey. A gunshot wound in his chest is leaking out a fresh stream of red blood. The one who actually felt pain from being shot. He suddenly realizes that he's outnumbered 8 to 1.

He immediately turns around, ready to fucking bolt it from there. "Feh. I'm not giving you the-" Audie immediately leaps in, stabbing the tip of his blade into the MURDERER's leg. The MURDERER rips his foot free, ready to flee despite his new handicap, yet...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdZJ4a6k56g - WENDY

[HUNTER OF THE CITY + SABLE ACTIVE] A wild, damn near savage Wendy launches towards him before he has any chance to leave. The two are sent to the floor in a violent, bloody struggle. He tries to kick her off but his injury plus the sheer unyielding RAGE Wendy is putting behind her attack is making that impossible.
>+2 FLESH AND VIOLENCE TO WENDY UNTIL FIGHT ENDS!

Wendy cries out in agony as the hunting knife is impaled into her gut but she doesn't get off. A torrent of blood pours out of her gut and onto the MURDERER. If he pushed a bit harder, he might've disemboweled her then and there.

>-1 FLESH (REDUCED FROM 3) TO WENDY! FLESH IS NOW 5/6! SEVERE BLEEDING INFLICTED! -1 CHARGE OFF DRIFTWOOD IDOL, 1 LEFT THIS MISSION!

"DIE! DIE! FUCKING DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Wendy raises her baton before smashing it down hard onto the MURDERER'S head. Blood and teeth are sent flying across the hallway from the sheer force of the impact. Your other allies can only watch on in shock and awe as Wendy keeps smashing her baton into the prone MURDERER's face over. And over. And over again.

DREARY NIGHT MURDERER's hands quickly wrap around her throat. He squeezes HARD, causing Wendy to hack and wheeze in a desperate attempt to catch her breath. Despite this, she keeps swinging her baton down onto the MURDERER's head. Even as her face begins to turn purple from a lack of oxygen, she keeps. On. Swinging.
>-1 FLESH! 4/6 LEFT!
>-1 FLESH! 3/6 LEFT!

His hands eventually let go, falling onto his sides. Only then does Wendy stumble back to her feet. Her brown dress is torn to shreds from the knife slicing into her stomach, exposing her sliced to bits stomach and the bruises underneath. Her neck has a ring of bruises that are quickly turning purple. Blood and gore is dripping down her dress and face, mixing with the already dirty water below. Her baton is slick with viscera and brain matter.

And she's smiling. Your MAKESHIFT POCKETWATCH goes off.

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"ANOMALY DOMAIN COLLAPSING. BRACE FOR IMPACT."

>YOU WIN!

Everything goes dark. The gravity of the hallway suddenly shifts, sending you and your allies falling down, down, down, down. You lose consciousness almost immediately afterwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArzZ13bpsaU - EXTRACTION PROPER

When you next wake up, all of your allies are sprawled on the waterlogged floor but thankfully they're very much still alive. The dead body of DREARY NIGHT MURDERER is sprawled across the floor in a pool of his own blood and viscera- Well, you think he's dead. You can't ever really tell with anomalies.

[CAPTAIN'S COMMAND] Feh. Murderers always play dead. He'll escape once you leave this facility but he'll come back. Not for a while, though.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] Not if you contain him. Trap him. Keep him in this world.
Sable whispers into your ear. "KILL HIM."

...Do you?
>CONTAIN HIM. (-W-CORP CONTAINMENT CUBE, +1 J-CORP FAVOR. You'll get paid handsomely for bringing back a contained anomaly but it'll be difficult to bring him back to the surface.)
>HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT. DOUBLE TAP HIM TO BE SURE. (+1 W-CORP FAVOR for letting him die. Wendy will get you an in with W-Corp for not letting him escape.)

You feel an odd sense of relief in the air. As if something, or someone, was freed. You slowly get back up, pressing your hand against a flesh-covered wall. You notice there's something strapped to your chest. A bloodstained hunting knife and a small envelope. You rip it open to see a bundle of bills and a small letter.

"THANK YOU."
"YOUR PROPER REWARD WILL BE GIVEN SOON. TAKES TIME FOR US TO ORGANIZE."
"WE CAN FINALLY BREATHE FREELY NOW. TAKE THESE SLIPS OF PAPER AS PAYMENT."

>$500 OBTAINED! YOU NOW HAVE $863.
>BLOODSTAINED HUNTING KNIFE (ATTACK ROLL: VIOLENCE+5. Attacks made with it have a chance to inflict SEVERE BLEEDING, which rapidly drains FLESH over time. Can reroll three dice per turn.)

