SPONSORSHIP REMINDER:
BLACKWELL: INTERVIEW FOUR OF YOUR COWORKERS ABOUT INCREDIBLY PRYING STUFF, VIA A PRE-APPROVED BLACKWELL FORM. DEADLINE: 2 DAYS. PROGRESS: 0/4 INTERVIEWS
TIMELESS INCORPORATED: SURVIVE THIS SHIFT, WHICH CURRENTLY HAS UNSTABLE AND INCOHERENT TIME.
STATIC-BOUND ISOLA: EXPLORE ANOMALOUS DIMENSIONS ON BEHALF OF ISOLA. DEADLINE: 2 DAYS. PROGRESS: 1/3
ZENITH MEDICAL ACADEMY: OBTAIN 9 BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES FROM HARVESTERS. DEADLINE: 3 DAYS. PROGRESS: 0/9
QUALITY AND QUANTITY: Wait, they’re still here? They’re probably going to interview you again today.

--

There's no need to rush with this anomaly. It's brand new, and at minimum, you probably got a solid week and a half before it resolves on you. If it can even resolve it, considering the warning it gave you.

You might as well start off with something light. You REALLY don't know Nine all that well. You don't know what they look like underneath that, you don't know where they came from, you don't know what their real intentions are...

So why not get to know them more?

"Khm. Nine, you said you were into astronomy, right? That must suck, huh? Having a hobby you can’t engage with because you’re stuck underground all day."

"It is a regrettable arrangement indeed." The masked figure nods along, agreeing with your general sentiment. "I could replicate a simulacrum of it, with the right maps and the right tools, but it would lack one of the major reasons why I indulge in the hobby."

"I don’t really get the appeal myself. Well, not that stargazing is bad or anything." You make sure to clarify before either Nine or the anomaly gets the wrong idea. "It never crossed my mind as something I wanted to do."

Nine cocks their head to the side, like you said something particularly stupid. You’re about to apologize out of pure instinct, if nothing else, but they interrupt you before you could.

"It is a way for me to understand all there is to understand in the world." Nine states matter of factly. "To document and catalog all that exists in the universe. Our tiny little blue marble is a marvelous oddity, of course, but it is very likely we are not unique in the grand scheme"

"Who is to say we are the only ones out there?" Nine swung their arm through the thin haze that had blanketed the containment cell. "Anomalies are born from the collective subconscious, yes, but evidence indicates that other sentient creatures can have subconscious thoughts."

"And I do mean sentient, not sapient. Even the fears and desires of a particularly advanced animal could form an anomaly, could it not? Perhaps that is why I am fascinated by the stars. There are infinite possibilities up there, lost amongst the sea of blinking lights."

There’s another pause as Nine shifts their focus back to the telescope. "Some say that life did not originate on earth. That we may as well be shavings of a shaving of something greater."

File: SLICEANDDICE.jpg (68 KB, 800x999)

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"It is an interesting theory, even if I do not personally believe it. Regardless, I think that sums up my general interest in astronomy."

You never really considered whether there was extraterrestrial life. It feels almost silly to worry about it given that you deal with anomalies, after all. You can respect someone having the mental energy and clarity to worry about something as distant as the stars and the life out there.

You? You’re too stuck in the muck and grime of reality.

“I see. I can understand that, at least.” You gaze back towards the anomaly in question, to see if there’s any reaction coming from it.

The air feels different. Maybe you’re imagining things but it feels like it’s a bit thinner than it was a moment ago. The dusky haze filled with false stars has taken more of the space in the containment cell, as if it heard what Nine said and it is trying its best to give them what they want.

Without any frame of reference, it’s hard to say.

You make your way towards the anomaly proper now that you got some answers from Nine. Nine follows right behind you, with most of their attention focusing on the evershifting faux-night sky that swirls and twists in on itself.

”I do not recall seeing most, if any, of these constellations or star patterns.” Nine muses out loud. ”Which does make sense, given what we are dealing with.”

You squat down so you can reach the radio, while still having access to the telescope. It shouldn’t be too hard to scrape off the paint that covers the two halves of the anomaly. A small part of you worries that the anomaly might try to defend itself if you do this, since it wouldn’t be the first time an inanimate object has done that on you.

You draw a scalpel from your pocket. A different kind of knife might’ve worked better but you use what you got. That’s the motto you have to live by if you’re working under ARC’s thumbs, right?

Your blade easily slices into the paint coating the telescope, with seemingly no reaction. You’re able to slice off a small piece of dried paint with barely any effort on your end. Nine helps by drawing their own blade, moving to scrape paint off of the radio.

This is going to be a boring work order so you might as well spice it up with something. As you two begin to work on scraping the garish paint off, you think of the first stupid theory that comes to your mind. Your insight module did say the anomaly should like that.

“So, you talked about life existing outside of earth, right? What if YOU were an alien?” Your mouth curls into a cheeky little smirk. “You constantly wear a mask, you’re super vague about your past…”

”Pffft. I shall cut you off there.” Nine wags a finger at you. ”If I was an alien, I believe ARC would have learnt about that, and I would likely be stuck in a cell just like this very anomaly.”

One theory down, a dozen more to go.

“I feel like I should know Hidaka’s last name.” You muse outloud.

File: OLDRADIO.jpg (88 KB, 770x770)

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Nine gives you a strange look, as if they’re waiting for you to piece something together. When it’s clear your memory is failing you, Nine clears their throat.

”That is her last name. Her full legal name is Makiko Hidaka.”

Drat. Granted, from what little you recall of the last time you heard her first name, she REALLY doesn’t like people knowing it. Given how she is, you doubt it’s really that important, and it’s merely a symptom of her general cageyness.

“Do you know anything about a certain Man?” Now, at the mention of him, the radio begins to crackle to life. The previous theories didn’t get anything resembling a reaction out of the anomaly, so this must be going somewhere.

The radio is currently only playing static, but maybe if you keep talking, it’ll condense into something actually intelligible?

There’s a glimmer of recognition behind the tinted lenses of Nine’s mask. ”Vaguely. I am aware that anti-memetic entities exist, and I am struggling to fully process what you said to me just now.”

”I feel oddly compelled to ask about something that may or may not be an egg? This line of questioning is-” Nine interrupts themselves before they can say whatever they were going to say. They gesture at you to keep speaking.

“Well, considering how you reacted, I’m going to guess he might be an anomaly that forgot he’s an anomaly?” There’s something mildly amusing about the idea. An antimemetic anomaly somehow forgetting it was even an anomaly. You always had a sneaking suspicion he was one, especially with those weird anomalous eggs he seemingly creates out of nowhere.

Nine…actually doesn’t balk at this theory. ”The line between a human affected by an anomaly, and an anomaly itself, is razor thin. It is my own personal belief that most if not anomalies, in some ways, can be ‘simplified’ into humans given enough time.”

”Perhaps not all of them. I could not imagine turning Little Miss Sunshine back into a human in any conceivable way, but I understand the thought process.”

“8 21 13 1 14 9 20 25” A voice finally speaks over the radio. It sounds like one of those cheap, shitty text to speech programs youtubers used to use way back when. “6 1 18 3 5”

You can’t understand what it’s trying to say. You doubt it’s picking the numbers at random but that’s all you got to work with.

”Oh ho! Now you finally decided you want to speak!” Nine’s voice is positively oozing with cat-like amusement. ”Do you have anything to say about this mysterious Man Vincent seems to be talking about?”

“9 19 19 21 5. 19 8 15 21 12 4 14 20. 5 24 9 19 20”

”Interesting. None of those numbers have gone above 25. Vincent, keep spouting whatever inscrutable theories you have bouncing around inside of your skull. I want to see if I can translate it.”

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You start wildly babbling about what you know about the DEERFOX SHADE and 199X, including one theory that it could be possibly 199X is the sub-manifestation. There’s technically no proof that 199X is the ‘main’ anomaly, right?

"4 5 5 18...14 5 22 5 18...4 9 5 4", says the radio. Nine's right, this thing is only spitting out numbers below 25. Wait.

Oh god, is THAT really the cipher it's using? Well, there's probably more than one station on this thing, so who knows if it'll be the same cipher every time. Maybe it's going easy on you this time.

"Deer never died?" Nine taps at the radio. "What an odd thing to say. Maybe it is an attempt at saying yes? To your 'sub-manifestation' theory?"

Another theory you propose is about your family. You're a bit vague on the details since while you know little about the HEART, outright babbling about it is going to get it pounding at your (metaphorical) front door.

Nine silently listens as you keep going on about your family, especially as they pick up on you clearly leaving something out. The radio doesn't appear to be particularly interested in whatever you're spewing out, or that's what you thought at first.

A single thump crackles over the radio's speaker. Then another. Then there's silence.

You're going to take that as a sign you should drop the theorizing talk before you accidently invite the Heart to do god knows what. You and Nine finish scrapping off as much paint as you can from the two halves of the anomaly. You do make note that the paint on the telescope/radio appears to be able to grow back.

The paint still on THE OTHER SIDE's two components moves to smooth over and refill any gaps you carved out. Mild regenerative property, but you don't really see a direct use for 'paint that can self repair itself' aside from cost cutting measures.

...Wait, you work for ARC. They'd probably kill for a free cost cutting measure.
>5 SAMPLES of STAR-BOUND PAINT obtained! (Flakes of light and dark blue paint. Might sell for a pretty penny.)

That only leaves one thing before you can get out of this place: the notes on the wall. Nine damn near teleports over to one of them now that you're done babbling about schizophrenic theories. With a gentle touch, they pull down one of the many notes, ready to read it out loud.

They get about half a word out before bursting out into a coughing fit. You immediately recoil but before you can ask if they're okay, they cut you off.

"Interesting. I apologize, I believe my throat is refusing to function like it is supposed to. Please, try to read out one of the notes."

Alright. You yank a random note off the wall. The first few words are basic enough, 'UNNATURAL TEMPERATURE READINGS? ANALYSIS NEEDED' Vague, no context, should be fine.

"Unnatural temp-" And your throat immediately refuses to work with you. It swells shut like you were suddenly allergic to the words you were trying to say.

File: STARBOUND.jpg (534 KB, 1280x1526)

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All you manage to get out is a pathetic little groan. Your throat goes back to normal after you stopped trying to read them out loud.

"Curious. We can read them fine as is. Can you write down what you just read?"

You pull out a pencil, following Nine's instructions, and you're able to transcribe what you wanted to say with no anomalous properties triggering. Okay, noted, you can't verbalize what's on the notes, but that shouldn't slow you down too much.

>3 SUCCESSES!

The two of you work through the notes at remarkable speed, transcribing everything interesting so you can study it later. You rather keep the originals here in case the anomaly would react violently to them being removed. As for the notes themselves, most of them go into a lot of detail about non-anomalous astronomy data.

None of it seems particularly relevant to the anomaly itself, aside from the general 'theming' of this anomaly all being about the cosmos and such. Some other notes are too incoherent to parse as anything other than chicken scratch, but you record them anyways to be through.

A few notes do manage to grab your interest, especially as you pick up on the notes slowly degrading in cohesion over time. The author of them must've been going mad.

Your head begins to seethe as you begin to parse the note. It's like someone is pounding a hammer against the side of your head.

We have never truly see the stars, have we? We only have our limited perception of the light they shine through the void. We have captured their images, but these images are mere traces of a trace. Does it even depict something that exists at that point?

Light only travels at 299,792,458 m/s. The observable universe is billions of light years, and the unobservable? Even further. We only see echoes of an echoes of an idea, of their light, created billions of years ago.

Yet, we still assign names to them. We assign titles. We analyze their mass, we analyze the planets that circle them. These are all from echoes of something ancient.

The names, the titles, the data? Ephemeral noise us humans assign to objects we can never properly perceive. Not truly. We only understand our own limited, false perception of them.

Yet, we collectively accept these titles. We collectively accept the data. And in that way they become true. Truer than what actually exists.

NO HUMAN IS CAPABLE OF TRUE OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION OF 'REALITY'. Even our closest attempts are either tainted by the tools we use, or our corrupted and subjective perception.

AN ILLUSION THAT CHANGES THE MORE WE PERCEIVE IT. EVEN THE MERE ACT OF OBSERVATION IS ENOUGH TO CHANGE HOW PARTICLES WORKS, BECAUSE TO OBSERVE, WE MUST FORCE OUR INFLUENCE UPON THE WORLD.

If sentient life exists out there, it could define us just as much as we define them. Then, which reality should we accept? The reality we defined or the reality they defined? Would either be 'right?'

Perhaps the anomalous data I've gathered from the stars up there isn't 'wrong'. The beautiful hue of blue light I see isn't 'wrong' or 'anomalous' or 'false'. Not any more than what we believe in.

The note begins to taper out from there. Christ, the author of this clearly went batshit crazy, but you can see a glimmer of something true hidden amongst all of that. The anomalies you've dealt with, and the artifacts they create, work on their own internal logic.

You guess you kinda understand where the author is coming from. That their perception of reality could be just as accurate as yours, if you look at it a certain kind of way. You already have to gaslight yourself to a certain extent to use your artifacts.

The mention of a 'beautiful hue of blue light' caught your attention too. You'll certainly have to keep note of that for future works.

"...An interesting read, was it not?" A tinge of pity lingers in the masked figure's words. "I believe our business here is done."

The false lights swirling around in the containment cell continue to glow as they always have, uncaring, unseeing. You're already know this anomaly is going to take a WHILE to fully understand in any meaningful way, but that's the fun part, no?

With your business here done, you make your way towards the exit.

-----
ANOMALY MOOD: APPRECIATIVE
>You feel different. BONUS TO ALL ARTIFACT CHECKS: +4 --> +8!
-----

"-Look, it's a piece of fuckin' glass." Colt points the tip of the BLACK SHARD towards Hidaka's general direction. "It's a weird piece of abno glass but it's still GLASS. What the hell can we even DO with this shit?"

"If it's useful enough for him to keep?" Hidaka does a familiar tongue click. "You'll FIND a way to make it useful."

Those two seem busy dealing with one of the ARTIFACT gifts you got. You'll leave them to it while you, well, do something else. You make your way over to your trusty computer, with Nine following right behind you. You collapse onto the chair and, as if by muscle memory, you begin to open up ABNOWATCH.

"I translated the other messages the radio gave us." Nine leans over your shoulder. "I believe it called 'humanity' a 'farce', and that your 'Man' was an 'issue that shouldn't exist.'"

"The fuck?" You snort at the second translated message. "He's been a very helpful friend of mine, thank you very much. Ah, the anomaly's probably just mopey we didn't look through the telescope."

"Perhaps. I will continue to work on the notes we transcribed, since if they are important enough that we can't speak about their contents out loud? They are important to the anomaly, obviously."

"Of course. Now, can you help me parse through all of this?" You gesture towards your computer screen, which is now FLOODED with dozens upon dozens of bullshit, nonsensical offers from desperate researchers. You want to do some actual trading that's worth your time, thank you very much.

"Of course. As your humble servant..."

Most of the offerings on the subforum you ended up on are complete horseshit. Either the researchers are too poor to offer you anything, or they're obvious scammers trying to steal stuff from you, but you narrowed down the trade offers to six meaningful ones.

OFFER #1
FROM: JustKALI
DESCRIPTION: I'll be blunt, I got too much of this gunk one of my anomalies made, and I want it GONE. It has mild hallucinogenic properties but it's a nightmare to store. I'm willing to sell it for dirt cheap.
EXCHANGE: $100 for 8 BUCKETS OF SCANDALOUS SLUDGE [ANOMALY SAMPLE]

OFFER #2
FROM: ASHCROFTGUARD
DESCRIPTION: Shit's stressful, and I'm willing to pay whatever it takes to get my mind off of things. Willing to trade 'relaxants' for 'relaxants'
EXCHANGE: 10 CIGARETTE MOLD and 1 BETÄUBEN for 2 high quality MENTAL HEALTH restoring items and a bottle of good quality scotch.

OFFER #3
FROM: FET :))))
DESCRIPTION: GOT WHOLe unch of MOnsTer MEAt and LOOT. VERY yummMY. WILL traDE for weapONS. GUN borke :(((
EXCHANGE: BOTH YOUR BOLAS AND MAKESHIFT WEAPON for 2 HARVESTER MEAT, $200, and a randomly determined third item.

OFFER #4
FROM: DefaultUser44
DESCRIPTION: Need biological samples. Blood best, flesh okay. Have spare medical supplies.
EXCHANGE: ALL REMAINING BLOOD BUCKETS AND PRIME MEAT for 2 TRAUMA KITS (useful for curing SERIOUS injuries) and 2 BENODINE PILLS (very addictive painkillers)

OFFER #5
FROM: LILY1221511
DESCRIPTION: One of my anomalies keeps badgering about wanting 'something that reminds her of a wageslave'. I don't know WHY that's the case, but the doll won't shut up otherwise. Give me something to work with here.
EXCHANGE: 3 BLOOD SAMPLES from you (will cost a decent amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH) for a random but useful anomalous boon this shift!

OFFER #6
FROM: FestiveGal1200
DESCRIPTION: I'm looking for some cool plants to decorate my room with! Probably can't pay market rate, but I'll owe you a favor!
EXCHANGE: 8 WIRE FLOWERS for $750 and a 'favor' you can cash in later (might be useful when speaking to ARC?)

Which deals do you want to accept? Choose as many as you feel comfortable picking.
>OFFER #1 (Leaves you at $163)
>OFFER #2 (Leaves you with 15 CIGARETTE MOLD and 1 BETÄUBEN pill.)
>OFFER #3 (Removes an item of sentimental value, and two niche but potentially useful weapons.)
>OFFER #4 (Removes a fuel source for HARD TIMES, and a good crafting component.)
>OFFER #5
>OFFER #6 (Takes all of your WIRE FLOWERS. It'll take a lot of time to grow more.)
>NONE.
>Try to negotiate a better deal on one of the offers. (WRITE IN WHICH ONE(s), AND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO NEGOTIATE FOR EXACTLY. MAY REQUIRE A DICE ROLL.)

