Apollo 2015/08/07(Fri)19:29 No. 660911 ID: defceb
File 143900099047.png - (181.09KB , 840x600 , 6002.png )

01100110 01101110 01101010 01110101 00100000 01100111 01110000 00100000 01100110 01110101 01110100 01100010 01111000 00100000 01100010 00100000 01101101 01101101 01100010 00100000 01110100 01100010 01111000 00100000 01110101 01101010 00100000 01110101 01110110 01100011 00100000 01110101 01101101 01101010 01110110 01100011 00100000 01001010 00100000 01100101 01101111 01100010 00100000 01110101 01101101 01101010 01110110 01100011 00100000 01001010 00100000 01110101 01101101 01101010 01110110 01100011 00100000 01001010

>>660910
Aw hell, that's a black hole.

>>660911
"I built I built and I built but it was all a waste of time"
Shift -1, reverse it.

Hmm. Do we have to respond in kind, here?

00111111 01100101 01101101 01101010 01110110 01100011 00100000 01110110 01110000 01111010 00100000 01100101 01101010 01100101 00100000 01110101 01100010 01101001 01111000
(what did you build?)

Oh, hey, we're in the blue. Blue is good, right? Blue is safe.

>date fragment
That bothers me more than it probably should.

>>660913
It wasn't a waste. It's the journey, not the destination that matters. Building was more important than the result, or if it endured.

>>660913
Looks like a pair of scissors to me. Or Saturn. Can't tell which.

>>660916
No, blue means BLEEDING COOLANT.
Blue is BAD.
Red is ALSO BAD.
Green is PROBABLY BAD.

In other words Marie you're probably screwed if you don't WAKE UP

Apollo 2015/08/08(Sat)01:36 No. 661007 ID: defceb
File 143902300838.png - (25.19KB , 840x600 , 6003.png )

01010110 01110001 01111001 01100111 01110100 01110101 00101110 00100000 01000110 01101101 01101010 01100011 01110001 00101110 00100000 01001000 01110111 01110110 01101011 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100110 01101101 01101110 01100011 01110001 00101110 00100000 01000111 01111000 01100111 01110100 01100001 01110110 01101010 01101011 01110000 01101001 00100000 01100001 01101101 01101010 01101010 01111001 01101110 01110001 01100011 01100010 00101110

>>661007
"Towers. Holes. Futile hopes. Everything collapsed."

Well, the road to success is paved with failure. Don't lose heart, even if your physical one was blasted into oblivion.

>>661007
00101110 01101111 01101010 01100010 01101000 01100010 00100000 01111010 01110011 01110101 00100000 01100101 01101111 01100010 00100000 01110101 01110001 01101110 01100110 01110101 01110101 01100010 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110101 00100000 01101110 01110000 01110011 01100111 00100000 01101111 01110011 01100010 01100110 01101101 00100000 01101111 01100010 01100100 00100000 01110110 01110000 01111010 00001101 00001010 00111111 01110011 01110000 01100111 00100000 01101110 01100110 01101001 01110101 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101010 01110110 01100011 00100000 01110110 01110000 01111010 00100000 01100101 01101010 01100101 00100000 01110101 01100010 01101001 01111000
(what did you build them for?
you can learn from the attempt and try again.)

Apollo 2015/08/08(Sat)03:33 No. 661018 ID: defceb
File 143903002139.png - (109.70KB , 840x600 , 6004.png )

000001110 000000011 00000100 000000011 000000111 000001110 000001101 000001110 000000111
000001100 000000111 000001111 00000010 000001110
000001101 000001101 00000001 000001101 000001110 000001101
00000111

>>661018
Marie, swim!

try to find your daughter's bookcase.

Stop drowning. You don't need air.

>>661018
marie! expand knockers to float!

You've been out for a whole thread, it's time to wake up and smell the radio waves!

>>660922
You're not bleeding coolant if you're in an infinite sea of all you'd ever need.

Ha ha very funny

01001110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110101 01110000 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01100101 01110111 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01100010 01101111 01100100 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101100 01110010 01100101 01100001 01100100 01111001 00101110

>>661219
Well, your problem is you're heavier than the fluid you're sinking in. And you're not able to generate enough thrust swimming to oppose that.

We don't really have a way to fix that, unless you've got hidden thrusters or propellers. Or something relevant in inventory, which you probably don't have here.

I think your problem of sinking is about to be replaced by a problem of being eaten. Giant multi-eyed thing incoming!

I think that's the static beast.

I don't suppose you have the hand cannon in this weird watery mindscape?

>>661018
00101110 01101000 01101111 01101010 01111010 01100010 01110100 00100000 01100110 01110011 00100111 01110110 01110000 01111010 00100000 01110101 01100010 01101001 01111000 00100000 01110101 01110110 01110000 00100000 01100110 01110011 01110110 01101000 01101010 01100111 00100000 01110101 00100111 01101111 01100010 01100100 00100000 01001010 00100000 00100000 00111111 01111010 01101101 01110101 01101111 01100110 01110011 01100110 01100111 01100111 01101010 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101101 01110101 01110101 01101010 01101101 00100000 01100010 00100000 00101100 01101111 01101010 01100010 01101000 01100010 00100000 01110101 01100010 01101001 01110101 00100000 01111010 01100010 01110100 00100000 01110110 01110000 01111010 00100000 01100101 01101101 01110110 01110000 01000100 00100000
(Could you say that again, a little differently? I can't figure out what you're saying.)

Sharks are attracted to erratic movements and weak vs being poked in the eye or punched in the nose. I can't see why a static beast would be any different.

Apollo 2015/08/09(Sun)02:09 No. 661269 ID: defceb
File 143911135781.png - (47.00KB , 840x600 , 6009.png )

Your name is Marie Castillo and apparently you're pretty awful at swimming. That information would have probably been more helpful a while ago. Oh well.

>>661269
Inspect chest for massive hole. Also get a good look at that symbol, does it look familiar?

Looks like your cosmetics have been removed or you were transferred to a different chassis. Small price to pay for losing the fatal wound.

Inspect area. Looks like you were swallowed by a submersible android, but those stalactites look organic. Inspect the stalactites and see if you can chip a small piece off.

Check inventory for Rudy's brain chip.

Also, make sure you're not talking in binary anymore.

Enhance knockers. Just to see if you can, anymore.

Check date on internal clock (for whatever good it does), check torso for novelty air vent.

How are you feeling?

>>661267
Looks like some demon lord's seal out of the Key of Solomon, but I can't figure which one.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/grim/lks/lks05.htm

Examine self for damage, check internal clock, check inventory. (And give us a close up of the new poster if you still have it).

Look around surroundings- what lies down this beach?

>Also get a good look at that symbol, does it look familiar?
We've seen a more zoomed in version a few times before.

>>/questarch/639831
>>/questarch/644296
>>/questarch/649311

To me, it looks a whole lot like Marie's circulatory system. >>/questarch/642613 (Zoomed in on the chest, with more resolution).

>>661329
No, that's a different symbol.

>>661337
It's right frigging there on the ground in front of her. >>661269

As as for the other symbol it doesn't quite match, one could almost be a subset of the other.

>>661346
Ah, I hadn't looked closely at the symbol on the ground, I assumed it was the same as the blue symbol. That's Marie's symbol on the ground alright.

Retrieve link to thread 5 from internal memory storage.

Apollo 2015/08/11(Tue)03:12 No. 661676 ID: defceb
File 143928793470.png - (28.63KB , 840x600 , 6010.png )

You double-check your inventory, finding it to be empty. You then move to inspect your chest for the massive hole that should be there. Instead, you find a very much intact chestplate where the injury would be. In fact, the chest plate seems to be entirely unfamiliar to you. Your hands are of a different build than expected as well. Which doesn’t make sense unless...

