216 Days (NSFW) (Circumventing Game Mechanics. With Style! No Not Really.)

[Levenfish]

There's nothing left. The cake is a lie, your LIFE has been nothing but a parlor trick, poorly carried out by an equally poorly-skilled aspiring magician.
Just stop coming back. Just let go.

>Bernard: Reload for the fifty-ninth time

You've stopped responding. So you know just how fucked you are.

What, you can carry over from saves? WHAT THE FUCK.

It's gonna be like this forever, isn't it? Stuck in an eternal temporal loop, fated to do nothing but die over and over again, cut to pieces among fellow husks, by enemies you should've judged carefully before you'd rushed in.





>Bernard: Reload for the seventy-first time

Just stop.... Shut up! YOU NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!

That's good. Start early, accept your fate with dignity. It'll be a silent eternity, why not start now.

Think about everyone that's been lost. You didn't do anything for any of them. You didn't even avenge your own parents; you know damn well that was Cirona, and she was just avenging her.... well, whatever she had that could pass for friends.

Check inside yourself; maybe there're more voices. Maybe this is all a lie, and the only things you've truly known have already been with you, and the existence you think you know is a fabrication.





>Bernard: Reload for the eighty-sixth time

They were new. They were literally born that year. Why did you expect them to be able to keep up their word?

I shouldn't have. They were idiots with no clue what to do. I should've done it myself.

So you passed her up for a friend you only knew for a month?

Yeah, that too. I should've been willing to let Rethiel die.

And at the end of all things, there is only yourself. But you... there is no self. The self has been fractured, broken, defective.
It's going to be a long eternity.

[Levenfish]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Oh yeah no, that's okay, just let my update get swallowed up by an Internet Scylla or Charybdis or whatever the hell made stuff disappear into a gaping black void.

Anyway... so yeah, I should have more, but since I have to reupdate...
Cassie has plans, Bernie's losing it, white text, SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, blah blah blah.

>Bernard: Reload for the hundred ninth time

I CAN'T DO THIS!

>Bernard: Commit suicide
Even though the game will just reload again.



>Bernard: Reload for the hundred tenth time

Whyyyy.....
I'll do anything! Just stop talking! JUST SHUT UP!

Acceptance is the last step.

You've come a long way, bro. Just lose yourself.



>???: Ever so slightly tip over the poor boy



No, no, no, NO, NO, NO, FUCK YOU.

Bernie?

Bro, you alright?

No, screw that! Don't call me bro, Jason. You knew you were committing genocide, and you didn't bother to stop yourself. There could NOT have been a WORSE possible time for you to have a tantrum.
And even before that wasn't any better. Hey, I'm going to go to random places and sleep with anyone that's good-looking and respectable!

Bernie, what's wrong?

And you. You're not much better. Yeah, I heard what you really did. You don't make peaces, you just flaunt your smile and throw around buzzwords and tell people to pretend to be happy.
Why hide that? Own up to it. Are you that insecure that you want everybody to like you?



Seriously? I'm supposed to have people like you for role models?! Nah, fuck that.
Both of you can kiss my ass. You're assholes, I hate you, and I'm glad you're dead.

>Bernard: Reload for the hundred eleventh time

[Levenfish]

ME: Shit. He didn't even flinch.

>Bernard: Take aim
Worked on the roboleg girl, might work on them too.

EF: Get Cirona! I got him!



EF: SUP?!

>Bernard: Cut to the chase, a MANGRIT charge should work.

[Levenfish]

Charge was mildly effective....

OW! Wings, stab him!

>Bernard: Grit
Reduces damage taken for 4 seconds by 75%, increases pain tolerance by 83%.




CK: So this is what they meant!
ME: Just run and live. I'm immortal.
CK: Not without that other eye, you're not. COME' 'ERE!

>Bernard: Distance yourself from the wing/tentacle/spike whatsit NOW

>Bernard: Eject specibus

[Levenfish]

Stephen Merrick talked to Ferylias Serket at 9:21AM, 5/29
SM: Uh....
FS: THAT was in me?!
SM: Yeah, they all say that afterwards.
FS: Riiiight... No, this... I don't even know the word for this.
SM: Giant pronged hooky stabby death thingy. What, you think I would know?


jz: Phase one is complete. Ampora's surrendered, and he's in custody.
Fe: He's still alive? Didn't see that coming.
jz: Well, kinda pointless to keep fighting. He didn't do much to us.
Fe: Alright. I'll tell Andy to link up with our turncoats, and tell the guys on Skaia to do the same.
jz: When did you even do all this anyway?
Fe: I haven't used a specibus since the last time we were on Skaia. I've been doing this all day. Remind me to tell you sometime.