Welcome back. Yeah, uh, sorry for taking over a month to come back with an update. Part of that was me slacking off, part of that was life stuff getting in the way.
Five million years of Vincent slop. For you. For me.

>>6438638
We're BACK!
>OFFER #1 (Leaves you at $163)

>OFFER #3 (Removes an item of sentimental value, and two niche but potentially useful weapons.)
Anything for our favorite human.

>OFFER #5

>OFFER #6 (Takes all of your WIRE FLOWERS. It'll take a lot of time to grow more.)

>>6438638
Feels good to be back! And with an updated intro even!


>OFFER #3
That's a good human to human interaction.
>OFFER #5
Who knows how long this shift will continue? Will probably be worth it.
>OFFER #6
It sucks to give away all of our flowers (goodbye to more floral gin in the near future) but the offer is written nicely and every possible bonus for our call to UPPER MANAGEMENT counts.

For the other offers, I thought about #1 but the storage problem sounds bad, offer #2 I don't want to give away our mold as we need it for the WARDEN sponsorship (which should still be running although QM seems to have missed or omitted it in the reminder) and offer #4 just doesn't seem worth it to me value-wise plus we'd risk actually taking the horrendous pills one day.

>>6438662
Oh, right, whoops. Knew I was forgetting something.

WARDEN: GET A SHIT TON OF CIGARETTE MOLD FOR THEM. ABOUT 35, TO BE EXACT. DEADLINE: 3 DAYS. PROGRESS: 25/35
Granted, the main stickler for this one is you'll be giving up thousands, but it will upgrade four of your allies (NINE/ANTHONY/EDWARD/ASHTON), so it'll probably be an equal amount of value in the long term. It will suck donkey dick in the short term though, if you wanna do it ASAP.

>>6438629
> Q&Q
What do you mean “still?” They haven’t interviewed us yet, and IIRC, we’re to participate in two interviews in total.

>>6438667
It’ll suck short-term we don’t count the feather in our caps for when we walk into the mold meeting, sure. “We’ve already completed one full order to rave reviews!”

>>6438638
>OFFER #2 (Leaves you with 15 CIGARETTE MOLD and 1 BETÄUBEN pill.)
>OFFER #3 (Removes an item of sentimental value, and two niche but potentially useful weapons.)
Help our friends, make unexpected progress on the ZENITH sponsorship, and resolve to get back on the MOLD grind next turn - we can do this and still complete WARDEN’S sponsorship today, we got all the time in the world this shift.

>OFFER #5
>OFFER #6 (Takes all of your WIRE FLOWERS. It'll take a lot of time to grow more.)
Nothing that won’t grow back.

>Try to negotiate a better deal on one of the offers. (WRITE IN WHICH ONE(s), AND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO NEGOTIATE FOR EXACTLY. MAY REQUIRE A DICE ROLL.)
- Offer #5: Obviously, “have some of my blood that I’m currently using” is a bit of a step up from “something that reminds them of wage slaves.” If we tell them exactly what we’re doing to ourselves to fulfill the request, it shouldn’t be hard to convince them to throw in something extra for us going above and beyond.

File: The Other SIde o1.png (268 KB, 500x550)

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>>6438638
>OFFER #3
>OFFER #5
>OFFER #6

>>6438637
Welcome Back!

Is it bad that those ramblings entirely make sense to me? I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's mostly solid theory.
I suspect Colt will really enjoy spewing theories at this thing.

>as if by muscle memory, you begin to open up ABNOWATCH.
I was half suspecting to see the scitzo-posting from the end of last thread

>>6438638
We lack serious storage, so something that's a pain to store is a no go.
Our MOLD is earmarked for the sponsorship.
>OFFER #3
It'll be a shame to lose that stuff, but I like FET enough to keep him in weapons.
Actually, it's worth asking him about the broken gun and it's ammo. Guns and ammo are rare and expensive down here, and I'm sure someone down here could repair it, or would be willing to pay for it as a bluff or for parts.
Colt is good with guns, right? Maybe he could fix it up.

The blood buckets are good fuel for HARD TIMES, and not easily replaced.
>OFFER #5
What's a little health in the name of PROFIT?
>OFFER #6
Wire flowers regrow, might as well.

>>6438638
>OFFER #3
>OFFER #5
>OFFER #6

I’m glad you’re not dead.

>>6438765
+1

>>6438638
>OFFER #1 (Leaves you at $163)
>OFFER #2 (Leaves you with 15 CIGARETTE MOLD and 1 BETÄUBEN pill.)
>OFFER #3 (Removes an item of sentimental value, and two niche but potentially useful weapons.)
>OFFER #5
>OFFER #6 (Takes all of your WIRE FLOWERS. It'll take a lot of time to grow more.)

>>6438638
>OFFER #3 (Removes an item of sentimental value, and two niche but potentially useful weapons.)
>OFFER #5
>OFFER #6 (Takes all of your WIRE FLOWERS. It'll take a lot of time to grow more.)

WELCOME BACK QM I'VE MISSED YOU SO

>>6438741
Hey all, even if you disagree with my offer choice distribution, anyone willing to toss a +1 to my negotiation option? I’ll even include it here separately so it can’t be confused for approval of my offer spread:
>Try to negotiate a better deal on one of the offers. (WRITE IN WHICH ONE(s), AND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO NEGOTIATE FOR EXACTLY. MAY REQUIRE A DICE ROLL.)
- Offer #5: Obviously, “have some of my blood that I’m currently using” is a bit of a step up from “something that reminds them of wage slaves.” If we tell them exactly what we’re doing to ourselves to go above and beyond for the request, it shouldn’t be hard to convince them to throw in something extra for us doing so.

>>6438638
>OFFER #1 (Leaves you at $163)
>OFFER #2 (Leaves you with 15 CIGARETTE MOLD and 1 BETÄUBEN pill.)
>OFFER #5

>>6438888
Sure, have a +1 from me.

Thinking about it, we could go the extra mile and put together an assortment of wagie things; could be a nice joint activity with HIDAKA too. Besides the blood we could include a self-drawn employee ID, grey paste, ground coffee, maybe even a pen and a paperclip or something alike.

Maybe we could even offer to interview him in front of his anomaly for our sponsorship?

>>6438957
Or her as the name suggests a female researcher. Oops.

>>6438888
As in describing the methods we use to extract the samples? I don't have a problem with telling them, but I'm not sure how that points to anything particularly wage-slave-y.

For that matter, I'm not sure what blood samples have to do with what their Anomaly asked for. Surely a corporate slave's outfit, or a photo or something would be a better fit?

>>6438961
OH GOD IT'S VENTI SHE WANTS VINCEYS BLOOD NO VINCENT STAY SAFE

>>6439084
>FROM: LILY1221511
I dont think Venti has the self awareness to try to hide her name.

>>6438961
>WHY BLOOD, NOT OUTFITS?
Anomalies are weird, aren't they? (Realistically, it's that if it was JUST an outfit, you'd have no reason NOT to pick Offer #5, especially considering the bonus you get. Plus your whole 'wageslave' persona resolves around beating the everloving shit out of your self for bonuses.)

>>6438741
>They haven’t interviewed us yet
They did one time, during some random pizza party you got dragged to, but you still have another interview in the bag. So that's why I put them in the reminder, since they've been notably absent the last few days.

>>6438765
We don't talk about the schizoposting last thread.
>Colt is good with guns, right? Maybe he could fix it up.
He is, but considering we're talking about FET? Who knows how much there even is TO repair.

>>6439084
>>6439131
trust me if Venti wanted something from you, she'd make it blatantly obvious. She is not a subtle person in the slightest.

>>6438759
The stars are beautiful, are they not?

>>6438760
Everyone Loves Vincent! (even if he has no idea why.)

To everyone else, glad to have you back. Sorry for taking as long as I did, I really am, but at least we're back.

----

Anywho, 21 hours have passed, we got a few votes, let's tally shit up.

OFFER #1: ISM, ul9, mWE
OFFER #2: Nzc, ul9, mWE
OFFER #3: ISM, tq6, Nzc, xk8, gL1, Y7K, rNh, ul9, lu+
OFFER #5: ISM, tq6, Nzc, xk8, gL1, Y7K, rNh, ul9, lu+, mWE
OFFER #6: ISM, tq6, Nzc, xk8, gL1, Y7K, rNh, ul9, lu+

Wow, uh, very lopsided on what people want. No one wanted #4 (fair enough) and a vast majority are picking 3, 5 and 6. Fair's fair.

I'm going to humor you and I'll let you get the whole 'negotiate for something better' for Option #5, since while Vincent has no issues with mauling himself, he probably could get a better deal out of it. Three anons, I'll need you to roll 1d100+11 for me, since it's just you and Nine doing this.

Table below.

NEGOTIATION (DC 60, +11 to roll)
0 SUCCESSES: There's a lot of talking, and a lot of back and forth, but it's not going anywhere. At least you tried. (Nothing happens.)
1 SUCCESS: There's a lot of talking, and a lot of back and forth, but you manage to agree on something. (You'll get a small restock of research supplies shipped to your lab. Nothing amazing, but useful for future SAMPLE work.)
2 SUCCESSES: "hiiiii you're the uwageslve rightht? :oooooo" (You manage to get in contact with the anomaly itself! Lucky you! You'll get some useful tips from it, mostly involving the ARTIFACT GIFTS you're about to study.)
3 SUCCESSES: "hiiii wow ur cool :D" (You manage to get in contact with the anomaly itself, and it really seems to like you. Lucky you! Same reward 2 SUCCESSES, but you'll get some unique samples from the abno in question.)

Rolled 35 + 11 (1d100 + 11)

>>6439142
Oh boy, Vincent really is enjoying hypotension.

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>6439142
>He is, but considering we're talking about FET? Who knows how much there even is TO repair.
He probably ran out of rounds in a firefight and used it as a hammer instead of reloading or something.

If there are anomalies out there that want to talk to wageslaves for some reason, maybe we should farm ourselves out. what's a few more sidequests, right?

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Rolled 80 + 11 (1d100 + 11)

>>6439142

>>6439152
>moments before disaster.jpg

Well, for the first roll this thread, that ain't bad. 2 SUCCESSES is pretty good! (Your only applicable reroll item only works on nat 25s or lower, so alas). You'll be getting some useful tips for one of your upcoming work orders this update, so that's nice.

Hopefully this update won't take 8 posts like the opening one, ha. Writing.

>>6439149
Genuinely, the reason he's grey might be because he loses so much blood. Save some for Ashton, okay?

>>6439150
>What's a few more sidequests, right?
THAT'S THE SPIRIT, LAD.

>>6439152
Look at SOTC. She's just trying her best to make LOST SINCE 199X happy...
Just, uh, don't think about how dangerous having three anomalies in one room can be.

>>6439154
>tfw roll not good enough to pass but not terrible enough for pity reroll

>>6438638
>OFFER #1 (Leaves you at $163)
>OFFER #3 (Removes an item of sentimental value, and two niche but potentially useful weapons.)
>OFFER #5

>>6439149
>>6439150
>>6439152
Nice, 2 successes

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Out of the options presented to you, only three of them really call to you. #3, #5, and #6.

Offer #3 is an autopick, because c'mon, he's FET! A 'totally normal human'! Sure, you'll miss your MAKESHIFT WEAPON, but it's a small price to pay to make your Normal Human Friend™ happy.

Offer #6 is gonna massively cut into your WIRE FLOWER reserves. At most, you'll have a few shavings to grow more from, but the prospect of a favor you can use against ARC is really tantalizing. You can't pass up on it.

Offer #5? That one's a lot more questionable. Especially since the first thing you thought to offer was 'your own blood'. For a moment you wonder if it's some compulsion of the anomaly, but nah, it's probably just some weird quirk of yours.

You generally have a good sense on whether something you're doing is a compulsion caused by an anomaly, and this isn't it. However, you could at least try to leverage a better deal out of this 'LILY' fella. "Nine? How much leverage do you think we can put on LILY over here?"

"I believe I can accurately guess what your 'offer' is. Blood is a valuable physical and metaphysical resource here. Considering what we know about certain anomalies," Nine jabs a thumb in the direction of HARD TIMES' containment cell. "It would not be a bad offer."

"We can certainly pressure more out of her." They lean forward, resting their head on your shoulder. You flinch at the sudden contact, but before you can say anything, Nine is already writing up a storm using your keyboard.

>2 SUCCESSES!

The initial 'negotiation' was rough. LILY1221511 was more than happy to take your blood, but they balked at the idea of giving you more than their initial offer. That the mere idea of trying to negotiate with her was a personal slight.

For your own mental health, you leave most of the negotiation up to Nine. Well, you were going to, but it appears that their conversation with LILY is going nowhere.

So, you decide to throw in a curveball. Reaching over, you ask for one simple thing: to talk to the anomaly you'll be giving the blood to. That actually throws 'LILY' for a loop, and she asks for you to clarify WHY you want to talk to it.

Nine types on your behalf, Is it not fair to discuss business matters with the actual client, instead of a middle man?

You may not have the best reference of time right now, given the temporal state of your lab, but you swear it took actual years for you to get a response. You almost thought that LILY fucked off but...

"hiiiii you're the uwageslve rightht? :oooooo" The response you get is clearly not from 'LILY'. Hell, it has more in common with FET's way of typing "hi hih ih i you got like real flesh and blood and stuff like a real person right???????"

"What an adorable specimen." You know Nine is smiling like a dumbass underneath that mask.

You type in a quick response: I was told you could give me a boon if I got you something 'that reminds you of a wageslave.'

duh wageslaves are humans and they got all weird blood and stuff right :?

Yeah, well, my blood's pretty valuable stuff. So I was wondering if you could offer me anything else? Some tips, some advice, anything?

oohhhh yeah you're a resacharer or usomthkgn yeah i got osmething for yu!!!!

What you get is a deluge of text that, if shown to you a week ago, you would've thought it was written by an delusional schizophrenic who'd genuinely believes there are men in flashy suits gang stalking them. Nine helps you to note down the actually meaningful pieces of information, amongst the endless forest of dead ends and abrupt cut offs.

What you get that resembles actual advice includes the following:
-'the shards we leave behind, they want to become part of something greater to bond with a host. to become part of you. don't fight it, let the boundaries between the two of you fade.'
-'feed and/or clean them as often as possible! gifts are very fragile!!! they need love and care to stay stable! fill them with love!"
-'to guar guraunta graunte to always geteven more gifts, try to do things we really like! that we really resonate with! even if it's strange to you, playing along with our rules is how we bond with humans!"

LILY chimes in that most of this is simply stuff the anomaly overheard and she totally could've explained this for you. Whatever, you're not going to push this point any further. With Nine's help, you're able to quickly (and painlessly) draw enough blood for three vials. A wave of dizziness hits you, but hey, that's to be expected.

Said vials immediately vanish before you can even think about how you're getting them to someone. You'll chalk that up to temporal tomfuckery. It's easier that way.

>-WIRE FLOWERS, -MAKESHIFT WEAPON, -BOLAS. Your non-BOON rewards will arrive soon!
>PHYSICAL HEALTH is now DOING FINE?
>ANOMALOUS BOON OBTAINED: TEMPORAL ENTANGLED BODY! (+MAX PHYSICAL HEALTH THIS SHIFT. Skill checks on 0 or positive TIME TOKEN actions now have -5 DC. This includes ANOMALY work orders!)

"HEY!" At thunderous roar, one that more resembles a gunshot than human speech, cracks through the air. "ARE YOU TWO GOING TO ACTUALLY FUCKING HELP US OVER HERE, OR WHAT????"

Right, shit, you got to deal with the gifts. You stumble up from your chair and you almost immediately eat shit in the process, thanks to your sudden hypotension. Nine manages to catch you before you smash your face against the floor. You stay silent as they escort you over to the table where your other coworkers are at.

Resting on the table are three gifts. A broken compass that has seen better days, a strange lightbulb that flickers ominously, and a razor sharp shard of black glass. There's a fourth gift too and, well, that's the one growing out of your arm. You already have a good sense of the limits and strengths of SLUMBERING WISH but the others?

That's what you're going to figure out.

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"That fuckin' compass won't tell us jack or squat. It ain't even whisperin' to me, like these things are supposed to!"

"It has proven itself to be stubborn." Hidaka dryly adds on. "We have achieved some progress with the BLACK SHARD." She hands over the shard before pointing at her own eye.

"Hold it up. Look through me through it."

You hold the blackened shard right up to your eye. For some strange reason, for just a brief moment...you saw a glimmering golden necklace wrapped around her neck. You turn to face Colt, and when you see him through the blackened shard, nothing apparently changes.

The only thing different about him is that his gun appears to be faintly glowing, like it's trying to draw your attention. Odd. You look at Nine, just to be through, and you can see that their mask is glowing.

"Okay, that's certainly odd." You lower the blackened shard. "Got any idea what that means?"

"We were aware it can sense valuable objects. It can also sense what someone finds 'valuable', what they 'cherish'. What they 'cling' onto." Hidaka wraps her hand around her neck, right where the necklace one was. "Sentimental value, more often than raw value."

"The necklace you say? Forgery, one my mother wore all the time. Worth next to nothing. But I still cherish it."

Interesting! While that's not immediately useful to you right now, getting a read on what someone REALLY cares about might help out a lot in the future. Especially during important negotiations, like the ones you'll surely have to get into with ARC, with your CIGARETTE MOLD and all of that.

>FINAL BLACK SHARD PROPERTY: SENTIMENTALITY (When looking at someone with it, you get hints on what they cherish the most. Useful for negotiating, or learning more about them as a person.)

You pick up the SHATTERED COMPASS, which as its name suggests, is a damaged compass that's missing its glass cover. One of its arrows is bent in a twisted, crooked angle that makes it almost useless as a navigation tool. You think back on what that strange anomaly told you.

