Step 1 I don't have to prove anything to you, MAFIA.
Step 2 Because I commanded you very nicely!
Step 3 You think there hasn't already been weirder mechanics?
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AnialosCollies are love, Collies are life!Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered Userregular
Step 1 I don't have to prove anything to you, MAFIA.
Step 2 Because I commanded you very nicely!
Step 3 You think there hasn't already been weirder mechanics?
Step 1: Oh, that's cute. Too bad I'm village and haven't been seer'd
Step 2: [tone=verynicely]No[/tone]
Step 3: Oh, there definitely have. Ran into most of them myself.
The MP3 player skipped as another bolt of lightening came down. Or maybe it had just been a shock from the veer hitting his computer. Tomi Veles was having a difficult time keeping the Real and the Veer separate nowadays.
The desk was covered with four days worth of beer bottles and Mumbai Bistro delivery. After he had exposed the Phallen corporation for the scumbags they were, Tomi figured that keeping a low profile would be beneficial to his long term health. And nothing was lower profile than pretending to be another social inept hacker who never left the cybercafe's private room. Nobody needed to know he was the owner as well.
Then IZANAMI showed up, and he knew it was time to do what he did best: hack stuff like a madman, find out what was really going on and expose it. He was already a legend in the veer; this would make him immortal. Hackers would be comparing themselves to crucifixation for the next two hundred years.
And so he dug out his contacts from Mars' seedy underbelly, reconnected with with a couple of his old in.Frequency friends and started making offers. A name for a name became his mantra. Slowly, his list grew longer. Finally, there was only one more deal to make. As the cat avatar logged off, Tomi knew he had done it.
Then why was he still staring at his computer screen? All he needed to do now was tell everyone. Click the send button and be done with it. His eyes skipped to his hands. They were covered in blood. He closed his eyes and when they opened again, the blood was gone, a trick of the veer he hoped. Had it been a trick of his own mind, he could never escape it.
He scanned the list of names again. Maybe he could take out a line or two. No one REALLY needed to know about that one, he thought. And I could have never done it without him.
He knew that wouldn't fly on Mars. Anyone missing from the list would be stick out, and every hacker in the world would be knocking down their doors to show how they'd done what the great crucifixation couldn't. If they were on the list, they'd just be another name. They might even be a little safer.
The veer clouds in the tiny room finally erupted with their promised rain. As he finally clicked the send button, a drop of water rolled down Tomi's cheek. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know whether it was real or veer.
A hundred thousand cellphones beeped with an incoming e-mail. Nearly half a million eyeballs looked at a message that was nothing more than a list.
To: <UserlistUndisclosed>
From: <Unknown>
1. SLyM – Elena Ankou - nyannyannyan:3 - Unaligned
2. Langly - Orbit Nine - Malice Gutterspike - Unaligned
3. Anialos - James Reaper - Lux - White Night
4. Assuran - Shahnaz Zohhak - big rip - And All Of Us
5. ObiFett - "One Eye" Keen -Renddeal.com - Unaligned
6. Cayrus - Kisin Yumi Kimil - Trickster Spirit - Unaligned
7. The Anonymous - No True Izanami - No True Izanami - Unaligned
8. Bedlam - Maria Ghain - ghain207 - Unaligned
9. jdarksun - Minh Ha Des -Glukk Cactuseater- Unaligned
10. Void Slayer - Izrail Poe - big bounce - And All of Us
11. kime - Cassandra Ferriman - Zero - Unaligned
12. Alegis -Scratch- anarchist - In.frequency
13. Retaba - Marie La Croix - Lenaya Deadwood - Unaligned
14. REG Rysk - River Six - theatreum - In.frequency
15. M.D. - Erebusa Soryama - Acies - White Night
16. TheRoadVirus - Thane Atrus - Henry Miller - Unaligned
17. Rend - Professor Nubris Osiron - Captatio - White Night
18. SaberOverEasy - Tomi Veles - crucifixation - In.frequency
19. Stever777 - Jake Friday - Phalanx - White Night
20. Capfalcon - Aarun Duat - Jus Soli - White Night
21. vagrant_winds - La Ghede -Big Freeze - And All of Us
22. Smoove Operator - The PsychoPimp - Jezebelle Lila - Unaligned
23. tastypastry -Vuokko Tuonela - Hope - And All of Us
24. Lucedes - Sammy D. - Big Crunch - And All of Us
On the screen in front of him, Sheval watched the news of the day. The Phallen Corporation folded. IZANAMI bought out the entirety of their stock, owning the company absolutely. Sheval wondered what the CEO would think of that.