SM: Ferylias. I got shards on my cheek, don't I?
FS: Yep. I thought we fixed the eyes last time we got shredded up like this.
SM: Yeah, but I like glasses. They're a part of my self-image.
SM: Though wearing them into battle, then getting it crushed into an eye socket. Didn't think this through very well.
SM: Also.... yeah, you know what I mean.
FS: You can do whatever you want with them after we get this done. Danny's okay, but the others I'm not so sure about.
SM: No, Danny would've known if it wasn't going to work. Besides, I trust them.

[Levenfish]

Fercex Ieflen checked on Bernard Bartlett at 9:34AM, 5/29
FI: Right, give that arm a few minutes to settle, 'less you feel like getting it chopped off again.
BB: Where's everyone?
FI: Chekov's back, and he took the other squads. Verilen's holding off in the streets, but Keylis is dead.
BB: What got her?
FI: The arm. Her luck ran out.
BB: Someone else want it?
FI: Yeah, I didn't hear who, but someone else took it.


FI: We're gonna need all we got. I heard Serket's coming.
BB: HERE?
FI: And her pet bitch too. They completely wrecked LoEaH. Ampora's dead, from what I hear. Or captured, or something I guess. Point is, he's dead and gone to us.
FI: Someone from LoPaP said they're coming out to help us, but I don't think it'll amount to much.
BB: Which of course, means it'll end up saving our asses.
FI: If only.

[Levenfish]

Zirman Chekov exchanged news with Zakhemet Nitram at 9:36AM, 5/29
ZC: So yeah, Eli died. Six of them came at her. She took all of them down with her though. Good way to die.
ZC: Dude.


ZC: Someone let the paperwork get to them, eh?
ZN: Serket just wiped out Ampora. And she's coming for us. We don't stand a chance.
ZC: Fine then. I'll just make sure to take her with me.
ZN: She apparently lived through head-on Greenstrikes, had her spine broken, and got her heart literally ripped out at one point.
ZC: I wouldn't believe everything you hear, brother.

ZC: Besides. Say she succeeds. Then what?
ZN: Then Horrorterrors come in and kill everyone.
ZC: Including her. I haven't fought Serket before like you, but I think I know her type.
ZN: Her type?
ZC: She loves to brag. Odds are, if we don't get killed during the fighting, she'll keep us alive, if only to torture us and other things that I should be against but that I'm secretly looking forward to.
ZC: And she'd never let the Horrorterrors in. She'll probably fight, betray, all that stuff. Mark my words, she'll spring us out in an instant to fight.


ZC: And there they are.
ZN: Funny. I was told she had more ships.
ZC: Readying for afterwards, probably. See, what'd I tell you?
ZC: In any case, the war ain't gonna fight itself. Though I'd like to see that happen.

ZC: DUSK STRIDERS! LET'S GO KILL US SOME BITCHES!

[Levenfish]

Bernard Bartlett inquired Redia Parson at 9:38AM, 5/29
BB: What happened?
RP: Clipped by a hammer to the face. You?
BB: Arm got torn by spiky wings, other arm got sliced. How's Skaia holding up?
RP: Serket's pulling out all the stops. Half our titans got sabotaged, other half got shot from space without our deaconstructor turrets to deter them.
RP: Plus, whatever's left on LoEaH's headed for us. They prolly don't like it, but they're fighting for Serket now.


BB: Fuck. Fuck. Where's Leto? Don't tell me he's hiding.
RP: No one's seen him in a while. People are saying it's Serket, Ampora, even Horrorterrors.
BB: But you?
RP: Serket. It's too convenient to be anyone else.
BB: You don't sound sure.
RP: How'd she even do that? And with what? And how come Zakhemet hasn't said anything?
BB: He's busy fighting, I guess. Though it's not like him to not tell us things.


RP: Are YOU okay? You sound... different.
BB: I'm fine. Just a little tired is all.
RP: Burned your throat out yelling?
BB: That might be a part of it, yeah.





