well, you've kinda just shot things from a distance. before they could get close enough to do anything like that.

anyway, one problem is we can't exactly do training. we need to be ready at all times for giant robots to try and kill us, so doing things that leave us tired, even for a little while, is kinda impossible. like working out. unless you know a way to improve me without that.

Ask our psychopomp how to work out an insect body. And ask him what this has to do with knowing how to teleport.

>I’ve been lead to believe Users lives are noted by conflict, so I hoped you would be more prepared but…
To clear that up, you're half right. Users do lead lives of conflict, but said conflict generally doesn't let us live long enough to capitalize on that. I've been at this a day.

Sydney! What percentage of users survive at least as long as I have?

Pretty much every user you meet is a person of great potential, with little chance to act on it.

Right now knowledge is actually more useful to me than skill, since I actually started with a bunch of that. And it's a lot faster to pick up. So... If you won't teach me, can we talk theory?

The secret to not getting punched is to run away, climb up a tree and throw rocks at 'em.

Apollo 2015/09/17(Thu)22:05 No. 670290 ID: defceb
File 144255271292.png - (58.34KB , 409x408 , 189.png )

>”Sydney why do I suck at everything?”

“We all start somewhere.”

>”Well, thanks for the advice Korvo.”

“Finally someone who listens.”

>”Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll have time for proper training. I have to be ready for giant robots to burst out of the ground-”

“Sometimes literally.”

>“-at any moment trying to kill me and lifting weights will leave me tired and vulnerable.”

“....hm. Well, you’re one of the first mages I’ve met who hasn’t been a huge ass so… maybe I could give you a bit of a jump start.”

>”Yeah, fuck it, what do I have to lose?”

“Organs, friends, confidence, pride…”

>”That was rhetorical, Sydney.”

“Alright. Just don’t bite your tongue.”

Apollo 2015/09/17(Thu)22:05 No. 670291 ID: defceb
File 144255273184.png - (74.30KB , 500x385 , 190.png )

“...this may sting a little.”

Apollo 2015/09/17(Thu)22:05 No. 670292 ID: defceb
File 144255274632.png - (226.74KB , 1000x468 , 191.png )

Choose one!

Stealth Bug - Alex’s dust illusions become more efficient and he becomes capable of creating a dust-double on the fly. His outer shell also becomes capable of self-camouflaging, allowing him to become invisible at no cost. A must have for the bug on the run.

Hard Light - Alex’s body and raw dust constructions become reinforced, allowing both of them to endure more pain and suffering in combat. Additional organ protection also helps against internal injuries, sonic damage, and chemical weapons. Perfect for the bug getting punched.

Vampire - Alex gains the ability to drain dust directly from living beings. If he kills another User in the process, he can steal one of their abilities. Bleh, bleh, I vant to suck your bl^oo_oo^od.

i vote hard light.

>”Sydney why do I suck at everything?”
>“We all start somewhere.”
Hey, the right answer was that I'm Unorthodox, Sydney!
>Jump start
I don't want to kill other users, so the vampire's out, but we can't just run from everything, so we need Hard Light.

>>670292
I vote Vampire

Wampire! Invisibility is useless against the hunters' superior sensor suites (if visible spectrum invisibility only) and vampirism lets us gain even more abilities. "But vampirism's also useless against robots!" you cry. Well BLEH BLEH I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOoooOOOD also not all of our hunters are robotic.

>>670292
Hard light.
Vampire is operating off of too much of an assumption that we otherwise haven't seen come into play yet. Are we gonna see enough dust users that an ability like that is going to be that useful?

Given how we dealt with the ambush some time ago, I'd say Hard Light would be reasonable.

Hard Light seems to the most handy in a pinch. More power to the deflector shields, captain!

>>670292
Hard light. Because if we're going to use bigger guns we need better materials for those guns, without having to cannibalize the environment, which is slower and won't work at all if we're flying. Also, good for not dying to the tiniest things! Like being punched!

I hope we can make a dust clone if we have preparation time.

I'm not voting for Vampire because we have not had any indication we'll ever run out of dust, and therefore it's only good for stealing abilities. In that case, we have to kill at least one other User, and from the sound of things Alex might not be able to pull that off. Also, other Users seem to be rare. Also it seems maybe an evil power? Just a bit?

>>670307
Powers aren't good or bad, it's how you use them. Not all Users are as benevolent as Alex. (See: The one that's been tasked with killing us)

>>670307
Dust is infinite, but takes time to generate. Being able to get it faster would actually be helpful.

Hard light or stealth. Those are my votes

stealth sounds perfect for what we've doing, but if we ever want to actually fight anything we're gonna want to be less of a glass cannon, my vote goes to hard light.