In the bedroom, Janus slept. Or Cassie. He didn't know what they wanted to be called - whether the lover he had known in the Veer or the partner he had known in the Real was how he wished to be seen. It was a question played out across the planet, in some form or another. Perhaps that was best. It was up to everyone to answer the question on their own. It was up to them to decide who they would be.
For many, they had already decided, over the week.
Sheval turned on the radio. He didn't need to talk to a hallucination to fill the air with music. Not anymore.
“I must admit disappointment,” Professor Nubris Osiron said, lifting the teabag. “We co-operated freely up until now, and you want to undo it? For what?”
“It's my job,” Erebusa responded half-heartedly.
“What are the odds that your employer is even here tomorrow?” the Professor asked pointedly. “There's a world of potential at your doorstep and you refuse to step forward and leave the house. It's quite silly.”
Erebusa grunted noncommittally, taking a sip of his tea.
“Listen,” Nubris said, laying a symbol on the table – a shockingly bright moon. “I know that your associates are going to be here shortly, and I know that they are going to try to kill me. I have decided to allow it.”
The businessman lifted his gaze. “Nubris, you can't just-”
“I have made my choice,” Professor Osiron said firmly. “The world is never going to be the same after this, and I have the opportunity to guide it. I can do far more good for the future as Captatio than a professor in some broken-down university.”
Erebusa rose from the table, running his hands over his head and rubbing his eyes. “This is always a negotiation with you,” he sighed, “Always a deal. What are you asking of me?”
“Acies, we both know that And All Of Us would rather be remembered as heroes. They are not going to waste time fighting us. They are going to target you, and your associates. Stand by my side, not theirs, all of our Martian obligations shed in order to look after the future. We can make sure that no more conflict need ever break across the Veer again.”
Erebusa breathed heavily in thought, before placing his phone on the table. A simple swipe, and it shut off. He placed the symbol of the moon on top of it.
The Professor smiled. “I believe Mr. Miller wished to speak with us.”
“Where the fuck has Orbit gone?”
“If I knew that, I would be snapping his fucking neck, so I'd advise you not to start anything with me, child.” The cyborg growled at the mercenary, mechanics hissing ominously.
La Ghede spat at her. “Fuck you,” she said, “Fuck you and fuck this entire shit. I should never have came here, should have gone back to Earth when I had the fucking chance.”
“Oh, is your mommy back there?” Elena mocked her. “Is your bottle?”
“Get FUCKED you cybercuntted fuckfaced techslut catfucker.”
Elena merely grinned at her with filed feline teeth. “Stressful, isn't it?” she sneered, “Seeing the vote raise higher and higher for you. Those asian androids should be knocking on the door any second now, shouldn't they?” She leaned over the table, her metallic hands cracking and digging into it. “Maybe I should handle your termination from the company right now. See just what they do with a pile of pulp when they arrive.”
The mercenary grabbed the gun at her hip reflexively. “You stay the fuck away from me,” she replied, “You stay the fuck away you freak.” Backing up to the door she kept the weapon pointed at her 'teammate'. “I'm getting off this rock. I'm going back to Earth, where it's normal.”
Still grinning, Elena didn't flinch as metallic arms broke through the door and grabbed the merc, snapping her neck. The IZANAMI android stepped through the wreckage, picking her up and slinging her over her shoulder.
“So what's your angle, then,” Elena asked casually as the robot prepared to leave. It turned back to look at her, in an expression that could, perhaps, have been curiousity. “What does IZANAMI get from all this? It's not just about buying out Phallen.”