Stephen Merrick reported to Daniel Atreus at 9:43AM, 5/29
DA: Stefan?! How'd you get here so fast?!
SM: Fast? Well, we kinda got sidetracked. It seems I have a little.... well, bright pink is my new favorite color, let's leave it at that.
DA: I—

DA: Anyway, is everything done?
SM: Ampora's alive, actually. Cassie said she'll interrogate him for anything remotely useful, and then dispose of him. How're the others?
DA: Jenny took a shot to the stomach, then when one of them tried to finish her off, she got her legs swept at a few times.
SM: I'm guessing she's glad she didn't feel any of that.
DA: I think she was passed out. She's fine now, though.

DA: Emily's bruised and bleeding all over, but nothing too deep.
DA: But Mike. Holy shit, Mike.
SM: What?
DA: He was going up against Cirona Keates.
SM: Oh crap.
DA: Eyes cut out, then some trolls, those limebloods from what I think, came along. His ears just— All of it. All of the brain bleach in the multiverse couldn't wash that image out.
DA: Then they tried burning him. You're right, blood's fireproof, but not the skin, and the blood doesn't even put out the fire, it just—
SM: Danny, I— I don't think I want to hear any more.
DA: Good, cause... I don't want to talk about it any more.

[Levenfish]

Cassandra Anderson checked up on Andrew Atreides at 10:11AM, 5/29
CA: You know what you're doing, right?
AA: Of course. In any case, you are the one who will be giving the order.
CA: True. Synchronized. It's all a matter of timing.
AA: You have your people on the ships?
CA: There's some of either mine or Serket's people on there. When I give the order, they'll take over the ships, release the prisoners, all sorts of stuff.
CA: And of course, Ampora will be say.... caught in the crossfire.


AA: As for your allies?
CA: Stephen's said forming himself back together was a slow, and more importantly, semiconscious process. He and Serket will act dead.
AA: Michael, I believe it was?
CA: They'll trust him.
AA: Are you absolutely sure?
CA: We'll bring them around to our point of view in time.
CA: And in the meanwhile, we'll wait a few days, make sure all the problems get solved, let people rest, let the whole place cool down for a little.
CA: Then we fire up the beacon, and then we go from there.

[Levenfish]

Stephen Merrick bantered with Cirona Keates at 9:48AM, 5/29
SM: Cirona Keates. So we finally meet.

SM: Oh come on, you could at least say something! Finally have a worthy opponent, this happens.
CK: You're just a dumbass with a sword that just keeps getting up.
SM: BURN!
SM: Wait, that's me. HEY!



SM: Then prove it! Show me how you fight!



SM: Alucard ain't got shit on me!

>Bernard: Channel your ancestor's legendary accuracy

>Cirona: Not end up needing to be saved anyway

CK: HUP!



SM: Bernard Bartlett?! So everything DOES end up all being related. Fine then, bring it! Another victim for the meat grinder!

[Levenfish]

Where's Sammy? Look up, sniper in the window by the neon sign. Poor vantage point. One burst, medium power.
If the rumors are true— DAMN, displace!



Sliding away. And again. Those scythes claw out hard. FUCK. There goes my other eye. I NEED TO GET OUT, can't see shit!
Which direction is which?! WHERE AM I GOING?!



Shit, they figured it out. AT the foundation, bring the whole thing down. No, closer, avoid that guy. Ledge to the left, cracked.
Again. Right. They know. Blast from an angle, knocked. Blast again. Nice.
AT the debris. Throw up. Rock hits head, head hits ground. Body still up on roof.



Serket. Grit. Charge, sweep the leg. Jumped, fuck.
>Bernard: Reload

Grit. Charge, sweep the leg, recoil back, uppercut this time. Parried, duck, swing again, cripple, dammit.
>Bernard: Reload



Middle apartment. Fourth story, third from the right window, possible sniper, take out carbine.
Kick door open, wait thirteen seconds.
Hear footsteps, spray, hear a thud.
Double tap corpse, check for items. Ballistics, incompatible. Turn around, move up, turn right, go down stairs.



Head up, back bent, can't react. Circle, grab face and neck, twist.
Behind me, throw, leaping strike, staggered. Seize moment, hit jaw, heel to groin, back up and turn right, repeat, punch nose into skull.
Hot air. Restil behind. Something there. Run. Not fast enough. Not dead, bone showing. Grab wand, stick in eye, twist in, break off.



Can't see, Serket knows. Halberd, keep her distant. Harpoon, stick the Trickster.
Won't reel, discard, dual scythe, Emperor down, use Strength. Riposte, follow up, head down, flash back, chainsaw, eject.
Trickster pinned, Serket coming. Bernie, don't— opportunity, rush, aim for spine, pull out, still standing, flash back, Fercex? Lance, leap over, stab, doublekill, dual scythe, twist backwards.