Hard light!

>>670292
Alex is a mad scientist slash crafter. Hard light makes our things better, and protects us when they blow up in our face. That's a must.

Plus magic forcefields have to help when a personal goal is to build your own atomic reactor.

vampire is cool in theory but we'll never ever use it. just, ever. we're too nice. can you imagine us killing someone using this? i can't imagine us killing anyone sapient at all.

i'd go for stealth but that's the easiest one to overcome. infrared vision alone basically renders it useless. echolocation is another method.

hard light is for the non-forethinkers. we should build armor and a gas mask instead. the internal injury protection would be nice though.

overall i'd go for hard light, it'll always be relevant and will give us some more leeway to come up with something clever.

Hard Light will help out with surviving more immediate threats as well as our attack plans on that great, big tower. Yet, I keep wanting to pick Vampire for the initial hard mode, not to mention that it'll help compensate later when the attack plans falter, as they usually do, with a (hopefully) greater number of skills. Also would give us more reason to get experience in, y'know, actually winning combat instead of pulling off successful escapes.

Hard Light. We are too picky about who we kill for Vampire to be likely to have many returns, and Invisibility can be countered even if it is multi-spectrum by some of the same things that Hard Light would protect us from (like AoE sonic or gas attacks).

>>670291
Whoo! That's a rush. I changed my mind, getting punched in the face is awesome!

When ve go vampire, ve can put fangs on our bug. Ah! Ah! Ah!

Apollo 2015/09/18(Fri)15:33 No. 670405 ID: defceb
File 144261558612.png - (100.30KB , 491x460 , 192.png )

You’ve chosen Hard Light!

Apollo 2015/09/18(Fri)15:35 No. 670408 ID: defceb
File 144261572113.png - (1.51KB , 491x460 , 193.png )

<sub>”He’s been out for a while now…”

“He needs the rest. Korvo essentially rearranged his organs.”</sub>

Apollo 2015/09/18(Fri)15:36 No. 670410 ID: defceb
File 144261581664.png - (125.65KB , 671x489 , 194.png )

“Are you sure holding him here will help?”

“He’ll appreciate it, I’m positive.”

"yep, this is definitely very comfortable"

"I also can't tell if I need to throw up or not."

I'm up, not sure about walking yet so I'm just going to lay here for a minute. What I miss and how much time is left of the festival? If it's over sorry I ruined your guy's night.

>>670408

Considering a rearrangement was likely to happen to my organs anyway, I think I'm good. Thanks for watching over me, guys. And, uh, where's Korvo? He needs thanking too, if I'm correctly understanding the changes he made.

This >>670411 and this >>670354

>>670410
Test your powers! Make something cool to look at out of hard light forcefields to show her your gratitude. Like an intricate little dragonfly, say. (Flit around, land on her nose).

Blow a raspberry. *Pbbbbbbbbbbbbt*

>>670412
Can we even throw up?

There are certainly much worse ways to have my organs rearranged.

>>670410
wait!
guys!
WAIT!

she doesn't have underwear!

>>670508
compound eyes

Apollo 2015/09/21(Mon)02:18 No. 671304 ID: defceb
File 144282710692.png - (163.81KB , 810x527 , 195.png )

>”Yep, this is definitely very comfortable. But uh… I can’t tell if I need to throw up or not.”

“Not on my lap, please.”

>“What did I miss? Is the festival over? I’m sorry if I ruined your night.”

“It’s okay. I’ve just been enjoying the view from here. You’re up in time for a parade.”

>“Naked runners. I don’t know why I’m still surprised at this point.”

“Is it so weird?”

>“Cultural differences, I guess. In my time nudity wasn’t really a thing. Er, for most people.”

“Your time was weird.”

>“Your time is weird.”

“You’re weird.”

>“You’re weird.”

“Hm... do you miss it? Your old life, I mean.”

I can't say I remember the specifics. Least not of my personal life. I say my time but I really mean the time that I'm most knowledgeable about. Hell, the language I'm speaking didn't even exist back in "my time". sigh Everything about my life is bizarre.

>“Hm... do you miss it? Your old life, I mean.”
I dunno, this life is pretty cool. Even with the weirdness. Maybe because of the weirdness. It's not like I remember a whole lot of the parts of my old life that applied to me. Just sort of the general stuff.

Plus hey, I'm a wizard now. That's cool.

Not really. We don't have personal memories of our time, heck for all we know we were just implanted with those memories when we woke up. Our time is now.
that could have been a John Cena reference if you chose Stealth Bug, you knuckleheads.

don't really remember my old life truth be told. Just bits and pieces. Besides, nothing good ever came from living in the past, I'm more of a hear and now kind of guy anyways.