You inspect your current chassis.

Apollo 2015/08/11(Tue)03:12 No. 661677 ID: defceb
File 143928795958.png - (33.64KB , 840x600 , 6011.png )

Wait, no, ignore this.

Apollo 2015/08/11(Tue)03:12 No. 661678 ID: defceb
File 143928797936.png - (49.58KB , 840x600 , 6012.png )

Forget that. Didn’t happen. Let's move along.

>>661678
No. Elaborate.

I'm not even going to point out that thing I'm supposed to point out. Talk.

Armor is armor, so that's a plus.

You can get knockers AFTER you've escaped the giant whale-based submarine.

So, what's in front of you? Other than your fingers and stuff. Do a few exercises to test out your new mods.

Love your new blue eyes.

Something you are ashamed of... well I have a few guesses and those aren't things I particularly want to force you to revisit so instead pay attention to the shadowy figure to your left.

I think its your left anyway.

You've got facial markings. They resemble Haley's, post-uplift. Except you've got double curves below your eyes rather than single. Haley's markings went above her eyes too, but if yours do, it's covered by your bangs.

...not looking very anatomically correct, there. Naked shell, not naked naked. Doubt these knockers adjust. At least your eyes aren't red, and you got your ear back.

>Forget that. Didn’t happen. Let's move along.
You've done enough forgetting already. More than enough.

Who's that, to your left?

>>661678
Did you just materialize a scarf / neckerchief out of thin air?

Apollo 2015/08/11(Tue)19:51 No. 661791 ID: defceb
File 143934787241.png - (32.07KB , 840x600 , 6013.png )

>“No.”

...what?

>“I said no. I don’t want to forget that. I’ve forgotten too much already.”

Ahem, as I was saying before, that was nothing. There was nothing there, and nothing to remember because nothing happened. You are currently on a beach somewhere and there is a person off-

>”A person I’m supposed to go interact with and have some supposedly meaningful re-enactment of my memories with vague distant consequences, I get it. I’m tired of playing these information games.”

It’s Haley. Haley’s hanging out right over there reading a book she wrote. She doesn’t remember writing it, but apparently it’s kind of important and-

>”I don’t care.”

It’s called The Giant’s Grave, a big old book about-

>”No, I don’t.”

You walk over to her and-

>”I. Don’t. Care.”

>”I. Don’t. Care.”
Well the important question now: what do you care about, Marie?

If you're not letting the narrative define you, it's time to define yourself.

>>661791
Oh, so the narrator IS a person separate from Marie, that wasn't just a mental breakdown in the hallway. Or maybe this is a further mental breakdown? Fuck it, let's keep going in this direction regardless. It's a new direction at least.

Alright Marie, you're fighting back a little. Fight back a LOT. Remember, you had blue eyes, tiger stripes on your face... drills in your fingers? Or just one finger? Force that memory through for us.
Is Marie even your name? We got that from the narrator, not you.

Who was that talking through you in the hallway? “If you should need me, just say the word, and I’ll have always been there.” Do you think this is a good time to invoke that?

...So what, I suppose do you want?

Well, which direction do you want to go towards and what do you see in said direction? Towards Haley, away from Haley, into the sea, burrow with your new drill-augmentations, screw gravity and float into the sky, or some other cardinal direction that is incomprehensible to two-dimensional sight?

It's not a drill that's just her left ear.

>>661799
Aw. That would've been cool.

Retrieve Rudy's brain chip from lack-of-inventory and install it in the narrator. Once you've got hardware access, it's all over.

>>661799
Believe in the me that believes in you! Yours is the ear that will pierce the heavens!

...ah. Wanna bet the narrator was the one Kirkman was talking to?

>>661791
soooo, about that chasis?
also, about a lot of stuff the narrator didn't let you think about?

Apollo 2015/08/20(Thu)22:40 No. 664258 ID: defceb
File 144013563206.png - (60.21KB , 840x600 , 6014.png )

>”I want answers. Why are you doing this to me, where am I, what was with that body, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN MY HEAD!?”





>”...what, actually staying quiet for once?”

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODGE

Seems more like a representation of some inner conflict at this point, especially with the ground seemingly cracking like that.

Might still want to dodge though.

>>664258
Redeyes, to your left!

>>664259
Yeah, dodging sounds good about now.

>>664258
Hit the floor!

Apollo 2015/08/21(Fri)00:50 No. 664286 ID: defceb
File 144014343471.png - (20.91KB , 840x600 , 6015.png )

Unfortunately you are not faster than-

Wait that wasn’t su_pposed to happen.

Apollo 2015/08/21(Fri)00:51 No. 664288 ID: defceb
File 144014351029.png - (19.39KB , 840x600 , 6016.png )

>”Not this time!”

[Your/My] punch breaks through the glass of their faceplate, tearing through the underlying machinery and ripping into [their/Their/it’s] supple flesh.

Apollo 2015/08/21(Fri)00:52 No. 664289 ID: defceb
File 144014353197.png - (14.16KB , 840x600 , 6017.png )

[They/It] buckle from the sudden strike, falling into a heap of scrap metal upon the floor.

Apollo 2015/08/21(Fri)00:52 No. 664290 ID: defceb
File 144014356115.png - (19.47KB , 840x600 , 6018.png )

[My/Your/Their] fingers wrap and pull at each [string/cable/artery], severing [heart/wheat] from [bone/chaff].

Apollo 2015/08/21(Fri)00:53 No. 664291 ID: defceb
File 144014360981.png - (64.32KB , 840x600 , 6019.png )

[Predator/Prey/Beast/Cannibal/Self/Other]

[Flesh/heart

/id] stripped bare

n




o mer

c





y

>>664291
...are you about to partake in digital cannibalism? Are you sure you want to do that? Is this who you are? I'm worried if you go any farther you will become like them. Or will this help stabilize you? I don't know.

Whatever you do, you should do it with a clear head.

Don't do it!

You're losing a hold on yourself. Don't do anything you'll regret. Think it over.

Hey, Marie. What are you doing?

You have a choice to make.

Snap out of it and calm down, or keep going and rip something to shreds. Can't tell you which is the correct decision here.

Just remember that you will be responsible for any destruction that follows if you choose to defy your fear. My suggestion? Revel in the blood of your enemies' children. Their SCREAMS.

If you don't take pleasure and depravity from their suffering you'll take in madness instead. But like I said. Your choice.

I feel like this is the answer to something we've asked. I feel like this might be right. I feel like we should do this.

Take it into yourself, but don't lose yourself to it.

Get some grip on yourself. This isn't you.

Geeze, I sure hope we're not simultaneously murdering someone who isn't an asshole while we're fighting in this vision place.

>no mercy
Why? You want answers, not vengeance. And I can think of several times you depended on the mercy of others yourself. (Even if the reality of said events is questionable).

Remember how you reached out to Liz despite having reason to fear or hate the other. Remember your argument with Victor about holding out hope for people instead of giving up. Real or not, the choices you made inform a personality and set of beliefs. "No mercy" isn't what you believe.

Bad Marie! Put that down or you won't get any coolant biscuits!

Eat it to gain it's strength.

>>664291
Better off studying it than eating it.
You might be able to predict something.

Put soul in inventory.

Tear out a nice juicy chunk of data and save the rest for later.