Eyes back, grab Serket, run, call to Emily, whooshing sound behind me, run, run, keep running.
Stop running. Serket down. She's too good, and we can't get near her without someone picking her off, and— Michael, is he back?
Michael, Michael, no no, still out, still crying, I should slap him, throw him out there, but I can't, can't do it.
Look down, metal sticking out of leg, is that silver, why is my mouth full of dirt?



>Bernard: Reload
Don't chase, hold ground, look around. Restil, Lomak. Restil's arm's shredded, Lomak's lost a lung from the looks of that, life on th— is that Xintal?!
Look around, Cirona? Cirona? Shit, she's running after them, run after her.
Greenstrike, Grit, get out, Cirona leaped over, no flames, rifle out, green fireball in window, coming back, my hand on hers, we need to— Ow.
Get up, she's looking but running, smart, keep running, don't look back, look back, nothing big in sight, keep running, run to Restil, Lomak, Julia, Xintal.

[Levenfish]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

If you look in the medical files, to which only Emeline has access because no one else would EVER BOTHER with them, Danny's actually taller than Stephen, by .8 of a centimeter.

Daniel Atreus went over the plan with Stephen Merrick at 10:21AM, 5/29
DA: Well... those two years of conditioning.... really came in handy.
SM: You skipped half of them.
DA: I mean WOULD.... come in handy.
DA: Cassie's.... about to give the signal.... You ready?
SM: Of course.



RP: What the?!
BB: Uh....
LS: Ah we... What just....
ZC: Zak! Now this. This suddenly got a lot more interesting!

[Levenfish]

Cassandra Anderson perfectly predicted the responses of Zakhemet Nitram at 10:34AM, 5/29
CA: Yes, hello, Mr. Nitram. We finally meet.
ZN: So. You're the mastermind of all this.
ZC: The guy next to you. Yeah you. You look familiar.
AA: Yes, you once came to LoPaP looking for potential leaders and tacticians. I believe one of my friends, a Redia Parson, took you up on that offer.
ZN: Oh now I remember you. Damn! I was actually kinda curious what you'd do with that kind of intellect. This... well, I'll be damned if anyone saw this coming.

ZN: Explain yourself.
CA: You are aware this session is indeed actually a session, correct? It only lasts as long as needed for the Ultimate Alchemy to be carried out.
ZC: Do you see any alchemizing? Sure as hell don't see any ultimate shit.
ZN: And your point?
CA: The culmination of this session is drawing near. Several gambits enacted long ago are finally coming to fruition, and the creation of a new universe looms on the horizon.
ZC: Skip the flowery shit and get right to it, girl. Okay, so plans from a billion years ago are getting filled now, judgment day's on us, the final battle's coming, any more repetitive, stock phrases you want to use?

ZN: Let's say we believe you. Why all this?
CA: Where we're going, several thousand battle-hardened veterans would be of great use.
ZN: Which is.... where, again?
AA: The void, Mr. Nitram. The universe that we are born of, yet have never known.
ZC: CAN WE STOP WITH THE FAUX PROPHECYSPEAK?!


CA: You have two choices. You can join us, which is, logically speaking, the most prudent course.
CA: Or you can not believe us, fight, and let everyone die.
ZC: The Tricksters. They're not really dead, are they?
CA: Are they?
ZC: I'm asking you!
CA: Perhaps. Are they a major part of your decision?

ZN: What happened on LoEaH? I'm told Ampora was captured.
CA: I'm still deciding what to do with him.
ZC: You could let him come back to us.
ZN: Zirman.
ZC: Hey, he held out against Horrorterrors, us, and Serket for a damn long time. I don't know about you, but I'll take whatever I can get.
ZC: Wait. Horrorterrors. Them?
CA: I'll never tell.


ZN: So you expect us to trust you, after you've orchestrated a massive war not seen since the Intercession, FLAUNTING at us everything you know, and explicitly not telling us anything?
ZN: I thought you were supposed to be smart.
AA: Irrelevant. You either comply or die. My forces are not large by any stretch of the imagination, but they are more than capable of defeating your forces in their weakened state.
AA: In addition, you have no way to know if the Tricksters are indeed alive or dead.
CA: Not to mention I infiltrated Serket, Ampora, and even a few of you, though I haven't given them the command. Who's to say I don't have people on Derse?
ZC: Yeah, threaten us with unleashing a dog, but wait a minute, you're the one with the leash anyway!