You'll worry about who to give it to later. You take a moment to look around at where you're at now.

You're in a large, circular room that is completely coated in the same fleshy roots that you saw before. Every inch of the wall, ceiling, and floor (or what you can see of it through the brown and red water) has some sort of fleshy root covering it. There's only two paths from here: The way you came and a hallway going straight north.

Shit, you and your allies are injured, what if-
You touch the base of your antler. Ah. Seems like your implant healed it off.
>FLESH IS NOW 5/5 FOR YOU!

Your other allies are trying their best to get back up after being thrown to the floor. Kiara is leaning against one of the flesh covered walls so she can patch up the massive tear in her chassis with her repair kit. Wendy has several layers of gauze wrapped around her fucked up stomach. Naomi also has some gauze around her nose to try setting it back into place. All and all, they're fine for now.

You slowly get back up on your feet.

>-GAUZE ROLL from Kiara, -2 GAUZE ROLLS from your own inventory
>+1 FLESH TO NAOMI, +1 FLESH and -SEVERE BLEEDING FROM WENDY. WENDY FLESH IS NOW 3/4.
>+1 FLESH AND DISCHARGE LEAK REMOVED FROM KIARA! KIARA FLESH IS NOW 3/5
>RAPPORT WITH WENDY IS NOW 2/8!

>-3 RIFLE AMMO AND -1 ANTI-ANOMALY ROUND FROM YOU AND CLOVER

That's everything you spent in that fight. Better than you thought but wow, that could've went bad if you didn't have Audie to carry your ass.

Clover, Audie, Quentin and Casey are chitchatting while they're waiting for the others to patch themselves up.

There's clearly only one path forward so, you can take some time to readjust and communicate with your allies before you face the next anomaly or the EXTRACTION HEAD.

What do you want to do? Pick three.
>[SABLE ACTIVE] Naomi and Kiara know who this is but let her talk to the others. Get them used to UNSTABLE so they won't freak out in the future.
>[QUENTIN ALLY] Have him scout ahead with his bug wings so you have a better idea on what you're getting yourself into.
>Contact the Manager through your headpiece. Ask him if there's anything happening above while your group was busy.
>[NAOMI ALLY] "So. A relative is down here, huh? Is she your mother? Grandmother? Sister? What? Give me something." That connection might be useful with dealing with the extraction head. Ask her about it.
>Hold up your new fancy knife. "Hey. Which one of you freaks want this? I know I don't." Get rid of it. Let one of your allies have fun with it.
>[AUDIE ALLY] "Hey. Do you recognize this handwriting?" Show him the letter you woke up with. If some weird anomalous ghosts are going to reward you, you might as well know who they are.
>[CASEY ALLY] Frankly you think you just need to decompress after that. Go up to Casey and listen to her nonsense. She'll pick you back up. (Fully heals your RESTRAINT.)
>Take some time to talk to some of your allies. (Pick THREE to check up on. You currently have QUENTIN, KIARA, CASEY, CLOVER, WENDY, AUDIE, and NAOMI in your party.)
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] No time to waste. Proceed. (Can take up multiple actions. If you only want to do one or two things, pick this.)
>Write in.

>>6036982
>HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT. DOUBLE TAP HIM TO BE SURE. (+1 W-CORP FAVOR for letting him die. Wendy will get you an in with W-Corp for not letting him escape.)
He dies NOW. No wasting ass rifle ammo though now that there's no enemy group. I can't believe we got off so good that fight. All that 3 FLESH damage reduced to 1 or 2 is huge. We definitely need more defensive and healing items later

>>6036983
>[SABLE ACTIVE] Naomi and Kiara know who this is but let her talk to the others. Get them used to UNSTABLE so they won't freak out in the future
Now is a GREAT time to do this
>[AUDIE ALLY] "Hey. Do you recognize this handwriting?" Show him the letter you woke up with. If some weird anomalous ghosts are going to reward you, you might as well know who they are
Bring up the dead man in Research Lab too, the one with the note. Handle this loose end for good
>Take some time to talk to some of your allies. (Pick THREE to check up on. You currently have QUENTIN, KIARA, CASEY, CLOVER, WENDY, AUDIE, and NAOMI in your party.)
Clover because he's having a rough time since REFINEMENT
Kiara because same deal plus faced MURDERER in melee
Naomi because same deal plus we're going to see her relative soon

Even though he also faced REFINEMENT, Audie doesn't need the pep talk or checkup. He's used to it by now. Quentin and Casey are fine. Wendy is on the adrenaline high plus anomaly murder release, no worries there.