Apollo 2015/08/22(Sat)01:15 No. 664420 ID: defceb
File 144023133917.png - (90.16KB , 840x600 , 6020.png )

>Tear out a nice juicy chunk of data and save the rest for later.
>Are you sure you want to do that?
>Revel in the blood of your enemies' children. Their SCREAMS.
>If you don't take pleasure and depravity from their suffering you'll take in madness instead.
>Take it into yourself, but don't lose yourself to it.
>Eat it to gain it's strength.

Apollo 2015/08/22(Sat)01:16 No. 664421 ID: defceb
File 144023138750.png - (39.78KB , 840x600 , 6021.png )

>Don't do it!
>Get some grip on yourself. This isn't you.
>You want answers, not vengeance. And I can think of several times you depended on the mercy of others yourself.
>I'm worried if you go any farther you will become like them.






>Real or not, the choices you made inform a personality and set of beliefs.
>"No mercy" isn't what you believe.

Welcome back Marie.

>>664421
Alright, first look around/behind you to make sure nobody else is being sneaky. Then check to see who/what exactly you just wrecked here. What is that in your hands? Anything useful on the body?

You can still move, obviously. How well can you do so without coolant and with that structural damage? Consider scavenging the body for replacement parts that you can install later. Or heck, upgrades.

Looks like you acted on instinct and pounced on another cyborg. Take his brain chip as well.

Check around, figure out how much time has passed, and PLEASE STUFF YOUR CHEST HOLE BEFORE IT BLEEDS OUT. Even if the wound is stable, too much movement may open it and you'll bleed out for real.

>>664421
wait. wait wait. who's body is that? why does it have your gloves and hair? also why is there blood on your head? you don't even have blood.
who's shadow is that behind you? do you still have a hugeass hole in your chest? which digital consciousness layer are we even on this time?

Examine eyeball (or eyeballs). How was this thing able to see out of a monocular lens with a stereoscopic set of peepers?

>>664421
It looks a whole lot like the shadow guy was another you-type cyborg in a costume.

Are they dead? If I remember right, the flamethrower one you fought stored it's "brain" somewhere in it's chest, not it's head. Bot sure where yours is, come to think of it.

>>664436
If we can tell, I'd be interested in what model eye it is. The kind we thought we started with, or the new weird one that turned yet?

>stuff
How are you still mobile without a heart? Is it purely for coolant pumping? (Which I guess is fine till the first time we have to do anything strenuous).

What does your body use as a power source, anyways?

Ooh, spare eye! Check if it's the kind you normally use.

Apollo 2015/08/23(Sun)15:49 No. 664689 ID: defceb
File 144037017482.png - (13.27KB , 840x600 , 6023.png )

“I think you broke their eye. Amongst other things.”

Apollo 2015/08/23(Sun)15:49 No. 664690 ID: defceb
File 144037019417.png - (13.16KB , 840x600 , 6022.png )

“Between you and me, I think it was kind of fucked up.”

>>664690
Agree with her. Yeah, it was kind of fucked up. You're not very happy with it.

So! Things are obviously going kind of shitty for you. How are things with her?

>>664690
This whole situation is a bit fucked up, really. At least you didn't eat them. Ask if she's here to try to kill you too, or just taunt you.

Can you use the arm cannon now that it's detached from that psycho? Having an actual good weapon would be useful, especially if that beast that ate the room comes back... (although it's starting to look like everything here is a mental construct of some sort... would a weapon even do anything?)

...that sure is a long shadow you're casting. The hallway wasn't that long either.

"What you're doing is even more fucked up."

"does it really matter?"

>>664690
Everything has been, recently. Beginning to think this whole immortality thing isn't what it was cracked up to be. Had some good years between then and now, at least. Whenever now is.

>>664694
I don't know if that's fair, considering we don't know what she's up to. That, and that she seemed to have her own agenda in between being controlled by the static eyeball dudes.

>>664690
was that Narrator?

>>664690
also, we're back to sketchy art style. i wonder what that means

Is it time to deploy the sweater and bop her on the cheek?

Apollo 2015/08/25(Tue)00:03 No. 664959 ID: defceb
File 144048618436.png - (9.90KB , 840x600 , 6024.png )

>So! Things are obviously going kind of shitty for you. How are things with her?
“Your little outburst finally shut him up for once. The silence is nice. I like not having someone describing my actions and telling me how I feel for once. What do you think, Marie?”

Apollo 2015/08/25(Tue)00:03 No. 664960 ID: defceb
File 144048620166.png - (20.72KB , 840x600 , 6025.png )

>”Hkkgh”

Apollo 2015/08/25(Tue)00:04 No. 664961 ID: defceb
File 144048624162.png - (11.11KB , 840x600 , 6026.png )

“...rude.”

>Ask if she's here to try to kill you too, or just taunt you.
“Huh? I’m… not sure. I don’t think I really am here. It’s warm where I am. Too warm. I don’t like it. I think I took a freight elevator down here…? or maybe a ladder.”

>does it really matter?
“Hmm, I suppose not.”

>What you're doing is even more fucked up.
“Rude!”

>I don't know if that's fair, considering we don't know what she's up to.
“Mhmm.”

>Beginning to think this whole immortality thing isn't what it was cracked up to be. Had some good years between then and now, at least. Whenever now is.
“....do you think it was a mistake?”

Well that explains why Marie wasn't talking.

>>664961
...no. Experimental research always has flaws. Progress marches on, the neural net tech is refined over time, future cyborgs are better off. Also, the new lease on life was pretty good before the memory leak became apparent, wasn't it?

Hey. Can you tell us who the narrator is? I would say he's some sort of AI psychologist but he was really unprofessional and insulting a little while ago.

>>664961
Wait. You're hearing us? How does that work? I thought we were, like-
fragments of Marie's mind? I dunno.
Guess I shouldn't be taking stuff for granted.

Um, so, lady- er, can we get a name btw? also nice to meet you and all that jazz- any chance you could help Marie with her bleeding-out-a-giant-hole-in-her-chest problem?

>>664961
>mistake
fuck no. we'd have died back then. haley and us wouldn't have happened. there were many good times. the 50 years of alone time was a huge dumb mistake though.

>>664965
No, we're connecting to her electronically through part of her neural net or something. You saw the computer, it used the ID of one of us. Then there's the tree-like symbol related to Marie, it had a branch with one of our IDs attached to it.

>>664961
There are millennia of 'mistakes' hidden in genetics. We grew dependent on them, began worshipping mental chains and pituitary glands; too blind to realize that religion was a living organism made of evolving interpretations and complex social structures, that all this power came from within us. We couldn't realize that we had to participate in what we believed, make changes wherever necessary. We obeyed and shut off our minds and this is the result.

Immortality? It's a tool. You either learn to work alongside it or you discard it. The moment you obey, assume that it's permanent and needs no further thought, you're screwed.

So I don't regret giving humanity extra time or powerful technology. I regret that I didn't participate in the world's reaction to it. I shut myself from the world and shot myself into space and now everything's gone to ^&*(.

>It’s warm where I am. Too warm. I don’t like it.

Coolant shortage problems? Join the club.

Where were you/actually are you? What year is this?

>“....do you think it was a mistake?”
No. She tried to live. She tried to do good. Pretty sure she accomplished both. Even the attempt by itself would have been worth it, though.

>“....do you think it was a mistake?”
Nah. Its not like being made of meat makes you any less vulnerable to mental and/or spacetime anomalies.

>>664965
i feel like we already have her name http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/644296.html#644678

Immortality itself isn't a bad thing and I think Marie is one of those kind of people who isn't corrupted by it. She has never let herself see those who don't live as long as her as less then her. Which is the trap some others seem to have fallen into.

Honestly Marie made the right choices she could at the time she was presented with them. Hindsight will always point out your flaws, but you have to take in your successes as well and Marie has had a lot of good things going for her.