CA: Do you know why I did all this? I have my reasons, but the biggest one by far is.... actually immature, if you think about it.

CA: Because I can.
CA: Let all this be a reminder of what I can do. If, in the future, you decide to cross any of us, you won't have one anymore.
ZC: Yeah, about that....



ZC: I figure someone else can do it. Either one of your bitches can call them off for you, or they'll have to side with us so they don't die either.
ZC: So. Time to die!

[Levenfish]

Dirk Strider calmly addressed Zirman Chekov at 10:38AM, 5/29
DS: Touch my daughter, and I'll be parading your punkass little head around this place on a pike.

DA: WHAT.
EF: Wait no! She wasn't supposed to—
SM: Is that.... Oh my fucking god.

ME: Dad?

End of Chapter One

[Levenfish]

Intermission

Name: [error]
Trollian handle: umbranInheritor
Mythological role: Heir of Void
Blood color: Olive
Affiliation: 25th Voidbeast Division, Irregular
Skills: Interrogation, marksmanship, infiltration
Rank: Irregular, assigned to [error], Thief of Hope, of Incipicinerators
Last known location: Battle of Jagged Redoubt, LoSaC, 484.
Additional notes: Confirmed to be alive at the end of the battle, but his location, as well as the locations of all others of the Empress' Wrath Task Force is unknown, as they all disappeared shortly after.
Foul play is suspected, but evidence for any conclusion has yet to be found.


Name: Caliph Verdammak
Trollian handle: unrefinedchaser
Mythological role: Knight of Rage
Blood color: Fuschia
Affiliation: 19th Emperor of Skaia
Skills: Traversal, swordsmanship, extraordinary strength
Rank: Emperor of Skaia
Last known location: Mekinsele, 42nd Tiger Acquisitor command cruiser, orbiting over LoPaP, 414.
Additional notes: Assumed to have died in the explosion. Any traces of his body were consumed when the wreckage of the Mekinsele crashed on LoPaP.


Name: [error]
Trollian handle: teleologicalempath
Mythological role: Sylph of Mind
Blood color: Bronze
Affiliation: Incipicinerators
Skills: Agility, martial arts, psychic
Rank: Senior member of Incipicinerators
Last known location: Battle of Jagged Redoubt, LoSaC, 484.
Additional notes: Confirmed to be alive at the end of the battle, but her location, as well as the locations of all others of the Empress' Wrath Task Force is unknown, as they all disappeared shortly after.
Foul play is suspected, but evidence for any conclusion has yet to be found.


Name: Hannah Sorenstae
Trollian handle: IlluminatingErrant
Mythological role: Mage of Heart
Blood color: Yellow
Affiliation: 72nd Fireradicator Division
Skills: Marksmanship, field aid, intelligence, leadership
Rank: Sergeant Major, 4th Battalion, 6th Company
Last known location: 72nd Division Headquarters
Additional notes: After eight years of service, honorably discharged.


Name: Jelniad Ohpels
Trollian handle: FlightyAdvocation
Mythological role: Maid of Breath
Blood color: Teal
Affiliation: Ferylias Serket, enemy of the state
Skills: Riding, polearms, agility
Rank: Right-hand troll to Serket
Last known location: Unknown ship, leaving known space, 686
Additional notes: Jelniad was confirmed to be injured during the Eleventh Battle of Prospit, but not killed. Neither her nor the ship, later identified as the Velrims, has been spotted.
Has been declared officially dead.


Name: [error]
Trollian handle: DisconnectedVindication
Mythological role: Thief of Hope
Blood color: Teal
Affiliation: Skaian Monarchy
Skills: Dual-wielding, agility, tolerance
Rank: Personal bodyguard and servant of the Empress
Last known location: Battle of Jagged Redoubt, LoSaC, 484.
Additional notes: Confirmed to be alive at the end of the battle, but his location, as well as the locations of all others of the Empress' Wrath Task Force is unknown, as they all disappeared shortly after.
Foul play is suspected, but evidence for any conclusion has yet to be found.


Name: Prisoner #56241-AV342
Trollian handle: None
Mythological role: Prince of Blood
Blood color: Burgundy
Affiliation: None
Skills: Torture, hacking, infiltration, boxing
Rank: Maximum-security prisoner
Last known location: LoEaH Maximum-Security Prison, 556
Additional notes: Security footage shows a Blacknet of extreme strength, but the lack of any traces of tampering by space players has stumped all policetrolls, aspiring or veteran, for over sixty sweeps.