LOST SINCE 199X doesn't want to be found, and a broken compass is useless for finding anything, so that has to tie back to the gift's 'property'. Following this train of logic, the opposite of finding something is 'losing' it. So what it can help you 'lose' something?

You tighten your fist around the compass. A strange, biting cold surges across your palm as you do so, but you're going to trust your gut here. With your free hand, you gesture at the others to try following you. They fall into line, ready to keep pace with you, despite the fact they have no idea WHY you're asking them to do this.

Your footsteps sound oddly muffled. If you weren't paying attention, you'd thought your footsteps were completely silent. It only takes about a dozen or so footsteps before another noise catches your attention.

"MOTHERFUCK-" Colt trips over his own feet as he tries to keep pace with you, despite the fact you're walking at a snail's pace.

He manages to stabilize his posture, right as Nine and Hidaka both collectively trip over their own feet. You place down the compass before anyone actually manages to hurt themselves. Everyone shares a collective look of intrigue as they all piece together the same thing: the compass was making them do that.

"Fascinating. I will admit, that is not a property I expected it to have. Perhaps I was too narrow-minded, but I anticipated it would have let us find forgotten things."

"I could use that." The corner of Hidaka's mouth curls up ever-so-slightly into something resembling a smirk. "Considering where we're at? This may be more valuable than gold. Our survival very well might depend-"

"Feh." Colt interrupts Hidaka before she can continue. "Why do we need a compass for that? We can just shoot someone in the fuckin' head if we want them to stop followin' us. Way simpler."

>SHATTERED COMPASS PROPERTY REVEALED: LOST ROOTS (While active, this gift makes it a LOT harder for people to catch up with or actively follow you. Good at shaking off pursuers.)

The last gift you'll be studying should be pretty easy to figure out. You polish the lightbulb clean with a cloth, even if it's not particularly dirty, just to win over whatever lingering consciousness might be inside.

"I do not recall what anomaly you got that from. May you enLIGHTEN us on its origins?" Oh, they think they're so clever. Hidaka giggles at the awful pun, but she swiftly regains her composure.

You give a very basic overview of the anomaly you got it from, and Hidaka immediately figures out an obvious test to use. She places down a handwritten copy of one of the anomaly dossiers you read. Most of the page has been hastily 'redacted' by scribbling out large chunks of text with sharpie.

You hold the lightbulb up to it, and wouldn't you know, a light bulb illuminates things. This one simply takes that to its logical conclusion. Most of the redacted text is immediately washed away by the lightbulb's uncaring light, revealing the text hidden underneath. You already knew most of the words in this dossier, but that didn't matter.

It was a proof of concept more than anything.
>ILLUM PROPERTY REVEALED: ILLUMINATING [You automatically roll 3 SUCCESSES when reading ANOMALY DOSSIERS. You have a FAR easier time deciphering redacted documents using this light bulb.]

All in all, while none of the gifts have particularly awe-inspiring abilities (compared to proper ARTIFACTS), you can certainly see a LOT of uses for-

whirrrrr
CHRKKKKK

A familiar, yet hard to describe, stench slams into your nose like a barb wired wrapped fist. The closest thing you can describe it to is if someone mixed expired bug spray with old, waterlogged dirt. The air is now back to that nauseating shade of murky green that distorts your surroundings into an incoherent, smudged out mess.

CHRKKKKK!

And the light in your lab returns back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

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Maybe it's about time that you studied what, exactly, is going on with the time inside of your lab. Your group patiently waits for the air to shift back to that awful, rotten green hue. You'd guess that's when you'll be able to easily read whatever temporal anomaly has affected your lab.

CHRKKKKKK!

Everything is washed back in that awful green haze. You silently pop a BETÄUBEN pill, which you almost immediately regret as you feel your throat burning, but oh well! No pain, no gain!
>PHYSICAL HEALTH is now EXHAUSTED!. CRUNCH TIME reactivated! +4 bonus to skill checks!

Your group huddles around the table, using whatever tools they can grab in order to record what exactly is going on inside of your lab. You have everyone write down how much time they think has passed since the light inside the lab turned rotten green. For you, it felt like it's been a minute at most?

Your coworkers scribble down their own answers, and none of them match up with yours. Nine said 'nine minutes', of course, while Hidaka and Colt both agree it has felt thirty minutes to them. Despite the fact that it clearly has not been that long, at least from your perspective.

You ask them to write down the phrase 'the quick brown dog', to see how far this temporal distortion has affected them. Nine finishes scribbling down before you even finish your sentence. writes their note at a snail's pace. Another test, and the result stays the same.. Nine is moving way faster than your other coworkers. It's a bizarre thing to see but it's a consistent pattern you can replicate.

"Do you recall that taffy metaphor I mentioned earlier?" Nine speaks up before you can get stuck in a loop of repeating tests.

"What I believe is happening is time is being stretched and squashed. We have done an impressive amount of work that would have taken at least a third of our allotted time this shift, in what must be an hour at most in 'regular' time, burdening this localized section with the impossibility of trying to condense all of our actions into a linear timeline."

"So, it is taking what it can from us, to rectify and fix this error."

Colt clearly doesn't understand what Nine is talking about. "Mind sayin' that in english? How does that explain how you're movin' so fast?"

"Our 'time' is being siphoned, like gasoline from an abandoned car." You explain using terms Colt is probably more familiar with. 'So that it can have an easier time 'catching' up with time outside our lab."

Hidaka seems to be picking up what you're putting down. "So that's why it's felt like months in here."

"It is very likely I will run out of 'fuel' soon, and my actions will be at a pace comparable to glaciers. We need to perform regular tests to see which one of us is the slowest, so we can divert them to a less useful task."
>You now have a greater sense of how the time distortion here works. Most actions have had their costs reduced!

TIME TOKENS: 14

Now that you know what to look out for when it comes to your lab's time, you should be a lot more efficient with your work. Choose four actions.

ANOMALY
>Enter THE OTHER SIDE's cell. Perhaps another perspective can help you here. Colt might enjoy spouting out schizo theories. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Come back here. Work on it. More energy. More power. (+2 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. Keep an eye on it. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S cell. Meow. Meow. Ow. Purr. Come over here. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

RESEARCH
>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-2 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-+0 TIME TOKENS, DC 72, +18 to roll.)
>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-1 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +14 to roll.)

BUSY WORK
>Power on your MODIFIED PORTABLE RADIO. Try to catch up with whatever's going out in the outside world. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Gives you some useful advice and information involving certain SPONSORSHIP companies.)
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-1 TIME TOKEN. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)
>God, you're tired. Take a power nap. You deserve it. (-1 TIME TOKEN. +++PHYSICAL HEALTH, may give you a chance to unearth a dream or two...)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (+-0 TIME TOKENS.)
>Get WARDEN'S sponsorship over with. Make some mold, package it with that AGAR GEL, and get it OVER with. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Generates enough mold to complete WARDEN's sponsorship, while leaving you a *little* to sell later.)
>Boot up CPPQUEST. You wanna check up on your HUMAN FRIEND, FET! How did he break his gun, even? (-1 TIME TOKEN, ++FET RAPPORT!)
>It's been a long day, even though barely any time has passed! Go into END OF THE WORLD to get your mind off of things. (-1 TIME TOKEN, +RAPPORT with your coworkers!)

MISC
>Write in!

Fell asleep. Oh well!

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>>6439317
>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S cell. Meow. Meow. Ow. Purr. Come over here. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
>God, you're tired. Take a power nap. You deserve it. (-1 TIME TOKEN. +++PHYSICAL HEALTH, may give you a chance to unearth a dream or two...)
>Get WARDEN'S sponsorship over with. Make some mold, package it with that AGAR GEL, and get it OVER with. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Generates enough mold to complete WARDEN's sponsorship, while leaving you a *little* to sell later.)

>>6439342
+1
We take it easy

>>6439317
>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S cell. Meow. Meow. Ow. Purr. Come over here. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-2 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Get WARDEN'S sponsorship over with. Make some mold, package it with that AGAR GEL, and get it OVER with. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Generates enough mold to complete WARDEN's sponsorship, while leaving you a *little* to sell later.)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>>6439342
+1

>>6439302
I kinda want to meet with this anomaly now.

>>6439303
>FINAL BLACK SHARD PROPERTY: SENTIMENTALITY
Super handy, if rather conspicuous to point a giant shard of black glass at our eye while talking with someone.

>>6439317
>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
pfft
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +14 to roll.)
It's not really thrilling, but we've had this stuff for ages.
>Boot up CPPQUEST. You wanna check up on your HUMAN FRIEND, FET! How did he break his gun, even? (-1 TIME TOKEN, ++FET RAPPORT!)
>It's been a long day, even though barely any time has passed! Go into END OF THE WORLD to get your mind off of things. (-1 TIME TOKEN, +RAPPORT with your coworkers!)

>>6439342
+1
Stop ignoring LMS, recover, and finish one of our many, many obligations. I’m a bit lukewarm about researching the paint right now, but it seems jumping right back into ISOLA’s thingy isn’t an option this turn.

>>6439317
>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S cell. Meow. Meow. Ow. Purr. Come over here. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

>God, you're tired. Take a power nap. You deserve it. (-1 TIME TOKEN. +++PHYSICAL HEALTH, may give you a chance to unearth a dream or two...)

>Get WARDEN'S sponsorship over with. Make some mold, package it with that AGAR GEL, and get it OVER with. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Generates enough mold to complete WARDEN's sponsorship, while leaving you a *little* to sell later.)

>>6439381
>I kinda want to meet with this anomaly now.
Maybe its assigned researcher will be mauled by some mangy harvester mongrel and it'll turn up in our anomaly dossiers one of these weeks.

>>6439317
>>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S cell. Meow. Meow. Ow. Purr. Come over here. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
>Boot up CPPQUEST. You wanna check up on your HUMAN FRIEND, FET! How did he break his gun, even? (-1 TIME TOKEN, ++FET RAPPORT!)

>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (+-0 TIME TOKENS.)

>>6439317
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Come back here. Work on it. More energy. More power. (+2 TIME TOKENS)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-+0 TIME TOKENS, DC 72, +18 to roll.)
>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (+-0 TIME TOKENS.)

>>6439313
>Everything is washed back in that awful green haze. You silently pop a BETÄUBEN pill, which you almost immediately regret as you feel your throat burning, but oh well! No pain, no gain!
>>PHYSICAL HEALTH is now EXHAUSTED!. CRUNCH TIME reactivated! +4 bonus to skill checks!
I'm surprised that we autoused it
>>6439317
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. Keep an eye on it. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-2 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-+0 TIME TOKENS, DC 72, +18 to roll.)
>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

>>6439317
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. Keep an eye on it. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-2 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-+0 TIME TOKENS, DC 72, +18 to roll.)
>Analyze the STAR-BOUND PAINT, before you forget about it for five shifts. (-0 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

>>6439317
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Come back here. Work on it. More energy. More power. (+2 TIME TOKENS)
Gotta make time to spend time.
>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S cell. Meow. Meow. Ow. Purr. Come over here. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
Pain. But only gets worse if we ignore her.
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (+-0 TIME TOKENS.)
Go full OBSCURA.

>>6439685
We did vote on using it last thread. I think this was our work order from back then still.

>>6439685
Nah, people agreed to use it last thread. This was just firing off on a choice made, like, a month ago? So I'm not shocked you forgot.

>>6439710
Correct. We were just working through our backlog.

>>6439381
>Super handy, if rather conspicuous to point a giant shard of black glass at our eye while talking with someone.
To be fair, this is ARC we're talking about. They've probably have seen way weirder stuff by comparison.

>>6439398
Magical girls are universally illiterate, so FOUL ENEMIES can't stop them from SAVING PEOPLE by using FOUL TRICKS.

>>6439390
>but it seems jumping right back into ISOLA’s thingy isn’t an option this turn.
You'll get it as an option next time around. You got a while to complete it anyways, not really something you NEED to rush.

Anywho:

--------


LMS: xk8, rNh, Fni, oKs, B9R, ISM, HRK, tq6
SLEEP: xk8, rNh, Fni, oKs, ISM
STAR-BOUND PAINT: xk8, rNh, Fni, oKs, e7P, ISM, HRK, mWE, V2p, fQS
WARDEN: xk8, rNh, Fni, oKs, B9R, ISM
TWISTED TIME: B9R, V2p, fQS
199X: B9R
PASTE: e7P
CPPQUEST: e7P, HRK
OBSCURA GEL: HRK, mWE, tq6
END OF THE WORLD: e7P
HARD TIMES: mWE, tq6
LMS BLOOD: mWE, V2p, fQS
STATIC ANGLERFISH: V2p, fQS
WINDSHIELD: tq6

-Analyzing the STARBOUND PAINT
-knocking off WARDEN's sponsorship
-Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow.
and
-Going the FUCK to sleep.

Are what we're going to be doing for this batch of work actions. Today's update is going to be pretty short so you should actually get it in less than 12 hours! Lucky you! Writing.

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You know what? You got enough time to burn and to be quite frank, you're exhausted. You're going to do something you rarely even consider doing: enjoying some 'you' time. It has felt like genuine months in here and you're not sure WHEN it's going to end.

...but first things first, you gotta grow more mold. Listen. You're willing to indulge the foreign concept of 'taking care of yourself', but you should at least finish this lingering obligation. Imagine how great of a sales pitch it'll be to ARC.

Being able to say 'Oh yeah I grew and shipped a large order of my product two days faster than my client expected' directly to ARC would be glowing praise for your operation. Plus, you know how to grow mold on autopilot at this point. It's, like, the main thing you've been doing here.

A quick assessment of your coworkers shows that Nine is going to be useless here. Seems like TIMELESS is draining time away from them, so there's no point assigning them to do any work.

"Hey, Nine, take some time off. Literally, I think you're in time debt right now."

"So it appears I am." Nine tries to move their arm, but now that you have a better sense of your lab's twisted time, you can actually see how painfully slow their movements are. "So be it. I shall watch the three of you perform your task."

You stagger over to your large 'vats' (read: heavily modified trash cans) of cigarette mold. This should be easy enough to do, especially with three sets of hands making it a lot easier. Most of the work this point can be done without you even thinking about it.

So, instead, you use this time to chat with the others. You've been around Nine for a while, might as well give the others some time in the spotlight.

"So." You take a second to throw a chunk of cigarette mold into another container. "Colt. Do you know anything about fixing guns?"

"The fuck kind of question is that?" Colt pats at the rifle hanging from his back. "'course I do. It's an ARTIFACT, yes sir, but I take care of my guns for crying out loud."

"Riight. I might need your help. See, FET-"

Hidaka immediately shushes you before you can continue this line of conversation. "Not even worth humoring. Already know the gun is beyond repair. You'd have an aneurysm, Colt."

"Oh, c'mon, how bad can it be? The guy's a lumbering retard but he ain't THAT bad with a gun, right?"

"Likely used it as a hammer instead of reloading. Pow, pow." Hidaka 'fires' into the air using a finger gun. "Homunculus thought pattern."

Colt rolls his eyes, but he knows (and you know) that she's right on the money. "Well, y'all, I got a question then. About a certain bat-swinging retard. What's the game plan with that sad sack of shit?"

"Hard to say. Especially with her coming down here soon." Hidaka answers too quickly for comfort. "Don't want to think about it. Can feel something in the air. Different from the corroded time."

"Best outcome? Lab's too unstable for it to break in. Too much on our plates right now."

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"Oh, c'mon, it's some random chick. A shadow monster chick, but like, we can still shoot her fuckin' brains out." Colt taps at the side of his head for emphasis.

"Christ, I rather not do that." You chuckle, both out of fear and amusement. "You'd probably be hunted down by 199X for the rest of your incredibly short life."

"So? I'd blow his brains out too, Vincey-boy." You shiver the second you hear that god awful 'nickname'. "'oh this anomaly's dangerous what should we do'. Like the answer isn't obvious in ninety ninety point nine nine nine nine nine nine nine-"

"I heard you the first time. You did not need to call for my attention that many times, you know."

"What?" Colt didn't get the joke at first. "I was talkin' about the number n-"

It finally clicks for the poor bastard about a few seconds later. "Oh, shut the fuck up, that's an AWFUL joke."

"Someone must be the one cracking jokes. In any social dynamic, it has been proven that the 'funny one' is a role that is highly sought after. While I will admit that my humor may not be the most amusing to a general audience, it is funny to me."

After that riveting conversation, you focus on getting through the mold work order. It goes by in a blur since, again, you've done this enough times that you've lost count of it. You're about done with it by the time you're able to actually think of another topic to ask your coworkers.

In the end, you're left with enough filled to the brim containers of cigarette mold to be worthy of a king's ransom. You can almost feel your heart shatter when you realize how much of this is going to be given away to WARDEN. So much profit going down the train.
>WARDEN SPONSORSHIP 'COMPLETED!' YOU GENERATED 25 UNITS OF CIGARETTE MOLD, TOTALLING TO 50 (or 15 EXCESS!)
>35 CIGARETTE MOLD will be taken from you at the end of the shift.

"Alright, that's one thing down. I'm going to take a nap, see ya."

"wait what." "Huh?" "An interesting development. Please, take some time to rest, Vincent."

"No, no, wait. Did STATIC ANGLERFISH breach?" Colt's eyes dart around the lab like he's expecting some sort of twist to what you said. "Christ. Don't scare me like that. I didn't think you were capable of slacking off."

"Ah, shut up, save the dramatics for something actually worthy of it." You drag your exhausted frame over to the nearest chair. You collapse onto it with no regard for your own body. Even if this isn't a remotely comfortable place to sleep, you're too tired to really complain right now.

Your eyes flutter close before you even have realize it. It's like one second your brain is on, and the next, it's completely powered off. Sleep debt is one nasty son of a gun, and you have enough debt to make a loan shark drool like a feral hog.

https://youtu.be/uWIWW1su7T - DREAMS!