>>664961
>....do you think it was a mistake?
No. I mean, I feel awkward speaking for Marie here, since I'm pretty sure we're not the same person right now, but she got the chance to, y'know, live. And from what we saw she spent much of her life living well. That's about as much as anyone can ask for.

It'd be great if we could sort out just what exactly is going on, so she could keep on living, but I'm beginning to worry that won't be possible.

>>”Hkkgh”
>Rude
Do you think you could help her out? I think she's having a little trouble processing things after ripping him out. She's not talking to us. I'm not sure she knows she can.

Apollo 2015/08/26(Wed)02:33 No. 665139 ID: defceb
File 144058162092.png - (30.01KB , 840x600 , 6027.png )

“We would have died if we didn’t try. Though to be one of those mistakes from progress… hahHahahHAHAhA-Hhnk! Guess our time is up for now.”

>Can you tell us who the narrator is?

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s-”

Apollo 2015/08/26(Wed)02:35 No. 665141 ID: defceb
File 144058171026.png - (18.84KB , 840x600 , 6029.png )

“As the closest thing to a real welcoming party, welcome back to Mars. I hope it’s everything you expected, given the time away.”

>”Colder than I thought it’d be.”

“Hmm? I hardly notice. Internal temperature control. I find it more convenient than a jacket.”

>“Small comforts, Marc. Food, drink, things that help me keep it all together. Has Haley…?”

“She opted to stay on the Jupiter station for now. She hasn’t been very fond of Mars as of late.”

>”And Roderick?”

“Busy, as always. You could say he’s obsessed with building things. I got a memo saying he made a new body for you and is keeping it ready for your return.”




“Nice scarf.”

>”Thanks, a space bird gave it to me.”

Marc steps to turn away, but pauses on his heel. Unspoken words crawl across their face, straining to burst out. True to their quiet nature, Marc doesn’t press on their concerns.

“I should… I should go call Victor. He wanted to talk to you.”

no

More

FLASHBACKS.

We're reprogramming the script.

Marie, grab Marc and jump off the wall. Tribal screech your way down.

No, what was that you wanted to say?

>>665141
wait, is this even a flashback? the date is.. today. also wasn't marceline a girl at some point? who the fuck is marc.

Oh man, an actual date again. Timeline is finally useful again. That puts us 45 years after bird person first contact and... a day before when Marie thinks the crash should have happened? Great, this isn't gonna be good.

>a new body for you and is keeping it ready for your return
Have you even swapped out your chasis before, or have you been using the same on since uplift?

>>665147
Ask him. You've waited a long time to hear from people in person again, you don't really want to dance around stuff.

...I wonder if something went wrong with the new body.

Ask him what he was about to say.

Apollo 2015/08/26(Wed)18:44 No. 665234 ID: defceb
File 144063985782.png - (14.88KB , 840x600 , 6030.png )

>“Out with it, Marc. I can see you’ve got something you want to ask.”

He spins back on his heel to face you. “Ah, s-sorry. I’ve been worried, as of late. I’m still adjusting to this new body. The weight, strength, even the smell are all still foreign to me in some way.”

>”Feeling nostalgic for the old one?”

“No.” They snap. “I’m coming to terms with my new status. Each day I awake feeling full of energy, though inside I know that is a result of simulated chemicals in my head. It’s like I’m back in the prime of my life. Victor believes we’re functionally immortal, but… I’ve come to think otherwise. I’ve seen how everyone changes over time. We don’t live forever, but rather we suffer an endless circle of tiny deaths each day. Who we were sheds away into who we become. Now I’m on this circle as well.”

>”You’re not the first person to ask these questions.”

“How long will we last, Marie? A thousand years? A million? Last I checked the estimate for the universe’s life is 15 billion before it all collapses in on itself. Will we still be there, or strangers in our skin?”

He coughs and adjusts his glasses, turning away again. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bother you with my thoughts.”

>”I think this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk.”

“It’s the first time you’ve asked me to.”

>>665234
If we stayed the same forever, we'd probably just get sick of it and self-destruct.

>It’s the first time you’ve asked me to.
Heh. I guess a few decades alone made me a little less willing to tolerate the silence of others. I'm sorry I didn't intrude on yours earlier.

>We don’t live forever, but rather we suffer an endless circle of tiny deaths each day. Who we were sheds away into who we become. Now I’m on this circle as well.
>Will we still be there, or strangers in our skin?
If we die every day, it's because we're born again, too. Even before the uplift, if you thought you were the same person your entire life, you were lying to yourself. It's natural for people to change and reinvent themselves, we just have the limits off.

If in the end, I'm succeeded by the child of my own mind... well, it's not the worst fate I could imagine. I don't think she'd be a stranger. I'd like to hope she'd be a better person than I am.

Apollo 2015/08/26(Wed)23:33 No. 665268 ID: defceb
File 144065721565.png - (15.99KB , 840x600 , 6031.png )

>”Hah, I guess all that time alone left me more intolerant to the silence of others. I’m sorry I didn’t intrude on yours before.”

“Nothing to apologize for.”

>”If we’re really dying every day, then we’re being reborn each day all the same. Even before the uplift this was true. It’s natural for us to change and reinvent ourselves, only difference is that uplifts like us live with limits off. In the end, we’ll be succeeded by the children of our mind… I can’t imagine that being so bad.”

>”Besides, if we stayed the same forever we’d get of it and one day just...”

You make a mock hand gesture of firing a gun at your own head. He laughs. A quiet, reserved kind, but still the first one you’ve ever heard from him. His phone interrupts with a sharp chirp.

“...ah, it seems Victor would like to meet you in his office. Whenever you’re ready, I can take you there.”

Alright sure let's talk to Mr Narrator again.

Make yourself presentable. Enhance away~

>>665273
That may not be a good idea. I'm worried that enhancing knockers in the flashback will trigger an attempt to enhance knockers in the real world

which might blow out the coolant scabs in Marie's torso hole.

Did he say what it was about?

For some reason I thought that, as history's greatest interstellar conqueror, I'd have more of a fan club awaiting my return.

>>665268
Why's your jacket have a Brazilian flag patch? Another reference to the South American war? Seems weird to bring that back a century and half later, especially when you should have been too young to have been involved yourself, unless you were a civilian caught up in it.

Which could be possible, actually. Castillo is a Spanish surname, and if Marie was displaced by the war, that might explain why neither we nor the guy who left the notes in Liz's room could find past-Marie. No good records of her movements, and too much chaos.

>it seems Victor would like to meet you in his office
We're off to see the wizard, then. The wonderful wizard of Mars.

Lead on, through the Ruby city.

Apollo 2015/08/27(Thu)20:28 No. 665348 ID: defceb
File 144073248861.png - (10.47KB , 840x600 , 6032.png )

“Marie! So good to see you alive and- wait, Marc, the lights please? Thank you- well again! ...hm? That patch-”

“Oh, this? I found it in a pile of my old clothes. Jacket was fubar but the patch was still whole so… here it is.”

“Are you from Brazil then?”

>”I guess so?”

“What a fine lot we are, picking up our past from the clues around us. Though, given everything that happened in Brazil perhaps we’re best off not remembering it. So! Welcome back. Had fun conquering the stars?”

Apollo 2015/08/27(Thu)20:28 No. 665349 ID: defceb
File 144073250995.png - (11.49KB , 840x600 , 6033.png )

>”Me? Conquer? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Apollo 2015/08/27(Thu)20:29 No. 665350 ID: defceb
File 144073254101.png - (21.45KB , 840x600 , 6034.png )

>”...though I will admit, I thought there’d be a bigger welcoming party for my return.”