[Levenfish]

AV: Wait then. But how did—
LC: Because she wasn't born that way. No, Lumeros made her that way.
LC: Out of over a hundred trolls, she's the only one that survived being given yellowgreen blood.
AV: Before or after?
LC: After. Figured if we can make them, why not convert everyone else to it?
AV: Cause blood's intrinsic. It's like how we can replace our brains and still keep the same mind.
LC: Should've told him that.


AV: So go on. What'd they do after Thanatos?
AV: Also, I don't believe I ever caught your name. Or yours, actually. Though you haven't said a word.
LC: Perry doesn't say much anymore. You can call me Liz.
AV: Yes then, hello Liz. In any case, go on with your tale. What happened after?
LC: They faced their respective gate guardians, I can safely assume.



LC: Somehow, Shyrel is the Destroyer.
AV: Isn't he an heir?
LC: No, not what I mean. By destroyer, I mean someone that breaks down something to be reformed. A recycler, if you will.
LC: Lumeros ran with this. Let's ignore that he just tore out so much stuff from pre-existing ideas, for one.
LC: He's not even the remotest paradoxical. I've seen what he can do, I know firsthand what he can do.
LC: He destroys. He couldn't care less about rebuilding it.
AV: So this Shyrel is?
LC: Shyrel Rileth, simple dockworker and surfer from LoTaJ, to a war.... designated hero, really.




LC: But yeah, I'd imagine they went through their guardians. My group did, at any rate.
LC: Though we saved the seventh and final for later. We didn't really think we were ready. They probably thought so too.
AV: Was Perry in your group?
LC: Yeah, and in fact.... Perry! Where did Caliph go?
PN: Don't know.
LC: Well, you know the Verdammaks?
AV: I think I know what you're about to say. ANOTHER kidnapped empress?
LC: Emperor. 19th Emperor Caliph Verdammak, the Knight of Rage of our pseudo-session.

[Levenfish]

vT: In position?
uI: always. lets do this.
vT: It's creeping up.

vT: Now.
uI: try to keep the turrets up. cost a lot of grist to get them.
uI: also we should grab dinner after this. im kinda hungry actually.



LC: Not the way normal people spend evenings, but....
AV: I don't know, that's what I do. Or did when I was, you know, alive.
LC: Necessitated sociocultural divergence aside, check our privileges. If we had known the full utilities of our powers...

LC: No, Lumeros would've seen to it that we all ended up here regardless. Yet another cultural divergence.
AV: Meaning?

LC: He has to. He's too arrogant and prideful to fail his objectives, and they happen to involve saving the world, as it were.
LC: We must either assume he's asserted his dominance, or any other collaborators agree with his methods.
LC: In either case, he has an omniscient morality license, simply because there are circumstances that we could neither ever be aware of, nor affect them in any way.
AV: Yeah, we're all pawns in a giant game. So if Lumeros is playing, who's the other guy?
LC: Fate. Evil. Perhaps even himself through some temporal path of inevitability caused by his own interference.
LC: Not that it matters. I can prattle on for sweeps about morality, and I have, on multiple locations. Mostly to Perry.
LC: But morality has its place, and this isn't one of them.


LC: Look at me. I was completely justified. Acselik was innocent. Hannah didn't deserve it. Caliph didn't.
LC: Meanwhile, Shyrel was a monster, and the usurper wasn't strong enough to step down.
LC: But who's alive and who's dead?

[Levenfish]

"Hey. Hey listen."

"Yeah?"

"So when we grab dinner, let's eat outside. The sky's pretty, and it's not as cold as I thought it'd be."

"It's also dark as all hell."

"I have a blindfold."

"Fair enough. Okay, I think the wreck's cooled down now. Let's collect the loot, and we'll go back and eat dinner."

[Levenfish]

"I got the short end on this. All I'm getting is lots of shooting and shouting and some other thing that starts with s.
Not that I really mind, but I mean, I must've done something other than kill stuff all day."

"But why so much?"

"Not sure. What I can tell you is that I don't think anybody cared. In fact, everybody was pretty dead. Eyes were glazed over, didn't really ever have energy.
But I don't know where I'm getting that from. Everyone that I remember was pretty perky. And/or snarky, actually.
Yeah no, snarky. I remember so many arguments. And not even petty ones. Full-blown shouting matches. And this was WITH an auspistice, I think."

"Damn. My brothers liked me. I think.
Well, up till I ended up here or something, yeah."