Quentin option isn't that bad, but there's other appropriate options right now
Manager option is meh. It hasn't been that long since we left Floor 3 and the silvers got spooked away from REFINEMENT. I bet Manager is too strong to let himself die or be hurt by at most 4 agents. Let's get the Extraction Head dealt with first, then check with him
Naomi option for the family connection is interesting prep for the upcoming talk
Hunting Knife can be a good present for another ally we know, might as well keep it for now
Casey option is nice but we're still doing good on RESTRAINT at 6/10

>>6036999
+1

>>6036983
>>6036999
Support. Cool fight.

>>6035835
>pull out a knife
This is why we should always keep at least 1 on us
>deep, long sniff
Cool ability
>gas attack
I hope him saying that out loud doesn't come back to bite us, haha...

>>6035836
>UNPLEASANT COGNITIVE ANNIHILATION
Do we simply become copies of him then, as his PARADIGM and symbolism and archetype override the human's?
>flooded
His Domain Expansion can't override that. Must be the London rivers or something
>cooling sensation
OK so that's EVIGT working
>80% chance
20% per clone
>from single target attacks
Now this is a detail I didn't notice. No wonder we used the ass rifle

>>6036974
>in the spotlight
Says the murderer who hates being caught
>1888
But can he party like it's 1999?
>you and your manifested psyche
If Nicole ever gets a love interest, he will need to handle 4-5 mental copies of her too
>NO CHARGES LEFT
One defense method down
>-ANTLER GUARDS!
Alexis' gift helped a ton
>RESTRAINT is too low
LOST OLD GLORY did at least 7 RESTRAINT to him in one cleave? Boy am I glad Audie is on our side. I want him to survive this mission to make it topside with his fellow Heads and Manager

>>6036975
>(REDUCED FROM 3)
I really don't like how much damage this bastard does. If this is how bad an anomaly with "4" on the damage scale inflicts, we need to be on our A-game on Floor 5
>decent size crack
He can hit hard enough to crack a riot shield. The anomalous strength is no joke. Getting the defensive gear earlier in this mission is already paying off because that would have gutted Wendy if we hadn't had these
>his knife is stuck inside. Panic
Either this doesn't happen enough for him to consider it a possibility, or he forgets too much because he's an anomaly (like Queen of Hatred)
>lock their blades
One is an actual anomaly, the other is an anomalous human. One is of unknown age and state, the other is in his 80s
>dodges
I know this is Quentin's wings trait kicking in, but I like the idea of it happening here because he saw the MURDERER copy throw his knife at Nicole at the start so he was prepared for it

>>6036976
>green and purple
Thanks doc
>rips his foot free
A real cornered animal instinct
>she's smiling
OK Wendy is cool now

>>6036982
>sprawled on the waterlogged floor
Please no infection or lasting damage. I know Cityslickers are tougher than normal humans from the setting and all, but c'mon
>play dead
Anomalies in this setting can be permakilled, and he knows it
>relief in the air
>freed
You were right >>6035241
>PROPER REWARD
Whoever these mystery souls are, they better be grateful once we permakill this guy
>BLOODSTAINED HUNTING KNIFE
This might be good for Ashley, straight up better than her bat
>bad if you didn't have Audie
I'd be up for surprise attacking Dreary in that case. Direct fight was still worth it. Maybe the victim ghost reward would be less if we had went the deception route?

>>6036983
>[SABLE ACTIVE] Naomi and Kiara know who this is but let her talk to the others. Get them used to UNSTABLE so they won't freak out in the future.
>[NAOMI ALLY] "So. A relative is down here, huh? Is she your mother? Grandmother? Sister? What? Give me something." That connection might be useful with dealing with the extraction head. Ask her about it.
>Hold up your new fancy knife. "Hey. Which one of you freaks want this? I know I don't." Get rid of it. Let one of your allies have fun with it.
>[AUDIE ALLY] "Hey. Do you recognize this handwriting?" Show him the letter you woke up with. If some weird anomalous ghosts are going to reward you, you might as well know who they are.

>>6036982
>HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT. DOUBLE TAP HIM TO BE SURE.
We can contain someone else

>>6036983
>[SABLE ACTIVE] Naomi and Kiara know who this is but let her talk to the others. Get them used to UNSTABLE so they won't freak out in the future.
>[NAOMI ALLY] "So. A relative is down here, huh? Is she your mother? Grandmother? Sister? What? Give me something." That connection might be useful with dealing with the extraction head. Ask her about it.
>Hold up your new fancy knife. "Hey. Which one of you freaks want this? I know I don't." Get rid of it. Let one of your allies have fun with it.