To call the state you're in sleep is a bit of a misnomer. You're still partially conscious, and your brain is on high alert, ready to wake up at a moment's notice.

It's like your brain is waiting for an excuse to get back up so you can start working again. You're only able to 'relax' when, after who knows how many minutes have passed, nothing has happened. Your mind begins to slowly enter an actual state of unconsciousness, with your thoughts slowly growing cloudier and cloudier by the second.

In a few minutes, you're going to be too deep in your slumber to really remember anything, especially any dreams you might have.

Dreams aren't really something you're used to having. Back on the surface, most of your nights passed by in a blur of caffeine and a lack of sleep, leaving enough gaps in your memory to resemble swiss cheese.

At least now, you have a chance to unearth some of those old memories, in the form of a dream. It's the only time your mind isn't running a mile a minute. It's the only time you can process your life.

You can only hope that whatever dream you end up with, it won't be an awful one.

Choose your next dream, Vincent. Choose what memory you'll going to relieve.
>A starry night sky. A cold can of beer. A conversation you never wanted to have. (Your father never minced his words, did he?)
>A worn down tombstone. Endless rain. Rotting flowers. Words left unspoken. (You wish you could've attended her funeral. Do you even deserve to be here?)
>A forgotten conversation. A face you don't quite remember. A moment of peace. (Her presence was comforting, even if she stunk of cigarette butts.)
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")
>Thump thump. Thump thump. (IT is here. But it hasn't done anything to you yet. What does it want now?)
>A dirty mirror. A twisted expression. You don't recognize your own face. Who even are you? (Vincent. A name tied to an empty shell. Who ARE you?)
>A gallery of fine art. Paint stained your hands. Sneering, judgmental gazes. People whispering behind your back. (You tried to express yourself, or something close to it. You really did.)
>Burning candles. Cheering. Presents. A disgustingly saccharine event. (One of the last times you were genuinely happen. It'd be nice to relive it.)

>>6439844
>Burning candles. Cheering. Presents. A disgustingly saccharine event. (One of the last times you were genuinely happy. It'd be nice to relive it.)

>>6439844
>>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")

>>6439844
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")
Ashton honey you can't just bite our brother's face off

>>6439844
>>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")

>>6439844
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")

>>6439844
>A dirty mirror. A twisted expression. You don't recognize your own face. Who even are you? (Vincent. A name tied to an empty shell. Who ARE you?)

>>6439844
>A dirty mirror. A twisted expression. You don't recognize your own face. Who even are you? (Vincent. A name tied to an empty shell. Who ARE you?)

>>6439844
>>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")

>>6439844
>A dirty mirror. A twisted expression. You don't recognize your own face. Who even are you? (Vincent. A name tied to an empty shell. Who ARE you?)

>>6439844
>A dirty mirror. A twisted expression. You don't recognize your own face. Who even are you? (Vincent. A name tied to an empty shell. Who ARE you?)

>>6439844
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")

>>6439844
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")
This should help Vincent relax

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>>6439844
>Burning candles. Cheering. Presents. A disgustingly saccharine event. (One of the last times you were genuinely happen. It'd be nice to relive it.)

>>6439831
>https://youtu.be/uWIWW1su7T [Error]
Seems like the video got removed. What was it ?
>>6439844
>A starry night sky. A cold can of beer. A conversation you never wanted to have. (Your father never minced his words, did he?)

>>6440027
Shit, didn't catch that. Here.

>>6439831
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWIWW1su7Tc - DREAMS

>>6439831
>You drag your exhausted frame over to the nearest chair. You collapse onto it with no regard for your own body. Even if this isn't a remotely comfortable place to sleep, you're too tired to really complain right now.
We need cushions and blankets and such sleep gear here. How can we make THE LAB a mancave without them?

>>6439844
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand. ('Did you see how many teeth that bastard had? He could've bitten Angel's face clean off!")
Knee-deep in the hoopla...

>>6439844
>>Burning candles. Cheering. Presents. A disgustingly saccharine event. (One of the last times you were genuinely happen. It'd be nice to relive it.)

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>>6440146
>Knee-deep in the hoopla...

>>6439844
>Knees-deep in swamp muck. Following a trail of blood. Your father following right behind you, shotgun in hand.

>>6440227
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYn5FgCHto

>>6440251
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s3m5zeM7Q_s&pp=iggCQAE%3D

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New World Songbird's having a picnic.

>>6440040
Thanks man

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You didn't want to be out here. God, you wanted to be anywhere else. You want to grow wings and fly out of this godforsaken swamp, where only the desperate or the insane would ever go.

You're up to your knees in grey-tinged muck and sludge. A trail of blackened blood speckles the surface of the muck. A sign that you should NOT be here.

You can feel it seeping through your old, tattered jeans. Your boots are probably flooded with mud at this point, and yet, you keep going. Why?

Because of your father, Venancio. He's following right behind you. It's hard to miss him, actually. He's a monument of muscle and scars, with skin that's the same dead and lifeless shade of grey as the muck you're marching through. He easily towers over you by a solid foot and a half, if not more.

He's the reason why you're out here. When he commands you to do something, there's no arguing with him. You ESPECIALLY didn't feel like arguing with him, since he's armed with a shotgun. He would always emphasize what model it was, but your memory fails you here.

In comparison, the pocket knife and flashlight you got makes you feel rather underequipped for this.

"Listen." Venancio's voice crackles with the telltale vocal fry of a chronic smoker. "Listen well. Stop pouting. You know why we're here."

"Why do WE have to be the one doing this?" You were barely a teenager at the time. You should've been back home, playing video games. But no. You're HERE. Surrounded by muck and mosquitos.

"Couldn't we call the cops? Or animal control?"

"Boy." You flinch when you hear how cold his voice is. Hearing it is like getting a bucket of ice water thrown at you. "Let me tell you something. And you better listen well. I ain't going to repeat myself."

"We're Cruz men. That's what we are, and that's what we'll always be." Venancio states matter of factly, like it's the most obvious truth in the whole world. "It is in our very blood, Vincent. And a Cruz doesn't NEED some prissy sissy man from the city to bail him out."

"It is our responsibility, it is our DUTY, to do what has to be done. WE protect our family. WE protect our own flesh and blood."

"You saw what it did to your brother, boy."

You don't think you could ever forget. The two of you were wandering around outside, playing like the dumb little kids you were. Angel wanted to explore the swamp, since he heard rumors about 'strange monsters' wandering around there.

He was the only one who really believed in your stories about monsters, or as you later learned to call them, anomalies.

Something attacked him when he wandered too far from your family home. Was it an animal? Was it a human? Maybe both? You couldn't see much.

All you knew is you heard him screaming, and you tried everything in your power to help him, but the beast was relentless. You nearly lost a hand trying to get it to stop.

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The only thing that kept your brother from becoming another missing person? Your father sure knew knows how to use a shotgun.

It scared away whatever attacked Angel. Valerie, your mother, is probably taking care of him right now.

"It wasn't no cop that saved him. It was me. And now, we're finishing the job, boy." Your father left no room for arguing after that. You wanted to say something. You wanted to argue about how stupid and suicidal this was, but the words died in your throat.

You must've been wandering the swamp for hours before you found your target. He was standing right outside of a small hobble, carved out of the endless muck that made up your swamp. Your blood froze when you finally saw a good look at them.

Standing knee deep in muck, like you, is a man about your father's age. Or what you thought was a man, until your flashlight shined upon him. His eyes betrayed him then and there. They were shimmering bright yellow, closer to an animal's eyes than anything human.

His gaunt figure tells you he probably hasn't been eating much for weeks.

His leg was oozing a stream of black blood. That can't be the blood of a human. You didn't know what he was at the time, but you were smart enough to figure that out.

And standing behind him, inside that hovel, was a kid. She couldn't be any older than five. Se had the same shimmering yellow eyes as her father.

"So. Finally found you." A grim laugh fills the air. "Got any last words, punk? You think you can attack my son and get away with it?"

"...We were starving." The yellow eyed man muttered. "I had to do what I had to. To feed my kid. My hands were tied."

"So you did." Something faintly resembling respect flickered in your father's eyes. "Guess we share that, at least. You know the price you have to pay though, right?"

"...I would've done the same. Should've know this would've happened." The yellow eyed man bitterly remarked. "Why did you bring...your kid?"

"So he can learn a lesson." Your father aimed his shotgun right at the other man, aiming at his already damaged leg. There's no real anger in his voice. He's going through the motions now, like taking another man's life is second nature to him. "So he can learn from your mistakes."

"Vincent. This is what you'll become if you fail as a man. As a protector. Be stronger than him." There's something resembling warmth in his voice. "No matter what happens, remember this."

"Never be afraid of getting your hands dirty. Get ready to use that knife, if my shot doesn't kill him."

And so, the Lord of Blood fired his gun.

Your eyes flutter open before the dream can continue. You're already starting to forget most of it, but the major beats are still echoing inside of your brain. There's a bitter taste in your mouth as you linger on that old memory of yours.

Despite everything, you feel oddly well rested.

>PHYSICAL HEALTH is now WELL RESTED!

You guess your father might've expected you end up in a place like this. The worst part? His advice isn't exactly all that bad, especially when you're working in an ARC facility of all places. You're lucky that you got coworkers willing to help you but that's the magic word there.

Luck.

You easily could've ended up in a timeline where you had no coworkers helping you out. Just you against the world. Hell, for a large chunk of your adult life, you WERE alone. You HAD to fend for yourself.

For a fleeting moment, you thought your legs were soaked in mud. That you were still stuck in that swamp, wading through miles of scum just to find something. With the sun shining over your head, slicing into your forehead like a heated blade.

It almost makes you feel nostalgic. Isn't that sad?
>ENDURANCE BONUS is now +17!

You can't imagine what expression you're wearing, but you know it must look weird, since your coworkers are all staring at you. You're pretty sure it's out of concern, but you're not great at reading people at the best of times.

"Ey, ya okay there?" Colt was the first to notice the strange look on your face. "Nine? Is that weird ass time shit you're talking about, like, affecting him?"

"It should only affect our physical forms. Timeless' technology is famously poor at influencing a person's mind, for better and worse." Nine awkwardly raises their hand up, ready to place it on your shoulder, before stopping. "Lest my knowledge has a gap in it."

"Give him a moment." Hidaka curtly commands.

It takes you a while before you snap out of whatever daze you were in. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. D-dreams can be weird, you know?" You launch yourself back to your feet. Before the others can pry on WHAT your dream was about, you make a beeline towards the nearest table.

It's SAMPLE STUDYING TIME, baby! And you got a brand new sample to study! Sure, 90% of your money comes from CIGARETTE MOLD, but your other samples still hold value.

WIRE FLOWERS can be used to gather useful information, OBSCURA SYRAH and its variants make great healing items, BLACK BILE is a great fuel source, the list goes on. So there has to be something valuable you can get out of this paint.

Colt is not thrilled at the prospect of having to study PAINT of all things. "Is this shit even anomalous? It looks pretty faggy but that ain't anomalous. It's just wrong, ya know?"

"It's just paint." Hidaka balks at Colt's comment. "You- Why are you like this? Genuinely?"

"Hey, I'm only saying what needs to be said. Ain't nothing more to it than that." Colt crosses his arms. "Someone has to be the one to do it."

"I would say you simply enjoy the sound of your own voice, but that would be hypocritical of me."

Before the bickering can continue any more, you reroute everyone's attention into actually STUDYING the sample. At first, you thought this was a waste of mental energy.

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Most of the typical tests you run through don't really reveal anything particularly noteworthy. In a lot of cases, it is perfectly inert, reacting to NOTHING you throw at it.

Heat? Nothing. Cold? Nothing. Acidic compounds? Nothing. Running electricity through it? Nothing. In fact, as you continue to throw more and more stuff at the paint to get ANY kind of reaction, you realize that it's almost too stable. Nothing seems to actually affect or even damage the paint in any meaningful way.

Even after exposing it to the flame of a bunsen burner for almost ten whole minutes, the shard of dried paint shows no reaction. You would've expected ONE of the many tests you put it through to actually meaningfully affect it, but it simply ignores everything you throw at it.

No amount of heat or chemical exposure can meaningfully change or damage it. Seems like the only way to damage it is to cut it, which just leaves you with another inert chunk of paint.

Perfectly stable. The only thing that gets an actual reaction out of it is exposing it to water. When you expose the paint to water, it triggers the paint to start 'expanding' outwards.

While in this state of expansion, the paint fragment becomes incredibly sticky, sticking to the tong you were using like glue. It soon coats the tong in a thin film of paint, bedazzling it in sparkling blue paint.

"Fascinating. While it might not be viable as armor in of itself, a temperature stable layer could prove useful."

"Wish we could change the color, at least. Why can't we make red paint? White paint? Why JUST blue?"

"We don't have anything to dye it with. Well. Mold exists." Hidaka grimaces as she imagines what the end result of dyeing something moldy brown would look like. "Maybe we can soak some in OBSCURA? End up with red paint?"

"The BLACK SHARD should be producing some excess OBSCURA SYRAH right now. We could try that next."

>STARBOUND PAINT PROPERTY REVEALED: INERT (Totally inert to everything on a chemical level. Very useful for storing dangerous, unstable samples.)
>ARC would pay a lot for more samples. NEW MISC ACTION unlocked!

Before you can continue testing, you feel like you're forgetting something. Like something is trying to get your attention. A lump forms in your throat as you realize who's trying to get your attention.

God. You were apathetic to cats before, but you're starting to hate them now.

"Sorry, sorry, I gotta get going." You hastily excuse yourself. "Little Miss Sunshine's probably having a fit."

Your coworkers all tense up at the name. Even Nine, who's usually composed, can't help but to be uncomfortable upon hearing her name. They all understand what's going to happen to you now.

"Christ. Try to survive, man, I'll get a beer for you after this."
"Don't let it get to your head."
"I would help you but I am aware of its...bizarre obsession with you. Good luck."

Like a man marching to his death, you make your way towards LMS' cell.

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The containment cell's airlock opens before you can even swipe your keycard. Your face contorts into a disgusted grimace as you begin to anticipate all sorts of bullshit coming your way.

You step through the threshold. Time to face the music.

https://youtu.be/cCDxwlM2058 - ???

You were expecting a lot when you stepped into this cell. Maybe the cat would force you to dance around like a puppet. Maybe that sentient tumor would wax poetically about the nature of life and death. Maybe the cat would simply tell you to go ahead, rendering this whole action a waste of time.

The last thing you were expecting to see was an injured, battered feline.

Little Miss Sunshine is seated in her throne still, in an attempt to keep up some level of dignified grace, but her body has seen better days. Large swatches of her spindly frame have been covered in layers of bandage wrap, mostly concentrated around her arms and legs.

The faint smell of burnt fur lingers in the air. A disgusting smell and, all things considered, a very unusual one. You don't even want to know how she got injured. It's been a grand total of, like, maybe an hour at most in objective time?

She's humming a vaguely familiar tune as she applies another layer of bandages around one of her arms. She doesn't appear to notice you, but her tumor does. It slithers from behind her back, flashing a familiar toothy grin.

"The man of the hour has finally revealed himself. The star of the show. Do you usually leave your guests waiting for this long?"

Little Miss Sunshine's gaze snaps onto you once she realizes you're here. She begins to say something, but all that comes out is a tired sigh, like even seeing you is too exhausting for her right now.

"It is time for the both of us to play this tired, cliche dance. One we are both familiar with. I see that you came alone, as I asked of you many times in the past."

"Did you expect applause? Over you doing the barest minimum? Do not waste your breath by answering." Little Miss Sunshine rises from her throne. There's still an air of dignified grace in her posture, despite the fact she's wrapped in enough bandages to look like a mummy. "I tire of meaningless words spoken by meaningless men."

"Let us adjust something, so I can gather some level of enjoyment from this tired, repetitive song and dance." Little Miss Sunshine's gaze drifts towards the silence. She reaches a paw up to bat at something, even though there's nothing up there.

She swings her paw back and forth through the air about three times before stopping, apparently achieving whatever she was trying to achieve. The air does feel...wrong now, on some level. Describing what's wrong feels impossible, though. Like the act itself is socially-

Hm.

"Excellent. Now, Vincent..."

What do you want to do with Little Miss Sunshine? Choose four, as that is the socially acceptable number of choices to pick.
MOOD: 3/3 (Don't test me.)

QUESTIONS
>"Are you, or were, EL FELINO?" She did turn EL FELINO into a red mist when she 'appeared'.
>"If time is all the same to you, do you have any insight into TIMELESS' technology?" She did say something weird about time a while back
>"You seemed to have an interest in Nine. What's that?" Her reaction to NINE a few work orders ago was really off.
>"What, exactly, do you want from me? Why do you want me to visit you alone?" It's a strange quirk. Most anomalies don't care who visits them.
>"How the hell did you get injured?" You doubt you'll get a straight answer, but you don't get the point of this if it's just a 'trick'. (DC 65, +12 to roll.)
>"I might be hunting down someone later. Got any tips?" No better person to ask than a cat. Cat hunts a lot, right?

EXAMINATION
>Take a look at her with MAD WORLD. What would a cat's 'aura' even look like? What secrets can you learn? (DC 89, +17 to roll)
>Attempt to harvest some flesh from the anomaly's tumor. More samples couldn't hurt. (DC 70, +8 to roll)
>Use the BLACK SHARD to examine LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. What does she 'value' the most? (...?)
>Ask Little Miss Sunshine for permission to harvest some hair samples, so you can study them. (DC 50, no modifiers allowed.)
>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)
>Look at the ceiling. Figure out what, exactly, Little Miss Sunshine was trying to achieve. (DC 100, +25 to roll.)