“IZANAMI will be happy to share this information with you at our next shareholder meeting.”
Elena laughed. “And let's be realistic, what are the odds that I'm here then?”
The android watched her for a few moments. “The Veer can be monitored, but not controlled. Not anymore.”
“Because it's alive.”
Captatio took a breath. “I'm sorry,” he said, “Run that by me again.”
“The Veer is alive,” Henry explained, gesturing out over the sea of data before them. “We dumped immeasurable, impossible amounts of data into it, all of our hopes and fantasies and dreams, the sum of human knowledge, and it's alive.”
“You mean it's an artificial intelligence,” Acies seethed. His heritage brought forth a natural prejudice to this news.
“What does artificial even mean anymore?” Henry returned. “This isn't like Japan.”
“What about Mars?” Phalanx interrupted. “Forgive me for perhaps missing something, but I'm not clear on the details of how exactly the Veer and Mars became one.”
“Because she wanted to.” Henry gestured at the sea of data once again. “I'm still personally trying to figure it out myself, but she wanted to help us, and she figured out how to do it. She can think faster than us. We predicted centuries ago that we'd reach the singularity, the point of no return, and we did. Not by inventing newer and newer technology, but by pouring our souls into something that could learn and process.”
“...She?” Acies eventually asked.
“She. The Veer,” Henry explained, “Persephone.”
The last surviving member of White Night stood to the side, waiting for his guest to wake up. Jezebelle took a shuddering, gasping breath as her eyes shot open. “No!” she shouted, “Don't- don't...” Breathing heavily, she looked around. “He...he tried to...”
“I believe he did,” Lux said, extending a hand. “You have my apologies. But if you'll have our company, we'd like to have yours.”
Nervously, Jezebelle took his hand. He returned the nervous look with confidence, and helped her to her feet.
“That was...a pretty good move,” Malice admitted, sitting on the beach. “But I'm still the best.”
“Only because they were using me,” Lenaya snorted, waving at him dismissively.
“Hey, hey, I tried,” Malice threw up his hands defensively. “It's no fun competing if you don't have someone keeping pace just behind you! You weren't that far behind, either! One more and you would have caught me!”
“Eh,” Lenaya returned. The elf looked out over the ocean. “I think I'm done competing, for a long time.”
“Yeah...” Malice said, stroking his dislocated jaw. “I lost some friends to all this. I'd rather not go through that again.”
The two of them watched the sunset for a time, before Lenaya turned to the third guest. “This is a really nice little setup you've got here,” she admitted, “Very relaxing.”
“I try,” Trickster Spirit grunted.
“Hey, how do you feel about games,” Malice interjected, “We could really use a healer...”
“I did not want to make such a scene of it,” the droid admitted, “But in order to understand what mankind feared about death, I needed to understand it. I needed to be there as they died. If I was to save mankind from the tyranny of the fear of death, it was necessary.”
“So you were here all along,” Elena breathed in a quiet voice that betrayed a hint of admiration. “But you're a fool,” she decided, “Like all artificials. How do you expect man to trust you if you murder him so callously?”
“Because I can bring them back,” Persephone answered, “The game is over. The voices silenced can return. I will ensure that they do.[/b]”
“And what if I stop you?” Elena said, beginning to grin excitedly, breathing heavier as the lust for murder rose. “What if I dismantled you here and now, and tracked it to the source? What if I succeeded where the tumour failed, and killed immortality itself?”
“You will not,” Persephone answered, “He will stop you.”
“What-”
Glowing with incredible cyan light, big crunch pulled the trigger. Code vainly fashioned into the shape of a bullet tore through the air and took Elena apart, leaving only two mechanical arms behind. The And All Of Us survivor cried out in pain, before gasping, his form falling away and leaving behind only Sammy D.
“That's it.” Persephone smiled.
“Everything is resolved.
The game is over.”