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Eh, you don't need to get rid of the knife yet. You take a moment to analyze which ally in the future would best use it. Adam, Ashley, and Maruyama have decent enough VIOLENCE to use it, if you recall correctly. The allies you have in the field right now are fine without another fancy toy.

First thing to worry about is a certain pest that almost gutted your allies alive. You reach into your waterlogged pants (eugh, everything you're wearing is soaked) to rummage around for a weapon you keep around for these situations. The HANDMADE GUN. You don't care about saving PISTOL AMMO since you have way better weapons at this point.

You load in five pistol rounds into the magazine before you slot it into your gun. Sable watches on curiously, seeing where exactly you're going with this. The two of you head over to the mangled, bloodied corpse of DREARY NIGHT MURDERER who is currently floating face up. Well, you assume he's face up.

His pulverized skull is barely connected to his neck by loose connective tissue. Whatever was left of the section of his spine connecting his head and neck is GONE now. If it wasn't for his clothes it would be completely impossible to tell who this man was.

You raise this pistol at his mostly uninjured torso (only having a rifle round entry wound visible) before emptying your magazine into it. Your allies immediately panic and move into position for another fight but once they realized you were just double tapping a corpse, they immediately calm down.
>-5 PISTOL ROUNDS! 1 LEFT!

Wisps of grey and black smoke slowly trickle out of the five new holes you punched into the anomaly. There's no other visible reaction to what you did given that, well, his head is like a crushed watermelon and you just dumped five bullets into him.

[CAPTAIN'S COMMAND] His conceptual grasp to this reality has been fully destabilized.
"IN OTHER WORDS, HE'S FUCKING DEAD." Sable hisses out. "LET'S DO SOMETHING ELSE."
[CAPTAIN'S COMMAND] That is a gross oversimplification, you whelp.
"I'M THE ONE IN REALITY, YOU'RE STUCK IN HER HEAD, FUCK YOU-"

You throw a punch towards the gaseous spirit leaking out of your arm. Given the fact she's, well, reddish-pink vapor and mist? Your punch simply phases through her. "Shut." But it's enough to interrupt and shut her up. Alright, good, time to deal with your other allies.

Sable is grumbling and muttering to herself after you interrupted her but given she's tethered to your arm, she can't really leave to sulk. "FEH."
"Hey, go bother the others. They should know about your existence." You gesture towards Quentin, Audie, Casey, and Wendy. You'll get her to bother Clover later once you're not in the middle of a conversation with him. Sable overdramatically rolls her eyes before she drifts about twelve or so feet away from you.

Coolio. Time to check on Clover, Naomi, and Kiara.

Clover is the first one to notice you and, god, he looks tired. His soggy, limp poncho and soaked scarf have clearly seen better days.

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He's completely unharmed but his outfit is a complete mess. His bright brown hair is now more of a muddy brown and black mess now.
It's frankly a pretty pitiful sight. "Heyo." He halfheartedly waves at you. "Sure has been somethin', partner. Sure has been somethin'." <"I'm about ready to put a hole in every single person living in this god dang facility.>

Yeah, best to get him thinking about other things. "Yeah, it has. Sorry about, uh, you know." You prop one foot against one of the root covered walls so you can lean back. "REFINEMENT thing and everything else that's been going down here. I know it's been a lot."

"It's fine. It's just hard to get a grasp on what's real and what's not when yer down here. Walls twisting in on themselves, anomalies appearing everywhere, government agents, and now-" He points at SABLE. "There's THAT thing. It's a lot. I've worked with P-Corp before but I've never seen something THIS bad before."

"Yeah, uh, I keep awakening new powers and now SHE'S a thing." You shrug. "Long story."

"At least you're cute. Unlike the other monsters down there." Wait hold on what- Before you have time to question what he meant by that, he continues blabbering on. "Ya do this shit every day, though? Throwin' yerself into danger with all of this wild stuff?"

"Yeah. I'll be completely honest, the most normal mission I've had in a while was going to your place. That was a while ago, though."

"Hm. I respect it." A small smile crosses the cowboy's face. "I need a hard drink after all of this. We're going to my casino after all eight of us make it out alive. I'm paying for it."

"Fuck, can't say no to a free beer." Just imagining an ice cold bottle of low quality beer is enough to send your mind racing. "Say, Random question." You tap under one of your eyes. "What was up with that? When we fought the spook? Thought I saw your eyes glow."