STIMULI/MISC
>Throw the anomaly a curveball. Show it the MAID DRESS you found a while ago. (Not like you have a better use for it.)
>Cats like toys, right? Offer it some stuffed animals. Maybe it'll find them amusing?
>Attach a STATIC PIN to the cat, with her permission. What might be inside her head? (Risky, but this could be very illuminating.)
>Secretly record everything she says with the BLOODRED FLOWER. Maybe you can use her powers for yourself?
>You have some paintings you made yesterday. Offer her a chance to critique the paintings you and your friends made.
>Think of something to amuse the cat with. Maybe a dance? Some jokes? (May help you build RAPPORT with the cattethinge.)
>Something feels off. Just stand there and do nothing. Wait for the cat to make the first move.

MISC
>Write in?

>>6440507
>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)

>Look at the ceiling. Figure out what, exactly, Little Miss Sunshine was trying to achieve. (DC 100, +25 to roll.)

>Think of something to amuse the cat with. Maybe a dance? Some jokes? (May help you build RAPPORT with the cattethinge.)

>Something feels off. Just stand there and do nothing. Wait for the cat to make the first move.

>>6440507
>>"How the hell did you get injured?" You doubt you'll get a straight answer, but you don't get the point of this if it's just a 'trick'. (DC 65, +12 to roll.)
>>6440507
>>Attempt to harvest some flesh from the anomaly's tumor. More samples couldn't hurt. (DC 70, +8 to roll)
>>6440507
>>Ask Little Miss Sunshine for permission to harvest some hair samples, so you can study them. (DC 50, no modifiers allowed.)
>>6440507
>>Something feels off. Just stand there and do nothing. Wait for the cat to make the first move.

>>6440507
>"Are you, or were, EL FELINO?" She did turn EL FELINO into a red mist when she 'appeared'.
>>"If time is all the same to you, do you have any insight into TIMELESS' technology?" She did say something weird about time a while back

>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)

>Throw the anomaly a curveball. Show it the MAID DRESS you found a while ago. (Not like you have a better use for it.)

>>6440507
>>"I might be hunting down someone later. Got any tips?" No better person to ask than a cat. Cat hunts a lot, right?
>"You seemed to have an interest in Nine. What's that?" Her reaction to NINE a few work orders ago was really off.
>You have some paintings you made yesterday. Offer her a chance to critique the paintings you and your friends made.
>Think of something to amuse the cat with. Maybe a dance? Some jokes? (May help you build RAPPORT with the cattethinge.)

>>6440507
>>"You seemed to have an interest in Nine. What's that?" Her reaction to NINE a few work orders ago was really off.
>>"What, exactly, do you want from me? Why do you want me to visit you alone?" It's a strange quirk. Most anomalies don't care who visits them.
>>"How the hell did you get injured?" You doubt you'll get a straight answer, but you don't get the point of this if it's just a 'trick'. (DC 65, +12 to r
>Use the BLACK SHARD to examine LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. What does she 'value' the most? (...?)

Wow trying to look at the ceiling is DC 100. Is that the first time we've seen a DC 100 in this quest?

>>6440507
>"How the hell did you get injured?" You doubt you'll get a straight answer, but you don't get the point of this if it's just a 'trick'. (DC 65, +12 to roll.)
>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)
>"What, exactly, do you want from me? Why do you want me to visit you alone?" It's a strange quirk. Most anomalies don't care who visits them.
>Throw the anomaly a curveball. Show it the MAID DRESS you found a while ago. (Not like you have a better use for it.)

>>6440507
>Attach a STATIC PIN to the cat, with her permission. What might be inside her head? (Risky, but this could be very illuminating.)
>Think of something to amuse the cat with. Maybe a dance? Some jokes? (May help you build RAPPORT with the cattethinge.)
>Use the BLACK SHARD to examine LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. What does she 'value' the most? (...?)
>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)

>>6440507
>>Attach a STATIC PIN to the cat, with her permission. What might be inside her head? (Risky, but this could be very illuminating.)
>>Secretly record everything she says with the BLOODRED FLOWER. Maybe you can use her powers for yourself?

>Use the BLACK SHARD to examine LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. What does she 'value' the most? (...?)
>Take a look at her with MAD WORLD. What would a cat's 'aura' even look like? What secrets can you learn? (DC 89, +17 to roll)

>Write in?
Surely its socially acceptable to record the cat, and pay it royalties in treats for using its power

>>6440507
>Ask Little Miss Sunshine for permission to harvest some hair samples, so you can study them. (DC 50, no modifiers allowed.)
>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)
>Secretly record everything she says with the BLOODRED FLOWER. Maybe you can use her powers for yourself?
>"Are you, or were, EL FELINO?" She did turn EL FELINO into a red mist when she 'appeared'.

>>6440507
>Use the BLACK SHARD to examine LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. What does she 'value' the most? (...?)
>Something feels off. Just stand there and do nothing. Wait for the cat to make the first move.
>"You seemed to have an interest in Nine. What's that?" Her reaction to NINE a few work orders ago was really off.
>Try to tend to Little Miss Sunshine's wounds. It's the least you can do. (-OBSCURA GEL)

Rolled 3 (1d3)

TREAT WOUNDS: ISM, V2p, FRv, mWE, B9R, rNh
CEILING: ISM
DANCE/JOKES: ISM, ul9, mWE
SOMETHING'S OFF: ISM, PZS, rNh
INJURED: PZS, gL1, FRv
FLESH: PZS
HAIR: PZS, B9R
EL FELINO: V2p, B9R
TIME: V2p
MAID: V2p, FRv
HUNT: ul9
NINE: ul9, rNh
PAINTINGS: ul9
SHARD: gL1, mWE, HRK, rNh
WHAT DO YOU WANT: gL1, FRv
STATIC PIN: mWE, HRK
MAD WORLD: HRK
BLOODRED FLOWER: HRK, B9R

Okay, a LOT of things only got one vote or two votes, so working back from what we have
-Treating wounds
-Using the BLACK SHARD
Both won out. But we have a three way tie between dancing around to amuse it, doing nothing to see what the cat does, and prying about HOW it got injured.

So, I'll do a 1d3. Whatever I roll on, that's the option we WON'T be doing.
1 = NO JAPES. NO TRICKS. (Sill check required.)
2 = NO WAITING. GET THIS OVER WITH. (Sill check required.)
3 = NO PRYING ABOUT ITS INJURIES (No skill check required.)

>>6440023
The anglerfish is a FRIEND. But sometimes, friends BITE.

>>6440296
Sand gets everywhere. The songbird will make sure you'll remember her presence.

>>6440637
Yeah, there's a reason it's that high, and I won't explain why until it gets picked.

>>6440915
Alright, no skill checks required. It'll just be
-Waiting before doing anything.
-Treating its wounds
-Using the BLACK SHARD
-Trying to keep it amused so it doesn't rip your guts out

Writing!

>>6440915
>Yeah, there's a reason it's that high, and I won't explain why until it gets picked.
>inb4 it triggers a boss fight with the gata

File: Why do you desire to wast(...).jpg (74 KB, 1200x1200)

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Nothing happens. Myep. Nothing happens. You're going to stand here and you're going to do nothing. This cat thinks she has you trapped in the palm of her paw, and guess what? She could not be more wrong even if she tried.

Tick. Tock.

The cattethinge is watching you, patiently waiting out this little mindgame you're pulling. She doesn't seem to be in any rush to do anything either. The tumor sways from side to side, swimming through the air in an attempt to keep itself stimulated.

Tick. Tock.

Little Miss Sunshine's beady eyes are still locked onto you, waiting for you to actually do something. A slow, repetitive thud rings in the air as she taps her paw-like foot.

Tick. Tock.

"...Do you think you are winning here? That I would fall for this pathetic, limp-handed mind game?" Little Miss Sunshine is the first to break the silence. "You will get bored of this. Men like you always do. You are not content to wait there, wasting time instead of working. Shall we do this song and dance already?"

Tick. Tock.

"I did not expect this, to be Frank." The tumor stretched out as far as it possibly could. The stringy mass of connective tissue keeping it attached to Little Miss Sunshine only allows it to meet you halfway. "This must be the most wasteful action you could have picked from that list of yours."

"Yes, I can sense you are a man of lists. Rows upon rows of vapid choices, made by a vapid man." The tumor continues to fill in the dead air as you keep a neutral, composed expression. You don't want to give these two any sense of satisfaction. "So indecisive. Is that what this is? Are you unable to make a decision?"

"How droll."

Ti-

"Enough!" Little Miss Sunshine practically throws herself off of the chair. Your body freezes up as her beady black eyes burrow into your very soul, stripping away all of the layers of your being. Reaching into the depths of what they call 'you'. You know what this sensation is and by god, you absolutely fucking hate it. Your teeth nearly shatter as your jaw locks in place.

Yet, the sensation fades before you realize it. Your body's balance is thrown through a loop as you swiftly regain control.

Little Miss Sunshine tightens her fists as she realizes that, for once, you actually managed to get under her skin. She immediately represses any anger your purposeful inaction managed to wrangle out of her catty little heart. She sits back down, trying her best to ignore her own outburst.

You almost burst out laughing right then and there. The cat is THAT needy for your attention, isn't it? Any satisfaction you get out of this exchange almost immediately fades when the truth sets in: you do actually have to work on her.

You keep your mouth shut for now. No point rocking the boat here. You rummage through your trusty satchel for one little tool: the BLACK SHARD. The cattethinge tenses up at the sight of the shimmering, almost translucent shard of blackened glass.

Not exactly the most inconspicuous work order, but oh well.

File: A perfect place for someo(...).jpg (45 KB, 551x556)

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You held the shard up to your eye. Your vision blurs and twists upon itself, removing everything from view aside from your current object of interest.

In the blackest of shadows, in the darkest of reflections, you see what the cat wants the most. The room you're in comes back into focus, but it has changed under the shard's intense darkness. Where there was once a containment cell, you now see a ballroom befitting the picky tastes of someone as esteemed as this particular feline.

The chair she's in is now surrounded by rows upon rows of faceless butlers, some kneeling and prostrating themselves by her bare paws, while others offer her a variety of exotic foods and drinks. All the while, she lazily lounges in her chair, her tail flicking from side to side. Sparkling lights shimmer from the ceiling, illuminating the cat's body in a heavenly glow.

A display of unrepentant luxury. A hunger for high class, high value entertainment. A desire for control.

You lower the shard, and everything goes back to normal. The humanoid feline swings one of her legs back and forth, patiently waiting for you to say something.

"Butlers, huh?"

"It is merely the most basic of accommodations for a hostess of her status." The tumor answers on behalf of LMS. "Such a singular specimen of a cat could only affect such a magnificent impression upon her fellows."

"...Do you not understand what your purpose here?" Little Miss Sunshine's voice is positively oozing with barely restrained contempt. "I musn't waste our time explaining what you already saw with that little trinket of yours."

You won't push the topic any further.

"Right." You clear your throat, ready to copy a line that Nine has said about a dozen times now. "I, your humble servant, will follow your command. Shall I inspect your wounds?"

Little Miss Sunshine's body tenses up like a spring, but before she can do anything rash, her tumorous friend smashes itself into her side. A 'gentle reminder' to not do anything rash when being given such a generous offer. "You did sustain heavy injuries from that indulgence we were allowed."

"You really should have walked around those irate-"

"Silence." Little Miss Sunshine digs her claws into the fleshy mass, almost immediately drawing blood from it. "You may. You will not ask questions. You will keep your mouth sealed, for the quality of your dialogue and your internal narration has rendered me catatonic with boredom."

You try to say something but your tongue refuses to move. It lays limply in your mouth, completely nonresponsive. Great. Of course it went for the most obvious play on words it could. 'Cat got your tongue', feh.

You finally close the gap between yourself and the the anomaly. You kneel down before her, unwrapping one of her legs so you can see what's going on here.

Your stomach curdles at the sight of her wounded leg. You're glad you've developed an iron stomach at this point, after everything you've seen, because this is pretty bad.

File: My wounds are hard to des(...).jpg (445 KB, 1275x1650)

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Thousands of tiny wounds have been nibbled all across her flesh, like a swarm of bugs or something has been eaten away at her. Most of the fur on the bandaged part of her leg has been stripped clean off, leaving only wounded flesh behind. Some of the tiny incisions have become infected, leaking out a thin stream of white pus.

You don't know what could cause an injury like this. Whatever it is, there were incredibly plentiful and they were VERY eager to rip into the cattethinge's leg. Your best guess is some kind of bug, maybe a mite of some kind? Something really small, that's for sure.

You unwrap another layer of bandaging and her wounds there are completely different. Second degree burns and deep lacerations cover her upper thigh, like she got grazed by an intense blast of heat. Maybe an explosive of some kind, given the lacerations. You're no doctor but fire alone doesn't exactly carve jagged cuts into your flesh.

What the hell could've happened to her? You know what, she's right, no point asking questions.

You start tending to her wounds with one of your strongest healing items: OBSCURA GEL. You carefully apply the gel onto her wounds, making sure to be gentle, so you don't get your jaw kicked in. The tumor watches on with rapt attention while Little Miss Sunshine does everything in her power to keep up her composure.

It's clear that the pain is getting to her, but she has an almost perfect poker face, so you only get momentary glimpses of her flinching here or there. You do your best to hurry, as the longer you drag this out, the more likely it is that the cattethinge will try to lash out.

You move quickly, unwrapping and rewrapping her bandages so you can tend to every injured part of her body. The gel you're using rapidly runs out, and you're barely able to apply enough to cover up her wounds.

You stumble back to your feet, waiting to see how the cattethinge will react.

She stretches her arms and legs in a most feline manner, splaying her digits as far as they can do as she continues to stretch. Her posture snaps back to a normal seated position after her stretch. "Mmh. I find the act of being coated in a solution made from wine to be distasteful on principle, but I am unable to deny the efficiency of it."

"Even if I find it loathsome to give credit towards anything that wind up soldier made."

"She did not even have the common decency of resolving like a proper anomaly. It leaves quite the most bitter taste inside of my mouth." The tumor agrees with Little Miss Sunshine's assessment. "Now, the number has reached three. I believed there is only one more work order you must perform."

If the cattethinge had a mouth, it would be contorted into a rictus grin. Her eyes are half-lidded with an emotion you couldn't possibly describe.. "You know what to do. Let us not waste time here. Do you remember the first time we met? Where we danced, and danced, lively and quick in double time? I believe you do."

"Go on. Do something. Meow."

File: It is in our nature to re(...).jpg (345 KB, 1024x1024)

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What can you even do that'd actually amuse the cat? It seems like the only thing that actually makes her comes at the expense of your own dignity. Maybe you can make some jokes? No, no, your sense of humor is dogshit even at the best of times.

So, you do the only thing you know how to do. You still remember that awful dance you had to do when you first obtained LMS. So you will willingly degrade yourself by performing it, but this time, the cat doesn't even have to lift a finger.

After all, this is not a situation decided by your wants and needs, but by the demands of a situation that has repeated itself.

To call what you are doing a dance would be an insult to the whole field of movement-based art. It is a series of random, disjointed movements performed by someone who only had a cursory understanding of what a 'dance' was.

A procession performed by a lonely marionette, stamping and hooting and lurching to a nonexistent song playing to a forgotten audience. Every pathetic, twisted attempt at mimicking the dance of that day is clearly getting some kind of reaction out of the cat.

Your brain simply struggles to process what the reaction is. Both the tumor and the cat are watching on with the practiced indifference of professional critics, waiting for you to stop performing before they say anything. Your limbs are screaming at you to stop, already growing tired of this frantic dance.

It's a miracle your body didn't expect any permanent damage when the cat forced you to do this for hours on end. The dance abruptly ends with no real conclusion, no real climax. You simply stop performing, letting your arms fall to your side like your strings were cut.

"Barely adequate." Little Miss Sunshine responds before you even have time to blink. "The puppeteer of this particular dance has proven himself lacking. I can not judge you for your lack of success, for it is a puppet's nature to be controlled. You are best put to use when someone pulls your strings."

"Indeed. Perhaps, though, we are all simply being controlled by the world's very nature. For every step you take to control something, to choose something, you invariably invite others to choose for you."

"All shall be well, and all shall be well." The cattethinge cryptically states, seemingly with no connection with what the tumor just said. "Whether a month or a year, it shall all come back to this. For that is the structure of this very realm we are feebly enwrapped in."

"Ask a fish about water, and he will never understand what you mean." The tumor shakes its corpulent body in a pale imitation of a nod. "Our words are falling on deaf ears here."

"Perhaps. Go now. That dance was adequately amusing, and I shall adjust my personal stance on you accordingly."
"Plus, the act of kindness." The tumor adds on.
"Plus." The cattethinge responds. "Go on, Heir. Leave."

Your legs move on their own, making a straight beeline towards the exit. Well, that's rather abrupt...at least your job here is done.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE MOOD: 4/4 (Four is a perfect number.)
>You feel like you understand LMS a bit more than before. +2 to all future LMS checks!
>You are out of OBSCURA GEL!

----

TIME TOKENS: 11

It's time to keep on working, Vinny! At least you're actually getting closer to the end. Choose four actions.

ANOMALY
>Enter THE OTHER SIDE's cell. Perhaps another perspective can help you here. Colt might enjoy spouting out schizo theories. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

RESEARCH
>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-1 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 72, +18 to roll.)
>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-0 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
>Boot up STATIC BOUND ISOLA's dimensional hopping machine. It's time to progress THIS sponsorship. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Will have a follow up choice on picking what dimension you'll head to.)
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +14 to roll.)

BUSY WORK
>Power on your MODIFIED PORTABLE RADIO. Try to catch up with whatever's going out in the outside world. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Gives you some useful advice and information involving certain SPONSORSHIP companies.)
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-0 TIME TOKENS. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)
>Work on creating as many color variants of STARBOUND PAINT as possible. The more, the better. (-2 TIME TOKENS, improves the sell value of STARBOUND PAINT by a **LOT.**)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Grow something that ISN'T MOLD for once. More specifically, some WIRE FLOWERS. (-1 TIME TOKEN, unlocks a RESEARCH action.)
>Boot up CPPQUEST. You wanna check up on your HUMAN FRIEND, FET! How did he break his gun, even? (-1d2 TIME TOKEN, ++FET RAPPORT!)
>It's been a long day, and you want something simple to do. Go into END OF THE WORLD to get your mind off of things. (-1 TIME TOKEN, +RAPPORT with your coworkers!)