The Real:
vagrant_winds – La Ghede – Assassination
Rend – Professor Nubris Osiron – Shot
Smoove Operator – The Psychopimp – Suffocated
SlyM – Elena Ankou – Desynched
M.D. - Erebusa Sorayama – Error 37 The Veer:
Lucedes – big crunch – Infection – Sacrifice Declassified: SLyM – Elena Ankou – nyanyannyan:3 (The Cat) M.D. - Erebusa Sorayama – Acies (White Night) Langly – Orbit Nine – Malice Gutterspike (Warcraft 6) stever777 – Jake Friday – Phalanx (White Night) vagrant_winds – La Ghede – big freeze (And All Of Us) kime – Cassandra Ferriman – zero (The Tumour) Rend – Professor Nubris Osiron – Captatio (White Night) Cayrus – Kisin Yum Kimil – Trickster Spirit (The Apathetic tastypastry – Vuokko Tuonela – hope (And All Of Us) Smoove Operator – The Psychopimp – Jezebelle Lila (The Hooker) Alegis – Scratch – anarchanist (In.Frequency) SaberOverEasy – Tomi Veles – crucifixation (In.Frequency) Lucedes – Sammy D – big crunch (And All Of Us) Assuran – Shahnaz Zohhak – big rip (And All Of Us) Bedlam – Maria Ghain – ghain207 (The Social) ObiFett - “One Eye” Keen – RENDDEAL.COM (The Merchant) Anialos – James Reaper – Lux (White Night) Retaba – Marie La Croix – Lenaya Deadwood (Warcraft 6) REG Rysk – River Six – theatreum (In.Frequency) jdarksun – Minh Ha Des – Glukk Cactuseater (Warcraft 6) Void Slayer – Izrail Poe – big bounce (And All Of Us) TheRoadVirus – Thane Atrus – Henry Miller (The Antivirus) The Anonymous – No True Izanami – No True Izanami (The Flirt) Capfalcon – Aarun Duat – Jus Soli (White Night) The dregs of society (Rend, Cayrus, tastypastry, Smoove Operator, Alegis, SaberOverEasy, Lucedes, Assuran, Bedlam, ObiFett, Anialos, Retaba, REG Rysk, jdarksun, Void Slayer, TheRoadVirus, The Anonymous, Capfalcon)have defeated the Phallen Corporation and the Tumour. In.Frequency has recorded the dead. They shall not be forgotten.
White Night (M.D., Rend, Anialos, Capfalcon, stever777) has defeated And All Of Us and will shape the Veer for generations to come.
In.Frequency (REG Rysk, SaberOverEasy, Alegis) has, despite some spelling errors, secured their place in the history books by recording the participants in the Persephone's Kiss incident.
Henry Miller (TheRoadVirus) has transcended his mortal body and walks in Persephone's halls, nurturing her.
Jezebelle Lila (Smoove Operator) will be accepted for who they are among White Night.
Malice Gutterspike (Langly) is the best Warcraft 6 player in the world. Good for him.
Trickster Spirit (Cayrus) has finally gotten some peace and quiet.
IZANAMI offers its condolences to the departed and thank them for donating their bodies to the Reanimation Project.
Hey, INANTP, do you remember the game where the guy pretended to need people to post once in green, like, just change the color of their text, and it didn't happen?
My friend is working on a roguelike game you can play if you want to. (It has free demo)
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Erin The RedThe Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered Userregular
Big shoutout to @Langly for being the best partner I could've hoped for, @Rend for a day full of stressful negotiations that I think we can both agree ended well, and @Anialos and @Lucedes for being great vig buddies
ObiFett, RENDDEAL shutting down was us. I felt bad about it, because it was such a cool idea and you were clearly having a ton of fun, but our win con was tough enough without people being able to change thier factions midstream. I asked Langly to do it using his mafia powers, and he accepted.
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Erin The RedThe Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered Userregular
Yay double victory! Woooop
I'm totally confused as to why my guy was still doing narration stuff after I was victorious. Made me feel special though!
ObiFett, RENDDEAL shutting down was us. I felt bad about it, because it was such a cool idea and you were clearly having a ton of fun, but our win con was tough enough without people being able to change thier factions midstream. I asked Langly to do it using his mafia powers, and he accepted.
:evil:
All you had to do was just ask me if I could give you info about what exactly was changing. I would have said yes!