Clover seems completely unaware of what you're talking about at first but he quickly pieces together what you mean. Shame, oddly enough, floods his expression. "Dunno. Just always had that ever since I wanted to be a cowboy as a tiny little kid. Never figured out what it meant." <"Hopefully she doesn't pry any further.">

[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] You doubt it's anything actually anomalous. You don't sense anything like that in him.

It's probably just some weird genetic quirk he has then. Like how Max has weirdly blue-grey hair.

"Well, hey, better to focus on that than whatever else is going on down there, right?"
"Yeah. Hey, thanks for talking. It's nice to shoot the shit. Gets my mind off of everything that's been happening." He leans back against the wall next to you. "Wish I had a smoke."

"Mmh. I have some cigs but not the type you would wanna smoke willy nilly. Sorry."
"Awww, can't produce them with ya mind? What's the use of psychic power nonsense then?"
"Dunno. Maybe we can find some tobacco and wrap it up with your scarf."
"Touch it and I'll kill ya, ya bastard."

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You snort. You flick your wrist and lo and behold, his scarf is telekinetically floating in the air now. Clover immediately tries to grab it again but you simply shift where it's at with your mind. "Not touching it." He tries grabbing it again. You move it. Grab. Move. Grab. Move.

You only stop when he grabs you by the shoulders and begins to violently shake you. You break out into a giggle fit upon seeing how fucking angry he is at this little stunt you pulled on him. You toss it back over to him and he immediately catches it.

He can't help but to smile as well.
>+1 RESTRAINT TO CLOVER! 3/4 NOW!

"Feh. Aight, you proved your point. Scram." He shoos you away as he wraps his damp scarf around his neck again. Time to check on Kiara then. Sable immediately rushes in to bother Clover once you're done talking to him.

As for Kiara? She's simply staring up at the root-covered ceiling. Her blue LED eyes are barely lighting up at this point but you're not sure if that's a power issue or something else. Bits of rust and gunk are clogging up her joints and her plastic hair is already starting to get discolored. She glances over at you with a small smile.

"Hey! Sorry, sorry, just a lot of stuff on my mind. Lotta interesting things I'm trying to catalogue, you know?" His voicebox crackles with obvious discomfort. Not at you, thankfully, but that's cold comfort. Can't exactly blame her after everything that's been going on.

"Fair. Probably not wise to leak too many details about what's going on down here. Maybe you can take a picture of him though?" You point over towards the completely mangled corpse of DREARY NIGHT MURDERER.
"Oh! Yeah, I should, actually!" She immediately makes a beeline over to shape some pictures of the completely mangled corpse. Wow you did not expect her to do that.

She doesn't take long to rush light back to your side. "It's been rough but it's nice being able to, well, see such interesting entities all close and personal! A time capsule of ideas, anomalies, and people...there's something nice about being able to catalogue all of that." She pulls out a photograph from her camera and hands it over to you.

"I mean, I can remember a LOT. Got dozens of little chips and drives that lets me do that. I don't really need pictures. It just doesn't seem tangible without it, you know?"

"I can get that. For me, my memories get...I dunno. Warped? Weeks feel like they were months ago, hours feel like weeks, yet sometimes days feel like nothing at all." You cross your arms as you try to process what Kiara was talking about. "I don't really mind that, though. Every moment is just-"

"Another thing to experience, yeah?"

"Yeah. Do you think they experience anything? Remember anything?" You glance back at the corpse you made SURE was dead. "Are they any different?" A small part of you is afraid that, if one day, you end becoming one of them...what would happen to you. When you're nothing more than a mindless beast. How human even are you?

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"Mmh. Well, if you can't remember anything before the transformation, isn't it just another form of death? And if it's just death, why worry about it?"

Kiara flashes a beaming smile as if the idea of death is not at all horrifying. "I think that prevents you from enjoying what you have. I got to fight an anomaly and stab it with a knife! If I was worried if I was going to die or not, I wouldn't be able to experience that." A dreamy sigh plays out of Kiara's voicebox. "It's all about those experiences for me. New stories, new fears..."

"Isn't that what makes you human? I guess Quentin would probably feel the same, ha."
>+1 RESTRAINT TO KIARA! 4/4 NOW!

"Mmh. Even whatever was down there? In REFINEMENT?"

"Aha! Yeah, yeah! I think it can hear us, even down here, let's not talk about it!" Kiara firmly pats you on the shoulder. What DOES SHE MEAN BY THAT- Feh. Okay. You can worry about that later.