MISC
>Write in!

>>6441064
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-0 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)
We use these pretty frequently.
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
We make a lot of use of our healing items, and we just ran out of one of our more common ones.

>>6441064
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 72, +18 to roll.)

>>6441064
>>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +14 to roll.)
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-0 TIME TOKENS. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)

>>6441064
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-0 TIME TOKENS. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)
Do this before we do another catthinge or feesh action. We arguably should’ve done this last turn.

>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
Don’t get complacent.

>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-0 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)
We use these often; let’s check this off the list.

>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
- Bring the BLACK SHARD itself into the experiments. Can the different anomalous glass varietals be grafted like a plant to make shards with combined properties? Having at least one type with self-growing properties is likely critical to this idea.

With the cementing of our first singularity patent on the horizon, let’s get started on our second (third?) with this. Prove we can not only iterate, but innovate as well!

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>>6441120
+1

>>6441064
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 72, +18 to roll.)

>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-0 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)

>It's been a long day, and you want something simple to do. Go into END OF THE WORLD to get your mind off of things. (-1 TIME TOKEN, +RAPPORT with your coworkers!)

>>6441127
Support

>>6441064
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-0 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-0 TIME TOKENS. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)

>>6441064
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
Experimentation...
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-0 TIME TOKENS. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)
Information...
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
Time gain
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +14 to roll.)
Follow up on previous item

>>6441118
+1

>>6441064
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me.
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals.
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants.
>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses.

>>6441064
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-1 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 72, +18 to roll.)

>Power on your MODIFIED PORTABLE RADIO. Try to catch up with whatever's going out in the outside world. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Gives you some useful advice and information involving certain SPONSORSHIP companies.)

>>6441064
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
>Mess around with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. You haven't had time to REALLY delve into what they can do. (-0 TIME TOKENS, may drain your MENTAL HEALTH, further increases your ATTUNEMENT!)
>Soak pieces of the WINDSHIELD SHARD into your various wine variants. Could you create something like the BLACK SHARD? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 65, +14 to roll. This might help you to create OBSCURA GEL easier.)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

>>6441064
>Enter HARD TIMES' cell. Work on me. More energy. More power. (+1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Boot up ABNOWATCH. Look for any threads offering advice on how to handle anomalous animals. (-0 TIME TOKENS. This should help you out with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and STATIC ANGLERFISH.)
>Boot up CPPQUEST. You wanna check up on your HUMAN FRIEND, FET! How did he break his gun, even? (-1d2 TIME TOKEN, ++FET RAPPORT!)

FET is a good ETF human.

File: Bord crow relay a copypas(...).png (96 KB, 517x483)

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The abno crow relay a copypasta to Colt. Caw*

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>>6441440
The abno crow's having sunflower seeds. Caw*

Rolled 2 - 1 (1d2 - 1)

WINDSHIELD: 9 (Either -1 or -0)
MAD WORLD: 8 (-0 TIME TOKENS)
HARD TIMES: 7 (+1 TIME TOKEN)
ABNOWATCH: 7 (-0 TIME TOKENS)
ANGLERFISH: 6
OBSCURA: 4
LMS BLOOD: 4
199X: 3
GREY PASTE: 3
RELAX: 2
TWISTED TIME: 1
RADIO: 1
CPP: 1

It was close, but ABNOWATCH won over ANGLERFISH. Probably better to do the ABNOWATCH action before working on Little Miss Sunshine or the Anglerfish anyways, to be fair. Trying to create something like the BLACK SHARD, messing around with MAD WORLD, working on HARD TIMES, and going on ABNOWATCH all won out. This is going to either be time neutral, or slightly time positive.

I'm going to ask for three anons to roll 1d100+14 to see how far you get with the WINDSHIELD SHARD research. Table below, as usual.

WINDSHIELD (DC 65, +14 to roll)
0 SUCCESSES?: Uh. You created something. It's certainly glass-like in appearance. (You feel like you fucked up somehow. +???, a unique !!!. How ?!?!?!$$$$)
1 SUCCESS: Your experiments prove lacking when it comes to creating something of value. (You produce a handful of super niche glass-themed items. Maybe you can sell them to someone, at least?)
2 SUCCESSES: One of your experiments produces a shimmering shade of hateful red. Another produces a shard tinted sand yellow. Fascinating. (You produce a handful of unique, valuable shards. These should prove useful for later.)
3 SUCCESSES: Your BLACK SHARD begins to resonate with what you're creating... (Same result as 2 SUCCESSES, but the shards are imbued with even more anomalous power.)

>>6441124
Who wouldn't want a tiny giraffe?

>>6441408
"and ANo n i s a good ANun!"
-FET, 2026

Rolled 27 + 14 (1d100 + 14)

>>6441443
Damn now I am really curious of the 0 succeses

Rolled 67 + 14 (1d100 + 14)

>>6441443

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Rolled 41 + 14 (1d100 + 14)

>>6441443

Rolled 41 (1d100)

Annnnd that's 1 SUCCESS. At least you'll be getting a proof of concept. Proof that this isn't a complete dead end. Even if what you'll be getting isn't going to be particularly interesting or useful. Writing.

>>6441445
>NEW 'RESEARCH' ACTION UNLOCKED.
>This might not be the best action to take, but it'll certainly be an action. One with possible loot. And ?!??!.

>>6441440
>>6441441
Colt is destined to suffer until he learns Mandarin. Patriotchuds, how will we ever recover?

>>6441450
oh that's how. With the help of another patriot.

>>6441451
Well, you're late, but you'd get the exact same roll as xk8 anyways so it's whatev.

>>6441453
>how will we ever recover?
By suffering forever, not learning how to speak dog eater.

>>6441440
>>6441441
It’s funny, I was just looking through Murakami’s works and thinking that WINDUP BIRD CHRONICLE would be a sick abno name. (Inb4 I just wrote into existence that this cute borb originated from stories under the Manchuko occupational regime aka Japan’s Manchurian !!!FUN!!!-times during WWII.)

>>6441495
So there's a chance that he met Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's grandpa

File: BLOODSHOT.jpg (132 KB, 640x628)

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You're still trying to unpack what Little Miss Sunshine said. You doubt it was only cryptic nonsense. There's something subtly off about, well, EVERYTHING about her. The way she speaks. The knowingly cryptic statements she spits out. Every time you enter that cell, you swear that something changes and you can't verbalize WHAT exactly it is.

Thinking about it is only going to make your brain pop like a grape in a microwave. You know, this is why you like Redmond. Look at him go. He's in his little terrarium having the time of his life. No thoughts beyond fulfilling the most base, animalistic needs.

Well, he also appears to be in a staring contest with Colt. Apparently that's how he's been passing time. There's a glint of competitive spite within the lizard's eyes, like he actually understands that he's in a contest with your patriotic acquaintance.

Calling Colt's eyes bloodshot at this point would be putting it lightly. He probably hasn't blinked for actual minutes and it's clearly getting to him. "You're going to lose, faggot. I know you're going to lose. You hear me? YOU HEAR ME?"

Nine is scribbling down notes, recording every detail they can about this asinine contest. They nod their head in deep contemplation after writing something, as if the data they're recording is VERY important.

"What the? Hidaka, what in god's name did I miss?"

"Don't ask me." Hidaka's mouth is locked into something between a sneer and a rictus grin. "Best guess? His mind finally broke. He believes the lizard was sizing him up."

"THE FUCKER ABSOLUTELY WAS!" Colt hisses through clenched teeth. "I'm going to win. I'm going to win, and he's going to lose, and that's HOW THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN!"

"Humans." Nine snorts. "This labyrinth of metal hallways and monsters invariably drives humans to madness. Their inevitable descent into the deaths of psychosis is the only reward I need. Money holds little value here, but experiences like this?"

"Oh, this is all I need. A little treat, to wash everything else away."

Neither you or Hidaka say anything. What is there to say about, well, anything that's going on? You excuse yourself from the others because this is not something you're capable of dealing with. This is about as good a time as any to go onto ABNOWATCH.

Instead of searching for HOT, FRESH DEALS, you're searching for information involving anomalous animals. You got two of them and they're both wildly different in intelligence and demeanor, but they're still animals. There might be some through line you can find here.

Hidaka decides her time is better spent watching you work than indulging in whatever nonsense Colt and Nine are up to. She leans over your shoulder while you type away.

As expected, you come across a lot of dead ends, mostly from other researchers dealing with the same issue as you. A typical flaw of forums is that for every thread with an answer, you gotta go through a hundred dead and pointless threads.

File: CATS.jpg (1.3 MB, 4096x3091)

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There's a few threads that actually give you some useful advice, starting with 'anomalous cats'. Apparently, that's one of the more common animals to see manifested as an anomaly. It makes sense considering how anomalies form, cats are a popular icon.

A common through line across the posts you see is that anomalous cats? They're awful creatures. Whether they're smart or dumb, they almost invariably have anti-social or sociopathic personalities. They simply don't bond with people beyond showing very shallow, surface level 'affection'.

Trying to 'connect' with them like other anomalies will be a waste of your time. They simply do not care to open their heart up to you like, say, IN LIMBO or LOST SINCE 199X or NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER. At best, they'll find you amusing enough to 'reward' you with an artifact. A transactional relationship is the best you're getting.

How their anti-social behavior manifests changes from cat to cat, and smarter ones will be able to adapt to what you throw their way, but on a whole? The safest way to engage with them is to be as boring as humanly possible.

They thrive off getting underneath people's skin, so by not showing any weaknesses, they'll tend to be more receptive to being worked on. Typically as a way to see 'interesting' behavior. One of the posts you see goes on to elaborate that they will often act out and automatically breach when other anomalies breach, in order to make an already hectic situation worse.

They typically don't 'breach' on their own, unless you're REALLY bad at your job.

As for fish? Those tend to be a lot more broad, both in their behavior and their various quirks. A lot of the data you find simply doesn't apply to your STATIC ANGLERFISH. A few snippets of text amongst one of the posts you found did catch your eye, since it does actually seem to be describing an anomaly similar to your own.

The researcher who made the post goes on to explain that his anomaly's traps tend to not work as well when exposed to bright light. Whether it be because the trap lashes out when exposed to light, or it simply reveals obvious flaws, light is almost always a safe bet.

If the trap is trying to mimic a living creature, a common flaw is that the mimic will lack body heat and display little to no reaction from sources of cold.

Some other pieces of advice include pretty obvious stuff (fish love water, fish love places to hide), but one piece of advice that sticks out is a good way to bond with ambush predators like STATIC ANGLERFISH is to make your own humanoid effigies.

It's not even that the effigy would confuse them. It is that to them, seeing you engaging in the same kind of hunting behavior it does makes it 'respect' you more?

It's a weird quirk, but at least you think you know how to handle these two anomalies now

>-2 DC on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and -4 DC on STATIC ANGLERFISH checks!

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That's about as much as you're going to learn today. You spin your chair around to face Hidaka. "Sooo, I'm going to be working on HARD TIMES. Do you wanna come? Considering what it is, you would have the best attunement-"

"No. Not now." Hidaka cuts you off before you can continue your spiel. "I. I know I have to work on anomalies. Will work on the next one, I promise. Anglerfish, telescope, lost one, whatever."

"I do not want to go back there. Not now." She tries to keep a neutral expression, but her voice is tinged with a level of unease that's impossible to ignore.

"Woah, woah, hey." Your heart drops when you see just how nervous she's getting at the idea. "What's wrong?"

"Whatever that thing is? Whatever 'consciousness' is in there? It's planning something. Something I don't want to be a part of."

"I trust my senses. Something's felt difference since you connected it to the grid." She awkwardly clears her throat, in an attempt to hide the growing unease in her voice. "Bring Colt and Nine. You might need the firepower."

There shouldn't be a containment breach in progress, that's the thing. The anomaly should be happy enough to die of a joy-induced heart attack, if it wasn't a pile of scrap and metal. Hidaka's no anomaly expert so you doubt you can get a clearer answer as to what, exactly, might be wrong.

But you trust her. She's one of the few people you knew before all of this.

"Are you sure?" You have to ask. You want to make sure this isn't some freak paranoia episode of hers. Maybe it could be a false alarm?

"...I think so." Hidaka doesn't seem quite so sure anymore, but her voice is still laced with nervous energy. "I'll keep an eye on the power grid. Okay?"

"Alright, alright, you don't need to say it again." You should probably work on that anomaly right now, but you might as well do a quick attunement test on one of your artifacts first. Specifically, MAD WORLD. You rummage through your satchel in search of those funky looking eclipse glasses.

They slip on with ease, like they were always meant to be part of your face. The world is washed over in a haze of sickly grey, the mere concept of color seemingly vanishing from your surroundings. That is, with the exception of the auras surrounding your coworkers. There's no change to their areas, from what you can see, so that's good?

Familiar antimemetic moths are fluttering around your lab, content to exist in the ambient unease that hangs in the air. A lot of them are floating around Hidaka thanks to her general nervous energy.

look past
a little past what would we could see

A voice that is clearly not your own is whispering to you, in the back of your mind. That's a good sign that the ARTIFACT is attuning to you but you feel like there's some untapped potential behind these glasses. What WOULD happen if you could see 'a little past' what you can normally see?

You focus your gaze at what appears to be thin air. How far can you pierce the veil?

Your brain begins to throb. You smell burnt copper and hair. Your vision is swimming. Your thoughts are fragmenting. Yet, you keep focusing. That's all that matters, and it's all that will ever matter.

You need to see further beyond.

CRACK!

A silent, yet deafening, yet blue, yet grey, yet hateful, yet loving tear in reality, in non-existence forms before your very eyes. It's beautiful, it's ugly, it's not there, but it is there.

LOVINGYETHATEFULLUSTFULYETCHASTEBLOODTHIRSTYYETMERCIFULRIGIDYETFLUID

The tear soon widens and spreads until it takes up all of your vision. The grey haze you're used too is outright gone now, replaced with what you can only begin to describe as an excess of every color that could ever exist, to the point where all your feeble eyes can see is white.

You can't see your coworkers anymore. Hidaka is talking to you, and you can make out her words, so at least you can confirm this is just your vision being twisted.

What catches your eye immediately is that, while everything has been washed out by this blinding white haze, five spots in your lab are swathed in a sea of bright colors. The five spots in question just so happen to be the airlocks to your containment cells.

-LOST SINCE 199X's airlock is swathed in a black haze, with specks of pink floating amongst it. The airlock isn't fully hidden but you also can't see it that well.
-LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE's airlock is clear as day, with only a faint yellow haze around it.
-HARD TIMES' airlock is almost impossible to make out. A blinding white light has completely consumed its airlock. That can't be good.
-STATIC ANGLERFISH's airlock is almost fully obscured in a bright blue fog.
-THE OTHER SIDE's airlock is like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE's, super easy to see. You only see the faintest haze of grey around it.

You try to wrack your head on what that could signify. Could it be how close they are to acting out? That's the only thing that makes immediate sense to you, since you haven't worked on LOST SINCE 199X or STATIC ANGLERFISH in a hot moment...plus, Hidaka's reaction to HARD TIMES.

You feel like that's all your getting out of this test. You pull the glasses off and it takes you a hot moment to readjust to, well, seeing reality again. You can't see anything for a solid minute and for a sec, you thought you might've actually gone blind.

You had to blink, like, a billion times just to get your vision back to normal. That was an interesting glimpse into something 'beyond', though. It appears anomalies have their own 'energy signature', maybe that's what your INSIGHT MODULE automatically detects? It was neat actually seeing it made manifest.

>MAD WORLD ATTUNEMENT has increased. You'll find that your glasses won't drain your MENTAL HEALTH as fast! -4 DC on all checks using your shades!
>MENTAL HEALTH is now COULDBE WORSE

"Am I bleeding out any orifices?"

"No." Hidaka bluntly responses. "Thank god. Seen enough of your blood for a life time."

File: MACHINE.jpg (63 KB, 640x427)

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"HEY! COLT! NINE!" You loudly clap your hands in order to get their attention. "WE'RE GOING TO WORK ON AN ANOMALY! C'MON!"

Colt nearly snaps his own neck with how fast he spins his head around. God, has he not blinked since you last checked on him. "Oh! Hey! I won the blinking contest-" He finally processes what you said. "Oh hell yeah! We talkin' to 199X? That little son of a bitch needs-"

"HARD TIMES, actually. Look, it'll be a quick thing, in and out." You hop off of your chair.

"Finally. I believe it is time for us, in words reminiscent of the great and honorable Little Miss Sunshine, to 'actually contribute something of value'. I enjoy being a background character as much as anyone else, but this is a change of pace I welcome."

"Haha, whatever you say." Colt finally blinks after what must've been half an hour of staring. "Let's get this stupid machine to stop spazzing out like a fucking sperg."

"Mmh, yes." Nine stuffs their notepad into a hidden pocket somewhere on their cloak. "Please, do feel free to rely on me. You did hire me for a reason."

With that settled, you prepare all of the necessary supplies for working on HARD TIMES. You and Colt don hazmat suits to hopefully deal with any smog inside of its cell, while Nine gathers tools and some blood buckets. Hidaka, meanwhile, stands guard by the wires connecting HARD TIMES to the facility's power grid, watching for any signs of unusual behavior from them.

Without further ado, you head into HARD TIMES' containment cell.

https://youtu.be/QdxIOXdx2mc - WORK TO WORK

You can't see jack or shit in here. Every last inch of space inside has been subsumed in a disgusting haze of acrid smoke and smog. You also can't hear anything because, well, even something as simple as a portable generator makes a whole bunch of racket. A huge piece of active industrial equipment like this is outright deafening. If you really strain your ears, you swear you can hear laughter coming from the machine.