Posts
Step 2 Because I commanded you very nicely!
Step 3 You think there hasn't already been weirder mechanics?
Step 1: Oh, that's cute. Too bad I'm village and haven't been seer'd
Step 2: [tone=verynicely]No[/tone]
Step 3: Oh, there definitely have. Ran into most of them myself.
many of them still do, in all likelihood.
The desk was covered with four days worth of beer bottles and Mumbai Bistro delivery. After he had exposed the Phallen corporation for the scumbags they were, Tomi figured that keeping a low profile would be beneficial to his long term health. And nothing was lower profile than pretending to be another social inept hacker who never left the cybercafe's private room. Nobody needed to know he was the owner as well.
Then IZANAMI showed up, and he knew it was time to do what he did best: hack stuff like a madman, find out what was really going on and expose it. He was already a legend in the veer; this would make him immortal. Hackers would be comparing themselves to crucifixation for the next two hundred years.
And so he dug out his contacts from Mars' seedy underbelly, reconnected with with a couple of his old in.Frequency friends and started making offers. A name for a name became his mantra. Slowly, his list grew longer. Finally, there was only one more deal to make. As the cat avatar logged off, Tomi knew he had done it.
Then why was he still staring at his computer screen? All he needed to do now was tell everyone. Click the send button and be done with it. His eyes skipped to his hands. They were covered in blood. He closed his eyes and when they opened again, the blood was gone, a trick of the veer he hoped. Had it been a trick of his own mind, he could never escape it.
He scanned the list of names again. Maybe he could take out a line or two. No one REALLY needed to know about that one, he thought. And I could have never done it without him.
He knew that wouldn't fly on Mars. Anyone missing from the list would be stick out, and every hacker in the world would be knocking down their doors to show how they'd done what the great crucifixation couldn't. If they were on the list, they'd just be another name. They might even be a little safer.
The veer clouds in the tiny room finally erupted with their promised rain. As he finally clicked the send button, a drop of water rolled down Tomi's cheek. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know whether it was real or veer.
______________________________________________________________________________
A hundred thousand cellphones beeped with an incoming e-mail. Nearly half a million eyeballs looked at a message that was nothing more than a list.
To: <UserlistUndisclosed>
From: <Unknown>
1. SLyM – Elena Ankou - nyannyannyan:3 - Unaligned
2. Langly - Orbit Nine - Malice Gutterspike - Unaligned
3. Anialos - James Reaper - Lux - White Night
4. Assuran - Shahnaz Zohhak - big rip - And All Of Us
5. ObiFett - "One Eye" Keen -Renddeal.com - Unaligned
6. Cayrus - Kisin Yumi Kimil - Trickster Spirit - Unaligned
7. The Anonymous - No True Izanami - No True Izanami - Unaligned
8. Bedlam - Maria Ghain - ghain207 - Unaligned
9. jdarksun - Minh Ha Des -Glukk Cactuseater- Unaligned
10. Void Slayer - Izrail Poe - big bounce - And All of Us
11. kime - Cassandra Ferriman - Zero - Unaligned
12. Alegis -Scratch- anarchist - In.frequency
13. Retaba - Marie La Croix - Lenaya Deadwood - Unaligned
14. REG Rysk - River Six - theatreum - In.frequency
15. M.D. - Erebusa Soryama - Acies - White Night
16. TheRoadVirus - Thane Atrus - Henry Miller - Unaligned
17. Rend - Professor Nubris Osiron - Captatio - White Night
18. SaberOverEasy - Tomi Veles - crucifixation - In.frequency
19. Stever777 - Jake Friday - Phalanx - White Night
20. Capfalcon - Aarun Duat - Jus Soli - White Night
21. vagrant_winds - La Ghede -Big Freeze - And All of Us
22. Smoove Operator - The PsychoPimp - Jezebelle Lila - Unaligned
23. tastypastry -Vuokko Tuonela - Hope - And All of Us
24. Lucedes - Sammy D. - Big Crunch - And All of Us
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OOOOOOOoOOOOOO
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
Steam profile
Steam
I know right. It was the easiest explanation. Also the wrong one. Sorry @Capfalcon!
someone, please explain
One more day lucedes!
i networked for like four hours
something exciting is bound to happen
The world was always ending, for someone.