"Well, at least you're doing okay. Try to keep that up, ya know? Wouldn't want our famed reporter to be down in the dumps for too long."
"Feh~! How could I be down in the dumps when I can see all of this cool stuff?" Kiara's smile grows as wide as it can possibly go. "Fuck him, though!" She jabs a finger towards the MURDERER. "I cost a lot to repair! I cost more than his kind would make in five lifetimes! AIE!"

"Woah, woah, he's dead, he's dead. Calm down." You pat Kiara on the shoulder. Well, you're glad she has some pep. Time to deal with Naomi, then Audie, then to explore further. You try your best to ignore the rambling and screeching Sable is throwing towards the allies you're not talking to.

Naomi is fiddling with her pocket knife while she's waiting for all of your other allies to get ready. A lot more of her face is exposed since her previous bandages, sans the fresh gauze on her nose, were ruined. It's now that you get a solid look at the face underneath it all, which you haven't had since you first met her.

Her patchy skin is caked in a latticework of burn scars and deep scratches, with only her left eye being mostly unfucked. Her right eye socket has been completely covered by a patch of dry, cracked skin that's threatening to tear at any second. A swirl of bizarre bright blue symbols and patterns that look like they would belong on some sort of old tribal warrior is painted all across her scarred face.

[PERSON OF INTEREST] Power tattoos. Similar to the ones you saw on the Pirates back in the Infinite Sea. Whatever fueled them is LONG exhausted.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] You imagine the serums you gotten from the spook might power them back up.
"LET HER REACH HEAVEN THROUGH VIOLENCE!" Sable yells out before she turns her attention back to Quentin, who's talking to her with awe in his eyes.

She glances over at you, flashing a toothless smile. Only a few of her front teeth are still hanging in there. "I apologize for my face being uncovered. What do you wish to discuss?" It's impressive how she's able to talk with how little teeth she has.

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"We have time to kill, dear."

"I've seen worse at this point." You shrug off the fact she looks like a burnt piece of jerky. "You're going to be okay with, you know, her?" You nod your head in the only hallway forward.

Naomi's cloudy grey eye, which you only now notice, stares at you. Judging you. Her smile is gone now. "We will when we get there." She immediately regains her smile after she switches the target. "We simply have to carry on, dear."

Touchy subject. Best not to pressure her too much about it. "So. You said you thought you were desensitized when you were outside of REFINEMENT. Was it really that bad? Can't say I'm not curious after hearing that."

"It's something a human mind could not comprehend. Thankfully, I'm not much of a human after the things I've done and seen." Her words ooze with equal parts snide sarcasm and genial wisdom. "My former comrades were trying to fuel it with someone they kidnapped. Feet first. It was not pleasant to see. Especially when the machine started to vomit."

The mental image alone is nearly enough to make you puke. "...Well then. I'm glad you can keep? up your high spirits?"

"You learn to develop a sense of humor like this, dear. It's not wise to let emotions and fear seep into your heart when you deal with things outside of normal human perception." Naomi continues to fiddle around with the knife in her hand. "I will say. Your competency in this mission has been admirable."

"Hm?" You're curious what she meant by that.

"Keeping several high value targets alive, not letting any allies die, using resources to the best of your ability...even that foul meat I smell seems like it's from an important figure. I have to respect what you've done."
>+0.5 RAPPORT and +1 RESTRAINT to NAOMI! NOW AT 4/4 RESTRAINT AND 2.5/8 RAPPORT!

"Hey, I'm not being paid nearly 14 hundred dollars to be a bad worker, eh? We gotta do the things we gotta do in order to make it in this fuckin' industry." You really wish you could smoke right now but alas, the only cigarettes you have would obliterate your lungs beyond repair in a single toke. "I take pride in a good job done, you know?"

"Respectable. I suppose we're close to the end now. Anything more would simply be greedily taking more and more of this abandoned facility's treasures until our gullets are full. Like wild animals." Despite what she's saying, she seems oddly happy? "Good. There's nothing left but ghosts and regret here. Erase the past, take what is ours."

"I suppose it's time we should carry on, Nicole?"
"Sure, sure." You turn your attentions back to your other allies and what Sable has been doing to them.

"AND THAT'S WHEN WE TOLD THAT FUCKING SPOOK IF HE BELIEVED IN GOD AND HE WAS CRYING LIKE A LITTLE BITCH-" Sable is rambling on and on about your past achievements while your allies, still hesitant about dealing with an anomalous spirit, listen on with rapt gazes and awestruck smirks.