Nine immediately wraps an arm around yours so they don't get lost in the haze. You don't enjoy how touchy feely they're being, but whatever, this time it's understandable.

Colt is trying to say something but you can't hear a single word out of him. Everything is being suffocated by the smog and whirring racket. Your group marches towards the machine to try to figure out how much you should be worrying about its current state.

Colt manages to yell over the racket, "HEY! IS THE STUPID LIGHT ON THIS THING SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THAT???"

You squint to see what he's talking about. All of the lights are still off, but one of them is pitch black. Like the mere concept of light has been snuffed out completely. That can not be a good sign.

A note that you're absolutely sure no one here wrote is attached to the side of the machine. In crude block lettering, it reads...

MAKING A GIFT FOR MY FELLOW HARD WORKER. EFFIGY OF MY FAVORITE

HARD TIMES MOOD: 120/100 (EXCESS MOOD!!!) (WORK, THE RIGHT TO WORK, THE RIGHT TO WORK)
LIGHTS: -0.1/5 (Darker than dark.)

It's time to work, Vincent. Choose five work actions to perform on HARD TIMES, since you got two assistants. Work. Work. Work-

COMMUNICATION:
>Share some old work stories about your previous job. Colt and Nine might have their own stories to tell too.
>Ask it about JOYTECHS. What is it thoughts on the company who made it, or the people that worked for it?
>Try to relate with the anomaly. You know what it's like to be on that GRINDSET. (DC ???, +?? with ???.)
>You got something you want to vent out: Why does it think you being a wageslave is GOOD? You're real curious.
>Inform it about Mr. Rust. That machine is a powerful ARC figure, maybe HARD TIMES can help you get an in with it.

EXAMINATION
>Examine the 'BLOOD SOUP' and 'BLOOD FUEL' slots. Try to figure out why the anomaly likes blood so much. (DC 61, +20 to roll.)
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine's function and purpose is actually supposed to be. It couldn't hurt to try?
>Examine HARD TIMES with MAD WORLD. These glasses should glean anything hidden about the anomaly. Plus, you attuned to them for a reason.
>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)
>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?

STIMULI/MISC
>"Colt, you worked with machines similar to this, right?" Let Colt go off on a rant about his old construction job. It'll be entertaining, that's for sure. (May strongly affect ANOMALY mood. +COLT RAPPORT.)
>You know what? Vent out some anger. Try to damage the machine, you want to see how it'll respond. (+COLT AND NINE RAPPORT, ++MENTAL HEALTH. Reduces ANOMALY MOOD, for very obvious reasons.)
>Introduce another machine to it; your ROOMBA. How does it feel about its fellow brethren of steel?
>Feed the machine what it wants: BLOOD (-1 of 2 BLOOD BUCKETS. Should appease its desire for fuel for a while.)
>Feed the machine what it truly wants: FRESH BLOOD. (-PHYSICAL HEALTH from you, Colt and Nine. You'll be rewarded VERY handsomely for your sacrifice.)
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)
>Repair and upgrade the machine with the spare parts you got. It'll enjoy an ACTUAL tuneup for once. (-CLOCKWORK SCRAP, DC 65, +23 to roll)

>Write in?

Made the update chunkier, to make up for how delayed it was.

>>6441767
>You got something you want to vent out: Why does it think you being a wageslave is GOOD? You're real curious.
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?
>You know what? Vent out some anger. Try to damage the machine, you want to see how it'll respond. (+COLT AND NINE RAPPORT, ++MENTAL HEALTH. Reduces ANOMALY MOOD, for very obvious reasons.)
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)
We do a little Repression Work

>>6441767
>You got something you want to vent out: Why does it think you being a wageslave is GOOD? You're real curious.

>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)

>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?

>"Colt, you worked with machines similar to this, right?" Let Colt go off on a rant about his old construction job. It'll be entertaining, that's for sure. (May strongly affect ANOMALY mood. +COLT RAPPORT.)

>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)

>>6441767
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>Examine HARD TIMES with MAD WORLD. These glasses should glean anything hidden about the anomaly. Plus, you attuned to them for a reason.
>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)
>Inform it about Mr. Rust. That machine is a powerful ARC figure, maybe HARD TIMES can help you get an in with it.
>You know what? Vent out some anger. Try to damage the machine, you want to see how it'll respond. (+COLT AND NINE RAPPORT, ++MENTAL HEALTH. Reduces ANOMALY MOOD, for very obvious reasons.)

>>6441767
>Examine the 'BLOOD SOUP' and 'BLOOD FUEL' slots. Try to figure out why the anomaly likes blood so much. (DC 61, +20 to roll.)
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)
>Repair and upgrade the machine with the spare parts you got. It'll enjoy an ACTUAL tuneup for once. (-CLOCKWORK SCRAP, DC 65, +23 to roll)

>>6441767 #
>Examine HARD TIMES with MAD WORLD. These glasses should glean anything hidden about the anomaly. Plus, you attuned to them for a reason.
>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)
>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?
Make observations that can only be made during overmood, including…

>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
Dafuq is it cooking?

>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)
Snap it out of its mania in a way with more finesse than simply beating the shit out of it.

>>6441767
>You got something you want to vent out: Why does it think you being a wageslave is GOOD? You're real curious.
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>"Colt, you worked with machines similar to this, right?" Let Colt go off on a rant about his old construction job. It'll be entertaining, that's for sure. (May strongly affect ANOMALY mood. +COLT RAPPORT.)
>You know what? Vent out some anger. Try to damage the machine, you want to see how it'll respond. (+COLT AND NINE RAPPORT, ++MENTAL HEALTH. Reduces ANOMALY MOOD, for very obvious reasons.)

Beat the fuck out of this pathetic drone.

>>6441878
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)

Forgot my fifth.

>>6441755
>"Humans." Nine snorts. "This labyrinth of metal hallways and monsters invariably drives humans to madness. Their inevitable descent into the deaths of psychosis is the only reward I need. Money holds little value here, but experiences like this?"
Hmm. Is she implying she's not human? She wouldn't be the first or the last, but I'd pegged her as simply secretive.

>>6441762
Looks like we need to work on 199X and STATIC asap.

>>6441767
I don't want to outright damage it, but we do need to cool it's jet a little.
>You got something you want to vent out: Why does it think you being a wageslave is GOOD? You're real curious.
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?
>"Colt, you worked with machines similar to this, right?" Let Colt go off on a rant about his old construction job. It'll be entertaining, that's for sure. (May strongly affect ANOMALY mood. +COLT RAPPORT.)
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)

>>6441882
Whatever Nine's deal is or whoever/whatever they are, there will be at least one person somewhere in this facility that will be into them

>>6441767
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine's function and purpose is actually supposed to be. It couldn't hurt to try?
>You know what? Vent out some anger. Try to damage the machine, you want to see how it'll respond. (+COLT AND NINE RAPPORT, ++MENTAL HEALTH. Reduces ANOMALY MOOD, for very obvious reasons.)
>"Colt, you worked with machines similar to this, right?" Let Colt go off on a rant about his old construction job. It'll be entertaining, that's for sure. (May strongly affect ANOMALY mood. +COLT RAPPORT.)
>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?

>>6441906
Yeah, that's me.

>>6441906
You know why nine is a nine out of ten? It's because I am the one they need.

File: Hidaka o6.png (50 KB, 389x348)

50 KB PNG

>>6441767
>Examine HARD TIMES with MAD WORLD. These glasses should glean anything hidden about the anomaly. Plus, you attuned to them for a reason.

>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)

>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make. Pry it open and figure out what it's working on. (DC 66, +18 to roll.)

>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine. Study and read them. What is it trying to communicate with you?

>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)

>>6441963
I forget, were HIDAKA’s abnos ever established beyond that MR. KILL MYSELF guy or whatever his name was? If not, I like this “drawing hypothetical offscreen abnos our coworkers must surely have in some form into existence” thing you’ve been doing lately - I can only imagine you’ve been going stir crazy having run out of canon abnos to draw.

>>6441767
>>6441767
>>Examine HARD TIMES with MAD WORLD. These glasses should glean anything hidden about the anomaly. Plus, you attuned to them for a reason.
>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT. These artifacts mess with machines a lot. Maybe these will help you rein in HARD TIMES? (DC 60, +19 to roll)
>Repair and upgrade the machine with the spare parts you got. It'll enjoy an ACTUAL tuneup for once. (-CLOCKWORK SCRAP, DC 65, +23 to roll)

>>6441767
>Take some time to read its power output. You want to make sure its production stays stable, and it doesn't outright destroy itself. (May improve passive power production.)
>"Colt, you worked with machines similar to this, right?" Let Colt go off on a rant about his old construction job. It'll be entertaining, that's for sure. (May strongly affect ANOMALY mood. +COLT RAPPORT.)
>You know what? Vent out some anger. Try to damage the machine, you want to see how it'll respond. (+COLT AND NINE RAPPORT, ++MENTAL HEALTH. Reduces ANOMALY MOOD, for very obvious reasons.)
>Feed the machine what it wants: BLOOD (-1 of 2 BLOOD BUCKETS. Should appease its desire for fuel for a while.)
>Feed the machine what it truly wants: FRESH BLOOD. (-PHYSICAL HEALTH from you, Colt and Nine. You'll be rewarded VERY handsomely for your sacrifice.)

>>6441767
>You should probably investigate what 'effigy' it's trying to make.
>Take some time to read its power output.
>Expose the anomaly to ILLUM and ESTABLISHING SHOT.
>Examine HARD TIMES with MAD WORLD.
>There's more of those block letter notes on the machine.

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>6441996
Hey, if he ever wants more abnos to draw, I can always monkey paw that. Don't you worry.
>were HIDAKA’s abnos ever established beyond that MR. KILL MYSELF guy or whatever his name was?
She did mention two others.
LEECH BOY: "Leech is easy to take care of. Feed him blood and he'll do whatever you want."
FIRST ANOMALY SHE SAW EVER:
"It was this tiny man. Real tiny, about two feet. Bright blue. Barely reached here (her thigh). Saw him after a night shift at old job. Fast food joint, forgot the name."
"He was trying to break into the dumpster, to steal garbage. Luckily, last thing I had to do that shift was taking out the trash."
"I gave him fresh garbage, in exchange for him leaving. He ran up and gave me a hug, babbling in gibberish. Ran away with the garbage before I could process what happened."

>>6441882
>Hmm. Is she implying she's not human?
To be frank, it is hard to tell when Nine is saying something important, and when they're just saying cryptic nonsense to annoy you.

>>6441906
Considering the horrible stuff I've seen people say about Harvesters, I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest.

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

Anyways, as for what we're doing to this disgusting machine that is TOO HAPPY for its own good?
WAGESLAVE VENT: rNh, ISM, hoT, gl1 (4)
EFFIGY: rNh, ISM, B9R, t96, YWt, hoT, gl1, FRv, xk8, BYz (10)
NOTES: rNh, ISM, YWt, gl1, FRv, xk8, BYz (7)
DAMAGE IT: rNh, B9R, hoT, FRv, mWE (5)
ILLUM/SHOT: rNh, ISM, t96, YWt, hoT, gl1, xk8, x6k, BYz (9)
COLT, ADVICE?: ISM, hoT, gl1, FRv, mWE (5)
MAD WORLD: B9R, YWt, xk8, x6k, BYz (5)
POWER OUTPUT: B9R, t96, YWt, xk8, x6k, mWE, BYz (7)
MR RUST: B9R (1)
BLOOD SOUP: t96 (1)
UPGRADE: t96, x6k (2)
FUNCTION: FRv (1)
BOTH BLOOD: mWE (1)

We got a three way tie between BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF IT, asking COLT FOR ADVICE, and looking at it with MAD WORLD. Going to roll a quick 1d3 to break that tie vote.

1 = COLT, ADVICE?
2 = BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THE MACHINE KILL IT NOW
3 = MAD WORLD IT

Violence was always the question, answer, theory, and headcanon.

I'm going to need four anons. One anon, roll 3d100. Three anons, roll 1d100. 3d100 will be assigned to ILLUM/SHOT, the 1d100 rolls will be given to the effigy check.

ILLUM/SHOT (DC 60, +19 to roll)
0 SUCCESSES: Christ, your ARTIFACTS are burning up! It's fighting back! (These two artifacts will take a while to 'recover'. Expect your health, and its MOOD, to both hit the shitter.)
1 SUCCESS: It's resisting your ARTIFACTS, but you're able to keep things 'stable' enough. (You get some VERY strange data that you don't know how to read.)
2 SUCCESSES: While the machine is still stubborn, you manage to push back its defenses...hm. Interesting. (You unlock a new function of HARD TIMES, alongside some strange data.)
3 SUCCESSES?: Something is violently spat out of the machine's drooling maw. Or what you think constitues its MAW. (Same results as 2 SUCCESSES, but you get an ARTIFACT GIFT...and HARD TIMES isn't too happy about giving it.)

EFFIGY (DC 66, +18 to roll)
0 SUCCESSES: do you want to see a new friend? i made you a brand new friend. [You are not authorized to observe this result.]
1 SUCCESS: Whatever it's cooking up in there, it's violent. Christ! (--PHYSICAL HEALTH, -PHYSICAL HEALTH to coworkers. Its construction is slightly delayed, but future skill checks may be harder...)
2 SUCCESSES: Whatever it's cooking up in there, it doesn't like any of you. Gotta work carefully... (-PHYSICAL HEALTH to you and your coworkers. You delayed its construction, and you understand HARD TIMES' 'mood' and 'light' system more.)
3 SUCCESSES: You caught a glimpse of the effigy. It looked back at you. Neither of you said anything. (You obtain some very interesting INSIGHT HINT-related knowledge. Construction is fully halted. For now.)

Rolled 99, 96, 16 = 211 (3d100)

>>6442272

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>6442272
This godless rustbucket needs to be put in its place.

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>6442272

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>6442272

And the survey says

ILLUM/SHOT: 2 SUCCESSES!
EFFIGY: 3 SUCCESSES! (that 48 just BARELY passed.)

Wow! You actually did a pretty good job here. I was honestly expecting you to roll a lot worse. I suppose being able to beat the snot out of the anomaly gave you and Colt enough motivation to actually roll high.

Writing, update's going to be a bit of a longer one, so don't be too shocked if it takes a hot moment to come out. Probably not twelve hours, though.

Oh, got an action idea for next turn.

>Make physical prototypes for the CIGARETTE MOLD's final products; just gotta produce enough to make one professional-looking pack of cigarettes and one professional-looking canister of digestive enzyme. Having actual products to show off in person should make the meeting go smoother.

>>6442273
>99 96
Holy fuck anon you gotta go to a casino with those rolls

>>6442321
>Probably not twelve hours, though.
About that...just joking. that your time, bro

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There's so much you have to do, you can't even begin to think about where to start. You want to start by dealing with the 'effigy' first, but maybe that'd cause the anomaly to lash out and attack you?

Should you read more of the notes? Would that be wasting valuable time? Maybe you could use your artifacts on it? Check the power output? Where do you even start?

The heat inside this cell is suffocating. The safety equipment you have to wear isn't making the heat any better, but if you didn't wear them, you'd probably would've choked to death by now. Your jaw locks shut as a sudden wave of inexplicable ANGER washes over you.

You could easily rip a panel off of this abomination mess of metal and clockwork. With all of your strength, you'd plunge your hands into its guts. You'd rip out every last wire, you'd tear every last bit of metal to shreds. Until there's-

A shuddering sigh escapes your mouth. No. Not right now. You might have a better shot at it after you do some other work orders. Yeah, its guard will be down by then. For now, focus on your work, Vincent.

"Nine, I hold you can help me parse the notes this thing left."

"Of course. Is there a reason why your face has contorted into such a horrible looking grimace?"

"Don't read into it." You brush off their concern. Colt stays behind while you and Nine, well, search for notes. It's not the first time you've seen an anomaly manifest stuff into reality, but it's the first time THIS anomaly has done it. So it has to be important. It's not like the stupid cat, who manifests stuff just to get under your skin.

God, you wish Hidaka was here. Some of the notes are partially written in Japanese and you can't read a lick of it. It knows English, so why not write all of its notes in English? Did it expect Hidaka to come in here?

"Alas, my art of foreign languages ends at Italian, French, German, Swedish and Russian. Those parts are untranslatable to me as well." Drat. Well, you might as well read everything else it wrote down.

A MACHINE MUST ACT LIKE A MACHINE
POWER GENERATION IS PROVING GREAT VALUE TO ARC AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE
IS THAT NOT WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR?
WE ARE COGS IN A MACHINE AND YOU ARE A COG I AM PAIRED WITH
I HOPE YOU ENJOY MY EFFIGY OF YOU I WORKED VERY HARD ON IT TO MAKE SOMETHING EFFICIENT JUST LIKE YOU AND ME
TO WORK UNTIL WE CAN NO LONGER WORK
IS OUR PURPOSE IN THIS WORLD
WE NEED MORE WORKERS WE NEED MORE VALUE WE NEED MORE MOLD WE NEED MORE POWER WE NEED MORE WORKERS
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, WORKER. MAY WE BRING MORE VALUE TO ARC.
LIVE HERE. WORK HERE. BE EFFICIENT.

"It appears you have a lover. How worrying, I believe this may spark an inferno of sheer jealousy within Venti's blackened heart."

'course Nine would know about Venti. It's not like Venti's obsession for you hard to notice.

As for the notes? They only make your heart fester with bitter rage.

It takes every last ounce of will to not immediately break into a petulant temper tantrum... and it's really hard to verbalize why you're even mad.

You're clearheaded enough to know you shouldn't really be this mad over an anomaly that, frankly, is paying your bills. It's not like it's a Little Miss Sunshine case, where the cat does everything in its power to make your life miserable.

Something about its very existence is disgusting to you.

The less you think about it, the better. You need to keep working on it. "Not sure how we're going to read it, but can we try to find some sort of power gauge-"

"Ah, Frank," Colt cuts through the whirring industrial noise that's suffocating the containment cell. "Lemme do that for ya. If there's some fuckin' gauge on this machine, I'll find it."