"How does that work? Siblings is a mutant term."

"Huh?"

"Err, humans."

"They'll record all of us as siblings."

"I'm not really read up on history, but weren't there like a dozen of you?"

"I don't know, actually. It was just the three of us, far as I remember."



"I had this friend. You would've loved him. He was calm, smooth, and could get with anyone he wanted.
It helped that he was like, a real epic hero, and was probably the deadliest guy in the entire world."

"I'm not so sure I'd want some military guy. I'd never know if the last time I see him is THE last time I see him."

"Fair enough. I think he had a matesprit, actually. I think she's the one I had all those arguments with. And he was the auspictice."

[Levenfish]

"No. Seriously. I'm just about to take this and blast your condescending brains all over the wall."

"And I'll fry your mind right before I shove this right up your ass, sorry it isn't kinky enough for you."



"Guys.

Guys.

Fucking hell. How I ended up with you two is beyond me.
Seriously, you two need to kiss already, cause I'm tired of having to worry if one of you slit the other's throat in the night."

"But you two sleep in the same room, and I can't know if y'all are doing it or not."

"You're never with us anyway because you insist on finding airheaded fools to have one-night stands with.
Even if it's just as much their fault as yours."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to do that, your bronze majesty."



"Okay. Shyrel. What's one of my rules?"

"Don't ever have orange salad dressing near your stuff.

Alright fine, don't piss off Caranetal."

"And that was?"

"Bro, she—"

"I know, I know. Seriously, what the hell man. I get you to back off, she does something. I get her to back off, you do something.
And if I tell both of you to cool it, it doesn't do a damn thing."

"Can you tell her to not be a hypocritical, bigoted chatterbox that just— NEVER SHUTS UP!
'Oh, you shouldn't have killed all those people, they'd fight for us after we made them see sense.'
Or how about, 'hey can you not interrogate the one guy who has intel cause he's fighting for a noble cause?'"

"She never said that last one."

"Implied. Think of it as that social contract bull she keeps spewing.
We've been doing this for eight years, man. Eight. Years. We almost have them finished, and she wants us to start letting up because she thinks we've just had misunderstandings for this long."

"It's kindness. You could use a little, you know."

"Yes, let's spare the enemy, then feed them.
Next you're gonna tell me we shouldn't kill the medics first. Acselik, I love you bro, but leave the crazy social injustice ramblings to her."

[Levenfish]

Where are you, Miss?

"Miss Dareon! Miss Falesi Dareon?! I've come here to save you!"



"Da fuck? When'd you break your horn?"

"I don't even know.
Do you see the native player?"

"No. I don't see nothin'."



"Why are we watching them watch someone?
Wait, someone's watching us, aren't they?"

"I'm the void player. If someone CAN see us, that's our ace in the hole gone."

"Just cause it's bad for us doesn't make it any less likely."

"There's nobody. I checked."

---

LD: Yes, I'm watching them. Dost thou have a problem, bumpkin?







AV: Alright, this is getting out of hand.
AV: STOP IT BEFORE IT GOES META!



Hey hey hey, I can't be shown till about... Act 20?
Stop looking! Get the stick figures! Tape them on the fourth wall!

[Levenfish]

LC: I like you.
AV: Well I like you too, Liz.
LC: I mean I admire how your time's become far more.... what's the word I'm looking for?
LC: Pragmatic.
LC: You actually get stuff done. You need something, you do it. You don't wait around, waiting for someone else to do it.
LC: That was probably a reason why the third crisis took as long as it did. It was over half a sweep before it was in full swing.
LC: And you know when to quit. It should've ended three years earlier than it did.
LC: You're not overtly cruel. You don't let your emotions get before logic.


LC: Can you imagine that? Twelve years of war. Do you even know how many died?
AV: A few hundred thousand, I'm told?
LC: Depends. The mother grubs for LoPaP, LoTaJ, Skaia, LoDaC, and LoUaD all died at one point.
LC: LoSaC was home to over three hundred thousand humans, nearly three times the amount I'm told was present in your time.
LC: By the end, less than ten thousand were left, everyone else either left or got killed.


LC: You should've seen him, Aiolos.
LC: I mean Shyrel, yeah that's a given, but Acselik too. They were monsters.
LC: When they came back from the prisoner camps, Acselik looked so.... happy. I'd never seen him that happy since the Empress allowed him to personally execute Crocker.
LC: He was only eleven when he killed his first person, and he was so terrified.
AV: Well, I was only ten when Serket popped up. Then I killed my guardian when I was twelve.
AV: To be honest, I can't really sympathize with him.