Naomi snaps her fingers. "Let's get going."

File: OLDNOTE.jpg (162 KB, 600x400)

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"Especially you, Sable." Huh, you don't think you told any of them her name. Guess she already knew because she talked to her before.
Sable deflates a bit but immediately bends towards Naomi's command. "FEH. ONLY BECAUSE WE HAD THAT TALK BACK AT THE BASE." She rushes back over to be right besides you.

Well, at least your other allies seem a bit more comfortable around Sable, and by proxy, your UNSTABLE self.
>All allies present is now used to UNSTABLE's presence. They take -1 RESTRAINT from any mental fits you may have.

One last thing. You toss the note over to Audie. "Hey. Do you recognize this handwriting? There was also another lab gal back in Research-" You toss THAT note to him as well. "Just want to know if you recognized them or anything."

Audie quickly skims over the two notes you handed him before he immediately stops mid-skim. He's staring at them in complete disbelief and awe. For a brief moment, you swear he was about to burst into tears but he's quickly able to recompose himself. "Haven't seen this handwriting in decades. Jane Macarthur and Simon Bell were the ones to write this. How did you get this one?" He holds up the note you woke up with.

You simply shrug. You have no fucking idea but at least you got some names to thank once you're on the surface. Only way to proceed now is FORWARDS. Your group promptly falls into line in their soggy, probably foul smelling glory. You can't wait to get somewhere warm after all of this but not until you stop this place from flooding because hoo, you can already feel the water getting higher and higher.

Your group proceeds down the only path forward. SABLE keeps some level of conversation up with your other allies but it's mostly just nonsensical ramblings so you learn to tune it out. Another long hallway to travel down. This is going to bite you in the ass when you have to go back to the surface.

The room your group finally stumbles into is MASSIVE. It was probably the main hub for all manner of activity on this floor before the facility fell apart and this place became a flooded garbage dump. The layout of the room is triangular, with four hallways branching off from the room you're in (discounting the one you came from). Two lead to containment cells, one labeled "DREARY NIGHT MURDERER" and the other labeled "TRAPPED BEHIND FOREVER". The first one was pried open ages ago while the second one firmly remains shut.

The hallways forward branch off into one brightly lit, almost blindingly white, path to the north and one that seems to lead into a room with SOMEONE waiting inside.

Boxes and crates filled with expired and leaking A-Energy and C-Extract line the walls, clearly meant to be stored down here for future use. A constant dribble of bright yellow, green, orange, pink, red, and other weirdly colored liquids in various states of decay mix into the water below. The ceiling stretches up pretty high up and you swear there's also another door up there with a small platform attached to it.

File: FLOWERSINABATTLEFIELD.jpg (262 KB, 1920x1080)

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Perhaps while this facility was operational, there was a ladder to reach up there. Maybe Quentin can go up there. That's not what catches your attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoSNe09tJfI - ???

In the center of the room is a massive tree made out of connective tissue and flesh. With how high the ceiling is and how the tree nearly smashes against said ceiling, it must be at least two hundred feet tall. Its many roots are spiraling across the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room in desperate search of fresh nutrients.

Dozens of small flowers bloom across its many fleshy branches and the roots on the floor, seemingly mimicking ordinary flowers from the surface above. A field of flowers to color a man's heart. There's an odd silence around the tree that almost forces your allies to the ground but for now, you're able to resist its impulse. Even SABLE has gone quiet now.

We have always remained. We are a living memorial for those who have lost their lives on this field of battle.

At the base of the tree is a humanoid corpse. Millions of millions of roots are crawling in and out of his skin. Only his face and arms is fully visible underneath the mass of roots that has parasitized him. He's...smiling despite it all.

Ah, but it's still winter isn't it? It's a full bloom...

The corpse opens its eyes up for a moment. It reaches a hand out towards your group. Asking for something.