“That party was well over twenty years ago. Since then the nature of your discovery has become… muddled, so to speak.”

>”They’re intelligent, space-faring aliens, what’s there to be confused over?”

“Are they proof that wholly organic persons cannot survive through space? They do replace most of their body with machinery just to survive out there. But at the same time, the uh… what did your report say happened to their homeworld?”

>”Chemical warfare, as far as I could understand.”

“Environmentalists have had a field day with that one. They already thought science was the devil. And why do they look like birds?”

>”They’re aliens. Bird aliens! From space! Why are people bickering over this!?”

“Nobody cares about the actual information anymore, it’s their interpretations that matter now. But, you’re here. We can put a new spin on all this. Establish a narrative.”

>”Narrative?”

“We could provide context, like a frame to see the information through. A way of… selectively retelling information to show the story that would best suit us. Your word could cement an interpretation as the truth of the matter.”

Convince the public they are the spacefaring descendants of Earth dinosaurs who fled the asteroid impacts.

>>665351
...you know what? Yeah.

>”I guess so?”
RIP, memories.

>Are they proof that wholly organic persons cannot survive through space?
no, of course not. One datapoint isn't proof of a larger trend- it's an anecdote.

>narrative
Make a face.

First day back from a mission of science and discovery, and right to propaganda? Geeze.

What narrative did you have in mind? (Hear him out. Even if the idea is distasteful, it still might be better to try and do some social media stuff to protect the science and discovery of a new species / society / people / life from whatever politics it got tangled in).

Do not make the same mistake twice

Apollo 2015/08/27(Thu)21:43 No. 665359 ID: defceb
File 144073702615.png - (15.27KB , 840x600 , 6035.png )

You make a displeased face.

>“I’ve been out of debrief for all of ten minutes and we’re talking propaganda? This kind of shit is why I left in the first place.”

Victor gives a sharp exhalation, deflating as much in personality as in action. “I’m sorry, I jumped the gun a little, that was rude of me. I suppose we do have time to discuss this later, if you’d prefer. It’s not like they’re about the knock on our doorstep.”

>”...um.”

“...is this the part where you tell me that you told them about Mars, where we are, and conveniently pointed a whole path back here in the hope that they would follow in one of those… what did your translation call them? Wandering Stars?”

I think it would be very unwise to tell the space birds where our homeworld is, considering they blew theirs to space debris.

>>665359
We sent the voyager and pioneer probes out centuries ago. To say nothing of the ever expanding bubble of EM transmissions. There are already maps out there that point back to earth.

And even if I'd kept mum, a determined space-faring civilization could have just followed the trajectory of my exhaust and done the math. There's no stealth in space, Victor.

>>665359
To get back to this, we should find out what message he actually wants to send. See if it's more about freeing the discovery from the politics, or him being self serving.

>>665360
We totally did though. We made up our own plaque in the style of the earlier probes.

>>665351
This is the best idea.

I'd be okay with a simplified or slightly distorted version being deliberately popularized, so long as proper scientific data is also preserved and made available on public networks for anyone who cares to know the whole truth. Exiled dinosaur astronauts could make for a cool kids show.

As for telling them about our homeworld... anyone with a good enough telescope would be able to figure out from hundreds of parsecs away that there are two rocky planets in or near the habitable zone of this particular star, just by looking at emission spectra, and my ship's heat radiators were at least as obvious against the three-kelvin cosmic background. I was just trying to be polite by freely sharing information that they probably already knew, and putting it in context. How cagey was I supposed to be around the guys who were so non-hostile that they surrendered to a solitary unarmed survey drone?

Let's not make humanity think they're dinosaur descendants, that could be awkward. (Save that for the B-movie film spin-off of your adventure)

As for their story, they should be the ones to tell it. You may have been the first to come into contact with them, but you don't know everything about them. What happened to their civilization is part of their culture- we should find out what happened so we- no longer just as a single species but as a group- can learn from past mistakes and successes. The meeting of these two species could be the single greatest period in either of our histories for scientific, technological- hell, maybe even philosophical and ethical advancement.

I don't want political spin to jeopardize that- if a statement from me will really have that much of an affect, the best I can say is that contextualizing what we've seen of them in terms of our own history risks missing the real lessons we have to learn from them.

Apollo 2015/08/29(Sat)16:14 No. 665605 ID: defceb
File 144089007391.png - (19.99KB , 840x600 , 6036.png )

>”People have been sending invitations out into space for centuries now. Even if I didn’t drop a line too, they could have just as easily watched me go and done the math. Nothing is really hidden on the stellar scale.”

“...that is going to complicate things.”

>”Going to complica-? Oh. Ohhh, I see how it is. You want to use this. You want to use me.”

“I’m not wholly self-serving. I believe it’s necessary to get…” He gestures off into the air. “… back on track. For progress.”

>”This is a major discovery. I don’t want to see any political spin jeopardize it.”

“‘Just the facts’, then? That’s just going to leave every speaker to spin it for themselves.”

>”I could say that they’re dinosaurs. Dinosaurs that jumped ship from Earth to escape the meteor.”

“...Marie, please. I’m trying to be serious.”

>”Well, I-”

Apollo 2015/08/29(Sat)16:15 No. 665606 ID: defceb
File 144089009830.png - (81.47KB , 840x600 , 6037.png )

>>>A”AS””JJDHHHHNNNNASKF_II++_*U

Apollo 2015/08/29(Sat)16:15 No. 665607 ID: defceb
File 144089013835.png - (25.58KB , 840x600 , 6038.png )

>”S-sorry. I uh… have a headache.”

“Are you okay?”

>”They’ve been happening a lot, recently. I’m okay. I think.”

“Perhaps we should have this discussion another time.”

>”I… I need some fresh air.”

>>665607
Hmm. Memory leak? I wonder if the new body helped stop it. Ask him about the new body, by the way. Does it have markings on the face? Blue eyes?

Anyway, the space birds seem to confirm that some augmentation is necessary for space travel, but it DEFINITELY proves that you don't have to be entirely inorganic. They only replaced parts of themselves with cybernetics. Spin it that way- we don't have to all become robots, but we do need to use cybernetics to survive.

They also prove that continuing to fight amongst ourselves will only lead to the eventual destruction of the planet. We can show ourselves to be better than them.

>>665607
What's that grid. Are those holodeck walls. Are we in the holodeck.

Apollo 2015/08/30(Sun)23:25 No. 665922 ID: defceb
File 144100231579.png - (18.53KB , 840x600 , 6039.png )

>”If we really have to spin it some way, just highlight the middle path. We don’t all have to become robots to survive spaceflight. But cybernetics can bridge the gap.”

You stumble to the side.

>”We need all the fighting and politics to stop, Victor. They’ve shown us where that ends.”

And then you fall flat on your face.

“Marie? Marie- Marc, please call an ambulance.”

Apollo 2015/08/30(Sun)23:25 No. 665923 ID: defceb
File 144100233713.png - (4.58KB , 840x600 , 6040.png )

Testing, testing, is this thing working right again?

Apollo 2015/08/30(Sun)23:25 No. 665924 ID: defceb
File 144100235710.png - (25.67KB , 840x600 , 6041.png )

-ahem-

Anyway, did you know that you snore in your sleep? It’s kind of weird. A cyborg snoring. Weird weird weird.

>>665924
Who's talking?

holy fuck we're not dead.

>>665924
Hey, someone patched you up. Who patched you up?

Open your eyes (or whoever's eyes those are at this point) and look around.

Is that you, Liz?

Make sure that your uplink didn't download a copy of your brain somewhere.