[Levenfish]

LC: Can I ask why? Though I think I know the answer.
AV: I don't have any sympathy. Don't get me wrong, I know he's not from our time, and I understand that. And maybe I do sympathize just a little.
AV: But I don't really see anything wrong with what he did. If he has to save his own life, he should do it.


LC: I've been trying to wrap my head around it, trying to understand. But I just don't get it.
AV: Get what?
LC: What's happened to our world? I see you and I see what happened. But I see my friends, and I can't understand why they did what they did.
AV: They're soldiers, war changed them, made them accept things, and they dealt with it in whatever way they did.
LC: But I was in the thick of it just like them! Why can't I connect with them?
AV: I.... don't have an answer, if that's what you're looking for.
AV: Actually, I don't understand the question. What do you mean connecting with them?

LC: I want to know how they lived. Acselik didn't really have nightmares, didn't seem dead. He was always enthusiastic.
LC: And Shyrel.... well, he did. He definitely did. But he never let on about it.
AV: So he doesn't air his private feelings.
LC: No, but I was frustrated with him. He never vented them, never even said he didn't know how. Acselik was his moirail, but he never said anything.
AV: I figured you for the type who would pester him until he did.
LC: And I did.
AV: And you're wondering why he never came to you.
LC: But he didn't come to Acselik either! And considering what he ended up doing....
AV: So what'd he do?
LC: I.... I'd rather not talk about it. This conversation's been pointless, let's get back to the session.


LC: So you see, Shyrel and Sadira fell asleep on the roof stargazing, when the second day came around.....

[Levenfish]

"Sup bitch."

"Can I help you, love?"

"You can lay down."

"Excuse you?"

"You heard me. Let's make this easy."



"Those are some.... very interesting appendages."

"Yeah, don't worry man, you'll get to see first-hand what they can do."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's banter. I like toying with my kids before I cut them up."

"How bohemian. Very well then. Give me your worst!"



"Oh fuck. My eyes!"

"You're bleeding!"

"For.... just go! Find the life player! I'll keep you hidden!"

[Levenfish]

AV: So these guys. How strong are they?
LC: That's not an easy question to answer. You know the windy thing?
AV: Yes. I have to say, I'm rather very good at it.
LC: Well the one their breath player does. Actually, she should look familiar to you.
AV: She does, actually. Why is that?
LC: It'll come to you.


LC: In any case, have you ever wondered why Skaia has never needed to be terraformed? Why the land around the city is flat around as far as the eye can see?

LC: And another mind-blower; how anyone else survived is beyond me. Even Lumeros implied he just went with it at one point.
AV: They have that kind of power?!
LC: They all do. There's a reason why all other NPCs were either removed or immediately killed.
LC: If the blood player didn't set them against each other, the heart player didn't make them all slowly die from apathy, all driven insane by rage, they'd still be ganked by the new NPCs Lumeros put in.
LC: Shyrel could shroud this entire system in a shadow. And the breath player; doesn't she look familiar to you?
AV: Yeah, actually. Should I know her?
LC: She made sure you wouldn't, but she wasn't perfect.


LC: I never said she flattened the land. That just happened to be there.
AV: Oh. Well, don't do that! Besides, the 4th wall's off. I'll already know anyway.
LC: No, she's not THAT strong. Though even with the laws of physics bent as they are, they should've been shredded.
AV: If they're bent, how do you know?
LC: Ask Lumeros. By ask, I mean wait for him to go on about more stuff about game mechanics.


LC: Besides, I don't think any breath players have been able to shape lands like that. Not besides the original.
AV: Who?
LC: John Egbert. Heir of Breath. In terms of raw strength, the most powerful player ever seen in Sburb.
AV: How strong is their breath player compared to him?
LC: Nothing. They wouldn't last thirty seconds against any of the originals. Against him, not even five. He'd tear through them, anyone with them, and a piece of whatever planet they're on, and probably change up the orbit of the entire system.
AV: So why are any of them actually relevant?
LC: It helps shore up weaknesses. A witch of light has different abilities over a seer of light, and same with everyone else. A seer and witch, a rogue and maid, and an heir and rogue.
AV: And the rest of us?
LC: I want to say he was being altruistic for once by making sure they live, but I know better.
LC: He told me cannon fodder, and it'd be a waste for tens of thousands of battle-ready soldiers to go to waste.