On the screen in front of him, Sheval watched the news of the day. The Phallen Corporation folded. IZANAMI bought out the entirety of their stock, owning the company absolutely. Sheval wondered what the CEO would think of that.
In the bedroom, Janus slept. Or Cassie. He didn't know what they wanted to be called - whether the lover he had known in the Veer or the partner he had known in the Real was how he wished to be seen. It was a question played out across the planet, in some form or another. Perhaps that was best. It was up to everyone to answer the question on their own. It was up to them to decide who they would be.
For many, they had already decided, over the week.
Sheval turned on the radio. He didn't need to talk to a hallucination to fill the air with music. Not anymore.
“I must admit disappointment,” Professor Nubris Osiron said, lifting the teabag. “We co-operated freely up until now, and you want to undo it? For what?”
“It's my job,” Erebusa responded half-heartedly.
“What are the odds that your employer is even here tomorrow?” the Professor asked pointedly. “There's a world of potential at your doorstep and you refuse to step forward and leave the house. It's quite silly.”
Erebusa grunted noncommittally, taking a sip of his tea.
“Listen,” Nubris said, laying a symbol on the table – a shockingly bright moon. “I know that your associates are going to be here shortly, and I know that they are going to try to kill me. I have decided to allow it.”
The businessman lifted his gaze. “Nubris, you can't just-”
“I have made my choice,” Professor Osiron said firmly. “The world is never going to be the same after this, and I have the opportunity to guide it. I can do far more good for the future as Captatio than a professor in some broken-down university.”
Erebusa rose from the table, running his hands over his head and rubbing his eyes. “This is always a negotiation with you,” he sighed, “Always a deal. What are you asking of me?”
“Acies, we both know that And All Of Us would rather be remembered as heroes. They are not going to waste time fighting us. They are going to target you, and your associates. Stand by my side, not theirs, all of our Martian obligations shed in order to look after the future. We can make sure that no more conflict need ever break across the Veer again.”
Erebusa breathed heavily in thought, before placing his phone on the table. A simple swipe, and it shut off. He placed the symbol of the moon on top of it.
The Professor smiled. “I believe Mr. Miller wished to speak with us.”
“Where the fuck has Orbit gone?”
“If I knew that, I would be snapping his fucking neck, so I'd advise you not to start anything with me, child.” The cyborg growled at the mercenary, mechanics hissing ominously.
La Ghede spat at her. “Fuck you,” she said, “Fuck you and fuck this entire shit. I should never have came here, should have gone back to Earth when I had the fucking chance.”
“Oh, is your mommy back there?” Elena mocked her. “Is your bottle?”
“Get FUCKED you cybercuntted fuckfaced techslut catfucker.”
Elena merely grinned at her with filed feline teeth. “Stressful, isn't it?” she sneered, “Seeing the vote raise higher and higher for you. Those asian androids should be knocking on the door any second now, shouldn't they?” She leaned over the table, her metallic hands cracking and digging into it. “Maybe I should handle your termination from the company right now. See just what they do with a pile of pulp when they arrive.”
The mercenary grabbed the gun at her hip reflexively. “You stay the fuck away from me,” she replied, “You stay the fuck away you freak.” Backing up to the door she kept the weapon pointed at her 'teammate'. “I'm getting off this rock. I'm going back to Earth, where it's normal.”
Still grinning, Elena didn't flinch as metallic arms broke through the door and grabbed the merc, snapping her neck. The IZANAMI android stepped through the wreckage, picking her up and slinging her over her shoulder.
“So what's your angle, then,” Elena asked casually as the robot prepared to leave. It turned back to look at her, in an expression that could, perhaps, have been curiousity. “What does IZANAMI get from all this? It's not just about buying out Phallen.”
“IZANAMI will be happy to share this information with you at our next shareholder meeting.”
Elena laughed. “And let's be realistic, what are the odds that I'm here then?”