Apollo 2015/08/31(Mon)16:15 No. 666049 ID: defceb
File 144106292793.png - (27.27KB , 840x600 , 6043.png )

>Open your eyes

You wake up.

Your joints ache and you feel a dull pain emanating from the hole in your chest, but you’re not dead, at least.

You sit up and look around. Clear plastic tarps seem to be draped around the room, creating an improvised clean space.

Tools, cables, and chunks of machinery litter the area. You can just barely hear someone talking from outside the clean space, though you can’t make out any of the words.

HOLY FUCK GIRL YOUR ARM!!!

wait do you still have legs?
Well you're not dead and not restrained or missing all your limbs so the people around are probably friendly. May was well call out to them.

>>666049
Boy, you sure are a wreck. ...looks like you've got some damage on your lower back too. From overexertion perhaps?

Check out the computer. Then call out to whoever's trying to repair you. You can probably help with the repair process.

Also I guess now we know this is your old body. You switched bodies later in your memories. Question is, did you switch back at some point, or are you only in your old body because this all isn't real, and this is the only body you remembered using when this... place was constructed?

Check out the laptop.

They removed the shoulder to get to the interior damage, they've got you hooked up to an artificial heart external pump to make up for the loss of the heart (her heart was artificial anyways), and it doesn't look like they made anything worse in the process.

Clearly whoever did this has technical expertise. And there's an implication they're either familiar with your design, or were able to access your on-board blueprints for disassemble instructions while you were out of it.

...check your logs. Did your processor go offline? Were you 'dead'? Or more accurately- did you persist through a hard power cycle?

Also check timestamps, if you can. Long long has it been?

Is it weird not having a heartbeat?

What's open on the laptop?

>though you can’t make out any of the words
Can you crank the gain from your ears ear?

Huh, well, covering your back's going to be easy now that you only have half of it.

>>666053
>looks like you've got some damage on your lower back too. From overexertion perhaps?
I think that's from the thrown spike early in the quest.

>>666213
Yeah. The damage I'm not sure on is what looks like a hole in our opposite shoulder. When did we pick that up?

>>666049
marie, you're naked. there's really not much left to hide though so it's kind of moot.
do your legs function? looks like you have damage on your lower right back.

Apollo 2015/09/08(Tue)01:03 No. 668267 ID: defceb
File 144169942032.png - (20.24KB , 840x600 , 6045.png )

You proceed to scream internally at your current situation. Screaming externally would require some degree of lung capacity, and apparently you’re short a full set.

You move to inspect the computer… or not. Or you could flap back on to bed and bury your face in the pillow like some angsty teenager. Could you at least try turning your ears up? Is that something you can do at least.

>”No.”

As in no, you can’t do it, or-?

>”Please shut up.”

Oh, come on. Just a little?

>”...fine.”


<sub>“...I’m just saying it’s impressive they could move around at all. Most of the internal components are completely shot.”

“Can I take a look…?”

“Haley, it’s a clean room, or the closest I could manage, given the situation.”

“I can keep my hands to myself.”

“It’s your hair I’m worried about.’


“Hmph.”

“I’m not cleaning up any more cyborg organs. It took me all week just to get them back in shape as is. Well, for a certain given value of ‘shape’. They’re still fucked up, but at least they’re clean.”

“Has it been a week already?”

“I think so. I don’t know.”</sub>

You've been out a week? shit what'd we miss?

Rap your fingers on the closest hard object. Try to get their attention.

The first time someone gets close to you, hug them as best you can. That goes double if it's Haley. You really need some comforting right now.

Actually, find the nearest weapon at your disposal and play dead-dead. You saw what happened to Rudy, what if Haley is also a threat? Probably not, but it's best to play it safe now that you're in critical condition.

>>668267
Hey Marie, can you hear us? We're not the same as that narrator jerk, you know. We want to help you, not jerk you around. We're as much in the dark as you.

>Haley didn't patch you up
That raises the reasonable question who did. We don't know many people down here who specialize in patching up cyborgs. Maybe we finally found Roderick?

>hair contamination
She's a doctor, I'm sure she knows how to scrub up. Must be hairnets somewhere.

>can't speak without lungs
You have one hand. You could try snapping loudly for attention. You'd need something to write on, or an output device like a speaker or monitor to "talk" after that. Hopefully they're smart enough to provide something so you're not left trying to communicate like lassie. (What's that robot? Trouble? Good robot!).

Important thing is to do what you want, though. You took the narrator once, you can do it again, if you have to.

Marie, you don't have a backup microphone to speak with by any chance? Anyway just wait for them to come in. Time's something you've got plenty of.

Heeeey narrator person, what is even your deaaaaaaal?

Apollo 2015/09/08(Tue)15:29 No. 668391 ID: defceb
File 144175135019.png - (16.54KB , 840x600 , 6046.png )

You snap loudly, catching their attention.

_{“Ah, I think they’re up.} Marie, is that you?”

<sub>“They shouldn’t be moving around right now.”

“What, afraid they’ll get shot again?”

“Most of their chest cavity is empty, it’s structurally unsound.”

“Empty?!”

“Well, I think there’s still the right lung, some rib structure, a bit of musculature…”

“Ah. Can’t you just put them back together?”

“Ew.”

“Ew? You build cyborg parts all the time.”

“I’ve never had to have my hands inside someone’s chest while they can still look me in the eye. So, yeah, ew. It’s gross.”</sub>

Try to speak; if you can't, just snap again.

Snap twice.

>ew
If (I assume Roderick?) is grossed out by robot surgery, why can't Haley do it? (Not sure how you're supposed to do this without talking).

You may want to grab the laptop. See if you can plug into it so you can talk though the speakers. Or maybe it has a text to speech program you can type in.

You don't need lungs to talk. Just ping Haley's wifi.

Literally place hand inside your chest. Feel around for various parts and recall your schematics. See if there's anything you can extract for the moment to make room for clunky replacement parts.

>>668391
Why are they calling you "they" and "them"...? Do they know you have more than one connection running?

Anyway, find out who the new person is. I'm guessing Victor.

>>668391
snap "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" in morse.
that's, with - being a snap and _ being silence, -_---___ repeat until they bring out the THERAPEUTIC TEDDY BEAR again.

also, didn't you kill Narrator? how is it still narrating?

Apollo 2015/09/20(Sun)22:37 No. 671258 ID: defceb
File 144281387062.png - (12.22KB , 840x600 , 6047.png )

>”I’m up.”

You barely managed to croak out a whisper. No reply. You snap the letter A repeatedly until Haley finally pokes her head through the curtain.

“Marie? Are you okay?”

>”I’m…”

Missing a large section of your torso. Mentally unhinged. Being bothered by an invasive and rather rude narrator. Oh, oh, how about “capable of tearing a person limb from limb and cracking open their skull with my bear hands”? That was gruesome.

>”...please stop...”

Haley makes a confused frown. “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.” If she didn’t think you were a little off before then she sure does now.

Apollo 2015/09/20(Sun)22:38 No. 671261 ID: defceb
File 144281390845.png - (40.61KB , 840x600 , 6048.png )

“No,no,no,no,no,no.” A man interrupts, grabbing Haley by the collar and dragging her away. “You’re not going in there as is.”

“Let me go! I’m a respected doctor!”

“My house, my rules.”

Their voices are quashed by the sound of a door slamming, signaling their exit.

You should probably just roll over and wait for another while. You can't walk anywhere like that.

Rollover quest, begin!

Grab laptop, and start figuring out how you can plug into it. You're not going to be silent when they come back, you're going to have speakers!

...or worst case you can just type on the screen one handed.