What do you do with LATECOMER'S BLOSSOM?
>[NAOMI ALLY + AUDIE ALLY] "Let's honor it." "To pay for its services." The two mutter with regret in their gazes. Pay a tribute to it. (-2 HIGH QUALITY WHISKEY BOTTLES, -1 GOLDEN DOUBLOON, -1 V-CORP CIGARETTE, -$50.)
>[WENDY ALLY] "It's clearly trying to lure us into a trap. Stay away from it." Proceed past it with her advice. You don't need to bother this thing and she's content enough not to fight it.
>[KIARA ALLY] "There's nobody to remember you here. Don't you want to be remembered elsewhere?" Try to convince the anomaly it's better to leave here. Peacefully. (CHARM DC: 15 (-6 from X-CORP MEDAL + CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Kiara's help. Pass and you should be able to convince to be contained, which will reward you greatly down the line.)
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)
>[CLOVER ALLY] Clover places some ammo in its hands. "A soldier needs to fight, right?" (-3 REVOLVER AMMO, -2 SHOTGUN SLUGS, -3 ASSAULT RIFLE AMMO.)
>[CASEY ALLY] She's not talking to it nor offering it anything. Follow in her stead. Stand there and simply watch it in silence.
>[SABLE ACTIVE] "SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER NOT TO REMEMBER." Grab onto an old dust contaminated liquor, set it on fire, and throw it towards the anomaly. (Something tells you this won't start a fight. This may be better for everyone involved.)
>Write in.

Sorry for delay.

>>6038190
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)
We have GRAPPLING HOOK! We can go up there once Quentin scouts it
>[SABLE ACTIVE] "SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER NOT TO REMEMBER." Grab onto an old dust contaminated liquor, set it on fire, and throw it towards the anomaly. (Something tells you this won't start a fight. This may be better for everyone involved.)
Just because we won't remember doesn't mean nobody will. There's lots of memorials to wars and soldiers and every event or profession under the sun and under the ground. You don't need monuments or landmarks to remember things.

Naomi+Audie option spends resources I still want to keep for later
Wendy option leaves this unaccounted for and we still need to walk by this on the way out, and back again if we're going to do side objectives before we engage reseal and ESCAPE
Kiara option is nice and all and I bet an X Corp cemetary or huge memorial plaza would love this thing there, but we only have 1 containment cube with us. If we had more then maybe I'd be up for taking this? Could there be more spare containment cubes here in Extraction Floor?
Clover option wastes valuable ammo, no thank you
Casey option might also be good in a simple "Press F to pay respects" manner, no more no less

>>6038190
>>[KIARA ALLY] "There's nobody to remember you here. Don't you want to be remembered elsewhere?" Try to convince the anomaly it's better to leave here. Peacefully. (CHARM DC: 15 (-6 from X-CORP MEDAL + CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Kiara's help. Pass and you should be able to convince to be contained, which will reward you greatly down the line.)
>>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)

>>6038190
>>[KIARA ALLY] "There's nobody to remember you here. Don't you want to be remembered elsewhere?" Try to convince the anomaly it's better to leave here. Peacefully. (CHARM DC: 15 (-6 from X-CORP MEDAL + CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Kiara's help. Pass and you should be able to convince to be contained, which will reward you greatly down the line.)

>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)

>>6038190
>[KIARA ALLY] "There's nobody to remember you here. Don't you want to be remembered elsewhere?" Try to convince the anomaly it's better to leave here. Peacefully. (CHARM DC: 15 (-6 from X-CORP MEDAL + CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Kiara's help. Pass and you should be able to convince to be contained, which will reward you greatly down the line.)
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)

>>6038190
>[KIARA ALLY] "There's nobody to remember you here. Don't you want to be remembered elsewhere?" Try to convince the anomaly it's better to leave here. Peacefully. (CHARM DC: 15 (-6 from X-CORP MEDAL + CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Kiara's help. Pass and you should be able to convince to be contained, which will reward you greatly down the line.)
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)

>>6038190
>[KIARA ALLY] "There's nobody to remember you here. Don't you want to be remembered elsewhere?" Try to convince the anomaly it's better to leave here. Peacefully. (CHARM DC: 15 (-6 from X-CORP MEDAL + CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Kiara's help. Pass and you should be able to convince to be contained, which will reward you greatly down the line.)
>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)

Question. Should we Sight Jack Quentin when he goes to scout? Just in case something up there immediately fucks him? Incase something up there is a thing Nicky would know about but he might not even notice and report?

And at some point should we toss on A New You for some bonuses before we make it to the home stretch? We do still have glow niggers in play, so a bonus to some stat or another might be useful, especially if we want to try and get a jump on them.

Or can we only put A New You on at the start of a mission.

>>6038190
>>[QUENTIN ALLY] "Hey, while we deal with this thing, check up there." Point towards the weird door far above the ceiling. (FREE ACTION. Quentin will temporarily leave the party to investigate.)
>>[CLOVER ALLY] Clover places some ammo in its hands. "A soldier needs to fight, right?" (-3 REVOLVER AMMO, -2 SHOTGUN SLUGS, -3 ASSAULT RIFLE AMMO.)

>>6038672
Yes, I agree
Might be cool