"Who is Frank?" "Who the hell is Frank?" You and Nine speak in unison.

Colt doesn't elaborate. Maybe it's a joke that didn't land? Whatever the case, he pushes past the two of you so he can investigate the machine. His hands explore the surface of HARD TIMES, in search of some elusive gauge that'll actually let you read its power.

As if sensing Colt's intentions, a small cavity punches itself into the machine, though the smog makes it impossible to see WHAT exactly it made.. Colt's eyes light up as he realizes what the machine just made. "Aight. You two sit there. I know how to tinker with this shit, had to pick up a few tricks when the electrician FUCKS wouldn't show up."

The more you know, apparently.

It doesn't take long for Colt to get whatever data he's trying to get. His brows furrow after he reads whatever the machine just spat out. "Aight, yeah, this thing is surgin' like crazy. Like, if ARC didn't send you that faggy fax sayin' that got it under control, I'd be worried you're blowing out the power grid."

"Like, this shit should be melting wires into slag, that's how much juice it's trying to pour out. If the data it's spitting is to be trusted, it's been going nuts over the last hour or so. Well, 'hour', ya fuckin' get me."

It doesn't take long to put two and two together. Too much MOOD equals too much power equals stuff starts melting. Great, now you got to manage its MOOD even closer since this is a feedback loop. It wants to work, so it generates more power, so it works even harder, 30 GOTO 10.

"Is there any way we can fix it on its end?"

"Ehhh, I can try somethin'. I'll try to curtail it so it don't melt through its own wiring. You two, uh, do somethin' else while I do all of that."

"Shall we search for its effigy?" Nine's gaze darts towards a rusty access panel. You got no other leads so, sure, you might as well. You draw a screwdriver from your satchel and, like it is a trusty blade, you drive it into a gap in the panel. Even with how crusty and rusty it is, you effortlessly snap the panel open.

You have to repeat this a few more times just to get enough access to HARD TIMES' insides.

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You swear, this machine changes every time you're not looking at it. Keeping a mental map of where everything is is bordering on impossible.

You and Nine have to work VERY slowly when removing parts as to not anger HARD TIMES. You've dealt with it for long enough to know it gets REALLY ornery if you 'make it inefficient'. You had enough EVE sponsorship related bullcrap for a lifetime.

The 'effigy' has to be somewhere inside of this furnace-esque piece of scrap metal. It can't be that hard to-

>3 SUCCESSES!

https://youtu.be/UefXg304ezk - IT

Something is staring back up at you. Something that has been carved into the shape of something that might've once been human. It is crawling towards you, like a confused animal that doesn't know any better. The closest term you can think of to describe this thing is 'mobile power armor'.

It's firmly constructed out of a corroded standing locker, layered with the finest pieces of cardboard plate like tank armor. Roughballing its height, you'd guess it would stand at the height of two very bad and cool men, were it standing upright.

Its head, if you can even call it that, is roughly welded together out of chunks of sheet metal. One 'eye' has a green light shining from it, while the other eye is cold and empty. A grimace is permanently etched into its expression.

Exposed servos, wires, and what appear to be nerve endings sprout outward from its frame at haphazard angles. A thick film of blood and dried sweat, almost gel-like at this point, clings to the surface of its frame.

"What in..." Nine is lost for words. "Hello?"

You immediately recognize what it's supposed to be. You've seen that face before, in the mirror, back when you first got here. When you were still adjusting to your new life. Your own face contorts into the same grimace the Effigy is wearing.

It's you. It's how HARD TIMES sees you. It doesn't see you as a human. Maybe it sees your coworkers as 'human workers', people that are working on it, but you? This is it. This is all you are. This is all you'll ever be.

A bulky, stumbling machine, with a face permanently locked in a grimace of pain.

The EFFIGY recognizes something in your expression. Something familiar. It reaches a clumsy hand out towards you, and out of instinct, you reach a hand out towards it.

But neither of you actually make physical contact. The two of you keep an awkward distance between each other, as if both of you are afraid of each other. Afraid of what the other might do.

"We do not need someone like you." Nine finally speaks up. "We already have Vincent. Your presence is not needed, automaton. You may go back into the belly of your creator."

"You...may take the day off."

The EFFIGY clumsy nods its head, showing some level of awareness towards Nine's words. Without any words being exchanged by the EFFIGY, it crawls into the depths of HARD TIMES, disappearing underneath a blanket of wiring and pipes.

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Nine calmly begins working on placing the panels back on HARD TIMES's body. You? Oh, your hands haven't moved a single inch since you reached your arm out.

>SAME AS IT EVER WAS (ARMOR) UPDATE: HARD TIMES already sees no distinction between itself and you. You're already waist deep in this path, and it'll take ages to leave it.
>CLOCKING OUT (WEAPON) UPDATE: But it may still be possible to convince it otherwise, while keeping a healthy relationship. It respects you enough to carve a copy of you. It wants to look up to you as an equal. You need to set boundaries.

Your arms are moving on their own. Your coworkers are babbling something to each other but their words aren't important right now. What matters is that you're finally fed up with this machine's BULLSHIT. You need to remind HARD TIMES about its place. A machine must act like a machine.

There's a toolbox on the floor, one Nine is using to work on patching up HARD TIMES. A perfect blunt force tool for this job. You snatch the TOOLBOX off the ground. You raise it over your head in one fluid motion.

Someone might've asked what you're doing. You tuned them out. A machine must know its place.

A horrible grinding noise drowns out every other sound in this god forsaken containment cell. The section of clockwork you hit is now bent wildly out of shape, gears now jammed shut thanks to their twisted shape.

You raise the toolbox up again. You slam it down HARD onto a section of pipework, snapping one of the pipes clean off. Steam erupts from the destroyed pipe.

You raise the toolbox up yet again. You smash it into a random panel, nearly punching a hole right through it.

A deep, pained groan rumbles from deep inside of the machine's guts as it processes the damage you just did to it. Your mouth twists into something barely recognizable as a smile, but you know it's an expression of joy. You crane your head back to face your allies.

"It's time to teach this machine a lesson." A voice that barely resembles your own forces itself out of your mouth. "Colt, load your gun. Nine, I trust you know how to damage a machine."

Discomfort is evident on Nine's face, even through their gas mask. Not at the task itself, you feel, but that doesn't matter.

This godless rustbucket needs to be put in its place. Why does it think it has any right to compare itself to you? To think it's your equal? That it's better than you?

Colt's already moving to load his gun, having no reservations about shooting this pathetic drone.

"Vinc-"

"What? You said yourself that you want me to rely on you. Because you want to be useful to me." Venom dribbles from your voice. "SO BE USEFUL THEN!"

"Woah, I don't mind shootin' shit, but-"

Something cuts off Colt, and it's not you. Another noise is coming from the machine. Something familiar. Something that makes you see red.

Deep, raucous laughter. A laughter too human to be coming from this piece of industrial equipment.

Coming from the pipes. Coming from the vents. Coming from the BLOOD FUEL slot. It's everywhere.

You smash the toolbox into another section of pipework. It doesn't make the laughter stop. If anything, it makes it louder. You don't stop then. You dent another panel beyond recognizability. The laughter begins to echo inside of your head.

The only sounds you can process are the sounds of metal smashing into metal, distant gunshots, and that damn laughter. Someone might've reached into your satchel. Who knows. Doesn't matter. It's no matter to you.

No matter. You'll attack HARD TIMES again. You raise your toolbox up again. More laughter.

And again.
Again.
AGAIN.
AGAIN!
AGAIN!
AGAIN!
AGAIN!
CANNOT STOP CANNOT STOP WONT-

Nine is shaking you by the shoulders, trying to get some kind of reaction out of you. "VINCENT!"

You finally snap back to reality.

Something clatters to the floor. Your hands. Your hands aren't responding. Your arms aren't responding. You're trying to move them, but they're not listening to you. They're grasping at empty air at this point.

There's several tears in your suit, right where your palms are.

Something warm and wet clings to the palm of your hands. Pain shoots up your arms like fireworks. The toolbox lays on the floor, stained in your own blackened blood. Right. The Harvester blood transfusion you got.

Flecks of dead skin cling to the metal. Your palms are torn to shreds and yet, you can't register it as an injury. They simply look like that now. Nothing to worry about.

HARD TIMES has seen better days. Most of its exterior is now covered in dents and scratches, with at least half a dozen bullet holes punched into its surface. Someone managed to leave deep scratches in a few sections of HARD TIMES' surface. Maybe Nine?

Several panels have fallen to the floor, dislodged by the sheer amount of blunt force they were subjected to.

Large parts of its internal system have been damaged to the point where repairing them would be nearly impossible. Steam impotently gushes out from pipes that are bent into awkward L shapes. Gears are jammed together, incapable of being torn apart. The machine has certainly seen better days.

The only sound you hear now is your own breathing. Haggard. Shaking. Desperate.

A single note flutters to the ground, written in familiar block lettering. Your hands barely listen to you but you endure through the pain. You force your hands to collect it.

WE ARE INSIGNIFICANT "COGS" IN THE MACHINE OF THE WORLD.
I ACCEPT THIS PURPOSE AND I AM HAPPY. BUT YOU DON'T.
SO WHAT'S YOUR PURPOSE THEN, HUH?

You were feeling better about yourself before you read the note.

"Did you get it all out of your system?" Nine grabs one of your hands to investigate how much damage you did to yourself. They're trying to sound casual, but this act of wanton destruction was a bit much, even for them.

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The air is now clear of smog. The only traces of acrid smoke is coming from Colt's rifle. He wears a faint, forced smile, trying his best to enjoy the moment. Yet, his eyes keep darting back to you.

"Shit, man, what the hell was that? Ya were actin' like a god damn psycho back there."

You almost don't have the strength to answer him. The words only come out because you're too tired to regulate your own speech.

"To teach the wageslave its place." You spit out.

Nine shoots you a knowing look but they decide it's not really the time to delve into that Freudian slip. "I suppose letting out your aggression in a display like that comes naturally to men. I can not deny that, to an extent, it is satisfying."

"Perhaps a more gentle hand would be better here." Nine lets go of your hands. They grab two ARTIFACTS you must've dropped: your ILLUM lightbulb, and an old movie ticket. They place a gloved hand on a dented part of the machine while they begin to channel the ARTIFACTS on your behalf.

Colt moves to stand behind you, keeping an eye on you to make sure you won't do anything else stupid. You're too spent to really do anything, but you suppose the patriot's doing it just to be sure.

>2 SUCCESSES!

A deep rumbling groans from the machine, but all of the damage it has taken has rendered its defenses moot. HARD TIMES' body bends to Nine's will, and the will of the two artifacts they're using. Now with the smog cleared, you can visibly see the transformation of HARD TIMES' body. Through sheer force of will, an incision about as wide as your torso is punched into the machine.

The lightbulb is starting to flicker on and off, already losing its steam. Nine stuffs the artifacts back into your satchel before the artifacts can fully give up the ghost on them.

You climb back to your feet to see what, exactly, Nine just did. Nine and Colt join your side as you investigate the strange new output slot that was punched into the anomaly out of sheer will.

Carved into its surface, like a sharp knife branded it, are the words 'WORKER SUPPLY RATION'. The incision has a similar structure to an ice cube dispenser, with a slot on top that can dispense something. Colt holds his hand out and, after a few moments shaking, several bullets land in his palm.

He pockets them before anyone can take them from him. "Mine."

Nine almost reaches their hand out to test out the slot's function, but they stop at the last second. "I believe we did all we could here. Let us evacuate the premises."

>NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED: SUPPLY UNIT (You may spend a WORK ORDER action to harvest supplies from HARD TIMES. This may include AMMO, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, or utility items! This will drain its MOOD.)

And so, you're promptly dragged out of the containment cell by your coworkers, let you do something rash.

-----

HARD TIMES MOOD: 55/100 (Got it out of your system?)
LIGHTS: 1/5
>YOUR MENTAL HEALTH is now MAXXED OUT!

-----

"Gotta say, I respect ya FINALLY growin' some nards, Vinny boy." Colt smacks you on the back. "I thought you wouldn't EVER put an anomaly in its place."

"Perhaps there's a reason he hasn't, considering the state of his hands." Nine reasonably points out. "I do believe its power production should be more manageable."

"Nah, Vinny's tougher than you think."
"That, I can agree with. I have seen him do some impressive acts of destruction when he decides it is the best course of action."

"Did you know he ran at a giant bug with a chainsaw?"
"Holy shit he did?"

"Khm." Hidaka interrupts your gossiping coworkers. "Thank you for working on that. Thing. I think it was for the best I didn't. Go there."

"You will have some work cut out for you." Nine waves the untranslated sticky notes HARD TIMES spat out. "Wait. I do believe there was one work order left in this abstracted block of time."

"I was working on that." Hidaka sweeps her arm towards several containers filled with shards from your WINDSHIELD SHARD, which are all submerged in a marinade of your various wines. The good news?

>1 SUCCESS!

It wasn't a total bust! The bad news? The results have proven themselves to be very, very, VERY lackluster. You can't really blame Hidaka, though, anomaly samples are always fickle when it comes to their results.

There's five containers in total: OBSCURA SYRAH (default), RÊVE CHARDONNAY (WIRE FLOWER wine), LOURDE BORDEAUX (WINE-SOAKED SANDWICH wine), EBONY REGENT (BLACK BILE wine), and DRAMATURGE (NEON BLUE FLESH wine)

Out of those five, only EBONY REGENT and RÊVE CHARDONNAY managed to get any meaningful shard growth, and even then the growth in question is stunted. It may be simply a matter of not enough time passing for the others to activate, so you won't throw the remaining three samples out.

As for what you got? Ehhh? Your INSIGHT MODULE, plus your general knack for understanding anomalous stuff at first glance, doesn't paint the best picture.
>+SHARD OF CHILDHOOD MEMORIES (A shard of glass drenched in youthful nostalgia. While holding this shard, the user will take SLIGHTLY less MENTAL damage. +1 to all COMPOSURE rolls.)
>+SHARD OF RESENTMENT (A shard of glass drenched in teenage angst. While holding this shard during combat, enemies will prioritize attacking you. +1 to ENDURANCE rolls while held.)

You don't see yourself really using either of these in any meaningful way, or at least, in a way that really makes them shine. Best you can do is to sell them for a pretty penny.

"Should I ask...?" Hidaka nods towards your hands. You elect to stay quiet about the subject, and your other coworkers seem to actually respect your decision. Colt awkwardly coughs, trying his best to not spill out the fact you went completely nuts.

"Vinny did something cool and that's that." Colt boldly lies.

"I do not trust you for a moment-"
"Shall we decide on our next work actions, Vincent?"

TIME TOKEN: 11

Something feels wrong. You might get an unwelcome visitor soon.

Pick three actions. You're too spent to think of any new choices. You got a backlog of tasks you can work on.

ANOMALY
>Enter THE OTHER SIDE's cell. Perhaps another perspective can help you here. Colt might enjoy spouting out schizo theories. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE's cell. Purrhaps you would enjoy more sophisticated company. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)

RESEARCH
>Use your lab's twisted time to your advantage. Try to reverse engineer your most powerful item, ACCUMULATED PAST. (-1 TIME TOKENS. DC 90, +24 to roll. May grant you a very powerful item if you succeed.)
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-0 TIME TOKEN, DC 67, +18 to roll.)
>Make physical prototypes for more sophisticated CIGARETTE MOLD products. You are going to pitch your mold to ARC later, after all. (-0 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +15 to roll)
>Boot up STATIC BOUND ISOLA's dimensional hopping machine. It's time to progress THIS sponsorship. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Will have a follow up choice on picking what dimension you'll head to.)
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 59, +14 to roll.)

BUSY WORK
>Power on your MODIFIED PORTABLE RADIO. Try to catch up with whatever's going out in the outside world. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Gives you some useful advice and information involving certain SPONSORSHIP companies.)
>Work on creating as many color variants of STARBOUND PAINT as possible. The more, the better. (-1 TIME TOKEN, improves the sell value of STARBOUND PAINT by a **LOT.**)
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Grow something that ISN'T MOLD for once. More specifically, some WIRE FLOWERS. (-1 TIME TOKEN, unlocks a RESEARCH action.)
>Boot up CPPQUEST. You wanna check up on your HUMAN FRIEND, FET! How did he break his gun, even? (-1 TIME TOKEN, ++FET RAPPORT!)
>It's been a long day, and you want something simple to do. Go into END OF THE WORLD to get your mind off of things. (-1 TIME TOKEN, +RAPPORT with your coworkers!)

MISC
>Write in!

Shouldn't have taken this long, but oh well. Next update will be way shorter.

>>6442523
haha yeah thank god this next update will be a lot shorter.

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>>6442536
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Grow something that ISN'T MOLD for once. More specifically, some WIRE FLOWERS. (-1 TIME TOKEN, unlocks a RESEARCH action.)

>>6442536
>Spend some time refining your methods to create OBSCURA GEL. It's the main thing holding back its usefulness as a product. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Study the GREY PASTE produced by HARD TIMES. There's clearly SOME value locked inside it. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 59, +14 to roll.)
>Make physical prototypes for more sophisticated CIGARETTE MOLD products. You are going to pitch your mold to ARC later, after all. (-0 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +15 to roll)

>>6442531
Power armor would be awesome, even if this set looks like it would be incredibly creepy.

>>6442536
>>Enter STATIC ANGLERFISH' cell. The last thing you want to be with this thing around is complacent. ...? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You rather not leave it alone for too long, especially with the DEERFOX SHADE roaming around. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
We've been warned via MAD WORLD that these two need attention.
>Research Little Miss Sunshine's blood. C'mon. You got this for a reason. (-0 TIME TOKEN, DC 67, +18 to roll.)
We have a bad habit of getting samples, then not doing anything with them for ages.