At least you know Haley is okay, and at least interested in your well being. And the other guy is too. That's good, right?

can you look at the computer and see what it says about you. Hell we might luck out and it could have a decent game on it that you could use to kill time with.

That was both funny and slightly disturbing.

Alright, your main problems are:

1: Critical condition
2: Left arm needs replacing
3: Communication systems damaged

Since you can't work on the first two, find a way to strengthen your signaling abilities. Hum a tune or keep yelling until your internal systems figure out how to increase your volume.

Snap off one of your extremely pointy ears and use it like a shiv on the first person through the curtain.

Apollo 2015/09/21(Mon)23:04 No. 671556 ID: defceb
File 144290189047.png - (21.36KB , 840x600 , 6049.png )

You roll over and inspect the nearby laptop. Looks like whoever was using it last was busy playing some visual novel on it.

Oh hey, this is a good one. Save in a fresh slot and then continue.

save, quit, and then see what you can pull up about yourself on that thing. See just how bad the damage really is.

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)02:42 No. 671573 ID: defceb
File 144291495156.png - (17.29KB , 840x600 , 6050.png )

You save in a fresh slot and continue playing the game. It appears to be about a golem trying to get a party together to run a dungeon.

…

You waste a lot of time trying to get your OTP together. Though some details fly over your head from missing the first part of the story, you feel a strong relation to the main character. Maybe it’s because you’re both literally heartless. HA! Get it, heartless? C’mon Marie that was my best one yet.

...Yeesh, did Rudy shoot your humor center, too?

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)02:42 No. 671574 ID: defceb
File 144291496901.png - (25.50KB , 840x600 , 6051.png )

You put away the game for now and sift through the files. Looks like whoever was using it kept a shoddy repair log.

Keep scrolling. Find out how he fixed you.

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)03:13 No. 671580 ID: defceb
File 144291680938.png - (25.39KB , 840x600 , 6052.png )

You scroll further down the document and read through it. It continues to trail off in frustrated ramblings, remarking on how basically everything was broken one way or another.

you are up, meaning the figure something out, get to the last one.

What's at the bottom? Besides more butts. Perhaps there was a buttbot invasion?

Download brownies and VN to your hard drive.

Hey! He had access to your radio / wireless, now that you're completely open. Maybe you could ask him to unplug that so people stop getting in your brain.

>no neural activity
Yep. You were dead. Looks like uplifts can restore from hard reset after all. Score one for science.

>none of the logs are dated
Damnit, it's like no one wants to let you keep track of when things are happening.

>>671585
probably just a buttload of boredom.

check your own butt to make sure he didn't do anything to it. He seems like an ass man

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)13:19 No. 671662 ID: defceb
File 144295314828.png - (25.13KB , 840x600 , 6053.png )

You download the recipe for brownies and a copy of the VN game for later. Nerd.

>"h-hey I just liked it..."

Uh huh, nerd.

>"you're mean."

You're a nerd. Maybe if we ask nicely they can hook you up with one of those body pillows, too.

>"were you always this bad?"

You scroll down to the bottom of the document. It consist mostly of them being frustrated, making off-hand observations, and remarking on whatever part they've cleaned or attempted to repair.

>you're a nerd
You're literally the first person in the world to volunteer for full robotic conversion. Was your nerd status ever really in question?

>you save a local copy of the game
You didn't already have it in your local library from when you loaded up with tons and tons of media for the exosolar flight? I'd have thought you'd have downloaded all of steam before you left the solar system or something. Interesting that it wasn't available in the future. (Or it just wasn't high profile enough for you to find it?)

Then again, I suppose the holes in you memory don't have to be limited to memories memory. There could be games and stuff missing or sealed off.

>what do
Still think you should see if you can plug in anywhere for speaker access, so you're not mute when someone comes back. The only person who can hear you right now (well besides us) is the narrator, and he's a jerk.

>>671662
So... you just... woke up a while after the coolant started flowing again?

Nose around on the computer for other info.

Also quit being an asshole, Victor.

yeah, sounds like once your system registered it wasn't going to explode from heat if it turned on, it turned on.

... so what I'm getting from this is we're basically stuck in an iron lung... greeeeeaaaaat. We better be able to hack a drone or something so we can at least somewhat move around.

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)16:40 No. 671753 ID: defceb
File 144296520511.png - (28.90KB , 840x600 , 6055.png )

You take the wire plugged under your jaw and plug it into the computer. A small test confirms you can use it to speak through the computer's audio.

You nose around the other files, finding it to be mostly irrelevant information, cooking recipes, and junk data. With nothing else to find in this folder, you close it and open the only other file on the desktop.

You hear the door swing open. Someone else is here now.

Find yourself a two-headed coin, scratch one side out and carry it on you at all times. You realize now that your destiny is to become Two-Face.

quickly bring the game back up

>>671753
Hey, it's Jeannine, I think.

>Someone else is here now.
Look up, see who it is. Speakers:

"Hey, there's neural activity now."

That doesn't look like Marie, that looks like Morgan's girlfriend.

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)20:29 No. 671831 ID: defceb
File 144297898110.png - (16.99KB , 840x600 , 6056.png )

You swap back to the game just as a man steps in.

>”Hey, there’s neural activity now.”

“At long last, welcome back to- are you playing my game?”

>”...uh.”

“...uhhhh.”

Apollo 2015/09/22(Tue)20:30 No. 671833 ID: defceb
File 144297905350.png - (10.74KB , 840x600 , 6057.png )

“I’m just saying, the Merud path is clearly what the author intended to the be the canon path.”

Oh my god

>”No way, you saw the sparks fly when Deem fought Moriko. They’re clearly meant for eachother.”

“But Merud is a golemancer! He understands Deem in ways others can’t even begin to.”

Make it stop

>”This ship has long left port. If you’re trying to convert me to Deem X Merud it’s not working.”

“Are you sure your head is screwed on right? You might be experiencing side-effects such as having trash tastes.”

>”Oh, I’m trash now?”

STOP

>”Second best, on the count of three. Three, two, one-”

“Hin Ivac!”
>”Hin Ivac!”

MAKE IT STOP

>”I guess your taste isn’t all bad then.”

“They’re the cutest.”

MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP OH MY GOD MAKE IT STOP

Dude you have the right to take a break on the narration and let us play with rubber bands. Also Marie hates you so I don't think telling her to stop playing visual novels is going to be anything less than an incentive.

>>671833
Huh? We missed some time. Did you find out who this guy is? How are things outside, in the facility at large?

>MAKE IT STOP
Sorry narrator, this is now the waifu channel. All waifus, all shipping, all the time. We'll load every VN in existence into our brain and play them all. And if we ever run out, we can start writing our own. Or doing fan-fiction or reboots.

Did you know there's a spinoff of that game where they're all magical girls? I think we'll do that next.

>what else do
Probably should thank him for patching you up, and get his name (it's Roderick, right?). Ask how long you were out. And if they've seen Liz or Pat or any of the other people.

If there's local email access, maybe shoot Haley a message along the lines of "I'm aliiiiiive! And okay.".

>>671833
Right, but how does that work. Deem is a dungeon. Reproduction is mostly out of her purview. If anything, waifu'ing Deem will result in her turning the whole thing into a monster rancher/harem style, as she'll out-live everyone involved.

>>671662
>>671580
>>671574
The file names for "to do(actually important)" and "to do(PAT_DO_THESE)" got corrupted while you were reading the repair log.

We Dungeoneer /questdis/ now

Personally, I think the first thing they should have done in their new dungeon was set up some automated turrets and monofilament tripwires.

Ask the good doctor if they can use the, uh, 'spare parts' from that guy you tore up to fix you. Compliment the desktop wallpaper, too.