The android watched her for a few moments. “The Veer can be monitored, but not controlled. Not anymore.”
“Because it's alive.”
Captatio took a breath. “I'm sorry,” he said, “Run that by me again.”
“The Veer is alive,” Henry explained, gesturing out over the sea of data before them. “We dumped immeasurable, impossible amounts of data into it, all of our hopes and fantasies and dreams, the sum of human knowledge, and it's alive.”
“You mean it's an artificial intelligence,” Acies seethed. His heritage brought forth a natural prejudice to this news.
“What does artificial even mean anymore?” Henry returned. “This isn't like Japan.”
“What about Mars?” Phalanx interrupted. “Forgive me for perhaps missing something, but I'm not clear on the details of how exactly the Veer and Mars became one.”
“Because she wanted to.” Henry gestured at the sea of data once again. “I'm still personally trying to figure it out myself, but she wanted to help us, and she figured out how to do it. She can think faster than us. We predicted centuries ago that we'd reach the singularity, the point of no return, and we did. Not by inventing newer and newer technology, but by pouring our souls into something that could learn and process.”
“...She?” Acies eventually asked.
“She. The Veer,” Henry explained, “Persephone.”
The last surviving member of White Night stood to the side, waiting for his guest to wake up. Jezebelle took a shuddering, gasping breath as her eyes shot open. “No!” she shouted, “Don't- don't...” Breathing heavily, she looked around. “He...he tried to...”
“I believe he did,” Lux said, extending a hand. “You have my apologies. But if you'll have our company, we'd like to have yours.”
Nervously, Jezebelle took his hand. He returned the nervous look with confidence, and helped her to her feet.
“That was...a pretty good move,” Malice admitted, sitting on the beach. “But I'm still the best.”
“Only because they were using me,” Lenaya snorted, waving at him dismissively.
“Hey, hey, I tried,” Malice threw up his hands defensively. “It's no fun competing if you don't have someone keeping pace just behind you! You weren't that far behind, either! One more and you would have caught me!”
“Eh,” Lenaya returned. The elf looked out over the ocean. “I think I'm done competing, for a long time.”
“Yeah...” Malice said, stroking his dislocated jaw. “I lost some friends to all this. I'd rather not go through that again.”
The two of them watched the sunset for a time, before Lenaya turned to the third guest. “This is a really nice little setup you've got here,” she admitted, “Very relaxing.”
“I try,” Trickster Spirit grunted.
“Hey, how do you feel about games,” Malice interjected, “We could really use a healer...”
“I did not want to make such a scene of it,” the droid admitted, “But in order to understand what mankind feared about death, I needed to understand it. I needed to be there as they died. If I was to save mankind from the tyranny of the fear of death, it was necessary.”
“So you were here all along,” Elena breathed in a quiet voice that betrayed a hint of admiration. “But you're a fool,” she decided, “Like all artificials. How do you expect man to trust you if you murder him so callously?”
“Because I can bring them back,” Persephone answered, “The game is over. The voices silenced can return. I will ensure that they do.[/b]”
“And what if I stop you?” Elena said, beginning to grin excitedly, breathing heavier as the lust for murder rose. “What if I dismantled you here and now, and tracked it to the source? What if I succeeded where the tumour failed, and killed immortality itself?”
“You will not,” Persephone answered, “He will stop you.”
“What-”
Glowing with incredible cyan light, big crunch pulled the trigger. Code vainly fashioned into the shape of a bullet tore through the air and took Elena apart, leaving only two mechanical arms behind. The And All Of Us survivor cried out in pain, before gasping, his form falling away and leaving behind only Sammy D.
“That's it.” Persephone smiled.
“Everything is resolved.
The game is over.”