>>671304
Well, air conditioning was nice.

>do you miss it? Your old life, I mean.
In that it was peaceful and I didn't have to worry about being hunted down, yes. But, I definitely like this life, too. I can fly, I get to travel and see a bunch of new places, and do a lot of other cool things that I couldn't before.

>>671371
and hang out with a cute girl.

>>671304
on the one hand things made more sense and were less dangerous.
on the other hand we've got a vulva in our face.

Kiss her belly button.

>>671882
Gosh can't we at least hold hands first?

>>671887
Yes, we can hold hands first. In fact we did, as part of the the whole stealthy airborne extraction thing. We've also gotten shot at by killbots together, and presumably picked wood splinters out of her thighs before infection set in. More recently, she watched us wrestling a huge brawny guy, naked. I think a quick experimental kiss would not be wildly excessive, as escalations of intimacy go, with the usual caution about desisting if she reacts at all negatively.

>>671379
*beat* Turn, pet Sydney. Who's a cute glowbug.

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)19:24 No. 672393 ID: defceb
File 144314785036.png - (147.99KB , 600x491 , 196.png )

>”Air conditioning was nice.”

“Was that a type of magic?”

>”Felt like it. I didn’t get hunted by robots, either. But now I can fly! Plus travel to all these cool news places, do wizard magic, and hang out with a cute girl!”

“Who, Sydney?”

“Hello.”

"You are a cute little glowbug, Sydney."

"I'm [flattered]."

W-well, I didn't mean Sydney, exactly. More like... like you.

>>672393
Cute girls, even!

>>672396
Bonus points for booping her nose while saying this.

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)20:36 No. 672413 ID: defceb
File 144315217062.png - (166.36KB , 600x491 , 197.png )

>”Cute girls, even!”

“Girls? But there’s only Sydney and mysel- UUUUUUHHHHH."

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)20:36 No. 672414 ID: defceb
File 144315219511.png - (95.85KB , 743x434 , 198.png )

“llllLLLLOOOOK at the time I’m hungry, are you hungry, I’m going to go find food and _{something I don’t know}”

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)20:37 No. 672415 ID: defceb
File 144315222568.png - (55.90KB , 571x430 , 199.png )

>”Sydney.”

“I don’t think she was prepared for that kind of attention.”

>”Sydney.”

“What?”

>"She wasn't wearing underwear."

Mission: Success. Good job.

Well, you still gotta boop noses. And at some point try out your new skill.

well, get some practice with that new hardlight stuff. make a few shields and assorted knick knacks.

you two are perfect for each other.

So what's left to do with the festival or if that is truly over and done with what's next on our todo list?

>>672413
Haha, don't embarrass her too much, or she might go dust circuit hulk again.

>She wasn't wearing underwear
*Look up* And neither are you! Naughty little Tinkerbell.

And yeah, let's experiment with making small hard light constructs while we wait for Photina to calm down and come back with food.

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)21:48 No. 672450 ID: defceb
File 144315653356.png - (103.16KB , 682x682 , 200.png )

>”And neither are you!”

“Rude.”

>”Lewd. So what can I do with my new dust skills?”

“Nothing right now. Between Korvo scrambling your circuits and the upgrade, you’ll still recovering.”

>”Lame. I got new toys, I want to try them now!”

“Patience is a [virtue].”

>”Reclassify patience as a boring virtue.”

“Patience is a [boring virtue].”

>“Ha. ...Hey, Sydney, does it seem quiet to you?”

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)21:49 No. 672451 ID: defceb
File 144315655315.png - (131.69KB , 919x518 , 201.png )

>”...where did everyone go?”

>>672451
Looks like we have to face the CONSEQUENCES. Turn around and ask who your shadow is. Anubis?

looks like anubis totally saw you seeing them.

neat trick you're pull off with your shadow.

Man, it would sure suck if I was attacked by ROBOTS when I was helpless, and in the middle of a town too.

*beat, turn to shadow*

Oh, hey there, Jackal-god. How you doing? fishing trip over already?

I believe the response here is "Doggy!"

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)23:20 No. 672509 ID: defceb
File 144316201925.png - (47.10KB , 501x351 , 202.png )

>”Man, it would sure suck if I was attacked by ROBOTS while I was helpless, and in the middle of the town, too!”

>”Oh hey there Jackal go- oh, uh, you’re not the jackal god. Uh… hey there.”

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)23:20 No. 672510 ID: defceb
File 144316203298.png - (41.67KB , 475x652 , 203.png )

“Hey there.”