>>671861
You say that like there's something wrong with running a harem dungeon.

>>671833
we found its weakness. go for the jugular. discuss the forbidden yet alluring Merud X Kallia X Deem love triangle.

Apollo 2015/09/23(Wed)00:23 No. 671907 ID: defceb
File 144299298367.png - (10.53KB , 840x600 , 6058.png )

>”You know what the best path is?”

“Hm?”

NO

>”Deem x Merud x Kallia.”

“No, don’t tell me you’re into that?”

>”Forbidden! Yet alluring. It’s perfect in every way.”

F_jjJUKIUCK

“Deem is just going to outlive everyone though.”

>“All the better for the harem end.”

“Did you know there’s a magical girl spinoff?”

>“Tell me everything.”

“I’ve got a spare copy on my hard-drive if you want to try it.”

>“Wait, shh.”

“Hm?”

>”It’s quiet.”

“Uh… do you want me to put on some music?”

>”I think we’re actually alone now.”

“...yes?”

>>671907
Ask him to do a brain scan on you.

You'd like to discuss

SENSITIVE

upgrades.

No seriously, upgrade your knockers while you have the chance.

>>671910
kome, I hate to break it to you, but... Marie's down to one knocker.

Apollo 2015/09/23(Wed)01:07 No. 671912 ID: defceb
File 144299566865.png - (6.25KB , 840x600 , 6059.png )

>”Run a brain scan.”

“uhm, okay?”

>”There might not be time to explain, do it.”

“Alright. I’m not exactly an expert on brains but… nothing strikes me as being unusual here. I think. Haley would understand this better than me, though. Your wireless is quiet for once, though.”

>”Radio, wifi, so on?”

“Yeah, that was running even when you were asleep before.”

>”Tear it out.”

“Maybe it- wait, what?”

>>671912
Sure. We can do without a narrator for a while. It's inconvenient for following what's going on, but he's gotten abusive.

Explain that someone's been connecting to you and you don't like it.

>>671912
Find a way to disable the Wi-Fi, make it external and easily disconnected. You've had enough direct hacks into your pre-conditioned hack-susceptible software for too long.

pop it.

"A lot of that damage I came in here with was due to erratic behavior, which was in turn due to something somebody was doing to me remotely. I want to reestablish basic data security on my own head. Step one was scaring them off with shipping talk, step two is closing the door behind them. I want an air gap. Unplug that damn radio, and don't worry too much about being able to reinstall it in a hurry."

Yeah. Rip out the wireless.

(Although, that might be the end of us as well to some extent?)

>>671920
(He said the wireless isn't active now and we're still here so don't think so.)

>>671912
>wait what
I'm pretty sure whatever is on the grid that was making patients and prosthetics go crazy has been messing with my head and hacking me via wireless communication.

...I think he tuned out during our nerd talk.

My software permissions are blocked- they won't accept shutdown commands. We've got nice convenient hardware access right now. I need you to disable my wireless.

If he's reluctant to rip anything out, start uploading schematics onto the screen from internal bluebrints, so he can disconnect them properly.

Please, If I'm not crazy, this is really important. And even if I am, taking away my network access doesn't hurt me. Worst case I need a cable to connect to a computer, which still leaves me leg up on everyone limited to keyboards and mice.

The grid weirdness is using wireless access; we want it gone (or at least disconnected from communicating with the rest of the grid).

RIP AND TEAR!

Apollo 2015/09/24(Thu)01:45 No. 672218 ID: defceb
File 144308433190.png - (20.72KB , 840x600 , 6060.png )

>”There’s someone in my head. Or hacking through my wireless. Or I don’t know just CUT THEM OUT.”

“Uh”

>”NOW.”

“O-okay, roll over then. I need to access your back. Also I uh… don’t like working on things that can look back at me. No offense.”

So did I miss anything other than nerd talk- whoa, whoa, HEY!

>”fuck”

>>672218
Unless he can do it in the next few seconds I think he might want to get clear!

Wait I know what you can do. Disconnect yourself from the coolant and you'll be paralyzed again, which means he can remove the wireless without worrying about your body. Then he can reconnect the coolant.

Jerk to the side away from the pump thning, try to quickly dislodge the coolant tube. Can't do much damage without that.

Oh! Another option is to fork-bomb yourself again, except make it EVEN MORE EXPONENTIAL so that you shut down even faster. He's got a laptop right there he can use to fix you with afterwards.

>>672221
>>672222
We need to do BOTH, since we already know we can be very dangerous even without coolant; so we must make sure to overheat quickly.

Just say "it's back", remove the coolant line, and fork-bomb yourself again.

Yell at him to get back, not safe!

Dump text message over connection to laptop:

Sorry, It's back, he knows, disabling myself for your safety. PLEASE kill my wireless before you turn me back on. You're gonna need to reset a fork bomb too, sorry. Ask Morgan if help needed, he did it last time.

Jerk to disconnect the coolant line and fork bomb yourself again. Edit the bomb to this time also replay the waifu conversation on loop, and to keep opening new local instances of the game.

Squirt a copy of as much of your blueprints as you can over the laptop connection to his laptop before you crash.

Karate-chop the coolant pump!

fuck this, no fork bombs, it took us like 3 threads to come back from the last one

Yes! No, you didn't! Nothing but nerd talk here, Stargazer is the most adorable tentacle waifu but she's into shota I guess so that's awkward!

>>672282
Alkaline is super cute but only in the sense of a kid slash pet. I guess it's okay keeping people as pets when they're monsters.

The bonding / teaching / playtime minigames with her were fun! Unusual for a VN to put that much work into a non romance route character.

...I guess something to consider is that there is no real indication the narrator can force you to harm the doctor, or stop the surgery or anything. I mean, there's the fear it might happen but we should be more worried about another cyborg showing up to force the wireless implant back into your body before you can relocate.

>>672303
You didn't unlock her romance route?

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)16:36 No. 672685 ID: defceb
File 144322416596.png - (45.84KB , 840x600 , 6061.png )

>”It’s back, I’m disabling myself, GET THE WIRELESS OUT NOW.”

“What ARE you talking abou- hey don’t pull thaaaAAA@@@!-/_

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)16:36 No. 672686 ID: defceb
File 144322418264.png - (11.12KB , 840x600 , 6062.png )

_&$@@#^()%#^&*_*&^%$#

*Giant Signpost* Long way down, isn't it?

Uh... hello there.

uhhh, hi?

>>672691
Is it time to wake up?

Soo... come here often?

>>672691
That kind of looks like the robot(s) we kept seeing. Cyclops eye, horns. Except done in red instead of black, and made out of creepy tendrils.

Wild guessing... but maybe this "tumor" is the local hold the Narrator has set up? Something that took root. The part we need to deal with even if we're offline or our wireless is dead.

>>672745
...well that's new. Hello there... white thing. I'm guessing you can't respond to us. Try going forwards along this path?

Are you okay?

Roll around.

>>672745
Oh hey, it's a little person! It's free now! Hopefully that's a good thing.

Walk up to that floating ball.

If it isn't aggressive, hug it.

If it is aggressive, run back and follow the leftmost path.

>>672761
Oh! This is Marie's symbol thing. Go right.

save ball from red path.

Ball! Roll it around.

>>672761
Retrieve ball from creeping red tentacle tree horror roots.

Apollo 2015/09/25(Fri)22:09 No. 672780 ID: defceb
File 144324415356.png - (13.05KB , 840x600 , 6073.png )

"You deleted it?"

"They deleted it. Left a heartfelt note and everything. I'm just what's left."

"Roderick that's..."

"A form of suicide, I guess. Whoever I was before must've really hated themselves to go through with it."