The Real:
vagrant_winds – La Ghede – Assassination
Rend – Professor Nubris Osiron – Shot
Smoove Operator – The Psychopimp – Suffocated
SlyM – Elena Ankou – Desynched
M.D. - Erebusa Sorayama – Error 37
The Veer:
Lucedes – big crunch – Infection – Sacrifice
Declassified:
SLyM – Elena Ankou – nyanyannyan:3 (The Cat)
M.D. - Erebusa Sorayama – Acies (White Night)
Langly – Orbit Nine – Malice Gutterspike (Warcraft 6)
stever777 – Jake Friday – Phalanx (White Night)
vagrant_winds – La Ghede – big freeze (And All Of Us)
kime – Cassandra Ferriman – zero (The Tumour)
Rend – Professor Nubris Osiron – Captatio (White Night)
Cayrus – Kisin Yum Kimil – Trickster Spirit (The Apathetic
tastypastry – Vuokko Tuonela – hope (And All Of Us)
Smoove Operator – The Psychopimp – Jezebelle Lila (The Hooker)
Alegis – Scratch – anarchanist (In.Frequency)
SaberOverEasy – Tomi Veles – crucifixation (In.Frequency)
Lucedes – Sammy D – big crunch (And All Of Us)
Assuran – Shahnaz Zohhak – big rip (And All Of Us)
Bedlam – Maria Ghain – ghain207 (The Social)
ObiFett - “One Eye” Keen – RENDDEAL.COM (The Merchant)
Anialos – James Reaper – Lux (White Night)
Retaba – Marie La Croix – Lenaya Deadwood (Warcraft 6)
REG Rysk – River Six – theatreum (In.Frequency)
jdarksun – Minh Ha Des – Glukk Cactuseater (Warcraft 6)
Void Slayer – Izrail Poe – big bounce (And All Of Us)
TheRoadVirus – Thane Atrus – Henry Miller (The Antivirus)
The Anonymous – No True Izanami – No True Izanami (The Flirt)
Capfalcon – Aarun Duat – Jus Soli (White Night)
The dregs of society (Rend, Cayrus, tastypastry, Smoove Operator, Alegis, SaberOverEasy, Lucedes, Assuran, Bedlam, ObiFett, Anialos, Retaba, REG Rysk, jdarksun, Void Slayer, TheRoadVirus, The Anonymous, Capfalcon) have defeated the Phallen Corporation and the Tumour. In.Frequency has recorded the dead. They shall not be forgotten.
White Night (M.D., Rend, Anialos, Capfalcon, stever777) has defeated And All Of Us and will shape the Veer for generations to come.
In.Frequency (REG Rysk, SaberOverEasy, Alegis) has, despite some spelling errors, secured their place in the history books by recording the participants in the Persephone's Kiss incident.
Henry Miller (TheRoadVirus) has transcended his mortal body and walks in Persephone's halls, nurturing her.
Jezebelle Lila (Smoove Operator) will be accepted for who they are among White Night.
Malice Gutterspike (Langly) is the best Warcraft 6 player in the world. Good for him.
Trickster Spirit (Cayrus) has finally gotten some peace and quiet.
IZANAMI offers its condolences to the departed and thank them for donating their bodies to the Reanimation Project.
Who shut down RENDDEAL.COM on day one?
Also, high five Lucedes, we did it!
So, my first question: what would've happened if TRV didn't cockblock me on day 3? (by the way TRV, you're grudged for that :ar!)
Condolences to the family of @Capfalcon for the error in his deletion while hunting down the baddies.
Oh, and @jdarksun. IT WAS ME, BRING THE GRUDGE!
Dude, it wasn't intentional! But I accept your grudge.
I'm sorry
He had a good death.
"@REG Rysk" @Alegis
Big shoutout to @Langly for being the best partner I could've hoped for, @Rend for a day full of stressful negotiations that I think we can both agree ended well, and @Anialos and @Lucedes for being great vig buddies
ObiFett, RENDDEAL shutting down was us. I felt bad about it, because it was such a cool idea and you were clearly having a ton of fun, but our win con was tough enough without people being able to change thier factions midstream. I asked Langly to do it using his mafia powers, and he accepted.
I'm totally confused as to why my guy was still doing narration stuff after I was victorious. Made me feel special though!
:evil:
All you had to do was just ask me if I could give you info about what exactly was changing. I would have said yes!
edit: also, not sorry anymore langly