Errant Signal Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)23:21 No. 672512 ID: defceb
File 144316211871.png - (186.60KB , 1000x539 , 205.png )

Fuck, I shouldn’t have ever become a mercenary. Should have lived off the farm like the rest of my family. Marry off with some girl. Grow old. Now I’ve lost an arm, and by the looks of it the rest of my crew, too. Fuck this job. Fuck that monster.

>>672512
You should probably get the hell away from the target, you're no match for him.

>>672510
...I don't suppose you're interested in negotiation, diplomacy, a civil discussion, or telling me your plans in great detail?

>>672512
Maybe if you stop annoying her, she won't kill you.

Or she'll at least make it quick.

get a psychopomp

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)00:18 No. 672544 ID: defceb
File 144316550134.png - (27.00KB , 811x451 , 206.png )

Yeah, fuck it. I'll run home like a coward. Nothing is worth fighting this thing.

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)00:18 No. 672545 ID: defceb
File 144316552205.png - (94.89KB , 811x451 , 207.png )

Oh no. Oh nooononononono.

>>672545
Put your arms up and show you mean no more harm? Does this person want to kill you? They haven't seemed to directly hit you yet, just intimidate and scare you.

>>672545
So uh how many civilians died by the way?

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)01:04 No. 672554 ID: defceb
File 144316826412.png - (108.44KB , 547x630 , 208.png )

“I give up. You caught me.”

“Don’t turn around.”

“Is this the part where you kill me?”

“I could sit here and wait if you prefer to bleed out.”

“Is there anyone else left?”

“Just you and me now.”

“And the villagers?”

“Kaveh?”

“I’ve given up on keeping track during your rampages.”

Ask her why she even killed the villagers. They posed no threat and had no involvement in the fight.

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)01:25 No. 672558 ID: defceb
File 144316955279.png - (27.20KB , 407x226 , 209.png )

“Why? They didn’t pose a threat to you.”

“Neither did your friends, but that didn’t stop them from seeking to kill me either. Don’t try to preach morals at me, mercenary. I’ve seen how your people fight. Torching the fields, killing the men, selling the women. We walk a path of fire, everything around us is doomed to burn in kind.”

I don’t want to die here…

“I guess you’re lucky to be the last one, at least. How do you want to die?”

Not here. Not now.

Sounds like you need someone to burst out of somewhere to lend a hand.

>How do you want to die?
truth be told I rather not if it's all the same to you.

use your secret weapon

>>672558
Later. Much later.

In the arms... *suggestive eyebrow wiggling* of an angel.

Of old age.

in bed, surrounded by your grandchildren.

Hypothermia, after watching the last star burn itself out.

Seriously, though, we both know I'm a mercenary, and I think it's fairly obvious they're not paying me nearly enough for this shit. I wanna work for you. If you haven't got any cash on hand, I'd be willing to accept the continuation of my miserable life in lieu of first month's wages.

Apollo 2015/09/26(Sat)14:33 No. 672901 ID: defceb
File 144330323824.png - (61.13KB , 786x368 , 210.png )

“Truth be told, I’d rather not.”


“Or… or die of old age I guess. In a bed. Surrounded by grandchildren. That’d be nice. We all die eventually, right?”


“Look, I’m a mercenary. This wasn’t anything personal. I’m not getting paid nearly enough for this shit.”






“Well what are you waiting-”

Apollo 2015/09/26(Sat)14:34 No. 672903 ID: defceb
File 144330325289.png - (58.90KB , 878x388 , 211.png )

“...for?”

Great. Alone. Now I feel silly.

Head back into town for medical attention.

>>672903
>>672903
And hey, maybe if you get better you can help patch things up and smooth things over. If you're gonna abandon being a mercenary, you can restart here.

alright...well then. Try to stop the bleeding if you can and head towards the nearest town for help. see if you can't find a way back home and see what kind of job you can pick up with one arm. I think you could probably pull off a Shepard with one arm... or see if you can't find a way to open your own tavern or something. Just something that isn't likely to kill you and would let you find a nice girl and start a family because I'd rather not go through something like this again if at all possible.

>>672903
...you're not waiting for me to think I'm safe or something before you kill me, right?

*wait*

Okay then. I'm going to walk back towards town now and try to find medical attention or supplies or civilian survivors. Hopefully before I bleed out. It you're still here and going to kill me before that, I can't stop you.

Why would she bother finishing the job? You're 'armless. Ar ar ar!

Apollo 2015/09/26(Sat)23:49 No. 673116 ID: defceb
File 144333657567.png - (57.78KB , 878x388 , 212.png )

Yeah. Time to find a medic and find another line of work. Maybe find a cute girl and settle down somewhere. That sounds good. Not dying out here sounds very good.